Ford Motor Company

About: Ford Motor Company is a company organization based out in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Internal combustion engine & Signal. The organization has 36123 authors who have published 51450 publications receiving 855200 citations. The organization is also known as: Ford Motor & Ford Motor Corporation.

Constructive Lyapunov control design for turbocharged diesel engines

Abstract: Presents a control design method for diesel engines equipped with a variable geometry turbocharger and an exhaust gas recirculation valve. Our control objective is to regulate the air-fuel ratio and the fraction of recirculated exhaust gas to their respective set points that depend on engine operating conditions. Interactions between the two actuators and nonlinear behavior of the system make the problem difficult to handle using classical control design methods. Instead, we employ a control Lyapunov function (CLF) based nonlinear control design method because it possesses a guaranteed robustness property equivalent to gain and phase margins. The CLF is constructed using input-output linearization of a reduced order diesel engine model. The controller has been tested in simulations on the full order model as well as experimentally in the dynamometer test cell.

Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in young people in the care system.

Abstract: Recently, professional and political concern has grown about the severity and types of problems experienced by young people in the care system, this group being one of the most vulnerable in terms of psychological disturbance. Their risk of psychiatric ill health is higher than that of any other easily identified group in our society,1 and studies have consistently identified a high incidence of behavioural problems.2 No study has systematically examined the psychiatric disorders of adolescents being looked after by local authorities, so we aimed to assess the prevalence and types of psychiatric disorder among adolescents in the care system and compare them with those of a comparison group of adolescents. All adolescents aged 13 to 17 years looked after by the Oxfordshire local authority—that is, living in residential …

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Intermacs database annual report: Evolving indications, outcomes, and scientific partnerships.

Abstract: Background The Interagency Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support (Intermacs), a joint effort among the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and others, was established in 2005 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The registry examined clinical outcomes and quality-of-life metrics of patients who received an Food and Drug Administration-approved durable mechanical circulatory support (MCS) device to treat advanced heart failure. On January 1, 2018, the Intermacs Database became part of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons National Database, providing additional resources for quality assessment and improvement and scientific advancement. Methods The Intermacs Database Annual Report summarizes outcomes in patients (≥19 years of age) who underwent durable MCS implant between June 23, 2006, and December 31, 2017. Outcomes are presented for patients who underwent isolated continuous flow left ventricular assist device (CF LVAD) support, CF LVAD support with concomitant right ventricular assist device (RVAD) implant, or total artificial heart implant. Analyses of patients with CF LVADs are stratified by axial flow and centrifugal flow configurations. Because of the association of era with outcomes, the survival analyses are restricted to isolated CF LVADs implanted in the 2012 to 2016 era. Results There were 25,145 adult patients with MCS reported to Intermacs, of whom 18,539 (74%) received CF LVADs, 667 (2.6%) had an RVAD with CF LVAD, 339 received a total artificial heart (1.3%), and 20 (0.07%) received an isolated RVAD. Of the CF LVADs, mean age was 57 ± 1 years, 26% were listed for transplantation, and 51% were in cardiogenic shock (profile 1 to 2) preoperatively. CF LVADs included 14,527 axial flow (78%) and 4,012 centrifugal flow (22%) devices. Intermacs patient phenotype has evolved over time to include more patients with profile 3 (26% in 2006 to 2011 versus 35% in 2012 to 2016) and fewer patients with profile 2 (40% versus 35%), patients with better markers of preoperative renal and hepatic function, and more patients who received implants for destination therapy (29% versus 48%) indication. In 2017, centrifugal flow implants (51%) approximated that of axial flow devices (49%). Mean CF LVAD support duration was 20 months (31,563 patient-years). One-year survival for isolated CF LVADs was 83% and 5-year survival was 46%. One-year survivals for centrifugal versus axial flow devices were 85% and 84%, respectively. Patients who required concomitant RVAD support had 1- and 5-year survivals of 58% and 28%, respectively. Freedom from all-cause readmission was 70% at 1 month and 20% at 1 year. At 1 year, stroke occurred in 20% of patients on centrifugal flow and 13% of patients on axial flow support (p Conclusions With the evolution of MCS, patient phenotype and outcomes are also changing over time. CF LVAD support is increasingly being used in the less ill patient phenotype and more patients are supported for destination therapy. Mean survival is now approaching 5 years, but adverse events, especially neurologic events, continue to have a detrimental impact on the success of CF LVAD support.