Sviluppo di modelli motore e veicolo per l'analisi di strategie di controllo in applicazioni Software e Hardware In the Loop

This work describes the development of a simulation tool which allows the simulation of the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), the transmission and the vehicle dynamics. It is a control oriented simulation tool, designed in order to perform both off-line (Software In the Loop) and on-line (Hardware In the Loop) simulation. In the first case the simulation tool can be used in order to optimize Engine Control Unit strategies (as far as regard, for example, the fuel consumption or the performance of the engine), while in the second case it can be used in order to test the control system. In recent years the use of HIL simulations has proved to be very useful in developing and testing of control systems. Hardware In the Loop simulation is a technology where the actual vehicles, engines or other components are replaced by a real time simulation, based on a mathematical model and running in a real time processor. The processor reads ECU (Engine Control Unit) output signals which would normally feed the actuators and, by using mathematical models, provides the signals which would be produced by the actual sensors. The simulation tool, fully designed within Simulink, includes the possibility to simulate the only engine, the transmission and vehicle dynamics and the engine along with the vehicle and transmission dynamics, allowing in this case to evaluate the performance and the operating conditions of the Internal Combustion Engine, once it is installed on a given vehicle. Furthermore the simulation tool includes different level of complexity, since it is possible to use, for example, either a zero-dimensional or a one-dimensional model of the intake system (in this case only for off-line application, because of the higher computational effort). Given these preliminary remarks, an important goal of this work is the development of a simulation environment that can be easily adapted to different engine types (single- or multi-cylinder, four-stroke or two-stroke, diesel or gasoline) and transmission architecture without reprogramming. Also, the same simulation tool can be rapidly configured both for off-line and real-time application. The Matlab-Simulink environment has been adopted to achieve such objectives, since its graphical programming interface allows building flexible and reconfigurable models, and real-time simulation is possible with standard, off-the-shelf software and hardware platforms (such as dSPACE systems).

Le cure oncologiche e la prospettiva del paziente. Revisione di letteratura e un caso di studio

Numerose ricerche indicano i modelli di cure integrate come la migliore soluzione per costruire un sistema più efficace ed efficiente nella risposta ai bisogni del paziente con tumore, spesso, però, l’integrazione è considerata da una prospettiva principalmente clinica, come l’adozione di linee guida nei percorsi della diagnosi e del trattamento assistenziale o la promozione di gruppi di lavoro per specifiche patologie, trascurando la prospettiva del paziente e la valutazione della sua esperienza nei servizi. Il presente lavoro si propone di esaminare la relazione tra l’integrazione delle cure oncologiche e l’esperienza del paziente; com'è rappresentato il suo coinvolgimento e quali siano i campi di partecipazione nel percorso oncologico, infine se sia possibile misurare l’esperienza vissuta. L’indagine è stata svolta sia attraverso la revisione e l’analisi della letteratura sia attraverso un caso di studio, condotto all'interno della Rete Oncologica di Area Vasta Romagna, tramite la somministrazione di un questionario a 310 pazienti con neoplasia al colon retto o alla mammella. Dai risultati, emerge un quadro generale positivo della relazione tra l’organizzazione a rete dei servizi oncologici e l’esperienza del paziente. In particolare, è stato possibile evidenziare quattro principali nodi organizzativi che introducono la prospettiva del paziente: “individual care provider”,“team care provider”,“mixed approach”,“continuity and quality of care”. Inoltre, è stato possibile delineare un campo semantico coerente del concetto di coinvolgimento del paziente in oncologia e individuare quattro campi di applicazione, lungo tutte le fasi del percorso: “prevenzione”, “trattamento”,“cura”,“ricerca”. Infine, è stato possibile identificare nel concetto di continuità di cura il modo in cui i singoli pazienti sperimentano l’integrazione o il coordinamento delle cure e analizzare differenti aspetti del vissuto della persona e dell’organizzazione.

Application-oriented Mixed Integer Non-Linear Programming

In the most recent years there is a renovate interest for Mixed Integer Non-Linear Programming (MINLP) problems. This can be explained for different reasons: (i) the performance of solvers handling non-linear constraints was largely improved; (ii) the awareness that most of the applications from the real-world can be modeled as an MINLP problem; (iii) the challenging nature of this very general class of problems. It is well-known that MINLP problems are NP-hard because they are the generalization of MILP problems, which are NP-hard themselves. However, MINLPs are, in general, also hard to solve in practice. We address to non-convex MINLPs, i.e. having non-convex continuous relaxations: the presence of non-convexities in the model makes these problems usually even harder to solve. The aim of this Ph.D. thesis is to give a flavor of different possible approaches that one can study to attack MINLP problems with non-convexities, with a special attention to real-world problems. In Part 1 of the thesis we introduce the problem and present three special cases of general MINLPs and the most common methods used to solve them. These techniques play a fundamental role in the resolution of general MINLP problems. Then we describe algorithms addressing general MINLPs. Parts 2 and 3 contain the main contributions of the Ph.D. thesis. In particular, in Part 2 four different methods aimed at solving different classes of MINLP problems are presented. Part 3 of the thesis is devoted to real-world applications: two different problems and approaches to MINLPs are presented, namely Scheduling and Unit Commitment for Hydro-Plants and Water Network Design problems. The results show that each of these different methods has advantages and disadvantages. Thus, typically the method to be adopted to solve a real-world problem should be tailored on the characteristics, structure and size of the problem. Part 4 of the thesis consists of a brief review on tools commonly used for general MINLP problems, constituted an integral part of the development of this Ph.D. thesis (especially the use and development of open-source software). We present the main characteristics of solvers for each special case of MINLP.