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Background: Transbronchial lung cryobiopsy (TBLC) is a novel technique for sampling lung tissue for interstitial lung disease (ILD) diagnosis. Despite its increasing use, the diagnostic accuracy of TBLC compared to surgical lung biopsy (SLB) remains unclear. Methods: We conducted a prospective, multicentre study investigating diagnostic agreement between TBLC and SLB. After screening at a centralised multi-disciplinary discussion (MDD), ILD patients referred for lung biopsy underwent sequential TBLC and SLB under one anaesthetic. Blinded analysis of biopsy samples was conducted by 3 pathologists, individually and by consensus. At subsequent MDD, deidentified cases were discussed twice with either TBLC or SLB along with clinical and radiological data, in random non-consecutive order. Primary endpoints were: 1) agreement of histopathological features in TBLC and SLB for patterns of "definite/probable usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP)", "indeterminate for UIP" and "alternative diagnosis"; and for 2) agreement of consensus clinical diagnosis using TBLC and SLB at MDD. Concordance and kappa values were calculated. Findings: 65 patients (31 males; age 66·1±9·3yrs; FVC 84·7±14·2%; DLCO 63·4±13·8%) were enrolled. TBLC (7·1±1·9mm) and SLB samples (46·5±14·9mm) were each taken from two separate ipsilateral lobes. Histopathological agreement between TBLC and SLB was 70·8%, weighted κ 0·70 (95%CI 0·55-0·86); diagnostic agreement at MDD was 76·9%, κ 0·62 (95%CI 0·47-0·78). For TBLC with high/definite diagnostic confidence at MDD (39/65, 60% cases), 37 (94·9%) were concordant with SLB diagnoses. In the 26/65 (40.0%) with low-confidence/unclassifiable TBLC diagnoses, SLB reclassified only 6 (23.1%) to alternative high/definite MDD diagnoses. Mild-moderate airway bleeding occurred in 14 (21.5%) patients due to TBLC. Interpretation: High agreement between TBLC and SLB for histopathological patterns and MDD diagnoses support the clinical utility of TBLC in ILD diagnostic algorithms. Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry http://www.anzctr.org.au/ study ID ACTRN12615000718549. Funding Statement: University of Sydney, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Erbe Elektromedizin GmbH, Medtronic, Cook Medical, Rymed, Karl-Storz, Zeiss and Olympus. Declaration of Interests: LKT received study-related unrestricted educational grants or inkind support from the aforementioned commercial entities, on behalf of the COLDICE Investigator Team. TJC reports grants, personal fees and non-financial support from Boehringer Ingelheim, grants and personal fees from Roche, grants from Galapagos, grants from Actelion, grants from Bayer, outside the submitted work. MPV sits on the advisory boards of Medtronic and Edwards Lifesciences, and consults for Edwards Lifesciences and Abbott. GR provides consultation for Bellerophon, Biogen, BMS, FibroGen, Gilead, Nitto, Revistan, Promedior, Sanofi, Veracyte, Roche-Genentech, Avalyn and Boehringer Ingelheim. JM is an unpaid collaborator in the Veracyte BRAVE Trial. Ethics Approval Statement: Ethics approval of the trial protocol was provided by an independent ethics committee at each participating site. Both the steering committee and data and safety monitoring board provided trial oversight, including contemporaneous review of all safety events. Participants gave fully informed consent.

