Mode Power Research Articles

Harnessing Bacterial Agents to Modulate the Tumor Microenvironment and Enhance Cancer Immunotherapy

Cancer immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment by leveraging the immune system to attack tumors. However, its effectiveness is often hindered by the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME), where a complex interplay of tumor, stromal, and immune cells undermines antitumor responses and allows tumors to evade immune detection. This review explores innovative strategies to modify the TME and enhance immunotherapy outcomes, focusing on the therapeutic potential of engineered bacteria. These bacteria exploit the unique characteristics of the TME, such as abnormal vasculature and immune suppression, to selectively accumulate in tumors. Genetically modified bacteria can deliver therapeutic agents, including immune checkpoint inhibitors and cytokines, directly to tumor sites. This review highlights how bacterial therapeutics can target critical immune cells within the TME, such as myeloid-derived suppressor cells and tumor-associated macrophages, thereby promoting antitumor immunity. The combination of bacterial therapies with immune checkpoint inhibitors or adoptive cell transfer presents a promising strategy to counteract immune suppression. Continued research in this area could position bacterial agents as a powerful new modality to reshape the TME and enhance the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy, particularly for tumors resistant to conventional treatments.

“Quality over quantity:” smaller, targeted lesions optimize quality of life outcomes after MR-guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy for essential tremor

IntroductionMRI-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) thalamotomy of the nucleus ventralis intermedius (VIM) has emerged as a powerful and safe treatment modality for refractory essential tremor. While the efficacy of this technique has been extensively described, much remains unclear about how to optimize MRgFUS for patient quality of life (QoL), which may depend as much on a patient’s adverse effect profile as on the magnitude of tremor suppression. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has been used to help guide targeting strategies but can pose certain challenges for scalability.MethodsIn this study, we propose the use of a simplified patient-reported change in QoL assessment to create an unbiased representation of a patient’s perception of overall benefit. Further, we propose a large-sample-size, high-resolution, 7 T DTI database from the Human Connectome Project to create a normative tractographic atlas (NTA) with representations of ventral intermediate nucleus subregions most likely to be structurally connected to the motor cortex. The NTA network-based hotspots are then nonlinearly fitted to each patient’s T1-weighted MRI.Results and discussionWe found that smaller lesion size and higher extent to which the lesion is within the NTA hotspot predicted patients’ change in QoL at last follow-up. Though long-term change in clinical rating scale for tremor (CRST) impacted QoL, neither intraoperative tremor suppression nor the patient’s long-term perception of tremor suppression correlated with QoL. We provide an intraoperative threshold for accumulated dose volume (<0.06 cc), which along with the network-based hotspot in the NTA, may facilitate an easily scalable approach to help limit treatment to small, safe yet effective lesions that optimize change in QoL after MRgFUS.

SENSORY EXPERIMENTS, SENSORY ORDERS, AND AESTHETIC EDUCATION

ABSTRACTErica Fretwell's Sensory Experiments: Psychophysics, Race, and the Aesthetics of Feeling (2020) raises crucial questions about the making of a concept of difference through marshaling the senses to the ends of a sensory order in postbellum United States. In this essay, I argue that Fretwell's book has opened a crucial horizon for rethinking how race and ideas of difference marking gender and disability were remade through the short‐lived but deeply consequential science of psychophysics. While the study focuses on how psychophysics and its aftermaths recast questions of difference in the US, Fretwell indirectly poses a major challenge for the critique of the twentieth‐century experience of race elsewhere—for example, of apartheid in South Africa. In this review essay, I argue that, beyond the US, Fretwell's meticulously elaborated argument renews approaches to the problem and problematization of race and difference. Read in relation to the making of race in South Africa, the book inadvertently brings into view a deceptive plot of petty apartheid, a banal everyday constitution of a sensory order that shares its origins in the discourse of psychophysics. When placed alongside the more pronounced forms of grand apartheid, the resultant psychophysical aesthesis conscripts the human sensorium to a cybernetic mode of power that shifts between a racialization of labor and a racialization of desire. Fretwell effectively invites us to consider the endpoints of psychophysics in a hierarchy of the senses, for which an aesthetic education may yet be required to short‐circuit and reroute the senses through intervals of synesthesia.

