Development of electromagnetic filtration in the feed water circuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dolle, L.

1980-01-01

Electromagnetic filtration in the feed water circuit of the steam generators in nuclear power plants is efficient towards insoluble corrosion products. The principle of electromagnetic filtration is shortly recalled and the results of corresponding development work are summarized. The magnitude of water volumes to be treated on the two priviledged parts of the circuit are estimated. These parts are on the feed water tank level and on the blow-down of the steam generator. The practical applications are discussed [fr

Molecular annotation of integrative feeding neural circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez, Cristian A; Stanley, Sarah A; Wysocki, Robert W; Havranova, Jana; Ahrens-Nicklas, Rebecca; Onyimba, Frances; Friedman, Jeffrey M

2011-02-02

The identity of higher-order neurons and circuits playing an associative role to control feeding is unknown. We injected pseudorabies virus, a retrograde tracer, into masseter muscle, salivary gland, and tongue of BAC-transgenic mice expressing GFP in specific neural populations and identified several CNS regions that project multisynaptically to the periphery. MCH and orexin neurons were identified in the lateral hypothalamus, and Nurr1 and Cnr1 in the amygdala and insular/rhinal cortices. Cholera toxin β tracing showed that insular Nurr1(+) and Cnr1(+) neurons project to the amygdala or lateral hypothalamus, respectively. Finally, we show that cortical Cnr1(+) neurons show increased Cnr1 mRNA and c-Fos expression after fasting, consistent with a possible role for Cnr1(+) neurons in feeding. Overall, these studies define a general approach for identifying specific molecular markers for neurons in complex neural circuits. These markers now provide a means for functional studies of specific neuronal populations in feeding or other complex behaviors. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

MIMO feed-forward design in wafer scanners using a gradient approximation-based algorithm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heertjes, M.F.; Hennekens, D.W.T.; Steinbuch, M.

2010-01-01

An experimental demonstration is given of a data-based multi-input multi-output (MIMO) feed-forward control design applied to the motion systems of a wafer scanner. Atop a nominal single-input single-output (SISO) feed-forward controller, a MIMO controller is designed having a finite impulse

Cell-type specific short-term plasticity at auditory nerve synapses controls feed-forward inhibition in the dorsal cochlear nucleus.

Science.gov (United States)

Sedlacek, Miloslav; Brenowitz, Stephan D

2014-01-01

Feed-forward inhibition (FFI) represents a powerful mechanism by which control of the timing and fidelity of action potentials in local synaptic circuits of various brain regions is achieved. In the cochlear nucleus, the auditory nerve provides excitation to both principal neurons and inhibitory interneurons. Here, we investigated the synaptic circuit associated with fusiform cells (FCs), principal neurons of the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) that receive excitation from auditory nerve fibers and inhibition from tuberculoventral cells (TVCs) on their basal dendrites in the deep layer of DCN. Despite the importance of these inputs in regulating fusiform cell firing behavior, the mechanisms determining the balance of excitation and FFI in this circuit are not well understood. Therefore, we examined the timing and plasticity of auditory nerve driven FFI onto FCs. We find that in some FCs, excitatory and inhibitory components of FFI had the same stimulation thresholds indicating they could be triggered by activation of the same fibers. In other FCs, excitation and inhibition exhibit different stimulus thresholds, suggesting FCs and TVCs might be activated by different sets of fibers. In addition, we find that during repetitive activation, synapses formed by the auditory nerve onto TVCs and FCs exhibit distinct modes of short-term plasticity. Feed-forward inhibitory post-synaptic currents (IPSCs) in FCs exhibit short-term depression because of prominent synaptic depression at the auditory nerve-TVC synapse. Depression of this feedforward inhibitory input causes a shift in the balance of fusiform cell synaptic input towards greater excitation and suggests that fusiform cell spike output will be enhanced by physiological patterns of auditory nerve activity.

Position Control of Servo Systems Using Feed-Forward Friction Compensation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Min Gyu; Kim, Han Me; Shin, Jong Min; Kim, Jong Shik

2009-01-01

Friction is an important factor for precise position tracking control of servo systems. Servo systems with highly nonlinear friction are sensitive to the variation of operating condition. To overcome this problem, we use the LuGre friction model which can consider dynamic characteristics of friction. The LuGre friction model is used as a feed-forward compensator to improve tracking performance of servo systems. The parameters of the LuGre friction model are identified through experiments. The experimental result shows that the tracking performance of servo systems with higherly nonlinear friction can be improved by using feed-forward friction compensation

A Feed-forward Geometrical Compensation and Adaptive Feedback Control Algorithm for Hydraulic Robot Manipulators

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Conrad, Finn; Zhou, Jianjun; Gabacik, Andrzej

1998-01-01

Invited paper presents a new control algorithm based on feed-forward geometrical compensation strategy combined with adaptive feedback control.......Invited paper presents a new control algorithm based on feed-forward geometrical compensation strategy combined with adaptive feedback control....

Feed-forward general-purpose computer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yamada, H; Yoshioka, Y; Nakamura, T; Shigei, Y

1983-08-01

The feed forward machine (FFM) proposed by the authors has a CPU composed of many fixed arithmetic units and registers. Many features of the FFM which are compatible with concurrent operating and reduce the instruction requirement for store are reported. In order to evaluate the FFM, the minimum execution time of instructions is discussed by using the Petri Net model. From this it is predicted that the execution time will be 0.46-0.6 times the real execution time. Furthermore, it is concluded that the program for the FFM will be reduced in size with respect to the program for the Von Neumann computers. 12 references.

High on food: the interaction between the neural circuits for feeding and for reward.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jing-Jing; Mukherjee, Diptendu; Haritan, Doron; Ignatowska-Jankowska, Bogna; Liu, Ji; Citri, Ami; Pang, Zhiping P

2015-04-01

Hunger, mostly initiated by a deficiency in energy, induces food seeking and intake. However, the drive toward food is not only regulated by physiological needs, but is motivated by the pleasure derived from ingestion of food, in particular palatable foods. Therefore, feeding is viewed as an adaptive motivated behavior that involves integrated communication between homeostatic feeding circuits and reward circuits. The initiation and termination of a feeding episode are instructed by a variety of neuronal signals, and maladaptive plasticity in almost any component of the network may lead to the development of pathological eating disorders. In this review we will summarize the latest understanding of how the feeding circuits and reward circuits in the brain interact. We will emphasize communication between the hypothalamus and the mesolimbic dopamine system and highlight complexities, discrepancies, open questions and future directions for the field.

Regularization and Complexity Control in Feed-forward Networks

OpenAIRE

Bishop, C. M.

1995-01-01

In this paper we consider four alternative approaches to complexity control in feed-forward networks based respectively on architecture selection, regularization, early stopping, and training with noise. We show that there are close similarities between these approaches and we argue that, for most practical applications, the technique of regularization should be the method of choice.

Feed-Forward Neural Networks and Minimal Search Space Learning

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Neruda, Roman

2005-01-01

Roč. 4, č. 12 (2005), s. 1867-1872 ISSN 1109-2750 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA201/05/0557 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : search space * feed-forward networks * genetic algorithm s Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics

Single-hidden-layer feed-forward quantum neural network based on Grover learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Cheng-Yi; Chen, Chein; Chang, Ching-Ter; Shih, Lun-Min

2013-09-01

In this paper, a novel single-hidden-layer feed-forward quantum neural network model is proposed based on some concepts and principles in the quantum theory. By combining the quantum mechanism with the feed-forward neural network, we defined quantum hidden neurons and connected quantum weights, and used them as the fundamental information processing unit in a single-hidden-layer feed-forward neural network. The quantum neurons make a wide range of nonlinear functions serve as the activation functions in the hidden layer of the network, and the Grover searching algorithm outstands the optimal parameter setting iteratively and thus makes very efficient neural network learning possible. The quantum neuron and weights, along with a Grover searching algorithm based learning, result in a novel and efficient neural network characteristic of reduced network, high efficient training and prospect application in future. Some simulations are taken to investigate the performance of the proposed quantum network and the result show that it can achieve accurate learning. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improved Battery Charger Circuit Utilizing Reduced DC-link Capacitors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vencislav Valchev

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The article presents a comparison of advantages and disadvantages of a battery charger circuit with and without the use of DC-link capacitors in it. The specific application requirements, namely ultra-light electric vehicles, are set as lightness, efficiency and robustness of the design. Prove of greater reliability and improvement on maintenance costs without significant decrease in the quality of charging process with the removal of DC-link capacitors in rectifier and boost converter circuits is accomplished. The proposed circuit parameters are analyzed by carried out simulations.

Natural Language Processing with Small Feed-Forward Networks

OpenAIRE

Botha, Jan A.; Pitler, Emily; Ma, Ji; Bakalov, Anton; Salcianu, Alex; Weiss, David; McDonald, Ryan; Petrov, Slav

2017-01-01

We show that small and shallow feed-forward neural networks can achieve near state-of-the-art results on a range of unstructured and structured language processing tasks while being considerably cheaper in memory and computational requirements than deep recurrent models. Motivated by resource-constrained environments like mobile phones, we showcase simple techniques for obtaining such small neural network models, and investigate different tradeoffs when deciding how to allocate a small memory...

Hippocampus-driven feed-forward inhibition of the prefrontal cortex mediates relapse of extinguished fear.

Science.gov (United States)

Marek, Roger; Jin, Jingji; Goode, Travis D; Giustino, Thomas F; Wang, Qian; Acca, Gillian M; Holehonnur, Roopashri; Ploski, Jonathan E; Fitzgerald, Paul J; Lynagh, Timothy; Lynch, Joseph W; Maren, Stephen; Sah, Pankaj

2018-03-01

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been implicated in the extinction of emotional memories, including conditioned fear. We found that ventral hippocampal (vHPC) projections to the infralimbic (IL) cortex recruited parvalbumin-expressing interneurons to counter the expression of extinguished fear and promote fear relapse. Whole-cell recordings ex vivo revealed that optogenetic activation of vHPC input to amygdala-projecting pyramidal neurons in the IL was dominated by feed-forward inhibition. Selectively silencing parvalbumin-expressing, but not somatostatin-expressing, interneurons in the IL eliminated vHPC-mediated inhibition. In behaving rats, pharmacogenetic activation of vHPC→IL projections impaired extinction recall, whereas silencing IL projectors diminished fear renewal. Intra-IL infusion of GABA receptor agonists or antagonists, respectively, reproduced these effects. Together, our findings describe a previously unknown circuit mechanism for the contextual control of fear, and indicate that vHPC-mediated inhibition of IL is an essential neural substrate for fear relapse.

Impedance frequency characteristics of the MAGLEV power feeding circuit; Jiki fujoshiki tetsudo ni okeru kidenkei no inpidansu shuhasu tokusei

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ema, S [Numazu College of Technology, Shizuoka (Japan); Ajiki, K [Railway Technical Research Inst., Tokyo (Japan)

1993-09-20

In connection with the impedance frequency characteristics of the coils for propulsion and the power feeding circuit of the magnetically levitated train (MAGLEV), the inverted L circuit and T circuit as equivalent circuits for the coil for propulsion and for the power feeding, respectively, are proposed and analyzed. The simulated result and the result of measurement reported by now are in good agreement, the measured values and calculated values being almost equal in both the characteristics of the coils for propulsion and those of the power feeding circuit. The validity of the two equivalent circuits are clarified, and the frequency characteristics are verified theoretically. The impedance frequency characteristics of the coils for propulsion which are peculiar to MAGLEV are investigated with the power feeding circuit consisting of the power feeding line and propulsion coils. Lastly, simulation is carried out for the coils for propulsion with several hundred propulsion coils and for the power feeding system assuming the commercial line. As a result, it is found that the antiresonant frequencies are decreased to about one tenth in both of the characteristics. 11 refs., 18 figs.

Investigating transfer gate potential barrier by feed-forward effect measurement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Xu, Y.; Ge, X.; Theuwissen, A.J.P.

2015-01-01

In a 4T pixel, the transfer gate (TG) “OFF” surface potential is one of the important parameters, which determines the pinned photodiode (PPD) full well capacity. The feed-forward effect measurement is a powerful tool to characterize the relationship of the PPD injection potential and the

Aversive Learning and Appetitive Motivation Toggle Feed-Forward Inhibition in the Drosophila Mushroom Body.

Science.gov (United States)

Perisse, Emmanuel; Owald, David; Barnstedt, Oliver; Talbot, Clifford B; Huetteroth, Wolf; Waddell, Scott

2016-06-01

In Drosophila, negatively reinforcing dopaminergic neurons also provide the inhibitory control of satiety over appetitive memory expression. Here we show that aversive learning causes a persistent depression of the conditioned odor drive to two downstream feed-forward inhibitory GABAergic interneurons of the mushroom body, called MVP2, or mushroom body output neuron (MBON)-γ1pedc>α/β. However, MVP2 neuron output is only essential for expression of short-term aversive memory. Stimulating MVP2 neurons preferentially inhibits the odor-evoked activity of avoidance-directing MBONs and odor-driven avoidance behavior, whereas their inhibition enhances odor avoidance. In contrast, odor-evoked activity of MVP2 neurons is elevated in hungry flies, and their feed-forward inhibition is required for expression of appetitive memory at all times. Moreover, imposing MVP2 activity promotes inappropriate appetitive memory expression in food-satiated flies. Aversive learning and appetitive motivation therefore toggle alternate modes of a common feed-forward inhibitory MVP2 pathway to promote conditioned odor avoidance or approach. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A mixed incoherent feed-forward loop contributes to the regulation of bacterial photosynthesis genes.

Science.gov (United States)

Mank, Nils N; Berghoff, Bork A; Klug, Gabriele

2013-03-01

Living cells use a variety of regulatory network motifs for accurate gene expression in response to changes in their environment or during differentiation processes. In Rhodobacter sphaeroides, a complex regulatory network controls expression of photosynthesis genes to guarantee optimal energy supply on one hand and to avoid photooxidative stress on the other hand. Recently, we identified a mixed incoherent feed-forward loop comprising the transcription factor PrrA, the sRNA PcrZ and photosynthesis target genes as part of this regulatory network. This point-of-view provides a comparison to other described feed-forward loops and discusses the physiological relevance of PcrZ in more detail.

LIDAR Wind Speed Measurement Analysis and Feed-Forward Blade Pitch Control for Load Mitigation in Wind Turbines: January 2010--January 2011

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dunne, F.; Simley, E.; Pao, L.Y.

2011-10-01

This report examines the accuracy of measurements that rely on Doppler LIDAR systems to determine their applicability to wind turbine feed-forward control systems and discusses feed-forward control system designs that use preview wind measurements. Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) systems are able to measure the speed of incoming wind before it interacts with a wind turbine rotor. These preview wind measurements can be used in feed-forward control systems designed to reduce turbine loads. However, the degree to which such preview-based control techniques can reduce loads by reacting to turbulence depends on how accurately the incoming wind field can be measured. The first half of this report examines the accuracy of different measurement scenarios that rely on coherent continuous-wave or pulsed Doppler LIDAR systems to determine their applicability to feed-forward control. In particular, the impacts of measurement range and angular offset from the wind direction are studied for various wind conditions. A realistic case involving a scanning LIDAR unit mounted in the spinner of a wind turbine is studied in depth with emphasis on choices for scan radius and preview distance. The effects of turbulence parameters on measurement accuracy are studied as well. Continuous-wave and pulsed LIDAR models based on typical commercially available units were used in the studies present in this report. The second half of this report discusses feed-forward control system designs that use preview wind measurements. Combined feedback/feed-forward blade pitch control is compared to industry standard feedback control when simulated in realistic turbulent above-rated winds. The feed-forward controllers are designed to reduce fatigue loads, increasing turbine lifetime and therefore reducing the cost of energy. Three feed-forward designs are studied: non-causal series expansion, Preview Control, and optimized FIR filter. The input to the feed-forward controller is a measurement of

Feed forward control: An implementation at CIRFEL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krishnaswamy, J.; Lehrman, I.S.; Hartley, R.

1995-01-01

An integral part of the Compact InfraRed Free Electron LASER (CIRFEL) is control of the phase and amplitude stability in the RF power system. We have implemented such a Feed Forward system using the LabView software package, by National Instruments. We will discuss implementation and performance data of the Feed Forward control of the RF power system at CIRFEL. We will also briefly discuss some conditions under which the problem is ill-conditioned, and what idealizations can be made to remedy these ill-conditioned systems. Using an arbitrary function generator, we generate a driving signal for a voltage-controlled attenuator at the input side of the RF system, and we monitor the RF voltage in cell I of the photocathode gun using a digital storage oscilliscope in averaging mode. The system is stable enough to use data from one shot to modify the inputs for future shots. After downloading the averaged data to a personal computer via a GPIB (IEEE 488) bus, we use a simple linear transformation on the difference waveform between the current shot and the target to produce a correction signal. This signal is added to the driving signal in the arbitrary function generator, and the process is repeated until we get the flatness we need in the output signals from cell 1. The system for phase control is similar, with a voltage-controlled phase shifter replacing the attenuator, and monitoring of the RF phase in cell I replacing the monitoring of RF voltage. By repeatedly alternating between correcting the RF voltage (equivalent to correcting the RF power) and RF phase in cell 1, we are able to achieve simultaneous phase variations of <±1 degrees and amplitude variations of <±0.1% over a 3μsec pulse

Embedding the dynamics of a single delay system into a feed-forward ring.

Science.gov (United States)

Klinshov, Vladimir; Shchapin, Dmitry; Yanchuk, Serhiy; Wolfrum, Matthias; D'Huys, Otti; Nekorkin, Vladimir

2017-10-01

We investigate the relation between the dynamics of a single oscillator with delayed self-feedback and a feed-forward ring of such oscillators, where each unit is coupled to its next neighbor in the same way as in the self-feedback case. We show that periodic solutions of the delayed oscillator give rise to families of rotating waves with different wave numbers in the corresponding ring. In particular, if for the single oscillator the periodic solution is resonant to the delay, it can be embedded into a ring with instantaneous couplings. We discover several cases where the stability of a periodic solution for the single unit can be related to the stability of the corresponding rotating wave in the ring. As a specific example, we demonstrate how the complex bifurcation scenario of simultaneously emerging multijittering solutions can be transferred from a single oscillator with delayed pulse feedback to multijittering rotating waves in a sufficiently large ring of oscillators with instantaneous pulse coupling. Finally, we present an experimental realization of this dynamical phenomenon in a system of coupled electronic circuits of FitzHugh-Nagumo type.

A novel controller for bipedal locomotion integrating feed-forward and feedback mechanisms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Xiong, Xiaofeng; Sartori, Massimo; Dosen, Strahinja; González-Vargas, José; Wörgötter, Florentin; Farina, Dario; Ibanez, J.; González-Vargas, J.; Azorin, J.M.; Akay, M.; Pons, J.L.

2017-01-01

It has been recognized that bipedal locomotion is controlled using feed-forward (e.g., patterned) and feedback (e.g., reflex) control schemes. However, most current controllers fail to integrate the two schemes to simplify speed control of bipedal locomotion. To solve this problem, we here propose a

A Feed-Forward Control Realizing Fast Response for Three-Branch Interleaved DC-DC Converter in DC Microgrid

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haojie Wang

2016-07-01

Full Text Available It is a common practice for storage batteries to be connected to DC microgrid buses through DC-DC converters for voltage support on islanded operation mode. A feed-forward control based dual-loop constant voltage PI control for three-branch interleaved DC-DC converters (TIDC is proposed for storage batteries in DC microgrids. The working principle of TIDC is analyzed, and the factors influencing the response rate based on the dual-loop constant voltage control for TIDC are discussed, and then the method of feed-forward control for TIDC is studied to improve the response rate for load changing. A prototype of the TIDC is developed and an experimental platform is built. The experiment results show that DC bus voltage sags or swells caused by load changing can be reduced and the time for voltage recovery can be decreased significantly with the proposed feed-forward control.

A Feed-Forward Control Realizing Fast Response for Three-Branch Interleaved DC-DC Converter in DC Microgrid

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Haojie; Han, Minxiao; Yan, Wenli

2016-01-01

It is a common practice for storage batteries to be connected to DC microgrid buses through DC-DC converters for voltage support on islanded operation mode. A feed-forward control based dual-loop constant voltage PI control for three-branch interleaved DC-DC converters (TIDC) is proposed...... for storage batteries in DC microgrids. The working principle of TIDC is analyzed, and the factors influencing the response rate based on the dual-loop constant voltage control for TIDC are discussed, and then the method of feed-forward control for TIDC is studied to improve the response rate for load...... changing. A prototype of the TIDC is developed and an experimental platform is built. The experiment results show that DC bus voltage sags or swells caused by load changing can be reduced and the time for voltage recovery can be decreased significantly with the proposed feed-forward control....

Connect the dot: Computing feed-links with minimum dilation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aronov, B.; Buchin, K.; Buchin, M.; Kreveld, van M.J.; Löffler, M.; Luo, J.; Silveira, R.I.; Speckmann, B.; Dehne, F.; Gavrilova, M.; Sack, J.-R.; Tóth, C.D.

2009-01-01

A feed-link is an artificial connection from a given location p to a real-world network. It is most commonly added to an incomplete network to improve the results of network analysis, by making p part of the network. The feed-link has to be "reasonable", hence we use the concept of dilation to

Real time monitoring of powder blend bulk density for coupled feed-forward/feed-back control of a continuous direct compaction tablet manufacturing process.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Ravendra; Román-Ospino, Andrés D; Romañach, Rodolfo J; Ierapetritou, Marianthi; Ramachandran, Rohit

2015-11-10

The pharmaceutical industry is strictly regulated, where precise and accurate control of the end product quality is necessary to ensure the effectiveness of the drug products. For such control, the process and raw materials variability ideally need to be fed-forward in real time into an automatic control system so that a proactive action can be taken before it can affect the end product quality. Variations in raw material properties (e.g., particle size), feeder hopper level, amount of lubrication, milling and blending action, applied shear in different processing stages can affect the blend density significantly and thereby tablet weight, hardness and dissolution. Therefore, real time monitoring of powder bulk density variability and its incorporation into the automatic control system so that its effect can be mitigated proactively and efficiently is highly desired. However, real time monitoring of powder bulk density is still a challenging task because of different level of complexities. In this work, powder bulk density which has a significant effect on the critical quality attributes (CQA's) has been monitored in real time in a pilot-plant facility, using a NIR sensor. The sensitivity of the powder bulk density on critical process parameters (CPP's) and CQA's has been analyzed and thereby feed-forward controller has been designed. The measured signal can be used for feed-forward control so that the corrective actions on the density variations can be taken before they can influence the product quality. The coupled feed-forward/feed-back control system demonstrates improved control performance and improvements in the final product quality in the presence of process and raw material variations. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Brain reflections: A circuit-based framework for understanding information processing and cognitive control.

Science.gov (United States)

Gratton, Gabriele

2018-03-01

Here, I propose a view of the architecture of the human information processing system, and of how it can be adapted to changing task demands (which is the hallmark of cognitive control). This view is informed by an interpretation of brain activity as reflecting the excitability level of neural representations, encoding not only stimuli and temporal contexts, but also action plans and task goals. The proposed cognitive architecture includes three types of circuits: open circuits, involved in feed-forward processing such as that connecting stimuli with responses and characterized by brief, transient brain activity; and two types of closed circuits, positive feedback circuits (characterized by sustained, high-frequency oscillatory activity), which help select and maintain representations, and negative feedback circuits (characterized by brief, low-frequency oscillatory bursts), which are instead associated with changes in representations. Feed-forward activity is primarily responsible for the spread of activation along the information processing system. Oscillatory activity, instead, controls this spread. Sustained oscillatory activity due to both local cortical circuits (gamma) and longer corticothalamic circuits (alpha and beta) allows for the selection of individuated representations. Through the interaction of these circuits, it also allows for the preservation of representations across different temporal spans (sensory and working memory) and their spread across the brain. In contrast, brief bursts of oscillatory activity, generated by novel and/or conflicting information, lead to the interruption of sustained oscillatory activity and promote the generation of new representations. I discuss how this framework can account for a number of psychological and behavioral phenomena. © 2017 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Visual language recognition with a feed-forward network of spiking neurons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rasmussen, Craig E [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Garrett, Kenyan [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Sottile, Matthew [GALOIS; Shreyas, Ns [INDIANA UNIV.

2010-01-01

An analogy is made and exploited between the recognition of visual objects and language parsing. A subset of regular languages is used to define a one-dimensional 'visual' language, in which the words are translational and scale invariant. This allows an exploration of the viewpoint invariant languages that can be solved by a network of concurrent, hierarchically connected processors. A language family is defined that is hierarchically tiling system recognizable (HREC). As inspired by nature, an algorithm is presented that constructs a cellular automaton that recognizes strings from a language in the HREC family. It is demonstrated how a language recognizer can be implemented from the cellular automaton using a feed-forward network of spiking neurons. This parser recognizes fixed-length strings from the language in parallel and as the computation is pipelined, a new string can be parsed in each new interval of time. The analogy with formal language theory allows inferences to be drawn regarding what class of objects can be recognized by visual cortex operating in purely feed-forward fashion and what class of objects requires a more complicated network architecture.

Hybrid Analytical and Data-Driven Modeling for Feed-Forward Robot Control.

Science.gov (United States)

Reinhart, René Felix; Shareef, Zeeshan; Steil, Jochen Jakob

2017-02-08

Feed-forward model-based control relies on models of the controlled plant, e.g., in robotics on accurate knowledge of manipulator kinematics or dynamics. However, mechanical and analytical models do not capture all aspects of a plant's intrinsic properties and there remain unmodeled dynamics due to varying parameters, unmodeled friction or soft materials. In this context, machine learning is an alternative suitable technique to extract non-linear plant models from data. However, fully data-based models suffer from inaccuracies as well and are inefficient if they include learning of well known analytical models. This paper thus argues that feed-forward control based on hybrid models comprising an analytical model and a learned error model can significantly improve modeling accuracy. Hybrid modeling here serves the purpose to combine the best of the two modeling worlds. The hybrid modeling methodology is described and the approach is demonstrated for two typical problems in robotics, i.e., inverse kinematics control and computed torque control. The former is performed for a redundant soft robot and the latter for a rigid industrial robot with redundant degrees of freedom, where a complete analytical model is not available for any of the platforms.

Feed-forward and feedback projections of midbrain reticular formation neurons in the cat

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eddie ePerkins

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Gaze changes involving the eyes and head are orchestrated by brainstem gaze centers found within the superior colliculus (SC, paramedian pontine reticular formation (PPRF, and medullary reticular formation (MdRF. The mesencephalic reticular formation (MRF also plays a role in gaze. It receives a major input from the ipsilateral SC and contains cells that fire in relation to gaze changes. Moreover, it provides a feedback projection to the SC and feed-forward projections to the PPRF and MdRF. We sought to determine whether these MRF feedback and feed-forward projections originate from the same or different neuronal populations by utilizing paired fluorescent retrograde tracers in cats. Specifically, we tested: 1. whether MRF neurons that control eye movements form a single population by injecting the SC and PPRF with different tracers, and 2. whether MRF neurons that control head movements form a single population by injecting the SC and MdRF with different tracers. In neither case were double labeled neurons observed, indicating that feedback and feed-forward projections originate from separate MRF populations. In both cases, the labeled reticulotectal and reticuloreticular neurons were distributed bilaterally in the MRF. However, neurons projecting to the MdRF were generally constrained to the medial half of the MRF, while those projecting to the PPRF, like MRF reticulotectal neurons, were spread throughout the mediolateral axis. Thus, the medial MRF may be specialized for control of head movements, with control of eye movements being more widespread in this structure.

Circuit-extension handshakes for Tor achieving forward secrecy in a quantum world

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schanck John M.

2016-10-01

Full Text Available We propose a circuit extension handshake for Tor that is forward secure against adversaries who gain quantum computing capabilities after session negotiation. In doing so, we refine the notion of an authenticated and confidential channel establishment (ACCE protocol and define pre-quantum, transitional, and post-quantum ACCE security. These new definitions reflect the types of adversaries that a protocol might be designed to resist. We prove that, with some small modifications, the currently deployed Tor circuit extension handshake, ntor, provides pre-quantum ACCE security. We then prove that our new protocol, when instantiated with a post-quantum key encapsulation mechanism, achieves the stronger notion of transitional ACCE security. Finally, we instantiate our protocol with NTRU-Encrypt and provide a performance comparison between ntor, our proposal, and the recent design of Ghosh and Kate.

A current mode feed-forward gain control system for a 0.8 V CMOS hearing aid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li Fanyang; Yang Haigang; Liu Fei; Yin Tao, E-mail: yanghg@mail.ie.ac.cn [Institute of Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080 (China)

2011-06-15

A current mode feed-forward gain control (CMFGC) technique is presented, which is applied in the front-end system of a hearing aid chip. Compared with conventional automatic gain control (AGC), CMFGC significantly improves the total harmonic distortion (THD) by digital gain control. To attain the digital gain control codes according to the extremely weak output signal from the microphone, a rectifier and a state controller implemented in current mode are proposed. A prototype chip has been designed based on a 0.13 {mu}m standard CMOS process. The measurement results show that the supply voltage can be as low as 0.6 V. And with the 0.8 V supply voltage, the THD is improved and below 0.06% (-64 dB) at the output level of 500 mV{sub p-p}, yet the power consumption is limited to 40 {mu}W. In addition, the input referred noise is only 4 {mu}V{sub rms} and the maximum gain is maintained at 33 dB. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

A current mode feed-forward gain control system for a 0.8 V CMOS hearing aid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Fanyang; Yang Haigang; Liu Fei; Yin Tao

2011-01-01

A current mode feed-forward gain control (CMFGC) technique is presented, which is applied in the front-end system of a hearing aid chip. Compared with conventional automatic gain control (AGC), CMFGC significantly improves the total harmonic distortion (THD) by digital gain control. To attain the digital gain control codes according to the extremely weak output signal from the microphone, a rectifier and a state controller implemented in current mode are proposed. A prototype chip has been designed based on a 0.13 μm standard CMOS process. The measurement results show that the supply voltage can be as low as 0.6 V. And with the 0.8 V supply voltage, the THD is improved and below 0.06% (-64 dB) at the output level of 500 mV p-p , yet the power consumption is limited to 40 μW. In addition, the input referred noise is only 4 μV rms and the maximum gain is maintained at 33 dB. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

Integrated circuits and molecular components for stress and feeding: implications for eating disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Hardaway, J A; Crowley, N A; Bulik, C M; Kash, T L

2015-01-01

Eating disorders are complex brain disorders that afflict millions of individuals worldwide. The etiology of these diseases is not fully understood, but a growing body of literature suggests that stress and anxiety may play a critical role in their development. As our understanding of the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to disease in clinical populations like anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder continue to grow, neuroscientists are using animal models to understand the neurobiology of stress and feeding. We hypothesize that eating disorder clinical phenotypes may result from stress-induced maladaptive alterations in neural circuits that regulate feeding, and that these circuits can be neurochemically isolated using animal model of eating disorders. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society.

Practical use of the amplitude and phase modulation of a high-power RF pulse via feed-forward control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawase, Keigo; Kato, Ryukou; Irizawa, Akinori; Isoyama, Goro; Kashiwagi, Shigeru

2013-01-01

A new feed-forward control system to precisely control the amplitude and phase of the pulsed RF power in an electron linear accelerator (linac) is developed to make the accelerating field constant. Fast variations and ripples in the amplitude and phase in the RF pulses are compensated by modulating the amplitude and phase in the low-level system with a variable attenuator and phase shifter. The system is innovated the overdrive technique, which is commonly used in analog circuits, to speed up the slow response of the phase shifter, while the control signals are digitally processed; thus, the method is a hybrid of analog and digital techniques. By using the new control system, we find that the peak-to-peak variations in the amplitude and phase are reduced from 11.6% to 0.4% and from 6.1 degrees to 0.3 degrees, respectively, in 7.6-μs-long RF pulses for the L-band electron linac at Osaka University. (author)

Hybrid Analytical and Data-Driven Modeling for Feed-Forward Robot Control †

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

René Felix Reinhart

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Feed-forward model-based control relies on models of the controlled plant, e.g., in robotics on accurate knowledge of manipulator kinematics or dynamics. However, mechanical and analytical models do not capture all aspects of a plant’s intrinsic properties and there remain unmodeled dynamics due to varying parameters, unmodeled friction or soft materials. In this context, machine learning is an alternative suitable technique to extract non-linear plant models from data. However, fully data-based models suffer from inaccuracies as well and are inefficient if they include learning of well known analytical models. This paper thus argues that feed-forward control based on hybrid models comprising an analytical model and a learned error model can significantly improve modeling accuracy. Hybrid modeling here serves the purpose to combine the best of the two modeling worlds. The hybrid modeling methodology is described and the approach is demonstrated for two typical problems in robotics, i.e., inverse kinematics control and computed torque control. The former is performed for a redundant soft robot and the latter for a rigid industrial robot with redundant degrees of freedom, where a complete analytical model is not available for any of the platforms.

Hybrid Analytical and Data-Driven Modeling for Feed-Forward Robot Control †

Science.gov (United States)

Reinhart, René Felix; Shareef, Zeeshan; Steil, Jochen Jakob

2017-01-01

Feed-forward model-based control relies on models of the controlled plant, e.g., in robotics on accurate knowledge of manipulator kinematics or dynamics. However, mechanical and analytical models do not capture all aspects of a plant’s intrinsic properties and there remain unmodeled dynamics due to varying parameters, unmodeled friction or soft materials. In this context, machine learning is an alternative suitable technique to extract non-linear plant models from data. However, fully data-based models suffer from inaccuracies as well and are inefficient if they include learning of well known analytical models. This paper thus argues that feed-forward control based on hybrid models comprising an analytical model and a learned error model can significantly improve modeling accuracy. Hybrid modeling here serves the purpose to combine the best of the two modeling worlds. The hybrid modeling methodology is described and the approach is demonstrated for two typical problems in robotics, i.e., inverse kinematics control and computed torque control. The former is performed for a redundant soft robot and the latter for a rigid industrial robot with redundant degrees of freedom, where a complete analytical model is not available for any of the platforms. PMID:28208697

Single-Iteration Learning Algorithm for Feed-Forward Neural Networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barhen, J.; Cogswell, R.; Protopopescu, V.

1999-07-31

A new methodology for neural learning is presented, whereby only a single iteration is required to train a feed-forward network with near-optimal results. To this aim, a virtual input layer is added to the multi-layer architecture. The virtual input layer is connected to the nominal input layer by a specird nonlinear transfer function, and to the fwst hidden layer by regular (linear) synapses. A sequence of alternating direction singular vrdue decompositions is then used to determine precisely the inter-layer synaptic weights. This algorithm exploits the known separability of the linear (inter-layer propagation) and nonlinear (neuron activation) aspects of information &ansfer within a neural network.

The effect of structural design parameters on FPGA-based feed-forward space-time trellis coding-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing channel encoders

Science.gov (United States)

Passas, Georgios; Freear, Steven; Fawcett, Darren

2010-08-01

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based feed-forward space-time trellis code (FFSTTC) encoders can be synthesised as very high speed integrated circuit hardware description language (VHDL) designs. Evaluation of their FPGA implementation can lead to conclusions that help a designer to decide the optimum implementation, given the encoder structural parameters. VLSI architectures based on 1-bit multipliers and look-up tables (LUTs) are compared in terms of FPGA slices and block RAMs (area), as well as in terms of minimum clock period (speed). Area and speed graphs versus encoder memory order are provided for quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) and 8 phase shift keying (8-PSK) modulation and two transmit antennas, revealing best implementation under these conditions. The effect of number of modulation bits and transmit antennas on the encoder implementation complexity is also investigated.

Demonstration of feed-forward control for linear optics quantum computation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pittman, T.B.; Jacobs, B.C.; Franson, J.D.

2002-01-01

One of the main requirements in linear optics quantum computing is the ability to perform single-qubit operations that are controlled by classical information fed forward from the output of single-photon detectors. These operations correspond to predetermined combinations of phase corrections and bit flips that are applied to the postselected output modes of nondeterministic quantum logic devices. Corrections of this kind are required in order to obtain the correct logical output for certain detection events, and their use can increase the overall success probability of the devices. In this paper, we report on the experimental demonstration of the use of this type of feed-forward system to increase the probability of success of a simple nondeterministic quantum logic operation from approximately (1/4) to (1/2). This logic operation involves the use of one target qubit and one ancilla qubit which, in this experiment, are derived from a parametric down-conversion photon pair. Classical information describing the detection of the ancilla photon is fed forward in real time and used to alter the quantum state of the output photon. A fiber-optic delay line is used to store the output photon until a polarization-dependent phase shift can be applied using a high-speed Pockels cell

Selection of W-pair-production in DELPHI with feed-forward neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becks, K.-H.; Buschmann, P.; Drees, J.; Mueller, U.; Wahlen, H.

2001-01-01

Since 1998 feed-forward networks have been applied for the separation of hadronic WW-decays from background processes measured by the DELPHI collaboration at different center-of-mass energies of the Large Electron Positron collider at CERN. Prior to the publication of the 189 GeV results intensive studies of systematic effects and uncertainties were performed. The methods and results will be discussed and compared to standard selection procedures

Feed forward neural networks modeling for K-P interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Bakry, M.Y.

2003-01-01

Artificial intelligence techniques involving neural networks became vital modeling tools where model dynamics are difficult to track with conventional techniques. The paper make use of the feed forward neural networks (FFNN) to model the charged multiplicity distribution of K-P interactions at high energies. The FFNN was trained using experimental data for the multiplicity distributions at different lab momenta. Results of the FFNN model were compared to that generated using the parton two fireball model and the experimental data. The proposed FFNN model results showed good fitting to the experimental data. The neural network model performance was also tested at non-trained space and was found to be in good agreement with the experimental data

Using Hybrid Algorithm to Improve Intrusion Detection in Multi Layer Feed Forward Neural Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, Loye Lynn

2014-01-01

The need for detecting malicious behavior on a computer networks continued to be important to maintaining a safe and secure environment. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of multilayer feed forward neural network architecture to the ability of detecting abnormal behavior in networks. This involved building, training, and…

Feed-forward control of a solid oxide fuel cell system with anode offgas recycle

Science.gov (United States)

Carré, Maxime; Brandenburger, Ralf; Friede, Wolfgang; Lapicque, François; Limbeck, Uwe; da Silva, Pedro

2015-05-01

In this work a combined heat and power unit (CHP unit) based on the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology is analysed. This unit has a special feature: the anode offgas is partially recycled to the anode inlet. Thus it is possible to increase the electrical efficiency and the system can be operated without external water feeding. A feed-forward control concept which allows secure operating conditions of the CHP unit as well as a maximization of its electrical efficiency is introduced and validated experimentally. The control algorithm requires a limited number of measurement values and few deterministic relations for its description.

Study on the forward-feed neural network used for the classification of high energy particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo Guangxuan; Dai Guiliang

1997-01-01

Neural network has been applied in the field of high energy physics experiment for the classification of particles and gained good results. The author emphasizes the systematic analysis of the fundamental principle of the forward-feed neural network and discusses the problems and solving methods in application

Table making system for feed forward control to improve transient emissions; Katoji haiki gas joka table no sakusei system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sakamaki, T; Morita, S; Takada, Y [Osaka City University, Osaka (Japan)

1997-10-01

Intake manifold fuel injection type engines have a weak point that the emissions are not so good in transient operation, because the balance of fuel adhesion and evaporation goes out, so that three way catalyst does not work in good efficiency. For this countermeasure, it is effective to add feed forward control to conventional O2 feedback one. In order to achieve this feed forward control, the fuel table is necessary, and to make it needs enormous time and effort even for one target type engine. To overcome this difficulty, table making system was constructed, and expected result was obtained. 4 refs., 8 figs.

Short Circuit Ratio analysis of multi-infeed HVDC system with a VSC-HVDC link

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Yan; Chen, Zhe

2011-01-01

As an important indicator of system stability, Short Circuit Ratio (SCR) is commonly used in power system analysis. For systems include HVDC link connection, the Effective SCR (ESCR) is mostly applied to indicate the strength of HVDC infeed bus. The contribution of VSC-HVDC link to multi......-infeed HVDC system stability has been analyzed a lot but the study on ESCR of this kind of system is still insufficient. This paper presents a calculation method for ESCR of the hybrid multi infeed HVDC system based on a simple two-infeed HVDC system model. The equivalent circuit of this system under short...... circuit situation is firstly obtained based on the model. Then its Thevenin equivalent circuit is derived and system ESCR can be calculated. At last, simulation study verified that the calculated ESCR value under different cases can indicate the change of system stability....

Forward Scattering of Loaded and Unloaded Antennas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gustafsson, Mats; Andersen, Jørgen Bach; Kristensson, Gerhard

2012-01-01

Forward scattering of antennas is related to antenna performance via the forward-scattering sum rule. The forward-scattering sum rule is an integral identity that shows that a weighted integral of the extinction cross section over all spectrum is proportional to the static polarizability...... of the antenna structure. Here, the forward-scattering sum rule is experimentally verified for loaded, short-circuit, and open-circuit cylindrical dipole antennas. It is also shown that the absorption efficiency cannot be greater than 1/2 for reciprocal linearly polarized lossless matched antennas...... with a symmetric radiation pattern in the forward and backward directions....

Feed-Forward Control of Kite Power Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fechner, Uwe; Schmehl, Roland

2014-01-01

Kite power technology is a novel solution to harvest wind energy from altitudes that can not be reached by conventional wind turbines. The use of a lightweight but strong tether in place of an expensive tower provides an additional cost advantage, next to the higher capacity factor. This paper describes a method to estimate the wind velocity at the kite using measurement data at the kite and at the ground. Focussing on a kite power system, which is converting the traction power of a kite in a pumping mode of operation, a reel-out speed predictor is presented for use in feed-forward control of the tether reel-out speed of the winch. The results show, that the developed feedforward controller improves the force control accuracy by a factor of two compared to the previously used feedback controller. This allows to use a higher set force during the reel-out phase which in turn increases the average power output by more than 4%. Due to its straightforward implementation and low computational requirements feedforward control is considered a promising technique for the reliable and efficient operation of traction-based kite power systems

Electronic circuit encyclopedia 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Sun Ho

1992-10-15

This book is composed of 15 chapters, which are amplification of weak signal and measurement circuit audio control and power amplification circuit, data transmission and wireless system, forwarding and isolation, signal converting circuit, counter and comparator, discriminator circuit, oscillation circuit and synthesizer, digital and circuit on computer image processing circuit, sensor drive circuit temperature sensor circuit, magnetic control and application circuit, motor driver circuit, measuring instrument and check tool and power control and stability circuit.

Electronic circuit encyclopedia 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Sun Ho

1992-10-01

This book is composed of 15 chapters, which are amplification of weak signal and measurement circuit audio control and power amplification circuit, data transmission and wireless system, forwarding and isolation, signal converting circuit, counter and comparator, discriminator circuit, oscillation circuit and synthesizer, digital and circuit on computer image processing circuit, sensor drive circuit temperature sensor circuit, magnetic control and application circuit, motor driver circuit, measuring instrument and check tool and power control and stability circuit.

The mechanism of synchronization in feed-forward neuronal networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goedeke, S; Diesmann, M

2008-01-01

Synchronization in feed-forward subnetworks of the brain has been proposed to explain the precisely timed spike patterns observed in experiments. While the attractor dynamics of these networks is now well understood, the underlying single neuron mechanisms remain unexplained. Previous attempts have captured the effects of the highly fluctuating membrane potential by relating spike intensity f(U) to the instantaneous voltage U generated by the input. This article shows that f is high during the rise and low during the decay of U(t), demonstrating that the U-dot-dependence of f, not refractoriness, is essential for synchronization. Moreover, the bifurcation scenario is quantitatively described by a simple f(U,U-dot) relationship. These findings suggest f(U,U-dot) as the relevant model class for the investigation of neural synchronization phenomena in a noisy environment

Cell cycle regulation by feed-forward loops coupling transcription and phosphorylation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Csikász-Nagy, Attila; Kapuy, Orsolya; Tóth, Attila

2009-01-01

of these EPs. From genome-scale data sets of budding yeast, we identify 126 EPs that are regulated by Cdk1 both through direct phosphorylation of the EP and through phosphorylation of the transcription factors that control expression of the EP, so that each of these EPs is regulated by a feed-forward loop (FFL......) from Cdk1. By mathematical modelling, we show that such FFLs can activate EPs at different phases of the cell cycle depending of the effective signs (+ or -) of the regulatory steps of the FFL. We provide several case studies of EPs that are controlled by FFLs exactly as our models predict. The signal...

Study on feed forward neural network convex optimization for LiFePO4 battery parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xuepeng; Zhao, Dongmei

2017-08-01

Based on the modern facility agriculture automatic walking equipment LiFePO4 Battery, the parameter identification of LiFePO4 Battery is analyzed. An improved method for the process model of li battery is proposed, and the on-line estimation algorithm is presented. The parameters of the battery are identified using feed forward network neural convex optimization algorithm.

Plug-and-Play Multicellular Circuits with Time-Dependent Dynamic Responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Urrios, Arturo; Gonzalez-Flo, Eva; Canadell, David; de Nadal, Eulàlia; Macia, Javier; Posas, Francesc

2018-04-20

Synthetic biology studies aim to develop cellular devices for biomedical applications. These devices, based on living instead of electronic or electromechanic technology, might provide alternative treatments for a wide range of diseases. However, the feasibility of these devices depends, in many cases, on complex genetic circuits that must fulfill physiological requirements. In this work, we explored the potential of multicellular architectures to act as an alternative to complex circuits for implementation of new devices. As a proof of concept, we developed specific circuits for insulin or glucagon production in response to different glucose levels. Here, we show that fundamental features, such as circuit's affinity or sensitivity, are dependent on the specific configuration of the multicellular consortia, providing a method for tuning these properties without genetic engineering. As an example, we have designed and built circuits with an incoherent feed-forward loop architecture (FFL) that can be easily adjusted to generate single pulse responses. Our results might serve as a blueprint for future development of cellular devices for glycemia regulation in diabetic patients.

The energy band structure of ultra small capacitance weak links - QED in condensed matter circuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prance, H.; Clark, T.D.; Prance, R.J.; Spiller, T.P.; Diggins, J.; Ralph, J.F.

1993-01-01

We consider various superconducting weak link circuits in which quantum effects dominate. We show that in this quantum regime these circuits take on a quantum electrodynamic description, at least as far as the electromagnetic field contribution is concerned. (orig.)

Mitigation of ground motion effects in linear accelerators via feed-forward control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Pfingstner

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Ground motion is a severe problem for many particle accelerators, since it excites beam oscillations, which decrease the beam quality and create beam-beam offset (at colliders. Orbit feedback systems can only compensate ground motion effects at frequencies significantly smaller than the beam repetition rate. In linear colliders, where the repetition rate is low, additional counter measures have to be put in place. For this reason, a ground motion mitigation method based on feed-forward control is presented in this paper. It has several advantages compared to other techniques (stabilization systems and intratrain feedback systems such as cost reduction and potential performance improvement. An analytical model is presented that allows the derivation of hardware specification and performance estimates for a specific accelerator and ground motion model. At the Accelerator Test Facility (ATF2, ground motion sensors have been installed to verify the feasibility of important parts of the mitigation strategy. In experimental studies, it has been shown that beam excitations due to ground motion can be predicted from ground motion measurements on a pulse-to-pulse basis. Correlations of up to 80% between the estimated and measured orbit jitter have been observed. Additionally, an orbit jitter source was identified and has been removed, which halved the orbit jitter power at ATF2 and shows that the feed-forward scheme is also very useful for the detection of installation issues. We believe that the presented mitigation method has the potential to reduce costs and improve the performance of linear colliders and potentially other linear accelerators.

Forward Osmosis Process

KAUST Repository

Duan, Jintang

2013-12-05

A process that can alleviate the internal concentration polarization and can enhance membrane performance of a forward osmosis system includes the steps of passing a fluid in a forward osmosis system from a feed solution with a first osmotic pressure, through a membrane into a draw solution comprising a draw solute with a second osmotic pressure, where the first osmotic pressure is lower than the second osmotic pressure, the membrane includes an active layer and a support layer, and the membrane is oriented such that the active layer of the membrane faces a draw side, and the support layer faces a feed side; and applying an external force to the fluid on the feed side of the membrane.

Forward Osmosis Process

KAUST Repository

Duan, Jintang; Pinnau, Ingo; Litwiller, Eric

2013-01-01

A process that can alleviate the internal concentration polarization and can enhance membrane performance of a forward osmosis system includes the steps of passing a fluid in a forward osmosis system from a feed solution with a first osmotic pressure, through a membrane into a draw solution comprising a draw solute with a second osmotic pressure, where the first osmotic pressure is lower than the second osmotic pressure, the membrane includes an active layer and a support layer, and the membrane is oriented such that the active layer of the membrane faces a draw side, and the support layer faces a feed side; and applying an external force to the fluid on the feed side of the membrane.

Insulated transcriptional elements enable precise design of genetic circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Zong, Yeqing; Zhang, Haoqian M; Lyu, Cheng; Ji, Xiangyu; Hou, Junran; Guo, Xian; Ouyang, Qi; Lou, Chunbo

2017-07-03

Rational engineering of biological systems is often complicated by the complex but unwanted interactions between cellular components at multiple levels. Here we address this issue at the level of prokaryotic transcription by insulating minimal promoters and operators to prevent their interaction and enable the biophysical modeling of synthetic transcription without free parameters. This approach allows genetic circuit design with extraordinary precision and diversity, and consequently simplifies the design-build-test-learn cycle of circuit engineering to a mix-and-match workflow. As a demonstration, combinatorial promoters encoding NOT-gate functions were designed from scratch with mean errors of 96% using our insulated transcription elements. Furthermore, four-node transcriptional networks with incoherent feed-forward loops that execute stripe-forming functions were obtained without any trial-and-error work. This insulation-based engineering strategy improves the resolution of genetic circuit technology and provides a simple approach for designing genetic circuits for systems and synthetic biology.Unwanted interactions between cellular components can complicate rational engineering of biological systems. Here the authors design insulated minimal promoters and operators that enable biophysical modeling of bacterial transcription without free parameters for precise circuit design.

Adaptive Feed-Forward Control of Low Frequency Interior Noise

CERN Document Server

Kletschkowski, Thomas

2012-01-01

This book presents a mechatronic approach to Active Noise Control (ANC). It describes the required elements of system theory, engineering acoustics, electroacoustics and adaptive signal processing in a comprehensive, consistent and systematic manner using a unified notation. Furthermore, it includes a design methodology for ANC-systems, explains its application and describes tools to be used for ANC-system design. From the research point of view, the book presents new approaches to sound source localization in weakly damped interiors. One is based on the inverse finite element method, the other is based on a sound intensity probe with an active free field. Furthermore, a prototype of an ANC-system able to reach the physical limits of local (feed-forward) ANC is described. This is one example for applied research in ANC-system design. Other examples are given for (i) local ANC in a semi-enclosed subspace of an aircraft cargo hold and (ii) for the combination of audio entertainment with ANC.

Protecting nonlocality of multipartite states by feed-forward control

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiao-Gang; Zou, Jian; Shao, Bin

2018-06-01

Nonlocality is a useful resource in quantum communication and quantum information processing. In practical quantum communication, multipartite entangled states must be distributed between different users in different places through a channel. However, the channel is usually inevitably disturbed by the environment in quantum state distribution processing and then the nonlocality of states will be weakened and even lost. In this paper, we use a feed-forward control scheme to protect the nonlocality of the Bell and GHZ states against dissipation. We find that this protection scheme is very effective, specifically, for the Bell state, we can increase the noise threshold from 0.5 to 0.98, and for GHZ state from 0.29 to 0.96. And we also find that entanglement is relatively easier to be protected than nonlocality. For our scheme, protecting entanglement is equivalent to protecting the state in the case of Bell state, while protecting nonlocality is not.

