Metamodelling of multivariable engine models for real-time flight simulation.

Sophisticated real-time distributed flight simulation environments may be constructed from a wide range of modelling and simulation tools. In this way accuracy, detail and model flexibility may be incorporated into the simulator. Distributed components may be constructed by a wide range of methods, from high level environments such as Matlab, through coded environments such as C or Fortran to hardware-in-the- loop. In this paper the Response Surface Methodology is combined with a hyper-heuristic (evolutionary algorithm) and applied to the representation of computationally intensive non-linear multivariable engine modelling. The paper investigates the potential for metamodelling (models of models) dynamic models which were previously too slow to be included in multi-component, high resolution real-time simulation environments. A multi-dimensional gas turbine model with five primary control inputs, six environmental inputs and eleven outputs is considered. An investigation has been conducted to ascertain to what extent these systems can be approximated by response surfaces with experiments which have been designed by hyper-heuristics as a first step towards automatic modelling methodology

An analytical approach to integral resonant control of second-order systems

Peer reviewedPostprin

Pion Interactions in the X(3872)

We consider pion interactions in an effective field theory of the narrow resonance X(3872), assuming it is a weakly bound molecule of the charm mesons D^{0} \bar D^{*0} and D^{*0} \bar D^{0}. Since the hyperfine splitting of the D^{0} and D^{*0} is only 7 MeV greater than the neutral pion mass, pions can be produced near threshold and are non-relativistic. We show that pion exchange can be treated in perturbation theory and calculate the next-to-leading-order correction to the partial decay width \Gamma[X \to D^0 \bar D^{0} \pi^0].Comment: 26 pages, 11 figures, revtex4, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Unimolecular reaction rates in solution and in the isolated molecule: Comparison of diphenyl butadiene nonradiative decay in solutions and supersonic jets

The recent study of diphenyl butadiene (DPB) in supersonic jets and in solution by Shepanski et al.(1) and by Courtney and Felming(2), respectively, provides an opportunity to compare the isomerization rates measured in the isolated molecule (jet) with those measured at very low viscosity in solution. These comparisons should shed light on the vibrational energy flows between “optical” and “reactive” modes in the isolated molecule and on the connection between activated, friction dependent, models of barrier crossing in solution,(3-5) and statistical RRK (or RRKM) theories of gas phase unimolecular reactions(6)

Impact of Changes in U.S. Grain Standards on Discounts for Insects in Stored Grain

The Federal Grain Inspection Service changed U.S. grain standards in 1988. Insect discounts given at country elevators and at terminal elevators were analyzed to determine impacts of the new standards. Insect discounts influence grain quality by affecting insect control decisions by producers and country elevator managers.Grain Inspection, Insect Discounts, Wheat, Farm Storage, Elevator Storage, Crop Production/Industries,

The Confidential Inquiry into premature deaths of people with intellectual disabilities in the UK: a population-based study

SummaryBackgroundThe Confidential Inquiry into premature deaths of people with intellectual disabilities in England was commissioned to provide evidence about contributory factors to avoidable and premature deaths in this population.MethodsThe population-based Confidential Inquiry reviewed the deaths of people with intellectual disabilities aged 4 years and older who had been registered with a general practitioner in one of five Primary Care Trust areas of southwest England, who died between June 1, 2010, and May 31, 2012. A network of health, social-care, and voluntary-sector services; community contacts; and statutory agencies notified the Confidential Inquiry of all deaths of people with intellectual disabilities and provided core data. The Office for National Statistics provided data about the coding of individual cause of death certificates. Deaths were described as avoidable (preventable or amenable), according to Office for National Statistics definitions. Contributory factors to deaths were identified and quantified by the case investigator, verified by a local review panel meeting, and agreed by the Confidential Inquiry overview panel. Contributory factors were grouped into four domains: intrinsic to the individual, within the family and environment, care provision, and service provision. The deaths of a comparator group of people without intellectual disabilities but much the same in age, sex, and cause of death and registered at the same general practices as those with intellectual disabilities were also investigated.FindingsThe Confidential Inquiry reviewed the deaths of 247 people with intellectual disabilities. Nearly a quarter (22%, 54) of people with intellectual disabilities were younger than 50 years when they died, and the median age at death was 64 years (IQR 52–75). The median age at death of male individuals with intellectual disabilities was 65 years (IQR 54–76), 13 years younger than the median age at death of male individuals in the general population of England and Wales (78 years). The median age at death of female individuals with intellectual disabilities was 63 years (IQR 54–75), 20 years younger than the median age at death for female individuals in the general population (83 years). Avoidable deaths from causes amenable to change by good quality health care were more common in people with intellectual disabilities (37%, 90 of 244) than in the general population of England and Wales (13%). Contributory factors to premature deaths in a subset of people with intellectual disabilities compared with a comparator group of people without intellectual disabilities included problems in advanced care planning (p=0·0003), adherence to the Mental Capacity Act (p=0·0008), living in inappropriate accommodation (p<0·0001), adjusting care as needs changed (p=0·009), and carers not feeling listened to (p=0·006).InterpretationThe Confidential Inquiry provides evidence of the substantial contribution of factors relating to the provision of care and health services to the health disparities between people with and without intellectual disabilities. It is imperative to examine care and service provision for this population as potentially contributory factors to their deaths—factors that can largely be ameliorated.FundingDepartment of Health for England

Creutz Ratios From Color-Truncated Lattice Configurations

We investigate whether information about Creutz ratios is encoded, separately, in each gluon color component of numerically generated lattice configurations. Working in SU(2) lattice gauge theory in Landau gauge, we set two of the three gluon color components to zero, and compensate for the loss of two-thirds of the fluctuation by simply rescaling the remaining component by a factor of $\sqrt{3}$. Creutz ratios are then computed with this "abelianized" configuration. We find that the Creutz ratios of loops constructed from abelianized links converge to the usual Creutz ratios in the scaling regime.Comment: 5 pages, plain LaTeX, one figur