Piezoelectric deicing system for aeronautics: Extensional mode actuator and power supply

AbstractRecent research shows a growing interest in low‐power avionic deicing systems, in particular, those based on piezoelectric actuators for their energy efficiency. The system generates micrometric vibrations in the structure to delaminate and break the ice with a low power requirement. However, designing the power supply and its control for driving piezoelectric actuators is challenging due to their distinctive capacitive behavior at most frequencies, especially in deicing applications requiring high operational frequency. This contribution addresses the two cross‐dependent parts of the deicing system, that is the piezoelectric actuator designed for breaking any kind of ice on a large area and its power supply made of a 1 kW/200 V/2 MHz auxiliary resonant commutated pole inverter (ARCPI). The choice of this converter is based on the specific constraints of the application, such as varying the operating frequency with the actuator working conditions, the long cables and necessary insulation between the actuator and its supply, the soft‐switching operation and reactive energy balancing for a good efficiency. Based on these criteria, the converter was developed and realized in the laboratory. Deicing tests confirmed effective operation with a power input density of 122 mW/cm2, using nine piezoelectric patches per dm2.

Improving quality of electricity generated by grid-tied inverters in solar power plants in low generated power mode using frequency adaptive PWM

Abstract The article presents the results of a study of the dependence of the quality indicators of electricity generated by solar power plants in three-phase electrical networks on the level of generated power. In the course of the study, it was established that when the generated power is reduced, the grid voltage inverters that are part of the solar power plants cause an increase in the share of higher harmonic currents to the electric grid. An analysis of international standards regarding the quality requirements of the generated current was performed, which showed that when the level of generated power decreases, the quality of electric energy decreases and may not meet the requirements of the standard. The algorithm of frequency-adaptive pulse-width modulation is proposed, which allows to improve the quality indicators of the electricity generated by the grid inverter of the voltage of the solar power plant to the electrical grid.

Proposal design and thermodynamic optimization of an afterburning-type isothermal compressed air energy storage system integrated with molten salt thermal storage

The isothermal compressed air energy storage is a potential technique for large-scale energy storage. In this study, the molten salt thermal storage is integrated with the afterburning-type isothermal compressed air energy storage system, which uses liquid piston compression technique, to enhance the thermal performances. Thermodynamic models of the hybrid energy storage system were developed, and the genetic algorithm was used to optimize multiple parameters to enhance the energy efficiency. Four operation modes, i.e., the high, medium-high, medium-low, and the low output power modes were proposed, to enhance the operational flexibility of the hybrid energy storage system. When the system operates in the operation mode of medium-low output power, a portion of afterburning heat is stored in the molten salt and used in the operation mode of low output power. Results show that the roundtrip efficiency of high, medium-high, medium-low, and the low output power modes are 63.57 %, 59.33 %, 57.13 %, and 83.28 %, respectively. Exergy analysis was carried out to quantify the irreversibilities of key components. In the three modes of operation with afterburning, the combustion chamber has the highest portion of exergy loss, and in the operation mode without afterburning, the exergy loss of heat exchangers is higher than that of expanders.

Power and theory: toward a multidimensional explanation of the dynamic political field

ABSTRACT What theories explain a dynamic political field and its outcome? Can we judiciously combine theories into a better hybrid explanation? To be valid, a theory’s claimed causal factor must manifest in the field as a representative mode of micro power used between actors in dyads (its mechanism). The modes’ relative presence indicates the theories’ relative causal validity. The Integrated Structurational Analysis method analyzes (hundreds of) actor dyads to find evidence on the relative presence of the modes. The results indicate a shifting, multidimensional causal timescape driving the field and its outcome. Findings from a Japanese case study illustrate the method.

Design of a Series of Inverse Continuous Modes Power Amplifier Based on Bandpass Filter

ABSTRACTIn this paper, a broadband high‐efficiency power amplifier (PA) with filtering characteristics is proposed. This PA is designed using a series of inverse continuous modes (SICMs) and adds a novel coupled microstrip line filter structure. The terminal of this structure is composed of microstrip lines cascaded to improve the out‐of‐band suppression effect. This filter can achieve low in‐band insertion loss, high passband selectivity, as well as deep stopband rejection performance simultaneously. A PA was designed and implemented using a 10 W GaN HEMT device, verifying its wideband characteristics. The measurement result shows that the 39.6–41.6 dBm output power (Pout), 61.6%–73.7% drain efficiency (DE), and 8.6–10.8 dB gain are achieved at 2.2–2.9 GHz.

