bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
High‐performance antenna for energy harvesting in satellite health monitoring system
Authors: Srinivasan Revathy , Habiba Hyder Ali Umma
Published: October 2019

This study is targeted towards designing and analysing the X and Ku bands receiving antenna using the Code Blocks software and Advanced Design System simulation tool for energy harvesting in order to satisfy the energy needs of autonomous wireless sensors on board of geostationary satellite for structural health monitoring of the satellite panels, where weight, cost, size and efficiency are the principal space antenna parameters accounted. The energy harvester generally consists of receiving antenna, which harvests and scavenges the circumambient electromagnetic field and inputs the rectifier in order to power the sensors. In this study, a compact, wideband semi‐ellipse patch antenna backed with defected ground structure is presented. The antenna compactness (186.8 mm3) is obtained by truncating the elliptical patch to form a semi‐ellipse patch without compromising the band of interest which reduces from launching weight and cost. The proposed antenna covers X and Ku bands for voltage standing wave ratio ≤2 with a maximum return loss of 28.75 dB, the efficiency of 95%, the gain of 9.6 dBi and directivity of 14 dBi, which makes the proposed antenna compatible to use with the rectifier in order to satisfy the energy needs of wireless sensors.
Improving the performance of opportunistic routing protocol using the evidence theory for VANETs in highways
Authors: Kashani Ali Azimi , Ghanbari Mohammad , Rahmani Amir Masoud
Published: October 2019

Vehicular ad‐hoc networks (VANETs) despite their potential benefits, especially for intelligent transportation and safety systems face some important challenges. The main challenges are caused by high mobility of vehicles and dynamic environment. In addition, VANET channel is wireless and is extremely error prone. To overcome these problems, several routing strategies have been proposed in order to find paths with high reliability and low delay. One of these strategies is the opportunistic routing (OR) paradigm where its performance can be significantly affected by the method applied for prioritised transmission to the nodes within the relays set. The OR protocol proposed in this study is based on the Dempster–Shafer evidence theory. In this method, the source vehicle employs the packet advancement, vehicle density, and packet delivery probability as parameters for determining the appropriate vehicle as to the next hop. The number of vehicles participating in forwarding the packets is optimised using trust‐based calculations. In addition, the source vehicle can schedule a set of relay nodes based on their degree of trust. Highway environment simulations suggest that compared to other published methods in the literature, the proposed method can improve routing performance in terms of all quality‐of‐service metrics.
Torque ripple suppression of switched reluctance motor by segmented harmonic currents injection based on adaptive fuzzy logic control
Authors: Ma Mingyao , Ling Feng , Li Fei , Liu Fang
Published: October 2019

Referencing to the correlation between electromagnetic torque and winding current of switched reluctance motor (SRM), a novel adaptive fuzzy control method with segmented harmonic currents injection for SRM is presented in this study. The proposed method divides the conduction interval of each phase into n segments and injects the nth harmonic current into the reference current of each phase. The coefficient of the harmonic current in each section is automatically adjusted by fuzzy control strategy according to the torque error. In this case, the current waveform can generate additional torque to suppress the torque ripple caused by the square wave reference current. Also, the novel method can achieve adaptive control over a wide range of load and angular velocity below the base speed. In addition, the control method is flexible, portable, and can be applied to most of the SRM drive systems. The simulation results and experimental results represent that the torque ripple can be effectively suppressed in real‐time by the proposed novel control method.
Improved general modelling method of SRMs based on normalised flux linkage
Authors: Li Yiqian , Ma Qishuang , Xu Ping
Published: October 2019

The modelling of a switched reluctance motor (SRM) is indispensable owing to its inherent non‐linear characteristics. In this study, a general flux linkage model for SRMs developed by normalising the magnetic saturation levels and magnetic structures are described. On the basis of this general model, entire flux linkage characteristics of a specific SRM can be calculated easily with only need for the flux linkage at the aligned and unaligned rotor positions. In addition, a radial basis function neural network is adopted for high‐precision modelling of the general flux linkage model. The flux linkage characteristics of five prototype motors were also analysed using both the finite element method and the proposed general modelling strategy. The results demonstrate perfect agreement, which verify the feasibility and practicality of the proposed general modelling method.
Redundant switching state based DTC for six‐phase symmetrical induction motor driven by nine‐switch inverter
Authors: Sharma Sohit , Aware Mohan , Bhowate Apekshit
Published: October 2019

This paper presents the implementation of direct torque control (DTC) algorithm on the symmetrical six‐phase (0° displaced) induction motor supplied by nine‐switch inverter (NSI). This configuration provides the better dc bus utilisation in comparison to symmetrical 60° displaced and asymmetrical six‐phase induction motor. In the conventional topology, 12‐switch two‐level inverter is required to control the drive where total 64 switching states are available. In the proposed system, NSI is used to drive the motor which is having 27 switching states. The DTC algorithm is proposed with five‐level torque comparator by using large, small and zero voltage vectors for reduction in torque ripples. The elimination of xy‐subspace flux without affecting the merits of conventional DTC is achieved by using redundant switching states of the inverter. The experimental results under steady‐ and dynamic‐state operation are provided with DTC algorithm on 0° displaced symmetrical six‐phase motor supplied by NSI to validate the effective controlling.
Disturbance suppression for PMSM by a non‐linear composite controller based on two‐channel strategy
Authors: Ding Yue , Kang Erliang , Wang Shuai , Chen Gaoru , Liu Fengyang
Published: October 2019

