New Aspects of Fault Diagnosis of Nonlinear Analog Circuits

The paper is focused on nonlinear analog circuits, with the special attention paid to circuits comprising bipolar and MOS transistors manufactured in micrometer and submicrometer technology. The problem of fault diagnosis of this class of circuits is discussed, including locating faulty elements and evaluating their parameters. The paper deals with multiple parametric fault diagnosis using the simulation after test approach as well as detection and location of single catastrophic faults, using the simulation before test approach. The discussed methods are based on diagnostic test, leading to a system of nonlinear algebraic type equations, which are not given in explicit analytical form. An important and new aspect of the fault diagnosis is finding multiple solutions of the test equation, i.e. several sets of the parameters values that meet the test. Another new problems in this area are global fault diagnosis of technological parameters in CMOS circuits fabricated in submicrometer technology and testing the circuits  having multiple DC operating points. To solve these problems several methods have been recently developed, which employ  different concepts and mathematical tools of nonlinear analysis. In this paper they are sketched and illustrated.  All the discussed methods are based on the homotopy (continuation) idea. It is shown that various versions of homotopy and combinations  of the homotopy with some other mathematical algorithms lead to very powerful tools for fault diagnosis of nonlinear analog circuits.  To trace the homotopy path which allows finding multiple solutions, the simplicial method, the restart method, the theory of linear complementarity problem and Lemke's algorithm are employed. For illustration four numerical examples are given

Przedmowa

Udostępnienie publikacji Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego finansowane w ramach projektu „Doskonałość naukowa kluczem do doskonałości kształcenia”. Projekt realizowany jest ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój; nr umowy: POWER.03.05.00-00-Z092/17-00

Attentional demands associated with augmented visual feedback during quiet standing

To investigate how additional visual feedback (VFB) affects postural stability we compared 20-sec center-of-pressure (COP) recordings in two conditions: without and with the VFB. Seven healthy adult subjects performed 10 trials lasting 20 seconds in each condition. Simultaneously, during all trials the simple auditory reaction time (RT) was measured. Based on the COP data, the following sway parameters were computed: standard deviation (SD), mean speed (MV), sample entropy (SE), and mean power frequency (MPF). The RT was higher in the VFB condition (p < 0.001) indicating that this condition was attention demanding. The VFB resulted in decreased SD and increased SE in both the medial-lateral (ML) and anterior-posterior (AP) planes (p < .001). These results account for the efficacy of the VFB in stabilizing posture and in producing more irregular COP signals which may be interpreted as higher automaticity and/or larger level of noise in postural control. The MPF was higher during VFB in both planes as was the MV in the AP plane only (p < 0.001). The latter data demonstrate higher activity of postural control system that was caused by the availability of the set-point on the screen and the resulting control error which facilitated and sped up postural control

Utilization of microfluidics as a models for studying co 2 injection into deep saline aquifers

The article discusses the problems of utilization of microfluidics as a models for studying CO 2 injection into deep saline aquifers. long term effects of capture and storage (CCS) technology are considered. CO 2 capture and storage will be essential for Europe to become climate neutral, but so far has been economically unprofitable. The justification for CO 2 capture and storage (CCS) is stronger than ever, because CO2 removal is now acceptable as an unavoidable component of climate action if the countries wants to meet the Paris Agreement goals

Postural control in 13-year-old soccer players

To evaluate the effect of early systematic soccer training on postural control we measured center-of-pressure (COP) variability, range, mean velocity and frequency in bipedal quiet stance with eyes open (EO) and closed (EC) in 44 boys aged 13 (25 boys who practiced soccer for 5–6 years and 19 healthy boys who did not practice sports). The soccer players had better stability, particularly in the medial–lateral plane (M/L); their COP variability and range were lower than in controls in both EO (p < 0.05) and EC (p < 0.0005) condition indicating that the athletes were less dependent on vision than non-athletes. Improved stability of athletes was accompanied by a decrease in COP frequency (p < 0.001 in EO, and p < 0.04 in EC) which accounted for lower regulatory activity of balance system in soccer players. The athletes had lower COP mean velocity than controls (p < 0.0001 in both visual condition), with larger difference in the M/L than A/P plane (p < 0.00001 and p < 0.05, respectively). Postural behavior was more variable within the non-athletes than soccer players, mainly in the EC stances (p < 0.005 for all COP parameters). We conclude that: (1) soccer training described was efficient in improving the M/L postural control in young boys; (2) athletes developed specific postural strategies characterized by decreased COP frequency and lower reliance on vision

The Effects of Active Self-Correction on Postural Control in Girls with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: The Role of an Additional Mental Task

Due to balance deficits that accompany adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), the potential interaction between activities of daily living and active self-correction movements (ASC) on postural control deserves particular attention. Our purpose was to assess the effects of ASC movements with or without a secondary mental task on postural control in twenty-five girls with AIS. It is a quasi-experimental within-subject design with repeated measures ANOVA. They were measured in four 20-s quiet standing trials on a force plate: no task, ASC, Stroop test, and both. Based on the center-of-pressure (COP) recordings, the COP parameters were computed. The ASC alone had no effect on any of the postural sway measures. Stroop test alone decreased COP speed and increased COP entropy. Performing the ASC movements and Stroop test together increased the COP speed and decreased COP entropy as compared to the baseline data. In conclusion, our results indicate that AIS did not interfere with postural control. The effects of the Stroop test accounted for good capacity of subjects with AIS to take advantage of distracting attentional resources from the posture. However, performing both tasks together exhibited some deficits in postural control, which may suggest the need for therapeutic consultation while engaging in more demanding activities