Inequality Conditions Research Articles

Robust Min-Max Model Predictive Vehicle Platooning With Causal Disturbance Feedback

Platoon-based vehicular cyber-physical systems have gained increasing attention due to their potentials in improving traffic efficiency, capacity, and saving energy. However, external uncertain disturbances arising from mismatched model errors, sensor noises, communication delays and unknown environments can impose a great challenge on the constrained control of vehicle platooning. In this paper, we propose a closed-loop min-max model predictive control (MPC) with causal disturbance feedback for vehicle platooning. Specifically, we first develop a compact form of a centralized vehicle platooning model subject to external disturbances, which also incorporates the lower-level vehicle dynamics. We then formulate the uncertain optimal control of the vehicle platoon as a worst-case constrained optimization problem and derive its robust counterpart by semidefinite relaxation. Thus, we design a causal disturbance feedback structure with the robust counterpart, which leads to a closed-loop min-max MPC platoon control solution. Even though the min-max MPC follows a centralized paradigm, its robust counterpart can keep the convexity and enable the efficient and practical implementation of current convex optimization techniques. We also derive a linear matrix inequality (LMI) condition for guaranteeing the recursive feasibility and input-to-state practical stability (ISpS) of the platoon system. Finally, simulation results are provided to verify the effectiveness and advantage of the proposed MPC in terms of constraint satisfaction, platoon stability and robustness against different external disturbances.

Fixed-Time Synchronization of Complex-Valued Inertial Neural Networks via Nonreduced-Order Method

This article investigates the fixed-time synchronization problem of a class of delayed complex-valued inertial neural networks (CVINNs). The analysis does not rely on the traditional reduced-order transformation, but constructing Lyapunov functions directly focused on the original system. Based on the direct method and the separation method, different control strategies are proposed, under which the addressed CVINNs can achieve synchronization perfectly in a fixed time. The corresponding synchronization criteria in terms of matrix inequalities are derived, which are more concise and easier to verify than algebraic inequalities conditions, and the estimation of the settling times. The direct method makes full use of some innovative inequalities in the complex field; the exponential parameters in the designed controllers are independent. Finally, in order to fully support the theoretical results, based on two typical activation functions, the proposed theoretical results are numerically validated and compared.

Existence of Positive Solutions for a Fully Fourth-Order Boundary Value Problem

This paper deals with the existence of positive solutions of the fully fourth-order boundary value pqroblem u(4)=f(t,u,u′,u″,u‴) on [0,1] with the boundary condition u(0)=u(1)=u″(0)=u″(1)=0, which models a statically bending elastic beam whose two ends are simply supported, where f:[0,1]×R+×R×R−×R→R+ is continuous. Some precise inequality conditions on f guaranteeing the existence of positive solutions are presented. The inequality conditions allow that f(t,u,v,w,z) may be asymptotically linear, superlinear, or sublinear on u,v,w, and z as |(u,v,w,z)|→0 and |(u,v,w,z)|→∞. Our discussion is based on the fixed point index theory in cones.

National policy on health of the elderly person in the light of the steps of the public policy cycleand national health research

Aging has repercussions in several sectors, demanding the formulation of public policies and constant reflection on the subject. The objective was to understand the National Health Policy for Elderly People – PNSPI based on the Public Policy Cycle, proposed by Raeder (2014) with the Monitoring and Evaluation of Actions stage analyzed with data from the National Health Survey – PNS 2013. It is an exploratory descriptive study with an analysis of a theoretical framework based on the Public Policy Cycle. In the Perception and Definition of Problems stage, the Brazilian population aging in condition of social and gender inequality was highlighted. In the Formation of the Decision-making Agenda, several governmental priorities were marked by the demand for quality care for the elderly. In the Formation of Programs, plans and actions were verified with a view to active and healthy aging. In the Policy Implementation stage, which converts political intentions into concrete ones, it was found that there is still a way to go. In the Monitoring and Evaluation of Actions, it was found that, even after 07 years of the implementation of the PNSPI, the prevalence of elderly people with functional difficulties is high. It is concluded that the PNSPI covers all stages of the cycle of public policies in a cohesive and coherent way, however, alone it was not able to significantly change the epidemiological scenario of the elderly. It is necessary to restart the stages of the cycle with a view to strengthening the proposals of national and regional policy and development regarding to active and healthy aging.

