Continuous Monitoring of Information on Anode Current Distribution as Means of Improving the Process of Controlling and Forecasting Process Disturbances

За последние десятилетия система АСУТП электролиза достигла больших возможностей по улучшению сбора и обработки сигналов, которые обеспечивают основу для регулирования питания, теплового баланса и магнитогидродинамической (МГД) стабильности. Несмотря на значительное развитие, постоянно растут потребности в датчиках контроля, которые могут распознавать и реагировать на возникающие изменения. C 2008 г. на электролизерах опытного участка РА-400, расположенного в опытно-промышленном корпусе электролиза ОАО «РУСАЛ Саяногорск», эксплуатируется система непрерывного мониторинга информации о распределении тока по анодам, интегрированная в АСУТП СААТ-2. На протяжении промышленных испытаний система мониторинга постоянно совершенствовалась в части достоверности информации, обеспечения работоспособности оборудования в условиях агрессивных сред, а также при выполнении технологических и ремонтных операций на электролизере. Полученная информация о распределении тока по анодам позволила разработать алгоритмы, прогнозирующие на ранней стадии отклонения в питании глиноземом электролизера с последующим перераспределением по точкам автоматической подачи глинозема (АПГ), прогнозирование и распознавание технологических нарушений на подошве анодов («конуса»)The aluminum reduction process control system in recent decades has given great opportunities for improving the collection and processing of signals that provide the basis for the adjustment of feeding, thermal balance and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability. Despite considerable development, there is a growing need for control sensors that can detect and respond to emerging changes. Since 2008, the cells operating in the RA-400 pilot area inside the Pilot Potroom at OJSC RUSAL Sayanogorsk have been using a system for continuous monitoring of information on anode current distribution. The system has been integrated in the ‘CAAT-2’ control system. In the course of industrial tests, the monitoring system was continuously improved – in terms of information reliability, and equipment operability in aggressive environments and during pot tending & maintenance operations. The obtained information on anode current distribution allowed for developing algorithms to detect, at an early stage, variations in cell alumina feeding, including further alumina re-distribution between feed points, and forecast and detect anode bottom problems (“spike”

CORECLUST: identification of the conserved CRM grammar together with prediction of gene regulation

Identification of transcriptional regulatory regions and tracing their internal organization are important for understanding the eukaryotic cell machinery. Cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) of higher eukaryotes are believed to possess a regulatory ‘grammar’, or preferred arrangement of binding sites, that is crucial for proper regulation and thus tends to be evolutionarily conserved. Here, we present a method CORECLUST (COnservative REgulatory CLUster STructure) that predicts CRMs based on a set of positional weight matrices. Given regulatory regions of orthologous and/or co-regulated genes, CORECLUST constructs a CRM model by revealing the conserved rules that describe the relative location of binding sites. The constructed model may be consequently used for the genome-wide prediction of similar CRMs, and thus detection of co-regulated genes, and for the investigation of the regulatory grammar of the system. Compared with related methods, CORECLUST shows better performance at identification of CRMs conferring muscle-specific gene expression in vertebrates and early-developmental CRMs in Drosophila

A population of gamma-ray emitting globular clusters seen with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

Globular clusters with their large populations of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) are believed to be potential emitters of high-energy gamma-ray emission. Our goal is to constrain the millisecond pulsar populations in globular clusters from analysis of gamma-ray observations. We use 546 days of continuous sky-survey observations obtained with the Large Area Telescope aboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope to study the gamma-ray emission towards 13 globular clusters. Steady point-like high-energy gamma-ray emission has been significantly detected towards 8 globular clusters. Five of them (47 Tucanae, Omega Cen, NGC 6388, Terzan 5, and M 28) show hard spectral power indices $(0.7 < \Gamma <1.4)$ and clear evidence for an exponential cut-off in the range 1.0-2.6 GeV, which is the characteristic signature of magnetospheric emission from MSPs. Three of them (M 62, NGC 6440 and NGC 6652) also show hard spectral indices $(1.0 < \Gamma < 1.7)$, however the presence of an exponential cut-off can not be unambiguously established. Three of them (Omega Cen, NGC 6388, NGC 6652) have no known radio or X-ray MSPs yet still exhibit MSP spectral properties. From the observed gamma-ray luminosities, we estimate the total number of MSPs that is expected to be present in these globular clusters. We show that our estimates of the MSP population correlate with the stellar encounter rate and we estimate 2600-4700 MSPs in Galactic globular clusters, commensurate with previous estimates. The observation of high-energy gamma-ray emission from a globular cluster thus provides a reliable independent method to assess their millisecond pulsar populations that can be used to make constraints on the original neutron star X-ray binary population, essential for understanding the importance of binary systems in slowing the inevitable core collapse of globular clusters.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. Corresponding authors: J. Kn\"odlseder, N. Webb, B. Pancraz

