A flexible AC distribution system device for a microgrid

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Smart distribution network device for microgrid applications

This paper focuses on the design of a smart distribution network device for improving the power quality and reliability of the overall power distribution system that the microgrid is connected to. The control design employs a newly developed Model Predictive Control algorithm which optimizes the steady-state and the transient control problems separately to achieve a faster computational time for large power systems. Kalman filters are also employed as state observers to identify the required signals needed for monitoring purposes as well as to extract the harmonic spectra of the grid voltage and the load currents. The design concept is verified through different test case scenarios to demonstrate the capability of the proposed device and the results obtained are discussed. © 2012 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Coordinated control and energy management of distributed generation inverters in a microgrid

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Hole-transporting spirothioxanthene derivatives as donor materials for efficient small-molecule-based organic photovoltaic devices

Poster: no. 30Taking the advantages of the 3D structure and rigid spiro-conjugation, spirobifluorene and its derivatives are a benchmark class of p-type semiconductors in organic electronic devices because of their good charge-transporting properties. However, their low absorption coefficients within the visible spectrum render their application as photoactive materials in the fabrication of organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices. A new class of heterocyclic spirothioxanthene derivatives has been designed and synthesized by the functionalization of the spiro core with various triarylamine groups and the modification of the heteroatom of the spiro core. The photophysical, electrochemical and thermal properties of these spirothioxanthene derivatives have been fully characterized. Of particular interest, all of these compounds exhibit high hole mobilities of up to 10–3 cm2V–1s–1, as determined from thin film transistor measurement. More importantly, these spirothioxanthene derivatives are promising donor materials for the fabrication of high performance OPV devices. With a very low dopant concentration of 7 % doped into fullerene matrix, efficient small molecular-based OPV devices with high open-circuit voltage of 0.94 V and high power conversion efficiency of 5.40 % (the highest PCE of 5.46 %) have been realized. This demonstrates for the first time their application studies as photovoltaic donor materials in OPV devices.published_or_final_versio

Guest editorial: COVID-19 pandemic and health informatics part 3

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Emerald via the DOI in this recordAfter more than three years, we start to see the end of the tunnel of the COVID-19 pandemic and are ready for reopening (Abbass et al., 2022; Suh and Alhaery, 2022; Kumar et al., 2021). Here, the guest editors and co-editors would like to wish all of our readers and authors good health and let us walk through the pandemic together. We continue to present part 3 of our special issue on the COVID-19 Pandemic and Health Informatics in this issue. In the past two parts (Huang et al., 2021, 2022), we presented 28 papers; in this issue, we present the following 14 papers on three aspects of research

A simulation study of the effects of alcohol on driving performance in a Chinese population

Driving under the influence of alcohol (DUIA) is a significant factor contributing to road traffic crashes, injuries, and fatalities. Although the effects of alcohol on driving performance are widely acknowledged, studies of the effects of alcohol impairment on driving performance and particularly on the control system of Chinese adults are rare. This study attempts to evaluate the effects of alcohol on the driving performance of Chinese adults using a driving simulator.Method: A double-blind experimental study was conducted to evaluate the effects of alcohol impairment on the driving performance of 52 Chinese participants using a driving simulator. A series of simulated driving tests covering two driving modules, including emergency braking (EB) and following braking (FB), at 50. km/h and 80. km/h were performed. Linear mixed models were established to evaluate driving performance in terms of braking reaction time (BRT), the standard deviation of lateral position (SD-LANE), and the standard deviation of speed (SD-SPEED).Results: Driving performance in terms of BRT and SD-LANE was highly correlated with the level of alcohol consumption, with a one-unit increase in breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) degrading BRT and SD-LANE by 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively. Frequent drinkers generally reacted faster in their BRT than less-frequent drinkers and non-drinkers by 10.2% and 30.6%, respectively. Moreover, alcohol impairment had varying effects on certain aspects of the human control system, and automatic action was less likely to be affected than voluntary action from a psychological viewpoint.Conclusion: The findings should be useful for planning and developing effective measures to combat drink driving in Chinese communities.Department of Civil and Environmental Engineerin

Behavioral testing and preliminary analysis of the hamster visual system

The dependence of visual orienting ability in hamsters on the axonal projections from retina to midbrain tectum provides experimenters with a good model for assessing the functional regeneration of this central nervous system axonal pathway. For reliable testing of this behavior, male animals at least 10-12 weeks old are prepared by regular pretesting, with all procedures carried out during the less active portion of the daily activity cycle. Using a sunflower seed attached to a small black ball held at the end of a stiff wire, and avoiding whisker contact, turning movements toward visual stimuli are video recorded from above. Because at the eye level, the nasal-most 30° of the visual field can be seen by both the eyes, this part of the field is avoided in assessments of a single side. Daily sessions consist of ten presentations per side. Measures are frequency of responding and detailed turning trajectories. Complete assessment of the functional return of behavior in this testing paradigm takes 3-6 months to complete.postprin

Functional role of ICAM-3 polymorphism in genetic susceptibility to SARS infection.