Abnormal protein kinase C (PKC) function contributes to many pathophysiological processes relevant for Alzheimer's disease (AD), such as amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing. Phorbol esters and other PKC activators have been demonstrated to enhance the secretion of soluble APP alpha (sAPP alpha), reduce the levels of beta-amyloid (A beta), induce synaptogenesis, and promote neuroprotection. We have previously described isophthalate derivatives as a structurally simple family of PKC activators. Here, we characterised the effects of isophthalate derivatives HMI-1a3 and HMI-1b11 on neuronal viability, neuroinflammatory response, processing of APP and dendritic spine density and morphology in in vitro. HMI-1a3 increased the viability of embryonic primary cortical neurons and decreased the production of the pro-inflammatory mediator TNF alpha, but not that of nitric oxide, in mouse neuron-BV2 microglia co-cultures upon LPS- and IFN-gamma-induced neuroinflammation. Furthermore, both HMI-1a3 and HMI-1b11 increased the levels of sAPPa relative to total sAPP and the ratio of A beta 42/A beta 40 in human SH-Sv5v neuroblastoma cells. Finally, bryostatin-1, but not HMI-1a3, increased the number of mushroom spines in proportion to total spine density in mature mouse hippocampal neuron cultures. These results suggest that the PKC activator HMI-1a3 exerts neuroprotective functions in the in vitro models relevant for AD by reducing the production of TNF alpha and increasing the secretion of neuroprotective sAPPa.

Background For Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, adherence to a regular PD medication schedule is important in achieving optimal symptom control. There are few published studies quantifying PD medication administrations in hospitalized PD patients. Methods Hospitalization records for 100 veterans with idiopathic PD and admitted to our center were reviewed to determine the on time rate and contraindicated medication doses. A barcode based computerized medication administration system within the electronic medical record provided information of the exact time the medication was given to a patient. Results Eighty-nine idiopathic PD patients met study inclusion criteria. Among them, 87 were on levodopa monotherapy or in combination with other PD medications. Two patients were on dopamine agonists only. A total of 3873 doses of PD medications were prescribed during hospitalization. Among 675 incorrect medication administrations, 322 doses were omitted, 300 doses late by ≥30 min, and 53 doses given early by ≥30 min. Contraindicated medications were prescribed for 19 patients. The correct administration percentage was lower during the first 2 days post-admission compared to subsequent days (mean 74.6% vs. 82.8%) and higher for patients who had neurological consultations (mean 85.5% vs. 76.5%). Correct administration rates were better for patient-based medication schedules (85.6%) than with hospital-based schedules (77.5%), but did not achieve statistical significance. Conclusion Adherence to regular PD medication dosing schedules during hospitalization is problematic, but improves with specialist consultation. Staff involved in the admission process for PD patients should work to safeguard against disruption of the prescribed home dosing schedule.

Motor overflow is an unintentional muscle contraction which accompanies, but is anatomically distinct from the primary dystonic movement. This phenomenological nosology has not been systematically studied in focal hand dystonia (FHD). We conducted a prospective, case-control study to characterize motor overflow and mirror dystonia in patients with FHD. We compared the performance of 30 patients with FHD and 40 healthy controls on a variety of motor tasks, such as writing, drawing a spiral, straight line and a sine wave, repetitive wrist flexion-extension, finger tapping, hand grasping, hand pronation-supination, and a finger-to-nose task with each hand. The assessments were videotaped, the edited video segments were randomized, and an independent investigator who was "blind" to the subject's diagnosis rated the ipsilateral and contralateral overflow and mirror dystonia twice, 6 months apart. Using the mean of the two ratings, ipsilateral overflow was identified in 8.5 +/- 2.1 (28%) patients and in 1.5 +/- 0.7 (4%) controls (p0.001), contralateral overflow in 2.5 +/- 0.7 (8%) patients and in 1.5 +/- 0.7 (4%) of controls (p = 0.138), and mirror movement in 20.0 +/- 0.0 (67%) of patients and in 15.5 +/- 4.9 (39%) of controls (p = 0.001). There was a statistically significant correlation of dystonia and overflow score (Pearson's r 0.713, p0.001). The relatively high frequency of ipsilateral overflow and mirror dystonia in patients with FHD has both pathophysiological and therapeutic implications. In this study, the severity of dystonia was significantly correlated with motor overflow in multiple tasks.

