Book Announcement of L. Celentano, Robust Tracking Controllers Design with Generic References for Continuous and Discrete Uncertain Linear SISO Systems, LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, 2012

In this book new results on controller design techniques for the tracking of generic reference inputs are presented. They allow the design of a controller for an uncertain process, either continuous or discrete-time, without zeros, and with measurable state. The controller guarantees that the control system is Type 1 and has the desired constant gain and poles or that the control system tracks, with a specified maximum error and with a specified maximum time constant, a generic reference with bounded derivative (variation in the discrete-time case), also in the presence of a generic disturbance with bounded derivative (variation). In addition, it is considered the case in which the reference is known a priori. The utility and the efficiency of the proposed methods are illustrated with attractive and significant examples of motion control and temperature control. This book is useful for the design of control systems, especially for manufacturing systems, that are versatile, fast, precise and robust.

The UK Education System and References for China

The UK education has a long history and is internationally accepted for its qualifications and teaching standards. This essay firstly gives an introduction about the development of British education since the last century, then discusses the basic structure of British education system and finally suggests some references for our education.

Environmeutal sciences update references in Chinese journals

Selected from Acta Scientiac Circumstantiac,ISSN 0253～2468;Environmental Chemistry,ISSN 0254-6108;Acra Ecologia Sinica,ISSN 1000-0933(The address giben in a reference is that of the first named author)

Teaching Architecture through Design References： The Contribution of Brazilian Journals in the Publication of Visitable Architectures

The aim of this work is to illuminate how the architectural publication in Brazil is influenced by the location of its economic poles. Although the main specialized journals are nationwide read and the published projects are frequently used as design references by students at architecture schools all over Brazil, it appears to be a favor for those projects located at the southeast region. In order to investigate this initial assumption, we selected two of the most influential architectural journals, A U and Project Design magazines, focusing on visitable projects that are, therefore, capable of offering an experience for learning about architectural project. The analysis covered three years of publications in which four states in Brazil were distinguished： Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Federal District. The collected data show that the published visitable projects coincide with the economic poles around centered cities in Brazil, as well as the location of architecture schools and specialized media, becomes evident; not only because of the greater number of projects in the Sao Paulo area, but mainly because most of the published projects are located in the capitals of the analyzed poles.

General coarsened measurement references for revelation of a classical world

It has been found that for a fixed degree of fuzziness in the coarsened references of measurements,the quantum-toclassical transition can be observed independent of the macroscopicity of the quantum state.We explore a general situation that the degree of fuzziness can change with the rotation angle between two states（different rotation angles represent different references）.The fuzziness of reference comes from two kinds of fuzziness：the Hamiltonian（rotation frequency）and the timing（rotation time）.For the fuzziness of the Hamiltonian alone,the degree of fuzziness for the reference will change with the rotation angle between two states,and the quantum effects can still be observed with any degree of fuzziness of Hamiltonian.For the fuzziness of timing,the degree of the coarsening reference is unchanged with the rotation angle.During the rotation of the measurement axis,the decoherence environment can also help the classical-to-quantum transition due to changing the direction of the measurement axis.

Rules for Description in Bibliographic References: Special Literature

GB/T 7714-2005 Rules for description of bibliographic reference is specifically for writers and editors to edit bibliographic references. Legal documents, standard documents and patent documents are considered special. GB/T 7714-2005 provides that description of such literature in bibliographic references should stress the key points and simplify the content.

