Why not Merge the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank)

Motivation: Cellular Electron CryoTomography (CECT) is an emerging 3D imaging technique that visualizes subcellular organization of single cells at sub-molecular resolution and in near-native state. CECT captures large numbers of macromolecular complexes of highly diverse structures and abundances. However, the structural complexity and imaging limits complicate the systematic de novo structural recovery and recognition of these macromolecular complexes. Efficient and accurate reference-free subtomogram averaging and classification represent the most critical tasks for such analysis. Existing subtomogram alignment based methods are prone to the missing wedge effects and low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Moreover, existing maximum-likelihood based methods rely on integration operations, which are in principle computationally infeasible for accurate calculation. Results: Built on existing works, we propose an integrated method, Fast Alignment Maximum Likelihood method (FAML), which uses fast subtomogram alignment to sample sub-optimal rigid transformations. The transformations are then used to approximate integrals for maximum-likelihood update of subtomogram averages through expectation-maximization algorithm. Our tests on simulated and experimental subtomograms showed that, compared to our previously developed fast alignment method (FA), FAML is significantly more robust to noise and missing wedge effects with moderate increases of computation cost. Besides, FAML performs well with significantly fewer input subtomograms when the FA method fails. Therefore, FAML can serve as a key component for improved construction of initial structuralmodels frommacromolecules captured by CECT

Universal Droop Control of Inverters With Different Types of Output Impedance

Droop control is a well-known strategy for the parallel operation of inverters. However, the droop control strategy changes its form for inverters with different types of output impedance, and so far, it is impossible to operate inverters with inductive and capacitive output impedances in parallel. In this paper, it is shown that there exists a universal droop control principle for inverters with output impedance having a phase angle between -(π/2) rad and (π/2) rad. It takes the form of the droop control for inverters with resistive output impedance (R-inverters). Hence, the robust droop controller recently proposed in the literature for R-inverters actually provides one way to implement such a universal droop controller that can be applied to all practical inverters without the need of knowing the impedance angle. The small-signal stability of an inverter equipped with the universal droop controller is analyzed, and it is shown to be stable when the phase angle of the output impedance changes from -(π/2) rad to (π/2) rad. Both real-time simulation results and experimental results from a test rig consisting of an R-inverter, an L-inverter, and a C-inverter operated in parallel are presented to validate the proposed strategy

Single-mode lasing based on PT-breaking of two-dimensional photonic higher-order topological insulator

Topological lasers are a new class of lasers that seek to exploit the special properties of topological states of light. A typical limiting factor in their performance is the existence of non-topological states with quality factors comparable to the desired topological states. We show theoretically that by distributing uniform gain and loss on two sublattices of a two-dimensional higher-order topological insulator (HOTI) lattice, single-mode lasing based on topological corner states can be sustained over a wide range of pump strengths. This behavior stems from the parity/time-reversal breaking of the topological corner states, which supplies them with more effective gain than the edge and bulk states, rather than through localized pumping of the domain corners. These results point to opportunities for exploiting non-Hermitian phenomena and designing compact high performance topological lasers

Self-Synchronized Universal Droop Controller

In this paper, a self-synchronization mechanism is embedded into the universal droop controller (UDC), which is applicable to inverters having an impedance angle between −π/2 rad and π/2 rad, to form a self-synchronized UDC (SUDC). Both the voltage loop and the frequency loop of the UDC are modified to facilitate the standalone and grid-connected operation of inverters. Importantly, the dedicated phase-locked-loop that is often needed for grid-connected or parallel-operated converters is removed. The inverter is able to achieve synchronization before and after connection without the need of a dedicated synchronization unit. Since the original structure of the UDC is kept in the SUDC, the properties of the UDC, such as accurate power sharing and tight output voltage regulation, are well maintained. Extensive experimental results are presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed SUDC for a gridconnected single-phase inverter

Enhanced low C/N nitrogen removal in an innovative microbial fuel cell (MFC) with electroconductivity aerated membrane (EAM) as biocathode

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. A novel microbial fuel cell (MFC) was developed to enhance simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) by employing electrons from the anode. The cathode chamber of the reactor consisted of a membrane aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) which was made of an electroconductivity aerated membrane. The maximum power density of 4.20 ± 0.12 W m−3was obtained at a current density of 4.10 ± 0.11 A m−2(external resistance = 10 Ω). Compared with an open-circuit system, the removal rates of NH4+-N and TN were improved by 9.48 ± 0.33% and 19.80 ± 0.84%, respectively, which could be ascribed to the electrochemical denitrification. The anode (chemical oxygen demand, COD) and cathode (NO3−) chambers reached the maximum coulombic efficiencies (CEs) of 40.67 ± 1.05% and 42.84 ± 1.14%, respectively. It suggested that the electroconductivity MABR has some advantages in controlling aeration intensity, thus improving SND and CEs. Overall, EAM-MFC could successfully generate electricity from wastewater whilst showing high capacity for removing nitrogen at a low COD/N ratio of 2.8 ± 0.07 g COD g−1N

A piloted prevention program on drug abuse in adolescents in Hong Kong

2004-2005 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Lanthanum distribution and dielectric properties of intergrowth Bi₅ˍₓLaₓTiNbWO₁₅ ferroelectrics

Bi₅ˍₓLaₓTiNbWO₁₅ (x=0–1.50)ceramics prepared by conventional solid-state reaction were studied using x-ray diffraction(XRD),dielectric spectroscopy and Raman scattering techniques. The XRD analysis implied that single-phase intergrowth bismuth layered perovskite structure was obtained for all the samples and when x=0.75, the Bi³⁺ in (Bi₂O₂)²⁺ layer begins to be substituted by La³⁺. The dielectric spectra showed that, when Bi³⁺ in (Bi₂O₂)²⁺ is substituted, the Curie temperature becomes diffusive and the dielectricpermittivity at room temperature is increased in a wide frequency range. Especially when x=1.50, the dielectricpermittivity reaches its maximum of 270, nearly two times larger than that of the La3+ undoped sample. The Raman scattering experiments evidenced further that Bi³⁺ in (Bi₂O₂)²⁺ is substituted when x⩾0.75 and revealed the orthorhombic distortion of the octahedra is responsible for the increase of the dielectricpermittivity at x⩾1.25.This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China through 973-Project under Grant No. 2002CB613307