Direct Power Control By Using Matrix Converter Based UPFC

This paper describes direct power control (DPC) by using Matrix converter based Unified power flow controller (UPFC). The basic problems of UPFC’s are discussed, however this paper proposes an alternative solution for direct power control using a direct ac-ac converter called a matrix converter. The pulse width modulation control technique developed and presented in this paper is based on space vector approach. This paper presents the complete space vector model of a three phase to three phase matrix converter topology. Theoretical principles of direct power control (DPC) based on sliding mode control techniques are established for a matrix converter based UPFC dynamic model including the input filter. Matrix converters (MCs) allow the direct ac-ac power conversion without dc energy storage links, matrix converter is a bidirectional power flow converter that uses semi converter switches arranged in the form of matrix array. Therefore, the matrix converter based unified power flow controller (MC-UPFC) has reduced cost, capacitor power losses and volume with higher reliability By selecting an appropriate matrix converter switching state, line active and reactive power, together with ac supply reactive power, can be directly controlled, and guaranteeing good steady-state and dynamic responses. The line active and reactive power linear controllers based on a modified Venturini high-frequency PWM modulator compared with direct power controller (DPC) by using MC-UPFC; guarantee faster responses without overshoot , presenting no cross-coupling in dynamic and steady-state responses and no steady state error. Experimental results of direct power controllers for MC based UPFC shows decoupled active and reactive power control and fast response times

AN LC- MS/MS METHOD FOR THE DETERMINATION OF OMEPRAZOLE ON PROTON PUMP INHIBITOR IN HUMAN PLASMA

A sensitive and selective liquid chromatographic method coupled with tandem mass spectroscopy (LC-MS/MS) was developed for the quantification of omeprazole in human plasma. Lansoprazole was used as internal standard with plasma samples, extracted using 10mM ammonium acetate. A centrifuged upper layer was then evaporated and reconstituted with Acetonitrile: mobile phase buffer 70:30%v/v. The reconstructed samples were injected into a C18 column purospher star 5µ. The mobile phase was composed of ACN: mobile phase buffer (5mm ammonium bicarbonate buffer) in the ratio of 70:30%v/v with flow rate 1.0mL/min. The mass spectrometer was operated using positive ion mode and turbo electro spray ionisation. Nitrogen was used as the nebulizer, curtain, collision and auxiliary gases. Using MS/MS with multiple reactions monitoring (MRM) mode, omeprazole was detected without severe interferences from plasma matrix. Detection of omeprazole in human plasma was accurate and precision. This method has been successfully applied to the study of omeprazole in human specimensKeywords: Proton pump inhibitor, omeprazole, lansoprazole, LC-MS/MS, liquid liquid  extractio

DC-DC Energy Conversion with Novel loaded Resonant Converter

This paper presents the direct current (dc)-to-dc energy conversion with novel loaded-resonant converter. Energy shortages and increasing oil prices have created the demand for a high energy conversion efficiency and performance. The growing electronic product market has increased the demand for high energy conversion efficiency and high power density of dc-to-dc energy power converters. The soft switching scheme is the most attractive dc-to-dc energy conversion topology in recent years. The soft-switching method can reduce switching losses and EMI of the switch-mode converter. Among the many advantages that resonant power conversion has over conventionally adopted pulse-width modulation include a low electromagnetic interference, low switching losses, small volume, and light weight of components due to a high switching frequency, high efficiency, and low reverse recovery losses in diodes owing to a low di/dt at switching instant. The proposed topology comprises a half-bridge inductor-capacitor inductor (L-C-L) resonant inverter and a bridge rectifier. Output stage of the proposed loaded-resonant converter is filtered by a low-pass filter. A prototype dc-to-dc energy converter circuit with the novel loaded-resonant converter designed for a load is developed and tested to verify its analytical predictions. The measured energy conversion efficiency of the proposed novel loaded-resonant topology reaches up to 88.3%. Moreover, test results demonstrate a satisfactory performance of the proposed topology. Furthermore, the proposed topology is highly promising for applications of switching power supplies, battery chargers, uninterruptible power systems, renewable energy generation systems, and telecom power supplies. The experimental results are clearly verified by simulation results

The Radio - X-ray relation as a star formation indicator: Results from the VLA--E-CDFS Survey

