Control Mechanisms Research Articles

Literature Review: Biomedical Information of Animal Treadmill Speed Control Using Proportional Integral Derivative Controller

The use of treadmill exercise in cardiovascular research played a vital role in assessing heart health and determining appropriate exercise regimens for patients. Before applying these regimens to humans, experiments on animals, such as white rats or mice, were conducted to simulate human cardiovascular responses. A specialized treadmill designed for experimental animals was required to determine exercise doses based on individual abilities. This process involved controlling the treadmill speed, which was generated by a conveyor driven by a DC motor. The motor speed was regulated through PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) control, while encoder sensors monitored the motor’s rotation speed, and limit switch sensors determined the exercise duration. This article reviewed the design and implementation of treadmill systems used for animal-based cardiovascular research, focusing on the control of DC motor speed using PID controllers. Previous studies that contributed to the development of such systems were discussed, with an emphasis on the precise control mechanisms required to simulate exercise conditions tailored to the subject's abilities. The treadmill system also incorporated sensors to accurately adjust motor speed and track exercise duration, ensuring alignment with the physiological capabilities of the test subjects. Furthermore, this review explored the potential for advancing research on treadmill control systems, offering insights into how this technology could support medical experts in determining optimal exercise regimens for white rats. These developments helped bridge the gap between animal-based studies and human applications, facilitating improved cardiovascular research outcomes.

The role of rule-following and accountability leadership and management support in internal control effectiveness moderated by organizational culture

PurposeThe current study intends to explore the internal control effectiveness through leadership who follow rules and emphasize accountability with support from management. It also examines the influence of organizational culture. Current research aims to enhance the internal control effectiveness in organizations by examining leadership roles, support from management and organizational culture specifically in the segment of accounting and finance.Design/methodology/approachThe study surveys professionals from the accounting and finance segment to accumulate insights into the influence of leadership, management support and organizational culture on internal control effectiveness. Statistical tools were applied by using the AMOS and SPSS program to draw practical recommendations for the optimization of internal control mechanisms.FindingsThe findings direct that internal control effectiveness is positively linked to rule-following and accountability leadership while presenting a negative association with top management support. Prominently, organizational culture demonstrates a central moderating role, highlighting its significant influence on internal control effectiveness.Practical implicationsThe study provides real-world insights to aid accounting and finance professionals in implementing effective internal controls. The findings provide actionable recommendations for top management to improve organizational practices and financial processes.Originality/valueThe unique combination of exploring leadership impact, top management support and organizational culture adds value to existing knowledge. The findings provide a novel perspective for practitioners and researchers seeking to enhance internal control mechanisms in organizational settings.

Justifying the structure of the improved mechanism for manual control of motor vehicles’ pedals

Due to the challenging military situation in Ukraine, the demand for tailored and flexible pedal control systems for individuals with physical disabilities is especially important. Standard pedal configurations often fail to meet the specific needs of drivers with limited mobility, making vehicle operation both difficult and potentially unsafe. The development of specialized manual control devices, such as hand-operated pedals or adjustable foot controls, is crucial for ensuring that these drivers can manage their vehicles with accuracy and safety. Such innovations not only improve accessibility but also foster greater autonomy and inclusion, empowering disabled drivers to navigate the roads with confidence and ease. This article aims to review existing prototypes of manual control mechanisms for vehicle pedals and to develop an improved device that enables simultaneous control of three pedals – accelerator, brake, and clutch – with one hand. As a result of a patent review of several existing prototypes of control mechanisms, it was concluded that the vast majority of them provide control for only two pedals – the accelerator and brake. This means they can only be used in motor vehicles with automatic transmissions or electric cars. Only a few mechanisms were designed to control three pedals, but they required using both the driver’s hands, directly affecting driving safety. Therefore, improving existing designs of the mechanisms for controlling three pedals by transferring all control functions to one hand of a driver remains relevant. The research methodology involves the use of classical methods from the theory of mechanisms and machines to conduct the structural synthesis of an improved multi-link hinge-lever mechanism and its kinematic analysis, aimed at determining the main parameters of pedals’ movements in a vehicle under various control inputs from the driver’s hand. The results obtained can be utilized by researchers and engineers to enhance manual control mechanisms for vehicle pedals and in the practical implementation processes. The prospects for future research on this topic are in developing an experimental prototype of the control mechanism and its testing and adjustment for different vehicle modifications to improve running smoothness and driving comfort and safety.

