Division of Tobacco Use prevention and Control 2014-2018 Strategic Plan,

The Division of Tobacco Use Prevention and Control works to reduce tobacco use and the toll of tobacco-caused disease and death by preventing youth from starting, helping Iowans to quit, and preventing exposure to secondhand smoke. Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death for Iowans, taking the lives of more than 4,400 adults each year. Estimated annual health care costs in Iowa directly related to tobacco use now total $1 billion.

Risk perception, emotion regulation and impulsivity as predictors of risk behaviours among adolescents in Switzerland

The purpose of this study was to explore the frequency of risk behaviours among Swiss adolescents and their links with risk perception, impulsivity and emotion regulation abilities, operationalized with the concepts of alexithymia and emo- tional openness. We recruited 144 subjects (aged 14-20), who completed the Risk Involvement and Perception Scale (RIPS-R), the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale, the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), and the 20-item Dimensions of Openness to Emotional Experiences (DOE-20) questionnaire. Findings revealed that a greater perception of benefits and a higher level of sensation seeking were associated with more involvement in risk behaviours, which are essentially socially accepted behaviours. Notably, the path model indicated that the perception of benefits was a mediator in the relationship between sensation seeking and risk behaviours. The results add to the psychological understanding of factors associated with risk behaviours in adolescence. The limitations and implications of these results for developmental theories, research, and prevention are stated.

Antibacterial activity of essential oils on Xanthomonas vesicatoria and control of bacterial spot in tomato

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of plant essential oils (EOs) on the growth of Xanthomonas vesicatoria, on bacterial morphology and ultrastructure, and on the severity of tomato bacterial spot. EOs from citronella, clove, cinnamon, lemongrass, eucalyptus, thyme, and tea tree were evaluated in vitro at concentrations of 0.1, 1.0, 10, and 100% in 1.0% powdered milk. The effect of EOs, at 0.1%, on the severity of tomato bacterial spot was evaluated in tomato seedlings under greenhouse conditions. The effects of citronella, lemongrass, clove, and tea tree EOs, at 0.1%, on X. vesicatoria cells were evaluated by transmission electron microscopy. All EOs showed direct toxic effect on the bacteria at a 10%-concentration in vitro. Under greenhouse conditions, the EOs of clove, citronella, tea tree, and lemongrass reduced disease severity. EOs of clove and tea tree, and streptomycin sulfate promoted loss of electron-dense material and alterations in the cytoplasm, whereas EO of tea tree promoted cytoplasm vacuolation, and those of citronella, lemongrass, clove, and tea tree caused damage to the bacterial cell wall. The EOs at a concentration of 0.1% reduce the severity of the disease.

Neuroendocrine regulation and central dopamine (DA) systems in physical and psychological stress

Physical and psychological stress cause different patterns of changes in the fluorescence intensity of nigral and tuberoinfundibular DA neurons which point to changes in neuronal activity. In order to investigate possible interactions between alpha-MSH (alpha-melanotropin) and DA systems in stress, systemic and intraventricular injections of antiserum against alpha-MSH were made. The functional state of DA neurons was assessed by histochemical microfluorimetry and hormone levels were measured by radioimmunossay. Antiserum against alpha-MSH was found to affect the functional state of DA neurons, but only thorugh the intravenous route. Under physical stress i.v. injection of antiserum against alpha-MSH was accompanied by elevated levels of activity of the DA neurons of the substantia nigra. An intraventricular injection of the same antiserum was ineffective. In psychological stress, an effect was again seen only after intravenous injection of antiserum against alpha-MSH. In this situation, the activity in DA cell groups of the substantia nigra, ventral tegmental area and tubero-infundibular system was increased after antiserum injection. Possible influences from manipulations were checked; certain effects which depended upon experimental situation were noted. Our data suggest a modulatory influence of circulating alpha-MSH on the functional state of central DA systems.