Fermi Large Area Telescope Constraints on the Gamma-ray Opacity of the Universe

The Extragalactic Background Light (EBL) includes photons with wavelengths from ultraviolet to infrared, which are effective at attenuating gamma rays with energy above ~10 GeV during propagation from sources at cosmological distances. This results in a redshift- and energy-dependent attenuation of the gamma-ray flux of extragalactic sources such as blazars and Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). The Large Area Telescope onboard Fermi detects a sample of gamma-ray blazars with redshift up to z~3, and GRBs with redshift up to z~4.3. Using photons above 10 GeV collected by Fermi over more than one year of observations for these sources, we investigate the effect of gamma-ray flux attenuation by the EBL. We place upper limits on the gamma-ray opacity of the Universe at various energies and redshifts, and compare this with predictions from well-known EBL models. We find that an EBL intensity in the optical-ultraviolet wavelengths as great as predicted by the "baseline" model of Stecker et al. (2006) can be ruled out with high confidence.Comment: 42 pages, 12 figures, accepted version (24 Aug.2010) for publication in ApJ; Contact authors: A. Bouvier, A. Chen, S. Raino, S. Razzaque, A. Reimer, L.C. Reye

Gamma-ray and radio properties of six pulsars detected by the fermi large area telescope

We report the detection of pulsed γ-rays for PSRs J0631+1036, J0659+1414, J0742-2822, J1420-6048, J1509-5850, and J1718-3825 using the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (formerly known as GLAST). Although these six pulsars are diverse in terms of their spin parameters, they share an important feature: their γ-ray light curves are (at least given the current count statistics) single peaked. For two pulsars, there are hints for a double-peaked structure in the light curves. The shapes of the observed light curves of this group of pulsars are discussed in the light of models for which the emission originates from high up in the magnetosphere. The observed phases of the γ-ray light curves are, in general, consistent with those predicted by high-altitude models, although we speculate that the γ-ray emission of PSR J0659+1414, possibly featuring the softest spectrum of all Fermi pulsars coupled with a very low efficiency, arises from relatively low down in the magnetosphere. High-quality radio polarization data are available showing that all but one have a high degree of linear polarization. This allows us to place some constraints on the viewing geometry and aids the comparison of the γ-ray light curves with high-energy beam models

SUBSTATIONS OF DISTRICT HEATING SYSTEMS WITH PULSE COOLANT CIRCULATION

Abstract. Objectives The aim of the study is to generalise the results of the application of technologies and means for organising pulse coolant flow within a district heating system in order to increase its energy efficiency based on the organisation of local hydraulic shocks and the subsequent use of their energy to ensure the purification of heat energy equipment, intensify the heat transfer process and realise the possibility of transforming the available head from one hydraulic circuit to another. Methods Substations connecting the thermal power installations of consumers with heat networks via dependent and independent schemes are analytically generalised. The use of pulse coolant circulation is proposed as a means of overcoming identified shortcomings. Results Principal schemes of substations with pulse coolant circulation for dependent and independent connection of thermal power installations are detailed. A detailed description of their operation is given. The advantages of using pulse coolant circulation in substations are shown. The materials reflecting the results of the technical implementation and practical introduction of this technology are presented. Conclusion Theoretical analysis of the operation of the basic schemes of substations with pulse coolant circulation and the results of their practical application, as well as the materials of scientific works devoted to the use of the energy of a hydraulic impact and the study of the effect of pulse coolant flow on thermal and hydrodynamic processes, have yielded a combination of factors reflecting technical and economic rationality of application of pulse coolant circulation

