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The bearing‐based coordinated circumnavigation control for networked multi‐agent systems with only bearing measurements in the presence of moving target is studied. First, a distributed algorithm is proposed to estimate the target's velocity and the distances between the agents and the target, based on the velocity and the bearing information of the local network. Then, a distributed circumnavigation algorithm is designed to drive the agents to circumnavigate around a moving target at a desired distance. The stability of the proposed control algorithm is proven by employing the newly developed bearing rigidity theory. Finally, the simulation experiment is performed based on the Gazebo simulator to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed circumnavigation control law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are increasingly used and are becoming the standard of care in the treatment of various tumor types. Despite the favorable results in terms of oncological outcomes, these treatments have been associated with a variety of immune‐related adverse events (irAEs). Neurological irAEs are rare but potentially severe. Neuromuscular disorders represent the most common neurological irAEs following anti‐PD‐1, anti‐PD‐L1, and anti‐CTLA‐4 treatment, and include myositis, myasthenia gravis, and demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy. Instrumental findings may differ from typical neuromuscular disorders occurring outside ICIs treatment. Despite initial severity, neurological irAEs often respond to immune‐modulating therapies. Prompt irAEs diagnosis, ICIs discontinuation, and early treatment with corticosteroids, together with patient education and a multi‐disciplinary approach, are important for optimizing clinical outcomes. Intravenous immunoglobulin, plasma exchange, and other immune‐modulating treatments should be considered in more severe cases. Consideration of re‐challenging with the same immunotherapy drug may be given in some cases, based on clinical picture and initial severity of irAEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: We consider the goal of ensuring robust stability when a given manipulator feedback control law is modified online, for example, to safely improve the performance by a learning module. To this end, the factorization approach is applied to both the plant and controller models to characterize robustly stabilizing controllers for rigid‐body manipulators under approximate inverse dynamics control. Outer‐loop controllers to stabilize the nonlinear uncertain loop that results from approximate inverse dynamics are often derived by lumping uncertainty in a single term and subsequent analysis of the error system. Here, by contrast, the well‐known norm bounds of these uncertain dynamics are first recast into a generalized plant configuration that preserves the characteristic uncertainty structure. Then, the overall loop uncertainty is expressed with respect to the nominal outer‐loop feedback controller by means of an uncertain dual‐Youla operator. Therefore, using the dual‐Youla parameterization, we provide a novel way to rigorously quantify permissible perturbations of robot manipulator feedforward/feedback controllers. The method proposed in this paper does not constitute another robust control law for rigid‐body manipulators, but rather a characterization of a set of robustly stabilizing controllers. The resulting double‐Youla parameterization for the control of robot manipulators is amenable to numerous advanced design methods. The result is thoroughly discussed by a planar elbow manipulator and exemplified with a six‐degree‐of‐freedom robot scenario with varying payload. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the authors propose an adaptive model predictive control (MPC) algorithm for constrained linear systems in state space subject to uncertain model parameters and disturbances. An iterative set membership identification algorithm is first presented to update the uncertain parameter set at each time step. Based on the shrunken uncertain parameter set, an MPC controller is then designed to robustly stabilise the uncertain systems subject to state and input constraints. The algorithm can efficiently reduce the size of the uncertain parameter set in min–max MPC setting, and therefore improve the control performance. The algorithm is proved to ensure constraint satisfaction, recursive feasibility and input‐to‐state practical stability of the closed‐loop system even in the presence of system uncertainties. A numerical example and a brief comparison with traditional min–max MPC are provided to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aside from relying on the robustness of the model predictive control (MPC) against model uncertainties, tracking performance degradation in the transient time is an inevitable challenge which is the main motivation of the adaptive MPC (AMPC). To that aim, in this study, a fast online identification scheme is suggested to identify a suitable linear state‐space model used in the control algorithm. Then, the authors prove the convergence of the identification error sequence using Lyapunov candidate function in the time domain and also, in the frequency domain (graph topology) point of view. Also, due to the dependency of the convergence error on the initial selection of the identification model, the authors introduce a stability and convergence ball as a function of generalised stability margin and the v‐gap criteria. Then, the stability and feasibility of the proposed AMPC is guaranteed when using the identified linear model at each sampling time. Moreover, the identification error convergence applies a constraint on the MPC in which, with a suitable selection of the update rate, MPC cost function is been relaxed from the constraint. In the simulations, the authors consider two examples of highly non‐linear dynamic systems. In both cases the proposed control strategy gives satisfactory conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers a study that discussed about sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and considered the standard method for early‐stage breast cancer. It mentions the overall survival and disease‐free survival of patients with SLNB with axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in patients with sentinel lymph node (SLN)‐negative breast cancer. It mentions the involvement of participants in the study with breast cancer between September 2015 and May 2017.

