Topology optimization of flexure hinges with a prescribed compliance matrix based on the adaptive spring model and stress constraint

This paper focuses on the configuration design of flexure hinges with a prescribed compliance matrix and preset rotational center position. A new method for the topology optimization of flexure hinges is proposed based on the adaptive spring model and stress constraint. The hinge optimization model is formulated by maximizing the bending displacement with a spring while optimizing the compliance matrix to a prescribed value. To avoid numerical instability, an artificial spring is used as an auxiliary calculation, and a new strategy is developed for adaptively adjusting the spring stiffness according to the prescribed compliance matrix. The maximum stress of flexure hinge is limited by using a normalized P-norm of the effective von Mises stress, and a position constraint of rotational center is proposed to predetermine the position of the rotational center. In addition, to reduce the error of the stress measurement, a simple but effective filtering method is presented to obtain a complete black-and-white design. Numerical examples are used to verify the proposed method. Topology results show that the obtained flexure hinges have the prescribed compliance matrix and preset rotational center position while also meeting the stress requirements.     

Finite-time adaptive fuzzy control for a class of output constrained nonlinear systems with dead-zone

The article investigates the finite-time adaptive fuzzy control for a class of nonlinear systems with output constraint and input dead-zone. First, by skillfully combining the barrier Lyapunov function, backstepping design method, and finite-time control theory, a novel adaptive state-feedback tracking controller is constructed, and the output constraint of the nonlinear system is not violated. Second, the fuzzy logic system is used to approximate unknown function in the nonlinear system. Third, the finite-time command filter is introduced to avoid the problem of “complexity explosion” caused by repeated differentiations of the virtual control signal in conventional backstepping control schemes. Meanwhile, a new saturation function is added in the compensating signal for filter error to improve control accuracy. Finally, based on Lyapunov stability analysis, all the signals of the closed-loop are proved to be semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded, and the tracking error converges to a small neighborhood region of the origin in a finite time. A simulation example is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness for the proposed control scheme.     

Machine fault diagnosis with small sample based on variational information constrained generative adversarial network

In actual engineering scenarios, limited fault data leads to insufficient model training and over-fitting, which negatively affects the diagnostic performance of intelligent diagnostic models. To solve the problem, this paper proposes a variational information constrained generative adversarial network (VICGAN) for effective machine fault diagnosis. Firstly, by incorporating the encoder into the discriminator to map the deep features, an improved generative adversarial network with stronger data synthesis capability is established. Secondly, to promote the stable training of the model and guarantee better convergence, a variational information constraint technique is utilized, which constrains the input signals and deep features of the discriminator using the information bottleneck method. In addition, a representation matching module is added to impose restrictions on the generator, avoiding the mode collapse problem and boosting the sample diversity. Two rolling bearing datasets are utilized to verify the effectiveness and stability of the presented network, which demonstrates that the presented network has an admirable ability in processing fault diagnosis with few samples, and performs better than state-of-the-art approaches.     

基于Word2Vec模型特征扩展的Web搜索结果聚类性能的改进

对于用户泛化和模糊的查询，将Web搜索引擎返回的列表内容聚类处理，便于用户有效查找感兴趣的内容。由于返回的列表由称为片段（snippet）的短文本组成，而传统的单词频率-逆文档频率（TF-IDF）特征选择模型不能适用于稀疏的短文本，使得聚类性能下降。一个有效的方法就是通过一个外部的知识库对短文本进行扩展。受到基于神经网络词表示方法的启发，提出了通过词嵌入技术的Word2Vec模型对短文本扩展，即采用Word2Vec模型的TopN个最相似的单词用于对片段（snippet）的扩展，扩展文档使得TF-IDF模型特征选择得到聚类性能的提高。同时考虑到通用性单词造成的噪声引入，对扩展文档的TF-IDF矩阵进行了词频权重修正。实验在两个公开数据集ODP239和SearchSnippets上完成，将所提方法和纯snippet无扩展的方法、基于Wordnet的特征扩展方法和基于Wikipedia的特征扩展方法进行了对比。实验结果表明，所提方法在聚类性能方面优于对比方法。     

虚拟手交互中约束类物体操作研究

虚拟手技术是虚拟现实技术中的一种交互方式，是指通过手势识别技术将人的真实手映射到虚拟环境中并与虚拟物体进行交互操作的人机交互方式。主要应用于虚拟训练、虚拟手术和虚拟装配等领域。对虚拟手交互的约束类对象进行了研究，提出了基于运动学的约束类物体操作方法，解决了阀门类有约束物体交互中虚拟手姿态不真实、操作不可控的问题。设计实验验证了基于运动学的方法能以符合实际操作的效果完成虚拟现实系统中的操作任务，可以应用到虚拟训练、虚拟装配等仿真平台。     

Event-triggered distributed receding horizon control for tracking and formation of homogeneous multi-agent systems

