Search

To explore the diagnostic value of circ-DENN domain containing 4 C (circDENND4C) in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and the corresponding mechanism. We determined the expression of circDENND4C and miR-200b/c in tissues and serum specimens as well as EOC cell lines using qRT-PCR. Basic clinical data, and serum HE4 and CAl25 levels were acquired from patients' clinical records. Expression-related correlations and the diagnostic value of serum circDENND4C in EOC were also estimated. CCK-8 and flow cytometry were performed to detect the effect of circDENND4C on cell proliferation and apoptosis. circDENND4C level was lowest while miR-200b/c was highest in EOC tissues, followed by benign and normal tissues. Similarly, serum circDENND4C was lowest while miR-200b/c was highest in EOC patients. Moreover, serum circDENND4C was lower in patients with benign ovarian tumors than in healthy women, while miR-200b/c expression was higher. circDENND4C was negatively associated with miR-200b/c in EOC tissues and serum specimens, and serum circDENND4C was also negatively correlated with serum HE4 and CAl25 in EOC patients. circDENND4C expression in both tissue and serum was negatively related to FIGO and TNM stage, and tumor size in EOC. Serum circDENND4C could distinguish healthy persons from patients with benign ovarian tumors and EOC, and they showed a higher specificity and accuracy than serum CA125 or HE4 in EOC diagnosis. circDENND4C upregulation significantly suppressed EOC cell proliferation and facilitated apoptosis by downregulating miR-200b/c in vitro. Summarily, circDENND4C acts as a tumor inhibitor by downregulating miR-200b/c in EOC and could be a possible tumor marker for EOC diagnosis. circDENND4C expression was lowest while miR-200b/c was highest in EOC tissues or serums, followed by benign and normal tissues or serums. circDENND4C was involved in malignant progression of EOC, concretely, overexpression of circDENND4C suppressed EOC cell proliferation and stimulated apoptosis via downregulating miR-200b/c, and circDENND4C expression in both tissue and serum was closely related to FIGO and TNM stages and tumor size in EOC. Serum circDENND4C showed a higher specificity and accuracy than serum CA125 or HE4 in EOC diagnosis. circDENND4C expression was lowest while miR-200b/c was highest in EOC tissues, followed by benign and normal tissues. Serum circDENND4C was lowest while miR-200b/c was highest in EOC patients, followed by benign patients and healthy women. Overexpression of circDENND4C suppresses EOC cell proliferation and stimulates apoptosis via downregulating miR-200b/c. circDENND4C expression in both tissue and serum was closely related to FIGO and TNM stage and tumor size in EOC. Serum circDENND4C showed a higher specificity and accuracy than serum CA125 or HE4 in EOC diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncertainty theory is a field in axiomatic mathematics committed to disposing of belief degrees. By dint of uncertain theory and Hurwicz criterion, this article mainly addresses optimal control and non-zero-sum differential game of uncertain delay dynamic systems, which are depicted as a sort of uncertain differential equation with multiple input delays. Employing the technology of dynamic programming, the optimality principle is put forward and the optimality equation is formulated simultaneously to deal with the optimal control problem. In addition, an equilibrium equation is derived to solve the Nash equilibrium for the multi-player non-zero-sum uncertain differential game on the strength of the proposed optimality equation. An example is devised to illustrate the availability of the results in the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the stability for a class of distributed-order nonlinear systems via event-triggered control method. First of all, an inequality of the solution is established for distributed-order nonlinear inequality systems by employing Laplace transform. And then, by designing an appropriate state feedback controller and event-triggered strategy, and using Lyapunov stability theory and matrix inequality technique, a sufficient condition to ensure the asymptotic stability of the considered distributed-order nonlinear systems is obtained in the form of linear matrix inequality. Moreover, a criterion to exclude Zeno behaviour in event-triggered strategy is provided. Finally, the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method are verified by a simulation example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an effective vehicle, uncertainty theory is applicable for handling subjective indeterminacy. Based on uncertainty theory, the Hurwicz model of the zero-sum uncertain differential game with jump is formulated, in which the dynamic system is portrayed by an uncertain differential equation satisfying both the canonical Liu process and V-jump uncertain process. An equilibrium equation for solving the saddle-point of the above game is proposed. In addition, the game with a linear dynamic system and the quadratic objective function is further analysed. At last, a resource extraction problem using our theoretical results is described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA), as a well-known point-of-care testing (POCT) technique, is of vital significance in a variety of application scenarios due to the advantages of convenience and high efficiency. With rapid development of computational intelligence (CI), algorithms have played an important role in enhancing LFIA performance, and it is necessary to summary how algorithms can assist LFIA improvement for providing experiences. However, most existing works on LFIA are from biochemical field which pay more attention to material and reagent. Therefore, in this paper, a systematical survey is proposed to review works on applying mathematical tools to promote LFIA development. Particularly, a novel two-level taxonomy is designed for a better inspection, including LFIA-oriented mathematical modelling, CI-assisted post-processing and quantification in LFIA, and each level is further subdivided for in-depth understanding. In addition, from a higher viewpoint, outlooks of jointly developing POCT with other state-of-the-art techniques are presented from perspectives of implementation principle, technical approach and algorithm application. Moreover, this survey aims to highlight that applying CI methods is competent for boosting POCT development, so as to raise attentions from more areas like information science, extend deeper researches and inspire more interdisciplinary works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the differential privacy-based containment control problem for a class of discrete-time multi-agent systems (MASs) with time-varying topology. The classical containment control implementation relies on the explicit information exchange between agents, which will lead to the possible leakage of agents' private information, especially the initial states. In this paper, to prevent such data disclosure to neighbours inside the MASs and the outside eavesdroppers, uncorrelated noise is injected into the data during information transmission, which will bring about a more complicated scenario to the containment control. Under a milder assumption on the connectivity of the MAS – 'average graph topology', by resorting to the Lyapunov stability theory and algebraic graph theory, and utilising stochastic analysis techniques, sufficient conditions are derived to ensure that the discrete-time MAS subjecting to the privacy protection mechanism can achieve bounded containment control. Then, convergence accuracy is studied from the viewpoint of probability. Specially, Markov inequality is first utilised to estimate the lower bound of the probability that followers' states converge to the neighbourhood of the convex hull formed by leaders' states. Besides, differential privacy analysis is carried out to verify the validity of the proposed privacy protection mechanism in protecting the followers' initial states. Finally, two numerical examples are simulated to verify the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we are concerned with the sampled-based consensus problem of multi-agent systems with bounded distributed time-delays and quantisation effects. A dynamic quantisation scheme is introduced to save the constrained communication resources, where some adjustable parameters are introduced to exclude the phenomena of quantiser saturation. In addition, to reduce the actuation burden of controller and quantiser cost, a sampled-data control strategy is employed to investigate the consensus problem. Several sufficient criteria are derived to achieve consensus of multi-agent systems based on the matrix theory and Lyapunov control techniques. Finally, two numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the derived results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to select the optimisation criterion of the performance function is a pivotal research topic for the uncertain differential game. The Hurwicz criterion is a flexible optimisation measure to allocate some weight between optimism and pessimism to achieve balance for both of them. Based on uncertainty theory, this paper considers the Nash equilibrium and bang-bang property for the multi-player non-zero-sum uncertain differential game model by applying the Hurwicz criterion to optimise the performance function. To coordinate onto the Nash equilibrium, an equilibrium equation is derived. In addition, the application of bang-bang optimal control in the multi-player game problem of the uncertain linear system is investigated. Finally, an example is shown to validate the results obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is devoted to analysing the global Mittag-Leffler stability of fractional-order quaternion-valued neural networks with piecewise constant arguments and impulses. The quaternion direct method is adopted to address the considered model avoiding any decomposition. By utilising the matrix inequality technique and Lyapunov direct method, some sufficient conditions to guarantee the global Mittag-Leffler stability of equilibrium point for the considered model are obtained in the form of quaternion-valued linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). To certify the validity of the derived result, a numerical example is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncertainty theory is a new branch of mathematics concerned with the analysis of subjective indeterminacy. Based on the concept of uncertain theory, this paper considers optimal control and zero-sum differential game for multi-factor uncertain continuous-time singular systems with Hurwicz criterion, where dynamic systems are modelled by a type of uncertain differential equation driven by canonical Liu process. Using the approach of dynamic programming, the principle of optimality is proposed and