Test Platform Development of Vessel???s Power Management System Using Hardware- in-the-Loop-Simulation Technique

A PMS (Power Management System) controls vessel's power systems to improve the system efficiency and to protect a blackout condition. The PMS should be developed with considering the type and the capacity of the vessel???s power system. It is necessary to test the PMS functions developed for vessel???s safe operations under various sailing situations. Therefore, the function tests in cooperation with practical power systems are required in the PMS development. In this paper, a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulator is developed for the purposes of the PMS function tests. The HIL simulator can be more cost-effective, more time-saved, easier to reproduce, and safer beyond the normal operating range than conventional off-line simulators, especially at early stages in development processes or during fault tests. Vessel's power system model is developed by using a MATLAB/SIMULINK software and by communicating between an OPAL-RT???s OP5600 simulator. The PMS uses a Modbus communication protocol implemented using LabVIEW software. Representative tests of the PMS functions are performed to verify the validity of the proposed HIL-based test platform

Severe mitral regurgitation in a young female with pansinusitis and bronchiectasis

SummaryPrimary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a disease characterized by symptoms of upper and lower respiratory tract infections due to abnormal structure and function of cilia.Cardiac involvement is characterized by situs inversus (Kartagener's syndrome in PCD) and other congenital cardiovascular abnormalities. We describe a 34-year-old female with a history of recurrent sinusitis and bronchiectasis but without situs inversus or other congenital cardiac anomalies in whom an association between mitral regurgitation secondary to myxoid degeneration and primary ciliary dyskinesia was suggested

Vulnerability Assessment On Water Management For Climate Change Adaptation : Case Study To Gochang County In South Korea

Currently, 1.6 billion people live in countries and regions with absolute water scarcity and the number is expected to rise to 2.8 billion people by 2025(World Bank). Climate change will make water security more difficult and costly to achieve. Smart Water Management of water resources using an integrated approach with IT (Information Technology) will play a critical role in adapting climate change and mitigate social, economic and environmental impacts. Gochang County in Jeonbuk Province (South Korea) is one of the vulnerable areas to climate change, because it is a particularly high dependency to agricultural industry, increasing proportion of elderly people, and coastal areas where vulnerable to increases in the intensity of storm surge and heavy precipitation. The study mainly utilized the vulnerability definition adopted by IPCC that is a function of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. This study seeks to investigate the current (2000-2010) risks and vulnerability to flood and drought and those in the future (2046~2055) due to climate change. This study employs proxy indicators to measure the exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. The RCP(Representative Concentration Pathways) 8.5 climate change scenario from KMA (Korea Meteorological Administration) was used and a detailed climate change scenario was compiled with administrative district-level and watershed level for spatial analysis. The climate exposure for the flood vulnerability showed that East Gochang area was more vulnerable than West in the current period. However, in the future period, South Gochang area is potentially most vulnerable than others to climate exposure. The climate exposure for the drought vulnerability showed that North Gochang area was most vulnerable than others in the future period. The results of the vulnerability assessment could be used for the taking measures for climate change adaptation and determining the priority area

Neutrophils infiltrate into the spiral ligament but not the stria vascularis in the cochlea during lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation

It has been challenging to apply intravital imaging for monitoring the inner ear, as the anatomical location and intricate structure hamper the access of imaging instruments to the inner ear of live mice. By employing intravital imaging of the cochlea in live mice with two-photon microscopy, we investigated neutrophil infiltration into the cochlea tissue and its characteristics under a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory state. Methods: Cochlea inflammation was induced by LPS injection to the middle ear. Using two-photon intravital microscopy with specifically designed surgical exteriorization of the cochlea in live mice, we investigated the dynamic features of neutrophils in the lateral wall of the cochlea. The molecular expression pattern of the cochlea lateral wall was also investigated during the LPS-induce inflammation. Results: Despite the contention of whether neutrophils are recruited to the spiral ligament (SL) during inflammation, we observed that LPS-induced inflammation of the middle ear, which mimics acute otitis media, triggered neutrophil migration to the SL in the lateral wall. Notably, massive neutrophil infiltration to the SL occurred 2 days after LPS inoculation, but there was no neutrophil infiltration into the stria vascularis (SV) region. At 1 day after LPS-induced cochlear inflammation, increased mRNA expression of interleukin-1 beta, interleukin-6 were identified in both the SL and SV, while the ICAM-1 mRNA expression increased only in the SL. The differential reactivity of ICAM-1 is likely responsible for the different neutrophil recruitment pattern in the cochlea. Conclusion: Intravital imaging of the cochlea revealed that neutrophil recruitment and infiltration during inflammation are spatially controlled and exclusively observed in the SL but not in the SV and organ of Corti.11Nsciescopu

Hyperbilirubinemia and Follow-up Auditory Brainstem Responses in Preterm Infants

Objectives. Neonatal hyperbilirubinemia is considered one of the most common causative factors of hearing loss. Preterm infants are more vulnerable to neuronal damage caused by hyperbilirubinemia. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of hyperbilirubinemia on hearing threshold and auditory pathway in preterm infants by serial auditory brainstem response (ABR). In addition, we evaluate the usefulness of the unconjugated bilirubin (UCB) level compared with total serum bilirubin (TSB) on bilirubin-induced hearing loss. Methods. This study was conducted on 70 preterm infants with hyperbilirubinemia who failed universal newborn hearing screening by automated ABR. The diagnostic ABR was performed within 3 months after birth. Follow-up ABR was conducted in patients with abnormal results (30 cases). TSB and UCB concentration were compared according to hearing threshold by ABR. Results. The initial and maximal measured UCB concentration for the preterm infants of diagnostic ABR ≥40 dB nHL group (n=30) were statistically higher compared with ABR ≤35 dB nHL group (n=40) (P=0.031 and P=0.003, respectively). In follow-up ABR examination, 13 of the ABR ≥40 dB nHL group showed complete recovery, but 17 had no change or worsened. There was no difference in bilirubin level between the recovery group and non-recovery group. Conclusion. UCB is a better predictor of bilirubin-induced hearing loss than TSB in preterm infants as evaluated by serial ABR. Serial ABR testing can be a useful, noninvasive methods to evaluate early reversible bilirubin-induced hearing loss in preterm infants