Bench Set Research Articles

Muscle Oxygen Saturation Dynamics During Upper-Body Resistance Exercise

Research examining the changes in muscle oxygen saturation across multiple sets of resistance exercise is limited. The purpose of this study was to describe the physiological response of muscle oxygenation parameters during upper-body resistance exercise and examine the differential effects of relevant participant characteristics on resistance training performance and muscle oxygen saturation dynamics. Sixty-one recreationally trained men (n = 44; 21.8 ± 2.6 years) and women (n = 17; 20.2 ± 1.8 years) completed five-repetition maximum sets of barbell bench presses at a load equal to 75% 1-RM with a 2 min rest interval. Muscle oxygen saturation (SmO2) dynamics within the anterior deltoid were monitored using a portable near-infrared spectroscopy sensor. The percent change in SmO2 (∆%SmO2), the muscle oxygen re-saturation rate (SmO2RecSlope), and the highest measured SmO2 value during recovery periods (SmO2Peak) were measured. Two-way (sex [men, women] x time [sets 1–5]) repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVA) were performed on muscle saturation variables. To examine the effect of relevant controlling variables, separate analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) with repeated measures were also performed. No differences were seen with ∆%SmO2 across sets. The main effects for sets occurred for SmO2RecSlope, whereby a decline was noted on sets 4 and 5 (p = 0.001) compared to set 1. Additionally, SmO2Peak was the lowest on set 5 (p < 0.001) compared to all other sets. Moreover, body mass (p = 0.013), diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.044), and mean arterial pressure (p = 0.033) for ∆%SmO2 were the only significant covariates noted amongst the muscle oxygenation variables. In conclusion, no sex differences and only a few set differences in muscle oxygen saturation dynamics were seen without employing any covariates. Body mass, diastolic blood pressure, and mean arterial pressure were identified as factors that could influence observed responses.

Assessment of the Impact of Sensor-Based Ischemic Preconditioning with Different Cycling Periods on Upper Limb Strength in Bodybuilding Athletes.

Objective: This study designed experiments to explore the effects of ischemic preconditioning (IPC) intervention with different cycling periods on the upper limb strength performance of college male bodybuilding athletes. Methods: Ten bodybuilding athletes were recruited for a randomized, double-blind, crossover experimental study. All subjects first underwent pre-tests with two sets of exhaustive bench presses at 60% of their one-repetition maximum (1RM) to assess upper limb strength performance. They then experienced three different IPC intervention modes (T1: 1 × 5 min, T2: 2 × 5 min, T3: 3 × 5 min), as well as a non-IPC intervention mode (CON), followed by a retest of the bench press. An Enode pro device was used to record the barbell's velocity during the bench press movement (peak velocity (PV), mean velocity (MV)); power (peak power (PP), mean power (MP)); and time under tension (TUT) to evaluate upper limb strength performance. Results: PV values: T1 showed significant increases compared to pre-tests in the first (p = 0.02) and second (p = 0.024) tests, and were significantly greater than the CON (p = 0.032); T2 showed a significant increase in PV in the first test (p = 0.035), with no significant differences in other groups. MV values: T1 showed a significant increase in MV in the first test compared to the pre-test (p = 0.045), with no significant differences in other groups. PP values: T1 showed a highly significant increase in PP in the first test compared to the pre-test (p = 0.001), and was significantly higher than the CON (p = 0.025). MP values: T1 showed highly significant increases in MP in both the first (p = 0.004) and second (p = 0.003) tests compared to the pre-test; T2 showed a highly significant increase in MP in the first test (p = 0.039) and a significant increase in the second test (p = 0.039). T1's MP values were significantly higher than the CON in both tests; T2's MP values were significantly higher than the CON in the first (p = 0.005) and second (p = 0.024) tests. TUT values: T1 showed highly significant increases in TUT in the first (p < 0.001) and second (p = 0.002) tests compared to the pre-test, and were significantly higher than the CON. Conclusions: (1) Single-cycle and double-cycle IPC interventions both significantly enhance upper limb strength performance, significantly improving the speed and power in exhaustive bench press tests, with the single-cycle IPC intervention being more effective than the double-cycle IPC intervention. (2) The triple-cycle IPC intervention does not improve the upper limb strength performance of bodybuilding athletes in exhaustive bench presses.

