Consensus Analysis for Multiple Autonomous Agents with Input Delay and Communication Delay

Cheng-Lin Liu,Fei Liu 제어·로봇·시스템학회 2012 International Journal of Control, Automation, and Vol.10 No.5

Consensus problem is investigated for the multi-agent systems with agents’ dynamics modeled by sin-gle-input and single output linear time-invariant proper system, and asynchronously-coupled consensus algorithm is adopted for the system subjected to input delay and communication delay. Sufficient conditions, which depend on the input delay and the communication delay, are obtained for the agents converging to a stationary consensus asymptotically by using linear fractional transformation and small-gain theorem of the frequency-domain analysis. Moreover, the results are extended to get the consensus conditions for second-order multi-agent systems with input delay and communication delay under asynchronously-coupled consensus algorithm, which is composed of the position and the velocity consensus coordination control parts. Simulation illustrates the correctness of the results.

Adjuvant Radiotherapy after Breast Conserving Treatment for Breast Cancer:A Dosimetric Comparison between Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy and Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy

Liu, Zhe-Ming,Ge, Xiao-Lin,Chen, Jia-Yan,Wang, Pei-Pei,Zhang, Chi,Yang, Xi,Zhu, Hong-Cheng,Liu, Jia,Qin, Qin,Xu, Li-Ping,Lu, Jing,Zhan, Liang-Liang,Cheng, Hong-Yan,Sun, Xin-Chen Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.8

Background: Radiotherapy is an important treatment of choice for breast cancer patients after breast-conserving surgery, and we compare the feasibility of using dual arc volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT2), single arc volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT1) and Multi-beam Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (M-IMRT) on patients after breast-conserving surgery. Materials and Methods: Thirty patients with breast cancer (half right-sided and half left-sided) treated by conservative lumpectomy and requiring whole breast radiotherapy with tumor bed boost were planned with three different radiotherapy techniques: 1) VMAT1; 2) VMAT2; 3) M-IMRT. The distributions for the planning target volume (PTV) and organs at risk (OARs) were compared. Dosimetries for all the techniques were compared. Results: All three techniques satisfied the dose constraint well. VMAT2 showed no obvious difference in the homogeneity index (HI) and conformity index (CI) of the PTV with respect to M-IMRT and VMAT1. VMAT2 clearly improved the treatment efficiency and can also decrease the mean dose and V5Gy of the contralateral lung. The mean dose and maximum dose of the spinal cord and contralateral breast were lower for VMAT2 than the other two techniques. The very low dose distribution (V1Gy) of the contralateral breast also showed great reduction in VMAT2 compared with the other two techniques. For the ipsilateral lung of right-sided breast cancer, the mean dose was decreased significantly in VMAT2 compared with VMAT1 and M-IMRT. The V20Gy and V30Gy of the ipsilateral lung of the left-sided breast cancer for VMAT2 showed obvious reduction compared with the other two techniques. The heart statistics of VMAT2 also decreased considerably compared to VMAT1 and M-IMRT. Conclusions: Compared to the other two techniques, the dual arc volumetric modulated arc therapy technique reduced radiation dose exposure to the organs at risk and maintained a reasonable target dose distribution.

NAD(P)H: Quinone Oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) C609T Gene Polymorphism Association with Digestive Tract Cancer: A Meta-analysis

Zhu, Cheng-Lin,Huang, Qiang,Liu, Chen-Hai,Lin, Xian-Sheng,Xie, Fang,Shao, Feng Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.4

NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) C609T gene polymorphisms have been reported to influence the risk for digestive tract cancer (DTC) in many studies; however, the results remain controversial and ambiguous. We therefore carried out a meta-analysis of published case-control studies to derive a more precise estimation of any associations. Electronic searches were conducted on links between this variant and DTC in several databases through April 2012. Crude odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to estimate the strength of associations in fixed or random effect models. Heterogeneity and publication bias were also assessed. A total of 21 case-control studies were identified, including 6,198 cases and 7,583 controls. Overall, there was a statistically significant association between the NQO1 C609T polymorphism and DTC risk (TT vs. CC: OR=1.224, 95%CI=1.055-1.421; TT/CT vs. CC: OR=1.195, 95%CI=1.073-1.330; TT vs. CT/CC: OR=1.183, 95%CI=1.029-1.359; T vs. C: OR=1.180, 95%CI=1.080-1.290). When stratified for tumor location, the results based on all studies showed the variant allele 609T might have a significantly increased risk of upper digest tract cancer (UGIC), but not colorectal cancer. In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, we observed a significantly risk for DTC in Caucasians. For esophageal and gastric cancer, a significantly risk was found in both populations, and for colorectal, a weak risk was observed in Caucasians, but not Asians. This meta-analysis suggested that the NQO1 C609T polymorphism may increase the risk of DTC, especially in the upper gastric tract.

Changes in prostate-specific antigen kinetics during androgen-deprivation therapy as a predictor of response to abiraterone in chemonaïve patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer

Chung-Lin Lee,Ying-Hsu Chang,Chung-Yi Liu,Ming-Li Hsieh,Liang-Kang Huang,Yuan-Cheng Chu,Hung-Cheng Kan,Po-Hung Lin,Kai-Jie Yu,Cheng-Keng Chuang,Chun-Te Wu,See-Tong Pang,I-Hung Shao 대한비뇨의학회 2022 Investigative and Clinical Urology Vol.63 No.5

Purpose: Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) has a poor prognosis. Abiraterone acetate (AA), enzalutamide, and chemotherapy are first-line treatments for patients with mCRPC. This study examined prognostic factors for AA response in the form of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) kinetics throughout androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) in chemonaïve patients with mCRPC. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively included data from 34 chemonaïve patients with mCRPC who had received AA at some point between January 2017 and December 2018. We separated patients into two study arms according to the decrease in PSA percentages after use of AA for 3 months. We correlated PSA kinetics parameters with response and compared the two study groups with respect to PSA kinetics. Results: The patients’ median age was 77 years. In the total group of patients, 64% had a response to AA, whereas 35% did not. The ratio of the PSA level at nadir to the level during ADT was significantly higher in the AA-sensitive group (19.78 vs. 1.03, p=0.019). Conclusions: Patients who experienced a dramatic change in PSA level during ADT were more likely to be resistant to AA after progression to mCRPC. Chemotherapy rather than AA might be more suitable as a first-line treatment for these patients.

Circulating Tumor Cells are Associated with Bone Metastasis of Lung Cancer

Cheng, Min,Liu, Lin,Yang, Hai-Shan,Liu, Gui-Feng Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.15

Lung cancer (LC) is the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide, predominantly due to the difficulty of early diagnosis and its high metastatic potential. Recently, increasing evidence suggests that circulating tumour cells (CTCs) are responsible for cancer metastatic relapse, and CTCs have attracted interest in cancer metastasis detection and quantification. In present study, we collected blood samples from 67 patients with bone metastasis, and 30 patients without such metastasis, and searched for CTCs. Then the association of CTC numbers with bone metastasis and other clinico-pothological variants was analyzed. Results demonstrated that when 5 or 1 was taken as a threshhold for the CTC number, there were significantly higher positivity of CTCs in the bone metastasis group than in the non-metastasis group. While the increase in CTC number was not significantly associated with any other clinicopathological factor, including age, gender, pathological type, intrapulmonary metastasis and lymph node metastasis, the CTC number in patients with positivity of the last above mentioned variants was obviously higher than in patients with negativity of the two variants. Taken together, the CTC number appears to be significantly associated with the bone metastasis from lung cancer.