Modelling and control of three-phase grid-connected power supply with small DC-link capacitor for electrolysers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Török, Lajos; Máthé, Lászlo; Nielsen, Carsten Karup

2016-01-01

These days electrolyzers are becoming more and more interesting due to the high demand for energy storage in form of hydrogen for renewable power generation using fuel cells. The design of a power supply for such a system is complex especially when the DC-link capacitance is reduced....... By substituting the complex switching model of the power supply with a simplified one, the system dynamics can be better observed. The resonances caused by the small DC link capacitor and grid side inductance can be easier analyzed. A feed forward compensation method is proposed based on the simplified model......-forward compensation signal is created, canceling in such a way the resonance introduced by the grid inductance and the DC-link capacitor from the feed-forward loop. The theoretical work has been validated through experiments on a 5 kW DC power supply used for electrolyser application....

Application research of power allocation based on Buck circuit in DC microgrid

OpenAIRE

Wang Zihao; Zhou Mingyu

2017-01-01

In a traditional DC microgrid, the power sharing control strategy has been always used in the distributed power converters, resulting in not making outer power allocation arbitrarily. In order to solve the power output allocation problem of wind power in DC microgrid, the intelligent Buck circuit based on PI algorithm and the load current feed-forward method was used to realize the arbitrary regulation of the output power of the wind power in the DC microgrid system. Compared with traditional...

A high-speed tunable beam splitter for feed-forward photonic quantum information processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Xiao-Song; Zotter, Stefan; Tetik, Nuray; Qarry, Angie; Jennewein, Thomas; Zeilinger, Anton

2011-11-07

We realize quantum gates for path qubits with a high-speed, polarization-independent and tunable beam splitter. Two electro-optical modulators act in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer as high-speed phase shifters and rapidly tune its splitting ratio. We test its performance with heralded single photons, observing a polarization-independent interference contrast above 95%. The switching time is about 5.6 ns, and a maximal repetition rate is 2.5 MHz. We demonstrate tunable feed-forward operations of a single-qubit gate of path-encoded qubits and a two-qubit gate via measurement-induced interaction between two photons.

Feed Forward Neural Network and Optimal Control Problem with Control and State Constraints

Science.gov (United States)

Kmet', Tibor; Kmet'ová, Mária

2009-09-01

A feed forward neural network based optimal control synthesis is presented for solving optimal control problems with control and state constraints. The paper extends adaptive critic neural network architecture proposed by [5] to the optimal control problems with control and state constraints. The optimal control problem is transcribed into a nonlinear programming problem which is implemented with adaptive critic neural network. The proposed simulation method is illustrated by the optimal control problem of nitrogen transformation cycle model. Results show that adaptive critic based systematic approach holds promise for obtaining the optimal control with control and state constraints.

Endocannabinoid modulation of homeostatic and non-homeostatic feeding circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Lau, Benjamin K; Cota, Daniela; Cristino, Luigia; Borgland, Stephanie L

2017-09-15

The endocannabinoid system has emerged as a key player in the control of eating. Endocannabinoids, including 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) and anandamide (AEA), modulate neuronal activity via cannabinoid 1 receptors (CB1Rs) in multiple nuclei of the hypothalamus to induce or inhibit food intake depending on nutritional and hormonal status, suggesting that endocannabinoids may act in the hypothalamus to integrate different types of signals informing about the animal's energy needs. In the mesocorticolimbic system, (endo)cannabinoids modulate synaptic transmission to promote dopamine release in response to palatable food. In addition, (endo)cannabinoids act within the nucleus accumbens to increase food's hedonic impact; although this effect depends on activation of CB1Rs at excitatory, but not inhibitory inputs in the nucleus accumbens. While hyperactivation of the endocannabinoid system is typically associated with overeating and obesity, much evidence has emerged in recent years suggesting a more complicated system than first thought - endocannabinoids promote or suppress feeding depending on cell and input type, or modulation by various neuronal or hormonal signals. This review presents our latest knowledge of the endocannabinoid system in non-homeostatic and homeostatic feeding circuits. In particular, we discuss the functional role and cellular mechanism of action by endocannabinoids within the hypothalamus and mesocorticolimbic system, and how these are modulated by neuropeptide signals related to feeding. In light of recent advances and complexity in the field, we review cannabinoid-based therapeutic strategies for the treatment of obesity and how peripheral restriction of CB1R antagonists may provide a different mechanism of weight loss without the central adverse effects. This article is part of the Special Issue entitled "A New Dawn in Cannabinoid Neurobiology". Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Selection of hadronic W-decays in DELPHI with feed forward neural networks - An update

CERN Document Server

Becks, K H; Müller, U; Wahlen, H

2003-01-01

Since 1998 feed forward neural networks have been successfully applied to select candidates of hadronic W-decays measured at different center of mass-energies by the DELPHI collaboration at the Large Electron Positron collider at CERN. To prepare the final publication, the neural network was adapted to all center of mass- energies. Detailed studies were performed concerning the level of preselection, the choice of network parameters and especially of the network architecture. The number of hidden nodes was optimized by testing different pruning methods. All studies and results will be discussed.

Selection of hadronic W-decays in DELPHI with feed forward neural networks - an update

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becks, K.-H.; Drees, J.; Mueller, U.; Wahlen, H.

2003-01-01

Since 1998 feed forward neural networks have been successfully applied to select candidates of hadronic W-decays measured at different center of mass-energies by the DELPHI collaboration at the Large Electron Positron collider at CERN. To prepare the final publication, the neural network was adapted to all center of mass-energies. Detailed studies were performed concerning the level of preselection, the choice of network parameters and especially of the network architecture. The number of hidden nodes was optimized by testing different pruning methods. All studies and results will be discussed

Control system for the feed of pressurized fluid in a hydraulic circuit as a function of the state of the locking or unlocking of two mechanical organs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huet, Y.; Perichon, C.

1985-01-01

The control system comprises two hydraulic cylinders of which rods are integral with the mechanical organs. The piston of the first cylinder separates the chamber of this one in two parts. The piston of the second cylinder separates its chamber in three parts. The inlet chamber of the two cylinders are connected to pressurized fluid feed pipes, and the outlet chambers to a depressurization pipe. According to the position of the piston depending itself on the state of locking or unlocking of the rods, an interconnection pipe and a feed pipe of the pressurized fluid hydraulic circuit communicate with a chamber or another one. The feed of the hydraulic circuit is possible only the two rods are unlocked. The invention applies more particularly to the feed of the control circuit of an emergency seal of the primary pump of a pressurized water nuclear reactor [fr

On the methodology of feeding ecology in fish

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saikia Surjya Kumar

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Feeding ecology explains predator’s preference to some preys over others in their habitat and their competitions thereof. The subject, as a functional and applied biology, is highly neglected, and in case of fish, a uniform and consistent methodology is absent. The currently practiced methods are largely centred on mathematical indices and highly erroneous because of non-uniform outcomes. Therefore, it requires a relook into the subject to elucidate functional contributions and to make it more comparable and comprehensive science. In this article, approachable methodological strategies have been forwarded in three hierarchical steps, namely, food occurrence, feeding biology and interpretative ecology. All these steps involve wide ranges of techniques, within the scope of ecology but not limited to, and traverse from narrative to functional evolutionary ecology. The first step is an assumption-observation practice to assess food of fish, followed by feeding biology that links morphological, histological, cytological, bacteriological or enzymological correlations to preferred food in the environment. Interpretative ecology is the higher level of analysis in which the outcomes are tested and discussed against evolutionary theories. A description of possible pedagogics on the methods of feeding ecological studies has also been forwarded.

Modeling of quasistatic magnetic hysteresis with feed-forward neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Makaveev, Dimitre; Dupre, Luc; De Wulf, Marc; Melkebeek, Jan

2001-01-01

A modeling technique for rate-independent (quasistatic) scalar magnetic hysteresis is presented, using neural networks. Based on the theory of dynamic systems and the wiping-out and congruency properties of the classical scalar Preisach hysteresis model, the choice of a feed-forward neural network model is motivated. The neural network input parameters at each time step are the corresponding magnetic field strength and memory state, thereby assuring accurate prediction of the change of magnetic induction. For rate-independent hysteresis, the current memory state can be determined by the last extreme magnetic field strength and induction values, kept in memory. The choice of a network training set is motivated and the performance of the network is illustrated for a test set not used during training. Very accurate prediction of both major and minor hysteresis loops is observed, proving that the neural network technique is suitable for hysteresis modeling. [copyright] 2001 American Institute of Physics

Feasibility study of superconducting power cables for DC electric railway feeding systems in view of thermal condition at short circuit accident

Science.gov (United States)

Kumagai, Daisuke; Ohsaki, Hiroyuki; Tomita, Masaru

2016-12-01

A superconducting power cable has merits of a high power transmission capacity, transmission losses reduction, a compactness, etc., therefore, we have been studying the feasibility of applying superconducting power cables to DC electric railway feeding systems. However, a superconducting power cable is required to be cooled down and kept at a very low temperature, so it is important to reveal its thermal and cooling characteristics. In this study, electric circuit analysis models of the system and thermal analysis models of superconducting cables were constructed and the system behaviors were simulated. We analyzed the heat generation by a short circuit accident and transient temperature distribution of the cable to estimate the value of temperature rise and the time required from the accident. From these results, we discussed a feasibility of superconducting cables for DC electric railway feeding systems. The results showed that the short circuit accident had little impact on the thermal condition of a superconducting cable in the installed system.

Development of an Accurate Feed-Forward Temperature Control Tankless Water Heater

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

David Yuill

2008-06-30

The following document is the final report for DE-FC26-05NT42327: Development of an Accurate Feed-Forward Temperature Control Tankless Water Heater. This work was carried out under a cooperative agreement from the Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory, with additional funding from Keltech, Inc. The objective of the project was to improve the temperature control performance of an electric tankless water heater (TWH). The reason for doing this is to minimize or eliminate one of the barriers to wider adoption of the TWH. TWH use less energy than typical (storage) water heaters because of the elimination of standby losses, so wider adoption will lead to reduced energy consumption. The project was carried out by Building Solutions, Inc. (BSI), a small business based in Omaha, Nebraska. BSI partnered with Keltech, Inc., a manufacturer of electric tankless water heaters based in Delton, Michigan. Additional work was carried out by the University of Nebraska and Mike Coward. A background study revealed several advantages and disadvantages to TWH. Besides using less energy than storage heaters, TWH provide an endless supply of hot water, have a longer life, use less floor space, can be used at point-of-use, and are suitable as boosters to enable alternative water heating technologies, such as solar or heat-pump water heaters. Their disadvantages are their higher cost, large instantaneous power requirement, and poor temperature control. A test method was developed to quantify performance under a representative range of disturbances to flow rate and inlet temperature. A device capable of conducting this test was designed and built. Some heaters currently on the market were tested, and were found to perform quite poorly. A new controller was designed using model predictive control (MPC). This control method required an accurate dynamic model to be created and required significant tuning to the controller before good control was achieved. The MPC

Integrated plasticity at inhibitory and excitatory synapses in the cerebellar circuit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lisa eMapelli

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The way long-term potentiation (LTP and depression (LTD are integrated within the different synapses of brain neuronal circuits is poorly understood. In order to progress beyond the identification of specific molecular mechanisms, a system in which multiple forms of plasticity can be correlated with large-scale neural processing is required. In this paper we take as an example the cerebellar network , in which extensive investigations have revealed LTP and LTD at several excitatory and inhibitory synapses. Cerebellar LTP and LTD occur in all three main cerebellar subcircuits (granular layer, molecular layer, deep cerebellar nuclei and correspondingly regulate the function of their three main neurons: granule cells (GrCs, Purkinje cells (PCs and deep cerebellar nuclear (DCN cells. All these neurons, in addition to be excited, are reached by feed-forward and feed-back inhibitory connections, in which LTP and LTD may either operate synergistically or homeostatically in order to control information flow through the circuit. Although the investigation of individual synaptic plasticities in vitro is essential to prove their existence and mechanisms, it is insufficient to generate a coherent view of their impact on network functioning in vivo. Recent computational models and cell-specific genetic mutations in mice are shedding light on how plasticity at multiple excitatory and inhibitory synapses might regulate neuronal activities in the cerebellar circuit and contribute to learning and memory and behavioral control.

Integrated plasticity at inhibitory and excitatory synapses in the cerebellar circuit.

Science.gov (United States)

Mapelli, Lisa; Pagani, Martina; Garrido, Jesus A; D'Angelo, Egidio

2015-01-01

The way long-term potentiation (LTP) and depression (LTD) are integrated within the different synapses of brain neuronal circuits is poorly understood. In order to progress beyond the identification of specific molecular mechanisms, a system in which multiple forms of plasticity can be correlated with large-scale neural processing is required. In this paper we take as an example the cerebellar network, in which extensive investigations have revealed LTP and LTD at several excitatory and inhibitory synapses. Cerebellar LTP and LTD occur in all three main cerebellar subcircuits (granular layer, molecular layer, deep cerebellar nuclei) and correspondingly regulate the function of their three main neurons: granule cells (GrCs), Purkinje cells (PCs) and deep cerebellar nuclear (DCN) cells. All these neurons, in addition to be excited, are reached by feed-forward and feed-back inhibitory connections, in which LTP and LTD may either operate synergistically or homeostatically in order to control information flow through the circuit. Although the investigation of individual synaptic plasticities in vitro is essential to prove their existence and mechanisms, it is insufficient to generate a coherent view of their impact on network functioning in vivo. Recent computational models and cell-specific genetic mutations in mice are shedding light on how plasticity at multiple excitatory and inhibitory synapses might regulate neuronal activities in the cerebellar circuit and contribute to learning and memory and behavioral control.

Feed-forward segmentation of figure-ground and assignment of border-ownership.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hans Supèr

Full Text Available Figure-ground is the segmentation of visual information into objects and their surrounding backgrounds. Two main processes herein are boundary assignment and surface segregation, which rely on the integration of global scene information. Recurrent processing either by intrinsic horizontal connections that connect surrounding neurons or by feedback projections from higher visual areas provide such information, and are considered to be the neural substrate for figure-ground segmentation. On the contrary, a role of feedforward projections in figure-ground segmentation is unknown. To have a better understanding of a role of feedforward connections in figure-ground organization, we constructed a feedforward spiking model using a biologically plausible neuron model. By means of surround inhibition our simple 3-layered model performs figure-ground segmentation and one-sided border-ownership coding. We propose that the visual system uses feed forward suppression for figure-ground segmentation and border-ownership assignment.

Feed-forward segmentation of figure-ground and assignment of border-ownership.

Science.gov (United States)

Supèr, Hans; Romeo, August; Keil, Matthias

2010-05-19

Figure-ground is the segmentation of visual information into objects and their surrounding backgrounds. Two main processes herein are boundary assignment and surface segregation, which rely on the integration of global scene information. Recurrent processing either by intrinsic horizontal connections that connect surrounding neurons or by feedback projections from higher visual areas provide such information, and are considered to be the neural substrate for figure-ground segmentation. On the contrary, a role of feedforward projections in figure-ground segmentation is unknown. To have a better understanding of a role of feedforward connections in figure-ground organization, we constructed a feedforward spiking model using a biologically plausible neuron model. By means of surround inhibition our simple 3-layered model performs figure-ground segmentation and one-sided border-ownership coding. We propose that the visual system uses feed forward suppression for figure-ground segmentation and border-ownership assignment.

A simple structure wavelet transform circuit employing function link neural networks and SI filters

Science.gov (United States)

Mu, Li; Yigang, He

2016-12-01

Signal processing by means of analog circuits offers advantages from a power consumption viewpoint. Implementing wavelet transform (WT) using analog circuits is of great interest when low-power consumption becomes an important issue. In this article, a novel simple structure WT circuit in analog domain is presented by employing functional link neural network (FLNN) and switched-current (SI) filters. First, the wavelet base is approximated using FLNN algorithms for giving a filter transfer function that is suitable for simple structure WT circuit implementation. Next, the WT circuit is constructed with the wavelet filter bank, whose impulse response is the approximated wavelet and its dilations. The filter design that follows is based on a follow-the-leader feedback (FLF) structure with multiple output bilinear SI integrators and current mirrors as the main building blocks. SI filter is well suited for this application since the dilation constant across different scales of the transform can be precisely implemented and controlled by the clock frequency of the circuit with the same system architecture. Finally, to illustrate the design procedure, a seventh-order FLNN-approximated Gaussian wavelet is implemented as an example. Simulations have successfully verified that the designed simple structure WT circuit has low sensitivity, low-power consumption and litter effect to the imperfections.

Simple, low-noise piezo driver with feed-forward for broad tuning of external cavity diode lasers.

Science.gov (United States)

Doret, S Charles

2018-02-01

We present an inexpensive, low-noise (piezo driver suitable for frequency tuning of external-cavity diode lasers. This simple driver improves upon many commercially available drivers by incorporating circuitry to produce a "feed-forward" signal appropriate for making simultaneous adjustments to the piezo voltage and laser current, enabling dramatic improvements in a mode-hop-free laser frequency tuning range. We present the theory behind our driver's operation, characterize its output noise, and demonstrate its use in absorption spectroscopy on the rubidium D 1 line.

A Constrained Multi-Objective Learning Algorithm for Feed-Forward Neural Network Classifiers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Njah

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a new approach to address the optimal design of a Feed-forward Neural Network (FNN based classifier. The originality of the proposed methodology, called CMOA, lie in the use of a new constraint handling technique based on a self-adaptive penalty procedure in order to direct the entire search effort towards finding only Pareto optimal solutions that are acceptable. Neurons and connections of the FNN Classifier are dynamically built during the learning process. The approach includes differential evolution to create new individuals and then keeps only the non-dominated ones as the basis for the next generation. The designed FNN Classifier is applied to six binary classification benchmark problems, obtained from the UCI repository, and results indicated the advantages of the proposed approach over other existing multi-objective evolutionary neural networks classifiers reported recently in the literature.

Prediction of metal corrosion using feed-forward neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahjani, M.G.; Jalili, S.; Jafarian, M.; Jaberi, A.

2004-01-01

The reliable prediction of corrosion behavior for the effective control of corrosion is a fundamental requirement. Since real world corrosion never seems to involve quite the same conditions that have previously been tested, using corrosion literature does not provide the necessary answers. In order to provide a methodology for predicting corrosion in real and complex situations, artificial neural networks can be utilized. Feed-forward artificial neural network (FFANN) is an information-processing paradigm inspired by the way the densely interconnected, parallel structure of the human brain process information.The aim of the present work is to predict corrosion behavior in critical conditions, such as industrial applications, based on some laboratory experimental data. Electrochemical behavior of stainless steel in different conditions were studied, using polarization technique and Tafel curves. Back-propagation neural networks models were developed to predict the corrosion behavior. The trained networks result in predicted value in good comparison to the experimental data. They have generally been claimed to be successful in modeling the corrosion behavior. The results are presented in two tables. Table 1 gives corrosion behavior of stainless-steel as a function of pH and CuSO 4 concentration and table 2 gives corrosion behavior of stainless - steel as a function of electrode surface area and CuSO 4 concentration. (authors)

Strategic Management Accounting and Feed-forward Management: with Reference to the Unified Management of Profit Opportunity and Risk

OpenAIRE

西村, 明

2015-01-01

This paper aims toreexamine strategic management accouning in relation to profit opportunity and risk from the viewpoint of feed-forward management , as few studies to date have discuued the relations between management accounting and the unified management of profit opportunity and risk.Many studies have been conducted that emphasize non-fine information and feedback organizational management in an attept to make traditional management accounting relevant to practical strategic needs. As lon...

Volumetric and chemical control auxiliary circuit for a PWR primary circuit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Costes, D.

1990-01-01

The volumetric and chemical control circuit has an expansion tank with at least one water-steam chamber connected to the primary circuit by a sampling pipe and a reinjection pipe. The sampling pipe feeds jet pumps controlled by valves. An action on these valves and pumps regulates the volume of the water in the primary circuit. A safety pipe controlled by a flap automatically injects water from the chamber into the primary circuit in case of ruptures. The auxiliary circuit has also systems for purifying the water and controlling the boric acid and hydrogen content [fr

Printed circuits and their applications: Which way forward?

Science.gov (United States)

Cantatore, E.

2015-09-01

The continuous advancements in printed electronics make nowadays feasible the design of printed circuits which enable meaningful applications. Examples include ultra-low cost sensors embedded in food packaging, large-area sensing surfaces and biomedical assays. This paper offers an overview of state-of-the-art digital and analog circuit blocks, manufactured with a printed complementary organic TFT technology. An analog to digital converter and an RFID tag implemented exploiting these building blocks are also described. The main remaining drawbacks of the printed technology described are identified, and new approaches to further improve the state of the art, enabling more innovative applications are discussed.

Efficacy of Feed Forward and Feedback Signaling for Inflations and Chest Compression Pressure During Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in a Newborn Mannequin

Science.gov (United States)

Andriessen, Peter; Oetomo, Sidarto Bambang; Chen, Wei; Feijs, Loe MG

2012-01-01

Background The objective of the study was to evaluate a device that supports professionals during neonatal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The device features a box that generates an audio-prompted rate guidance (feed forward) for inflations and compressions, and a transparent foil that is placed over the chest with marks for inter nipple line and sternum with LED’s incorporated in the foil indicating the exerted force (feedback). Methods Ten pairs (nurse/doctor) performed CPR on a newborn resuscitation mannequin. All pairs initially performed two sessions. Thereafter two sessions were performed in similar way, after randomization in 5 pairs that used the device and 5 pairs that performed CPR without the device (controls). A rhythm score was calculated based on the number of CPR cycles that were performed correctly. Results The rhythm score with the device improved from 85 ± 14 to 99 ± 2% (P CPR device compared to the controls. Conclusion Feed forward and feedback signaling leads to a more constant rhythm and chest compression pressure during CPR. PMID:22870175

Accurate estimation of CO2 adsorption on activated carbon with multi-layer feed-forward neural network (MLFNN algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alireza Rostami

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Global warming due to greenhouse effect has been considered as a serious problem for many years around the world. Among the different gases which cause greenhouse gas effect, carbon dioxide is of great difficulty by entering into the surrounding atmosphere. So CO2 capturing and separation especially by adsorption is one of the most interesting approaches because of the low equipment cost, ease of operation, simplicity of design, and low energy consumption.In this study, experimental results are presented for the adsorption equilibria of carbon dioxide on activated carbon. The adsorption equilibrium data for carbon dioxide were predicted with two commonly used isotherm models in order to compare with multi-layer feed-forward neural network (MLFNN algorithm for a wide range of partial pressure. As a result, the ANN-based algorithm shows much better efficiency and accuracy than the Sips and Langmuir isotherms. In addition, the applicability of the Sips and Langmuir models are limited to isothermal conditions, even though the ANN-based algorithm is not restricted to the constant temperature condition. Consequently, it is proved that MLFNN algorithm is a promising model for calculation of CO2 adsorption density on activated carbon. Keywords: Global warming, CO2 adsorption, Activated carbon, Multi-layer feed-forward neural network algorithm, Statistical quality measures

The cost of hovering and forward flight in a nectar-feeding bat, Glossophaga soricina, estimated from aerodynamic theory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Norberg, U M; Kunz, T H; Steffensen, J F

1993-01-01

Energy expenditure during flight in animals can best be understood and quantified when both theoretical and empirical approaches are used concurrently. This paper examines one of four methods that we have used to estimate the cost of flight in a neotropical nectar-feeding bat Glossophaga soricina...... on metabolic power requirements estimated from nectar intake gives a mechanical efficiency of 0.15 for hovering flight and 0.11 for forward flight near the minimum power speed....

Principles of motivation revealed by the diverse functions of neuropharmacological and neuroanatomical substrates underlying feeding behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Baldo, Brian A; Pratt, Wayne E; Will, Matthew J; Hanlon, Erin C; Bakshi, Vaishali P; Cador, Martine

2013-11-01

Circuits that participate in specific subcomponents of feeding (e.g., gustatory perception, peripheral feedback relevant to satiety and energy balance, reward coding, etc.) are found at all levels of the neural axis. Further complexity is conferred by the wide variety of feeding-modulatory neurotransmitters and neuropeptides that act within these circuits. An ongoing challenge has been to refine the understanding of the functional specificity of these neurotransmitters and circuits, and there have been exciting advances in recent years. We focus here on foundational work of Dr. Ann Kelley that identified distinguishable actions of striatal opioid peptide modulation and dopamine transmission in subcomponents of reward processing. We also discuss her work in overlaying these neuropharmacological effects upon anatomical pathways that link the telencephalon (cortex and basal ganglia) with feeding-control circuits in the hypothalamus. Using these seminal contributions as a starting point, we will discuss new findings that expand our understanding of (1) the specific, differentiable motivational processes that are governed by central dopamine and opioid transmission, (2) the manner in which other striatal neuromodulators, specifically acetylcholine, endocannabinoids and adenosine, modulate these motivational processes (including via interactions with opioid systems), and (3) the organization of the cortical-subcortical network that subserves opioid-driven feeding. The findings discussed here strengthen the view that incentive-motivational properties of food are coded by substrates and neural circuits that are distinguishable from those that mediate the acute hedonic experience of food reward. Striatal opioid transmission modulates reward processing by engaging frontotemporal circuits, possibly via a hypothalamic-thalamic axis, that ultimately impinges upon hypothalamic modules dedicated to autonomic function and motor pattern control. We will conclude by discussing

Mode of the short circuit in the direct current electric traction network with different feed charts of fyder area

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Mihalichenko

2012-12-01

Full Text Available In the article the results of mathematical design of the system of electric traction of direct current are represented in the mode of short circuit and different feed charts of fyder area: two-sided; one-sided. Comparison of transitional electric sizes which characterize electromagnetic processes during these malfunctions is analysed and executed.

A Cytomorphic Chip for Quantitative Modeling of Fundamental Bio-Molecular Circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

2015-08-01

We describe a 0.35 μm BiCMOS silicon chip that quantitatively models fundamental molecular circuits via efficient log-domain cytomorphic transistor equivalents. These circuits include those for biochemical binding with automatic representation of non-modular and loading behavior, e.g., in cascade and fan-out topologies; for representing variable Hill-coefficient operation and cooperative binding; for representing inducer, transcription-factor, and DNA binding; for probabilistic gene transcription with analogic representations of log-linear and saturating operation; for gain, degradation, and dynamics of mRNA and protein variables in transcription and translation; and, for faithfully representing biological noise via tunable stochastic transistor circuits. The use of on-chip DACs and ADCs enables multiple chips to interact via incoming and outgoing molecular digital data packets and thus create scalable biochemical reaction networks. The use of off-chip digital processors and on-chip digital memory enables programmable connectivity and parameter storage. We show that published static and dynamic MATLAB models of synthetic biological circuits including repressilators, feed-forward loops, and feedback oscillators are in excellent quantitative agreement with those from transistor circuits on the chip. Computationally intensive stochastic Gillespie simulations of molecular production are also rapidly reproduced by the chip and can be reliably tuned over the range of signal-to-noise ratios observed in biological cells.

Feed-forward motor control of ultrafast, ballistic movements.

Science.gov (United States)

Kagaya, K; Patek, S N

2016-02-01

To circumvent the limits of muscle, ultrafast movements achieve high power through the use of springs and latches. The time scale of these movements is too short for control through typical neuromuscular mechanisms, thus ultrafast movements are either invariant or controlled prior to movement. We tested whether mantis shrimp (Stomatopoda: Neogonodactylus bredini) vary their ultrafast smashing strikes and, if so, how this control is achieved prior to movement. We collected high-speed images of strike mechanics and electromyograms of the extensor and flexor muscles that control spring compression and latch release. During spring compression, lateral extensor and flexor units were co-activated. The strike initiated several milliseconds after the flexor units ceased, suggesting that flexor activity prevents spring release and determines the timing of strike initiation. We used linear mixed models and Akaike's information criterion to serially evaluate multiple hypotheses for control mechanisms. We found that variation in spring compression and strike angular velocity were statistically explained by spike activity of the extensor muscle. The results show that mantis shrimp can generate kinematically variable strikes and that their kinematics can be changed through adjustments to motor activity prior to the movement, thus supporting an upstream, central-nervous-system-based control of ultrafast movement. Based on these and other findings, we present a shishiodoshi model that illustrates alternative models of control in biological ballistic systems. The discovery of feed-forward control in mantis shrimp sets the stage for the assessment of targets, strategic variation in kinematics and the role of learning in ultrafast animals. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Characterization of GdFFD, a d-Amino Acid-containing Neuropeptide That Functions as an Extrinsic Modulator of the Aplysia Feeding Circuit*

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Lu; Livnat, Itamar; Romanova, Elena V.; Alexeeva, Vera; Yau, Peter M.; Vilim, Ferdinand S.; Weiss, Klaudiusz R.; Jing, Jian; Sweedler, Jonathan V.

2013-01-01

During eukaryotic translation, peptides/proteins are created using l-amino acids. However, a d-amino acid-containing peptide (DAACP) can be produced through post-translational modification via an isomerase enzyme. General approaches to identify novel DAACPs and investigate their function, particularly in specific neural circuits, are lacking. This is primarily due to the difficulty in characterizing this modification and due to the limited information on neural circuits in most species. We describe a multipronged approach to overcome these limitations using the sea slug Aplysia californica. Based on bioinformatics and homology to known DAACPs in the land snail Achatina fulica, we targeted two predicted peptides in Aplysia, GFFD, similar to achatin-I (GdFAD versus GFAD, where dF stands for d-phenylalanine), and YAEFLa, identical to fulyal (YdAEFLa versus YAEFLa), using stereoselective analytical methods, i.e. MALDI MS fragmentation analysis and LC-MS/MS. Although YAEFLa in Aplysia was detected only in an all l-form, we found that both GFFD and GdFFD were present in the Aplysia CNS. In situ hybridization and immunolabeling of GFFD/GdFFD-positive neurons and fibers suggested that GFFD/GdFFD might act as an extrinsic modulator of the feeding circuit. Consistent with this hypothesis, we found that GdFFD induced robust activity in the feeding circuit and elicited egestive motor patterns. In contrast, the peptide consisting of all l-amino acids, GFFD, was not bioactive. Our data indicate that the modification of an l-amino acid-containing neuropeptide to a DAACP is essential for peptide bioactivity in a motor circuit, and thus it provides a functional significance to this modification. PMID:24078634

LEARNING ALGORITHM EFFECT ON MULTILAYER FEED FORWARD ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK PERFORMANCE IN IMAGE CODING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

OMER MAHMOUD

2007-08-01

Full Text Available One of the essential factors that affect the performance of Artificial Neural Networks is the learning algorithm. The performance of Multilayer Feed Forward Artificial Neural Network performance in image compression using different learning algorithms is examined in this paper. Based on Gradient Descent, Conjugate Gradient, Quasi-Newton techniques three different error back propagation algorithms have been developed for use in training two types of neural networks, a single hidden layer network and three hidden layers network. The essence of this study is to investigate the most efficient and effective training methods for use in image compression and its subsequent applications. The obtained results show that the Quasi-Newton based algorithm has better performance as compared to the other two algorithms.

Hippocampus-driven feed-forward inhibition of the prefrontal cortex mediates relapse of extinguished fear

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marek, Roger; Jin, Jingji; Goode, Travis D.

2018-01-01

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been implicated in the extinction of emotional memories, including conditioned fear. We found that ventral hippocampal (vHPC) projections to the infralimbic (IL) cortex recruited parvalbumin-expressing interneurons to counter the expression of extinguished...... fear and promote fear relapse. Whole-cell recordings ex vivo revealed that optogenetic activation of vHPC input to amygdala-projecting pyramidal neurons in the IL was dominated by feed-forward inhibition. Selectively silencing parvalbumin-expressing, but not somatostatin-expressing, interneurons...... in the IL eliminated vHPC-mediated inhibition. In behaving rats, pharmacogenetic activation of vHPC→IL projections impaired extinction recall, whereas silencing IL projectors diminished fear renewal. Intra-IL infusion of GABA receptor agonists or antagonists, respectively, reproduced these effects. Together...

Kinetic model-based feed-forward controlled fed-batch fermentation of Lactobacillus rhamnosus for the production of lactic acid from Arabic date juice.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Minsung; Al-Zahrani, Saeed M; Lee, Sang Yup

2014-06-01

Arabic date is overproduced in Arabic countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq and is mostly composed of sugars (70-80 wt%). Here we developed a fed-batch fermentation process by using a kinetic model for the efficient production of lactic acid to a high concentration from Arabic date juice. First, a kinetic model of Lactobacillus rhamnosus grown on date juice in batch fermentation was constructed in EXCEL so that the estimation of parameters and simulation of the model can be easily performed. Then, several fed-batch fermentations were conducted by employing different feeding strategies including pulsed feeding, exponential feeding, and modified exponential feeding. Based on the results of fed-batch fermentations, the kinetic model for fed-batch fermentation was also developed. This new model was used to perform feed-forward controlled fed-batch fermentation, which resulted in the production of 171.79 g l(-1) of lactic acid with the productivity and yield of 1.58 and 0.87 g l(-1) h(-1), respectively.

In vivo temporal property of GABAergic neural transmission in collateral feed-forward inhibition system of hippocampal-prefrontal pathway.

Science.gov (United States)

Takita, Masatoshi; Kuramochi, Masahito; Izaki, Yoshinori; Ohtomi, Michiko

2007-05-30

Anatomical evidence suggests that rat CA1 hippocampal afferents collaterally innervate excitatory projecting pyramidal neurons and inhibitory interneurons, creating a disynaptic, feed-forward inhibition microcircuit in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). We investigated the temporal relationship between the frequency of paired synaptic transmission and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic receptor-mediated modulation of the microcircuit in vivo under urethane anesthesia. Local perfusions of a GABAa antagonist (-)-bicuculline into the mPFC via microdialysis resulted in a statistically significant disinhibitory effect on intrinsic GABA action, increasing the first and second mPFC responses following hippocampal paired stimulation at interstimulus intervals of 100-200 ms, but not those at 25-50 ms. This (-)-bicuculline-induced disinhibition was compensated by the GABAa agonist muscimol, which itself did not attenuate the intrinsic oscillation of the local field potentials. The perfusion of a sub-minimal concentration of GABAb agonist (R)-baclofen slightly enhanced the synaptic transmission, regardless of the interstimulus interval. In addition to the tonic control by spontaneous fast-spiking GABAergic neurons, it is clear the sequential transmission of the hippocampal-mPFC pathway can phasically drive the collateral feed-forward inhibition system through activation of a GABAa receptor, bringing an active signal filter to the various types of impulse trains that enter the mPFC from the hippocampus in vivo.

Layer-by-Layer Assembly for Preparation of High-Performance Forward Osmosis Membrane

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Libin; Zhang, Jinglong; Song, Peng; Wang, Zhan

2018-01-01

Forward osmosis (FO) membrane with high separation performance is needed to promote its practical applications. Herein, layer-by-layer (LbL) approach was used to prepare a thin and highly cross-linked polyamide layer on a polyacrylonitrile substrate surface to prepare a thin-film composite forward osmosis (TFC-FO) membrane with enhanced FO performance. The effects of monomer concentrations and assembly cycles on the performance of the TFC-FO membranes were systematically investigated. Under the optimal preparation condition, TFC-FO membrane achieved the best performance, exhibiting the water flux of 14.4/6.9 LMH and reverse salt flux of 7.7/3.8 gMH under the pressure retarded osmosis/forward osmosis (PRO/FO) mode using 1M NaCl as the draw against a DI-water feed, and a rejection of 96.1% for 2000 mg/L NaCl aqueous solution. The result indicated that layer-by-layer method was a potential method to regulate the structure and performance of the TFC-FO membrane.

Real-time 2.5  Gbit/s spatial circuit switching on W-band wireless links

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rodríguez, Sebastián; Morales Vicente, Alvaro; Gallardo, Omar

2017-01-01

A spatial circuit switching system based on a beam steering application for W-band wireless links is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The system enables two simultaneous transmissions of a 2.5 Gbit∕s data signal over a carrier of 81 GHz, while allowing the receiver to dynamically switch...... between them. The performance of the system is tested with the real-time measurements of the BER, achieving values below the FEC limit for 7% of overhead and serving to prove the viability of wireless spatial circuit switching in the next generation of wireless access networks....

Printed circuits and their applications : Which way forward?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cantatore, Eugenio; Kratochvil, E.J.W.L.

2015-01-01

The continuous advancements in printed electronics make nowadays feasible the design of printed circuits which enable meaningful applications. Examples include ultra-low cost sensors embedded in food packaging, large-area sensing surfaces and biomedical assays. This paper offers an overview of

Ca2+-regulated-cAMP/PKA signaling in cardiac pacemaker cells links ATP supply to demand.

Science.gov (United States)

Yaniv, Yael; Juhaszova, Magdalena; Lyashkov, Alexey E; Spurgeon, Harold A; Sollott, Steven J; Lakatta, Edward G

2011-11-01

In sinoatrial node cells (SANC), Ca(2+) activates adenylate cyclase (AC) to generate a high basal level of cAMP-mediated/protein kinase A (PKA)-dependent phosphorylation of Ca(2+) cycling proteins. These result in spontaneous sarcoplasmic-reticulum (SR) generated rhythmic Ca(2+) oscillations during diastolic depolarization, that not only trigger the surface membrane to generate rhythmic action potentials (APs), but, in a feed-forward manner, also activate AC/PKA signaling. ATP is consumed to pump Ca(2+) to the SR, to produce cAMP, to support contraction and to maintain cell ionic homeostasis. Since feedback mechanisms link ATP-demand to ATP production, we hypothesized that (1) both basal ATP supply and demand in SANC would be Ca(2+)-cAMP/PKA dependent; and (2) due to its feed-forward nature, a decrease in flux through the Ca(2+)-cAMP/PKA signaling axis will reduce the basal ATP production rate. O(2) consumption in spontaneous beating SANC was comparable to ventricular myocytes (VM) stimulated at 3 Hz. Graded reduction of basal Ca(2+)-cAMP/PKA signaling to reduce ATP demand in rabbit SANC produced graded ATP depletion (r(2)=0.96), and reduced O(2) consumption and flavoprotein fluorescence. Neither inhibition of glycolysis, selectively blocking contraction nor specific inhibition of mitochondrial Ca(2+) flux reduced the ATP level. Feed-forward basal Ca(2+)-cAMP/PKA signaling both consumes ATP to drive spontaneous APs in SANC and is tightly linked to mitochondrial ATP production. Interfering with Ca(2+)-cAMP/PKA signaling not only slows the firing rate and reduces ATP consumption, but also appears to reduce ATP production so that ATP levels fall. This distinctly differs from VM, which lack this feed-forward basal cAMP/PKA signaling, and in which ATP level remains constant when the demand changes. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Computer simulation of rare earth solvent extraction circuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Voit, D.O.

1988-01-01

A BASIC language program has been written that simulates the performance of an integrated solvent extraction circuit consisting of an extractor, a reflux fed scrubber, and a stripper. The program is designed to simulate the performance of a circuit having an aqueous feed containing each of the lanthanide as well as yttrium. The Kremser equation is used to determine the separation occurring in each section of the circuit. The required input variables are the feed composition, the separation factors, the light key extraction factors and extractor feed zone distribution coefficient, the number of stages, and the reflux ratios. The program calculates the composition of the streams at each mode in the circuit, the total loading, and the remaining distribution coefficients. User interaction with the program is essential. The program has no capability to determine if the calculated values are consistent with various real restraints. Knowledge of the physical, chemical, and equilibrium behavior is essential to successfully utilize the program. The number of iterations required to achieve steady-state provides insight to the circuit response times

Maximum Acceleration Recording Circuit

Science.gov (United States)

Bozeman, Richard J., Jr.

1995-01-01

Coarsely digitized maximum levels recorded in blown fuses. Circuit feeds power to accelerometer and makes nonvolatile record of maximum level to which output of accelerometer rises during measurement interval. In comparison with inertia-type single-preset-trip-point mechanical maximum-acceleration-recording devices, circuit weighs less, occupies less space, and records accelerations within narrower bands of uncertainty. In comparison with prior electronic data-acquisition systems designed for same purpose, circuit simpler, less bulky, consumes less power, costs and analysis of data recorded in magnetic or electronic memory devices. Circuit used, for example, to record accelerations to which commodities subjected during transportation on trucks.

An integrated circuit switch

Science.gov (United States)

Bonin, E. L.

1969-01-01

Multi-chip integrated circuit switch consists of a GaAs photon-emitting diode in close proximity with S1 phototransistor. A high current gain is obtained when the transistor has a high forward common-emitter current gain.

Fast Packet forwarding Engine Based on Software Circuits

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Makkes, M.X.; Varabanescu, A.; Laat, C. de; Meijer, R.J.

2015-01-01

Forwarding packets is part of the performance critical path of routing devices, and affects the network performance at any scale. This operation is typically performed by dedicated routing boxes, which are fast, but expensive and inflexible. Recent work has shown that in many cases commodity

Links between maternal feeding practices and children's eating difficulties. Validation of French tools.

Science.gov (United States)

Rigal, Natalie; Chabanet, Claire; Issanchou, Sylvie; Monnery-Patris, Sandrine

2012-04-01

The main objectives of the present study were to validate measures of young children's eating difficulties and maternal feeding practices in a French sample, as well as to assess the links between these practices and children's eating difficulties. Mothers (n=502) of French children aged 20-36 months completed four questionnaires that were validated using a Structural Equation Modelling approach. Links between children and maternal components were investigated using a PLS regression. The Children's Eating Difficulties Questionnaire yielded a 4-dimension solution: Neophobia, Pickiness, Low Appetite and Low Enjoyment in food. The Feeding Style Questionnaire assessed three dimensions: Authoritarian, Authoritative and Permissive Styles. The Feeding Strategy Questionnaire, designed to evaluate strategies used by mothers to make their child taste rejected foods, resulted in four factors: Coercion, Explanation, Contingency and Preference. The Questionnaire relating to Parental Motivations when buying food for children presented a 6-dimension solution: Convenience, Weight-control, Natural, Health-concern, Preference and Price. The factors associated positively with the four dimensions of the Children's Eating Difficulties Questionnaire were on the one hand Permissive Style and Practices to fulfil child's desires, and on the other hand Authoritarian Style, Contingent and Coercive Practices aimed at forcing children to taste rejected foods. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Entry, Descent and Landing Systems Analysis: Exploration Feed Forward Internal Peer Review Slide Package

Science.gov (United States)

Dwyer Cianciolo, Alicia M. (Editor)

2011-01-01

NASA senior management commissioned the Entry, Descent and Landing Systems Analysis (EDL-SA) Study in 2008 to identify and roadmap the Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) technology investments that the agency needed to successfully land large payloads at Mars for both robotic and human-scale missions. Year 1 of the study focused on technologies required for Exploration-class missions to land payloads of 10 to 50 mt. Inflatable decelerators, rigid aeroshell and supersonic retro-propulsion emerged as the top candidate technologies. In Year 2 of the study, low TRL technologies identified in Year 1, inflatables aeroshells and supersonic retropropulsion, were combined to create a demonstration precursor robotic mission. This part of the EDL-SA Year 2 effort, called Exploration Feed Forward (EFF), took much of the systems analysis simulation and component model development from Year 1 to the next level of detail.

Modeling of an industrial process of pleuromutilin fermentation using feed-forward neural networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Khaouane

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This work investigates the use of artificial neural networks in modeling an industrial fermentation process of Pleuromutilin produced by Pleurotus mutilus in a fed-batch mode. Three feed-forward neural network models characterized by a similar structure (five neurons in the input layer, one hidden layer and one neuron in the output layer are constructed and optimized with the aim to predict the evolution of three main bioprocess variables: biomass, substrate and product. Results show a good fit between the predicted and experimental values for each model (the root mean squared errors were 0.4624% - 0.1234 g/L and 0.0016 mg/g respectively. Furthermore, the comparison between the optimized models and the unstructured kinetic models in terms of simulation results shows that neural network models gave more significant results. These results encourage further studies to integrate the mathematical formulae extracted from these models into an industrial control loop of the process.

A METHOD AND AN APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING TIMING SIGNALS TO A NUMBER OF CIRCUITS, AN INTEGRATED CIRCUIT AND A NODE

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2006-01-01

A method of providing or transporting a timing signal between a number of circuits, electrical or optical, where each circuit is fed by a node. The nodes forward timing signals between each other, and at least one node is adapted to not transmit a timing signal before having received a timing...... signal from at least two nodes. In this manner, the direction of the timing skew between nodes and circuits is known and data transport between the circuits made easier....

Conservation laws arising in the study of forward-forward Mean-Field Games

KAUST Repository

Gomes, Diogo A.; Nurbekyan, Levon; Sedjro, Marc

2017-01-01

We consider forward-forward Mean Field Game (MFG) models that arise in numerical approximations of stationary MFGs. First, we establish a link between these models and a class of hyperbolic conservation laws as well as certain nonlinear wave equations. Second, we investigate existence and long-time behavior of solutions for such models.

Conservation laws arising in the study of forward-forward Mean-Field Games

KAUST Repository

Gomes, Diogo A.

2017-04-24

We consider forward-forward Mean Field Game (MFG) models that arise in numerical approximations of stationary MFGs. First, we establish a link between these models and a class of hyperbolic conservation laws as well as certain nonlinear wave equations. Second, we investigate existence and long-time behavior of solutions for such models.

Piezo pump and pressurized circuit provided therewith

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Es, Johannes; Wits, Wessel Willems

2015-01-01

A piezo pump for use in a pressurized circuit includes a pump chamber with an inlet provided with a one way inlet valve, for connection to a feeding line of the pressurized circuit and an outlet provided with a one way outlet valve, for connection to a discharge line of the pressurized circuit and a

Organization of feed-forward loop motifs reveals architectural principles in natural and engineered networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Gorochowski, Thomas E; Grierson, Claire S; di Bernardo, Mario

2018-03-01

Network motifs are significantly overrepresented subgraphs that have been proposed as building blocks for natural and engineered networks. Detailed functional analysis has been performed for many types of motif in isolation, but less is known about how motifs work together to perform complex tasks. To address this issue, we measure the aggregation of network motifs via methods that extract precisely how these structures are connected. Applying this approach to a broad spectrum of networked systems and focusing on the widespread feed-forward loop motif, we uncover striking differences in motif organization. The types of connection are often highly constrained, differ between domains, and clearly capture architectural principles. We show how this information can be used to effectively predict functionally important nodes in the metabolic network of Escherichia coli . Our findings have implications for understanding how networked systems are constructed from motif parts and elucidate constraints that guide their evolution.

Radiation technology and feed production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ershov, B.G.

1986-01-01

The use of radiation technology to prepare feeds and feed additions for cattle of non-feed vegetable blends is considered.Physicochemical foundations of radiation-chemical processes, possibilities of the use of various radiation devices are given. Data on practical realization of the technology are presented and prospects of its introduction to solve the tasks put forward by the USSR program on feed production are analyzed

Application research of power allocation based on Buck circuit in DC microgrid

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Zihao

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In a traditional DC microgrid, the power sharing control strategy has been always used in the distributed power converters, resulting in not making outer power allocation arbitrarily. In order to solve the power output allocation problem of wind power in DC microgrid, the intelligent Buck circuit based on PI algorithm and the load current feed-forward method was used to realize the arbitrary regulation of the output power of the wind power in the DC microgrid system. Compared with traditional distributed generators power-sharing method, the simulation and experimental results show the proposed method can realize arbitrary power outputting from distributed generators. Finally, the simulation and experimental results prove the validity and effectiveness of the control method.

A feed-forward Hopfield neural network algorithm (FHNNA) with a colour satellite image for water quality mapping

Science.gov (United States)

Asal Kzar, Ahmed; Mat Jafri, M. Z.; Hwee San, Lim; Al-Zuky, Ali A.; Mutter, Kussay N.; Hassan Al-Saleh, Anwar

2016-06-01

There are many techniques that have been given for water quality problem, but the remote sensing techniques have proven their success, especially when the artificial neural networks are used as mathematical models with these techniques. Hopfield neural network is one type of artificial neural networks which is common, fast, simple, and efficient, but it when it deals with images that have more than two colours such as remote sensing images. This work has attempted to solve this problem via modifying the network that deals with colour remote sensing images for water quality mapping. A Feed-forward Hopfield Neural Network Algorithm (FHNNA) was modified and used with a satellite colour image from type of Thailand earth observation system (THEOS) for TSS mapping in the Penang strait, Malaysia, through the classification of TSS concentrations. The new algorithm is based essentially on three modifications: using HNN as feed-forward network, considering the weights of bitplanes, and non-self-architecture or zero diagonal of weight matrix, in addition, it depends on a validation data. The achieved map was colour-coded for visual interpretation. The efficiency of the new algorithm has found out by the higher correlation coefficient (R=0.979) and the lower root mean square error (RMSE=4.301) between the validation data that were divided into two groups. One used for the algorithm and the other used for validating the results. The comparison was with the minimum distance classifier. Therefore, TSS mapping of polluted water in Penang strait, Malaysia, can be performed using FHNNA with remote sensing technique (THEOS). It is a new and useful application of HNN, so it is a new model with remote sensing techniques for water quality mapping which is considered important environmental problem.

New wholesale power market design using linked forward markets :

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Silva Monroy, Cesar Augusto; Loose, Verne William; Ellison, James F.; Elliott, Ryan Thomas; Byrne, Raymond Harry; Guttromson, Ross; Tesfatsion, Leigh S.

2013-04-01

This report proposes a reformulation of U.S. ISO/RTO-managed wholesale electric power mar- kets for improved reliability and e ciency of system operations. Current markets do not specify or compensate primary frequency response. They also unnecessarily limit the participation of new technologies in reserve markets and o er insu cient economic inducements for new capacity invest- ment. In the proposed market reformulation, energy products are represented as physically-covered rm contracts and reserve products as physically-covered call option contracts. Trading of these products is supported by a backbone of linked ISO/RTO-managed forward markets with planning horizons ranging from multiple years to minutes ahead. A principal advantage of this reformulation is that reserve needs can be speci ed in detail, and resources can o er the services for which they are best suited, without being forced to conform to rigid reserve product de nitions. This should improve the business case for electric energy storage and other emerging technologies to provide reserve. In addition, the facilitation of price discovery should help to ensure e cient energy/reserve procurement and adequate levels of new capacity investment.

Entry, Descent and Landing Systems Analysis Study: Phase 2 Report on Exploration Feed-Forward Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Dwyer Ciancolo, Alicia M.; Davis, Jody L.; Engelund, Walter C.; Komar, D. R.; Queen, Eric M.; Samareh, Jamshid A.; Way, David W.; Zang, Thomas A.; Murch, Jeff G.; Krizan, Shawn A.;

Optimal Design of a Push-Pull-Forward Half-Bridge (PPFHB) Bidirectional DC–DC Converter With Variable Input Voltage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Zhe; Thomsen, Ole Cornelius; Andersen, Michael A. E.

2012-01-01

This paper presents a low-cost bidirectional isolated dc–dc converte, derived from dual-active-bridge converter for the power sources with variable output voltage like supercapacitors. The proposed converter consists of push-pull-forward circuit half-bridge circuit (PPFHB) and a high-frequency tr......This paper presents a low-cost bidirectional isolated dc–dc converte, derived from dual-active-bridge converter for the power sources with variable output voltage like supercapacitors. The proposed converter consists of push-pull-forward circuit half-bridge circuit (PPFHB) and a high...