In this brief, three novel structure supports for on-chip CMOS-based micromachined inductors are proposed to improve mechanical stability. The inductors are fabricated using a two-step maskless post-CMOS process. A 3-D electromagnetic inductor simulation model is established for performance analysis of the inductors before fabrication. The proposed inductors are applied in the matching network of the double-balanced Gilbert mixer to improve the performance and mechanical reliability for mobile communication. The mixers with and without micromachined process inductors are fabricated in a 0.5-mum CMOS process. The measurement results show an 18.6% increase in the conversion gain, a 31.7% improvement in the third intercept point (IIP3), and a 25.3% reduction in the noise figure.

A controller design method is provided to simultaneously stabilize a collection of nonlinear control systems in canonical form. It is shown that, under a mild assumption, any collection of nonlinear systems in canonical form can be simultaneously stabilized by one continuous state feedback controller. A constructive universal formula is presented explicitly. An illustrative example is given to demonstrate the validity of the method. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society

This paper describes an axiomatic functional and object-oriented design framework for co-design and co-analysis of product functions, physical structures, and their mapping relations. This design framework consists of function model, object model, information flow model, and axiomatic design model. These models are constructed level-by-level and side-by-side to form a concurrent and coordinated design paradigm. The components of the resulting design are reviewed by the design team, summarized in a task assignment table, and allocated to respective disciplinary engineers for detail design. This methodology enables mechanical, electronic, and software engineers to collaborate and develop mechatronic products in a concurrent and integrated fashion.

The applause sign has been previously reported to be indicative of neurodegenerative disorders, such as progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). In order to determine the sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value, we tested it in patients with PSP, Parkinson's disease (PD), multiple system atrophy (MSA), corticobasal degeneration (CBD), and Huntington's disease (HD). Subjects were asked to clap three times after demonstration by the examiner. The performance was scored as follows: 3 = claps only three times; 2 = claps four times; 1 = claps 5 to 10 times; 0 = claps >10 times. The clap test was videotaped and rated. Patients with CBD, MSA, and PSP showed significant differences in clap scores compared with normal controls. The test differentiated patients with CBD from those with PD (P < 0.005) and HD (P < 0.005), but failed to discriminate patients with PSP from other parkinsonian groups. The specificity of the applause sign is 100% in distinguishing parkinsonian patients from normal subjects with the highest sensitivity in CBD patients. We concluded that the applause sign is highly specific for parkinsonian disorders but it is not a specific sign for PSP; it appears to be most sensitive for CBD.

We present a study of magnetization reversal on microstructured permalloy thin film rings using a magnetic force microscopy in the presence of external magnetic fields up to 540 Oe. Permalloy rings with fixed thickness/outside diameter of 23 nm/5 μm and inside diameter of 2.2 and 2.6μm, respectively, were fabricated by using standard electron beam lithography through a lift-off process. Four transitions during magnetization reversal were observed on the one with 2.2 μm inside diameter, in which the magnetization was evolved from onion to vortex-pair, vortex-pair to vortex, vortex to vortex-core, vortex-core to reverse onion state. The remanent state was flux closure vortex state. A similar magnetization evolution occurred on the one with 2.6 μm inside diameter except that the remanent state was vortex pair. The numerical simulation results using OOMMF showed good agreement with the experimental results. These multiple stable states during the magnetization reversal may provide an excellent opportunity for developing multi-bit storage cells. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

The effect of interdiffusion on the exchange coupling field (Hex) and coercivity (Hc) in annealing NiFe/FeMn and FeMn/NiFe systems was investigated in the study. Type I samples: Silicon substrate/Ta/NiFe/FeMn/Ta and Type II samples: Silicon substrate/Ta/FeMn/NiFe/Ta were prepared. Annealing was carried out at 200 to 450 °C for two hours under 720 Oe, respectively. The results show that the Hex and Hc in two types samples were dependent on the annealing temperature. For both types the magnetization loss ratio (ΔM/MS) is negative, which reflects a loss of magnetization associated with interfacial mixing caused by annealing. The magnetization loss ratio becomes larger when the annealing temperature increases. The exchange coupling of these two types samples is associated with interfacial diffusion between the NiFe and FeMn interface. The annealing treatment also affected the Hc. In these two types samples, the exchange coupling was improved from modification of the interface between layers by annealing. The extended annealing (above 375 °C) changes the exchange coupling in these two types samples due to serious interdiffusion of the interface between NiFe and FeMn layers. It results in unwanted interdiffusion effects at the interface and a concomitant reduction in the exchange bias field. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

