Brunel University London

About: Brunel University London is a education organization based out in London, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Large Hadron Collider. The organization has 10918 authors who have published 29515 publications receiving 893330 citations. The organization is also known as: Brunel & University of Brunel.

Decomposition model and interior point methods for optimal spot pricing of electricity in deregulation environments

Abstract: In this paper, an integrated optimal spot pricing model is presented first. The proposed model includes the detailed derivation of optimal nodal specific real-time prices for active and reactive powers, and the method to decompose them into different components corresponding to generation, loss, and many selected ancillary services such as spinning reserve, voltage control and security control. The features of the proposed model are discussed in relationship to existing pricing models and classical economic dispatch. The model is then implemented by modifying existing Newton OPF methods through interior point algorithms, which can effectively avoid "go" "no go" gauge (i.e. highly volatile) in the calculation of spot prices. Case studies on 5-bus and IEEE 30-bus systems are reported to illustrate the proposed method.

Chunking models of expertise: implications for education

Abstract: SUMMARY Chunking models offer a parsimonious explanation of how people acquire knowledge and have been validated in domains such as expert behaviour and the acquisition of language. In this paper, we review two computational theories based on chunking mechanisms (the chunking theory and the template theory) and show what insight they offer for instruction and training. The suggested implications include the importance of perception in learning, the cost of acquiring knowledge, the significance of segmenting and ordering instruction material, the role of the variability of the instructional material in acquiring schemata, and the importance of taking individual differences into account. Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. While our understanding of learning and instruction has improved substantially during the last century, there are still a number of key questions that denote islands of ignorance. Among the most pressing of these questions, one may mention: What are the mechanisms of learning? What is the exact role of feedback? To what extent does transfer exist, and how can we facilitate its presence? Is the order in which a curriculum is taught important? How can instruction produce learning with understanding, as opposed to only skill accretion? How can we harness the new resources offered by advances in technology to improve the education we provide to our children? The first thesis of this article is that the principles and mechanisms derived from research into expertise can inform research in education. By this, we do not mean to imply that training techniques used by top experts should be imported without change into the classroom, but rather that an understanding of how experts reach high levels of performance could suggest general learning mechanisms, and thus help design better teaching methods, both at high and low levels of expertise. The second thesis concerns the medium that best embodies theories of learning, in particular when they address the acquisition of complex skills. Becoming an expert or assimilating the contents of a curriculum at school (say, in mathematics) engages a number of cognitive processes that will interact with each other, with the teaching environment (teachers and other pupils) and the subject matter to be learned. Given the complexity and the dynamic character of these processes and interactions, their detailed and veridical

Does mass drug administration for the integrated treatment of neglected tropical diseases really work? Assessing evidence for the control of schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths in Uganda.

Abstract: Background: Less is known about mass drug administration [MDA] for neglected tropical diseases [NTDs] than is suggested by those so vigorously promoting expansion of the approach. This paper fills an important gap: it draws upon local level research to examine the roll out of treatment for two NTDs, schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths, in Uganda. Methods: Ethnographic research was undertaken over a period of four years between 2005-2009 in north-west and south-east Uganda. In addition to participant observation, survey data recording self-reported take-up of drugs for schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminths and, where relevant, lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis was collected from a random sample of at least 10% of households at study locations. Data recording the take-up of drugs in Ministry of Health registers for NTDs were analysed in the light of these ethnographic and social survey data. Results: The comparative analysis of the take-up of drugs among adults revealed that although most long term residents have been offered treatment at least once since 2004, the actual take up of drugs for schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths varies considerably from one district to another and often also within districts. The specific reasons why MDA succeeds in some locations and falters in others relates to local dynamics. Issues such as population movement across borders, changing food supply, relations between drug distributors and targeted groups, rumours and conspiracy theories about the ‘real’ purpose of treatment, subjective experiences of side effects from treatment, alternative understandings of affliction, responses to social control measures and historical experiences of public health control measures, can all make a huge difference. The paper highlights the need to adapt MDA to local circumstances. It also points to specific generalisable issues, notably with respect to health education, drug distribution and more effective use of existing public health legislation. Conclusion: While it has been an achievement to have offered free drugs to so many adults, current standard practices of monitoring, evaluation and delivery of MDA for NTDs are inconsistent and inadequate. Efforts to integrate programmes have exacerbated the difficulties. Improved assessment of what is really happening on the ground will be an essential step in achieving long-term overall reduction of the NTD burden for impoverished communities.

Evidence for transverse-momentum- and pseudorapidity-dependent event-plane fluctuations in PbPb and pPb collisions

Abstract: A systematic study of the factorization of long-range azimuthal two-particle correlations into a product of single-particle anisotropies is presented as a function of pT and nu of both particles and as a function of the particle multiplicity in PbPb and pPb collisions. The data were taken with the CMS detector for PbPb collisions at root sNN = 2.76 TeV and pPb collisions at root sNN = 5.02 TeV, covering a very wide range of multiplicity. Factorization is observed to be broken as a function of both particle pT and nu. When measured with particles of different pT, the magnitude of the factorization breakdown for the second Fourier harmonic reaches 20% for very central PbPb collisions but decreases rapidly as the multiplicity decreases. The data are consistent with viscous hydrodynamic predictions, which suggest that the effect of factorization breaking is mainly sensitive to the initial-state conditions rather than to the transport properties (e.g., shear viscosity) of the medium. The factorization breakdown is also computed with particles of different nu. The effect is found to be weakest for mid-central PbPb events but becomes larger for more central or peripheral PbPb collisions, and also for very-high-multiplicity pPb collisions. The nu-dependent factorization data provide new insights to the longitudinal evolution of the medium formed in heavy ion collisions.

Neuronal State Estimation for Neural Networks With Two Additive Time-Varying Delay Components

Abstract: This paper is concerned with the state estimation for neural networks with two additive time-varying delay components. Three cases of these two time-varying delays are fully considered: 1) both delays are differentiable uniformly bounded with delay-derivative bounded by some constants; 2) one delay is continuous uniformly bounded while the other is differentiable uniformly bounded with delay-derivative bounded by certain constants; and 3) both delays are continuous uniformly bounded. First, an extended reciprocally convex inequality is introduced to bound reciprocally convex combinations appearing in the derivative of some Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional. Second, sufficient conditions are derived based on the extended inequality for three cases of time-varying delays, respectively. Third, a linear-matrix-inequality-based approach with two tuning parameters is proposed to design desired Luenberger estimators such that the error system is globally asymptotically stable. This approach is then applied to state estimation on neural networks with a single interval time-varying delay. Finally, two numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.