Applying Digital MIMO Dynamic Sliding Surface Control to Idle Speed Control of Spark Ignition Engine

The good idle speed control of spark ignition engine makes the customers comfortable and drives smooth. To derive its controller, a control-oriented object based model of spark ignition engine is discussed in this paper. To achieve accuracy tracking and reduce the control effort, a digital MIMO dynamic sliding surface control rule is proposed in this paper. The sliding mode controller will drive the system to tracking the desired response. The existence condition of the discrete sliding mode is expanded to two conditions. The first one is used to keep the sliding motion toward to the sliding surface. The next one is to keep the sliding motion convergent. The dynamic sliding surface will decrease the approaching time. At the same time, the output magnitude of the switching part will be reduced efficiently. Finally, the simulation results will demonstrate the performance of the proposed control rule. The different working conditions will show the robustness of the proposed controller for parameter variation and the external load

Impact of Hurricane Katrina on the Coastal Systems of Southern Louisiana

Natural disasters, such as hurricanes and forest fires, could trigger collapse and reorganization of social-ecological systems. In the face of external perturbations, a resilient system would have capacity to absorb impacts, adapt to change, learn, and if needed, reorganize within the same regime. Within this context, we asked how human and natural systems in Louisiana responded to Hurricane Katrina, and how the natural disaster altered the status of these systems. This paper discusses community resilience to natural hazards and addresses the limitations for assessing disaster resilience. Furthermore, we assessed social and environmental change in New Orleans and southern Louisiana through both a spatial and temporal lens (i.e., pre- and post-Katrina). By analyzing changes in system condition using social, economic and environmental factors, we identified some of the characteristics of the system’s reorganization trajectories. Our results suggest that although the ongoing population recovery may be a sign of revitalization, the city and metropolitan area continue to face socioeconomic inequalities and environmental vulnerability to natural disasters. Further, the spatial distribution of social-ecological condition over time reveals certain levels of change and reorganization after Katrina, but the reorganization did not translate into greater equity. This effort presents an enhanced approach to assessing social-ecological change pre and post disturbance and provides a way forward for characterizing pertinent aspects of disaster resilience

An Information Theory-Based Approach to Assessing Spatial Patterns in Complex Systems

Given the intensity and frequency of environmental change, the linked and cross-scale nature of social-ecological systems, and the proliferation of big data, methods that can help synthesize complex system behavior over a geographical area are of great value. Fisher information evaluates order in data and has been established as a robust and effective tool for capturing changes in system dynamics, including the detection of regimes and regime shifts. The methods developed to compute Fisher information can accommodate multivariate data of various types and requires no a priori decisions about system drivers, making it a unique and powerful tool. However, the approach has primarily been used to evaluate temporal patterns. In its sole application to spatial data, Fisher information successfully detected regimes in terrestrial and aquatic systems over transects. Although the selection of adjacently positioned sampling stations provided a natural means of ordering the data, such an approach limits the types of questions that can be answered in a spatial context. Here, we expand the approach to develop a method for more fully capturing spatial dynamics. The results reflect changes in the index that correspond with geographical patterns and demonstrate the utility of the method in uncovering hidden spatial trends in complex systems

Histone deacetylase 3 binds to and regulates the GCMa transcription factor

Human GCMa transcription factor regulates expression of syncytin, a placental fusogenic protein mediating trophoblastic fusion. Recently, we have demonstrated that CBP-mediated GCMa acetylation underlies the activated cAMP/PKA signaling pathway that stimulates trophoblastic fusion. Because protein acetylation is a reversible modification governed by histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylase (HDACs), in this study we investigated the key HDACs responsible for deacetylation of GCMa and thus the reduction in GCMa activity to avoid unwanted fusion events that may have adverse effects on placental morphogenesis. We herein demonstrate that the HDAC inhibitor, trichostatin A (TSA), increases the level of acetylated GCMa and that HDAC1, 3, 4 and 5 interact with and deacetylate GCMa. Glutathione S-transferase (GST) pull-down assays further verified direct interaction between GCMa and HDAC3 or CBP and HDAC3. HDAC3 counteracts the transcriptional coactivator activity of CBP and the enhancement effect of CBP on GCMa-mediated transcriptional activation. Correlatively, we found in placental cells that HDAC3 associates with the proximal GCMa-binding site (pGBS) in the syncytin promoter and dissociates from pGBS in the presence of forskolin, which stimulates the association of CBP and GCMa with pGBS. Our studies support that trophoblastic fusion in placental morphogenesis depends on the regulation of GCMa activity by HAT and HDAC

