Powers in nonsinusoidal networks: their interpretation, analysis,and measurement

A nonlinear or periodically time-variant load sometimes has to be considered not as the receiver, but as the source of energy, at least for some harmonic frequencies. This can be explained in terms of its equivalent circuit, usually composed of passive elements and harmonic sources which make the power phenomena in such a circuit much more complex than in a linear circuit. The necessity of comprehension of these phenomena stems from the fact that they determine the efficiency of the power transmission and the possibility of power factor improvement. They also affect the energy accounts. A method is suggested for the apparent power decomposition into components related to current components of distinctively different physical interpretation. A digital analyzer for measuring these powers is described     

Decreased hemodialysis circuit pressures indicating postpump tubing kinks: a retrospective investigation of hemolysis in five patients

The source of hemolysis during hemodialysis must be quickly identified to avoid life-threatening complications. At a single clinic, over a 10-day period in which 550 treatments were performed, 5 case-patients were retrospectively identified for experiencing acute hemolysis (4 deaths) from an unknown origin. The investigation focused on the postpump arterial tubing as the pressure was not monitored in this region, and the segment was shorter than required and could kink if overly stressed at bend points (i.e., tubing support clips, dialyzer inlet). To determine whether the circuit pressures indicated kinked tubing, a relative comparison between each case-patient's recorded arterial (prepump) and venous circuit pressures throughout their adverse event treatment and their immediately preceding treatment was conducted. Treatment pressure-time traces showed that sustained, significant decreases (>25 mmHg) in both of the circuit pressures occurred only on the hemolytic event dates. While direct observations of kinked tubing were not reported, the circuit pressure decreases could only be explained by severe postpump tube kinking causing a decrease in the blood flow rate. While postpump obstructions and hemolysis can occur without causing noticeable changes to the prepump arterial and venous blood line pressures (due to the highly occlusive setting of the roller blood pump), recognizing sudden and/or sustained decreases in the circuit pressures during treatment may help to prevent adverse patient events. This analysis reinforces the importance of regularly checking the blood tubing set for kinks and for monitoring the circuit pressures for atypical trends within and between treatments.     

A photonic circuit for complementary frequency shifting,in-phase quadrature/single sideband modulation and frequency multiplication: analysis and integration feasibility

A novel photonic integrated circuit architecture for implementing orthogonal frequency division multiplexing by means of photonic generation of phase-correlated sub-carriers is proposed. The circuit can also be used for implementing complex modulation, frequency up-conversion of the electrical signal to the optical domain and frequency multiplication. The principles of operation of the circuit are expounded using transmission matrices and the predictions of the analysis are verified by computer simulation using an industry-standard software tool. Non-ideal scenarios that may affect the correct function of the circuit are taken into consideration and quantified. The discussion of integration feasibility is illustrated by a photonic integrated circuit that has been fabricated using ‘library’ components and which features most of the elements of the proposed circuit architecture. The circuit is found to be practical and may be fabricated in any material platform that offers a linear electro-optic modulator such as organic or ferroelectric thin films hybridized with silicon photonics.     

Optimization of heparin anticoagulation for hemodialysis

Unfractionated heparin remains the most commonly used anticoagulant for extracorporeal therapies worldwide due to cost, years of clinical experience showing effectiveness and safety for outpatient hemodialysis. Most centers administer unfractionated heparin as an initial bolus followed by a constant infusion, which is then stopped prior to the end of the dialysis session. Although the anticoagulant effect of heparin can be monitored at the bedside, most centers take a pragmatic stance for routine outpatient hemodialysis, and adjust bolus doses and infusion rates based on visual inspection of the dialyzer header and venous air detector chamber for clots, and stop the heparin infusion based on the time taken for needle puncture sites to stop bleeding at the end of the hemodialysis session. Heparin is negatively charged and can bind to plasma proteins, leukocytes, and plastic. As such, it is important to achieve adequate mixing of heparin with blood to optimize anticoagulation within the extracorporeal circuit, by administering an intravenous bolus a few minutes prior to connecting the patient to the circuit and ensuring thorough mixing of the heparin infusion.     