Planning and control of internal development projects in a fast changing environment: Case study

Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on kuvata ja ymmärtää kuinka sisäisiä kehityshankkeita voidaan hallita onnistuneesti kun toimitaan nopeasti muuttuvassa ympäristössä. Tutkimus kuvailee etenkin projekteille tärkeitä menestymistekijöitä, kuten suunnittelu, kontrollointi ja päätöksenteko. Tutkimus selvittää yleisimmät ongelma-alueet case-organisaation sisäisten kehityshankkeiden hallinnassa. Tutkimus on luonteeltaan laadullinen tutkimus, jossa tutkimusmenetelmänä on käytetty tapaustutkimusta. Empiirisessa osassa käsittellään case-organisaation sisäisiä informaatioteknologia-hankkeita (IT) ja uusien konseptien kehityshankkeita (NCD). iSisäisten kehityshankkeiden erilaisuuden ymmärtäminen oli tutkimuksen tärkein tulos. Tutkimuksen empiirinen osio osoitti sen, että epävarmuudella on erittäin suuri vaikutus projektihallintaan sekä projektin kontrollointiin. Case-organisaation IT-projektien onnistuminen riippuu organisaatiomuu-toksen onnistumisesta. Asiakkaisiin ja markkinoihin liittyvät epävarmuudet ovat vaikuttavimmat NCD projektien epävarmuuksista. Näillä epävarmuuk-sil­la on vaikutusta projektihallintaan jonka myötä NCD projektit juuttuvat useim­mi­ten noidankehiin tai ne lopetetaan jo aikaisessa vaiheessa.

Formation and Control of Trace Metal Emissions in Co-Firing of Biomass, Peat, and Wastes in Fluidised Bed Combustors

Environmentally harmful consequences of fossil fuel utilisation andthe landfilling of wastes have increased the interest among the energy producers to consider the use of alternative fuels like wood fuels and Refuse-Derived Fuels, RDFs. The fluidised bed technology that allows the flexible use of a variety of different fuels is commonly used at small- and medium-sized power plants ofmunicipalities and industry in Finland. Since there is only one mass-burn plantcurrently in operation in the country and no intention to build new ones, the co-firing of pre-processed wastes in fluidised bed boilers has become the most generally applied waste-to-energy concept in Finland. The recently validated EU Directive on Incineration of Wastes aims to mitigate environmentally harmful pollutants of waste incineration and co-incineration of wastes with conventional fuels. Apart from gaseous flue gas pollutants and dust, the emissions of toxic tracemetals are limited. The implementation of the Directive's restrictions in the Finnish legislation is assumed to limit the co-firing of waste fuels, due to the insufficient reduction of the regulated air pollutants in the existing flue gas cleaning devices. Trace metals emission formation and reduction in the ESP, the condensing wet scrubber, the fabric filter, and the humidification reactor were studied, experimentally, in full- and pilot-scale combustors utilising the bubbling fluidised bed technology, and, theoretically, by means of reactor model calculations. The core of the model is a thermodynamic equilibrium analysis. The experiments were carried out with wood chips, sawdust, and peat, and their refuse-derived fuel, RDF, blends. In all, ten different fuels or fuel blends were tested. Relatively high concentrations of trace metals in RDFs compared to the concentrations of these metals in wood fuels increased the trace metal concentrations in the flue gas after the boiler ten- to hundred-folds, when RDF was co-fired with sawdust in a full-scale BFB boiler. In the case of peat, lesser increase in trace metal concentrations was observed, due to the higher initial trace metal concentrations of peat compared to sawdust. Despite the high removal rate of most of the trace metals in the ESP, the Directive emission limits for trace metals were exceeded in each of the RDF co-firing tests. The dominat trace metals in fluegas after the ESP were Cu, Pb and Mn. In the condensing wet scrubber, the flue gas trace metal emissions were reduced below the Directive emission limits, whenRDF pellet was used as a co-firing fuel together with sawdust and peat. High chlorine content of the RDFs enhanced the mercuric chloride formation and hence the mercury removal in the ESP and scrubber. Mercury emissions were lower than theDirective emission limit for total Hg, 0.05 mg/Nm3, in all full-scale co-firingtests already in the flue gas after the ESP. The pilot-scale experiments with aBFB combustor equipped with a fabric filter revealed that the fabric filter alone is able to reduce the trace metal concentrations, including mercury, in the flue gas during the RDF co-firing approximately to the same level as they are during the wood chip firing. Lower trace metal emissions than the Directive limits were easily reached even with a 40% thermal share of RDF co-firing with sawdust.Enrichment of trace metals in the submicron fly ash particle fraction because of RDF co-firing was not observed in the test runs where sawdust was used as the main fuel. The combustion of RDF pellets with peat caused an enrichment of As, Cd, Co, Pb, Sb, and V in the submicron particle mode. Accumulation and release oftrace metals in the bed material was examined by means of a bed material analysis, mass balance calculations and a reactor model. Lead, zinc and copper were found to have a tendency to be accumulated in the bed material but also to have a tendency to be released from the bed material into the combustion gases, if the combustion conditions were changed. The concentration of the trace metal in the combustion gases of the bubbling fluidised bed boiler was found to be a summary of trace metal fluxes from three main sources. They were (1) the trace metal flux from the burning fuel particle (2) the trace metal flux from the ash in the bed, and (3) the trace metal flux from the active alkali metal layer on the sand (and ash) particles in the bed. The amount of chlorine in the system, the combustion temperature, the fuel ash composition and the saturation state of the bed material in regard to trace metals were discovered to be key factors affecting therelease process. During the co-firing of waste fuels with variable amounts of e.g. ash and chlorine, it is extremely important to consider the possible ongoingaccumulation and/or release of the trace metals in the bed, when determining the flue gas trace metal emissions. If the state of the combustion process in regard to trace metals accumulation and/or release in the bed material is not known,it may happen that emissions from the bed material rather than the combustion of the fuel in question are measured and reported.

