Implementation of mean-timing and subsequent logic functions on an FPGA

This article describes the implementation of a mean-timer and coincidence logic on a Virtex-5 FPGA for trigger purposes in a particle physics experiment. The novel feature is that the mean-timing and the coincidence logic are not synchronized with a clock which allows for a higher resolution of approximately 400 ps, not limited by a clock frequency.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figure

Permissive Controller Synthesis for Probabilistic Systems

We propose novel controller synthesis techniques for probabilistic systems modelled using stochastic two-player games: one player acts as a controller, the second represents its environment, and probability is used to capture uncertainty arising due to, for example, unreliable sensors or faulty system components. Our aim is to generate robust controllers that are resilient to unexpected system changes at runtime, and flexible enough to be adapted if additional constraints need to be imposed. We develop a permissive controller synthesis framework, which generates multi-strategies for the controller, offering a choice of control actions to take at each time step. We formalise the notion of permissivity using penalties, which are incurred each time a possible control action is disallowed by a multi-strategy. Permissive controller synthesis aims to generate a multi-strategy that minimises these penalties, whilst guaranteeing the satisfaction of a specified system property. We establish several key results about the optimality of multi-strategies and the complexity of synthesising them. Then, we develop methods to perform permissive controller synthesis using mixed integer linear programming and illustrate their effectiveness on a selection of case studies

Incidence and treatment of diaphragmatic paralysis after cardiac surgery in children

Objective: Diaphragmatic paralysis (DP) caused by phrenic nerve injury is potentially life-threatening in infants. Phrenic nerve injury due to thoracic surgery is the most common cause of DP in children. We retrospectively analyzed incidence, surgical details, management and follow-up of our patients with DP after cardiac surgery to develop an algorithm for the management and follow-up. Methods: Retrospective analysis of 43 patients with DP after cardiac surgery performed between 1996 and 2000. Results: Median age at cardiac surgery was 1 month (range 3 days to 9 years). Incidence of DP was 5.4%. A trend towards higher incidences of DP were observed after arterial switch operation (10.8%, P=0.18), Fontan procedure (17.6%, P=0.056) and Blalock-Taussig Shunt (12.8%, P=0.10). Median time from cardiac surgery to surgical plication was 21 days (range 7-210 days). Transthoracic diaphragmatic plication was performed in 29/43 patients, no plication was done in 14/43 patients. Patients in whom diaphragmatic plication was required were younger (median age 2 months, range 21 days to 53 months versus 17.5 months, range 4 days to 110 months; P≪0.001). Indications for plication were failure to wean from ventilator (n=22), respiratory distress (n=4), cavopulmonary anastomosis (n=2), and failure to thrive (n=1). All these symptoms resolved after diaphragmatic plication, however, 8/29 patients with plication and 2/14 without plication died. Cause of death was not related to diaphragmatic plication in any patient. Position of plicated diaphragm was normal in 18/21 surviving patients 1 month after plication. In 2/12 surviving patients without plication hemidiaphragm showed a normal position 1 year after surgery. The rate of pulmonary infections was not significantly different during 12-60 months follow-up. Conclusions: DP is an occasional complication of cardiac surgery. High incidences of DP were seen after arterial switch operation, Fontan procedure and Blalock-Taussig shunt (BT). Respiratory insufficiency requires diaphragmatic plication in most infants with DP whereas older children may tolerate DP. Transthoracic diaphragmatic plication is an effective treatment of DP and achieves relief of respiratory insufficiency in most patients. Spontaneous recovery from postsurgical DP is rar

The participatory market chain approach: stimulating pro-poor market-chain innovation

Innovation in the food and agriculture sector is frequently short-circuited by a lack of trust and communication between actors in the market chain. To overcome these problems and stimulate innovation, the Participatory Market Chain Approach (PMCA) brings together small farmers, market agents, and service providers for an intense process of facilitated interaction. The PMCA uses a flexible three-stage participatory process to improve communication, build trust, and facilitate collaboration among participants so that they can jointly identify, analyze, and exploit new market opportunities. The PMCA focuses on innovation in products, technologies, and ways of working together. By carefully selecting market chains and partners, and building in social responsibility, the PMCA can lead to favourable outcomes and impacts for poor farmers, typically the weakest link in the chain. The PMCA requires facilitation and technical support from professionals with good social skills, research experience, and marketing knowledge, based in a neutral research and development organization. To ensure that impacts are sustained, the PMCA is best used as part of a broader programme of market chain development

