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.

Coastal erosion risk assessment of Hainan Island, China

Coastal erosion on islands is increasing due to sea level rise,frequent extreme events,and anthropogenic activities.However,studies on the multifactorial coastal erosion risk and the vulnerability of islands are limited.In this study,the Coastal Erosion Risk Assessment(CERA)method was applied for the first time to the study area in China to assess the erosion risk on the coast of Hainan Island;to explore the effects of coastal ocean dynamics,sediment movement characteristics,and anthropogenic construction;and to discuss the suitability of the method and countermeasures for coastal protection.The results show that the coast of Hainan Island shows high sensitivity,high value,low exposure,and moderate erosion.The whole island showed high vulnerability but low erosion risk,with the eastern region being more affected by erosion,particularly the eastern side of Wulong Port and Yalin Bay in Wenchang,and the shore section of Yalong Bay in Sanya,having a very high risk of coastal erosion.In addition,Monte Carlo simulation was used to check the applicability of the CERA method,and it was found that the rate of shoreline change,population density,and number of storms significantly contributed to coastal erosion,but only the short-term effects of sea level rise were considered.The effects of sea level rise and sediment grain size were primarily analyzed as influencing factors.The effects of sea level rise continue to strengthen,with coastal retreat expected to be greater than 2 m by the mid-21st century.Moreover,Hainan Island is primarily composed of the fine and medium sand types,which have little resistance to coastal erosion.Currently,the impact of sediment grain size is rarely considered in coastal erosion risk assessment studies.However,it can be incorporated into the indicator system in the future,and the spatial variation of indicators can be fully considered to strengthen the refinement study.

Ambipolar performance improvement of the C-shaped pocket TFET with dual metal gate and gate–drain underlap

Dual-metal gate and gate–drain underlap designs are introduced to reduce the ambipolar current of the device based on the C-shaped pocket TFET(CSP-TFET).The effects of gate work function and gate–drain underlap length on the DC characteristics and analog/RF performance of CSP-TFET devices,such as the on-state current(I_(on)),ambipolar current(I_(amb)),transconductance(g_(m)),cut-off frequency(f_(T))and gain–bandwidth product(GBP),are analyzed and compared in this work.Also,a combination of both the dual-metal gate and gate–drain underlap designs has been proposed for the C-shaped pocket dual metal underlap TFET(CSP-DMUN-TFET),which contains a C-shaped pocket area that significantly increases the on-state current of the device;this combination design substantially reduces the ambipolar current.The results show that the CSP-DMUN-TFET demonstrates an excellent performance,including high I_(on)(9.03×10^(-4)A/μm),high I_(on)/I_(off)(~10^(11)),low SS_(avg)(~13 mV/dec),and low I_(amb)(2.15×10^(-17)A/μm).The CSP-DMUN-TFET has the capability to fully suppress ambipolar currents while maintaining high on-state currents,making it a potential replacement in the next generation of semiconductor devices.

Progress of Brain Network Studies on Anesthesia and Consciousness: Framework and Clinical Applications

Although the relationship between anesthesia and consciousness has been investigated for decades, our understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms of anesthesia and consciousness remains rudimentary, which limits the development of systems for anesthesia monitoring and consciousness evaluation. Moreover, the current practices for anesthesia monitoring are mainly based on methods that do not provide adequate information and may present obstacles to the precise application of anesthesia. Most recently, there has been a growing trend to utilize brain network analysis to reveal the mechanisms of anesthesia, with the aim of providing novel insights to promote practical application. This review summarizes recent research on brain network studies of anesthesia, and compares the underlying neural mechanisms of consciousness and anesthesia along with the neural signs and measures of the distinct aspects of neural activity. Using the theory of cortical fragmentation as a starting point, we introduce important methods and research involving connectivity and network analysis. We demonstrate that whole-brain multimodal network data can provide important supplementary clinical information. More importantly, this review posits that brain network methods, if simplified, will likely play an important role in improving the current clinical anesthesia monitoring systems.