A non‐linear adaptive backstepping controller based on linear extend state observer (NABESO) is designed to track speed of PMSM. This study proposes a two‐channel strategy which is applied for the online elimination of the influence of unknown load torque and parameters disturbances. According to the strategy, an adaptive controller is designed to eliminate the load torque and parameters disturbance of the first channel, and a linear extended state observer is chosen in a feedforward method to observe the internal time‐varying parameters disturbance of the second channel as well as compensating the disturbances from the first channel. The proposed strategy can not only achieve online estimation of the load disturbance, but also suppress disturbances caused by the changes of all parameters, and to some extent, the negative transient response can also be avoided by abandoning traditional cascade control mode. Besides the functional advantages, the proposed controller is of pertinence and flexibility in parameters selection. Finally, the simulation and experimental results both display that the proposed strategy can effectively suppress the impact of internal and external disturbance on the PMSM control performance.
Inverse features extraction for substation grounding grid: derivative and ICA combinatorial approach
Authors: Qamar Aamir , Uddin Zahoor , Yang Fan
Published: October 2019

Optimising the orientation of the unknown grounding grid is effective to measure its accurate configuration. On the other hand, burial depth and conductors’ current are essential for the status diagnosis of grounding grid. This study employs the derivative method to determine the above‐grounding grid characteristics without excavation. Surface magnetic flux density after the current injection process is subjected to derivative on the circle. The orientation of the grounding grid is accurately measured from the location of gradient peaks. Moreover, the grounding grid depth and conductors current are calculated from peaks width and peak value. The problem of substation intense electromagnetic environment that readily distorts the results of the proposed method is also addressed. Blind source separation famous technique, the fast independent component analysis (FastICA), is utilised to separate the original signal from the mixed signal. Furthermore, the authors also probe the influence of circle radius for the alarming case of a diagonal conductor. Mathematical reasoning, simulation, and experimental results illustrate that the proposed method is feasible to find the inverse features of grounding grid. Furthermore, the signal recovered through FastICA delivers results with high accuracy.
Centralised multi‐objective integration of wind farm and battery energy storage system in real‐distribution network considering environmental, technical and economic perspective
Authors: Ahmadi Mikaeel , Lotfy Mohammed Elsayed , Howlader Abdul Motin , Yona Atsushi , Senjyu Tomonobu
Published: October 2019

Integration of renewable energies such as wind and solar with an energy storage system (ESS) in a distribution network is the interest of current studies in power system engineering. Wind and battery ESS (BESS) are known for their complement and efficient approaches into the distribution networks. The promising of renewable energies for wind and solar in Afghanistan is a motivation for stepping up the power sector of the country by enhancing the power quality as well as self‐dependency in electricity production. In this study, a multi‐objective optimisation technique, non‐dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA‐II) is proposed for an extensive distribution network in Kabul city considering technical, environmental, and financial control schemes for the network improvement. Three different scenarios with various objective functions are deemed to evaluate their impact on decision variables and network parameters. Furthermore, optimum allocation of the wind turbine and charge/discharge scheduling of BESS are revealed with improvement in performance of the power system. Simulations are deployed in MATLAB® with its application on developed 162‐bus real‐distribution network to demonstrate the effect of different objective function arrangements in each scenario as well as confirming the robustness of the proposed approach.
Automated acute lymphoblastic leukaemia detection system using microscopic images
Authors: Sukhia Komal Nain , Ghafoor Abdul , Riaz Muhammad Mohsin , Iltaf Naima
Published: October 2019

An automatic and novel approach for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia classification is proposed. The proposed scheme is based on pre‐processing and segmentation of white blood cell nuclei using expectation maximisation algorithm, feature extraction, feature selection using principal component analysis and classification using sparse representation. The accuracy of the proposed scheme significantly outperforms the existing schemes in terms of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia classification.
Denoising convolutional neural network with mask for salt and pepper noise
Authors: Chen Jiuning , Li Fang
Published: October 2019

In this study, the authors propose a new loss function for denoising convolutional neural network (DnCNN) for salt‐and‐pepper noise (SPN). Based on the motivation of utilising the mask of SPN, firstly from the usual SPN‐denoising restoration equation, the authors establish a perfect restoration condition; the restored image is precisely the clean image if this condition holds. Then they design a mask‐involved loss function to encourage the network to satisfy this condition in training progress. Experimental results demonstrate that compared with general DnCNN and other state‐of‐the‐art SPN denoising methods, DnCNN equipped with the proposed loss function involving mask (MaskDnCNN) is more effective, robust and efficient.
Performance modelling and analysis for vehicle‐to‐anything connectivity in representative high‐interference channels
Authors: Blazek Thomas , Ghiaasi Golsa , Backfrieder Christian , Ostermayer Gerald , Mecklenbräuker Christoph F.
Published: October 2019