Aims: The nuclear proliferation marker Ki67 assayed by immunohistochemistry has multiple potential uses in breast cancer, but an unacceptable level of interlaboratory variability has hampered its clinical utility. The International Ki67 in Breast Cancer Working Group has undertaken a systematic programme to determine whether Ki67 measurement can be analytically validated and standardised among laboratories. This study addresses whether acceptable scoring reproducibility can be achieved on excision whole sections. Methods and results: Adjacent sections from 30 primary ER+ breast cancers were centrally stained for Ki67 and sections were circulated among 23 pathologists in 12 countries. All pathologists scored Ki67 by two methods: (i) global: four fields of 100 tumour cells each were selected to reflect observed heterogeneity in nuclear staining; (ii) hot‐spot: the field with highest apparent Ki67 index was selected and up to 500 cells scored. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for the global method [confidence interval (CI) = 0.87; 95% CI = 0.799–0.93] marginally met the prespecified success criterion (lower 95% CI ≥ 0.8), while the ICC for the hot‐spot method (0.83; 95% CI = 0.74–0.90) did not. Visually, interobserver concordance in location of selected hot‐spots varies between cases. The median times for scoring were 9 and 6 min for global and hot‐spot methods, respectively. Conclusions: The global scoring method demonstrates adequate reproducibility to warrant next steps towards evaluation for technical and clinical validity in appropriate cohorts of cases. The time taken for scoring by either method is practical using counting software we are making publicly available. Establishment of external quality assessment schemes is likely to improve the reproducibility between laboratories further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the consensus control of multiagent systems with quantized signal communication. In such a network system, when the static quantizer is used, the control performance is degraded because of the influence of the quantization error. To compensate the quantization error, in a conventional method, a probabilistic quantizer is used. On the other hand, in this paper, the dynamic quantizer is introduced instead of the static quantizer. Because the dynamic quantizer is optimally designed, the control performance of the proposed method can be improved better than the conventional methods. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through numerical examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quad-Tilt-Wing (QTW) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is one of the promising types of UAVs because of its high-speed cruise performance similar to fixed-wing aircraft and VTOL (Vertical TakeOff and Landing) ability like helicopters. The control performance of our previously designed Control Augmentation System (CAS) for the aircraft was not satisfactory due to the oscillatory motions in flight tests. This paper thus presents an H∞ control-based robust CAS design for QTW-UAV via multiple-model approach with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) to suppress the oscillatory motions. Although the adoption of the multiple-model approach to obtain robust CAS gains is the same as in our previous design, our new method has two unique features in contrast to the previously used method, that is, the design requirement for CAS gains is given in the frequency domain to shape the frequency responses from attitude command to attitude error and PSO is used to reduce the numerical complexity coming from a brute-force method, i.e., the gridding method. The overall control performance of the designed CAS gains is examined by human-in-the-loop nonlinear flight simulations. As an extension of the proposed method, we consider the situation in which uncertainty models with different probabilistic densities should be incorporated into the nominal model and show that the nominal performance can be improved at the expense of slight performance degradation for the models with small probabilistic density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is to estimate the bounds for the maximum allowable sampling interval (MASI) and the coarsest quantisation density (CQD) that guarantee the stability of non-linear systems with multi-input signals sampled and logarithmic quantised. First of all, hybrid feedback systems are proposed to describe the non-linear control systems. Then a sufficient condition is provided to ensure that the systems are uniformly globally exponentially stable. A crucial step is to find a novel Lyapunov function to verify the stability conditions in the sense of the hybrid framework. Meanwhile, explicit bounds for the MASI and CQD are obtained to guarantee stability. Furthermore, in the case of no quantisation or no sampling, some special stability criteria can be also obtained. Finally, some examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed theorem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper considers H−/L∞ fault detection for discrete‐time linear parameter‐varying (LPV) systems with parametric uncertainty. In H−/L∞ fault detection scheme, residual generation and threshold computation are simultaneously designed. With consideration of H−/L∞ performance indices, the generated residual is sensitive to faults while robust against unknown disturbances. Furthermore, the L∞ performance provides a time‐varying threshold for residual evaluation. This paper proposes a novel H−/L∞ fault detection observer design method to handle actuator fault detection for LPV systems with parametric uncertainty. Sufficient conditions of the fault detection observer design in the finite‐frequency domain are derived as linear matrix inequalities. Numerical simulations are used to illustrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed fault detection observer design approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unprecedented synthesis of regioregular head‐to‐tail‐type poly(1,4‐arylene)s bearing different substituents at the 2‐ and 5‐positions is described. They were prepared by the polymerization of 2,5‐disubstituted bromo(chloro)arylenes by selective halogen–metal exchange with a Grignard reagent and subsequent cross‐coupling polymerization with a nickel catalyst [NiCl2(dppp)]. Formation of the regioregular poly(1,4‐arylene)s were confirmed by NMR spectroscopy, and showed remarkable differences to those polymers having uncontrolled regioregularity. Polymerization of bromo(chloro)arylenes with a chiral alkoxy substituent also led to the regioregular head‐to‐tail‐type polyarylene, which demonstrated circular dichroism, thus suggesting formation of a structure with higher‐order regularity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, TiO2 nanofibers were fabricated via the electrospinning method followed by air annealing. Then, Ti‐requirement in the conventional hydrothermal synthesis of BaTiO3 stoichiometry was supplied by using these nanofibers. The microstructural and compositional properties of BaTiO3 nanoparticles were studied using SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, and Raman spectroscopy. The structural analysis showed that the cubic symmetry was the dominant one in the BaTiO3 nanoparticles, whereas Raman spectroscopy indicated the coexistence of cubic symmetry with the tetragonal polymorph. The nanoparticles displayed higher photocatalytic