Comparison and Design Optimization of a Five-Phase Flux-Switching PM Machine for In-Wheel Traction Applications

A comparative study of five-phase outer-rotor flux-switching permanent magnet (FSPM) machines with different topologies for in-wheel traction applications is presented in this paper. Those topologies include double-layer winding, single-layer winding, C-core, and E-core configurations. The electromagnetic performance in the low-speed region, the flux-weakening capability in the high-speed region, and the fault-tolerance capability are all investigated in detail. The results indicate that the E-core FSPM machine has performance advantages. Furthermore, two kinds of E-core FSPM machines with different stator and rotor pole combinations are optimized, respectively. In order to reduce the computational burden during the large-scale optimization process, a mathematical technique is developed based on the concept of computationally efficient finite-element analysis. While a differential evolution algorithm serves as a global search engine to target optimized designs. Subsequently, multiobjective tradeoffs are presented based on a Pareto-set for 20 000 candidate designs. Finally, an optimal design is prototyped, and some experimental results are given to confirm the validity of the simulation results in this paper

Computationally Efficient Optimization of a Five-Phase Flux-Switching PM Machine Under Different Operating Conditions

This paper investigates the comparative design optimizations of a five-phase outer-rotor flux-switching permanent magnet (FSPM) machine for in-wheel traction applications. To improve the comprehensive performance of the motor, two kinds of large-scale design optimizations under different operating conditions are performed and compared, including the traditional optimization performed at the rated operating point and the optimization targeting the whole driving cycles. Three driving cycles are taken into account, namely, the urban dynamometer driving schedule (UDDS), the highway fuel economy driving schedule (HWFET), and the combined UDDS/HWFET, representing the city, highway, and combined city/highway driving, respectively. Meanwhile, the computationally efficient finite-element analysis (CE-FEA) method, the cyclic representative operating points extraction technique, as well as the response surface methodology (in order to minimize the number of experiments when establishing the inverse machine model), are presented to reduce the computational effort and cost. From the results and discussion, it will be found that the optimization results against different operating conditions exhibit distinct characteristics in terms of geometry, efficiency, and energy loss distributions. For the traditional optimization performed at the rated operating point, the optimal design tends to reduce copper losses but suffer from high core losses; for UDDS, the optimal design tends to minimize both copper losses and PM eddy-current losses in the low-speed region; for HWFET, the optimal design tends to minimize core losses in the high-speed region; for the combined UDDS/HWFET, the optimal design tends to balance/compromise the loss components in both the low-speed and high-speed regions. Furthermore, the advantages of the adopted optimization methodologies versus the traditional procedure are highlighted

Digital Resources to Enhance Creative Mathematical Thinking in a Biomathematics Context

International audienceIn this research, we present the design of digital resources, carried out within the framework of the MC Squared project (http://mc2-project.eu). These resources are the so-called " c-book units " (" c " for creative), which are digital books produced within a socio-technological environment allowing meshing narratives with interconnected, interactive and dynamic digital artefacts (widgets), to enhance Creative Mathematical Thinking. We illustrate the design of a c-book unit within a biomathematics context aimed at enhancing creative mathematical thinking using a wide range of digital widgets

Evaluation of the Synergistic Effect of Amikacin with Cefotaxime against <em>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</em> and Its Biofilm Genes Expression

A total of 100 broiler chickens were examined for the presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by standard microbiological techniques. Susceptibility pattern for amikacin and cefotaxime was performed by Kirby-Bauer and microdilution assays. Then, checkerboard titration in trays was applied and FIC was measured to identify the type of interaction between the two antibiotics. The ability of isolates to form in vitro biofilm was detected by two methods, one qualitative (CRA) and the other quantitative (MTP), followed by investigating the effect of each antibiotic alone and in combination on the expression of biofilm genes. The overall isolation percentage of P. aeruginosa was 21%. Resistance to each antibiotic was more than 50%; the range of cefotaxime MIC was 8–512 μg/ml, while amikacin MIC range was 1–64 μg/ml. The FIC index established a synergistic association between tested two drugs in 17 (81%) of isolates and the remaining represent partially synergism. The qualitative technique showed that only 66.6% of the isolates were considered biofilm producers, while the quantitative technique showed that 90.4% of the isolates were biofilm producers. Further to RT-PCR investigation, significant repression against biofilm-forming genes (filC, pelA, and pslA) was observed for the combination of antibiotics when compared with monotherapy

