Control Synthesis for an Underactuated Cable Suspended System Using Dynamic Decoupling

This article studies the dynamics and control of a novel underactuated system, wherein a plate suspended by cables and with a freely moving mass on top, whose other ends are attached to three quadrotors, is sought to be horizontally stabilized at a certain height, with the ball positioned at the center of mass of the plate. The freely moving mass introduces a 2-degree of underactuation into the system. The design proceeds through a decoupling of the quadrotors and the plate dynamics. Through a partial feedback linearization approach, the attitude of the plate and the translational height of the plate is initially controlled, while maintaining a bounded velocity along the $y$ and $x$ directions. These inputs are then synthesized through the quadrotors with a backstepping and timescale separation argument based on Tikhonov's theorem

A multipole-Taylor expansion for the potential of gravitational lens MG J0414+0534

We employ a multipole-Taylor expansion to investigate how tightly the gravitational potential of the quadruple-image lens MG J0414+0534 is constrained by recent VLBI observations. These observations revealed that each of the four images of the background radio source contains four distinct components, thereby providing more numerous and more precise constraints on the lens potential than were previously available. We expand the two-dimensional lens potential using multipoles for the angular coordinate and a modified Taylor series for the radial coordinate. After discussing the physical significance of each term, we compute models of MG J0414+0534 using only VLBI positions as constraints. The best-fit model has both interior and exterior quadrupole moments as well as exterior m=3 and m=4 multipole moments. The deflector centroid in the models matches the optical galaxy position, and the quadrupoles are aligned with the optical isophotes. The radial distribution of mass could not be well constrained. We discuss the implications of these models for the deflector mass distribution and for the predicted time delays between lensed components.Comment: 44 pages, 5 figures, 11 tables, accepted for publication in Ap

Reproductive biology of Parapenaeopsis stylifera

Controversy exists regarding the incidence and reproductive habits of Parapenaeopsis stylifera along the coast of Kerala, India. Results are reported of a detailed study on the different aspects of the reproductive biology based on the trawl catches landed at Neendakara Coast for a period of one year. This species breeds throughout the year with peak breeding activity in May and November. The monsoon catches consist of juveniles. Life span of the species is 2.5 years and total length at first maturity is 75 mm. Measures for the effective management of the species in the area are discussed

The number of privately treated tuberculosis cases in India: an estimation from drug sales data

Background Understanding the amount of tuberculosis managed by the private sector in India is crucial to understanding the true burden of the disease in the country, and thus globally. In the absence of quality surveillance data on privately treated patients, commercial drug sales data offer an empirical foundation for disease burden estimation. Methods We used a large, nationally representative commercial dataset on sales of 189 anti-tuberculosis products available in India to calculate the amount of anti-tuberculosis treatment in the private sector in 2013–14. We corrected estimates using validation studies that audited prescriptions against tuberculosis diagnosis, and estimated uncertainty using Monte Carlo simulation. To address implications for numbers of patients with tuberculosis, we explored varying assumptions for average duration of tuberculosis treatment and accuracy of private diagnosis. Findings There were 17·793 million patient-months (95% credible interval 16·709 million to 19·841 million) of anti-tuberculosis treatment in the private sector in 2014, twice as many as the public sector. If 40–60% of private-sector tuberculosis diagnoses are correct, and if private-sector tuberculosis treatment lasts on average 2–6 months, this implies that 1·19–5·34 million tuberculosis cases were treated in the private sector in 2014 alone. The midpoint of these ranges yields an estimate of 2·2 million cases, two to three times higher than currently assumed. Interpretation India's private sector is treating an enormous number of patients for tuberculosis, appreciably higher than has been previously recognised. Accordingly, there is a re-doubled need to address this burden and to strengthen surveillance. Tuberculosis burden estimates in India and worldwide require revision

(1,2) - Domination in the Total Graphs of Cn , Pn and K1,n

In this paper, we discuss the (1,2) - domination in the total graphs of Cn ,  Pnand K1,n &nbsp