Minority communities, economic inequality, and police-military resource sharing in the United states

This paper uses linear methods and a sample of 2298 US counties to assess alternative explanations for patterns of military procurements to local law enforcement. The correlational evidence supports the following: metropolitan jurisdictions and areas where local agencies emphasized drug law enforcement were most likely to seek military surplus inventory. Jurisdictions with strong evidence of economic inequality and those with large young adult populations also were recipients of military surplus hardware. But in jurisdictions with a large ratio of African Americans or Hispanics to Whites, local law enforcement agencies were less likely to pursue military surplus inventory. Law enforcement receipt of US military surplus inventory is shown to exhibit patterns associated with enduring conditions of social inequality.

COVID-19 and the state of mental health challenges among Women, Girls and Children: the case of Nigeria

Health is a resource for daily existence and wellbeing. Mental, social, emotional, spiritual, psychological and physical health constitute an overall essence of that well-being. The COVID-19 epidemic has had a profoundly negative impact on women, children, and society as a whole by causing unfathomable loss, grief, pain, and solitude. The pandemic has pushed many families into poverty and exacerbated conditions of inequality with women and children exposed to violence and other deprivation which deeply impacted on their mental health. The study employed the use of content analysis of secondary sources of data, and the social stress, social model and general strain theories constituting the theoretical framework for examining the subject under investigation. The findings of the study demonstrated that the prevalence of mental disorders among women and children is rising, with serious human rights and socio-economic repercussions as a result of poverty and gender inequality. Furthermore, the majority of those suffering from mental health issues are unable to get the crucial medical and social care they need. The study's recommendation emphasized the need to address issues of poverty, inequality, and gender inequality as well as make sure that Nigeria's national and sustainable development policies and programmes must address the serious mental health problems that women and children currently face as well as those that will arise after the post-Covid-19 era.

Interracial unions and sleep duration among heterosexual American adults

For Americans in romantic unions, sleep occurs in the context of couple relationships. Romantic partners influence one another's circadian rhythms, share beds, buffer or cause stress, and share resources that can be used to improve sleep. Moreover, sleep among individuals in interracial relationships may be negatively impacted by the social construction of race/ethnicity that drive health disparities and that point to the importance of factors such as racism, stress and social adversity that represent the unique lived reality of interracial couples in the U.S. Using non-dyadic data from the 2004–2018 National Health Interview Survey (n = 243,552) we fit a series of multinomial regression models predicting self-reported sleep duration of six or fewer (short), seven to eight (normal), and nine or more (long) hours. After adjusting for demographics, household socioeconomic characteristics, and health characteristics/behaviors, we find that individuals in interracial unions report significantly higher odds of short sleep compared to normal sleep. Race/ethnic stratified models indicated that all respondents in interracial relationships had higher odds of reporting short sleep, but that the association was particularly pronounced among non-Hispanic White adults and Hispanic adults. Generally, we find few differences in these associations between men and women or between those in marital versus those in cohabiting relationships. Future research should continue to investigate how social inequality conditions sleep for Americans in romantic relationships.

Non-Fragile Observer-Based Adaptive Integral Sliding Mode Control for a Class of T-S Fuzzy Descriptor Systems With Unmeasurable Premise Variables.

The issue of non-fragile observer-based adaptive integral sliding mode control for a class of Takagi–Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy descriptor systems with uncertainties and unmeasurable premise variables is investigated. General nonlinear systems are represented by nonlinear T-S fuzzy descriptor models, because premise variables depend on unmeasurable system states and fuzzy models have different derivative matrices. By introducing the system state derivative as an auxiliary state vector, original fuzzy descriptor systems are transformed into augmented systems for which system properties remain the same. First, a novel integral sliding surface, which includes estimated states of the sliding mode observer and controller gain matrices, is designed to obtain estimation error dynamics and sliding mode dynamics. Then, some sufficient linear matrix inequality (LMI) conditions for designing the observer and the controller gains are derived using the appropriate fuzzy Lyapunov functions and Lyapunov theory. This approach yields asymptotically stable sliding mode dynamics. Corresponding auxiliary variables are introduced, and the Finsler's lemma is employed to eliminate coupling of controller gain matrices, observer gain matrices, Lyapunov function matrices, and/or observer gain perturbations. An observer-based integral sliding mode control strategy is obtained to assure that reachability conditions are satisfied. Moreover, a non-fragile observer and a non-fragile adaptive controller are developed to compensate for system uncertainties and perturbations in both the observer and the controller. Finally, example results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness and merits of the proposed method.

