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Resumen Reportamos el caso de una paciente con cancer de mama, en la que la PET/TC osea doble fase con 18F-fluoruro de sodio (18F-NaF) resulto de utilidad para detectar metastasis oseas ocultas y valorar la respuesta al tratamiento. La paciente fue estudiada con PET/TC osea en doble fase de una lesion de nuevo desarrollo detectada en la gammagrafia posterior a la intervencion. En las imagenes PET/TC de perfusion y oseas, se encontraron captaciones en las fases de perfusion y osea, puntualmente incrementadas en el sacro y la vertebra L5, sugerentes de metastasis oseas del cancer de mama, por lo que se aplico a la paciente terapia paliativa. En las imagenes de PET/TC osea en doble fase, realizadas a los 3 y 6 meses, las imagenes de perfusion reflejaron mas claramente la mejora de la captacion de la lesion que las imagenes de la fase osea en los analisis visual y semicuantitativo. Por tanto, se utilizaron las imagenes de la fase de perfusion para esclarecer la respuesta a la terapia con mayor prontitud que las imagenes de la fase osea. Se trata del primer caso que refleja la utilidad clinica de la PET/TC osea con 18F-NaF, con la tecnica de imagen de perfusion, para evaluar las metastasis oseas y la respuesta terapeutica de las lesiones oseas metastasicas.

OBJECTIVE: To measure the global impact of COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of IV thrombolysis (IVT), IVT transfers, and stroke hospitalizations over 4 months at the height of the pandemic (March 1 to June 30, 2020) compared with 2 control 4-month periods. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional, observational, retrospective study across 6 continents, 70 countries, and 457 stroke centers. Diagnoses were identified by their ICD-10 codes or classifications in stroke databases. RESULTS: There were 91,373 stroke admissions in the 4 months immediately before compared to 80,894 admissions during the pandemic months, representing an 11.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] -11.7 to -11.3, p < 0.0001) decline. There were 13,334 IVT therapies in the 4 months preceding compared to 11,570 procedures during the pandemic, representing a 13.2% (95% CI -13.8 to -12.7, p < 0.0001) drop. Interfacility IVT transfers decreased from 1,337 to 1,178, or an 11.9% decrease (95% CI -13.7 to -10.3, p = 0.001). Recovery of stroke hospitalization volume (9.5%, 95% CI 9.2-9.8, p < 0.0001) was noted over the 2 later (May, June) vs the 2 earlier (March, April) pandemic months. There was a 1.48% stroke rate across 119,967 COVID-19 hospitalizations. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection was noted in 3.3% (1,722/52,026) of all stroke admissions. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a global decline in the volume of stroke hospitalizations, IVT, and interfacility IVT transfers. Primary stroke centers and centers with higher COVID-19 inpatient volumes experienced steeper declines. Recovery of stroke hospitalization was noted in the later pandemic months. © 2021 American Academy of Neurology.

