An observer-based robust adaptive controller for permanent magnet synchronous motor drive with initial rotor angle uncertainty

An observer-based robust adaptive nonlinear position and speed tracking controller is developed for a permanent magnet synchronous motor with initial rotor angle uncertainty. The unknown initial rotor position is treated as a constant motor parameter in the development of the controller. An incremental encoder, which provides relative position variation of the rotor, is used along with stator current signals to achieve stable control. However, the controller does not require the knowledge of motor parameters and it only assumes friction, external disturbances, and model uncertainties are bounded. By using state observers, the measurement of acceleration and load torque, which is required usually in the nonlinear controller design with high tracking performance, is avoided. The stability of the control system and tracking convergence are guaranteed using Lyapunov theory. Finally, the stability and efficacy of the proposed drive system are verified by experimental results.     

Hindshaker, a novel myelin mutant showing hypomyelination preferentially affecting the spinal cord

Animals with spontaneous mutations affecting myelin formation have provided useful information about the genetic and cellular mechanisms regulating normal and abnormal myelination. In this paper we describe a novel murine mutation termed hindshaker (hsh), which is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. Affected mice are characterised by a variable tremor of the hind end which commences at about 2 weeks of age and largely disappears in animals older than 6 weeks. There is hypomyelination affecting predominantly the spinal cord, although the optic nerves and brain are involved to a much lesser degree. The defect of thinly myelinated and naked axons is maximal at 20 days of age and largely resolves with time so that in the adult most axons are myelinated. The myelin structure appears normal and immunostains for the major proteins. Although the distribution of oligodendrocytes in the spinal cord is similar to normal during the period of hypomyelination, there are fewer mature cells. The hsh mutation appears to delay the maturation of oligodendrocytes, particularly in the spinal cord. Additionally, there is a considerable variation in phenotypic expression and in penetrance when the mutation is expressed on different genetic backgrounds, suggesting the hsh locus is subject to the influence of modifying gene(s). Identification of the hsh gene should identify a factor important in the development of oligodendrocytes, particularly those in the spinal cord.     

Rank preservation of matrices with structured uncertainties and itsapplications in robust control theory

Matrix rank is determined by the nonsingularity of its submatrices. For matrices in which entries are quadratic functions of some uncertain parameters, this paper derives sufficient conditions on parameters to that ensure the matrices preserve to some degrees the ranks they have when the parameters are all zero. The rank preservation problem is converted to the nonsingularity analysis problem of the minors of the matrix in discussion, and suitable tools such as the μ-analysis method are used to solve the problem. Applications in robust control theory, including tests for robust controllability/observability, minimum phaseness, coprimeness, and Schur stability, are given, together with illustrative examples,     

Information technology and the accountant: a case study

The factors leading to the success or failure of IT implementations by accountants are investigated in a health service situation. Tbe case study adopts the participant observation methodology and the factors observed are classified as motivators and demotivators. Using a project dependent definition of success, a catastrophe theory framework is used to describe the outcome of the combined influence of these factors. Four particular IT projects are discussed and the factors observed include: the influence of higher levels in the organizational hierarchy, some systems characteristics, the seduction of technology, external pressures, the 'rate of change', skills shortage and reliability. By comparing the examples described with features mentioned by other authors, it is noted that some factors appear to be generally applicable, whereas others may be context dependent.     

Computer-aided design and analysis of direct-driven wheel motordrive

This paper presents the computer-aided design (CAD) and performance analysis of a novel direct-driven wheel brushless DC motor drive for electric vehicles (EVs). The proposed motor is a permanent magnet square-wave motor, whose rotor with rare earth magnets forms the exterior of the motor, which can be fitted with a wheel tire to realize the direct drive for each wheel of an EV. The interior stator with its windings is rigidly mounted onto the suspension and frame structure of the vehicle. In order to achieve the direct drive without any mechanical transmission for EVs, the wheel motor has been designed as a low-speed high-torque motor. The design and optimization of the motor geometry was achieved with the aid of finite-element electromagnetic field analysis. Simulation studies on the transient performance of the motor drive were also carried out. This involved the creation of the motor transient model and formulation of a motor control strategy to ensure the wheel motor drive runs efficiently in the entire permitted speed and load range. The application of CAD techniques in the design of this very unconventional drive is described in this paper     

Ti3+ ion concentration and Ti:sapphire laser performance

The pulsed and CW laser performance of a range of titanium sapphire laser crystals is reported. Titanium ion concentration in the crystals ranged from 0.07 at.% to 0.25 and 0.41 at.% for some recently developed heavily doped crystals. Values of the crystal figure of merit lay between 30 and 220. Threshold, slope efficiency, tunability, and temporal response are assessed. Comparisons are made with the predictions of a simple rate equation model     

Allelotype analysis of uterine leiomyoma: localization of a potential tumor suppressor gene to a 4-cM region of chromosome 7q

The degree and nature of patient involvement in consultations with health professionals influences problem and needs recognition and management, and public accountability. This paper suggests a framework for understanding the scope for patient involvement in such consultations. Patients are defined as co-producers of formal health services, whose potential for involvement in consultations depends on their personal rights, responsibilities and preferences. Patients' rights in consultations are poorly defined and, in the National Health Service (NHS), not legally enforceable. The responsibilities of patients are also undefined. I suggest that these are not to deny, of their own volition, the rights of others, which in consultations necessitate mutuality of involvement through information-exchange and shared decision-making. Preferences should be met insofar as they do not militate against responsibilities and rights.     

Posterodorsal amygdaloid lesions in rats: long-term effects on body weight

Bilateral lesions in the most posterodorsal aspects of the amygdala in female rats resulted in immediate and dramatic weight gains on a standard lab chow diet. The rate of weight gain returned to normal by Day 20, but the difference in body weight between animals with amygdaloid lesions and those with sham lesions was maintained for the duration of the study (60 days). Because rats with posterodorsal amygdaloid lesions have also been found to be hyperinsulinemic, it is hypothesized that the lesions result in a similar, though smaller, version of the syndrome that follows lesions of the ventromedial hypothalamus.     

Patterns of localization and cytoskeletal association of two vegetally localized RNAs, Vg1 and Xcat-2

In Xenopus, localization of a rare class of mRNAs during oogenesis is believed to initiate pattern formation in the early embryo. We have determined the pattern of RNA localization for one of these RNAs, Xcat-2, which encodes a putative RNA-binding protein related to Drosophila nanos (Mosquera, L., Forristall, C., Zhou, Y. and King, M. L. (1993) Development 117, 377-386). Xcat-2 is exclusively localized to the mitochondrial cloud in stage I oocytes, moves with this body into the vegetal cortex during stage II and, later, partitions into islands consistent with it being a component of the germ plasm. As previously shown, Vg1 is not localized to the vegetal cortex until stage IV and distributes to all vegetal blastomeres during development. We found a direct correlation between the localized condition of these RNAs and their recovery in a detergent-insoluble fraction. We present evidence suggesting that differential RNA binding to a cytoskeletal component(s) in the vegetal cortex determines the pattern of inheritance for that RNA in the embryo.