An Improved Neural Network Application for Short-Term Load Forecasting in Power Systems

In this paper an improved neural network application for short-term load forecasting purposes is presented. To speed up the learning process on one side, and not to jeopardize the stability performance of the learning process on the other side, the adaptive approach to the learning-rate parameter has been employed. Also, instead of learning overall load characteristics, the preprocessing of input data has been designed with the idea to learn only load demand behavior that is important for a certain period. The proposed neural network has shown good performance, even in the case of the incomplete data temperature set and at high irregularities in weekly load data.     

Comparison of Simplified Pan-Based Equations for Estimating Reference Evapotranspiration

Accurate estimation of reference evapotranspiration (ET0) is essential for irrigation practice. Conversion from pan evaporation data to reference evapotranspiration is commonly practiced. The objective of this study was to evaluate the reliability of simplified pan-based approaches for estimating ET0 directly that do not require the data of relative humidity and wind speed. In this study, three pan-based (FAO-24 pan, Snyder ET0, and Ghare ET0) equations were compared against lysimeter measurements of grass evapotranspiration using daily data from Policoro, Italy. Based on summary statistics, the Snyder ET0 equation ranked first with the lowest RMSE value (0.449?mm?day?1). The pan-based equations were additional tested using mean daily data collected in Novi Sad, Serbia. The Snyder ET0 equation best matched ET0 estimates by Penman-Monteith equation at Novi Sad with lowest root mean square error value of 0.288?mm?day?1. The obtained results demonstrate that simplified pan-based equations can be successful alternative to FAO-56 Penman-Monteith equation for estimating reference evapotranspiration. The overall results recommended Snyder ET0 equation for pan evaporation to evapotranspiration conversions. The Snyder ET0 equation consistently provides better results compared to FAO-24 pan equation, although required measurements of only one weather parameter pan evaporation.     

Dracaena mannii Baker—physical, mechanical and related properties

Wood anatomy, physical and mechanical properties and decay resistance of the monocotyledon Dracaena mannii Baker from the Central African Republic were determined and compared with the wood of two dicotyledons of the comparable density. Despite of the completely different anatomical structure the mechanical properties of Dracaena are comparable to the dicotyledonous wood of comparable density. As opposed to mechanical properties the radial and tangential shrinkage in Dracaena is twice as great as in dicots of comparable density and the ratio of tangential to radial shrinkage is almost 3:1.     

Estimation of FAO Blaney-Criddle b Factor by RBF Network

This technical note presents the application of a Radial Basis Function (RBF) network to estimate the FAO Blaney-Criddle b factor. Tabular b values are given in the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Irrigation and Drainage Paper Number 24. The b values obtained by the RBF network are compared to the appropriate b values produced using regression equations. The RBF network predicted b values better than the regression equations. An example is given to illustrate the simplicity and accuracy of the RBF network for b factor estimation.     

Analysis of public safety traffic on trunked land mobile radio systems

Mobile radio systems for public safety and agencies engaged in emergency response and disaster recovery operations must support multicast voice traffic. In this paper, we analyze the distribution of call interarrival and call holding times for multicast voice (talk group) traffic on a transmission trunked mobile radio system. In such systems, the channel is held only while a user is making a call (while the push-to-talk key is pressed and the radio is transmitting). We find that the call interarrival time distributions are exponential and exhibit tendency toward long-range dependence. The call holding times best fit lognormal distributions and are not correlated. A potentially important implication of these findings is that performance estimation methods that assume memoryless Markov arrival and departure processes may not be viable approaches.     

Arylpiperazine dopamineric ligands protect neuroblastoma cells from nitric oxide (NO)-induced mitochondrial damage and apoptosis

The protective ability of novel arylpiperazine-based dopaminergic ligands against nitric oxide (NO)-mediated neurotoxicity is investigated. The most potent neuroprotective arylpiperazine identified during the study was N-{4-[2-(4-phenyl-piperazin-1-yl)ethyl]-phenyl}picolinamide, which protected SH-SY5Y human neuron-like cells from the proapoptotic effect of NO donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP) by decreasing oxidative stress, mitochondrial membrane depolarization, caspase activation and subsequent phosphatydilserine externalization/DNA fragmentation. The protective effect was associated with the inhibition of proapoptotic (JNK, ERK, AMPK) and activation of antiapoptotic (Akt) signaling pathways, in the absence of interference with intracellular NO accumulation. The neuroprotective action of arylpiperazines was shown to be independent of dopamine receptor binding, as it was not affected by the high-affinity D?/D? receptor blocker butaclamol. These results reported support the further study of arylpiperazines as potential neuroprotective agents.     

