Complex Fuzzy Set-Valued Complex Fuzzy Measures and Their Properties

Let F*(K) be the set of all fuzzy complex numbers. In this paper some classical and measure-theoretical notions are extended to the case of complex fuzzy sets. They are fuzzy complex number-valued distance on F*(K), fuzzy complex number-valued measure on F*(K), and some related notions, such as null-additivity, pseudo-null-additivity, null-subtraction, pseudo-null-subtraction, autocontionuous from above, autocontionuous from below, and autocontinuity of the defined fuzzy complex number-valued measures. Properties of fuzzy complex number-valued measures are studied in detail

An sTGC Prototype Readout System for ATLAS New-Small-Wheel Upgrade

This paper presents a readout system designed for testing the prototype of Small-Strip Thin Gap Chamber (sTGC), which is one of the main detector technologies used for ATLAS New-Small-Wheel Upgrade. This readout system aims at testing one full-size sTGC quadruplet with cosmic muon triggers

Thermal coupling analysis for a multi-chip paralleled IGBT module in a doubly fed wind turbine power converter

Thermal coupling between adjacent IGBT or diode chips is the result of non-uniform temperature distribution in a multi-chip IGBT module. This affects the junction temperatures and hence the total power loss predicted for the module. The study first investigates the impact of thermal coupling effect on the junction temperatures through finite element method (FEM), and then develops a thermal coupling impedance model to represent such effect. The effect is shown to reduce with the distance exponentially. The model result agrees well with test. The validated model is then used to predict the junction temperature swings during operational power cycling in a DFIG wind turbine, showing the difference between the rotor and grid side converters. The model presented and the results obtained may be important for reliability evaluation and condition monitoring in the wind turbine power converters as well as in other multi-chip paralleled power electronic systems

Edge-guided Representation Learning for Underwater Object Detection

Underwater object detection (UOD) is crucial for marine economic development, environmental protection, and the planet's sustainable development. The main challenges of this task arise from low-contrast, small objects, and mimicry of aquatic organisms. The key to addressing these challenges is to focus the model on obtaining more discriminative information. We observe that the edges of underwater objects are highly unique and can be distinguished from low-contrast or mimicry environments based on their edges. Motivated by this observation, we propose an Edge-guided Representation Learning Network, termed ERL-Net, that aims to achieve discriminative representation learning and aggregation under the guidance of edge cues. Firstly, we introduce an edge-guided attention module to model the explicit boundary information, which generates more discriminative features. Secondly, a feature aggregation module is proposed to aggregate the multi-scale discriminative features by regrouping them into three levels, effectively aggregating global and local information for locating and recognizing underwater objects. Finally, we propose a wide and asymmetric receptive field block to enable features to have a wider receptive field, allowing the model to focus on more small object information. Comprehensive experiments on three challenging underwater datasets show that our method achieves superior performance on the UOD task

Cosmic test of sTGC detector prototype made in China for ATLAS experiment upgrade

Following the Higgs particle discovery, the Large Hadron Collider complex will be upgraded in several phases allowing the luminosity to increase to $7 \times 10^{34}cm^{-2}s^{-1}$. In order to adapt the ATLAS detector to the higher luminosity environment after the upgrade, part of the ATLAS muon end-cap system, the Small Wheel, will be replaced by the New Small Wheel. The New Small Wheel includes two kinds of detectors: small-strip Thin Gap Chambers and Micromegas. Shandong University, part of the ATLAS collaboration, participates in the construction of the ATLAS New Small Wheel by developing, producing and testing the performance of part of the small-strip Thin Gap Chambers. This paper describes the construction and cosmic-ray testing of small-strip Thin Gap Chambers in Shandong University

Intenzitet toplinske modifikacije topolovine. Dio 1: Karakterizacija i predikcija površinskog sloja

