Electromagnetic Performance Comparison between 12-Phase Switched Flux and Surface-Mounted PM Machines for Direct-Drive Wind Power Generation

In this article, the 12-phase switched flux permanent magnet (PM) (SFPM) machine and three surface-mounted PM (SPM) machines designed for direct-drive wind power generation are comparatively analyzed. First, feasible stator-slot/rotor-pole combinations for symmetrical 12-phase winding layout are investigated for both machine topologies. Second, the key design parameters of the PM generators including the split ratio and stator teeth width ratio are optimized by finite element analysis to achieve a high phase fundamental EMF per turn and a low cogging torque, both of which are desired by the direct-drive wind power generator. Third, electromagnetic performances including air-gap field, cogging torque, static torque, inductance, output voltage and its regulation factor, output power, and efficiency of the generators are compared. A 10-kW 24-slot/22-pole SFPM prototype is built and tested to validate the FE predicted results.</p

Impact of residual and intrafractional errors on strategy of correction for image-guided accelerated partial breast irradiation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The cone beam CT (CBCT) guided radiation can reduce the systematic and random setup errors as compared to the skin-mark setup. However, the residual and intrafractional (RAIF) errors are still unknown. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the magnitude of RAIF errors and correction action levels needed in cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) guided accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Ten patients were enrolled in the prospective study of CBCT guided APBI. The postoperative tumor bed was irradiated with 38.5 Gy in 10 fractions over 5 days. Two cone-beam CT data sets were obtained with one before and one after the treatment delivery. The CBCT images were registered online to the planning CT images using the automatic algorithm followed by a fine manual adjustment. An action level of 3 mm, meaning that corrections were performed for translations exceeding 3 mm, was implemented in clinical treatments. Based on the acquired data, different correction action levels were simulated, and random RAIF errors, systematic RAIF errors and related margins before and after the treatments were determined for varying correction action levels.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 75 pairs of CBCT data sets were analyzed. The systematic and random setup errors based on skin-mark setup prior to treatment delivery were 2.1 mm and 1.8 mm in the lateral (LR), 3.1 mm and 2.3 mm in the superior-inferior (SI), and 2.3 mm and 2.0 mm in the anterior-posterior (AP) directions. With the 3 mm correction action level, the systematic and random RAIF errors were 2.5 mm and 2.3 mm in the LR direction, 2.3 mm and 2.3 mm in the SI direction, and 2.3 mm and 2.2 mm in the AP direction after treatments delivery. Accordingly, the margins for correction action levels of 3 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm, 6 mm and no correction were 7.9 mm, 8.0 mm, 8.0 mm, 7.9 mm and 8.0 mm in the LR direction; 6.4 mm, 7.1 mm, 7.9 mm, 9.2 mm and 10.5 mm in the SI direction; 7.6 mm, 7.9 mm, 9.4 mm, 10.1 mm and 12.7 mm in the AP direction, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Residual and intrafractional errors can significantly affect the accuracy of image-guided APBI with nonplanar 3DCRT techniques. If a 10-mm CTV-PTV margin is applied, a correction action level of 5 mm or less is necessary so as to maintain the RAIF errors within 10 mm for more than 95% of fractions. Pre-treatment CBCT guidance is not a guarantee for safe delivery of the treatment despite its known benefits of reducing the initial setup errors. A patient position verification and correction during the treatment may be a method for the safe delivery.</p

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Equivalence of solutions between the four-dimensional novel and regularized EGB theories in a cylindrically symmetric spacetime

Recently, a novel four-dimensional Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet (EGB) theory was presented to bypass the Lovelock's theorem and to give nontrivial effects on the four-dimensional local gravity. The main mechanism is to introduce a redefinition $\alpha\rightarrow\alpha/(D-4)$ and to take the limit $D\rightarrow4$. However, this theory does not have standard four-dimensional field equations. Some regularization procedures are then proposed to address this problem [arXiv:2003.11552, arXiv:2003.12771, arXiv:2004.08362, arXiv:2004.09472, arXiv:2004.10716]. The resultant regularized four-dimensional EGB theory has the same on-shell action as the original theory. Thus it is expected that the novel four-dimensional EGB theory is equivalent to its regularized version. However, the equivalence of these two theories is symmetry-dependent. In this paper, we test the equivalence in a cylindrically symmetric spacetime. The well-defined field equations of the two theories are obtained, with which our follow-up analysis shows that they are equivalent in such spacetime. Cylindrical cosmic strings are then considered as specific examples of the metric. Three sets of solutions are obtained and the corresponding string mass densities are evaluated. The results reveal how the Gauss-Bonnet term in four dimensions contributes to the string geometry in the new theory.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, published versio

Effects of flexible ureteroscopy lithotripsy and percutaneous nephrolithotripsy on the efficacy and inflammatory response of renal calculi less than 3 cm

Objective To compare the effect of flexible ureteroscopy lithotripsy and percutaneous nephrolithotripsy in treatment of renal calculi less than 3 cm. The effectiveness, reliability and the effect on inflammatory response of the two methods were compared. Methods From January 2015 to September 2021, 74 patients with renal calculi were collected and divided into FURS group and PCNL group with 35 in FURS group and 39 in PCNL group. The indexes before and after operation were compared. Results The statistically significant difference was found in operation time [(69.6±19.0)min vs(84.8±20.5)min], hospitalization days [(3.8±1.1)d vs (6.4±1.3)], intraoperative bleeding [(21.4±8.9)mL vs (75.4±48.6)mL,P＜0.01], pain VAS score [(1.0±0.9) vs (3.2±1.6),P＜0.01],freiburg patients satisfaction [(1.7±0.8) vs (2.2±1.1),P＜0.05] and complications (2.9% vs 17.9%,P＜0.05). Three days after operation, the COR[(209.3±20.9)ng/mL vs (226.4±38.8)ng/mL P＜0.05] and MDA [(6.9±0.6)nmol/mL vs (10.0±1.0)nmol/mL,P＜0.01] in the FURS group were lower than those in the PCNL group, while SOD [(70.6±8.3)NU/mL vs (61.3±7.8)NU/m) was higher than those in the PCNL group and the difference was statistically significant. The IL-6[(11.8±1.1)pg/mL vs (14.1±1.1)pg/mL,P＜0.001), IL-10 [(9.1±0.9)pg/mL vs (12.5±1.1)pg/mL,P＜0.001] and TNF-α[(1.7±0.1)ng/mL vs (2.3±0.1)ng/mL,P＜0.001]in the FURS group were significantly lower than those in the PCNL group three days after operation. Conclusions FURS is confirmed to be a safe and effective treatment for renal calculi less than 3 cm because of with low oxidative stress and inflammatory response

Fatigue life prediction of wire rope based on grey particle filter method under small sample condition

The fatigue life prediction of wire ropes has two main characteristics: a large test sample size and uncertain factors. In this paper, based on the small number of wire rope fatigue life data, the grey particle filter method has been used to realize the fatigue life prediction of wire rope under different load conditions. First, the GOM(1,1) model is constructed and the reliability life data of wire rope is predicted under small sample size. Then, P-S-N curve of the dangerous part is determined by combining the equivalent alternating stress of the dangerous part of the wire rope during the fatigue test. Subsequently, the particle filter method is used to modify P-S-N curve. Finally, the fatigue life prediction model of wire rope is obtained based on fatigue damage accumulation, which realized the fatigue life prediction under different load conditions, and the results were compared with that from the test. The results show that the proposed method is effective and has high accuracy in wire rope fatigue life prediction under single, combined loading conditions and small sample size