Predictive control of a three-phase UPS inverter using two steps prediction horizon

A Model Predictive Control scheme is used for voltage control in a three-phase inverter with output LC filter. The controller uses a model of the system to calculate predictions of the future value of the system variables for a given voltage vector sequence. A cost function considering the voltage errors is defined and the voltage vectors that minimize it are selected and applied in the converter. The effect of considering different number of prediction steps is studied in this work in terms of THD. Simulation results for one and two prediction steps are presented and compared

Exercises using a touchscreen tablet application improved functional ability more than an exercise program prescribed on paper in people after surgical carpal tunnel release: a randomised trial

Question: In people who have undergone surgical carpal tunnel release, do sensorimotor-based exercises performed on the touchscreen of a tablet device improve outcomes more than a conventional home exercise program prescribed on paper? Design: Randomised, parallel-group trial with concealed allocation, assessor blinding, and intention-to-treat analysis. Participants: Fifty participants within 10 days of surgical carpal tunnel release. Intervention: Each participant was prescribed a 4-week home exercise program. Participants in the experimental group received the ReHand tablet application, which administered and monitored exercises via the touchscreen. The control group was prescribed a home exercise program on paper, as is usual practice in the public hospital system. Outcome measures: The primary outcome was functional ability of the hand, reported using the shortened form of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (QuickDASH) questionnaire. Secondary outcomes were grip strength, pain intensity measured on a 10-cm visual analogue scale, and dexterity measured with the Nine-Hole Peg Test. Outcomes were measured by a blinded assessor at baseline and at the end of the 4-week intervention period. Results: At Week 4, functional ability improved significantly more in the experimental group than the control group (MD –21, 95% CI –33 to –9) on the QuickDASH score (0 to 100). Although the mean estimates of effect on the secondary outcome also all favoured the experimental group, none reached statistical significance: grip strength (MD 5.6 kg, 95% CI –0.5 to 11.7), pain (MD –1.4 cm, 95% CI –2.9 to 0.1), and dexterity (MD –1.3 seconds, 95% CI –3.7 to 1.1). Conclusion: Use of the ReHand tablet application for early rehabilitation after carpal tunnel release is more effective in the recovery of functional ability than a conventional home exercise program. It remains unclear whether there are any benefits in grip strength, pain or dexterity. Trial registration: ACTRN12618001887268

Is the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) a coastal species? Expanding its distribution range in the Atlantic Ocean using at-sea observer data

captura asociada a la pesquería de palangre de superficie dirigida a pez espadaThe occurrence of tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) in the Atlantic Ocean was assessed using at-sea observer data from multiple pelagic longline fisheries (Japan, Portugal, Spain, United States and Uruguay). Geographic positions of 2,764 tiger sharks, recorded between 1993 and 2013 and covering a wide area of the Atlantic were compared with the currently accepted distribution ranges of the species. Most of our records fell outside the accepted distribution ranges in both the Southern and Northern hemispheres. These results strongly suggest that the distribution range of the tiger shark is considerably wider than previously described, particularly over the open oceanEn prensa1,834

Comparison between FS-MPC control strategy for an UPS inverter application in α-β and abc frames

The voltage source inverter (VSI) of an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is a system where the main objective is to obtain a high quality output sinusoidal voltage with independence on the output load. For this reason, it includes an output LC filter. The presence of the filter increases the complexity of the controller design thus it is necessary to evaluate the performance of the control strategy in terms of the output voltage quality and computational cost of the algorithm. In this paper, both analysis are developed for the finite states model predictive control (FS-MPC) of a VSI performed in the abc and α-βframes. Both algorithms are summarized and compared in order to establish an objective criteria to choose among them when a hardware implementation is developed. Simulation results are presented for both algorithms to validate the analysis

Higher-order Mechanics: Variational Principles and other topics

After reviewing the Lagrangian-Hamiltonian unified formalism (i.e, the Skinner-Rusk formalism) for higher-order (non-autonomous) dynamical systems, we state a unified geometrical version of the Variational Principles which allows us to derive the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian equations for these kinds of systems. Then, the standard Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations of these principles and the corresponding dynamical equations are recovered from this unified framework.Comment: New version of the paper "Variational principles for higher-order dynamical systems", which was presented in the "III Iberoamerican Meeting on Geometry, Mechanics and Control" (Salamanca, 2012). The title is changed. A detailed review is added. Sections containing results about variational principles are enlarged with additional comments, diagrams and summarizing results. Bibliography is update

Development and Initial testing of a Virtual Laboratory for the Build-up and Testing of Microgrid Management Algorithms

In a bid of facilitating the increasing penetration of intermittent and random renewable energies, microgrids along with their management algorithms are becoming crucial assets. To prove their effectiveness, these algorithms need to be tested in real environments and/or laboratories, which can be very difficult in many cases, especially at the initial development stages. To solve this issue, this article proposes the use of a laboratory digital twin, i.e., a virtual laboratory with a behaviour that is similar to that of real installations, aimed at facilitating the development, testing and debugging of microgrids management algorithms. The proposed solution is demonstrated to be safe and complete when it comes to test these algorithms.Acknowledgement This publication is part of the Sistemas energéticos aislados 100% renovables ENERISLA (exp. CER-20191002) Project which has received a grant from the Centre for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI, Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial in Spanish) under the Ministry of Science and Innovation in the call Acreditación y Concesión de Ayudas destinadas a Centros Tecnológicos de Excelencia “Cervera” in 2019. This research has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Program for Research and Innovation under grant agreement no. 893857

In situ assessment of carbon nanotube diameter distribution with photoelectron spectroscopy

7 págs.; 6 figs.; 1 tab. ; PACS numberssd: 73.22.2f, 79.60.Jv, 61.46.1wIn situ UV-photoelectron spectroscopy (He I and He II) was performed on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with clearly differentiated diameter distributions. A significant dependence of valence- and conduction-band characteristics on the mean CNT diameter was observed, which was determined by high-resolution TEM and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The decrease of relative intensity of the π states at -3 eV in the He II experiments, indicative of increasing rehybridization between orbitals, was directly correlated with decreasing mean diameters. Furthermore, a progressive broadening of the unoccupied σ* band at 7.6 eV was found in the He I spectra. © 2005 The American Physical Society.J.W.S. is grateful to the Centre Interdisciplinaire de Microscopie Electronique sCIMEd at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne sEPFLd for access to TEM and technical support. We also thank the National Centre of Competence in Research for Nanosciences NCCRd and the Swiss National Foundation for financial support.Peer Reviewe