Strong Structural Controllability and Zero Forcing

In this chapter, we study controllability and output controllability of systems defined over graphs. Specifically, we consider a family of state-space systems, where the state matrix of each system has a zero/non-zero structure that is determined by a given directed graph. Within this setup, we investigate under which conditions all systems in this family are controllable, a property referred to as strong structural controllability. Moreover, we are interested in conditions for strong structural output controllability. We will show that the graph-theoretic concept of zero forcing is instrumental in these problems. In particular, as our first contribution, we prove necessary and sufficient conditions for strong structural controllability in terms of so-called zero forcing sets. Second, we show that zero forcing sets can also be used to state both a necessary and a sufficient condition for strong structural output controllability. In addition to these main results, we include interesting results on the controllability of subfamilies of systems and on the problem of leader selection.</p

Geometric techniques for implicit two-dimensional systems

Geometric tools are developed for two-dimensional (2-D) models in an implicitFornasini–Marchesini form. In particular, the structural properties of controlled and conditionedinvariance are defined and studied. These properties are investigated in terms ofquarter-plane causal solutions of the implicit model given compatible boundary conditions.The definitions of controlled and conditioned invariance introduced, along with the correspondingoutput-nulling and input-containing subspaces, are shown to be richer than theone-dimensional counterparts. The analysis carried out in this paper establishes necessaryand sufficient conditions for the solvability of 2-D disturbance decoupling problems andunknown-input observation problems. The conditions obtained are expressed in terms ofoutput-nulling and input-containing subspaces, which can be computed recursively in a finitenumber of steps

Detectability subspaces and observer synthesis for two-dimensional systems

The notions of input-containing and detectability subspaces are developed within the context of observer synthesis for two-dimensional (2-D) Fornasini-Marchesini models. Specifically, the paper considers observers which asymptotically estimate the local state, in the sense that the error tends to zero as the reconstructed local state evolves away from possibly mismatched boundary values, modulo a detectability subspace. Ultimately, the synthesis of such observers in the absence of explicit input information is addressed

Rethinking place-making: aligning placeness factors with perceived urban design qualities (PUDQs) to improve the built environment in historical district

Understanding the concept of place is critically important for urban design and place-making practice, and this research attempted to investigate the pathways by which perceived urban design qualities (PUDQs) influence placeness factors in the Chinese context. Twelve hypotheses were developed and combined in a structural equation model for validation. The Tanhualin historical district in Wuhan, China was selected for the analysis. As a result, place attachment was verified as a critical bridge factor that mediated the influence of PUDQs on place satisfaction. Among the five selected PUDQs, walkability and space quality were revealed as the most influential factors associated with place attachment and place satisfaction. Accessibility was actually indirectly beneficial to place-making via the mediation of walkability. Corresponding implications and strategies were discussed to maintain the sense of place for historic districts

Education in the News and in the Mind PISA, News Media and Public Opinion in Norway, Sweden and Finland

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has gained popularity in educational debates, and scholars argue that the tests influence national educational govern - ance. It has further been claimed that PISA has penetrated the news media and that public opinion on education has been affected, but few have offered empirical evidence for such arguments. The present study contributes to the area by investigating the relationship between (i) news consumption and public awareness of PISA, and between (ii) awareness of PISA and public opinion on education in Norway, Sweden and Finland. The findings suggest that consumption of newspapers and public service TV (PBS) news is positively associated with awareness of PISA; consumption of commercial TV news is negatively associated with awareness of PISA. Further, “PISA effects” on public opinion are depend - ent upon news consumption and political considerations. The most significant relationship is found in Norway, where mass political polarization is stronger among respondents who are aware of PISA, compared to those who are no

Representation and Learning in Feedforward Neural Networks

This paper gives an introduction to feedforward neural networks. The ai