ОГЛЯД ДОСЛІДЖЕНЬ ТА ОБҐРУНТУВАННЯ НОВИХ МАТЕМАТИЧНИХ МЕТОДІВ МОДЕЛЮВАННЯ АЕРОПРУЖНОСТІ КРИЛА З ЛЮФТОМ КЕРУЮЧИХ ПОВЕРХОНЬ

The phenomenon of instability in flight due to the interaction of aerodynamic, elastic and inertial forces. could prove disastrous. Therefore, due importance is given to the aeroelastic analysis of the aircraft at the design stage. Free play, sometimes called play, occurs as a result of wear on parts such as lugs or moving mounts, often due to the aging of the aircraft. Excessive free play is detrimental to the flight safety of the aircraft. This can lead to catastrophic aeroelastic instabilities such as limit cycle oscillation (LCO), a phenomenon associated with sustained vibration of a fixed amplitude. LCO can accelerate the accumulation of structural fatigue damage and compromise controllability during flight. Aircraft control systems play a critical role in ensuring stability, maneuverability and flight safety. Over the past few decades, nonlinear aeroelasticity has received increasing attention. Advanced computational capabilities have stimulated renewed interest among researchers in re-examining the control surface free play problem with the goal of refining analytical models for greater accuracy. Both modern theoretical and experimental analyzes of free play have opened up new possibilities for the study of aeroelasticity. Despite the apparent understanding of the fundamental problem and the availability of numerous modeling approaches, freewheeling research continues to generate varied predictions regarding aeroelastic dynamic behavior and associated properties. Free play, defined as the sag or movement of mechanical connections between control inputs and aircraft control surfaces, is a ubiquitous aspect of control system design. While a little play may be tolerable, excessive play can lead to non-linearities and uncertainties, potentially compromising flight performance and safety. The aim of the article is to review existing methods of numerical research, analyze new mathematical methods for modeling aeroelastic vibrations and formulate the problem of developing safety criteria for transport category aircraft in terms of preventing elastic instability in the presence of free play in the control mechanism.

Delay-sensitive Quality of Service Routing with Integrated Admission Control for Wireless Mesh Network

Wireless mesh networks (WMNs) extend and improve broadband Internet connectivity for the end-users roaming around the edges of the wired network. Amid the explosive escalation of users sharing multimedia content over the Internet, the WMNs need to support the effective implementation of various multimedia applications. The multimedia applications require assured quality of service (QoS) to fulfill the user requirements. The QoS routing in WMNs needs to guarantee the QoS requirements of multimedia applications. Admission control (AC) is the primary traffic control mechanism used to provide QoS provisioning. AC admits a new flow only if the QoS requirements of already admitted flows are not violated, even after the admission of a new flow. We propose a new QoS routing protocol integrated with AC called Delay-Sensitive QoS Routing with integrated Admission Control (DSQRAC) to control the admission of delay-sensitive flows. A delay-aware cross-layer routing metric is used to find the feasible path. DSQRAC is implemented using ad-hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV) routing protocol, where a delay-sensitive controlled flooding mechanism is used to forward the route request packets. In the proposed work, we adjust/reassign the channels to aid the QoS routing to increase the likelihood of accepting a new flow. The simulation results show that the performance of the proposed QoS routing protocol is better than the existing schemes.

Social control mechanisms in the Kulango socio-cultural setting: the role of modernization and Christianity

Social control mechanisms in the Kulango socio-cultural setting: the role of modernization and Christianity

Mitigating Winner-Take-All Resource Competition through Antithetic Control Mechanism.

