Nitric oxide and iron signaling cues have opposing effects on biofilm development in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

© 2019 American Society for Microbiology. While both iron and nitric oxide (NO) are redox-active environmental signals shown to regulate biofilm development, their interaction and roles in regulating biofilms have not been fully elucidated. In this study, exposure of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms to exogenous NO inhibited the expression of iron acquisition-related genes and the production of the siderophore pyoverdine. Furthermore, supplementation of the culture medium with high levels of iron (100μM) counteracted NO-induced biofilm dispersal by promoting the rapid attachment of planktonic cells. In the presence of iron, biofilms were found to disperse transiently to NO, while the freshly dispersed cells reattached rapidly within 15 min. This effect was not due to the scavenging of NO by free iron but involved a cellular response induced by iron that led to the elevated production of the exopolysaccharide Psl. Interestingly, most Psl remained on the substratum after treatment with NO, suggesting that dispersal involved changes in the interactions between Psl and P. aeruginosa cells. Taken together, our results suggest that iron and NO regulate biofilm development via different pathways, both of which include the regulation of Psl-mediated attachment. Moreover, the addition of an iron chelator worked synergistically with NO in the dispersal of biofilms

Model Predictive Observer Based Control for Single-Phase Asymmetrical T-Type AC/DC Power Converter

© 1972-2012 IEEE. This paper presents a robust control strategy for the control of single-phase five-level asymmetrical T-type ac/dc power converter. A cascaded control scheme consisting of a finite control set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) with an extended state observer (ESO) is proposed to govern the converter. In this scheme, a proportional integral (PI) controller combined with an ESO-based disturbance observer is employed as an external control loop. This control loop dynamically modifies the active power reference to realize the desired operating point of the system state (converter output voltage). The proposed control system presents a high degree of disturbance rejection capability and robustness against the external disturbances to the converter, whereas the conventional PI control performance suffers in the presence of these disturbances. In this paper, the inner current tracking loop is accomplished by an FCS-MPC algorithm. This algorithm is derived to force the input currents to track the reference values while realizing a user-defined reactive power and maintaining balanced voltages in the series-connected capacitors. Theoretical analysis and the design procedure of the proposed control system are presented. Finally, experimental studies are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme

Model predictive control applied to a single phase seven-level active rectifier

© 2017 IEEE. This paper presents an improved single phase seven-level active rectifier architecture controlled by finite control set model predictive control (FCS-MPC). The FCS-MPC is designed to enable power conversion with a unity power factor and generate seven level voltage waveform at the input. The proposed active rectifier architecture reduces harmonic contents of the rectifier input current by producing different voltage levels at the rectifier input. Owing to the architecture and multilevel operation, it reduces the EMI filter size, input current harmonic, the voltage rating on devices and switching losses that are lower than those of conventional three-level rectifier topologies. The proposed converter can also be operated as a multilevel inverter. Extensive simulation results are presented to verify the proposed converter when the load changes, the reference active and reactive power changes

A high efficiency transformerless PV grid- Connected inverter with leakage current suppression

© 2016 IEEE. This paper presents a new diode free freewheeling and common-mode voltage (CMV) clamping branches for single phase transformerless grid connected photovoltaic (PV) inverter for complete leakage current elimination and low conduction losses. In the past, various isolation techniques have been proposed for leakage current elimination in transformerless PV inverters. However, galvanic isolation only cannot completely eliminate leakage current due to that a resonant path is created by the switch junction capacitors, which also generate leakage current. The proposed freewheeling branch consists of four MOSFETs along with a clamping branch, which consists of two MOSFETs and a capacitor divider. The divider is connected to the DC side of the converter to keep constant CMV in the freewheeling path. As a result, the improved CMV clamping has been achieved for complete leakage current elimination. The unipolar sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) technique and modified HERIC topology with AC-decoupling for galvanic isolation is adopted for lower conduction losses. The proposed topology consists of only MOSFET in the freewheeling and clamping path which provides lower conduction losses compared with diode based topologies. The performances of the proposed topology in terms of common mode characteristics, leakage current, total harmonic distortion and conversion efficiency are analyzed and compared with H5, H6, HERIC and HBZBR topologies. The detail analyses are performed using MATLAB/Simulink and PSIM

A New Isolated Multi-Port Converter With Multi-Directional Power Flow Capabilities for Smart Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

© 2018 IEEE. If the batteries are charged by clean renewable energy sources, electric vehicles (EVs) can have zero gas emission, contributing greatly toward the preservation of the green environment. In a smart micro-grid, EVs together with other distributed energy storage units can be used to supply electricity to the loads during the peak hours so as to minimize the effects of the load shedding and improve the quality of electricity. To achieve these goals, an isolated hybrid multi-port converter is required to control the power flows and balance the energy among renewable energy sources, EVs, and the grid. In this paper, a new isolated multi-port converter is proposed, which can control the power flow in multiple directions. The converter is modeled in the matlab/Simulink software environment and this validates the technology with a laboratory prototype test platform. The modeling, implementation, and results are discussed comprehensively

