No description available.

No description available.

[pt] Neste trabalho é estudado um meio de se determinar os parâmetros de um regulador de tensão. È também discutida a determinação do modelo para o regulador. São mostrados exemplos diferentes aos reguladores de ação não contínua. Foi desenvolvido um programa digital para simular os testes de campo realizados com os reguladores. / [en] A study is made of a way of determining the parameters of a voltage regulator. Some thoughts are also given on the determination of the model representing the regulator. Sample cases are given for the noncontinuosly acting regulators. A digital program was developed for simulating the tests that were with the regulators.

[pt] As técnicas que usam programas digitais clássicos para análise dos modos instáveis de oscilação em sistemas multimáquinas, não seguem, via de regra, uma metodologia geral e rigorosa que permita identificar, sem muitas tentativas, máquinas ou grupos de máquinas são mais efetivas para a aplicação de sinais suplementares nos sistemas reguladores de tensão, com o fim de prover o necessário amortecimento ao sistema quando sujeito a perturbações. Este trabalho tentará desenvolver a aplicação de dois métodos para tal tipo de análise, sendo um prático, baseado em teste facilmente executáveis com os programas digitais clássicos, e outro, analítico, que mediante o emprego de autovalores e através de uma análise da sensibilidade permita que sejam identificadas suplementares para amortecimento dos modos de oscilação. Em conseqüência, será também abordado o ajuste dos sinais estabilizadores, porquanto, conforme procurar-se-á demonstrar, o método propiciará meios de torná-los mais efetivos para uma larga faixa de operação do sistema. / [en] The practices normally used in classical digital programs for oscillation mode analysis in dynamically unstable multimachine systems, do not use, in such way a general methodology that allows identification, without a great deal of trial and error, wich machines, are more effectives in providing damping to the system through suplementary signal application in excitation controls. This work attempts to describe methods for application of analysis based on tests that can be easily executed whith classical digital programs. Also a method based on eigenvalues and eigenvectores sensitivity analysis is presented. This method uses eigenvectors to find the groups of coherent machines. To give insight into the relationships between a give machine damping and the particurlar frequency of oscilation, the eigenvalue analysis is used. Techniques for speed stabilizers adjustments are shown to provide performance over a wide range of systems conditions.

No description available.

An increasing appreciation for the role of small RNA regulators prompted us to investigate the scope of RNA regulation in the bacterium, Streptomyces coelicolor. Our search revealed an antisense RNA that corresponds to the upstream region of four genes encoding cell wall cleavage enzymes (cell wall hydrolases), and a previously uncharacterized population of transfer RNA (tRNA) cleavage products. Further characterization of the 'tRNAs led to the discovery that S. coelicolor tRNAs are cleaved into 'tRNA halves' in a developmentally regulated fashion. All tRNAs seem to be susceptible to tRNA cleavage, although a bias was detected for tRNAs specifying highly used codons. To date, our work is the sole description of 'tRNA half production in a bacterium, and recent studies suggest that it is a widespread phenomenon among eukaryotic organisms. In a separate line of investigation, we noticed that a previous study had predicted that the genes associated with the antisense RNA are under the control of a riboswitch- a regulatory RNA element that directly controls gene expression in response to specific conditions. Our multifaceted characterization of this system began with the construction and phenotypic analyses of deletion mutant strains for several of the cell wall hydrolase-encoding genes. We demonstrate that S. coelicolor cell wall hydrolases are involved in germination, vegetative growth, and sporulation. Finally, we studied the potential for riboswitch regulation of one of the cell wall hydrolase-encoding genes, rpfA. RpfA is a resuscitation: Qromoting factor protein that is important for the revival of dormant bacteria, including the human pathogen and S. coelicolor relative - Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Our investigation uncovered evidence suggesting that the riboswitch region is involved in the regulation of rpfA, and we identified specific conditions under which it is repressed. This work represents a novel paradigm in the regulation of cell wall hydrolase expression. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The Streptomyces are invaluable as a natural source of antibiotics and other bioactive compounds used in medicine and agriculture. S. coelicolor is the model streptomycete, and is studied for its complex secondary metabolism and multicellular life cycle. The subject of this work is bldB, a gene essential for development and antibiotic production in S. coelicolor, and one of its many homologues, located in the abaA antibiotic regulatory locus. The aim was to study the transcriptional regulation of bldB using a luminescent reporter, and investigate the role of each of the genes in the abaA cluster in regulation of antibiotic production, in order to understand the function and mechanism of action of bldB and its homologues. Individual deletion of each of the four genes in the abaA cluster resulted in varying effects on production of the antibiotic CDA. The bldB homologue, SCO0703, was shown to be a positive regulator of CDA, as the null mutant was severely defective in CDA production. It was found that bldB is expressed in most other bld developmental mutants, with the exception of bldD. There was no direct interaction observed between BldD and the bldB promoter, and possible mechanisms of indirect regulation are proposed. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

