This paper introduced a decentralized voltage control strategy for dc microgrids that is based on the droop method. The proposed distributed secondary voltage control utilizes an average voltage sharing scheme to compensate the voltage deviation caused by the droop control. Through nonexplicit communication, the proposed control strategy can perform precise terminal voltage regulation and enhance the system reliability against system failures. The distributed voltage compensators that resemble a centralized secondary voltage controller are implemented with the bi-proper anti-wind-up design method to solve the integration issues that necessarily lead to the saturation of the controller output efforts. The proposed concept of pilot bus voltage regulation shows the possibility of managing the terminal voltage without centralized structure. Moreover, the network dynamics are illustrated with a focus on cable resonance mode based on the eigenvalue analysis and small-signal modeling; analytical explanations with the development of equivalent circuits give a clear picture regarding how the controller parameters and droop gains affect the system damping performance. The proposed derivative droop control has been demonstrated to damp the oscillation and to improve the system stability during transients. Finally, the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed control strategy are validated by both simulation and experimental evaluation.Index Terms-Decentralized control, droop method, hierarchical control, microgrids (MGs), parallel load sharing.

Background: Studies of the 100 most-cited articles are reported for many subjects. However, none has analyzed the article characteristics associated with high citation frequency. This study aims to (1) graphically depict characteristics of the 100 top-cited articles addressing adult spinal deformity (ASD), (2) diagram the association between articles according to subject and major topic medical subject headings (MeSHs), and (3) investigate whether major topic MeSH correlates with article citation frequency. Methods: The 100 top-cited ASD publications since 2011 were retrieved using a PubMed Central search on May 6, 2020. Using titles and abstracts, eight subject categories were identified: surgery, conservative treatment, normal values in spinopelvic alignment, review, cervical alignment, classification, compensatory mechanism, and spine-hip relationship. Sankey diagrams were used to organize the information. Network analysis was performed according to article subject and major topic MeSHs. Pearson’s r was used to determine whether the weighted number of citations correlates with major topic MeSHs and the number of citations. Results: The average number of citations per article was 34.8 (range, 19–156). The most represented country was USA (n = 51). The most productive and highly cited journal was Spine (Phila Pa 1976) (n = 34; average, 38.2 citations per article). The most frequent subject categories and major topic MeSHs were “surgery” (n = 53) and “scoliosis” (weighted count, 9.8), while articles with the subject “compensatory” had the highest average number of citations (64.7). The most highly cited article, by Dr. F. Schwab in 2012, had 156 citations. Network analysis revealed the relationships between these articles according to major topic MeSHs. The weighted number of citations according to major topic MeSHs correlated significantly with article citation frequency (Pearson’s r, 0.57; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Multiple characteristics of the 100 top-cited ASD articles are presented in diagrams to guide evidence-based clinical decision-making in ASD.

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Study Design. A retrospective comparative study with radiographic measurements.Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate incidences and risk factors of screw-related superior facet articular surface violation (FASV) and optimal pedicle screw angles (PSAs) to avoid FASV at L4 and L5 levels in transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) with either open surgery (OS) or minimal invasive (MIS) techniques with 3D C-arm navigation. Summary of Background Data. L4 to S1 are common levels in TLIF. Adjacent segment diseases (ASD) following TLIF is not uncommon. Screw-related FASV at the superior level is one of the potential risk factors for ASD. Methods. In the OS and MIS groups, 111 and 110 screws were included at L4 level, and 114 and 110 screws at L5 level, respectively. Postoperative computed tomography examined screw-related FASV at L3-4 and L4-5 facet levels. The entry point was the location where pedicle screws placed into the facet joints. Results. The OS technique and insertion at the L5 level increased the likelihood of FASV 2.56 and 1.81 times, respec-tively. Multivariate logistic regressions analysis determined PSA was a significant factor associated with FASV. Pearson r between PSA and the distance between midline and entry point was 0.905 (P < .0001). Adding one degree of convergence in PSA led to a mean 0.87 lower odds of an FASV event, regardless of surgical techniques. In 90% of patients in the OS and MIS groups, PSA with FASV was < 11.98 and <15.98 at L4 level, and <15.98 and <21.88 at L5 level, respectively. Conclusion. PSAs played an important role in FASV. MIS allowed greater PSAs and resulted in fewer incidences of FASV. To avoid FASV in 90% of patients, the PSAs might be at least 11. 98 and 15.98 at L4 level, and 15.98 and 21.88 at L5 level for OS and MIS techniques, respectively.

The differential power analysis (DPA) has become a big threat to crypto chips since it can efficiently disclose the secret key without much effort. Several methods have been proposed in literatures to resist the DPA attack, but they largely increase the hardware cost and severely degrade the throughput. In this brief, a security problem based on ring oscillators is resolved by a new architecture with self-generated true random sequence. The true random-based architecture is implemented with an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) crypto engine using UMC 90-nm CMOS technology. The DPA-resistant AES engine can achieve 2.97-Gb/s throughput at an operating frequency of 255 MHz with a 0.104-mm 2 cell area. The proposed DPA countermeasure circuit has only 6.2% area and 18.5% power overhead without throughput degradation. Index Terms-Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), cryptography, differential power analysis (DPA), ring oscillators, true random number generator.

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