Hepatic perivascular epithelioid cell tumors:Benign,malignant,and uncertain malignant potential

In 2013,the World Health Organization defined perivascular epithelioid cell tumor(PEComa)as“a mesenchymal tumor which shows a local association with vessel walls and usually expresses melanocyte and smooth muscle markers.”This generic definition seems to better fit the PEComa family,which includes angiomyolipoma,clear cell sugar tumor of the lung,lymphangioleiomyomatosis,and a group of histologically and immunophenotypically similar tumors that include primary extrapulmonary sugar tumor and clear cell myomelanocytic tumor.Clear cell tumors with this immunophenotypic pattern have also had their malignant variants described.When localizing to the liver,preoperative radiological diagnosis has proven to be very difficult,and most patients have been diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma,focal nodular hyperplasia,hemangioma,or hepatic adenoma based on imaging findings.Examples of a malignant variant of the liver have been described.Finally,reports of malignant variants of these lesions have increased in recent years.Therefore,we support the use of the Folpe criteria,which in 2005 established the criteria for categorizing a PEComa as benign,malignant,or of uncertain malignant potential.Although they are not considered ideal,they currently seem to be the best approach and could be used for the categorization of liver tumors.

Adaptive Consensus of Uncertain Multi-Agent Systems With Unified Prescribed Performance

Dear Editor,An adaptive consensus control algorithm for uncertain multi-agent systems(MAS),capable of guaranteeing unified prescribed performance,is presented in this letter.Unlike many existing prescribed performance related works,the developed control exhibits some features.Firstly,a distributed prescribed time observer is introduced so that not only each follower is able to estimate the leader’s signal within a predetermined time,but also the control design for each agent is independent with its neighbors.

Reinforcement learning based adaptive control for uncertain mechanical systems with asymptotic tracking

This paper mainly focuses on the development of a learning-based controller for a class of uncertain mechanical systems modeled by the Euler-Lagrange formulation.The considered system can depict the behavior of a large class of engineering systems,such as vehicular systems,robot manipulators and satellites.All these systems are often characterized by highly nonlinear characteristics,heavy modeling uncertainties and unknown perturbations,therefore,accurate-model-based nonlinear control approaches become unavailable.Motivated by the challenge,a reinforcement learning(RL)adaptive control methodology based on the actor-critic framework is investigated to compensate the uncertain mechanical dynamics.The approximation inaccuracies caused by RL and the exogenous unknown disturbances are circumvented via a continuous robust integral of the sign of the error(RISE)control approach.Different from a classical RISE control law,a tanh(·)function is utilized instead of a sign(·)function to acquire a more smooth control signal.The developed controller requires very little prior knowledge of the dynamic model,is robust to unknown dynamics and exogenous disturbances,and can achieve asymptotic output tracking.Eventually,co-simulations through ADAMS and MATLAB/Simulink on a three degrees-of-freedom(3-DOF)manipulator and experiments on a real-time electromechanical servo system are performed to verify the performance of the proposed approach.

Guaranteed Cost Attitude Tracking Control for Uncertain Quadrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Under Safety Constraints

In this paper,guaranteed cost attitude tracking con-trol for uncertain quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle(QUAV)under safety constraints is studied.First,an augmented system is constructed by the tracking error system and reference system.This transformation aims to convert the tracking control prob-lem into a stabilization control problem.Then,control barrier function and disturbance attenuation function are designed to characterize the violations of safety constraints and tolerance of uncertain disturbances,and they are incorporated into the reward function as penalty items.Based on the modified reward function,the problem is simplified as the optimal regulation problem of the nominal augmented system,and a new Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation is developed.Finally,critic-only rein-forcement learning algorithm with a concurrent learning tech-nique is employed to solve the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equa-tion and obtain the optimal controller.The proposed algorithm can not only ensure the reward function within an upper bound in the presence of uncertain disturbances,but also enforce safety constraints.The performance of the algorithm is evaluated by the numerical simulation.