Predictive zero-dimensional combustion model for DI diesel engine feed-forward control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Catania, Andrea Emilio; Finesso, Roberto; Spessa, Ezio

2011-01-01

Highlights: → Zero-dimensional low-throughput combustion model for real-time control in diesel engine applications. → Feed-forward control of MFB50, p max and IMEP in both conventional and PCCI combustion modes. → Capability of resolving the contribution to HRR of each injection pulse in multiple injection schedule. → Ignition delay and model parameters estimated through physically consistent and easy-to-tune correlations. - Abstract: An innovative zero-dimensional predictive combustion model has been developed for the estimation of HRR (heat release rate) and in-cylinder pressure traces. This model has been assessed and applied to conventional and PCCI (premixed charge compression ignition) DI diesel engines for model-based feed-forward control purposes. The injection rate profile is calculated on the basis of the injected fuel quantities and on the injection parameters, such as SOI (start of injection), ET (energizing time), and DT (dwell time), taking the injector NOD (nozzle opening delay) and NCD (nozzle closure delay) into account. The injection rate profile in turn allows the released chemical energy Q ch to be estimated. The approach starts from the assumption that, at each time instant, the HRR is proportional to the energy associated with the accumulated fuel mass in the combustion chamber. The main novelties of the proposed approach consist of the method that is adopted to estimate the fuel ignition delay and of injection rate splitting for HRR estimation. The procedure allows an accurate calculation to be made of the different combustion parameters that are important for engine calibration, such as SOC (start of combustion) and MFB50 (50% of fuel mass fraction burned angle). On the basis of an estimation of the fuel released chemical energy, of the heat globally exchanged from the charge with the walls and of the energy associated with the fuel evaporation, the charge net energy is calculated, for a subsequent evaluation of the in

Simulation study on control of spill structure of slow extracted beam from a medical synchrotron with feed-forward and feedback using a fast quadruple magnet and RF-knockout system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Muraoka, Ryo; Nakanishi, Tetsuya, E-mail: nakanishi.tetsuya@nihon-u.ac.jp

2017-02-21

A feedback control of the spill structure for the slow beam extraction from the medical synchrotron using a fast quadruple and radio frequency (RF)-knockout (QAR method) is studied to obtain the designed spill structure. In addition the feed-forward control is used so that the feedback control is performed effectively. In this extraction method, the spill of several ms are extracted continuously with an interval time of less than 1 ms. Beam simulation showed that a flat spill structure was effectively obtained with feed-forward and feedback control system as well as a step-wise structure which is useful for the shortening of an irradiation time in a spot scanning operation. The effect of current ripples from main quadruple magnet's power supplies could be also reduced with the feedback control application.

Forward Osmosis System And Process

KAUST Repository

Duan, Jintang

2013-08-22

A forward osmosis fluid purification system includes a cross-flow membrane module with a membrane, a channel on each side of the membrane which allows a feed solution and a draw solution to flow through separately, a feed side, a draw side including a draw solute, where the draw solute includes an aryl sulfonate salt. The system can be used in a process to extract water from impure water, such as wastewater or seawater. The purified water can be applied to arid land.

Forward Osmosis System And Process

KAUST Repository

Duan, Jintang

2013-01-01

A forward osmosis fluid purification system includes a cross-flow membrane module with a membrane, a channel on each side of the membrane which allows a feed solution and a draw solution to flow through separately, a feed side, a draw side including a draw solute, where the draw solute includes an aryl sulfonate salt. The system can be used in a process to extract water from impure water, such as wastewater or seawater. The purified water can be applied to arid land.

Regulation of the mesolimbic dopamine circuit by feeding peptides.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, S; Borgland, S L

2015-03-19

Polypeptides produced in the gastrointestinal tract, stomach, adipocytes, pancreas and brain that influence food intake are referred to as 'feeding-related' peptides. Most peptides that influence feeding exert an inhibitory effect (anorexigenic peptides). In contrast, only a few exert a stimulating effect (orexigenic peptides), such as ghrelin. Homeostatic feeding refers to when food consumed matches energy deficits. However, in western society where access to palatable energy-dense food is nearly unlimited, food is mostly consumed for non-homeostatic reasons. Emerging evidence implicates the mesocorticolimbic circuitry, including dopamine neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA), as a key substrate for non-homeostatic feeding. VTA dopamine neurons encode cues that predict rewards and phasic release of dopamine in the ventral striatum motivates animals to forage for food. To elucidate how feeding-related peptides regulate reward pathways is of importance to reveal the mechanisms underlying non-homeostatic or hedonic feeding. Here, we review the current knowledge of how anorexigenic peptides and orexigenic peptides act within the VTA. Copyright © 2015 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of superconducting links for the Large Hadron Collider machine

Science.gov (United States)

Ballarino, Amalia

2014-04-01

In the framework of the upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) machine, new superconducting lines are being developed for the feeding of the LHC magnets. The proposed electrical layout envisages the location of the power converters in surface buildings, and the transfer of the current from the surface to the LHC tunnel, where the magnets are located, via superconducting links containing tens of cables feeding different circuits and transferring altogether more than 150 kA. Depending on the location, the links will have a length ranging from 300 m to 500 m, and they will span a vertical distance of about 80 m. An overview of the R&D program that has been launched by CERN is presented, with special attention to the development of novel types of cables made from MgB2 and high temperature superconductors (Bi-2223 and REBCO) and to the results of the tests performed on prototype links. Plans for future activities are presented, together with a timeline for potential future integration in the LHC machine.

Development of superconducting links for the Large Hadron Collider machine

CERN Document Server

Ballarino, A

2014-01-01

In the framework of the upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) machine, new superconducting lines are being developed for the feeding of the LHC magnets. The proposed electrical layout envisages the location of the power converters in surface buildings, and the transfer of the current from the surface to the LHC tunnel, where the magnets are located, via superconducting links containing tens of cables feeding different circuits and transferring altogether more than 150 kA. Depending on the location, the links will have a length ranging from 300 m to 500 m, and they will span a vertical distance of about 80 m. An overview of the R&D program that has been launched by CERN is presented, with special attention to the development of novel types of cables made from MgB 2 and high temperature superconductors (Bi-2223 and REBCO) and to the results of the tests performed on prototype links. Plans for future activities are presented, together with a timeline for potential future integration in the LHC machine.

Summary of erosion-corrosion observations made in power stations on damp-steam circuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lacaille, L.

1981-01-01

The development of the light-water system has profoundly modified the operating conditions of the turbines, in which expansion now takes place from the first saturated-steam stages. In addition to the traditional phenomena of mechanical erosion there are now problems of a chemical nature, linked to the temperatures of the liquid phase, which cause destruction in the HP stages of the turbines, the drier-feed heaters, and the linking piping. Systematic observations have been made in the PWR stations at Chooz, Doel, Tihange, Fessenheim, and Le Bugey, followed by trials of materials, improvements in the flow, chemical treatment of the secondary circuit, and reduction of the liquid phase in the steam emerging from the HP turbine [fr

Ultrafine coal classification using 150 mm gMax cyclone circuits

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Honaker, R.Q.; Boaten, F.; Luttrell, G.H. [University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States). Dept. of Mineral Engineering

2007-11-15

A two-stage classification circuit using 150 mm diameter gMax cyclones was installed and evaluated in a coal preparation plant in an effort to achieve a clean coal product without the use of froth flotation. Particle size separations of around 37 {mu}m were achieved while limiting ultrafine bypass to less than 10% in the circuit underflow stream. As a result, approximately 81% of the ash-bearing material in the circuit feed was rejected to the circuit overflow stream. The feed ash content was reduced from around 50% to values in the range of 22-30% in the circuit underflow stream with a mass recovery of about 30%. Further reductions in the coarse product ash content were limited due to the particle density effect and the remaining presence of a significant quantity of high-ash slime material in the coarse product. The typical D{sub 50} for the coal particles was 40 {mu} m while the estimated value for mineral matter was 17 {mu} m. Based on the findings of the study, the use of classification to recover a low-ash, coarse fraction in the feed of a fine coal circuit is limited by the density effect regardless of the ability to eliminate ultrafine bypass.

A Novel Feed-Forward Modeling System Leads to Sustained Improvements in Attention and Academic Performance.

Science.gov (United States)

McDermott, Ashley F; Rose, Maya; Norris, Troy; Gordon, Eric

2016-01-28

This study tested a novel feed-forward modeling (FFM) system as a nonpharmacological intervention for the treatment of ADHD children and the training of cognitive skills that improve academic performance. This study implemented a randomized, controlled, parallel design comparing this FFM with a nonpharmacological community care intervention. Improvements were measured on parent- and clinician-rated scales of ADHD symptomatology and on academic performance tests completed by the participant. Participants were followed for 3 months after training. Participants in the FFM training group showed significant improvements in ADHD symptomatology and academic performance, while the control group did not. Improvements from FFM were sustained 3 months later. The FFM appeared to be an effective intervention for the treatment of ADHD and improving academic performance. This FFM training intervention shows promise as a first-line treatment for ADHD while improving academic performance. © The Author(s) 2016.

Forward Osmosis in Wastewater Treatment Processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Korenak, Jasmina; Basu, Subhankar; Balakrishnan, Malini

2017-01-01

In recent years, membrane technology has been widely used in wastewater treatment and water purification. Membrane technology is simple to operate and produces very high quality water for human consumption and industrial purposes. One of the promising technologies for water and wastewater treatment...... is the application of forward osmosis. Essentially, forward osmosis is a process in which water is driven through a semipermeable membrane from a feed solution to a draw solution due to the osmotic pressure gradient across the membrane. The immediate advantage over existing pressure driven membrane technologies...... briefly review some of the applications within water purification and new developments in forward osmosis membrane fabrication....

Imbalanced functional link between reward circuits and the cognitive control system in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Chunming; Ma, Lisha; Jiang, Nan; Huang, Ruyan; Li, Li; Gong, Liang; He, Cancan; Xiao, Chaoyong; Liu, Wen; Xu, Shu; Zhang, Zhijun

2017-08-01

Altered reward processing and cognitive deficits are often observed in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD); however, whether the imbalance in activity between reward circuits and the cognitive control (CC) system is associated with compulsive behavior remains unknown. Sixty-eight OCD patients and 33 cognitively normal (CN) healthy subjects participated in this resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Alterations in the functional connectivity between reward circuits and the CC system were quantitatively assessed and compared between the groups. A Granger causality analysis was used to determine the causal informational influence between and within reward circuits and the CC system across all subjects. OCD patients showed a dichotomous pattern of enhanced functional coupling in their reward circuits and a weakened functional coupling in their CC system when compared to CN subjects. Neural correlates of compulsive behavior were primarily located in the reward circuits and CC system in OCD patients. Importantly, the CC system exerted a reduced interregional causal influence over the reward system in OCD patients relative to its effect in CN subjects. The limitations of this study are that it was a cross-sectional study and the potential effects of environmental and genetic factors were not explored. OCD patients showed an imbalance in the functional link between reward circuits and the CC system at rest. This bias toward a loss of control may define a pathological state in which subjects are more vulnerable to engaging in compulsive behaviors.

3D Polygon Mesh Compression with Multi Layer Feed Forward Neural Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emmanouil Piperakis

2003-06-01

Full Text Available In this paper, an experiment is conducted which proves that multi layer feed forward neural networks are capable of compressing 3D polygon meshes. Our compression method not only preserves the initial accuracy of the represented object but also enhances it. The neural network employed includes the vertex coordinates, the connectivity and normal information in one compact form, converting the discrete and surface polygon representation into an analytic, solid colloquial. Furthermore, the 3D object in its compressed neural form can be directly - without decompression - used for rendering. The neural compression - representation is viable to 3D transformations without the need of any anti-aliasing techniques - transformations do not disrupt the accuracy of the geometry. Our method does not su.er any scaling problem and was tested with objects of 300 to 107 polygons - such as the David of Michelangelo - achieving in all cases an order of O(b3 less bits for the representation than any other commonly known compression method. The simplicity of our algorithm and the established mathematical background of neural networks combined with their aptness for hardware implementation can establish this method as a good solution for polygon compression and if further investigated, a novel approach for 3D collision, animation and morphing.

Theoretical and experimental analysis of a linear accelerator endowed with single feed coupler with movable short-circuit.

Science.gov (United States)

Dal Forno, Massimo; Craievich, Paolo; Penco, Giuseppe; Vescovo, Roberto

2013-11-01

The front-end injection systems of the FERMI@Elettra linac produce high brightness electron beams that define the performance of the Free Electron Laser. The photoinjector mainly consists of the radiofrequency (rf) gun and of two S-band rf structures which accelerate the beam. Accelerating structures endowed with a single feed coupler cause deflection and degradation of the electron beam properties, due to the asymmetry of the electromagnetic field. In this paper, a new type of single feed structure with movable short-circuit is proposed. It has the advantage of having only one waveguide input, but we propose a novel design where the dipolar component is reduced. Moreover, the racetrack geometry allows to reduce the quadrupolar component. This paper presents the microwave design and the analysis of the particle motion inside the linac. A prototype has been machined at the Elettra facility to verify the new coupler design and the rf field has been measured by adopting the bead-pull method. The results are here presented, showing good agreement with the expectations.

Theoretical and experimental analysis of a linear accelerator endowed with single feed coupler with movable short-circuit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forno, Massimo Dal; Craievich, Paolo; Penco, Giuseppe; Vescovo, Roberto

2013-01-01

The front-end injection systems of the FERMI@Elettra linac produce high brightness electron beams that define the performance of the Free Electron Laser. The photoinjector mainly consists of the radiofrequency (rf) gun and of two S-band rf structures which accelerate the beam. Accelerating structures endowed with a single feed coupler cause deflection and degradation of the electron beam properties, due to the asymmetry of the electromagnetic field. In this paper, a new type of single feed structure with movable short-circuit is proposed. It has the advantage of having only one waveguide input, but we propose a novel design where the dipolar component is reduced. Moreover, the racetrack geometry allows to reduce the quadrupolar component. This paper presents the microwave design and the analysis of the particle motion inside the linac. A prototype has been machined at the Elettra facility to verify the new coupler design and the rf field has been measured by adopting the bead-pull method. The results are here presented, showing good agreement with the expectations

DC Link Current Estimation in Wind-Double Feed Induction Generator Power Conditioning System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MARIAN GAICEANU

2010-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper the implementation of the DC link current estimator in power conditioning system of the variable speed wind turbine is shown. The wind turbine is connected to double feed induction generator (DFIG. The variable electrical energy parameters delivered by DFIG are fitted with the electrical grid parameters through back-to-back power converter. The bidirectional AC-AC power converter covers a wide speed range from subsynchronous to supersynchronous speeds. The modern control of back-to-back power converter involves power balance concept, therefore its load power should be known in any instant. By using the power balance control, the DC link voltage variation at the load changes can be reduced. In this paper the load power is estimated from the dc link, indirectly, through a second order DC link current estimator. The load current estimator is based on the DC link voltage and on the dc link input current of the rotor side converter. This method presents certain advantages instead of using measured method, which requires a low pass filter: no time delay, the feedforward current component has no ripple, no additional hardware, and more fast control response. Through the numerical simulation the performances of the proposed DC link output current estimator scheme are demonstrated.

Analysis of Return and Forward Links from STARS' Flight Demonstration 1

Science.gov (United States)

Gering, James A.

2003-01-01

Space-based Telemetry And Range Safety (STARS) is a Kennedy Space Center (KSC) led proof-of-concept demonstration, which utilizes NASA's space network of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS) as a pathway for launch and mission related information streams. Flight Demonstration 1 concluded on July 15,2003 with the seventh flight of a Low Power Transmitter (LPT) a Command and Data Handler (C&DH), a twelve channel GPS receiver and associated power supplies and amplifiers. The equipment flew on NASA's F-I5 aircraft at the Dryden Flight Research Center located at Edwards Air Force Base in California. During this NASA-ASEE Faculty Fellowship, the author participated in the collection and analysis of data from the seven flights comprising Flight Demonstration 1. Specifically, the author examined the forward and return links bit energy E(sub B) (in Watt-seconds) divided by the ambient radio frequency noise N(sub 0) (in Watts / Hertz). E(sub b)/N(sub 0) is commonly thought of as a signal-to-noise parameter, which characterizes a particular received radio frequency (RF) link. Outputs from the data analysis include the construction of time lines for all flights, production of graphs of range safety values for all seven flights, histograms of range safety E(sub b)/N(sub 0) values in five dB increments, calculation of associated averages and standard deviations, production of graphs of range user E(sub b)/N(sub 0) values for the all flights, production of graphs of AGC's and E(sub b)/N(sub 0) estimates for flight 1, recorded onboard, transmitted directly to the launch head and transmitted through TDRS. The data and graphs are being used to draw conclusions related to a lower than expected signal strength seen in the range safety return link.

Experimental calibration of forward and inverse neural networks for rotary type magnetorheological damper

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bhowmik, Subrata; Weber, Felix; Høgsberg, Jan Becker

2013-01-01

This paper presents a systematic design and training procedure for the feed-forward backpropagation neural network (NN) modeling of both forward and inverse behavior of a rotary magnetorheological (MR) damper based on experimental data. For the forward damper model, with damper force as output...

Predictive zero-dimensional combustion model for DI diesel engine feed-forward control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Catania, Andrea Emilio; Finesso, Roberto [IC Engines Advanced Laboratory, Politecnico di Torino, c.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino (Italy); Spessa, Ezio, E-mail: ezio.spessa@polito.it [IC Engines Advanced Laboratory, Politecnico di Torino, c.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino (Italy)

2011-09-15

Highlights: {yields} Zero-dimensional low-throughput combustion model for real-time control in diesel engine applications. {yields} Feed-forward control of MFB50, p{sub max} and IMEP in both conventional and PCCI combustion modes. {yields} Capability of resolving the contribution to HRR of each injection pulse in multiple injection schedule. {yields} Ignition delay and model parameters estimated through physically consistent and easy-to-tune correlations. - Abstract: An innovative zero-dimensional predictive combustion model has been developed for the estimation of HRR (heat release rate) and in-cylinder pressure traces. This model has been assessed and applied to conventional and PCCI (premixed charge compression ignition) DI diesel engines for model-based feed-forward control purposes. The injection rate profile is calculated on the basis of the injected fuel quantities and on the injection parameters, such as SOI (start of injection), ET (energizing time), and DT (dwell time), taking the injector NOD (nozzle opening delay) and NCD (nozzle closure delay) into account. The injection rate profile in turn allows the released chemical energy Q{sub ch} to be estimated. The approach starts from the assumption that, at each time instant, the HRR is proportional to the energy associated with the accumulated fuel mass in the combustion chamber. The main novelties of the proposed approach consist of the method that is adopted to estimate the fuel ignition delay and of injection rate splitting for HRR estimation. The procedure allows an accurate calculation to be made of the different combustion parameters that are important for engine calibration, such as SOC (start of combustion) and MFB50 (50% of fuel mass fraction burned angle). On the basis of an estimation of the fuel released chemical energy, of the heat globally exchanged from the charge with the walls and of the energy associated with the fuel evaporation, the charge net energy is calculated, for a subsequent

Development of Sorting System for Fishes by Feed-forward Neural Networks Using Rotation Invariant Features

Science.gov (United States)

Shiraishi, Yuhki; Takeda, Fumiaki

In this research, we have developed a sorting system for fishes, which is comprised of a conveyance part, a capturing image part, and a sorting part. In the conveyance part, we have developed an independent conveyance system in order to separate one fish from an intertwined group of fishes. After the image of the separated fish is captured in the capturing part, a rotation invariant feature is extracted using two-dimensional fast Fourier transform, which is the mean value of the power spectrum with the same distance from the origin in the spectrum field. After that, the fishes are classified by three-layered feed-forward neural networks. The experimental results show that the developed system classifies three kinds of fishes captured in various angles with the classification ratio of 98.95% for 1044 captured images of five fishes. The other experimental results show the classification ratio of 90.7% for 300 fishes by 10-fold cross validation method.

Forward Osmosis in Wastewater Treatment Processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Korenak, Jasmina; Basu, Subhankar; Balakrishnan, Malini; Hélix-Nielsen, Claus; Petrinic, Irena

2017-01-01

In recent years, membrane technology has been widely used in wastewater treatment and water purification. Membrane technology is simple to operate and produces very high quality water for human consumption and industrial purposes. One of the promising technologies for water and wastewater treatment is the application of forward osmosis. Essentially, forward osmosis is a process in which water is driven through a semipermeable membrane from a feed solution to a draw solution due to the osmotic pressure gradient across the membrane. The immediate advantage over existing pressure driven membrane technologies is that the forward osmosis process per se eliminates the need for operation with high hydraulic pressure and forward osmosis has low fouling tendency. Hence, it provides an opportunity for saving energy and membrane replacement cost. However, there are many limitations that still need to be addressed. Here we briefly review some of the applications within water purification and new developments in forward osmosis membrane fabrication.

Ipsilateral feeding-specific circuits between the nucleus accumbens shell and the lateral hypothalamus: regulation by glutamate and GABA receptor subtypes.

Science.gov (United States)

Urstadt, Kevin R; Kally, Peter; Zaidi, Sana F; Stanley, B Glenn

2013-04-01

The nucleus accumbens shell (AcbSh) and the lateral hypothalamus (LH) are both involved in the control of food intake. Activation of GABA(A) receptors or blockade of AMPA and kainate receptors within the AcbSh induces feeding, as does blockade of GABA(A) receptors or activation of NMDA receptors in the LH. Further, evidence suggests that feeding induced via the AcbSh can be suppressed by LH inhibition. However, it is unclear if this suppression is specific to feeding. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats with 3 intracranial guide cannulas, one unilaterally into the AcbSh and two bilaterally into the LH, were used to explore this issue. DNQX (1.25 μg) or muscimol (100 ng) infused into the AcbSh unilaterally elicited feeding, and this elicited intake was suppressed by bilateral LH injection of d-AP5 (2 μg) or muscimol (25 ng). The effectiveness of d-AP5 or muscimol infusion into either the LH site ipsilateral or contralateral to the AcbSh injection was compared. Ipsilateral LH injection of d-AP5 or muscimol was significantly more effective than contralateral injection in suppressing food intake initiated by AcbSh injection of DNQX or muscimol. These results add to the prior evidence that inhibition of the LH through pharmacological modulation of NMDA or GABA(A) receptors specifically suppresses feeding initiated by AcbSh inhibition, and that these two regions communicate via an ipsilateral circuit to specifically regulate feeding. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Monolithic microwave integrated circuit with integral array antenna

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stockton, R.J.; Munson, R.E.

1984-01-01

A monolithic microwave integrated circuit including an integral array antenna. The system includes radiating elements, feed network, phasing network, active and/or passive semiconductor devices, digital logic interface circuits and a microcomputer controller simultaneously incorporated on a single substrate by means of a controlled fabrication process sequence

Piezoelectric pump and pressurised circuit provided therewith

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Es, Johannes; Wits, Wessel Willems

2015-01-01

A piezoelectric pump for use in a pressurised circuit is provided, comprising a pump chamber (5) with an inlet (6) provided with a one way inlet valve (7), for connection to a feeding line (8) of the pressurised circuit and an outlet (9) provided with a one way outlet valve (10), for connection to a

Fractional-order RC and RL circuits

KAUST Repository

Radwan, Ahmed Gomaa

2012-05-30

This paper is a step forward to generalize the fundamentals of the conventional RC and RL circuits in fractional-order sense. The effect of fractional orders is the key factor for extra freedom, more flexibility, and novelty. The conditions for RC and RL circuits to act as pure imaginary impedances are derived, which are unrealizable in the conventional case. In addition, the sensitivity analyses of the magnitude and phase response with respect to all parameters showing the locations of these critical values are discussed. A qualitative revision for the fractional RC and RL circuits in the frequency domain is provided. Numerical and PSpice simulations are included to validate this study. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012.

Spike-timing computation properties of a feed-forward neural network model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Drew Benjamin Sinha

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Brain function is characterized by dynamical interactions among networks of neurons. These interactions are mediated by network topology at many scales ranging from microcircuits to brain areas. Understanding how networks operate can be aided by understanding how the transformation of inputs depends upon network connectivity patterns, e.g. serial and parallel pathways. To tractably determine how single synapses or groups of synapses in such pathways shape transformations, we modeled feed-forward networks of 7-22 neurons in which synaptic strength changed according to a spike-timing dependent plasticity rule. We investigated how activity varied when dynamics were perturbed by an activity-dependent electrical stimulation protocol (spike-triggered stimulation; STS in networks of different topologies and background input correlations. STS can successfully reorganize functional brain networks in vivo, but with a variability in effectiveness that may derive partially from the underlying network topology. In a simulated network with a single disynaptic pathway driven by uncorrelated background activity, structured spike-timing relationships between polysynaptically connected neurons were not observed. When background activity was correlated or parallel disynaptic pathways were added, however, robust polysynaptic spike timing relationships were observed, and application of STS yielded predictable changes in synaptic strengths and spike-timing relationships. These observations suggest that precise input-related or topologically induced temporal relationships in network activity are necessary for polysynaptic signal propagation. Such constraints for polysynaptic computation suggest potential roles for higher-order topological structure in network organization, such as maintaining polysynaptic correlation in the face of relatively weak synapses.

Limits to the development of feed-forward structures in large recurrent neuronal networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susanne Kunkel

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP has traditionally been of great interest to theoreticians, as it seems to provide an answer to the question of how the brain can develop functional structure in response to repeated stimuli. However, despite this high level of interest, convincing demonstrations of this capacity in large, initially random networks have not been forthcoming. Such demonstrations as there are typically rely on constraining the problem artificially. Techniques include employing additional pruning mechanisms or STDP rules that enhance symmetry breaking, simulating networks with low connectivity that magnify competition between synapses, or combinations of the above. In this paper we first review modeling choices that carry particularly high risks of producing non-generalizable results in the context of STDP in recurrent networks. We then develop a theory for the development of feed-forward structure in random networks and conclude that an unstable fixed point in the dynamics prevents the stable propagation of structure in recurrent networks with weight-dependent STDP. We demonstrate that the key predictions of the theory hold in large-scale simulations. The theory provides insight into the reasons why such development does not take place in unconstrained systems and enables us to identify candidate biologically motivated adaptations to the balanced random network model that might enable it.

High-speed parallel forward error correction for optical transport networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Anders; Ruepp, Sarah Renée; Berger, Michael Stübert

2010-01-01

This paper presents a highly parallelized hardware implementation of the standard OTN Reed-Solomon Forward Error Correction algorithm. The proposed circuit is designed to meet the immense throughput required by OTN4, using commercially available FPGA technology....

Feeding and purge systems of coolant primary circuit and coolant secondary circuit control of the I sup(123) target

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Almeida, G.L. de.

1986-01-01

The Radiation Protection Service of IEN (Brazilian-CNEN) detected three faults in sup(123)I target cooling system during operation process for producing sup(123)I: a) non hermetic vessel containing contaminated water from primary coolant circuit; possibility of increasing radioactivity in the vessel due to accumulation of contaminators in cooling water and; situation in region used for personnels to arrange and adjust equipments in nuclear physics area, to carried out maintenance of cyclotron and target coupling in irradiation room. The primary circuit was changed by secondary circuit for target coolant circulating through coil of tank, which receive weater from secondary circuit. This solution solved the three problems simultaneously. (M.C.K.)

Circuit Design and Implementation of Micro-Displacement Measurement System of Laser Self-Mixing Interference

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guang Ya LIU

2014-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper we put forward the basic structure of a micro-displacement measuring system based on the basic theory of laser feedback, and designed a hardware circuit of the system, including the LD driver and modulation circuit, photoelectric signal amplifier and filter circuit, which meet the requirements of the follow-up experimental study by theoretical analysis and Multisim simulation to the circuit.

A proposed approach for the derivation of a system transfer function by the use of an external network

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guppy, C B [Control and Instrumentation Division, Atomic Energy Establishment, Winfrith, Dorchester, Dorset (United Kingdom)

1961-10-15

This report outlines a method which might have some application for Transfer Function analysis of a given system. It consists of using the system itself in a general external feed-back, feed-forward circuit. The coefficients of the external circuit are set up one at a time to produce recognisable steady states at the output terminals of the external circuit. In effect step by step neutralisation of the system under test is achieved in the external circuit by setting up the inverse transfer function. (author)

A proposed approach for the derivation of a system transfer function by the use of an external network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guppy, C.B.

1961-10-01

This report outlines a method which might have some application for Transfer Function analysis of a given system. It consists of using the system itself in a general external feed-back, feed-forward circuit. The coefficients of the external circuit are set up one at a time to produce recognisable steady states at the output terminals of the external circuit. In effect step by step neutralisation of the system under test is achieved in the external circuit by setting up the inverse transfer function. (author)

Emotion Regulation Feeding Practices Link Parents' Emotional Eating to Children's Emotional Eating: A Moderated Mediation Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Cin Cin; Holub, Shayla C

2015-08-01

Past research suggests an association between parents' and children's emotional eating, but research has yet to examine mechanisms underlying this association. The current study examined whether feeding for emotion regulation mediates the association between parents' and children's emotional eating, and whether this association is moderated by children's self-regulation in eating. 95 parents reported on their own and their children's emotional eating, their children's self-regulation in eating, as well as their feeding practices. Findings revealed that feeding for emotion regulation mediated the association between parents' and children's emotional eating when children's self-regulation in eating was low, but not when self-regulation in eating was high. The current findings demonstrate the complexity of the link between parents' and children's emotional eating, suggesting practitioners should consider both feeding practices and children's self-regulation in eating when designing intervention programs. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved.For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Aircraft automatic-flight-control system with inversion of the model in the feed-forward path using a Newton-Raphson technique for the inversion

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, G. A.; Meyer, G.; Nordstrom, M.

1986-01-01

A new automatic flight control system concept suitable for aircraft with highly nonlinear aerodynamic and propulsion characteristics and which must operate over a wide flight envelope was investigated. This exact model follower inverts a complete nonlinear model of the aircraft as part of the feed-forward path. The inversion is accomplished by a Newton-Raphson trim of the model at each digital computer cycle time of 0.05 seconds. The combination of the inverse model and the actual aircraft in the feed-forward path alloys the translational and rotational regulators in the feedback path to be easily designed by linear methods. An explanation of the model inversion procedure is presented. An extensive set of simulation data for essentially the full flight envelope for a vertical attitude takeoff and landing aircraft (VATOL) is presented. These data demonstrate the successful, smooth, and precise control that can be achieved with this concept. The trajectory includes conventional flight from 200 to 900 ft/sec with path accelerations and decelerations, altitude changes of over 6000 ft and 2g and 3g turns. Vertical attitude maneuvering as a tail sitter along all axes is demonstrated. A transition trajectory from 200 ft/sec in conventional flight to stationary hover in the vertical attitude includes satisfactory operation through lift-cure slope reversal as attitude goes from horizontal to vertical at constant altitude. A vertical attitude takeoff from stationary hover to conventional flight is also demonstrated.

Circuit modeling for electromagnetic compatibility

CERN Document Server

Darney, Ian B

2013-01-01

Very simply, electromagnetic interference (EMI) costs money, reduces profits, and generally wreaks havoc for circuit designers in all industries. This book shows how the analytic tools of circuit theory can be used to simulate the coupling of interference into, and out of, any signal link in the system being reviewed. The technique is simple, systematic and accurate. It enables the design of any equipment to be tailored to meet EMC requirements. Every electronic system consists of a number of functional modules interconnected by signal links and power supply lines. Electromagnetic interference

Proportional-Type Performance Recovery DC-Link Voltage Tracking Algorithm for Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seok-Kyoon Kim

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This study proposes a disturbance observer-based proportional-type DC-link voltage tracking algorithm for permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMSGs. The proposed technique feedbacks the only proportional term of the tracking errors, and it contains the nominal static and dynamic feed-forward compensators coming from the first-order disturbance observers. It is rigorously proved that the proposed method ensures the performance recovery and offset-free properties without the use of the integrators of the tracking errors. A wind power generation system has been simulated to verify the efficacy of the proposed method using the PSIM (PowerSIM software with the DLL (Dynamic Link Library block.

Forward Link Power Control Strategy and its Optimum Issue in CDMA Cellular Networks

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2000-01-01

In this paper, we propose a theoretical method in order to estimate the forward link outage probability and user capacity of a cellular system which are based on IS-95 CDMA standard, especialy impact of power control strategy and voice activity monitoring in the system under long-term fading effects, in which the light and heavy fadings are considered. According to the numerical results obtained in this paper, the power control strategy leads to approximately the threefold user capacity in contrast to the situation without power control strategy. The reults are compared with Interference-to-Signal Ratio (ISR) driven power control scheme[6][9] which can be used only for simulation of the system. The power control strategy not only improves the desired signal to the interference ratio in the reference user's receiver, but also offers uniform service to the user wherever it is located in the cell.

Logic circuits from zero forcing.

Science.gov (United States)

Burgarth, Daniel; Giovannetti, Vittorio; Hogben, Leslie; Severini, Simone; Young, Michael

We design logic circuits based on the notion of zero forcing on graphs; each gate of the circuits is a gadget in which zero forcing is performed. We show that such circuits can evaluate every monotone Boolean function. By using two vertices to encode each logical bit, we obtain universal computation. We also highlight a phenomenon of "back forcing" as a property of each function. Such a phenomenon occurs in a circuit when the input of gates which have been already used at a given time step is further modified by a computation actually performed at a later stage. Finally, we show that zero forcing can be also used to implement reversible computation. The model introduced here provides a potentially new tool in the analysis of Boolean functions, with particular attention to monotonicity. Moreover, in the light of applications of zero forcing in quantum mechanics, the link with Boolean functions may suggest a new directions in quantum control theory and in the study of engineered quantum spin systems. It is an open technical problem to verify whether there is a link between zero forcing and computation with contact circuits.

Capacity Versus Bit Error Rate Trade-Off in the DVB-S2 Forward Link

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Berioli Matteo

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents an approach to optimize the use of satellite capacity in DVB-S2 forward links. By reducing the so-called safety margins, in the adaptive coding and modulation technique, it is possible to increase the spectral efficiency at expenses of an increased BER on the transmission. The work shows how a system can be tuned to operate at different degrees of this trade-off, and also the performance which can be achieved in terms of BER/PER, spectral efficiency, and interarrival, duration, strength of the error bursts. The paper also describes how a Markov chain can be used to model the ModCod transitions in a DVB-S2 system, and it presents results for the calculation of the transition probabilities in two cases.

Capacity Versus Bit Error Rate Trade-Off in the DVB-S2 Forward Link

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matteo Berioli

2007-05-01

Full Text Available The paper presents an approach to optimize the use of satellite capacity in DVB-S2 forward links. By reducing the so-called safety margins, in the adaptive coding and modulation technique, it is possible to increase the spectral efficiency at expenses of an increased BER on the transmission. The work shows how a system can be tuned to operate at different degrees of this trade-off, and also the performance which can be achieved in terms of BER/PER, spectral efficiency, and interarrival, duration, strength of the error bursts. The paper also describes how a Markov chain can be used to model the ModCod transitions in a DVB-S2 system, and it presents results for the calculation of the transition probabilities in two cases.

A feed forward neural network for classification of bull's-eye myocardial perfusion images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamilton, D.; Riley, P.J.; Miola, U.J.; Amro, A.A.

1995-01-01

Identification of hypoperfused areas in myocardial perfusion single-photon emission tomography studies can be aided by bull's-eye representation of raw counts, lesion extent and lesion severity, the latter two being produced by comparison of the raw bull's-eye data with a normal data base. An artificial intelligence technique which is presently becoming widely popular and which is particularly suitable for pattern recognition is that of artificial neural network. We have studied the ability of feed forward neural networks to extract patterns from bull's-eye data by assessing their capability to predict lesion presence without direct comparison with a normal data base. Studies were undertaken on both simulation data and on real stress-rest data obtained from 410 male patients undergoing routine thallium-201 myocardial perfusion scintigraphy. The ability of trained neural networks to predict lesion presence was quantified by calculating the areas under receiver operating characteristic curves. Figures as high as 0.96 for non-preclassified patient data were obtained, corresponding to an accuracy of 92%. The results demonstrate that neural networks can accurately classify patterns from bull's-eye myocardial perfusion images and detect the presence of hypoperfused areas without the need for comparison with a normal data base. Preliminary work suggests that this technique could be used to study perfusion patterns in the myocardium and their correlation with clinical parameters. (orig.)

The Smallest Transistor-Based Nonautonomous Chaotic Circuit

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lindberg, Erik; Murali, K.; Tamasevicius, Arunas

2005-01-01

A nonautonomous chaotic circuit based on one transistor, two capacitors, and two resistors is described. The mechanism behind the chaotic performance is based on “disturbance of integration.” The forward part and the reverse part of the bipolar transistor are “fighting” about the charging...

Improving community development by linking agriculture, nutrition and education: design of a randomised trial of "home-grown" school feeding in Mali.

Science.gov (United States)

Masset, Edoardo; Gelli, Aulo

2013-02-21

Providing food through schools has well documented effects in terms of the education, health and nutrition of school children. However, there is limited evidence in terms of the benefits of providing a reliable market for small-holder farmers through "home-grown" school feeding approaches. This study aims to evaluate the impact of school feeding programmes sourced from small-holder farmers on small-holder food security, as well as on school children's education, health and nutrition in Mali. In addition, this study will examine the links between social accountability and programme performance. This is a field experiment planned around the scale-up of the national school feeding programme, involving 116 primary schools in 58 communities in food insecure areas of Mali. The randomly assigned interventions are: 1) a school feeding programme group, including schools and villages where the standard government programme is implemented; 2) a "home-grown" school feeding and social accountability group, including schools and villages where the programme is implemented in addition to training of community based organisations and local government; and 3) the control group, including schools and household from villages where the intervention will be delayed by at least two years, preferably without informing schools and households. Primary outcomes include small-holder farmer income, school participation and learning, and community involvement in the programme. Other outcomes include nutritional status and diet-diversity. The evaluation will follow a mixed method approach, including household, school and village level surveys as well as focus group discussions with small-holder farmers, school children, parents and community members. The impact evaluation will be incorporated within the national monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system strengthening activities that are currently underway in Mali. Baselines surveys are planned for 2012. A monthly process monitoring visits, spot

Proportional fuzzy feed-forward architecture control validation by wind tunnel tests of a morphing wing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michel Joël Tchatchueng Kammegne

2017-04-01

wing for a specified flight condition. The feasibility and effectiveness of the developed control system by use of a proportional fuzzy feed-forward methodology are demonstrated experimentally through bench and wind tunnel tests of the morphing wing model.

Multimodal Signal Integration for Feeding Control.

Science.gov (United States)

Basiri, Marcus L; Stuber, Garret D

2016-04-21

Feeding is arguably one of the most well-conserved and important adaptive behaviors across all species. In this issue of Cell, Yapici et al. use a novel real-time feeding assay in Drosophila flies to identify a neural circuit that integrates gustatory input and hunger state to modulate food ingestion. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Feed-Forward Propagation of Temporal and Rate Information between Cortical Populations during Coherent Activation in Engineered In Vitro Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

DeMarse, Thomas B; Pan, Liangbin; Alagapan, Sankaraleengam; Brewer, Gregory J; Wheeler, Bruce C

2016-01-01

Transient propagation of information across neuronal assembles is thought to underlie many cognitive processes. However, the nature of the neural code that is embedded within these transmissions remains uncertain. Much of our understanding of how information is transmitted among these assemblies has been derived from computational models. While these models have been instrumental in understanding these processes they often make simplifying assumptions about the biophysical properties of neurons that may influence the nature and properties expressed. To address this issue we created an in vitro analog of a feed-forward network composed of two small populations (also referred to as assemblies or layers) of living dissociated rat cortical neurons. The populations were separated by, and communicated through, a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device containing a strip of microscale tunnels. Delayed culturing of one population in the first layer followed by the second a few days later induced the unidirectional growth of axons through the microtunnels resulting in a primarily feed-forward communication between these two small neural populations. In this study we systematically manipulated the number of tunnels that connected each layer and hence, the number of axons providing communication between those populations. We then assess the effect of reducing the number of tunnels has upon the properties of between-layer communication capacity and fidelity of neural transmission among spike trains transmitted across and within layers. We show evidence based on Victor-Purpura's and van Rossum's spike train similarity metrics supporting the presence of both rate and temporal information embedded within these transmissions whose fidelity increased during communication both between and within layers when the number of tunnels are increased. We also provide evidence reinforcing the role of synchronized activity upon transmission fidelity during the spontaneous synchronized

Storage and the electricity forward premium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Douglas, Stratford; Popova, Julia

2008-01-01

We develop and test a model describing the influence of natural gas storage inventories on the electricity forward premium. The model is constructed by linking the effect of gas storage constraints on the higher moments of the distribution of electricity prices to an established model of the effect of those moments on the forward premium. The model predicts a sharply negative effect of gas storage inventories on the electricity forward premium when demand for electricity is high and space-heating demand for gas is low. Empirical results, based on PJM data, strongly support the model. (author)

Logarithmic circuit with wide dynamic range

Science.gov (United States)

Wiley, P. H.; Manus, E. A. (Inventor)

1978-01-01

A circuit deriving an output voltage that is proportional to the logarithm of a dc input voltage susceptible to wide variations in amplitude includes a constant current source which forward biases a diode so that the diode operates in the exponential portion of its voltage versus current characteristic, above its saturation current. The constant current source includes first and second, cascaded feedback, dc operational amplifiers connected in negative feedback circuit. An input terminal of the first amplifier is responsive to the input voltage. A circuit shunting the first amplifier output terminal includes a resistor in series with the diode. The voltage across the resistor is sensed at the input of the second dc operational feedback amplifier. The current flowing through the resistor is proportional to the input voltage over the wide range of variations in amplitude of the input voltage.

Feed-forward and generalized regression neural networks in modeling feeding behavior of pigs in the grow-finishing phase

Science.gov (United States)

Feeding patterns in group-housed grow-finishing pigs have been investigated for use in management decisions, identifying sick animals, and determining genetic differences within a herd. Development of models to predict swine feeding behaviour has been limited due the large number of potential enviro...

Silicon compilation: From the circuit to the system

Science.gov (United States)

Obrien, Keven

The methodology used for the compilation of silicon from a behavioral level to a system level is presented. The aim was to link the heretofore unrelated areas of high level synthesis and system level design. This link will play an important role in the development of future design automation tools as it will allow hardware/software co-designs to be synthesized. A design methodology that alllows, through the use of an intermediate representation, SOLAR, a System level Design Language (SDL), to be combined with a Hardware Description Language (VHDL) is presented. Two main steps are required in order to transform this specification into a synthesizable one. Firstly, a system level synthesis step including partitioning and communication synthesis is required in order to split the model into a set of interconnected subsystems, each of which will be processed by a high level synthesis tool. For this latter step AMICAL is used and this allows powerful scheduling techniques to be used, that accept very abstract descriptions of control flow dominated circuits as input, and interconnected RTL blocks that may feed existing logic-level synthesis tools to be generated.

Effect of short circuited DC link capacitor of an AC–DC–AC inverter on the performance of induction motor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hadeed Ahmed Sher

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Induction motors are widely used in industrial power plants due to their robustness, reliability and high performance under variable operating conditions in the electrical power system. Modern industrial progress is dependent on these ruggedly constructed induction motors. Almost every sophisticated process of the industry is based on induction motors. Most of these motors are controlled by means of inverters that change the line frequency. The change in parameters of inverter makes it possible to control the motor according to the design requirements. The reliability of inverter based motor control is an important issue for industrial applications and therefore, it becomes very vital for design engineers to have comprehensive analysis of the inverter fed induction machine. This paper investigates one of the faults that may occur on the DC link of an inverter fed induction motor. The effect of the capacitor short circuit is presented in this paper. It also deals with the effects of short circuited capacitor on freewheeling diode. DC link capacitors are well designed and even the probability of capacitor failure is high, it is always a rare case if they puncture, however this analysis will add to the reliability of the induction machine under variable operating condition.

RA Acts in a Coherent Feed-Forward Mechanism with Tbx5 to Control Limb Bud Induction and Initiation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Satoko Nishimoto

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The retinoic acid (RA- and β-catenin-signaling pathways regulate limb bud induction and initiation; however, their mechanisms of action are not understood and have been disputed. We demonstrate that both pathways are essential and that RA and β-catenin/TCF/LEF signaling act cooperatively with Hox gene inputs to directly regulate Tbx5 expression. Furthermore, in contrast to previous models, we show that Tbx5 and Tbx4 expression in forelimb and hindlimb, respectively, are not sufficient for limb outgrowth and that input from RA is required. Collectively, our data indicate that RA signaling and Tbx genes act in a coherent feed-forward loop to regulate Fgf10 expression and, as a result, establish a positive feedback loop of FGF signaling between the limb mesenchyme and ectoderm. Our results incorporate RA-, β-catenin/TCF/LEF-, and FGF-signaling pathways into a regulatory network acting to recruit cells of the embryo flank to become limb precursors.

A Flexible Power Control Method of VSC-HVDC Link for the Enhancement of Effective Short-Circuit Ratio in a Hybrid Multi-Infeed HVDC System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Yan; Chen, Zhe

2013-01-01

. To evaluate the contribution of the VSC-HVDC link on the voltage stability of HMIDC system, this paper proposes an effective short circuit ratio (ESCR) calculation method. Through the calculation, the voltage support capability of the VSC-HVDC link can be quantitatively represented by the ESCR. Furthermore......, based on the calculation results, a flexible power control strategy for the VSC-HVDC link is developed to provide maximum reactive power support under grid faults. The theoretical analysis of the HMIDC system is based on the Danish transmission grid, evaluated through PSCAD simulations under different...

Functional Organization of Neuronal and Humoral Signals Regulating Feeding Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Gary J.; Zeltser, Lori M.

2014-01-01

Energy homeostasis- ensuring that energy availability matches energy requirements- is essential for survival. One way that energy balance is achieved is through coordinated action of neural and neuroendocrine feeding circuits, which promote energy intake when energy supply is limited. Feeding behavior engages multiple somatic and visceral tissues distributed throughout the body – contraction of skeletal and smooth muscles in the head and along the upper digestive tract required to consume and digest food, as well as stimulation of endocrine and exocrine secretions from a wide range of organs. Accordingly, neurons that contribute to feeding behaviors are localized to central, peripheral and enteric nervous systems. To promote energy balance, feeding circuits must be able to identify and respond to energy requirements, as well as the amount of energy available from internal and external sources, and then direct appropriate coordinated responses throughout the body. PMID:23642202

C-share: Optical circuits sharing for software-defined data-centers [arXiv

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ben-Itzhak, Yaniv; Caba, Cosmin Marius; Schour, Liran

2016-01-01

Integrating optical circuit switches in data-centers is an ongoing research challenge. In recent years, state-of-the-art solutions introduce hybrid packet/circuit architectures for different optical circuit switch technologies, control techniques, and traffic rerouting methods. These solutions...... are based on separated packet and circuit planes which do not have the ability to utilize an optical circuit with flows that do not arrive from or delivered to switches directly connected to the circuit’s end-points. Moreover, current SDN-based elephant flow rerouting methods require a forwarding rule...... for each flow, which raise scalability issues. In this paper, we present C-Share - a practical, scalable SDN-based circuit sharing solution for data center networks. C-Share inherently enable elephant flows to share optical circuits by exploiting a flat upper tier network topology. C-Share is based...

Bidirectional global spontaneous network activity precedes the canonical unidirectional circuit organization in the developing hippocampus.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Yulin; Ikrar, Taruna; Olivas, Nicholas D; Xu, Xiangmin

2014-06-15

Spontaneous network activity is believed to sculpt developing neural circuits. Spontaneous giant depolarizing potentials (GDPs) were first identified with single-cell recordings from rat CA3 pyramidal neurons, but here we identify and characterize a large-scale spontaneous network activity we term global network activation (GNA) in the developing mouse hippocampal slices, which is measured macroscopically by fast voltage-sensitive dye imaging. The initiation and propagation of GNA in the mouse is largely GABA-independent and dominated by glutamatergic transmission via AMPA receptors. Despite the fact that signal propagation in the adult hippocampus is strongly unidirectional through the canonical trisynaptic circuit (dentate gyrus [DG] to CA3 to CA1), spontaneous GNA in the developing hippocampus originates in distal CA3 and propagates both forward to CA1 and backward to DG. Photostimulation-evoked GNA also shows prominent backward propagation in the developing hippocampus from CA3 to DG. Mouse GNA is strongly correlated to electrophysiological recordings of highly localized single-cell and local field potential events. Photostimulation mapping of neural circuitry demonstrates that the enhancement of local circuit connections to excitatory pyramidal neurons occurs over the same time course as GNA and reveals the underlying pathways accounting for GNA backward propagation from CA3 to DG. The disappearance of GNA coincides with a transition to the adult-like unidirectional circuit organization at about 2 weeks of age. Taken together, our findings strongly suggest a critical link between GNA activity and maturation of functional circuit connections in the developing hippocampus. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Characterizing effects of radiation on forward and reverse saturation characteristics of N-channel devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaafar Ali, M.N.; Bhuva, B.; Kerns, S.; Maher, M.; Lawrence, R.

1999-01-01

The forward and reverse characteristics of an N-channel device during the saturation mode of operation are used to determine the extent of damage non-uniformity along the channel. The non-uniformity at low total dose exposures is caused by bulk oxide trap. At higher doses, non-uniformity are dominated by interface traps. The unmatched forward and reverse characteristics will be a major problem for memory circuits for advanced technologies. (authors)

Secure integrated circuits and systems

CERN Document Server

Verbauwhede, Ingrid MR

2010-01-01

On any advanced integrated circuit or 'system-on-chip' there is a need for security. In many applications the actual implementation has become the weakest link in security rather than the algorithms or protocols. The purpose of the book is to give the integrated circuits and systems designer an insight into the basics of security and cryptography from the implementation point of view. As a designer of integrated circuits and systems it is important to know both the state-of-the-art attacks as well as the countermeasures. Optimizing for security is different from optimizations for speed, area,

Feed-Forward Neural Network Soft-Sensor Modeling of Flotation Process Based on Particle Swarm Optimization and Gravitational Search Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jie-Sheng Wang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available For predicting the key technology indicators (concentrate grade and tailings recovery rate of flotation process, a feed-forward neural network (FNN based soft-sensor model optimized by the hybrid algorithm combining particle swarm optimization (PSO algorithm and gravitational search algorithm (GSA is proposed. Although GSA has better optimization capability, it has slow convergence velocity and is easy to fall into local optimum. So in this paper, the velocity vector and position vector of GSA are adjusted by PSO algorithm in order to improve its convergence speed and prediction accuracy. Finally, the proposed hybrid algorithm is adopted to optimize the parameters of FNN soft-sensor model. Simulation results show that the model has better generalization and prediction accuracy for the concentrate grade and tailings recovery rate to meet the online soft-sensor requirements of the real-time control in the flotation process.

Microwaves photonic links components and circuits

CERN Document Server

Rumelhard, Christian; Billabert, Anne-Laure

2013-01-01

This book presents the electrical models for the different elements of a photonic microwave link like lasers, external modulators, optical fibers, photodiodes and phototransistors. The future trends of these components are also introduced: lasers to VCSEL, external modulators to electro-absorption modulators, glass optical fibers to plastic optical fibers, photodiodes to UTC photodiodes or phototransistors. It also describes an original methodology to evaluate the performance of a microwave photonic link, based on the developed elcetrical models, that can be easily incorporated in

Synchronic, optical transmission data link integrated with FPGA circuits (for TESLA LLRF control system)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zielinski, J.S.

2006-07-15

The X-ray free-electron laser X-FEL that is being planned at the DESY research center in cooperation with European partners will produce high-intensity ultra-short X-ray flashes with the properties of laser light. This new light source, which can only be described in terms of superlatives, will open up a whole range of new possibilities for the natural sciences. It could also offer very promising opportunities for industrial users. SIMCON (SIMulator and CONtroller) is the project of the fast, low latency digital controller dedicated to the LLRF1 system in VUV FEL experiment It is being developed by the ELHEP2 group in the Institute of Electronic Systems at Warsaw University of Technology. The main purpose of the project is to create a controller to stabilize the vector sum of fields in cavities of one cryo-module in the experiment. The device can be also used as the simulator of the cavity and test bench for other devices. The synchronic, optical link project was made for the accelerator X-FEL laser TESLA, the LLRF control system experiment at DESY, Hamburg. The control and diagnostic data is transmitted up to 2.5Gbit/s through a plastic fiber in a distance up to a few hundred meters. The link is synchronized once after power up, and never resynchronized when data is transmitted with maximum speed. The one way link bit error rate is less then 10{sup -15}. The transceiver component written in VHDL that works in the dedicated Altera registered Stratix registered GX FPGA circuit. During the work in the PERG laboratory a 2,5Gbit/s serial link with the long vector parallel interface transceiver was created. Long-Data-Vector transceiver transmits 16bit vector each 8ns with 120ns latency. (orig.)

Synchronic, optical transmission data link integrated with FPGA circuits (for TESLA LLRF control system)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zielinski, J.S.

