A Robust Fuzzy Fractional Order PID Design Based On Multi-Objective Optimization For Rehabilitation Device Control

In this context, Fuzzy Fractional Order Proportional Integral Derivative (FOPID-FLC) controllers are emerged as efficient approaches due to their flexibility and ability to handle nonlinearities and uncertainties. This paper proposes the use of a FOPID-FLC controller for a two-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) lower limb exoskeleton. Our proposal is based on an enhanced control approach that combines fuzzy logic advantages and fractional calculus benefits. Contrary to popular existing methods, that use the FLC to tune the FOPID  parameters, the FLC in this work is used to generate the system torque depending on patient morphology. Indeed, our fundamental contribution is to design and implement an enhanced FOPID-FLC that achieves an adequate optimal control based on system rules composed of optimal torques and input data. The fractional calculus is approximated using successive first order filters. Next, a multi-objective optimization is established for the tuning of each FOPID parameters. Finally, the FLC is used to adjust the torque depending on the kid's age. The effectiveness of the proposed controller in various scenarios is validated based on numerical simulations. Extensive analyses prove that the FOPID-FLC outperforms the FOPID with a 90\% of improvement in terms of error performance indices and 20\% of improvement for the control action. Moreover, the controller exhibits improved robustness against uncertainties and disturbances encountered in rehabilitation environments

Intelligent Tuning of Augmented L 1 Adaptive Control for Cerebral Palsy Kids Rehabilitation

International audienceWalking ability can be lost due to several neurological diseases. In this paper, we are interested in the rehabilitation of pediatric patients. For this purpose, an extended L 1 adaptive control has been proposed to control 2 DOF lower limbs exoskele-tons used to rehabilitate kids suffering from Cerebral Palsy (CP). Two methods based on PID controllers have been combined with L 1 adaptive control in order to ensure the limb movement along a predefined trajectory. Then, a comparison study has been established based on tracking errors. Moreover, to improve the robustness of these controllers against uncertainties , several tests with the variations of children masses and lengths have been carried out, with the presence of torque limits using fuzzy logic

L1 Adaptive Fractional Control Optimized by Genetic Algorithms with Application to Polyarticulated Robotic Systems

Recently, an adaptive control approach has been proposed. This approach, named L1 adaptive control, involves the insertion of a low-pass filter at the input of the Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC). This controller has been designed to overcome several limitations of classical adaptive controllers such as (i) the initialization of estimated parameters, (ii) the stability problems with high adaptation gains, and (iii) the appropriate parameter excitation. In this paper, a new design of the filter is presented, used for L1 adaptive control, for which the desired performances are guaranteed (appropriate values of the control during start-up, a high filtering of noises, a reduced time lag, and a reduced energy consumption). Parameters of the new proposed filter have been optimised by genetic algorithms. The proposed L1 adaptive fractional control is applied to a polyarticulated robotic system. Simulation results show the efficiency of the proposed control approach with respect to the classical L1 adaptive control in the nominal case and in the presence of a multiplicative noise

Carbapenemase-producing Salmonella enterica serotype Kentucky ST198, North Africa.

International audiencein the coding sequence. These mutations have previously been shown to result in increased azithromycin resistance due to induced expression of the MtrCDE efflux pump. 8 The genes erm(A), erm(B), erm(C) and erm(F), encoding rRNA methylases, and mef(A), encoding an efflux pump, were not present in these isolates. Molecular epidemiology analysis of the isolates was performed using the N. gonorrhoeae multiantigen sequence typing (NG-MAST) method, 9 which assigns an ST based on a combination of the highly variable por and tbpB alleles. The isolates were assigned ST3102 and ST1866, which are almost identical and differ only by one SNP in por. Thus far, the high-level azithromycin-resistant N. gonorrhoeae strains that have been isolated in various countries belong to 16 different STs, of which ST649 isolates appear to be most widespread. 5 – 7 The por and tbpB alleles of these STs differ by a total of 33–92 SNPs from the por and tbpB alleles of the strains described in this study, except for the Australian ST10133 isolate, 7 which contains an identical tbpB allele (33) and a por allele (2573) that only differs by 16 and 17 SNPs from the por alleles of ST3102 and ST1866, respectively. Interestingly, it was reported that this isolate was most likely contracted in China or Hong Kong, which might explain its closer genetic relationship. How widespread high-level azithromycin-resistant strains are in China remains to be determined. Several years earlier, in 2009, two ST1866 strains were isolated from patients in the city of Nanjing, 10 which is located in a neighbouring province. These strains were reported to have an azithromycin MIC of .64 mg/L. It is not known whether these strains actually are directly related to the ST1866 isolate described in this study, but if they are related it would indicate that this high-level azithromycin-resistant ST might be spreading in China. Azithromycin susceptibility testing is currently not the standard in China. However, the identification of high-level azithromycin-resistant N. gonorrhoeae isolates stresses the need for a more thorough overview of azithromycin susceptibility in China, particularly when ceftriaxone and azithromycin dual antimicrobial therapy is considered as a future first-line therapy. These high-level azithromycin-resistant isolates might have a major impact on the efficacy of this dual antimicrobial therapy