Dynamic stereo microscopy for studying particle sedimentation

We demonstrate a new method for measuring the sedimentation of a single colloidal bead by using a combination of optical tweezers and a stereo microscope based on a spatial light modulator. We use optical tweezers to raise a micron-sized silica bead to a fixed height and then release it to observe its 3D motion while it sediments under gravity. This experimental procedure provides two independent measurements of bead diameter and a measure of Faxén’s correction, where the motion changes due to presence of the boundary

Selective Harmonic Elimination Model Predictive Control for Multilevel Power Converters

© 2016 IEEE. In this study, a model predictive control (MPC) strategy that combines finite-control-set MPC with selective harmonic elimination (SHE) modulation pattern in its formulation is proposed to govern multilevel power converters. Based on a desired operating point for the system state (converter current reference), an associated predefined SHE voltage pattern is obtained as a required steady-state control input reference. Then, the cost function is formulated with the inclusion of both system state and control input references. According with the proposed reference and cost function formulation, the predictive controller prefers to track the converter output current reference in transients, while preserving the SHE voltage pattern in steady state. Hence, as evidenced by experimental results, a fast dynamic response is obtained throughout transients while a predefined voltage and current spectrum with low switching frequency is achieved in steady state

Exact theory of kinkable elastic polymers

The importance of nonlinearities in material constitutive relations has long been appreciated in the continuum mechanics of macroscopic rods. Although the moment (torque) response to bending is almost universally linear for small deflection angles, many rod systems exhibit a high-curvature softening. The signature behavior of these rod systems is a kinking transition in which the bending is localized. Recent DNA cyclization experiments by Cloutier and Widom have offered evidence that the linear-elastic bending theory fails to describe the high-curvature mechanics of DNA. Motivated by this recent experimental work, we develop a simple and exact theory of the statistical mechanics of linear-elastic polymer chains that can undergo a kinking transition. We characterize the kinking behavior with a single parameter and show that the resulting theory reproduces both the low-curvature linear-elastic behavior which is already well described by the Wormlike Chain model, as well as the high-curvature softening observed in recent cyclization experiments.Comment: Revised for PRE. 40 pages, 12 figure

Risk-adjusted trend in national inpatient fall rates observed from 2011 to 2019 in acute care hospitals in Switzerland: a repeated multicentre cross-sectional study

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate whether a significant trend regarding inpatient falls in Swiss acute care hospitals between 2011 and 2019 could be confirmed on a national level, and whether the trend persists after risk adjustment for patient-related fall risk factors. Design: A secondary data analysis was conducted based on annual multicentre cross-sectional studies carried out between 2011 and 2019. Setting: All Swiss acute care hospitals were obliged to participate in the surveys. Except for emergency departments, outpatient wards and recovery rooms, all wards were included. Participants: All inpatients aged 18 or older who had given their informed consent and whose data were complete and available were included. Outcome measure Whether a patient had fallen in the hospital was retrospectively determined on the survey day by asking patients the following question: Have you fallen in this institution in the last 30 days? Results Based on data from 110 892 patients from 222 Swiss hospitals, a national inpatient fall rate of 3.7% was determined over the 9 survey years. A significant linear decreasing trend (p=0.004) was observed using the Cochran-Armitage trend test. After adjusting for patient-related fall risk factors in a two-level random intercept logistic regression model, a significant non-linear decreasing trend was found at the national level. Conclusions: A significant decrease in fall rates in Swiss hospitals, indicating an improvement in the quality of care provided, could be confirmed both descriptively and after risk adjustment. However, the non-linear trend, that is, an initial decrease in inpatient falls that flattens out over time, also indicates a possible future increase in fall rates. Monitoring of falls in hospitals should be maintained at the national level. Risk adjustment accounts for the observed increase in patient-related fall risk factors in hospitals, thus promoting a fairer comparison of the quality of care provided over time

Primordial magnetic field constraints from the end of reionization

Primordial magnetic fields generated in the early universe are subject of considerable investigation, and observational limits on their strength are required to constrain the theory. Due to their impact on the reionization process, the strength of primordial fields can be limited using the latest data on reionization and the observed UV-luminosity function of high-redshift galaxies. Given the steep faint-end slope of the luminosity function, faint galaxies contribute substantial ionizing photons, and the low-luminosity cutoff has an impact on the total budget thereof. Magnetic pressure from primordial fields affects such cutoff by preventing collapse in halos with mass below 10^{10} M_solar (B_0 / 3 nG)^3, with B_0 the co-moving field strength. In this letter, the implications of these effects are consistently incorporated in a simplified model for reionization, and the uncertainties due to the cosmological parameters, the reionization parameters and the observed UV luminosity function are addressed. We show that the observed ionization degree at z\sim7 leads to the strongest upper limit of B_0\lsim 2-3nG. Stronger limits could follow from measurements of high ionization degree at z>7.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, resubmitted to MNRAS letter