On robust stability of stochastic genetic regulatory networks with time delays: A delay fractioning approach

Copyright [2009] IEEE. This material is posted here with permission of the IEEE. Such permission of the IEEE does not in any way imply IEEE endorsement of any of Brunel University's products or services. Internal or personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution must be obtained from the IEEE by writing to [email protected]. By choosing to view this document, you agree to all provisions of the copyright laws protecting it.Robust stability serves as an important regulation mechanism in system biology and synthetic biology. In this paper, the robust stability analysis problem is investigated for a class of nonlinear delayed genetic regulatory networks with parameter uncertainties and stochastic perturbations. The nonlinear function describing the feedback regulation satisfies the sector condition, the time delays exist in both translation and feedback regulation processes, and the state-dependent Brownian motions are introduced to reflect the inherent intrinsic and extrinsic noise perturbations. The purpose of the addressed stability analysis problem is to establish some easy-to-verify conditions under which the dynamics of the true concentrations of the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) and protein is asymptotically stable irrespective of the norm-bounded modeling errors. By utilizing a new Lyapunov functional based on the idea of “delay fractioning”, we employ the linear matrix inequality (LMI) technique to derive delay-dependent sufficient conditions ensuring the robust stability of the gene regulatory networks. Note that the obtained results are formulated in terms of LMIs that can easily be solved using standard software packages. Simulation examples are exploited to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed design procedures

A delay fractioning approach to global synchronization of delayed complex networks with stochastic disturbances

This is the post print version of the article. The official published version can be obtained from the link - Copyright 2008 Elsevier LtdIn this Letter, the synchronization problem is investigated for a class of stochastic complex networks with time delays. By utilizing a new Lyapunov functional form based on the idea of ‘delay fractioning’, we employ the stochastic analysis techniques and the properties of Kronecker product to establish delay-dependent synchronization criteria that guarantee the globally asymptotically mean-square synchronization of the addressed delayed networks with stochastic disturbances. These sufficient conditions, which are formulated in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), can be solved efficiently by the LMI toolbox in Matlab. The main results are proved to be much less conservative and the conservatism could be reduced further as the number of delay fractioning gets bigger. A simulation example is exploited to demonstrate the advantage and applicability of the proposed result.This work was supported in part by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the UK under Grants GR/S27658/01, an International Joint Project sponsored by the Royal Society of the UK, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany

Cosmological model of the interaction between dark matter and dark energy

In this paper, we test the dark matter-dark energy interacting cosmological model with a dynamic equation of state $w_{DE}(z)=w_{0}+w_{1}z/(1+z)$, using type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), Hubble parameter data, baryonic acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements, and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) observation. This interacting cosmological model has not been studied before. The best-fitted parameters with $1 \sigma$ uncertainties are $\delta=-0.022 \pm 0.006$, $\Omega_{DM}^{0}=0.213 \pm 0.008$, $w_0 =-1.210 \pm 0.033$ and $w_1=0.872 \pm 0.072$ with $\chi^2_{min}/dof = 0.990$. At the $1 \sigma$ confidence level, we find $\delta<0$, which means that the energy transfer prefers from dark matter to dark energy. We also find that the SNe Ia are in tension with the combination of CMB, BAO and Hubble parameter data. The evolution of $\rho_{DM}/\rho_{DE}$ indicates that this interacting model is a good approach to solve the coincidence problem, because the $\rho_{DE}$ decrease with scale factor $a$. The transition redshift is $z_{tr}=0.63 \pm 0.07$ in this model.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, published in A&

Periodicities in Solar Coronal Mass Ejections

Mid-term quasi-periodicities in solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) during the most recent solar maximum cycle 23 are reported here for the first time using the four-year data (February 5, 1999 to February 10, 2003) of the Large Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). In parallel, mid-term quasi-periodicities in solar X-ray flares (class >M5.0) from the Geosynchronous Operational Environment Satellites (GOES) and in daily averages of Ap index for geomagnetic disturbances from the World Data Center (WDC) at the International Association for Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA) are also examined for the same four-year time span. Several conceptual aspects of possible equatorially trapped Rossby-type waves at and beneath the solar photosphere are discussed.Comment: Accepted by MNRAS, 6 figure

Fabrication of a high sensitive Ag-nanoparticle substrate and its application to the detection of toxic substances

Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) is typically observed with the substrate in a liquid medium and it has been proposed as a promising technique for detecting low levels of pollutants in liquids. A technique is presented for self-assembly to immobilize Ag nanoparticles (Ag-NPs), with diameters ranging from 100 to 800nm on a solid support. Experimental results have been obtained through experiments using Ag-NPs active substrates to detect Rhodamine 6G (R6G) and crystal violet in the deionized water. Further, the SERS spectrum and Raman spectrum of phoxim were also measured, showing the enhancement in the performance of the active substrate as a result

Local sourcing of multinational enterprises in China

Purpose – Local sourcing from indigenous firms by multinational enterprises (MNEs) is an important channel through which the former may benefit from the positive externalities generated by the latter. The purpose of this study is to analyze the extent and determinants of local sourcing of MNEs. Design/methodology/approach – Employing a survey dataset covering 493 multinational subsidiaries in China during 1999-2005, this paper applies the two-limit Tobit model. Findings – It is found that an MNE's local sourcing decision is influenced by its strategies, characteristics such as size and learning ability and country-of-origin. More specifically, export-orientation strategy, joint venture strategy and networking with local suppliers positively affect local sourcing. Small and autonomous subsidiaries tend to source more locally. Age has a non-linear effect. The importance of these determinants varies with regions. Research limitations/implications – Aiming at capacity building and competitiveness of indigenous firms, the Chinese government has initiated local content requirement. This study shows that such policy intervention could be counterproductive. The creation of a more competitive business environment by the government could promote more linkages. Originality/value – Given its critical role in economic development, local sourcing by MNEs has attracted much attention. Only limited research has been carried out on FDI linkage effects in China, and the location effect on FDI linkages has not been examined. This study aims to fill the gap by using Chinese survey data

Improved thermal performance of a large laminated lithium-ion power battery by reciprocating air flow

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Thermal safety issues are increasingly critical for large-size laminated Lithium-Ion Batteries (LIBs). Despite a number of investigations conducted on the Battery Thermal Management System (BTMS) with reciprocating air-flow cooling, large laminated power LIBs are still not sufficiently investigated, particularly in the view of battery thermal characteristics. The present study investigates the thermal behaviors of an air-cooled NCM-type LIB (LiNi1−x−yCoxMnyO2 as cathode) from an experimental and systematic approach. The temperature distribution was acquired from different Depth of Discharge (DOD) by the infrared imaging (IR) technology. A reciprocating air-flow cooling method was proposed to restrict the temperature fluctuation and homogenize temperature distribution. Results showed that there was a remarkable temperature distribution phenomenon during the discharge process, the temperature distribution was affected by direction of air-flow. Forward air-flow (from current collector side to lower part of battery) was always recommended at the beginning of the discharge due to the thermal characteristics of the battery. After comprehensive consideration on battery temperature limit and cooling effect, the desired initial reversing timing was about 50% DOD at 3 C discharge rate. Different reversing strategies were investigated including isochronous cycles and aperiodic cycles. It was found that the temperature non-uniformity caused by heat accumulation and concentration was mitigated by reciprocating air-flow with optimized reversing strategy