Chemotherapy is the mainstay of treatment for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), but taxane resistance remains problematic. TNBC tumors often demonstrate upregulation of the MAPK pathway and increased sensitivity to MEK inhibition. We hypothesized that adding a potent and selective MEK inhibitor such as cobimetinib (C) to paclitaxel (P) would modulate intrinsic taxane resistance and improve progression-free survival (PFS). COLET (NCT02322814) is a phase 2 study with multiple cohorts, including an open-label safety run-in stage and a randomized, placebo (pbo)-controlled stage. Cohort I evaluated C + P vs pbo + P. Cohorts II and III are evaluating triplet combinations of C plus the anti–PD-L1 agent atezolizumab with either P or nab-P.For Cohort I, 90 patients (pts) with previously untreated locally advanced or metastatic TNBC were randomly assigned 1:1 between August 27, 2015, and October 31, 2016, to receive P 80 mg/m2 intravenously on days 1, 8, and 15 and either C 60 mg or pbo orally once daily on days 3 through 23 of each 28-day cycle until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The primary endpoint was investigator-assessed PFS per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors, version 1.1. Secondary endpoints included safety, confirmed and unconfirmed overall response rate (ORR), duration of response, and overall survival.In the primary analysis for the Cohort I randomized stage only, median follow-up was 8 months. All pts were women; 61% had prior adjuvant or neoadjuvant taxane for TNBC. The safety profile of C + P was consistent with that known for the individual drugs, though gastrointestinal and dermatologic adverse events were more frequent than previously reported for C or P alone. Efficacy outcomes in the overall study population are summarized in the table. Median PFS was 5.5 months for C + P vs 3.8 months for pbo + P (HR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.43–1.24; P = 0.2). Efficacy will also be evaluated in patient subgroups defined by gene expression subtypes, genetic alterations, and PD-L1 expression. COLET is the first randomized, pbo-controlled study to evaluate C + P as first-line treatment for locally advanced or metastatic TNBC. Consistent with the hypothesis that C modulates intrinsic taxane resistance, both median PFS and ORR were increased with the addition of C to standard treatment with P. Efficacy Outcomes C + P (n = 47)Pbo + P (n = 43)Duration of follow-up (months) Mean (SD)8.4 (3.7)7.8 (3.4)Min, max1.6, 16.80.7, 15.7PFSPFS events, n (%)31 (66.0)31 (72.1)Median, months (95% CI)5.5 (4.2–7.4)3.8 (1.9–7.2)HR (95% CI)0.73 (0.43–1.24)Best responseConfirmed ORR, n (%)18 (38.3)9 (20.9)Complete response, n (%)00Partial response, n (%)18 (38.3)9 (20.9)Stable disease, n (%)18 (38.3)16 (37.2)Progressive disease, n (%)8 (17.0)17 (39.5)Unknown, n (%)3 (6.4)1 (2.3)CI, confidence interval; HR, hazard ratio; ORR, overall response rate; PFS, progression-free survival; SD, standard deviation. Citation Format: Brufsky A, Miles D, Zvirbule Z, Eniu A, Lopez-Miranda E, Seo JH, Orditura M, Le Du F, Wongchenko M, Poulin-Costello M, Simmons B, McNally V, Loi S, Kim S-B. Cobimetinib combined with paclitaxel as first-line treatment for patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer (COLET study): Primary analysis of cohort I [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2017 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P5-21-01.

A novel kinetic-fluid hybrid model is developed for electromagnetic plasma turbulence in tokamak geometry. In this model, by combining kinetic and fluid approaches, ions are treated with the conventional gyrokinetic particle-in-cell method, while the bounce averaged drift-kinetic method is used for trapped electrons, and passing electrons are modeled as a massless fluid to avoid numerical instabilities due to fast parallel motions of electrons. The new model is implemented in a global gyrokinetic code gKPSP (Kwon et al., 2012). In benchmark tests for linear electromagnetic instabilities, this model shows good agreement with the global gyrokinetic codes GENE and GTC. By combining kinetic and fluid approaches, it is demonstrated that electromagnetic simulations can be reliably performed with only a modest increase of numerical costs. The new model is employed to study the effects of plasma elongation on kinetic ballooning mode (KBM). It is found that the elongation has a stabilizing effect on KBM, which is consistent with the broadened parallel wave number spectrum of KBM instabilities.

