Optimized Weight Point ADF using SOS Algorithm

Active dc filter (ADF) has become the most viable alternatives for the compensation of the harmonics in the power system analysis. These filters are capable enough to minimize the total harmonic distortion (THD) and provide compensation towards the power quality issues appearing in the transmission system. A simulated model of a HVDC system is designed in MATLAB and the disturbance is injected in the form of load change and the controller efficacy is checked. This paper basically deals with the operational characteristics of the active filter for specific voltage rating irrespective of load and used to reduce harmonics present in the output voltage of the HVDC converter when cascaded with the inverter. The gains of the ADF are optimized with Symbiotic Organism Search Optimization (SOS) with THD as a constraint

Optimal fuzzy-PID controller with derivative filter for load frequency control including UPFC and SMES

A newly adopted optimization technique known as sine-cosine algorithm (SCA) is suggested in this research article to tune the gains of Fuzzy-PID controller along with a derivative filter (Fuzzy-PIDF) of a hybrid interconnected system for the Load Frequency Control (LFC). The scrutinized multi-generation system considers hydro, gas and thermal sources in all areas of the dual area power system integrated with UPFC (unified power flow controller) and SMES (Super-conducting magnetic energy storage) units. The preeminence of the offered Fuzzy-PIDF controller is recognized over Fuzzy-PID controller by comparing their dynamic performance indices concerning minimum undershoot, settling time and also peak overshoot. Finally, the sensitiveness and sturdiness of the recommended control method are proved by altering the parameters of the system from their nominal values and by the implementation of random loading in the system

ROS Regulation Mechanism for Mitigation of Abiotic Stress in Plants

Plants respond to various stresses during their lifecycle among which abiotic stress is the most severe one comprising heat, cold, drought, salinity, flooding, etc. which take a heavy toll on crop yield worldwide in every corresponding year. ROS has a dual role in abiotic stress mechanisms where, at high levels, they are toxic to cells while at the same time, the same molecule can function as a signal transducer that activates a local as well as a systemic plant defense response against stress. The most common ROS species are Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), Superoxide anions (O2-), Hydroxyl radicals (OH-), and Singlet oxygen (1O2) which are results of physiological metabolism often controlled by enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant defense systems. ROS generally accumulate in plants during abiotic and biotic stress conditions resulting in oxidative damage which ultimately leads to programmed cell death. Many ROS scavenging pathways have been well studied against stress responses. Through careful manipulation of ROS levels in plants, we can enhance stress tolerance in plants under unfavorable environmental conditions. This chapter presents an overview of ROS regulation in plants and the essential enzymes involved in the abiotic stress tolerance mechanisms which are thoroughly discussed below

Evaluation of mustard genotypes [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern and Coss] for quantitative traits and character association of seed yield and yield components at sub Himalayan region of West Bengal (India)

Brassica juncea is an important industrial and commercial oilseed crop grown primarily in India. This study aimed to assess 56 genotypes of Indian mustard to quantify genetic diversity, which aids the breeder in identifying genetically divergent parents to evaluate the proportional contributions of various components towards overall divergence. All the 56 Indian mustard genotypes were tested in RBD with three replications for 2 consecutive years i.e. 2016-17 and 2017-18 during the rabi season. Observations were recorded for 11 yield and its attributing traits. The findings revealed that height up to first branching, aphid count, penetration force and seed yield per plant had maximum PCV and GCV signifying that genetic factors have a greater impact on the inflow of these traits. Height up to first branching, secondary branches per plant, primary branches per plant, siliquae per plant, aphid count and 1000 seed weight had strong heritability combined with GA as % of mean. These indicate that the traits were controlled by additive gene action. Seed yield per plant was significantly correlated with penetration force and siliquae per plant. As a result, it's reasonable to predict that improving these traits by selection, could lead to significant yield gains. Four of the eleven PCs had eigen values greater than 1.0, accounting for 69.94% of the variance. PC I, which explained 30.31% of the overall variance. Mahalanobis D2 statistics revealed considerable genetic diversity among the genotypes. 56 genotypes were distributed into 7 clusters. This is anticipated that genotypes within a cluster are almost genetically related to one another. Cluster VII and II showed maximum inter-cluster divergence. From a breeding perspective, a divergence analysis revealed that genotypes like SKJM-05, RNWR-09-3, RW-351, B-85, DRMR-4001, RGN-386, TM52 276 and SKM-1313 can be selected as genetically divergent parents for hybridization to obtain desirable segregants

