A matrix metalloproteinase-responsive hydrogel system controls angiogenic peptide release for repair of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury

Vascular endothelial growth factor and its mimic peptide KLTWQELYQLKYKGI(QK)are widely used as the most potent angiogenic factors for the treatment of multiple ischemic diseases.However,conventional topical drug delivery often results in a burst release of the drug,leading to transient retention(inefficacy)and undesirable diffusion(toxicity)in vivo.Therefore,a drug delivery system that responds to changes in the microenvironment of tissue regeneration and controls vascular endothelial growth factor release is crucial to improve the treatment of ischemic stroke.Matrix metalloproteinase-2(MMP-2)is gradually upregulated after cerebral ischemia.Herein,vascular endothelial growth factor mimic peptide QK was self-assembled with MMP-2-cleaved peptide PLGLAG(TIMP)and customizable peptide amphiphilic(PA)molecules to construct nanofiber hydrogel PA-TIMP-QK.PA-TIMP-QK was found to control the delivery of QK by MMP-2 upregulation after cerebral ischemia/reperfusion and had a similar biological activity with vascular endothelial growth factor in vitro.The results indicated that PA-TIMP-QK promoted neuronal survival,restored local blood circulation,reduced blood-brain barrier permeability,and restored motor function.These findings suggest that the self-assembling nanofiber hydrogel PA-TIMP-QK may provide an intelligent drug delivery system that responds to the microenvironment and promotes regeneration and repair after cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Controllability and observability of networked control systems with time-varying delays

The controllability and observability of networked control systems are studied. Aiming at the networked control system with time-varying delay, the sufficient and necessary conditions for complete controllability and complete observability of the system are presented, respectively. Because of Markov characteristic of the network-induced delay, in terms of stochastic theory, a sufficient and necessary condition for completely mean value controllability of networked control systems is obtained. Further, the conditions that the controllability and observability of networked control systems are equivalent to the initial time-invariant system are given. Controllability and observability realization indexes are also discussed, respectively. The numerical example demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed theory.

The Controllability, Observability, and Stability Analysis of a Class of Composite Systems with Fractional Degree Generalized Frequency Variables

This paper is concerned with fundamental properties of a class of composite systems with fractional degree generalized frequency variables, including controllability, observability and stability. Firstly, some necessary and sufficient conditions are given to guarantee controllability and observability of such composite systems. Then we prove that the stability problem of such composite systems can be reduced to judging whether a fractional degree polynomial is stable. Finally, the stability analysis result is applied in the supervisory control of fractional-order multi-agent systems, and an example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Exact Controllability and Exact Observability of Descriptor Infinite Dimensional Systems

Necessary and sufficient conditions for the exact controllability and exact observability of a descriptor infinite dimensional system are obtained in the sense of distributional solution.These general results are used to examine the exact controllability and exact observability of the Dzektser equation in the theory of seepage and the exact controllability of wave equation.

An identity concerning controllability observability and coprimeness of linear systems and its applications

It is shown in this paper that any state space realization （A, b, c） of a given transfer function T（s） =β（s）/α（s）with α（s）monic and dim（A）=deg（α（s））,satisfies the identity β（A）=Qe（A,b）Sα Qo（A,c）where Qc （A,b）and Qo（A, c） are the controllability matrix and observability matrix of the matrix triple （A, b, c）, respectively, and S,~ is a nonsingular symmetric matrix. Such an identity gives a deep relationship between the state space description and the transfer function description of single-input single-output （SISO） linear systems. As a direct conclusion, we arrive at the well-known result that a realization of any transfer function is minimal if and only if the numerator and the denominator of the transfer function is coprime. Such a result is also extended to the SISO descriptor linear system case. As an applications, a complete solution to the commuting matrix equation AX --- XA is proposed and the minimal realization of multi-input multi-output （MIMO） linear system is considered.

