5,268 research outputs found
PID controller design for fractional-order systems with time delays
Cataloged from PDF version of article.Classical proper PID controllers are designed for linear time invariant plants whose transfer functions are rational functions of s(alpha), where 0 < alpha < 1, and s is the Laplace transform variable. Effect of input-output time delay on the range of allowable controller parameters is investigated. The allowable PID controller parameters are determined from a small gain type of argument used earlier for finite dimensional plants. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
On the Invariant Theory of Weingarten Surfaces in Euclidean Space
We prove that any strongly regular Weingarten surface in Euclidean space
carries locally geometric principal parameters. The basic theorem states that
any strongly regular Weingarten surface is determined up to a motion by its
structural functions and the normal curvature function satisfying a geometric
differential equation. We apply these results to the special Weingarten
surfaces: minimal surfaces, surfaces of constant mean curvature and surfaces of
constant Gauss curvature.Comment: 16 page
Relações de bromélias epifíticas com características dos forófitos em diferentes estádios sucessionais da floresta ombrófila densa, Santa Catarina, Brasil.
O presente estudo teve o objetivo de caracterizar a ocorrência de bromélias epifíticas em quatro estádios sucessionais (capoeirinha, capoeira, capoeirão e floresta secundária) da Floresta Ombrófila Densa em encostas da Ilha de Santa Catarina, Santa Catarina, Brasil. As bromélias foram classificadas em grupos de ocorrência ampla e restrita de acordo com a amplitude de sua distribuição. Os forófitos foram selecionados através do método de pontos quadrantes, e suas características foram analisadas em associação com o número de espécies de bromélias, através da análise multivariada. Foram registradas cinco espécies de bromélias na capoeira, oito no capoeirão e onze na floresta secundária. A similaridade foi maior entre o capoeirão e a floresta secundária, com trocas e substituições de espécies e gêneros nos sucessivos estádios de regeneração da floresta. As bromélias apresentaram correlações diretas com a altura total dos forófitos, indicando que o tempo é um fator importante na colonização de bromélias epifíticas
Recent Outbursts from the Transient X-Ray Pulsar Cep X-4 (GS 2138+56)
We report on X-ray observations of the 66 s period transient X-ray pulsar Cep
X-4 (GS 2138+56) with the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) on the
Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO) and with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer
(RXTE). Two outbursts from Cep X-4 were observed with BATSE in 1993 June-July
and 1997 July. Pulse frequencies of 15.0941 +/- 0.0002 mHz on 1993 June 25 (MJD
49,163) and 15.0882 +/- 0.0002 mHz on 1997 July 12 (MJD 50,641) were each
measured from 2 day spans of BATSE data near each outburst's peak. Cep X-4
showed an average spin down rate of (-4.14 +/- 0.08)*10^(-14) Hz/s between the
1993 and 1997 outbursts. After BATSE could no longer detect Cep X-4, public
observations were performed on 1997 July 18 & 25 with the Proportional Counter
Array (PCA) on RXTE. A pulse frequency of 15.088 +/- 0.004 mHz was measured
from observations on 1997 July 18 (MJD 50,647). Significant aperiodic noise,
with an rms variance of ~18% in the frequency range 0.01-1.0 Hz was observed on
both days. Energy and intensity dependent pulse shape variations were also seen
in these data. Recently published optical observations associate Cep X-4 with a
Be companion star. If all 4 outbursts observed from Cep X-4 are assumed to
occur at the same orbital phase, we find that the orbital period is between 23
days and 147.3 days.Comment: 19 pages (LaTeX) including 9 figures. Accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journa
SINFONI in the Galactic Center: young stars and IR flares in the central light month
We report 75 milli-arcsec resolution, near-IR imaging spectroscopy within the
central 30 light days of the Galactic Center [...]. To a limiting magnitude of
K~16, 9 of 10 stars in the central 0.4 arcsec, and 13 of 17 stars out to 0.7
arcsec from the central black hole have spectral properties of B0-B9, main
sequence stars. [...] all brighter early type stars have normal rotation
velocities, similar to solar neighborhood stars. We [...] derive improved 3d
stellar orbits for six of these S-stars in the central 0.5 arcsec. Their
orientations in space appear random. Their orbital planes are not co-aligned
with those of the two disks of massive young stars 1-10 arcsec from SgrA*. We
can thus exclude [...] that the S-stars as a group inhabit the inner regions of
these disks. They also cannot have been located/formed in these disks [...].
[...] we conclude that the S-stars were most likely brought into the central
light month by strong individual scattering events. The updated estimate of
distance to the Galactic center from the S2 orbit fit is Ro = 7.62 +/- 0.32
kpc, resulting in a central mass value of 3.61 +/- 0.32 x 10^6 Msun. We
happened to catch two smaller flaring events from SgrA* [...]. The 1.7-2.45 mum
spectral energy distributions of these flares are fit by a featureless, red
power law [...]. The observed spectral slope is in good agreement with
synchrotron models in which the infrared emission comes from [...] radiative
inefficient accretion flow in the central R~10 Rs region.Comment: 50 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables, submitted to ApJ, February 6th, 2005,
abstract abridge
Performance of LED-Based Fluorescence Microscopy to Diagnose Tuberculosis in a Peripheral Health Centre in Nairobi.
Sputum microscopy is the only tuberculosis (TB) diagnostic available at peripheral levels of care in resource limited countries. Its sensitivity is low, particularly in high HIV prevalence settings. Fluorescence microscopy (FM) can improve performance of microscopy and with the new light emitting diode (LED) technologies could be appropriate for peripheral settings. The study aimed to compare the performance of LED-FM versus Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) microscopy and to assess feasibility of LED-FM at a low level of care in a high HIV prevalence country
The interferometric baselines and GRAVITY astrometric error budget
GRAVITY is a new generation beam combination instrument for the VLTI. Its
goal is to achieve microarsecond astrometric accuracy between objects separated
by a few arcsec. This accuracy on astrometric measurements is the most
important challenge of the instrument, and careful error budget have been
paramount during the technical design of the instrument. In this poster, we
will focus on baselines induced errors, which is part of a larger error budget.Comment: SPIE Meeting 2014 -- Montrea
On practical problems to compute the ghost propagator in SU(2) lattice gauge theory
In SU(2) lattice pure gauge theory we study numerically the dependence of the
ghost propagator G(p) on the choice of Gribov copies in Lorentz (or Landau)
gauge. We find that the effect of Gribov copies is essential in the scaling
window region, however, it tends to decrease with increasing beta. On the other
hand, we find that at larger beta-values very strong fluctuations appear which
can make problematic the calculation of the ghost propagator.Comment: 15 pages, 5 postscript figures. 2 Figures added Revised version as to
be published in Phys.Rev.
A Search for Exozodiacal Dust and Faint Companions Near Sirius, Procyon, and Altair with the NICMOS Coronagraph
We observed Sirius, Altair, and Procyon with the NICMOS Coronagraph on the
Hubble Space Telescope to look for scattered light from exozodiacal dust and
faint companions within 10 AU from these stars. We did not achieve enough
dynamic range to surpass the upper limits set by IRAS on the amount of
exo-zodiacal dust in these systems, but we did set strong upper limits on the
presence of nearby late-type and sub-stellar companions.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
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