Pertuzumab (P) combined with trastuzumab (H)-based chemotherapy improves efficacy in early and advanced HER2-positive breast cancer. We assessed the tolerability, with particular focus on cardiac safety, of H and P with chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant treatment of HER2-positive early breast cancer.In this multicenter, open-label phase II study, patients with operable, locally advanced, or inflammatory breast cancer were randomized 1 : 1 : 1 to receive six neoadjuvant cycles q3w (Arm A: 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin, cyclophosphamide [FEC] + H + P ×3 → docetaxel [T] + H + P ×3; Arm B: FEC ×3 → T + H + P ×3; Arm C: T + carboplatin + H [TCH]+P ×6). pCR was assessed at surgery and adjuvant therapy given to complete 1 year of H.Two hundred twenty-five patients were randomized. During neoadjuvant treatment, two patients (2.7%; Arm B) experienced symptomatic left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) and 11 patients (Arm A: 4 [5.6%]; Arm B: 4 [5.3%]; Arm C: 3 [3.9%]) had declines in left ventricular ejection fraction of ≥10% points from baseline to50%. Diarrhea was the most common adverse event. pCR (ypT0/is) was reported for 61.6% (Arm A), 57.3% (Arm B), and 66.2% (Arm C) of patients.The combination of P with H and standard chemotherapy resulted in low rates of symptomatic LVSD.

600×1,200 mm 기판에 대면적 CIGS 광흡수층 증착을 위한 선형증발원 개발을 위해 다른 크기의 노즐과 일정한 노즐 간격을 가지는 선형증발원의 플럭스 밀도를 전산 모사하여 플럭스 균일도 ±5%의 조건을 구하였다. 이를 바탕으로 제작된 선형증발원을 이용하여 Cu, In의 단일막 두께균일도를 확인하였고, CIGS 광흡수층을 동시증발법으로 증착하여 박막의 두께균일도 및 증착 조성의 균일도로 선형증발원을 평가하였다. XRF 조성 분석을 통해 구한 조성불균일도는 600 mm 폭에서 Cu?5%, In?7%, Ga?4%, Se?3%으로 균일한 조성비로 성막된 것을 확인하였고 SEM 분석을 통해 표면 결정립의 형상을 확인하였다. 또한 XRD측정을 통해 선형증발원 방향의 대면적 CIGS 광흡수층이 칼코피라이트 구조임을 확인하였다. 이를 통해서 개발된 하향 선형증발원이 CIGS 광흡수층 증착에 적합함을 확인하였다.

This paper implements and integrates algorithms for terrain following of UCAVs (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles): trajectory generation, guidance, and navigation. Terrain following is very important for UCAVs because they perform very dangerous missions such as Suppression of Enemy Air Defences while the terrain following can improve the survivability of UCAVs against from the air defence systems of the enemy. To deal with the GPS jamming, terrain referenced navigation based on nonlinear filter is chosen. For the trajectory generation, Voronoi diagram is adopted to generate horizontal plane path to avoid the air defense system. Cubic spline method is used to generate vertical plane path to prevent collisions with ground while flying sufficiently close to surface. Follow-the-Carrot and pure pursuit tracking methods, which are look-ahead point based guidance algorithms, are applied for the guidance. Numerical simulation is performed to verify the performance of the integrated terrain following algorithm.

The Navier-Stokes equations are solved to study the flow characteristics of a micro viscous pump. The viscous micropump is consisted of a stationary disk with a spiral shaped channel and a rotating disk. A simple geometrical model for the tip clearance is proposed and validated by comparing computed flow rate with corresponding experimental data. Present numerical solutions show satisfactory agreement with the corresponding experimental data. The tip clearance effect is found to become significant as the rotational speed increases. As the pressure load increases, a reversed flow region is seen to form near the stationary disk. The height of the channel is shown to be optimized in terms of the flow rate for a given rotational speed and pressure load. The optimal height of the channel becomes small as the rotational speed decreases or the pressure load increases. The flow rate of the pump is found to be in proportion to the width of channel.

The surface of (Y,Gd)BO3:Eu3+ phosphor, red-emitting source in the plasma display panel (PDP), was dual-coated with SiO2 and Al2O3 nano-particles. The surface modification of the phosphor was performed by a modified sol–gel method using the colloidal alumina and silica as surface coating precursors. We observed the oxide nano-particles on the surface of the single coated and the dual-coated phosphors and it was found that the luminance intensity was increased in the photoluminescence (PL) by a suppression of the nonradiative recombination via surface defects. The experimental results suggest that the surface modification of phosphors with nano-particles of the oxides leads to an increase in the luminance intensity of phosphors in the PDP (plasma display panel) and the gas discharge lamps.

Superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) is one of the promising power system applications of superconducting technology and has been actively researched and developed worldwide. Generally, there are three types of SMES-solenoid, multiple solenoid, and toroid. Among these types, toroid type seems to require more wires than solenoid type and multiple solenoid type at the same operating current. However toroid type reduces normal field in the wire and stray field dramatically because magnetic field is confined inside the coil. So, the total length of wire in the toroid type can be reduced in comparison with that in the solenoid type by increasing operating current. In this paper, a 2.5 MJ class SMES with HTS magnets of single solenoid, multiple solenoid and modular toroid type were optimized using a recently developed multi-modal optimization technique named multi-grouped particle swarm optimization (MGPSO). The objective of the optimization was to minimize the total length of HTS superconductor wires satisfying some equality and inequality constraints. The stored energy and constraints were calculated using 3D magnetic field analysis techniques and an automatic tetrahedral mesh generator. Optimized results were verified by 3D finite element method (FEM).

The roll gap set-up in the finishing mill is one of the most important technologies in the hot plate rolling process. As the target thickness can be obtained by the correct set-up of the roll gap, improving the roll gap set-up technology is very critical for plate thickness accuracy. The main cause of thickness variation in hot plate mills is the non-uniform temperature distribution along the length of the slab. The objective of this study is to adjust the roll gap set-up for the thickness accuracy of plate in hot rolling process considering top-end temperature drop. Therefore this study has concentrated on determining the correct amounts of thickness variation according to top-end temperature drop and roll gap to compensate thickness variation. The control method of roll gap set-up which can improve the thickness accuracy was proposed. The off-line simulation of compensated roll gap significantly decreases top-end thickness variation.

There has been much recent interest in the long-term non-progressor (LTNP), who has been infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) but does not proceed to AIDS. Under the assumption that a mathematical model describing the HIV infection and drug effects is true for real systems, we claim that it is possible to steer the state of any patients to that of LTNP if the model parameters belong to the proposed parameter intervals. Once the state is transferred close to LTNP, CTL memory is established and the viral load remains very low level even after the medication is stopped. In order to justify the claim, we first analyze the stability and the bifurcation of the model and show that there exists an equilibria curve towards LTNP, which is stable for all fixed constant inputs except some singular points. Then, we propose a new treatment strategy based on a useful property of Non-vanishing Basin of Attraction (NvBA)-stability. An extensive simulation study is also included to validate the proposed treatment for various initial conditions and to show the robustness against the parameter uncertainty. From a practical perspective, it deserves further investigation whether the proposed treatment strategy could switch a patient into LTNP in the real world.

The degradation behaviors of the electrical and the optical properties of organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) fabricated with an emitting layer (EML) doped with or without a wide-bandgap-impurity were investigated. The OLEDs with a wide-bandgap-doped Alq 3 EML were more stable than those with an undoped Alq 3 EML. The existence of the doped wide-bandgap-impurity in the EML decreased the trap-charge density in the EML, resulting in an increase in the number of electrons in the Alq 3 EML. That increases in the number of electron in the Alq 3 EML for the OLEDs with a wide-bandgap-impurity decreased the staying time of the holes in the Alq 3 EML, resulting in an enhanced lifetime for the OLEDs. These results indicate that OLEDs with a wide-bandgap-impurity-doped EML hold promise for potential applications in long-lifetime OLED displays.

The texture evolution due to grain growth that takes place during annealing was investigated in nanocrystalline Fe-Ni alloys fabricated by using an electroforming method. In the current materials, the as-deposited textures were of fibre-type characterized by strong //ND and weak //ND components, and the occurrence of grain growth during annealing resulted in the strong development of the //ND components with a significant decrease of the //ND components. It was clarified that abnormal grain growth plays an important role on the evolution of the microstructures and textures. The abnormally grown grains were observed using orientation imaging microscopy in the early stages of grain growth, and their morphological features have been discussed.

