An electromyographic investigation of asymmetric lifting and moving of a load: III. Models for determining muscle activity based on anthropometric characteristics

Regression models for six muscles, the left and right iliocostalis, the left and right erector spinae, and the left and right external oblique, were developed for asymmetry and height effects for floor and knuckle lifts. The models were based on participant anthropometric and other measures. Stepwise regression was performed for developing the prediction models. The models developed were discrete in terms of specific height and asymmetry. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Stabilizing adaptive controller for uncertain dynamical systems: An LMI approach

Adaptive stabilization of a class of linear systems with matched and unmatched uncertainties is considered in this paper. The proposed controller indeed stabilizes the uncertain system for any positive values of its non-adaptive gain that may be tuned to enhance dynamic response of system. The performance of uncertain system along with the Algebraic Riccati Equation that arises from the adaptive stabilizing controller is now formulated as a multi-objective Linear Matrix Inequality optimization problem. The decay rate and a factor governing the ultimate bound of the system states are considered to characterize the closed loop system performance. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed controller is illustrated via stabilizing a mass-spring system. Recommended by Editorial Board member Gang Tao under the direction of Editor Young Il Lee. The authors would like to thank the reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions that have improved the quality of this paper. Sandip Ghosh received the B.E. in Electrical Engineering from Bengal Engineering College (D.U.), Howrah, and Master in Control System Engineering from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India, in 1999 and 2003 respectively. Presently he is pursuing the Ph.D. degree at Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. His research interests include adaptive control, robust control and control of time-delay systems. Sarit K. Das is a Professor of Electrical Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. He received the Ph.D. degree in 1985 from the same department. His research interests include design of periodic controller, decoupling of multivariable systems, modeling and robust control of complex systems. Goshaidas Ray is a Professor of Electrical Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. He received the Ph.D. degree in 1982 from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India. His research interests include modeling, estimation, model-based control, intelligent control, robotic systems and distributed control systems.     

Developmental stages in experimental liver metastases: relation to invasiveness

We have previously reported that an invasive morphotype can be evoked in a rat colon carcinoma by transplanting it into pre-induced subcutaneous granulation tissue. We have now studied the interaction of the same tumor with liver tissue, which is extremely poor in connective tissue in comparison with the subcutaneous site. Tumor cells were injected into the portal system and the resulting experimental liver metastases were examined by electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry. Early metastases consisted of well-differentiated acini, fully surrounded by connective tissue that was derived from the periportal stroma. In a later stage, this connective tissue was overgrown by tumor cells and, almost immediately, acinar differentiation was lost. Most metastases eventually reached the liver capsule, which reacted by forming a layer of granulation tissue. Only in this layer, we observed invasion by thin tumor cell strands, which were often intimately associated with fibroblasts or with blood capillaries. The tumor cells remained smooth and rounded during this process. After fully penetrating the granulation tissue, the tumor cell strands reached the liver surface, where they formed poorly structured papillary masses that were nearly devoid of stroma. Our observations indicate that, even in a relatively homogeneous organ like the liver, the tumor-host interaction is highly complex and dynamic. They also confirm the notion that granulation tissue stimulates tumor invasiveness. Finally, they show that tumor cells can actively invade host tissues without exhibiting a "fibroblastic" morphology.     

Progress on the boundary element method to study the disturbance fields of bodies moving in an unbounded medium

For studying flow problems involved with complex physics it is now common to use numerical field methods for solving Navier-Stokes or Euler equations. However, for a large class of fluid mechanics problems, which can be dealt with linearized potential equations, the boundary element method proves to be quite useful, especially for its easy application and relatively less computational effort compared to the field methods. The boundary element method has undergone some significant advancements in the last decade with respect to the study of steady and unsteady flow problems concerning wing aerodynamics in compressible medium, flow fields of propellers and rotors and acoustical disturbance propagation from moving bodies. In this paper a few recent contributions which evolved in the DLR as research projects and as doctoral and diploma thesis of the Technical University Braunschweig are concisely described.List of symbols a Sound velocity - b Span of a wing - c _p Coefficient of static pressure - c _dp Coefficient of profile drag - c ₁, c _d, c_m Coefficient of lift, drag and moment per unit span width - c _L, c_D, c_M Total lift, drag and moment-coefficients - c _T, c_P Thrust and power-coefficient of a propeller - d Distance - D Doublet strength - e Specific heat energy - E Total energy in a moving medium element - f Frequency - F Field point - g Gravitational acceleration - h Radial distance in cylinder coordinates - I ₁, I ₂ Inducing functions - i, j, k Unit vectors in cartesian coordinates - k Wave number [/a ] - l Local wing-chord - l ₀, l _v Length of singularity element at t _oand t _v - m Notation for Fourier-component - M, M ^* Mach number based on local and critical sound speed - n Number of rotation per second - n Unit normal vector to a surface     

Data-driven next-generation smart grid towards sustainable energy evolution: techniques and technology review

