We develop a state-of-the-art nonlinear model predictive controller (NMPC) for periodic unstable systems, and apply the method to a dual line kite that shall fly loops. The kite is described by a nonlinear unstable ODE system (which we freely distribute), and the aim is to let the kite fly a periodic figure. Our NMPC approach is based on the “infinite horizon closed loop costing” scheme to ensu...

The classification of the dihedral folding tessellations of the sphere whose prototiles are a kite and an equilateral or isosceles triangle was recently achieved. In this paper we complete the classification of spherical folding tessellations by kites and scalene triangles, where the shorter side of the kite is equal to the longest side of the triangle, initiated in [C.P. Avelino and A.F. Santo...

It is conjectured that connected graphs with given number of vertices and minimum spectral gap (i.e., the difference between their two largest eigenvalues) are double kite graphs. The conjecture is confirmed for connected graphs with at most 10 vertices, and, using variable neighbourhood metaheuristic, there is evidence that it is true for graphs with at most 15 vertices. Several spectral prope...

An equitable colouring of a balanced G-design (X,B) is a map φ∶B → C such that ∣bi(x) − bj(x)∣ ≤ 1 for any x ∈ X and i, j, with i ≠ j, being bi(x) the number of blocks containing the vertex x and coloured with the colour i. A c-colouring is a colouring in which exactly c colours are used. A c-colouring of type s is a colourings in which, for every vertex x, all the blocks containing x are colou...

In this paper the kite inclusion function is presented for branch-andbound type interval global optimization using at least gradient information. The basic idea comes from the simultaneous usage of the centered forms and the linear boundary value forms. We will show that the new technique is not worse and usually considerably better than these two. The best choice for the center of the kite inc...

It is conjectured that connected graphs with given number of vertices and minimum spectral gap (i.e., the difference between their two largest eigenvalues) are double kite graphs. The conjecture is confirmed for connected graphs with at most 10 vertices, and, using variable neighbourhood metaheuristic, there is evidence that it is true for graphs with at most 15 vertices. Several spectral prope...

The bones (humerus and/or femur) of 229 birds of prey from 11 species were analyzed for Pb and As to evaluate their exposure to Pb shot. The species with the highest mean Pb levels were red kite (Milvus milvus) and Eurasian griffon (Gyps fulvus), and the species with the lowest levels were Eurasian buzzard (Buteo buteo) and booted eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus). Red kite also had the highest mean ...

The paper aims at exploring the viability of the Florida snail kite population under various drought regimes in its wetland habitat. The population dynamics of snail kites are strongly linked with the hydrology of the system due to the dependence of this bird species on one exclusive prey species, the apple snail, which is negatively affected by a drying out of habitat. Based on empirical evide...

Congenital idiopathic clubfoot (CC) represents the fifth common most congenital malformation which may be treated conservatively or by surgery. In this article, we present the results obtained in our clinic after conservative therapy performed with 2 methods.A total of 235 consecutive feet (161 patients) were conservatively treated using Kite (n = 129) and Ponseti method (n = 106). The Dimeglio...