Explosive Remnants of War: A War after the War?

Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) pose significant humanitarian problems to the civilians as well as to the governments in post conflict situations. People continue to be at risk even after the war due to the presence of ERW. The issue of ERW has in fact shifted the focus of the international community from the immediate impacts of the weapons to their long term effects. In response to this, states concluded a landmark agreement, Protocol V to the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in 2003 (CCW). This Protocol aims at providing a proper mechanism to deal with ERW threat. Meanwhile, with the beginning of the new century and the emergence of newly sophisticated weapons the debate over the ERW got shifted to one of the most menacing category of weapons called cluster munitions. Again, responding to the problem, the state parties adopted the Convention of Cluster Munitions 2003 which bans the use and development of these deadly weapons. Both these instruments suffer from certain inherent limitations. Despite these limitations they still serve as the last resort for the civilians as well as for the governments of the war torn communities in dealing with the catastrophic effects of ERW

Optimal Closed Loop Control of G2V/V2G Action Using Model Predictive Controller

This paper has developed a closed-loop control algorithm to operate the G2V/V2G action, tested under varying battery voltage conditions and load and source power differences. Under V2G action, to maintain total harmonic distortion under minimum level and grid frequency under the standard limit, a Model predictive controller (MPC) has been used to control the gate driver circuit of the inverter. The state space model of the plant has been created using the system identification toolbox, and the MPC Controller block has been designed using the Model Predictive Control Toolbox of MATLAB. The proposed methodology is tested using MATLAB/Simulink and OPAL-RT (OP4510) in a real-time environment. This methodology reduces %THD to less than 0.5%, improves waveform quality of grid voltage, inverter output voltage, grid current, and inverter output current to nearly 99%, and maintains the grid frequency in standard limit while in G2V/V2G action

Pulsed generator incorporating output waveform flexibility and a pulsed transformer

A single phase, multipole alternator with inertial and/or electromagnetic energy storage is disclosed. More specifically, the present invention involves a high energy pulsed alternator which is capable of generating a variety of pulse signals by ready modification of the angle between the magnetic axes of the excitation field coil and the compensating coil or conducting shield.Board of Regents, University of Texas Syste

High energy pulse forming generator

A machine is disclosed having the ability to generate high energy pulses of electrical power with a high degree of flexibility in the shape of the pulse. Different mechanism provide non-uniform or non-symmetrical magnetic flux density distributions through which an armature winding is rotated. The electromotive force induced in the armature winding has a waveform which may be customized by use of the different mechanisms or by a combination of the techniques. Additionally, a non-symmetrical armature winding or a compensation winding may be used to tailor the output pulse to achieve the desired characteristics.Board of Regents, University of Texas Syste

Fault Detection and Classification using Wavelet and ANN in DFIG and TCSC Connected Transmission Line

This paper presents fault detection and classification using Wavelet and ANN based methods in a DFIG-based series compensated system. The state-of-the art methods include Wavelet transform, Fourier transform, and Wavelet-neuro fuzzy methods-based system for fault detection and classification. However, the accuracy of these state-of-the-art methods diminishes during variable conditions such as changes in wind speed, high impedance faults, and the changes in the series compensation level. Specifically, in Wavelet transform based methods, the threshold values need to be adapted based on the variable field conditions. To solve this problem, this paper has proposed a Wavelet-ANN based fault detection method where Wavelet is used as an identifier and ANN is used as a classifier for detecting various fault cases. This methodology is also effective under SSR condition. The proposed methodology is evaluated on various fault and non-fault cases generated on an IEEE first benchmark model under varying compensation levels from 20% to 55%, impedance faults, and wind velocity from 6m/sec to 10m/sec using MATLAB/Simulink, OPALRT(OP4510) manufactured real-time digital simulator environment, Arduino board I/O ports communicating with external PC in which ANN model dumped, using Arduino support package of MATLAB. The preliminary results are compared with the state-of-the-art fault detection method, where the proposed method shows robust performance under varying field conditions

Comparative study of functional outcome of distal one-third shaft tibia fractures treated with tip locking tibia nailing versus precontoured anatomical locking plate

