Adaptive Event-Triggered Time-Varying Output Group Formation Containment Control of Heterogeneous Multiagent Systems

In this paper,a class of time-varying output group formation containment control problem of general linear hetero-geneous multiagent systems(MASs)is investigated under directed topology.The MAS is composed of a number of tracking leaders,formation leaders and followers,where two different types of leaders are used to provide reference trajectories for movement and to achieve certain formations,respectively.Firstly,compen-sators are designed whose states are estimations of tracking lead-ers,based on which,a controller is developed for each formation leader to accomplish the expected formation.Secondly,two event-triggered compensators are proposed for each follower to evalu-ate the state and formation information of the formation leaders in the same group,respectively.Subsequently,a control protocol is designed for each follower,utilizing the output information,to guide the output towards the convex hull generated by the forma-tion leaders within the group.Next,the triggering sequence in this paper is decomposed into two sequences,and the inter-event intervals of these two triggering conditions are provided to rule out the Zeno behavior.Finally,a numerical simulation is intro-duced to confirm the validity of the proposed results.

Lyapunov-Based Output Containment Control of Heterogeneous Multi-Agent Systems With Markovian Switching Topologies and Distributed Delays

This paper considers the mean square output containment control problem for heterogeneous multi-agent systems(MASs)with randomly switching topologies and nonuniform distributed delays.By modeling the switching topologies as a continuous-time Markov process and taking the distributed delays into consideration,a novel distributed containment observer is proposed to estimate the convex hull spanned by the leaders'states.A novel distributed output feedback containment controller is then designed without using the prior knowledge of distributed delays.By constructing a novel switching Lyapunov functional,the output containment control problem is then solved in the sense of mean square under an easily-verifiable sufficient condition.Finally,two numerical examples are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed controller.

Group-Consensus of Hierarchical Containment Control for Linear Multi-Agent Systems

The existing containment control has been widely developed for several years, but ignores the case for large-scale cooperation. The strong coupling of large-scale networks will increase the costs of system detection and maintenance. Therefore, this paper is concerned with an extensional containment control issue, hierarchical containment control. It aims to enable a multitude of followers achieving a novel cooperation in the convex hull shaped by multiple leaders. Firstly, by constructing the three-layer topology, large-scale networks are decoupled. Then,under the condition of directed spanning group-tree, a class of dynamic hierarchical containment control protocol is designed such that the novel group-consensus behavior in the convex hull can be realized. Moreover, the definitions of coupling strength coefficients and the group-consensus parameter in the proposed dynamic hierarchical control protocol enhance the adjustability of systems. Compared with the existing containment control strategy, the proposed hierarchical containment control strategy improves dynamic control performance. Finally, numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed hierarchical control protocol.

Team-based fixed-time containment control for multi-agent systems with disturbances

We investigate the fixed-time containment control(FCC)problem of multi-agent systems(MASs)under discontinuous communication.A saturation function is used in the controller to achieve the containment control in MASs.One difference from using a symbolic function is that it avoids the differential calculation process for discontinuous functions,which further ensures the continuity of the control input.Considering the discontinuous communication,a dynamic variable is constructed,which is always non-negative between any two communications of the agent.Based on the designed variable,the dynamic event-triggered algorithm is proposed to achieve FCC,which can effectively reduce controller updating.In addition,we further design a new event-triggered algorithm to achieve FCC,called the team-trigger mechanism,which combines the self-triggering technique with the proposed dynamic event trigger mechanism.It has faster convergence than the proposed dynamic event triggering technique and achieves the tradeoff between communication cost,convergence time and number of triggers in MASs.Finally,Zeno behavior is excluded and the validity of the proposed theory is confirmed by simulation.

Review of the prevalence,diagnostics,and containment measures of the current mpox outbreak

Monkeypox(mpox),is a disease from the Poxviridae family that can cause several serious medical issues.This mini-review sought to analyze the existing literature regarding the current mpox outbreak with a focus on the prevalence,diagnostics,and containment measures.Mpox cases have been reported to World Health Organization(WHO)from 85 Member States in all six WHO regions during the period of January 1,2022,through August 3,2022.Standardized or optimized guidelines for the clinical care of patients with mpox are limited,particularly in low-resource settings.In an effort to achieve guidance and meet standards,special attention should be paid to this outbreak in order to eradicate such a rare infectious disease by analyzing prevention and control measures.Patient outcomes may also be poor,and their illnesses may last for a long time.The spectrum of clinical symptoms,including complications and sequelae,as well as aspects of the illness may be indicators of sickness severity and complications;therefore,its clinical presentation must be better understood to improve containment measures.In addition,it is important to create and evaluate a standard of care that takes a variety of parameters into account,including antiviral,immune therapies,and clinical metrics that are particular to mpox.The global emergence of mpox has presented new challenges for public health and has called for further investigation into its epidemiological profile across international contexts.