Analysis of interval type-2 fuzzy controller based interleaved sepic PFC converter for PQ enhancement in power solutions

The Power solutions have become indispensable for all the devices in recent years with an appropriate power conversion circuitries and control methods to ensure good dynamic response, improved stability, reliability and efficiency. The main intent of this article is to impart the designing of interval type-2 fuzzy logic controller (IT2FLC) based interleaved Sepic power factor correction (PFC) converter. This work also involves the careful design of the robust controller with enhanced precision and good power quality (PQ) performance at the AC mains. In addition, the development of IT2FLC based power solution improves the overall power conversion with stabilized output in the perspective of its quick rise time, less overshoot and fast settling time in comparison to other traditional controllers. Further, the uncertainties and issues associated with the conventional proportional integral (PI) and fuzzy logic controllers (FLCs) are handled effectively by the proposed IT2FLC controller. Moreover, this preferred converter is modeled with an internal parasitics and its performances are evaluated and compared with other conventional Zeigler Nicholas (ZN) tuned PI controller and FLC by dint of MATLAB/Simulink platform. Finally, the experimental test bench set up of 250 W, 48 V power circuitry is devised and the test outcomes confirm the excellent transient behavior and PQ performances of the modeled power solution.

A New Heuristic Tool for Designing Multiple-Valued Logic Systems

In this paper, a brand new heuristic optimization algorithm for multiple-valued logic (MVL) functions and the performance of the implementation will be introduced. In logic synthesis, optimization procedure is a fundamental process in order to design more efficient systems. The proposed algorithm, called MVL-MIN, utilizes Cube Algebra operators. MVL-MIN computes the prime cubes that cover a target cube at a time, instead of extracting all the primes for a given MVL function. MVL-MIN consists of five major procedures, called (a) checking, (b) expansion, (c) elimination, (d) nondisjoint sharp, and (e) prime determination. In order to find a near-minimal cover, three different prime determination functions are developed. The implementation based on the new algorithm is compared with MVSIS. For testing, three sets of test bench are prepared. Each set includes 5 MVL functions. Test results proved that MVL-MIN is able to solve all test files within a fixed allocation of computer resources while MVSIS could not. MVL-MIN achieved 1.9× to 9.7× speedup over MVSIS. In terms of cover size, since current MVL-MIN implementation cannot recognize redundant cubes, MVSIS computed more concise covers for all test benches than MVL-MIN.

Experimental Study on Pressure Pulsation and Acceleration Response of Fluid Conveying Pipeline Under Multi-Excitation

Abstract The fluid conveying pipelines are often subjected to internal fluid fluctuation excitation in the hydraulic pump and external base excitation from the aircraft engine rotor. To investigate the acceleration response of the pipeline and pressure pulsation response of fluid, the vibration tests of the pipeline under base excitation, fluid fluctuation excitation, and multi-excitation are conducted. A set of test bench and test schemes of pipeline system under multi-excitation are designed. The test data are collected by a piezo-electric pressure sensor and a three-direction acceleration sensor. By analyzing the test data, the following results can be obtained: Under base excitation, the internal fluid still has a weak pressure pulsation response even without fluid fluctuation excitation. However, the pressure pulsation response remains unchanged with the increase of base excitation amplitude. Under fluid fluctuation excitation, the amplitudes of vibration responses at fluid fundamental frequency fp increase with the increase of pump pressure except at 9 MPa and 15 MPa. The natural frequency of the pipeline is close to 3fp when the pump pressure is 9 MPa and 15 MPa, respectively, and the pipeline system will have resonance. Under multi-excitation, the amplitudes of vibration responses are close to the superimposed amplitudes of two single source excitations at fb = 175 Hz and fp = 298 Hz. The vibration responses appear to beat vibration at fb = 298 Hz and fp = 297.6 Hz. The relevant test scheme and test data analysis adopted in this paper have important reference values for the in-depth study of pipeline vibration under multi-excitation and engineering practice.