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. For example, a key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process versus those that measure fl ux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process including the amount and rate of cargo sequestered and degraded). In particular, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation must be differentiated from stimuli that increase autophagic activity, defi ned as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (inmost higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium ) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the fi eld understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. It is worth emphasizing here that lysosomal digestion is a stage of autophagy and evaluating its competence is a crucial part of the evaluation of autophagic flux, or complete autophagy. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. Along these lines, because of the potential for pleiotropic effects due to blocking autophagy through genetic manipulation it is imperative to delete or knock down more than one autophagy-related gene. In addition, some individual Atg proteins, or groups of proteins, are involved in other cellular pathways so not all Atg proteins can be used as a specific marker for an autophagic process. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field

Optimal design of PD-Fuzzy-PID cascaded controller for automatic generation control

In this research paper a novel cascaded PD-Fuzzy-PID controller is recommended for a conventional hybrid-source unified power system for automatic generation control. The optimization of scaling parameters of the suggested PD-Fuzzy-PID controller is done by hybrid Grey Wolf Optimization-Teaching Learning Based Optimization (GWO-TLBO) technique. A sudden disturbance of 0.01 p.u. is considered in area 1 and ITAE is taken as the evaluative function in the recommended optimization process. The proposed work considers three different sources of generating systems namely, a hydro, a gas and a reheat thermal unit. Both AC tie-line and AC-DC tie-line is considered in analyzing the dynamic performances of the system. The robustness and sensitiveness of the proposed controller are further put to test for random load variations and nominal parameter variations. Analysis of the dynamic characteristics of the system is executed considering a number of time response specifications like settling time, peak overshoots and undershoots. During the analysis the optimum specifications obtained by the recommended technique are compared with some pre-published results in order to prove the supremacy of this novel controller over existing controllers. Further, the frequency stability of the system is improved by employing an UPFC in the system

Optimal design of PI/PD dual mode controller based on quasi opposition based learning for power system frequency control

Due to uncertain load deviations in the unified power system, it becomes more challenging to uphold the system frequency at a constant desired value. The secondary controller has a significant role in damping the oscillations of frequency and interline power at a faster rate. Here a novel PI/PD dual mode controller (DMC) is suggested to regulate the frequency of unified system comprising renewable and conventional sources of power generation. The various sources of generation instigated in the dual-area system are hydro, diesel, thermal, PV, wind and battery energy storage system (BESS). The gains of the PI/PD DMC are suitably obtained by the novel application of quasi opposition based Sine Cosine Algorithm (QOBSCA) algorithm. The dynamic outcomes of the model are examined with the application of abrupt load deviation of 0.02 per unit in control area 2. During this deviated loading condition QOBSCA algorithm is utilized to achieve the appropriate gains of PID and PI/PD dual mode controller in view of a time based fitness function denoted as integral time absolute error (ITAE). Considering few response evaluative indices like overshoots, settling time and undershoots the ascendency of the projected PI/PD dual mode controller is recognized over popular PID controller during the abnormal loading condition. Additionally, the efficacy of the mentioned PI/PD dual mode controller is verified by applying arbitrary load pattern in control area 2. The robustness of the mentioned control schemes is also evidenced by confirming the stable response during system parameter deviations

IMO-based novel adaptive dual-mode controller design for AGC investigation in different types of systems