All too often, the performance of vehicular communications is benchmarked merely for a single link. A major challenge for benchmarking the performance of multiple interacting vehicles is the definition of repeatable vehicular scenarios. In this study, the authors propose and discuss an approach for performance analysis of the IEEE 802.11p standard in urban interference channels, by linking network simulations to a Software Defined Radio (SDR) setup. This approach provides communication performance measurements in the worst‐case interference scenario caused by an urban traffic jam. They do this by starting out with vehicular traffic flow simulations and continue to model the medium access. They furthermore introduce an algorithm to reduce the complexity of the communication network while retaining its properties. Finally, they use a setup of SDR encompassing the communication nodes and channel emulators that emulate urban channels to measure the packet level performance as a function of signal‐to‐interference ratio and distance to a receiver under urban traffic conditions.
Multi‐platform real‐time microgrid simulation testbed with hierarchical control of distributed energy resources featuring energy storage balancing
Authors: Mongrain Robert Scott , Ayyanar Raja
Published: October 2019

The continued rise of renewable power generation requires the invention of smart grid technologies, among which communication and remote control are key. Multilevel control strategies improve grid stability and provide the necessary flexibility to address changing demand, contingency, and renewable generation variability. To test these strategies while avoiding damage to existing infrastructure or lab equipment, simulation is employed to facilitate large‐scale control and protection applications. In this work, a hierarchical control strategy is tested in a real‐time simulation environment implementing a moderately large microgrid with 100% renewable generation penetration, using both physical and software‐based controllers, in both local‐ and remote‐control configurations. Additionally, an adaptation is made to the existing hierarchical control strategy to accommodate energy storage balancing amongst distributed resources. The scalability of the testbed and adaptability of the control strategy are tested, and stable operation is observed.
Optimal scheduling of bidirectional energy conversion units in energy and ancillary service markets for system restoration within MCESs
Authors: El‐Sharafy Mohamed Zaki , Al‐Obaidi Abdullah Azhar , El‐Taweel Nader , Farag Hany E.Z.
Published: October 2019

Multi‐carrier energy systems (MCESs) can be formed by the integration of various energy infrastructures including power and natural gas systems. The proliferation of bidirectional energy conversion units in an MCES can set the stage for a more resilient and robust system. This study shows how bidirectional energy conversion units and storage devices can be optimally scheduled within an MCES for provision of various regulation services to the grid operator. To that end, a new model is proposed for optimal scheduling of power‐to‐gas (PtG), gas‐fired generation, and gas storage units in an MCES. The model aims to facilitate integration of renewables, utilise gas, and power price arbitrage, provide regulation services to the real‐time (RT) market, and contribute to the system restoration. New indices that quantify the contribution of the MCES operator to RT and ancillary service markets are proposed. The proposed model is validated technically and economically by using a test system historical operating data. Numerical results demonstrate that while the proposed model is technically feasible, it also enhances the economic viability of the grid operator.
Impact of wind speed modelling on the predictive reliability assessment of wind‐based microgrids
Authors: Al‐Muhaini Mohammad , Bizrah Asad , Heydt Gerald , Khalid Muhammad
Published: October 2019

Power utilities have shown great interest in utilising renewable energy resources for various environmental and economic reasons. However, the modelling and integration of conventional and renewable resources into electric microgrids will increase the complexity of microgrid reliability analyses. Therefore, an accurate reliability assessment of power distribution systems is expected to become a major challenge in the future. More extensive research must be conducted to improve system reliability assessment techniques and determine the impact of increased penetration of renewable resources. In this work, the reliability of wind‐based electric microgrids was evaluated using a Markov model, taking the intermittent nature of wind speed into account. The effects of different wind speed modelling techniques based on the auto‐regressive moving average method, Markov model, and probability distribution function on the reliability analysis of electric microgrids were assessed. The Roy Billinton test system was used to illustrate the analysis and evaluate the different load and system indices.
Combined carrier phase and code phase passive radiation source localisation method
Authors: Li Youyang , Wang Xue , Lu Xiaochun
Published: October 2019

In this study, the high‐precision positioning method of a radiation source is improved by jointing the time difference of arrival (TDOA) and carrier phase of arrival methods. Considering that the observation accuracy of a carrier phase is higher than of the existing observations, this study proposes a carrier phase‐based positioning method for radiation source of continuous signals, jointly using the information on carrier phase and code phase. In the positioning process, an extended Kalman filter is used for position tracking in a dynamic model. The numerical experiments show that the proposed method has more than ten times higher accuracy than the TDOA–FDOA (FDOA denotes the frequency‐difference of arrival) method at the code period of <10−4 s. Moreover, the proposed method is 103 times more accurate than the TDOA method. Therefore, the positioning accuracy of this method is better than of the traditional positioning method.
Survey of different sensors employed for the power transformer monitoring
Authors: Hamed Samimi Mohammad , Dadashi Ilkhechi Hossein
Published: October 2019

The importance of the continuous service of power transformers and their role in the reliability of the power delivery has resulted in the need for various monitoring systems which utilise different electrical, mechanical, optical, chemical, and acoustic sensors to monitor the vital characteristics of the power transformer. A brief review of these sensors is attempted. First, the parameters that are normally monitored in a transformer are explained to clarify the types of sensors that are needed and their duties. Then, each sensor type is described in summary while giving proper references for further reading. Accordingly, a fast guide for practitioners researching the sensors utilised for power transformer monitoring is presented.
Fault‐tolerant mechanism for wireless sensor network
Authors: Mohapatra Hitesh , Rath Amiya Kumar
Published: October 2019