then the equation of optimality is derived to resolve an uncertain control model. A two-player zero-sum uncertain differential game is further investigated based on the optimality equation above, and an equilibrium equation is presented to locate a saddle-point in the game. Finally, an example is discussed to illuminate the effectiveness of the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis and synthesis issues have gained widespread attention for complex dynamical networks (CDNs) over the past few years. Accordingly, some challenges including protocol-based scheduling, security vulnerability, limited communication resources as well as network-induced phenomena have to be handled by developing effective analysis and design approaches. In this paper, we make an attempt to review the latest state estimation schemes for CDNs especially those over the networked environment. Firstly, the engineering background and the current attractive topics in regard to CDNs are presented. Subsequently, we provide a review of several types of state estimation methods under different performance indices, for example, H ∞ state estimation, set-membership state estimation, optimal state estimation and fault estimation. Next, particular effort is devoted to show the up-to-date progresses on the protocol-based state estimation and compensation-based state estimation approaches for CDNs. Finally, some challenging problems are outlined regarding the future research to promote the theoretical developments in related fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, the Inertial Navigation System/Global Navigation Satellite System (INS/GNSS) integrated navigation system is widely used in many applications. The extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is a popular data fusion method for the INS/GNSS integrated navigation system. However, the process and measurement noise covariance matrices of the EKF cannot be modelled accurately due to varied scenes and complicated GNSS signal errors in urban environments, which undermines or deteriorates the EKF's performance. To mitigate noise covariance uncertainties' influence, this paper proposes an adaptive EKF algorithm named SARSA EKF, which enables the State-Action-Reward-State-Action (SARSA) method in EKF to realise the autonomous selection of the noise covariance matrices based on the Q-value. Meanwhile, a pruning algorithm is designed to remove inappropriate selections of noise covariance matrices and enhance the performance. The simulation and field test results indicate that the positioning accuracy of the SARSA EKF is better than the traditional EKF and the Q-learning EKF (QLEKF). The positioning accuracy's mean error of the SARSA EKF decreases by 34.32% and 25.95% compared with the traditional EKF and the QLEKF, respectively. And the positioning accuracy's standard deviation of the SARSA EKF decreases by 41.74% and 32.99% compared with the traditional EKF and the QLEKF, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the communication-protocol-based synthesis and analysis issues have gained substantial research interest owing mainly to their significance in networked systems. In this work, we survey the control and filtering problems of networked systems under the effects induced by communication protocols. First, we introduce the engineering background of networked systems as well as the theoretical frameworks established to deal with the communication-protocol-based analysis and synthesis problems. Then, recent advances (especially the latest results) are reviewed on the stability analysis issue subject to protocol scheduling. Subsequently, the particular effort is devoted to presenting the latest progress on various communication-protocol-based control and filtering problems according to the characteristics of networked systems (e.g. time-varying nature, random behaviours, types of parameter uncertainties, and kinds of distributed structure). After that, we provide a systematic review of the communication-protocol-based fault diagnosis problems. Finally, some research challenges of communication-protocol-based control and filtering problems are outlined for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the ℓ 2 – ℓ ∞ output-feedback control problem for a class of two-dimensional (2-D) switched systems described by the general Fornasini–Marchesini second model under the stochastic communication protocol (SCP). In a networked 2-D switched control system, the sensors and the controller are typically connected through a shared communication network of limited bandwidth, which is likely to result in data collision problem. To circumvent this network-induced problem, a new SCP is dedicatedly put forward for the 2-D switched system in order to orchestrate the transmission order of sensor nodes, under which only one sensor node obtains the privilege to access the network at each transmission instant. Then, based on the nominal system information compensation, a set of new mode-dependent output-feedback controllers is designed for 2-D switched systems subject to SCP and external disturbances. Moreover, using the average dwell-time approach, sufficient conditions are established to ensure the existence of the desired controllers that guarantee both the exponential mean-square stability and the ℓ 2 – ℓ ∞ performance. Finally, a numerical example is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller design method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the