The texture evolution due to grain growth that takes place during annealing was investigated in nanocrystalline Fe-Ni alloys fabricated by using a continuous electroforming method. In the current materials, grain growth occurred during annealing at much lower temperatures than in conventional coarse-grained counterparts. With regard to the macrotextures, the as-deposited textures were of fibre-type characterized by strong //ND and weak //ND components, and the occurrence of grain growth resulted in the strong development of the //ND fibre texture with the minor //ND components. It was clarified using orientation imaging microscopy that abnormal growth of the //ND grains in the early stages of grain growth plays an important role on the texture evolution. The origin of the abnormal grain growth has been discussed in terms of the orientation dependence of energy density.

The problem of output feedback disturbance attenuation for a class of uncertain non-linear systems is studied based on output feedback passification. Previous work on output feedback disturbance attenuation is extended to the case where (1) the nominal system is not transformable into the normal form and (2) the uncertainty is parameterized nonlinearly. An adaptive output feedback controller is also provided that makes a nonlinear system passive. The paper then considers the output feedback disturbance attenuation problem for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems in the normal form and of relative degree one. The difference is that the result is applicable to nonlinear systems that include the uncertainty in the input matrix and do not satisfy the matching condition.

A preventive maintenance policy with minimal repair at failure, periodic overhaul, and replacement is considered. A model describing the effect of overhaul is proposed and the expected cost rate is obtained under negligible or nonnegligible maintenance time. Based on this model, optimal number of overhauls and optimal interval between overhauls for minimizing the expected cost rate over infinite time horizon are determined. Under some mild conditions, a unique optimal maintenance policy exists and a closed-form expression for the optimal interval between overhauls is derived when the lifetime of the system follows Weibull distribution. Numerical studies are made.

We present a new design scheme of nonlinear state observers (global, full order, asymptotic observers) through passivation of the error dynamics. In order to consider passivity of the error dynamics for the observer problem, we place a conceptual input and output on the generalized error dynamics which also includes the plant, and the strictness of passivity is extended with respect to a set in which the estimation error becomes zero. Then, output feedback passivation for the error dynamics will lead to the construction of a state observer. It is also shown that a nonlinear observer is generally vulnerable to measurement disturbance, in the sense that even an arbitrarily small measurement disturbance can lead to a blowup of the error state. However, due to the passivity of the error dynamics, the proposed nonlinear injection gain can be easily modified for the observer to be robust to measurement disturbances.

Hairy vetch(Vicia villosa Roth) which is legume fur winter cover crop can supply nitrogen for companion crop and soil. The purpose of this study was to improve the forage quality and productivity using forage crop and hairy vetch in winter season fer three years. The results of this experiments were summarized as follows. Plant height of rye was decreased but hairy vetch was increased. The heading stage of rye did not show difference among the treatments. The content of dry mater(DM) was decreased with increased ratio of hairy vetch/rye but it did not show significant difference between seeding methods. Crude protein(CP) content tended to increase in mixture plots. Acid detergent fiber(ADF) and NDF(neutral detergent fiber) content of mixture plots were lower than that of rye mono-cultivated. In vitro dry matter digestibility(IVDMD) and TDN(total digestible nutrient) content were showed inverted tendency. The highest DM yield was in rye mono-cultivated, but it was similar between mono-cultivated and mixture I (P

Rye-hairy vetch mixture would be recommended fur produce higher yield and conserving soil environment. This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of planting and harvest dates on quality and productivity of rye-hairy vetch mixture. Plant height of rye and hairy vetch was increased with delayed harvest dates, but it found that there was on significant difference among seeding dates. The dry matter(DM) content was increased with delayed harvest dates, and it showed 30% DM in mid-May. Crude protein(CP) content was decreased sharply from 17~18% in heading stage to 9~10% in flowering stage. The content of ADF(Acid detergent fiber) and NDF(Neutral detergent fiber) were increased with delayed harvest date, but IVDMD(In vitro dry matter digestibility) and TDN(Total digestible nutrient) were decreased. The change of dry matter yield was affected significantly by harvest date but was not by seeding time. The results of this experiments indicated that harvest in late-April would be recommended to produce the highest yield and quality if it is considered to cultivate com fur silage. Harvest in mid-May would be recommendable with the cultivation of early maturity silage corn or sorghum sudangrass hybrids.

