The impact of suspension control on the controllability of the lateral vehicle dynamics

International audienceSince there is a coupling between lateral and vertical dynamics, the interactions between control components must be taken into consideration. The paper presents the effects of vertical load variations on the controlled invariant set of the steering system. In the model the nonlinear characteristics of the tire force are approximated by the polynomial form. The analysis is based on Sum-of-Squares programming method and parameter-dependent polynomial control Lyapunov functions. The Maximum Controlled Invariant Sets of the steering as a function of vertical loads are illustrated through a simulation example. The results of the analysis are built into the control design of the suspension system. A semi-active suspension system using preview control is applied. The operation of the controller is illustrated through simulation examples

Harvesting of autogenous grafts for gingival recession coverage

The ultimate aim of periodontal plastic surgery is to create optimal pink esthetics through the reconstruction of gingival recessions. Application of autogenous soft tissue grafts is considered as a gold standard treatment modality with predictable esthetic outcomes for gingival recession coverage. Harvesting a free soft tissue graft from an esthetically irrelevant region of the oral mucosa using various techniques can prevent donor site complications around the adjacent teeth

Serological diagnosis of Q fever endocarditis

The diagnosis of Q fever endocarditis cannot be made by bacterial cultures and necessitates serological identification of specific antibodies to Coxiella burnetii which stimulates mainly the production of anti-phase II antibodies during the acute diséase, but primarily anti-phase I antibodies in endocarditis. Indirect micro-immunofluorescence allows rapid detection of specific IgA, IgG and IgM. The results of serological analyses of 191 acute cases of Q fever were compared with those of 8 cases of Coxiella burnetii endocarditis. All sera were evaluated by complement fixation and microimmunofluorescence tests. The highest titre differences between primary Q fever and Q fever endocarditis were observed with anti-phase IIgA and IgG antibodies measured by microimmunofluorescence followed by anti-phase I antibodies measured by complement fixation tests. Anti-phase IIgG and IgM titres were consistently higher than anti-phase II titres in endocarditis. The reverse is true in acute Q fever. In addition, anti-phase I Ig A appeared to be diagnostic for Coxiella burnetii endocarditis. Accordingly we recommend the testing of these specific IgA, IgG, and IgM by microimmunofluorescence in cases of culture-negative endocarditis. These tests could also prove useful for following the development of Coxiella burnetii endocarditis in patients under treatmen

Two-part and k-Sperner families: New proofs using permutations

This is a paper about the beauty of the permutation method. New and shorter proofs are given for the theorem [P. L. Erdős and G. O. H. Katona, J. Combin. Theory. Ser. A,4

Evaluation of a new serological test for the detection of anti-Coxiella and anti-Rickettsia antibodies.

Coxiella burnetii and members of the genus Rickettsia are obligate intracellular bacteria. Since cultivation of these organisms requires dedicated techniques, their diagnosis usually relies on serological or molecular biology methods. Immunofluorescence is considered the gold standard to detect antibody-reactivity towards these organisms. Here, we assessed the performance of a new automated epifluorescence immunoassay (InoDiag) to detect IgM and IgG against C. burnetii, Rickettsia typhi and Rickettsia conorii. Samples were tested with the InoDiag assay. A total of 213 sera were tested, of which 63 samples from Q fever, 20 from spotted fever rickettsiosis, 6 from murine typhus and 124 controls. InoDiag results were compared to micro-immunofluorescence. For acute Q fever, the sensitivity of phase 2 IgG was only of 30% with a cutoff of 1 arbitrary unit (AU). In patients with acute Q fever with positive IF IgM, sensitivity reached 83% with the same cutoff. Sensitivity for chronic Q fever was 100% whereas sensitivity for past Q fever was 65%. Sensitivity for spotted Mediterranean fever and murine typhus were 91% and 100%, respectively. Both assays exhibited a good specificity in control groups, ranging from 79% in sera from patients with unrelated diseases or EBV positivity to 100% in sera from healthy patients. In conclusion, the InoDiag assay exhibits an excellent performance for the diagnosis of chronic Q fever but a very low IgG sensitivity for acute Q fever likely due to low reactivity of phase 2 antigens present on the glass slide. This defect is partially compensated by the detection of IgM. Because it exhibits a good negative predictive value, the InoDiag assay is valuable to rule out a chronic Q fever. For the diagnosis of rickettsial diseases, the sensitivity of the InoDiag method is similar to conventional immunofluorescence

The effect of growth phase, cryoprotectants and freezing rates on the survival of selected micro-organisms during freezing and thawing

The effect of growth phase of cells, cryoprotectant agents and freezing rate on the survival of selected micro-organisms (Bacillus cereus, Lactobacillus plantarum, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Kluyveromyces lactis, Candida utilis, Mucor racemosus, Aspergillus niger) during freezing and thawing was studied. In cases where significant differences were observed stationary phase cells always survived better than exponential phase ones, while of the two cryoprotectant agents studied, horse serum + inositol was always superior to skimmed milk powder + inositol. The effect of freezing rate was different among the studied micro-organisms

Reconstruction of sub-wavelength features and nano-positioning of gratings using coherent Fourier scatterometry

Optical scatterometry is the state of art optical inspection technique for quality control in lithographic process. As such, any boost in its performance carries very relevant potential in semiconductor industry. Recently we have shown that coherent Fourier scatterometry (CFS) can lead to a notably improved sensitivity in the reconstruction of the geometry of printed gratings. In this work, we report on implementation of a CFS instrument, which confirms the predicted performances. The system, although currently operating at a relatively low numerical aperture (NA = 0.4) and long wavelength (633 nm) allows already the reconstruction of the grating parameters with nanometer accuracy, which is comparable to that of AFM and SEM measurements on the same sample, used as reference measurements. Additionally, 1 nm accuracy in lateral positioning has been demonstrated, corresponding to 0.08% of the pitch of the grating used in the actual experiment