Mining photographic collections to enhance the precision and recall of search results using semantically controlled query expansion

Driven by a larger and more diverse user-base and datasets, modern Information Retrieval techniques are striving to become contextually-aware in order to provide users with a more satisfactory search experience. While text-only retrieval methods are significantly more accurate and faster to render results than purely visual retrieval methods, these latter provide a rich complementary medium which can be used to obtain relevant and different results from those obtained using text-only retrieval. Moreover, the visual retrieval methods can be used to learn the user’s context and preferences, in particular the user’s relevance feedback, and exploit them to narrow down the search to more accurate results. Despite the overall deficiency in precision of visual retrieval result, the top results are accurate enough to be used for query expansion, when expanded in a controlled manner. The method we propose overcomes the usual pitfalls of visual retrieval: 1. The hardware barrier giving rise to prohibitively slow systems. 2. Results dominated by noise. 3. A significant gap between the low-level features and the semantics of the query. In our thesis, the first barrier is overcome by employing a simple block-based visual features which outperforms a method based on MPEG-7 features specially at early precision (precision of the top results). For the second obstacle, lists from words semantically weighted according to their degree of relation to the original query or to relevance feedback from example images are formed. These lists provide filters through which the confidence in the candidate results is assessed for inclusion in the results. This allows for more reliable Pseudo-Relevance Feedback (PRF). This technique is then used to bridge the third barrier; the semantic gap. It consists of a second step query, re-querying the data set with an query expanded with weighted words obtained from the initial query, and semantically filtered (SF) without human intervention. We developed our PRF-SF method on the IAPR TC-12 benchmark dataset of 20,000 tourist images, obtaining promising results, and tested it on the different and much larger Belga benchmark dataset of approximately 500,000 news images originating from a different source. Our experiments confirmed the potential of the method in improving the overall Mean Average Precision, recall, as well as the level of diversity of the results measured using cluster recall

Dual functions of Macpiwi1 in transposon silencing and stem cell maintenance in the flatworm Macrostomum lignano

PIWI proteins and piRNA pathways are essential for transposon silencing and some aspects of gene regulation during animal germline development. In contrast to most animal species, some flatworms also express PIWIs and piRNAs in somatic stem cells, where they are required for tissue renewal and regeneration. Here, we have identified and characterized piRNAs and PIWI proteins in the emerging model flatworm Macrostomum lignano. We found that M. lignano encodes at least three PIWI proteins. One of these, Macpiwi1, acts as a key component of the canonical piRNA pathway in the germline and in somatic stem cells. Knockdown of Macpiwi1 dramatically reduces piRNA levels, derepresses transposons, and severely impacts stem cell maintenance. Knockdown of the piRNA biogenesis factor Macvasa caused an even greater reduction in piRNA levels with a corresponding increase in transposons. Yet, in Macvasa knockdown animals, we detected no major impact on stem cell self-renewal. These results may suggest stem cell maintenance functions of PIWI proteins in flatworms that are distinguishable from their impact on transposons and that might function independently of what are considered canonical piRNA populations

Pozitivan učinak L-karnitina na imuno- metabolički odgovor i antioksidacijski status u koza s gravidnosnom toksemijom