reactivity under UV‐A light compared to visible irradiation during decomposition of methylene blue dye and reached 24.2% and 18.8% degradation, respectively, after 1 hour. Furthermore, the dielectric properties were investigated using sintered compacts of these nanoparticles. Among the employed temperatures for sintering, the highest relative density (90%) and dielectric constant (2165 at 1 MHz) were obtained at 1250°C and 5 hours. This study revealed that the electrospun TiO2 nanofiber precursor can successfully be used for the production of nanoscale barium titanate particles suitable for various applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is to estimate the bounds for the maximum allowable sampling interval (MASI) and the coarsest quantisation density (CQD) that guarantee the stability of non‐linear systems with multi‐input signals sampled and logarithmic quantised. First of all, hybrid feedback systems are proposed to describe the non‐linear control systems. Then a sufficient condition is provided to ensure that the systems are uniformly globally exponentially stable. A crucial step is to find a novel Lyapunov function to verify the stability conditions in the sense of the hybrid framework. Meanwhile, explicit bounds for the MASI and CQD are obtained to guarantee stability. Furthermore, in the case of no quantisation or no sampling, some special stability criteria can be also obtained. Finally, some examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed theorem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the first decarboxylative alkynylation of the C‐terminus of peptides starting from free carboxylic acids. The reaction is fast, metal‐free, and proceeds cleanly to afford alkynylated peptides with a broad tolerance for the C‐terminal amino acid. By the use of hypervalent iodine reagents, the introduction of a broad range of functional groups was successful. C‐terminal selectivity was achieved by differentiation of the oxidation potentials of the carboxylic acids based on the use of fine‐tuned organic dyes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identification of piecewise affine hybrid systems is not an easy task since both the parameters determining the discrete modes and the submodels parameters have to be obtained, leading to a non‐convex combinatorial optimisation problem. One way around this problem is to solve it in two steps. This work presents an approach for simultaneously estimating the parameters for PieceWise Autoregressive eXogeneous and PieceWise Output Error models. This is accomplished by using evolutionary algorithms for finding the parameters of the discrete modes (Gaussian mixture models) and employing the proposed weighted and extended least squares algorithm to estimate the ARX or ARMAX submodels. The main advantages of the proposed algorithm are: (i) it can be applied to output error models – which correspond to system with measurement noise, (ii) it is less likely to get trapped in local minima and (iii) it is applicable to problems with large datasets. The proposed approach, which is offline, was validated using simulated and experimental data and was compared with another method from the literature. In the case of an experimental plant, parsimonious models with good performance in both dynamic and static regimes were obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the structural monostability and structural cycle‐stability of Boolean networks (BNs). Firstly, the structural‐equivalent Boolean networks are converted to the algebraic forms by using the semitensor product of matrices. Secondly, the concepts of structural monostability and structural cycle‐stability for Boolean networks are proposed. On the basis of the algebraic forms of structural‐equivalent Boolean networks, some necessary and sufficient conditions are presented for the structural monostability and structural cycle‐stability of Boolean networks. Finally, an illustrative example is worked out to show the effectiveness of the obtained results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review aims to report recent advances on decarboxylative reactions of amino acids catalyzed by transition metals or non‐metals and the growing opportunities they present in the construction of complex chemical scaffolds for applications encompassing natural product synthesis, synthetic methodology development, and functional materials. Different decarboxylative reactions have been highlighted such as radical, photoredox and metal and metal‐free coupling reactions. etc. The review is divided into two main sections: one deals with reactions via radical pathways and the other via azomethine ylide pathways. The reactions have been discussed in more detail with particular emphasis on their useful applications and mechanistic illustrations. Abbreviations: 1,3‐DCB: 1,3‐dicyanobenzene; 1,4‐DCB: 1,4‐dicyanobenzene; Acr: acridinium; BI: benziodoxolone; Boc: tert‐butoxycarbonyl; CB: conduction band; CBX: cyanobenziodoxolone; CFL: compact fluorescent lamp; DBU: 1,8‐diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec‐7‐ene; DCA: 9,10‐dicyanoanthracene; DCB: 1,2‐dichlorobenzene; DCE: 1,2‐dichloroethane; DDDS: bis(4‐chlorophenyl) disulfide; DIPEA: diisopropylethylamine; DMA: N,N‐dimethylacetamide; DMF: N,N‐dimethylformamide; DMSO: dimethyl sulfoxide; DNA: deoxyribonucleic acid; dtbbpy: 4,4′‐di‐tert‐butyl‐2,2'‐bipyridine; DTBP: di‐tert‐butyl peroxide; equiv.: equivalent; ET: electron transfer; h: hour; HE: Hantzsch ester; LED: light‐emitting diode; min: minutes; mL: millilitre; MS: molecular sieves; MW: microwave; nm: nanometer; NS: nanosphere; Nu: nucleophile; ODCB: o‐dichlorobenzene; PA‐1: (±)‐1,1′‐binaphthyl‐2,2′‐diyl hydrogen phosphate; PC: photocatalyst; PET: photoinduced electron transfer; PEG: polyethylene glycol; PG: protecting group; Phen: phenanthrene; PTA: phosphotungstic acid 44‐hydrate; RNA: ribonucleic acid; r.t.: room temperature; SET: single‐electron transfer; TBAI: tetrabutylammonium iodide; TBHP: tert‐butyl hydroperoxide; TFA: trifluoroacetic acid; THF: tetrahydrofuran; TMEDA: N,N,N′,N′‐tetramethylethylenediamine; TS: transition state; UV: ultraviolet; VB: valence band; W: watt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper introduces a multiple‐input–single‐output (MISO) neuro‐fractional‐order Hammerstein (NFH) model with a Lyapunov‐based identification method, which is robust in the presence of outliers. The proposed model is composed of a multiple‐input–multiple‐output radial basis function neural network in series with a MISO linear fractional‐order system. The state‐space matrices of the NFH are identified in the time domain via the Lyapunov stability theory using input‐output data acquired from the system. In this regard, the need for the system state variables is eliminated by introducing the auxiliary input‐output filtered signals into the identification laws. Moreover, since practical measurement data may contain outliers, which degrade performance of the identification