Competition among genes for limited transcriptional and translational resources impairs the functionality and modularity of synthetic gene circuits. Traditional control mechanisms, such as feedforward and negative feedback loops, have been proposed to alleviate these challenges, but they often focus on individual modules or inadvertently increase the burden on the system. In this study, we introduce three novel multimodule control strategies─local regulation, global regulation, and negatively competitive regulation (NCR)─that employ an antithetic regulatory mechanism to mitigate resource competition. Our systematic analysis reveals that while all three control mechanisms can alleviate resource competition to some extent, the NCR controller consistently outperforms both the global and local controllers. This superior performance stems from the unique architecture of the NCR controller, which is independent of specific parameter choices. Notably, the NCR controller not only facilitates the activation of less active modules through cross-activation mechanisms but also effectively utilizes the resource consumption within the controller itself. These findings emphasize the critical role of carefully designing the topology of multimodule controllers to ensure robust performance.

IOT Based Car Parking Using Edge Computing

The promise of autonomous driving is that edge computing can deliver real time services. Using a variety of sensors and communication modules, autonomous cars may function both indoors including in parking lots and outdoors. But because the interior station's ability to communicate with the outer world is limited globe, and the present underpowered autos don't really work; they could have to handle all the data. Autonomously, hence a control mechanism must be put in place. Completely self-sufficient car in the surroundings. In this research, we suggest an edge computing based smart parking system for self driving cars. Smart parking has resolved Boundaries and traffic, and parking spaces are managed using a grid. To assess the effectiveness of the smart parking system, In the current parking system, we contrasted the journey time with the parking time. Furthermore, the resource to make sure that the service quality margin number is offered and maintained; expenses and transaction data are examined.

Highly Regioselective Modular Assembly of 3-Phosphonyl Polysubstituted Pyridines through Radical Cascade Cyclization of 1,5-Enynes with Phosphine Oxide by Photoinitiation.

A series of 3-phosphonyl polysubstituted pyridine were first synthesized by photocatalysis, combining a phosphonyl radical cascade reaction, Boc deprotection, and aromatization. This strategy can avoid the difficulties of activating the C3-H bond on pyridine to synthesize 3-phosphonylpyridine under mild conditions. Furthermore, by constructing different enynes, we can achieve the metal-free modular synthesis of 3-phosphonyl polysubstituted pyridine, which will be transferred into a new type of phosphine ligand. This is of significance for organometallic catalysis. The regioselective control and detailed reaction mechanism of the cascade reaction are explained by DFT calculations.

Recent Advances in Transdermal Drug Delivery Systems

Transdermal drug delivery systems (TDDS), particularly transdermal patches, represent a significant advancement in pharmaceutical technology, offering non-invasive drug administration through the skin. These systems provide controlled release mechanisms and improved therapeutic outcomes. The evolution of TDDS has effectively addressed various limitations of conventional drug delivery methods, by escaping first-pass metabolism and maintaining steady plasma drug concentrations. Technological innovations have introduced sophisticated materials and formulation strategies, including advanced polymer matrices, smart delivery systems, and novel permeation enhancers. The integration of nanotechnology has expanded the scope of transdermal delivery, enabling the administration of previously unsuitable drug molecules. Current knowledge of skin structure and its barrier function has led to improved transdermal patch designs incorporating microemulsions, nanocarriers, and smart polymers. Advanced technologies such as microneedles, iontophoresis, and sonophoresis have significantly improved drug permeation capabilities. Marketed formulations demonstrate successful implementation of these technologies, while ongoing research continues to optimize characterization methods and delivery mechanisms. The development of more effective and patient-friendly transdermal systems has resulted in improved therapeutic outcomes and enhanced patient compliance, marking a significant advancement in drug delivery technology. Recent innovations suggest a promising future for transdermal delivery systems in addressing complex therapeutic challenges and meeting diverse patient needs.

