Language morphology offset: Text classification on a Croatian–English parallel corpus

We investigate how, and to what extent, morphological complexity of the language influences text classification using support vector machines (SVM). The Croatian–English parallel corpus provides the basis for direct comparison of two languages of radically different morphological complexity. We quantified, compared, and statistically tested the effects of morphological normalisation on SVM classifier performance based on a series of parallel experiments on both languages, carried over a large scale of different feature subset sizes obtained by different feature selection methods, and applying different levels of morphological normalisation. We also quantified the trade-off between feature space size and performance for different levels of morphological normalisation, and compared the results for both languages. Our experiments have shown that the improvements in SVM classifier performance is statistically significant; they are greater for small and medium number of features, especially for Croatian, whereas for large number of features the improvements are rather small and may be negligible in practice for both languages.     

A decomposition analysis on convecting–radiating rectangular plate fins for variable thermal conductivity and heat transfer coefficient

The present study concentrates to make a complete thermal analysis on a rectangular fin with its primary surface by taking into consideration of radiation heat exchange with the surrounding along with the convective mode of heat transfer. The one side of the primary surface is heated by a fluid with high temperature which may be required to dissipate heat quickly by a fin array system. To analyze an actual case study, the thermal conductivity of the fin material and convective heat transfer coefficient over the surface are treated as a variable and they are as a function of the local fin surface temperature. With the aforementioned condition, the energy equations for both the fin and primary surface become nonlinear. The decomposition method is suggested to solve these highly nonlinear equations to obtain a closed form temperature distribution. The result of temperature distribution determined by the present analysis is compared with that of the numerical values. With the adaptation of the simplified case, the present method is also compared with the exactly closed form results. From both of these comparisons, an exact matching of results is found. The fin performances, namely, fin efficiency, surface efficiency and augmentation factor are evaluated for a wide range of thermogeometric parameters.     

Switching PDC control for discrete-time T–S fuzzy system: A membership function ranking approach

In this paper, a new type of switched parallel distributed compensation (PDC) controller is presented, in which a novel switching scheme, namely, membership function ranking (MFR) scheme is proposed. The MFR scheme can be viewed as an improvement and extension of previous results named largest membership function (LMF) scheme concerned with piece-wise quadratic Lyapunov function (PQLF) approach, since it provides a denser subdivision of normalized membership function space and therefore essentially yields less conservative results. Moreover, it shows that MFR scheme covers LMF scheme as a particular case. Based on MFR scheme, a family of _?∞${\mathbf{?}}_{\infty }$ controllers and a switching scheme is designed to ensure the closed-loop system asymptotically stable and has a required _?∞${\mathbf{?}}_{\infty }$ performance. A design example is presented to illustrate the advantages of MFR scheme.     

Leader–follower decentralized optimal control for large population hexarotors with tilted propellers: A Stackelberg game approach

In this paper, we consider leader–follower decentralized optimal control for a hexarotor group with one leader and large population followers. Our hexarotor is modeled based on the quaternion framework to resolve singularity of the rotation matrix represented by Euler angles, and has 6-DoF due to six tilted propellers, which allows to control its translation and attitude simultaneously. In our problem setup, the leader hexarotor is coupled with the follower hexarotors through the followers’ average behavior (mean field), and the followers are coupled with each other through their average behavior and the leader’s arbitrary control. By using the mean field Stackelberg game framework, we obtain a set of decentralized optimal controls for the leader and N follower hexarotors when N is arbitrarily large, where each control is a function of its local information. We show that the corresponding decentralized optimal controls constitute an ϵ-Stackelberg equilibrium for the leader and N followers, where ϵ → 0 as N → ∞. Through simulations with two different operating scenarios, we show that the leader–follower hexarotors follow their desired position and attitude references, and the followers are controlled by the leader while effectively tracking their approximated average behavior. Furthermore, we show the nonsingularity and 6-DoF control performance of the leader–follower hexarotor group due to the novel modeling technique of the hexarotor presented in the paper.     

Input–output finite-time stabilization for MJSs with time-varying delay: An observer-based approach

This paper deals with the input–output finite-time stabilization problem for Markovian jump systems (MJSs) with incompletely known transition rates. An observer-based output feedback controller is constructed to study the input–output finite-time stability (IO-FTS) problem. By using the mode-dependent Lyapunov–krasovskii functional method, a sufficient criterion checking the IO-FTS problem is provided. Then, an observer and a corresponding state feedback controller for the individual subsystem are respectively designed to solve the input–output finite-time stabilization problem for the systems. Finally, a numerical example on the mass-spring system model is investigated to bring out the advantages of the control scheme proposed in this paper.     

State estimation of neutral Markovian jump systems: A relaxed L–K functional approach

This paper investigates the state estimation problem of uncertain neutral delay systems with Markovian jumping parameters. First, a novel Lyapunov–Krasovskii (L–K) functional containing the interconnected information between neutral and discrete delay is proposed. Then, based on Jensen’s integral and Wirtinger-based inequality, the obtained results are improved by relaxing the positive-definiteness restrictions on Lyapunov matrices. Third, the state estimators are designed to guarantee the asymptotic stability of the error state system. Finally, numerical examples are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed results.     

A new idea on almost sure permanence and uniform boundedness for a stochastic predator–prey model

The existence and uniqueness of stationary distribution and ergodic properties of a stochastic system are obtained. Especially, different from the existing methods, a new method is introduced to analyze almost sure permanence and uniform boundedness of the stochastic predator–prey model. This new idea is based on geometric structure of invariant set for a stochastic system. More specifically, we obtain our main conclusions by showing the invariant set for the stochastic population system lies in the interior of the first quadrant. It is interesting and surprising that the stochastic population model can guarantee a uniform boundedness almost surely. Some numerical simulations are carried out to support our results.     

