The control and optimization of chemical plants is a major area of research as it has the potential to improve both economic output and plant safety. It is often prudent to separate control and optimization tasks of varying complexities and time scales, creating a hierarchical control structure. Within this structure, it is beneficial for one control layer to be able to account for the effects of other layers. A clear example of this, and the basis of this work, is closed-loop dynamic real-time optimization (CL-DRTO), in which an economic optimization method considers both the plant behavior and the effects of an underlying model predictive controller (MPC). This technique can be expanded on to allow its use and methods to be employed in a greater diversity of applications, particularly unstable and uncertain plant environments. First, this work seeks to improve on existing robust MPC techniques, which incorporate plant uncertainty via direct multi-scenario modelling, by also including future MPC behavior through the use of the CL modelling technique of CL-DRTO. This allows the CL robust MPC to account for how future MPC executions will be affected by uncertain plant behavior. Second, Lyapunov MPC (LMPC) is a generally nonconvex technique which focuses on effective control of plants which exhibit open-loop unstable behavior. A new convex LMPC formulation is presented here which can be readily embedded into a CL-DRTO scheme. Next, uncertainty handling is incorporated directly into a CL-DRTO via a robust multi-scenario method to allow for the economic optimization to take uncertain plant behavior into account while also modelling MPC behavior under plant uncertainty. Finally, the robust CL-DRTO method is computationally expensive, so a decomposition method which separates the robust CL-DRTO into its respective scenario subproblems is developed to improve computation time, especially for large optimization problems. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / It is common for control and optimization of chemical plants to be performed in a multi-layered hierarchy. The ability to predict the behavior of other layers or the future behavior of the same layer can improve overall plant performance. This thesis presents optimization and control frameworks which use this concept to more effectively control and economically optimize chemical plants which are subject to uncertain behavior or instability. The strategy is shown, in a series of simulated case studies, to effectively control chemical plants with uncertain behavior, control and optimize unstable plant systems, and economically optimize uncertain chemical plants. One of the drawbacks of these strategies is the relatively large computation time required to solve the optimization problems. Therefore, for uncertain systems, the problem is separated into smaller pieces which are then coordinated towards a single solution. This results in reduced computation time.

Bakgrundsfakta visar att flera studier har gjorts på hur menstruationscykeln påverkar prestation under träning, dock är resultatet inkonsekvent, där vissa menar att hormonfluktueringen under de olika faserna inte har någon påverkan på prestationen medan vissa menar att påverkan finns. Syftet var att undersöka hur fysisk aktiva kvinnor upplevde symtom och menstruationens påverkan på prestation under träning. Metoden inkluderade 27 kvinnor i åldrarna mellan 18 och 30 år som svarade på en enkät, bestående av 25 frågor, där de som inkluderades uppnådde antingen WHO:s styrketräning- eller konditionsträningsmål. Deltagarna kontaktades genom att ett informationsbrev skickades ut till Luleå Tekniska Universitets fysioterapeutstudenter, Elitidrottsvänligt lärosäte i Luleå samt via sociala medier. Svaren från enkäten analyserades med en deskriptiv analys och Spearman’s korrelationskoefficient med hjälp av JASP. Resultatet visade att deltagarna (96.3%) upplevde menstruationsrelaterade symtom. En måttlig korrelation mellan antalet upplevda symtom och upplevelsen av prestation under träning menstruationsveckan sågs (r = -0.399, p = 0.039). Prestationen upplevdes bättre veckan efter och sämre veckan under menstruation. Konklusionen är att resultatet indikerar att upplevelsen av prestation under träning påverkas av antalet symtom. Indikationen finns att upplevelsen av prestation ökar veckan efter menstruationen och att den är ‘neutral’ veckan innan. På grund av lågt antal deltagare i studien krävs ytterligare forskning i större skala för att få en evidensbaserad rehabilitering och för att få fram ett kliniskt användbart resultat. / Background information show previous studies that have looked at how the menstrual cycle affects performance during training, however this information is inconsistent, parts of the studies showed that the hormonal fluctuation during the different phases had no impact on training and others showed that there is an impact. The purpose of this study was to analyze how physically active women find the symptoms and menstrual cycles effect regarding performance during training. The method included 27 women between ages of 18 and 30, who answered a survey consisting of 25 questions. The women who were included in the study had to uphold either WHO:s strength or cardiovascular aims. The participants were contacted via an information letter sent out to physiotherapy students at Luleå University of Technology physiotherapy, Elitidrottsvänligt lärosäte in Luleå and through social media. Answers collected from the survey were analyzed by descriptive analysis and Spearman's correlation coefficient in JASP. The results showed that the participants (96.3%) experienced menstrual related symptoms. A moderate correlation was seen between the number of symptoms and the effect of performance during menses (r = -0.399, p = 0.039). There was a better effect on performance the week after menses and worse the week during menses. The Conclusion is that the result indicates that the experience of performance during training is affected by the number of symptoms the women experienced. The result also indicates that experience of performance was higher the week after menses and ‘neutral’ the week before. Due to low numbers of participants in this study further research is needed on a larger scale to obtain evidence based rehabilitation and to produce a clinically useful result.