Neonatal References: Epidemiology and Prognosis in a Malian Context

Neonatal mortality remains a public health problem in Mali. The neonatal referral is a systemic factor determining the neonatal prognosis. This work was initiated to determine the frequency of neonatal referrals and to determine their prognosis. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out from November 1, 2019 to January 31, 2020 in the neonatology service of the pediatrics department of the Gabriel Toure University Hospital in Bamako. All newborns referred by another health structure in the country were included in this stud. All newborns referred by another health structure in the country were included in this study. To determine the risk factors related to the neonatal referral, we performed univariate and multivariate analyzes to determine the odds ratios and fitted with a significant p probability if p < 0.05 and the 95% confidence interval. Results: The frequency of referrals was 54.3%. Newborns came from basic structures in 19.3% of cases, from tertiary structures in 6.7%. The main reason for transfer was prematurity (40.2%) followed by perinatal anoxia (15.3%), malformations (15.3%), respiratory distress (15.2%) and infection neonatal (9.1%). The ambulance was the primary means of transfer in 71.3%. In 80% of cases the transfer had been made within the first 24 hours of life. On admission, a third of the newborns (31.1%) were less than 1500 g, hypothermic in 43.8% and febrile in 15.1%. The evolution was marked by 40.2% of deaths. The analysis of prognostic factors, allowed us to observe that the more the newborn is premature or of low weight the more risk of death was very high with respectively 18.5 times in the less than 28 weeks of amenorrhea (WA) (ORa = 18.5;CI = 1.9 - 180;p = 0.012) and 6.6 times in those less than 1000g (ORa = 6.6;CI = 1.4 - 29.7;p = 0.015). Likewise, any change in body temperature increased risk of death by 1.9 times compared to normothermia. Conclusion: The establishment of a neonatal referral system is necessary to reduce neonatal mortality in our context.

REDEFINING ENSO EPISODES BASED ON CHANGED CLIMATE REFERENCES

Through studying changes in ENSO indices relative to change of climate reference from 1961~1990 to 1971~2000, the study generated new standards to define ENSO episodes and their intensities. Then according to the new climate references and new index standards, ENSO episodes and their intensities for the period 1951 -2003 have been classified. Finally, an analysis has been performed comparing the new characteristics with the old ones for ENSO period, peak values and intensities.

Evaluation of Expression Stability of Candidate References Genes among Green and Yellow Pea Cultivars (<i>Pisum sativum</i>L.) Subjected to Abiotic and Biotic Stress

Dry pea (Pisum sativum L.) is grown as human and animal feed throughout the world. Large yield losses in pea due to biotic and abiotic stresses compel an improved understanding of mechanisms of stress tolerance and genetic determinants conditioning these tolerances. The availability of stably expressed reference genes is a prerequisite for examining differential gene expression. The objective of this study was to examine the expression profile of several candidate reference genes across a broad range of commercial pea cultivars. Expression profiles of five candidate reference genes;18s rRNA, actin, TIF, β tubulin-2 and β tubulin-3 were examined. Relative quantifications of candidate reference genes were estimated from control plants, plants after 48 h of cold treatment, and plants 24 and 48 h after inoculation with Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, the causal agent of white mold disease of pea. RT-qPCR was performed on cDNA synthesized from three food grade spring peas, Ariel, Aragorn, and Sterling, and two spring yellow peas, Delta and Universal, which are used as animal feed. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) of CT values demonstrated significant variation between varieties and treatments under cold and disease conditions. The most abundant transcripts among tested reference genes were for 18s rRNA. Stability analysis indicated that TIF and β tubulin-3 genes were the most stably expressed candidate genes under both cold and disease stress and could serve as reference genes across a wide range of pea cultivars.

A Brief Analysis on Citation Forms of English Journal Titles in References of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine Journals

In this paper,the problems of citation forms of English journal titles in references of animal science and veterinary medicine journals were described and analyzed. And the English names of animal science and veterinary medicine journals and corresponding abbreviations were listed for reference by authors.