According to the literature, there have been limited studies describing the efficacy of L-carnitine (LC) administration in goats. The present study was designed to evaluate the influence of orally administered LC on some immune- metabolic variables, as well as the redox status in goats with experimentally induced pregnancy toxemia (PT). The study included eighteen clinically healthy Baladi goats at 110 ± 5 days of gestation. The animals were randomly allocated into three equally-sized groups: control, toxemic (PT), and toxemic treated with LC (TLC). On day 110 ± 5 of gestation, the goats in the TLC group received 10 mL of LC given as an oral drench once daily. Administration of LC was continued for 20 consecutive days. At day 130 of gestation, PT was experimentally induced in the animals of the PT and TLC groups by means of feed withdrawal for 72 hours. For biochemical analyses, blood samples were collected from each investigated doe via jugular vein puncture before PT induction (T0), and once daily for five consecutive days (T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5). The clinical findings of PT appeared in all the goats of the PT group after 72 hours of feed withdrawal, while the goats of the TLC group did not show any clinical symptoms throughout the study period. Administration of LC elicited initial and sustained low serum levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), and high serum glucose, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and interleukin (IL)-10 at T0 compared with those of the control and PT groups. At T3, goats that received LC showed significantly lower values of β-hydroxybutyric acid, non-esterified fatty acid, triacylglycerols, MDA, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and higher values of total cholesterol, glutathione peroxidase, SOD, and IL-10 than those of the PT group. Our data suggest that orally administered LC could be useful in ameliorating the immune status and improving lipid metabolism in goats with PT.Prema podacima iz literature postoji ograničen broj istraživanja primjene L-karnitina (LK) u koza. Cilj ovog rada bio je procijeniti učinak oralno primijenjenog LK-a na određene imuno-metaboličke pokazatelje i redoksni status u koza u kojih je eksperimentalno izazvana gravidnosna tokesmija (GT). Istraživanje je uključilo 18 klinički zdravih koza baladi pasmine čija je gravidnost iznosila 110 ± 5 dana. Životinje su nasumično podijeljene u tri jednake skupine: kontrolnu, toksemijsku (GT) i toksemijsku kojoj je davan LK (TLK). Koze u skupini TLK su od 110. ± 5 dana gravidnosti jedanput dnevno dobivale 10 mL LK-a oralnom drenčer špricom. Primjena LK-a nastavljena je sljedećih dvadeset dana uzastopno. Na 130. dan gravidnosti GT je eksperimentalno izazvan u skupinama GT i TLK, uz uskraćivanje hrane tijekom 72 sata. U svake je koze iz jugularne vene uzeta krv za biokemijsku analizu prije izazivanja GT-a (T0) i jedanput dnevno sljedećih pet dana (T1, T2, T3, T4 i T5). Klinički je GT ustanovljen u svih koza u skupini GT 72 sata nakon što im je uskraćena hrana, dok koze iz skupine TLK nisu pokazale kliničke simptome za vrijeme istraživanja. Primjena LK-a prouzročila je niske serumske vrijednosti malondialdehida (MDA), faktora tumorske nekroze (TNF-α) i visoke serumske vrijednosti glukoze, superoksidne dismutaze (SOD) i interleukina (IL)- 10 prije izazivanja GT-a (T0) u usporedbi s kontrolnom i GT skupinom. Treći dan (T3) koze koje su primile LK pokazale su znakovito niže vrijednosti β-hidroksimaslačne kiseline, neesterificirane masne kiseline, triacilglicerola, MDA-a, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 te veće vrijednosti ukupnog kolesterola, glutation-peroksidaze, SOD-a i IL-10 od onih u skupini GT. Rezultati su pokazali da bi oralno primijenjen LK mogao pridonijeti poboljšanju imunosnog statusa i metabolizma masnoća u koza s GT-om

Genome and transcriptome of the regeneration-competent flatworm, Macrostomum lignano.