Air contamination during hemodialysis should be minimized

During preparation of the hemodialysis (HD) extracorporeal circuit (ECC) a priming solution is used to remove air from the tubes and dialyzer. Ultra sound techniques have verified micro embolic signals (MES) in the ECC that may derive from clots or gas embolies. In vitro studies could clarify that embolies of air develop within the ECC and also pass the safety systems such as air traps and enter the venous line that goes into the patient. Clinical studies have confirmed the presence of MES within the ECC that pass into the return—venous—line during conventional HD without inducing an alarm. In addition, studies confirmed that such MES were present within the AV fistula and subclavian vein, but also detected within the carotid artery. Autopsy studies revealed the presence of gas embolies surrounded by clots within the lung but also brain and myocardial tissue. This review will focus on how the MES develop and measures of how the exposure can be limited.     

Active, reactive, and scattered current in circuits withnonperiodic voltage of a finite energy

A theoretical basis for describing the energy properties of circuits with nonperiodic voltage of finite energy is formulated. It is shown that the current in such a circuit can be decomposed into three orthogonal components related to three different phenomena that are responsible for the current value. This decomposition not only explains the energy properties of such circuits, but it also forms the basis for the source current minimization. Conclusions are drawn about measurements that are required for this purpose     

Kinetic Modeling of “Go Slow” Dialysis in Acute Renal Failure

Go slow” dialysis is a gentle, intermittent hemodialysis therapy for acute renal failure patients, with advantages compared to slow, continuous therapies. It employs a recirculating closed dialysate circuit. A two-pool urea kinetic model is elaborated to determine kinetic parameters from blood and dialysate concentrations. This will allow quantification of the therapy. Variable clearance is included to accurately describe the kinetic process. The model is tested in an acute renal failure patient. Solute removals, as determined from direct dialysis quantification and by the model, are comparable. Variable clearance is not required to determine the kinetic parameters, because the constant mean clearance delivers equal results. The dialysis dose, as defined, allows comparison with chronic renal therapies. It requires solute removal determined from dialysate sampling and time-averaged concentration (TAC) from the urea kinetic modeling. In the test patient, dialysis dose is lower compared to standard thrice-weekly therapies because of its lower efficiency and higher TAC, a result of his highly catabolic state.     

Case of Mycobacterium mucogenicum in a home hemodialysis patient

We present a case of a patient on home hemodialysis who developed Mycobacterium mucogenicum bacteremia. While infections with this particular organism are rare, disseminated infections have been reported and have been associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Diagnosis required appropriate cultures, understanding of natural habitat of organism and complete environmental analysis including blood, dialysis sample port, reverse osmosis and incoming water supply cultures. The patient was treated successfully with systemic antibiotics, removal of central venous catheter, patient education and complete exchange of the hemodialysis circuit.     

Reactive and unbalanced currents compensation in three-phaseasymmetrical circuits under nonsinusoidal conditions

The present work is a continuation of the author's previous work (see IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas., vol.37, p.30-34, Mar. 1988), where a new power theory of three-phase circuits under nonsinusoidal conditions was suggested. The main objective of the present work is to determine whether the theory suggested has practical applications that justify the need of measuring quantities introduced in it, particularly, whether it improves a theoretical basis for improving power properties of such circuits. It is shown that the three-phase linear asymmetrical load supplied from a symmetrical source of nonsinusoidal voltage composed of a finite number of harmonics can be converted with a reactance circuit into a symmetrical three-phase circuit of almost unity power factor. It is shown how such a reactance circuit can be designed and which quantities should be measured for this purpose     

Orthogonal decomposition of the currents in a 3-phase nonlinearasymmetrical circuit with a nonsinusoidal voltage source

The concept of orthogonal decomposition of the current in a nonlinear single-phase circuit, with a sinusoidal voltage source, into active, scattered, reactive, and generated components is extended to three-phase asymmetrical circuits. It is shown that the source current in such a circuit can be decomposed into five orthogonal components that depend on distinctively different phenomena. Four of them have the same meaning as in the single-phase circuit, with only a change in their mathematical characterization. An additional orthogonal component appears in the source current, because of the load asymmetry     

An improved approach for accurate quantitation of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, and styrene in blood

Widespread exposure to benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, and styrene (BTEXS) and the potential for this exposure to cause health effects drives the need to develop improved methods for measuring exposure. In this work, we demonstrate our latest assay for quantifying BTEXS in blood and characterize sources of both positive and negative biases. This method involves blood sample collection using common techniques followed by static headspace sampling using solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis. We found that the greatest and unexpected source of positive bias was from contamination of butyl rubber materials used in sample preparation consumables such as Vacutainer stoppers, syringe plungers, and sample vial septa. Conversely, the primary cause of negative bias observed was from the diffusion loss of BTEXS from blood during transfer into sample vials. By minimizing or eliminating these and other sources of bias, we improved method accuracy and precision to within 10% while maintaining low-picogram per milliliter detection. Furthermore, upon comparison of these results with those from other laboratories, we observe substantially lower blood BTEXS levels reported to date for nonoccupationally exposed nonsmokers. A relatively unbiased method, as such, will help elucidate any potential associations between adverse health effects and human exposure to low levels of BTEXS.     