2006-05-01

The X-ray free-electron laser X-FEL that is being planned at the DESY research center in cooperation with European partners will produce high-intensity ultra-short X-ray flashes with the properties of laser light. This new light source, which can only be described in terms of superlatives, will open up a whole range of new possibilities for the natural sciences. It could also offer very promising opportunities for industrial users. SIMCON (SIMulator and CONtroller) is the project of the fast, low latency digital controller dedicated to the LLRF1 system in VUV FEL experiment It is being developed by the ELHEP2 group in the Institute of Electronic Systems at Warsaw University of Technology. The main purpose of the project is to create a controller to stabilize the vector sum of fields in cavities of one cryo-module in the experiment. The device can be also used as the simulator of the cavity and test bench for other devices. The synchronic, optical link project was made for the accelerator X-FEL laser TESLA, the LLRF control system experiment at DESY, Hamburg. The control and diagnostic data is transmitted up to 2.5Gbit/s through a plastic fiber in a distance up to a few hundred meters. The link is synchronized once after power up, and never resynchronized when data is transmitted with maximum speed. The one way link bit error rate is less then 10 -15 . The transceiver component written in VHDL that works in the dedicated Altera registered Stratix registered GX FPGA circuit. During the work in the PERG laboratory a 2,5Gbit/s serial link with the long vector parallel interface transceiver was created. Long-Data-Vector transceiver transmits 16bit vector each 8ns with 120ns latency. (orig.)

Experimental study of natural circulation circuit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lemos, Wanderley F.; Su, Jian, E-mail: wlemos@lasme.coppe.ufrj.br, E-mail: sujian@lasme.coppe.ufrj.br [Coordenacao dos Programas de Pos-Graduacao de Engenharia (LASME/COPPE/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Lab. de Simulacao e Metodos Numericos; Faccini, Jose L.H., E-mail: faccini@ien.gov.br [Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear (LTE/IEN/CNEN-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Lab. de Termo-Hidraulica Experimental

2011-07-01

This work presents an experimental study about fluid flows behavior in natural circulation, under conditions of single-phase flow. The experiment was performed through experimental thermal-hydraulic circuit built at IEN. This test equipment has performance similar to passive system of residual heat removal present in Advanced Pressurized Water Reactors (APWR). This experimental study aims to observing and analyzing the natural circulation phenomenon, using this experimental circuit that was dimensioned and built based on concepts of similarity and scale. This philosophy allows the analysis of natural circulation behavior in single-phase flow conditions proportionally to the functioning real conditions of a nuclear reactor. The experiment was performed through procedures to initialization of hydraulic feeding of primary and secondary circuits and electrical energizing of resistors installed inside heater. Power controller has availability to adjust values of electrical power to feeding resistors, in order to portray several conditions of energy decay of nuclear reactor in a steady state. Data acquisition system allows the measurement and monitoring of the evolution of the temperature in various points through thermocouples installed in strategic points along hydraulic circuit. The behavior of the natural circulation phenomenon was monitored by graphical interface on computer screen, showing the temperature evolutions of measuring points and results stored in digital spreadsheets. The results stored in digital spreadsheets allowed the getting of data to graphic construction and discussion about natural circulation phenomenon. Finally, the calculus of Reynolds number allowed the establishment for a correlation of friction in function of geometric scales of length, heights and cross section of tubing, considering a natural circulation flow throughout in the region of hot leg. (author)

Experimental study of natural circulation circuit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lemos, Wanderley F.; Su, Jian; Faccini, Jose L.H.

2011-01-01

This work presents an experimental study about fluid flows behavior in natural circulation, under conditions of single-phase flow. The experiment was performed through experimental thermal-hydraulic circuit built at IEN. This test equipment has performance similar to passive system of residual heat removal present in Advanced Pressurized Water Reactors (APWR). This experimental study aims to observing and analyzing the natural circulation phenomenon, using this experimental circuit that was dimensioned and built based on concepts of similarity and scale. This philosophy allows the analysis of natural circulation behavior in single-phase flow conditions proportionally to the functioning real conditions of a nuclear reactor. The experiment was performed through procedures to initialization of hydraulic feeding of primary and secondary circuits and electrical energizing of resistors installed inside heater. Power controller has availability to adjust values of electrical power to feeding resistors, in order to portray several conditions of energy decay of nuclear reactor in a steady state. Data acquisition system allows the measurement and monitoring of the evolution of the temperature in various points through thermocouples installed in strategic points along hydraulic circuit. The behavior of the natural circulation phenomenon was monitored by graphical interface on computer screen, showing the temperature evolutions of measuring points and results stored in digital spreadsheets. The results stored in digital spreadsheets allowed the getting of data to graphic construction and discussion about natural circulation phenomenon. Finally, the calculus of Reynolds number allowed the establishment for a correlation of friction in function of geometric scales of length, heights and cross section of tubing, considering a natural circulation flow throughout in the region of hot leg. (author)

Integrated modeling and analysis of ball screw feed system and milling process with consideration of multi-excitation effect

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xing; Zhang, Jun; Zhang, Wei; Liang, Tao; Liu, Hui; Zhao, Wanhua

2018-01-01

The present researches about feed drive system and milling process are almost independent with each other, and ignore the interaction between the two parts, especially the influence of nonideal motion of feed drive system on milling process. An integrated modeling method of ball screw feed system and milling process with multi-excitation effect is proposed in this paper. In the integrated model, firstly an analytical model of motor harmonic torque with consideration of asymmetrical drive circuit and asymmetrical permanent magnet is given. Then, the numerical simulation procedure of cutter/workpiece engagement during milling process with displacement fluctuation induced by harmonic torque is put forward, which is followed by the solving flow for the proposed integrated model. Based on the integrated model, a new kind of quality defect shown as contour low frequency oscillation on machined surface is studied by experiments and simulations. The results demonstrate that the forming mechanism of the contour oscillation can be ascribed to the multi-excitation effect with motor harmonic torque and milling force. Moreover, the influence of different milling conditions on the contour oscillation characteristics, particularly on surface roughness, are further discussed. The results indicate that it is necessary to explain the cause of the new kind of quality defect with a view of system integration.

Neural Networks Integrated Circuit for Biomimetics MEMS Microrobot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ken Saito

2014-06-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we will propose the neural networks integrated circuit (NNIC which is the driving waveform generator of the 4.0, 2.7, 2.5 mm, width, length, height in size biomimetics microelectromechanical systems (MEMS microrobot. The microrobot was made from silicon wafer fabricated by micro fabrication technology. The mechanical system of the robot was equipped with small size rotary type actuators, link mechanisms and six legs to realize the ant-like switching behavior. The NNIC generates the driving waveform using synchronization phenomena such as biological neural networks. The driving waveform can operate the actuators of the MEMS microrobot directly. Therefore, the NNIC bare chip realizes the robot control without using any software programs or A/D converters. The microrobot performed forward and backward locomotion, and also changes direction by inputting an external single trigger pulse. The locomotion speed of the microrobot was 26.4 mm/min when the step width was 0.88 mm. The power consumption of the system was 250 mWh when the room temperature was 298 K.

Dictionary-based image reconstruction for superresolution in integrated circuit imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Cilingiroglu, T Berkin; Uyar, Aydan; Tuysuzoglu, Ahmet; Karl, W Clem; Konrad, Janusz; Goldberg, Bennett B; Ünlü, M Selim

2015-06-01

Resolution improvement through signal processing techniques for integrated circuit imaging is becoming more crucial as the rapid decrease in integrated circuit dimensions continues. Although there is a significant effort to push the limits of optical resolution for backside fault analysis through the use of solid immersion lenses, higher order laser beams, and beam apodization, signal processing techniques are required for additional improvement. In this work, we propose a sparse image reconstruction framework which couples overcomplete dictionary-based representation with a physics-based forward model to improve resolution and localization accuracy in high numerical aperture confocal microscopy systems for backside optical integrated circuit analysis. The effectiveness of the framework is demonstrated on experimental data.

Coronal Magnetism and Forward Solarsoft Idl Package

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson, S. E.

2014-12-01

The FORWARD suite of Solar Soft IDL codes is a community resource for model-data comparison, with a particular emphasis on analyzing coronal magnetic fields. FORWARD may be used both to synthesize a broad range of coronal observables, and to access and compare to existing data. FORWARD works with numerical model datacubes, interfaces with the web-served Predictive Science Inc MAS simulation datacubes and the Solar Soft IDL Potential Field Source Surface (PFSS) package, and also includes several analytic models (more can be added). It connects to the Virtual Solar Observatory and other web-served observations to download data in a format directly comparable to model predictions. It utilizes the CHIANTI database in modeling UV/EUV lines, and links to the CLE polarimetry synthesis code for forbidden coronal lines. FORWARD enables "forward-fitting" of specific observations, and helps to build intuition into how the physical properties of coronal magnetic structures translate to observable properties.

Advantages of using a two-switch forward in single-stage power factor corrected power supplies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Lars

2000-01-01

A single-stage power factor corrected power supply using a two-switch forward is proposed to increase efficiency. The converter is operated in the DCM (discontinues conduction mode) and it is shown that this operation mode ensures the intermediate DC-bus to be controlled only by means of circuit...... supply has been implemented. The measured efficiency is between 85% and 88.5% in the range 30 W-500 W and the measured power factor at full load is 0.95....... parameters and therefore independent of load variations. The DCM operation often has a diminishing effect on the efficiency but by use of the two-switch topology high efficiency with minimum circuit complexity can be achieved in this mode. A 500 W 70 V prototype of the two-switch boost-forward PFC power...

The Invariant Properties of Two-Port Circuits

OpenAIRE

Alexandr A. Penin

2009-01-01

Application of projective geometry to the theory of two-ports and cascade circuits with a load change is considered. The equations linking the input and output of a two-port are interpreted as projective transformations which have the invariant as a cross-ratio of four points. This invariant has place for all regime parameters in all parts of a cascade circuit. This approach allows justifying the definition of a regime and its change, to calculate a circuit without explicitly finding the apar...

Overview of FEED, the feeding experiments end-user database.

Science.gov (United States)

Wall, Christine E; Vinyard, Christopher J; Williams, Susan H; Gapeyev, Vladimir; Liu, Xianhua; Lapp, Hilmar; German, Rebecca Z

2011-08-01

The Feeding Experiments End-user Database (FEED) is a research tool developed by the Mammalian Feeding Working Group at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center that permits synthetic, evolutionary analyses of the physiology of mammalian feeding. The tasks of the Working Group are to compile physiologic data sets into a uniform digital format stored at a central source, develop a standardized terminology for describing and organizing the data, and carry out a set of novel analyses using FEED. FEED contains raw physiologic data linked to extensive metadata. It serves as an archive for a large number of existing data sets and a repository for future data sets. The metadata are stored as text and images that describe experimental protocols, research subjects, and anatomical information. The metadata incorporate controlled vocabularies to allow consistent use of the terms used to describe and organize the physiologic data. The planned analyses address long-standing questions concerning the phylogenetic distribution of phenotypes involving muscle anatomy and feeding physiology among mammals, the presence and nature of motor pattern conservation in the mammalian feeding muscles, and the extent to which suckling constrains the evolution of feeding behavior in adult mammals. We expect FEED to be a growing digital archive that will facilitate new research into understanding the evolution of feeding anatomy.

Core transcriptional regulatory circuit controlled by the TAL1 complex in human T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanda, Takaomi; Lawton, Lee N; Barrasa, M Inmaculada; Fan, Zi Peng; Kohlhammer, Holger; Gutierrez, Alejandro; Ma, Wenxue; Tatarek, Jessica; Ahn, Yebin; Kelliher, Michelle A; Jamieson, Catriona H M; Staudt, Louis M; Young, Richard A; Look, A Thomas

2012-08-14

The oncogenic transcription factor TAL1/SCL is aberrantly expressed in over 40% of cases of human T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), emphasizing its importance in the molecular pathogenesis of T-ALL. Here we identify the core transcriptional regulatory circuit controlled by TAL1 and its regulatory partners HEB, E2A, LMO1/2, GATA3, and RUNX1. We show that TAL1 forms a positive interconnected autoregulatory loop with GATA3 and RUNX1 and that the TAL1 complex directly activates the MYB oncogene, forming a positive feed-forward regulatory loop that reinforces and stabilizes the TAL1-regulated oncogenic program. One of the critical downstream targets in this circuitry is the TRIB2 gene, which is oppositely regulated by TAL1 and E2A/HEB and is essential for the survival of T-ALL cells. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Efficient Dynamic Searchable Encryption with Forward Privacy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Etemad Mohammad

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Searchable symmetric encryption (SSE enables a client to perform searches over its outsourced encrypted files while preserving privacy of the files and queries. Dynamic schemes, where files can be added or removed, leak more information than static schemes. For dynamic schemes, forward privacy requires that a newly added file cannot be linked to previous searches. We present a new dynamic SSE scheme that achieves forward privacy by replacing the keys revealed to the server on each search. Our scheme is efficient and parallelizable and outperforms the best previous schemes providing forward privacy, and achieves competitive performance with dynamic schemes without forward privacy. We provide a full security proof in the random oracle model. In our experiments on the Wikipedia archive of about four million pages, the server takes one second to perform a search with 100,000 results.

Effect of Feed Substrate Thickness on the Bandwidth and Radiation Characteristics of an Aperture-Coupled Microstrip Antenna with a High Permittivity Feed Substrate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jae-Hyun Kim

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The impedance bandwidth and radiation characteristics of an aperture-coupled microstrip line-fed patch antenna (ACMPA with a high permittivity (ɛr = 10 feed substrate suitable for integration with a monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC are investigated for various feed substrate thicknesses through an experiment and computer simulation. The impedance bandwidth of an ACMPA with a high permittivity feed substrate increases as the feed substrate thickness decreases. Furthermore, the front-to-back ratio of an ACMPA with a high permittivity feed substrate increases and the cross-polarization level decreases as the feed substrate thickness decreases. As the impedance bandwidth of an ACMPA with a high permittivity feed substrate increases and its radiation characteristics improve as the feed substrate thickness decreases, the ACMPA configuration becomes suitable for integration with an MMIC.

Practical Recommendations on Supplemental Feeding Introduction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. G. Makarova

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Despite the availability of a national consensus document describing in detail modern approaches to feeding infants, pediatricians keep on giving most diverse recommendations on the time of supplemental feeding introduction. The article presents a brief historical review, as well the modern view on the issue of introduction of supplemental feeding to children. In the previous century, it was common both in Russia and most European countries to introduce supplemental feeding to children at the age of 2 or even 1.5 months. In 2002, the World Health Organization put forward an initiative in support of breastfeeding and recommended not to introduce supplemental feeding before the age of 6 months. A certain “golden mean” has apparently been achieved on the basis of results of studies and a longterm discussion among the specialists in feeding from different countries — all scientific communities and national recommendations of most countries define the optimal age for supplemental feeding introduction as “from 4 (completed months to 6 (completed months” with certain individual approach. 

Power electronics handbook components, circuits and applications

CERN Document Server

Mazda, F F

1993-01-01

Power Electronics Handbook: Components, Circuits, and Applications is a collection of materials about power components, circuit design, and applications. Presented in a practical form, theoretical information is given as formulae. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 deals with the usual components found in power electronics such as semiconductor devices and power semiconductor control components, their electronic compatibility, and protection. Part 2 tackles parts and principles related to circuits such as switches; link frequency chargers; converters; and AC line control, and Part 3

Occurrence of ochratoxin A in poultry feeds and feed ingredients from Pakistan.

Science.gov (United States)

Sherazi, S T H; Shar, Z H; Sumbal, G A; Tan, Eddie T; Bhanger, M I; Kara, Huseyin; Nizamani, S M

2015-02-01

A study was conducted to evaluate the occurrence of ochratoxin A (OTA) in complete poultry feeds (n=80) and poultry feed ingredients (n=286) from Pakistan. All samples were first analyzed by indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), samples with OTA concentrations above the European Union maximum regulatory limit (MRL, 100 μg/kg) were further confirmed by HPLC-FLD. Contamination frequency and mean OTA levels were 31% and 51 μg/kg in feed ingredients, and the corresponding values for complete feeds were 38% and 75 μg/kg. Ten samples of complete poultry feed and 19 samples of feed ingredients contained OTA at levels higher than the MRL. The results of the present study indicate that there is a strong need for a more intense monitoring programs for OTA in poultry feed.

Hybrid Tunable Wideband Single Feed Antenna Element for Smartphones supporting Carrier Aggregation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stanev, Simon Peter; Tatomirescu, Alexandru

2016-01-01

This paper presents a single feed antenna with a dual branch matching circuit combined with a 3dB microstrip power divider to support the carrier aggregation in LTE advanced mobile handsets. By the use of the matching circuits, an independent and versatile broadband antenna is achieved. Hence, th...

Analysis on Target Detection and Classification in LTE Based Passive Forward Scattering Radar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raja Syamsul Azmir Raja Abdullah

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The passive bistatic radar (PBR system can utilize the illuminator of opportunity to enhance radar capability. By utilizing the forward scattering technique and procedure into the specific mode of PBR can provide an improvement in target detection and classification. The system is known as passive Forward Scattering Radar (FSR. The passive FSR system can exploit the peculiar advantage of the enhancement in forward scatter radar cross section (FSRCS for target detection. Thus, the aim of this paper is to show the feasibility of passive FSR for moving target detection and classification by experimental analysis and results. The signal source is coming from the latest technology of 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE base station. A detailed explanation on the passive FSR receiver circuit, the detection scheme and the classification algorithm are given. In addition, the proposed passive FSR circuit employs the self-mixing technique at the receiver; hence the synchronization signal from the transmitter is not required. The experimental results confirm the passive FSR system’s capability for ground target detection and classification. Furthermore, this paper illustrates the first classification result in the passive FSR system. The great potential in the passive FSR system provides a new research area in passive radar that can be used for diverse remote monitoring applications.

Analysis on Target Detection and Classification in LTE Based Passive Forward Scattering Radar.

Science.gov (United States)

Raja Abdullah, Raja Syamsul Azmir; Abdul Aziz, Noor Hafizah; Abdul Rashid, Nur Emileen; Ahmad Salah, Asem; Hashim, Fazirulhisyam

2016-09-29

The passive bistatic radar (PBR) system can utilize the illuminator of opportunity to enhance radar capability. By utilizing the forward scattering technique and procedure into the specific mode of PBR can provide an improvement in target detection and classification. The system is known as passive Forward Scattering Radar (FSR). The passive FSR system can exploit the peculiar advantage of the enhancement in forward scatter radar cross section (FSRCS) for target detection. Thus, the aim of this paper is to show the feasibility of passive FSR for moving target detection and classification by experimental analysis and results. The signal source is coming from the latest technology of 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) base station. A detailed explanation on the passive FSR receiver circuit, the detection scheme and the classification algorithm are given. In addition, the proposed passive FSR circuit employs the self-mixing technique at the receiver; hence the synchronization signal from the transmitter is not required. The experimental results confirm the passive FSR system's capability for ground target detection and classification. Furthermore, this paper illustrates the first classification result in the passive FSR system. The great potential in the passive FSR system provides a new research area in passive radar that can be used for diverse remote monitoring applications.

Functional roles for noise in genetic circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Eldar, Avigdor; Elowitz, Michael B

2010-09-09

The genetic circuits that regulate cellular functions are subject to stochastic fluctuations, or 'noise', in the levels of their components. Noise, far from just a nuisance, has begun to be appreciated for its essential role in key cellular activities. Noise functions in both microbial and eukaryotic cells, in multicellular development, and in evolution. It enables coordination of gene expression across large regulons, as well as probabilistic differentiation strategies that function across cell populations. At the longest timescales, noise may facilitate evolutionary transitions. Here we review examples and emerging principles that connect noise, the architecture of the gene circuits in which it is present, and the biological functions it enables. We further indicate some of the important challenges and opportunities going forward.

Factors influencing the reliability of non-electric detonating circuit in underground uranium mines and preventive measures of misfiring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Qin

2010-01-01

Characteristics of non-electric detonating circuit are introduced. The main factors influencing the reliability of non-electric detonating circuit are described. Taking an underground blasting of a uranium mine for example, the reliability of various kinds of detonating network system is calculated using the reliability theory and numerical analysis method. The reasons that cause the misfiring in non-electric detonating circuit system are analyzed, and preventive measures are put forward.(authors)

Optical techniques to feed and control GaAs MMIC modules for phased array antenna applications

Science.gov (United States)

Bhasin, K. B.; Anzic, G.; Kunath, R. R.; Connolly, D. J.

1986-01-01

A complex signal distribution system is required to feed and control GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) for phased array antenna applications above 20 GHz. Each MMIC module will require one or more RF lines, one or more bias voltage lines, and digital lines to provide a minimum of 10 bits of combined phase and gain control information. In a closely spaced array, the routing of these multiple lines presents difficult topology problems as well as a high probability of signal interference. To overcome GaAs MMIC phased array signal distribution problems optical fibers interconnected to monolithically integrated optical components with GaAs MMIC array elements are proposed as a solution. System architecture considerations using optical fibers are described. The analog and digital optical links to respectively feed and control MMIC elements are analyzed. It is concluded that a fiber optic network will reduce weight and complexity, and increase reliability and performance, but higher power will be required.

Reconsidering Food Reward, Brain Stimulation, and Dopamine: Incentives Act Forward.

Science.gov (United States)

Newquist, Gunnar; Gardner, R Allen

2015-01-01

In operant conditioning, rats pressing levers and pigeons pecking keys depend on contingent food reinforcement. Food reward agrees with Skinner's behaviorism, undergraduate textbooks, and folk psychology. However, nearly a century of experimental evidence shows, instead, that food in an operant conditioning chamber acts forward to evoke species-specific feeding behavior rather than backward to reinforce experimenter-defined responses. Furthermore, recent findings in neuroscience show consistently that intracranial stimulation to reward centers and dopamine release, the proposed reward molecule, also act forward to evoke inborn species-specific behavior. These results challenge longstanding views of hedonic learning and must be incorporated into contemporary learning theory.

Seawater-driven forward osmosis for enriching nitrogen and phosphorous in treated municipal wastewater: effect of membrane properties and feed solution chemistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Xue, Wenchao; Tobino, Tomohiro; Nakajima, Fumiyuki; Yamamoto, Kazuo

2015-02-01

Seawater-driven forward osmosis (FO) is considered to be a novel strategy to concentrate nutrients in treated municipal wastewater for further recovery as well as simultaneous discharge of highly purified wastewater into the sea with low cost. As a preliminary test, the performance of FO membranes in concentrating nutrients was investigated by both batch experiments and model simulation approaches. With synthetic seawater as the draw solution, the dissolved organic carbon, phosphate, and ammonia in the effluent from a membrane bioreactor (MBR) treating municipal wastewater were 2.3-fold, 2.3-fold, and 2.1-fold, respectively, concentrated by the FO process with approximately 57% of water reduction. Most of the dissolved components, including trace metals in the MBR effluent, were highly retained (>80%) in the feed side, indicating high water quality of permeate to be discharged. The effect of membrane properties on the nutrient enrichment performance was investigated by comparing three types of FO membranes. Interestingly, a polyamide membrane possessing a high negative charge demonstrated a poor capability of retaining ammonia, which was hypothesized because of an ion exchange-like mechanism across the membrane prompted by the high ionic concentration of the draw solution. A feed solution pH of 7 was demonstrated to be an optimum condition for improving the overall retention of nutrients, especially for ammonia because of the pH-dependent speciation of ammonia/ammonium forms. The modeling results showed that higher than 10-fold concentrations of ammonia and phosphate are achievable by seawater-driven FO with a draw solution to feed solution volume ratio of 2:1. The enriched municipal wastewater contains nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations comparable with typical animal wastewater and anaerobic digestion effluent, which are used for direct nutrient recovery. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cleaning the feed-water pipeline internal surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Podkopaev, V.A.

1984-01-01

The procedure of cleaning the feed-water pipeline internal surfaces at the Chernobylsk-4 power unit is described. Cleaning was conducted in five stages. Pipelines were cleaned from mechanical impurities at the first stage. At the second stage the pipelines were washing by water heated up to 80 deg C. At the third stage nitric acid was added to 95-100 deg C water the acid concentration in the circuit = 60 mg/l, purification period = 14 h. At the fourth stage hydrogen peroxide was added to the circuit at 95-100 deg C (the solution concentration was equal to 5-6 mg/l, the solution stayed in the circuit for 1 h 20 min). At the fifth stage sodium nitrite concentrated to 20 mg/l was introduced to the circuit in 75 minutes; this promoted strengthening of the oxide layer in the circuit on the base of nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide. Data on the water acidity in the circuit, water electric conductivity and iron concentration after the fourth stage and on completion of the circuit cleaning are presented. The described method of cleaning enables to save scarce reagents and use cheaper ones

Cleaning the feed-water pipeline internal surfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Podkopaev, V.A.

1984-12-01

The procedure of cleaning the feed-water pipeline internal surfaces at the Chernobylsk-4 power unit is described. Cleaning was conducted in five stages. Pipelines were cleaned from mechanical impurities at the first stage. At the second stage the pipelines were washed by water heated up to 80 deg C. At the third stage nitric acid was added to 95-100 deg C water with the acid concentration in the circuit = 60 mg/l, purification period = 14 h. At the fourth stage hydrogen peroxide was added to the circuit at 95-100 deg C (the solution concentration was equal to 5-6 mg/l, the solution stayed in the circuit for 1 h 20 min). At the fifth stage sodium nitrite concentrated to 20 mg/l was introduced to the circuit in 75 minutes; this promoted strengthening of the oxide layer in the circuit on the base of nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide. Data on the water acidity in the circuit, water electric conductivity and iron concentration after the fourth stage and on completion of the circuit cleaning are presented. The described method of cleaning enables to save scarce reagents and use cheaper ones.

A feed-forward regulation of endothelin receptors by c-Jun in human non-pigmented ciliary epithelial cells and retinal ganglion cells.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junming Wang

, thereby generating a positive feed-forward loop of endothelin receptor activation and expression. This feed-forward regulation may contribute to RGC death and astrocyte proliferation following ET-1 treatment.

A fat-derived metabolite regulates a peptidergic feeding circuit in Drosophila.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Do-Hyoung Kim

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Here, we show that the enzymatic cofactor tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4 inhibits feeding in Drosophila. BH4 biosynthesis requires the sequential action of the conserved enzymes Punch, Purple, and Sepiapterin Reductase (Sptr. Although we observe increased feeding upon loss of Punch and Purple in the adult fat body, loss of Sptr must occur in the brain. We found Sptr expression is required in four adult neurons that express neuropeptide F (NPF, the fly homologue of the vertebrate appetite regulator neuropeptide Y (NPY. As expected, feeding flies BH4 rescues the loss of Punch and Purple in the fat body and the loss of Sptr in NPF neurons. Mechanistically, we found BH4 deficiency reduces NPF staining, likely by promoting its release, while excess BH4 increases NPF accumulation without altering its expression. We thus show that, because of its physically distributed biosynthesis, BH4 acts as a fat-derived signal that induces satiety by inhibiting the activity of the NPF neurons.

Circuit engineering principles for construction of bipolar large-scale integrated circuit storage devices and very large-scale main memory

Science.gov (United States)

Neklyudov, A. A.; Savenkov, V. N.; Sergeyez, A. G.

1984-06-01

Memories are improved by increasing speed or the memory volume on a single chip. The most effective means for increasing speeds in bipolar memories are current control circuits with the lowest extraction times for a specific power consumption (1/4 pJ/bit). The control current circuitry involves multistage current switches and circuits accelerating transient processes in storage elements and links. Circuit principles for the design of bipolar memories with maximum speeds for an assigned minimum of circuit topology are analyzed. Two main classes of storage with current control are considered: the ECL type and super-integrated injection type storage with data capacities of N = 1/4 and N 4/16, respectively. The circuits reduce logic voltage differentials and the volumes of lexical and discharge buses and control circuit buses. The limiting speed is determined by the antiinterference requirements of the memory in storage and extraction modes.

Effect of Sex-linked Feathering Genes on Body Weight, Age At Sexual Maturity, Feed Intake and Subsequent Laying Performance of Baladi Chickens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. AI-Sobayel

1997-01-01

Full Text Available A total of 320 twenty week-old slow and rapid feathering Saudi Arabian Baladi pullers were used to assess the effect of sex-linked feathering genes on body weight, age at sexual maturity, feed intake and subsequent laying performance. Similar numbers of rapid feathering Leghorns pullets were included in the study for the purpose of comparison. The experimental birds of each genotypic group were randomly divided into four replicates and subjected to standard management practices. Slow feathering Baladi pullers had higher (P<0.05 adult body weight, rate of mortality, and feed intake and a similar age at sexual maturity but showed lower (P< 0.05 hen-day, and hen-housed egg production and feed conversion compared with rapid feathering Baladi pullets. Rapid feathering Leghorns had higher (P<0.05 adult body weight. age at sexual maturity, hen-day egg production, rate of mortality and feed intake and lower feed intake/kg eggs than rapid and slow feathering Baladi. However, rapid feathering Baladi and Leghorns had similar hen-housed egg production and feed intake per dozen eggs and had better (l’<0.05' performance than slow feathering Baladi.

Wide-band polarization controller for Si photonic integrated circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Velha, P; Sorianello, V; Preite, M V; De Angelis, G; Cassese, T; Bianchi, A; Testa, F; Romagnoli, M

2016-12-15

A circuit for the management of any arbitrary polarization state of light is demonstrated on an integrated silicon (Si) photonics platform. This circuit allows us to adapt any polarization into the standard fundamental TE mode of a Si waveguide and, conversely, to control the polarization and set it to any arbitrary polarization state. In addition, the integrated thermal tuning allows kilohertz speed which can be used to perform a polarization scrambler. The circuit was used in a WDM link and successfully used to adapt four channels into a standard Si photonic integrated circuit.

Interchip link system using an optical wiring method.

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, In-Kui; Ryu, Jin-Hwa; Jeong, Myung-Yung

2008-08-15

A chip-scale optical link system is presented with a transmitter/receiver and optical wire link. The interchip link system consists of a metal optical bench, a printed circuit board module, a driver/receiver integrated circuit, a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser/photodiode array, and an optical wire link composed of plastic optical fibers (POFs). We have developed a downsized POF and an optical wiring method that allows on-site installation with a simple annealing as optical wiring technologies for achieving high-density optical interchip interconnection within such devices. Successful data transfer measurements are presented.

Orthogonal Bases used for Feed Forward Control of Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Odgaard, Peter Fogh; Stoustrup, Jakob

2011-01-01

In optimizing wind turbines it can be of a large help to use information of wind speeds at upwind turbine for the control of downwind turbines, it is, however, problematic to use these measurements directly since they are highly influenced by turbulence behind the wind turbine rotor plane. In this....... In this paper an orthogonal basis is use to extract the general trends in the wind signal, which are forward to the down wind turbines. This concept controller is designed and simulated on a generic 4.8 MW wind turbine model, which shows the potential of this proposed scheme....

Modeling of corrosion product migration in the secondary circuit of nuclear power plants with WWER-1200

Science.gov (United States)

Kritskii, V. G.; Berezina, I. G.; Gavrilov, A. V.; Motkova, E. A.; Zelenina, E. V.; Prokhorov, N. A.; Gorbatenko, S. P.; Tsitser, A. A.

2016-04-01

Models of corrosion and mass transfer of corrosion products in the pipes of the condensate-feeding and steam paths of the secondary circuit of NPPs with WWER-1200 are presented. The mass transfer and distribution of corrosion products over the currents of the working medium of the secondary circuit were calculated using the physicochemical model of mass transfer of corrosion products in which the secondary circuit is regarded as a cyclic system consisting of a number of interrelated elements. The circuit was divided into calculated regions in which the change in the parameters (flow rate, temperature, and pressure) was traced and the rates of corrosion and corrosion products entrainment, high-temperature pH, and iron concentration were calculated. The models were verified according to the results of chemical analyses at Kalinin NPP and iron corrosion product concentrations in the feed water at different NPPs depending on pH at 25°C (pH25) for service times τ ≥ 5000 h. The calculated pH values at a coolant temperature t (pH t ) in the secondary circuit of NPPs with WWER-1200 were presented. The calculation of the distribution of pH t and ethanolamine and ammonia concentrations over the condensate feed (CFC) and steam circuits is given. The models are designed for developing the calculation codes. The project solutions of ATOMPROEKT satisfy the safety and reliability requirements for power plants with WWER-1200. The calculated corrosion and corrosion product mass transfer parameters showed that the model allows the designer to choose between the increase of the correcting reagent concentration, the use of steel with higher chromium contents, and intermittent washing of the steam generator from sediments as the best solution for definite regions of the circuit.

Potential of dyes as draw solutions in forward osmosis for the South ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Forward osmosis (FO) technology has gained substantial interest as a possible lower-energy desalination technology. However, challenges such as the availability of effective draw solutions (DS) have limited its implementation. This study evaluated alternative feed water resources and assessed the potential of dye ...

Forward-looking disclosure and corporate reputation as mechanisms to reduce stock return volatility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco Bravo

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether forward-looking disclosures and corporate reputation lead to a reduction in stock return volatility. This study measures financial forward-looking information, by conducting a content analysis of annual reports for a sample of US companies. Since every annual report was manually examined and coded, the study is therefore restricted to the companies listed in Standard and Poor's 100. Results show that financial forward-looking information has significant effects on capital markets. This study contributes to the current literature on voluntary disclosure, by examining the link between the disclosure of financial forward-looking information and stock return volatility. Since stock volatility is linked to information asymmetries and to a higher risk of a company, this analysis implies certain practical implications for both managers and regulators regarding the importance of specific disclosure strategy in capital markets. Moreover, results indicate that forward-looking information disclosed by companies of a higher reputation has a greater effect on stock return volatility. This is the first study that demonstrates that corporate reputation moderates the effects of forward-looking information in capital markets. In addition to the level of disclosed information, the interpretation and the effectiveness of forward-looking information depends on the reputation of a company.

Adaptive Forward Error Correction for Energy Efficient Optical Transport Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Anders; Ruepp, Sarah Renée; Berger, Michael Stübert

2013-01-01

In this paper we propose a novel scheme for on the fly code rate adjustment for forward error correcting (FEC) codes on optical links. The proposed scheme makes it possible to adjust the code rate independently for each optical frame. This allows for seamless rate adaption based on the link state...

Distance protection of multiple-circuit shared tower transmission lines with different voltages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Silva, Filipe Miguel Faria da; Bak, Claus Leth

2017-01-01

Multiple-circuit transmission lines combining different voltage levels in one tower present extra challenges when setting a protection philosophy, as faults between voltage levels are possible. This study presents a detailed theoretical analysis of such combined faults, including the development...... of a formula for estimating the magnitude of the short-circuit current. It is demonstrated that if the faulted phase from the higher voltage level leads the faulted phase from the lower voltage level, a distance relay at the higher voltage level sees the fault in the forward direction, whereas a distance relay...

Assessment of safety engineering of circuits with dc micromotors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pavlyuchenko, L.A.; Starchuk, S.E.

1986-01-01

Presents an assessment of safety engineering in d.c. micromotors operating as part of actuating devices in mining equipment. These micromotors should have RO (especially explosion proof) protection. The safety engineering should be assessed with an intermittent fault in the power line. Equations are given for calculation of the equivalent inductance of the micromotor circuit with an intermittent power line fault. If the circuit is not intrinsically safe, a diode in the forward direction is recommended for connection in series with the micromotor. If the power line is not intrinsically safe, a diode shunt is recommended. Comparative data for power sources (IBP) and micromotors (DPM, DPR, with permanent magnets) are given in tables. 4 refs.

Relation of parenting styles, feeding styles and feeding practices to child overweight and obesity. Direct and moderated effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Hubbs-Tait, Laura; Dickin, Katherine L; Sigman-Grant, Madeleine; Jahns, Lisa; Mobley, Amy R

2013-12-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the direct and interacting relations of parenting styles, feeding styles, and feeding practices to child overweight and obesity. Participants were 144 mothers and children under 6 years of age. Mothers completed questionnaires about parenting and feeding styles and feeding practices. Researchers weighed and measured mothers and children or obtained measurements from a recent health report. Feeding practices were not directly related to child weight status. Compared to the uninvolved feeding style, authoritative and authoritarian feeding style categories were linked to lower odds of overweight. Feeding practices interacted with authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles to predict obesity: (1) healthful modeling was associated with 61% (OR = 0.39) reduced odds of obesity in children of authoritative mothers but with 55% (OR = 1.55) increased odds in children of non-authoritative mothers and (2) covert control was linked to 156% (OR = 2.56) increased odds of obesity in children of authoritarian mothers but with 51% (OR = 0.49) decreased odds in children of non-authoritarian mothers. Healthful modeling interacted with feeding style demandingness to predict overweight and with responsiveness to predict obesity. Findings suggest the need for research and interventions on mechanisms mediating between feeding practices and obesity in families characterized by non-authoritative parenting styles. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Dopamine, fronto-striato-thalamic circuits and risk for psychosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Dandash, Orwa; Pantelis, Christos; Fornito, Alex

2017-02-01

A series of parallel, integrated circuits link distinct regions of prefrontal cortex with specific nuclei of the striatum and thalamus. Dysfunction of these fronto-striato-thalamic systems is thought to play a major role in the pathogenesis of psychosis. In this review, we examine evidence from human and animal investigations that dysfunction of a specific dorsal fronto-striato-thalamic circuit, linking the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, dorsal (associative) striatum, and mediodorsal nucleus of the thalamus, is apparent across different stages of psychosis, including prior to the onset of a first episode, suggesting that it represents a candidate risk biomarker. We consider how abnormalities at distinct points in the circuit may give rise to the pattern of findings seen in patient populations, and how these changes relate to disruptions in dopamine, glutamate and GABA signaling. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Circuit and bond polytopes on series–parallel graphs

OpenAIRE

Borne , Sylvie; Fouilhoux , Pierre; Grappe , Roland; Lacroix , Mathieu; Pesneau , Pierre

2015-01-01

International audience; In this paper, we describe the circuit polytope on series–parallel graphs. We first show the existence of a compact extended formulation. Though not being explicit, its construction process helps us to inductively provide the description in the original space. As a consequence, using the link between bonds and circuits in planar graphs, we also describe the bond polytope on series–parallel graphs.

Selected papers from the 2nd IEEEE Nordic Circuits and Systems Conference (NorCAS), 2016

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sparsø, Jens

2018-01-01

This special issue includes selected papers from the 2nd IEEEE Nordic Circuits and Systems Conference (NorCAS), held in Linköping, Sweden, October 24-25, 2016. The IEEE NorCAS conference is the main circuits and systems event of the Nordic and Baltic countries representing both academia and the e......This special issue includes selected papers from the 2nd IEEEE Nordic Circuits and Systems Conference (NorCAS), held in Linköping, Sweden, October 24-25, 2016. The IEEE NorCAS conference is the main circuits and systems event of the Nordic and Baltic countries representing both academia...

Classical Conditioning with Pulsed Integrated Neural Networks: Circuits and System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lehmann, Torsten

1998-01-01

In this paper we investigate on-chip learning for pulsed, integrated neural networks. We discuss the implementational problems the technology imposes on learning systems and we find that abiologically inspired approach using simple circuit structures is most likely to bring success. We develop a ...... chip to solve simple classical conditioning tasks, thus verifying the design methodologies put forward in the paper....

GaAs Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) development for high performance communications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sullivan, C.T.

1998-03-01

Sandia has established a foundational technology in photonic integrated circuits (PICs) based on the (Al,Ga,In)As material system for optical communication, radar control and testing, and network switching applications at the important 1.3{mu}m/1.55{mu}m wavelengths. We investigated the optical, electrooptical, and microwave performance characteristics of the fundamental building-block PIC elements designed to be as simple and process-tolerant as possible, with particular emphasis placed on reducing optical insertion loss. Relatively conventional device array and circuit designs were built using these PIC elements: (1) to establish a baseline performance standard; (2) to assess the impact of epitaxial growth accuracy and uniformity, and of fabrication uniformity and yield; (3) to validate our theoretical and numerical models; and (4) to resolve the optical and microwave packaging issues associated with building fully packaged prototypes. Novel and more complex PIC designs and fabrication processes, viewed as higher payoff but higher risk, were explored in a parallel effort with the intention of meshing those advances into our baseline higher-yield capability as they mature. The application focus targeted the design and fabrication of packaged solitary modulators meeting the requirements of future wideband and high-speed analog and digital data links. Successfully prototyped devices are expected to feed into more complex PICs solving specific problems in high-performance communications, such as optical beamforming networks for phased array antennas.

Effect of kicker circuit inductance on the transmission-line discharging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng Deren; Wang Xiangqi; Shang Lei; Pei Yuanji; Fan Kuanjun

2004-01-01

Circuit inductance exists at discharging circuit of transmission-line, it includes the inductance at the main switch of thyratron when conducts, the linking inductance between the linking cables, the matching resistance inductance and the load inductance. When a long pulse is generated by transmission-line, the circuit inductance can be omitted. However, when the pulse is short (such as shorter than 200 ns), especially when ferromagnetic core kicker acts as the load, the effect is obvious. The short pulse current is needed in order to generate long time interval synchronous radiation light pulses by using online assembly of pulse convex orbit and DC convex orbit. This paper analyses the effect and presents several experimental results. It also supposes two practical cases to decrease the rise time of the pulse

Nanophotonic integrated circuits from nanoresonators grown on silicon.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Roger; Ng, Kar Wei; Ko, Wai Son; Parekh, Devang; Lu, Fanglu; Tran, Thai-Truong D; Li, Kun; Chang-Hasnain, Connie

2014-07-07

Harnessing light with photonic circuits promises to catalyse powerful new technologies much like electronic circuits have in the past. Analogous to Moore's law, complexity and functionality of photonic integrated circuits depend on device size and performance scale. Semiconductor nanostructures offer an attractive approach to miniaturize photonics. However, shrinking photonics has come at great cost to performance, and assembling such devices into functional photonic circuits has remained an unfulfilled feat. Here we demonstrate an on-chip optical link constructed from InGaAs nanoresonators grown directly on a silicon substrate. Using nanoresonators, we show a complete toolkit of circuit elements including light emitters, photodetectors and a photovoltaic power supply. Devices operate with gigahertz bandwidths while consuming subpicojoule energy per bit, vastly eclipsing performance of prior nanostructure-based optoelectronics. Additionally, electrically driven stimulated emission from an as-grown nanostructure is presented for the first time. These results reveal a roadmap towards future ultradense nanophotonic integrated circuits.

Validation and analysis of forward osmosis CFD model in complex 3D geometries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gruber, Mathias F.; Gruber, Mathias F.; Johnson, Carl J.

2012-01-01

In forward osmosis (FO), an osmotic pressure gradient generated across a semi-permeable membrane is used to generate water transport from a dilute feed solution into a concentrated draw solution. This principle has shown great promise in the areas of water purification, wastewater treatment...

Modulation of neural circuits: how stimulus context shapes innate behavior in Drosophila.

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Chih-Ying; Wang, Jing W

2014-12-01

Remarkable advances have been made in recent years in our understanding of innate behavior and the underlying neural circuits. In particular, a wealth of neuromodulatory mechanisms have been uncovered that can alter the input-output relationship of a hereditary neural circuit. It is now clear that this inbuilt flexibility allows animals to modify their behavioral responses according to environmental cues, metabolic demands and physiological states. Here, we discuss recent insights into how modulation of neural circuits impacts innate behavior, with a special focus on how environmental cues and internal physiological states shape different aspects of feeding behavior in Drosophila. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Plasticity during Sleep Is Linked to Specific Regulation of Cortical Circuit Activity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Niels Niethard

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Sleep is thought to be involved in the regulation of synaptic plasticity in two ways: by enhancing local plastic processes underlying the consolidation of specific memories and by supporting global synaptic homeostasis. Here, we briefly summarize recent structural and functional studies examining sleep-associated changes in synaptic morphology and neural excitability. These studies point to a global down-scaling of synaptic strength across sleep while a subset of synapses increases in strength. Similarly, neuronal excitability on average decreases across sleep, whereas subsets of neurons increase firing rates across sleep. Whether synapse formation and excitability is down or upregulated across sleep appears to partly depend on the cell’s activity level during wakefulness. Processes of memory-specific upregulation of synapse formation and excitability are observed during slow wave sleep (SWS, whereas global downregulation resulting in elimination of synapses and decreased neural firing is linked to rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep. Studies of the excitation/inhibition balance in cortical circuits suggest that both processes are connected to a specific inhibitory regulation of cortical principal neurons, characterized by an enhanced perisomatic inhibition via parvalbumin positive (PV+ cells, together with a release from dendritic inhibition by somatostatin positive (SOM+ cells. Such shift towards increased perisomatic inhibition of principal cells appears to be a general motif which underlies the plastic synaptic changes observed during sleep, regardless of whether towards up or downregulation.

Variable Delay Element For Jitter Control In High Speed Data Links

Science.gov (United States)

Livolsi, Robert R.

2002-06-11

A circuit and method for decreasing the amount of jitter present at the receiver input of high speed data links which uses a driver circuit for input from a high speed data link which comprises a logic circuit having a first section (1) which provides data latches, a second section (2) which provides a circuit generates a pre-destorted output and for compensating for level dependent jitter having an OR function element and a NOR function element each of which is coupled to two inputs and to a variable delay element as an input which provides a bi-modal delay for pulse width pre-distortion, a third section (3) which provides a muxing circuit, and a forth section (4) for clock distribution in the driver circuit. A fifth section is used for logic testing the driver circuit.

Forward-biased nanophotonic detector for ultralow-energy dissipation receiver

Science.gov (United States)

Nozaki, Kengo; Matsuo, Shinji; Fujii, Takuro; Takeda, Koji; Shinya, Akihiko; Kuramochi, Eiichi; Notomi, Masaya

2018-04-01

Generally, reverse-biased photodetectors (PDs) are used for high-speed optical receivers. The forward voltage region is only utilized in solar-cells, and this photovoltaic operation would not be concurrently obtained with high efficiency and high speed operation. Here we report that photonic-crystal waveguide PDs enable forward-biased high-speed operation at 40 Gbit/s with keeping high responsivity (0.88 A/W). Within our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of the forward-biased PDs with high responsivity. This achievement is attributed to the ultracompactness of our PD and the strong light confinement within the absorber and depleted regions, thereby enabling efficient photo-carrier generation and fast extraction. This result indicates that it is possible to construct a high-speed and ultracompact photo-receiver without an electrical amplifier nor an external bias circuit. Since there is no electrical energy required, our estimation shows that the consumption energy is just the optical energy of the injected signal pulse which is about 1 fJ/bit. Hence, it will lead to an ultimately efficient and highly integrable optical-to-electrical converter in a chip, which will be a key ingredient for dense nanophotonic communication and processors.

Forward-biased nanophotonic detector for ultralow-energy dissipation receiver

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kengo Nozaki

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Generally, reverse-biased photodetectors (PDs are used for high-speed optical receivers. The forward voltage region is only utilized in solar-cells, and this photovoltaic operation would not be concurrently obtained with high efficiency and high speed operation. Here we report that photonic-crystal waveguide PDs enable forward-biased high-speed operation at 40 Gbit/s with keeping high responsivity (0.88 A/W. Within our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of the forward-biased PDs with high responsivity. This achievement is attributed to the ultracompactness of our PD and the strong light confinement within the absorber and depleted regions, thereby enabling efficient photo-carrier generation and fast extraction. This result indicates that it is possible to construct a high-speed and ultracompact photo-receiver without an electrical amplifier nor an external bias circuit. Since there is no electrical energy required, our estimation shows that the consumption energy is just the optical energy of the injected signal pulse which is about 1 fJ/bit. Hence, it will lead to an ultimately efficient and highly integrable optical-to-electrical converter in a chip, which will be a key ingredient for dense nanophotonic communication and processors.

A Feed-Forward Controlled AC-DC Boost Converter for Biomedical Implants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jiang, Hao; Lan, Di; Lin, Dahsien

2012-01-01

Miniaturization is important to make implants clinic friendly. Wireless power transfer is an essential technology to miniaturize implants by reducing their battery size or completely eliminating their batteries. Traditionally, a pair of inductively-coupled coils operating at radio-frequency (RF...... than 2.1% of its mean. The measured load regulation is 0.4 V/kΩ. The estimated conversion efficiency excluding the power consumption of the control circuits reaches 75%. The converter in this paper has the potential to reduce the size of the receiving coil and yet achieve desirable DC output voltage...

Financial-real side interactions in the monetary circuit: loving or dangerous hugs?

OpenAIRE

Botta, Alberto; Caverzasi, Eugenio; Tori, Daniele

2015-01-01

Monetary circuit theory is one of the most known attempts to formally describe the functioning of a monetary production economy as centered around the concept of flux-reflux of money. Endogenous money creation by commercial banks allows the circuit to open and firms to implement production processes. Financial markets ‘passively’ close the circuit by intermediating savings via bond and equity issuance. Despite its natural focus on financial-real side links, the monetary circuit literature has...

Moving the boundary between wavelength resources in optical packet and circuit integrated ring network.

Science.gov (United States)

Furukawa, Hideaki; Miyazawa, Takaya; Wada, Naoya; Harai, Hiroaki

2014-01-13

Optical packet and circuit integrated (OPCI) networks provide both optical packet switching (OPS) and optical circuit switching (OCS) links on the same physical infrastructure using a wavelength multiplexing technique in order to deal with best-effort services and quality-guaranteed services. To immediately respond to changes in user demand for OPS and OCS links, OPCI networks should dynamically adjust the amount of wavelength resources for each link. We propose a resource-adjustable hybrid optical packet/circuit switch and transponder. We also verify that distributed control of resource adjustments can be applied to the OPCI ring network testbed we developed. In cooperation with the resource adjustment mechanism and the hybrid switch and transponder, we demonstrate that automatically allocating a shared resource and moving the wavelength resource boundary between OPS and OCS links can be successfully executed, depending on the number of optical paths in use.

A conceptual lignocellulosic 'feed+fuel' biorefinery and its application to the linked biofuel and cattle raising industries in Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mathews, John A.; Tan Hao; Moore, Michael J.B.; Bell, Geoff

2011-01-01

It has been argued by some that the substitution of biofuels for gasoline could increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, rather than reduce them. The increase is attributed to the indirect land use change effects of planting new grain and corn crops around the world to replace those progressively being devoted to ethanol production. In this paper, indirect effects are minimised by allowing land to be used for both food and fuel, rather than for one or the other. We present a sugarcane 'feed+fuel' biorefinery, which produces bioethanol and yeast biomass, a source of single-cell protein (SCP), that can be used as a high-protein animal feed supplement. The yeast SCP can partially substitute for grass in the feed of cattle grazing on pasture and thereby potentially release land for increased sugarcane production, with minimal land use change effects. Applying the concept conservatively to the Brazilian ethanol and livestock industry our model demonstrates that it would be technically feasible to raise ethanol production threefold from the current level of 27 GL to over 92 GL. The extra ethanol would meet biofuel market mandates in the US without bringing any extra land into agricultural or pastoral use. The analysis demonstrates a viable way to increase biofuel and food production by linking two value chains as called for by industrial ecology studies. - Highlights: → A proposed sugarcane 'feed+fuel' biorefinery producing bioethanol and yeast. → Yeast used as a high-protein animal feed supplement. → In cattle grazing, yeast substitutes for grass to release land for biomass production. → In Brazil our model demonstrates ethanol production raised threefold.

Linking lab and field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cronje, P.B.

