Application of virtual reality technology improves the functionality of brain networks in individuals experiencing pain

Medical procedures are inherently invasive and carry the risk of inducing pain to the mind and body.Recently,efforts have been made to alleviate the discomfort associated with invasive medical procedures through the use of virtual reality(VR)technology.VR has been demonstrated to be an effective treatment for pain associated with medical procedures,as well as for chronic pain conditions for which no effective treatment has been established.The precise mechanism by which the diversion from reality facilitated by VR contributes to the diminution of pain and anxiety has yet to be elucidated.However,the provision of positive images through VR-based visual stimulation may enhance the functionality of brain networks.The salience network is diminished,while the default mode network is enhanced.Additionally,the medial prefrontal cortex may establish a stronger connection with the default mode network,which could result in a reduction of pain and anxiety.Further research into the potential of VR technology to alleviate pain could lead to a reduction in the number of individuals who overdose on painkillers and contribute to positive change in the medical field.

Unlocking the future:Mitochondrial genes and neural networks in predicting ovarian cancer prognosis and immunotherapy response

BACKGROUND Mitochondrial genes are involved in tumor metabolism in ovarian cancer(OC)and affect immune cell infiltration and treatment responses.AIM To predict prognosis and immunotherapy response in patients diagnosed with OC using mitochondrial genes and neural networks.METHODS Prognosis,immunotherapy efficacy,and next-generation sequencing data of patients with OC were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus.Mitochondrial genes were sourced from the MitoCarta3.0 database.The discovery cohort for model construction was created from 70% of the patients,whereas the remaining 30% constituted the validation cohort.Using the expression of mitochondrial genes as the predictor variable and based on neural network algorithm,the overall survival time and immunotherapy efficacy(complete or partial response)of patients were predicted.RESULTS In total,375 patients with OC were included to construct the prognostic model,and 26 patients were included to construct the immune efficacy model.The average area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the prognostic model was 0.7268[95% confidence interval(CI):0.7258-0.7278]in the discovery cohort and 0.6475(95%CI:0.6466-0.6484)in the validation cohort.The average area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the immunotherapy efficacy model was 0.9444(95%CI:0.8333-1.0000)in the discovery cohort and 0.9167(95%CI:0.6667-1.0000)in the validation cohort.CONCLUSION The application of mitochondrial genes and neural networks has the potential to predict prognosis and immunotherapy response in patients with OC,providing valuable insights into personalized treatment strategies.

Resting-state brain network remodeling after different nerve reconstruction surgeries:a functional magnetic resonance imaging study in brachial plexus injury rats

Distinct brain remodeling has been found after different nerve reconstruction strategies,including motor representation of the affected limb.However,differences among reconstruction strategies at the brain network level have not been elucidated.This study aimed to explore intranetwork changes related to altered peripheral neural pathways after different nerve reconstruction surgeries,including nerve repair,endto-end nerve transfer,and end-to-side nerve transfer.Sprague–Dawley rats underwent complete left brachial plexus transection and were divided into four equal groups of eight:no nerve repair,grafted nerve repair,phrenic nerve end-to-end transfer,and end-to-side transfer with a graft sutured to the anterior upper trunk.Resting-state brain functional magnetic resonance imaging was obtained 7 months after surgery.The independent component analysis algorithm was utilized to identify group-level network components of interest and extract resting-state functional connectivity values of each voxel within the component.Alterations in intra-network resting-state functional connectivity were compared among the groups.Target muscle reinnervation was assessed by behavioral observation(elbow flexion)and electromyography.The results showed that alterations in the sensorimotor and interoception networks were mostly related to changes in the peripheral neural pathway.Nerve repair was related to enhanced connectivity within the sensorimotor network,while end-to-side nerve transfer might be more beneficial for restoring control over the affected limb by the original motor representation.The thalamic-cortical pathway was enhanced within the interoception network after nerve repair and end-to-end nerve transfer.Brain areas related to cognition and emotion were enhanced after end-to-side nerve transfer.Our study revealed important brain networks related to different nerve reconstructions.These networks may be potential targets for enhancing motor recovery.

