Multi-Loop Integral Control-Based Heart Rate Regulation for Fast Tracking and Faulty-Tolerant Control Performance in Treadmill Exercises

In order to offer a reliable, fast, and offset-free tracking performance for the regulation of heart rate (HR) during treadmill exercise, a two-input single-output (2ISO) control system by simultaneously manipulating both treadmill speed and gradient is proposed. The decentralized integral controllability (DIC) analysis is extended to nonlinear and non-square processes especially for a 2ISO process, namely multi-loop integral controllability (MIC). The proposed multi-loop integral control-based HR regulation by manipulating treadmill speed and gradient is then validated through a comparative treadmill experiment that compares the system performance of the proposed 2ISO MIC control loop with that of single-input single-output (SISO) loops, speed/gradient-to-HR. The experimental validation presents that by simultaneously using two control inputs, the automated system can achieve the fastest HR tracking performance and stay close to the reference HR during steady state, while comparing with two SISO structures, and offer the fault-tolerant ability if the gains of the two multi-loop integral controllers are well tuned. It has a vital implication for the applications of exercise rehabilitation and fitness in relation to the automated control system

Cis interactions in the Irf8 locus regulate stage-dependent enhancer activation

Individual elements within a superenhancer can act in a cooperative or temporal manner, but the underlying mechanisms remain obscure. We recently identified a

Clonal Hematopoiesis is Associated With Protection From Alzheimer\u27s Disease

Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) is a premalignant expansion of mutated hematopoietic stem cells. As CHIP-associated mutations are known to alter the development and function of myeloid cells, we hypothesized that CHIP may also be associated with the risk of Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD), a disease in which brain-resident myeloid cells are thought to have a major role. To perform association tests between CHIP and AD dementia, we analyzed blood DNA sequencing data from 1,362 individuals with AD and 4,368 individuals without AD. Individuals with CHIP had a lower risk of AD dementia (meta-analysis odds ratio (OR) = 0.64, P = 3.8 × 1

Effect of patient decision aids on choice between sugammadex and neostigmine in surgeries under general anesthesia: a multicenter randomized controlled trial

Background Shared decision making using patient decision aids (PtDAs) was established over a decade ago, but few studies have evaluated its efficacy in Asian countries. We therefore evaluated the application of PtDAs in a decision conflict between two muscle relaxant reversal agents, neostigmine and sugammadex, and sequentially analyzed the regional differences and operating room turnover rates. Methods This multicenter, outcome-assessor-blind, randomized controlled trial included 3,132 surgical patients from two medical centers admitted between March 2020 and August 2020. The patients were randomly divided into the classical and PtDA groups for pre-anesthesia consultations. Their clinicodemographic characteristics were analyzed to identify variables influencing the choice of reversal agent. On the day of the pre-anesthesia consultation, the patients completed the four SURE scale (sure of myself, understand information, risk-benefit ratio, encouragement) screening items. The operating turnover rates were also evaluated using anesthesia records. Results Compared with the classical group, the PtDA group felt more confident about receiving sufficient medical information (P < 0.001), felt better informed about the advantages and disadvantages of the medications (P < 0.001), exhibited a superior understanding of the benefits and risks of their options (P < 0.001), and felt surer about their choice (P < 0.001). Moreover, the PtDA group had a significantly greater tendency to choose sugammadex over neostigmine (P < 0.001). Conclusions PtDA interventions in pre-anesthesia consultations provided surgical patients with clear knowledge and better support. PtDAs should be made available in other medical fields to enhance shared clinical decision-making

T cell cytolytic capacity is independent of initial stimulation strength.

How cells respond to myriad stimuli with finite signaling machinery is central to immunology. In naive T cells, the inherent effect of ligand strength on activation pathways and endpoints has remained controversial, confounded by environmental fluctuations and intercellular variability within populations. Here we studied how ligand potency affected the activation of CD8+ T cells in vitro, through the use of genome-wide RNA, multi-dimensional protein and functional measurements in single cells. Our data revealed that strong ligands drove more efficient and uniform activation than did weak ligands, but all activated cells were fully cytolytic. Notably, activation followed the same transcriptional pathways regardless of ligand potency. Thus, stimulation strength did not intrinsically dictate the T cell-activation route or phenotype; instead, it controlled how rapidly and simultaneously the cells initiated activation, allowing limited machinery to elicit wide-ranging responses

SOI polarization rotators with asymmetrical periodic perturbations

We demonstrate the design and experimental results of two polarization rotator designs based on asymmetrical periodic loaded SOI waveguides. The devices feature CMOS compatible fabrication process, with compact footprints (<20 μm in length). Both designs operate within a 25 nm wavelengths range

Compact polarization rotator design based on asymmetrical periodic loaded SOI waveguides

We propose a polarization rotator design based on an asymmetrical periodic loaded waveguides on SOI platforms. The device features high conversion efficiency. The fabrication is CMOS compatible with a two-step lithography etching

CMOS-compatible polarization rotator design based on asymmetrical periodic loaded waveguide structure

Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology has been a promising platform for photonic applications. However, the high index-contrast between silicon and the top cladding (SiO2 or air) of the SOI waveguides makes the modal birefringence hard to control. Consequently, SOI based photonics integrated circuits (PICs) are in general highly polarization-sensitive, making polarization management important. In this paper, a polarization rotator (PR) design on the 220 nm SOI platform is demonstrated through numerical simulations and experiments. The demonstrated PR design is based on asymmetrical periodic loaded waveguide structures. The demonstrated design features compact device footprint and can be fabricated by CMOS compatible process. In addition, no special cladding is required to break the vertical symmetry of the waveguide. The design has shown promising performance over the C-band wavelengths (1530 nm-1565 nm) by simulations. However, the fabrication requirements are stringent for the design, thus the performance of the fabricated devices are limited by the current fabrication technology