5,017 research outputs found
Multi-objective design of robust flight control systems
The aim of this work is to demonstrate the capabilities of evolutionary methods in the design of robust controllers for unstable fighter aircraft in the framework of H1 control theory. A multi–objective evolutionary algorithm is used to find the controller gains that minimize a weighted combination of the infinite–norm of the sensitivity function (for disturbance attenuation requirements) and complementary sensitivity function (for robust stability requirements). After considering a single operating point for a level flight trim condition of a F-16 fighter aircraft model, two different approaches will then be considered to extend the domain of validity of the control law: 1) the controller is designed for different operating points and gain scheduling is adopted; 2) a single control law is designed for all the considered operating points by multiobjective minimisation. The two approaches will be analysed and compared in terms of efficacy and required human and computational resources
Multi-objective design of robust flight control systems
A multi–objective evolutionary algorithm is used in the framework of H1 control theory
to find the controller gains that minimize a weighted combination of the infinite–norm
of the sensitivity function (for disturbance attenuation requirements) and complementary
sensitivity function (for robust stability requirements). After considering a single operating
point for a level flight trim condition of a F-16 fighter aircraft model, two different
approaches will then be considered to extend the domain of validity of the control law: 1)
the controller is designed for different operating points and gain scheduling is adopted; 2)
a single control law is designed for all the considered operating points by multiobjective
minimisation. The two approaches are analyzed and compared in terms of effectiveness of
the design method and resulting closed loop performance of the system
On the sensitivity of extrasolar mass-loss rate ranges: HD 209458b a case study
We present a 3D hydrodynamic study of the effects that different stellar wind
conditions and planetary wind structures have on the calculated Ly-
absorptions produced during the transit of HD 209458b. Considering a range of
stellar wind speeds [350-800] km s, coronal temperature
[3-7] K and two values of the polytropic index
[1.01-1.13], while keeping fixed the stellar mass loss rate, we found a
that a range between [3-5] g s give
account for the observational absorption in Ly- measured for the
planetary system. Also, several models with anisotropic evaporation profiles
for the planetary escaping atmosphere were carried out, showing that both, the
escape through polar regions and through the night side yields larger
absorptions than an isotropic planetary wind
Dystonia: sparse synapses for D2 receptors in striatum of a DYT1 knock-out mouse model
Dystonia pathophysiology has been partly linked to downregulation and dysfunction of dopamine D2 receptors in striatum. We aimed to investigate the possible morpho-structural correlates of D2 receptor downregulation in the striatum of a DYT1 Tor1a mouse model. Adult control Tor1a+/+ and mutant Tor1a+/− mice were used. The brains were perfused and free-floating sections of basal ganglia were incubated with polyclonal anti-D2 antibody, followed by secondary immune-fluorescent antibody. Confocal microscopy was used to detect immune-fluorescent signals. The same primary antibody was used to evaluate D2 receptor expression by western blot. The D2 receptor immune-fluorescence appeared circumscribed in small disks (~0.3–0.5 μm diameter), likely representing D2 synapse aggregates, densely distributed in the striatum of Tor1a+/+ mice. In the Tor1a+/− mice the D2 aggregates were significantly smaller (μm2 2.4 ± SE 0.16, compared to μm2 6.73 ± SE 3.41 in Tor1a+/+) and sparse, with ~30% less number per microscopic field, value correspondent to the amount of reduced D2 expression in western blotting analysis. In DYT1 mutant mice the sparse and small D2 synapses in the striatum may be insufficient to “gate” the amount of presynaptic dopamine release diffusing in peri-synaptic space, and this consequently may result in a timing and spatially larger nonselective sphere of influence of dopamine action
Astrophysics in S.Co.P.E
S.Co.P.E. is one of the four projects funded by the Italian Government in
order to provide Southern Italy with a distributed computing infrastructure for
fundamental science. Beside being aimed at building the infrastructure,
S.Co.P.E. is also actively pursuing research in several areas among which
astrophysics and observational cosmology. We shortly summarize the most
significant results obtained in the first two years of the project and related
to the development of middleware and Data Mining tools for the Virtual
Observatory
On the width and shape of the corotation region for low-mass planets
We study the coorbital flow for embedded, low mass planets. We provide a
simple semi-analytic model for the corotation region, which is subsequently
compared to high resolution numerical simulations. The model is used to derive
an expression for the half-width of the horseshoe region, x_s, which in the
limit of zero softening is given by x_s/r_p = 1.68(q/h)^(1/2), where q is the
planet to central star mass ratio, h is the disc aspect ratio and r_p the
orbital radius. This is in very good agreement with the same quantity measured
from simulations. This result is used to show that horseshoe drag is about an
order of magnitude larger than the linear corotation torque in the zero
softening limit. Thus the horseshoe drag, the sign of which depends on the
gradient of specific vorticity, is important for estimates of the total torque
acting on the planet. We further show that phenomena, such as the Lindblad
wakes, with a radial separation from corotation of ~ a pressure scale height H
can affect x_s, even though for low-mass planets x_s << H. The effect is to
distort streamlines and to reduce x_s through the action of a back pressure.