Wood heat treatment is an environmentally friendly method, and the heat-treated wood properties are closely related to thermal modification intensity. This study focuses on the 0-3 mm surface layer (SL) of poplar wood heat treated at 160~220 °C. The modification intensity, including surface color, hardness, chemical component and morphological changes of the SL, was evaluated. The findings of this research showed that the color difference of the poplar wood before and after heat treatment (ΔE*1) increased; the color difference between up-surface and down-surface of the SL (ΔE*2) also increased with the treatment temperature. Consequently, the surface hardness (HR) decreased with the increase of treatment intensity. When the treatment temperature was higher than 160 °C, the up-surface and down-surface of the SL were statistically different in color. Chemical component analysis revealed that the heat treatment degrades wood components, especially the hemicellulose, and correlation analysis showed a significant correlation between the change rate of hemicellulose and the ΔE*1 or HR value; the prediction functions have been established at a high confidence level of 0.99. Overall, the thermal modification intensity of the heat-treated surface layer (SL) of poplar wood varies, and the HR and ΔE*1 value could be used to characterize and predict the modification intensity and degree of thermal degradation of the surface layer of heat-treated poplar wood.Toplinska obrada drva ekološki je prihvatljiva metoda, a svojstva toplinski modificiranog drva usko su povezana s intenzitetom toplinske modifikacije. Ovo je istraživanje usredotočeno na površinski sloj (SL) od 0 – 3 mm toplinski modificirane topolovine pri 160 – 220 °C. Istražen je utjecaj intenziteta modifikacije na boju površine, tvrdoću, kemijski sastav i morfološke promjene površinskog sloja. Rezultati su pokazali da se s povećanjem temperature modifikacije povećala razlika u boji topolovine prije i nakon modifikacije (ΔE*1) te razlika u boji između gornje i donje površine površinskog sloja (ΔE*2). Posljedično se tvrdoća površine (HR) smanjila s povećanjem intenziteta modifikacije. Pri temperaturi modifikacije višoj od 160 °C razlika u boji između gornje i donje površine površinskog sloja statistički je značajna. Analiza kemijskog sastava otkrila je da toplinska modifikacija razgrađuje komponente drva, posebice hemicelulozu, a korelacijskom je analizom utvrđena značajna međusobna ovisnost između stupnja promjene hemiceluloze i vrijednosti ΔE*1 i HR. Utvrđene su funkcije predviđanja s visokom razinom pouzdanosti od 0,99. Sve u svemu, intenzitet toplinske modifikacije topolovine u površinskom sloju varira, a vrijednosti HR i ΔE*1 mogu se iskoristiti za karakterizaciju i predviđanje intenziteta modifikacije i stupnja toplinske razgradnje površinskog sloja toplinski modificirane topolovine

Nonlinear ESO-based vibration control for an all-clamped piezoelectric plate with disturbances and time delay: design and hardware implementation

Considering the problems of model uncertainties, higher harmonics, uncertain boundary conditions, external excitations and system time delay in practical vibration control system, a novel active vibration control method is proposed to suppress the vibration of a thin plate structure with acceleration sensor and piezoelectric bimorph actuator in this paper. First, a nonlinear extended state observer (NESO)-based controller is designed to ensure the anti-disturbance performance of the structural vibration control system. Then, an enhanced differentiator-based time delay compensation method is introduced to improve the vibration suppression performance of the NESO-based controller. A real time hardware-in-the-loop benchmark for an all-clamped piezoelectric thin plate is designed to verify and compare the performance of the developed controller against conventional ESO-based methods (linear ESO with/without time delay compensation, NESO without time compensation). The best vibration suppression and disturbance rejection performance of the proposed NESO-based controller with an enhanced time delay compensator is verified in the comparative experimental results. This work is able to provide practitioners with vital guidance in designing active vibration control system in the presence of disturbances and time delay

Scanning Test System Prototype of p/sFEB for the ATLAS Phase-I sTGC Trigger Upgrade

The Pad Front End Board (pFEB) and the Strip Front End Board (sFEB) are developed for the ATLAS Phase-I sTGC Trigger Upgrade. The pFEB is used to to gather and analyze pads trigger, and the sFEB is developed to accept the pad trigger to define the regions-of-interest for strips readout. The performance of p/sFEBs must be confirmed before they are mounted on the sTGC detector. We will present the scanning test system prototype which is designed according to the test requirements of the p/sFEB. In this test system prototype, a simulation signal board is developed to generate different types of signal to the p/sFEB. PC software and FPGA XADC cooperate to achieve the scan test of analog parameter