Meteorological changes urge engineering communities to look for sustainable and clean energy technologies to keep the environment safe by reducing CO2 emissions. The structure of these technologies relies on the deep integration of advanced data-driven techniques which can ensure efcient energy generation, transmission, and distribution. After conducting thorough research for more than a decade, the concept of the smart grid (SG) has emerged, and its practice around the world paves the ways for efcient use of reliable energy technology. However, many developing features evoke keen interest and their improvements can be regarded as the next-generation smart grid (NGSG). Also, to deal with the non-linearity and uncertainty, the emergence of data-driven NGSG technology can become a great initiative to reduce the diverse impact of non-linearity. This paper exhibits the conceptual framework of NGSG by enabling some intelligent technical features to ensure its reliable operation, including intelligent control, agent-based energy conversion, edge computing for energy management, internet of things (IoT) enabled inverter, agent-oriented demand side management, etc. Also, a study on the development of data-driven NGSG is discussed to facilitate the use of emerging data-driven techniques (DDTs) for the sustainable operation of the SG. The prospects of DDTs in the NGSG and their adaptation challenges in real-time are also explored in this paper from various points of view including engineering, technology, et al. Finally, the trends of DDTs towards securing sustainable and clean energy evolution from the NGSG technology in order to keep the environment safe is also studied, while some major future issues are highlighted. This paper can ofer extended support for engineers and researchers in the context of data-driven technology and the SG.     

Sliding mode controller design via delay-dependent H∞ stabilization criterion for load frequency regulation

This work presents a control approach based on sliding-mode-control (SMC) to design robust H∞ state feedback controllers for load frequency regulation of delayed interconnected power system (IPS) with parametric uncertainties. Considering both state feedback control strategy and delayed feedback control strategy, two SMC laws are proposed. The proposed control laws are designed to improve the stability and disturbance rejection performance of delayed IPS, while stabilization criteria in the form of linear matrix inequality are derived by choosing a Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional. An artifcial time-delay is incorporated in the control law design of the delayed feedback control structure to enhance the controller performance. A numerical example is considered to study the control performance of the proposed controllers and simulation results are provided to observe the dynamic response of the IPS.     

A performance evaluation framework of public health distribution network for essential medicines: lessons from the select Indian states

The present work has been carried out to develop a performance evaluation framework of distribution network design in public health with specific reference to essential medicines based on six different types of public health distribution networks (PHDNs) prevalent across six Indian states. We evaluated the performance of PHDNs on the criteria of cost and service and also on the sub-criteria of cost and service by following the analytic hierarchy process. We utilized the pairwise comparison method in determining the relative importance of criteria and sub-criteria by seeking responses from several experts and subsequently evaluated the PHDNs on all sub-criteria in a 7-point Likert scale by seeking views from the same experts. Finally, we developed the “cost–service matrix,” in which cost and service have been depicted in the horizontal and vertical axes, respectively. We demonstrated the performance of six PHDNs in this matrix in terms of cost and service by plotting scores obtained by them on cost and service, respectively. The findings of the study provide rich insights to the policy planners of public health.     

A matching game framework for users clustering and resource allocation with wireless power transfer in a CR-NOMA network

This paper investigates the resource allocation in a massively deployed user cognitive radio enabled non-orthogonal multiple access (CR-NOMA) network considering the downlink scenario. The system performance deteriorates with the number of users who are experiencing similar channel characteristics from the base station (BS) in NOMA. To address this challenge, we propose a framework for maximizing the system throughput that is based on one-to-one matching game theory integrated with the machine learning technique. The proposed approach is decomposed to solve users clustering and power allocation subproblems. The selection of optimal cluster heads (CHs) and their associated cluster members is based on Gale-Shapley matching game theoretical model with the application of Hungarian method. The CHs can harvest energy from the BS and transfer their surplus power to the primary user (PU) through wireless power transfer. In return, they are allowed to access the licensed band for secondary transmission. The power allocation to the users intended for power conservation at CHs is formulated as a probabilistic constraint, which is then solved by employing the support vector machine (SVM) algorithm. The simulation results demonstrate the efficacy of our proposed schemes that enable the CHs to transfer the residual power while ensuring maximum system throughput. The effects of different parameters on the performance are also studied.     

Throughput analysis in censoring-based cooperative cognitive radio network with energy harvesting

An energy harvesting (EH) and cooperative cognitive radio (CR) network (CRN) is studied in this paper where CR users transmit data through a primary user (PU) channel if the channel remains idle, else an optimal number CRs helps in transmission of PU. To achieve the optimum number of CRs (ONCR) involved in cooperation, a novel scheme based on a combination of channel censoring and total error is proposed. The performance of the proposed scheme is investigated under RF harvesting scenario. The EH is dependent on sensing decision and a CR source harvests energy from PU's RF signal. The harvested energy (HE) is split into two parts: One part is used by the CR network (CRN) for its own transmission, and the other part is used for supporting PU. The effect of the energy allocation factor on total throughput is also investigated. New expressions for optimal number of CRs and throughput are developed. The effect of network parameters such as sensing time, censoring threshold, and energy allocation parameter (EAP) on throughput is investigated. Impact of distance between nodes is also studied.     

Energy Efficient Hardware Loop Based Optimization for CGRAs

Journal of Signal Processing Systems - Research interest and industry investment in edge computing solutions have increased dramatically in recent years. Consequent quest for balanced performance,...