stabilization of the T-S fuzzy fractional rectangular descriptor time-delay system. To convert the fuzzy rectangular time-delay system into the fuzzy square time-delay system, a suitable dynamic compensator of proportional and derivative type is constructed, and the admissibility of the resultant square closed-loop system is enough to guarantee the stabilization of the nonlinear rectangular descriptor time-delay system. A sufficient condition is derived to ensure the stabilization for the considered system and the dynamic compensator parameters can be computed by solving the corresponding linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). A numerical example is provided to manifest the theoretical result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we are concerned with the problem of containment control for a class of nonlinear multi-agent system. The local dynamics under consideration is governed by a nonlinear system with time delays and white Gaussian noise. The multi-agent system consists of both leaders and followers, and the containment control protocol proposed is an interaction between the leaders and followers characterised by time-varying delays and switching topology. Under a certain assumption on the connectivity of the whole network, by constructing a Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional, and using the average dwell time approach and some new analytical techniques, the sufficient conditions are established to ensure that each follower converges in mean square to the convex hull spanned by the leaders. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the recursive estimation problem is investigated for the power quality disturbances. A system model for the power quality disturbances with multiplicative noises and correlated noises is proposed based on engineering practice. The multiplicative noises are considered to account for the stochastic disturbances on the system states. The process noise and the measurement noise are assumed to be one-step autocorrelated. The process noise and the measurement noise are two-step cross-correlated. Attention is focused on the design of an unbiased and recursive estimation algorithm in the presence of multiplicative noises and correlated noises. First, the state covariance, one-step prediction error covariance and estimation error covariance are derived. Then, the estimation error covariance is minimised by appropriately designing the estimator gain. Finally, simulation experiments under three scenarios are carried out to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed estimation scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the global exponential stability in Lagrange sense for quaternion-valued neural networks (QVNNs) with leakage delay, discrete time-varying delays and distributed delays. By structuring an advisable Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional in quaternion field, and adopting free-weighting-matrix method and inequality technique, a sufficient condition in quaternion-valued linear matrix inequality (LMI) to guarantee the global exponential stability in Lagrange sense is acquired, and the domain of attraction is estimated. A numerical example with simulations is supplied to confirm the availability and feasibility of the raised result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper designs the event-triggered non-fragile state estimator for a class of time-delayed complex networks with randomly occurring sensor saturations (ROSSs) and estimator gain variations on the basis of measurements from partial nodes. Both the time-varying state delays and the stochastic disturbances are considered in the network model. A Bernoulli-distributed white sequence is utilized to reflect the phenomenon of ROSSs. Two sequences of Gaussian distributed random variables combined with the multiplicative norm-bounded uncertainties are used to characterize the randomly occurring gain variations in the estimators. An event generator function is employed to regulate the transmission of data from the sensor to the estimator. The aim of this paper is to design an exponentially ultimately bounded state estimator in mean square through measurement outputs from a partial of network nodes under the event-triggered mechanism. With the help of Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional and stochastic analysis techniques, sufficient conditions are acquired for the existence of the desired state estimator which ensures that the estimation error dynamics is exponentially ultimately bounded in mean square, and then the estimator gain matrices can be computed via the software Matlab. A simulation example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed state estimation method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we discuss the event-triggered resilient filtering problem for a class of time-varying systems subject to stochastic uncertainties and successive packet dropouts. The event-triggered mechanism is employed with hope to reduce the communication burden and save network resources. The stochastic uncertainties are considered to describe the modelling errors and the phenomenon of successive packet dropouts is characterized by a random variable obeying the Bernoulli distribution. The aim of the paper is to provide a resilient event-based filtering approach for addressed time-varying systems such that, for all stochastic uncertainties, successive packet dropouts