Improvement of the Coupling between Electric Bridges and Electronic Units Based on an Analog Adder

When coupling electric bridges to electronic units based on an analog adder, it is shown that it is possible to take into account the input parameters of the first electronic stage without worsening the positive features of such a zero measuring circuit. The results of an analysis of one form of the circuit are presented. The components of the relative error are determined.     

基于SoC的动态参数记录仪微型化研究

存储测试的主要特点是测试仪器置于被测对象内部或被测环境中实时地获取动态参数,为了减小测试仪器对被测对象的影响,需要减小测试仪器的体积,实现测试仪器的微型化.针对存储测试仪器的微型化需求,提出利用SoC系统集成、模块化结构等技术,将数字电路的ADC模块、控制模块、存储模块、接口模块等集成在专用SoC芯片中,同时,将测试电路分为模拟电路、SoC数字电路、电池等模块,立体封装在机械壳体里,设计并实现了微型化的动态参数记录仪.基于SoC的微型化动态参数记录仪体积约10 cm³,可以嵌入被测体内或者置入被测环境中,实时获取相关动态参数.试验表明,基于SoC的微型动态参数记录仪可以用于应变、侵彻加速度、火炮膛内压力等动态参数的测试.     

In Vivo Blood Characterization From Bioimpedance Spectroscopy of Blood Pooling

Characterization of blood impedance properties is important to estimate clinical diagnostic indexes such as hematocrit, glucose level, and hydration. Current in vivo bioimpedance spectroscopy methods are performed on a body appendage and thus represent a combined measurement of all tissues in the measurement field, rather than the blood individually. This paper describes a novel in vivo measurement technique to calculate bioelectrical properties of blood while excluding the disturbances from surrounding tissues, based on analysis of the impedance changes caused by blood accumulation. The forearm was modeled as a cylinder containing anatomical structures such as skin-fat layer, muscles, and bones. Blood volume was modeled as the inner cylinder. A tetrapolar electrode system was applied to a human forearm, and the impedance curves measured with and without blood pooling were processed to calculate the impedance parameters of arterial blood. The bioelectrical parameters of blood were estimated by fitting the blood curve to a Cole-Cole model using the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) nonlinear curve-fitting method. The proposed approach was verified using an experimental phantom, an equivalent circuit model, and a preliminary human experiment. Results show that electrical properties of blood and surrounding tissues can successfully be separated. Of Cole-Cole parameters, the characteristic frequency fc is the most reliable parameter to characterize blood bioelectrical properties. This method may allow a simplified measurement of blood characteristic parameters for many biomedical and clinical monitoring applications.     

Accurate and computer efficient modelling of single event transients in CMOS circuits

A new analytical modelling approach to evaluate the impact of single event transients (SETs) on CMOS circuits has been developed. The model allows evaluation of transient pulse amplitude and width (duration) at the logic level, without the need to run circuit level (Spice-like) simulations. The SET mechanism in MOS circuits is normally investigated by Spice-like circuit simulation. The problem is that electrical simulation is time-consuming and must be performed for each different circuit topology, incident particle and track. The availability of a simple model at the logic gate level may greatly improve circuit sensitivity analysis. The electrical response of a circuit to an ionising particle hit depends on many parameters, such as circuit topology, circuit geometry and waveform shape of the charge injection mechanism. The proposed analytical model, which is accurate and computer efficient, captures these transistor-level effects of ionising particle hits and models them to the logic level of abstraction. The key idea is to exploit a model that allows the rapid determination of the sensitivity of any logic gate in a CMOS circuit, without the need to run circuit simulations. The model predicts whether or not a particle hit generates a SET, which may propagate to the next logic gate or memory element, making possible to analyse the sensitivity of each node in a complex circuit. Model derivation is strongly related to circuit electrical behaviour, being consistent with technology scaling. The model is suitable for integration into CAD tools, intending to make automated evaluation of circuit sensitivity to SET possible, as well as automated estimation of soft error rate     

Combination hemodialysis and centrifugal therapeutic plasma exchange: 18 years of Canadian experience

