Continuous fabrication of calcium sulfate whiskers with adjustable aspect ratio in microdroplets

Hemi-hydrate and anhydrous CaSO₄ whiskers with adjustable aspect ratio were continuously synthesized by the reactive crystallization of CaCl₂ to K₂ S₂ O₈ in microdroplets. The effects of solvent and reactive temperature were examined, with SEM and XRD characterizations. Hemi-hydrate and anhydrous CaSO₄ whiskers can be, respectively, obtained in aqueous and N,N-dimethylformamide solutions at 90 °C in 180 s. The addition of ethylene glycol or glycerol as well as increasing temperature could lead to the increase in length and aspect ratio of the whiskers. Thus this preparation technique provides a simple continuous route to synthesize CaSO₄ whiskers with two kinds of crystal structures in a short time, and adjustable lengths and aspect ratios

An efficient power plant model of electric vehicles for unit commitment of large scale wind farms

AbstractAn efficient power plant model of electric vehicles (E-EPP) considering the travelling comfort levels of EV users is developed to investigate the contribution of EVs on the unit commitment (UC) of large scale wind farms. Firstly, a generic EV battery model (GEBM) is established considering the uncertainties of battery parameters. Then, a Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) method is implemented within the E-EPP to obtain the available response capacity of EV charging load over time. And a UC strategy using the E-EPP based on power flow tracing is developed. Finally, a modified IEEE 118-bus system integrated with wind farms is used to verify the effectiveness of the E-EPP for the UC of large scale wind farms

Circular polarized incident light scattering properties at optical clearing in tissues

This paper focuses on polarization imaging during optical clearing process in tissues due to refractive index matching of tissue structural components. We start with some single-dispersed tissue models, composed of large spheres, small spheres, and large cylinders, respectively. Along with the simulated refractive index matching inside and outside the scatterers, the linear polarized incident photons show similar decreased depolarization. It is worth noting that the circular polarized incident light show different polarization change for different scatterers, sensitive to scatterer size and shape. For small Rayleigh-like spherical scatterers, the circular depolarization also decreases with index matching. However, the depolarization by the larger scatterers can be enhanced, supported by the photon distribution change with the index matching in the backward detection. After some extreme points, the depolarization of circular polarized photons will be suppressed until almost disappear. Furthermore, by the simulation of hybrid-dispersed models, we can find out that the transmission of circular polarized photons during optical clearing, is more sensitive to the content of smaller scatterers in the turbid medium, and also has a close relationship with the proportion of the anisotropic scatterers. We also extract a character to describe the difference of linear and circular polarized photons. The value and the change of this character can help us to explain the main scatterers contributed to the polarization features of tissue-like medium during optical clearing. The above results indicate different polarization features for different scattering systems by optical clearing, which are potentially useful for studying optical clearing by polarization methods

User Interests Modeling Based on Multi-source Personal Information Fusion and Semantic Reasoning

Abstract. User interests are usually distributed in different systems on the Web. Traditional user interest modeling methods are not designed for integrating and analyzing interests from multiple sources, hence, they are not very effective for obtaining comparatively complete description of user interests in the distributed environment. In addition, previous studies concentrate on the text level analysis of user interests, while semantic relationships among interests are not fully investigated. This might cause incomplete and incorrect understanding of the discovered interests, especially when interests are from multiple sources. In this paper, we propose an approach of user interest modeling based on multi-source personal information fusion and semantic reasoning. We give different fusion strategies for interest data from multiple sources. Further more, we investigate the semantic relationship between users' explicit interests and implicit interests by reasoning through concept granularity. Semantic relatedness among interests are also briefly illustrated for information fusion. Illustrative examples based on multiple sources on the Web (e.g. microblog system Twitter, social network sites Facebook and LinkedIn, personal homepage, etc.) show that proposed approach is potentially effective

FPGA accelerated model predictive control for autonomous driving

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reduce the difficulty of model predictive control (MPC) deployment on FPGA so that researchers can make better use of FPGA technology for academic research. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, the MPC algorithm is written into FPGA by combining hardware with software. Experiments have verified this method. Findings – This paper implements a ZYNQ-based design method, which could significantly reduce the difficulty of development. The comparison with the CPU solution results proves that FPGA has a significant acceleration effect on the solution of MPC through the method. Research limitations implications – Due to the limitation of practical conditions, this paper cannot carry out a hardware-in-the-loop experiment for the time being, instead of an open-loop experiment. Originality value – This paper proposes a new design method to deploy the MPC algorithm to the FPGA, reducing the development difficulty of the algorithm implementation on FPGA. It greatly facilitates researchers in the field of autonomous driving to carry out FPGA algorithm hardware acceleration research