Controllability, Observability and Stability for a Class of Fractional-Order Linear Time-Invariant Control Systems

The definitions of controllability, observability and stability were presented for fractional-order linear systems. Using the Cayley-Hamilton theorem and Mittag-Leffler function in two parameters, the sufficient and necessary conditions of controllability and observability for such systems were derived. In terms of Lyapunov’s stability theory, using the theorems of Mittage-Leffler function in two parameters this paper directly derived the sufficient and necessary condition of stability for such systems. The results obtained are useful for the analysis and synthesis of fractional-order linear control systems.

STUDY ON CONTROLLABILITY AND OBSERVABILITY FOR THIN PLATE SYSTEM WITH PARAMETER UNCERTAINTY

The controllability and observability analysis of thin plate system with parameter uncertainty is presented using the degree of controllability/observability and the robustness index. It provides a guidance to the design of robust active vibration control for thin plate system.

A Novel Disturbance Observer Based Fixed-Time Sliding Mode Control for Robotic Manipulators With Global Fast Convergence

This paper proposes a new global fixed-time sliding mode control strategy for the trajectory tracking control of uncertain robotic manipulators.First,a fixed-time disturbance observer(FTDO) is designed to deal with the adverse effects of model uncertainties and external disturbances in the manipulator systems.Then an adaptive scheme is used and the adaptive FTDO(AFTDO) is developed,so that the priori knowledge of the lumped disturbance is not required.Further,a new non-singular fast terminal sliding mode(NFTSM) surface is designed by using an arctan function,which helps to overcome the singularity problem and enhance the robustness of the system.Based on the estimation of the lumped disturbance by the AFTDO,a fixed-time non-singular fast terminal sliding mode controller(FTNFTSMC)is developed to guarantee the trajectory tracking errors converge to zero within a fixed time.The settling time is independent of the initial state of the system.In addition,the stability of the AFTDO and FTNFTSMC is strictly proved by using Lyapunov method.Finally,the fixed-time NFESM(FTNFTSM) algorithm is validated on a 2-link manipulator and comparisons with other existing sliding mode controllers(SMCs) are performed.The comparative results confirm that the FTNFTSMC has superior control performance.

Matrix Riccati Equations in Optimal Control

In this paper, the matrix Riccati equation is considered. There is no general way for solving the matrix Riccati equation despite the many fields to which it applies. While scalar Riccati equation has been studied thoroughly, matrix Riccati equation of which scalar Riccati equations is a particular case, is much less investigated. This article proposes a change of variable that allows to find explicit solution of the Matrix Riccati equation. We then apply this solution to Optimal Control.

An observation control system for radio telescopes based on Python and C++languages

An observation control system is the foundation to support automatic observations by any radio telescope.Traditional observation control systems are usually coded using a compiled language,which is of higher efficiency compared with interpreted languages.Indeed,observation control systems are usually programmed using the C or C++languages.However,the high execution efficiency of C/C++is at the cost of a long development cycle,which is not only time consuming but also requires considerable skills for the developers.The development of computer hardware performance,as well as the optimization of the just-in-time compiler for new interpreted languages such as Python,provides a good balance between execution and development efficiency.In this paper,we introduce the observation control system developed for the Kunming 40-meter radio telescope run by Yunnan Observatories,Chinese Academy of Sciences.The system is developed mainly with the Python language,and we have optimized computationally intensive components with C++.We demonstrate that it is possible to achieve the required functionality and control precision with such a Python-C++programming paradigm.The performance of the control system is also assessed in this paper,demonstrating that satisfactory pointing accuracy and user experience can be attained.

Observer Based Control for a Class of Systems with Output Deadzone Nonlinearity

In this paper, a combination of model based adaptive design along with adaptive linear output feedback controller is used to compensate for robotic manipulator with output deadzone nonlinearity. The deadzone dynamics are utilized to adaptively estimate the deadzone parameter and a switching function is designed to eliminate the error produced in the adaptive observer dynamics. The overall design of the closed loop system ensures stability in the BIBO criterion.

