Direct analysis of transient stability: Experience with the Taipower system

A direct method for transient stability analysis of a multimachine power system is presented. Emphasis is placed on the detailed development and evaluation of the proposed method in transient stability assessment. An energy-type Lyapunov function, taking into account the effect of transfer conductance, is introduced first. The potential energy boundary surface method is then adopted to determine the critical energy value quickly. The main computational burden in the direct method lies in the reduction of the admittance matrices. In this paper, an efficient reduction technique incorporating the sparsity technique and compensation theory is developed. Finally, the proposed method was tested on the Taipower system, which is the only power system in Taiwan. The results obtained confirm the validity and accuracy of the proposed method, and hence demonstrate the superiority and potential of the direct method in real power system applications.     

Hyperdynamic circulation of cirrhotic rats: role of substance P and its relationship to nitric oxide

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that excessive formation of nitric oxide (NO) is responsible for the hyperdynamic circulation observed in portal hypertension. Substance P is a neuropeptide partly cleared by the liver and causes vasodilatation through the activation of the endothelial NO pathway. However, there are no previously published data concerning the plasma level of substance P in cirrhotic rats and its relationship to NO. METHODS: Plasma concentrations of substance P and nitrate/nitrite (an index of NO production) were determined in control rats and cirrhotic rats with or without ascites using an enzyme-linked immununosorbent assay and a colorimetric assay, respectively. In addition, systemic and portal hemodynamics were evaluated by a thermodilution technique and catheterization. RESULTS: Cirrhotic rats with and without ascites had a lower systemic vascular resistance (2.6 +/- 0.2 and 3.9 +/- 0.4 mmHg ml(-1) x min x 100 g body weight, respectively) and higher portal pressure (14.6 +/- 0.6 and 11.3 +/- 1.8 mmHg) than control rats (6.5 +/- 0.3 mmHg x ml(-1) x min x 100 g BW and 6.8 +/- 0.2 mmHg, respectively, P < 0.05), and cirrhotic rats with ascites had the lowest systemic vascular resistance. Plasma levels of nitrate/nitrite progressively increased in relation to the severity of liver dysfunction (control rats, 2.7 +/- 0.5 nmol/ml; cirrhotic rats without ascites, 5.6 +/- 1.3 nmol/ml; cirrhotic rats with ascites, 8.3 +/- 2.2 nmol/ml; P < 0.05). Cirrhotic rats with ascites displayed higher plasma values of substance P (57.7 +/- 5.9 pg/ml) than cirrhotic rats without ascites (37.9 +/- 3.1 pg/ml, P < 0.05) and control rats (30.1 +/- 1.0 pg/ml, P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in plasma substance P values between control rats and cirrhotic rats without ascites (P > 0.05). No correlation was found between plasma levels of substance P and nitrate/nitrite (r = 0.318, P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Excessive formation of NO may be responsible, at least partly, for the hemodynamic derangements in cirrhosis. Although substance P may not participate in the initiation of a hyperdynamic circulation in cirrhosis, it may contribute to the maintenance of the hyperdynamic circulation observed in cirrhotic rats with ascites.     

关于M序列的自相关函数的一点注记

本文讨论了Ｍ序列的自相关性，并证明了：当０＜｜ｔ－２＾ｎ－１｜≤［ｎ－１／２］时，｜ＣＭ（ｔ）｜≤２＾ｎ－１。     

Fracture behaviour of unmodified and rubber-modified epoxies under hydrostatic pressure

The fracture toughness and uniaxial tensile yield strengths of unmodified and CTBN-rubber-modified epoxies were measured under hydrostatic pressure. The purpose of these experiments was to learn how suppressing cavitation in rubber particles affects the deformation mechanisms and the fracture toughness of rubber-modified epoxy. It was found that the cavitation of CTBN-rubber could be suppressed at a relatively low pressure (between 30 and 38 M Pa). With cavitation suppressed, the rubber particles are unable to induce massive shearyielding in the epoxy matrix, and the fracture toughness of the rubber-modified epoxy is no higher than that of the unmodified epoxy in the pressure range studied. Unmodified epoxy shows a brittle-to-ductile transition in fracture toughness test. The reason for this transition is the postponement of the cracking process by applied pressure.Work performed while on a sabbatical leave at the University of Michigan.     