A regulatory insertion-deletion polymorphism in the FADS gene cluster influences PUFA and lipid profiles among Chinese adults: a population-based study

Background Arachidonic acid (AA) is the major polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) substrate for potent eicosanoid signaling to modulate inflammation and thrombosis and is controlled in part by tissue abundance. Fatty acid desaturase 1 (FADS1) catalyzes synthesis of omega-6 (n–3) AA and n–3 eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). The rs66698963 polymorphism, a 22-base pair (bp) insertion-deletion 137 bp downstream of a sterol regulatory element in FADS2 intron 1, mediates expression of FADS1 in vitro, as well as exerting positive selection in several human populations. The associations between the polymorphism rs66698963 and plasma PUFAs as well as disease phenotypes are unclear. Objective This study aimed to evaluate the relation between rs66698963 genotypes and plasma PUFA concentrations and blood lipid profiles. Design Plasma fatty acids were measured from a single sample obtained at baseline in 1504 healthy Chinese adults aged between 35 and 59 y with the use of gas chromatography. Blood lipids were measured at baseline and a second time at the 18-mo follow-up. The rs66698963 genotype was determined by using agarose gel electrophoresis. Linear regression and logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the association between genotype and plasma PUFAs and blood lipids. Results A shift from the precursors linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid to produce AA and EPA, respectively, was observed, consistent with FADS1 activity increasing in the order of genotypes D/D to I/D to I/I. For I/I compared with D/D carriers, plasma concentrations of n–6 AA and the ratio of AA to n–3 EPA plus docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were 57% and 32% higher, respectively. Carriers of the deletion (D) allele of rs66698963 tended to have higher triglycerides (β = 0.018; SE: 0.009; P = 0.05) and lower HDL cholesterol (β = −0.008; SE: 0.004; P = 0.02) than carriers of the insertion (I) allele. Conclusions The rs66698963 genotype is significantly associated with AA concentrations and AA to EPA+DHA ratio, reflecting basal risk of inflammatory and related chronic disease phenotypes, and is correlated with the risk of dyslipidemia

Neuroprotection Against MPP+-Induced Cytotoxicity Through the Activation of PI3-K/Akt/GSK3β/MEF2D Signaling Pathway by Rhynchophylline, the Major Tetracyclic Oxindole Alkaloid Isolated From Uncaria rhynchophylla

Rhynchophylline is a major tetracyclic oxindole alkaloid in Uncaria rhynchophylla, which has been extensively used as traditional herb medicine for the prevention of convulsions and hypertension. However, there is still little evidence about the neuroprotective effects of rhynchophylline for Parkinson’s disease (PD), a neurodegenerative condition currently without any effective cure. In this present study, the neuroprotective molecular mechanisms of rhynchophylline were investigated in a cellular model associated with PD. It is shown that rhynchophylline (10–50 μM) greatly prevented neurotoxicity caused by 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion (MPP+) in primary cerebellar granule neurons, as evidenced by the promotion of cell viability as well as the reversal of dysregulated protein expression of Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. Very encouragingly, we found that rhynchophylline markedly enhanced the activity of the transcription factor myocyte enhancer factor 2D (MEF2D) at both basal and pathological conditions using luciferase reporter gene assay, and reversed the inhibition of MEF2D caused by MPP+. Additionally, pharmacological inhibition of PI3-Kinase or short hairpin RNA-mediated gene down-regulation of MEF2D abrogated the protection provided by rhynchophylline. Furthermore, Western blot analysis revealed that rhynchophylline could potentiate PI3-K/Akt to attenuate GSK3β (the MEF2D inhibitor) in response to MPP+ insult. In conclusion, rhynchophylline inhibits MPP+-triggered neurotoxicity by stimulating MEF2D via activating PI3-K/Akt/GSK3β cascade. Rhynchophylline is served as a novel MEF2D enhancer and might be a potential candidate for further preclinical study in the prevention of PD