Output feedback robust H∞ control for spacecraft rendezvous system subject to input saturation: A gain scheduled approach

In this paper, the problem of output feedback robust H_∞ control for spacecraft rendezvous system with parameter uncertainties, disturbances and input saturation is investigated. Firstly, a full-order state observer is designed to reconstruct the full state information, whose gain matrix can be obtained by solving the linear matrix inequality (LMI). Subsequently, by combining the parametric Riccati equation approach and gain scheduled technique, an observer-based robust output feedback gain scheduled control scheme is proposed, which can make full use of the limited control capacity and improve the control performance by scheduling the control gain parameter increasingly. Rigorous stability analyses are shown that the designed discrete gain scheduled controller has faster convergence performance and better robustness than static gain controller. Finally, the performance and advantage of the proposed gain scheduled control scheme are demonstrated by numerical simulation.     

SmartRolling: A human–machine interface for wheelchair control using EEG and smart sensing techniques

Smart wheelchairs based on brain–computer interface (BCI) have been widely utilized recently to address certain mobility problems for people with disability. In this paper, we present SmartRolling, an intuitive human–machine interaction approach for the direct control of robotic wheelchair that jointly leverages EEG signals and motion sensing techniques. Specifically, SmartRolling offers two wheelchair-actuation modes for users with different physical conditions: (1) head motion only — people who are severely disabled but able to do basic tasks using eyes and head, and (2) head and hands motion — in addition to type 1, people who can use functioning hands/arms for extra tasks. The system issues operation commands by recognizing different EEG patterns elicited by motor execution (ME) tasks including eye blink, jaw clench, and fist open/close, while at the same time estimates users’ steering intentions based on their facing direction by leveraging inertial measurements and computer vision techniques. The experiment results demonstrate that the proposed system is robust and effective to meets the individual’s needs and has great potential to promote better health.     

Disturbance observer-based fixed-time leader-following consensus control for multiple Euler–Lagrange systems: A non-singular terminal sliding mode scheme

This paper focuses on the fixed-time leader-following consensus problem for multiple Euler–Lagrange (EL) systems via non-singular terminal sliding mode control under a directed graph. Firstly, for each EL system, a local fixed-time disturbance observer is introduced to estimate the compound disturbance (including uncertain parameters and external disturbances) within a fixed time under the assumption that the disturbance is bounded. Next, a distributed fixed-time observer is designed to estimate the leader’s position and velocity, and the consensus problem is transformed into a local tracking problem by introducing such an observer. On the basis of the two types of observers designed, a novel non-singular terminal sliding surface is proposed to guarantee that the tracking errors on the sliding surface converge to zero within a fixed time. Furthermore, the presented control algorithm also ensures the fixed-time reachability of the sliding surface, while avoiding the singularity problem. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed observers and control protocol is further verified by a numerical simulation.     

Liquid–Liquid Extraction and Solid Phase Extraction for Urinary Organic Acids: A Comparative Study from a Resource Constraint Setting

Pre analytical process of extraction for accurate detection of organic acids is a crucial step in diagnosis of organic acidemias by GCMS analysis. This process is accomplished either by solid phase extraction (SPE) or by liquid–liquid extraction (LLE). Both extraction procedures are used in different metabolic laboratories all over the world. In this study we compared these two extraction procedures in respect of precision, accuracy, percent recovery of metabolites, number of metabolites isolated, time and cost in a resource constraint setup. We observed that the mean recovery from SPE was 84.1 % and by LLE it was 77.4 % (p value <0.05). Moreover, the average number of metabolites isolated by SPE and LLE was 161.8 ± 18.6 and 140.1 ± 20.4 respectively. The processing cost of LLE was economical. In a cost constraint setting using LLE may be the practical option if used for organic acid analysis.     

Blind in the right eye? The practice of awarding honorary memberships by German and Austrian dental societies (1949–1993) to Nazi dentists: A study on the role of National Socialism in post-war dentistry

According to ongoing public discourse, the dental profession in Germany and Austria has found it rather difficult to come to terms with the National Socialist past. Against this background, this study focuses on the practice of awarding honorary memberships by German and Austrian dental societies in the years 1949–1993. In particular, it examines how previous memberships in the Nazi party or other Nazi organisations were handled. We identified a total of 86 honourees, 47 of whom (55 %) were members of the NSDAP during the Third Reich, whereas only two were of Jewish origin. This leads to two conclusions: (1) Previous involvement with Nazi organisations was obviously not a limiting factor in the selection of honourees, and (2) after 1945, the Jewish colleagues were marginalised for a second time—now by being largely overlooked. The reasons of both findings are analysed and contextualised.     

A guide to the literature on the history of engineering available in the cooper union library: Cooper Union Bulletin. Engineering and science series,Number 28, 46 pages, 18 × 2S CMS., paper. New York,The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, 1946.

The linear logarithmic relations between deformation and temperature and pressure, previously empirical, have been directly derived from the defining equations for compressibility and thermal expansivity and shown to apply to all three stages of every deformation.Gibbs' thermodynamic potential function is shown to lead directly to simple and exact expressions for the energy of change of phase and of deformation within any one phase. The latter, a general equation of state, amounts to a simple relation between the four internal pressures.The derived deformation and energy functions are applied to some experimental data on steel tape which included thermal and relaxation observations.Thermodynamic relations governing both elastic and viscous behavior are developed. Plastic behavior involves both single phase and multiple phase applications of the second law. Precise thermal measurements should give the constants.