In order to trace the instantaneous star formation rate at high redshift, and hence help understanding the relation between the different emission mechanisms related to star formation, we combine the recent 4 Ms Chandra X-ray data and the deep VLA radio data in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South region. We find 268 sources detected both in the X-ray and radio band. The availability of redshifts for $\sim 95$ of the sources in our sample allows us to derive reliable luminosity estimates and the intrinsic properties from X-ray analysis for the majority of the objects. With the aim of selecting sources powered by star formation in both bands, we adopt classification criteria based on X-ray and radio data, exploiting the X-ray spectral features and time variability, taking advantage of observations scattered across more than ten years. We identify 43 objects consistent with being powered by star formation. We also add another 111 and 70 star forming candidates detected only in the radio or X-ray band, respectively. We find a clear linear correlation between radio and X-ray luminosity in star forming galaxies over three orders of magnitude and up to $z \sim 1.5$. We also measure a significant scatter of the order of 0.4 dex, higher than that observed at low redshift, implying an intrinsic scatter component. The correlation is consistent with that measured locally, and no evolution with redshift is observed. Using a locally calibrated relation between the SFR and the radio luminosity, we investigate the L_X(2-10keV)-SFR relation at high redshift. The comparison of the star formation rate measured in our sample with some theoretical models for the Milky Way and M31, two typical spiral galaxies, indicates that, with current data, we can trace typical spirals only at z<0.2, and strong starburst galaxies with star-formation rates as high as $\sim 100 M_\odot yr^{-1}$, up to $z\sim 1.5$.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures, 5 table

Properties of z∼3−6z\sim3-6 Lyman Break Galaxies. II. Impact of nebular emission at high redshift

We present a homogeneous, detailed analysis of the spectral energy distribution (SED) of $\sim$ 1700 LBGs from the GOODS-MUSIC catalogue with deep multi-wavelength photometry from $U$ band to 8 $\mu$m to determine stellar mass, age, dust attenuation, and star formation rate. Using our SED fitting tool, which takes into account nebular emission, we explore a wide parameter space. We also explore a set of different star formation histories. Nebular emission is found to significantly affect the determination of the physical parameters for the majority of $z \sim$ 3--6 LBGs. We identify two populations of galaxies by determining the importance of the contribution of emission lines to broadband fluxes. We find that $\sim$ $65\%$ of LBGs show detectable signs of emission lines, whereas $\sim$ $35\%$ show weak or no emission lines. This distribution is found over the entire redshift range. We interpret these groups as actively star forming and more quiescent LBGs, respectively. We find that it is necessary to considerer SED fits with very young ages ($<50$ Myr) to reproduce some colours affected by strong emission lines. Other arguments favouring episodic star formation and relatively short star formation timescales are also discussed. Considering nebular emission generally leads to a younger age, lower stellar mass, higher dust attenuation, higher star formation rate, and a large scatter in the SFR-$M_{\star}$ relation. Our analysis yields a trend of increasing specific star formation rate with redshift, as predicted by recent galaxy evolution models. The physical parameters of approximately two thirds of high redshift galaxies are significantly modified when we account for nebular emission. The SED models which include nebular emission shed new light on the properties of LBGs with numerous important implications.Comment: 33 pages, 30 figures, 5 tables, extended version addressing referee comments, conclusions unchanged, accepted for publication in A&A, in pres

A spectroscopic measure of the star-formation rate density in dwarf galaxies at z~1

We use a K-selected (22.5 < K_AB < 24.0) sample of dwarf galaxies (8.4 < log(M*/Msun) < 10) at 0.89<z<1.15 in the Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS) to measure their contribution to the global star-formation rate density (SFRD), as inferred from their [OII] flux. By comparing with [OII]-based studies of higher stellar mass galaxies, we robustly measure a turnover in the [OII] luminosity density at a stellar mass of M~10^10 Msun. By comparison with the [OII]-based SFRD measured from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey we confirm that, while the SFRD of the lowest-mass galaxies changes very little with time, the SFRD of more massive galaxies evolves strongly, such that they dominate the SFRD at z = 1.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters. 6 pages, 2 figure

Formation and physicochemical properties of crystalline and amorphous salts with different stoichiometries formed between ciprofloxacin and succinic acid