Introduction and outline of the special issue on circuits and systems education: experiences, challenges, and views

The objective of this special issue is to share experiences and views, stimulate further interactions and role models and facilitate plans for future cooperation.     

Towards a Theoretical Framework of Autonomous Systems Underpinned by Intelligence and Systems Sciences

Autonomous systems are an emerging AI technology functioning without human intervention underpinned by the latest advances in intelligence, cognition, computer, and systems sciences. This paper explores the intelligent and mathematical foundations of autonomous systems. It focuses on structural and behavioral properties that constitute the intelligent power of autonomous systems. It explains how system intelligence aggregates from reflexive, imperative, adaptive intelligence to autonomous and cognitive intelligence. A hierarchical intelligence model (HIM) is introduced to elaborate the evolution of human and system intelligence as an inductive process. The properties of system autonomy are formally analyzed towards a wide range of applications in computational intelligence and systems engineering. Emerging paradigms of autonomous systems including brain-inspired systems, cognitive robots, and autonomous knowledge learning systems are described. Advances in autonomous systems will pave a way towards highly intelligent machines for augmenting human capabilities.      

Energy efficiency of femtocell deployment in combined wireless/optical access networks

Optical/wireless convergence has become of particular interest recently because a combined radio wireless and optical wired network has the potential to provide both mobility and high bandwidth in an efficient way. Recent developments of new radio access technologies such as the Long Term Evolution (LTE) and introduction of femtocell base stations open new perspectives in providing broadband services and applications to everyone and everywhere, but the instantaneous quality of radio channel varies in time, space and frequency and radio communication is inherently energy inefficient and susceptible to reflections and interference. On the other hand, optical fiber-based networks do not provide mobility, but they are robust, energy efficient, and able to provide both an almost unlimited bandwidth and high availability.In this paper, we analyze the energy efficiency of combined wireless/optical access networks, in which LTE technology provides ubiquitous broadband Internet access, while optical fiber-based technologies serve as wireless backhaul and offer high-bandwidth wired Internet access to business and residential customers. In this contest, we pay a particular attention to femtocell deployment for increasing both access data rates and area coverage. The paper presents a novel model for evaluating the energy efficiency of combined optical/wireless networks that takes into account the main architectural and implementational aspects of both RF wireless and optical parts of the access network. Several hypothetical network deployment scenarios are defined and used to study effects of femtocell deployment and power saving techniques on network’s energy efficiency in urban, suburban and rural areas and for different traffic conditions.     

Computational Design of Enantiocomplementary Epoxide Hydrolases for Asymmetric Synthesis of Aliphatic and Aromatic Diols

The use of enzymes in preparative biocatalysis often requires tailoring enzyme selectivity by protein engineering. Herein we explore the use of computational library design and molecular dynamics simulations to create variants of limonene epoxide hydrolase that produce enantiomeric diols from meso-epoxides. Three substrates of different sizes were targeted: cis-2,3-butene oxide, cyclopentene oxide, and cis-stilbene oxide. Most of the 28 designs tested were active and showed the predicted enantioselectivity. Excellent enantioselectivities were obtained for the bulky substrate cis-stilbene oxide, and enantiocomplementary mutants produced (S,S)- and (R,R)-stilbene diol with >97 % enantiomeric excess. An (R,R)-selective mutant was used to prepare (R,R)-stilbene diol with high enantiopurity (98 % conversion into diol, >99 % ee). Some variants displayed higher catalytic rates (k_cat) than the original enzyme, but in most cases K_M values increased as well. The results demonstrate the feasibility of computational design and screening to engineer enantioselective epoxide hydrolase variants with very limited laboratory screening.