Search results for "S1"

Vibration control for adjacent structures using local state information

2014

In this paper, a novel strategy for structural vibration control of multi-structure systems is presented. This strategy pays particular attention to mitigating negative interstructure interactions. Moreover, it is based on recent advances in static output–feedback control, which make possible the efficient computation of decentralized velocity-feedback controllers by solving a single-step optimization problem with Linear Matrix Inequality constraints. To illustrate the main ideas, a local velocity-feedback energy-to-peak controller is designed for the seismic protection of a two-building system. This controller is remarkably effective and extremely simple. Moreover, it can also be implement…

Hybrid Procedure for Automated Detection of Cracking with 3D Pavement Data

2016

Pavement cracks are considered a major indicator of pavement performance. Because traditional manual crack surveys are dangerous, time consuming, and expensive, technologies have been developed to collect high-speed pavement images, and numerous algorithms have been proposed to detect cracks on pavement surface. The latest PaveVision3D Ultra system (3D Ultra) has been implemented to achieve 30-kHz three-dimensional (3D) scanning rate for 1-mm resolution pavement surface data at highway speed up to 100 km/h (60  mi/h). This paper presents the application of a hybrid procedure for automated crack detection on 3D pavement data collected using 3D Ultra. The procedure combines three different me…

Data-driven design of robust fault detection system for wind turbines

2014

Abstract In this paper, a robust data-driven fault detection approach is proposed with application to a wind turbine benchmark. The main challenges of the wind turbine fault detection lie in its nonlinearity, unknown disturbances as well as significant measurement noise. To overcome these difficulties, a data-driven fault detection scheme is proposed with robust residual generators directly constructed from available process data. A performance index and an optimization criterion are proposed to achieve the robustness of the residual signals related to the disturbances. For the residual evaluation, a proper evaluation approach as well as a suitable decision logic is given to make a correct …

Noise risk assessment in a bottling line of a modern Sicilian winery

2013

In wine industry, bottling is a phase of the production cycle characterized by high levels of noise mostly due to repeated collisions between the bottles. In Italy the Law Decree 81/2008 defined the requirements for assessing and managing noise risk, identifying a number of procedures to be adopted at different noise levels to limit workers exposure. This study aims at evaluating the equivalent and peak noise level inside the bottling plant area of a modern Sicilian winery. In particular, the influence of the working capacity (number of bottles produced per hour) on noise levels was evaluated. We considered three test conditions: T1 with working capacity of 4,000 bottles per hour, T2 with w…

A robust fault detection design for uncertain Takagi-Sugeno models with unknown inputs and time-varying delays

2013

Abstract This paper investigates the problem of robust fault detection system design for a class of uncertain Takagi–Sugeno (T–S) models. The system under consideration is subject to unknown input and time-varying delay. The fault detection system is designed such that the unknown input is thoroughly decoupled from residual signals generated by the fault detection system. Furthermore, the residual signals show the maximum possible sensitivity to the faults and the minimum possible sensitivity to the external disturbances. The model matching approach is utilized to tackle the effects of parametric uncertainties in the model of the system. The design procedure is presented in terms of Linear …

A structured filter for Markovian switching systems

2014

In this work, a new methodology for the structuring of multiple model estimation schemas is developed. The proposed filter is applied to the estimation and detection of active mode in dynamic systems. The discrete-time Markovian switching systems represented by several linear models, associated with a particular operating mode, are studied. Therefore, the main idea of this work is the subdivision of the models set to some subsets in order to improve the detection and estimation performances. Each subset is associated with sub-estimators based on models of the subset. In order to compute the global estimate and subset probabilities, a global estimator is proposed. Theoretical developments ba…

Soil management effect on soil penetration resistance in the vineyard

2013

In environments characterized by steep slopes or arranged in terraces, among the shallow tillage systems, rototilling is extensively used. However, the effect of the repeated use of rototilling has a considerable influence on soil characteristics; it appears finely powdered, soft and without structure. In order to limit these inconveniences, an innovative self-propelled machine equipped with working tools as a spade, to be used in steep slopes or arranged in terraces areas, was designed by the Mechanics Section of the SAF (Scienze Agrarie e Forestali) Department of the University of Palermo in cooperation with Agrotec company, Padua, Italy. The aim of this study is to compare the effects of…

Antinociceptive effects of an extract, fraction and an isolated compound of the stem bark of Maytenus rigida

2012

The antinociceptive activity of the Maytenus rigida Mart. (Celastraceae) ethanol extract and its ethyl acetate fraction as well as of (-)-4'-methylepigallocatechin (1), a previously isolated compound, was demonstrated in vivo. ED50 for 1 in the writhing test was 14.14 mg/kg. The acetic acid-induced writhing was inhibited by 98.4, 84.4, and 58.3%, respectively, when mice were treated with the ethanol extract, ethyl acetate fraction, and 1. In the hot plate test, mice pretreated with 1 showed significantly increased reaction times (60-89%). Oral administration of 1 significantly inhibited first and second phases of the formalin-induced pain (50 and 26.5%, respectively), whereas indomethacin i…

2020

Mitochondrial fusion and fission tailors the mitochondrial shape to changes in cellular homeostasis. Players of this process are the mitofusins, which regulate fusion of the outer mitochondrial membrane, and the fission protein DRP1. Upon specific stimuli, DRP1 translocates to the mitochondria, where it interacts with its receptors FIS1, MFF, and MID49/51. Another fission factor of clinical relevance is GDAP1. Here, we identify and discuss cysteine residues of these proteins that are conserved in phylogenetically distant organisms and which represent potential sites of posttranslational redox modifications. We reveal that worms and flies possess only a single mitofusin, which in vertebrates…

On the Greedy Algorithm for the Shortest Common Superstring Problem with Reversals

2015

We study a variation of the classical Shortest Common Superstring (SCS) problem in which a shortest superstring of a finite set of strings $S$ is sought containing as a factor every string of $S$ or its reversal. We call this problem Shortest Common Superstring with Reversals (SCS-R). This problem has been introduced by Jiang et al., who designed a greedy-like algorithm with length approximation ratio $4$. In this paper, we show that a natural adaptation of the classical greedy algorithm for SCS has (optimal) compression ratio $\frac12$, i.e., the sum of the overlaps in the output string is at least half the sum of the overlaps in an optimal solution. We also provide a linear-time implement…