Building back better? Resilience as wellbeing for rural migrant households in Bihar, India

The crisis in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to calls for ‘building back better’ and ‘resilient recovery’. In this article, we examine this agenda by asking what this might mean for one of the most marginalized social groups in India, namely, migrant workers from Scheduled Tribe or Adivasi communities in the eastern state of Bihar. It draws on intensive mixed-methods research undertaken over a nearly-two-year period between March 2019 and January 2021 in four villages in south Bihar. The article argues that the attention to social structures of power and subjectivities makes ‘equitable resilience’ a more robust idea of resilience. At the same time, in the context of Adivasi migrants in India who constantly suffer multiple oppressions, even equitable resilience must be seen in conversation with the idea of relational wellbeing since they need a radical improvement of life chances and not just mechanisms to deal with isolated shocks. The article develops a basic framework to put these ideas in conversation with each other and offers an empirical analysis of the material, relational and subjective dimensions of wellbeing, or their absence, of the migrants and their households. In addition, it outlines the cross-scalar socio-economic, ecological and political dynamics and temporal considerations that frame their life and livelihood outcomes. The article concludes by asserting the need to attend to the political content of ideas of resilience and wellbeing and to grapple with structural conditions of inequality. Only when policies and programmes are guided by these considerations can they be expected to lead to lasting change.

RBF Neural Network Sliding Mode Control for Passification of Nonlinear Time-Varying Delay Systems with Application to Offshore Cranes.

This paper is devoted to studying the passivity-based sliding mode control for nonlinear systems and its application to dock cranes through an adaptive neural network approach, where the system suffers from time-varying delay, external disturbance and unknown nonlinearity. First, relying on the generalized Lagrange formula, the mathematical model for the crane system is established. Second, by virtue of an integral-type sliding surface function and the equivalent control theory, a sliding mode dynamic system can be obtained with a satisfactory dynamic property. Third, based on the RBF neural network approach, an adaptive control law is designed to ensure the finite-time existence of sliding motion in the face of unknown nonlinearity. Fourth, feasible easy-checking linear matrix inequality conditions are developed to analyze passification performance of the resulting sliding motion. Finally, a simulation study is provided to confirm the validity of the proposed method.

Gender-Based Environmental Violence in Colombia: Problematising Dominant Notions of Gender-Based Violence During Peacebuilding

ABSTRACT Colombia’s 2016 Peace Agreement is innovative in many ways. Remarkably, the agreement places significant emphasis on gender as a guiding principle. Gender-related measures are at the core of Colombia’s peacebuilding efforts. Nevertheless, six years after, parties have not fully implemented these measures; a narrow understanding of the concept of violence could be one of the reasons behind this. The agreement mainly refers to the physical and dominant understanding of gender-based violence (GBV). However, this understanding is problematic. Environmental and climate-related causes are structural to the Colombian armed conflict, and critical in building peace. Environmental violence points to human-induced activities that cause harms to the environment. Climate violence, one manifestation of environmental violence, is a type of violence that worsens underlying conditions of inequalities through extreme climate conditions. Drawing on the 2016 Colombian Peace Agreement, this article focuses on the experiences of Colombian rural women to assess whether expanding dominant concepts of GBV help implement environmental peacebuilding commitments. Applying an intersectional ecofeminist reading could contribute to acknowledging particular forms of violence embedded in the climate and peace crises in Colombia during the implementation phase of gender-related peace commitments and push towards the recognition of environmental and climate violence as GBV.

