25,522 research outputs found

    Ethical and Legal Disciplinary Problems Facing Medicine Today

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    Structure of 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline hemihydrate

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    C14H12N2•½H2O, Mr = 217•27, tetragonal I41/a, a = 14•258 (3), c = 22•286 (4) Å, V = 4531 (3) Å3, Z = 16, Dx = 1•274 (1) g cm-3, Mo Kα radiation λ = 0•71073 Å, µ = 0•74 cm-1, F(000) = 1840, T = 297 K, R = 0•041 for 1196 unique observed reflections with I \u3e 2σ(I). Pairs of dimethylphenanthroline molecules related by a twofold axis are bridged by water molecules lying on the twofold axis and H bonded to one of the N atoms in each molecule. The H bonds are long and far from linear: O—H 1•06 (4), H•••N 154 (3)°. This is presumably a consequence of the approximately parallel arrangement of the two phenanthroline molecules in the (phen)2.H2O complex, which are tilted 4•7 (1)° with respect to each other; the atoms in one molecule are 3•50 to 3•81 Å from the plane of the other molecule. On the other side of the phenanthroline is another phenanthroline related by a center of symmetry with the atoms of one molecule 3•41 to 3•45 Å from the plane of the other molecule. The phenanthroline molecule has close to 2mm symmetry, but the individual C6 rings are tilted about 1° with respect to each other

    Linear Control Theory with an ℋ∞ Optimality Criterion

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    This expository paper sets out the principal results in ℋ∞ control theory in the context of continuous-time linear systems. The focus is on the mathematical theory rather than computational methods

    Properties of the mixed μ problem and its bounds

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    Upper and lower bounds for the mixed μ problem have recently been developed, and here we examine the relationship of these bounds to each other and to μ. A number of interesting properties are developed and the implications of these properties for the robustness analysis of linear systems and the development of practical computation schemes are discussed. In particular we find that current techniques can only guarantee easy computation for large problems when μ equals its upper bound, and computational complexity results prohibit this possibility for general problems. In this context we present some special cases where computation is easy and make some direct comparisons between mixed μ and “Kharitonov-type” analysis methods

    Contrasting Views of Complexity and Their Implications For Network-Centric Infrastructures

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    There exists a widely recognized need to better understand and manage complex “systems of systems,” ranging from biology, ecology, and medicine to network-centric technologies. This is motivating the search for universal laws of highly evolved systems and driving demand for new mathematics and methods that are consistent, integrative, and predictive. However, the theoretical frameworks available today are not merely fragmented but sometimes contradictory and incompatible. We argue that complexity arises in highly evolved biological and technological systems primarily to provide mechanisms to create robustness. However, this complexity itself can be a source of new fragility, leading to “robust yet fragile” tradeoffs in system design. We focus on the role of robustness and architecture in networked infrastructures, and we highlight recent advances in the theory of distributed control driven by network technologies. This view of complexity in highly organized technological and biological systems is fundamentally different from the dominant perspective in the mainstream sciences, which downplays function, constraints, and tradeoffs, and tends to minimize the role of organization and design

    Robustness and performance trade-offs in control design for flexible structures

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    Linear control design models for flexible structures are only an approximation to the “real” structural system. There are always modeling errors or uncertainty present. Descriptions of these uncertainties determine the trade-off between achievable performance and robustness of the control design. In this paper it is shown that a controller synthesized for a plant model which is not described accurately by the nominal and uncertainty models may be unstable or exhibit poor performance when implemented on the actual system. In contrast, accurate structured uncertainty descriptions lead to controllers which achieve high performance when implemented on the experimental facility. It is also shown that similar performance, theoretically and experimentally, is obtained for a surprisingly wide range of uncertain levels in the design model. This suggests that while it is important to have reasonable structured uncertainty models, it may not always be necessary to pin down precise levels (i.e., weights) of uncertainty. Experimental results are presented which substantiate these conclusions

    H∞ Control of Nonlinear Systems: A Class of Controllers

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    The standard state space solutions to the H∞ control problem for linear time invariant systems are generalized to nonlinear time-invariant systems. A class of nonlinear H∞-controllers are parameterized as nonlinear fractional transformations on contractive, stable free nonlinear parameters. As in the linear case, the H∞ control problem is solved by its reduction to four simpler special state space problems, together with a separation argument. Another byproduct of this approach is that the sufficient conditions for H∞ control problem to be solved are also derived with this machinery. The solvability for nonlinear H∞-control problem requires positive definite solutions to two parallel decoupled Hamilton-Jacobi inequalities and these two solutions satisfy an additional coupling condition. An illustrative example, which deals with a passive plant, is given at the end

    Managing global expansion of media products and brands: A case study of FHM

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    By focusing on the case study of For Him Magazine (FHM)—a magazine that currently sells in 30 editions across 5 continents—this article explores the economics and main managerial challenges associated with global expansion of media products. The success of FHM demonstrates that, to calculate the full returns available from the brand image created by a magazine title, publishers will take into account not only opportunities for domestic and international exploitation of the magazine, but also the potential to extend the brand across additional media platforms and additional complementary product markets. This study focuses on how global expansion of FHM has been managed
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