Improved direct torque control using Kalman filter: application to a doubly-fed machine

Direct Torque Control (DTC) has been extensively researched and applied during the last two decades. However, it has only first been applied to the Brushless Doubly Fed Reluctance Machine (BDFRM) a few years ago in its basic form inheriting its intrinsic flux estimation problems that propagate throughout the algorithm and hence compromise the DTC performance. In this paper, we propose the use of Kalman Filter (KF) as an alternative to improve the estimation and consequently the control performance of the DTC. The KF is designed around a nominal model, but is shown to be reliable over the whole operating range of the BDFRM. Moreover, we use a modified robust exact differentiator based on Sliding Mode (SM) techniques to calculate the angular velocity from an angular position encoder. Computer simulations are meticulously designed to take into account real-world physical constraints and thus show illustrative supporting results as expected from an experimental setup

Flux observer algorithms for direct torque control of brushless doubly-fed reluctance machines

Direct Torque Control (DTC) has been extensively researched and applied to most AC machines during the last two decades. Its first application to the Brushless Doubly-Fed Reluctance Machine (BDFRM), a promising cost-effective candidate for drive and generator systems with limited variable speed ranges (such as large pumps or wind turbines), has only been reported a few years ago. However, the original DTC scheme has experienced flux estimation problems and compromised performance under the maximum torque per inverter ampere (MTPIA) conditions. This deficiency at low current and torque levels may be overcome and much higher accuracy achieved by alternative estimation approaches discussed in this paper using Kalman Filter (KF) and/or Sliding Mode Observer (SMO). Computer simulations accounting for real-time constraints (e.g. measurement noise, transducer DC offset etc.) have produced realistic results similar to those one would expect from an experimental setup

Wind power applications of doubly-fed reluctance generators with parameter-free hysteresis control

The development and practical implementation aspects of a novel scheme for fast power control of the doubly-fed reluctance generator with a low-cost partially-rated converter, a promising brushless candidate for limited speed ranges of wind turbines, are presented in this paper. The proposed concept is derived from the fundamental dynamic analogies between the controllable and measurable properties of the machine: electro-magnetic torque and electrical power, and flux and reactive power. The algorithm is applied in a stationary reference frame without any knowledge of the machine parameters, including rotor angular position or velocity. It is then structurally simpler, easier to realize in real-time and more tolerant of the system operating uncertainties than model-based or proportional-integral control alternatives. Experimental results have demonstrated the excellent controller response for a variety of speed, load and/or power factor states of a custom-built generator prototype

A new sensorless speed control scheme for doubly-fed reluctance generators

This paper presents the development and experimental validation of a novel angular velocity observer-based field-oriented control algorithm for a promising low-cost brushless doubly fed reluctance generator (BDFRG) in wind power applications. The BDFRG has been receiving increasing attention because of the use of partially rated power electronics, the high reliability of brushless design, and competitive performance to its popular slip-ring counterpart, the doubly fed induction generator. The controller viability has been demonstrated on a BDFRG laboratory test facility for emulation of variable speed and loading conditions of wind turbines or pump drives

Comparing Artificial Neural Networks with Multiple Linear Regression for Forecasting Heavy Metal Content

This paper adopts two modeling tools, namely, multiple linear regression (MLR) and artificial neural networks (ANNs), to predict the concentrations of heavy metals (zinc, boron, and manganese) in surface waters of the Oued Inaouen watershed flowing towards Inaouen, using a set of physical-chemical parameters. XLStat was employed to perform multiple linear and nonlinear regressions, and Statista 10 was chosen to construct neural networks for modeling and prediction. The effectiveness of the ANN- and MLR-based stochastic models was assessed by the determination coefficient (R²), the sum squared error (SSE) and a review of fit graphs. The results demonstrate the value of ANNs for prediction modeling. Drawing on supervised learning and back propagation, the ANN-based prediction models adopt an architecture of [18-15-1] for zinc, [18-11-1] for manganese, and [18-8-1] for boron, and perform effectively with a single cached layer. It was found that the MLR-based prediction models are substantially less accurate than those based on the ANNs. In addition, the physical-chemical parameters being investigated are nonlinearly correlated with the levels of heavy metals in the surface waters of the Oued Inaouen watershed flowing towards Inaouen

A Moonlighting Function of Plasmodium falciparum Histone 3, Mono-Methylated at Lysine 9?

