Laboratory Course Modular Design for Learning Magnetic Components in Power Conversion Applications at Taipei Tech

The main theme of this paper is to present the laboratory course modular design for learning and hands-on magnetic components in power converters. The objective of the course is to give the students to model the converters, realize magnetic components and test the implemented converters via the hands-on work in order to improve practical skills of students under the insufficiency of regular course training. This designed course is based upon the modular concept of five modules in common use which include forward converter, flyback converter, push-pull converter, half-bridge converter and full-bridge converter. The controllers for these converter modules include voltage mode control and peak current mode control. The specifications for each converter module are the same, 48V/12V, 60W and 100 kHz of switching frequency. The designed modular curriculum has been applied to the Industrial Technology Research and Development Master (ITRDM) Program sponsored by the industry and government. And excellent acknowledgment from students is received for providing practical training and covering the wide range of magnetic components in power conversion applications

Interleukin 10 promoter haplotype is associated with alcoholic liver cirrhosis in Taiwanese patients

AbstractAlcoholic liver cirrhosis is a severe form of alcohol-related liver damage. More than 95% of heavy drinkers develop a fatty liver, but only 35% of them develop cirrhosis. We postulate that genetic factors may play a role in this difference. Genetic polymorphisms of the cytokine genes may influence Kupffer cells cytokine genes expression. In this study, we evaluated the promoter polymorphisms of interleukin (IL) 1β, IL 6, IL 10, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and aimed to clarify the association between the polymorphisms and the disease. Forty alcoholic patients with liver cirrhosis and 64 healthy volunteers were included in our investigation. Genotyping on IL 1β –511 T>C, IL 6 –572 G>C, IL 10 –819 C>T, IL 10 –1082 G>A, and TNFα –308 G>A was done. Another 36 patients with recurrent alcoholic pancreatitis were included as an additional control group. Genotyping on IL 10 –819 C>T and IL 10 –1082 G>A was done. The polymorphisms on IL 1 and IL 6 showed no significant association. The p value for TNFα –308 G>A was 0.028 in comparison with healthy volunteers. Although the p value was less than 0.05, it did not reach significance after Bonferroni correction. The p values for IL 10 –819 C>T and IL 10 –1082 G>A were respectively 0.031 and 0.026 in healthy volunteers and 0.028 and 0.023 in the alcoholic pancreatitis group. The results also did not reach significance after Bonferroni correction. Among the participants with the GCC haplotype, healthy volunteers had p = 0.027 (p < 0.05) and an odds ratio (OR) of 0.124 [confidence interval (95%) CI, 0.015–0.997], whereas the alcoholic pancreatitis group had p = 0.023 (p < 0.05) and an OR of 0.106 (95% CI, 0.012–0.912). The odds ratio of people having one ATA haplotype was 6.233 (95% CI, 0.739–52.547) in healthy volunteers and 6.588 (95% CI, 0.727–59.679) in the alcoholic pancreatitis group; the corresponding rate was 10.521 (95% CI, 1.252–88.440) and 12.833 (95% CI 1.408–117.008) for people with two ATA haplotypes. The p values in these groups were 0.031 (p < 0.05) and 0.028 (p < 0.05), respectively. The presence of a GCC haplotype could have protective effect against alcoholic liver disease, whereas the presence of an ATA haplotype could predispose carriers to the disease. The IL 10 promoter haplotype is associated with alcoholic liver cirrhosis in Taiwanese patients

Ligand-Activated Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor- Protects Against Ischemic Cerebral Infarction and Neuronal Apoptosis by 14-3-3 Upregulation

Thiazolidinediones (TZD) were reported to protect against ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Their protective actions are considered to be PPAR-γ (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ)-dependent. However, it is unclear how PPAR-γ activation confers resistance to I/R