Antimicrobial resistance genes, virulence markers and prophage sequences in Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis isolated in Tunisia using whole genome sequencing

International audienceSalmonella Enteritidis causes a major public health problem in the world. Whole genome sequencing can give us a lot of information not only about the phylogenetic relatedness of these bacteria but also in antimicrobial resistance and virulence gene predictions. In this study, we analyzed the whole genome data of 45 S. Enteritidis isolates recovered in Tunisia from different origins, human, animal, and foodborne samples. Two major lineages (A and B) were detected based on 802 SNPs differences. Among these SNPs, 493 missense SNPs were identified. A total of 349 orthologue genes mutated by one or two missense SNPs were classified in 22 functional groups with the prevalence of carbohydrate transport and metabolism group. A good correlation between genotypic antibiotic resistance profiles and phenotypic analysis were observed. Only resistant isolates carried the respective molecular resistant determinants. The investigation of virulence markers showed the distribution of 11 Salmonella pathogenicity islands (SPI) out of 23 previously described. The SPI-1 and SPI-2 genes encoding type III secretion systems were highly conserved in all isolates except one. In addition, the virulence plasmid genes were present in all isolates except two. We showed the presence of two fimbrial operons sef and ste previously considered to be specific for typhoidal Salmonella. Our collection of S. Enteritidis reveal a diversity among prophage profiles. SNPs analysis showed that missense mutations identified in fimbriae and in SPI-1 and SPI-2 genes were mostly detected in lineage B. In conclusion, WGS is a powerful application to study functional genomic determinants of S. Enteritidis such as antimicrobial resistance genes, virulence markers and prophage sequences. Further studies are needed to predict the impact of the missenses SNPs that can affect the protein functions associated with pathogenicity

Comparison of conventional molecular and whole-genome sequencing methods for subtyping Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis strains from Tunisia

International audienceWe sought to determine the relative value of conventional molecular methods and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) for subtyping Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis recovered from 2000 to 2015 in Tunisia and to investigate the genetic diversity of this serotype. A total of 175 Salmonella Enteritidis isolates were recovered from human, animal, and foodborne outbreak samples. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), multiple locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA), and wholegenome sequencing were performed. Eight pulsotypes were detected for all isolates with PFGE (DI = 0.518). Forty-five Salmonella Enteritidis isolates were selected for the MLVA and WGS techniques. Eighteen MLVA profiles were identified and classified into two major clusters (DI = 0.889). Core genome multilocus typing (cgMLST) analysis revealed 16 profiles (DI = 0.785). Whole-genome analysis indicated 660 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) divergences dividing these isolates into 43 haplotypes (DI = 0.997). The phylogenetic tree supported the classification of Salmonella Enteritidis isolates into two distinct lineages subdivided into five clades and seven subclades. Pairwise SNP differences between the isolates ranged between 302 and 350. We observed about 311 SNP differences between the two foodborne outbreaks, while only less or equal to 4 SNP differences within each outbreak. SNP-based WGS typing showed an excellent discriminatory power comparing with the conventional methods such as PFGE and MLVA. Besides, we demonstrate the added value of WGS as a complementary subtyping method to discriminate outbreak from non-outbreak isolates belonging to common subtypes. It is important to continue the survey of Salmonella Enteritidis lineages in Tunisia using WGS