An improved method for tracking a maneuvering target is proposed. The proposed tracking filter is constructed by combining the recursive formulation of the input estimation approach with the variable-dimension filtering approach. In the proposed approach, the filter also provides the estimate of time instant at which a target starts to maneuver, when a target maneuver is detected. Using this estimated starting time of the maneuver, the maneuver input is also estimated and the tracking system changes to the maneuvering model. The computational load of the proposed procedure is comparable to that of the input estimation approach. Simulations are performed to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed tracking filter, and comparisons with the interacting multiple model (IMM) filter, the input estimation filter and the variable-dimension filter are made. >

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: A number of remodeling or protective techniques available to treat wide-neck intracranial aneurysms are increasingly being used, provided that the shape/type of aneurysm, vessel diameter, and inherent course of the vessel are conducive to their use. The purpose of this study was to describe a novel method using coil protection for treatment of wide-neck aneurysms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This technique involves sequential maneuvers to the aneurysm and affected branch artery. A microcatheter is first introduced into the aneurysmal sac, and another microcatheter is introduced into the entrance of the branch artery, followed by partial deployment of a small helical coil into the branch artery. A framing coil is then placed within the aneurysmal sac, under the protection of the helical coil. After completion of the first coil insertion, the helical coil should be retrieved to confirm the stability of the framing coil. The helical coil can also serve as a filler. RESULTS: This technique was successfully applied to 12 intracranial saccular aneurysms of the MCA bifurcation (5 patients); anterior communicating artery (3 patients); and A1 and M1 segments, distal ACA, and basilar tip (1 patient each). Selective endovascular treatment was successfully performed and resulted in excellent outcomes in all patients. There were no complications directly related to coil protection. CONCLUSIONS: Our small study suggests that coil protection can be a safe alternative to traditional remodeling or protective techniques when those techniques have failed or are not possible due to vascular geometry. It is particularly suited for the treatment of wide-neck aneurysms arising from small and acutely angulated branching vessels.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The microcatheter protective technique positions an additional microcatheter in the parent or side-branching artery to protect it during coil embolization. The purpose of this study was to describe this method and to evaluate its efficacy and safety as an alternative to a multiple-microcatheter or balloon- or stent-assisted technique for wide-neck aneurysms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review of 74 patients (43 women; mean age, 59.6 years) with 75 wide-neck aneurysms treated with the microcatheter protective technique between January 2003 and April 2010 was performed. Immediate postembolization angiograms were evaluated by using a conventional angiographic scale, and clinical evaluation was performed by using the GOS. Clinical and imaging follow-up were available in 57 (76%) patients, with a mean of 14.7 months. RESULTS: Postembolization angiograms demonstrated total occlusion in 45 of 75 (60%) aneurysms, a neck remnant in 17 (22.7%), and body filling in 13 (17.3%). The technique-related complication rate was 17.4% (13/75), and the procedural-related morbidity rate was 1.3% (1/74). All patients, except 3 complicated cases with a GOS of

We consider the problem of constructing observers for infinite dimensional systems with unknown inputs. It is shown that under some conditions, there exists an observer estimating the state of infinite dimensional systems with unknown input disturbances. Results from the geometric theory of infinite dimensional linear systems are utilized to present equivalent conditions in terms of the system operators.

