Design of a multivariable integrated control for a supersonic propulsion system

An inlet/engine/nozzle integrated control mode for the propulsion system of an advanced supersonic commercial aircraft was studied. Results show that integration of these control functions can result in both operational and performance benefits for the propulsion system. For example, this integrated control mode may make it possible to minimize the use of inlet bypass doors for shock position control. This may be of benefit to the aircraft as a result of minimizing: (1) bypass bleed drag effects; (2) perturbations to the aircraft resulting from the side thrust effect of the bypass bleeds; and (3) potential unstarts of the inlet. A conceptual integrated control mode was developed which makes use of many cross coupling paths between inlet and engine control variables and inlet and engine sensed variables. A multivariable control design technique based upon linear quadratic regulator theory was applied to designing the feedback gains for this control to allow a simulation evaluation of the benefits of the integrated control mode

Preliminary study, analysis and design for a power switch for digital engine actuators

Innovative control configurations using high temperature switches to operate actuator driving solenoids were studied. The impact on engine control system life cycle costs and reliability of electronic control and (ECU) heat dissipation due to power conditioning and interface drivers were addressed. Various power supply and actuation schemes were investigated, including optical signal transmission and electronics on the actuator, engine driven alternator, and inside the ECU. The use of a switching shunt power conditioner results in the most significant decrease in heat dissipation within the ECU. No overall control system reliability improvement is projected by the use of remote high temperature switches for solenoid drivers

Identification of Volatile Compounds Produced by Brevibacterium Linens that Inhibit Molds

Mold contamination of processed food and its raw ingredients is a major concern in agriculture. Although at one time mold contamination of cheese and other foods was considered to be of little conse9uence, discovery of carcinogenic and/or teratogenic toxins (73) produced by molds commonly associated with food has changed this innocuous and frequent inconvenience into a serious health consideration. The presence of mold on or in cheese is a common occurrence, indeed, many cheeses depend upon molds to provide characteristic cheese flavor and texture. Cheeses such as blue, Roquefort, Camembert, and Brie are ripened under controlled conditions by species of Penicillium. While certain molds are desirable, adventitious molds are undesirable contaminants in manufacture of most cheeses. Long ripening periods at controlled temperatures and humidity favor the growth of adventitious molds on Cheddar and other hard cheeses. Control of molds in ripening rooms and throughout cheese manufacture is important. One mold colony can give rise to thousands of airborne spores which can contaminate many kilograms of cheese. Some of the molds isolated from cheese produce mycotoxins in the cheese (10, 11, 48); therefore, control of mold growth is of paramount importance for the cheese industry. Surface-ripened cheeses are ripened by a smear of bacteria and yeasts growing on the surface of the cheese. Brevibacterium linens, the predominant microorganism in the smear of surface-ripened cheeses, is responsible for the typical aroma and flavor of Limburger, Trappist, Brick, and similar cheeses (1, 5, 8, 41, 42, 43, 60, 84). The aroma of these cheeses is a well-known characteristic and is due to the proteolytic metabolism of microorganisms in the surface smear (1, 2, 13, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 81, 84, 85). An interesting aspect of surface-ripened cheeses noted by Grecz et al. (29) is resistance to spoilage by bacteria or molds. These workers found that extracts of surface-ripened cheeses and of B.linens produced similar antimicrobial activity (30, 31). Grecz et al. did not examine the aroma of surface-ripened cheeses for antimicrobial activity. The aromas of surface-ripened cheeses contain a variety of compounds, several of these compounds are inhibitory to mold growth in environments other than cheese. The purpose of research presented in this thesis was to evaluate volatile compounds produced by B. linens for antimycotic activity. A method was developed to quantify inhibition of mold growth and spore germination in the presence of B. linens. The identity of the inhibitory compound was determined. Furthermore, the concentration of the inhibitory compound necessary to inhibit spore germination was determined. This thesis is arranged in an alternative style. The comprehensive literature review is followed by two journal articles which describe the majority of materials and methods. Results and discussion are also included in the journal articles. Materials and methods or results not presented in an article are placed in appendices as are statistical information and raw data. The conclusions derived from the project are included as a separate section

Bacterial wilt symptoms are impacted by host age and involve net downward movement of Erwinia tracheiphila in muskmelon

Cucurbit bacterial wilt, caused by Erwinia tracheiphila, is a damaging disease of cucurbit crops in the Midwest and Northeast U.S. Current management of bacterial wilt relies primarily on insecticide applications to control striped and spotted cucumber beetles (Acalymma vittatum and Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi, respectively), which vector E. tracheiphila. Development of alternative management strategies is constrained by a lack of understanding of bacterial wilt etiology. The impact of host age on rate on symptom development and extent of bacterial movement in the xylem of muskmelon (Cucumis melo cv. Athena) was evaluated following wound inoculation of 2- to 8-week-old plants in growth chamber experiments. Wilting occurred more rapidly in plants after inoculating E. tracheiphila into 2- or 4-week-old plants than 6- or 8-week-old plants. Recovery of viable cells from stem segments revealed that vascular spread of E. tracheiphila was more extensive below than above the inoculation point. These findings provide experimental evidence that host age impacts the rate of symptom development in cucurbit bacterial wilt and that movement of the xylem-inhabiting pathogen E. tracheiphila within muskmelon plants occurs primarily in the downward direction