methods (eg, least‐square–based methods), a Gaussian Lyapunov function is proposed, which is rather insensitive to outliers compared with commonly used quadratic Lyapunov function. In addition, stability and convergence analysis of the presented method is provided. Comparative example verifies superior performance of the proposed method as compared with the algorithm based on the quadratic Lyapunov function and a recently developed input‐output regression‐based robust identification algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proper mitochondrial function plays a central role in cellular metabolism. Various diseases as well as aging are associated with diminished mitochondrial function. Previously, we identified 19 miRNAs putatively involved in the regulation of mitochondrial metabolism in skeletal muscle, a highly metabolically active tissue. In the current study, these 19 miRNAs were individually silenced in C2C12 myotubes using antisense oligonucleotides, followed by measurement of the expression of 27 genes known to play a major role in regulating mitochondrial metabolism. Based on the outcomes, we then focused on miR‐382‐5p and identified pathways affected by its silencing using microarrays, investigated protein expression, and studied cellular respiration. Silencing of miRNA‐382‐5p significantly increased the expression of several genes involved in mitochondrial dynamics and biogenesis. Conventional microarray analysis in C2C12 myotubes silenced for miRNA‐382‐5p revealed a collective downregulation of mitochondrial ribosomal proteins and respiratory chain proteins. This effect was accompanied by an imbalance between mitochondrial proteins encoded by the nuclear and mitochondrial DNA (1.35‐fold, p < 0.01) and an induction of HSP60 protein (1.31‐fold, p < 0.05), indicating activation of the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (mtUPR). Furthermore, silencing of miR‐382‐5p reduced basal oxygen consumption rate by 14% (p < 0.05) without affecting mitochondrial content, pointing towards a more efficient mitochondrial function as a result of improved mitochondrial quality control. Taken together, silencing of miR‐382‐5p induces a mitonuclear protein imbalance and activates the mtUPR in skeletal muscle, a phenomenon that was previously associated with improved longevity. In the current study, microRNA‐382‐5p was identified as a regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis and dynamics at mRNA levels. Silencing of miRNA‐382‐5p in C2C12 myotubes revealed a collective downregulation of mitochondrial ribosomal proteins and respiratory chain proteins. MiR‐382 silenced C2C12 showed a mitonuclear protein imbalance that led to the activation of the mitochondrial unfolded protein response and a reduced basal oxygen consumption rate without affecting mitochondrial content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aims to explore the roles of N‐myc and caspase‐8 in TRAIL‐resistant IMR‐32 cells which exhibit MYCN oncogene amplification and lack caspase‐8 expression. Materials and methods: We established N‐myc–downregulated IMR‐32 cells using shRNA lentiviral particles targeting N‐myc and examined the effect the N‐myc inhibition on TRAIL susceptibility in human neuroblastoma IMR‐32 cells expressing caspase‐8. Results: Cisplatin treatment in IMR‐32 cells increased the expression of death receptor 5 (DR5; TRAIL‐R2), but not other receptors, via downregulation of NF‐κB activity. However, the cisplatin‐mediated increase in DR5 failed to induce cell death following TRAIL treatment. Furthermore, interferon (IFN)‐γ pretreatment increased caspase‐8 expression in IMR‐32 cells, but cisplatin failed to trigger TRAIL cytotoxicity. We downregulated N‐myc expression in IMR‐32 cells using N‐myc–targeting shRNA. These cells showed decreased growth rate and Bcl‐2 expression accompanied by a mild collapse in the mitochondrial membrane potential as compared with those treated with scrambled shRNA. TRAIL treatment in N‐myc–negative cells expressing caspase‐8 following IFN‐γ treatment significantly triggered apoptotic cell death. Concurrent treatment with cisplatin enhanced TRAIL‐mediated cytotoxicity, which was abrogated by an additional pretreatment with DR5:Fc chimera protein. Conclusions: N‐myc and caspase‐8 expressions are involved in TRAIL susceptibility in IMR‐32 cells, and the combination of treatment with cisplatin and TRAIL may serve as a promising strategy for the development of therapeutics against neuroblastoma that is controlled by N‐myc and caspase‐8 expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In vitro gliding assay, microtubule translocation by kinesin motor proteins on a surface, has been used as an engineering tool in analyte detection, molecular cargo transport, and other applications. Although controlling the moving direction is often necessary to realize these applications, current direction control methods focus largely on lithographic microfabrication of tracks or external fields on the microtubules. These methods are effective, but are relatively complicated. In addition, they cannot target particular microtubules without affecting others. In this study, we propose a facile approach that can make local direction changes for selected microtubules using a polystyrene particle as a circular motion center and a DNA double helix with streptavidin as a capture arm. The DNA arm captures a microtubule in the close proximity of the immobilized particle via biotin–streptavidin interaction and changes the moving direction ~10° on average. In contrast, no significant direction changes are observed other than random variations with streptavidin‐less DNA arms (normal distribution centered at 0°), similar to regular motility assay. The particle‐assisted local direction change scheme is compared with a flow field‐based ensemble method. The combination of flow and kinesin interactions with each microtubule exerts a force to change the direction, ultimately aligning it to the flow field, regardless of its initial direction. A simple model based on the force balance predicts the time needed for such an alignment. Overall, the particle‐based local scheme is distinct and different from ensemble methods such as crossflow that changes directions of all microtubules in the field, thus offering unique utility in engineering applications. In vitro gliding assay, microtubule translocation by kinesin motor proteins on a surface, has been used as an engineering tool in analyte detection, molecular cargo transport, and other applications. Although controlling the moving direction is often necessary to realize these applications, current direction control methods focus largely on lithographic microfabrication of tracks or external fields on the microtubules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider a vibration suppression problem for a pneumatic isolation table with on–off valves using the feedforward control input profile. In this system, it is possible to enhance the vibration suppression