Characterization of phytochemical profile of rhizome of artificial cultured Polygonatum sibiricum with multiple rhizome buds

Cheng Weiqing,Pan Zhibin,Zheng Hanjing,Luo Gelian,Liu Zhibin,Xu Suli,Lin Junhan 한국응용생명화학회 2023 Applied Biological Chemistry (Appl Biol Chem) Vol.66 No.-

Rhizome of Polygonatum sibiricum is both a renowned traditional Chinese remedy and a commonly consumed delicacy. Due to the escalating demand and excessive overexploitation, there has been a growing interest in the artificial cultivation of this plant in recent years. To assess the therapeutic benefits of artificially cultivated P. sibiricum, it is crucial to identify and classify its phytochemical components, which are the primary bioactive compounds found in its rhizome. In this study, the phytochemical profile of an artificially cultivated P. sibiricum rhizomes with multiple rhizome buds (ACM) was characterized by using untargeted UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap-MS based approach. In addition, two-wild-types P. sibiricum rhizomes, namely the wild-type with multiple rhizome buds (WTM) and the wild-type with single rhizome bud (WTS), were used for comparison. A total of 183 phytochemicals, including 20 alkaloids, 48 flavonoids, 33 phenolic acids, and 82 terpenoids, were tentatively identified. Generally, the phytochemical profile of ACM was comparable to that of WTM and WTS. In specific, most of the identified alkaloids and phenolic acids, and approximately half of the identified terpenoids, were not significantly different. Notably, several phytochemicals with potent therapeutic properties, such as epiberberine, laetanine, sinapic acid, curcumenol, were present in ACM. Additionally, artificial cultivation increased the abundance of geniposide and naringenin, which have been linked to cardioprotective effects. These findings provide valuable insights for the future utilization of artificially cultivated P. sibiricum.

From Ni-YSZ to sulfur-tolerant anode materials for SOFCs: electrochemical behavior, <i>in situ</i> characterization, modeling, and future perspectives

Cheng, Zhe,Wang, Jeng-Han,Choi, YongMan,Yang, Lei,Lin, M. C.,Liu, Meilin Royal Society of Chemistry 2011 Energy & environmental science Vol.4 No.11

<P>Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) offer great promise for the most efficient and cost-effective conversion to electricity of a wide variety of fuels such as hydrocarbons, coal gas, and gasified carbonaceous solids. However, the conventional Ni-YSZ (yttria-stabilized zirconia) anode is highly susceptible to deactivation (poisoning) by contaminants commonly encountered in readily available fuels, especially sulfur-containing compounds. Thus, one of the critical challenges facing the realization of fuel-flexible and cost-effective SOFC systems is the development of sulfur-tolerant anode materials. This <I>perspective</I> article aims at providing a comprehensive review of materials that have been studied as anodes for SOFCs, the electrochemical behavior of various anode materials in H<SUB>2</SUB>S-contaminated fuels, experimental methods for <I>ex situ</I> and <I>in situ</I> characterizations of species and phases formed on anode surfaces upon exposure to H<SUB>2</SUB>S-containing fuels, mechanisms for the interactions between H<SUB>2</SUB>S and anode surfaces as predicted from density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and possible strategies of minimizing or eliminating the effect of sulfur poisoning. While significant progress has been made in developing alternative anode materials with better sulfur tolerance, in probing and mapping electrode surface species relevant to sulfur poisoning, and in unraveling the mechanisms of H<SUB>2</SUB>S–anode interactions using both computational and experimental approaches, many challenges still remain to bridge the gaps between models at different scales or between theoretical predictions and experimental observations. An important new direction for future research is to develop a predictive multi-scale (from DFT to continuum) computational framework, through a rigorous validation at each scale by carefully-designed experiments performed under <I>in situ</I> conditions, for rational design of better sulfur-tolerant anode materials and structures for a new generation of SOFCs to be powered by readily available fuels.</P> <P>Graphic Abstract</P><P>A combination of experimental and theoretical approaches has unraveled the sulfur-anode interaction mechanism, which is vital to rational design of better sulfur-tolerant anode materials for SOFCs. <IMG SRC='http://pubs.rsc.org/services/images/RSCpubs.ePlatform.Service.FreeContent.ImageService.svc/ImageService/image/GA?id=c1ee01758f'> </P>

Construction of the Operating Limits Diagram for a Ship-Based Helicopter Using the Design of Experiments with Computational Intelligence Techniques