Thermal modelling and layout optimization of GaN half-bridge IC with integrated drivers and power HEMTs

The paper presents the results of thermal modeling of a half-bridge monolithic integrated circuit (IC) with integrated drivers and enhanced mode power high electron mobility transistors, based on a GaN-on-SOI heterostructure. It had been established that the main heat sources in the IC were the half-bridge GaN HEMTs. The heat from the half-bridge GaN HEMTs propagates in the chip and leads to heating of the logic block and gate drivers. Heating of half-bridge GaN HEMTs leads to increased channel resistance and IC output current drop. Heating of the gate drivers reduces driving current, as a result, increases the switching time of the half-bridge GaN HEMTs. Heating of the logic block increases the rise and fall times of the generated control signals, which worsens the dynamic characteristics of the IC. A comparative analysis of heat propagation for IC dies based on GaN-on-SOI and GaN-on-Si heterostructures showed that GaN-on-SOI structure has a 40% greater junction-to-backside thermal resistivity compared to GaN-on-Si structure. In this case, the specific thermal resistance in the direction of heat propagation from the hotspot of the transistor to the backside of the die for the GaN-on-SOI structure is almost two orders of magnitude greater than in the direction of its propagation to the frontside of the chip. The results obtained were used for IC layout optimization. The rearrangement of GaN-on-SOI IC functional blocks, as well as to introduction of additional heat-spreading elements on the frontside of chip were carried out during the optimization.

Developed in conversation: a duoethnographic evaluation of a participatory action research project

ABSTRACT We as authors represent two organizations engaged in a research-practice partnership (RPP) focused primarily on an intergenerational participatory action research project (PAR). Given the way we co-constructed our work in this partnership, we desired a co-constructed approach to evaluating the work as well. This paper uses duoethnography as a methodology to evaluate our PAR process and partnership, with a goal of examining the degree to which our work aligned with and departed from established principles of community-based research and critical participatory action research. Findings showed that our process and partnership aligned with some principles, but there is room for growth if we hope to fully support co-researchers on future PAR projects. We see the potential for duoethnography to facilitate ongoing, critical reflection and relationship building across RPPs. We also see it as a powerful mode of evaluation for RPPs because of its ability to surface insights that may get missed through more traditional evaluation methods.

Leadership in the Church of England at a Time of Crisis: Toward a Deconstruction of Normativity

All too frequently, privileged white male power is unable to extricate its sense of normalcy from the leadership it exercises. This essay embarks upon a deconstruction of the modes of power and authority at work in the current leadership of the Church of England. This includes upholding a presumptive quasi-regal polity blended with the inevitable executive managerialism—what is termed an “ecclesiocracy” run by “ecclesiocrats,” supporting episcopacy. In beginning to deconstruct the power of the polity, we can see how alterity relates to what is held to be normative. This, in turn, poses searching questions for those who claim to hold presiding-mediating roles in English Anglican polity, which extends the life of some disputes and maintains averse hierarchical approaches to diversity.

Modular high frequency resonant inverters in constant power mode

ABSTRACT In this paper, a modular resonant inverter is proposed for high frequency industrial heating applications. To maintain a uniform heating profile, the inverter is operated in constant power mode. A hybrid voltage and frequency control is proposed. Voltage control is used for active power tracking while frequency control is used to minimise circulating current due to reactive power and to achieve soft switching for the inverter switches. Analytical and test results are shown to verify the proposed approach.

Intelligent Modular DNA Lysosome-Targeting Chimera Nanodevice for Precision Tumor Therapy.

Lysosome targeting chimeras (LYTACs) have emerged as a powerful modality that can eliminate traditionally undruggable extracellular tumor-related pathogenic proteins, but their low bioavailability and nonspecific distribution significantly restrict their efficacy in precision tumor therapy. Developing a LYTAC system that can selectively target tumor tissues and enable a modular design is crucial but challenging. We here report a programmable nanoplatform for tumor-specific degradation of multipathogenic proteins using an intelligent modular DNA LYTAC (IMTAC) nanodevice. We employ circular DNA origami to integrate predesigned modular multitarget protein binding sites and pH-responsive protein degradation promoters that specifically recognize cell-surface lysosome-shuttling receptors in tumor tissues. By precisely manipulating the stoichiometry and modularity of promoters and ligands targeting diverse proteins, the IMTAC nanodevice enables accurate localization and delivery into tumor tissues, where the acidic tumor microenvironment triggers degradation switch activation, multivalent binding, and efficient degradation of various prespecified proteins. The tissue-specificity and multiple ligands in IMTACs significantly improve the drug utilization rate while reducing off-target effects. Importantly, this system demonstrates the capability of collabo-rative degradation of EGFR and PDL1 in tumor tissue for combined targeting and immunity therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), resulting in obvious tumor necrosis and inhibition of tumor growth in vivo even at low concentrations. This study presents a unique strategy for building a general, intelligent, modular, and simple encoded nanoplatform for designing precision medicine degraders and developing proprietary antitumor drugs.

