Digital Commons Network^™

The Self: How Does It Relate To Locus Of Control, Quality Of Life And Adaptive Behaviour For People With Mild Intellectual Disabilities?, Roselyn M. Dixon, Herbert W. Marsh, Rhonda Craven

Rose Dixon

Research has found that when people with intellectual disabilities are moved from institutions into smaller community-based services, positive outcomes have been recorded. However, positive outcomes have not been inevitable. It is now recognised that mere placement in the community is not always sufficient. Individual characteristics of clients and the nature of services received in the community may be very significant to maintaining normalisation and social role valorisation. Areas that have consistently been found to have an impact on community-based living are the social competencies and affective functioning of people with intellectual disability. Given the recognised importance, it is surprising that …

Doctrine Of Legitimate Expectation In Administartive Law: A Bangladesh Perspective, Meher Nigar, Homaira Nowshin Urmi

meher nigar

No abstract provided.

Optimization Of Crime Control Resources In A Society, Steven S. Thompson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This paper looks at the economics of crime control through the Phillips-Votey Societal Cost Function model and mathematically proves that there is a socially optimal point at which society should be devoting resources towards the prevention of crime. This allows the society to minimize the social cost of crime given a theoretical cost constraint. This paper take the model further by conducting comparative analysis to determine the effect that changes in the functional form of crime generation, and crime prevention will have on society as represented in the model. This paper also looks at the counter intuitive effect that growth …

What Is Temperance?

ATS Digital Resources

"TEMPERANCErelates to the proper control of the appetites. It implies the moderate use of good things, and the total abstaining from those which are bad."

Intelligent Modelling And Control Of Grinding, Li Xue, Fazel Naghdy, John Simpson, Devi Saini

Professor Fazel Naghdy

No abstract provided.

Heuristic Monitoring And Control Of Surface Finish In Grinding Process, Fazel Naghdy, John Simpson, Li Xue

Professor Fazel Naghdy

No abstract provided.

In Process Control Of Surface Finish In Grinding, Li Xue, Fazel Naghdy, John Simpson

Professor Fazel Naghdy

No abstract provided.

Adaptive Self-Organisation Of Wireless Ad-Hoc Control Networks, Fazel Naghdy, Nathan Simiana

Professor Fazel Naghdy

A novel concept called Wireless ad-hoc Control Networks (WACNets), exploring an ad-hoc approach to networked distributed control, has been under study for the last five years in the research group. Such systems represent a new stage in the evolution of distributed control and monitoring. The work carried out in developing an adaptive self-organisation algorithm for WACNet is reported. The algorithm deploys a distance measure technique while satisfying the rules and assumptions developed for WACNet framework. The effectiveness of the algorithm is verified through computer simulation under a number of given scenarios. The results obtained show that the algorithm effectively drives …

Fuzzy Stability Control Of Robotic Manipulator With Input Delays, Haiping Du, Fazel Naghdy, David A. Stirling

Professor Fazel Naghdy

This paper studies the stabilisation control problem of a robotic manipulator with input delays. To deal with the highly nonlinear dynamics of a robotic manipulator, the model-based Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy control strategy is applied. With representing the nonlinear robotic manipulator model as a T-S fuzzy model, sufficient conditions for designing a controller such that the system is stabilised with given decay rate are derived by constructing a less conservative Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional and using a tighter bounding technology for cross terms and the free weighting matrix approach. With appropriate derivation, all the required conditions are expressed as linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). …

Active Control Of Along Wind Response Of Tall Building Using A Fuzzy Controller, Fazel Naghdy, Mohammed Aldawod, Bijan Samali, Kenny Kwok

Professor Fazel Naghdy

No abstract provided.