A Comparative Analysis of the Indian Lunacy Act 1912 and Pakistan's Mental Health Ordinance 2001

ABSTRACTThis study compares the Indian Lunacy Act (ILA) 1912 with the Mental Health Ordinance (MHO) 2001 to demonstrate the (dis)continuity of colonial practices in the context of postcolonial Pakistan. This analysis is informed by Foucauldian power/knowledge nexus making a unique contribution to the broader field of mental health policy. The discursive continuity of the colonial legacy involving the legal structures in the mental health system, where the state uses psychiatric knowledge to legitimize the detention of individuals, echoes the Foucauldian concept of the power/knowledge nexus. Scrutinizing the words used in both legislations, it has been understood that language is not neutral; rather it is suffused with meaning, creating knowledge and truths. This is seen through the offensive words used in the ILA 1912 that denote degradation, disdain, and contempt toward the “insane,” “dangerous,” and “lunatics.” Although MHO 2001 adopted a more neutral language, a continuation of the mechanism of control is seen during the admitting process, in which the opinions and statements of medical professionals play an important role. The marginalization of alternative mental health practices, in the form of indigenous and communal mental health practices in both mental health legislations, showcases the dominance of the biomedical model, enforcing a particular form of epistemic control. Nonetheless, the relative improvement of the MHO 2001, as opposed to the ILA 1912, has been seen in terms of the language used and the inclusion of community‐based mental health services.

Audit Committee Effectiveness and Environmental, Social and Governance Rating in Malaysia

The purpose of this research is to ascertain the impact of audit committee effectiveness and the environmental, social and governance (ESG) rating for public listed firms in Malaysia. This paper aims to understand how AC effectiveness (ACEF) such as size, independence, meeting and expertise influence the ESG rating. Given that ESG rating is part of corporate reporting, the reporting practice of ESG should therefore be part of the AC’s effectiveness. The study uses a sample of 237 listed companies for the year 2023 that discloses ESG rating based on the FTSE Russel rating model. The rating model consists of 3 individual pillars and 14 themes. The collected data was then analyzed through regression analyses. The disclosure of ESG rating was regressed against the AC effectiveness, controlling for firm size, return on asset (ROA) and leverage. The results show a significant positive effect of AC effectiveness on ESG rating for the firms in Malaysia. Individually, AC independence, firm size, ROA and leverage also indicate a positive and significant relationship with the ESG rating. The paper validates the significant of the AC control mechanism in improving the ESG rating hence offering a potential answer to reduce agency and legitimacy issues of firms in Malaysia. This study deepened the understanding about the functions of AC beyond the traditional and compulsory roles to oversee the financial reporting process. Empirical evidence that AC effectiveness leads to a better corporate disclosure practice had also been presented.

Mitochondrial pathways of copper neurotoxicity: focus on mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy

Copper (Cu) is essential for brain development and function, yet its overload induces neuronal damage and contributes to neurodegeneration and other neurological disorders. Multiple studies demonstrated that Cu neurotoxicity is associated with mitochondrial dysfunction, routinely assessed by reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential. Nonetheless, the role of alterations of mitochondrial dynamics in brain mitochondrial dysfunction induced by Cu exposure is still debatable. Therefore, the objective of the present narrative review was to discuss the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in Cu-induced neurotoxicity with special emphasis on its influence on brain mitochondrial fusion and fission, as well as mitochondrial clearance by mitophagy. Existing data demonstrate that, in addition to mitochondrial electron transport chain inhibition, membrane damage, and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction, Cu overexposure inhibits mitochondrial fusion by down-regulation of Opa1, Mfn1, and Mfn2 expression, while promoting mitochondrial fission through up-regulation of Drp1. It has been also demonstrated that Cu exposure induces PINK1/Parkin-dependent mitophagy in brain cells, that is considered a compensatory response to Cu-induced mitochondrial dysfunction. However, long-term high-dose Cu exposure impairs mitophagy, resulting in accumulation of dysfunctional mitochondria. Cu-induced inhibition of mitochondrial biogenesis due to down-regulation of PGC-1α further aggravates mitochondrial dysfunction in brain. Studies from non-brain cells corroborate these findings, also offering additional evidence that dysregulation of mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy may be involved in Cu-induced damage in brain. Finally, Cu exposure induces cuproptosis in brain cells due mitochondrial proteotoxic stress, that may also contribute to neuronal damage and pathogenesis of certain brain diseases. Based on these findings, it is assumed that development of mitoprotective agents, specifically targeting mechanisms of mitochondrial quality control, would be useful for prevention of neurotoxic effects of Cu overload.