The study aims to understand the various types of faults occur in a wireless sensor network (WSN). The primary objective of the fault‐tolerant technique is to enhance the robustness and self‐healing capacity of sensor network. The resource constraint environment, remote deployment and harsh monitoring conditions frequently invite different types of faults in WSN. The fault can be handled in two ways such as fault tolerance and fault prevention method. The novelty of this state‐of‐art is, the authors propose two new algorithms named Uniform Energy Clustering for fault tolerance and Population‐Based Clustering for fault prevention. The result of the simulation is satisfactory in comparison to existing algorithms such as Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy, Stable Election Protocol, Virtual Area Partition – Energy and Energy‐Aware Multi‐Hop Multi‐Path Hierarchical protocols. In addition to these new algorithms, they also propose a unique taxonomy on fault which is based on sensitivity issues of specific applications.
Analysis of public perception about ionizing radiation
Authors: Nasr Ranim Y. , Barnawi Rashid A. , Radi Osama N. , Wazzan Mohammed , Batawil Nadia , Khashoggi Khalid , Hagi Sarah , Khafaji Mawya
Published: October 2019

This study assessed the level of public knowledge regarding ionizing radiation, the sources of information available to the public, and the preferred sources of education. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A 15-question survey was distributed to participants who attended a radiation awareness activity held for the public. Participants were asked to rank their confidence regarding ionizing radiation knowledge on a Likert-style scale. They also answered questions on their perception of risks, the source from which they received health information, and their preferred method of education. Only 3% of the 244 participants were “knowledgeable” about ionizing radiation. Nine percent stated they were confident about their ionizing radiation knowledge, and they were more knowledgeable than unconfident individuals (p = 0.041). Age, gender, and education level played no role in ionizing radiation knowledge (p = 0.746,p = 0.245, andp = 0.060, respectively). Among those who had undergone a medical imaging investigation during the past year, only 24% received an explanation of the risks and benefits. Participants overestimated the risk of nuclear plants, as this was selected as the source with the greatest risk to health, followed by medical sources. Most of those who had prior knowledge searched for the information on the internet (34%), however, more participants would prefer to receive education from their healthcare providers (36%).
Herausforderungen in der Diagnostik der Darmtuberkulose – Pitfalls einer vergessenen infektiösen Erkrankung: Eine Fallserie und Literaturübersicht
Authors: Ammer-Herrmenau Christoph , Henrici Patrick , Eiffert Helmut , Amanzada Ahmad , Mechie Nicolae-Catalin , Bremmer Felix , Seif Amir Hosseini Ali , Ellenrieder Volker , Wedi Edris
Published: October 2019

Die Darmtuberkulose ist eine extrapulmonale Manifestation einer Infektion mit Mykobakterien des Tuberkulosekomplexes. Sie ist in den Industrieländern äußerst selten geworden, präsentiert sich mit einer sehr heterogenen, unspezifischen Klinik und ist schwer zu diagnostizieren. Anders als bei der pulmonalen Tuberkulose besitzen die wichtigsten diagnostischen Methoden wie der Nachweis säurefester Stäbchen in der Ziehl-Neelsen-Färbung, der Genomnachweis mittels PCR-Untersuchung und die kulturelle Anzüchtung der Bakterien eine geringe Sensitivität. Wir präsentieren hier die Fälle von drei Patienten/-innen, bei denen wir eine Darmtuberkulose diagnostizierten und erfolgreich behandelten. An die Fallberichte anschließend stellen wir eine Literaturübersicht vor, die die Fallstricke der Darmtuberkulosediagnostik und -therapie beleuchtet.
Tinea pedum und verspätet erkannte Zehengangrän bei peripherer arterieller Verschlusskrankheit
Authors: Elsner P. , Meyer J.
Published: October 2019

Ein Patient wurde unter der Diagnose einer Tinea pedum durch Trichophyton rubrum von einem Dermatologen fachgerecht topisch antimykotisch behandelt. Bei Therapieresistenz und Befundverschlechterung erfolgte eine Umstellung der Lokaltherapie, jedoch keine weitere Diagnostik bez. ätiologischer und Risiko-Faktoren. Eine Vorstellung bei einer chirurgischen Praxis führte zur Diagnose einer umschriebenen Nekrose der 3. Zehe rechts bei bekannter peripherer arterieller Verschlusskrankheit und Immunsuppression mit nachfolgender Zehenamputation und kompliziertem Wundheilungsverlauf. Nach Facharztstandard lag ein Befunderhebungsfehler vor, der rechtlich zu einer Beweislastumkehr führt, sodass die Gesundheitsschädigung in Form des Voranschreitens einer Weichteil- und Knocheninfektion bei umschriebener Nekrose der 3. Zehe rechts mit Amputation dem Arzt zuzurechnen war.

Therapieresistente Fußmykosen und infizierte Fußläsionen erfordern unverzüglich intensive Behandlungsmaßnahmen und eine Fahndung nach Risikofaktoren wie eine gefäßdiagnostische Kontrolle.
Was verursacht Prostatakrebs? – Subjektive Krankheitsursachen von Patienten mit Prostatakarzinom
Authors: Goethe Veronika Elisabeth , Dinkel Andreas , Schulwitz Helga , Nöhreiter Alexandra , Gschwend Jürgen Erich , Herkommer Kathleen
Published: October 2019

Hintergrund Die durch ein Prostatakarzinom (PCa) verursachte psychosoziale Belastung kann bei Patienten noch Jahre nach erfolgter Therapie persistieren. Ein möglicher Faktor ist dabei die subjektiv wahrgenommene Krankheitsursache, die das Belastungserleben, die Therapie und das weitere Präventivverhalten maßgeblich beeinflussen kann. Ziel der Studie war deswegen, von Patienten geäußerte subjektive Gründe für das PCa zu erfassen und assoziierte Faktoren zu untersuchen.