Powertrain Torque Control Based on Torque Observer

To reduce shock during transmission gear shift, a transmission torque feedback closed loop control system is proposed based on the powertrain system model and a torque observer. The ignition time of engine was delayed to reduce transmission output shaft torque during gear shift. In contrast to traditional control method, the closed loop control system based on torque observer can obviously reduce the transmission output shaft torque during gear shift. It can be concluded that by way of torque feedback closed loop control, transmission shift shock can be reduced.

Flatness Control Based on Dynamic Effective Matrix for Cold Strip Mills

Steel strips are the main of steel products and flatness is an important quality indicator of steel strips. Flatness control is the key and highly difficult technique of strip mills. The bottle-neck restricting the improvement of flatness control techniques is that the research on flatness theories and control mathematic models is not in accordance with the requirement of technique developments. To build a simple, rapid and accurate explicit formulation control model has become an urgent need for the development of flatness control technique. This paper puts forward the conception of dynamic effective matrix based on the effective matrix method for flatness control proposed by the authors under the consideration of the influence of the change of parameters in roiling processes on the effective matrix, and the concept is validated by industrial productions. Three methods of the effective matrix generation are induced： the calculation method based on the flatness prediction model; the calculation method based on the data excavation in rolling processes and the direct calculation method based on the network model. A fuzzy neural network effective matrix model is built based on the clusters, and then the network structure is optimized and the high-speed-calculation problem of the dynamic effective matrix is solved. The flatness control scheme for cold strip mills is proposed based on the dynamic effective matrix. On stand 5 of the 1 220 mm five-stand 4-high cold strip tandem mill, the industrial experiment with the control methods of tilting roll and bending roll is done by the control scheme of the static effective matrix and the dynamic effective matrix, respectively. The experiment result proves that the control effect of the dynamic effective matrix is much better than that of the static effective matrix. This paper proposes a new idea and method for the dynamic flatness control in the rolling processes of cold strip mills and develops the theory and model of the flatness control effective matrix method.

Semi-tensor product approach to controllability and stabilizability of finite automata

Using semi-tensor product of matrices, the controllability and stabilizability of finite automata are investigated. By expressing the states, inputs, and outputs in vector forms, the transition and output functions are represented in matrix forms.Based on this algebraic description, a necessary and sufficient condition is proposed for checking whether a state is controllable to another one. By this condition, an algorithm is established to find all the control sequences of an arbitrary length. Moreover, the stabilizability of finite automata is considered, and a necessary and sufficient condition is presented to examine whether some states can be stabilized. Finally, the study of illustrative examples verifies the correctness of the presented results/algorithms.

A New Method for Quality Control of Chinese Rawinsonde Wind Observations

In 2006,the National Meteorological Information Center （NMIC） of the China Meteorological Administration （CMA） developed its real-time quality control （QC） system of rawinsonde observations coming from the Global Telecommunications System （GTS） and established the Global Upper-air Report Dataset,which,with the NMIC B01 format,is generally referred to as the B01 dataset and updated on a daily basis.However,when the B01 dataset is applied in climate analysis,some wind errors as well as some accurate values with incorrect error marks are found.To improve the quality and usefulness of Chinese rawinsonde wind observations,a new QC method （NewQC） is proposed in this paper.Different from the QC approach used for B01 datasets,the NewQC includes two vertical-wind-shear checks to analyze the vertical consistency of winds,in which the constant height level winds are used as reference data for the QC of mandatory pressure level winds.Different threshold values are adopted in the wind shear checks for different stations and different vertical levels.Several typical examples of QC of different error types by the new algorithm are shown and its performance with respect to 1980-2008 observational data is statistically evaluated.Compared with the radiosonde QC algorithms used in both the Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System （MADIS,http：//madis.noaa.gov/madis_raob_qc.html） of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration （NOAA） and the B01 dataset,the NewQC shows higher accuracy and better reliability,particularly when used to judge successive observation errors.

