Mathematical and computer modeling of electro-optic systems using a generic modeling approach

The conventional approach to modelling electro-optic sensor systems is to develop separate models for individual systems or classes of system, depending on the detector technology employed in the sensor and the application. However, this ignores commonality in design and in components of these systems. A generic approach is presented for modelling a variety of sensor systems operating in the infrared waveband that also allows systems to be modelled with different levels of detail and at different stages of the product lifecycle. The provision of different model types (parametric and image-flow descriptions) within the generic framework can allow valuable insights to be gained

Views of addiction neuroscientists and clinicians on the clinical impact of a ‘Brain Disease Model of Addiction’

Addiction is increasingly described as a "chronic and relapsing brain disease". The potential impact of the brain disease model on the treatment of addiction or addicted individuals' treatment behaviour remains uncertain. We conducted a qualitative study to examine: (i) the extent to which leading Australian addiction neuroscientists and clinicians accept the brain disease view of addiction; and (ii) their views on the likely impacts of this view on addicted individuals' beliefs and behaviour. Thirty-one Australian addiction neuroscientists and clinicians (10 females and 21 males; 16 with clinical experience and 15 with no clinical experience) took part in 1 h semi-structured interviews. Most addiction neuroscientists and clinicians did not uncritically support the use of brain disease model of addiction. Most were cautious about the potential for adverse impacts on individuals' recovery and motivation to enter treatment. While some recognised the possibility that the brain disease model of addiction may provide a rationale for addicted persons to seek treatment and motivate behaviour change, Australian addiction neuroscientist and clinicians do not assume that messages about "diseased brains" will always lead to increased treatment-seeking and reduced drug use. Research is needed on how neuroscience research could be used in ways that optimise positive outcomes for addicted persons

Casual Compressive Sensing for Gene Network Inference

We propose a novel framework for studying causal inference of gene interactions using a combination of compressive sensing and Granger causality techniques. The gist of the approach is to discover sparse linear dependencies between time series of gene expressions via a Granger-type elimination method. The method is tested on the Gardner dataset for the SOS network in E. coli, for which both known and unknown causal relationships are discovered

Model-Based Assessment of Hybrid Powertrain Solutions

This paper shows the main results of a research activity carried out in order to investigate the impact of different hybridization concepts on vehicle fuel economy during standard homologation cycles (NEDC, FTP75, US Highway, Artemis). Comparative analysis between a standard passenger vehicle and three different hybrid solutions based on the same vehicle platform is presented. The following parallel hybrid powertrain solutions were investigated: Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) solution (three different levels of hybridization are investigated with respect to different Electric Motor Generator size and battery storage/power capacity), High Speed Flywheel (HSF) system described as a fully integrated mechanical (kinetic) hybrid solution based on the quite innovative approach, and hydraulic hybrid system (HHV). In order to perform a fare analysis between different hybrid systems, analysis is also carried out for equal system storage capacities. All hybrid powertrain architectures include state-of-the-art hybrid components and are analyzed from the aspects of fuel economy related to the overall system efficiency, load point moving of the internal combustion engine due to energy flow control strategy operation, and regenerative braking (applying realistic drivability constraints). The simulations were performed within the IAV-VeLoDyn software environment. VeLoDyn (Vehicle Longitudinal Dynamics Simulation) is a modular and highly flexible Simulink-based software tool, which offers a straightforward simulation of longitudinal vehicle dynamics with special considerations on the driveline and model management functionality. In order to provide control and management of the hybrid powertrain system, a cycleindependent control strategy has been implemented into the supervisory hybrid control unit model, based on Equivalent Consumption Minimization Strategy (ECMS) approach. Due to the modular nature of the simulation tool, the control strategy was effectively implemented in all analyzed hybrid models with marginal modifications. In order to determine energy flows and validate hybrid powertrain behavior, a cycle-based energetic analysis was carried out, and the main results are presented in the paper

Analysis of ISO 26262 compliant techniques for the automotive domain

The ISO 26262 standard defines functional safety for automotive E/E systems. Since the publication of the first edition of this standard in 2011, many different safety techniques complying to the ISO 26262 have been developed. However, it is not clear which parts and (sub-) phases of the standard are targeted by these techniques and which objectives of the standard are particularly addressed. Therefore, we carried out a gap analysis to identify gaps between the safety standard objectives of the part 3 till 7 and the existing techniques. In this paper the results of the gap analysis are presented such as we identified that there is a lack of mature tool support for the ASIL subphase and a need for a common platform for the entire product development cycle. Keywords: ISO 26262, vehicle safety, safety standard, gap analysi

Towards high-speed access technologies : results from MUSE

The European MUSE project, which aims to enable "MUlti Service and access Everywhere", studies architectures, technologies and business scenarios facilitating the deployment of new Broadband Access Networks and Services. This paper gives an overview and particularly discusses results of some of the high-speed access technologies that are developed