Performance of helmet CPAP using different configurations: Turbine-driven ventilators vs Venturi devices

BackgroundTraditionally, Venturi-based flow generators have been preferred over mechanical ventilators to provide continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) through the helmet (h-CPAP). Recently, modern turbine-driven ventilators (TDVs) showed to be safe and effective in delivering h-CPAP. We aimed to compare the pressure stability during h-CPAP delivered by Venturi devices and TDVs and assess the impact of High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters on their performance. MethodsWe performed a bench study using an artificial lung simulator set in a restrictive respiratory condition, simulating two different levels of patient effort (high and low) with and without the interposition of the HEPA filter. We calculated the average of minimal (Pmin), maximal (Pmax) and mean (Pmean) airway pressure and the time product measured on the airway pressure curve (PTPinsp). We defined the pressure swing (Pswing) as Pmax - Pmin and pressure drop (Pdrop) as End Expiratory Pressure - Pmin. ResultsPswing across CPAP levels varied widely among all the tested devices. During “low effort”, no difference in Pswing and Pdrop was found between Venturi devices and TDVs; during high effort, Pswing (p<0.001) and Pdrop (p<0.001) were significantly higher in TDVs compared to Venturi devices, but the PTPinsp was lower (1.50 SD 0.54 vs 1.67 SD 0.55, p<0.001). HEPA filter addition almost doubled Pswing and PTPinsp (p<0.001) but left unaltered the differences among Venturi and TDVs systems in favor of the latter (p<0.001). ConclusionsTDVs performed better than Venturi systems in delivering a stable positive pressure level during h-CPAP in a bench setting.

Motoric performance variation from morning to evening: 80% intensity post-activation potentiation protocol impacts performance and its diurnal amplitude in basketball players.

Post-activation potentiation (PAP) can be defined as the acute enhancement in muscle performance after preload stimulation that occurs during strength exercises or warm-up protocols, and the contractile history of any muscle group can directly influence the presented performance. The purpose of this study was to compare the results of motoric performance tests carried out at two different times of the day using three different PAP protocols. Thirty-two male basketball players with at least 2 years of training experience and who competed at the national level were recruited for this study [age: 21.80 ± 1.91 years; body height: 178.40 ± 6.85 cm; body mass: 72.50 ± 7.16 kg; body mass index (BMI): 22.81 ± 2.28]. After control and experimental-specific warm-up (SWU) sessions, participants completed a countermovement jump (CMJ) and seated medicine ball throw (SMBT). The SWU protocol was developed based on the athlete's typical warm-up routine. The experimental warm-ups included the same exercises as the SWU, with one set of bench presses for five repetitions at 80% (80% PAP) and one repetition at 100% of 1 RM (100% PAP). Each of the protocols consists of 15 min. The SWU and experimental warm-up sessions were completed in a random, counterbalanced order, completed in a period of 3-weeks. According to the research findings, carrying out the protocols in the evening led to a larger improvement in SMBT than in the morning (F = 35.94, p < 0.001, η 2 p = 0.537). Additionally, the SMBT results were statistically more significant in the group that received 80% PAP compared to the SWU (p = 0.034), and the SMBT results were also higher in the group that received 100% PAP compared to the SWU (p = 0.002). Furthermore, the interaction effect (time × PAP) was statistically significant in SMBT (F = 6.39, p = 0.003, η 2 p = 0.17). These results may provide more particular recommendations than previously thought to basketball coaches for the planning of basketball-specific PAP exercises prior to the start of training programs.

Design and Research of Test Bench for Loading and Performance Testing of Aerospace Precision Ball Screw

Aiming at the problem of insufficient research on the motion failure caused by the degradation of the grease of the precision ball screw pair under the typical working conditions of high frequency and high load in aerospace, a set of high frequency inertial loading test bench is designed. Loading and performance testing functions are integrated. The mechanical structure of the test bench, the inertia adjustment device and the connecting member of the pendulum rod are designed, which can simulate the loading under aerospace conditions. Installing multiple sensors can test the force response characteristics, vibration characteristics, temperature rise characteristics and transmission efficiency of the precision ball screw pair when it operates under different frequencies and different axial forces. The axial force of the nut with different rotational speeds under inertial load is tested by experiments.