Material und Methoden Eingeschlossen wurden an PCa erkrankte Patienten aus dem nationalen Forschungsprojekt „Familiäres Prostatakarzinom“. Im Rahmen der jährlichen Nachbefragung, die postalisch erfolgt, wurde den Patienten eine Frage zu den subjektiv wahrgenommenen Krankheitsursachen für ihr Prostatakarzinom gestellt. Die Antworten wurden 18 möglichen Kategorien zugeordnet. Zudem wurde der Zusammenhang der subjektiv wahrgenommenen Krankheitsursache mit Zweittumoren, einer positiven Familienanamnese für Tumorerkrankungen und soziodemografischen Faktoren untersucht.

Ergebnisse Von den 9 047 befragten Männern machten 4 054 (44,8 %) Angaben zu den subjektiv wahrgenommenen Ursachen für ihr PCa. Die mittlere Zeit seit Diagnose lag bei 10,1 Jahren bei einem mittleren Alter bei Diagnose von 63,1 Jahren. Die häufigsten Antworten waren „Weiß nicht.“ (31,8 %), Genetik (30,1 %) und Stress (18,5 %). Mit 2,5 % wurde das Alter, der wichtigste Risikofaktor für PCa, nur selten genannt. Neben diesen Antworten wurden auch ungewöhnliche nicht evidenzbasierte Gründe angegeben. Männer mit einer positiven Familienanamnese für PCa nannten gegenüber sporadischen Fällen etwa 4-mal häufiger Genetik als Ursache für ihre Erkrankung. Dieser Anteil nahm mit steigender Anzahl an von PCa betroffenen Familienmitgliedern weiter zu. Männer, die bei Diagnose 65 Jahre oder jünger waren, gaben etwa doppelt so häufig Stress als den Auslöser ihres PCa an als Männer, die bei Diagnose älter als 65 Jahre waren.

Schlussfolgerung Die meisten befragten Männer gaben nicht evidenzbasierte Gründe als ursächlich für ihr Prostatakarzinom an. Hier mangelt es offensichtlich noch an Aufklärung, sodass Vorsorgeprogramme gezielt und öffentlichkeitswirksam auf die evidenzbasierten Ursachen eingehen sollten. Aufgrund der Bedeutung der subjektiven Krankheitstheorie für das Belastungserleben und die weitere Behandlung sollte die subjektive Krankheitsursache des Patienten vom behandelnden Urologen erhoben und berücksichtigt werden.
Outside interference or Hong Kong embracing its unique identity? The Chinese Universities Shakespeare Festival
Authors: Olive Sarah
Published: October 2019

Ongoing clashes between Hong Kong citizens and its government have foregrounded questions about outside interference in Hong Kong’s politics (largely from the government and media of the People’s Public of China), as well as debate about what institutions in Hong Kong are neo-colonial, heavily inflected with nostalgia for British colonialism, or in the process of being ‘colonised’ by the People’s Republic of China. This article looks at Shakespeare in Hong Kong (and, to some extent, greater Chinese) theatre and education as one of those contested institutions, using the particular case of the now-defunct Chinese Universities Shakespeare Festival. The author probes their initial, surface impression of the festival as a simple outpouring of colonial sentiment and impulse, using its sizeable archives to realise a reading of the institution that highlights the complexities of international and intra-regional politics, culture and identity in Hong Kong and greater China. It builds on the Hong Kong literary critic Michael Ingham’s call for attention to Hong Kong’s quest—sometimes overt (as in the demonstrations of 2019), sometimes implicit (in the body of literature Ingham explores in his cultural and literary history)—for a unique, post-colonial identity that is inspired—but, critically, not confined—by its Chinese and British histories. The article briefly outlines the origins and set-up of the festival before juxtaposing the dominance of English language and culture in it with the opportunities it presents (seized by several teams) for intra-regional cooperation, competition and sharing diverse, greater Chinese cultures. The article offers a model for critically appraising other institutions and cultural products in Hong Kong in ways that resist easy (but false) binaries of British or Chinese, colonial or indigenous.
Intensity-modulated magnetic field sensor based on fiber Bragg grating
Authors: He Jianting , Yang Shulian , Wei Qinqin
Published: October 2019

A magnetic field sensor based on the chirp effect of fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) was devised, and the relationship between the reflectance spectrum bandwidth and the magnetic induction intensity is deduced. The magnetic force from an energized spiral coil acts on the disk-shaped soft iron in the magnetic field to cause the deformation of the rectangular cantilever beam, which results in the bandwidth change of the reflection spectrum of the FBG adhered to the side of the cantilever. The magnetic strength can be obtained by detecting the bandwidth change of the reflection spectrum of the FBG with a spectrum analyzer. While the spectral analyzer resolution is 0.001nm, the measuring range of magnetic induction intensity is 6- 70mT. The experimental results demonstrate that the bandwidth variation of the reflection spectrum of the FBG is not sensitive to temperature changes. The 3db bandwidth changes less than 8 pm as the temperature varies from 0°C to 45°C. The experimental results are consistent with the theoretical analysis, indicating that the scheme is feasible and practical.
Simultaneous measurement of temperature and pressure with serially spliced reflecting birefringent optical fibers
Authors: Ogawa Ken , Fujita Keiichi , Yamate Tsutomu
Published: October 2019