Exploring Various Approaches for Secure Data Storage in Cloud Environments

Cloud computing has modified the way the data is stored and accessed. Even if the shared nature of cloud environments may leads to security challenges. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of various strategies used and using for securing data at rest in the cloud environment. This paper delve into the core ideas of data encryption, access control mechanism and data integrity, studying there strengths, drawbacks and accessibility to different cloud aspects. This paper also deliberate emerging trends like homomorphic encryption and block-chain based solutions, which offer innovative approaches for enhancing data privacy and security. By analyzing this approaches in depth, this paper identify the optimal strategies for protecting sensitive data stored in the cloud.

Prefrontal electrophysiological biomarkers and mechanism-based drug effects in a rat model of alcohol addiction

Patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) who seek treatment show highly variable outcomes. A precision medicine approach with biomarkers responsive to new treatments is warranted to overcome this limitation. Promising biomarkers relate to prefrontal control mechanisms that are severely disturbed in AUD. This results in reduced inhibitory control of compulsive behavior and, eventually, relapse. We reasoned here that prefrontal dysfunction, which underlies vulnerability to relapse, is evidenced by altered neuroelectric signatures and should be restored by pharmacological interventions that specifically target prefrontal dysfunction. To test this, we applied our recently developed biocompatible neuroprosthesis to measure prefrontal neural function in a well-established rat model of alcohol addiction and relapse. We monitored neural oscillations and event-related potentials in awake alcohol-dependent rats during abstinence and following treatment with psilocybin or LY379268, agonists of the serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR), and the metabotropic glutamate receptor 2 (mGluR2), that are known to reduce prefrontal dysfunction and relapse. Electrophysiological impairments in alcohol-dependent rats are reduced amplitudes of P1N1 and N1P2 components and attenuated event-related oscillatory activity. Psilocybin and LY379268 were able to restore these impairments. Furthermore, alcohol-dependent animals displayed a dominance in higher beta frequencies indicative of a state of hyperarousal that is prone to relapse, which particularly psilocybin was able to counteract. In summary, we provide prefrontal markers indicative of relapse and treatment response, especially for psychedelic drugs.

Mechanistic exploration of royal jelly production in caged honey bees (Apis mellifera)

This study investigates the impact of bee pollen nutrition on the royal jelly production of honey bees (Apis mellifera). Results demonstrate that pollen diet significantly impacts hypopharyngeal gland (HPG) development and the expression of genes associated with royal jelly biosynthesis. Bees fed Brassica napus pollen exhibited superior HPG development, and increased mrjp1 expression (encoding a key royal jelly protein). While the cyp450 6AS8 gene expression (encoding a key enzyme in 10-HDA biosynthesis) was increased by pollen consumption, no distinct expression patterns were observed among the different pollen types tested. An in vitro bee cage platform for royal jelly production has been established to further understand the mechanisms behind royal jelly production in bees. The experiment demonstrated a positive correlation between the number of worker bees and the total yield of royal jelly per cage. However, when the number of worker bees is low, the amount of royal jelly each individual worker bee needs to produce increases. In conclusion, these findings enhance our understanding of the role of bee pollen nutrition in royal jelly production. Furthermore, the results from this in vitro bee cage platform suggest that the number of worker bees is a critical factor in royal jelly production, and that bees may possess a controllable mechanism for regulating royal jelly secretion.