Hemodialysis (HD) and therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) are extracorporeal treatments that may both be required in the same patient. When provided separately, 7–8 hours of therapy time is required. Simultaneous administration of both therapies can reduce time and personnel requirements. We report our 18‐year institutional experience with combination HD and centrifugal TPE therapy. During combination therapy, the TPE circuit is attached to the HD circuit through an extension blood line connected to the HD venous return line, allowing simultaneous operation of both circuits. The HD circuit is anticoagulated with heparin and the TPE circuit with regional citrate. Blood flow rates through the HD circuit can reach 350 mL/min with plasma removal rates in the TPE circuit up to 60 mL/min. Ninety‐two patients received a total of 621 treatments between December 1993 and July 2011. All treatments were completed within 4 hours. No major treatment‐related adverse events occurred and less than 10% of treatments were complicated by minor events. Main indications for treatment were ANCA (anti‐neutrophilic cytoplasmic antibody) vasculitis (n = 25), Goodpasture's/antiglomerular basement membrane disease (n = 24), adult thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura/hemolytic uremic syndrome (n = 24), and acute antibody‐mediated renal transplant rejection (n = 8). Overall rates of renal recovery, in‐hospital mortality, and overall mortality at 18‐year follow‐up were 45% (41/ 92), 2% (2/92), and 21% (19/ 92), respectively, compatible with published literature. Combination HD and TPE is safe, efficient, and requires less human resources and time than conventional sequential therapy. It should be considered in patients whose treatment regimen includes HD and TPE.     

Radiation dose management in CT, SPECT/CT and PET/CT techniques

New imaging technologies utilising X rays and radiopharmaceuticals are continuously under development. The benefit of computed tomography (CT) has been so dramatic that there is a tendency to overuse it and not to place enough efforts into optimisation of the technique. It is also now more and more common to combine two imaging techniques into a single investigation, such as PET/CT and SPECT/CT--the so-called 'hybrid imaging'. The increasing radiation exposure from CT has been of concern for some years and is now receiving increased attention from health professionals, authorities, manufacturers and patient groups. The relatively high radiation doses from PET and SPECT investigations have only recently been discussed. The aim of this article is to provide information on developing technologies and clinical techniques for 3D imaging using ionising radiation and their associated radiation dose to patients and staff. Tools for improved dose management are also discussed.     

Numerical simulation of the electro-acoustical response of a transducer excited by a time-varying electrical circuit

Existing methods for the modeling of piezoelectric transducer response are generally frequency domain-based. The major disadvantage of this type of model is that they cannot take into account the electrical elements present in the emitting or receiving circuit whose values vary with respect to time. The need for a method that accounts for time-varying elements arises, for example, when the circuit comprises active electrical elements, such as diodes, or when the transducer is excited by capacitive discharge via a switch. Indeed, in this last example, it is known that the output impedance of the generator depends on the state of the switch: if it is off, its value is high; if it is on, its value is low. A time-domain-based method is presented to compute the electro-acoustical response of a piezoelectric transducer and its electrical circuit, taking into account the presence of time-varying elements. An application to a current example makes it possible to show the influence of these elements on waveforms and the capacity of our model to account for them     

A feedback-controlled ferroresonant voltage regulator

A new regulated rectifier which combines a ferroresonant regulator with a simple control circuit is described herein. The voltage regulating function normally provided in a ferroresonant regulator by the saturating core is provided by the control circuit in this new regulated rectifier. The control circuit provides regulation by varying the amplitude of the alternating voltage feeding the rectifier and filter. By incorporating feedback into the control circuit, regulation of better than ±1/2 percent for line, load, frequency, and temperature changes can easily be attained. The new feedback-controlled circuit retains many desirable properties of conventional ferroresonant regulators such as half-cycle transient response, good input power factor, ideal output waveform for rectification and filtering, high efficiency, short circuit protection, and suppression of input voltage spikes. Additional features are level set, improved efficiency, lower stray magnetic fields than observed with conventional ferroresonant regulators, and, primarily, precision regulation. Data on an 800-watt regulated rectifier employing the new circuit are also presented.     

一种简易数字转速表电路

介绍了一种其电路原理与脉冲计数式仪表不同的数字转速表电路。它将输入脉冲经频率一电压转换器（PVC）变换成与之成正比的直流电压，采用数字电压表显示测量结果。文中详细地论述了FVC的工作原理，分析了整机电路，最后给出了实验结果。