Electric Springs—A New Smart Grid Technology

The scientific principle of 'mechanical springs' was described by theBritish physicist Robert Hooke in the 1660’s. Since then, there has not been any further development of the Hooke’s law in the electric regime. In this paper, this technological gap is filled by the development of 'electric springs.' The scientific principle, the operating modes, the limitations, and the practical realization of the electric springs are reported. It is discovered that such novel concept has huge potential in stabilizing future power systems with substantial penetration of intermittent renewable energy sources. This concept has been successfully demonstrated in a practical power system setup fed by an ac power source with a fluctuating wind energy source. The electric spring is found to be effective in regulating the mains voltage despite the fluctuation caused by the intermittent nature of wind power. Electric appliances with the electric springs embedded can be turned into a new generation of smart loads, which have their power demand following the power generation profile. It is envisaged that electric springs, when distributed over the power grid, will offer a new form of power system stability solution that is independent of information and communication technology.published_or_final_versio

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic data for the augmenter of liver regeneration

A new cellular growth factor termed augmenter of liver regeneration (ALR) has been crystallized. ALR has been shown to have a proliferative effect on liver cells while at the same time producing an immunosuppressive effect on liver-resident natural killer cells and liver-resident mononuclear leukocytes. In addition, ALR appears to play an important role in the synthesis and stabilization of mitochondrial gene transcripts inactively regenerating cells. ALR crystals diffract to beyond 2 Å resolution and belong to space group P21212, with a = 125.1, b = 108.1 and c = 38.5 Å. Based on four molecules per asymmetric unit, the Matthews coefficient is calculated to be 2.16 Å3 Da-1 which corresponds to a solvent content of 43%

A pulsewidth modulation based integral sliding mode current controller for boost converters

Author name used in this publication: Chi K. TseRefereed conference paper2005-2006 > Academic research: refereed > Refereed conference paperVersion of RecordPublishe

Predicting future blood demand from thalassemia major patients in Hong Kong

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Use of Hooke's law for stabilizing future smart grid - the electric spring concept

Hooke's law for mechanical springs was developed in the 17th century. Recently, new power electronics devices named electric springs have been developed for providing voltage regulation for distribution networks and allowing the load demand to follow power generation. This paper summarizes recent R&D on electric springs and their potential functions for future smart grid. Electric springs can be associated with electric appliances, forming a new generation of smart loads which can adapt according to the availability of power from renewable energy sources. When massively distributed over the power grid, they could provide highly distributed and robust support for the smart grid, similar to the arrays of mechanical springs supporting a mattress. Thus, the 3-century old Hooke's law in fact provides a powerful solution to solving some key Smart Grid problems in the 21st Century. © 2013 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Inferring Influenza Infection Attack Rate from Seroprevalence Data

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A longitudinal study of infection attack rates among hospital outpatients in Hong Kong during the epidemic of the human swine influenza A/H1N1 virus in 2009 by tracking temporal changes in age-specific seroprevalence rates

Poster Presentations: Emerging / Infectious Diseases: abstract no. P110-Ab0092Conference Theme: Translating Health Research into Policy and Practice for Health of the Populationpublished_or_final_versio

Role of mitogen-activated protein kinase in Zn-BC-AM PDT-induced apoptosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) with a recently developed photosensitizer Zn-BC-AM was found to effectively induce apoptosis in a welldifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) HK-1 cell line. Sustained activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and cjun N-terminal kinase (JNK) as well as a transient increase in activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) were observed immediately after Zn-BC-AM PDT. A commonly used p38 MAPK/JNK pharmacological inhibitor PD169316 was found to reduce PDTinduced apoptosis of HK-1 cells. PD169316 also prevented the loss of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL in PDT-treated HK-1 cells. However, inhibition of JNK with SP600125 had no effect on Zn-BC-AM PDT-induced apoptosis while inhibition of ERK with PD98059 or p38 MAPK with SB203580 significantly increased Zn-BC-AM PDT-induced apoptosis. Further study showed that knockdown of the p38b isoform with siRNA also increased Zn-BC-AM PDT-induced apoptosis, indicating that the anti-apoptotic effect of PD169316 in PDT-treated HK-1 cells was probably independent of p38 MAPK or JNK activation. Taken together, the results suggest that inhibition of p38b and ERK may enhance the therapeutic efficacy of Zn-BC-AM PDTon NPC cells. It should be noted that data only based on the use of PD169316 should be interpreted in caution. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.postprin

Molecular Identification of Spirometra erinaceieuropaei Tapeworm in Cases of Human Sparganosis, Hong Kong

Human sparganosis is a foodborne zoonosis endemic in Asia. We report a series of 9 histologically confirmed human sparganosis cases in Hong Kong, China. All parasites were retrospectively identified as Spirometra erinaceieuropaei. Skin and soft tissue swelling was the most common symptom, followed by central nervous system lesions.published_or_final_versio

A detailed longitudinal study of infection attack rates among healthy adults in Hong Kong during the epidemic of the human swine influenza A/H1N1 virus in 2009

Conference Theme: Translating Health Research into Policy and Practice for Health of the PopulationPoster Presentations: Emerging / Infectious Diseases: abstract no. P109-Ab0091published_or_final_versio