Reviewing Design References with Diagrams： A Metropolitan Performance Assessment Perspective

The announcement of major sporting events scheduled to take place in Rio de Janeiro in the coming years is now producing several radical urban transformations that are attracting the attention of renowned architects of the international circuit. All this is happening in a city where relevant architectural references have not been produced for a long while because of the prolonged economic crisis of the past. Despite these conditions, people were able to detect “invisible” design lessons to be learned in this city by sharing perceptual experiences with foreign observers who are, by definition, unaware of their preconceptions. This paper deals with the development of a strategy for re-presenting design references that are locally rooted and accessible for direct embodied experience. The strategy put forward a MPI （metropolitan performance index） drawn out from a bibliographical survey coupled with analytical spatial diagrams of different case-studies presented as a tour guide for the recognition of the architecture produced in Rio de Janeiro. It is believed that this strategy can favor the adoption of an eye attuned to contemporary theories especially interested in the spatial and programmatic concerns that today instigate the designer.

Comparison between English and Chinese Repeated References to the Same Thing and Parallel Structure

Chinese and English are two very different languages; the former belongs to the Sino-Tibetan Language Family and the latter the Indo-European Language Family. In terms of textual organization, they show substantial differences. Chinese is mainly a pragmatic, paratactic and topic-prominent language, while English a grammatical, hypotactic and subject-prominent language. This thesis gives a contrastive study of two problems in English and Chinese. They are repeated references to the same thing and parallel structure. In this way, the translation work will be more succinct and smooth.

Directives and references in selected coronavirus-motivated internet memes

The use of directives in communicating the nature of the pandemic and reference to social experiences were promoted using images on social media platforms.The images or memes are used to create awareness and reinforce the criteria for safety during the pandemic.Previous studies on internet memes have concentrated on humor generation,speaker-hearer shared knowledge,neologism,and multimodality among others,with insufficient attention paid to the use of directives and references in such coronavirus-motivated memes.This paper,therefore,examines how directives and references are employed in conveying expected social responsibilities through coronavirus-motivated internet memes in Nigeria and other socio-cultural contexts.For data,one hundred coronavirus-motivated memes were purposively selected from Facebook,and eight representative memes were subjected to pragmatic analysis using aspects of Jacob Mey’s(2001.Pragmatics:An introduction,2nd edn.USA:Blackwell Publishing)pragmatic acts theory to unearth insights from them.The paper observes that the various spheres of life that are relatable to an online audience help to express what the pandemic is about and enhance the meaning of the pandemic with the context of the use of the memes,giving clearer perspectives on the pandemic.Directives and references are useful tools for conveying social responsibilities to online audience.

Prescribed Performance Tracking Control of Time-Delay Nonlinear Systems With Output Constraints

The problem of prescribed performance tracking control for unknown time-delay nonlinear systems subject to output constraints is dealt with in this paper. In contrast with related works, only the most fundamental requirements, i.e., boundedness and the local Lipschitz condition, are assumed for the allowable time delays. Moreover, we focus on the case where the reference is unknown beforehand, which renders the standard prescribed performance control designs under output constraints infeasible. To conquer these challenges, a novel robust prescribed performance control approach is put forward in this paper.Herein, a reverse tuning function is skillfully constructed and automatically generates a performance envelop for the tracking error. In addition, a unified performance analysis framework based on proof by contradiction and the barrier function is established to reveal the inherent robustness of the control system against the time delays. It turns out that the system output tracks the reference with a preassigned settling time and good accuracy,without constraint violations. A comparative simulation on a two-stage chemical reactor is carried out to illustrate the above theoretical findings.

A 16-bit 18-MSPS flash-assisted SAR ADC with hybrid synchronous and asynchronous control logic

This paper presents a 16-bit,18-MSPS(million samples per second)flash-assisted successive-approximation-register(SAR)analog-to-digital converter(ADC)utilizing hybrid synchronous and asynchronous(HYSAS)timing control logic based on an on-chip delay-locked loop(DLL).The HYSAS scheme can provide a longer settling time for the capacitive digital-to-analog converter(CDAC)than the synchronous and asynchronous SAR ADC.Therefore,the issue of incomplete settling or ringing in the DAC voltage for cases of either on-chip or off-chip reference voltage can be solved to a large extent.In addition,the fore-ground calibration of the CDAC’s mismatch is performed with a finite-impulse-response bandpass filter(FIR-BPF)based least-mean-square(LMS)algorithm in an off-chip FPGA(field programmable gate array).Fabricated in 40-nm CMOS process,the proto-type ADC achieves 94.02-dB spurious-free dynamic range(SFDR),and 75.98-dB signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio(SNDR)for a 2.88-MHz input under 18-MSPS sampling rate.

