A simple order-determination method based on a generalized adaptive law

In this paper we propose a simple method for order determination based on a generalized adaptive law which is used to adjust parameters in adaptive systems. The paper first reveals certain properties of the law and shows how they can be utilized for order determination in specific algorithms obtained from the law. The method requires no modifications of the algorithms but merely uses some quantities obtained directly from the algorithms. It can exhibit satisfactory performance in the noise-free case. Like other methods, however, it degenerates as noise increases. This degeneration is overcome by enhancing the original method by a correlation technique. Detailed discussions on the enhanced method are given.     

On a sub-optimal control scheme of linear stochastic systems with inaccurate models†

This paper presents a problem of deriving a sub-optimal control scheme of linear, discrete-time systems with inaccurate models. The sub-optimal control policy is determined as a linear combination of an estimate of the state when the expected value of a quadratic performance index is to be minimized. The estimate obtained from the sub-optimal filtering equations is modified by a hypothesis test of statistics for the innovation sequence. The numerical results of digital simulation indicate that this approach improves the system performance.     

Meaning of state-space representation and its relation to canonical form Part 2. Controllability and constructibility

State space is one of the key concepts of systems theory. In the previous paper (Nakano et al. 1987) a system-theoretic framework about the choice of a state space was developed and the canonical forms of linear control theory were interpreted. Four realizations of a single-input and single-output discrete basic linear system were constructed. The isomorphism between the realizations and the universal state space representation shows systemic meanings of the state space. In this paper, using the same approach, two other realizations—a controllability realization and a constructibility realization—are constructed. By the matrix representations of these realizations the meanings of the controllability and constructibility canonical forms are shown in relation to the universal state-space representation.     

CIVIC CULTURE AND CORPORATE REGIME IN LOUISVILLE

ABSTRACT: We examine the civic culture in Louisville focusing upon the community power structure, community value system, and public decision‐making system as described by knowledgeable persons. Interviewees were selected for their first‐hand knowledge of community decision making as participants and close observers and to represent different interests. Respondents described what resembles a corporate‐centered regime in economic development but which does not necessarily extend to education. The civic culture and attendant myths hold together a city that otherwise is greatly divided by race, class, and status apparent in the geographic segregation of the community into the East, West, and South Ends. The city's self identity and perception in some way may be at odds with its current situation and development strategies.     

WHY IS JAPAN NEOLIBERALIZING? RESCALING OF THE JAPANESE DEVELOPMENTAL STATE AND IDEOLOGY OF STATE–CAPITAL FIXING

ABSTRACT: This study examines Japan's state spatial restructuring to explore the reasons behind it. By doing so, it investigates the grounds on which Japan is adopting neoliberalism. Since the early 2000s, Japan's leaders have been pursuing a combination of state decentralization and selective urban revitalization. At the same time, leaders have abandoned Japan's long‐held goal of balanced spatial development. On the surface, this policy mix resembles the neoliberal state spatial restructuring observed in Western Europe. This study finds, however, that Japan's state spatial restructuring has less to do with scalar adjustment to capital's uneven spatial expansion and the supply‐side economy for economic development. Rather, it has more to do with the political goal of addressing Japan's collectivist culture and government failure. To reach this conclusion, the “locality as agent” approach to politics of scale proposed by Cox and Mair (1991) is applied to the historic analysis of the Japanese developmental state.     

PHASE AND MORPHOLOGY OF PbNb2O6 OBTAINED BY MOLTEN SALT SYNTHESIS

ABSTRACT

The morphologic development of lead metanlobate powder particles in KC1 is examined with special emphases on the heating- conditions and starting compositions. Potassium ions are substituted in the Pb-x K_2xNb₂0₆(PKN) With the Sthorhoobic modifications.The.morophology of particles changed during PKN formation and particle growth. During the formation process of PKN, equiaxed and rod-shaped particles were obtained both above and below the melting temperature of KC1. The rod-shaped particles have a columnar structure but decrease in number with Increasing potassium content in the starting mixtures. During the growth process, equiaxed particles grew to simple rod-shaped particles without a columnar structure. Potassium in the starting oxide was found to promote the formation of simple rod-shaped particles. PKN powder composed of only simple rod-shaped particles is obtainable.     

Behavior of Pores in the Sintering of Acicular Fe2O3 Powder

The sintering of acicular Fe₂O₃ powder was studied by isothermal dilatometry, hysteresis Hg porosimetry, and SEM of powder compacts using a resin-impregnating technique, and compared with an ordinary equiaxed powder. It is shown that the pores in the acicular powder compacts remain connected until a later stage of sintering than those in the spherical powder, and that the observed rapid initial densification, along with preferential shrinkage in the parallel-to-pressing direction, can be interpreted in terms of particle rearrangement.     

Kinetic Studies on the Precipitation of Hematite from Iron-Rich Spinel Solid Solutions

The kinetics of hematite precipitation from iron-rich spinel solid solutions has been studied with special emphasis on the effect of divalent cations and iron-oxide concentration. The precipitation kinetics is expressed by the Avrami equation α= 1 – exp [– k ( t –t ₀) ⁿ ] with n = 1, where α, k , and t are fractional precipitation, proportionality constant, and time, respectively. The process is characterized by an activation energy of 30·0.5 kcal/mol, independent of iron-oxide concentration. Stabilization of spinel solid solutions by the cation is most pronounced for Ni followed by Mg and Zn in the order stated, and the effect of the cation is interpreted in terms of the cation distribution in the spinel lattice.     

Ageing behaviour in a dental low-gold alloy with high copper content

Phase transformation behaviour in a dental low-gold alloy with high copper content during continuous heating was investigated by hardness tests, electrical resistivity measurements, X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopies. Two kinds of solution treatment conditions (at 873 K and 1073 K) followed by iced-brine quench, represented different ageing behaviours. Although subsequent anisothermal annealing produced same phase separation of face-centred cubic disordered and ordered (Cu3Au) phases in both specimens, the specimen quenched from 1073 K had already been hardened by a spinodal decomposition. © 1998 Chapman & Hall