Cardiovascular Risk Evaluation through Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Analysis in Patients with Psoriasis before and after 12 Weeks of Etanercept Therapy: A Preliminary Prospective Study

Background The association between psoriasis and cardiovascular diseases is suggested by epidemiological studies. The sub-inflammatory systemic state that characterizes both psoriasis and atherosclerosis has been proposed as the link between these conditions; it cannot, however, explain the increased incidence of sudden cardiac death reported in young patients with severe psoriasis without common cardiovascular risk factors. In a previous study we reported higher levels of autonomic dysregulation in psoriatic patients, concluding that the prevalence of the sympathetic arm over the para-sympathetic one could increase cardiovascular risk. Objectives To assess the influence of etanercept, an anti-TNFα agent, on the autonomic cardiovascular regulation in young patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis without cardiovascular risk factors. Methods Five-minute ECG recordings were collected at rest conditions before and after 12 weeks of therapy with etanercept in 19 young psoriatic patients without cardiovascular risk factors. The Cardiolab CE pocket PC ECG system was used for linear methods of heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. Results No significant change in HRV analysis parameters was apparent after 12 weeks of etanercept therapy. Conclusion Our data suggest that treatment with etanercept in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis doesn\u27t affect cardiovascular autonomic regulation, and subsequently the cardiovascular risk.</p

Coordinated control of a team of helicopters

A null space behavioral application technique is described in this paper. It deals with the coordinated control of a team of flying vehicles with hover capabilities in the presence of obstacles and no-fly zones. The flight mission to reach a target region assigned to the team is decomposed in 4 elementary tasks with assigned priorities and, for each of them, a motion reference command to each robot is elaborated. Formation flight and collision avoidance with other vehicles and unknown or moving obstacles tasks are formulated via analytical expressions. Move-to-target and collision avoidance with a-priori known obstacle behaviors are obtained by solving a partial differential equation problem within the flight domain. The proposed approach has been extensively verified by means of numerical simulation involving a platoon of 9 helicopters

Coordinated Control of a Team of Helicopters

A null space behavioral application technique is described in this paper. It deals with the coordinated control of a team of flying vehicles with hover capabilities in the presence of obstacles and no-fly zones. The flight mission to reach a target region assigned to the team is decomposed in 4 elementary tasks with assigned priorities and, for each of them, a motion reference command to each robot is elaborated. Formation flight and collision avoidance with other vehicles and unknown or moving obstacles tasks are formulated via analytical expressions. Move-to-target and collision avoidance with a-priori known obstacle behaviors are obtained by solving a partial differential equation problem within the flight domain. The proposed approach has been extensively verified by means of numerical simulation involving a platoon of 9 helicopters

A full envelope small commercial aircraft flight control design using multivariable proportional-integral control

This brief deals with the application of linear parameter varying control concepts to the design of a full envelope flight control system for commercial aircrafts. The proposed controller is fixed to have a multivariable proportional-integral structure. A linear matrix inequalities-based technique is proposed to account for variations both in the reference model and in the plant. Some numerical simulations show the effectiveness of the proposed technique all over the aircraft operating envelope. © 2007 IEEE

Path planning for wheeled mobile robots using Core Paths Graphs

This paper describes a novel procedure based on Core Path Graphs to generate continuously differentiable sub-optimal paths for wheeled mobile robots in the presence of obstacles. The operational scenario is first discretized with a finite dimensional grid of positions-directions pairs. A weighted and oriented graph is then defined whose nodes are the above mentioned grid points, and whose arcs correspond to minimum length trajectories compliant with obstacle avoidance constraints. Arcs are obtained via solving convex quadratic programming optimization problems. A minimum cost path search algorithm is then solved to find an optimal trajectory between two nodes of the so-called Core Paths Graph. The presence of a-priori unknown obstacles is managed by isolating on-line the non suitable arcs of the Core Paths Graph. A numerical example on a wheeled mobile robot is discussed to show the applicability of the proposed technique

Path Planning for Wheeled Mobile Robots Using Core Paths Graphs

This paper describes a novel procedure based on Core Path Graphs to generate continuously differentiable sub-optimal paths for wheeled mobile robots in the presence of obstacles. The operational scenario is first discretized with a finite dimensional grid of positions-directions pairs. A weighted and oriented graph is then defined whose nodes are the above mentioned grid points, and whose arcs correspond to minimum length trajectories compliant with obstacle avoidance constraints. Arcs are obtained via solving convex quadratic programming optimization problems. A minimum cost path search algorithm is then solved to find an optimal trajectory between two nodes of the so-called Core Paths Graph. The presence of a-priori unknown obstacles is managed by isolating on-line the non suitable arcs of the Core Paths Graph. A numerical example on a wheeled mobile robot is discussed to show the applicability of the proposed technique

Nonlinear H∞ identity observers for sensor FDI: An application example

In this paper the problem of detecting and isolating sensor faults on a certain class of nonlinear systems is considered. A procedure to design a bank of extended H∞ observers for sensor FDI is carried out: each observer is composed of an open loop nonlinear part replying the system dynamics and a linear feedback action. Sufficient conditions for the synthesis of the feedback action are provided in terms of LMI feasibility problems. Constraints on the position of the observer poles are added to fasten the residual generation dynamics and to avoid low damped or high frequency modes. Numerical results on the attitude control demonstrator Twin Rotor MMO System built by Feedback™ are provided to show the application of the proposed technique