Hourly electricity CO[formula omitted] intensity profiles based on the real operation of large-scale natural gas combined cycle cogeneration plants

The decarbonization of energy systems is a major challenge that requires complex cross-sectoral strategies that need to be supported by energy modeling. As many technologies rely on electricity, an accurate estimation of its CO2 intensity is of utmost importance for the reliability of modeling results. When electricity is generated from fossil sources, its CO2 intensity depends on several parameters. This research paper presents an hourly calculation of the CO2 intensity of power generation from natural gas combined cycles, based on real data from several years of operation of three plants. As these plants are also operated in combined heat and power mode, two alternative allocation methods are compared. The results confirm the variability of CO2 intensity based on the different operation strategies of the plants and the share of heat and electricity generated. The hourly analysis shows average values in the range of 230–250 gCO2/kWh in winter, rising to around 330–370 gCO2/kWh in summer. The real CO2 intensity profiles presented in this paper can be integrated into energy planning models to improve their ability to estimate the potential benefits of different decarbonization solutions by including the effect of the operational profiles over the day and the year.

Forecasting Motor Vehicle Ownership and Energy Demand Considering Electric Vehicle Penetration

Given the increasing environmental concerns and energy consumption, the transformation of the new energy vehicle industry is a key link in the innovation of the energy structure. The shift from traditional fossil fuels to clean energy encompasses various dimensions such as technological innovation, policy support, infrastructure development, and changes in consumer preferences. Predicting the future ownership of electric vehicles (EVs) and then estimating the energy demand for transportation is a pressing issue in the field of new energy. This study starts from dimensions such as cost, technology, environment, and consumer preferences, deeply explores the influencing factors on the ownership of EVs, analyzes the mechanisms of various factors on the development of EVs, establishes a predictive model for the ownership of motor vehicles considering the penetration of electric vehicles based on system dynamics, and then simulates the future annual trends in EV and conventional vehicle (CV) ownership under different scenarios based on the intensity of government funding. Using energy consumption formulas under different power modes, this study quantifies the electrification energy demand for transportation flows as fleet structure changes. The results indicate that under current policy implementation, the domestic ownership of EVs and CVs is projected to grow to 172.437 million and 433.362 million, respectively, by 2035, with the proportion of EV ownership in vehicles and energy consumption per thousand vehicles at 28.46% and 566,781 J·km−1, respectively. By increasing the technical and environmental factors by 40% and extending the preferential policies for purchasing new energy vehicles, domestic EV ownership is expected to increase to 201.276 million by 2035. This study provides data support for the government to formulate promotional policies and can also offer data support for the development of basic charging infrastructure.

The quest for continuous improvement in light of power disciplinary, sovereign and pastoral power in a state-initiated school improvement programme

ABSTRACT There is a global movement of education reform, informed by a neoliberal agenda, emphasising continuous improvement and accountability through performance measurements, surveillance and monitoring. This puts local school actors under constant gaze and endless pressure to perform. This article uses a Swedish state-initiated school improvement programme, Co-operation for the Best School Possible (CBS), to investigate how power is exercised within the programme and to discuss possible implications for the local actors. A theoretical model based on Foucault’s power modes of sovereign, disciplinary and pastoral power as well as governmentality is used. Empirically, the article builds on a case study from a municipality participating in CBS. The analysis takes impression of Jackson and Mazzei’s “thinking with theory”. The CBS programme illustrates the widespread and multifaceted nature of power in educational governance, prompting local actors to internalise norms, self-regulate, and continuously evaluate their practices. This study highlights the importance of understanding the interplay of different power modes in shaping educational practices and the professional lives of local school actors. This article has contributed to questioning the common sensical, and it has made the exercises of power recognisable through the use of Foucault’s concepts.