This paper proposes an event-triggered distributed receding horizon control (DRHC) approach for the formation and tracking problems of homogeneous multi-agent systems. For each agent, an event-triggering condition, based on assumed predictive information of the neighbours, is derived from stability analysis. Considering the uncertain deviation between the assumed and true predictive information, we design a time-varying compatibility constraint for the individual optimization problem. In the event-triggered DRHC algorithm, each agent solves the optimization problem and communicates with its neighbours only when the event-triggering condition is satisfied, so the communication and computation burden are reduced. Moreover, guarantees for the recursive feasibility and asymptotic stability of the overall system are proved. A simulation example is provided to illustrate effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

Multiphase topology optimization with a single variable using the phase-field design method

In this study, a multimaterial topology optimization method using a single variable is proposed by combining the solid isotropic material with penalization method and the reaction-diffusion equation. Unlike ordinary multimaterial optimization, which requires several variables depending on the number of material types, this method intends to represent various materials as one variable. The proposed method combines two special functions in the sensitivity analysis of the objective function to converge the design variable into prespecified density values defined for each of the multimaterials. The composition constraint based on a normal distribution function is also introduced to estimate the distribution of each target density value in a single variable. It enables density exchange between multiple materials by increasing or decreasing the amount of a specific material. The proposed method is applied to structural and electromagnetic problems to verify its effectiveness, and its usefulness is also confirmed from the viewpoint of cost and computation time.     

基于结构化遮挡编码和极限学习机的局部遮挡人脸识别

提出使用结构化遮挡编码（SOC）结合极限学习机（ELM）的算法来处理人脸识别中的遮挡问题。首先，使用SOC去除图像上的遮挡物，将遮挡物体与人脸分离开；同时，通过局部性约束字典（LCD）来估计遮挡物的位置，建立遮挡字典和人脸字典。然后，将建立好的人脸字典矩阵进行归一化处理，并利用ELM对归一化的数据进行分类识别。最后，在AR人脸库上进行的仿真实验结果表明，所提方法对不同遮挡物和不同区域遮挡的图像具有较好的识别率和鲁棒性。     

Analysis of Cerebrospinal Fluid Extracellular Vesicles by Proximity Extension Assay: A Comparative Study of Four Isolation Kits

There is a lack of reliable biomarkers for disorders of the central nervous system (CNS), and diagnostics still heavily rely on symptoms that are both subjective and difficult to quantify. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a promising source of biomarkers due to its close connection to the CNS. Extracellular vesicles are actively secreted by cells, and proteomic analysis of CSF extracellular vesicles (EVs) and their molecular composition likely reflects changes in the CNS to a higher extent compared with total CSF, especially in the case of neuroinflammation, which could increase blood–brain barrier permeability and cause an influx of plasma proteins into the CSF. We used proximity extension assay for proteomic analysis due to its high sensitivity. We believe that this methodology could be useful for de novo biomarker discovery for several CNS diseases. We compared four commercially available kits for EV isolation: MagCapture and ExoIntact (based on magnetic beads), EVSecond L70 (size-exclusion chromatography), and exoEasy (membrane affinity). The isolated EVs were characterized by nanoparticle tracking analysis, ELISA (CD63, CD81 and albumin), and proximity extension assay (PEA) using two different panels, each consisting of 92 markers. The exoEasy samples did not pass the built-in quality controls and were excluded from downstream analysis. The number of detectable proteins in the ExoIntact samples was considerably higher (~150% for the cardiovascular III panel and ~320% for the cell regulation panel) compared with other groups. ExoIntact also showed the highest intersample correlation with an average Pearson’s correlation coefficient of 0.991 compared with 0.985 and 0.927 for MagCapture and EVSecond, respectively. The median coefficient of variation was 5%, 8%, and 22% for ExoIntact, MagCapture, and EVSecond, respectively. Comparing total CSF and ExoIntact samples revealed 70 differentially expressed proteins in the cardiovascular III panel and 17 in the cell regulation panel. To our knowledge, this is the first time that CSF EVs were analyzed by PEA. In conclusion, analysis of CSF EVs by PEA is feasible, and different isolation kits give distinct results, with ExoIntact showing the highest number of identified proteins with the lowest variability.     

亚磷酸酯功能化聚硅氧烷扩链聚乳酸的阻燃性能研究

将聚氨基环氧基硅氧烷（PSQ）以及亚磷酸酯功能化的聚氨基环氧基硅氧烷（PPSQ）与聚乳酸（PLA）通过熔融共混制备了扩链PLA。研究了亚磷酸酯基团的引入对PSQ在PLA中的扩链和阻燃性能的影响，探究PPSQ在PLA中的阻燃机理。结果表明，相比于PSQ，PPSQ可以明显提高PLA的分子量和复合黏度，具有更好的扩链作用；PPSQ的引入可以明显改善PLA的阻燃性能，使得PLA?PPSQ的极限氧指数提高至25.4 %，比纯PLA提升了31.6 %，且使得PLA的热释放速率峰值和总热释放量分别下降了18.1 %和16.6 %。分析可知，由于亚磷酸酯基团的引入，促使PLA?PPSQ中的硅元素在燃烧过程中向炭层表面迁移形成更多富含碳化硅和氧化硅的致密炭层，起到隔热隔氧的作用，进而发挥优异的阻燃性能。