This article deals with a novel adaptive controller known as dual-mode proportional-integral-derivative (DMPID) controller employed to regulate the frequency of a three-area thermal-type interconnected system including nonlinearity in the form of generation rate constraints. The DMPID controller is tuned by ions motion optimization (IMO) technique to acquire its suitable gains by employing integral absolute error. The dynamic characteristics of the multi-area network with the above-mentioned control methodology are compared with the IMO-tuned PID controller and a previously published method such as bacteria foraging optimized integral controller to establish its supremacy. Further, case studies confirm the robustness of the proposed control approach while subjected to various system loadings, different positions of SLP and parameter variations. Also, the robustness of the recommended controller is validated in the presence of time delays. Finally, the proposed controller is applied in another multi-source model to prove its adaptability

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Performance of some new apple cultivars for yield and physico-chemical characters under mid-hill conditions of UttarakhandAn experiment was conducted to evaluate the yield and physico-chemical performance of 18 apple cultivars. The highest fruit yield (46.11 kg/tree), fruit weight (217.33 g), fruit volume (231.67 cc), fruit length (6.98 cm) and fruit diameter (8.22 cm) was recorded in ‘Spur Type Red Delicious’. The lowest fruit yield (19.12 kg/tree) and fruit length (4.33 cm) was recorded in ‘Chaubattia Anupam’; while, lowest average fruit weight (64.67 g), fruit volume (63.33 cc) and fruit diameter (5.32 cm) was observed in ‘Gloster’. The maximum TSS was recorded in ‘Skyline Supreme’ (14.73°B) and minimum was in ‘Chaubattia Princess’ (11.26°B). However, the highest titratable acidity was recorded in ‘Golden Delicious’ (0.66%) and lowest in ‘Chaubattia Princess’ (0.14%). The cultivar ‘Skyline Supreme’ possessing highest values for ascorbic acid (8.25 mg/100 g), reducing sugars (9.62%), total sugars (12.42%), total carotenoids (235.73 μg/100 g) and total anti-oxidant activity (41.95 mMTE/L) while ‘Prima’ exhibited lowest values of ascorbic acid (3.92 mg/100 g) and total sugar contents (6.15%). The lowest values for reducing sugars (5.13%), total carotenoids (79.45 μg/100 g) and total anti-oxidant activity (30.66 mM TE/L) were recorded in ‘Gloster’, ‘Vermont Spur’ and ‘Stark Spur’, respectively. The cultivar ‘Golden Delicious’ is the most luminous (L*=84.86) and having the highest yellow colour (b*= 67.10) and hue angle (h° = 87.41), whereas ‘Chaubattia Anupam’ showed the highest red colour (a*= 54.15) and Chroma (C*= 67.53). From this investigation it can be inferred that the cultivar ‘Spur Type Red Delicious’ and ‘Skyline Supreme’ performed better in the region under prevailing climatic conditions.Not Availabl

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Storage behaviour of apple cultivars under ambient conditionsAn experiment was conducted at ICAR-CITH, Regional Station, Mukteshwar, Nainital, Uttarakhand in ten apple cultivars to assess the physico-chemical changes and shelf-life at ambient storage conditions for 49 days. The physiological loss in weight, TSS, reducing sugars, total sugars, non-reducing sugars and fruit decay percentage increased, while fruit firmness, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid content and organoleptic score decreased during storage in all cultivars. Cultivar Skyline Supreme exhibited lowest physiological loss in weight (7.77%), highest TSS (14.93 °B) and organoleptic score (7.19) than other apple cultivars. However, the cv. Red Chief exhibited highest ascorbic acid (12.32 mg/100 g), reducing sugars (8.89%) and total sugars (10.59%) and the cv. Bright-N-Early exhibited highest fruit firmness (8.18 lb/in2) and lowest fruit decay (5.05%) than other apple cultivars. Conclusively, Skyline Supreme, Red Chief and Bright-N-Early have better shelf-life than other apple cultivars under ambient storage conditions.Not Availabl