BACKGROUND: In the human malaria parasites Plasmodium falciparum, histone modifications have been implicated in the transcriptional regulation. The acetylation and methylation status of the histones have been linked with transcriptional regulation of the parasite surface virulence factors as well as other genes with stage specific expression. In P. falciparum as well as other eukaryotes, different histone modifications were found to be compartmentalized to distinct regions in the nuclei. This compartmentalization is believed to be one of the main prerequisites for their function in epigenetic regulation of gene expression. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we investigate intracellular distributions of five previously uncharacterized histone modifications including histone 4 acetylation on lysine residue 5 (H4K5Ac), H4K8Ac, H3K9Ac, H4Ac4 and H3K9Me1 during the asexual developmental stages. With the exception of H3K9Me1, the modified histones were localized to the nuclear periphery. This provides a strong indication that the P. falciparum nuclear periphery is one of the most active regions in epigenetic regulation of gene expression. Interestingly, H3K9Me1 is not associated with the nuclei but instead resides in the parasitophorous vacuole (PV), the double membrane compartments surrounding the parasite cell within the host erythrocyte. In this compartment, H3K9Me1 partially co-localizes with Etramp proteins. The localization of H3K9Me1 in the PV is conserved in the other species including P. yoelii and P. vivax. CONCLUSIONS: Similar to other eukaryotes, the periphery of the P. falciparum nuclei is likely one of the most active areas in epigenetic regulation of gene expression involving multiple histone modifications. On the other hand, H3K9Me1 evolved a new function that is linked with the PV. This functional role appears to be evolutionarily conserved in Plasmodium species

Dieulafoy’s lesion: an unexpected and rare cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding

A 51- year- old man with multiple comorbidities of hypertension, chronic kidney disease, dyslip-idaemia and a history of stroke was presented to the emergency department with a 1 day epigastric pain. He was subsequently diagnosed with hyper-tensive emergency and inferior myocardial infarc-tion. Despite being administered an intravenous infusion of glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), his condition deteriorated and he developed cardiac arrest with ventricular fibrillation, which required cardiopul-monary resuscitation and defibrillation. The patient had stormy recoveries with multiple episodes of hospital- acquired pneumonia and prolonged intu-bation due to failed extubation. He was put on double antiplatelet medication and subcutaneous low- molecular weight heparins injection

Dynamic Activation and Repression of the Plasmodium falciparum rif Gene Family and Their Relation to Chromatin Modification

The regulation of variant gene expression in Plasmodium falciparum is still only partially understood. Regulation of var genes, the most studied gene family involved in antigenic variation, is orchestrated by a dynamic pattern of inherited chromatin states. Although recent evidence pointed to epigenetic regulation of transcribed and repressed rif loci, little is known about specific on/off associated histone modifications of individual rif genes. To investigate the chromatin marks for transcribed and repressed rif loci, we cultivated parasites and evaluated the transcriptional status of chosen rif targets by qRT-PCR and performed ChIP assays using H3K9ac and H3K9me3 antibodies. We then monitored changes in the epigenetic patterns in parasites after several reinvasions and also evaluated the “poised” mark in trophozoites and schizonts of the same erythrocytic cycle by ChIP using H3K4me2 specific antibodies. Our results show that H3K9 is acetylated in transcribed rif loci and trimethylated or even unmodified in repressed rif loci. These transcriptional and epigenetic states are inherited after several reinvasions. The poised modification H3K4me2 showed a tendency to be more present in loci in trophozoites that upon progression to schizonts strongly transcribe the respective locus. However, this effect was not consistently observed for all monitored loci. While our data show important similarities to var transcription-associated chromatin modifications, the observed swiftly occurring modifications at rif loci and the absence of H3K9 modification point to a different dynamic of recruitment of chromatin modifying enzymes