Effect of forging on the microstructure and texture of a high Nb containing γ-TiAl alloy

The effect of forging on the microstructure and texture evolution of a high Nb containing Ti-45Al-7Nb-0.3W(at.%)alloy was investigated by X-ray diffractometer(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),and transmission electron microscopy(TEM).The results show that the as-cast alloy is mainly composed of α_(2)/γ lamellar colonies with a mean size of 70μm,but the hot-forged pancake displays a near duplex microstructure(DP).Kinking and bending of lamellar colonies,deformation twinning and dynamic recrystallization(DRX)occur during hot forging.Meanwhile,dense dislocations in theβphase after forging suggest that the high-temperature β phase with a disordered structure is favorable for improving the hot-workability of the alloy.Unlike the common TiAl casting texture,the solidification process of the investigated as-cast alloy with high Nb content is completely via the β phase region,resulting in the formation of a<110>γ fiber texture where the<110>γ aligns parallel to the heat-flow direction.In comparison,the relatively strong<001>and weak<302>texture components in the as-forged alloy are attributed to the deformation twinning.After annealing,static recrystallization occurs at the twin boundary and intersections,which weakens the deformation texture.

Improved STNModels and Heuristic Rules for Cooperative Scheduling in Automated Container Terminals

Improving the cooperative scheduling efficiency of equipment is the key for automated container terminals to copewith the development trend of large-scale ships. In order to improve the solution efficiency of the existing spacetimenetwork (STN) model for the cooperative scheduling problem of yard cranes (YCs) and automated guidedvehicles (AGVs) and extend its application scenarios, two improved STN models are proposed. The flow balanceconstraints in the original model are decomposed, and the trajectory constraints of YCs and AGVs are added toacquire the model STN_A. The coupling constraint in STN_A is updated, and buffer constraints are added toSTN_A so that themodel STN_B is built.As the size of the problem increases, the solution speed of CPLEX becomesthe bottleneck. So a heuristic method containing three groups of heuristic rules is designed to obtain a near-optimalsolution quickly. Experimental results showthat the computation time of STN_A is shortened by 49.47% on averageand the gap is reduced by 1.69% on average compared with the original model. The gap between the solution ofthe heuristic rules and the solution of CPLEX is less than 3.50%, and the solution time of the heuristic rules is onaverage 99.85% less than the solution time of CPLEX. Compared with STN_A, the computation time for solvingSTN_B increases by 58.93% on average.

High patatin like phospholipase domain containing 8 expression as a biomarker for poor prognosis of colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND Patatin like phospholipase domain containing 8(PNPLA8)has been shown to play a significant role in various cancer entities.Previous studies have focused on its roles as an antioxidant and in lipid peroxidation.However,the role of PNPLA8 in colorectal cancer(CRC)progression is unclear.AIM To explore the prognostic effects of PNPLA8 expression in CRC.METHODS A retrospective cohort containing 751 consecutive CRC patients was enrolled.PNPLA8 expression in tumor samples was evaluated by immunohistochemistry staining and semi-quantitated with immunoreactive scores.CRC patients were divided into high and low PNPLA8 expression groups based on the cut-off va-lues,which were calculated by X-tile software.The prognostic value of PNPLA8 was identified using univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis.The over-all survival(OS)rates of CRC patients in the study cohort were compared with Kaplan-Meier analysis and Log-rank test.RESULTS PNPLA8 expression was significantly associated with distant metastases in our cohort(P=0.048).CRC patients with high PNPLA8 expression indicated poor OS(median OS=35.3,P=0.005).CRC patients with a higher PNPLA8 expression at either stage I and II or stage III and IV had statistically significant shorter OS.For patients with left-sided colon and rectal cancer,the survival curves of two PN-PLA8-expression groups showed statistically significant differences.Multivariate analysis also confirmed that high PNPLA8 expression was an independent prog-nostic factor for overall survival(hazard ratio HR=1.328,95%CI:1.016-1.734,P=0.038).

