On the Hybrid Optimal Control Problem: Theory and Algorithms

A class of hybrid optimal control problems (HOCP) for systems with controlled and autonomous location transitions is formulated and a set of necessary conditions for hybrid system trajectory optimality is presented which together constitute generalizations of the standard Maximum Principle; these are given for the cases of open bounded control value sets and compact control value sets. The derivations in the paper employ: (i) classical variational and needle variation techniques; and (ii) a local controllability condition which is used to establish the adjoint and Hamiltonian jump conditions in the autonomous switching case. Employing the hybrid minimum principle (HMP) necessary conditions, a class of general HMP based algorithms for hybrid systems optimization are presented and analyzed for the autonomous switchings case and the controlled switchings case. Using results from the theory of penalty function methods and Ekeland's variational principle the convergence of these algorithms is established under reasonable assumptions. The efficacy of the proposed algorithms is illustrated via computational examples.     

Kinetics of oxygen absorption in aqueous sodium dithionite solutions

The absorption and reaction of oxygen in aqueous alkaline solutions of sodium dithionite has been experimentally investigated in a novel gas-liquid contactor. The novel gas-lift bubble column contactor was used to study the kinetics over wide ranges of reactant concentrations, temperature, and pH. The oxygen-sodium dithionite reaction was found to be first-order with respect to dithionite in the range of dithionite concentration < 0.1 M, and second-order in the range of dithionite concentration > 0.1 M. The reaction with respect to oxygen was found to be zero-order for all dithionite concentrations. These results and experimental investigations of the effect of solution alkalinity and temperature on the reaction rate are consistent with previous findings obtained in different gas-liquid contactors. The results thus confirm the feasibility of using the gas-lift bubble column for the kinetics of gas-liquid reactions.     

Destination-driven routing for low-cost multicast

We present a destination-driven algorithm that optimizes for applications, such as group video or teleconferencing, that require multicast trees with low total cost. The destination-driven algorithm uses a greedy strategy based on shortest-path trees and minimal spanning trees but biases routes through destinations. The performance of the algorithm is analyzed through extensive simulation and compared with several Steiner tree heuristics and the popular shortest-path tree (SPT) method. The algorithm is found to produce trees with significantly lower overall cost than the SPT while maintaining reasonable per-destination performance. Its performance also compares well with other known Steiner heuristics. Moreover, the algorithm does not suffer from high complexity common to most Steiner tree heuristics and builds a route by querying only incident links for cost information     

Dielectric properties of ultrafine grained BaTiO(3)

The dielectric constant and spontaneous polarization of fine-grained BaTiO(3) prepared from powder produced by metalloorganic decomposition technology were studied. The room-temperature dielectric constant of BaTiO(3) was found to increase sharply with increase in grain size, reach a maximum at about 0.4 mum, and decrease with further increase in grain size. Spontaneous polarization continuously decreased with decrease in grain size. A model is proposed to explain the grain size dependence of the dielectric constant.     

High K BaTiO(3) films from metalloorganic precursors

Crack-free and dense BaTiO(3) films 4 to 8 mum thick were prepared by spinning a solution of metalloorganic precursors onto an appropriate substrate, and firing and annealing the film in air at certain temperatures to obtain appropriate grain sizes. The electrical properties of the films were studied as a function of grain size, temperature, frequency, and DC bias. Films with a grain size of 0.2 mum showed ferroelectric properties similar to bulk BaTiO(3).     

Leakage mitigation in NW FET using negative Schottky junction drain and its process variation analysis

Journal of Computational Electronics - In this work, a Schottky junction on the drain side employing low workfunction (WF) metal is proposed as a method to suppress the OFF-state leakage in...     

Chronically Elevated Exogenous Glucose Elicits Antipodal Effects on the Proteome Signature of Differentiating Human iPSC-Derived Pancreatic Progenitors

The past decade revealed that cell identity changes, such as dedifferentiation or transdifferentiation, accompany the insulin-producing β-cell decay in most diabetes conditions. Mapping and controlling the mechanisms governing these processes is, thus, extremely valuable for managing the disease progression. Extracellular glucose is known to influence cell identity by impacting the redox balance. Here, we use global proteomics and pathway analysis to map the response of differentiating human pancreatic progenitors to chronically increased in vitro glucose levels. We show that exogenous high glucose levels impact different protein subsets in a concentration-dependent manner. In contrast, regardless of concentration, glucose elicits an antipodal effect on the proteome landscape, inducing both beneficial and detrimental changes in regard to achieving the desired islet cell fingerprint. Furthermore, we identified that only a subgroup of these effects and pathways are regulated by changes in redox balance. Our study highlights a complex effect of exogenous glucose on differentiating pancreas progenitors characterized by a distinct proteome signature.