Time-Optimal Control of Discrete-Time Systems with Known Waveform Disturbances

In this thesis, a discrete-time observer based disturbance accommodation controller is designed that is capable of minimizing the effect of disturbances with known waveform in both the system state and measurement as fast as possible while also driving the state to zero. This control is achieved by designing a single control input to accommodate disturbances in both the system state and measurement. For controller design, the state and measurement equations are augmented, and a least squares minimization technique is used to find a control input that drives the system state and measurement to zero, guaranteeing deadbeat response. During the design it is assumed that all system and disturbance state variables are available for feedback. When this is not, an observer is needed. When using a deadbeat controller, the only option for the observer is to also be deadbeat. Two types of deadbeat observers are used in this work: full-order and reduced-order. The full-order observer generates estimates for both the system and disturbance state variables (measureable or not) and driving the estimation error to zero. For a faster time response, a reduced-order deadbeat observer was then designed. Reduced-order observers have a faster response because a reduced-order observer only constructs estimates for the un-measureable system and disturbance state variables. As an extension, a new model for the control input was introduced for the case when the feed-forward term in the measurement was not present. This involved using a so-called pseudo-output that allows the controller to indirectly minimize the effect of the disturbance in the measurement. Simulations show that when this control scheme is used, the system state and measurement are driven to zero when no disturbance. When disturbances are present, their effects are minimized. In all cases control action is achieved in the appropriate number of time steps for the given system

Notes on a guessing game

Notes on a guessing gam

Some marginalia of language contact

Some marginalia of language contac

An Overview of Sex Discrimination in Amateur Athletics

Sex-based discrimination in interscholastic sports has recently been challenged by both male and female athletes. The courts have reached conflicting decisions as to whether such discrimination should be allowed and, if so, under what circumstances. The author analyzes the constitutional and statutory bases of these decisions. The author argues that this area remains in confusion because many of these decisions inadequately consider the issues involved or are based on stereotypical views of male and female athletic ability

A Philadelphia Story: Building Civic Capacity for School Reform in a Privatizing System

Following the 2001 state takeover of the School District of Philadelphia, a new governance structure was established and an ambitious set of reforms went into effect, generating renewed public confidence in the district. Despite this, maintaining reform momentum continues to be difficult in Philadelphia. This can be traced to on-going challenges to civic capacity around education. Defined by Stone et al (2001), civic capacity involves collaboration and mobilization of the city's civic and community sectors to pursue the collective good of educational improvement. Using interviews conducted with over 65 local civic actors and district administrators, and case studies of local organizations involved with education, the authors examine civic capacity in the context of Philadelphia. The authors find that while many individuals and organizations are actively involved with the schools, there are several factors that present unique challenges to the development of civic capacity in Philadelphia. Despite these challenges, the authors conclude that there are many reasons to be optimistic and offer several recommendations for generating civic capacity -- the kind that creates and sustains genuine educational change

"And" u engleskoj gramatici

The conjunction and is treated :in early and modern grammatical writings from the poimt of view of its categorization, its function, and evaluation in terms of style. Syntactico-grammatical and logico-semantic criteria are employed by early as well as modern authors. And is defined as a function word marking structural relations called coordination, and semantic relations called addition. Rules governing coordination are discussed, as well as the semantic implications of the structure in question. On levels above sentence and functions as a text-forming device producting cohesion of the discourse. The paper suggests that the only undisputed function of and is that of connector. The idea of some early grammariams of coordination reduction has been usefully developed in transformational syntax. Further studies in frequency, variety of stylistic applications and change of stylistic range should provide more interesting views of constructions with "and"

Making A Difference: Year Two Report of the Pennsylvania High School Coaching Initiative

This report examines the implementation of the second year of three for the Pennsylvania High School Coaching Initiative (PAHSCI). Funded by the Annenberg Foundation, this initiative focuses on literacy and math coaches providing support to teachers from across the major subject areas to create literacy-rich classrooms in which students actively engage in learning tasks that deepen their content knowledge and strengthen their abilities to think critically and communicate well. This report presents findings from the first two years of research. It includes survey research as well as in-depth qualitative research in participating schools and districts and provides recommendations for PAHSCI stakeholders as they refine the program and for other education reformers as they consider the benefits of instructional coaching as a strategy for improving high schools and student achievement

Links to Learning and Sustainability: Year Three Report of the Pennsylvania High School Coaching Initiative

At the request of the Accountability Review Council, Research for Action identified effective organizational practices used by better performing schools serving substantial numbers of low income middle and high school students in the School District of Philadelphia. These practices are organized into three spheres: Conditions for Teaching, Student-Centered School Community, and Instructional Program. For each sphere, the report offers broad strategies and specific practices to enact the strategies. Nuanced school case studies show how the practices can work synergistically and coherently in schools to help students succeed