and filter gain perturbation, an optimized upper bound of the filtering error covariance is obtained by designing the filter gain. Finally, simulations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed robust optimal filtering strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the distributed optimisation problem for multi-agent systems with the first-order dynamics over Markovian switching topologies. The interaction topology among agents’ switches following a Markov process and each topology is modelled as a state of the Markov process. The aim is to minimise the global cost functions and make the agents converge to the optimal point through the network communication between the agents, where each agent has a local convex cost function only known by itself. Utilising the knowledge of convex analysis and graph theory, we establish a distributed algorithm for the optimisation problem with randomly switching topologies. A sufficient condition for the existence of such algorithm is obtained by using the Lyapunov method. Besides, the result is also extended to the cases of a Markov process with partially unknown transition rates. Finally, numerical simulations are given to validate the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we are concerned with the problem of analysis and synthesis for a class of output feedback control system. The system under consideration is a discrete-time stochastic system with time-varying delay. It is assumed that the measurement of system is quantized via a logarithmic quantizer before it is transmitted, and the measurement data would be missing from time to time which can be described by a Bernoulli distributed white sequence. In addition, the nonlinearities are assumed to satisfy the sector conditions. The problem addressed is to design an output feedback controller such that the resulting closed-loop system is exponentially stable in the mean square. By employing Lyapunov theory and some new techniques, a new framework is established to cope with the design of output feedback controller for nonlinear systems involving quantization and missing measurement. Sufficient conditions are derived to guarantee the existence of the desired controllers, and the controller parameters are given in an explicit expression as well. A numerical example is exploited to show the usefulness of the results obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the parameter estimation problem for Cox–Ingersoll–Ross model based on discrete observation. First, a new discretized process is built based on the Euler–Maruyama scheme. Then, the parameter estimators are obtained by employing the maximum likelihood method and the explicit expressions of the error of estimation are given. Subsequently, the consistency property of all parameter estimators are proved by applying the law of large numbers for martingales, Holder’s inequality, B–D–G inequality and Cauchy–Schwarz inequality. Finally, a numerical simulation example for estimators and the absolute error between estimators and true values is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the estimation approach used in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the problem of simultaneous input and state estimation for a class of linear discrete-time systems with missing measurements and correlated noises. The missing measurements occur in a random way and are governed by a series of mutually independent random variables obeying a certain Bernoulli distribution. The process and measurement noises under consideration are correlated at the same time instant. Our attention is focused on the design of recursive estimators for both input and state such that, for all missing measurements and correlated noises, the estimators are unbiased and the estimation error covariances are minimized. This objective is achieved using direct algebraic operation and the design algorithm for the desired estimators is given. Finally, an illustrative example is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an H2analytical decoupling control scheme with multivariable disturbance observer for both stable and unstable multi-input/multi-output (MIMO) systems with multiple time delays is proposed. Compared with conventional control strategies, the main merit is that the proposed control scheme can improve the system performances effectively when the MIMO processes with severe model mismatches and strong external disturbances. Besides, the design method has three additional advantages. First, the derived controller and observer are given in analytical forms, the design procedure is simple. Second, the orders of the designed controller and observer are low, they can be implemented easily in practice. Finally, the performance and robustness can be adjusted easily by tuning the parameters in the designed controller and observer. It is useful for practical application. Simulations are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we are concerned with the robustfiltering problem for a class of nonlinear discrete time-delay stochastic systems. The system under consideration involves parameter uncertainties, stochastic disturbances, time-varying delays and sector nonlinearities. Both missing measurements and randomly occurring nonlinearities are described via the binary switching sequences satisfying a conditional probability distribution, and the nonlinearities are assumed to be sector bounded. The problem addressed is the design of a full-order