Lin Hsin-Hung,Wu Sheng-Ju,Liu Tsung-Lung,Pan Kuan-Cheng 한국항공우주학회 2021 International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sc Vol.22 No.1

Compared with land-based helicopters, ship-based helicopters are required to land in a more challenging working environment as the airwakes generated by the wind field flowing through the superstructure of the ship changes the wind field structure. This complicates the wind field structure and affects the safety of flight control. The flight safety of the helicopter pilot can be significantly improved with prior understanding of the relevant information in the ship-based helicopter operating limits (SHOL) diagram. In previous studies, the SHOL diagram of ship-based helicopters has been obtained using numerical simulations in conjunction with a flight simulator. However, the flight simulator equipment is expensive and difficult to maintain. This study references the aforementioned studies by initially employing a numerical simulation method to obtain the flow field information of the interaction between the airwakes of the ship’s superstructure and the downwash flow of the helicopter. Then, the flight simulator is replaced by computational intelligence methods involving artificial intelligence. This significantly reduces the research cost for envelope construction. This study integrates design of experiments (DOE) and computational intelligence techniques (soft computing) to establish a recommended range for the SHOL diagram of ship-based helicopters. This study utilizes the DOE and computational intelligence techniques to construct the SHOL diagram of ship-based helicopters, provide suggestions, and serve as a reference for helicopter pilots and engineering designers to improve the safety during flight.

The in vivo photothermal treatment of gold nanorod in the mouse ear model

Liu, Bruce Yao Wen,Chen, Cheng-Lung,Lee, Shin-Yu,Chang, Fu-Hsiung,Lin, Win-Li,Chia, Chih-Ta,Chen, Yang-Yuan Techno-Press 2014 Biomaterials and biomedical engineering Vol.1 No.1

Gold nanorod's exceptional light to heat transduction is a robust phonomenon that has been extensively verified. The phenomenon is a trait from which many novel applications across disciplines have been proposed. In this investigation, the feasibility of utilizing heat harvested from such photothermal method to combat cancer is presented. Using non-invasive laser methods, an in vivo study is conducted on mouse ear tumors administered with gold nanorods (Au NRs). An emphasis is placed on monitoring the tumor developments after photothermal treatments, over time. The findings reveal significant tumor growth surpression at a threshold laser power of $0.6W/cm^2$ lasting 2 minutes; this energy also brought about dramatic size reduction in treated tumors. Furthermore, the apparent formation of an eschar over the laser treated region indicates extensive hemorrhagic necrosis of the tumor tissue; a phenomenon implicative to the inhibition of angiogenesis.

Effects of Free-range Farming on Carcass and Meat Qualities of Black-feathered Taiwan Native Chicken

Cheng, F.Y.,Huang, C.W.,Wan, T.C.,Liu, Y.T.,Lin, L.C.,Lou Chyr, Chu-Ying Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2008 Animal Bioscience Vol.21 No.8

The effects of free-range farming, compared to a conventional production system, on carcass and meat qualities were studied using black-feathered Taiwan native chickens. Twenty 16-week old females were purchased separately from a free-range farm and a conventional production farm and used for this study. The results showed similarities in the live weight (roughly 2.1 kg), dressing percentage (69%) and meat percentage (19%) of deboned leg quarter. Significant differences (p<0.05) found for the free-range chickens included: a higher percentage of meat for the breast, an increased crude protein content and chewiness value for the breast, but decreased crude fat content and lower hardness and fracturablility values for the leg quarter. Significantly higher L* values were found for the breast and leg meat of conventionally produced chickens, whereas no significant differences were found for WHC and purge loss between the breast and the leg, and between the two production systems as well. Results of sensory evaluation showed a significant preference for leg over breast meat (p<0.05). The scores of all the attributes including aroma, flavor, firmness, tenderness, juiciness and overall acceptability of leg meat from free-range chickens were slightly higher than for conventional chickens, while the reverse was true for breast meat, though no significant difference could be found. Free-range Taiwan native chicken appeared to yield the best of the results, with flavorful yet tender leg meat for higher sensory satisfaction, and high-protein but low-fat breast meat for healthier diet choice.