A united credible capacity evaluation method of distributed generation and energy storage based on active island operation

Cooperating with distributed energy storage, distributed generation is with the potential of supply load stably under both normal and failure periods of distribution network. Therefore, distributed generation has not only electricity value, but also capacity value. The capacity value can be characterized by credible capacity index. However, the uncertainty of the distributed generation output and the sequential characteristics of energy-storage operation must be considered during a united credible capacity evaluation. A united credible capacity evaluation method of distributed generation and energy storage based on active island operation is proposed. The proposed method carries out day-ahead economic dispatching under a normal state and island partition under a fault state, alternately, to realize accurate reliability calculation, which is the key link of credible capacity searching. The main work is as follows. First, a day-ahead economic dispatching model under normal state is established to obtain the sequential remaining electricity information of energy storage. Second, the models of maximum island partition and optimal island rectification are established based on electricity sufficiency and power balance information. By solving the maximum island partition and optimal island rectification models alternately, optimal island partition schemes under the fault state could be achieved. Then, the convergence criterion based on variance coefficients instead of artificial selection is designed in reliability calculation. Finally, the united credible capacity of distributed generation and energy storage is evaluated in the PG&E 69-bus system. It is found that credible capacity value increases by 23%, 53%, and 61%, respectively, under the energy storage allocation ratios of 20%, 30%, and 40%. It can be seen that the integration of energy storage makes a significant impact on distributed generation credible capacity value

Correlation Analysis Between Required Surgical Indexes and Complications in Patients With Coronary Heart Disease

A total of 215 patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) were analyzed with SPSS. Samples of different genders showed significance in the obtuse marginal branch of the left circumflex branch × 1, the diagonal branch D1 × 1, and the ms PV representation. Patients with left circumflex branch occlusion are more male and tend to be younger. Age displayed a positive correlation with left intima-media thickness (IMT) and right IMT. This indicated that as age increases, the values of left IMT and right IMT increase. Samples of different CHD types showed significance in the obtuse marginal branch of the left circumflex branch × 1, the middle part of RCA × 1, and the middle part of the left anterior descending branch × 1.5. For non-ST-segment elevation angina pectoris with acute total vascular occlusion, the left circumflex artery is the most common, followed by the right coronary artery and anterior descending branch. Ultrasound of carotid IMT in patients with CHD can predict changes in left ventricular function, but no specific correlation between left and right common carotid IMT was found. Samples with or without the medical history of ASCVD showed significance in the branch number of coronary vessel lesions. The value of the branch number of coronary vessel lesions in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) was higher than in those without ASCVD. The occurrence of complication is significantly relative with the distance of left circumflex branch × 1, the middle segment of left anterior descending branch × 1.5, and the distance of left anterior descending branch × 1. For patients without complications, the values in the distal left circumflex branch × 1, the middle left anterior descending branch × 1.5, and the distal left anterior descending branch × 1 were higher than those for patients with complications. The VTE scores showed a positive correlation with the proximal part of RCA × 1, the branch number of coronary vessel lesions, the posterior descending branch of left circumflex branch × 1, the distal part of left circumflex branch × 1, and the middle part of left anterior descending branch × 1.5

An Open Invitation to Join the International Brugada Electrocardiographic Indices Registry

Background: The Brugada Electrocardiographic Indices Registry is a comprehensive data registry composed of patients with Brugada patterns on the electrocardiogram (ECG). The aim is to test the hypotheses that (i) ECG indices combining both depolarization and repolarization abnormalities can better predict spontaneous ventricular arrhythmias than existing ECG markers in Brugada syndrome and (ii) that serial ECG measurements will provide additional information for risk stratification, especially in asymptomatic patients. Methods: Patients with both Brugada pattern ECGs and Brugada syndrome are eligible for inclusion in this registry. Baseline characteristics and ECG variables reflecting depolarization and repolarization will be determined. The primary outcome is spontaneous ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation or sudden cardiac death. Secondary outcomes are inducible ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation and syncope. Results: As of November 15, 2019, 39 investigators from 32 cities in 18 countries had joined this registry. As of December 15, 2019, 1383 cases had been enrolled. Conclusions: The Brugada Electrocardiographic Indices Registry will evaluate the disease life course, risk factors, and prognosis in a large series of Brugada patients. It will therefore provide insights for improving risk stratification