filter such that, for all admissible uncertainties, nonlinearities and time-delays, the dynamics of the filtering error is constrained to be robustly exponentially stable in the mean square, and a prescribeddisturbance rejection attenuation level is also guaranteed. By using the Lyapunov stability theory and some new techniques, sufficient conditions are first established to ensure the existence of the desired filtering parameters. Then, the explicit expression of the desired filter gains is described in terms of the solution to a linear matrix inequality. Finally, a numerical example is exploited to show the usefulness of the results derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the synchronization problem about linear singularly perturbed complex network system with coupling delay. The sufficient delay-dependent conditions for the synchronization of the network are established by introducing an equivalent network system with the Lyapunov stability theory. These conditions, which are formulated in terms of linear matrix inequalities, can be solved efficiently by the LMI toolbox of MATLAB. A simulation example is provided to show the validity of the proposed the synchronization conditions of the whole network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this note, we consider a novel reliable estimation problem for a class of two-dimensional (2-D) discrete linear systems with incomplete observations. The time delays existing in 2-D systems are assumed to be infinitely distributed in the discrete-time domain. Factors leading to incomplete observations include delayed and missing measurements, sensor quantization and saturations. A uniform mathematical model is employed to describe the phenomenon of incomplete observations. Our attention is focused on the design of a linear state estimator for the discussed 2-D systems, such that for all admissible sensor failures, possible infinite distributed time delays and incomplete observations, the error dynamics is mean-square asymptotically stable, and the steady-state error of the estimation is not more than a prescribed level. The flexibility of the proposed approach is confirmed by a numerical simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the guaranteed cost control problem is investigated for a class of nonlinear systems with Markovian jumping parameters and mixed time delays. The time delays involved consist of the mode-dependent discrete time delay and the distributed time delay with mode-dependent upper and lower boundaries; the associated cost function is a quadratic function, and nonlinear functions are assumed to satisfy sector-bounded conditions. By introducing new Lyapunov–Krasovskii functionals and some analytic techniques, the sufficient conditions for the existence of guaranteed cost controllers are derived for the systems and related cost function. Moreover, a linear matrix inequality (LMI) based approach to design the optimal guaranteed cost controller is formulated to minimise the guaranteed cost of the closed-loop system. Numerical simulation is further carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, discrete-time multi-agent consensus problem with quantization and communication delays is investigated. A new discrete-time multi-agent consensus model is considered in which each agent can only receive the delayed quantized information from its neighbors. In the presence of quantization and communication delays, it is shown that the multi-agent network can achieve consensus under the connectivity network topology. Simulation examples are also provided to demonstrate the correctness of the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article, the distributed consensus problem is considered for discrete-time delayed networks of dynamic agents with fixed topologies, where the networks under investigation are directed and the time delays involved are distributed time delays including a single or multiple time delay(s) as special cases. By using the invariance principle of delay difference systems, a new unified framework is established to deal with the consensus for the discrete-time delayed multi-agent system. It is shown that the addressed discrete-time network with arbitrary distributed time delays reaches consensus provided that it is strongly connected. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the proposed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we deal with the synchronization problem for an array of linearly coupled neural networks with simultaneous presence of both the discrete and unbounded distributed time-delays. By utilizing a novel Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional and the Kronecker product, it is shown that the addressed synchronization problem is solvable if several linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) are feasible. Hence, different from the commonly used matrix norm theories (such as the M-matrix method), a unified LMI approach is developed to establish sufficient conditions for the coupled neural networks to be globally synchronized, where the LMIs can be easily solved by using the Matlab LMI toolbox and no tuning of parameters is required. It is also shown that the synchronization of coupled neural networks with bounded distributed delays is just a special case of our main results. A numerical example is provided to show the usefulness of the proposed global synchronization condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]