Observer-based robust predictive control of singular systems with time-delay and parameter uncertainties

The problem of observer-based robust predictive control is studied for the singular systems with norm-bounded uncertainties and time-delay, and the design method of robust predictive observer-based controller is proposed. By constructing the Lyapunov function with the error terms, the infinite time domain ＂min-max＂ optimization problems are converted into convex optimization problems solving by the linear matrix inequality （LMI）, and the sufficient conditions for the existence of this control are derived. It is proved that the robust stability of the closed-loop singular systems can be guaranteed by the initial feasible solutions of the optimization problems, and the regular and the impulse-free of the singular systems are also guaranteed. A simulation example illustrates the efficiency of this method.

Fixed-time Sliding Mode Formation Control of AUVs Based on a Disturbance Observer

In this paper,we investigate formation tracking control of autonomous underwater vehicles(AUVs)with model parameter uncertainties and external disturbances.The external disturbances due to the wind,waves,and ocean currents are combined with the model parameter uncertainties as a compound disturbance.Then a disturbance observer(DO)is introduced to estimate the compound disturbance,which can be achieved within a finite time independent of the initial estimation error.Based on a DO,a novel fixed-time sliding control scheme is developed,by which the follower vehicle can track the leader vehicle with all the states globally stabilized within a given settling time.The effectiveness and performance of the method are demonstrated by numerical simulations.

Robust Tracking Control for Self-balancing Mobile Robots Using Disturbance Observer

In this paper,a robust tracking control scheme based on nonlinear disturbance observer is developed for the self-balancing mobile robot with external unknown disturbances.A desired velocity control law is firstly designed using the Lyapunov analysis method and the arctan function.To improve the tracking control performance,a nonlinear disturbance observer is developed to estimate the unknown disturbance of the self-balancing mobile robot.Using the output of the designed disturbance observer,the robust tracking control scheme is presented employing the sliding mode method for the selfbalancing mobile robot.Numerical simulation results further demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed robust tracking control scheme for the self-balancing mobile robot subject to external unknown disturbances.

Robust H_∞ Controller Design for Uncertain Neutral Systems via Dynamic Observer Based Output Feedback

In this paper, the dynamic observer-based controller design for a class of neutral systems with H∞ control is considered. An observer-based output feedback is derived for systems with polytopic parameter uncertainties. This controller assures delay-dependent stabilization and H∞ norm bound attenuation from the disturbance input to the controlled output. Numerical examples are provided for illustration and comparison of the proposed conditions.

Robust Adaptive Gain Higher Order Sliding Mode Observer Based Control-constrained Nonlinear Model Predictive Control for Spacecraft Formation Flying

This work deals with the development of a decentralized optimal control algorithm, along with a robust observer,for the relative motion control of spacecraft in leader-follower based formation. An adaptive gain higher order sliding mode observer has been proposed to estimate the velocity as well as unmeasured disturbances from the noisy position measurements.A differentiator structure containing the Lipschitz constant and Lebesgue measurable control input, is utilized for obtaining the estimates. Adaptive tuning algorithms are derived based on Lyapunov stability theory, for updating the observer gains,which will give enough flexibility in the choice of initial estimates.Moreover, it may help to cope with unexpected state jerks. The trajectory tracking problem is formulated as a finite horizon optimal control problem, which is solved online. The control constraints are incorporated by using a nonquadratic performance functional. An adaptive update law has been derived for tuning the step size in the optimization algorithm, which may help to improve the convergence speed. Moreover, it is an attractive alternative to the heuristic choice of step size for diverse operating conditions. The disturbance as well as state estimates from the higher order sliding mode observer are utilized by the plant output prediction model, which will improve the overall performance of the controller. The nonlinear dynamics defined in leader fixed Euler-Hill frame has been considered for the present work and the reference trajectories are generated using Hill-Clohessy-Wiltshire equations of unperturbed motion. The simulation results based on rigorous perturbation analysis are presented to confirm the robustness of the proposed approach.