The magnetization reversal processes of single and chained permalloy thin film ellipses were investigated by using magnetoresistance measurements and magnetic force microscopy. The permalloy ellipses with fixed short axis of 1 micrometer and various long axes of 6, 8, 10 micrometers, respectively, were fabricated by standard electron beam lithography through a lift-off process. It was found that the switching field increases with increasing the long axis of the ellipse in the case of single ellipse. The switching field of two ellipses in series is higher than that of each individual one. The stronger shape anisotropy is accounted for the increasing of switching field in longer element, in which two ellipse in series can be seen as a longer element as a whole. In the case of two identical and a longer ellipses in series, the switching field falls in-between those two measured on individual shorter and longer ones. Magnetic force microscopy reveals a wavelike domain configuration nucleated during magnetization reversal only in the middle one of three chained ellipses, in which this kind of non-coherent reversal process may contribute to the decreasing of the switching field. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

In this work, a stable de-aggregated solvent-swollen organic modified clay, ALA–MMT, suspension is prepared by an efficient solvent swelling process using a home-made shaking mixer. It is found that the estimated average size of the as-prepared organoclay particles in the suspension is reduced to about 155 nm, which has not been reported before. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns confirm that the d -spacing of the silicate layers of the solvent-swollen ALA–MMT expands from 1.4 nm to about 2.1 nm. The de-aggregated solvent-swollen ALA–MMT suspension is then used with polyurethane (PU) to prepare a series of highly exfoliated and high-organoclay-loading nanocomposites, PU/ALA–MMT. Both the XRD patterns and the TEM photographs of the as-prepared PU/ALA–MMT nanocomposites indicate that the organoclay is uniformly dispersed in the PU matrix with a highly exfoliated morphology structure of up to 7 wt% loading. Meanwhile, the TEM photographs give the first report for PU/clay nanocomposites which are almost completely exfoliated, and ∼1-nm thin silicate nanolayers are homogeneously dispersed in the polymer matrix with a high aspect ratio of 30–100. The thermal, mechanical, and anti-corrosion properties are all tremendously enhanced for the as-prepared nanocomposites. The results obtained for the PU nanocomposite with 7 wt% ALA–MMT loading (PUC7) reveal a 19 °C increment in T g , a 48 °C increment in T 5% , a 248% increase in the tensile strength, and a 123% increase in the elongation. The stainless steel disk (SSD) coated with PUC7 shows the lowest corrosion rate of 2.01 × 10 −6 mm/year, which is 469% lower than that of the SSD coated with pure PU. The reinforcements are much greater than the previously reported PU/clay nanocomposites with comparable clay loadings ascribed to the exceptional homogeneity of as-prepared nanocomposites, which are accredited largely to the stable de-aggregated solvent-swollen organoclay suspension generated by the efficient solvent swelling process.

It was presented the in situ observation of growth behavior and morphology of delta-ferrite as a function of solidification rate in an AISI304 stainless steel. The specimens have been solidified and observed using confocal scanning laser microscopy (CSLM). The δ-phase always appears like cells on the sample surface when critical supercooling occurs, during which the L→δ transformation starts. The solid-liquid (S-L) interface is found to be finger shaped and has no faceted shape. γ phase appears among δ grains due to partitioning of Ni into the melt during solidification, when solidification rate is higher. The mergence of observed δ cells is possible for the steel sample cooled at 7.5°C/min. The formation of dendrites can be observed on the free surface of the steel sample cooled at 150°C/min. The size of solidified delta grains decreases from 120 to 20–80μm, and the volume fraction of solidified austenite increases with increase in solidification rate from 7.5 to 150°C/min. The relation between the tip radius of δ cell and its growth rate is deduced, and the results agree with the experimental values.