On Designs of Decentralized Reputation Management for Permissioned Blockchain Networks

In permissioned blockchain networks,the Proof of Authority(PoA)consensus,which uses the election of authorized nodes to validate transactions and blocks,has beenwidely advocated thanks to its high transaction throughput and fault tolerance.However,PoA suffers from the drawback of centralization dominated by a limited number of authorized nodes and the lack of anonymity due to the round-robin block proposal mechanism.As a result,traditional PoA is vulnerable to a single point of failure that compromises the security of the blockchain network.To address these issues,we propose a novel decentralized reputation management mechanism for permissioned blockchain networks to enhance security,promote liveness,and mitigate centralization while retaining the same throughput as traditional PoA.This paper aims to design an off-chain reputation evaluation and an on-chain reputation-aided consensus.First,we evaluate the nodes’reputation in the context of the blockchain networks and make the reputation globally verifiable through smart contracts.Second,building upon traditional PoA,we propose a reputation-aided PoA(rPoA)consensus to enhance securitywithout sacrificing throughput.In particular,rPoA can incentivize nodes to autonomously form committees based on reputation authority,which prevents block generation from being tracked through the randomness of reputation variation.Moreover,we develop a reputation-aided fork-choice rule for rPoA to promote the network’s liveness.Finally,experimental results show that the proposed rPoA achieves higher security performance while retaining transaction throughput compared to traditional PoA.

A review of ToF-based LiDAR

In recent years,propelled by the rapid iterative advancements in digital imaging technology and the semiconductor industry,encompassing microelectronic design,manufacturing,packaging,and testing,time-of-flight(ToF)-based imaging systems for acquiring depth information have garnered considerable attention from both academia and industry.This technology has emerged as a focal point of research within the realm of 3D imaging.Owing to its relatively straightforward principles and exceptional performance,ToF technology finds extensive applications across various domains including human−computer interaction,autonomous driving,industrial inspection,medical and healthcare,augmented reality,smart homes,and 3D reconstruction,among others.Notably,the increasing maturity of ToF-based LiDAR systems is evident in current developments.This paper comprehensively reviews the fundamental principles of ToF technology and LiDAR systems,alongside recent research advancements.It elucidates the innovative aspects and technical challenges encountered in both transmitter(TX)and receiver(RX),providing detailed discussions on corresponding solutions.Furthermore,the paper explores prospective avenues for future research,offering valuable insights for subsequent investigations.

A Multifunctional Chiral Metasurface with Asymmetric Transmission and Linear-Polarization Conversion

In this paper,a multifunctional chiral metasurface is presented to achieve asymmetric transmission(AT)and linear-polarization conversion(LPC).The designed metasurface consists of a cross swords-like shape and two holes in the lower side of the unit cell.In the frequency band from 8.3 GHz to 10.4 GHz,AT is realized with more than 90%efficiency and the same chiral metasurface transforms linear polarized wave into its orthogonal counterpart with high efficiency.For LPC,the polarization conversion ratio(PCR)is greater than 95%.The proposed metasurface is stable against the incident angles of striking electromagnetic(EM)waves up to 60°for both operations of AT and LPC.

Co-salient object detection with iterative purification and predictive optimization

Background Co-salient object detection(Co-SOD)aims to identify and segment commonly salient objects in a set of related images.However,most current Co-SOD methods encounter issues with the inclusion of irrelevant information in the co-representation.These issues hamper their ability to locate co-salient objects and significantly restrict the accuracy of detection.Methods To address this issue,this study introduces a novel Co-SOD method with iterative purification and predictive optimization(IPPO)comprising a common salient purification module(CSPM),predictive optimizing module(POM),and diminishing mixed enhancement block(DMEB).Results These components are designed to explore noise-free joint representations,assist the model in enhancing the quality of the final prediction results,and significantly improve the performance of the Co-SOD algorithm.Furthermore,through a comprehensive evaluation of IPPO and state-of-the-art algorithms focusing on the roles of CSPM,POM,and DMEB,our experiments confirmed that these components are pivotal in enhancing the performance of the model,substantiating the significant advancements of our method over existing benchmarks.Experiments on several challenging benchmark co-saliency datasets demonstrate that the proposed IPPO achieves state-of-the-art performance.

