Fuzzy fault tolerant predictive control for a diesel engine air path

This paper proposes a Fuzzy Fault Tolerant Predictive Control (FFTPC) with integral action method for a class of nonlinear systems. The Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy approach is introduced as a modelling technique in order to consider the active control methods adapted to linear models. The proposed control strategy is based on a combination between Parallel Distributed Compensation (PDC) control law and Model Predictive Control (MPC) where the T-S fuzzy aspect uses the Unmeasurable Premise Variables (UPV). A T-S fuzzy observer provides an L2 norm estimation of system state vector and faults. The controller and observer gains are obtained by solving Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs) derived from the Lyapunov theory. The validity of the proposed Fault Tolerant Control (FTC) strategy is illustrated through an application to a Diesel Engine Air Path (DEAP) system.     

High-strength corundum ceramics with a lowered sintering temperature

Factors affecting the sintering, formation of a fine crystalline structure, and strength of aluminum oxide ceramics are considered. A ceramics with a strength of up to 600 MPa fabricated at 1450°C in an air medium has been presented. It is shown that the sintering temperature of ceramics based on Al₂O₃ (including -Al₂O₃) can be decreased to 1200°C.Translated from Ogneupory i Tekhnicheskaya Keramika, No. 10, pp. 2 – 5, October, 1996.     

Combining temporal partitioning and temporal placement techniques for communication cost improvement

In this paper, we present a typical temporal partitioning methodology that temporally partitions a data flow graph on reconfigurable system. Our approach optimizes the communication cost of the design. This aim can be reached by minimizing the transfer of data required between design partitions and the routing cost between FPGA modules. Consequently, our algorithm is composed by two main steps. The first step aims to find a temporal partitioning of the graph. This step gives the optimal solution in term of communication cost. Next, our approach builds the best architecture, on a partially reconfigurable FPGA, that gives the lowest routing cost between modules. The proposed methodology was tested on several examples on the Xilinx Virtex-II pro. The results show significant reduction in the communication cost compared with others famous approaches used in this field.     

A Fuzzy Collaborative Assessment Methodology for Partner Trust Evaluation

Trust level assessment within collaborative networks is an interesting issue in the partner evaluation and partner selection literature. This paper proposes a fuzzy collaborative assessment methodology for partner trust evaluation within horizontal collaborative networks. The proposed approach concerns a group evaluation context where a decision‐making comity associated with a manufacturer needs to evaluate its company's partners for their ranking purposes. Different expertise levels are attributed to the comity members. In this paper, trust level is evaluated based on information‐sharing attributes considered in the literature as critical influencing factors. Different weights are associated with these attributes with respect to their corresponding influence on trust. The semantic fuzzy partitioning method is considered for the collaborative trust assessment based on unbalanced linguistic term sets representing information‐sharing attributes. The developed approach is applied to a real case showing its effectiveness and its objectivity.     

Intracellular localization of samarium in the lactating mammary gland cells: ultrastructural and microanalytical study

The frequent use of some rare earths in the medical and industrial domains make us worry about their intracellular behavior into the body. Reason for which we have investigated the subcellular localization of one of these elements, the samarium, in the mammary gland of lactating female wistar rats using two very sensitive methods of observation and microanalysis, the transmission electron microscopy and the secondary ion mass spectrometry. The ultrastructural study showed the presence of electron dense deposits in the lactating mammary glandular epithelial cell lysosomes of the samarium-treated rats, but no loaded lysosomes were observed in those of control rats. The microanalytical study allowed both the identification of the chemical species present in those deposits as samarium isotopes ((152) Sm(+)) and the cartography of its distribution. Our results confirm the previous ones showing that lysosomes of the glandular epithelial cells are the site of the intracellular concentration of foreign elements such as gallium. The intralysosomal deposits observed in the mammary glandular cells of the samarium-treated rats are similar in their form and density to those observed with the same element in other varieties of cells, such as liver, bone marrow, and spleen cells. Our ultrastructural and microanalytical results and those obtained in previous studies allow deducing that the intralysosomal deposits are very probably composed of an insoluble samarium phosphate salt.     

Experimental comparison of new adaptive PI controllers based on the ultra-local model parameter identification

This paper is devoted to an experimental comparison between two different methods of ultra-local model control. The concept of the first proposed technique is based on the linear system resolution technique to estimate the ultra-local model parameters. The second proposed method is based on the linear adaptive observer which allows the joint estimation of state and unknown system parameters. The closed-loop control is implemented via an adaptive PID controller. In order to show the efficiency of these two control strategies, experimental validations are carried out on a two-tank system. The experimental results show the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed controllers.     