Comparison of expiratory pressures generated by four different EPAP devices in a laboratory bench setting

Objective/backgroundExpiratory positive airway pressure (EPAP) has been a treatment option for patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). ULTepap is a new FDA-cleared EPAP device that seals the nares with a nasal pillow interface. Comparisons of expiratory pressures generated by ULTepap and other EPAP devices like Provent, Bongo Rx, and Theravent are not available. We aimed to compare the backpressures created by these devices in an in vitro laboratory bench setting. MethodsA test rig was designed and fabricated to test the expiratory pressures generated by ULTepap, Provent, Bongo Rx, and Theravent. Airflow was generated by a linear actuator-driven piston in a syringe, and a range of flow rates was provided by varying the voltage input to the actuator. The resulting expiratory and inspiratory pressures were measured and resistances were calculated. ResultsThe backpressures generated by ULTepap and Provent were comparable at all flow rates. For flow rates at 99/142/212 ml/s, the expiratory pressures were 3.5/7.5/13.8 cmH2O for ULTepap and 4.5/8.5/14.5 cmH2O for Provent. Bongo Rx and Theravent devices produced substantially lower backpressures compared to ULTepap devices (0.8/1.8/3.5 cmH2O for Bongo Rx and 0.9/2.2/5.3 cmH2O for Theravent at flow rates of 99/142/212 ml/s). All four devices presented very low inspiratory flow resistance, with all generating 0.5 cmH2O or less at all flow rates. ConclusionNot all FDA-cleared EPAP devices produce similar expiratory pressure profiles. ULTepap generated backpressures closest to that of Provent. Clinical trials comparing the efficacy, tolerance, and adherence of these EPAP devices in patients with OSA are warranted.

Source/Load-Pull Noise Measurements at Ka Band

This paper is focused on the extraction of the noise parameters of a linear active device by exploiting both forward and reverse noise power measurements associated with different terminations. In order for load-pull measurements to yield a significant marginal improvement (as compared to forward measurements only) it is expected that the device under test should appreciably deviate from unidirectionality. For this reason, the source/load-pull technique is applied to frequencies at which the considered devices are still usable but their reverse noise factor exhibits a measurable dependence on the output terminations. Details on the test bench set up to the purpose, covering the 20–40 GHz frequency range, are provided. A characterization campaign on a 60 nm gate length, 4×35 µm GaN-on-Si HEMT fabricated by OMMIC is illustrated.

Boiling heat transfer properties of copper surface with different microstructures

The T-shaped groove surface with groove width of 0.3–1.2 mm and groove depth of 0.6–1.5 mm is prepared on the copper surface by using electric spark wire cutting technology, Set up a set of wall temperature measurement, bubble visualization and steady flow heating test bench. Experimental observations of boiling heat transfer of deionized water on different heat transfer surfaces are achieved. The boiling curves of T-shaped surface such as superheat, heat flux and heat transfer coefficient were plotted. The effect of heat transfer area on the heat transfer performance was investigated, and the bubble growth process was studied by using finite element simulation software. The effect of size on heat transfer performance is explained by experiment and simulation. It is found that the influence of groove width on heat transfer performance is greater than that of groove depth, under the reasonable width of the groove, the larger the depth of the groove, the easier it is to reach the required temperature for the vaporized core generation. The optimal size value of T-shaped grooves in this size range is selected, and the surface of T-grooves at different scales is constructed by laser marking technology. The boiling heat transfer performance of four kings of surfaces including smooth surface and laser scanning surface was studied. Studies have shown, heat transfer effect of multi-scale T surface is always the best,1.31 times of single scale surface,2.38 times of smooth surface and 2.83 times of laser scanning surface. The surface with micro structure can effectively promote boiling heat transfer by wire cutting and laser machining.

Оценка ресурса и характеристик изоляции тяговых двигателей локомотивов методом ускоренного теплового старения