1988-01-01

The multitude of different supplements recommended for animals grazing natural pastures, which testifies to the need for a metabolic basis for supplementary feeding practices. The first approach to this problem was to simulate different feeding conditions in the laboratory, where the metabolic responses of body tissues to changes in the supply of purified nutrients could be studied using radioisotope techniques. The second step was to link these fundamental studies to field conditions. The results of these studies suggest that the efficiency of feed conversion and growth rates of ruminants grazing winter pastures in the highveld region of South Africa could be substantially improved by strategic supplementation with glucose precursors. Acetate clearance rate represents a valuable link in the process of applying information obtained from controlled laboratory experiments to field conditions. As this technique is inexpensive, quick and simple to carry out, it is ideally suited to application under field conditions where the use of isotopes is impractical. By providing a link with field conditions, it greatly extended the scope and practical application of isotope tracer techniques

Digital Hardware Realization of Forward and Inverse Kinematics for a Five-Axis Articulated Robot Arm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bui Thi Hai Linh

2015-01-01

Full Text Available When robot arm performs a motion control, it needs to calculate a complicated algorithm of forward and inverse kinematics which consumes much CPU time and certainty slows down the motion speed of robot arm. Therefore, to solve this issue, the development of a hardware realization of forward and inverse kinematics for an articulated robot arm is investigated. In this paper, the formulation of the forward and inverse kinematics for a five-axis articulated robot arm is derived firstly. Then, the computations algorithm and its hardware implementation are described. Further, very high speed integrated circuits hardware description language (VHDL is applied to describe the overall hardware behavior of forward and inverse kinematics. Additionally, finite state machine (FSM is applied for reducing the hardware resource usage. Finally, for verifying the correctness of forward and inverse kinematics for the five-axis articulated robot arm, a cosimulation work is constructed by ModelSim and Simulink. The hardware of the forward and inverse kinematics is run by ModelSim and a test bench which generates stimulus to ModelSim and displays the output response is taken in Simulink. Under this design, the forward and inverse kinematics algorithms can be completed within one microsecond.

Stand up and move forward

OpenAIRE

de Jong, Johan; Shokoohi, Roya

2017-01-01

Insufficient physical activity or being inactive is one of the leading risk factors for non-communicable diseases worldwide. Globally between 6-10% of premature mortality, caused by non-communicable diseases, could be avoided if people adhered to general physical activity guidelines. Besides that, studies link sitting for prolonged periods of time with many serious health concerns. The solution seems simple: Stand up and move forward. However, human behavior is difficult to change – due to th...

Serotonin Drives Predatory Feeding Behavior via Synchronous Feeding Rhythms in the Nematode Pristionchus pacificus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Misako Okumura

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Feeding behaviors in a wide range of animals are regulated by the neurotransmitter serotonin, although the exact neural circuits and associated mechanism are often unknown. The nematode Pristionchus pacificus can kill other nematodes by opening prey cuticles with movable teeth. Previous studies showed that exogenous serotonin treatment induces a predatory-like tooth movement and slower pharyngeal pumping in the absence of prey; however, physiological functions of serotonin during predation and other behaviors in P. pacificus remained completely unknown. Here, we investigate the roles of serotonin by generating mutations in Ppa-tph-1 and Ppa-bas-1, two key serotonin biosynthesis enzymes, and by genetic ablation of pharynx-associated serotonergic neurons. Mutations in Ppa-tph-1 reduced the pharyngeal pumping rate during bacterial feeding compared with wild-type. Moreover, the loss of serotonin or a subset of serotonergic neurons decreased the success of predation, but did not abolish the predatory feeding behavior completely. Detailed analysis using a high-speed camera revealed that the elimination of serotonin or the serotonergic neurons disrupted the timing and coordination of predatory tooth movement and pharyngeal pumping. This loss of synchrony significantly reduced the efficiency of successful predation events. These results suggest that serotonin has a conserved role in bacterial feeding and in addition drives the feeding rhythm of predatory behavior in Pristionchus.

Short-Circuit Degradation of 10-kV 10-A SiC MOSFET

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eni, Emanuel-Petre; Beczkowski, Szymon; Munk-Nielsen, Stig

2017-01-01

The short-circuit behavior of power devices is highly relevant for converter design and fault protection. In this work, the degradation during short-circuit of a 10 kV 10 A 4H-SiC MOSFET is investigated at 6 kV DC-link voltage. The study aims to present the behavior of the device during short-circuit...... transients as it sustains increasing short-circuit pulses during its life-time. As the short-circuit pulse length increases, degradation of the device can be observed in periodically performed characterizations. The initial degradation seems to be associated with the channel region, and continuous stressing...

Calcium carbonate scaling in seawater desalination by ammonia-carbon dioxide forward osmosis: Mechanism and implications

KAUST Repository

Li, Zhenyu; Valladares Linares, Rodrigo; Bucs, Szilard; Aubry, Cyril; Ghaffour, NorEddine; Vrouwenvelder, Johannes S.; Amy, Gary L.

2015-01-01

Forward osmosis (FO) is an osmotically driven membrane process, where the membrane separates a draw solution (DS) with high salinity from a feed solution (FS) with low salinity. There can be a counter direction flow of salt (i.e., salt leakage

Differential expression of CART in feeding and reward circuits in binge eating rat model.

Science.gov (United States)

Bharne, Ashish P; Borkar, Chandrashekhar D; Subhedar, Nishikant K; Kokare, Dadasaheb M

2015-09-15

Binge eating (BE) disrupts feeding and subverts reward mechanism. Since cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript peptide (CART) mediates satiety as well as reward, its role in BE justifies investigation. To induce BE, rats were provided restricted access to high fat sweet palatable diet (HFSPD) for a period of 4 weeks. Immunoreactivity profile of the CART elements, and accompanying neuroplastic changes were studied in satiety- and reward-regulating brain nuclei. Further, we investigated the effects of CART, CART-antibody or rimonabant on the intake of normal chow or HFSPD. Rats fed on HFSPD showed development of BE-like phenotype as reflected by significant consumption of HFSPD in short time frame, suggestive of dysregulated satiety mechanisms. At the mid-point during BE, CART-immunoreactivity was significantly increased in hypothalamic arcuate (ARC), lateral (LH), nucleus accumbens shell (AcbSh) and paraventricular nucleus of thalamus (PVT). However, for next 22-h post-binge time-period, the animals showed no interest in food, and low CART expression. Pre-binge treatment with rimonabant, a drug recommended for the treatment of BE, produced anorexia, increased CART expression in ARC and LH, but not in AcbSh and PVT. Higher dose of CART was required to produce anorexia in binged rats. While neuronal tracing studies confirmed CART fiber connectivity from ARC and LH to AcbSh, increase in CART and synaptophysin immunostaining in this pathway in BE rats suggested strengthening of the CART connectivity. We conclude that CART bearing ARC-LH-PVT-AcbSh reward circuit may override the satiety signaling in ARC-PVN pathway in BE rats. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Unintended Effects in Genetically Modified Food/Feed Safety: A Way Forward.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandez, Antonio; Paoletti, Claudia

2018-04-20

Identifying and assessing unintended effects in genetically modified food and feed are considered paramount by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), World Health Organization (WHO), and Codex Alimentarius, despite heated debate. This paper addresses outstanding needs: building consensus on the history-of-safe-use concept, harmonizing criteria to select appropriate conventional counterparts, and improving endpoint selection to identify unintended effects. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease Using Dual-Tree Complex Wavelet Transform, PCA, and Feed-Forward Neural Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Debesh Jha

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Error-free diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD from healthy control (HC patients at an early stage of the disease is a major concern, because information about the condition’s severity and developmental risks present allows AD sufferer to take precautionary measures before irreversible brain damage occurs. Recently, there has been great interest in computer-aided diagnosis in magnetic resonance image (MRI classification. However, distinguishing between Alzheimer’s brain data and healthy brain data in older adults (age > 60 is challenging because of their highly similar brain patterns and image intensities. Recently, cutting-edge feature extraction technologies have found extensive application in numerous fields, including medical image analysis. Here, we propose a dual-tree complex wavelet transform (DTCWT for extracting features from an image. The dimensionality of feature vector is reduced by using principal component analysis (PCA. The reduced feature vector is sent to feed-forward neural network (FNN to distinguish AD and HC from the input MR images. These proposed and implemented pipelines, which demonstrate improvements in classification output when compared to that of recent studies, resulted in high and reproducible accuracy rates of 90.06 ± 0.01% with a sensitivity of 92.00 ± 0.04%, a specificity of 87.78 ± 0.04%, and a precision of 89.6 ± 0.03% with 10-fold cross-validation.

Psychological Processing in Chronic Pain: A Neural Systems Approach

OpenAIRE

Simons, Laura; Elman, Igor; Borsook, David

2013-01-01

Our understanding of chronic pain involves complex brain circuits that include sensory, emotional, cognitive and interoceptive processing. The feed-forward interactions between physical (e.g., trauma) and emotional pain and the consequences of altered psychological status on the expression of pain have made the evaluation and treatment of chronic pain a challenge in the clinic. By understanding the neural circuits involved in psychological processes, a mechanistic approach to the implementati...

Reversible thyristor converters of brushless synchronous compensators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

А.М.Galynovskiy

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Behavior of models of three-phase-to-single-phase rotary reversible thyristor converters of brushless synchronous compensators in a circuit simulation system is analyzed. It is shown that combined control mode of opposite-connected thyristors may result in the exciter armature winding short circuits both at the thyristor feed-forward and lagging current delay angles. It must be taken into consideration when developing brushless compensator excitation systems.

Novel half-coherent receivers for amplify-and-forward relaying

KAUST Repository

Khan, Fahd Ahmed; Chen, Yunfei; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2012-01-01

Consider a system in which the signal is transmitted from the source to the destination via an amplify-and-forward relay. For such a system, we derive in this paper, novel receivers that have complete knowledge of either the source-relay link

Open-source CFD model for optimization of forward osmosis and reverse osmosis membrane modules

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gruber, Mathias Felix; Aslak, Ulf; Hélix-Nielsen, Claus

2016-01-01

Osmotic membrane separation processes are based on using semi-permeable membranes to remove solutes from a given feed solution. This can happen either as Reverse Osmosis (RO) where a hydraulic pressure is applied to drive separation across the membrane, or as Forward Osmosis (FO) where osmotic...

Shared neurocircuitry underlying feeding and drugs of abuse in Drosophila

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan Landayan

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The neural circuitry and molecules that control the rewarding properties of food and drugs of abuse appear to partially overlap in the mammalian brain. This has raised questions about the extent of the overlap and the precise role of specific circuit elements in reward and in other behaviors associated with feeding regulation and drug responses. The much simpler brain of invertebrates including the fruit fly Drosophila, offers an opportunity to make high-resolution maps of the circuits and molecules that govern behavior. Recent progress in Drosophila has revealed not only some common substrates for the actions of drugs of abuse and for the regulation of feeding, but also a remarkable level of conservation with vertebrates for key neuromodulatory transmitters. We speculate that Drosophila may serve as a model for distinguishing the neural mechanisms underlying normal and pathological motivational states that will be applicable to mammals.

application of covariance analysis to feed/ ration experimental data

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Prince Acheampong

ABSTRACT. The use Analysis of Covariance (ANOCOVA) to feed/ration experimental data for birds was examined. Correlation and Regression analyses were used to adjust for the covariate – initial weight of the experimental birds. The Fisher's F statistic for the straight forward Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed ...

High efficiency inverter and ballast circuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nilssen, O.K.

1984-01-01

A high efficiency push-pull inverter circuit employing a pair of relatively high power switching transistors is described. The switching on and off of the transistors is precisely controlled to minimize power losses due to common-mode conduction or due to transient conditions that occur in the process of turning a transistor on or off. Two current feed-back transformers are employed in the transistor base drives; one being saturable for providing a positive feedback, and the other being non-saturable for providing a subtractive feedback

Controlling feeding behavior by chemical or gene-directed targeting in the brain: What’s so spatial about our methods?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arshad M Khan

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Intracranial chemical injection (ICI methods have been used to identify the locations in the brain where feeding behavior can be controlled acutely. Scientists conducting ICI studies often document their injection site locations, thereby leaving kernels of valuable location data for others to use to further characterize feeding control circuits. Unfortunately, this rich dataset has not yet been formally contextualized with other published neuroanatomical data. In particular, axonal tracing studies have delineated several neural circuits originating in the same areas where ICI injection feeding-control sites have been documented, but it remains unclear whether these circuits participate in feeding control. However, comparing injection sites with other types of location data requires careful anatomical registration between the datasets. Here, a conceptual framework is presented for how such anatomical registration efforts can be performed. For example, by using a simple atlas alignment tool, a hypothalamic locus sensitive to the orexigenic effects of neuropeptide Y (NPY can be aligned accurately with the locations of neurons labeled by anterograde tracers or those known to express NPY receptors or feeding-related peptides. This approach can also be applied to those intracranial gene-directed injection (IGI methods (e.g., site-specific recombinase methods, RNA expression or interference, optogenetics and pharmacosynthetics that involve viral injections to targeted neuronal populations. Spatial alignment efforts can be accelerated if location data from ICI/IGI methods are mapped to stereotaxic brain atlases to allow powerful neuroinformatics tools to overlay different types of data in the same reference space. Atlas-based mapping will be critical for community-based sharing of location data for feeding control circuits, and will accelerate our understanding of structure-function relationships in the brain for mammalian models of obesity and

Regulatory Circuits Linking Energy Status to Growth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jansen, W.M.

2017-01-01

Plant growth and development critically depend on carbon nutrient status. Over the past years several core regulatory systems that link plant carbon status to growth have emerged. The core regulatory systems studied include the trehalose 6-phosphate (T6P) signaling system and the Target of Rapamycin

One-dimensional, forward-forward mean-field games with congestion

KAUST Repository

Gomes, Diogo A.; Sedjro, Marc

2017-01-01

forward-forward MFGs. Finally, we construct traveling-wave solutions, which settles in a negative way the convergence problem for forward-forward MFGs. A similar technique gives the existence of time-periodic solutions for non-monotonic MFGs.

Topology control algorithm for wireless sensor networks based on Link forwarding

Science.gov (United States)

Pucuo, Cairen; Qi, Ai-qin

2018-03-01

The research of topology control could effectively save energy and increase the service life of network based on wireless sensor. In this paper, a arithmetic called LTHC (link transmit hybrid clustering) based on link transmit is proposed. It decreases expenditure of energy by changing the way of cluster-node’s communication. The idea is to establish a link between cluster and SINK node when the cluster is formed, and link-node must be non-cluster. Through the link, cluster sends information to SINK nodes. For the sake of achieving the uniform distribution of energy on the network, prolongate the network survival time, and improve the purpose of communication, the communication will cut down much more expenditure of energy for cluster which away from SINK node. In the two aspects of improving the traffic and network survival time, we find that the LTCH is far superior to the traditional LEACH by experiments.

A comparison of different informative vibrotactile forward collision warnings: does the warning need to be linked to the collision event?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rob Gray

Full Text Available Recent research demonstrates that auditory and vibrotactile forward collision warnings presenting a motion signal (e.g., looming or apparent motion across the body surface can facilitate speeded braking reaction times (BRTs. The purpose of the present study was to expand on this work by directly comparing warning signals in which the motion conveyed was constant across all collision events with signals in which the speed of motion was dependent on the closing velocity (CV. Two experiments were conducted using a simulated car-following task and BRTs were measured. In Experiment 1, increasing intensity (looming vibrotactile signals were presented from a single tactor attached to the driver's waist. When the increase in intensity was CV-linked, BRTs were significantly faster as compared to a no-warning condition, however, they were not significantly different from constant intensity and CV-independent looming warnings. In Experiment 2, a vertical array of three tactors was used to create motion either towards (upwards or away (downwards from the driver's head. When the warning signal presented upwards motion that was CV-linked, BRTs were significantly faster than all other warning types. Downwards warnings led to a significantly higher number of brake activations in false alarm situations as compared to upwards moving warnings. The effectiveness of dynamic tactile collision warnings would therefore appear to depend on both the link between the warning and collision event and on the directionality of the warning signal.

Chaotic behavior learning of Chua's circuit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Jian-Cheng

2012-01-01

Least-square support vector machines (LS-SVM) are applied for learning the chaotic behavior of Chua's circuit. The system is divided into three multiple-input single-output (MISO) structures and the LS-SVM are trained individually. Comparing with classical approaches, the proposed one reduces the structural complexity and the selection of parameters is avoided. Some parameters of the attractor are used to compare the chaotic behavior of the reconstructed and the original systems for model validation. Results show that the LS-SVM combined with the MISO can be trained to identify the underlying link among Chua's circuit state variables, and exhibit the chaotic attractors under the autonomous working mode

Water feeding/condensating device and operation method in nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shibayama, Takashi.

1989-01-01

The present invention overcomes a problem in reactor water level control occurring upon operation of a water feeding/condensating system in a nuclear power plant. That is, the water feed system to a nuclear reactor is constituted with parallel circuit comprising a reactor feedwater pump driven by a steam turbine and a serial circuit composed of a reactor feedwater pump driven by an electrical motor and a pump adjusting valve for controlling the amount of feedwater at the exit of the motor driven feedwater pump. Further, a reactor feedwater control valve having a function of controlling the feedwater to the reactor is disposed to the bypass pipeway for bypassing the parallel circuit of feedwater pumps. In this constitution, water can be fed to the nuclear reactor by way of the reactor feedwater pump bypass control valve upon starting and stopping of a nuclear feedwater pump driven by electric motor upon starting and shutdown of the nuclear reactor. Accordingly, stable water level control can be conducted for the reactor core with no effect of rapid pressure fluctuation due to the starting and the stopping of the reactor feedwater pump driven by electric motor. (I.S.)

The Artificial Milk Feeding or Breast Feeding: Context Dependant Practices. Brazil, 1960-1988

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suely Teresinha Schmidt Passos de Amorim

2008-05-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was the discourse analysis on breast feeding from 1960 through 1988 in Brazil, on articles published in famous women magazines. The focus of the study is the History area, mainly the Feeding History, with an interdisciplinary approach. The initial period – 1960 – is linked with the end of Juscelino Kubitschek’s Government, when the economy, guided by the industrial sector, had grown in relative and absolute terms. The final period – 1988 – characterizes the Brazilian Norm of Suckling Feeding Business approval, which restricted the milk powder marketing. The change on discourses enunciates was very evident. During the period the artificial breast feeding was stimulated, the discourse main enunciate was the women’s condition, women’s valorization and their right of freedom. With the re-encouragement to the women breast feeding the discourses were totally on this usage defense, minimizing women’s daily difficulties.

Parental feeding practices and children's weight.

Science.gov (United States)

Wardle, Jane; Carnell, Susan

2007-04-01

Global increases in childhood obesity rates demand that we tackle the problem from many directions. One promising avenue is to explore the impact of parental feeding practices, particularly those related to parental control over children's intake. In this paper, we review studies of parent feeding and child adiposity covering a range of research methodologies (case-control studies, high risk studies, cross-sectional community studies and longitudinal cohort studies). We also present results from a cross-sectional community study of pre-schoolers (n = 439) and a longitudinal study of twins from ages of 4 to 7 years (n = 3175 pairs). We conclude that parents are more likely to encourage leaner than heavier children to eat, but relationships between adiposity and other parental feeding strategies are unclear. We suggest that future research should: (i) explore the impact of a comprehensive range of authoritative and authoritarian parental feeding behaviours, preferably using the same validated scales consistently across studies; (ii) test the generalisation of existing findings to diverse socio-economic and ethnic groups and (iii) utilise experimental, prospective and genetic methodologies to explore the causal relationships between parental feeding and child weight. We describe current projects in our own group that are designed to take forward these recommendations.

Experience running in and improvement of secondary circuit water chemistry of Kalinin NPP WWER-1000

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noev, V.V.; Kukharev, N.D.; Otchenashev, G.D.; Guzeeva, G.I.; Kochetova, G.G.

1991-01-01

Basic characteristics of the secondary circuit water-chemical conditions at the Kalinin 1 and 2 reactors are presented. These are the WWER-1000 reactors with K-1000-1500 turbines. The analysis conducted makes it possible to conclude that all indicated values can meet the standards by introducing the hydrazine-ammonium regime in the secondary circuit with feedwater pH value equal to 9±0.2. Realization of design scheme for condensate-feeding circuit washing is necessary for acceleration of the water-chemical mode stabilization. Moreover the units should be equipped with automated chemical control instrumentation of a new generation

Feed Forward Artificial Neural Network Model to Estimate the TPH Removal Efficiency in Soil Washing Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hossein Jafari Mansoorian

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background & Aims of the Study: A feed forward artificial neural network (FFANN was developed to predict the efficiency of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH removal from a contaminated soil, using soil washing process with Tween 80. The main objective of this study was to assess the performance of developed FFANN model for the estimation of   TPH removal. Materials and Methods: Several independent repressors including pH, shaking speed, surfactant concentration and contact time were used to describe the removal of TPH as a dependent variable in a FFANN model. 85% of data set observations were used for training the model and remaining 15% were used for model testing, approximately. The performance of the model was compared with linear regression and assessed, using Root of Mean Square Error (RMSE as goodness-of-fit measure Results: For the prediction of TPH removal efficiency, a FANN model with a three-hidden-layer structure of 4-3-1 and a learning rate of 0.01 showed the best predictive results. The RMSE and R2 for the training and testing steps of the model were obtained to be 2.596, 0.966, 10.70 and 0.78, respectively. Conclusion: For about 80% of the TPH removal efficiency can be described by the assessed regressors the developed model. Thus, focusing on the optimization of soil washing process regarding to shaking speed, contact time, surfactant concentration and pH can improve the TPH removal performance from polluted soils. The results of this study could be the basis for the application of FANN for the assessment of soil washing process and the control of petroleum hydrocarbon emission into the environments.

Advanteges of using Two-Switch Forward in Single-Stage Power Factor Corrected Power Supplies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Lars

2000-01-01

A single-Stage power factor corrected power supply using a two-switch forward is proposed to increase efficiency. The converter is operated in the DCM (Discontinues Conduction Mode). This will insure the intermediate DC-bus to be controlled only by means of circuit parameters and therefore...... power supply has been implemented. The measured efficiency and power factor are about 87% and 0.96 respectively....

Shared neurocircuitry underlying feeding and drugs of abuse in Drosophila.

Science.gov (United States)

Landayan, Dan; Wolf, Fred W

2015-12-01

The neural circuitry and molecules that control the rewarding properties of food and drugs of abuse appear to partially overlap in the mammalian brain. This has raised questions about the extent of the overlap and the precise role of specific circuit elements in reward and in other behaviors associated with feeding regulation and drug responses. The much simpler brain of invertebrates including the fruit fly Drosophila, offers an opportunity to make high-resolution maps of the circuits and molecules that govern behavior. Recent progress in Drosophila has revealed not only some common substrates for the actions of drugs of abuse and for the regulation of feeding, but also a remarkable level of conservation with vertebrates for key neuromodulatory transmitters. We speculate that Drosophila may serve as a model for distinguishing the neural mechanisms underlying normal and pathological motivational states that will be applicable to mammals. Copyright © 2016 Chang Gung University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Quantum-circuit model of Hamiltonian search algorithms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roland, Jeremie; Cerf, Nicolas J.

2003-01-01

We analyze three different quantum search algorithms, namely, the traditional circuit-based Grover's algorithm, its continuous-time analog by Hamiltonian evolution, and the quantum search by local adiabatic evolution. We show that these algorithms are closely related in the sense that they all perform a rotation, at a constant angular velocity, from a uniform superposition of all states to the solution state. This makes it possible to implement the two Hamiltonian-evolution algorithms on a conventional quantum circuit, while keeping the quadratic speedup of Grover's original algorithm. It also clarifies the link between the adiabatic search algorithm and Grover's algorithm

Metabolic activation of amygdala, lateral septum and accumbens circuits during food anticipatory behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Olivo, Diana; Caba, Mario; Gonzalez-Lima, Francisco; Rodríguez-Landa, Juan F; Corona-Morales, Aleph A

2017-01-01

When food is restricted to a brief fixed period every day, animals show an increase in temperature, corticosterone concentration and locomotor activity for 2-3h before feeding time, termed food anticipatory activity. Mechanisms and neuroanatomical circuits responsible for food anticipatory activity remain unclear, and may involve both oscillators and networks related to temporal conditioning. Rabbit pups are nursed once-a-day so they represent a natural model of circadian food anticipatory activity. Food anticipatory behavior in pups may be associated with neural circuits that temporally anticipate feeding, while the nursing event may produce consummatory effects. Therefore, we used New Zealand white rabbit pups entrained to circadian feeding to investigate the hypothesis that structures related to reward expectation and conditioned emotional responses would show a metabolic rhythm anticipatory of the nursing event, different from that shown by structures related to reward delivery. Quantitative cytochrome oxidase histochemistry was used to measure regional brain metabolic activity at eight different times during the day. We found that neural metabolism peaked before nursing, during food anticipatory behavior, in nuclei of the extended amygdala (basolateral, medial and central nuclei, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis), lateral septum and accumbens core. After pups were fed, however, maximal metabolic activity was expressed in the accumbens shell, caudate, putamen and cortical amygdala. Neural and behavioral activation persisted when animals were fasted by two cycles, at the time of expected nursing. These findings suggest that metabolic activation of amygdala-septal-accumbens circuits involved in temporal conditioning may contribute to food anticipatory activity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Unraveling the central proopiomelanocortin neural circuits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aaron J. Mercer

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Central proopiomelanocortin (POMC neurons form a potent anorexigenic network, but our understanding of the integration of this hypothalamic circuit throughout the central nervous system (CNS remains incomplete. POMC neurons extend projections along the rostrocaudal axis of the brain, and can signal with both POMC-derived peptides and fast amino acid neurotransmitters. Although recent experimental advances in circuit-level manipulation have been applied to POMC neurons, many pivotal questions still remain: How and where do POMC neurons integrate metabolic information? Under what conditions do POMC neurons release bioactive molecules throughout the CNS? Are GABA and glutamate or neuropeptides released from POMC neurons more crucial for modulating feeding and metabolism? Resolving the exact stoichiometry of signals evoked from POMC neurons under different metabolic conditions therefore remains an ongoing endeavor. In this review, we analyze the anatomical atlas of this network juxtaposed to the physiological signaling of POMC neurons both in vitro and in vivo. We also consider novel genetic tools to further characterize the function of the POMC circuit in vivo. Our goal is to synthesize a global view of the POMC network, and to highlight gaps that require further research to expand our knowledge on how these neurons modulate energy balance.

One-dimensional, forward-forward mean-field games with congestion

KAUST Repository

Gomes, Diogo A.

2017-03-29

Here, we consider one-dimensional forward-forward mean-field games (MFGs) with congestion, which were introduced to approximate stationary MFGs. We use methods from the theory of conservation laws to examine the qualitative properties of these games. First, by computing Riemann invariants and corresponding invariant regions, we develop a method to prove lower bounds for the density. Next, by combining the lower bound with an entropy function, we prove the existence of global solutions for parabolic forward-forward MFGs. Finally, we construct traveling-wave solutions, which settles in a negative way the convergence problem for forward-forward MFGs. A similar technique gives the existence of time-periodic solutions for non-monotonic MFGs.

Buck-Boost/Forward Hybrid Converter for PV Energy Conversion Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sheng-Yu Tseng

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a charger and LED lighting (discharger hybrid system with a PV array as its power source for electronic sign indicator applications. The charger adopts buck-boost converter which is operated in constant current mode to charge lead-acid battery and with the perturb and observe method to extract maximum power of PV arrays. Their control algorithms are implemented by microcontroller. Moreover, forward converter with active clamp circuit is operated in voltage regulation condition to drive LED for electronic sign applications. To simplify the circuit structure of the proposed hybrid converter, switches of two converters are integrated with the switch integration technique. With this approach, the proposed hybrid converter has several merits, which are less component counts, lighter weight, smaller size, and higher conversion efficiency. Finally, a prototype of LED driving system under output voltage of 10 V and output power of 20 W has been implemented to verify its feasibility. It is suitable for the electronic sign indicator applications.

DQ reference frame modeling and control of single-phase active power decoupling circuits

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tang, Yi; Qin, Zian; Blaabjerg, Frede

2015-01-01

. This paper presents the dq synchronous reference frame modeling of single-phase power decoupling circuits and a complete model describing the dynamics of dc-link ripple voltage is presented. The proposed model is universal and valid for both inductive and capacitive decoupling circuits, and the input...... of decoupling circuits can be either dependent or independent of its front-end converters. Based on this model, a dq synchronous reference frame controller is designed which allows the decoupling circuit to operate in two different modes because of the circuit symmetry. Simulation and experimental results...... are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed modeling and control method....

Are cranial biomechanical simulation data linked to known diets in extant taxa? A method for applying diet-biomechanics linkage models to infer feeding capability of extinct species.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhijie Jack Tseng

Full Text Available Performance of the masticatory system directly influences feeding and survival, so adaptive hypotheses often are proposed to explain craniodental evolution via functional morphology changes. However, the prevalence of "many-to-one" association of cranial forms and functions in vertebrates suggests a complex interplay of ecological and evolutionary histories, resulting in redundant morphology-diet linkages. Here we examine the link between cranial biomechanical properties for taxa with different dietary preferences in crown clade Carnivora, the most diverse clade of carnivorous mammals. We test whether hypercarnivores and generalists can be distinguished based on cranial mechanical simulation models, and how such diet-biomechanics linkages relate to morphology. Comparative finite element and geometric morphometrics analyses document that predicted bite force is positively allometric relative to skull strain energy; this is achieved in part by increased stiffness in larger skull models and shape changes that resist deformation and displacement. Size-standardized strain energy levels do not reflect feeding preferences; instead, caniform models have higher strain energy than feliform models. This caniform-feliform split is reinforced by a sensitivity analysis using published models for six additional taxa. Nevertheless, combined bite force-strain energy curves distinguish hypercarnivorous versus generalist feeders. These findings indicate that the link between cranial biomechanical properties and carnivoran feeding preference can be clearly defined and characterized, despite phylogenetic and allometric effects. Application of this diet-biomechanics linkage model to an analysis of an extinct stem carnivoramorphan and an outgroup creodont species provides biomechanical evidence for the evolution of taxa into distinct hypercarnivorous and generalist feeding styles prior to the appearance of crown carnivoran clades with similar feeding preferences.

Short- circuit tests of circuit breakers

OpenAIRE

Chorovský, P.

2015-01-01

This paper deals with short-circuit tests of low voltage electrical devices. In the first part of this paper, there are described basic types of short- circuit tests and their principles. Direct and indirect (synthetic) tests with more details are described in the second part. Each test and principles are explained separately. Oscilogram is obtained from short-circuit tests of circuit breakers at laboratory. The aim of this research work is to propose a test circuit for performing indirect test.

Design and implementation of JOM-3 Overhauser magnetometer analog circuit

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiao; Jiang, Xue; Zhao, Jianchang; Zhang, Shuang; Guo, Xin; Zhou, Tingting

2017-09-01

Overhauser magnetometer, a kind of static-magnetic measurement system based on the Overhauser effect, has been widely used in archaeological exploration, mineral resources exploration, oil and gas basin structure detection, prediction of engineering exploration environment, earthquakes and volcanic eruotions, object magnetic measurement and underground buried booty exploration. Overhauser magnetometer plays an important role in the application of magnetic field measurement for its characteristics of small size, low power consumption and high sensitivity. This paper researches the design and the application of the analog circuit of JOM-3 Overhauser magnetometer. First, the Larmor signal output by the probe is very weak. In order to obtain the signal with high signal to noise rstio(SNR), the design of pre-amplifier circuit is the key to improve the quality of the system signal. Second, in this paper, the effectual step which could improve the frequency characters of bandpass filter amplifier circuit were put forward, and theoretical analysis was made for it. Third, the shaping circuit shapes the amplified sine signal into a square wave signal which is suitable for detecting the rising edge. Fourth, this design elaborated the optimized choice of tuning circuit, so the measurement range of the magnetic field can be covered. Last, integrated analog circuit testing system was formed to detect waveform of each module. By calculating the standard deviation, the sensitivity of the improved Overhauser magnetometer is 0.047nT for Earth's magnetic field observation. Experimental results show that the new magnetometer is sensitive to earth field measurement.

Forward Osmosis Brine Drying

Science.gov (United States)

Flynn, Michael; Shaw, Hali; Hyde, Deirdre; Beeler, David; Parodi, Jurek

2015-01-01

The Forward Osmosis Brine Drying (FOBD) system is based on a technique called forward osmosis (FO). FO is a membrane-based process where the osmotic potential between brine and a salt solution is equalized by the movement of water from the brine to the salt solution. The FOBD system is composed of two main elements, the FO bag and the salt regeneration system. This paper discusses the results of testing of the FO bag to determine the maximum water recovery ratio that can be attained using this technology. Testing demonstrated that the FO bag is capable of achieving a maximum brine water recovery ratio of the brine of 95%. The equivalent system mass was calculated to be 95 kg for a feed similar to the concentrated brine generated on the International Space Station and 86 kg for an Exploration brine. The results have indicated that the FOBD can process all the brine for a one year mission for between 11% to 10% mass required to bring the water needed to make up for water lost in the brine if not recycled. The FOBD saves 685 kg and when treating the International Space Station brine and it saves 829 kg when treating the Exploration brine. It was also demonstrated that saturated salt solutions achieve a higher water recovery ratios than solids salts do and that lithium chloride achieved a higher water recovery ratio than sodium chloride.

Neonatal ghrelin programs development of hypothalamic feeding circuits

Science.gov (United States)

Steculorum, Sophie M.; Collden, Gustav; Coupe, Berengere; Croizier, Sophie; Lockie, Sarah; Andrews, Zane B.; Jarosch, Florian; Klussmann, Sven; Bouret, Sebastien G.

2015-01-01

A complex neural network regulates body weight and energy balance, and dysfunction in the communication between the gut and this neural network is associated with metabolic diseases, such as obesity. The stomach-derived hormone ghrelin stimulates appetite through interactions with neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARH). Here, we evaluated the physiological and neurobiological contribution of ghrelin during development by specifically blocking ghrelin action during early postnatal development in mice. Ghrelin blockade in neonatal mice resulted in enhanced ARH neural projections and long-term metabolic effects, including increased body weight, visceral fat, and blood glucose levels and decreased leptin sensitivity. In addition, chronic administration of ghrelin during postnatal life impaired the normal development of ARH projections and caused metabolic dysfunction. Consistent with these observations, direct exposure of postnatal ARH neuronal explants to ghrelin blunted axonal growth and blocked the neurotrophic effect of the adipocyte-derived hormone leptin. Moreover, chronic ghrelin exposure in neonatal mice also attenuated leptin-induced STAT3 signaling in ARH neurons. Collectively, these data reveal that ghrelin plays an inhibitory role in the development of hypothalamic neural circuits and suggest that proper expression of ghrelin during neonatal life is pivotal for lifelong metabolic regulation. PMID:25607843

Forward and reverse mapping for milling process using artificial neural networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rashmi L. Malghan

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The data set presented is related to the milling process of AA6061-4.5%Cu-5%SiCp composite. The data primarily concentrates on predicting values of some machining responses, such as cutting force, surface finish and power utilization utilizing using forward back propagation neural network based approach, i.e. ANN based on three process parameters, such as spindle speed, feed rate and depth of cut.The comparing reverse model is likewise created to prescribe the ideal settings of processing parameters for accomplishing the desired responses as indicated by the necessities of the end clients. These modelling approaches are very proficient to foresee the benefits of machining responses and also process parameter settings in light of the experimental technique. Keywords: ANN, Forward mapping, Reverse mapping, Milling process

Respiratory diagnostic possibilities during closed circuit anesthesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Verkaaik, A P; Erdmann, W

1990-01-01

An automatic feed back controlled totally closed circuit system (Physioflex) has been developed for quantitative practice of inhalation anesthesia and ventilation. In the circuit system the gas is moved unidirectionally around by a blower at 70 l/min. In the system four membrane chambers are integrated for ventilation. Besides end-expiratory feed back control of inhalation anesthetics, and inspiratory closed loop control of oxygen, the system offers on-line registration of flow, volume and respiratory pressures as well as a capnogram and oxygen consumption. Alveolar ventilation and static compliance can easily be derived. On-line registration of oxygen consumption has proven to be of value for determination of any impairment of tissue oxygen supply when the oxygen delivery has dropped to critical values. Obstruction of the upper or lower airways are immediately detected and differentiated. Disregulations of metabolism, e.g. in malignant hyperthermia, are seen in a pre-crisis phase (increase of oxygen consumption and of CO2 production), and therapy can be started extremely early and before a disastrous condition has developed. Registration of compliance is only one of the continuously available parameters that guarantee a better and adequate control of lung function (e.g. atalectasis is early detected). The newly developed sophisticated anesthesia device enlarges tremendously the monitoring and respiratory diagnostic possibilities of artificial ventilation, gives new insights in the (patho)physiology and detects disturbances of respiratory parameters and metabolism in an early stage.

EQUATIONS OF ELECTRIC MOTOR POWER SUPPLY UNIT DISSYMMETRY UNDER PHASE SHORT-CIRCUIT FAULT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V.Y. Tchaban

2013-04-01

Full Text Available In the paper, a formula is introduced for calculating electric motor supply unit voltage under feeding by a common transformer in the condition of a phase short-circuit in one of the motors. The formula is used in every time step of electromechanical state equations integration.

Osmotically and thermally isolated forward osmosis-membrane distillation (fo-md) integrated module for water treatment applications

KAUST Repository

Ghaffour, Noreddine

2016-09-01

An integrated forward osmosis-membrane distillation (FO-MD) module and systems and methods incorporating the module is disclosed providing higher efficiencies and using less energy. The FO-MD module is osmotically and thermally isolated. The isolation can prevent mixing of FO draw solution/FO permeate and MD feed, and minimize dilution of FO draw solution and cooling of MD feed. The module provides MD feed solution and FO draw solution streams that flow in the same module but are separated by an isolation barrier. The osmotically and thermally isolated FO-MD integrated module, systems and methods offer higher driving forces of both FO and MD processes, higher recovery, and wider application than previously proposed hybrid FO- MD systems.

Osmotically and thermally isolated forward osmosis-membrane distillation (fo-md) integrated module for water treatment applications

KAUST Repository

Ghaffour, NorEddine; Francis, Lijo; Li, Zhenyu; Valladares, Rodrigo; Alsaadi, Ahmad S.; Ghdaib, Muhannad Abu; Amy, Gary L.

2016-01-01

An integrated forward osmosis-membrane distillation (FO-MD) module and systems and methods incorporating the module is disclosed providing higher efficiencies and using less energy. The FO-MD module is osmotically and thermally isolated. The isolation can prevent mixing of FO draw solution/FO permeate and MD feed, and minimize dilution of FO draw solution and cooling of MD feed. The module provides MD feed solution and FO draw solution streams that flow in the same module but are separated by an isolation barrier. The osmotically and thermally isolated FO-MD integrated module, systems and methods offer higher driving forces of both FO and MD processes, higher recovery, and wider application than previously proposed hybrid FO- MD systems.

Breastfeeding is best feeding.

Science.gov (United States)

Cutting, W

1995-02-01

The traditional practice of breast feeding is the best means to make sure infants grow up healthy. It costs nothing. Breast milk contains antibodies and other substances which defend against disease, especially those linked to poor food hygiene and inadequate water and sanitation. In developing countries, breast fed infants are at least 14 times less likely to die from diarrhea than those who are not breast fed. Urbanization and promotion of infant formula undermine breast feeding. Even though infants up to age 4-6 months should receive only breast milk to remain as healthy as possible, infants aged less than 4-6 months often receive other milks or gruels. Attendance of health workers at delivery and their contact with mother-infant pairs after delivery are ideal opportunities to encourage mothers to breast feed. In fact, if health workers provide mothers skilled support with breast feeding, mothers are more likely to breast feed well and for a longer time. Health workers need counseling skills and firm knowledge of techniques on breast feeding and of how to master common difficulties to help mothers with breast feeding. Listening skills and confidence building skills are also needed. Good family and work place support allows women in paid employment outside the home to continue breast feeding. Breast feeding is very important in emergency situations where access to water, sanitation, food, and health care is limited (e.g., refugee camps). In these situations, health workers should especially be aware of women's ability to breast feed and to support their breast feeding. HIV can be transmitted to nursing infants from HIV infected mothers. Yet one must balance this small risk against the possibility of contracting other serious infections (e.g., diarrhea) through alternative infant feeding, particularly if there is no access to potable water and sanitation.

Parental feeding practices predict authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting styles.

Science.gov (United States)

Hubbs-Tait, Laura; Kennedy, Tay Seacord; Page, Melanie C; Topham, Glade L; Harrist, Amanda W

2008-07-01

Our goal was to identify how parental feeding practices from the nutrition literature link to general parenting styles from the child development literature to understand how to target parenting practices to increase effectiveness of interventions. Stand-alone parental feeding practices could be targeted independently. However, parental feeding practices linked to parenting styles require interventions treating underlying family dynamics as a whole. To predict parenting styles from feeding practices and to test three hypotheses: restriction and pressure to eat are positively related whereas responsibility, monitoring, modeling, and encouraging are negatively related to an authoritarian parenting style; responsibility, monitoring, modeling, and encouraging are positively related whereas restriction and pressure to eat are negatively related to an authoritative parenting style; a permissive parenting style is negatively linked with all six feeding practices. Baseline data of a randomized-controlled intervention study. Two hundred thirty-nine parents (93.5% mothers) of first-grade children (134 boys, 105 girls) enrolled in rural public schools. Parental responses to encouraging and modeling questionnaires and the Child Feeding Questionnaire, as well as parenting styles measured by the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire. Correlation and regression analyses. Feeding practices explained 21%, 15%, and 8% of the variance in authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting, respectively. Restriction, pressure to eat, and monitoring (negative) significantly predicted an authoritarian style (Hypothesis 1); responsibility, restriction (negative), monitoring, and modeling predicted an authoritative style (Hypothesis 2); and modeling (negative) and restriction significantly predicted a permissive style (Hypothesis 3). Parental feeding practices with young children predict general parenting styles. Interventions that fail to address underlying parenting styles

A high frequency test bench for rapid single-flux-quantum circuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Engseth, H; Intiso, S; Rafique, M R; Tolkacheva, E; Kidiyarova-Shevchenko, A

2006-01-01

We have designed and experimentally verified a test bench for high frequency testing of rapid single-flux-quantum (RSFQ) circuits. This test bench uses an external tunable clock signal that is stable in amplitude, phase and frequency. The high frequency external clock reads out the clock pattern stored in a long shift register. The clock pattern is consequently shifted out at high speed and split to feed both the circuit under test and an additional shift register in the test bench for later verification at low speed. This method can be employed for reliable high speed verification of RSFQ circuit operation, with use of only low speed read-out electronics. The test bench consists of 158 Josephson junctions and the occupied area is 3300 x 660 μm 2 . It was experimentally verified up to 33 GHz with ± 21.7% margins on the global bias supply current

Immune Cells Link Obesity-associated Type 2 Diabetes and Periodontitis

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, M.; Nikolajczyk, B.S.

2014-01-01

The clinical association between obesity-associated type 2 diabetes (T2D) and periodontitis, coupled with the increasing prevalence of these diseases, justifies studies to identify mechanisms responsible for the vicious feed-forward loop between systemic and oral disease. Changes in the immune system are critical for both obesity-associated T2D and periodontitis and therefore may link these diseases. Recent studies at the intersection of immunology and metabolism have greatly advanced our understanding of the role the immune system plays in the transition between obesity and obesity-associated T2D and have shown that immune cells exhibit similar functional changes in obesity/T2D and periodontitis. Furthermore, myeloid and lymphoid cells likely synergize to promote obesity/T2D-associated periodontitis despite complexities introduced by disease interaction. Thus the groundwork is being laid for researchers to exploit existing models to understand immune cell dysfunction and break the devastating relationship between obesity-associated T2D and oral disease. PMID:24393706

Commutation circuit for an HVDC circuit breaker

Science.gov (United States)

Premerlani, William J.

1981-01-01

A commutation circuit for a high voltage DC circuit breaker incorporates a resistor capacitor combination and a charging circuit connected to the main breaker, such that a commutating capacitor is discharged in opposition to the load current to force the current in an arc after breaker opening to zero to facilitate arc interruption. In a particular embodiment, a normally open commutating circuit is connected across the contacts of a main DC circuit breaker to absorb the inductive system energy trapped by breaker opening and to limit recovery voltages to a level tolerable by the commutating circuit components.

A Corticocortical Circuit Directly Links Retrosplenial Cortex to M2 in the Mouse

Science.gov (United States)

Radulovic, Jelena

2016-01-01

Retrosplenial cortex (RSC) is a dorsomedial parietal area involved in a range of cognitive functions, including episodic memory, navigation, and spatial memory. Anatomically, the RSC receives inputs from dorsal hippocampal networks and in turn projects to medial neocortical areas. A particularly prominent projection extends rostrally to the posterior secondary motor cortex (M2), suggesting a functional corticocortical link from the RSC to M2 and thus a bridge between hippocampal and neocortical networks involved in mnemonic and sensorimotor aspects of navigation. We investigated the cellular connectivity in this RSC→M2 projection in the mouse using optogenetic photostimulation, retrograde labeling, and electrophysiology. Axons from RSC formed monosynaptic excitatory connections onto M2 pyramidal neurons across layers and projection classes, including corticocortical/intratelencephalic neurons (reciprocally and callosally projecting) in layers 2–6, pyramidal tract neurons (corticocollicular, corticopontine) in layer 5B, and, to a lesser extent, corticothalamic neurons in layer 6. In addition to these direct connections, disynaptic connections were made via posterior parietal cortex (RSC→PPC→M2) and anteromedial thalamus (RSC→AM→M2). In the reverse direction, axons from M2 monosynaptically excited M2-projecting corticocortical neurons in the RSC, especially in the superficial layers of the dysgranular region. These findings establish an excitatory RSC→M2 corticocortical circuit that engages diverse types of excitatory projection neurons in the downstream area, suggesting a basis for direct communication from dorsal hippocampal networks involved in spatial memory and navigation to neocortical networks involved in diverse aspects of sensorimotor integration and motor control. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Corticocortical pathways interconnect cortical areas extensively, but the cellular connectivity in these pathways remains largely uncharacterized. Here, we

Moving Forward - Progress on Forward Detectors

CERN Multimedia

Grafstrom, P.

2006-01-01

You might have been sitting in some meeting hearing about the ATLAS forward detectors. Coming back to your office wanting to learn more you look in the ATLAS TDR’s and disappointingly you find nothing about forward detectors. The explanation is of course that the forward detectors are newcomers in the ATLAS detector arsenal. ATLAS is designed to measure high Pt particles with pseudo rapidities up to 5 which in terms of angles means angles bigger than one degree (0.8 degree to be more accurate). Particles produced with smaller angles close to the beam escape detection. The hole in the forward direction will now partly be filled. Several new detectors have recently been proposed. These detectors are designed for various luminosity measurements but they also have a physics potential in themselves. Closest to the IP there is LUCID (LUminosity measurement using Cerenkov Integrating Detector). LUCID comprises some 170 Cerenkov tubes sitting around the beam pipe at about 17 m away from the IP. The tubes are 1.5 ...

Network homophily and the evolution of the pay-it-forward reciprocity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yen-Sheng Chiang

Full Text Available The pay-it-forward reciprocity is a type of cooperative behavior that people who have benefited from others return favors to third parties other than the benefactors, thus pushing forward a cascade of kindness. The phenomenon of the pay-it-forward reciprocity is ubiquitous, yet how it evolves to be part of human sociality has not been fully understood. We develop an evolutionary dynamics model to investigate how network homophily influences the evolution of the pay-it-forward reciprocity. Manipulating the extent to which actors carrying the same behavioral trait are linked in networks, the computer simulation model shows that strong network homophily helps consolidate the adaptive advantage of cooperation, yet introducing some heterophily to the formation of network helps advance cooperation's scale further. Our model enriches the literature of inclusive fitness theory by demonstrating the conditions under which cooperation or reciprocity can be selected for in evolution when social interaction is not confined exclusively to relatives.

Network homophily and the evolution of the pay-it-forward reciprocity.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiang, Yen-Sheng; Takahashi, Nobuyuki

2011-01-01

The pay-it-forward reciprocity is a type of cooperative behavior that people who have benefited from others return favors to third parties other than the benefactors, thus pushing forward a cascade of kindness. The phenomenon of the pay-it-forward reciprocity is ubiquitous, yet how it evolves to be part of human sociality has not been fully understood. We develop an evolutionary dynamics model to investigate how network homophily influences the evolution of the pay-it-forward reciprocity. Manipulating the extent to which actors carrying the same behavioral trait are linked in networks, the computer simulation model shows that strong network homophily helps consolidate the adaptive advantage of cooperation, yet introducing some heterophily to the formation of network helps advance cooperation's scale further. Our model enriches the literature of inclusive fitness theory by demonstrating the conditions under which cooperation or reciprocity can be selected for in evolution when social interaction is not confined exclusively to relatives.

Anatomical evidence for brainstem circuits mediating feeding motor programs in the leopard frog, Rana pipiens.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, C W

2001-09-01

Using injections of small molecular weight fluorescein dextran amines, combined with activity-dependent uptake of sulforhodamine 101 (SR101), brainstem circuits presumed to be involved in feeding motor output were investigated. As has been shown previously in other studies, projections to the cerebellar nuclei were identified from the cerebellar cortex, the trigeminal motor nucleus, and the vestibular nuclei. Results presented here suggest an additional pathway from the hypoglossal motor nuclei to the cerebellar nucleus as well as an afferent projection from the peripheral hypoglossal nerve to the Purkinje cell layer of the cerebellar cortex. Injections in the cerebellar cortex combined with retrograde labeling of the peripheral hypoglossal nerve demonstrate anatomical convergence at the level of the medial reticular formation. This suggests a possible integrative region for afferent feedback from the hypoglossal nerve and information through the Purkinje cell layer of the cerebellar cortex. The activity-dependent uptake of SR101 additionally suggests a reciprocal, polysynaptic pathway between this same area of the medial reticular formation and the trigeminal motor nuclei. The trigeminal motor neurons innervate the m adductor mandibulae, the primary mouth-closing muscle. The SR101 uptake clearly labeled the ventrolateral hypoglossal nuclei, the medial reticular formation, and the Purkinje cell layer of the cerebellar cortex. Unlike retrograde labeling of the peripheral hypoglossal nerve, stimulating the hypoglossal nerve while SR101 was bath-applied labeled trigeminal motor neurons. This, combined with the dextran labeling, suggests a reciprocal connection between the trigeminal motor nuclei and the cerebellar nuclei, as well as the medulla. Taken together, these data are important for understanding the neurophysiological pathways used to coordinate the proper timing of an extremely rapid, goal-directed movement and may prove useful for elucidating some of the

CHEETAH: circuit-switched high-speed end-to-end transport architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Veeraraghavan, Malathi; Zheng, Xuan; Lee, Hyuk; Gardner, M.; Feng, Wuchun

2003-10-01

Leveraging the dominance of Ethernet in LANs and SONET/SDH in MANs and WANs, we propose a service called CHEETAH (Circuit-switched High-speed End-to-End Transport ArcHitecture). The service concept is to provide end hosts with high-speed, end-to-end circuit connectivity on a call-by-call shared basis, where a "circuit" consists of Ethernet segments at the ends that are mapped into Ethernet-over-SONET long-distance circuits. This paper focuses on the file-transfer application for such circuits. For this application, the CHEETAH service is proposed as an add-on to the primary Internet access service already in place for enterprise hosts. This allows an end host that is sending a file to first attempt setting up an end-to-end Ethernet/EoS circuit, and if rejected, fall back to the TCP/IP path. If the circuit setup is successful, the end host will enjoy a much shorter file-transfer delay than on the TCP/IP path. To determine the conditions under which an end host with access to the CHEETAH service should attempt circuit setup, we analyze mean file-transfer delays as a function of call blocking probability in the circuit-switched network, probability of packet loss in the IP network, round-trip times, link rates, and so on.

Financial–real-side interactions in an extended monetary circuit with shadow banking: Loving or dangerous hugs?

OpenAIRE

Botta, Alberto; Caverzasi, Eugenio; Tori, Daniele

2015-01-01

Monetary circuit (MC) theory is one of the most interesting attempts to formally describe the functioning of a monetary production economy as centered on the concept of the flux–reflux of money. Endogenous money creation by commercial banks allows the circuit to open and firms to implement production processes. Financial markets “passively” close the circuit by intermediating savings via bond and equity issuance. Despite its natural focus on financial-real side links, the monetary circuit lit...

