An Integrated Fuzzy Inference Based Monitoring, Diagnostic, and Prognostic System

To date the majority of the research related to the development and application of monitoring, diagnostic, and prognostic systems has been exclusive in the sense that only one of the three areas is the focus of the work. While previous research progresses each of the respective fields, the end result is a variable grab bag of techniques that address each problem independently. Also, the new field of prognostics is lacking in the sense that few methods have been proposed that produce estimates of the remaining useful life (RUL) of a device or can be realistically applied to real-world systems. This work addresses both problems by developing the nonparametric fuzzy inference system (NFIS) which is adapted for monitoring, diagnosis, and prognosis and then proposing the path classification and estimation (PACE) model that can be used to predict the RUL of a device that does or does not have a well defined failure threshold. To test and evaluate the proposed methods, they were applied to detect, diagnose, and prognose faults and failures in the hydraulic steering system of a deep oil exploration drill. The monitoring system implementing an NFIS predictor and sequential probability ratio test (SPRT) detector produced comparable detection rates to a monitoring system implementing an autoassociative kernel regression (AAKR) predictor and SPRT detector, specifically 80% vs. 85% for the NFIS and AAKR monitor respectively. It was also found that the NFIS monitor produced fewer false alarms. Next, the monitoring system outputs were used to generate symptom patterns for k-nearest neighbor (kNN) and NFIS classifiers that were trained to diagnose different fault classes. The NFIS diagnoser was shown to significantly outperform the kNN diagnoser, with overall accuracies of 96% vs. 89% respectively. Finally, the PACE implementing the NFIS was used to predict the RUL for different failure modes. The errors of the RUL estimates produced by the PACE-NFIS prognosers ranged from 1.2-11.4 hours with 95% confidence intervals (CI) from 0.67-32.02 hours, which are significantly better than the population based prognoser estimates with errors of ~45 hours and 95% CIs of ~162 hours

Perspectives of university teaching in Costa Rica in times of digital media

Perspectives of university teaching in Costa Rica in times of digital media examines an educational approach to understand the space of learning that takes place in higher education. For that, a selection of viewpoints of digital media and university teaching are discussed in the light of a tradition: the Journeyman Years. The key research question is: what is a space of learning in higher education from the students and professor's perspectives at the Universidad de Costa Rica? Pertinent to this topic, other sub-questions are: what kind of spaces of learning are being ofered at the Universidad de Costa Rica? How to reconsider the space of learning at a university? Chapter Two introduces the Wanderjahre (Journeyman Years) story, a leading metaphor for this manuscript where an approach to learning in terms of space is presented. Chapter Three examines two diferent knowledge approaches: frst, mechanistic thinking is highlighted in relation to digital media. Humans learn of natural phenomena through rational means, seeking to demystify and unveil a true world. Second, romantic thinking is featured in relation to higher education. Individuals learn about the world by engaging in practice while being social, experiencing directly the world in continuous change. Chapter Four presents an interpretation of the previous theoretical perspectives. After a selection of reviewed concepts, Learning by Wandering is proposed, a structure to analyze the construction of the space of learning in higher education. Chapter Five describes an ethnographic case study of the space of learning at the Universidad de Costa Rica, where 150 students and eight university teachers throughout diferent contexts are studied. Chapter Six features the major relevant fndings in my thesis to analyze university teaching in terms of space. In this chapter, a list of recommendations for the Universidad de Costa Rica is ofered, in order to foster higher education in terms of space

2016-2017 Boise State University Undergraduate Catalog

This catalog is primarily for students, but can serve many audiences. In this catalog you will find an overview of Boise State University and information on admission, registration, grades, tuition and fees, financial aid, housing, student services, and other important policies and procedures. However, most of this catalog is devoted to describing the various programs and courses offered at Boise State