Multiplexed stimulated emission depletion nanoscopy(mSTED)for 5-color live-cell long-term imaging of organelle interactome

Stimulated emission depletion microscopy(STED)holds great potential in biological science applications,especially in studying nanoscale subcellular structures.However,multi-color STED imaging in live-cell remains challenging due to the limited excitation wavelengths and large amount of laser radiation.Here,we develop a multiplexed live-cell STED method to observe more structures simultaneously with limited photo-bleaching and photo-cytotoxicity.By separating live-cell fluorescent probes with similar spectral properties using phasor analysis,our method enables five-color live-cell STED imaging and reveals long-term interactions between different subcellular structures.The results here provide an avenue for understanding the complex and delicate interactome of subcellular structures in live-cell.

Multi-Agent Deep Deterministic Policy Gradien-Based Task Offloading Resource Allocation Joint Offloading

With the advancement of technology and the continuous innovation of applications, low-latency applications such as drones, online games and virtual reality are gradually becoming popular demands in modern society. However, these applications pose a great challenge to the traditional centralized mobile cloud computing paradigm, and it is obvious that the traditional cloud computing model is already struggling to meet such demands. To address the shortcomings of cloud computing, mobile edge computing has emerged. Mobile edge computing provides users with computing and storage resources by offloading computing tasks to servers at the edge of the network. However, most existing work only considers single-objective performance optimization in terms of latency or energy consumption, but not balanced optimization in terms of latency and energy consumption. To reduce task latency and device energy consumption, the problem of joint optimization of computation offloading and resource allocation in multi-cell, multi-user, multi-server MEC environments is investigated. In this paper, a dynamic computation offloading algorithm based on Multi-Agent Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (MADDPG) is proposed to obtain the optimal policy. The experimental results show that the algorithm proposed in this paper reduces the delay by 5 ms compared to PPO, 1.5 ms compared to DDPG and 10.7 ms compared to DQN, and reduces the energy consumption by 300 compared to PPO, 760 compared to DDPG and 380 compared to DQN. This fully proves that the algorithm proposed in this paper has excellent performance.

Carlson iterating rational approximation and performance analysis of fractional operator with arbitrary order

The performance analysis of the generalized Carlson iterating process,which can realize the rational approximation of fractional operator with arbitrary order,is presented in this paper.The reasons why the generalized Carlson iterating function possesses more excellent properties such as self-similarity and exponential symmetry are also explained.K-index,P-index,O-index,and complexity index are introduced to contribute to performance analysis.Considering nine different operational orders and choosing an appropriate rational initial impedance for a certain operational order,these rational approximation impedance functions calculated by the iterating function meet computational rationality,positive reality,and operational validity.Then they are capable of having the operational performance of fractional operators and being physical realization.The approximation performance of the impedance function to the ideal fractional operator and the circuit network complexity are also exhibited.

Ultra-Short Pulsed Laser Manufacturing and Surface Processing of Microdevices

Ultra-short laser pulses possess many advantages for materials processing.Ultrafast laser has a significantly low thermal effect on the areas surrounding the focal point;therefore,it is a promising tool for micro-and submicro-sized precision processing.In addition,the nonlinear multiphoton absorption phenomenon of focused ultra-short pulses provides a promising method for the fabrication of various structures on transparent material,such as glass and transparent polymers.A laser direct writing process was applied in the fabrication of high-performance three-dimensional(3D)structured multilayer microsupercapacitors(MSCs)on polymer substrates exhibiting a peak specific capacitance of 42.6 mF·cm^-2 at a current density of 0.1 mA·cm^-12.Furthermore,a flexible smart sensor array on a polymer substrate was fabricated for multi-flavor detection.Different surface treatments such as gold plating,reducedgraphene oxide(rGO)coating,and polyaniline(PANI)coating were accomplished for different measurement units.By applying principal component analysis(PCA),this sensing system showed a promising result for flavor detection.In addition,two-dimensional(2D)periodic metal nanostructures inside 3D glass microfluidic channels were developed by all-femtosecond-laser processing for real-time surfaceenhanced Raman spectroscopy(SERS).The processing mechanisms included laser ablation,laser reduction,and laser-induced surface nano-engineering.These works demonstrate the attractive potential of ultra-short pulsed laser for surface precision manufacturing.