Oscillator circuits

CERN Document Server

Graf, Rudolf F

1996-01-01

This series of circuits provides designers with a quick source for oscillator circuits. Why waste time paging through huge encyclopedias when you can choose the topic you need and select any of the specialized circuits sorted by application?This book in the series has 250-300 practical, ready-to-use circuit designs, with schematics and brief explanations of circuit operation. The original source for each circuit is listed in an appendix, making it easy to obtain additional information.Ready-to-use circuits.Grouped by application for easy look-up.Circuit source listing

Measuring circuits

CERN Document Server

Graf, Rudolf F

1996-01-01

This series of circuits provides designers with a quick source for measuring circuits. Why waste time paging through huge encyclopedias when you can choose the topic you need and select any of the specialized circuits sorted by application?This book in the series has 250-300 practical, ready-to-use circuit designs, with schematics and brief explanations of circuit operation. The original source for each circuit is listed in an appendix, making it easy to obtain additional information.Ready-to-use circuits.Grouped by application for easy look-up.Circuit source listings

Linking spatial distribution and feeding behavior of Atlantic horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) in the Strait of Sicily (Central Mediterranean Sea)

Science.gov (United States)

Rumolo, Paola; Basilone, Gualtiero; Fanelli, Emanuela; Barra, Marco; Calabrò, Monica; Genovese, Simona; Gherardi, Serena; Ferreri, Rosalia; Mazzola, Salvatore; Bonanno, Angelo

2017-03-01

The Atlantic horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) is a semi-pelagic fish species with a wide geographical distribution and commonly found on the continental shelf. In recent years, the species has received some attention due to its ecological role in pelagic food webs. Stable isotope of nitrogen and carbon (δ15N and δ13C) and Stomach Content Analysis (SCA) of T. trachurus were adopted as tools to provide necessary knowledge on its feeding habits in the Strait of Sicily. The strong correlation found between δ15N and δ13C values with body length, together with significant ontogenetic shift evidenced by SCA, could be associated to changes in food availability, which in turn is triggered by environmental conditions. Spatial distribution of T. trachurus in the study area, mainly for small and medium size specimens, is linked to lower temperature, salinity and Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PARsat) values with higher aggregations on the Adventure Bank (i.e., an area characterized by periodic upwelling events). Larger size specimens mostly inhabited shallower waters characterized by higher temperature, salinity and PAR values, typical of the central-eastern part of the study area. Our results support the hypothesis that feeding behavior of T. trachurus is strictly linked to environmental factors (i.e. chiefly oceanographic conditions of the water column and day duration) that in turn influences the distribution of its prey. Findings can supply knowledge needed for improving fish stock management and promoting plans able to take into account also local ecosystem analysis.

NPY/AgRP neurons are not essential for feeding responses to glucoprivation.

Science.gov (United States)

Luquet, Serge; Phillips, Colin T; Palmiter, Richard D

2007-02-01

Animals respond to hypoglycemia by eating and by stimulating gluconeogenesis. These responses to glucose deprivation are initiated by glucose-sensing neurons in the brain, but the neural circuits that control feeding behavior are not well established. Neurons in the arcuate region of the hypothalamus that express neuropeptide Y (NPY) and agouti-related protein (AgRP) have been implicated in mediating the feeding response to glucoprivation. We devised a method to selectively ablate these neurons in neonatal mice and then tested adult mice for their feeding responses to fasting, mild hypoglycemia, 2-deoxy-d-glucose and a ghrelin receptor agonist. Whereas the feeding response to the ghrelin receptor agonist was completely abrogated, the feeding response to glucoprivation was normal. The feeding response after a fast was attenuated when standard chow was available but normal with more palatable solid or liquid diet. We conclude that NPY/AgRP neurons are not necessary for generating or mediating the orexigenic response to glucose deficiency, but they are essential for the feeding response to ghrelin and refeeding on standard chow after a fast.

Nutrition, feeding, and behavior of fish.

Science.gov (United States)

Lall, Santosh P; Tibbetts, Sean M

2009-05-01

Nutrition and feeding influence growth, reproduction, and health of fish and their response to physiologic and environmental stressors and pathogens. The basics of fish metabolism are similar to those of warm-blooded animals in that they involve food intake, digestion, absorption, and transport of nutrients to the various tissues. Fish, however, being the most primitive form of vertebrates, possess some distinguishing features which will be discussed. Unlike warm-blooded animals, which are homoeothermic, fish are poikilothermic, so their body temperature and metabolic rate depends on the water temperature and this has practical implications for the nutrition, feeding and health of fish. Several behavioral responses have been linked to methods of feeding, feeding habits, frequency of feeding, mechanisms of food detection, and food preferences. Fish are also unique among vertebrates in their ability to absorb minerals not only from their diets but also from water through their gills and skin.

Tomonaga-Luttinger physics in electronic quantum circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Jezouin, S; Albert, M; Parmentier, F D; Anthore, A; Gennser, U; Cavanna, A; Safi, I; Pierre, F

2013-01-01

In one-dimensional conductors, interactions result in correlated electronic systems. At low energy, a hallmark signature of the so-called Tomonaga-Luttinger liquids is the universal conductance curve predicted in presence of an impurity. A seemingly different topic is the quantum laws of electricity, when distinct quantum conductors are assembled in a circuit. In particular, the conductances are suppressed at low energy, a phenomenon called dynamical Coulomb blockade. Here we investigate the conductance of mesoscopic circuits constituted by a short single-channel quantum conductor in series with a resistance, and demonstrate a proposed link to Tomonaga-Luttinger physics. We reformulate and establish experimentally a recently derived phenomenological expression for the conductance using a wide range of circuits, including carbon nanotube data obtained elsewhere. By confronting both conductance data and phenomenological expression with the universal Tomonaga-Luttinger conductance curve, we demonstrate experimentally the predicted mapping between dynamical Coulomb blockade and the transport across a Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid with an impurity.

Resonance circuits for adiabatic circuits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Schlachta

2003-01-01

Full Text Available One of the possible techniques to reduces the power consumption in digital CMOS circuits is to slow down the charge transport. This slowdown can be achieved by introducing an inductor in the charging path. Additionally, the inductor can act as an energy storage element, conserving the energy that is normally dissipated during discharging. Together with the parasitic capacitances from the circuit a LCresonant circuit is formed.

Wiring Together Synthetic Bacterial Consortia to Create a Biological Integrated Circuit.

Science.gov (United States)

Perry, Nicolas; Nelson, Edward M; Timp, Gregory

2016-12-16

The promise of adapting biology to information processing will not be realized until engineered gene circuits, operating in different cell populations, can be wired together to express a predictable function. Here, elementary biological integrated circuits (BICs), consisting of two sets of transmitter and receiver gene circuit modules with embedded memory placed in separate cell populations, were meticulously assembled using live cell lithography and wired together by the mass transport of quorum-sensing (QS) signal molecules to form two isolated communication links (comlinks). The comlink dynamics were tested by broadcasting "clock" pulses of inducers into the networks and measuring the responses of functionally linked fluorescent reporters, and then modeled through simulations that realistically captured the protein production and molecular transport. These results show that the comlinks were isolated and each mimicked aspects of the synchronous, sequential networks used in digital computing. The observations about the flow conditions, derived from numerical simulations, and the biofilm architectures that foster or silence cell-to-cell communications have implications for everything from decontamination of drinking water to bacterial virulence.

Forward osmosis membrane modular configurations for osmotic dilution of seawater by forward osmosis and reverse osmosis hybrid system.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jung Eun; Phuntsho, Sherub; Ali, Syed Muztuza; Choi, Joon Young; Shon, Ho Kyong

2018-01-01

This study evaluates various options for full-scale modular configuration of forward osmosis (FO) process for osmotic dilution of seawater using wastewater for simultaneous desalination and water reuse through FO-reverse osmosis (RO) hybrid system. Empirical relationship obtained from one FO membrane element operation was used to simulate the operational performances of different FO module configurations. The main limiting criteria for module operation is to always maintain the feed pressure higher than the draw pressure throughout the housing module for safe operation without affecting membrane integrity. Experimental studies under the conditions tested in this study show that a single membrane housing cannot accommodate more than four elements as the draw pressure exceeds the feed pressure. This then indicates that a single stage housing with eight elements is not likely to be practical for safe FO operation. Hence, six different FO modular configurations were proposed and simulated. A two-stage FO configuration with multiple housings (in parallel) in the second stage using same or larger spacer thickness reduces draw pressure build-up as the draw flow rates are reduced to half in the second stage thereby allowing more than four elements in the second stage housing. The loss of feed pressure (pressure drop) and osmotic driving force in the second stage are compensated by operating under the pressure assisted osmosis (PAO) mode, which helps enhance permeate flux and maintains positive pressure differences between the feed and draw chamber. The PAO energy penalty is compensated by enhanced permeate throughput, reduced membrane area, and plant footprint. The contribution of FO/PAO to total energy consumption was not significant compared to post RO desalination (90%) indicating that the proposed two-stage FO modular configuration is one way of making the FO full-scale operation practical for FO-RO hybrid system. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pattern of side feeding intensity in mass 40 region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kshetri, Ritesh; Ray, Indrani; Mukherjee, A.

2005-01-01

Mass 40 region has many interesting features to offer to the fields of nuclear structure. In this paper, intention was made to study the effect of forward and inverse type of reaction and excitation energy on the side feeding intensity pattern in the mass region 40. The effect of coexistence of different types of structural features in this mass region will also be investigated

Spouted bed drying of Bauhinia forficata link extract: the effects of feed atomizer position and operating conditions on equipment performance and product properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. R. F. Souza

2005-06-01

Full Text Available In this paper the effects of feed atomizer position and operating conditions on equipment performance (accumulation rate, product recovery, elutriation and thermal efficiency and product properties (moisture content, size distribution, flavonoid degradation and flow properties during spouted bed drying of Bauhinia forficata Link extract are evaluated. The parameters studied were the position of the atomizer system (top spray or bottom spray, the inlet temperature of the spouting gas (80 and 150oC and the feed mass flow rate of concentrated extract relative to the evaporation capacity of the dryer, Ws/Wmax (15 to 100%. Higher accumulation rate values were obtained with the atomizer placed at the bottom of the bed. In this configuration, the accumulation rate increases with the increase in the Ws/Wmax ratio. The best drying performance was obtained for the top spray configuration.

Boron removal in radioactive liquid waste by forward osmosis membrane

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Doo Seong Hwang; Hei Min Choi; Kune Woo Lee; Jei Kwon Moon [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2013-07-01

This study investigated the treatment of boric acid contained in liquid radioactive waste using a forward osmosis membrane. The boron permeation through the membrane depends on the type of membrane, membrane orientation, pH of the feed solution, salt and boron concentration in the feed solution, and osmotic pressure of the draw solution. The boron flux begins to decline from pH 7 and increases with an increase of the osmotic driving force. The boron flux decreases slightly with the salt concentration, but is not heavily influenced by a low salt concentration. The boron flux increases linearly with the concentration of boron. No element except for boron was permeated through the FO membrane in the multi-component system. The maximum boron flux is obtained in an active layer facing a draw solution orientation of the CTA-ES membrane under conditions of less than pH 7 and high osmotic pressure. (authors)

Recombination rates in heterojunction silicon solar cells analyzed by impedance spectroscopy at forward bias and under illumination

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mora-Sero, Ivan; Luo, Yan; Garcia-Belmonte, Germa; Bisquert, Juan [Departament de Fisica, Universitat Jaume I, E-12071 Castello (Spain); Munoz, Delfina; Voz, Cristobal; Puigdollers, Joaquim; Alcubilla, Ramon [Departament d' Enginyeria Electronica, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, E-08034 Barcelona (Spain)

2008-04-15

Impedance spectroscopy (at forward bias and under illumination) of solar cells comprised thin hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films deposited on crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafers was analyzed in terms of ac equivalent circuits. Shockley-Read-Hall recombination at states on the device interfaces governs the cell dynamic response. Recombination process was modeled by means of simple RC circuits which allow to determine the capture rate of electrons and holes. Carrier lifetime is found to be stated by the electron capture time {tau}{sub SRH}{approx}{tau}{sub n}, and it results in the range of 300 {mu}s. The Al-annealed back contact was regarded as the dominating recombination interface. (author)

EQUATIONS OF ELECTRIC MOTOR POWER SUPPLY UNIT DISSYMMETRY UNDER PHASE-TO-PHASE SHORT-CIRCUIT FAULT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V.Y. Tchaban

2013-10-01

Full Text Available In the paper, a formula is introduced to calculate electric motor supply unit voltage under feeding by a common transformer in the condition of a phase-to-phase short-circuit. The formula is used in every time step of electromechanical state equations integration.

High performance thin-film composite forward osmosis membrane.

Science.gov (United States)

Yip, Ngai Yin; Tiraferri, Alberto; Phillip, William A; Schiffman, Jessica D; Elimelech, Menachem

2010-05-15

Recent studies show that osmotically driven membrane processes may be a viable technology for desalination, water and wastewater treatment, and power generation. However, the absence of a membrane designed for such processes is a significant obstacle hindering further advancements of this technology. This work presents the development of a high performance thin-film composite membrane for forward osmosis applications. The membrane consists of a selective polyamide active layer formed by interfacial polymerization on top of a polysulfone support layer fabricated by phase separation onto a thin (40 mum) polyester nonwoven fabric. By careful selection of the polysulfone casting solution (i.e., polymer concentration and solvent composition) and tailoring the casting process, we produced a support layer with a mix of finger-like and sponge-like morphologies that give significantly enhanced membrane performance. The structure and performance of the new thin-film composite forward osmosis membrane are compared with those of commercial membranes. Using a 1.5 M NaCl draw solution and a pure water feed, the fabricated membranes produced water fluxes exceeding 18 L m(2-)h(-1), while consistently maintaining observed salt rejection greater than 97%. The high water flux of the fabricated thin-film composite forward osmosis membranes was directly related to the thickness, porosity, tortuosity, and pore structure of the polysulfone support layer. Furthermore, membrane performance did not degrade after prolonged exposure to an ammonium bicarbonate draw solution.

High Performance Thin-Film Composite Forward Osmosis Membrane

KAUST Repository

Yip, Ngai Yin

2010-05-15

Recent studies show that osmotically driven membrane processes may be a viable technology for desalination, water and wastewater treatment, and power generation. However, the absence of a membrane designed for such processes is a significant obstacle hindering further advancements of this technology. This work presents the development of a high performance thin-film composite membrane for forward osmosis applications. The membrane consists of a selective polyamide active layer formed by interfacial polymerization on top of a polysulfone support layer fabricated by phase separation onto a thin (40 μm) polyester nonwoven fabric. By careful selection of the polysulfone casting solution (i.e., polymer concentration and solvent composition) and tailoring the casting process, we produced a support layer with a mix of finger-like and sponge-like morphologies that give significantly enhanced membrane performance. The structure and performance of the new thin-film composite forward osmosis membrane are compared with those of commercial membranes. Using a 1.5 M NaCl draw solution and a pure water feed, the fabricated membranes produced water fluxes exceeding 18 L m2-h-1, while consistently maintaining observed salt rejection greater than 97%. The high water flux of the fabricated thin-film composite forward osmosis membranes was directly related to the thickness, porosity, tortuosity, and pore structure of the polysulfone support layer. Furthermore, membrane performance did not degrade after prolonged exposure to an ammonium bicarbonate draw solution. © 2010 American Chemical Society.

Differential regulation of polarized synaptic vesicle trafficking and synapse stability in neural circuit rewiring in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naina Kurup

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Neural circuits are dynamic, with activity-dependent changes in synapse density and connectivity peaking during different phases of animal development. In C. elegans, young larvae form mature motor circuits through a dramatic switch in GABAergic neuron connectivity, by concomitant elimination of existing synapses and formation of new synapses that are maintained throughout adulthood. We have previously shown that an increase in microtubule dynamics during motor circuit rewiring facilitates new synapse formation. Here, we further investigate cellular control of circuit rewiring through the analysis of mutants obtained in a forward genetic screen. Using live imaging, we characterize novel mutations that alter cargo binding in the dynein motor complex and enhance anterograde synaptic vesicle movement during remodeling, providing in vivo evidence for the tug-of-war between kinesin and dynein in fast axonal transport. We also find that a casein kinase homolog, TTBK-3, inhibits stabilization of nascent synapses in their new locations, a previously unexplored facet of structural plasticity of synapses. Our study delineates temporally distinct signaling pathways that are required for effective neural circuit refinement.

MIMIC For Millimeter Wave Integrated Circuit Radars

Science.gov (United States)

Seashore, C. R.

1987-09-01

A significant program is currently underway in the U.S. to investigate, develop and produce a variety of GaAs analog circuits for use in microwave and millimeter wave sensors and systems. This represents a "new wave" of RF technology which promises to significantly change system engineering thinking relative to RF Architectures. At millimeter wave frequencies, we look forward to a relatively high level of critical component integration based on MESFET and HEMT device implementations. These designs will spawn more compact RF front ends with colocated antenna/transceiver functions and innovative packaging concepts which will survive and function in a typical military operational environment which includes challenging temperature, shock and special handling requirements.

Project Circuits in a Basic Electric Circuits Course

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, James P.; Plumb, Carolyn; Revia, Richard A.

2014-01-01

The use of project circuits (a photoplethysmograph circuit and a simple audio amplifier), introduced in a sophomore-level electric circuits course utilizing active learning and inquiry-based methods, is described. The development of the project circuits was initiated to promote enhanced engagement and deeper understanding of course content among…

Novel technique for reliability testing of silicon integrated circuits

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Le Minh, P.; Wallinga, Hans; Woerlee, P.H.; van den Berg, Albert; Holleman, J.

2001-01-01

We propose a simple, inexpensive technique with high resolution to identify the weak spots in integrated circuits by means of a non-destructive photochemical process in which photoresist is used as the photon detection tool. The experiment was done to localize the breakdown link of thin silicon

Cable Hot Shorts and Circuit Analysis in Fire Risk Assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

LaChance, Jeffrey; Nowlen, Steven P.; Wyant, Frank

1999-01-01

Under existing methods of probabilistic risk assessment (PRA), the analysis of fire-induced circuit faults has typically been conducted on a simplistic basis. In particular, those hot-short methodologies that have been applied remain controversial in regards to the scope of the assessments, the underlying methods, and the assumptions employed. To address weaknesses in fire PRA methodologies, the USNRC has initiated a fire risk analysis research program that includes a task for improving the tools for performing circuit analysis. The objective of this task is to obtain a better understanding of the mechanisms linking fire-induced cable damage to potentially risk-significant failure modes of power, control, and instrumentation cables. This paper discusses the current status of the circuit analysis task

Multiple Soft Fault Diagnosis of Bjt Circuits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tadeusiewicz Michał

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with multiple soft fault diagnosis of nonlinear analog circuits comprising bipolar transistors characterized by the Ebers-Moll model. Resistances of the circuit and beta forward factor of a transistor are considered as potentially faulty parameters. The proposed diagnostic method exploits a strongly nonlinear set of algebraic type equations, which may possess multiple solutions, and is capable of finding different sets of the parameters values which meet the diagnostic test. The equations are written on the basis of node analysis and include DC voltages measured at accessible nodes, as well as some measured currents. The unknown variables are node voltages and the parameters which are considered as potentially faulty. The number of these parameters is larger than the number of the accessible nodes. To solve the set of equations the block relaxation method is used with different assignments of the variables to the blocks. Next, the solutions are corrected using the Newton-Raphson algorithm. As a result, one or more sets of the parameters values which satisfy the diagnostic test are obtained. The proposed approach is illustrated with a numerical example.

USAID Forward

Data.gov (United States)

US Agency for International Development — The USAID Forward reform initiative ran from 2010-2016. USAID Forward improved the way that the Agency delivers foreign assistance by embracing new partnerships,...

The Versatile Link Demo Board (VLDB)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lesma, R. Martín; Alessio, F.; Barbosa, J.; Baron, S.; Caplan, C.; Leitao, P.; Porret, D.; Wyllie, K.; Pecoraro, C.

2017-01-01

The Versatile Link Demonstrator Board (VLDB) is the evaluation kit for the radiation-hard Optical Link ecosystem, which provides a 4.8 Gbps data transfer link for communication between front-end (FE) and back-end (BE) of the High Energy Physics experiments. It gathers the Versatile link main radiation-hard custom Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) and modules: GBTx, GBT-SCA and VTRx/VTTx plus the FeastMP, a radiation-hard in-house designed DC-DC converter. This board is the first design allowing system-level tests of the Link with a complete interconnection of the constitutive components, allowing data acquisition, control and monitoring of FE devices with the GBT-SCA pair.

DC-Link Protection and Control in Modular Uninterruptible Power Supply

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lu, Jinghang; Savaghebi, Mehdi; Guan, Yajuan

2018-01-01

In this paper, a DC-link voltage protection (DCVP) control method is proposed to address the DC-link overvoltage issue due to power back-feeding in parallel Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) system. The proposed control method is able to protect the inverter against the excessive DC-link voltage...... by the line impedance mismatching or power back-feeding issue in the UPS system. In addition, an improved consensus-based distributed controller is proposed to alleviate the overshoot issue during the transient process in voltage amplitude and frequency restoration. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed...

Environmental health impacts of feeding crops to farmed fish.

Science.gov (United States)

Fry, Jillian P; Love, David C; MacDonald, Graham K; West, Paul C; Engstrom, Peder M; Nachman, Keeve E; Lawrence, Robert S

2016-05-01

Half of the seafood consumed globally now comes from aquaculture, or farmed seafood. Aquaculture therefore plays an increasingly important role in the global food system, the environment, and human health. Traditionally, aquaculture feed has contained high levels of wild fish, which is unsustainable for ocean ecosystems as demand grows. The aquaculture industry is shifting to crop-based feed ingredients, such as soy, to replace wild fish as a feed source and allow for continued industry growth. This shift fundamentally links seafood production to terrestrial agriculture, and multidisciplinary research is needed to understand the ecological and environmental health implications. We provide basic estimates of the agricultural resource use associated with producing the top five crops used in commercial aquaculture feed. Aquaculture's environmental footprint may now include nutrient and pesticide runoff from industrial crop production, and depending on where and how feed crops are produced, could be indirectly linked to associated negative health outcomes. We summarize key environmental health research on health effects associated with exposure to air, water, and soil contaminated by industrial crop production. Our review also finds that changes in the nutritional content of farmed seafood products due to altered feed composition could impact human nutrition. Based on our literature reviews and estimates of resource use, we present a conceptual framework describing the potential links between increasing use of crop-based ingredients in aquaculture and human health. Additional data and geographic sourcing information for crop-based ingredients are needed to fully assess the environmental health implications of this trend. This is especially critical in the context of a food system that is using both aquatic and terrestrial resources at unsustainable rates. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Flux patterns and membrane fouling propensity during desalination of seawater by forward osmosis

KAUST Repository

Li, Zhenyu; Yangali-Quintanilla, Victor; Valladares Linares, Rodrigo; Li, Qingyu; Zhan, Tong; Amy, Gary L.

2012-01-01

The membrane fouling propensity of natural seawater during forward osmosis was studied. Seawater from the Red Sea was used as the feed in a forward osmosis process while a 2. M sodium chloride solution was used as the draw solution. The process was conducted in a semi-batch mode under two crossflow velocities, 16.7. cm/s and 4.2. cm/s. For the first time reported, silica scaling was found to be the dominant inorganic fouling (scaling) on the surface of membrane active layer during seawater forward osmosis. Polymerization of dissolved silica was the major mechanism for the formation of silica scaling. After ten batches of seawater forward osmosis, the membrane surface was covered by a fouling layer of assorted polymerized silica clusters and natural organic matter, especially biopolymers. Moreover, the absorbed biopolymers also provided bacterial attachment sites. The accumulated organic fouling could be partially removed by water flushing while the polymerized silica was difficult to remove. The rate of flux decline was about 53% with a crossflow velocity of 16.7. cm/s while reaching more than 70% with a crossflow velocity of 4.2. cm/s. Both concentration polarization and fouling played roles in the decrease of flux. The salt rejection was stable at about 98% during seawater forward osmosis. In addition, an almost complete rejection of natural organic matter was attained. The results from this study are valuable for the design and development of a successful protocol for a pretreatment process before seawater forward osmosis and a cleaning method for fouled membranes. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Influences of mechanical pretreatment on the non-biological treatment of municipal wastewater by forward osmosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Hey, Tobias; Zarebska, Agata; Bajraktari, Niada; Vogel, Jörg; Hélix-Nielsen, Claus; la Cour Jansen, Jes; Jönsson, Karin

2017-09-01

Municipal wastewater treatment involves mechanical, biological and chemical treatment steps for protecting the environment from adverse effects. The biological treatment step consumes the most energy and can create greenhouse gases. This study investigates municipal wastewater treatment without the biological treatment step, including the effects of different pretreatment configurations, for example, direct membrane filtration before forward osmosis. Forward osmosis was tested using raw wastewater and wastewater subjected to different types of mechanical pretreatment, for example, microsieving and microfiltration permeation, as a potential technology for municipal wastewater treatment. Forward osmosis was performed using Aquaporin Inside™ and Hydration Technologies Inc. (HTI) membranes with NaCl as the draw solution. Both types of forward osmosis membranes were tested in parallel for the different types of pretreated feed and evaluated in terms of water flux and solute rejection, that is, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD 7 ) and total and soluble phosphorus contents. The Aquaporin and HTI membranes achieved a stable water flux with rejection rates of more than 96% for BOD 7 and total and soluble phosphorus, regardless of the type of mechanical pretreated wastewater considered. This result indicates that forward osmosis membranes can tolerate exposure to municipal waste water and that the permeate can fulfil the Swedish discharge limits.

Systems Genetics and Transcriptomics of Feed Efficiency in Dairy Cattle

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salleh, Suraya Binti Mohamad; Hoglund, J.; Løvendahl, P.

Feed is the largest variable cost in milk production industries, thus improving feed efficiency will give better use of resources. This project works closely on definitions of feed efficiency in dairy cattle and uses advanced integrated genomics, bioinformatics and systems biology methods linking......-hydroxybutyrates, Triacylglyceride and urea. Feed efficiency, namely Residual Feed Intake and Kleiber Ratio based on daily feed or dry matter intake, body weight and milk production records also will be calculated. The bovine RNAseq gene expression data will be analyzed using statistical-bioinformatics and systems biology...... partitioning and deliver predictive biomarkers for feed efficiency in cattle. This study will also contribute to systems genomic prediction or selection models including the information on potential causal genes / SNPs or their functional modules....

Linked data meets ontology matching: enhancing data linking through ontology alignments

OpenAIRE

Scharffe , François; Euzenat , Jérôme

2011-01-01

scharffe2011b; International audience; The Web of data consists of publishing data on the Web in such a way that they can be connected together and interpreted. It is thus critical to establish links between these data, both for the Web of data and for the Semantic Web that it contributes to feed. We consider here the various techniques which have been developed for that purpose and analyze their commonalities and differences. This provides a general framework that the diverse data linking sy...

On the optimal design of forward osmosis desalination systems with NH3-CO2-H2O solutions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gazzani, Matteo; Pérez-Calvo, José Francisco; Sutter, Daniel; Mazzotti, Marco

2017-01-01

Membrane-based forward osmosis, especially when NH3-CO2-H2O mixtures are adopted as draw solutions, is a promising new process for clean water production, including seawater desalination and wastewater treatment. In such a process, water is first removed from the feed (e.g. seawater) by exploiting

Fungal Profile and Aflatoxin Contamination in Poultry Feeds Sold in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Aflatoxin contamination of animal feeds is common and widely spread, especially in the tropics, due to the ubiquity of the producing fungi. The detection of aflatoxin in five samples of animal feed was carried out; using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Samples were taken from five different areas in Abeokuta.

Hubs and spokes of the lateral hypothalamus: cell types, circuits and behaviour

Science.gov (United States)

Bonnavion, Patricia; Mickelsen, Laura E.; Fujita, Akie; de Lecea, Luis

2016-01-01

Abstract The hypothalamus is among the most phylogenetically conserved regions in the vertebrate brain, reflecting its critical role in maintaining physiological and behavioural homeostasis. By integrating signals arising from both the brain and periphery, it governs a litany of behaviourally important functions essential for survival. In particular, the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) is central to the orchestration of sleep–wake states, feeding, energy balance and motivated behaviour. Underlying these diverse functions is a heterogeneous assembly of cell populations typically defined by neurochemical markers, such as the well‐described neuropeptides hypocretin/orexin and melanin‐concentrating hormone. However, anatomical and functional evidence suggests a rich diversity of other cell populations with complex neurochemical profiles that include neuropeptides, receptors and components of fast neurotransmission. Collectively, the LHA acts as a hub for the integration of diverse central and peripheral signals and, through complex local and long‐range output circuits, coordinates adaptive behavioural responses to the environment. Despite tremendous progress in our understanding of the LHA, defining the identity of functionally discrete LHA cell types, and their roles in driving complex behaviour, remain significant challenges in the field. In this review, we discuss advances in our understanding of the neurochemical and cellular heterogeneity of LHA neurons and the recent application of powerful new techniques, such as opto‐ and chemogenetics, in defining the role of LHA circuits in feeding, reward, arousal and stress. From pioneering work to recent developments, we review how the interrogation of LHA cells and circuits is contributing to a mechanistic understanding of how the LHA coordinates complex behaviour. PMID:27302606

Quantum circuit behaviour

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poulton, D.

1989-09-01

Single electron tunnelling in multiply connected weak link systems is considered. Using a second quantised approach the tunnel current, in both normal and superconducting systems, using perturbation theory, is derived. The tunnel currents are determined as a function of an Aharanov-Bohm phase (acquired by the electrons). Using these results, the multiply connected system is then discussed when coupled to a resonant LC circuit. The resulting dynamics of this composite system are then determined. In the superconducting case the results are compared and contrasted with flux mode behaviour seen in large superconducting weak link rings. Systems in which the predicted dynamics may be seen are also discussed. In analogy to the electron tunnelling analysis, the tunnelling of magnetic flux quanta through the weak link is also considered. Here, the voltage across the weak link, due to flux tunnelling, is determined as a function of an externally applied current. This is done for both singly and multiply connected flux systems. The results are compared and contrasted with charge mode behaviour seen in superconducting weak link systems. Finally, the behaviour of simple quantum fluids is considered when subject to an external rotation. Using a microscopic analysis it is found that the microscopic quantum behaviour of the particles is manifest on a macroscopic level. Results are derived for bosonic, fermionic and BCS pair-type systems. The connection between flux quantisation in electromagnetic systems is also made. Using these results, the dynamics of such a quantum fluid is considered when coupled to a rotating torsional oscillator. The results are compared with those found in SQUID devices. A model is also presented which discusses the possible excited state dynamics of such a fluid. (author)

Association between prolonged breast-feeding and early childhood caries: a hierarchical approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Nunes, Ana Margarida Melo; Alves, Claudia Maria Coelho; Borba de Araújo, Fernando; Ortiz, Tânia Mara Lopes; Ribeiro, Marizélia Rodrigues Costa; Silva, Antônio Augusto Moura da; Ribeiro, Cecília Claudia Costa

2012-12-01

This study was conducted to investigate the association between prolonged breastfeeding and early childhood caries(ECC) with adjustment for important confounders, using hieraschical approach. This retrospective cohort study involved 260 low-income children (18-42 months). The number of decayed teeth was used as a measure of caries. Following a theoretical framework, the hierarchical model was built in a forward fashion, by adding the following levels in succession: level 1: age; level 2: social variables; level 3: health variables; level 4: behavioral variables; level 5: oral hygiene-related variables; level 6: oral hygiene quality measured by visible plaque; and level 7: contamination by mutans streptococci. Sequential forward multiple Poisson regression analysis was employed. Breast-feeding was not a risk factor for ECC after adjustment for some confounders (incidence density ratio, 1.15; 95% confidence interval, 0.84-1.59, P = 0.363). Prolonged breast-feeding was not a risk factor for ECC while age, high sucrose comption between main meals and the quality of oral higiene were associated with disease in children. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Forward optical glory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nussenzveig, H.M.

Forward optical glory effects in Mie scattering are displayed here for the first time. These effects include regular oscillations in Mie efficiency factors and characteristic deviations from zero polarization in near-forward scattering which are observable for real refractive indices near √2 and 2. Complex angular momentum theory predicts the period of oscillation correctly and shows the important role played by surface waves with shortcuts through the sphere. three possible types of experiments for detecting the forward glory are proposed, involving measurements of extinction, radiation pressure, and polarization in near-forward scattering. (Author) [pt

Technical Study on Improvement of Endurance Capability of Limit Short-circuit Current of Charge Control SMART Meter

Science.gov (United States)

Li, W. W.; Du, Z. Z.; Yuan, R. m.; Xiong, D. Z.; Shi, E. W.; Lu, G. N.; Dai, Z. Y.; Chen, X. Q.; Jiang, Z. Y.; Lv, Y. G.

2017-10-01

Smart meter represents the development direction of energy-saving smart grid in the future. The load switch, one of the core parts of smart meter, should be of high reliability, safety and endurance capability of limit short-circuit current. For this reason, this paper discusses the quick simulation of relationship between attraction and counterforce of load switch without iteration, establishes dual response surface model of attraction and counterforce and optimizes the design scheme of load switch for charge control smart meter, thus increasing electromagnetic attraction and spring counterforce. In this way, this paper puts forward a method to improve the withstand capacity of limit short-circuit current.

Signal transfer within a cultured asymmetric cortical neuron circuit.

Science.gov (United States)

Isomura, Takuya; Shimba, Kenta; Takayama, Yuzo; Takeuchi, Akimasa; Kotani, Kiyoshi; Jimbo, Yasuhiko

2015-12-01

Simplified neuronal circuits are required for investigating information representation in nervous systems and for validating theoretical neural network models. Here, we developed patterned neuronal circuits using micro fabricated devices, comprising a micro-well array bonded to a microelectrode-array substrate. The micro-well array consisted of micrometre-scale wells connected by tunnels, all contained within a silicone slab called a micro-chamber. The design of the micro-chamber confined somata to the wells and allowed axons to grow through the tunnels bidirectionally but with a designed, unidirectional bias. We guided axons into the point of the arrow structure where one of the two tunnel entrances is located, making that the preferred direction. When rat cortical neurons were cultured in the wells, their axons grew through the tunnels and connected to neurons in adjoining wells. Unidirectional burst transfers and other asymmetric signal-propagation phenomena were observed via the substrate-embedded electrodes. Seventy-nine percent of burst transfers were in the forward direction. We also observed rapid propagation of activity from sites of local electrical stimulation, and significant effects of inhibitory synapse blockade on bursting activity. These results suggest that this simple, substrate-controlled neuronal circuit can be applied to develop in vitro models of the function of cortical microcircuits or deep neural networks, better to elucidate the laws governing the dynamics of neuronal networks.

Signal transfer within a cultured asymmetric cortical neuron circuit

Science.gov (United States)

Isomura, Takuya; Shimba, Kenta; Takayama, Yuzo; Takeuchi, Akimasa; Kotani, Kiyoshi; Jimbo, Yasuhiko

2015-12-01

Objective. Simplified neuronal circuits are required for investigating information representation in nervous systems and for validating theoretical neural network models. Here, we developed patterned neuronal circuits using micro fabricated devices, comprising a micro-well array bonded to a microelectrode-array substrate. Approach. The micro-well array consisted of micrometre-scale wells connected by tunnels, all contained within a silicone slab called a micro-chamber. The design of the micro-chamber confined somata to the wells and allowed axons to grow through the tunnels bidirectionally but with a designed, unidirectional bias. We guided axons into the point of the arrow structure where one of the two tunnel entrances is located, making that the preferred direction. Main results. When rat cortical neurons were cultured in the wells, their axons grew through the tunnels and connected to neurons in adjoining wells. Unidirectional burst transfers and other asymmetric signal-propagation phenomena were observed via the substrate-embedded electrodes. Seventy-nine percent of burst transfers were in the forward direction. We also observed rapid propagation of activity from sites of local electrical stimulation, and significant effects of inhibitory synapse blockade on bursting activity. Significance. These results suggest that this simple, substrate-controlled neuronal circuit can be applied to develop in vitro models of the function of cortical microcircuits or deep neural networks, better to elucidate the laws governing the dynamics of neuronal networks.

Chronic loss of melanin-concentrating hormone affects motivational aspects of feeding in the rat.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joram D Mul

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Current epidemic obesity levels apply great medical and financial pressure to the strenuous economy of obesity-prone cultures, and neuropeptides involved in body weight regulation are regarded as attractive targets for a possible treatment of obesity in humans. The lateral hypothalamus and the nucleus accumbens shell (AcbSh form a hypothalamic-limbic neuropeptide feeding circuit mediated by Melanin-Concentrating Hormone (MCH. MCH promotes feeding behavior via MCH receptor-1 (MCH1R in the AcbSh, although this relationship has not been fully characterized. Given the AcbSh mediates reinforcing properties of food, we hypothesized that MCH modulates motivational aspects of feeding.Here we show that chronic loss of the rat MCH-precursor Pmch decreased food intake predominantly via a reduction in meal size during rat development and reduced high-fat food-reinforced operant responding in adult rats. Moreover, acute AcbSh administration of Neuropeptide-GE and Neuropeptide-EI (NEI, both additional neuropeptides derived from Pmch, or chronic intracerebroventricular infusion of NEI, did not affect feeding behavior in adult pmch(+/+ or pmch(-/- rats. However, acute administration of MCH to the AcbSh of adult pmch(-/- rats elevated feeding behavior towards wild type levels. Finally, adult pmch(-/- rats showed increased ex vivo electrically evoked dopamine release and increased limbic dopamine transporter levels, indicating that chronic loss of Pmch in the rat affects the limbic dopamine system.Our findings support the MCH-MCH1R system as an amplifier of consummatory behavior, confirming this system as a possible target for the treatment of obesity. We propose that MCH-mediated signaling in the AcbSh positively mediates motivational aspects of feeding behavior. Thereby it provides a crucial signal by which hypothalamic neural circuits control energy balance and guide limbic brain areas to enhance motivational or incentive-related aspects of food consumption.

Ultra-low power integrated circuit design circuits, systems, and applications

CERN Document Server

Li, Dongmei; Wang, Zhihua

2014-01-01

This book describes the design of CMOS circuits for ultra-low power consumption including analog, radio frequency (RF), and digital signal processing circuits (DSP). The book addresses issues from circuit and system design to production design, and applies the ultra-low power circuits described to systems for digital hearing aids and capsule endoscope devices. Provides a valuable introduction to ultra-low power circuit design, aimed at practicing design engineers; Describes all key building blocks of ultra-low power circuits, from a systems perspective; Applies circuits and systems described to real product examples such as hearing aids and capsule endoscopes.

Impact of spacer thickness on biofouling in forward osmosis

KAUST Repository

Valladares Linares, Rodrigo

2014-06-01

Forward osmosis (FO) indirect desalination systems integrate wastewater recovery with seawater desalination. Niche applications for FO systems have been reported recently, due to the demonstrated advantages compared to conventional high-pressure membrane processes such as nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO). Among them, wastewater recovery has been identified to be particularly suitable for practical applications. However, biofouling in FO membranes has rarely been studied in applications involving wastewater effluents. Feed spacers separating the membrane sheets in cross-flow systems play an important role in biofilm formation. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of feed spacer thickness (28, 31 and 46mil) on biofouling development and membrane performance in a FO system, using identical cross-flow cells in parallel studies. Flux development, biomass accumulation, fouling localization and composition were determined and analyzed. For all spacer thicknesses, operated at the same feed flow and the same run time, the same amount of biomass was found, while the flux reduction decreased with thicker spacers. These observations are in good agreement with biofouling studies for RO systems, considering the key differences between FO and RO. Our findings contradict previous cross-flow studies on particulate/colloidal fouling, where higher cross-flow velocities improved system performance. Thicker spacers reduced the impact of biofouling on FO membrane flux. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

Impact of spacer thickness on biofouling in forward osmosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Valladares Linares, R; Bucs, Sz S; Li, Z; AbuGhdeeb, M; Amy, G; Vrouwenvelder, J S

2014-06-15

Forward osmosis (FO) indirect desalination systems integrate wastewater recovery with seawater desalination. Niche applications for FO systems have been reported recently, due to the demonstrated advantages compared to conventional high-pressure membrane processes such as nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO). Among them, wastewater recovery has been identified to be particularly suitable for practical applications. However, biofouling in FO membranes has rarely been studied in applications involving wastewater effluents. Feed spacers separating the membrane sheets in cross-flow systems play an important role in biofilm formation. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of feed spacer thickness (28, 31 and 46 mil) on biofouling development and membrane performance in a FO system, using identical cross-flow cells in parallel studies. Flux development, biomass accumulation, fouling localization and composition were determined and analyzed. For all spacer thicknesses, operated at the same feed flow and the same run time, the same amount of biomass was found, while the flux reduction decreased with thicker spacers. These observations are in good agreement with biofouling studies for RO systems, considering the key differences between FO and RO. Our findings contradict previous cross-flow studies on particulate/colloidal fouling, where higher cross-flow velocities improved system performance. Thicker spacers reduced the impact of biofouling on FO membrane flux. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of spacer thickness on biofouling in forward osmosis

KAUST Repository

Valladares Linares, Rodrigo; Bucs, Szilard; Li, Z.; AbuGhdeeb, M.; Amy, Gary L.; Vrouwenvelder, Johannes S.

2014-01-01

Forward osmosis (FO) indirect desalination systems integrate wastewater recovery with seawater desalination. Niche applications for FO systems have been reported recently, due to the demonstrated advantages compared to conventional high-pressure membrane processes such as nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO). Among them, wastewater recovery has been identified to be particularly suitable for practical applications. However, biofouling in FO membranes has rarely been studied in applications involving wastewater effluents. Feed spacers separating the membrane sheets in cross-flow systems play an important role in biofilm formation. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of feed spacer thickness (28, 31 and 46mil) on biofouling development and membrane performance in a FO system, using identical cross-flow cells in parallel studies. Flux development, biomass accumulation, fouling localization and composition were determined and analyzed. For all spacer thicknesses, operated at the same feed flow and the same run time, the same amount of biomass was found, while the flux reduction decreased with thicker spacers. These observations are in good agreement with biofouling studies for RO systems, considering the key differences between FO and RO. Our findings contradict previous cross-flow studies on particulate/colloidal fouling, where higher cross-flow velocities improved system performance. Thicker spacers reduced the impact of biofouling on FO membrane flux. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

HERA Broadband Feed Design for Low-Frequency Radio Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Garza, Sierra; Trung, Vincent; Ewall-Wice, Aaron Michael; Li, Jianshu; Hewitt, Jacqueline; Riley, Daniel; Bradley, Richard F.; Makhija, Krishna

2018-01-01

As part of the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) project, we are designing a broadband low-frequency radio feed to extend the bandwidth from 100-200 MHz to 50-220 MHz. By extending the lower-limit to 50 MHz, we hope to detect the signatures of the first black holes heating the hydrogen gas in the intergalactic medium.The isolation of a very faint signal from vastly brighter foregrounds sets strict requirements on antenna spectral smoothness, polarization purity, forward gain, and internal reflections. We are currently working to meet these requirements with a broad-band sinuous antenna feed suspended over the 14-m parabolic HERA dish, using a combination of measurements and simulations to verify the performance of our design.A sinuous feed has been designed and simulated with Computer Simulation Technology (CST) software. We will present the construction of a prototype sinuous antenna and measurements of its reflection coefficient, S11, including laboratory characterization of baluns. Our measurements agree well with the CST simulations of the antenna’s performance, giving us confidence in our ability to model the feed and ensure that it meets the requirements of a 21cm cosmology measurement.

Conjugate-Gradient Algorithms For Dynamics Of Manipulators

Science.gov (United States)

Fijany, Amir; Scheid, Robert E.

1993-01-01

Algorithms for serial and parallel computation of forward dynamics of multiple-link robotic manipulators by conjugate-gradient method developed. Parallel algorithms have potential for speedup of computations on multiple linked, specialized processors implemented in very-large-scale integrated circuits. Such processors used to stimulate dynamics, possibly faster than in real time, for purposes of planning and control.

Solid-state circuits

CERN Document Server

Pridham, G J

2013-01-01

Solid-State Circuits provides an introduction to the theory and practice underlying solid-state circuits, laying particular emphasis on field effect transistors and integrated circuits. Topics range from construction and characteristics of semiconductor devices to rectification and power supplies, low-frequency amplifiers, sine- and square-wave oscillators, and high-frequency effects and circuits. Black-box equivalent circuits of bipolar transistors, physical equivalent circuits of bipolar transistors, and equivalent circuits of field effect transistors are also covered. This volume is divided

Development of a construction and manufacturing techniques of complementary transistors for the radiation tolerant integrated circuits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gorban A. N.

2011-06-01

Full Text Available The construction of vertical complementary transistors with the full dielectric isolation is developed, new technolo-gical processes of creation on their basis the radiation tolerant integrated circuits with parameters which provide low values of a leakage current along with the considerable values of a forward current and breakdown voltage at the information signals exchange frequency of about 500 kHz are developed.

A High Frequency (HF) Inductive Power Transfer Circuit for High Temperature Applications Using SiC Schottky Diodes

Science.gov (United States)

Jordan, Jennifer L.; Ponchak, George E.; Spry, David J.; Neudeck, Philip G.

2018-01-01

Wireless sensors placed in high temperature environments, such as aircraft engines, are desirable to reduce the mass and complexity of routing wires. While communication with the sensors is straight forward, providing power wirelessly is still a challenge. This paper introduces an inductive wireless power transfer circuit incorporating SiC Schottky diodes and its operation from room temperature (25 C) to 500 C.

Hydroclimate Forecasts in Ethiopia: Benefits, Impediments, and Ways Forward

Science.gov (United States)

Block, P. J.

2014-12-01

Numerous hydroclimate forecast models, tools, and guidance exist for application across Ethiopia and East Africa in the agricultural, water, energy, disasters, and economic sectors. This has resulted from concerted local and international interdisciplinary efforts, yet little evidence exists of rapid forecast uptake and use. We will review projected benefits and gains of seasonal forecast application, impediments, and options for the way forward. Specific case studies regarding floods, agricultural-economic links, and hydropower will be reviewed.

Collective of mechatronics circuit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-02-01

This book is composed of three parts, which deals with mechatronics system about sensor, circuit and motor. The contents of the first part are photo sensor of collector for output, locating detection circuit with photo interrupts, photo sensor circuit with CdS cell and lamp, interface circuit with logic and LED and temperature sensor circuit. The second part deals with oscillation circuit with crystal, C-R oscillation circuit, F-V converter, timer circuit, stability power circuit, DC amp and DC-DC converter. The last part is comprised of bridge server circuit, deformation bridge server, controlling circuit of DC motor, controlling circuit with IC for PLL and driver circuit of stepping motor and driver circuit of Brushless.

Collective of mechatronics circuit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1987-02-15

This book is composed of three parts, which deals with mechatronics system about sensor, circuit and motor. The contents of the first part are photo sensor of collector for output, locating detection circuit with photo interrupts, photo sensor circuit with CdS cell and lamp, interface circuit with logic and LED and temperature sensor circuit. The second part deals with oscillation circuit with crystal, C-R oscillation circuit, F-V converter, timer circuit, stability power circuit, DC amp and DC-DC converter. The last part is comprised of bridge server circuit, deformation bridge server, controlling circuit of DC motor, controlling circuit with IC for PLL and driver circuit of stepping motor and driver circuit of Brushless.

Short-Circuit Characterization of 10 kV 10A 4H-SiC MOSFET

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eni, Emanuel-Petre; Beczkowski, Szymon; Munk-Nielsen, Stig

2016-01-01

The short-circuit capability of a power device is highly relevant for converter design and fault protection. In this paper a 10kV 10A 4H-SiC MOSFET is characterized and its short circuit withstand capability is studied and analyzed at 6 kV DC-link voltage. The test setup for this study is also...... introduced as its design, especially the inductance in the switching loop, can affect the experimental results. The study aims to present insights specific to the device which are different from that of silicon (Si) based devices. During the short-circuit operation, MOSFET saturation current, ID...

Scalable fabrication of self-aligned graphene transistors and circuits on glass.

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Lei; Bai, Jingwei; Cheng, Rui; Zhou, Hailong; Liu, Lixin; Liu, Yuan; Huang, Yu; Duan, Xiangfeng

2012-06-13

Graphene transistors are of considerable interest for radio frequency (rf) applications. High-frequency graphene transistors with the intrinsic cutoff frequency up to 300 GHz have been demonstrated. However, the graphene transistors reported to date only exhibit a limited extrinsic cutoff frequency up to about 10 GHz, and functional graphene circuits demonstrated so far can merely operate in the tens of megahertz regime, far from the potential the graphene transistors could offer. Here we report a scalable approach to fabricate self-aligned graphene transistors with the extrinsic cutoff frequency exceeding 50 GHz and graphene circuits that can operate in the 1-10 GHz regime. The devices are fabricated on a glass substrate through a self-aligned process by using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) grown graphene and a dielectrophoretic assembled nanowire gate array. The self-aligned process allows the achievement of unprecedented performance in CVD graphene transistors with a highest transconductance of 0.36 mS/μm. The use of an insulating substrate minimizes the parasitic capacitance and has therefore enabled graphene transistors with a record-high extrinsic cutoff frequency (> 50 GHz) achieved to date. The excellent extrinsic cutoff frequency readily allows configuring the graphene transistors into frequency doubling or mixing circuits functioning in the 1-10 GHz regime, a significant advancement over previous reports (∼20 MHz). The studies open a pathway to scalable fabrication of high-speed graphene transistors and functional circuits and represent a significant step forward to graphene based radio frequency devices.

Experimental Device for Learning of Logical Circuit Design using Integrated Circuits

OpenAIRE

石橋, 孝昭

2012-01-01

This paper presents an experimental device for learning of logical circuit design using integrated circuits and breadboards. The experimental device can be made at a low cost and can be used for many subjects such as logical circuits, computer engineering, basic electricity, electrical circuits and electronic circuits. The proposed device is effective to learn the logical circuits than the usual lecture.

Nuclear Power Plants Secondary Circuit Piping Wall-Thinning Management in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhong Zhimin; Li Jinsong; Zheng Hui

2012-01-01

Research and field feedbacks showed that nuclear power plants secondary circuit steam and water piping are more sensitive than that of fuel plant to the attack of flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC). FAC, Liquid droplet impingement or cavitation erosion will cause secondary circuit piping local wall-thinning in NPPs. Without effective management, the wall-thinning in those high energy piping will cause leakage or pipe rupture during nuclear power plant operation, more seriously cause unplanned shut down, injured and fatality, or heavy economic losses. This paper briefly introduces the history, development and state of the art of secondary circuit piping wall-thinning management in China NPPs. Then, the effectiveness of inspection grid size selecting was analyzed in detail based on field feedbacks. EPRI recommendatory inspection grid, JSME code recommendatory grid and plant specific inspection grid were compared and the detection probabilities of local wall-thinning were estimated. Then, the development and application of NPPs Secondary Circuit Piping Wall Thickness Management Information System, developed, operated and maintained by our team, was briefly introduced and the statistical analysis results of 11 PWR units were shared. It was conclude that the long term, systemic, effective wall-thinning management strategy of high energy piping was very important to the safety and economic operation of NPPs. Furthermore, take into account the actual situation of China nuclear power plants, some advice and suggestion on developing effective nuclear power plant secondary circuit steam and water piping wall-thinning management system are put forward from code development, design and manufacture, operation management, pipeline and locations selection, inspection method selection and application, thickness measurement result evaluation, residual life predication and decision making, feedbacks usage, personnel training and etc. (author)

Activity-regulated genes as mediators of neural circuit plasticity.

