An In Depth Study into Using EMI Signatures for Appliance Identification

Energy conservation is a key factor towards long term energy sustainability. Real-time end user energy feedback, using disaggregated electric load composition, can play a pivotal role in motivating consumers towards energy conservation. Recent works have explored using high frequency conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI) on power lines as a single point sensing parameter for monitoring common home appliances. However, key questions regarding the reliability and feasibility of using EMI signatures for non-intrusive load monitoring over multiple appliances across different sensing paradigms remain unanswered. This work presents some of the key challenges towards using EMI as a unique and time invariant feature for load disaggregation. In-depth empirical evaluations of a large number of appliances in different sensing configurations are carried out, in both laboratory and real world settings. Insights into the effects of external parameters such as line impedance, background noise and appliance coupling on the EMI behavior of an appliance are realized through simulations and measurements. A generic approach for simulating the EMI behavior of an appliance that can then be used to do a detailed analysis of real world phenomenology is presented. The simulation approach is validated with EMI data from a router. Our EMI dataset - High Frequency EMI Dataset (HFED) is also released

Role of tyrosine M210 in the initial charge separation of reaction centers of Rhodobacter sphaeroides

Femtosecond spectroscopy was used in combination with site-directed mutagenesis to study the influence of tyrosine M210 (YM210) on the primary electron transfer in the reaction center of Rhodobacter sphaeroides. The exchange of YM210 to phenylalanine caused the time constant of primary electron transfer to increase from 3.5 f 0.4 ps to 16 f 6 ps while the exchange to leucine increased the time constant even more to 22 f 8 ps. The results suggest that tyrosine M210 is important for the fast rate of the primary electron transfer

The linearization method and new classes of exact solutions in cosmology

We develop a method for constructing exact cosmological solutions of the Einstein equations based on representing them as a second-order linear differential equation. In particular, the method allows using an arbitrary known solution to construct a more general solution parameterized by a set of 3\textit{N} constants, where \textit{N} is an arbitrary natural number. The large number of free parameters may prove useful for constructing a theoretical model that agrees satisfactorily with the results of astronomical observations. Cosmological solutions on the Randall-Sundrum brane have similar properties. We show that three-parameter solutions in the general case already exhibit inflationary regimes. In contrast to previously studied two-parameter solutions, these three-parameter solutions can describe an exit from inflation without a fine tuning of the parameters and also several consecutive inflationary regimes.Comment: 7 page

Examining the impact of audience response systems on student performance in anatomy education: a randomized controlled trial

Background and Aims: Electronic audience response systems (ARSs) offer the potential to enhance learning and improve performance. However, objective research investigating the use of ARSs in undergraduate education has so far produced mixed, inconclusive results. We investigated the impact of ARSs on short- and long-term test performance, as well as student perceptions of the educational experience, when integrated into undergraduate anatomy teaching. Methods and Results: A cohort of 70 undergraduate medical students were randomly allocated to one of two groups. Both groups received the same anatomy lecture, but one group experienced the addition of ARSs. Multiple-choice tests were conducted before, immediately after the lecture and again 10 weeks later. Self-perceived post-lecture subject knowledge, confidence and enjoyment ratings did not differ between groups. Test performance immediately following the lecture improved when compared against baseline and was modestly but significantly superior in the group taught with ARSs (mean test score of 17.3/20 versus 15.6/20 in the control group, p = 0.01). Tests conducted 10 weeks after the lecture showed no difference between groups (p = 0.61) although overall a small improvement from the baseline test was maintained (p = 0.02). Conclusions: Whilst ARSs offer opportunities to deliver novel education experiences to students, an initial superiority over standard methods does not necessarily translate into longer-term gains in student performance when employed in the context of anatomy education. Key words: medical education; education methodology; education technology; audience response systems; anatomy

Generalised scalar-tensor theory in the Bianchi type I model

We use a conformal transformation to find solutions to the generalised scalar-tensor theory, with a coupling constant dependent on a scalar field, in an empty Bianchi type I model. We describe the dynamical behaviour of the metric functions for three different couplings: two exact solutions to the field equations and a qualitative one are found. They exhibit non-singular behaviours and kinetic inflation. Two of them admit both General Relativity and string theory in the low-energy limit as asymptotic cases.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, to appear in General Relativity and Gravitatio

Deciphering the Finger Prints of Brain Cancer Glioblastoma Multiforme from Four Different Patients by Using Near Infrared Raman Spectroscopy

To explore the effectiveness of Raman spectra to diagnose brain cancer glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), we investigated the Raman spectra of single cell from four different GBM cell lines developed from four different patients and analyzed the spectra. The Raman spectra of brain cancer (GBM) cells were similar in all these cell lines. The results indicate that Raman spectra can offer the experimental basis for the cancer diagnosis and treatment

Energetics of the primary electron transfer reaction revealed by ultrafast spectroscopy on modified bacterial reaction centers

The modification of reaction centers from Rhodobacter sphaeroides by the introduction of pheophytins instead of bacteriopheophytins leads to interesting changes in the primary photosynthetic reaction: long-living populations of the excited electronic state of the special pair P* and the bacteriochlorophyll anion B−A show up. The data allow the determination of the energetics in the reaction center. The free energy of the first intermediate P+B−A, where the electron has reached the accessory bacteriochlorophyll BA lies ≈ 450 cm−1 below the initially excited special pair P*

Geometry-controlled kinetics

It has long been appreciated that transport properties can control reaction kinetics. This effect can be characterized by the time it takes a diffusing molecule to reach a target -- the first-passage time (FPT). Although essential to quantify the kinetics of reactions on all time scales, determining the FPT distribution was deemed so far intractable. Here, we calculate analytically this FPT distribution and show that transport processes as various as regular diffusion, anomalous diffusion, diffusion in disordered media and in fractals fall into the same universality classes. Beyond this theoretical aspect, this result changes the views on standard reaction kinetics. More precisely, we argue that geometry can become a key parameter so far ignored in this context, and introduce the concept of "geometry-controlled kinetics". These findings could help understand the crucial role of spatial organization of genes in transcription kinetics, and more generally the impact of geometry on diffusion-limited reactions.Comment: Submitted versio