Growth and characteristics of InAsSb epilayers with a cutoff wavelength of 4.8 μm prepared by one-step liquid phase epitaxy

InAsSb epilayers with a cutoff wavelength of 4.8 μm have been successfully grown on InAs substrates by one-step liquid phase epitaxy （LPE） technology. The epilayers were characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, Fourier transform infrared （PTIR） transmittance measurements and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The influence of different growth conditions on the optical and structural properties of the materials was studied. The results revealed that the good crystalline quality, mirror smooth surface and flat interface of InAsSb epilayers were achieved. They benefited from optimized growth conditions, i.e., sufficient homogeneity of the growth melt and a very slow cooling rate.

Design of a Low-Cost Air Quality Monitoring System Using Arduino and ThingSpeak

The impact of daily emissions of gaseous and particulate pollutants of machines and industries on human health and the environment has attracted increasing concerns.This impact has significantly led to a notable increase in mortality in the highly industrialized zones.Therefore,monitoring air quality and creating public awareness are important for a safer future,which led the governments globally to investmulti-billion in policymaking and solution stratification to address the problem.This study aims to design a realtime Internet of Things low-cost air quality monitoring system.The system utilizes air quality and carbon monoxide sensors for monitoring gaseous pollutants.Moreover,the system utilizes an Arduino Nano development board equipped with a WiFi module to effectively send readings to a ThingSpeak online channel platformfor instantaneous and real-time display of air quality.The ThingSpeak uses HTTP protocols to send emails in raising awareness of poor air quality.The level of concentration is monitored graphically through channels with the help of ThingSpeak to aid remote communication.Athreshold value is set.Thus,when pollutants have become unhealthy and harmful,the system trips off an alarm,and e-mail notifications are sent to the officials.The results have shown that the work was successfully implemented a design of a low-cost air quality monitoring system using Arduino and ThingSpeak,showing that an air quality system can be implemented using a low-cost technology,Arduino and ThingSpeak.

Modeling and experimental studies of a side band power re-injection locked magnetron

A side band power re-injection locked （SBPRIL） magnetron is presented in this paper. A tuning stub is placed between the external injection locked （EIL） magnetron and the circulator. Side band power of the EIL magnetron is reflected back to the magnetron. The reflected side band power is reused and pulled back to the central frequency. A phase-locking model is developed from circuit theory to explain the process of reuse of side band power in SBPRIL magnetron. Theoretical analysis proves that the side band power is pulled back to the central frequency of the SBPRIL magnetron, then the amplitude of the RF voltage increases and the phase noise performance is improved. Particle-in-cell （PIC） simulation of a 10-vane continuous wave （CW） magnetron model is presented. Computer simulation predicts that the frequency spectrum＇s peak of the SBPRIL magnetron has an increase of 3.25 dB compared with the free running magnetron. The phase noise performance at the side band offset reduces 12.05 dB for the SBPRIL magnetron. Besides, the SBPRIL magnetron experiment is presented. Experimental results show that the spectrum peak rises by 14.29% for SBPRIL magnetron compared with the free running magnetron. The phase noise reduces more than 25 dB at 45-kHz offset compared with the free running magnetron.

A Service-Oriented Architecture of Cyber-Physical System and Study on Two Key Issues

As the basis of designing and implementing a cyber-physical system (CPS), architecture research is very important but still at preliminary stage. Since CPS includes physical components, time and space constraints seriously challenge architecture study. In this paper, a service-oriented architecture of CPS was presented. Further, a two-way time synchronization algorithm for CPS service composition was put forward. And a formal method, for judging if actual CPS service meets space constraints, was suggested, which was based on space-π-calculus proposed. Finally, a case study was performed and CPS business process designed by the model and the proposed methods could run well. The application of research conclusion implies that it has rationality and feasibility.