The free-living flatworm, Macrostomum lignano has an impressive regenerative capacity. Following injury, it can regenerate almost an entirely new organism because of the presence of an abundant somatic stem cell population, the neoblasts. This set of unique properties makes many flatworms attractive organisms for studying the evolution of pathways involved in tissue self-renewal, cell-fate specification, and regeneration. The use of these organisms as models, however, is hampered by the lack of a well-assembled and annotated genome sequences, fundamental to modern genetic and molecular studies. Here we report the genomic sequence of M. lignano and an accompanying characterization of its transcriptome. The genome structure of M. lignano is remarkably complex, with ∼75% of its sequence being comprised of simple repeats and transposon sequences. This has made high-quality assembly from Illumina reads alone impossible (N50=222 bp). We therefore generated 130× coverage by long sequencing reads from the Pacific Biosciences platform to create a substantially improved assembly with an N50 of 64 Kbp. We complemented the reference genome with an assembled and annotated transcriptome, and used both of these datasets in combination to probe gene-expression patterns during regeneration, examining pathways important to stem cell function.This work is supported by National Institutes of Health Grants R37 GM062534 (to G.J.H.) and R01-HG006677 (to M.S.); National Science Foundation Grant DBI-1350041 (to M.S.); and a Swiss National Science Foundation Grant 31003A-143732 (to L.S.). This work was performed with assistance from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Shared Resources, which are funded, in part, by Cancer Center Support Grant 5P30CA045508.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from PNAS via http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.151671811

Effect of taurine supplementation on hyperhomocysteinemia and markers of oxidative stress in high fructose diet induced insulin resistance

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>High intake of dietary fructose is accused of being responsible for the development of the insulin resistance (IR) syndrome. Concern has arisen because of the realization that fructose, at elevated concentrations, can promote metabolic changes that are potentially deleterious. Among these changes is IR which manifests as a decreased biological response to normal levels of plasma insulin.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) were carried out, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA) was calculated, homocysteine (Hcy), lipid concentrations and markers of oxidative stress were measured in male <it>Wistar </it>rats weighing 170-190 g. The rats were divided into four groups, kept on either control diet or high fructose diet (HFD), and simultaneously supplemented with 300 mg/kg/day taurine via intra-peritoneal (i.p.) route for 35 days.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fructose-fed rats showed significantly impaired glucose tolerance, impaired insulin sensitivity, hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia, hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy), lower total antioxidant capacity (TAC), lower paraoxonase (PON) activity, and higher nitric oxide metabolites (NOx) concentration, when compared to rats fed on control diet. Supplementing the fructose-fed rats with taurine has ameliorated the rise in HOMA by 56%, triglycerides (TGs) by 22.5%, total cholesterol (T-Chol) by 11%, and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) by 21.4%. Taurine also abolished any significant difference of TAC, PON activity and NOx concentration among treated and control groups. TAC positively correlated with PON in both rats fed on the HFD and those received taurine in addition to the HFD. Fructose-fed rats showed 34.7% increase in Hcy level. Taurine administration failed to prevent the observed HHcy in the current dosage and duration.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results indicate that HFD could induce IR which could further result in metabolic syndrome (MS), and that taurine has a protective role against the metabolic abnormalities induced by this diet model except for HHcy.</p

Internet-based search of randomised trials relevant to mental health originating in the Arab world

BACKGROUND: The internet is becoming a widely used source of accessing medical research through various on-line databases. This instant access to information is of benefit to busy clinicians and service users around the world. The population of the Arab World is comparable to that of the United States, yet it is widely believed to have a greatly contrasting output of randomised controlled trials related to mental health. This study was designed to investigate the existence of such research in the Arab World and also to investigate the availability of this research on-line. METHODS: Survey of findings from three internet-based potential sources of randomised trials originating from the Arab world and relevant to mental health care. RESULTS: A manual search of an Arabic online current contents service identified 3 studies, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO searches identified only 1 study, and a manual search of a specifically indexed, study-based mental health database, PsiTri, revealed 27 trials. CONCLUSION: There genuinely seem to be few trials from the Arab world and accessing these on-line was problematic. Replication of some studies that guide psychiatric/psychological practice in the Arab world would seem prudent