Modeling of temperature-humidity for wood drying based on time-delay neural network

The temperature-humidity models of wood drying were developed based on Time-delay neural network and the identification structures of Time-delay neural network were given. The controlling model and the schedule model, which revealed the relation between controlling signal and temperature-humidity and the relation between wood moisture content and temperature-humidity of wood drying, were separately presented. The models were simulated by using the measured data of the experimental drying kiln. The numerical simulation results showed that the modeling method was feasible, and the models were effective.

Behavioral modeling of RF power amplifiers with time-delay feed-forward neural networks

A novel behavioral model using three-layer time-delay feed-forward neural networks （TDFFNN）is adopted to model radio frequency （RF）power amplifiers exhibiting memory nonlinearities. In order to extract the parameters, the back- propagation algorithm is applied to train the proposed neural networks. The proposed model is verified by the typical odd- order-only memory polynomial model in simulation, and the performance is compared with different numbers of taped delay lines（TDLs） and perceptrons of the hidden layer. For validating the TDFFNN model by experiments, a digital test bench is set up to collect input and output data of power amplifiers at a 60 × 10^6 sample/s sampling rate. The 3.75 MHz 16-QAM signal generated in the vector signal generator（VSG） is chosen as the input signal, when measuring the dynamic AM/AM and AM/PM characteristics of power amplifiers. By comparisons and analyses, the presented model provides a good performance in convergence, accuracy and efficiency, which is approved by simulation results and experimental results in the time domain and frequency domain.

Fault diagnosis of time-delay complex dynamical networks using output signals

This paper proposes a novel approach for fault diagnosis of a time-delay complex dynamical network. Unlike the other methods, assuming that the dynamics of the network can be described by a linear stochastic model, or using the state variables of nodes in the network to design an adaptive observer, it only uses the output variable of the nodes to design an observer and an adaptive law of topology matrix in the observer of a complex network, leading to simple design of the observer and easy realisation of topology monitoring for the complex networks in real engineering. The proposed scheme can monitor any changes of the topology structure of a time-delay complex network. The effectiveness of this method is successfully demonstrated by virtue of a complex networks with Lorenz model.

Weighted average consensus problem in networks of agents with diverse time-delays

This paper studies the weighted average consensus problem for networks of agents with fixed directed asymmetric unbalance information exchange topology. We suppose that the classical distributed consensus protocol is destroyed by diverse time-delays which include communication time-delay and self time-delay. Based on the generalized Nyquist stability criterion and the Gerschgorin disk theorem, some sufficient conditions for the consensus of multi-agent systems are obtained. And we give the expression of the weighted average consensus value for our consensus protocol. Finally, numerical examples are presented to illustrate the theoretical results.

Adaptive neural network tracking control for a class of unknown nonlinear time-delay systems

For a class of unknown nonlinear time-delay systems, an adaptive neural network （NN） control design approach is proposed. Backstepping, domination and adaptive bounding design technique are combined to construct a robust memoryless adaptive NN tracking controller. Unknown time-delay functions are approximated by NNs, such that the requirement on the nonlinear time-delay functions is relaxed. Based on Lyapunov-Krasoviskii functional, the sem-global uniformly ultimately boundedness （UUB） of all the signals in the closed-loop system is proved. The arbitrary output tracking accuracy is achieved by tuning the design parameters. The feasibility is investigated by an illustrative simulation example.

Control of Halo-Chaos in Beam Transport Network via Neural Network Adaptation with Time-Delayed Feedback

Subject of the halo-chaos control in beam transport networks （channels） has become a key concerned issue for many important applications of high-current proton beam since 1990＇. In this paper, the magnetic field adaptive control based on the neural network with time-delayed feedback is proposed for suppressing beam halo-chaos in the beam transport network with periodic focusing channels. The envelope radius of high-current proton beam is controlled to reach the matched beam radius by suitably selecting the control structure and parameter of the neural network, adjusting the delayed-time and control coefficient of the neural network.