On Modelling, System Identification and Control of Servo-Systems with a Flexible Load

The present study was done with two different servo-systems. In the first system, a servo-hydraulic system was identified and then controlled by a fuzzy gainscheduling controller. The second servo-system, an electro-magnetic linear motor in suppressing the mechanical vibration and position tracking of a reference model are studied by using a neural network and an adaptive backstepping controller respectively. Followings are some descriptions of research methods. Electro Hydraulic Servo Systems (EHSS) are commonly used in industry. These kinds of systems are nonlinearin nature and their dynamic equations have several unknown parameters.System identification is a prerequisite to analysis of a dynamic system. One of the most promising novel evolutionary algorithms is the Differential Evolution (DE) for solving global optimization problems. In the study, the DE algorithm is proposed for handling nonlinear constraint functionswith boundary limits of variables to find the best parameters of a servo-hydraulic system with flexible load. The DE guarantees fast speed convergence and accurate solutions regardless the initial conditions of parameters. The control of hydraulic servo-systems has been the focus ofintense research over the past decades. These kinds of systems are nonlinear in nature and generally difficult to control. Since changing system parameters using the same gains will cause overshoot or even loss of system stability. The highly non-linear behaviour of these devices makes them ideal subjects for applying different types of sophisticated controllers. The study is concerned with a second order model reference to positioning control of a flexible load servo-hydraulic system using fuzzy gainscheduling. In the present research, to compensate the lack of dampingin a hydraulic system, an acceleration feedback was used. To compare the results, a pcontroller with feed-forward acceleration and different gains in extension and retraction is used. The design procedure for the controller and experimental results are discussed. The results suggest that using the fuzzy gain-scheduling controller decrease the error of position reference tracking. The second part of research was done on a PermanentMagnet Linear Synchronous Motor (PMLSM). In this study, a recurrent neural network compensator for suppressing mechanical vibration in PMLSM with a flexible load is studied. The linear motor is controlled by a conventional PI velocity controller, and the vibration of the flexible mechanism is suppressed by using a hybrid recurrent neural network. The differential evolution strategy and Kalman filter method are used to avoid the local minimum problem, and estimate the states of system respectively. The proposed control method is firstly designed by using non-linear simulation model built in Matlab Simulink and then implemented in practical test rig. The proposed method works satisfactorily and suppresses the vibration successfully. In the last part of research, a nonlinear load control method is developed and implemented for a PMLSM with a flexible load. The purpose of the controller is to track a flexible load to the desired position reference as fast as possible and without awkward oscillation. The control method is based on an adaptive backstepping algorithm whose stability is ensured by the Lyapunov stability theorem. The states of the system needed in the controller are estimated by using the Kalman filter. The proposed controller is implemented and tested in a linear motor test drive and responses are presented.