A systems biology approach unveils different gene expression control mechanisms governing the immune response genetic program in peripheral blood mononuclear cells exposed to SARS-CoV-2.

COVID-19 and other pandemic viruses continue being important for public health and the global economy. Therefore, it is essential to explore the pathogenesis of COVID-19 more deeply, particularly its association with inflammatory and antiviral processes. In this study, we used the RNA-seq technique to analyze mRNA and non-coding RNA profiles of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy individuals after SARS-CoV-2 in vitro exposure, to identify pathways related to immune response and the regulatory post-transcriptional mechanisms triggered that can serve as possible complementary therapeutic targets. Our analyses show that SARS-CoV-2 induced a significant regulation in the expression of 790 genes in PBMCs, of which 733 correspond to mRNAs and 57 to non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). The immune response, antiviral response, signaling, cell proliferation and metabolism are the main biological processes involved. Among these, the inflammatory response groups the majority of regulated genes with an increase in the expression of chemokines involved in the recruitment of monocytes, neutrophils and T-cells. Additionally, it was observed that exposure to SARS-CoV-2 induces the expression of genes related to the IL-27 pathway but not of IFN-I or IFN-III, indicating the induction of ISGs through this pathway rather than the IFN genes. Moreover, several lncRNA and RNA binding proteins that can act in the cis-regulation of genes of the IL-27 pathway were identified. Our results indicate that SARS-CoV-2 can regulate the expression of multiple genes in PBMCs, mainly related to the inflammatory and antiviral response. Among these, lncRNAs establish an important mechanism in regulating the immune response to the virus. They could contribute to developing severe forms of COVID-19, constituting a possible therapeutic target.

The recruitment of global language inhibitory control and cognitive-general control mechanisms in comprehending language switches: Evidence from eye movements

Abstract Prominent models of the bilingual lexicon do not allow for language – wide inhibition or any effect of general cognitive control on the activation of words within the lexicon. We report evidence that global language inhibitory control and cognitive general control mechanisms affect lexical retrieval during comprehension. Spanish–English bilinguals read language-pure or sentences with mid-sentence switches while their eye movements were recorded. A switch cost was observed in aspects of the eye-tracking record reflecting early spread of lexical activation, as well as later measures. The switch cost was larger for L2-to-L1 switches and was not attenuated when switched words were cognates (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, switch costs were reduced when the sentences contained a language color cue. These findings are inconsistent with the predictions of the Bilingual Interactive Activation Plus (BIA+) but support the architecture of its predecessor, the BIA. They refute the assumption that early lexical activation is impervious to nonlinguistic cues.

Order Reduction Adaptive Current Tracking Control with Proportional–Integral-Type Filter for MAGLEV Applications

The proposed adaptive controller robustly tracks the coil current to its desired trajectory, regulating the target position of the magnetic levitation (MAGLEV) systems under the modeling errors and load variations. This paper makes the following two contributions. First, the order reduction proportional–integral filter replaces the conventional low-pass filter for the current measurement without the signal distortions in the high-frequency operation modes. Second, the proposed technique consists of the proportional-type feedback control and parameter adaptation mechanism estimating the DC component of the uncertain disturbances, involving only one design parameter. The practical advantages of the proposed technique are validated by the numerical simulations based on MATLAB/Simulink (ver. 2017b) considering the nonlinear dynamics of the MAGLEV systems and modeling errors.

Kazuyo Moro: Building relationships is essential for gaining both speed and opportunities in research.

Professor Kazuyo Moro holds dual appointments as a team leader for the Laboratory for Innate Immune Systems at RIKEN IMS as well as Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine. Her lab conducts multifaceted research on type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2), from ILC2 differentiation, activation, suppression, and transcriptional control mechanisms, as well as basic research and drug discovery. The research from Prof. Moro lab aims to build new models and therapies for related immune diseases such as allergies, fibrosis, and metabolic diseases.