Design of performance robustness for uncertain nonlinear time-delay systems via neural network

Performance robustness problems via the state feedback controller are investigated for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with time-delay in both state and control, in which the neural networks are used to model the nonlinearities. By using an appropriate uncertainty description and the linear difference inclusion technique, sufficient conditions for existence of such controller are derived based on the linear matrix inequalities （LMIs）. Using solutions of LMIs, a state feedback control law is proposed to stabilize the perturbed system and guarantee an upper bound of system performance, which is applicable to arbitrary time-delays.

Adaptive Iterative Learning Control for Nonlinear Time-delay Systems with Periodic Disturbances Using FSE-neural Network

An adaptive iterative learning control scheme is presented for a class of strict-feedback nonlinear time-delay systems, with unknown nonlinearly parameterised and time-varying disturbed functions of known periods. Radial basis function neural network and Fourier series expansion （FSE） are combined into a new function approximator to model each suitable disturbed function in systems. The requirement of the traditional iterative learning control algorithm on the nonlinear functions （such as global Lipschitz condition） is relaxed. Furthermore, by using appropriate Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals, all signs in the closed loop system are guaranteed to be semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded, and the output of the system is proved to converge to the desired trajectory. A simulation example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the control scheme.

Modeling of goethite iron precipitation process based on time-delay fuzzy gray cognitive network

The goethite iron precipitation process consists of several continuous reactors and involves a series of complex chemical reactions,such as oxidation reaction,hydrolysis reaction and neutralization reaction.It is hard to accurately establish a mathematical model of the process featured by strong nonlinearity,uncertainty and time-delay.A modeling method based on time-delay fuzzy gray cognitive network(T-FGCN)for the goethite iron precipitation process was proposed in this paper.On the basis of the process mechanism,experts’practical experience and historical data,the T-FGCN model of the goethite iron precipitation system was established and the weights were studied by using the nonlinear hebbian learning(NHL)algorithm with terminal constraints.By analyzing the system in uncertain environment of varying degrees,in the environment of high uncertainty,the T-FGCN can accurately simulate industrial systems with large time-delay and uncertainty and the simulated system can converge to steady state with zero gray scale or a small one.

Adaptive output feedback control for nonlinear time-delay systems using neural network

This paper extends the adaptive neural network （NN） control approaches to a class of unknown output feedback nonlinear time-delay systems. An adaptive output feedback NN tracking controller is designed by backstepping technique. NNs are used to approximate unknown functions dependent on time delay, Delay-dependent filters are introduced for state estimation. The domination method is used to deal with the smooth time-delay basis functions. The adaptive bounding technique is employed to estimate the upper bound of the NN approximation errors. Based on Lyapunov- Krasovskii functional, the semi-global uniform ultimate boundedness of all the signals in the closed-loop system is proved, The feasibility is investigated by two illustrative simulation examples.

Fault detection observer design for networked control system with long time-delays and data packet dropout

Focusing on the networked control system with long time-delays and data packet dropout,the problem of observerbased fault detection of the system is studied.According to conditions of data arrival of the controller,the state observers of the system are designed to detect faults when they occur in the system.When the system is normal,the observers system is modeled as an uncertain switched system.Based on the model,stability condition of the whole system is given.When conditions are satisfied,the system is asymptotically stable.When a fault occurs,the observers residual can change rapidly to detect the fault.A numerical example shows the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Second-order consensus in networks of dynamic agents with communication time-delays

This paper proposes second-order consensus protocols with time-delays and gives the measure of the robustness of the protocols to the time-delay existing in the network of agents with second-order dynamics. By employing a frequency domain method, it is proven that the information states and their time derivatives of all the agents in the network achieve consensus asymptotically, respectively, for appropriate communication timedelay if the topology of weighted network is connected. Particularly, a tight upper bound on the communication time-delay that can be tolerated in the dynamic network is found. The consensus protocols are distributed in the sense that each agent only needs information from its neighboring agents, which reduces the complexity of connections between neighboring agents significantly. Numerical simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness and the sharpness of the theoretical results for second-order consensus in networks in the presence of communication time-delays.

