Stable Nonlinear Receding Horizon Regulator Using RBF Neural Network Models

The general stability theory of nonlinear receding horizon controllers has attracted much attention over the last fifteen years, and many algorithms have been proposed to ensure closed-loop stability. On the other hand many reports exist regarding the use of artificial neural network models in nonlinear receding horizon control. However, little attention has been given to the stability issue of these specific controllers. This paper addresses this problem and proposes to cast the nonlinear receding horizon control based on neural network models within the framework of an existing stabilising algorithm.

Online teaching of inflammatory skin pathology by a French-speaking international university network

Introduction: Developments in technology, webbased teaching and whole slide imaging have broadened the teaching horizon in anatomic pathology. Creating online learning material including many types of media like radiologic images, videos, clinical and macroscopic photographs and whole slides imaging is now accessible to almost every university. Unfortunately, a major limiting factor to maintain and update the learning material is the amount of work, time and resources needed. In this perspective, a French national university network was initiated in 2011 to build mutualised online teaching pathology modules with clinical cases and tests. This network has been extended to an international level in 2012-2014 (Quebec, Switzerland and Ivory Coast). Method: One of the first steps of the international project was to build a learning module on inflammatory skin pathology intended for interns and residents of pathology and dermatology. A pathology resident from Quebec spent 6 weeks in France and Switzerland to develop the contents and build the module on an e-learning Moodle platform (http: //moodle.sorbonne-paris-cite.fr) under the supervision of two dermatopathologists (BV, MB). The learning module contains text, interactive clinical cases, tests with feedback, whole slides images (WSI), images and clinical photographs. For that module, the virtual slides are decentralized in 2 universities (Bordeaux and Paris 7). Each university is responsible of its own slide scanning, image storage and online display with virtual slide viewers. Results: The module on inflammatory skin pathology includes more than 50 web pages with French original content, tests and clinical cases, links to over 45 WSI and more than 50 micro and clinical photographs. The whole learning module is currently being revised by four dermatopathologists and two senior pathologists. It will be accessible to interns and residents in spring 2014. The experience and knowledge gained from that work will be transferred to the next international fellowship intern whose work will be aimed at creating lung and breast pathology learning modules. Conclusion: The challenges of sustaining a project of this scope are numerous. The technical aspect of whole-slide imaging and storage needs to be developed by each university or group. The content needs to be regularly updated, completed and its use and existence needs to be promoted by the different actors in pathology. Of the great benefits of that kind of project are the international partnerships and connections that have been established between numerous Frenchspeaking universities and pathologists with the common goals of promoting education in pathology and the use of technology including whole slide imaging. * The Moodle website is hosted by PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, and financial supports for hardware have been obtained from UNF3S (http://www.unf3s.org/) and PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité. Financial support for international fellowships has been obtained from CFQCU (http://www.cfqcu.org/).

Online teaching of inflammatory skin pathology by a French-speaking International University Network

INTRODUCTION: Developments in technology, web-based teaching and whole slide imaging have broadened the teaching horizon in anatomic pathology. Creating online learning material including many types of media such as radiologic images, whole slides, videos, clinical and macroscopic photographs, is now accessible to most universities. Unfortunately, a major limiting factor to maintain and update the learning material is the amount of resources needed. In this perspective, a French-national university network was initiated in 2011 to build joint online teaching modules consisting of clinical cases and tests. The network has since expanded internationally to Québec, Switzerland and Ivory Coast. METHOD: One of the first steps of the project was to build a learning module on inflammatory skin pathology for interns and residents in pathology and dermatology. A pathology resident from Québec spent 6 weeks in France and Switzerland to develop the contents and build the module on an e-learning Moodle platform under the supervision of two dermatopathologists. The learning module contains text, interactive clinical cases, tests with feedback, virtual slides, images and clinical photographs. For that module, the virtual slides are decentralized in 2 universities (Bordeaux and Paris 7). Each university is responsible of its own slide scanning, image storage and online display with virtual slide viewers. RESULTS: The module on inflammatory skin pathology includes more than 50 web pages with French original content, tests and clinical cases, links to over 45 virtual images and more than 50 microscopic and clinical photographs. The whole learning module is being revised by four dermatopathologists and two senior pathologists. It will be accessible to interns and residents in the spring of 2014. The experience and knowledge gained from that work will be transferred to the next international resident whose work will be aimed at creating lung and breast pathology learning modules. CONCLUSION: The challenges of sustaining a project of this scope are numerous. The technical aspect of whole-slide imaging and storage needs to be developed by each university or group. The content needs to be regularly updated and its accuracy reviewed by experts in each individual domain. The learning modules also need to be promoted within the academic community to ensure maximal benefit for trainees. A collateral benefit of the project was the establishment of international partnerships between French-speaking universities and pathologists with the common goal of promoting pathology education through the use of multi-media technology including whole slide imaging.

Online teaching of inflammatory skin pathology by a French-speaking International University Network.