Investigation of statistical iterative reconstruction for dedicated breast CT

PURPOSE: Dedicated breast CT has great potential for improving the detection and diagnosis of breast cancer. Statistical iterative reconstruction (SIR) in dedicated breast CT is a promising alternative to traditional filtered backprojection (FBP). One of the difficulties in using SIR is the presence of free parameters in the algorithm that control the appearance of the resulting image. These parameters require tuning in order to achieve high quality reconstructions. In this study, the authors investigated the penalized maximum likelihood (PML) method with two commonly used types of roughness penalty functions: hyperbolic potential and anisotropic total variation (TV) norm. Reconstructed images were compared with images obtained using standard FBP. Optimal parameters for PML with the hyperbolic prior are reported for the task of detecting microcalcifications embedded in breast tissue. METHODS: Computer simulations were used to acquire projections in a half-cone beam geometry. The modeled setup describes a realistic breast CT benchtop system, with an x-ray spectra produced by a point source and an a-Si, CsI:Tl flat-panel detector. A voxelized anthropomorphic breast phantom with 280 mum microcalcification spheres embedded in it was used to model attenuation properties of the uncompressed woman\u27s breast in a pendant position. The reconstruction of 3D images was performed using the separable paraboloidal surrogates algorithm with ordered subsets. Task performance was assessed with the ideal observer detectability index to determine optimal PML parameters. RESULTS: The authors\u27 findings suggest that there is a preferred range of values of the roughness penalty weight and the edge preservation threshold in the penalized objective function with the hyperbolic potential, which resulted in low noise images with high contrast microcalcifications preserved. In terms of numerical observer detectability index, the PML method with optimal parameters yielded substantially improved performance (by a factor of greater than 10) compared to FBP. The hyperbolic prior was also observed to be superior to the TV norm. A few of the best-performing parameter pairs for the PML method also demonstrated superior performance for various radiation doses. In fact, using PML with certain parameter values results in better images, acquired using 2 mGy dose, than FBP-reconstructed images acquired using 6 mGy dose. CONCLUSIONS: A range of optimal free parameters for the PML algorithm with hyperbolic and TV norm-based potentials is presented for the microcalcification detection task, in dedicated breast CT. The reported values can be used as starting values of the free parameters, when SIR techniques are used for image reconstruction. Significant improvement in image quality can be achieved by using PML with optimal combination of parameters, as compared to FBP. Importantly, these results suggest improved detection of microcalcifications can be obtained by using PML with lower radiation dose to the patient, than using FBP with higher dose

Using convolutional neural networks to discriminate between cysts and masses in Monte Carlo-simulated dual-energy mammography

Purpose: A substantial percentage of recalls (up to 20%) in screening mammography is attributed to extended round lesions. Benign fluid-filled breast cysts often appear similar to solid tumors in conventional mammograms. Spectral imaging (dual-energy or photon-counting mammography) has been shown to discriminate between cysts and solid masses with clinically acceptable accuracy. This work explores the feasibility of using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for this task. Methods: A series of Monte Carlo experiments was conducted with digital breast phantoms and embedded synthetic lesions to produce realistic dual-energy images of both lesion types. We considered such factors as nonuniform anthropomorphic background, size of the mass, breast compression thickness, and variability in lesion x-ray attenuation. These data then were used to train a deep neural network (ResNet-18) to learn the differences in x-ray attenuation of cysts and masses. Results: Our simulation results showed that the CNN-based classifier could reliably discriminate between cystic and solid mass round lesions in dual-energy images with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC AUC) of 0.98 or greater. Conclusions: The proposed approach showed promising performance and ease of implementation, and could be applied to novel photon-counting detector-based spectral mammography systems. © 2021 American Association of Physicists in Medicine. This article has been contributed to by US Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.Public domain articleThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Evolution of exon–intron structure and alternative splicing in fruit flies and malarial mosquito genomes

Comparative analysis of alternative splicing of orthologous genes from fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila pseudoobscura) and mosquito (Anopheles gambiae) demonstrated that both in the fruit fly genes and in fruit fly–mosquito comparisons, constitutive exons and splicing sites are more conserved than alternative ones. While >97% of constitutive D. melanogaster exons are conserved in D. pseudoobscura, only ∼80% of alternative exons are conserved. Similarly, 77% of constitutive fruit fly exons are conserved in the mosquito genes, compared with <50% of alternative exons. Internal alternatives are more conserved than terminal ones. Retained introns are the least conserved, alternative acceptor sites are slightly more conserved than donor sites, and mutually exclusive exons are almost as conserved as constitutive exons. Cassette and mutually exclusive exons experience almost no intron insertions. We also observed cases of interconversion of various elementary alternatives, e.g., transformation of cassette exons into alternative sites. These results agree with the observations made earlier in human–mouse comparisons and demonstrate that the phenomenon of relatively low conservation of alternatively spliced regions may be universal, as it has been observed in different taxonomic groups (mammals and insects) and at various evolutionary distances