Adaptive Neural Network Dynamic Surface Control for Perturbed Nonlinear Time-delay Systems

This paper proposes an adaptive neural network control method for a class of perturbed strict-feedback nonlinear systems with unknown time delays. Radial basis function neural networks are used to approximate unknown intermediate control signals. By constructing appropriate Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals, the unknown time delay terms have been compensated. Dynamic surface control technique is used to overcome the problem of ＂explosion of complexity＂ in backstepping design procedure. In addition, the semiglobal uniform ultimate boundedness of all the signals in the closed-loop system is proved. A main advantage of the proposed controller is that both problems of ＂curse of dimensionality＂ and ＂explosion of complexity＂ are avoided simultaneously. Finally, simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach.

New Synchronization Algorithm and Analysis of Its Convergence Rate for Clock Oscillators in Dynamical Network with Time-Delays

New synchronization algorithm and analysis of its convergence rate for clock oscillators in dynamical network with time-delays are presented.A network of nodes equipped with hardware clock oscillators with bounded drift is considered.Firstly,a dynamic synchronization algorithm based on consensus control strategy,namely fast averaging synchronization algorithm （FASA）,is presented to find the solutions to the synchronization problem.By FASA,each node computes the logical clock value based on its value of hardware clock and message exchange.The goal is to synchronize all the nodes＇ logical clocks as closely as possible.Secondly,the convergence rate of FASA is analyzed that proves it is related to the bound by a nondecreasing function of the uncertainty in message delay and network parameters.Then,FASA＇s convergence rate is proven by means of the robust optimal design.Meanwhile,several practical applications for FASA,especially the application to inverse global positioning system （IGPS） base station network are discussed.Finally,numerical simulation results demonstrate the correctness and efficiency of the proposed FASA.Compared FASA with traditional clock synchronization algorithms （CSAs）,the convergence rate of the proposed algorithm converges faster than that of the CSAs evidently.

Distributed Synchronization of Coupled Time-Delay Neural Networks Based on Randomly Occurring Control

In this paper, the distributed synchronization of stochastic coupled neural networks with time-varying delay is concerned via randomly occurring control. We use two Bernoulli stochastic variables to describe the occurrence of distributed adaptive control and updating law according to certain probabilities. The distributed adaptive control and updating law for each vertex in the network depend on the state information on each vertex’s neighborhood. Based on Lyapunov stability theory, Itô differential equations, etc., by constructing the appropriate Lyapunov functional, we study and obtain sufficient conditions for the distributed synchronization of such networks in mean square.

Delay-dependent stability and stabilization criteria of networked control systems with multiple time-delays

This paper deals with the problem of delay-dependent stability and stabilization for networked control systems（NCSs）with multiple time-delays. In view of multi-input and multi-output（MIMO） NCSs with many independent sensors and actuators, a continuous time model with distributed time-delays is proposed. Utilizing the Lyapunov stability theory combined with linear matrix inequalities（LMIs） techniques, some new delay-dependent stability criteria for NCSs in terms of generalized Lyapunov matrix equation and LMIs are derived. Stabilizing controller via state feedback is formulated by solving a set of LMIs. Compared with the reported methods, the proposed methods give a less conservative delay bound and more general results. Numerical example and simulation show that the methods are less conservative and more effective.

An Incremental Time-delay Neural Network for Dynamical Recurrent Associative Memory

An incremental time-delay neural network based on synapse growth, which is suitable for dynamic control and learning of autonomous robots, is proposed to improve the learning and retrieving performance of dynamical recurrent associative memory architecture. The model allows steady and continuous establishment of associative memory for spatio-temporal regularities and time series in discrete sequence of inputs. The inserted hidden units can be taken as the long-term memories that expand the capacity of network and sometimes may fade away under certain condition. Preliminary experiment has shown that this incremental network may be a promising approach to endow autonomous robots with the ability of adapting to new data without destroying the learned patterns. The system also benefits from its potential chaos character for emergence.