Background: The distal 1/3rd shaft tibia extra-articular fractures are treated with both tip locking intra-medullary nailing (TLIMN) and precontoured anatomical locking plates (PCALP). The aim of this study was to compare the results of TLIMN and PCALP in distal tibia fractures and to determine dominant strategies. The complications and functional outcome in both groups were compared. Methods: Forty patients with distal 1/3rd shaft tibia were randomly assigned to TLIMN (group 1) and PCALP group (group 2). The functional outcomes were evaluated using American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score. Complications like infection, delayed union, non-union, malunion, hardware prominence and secondary interventions were compared. Results: The average union time was 15.05±3.33 weeks in group 1 and 13.4±2.46 weeks in group 2 (p=0.045). The mean AOFAS score at 1 year follow up was 89.8±6.13 in group 1 and 89.1±6.15 in group 2 (p=0.262). Five patients in group 1 and one in group 2 had mal-alignment. Deep infection was present in one and superficial infection was present in two cases in group 2. Four patients in group 1 developed anterior knee pain and five patients in group 2 had hardware prominence. Conclusions: We conclude that tip locking intra-medullary nail is a reliable and satisfactory method for treatment of fractures of distal 1/3rd shaft tibia AO type 42A, 42B and 42C fractures with good functional outcomes and high union rates with comparatively low complications. Prevalence of malunion was higher in TLIMN group and hardware prominence was more prevalent in PCALP group. Implant removal are more in PCALP group mostly due to implant irritation

Next-gen sequencing of multi-drug resistant Acinetobacter baumanii at Nashville General Hospital at Meharry

Background Acinetobacter baumannii is a nonfermentative Gram-negative bacillus, which easily acquires antibiotic resistance determinants and causes life-threatening nosocomial infections [1]. Multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains are common therefore, empirical treatment choices are limited. More knowledge is needed regarding genetic diversity patterns and resistance phenotypes in a given clinical setting. Our goal is to identify the resistance genotypes of A. baumanii at Nashville General Hospital and correlate them with MDR phenotypes [1]

Downregulation of APOBEC3G by xenotropic murine leukemia-virus related virus (XMRV) in prostate cancer cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Xenotropic murine leukemia virus (MLV)-related virus (XMRV) is a gammaretrovirus that was discovered in prostate cancer tissues. Recently, it has been proposed that XMRV is a laboratory contaminant and may have originated via a rare recombination event. Host restriction factor APOBEC3G (A3G) has been reported to severely restrict XMRV replication in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Interestingly, XMRV infects and replicates efficiently in prostate cancer cells of epithelial origin. It has been proposed that due to lack off or very low levels of A3G protein XMRV is able to productively replicate in these cells.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>This report builds on and challenges the published data on the absence of A3G protein in prostate epithelial cells lines. We demonstrate the presence of A3G in prostate epithelial cell lines (LNCaP and DU145) by western blot and mass spectrometry. We believe the discrepancy in A3G detection is may be due to selection and sensitivity of A3G antibodies employed in the prior studies. Our results also indicate that XMRV produced from A3G expressing LNCaP cells can infect and replicate in target cells. Most importantly our data reveal downregulation of A3G in XMRV infected LNCaP and DU145 cells.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We propose that XMRV replicates efficiently in prostate epithelial cells by downregulating A3G expression. Given that XMRV lacks accessory proteins such as HIV-1 Vif that are known to counteract A3G function in human cells, our data suggest a novel mechanism by which retroviruses can counteract the antiviral effects of A3G proteins.</p

Heat Transfer and Friction Factor Correlations Development for Double Pass Solar Air Heater Artificially Roughened With Perforated Multi-V Ribs

Thermo-hydraulic performance of a Double Pass Parallel Flow Solar Air Heater (DPPFSAH) roughened with perforated multi-V ribs has been studied experimentally in a prior study and the effect of variation in open area ratio and change in relative roughness width has been analysed and reported. The current work builds upon the aforementioned earlier study by discussing in detail the methodology and various steps involved in the development of a correlation for variable parameters with Nusselt number and friction factor for DPPFSAH. The outcomes show that perforations in the multi-V ribs lead to a considerable rise in the Nusselt number, a 9.66 times increase in the thermo-hydraulic performance parameter and nearly a four times increase in friction factor compared to multi-V ribs with smoothed walls. Empirical correlations for the Nusselt number and friction factor were obtained for the double pass parallel flow solar air heater with perforated multi-V ribs established with ±14% and ±7%