Passive Power Filters

Power converters require passive low-pass filters which are capable of reducing voltage ripples effectively. In contrast to signal filters, the components of power filters must carry large currents or withstand large voltages, respectively. In this paper, three different suitable filter structures for d.c./d.c. power converters with inductive load are introduced. The formulas needed to calculate the filter components are derived step by step and practical examples are given. The behaviour of the three discussed filters is compared by means of the examples. Practical aspects for the realization of power filters are also discussed.Comment: 25 pages, contribution to the 2014 CAS - CERN Accelerator School: Power Converters, Baden, Switzerland, 7-14 May 201

Thermal Design of Power Electronic Circuits

The heart of every switched mode converter consists of several switching semiconductor elements. Due to their non-ideal behaviour there are ON state and switching losses heating up the silicon chip. That heat must effectively be transferred to the environment in order to prevent overheating or even destruction of the element. For a cost-effective design, the semiconductors should be operated close to their thermal limits. Unfortunately the chip temperature cannot be measured directly. Therefore a detailed understanding of how losses arise, including their quantitative estimation, is required. Furthermore, the heat paths to the environment must be understood in detail. This paper describes the main issues of loss generation and its transfer to the environment and how it can be estimated by the help of datasheets and/or experiments.Comment: 17 pages, contribution to the 2014 CAS - CERN Accelerator School: Power Converters, Baden, Switzerland, 7-14 May 201

Complete partial metric spaces have partially metrizable computational models

We show that the domain of formal balls of a complete partial metric space (X, p) can be endowed with a complete partial metric that extends p and induces the Scott topology. This result, that generalizes well-known constructions of Edalat and Heckmann [A computational model for metric spaces, Theoret. Comput. Sci. 193 (1998), pp. 53-73] and Heckmann [Approximation of metric spaces by partial metric spaces, Appl. Cat. Struct. 7 (1999), pp. 71-83] for metric spaces and improves a recent result of Romaguera and Valero [A quantitative computational model for complete partial metric spaces via formal balls, Math. Struct. Comput. Sci. 19 (2009), pp. 541-563], motivates a notion of a partially metrizable computational model which allows us to characterize those topological spaces that admit a compatible complete partial metric via this model.The authors acknowledge the support of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, under grant MTM2009-12872-C02-01.Romaguera Bonilla, S.; Tirado Peláez, P.; Valero Sierra, Ó. (2012). Complete partial metric spaces have partially metrizable computational models. International Journal of Computer Mathematics. 89(3):284-290. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207160.2011.559229S284290893ALI-AKBARI, M., HONARI, B., POURMAHDIAN, M., & REZAII, M. M. (2009). The space of formal balls and models of quasi-metric spaces. Mathematical Structures in Computer Science, 19(2), 337-355. doi:10.1017/s0960129509007439Edalat, A., & Heckmann, R. (1998). A computational model for metric spaces. Theoretical Computer Science, 193(1-2), 53-73. doi:10.1016/s0304-3975(96)00243-5Edalat, A., & Sünderhauf, P. (1999). Computable Banach spaces via domain theory. Theoretical Computer Science, 219(1-2), 169-184. doi:10.1016/s0304-3975(98)00288-6Flagg, B., & Kopperman, R. (1997). Computational Models for Ultrametric Spaces. Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science, 6, 151-159. doi:10.1016/s1571-0661(05)80164-1Heckmann, R. (1999). Applied Categorical Structures, 7(1/2), 71-83. doi:10.1023/a:1008684018933Kopperman, R., Künzi, H.-P. A., & Waszkiewicz, P. (2004). Bounded complete models of topological spaces. Topology and its Applications, 139(1-3), 285-297. doi:10.1016/j.topol.2003.12.001Krötzsch, M. (2006). Generalized ultrametric spaces in quantitative domain theory. Theoretical Computer Science, 368(1-2), 30-49. doi:10.1016/j.tcs.2006.05.037Künzi, H.-P. A. (2001). Nonsymmetric Distances and Their Associated Topologies: About the Origins of Basic Ideas in the Area of Asymmetric Topology. History of Topology, 853-968. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-0470-0_3LAWSON, J. (1997). Spaces of maximal points. Mathematical Structures in Computer Science, 7(5), 543-555. doi:10.1017/s0960129597002363Martin, K. (1998). Domain theoretic models of topological spaces. Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science, 13, 173-181. doi:10.1016/s1571-0661(05)80221-xMatthews, S. G.Partial metric topology. Procedings of the 8th Summer Conference on General Topology and Applications, Ann. New York Acad. Sci. 728 (1994), pp. 183–197Rodríguez-López, J., Romaguera, S., & Valero, O. (2008). Denotational semantics for programming languages, balanced quasi-metrics and fixed points. International Journal of Computer Mathematics, 85(3-4), 623-630. doi:10.1080/00207160701210653Romaguera, S., & Valero, O. (2009). A quasi-metric computational model from modular functions on monoids. International Journal of Computer Mathematics, 86(10-11), 1668-1677. doi:10.1080/00207160802691652ROMAGUERA, S., & VALERO, O. (2009). A quantitative computational model for complete partial metric spaces via formal balls. Mathematical Structures in Computer Science, 19(3), 541-563. doi:10.1017/s0960129509007671ROMAGUERA, S., & VALERO, O. (2010). Domain theoretic characterisations of quasi-metric completeness in terms of formal balls. Mathematical Structures in Computer Science, 20(3), 453-472. doi:10.1017/s0960129510000010Rutten, J. J. M. M. (1998). Weighted colimits and formal balls in generalized metric spaces. Topology and its Applications, 89(1-2), 179-202. doi:10.1016/s0166-8641(97)00224-1Schellekens, M. P. (2003). A characterization of partial metrizability: domains are quantifiable. Theoretical Computer Science, 305(1-3), 409-432. doi:10.1016/s0304-3975(02)00705-3Smyth, M. B. (2006). The constructive maximal point space and partial metrizability. Annals of Pure and Applied Logic, 137(1-3), 360-379. doi:10.1016/j.apal.2005.05.032Waszkiewicz, P. (2003). Applied Categorical Structures, 11(1), 41-67. doi:10.1023/a:1023012924892WASZKIEWICZ, P. (2006). Partial metrisability of continuous posets. Mathematical Structures in Computer Science, 16(02), 359. doi:10.1017/s096012950600519