The microprocessor faces a big challenge of heat dissipation. In order to enhance the performance of the microprocessor without increasing the heat dissipation, the leading microprocessor company, Intel, uses several methods to reduce the power consumption. Theses methods include enhanced sleep states control, the Speed Step technology, and multi-core architecture. These are closely related to the Voltage Regulator (VR), a dedicated power supply for the microprocessor and its control method. The speed of the VR control system should be high in order to meet the stringent load-line requirements with the high current and high di/dt, otherwise, a lot of decoupling capacitors are necessary. Capacitors make the VR cost and size higher. Therefore, the VR control method is very important. This dissertation discusses the way to increase the speed of VR without degrading other functions, such as the system efficiency, and the required control functions (AVP, current sharing and interleaving). The easiest way to increase the speed of the VR is to increase the switching frequency. However, higher switching frequency results in system efficiency degradation. This paper uses two approaches to deal with this issue. The first one is the architecture approach. The other is the fast transient control approach. For the architecture approach, a two-stage architecture is chosen. It is already shown that with a two-stage architecture, the switching frequency of the second stage can be increased, while keeping the same system efficiency. Therefore with the two-stage architecture, a high performance VR can be easily implemented. However, the light-load efficiency of two-stage architecture is not good because the bus voltage is designed for the full-load efficiency which is not optimized for the light load. The light-load efficiency is also important factor and it should be maximized because it is related to the battery life of mobile application or the energy utilization. Therefore, Adaptive Bus Voltage Positioning (ABVP) control has been proposed. By adaptively adjusting the bus voltage according to the load current, the system efficiency can be optimized for whole load range. The bus voltage rate of change is determined by the first stage bandwidth. In order to maintain regulation during a fast dynamic load, the first stage bandwidth should be high. However, it is observed from hardware when the first stage bandwidth is higher, the ABVP system can become unstable. To get a stable system, the first stage bandwidth is often designed to be slow which causes poor ABVP dynamic response. The large number of bus capacitors necessary for this also increases the size and cost. In this dissertation, in order to raise the first stage bandwidth, a stability analysis is performed. The instability loop (TABVP) is identified, and a small signal model to predict this loop is suggested. TABVP is related to the first stage bandwidth. With the higher first stage bandwidth, the peak magnitude of TABVP is larger. When the peak magnitude of TABVP touches 0dB, the system becomes unstable. Two solutions are proposed to reduce this TABVP magnitude without decreasing the first stage bandwidth. One method is to increase the feedforward gain and the other approach is to use a low pass filter. With these strategies, the ABVP system can be designed to be stable while pushing first stage bandwidth as high as possible. The ABVP-AVP system and its design are verified with hardware. For the fast transient control approach hysteretic control is chosen because of its fast transient and high light-load efficiency with DCM operation. However, in order to use the hysteretic control method for multiphase VR applications interleaving must be implemented. In this dissertation, a multiphase hysteretic control method is proposed which can achieve interleaving without losing its benefits. Using the phase locked loop (PLL), this control method locks the phase and frequency of the duty cycles to the reference clocks by modifying the size of the hysteretic band, to say, hysteretic band width. By phase shifting the reference clocks, interleaving can be achieved under steady state. During the load transient, the system loses the phase-locking function due to the slow hysteretic band width changing loop, and the system then reacts quickly to the load change without the interruption from the phase locking function (or the interleaving function). The proposed hysteretic control method consists of two loops, the fast hysteretic control loop and the slow hysteretic band width changing loop. These two nonlinear loops are difficult to model and analyze together. Therefore, assuming these two loops can be separated because of the speed difference, the phase plane model is used for the fast hysteretic control loop and the sampled data model is then used for the slow hysteretic band width changing loop. With these models, the proposed hysteretic control method can be analyzed and properly designed. However, if the transient occurs before the slow hysteretic band width changing loop settles down, the transient may start with the large hysteretic band width and the output voltage peak can exceed the specification. To prevent this, a hysteretic band width limiter is inserted. With the hardware, the proposed hysteretic control method and its design are verified. A two-phase VR with 300kHz switching frequency is built and the output capacitance required is only 860μF comparing to 1600μF output capacitance with the 50kHz bandwidth linear control method. That is about 46% capacitor reduction. The proposed hysteretic control method saturates the controller during the transient and the transient peak voltage is determined by the power stage parameters, the inductance and the output capacitors. By decreasing the inductance, the output capacitors are reduced. However, small inductance results in the low efficiency. In order to resolve this, the coupled inductor is used. With the coupled inductor, the transient inductance can be reduced with the same steady state inductance. Therefore, the transient speed can be faster without lowering down the system efficiency. The proposed hysteretic control method with the coupled inductor can be implemented using the DCR current sensing network. A two-phase VR with the proposed hysteretic control and the coupled inductor is built and the output capacitance is only 660μF comparing to 860μF output capacitance with the proposed hysteretic control only. A 23% capacitor reduction is achieved. And compared to the 50kHz bandwidth linear control method, a 60% capacitor reduction is achieved. / Ph. D.