‘I’m just a pebble in the pond’: exploring the lived legacies of art for reconciliation

ABSTRACT Since the 1998 Good Friday/Belfast Agreement, the arts have been promoted as capable of reconciling communities in Northern Ireland. In keeping with cultural policy orthodoxies in Britain and Ireland, practitioners are expected to provide even more information on the contribution of their work to this agenda. However, short-term evaluation processes entrench bureaucratic systems of arts administration that occlude, and even hinder, the complex, long-term legacies of particular applied arts projects. This article instead argues that situating participant experience within the broader material conditions of inequality and scarcity they face offers a better account of the transformative power of such projects.

Secure Sampled-Data Observer-Based Control for Wind Turbine Oscillation Under Cyber Attacks

Inspired by the recent surge of interest in security analysis of renewable energies, this article proposes a cyber resilient control framework for large-scale wind parks (WPs) against denial of service (DoS) and deception attacks. A detailed cyber-physical model for a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG)-based WP is first developed. It is shown that the WP is subject to a stability issue known as the sub-synchronous interaction (SSI). Additionally, two cyber threats in the forms of DoS and deception attack attempt to destabilize the WP from the subsynchronous perspective. To stabilize the WP under the SSI phenomenon and these cyber attacks, an observer-based fuzzy control scheme is proposed which requires only periodic samples of the output. Using a looped-Lyapunov functional (LLF) method for stability analysis, the control and observer gains are computed from the solution of some linear matrix inequality (LMI) conditions. The proposed design framework allows including the desired level of cyber resilience to DoS and deception attacks for computing proper control and observer gains. The effectiveness of the proposed controller against the considered threats is demonstrated via electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulations performed using the EMTP-RV software and a co-simulation platform.

Stabilization and disturbance rejection with decay rate bounding in discrete‐time linear parameter‐varying systems via ℋ ∞ gain‐scheduling static output feedback control

The stabilization of discrete-time linear parameter-varying (LPV) systems via gain-scheduling static output feedback (SOF) control is addressed in this article. We propose new sufficient linear matrix inequalities (LMI) conditions for synthesizing a gain-scheduled SOF controller that ensures asymptotic stability and also imposes a lower bound on the closed-loop decay rate. The SOF controller design is based on a two-step method: a state-feedback controller is obtained in a first-stage design, which is then used as input information in the second stage for computing the desired gain-scheduled SOF controller. The proposed LMI constraints are given in terms of the existence of affine parameter-dependent Lyapunov functions, considering arbitrarily fast variation of the time-varying parameters. An extension for coping with disturbance rejection is also proposed, in terms of the H ∞ $$ {\mathcal{H}}_{\infty } $$ guaranteed cost optimization. Some numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the control synthesis procedure and its efficacy. Also, feasibility analyses are presented to compare and show the advantages of our results over other available strategies present in literature.

Tax the élites! The role of economic inequality and conspiracy beliefs on attitudes towards taxes and redistribution intentions.

Taxation is one of the most widely acknowledged strategies to reduce inequality, particularly if based on progressivity. In a high-powered sample study (N=2119) we investigated economic inequality and conspiracy beliefs as two key predictors of tax attitude and support for progressive taxation. We found that participants in the high economic inequality condition had lower levels of tax compliance and higher levels of conspiracy beliefs and support for progressive taxation. Furthermore, the effect of the experimental condition on tax compliance was mediated by conspiracy beliefs. Finally, conspiracy belief scores were positively associated with support for progressive taxation. Our results provide evidence that attitudes towards taxation are not monolithic but change considering the aims and targets of specific taxes. Indeed, while the perception of economic inequality prompts the desire for equal redistribution, it also fosters conspiracy narratives that undermine compliance with taxes.

Reduced-order intermediate variable observer based fault estimation and fault-tolerant control for fuzzy stochastic systems with exogenous disturbance

This paper studies fault estimation and fault-tolerant control problems for fuzzy systems with exogenous disturbance and stochastic noise. The fuzzy reduced-order intermediate variable observers and the disturbance observers are proposed to reconstruct the sensor fault, the actuator fault and the disturbance. According to the estimated results, the observer based fault-tolerant controllers are devised. Compared with the full-order observer design method, the designed reduced-order observers are with lower dimensions and less cost. Different from the classic intermediate observer, the feedback term of the output estimation error is introduced into our observers, which increases the design freedom. And the obtained linear matrix inequality conditions can ensure that the whole closed-loop systems are mean-square exponentially stable. Finally, two examples are offered to verify the feasibility of the proposed method.