The hydrolysis of olive oil catalyzed by Chromobacterium viscosum lipase (EC 3.1.1.3) in a water/isooctane two-phase system was carried out both under ultrasound and conventional stirring. The maximum activity of lipase in the ultrasonicated system was 1.75 times higher than that in the stirred system. The lipase activity was dependent on ultrasonic power and volume ratio of isooctane to water. The optimum reaction temperature in both systems was around 25°C. The stability of lipase at 25°C in the ultrasonicated system decreased more rapidly than that in the stirred system. In the presence of exogenous oleic acid, however the half-life of lipase in the ultrasonicated system was improved to a value, which was respectively half and twice of that in stirred systems with and without oleic acid. The maximum reaction rate (Vmax) was increased by ultrasonication whereas the Michaelis constant (Km) remained unaltered.

Molecular structures of 43 azobenzene derivatives were calculated by DFT-B3LYP//cc-pVDZ method. The absorption spectrum and the electron transition of each studied molecule were obtained through the analyses of 10 excited states by the ZINDO/S//B3LYP/cc-pVDZ, CIS//B3LYP/cc-pVDZ, and TD//B3LYP/cc-pVDZ methods. For the symmetric molecules, the electron transitions are π–π * transition. Not all the transitions are the HOMO, LUMO transition. In order to compare the theoretical results of the absorption maxima with the experimental ones, multivariable linear regression methods were selected, considering numerous variables. Correlation equations were given at the 95% predictive interval.

Reversible and irreversible magnetization processes of the single-domain elliptical permalloy dot are studied by simulation. The magnetization curve of the reversible process obtained by applying the field along the hard axis of the elliptical dot is almost linear, as is the case in the single-domain ellipsoidal particle. Due to the occurrence of the non uniform reversal, the switching field is reduced significantly compared to that predicted by the Stoner–Wohlfarth model. The nucleation fields of elliptical dots are calculated as a function of ellipse's aspect ratio, and the function reveals a step-like behavior.

Micromagnetic states are strongly related to sizes of nano-dots. The quasiuniform state becomes unstable and transforms to a new nonuniform state as the diameter of the permalloy circular dot exceeds some critical size. The magnetization curvature increases gradually as the diameter increases. Finally, when the diameter is larger than another critical size, the new nonuniform state becomes unstable and a vortex enters the particle. Hence the new nonuniform state plays an intermediate role in the evolution from the quasiuniform state to the vortex state as the diameter increases.

The magnetization switching behavior of permalloy ring elements as a function of ring diameter and film thickness by magnetoresistance measurement is presented. The permalloy ring elements, with diameters of 2–5 μm and a thickness of 14–66 nm, were fabricated by electron beam lithography through a lift-off process. The switching field for the transition from the vortex state to the onion state increases with decreasing size. Furthermore, the switching field increases with increasing thickness up to a critical value of about 53–65 nm, over which the switching field tends to decrease with increasing thickness.

Wind power is considered as a potential energy to solve the power shortage. The wind farm and wind power generation develop quickly these years. Due to the influence of the tides which determined sea level, the grounding impedance of wind turbines will be in a greater fluctuation and even reach a dangerous figure. So it is necessary to research on the grounding impedance of offshore wind turbines especially in intertidal zone. In this paper, steel gravity foundations of offshore wind turbines were selected as calculation models using CDEGS software. Various affecting factors were considered, including depth of seawater caused by tide, soil resistivity, thickness of claypan and gravel according to the characteristics of area of wind farm. Different size, material, and installation method of gravity foundations are also considered and calculated. Simulation results show that grounding impedance is influenced most severely by depth of seawater. On the basis of calculation, the limit values of grounding impedance in some kinds of area that wind farms locate in are given. The following shows relations between grounding impedance and depth of sea water in different soil resistivity area for example.