Practical prescribed-time fuzzy tracking control for uncertain nonlinear systems with time-varying actuators faults

The paper investigates the practical prescribed-time fuzzy tracking control problem for a category of nonlinear system subject to time-varying actuator faults.The presence of unknown nonlinear dynamics and actuator faults makes achieving tracking control within a prescribed-time challenging.To tackle this issue,we propose a novel practical prescribed-time fuzzy tracking control strategy,which is independent of the initial state of the system and does not rely on precise modeling of the system and actuators.We apply the approximation capabilities of fuzzy logic systems to handle the unknown nonlinear functions and unidentified actuator faults in the system.The piecewise controller and adaptive law constructed based on piecewise prescribed time-varying function and backstepping technique method establish the theoretical framework of practical prescribed-time tracking control,and extend the range of prescribed-time tracking control to infinity.Regardless of the initial conditions,the proposed control strategy can guarantee that all signals remain uniformly bounded within the practical prescribed time in the presence of unknown nonlinear item and time-varying actuator faults.Simulation example is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.

A Data-Based Feedback Relearning Algorithm for Uncertain Nonlinear Systems

In this paper,a data-based feedback relearning algorithm is proposed for the robust control problem of uncertain nonlinear systems.Motivated by the classical on-policy and off-policy algorithms of reinforcement learning,the online feedback relearning(FR)algorithm is developed where the collected data includes the influence of disturbance signals.The FR algorithm has better adaptability to environmental changes(such as the control channel disturbances)compared with the off-policy algorithm,and has higher computational efficiency and better convergence performance compared with the on-policy algorithm.Data processing based on experience replay technology is used for great data efficiency and convergence stability.Simulation experiments are presented to illustrate convergence stability,optimality and algorithmic performance of FR algorithm by comparison.

Modal Parameter Identification Method of Jacket Platform Structure Based on AFDD and Optimized FBFFT

Offshore platforms are susceptible to structural damage due to prolonged exposure to random loads,such as wind,waves,and currents.This is particularly true for platforms that have been in service for an extended period.Identifying the modal parameters of offshore platforms is crucial for damage diagno sis,as it serves as a prerequisite and foundation for the process.Therefore,it holds great significance to prioritize the identification of these parameters.Aiming at the shortcomings of the traditional Fast Bayesian Fast Fourier Transform(FBFFT) method,this paper proposes a modal parameter identification method based on Automatic Frequency Domain Decomposition(AFDD) and optimized FBFFT.By introducing the AFDD method and Powell optimization algorithm,this method can automatically identify the initial value of natural frequency and solve the objective function efficiently and simply.In order to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method,it is used to identify the modal parameters of the IASC-ASCE benchmark model and the j acket platform structure model,and the Most Probable Value(MPV) of the modal parameters and their respective posterior uncertainties are successfully identified.The identification results of the IASC-ASCE benc hmark model are compared with the identification re sults of the MODE-ID method,which verifies the effectivene ss and accuracy of the proposed method for identifying modal parameters.It provides a simple and feasible method for quantifying the influence of uncertain factors such as environmental parameters on the identification results,and also provide s a reference for modal parameter identification of other large structures.

Quantum Fuzzy Regression Model for Uncertain Environment

In the era of big data,traditional regression models cannot deal with uncertain big data efficiently and accurately.In order to make up for this deficiency,this paper proposes a quantum fuzzy regression model,which uses fuzzy theory to describe the uncertainty in big data sets and uses quantum computing to exponentially improve the efficiency of data set preprocessing and parameter estimation.In this paper,data envelopment analysis(DEA)is used to calculate the degree of importance of each data point.Meanwhile,Harrow,Hassidim and Lloyd(HHL)algorithm and quantum swap circuits are used to improve the efficiency of high-dimensional data matrix calculation.The application of the quantum fuzzy regression model to smallscale financial data proves that its accuracy is greatly improved compared with the quantum regression model.Moreover,due to the introduction of quantum computing,the speed of dealing with high-dimensional data matrix has an exponential improvement compared with the fuzzy regression model.The quantum fuzzy regression model proposed in this paper combines the advantages of fuzzy theory and quantum computing which can efficiently calculate high-dimensional data matrix and complete parameter estimation using quantum computing while retaining the uncertainty in big data.Thus,it is a new model for efficient and accurate big data processing in uncertain environments.

A review of uncertain factors and analytic methods in long-term energy system optimization models

A larger number of uncertain factors in energy systems influence their evolution.Owing to the complexity of energy system modeling,incorporating uncertainty analysis to energy system modeling is essential for future energy system planning and resource allocation.This study focusses on long-term energy system optimization model.The important uncertain parameters in the model are analyzed and divided into policy,economic,and technical factors.This study specifically addresses the challenges related to carbon emission reduction and energy transition.It involves collecting and organizing relevant research on uncertainty analysis of long-term energy systems.Various energy system uncertainty modeling methods and their applications from the literature are summarized in this review.Finally,important uncertainty factors and uncertainty modeling methods for long-term energy system modeling are discussed,and future research directions are proposed.

