Interaction bounds in multivariable control systems

Time-domain limitations due to right half-plane zeros and poles in linear multivariable control systems are studied. Lower bounds on the interaction are derived. They show not only how the location of zeros and poles are critical in multivariable systems, but also how the zero and pole directions influence the performance. The results are illustrated on the quadruple-tank process, which is a new multivariable laboratory process.     

Intelligent handling of data by integration of commonsense reasoning

Any intelligent problem solving system should be able, given the known data on a case, to decide whether some item of information is true, false or unknown. In this paper the way in which various forms of commonsense reasoning can be integrated to provide such decisions is described. To this end three structural types of knowledge defined over data, and four strategies for exploiting these structures, are identified. ‘Decide-Status’ integrates the reasoning strategies into a task frame. This frame structure not only integrates the reasoning but also affords the appropriate facilities for providing strategic justifications for its conclusions, if required.     

Internal-corrosion inhibitors for pipelines carrying deaerated heating water

The effect of internal-corrosion inhibitors on heating-system pipelines is investigated. Tests were conducted on a testing device for polarization measurements under conditions corresponding to the Rostov Heat-Supply System. The concentration of OEDP-zinc, which provides a high degree of protection from general corrosion, is determined. The reagent has been successfully incorporated into the Rostov No. 2 TPP. __________ Translated from élektricheskie Stantsii, No. 7, July 2007, pp. 37–43.     

Internal-corrosion inhibitors for pipelines in heat-supply systems carrying water with a high oxygen content

The reliability of heat-supply systems is determined primarily by internal corrosion of the pipelines. The concentration of oxygen in the water exerts a major influence on the corrosion. In systems with a standard oxygen content, OéDF-Zn is a highly effective corrosion inhibitor. However, there are systems in which the quality of deaeration of the make-up water of the heat-supply system is low (or deaeration is nonexistent), and the concentration of oxygen is considerably above the standard value. Classed among these systems, for example, are the HWS systems, which are incorporated into closed heat-supply systems. The oxygen concentration in these systems is analyzed to assess the situation. __________ Translated from élektricheskie Stantsii, No. 6, June 2007, pp. 35–39.     

Law,liability and expert systems

This paper examines some of the possible legal implications of the production, marketing and use of expert systems. The relevance of a legally useful definition of expert systems, comprising systems designed for use both by laymen and professionals, is related to the distinctions inherent in the legal doctrine underlying provision of goods and provision of services. The liability of the sellers and users of, and contributors to, expert systems are examined in terms of professional malpractice as well as product liability. A recurring theme indicates that legislators may be inclined to restrict possibilities of liability suits in order to avoid disincentives to the creation of expert systems.     

Recovering spectral data from natural scenes with an RGB digital camera and colored filters

Many spectral‐recovery methods using RGB digital cameras assume the underlying smoothness of illuminant and reflectance spectra, and apply low‐dimensional linear models. The aim of the present work was to test whether a direct‐mapping method could be used instead of a linear‐models approach to recover spectral radiances and reflectances from natural scenes with an RGB digital camera and colored filters. In computer simulations, a conventional RGB digital camera with up to three colored filters was used to image scenes drawn from a hyperspectral image database. Three measures were used to evaluate recovery with the direct‐mapping method: goodness‐of‐fit, root‐mean‐square error, and a color‐difference metric. It was found that with two and three filters both spectral radiances and reflectances could be recovered sufficiently accurately for many practical applications. With little increase in computational complexity, an RGB camera and a few colored filters can provide significantly better recovery of natural scenes than an RGB camera alone. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 32, 352–360, 2007     

A genetic‐based neuro‐fuzzy controller for blind equalization of time‐varying channels

This paper presents a neuro‐fuzzy network (NFN) where all its parameters can be tuned simultaneously using genetic algorithms (GAs). The approach combines the merits of fuzzy logic theory, neural networks and GAs. The proposed NFN does not require a priori knowledge about the system and eliminates the need for complicated design steps such as manual tuning of input–output membership functions, and selection of fuzzy rule base. Although, only conventional GAs have been used, convergence results are very encouraging. A well‐known numerical example derived from literature is used to evaluate and compare the performance of the network with other equalizing approaches. Simulation results show that the proposed neuro‐fuzzy controller, all parameters of which have been tuned simultaneously using GAs, offers advantages over existing equalizers and has improved performance. From the perspective of application and implementation, this paper is very interesting as it provides a new method for performing blind equalization. The main contribution of this paper is the use of learning algorithms to train a feed‐forward neural network for M‐ary QAM and PSK signals. This paper also provides a platform for researchers of the area for further development. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Data mining of resilience indicators

In recent years, the Asia-Pacific region has experienced several financial setbacks, including speculative attacks in 1998 and the SARS outbreak in 2003. Financial stresses of this nature are unanticipated, and not all of the dangers can be predicted by the examination of market information and macroeconomic indicators. The Early Warning System (EWS) that has been adopted by the International Monetary Fund may not be able to predict future financial crises for all possible scenarios, because shocks come in many different forms. To supplement the EWS, this paper proposes a data mining framework to measure the resilience of an economy. The resilience framework does not predict a crisis, but rather assesses the current state of health of an economy and its ability to withstand a financial shock should one occur. The framework is based on a feedback system consisting of two stages. The first stage assigns a resilience score to each economy based on a fuzzy logic scoring scheme that is built on the ambiguous reasoning of experts. The second stage uses the classification tree approach to estimate thresholds for each economic indicator, and examines the quality of the fuzzy score. The result from the second stage is then passed back to the first stage as feedback. The final result is obtained when the feedback system reaches its equilibrium state. The proposed resilience framework is applied to the external-sector and the public-sector economies of several countries to illustrate its applicability.     

An accurate and practical buffer allocation model for the buffer cache based on marginal gains

A new dynamic buffer allocation strategy based on the notion of marginal gains is presented for the buffer cache that is used by the operating system to store frequently accessed disk blocks in main memory, and the performance of the proposed strategy is compared with those of previous allocation strategies. In the proposed strategy, marginal gain values are predicted by exploiting functions that approximate the expected number of buffer hits per unit time. Experimental results from both trace-driven simulation and an actual implementation in the FreeBSD operating system show that the proposed strategy accurately predicts the marginal gain values for various workloads resulting in significantly improved buffer hit ratios.