Targeted alpha therapy in vivo: direct evidence for single cancer cell kill using 149Tb-rituximab

This study demonstrates high-efficiency sterilisation of single cancer cells in a SCID mouse model of leukaemia using rituximab, a monoclonal antibody that targets CD20, labelled with terbium-149, an alpha-emitting radionuclide. Radio-immunotherapy with 5.5MBq labelled antibody conjugate (1.11GBq/mg) 2 days after an intravenous graft of 5·106 Daudi cells resulted in tumour-free survival for >120 days in 89% of treated animals. In contrast, all control mice (no treatment or treated with 5 or 300µg unlabelled rituximab) developed lymphoma disease. At the end of the study period, 28.4%±4% of the long-lived daughter activity remained in the body, of which 91.1% was located in bone tissue and 6.3% in the liver. A relatively high daughter radioactivity concentration was found in the spleen (12%±2%/g), suggesting that the killed cancer cells are mainly eliminated through the spleen. This promising preliminary in vivo study suggests that targeted alpha therapy with 149Tb is worthy of consideration as a new-generation radio-immunotherapeutic approac

Association Between Lifetime Marijuana Use and Cognitive Function in Middle Age: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study.

Marijuana use is increasingly common in the United States. It is unclear whether it has long-term effects on memory and other domains of cognitive function. To study the association between cumulative lifetime exposure to marijuana use and cognitive performance in middle age. We used data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, a cohort of 5115 black and white men and women aged 18 to 30 years at baseline from March 25, 1985, to June 7, 1986 (year 0), and followed up over 25 years from June 7, 1986, to August 31, 2011, to estimate cumulative years of exposure to marijuana (1 year = 365 days of marijuana use) using repeated measures and to assess associations with cognitive function at year 25. Linear regression was used to adjust for demographic factors, cardiovascular risk factors, tobacco smoking, use of alcohol and illicit drugs, physical activity, depression, and results of the mirror star tracing test (a measure of cognitive function) at year 2. Data analysis was conducted from June 7, 1986, to August 31, 2011. Three domains of cognitive function were assessed at year 25 using the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (verbal memory), the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (processing speed), and the Stroop Interference Test (executive function). Among 3385 participants with cognitive function measurements at the year 25 visit, 2852 (84.3%) reported past marijuana use, but only 392 (11.6%) continued to use marijuana into middle age. Current use of marijuana was associated with worse verbal memory and processing speed; cumulative lifetime exposure was associated with worse performance in all 3 domains of cognitive function. After excluding current users and adjusting for potential confounders, cumulative lifetime exposure to marijuana remained significantly associated with worse verbal memory. For each 5 years of past exposure, verbal memory was 0.13 standardized units lower (95% CI, -0.24 to -0.02; P = .02), corresponding to a mean of 1 of 2 participants remembering 1 word fewer from a list of 15 words for every 5 years of use. After adjustment, we found no associations with lower executive function (-0.03 [95% CI, -0.12 to 0.07]; P = .56) or processing speed (-0.04 [95% CI, -0.16 to 0.08]; P = .51). Past exposure to marijuana is associated with worse verbal memory but does not appear to affect other domains of cognitive function

Differences in the quality of interpersonal care in complementary and conventional medicine

