Output feedback stabilization of switching discrete-time linear systems with parameter uncertainties

This paper deals with observer-based control design for a class of switched discrete-time linear systems with parameter uncertainties. The main contribution of the paper is to propose a convenient way based on Finsler’s lemma to enhance the synthesis conditions, expressed in terms of Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs). Indeed, this judicious use of Finsler’s lemma provides additional decision variables, which render the LMIs less conservative and more general than all those existing in the literature for the same class of systems. Two numerical examples followed by a Monte Carlo evaluation are proposed to show the superiority of the proposed design technique.     

Comprehension of written sentences as a core component of children's reading comprehension

Two experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that sentence processing is an essential mediatory skill between word recognition and text comprehension in reading. In Experiment 1, a semantic similarity judgement task was used with children from Grade 2 to Grade 9. They had to say whether two written sentences had the same (or very similar) meanings or whether the meanings of the two sentences were very different. As expected, performance improved with age both on the high‐frequency words and with increasingly complex sentences. In Experiment 2 with children in Grade 3, scores in written sentence comprehension and vocabulary made the most important unique contribution to the reading comprehension of an expository text. The results are discussed first, in the light of a general framework in which sentence‐level skill is at the core of reading comprehension and second, with reference to the issue of reading assessment.