The micro-strips with patterned magnetic domains using electron beam lithography have been made to study the geometric shape dependence of coercivity. The size of the micro-strip is 10 μm×30 μm with 0.5 μm periods hole arrays pattern. Arrays with different types of geometry, such as square-, circle-, and ellipse-shapes have been made. Amorphous rear-earth transition-metal (RE-TM) thin films with magnetic perpendicular anisotropy were deposited on the micro-strips. The extraordinary Hall effect has been employed to measure the hysteresis loop and the coercivity of the sample. We have found that for the same deposited material, the magnitude of coercivity for various shapes are dissimilar. For example, the coercivity of the ellipse-shaped hole arrays is much larger than the coercivity of the square-shaped hole arrays. In addition, we observed that the coercivity of the patterned sites was larger than the sites without patterns for RE-dominated compounds and the coercivity of the patterned sites was smaller than the sites without patterns for TM-dominated compounds. The magnetic moments canting between RE and TM subnetworks will be used to explain the observed phenomena.

Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and magnetic domain structure were studied in epitaxial (Co(t C0 )/Pt(10 As )) 30 (t C0 "2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5 and 10 As ) multilayers prepared on Al 2 O 3 (1 1 -2 0) substrate via Mo or Pt seed layer. The best perpendicular magnetic e!ect occurred for t C0 & 3A s. At remnant state the domain size tends to increase as t C0 decreases, and the domain structure depends strongly on the seed layer. For (Co(3 As )/Pt(10 As )) 30 multilayers grown on gold grid made hole arrays, the polar coercivity inside the holes is di!erent from those on the gold land and unpatterned area. ( 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

We have shown in previous papers that the magnetic domains could be pinned inside the artificially patterned hole arrays under suitable geometry aspect ratio. Nevertheless, we have found that if we reverse the magnetization directions through domain wall motion, the confined domains expand from smaller territory into larger territory for some samples. In addition, the pinned domains maintained the same moment's orientation after the domain expansion. The possible reason for the pinned domains to retain the same moment's orientation maybe those pinning holes that act as high anisotropy defects. Thus, domain wall motion was around the high anisotropy sites and only peeled away the domain in the land area while the enclosed domain of the hole area maintained the same orientation. Moreover, the feasible reason for the expansion domains is the coercive force, which is perpendicular to the side-walls and pinning the domains inside the holes, are relaxed and thus causing the domains growth. This phenomenon is called the relaxation of pinning domains.

A method for pinning magnetic domains with prescribed shapes has been developed for the magneto-optical thin "lm material Dy x (FeCo) 1~x . The pinning array of holes on the substrate was fabricated using electron beam lithography. The thin "lm of Dy x (FeCo) 1~x sandwiched between SiN layers was deposited onto a patterned polymethyl methacrylate layer. The pinned domains acquire the shape of the holes, while the sharpness of their boundaries depends on the size of the holes. The stability of the pinned domains is a!ected by the sample’s magnetization. In our experiments, the minimum stable domain size pinned within the hole array was found to be around 50 nm in diameter. ( 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

A novel method for pinning magnetic domains on pre-formatted pinning sites has been developed for perpendicular magnetic anisotropy magneto-optical (MO) thin film media. The pinning sites were artificial lattices made by patterning a layer of gold grid on the substrate using electron beam lithography. Compared with the work proposed using photo- lithography, our method showed the ability of making smaller pinning domains. Moreover, compared with our previous work using the same electron beam lithography method and creating hole arrays on polymethyl methacrylate, this new method could stand higher film deposition temperatures and avoid the MO films rapid deterioration on a PMMA substrate. In order to investigate the domain pinning behavior we did several different procedures and observed their corresponding domain pinning layouts. Magnetic domains were found to be pinned inside the lattice and resembled the geometric shapes of the lattice. The pinned domains acquired the shape of the lattice. In this article, the star-shaped type of geometry of grid arrays is presented.