The simultaneous measurement of temperature and pressure using the reflected light of two high birefringent fibers is studied. These two fibers are spliced and twisted 45 degrees. The resulting spectrum contains the interference caused by the birefringence of each fiber, and the differential and sum of the frequency. The obtained spectrum is processed with a band-pass filter to get the spectrum of each fiber. The pressure and the temperature are demodulated using the peak-tracking method. As a result, the pressure and the temperature sensitivity of these individual fibers are obtained as 3.2nm/MPa and -1.6nm/K for the PANDA fiber, and 3.2nm/MPa and negligible temperature sensitivity for the PM-PCF. This method produces an easily encapsulated, highly sensitive temperature and pressure sensor without any additional type of sensor.
Optimization of electric field uniformity of multi-needle electrospinning nozzle
Authors: Zhu Ziming , Wu Peixuan , Wang Zhifeng , Xu Guojie , Wang Han , Chen Xindu , Wang Ruizhou , Huang Weimin , Chen Rouxi , Chen Xun , Liu Zhen
Published: October 2019

Multi-needle electrospinning technology is a method for mass production of nanofibers, which can improve the production efficiency of nanofibers by increasing the number and density of needles for multi-needle electrospinning. However, when the arrangement density of the needle is high, the electric field of the needle tip is not uniform, causing instability such as jet dripping and broken jet. In this paper, the electric field uniformity optimization problem of multi-needle electrospinning technology is used to simulate the needle tip electric field by using COMSOL finite element analysis software. The influence of the needle size and the dielectric material on the electric field of the tip was studied. Finally, the method of using dielectric material on the tip of the middle part of the needle is beneficial to the electric field uniformity. The uniformity of the needle tip electric field in the case of high-density arrangement of the needle is realized, and the nozzle is provided for mass production of nanofibers by multi-needle electrospinning.
Experimental and theoretical analysis on decomposition and by-product formation process of (CF3)2CFCN mixture
Authors: Zhao Mingyue , Han Dong , Zhou Zhenrui , Zhang Guoqiang
Published: October 2019

Although sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is widely used in gas-insulated electrical equipment due to the excellent electrical insulation and arc-interruption behaviors, its strong greenhouse effect with high glow warming potential (GWP) has been driving the research on environmentally friendly gases for SF6 alternatives. Recently, the heptafluoro-isobutyrontrile (CF3)2CFCN (3M NovecTM 4710) is reported to have the potential to replace SF6. The decomposition characteristic of gas insulating medium is one of the basic conditions to measure whether it has the feasibility of replacing SF6. However, the decomposition characteristic of (CF3)2CFCN and the formation mechanism of by-products are still unclear. In this paper, a series of AC corona discharge experiments were performed, and the gas by-products of (CF3)2CFCN mixed with CO2, N2 and air were qualitatively analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) method, respectively. Then, the decomposition mechanism of (CF3)2CFCN molecule and the formation mechanism of gas by-products were studied via density functional theory (DFT) method. The results show that the major gas by-products are CO, CO2, C2O3F6, CF4, C2F6, C3F6, C3F8, C2F4, (CF3)3CF, CF3CN, C2F5CN and CNCN, in addition to trace amounts of F3CC≡CCF3 and CF3CF=CFCF3. Among the three initial dissociation pathways of (CF3)2CFCN molecule, a C-CF3 bond fission pathway that produces CF3CFCN and CF3 radicals is identified as the thermodynamically favorable channel. The bond energy of C–CF3 bond calculated at M06-2X/def2-QZVP//M06-2X/6-311G(d,p) level is 94.7 kcal/mol.
Generation of parabolic laser pulses in short fibre amplifiers
Authors: Shchukarev I.A. , Korobko D.A. , Salganskii M.Yu. , Zolotovskii I.O.
Published: October 2019

The laser pulse evolution in a normal-dispersion fibre amplifier is studied. The cases of ideal spectrum-homogeneous and transform-limited amplification are considered. It is shown that the envelope transformation of the input pulse to a parabolic form is possible not only for spectrally-flat amplification, but also for transform-limited one. In the latter case, an important parameter is the optimal amplifier length. The results demonstrate that, in the case of a sufficiently wide amplification spectrum, it is always possible to find the optimal amplifier length, after passing through which the output pulse envelope is close to a parabola.
Structural Systematics of Lanthanide(III) Picrate Solvates: Hexamethylphosphoramide and Octamethylpyrophosphoramide Adducts
Authors: Chan Eric J. , Harrowfield Jack M. , Skelton Brian W. , Sobolev Alexandre N. , White Allan H.
Published: October 2019