Living with HIV:Implications for school and work participation

Since the introduction of combination antiretroviral treatment, HIV infection has changed into a chronic disease. When successfully treated, HIV-infected people nowadays have a near-normal life expectancy. The ability of living with HIV as a chronic disease yields new challenges. HIV-infected people are now subject to complications of chronic exposure to HIV, the lifelong use of medication, an increased risk for several co-morbidities and neuropsychological and psychosocial complications. Moreover, the social stigma attached to HIV forms a burden for people living with HIV and affects their daily living. This thesis focusses on the long-term outcomes of people living with HIV and the implications for their participation. We presented six studies on people living with HIV, with a specific focus on school participation of perinatally HIV-infected children and work participation of HIV-infected adults. Our studies indicated that both HIV-infected children and adults are at risk to face several challenges in participation, respectively at school and work. Difficulties in psychosocial functioning, neuropsychological functioning, and physical complaints led to these challenges. In addition, an important theme in this thesis is the impact of social and contextual factors on school and work participation of people living with HIV, including stigma and disclosure. It is important to incorporate functioning at school and work into regular clinical healthcare, in order to address experienced challenges and provide attuned support as early as possible. Recent developments, such as value-based healthcare, create opportunities to integrate functioning at school and work into daily clinical practice.<br/

Aerospace medicine and biology: A cumulative index to the 1986 issues (supplement 293)

This publication is a cumulative index to the abstracts contained in the Supplements 281 through 292 of Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography. It includes seven indexes - subject, personal author, corporate source, foreign technology, contract number, report number, and accession number

Routledge Handbook of Public Policy in Africa

This Handbook provides an authoritative and foundational disciplinary overview of African Public Policy and a comprehensive examination of the practicalities of policy analysis, policymaking processes, implementation, and administration in Africa today. The book assembles a multidisciplinary team of distinguished and upcoming Africanist scholars, practitioners, researchers and policy experts working inside and outside Africa to analyse the historical and emerging policy issues in 21st-century Africa. While mostly attentive to comparative public policy in Africa, this book attempts to address some of the following pertinent questions: • How can public policy be understood and taught in Africa? • How does policymaking occur in unstable political contexts, or in states under pressure? • Has the democratisation of governing systems improved policy processes in Africa? • How have recent transformations, such as technological proliferation in Africa, impacted public policy processes? • What are the underlying challenges and potential policy paths for Africa going forward? The contributions examine an interplay of prevailing institutional, political, structural challenges and opportunities for policy effectiveness to discern striking commonalities and trajectories across different African states. This is a valuable resource for practitioners, politicians, researchers, university students, and academics interested in studying and understanding how African countries are governed

GVSU Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog, 2013-2014

Grand Valley State University 2013-2014 undergraduate and/or graduate course catalog published annually to provide students with information and guidance for enrollment.https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/course_catalogs/1088/thumbnail.jp

Office of Exploration: Exploration studies technical report. Volume 2: Studies approach and results

The NASA Office of Exploration has been tasked with defining and recommending alternatives for an early 1990's national decision on a focused program of human exploration of the solar system. The Mission Analysis and System Engineering (MASE) group, which is managed by the Exploration Studies Office at the Johnson Space Center, is responsible for coordinating the technical studies necessary for accomplishing such a task. This technical report describes the process that has been developed in a case study approach. The four case studies that were developed in FY88 include: (1) human expedition to Phobos; (2) human expeditions to Mars; (3) lunar observatory; and (4) lunar outpost to early Mars evolution. The final outcome of this effort is a set of programmatic and technical conclusions and recommendations for the following year's work. Volume 2 describes the case study process, the technical results of each of the case studies, and opportunities for additional study. Included in the discussion of each case study is a description of the mission key features and profile. Mission definition and manifesting are detailed, followed by a description of the mission architecture and infrastructure. Systems concepts for the required orbital nodes, transportation systems, and planetary surface systems are discussed. Prerequisite implementation plans resulting from the synthesized case studies are described and in-depth assessments are presented