When is it reasonable to implement the discontinuous sliding‐mode controllers instead of the continuous ones? Frequency domain criteria

Professor Utkin proposed an example showing that the amplitude of chattering caused by the presence of parasitic dynamics (stable actuators) in some systems governed by the First‐Order Sliding‐Mode Controller is lower than that produced by the Super‐Twisting Algorithm. This example served to motivate this paper reconsidering the problem of comparison of chattering in systems with stable actuators, and driven by Discontinuous Sliding‐Mode Controllers (DSMCs) and Continuous Sliding‐Mode Controllers (CSMCs). Comparison of chattering produced by DSMC and CSMC taking into account their amplitudes, frequencies, and average power (AP) needed to maintain the system into real‐sliding modes, allowing to conclude the following: (i) for systems with slow actuators, the amplitude of oscillations and AP produced by DSMC be smaller than those caused by CSMC; (ii) for bounded disturbances with fixed Lipschitz constant, there exist sufficiently fast actuators for which the amplitude of oscillations and AP produced by CSMC be smaller than those caused by DSMC.     

Genetically Encoded FRET-Sensor Based on Terbium Chelate and Red Fluorescent Protein for Detection of Caspase-3 Activity

This article describes the genetically encoded caspase-3 FRET-sensor based on the terbium-binding peptide, cleavable linker with caspase-3 recognition site, and red fluorescent protein TagRFP. The engineered construction performs two induction-resonance energy transfer processes: from tryptophan of the terbium-binding peptide to Tb³⁺ and from sensitized Tb³⁺ to acceptor—the chromophore of TagRFP. Long-lived terbium-sensitized emission (microseconds), pulse excitation source, and time-resolved detection were utilized to eliminate directly excited TagRFP fluorescence and background cellular autofluorescence, which lasts a fraction of nanosecond, and thus to improve sensitivity of analyses. Furthermore the technique facilitates selective detection of fluorescence, induced by uncleaved acceptor emission. For the first time it was shown that fluorescence resonance energy transfer between sensitized terbium and TagRFP in the engineered construction can be studied via detection of microsecond TagRFP fluorescence intensities. The lifetime and distance distribution between donor and acceptor were calculated using molecular dynamics simulation. Using this data, quantum yield of terbium ions with binding peptide was estimated.     

Pseudoelasticity of Metal Nanoparticles Is Caused by Their Ultrahigh Strength

An assembly of hemispherical Ag nanoparticles is prepared by solid‐state dewetting of thin Ag film deposited on the sapphire substrate. The in situ nanomechanical compression testing of the particles with a flat diamond punch inside the scanning electron microscope demonstrates the deformation behavior typical for the nucleation‐controlled plasticity: high elastic deformation followed by an abrupt particles collapse. The latter is associated with the dislocations nucleation in otherwise pristine particle. The average contact pressure in the contact zone at the onset of dislocation‐controlled plasticity is about 8 GPa, and does not depend on particle size. This observation supports the hypothesis that the pseudoelasticity of much smaller Ag nanoparticles is intrinsically related to their ultrahigh strength. A stress‐induced diffusion along the particle–substrate and particle–punch interfaces is identified as a factor controlling the pseudoelastic deformation. The corresponding diffusion model allows estimating the room‐temperature self‐diffusion coefficient of Ag along the Ag–W and Ag–zirconia interfaces, which is quite close to the estimated value of the grain boundary self‐diffusion coefficient in Ag. Based on this finding, the map of pseudoelastic deformation of crystalline materials is proposed.     

Increasing the Level of Automation in the Forestry Logging Process with Crane Trajectory Planning and Control

Working with forestry machines requires a great deal of training to be sufficiently skilled to operate forestry cranes. In view of this, it would be desirable within the forestry industry to introduce automated motions, such as those seen in robotic arms, to shorten the training time and make the work of the operator easier. Motivated by this fact, we have developed two experimental platforms for testing control systems and motion‐planning algorithms in real time. They correspond to a laboratory setup and a commercial version of a hydraulic manipulator used in forwarder machines. The aim of this article is to present the results of this development by providing an overview of our trajectory‐planning algorithm and motion‐control method, with a subsequent view of the experimental results. For motion control, we design feedback controllers that are able to track reference trajectories based on sensor measurements. Likewise, we provide arguments to design controllers in an open‐loop for machines that lack sensing devices. Relying on the tracking efficiency of these controllers, we design time‐efficient reference trajectories of motions that correspond to logging tasks. To demonstrate performance, we provide an overview of extensive testing done on these machines.     

A Genomics-Based Model for Prediction of Severe Bioprosthetic Mitral Valve Calcification

Severe bioprosthetic mitral valve calcification is a significant problem in cardiovascular surgery. Unfortunately, clinical markers did not demonstrate efficacy in prediction of severe bioprosthetic mitral valve calcification. Here, we examined whether a genomics-based approach is efficient in predicting the risk of severe bioprosthetic mitral valve calcification. A total of 124 consecutive Russian patients who underwent mitral valve replacement surgery were recruited. We investigated the associations of the inherited variation in innate immunity, lipid metabolism and calcium metabolism genes with severe bioprosthetic mitral valve calcification. Genotyping was conducted utilizing the TaqMan assay. Eight gene polymorphisms were significantly associated with severe bioprosthetic mitral valve calcification and were therefore included into stepwise logistic regression which identified male gender, the T/T genotype of the rs3775073 polymorphism within the TLR6 gene, the C/T genotype of the rs2229238 polymorphism within the IL6R gene, and the A/A genotype of the rs10455872 polymorphism within the LPA gene as independent predictors of severe bioprosthetic mitral valve calcification. The developed genomics-based model had fair predictive value with area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.73. In conclusion, our genomics-based approach is efficient for the prediction of severe bioprosthetic mitral valve calcification.     

Decision support in pre-hospital stroke care operations: A case of using simulation to improve eligibility of acute stroke patients for thrombolysis treatment

Stroke is the third most common cause of death and the sixth most common cause of disability worldwide. Treating acute ischemic stroke with thrombolytic therapy within 4.5 hours from symptom onset is effective in improving patient outcomes. The time from stroke onset to arrival to hospital has been identified as the single most important issue in determining patients' eligibility for stroke thrombolysis. There is a need for simultaneous systemic evaluation of multi-factorial interventions in pre-hospital acute care systems, aimed at increasing patients' eligibility for stroke thrombolysis. In this paper an OR solution is proposed in the form of a simulation model that provides clear measure of the relative benefit of alternative potential interventions, demonstrating how OR modeling can be used for providing decision support in pre-hospital stroke care operations and contributing to health OR literature.     

A case study on the object-oriented framework for modeling product families with the dominant variation of the topology in the one-of-a-kind production

Traditional configuration-based product family modeling techniques do not yield favorable solutions for modeling the product families with the dominant product topology variations. This paper presents the case study for the modeling of variations of the product configuration, parameters, and topologies in mass production of custom windows and doors in a one-of-a-kind production (OKP) company. The case study is based on the object-oriented product family modeling framework we developed for OKP which is characterized by the dominant product variation by topology. The problem of variation in topology in our framework is solved by the manual model transformation in the computer-aided design module which creates a new metamodel of products with the desired topology and which is the basis for a further, automatic model transformation. Usage of our framework has a positive effect on the level of the product customizations and shortening of the leading time which helps OKP companies in obtaining a better position at the market. Our software solution for the designing and manufacturing of custom windows and doors based on our framework is implemented in more than 300 mostly small- and medium-sized enterprises. It proves our concept which can be used for the realization of the information systems for computer-aided one-of-a-kind production in the companies with a different production plan.