A new multiple-stage converter topology for high power and high precision fast pulsed current sources
A new high current, low rise time and high precision pulse generator is presented. The topology is based on the use of different stages, each one specific for a particular operation range in terms of power and switching frequency. The design and operating principle of the proposed topology are described. Finally, the results obtained from an implemented reduced scale prototype are compared with the simulation ones in order to validate the design.
The performance of the new generation, dynamic mode, current source power supplies with energy recuperation ability to the DC-link
This paper presents an application of the developed platform for dynamic mode, current source power supplies with ability of energy recuperation from the load to the dc-link capacitors of the power supply. The developed universal and modular platform is suitable for current source power supplies feeding superconducting magnets in particle accelerators with lower energy stored in magnets and with lower magnet voltages. The main advantages of the developed power supply platform are the energy regeneration ability from the low voltage output to the DC-link capacitors and the high dynamic accuracy of the output current control. An application example of the developed concept is the modular power supply PS15000-25D, with parameters 15000 A of output current and 25 V of output voltage. It was developed for the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, JINR, Dubna, Russia. This paper presents some design aspects, performances and test results of the developed power supply concept.
Therapist-case managers: more than brokers of services.
For satisfactory adjustment into the community, the long-term patient often needs assistance in dealing with a bureaucracy of agencies and departments. Some professionals have suggested establishing the role of case manager, but the case manager system is susceptible to becoming an impersonal bureaucracy itself. The author suggests that case management functions are part of the normal duties of a conscientious therapist, and that only through significant therapeutic involvement does a case manager acquire the in-depth knowledge of the patient to adequately assess his needs and facilitate the processes for meeting them. Thus the case manager should be not simply an intermediate broker of services but the patient's primary therapist. With the "therapist-case manager," the functions of therapy and case management would be combined. If therapists fail to do case management or to treat long-term patients altogether, this problem should be dealt with directly rather than simply by adding another member to the team.