Crystalline products of the reactions of lanthanide picrates, Ln(pic)3 (pic=2,4,6-trinitrophenoxide), with hexamethylphosphoramide (hmpa) and octamethylpyrophosphoramide (ompa) have been characterised by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. With hmpa and lighter lanthanides (La, Sm, Eu), isomorphous species (monoclinic, P21/c, Z 4) of stoichiometry [Ln(pic)3(hmpa)3]·0.5H2O, have been defined where the molecular units in the lattice contain 9-coordinate Ln with tricapped trigonal-prismatic coordination geometry. The picrate ligands are bidentate through phenoxide-O and 2-nitro-O, with the latter occupying the capping positions, while the hmpa ligands are singly O-bound to one trigonal face. Heavier lanthanides (Gd, Lu) and Y have been found to give isomorphous (monoclinic, P21/n, Z 4) species of stoichiometry [Ln(pic)3(hmpa)2], with 8-coordinate Ln of an irregular geometry best considered as close to that of a bicapped trigonal-prism. The picrate ligands chelate in the same manner as in the lighter Ln complexes but with one spanning a trigonal edge, and the hmpa-O donors occuping two apices of the other trigonal face. The ligand ompa has been found to act as a bidentate chelate in all isolated species, displacing one picrate from the metal ion coordination sphere to give ionic complexes. For La, Nd, and Gd, isomorphous (monoclinic, P21/n, Z 4) complexes of stoichiometry [Ln(pic)2(ompa)2(OH2)](pic)·0.5H2O containing 9-coordinate, tricapped trigonal-prismatic Ln with a single aqua ligand have been defined, while for Er, Yb, Lu, and Y, both the coordinated and lattice water molecules are lost in isomorphous (monoclininc, P21/c, Z 8) 8-coordinate, square-antiprismatic species of stoichiometry [Ln(pic)2(ompa)2](pic). For Er, further polymorphs, one monoclinic, P21/c, and the other triclinic, , have also been characterised.
Dry matter and nutritive value responses of native, naturalised and sown pasture species to soil Olsen P
Authors: McCaskill M. R. , Mitchell M. L. , Zollinger R. , Armstrong R. D. , Partington D.
Published: October 2019

The soil phosphorus (P) requirements of 18 species that included native grasses and naturalised legumes were compared with the predominant sown species (Trifolium subterraneum, Lolium perenne and Phalaris aquatica) in a series of glasshouse and field experiments based on the Long-term Phosphate Experiment at Hamilton, Victoria. The native grasses Austrostipa scabra and Rytidosperma caespitosum had the lowest external P requirements, as measured by the Olsen P at which 90% of maximal dry matter (DM) production was obtained, but were of low nutrient value as livestock feed. The naturalised legume Lotus corniculatus had the lowest external P requirement of the legumes, but had low DM production. The highest legume DM production under low-P conditions in the field and one glasshouse experiment was obtained for T. subterraneum. This was attributed to its large seed, which enables rapid initial growth and thus captures light and nutrient resources early in the growing season. However, it forms a relatively low proportion of the pasture sward in low-P soil under grazed mixed pasture conditions in the field. This was attributed to its relatively high nutritive value, which leads to it being preferentially grazed, leaving species that are either less palatable or less accessible to grazing livestock. This work suggests that, in low-P environments, there is a much stronger selection pressure favouring low relative palatability over P efficiency. In conclusion, to maintain desirable species in temperate low-input pastures, sufficient P needs to be applied to maintain fertility above a threshold at which the less-palatable species begin to invade.
'I still remember your post about buying smokes': a case study of a remote Aboriginal community-controlled health service using Facebook for tobacco control
Authors: Kerrigan Vicki , Herdman Rarrtjiwuy Melanie , Thomas David P. , Hefler Marita
Published: October 2019

Many Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) embrace Facebook as an organisational tool to share positive stories, which counter the negative narrative surrounding Aboriginal issues. However, the Facebook algorithm prioritises posts on personal pages over organisations. To take advantage of the algorithm, this project paid three Yolŋu employees of a north-east Arnhem Land ACCHS to share quit smoking messages on their personal Facebook pages. Smoking prevalence among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians is nearly three-fold higher than non-Indigenous Australians, and previous research has identified the need for culturally appropriate communication approaches to accelerate the decline in Indigenous smoking. This research found Yolŋu participants nurtured healthy behaviours through compassionate non-coercive communications, in contrast to fear-inducing health warnings prevalent in tobacco control. Cultural tailoring of tobacco control messages was achieved by having trusted local health staff sharing, and endorsing, messages regardless of whether the content was Indigenous specific. This research also revealed online Facebook activity does not reflect the reach of posts, which may extend beyond social media users to individuals who do not have a Facebook profile.
Detecting, counting and following the giants of the sea: a review of monitoring methods for aquatic megavertebrates in the Caribbean
Authors: Castelblanco-Martínez D. N. , Blanco-Parra M. P. , Charruau P. , Prezas B. , Zamora-Vilchis I. , Niño-Torres C. A.
Published: October 2019

Abstract The Caribbean is a mega-diverse and bio-geographically important region that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands, and surrounding coastlines. Among the billions of aquatic species inhabiting this region, the mega-vertebrates stand out for their social, economic and ecologic relevance. However, the Caribbean has been threatened by climate change, poverty, pollution, environmental degradation and intense growth of the tourism industry, affecting megafauna species directly and indirectly. Population monitoring plays a critical role in an informed conservation process and helps guide management decisions at several scales. The aim of the present review was to critically examine the methods employed for monitoring marine megafauna in the Caribbean, so as to create a framework for future monitoring efforts. In total, 235 documents describing protocols for the monitoring of sirenians, cetaceans, elasmobranchs, sea turtles and crocodilians in the Caribbean region, were reviewed. The methods included community-based monitoring (interviews, citizen science and fisheries monitoring), aerial surveys (by manned and unmanned aerial vehicles), boat-based surveys (including manta tow, and side-scan sonars), land-based surveys, acoustic monitoring, underwater surveys, baited remote underwater video, mark–recapture, photo-identification and telemetry. Monitoring efforts invested on aquatic megafauna in the Caribbean have been highly different, with some species and/or groups being prioritised over others. The present critical review provides a country-based overview of the current and emerging methods for monitoring marine megafauna and a critical evaluation of their known advantages, disadvantages and biases.
Shearwaters know the direction and distance home but fail to encode intervening obstacles after free-ranging foraging trips
Authors: Padget Oliver , Stanley Geoff , Willis Jay K. , Fayet Annette L. , Bond Sarah , Maurice Louise , Shoji Akiko , Dean Ben , Kirk Holly , Juarez-Martinez Ignacio , Freeman Robin , Bolton Mark , Guilford Tim
Published: October 2019

While displacement experiments have been powerful for determining the sensory basis of homing navigation in birds, they have left unresolved important cognitive aspects of navigation such as what birds know about their location relative to home and the anticipated route. Here, we analyze the free-ranging Global Positioning System (GPS) tracks of a large sample (
n
= 707) of Manx shearwater,
Puffinus puffinus
, foraging trips to investigate, from a cognitive perspective, what a wild, pelagic seabird knows as it begins to home naturally. By exploiting a kind of natural experimental contrast (journeys with or without intervening obstacles) we first show that, at the start of homing, sometimes hundreds of kilometers from the colony, shearwaters are well oriented in the homeward direction, but often fail to encode intervening barriers over which they will not fly (islands or peninsulas), constrained to flying farther as a result. Second, shearwaters time their homing journeys, leaving earlier in the day when they have farther to go, and this ability to judge distance home also apparently ignores intervening obstacles. Thus, at the start of homing, shearwaters appear to be making navigational decisions using both geographic direction and distance to the goal. Since we find no decrease in orientation accuracy with trip length, duration, or tortuosity, path integration mechanisms cannot account for these findings. Instead, our results imply that a navigational mechanism used to direct natural large-scale movements in wild pelagic seabirds has map-like properties and is probably based on large-scale gradients.
A mesial-to-lateral dissociation for orthographic processing in the visual cortex
Authors: Bouhali Florence , Bézagu Zoé , Dehaene Stanislas , Cohen Laurent
Published: October 2019

Efficient reading requires a fast conversion of the written word to both phonological and semantic codes. We tested the hypothesis that, within the left occipitotemporal cortical regions involved in visual word recognition, distinct subregions harbor slightly different orthographic codes adapted to those 2 functions. While the lexico-semantic pathway may operate on letter or open-bigram information, the phonological pathway requires the identification of multiletter graphemes such as “ch” or “ou” in order to map them onto phonemes. To evaluate the existence of a specific stage of graphemic encoding, 20 adults performed lexical decision and naming tasks on words and pseudowords during functional MRI. Graphemic encoding was facilitated or disrupted by coloring and spacing the letters either congruently with multiletter graphemes (ch-ai-r) or incongruently with them (c-ha-ir). This manipulation affected behavior, primarily during the naming of pseudowords, and modulated brain activity in the left midfusiform sulcus, at a site medial to the classical visual word form area (VWFA). This putative grapheme-related area (GRA) differed from the VWFA in being preferentially connected functionally to dorsal parietal areas involved in letter-by-letter reading, while the VWFA showed effects of lexicality and spelling-to-sound regularity. Our results suggest a partial dissociation within left occipitotemporal cortex: the midfusiform GRA would encode orthographic information at a sublexical graphemic level, while the lateral occipitotemporal VWFA would contribute primarily to direct lexico-semantic access.
Sugar starvation-regulated MYBS2 and 14-3-3 protein interactions enhance plant growth, stress tolerance, and grain weight in rice
Authors: Chen Yi-Shih , David Ho Tuan-Hua , Liu Lihong , Lee Ding Hua , Lee Chun-Hua , Chen Yi-Ru , Lin Shu-Yu , Lu Chung-An , Yu Su-May
Published: October 2019

Significance

As autotrophic organisms, sugar status in plants must be constantly monitored and reacted to in order to maintain sugar homeostatic states crucial for growth regulation, environmental stress tolerance, and productivity. α-Amylase (αAmy) is the key enzyme hydrolyzing starch into sugars and is regulated by sugar levels; it is induced by sugar starvation but repressed by sugar provision. Two MYBs compete for binding to the same
αAmy
promoter element to regulate this process, with MYBS1 promoting and MYBS2 repressing
αAmy
expression. Induction of
αAmy
expression by suppressing MYBS2 enhances stress tolerance and productivity. Phosphorylation of MYBS2 is critical for regulating its sugar-dependent nucleocytoplasmic shuttling and interactions with 14-3-3 proteins, representing a regulatory mechanism for reversible gene expression by sugar status.