Performance Evaluation of Asphalt Rubber in Porous Asphalt-Concrete Mixtures

The purpose of this study was first to present the laboratory mix design results for porous asphalt concrete (PAC) mixtures blended with high-viscosity-graded cement (AR-80) and asphalt rubber (AR). In addition, the master curves of dynamic modulus were determined for both the unconfined and confined conditions to evaluate the rutting behavior of both PAC mixtures. The mix design results showed that the PAC open-graded mixture consisted of a relatively large percentage of coarse aggregate, with less than 15% of the material passing through a 2.36-mm (No. 8) sieve, which created a sufficient space for water drainage. The target air voids of approximately 20%, as well as the coefficient of permeability greater than 10 2 cm=s, were established. Comparing the master curves of dynamic modulus between these two types of PAC mixtures indicated that the asphalt-rubber mixtures exhibited higher dynamic modulus at longer reduced times for both the unconfined and confined conditions. The experimental results of repeated triaxial-loaded and wheel tracking permanent deformation tests confirmed that the asphalt-rubber mixtures have superior performance against rutting. Furthermore, the high void of both PAC mixtures illustrated the validity of the principles of time-temperature superposition in the large strain of the viscoplastic stage during repeated triaxial-loaded permanent deformation tests

The effect of adding dimethyl carbonate (DMC) and ethanol to unleaded gasoline on exhaust emission

Oxygen containing additives are usually used to improve gasoline's performance and reduce exhaust emissions. In this study, the effect of oxygen containing additives on gasoline blended fuels on exhaust emissions was investigated for different engine speeds in a single cylinder, four-stroke, spark-ignition engine. The results indicate that CO and HC exhaust emissions are lower with the use of ethanol-gasoline and DMC-gasoline blended fuels as compared to the use of unleaded gasoline. On the other hand, the effect of ethanol-gasoline and DMC-gasoline blended fuels on NOX exhaust emission is insignificant. Using oxygen containing additives can increase fuel consumption as a result of the heating value of the blended fuels being lower than that of unleaded gasoline.Oxygen containing additives Exhaust emissions Ethanol DMC

Efficient Block-Based Foreground Object Detection for Outdoor Scenes on Embedded SoC Platforms

Abstract. Foreground object detection is one of crucial techniques for image surveillance systems. This paper presents a block-based foreground detection algorithm that possesses fast processing and low memory requirement to be performed on the embedded system for real-time operations. The gray distribution of each block is analyzed, and then the major gray pixels are selected to construct the block background model. Because of using gray image, our proposed approach can save up to 94 % memory consumption under the requirement of reasonable object detection, when comparing to other existing methods. Besides, this algorithm can improve objection detection speed. At last, the proposed approach for the moving object detection has been implemented on the TI DaVinci platform. It can achieve 25 frames per second for the benchmark video with image size 640×480

Polarized epithelial cells secrete matriptase as a consequence of zymogen activation and HAI-1-mediated inhibition

Matriptase, a transmembrane serine protease, is broadly expressed by, and crucial for the integrity of, the epithelium. Matriptase is synthesized as a zymogen and undergoes autoactivation to become an active protease that is immediately inhibited by, and forms complexes with, hepatocyte growth factor activator inhibitor (HAI-1). To investigate where matriptase is activated and how it is secreted in vivo, we determined the expression and activation status of matriptase in seminal fluid and urine and the distribution and subcellular localization of the protease in the prostate and kidney. The in vivo studies revealed that while the latent matriptase is localized at the basolateral surface of the ductal epithelial cells of both organs, only matriptase-HAI-1 complexes and not latent matriptase are detected in the body fluids, suggesting that activation, inhibition, and transcytosis of matriptase would have to occur for the secretion of matriptase. These complicated processes involved in the in vivo secretion were also observed in polarized Caco-2 intestinal epithelial cells. The cells target latent matriptase to the basolateral plasma membrane where activation, inhibition, and secretion of matriptase appear to take place. However, a proportion of matriptase-HAI-1 complexes, but not the latent matriptase, appears to undergo transcytosis to the apical plasma membrane for secretion. When epithelial cells lose their polarity, they secrete both latent and activated matriptase. Although most epithelial cells retain very low levels of matriptase-HAI-1 complex by rapidly secreting the complex, gastric chief cells may activate matriptase and store matriptase-HAI-1 complexes in the pepsinogen-secretory granules, suggesting an intracellular activation and regulated secretion in these cells. Taken together, while zymogen activation and closely coupled HAI-1-mediated inhibition are common features for matriptase regulation, the cellular location of matriptase activation and inhibition, and the secretory route for matriptase-HAI-1 complex may vary along with the functional divergence of different epithelial cells