This effect is reduced for smaller gravitational softening parameters and
planets of higher mass, for which x_s becomes comparable to H.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Cryptocurrencies activity as a complex network: Analysis of transactions graphs
The number of users approaching the world of cryptocurrencies exploded in the last years, and consequently the daily interactions on their underlying distributed ledgers have intensified. In this paper, we analyze the flow of these digital transactions in a certain period of time, trying to discover important insights on the typical use of these technologies by studying, through complex network theory, the patterns of interactions in four prominent and different Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs), namely Bitcoin, DogeCoin, Ethereum, Ripple. In particular, we describe the Distributed Ledger Network Analyzer (DiLeNA), a software tool for the investigation of the transactions network recorded in DLTs. We show that studying the network characteristics and peculiarities is of paramount importance, in order to understand how users interact in the DLT. For instance, our analyses reveal that all transaction graphs exhibit small world properties
Photo-ionization of planetary winds: case study HD209458b
Close-in hot Jupiters are exposed to a tremendous photon flux that ionizes
the neutral escaping material from the planet leaving an observable imprint
that makes them an interesting laboratory for testing theoretical models. In
this work we present 3D hydrodynamic simulations with radiation transfer
calculations of a close-in exoplanet in a blow-off state. We calculate the
Ly- absorption and compare it with observations of HD 209458b an
previous simplified model results.Our results show that the hydrodynamic
interaction together with a proper calculation of the photoionization proccess
are able to reproduce the main features of the observed Ly- absorption,
in particular at the blue-shifted wings of the line. We found that the ionizing
stellar flux produce an almost linear effect on the amount of absorption in the
wake. Varying the planetary mass loss rate and the radiation flux, we were able
to reproduce the absorption observed at .Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
Dark Matter investigation by DAMA at Gran Sasso
Experimental observations and theoretical arguments at Galaxy and larger
scales have suggested that a large fraction of the Universe is composed by Dark
Matter particles. This has motivated the DAMA experimental efforts to
investigate the presence of such particles in the galactic halo by exploiting a
model independent signature and very highly radiopure set-ups deep underground.
Few introductory arguments are summarized before presenting a review of the
present model independent positive results obtained by the DAMA/NaI and
DAMA/LIBRA set-ups at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of the INFN.
Implications and model dependent comparisons with other different kinds of
results will be shortly addressed. Some arguments put forward in literature
will be confuted.Comment: review article, 71 pages, 25 figures, 8 tables; v2: minor
modifications. In publication on the International Journal of Modern Physics
Modeling the resonant planetary system GJ876
The two planets about the star GJ 876 appear to have undergone extensive
migration from their point of origin in the protoplanetary disk -- both because
of their close proximity to the star (30 and 60 day orbital periods) and
because of their occupying three stable orbital resonances at the 2:1
mean-motion commensurability. The resonances were most likely established by
converging differential migration of the planets leading to capture into the
resonances. A problem with this scenario is that continued migration of the
system while it is trapped in the resonances leads to orbital eccentricities
that rapidly exceed the observational upper limits of e_1 = 0.31 and e_2 =
0.05. As seen in forced 3-body simulations, lower eccentricities would persist
during migration only for an applied eccentricity damping.
Here we explore the evolution of the GJ 876 system using two-dimensional
hydrodynamical simulations that include viscous heating and radiative effects.
We find that a hydrodynamic evolution within the resonance, where only the
outer planet interacts with the disk, always rapidly leads to large values of
eccentricities that exceed those observed.
Only if mass is removed from the disk on a time scale of the order of the
migration time scale (before there has been extensive migration after capture),
as might occur for photoevaporation in the late phases of planet formation, can
we end up with eccentricities that are consistent with the observations.Comment: Paper accepted by A&A, 17 Pages, 17 Figure
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