Funnels are a new natural subclass of DAGs. Intuitively, a DAG is a funnel if every source-sink path can be uniquely identified by one of its arcs. Funnels are an analog to trees for directed graphs that is more restrictive than DAGs but more expressive than in-/out-trees. Computational problems such as finding vertex-disjoint paths or tracking the origin of memes remain NP-hard on DAGs while o...

We present a microfluidic ratchet that exploits the deformation of individual cells through microscale funnel constrictions. The threshold pressure required to transport single cells through such constrictions is greater against the direction of taper than along the direction of taper. This physical asymmetry combined with an oscillatory excitation can enable selective and irreversible transpor...

We define a Byrnes-Isidori form for a class of infinite-dimensional systems with relative degree r and show that any system belonging to this class can be transformed into this form. We also analyze the concept of (stable) zero dynamics and show that it is, together with the Byrnes-Isidori form, instrumental for static proportional high-gain output feedback stabilization. Moreover, we show that...