INTRODUCTION: Developments in technology, web-based teaching and whole slide imaging have broadened the teaching horizon in anatomic pathology. Creating online learning material including many types of media such as radiologic images, whole slides, videos, clinical and macroscopic photographs, is now accessible to most universities. Unfortunately, a major limiting factor to maintain and update the learning material is the amount of resources needed. In this perspective, a French-national university network was initiated in 2011 to build joint online teaching modules consisting of clinical cases and tests. The network has since expanded internationally to Québec, Switzerland and Ivory Coast. METHOD: One of the first steps of the project was to build a learning module on inflammatory skin pathology for interns and residents in pathology and dermatology. A pathology resident from Québec spent 6 weeks in France and Switzerland to develop the contents and build the module on an e-learning Moodle platform under the supervision of two dermatopathologists. The learning module contains text, interactive clinical cases, tests with feedback, virtual slides, images and clinical photographs. For that module, the virtual slides are decentralized in 2 universities (Bordeaux and Paris 7). Each university is responsible of its own slide scanning, image storage and online display with virtual slide viewers. RESULTS: The module on inflammatory skin pathology includes more than 50 web pages with French original content, tests and clinical cases, links to over 45 virtual images and more than 50 microscopic and clinical photographs. The whole learning module is being revised by four dermatopathologists and two senior pathologists. It will be accessible to interns and residents in the spring of 2014. The experience and knowledge gained from that work will be transferred to the next international resident whose work will be aimed at creating lung and breast pathology learning modules. CONCLUSION: The challenges of sustaining a project of this scope are numerous. The technical aspect of whole-slide imaging and storage needs to be developed by each university or group. The content needs to be regularly updated and its accuracy reviewed by experts in each individual domain. The learning modules also need to be promoted within the academic community to ensure maximal benefit for trainees. A collateral benefit of the project was the establishment of international partnerships between French-speaking universities and pathologists with the common goal of promoting pathology education through the use of multi-media technology including whole slide imaging.

Harvesting and wood transport planning with SNAP III program (Scheduling and Network Analysis Program) in a pine plantation in Southeast Brazil

The objective of this study was to verify the potential of SNAP III (Scheduling and Network Analysis Program) as a support tool for harvesting and wood transport planning in Brazil harvesting subsystem definition and establishment of a compatible route were assessed. Initially, machine operational and production costs were determined in seven subsystems for the study area, and quality indexes, construction and maintenance costs of forest roads were obtained and used as SNAP III program input data. The results showed, that three categories of forest road occurrence were observed in the study area: main, secondary and tertiary which, based on quality index, allowed a medium vehicle speed of about 41, 30 and 24 km/hours and a construction cost of about US$ 5,084.30, US$ 2,275.28 and US$ 1,650.00/km, respectively. The SNAP III program used as a support tool for the planning, was found to have a high potential tool in the harvesting and wood transport planning. The program was capable of defining efficiently, the harvesting subsystem on technical and economical basis, the best wood transport route and the forest road to be used in each period of the horizon planning.

The Network is us

Larry Johnson, Presidente del New Media Consortium y fundador del proyecto “Horizon”, presentó, en el marco del V Encuentro Nacional de Rectores, la ponencia “The Network is Us”. Una exposición en donde se explica la importancia de implementar las nuevas tecnologías en el desarrollo académico de los colegios y las universidades.

The real-time optimisation of DNO owned storage devices on the LV network for peak reduction

Energy storage is a potential alternative to conventional network reinforcementof the low voltage (LV) distribution network to ensure the grid’s infrastructure remainswithin its operating constraints. This paper presents a study on the control of such storagedevices, owned by distribution network operators. A deterministic model predictive control (MPC) controller and a stochastic receding horizon controller (SRHC) are presented, wherethe objective is to achieve the greatest peak reduction in demand, for a given storagedevice specification, taking into account the high level of uncertainty in the prediction of LV demand. The algorithms presented in this paper are compared to a standard set-pointcontroller and bench marked against a control algorithm with a perfect forecast. A specificcase study, using storage on the LV network, is presented, and the results of each algorithmare compared. A comprehensive analysis is then carried out simulating a large number of LV networks of varying numbers of households. The results show that the performance of each algorithm is dependent on the number of aggregated households. However, on a typical aggregation, the novel SRHC algorithm presented in this paper is shown to outperform each of the comparable storage control techniques.

Transmission network expansion planning for the Colombian electrical system: Connecting the Ituango hydroelectric power plant

The hydroelectric power plant Hidroltuango represents a major expansion for the Colombian electrical system (with a total capacity of 2400 MW). This paper analyzes the possible interconnections and investments involved in connecting Hidroltuango, in order to strengthen the Colombian national transmission system. A Mixed Binary Linear Programming (MBLP) model was used to solve the Multistage Transmission Network Expansion Planning (MTEP) problem of the Colombian electrical system, taking the N-1 safety criterion into account. The N-1 safety criterion indicates that the transmission system must be expanded so that the system will continue to operate properly if an outage in a system element (within a pre-defined set of contingencies) occurs. The use of a MBLP model guaranteed the convergence with existing classical optimization methods and the optimal solution for the MTEP using commercial solvers. Multiple scenarios for generation and demand were used to consider uncertainties within these parameters. The model was implemented using the algebraic modeling language AMPL and solved using the commercial solver CPLEX. The proposed model was then applied to the Colombian electrical system using the planning horizon of 2018-2025. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

It’s all about networking! Empirical investigation of social capital formation on social network sites

As Social Network Sites (SNS) permeate our daily routines, the question whether participation results in value for SNS users becomes particularly acute. This study adopts a 'participation-source-outcome' perspective to explore how distinct uses of SNS generate various types of social capital benefits. Building on existing research, extensive qualitative findings and an empirical study with 253 Facebook users, we uncover the process of social capital formation on SNS. We find that even though active communication is an important prerequisite, it is the diversified network structure and the increased social connectedness that are responsible for the attainment of the four benefits of social capital on SNS: emotional support, networking value, horizon broadening and offline participation. Moreover, we propose and validate scales to measure social capital benefits in the novel context of SNS.