performance by adjusting the flow rate of air into and from air springs. However, there is a significant problem that a steady‐state deviation, namely an offset, for displacement of the table occurs. Therefore, we propose an efficient search method of the optimal feedforward control input profile, which provides high vibration suppression performance without a steady‐state deviation. A key idea is to update the control input profile to belong to a space where velocity of the table does not change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: False-negative rate (FNR) of sentinel lymph node dissection (SLND) has not been eliminated. The study was conducted to optimize the surgical resection of axilla in patients with negative sentinel lymph node (SLN) for the purpose of eradicating false-negative (FN) events of SLND.Methods: A total of 312 clinically node-negative patients without neoadjuvant therapy underwent SLND with indocyanine green (ICG), methylene blue and the combination of ICG and methylene blue. Axillary dissection was performed subsequently regardless of the status of SLN. Lymph nodes were sent for pathological examination separately by serial resection every 0.5 cm away from marginally visualized SLNs.Results: SLND was successfully conducted in 98.1% (306/312) of patients using methylene blue, ICG, and its combination. Further examination revealed 97 true-positive, 189 true-negative, and 13 FN results. The overall FNR was 11.8% (13/110). A horizontal line 1.5 cm away from the superior vSLN and a vertical line 1.5 cm away from the medial vSLN formed a zone of lower outer quadrant (LOQ) in axilla. Surgical resection of LOQ 'en bloc' showed a FNR of zero.Conclusions: The surgical management of axilla may benefit negative SLN patients with potential nodal involvement, reducing the FNR of SLND to zero.Trial registration number and agency: This study was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR1800014247). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes an exosystem‐observer approach to an H2 output feedback problem with an output regulation constraint. The authors analyse the error covariance of a recently proposed exosystem observer and newly derive the degenerate Riccati equation and linear matrix inequalities for designing the optimal and suboptimal exosystem observer gains. Furthermore, they show that the H2 output feedback controller based on the exosystem observer is equivalently implemented in a Youla‐parameter‐based structure, where the Youla parameter is realised as an observer for the exosystem state. By utilising the Youla‐parameter‐based structure, they provide output feedback controller design methods for achieving the optimal and suboptimal H2 performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In systems disconnected from the external grid, such as mobile robots and vehicles, the effective use of renewables and energy harvesting techniques helps a longer operation with less weight and space for batteries. Power packet dispatching system is a promising measure to manage the complex power flow created by such distributed power sources of various profiles. In the system, power is transferred as a pulse, and information tag is attached to the pulse power in voltage waveforms. The physical integration of power and information realizes a smooth inclusion of sources and loads of different profiles and their decentralized operation. This paper discusses the application of the system to load control. We propose a decentralized packet‐based feedback control scheme. The successful operation of the proposed scheme is confirmed by an application to an electrical drive. In addition, the application to trajectory control of 2‐degree‐of‐freedom manipulator reveals the possibility of a peak‐power reduction based on a demand response operation of the proposed scheme. The results contribute to a realization of decentralized flow control of power packets based on the convenience of both the sources and the loads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: An unpredictably maneuvering speedy target travels in a plane, which also hosts a team of fully actuated robots whose velocities and accelerations are upper‐bounded in magnitude. The robots should approach the target and then follow it at a prespecified distance. They also should achieve an even self‐distribution around the target and a given angular velocity of rotation about the target. Every robot has access to the relative position of the target and other robots (in the latter case, within a finite "visibility" range) and to the angular speed of its own pure rotation; access to the coordinates of its own linear velocity in its own local frame is also employed in some cases. The robots are not equipped with communication facilities and cannot distinguish among one another; assignment of different roles to various robots is infeasible. Necessary conditions for the mission feasibility are first obtained. A distributed control law is then presented, and its global convergence and collision avoidance property are rigorously justified under slight enhancement of the just mentioned necessary conditions. The performance of the control law is illustrated by computer simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This work deals with the optimal controller synthesis against high‐level multiple requirements using evolutionary computation. Indeed, such stochastic algorithms are interesting to solve problems based on complex industrial specifications and so seem to be particularly well suited to optimal robust controller synthesis. Using the H∞ loop‐shaping framework, the optimal weights/controller tuning without any structural assumption (in terms of poles/zeros/damping) on the searched filters (except of course their order) is investigated. The absence of such any structural assumption is important to avoid affecting the quality of the solution toward a complex specification and allows reducing the synthesis problem to a simple one with static scalings in place of frequency weights. Using a version of differential evolution algorithm well adapted for high dimensional control problems, computing directly a fixed‐structure controller for complex industrial specifications toward a generic nonconstraint fitness with quite reasonable computing time is achieved. The illustrating example deals with the line‐of‐sight stabilization problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fixed points in Boolean networks (BNs) represent cell types or states of cells and are important to decide characteristics of cells. As the control problem on fixed points, it is important to consider the problem of changing fixed points by using external stimuli (i.e., control inputs). In this paper, we propose two methods for designing fixed points. First, a design method using model reduction is proposed. Using the reduced model, the problem of placing fixed points can be rewritten as an integer linear programming problem. Next, we consider the