Physical Layer Of Wireless Ad-Hoc Control Networks, Shengrong Bu, Fazel Naghdy, Philip Ciufo

Professor Fazel Naghdy

A new concept called Wireless ad-hoc control networks (WACNets), designed for distributed and remote monitoring and control is explored in this work. It is suggested that ad-hoc control networks are the next stage in the development of distributed control and monitoring. WACNet explores a framework for organic, evolutionary and scalable method of integrating a large number of nodes with sensing and/or actuation, local intelligence and control, data processing and communication capabilities. A combination of IEEE 1451 compliant Smart Sensor and Bluetooth standard is employed to develop the first generation test-bed for the study of WACNets. The concept is introduced and …

Ambient Intelligence Through Wireless Ad-Hoc Control Networks, Antoine Desmet, Fazel Naghdy, Montserrat Ros

Professor Fazel Naghdy

The potential of Wireless Ad-hoc Control Networks (WACNets) in realising ambient intelligence in a home environment is explored in this paper. The main objective is to achieve energy and resource efficiency while maintaining optimal comfort. WACNets is a novel concept developed by the Centre for Intelligent Mechatronics Research at the University of Wollongong for the purpose of providing a framework for highly distributed, intelligent wireless control networks. A WACNet consists of intelligent nodes developed on the IEEE 1451 Smart Sensor and ZigBee standards. The WACNet platform is fully selforganizing and employs a mesh of star-topology clusters. The development of an …

Motion Segmentation For Humanoid Control Planning, Matthew Field, David A. Stirling, Fazel Naghdy, Zengxi Pan

Professor Fazel Naghdy

The discovery of major management behaviours from human motion data and uncovering their underlying components is investigated. A range of methods for segmenting major shifts in multidimensional time series are compared in inducing plausible behaviours from motion data. These behaviours are considered as supersets of motion primitives that define a repertoire of manoeuvres available to the human. The resulting multilayered symbolic model is used as a framework for humanoid imitation and control. It is hoped that with appropriate matching and scaling of degrees of freedom, models can be tested by extracting a trajectory for a simulation of the Nao soccer …

Autonomous Blimp Control Using Reinforcement Learning, Yiwei Liu, Zengxi Pan, David Stirling, Fazel Naghdy

Professor Fazel Naghdy

This paper presents a new approach for navigation control of an autonomous blimp using an intelligent reinforcement learning algorithm. Compared to the traditional model based control methods, this control strategy does not require a dynamic model of the blimp, which provides huge advantage in many practical situations where the blimp system model is either hard to acquire or too complicated to apply. As the blimp will acquire a range of the pilot skills through a learning and rewarding mechanism during actual navigation trials, it can automatically account for the environmental changes during the navigation. The simulation data generated from a …

Control Of Autonomous Airship, Yiwei Liu, Zengxi Pan, David Stirling, Fazel Naghdy

Professor Fazel Naghdy

Scientific research and development on the control of autonomous airship have shown a significant growth in recent years. New applications appear in the areas such as freight carrier, advertising, monitoring, surveillance, transportation, military and scientific research. The control of Autonomous airship is a very important problem for the aerial robots research. In this paper, the previous research on the control of autonomous blimp is reviewed, Several popular control methods are categorized and discussed in detail. Then an intelligent navigation control method, reinforcement learning control, is introduced in the autonomous blimp which was used for 2007 UAV Outback Challenge. The future …

Q-Learning Algorithm For Navigation Control Of Autonomous Blimp, Yiwei Liu, Zengxi Pan, David A. Stirling, Fazel Naghdy

Professor Fazel Naghdy

In this research, an autonomous control system for blimp navigation was developed using reinforcement learning algorithm. The aim of this research is to provide a blimp the capability to approach a goal position autonomously in an environment, where the dynamical models of the blimp and the environment are unknown. Webots™ Robotics Simulator (WRS) was used to simulate and evaluate the control strategy obtained through a one-step Q-learning method. The simulation data generated via WRS were then processed and analysed within MATLAB. The simulation results showed that the control policy acquired from Q-learning is much more effective compared to the traditional …

Attitude Estimation And Control Of Vtol Uavs, Andrew D. Roberts

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The theoretical challenge involved in the operation of VTOL UAVs is often divided into two main problems. The first problem involves the development of an estimation scheme which can accurately recover the orientation, or angular position, of the aircraft. The second problem involves the development of algorithms which can be used to reliably control the orientation and/or the position of the vehicle. These two problems are the primary focus of this thesis.