A Pre-Selection-Based Ant Colony System for Integrated Resources Scheduling Problem at Marine Container Terminal

Marine container terminal(MCT)plays a key role in the marine intelligent transportation system and international logistics system.However,the efficiency of resource scheduling significantly influences the operation performance of MCT.To solve the practical resource scheduling problem(RSP)in MCT efficiently,this paper has contributions to both the problem model and the algorithm design.Firstly,in the problem model,different from most of the existing studies that only consider scheduling part of the resources in MCT,we propose a unified mathematical model for formulating an integrated RSP.The new integrated RSP model allocates and schedules multiple MCT resources simultaneously by taking the total cost minimization as the objective.Secondly,in the algorithm design,a pre-selection-based ant colony system(PACS)approach is proposed based on graphic structure solution representation and a pre-selection strategy.On the one hand,as the RSP can be formulated as the shortest path problem on the directed complete graph,the graphic structure is proposed to represent the solution encoding to consider multiple constraints and multiple factors of the RSP,which effectively avoids the generation of infeasible solutions.On the other hand,the pre-selection strategy aims to reduce the computational burden of PACS and to fast obtain a higher-quality solution.To evaluate the performance of the proposed novel PACS in solving the new integrated RSP model,a set of test cases with different sizes is conducted.Experimental results and comparisons show the effectiveness and efficiency of the PACS algorithm,which can significantly outperform other state-of-the-art algorithms.

GATA binding protein 2 mediated ankyrin repeat domain containing 26 high expression in myeloid-derived cell lines

BACKGROUND Thrombocytopenia 2,an autosomal dominant inherited disease characterized by moderate thrombocytopenia,predisposition to myeloid malignancies and normal platelet size and function,can be caused by 5’-untranslated region(UTR)point mutations in ankyrin repeat domain containing 26(ANKRD26).Runt related transcription factor 1(RUNX1)and friend leukemia integration 1(FLI1)have been identified as negative regulators of ANKRD26.However,the positive regulators of ANKRD26 are still unknown.AIM To prove the positive regulatory effect of GATA binding protein 2(GATA2)on ANKRD26 transcription.METHODS Human induced pluripotent stem cells derived from bone marrow(hiPSC-BM)INTRODUCTION Ankyrin repeat domain containing protein 26(ANKRD26)acts as a regulator of adipogenesis and is involved in the regulation of feeding behavior[1-3].The ANKRD26 gene is located on chromosome 10 and shares regions of homology with the primate-specific gene family POTE.According to the Human Protein Atlas database,the ANKRD26 protein is localized to the Golgi apparatus and vesicles,and its expression can be detected in nearly all human tissues[4].Moreover,UniProt annotation revealed that ANKRD26 is localized in the centrosome and contains coiled-coil domains formed by spectrin helices and ankyrin repeats[5,6].The most common disease related to ANKRD26 is thrombocytopenia 2(THC2),which is a rare autosomal dominant inherited disease characterized by lifelong mild-to-moderate thrombocytopenia and mild bleeding[7-9].Caused by the variants in the 5’-untranslated region(UTR)of ANKRD26,THC2 is defined by a decrease in the number of platelets in circulating blood and results in increased bleeding and decreased clotting ability[8,10].Due to the point mutations that occur in the 5’-UTR of ANKRD26,its negative transcription factors(TFs),Runt related transcription factor 1(RUNX1)and friend leukemia integration 1(FLI1),lose their repression effect[11].The persistent expression of ANKRD26 increases the activity of the mitogen activated protein kinase and extracellular signal regulated kinase 1/2 signaling pathways,which are potentially involved in the regulation of thrombopoietin-dependent signaling and further impair proplatelet formation by megakaryocytes(MKs)[11].However,the positive regulators of ANKRD26,which might be associated with THC2 pathology,are still unknown.

Application of Thermodynamic Database to Corrosion of ZrO_(2) Containing Submerged Entry Nozzle in Steel Continuous Casting Process

The CALPHAD thermodynamic databases are very useful to analyze the complex chemical reactions happening in high temperature material process.The FactSage thermodynamic database can be used to calculate complex phase diagrams and equilibrium phases involving refractories in industrial process.In this study,the FactSage thermodynamic database relevant to ZrO_(2)-based refractories was reviewed and the application of the database to understanding the corrosion of continuous casting nozzle refractories in steelmaking was presented.