Two groups of plant growth regulators (PGRs), seaweed extract and triazole chemical, have been used in turfgrass management for improving turf quality and strengthening turfgrass tolerance to environmental stress. In order to understand the physiological functions and stress-tolerance mechanisms of the PGRs on turfgrass, a series of studies were conducted with perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.). Ryegrass was treated with or without propiconazole (PPC) (1-( (2-(2,4- dichlorophenyl)-4-propyl-l,3-dioxolan-2yl)methyl) IH-l,2,4-triazole) and a proprietary fortified seaweed extract (FSE), which were combined with or without drought and salinity stress treatment. Total lipids, fatty acid composition of polar lipids, and total free and conjugated sterols were determined by the thin layer chromatograph, gas chromatograph, and scanner densitometer. This study indicates that ppe and FSE affected the unsaturation of polar lipid fatty acids and concentration of free sterols, which are major factors in changing cell membrane fluidity and permeability. The PGR-induced alteration of cell membrane lipid composition could be an adaptive process to protect plant membrane function under drought and salinity stresses. However, the metabolic effects of PPC and FSE may be different. It was found that PPC had a strong inl1uence on unsaturation of polar lipid fatty acids, whereas FSE had a strong effect on free sterol concentration. Furthermore, a radish cotyledon expansion bioassay analysis showed that the FSE had cytokinin or cytokinin-like activity and could stimulate endogenous cytokinins in ryegrass, whereas an inhibition of cell expansion was seen in PPC-treated plants. The possibility of using the PGRs to reduce fertilizer requirements was also studied. A higher uptake efficiency of most essential elements was found in PPC and FSE-treated Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) than in the control (without PGR treatments). This effect was greater at lower than at higher fertilization levels. The utilization efficiency of some major nutrient elements also was higher in PPC and FSE-treated bluegrass than in the control. The possibility of reducing fertilization by PGR application is positive. / Ph. D.

The integrated high-quality rectifier-regulators [1] are not practical for universal input voltage and wide load range applications because of high bulk-capacitor voltage stress at lighter loads. This load-dependent characteristic of the bulk-capacitor voltage is due to the integration of a discontinuous conduction mode boost converter and a continuous conduction mode dc-dc converter. In addition, this power factor correction technique suffers from a high-voltage spike on the switch at turn-off. In this thesis, variable frequency control, swinging choke, and low loss LC snubber techniques are proposed to alleviate these problems. Finally, several experimental converters with different specifications are evaluated with respect to efficiency and ability to meet the IEC555-2 standards. / Master of Science