We first consider the problem of attitude estimation. To solve this problem we use vector measurements, and in many cases, a gyroscope (to measure the angular velocity of …

Sovereignty In Theory And Practice, Winston P. Nagan, Aitza M. Haddad

Winston P Nagan

This article deals with the theory and practice of sovereignty from the perspective of a trend in theoretical perspectives as well as the relevant trend in practice. The article provides a survey of the leading thinkers and philosophers views on the nature and importance of sovereignty. The concept of sovereignty is exceeding the complex. Unpacking its meanings and uses over time is challenging. An aspect of this challenge is that the discourse about sovereignty is vibrant in diverse policy, academic and political constituencies. At times its narratives are relatively discrete and at other times the narratives overlap with the discourses …

Pointer States Via Engineered Dissipation, Kaveh Khodjasteh, Viatcheslav V. V. Dobrovitski, Lorenza Viola

Dartmouth Scholarship

Pointer states are long-lasting high-fidelity states in open quantum systems. We show how any pure state in a non-Markovian open quantum system can be made to behave as a pointer state by suitably engineering the coupling to the environment via open-loop periodic control. Engineered pointer states are constructed as approximate fixed points of the controlled open-system dynamics, in such a way that they are guaranteed to survive over a long time with a fidelity determined by the relative precision with which the dynamics is engineered. We provide quantitative minimum-fidelity bounds by identifying symmetry and ergodicity conditions that the decoherence-inducing perturbation …

Coping Resources, Coping Styles, Mastery, Social Support, And Depression In Male And Female College Students, Kristen J. Aycock

Counseling and Psychological Services Dissertations

Depression is one of the most commonly-diagnosed disorders in college counseling centers (Adams, Wharton, Quilter, & Hirsch, 2008), so effective diagnosis and treatment are paramount to providing adequate care to college students. Treatment direction may depend on gender, however. Not only do males and females experience depression at different rates (Kessler et al., 2003), but there also is some evidence that factors predict depression differently by gender (Tamres, Janicki, & Helgeson, 2002). Specifically, the literature suggests that the choice of coping strategies may be gender-related; that perceived control is higher in males, yet more important to females; that social connectedness …

Zach's News, Georgia Southern University, Zach S. Henderson Library

University Libraries News Online (2008-2023)

• Hot Doc: Budget Control Act of 2011

Heterogeneity, Control, Social Infrastructure, And Possibilities Of Participation: Their Interplay In Modern Understandings Of Heredity And In Interpretation Of Science, Peter J. Taylor

Working Papers on Science in a Changing World

This working paper is a prospectus for research, writing, and engagement. It consists of vignettes, sketches of lines of inquiry, and proposals for engagement, all of which concern modern understandings of heredity and development over the life course as well as the social interpretation of science. The various items address a range of areas of science and of its interpretation: heritability studies, the social uses of genetic information, gene-by-environment interaction, personalized medicine, IQ paradoxes, racial group membership, biobanks, and life events and difficulties research. Fresh perspectives in these areas are opened up by examining the ways that research and application …

Chaos And Control: The Hidden Tension Between Liberalism And Freedom, Drew D. Dickson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From self-sovereignty to individual independence, freedom is about control. When people want freedom, they yearn for exclusive control over their life. Liberal institutions, from democracy to market economies, however, do not offer people control. Instead, liberal machinery outsources control to a collective, invisible power. Far fom control, chaos governs liberal society. In the earliest stages of development, liberalism did serve the pursuit of freedom because liebral reforms focused on the destruction of controlling power from above, i.e. the expansion of liebrty. Because controlling onself first requires being controlled by no one lese, liberty is the first, but incomplete, step toward …