Objective: An equivalent mode of accelerated thermal aging of the insulation system of electrical ma- chines is described to confirm the resource corresponding to a given period and operating conditions. Methods: The equivalent mode of accelerated heat aging was determined based on the Montzinger rule and tested in the course of research and development work (R&amp;D) on the development, manufacture and implementation of a set of bench and operational tests of the insulation system of an increased heat resistance class of a diesel locomotive traction motor. Results: The relevance of R&amp;D has been revealed, as a result of which the implementation of the idea was required, based on the statement about the re- duction of the insulation resource of electrical machines when the permissible heating is exceeded by 8–12 °С to various types of insulating materials. The advantages of the method presented in the article in relation to traditional solutions of this problem are demonstrated, and also improved consumer proper- ties of the traction electric motor of a diesel locomotive with a replaced insulation system of an increased class of heat resistance are presented. Generally, experimental tests and preliminary operational data are an acceptable basis for thermal evaluation of electrical insulating materials. However, it is important to remember that the scientific criterion is met and not to use the results of different types of tests in the analysis. Based on the world experience in diagnostics of additional insulation parameters for monitoring the state of insulation parameters, the possibility of using the “Doctor” series insulation monitoring de- vices has been determined and practically confirmed. Together with the results of subsequent operational tests, during which the insulation was also monitored using these mobile devices, it is argued that after carrying out the relevant research work, thanks to the mobile devices of the “Doctor” series, it is pos- sible to carry out predictive analytics of the failure of traction motors (TED) in any operating conditions. The functional value is determined and applied in practice. The “H” class insulation system developed by the specialists of JSC “VNIKTI” is mainly based on insulating materials produced by JSC “Holding Company „Elinar“”; the compound “Elplast 180ID” (JSC “Electroizolit”) or its analogue “Elkom-180” JSC “Holding company „Elinar“”), for anchor coils and equalizers, a wound PPIPK-2 wire in polyimide- fluoroplastic insulation (GC “Moskabelmet”) is used. Practical importance: It is stated that all stages of manufacturing and testing, determined at the initial stage of R&amp;D, confirmed the results of the deve- lopment stages (overhaul (manufacture) of prototypes of TED using a new isolation system according to the design documentation of JSC “VNIKTI”). Bench tests have confirmed typical characteristics, speci- fied resource and insulation characteristics with equivalent accelerated thermal aging corresponding to an electric motor’s service life of 20 years in ordinary operation on a diesel locomotive, residual life of elements of the insulation system of naturally cut armature segments, main and auxiliary poles coils. In the specialized laboratory of JSC “Holding Company „Elinar“”, an experimental TED diesel locomotive set with the investigated insulation system was manufactured and installed on two sections of the main- line diesel locomotive 2TE116. Operational tests of an experimental TED diesel locomotive set under operating conditions were successful.

Anomaly Detection and Attack Classification for Train Real-Time Ethernet

Real-time Ethernet has been applied to train control and management system (TCMS) of 250km/h Fuxing Electric Multiple Units (EMUs) and some urban rail vehicles. The openness of the Ethernet communication protocol poses a risk of intrusion attacks on the train communication network. It is, therefore, necessary that a safety protection technology is introduced to the train communication network based on real-time Ethernet. In this paper, a train communication network intrusion detection system based on anomaly detection and attack classification is proposed. Firstly, the paper built an anomaly detection model based on support vector machines (SVM). The particle swarm optimization-support vector machines (PSO-SVM), and genetic algorithm-support vector machines (GA-SVM) optimization algorithms are used to optimize the kernel function parameters of SVM. Secondly, the paper built two attack classification models based on random forest. They are iterative dichotomiser3 (ID3) and classification and regression tree (CART). And then, the built intrusion detection and attack classification model is tested by using the public data set knowledge discovery and data mining-99(KDD-99) and the data set of the simulation train real-time Ethernet test bench. PSO-SVM improves the intrusion detection accuracy from 90.3% to 95.75%, GA-SVM improves the detection accuracy from 90.3% to 95.85%. The training time of the PSO-SVM algorithm was higher than that of the GA-SVM algorithm, and much higher than that of the SVM, without optimization. Both ID3 and CART models are verified valid in the attack classification, while the ID3 algorithm obtained 100% accuracy on the training set, and only 32.89% accuracy on the test set, ID3 has a poor classification accuracy of the data outside of the training set. Also, the classification time is very long for ID3 compared with CART. So the comprehensive experimental results show that the intrusion detection system of train real-time Ethernet can use the GA-SVM model for detection of abnormal data. After passing the normal data, the CART model can be used to distinguish between the types of attacks to better complete subsequent responses and operations. Compared with the anomaly detection model based on SVM, the proposed model improves intrusion detection accuracy. And the proposed attack classification algorithm based on CART can improve the computing speed while ensuring the precision of classification.

