Methods We carried out a retrospective analysis of incentive spirometry tests in recurrent wheezing children, aged 2-5 years, from our center, performed between September 2012 and March 2014. Lung function was assessed before and after 400 mg of inhaled salbutamol using a Jaeger spirometer v.4.65 (CareFusion). Wheezing symptoms, parental asthma, prematurity, passive smoking exposure, atopy and ...

In order to reduce the cost of electricity produced by wave energy converters (WECs), the benefit of selling electricity as well as the investment costs of the structure has to be considered. This paper presents a methodology for assessing the control strategy for a WEC with respect to both energy output and structural fatigue loads. Different active and passive control strategies are implement...

In considering the problem of formation control in the deployment of intelligent munitions, it would be highly desirable, both from a mission and a cost perspective, to limit the information that is transmitted between vehicles in formation. However, the lack of information regarding the state of motion of neighboring vehicles can lead to degraded performance and even instability. This paper pr...

Fast and energy-efficient control is an increasingly important and attractive area of research in legged locomotion. In this paper, we present a new simple controller for a planar onelegged passive running robot having a springy leg and a compliant hip joint. The most distinctive advantage of the controller over previously proposed ones is it does not require any pre-planned trajectories nor ta...

This paper presents an efficient maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controller for a standalone photovoltaic (PV) generation system. To achieve an efficient MPPT controller, a new boost converter design and an improved MPPT algorithm are incorporated. In the proposed boost converter design, a passive regenerative snubber circuit is included to absorb the energy of stray inductance so as to red...

In both living organisms and human-made machines, we are interested in how morphology (or mechanical design) and neural control (or control) are combined to reach a desired behavior. Engineers tend to split the mechanical and controller design into two separate steps, since it is difficult to analyze the effect of a controller without already having model for the mechanical dynamics. In recent ...

Landing impact and runway unevenness have proximate consequence on performance of landing gear system and conduce to discomfort of passengers and reduction of the pilot’s capability to control aircraft. Finally, vibrations caused by them result in structure fatigue. Fuzzy logic controller is used frequently in different applications because of simplicity in design and implementation. In the pre...

A new optimum interval type-2 fuzzy fractional-order controller for a class of nonlinear systems with incipient actuator and system component faults is introduced in this study. The the (leak) are taken into account using an additive model. Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Sets (IT2FS) used to design optimal fractional order controller, two different nature inspired metaheuristic algorithms, Follower Poll...

This paper presents a reduce roll vibration of the full vehicle model with passive suspension systems using vibration absorber to change the dynamic system matrix stat’s eigenvalue. Since using the controller system has been splurged and required to energy consuming, in this research the vehicle body roll vibration has been reduced and supplied vehicle stability using a vibration absorber for t...