Reachable set estimation for discrete-time Markovian jump neural networks with unified uncertain transition probability

This paper focuses on the reachable set estimation for Markovian jump neural networks with time delay.By allowing uncertainty in the transition probabilities,a framework unifies and enhances the generality and realism of these systems.To fully exploit the unified uncertain transition probabilities,an equivalent transformation technique is introduced as an alternative to traditional estimation methods,effectively utilizing the information of transition probabilities.Furthermore,a vector Wirtinger-based summation inequality is proposed,which captures more system information compared to existing ones.Building upon these components,a novel condition that guarantees a reachable set estimation is presented for Markovian jump neural networks with unified uncertain transition probabilities.A numerical example is illustrated to demonstrate the superiority of the approaches.

Understanding Expected Utility for Decision Making

In this paper,we present a brief version of de Finetti-Ramsey’s subjective probability theory and provide a rigorous yet intuitively plausible explanation of expected utility using elementary mathematics.In a final section,we take up the case of some“Paradoxes in Expected Utility Theory”and try to reconcile them with the help of subjective probabilities.

Economic Policy Uncertainty and Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions

In recent years,the frequent adjustment of the government’s economic policies and the uncertainty of foreign economic situations have made the degree of uncertainty of China’s economic policies rise continuously.The increasing degree of policy uncertainty will inevitably affect the investment and financing decisions of micro enterprises.Then,how does economic policy uncertainty(EPU)affect mergers and acquisitions(M&A)behavior?What’s the mechanism?Based on the above questions,this paper uses the data of non-financial listed companies in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2008 to 2018 as a sample to explore the relationship between EPU and M&A.The study shows that rising EPU will promote corporate M&A behavior,and this effect is more significant in slow-growth companies.The relationship between EPU and M&A is affected by corporate governance,stock price volatility and financing constraints.Specifically,the company’s M&A size is more sensitive to EPU with higher level of corporate governance,higher level of stock price volatility,and lesser financing constraints.Further research shows that the rise of EPU will significantly promote the improvement of M&A performance in the short-term,but this effect does not exist in the long-term.Various robustness checks do not change the empirical results of this paper.

Recognition and analysis of potential risks in China's carbon emission trading markets

China formally launched the carbon trading pilots in seven provinces and cities in 2013.Based on the operating situations of international carbon emission trading markets and that in China,this study compares and analyzes the potential risks in the European Union Emission Trading Scheme,California’s cap-and-trade system,and the seven regional carbon trading pilots in China.It mainly recognizes market operation risks,risks of uncertain policy expectation,and risks of uncertain mechanism designs existing in China's carbon trading pilots.The carbon market risks are not good for the formation of rational price signals,making it difficult to guide enterprises on how to make low-carbon technology in-vestments.Such risks also affect the effectiveness and functions of carbon markets,which can lead to the non-achievement of national emission reduction goals.China has launched the national carbon emission trading scheme on December 19,2017.While building the national carbon trading scheme,it is important to fully refer to the experiences of international carbon markets and China's carbon trading pilots apart from strengthening the recognition,control,and supervision of carbon market risks.Doing so can promote the healthy development of China's na-tional carbon trading scheme.

Backstepping adaptive fuzzy control of uncertain nonlinear systems against actuator faults

A class of unknown nonlinear systems subject to uncertain actuator faults and external disturbances will be studied in this paper with the help of fuzzy approximation theory. Using backstepping technique, a novel adaptive fuzzy control approach is proposed to accommodate the uncertain actuator faults during operation and deal with the external disturbances though the systems cannot be linearized by feedback. The considered faults are modeled as both loss of effectiveness and lock-in-place （stuck at some unknown place）. It is proved that the proposed control scheme can guarantee all signals of the closed-loop system to be semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded and the tracking error between the system output and the reference signal converge to a small neighborhood of zero, though the nonlinear functions of the controlled system as well as the actuator faults and the external disturbances are all unknown. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the control approach.