Milestones of Wireless Communication Networks and Technology Prospect of Next Generation(6G)

Since around 1980,a new generation of wireless technology has arisen approximately every 10 years.First-generation(1G)and secondgeneration(2G)began with voice and eventually introduced more and more data in third-generation(3G)and became highly popular in the fourthgeneration(4G).To increase the data rate along with low latency and mass connectivity the fifth-generation(5G)networks are being installed from 2020.However,the 5G technology will not be able to fulfill the data demand at the end of this decade.Therefore,it is expected that 6G communication networks will rise,providing better services through the implementation of new enabling technologies and allowing users to connect everywhere.6G technology would not be confined to cellular communications networks,but would also comply with non-terrestrial communication system requirements,such as satellite communication.The ultimate objectives of this work are to address the major challenges of the evolution of cellular communication networks and to discourse the recent growth of the industry based on the key scopes of application and challenges.The main areas of research topics are summarized into(i)major 6G wireless networkmilestones;(ii)key performance indicators;(iii)future new applications;and(iv)potential fields of research,challenges,and open issues.

Manufacturing of graphene based synaptic devices for optoelectronic applications

Neuromorphic computing systems can perform memory and computing tasks in parallel on artificial synaptic devices through simulating synaptic functions,which is promising for breaking the conventional von Neumann bottlenecks at hardware level.Artificial optoelectronic synapses enable the synergistic coupling between optical and electrical signals in synaptic modulation,which opens up an innovative path for effective neuromorphic systems.With the advantages of high mobility,optical transparency,ultrawideband tunability,and environmental stability,graphene has attracted tremendous interest for electronic and optoelectronic applications.Recent progress highlights the significance of implementing graphene into artificial synaptic devices.Herein,to better understand the potential of graphene-based synaptic devices,the fabrication technologies of graphene are first presented.Then,the roles of graphene in various synaptic devices are demonstrated.Furthermore,their typical optoelectronic applications in neuromorphic systems are reviewed.Finally,outlooks for development of synaptic devices based on graphene are proposed.This review will provide a comprehensive understanding of graphene fabrication technologies and graphene-based synaptic device for optoelectronic applications,also present an outlook for development of graphene-based synaptic device in future neuromorphic systems.

A Compact Ultra-Wideband Circularly Polarized Antenna Array for Vehicular Communications

In this paper,a new compact ultrawideband(UWB)circularly polarized(CP)antenna array for vehicular communications is proposed.The antenna array consists of a 2×2 sequentially rotated T-shaped cross dipole,four parasitic elements,and a feeding network.By loading the T-shaped cross dipoles with parasitic rectangular elements with cut corners,the bandwidth can be expanded.On this basis,the radiation pattern can be improved by the topology with sequential rotation of four T-shaped cross-dipole antennas,and the axial ratio(AR)bandwidth of the antenna also can be further enhanced.In addition,due to the special topology that the vertical arms of all Tshaped cross dipoles are all oriented toward the center of the antenna array,the gain of proposed antenna is improved while the size of the antenna is almost the same as the traditional cross dipole.Simulated and measured results show that the proposed antenna has good CP characteristics,an impedance bandwidth for S11<-10 d B of about 106.1%(3.26:1,1.57-5.12 GHz)and the 3-d B AR bandwidth of about 104.1%(3.17:1,1.57-4.98 GHz),a wide 3-d B gain bandwidth of 73.3%as well as the peak gain of 8.6 d Bic at 3.5 GHz.The overall size of antenna is 0.56λ×0.56λ×0.12λ(λrefers to the wavelength of the lowest operating frequency in free space).The good performance of this compact UWB CP antenna array is promising for applications in vehicular communications.

Theory and method of dual-energy x-ray grating phase-contrast imaging

The principle of dual-energy x-ray grating phase-contrast imaging(DEPCI) is clarified by using the theory of x-ray interference and Fresnel diffraction. A new method of retrieving phase from the two interferograms is proposed for DEPCI,and its feasibility is verified via simulation. Finally, the proposed method applied to DEPCI experiment demonstrates the effectiveness of the method. This paper lays the theoretical foundation for performance optimization of DEPCI and the further integration of DEPCI and computed tomography.