Investigating the conjugate heat transfer phenomena on various ducts for aircraft environmental control system

All commercial aircraft employ a system called Environmental control system (ECS) to ensure an environment that accomplishes the physiological and comfort demands by passengers and aircrew. This task requires functionalities like temperature control, humidity regulation apart from the governing of cabin pressure. The energy source for ECS is a pressurized hot air bleed (180 °C-250 °C, 2.75 bar) from the engine or Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) along with the ram air. During the functional operation, the unit of Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) duct experiences repetitive temperature fluctuations in addition to the cyclic pressurization leading to thermal fatigue and cyclic stress over the duct material, promoting crack propagation at weld zones in the duct. Therefore, a comparative investigation on conjugate heat transfer analysis is done at welded joints annexed to the bypass valve and trim air valve using airflow bench set up and validated by computational fluid dynamics. During this investigation, the circular duct with spherical junction (D/d = 3.84 & L/d = 6) was the most efficient and economical design that could fit in for designing air conditioning duct undergoing high thermo-cyclic stress.

Bench Set Impact Analysis on Fail-Safe Condition of Fail to Closed Type Control Valve with Spring-Diaphragm Actuator

Control valve is one of key elements in processing of a chemical industry and it is one of its important functions is as a flow control of chemical process. The accuracy of control valve opening or traveling is proportional to flow capacity. On the other hand, a leakage of a control valve on its failed position especially for Air to Open-Fail Closed (ATO-FC) type valve can become a disaster. One of critical parameters in Control Valve that impacts to performance and fail-safe position is Bench set range spring in valve’s actuator. This work analyzed this Bench set range impact to the fail-safe position. The force in spring is defined by control valve specification verified by force balance method of control valve. Then the impact of bench set range was analyzed by displacement of spring from spring force equation. At the end, the outcome is displacement data in correlation to the change of bench set range. It helps the repair technician on the maintenance workshop of permissible range when they adjust the bench set range by adjusting spring compression.

Design of Active Vibration Reduction System for Intelligent Ship Mechanical Equipment

Li, B. and, Yang, H., 2020. Design of active vibration reduction system for intelligent ship mechanical equipment. In: Bai, X. and Zhou, H. (eds.), Advances in Water Resources, Environmental Protection, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 115, pp. 235-237. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.An intelligent shock absorber with active-passive compound and integrated sensing action is developed for engineering needs. It's based on the traditional passive isolation structure, the active actuator, power amplifier, high and low pass filter, acceleration error sensor and subsequent amplifier and filter circuits are integrated. An active damping system for ship machinery equipment is constructed with an active controller running offline. Based on the system, a demonstration platform for active vibration reduction of diesel generator set is established. The entire bench is mounted on an elastic steel plate simulating the hull structure through four intelligent shock absorbers, the vibration performance of the active vibration reduction system is evaluated by measuring the vibration of the elastic steel plate. The demonstration bench test results show that The total vibration level of the intelligent shock absorber within 800 Hz has a passive vibration reduction effect of more than 33 dB, Based on this, active control has a good control effect on multiple lines within 200 Hz, A maximum active attenuation of 30.8 dB, The active attenuation of total vibration level within 200Hz reaches 20 dB.. Synthesizing the effects of active and passive vibration reduction, the intelligent shock absorber can attenuate the total vibration level of the diesel generator set of the demonstration bench O∼ more than 47.2 dB in the range of 800 Hz.

A DAQ Upgrade Solution for Belle II Experiment

While the current Belle II data acquisition (DAQ) system has proven to be reliable in the first collisions delivered since May 2018, an upgrade to increase the bandwidth of the readout system is foreseen to be deployed over the next few years for higher target luminosity SuperKEKB running. Currently, the front-end electronics (FEE) of individual subdetectors are connected to the online event building system via a unified optical link called Belle2Link, offering unidirectional data readout as well as bidirectional slow control access. The FEE data are received by high-speed link boards (HSLB) and common pipelined platform for electronics readout (COPPER) boards collecting data from up to four links, forwarding to readout PCs (ROPC), which further aggregate the data and forward the data to the event builder. It is planned to keep the Belle2Link and subsystems FEE as they are, but to replace the HSLB/COPPER (including the back-end side of Belle2link) and ROPC with an upgraded high-density system with increased throughput and processing capabilities, to enable the operation at higher rates. This article presents a solution for this upgrade based on the xTCA-for-Physics (MicroTCA)-compatible concentration preprocessing and fan-out plus (CPPF+) board featuring significant data concentration and processing power, providing up to 40-Gb Ethernet output bandwidth. Belle2Link back-end firmware and subevent building are implemented in the CPPF+ board to deliver equivalent functionality as the COPPER/ROPC. The MicroTCA platform provides scalability, reconfigurability, and reliable operations, even for a future possible increase in bandwidth and potential FEE upgrades. A fully functional demonstration readout system has been constructed and verified with the time-of-propagation (TOP) detector front-end test bench set up at KEK in terms of functionality as well as performance. Results show that this solution fulfills the requirements of the DAQ upgrade and works stably and reliably in long-term tests.