This letter presents the comparison of three novel structure supports for on-chip complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-based micromachined inductors by using a proposed two-step maskless post-CMOS process. A 3-D electromagnetic inductor simulation model is established and calibrated with inductor fabrication. The proposed inductors are applied in the matching network of the double-balanced Gilbert mixer to improve the performance and the mechanical stability. The mixers, with and without micromachined process inductors, are fabricated in a 0.5-mum CMOS process and compared in this letter. The measurement results show a 28.12% increase in conversion gain, a 31.7% improvement in third intercept point, and a 44% reduction in the noise figure.

The Duffing oscillator is a useful model for the non-linear behavior of structural systems. This paper studies the applications of two control strategies to Duffing oscillators; namely, an optimal polynomial control and robust sliding mode control. An advantage of the polynomial controller investigated is that, for a given appropriate weighting matrices, the gain matrices for different orders of the controller can be computed easily by solving Riccati and Lyapunov equations. It is demonstrated through numerical simulation results that the stability region of the softening Duffing system can be expanded rapidly by the optimal polynomial controller and the entire state space of the closed-loop system becomes asymptotically stable when the gain matrix reaches a certain level. On the other hand, the closed-loop softening system is always asymptotically stable in the entire state space for the robust sliding-mode controller. The performances of both controllers, in terms of the system response reduction and the required control effort, have been studied through numerical simulations. Simulation results indicate that the performance of the optimal polynomial controller presented in this paper in reducing the response of the Duffing systems is comparable to a polynomial controller proposed recently in the literature. In comparison with polynomial controllers, the performance of robust sliding-mode control is quite remarkable.

Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of mortality in the USA. Because the regenerative capacity of cardiac tissue is limited, human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) have emerged as a potential source for cellular-based therapies. However, for these therapies to be effective, sufficient numbers of differentiated cells must be produced and properly sorted, arrhythmias must be avoided, and mechanical force must be produced. In this chapter, we describe directed differentiation of hPSCs into cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs), cell sorting of hPSC-CMs, and electrical, optogenetic and mechanical stimulation of hPSC-CMs for improving their function. Finally, we discuss using hPSC-CMs for disease modeling.

The coercivity of patterned magnetooptical (MO) thin film media is quite different from that of nonpatterned samples. During the demagnetization process, we observed the sample's magnetic domain motion and structures. It was quite obvious that the coercivity values in the hole regions are unlike those on the land regions for patterned magnetic materials. Nevertheless, it was not possible to compute coercivity of holes and land regions directly. In this study, we measured of microhysteresis curves at a patterned position while mapping coercivity distribution using a Kerr microscope. The submicrometer images of the remanent state of domain reversal patterns were observed using a magnetic force microscope.

SUMMARY This study deals with dynamics and control of a rider-motorcycle system model in Hamiltonian form. The model is established to account for not only the motorcycle dynamics but also changes in rider's postures. Tyre forces are treated as external forces and rider's control actions contain three actuation torques. The Hamiltonian system is subject to dissipation effects due to tyre forces and rider's control torques. In addition to the total Hamiltonian, a generalized free energy is employed in formulation. Lyapunov's second method provides sufficient conditions for stability. Variable structure system (VSS) control is used to account for stabilization control exerted by the rider. Simulation results validate the proposed method.

A design method is presented for fuzzy control to stabilize a system subject to non-holonomic constraints. Although a time-varying feedback law has been proposed for stabilizing non-holonomic systems, it results in slow convergence. By contrast, the current study employs fuzzy control designed with sliding modes to stabilize non-holonomic systems. The non-holonomic system becomes input-output linearizable via a proper choice of output function. Fuzzy control is formulated to become a class of variable structure system (VSS) control. Moreover, it is designed with the aid of sliding modes to ensure stability. A rider-motorcycle system, assuming rolling contact between tyres and ground, can be treated as a non-holonomic system. Owing to the motorcycle's static natural instability, stabilization control becomes an important task while riding. Using the proposed method, both hands-off and hands-on rider control are investigated. The effects of stabilization control exerted by the rider are examined according to simulation results.