Thermal-hydraulic and stress analysis of AP1000 reactor containment during LOCA in dry cooling mode

Some kinds of break in the reactor coolant system may cause the coolant to exit rapidly from the failure site,which leads to the loss of coolant accident(LOCA).In this paper,a stress analysis of an AP1000 reactor containment is performed in an LOCA,with the passive containment cooling system(PCCS) being available and not available for cooling the wall's containment.The variations in the mechanical properties of the wall's containment,including elastic modulus,strength,and stress,are analyzed using the ABAQUS code.A general two-phase model is applied for modeling thermal-hydraulic behavior inside the containment.Obtained pressure and temperature from thermal-hydraulic models are considered as boundary conditions of the ABAQUS code to obtain distributions of temperature and stress across steel shell of the containment in the accident.The results indicate that if the PCCS fails,the peak pressure inside the containment exceeds the design value.However,the stress would still be lower than the yield stress value,and no risk would threaten the integrity of the containment.

New lumped-mass-stick model based on modal characteristics of structures: development and application to a nuclear containment building

In this study, a new lumped-mass-stick model （LMSM） is developed based on the modal characteristics of a structure such as eigenvalues and eigenvectors. The simplified model, named the ＂frequency adaptive lumped-massstick model,＂ hasonly a small number of stick elements and nodes to provide the same natural frequencies of the structure and is applied to a nuclear containment building. To investigate the numerical performance of the LMSM, a time history analysis is carried out on both the LMSM and the finite element model （FEM） for a nuclear containment building. A comparison of the results shows that the dynamic responses of the LMSM in terms of displacement and acceleration are almost identical to those of the FEM. In addition, the results in terms of floor response spectra at certain elevations are also in good agreement.

Containment Control of Fractional Order Multi-Agent Systems With Time Delays

In complex environments, many distributed multiagent systems are described with the fractional-order dynamics.In this paper, containment control of fractional-order multiagent systems with multiple leader agents are studied. Firstly,the collaborative control of fractional-order multi-agent systems(FOMAS) with multiple leaders is analyzed in a directed network without delays. Then, by using Laplace transform and frequency domain theorem, containment consensus of networked FOMAS with time delays is investigated in an undirected network, and a critical value of delays is obtained to ensure the containment consensus of FOMAS. Finally, numerical simulations are shown to verify the results.

Simulation of hydrogen distribution and effect of Engineering Safety Features (ESFs) on its mitigation in a WWER-1000 containment

In this study, thermal–hydraulic parameters inside the containment of aWWER-1000/v446 nuclear power plant are simulated in a double-ended cold leg accident for short and long times (by using CONTAIN 2.0 and MELCOR 1.8.6 codes), and the effect of the spray system as an engineering safety feature on parameters mitigation is analyzed with the former code. Along with the development of the accident from design basis accident to beyond design basis accident, the Zircaloy–steam reaction becomes the source of in-vessel hydrogen generation. Hydrogen distribution inside the containment is simulated for a long time (using CONTAIN and MELCOR), and the effect of recombiners on its mitigation is analyzed (using MELCOR). Thermal–hydraulic parameters and hydrogen distribution profiles are presented as the outcome of the investigation. By activating the spray system, the peak points of pressure and temperature occur in the short time and remain belowthe maximumdesign values along the accident time. It is also shown that recombiners have a reliable effect on reducing the hydrogen concentration below flame propagation limit in the accident localization area. The parameters predicted by CONTAIN and MELCOR are in good agreement with the final safety analysis report. The noted discrepancies are discussed and explained.

Investigation of ex-vessel core catcher for SBO accident in VVER-1000/V528 containment using MELCOR code

To mitigate consequences of core melting,an ex-vessel core catcher is investigated in this study.Instructions should be obeyed to cool down the corium caused by core melting.The corium destroys the reactor containment and causes radioactive materials to be released into the environment if it does not cool down well.It is important to build a core catcher system for the reception,localization,and cool down of the molten corium during a severe accident resulting from core melting.In this study,the role of a core catcher in the VVER-1000/v528 reactor containment during a station black out(SBO)accident is evaluated using the MELCOR1.8.6 code.In addition,parametric analyses of the SBO for(i)SBO accidents with emergency core cooling system(ECCS)operation,and(ii)without ECCS operation are performed.Furthermore,thermal–hydraulic analyses in dry and wet cavities with/without water are conducted.The investigations include the reduction of gases resulting from molten–corium–concrete interactions(H_(2),CO,CO_(2)).Core melting,gas production,and the pressure/temperature in the reactor containment are assessed.Additionally,a full investigation pertaining to gas release(H_(2),CO,CO_(2))and the pressure/temperature of the core catcher is performed.Based on MELCOR simulations,a core cavity and a perimeter water channel are the best options for corium cooling and a lower radionuclide release.This simulation is also theoretically investigated and discussed herein.The simulation results show that the core catcher system in addition to an internal sacrificial material reduces the containment pressure from 689 to 580 kPa and the corresponding temperature from 394 to 380 K.Furthermore,it is observed that the amount of gases produced,particularly hydrogen,decreased from 1698 to 1235 kg.Moreover,the presence of supporting systems,including an ECCS with a core catcher,prolonged the core melting time from 16,430 to 28,630 s(in an SBO accident)and significantly decreased the gases produced.