Classification and prediction of the critical heat flux using fuzzy theory and artificial neural networks

A new method to predict the critical heat flux (CHF) is proposed, based on the fuzzy clustering and artificial neural network. The fuzzy clustering classifies the experimental CHF data into a few data clusters (data groups) according to the data characteristics. After classification of the experimental data, the characteristics of the resulting clusters are discussed with emphasis on the distribution of the experimental conditions and physical mechanism. The CHF data in each group are trained in an artificial neural network to predict the CHF. The artificial neural network adjusts the weight so as to minimize the prediction error within the corresponding cluster. Application of the proposed method to the KAIST CHF data bank shows good prediction capability of the CHF, better than other existing methods.     

Skeleton chain coding for Chinese characters

The compression of Chinese characters is very important for Chinese office automation and desktop publishing. In this paper, various methods are used to compress 13,051 Chinese characters losslessly by coding their skeleton points. The skeleton points are composed of isolated points and curves. To trace every point in a curve once and consecutively is a NP problem. Therefore, we use contour path following and revisiting algorithms to trace skeleton curves with chain codes. The remaining isolated skeleton points are encoded by an Elias code. Our coding method has a better compression rate than that of conventional skeleton coding.     

InGaN/GaN MQW p–n junction photodetectors

InGaN/GaN multiquantum well (MQW) p–n junction photodetectors with semi-transparent Ni/Au electrodes were fabricated and characterized. It was found that the fabricated InGaN/GaN MQW p–n junction photodetectors exhibit a 20 V breakdown voltage and a 3.5 V forward 20 mA turn on voltage. It was also found that the photocurrent to dark current contrast ratio is higher than 10⁵ when a 0.4 V reverse bias was applied to the InGaN/GaN MQW p–n junction photodetectors. Furthermore, it was found that the maximum responsivity was 1.28 and 1.76 A/W with a 0.1 and 3 V applied reverse bias, respectively.     

接入网蓄电池的维护以及对整流器的要求

该针对阀控密封铅酸蓄电池的特性和使用环境，较全面的论述了接入网点蓄电池的选型要求与维护方式。     

Calculation of wall heat transfer in pipeexpansion turbulent flows

A new modified low-Reynolds-number k-ε turbulence [Chang, Hsieh and Chen (CHC)] model, which possesses the proper near-wall limiting behaviors and is free of the singular defect occurring near the reattachment point when applied to separated flows, is examined for use in wall heat transfer problems in flow with pipe expansion geometry. Another eight low-Reynolds-number k-ε models, found in open literature, are also examined in this study. Attention is specifically focused on the flow region surrounding the reattachment point. Comparative results show that only the CHC model and the model developed by Abe et al. [Abe, Kondoh and Nagano (AKN model)] can yield satisfactory distributions of the Nusselt number along the wall. However, the CHC model adopted the same model constants as conventionally used for the standard k-ε model. Thus, the CHC model is more universal than the AKN model.     

A 4/7 kHz audio bandwidth selectable digital phone interface (DPI)chip with on-chip analog functions and modem

The Digital Phone Interface (DPI) is designed for a new generation of digital telephone terminals for private exchanges, This circuit gives a total solution for all telephone functions, thereby including DSP functions, voice coding/decoding and analog front end, signal generators for DTMF and ringing, a modem for data transfer between terminal and exchange and a multitude of interfaces to communicate to the external world. Besides the normal earpiece micro and speaker, handsfree operation is available by using a selectable input low-noise microphone amplifier and an additional 50 Ω mWLS driver. For the handsfree operation, a digital AGC and anti-oscillation (anti-larsen) function is implemented. The line modem generates a modified RTZ (WAL2) code and is able to cover distances up to 1.5 km. In addition, the component is extensible with external signal processing modules (echo cancelling) and is also able to transfer a 7 kHz speech bandwidth. The device is a mixed analog/digital design produced in a 1.2 μm CMOS technology on 46 mm ² die area and consumes 200 mW