Sheeting efficiency improvement through production planning and control development.

Arkitus on kartongin jatkojalostusmuoto, jonka tehokkuus muodostuu monen tekijän vaikutuksesta. Tämän työn tavoitteena oli parantaa arkitustehokkuutta tutkitussa kahden folioleikkurin arkittamossa tuotannonsuunnittelun ja tuotannonohjauksen kehittämisellä. Kartonkitehtaan sisäisessä jalostusketjussa arkitus on viimeinen vaihe, mikä tekee siitä pitkälti riippuvaisen edeltävistä konevaiheista, eli kartonkikoneista ja PE-päällystyskoneista. Pelkkä arkituksen tuotannonsuunnittelun huomiointi ei siis vielä takaa hyvää lopputulosta arkitustehokkuuden kannalta. Folioarkitustoiminta on hyvin asiakassuuntautunutta. Arkkikoot määräytyvät asiakkaiden omien tarpeiden perusteella, jolloin eri arkkikokojen kokonaismäärä kasvaa huomattavan suureksi. Viime vuosien trendinä on ollut tilauseräkokojen pieneneminen. Näiden tekijöiden yhteisvaikutuksena arkituksen tuotantoprosessille on ominaista erilaisten asetusten aiheuttama katkonaisuus. Lisäksi pelkästään yhden millimetrin muutos arkin leveydessä voi usein vaikuttaa arkitustehokkuuteen hyvinkin merkittävästi. Näistä syistä arkituksen tuotannonsuunnittelun apuvälineeksi tarvitaan tarkkuuteen ja joustavuuteen kykenevää tietojärjestelmää. Tehokkaan tuotannonohjauksen tueksi tarvitaan lisäksi erilaisia leikkuri- ja kartonkilaatukohtaisia raportteja. Työn teoriaosassa käsitellään tarkemmin arkitustoiminnan ominaisuuksia ja sen tehokkuuteen vaikuttavia tekijöitä. Lisäksi käsitellään tuotannonsuunnittelun ja tuotannonohjauksen periaatteita ja toimintoja.

Hidrogenionic potential (pH) of the attractant, trap density and control threshold for Ceratitis capitata (DIPTERA: TEPHRITIDAE) on Hamlin oranges in São Paulo central region, Brazil

This study evaluated the effect of initial pH values of 4.5, 6.5 and 8.5 of the attractant (protein bait) Milhocina® and borax (sodium borate) in the field, on the capture of fruit flies in McPhail traps, using 1, 2, 4 and 8 traps per hectare, in order to estimate control thresholds in a Hamlin orange grove in the central region of the state of São Paulo. The most abundant fruit fly species was Ceratitis capitata, comprising almost 99% of the fruit flies captured, of which 80% were females. The largest captures of C. capitata were found in traps baited with Milhocina® and borax at pH 8.5. Captures per trap for the four densities were similar, indicating that the population can be estimated with one trap per hectare in areas with high populations. It was found positive relationships between captures of C. capitata and the number of Hamlin oranges damaged, 2 and 3 weeks after capture. It was obtained equations that correlate captures and damage levels which can be used to estimate control thresholds. The average loss caused in Hamlin orange fruits by C. capitata was 2.5 tons per hectare or 7.5% of production.

High blood pressure in Sub-Saharan Africa: why prevention, detection, and control are urgent and important

In 2010, hypertension in Sub-Saharan Africa was theleading risk for death, incr easing by 67% since 1990.Hypertension was estimated to cause more than500,000 deaths and 10 million years of life lost in2010 in Sub-Saharan Africa. It was also the sixthleading risk for disability (contributing to more than 11million disability-adjusted life years).3In Sub-Saharan Africa, stroke, the major clinical outcome of uncon-trolled hypertension, has increased 46% since 1990 tobecome the fifth leading risk for death.