An Amorphous Alloy Magnetic-Bus-Based SiC NPC Converter with Inherent Voltage Balancing for Grid-Connected Renewable Energy Systems

© 2002-2011 IEEE. This paper presents an amorphous alloy magnetic-bus-based neutral point clamped (NPC) converter for grid-connected renewable generation systems. In the proposed system, the amorphous alloy high-frequency high-power density multi-winding magnetic bus generates balanced dc supplies for the five-level (5L) NPC converter for high-quality power conversion. Compared to the traditional NPC converter topologies, the proposed magnetic-bus-based architecture does not require any control circuit for voltage balancing of the series connected capacitors. The magnetic bus inherently overcomes galvanic isolation issues and may reduce the size of the boosting inductor. In this paper, a finite control set model predictive control algorithm is derived to control the grid-connected 5L-NPC inverter for multilevel voltage synthesizing, while achieving the user-defined active and reactive power values. To verify the proposed concept, a simulation model is developed and analyzed in MATLAB/Simulink environment. To validate the technology, a scale d-down prototype test platform is developed in the laboratory with silicon carbide switching devices, which achieves high blocking voltage, low power dissipation, high switching frequency, and high-Temperature operation. Based on the simulation and the experimental results, it is expected that the proposed converter will have a great potential for widespread application in renewable generation systems including superconducting generator-based wind turbines

A Least Mean Square Algorithm Based Single-Phase Grid Voltage Parameters Estimation Method

© 2019 IEEE. Grid-synchronization may be the most significant task in order to integrate renewable energy sources (RESs) and electric vehicles (EVs) into the power grid. The popular technique for grid synchronization is the power based phase locked loop (PLL). The major challenges that one encounters to design a robust power based PLL is the filter design inside the power based PLL control loop, and estimating the grid voltage parameters under frequency drift conditions. A wide bandwidth should be considered during filter design if a wide range of frequency variations are predicted in the grid voltage. The traditional filters cause a large phase delay if a wide bandwidth is considered during filter design. As a result, it degrades the transient performance of the power based PLL. In order to improve the transient performance of the PLL, this paper adopted a Fourier linear combiner (FLC) filter inside the PLL control loop. Moreover, a feedback loop is used to make the FLC frequency adaptive in order to estimate the grid voltage parameter when grid frequency drift occurs. Simulation and experimental results are provided to verify the proposed technique

Semi-local quantum liquids

Gauge/gravity duality applied to strongly interacting systems at finite density predicts a universal intermediate energy phase to which we refer as a semi-local quantum liquid. Such a phase is characterized by a finite spatial correlation length, but an infinite correlation time and associated nontrivial scaling behavior in the time direction, as well as a nonzero entropy density. For a holographic system at a nonzero chemical potential, this unstable phase sets in at an energy scale of order of the chemical potential, and orders at lower energies into other phases; examples include superconductors and antiferromagnetic-type states. In this paper we give examples in which it also orders into Fermi liquids of "heavy" fermions. While the precise nature of the lower energy state depends on the specific dynamics of the individual system, we argue that the semi-local quantum liquid emerges universally at intermediate energies through deconfinement (or equivalently fractionalization). We also discuss the possible relevance of such a semi-local quantum liquid to heavy electron systems and the strange metal phase of high temperature cuprate superconductors.Comment: 31 pages, 7 figure

Integrating the interpersonal theory of suicide into the relations between cyber-victimization and suicidality among adolescents:A short-term prospective study

The relation between cyber-victimization and suicidality among adolescents has been well documented; however, the mechanisms underlying this association have not been well investigated. Drawing upon the interpersonal theory of suicide, this study aimed to examine the mediating mechanisms (i.e., thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness) underlying longitudinal, bidirectional relations between cyber-victimization and suicidal ideation/attempts among adolescents and explore gender differences in the mechanisms. Participants were 497 Chinese adolescents (46.1 Mage = 13.28, SD = .66), who completed the assessment of cyber-victimization, thwarted belongingness, and perceived burdensomeness, suicidal ideation/attempts at three-time points. The time interval between each two assessments is two weeks. Results showed the reciprocal relations between cyber-victimization and thwarted belongingness/perceived burdensomeness, between thwarted belongingness and suicidal ideation/suicide attempts, and between perceived burdensomeness and suicide attempts. Longitudinal mediation analyses indicated that Time 2 thwarted belongingness mediated the relation between Time 1 cyber-victimization and Time 3 suicidal ideation/suicide attempts. Besides, the reverse pathway from Time 1 suicidal ideation to Time 3 cyber-victimization was also mediated by Time 2 thwarted belongingness, but it was only significant in females, as suggested by multiple-group analyses. According to the aforementioned results, the interpersonal theory of suicide provides a useful framework for understanding relations between cyber-victimization and suicidality. Findings suggest that intervention targeted at improving the need to belong may help reduce suicide risk and lower cyber-victimization. Anti-cyber-victimization should be integrated into suicide intervention and prevention programs, and gender differences should be taken into account in order to enhance the program’s effectiveness