Turkey liver: Physicochemical characteristics and functional properties of protein fractions

Turkey liver is an important edible meat by-product. However, it is generally unprocessed, underutilized and low-priced compared to mammalian livers. The present investigation was conducted to provide information on physicochemical composition and functional characteristics of turkey liver. Proximate composition (%) was: moisture (72.3 ± 1.2), protein (21.9 ± 0.6), fat (2.9 ± 1.6), carbohydrate (1.4 ± 0.7), and total ash (1.5 ± 0.1). Cholesterol, glycogen and total heme pigments (g/kg) in the turkey liver were 2.05 ± 0.06, 5.36 ± 0.01 and 2.3 ± 0.08, respectively. Contents in saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids (%) were 42.5, 14.6 and 32.6 respectively. Interestingly, turkey liver fat also contains 5% of camphor (oxygenated monoterpene). Mineral concentrations (mg/kg) in liver were: Na (817 ± 14), K (1390 ± 90), Ca (31.4 ± 0.3), Mg (23 ± 0.4), Fe (161 ± 5), Zn (40 ± 2) and Cu (34 ± 2). Liver proteins extracted at 5 or 10 g/l NaCl showed the highest foaming capacity (P < 0.05). Addition of xanthan (1-3 g/l) to liver proteins improved both foam formation and its stability (P < 0.05). Turkey liver also showed interesting emulsifying properties. The emulsion stability of liver proteins was more pronounced at high NaCl concentration (20 g/l). The highest emulsion stability was obtained at acidic or basic pH values (P < 0.05) and decreased at pH 6.     

Study of vibratory behavior of interconnected porous PZT by impulse method

Performances in ultrasonic active transducers of interconnected porous lead zirconate titanate (PZT) piezoelectric disks with a porosity ranging from 30 to 70%, and polarized along their axial axis, are investigated. The characterization method used is based on the measurement of the voltage, which appears between the two faces of the piezoelectric element when it is excited by a current impulse. The device used, allows the acquisition of axial and radial vibrations of the transducer, and from these data, electromechanical and acoustic parameters are deduced. One observes that interconnected porosity causes the disappearance of the radial vibrations, and for large porosities the disk vibrates exclusively according to the axial mode. k_t is increased, the acoustic impedance is reduced, and the axial propagation velocity reaches 2500 m s⁻¹ for 30% of porosity. These results show that interconnected porous PZT are suitable for making ultrasonic active transducer, such as biomedical imaging devices.     

Novel Tight Closed-Form Bounds for the Symbol Error Rate of EGC and MRC Diversity Receivers Employing Linear Modulations Over \alpha -\mu Fading

In this paper, we propose novel lower and upper bounds on the average symbol error rate (SER) of the dual-branch maximal-ratio combining and equal-gain combining diversity receivers assuming independent branches. \(M\) -ary pulse amplitude modulation and \(M\) -ary phase shift keying schemes are employed and operation over the \(\alpha -\mu \) fading channel is assumed. The proposed bounds are given in closed form and are very simple to calculate as they are composed of a double finite summation of basic functions that are readily available in the commercial software packages. Furthermore, the proposed bounds are valid for any combination of the parameters \(\alpha \) and \(\mu \) as well as \(M\) . Numerical results presented show that the proposed bounds are very tight when compared to the exact SER obtained via performing the exact integrations numerically making them an attractive much simpler alternative for SER evaluation studies.     

Color stability of heat-treated wood during artificial weathering

The color change of wood after exposure to UV light may produce aesthetical damages. The stability of the color to light exposure is an important issue. This study describes experiments of testing the color stability of heat-treated wood samples. Heat treatment was done at 240°C during 2 hours, under nitrogen. Heat-treated samples of ash, beech, maritime pine and poplar heartwood were exposed to UV-light (QUV equipped with fluorescent lamps UVA-340) during 835 hours. Color measurements during accelerated weathering were made at intervals throughout the test period. The results are presented in ΔE and L* a* b* coordinates according to the CIELab system. The experiments show that the color stability for heat-treated wood is better during the 835 hours of exposure when compared to untreated wood. The properties of heat treated wood (lignin modifications, and monomers of phenolic compounds) are probably involved in the retified wood resistance against UV light under experimental conditions.