Adaptive Backstepping Slide Mode Control of Pneumatic Position Servo System

With the price decreasing of the pneumatic proportional valve and the high performance micro controller, the simple structure and high tracking performance pneumatic servo system demonstrates more application potential in many fields. However, most existing control methods with high tracking performance need to know the model information and to use pressure sensor. This limits the application of the pneumatic servo system. An adaptive backstepping slide mode control method is proposed for pneumatic position servo system. The proposed method designs adaptive slide mode controller using backstepping design technique. The controller parameter adaptive law is derived from Lyapunov analysis to guarantee the stability of the system. A theorem is testified to show that the state of closed-loop system is uniformly bounded, and the closed-loop system is stable. The advantages of the proposed method include that system dynamic model parameters are not required for the controller design, uncertain parameters bounds are not need, and the bulk and expensive pressure sensor is not needed as well. Experimental performance, as compared with some existing methods. results show that the designed controller can achieve better tracking

Adaptive synchronization of Chua＇s system with uncertain inputs

The synchronization of Chua＇s system, whose inputs include an unknown constant parameter, is studied in this paper. A constructive method is applied to designing an adaptive controller, in which only one variable information of the master system is needed. With the action of control signals, the parameter of the slave system will approach the corresponding unknown parameter in the master system. At the same time, the synchronization errors will also converge to zero asymptotically. Numerical simulations show that the proposed theoretical approach is very effective.

Linear generalized synchronization of chaotic systems with uncertain parameters

A more general form of projective synchronization, so called linear generalized synchronization （LGS） is proposed, which includes the generalized projective synchronization （GPS） and the hybrid projective synchronization （HPS） as its special cases, Based on the adaptive technique and Lyapunov stability theory, a general method for achieving the LGS between two chaotic or hyperehaotic systems with uncertain parameters in any scaling matrix is presented. Some numerical simulations are provided to show the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed synchronization method.

QoS multicast routing algorithm based on GA

The multicast routing problem with multiple QoS constraints in networks with uncertain parameters is discussed, and a network model that is suitable to research such QoS multicast routing problem is described. The QMRGA, a multicast routing policy for Internet, mobile network or other highperformance networks is mainly presented, which is based on the genetic algorithm(GA), and can provide QoSsensitive paths in a scalable and flexible way in the network environment with uncertain parameters. The QMRGA can also optimize the network resources such as bandwidth and delay, and can converge to the optimal or nearoptimal solution within few iterations, even for the network environment with uncertain parameters. The incremental rate of computational cost can be close to a polynomial and is less than exponential rate. The performance measures of the QMRGA are evaluated by using simulations. The results show that QMRGA provides an available approach to QoS multicast routing in network environment with uncertain parameters.

RBMDO Using Gaussian Mixture Model-Based Second-Order Mean-Value Saddlepoint Approximation

Actual engineering systems will be inevitably affected by uncertain factors.Thus,the Reliability-Based Multidisciplinary Design Optimization(RBMDO)has become a hotspot for recent research and application in complex engineering system design.The Second-Order/First-Order Mean-Value Saddlepoint Approximate(SOMVSA/-FOMVSA)are two popular reliability analysis strategies that are widely used in RBMDO.However,the SOMVSA method can only be used efficiently when the distribution of input variables is Gaussian distribution,which significantly limits its application.In this study,the Gaussian Mixture Model-based Second-Order Mean-Value Saddlepoint Approximation(GMM-SOMVSA)is introduced to tackle above problem.It is integrated with the Collaborative Optimization(CO)method to solve RBMDO problems.Furthermore,the formula and procedure of RBMDO using GMM-SOMVSA-Based CO(GMM-SOMVSA-CO)are proposed.Finally,an engineering example is given to show the application of the GMM-SOMVSA-CO method.

Decentralized robust guaranteed cost control for a class of interconnected singular large-scale systems with time-delay and parameter uncertainty

The decentralized robust guaranteed cost control problem is studied for a class of interconnected singular large-scale systems with time-delay and norm-bounded time-invariant parameter uncertainty under a given quadratic cost performance function. The problem that is addressed in this study is to design a decentralized robust guaranteed cost state feedback controller such that the closed-loop system is not only regular, impulse-free and stable, but also guarantees an adequate level of performance for all admissible uncertainties. A sufficient condition for the existence of the decentralized robust guaranteed cost state feedback controllers is proposed in terms of a linear matrix inequality （LMI） via LMI approach. When this condition is feasible, the desired state feedback decentralized robust guaranteed cost controller gain matrices can be obtained. Finally, an illustrative example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.