Low-cost, easy-to-build noninvasive pressure support ventilator for under-resourced regions: open source hardware description, performance and feasibility testing.

AimCurrent pricing of commercial mechanical ventilators in low-/middle-income countries (LMICs) markedly restricts their availability, and consequently a considerable number of patients with acute/chronic respiratory failure cannot be adequately treated. Our aim was to design and test an affordable and easy-to-build noninvasive bilevel pressure ventilator to allow a reduction in the serious shortage of ventilators in LMICs.MethodsThe ventilator was built using off-the-shelf materials available via e-commerce and was based on a high-pressure blower, two pressure transducers and an Arduino Nano controller with a digital display (total retail cost <75 USD), with construction details provided open source for free replication. The ventilator was evaluated, and compared with a commercially available device (Lumis 150 ventilator; Resmed, San Diego, CA, USA): 1) in the bench setting using an actively breathing patient simulator mimicking a range of obstructive/restrictive diseases; and b) in 12 healthy volunteers wearing high airway resistance and thoracic/abdominal bands to mimic obstructive/restrictive patients.ResultsThe designed ventilator provided inspiratory/expiratory pressures up to 20/10 cmH2O, respectively, with no faulty triggering or cycling; both in the bench test and in volunteers. The breathing difficulty score rated (1–10 scale) by the loaded breathing subjects was significantly (p<0.005) decreased from 5.45±1.68 without support to 2.83±1.66 when using the prototype ventilator, which showed no difference with the commercial device (2.80±1.48; p=1.000).ConclusionThe low-cost, easy-to-build noninvasive ventilator performs similarly to a high-quality commercial device, with its open-source hardware description, which will allow for free replication and use in LMICs, facilitating application of this life-saving therapy to patients who otherwise could not be treated.

Dielectric and Emissive Properties of Sorghum (Jowar) Vegetation at C-Band Microwave Frequency

Abstract Microwave interaction with earth resources like soil and vegetation provides useful information for remote sensing techniques. Such interaction is mainly governed by a complex dielectric property of target material. This paper reports on laboratory measurements of complex dielectric constant of sorghum vegetation (leaves) at room temperature (30°C), at C-Band microwave frequency. Von Hippel (shorted waveguide) method is used to conduct the measurements. The measurements were performed for freshly cut sorghum leaves as a function of moisture content by using automated C-Band microwave bench set up with movable reflector. The least square fitting technique is used to calculate dielectric constant (e'), dielectric loss (e'') and errors in their measurements. Emissivity and radiometric brightness temperature is estimated from measured dielectric properties at different angle of incidence for dry and moist sorghum leaves using Fresnel equations. This study is useful for interpretation of microwave remote sensing of vegetation and applications specifically in agriculture

Study on simulation model and performance test of locomotive anti-skid valve

When studying the comprehensive performance of the anti-skid valve, the test of the curve characteristic lacks theoretical basis in the brake anti-skid process and the mathematical equations are difficult to derive. Take a domestic locomotive anti-skid valve as the research object. Combine with the physical structure parameters of the anti-skid valve and the working principle of inflating and exhausting. A simulation model of the anti-skid valve was established by using MATLAB/Simulink, which included the motion equation of valve core and diaphragm plate, electromagnetic suction equation of electromagnet and air chamber charging and exhausting equation. The characteristics of the air pressure curve of the anti-skid valve under different control signals were analyzed. In order to verify the correctness of the simulation model, a set of locomotive anti-skid valve comprehensive performance test bench based on STM32 was built for experimental verification. The results show that the simulation results are consistent with the experimental results, meet the test requirements, and verify the accuracy of the model. This model provides a theoretical basis for structural optimization of anti-skid valves and analysis of locomotive braking anti-skid performance.