Information and Control ICIC International c ⃝2011 ISSN

Abstract. This paper suggests a real-time implementation method for software-in-theloop (SIL) simulation for control systems, primarily for control education. The SIL simulation is carried out by using a PC for the controllers, a PC for the plant, an open network, and a general-purpose computer-aided control system design (CACSD) package. Specially, Ethernet network is investigated in terms of control issues such as sampling interval, network-induced time-delay, use with many I/O points and data synchronization. A performance evaluation of software-in-th

Subtle cytotoxicity and genotoxicity differences in superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles coated with various functional groups

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have been widely utilized for the diagnosis and therapy of specific diseases, as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents and drug-delivery carriers, due to their easy transportation to targeted areas by an external magnetic field. For such biomedical applications, SPIONs must have multifunctional characteristics, including optimized size and modified surface. However, the biofunctionality and biocompatibility of SPIONs with various surface functional groups of different sizes have yet to be elucidated clearly. Therefore, it is important to carefully monitor the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of SPIONs that are surfaced-modified with various functional groups of different sizes. In this study, we evaluated SPIONs with diameters of approximately 10 nm and 100~150 nm, containing different surface functional groups. SPIONs were covered with −O− groups, so-called bare SPIONs. Following this, they were modified with three different functional groups – hydroxyl (−OH), carboxylic (−COOH), and amine (−NH2) groups – by coating their surfaces with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane (APTMS), TEOS-APTMS, or citrate, which imparted different surface charges and sizes to the particles. The effects of SPIONs coated with these functional groups on mitochondrial activity, intracellular accumulation of reactive oxygen species, membrane integrity, and DNA stability in L-929 fibroblasts were determined by water-soluble tetrazolium, 2′,7′-dichlorodihydrofluorescein, lactate dehydrogenase, and comet assays, respectively. Our toxicological observations suggest that the functional groups and sizes of SPIONs are critical determinants of cellular responses, degrees of cytotoxicity and genotoxicity, and potential mechanisms of toxicity. Nanoparticles with various surface modifications and of different sizes induced slight, but possibly meaningful, changes in cell cytotoxicity and genotoxicity, which would be significantly valuable in further studies of bioconjugation and cell interaction for drug delivery, cell culture, and cancer-targeting applications

Impact time control based on time-to-go prediction for sea-skimming antiship missiles

This paper proposes a novel approach for guidance law design to satisfy the impact-time constraints for a certain class of homing missiles. The proposed guidance law provides proper lateral acceleration commands that make the impact time error converge to zero by the time of impact. This scheme can be applied to any existing guidance law for which a formula of predicted time to go is available. Convergence of time-to-go errors is supported by Lyapunov stability. The optimal guidance law and the impact angle control guidance law are extended by the proposed method for impact-time-control guidance and impact-time-and-angle-control guidance, respectively. The performance of the extended guidance laws is demonstrated by numerical simulation

C-Band GaN Dual-Feedback Low-Noise Amplifier MMIC with High-Input Power Robustness

In this paper, using the 0.2 μm ETRI GaN HEMT process, we developed a C-band GaN dual-feedback low-noise amplifier MMIC for an RF receiver module that requires high-input power robustness. By applying a feedback microstrip line at the source of the transistor and series resistor-capacitor (RC) feedback between the gate and the drain of the transistor, we obtained stable amplifier operation and a compromised impedance trace for both input impedance matching and noise matching while suppressing performance degradation of the maximum available gain and minimum noise figure. The developed low-noise amplifier MMIC, which implements simple matching circuits by using biasing elements as matching elements, had a linear gain of more than 21.4 dB and a noise figure of less than 1.91 dB in the wide bandwidth of 4.3–7.4 GHz. Under the single-tone power test, the low-noise amplifier MMIC had an output P1dB of 14.3–20.1 dBm, and the two-tone intermodulation distortion measurement exhibited an input third-order intercept point (IIP3) of 2.2–5.6 dBm in the same frequency range as the above

Successful management of heterotopic cornual pregnancy with laparoscopic cornual resection

AbstractObjectiveTo examine the feasibility of laparoscopic cornual resection for the treatment of heterotopic cornual pregnancy.Study designWomen who underwent laparoscopic cornual resection for heterotopic cornual pregnancy at our hospital between January 2003 and March 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. We evaluated significant parameters such as operative complications and postoperative pregnancy outcomes of concomitant pregnancy.ResultsThirteen patients with heterotopic cornual pregnancy were included in the study. All were pregnant through assisted reproductive technology, and the diagnosis was made at a median of 6+6 weeks (range 5+4–10+0). They were successfully treated with laparoscopic cornual resection and admitted for a median of 4 days (range, 2–7) postoperatively. The median operative time was 65min (range, 35–145min) and estimated blood loss was 200mL (range, 10–3000mL). There was a spontaneous abortion at 7+6 gestational weeks in a patient who received bilateral cornual resection. Seven patients delivered babies at term and 3 at preterm. All 10 women delivered without any maternal or neonatal complications. Two were lost to follow-up.ConclusionsLaparoscopic cornual resection is a feasible primary approach for the management of heterotopic cornual pregnancy

YAF2 promotes TP53-mediated genotoxic stress response via stabilization of PDCD5

AbstractProgrammed cell death 5 (PDCD5) plays a crucial role in TP53-mediated apoptosis, but the regulatory mechanism of PDCD5 itself during apoptosis remains obscure. We identified YY1-associated factor 2 (YAF2) as a novel PDCD5-interacting protein in a yeast two-hybrid screen for PDCD5-interacting proteins. We found that YY1-associated factor 2 (YAF2) binds to and increases PDCD5 stability by inhibiting the ubiquitin-dependent proteosomal degradation pathway. However, knocking-down of YAF2 diminishes the levels of PDCD5 protein but not the levels of PDCD5 mRNA. Upon genotoxic stress response, YAF2 promotes TP53 activation via association with PDCD5. Strikingly, YAF2 failed to promote TP53 activation in the deletion of PDCD5, whereas restoration of wild-type PDCD5WT efficiently reversed the ineffectiveness of YAF2 on TP53 activation. Conversely, PDCD5 efficiently overcame the knockdown effect of YAF2 on ET-induced TP53 activation. Finally, impaired apoptosis upon PDCD5 ablation was substantially rescued by restoration of PDCD5WT but not YAF2-interacting defective PDCD5E4D nor TP53-interacting defective PDCD5E16D mutant. Our findings uncovered an apoptotic signaling cascade linking YAF2, PDCD5, and TP53 during genotoxic stress responses

Respiratory failure in a diabetic ketoacidosis patient with severe hypophosphatemia

Phosphate is essential in regulating human metabolic processes, and severe hypophosphatemia can induce neurologic and hematological complications and result in respiratory failure and cardiac dysfunction. Therefore, correction of severe hypophosphatemia can be pivotal in the management of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). We report the case of a 14-year-old female who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and referred to our institute for treatment of DKA. Although the patient received fluid and continuous insulin administration according to the current DKA treatment protocol, generalized tonic seizures and cardiac arrest developed. After cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the patient recovered and was stable. Within 16 hours after DKA treatment, the patient developed respiratory failure with severe hypophosphatemia that required mechanical ventilation. Concurrent neurologic evaluation revealed no specific abnormalities. The patient recovered without any complications after correcting the hypophosphatemia. We suggest vigilant monitoring of the phosphate level in DKA patients and active replacement when required