Most organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have a multilayer structure composed of organic layers such as a hole injection layer (HIL), a hole transport layer (HTL), an emission layer (EML), an electron transport layer (ETL) and an electron injection layer (EIL) sandwiched between two electrodes. The organic layers are thin solid films with a thickness from a few nano meters to a few tenths nano meter, respectively. Surface morphology of an organic thin solid film in OLEDs depends on the molecular structure of the organic material and has an affect on device performance. To analyze the effect of surface morphology of an organic thin solid film on fluorescence and electroluminescence (EL) properties, thin solid films of 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(julolidin-4-yl-vinyl)-4H-pyran (DCM2) and new red fluorophores, (2E,2'E)-3,3'-[4,4''-bis(dimethylamino)-1,1':4',1''-terphenyl-2',5'-diyl]bis[2-(2-thienyl)acrylonitrile] (ABCV-Th) and (2Z,2'Z)-3,3'-[4,4''-bis(dimethylamino)-1,1':4',1''-terphenyl-2',5'-diyl]bis(2-phenylacrylonitrile) (ABCV-P) were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The samples for EL and AFM measurement were fabricated by the high-vacuum thermal deposition (8 x 10(-7) Torr) of organic materials onto the surface of indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass substrate, in which the layer structures of samples for AFM measurement and those for EL measurement were ITO/NPB (40 nm)/red emitters (80 nm) and ITO/NPB (40 nm)/red emitters (80 nm)/BCP (30 nm)/Liq (2 nm)/Al (100 nm), respectively. The analysis based on AFM measurements well supported that the photoluminescence properties and the device performance were very much dependent upon surface morphology of an organic thin layer.

We designed a Marx generator for repetitive applications. The Marx generator has 25 stages. Each stage was constructed 4 door knob ceramic capacitors and a ball spark gap switch. We used the inductor charging method for higher repetitive operation. The designed maximum output voltage of the Marx generator is 1 MV at open circuit condition. The overall size of the Marx generator is 150 cm in length and 60 cm in diameter. We tested the Marx generator at different load conditions. We present the results of the test and characterize the Marx generator.

RF coils play an important role to acquire MR images with the maintenance of high homogeneity in high field MR system more than 3.0 T. Many kinds of RF coils such as birdcage coil, STR, surface coil, and phase array coil have been used, however, the good uniformity of a coil has always been an issue. In this paper, comparison of B1 homogeneity between birdcage and phase array coil was investigated using FDTD method at 3.0 T MRI in order to develop RF coils with the high uniformity. Three different configurations of the FDTD simulation were performed like as using a free space configuration, water phantom configuration, and head mesh model. B1 homogeneity was calculated to the case of birdcage coil and 8-channel phase array coil in each configuration of simulation. Improvement on the homogeneity of the images and reduction of standing wave effect was achieved with comparing the real MR images with the result from simulation.

A robust controller which is locally and globally optimal in some sense for a class of nonlinear systems with C1 vector fields is developed. The construction of such a controller is based on the robust backstepping method that provides a flexible design framework to dominate the nonlinearities of a given system.

In this paper, a constructive algorithm is proposed for solving a generalized characteristic equation for a single-output nonlinear system. By a reasonable restriction of systems, the proposed method is feasible in the sense that we can obtain the functions satisfying the generalized characteristic equation step by step instead of getting them simultaneously. The proposed algorithm can be used for a dynamic observer error linearization by generalized output injection for a single-output nonlinear system.

We present a continuous feedback stabilizer for nonlinear systems in the strict-feedback form, whose chained integrator part has the power of positive odd rational numbers. Since the power is not restricted to be larger than or equal to one, the linearization of the system at the origin may fail. Nevertheless, we show that the closed-loop system is globally strongly stable with the proposed continuous (but, possibly not differentiable) feedback. We formulate a condition that enables our design by characterizing the powers of the given system. The condition also shows that our result is an extension of (Qian and Lin, Systems and Control Letters, 2001) where the power of odd positive integers has been considered.