Key Messages 1. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) patients who are homozygous for intercellular adhesion molecule-3 (ICAM-3) Gly143 showed significant association with higher lactate dehydrogenase levels and lower total white blood cell counts on admission. 2. In vitro functional studies demonstrated low level binding of ICAM-3 to DC-SIGN and a wide variation in T-cell response of the wild-type ICAM-3 genotype.published_or_final_versio

Association of a single nucleotide polymorphism in the CD209 (DC-SIGN) promoter with SARS severity.

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The influences of Taiwan's generic grouping price policy on drug prices and expenditures: Evidence from analysing the consumption of the three most-used classes of cardiovascular drugs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Controlling the growth of pharmaceutical expenditures is a major global challenge. Promotion of generic drug prescriptions or use is gaining increased support. There are substantial contextual differences in international experiences of implementing pharmaceutical policies related to generic drugs. Reporting these experiences from varied perspectives can inform future policy making. This study describes an experience of Taiwan, where patients with chronic (long-term) conditions are usually managed in hospitals and drugs are provided in this setting with costs reimbursed through the National Health Insurance (NHI). It investigates the effects of Taiwan's reimbursement rate adjustment based on chemical generic grouping in 2001. This research also demonstrates the use of micro-level longitudinal data to generate policy-relevant information. The research can be used to improve efficiency of health care resource use.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We chose the three most-used classes of cardiovascular drugs for this investigation: beta blocking agents, calcium channel blockers mainly with vascular effects, and plain ACE inhibitors. For each drug class, we investigated changes in daily expense, consumption volume, and total expenditures from a pre-action period to a corresponding post-action period. We compared an exposure or "intervention" group of patients targeted by the action with a comparisonor "control" group of patients not targeted by the action. The data sources are a longitudinal database for 200,000 NHI enrolees, corresponding NHI registration data of health care facilities, and an archive recording all historical data on the reimbursement rates of drugs covered by the NHI. We adopted a fixed effects linear regression model to control for unobserved heterogeneity among patient-hospital groups. Additional descriptive statistics were applied to examine whether any inappropriate consumption of drugs in the three classes existed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The daily drug expense significantly decreased from the pre-action period to the post-action period for the exposure group. The average magnitudes of the decreases for the three classes of drugs mentioned above were 14.8%, 5.8% and 5.8%, respectively. In contrast, there was no reduction for the comparison group. The number of days of the prescription increased significantly from the pre- to the post-action period for both exposure and comparison groups. The total expense also significantly increased for both patient groups. For the exposure group, the average magnitudes of the growth in the total expenditure for the three classes of drugs were 47.7%, 60.0% and 55.3%, respectively. For the comparison group, they were 91.6%, 91.6% and 63.2%, respectively. After the action, approximately 50% of patients obtained more than 180 days of prescription drugs for a six-month period.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The 2001 price adjustment action, based on generic grouping, significantly reduced the daily expense of each of the three classes of cardiovascular drugs. However, in response to this policy change, hospitals in Taiwan tended to greatly expand the volume of drugs prescribed for their regular patients. Consequently, the total expenditures for the three classes of drugs grew substantially after the action. These knock-on effects weakened the capability of the price adjustment action to control total pharmaceutical expenditures. This means that no saved resources were available for other health care uses. Such expansion of pharmaceutical consumption might also lead to inefficient use of the three drug classes: a large proportion of patients obtained more than one day of drugs per day in the post-action period, suggesting manipulation to increase reimbursement and offset price controls. We recommend that Taiwan's government use the NHI data to establish a monitoring system to detect inappropriate prescription patterns before implementing future policy changes. Such a monitoring system could then be used to deter hospitals from abusing their prescription volumes, making it possible to more effectively save health care resources by reducing drug reimbursement rates.</p