Distributed Containment Control of Networked Nonlinear Second-order Systems With Unknown Parameters

In this paper, we study the containment control problem for nonlinear second-order systems with unknown parameters and multiple stationary/dynamic leaders. The topologies that characterize the interaction among the leaders and the followers are directed graphs. Necessary and sufficient criteria which guarantee the control objectives are established for both stationary leaders(regulation case) and dynamic leaders(dynamic tracking case) based protocols. The final states of all the followers are exclusively determined by the initial values of the leaders and the topology structures. In the regulation case, all the followers converge into the convex hull spanned by the leaders,while in the dynamic tracking case, not only the positions of the followers converge into the convex hull but also the velocities of the followers converge into the velocity convex hull of the leaders.Finally, all the theoretical results are illustrated by numerical simulations.

Distributed Robust Containment Control of Linear Heterogeneous Multi-Agent Systems:An Output Regulation Approach

In this paper,we consider the robust output containment problem of linear heterogeneous multi-agent systems under fixed directed networks.A distributed dynamic observer based on the leaders’measurable output was designed to estimate a convex combination of the leaders’states.First,for the case of followers with identical state dimensions,distributed dynamic state and output feedback control laws were designed based on the state-coupled item and the internal model compensator to drive the uncertain followers into the leaders’convex hull within the output regulation framework.Subsequently,we extended theoretical results to the case where followers have nonidentical state dimensions.By establishing virtual errors between the dynamic observer and followers,a new distributed dynamic output feedback control law was constructed using only the states of the compensator to solve the robust output containment problem.Finally,two numerical simulations verified the effectiveness of the designed schemes.

Aseismic safety analysis of a prestressed concrete containment vessel for CPR1000 nuclear power plant

Abstract： The containment vessel of a nuclear power plant is the last barrier to prevent nuclear reactor radiation. Aseismic safety analysis is the key to appropriate containment vessel design. A prestressed concrete containment vessel （PCCV） model with a semi-infinite elastic foundation and practical arrangement of tendons has been established to analyze the aseismic ability of the CPR1000 PCCV structure under seismic loads and internal pressure. A method to model the prestressing tendon and its interaction with concrete was proposed and the axial force of the prestressing tendons showed that the simulation was reasonable and accurate. The numerical results show that for the concrete structure, the location of the cylinder wall bottom around the equipment hatch and near the ring beam are critical locations with large principal stress. The concrete cracks occurred at the bottom of the PCCV cylinder wall under the peak earthquake motion of 0.50 g, however the PCCV was still basically in an elastic state. Furthermore, the concrete cracks occurred around the equipment hatch under the design internal pressure of 0.4MPa, but the steel liner was still in the elastic stage and its leak-proof function soundness was verified. The results provide the basis for analysis and design of containment vessels.

Improving Concrete Containment Structures Associated with Fixed-Cone Valves

Fixed-Cone valves are often used to dissipate energy and regulate flow at the low level outlet works of dams. Fixed-Cone valves, also known as Howell-Bunger valves, create an expanding conical jet allowing the energy of the water to dissipate over a large area. However, in many applications constructing the large stilling basin necessary for these valves is either not possible or not feasible. In order to reduce the relative size of the stilling basin, hoods or concrete containment structures have been used in conjunction with Fixed-Cone valves. This paper discusses the use of baffles in concrete containment structures in order to dissipate energy in a considerably confined space. It was determined that using baffles, in place of a deflector ring and end sill (Used in traditional containment structures.), significantly improves the function of containment structures by reducing downstream flow velocities and improving flow patterns and stability. This information will be useful to engineers allowing them to minimize scour and erosion associated with concrete containment structures.