Social vulnerability, social-ecological resilience and coastal governance

Non-technical summary. Our analysis shows that the framing of social vulnerability is shaped by a narrow definition of resilience, focusing on post-disaster return and recovery responses. This perspective does not account for the dynamism and non-stationarity of social-ecological systems (SES) which is becoming increasingly important in the face of accelerating environmental change. Incorporating social-ecological resilience into social vulnerability analysis can improve coastal governance by accounting for adaptation and transformation, as well as scale and cross-scale interactions. Technical summary. Social vulnerability analysis has been unable to deliver outcomes that reflect the reality of vulnerability and its consequences in an era characterised by accelerating environmental change. In this work, we used critical discourse analysis and key informant interviews to understand different framings of social vulnerability in coastal governance and management, globally and in New Zealand. We found that the framing of system vulnerability could vary depending on the definition of resilience adopted, which has critical ramifications for coastal governance of linked systems of humans and nature. We found that the framing of social vulnerability in coastal governance is mainly influenced by engineering, community and disaster resilience, focusing on return and recovery governance responses to environmental change (e.g. hurricanes, wildfires). Instead, we suggest a novel perspective based on social-ecological resilience, which more accurately reflects the dynamics of linked systems of humans and nature (SES). This revised perspective, general vulnerability, accounts for the dynamics of Earth’s systems across various spatial and temporal scales in the face of accelerating environmental change. Accounting for social-ecological resilience and its core aspects (i.e. panarchy, adaptation and transformation) is essential for informing coastal governance of SES (Do we adapt? or Do we transform the SES?). Social media summary. Social-ecological resilience is essential for social vulnerability analysis in the face of accelerating environmental change

On the Influencing Factors of Dictionary App Interface Design for the Elders

AbstractEnglish learning is becoming one of the popular movements towards the Globalization. In recent years especially, more people use smartphones to learn English. However, it was found in the current market that most dictionary apps were designed for the younger generation and neglected the needs of the elderly. The issue of memory over-load turned out to be the critical problem of the usability for the elderly, due to the complex menu structures. Thus this study is meant to explore a suitable menu structure for the senior user, and provide suggestions for the relative researches.The study results are:1.Gender: There is no significant between male and female in the operating performance.2.Menu structure: the performance of the hybrid structure is superior to the linear structure.3.Display mode: There is no significant between the horizontal and vertical display modes in operating performance.4.Task Complexity: A positive ratio between task complexity and menu topological structure was revealed, the harder the task complexity, the better performance of mixed structure can be expected

Disseminated nocardiosis with thyroid involvement: A case report

Nocardiosis is a life-threatening infection that affects the lungs, skin, and central nervous system, particularly in immune-compromised patients. We report a case of disseminated nocardiosis with pneumonia, brain abscesses, meningitis, and thyroiditis, for an individual with recent steroid therapy. Recovery was uneventful with a 4-month course of sulfamethoxazole–trimethoprim

Effects of computer-based cognitive training combined with physical training for older adults with cognitive impairment: A four-arm randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: Combined physical (PHY) and cognitive (COG) training in sequential (SEQ) and simultaneous (SIMUL) sessions may delay the progression of cognitive impairment. To date, no study has directly compared in older adults with cognitive impairment the effects of COG training, PHY training, SEQ motor-cognitive training and SIMUL motor-cognitve training on specific indices of cognitive performance and activities of daily living (ADL). The purpose of this study was to determine whether SEQ and SIMUL motor-cognitive training can improve treatment outcomes compared with PHY or COG training alone. We also aimed to compare the effects of SEQ versus SIMUL motor-cognitive training on cognitive functions and instrumental ADL (IADL) in older adults with cognitive impairment. METHODS: A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted. Eighty older adults with cognitive impairment were randomly assigned to COG, PHY, SEQ or SIMUL training groups. The intervention consisted of 90-min training sessions, totaling 36 sessions. Outcome measures were the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, three subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) and the Lawton IADL scale. RESULTS: Significant interaction effects between group and time were found in WMS-spatial span ( CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed SEQ and SIMUL motor-cognitive training led to more pronounced improvements in visuospatial working memory or verbal memory compared with isolated COG or PHY training for community-based older adults with cognitive impairment. For enhancing effects on IADL, we suggest the use of sensitive measurement tools and context-enriched cognitive training involving real-life task demands