Science.gov (United States)

Leslie, Jennifer H; Nedivi, Elly

2011-08-01

Modifications of neuronal circuits allow the brain to adapt and change with experience. This plasticity manifests during development and throughout life, and can be remarkably long lasting. Evidence has linked activity-regulated gene expression to the long-term structural and electrophysiological adaptations that take place during developmental critical periods, learning and memory, and alterations to sensory map representations in the adult. In all these cases, the cellular response to neuronal activity integrates multiple tightly coordinated mechanisms to precisely orchestrate long-lasting, functional and structural changes in brain circuits. Experience-dependent plasticity is triggered when neuronal excitation activates cellular signaling pathways from the synapse to the nucleus that initiate new programs of gene expression. The protein products of activity-regulated genes then work via a diverse array of cellular mechanisms to modify neuronal functional properties. Synaptic strengthening or weakening can reweight existing circuit connections, while structural changes including synapse addition and elimination create new connections. Posttranscriptional regulatory mechanisms, often also dependent on activity, further modulate activity-regulated gene transcript and protein function. Thus, activity-regulated genes implement varied forms of structural and functional plasticity to fine-tune brain circuit wiring. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effect of feeding position and body size on the capacity of small ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The effect of feeding position and body size on the capacity of small ruminants to reach, for food when fed through barriers. ... The barrier allowed the neck to pass through, but not the shoulders. It was hypothesized that goats would have larger reach than sheep and that for each species, horizontal reach forwards, F, ...

Feed-Forward Inhibition of CD73 and Upregulation of Adenosine Deaminase Contribute to the Loss of Adenosine Neuromodulation in Postinflammatory Ileitis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cátia Vieira

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Purinergic signalling is remarkably plastic during gastrointestinal inflammation. Thus, selective drugs targeting the “purinome” may be helpful for inflammatory gastrointestinal diseases. The myenteric neuromuscular transmission of healthy individuals is fine-tuned and controlled by adenosine acting on A2A excitatory receptors. Here, we investigated the neuromodulatory role of adenosine in TNBS-inflamed longitudinal muscle-myenteric plexus of the rat ileum. Seven-day postinflammation ileitis lacks adenosine neuromodulation, which may contribute to acceleration of gastrointestinal transit. The loss of adenosine neuromodulation results from deficient accumulation of the nucleoside at the myenteric synapse despite the fact that the increases in ATP release were observed. Disparity between ATP outflow and adenosine deficit in postinflammatory ileitis is ascribed to feed-forward inhibition of ecto-5′-nucleotidase/CD73 by high extracellular ATP and/or ADP. Redistribution of NTPDase2, but not of NTPDase3, from ganglion cell bodies to myenteric nerve terminals leads to preferential ADP accumulation from released ATP, thus contributing to the prolonged inhibition of muscle-bound ecto-5′-nucleotidase/CD73 and to the delay of adenosine formation at the inflamed neuromuscular synapse. On the other hand, depression of endogenous adenosine accumulation may also occur due to enhancement of adenosine deaminase activity. Both membrane-bound and soluble forms of ecto-5′-nucleotidase/CD73 and adenosine deaminase were detected in the inflamed myenteric plexus. These findings provide novel therapeutic targets for inflammatory gut motility disorders.

Electroacoustic oscillations in the LEP SC. cavities

CERN Document Server

Boussard, Daniel; Tückmantel, Joachim

1996-01-01

The LEP superconducting cavities have been plagued by electroacoustic oscillations. Tests have been done to eliminate these by a special feed-back loop in the tuning circuit as well as a feed-forward path, but they could only be eliminated safely up to the design field by running the cavities close to tune neglecting beam-loading compensation. This technique proved successful during the first LEP2 test run at 70 GeV. The mechanism and essential parameters driving these oscillations have been analysed as well as the corresponding stronger loading of the power coupler.

WWER-440 reactor emergency cooling using `feed and bleed` procedure; Avarijnoe raskholazhivanie reaktora WWER-440 s pomoshtyu protsedury `podpitka-produvka`

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marinov, M; Dimitrov, B; Popov, E; Avdzhiev, K [Energoproekt, Sofia (Bulgaria)

1996-12-31

A procedure for emergency cooling in the case of total loss of coolant water is proposed. `Feed and bleed` procedure is applied by the operator and its main goal is to maintain a predefined level in the primary circuit and low pressure and temperature in the reactor. Two extreme cases are considered: 1. the loss of coolant is combined with a blackout; 2. the loss of feeding water is due to a general failure in the control room. The accidents are simulated and the relevant time intervals are estimated. After a simulated operator action following the procedure the reactor temperature is evaluated to 147{sup o} C and the primary circuit pressure to 10 bar. 1 ref., 4 figs., 2 tabs.

Exploration and design of smart home circuit based on ZigBee

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Huirong

2018-05-01

To apply ZigBee technique in smart home circuit design, in the hardware design link of ZigBee node, TI Company's ZigBee wireless communication chip CC2530 was used to complete the design of ZigBee RF module circuit and peripheral circuit. In addition, the function demand and the overall scheme of the intelligent system based on smart home furnishing were proposed. Finally, the smart home system was built by combining ZigBee network and intelligent gateway. The function realization, reliability and power consumption of ZigBee network were tested. The results showed that ZigBee technology was applied to smart home system, making it have some advantages in terms of flexibility, scalability, power consumption and indoor aesthetics. To sum up, the system has high application value.

Color Coding of Circuit Quantities in Introductory Circuit Analysis Instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Reisslein, Jana; Johnson, Amy M.; Reisslein, Martin

2015-01-01

Learning the analysis of electrical circuits represented by circuit diagrams is often challenging for novice students. An open research question in electrical circuit analysis instruction is whether color coding of the mathematical symbols (variables) that denote electrical quantities can improve circuit analysis learning. The present study…

Power distribution studies for CMS forward tracker

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Todri, A.; Turqueti, M.; Rivera, R.; Kwan, S.

2009-01-01

The Electronic Systems Engineering Department of the Computing Division at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory is carrying out R and D investigations for the upgrade of the power distribution system of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Pixel Tracker at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Among the goals of this effort is that of analyzing the feasibility of alternative powering schemes for the forward tracker, including DC to DC voltage conversion techniques using commercially available and custom switching regulator circuits. Tests of these approaches are performed using the PSI46 pixel readout chip currently in use at the CMS Tracker. Performance measures of the detector electronics will include pixel noise and threshold dispersion results. Issues related to susceptibility to switching noise will be studied and presented. In this paper, we describe the current power distribution network of the CMS Tracker, study the implications of the proposed upgrade with DC-DC converters powering scheme and perform noise susceptibility analysis.

Linking topography to tonotopy in the mouse auditory thalamocortical circuit

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hackett, Troy A; Rinaldi Barkat, Tania; O'Brien, Barbara M J

2011-01-01

The mouse sensory neocortex is reported to lack several hallmark features of topographic organization such as ocular dominance and orientation columns in primary visual cortex or fine-scale tonotopy in primary auditory cortex (AI). Here, we re-examined the question of auditory functional topography...... the tonotopic axis in the slice produced an orderly shift of voltage-sensitive dye (VSD) signals along the AI tonotopic axis, demonstrating topography in the mouse thalamocortical circuit that is preserved in the slice. However, compared with BF maps of neuronal spiking activity, the topographic order...... of subthreshold VSD maps was reduced in layer IV and even further degraded in layer II/III. Therefore, the precision of AI topography varies according to the source and layer of the mapping signal. Our findings further bridge the gap between in vivo and in vitro approaches for the detailed cellular study...

Design of an improved RCD buffer circuit for full bridge circuit

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Wenyan; Wei, Xueye; Du, Yongbo; Hu, Liang; Zhang, Liwei; Zhang, Ou

2017-05-01

In the full bridge inverter circuit, when the switch tube suddenly opened or closed, the inductor current changes rapidly. Due to the existence of parasitic inductance of the main circuit. Therefore, the surge voltage between drain and source of the switch tube can be generated, which will have an impact on the switch and the output voltage. In order to ab sorb the surge voltage. An improve RCD buffer circuit is proposed in the paper. The peak energy will be absorbed through the buffer capacitor of the circuit. The part energy feedback to the power supply, another part release through the resistor in the form of heat, and the circuit can absorb the voltage spikes. This paper analyzes the process of the improved RCD snubber circuit, According to the specific parameters of the main circuit, a reasonable formula for calculating the resistance capacitance is given. A simulation model will be modulated in Multisim, which compared the waveform of tube voltage and the output waveform of the circuit without snubber circuit with the improved RCD snubber circuit. By comparing and analyzing, it is proved that the improved buffer circuit can absorb surge voltage. Finally, experiments are demonstrated to validate that the correctness of the RC formula and the improved RCD snubber circuit.

Analog circuit design designing dynamic circuit response

CERN Document Server

Feucht, Dennis

2010-01-01

This second volume, Designing Dynamic Circuit Response builds upon the first volume Designing Amplifier Circuits by extending coverage to include reactances and their time- and frequency-related behavioral consequences.

A Design Of Feeding Network For A Dual-Linear Polarization, Stacked, Probe-Fed Microstrip Patch Antenna Array

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jaworski, G.; Krozer, Viktor

2004-01-01

Components of multilayer feed network are presented for application in broad-band dual-linear polarized stacked C-band antenna. Measurement results of wide band matching circuits and different types of power divider networks constituting parts of BFN demonstrate wideband operation. Suitable...

General oscillation damping analysis of the L-C filter circuit in the high-power rectifying power supply

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Weihua; Chen Yonghao; Wu Junshuan; Kuang Guangli

1998-06-01

Rectifier circuit is the most popular converter. For the ripple demand of high-power load, the L-C filter with invert 'L' type has been used universally. Due to the influence of the second-order link, damped oscillation will occur with proper condition while the circuit state is changed. The ideal cascade damping condition and the parallel one can be obtained easily. Generally, the damping condition of the step response of the L-C filter circuit is induced, and the discussion is given

Hovering and forward flight energetics in Anna's and Allen's hummingbirds.

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Christopher James; Dudley, Robert

2010-01-01

Aerodynamic theory predicts that the mechanical costs of flight are lowest at intermediate flight speeds; metabolic costs of flight should trend similarly if muscle efficiency is constant. We measured metabolic rates for nine Anna's hummingbirds (Calypte anna) and two male Allen's hummingbirds (Selasphorus sasin) feeding during flight from a free-standing mask over a range of airspeeds. Ten of 11 birds exhibited higher metabolic costs during hovering than during flight at intermediate airspeeds, whereas one individual exhibited comparable costs at hovering and during forward flight up to speeds of approximately 7 m s(-1). Flight costs of all hummingbirds increased at higher airspeeds. Relative to Anna's hummingbirds, Allen's hummingbirds exhibited deeper minima in the power curve, possibly due to higher wing loadings and greater associated costs of induced drag. Although feeding at a mask in an airstream may reduce body drag and, thus, the contributions of parasite power to overall metabolic expenditure, these results suggest that hummingbird power curves are characterized by energetic minima at intermediate speeds relative to hovering costs.

Sensor module design and forward and inverse kinematics analysis of 6-DOF sorting transferring robot

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Huiying; Lin, Jiajian; Liu, Lei; Tao, Meng

2017-09-01

To meet the demand of high strength express sorting, it is significant to design a robot with multiple degrees of freedom that can sort and transfer. This paper uses infrared sensor, color sensor and pressure sensor to receive external information, combine the plan of motion path in advance and the feedback information from the sensors, then write relevant program. In accordance with these, we can design a 6-DOF robot that can realize multi-angle seizing. In order to obtain characteristics of forward and inverse kinematics, this paper describes the coordinate directions and pose estimation by the D-H parameter method and closed solution. On the basis of the solution of forward and inverse kinematics, geometric parameters of links and link parameters are optimized in terms of application requirements. In this way, this robot can identify route, sort and transfer.

Intergenerational impact of maternal obesity and postnatal feeding practices on pediatric obesity

OpenAIRE

Thompson, Amanda L.

2013-01-01

The postnatal feeding practices of obese and overweight mothers may place their children at particular risk for the development of obesity through shared biology and family environments. This paper reviews the feeding practices of obese mothers, describes potential mechanisms linking maternal feeding behaviors to child obesity risk, and highlights potential avenues for intervention. This review documents that supporting breastfeeding, improving the food choices of obese women, and encouraging...

Fertiliser drawn forward osmosis process: Pilot-scale desalination of mine impaired water for fertigation

KAUST Repository

Phuntsho, Sherub; Kim, Jung Eun; Johir, Mohammad AH; Hong, Seungkwan; Li, Zhenyu; Ghaffour, NorEddine; Leiknes, TorOve; Shon, Ho Kyong

2016-01-01

The pilot-scale fertiliser driven forward osmosis (FDFO) and nanofiltration (NF) system was operated in the field for about six months for the desalination of saline groundwater from the coal mining activities. Long-term operation of the FDFO-NF system indicates that simple hydraulic cleaning could effectively restore the water flux with minimal chemical cleaning frequency. No fouling/scaling issues were encountered with the NF post-treatment process. The study indicates that, FDFO-NF desalination system can produce water quality that meets fertigation standard. This study also however shows that, the diffusion of solutes (both feed and draw) through the cellulose triacetate (CTA) FO membrane could be one of the major issues. The FO feed brine failed to meet the effluent discharge standard for NH4+ and SO42+ (reverse diffusion) and their concentrations are expected to further increase at higher feed recovery rates. Low rejection of feed salts (Na+, Cl−) by FO membrane may result in their gradual build-up in the fertiliser draw solution (DS) in a closed FDFO-NF system eventually affecting the final water quality unless it is balanced by adequate bleeding from the system through NF and re-reverse diffusion towards the FO feed brine. Therefore, FO membrane with higher reverse flux selectivity than the CTA-FO membrane used in this study is necessary for the application of the FDFO desalination process.

Fertiliser drawn forward osmosis process: Pilot-scale desalination of mine impaired water for fertigation

KAUST Repository

Phuntsho, Sherub

2016-02-20

The pilot-scale fertiliser driven forward osmosis (FDFO) and nanofiltration (NF) system was operated in the field for about six months for the desalination of saline groundwater from the coal mining activities. Long-term operation of the FDFO-NF system indicates that simple hydraulic cleaning could effectively restore the water flux with minimal chemical cleaning frequency. No fouling/scaling issues were encountered with the NF post-treatment process. The study indicates that, FDFO-NF desalination system can produce water quality that meets fertigation standard. This study also however shows that, the diffusion of solutes (both feed and draw) through the cellulose triacetate (CTA) FO membrane could be one of the major issues. The FO feed brine failed to meet the effluent discharge standard for NH4+ and SO42+ (reverse diffusion) and their concentrations are expected to further increase at higher feed recovery rates. Low rejection of feed salts (Na+, Cl−) by FO membrane may result in their gradual build-up in the fertiliser draw solution (DS) in a closed FDFO-NF system eventually affecting the final water quality unless it is balanced by adequate bleeding from the system through NF and re-reverse diffusion towards the FO feed brine. Therefore, FO membrane with higher reverse flux selectivity than the CTA-FO membrane used in this study is necessary for the application of the FDFO desalination process.

Membrane-Based Separation of Phenol/Water Mixtures Using Ionically and Covalently Cross-Linked Ethylene-Methacrylic Acid Copolymers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Mixa

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Membrane-based separation of phenol/water mixtures with concentrations of phenol between 3 wt% and 8 wt% in the feed has been performed with nonmodified as well as cross-linked ethylene-methacrylic acid (E-MAA copolymers with different amounts of methacrylic acid. As cross-linking agents, aluminium acetyl acetonate, which leads to ionically cross-linked membranes, and 2,3,5,6-tetramethyl-1,4-phenylene diamine and glycerine digycidether, leading to covalently cross-linked membranes, have been used. Generally, it was found that with increasing phenol content in the feed, the total flux is increasing whereas the enrichment factor is decreasing. Using nonmodified membranes with higher methacrylic acid monomer content in the polymer, lower fluxes and higher enrichment factors were observed. Investigation of different cross-linked membranes showed that with high phenol concentration in the feed, ionic cross-linking seems to be very promising. Furthermore, variation of feed temperature shows that ionically cross-linked membranes reached higher fluxes as well as higher enrichment factors at elevated temperatures. The temperature-dependent data were fitted based on an Arrhenius-type equation, and activation energies for the permeation of phenol and water through the membrane were calculated.

Analog Circuit Design Optimization Based on Evolutionary Algorithms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mansour Barari

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates an evolutionary-based designing system for automated sizing of analog integrated circuits (ICs. Two evolutionary algorithms, genetic algorithm and PSO (Parswal particle swarm optimization algorithm, are proposed to design analog ICs with practical user-defined specifications. On the basis of the combination of HSPICE and MATLAB, the system links circuit performances, evaluated through specific electrical simulation, to the optimization system in the MATLAB environment, for the selected topology. The system has been tested by typical and hard-to-design cases, such as complex analog blocks with stringent design requirements. The results show that the design specifications are closely met. Comparisons with available methods like genetic algorithms show that the proposed algorithm offers important advantages in terms of optimization quality and robustness. Moreover, the algorithm is shown to be efficient.

Parental control over feeding in infancy. Influence of infant weight, appetite and feeding method.

Science.gov (United States)

Fildes, Alison; van Jaarsveld, Cornelia H M; Llewellyn, Clare; Wardle, Jane; Fisher, Abigail

2015-08-01

Parental control over feeding has been linked to child overweight. Parental control behaviours have been assumed to be exogenous to the child, but emerging evidence suggests they are also child-responsive. This study tests the hypothesis that parental control in early infancy is responsive to infant appetite and weight. Participants were 1920 mothers from the Gemini twin cohort, using one randomly selected child per family. Data come from questionnaires completed when the children were approximately 8 months. Mothers completed measures of 'pressure' and 'restriction', reported feeding method (breast- and bottle feeding), rated their infant's appetite during the first 3 months, provided health professional recorded weight measurements, and reported their concerns about their infant's weight. Logistic regression examined predictors of 'pressure' and 'restriction', adjusting for maternal demographics and BMI. Interactions between feeding method and control were also tested. 'Pressure' was associated with lower birth weight (OR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.65-0.97), greater concern about underweight (OR = 1.88, 1.29-2.75), and lower infant appetite (OR = 0.59, 0.47-0.75). 'Restriction' was associated with higher appetite (OR = 1.44, 1.09-1.89) and bottle feeding (OR = 2.86, 2.18-3.75). A significant interaction with feeding method indicated that infants with high appetites were more likely to be restricted only if they were bottle-fed (OR = 1.52, 1.13-2.04). Mothers vary in their levels of control over milk-feeding and this is partly responsive to the infant's characteristics. They tend to pressure infants who are lighter and have a smaller appetite, and restrict infants with larger appetites if they are bottle-fed. Guidance on infant feeding may be better received if it acknowledges that parents respond to infant characteristics in order to achieve their feeding goals. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Parental control over feeding in infancy. Influence of infant weight, appetite and feeding method☆

Science.gov (United States)

Fildes, Alison; van Jaarsveld, Cornelia H.M.; Llewellyn, Clare; Wardle, Jane; Fisher, Abigail

2015-01-01

Background and objective: Parental control over feeding has been linked to child overweight. Parental control behaviours have been assumed to be exogenous to the child, but emerging evidence suggests they are also child-responsive. This study tests the hypothesis that parental control in early infancy is responsive to infant appetite and weight. Subjects and methods: Participants were 1920 mothers from the Gemini twin cohort, using one randomly selected child per family. Data come from questionnaires completed when the children were approximately 8 months. Mothers completed measures of ‘pressure’ and ‘restriction’, reported feeding method (breast- and bottle feeding), rated their infant's appetite during the first 3 months, provided health professional recorded weight measurements, and reported their concerns about their infant's weight. Logistic regression examined predictors of ‘pressure’ and ‘restriction’, adjusting for maternal demographics and BMI. Interactions between feeding method and control were also tested. Results: ‘Pressure’ was associated with lower birth weight (OR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.65–0.97), greater concern about underweight (OR = 1.88, 1.29–2.75), and lower infant appetite (OR = 0.59, 0.47–0.75). ‘Restriction’ was associated with higher appetite (OR = 1.44, 1.09–1.89) and bottle feeding (OR = 2.86, 2.18–3.75). A significant interaction with feeding method indicated that infants with high appetites were more likely to be restricted only if they were bottle-fed (OR = 1.52, 1.13–2.04). Conclusion: Mothers vary in their levels of control over milk-feeding and this is partly responsive to the infant's characteristics. They tend to pressure infants who are lighter and have a smaller appetite, and restrict infants with larger appetites if they are bottle-fed. Guidance on infant feeding may be better received if it acknowledges that parents respond to infant characteristics in order to achieve

Loss of Magel2 impairs the development of hypothalamic Anorexigenic circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Maillard, Julien; Park, Soyoung; Croizier, Sophie; Vanacker, Charlotte; Cook, Joshua H; Prevot, Vincent; Tauber, Maithe; Bouret, Sebastien G

2016-08-01

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a genetic disorder characterized by a variety of physiological and behavioral dysregulations, including hyperphagia, a condition that can lead to life-threatening obesity. Feeding behavior is a highly complex process with multiple feedback loops that involve both peripheral and central systems. The arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARH) is critical for the regulation of homeostatic processes including feeding, and this nucleus develops during neonatal life under of the influence of both environmental and genetic factors. Although much attention has focused on the metabolic and behavioral outcomes of PWS, an understanding of its effects on the development of hypothalamic circuits remains elusive. Here, we show that mice lacking Magel2, one of the genes responsible for the etiology of PWS, display an abnormal development of ARH axonal projections. Notably, the density of anorexigenic α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone axons was reduced in adult Magel2-null mice, while the density of orexigenic agouti-related peptide fibers in the mutant mice appeared identical to that in control mice. On the basis of previous findings showing a pivotal role for metabolic hormones in hypothalamic development, we also measured leptin and ghrelin levels in Magel2-null and control neonates and found that mutant mice have normal leptin and ghrelin levels. In vitro experiments show that Magel2 directly promotes axon growth. Together, these findings suggest that a loss of Magel2 leads to the disruption of hypothalamic feeding circuits, an effect that appears to be independent of the neurodevelopmental effects of leptin and ghrelin and likely involves a direct neurotrophic effect of Magel2. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

On the satisfiability of quantum circuits of small treewidth

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

de Oliveira Oliveira, Mateus

2017-01-01

Roč. 61, č. 2 (2017), s. 656-688 ISSN 1432-4350 EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 339691 - FEALORA Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : treewidth * satisfiability of quantum circuits * tensor networks * Merlin-Arthur protocols Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics OBOR OECD: Pure mathematics Impact factor: 0.645, year: 2016 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00224-016-9727-8

Experimental workflow for developing a feed forward strategy to control biomass growth and exploit maximum specific methane productivity of Methanothermobacter marburgensis in a biological methane production process (BMPP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Krajete

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Recently, interests for new biofuel generations allowing conversion of gaseous substrate(s to gaseous product(s arose for power to gas and waste to value applications. An example is biological methane production process (BMPP with Methanothermobacter marburgensis. The latter, can convert carbon dioxide (CO2 and hydrogen (H2, having different origins and purities, to methane (CH4, water and biomass. However, these gas converting bioprocesses are tendentiously gas limited processes and the specific methane productivity per biomass amount (qCH4 tends to be low. Therefore, this contribution proposes a workflow for the development of a feed forward strategy to control biomass, growth (rx and qCH4 in a continuous gas limited BMPP. The proposed workflow starts with a design of experiment (DoE to optimize media composition and search for a liquid based limitation to control selectively growth. From the DoE it came out that controlling biomass growth was possible independently of the dilution and gassing rate applied while not affecting methane evolution rates (MERs. This was done by shifting the process from a natural gas limited state to a controlled liquid limited growth. The latter allowed exploiting the maximum biocatalytic activity for methane formation of Methanothermobacter marburgensis. An increase of qCH4 from 42 to 129 mmolCH4 g−1 h−1 was achieved by applying a liquid limitation compare with the reference state. Finally, a verification experiment was done to verify the feeding strategy transferability to a different process configuration. This evidenced the ratio of the fed KH2PO4 to rx (R(FKH2PO4/rx has an appropriate parameter for scaling feeds in a continuous gas limited BMPP. In the verification experiment CH4 was produced in a single bioreactor step at a methane evolution rate (MER of   132 mmolCH4*L−1*h−1 at a CH4 purity of 93 [Vol.%].

Novel half-coherent receivers for amplify-and-forward relaying

KAUST Repository

Khan, Fahd Ahmed

2012-06-01

Consider a system in which the signal is transmitted from the source to the destination via an amplify-and-forward relay. For such a system, we derive in this paper, novel receivers that have complete knowledge of either the source-relay link or the relay-destination link. These receivers are termed as, \\'half-coherent receivers\\' as they have channel-state-information (CSI) of only one of two links. These receivers can be very useful in a system in which only the relay can afford high complexity by having a channel estimation module and the destination is unable to support channel estimation or a system in which only the destination can afford higher complexity and includes the channel estimation module. The analytical bit-error-rate (BER) performances of the proposed receivers are derived for Rician fading. Numerical results show considerable performance gains of the new receivers, especially at low signal-to-noise ratio. © 2012 IEEE.

Digital optical feeder links system for broadband geostationary satellite

Science.gov (United States)

Poulenard, Sylvain; Mège, Alexandre; Fuchs, Christian; Perlot, Nicolas; Riedi, Jerome; Perdigues, Josep

2017-02-01

An optical link based on a multiplex of wavelengths at 1.55μm is foreseen to be a valuable solution for the feeder link of the next generation of high-throughput geostationary satellite. The main satellite operator specifications for such link are an availability of 99.9% over the year, a capacity around 500Gbit/s and to be bent-pipe. Optical ground station networks connected to Terabit/s terrestrial fibers are proposed. The availability of the optical feeder link is simulated over 5 years based on a state-of-the-art cloud mask data bank and an atmospheric turbulence strength model. Yearly and seasonal optical feeder link availabilities are derived and discussed. On-ground and on-board terminals are designed to be compliant with 10Gbit/s per optical channel data rate taking into account adaptive optic systems to mitigate the impact of atmospheric turbulences on single-mode optical fiber receivers. The forward and return transmission chains, concept and implementation, are described. These are based on a digital transparent on-off keying optical link with digitalization of the DVB-S2 and DVB-RCS signals prior to the transmission, and a forward error correcting code. In addition, the satellite architecture is described taking into account optical and radiofrequency payloads as well as their interfaces.

Cell type-specific genetic and optogenetic tools reveal hippocampal CA2 circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Kohara, Keigo; Pignatelli, Michele; Rivest, Alexander J; Jung, Hae-Yoon; Kitamura, Takashi; Suh, Junghyup; Frank, Dominic; Kajikawa, Koichiro; Mise, Nathan; Obata, Yuichi; Wickersham, Ian R; Tonegawa, Susumu

2014-02-01

The formation and recall of episodic memory requires precise information processing by the entorhinal-hippocampal network. For several decades, the trisynaptic circuit entorhinal cortex layer II (ECII)→dentate gyrus→CA3→CA1 and the monosynaptic circuit ECIII→CA1 have been considered the primary substrates of the network responsible for learning and memory. Circuits linked to another hippocampal region, CA2, have only recently come to light. Using highly cell type-specific transgenic mouse lines, optogenetics and patch-clamp recordings, we found that dentate gyrus cells, long believed to not project to CA2, send functional monosynaptic inputs to CA2 pyramidal cells through abundant longitudinal projections. CA2 innervated CA1 to complete an alternate trisynaptic circuit, but, unlike CA3, projected preferentially to the deep, rather than to the superficial, sublayer of CA1. Furthermore, contrary to existing knowledge, ECIII did not project to CA2. Our results allow a deeper understanding of the biology of learning and memory.

Forward tracking detectors

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Abstract. Forward tracking is an essential part of a detector at the international linear collider (ILC). The requirements for forward tracking are explained and the proposed solutions in the detector concepts are shown.

Maternal feeding controls fetal biological clock.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hidenobu Ohta

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: It is widely accepted that circadian physiological rhythms of the fetus are affected by oscillators in the maternal brain that are coupled to the environmental light-dark (LD cycle. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To study the link between fetal and maternal biological clocks, we investigated the effects of cycles of maternal food availability on the rhythms of Per1 gene expression in the fetal suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN and liver using a transgenic rat model whose tissues express luciferase in vitro. Although the maternal SCN remained phase-locked to the LD cycle, maternal restricted feeding phase-advanced the fetal SCN and liver by 5 and 7 hours respectively within the 22-day pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results demonstrate that maternal feeding entrains the fetal SCN and liver independently of both the maternal SCN and the LD cycle. This indicates that maternal-feeding signals can be more influential for the fetal SCN and particular organ oscillators than hormonal signals controlled by the maternal SCN, suggesting the importance of a regular maternal feeding schedule for appropriate fetal molecular clockwork during pregnancy.

Fast switching wideband rectifying circuit for future RF energy harvesting

Science.gov (United States)

Asmeida, Akrem; Mustam, Saizalmursidi Md; Abidin, Z. Z.; Ashyap, A. Y. I.

2017-09-01

This paper presents the design and simulation of fast switching microwave rectifying circuit for ultra wideband patch antenna over a dual-frequency band (1.8 GHz for GSM and 2.4 GHz for ISM band). This band was chosen due to its high signal availability in the surrounding environment. New rectifying circuit topology with pair-matching trunks is designed using Advanced Design System (ADS) software. These trunks are interfaced with power divider to achieve good bandwidth, fast switching and high efficiency. The power divider acts as a good isolator between the trunks and its straightforward design structure makes it a good choice for a single feed UWB antenna. The simulated results demonstrate that the maximum output voltage is 2.13 V with an input power of -5 dBm. Moreover, the rectifier offers maximum efficiency of 86% for the input power of -5 dBm at given band, which could easily power up wireless sensor networks (WSN) and other small devices sufficiently.

Connecting mirror neurons and forward models.

Science.gov (United States)

Miall, R C

2003-12-02

Two recent developments in motor neuroscience are promising the extension of theoretical concepts from motor control towards cognitive processes, including human social interactions and understanding the intentions of others. The first of these is the discovery of what are now called mirror neurons, which code for both observed and executed actions. The second is the concept of internal models, and in particular recent proposals that forward and inverse models operate in paired modules. These two ideas will be briefly introduced, and a recent suggestion linking between the two processes of mirroring and modelling will be described which may underlie our abilities for imitating actions, for cooperation between two actors, and possibly for communication via gesture and language.

Lifetime Estimation of DC-link Capacitors in a Single-phase Converter with an Integrated Active Power Decoupling Module

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ma, Siyuan; Wang, Haoran; Tang, Junchaojie

2016-01-01

In single-phase inverters, DC-link capacitors are installed at the DC-link to buffer the ripple power between the AC side and DC side. Active decoupling methods introduce additional circuits at the DC side or AC side to partially or fully supply the ripple power. So that the demanded DC-link capa......In single-phase inverters, DC-link capacitors are installed at the DC-link to buffer the ripple power between the AC side and DC side. Active decoupling methods introduce additional circuits at the DC side or AC side to partially or fully supply the ripple power. So that the demanded DC......-link capacitor capacitance can be decreased. However, few research is about the effect of DC side and AC side decoupling on the DC-link capacitor reliability considering its electro-thermal stresses. This paper presents a quantitative analysis on the lifetime of capacitors with power decoupling circuits...... at the DC side and AC side, respectively. The ripple current spectrum of the capacitors is obtained by double Fourier analysis of a H-bridge inverter with natural sampling PWM modulation. A study case is demonstrated by a 2,000 W H-bridge inverter with 400 V DC-link voltage....

An instrumental electrode model for solving EIT forward problems.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Weida; Li, David

2014-10-01

An instrumental electrode model (IEM) capable of describing the performance of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) systems in the MHz frequency range has been proposed. Compared with the commonly used Complete Electrode Model (CEM), which assumes ideal front-end interfaces, the proposed model considers the effects of non-ideal components in the front-end circuits. This introduces an extra boundary condition in the forward model and offers a more accurate modelling for EIT systems. We have demonstrated its performance using simple geometry structures and compared the results with the CEM and full Maxwell methods. The IEM can provide a significantly more accurate approximation than the CEM in the MHz frequency range, where the full Maxwell methods are favoured over the quasi-static approximation. The improved electrode model will facilitate the future characterization and front-end design of real-world EIT systems.

Study of Piezoelectric Vibration Energy Harvester with non-linear conditioning circuit using an integrated model

Science.gov (United States)

Manzoor, Ali; Rafique, Sajid; Usman Iftikhar, Muhammad; Mahmood Ul Hassan, Khalid; Nasir, Ali

2017-08-01

Piezoelectric vibration energy harvester (PVEH) consists of a cantilever bimorph with piezoelectric layers pasted on its top and bottom, which can harvest power from vibrations and feed to low power wireless sensor nodes through some power conditioning circuit. In this paper, a non-linear conditioning circuit, consisting of a full-bridge rectifier followed by a buck-boost converter, is employed to investigate the issues of electrical side of the energy harvesting system. An integrated mathematical model of complete electromechanical system has been developed. Previously, researchers have studied PVEH with sophisticated piezo-beam models but employed simplistic linear circuits, such as resistor, as electrical load. In contrast, other researchers have worked on more complex non-linear circuits but with over-simplified piezo-beam models. Such models neglect different aspects of the system which result from complex interactions of its electrical and mechanical subsystems. In this work, authors have integrated the distributed parameter-based model of piezo-beam presented in literature with a real world non-linear electrical load. Then, the developed integrated model is employed to analyse the stability of complete energy harvesting system. This work provides a more realistic and useful electromechanical model having realistic non-linear electrical load unlike the simplistic linear circuit elements employed by many researchers.

A “Forward Genomics” Approach Links Genotype to Phenotype using Independent Phenotypic Losses among Related Species

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Hiller

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Genotype-phenotype mapping is hampered by countless genomic changes between species. We introduce a computational “forward genomics” strategy that—given only an independently lost phenotype and whole genomes—matches genomic and phenotypic loss patterns to associate specific genomic regions with this phenotype. We conducted genome-wide screens for two metabolic phenotypes. First, our approach correctly matches the inactivated Gulo gene exactly with the species that lost the ability to synthesize vitamin C. Second, we attribute naturally low biliary phospholipid levels in guinea pigs and horses to the inactivated phospholipid transporter Abcb4. Human ABCB4 mutations also result in low phospholipid levels but lead to severe liver disease, suggesting compensatory mechanisms in guinea pig and horse. Our simulation studies, counts of independent changes in existing phenotype surveys, and the forthcoming availability of many new genomes all suggest that forward genomics can be applied to many phenotypes, including those relevant for human evolution and disease.

Forward Jets and Forward-Central Jets at CMS

CERN Document Server

INSPIRE-00176215

2012-01-01

We report on cross section measurements for inclusive forward jet production and for the simultaneous production of a forward and a central jet in sqrt{s} = 7 TeV pp-collisions. Data collected in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.14 pb^{-1}, is used for the measurements. Jets in the transverse momentum range pT = 35 - 140 GeV/c are reconstructed with the anti-kT (R = 0.5) algorithm. The extended coverage of large pseudo-rapidities is provided by the Hadronic Forward calorimeter (3.2 < \\eta < 4.7), while central jets are limited to \\eta < 2.8, covered by the main detector components. The two differential cross sections are presented as a function of the jet transverse momentum. Comparisons to next-to-leading order perturbative calculations, and predictions from event generators based on different parton showering mechanisms (PYTHIA and HERWIG) and parton dynamics (CASCADE) are shown.

Tread-water feeding of Bryde's whales.

Science.gov (United States)

Iwata, Takashi; Akamatsu, Tomonari; Thongsukdee, Surasak; Cherdsukjai, Phaothep; Adulyanukosol, Kanjana; Sato, Katsufumi

2017-11-06

durations were 14.5 ± 5.4 (SD; n = 58 events) and 32 s, respectively. Deployment of animal-borne data loggers yielded approximately 44 minutes of recordings from a single whale. The acceleration data showed that stroke rates, including tail beat and whole-body movements during feeding, were faster (approximately 0.7 s cycle) than during a cruising swim (approximately 3 s cycle) (Figure 1G). The swimming speed was lower than that in the stall speed (0.2 m s -1 ) of the device during the feeding phase, suggesting that thrust force was used to hold the head up and to stabilize body posture (Figure 1G). Stable positioning using the fluke and flipper was confirmed by video data for both the downward and upward direction of the whale (Figure S1). According to the visual and behavioral data, we named the head-lifting feeding as 'tread-water feeding'. Generally, all species of baleen whale, including rorqual whales, show active chasing and feeding, i.e., skimming, suction, and engulfing with lunging [1]. Tread-water feeding is considered passive feeding as compared with other feeding behaviors because the whales do not swim forward in pursuit of prey during the period from mouth opening to closing, and although they need thrust force to stabilize their posture, the head does not actively move. To the best of our knowledge, this discovery of tread-water feeding in Bryde's whales represents the first report of passive feeding in baleen whales, which indicates their flexible capacity to modify their foraging strategy in relation to variable environments. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dissecting the links between cerebellum and dystonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Malone, Ailish; Manto, Mario; Hass, Chris

2014-12-01

Dystonia is a common movement disorder characterized by sustained muscle contractions. These contractions generate twisting and repetitive movements or typical abnormal postures, often exacerbated by voluntary movement. Dystonia can affect almost all the voluntary muscles. For several decades, the discussion on the pathogenesis has been focused on basal ganglia circuits, especially striatal networks. So far, although dystonia has been observed in some forms of ataxia such as dominant ataxias, the link between the cerebellum and dystonia has remained unclear. Recent human studies and experimental data mainly in rodents show that the cerebellum circuitry could also be a key player in the pathogenesis of some forms of dystonia. In particular, studies based on behavioral adaptation paradigm shed light on the links between dystonia and cerebellum. The spectrum of movement disorders in which the cerebellum is implicated is continuously expanding, and manipulation of cerebellar circuits might even emerge as a candidate therapy in the coming years.

Design of Small CRPA Arrays with Circular Microstrip Loops for Electromagnetically Coupled Feed

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun Hur

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a design of small controlled reception pattern antenna (CRPA arrays using circular microstrip loops with frequencyinsensitive characteristics. The proposed array consists of seven identical upper and lower circular loops that are electromagnetically coupled, which results in a frequency-insensitive behavior. To demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed feeding mechanism, the proposed array is fabricated, and its antenna characteristics are measured in a full-anechoic chamber. The operating principle of the proposed feeding mechanism is then interpreted using an equivalent circuit model, and the effectiveness of the circular loop shape is demonstrated by calculating near electromagnetic fields in proximity to the radiator. The results confirm that the proposed feeding mechanism is suitable to have frequency-insensitive behavior and induces strong electric and magnetic field strengths for higher radiation gain in extremely small antenna arrays.

Using of new chemical regime on secondary circuit in nuclear power plant 'Kozloduy' - Bulgaria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minkova, K.; Stanchev, S.; Kalpakchiev, Z.

2010-01-01

There are two WWER-1000 - Russian design units (№5 and №6) working in the Bulgarian Nuclear Power Plant 'Kozloduy', which are equipped with horizontal steam generators. The report describes the chronology of the stages in the improvement of the water chemistry regime on the secondary circuit at both of the units 5 and 6 from their start up till now. As a final result of our purposeful activity is done a full exchange of copper alloys with stainless steel in regenerative LP heat exchangers and condensers in the secondary circuit equipment. That way we created preconditions for cardinal change and improvement of the water chemistry regime of the circuit. For that purpose is realized a program for optimization in maximal degree of the water chemistry regime of the secondary circuit of the WWER-1000 Units. The program includes the preliminary study, the stage of experimental operation and the stage of establishing the new regime into regular exploitation. The preliminary study included the definition of the coefficients of distribution of the ammonia in a real operation conditions in the secondary circuit and rating the expected results from the applying of different varieties of the secondary circuit water chemistry. It is taken into account the balance plans for distribution of the corrective reagents, the expected pH values at working temperature (pHt), the transport of products of corrosion to steam generators and the abilities of the installation for purification of the blow down water. As a final result a mixed ammonia-ethanolamine water chemistry regime has been chosen, characterized with pH 25 =9.9(9.85-9.95). The special feature of this regime is that, both the corrective reagents ethanolamine and ammonia are dosed in the feed up water as a mixed solution with permanent proportion of the concentrations. This water chemistry treatment combines the advantages of high ammonia AVT water chemistry related to specific constructive steels in low

Kinematics Analysis of End Effector for Carrier Robot of Feeding Broiler Chicken System

Science.gov (United States)

Syam, Rafiuddin; Arsyad, Hairul; Bauna, Ruslan; Renreng, Ilyas; Bakhri, Syaiful

2018-02-01

The demand for commodities, especially Broiler chicken farms are increasing, the volume of feed requirements Broiler chickens increased with age up to the age of 30-57 days required feed 3,829 grams/day/head, so if the chicken population is 3,000 needed transporting feed 11 487 kg/day, This research aims to produce a robot capable of transporting feed in the top of the cage by using a control system so as to make efficient use of manpower. Design robot performed using software design three-dimensional Solidworks2010, process of making the robot is started with the design manufacture three (3) units of mechanical systems (mechanical system for holder feed, mechanical systems for lifter feed and mechanical systems for transporting feed), then do the design process framework as a component buffer so that the mechanical system will work properly and safely when the robot operates. Furthermore, the manufacture of electronic circuits and control are using Arduino Mega microcontroller. After assembling all components mechanical systems and installation of electronic systems and control, then experiments to evaluate the performance of the robot have been made. The results of experiments showed that all components work well according to plan, in particular the speed and acceleration of end effector motion so it can hold and release the feed well. This strongly supports the robots perform tasks in accordance with the intent, i.e., holding, lifting and moving feed.

Circuit analysis for dummies

CERN Document Server

Santiago, John

2013-01-01

Circuits overloaded from electric circuit analysis? Many universities require that students pursuing a degree in electrical or computer engineering take an Electric Circuit Analysis course to determine who will ""make the cut"" and continue in the degree program. Circuit Analysis For Dummies will help these students to better understand electric circuit analysis by presenting the information in an effective and straightforward manner. Circuit Analysis For Dummies gives you clear-cut information about the topics covered in an electric circuit analysis courses to help

System Genetics and Transcriptomic of Feed Efficiency in Nordic Dairy Cattle

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salleh, Suraya Binti Mohamad; Höglund, Johanna; Løvendahl, Peter

Feed is the largest variable cost in milk production industries, thus improving feed efficiency will give better use of resources. This project works closely on definitions of feed efficiency in dairy cattle and uses advanced integrated genomics, bioinformatics and systems biology methods linking......-bioinformatics and systems biology approaches to identify a list of differentially expressed (DE) genes, co-expressed (CE) genes, differentially wired networks, co-expression, transcriptional regulatory networks and hub genes/biomarkers for feed efficiency. This study will provide molecular mechanisms of metabolic processes......, energy balance, nutrient partitioning and deliver predictive biomarkers for feed efficiency in cattle. This study will also contribute to systems genomic prediction or selection models including the information on potential causal genes / SNPs or their functional modules....

Current limiter circuit system

Science.gov (United States)

Witcher, Joseph Brandon; Bredemann, Michael V.

2017-09-05

An apparatus comprising a steady state sensing circuit, a switching circuit, and a detection circuit. The steady state sensing circuit is connected to a first, a second and a third node. The first node is connected to a first device, the second node is connected to a second device, and the steady state sensing circuit causes a scaled current to flow at the third node. The scaled current is proportional to a voltage difference between the first and second node. The switching circuit limits an amount of current that flows between the first and second device. The detection circuit is connected to the third node and the switching circuit. The detection circuit monitors the scaled current at the third node and controls the switching circuit to limit the amount of the current that flows between the first and second device when the scaled current is greater than a desired level.

Management of the Post-Shuttle Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Water Circuits

Science.gov (United States)

Steele, John W.; Etter, David; Rector, Tony; Hill, Terry; Wells, Kevin

2011-01-01

The EMU incorporates two separate water circuits for the rejection of metabolic heat from the astronaut and the cooling of electrical components. The first (the Transport Water Loop) circulates in a semi-closed-loop manner and absorbs heat into a Liquid Coolant and Ventilation Garment (LCVG) warn by the astronaut. The second (the Feed Water Loop) provides water to a cooling device (Sublimator) with a porous plate, and that water subsequently sublimates to space vacuum. The cooling effect from the sublimation of this water translates to a cooling of the LCVG water that circulates through the Sublimator. Efforts are underway to streamline the use of a water processing kit (ALCLR) that is being used to periodically clean and disinfect the Transport Loop Water. Those efforts include a fine tuning of the duty cycle based on a review of prior performance data as well as an assessment of a fixed installation of this kit into the EMU backpack or within on-orbit EMU interface hardware. Furthermore, testing is being conducted to ensure compatibility between the International Space Station (ISS) Water Processor Assembly (WPA) effluent and the EMU Sublimator as a prelude to using the WPA effluent as influent to the EMU Feed Water loop. This work is undertaken to reduce the crew-time and logistics burdens for the EMU, while ensuring the long-term health of the EMU water circuits for a post-Shuttle 6-year service life.

Long Maturity Forward Rates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Charlotte

2001-01-01

The paper aims to improve the knowledge of the empirical properties of the long maturity region of the forward rate curve. Firstly, the theoretical negative correlation between the slope at the long end of the forward rate curve and the term structure variance is recovered empirically and found...... to be statistically significant. Secondly, the expectations hypothesis is analyzed for the long maturity region of the forward rate curve using "forward rate" regressions. The expectations hypothesis is numerically close to being accepted but is statistically rejected. The findings provide mixed support...... for the affine term structure model....

The voltage—current relationship and equivalent circuit implementation of parallel flux-controlled memristive circuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bao Bo-Cheng; Feng Fei; Dong Wei; Pan Sai-Hu

2013-01-01

A flux-controlled memristor characterized by smooth cubic nonlinearity is taken as an example, upon which the voltage—current relationships (VCRs) between two parallel memristive circuits — a parallel memristor and capacitor circuit (the parallel MC circuit), and a parallel memristor and inductor circuit (the parallel ML circuit) — are investigated. The results indicate that the VCR between these two parallel memristive circuits is closely related to the circuit parameters, and the frequency and amplitude of the sinusoidal voltage stimulus. An equivalent circuit model of the memristor is built, upon which the circuit simulations and experimental measurements of both the parallel MC circuit and the parallel ML circuit are performed, and the results verify the theoretical analysis results

Dynamics of fluidic devices with applications to rotor pitch links

Science.gov (United States)

Scarborough, Lloyd H., III

Coupling a Fluidic Flexible Matrix Composite (F2MC) to an air-pressurized fluid port produces a fundamentally new class of tunable vibration isolator. This fluidlastic device provides significant vibration reduction at an isolation frequency that can be tuned over a broad frequency range. The material properties and geometry of the F2MC element, as well as the port inertance, determine the isolation frequency. A unique feature of this device is that the port inertance depends on pressure so the isolation frequency can be adjusted by changing the air pressure. For constant port inertance, the isolation frequency is largely independent of the isolated mass so the device is robust to changes in load. A nonlinear model is developed to predict isolator length and port inertance. The model is linearized and the frequency response calculated. Experiments agree with theory, demonstrating a tunable isolation range from 9 Hz to 36 Hz and transmitted force reductions of up to 60 dB at the isolation frequency. Replacing rigid pitch links on rotorcraft with coupled fluidic devices has the potential to reduce the aerodynamic blade loads transmitted through the pitch links to the swashplate. Analytical models of two fluidic devices coupled with three different fluidic circuits are derived. These passive fluidlastic systems are tuned, by varying the fluid inertances and capacitances of each fluidic circuit, to reduce the transmitted pitch-link loads. The different circuit designs result in transmitted pitch link loads reduction at up to three main rotor harmonics. The simulation results show loads reduction at the targeted out-of-phase and in-phase harmonics of up to 88% and 93%, respectively. Experimental validation of two of the fluidic circuits demonstrates loads reduction of up to 89% at the out-of-phase isolation frequencies and up to 81% at the in-phase isolation frequencies. Replacing rigid pitch links on rotorcraft with fluidic pitch links changes the blade torsional

A Preemptive Link State Spanning Tree Source Routing Scheme for Opportunistic Data Forwarding in MANET

OpenAIRE

R. Poonkuzhali; M. Y. Sanavullah; A. Sabari

2014-01-01

Opportunistic Data Forwarding (ODF) has drawn much attention in mobile adhoc networking research in recent years. The effectiveness of ODF in MANET depends on a suitable routing protocol which provides a powerful source routing services. PLSR is featured by source routing, loop free and small routing overhead. The update messages in PLSR are integrated into a tree structure and no need to time stamp routing updates which reduces the routing overhead.

Feeding the Second Screen: Semantic Linking based on Subtitles

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Odijk, D.; Meij, E.; de Rijke, M.; Ferreira, J.; Magalhães, J.; Calado, P.

2013-01-01

Television is changing. Increasingly, broadcasts are consumed interactively. This allows broadcasters to provide consumers with additional background information that they may bookmark for later consumption. To support this type of functionality, we consider the task of linking a textual streams

Intergenerational impact of maternal obesity and postnatal feeding practices on pediatric obesity.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Amanda L

2013-10-01

The postnatal feeding practices of obese and overweight mothers may place their children at increased risk for the development of obesity through shared biology and family environments. This article reviews the feeding practices of obese mothers, describes the potential mechanisms linking maternal feeding behaviors to child obesity risk, and highlights the potential avenues of intervention. Strategies important for improving the quality of the eating environment and preventing the intergenerational transmission of obesity include supporting breastfeeding, improving the food choices of obese women, and encouraging the development of feeding styles that are responsive to hunger and satiety cues. © 2013 International Life Sciences Institute.

Intergenerational impact of maternal obesity and postnatal feeding practices on pediatric obesity

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Amanda L.

2014-01-01

The postnatal feeding practices of obese and overweight mothers may place their children at particular risk for the development of obesity through shared biology and family environments. This paper reviews the feeding practices of obese mothers, describes potential mechanisms linking maternal feeding behaviors to child obesity risk, and highlights potential avenues for intervention. This review documents that supporting breastfeeding, improving the food choices of obese women, and encouraging the development of feeding styles that are responsive to hunger and satiety cues are important for improving the quality of the eating environment and preventing the intergenerational transmission of obesity. PMID:24147925

Reactor operation feed-back in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feltin, C.; Fourest, B.; Libmann, J.

1982-09-01

The Nuclear Safety Department (DSN), technical support of French Safety Authorities, is, in particular, in charge of the analysis of reactor operation and of measures taken consequently to incidents. It proposed the criteria used to select significant incidents; it analyzes such incidents. DSN also analyzes the operating experience of each plant, several years after starting. It examines foreign incidents to assess in what extent lessons learned can be applied to french reactors. The examples presented show that to improve the safety of units operation, the experience feed-back leads to make arrangements, or modifications concerning not only circuits or materials but often procedures. Moreover they show the importance of procedures concerning the operations carried out during reactor shutdown

30 CFR 75.518 - Electric equipment and circuits; overload and short circuit protection.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... short circuit protection. 75.518 Section 75.518 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... Equipment-General § 75.518 Electric equipment and circuits; overload and short circuit protection... installed so as to protect all electric equipment and circuits against short circuit and overloads. Three...

Roles of orexin in modulating arousal, feeding and motivation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natsuko eTsujino

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Orexin deficiency results in narcolepsy in humans, dogs, and rodents, suggesting that the orexin system is particularly important for maintenance of wakefulness. However, orexin neurons are ‘multi-tasking’ neurons that regulate sleep/wake states as well as feeding behavior, emotion, and reward processes. Orexin deficiency causes abnormalities in energy homeostasis, stress-related behavior, and reward systems. Orexin excites waking-active monoaminergic and cholinergic neurons in the hypothalamus and brain stem regions to maintain a long, consolidated waking period. Orexin neurons also have reciprocal links with the hypothalamic nucleus, which regulates feeding. Moreover, the responsiveness of orexin neurons to peripheral metabolic cues suggests that these neurons have an important role as a link between energy homeostasis and vigilance states. The link between orexin and the ventral tegmental nucleus serves to motivate an animal to engage in goal-directed behavior. This review focuses on the interaction of orexin neurons with emotion, reward, and energy homeostasis systems. These connectivities are likely to be highly important to maintain proper vigilance states.

Fathers, food practices and the circuits of intimacy in families in Northern England

OpenAIRE

Meah, A.M.

2017-01-01

Informed by a ‘theories of practice’ approach and moving beyond accounts that\\ud emphasize domestic foodwork as a wholly feminized task, this paper draws upon a\\ud series of ethnographic studies undertaken in Northern England to examine men’s\\ud frequently overlooked contributions to feeding the family. Deploying the idea of\\ud ‘circuits of intimacy’, it specifically highlights how shopping, cooking and eating form\\ud part of the daily emotional practices through which contemporary fathering ...