Sensor failure detection system

Advanced concepts for detecting, isolating, and accommodating sensor failures were studied to determine their applicability to the gas turbine control problem. Five concepts were formulated based upon such techniques as Kalman filters and a screening process led to the selection of one advanced concept for further evaluation. The selected advanced concept uses a Kalman filter to generate residuals, a weighted sum square residuals technique to detect soft failures, likelihood ratio testing of a bank of Kalman filters for isolation, and reconfiguring of the normal mode Kalman filter by eliminating the failed input to accommodate the failure. The advanced concept was compared to a baseline parameter synthesis technique. The advanced concept was shown to be a viable concept for detecting, isolating, and accommodating sensor failures for the gas turbine applications

Sensor failure detection for jet engines

Revisions to the advanced sensor failure detection, isolation, and accommodation (DIA) algorithm, developed under the sensor failure detection system program were studied to eliminate the steady state errors due to estimation filter biases. Three algorithm revisions were formulated and one revision for detailed evaluation was chosen. The selected version modifies the DIA algorithm to feedback the actual sensor outputs to the integral portion of the control for the nofailure case. In case of a failure, the estimates of the failed sensor output is fed back to the integral portion. The estimator outputs are fed back to the linear regulator portion of the control all the time. The revised algorithm is evaluated and compared to the baseline algorithm developed previously

Oxidative Heck desymmetrisation of 2,2-disubstituted cyclopentene-1,3-diones

Oxidative Heck couplings have been successfully developed for 2,2-disubstituted cyclopentene-1,3-diones. The direct coupling onto the 2,2-disubstituted cyclopentene-1,3-dione core provides a novel expedient way of enantioselectively desymmetrising all-carbon quaternary centres

Preclinical efficacy of hK2 targeted [177Lu]hu11B6 for prostate cancer theranostics

Androgen ablating drugs increase life expectancy in men with metastatic prostate cancer, but resistance inevitably develops. In a majority of these recurrent tumors, the androgen axis is reactivated in the form of increased androgen receptor (AR) expression. Targeting proteins that are expressed as a down-stream effect of AR activity is a promising rationale for management of this disease. The humanized IgG1 antibody hu11B6 internalizes into prostate and prostate cancer (PCa) cells by binding to the catalytic cleft of human kallikrein 2 (hK2), a prostate specific enzyme governed by the AR-pathway. In a previous study, hu11B6 conjugated with Actinium-225 (225Ac), a high linear energy transfer (LET) radionuclide, was shown to generate an AR-upregulation driven feed-forward mechanism that is believed to enhance therapeutic efficacy. We assessed the efficacy of hu11B6 labeled with a low LET beta-emitter, Lutetium-177 (177Lu) and investigated whether similar tumor killing and AR-enhancement is produced. Moreover, single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging of 177Lu is quantitatively accurate and can be used to perform treatment planning. [177Lu]hu11B6 therefore has significant potential as a theranostic agent. Materials and Methods: Subcutaneous PCa xenografts (LNCaP s.c.) were grown in male mice. Biokinetics at 4-336 h post injection and uptake as a function of the amount of hu11B6 injected at 72 h were studied. Over a 30 to 120-day treatment period the therapeutic efficacy of different activities of [177Lu]hu11B6 were assessed by volumetric tumor measurements, blood cell counts, molecular analysis of the tumor as well as SPECT/CT imaging. Organ specific mean absorbed doses were calculated, using a MIRD-scheme, based on biokinetic data and rodent specific S-factors from a modified MOBY phantom. Tumor tissues of treated xenografts were immunohistochemically (IHC) stained for Ki-67 (proliferation) and AR, SA-β-gal activity (senescence) and analyzed by digital autoradiography (DAR). Results: Organ-to-blood and tumor-to-blood ratios were independent of hu11B6 specific activity except for the highest amount of antibody (150 µg). Tumor accumulation of [177Lu]hu11B6 peaked at 168 h with a specific uptake of 29 ± 9.1 percent injected activity per gram (%IA/g) and low accumulation in normal organs except in the submandibular gland (15 ± 4.5 %IA/g), attributed to a cross-reaction with mice kallikreins in this organ, was seen. However, SPECT imaging with therapeutic amounts of [177Lu]hu11B6 revealed no peak in tumor accumulation at 7 d, probably due to cellular retention of 177Lu and decreasing tumor volumes. For [177Lu]hu11B6 treated mice, tumor decrements of up to 4/5 of the initial tumor volume and reversible myelotoxicity with a nadir at 12 d were observed after a single injection. Tumor volume reduction correlated with injected activity and the absorbed dose. IHC revealed retained expression of AR throughout treatment and that Ki-67 staining reached a nadir at 9-14 d which coincided with high SA- β-gal activity (14 d). Quantification of nuclei staining showed that Ki-67 expression correlated negatively with activity uptake. AR expression levels in cells surviving therapy compared to previous timepoints and to controls at 30 d were significantly increased (p = 0.017). Conclusions: This study shows that hu11B6 labeled with the low LET beta-emitting radionuclide 177Lu can deliver therapeutic absorbed doses to prostate cancer xenografts with transient hematological side-effects. The tumor response correlated with the absorbed dose both on a macro and a small scale dosimetric level. Analysis of AR staining showed that AR protein levels increased late in the study suggesting a therapeutic mechanism, a feed forward mechanism coupled to AR driven response to DNA damage or clonal lineage selection, similar to that reported in high LET alpha-particle therapy using 225Ac labeled hu11B6, however emerging at a later timepoint