Optimized Control Strategies For A Typical Water Loop Heat Pump System, Xu Lian

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Dissertations, Thesis, and Student Research

Water Loop Heat Pump (WLHP) System has been widely utilized in the Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) industry for several decades. There is no doubt about the energy saving potential of this type of system from the design and construction perspective. However, there are still many unsolved problems, such as high loop pump energy consumption, low heat pump efficiency and high electricity cost due to improper operation, although the system design intension was to save energy. Thus, how to control the WSHP to realize its energy-efficient value is an innovative but practical topic on which this thesis will focus. …

Limits On Preserving Quantum Coherence Using Multipulse Control, Kaveh Khodjasteh, Támas Erdélyi, Lorenza Viola

Dartmouth Scholarship

We explore the physical limits of pulsed dynamical decoupling methods for decoherence control as determined by finite timing resources. By focusing on a decohering qubit controlled by arbitrary sequences of π pulses, we establish a nonperturbative quantitative upper bound to the achievable coherence for specified maximum pulsing rate and noise spectral bandwidth. We introduce numerically optimized control “bandwidth-adapted” sequences that saturate the performance bound and show how they outperform existing sequences in a realistic excitonic-qubit system where timing constraints are significant. As a by-product, our analysis reinforces the impossibility of fault-tolerance accuracy thresholds for generic open quantum systems under purely …

Design, Modeling And Control Strategy Of Pv/Fc Hybrid Power System, Dr. Adel A. Elbaset

Dr. Adel A. Elbaset

This paper describes development of a general methodology of an autonomous PV/FC system composed of photovoltaic (PV), electrolyzer, hydrogen storage tank and fuel cell (FC). The aim of this paper is to determine optimum design, control strategy, economic and performance of a PV/FC hybrid power generation system without battery storage taking into account all losses in the system. The paper also presents a computer program based on Matlab software to determine optimum design, control strategy, economic and performance of an autonomous PV/FC hybrid power generation system. The computer program develops to size system components in order to match the load …

Carving Cognition At Its Joints: Insights From The Interaction Between Explicit And Implicit Social Cognition, Kurt R. Peters

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The distinction of cognition into kinds of cognitive process has proven theoretically fruitful and empirically compelling, but there remain significant challenges in deciding how best to carve cognition. First, it is unclear how to design measurement procedures that select distinct kinds of cognitive processing as exclusively as possible and, conversely, how to interpret the results of different kinds of measurement procedure. Second, the distinction between kinds of cognition must be specified with enough precision to derive empirically testable and falsifiable predictions. Third, there must be a reasonable explanation, ultimately compatible with phylogenetic evidence, for the existence of the specified distinction …

Contract Theory Of Organizations, Accounting And Control, Shyam Sunder

Shyam Sunder

No abstract provided.

Making Robert Kane's Libertarianism More Plausible: How James Woodward's Interventionist Causal Theory Can Give An Agent Control Over Her Undetermined Decisions, Tracy Van Wagner

Philosophy Theses

Robert Kane asserts that some decisions and actions which are made by an agent are undetermined. These undetermined decisions are what allow an agent to have free will and ultimate responsibility for her decisions and actions. Kane appeals to probabilistic causation in order to argue that these undetermined decisions are not arbitrary or random. I argue that Woodward’s interventionist approach to causation can be used by Kane to make his theory of free will more plausible by illustrating how the agent causes her decision. Woodward’s account can link an agent’s reasons with her decision, activity in her self-network with her …

Applied Control Strategies At A Cogeneration Plant, Joseph William Burns

Master's Theses

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the effectiveness of “classical strategies for dynamic control” on authentic cogeneration processes. These strategies are applied to several processes at the University of Connecticut’s cogeneration plant. Case studies of their applications are presented in this paper. Strategies that are applied include the following:

1) The classical SISO feedback structure

2) The First Order Plus Dead Time (FOPDT) process model

3) The Internal Model Control (IMC) correlations for PI controller tuning

4) Static feed forward with feedback trim

5) Cascade Control