Abstract The goal of this project was to design a submarine that could be operated using a wireless game controller. To accomplish this, we used an Playknowlogy board connected to a USB-Host Shield that recieves signals from the game controller and sends them to a USB connected to the USB-Host Shield. The Arduino's built-in libraries interpret the signals, which are then used to control the submarine's movements in three-dimensional space. / Målet med detta projekt var att designa en ubåt som kan styras med en trådlös spelkontroll. För att uppnå detta använde vi en Playknowlogy bräda som var kopplad till en USB-Host Shield. Denna mottog signaler från spelkontrollen och skickade dem sedan vidare till en USB-anslutning på USB-Host Shield. Arduinos inbyggda bibliotek tolkar signalerna, vilka sedan används för att styra ubåtens rörelser i det tredimensionella rummet.

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[pt] Esta dissertação apresenta um aplicação de programação linear fuzzy para o problema de planejamento da expansão de redes de transmissão de potência sob considerações de incertezas. A partir da modelagem dos conceitos vagos e imprecisos, inerentes ao problema de planejamento, com a utilização da teoria da lógica fuzzy é possível incorporar as incertezas dentro do modelo do problema. Os conceitos de programação linear fuzzy são utilizados para transformar tanto a função objetivo como as restrições fuzzy em funções crisp, que podem ser tradadas por métodos tradicionais de programação matemática. Uma aplicação desta teoria é realizada utilizando uma versão modificada do sistema teste de Garver , onde as incertezas em relação a previsão de demanda futura é considerada. Os resultados obtidos mostram a capacidade da utilização dessa metodologia para metodologia para problemas de planejamento sob incertezas. / [en] This thesis describes an application of fuzzy linear programming in power transmission network expansion planning under uncertainty. The utilization of fuzzy logic theory, considering the modeling of vagueness and imprecision (inherent in the planning problem), makes it possible to incorporate the uncertainty within the model. Fuzzy linear programming is used to transform both the objective function and constraints (Fuzzy) into crisp functions, which can be modeled by traditional methods of mathematical programming. An application of this approach is built by using a modified version of the Garver test system which also takes into account the uncertainty in the forecasted demand. The results obtained show the capability of this methodology in planning problems under uncertainty.

Industrial automation systems normally consist of four different hierarchy levels: planning, scheduling, real-time optimization, and control. At the planning level, the goal is to compute an optimal production plan that minimizes the production cost while meeting process constraints. The planning model is typically formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP), which is hard to solve to global optimality due to nonconvexity and large dimensionality attributes. Uncertainty in component qualities in gasoline blending due to measurement errors and variation in upstream processes may lead to off-specification products which require re-blending. Uncertainty in product demands may lead to a suboptimal solution and fail in capturing some potential profit due to shortage in products supply. While incorporating process uncertainties is essential to reducing the production cost and increasing profitability, it comes with the disadvantage of increasing the complexity of the MINLP planning model. The key contribution in the planning level is to employ the inventory pinch decomposition method to consider uncertainty in components qualities and products demands to reduce the production cost and increase profitability of the gasoline blend application. At the control level, the goal is to ensure desired operation conditions by meeting process setpoints, ensure process safety, and avoid process failures. Model predictive control (MPC) is an advanced control strategy that utilizes a dynamic model of the process to predict future process dynamic behavior over a time horizon. The effectiveness of the MPC relies heavily on the availability of a reasonably accurate process model. The key contributions in the control level are: (1) investigate the use of different system identification methods for the purpose of developing a dynamic model for high-purity distillation column, which is a highly nonlinear process. (2) Develop a novel hybrid based MPC to improve the control of the column and achieve flooding-free control. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The operation of a chemical process involves many decisions which are normally distributed into levels referred to as process automation hierarchy. The process automation hierarchy levels are planning, scheduling, real-time optimization, and control. This thesis addresses two of the levels in the process automation hierarchy, which are planning and control. At the planning level, the objective is to ensure optimal utilization of raw materials and equipment to reduce production cost. At the control level, the objective is to meet and follow process setpoints determined by the real-time optimization level. The main goals of the thesis are: (1) develop an efficient algorithm to solve a large-scale planning problem that incorporates uncertainties in components qualities and products demands to reduce the production cost and maximize profit for gasoline blending application. (2) Develop a novel hybrid-based model predictive control to improve the control strategy of an industrial distillation column that faces flooding issues.