design problem using only the graph structure of a given BN and derive some results. In both methods, a feedback vertex set of a directed graph plays an important role. Finally, a biological example is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work focuses on the accurate identification of lithium-ion battery's non-linear parameters by using an iterative learning method. First, the second-order resistance-capacitance model and its regression form of the battery are introduced. Then, when the battery repeatedly implements a discharge trial from the state of charge (SOC) 100 to 0%, an iterative learning based recursive least square (IL-RLS) algorithm is presented to accurately identify the non-linear parameters of the regression model. The essential idea of the IL-RLS algorithm is to improve the current parameter estimates by learning the predictive errors of the previous trials. After that, the parameters are identified as the functions of SOC by using the IL-RLS, which are verified by comparing with the results of the classic identification method for current pulses. As a result, an application-oriented SOC estimation scheme is proposed, where the IL-RLS calibrates the battery parameters offline and the classic extended Kalman filter (EKF) estimates the SOC in real-time. Finally, based on the EKF as well as the parameters identified by the IL-RLS, one static and three dynamic operating conditions are given to show the efficiency of the IL-RLS, where all the SOC estimation errors are <2%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper develops novel fault‐tolerant integral sliding mode control allocation schemes for a class of an overactuated affine nonlinear system. The proposed schemes rely on an existing baseline controller, and the objective is to retain the nominal (fault‐free) closed‐loop performance in the face of actuator faults/failures by effectively utilizing actuator redundancy. The online control allocation reroutes the control effort to healthy actuators using the knowledge of actuator effectiveness level estimates. One of the proposed schemes is tested in simulation using a well‐known high‐fidelity model of a large civil transport aircraft (B747) from the literature. Good simulation results show the efficacy of the scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: A hybrid integrator‐gain system is discussed that aims for improved low‐frequency disturbance rejection, while, at the same time, does not deteriorate overshoot and settling times when compared with a linear integrator. The hybrid integrator has similar phase advantages as the well‐known Clegg integrator but without inducing the discontinuous behavior resulting from resetting system state values. Optimal tuning of the controller parameters of the hybrid integrator is strongly influenced by machine‐specific properties and therefore favors a data‐driven optimization approach. However, as a time‐domain optimization algorithm can easily lead to nonrobust solutions in the sense of large peaking of the closed‐loop frequency response functions, frequency‐domain robustness constraints will be imposed. By means of an adaptive weighting filter design, the parameter updates are penalized upon violation of said robustness constraints. Posed in an unconstrained problem formulation, this is subsequently solved by applying a Gauss‐Newton–based parameter update scheme. Closed‐loop stability of the linear time‐invariant plant and controller in feedback connection with a hybrid integrator‐gain system element follows from a circle‐criterion‐like analysis, which is based on evaluating (measured) frequency response data. Measurement results obtained from an industrial wafer scanner demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand—TRAIL—is a protein operating as a ligand capable of inducing apoptosis particularly in cancerously transformed cells, while normal healthy cells are typically nonresponsive. We have previously demonstrated that pluripotent human embryonic stem cells (hESC) are also refractory to TRAIL, even though they express all canonical components of the death receptor-induced apoptosis pathway. In this study, we have examined a capacity of DNA damage to provoke sensitivity of hESC to TRAIL. The extent of DNA damage, behavior of molecules involved in apoptosis, and response of hESC to TRAIL were investigated. The exposure of hESC to 1 μM and 2 μM concentrations of cisplatin have led to the formation of 53BP1 and γH2AX foci, indicating the presence of double-strand breaks in DNA, without affecting the expression of proteins contributing to mitochondrial membrane integrity. Interestingly, cisplatin upregulated critical components of the extrinsic apoptotic pathway—initiator caspase 8, effector caspase 3, and the cell death receptors. The observed increase of expression of the extrinsic apoptotic pathway components was sufficient to sensitize hESC to TRAIL-induced apoptosis; immense cell dying accompanied by enhanced PARP cleavage, processing of caspase 8, and full activation of caspase 3 were all observed after the treatment combining cisplatin and TRAIL. Finally, we have demonstrated the central role of caspase 8 in this process, since its downregulation abrogated the sensitizing effect of cisplatin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unnatural amino acids attract growing attention for pharmaceutical applications as they are useful building blocks for the synthesis of a number of chiral drugs. Here, we describe a two‐step enzymatic method for the asymmetric synthesis of homoalanine from L‐methionine, a cheap and readily available natural amino acid. First, the enzyme L‐methionine γ‐lyase (METase), from Fusobacterium nucleatum, catalyzed the γ‐elimination of L‐methionine to 2‐oxobutyrate. Second, an amino acid aminotransferase catalyzed the asymmetric conversion of 2‐oxobutyrate to either L‐ or D‐homoalanine. The L‐branched chain amino acid aminotransferase from Escherichia coli (eBCAT), using L‐glutamate as amino donor, produced L‐homoalanine (32.5 % conv. 28 % y, 99 % ee) and the D‐amino acid aminotransferase from Bacillus sp. (DATA) used D‐alanine as amino donor to produce D‐homoalanine (87.5 % conv. 69 % y, 90 % ee). Thus, this concept allows for the first time the synthesis of both enantiomers of this important unnatural amino acid. For the very first time! Unnatural amino acids have important applications in pharmaceutical chemistry. A biocatalytic cascade is described providing access to both, l‐ and d‐homoalanine, using a combination of a l‐methionine γ‐lyase (METase) and two amino acid transaminases with complementary enantiopreference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients with persistent symptoms of acute cholecystitis for >72 h who cannot undergo urgent laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) often undergo percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage (PTGBD) and delayed LC. However, intraoperative near-infrared fluorescence with indocyanine green (ICG) has recently become available in various surgical settings. Therefore, we evaluated the usability of intraoperative fluorescence imaging with ICG for LC after PTGBD in patients with acute cholecystitis.Methods: The preoperative and postoperative clinical characteristics of patients who underwent LC after PTGBD were retrospectively analyzed.Results: In total, 130 patients were reviewed. Intraoperative ICG fluorescence imaging was used in 39 (30.0%) patients, and none developed adverse reactions. Patients with ICG fluorescence imaging had a significantly shorter operative time (129 ± 46 vs. 150 ± 56 min, p = 0.0455), markedly lower conversion rate (2.6% vs. 22.0%, p = 0.0017), and lower proportion of subtotal cholecystectomy (0.0% vs. 6.6%, p = 0.0359) than patients without ICG fluorescence imaging. Independent risk factors for conversion to laparotomy during LC after PTGBD were the performance of PTGBD after 48 h from onset (OR 3.52; 95% CI 1.11-12.21; p = 0.0322), an unremoved PTGBD tube on LC (4.48, 1.46-15.00, p = 0.0084), and surgery without ICG (8.00, 1.28-159.47, p = 0.0231).Conclusion: Intraoperative ICG fluorescence imaging produced better surgical outcomes without any adverse reactions. Early performance of PTGBD and intraoperative ICG fluorescence imaging can reduce the surgical difficulties in LC after PTGBD for acute cholecystitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An 18‐year‐old Black female presented with a 2‐year history of bilateral upper eyelid swelling and the recent onset of multiple subcutaneous nodules on the arms. She had previously undergone evaluation and treatment for presumed angioedema. Biopsies of the eyelid and an arm nodule demonstrated non‐necrotizing granulomatous inflammation with special stains negative for acid‐fast bacilli and fungi, and the patient was diagnosed with subcutaneous sarcoidosis. The isolated finding of bilateral eyelid swelling 2 years prior to the onset of additional cutaneous findings led to a significant delay in diagnosis, highlighting the importance of considering sarcoidosis in the differential diagnosis for bilateral eyelid swelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on Occult lesion localization by indocyanine green fluorescence for nonpalpable breast cancer. Topics include Indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence is commonly used for intraoperative identification of sentinel lymph nodes; Nodular mass was assessed by mammography and ultra sound; and exclusion criteria were palpable tumor, advanced stage of disease requiring neo-adjuvant therapy, and hypersensitivity to iodine.

On the basis of the Ru‐catalyzed regiospecific direct double arylation of benzene rings possessing 3‐methylpyridin‐2‐yl substituents to produce 1‐aryl‐2‐(3‐methylpyridin‐2‐yl)benzene derivatives, the synthesis of poly(p‐phenylene) derivatives having 2,5‐bis(3‐methylpyridin‐2‐yl) substituents is described. The reaction of 1,4‐bis(3‐methylpyridin‐2‐yl)benzene with bromobenzene (2 equiv) was carried out in the presence of [RuCl2(η6‐C6H6)]2 (5 mol %) in 1‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone at 120°C for 24 h to produce 1,4‐bis(3‐methylpyridin‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenylbenzene in 99% yield as a sole product. Neither 2,6‐diphenylated nor further phenylated products was produced under the examined conditions. This regiospecific double arylation process was then applied to the synthesis of π‐conjugated polymers by use of aryl dibromides such as 1,4‐dibromobenzene, 2,7‐dibromo‐9,9‐dihexylfluorene, and 2,5‐dibromothiophene. For example, a polymer was obtained in 73% yield by using 1,4‐dibromobenzene, whose Mn and Mw/Mn were estimated to be 3300 and 1.51, respectively. The bathochromic shift of the ultraviolet (UV)–visible absorption spectrum with respect to that of the model compound, 1,4‐bis(3‐methylpyridin‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenylbenzene, indicated the extension of the π‐conjugation. The blue fluorescence was also observed for the polymer upon the UV irradiation. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018, 56, 2771–2777 The Ru‐catalyzed regiospecific C‐H double arylation of a benzene ring carrying two methylpyridine substituents, 1,4‐bis(3‐methylpyridin‐2‐yl)benzene, was proven to take place in a regiospecific fashion to produce a para‐linked triphenylene, 1,4‐bis(3‐methylpyridin‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenylbenzene, in excellent yield as a sole product. On the basis of this regiospecific C‐H double arylation process, π‐conjugated poly(p‐arylene)s are obtained by the use of aryl dihalides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper deals with the stability analysis problem of discrete‐time polynomial systems subject to input quantization. The quantizer under consideration is supposed to be dynamic. Indeed, considering the quantization error as bounded disturbances, the regional input‐to‐state stability is studied. The approach developed consists in characterizing two nested invariant sets where the outer one is a region of attraction and the inner one is the robust invariant set with respect to the quantization error. By defining a performance index between the quantized system and the quantizer‐free system, a quasi‐convex problem is formulated to minimize an upper bound on such a performance index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compared the performance of near‐infrared imaging using indocyanine green (ICG) with the radioisotope (ISO) method to detect sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) in breast cancer, to analyze predictive factors for negative ICG identification. The study included 122 patients who underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) using the combined ISO and ICG technique for primary breast cancer. We assessed the putative association between pathologic/clinical variables and ICG failure to detect SLNs. The ISO identification rate was 96.7% and ICG identification 81.9%. Overweight patients or presence of macrometastasis in SLNB were associated with the risk of ICG failing to detect SLNs (P = 0.02). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The finite‐time stabilisation, finite‐time H∞ control and finite‐time adaptive H∞ control problems for a class of nonlinear descriptor systems are studied. First, under a sufficient condition for the system impulse controllable, a finite‐time stabilised controller is designed by a suitable state feedback. Then, the finite‐time H∞ control and finite‐time adaptive H∞ control problems are considered for the nonlinear descriptor system with external disturbances and/or parametric perturbations, respectively. Compared with the existing results, there is no constraint for singular matrix E, therefore controllers can be designed for more nonlinear descriptor systems. Finally, an example of the nonlinear descriptor circuit system with simulations is applied to illustrate the effectiveness of the finite‐time controllers obtained in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: We strengthen the existing definition of (J,J′)‐lossless rational matrices (RMs) and find an algebraic characterization of the newly defined class of strongly (J,J′)‐lossless RMs. The algebraic characterization is given for possibly improper RMs. A connection is presented to a rational ℋ∞ problem, known as the Leech problem, which is elaborated on with necessary and sufficient conditions, given in terms of the strongly (J,J′)‐lossless property, as an alternative of the Leech conditions, which can be expressed with positivity of a kernel. An algorithm for solving the Leech problem is given and illustrated by examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In this paper, the global stabilization problem of a class of cascaded systems with upper‐triangular structures is considered. On the basis of the forwarding technique, a series of virtual controllers are recursively constructed for the driving subsystem. According to the mild assumption imposed on the driven subsystem, a partial‐state feedback controller is obtained for the entire cascaded nonlinear system by developing a delicate design fashion. It is shown that the obtained state feedback controller will render the entire cascaded nonlinear system globally asymptotically stable. Numerical examples are conducted to validate the proposed control scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a novel easy-to-use meta-heuristic method for simultaneous identification of model structure and the associated parameters for linear systems is developed. This is achieved via a constrained multidimensional particle swarm optimization (PSO) mechanism developed by hybridizing two main methodologies: one for negating the limit for fixing the particle’s dimensions within the PSO process and another for enhancing the exploration ability of the particles by adopting a cyclic neighborhood topology of the swarm. This optimizer consecutively searches the dimensional optimum of particles and then the positional optimum in the search space, whose dimension is specified by the explored optimal dimension. The dimensional optimum provides the optimal model structure, while the positional optimum provides the optimal model parameters. Typical numerical examples are considered for evaluation purposes, which clearly demonstrate that the proposed PSO scheme provides novel and powerful impetus with remarkable reliability toward simultaneous identification of model structure and unknown model parameters. Furthermore, identification experiments are conducted on a magnetic levitation system and a robotic manipulator with joint flexibility to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy in practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the distributed 3-dimensional (3D) distance-based formation control of multiagent systems, where the agents are connected based on an acyclic minimally structural persistent (AMSP) graph. A parameter is designed according to the desired formation shape and is used to solve the problem that there are two formation shapes satisfying the same distance requirements. The unknown moving velocity of the leader agent is estimated adaptively by the followers requiring only the relative position measurements with respect to their local coordinate systems. In addition, the proposed formation controller provides a new way for the agent to leave the initial coplanar location. The 3D formation control law is globally asymptotically stable and has been demonstrated based on the Lyapunov theorem. Finally, two numerical simulations are presented to support the theoretical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the dissolved inorganic carbon concentration, pH, and nutrient regimes of seawater dramatically change in coastal regions, the synergistic effects of changes in the CO2 and nutrient levels on the elemental dynamics of the particulate and dissolved organic matters (DOMs) produced by diatoms are rarely investigated. Here, we investigated the impacts of four different CO2 levels (180, 380, 600, and 1000 μatm partial pressure of CO2 : pCO2) on the allocation of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and silicon between the particulate matter (PM) and DOM in two cosmopolitan coastal diatoms, Chaetoceros affinis and Ditylum brightwellii, under nutrient‐replete and nitrate‐depleted conditions. Under nutrient‐replete conditions, the specific growth rates of both species were positively correlated with pCO2 levels. The elemental compositions of the exponentially growing diatoms were stable under the different pCO2 conditions. After nitrate depletion, the particulate organic carbon to particulate nitrogen ratio and biogenic silica content per unit biomass in both species were positively correlated with the pCO2 value. Factors affecting the pCO2 dependent change in elemental composition were the variations in the partitioning of organic carbon between PM and DOM in C. affinis, and the physiological uncoupling of intracellular carbon and nitrogen and the intracellular silicon and nitrogen, as well as resting spore formation in D. brightwellii. Under high‐CO2 conditions, the faster growth rates of both diatom species could lead to their dominance in a phytoplankton community; their blooms could modify the first‐order processes in the biogeochemical cycling of bioelements after nitrate depletion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The equipment to detect indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence for sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy in breast cancer is not widely accessible nor optimal. The fluorescence appears as a poorly defined white shine on a black background, and dimmed lighting is required. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility, accuracy and healthcare costs of a novel approach for SLN biopsy by a video-assisted ICG-guided technique.Methods: The technique for detecting SLN was radioisotope (RI) in 194 cases, video-assisted ICG-guided in 70 cases and a combined method in 71 cases. In the video-assisted ICG group, a full HD laparoscopic system equipped with xenon lamps was used for a laser-free detection of ICG within a colored and magnified high-resolution image.Results: Detection of ICG fluorescence using a laparoscope with a near-infrared filter provided a highly defined and colored image during SLN biopsy. SLN was identified in 100% of patients in all groups. Multiple SLNs were identified in 0.5% of RI patients, in 12.9% of ICG patients and in 14.1% of ICG + RI patients (p < 0.0001). In ICG + RI group, 95.1% of lymph nodes were radioactive and 92.7% were fluorescent. Operative times and healthcare costs were equivalent between groups.Conclusions: Video-assisted ICG-guided technique is a feasible and surgeon-friendly method for SLN biopsy, with equivalent efficacy compared to RI, providing an accurate staging of the axilla. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]