Polio eradication surveillance in Sri Lanka,2019-2023

Objective:To evaluate the polio laboratory surveillance carried out from January,2019 to May,2023 by the Polio Regional Reference Laboratory,Sri Lanka.Methods:This retrospective study analyzed all stool samples received under the acute flaccid paralysis(AFP)and immunodeficient vaccine-derived poliovirus(VDPV)surveillance at Polio Regional Reference Laboratory,Sri Lanka from January,2019 to May,2023.The results of the testing methodologies were extracted from the laboratory data system,i.e.,poliovirus virus isolation,intra-typic differentiation/VDPV real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction(ITD/VDPV rRTPCR)and sequencing,along with the data on timing of reporting results,stool adequacy and socio-demographics.Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics.Results:A total of 2141 stool samples from 1644 cases were received for AFP surveillance from Sri Lanka(93.61%),Maldives(1.52%),and immunodeficient VDPV(4.86%)surveillance.Both polioviruses(19/1644,1.15%)and non-polio enteroviruses(73/1644,4.44%)were isolated,while Sabin-like 3 virus was detected in majority(12/19,63.15%)among the poliovirus isolated.Wild polioviruses or circulating VDPVs were not detected among the cases.During all years of the study,the non-polio AFP detection rate was>1/100000 in children aged less than 15 years,whereas stool adequacy rate was>80%.All results were reported within 14 days of receipt,ensuring timely reporting as per global guidelines.Conclusions:The Polio Regional Reference Laboratory,Sri Lanka plays a vital role in maintaining the polio-free status in the country through its robust laboratory surveillance,while adhering to the surveillance indicators.Non-detection of wild polioviruses and circulating VDPV during the study period reinforces the polio-free status in the country.

The AME2012 atomic mass evaluation(Ⅱ).Tables,graphs and references

This paper is the first of two articles （Part I and Part II） that presents the results of the new atomic mass evaluation, AME2012. It includes complete information on the experimental input data （including not used and rejected ones）, as well as details on the evaluation procedures used to derive the tables with recommended values given in the second part. This article describes the evaluation philosophy and procedures that were implemented in the selection of specific nuclear reaction, decay and mass-spectrometer results. These input values were entered in the least-squares adjustment procedure for determining the best values for the atomic masses and their uncertainties. Calculation procedures and particularities of the AME are then described. All accepted and rejected data, including outweighed ones, are presented in a tabular format and compared with the adjusted values （obtained using the adjustment procedure）. Differences with the previous AME2003 evaluation are also discussed and specific information is presented for several cases that may be of interest to various AME users. The second AME2012 article, the last one in this issue, gives a table with recommended values of atomic masses, as well as tables and graphs of derived quantifies, along with the list of references used in both this AME2012 evaluation and the NUBASE2012 one （the first paper in this issue）.

