Time-optimal rendezvous for elliptic orbits

Time optimal rendezvous trajectories for variable thrust intercepting and orbiting space vehicle

Changes in Sexuality of Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Patients Under Hormone Therapy in Japan: a Case Study

Background: Hormone therapy is an important treatment for male patients with prostate cancer. However, it can produce changes in the genitalia and sexuality of the patients. Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relations between changes in male genitalia and sexuality in the castration-resistant prostate cancer patients. It also proposed concrete interventions to ease pain and fear towards body image changes. Methods: This study used a descriptive qualitative design. The subjects were two castration-resistant prostate cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and endocrine therapy. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using verbatim reports and content analysis. Results: The study indicated that the effects of hormone therapy treatment on the sexuality were largely categorized as: “surprises and anxieties about the shrinkage of male genitalia”, “masculinity loss”, “difficulty adapting the situation”, and “connection with others”. Conclusion: It became clear that the prostate cancer patients had pains not only for prognosis, but also for physical changes, relationship changes with others and sexuality changes through their treatments

High-order volterra model predictive control and its application to a nonlinear polymerisation process

Model Predictive Control (MPC) has recently found wide acceptance in the process industry, but the existing design and implementation methods are restricted to linear process models. A chemical process involves, however, severe nonlinearity which cannot be ignored in practice. This paper aims to solve this nonlinear control problem by extending MPC to nonlinear models. It develops an analytical framework for nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC), and also offers a third-order Volterra series based nonparametric nonlinear modelling technique for NMPC design which relieves practising engineers from the need for first deriving a physical-principles based model. An on-line realisation technique for implementing the NMPC is also developed. The NMPC is then applied to a Mitsubishi Chemicals polymerisation reaction process. The results show that this nonlinear MPC technique is feasible and very effective. It considerably outperforms linear and low-order Volterra model based methods. The advantages of the approach developed lie not only in control performance superior to existing NMPC methods, but also in relieving practising engineers from the need for deriving an analytical model and then converting it to a Volterra model through which the model can only be obtained up to the second order

Optimization study of a single three-gimbaled control moment gyro Final report

Feasibility of using single three-gimbaled control moment gyro for control of orbital spacecraft module

Breast Cancer Knowledge and Preventive Behavior Among Filipino Women in a Rural Area: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: The incidence and mortality rates of breast cancer are high among Filipino women. The lack of knowledge on preventive behavior and early detection related to breast cancer is considered a reason. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the association between knowledge about breast cancer and selected sociodemographic characteristics, daily life factors, reproductive factors, and perceived breast cancer risk factors. Patients and Methods: This study used a cross-sectional design. The study population consisted of 527 women. Interviews were conducted by the investigators. The contents of the questionnaire collected basic characteristics of the respondents, including their sociodemographic profiles, their knowledge of breast cancer risk factors, preventive behaviors, early detection, and their daily life and reproductive factors. Predictor variables were analyzed using a Chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test, and a t-test. Multivariate logistic regression was applied for any significant differences (P < 0.005) among the predictor variables. One-way ANOVA and Tukey’s HDS were used to evaluate the association between education level and reproductive factors. Results: Less than half of the women (42.7%) had knowledge on breast cancer risk factors, and an equivalent number had knowledge on breast cancer symptoms. Women with higher educational levels were noted to give birth to their first child at a significantly older age and have a significantly lower number of childbirths. Multivariate logistic regression demonstrated that body mass index, education history, knowledge about symptoms, knowing how to conduct a breast self-examination, family history of cancer, and passive smoking could predict breast cancer knowledge. Conclusions: Women who were aware of risk factors for breast cancer possessed a higher education level and had knowledge of the association of risk factors with preventive behaviors and early detection. However, a minority of women (42.7%) knew enough about breast cancer, preventive behaviors, and what actions to take for early detection

Interspecies reactivity and intraspecies specificity of antilymphoid globulin

Horse antihuman and antidog antilymphocyte globulins were shown to possess leukoagglutinating antibodies when tested against the white cells from a number of other divergent species. In addition, the white cells of individuals within the species against which immunization was originally conducted were variably affected by the immune globulin. The latter observation suggests that these globulins could be more effective in some cases than in others if they were used therapeutically for their immunosuppressive qualities. © 1967

CAutoCSD-evolutionary search and optimisation enabled computer automated control system design

This paper attempts to set a unified scene for various linear time-invariant (LTI) control system design schemes, by transforming the existing concept of 'Computer-Aided Control System Design' (CACSD) to the novel 'Computer-Automated Control System Design' (CAutoCSD). The first step towards this goal is to accommodate, under practical constraints, various design objectives that are desirable in both time and frequency-domains. Such performance-prioritised unification is aimed to relieve practising engineers from having to select a particular control scheme and from sacrificing certain performance goals resulting from pre-committing to the adopted scheme. With the recent progress in evolutionary computing based extra-numeric, multi-criterion search and optimisation techniques, such unification of LTI control schemes becomes feasible, analytically and practically, and the resultant designs can be creative. The techniques developed are applied to, and illustrated by, three design problems. The unified approach automatically provides an integrator for zero-steady state error in velocity control of a DC motor, meets multiple objectives in designing an LTI controller for a non-minimum phase plant and offers a high-performing LTI controller network for a nonlinear chemical process

Moving Nigeria’s Project Procurement System to Best Value: A Prescription

A new sustainable and best value procurement initiative suitable for use in developing countries has been developed.  The procurement system, the Performance Information Procurement System (PIPS) was developed in the United States (US), and has been tested in Botswana and recently in India.  PIPS not only stabilizes the procurement system, it transfers the risk and control to contractors who must act in the best interest of the client.  The transparency, accountability, and risk management orientation of the PIPS structure disengages relationships, inaccurate expectations, and bureaucratic and political actions.  The strength of PIPS includes minimizing the need for professionals representing the client to make decisions, direct, and control contractors.  PIPS has been tested for 20 years in the US, with 98% performance on over 600 projects.  Recent tests outside of construction reveal that the efficiency of PIPS can minimize up to 50% of the procurement transaction costs. We hypothesized that paradigm shift from the low-bid or price-based procurement to the best value procurement through the application of PIPS technology is a potential panacea capable of extricating corruption, collusion, fraud, bid rigging, ethical violations and negative headlines from developing countries’ procurement environment rather than advancing measures that only scratches the problems on the surface. We infer that a adoption of a new initiative in best value procurement using PIPS technology can revolutionize the procurement environment in Nigeria in particular and the developing countries as a whole. Keywords: Best value, public project procurement, Performance Information Procurement System (PIPS), sustainable consumption, developing countries, Nigeria

Evidence for Carrier-Induced High-Tc Ferromagnetism in Mn-doped GaN film

A GaN film doped with 8.2 % Mn was grown by the molecular-beam-epitaxy technique. Magnetization measurements show that this highly Mn-doped GaN film exhibits ferromagnetism above room temperature. It is also revealed that the high-temperature ferromagnetic state is significantly suppressed below 10 K, accompanied by an increase of the electrical resistivity with decreasing temperature. This observation clearly demonstrates a close relation between the ferromagnetism with extremely high-Tc and the carrier transport in the Mn-doped GaN film.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure