Modeling of Power Losses Caused by Hidden Tree-Related High Impedance Faults

The great majority of overhead distribution systems in urban and rural areas of countries such as Australia, Iran and etc., are in interfering with vegetation. This phenomena leads to high impedance faults (HIFs) which not produce enough fault current to be detectable and consequently causes electrical energy losses. In this paper, according to experimental data obtained from measurements, the effective factors in power losses caused by trees are studied and a new numerical model of power loss is presented so as to reflect the effects of environmental conditions and biological classification. The base of this method is according to Samuelson theory. In proposed algorithm, the impacts of species, short-term environmental conditions (temperature and humidity) and long-term environmental conditions (Seasonal variations in physiology) on the power loss estimation are fully considered. Experimental investigations on a real low voltage (380 V) and medium voltage (20 kV) distribution network verify the algorithm\u27s operation

Helping the waiter to hold his tray: Rigid haptic linkage promotes inter-personal motor coordination

When a glass is lifted from a tray, there is a challenge for the waiter. He must quickly compensate for the reduction in the weight of the tray to keep it balanced. This compensation is easily achieved if the waiter lifts the glass himself. Because he has, himself, initiated the action, he can predict the timing and the magnitude of the perturbation of the tray and respond (via the holding hand) accordingly. In this study, we examined coordination when either one or two people hold the tray while either one of them or a third person removes the glass. Our results show that there is exquisite coordination between the two people holding the tray. We suggest that this coordination depends upon the haptic link provided by the rigid platform that both people are holding. We conclude that the guest at a reception should not lift his drink from the waiter’s tray until they have the waiter’s attention but, if too thirsty to wait, should lend a hand holding the tray

New Hybrid Non-Dominated Sorting Differential Evolutionary Algorithm

This paper presents a new multi objective optimization algorithm with the aim of complete coverage, faster global convergence and higher solution quality. In this technique, the high-speed characteristic of particle swarm optimization (PSO) is combined with non-dominated differential evolutionary (NSDE) and an efficient multi objective optimization algorithm is created. This method posses high convergence characteristic in quite less execution times. Generating fewer populations to find the Pareto front also makes the proposed algorithm use less memory. For the purpose of performance evaluation, the algorithm is verified with four benchmarking functions on its global optimal search ability and compared with two recognized algorithm to assess its diversity. The capability of the suggested algorithm in solving practical engineering problems such as power system protection is also studied and the results are discussed in detail

Isolation and screening of antibacterial and enzyme producing marine actinobacteria to approach probiotics against some pathogenic vibrios in shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

The application of new probiotics is a good strategy in the biological control of infectious diseases in aquaculture. Approximately 100 marine actinobacteria isolates were obtained from 10 sediment samples of shrimp farms. Heat treatment of sediment samples resulted in a selective reduction of the non actinobacterial heterotrophic microflora. Starch nitrate agar medium exhibited more efficacy than glycerol arginine agar medium for isolation. Twenty seven percent of actinobacterial isolates showed antagonistic activities against pathogenic Vibrio spp. All the antagonistic isolates showed the typical morphology of genus Streptomyces. Exoenzymatic activity screening showed that 44%, 26%, 37% of antagonistic isolates represented amylase, lipase and protease activities, respectively. MNM-1400 strain exhibited highest antagonistic and exoenzymatic activity. The pathogenicity experiment revealed that MNM-1400 strain did not cause disease in Litopenaeus vannamei larvae. Extraction of produced antibacterial compounds by MNM-1400 strain showed that the active constituent didn’t have non polar property. Morphological, physiological and biochemical identification confirmed that MNM-1400 strain belonged to the genus Streptomyces. Phylogenetic analysis by 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed a high similarity between MNM-1400 strain and Streptomyces californicus (similarity: 99%). These results suggest that the MNM-1400 strain can be considered as a potential probiotic in aquaculture

An Active Sensing Paradigm for Studying Human Auditory Perception

Our perception is based on active sensing, i.e., the relationship between self-motion and resulting changes to sensory inputs. Yet, traditional experimental paradigms are characterized by delayed reactions to a predetermined stimulus sequence. To increase the engagement of subjects and potentially provide richer behavioral responses, we developed Sensory Island Task for humans (SITh), a freely-moving search paradigm to study auditory perception. In SITh, subjects navigate an arena in search of an auditory target, relying solely on changes in the presented stimulus frequency, which is controlled by closed-loop position tracking. A “target frequency” was played when subjects entered a circular sub-area of the arena, the “island”, while different frequencies were presented outside the island. Island locations were randomized across trials, making stimulus frequency the only informative cue for task completion. Two versions of SITh were studied: binary discrimination, and gradual change of the stimulus frequency. The latter version allowed determining frequency discrimination thresholds based on the subjects’ report of the perceived island location (i.e., target frequency). Surprisingly, subjects exhibited similar thresholds as reported in traditional “stationary” forced-choice experiments after performing only 30 trials, highlighting the intuitive nature of SITh. Notably, subjects spontaneously employed a small variety of stereotypical search patterns, and their usage proportions varied between task versions. Moreover, frequency discrimination performance depended on the search pattern used. Overall, we demonstrate that the use of an ecologically driven paradigm is able to reproduce established findings while simultaneously providing rich behavioral data for the description of sensory ethology

The decrease in NKG2D+ Natural Killer cells in peripheral blood of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

Background: Natural killer (NK) cells play important roles in the immune defense against tumors such as colorectal cancer. In humans, NKG2D is an activating immune receptor constitutively expressed in most cytotoxic lymphocytes including NK and CD8+ T cells. In this study, the expression of NKG2D molecule was investigated in peripheral blood NK cells from colorectal cancer patients and compared with healthy subjects. Methods: We studied 21 non-metastatic (low-grade), 17 non-metastatic (high-grade), 16 metastatic colorectal cancer patients, and 24 healthy controls. Peripheral blood samples were obtained to isolate peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and the percentage of peripheral blood NKG2D+CD3-CD56+ NK cells was analyzed by flow cytometry. The expression of NKG2D at mRNA level was also measured by real-time PCR in both, patients and control subjects. Results: The results showed a significant reduction in the percentage of NKG2D+NK cells as well as NKG2D mRNA expression in peripheral blood of metastatic colon cancer patients. Conclusion: This result suggests that decreased expression of activating NKG2D receptor in metastatic colorectal cancer might compromise NK cell function and allow tumor to evade immunity (Tab. 3, Fig. 4, Ref. 33). Text in PDF www.elis.sk

Modulating attentional load affects numerosity estimation: evidence against a pre-attentive subitizing mechanism

Traditionally, the visual enumeration of a small number of items (1 to about 4), referred to as subitizing, has been thought of as a parallel and pre-attentive process and functionally different from the serial attentive enumeration of larger numerosities. We tested this hypothesis by employing a dual task paradigm that systematically manipulated the attentional resources available to an enumeration task. Enumeration accuracy for small numerosities was severely decreased as more attentional resources were taken away from the numerical task, challenging the traditionally held notion of subitizing as a pre-attentive, capacity-independent process. Judgement of larger numerosities was also affected by dual task conditions and attentional load. These results challenge the proposal that small numerosities are enumerated by a mechanism separate from large numerosities and support the idea of a single, attention-demanding enumeration mechanism

Assessing cognitive dysfunction in Parkinson's disease: An online tool to detect visuo-perceptual deficits.

BackgroundPeople with Parkinson's disease (PD) who develop visuo-perceptual deficits are at higher risk of dementia, but we lack tests that detect subtle visuo-perceptual deficits and can be performed by untrained personnel. Hallucinations are associated with cognitive impairment and typically involve perception of complex objects. Changes in object perception may therefore be a sensitive marker of visuo-perceptual deficits in PD.ObjectiveWe developed an online platform to test visuo-perceptual function. We hypothesised that (1) visuo-perceptual deficits in PD could be detected using online tests, (2) object perception would be preferentially affected, and (3) these deficits would be caused by changes in perception rather than response bias.MethodsWe assessed 91 people with PD and 275 controls. Performance was compared using classical frequentist statistics. We then fitted a hierarchical Bayesian signal detection theory model to a subset of tasks.ResultsPeople with PD were worse than controls at object recognition, showing no deficits in other visuo-perceptual tests. Specifically, they were worse at identifying skewed images (P < .0001); at detecting hidden objects (P = .0039); at identifying objects in peripheral vision (P < .0001); and at detecting biological motion (P = .0065). In contrast, people with PD were not worse at mental rotation or subjective size perception. Using signal detection modelling, we found this effect was driven by change in perceptual sensitivity rather than response bias.ConclusionsOnline tests can detect visuo-perceptual deficits in people with PD, with object recognition particularly affected. Ultimately, visuo-perceptual tests may be developed to identify at-risk patients for clinical trials to slow PD dementia. © 2018 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society