Robust stability of perturbed switching systems by matrix measure

The robust stability of switching systems is a very difficult problem because of the difficulty in separating the perturbations of the models and the reset maps. In this paper, we apply matrix measure to separate the perturbations of the models and the reset maps. Then the conditions for robust stability of perturbed switching systems with structured perturbations can be readily derived. Sufficient conditions for robust stability of switching systems are proposed, and bounds for structured perturbations based on nonnegative matrices that still ensure stability are derived.     

A computer approach for reliability evaluation of telecommunicationnetworks with heterogeneous link-capacities

The authors present a computer approach to obtaining a survivability index called capacity related reliability (CRR) in large telecommunication networks where links have different capacities. The method is a two-step approach. The first step deals with composite path enumeration (CPE). A k-composite path is defined as the union of the set of edges in any k simple paths and relates link capacity and network connectivity. The CPE approach is an improvement over the algorithms proposed by the authors earlier (1991). In step two, k-composite paths information is manipulated to generate the CRR. The authors use CAREL (computer aided reliability evaluator) to solve this step. The technique is automated using C on the Encore Multimax System. The results on CRR for three networks with various values of minimum message capacity are presented. An exhaustive technique is used to verify these results. An informal proof of the CPE approach is also included     

Coexpression of leptin receptor and preproneuropeptide Y mRNA in arcuate nucleus of mouse hypothalamus

Leptin, the protein product of the adipose tissue-specific ob (obese) gene (1), reduces the body weight, adiposity and food intake of obese ob/ob mice on peripheral or central injection (2, 3, 4). [125I]leptin binding has been detected in mouse choroid plexus (5), from which a leptin receptor gene was expression cloned (5). The gene has at least 6 splice variants (6, 7). Leptin receptor mRNA was localized in the hypothalamus by in situ hybridization being particularly abundantly expressed in the arcuate nucleus (8). There is evidence linking the physiological effects of injected leptin with hypothalamic neuropeptide Y (9, 10) (NPY), which has potent central effects on food intake and energy balance (11), and is also expressed in the arcuate nucleus. Here we report dual in situ hybridization studies for leptin receptor and NPY gene expression in the mouse arcuate nucleus, where the majority of cells examined expressed both genes. This provides the first direct evidence that leptin acts on cells that express NPY mRNA.     

Anticonvulsant and antibiotic prophylaxis in head injury

The evidence for and against the prophylactic use of anticonvulsants and antibiotics in head injury is reviewed. There is a lack of blinded placebo-controlled trials in this area. On balance there is no compelling evidence to support the use of either anticonvulsant or antibiotic prophylaxis in head injury, with the possible exception of antibiotic prophylaxis in compound depressed skull fractures and penetrating brain injuries.     

Thermal fracture analysis of a functionally graded orthotropic strip with a crack

This paper is concerned with the thermal fracture problem of a functionally graded orthotropic strip, where the crack is situated parallel to the free edges. All the material properties are assumed to be dependent only on the coordinate y (perpendicular to the crack surfaces). By using Fourier transform, the thermoelastic problem is reduced to those that involve a system of singular integral equations. Numerical results are presented to show the effects of the crack position and the material distribution on the thermal stress intensity factors.     

Hybrid Genetic Programming with Local Search Operators for Dynamic Force Identification

In this paper, based on the Darwinian and Lamarckian evolution theories, three hybrid genetic programming (GP) algorithms integrated with different local search operators (LSOs) are implemented to improve the search efficiency of the standard GP. These three LSOs are the genetic algorithm, the linear bisection search, and the Hooke and Jeeves method. A simple encoding method is presented to encode the GP individuals into the expressions that can be recognized by the different LSOs. The implemented hybrid GP algorithms are applied to identify the excitation force acting on the structures from the measured structural response, which is an important type of inverse problem in structural dynamics. Illustrative examples of a frame structure and a multistory building structure demonstrate that, compared with the standard GP, the hybrid GP algorithms have higher search efficiency which can be used as alternate global search and optimization tools for other engineering problem solving.     

Linear set-membership state estimation with unknown but bounded disturbances

In this article, we consider the problem of discrete-time linear state estimation when at every discrete instant Δ the Euclidean norm of the discrete-time disturbance ‖w(Δ)‖₂ is bounded within some known value. Specifically, given a hypersphere that contains the uncertain disturbance signal w(Δ) and an ellipsoid containing the uncertain system state x(Δ) at time step Δ, a sub-optimal approach to computing a linear minimax filter which constructs a minimal ellipsoid to contain x(Δ?+?1) is derived. A distinct feature of our approach when compared to earlier solutions is that both the filter and the performance bound can be pre-computed off-line.     

Stability of uncertain quasi-periodic hybrid dynamic systems

This paper derives sufficient conditions for the stability of uncertain quasi-periodic hybrid dynamic systems. These conditions do not require the Lyapunov function to be non-increasing along each trajectory of the continuous variable dynamic system (CVDS), in other words, they do not require every CVDS to be stable, and they also do not require the Lyapunov function to be non-increasing along the whole sequence of the switchings. Furthermore, they do not require the knowledge of the continuous trajectory. With the proposed conditions, the stability bounds for structured perturbations characterized by non-negative matrices that still ensure robust stability are derived.     

A dry-patterned Cu(Mg) alloy film as a gate electrode in a thin-film transistor liquid crystal display

The annealing of a Cu(4.5at.%Mg)/SiO₂/Si structure in ambient O₂ at 10 mtorr and 300–500°C allows for the out-diffusion of the Mg to the Cu surface, forming a thin MgO (15 nm) layer on the surface. The surface MgO layer was patterned and successfully served as a hard mask for the subsequent dry etching of the underlying Mg-depleted Cu films using an O₂ plasma and hexafluoroacetylacetone (H(hfac)) chemistry. The resultant MgO/Cu structure, with a taper slope of about 30°, shows the feasibility of dry etching of Cu(Mg) alloy films using a surface MgO mask scheme. A dry-etched Cu(4.5at.%Mg) gate a-Si:H thin-film transistor (TFT) has a field-effect mobility of 0.86 cm²/Vs, a subthreshold swing of 1.08 V/dec, and a threshold voltage of 5.7 V. A novel process for the dry etching of Cu(Mg) alloy films that eliminates the use of a hard mask, such as Ti, and results in a reduction in the process steps is reported for the first time in this work.