YesMulti-ionizable compounds, such as dicarboxylic acids, offer the possibility of forming salts of drugs with multiple stoichiometries. Attempts to crystallize ciprofloxacin, a poorly water-soluble, amphoteric molecule with succinic acid (S) resulted in isolation of ciprofloxacin hemisuccinate (1:1) trihydrate (CHS-I) and ciprofloxacin succinate (2:1) tetrahydrate (CS-I). Anhydrous ciprofloxacin hemisuccinate (CHS-II) and anhydrous ciprofloxacin succinate (CS-II) were also obtained. It was also possible to obtain stoichiometrically equivalent amorphous salt forms, CHS-III and CS-III, by spray drying and milling, respectively, of the drug and acid. Anhydrous CHS and CS had melting points at ∼215 and ∼228 °C, while the glass transition temperatures of CHS-III and CS-III were ∼101 and ∼79 °C, respectively. Dynamic solubility studies revealed the metastable nature of CS-I in aqueous media, resulting in a transformation of CS-I to a mix of CHS-I and ciprofloxacin 1:3.7 hydrate, consistent with the phase diagram. CS-III was observed to dissolve noncongruently leading to high and sustainable drug solution concentrations in water at 25 and 37 °C, with the ciprofloxacin concentration of 58.8 ± 1.18 mg/mL after 1 h of the experiment at 37 °C. This work shows that crystalline salts with multiple stoichiometries and amorphous salts have diverse pharmaceutically relevant properties, including molecular, solid state, and solubility characteristics.Solid State Pharmaceutical Cluster (SSPC), supported by Science Foundation Ireland under grant number 07/SRC/ B1158

Huntington's disease and its therapeutic target genes: a global functional profile based on the HD Research Crossroads database.

BACKGROUND: Huntington's disease (HD) is a fatal progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by the expansion of the polyglutamine repeat region in the huntingtin gene. Although the disease is triggered by the mutation of a single gene, intensive research has linked numerous other genes to its pathogenesis. To obtain a systematic overview of these genes, which may serve as therapeutic targets, CHDI Foundation has recently established the HD Research Crossroads database. With currently over 800 cataloged genes, this web-based resource constitutes the most extensive curation of genes relevant to HD. It provides us with an unprecedented opportunity to survey molecular mechanisms involved in HD in a holistic manner. METHODS: To gain a synoptic view of therapeutic targets for HD, we have carried out a variety of bioinformatical and statistical analyses to scrutinize the functional association of genes curated in the HD Research Crossroads database. In particular, enrichment analyses were performed with respect to Gene Ontology categories, KEGG signaling pathways, and Pfam protein families. For selected processes, we also analyzed differential expression, using published microarray data. Additionally, we generated a candidate set of novel genetic modifiers of HD by combining information from the HD Research Crossroads database with previous genome-wide linkage studies. RESULTS: Our analyses led to a comprehensive identification of molecular mechanisms associated with HD. Remarkably, we not only recovered processes and pathways, which have frequently been linked to HD (such as cytotoxicity, apoptosis, and calcium signaling), but also found strong indications for other potentially disease-relevant mechanisms that have been less intensively studied in the context of HD (such as the cell cycle and RNA splicing, as well as Wnt and ErbB signaling). For follow-up studies, we provide a regularly updated compendium of molecular mechanism, that are associated with HD, at http://hdtt.sysbiolab.eu Additionally, we derived a candidate set of 24 novel genetic modifiers, including histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3), metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 (GRM1), CDK5 regulatory subunit 2 (CDK5R2), and coactivator 1ß of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARGC1B). CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study give us an intriguing picture of the molecular complexity of HD. Our analyses can be seen as a first step towards a comprehensive list of biological processes, molecular functions, and pathways involved in HD, and may provide a basis for the development of more holistic disease models and new therapeutics

Effect of sitagliptin on cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND: Data are lacking on the long-term effect on cardiovascular events of adding sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor, to usual care in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. METHODS: In this randomized, double-blind study, we assigned 14,671 patients to add either sitagliptin or placebo to their existing therapy. Open-label use of antihyperglycemic therapy was encouraged as required, aimed at reaching individually appropriate glycemic targets in all patients. To determine whether sitagliptin was noninferior to placebo, we used a relative risk of 1.3 as the marginal upper boundary. The primary cardiovascular outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for unstable angina. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 3.0 years, there was a small difference in glycated hemoglobin levels (least-squares mean difference for sitagliptin vs. placebo, -0.29 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.32 to -0.27). Overall, the primary outcome occurred in 839 patients in the sitagliptin group (11.4%; 4.06 per 100 person-years) and 851 patients in the placebo group (11.6%; 4.17 per 100 person-years). Sitagliptin was noninferior to placebo for the primary composite cardiovascular outcome (hazard ratio, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.88 to 1.09; P<0.001). Rates of hospitalization for heart failure did not differ between the two groups (hazard ratio, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.20; P = 0.98). There were no significant between-group differences in rates of acute pancreatitis (P = 0.07) or pancreatic cancer (P = 0.32). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease, adding sitagliptin to usual care did not appear to increase the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, hospitalization for heart failure, or other adverse events