Steady-State Control Reference and Token Conservation Laws in Continuous Petri Net Systems

This paper addresses several questions related to the control of timed continuous Petri nets under infinite server semantics. First, some results regarding equilibrium states and control actions are given. In particular, it is shown that the considered systems are piecewise linear, and for every linear subsystem the possible steady states are characterized. Second, optimal steady-state control is studied, a problem that surprisingly can be computed in polynomial time, when all transitions are controllable and the objective function is linear. Third, an interpretation of some controllability aspects in the framework of linear dynamic systems is presented. An interesting finding is that noncontrollable poles are zero valued.     

Empirically derived subtypes of adolescent depression: Latent profile analysis of co-occurring symptoms in the Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS).

A latent profile analysis was conducted on the co-occurring symptoms of 423 adolescents diagnosed with major depressive disorder as part of the Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS), a multisite, randomized treatment trial. The participants had a mean (SD) age of 14.6 (1.5) years; of the sample, 45.6% was male and 73.8% was white. Scores on the primary subscales of Conners' Parent Rating Scale-Revised were used as indicators in the analysis. Five classes of symptoms best described the clinical presentation of adolescents enrolled in the TADS. Of the adolescents in the sample, 80% were assigned to classes with clinically significant elevations on 1 or more subscales of the Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised. The 5 classes met empirical criteria for distinctiveness and were validated against clinical diagnoses, child-rated symptoms, and clinician-rated functional impairment. The findings are consistent with prior studies that showed a high rate of co-occurring symptoms among depressed adolescents. The discussion focuses on understanding subtypes and comorbidity in adolescent depression as well as the implications for treatment and for prevention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

General relativity and quantum mechanics: towards a generalization of the Lambert W function A Generalization of the Lambert W Function

We present a canonical form for a natural and necessary generalization of the Lambert W function, natural in that it requires minimal mathematical definitions for this generalization, and necessary in that it provides a means of expressing solutions to a number of physical problems of fundamental nature. This generalization expresses the exact solutions for general-relativistic self-gravitating N-body systems in one spatial and one time dimension, and a previously unknown mathematical link between the (1+1) gravity problem and the Schrödinger wave equation.     

Design of a high-pressure ebulliometer,with vapor-liquid equilibrium results for the systems CHF2 Cl + CF3 CH3 and CF3 CH2 F + CH2F2

We describe the design and operation of a new high-pressure metal ebulliometer which can operate at pressures to at least 3 MPa in the range 220–400 K. Infinite-dilution activity coefficients are presented for the system CHF₂Cl + CF₃-CH, at 275 K and for the system CF₃-CH₂F + CH₂F₂, at 260, 230, and 300 K. The Wilson activity coellicient model and a virial coefficient model are applied to these systems, and the phase equilibrium conditions are calculated. The results are shown to agree well with predicted and with published measured values. The excess enthalpy is calculated and compared with results from a Peng Robinson equation of state. Vapor densities on the dew curves are given.     

Mesomorphic behavior of polydiethylphosphazenes as described by13C,14N,and2H NMR

The existence of mesomorphism in polydiethylphosphazene was recently established by MAS NMR and X-ray diffraction characterization. In the present work the mechanism of motion of the ethyl side groups in the high-temperature polymorph tabove 45 C) is identified and compared to the arrangement of side groups in the low-temperature polymorph. For this purpose a few NMR active nuclei (¹³C,¹⁴N, and²H) were exploited to define the side-chain motions occurring at transition. Experiments performed at varying temperatures close to the onset of solid transition suggest the presence of jumps between two conformations in the pretransition state. Rotor-synchronized triple-resonance NMR of the high-temperature phase determined the average distances between the carbons and the nitrogens in the polymorphs. The theoretical prediction of the dipolar interaction between the nuclei supports the hypothesis that ethyl groups can undergo a complete rotation about the P CH₂ bond by jumping across a conformational barrier. The mechanism of motion of the ethyl groups must be cooperative and the collapse of the rigid shell around the main chain is described at the transition.     

Incremental wrapper-based gene selection from microarray data for cancer classification

Gene expression microarray is a rapidly maturing technology that provides the opportunity to assay the expression levels of thousands or tens of thousands of genes in a single experiment. We present a new heuristic to select relevant gene subsets in order to further use them for the classification task. Our method is based on the statistical significance of adding a gene from a ranked-list to the final subset. The efficiency and effectiveness of our technique is demonstrated through extensive comparisons with other representative heuristics. Our approach shows an excellent performance, not only at identifying relevant genes, but also with respect to the computational cost.     

Simultaneous Spark Plasma Synthesis and Densification of TiC–TiB2 Composites

The simultaneous synthesis and densification of dense TiC–TiB₂ composite has been investigated starting from Ti, B₄C, and C as reactants, and using the spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique. The optimal conditions for complete conversion of the reactants to the composite were determined for different applied DC current levels. A kinetic investigation performed allows us to conclude that solid-state diffusion is the mechanism governing the synthesis process. It is seen that TiC is the first phase formed, while TiB₂ formation occurs afterward. Two intermediate boride phases, i.e. TiB and Ti₃B₄, are also formed but, as the SPS holding time was augmented, they were gradually and completely converted to TiB₂. Moreover, it is found that in order to reach relatively high dense products, an electric current needs to be applied for time intervals longer than those required for obtaining complete conversion. A pure dense product (relative density ∼98%) was obtained when an electric pulsed current of 1100 A and a mechanical pressure of 20 MPa were applied for about 4 min.