On the Analysis and Control of a Linear Synchronous Servomotor with a Flexible Load

Industry's growing need for higher productivity is placing new demands on mechanisms connected with electrical motors, because these can easily lead to vibration problems due to fast dynamics. Furthermore, the nonlinear effects caused by a motor frequently reduce servo stability, which diminishes the controller's ability to predict and maintain speed. Hence, the flexibility of a mechanism and its control has become an important area of research. The basic approach in control system engineering is to assume that the mechanism connected to a motor is rigid, so that vibrations in the tool mechanism, reel, gripper or any apparatus connected to the motor are not taken into account. This might reduce the ability of the machine system to carry out its assignment and shorten the lifetime of the equipment. Nonetheless, it is usually more important to know how the mechanism, or in other words the load on the motor, behaves. A nonlinear load control method for a permanent magnet linear synchronous motor is developed and implemented in the thesis. The purpose of the controller is to track a flexible load to the desired velocity reference as fast as possible and without awkward oscillations. The control method is based on an adaptive backstepping algorithm with its stability ensured by the Lyapunov stability theorem. As a reference controller for the backstepping method, a hybrid neural controller is introduced in which the linear motor itself is controlled by a conventional PI velocity controller and the vibration of the associated flexible mechanism is suppressed from an outer control loop using a compensation signal from a multilayer perceptron network. To avoid the local minimum problem entailed in neural networks, the initial weights are searched for offline by means of a differential evolution algorithm. The states of a mechanical system for controllers are estimated using the Kalman filter. The theoretical results obtained from the control design are validated with the lumped mass model for a mechanism. Generalization of the mechanism allows the methods derived here to be widely implemented in machine automation. The control algorithms are first designed in a specially introduced nonlinear simulation model and then implemented in the physical linear motor using a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) application. The measurements prove that both controllers are capable of suppressing vibration, but that the backstepping method is superior to others due to its accuracy of response and stability properties.

Modernization of protection and control system of HV/MV substation in Russia

This work describes different possibilities of protection and control system improvement of primary distribution substation. The status of condition and main problems of power networks from reliability point of view in Russia are described. This work studies technologies used today in Russia for protection of distribution networks with their disadvantages. Majority of medium voltage networks (6-35 kV) has isolated network point. There is still no any protection available on the market which allows to estimate distance to fault in case of earth fault. The thesis analyses methods of earth fault distance calculation. On the basis of computer simulation the influence of various factors on calculation accuracy is studied. The practical implementation of the method presupposes usage of digital relay. Application of digital relay is accompanied by numerous opportunities which are described in this work. Also advantages of system implemented on the basis of IEC 61850 standard are examined. Finally, suitability of modern digital relays from GOST standard point of view is analyzed.

Infrastructure and nation building: The regulation and financing of network transportation infrastructures in Spain (1720-2010)

This paper analyzes Spanish infrastructure policy since the early 1700s: Road building in the eighteenth century, railway creation and expansion in the nineteenth, motorway expansion in the twentieth, and high speed rail development in the twenty-first. The analysis reveals a long-term pattern, in which infrastructure policy in Spain has been driven not by the requirements of commerce and economic activity, but rather by the desire to centralize transportation around the country’s political capital.

Characterization and Control Strategies of an Integrated Chemical-Biological System for the Remediation of Toxic Pollutants in Wastewater: A case of study

In a previous work, a hybrid system consisting of an advanced oxidation process (AOP) named Photo-Fenton (Ph-F) and a fixed bed biological treatment operating as a sequencing batch biofilm reactor (SBBR) was started-up and optimized to treat 200 mg·L-1 of 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) as a model compound. In this work, studies of reactor stability and control as well as microbial population determination by molecular biology techniques were carried out to further characterize and control the biological reactor. Results revealed that the integrated system was flexible and even able to overcome toxic shock loads. Oxygen uptake rate (OUR) in situ was shown to be a valid tool to control the SBBR operation, to detect toxic conditions to the biomass, and to assess the recovery of performance. A microbial characterization by 16S rDNA sequence analysis reveals that the biological population was varied, although about 30% of the bacteria belonged to the Wautersia genus.