A comparative study of three advanced controllers for the regulation of hypnosis

The anesthetic state is a dynamic combination of hypnosis, analgesia and neuromuscular blockade that is maintained by infusing a cocktail of drugs. This work focuses on controlling the hypnosis during a surgical procedure by automatic regulation of isoflurane and employs Bispectral Index (BIS) as the primary controlled variable. A seventh-order nonlinear pharmacokinetic–pharmacodynamic representation has been used for the hypnosis dynamics of patients. This study uses a model predictive control structure for the regulation of BIS. Performance of this controller has been tested for a range of patients and compared with two previously employed control strategies (cascade internal model controller and cascade controller with modeling error compensation). Performance of the three controllers has also been studied for a step change in BIS, measured disturbances and noise in the measured variables. Numerical simulations show that the model predictive controller performed better than the other two controllers.     

Heat rejection pressure optimization for a carbon dioxide split system: An experimental study

Recent studies indicate carbon dioxide (R744) as a valid alternative to classical substances such as HFCs used in vapour compression plants. However a transcritical refrigeration cycle is needed because the critical temperature of carbon dioxide is usually near the ambient temperature. Consequently the carbon dioxide refrigerator performances are significantly influenced by the heat rejection pressure. In this paper an experimental investigation on working optimization for a “split-system” to cool air in residential applications is presented: by varying the heat rejection pressure an optimum working condition has been found at different ambient temperatures. Furthermore a simplified model to predict the optimum heat rejection pressure is shown and a comparison with experimental results is carried out. Both the model validation and the experimental results suggest that the heat rejection pressure optimization is an convenient method to improve the performance of a carbon dioxide split system. Finally an algorithm based on the aforementioned model has been proposed in order to control an electronic back pressure valve by means of a PLC.     

A heuristic to manage perishable inventory with batch ordering,positive lead-times,and time-varying demand

So far the literature on inventory control for perishable products has mainly focused on (near-) optimal replenishment policies for a stylized environment, assuming no lead-time, no lot-sizing, stationary demand, a first in first out withdrawal policy and/or product life time equal to two periods. This literature has given fundamental insight in the behavior and the complexity of inventory systems for perishable products. In practice, many grocery retailers have recently automated the inventory replenishment for non-perishable products. They recognize they may need a different replenishment logic for perishable products, which takes into account e.g. the age of the inventory in the system. Due to new information technologies like RFID, it now also becomes more economically feasible to register this type of information. This paper suggests a replenishment policy for perishable products which takes into account the age of inventories and which requires only very simple calculations. It will be shown that in an environment, which contains important features of the real-life retail environment, this new policy leads to substantial cost reductions compared with a base policy that does not take into account the age of inventories.     

Prevention of fuel cell starvation by model predictive control of pressure,excess ratio,and current

Starvation of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC) takes place, especially during transients, if reactants are consumed in the fuel cell faster than they can be supplied. It is one of the main causes of aging and degeneration of fuel cells.     

Multitasking across generations: Multitasking choices and difficulty ratings in three generations of Americans

This study investigated whether changes in the technological/social environment in the United States over time have resulted in concomitant changes in the multitasking skills of younger generations. One thousand, three hundred and nineteen Americans from three generations were queried to determine their at-home multitasking behaviors. An anonymous online questionnaire asked respondents to indicate which everyday and technology-based tasks they choose to combine for multitasking and to indicate how difficult it is to multitask when combining the tasks. Combining tasks occurred frequently, especially while listening to music or eating. Members of the “Net Generation” reported more multitasking than members of “Generation X,” who reported more multitasking than members of the “Baby Boomer” generation. The choices of which tasks to combine for multitasking were highly correlated across generations, as were difficulty ratings of specific multitasking combinations. The results are consistent with a greater amount of general multitasking resources in younger generations, but similar mental limitations in the types of tasks that can be multitasked.     

交通系统仿真在城市规划交通影响评价中的应用前瞻

基于交通影响评价，对目前国内城市规划中存在的道路交通系统问题进行分析，剖析了目前城市规划中实施交通影响评价的意义。对交通系统仿真技术的概念和发展现状作了简单介绍，并就交通系统仿真技术在交通影响评价中的实际应用，以及交通影响评价和交通系统仿真的发展前景进行了预测。     

Towards cognitive evaluation of computer-drawn sketches

This paper seeks to raise visual comparisons beyond subjective opinions into evidence-based visual reasoning. It provides an informal deductive analysis of the marks in sketches derived with two competing line-filtering algorithms. This prompted the novel speculation that the visual system might be placing some types of anomalies in the foreground of mental 3D space, where they can be ignored. A brief survey is provided to encourage informed debate. Although the proposed cognitive computation was not automated, it justified the rejection of the Douglas–Peucker algorithm in favour of Visvalingam's algorithm in subsequent research within the Cartographic Information Systems Research Group (CISRG).     

激光相变硬化工艺的简易数学模型

从半无限大材料上激光作用后热传导方程的解出发,导出一种激光相变硬化工艺的数学模型.