30 CFR 77.506 - Electric equipment and circuits; overload and short-circuit protection.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... short-circuit protection. 77.506 Section 77.506 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... circuits; overload and short-circuit protection. Automatic circuit-breaking devices or fuses of the correct type and capacity shall be installed so as to protect all electric equipment and circuits against short...

Reliable Geographical Forwarding in Cognitive Radio Sensor Networks Using Virtual Clusters

Science.gov (United States)

Zubair, Suleiman; Fisal, Norsheila

2014-01-01

The need for implementing reliable data transfer in resource-constrained cognitive radio ad hoc networks is still an open issue in the research community. Although geographical forwarding schemes are characterized by their low overhead and efficiency in reliable data transfer in traditional wireless sensor network, this potential is still yet to be utilized for viable routing options in resource-constrained cognitive radio ad hoc networks in the presence of lossy links. In this paper, a novel geographical forwarding technique that does not restrict the choice of the next hop to the nodes in the selected route is presented. This is achieved by the creation of virtual clusters based on spectrum correlation from which the next hop choice is made based on link quality. The design maximizes the use of idle listening and receiver contention prioritization for energy efficiency, the avoidance of routing hot spots and stability. The validation result, which closely follows the simulation result, shows that the developed scheme can make more advancement to the sink as against the usual decisions of relevant ad hoc on-demand distance vector route select operations, while ensuring channel quality. Further simulation results have shown the enhanced reliability, lower latency and energy efficiency of the presented scheme. PMID:24854362

Reliable Geographical Forwarding in Cognitive Radio Sensor Networks Using Virtual Clusters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suleiman Zubair

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The need for implementing reliable data transfer in resource-constrained cognitive radio ad hoc networks is still an open issue in the research community. Although geographical forwarding schemes are characterized by their low overhead and efficiency in reliable data transfer in traditional wireless sensor network, this potential is still yet to be utilized for viable routing options in resource-constrained cognitive radio ad hoc networks in the presence of lossy links. In this paper, a novel geographical forwarding technique that does not restrict the choice of the next hop to the nodes in the selected route is presented. This is achieved by the creation of virtual clusters based on spectrum correlation from which the next hop choice is made based on link quality. The design maximizes the use of idle listening and receiver contention prioritization for energy efficiency, the avoidance of routing hot spots and stability. The validation result, which closely follows the simulation result, shows that the developed scheme can make more advancement to the sink as against the usual decisions of relevant ad hoc on-demand distance vector route select operations, while ensuring channel quality. Further simulation results have shown the enhanced reliability, lower latency and energy efficiency of the presented scheme.

A feed-forward spiking model of shape-coding by IT cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

August eRomeo

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The ability to recognize a shape is linked to figure-ground organization. Cell preferences appear to be correlated across contrast-polarity reversals and mirror reversals of polygon displays, but not so much across figure-ground (FG reversals. Here we present a network structure which explains both shape-coding by IT cells and the suppression of responses to figure-ground reversed stimuli. In the model figure-ground discrimination is achieved much before shape discrimination, that is itself evidenced by the difference in the spiking onsets of a couple of cells selective for two image categories.

Fouling distribution in forward osmosis membrane process.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Junseok; Kim, Bongchul; Hong, Seungkwan

2014-06-01

Fouling behavior along the length of membrane module was systematically investigated by performing simple modeling and lab-scale experiments of forward osmosis (FO) membrane process. The flux distribution model developed in this study showed a good agreement with experimental results, validating the robustness of the model. This model demonstrated, as expected, that the permeate flux decreased along the membrane channel due to decreasing osmotic pressure differential across the FO membrane. A series of fouling experiments were conducted under the draw and feed solutions at various recoveries simulated by the model. The simulated fouling experiments revealed that higher organic (alginate) fouling and thus more flux decline were observed at the last section of a membrane channel, as foulants in feed solution became more concentrated. Furthermore, the water flux in FO process declined more severely as the recovery increased due to more foulants transported to membrane surface with elevated solute concentrations at higher recovery, which created favorable solution environments for organic adsorption. The fouling reversibility also decreased at the last section of the membrane channel, suggesting that fouling distribution on FO membrane along the module should be carefully examined to improve overall cleaning efficiency. Lastly, it was found that such fouling distribution observed with co-current flow operation became less pronounced in counter-current flow operation of FO membrane process. Copyright © 2014 The Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Linking person perception and person knowledge in the human brain.

Science.gov (United States)

Greven, Inez M; Downing, Paul E; Ramsey, Richard

2016-04-01

Neuroscience research has examined separately how we detect human agents on the basis of their face and body (person perception) and how we reason about their thoughts, traits or intentions (person knowledge). Neuroanatomically distinct networks have been associated with person perception and person knowledge, but it remains unknown how multiple features of a person (e.g. thin and kind) are linked to form a holistic identity representation. In this fMRI experiment, we investigated the hypothesis that when encountering another person specialised person perception circuits would be functionally coupled with circuits involved in person knowledge. In a factorial design, we paired bodies or names with trait-based or neutral statements, and independent localiser scans identified body-selective and mentalising networks. When observing a body paired with a trait-implying statement, functional connectivity analyses demonstrated that body-selective patches in bilateral fusiform gyri were functionally coupled with nodes of the mentalising network. We demonstrate that when forming a representation of a person circuits for representing another person's physical appearance are linked to circuits that are engaged when reasoning about trait-based character. These data support the view that a 'who' system for social cognition involves communication between perceptual and inferential mechanisms when forming a representation of another's identity. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press.

A Glider-Assisted Link Disruption Restoration Mechanism in Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Zhigang; Wang, Ning; Su, Yishan; Yang, Qiuling

2018-02-07

Underwater acoustic sensor networks (UASNs) have become a hot research topic. In UASNs, nodes can be affected by ocean currents and external forces, which could result in sudden link disruption. Therefore, designing a flexible and efficient link disruption restoration mechanism to ensure the network connectivity is a challenge. In the paper, we propose a glider-assisted restoration mechanism which includes link disruption recognition and related link restoring mechanism. In the link disruption recognition mechanism, the cluster heads collect the link disruption information and then schedule gliders acting as relay nodes to restore the disrupted link. Considering the glider's sawtooth motion, we design a relay location optimization algorithm with a consideration of both the glider's trajectory and acoustic channel attenuation model. The utility function is established by minimizing the channel attenuation and the optimal location of glider is solved by a multiplier method. The glider-assisted restoration mechanism can greatly improve the packet delivery rate and reduce the communication energy consumption and it is more general for the restoration of different link disruption scenarios. The simulation results show that glider-assisted restoration mechanism can improve the delivery rate of data packets by 15-33% compared with cooperative opportunistic routing (OVAR), the hop-by-hop vector-based forwarding (HH-VBF) and the vector based forward (VBF) methods, and reduce communication energy consumption by 20-58% for a typical network's setting.

Differences in the emotional and practical experiences of exclusively breastfeeding and combination feeding mothers.

Science.gov (United States)

Komninou, Sophia; Fallon, Victoria; Halford, Jason Christian Grovenor; Harrold, Joanne Alison

2017-07-01

The majority of research examining the barriers to breastfeeding focuses on the physical challenges faced by mothers rather than the risks of encountering negative emotional and practical feeding experiences. We aimed to quantify the emotional and practical experiences of the overall sample of breastfeeding mothers and identify the differences in the emotional and practical experiences of exclusively breastfeeding mothers and combination feeding mothers, by feeding type and intention. Eight hundred forty-five mothers with infants up to 26 weeks of age and who had initiated breastfeeding were recruited through relevant social media via advertisements providing a link to an online survey. Predictors of emotional experiences included guilt, stigma, satisfaction with feeding method, and the need to defend themselves due to infant feeding choices. Practical predictors included perceived support from health professionals, main sources of infant feeding information, and respect from their everyday environment, workplace, and when breastfeeding in public. Current feeding type and prenatal feeding intention. In the overall sample, 15% of the mothers reported feeling guilty, 38% stigmatized, and 55% felt the need to defend their feeding choice. Binary logit models revealed that guilt and dissatisfaction were directly associated with feeding type, being higher when supplementing with formula. No associations with feeding intention were identified. This study demonstrates a link between current breastfeeding promotion strategies and the emotional state of breastfeeding mothers who supplement with formula to any extent. To minimize the negative impact on maternal well-being, it is important that future recommendations recognize the challenges that exclusive breastfeeding brings and provide a more balanced and realistic target for mothers. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Maternal symptoms of depression are related to observations of controlling feeding practices in mothers of young children.

Science.gov (United States)

Haycraft, Emma; Farrow, Claire; Blissett, Jackie

2013-02-01

Maternal depression can impair parenting practices and has been linked with less sensitive feeding interactions with children, but existing research is based on self-reports of feeding practices. This study examined relationships between maternal self-reported symptoms of depression with observations of mothers' child feeding practices during a mealtime. Fifty-eight mothers of 3- and 4-year-old children were video recorded eating a standardized lunch. The recording was then coded for instances of maternal controlling feeding practices and maternal vocalizations using the Family Mealtime Coding System. Mothers also provided information on current symptoms of depression and anxiety. Mothers who reported greater symptoms of depression were observed to use more verbal and physical pressure for their child to eat and to offer more incentives or conditions in exchange for their child eating. Mothers also used more vocalizations with their child about food during the observed mealtime when they had greater symptoms of depression. There was no link between symptoms of depression and observations of maternal use of restriction. Symptoms of depression are linked with observations of mothers implementing a more controlling, less sensitive feeding style with their child. Health professionals working with families in which mothers have symptoms of depression may benefit from receiving training about the possible impact of maternal depression on child-feeding practices, and mothers with symptoms of depression may benefit from guidance regarding its potential impact on their child-feeding interactions. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Mycotoxins in poultry feed in Kuwait.

Science.gov (United States)

Beg, M U; Al-Mutairi, M; Beg, K R; Al-Mazeedi, H M; Ali, L N; Saeed, T

2006-05-01

A survey was conducted at a poultry feed production unit in Kuwait for mycotoxin contamination in the samples of yellow maize, soybean meal, wheat bran used as raw material and the poultry feed prepared for broiler starter, broiler finisher, and layer mash. Individual aflatoxins were determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography after immunoaffinity column purification. Repeated analysis revealed average aflatoxin concentration in maize at 0.27 ppb (range 0 to 1.69 ppb), soybean meal at 0.20 ppb (range 0 to 1.27 ppb), wheat bran at 0.15 ppb (range 0 to 1.07 ppb), prepared poultry feed for broiler starter at 0.48 ppb (range 0 to 3.26 ppb), broiler finisher at 0.39 ppb (range 0 to 1.05 ppb), and layer mash at 0.21 ppb (range 0 to 1.30 ppb). Other mycotoxins (ochratoxin, fumonisin, deoxynivalenol (DON), and zearalenone), were detected by quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The average levels of ochratoxin A ranged from 4.6 to 9.6 ppb, fumonisin from 1.4 to 3.2 ppm, DON from 0.17 to 0.29 ppm, and zearalenone from 46.4 to 67.6 ppb in various commodities and prepared feed samples. The study revealed the coexistence of determined mycotoxins, although their concentrations in general were found to be lower than the permissible levels, wherever defined, for the poultry feed.

A New Defected Ground Structure for Different Microstrip Circuit Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Das

2007-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a microstrip transmission line combined with a new U-headed dumb-bell defected ground structure (DGS is investigated. The proposed DGS of two U-shape slots connected by a thin transverse slot is placed in the ground plane of a microstrip line. A finite cutoff frequency and attenuation pole is observed and thus, the equivalent circuit of the DGS unit can be represented by a parallel LC resonant circuit in series with the transmission line. A two-cell DGS microstrip line yields a better lowpass filtering characteristics. The simulation is carried out by the MoM based IE3D software and in the experimental measurements a vector network analyzer is used. The effects of the transverse slot width and the distance between arms of the U-slot on the filter response curve are studied. This DGS is utilized for different microstrip circuit applications. The DGS is placed in the ground of a capacitive loaded microstrip line and a very low cutoff frequency is obtained. The DGS is adopted under the coupled lines of a parallel line coupler and an improvement in coupling coefficient is noticed. The proposed DGS is also incorporated in the ground plane under the feed lines and the coupled lines of a bandpass filter to improve separately the stopband and passband performances.

Gigahertz flexible graphene transistors for microwave integrated circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeh, Chao-Hui; Lain, Yi-Wei; Chiu, Yu-Chiao; Liao, Chen-Hung; Moyano, David Ricardo; Hsu, Shawn S H; Chiu, Po-Wen

2014-08-26

Flexible integrated circuits with complex functionalities are the missing link for the active development of wearable electronic devices. Here, we report a scalable approach to fabricate self-aligned graphene microwave transistors for the implementation of flexible low-noise amplifiers and frequency mixers, two fundamental building blocks of a wireless communication receiver. A devised AlOx T-gate structure is used to achieve an appreciable increase of device transconductance and a commensurate reduction of the associated parasitic resistance, thus yielding a remarkable extrinsic cutoff frequency of 32 GHz and a maximum oscillation frequency of 20 GHz; in both cases the operation frequency is an order of magnitude higher than previously reported. The two frequencies work at 22 and 13 GHz even when subjected to a strain of 2.5%. The gigahertz microwave integrated circuits demonstrated here pave the way for applications which require high flexibility and radio frequency operations.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy and spatial analysis of the feed industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, Mathilde; Abrial, David; Jarrige, Nathalie; Rican, Stéphane; Garrido, Myriam; Calavas, Didier; Ducrot, Christian

2007-06-01

In France, despite the ban of meat-and-bone meal (MBM) in cattle feed, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was detected in hundreds of cattle born after the ban. To study the role of MBM, animal fat, and dicalcium phosphate on the risk for BSE after the feed ban, we conducted a spatial analysis of the feed industry. We used data from 629 BSE cases as well as data on use of each byproduct and market area of the feed factories. We mapped risk for BSE in 951 areas supplied by the same factories and connection with use of byproducts. A disease map of BSE with covariates was built with the hierarchical Bayesian modeling methods, based on Poisson distribution with spatial smoothing. Only use of MBM was spatially linked to risk for BSE, which highlights cross-contamination as the most probable source of infection after the feed ban.

Boron Removal in Radioactive Liquid Waste by Forward Osmosis Membrane

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hwang, Dooseong; Choi, Hei Min; Lee, Kune Woo; Moon Jeikwon [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-05-15

These wastes contain about 0.3-0.8 wt% boric acid and have been concentrated through an evaporation treatment. Boric acid tends to crystallize owing to its solubility, and to plug the evaporator. The volume reduction obtained through evaporation is limited by the amount of boric acid in the waste. As an emerging technology, forward osmosis (FO) has attracted growing interest in wastewater treatment and desalination. FO is a membrane process in which water flows across a semi-permeable membrane from a feed solution of lower osmotic pressure to a draw solution of higher osmotic pressure. However, very few studies on the removal of boron by FO have been performed. The objective of this study is to evaluate the possibility of boron separation in radioactive liquid waste by FO. In this study, the performance of FO was investigated to separate boron in the simulated liquid waste under the factors such as pH, osmotic pressure, ionic strength of the solution, and membrane characteristic. The boron separation in radioactive borate liquid waste was investigated with an FO membrane. When the feed solution containing boron is treated by the FO membrane, the boron permeation depends on the type of membrane, membrane orientation, pH of the feed solution, salt and boron concentration in the feed solution, and osmotic pressure of the draw solution. The boron flux begins to decline from pH 7, and increases with an increase in the osmotic driving force. The boron flux of the CTA-ES and ALFD membrane orientation is higher than those of the CTA-NW and ALFF orientation, respectively. The boron permeation rate is constant regardless of the osmotic pressure and membrane orientation. The boron flux decreases slightly with the salt concentration, but it is not heavily influenced at a low salt concentration.

Boron Removal in Radioactive Liquid Waste by Forward Osmosis Membrane

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, Dooseong; Choi, Hei Min; Lee, Kune Woo; Moon Jeikwon

2014-01-01

These wastes contain about 0.3-0.8 wt% boric acid and have been concentrated through an evaporation treatment. Boric acid tends to crystallize owing to its solubility, and to plug the evaporator. The volume reduction obtained through evaporation is limited by the amount of boric acid in the waste. As an emerging technology, forward osmosis (FO) has attracted growing interest in wastewater treatment and desalination. FO is a membrane process in which water flows across a semi-permeable membrane from a feed solution of lower osmotic pressure to a draw solution of higher osmotic pressure. However, very few studies on the removal of boron by FO have been performed. The objective of this study is to evaluate the possibility of boron separation in radioactive liquid waste by FO. In this study, the performance of FO was investigated to separate boron in the simulated liquid waste under the factors such as pH, osmotic pressure, ionic strength of the solution, and membrane characteristic. The boron separation in radioactive borate liquid waste was investigated with an FO membrane. When the feed solution containing boron is treated by the FO membrane, the boron permeation depends on the type of membrane, membrane orientation, pH of the feed solution, salt and boron concentration in the feed solution, and osmotic pressure of the draw solution. The boron flux begins to decline from pH 7, and increases with an increase in the osmotic driving force. The boron flux of the CTA-ES and ALFD membrane orientation is higher than those of the CTA-NW and ALFF orientation, respectively. The boron permeation rate is constant regardless of the osmotic pressure and membrane orientation. The boron flux decreases slightly with the salt concentration, but it is not heavily influenced at a low salt concentration

Intuitive analog circuit design

CERN Document Server

Thompson, Marc

2013-01-01

Intuitive Analog Circuit Design outlines ways of thinking about analog circuits and systems that let you develop a feel for what a good, working analog circuit design should be. This book reflects author Marc Thompson's 30 years of experience designing analog and power electronics circuits and teaching graduate-level analog circuit design, and is the ideal reference for anyone who needs a straightforward introduction to the subject. In this book, Dr. Thompson describes intuitive and ""back-of-the-envelope"" techniques for designing and analyzing analog circuits, including transistor amplifi

The circuit designer's companion

CERN Document Server

Williams, Tim

1991-01-01

The Circuit Designer's Companion covers the theoretical aspects and practices in analogue and digital circuit design. Electronic circuit design involves designing a circuit that will fulfill its specified function and designing the same circuit so that every production model of it will fulfill its specified function, and no other undesired and unspecified function.This book is composed of nine chapters and starts with a review of the concept of grounding, wiring, and printed circuits. The subsequent chapters deal with the passive and active components of circuitry design. These topics are foll

Electronic devices and circuits

CERN Document Server

Pridham, Gordon John

1972-01-01

Electronic Devices and Circuits, Volume 3 provides a comprehensive account on electronic devices and circuits and includes introductory network theory and physics. The physics of semiconductor devices is described, along with field effect transistors, small-signal equivalent circuits of bipolar transistors, and integrated circuits. Linear and non-linear circuits as well as logic circuits are also considered. This volume is comprised of 12 chapters and begins with an analysis of the use of Laplace transforms for analysis of filter networks, followed by a discussion on the physical properties of

Signal sampling circuit

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Louwsma, S.M.; Vertregt, Maarten

2011-01-01

A sampling circuit for sampling a signal is disclosed. The sampling circuit comprises a plurality of sampling channels adapted to sample the signal in time-multiplexed fashion, each sampling channel comprising a respective track-and-hold circuit connected to a respective analogue to digital

Signal sampling circuit

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Louwsma, S.M.; Vertregt, Maarten

2010-01-01

A sampling circuit for sampling a signal is disclosed. The sampling circuit comprises a plurality of sampling channels adapted to sample the signal in time-multiplexed fashion, each sampling channel comprising a respective track-and-hold circuit connected to a respective analogue to digital

Forward, Forward Option and No Hedging Which One is the Best for Managing Currency Risk?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Riko Hendrawan

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Bank Indonesia Regulation No.18/18/PBI/2016 concerning foreign exchange transactions against rupiah between banks and domestic parties, indicates that the importance of hedging for business actors in Indonesia. Based on the data of the rupiah exchange rate movement against the dollar from January 2006 to December 2016 shows that the fluctuation of the rupiah against the US dollar tends to weaken, although at some point the observation shows the strengthening of the rupiah against the US dollar. The purpose of this research is to assess impact of Forward, Forward Option and No Hedging Strategy for managing currency exposure between IDR to USD. Using data from January 2006–December 2016 taken from website of Bank Indonesia and Federal Reserve. Total 396 simulations,consists of 132 using Forward simulations, 132 using Forward Option simulations and 132 using No Hedging simulations. Findings from this research show that Forward Option was has no positive contribution in managing currency exposure, No Hedging Strategy has 36,36 percent positive contribution and forward contract has 72,73 percent positive contribution in managing currency exposure. Its means Forward Contract was better than Forward Option and No Hedging Strategies in managing currency exposure.

A link prediction method for heterogeneous networks based on BP neural network

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ji-chao; Zhao, Dan-ling; Ge, Bing-Feng; Yang, Ke-Wei; Chen, Ying-Wu

2018-04-01

Most real-world systems, composed of different types of objects connected via many interconnections, can be abstracted as various complex heterogeneous networks. Link prediction for heterogeneous networks is of great significance for mining missing links and reconfiguring networks according to observed information, with considerable applications in, for example, friend and location recommendations and disease-gene candidate detection. In this paper, we put forward a novel integrated framework, called MPBP (Meta-Path feature-based BP neural network model), to predict multiple types of links for heterogeneous networks. More specifically, the concept of meta-path is introduced, followed by the extraction of meta-path features for heterogeneous networks. Next, based on the extracted meta-path features, a supervised link prediction model is built with a three-layer BP neural network. Then, the solution algorithm of the proposed link prediction model is put forward to obtain predicted results by iteratively training the network. Last, numerical experiments on the dataset of examples of a gene-disease network and a combat network are conducted to verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed MPBP. It shows that the MPBP with very good performance is superior to the baseline methods.

Electric circuits essentials

CERN Document Server

REA, Editors of

2012-01-01

REA's Essentials provide quick and easy access to critical information in a variety of different fields, ranging from the most basic to the most advanced. As its name implies, these concise, comprehensive study guides summarize the essentials of the field covered. Essentials are helpful when preparing for exams, doing homework and will remain a lasting reference source for students, teachers, and professionals. Electric Circuits I includes units, notation, resistive circuits, experimental laws, transient circuits, network theorems, techniques of circuit analysis, sinusoidal analysis, polyph

Approximate circuits for increased reliability

Science.gov (United States)

Hamlet, Jason R.; Mayo, Jackson R.

2015-08-18

Embodiments of the invention describe a Boolean circuit having a voter circuit and a plurality of approximate circuits each based, at least in part, on a reference circuit. The approximate circuits are each to generate one or more output signals based on values of received input signals. The voter circuit is to receive the one or more output signals generated by each of the approximate circuits, and is to output one or more signals corresponding to a majority value of the received signals. At least some of the approximate circuits are to generate an output value different than the reference circuit for one or more input signal values; however, for each possible input signal value, the majority values of the one or more output signals generated by the approximate circuits and received by the voter circuit correspond to output signal result values of the reference circuit.

Short-circuit logic

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bergstra, J.A.; Ponse, A.

2010-01-01

Short-circuit evaluation denotes the semantics of propositional connectives in which the second argument is only evaluated if the first argument does not suffice to determine the value of the expression. In programming, short-circuit evaluation is widely used. A short-circuit logic is a variant of

Sensitive detection of proteasomal activation using the Deg-On mammalian synthetic gene circuit.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Wenting; Bonem, Matthew; McWhite, Claire; Silberg, Jonathan J; Segatori, Laura

2014-04-08

The ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) has emerged as a drug target for diverse diseases characterized by altered proteostasis, but pharmacological agents that enhance UPS activity have been challenging to establish. Here we report the Deg-On system, a genetic inverter that translates proteasomal degradation of the transcriptional regulator TetR into a fluorescent signal, thereby linking UPS activity to an easily detectable output, which can be tuned using tetracycline. We demonstrate that this circuit responds to modulation of UPS activity in cell culture arising from the inhibitor MG-132 and activator PA28γ. Guided by predictive modelling, we enhanced the circuit's signal sensitivity and dynamic range by introducing a feedback loop that enables self-amplification of TetR. By linking UPS activity to a simple and tunable fluorescence output, these genetic inverters will enable a variety of applications, including screening for UPS activating molecules and selecting for mammalian cells with different levels of proteasome activity.

Forward tracking detectors

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

At the ILC many of the most important physics reactions are central, so that the forward region, which is suppressed by the cos θ phase space factor often is a bit neglected. However, many processes at the ILC are peaked in the forward region like Bhabha scattering or W-pair production [1]. Fermion pair production has its.

Dendritic nonlinearities are tuned for efficient spike-based computations in cortical circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Ujfalussy, Balázs B; Makara, Judit K; Branco, Tiago; Lengyel, Máté

2015-12-24

Cortical neurons integrate thousands of synaptic inputs in their dendrites in highly nonlinear ways. It is unknown how these dendritic nonlinearities in individual cells contribute to computations at the level of neural circuits. Here, we show that dendritic nonlinearities are critical for the efficient integration of synaptic inputs in circuits performing analog computations with spiking neurons. We developed a theory that formalizes how a neuron's dendritic nonlinearity that is optimal for integrating synaptic inputs depends on the statistics of its presynaptic activity patterns. Based on their in vivo preynaptic population statistics (firing rates, membrane potential fluctuations, and correlations due to ensemble dynamics), our theory accurately predicted the responses of two different types of cortical pyramidal cells to patterned stimulation by two-photon glutamate uncaging. These results reveal a new computational principle underlying dendritic integration in cortical neurons by suggesting a functional link between cellular and systems--level properties of cortical circuits.

Recent advances in corneal collagen cross-linking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gitansha Shreyas Sachdev

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Corneal collagen cross-linking has become the preferred modality of treatment for corneal ectasia since its inception in late 1990s. Numerous studies have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of the conventional protocol. Our understanding of the cross-linking process is ever evolving, with its wide implications in the form of accelerated and pulsed protocols. Newer advancements in technology include various riboflavin formulations and the ability to deliver higher fluence protocols with customised irradiation patterns. A greater degree of customisation is likely the path forward, which will aim at achieving refractive improvements along with disease stability. The use of cross-linking for myopic correction is another avenue under exploration. Combination of half fluence cross-linking with refractive correction for high errors to prevent post LASIK regression is gaining interest. This review aims to highlight the various advancements in the cross-linking technology and its clinical applications.

Buffer-Aided Relaying with Adaptive Link Selection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zlatanov, Nikola; Schober, Robert; Popovski, Petar

2013-01-01

In this paper, we consider a simple network consisting of a source, a half-duplex decode-and-forward relay, and a destination. We propose a new relaying protocol employing adaptive link selection, i.e., in any given time slot, based on the channel state information of the source-relay and the relay......-destination link a decision is made whether the source or the relay transmits. In order to avoid data loss at the relay, adaptive link selection requires the relay to be equipped with a buffer such that data can be queued until the relay-destination link is selected for transmission. We study both delay......-constrained and delay-unconstrained transmission. For the delay-unconstrained case, we characterize the optimal link selection policy, derive the corresponding throughput, and develop an optimal power allocation scheme. For the delay-constrained case, we propose to starve the buffer of the relay by choosing...

Forward osmosis - a novel membrane process for concentration of low level radioactive wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghosh, A.K.; Bindal, R.C.; Tewari, P.K.

2013-01-01

Forward osmosis (FO) is an emerging membrane process in which osmotic pressure differential across a semi-permeable membrane between the solution to be concentrated (feed) and a concentrated solution of high osmotic pressure (draw solution) than the feed is used to effect separation of water from dissolved solutes. With time, feed stream gets concentrated with dilution of draw solution and this technology recently being used as more energy efficient alternative to reverse osmosis (RO) in some of the application areas, particularly for the concentration of low volume high value products. The use of pressure driven membrane processes like reverse osmosis (RO) and ultrafiltration (UF) are already demonstrated in the treatment of radioactive laundry, laboratory effluents and some other applications in nuclear industry. The application of FO membrane process to concentrate simulated inactive ammonium-diuranate (ADU) filtered effluent solution (by mixing uranyl nitrate and ammonium nitrate) using indigenously developed cellulose acetate (CA) and thin-film composite polyamide (TFCP) membranes has been published recently from our laboratory. In this presentation, we briefly discuss our views on possibility of using FO membrane process with proper selection of membrane for concentration of low level radioactive wastes generated in various steps of nuclear fuel cycle in most effective way. (author)

Second-Order Harmonic Reduction Technique for Photovoltaic Power Conditioning Systems Using a Proportional-Resonant Controller

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hae-Gwang Jeong

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a second-order harmonic reduction technique using a proportional-resonant (PR controller for a photovoltaic (PV power conditioning system (PCS. In a grid-connected single-phase system, inverters create a second-order harmonic at twice the fundamental frequency. A ripple component unsettles the operating points of the PV array and deteriorates the operation of the maximum power point tracking (MPPT technique. The second-order harmonic component in PV PCS is analyzed using an equivalent circuit of the DC/DC converter and the DC/AC inverter. A new feed-forward compensation technique using a PR controller for ripple reduction is proposed. The proposed algorithm is advantageous in that additional devices are not required and complex calculations are unnecessary. Therefore, this method is cost-effective and simple to implement. The proposed feed-forward compensation technique is verified by simulation and experimental results.

Load testing circuit

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2009-01-01

A load testing circuit a circuit tests the load impedance of a load connected to an amplifier. The load impedance includes a first terminal and a second terminal, the load testing circuit comprising a signal generator providing a test signal of a defined bandwidth to the first terminal of the load...

Timergenerator circuits manual

CERN Document Server

Marston, R M

2013-01-01

Timer/Generator Circuits Manual is an 11-chapter text that deals mainly with waveform generator techniques and circuits. Each chapter starts with an explanation of the basic principles of its subject followed by a wide range of practical circuit designs. This work presents a total of over 300 practical circuits, diagrams, and tables.Chapter 1 outlines the basic principles and the different types of generator. Chapters 2 to 9 deal with a specific type of waveform generator, including sine, square, triangular, sawtooth, and special waveform generators pulse. These chapters also include pulse gen

CMOS circuits manual

CERN Document Server

Marston, R M

1995-01-01

CMOS Circuits Manual is a user's guide for CMOS. The book emphasizes the practical aspects of CMOS and provides circuits, tables, and graphs to further relate the fundamentals with the applications. The text first discusses the basic principles and characteristics of the CMOS devices. The succeeding chapters detail the types of CMOS IC, including simple inverter, gate and logic ICs and circuits, and complex counters and decoders. The last chapter presents a miscellaneous collection of two dozen useful CMOS circuits. The book will be useful to researchers and professionals who employ CMOS circu

A sequential logic circuit for coincidences randomly distributed in 'time' and 'duration', with selection and total sampling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carnet, Bernard; Delhumeau, Michel

1971-06-01

The principles of binary analysis applied to the investigation of sequential circuits were used to design a two way coincidence circuit whose input may be, random or periodic variables of constant or variable duration. The output signal strictly reproduces the characteristics of the input signal triggering the coincidence. A coincidence between input signals does not produce any output signal if one of the signals has already triggered the output signal. The characteristics of the output signal in relation to those of the input signal are: minimum time jitter, excellent duration reproducibility and maximum efficiency. Some rules are given for achieving these results. The symmetry, transitivity and non-transitivity characteristics of the edges on the primitive graph are analyzed and lead to some rules for positioning the states on a secondary graph. It is from this graph that the equations of the circuits can be calculated. The development of the circuit and its dynamic testing are discussed. For this testing, the functioning of the circuit is simulated by feeding into the input randomly generated signals

Integrated-circuit microwave detector based on granular high-Tc thin films. [Y-Ba-Cu-O

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Drobinin, A.V.; Lutovinov, V.S.; Starostenko, I.V. (Moscow Inst. of Radioengineering, Electronics and Automation, (MIREA), Moscow (USSR))

1991-12-01

A highly sensitive integrative-circuit microwave detector based on granular High-Tc film has been designed. All matching circuits and High-Tc microbridge are located on the same substrate. The voltage responsivity 10{sup 3} V/W has been found at 65 K and frequency 5 GHz. Different modes of microwave detection have been observed: bolometric response near Tc in high-quality films, rectification mode caused by an array of weak links dominating in low-quality films, detection caused by nonlinear magnetic flux motion. (orig.).

Stat3: linking inflammation to epithelial cancer - more than a "gut" feeling?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Putoczki Tracy

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Inflammation is an important environmental factor that promotes tumourigenesis and the progression of established cancerous lesions, and recent studies have started to dissect the mechanisms linking the two pathologies. These inflammatory and infectious conditions trigger immune and stromal cell release of soluble mediators which facilitate survival and proliferation of tumour cells in a paracrine manner. In addition, (epi-genetic mutations affecting oncogenes, tumour-suppressor genes, chromosomal rearrangements and amplifications trigger the release of inflammatory mediators within the tumour microenvironment to promote neoplastic growth in an autocrine manner. These two pathways converge in tumour cells and result in activation of the latent signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3 which mediates a transcriptional response favouring survival, proliferation and angiogenesis. The abundance of cytokines that activate Stat3 within the tumour microenvironment, which comprises of members of the interleukin (IL IL6, IL10 and IL17/23 families, underpins a signaling network that simultaneously promotes the growth of neoplastic epithelium, fuels inflammation and suppresses the host's anti-tumour immune response. Accordingly, aberrant and persistent Stat3 activation is a frequent observation in human cancers of epithelial origin and is often associated with poor outcome. Here we summarize insights gained from mice harbouring mutations in components of the Stat3 signaling cascade and in particular of gp130, the shared receptor for the IL6 family of cytokines. We focus on the various feed-back and feed-forward loops in which Stat3 provides the signaling node in cells of the tumour and its microenvironment thereby functionally linking excessive inflammation to neoplastic growth. Although these observations are particularly pertinent to gastrointestinal tumours, we suggest that the tumour's addiction to persistent Stat3 activation

30 CFR 75.601-1 - Short circuit protection; ratings and settings of circuit breakers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Short circuit protection; ratings and settings... Trailing Cables § 75.601-1 Short circuit protection; ratings and settings of circuit breakers. Circuit breakers providing short circuit protection for trailing cables shall be set so as not to exceed the...

The Effects of Forage Policy on Feed Costs in Korea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jae Bong Chang

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Feeding operations are substantial on livestock farms, besides being potentially expensive. Feeding efficiency has been considered a major influence on profits in the livestock industry. Indeed, feed costs are shown to be the largest single item of production cost in Korea. To promote production and use of domestic forage, the Korean government has enforced the forage base expansion program that strengthens the competitiveness of the livestock industry by reducing the production cost. The forage base expansion program includes three main policies: subsidized forage production, support for processing and distribution, and expanding land for forage production. This paper investigates the influence of the government’s policies often conjectured to have pronounced effects on forage production. To evaluate the forage policies, this paper uses a path-analysis approach linking government spending on forage base expansion programs and feed costs. Results indicate that the Korean government’s spending on supporting domestic forage production results in a decrease in the ratio of forage expenses to total feed cost.

Power forward curves: a managerial perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagarajan, Shankar

1999-01-01

This chapter concentrates on managerial application of power forward curves, and examines the determinants of electricity prices such as transmission constraints, its inability to be stored in a conventional way, its seasonality and weather dependence, the generation stack, and the swing risk. The electricity forward curve, classical arbitrage, constructing a forward curve, volatilities, and electricity forward curve models such as the jump-diffusion model, the mean-reverting heteroscedastic volatility model, and an econometric model of forward prices are examined. A managerial perspective of the applications of the forward curve is presented covering plant valuation, capital budgeting, performance measurement, product pricing and structuring, asset optimisation, valuation of transmission options, and risk management

Consolidation of the LHC superconducting magnets and circuits during LS1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tock, J.P.

2012-01-01

All the activities necessary to consolidate the LHC superconducting magnets and circuits are presented, especially the consolidation of the main splices, replacement of weak cryo-magnets, the consolidation of the DFBAs (electrical feed-boxes) and the special interventions. For each of them, the baseline strategy is presented, highlighting the reasons that led to these choices and the remaining risk level. In particular, the progress of the work of the LHC Splices Task Force, the recommendations of the second LHC Splices Review (November 2011) and their analysis are reported. Finally, the work planning, the organization chart and the associated resources are detailed. (author)

Sequential circuit design for radiation hardened multiple voltage integrated circuits

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Lawrence T [Phoenix, AZ; McIver, III, John K.

2009-11-24

The present invention includes a radiation hardened sequential circuit, such as a bistable circuit, flip-flop or other suitable design that presents substantial immunity to ionizing radiation while simultaneously maintaining a low operating voltage. In one embodiment, the circuit includes a plurality of logic elements that operate on relatively low voltage, and a master and slave latches each having storage elements that operate on a relatively high voltage.

Rolled-up inductor structure for a radiofrequency integrated circuit (RFIC)

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiuling; Huang, Wen; Ferreira, Placid M.; Yu, Xin

2015-12-29

A rolled-up inductor structure for a radiofrequency integrated circuit (RFIC) comprises a multilayer sheet in a rolled configuration comprising multiple turns about a longitudinal axis. The multilayer sheet comprises a conductive pattern layer on a strain-relieved layer, and the conductive pattern layer comprises at least one conductive strip having a length extending in a rolling direction. The at least one conductive strip thereby wraps around the longitudinal axis in the rolled configuration. The conductive pattern layer may also comprise two conductive feed lines connected to the conductive strip for passage of electrical current therethrough. The conductive strip serves as an inductor cell of the rolled-up inductor structure.

A Glider-Assisted Link Disruption Restoration Mechanism in Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhigang Jin

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Underwater acoustic sensor networks (UASNs have become a hot research topic. In UASNs, nodes can be affected by ocean currents and external forces, which could result in sudden link disruption. Therefore, designing a flexible and efficient link disruption restoration mechanism to ensure the network connectivity is a challenge. In the paper, we propose a glider-assisted restoration mechanism which includes link disruption recognition and related link restoring mechanism. In the link disruption recognition mechanism, the cluster heads collect the link disruption information and then schedule gliders acting as relay nodes to restore the disrupted link. Considering the glider’s sawtooth motion, we design a relay location optimization algorithm with a consideration of both the glider’s trajectory and acoustic channel attenuation model. The utility function is established by minimizing the channel attenuation and the optimal location of glider is solved by a multiplier method. The glider-assisted restoration mechanism can greatly improve the packet delivery rate and reduce the communication energy consumption and it is more general for the restoration of different link disruption scenarios. The simulation results show that glider-assisted restoration mechanism can improve the delivery rate of data packets by 15–33% compared with cooperative opportunistic routing (OVAR, the hop-by-hop vector-based forwarding (HH-VBF and the vector based forward (VBF methods, and reduce communication energy consumption by 20–58% for a typical network’s setting.

The Simulation and Experiment of a Non-Cross-Feeding Printed Log-Periodic Antenna

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chun-Ying Kang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A non-cross-fed printed log-periodic antenna is simulated and studied experimentally. To avoid complex feeding with long coaxial line, the non-cross-feeding structure is applied in this antenna. The software CST Microwave Studio is employed to simulate the proposed antenna, and the optimized antenna model is obtained. According to the simulation results, the antenna prototype is produced and measured. Simulation and measured results show that the antenna is with S11<-10 dB in band of 4.2–9.2 GHz. And the radiation pattern and gain vary steadily in this band, which achieves requirements for wideband antenna. This antenna design can be extended to the design of the antenna integrated in communication circuit.

An Adenosine-Mediated Glial-Neuronal Circuit for Homeostatic Sleep.

Science.gov (United States)

Bjorness, Theresa E; Dale, Nicholas; Mettlach, Gabriel; Sonneborn, Alex; Sahin, Bogachan; Fienberg, Allen A; Yanagisawa, Masashi; Bibb, James A; Greene, Robert W

2016-03-30

Sleep homeostasis reflects a centrally mediated drive for sleep, which increases during waking and resolves during subsequent sleep. Here we demonstrate that mice deficient for glial adenosine kinase (AdK), the primary metabolizing enzyme for adenosine (Ado), exhibit enhanced expression of this homeostatic drive by three independent measures: (1) increased rebound of slow-wave activity; (2) increased consolidation of slow-wave sleep; and (3) increased time constant of slow-wave activity decay during an average slow-wave sleep episode, proposed and validated here as a new index for homeostatic sleep drive. Conversely, mice deficient for the neuronal adenosine A1 receptor exhibit significantly decreased sleep drive as judged by these same indices. Neuronal knock-out of AdK did not influence homeostatic sleep need. Together, these findings implicate a glial-neuronal circuit mediated by intercellular Ado, controlling expression of homeostatic sleep drive. Because AdK is tightly regulated by glial metabolic state, our findings suggest a functional link between cellular metabolism and sleep homeostasis. The work presented here provides evidence for an adenosine-mediated regulation of sleep in response to waking (i.e., homeostatic sleep need), requiring activation of neuronal adenosine A1 receptors and controlled by glial adenosine kinase. Adenosine kinase acts as a highly sensitive and important metabolic sensor of the glial ATP/ADP and AMP ratio directly controlling intracellular adenosine concentration. Glial equilibrative adenosine transporters reflect the intracellular concentration to the extracellular milieu to activate neuronal adenosine receptors. Thus, adenosine mediates a glial-neuronal circuit linking glial metabolic state to neural-expressed sleep homeostasis. This indicates a metabolically related function(s) for this glial-neuronal circuit in the buildup and resolution of our need to sleep and suggests potential therapeutic targets more directly related to

Low latency asynchronous interface circuits

Science.gov (United States)

Sadowski, Greg

2017-06-20

In one form, a logic circuit includes an asynchronous logic circuit, a synchronous logic circuit, and an interface circuit coupled between the asynchronous logic circuit and the synchronous logic circuit. The asynchronous logic circuit has a plurality of asynchronous outputs for providing a corresponding plurality of asynchronous signals. The synchronous logic circuit has a plurality of synchronous inputs corresponding to the plurality of asynchronous outputs, a stretch input for receiving a stretch signal, and a clock output for providing a clock signal. The synchronous logic circuit provides the clock signal as a periodic signal but prolongs a predetermined state of the clock signal while the stretch signal is active. The asynchronous interface detects whether metastability could occur when latching any of the plurality of the asynchronous outputs of the asynchronous logic circuit using said clock signal, and activates the stretch signal while the metastability could occur.

Effects of transmembrane hydraulic pressure on performance of forward osmosis membranes.

Science.gov (United States)

Coday, Bryan D; Heil, Dean M; Xu, Pei; Cath, Tzahi Y

2013-03-05

Forward osmosis (FO) is an emerging membrane separation process that continues to be tested and implemented in various industrial water and wastewater treatment applications. The growing interests in the technology have prompted laboratories and manufacturers to adopt standard testing methods to ensure accurate comparison of membrane performance under laboratory-controlled conditions; however, standardized methods might not capture specific operating conditions unique to industrial applications. Experiments with cellulose triacetate (CTA) and polyamide thin-film composite (TFC) FO membranes demonstrated that hydraulic transmembrane pressure (TMP), common in industrial operation of FO membrane elements, could affect membrane performance. Experiments were conducted with three FO membranes and with increasing TMP up to a maximum of 50 psi (3.45 bar). The feed solution was a mixture of salts and the draw solution was either a NaCl solution or concentrated seawater at similar osmotic pressure. Results revealed that TMP minimally affected water flux, reverse salt flux (RSF), and solute rejection of the CTA membrane. However, water flux through TFC membranes might slightly increase with increasing TMP, and RSF substantially declines with increasing TMP. It was observed that rejection of feed constituents was influenced by TMP and RSF.

A family with severe X-linked arthrogryposis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hennekam, R. C.; Barth, P. G.; van Lookeren Campagne, W.; de Visser, M.; Dingemans, K. P.

1991-01-01

Five males are reported with severe X-linked arthrogryposis. Main findings are marked respiratory insufficiency and feeding problems, multiple contractures, deformities of chest and vertebral column, and typical facies. Most of these findings can be explained by a pronounced prenatal and postnatal

A comprehensive study and analysis of second order harmonic ripple in DC microgrid feeding single phase PWM inverter loads

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gautam, Aditya R.; Fulwani, Deepak; Guerrero, Josep M.

2016-01-01

The paper presents a detailed analysis of second order harmonic ripple in a DC microgrid. A boost converter feeding PWM inverter load is considered and equivalent circuit is proposed. The effect of the size of input capacitor, output capacitor and inductor of boost converter, on this ripple has...

A closed-loop forward osmosis-nanofiltration hybrid system: Understanding process implications through full-scale simulation

KAUST Repository

Phuntsho, Sherub

2016-12-30

This study presents simulation of a closed-loop forward osmosis (FO)-nanofiltration (NF) hybrid system using fertiliser draw solution (DS) based on thermodynamic mass balance in a full-scale system neglecting the non-idealities such as finite membrane area that may exist in a real process. The simulation shows that the DS input parameters such as initial concentrations and its flow rates cannot be arbitrarily selected for a plant with defined volume output. For a fixed FO-NF plant capacity and feed concentration, the required initial DS flow rate varies inversely with the initial DS concentration or vice-versa. The net DS mass flow rate, a parameter constant for a fixed plant capacity but that increases linearly with the plant capacity and feed concentration, is the most important operational parameter of a closed-loop system. Increasing either of them or both increases the mass flow rate to the system directly affecting the final concentration of the diluted DS with direct energy implications to the NF process. Besides, the initial DS concentration and flow rates are also limited by the optimum recovery rates at which NF process can be operated which otherwise also have direct implications to the NF energy. This simulation also presents quantitative analysis of the reverse diffusion of fertiliser nutrients towards feed brine and the gradual accumulation of feed solutes within the closed system.

LHC production of forward-center and forward-forward di-jets in the kt-factorization and transverse dependent unintegrated parton distribution frameworks

Science.gov (United States)

Modarres, M.; Masouminia, M. R.; Aminzadeh Nik, R.; Hosseinkhani, H.; Olanj, N.

2017-09-01

The present work is devoted to study the high-energy QCD events, such as the di-jet productions from proton-proton inelastic collisions at the LHC in the forward-center and the forward-forward configurations. This provides us with much valuable case study, since such phenomena can provide a direct glimpse into the partonic behavior of a hadron in a dominant gluonic region. We use the unintegrated parton distribution functions (UPDF) in the kt-factorization framework. The UPDF of Kimber et al. (KMR) and Martin et al. (MRW) are generated in the leading order (LO) and next-to-leading order (NLO), using the Harland-Lang et al. (MMHT2014) PDF libraries. While working in the forward-center and the forward-forward rapidity sectors, one can probe the parton densities at very low longitudinal momentum fractions (x). Such a model computation can provide simpler analytic description of data with respect to existing formalisms such as perturbative QCD. The differential cross-section calculations are performed at the center of mass energy of 7 TeV corresponding to CMS collaboration measurement. It is shown that the gluonic jet productions are dominant and a good description of data as well as other theoretical attempts (i.e. KS-linear, KS-nonlinear and rcBK) is obtained. The uncertainty of the calculations is derived by manipulating the hard scale of the processes by a factor of two. This conclusion is achieved, due to the particular visualization of the angular ordering constraint (AOC), that is incorporated in the definition of these UPDF.

Ferric and cobaltous hydroacid complexes for forward osmosis (FO) processes

KAUST Repository

Ge, Qingchun; Fu, Fengjiang; Chung, Neal Tai-Shung

2014-01-01

Cupric and ferric hydroacid complexes have proven their advantages as draw solutes in forward osmosis in terms of high water fluxes, negligible reverse solute fluxes and easy recovery (Ge and Chung, 2013. Hydroacid complexes: A new class of draw solutes to promote forward osmosis (FO) processes. Chemical Communications 49, 8471-8473.). In this study, cobaltous hydroacid complexes were explored as draw solutes and compared with the ferric hydroacid complex to study the factors influencing their FO performance. The solutions of the cobaltous complexes produce high osmotic pressures due to the presence of abundant hydrophilic groups. These solutes are able to dissociate and form a multi-charged anion and Na+ cations in water. In addition, these complexes have expanded structures which lead to negligible reverse solute fluxes and provide relatively easy approaches in regeneration. These characteristics make the newly synthesized cobaltous complexes appropriate as draw solutes. The FO performance of the cobaltous and ferric-citric acid (Fe-CA) complexes were evaluated respectively through cellulose acetate membranes, thin-film composite membranes fabricated on polyethersulfone supports (referred as TFC-PES), and polybenzimidazole and PES dual-layer (referred as PBI/PES) hollow fiber membranes. Under the conditions of DI water as the feed and facing the support layer of TFC-PES FO membranes (PRO mode), draw solutions at 2.0M produced relatively high water fluxes of 39-48 LMH (Lm-2hr-1) with negligible reverse solute fluxes. A water flux of 17.4 LMH was achieved when model seawater of 3.5wt.% NaCl replaced DI water as the feed and 2.0M Fe-CA as the draw solution under the same conditions. The performance of these hydroacid complexes surpasses those of the synthetic draw solutes developed in recent years. This observation, along with the relatively easy regeneration, makes these complexes very promising as a novel class of draw solutes. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

Ferric and cobaltous hydroacid complexes for forward osmosis (FO) processes

KAUST Repository

Ge, Qingchun

2014-07-01

Cupric and ferric hydroacid complexes have proven their advantages as draw solutes in forward osmosis in terms of high water fluxes, negligible reverse solute fluxes and easy recovery (Ge and Chung, 2013. Hydroacid complexes: A new class of draw solutes to promote forward osmosis (FO) processes. Chemical Communications 49, 8471-8473.). In this study, cobaltous hydroacid complexes were explored as draw solutes and compared with the ferric hydroacid complex to study the factors influencing their FO performance. The solutions of the cobaltous complexes produce high osmotic pressures due to the presence of abundant hydrophilic groups. These solutes are able to dissociate and form a multi-charged anion and Na+ cations in water. In addition, these complexes have expanded structures which lead to negligible reverse solute fluxes and provide relatively easy approaches in regeneration. These characteristics make the newly synthesized cobaltous complexes appropriate as draw solutes. The FO performance of the cobaltous and ferric-citric acid (Fe-CA) complexes were evaluated respectively through cellulose acetate membranes, thin-film composite membranes fabricated on polyethersulfone supports (referred as TFC-PES), and polybenzimidazole and PES dual-layer (referred as PBI/PES) hollow fiber membranes. Under the conditions of DI water as the feed and facing the support layer of TFC-PES FO membranes (PRO mode), draw solutions at 2.0M produced relatively high water fluxes of 39-48 LMH (Lm-2hr-1) with negligible reverse solute fluxes. A water flux of 17.4 LMH was achieved when model seawater of 3.5wt.% NaCl replaced DI water as the feed and 2.0M Fe-CA as the draw solution under the same conditions. The performance of these hydroacid complexes surpasses those of the synthetic draw solutes developed in recent years. This observation, along with the relatively easy regeneration, makes these complexes very promising as a novel class of draw solutes. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

Piezoelectric drive circuit

Science.gov (United States)

Treu, C.A. Jr.

1999-08-31

A piezoelectric motor drive circuit is provided which utilizes the piezoelectric elements as oscillators and a Meacham half-bridge approach to develop feedback from the motor ground circuit to produce a signal to drive amplifiers to power the motor. The circuit automatically compensates for shifts in harmonic frequency of the piezoelectric elements due to pressure and temperature changes. 7 figs.

Theoretical and experimental analysis of inverter fed induction motor system under DC link capacitor failure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hadeed A. Sher

2017-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper theoretical and experimental analysis of an AC–DC–AC inverter under DC link capacitor failure is presented. The failure study conducted for this paper is the open circuit of the DC link capacitor. The presented analysis incorporates the results for both single and three phase AC input. It has been observed that the higher ripple frequency provides better ride through capability for this fault. Furthermore, the effects of this fault on electrical characteristics of AC–DC–AC inverter and mechanical properties of the induction motor are also presented. Moreover, the effect of pulsating torque as a result of an open circuited DC link capacitor is also taken into consideration. Theoretical analysis is supported by computer aided simulation as well as with a real time experimental prototype.

Habenula circuit development: past, present and future

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