RPLP0/TBP are the most stable reference genes for human dental pulp stem cells under osteogenic differentiation

BACKGROUND Validation of the reference gene(RG)stability during experimental analyses is essential for correct quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR)data normalisation.Commonly,in an unreliable way,several studies use genes involved in essential cellular functions[glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydro-genase(GAPDH),18S rRNA,andβ-actin]without paying attention to whether they are suitable for such experimental conditions or the reason for choosing such genes.Furthermore,such studies use only one gene when Minimum Information for Publication of Quantitative Real-Time PCR Experiments guidelines recom-mend two or more genes.It impacts the credibility of these studies and causes dis-tortions in the gene expression findings.For tissue engineering,the accuracy of gene expression drives the best experimental or therapeutical approaches.We cultivated DPSCs under two conditions:Undifferentiated and osteogenic dif-ferentiation,both for 35 d.We evaluated the gene expression of 10 candidates for RGs[ribosomal protein,large,P0(RPLP0),TATA-binding protein(TBP),GAPDH,actin beta(ACTB),tubulin(TUB),aminolevulinic acid synthase 1(ALAS1),tyro-sine 3-monooxygenase/tryptophan 5-monooxygenase activation protein,zeta(YWHAZ),eukaryotic translational elongation factor 1 alpha(EF1a),succinate dehydrogenase complex,subunit A,flavoprotein(SDHA),and beta-2-micro-globulin(B2M)]every 7 d(1,7,14,21,28,and 35 d)by RT-qPCR.The data were analysed by the four main algorithms,ΔCt method,geNorm,NormFinder,and BestKeeper and ranked by the RefFinder method.We subdivided the samples into eight subgroups.RESULTS All of the data sets from clonogenic and osteogenic samples were analysed using the RefFinder algorithm.The final ranking showed RPLP0/TBP as the two most stable RGs and TUB/B2M as the two least stable RGs.Either theΔCt method or NormFinder analysis showed TBP/RPLP0 as the two most stable genes.However,geNorm analysis showed RPLP0/EF1αin the first place.These algorithms’two least stable RGs were B2M/GAPDH.For BestKeeper,ALAS1 was ranked as the most stable RG,and SDHA as the least stable RG.The pair RPLP0/TBP was detected in most subgroups as the most stable RGs,following the RefFinfer ranking.CONCLUSION For the first time,we show that RPLP0/TBP are the most stable RGs,whereas TUB/B2M are unstable RGs for long-term osteogenic differentiation of human DPSCs in traditional monolayers.

Alanine aminotransferase predicts incident steatotic liver disease of metabolic etiology: Long life to the old biomarker!

Alanine aminotransferase(ALT)serum levels increase because of hepatocellular damage.Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease(MAFLD),which identifies steatotic liver disease(SLD)associated with≥2 metabolic abnormalities,has prominent sexual differences.The Metabolic Syndrome defines a cluster comprising abdominal obesity,altered glucose metabolism,dyslipidemia,and hypertension.Male sex,body mass index,glucose,lipids,ferritin,hypertension,and age independently predict ALT levels among blood donors.Over the last few decades,the reference range of ALT levels has been animatedly debated owing to attempts to update sex-specific reference ranges.With this backset,Chen et al have recently published a study which has two main findings.First,>80%of indi-viduals with MAFLD had normal ALT levels.Second,there was a linear increa-sing trend in the association between cumulative excess high-normal ALT levels and the rate of incident MAFLD.This study has biologically credible findings.However,it inaccurately considered sex differences in the MAFLD arena.Therefore,future studies on SLD owing to metabolic dysfunction should adopt locally determined and prospectively validated reference ranges of ALT and carefully consider sex differences in liver enzymes and MAFLD pathobiology.

基于0-1膨胀二项分布的客观贝叶斯分析

在医疗卫生、金融证券等应用领域,经常会同时出现零观测值、一观测值较多的情况。为更好地拟合这类数据,提出一种0-1膨胀二项分布模型并进行客观贝叶斯分析。采用数据扩充策略,基于完全似然函数,得到Jeffreys先验和reference先验。采用WinBUGS软件和R软件进行数值模拟,设定不同的样本量和参数真值,对不同的无信息先验进行评估。对2020年1月28日与2月22日COVID-19死亡人数进行分析,结果表明,在小样本情形下基于客观贝叶斯先验π_(R3)下的拟合效果比π_(R1)和π_(R2)要好。