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The study was part of a nationwide evaluation of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in Swiss primary care. The aim of the study was to compare patient-physician relationships and the respective patient-reported relief of symptoms between CAM and conventional primary care (COM).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A comparative observational study in Swiss primary care with written survey completed by patients who visited a GP one month earlier. 6133 patients older than 16 years of 170 certified CAM physicians, of 77 non-certified CAM physicians and of 71 conventional physicians were included. Patients completed a questionnaire aimed at symptom relief, patient satisfaction, fulfilment of expectations, and quality of patient-physician interaction (EUROPEP questionnaire).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CAM physicians treated significantly more patients with chronic conditions than COM physicians. CAM Patients had significant higher healing expectations than COM patients. General patient satisfaction was significantly higher in CAM patients, although patient-reported symptom relief was significantly poorer. The quality of patient-physician communication was rated significantly better in CAM patients.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The study shows better patient-reported outcomes of CAM in comparison to COM in Swiss primary care, which is related to higher patient satisfaction due to better patient-physician communication of CAM physicians. More effective communication patterns of these physicians may play an important role in allowing patients to maintain more positive outcome expectations. The findings should promote formative efforts in conventional primary care to improve communication skills in order to reach the same levels of favourable patient outcomes.</p

Normally preordered spaces and utilities

In applications it is useful to know whether a topological preordered space is normally preordered. It is proved that every $k_\omega$-space equipped with a closed preorder is a normally preordered space. Furthermore, it is proved that second countable regularly preordered spaces are perfectly normally preordered and admit a countable utility representation.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figure. v2 contains a second proof to the main theorem with respect to the published version. The last section of v1 is not present in v2. It will be included in a different wor

Processing second-order stochastic dominance models using cutting-plane representations

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the links below. Copyright @ 2011 Springer-VerlagSecond-order stochastic dominance (SSD) is widely recognised as an important decision criterion in portfolio selection. Unfortunately, stochastic dominance models are known to be very demanding from a computational point of view. In this paper we consider two classes of models which use SSD as a choice criterion. The first, proposed by Dentcheva and Ruszczyński (J Bank Finance 30:433–451, 2006), uses a SSD constraint, which can be expressed as integrated chance constraints (ICCs). The second, proposed by Roman et al. (Math Program, Ser B 108:541–569, 2006) uses SSD through a multi-objective formulation with CVaR objectives. Cutting plane representations and algorithms were proposed by Klein Haneveld and Van der Vlerk (Comput Manage Sci 3:245–269, 2006) for ICCs, and by Künzi-Bay and Mayer (Comput Manage Sci 3:3–27, 2006) for CVaR minimization. These concepts are taken into consideration to propose representations and solution methods for the above class of SSD based models. We describe a cutting plane based solution algorithm and outline implementation details. A computational study is presented, which demonstrates the effectiveness and the scale-up properties of the solution algorithm, as applied to the SSD model of Roman et al. (Math Program, Ser B 108:541–569, 2006).This study was funded by OTKA, Hungarian National Fund for Scientific Research, project 47340; by Mobile Innovation Centre, Budapest University of Technology, project 2.2; Optirisk Systems, Uxbridge, UK and by BRIEF (Brunel University Research Innovation and Enterprise Fund)

Semigroup Closures of Finite Rank Symmetric Inverse Semigroups

We introduce the notion of semigroup with a tight ideal series and investigate their closures in semitopological semigroups, particularly inverse semigroups with continuous inversion. As a corollary we show that the symmetric inverse semigroup of finite transformations $\mathscr{I}_\lambda^n$ of the rank $\leqslant n$ is algebraically closed in the class of (semi)topological inverse semigroups with continuous inversion. We also derive related results about the nonexistence of (partial) compactifications of classes of semigroups that we consider.Comment: With the participation of the new coauthor - Jimmie Lawson - the manuscript has been substantially revised and expanded. Accordingly, we have also changed the manuscript titl

Patients' motives for choosing a physician: comparison between conventional and complementary medicine in Swiss primary care

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The study is part of a nationwide evaluation of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in primary care in Switzerland. The Objective was to identify patients' expectations and reasons governing the choice of complementary medicine compared with conventional primary care (CONV).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The data were derived from the PEK study (Programm Evaluation Komplementärmedizin), which was conducted in 2002–2003 with 7879 adult patients and parents of 1291 underage patients, seeking either complementary (CAM) or conventional (CONV) primary care. The study was performed as a cross-sectional survey. The respondents were asked to document their (or their children's) self-perceived health status, reasons governing their choice, and treatment expectations. Physicians were practicing conventional medicine and/or complementary methods (homeopathy, anthroposophic medicine, neural therapy, and traditional Chinese medicine). Reasons governing the choice of physician were evaluated on the basis of a three-part classification (physician-related, procedure-related, and pragmatic/other reasons)</p> <p>Results and Discussion</p> <p>Patients seeing CAM physicians tend to be younger and more often female. CAM patients referred to procedure-related reasons more frequently, whereas pragmatic reasons dominated among CONV patients. CAM respondents expected fewer adverse side effects compared to conventional care patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The majority of alternative medicine users appear to have chosen CAM mainly because they wish to undergo a certain procedure; additional reasons include desire for more comprehensive treatment, and expectation of fewer side-effects.</p