Efficient power management strategies for AC/DC microgrids with multiple voltage buses for sustainable renewable energy integration

This study proposes a distinct coordination control and power management approach for hybrid residential microgrids (MGs). The method enhances the feasibility of hybrid MGs by reducing power loss on ILBCs. The MG has been modeled with solar and wind generators. The MG comprises multiple direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) sub-microgrids (SMGs) with varying voltage levels. The coordination control and power management strategies for autonomous hybrid MGs with primary and secondary control levels. A novel technique is proposed to ensure seamless and precise power transfer among SMGs while minimizing the constant operation of ILBCs in islanded mode, with a focus on the secondary control level. The study uses MATLAB/Simulink to analyze on-grid, off-grid, and transient mode power transfer among MG. The MG has been operative during transient/faulty conditions. The results indicate that the proposed method demonstrates excellent adaptability in managing power flow.

Class iCGF–1 Mode Power Amplifier for Enhancing the Linearity of the Traditional Continuous Class F–1 Mode

ABSTRACTIn this paper, the iCGF−1 mode is proposed to compensate the amplitude‐to‐amplitude modulation (AM/AM) distortion of the traditional continuous class F−1 mode while maintaining the high efficiency. The AM/AM profile of the iCGF−1 mode is mathematically expressed simultaneously as a function of the input nonlinearity parameter and conduction angle , which makes the iCGF−1 mode more flexible in controlling the AM/AM profile. The first inflection point of the AM/AM profile can be moved to a higher output power level through theoretical deduction by adjusting the second harmonic source impedance and gate bias voltage to increase the values of and . This flattens the AM/AM profile while the efficiency profile remains almost the same as that of the traditional continuous class F−1 mode. The performance of the iCGF−1 mode is verified through simulation and experimental measurements. The iCGF−1 PA is fabricated with CGH40010F and has a frequency range of 2–2.6 GHz. The drain efficiency is 70.1%–77.9%, and the output power is 41.1–41.7 dBm. The linearity is tested with a 100 MHz 5G NR signal (the peak average power ratio (PAPR) is 8.5 dB) at 2.3 GHz. The worst adjacent channel power ratio (ACPR) is −32.3 dBc without digital predistortion (DPD) and −52.1 dBc with DPD. The results show that the iCGF−1 mode has successfully compensated the AM/AM distortion of the traditional continuous class F mode and maintaining high efficiency.

Quantification of Synergistic Two-Color Covalent Bond Formation.

The emergence of highly wavelength resolved reactivity information for complex photochemical reaction processes allows the establishment of multi-color reaction modes. One particularly powerful mode is the synergistic two-color reaction, where two colors of light have to be present in the same volume element to either enable or enhance photochemical reactivity that leads to a specific photoproduct. Herein, we introduce a two-color synergistic photochemical reaction system based on a diaryl indenone epoxide (DIO) photoswitch and the cis-to-trans isomerization of a bridged ring-strained azobenzene (SA), which respond to ultraviolet (365 nm) and visible light (430 nm), respectively, with different rates, forming a well-defined heterocyclic photoadduct, DIOSA, that we structurally confirm via single crystal x-ray diffraction (SXRD). To quantitatively capture the effectiveness of the dual-color irradiation as a function of the reaction conditions such as light intensity and starting material ratio as a function of product yield, we introduce a parameter, the photochemical synergistic ratio. A reduced synergistic ratio- that extrapolates to conditions of infinitesimal conversions - allows to compare the efficiency of the synergistic photochemistry at varying reaction conditions.

Optimal design and dispatch of phosphoric acid fuel cell hybrid system with direct heat recovery through coupled calculation and artificial intelligence-based optimization

A phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) is the first-generation of modern fuel cells that can use waste heat in various ways. This study presents a PAFC hybrid system with direct heat recovery. Direct heat recovery uses PAFC cooling water as the working fluid for the steam turbine, simplifying the system and improving performance. The PAFC in this hybrid system acts as a power generator and evaporator. The hybrid system operates in power generation mode (mode_pg) and combined heat and power mode (mode_chp). The overall behavior of the hybrid system was analyzed using a coupled calculation method. Under mode_pg, the electric power and efficiency of the hybrid system were 37.0% and 10.5% higher, respectively, than those of a conventional system. The thermal power and CHP efficiency in mode_chp were 35.7% and 8.8%p higher, respectively, than those of a conventional system. The optimal dispatch was obtained using an artificial intelligence-based optimization framework that considered two scenarios. As a result, the optimal demand was 25.8% higher when the hybrid system with the optimal dispatch was used. In addition, the economic and environmental indices were 7.3% and 6.8% lower, respectively, than the conventional system, highlighting the feasibility and eco-friendliness of the hybrid system.