The circadian system is a mechanism designed to generate circadian time and to synchronize it with the solar cycle. Its function is to adjust to behavioral and physiological function with the 24-hour period. The adjustment is performed using a so-called zeitgeber or synchronizer. The main circadian clock is in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) in the hypothalamus. Prolonged exposure of the organism to constant light conditions results in desynchronization of the circadian clock, which can lead to many pathologies. The impact of light at night on the organism has been studied for a long time, but the question of the impact of constant light on the development of the circadian system of the organism has been less studied. My thesis deals with this issue. Using RT-qPCR I investigated how the rhytm changes in the expression of selected clock genes in selected parts of the rat's brain, which has been kept in constant light sice birth. I also tested the impact of exposure to constant light on the early development of rhytm in locomotor activity later in the rat's life. Keywords: circadian system, photic entrainment, desynchronization under constant light, development, rat

Thesis (M.Sc.(Computer Science )) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / Language modelling (LM) work for under-resourced languages that does not consider most linguistic information inherent in a language produces language models that in adequately represent the language, thereby leading to under-development of natural language processing tools and systems such as speech recognition systems. This study investigated the influence that the orthography (i.e., writing system) of a lan guage has on the quality and/or robustness of the language models created for the text of that language. The unique conjunctive and disjunctive writing systems of isiN debele (Ndebele) and Sepedi (Pedi) were studied. The text data from the LWAZI and NCHLT speech corpora were used to develop lan guage models. The LM techniques that were implemented included: word-based n gram LM, LM smoothing, LM linear interpolation, and higher-order n-gram LM. The toolkits used for development were: HTK LM, SRILM, and CMU-Cam SLM toolkits. From the findings of the study – found on text preparation, data pooling and sizing, higher n-gram models, and interpolation of models – it is concluded that the orthogra phy of the selected languages does have effect on the quality of the language models created for their text. The following recommendations are made as part of LM devel opment for the concerned languages. 1) Special preparation and normalisation of the text data before LM development – paying attention to within sentence text markers and annotation tags that may incorrectly form part of sentences, word sequences, and n-gram contexts. 2) Enable interpolation during training. 3) Develop pentagram and hexagram language models for Pedi texts, and trigrams and quadrigrams for Ndebele texts. 4) Investigate efficient smoothing method for the different languages, especially for different text sizes and different text domains / National Research Foundation (NRF) Telkom University of Limpopo

The purpose of this exploratory study was to measure the cultural competence of nurse educators in accredited baccalaureate (BSN) nursing programs in Tennessee (TN) and investigate the relationship, if any, between nurse educators' cultural competence and the percentage of minority nursing students recruited into and graduated from these schools in the previous 5 years. With the rapid rise of the minority population in the United States, more minority healthcare providers, including nurses, are needed to provide culturally congruent care in underserved communities. Literature has implied that nurse educators' lack of cultural competence and sensitivity regarding minority nursing students' educational needs could be a contributing factor to minority nurses' underrepresentation. Nurse educators in 9 accredited colleges of nursing in TN completed the "Cultural Diversity Questionnaire for Nurse Educators." Some of the participating schools and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Research Data Center provided the percentage of students recruited and graduated in each school by ethnicity. The findings revealed that the majority of respondents were at least moderately culturally competent. There was no correlation between Tennessee schools' mean cultural competence scores and their percentages of minority students recruited into BSN programs in the past 5 years. But there was a significant statistical correlation between Tennessee schools' mean cultural competence scores and their percentages of minority students graduated from BSN programs in the past 5 years (p = .015). There was a statistically significant difference between the mean cultural competence score of respondents who had lived in a culture different from the United States and those who had not (p = .01). There was also a statistically significant difference between the mean cultural competence score of respondents who had attended multicultural education seminars in the past 5 years and those who had not (p = .0005). The researcher recommended that nursing faculty engage in activities that would increase their cultural competence, enabling them assist students from diverse cultural backgrounds stay in school and graduate.

This thesis explores the inherent complexities and contradictions embedded in the radical turn in South African historiography with regards to the decolonisation of the discipline of history in South African universities under apartheid from 1960 to 1991. By choosing to deconstruct radical history in a white liberal university, the study seeks to further demonstrate the limits of intellectual decolonisation and its underlying assumptions in the academic field during apartheid. It interrogates radical history as a form of academic resistance and leads a reflection on the political role of the intellectual in the context of the anti-apartheid struggle, asking more broadly: to what extent can radical academic history be considered “de/colonised knowledge”? Building on the links between ideology and curriculum, this study aimed to measure the coloniality of history using history examination questions as tools to investigate the methodological, theoretical and ideological assumptions of historians. Theoretically, the study relied on the role of the historian as a recontextualising agent of disciplinary knowledge taught and examined within a historically white higher education institution to study its concomitant underlying historiographical silences at the time. Methodologically, it deployed quantitative and qualitative research methods, using interviews and semi-structured questionnaires with a targeted cohort of authentic interlocutors to triangulate the discursive analysis of institutionalised “de/colonised” historical knowledge. This interdisciplinary study was thus inscribed in a critical deconstructionist approach to knowledge which contributed to a finer conceptual and empirical understanding of the coloniality of history as a discipline and its reproduction in the South African higher education context. The study hopes (1) to contribute to understanding the nuanced intersections between the history of intellectual colonisation and decolonisation and how these tensions impacted on history education in the apartheid university, (2) to provide an original interdisciplinary mixed method of analysis of institutionalised “de/colonised knowledge”, and (3) to contribute new critical insights into blind spots in South African radical historiography in higher education during the period 1960 to 1991, which could shed light on the various understandings of the imperative for decolonisation today in the discipline.