A survey of self organisation in future cellular networks

This article surveys the literature over the period of the last decade on the emerging field of self organisation as applied to wireless cellular communication networks. Self organisation has been extensively studied and applied in adhoc networks, wireless sensor networks and autonomic computer networks; however in the context of wireless cellular networks, this is the first attempt to put in perspective the various efforts in form of a tutorial/survey. We provide a comprehensive survey of the existing literature, projects and standards in self organising cellular networks. Additionally, we also aim to present a clear understanding of this active research area, identifying a clear taxonomy and guidelines for design of self organising mechanisms. We compare strength and weakness of existing solutions and highlight the key research areas for further development. This paper serves as a guide and a starting point for anyone willing to delve into research on self organisation in wireless cellular communication networks

Surface and bulk stresses drive morphological changes in fibrous microtissues

Engineered fibrous tissues consisting of cells encapsulated within collagen gels are widely used three-dimensional in vitro models of morphogenesis and wound healing. Although cell-mediated matrix remodeling that occurs within these scaffolds has been extensively studied, less is known about the mesoscale physical principles governing the dynamics of tissue shape. Here, we show both experimentally and by using computer simulations how surface contraction through the development of surface stresses (analogous to surface tension in fluids) coordinates with bulk contraction to drive shape evolution in constrained three-dimensional microtissues. We used microelectromechanical systems technology to generate arrays of fibrous microtissues and robot-assisted microsurgery to perform local incisions and implantation. We introduce a technique based on phototoxic activation of a small molecule to selectively kill cells in a spatially controlled manner. The model simulations, which reproduced the experimentally observed shape changes after surgical and photochemical operations, indicate that fitting of only bulk and surface contractile moduli is sufficient for the prediction of the equilibrium shape of the microtissues. The computational and experimental methods we have developed provide a general framework to study and predict the morphogenic states of contractile fibrous tissues under external loading at multiple length scales.Published versio

On the Method of Interconnection and Damping Assignment Passivity-Based Control for the Stabilization of Mechanical Systems

Interconnection and damping assignment passivity-based control (IDA-PBC) is an excellent method to stabilize mechanical systems in the Hamiltonian formalism. In this paper, several improvements are made on the IDA-PBC method. The skew-symmetric interconnection submatrix in the conventional form of IDA-PBC is shown to have some redundancy for systems with the number of degrees of freedom greater than two, containing unnecessary components that do not contribute to the dynamics. To completely remove this redundancy, the use of quadratic gyroscopic forces is proposed in place of the skew-symmetric interconnection submatrix. Reduction of the number of matching partial differential equations in IDA-PBC and simplification of the structure of the matching partial differential equations are achieved by eliminating the gyroscopic force from the matching partial differential equations. In addition, easily verifiable criteria are provided for Lyapunov/exponential stabilizability by IDA-PBC for all linear controlled Hamiltonian systems with arbitrary degrees of underactuation and for all nonlinear controlled Hamiltonian systems with one degree of underactuation. A general design procedure for IDA-PBC is given and illustrated with examples. The duality of the new IDA-PBC method to the method of controlled Lagrangians is discussed. This paper renders the IDA-PBC method as powerful as the controlled Lagrangian method

Cell contraction induces long-ranged stress stiffening in the extracellular matrix

Animal cells in tissues are supported by biopolymer matrices, which typically exhibit highly nonlinear mechanical properties. While the linear elasticity of the matrix can significantly impact cell mechanics and functionality, it remains largely unknown how cells, in turn, affect the nonlinear mechanics of their surrounding matrix. Here we show that living contractile cells are able to generate a massive stiffness gradient in three distinct 3D extracellular matrix model systems: collagen, fibrin, and Matrigel. We decipher this remarkable behavior by introducing Nonlinear Stress Inference Microscopy (NSIM), a novel technique to infer stress fields in a 3D matrix from nonlinear microrheology measurement with optical tweezers. Using NSIM and simulations, we reveal a long-ranged propagation of cell-generated stresses resulting from local filament buckling. This slow decay of stress gives rise to the large spatial extent of the observed cell-induced matrix stiffness gradient, which could form a mechanism for mechanical communication between cells