Spousal Agreements and Patriarchal Bargains: A Wife’s Guarantee of Her Husband’s Business Debts

Abstract This Article uses the term patriarchal bargain in order to analyze spousal agreements. In her canonical article Deniz Kandiyoti has coined the term patriarchal bargain in order to describe how women negotiate with patriarchy and strategize under the constraints of male domination. Her seminal work has been highly influential in sociology and gender studies. However, legal scholarship has paid little attention to her work. This Article seeks to bridge this gap and explores how women bargain in the shadow of patriarchy. Using a European courts’ decision as an example, this article adds the patriarchal context of spousal agreements. This social context enriches our understanding of spousal agreements and deepens our understanding of contracting under conditions of social inequalities.

Relaxed Observer-Based H∞-Control for Markov Jump Fuzzy Systems with Incomplete Transition Probabilities and Sensor Failures

This paper is concerned with linear matrix inequality conditions to design observer-based H∞-controllers for discrete-time Markov jump fuzzy systems with regard to incomplete transition probabilities and sensor failures. Since some system states involved in fuzzy premise variables are immeasurable or under sensor failures, the observer-based fuzzy controller does not share the same fuzzy basic functions with plants, leading to a mismatch phenomenon. Our work contributes a new single-step LMI method for synthesizing the observer-based controller of the Markov jump fuzzy system in the presence of sensor failures with regard to the mismatched phenomenon. The non-convex H∞-stabilization conditions induced by the output-feedback scheme are firstly formulated in terms of multiple-parameterized linear matrix inequalities (PLMIs). Secondly, by assuming that the differences of fuzzy basic functions between the controller and plant are bounded, the multi-PLMI-based conditions are cast into linear matrix inequalities standing for tractable conditions. The designed observer-based controller guarantees the stochastic stability of the closed-loop system and less conservative results compared to existing works in three numerical examples.

Access to Digital Information and Protective Awareness and Practices towards COVID-19 in Urban Marginalized Communities.

Due to digital inequality, poor living, and health care conditions, marginalized people are the most vulnerable group to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined how digital information influences knowledge, practices, threat appraisals, and motivation behaviors of urban marginalized communities. It examined slum people’s digital competencies, their access to COVID-19 online information, and their trust in COVID-19 information provided by both online and offline media. A total of 453 slum people in Bangkok city, Thailand were surveyed, and multiple regression was performed to examine whether socio-demographic factors influence the access to online communication of slum people. We hypothesized that access to online information might affect marginalized people’s awareness of COVID-19 and resulted in greater levels of their practices and protective behaviors. The finding showed that slum people who had access to online information tended to have a better awareness of self-protection against COVID-19, while elderly, female, and foreign migrant workers faced a number of constraints in accessing COVID-19 online information. Such results are important considering the pandemic is compelling societies to turn toward digital technologies to confront the COVID-19 pandemic and address pandemic-related issues. We also discuss how to enhance the role of digital communication in helping urban marginalized communities during and after the pandemic.

Foreign language education at the nexus of neoliberalism and coloniality: subjectivity in South Korean discourses of education reform

ABSTRACT This paper discusses how critiquing the convergence of neoliberalism and coloniality can become a crucial juncture for imagining alternatives to neoliberal foreign language education. Neoliberalism and coloniality are both mediated by aspects of subjectivity, which not only obscures their co-dependence, but also naturalizes their logic as they become embedded in dimensions of affect, desire, and morality. Discourses of educational reform that do not attend to this link risk being appropriated by neoliberal ideologies, as they may fail to situate neoliberal conditions of education within broader historical conditions of inequality. This paper illustrates this point through a critical analysis of debates on education reform in Korea, with a focus on a Korean television documentary which argues for liberal reforms emphasizing creativity, individuality, and excellence. The analysis shows how the voice of white Westerners as perceiving subjects is frequently invoked to problematize the Korean education system for its supposed irrationality and backwardness, naturalizing the mutual constitution of historical conditions of capitalism and colonialism through representations of affect. Based on this discussion, this paper argues that alternatives to neoliberal language education must be rooted in policy and practice that questions deeply entrenched subjectivities of capitalism and colonialism.