Journal articles on the topic 'Wide Area Monitoring, Protection and Control (WAMPAC)'

The assimilation of Distributed Generation (DG) into the electric power system (EPS) has become more attractive as the world is following a trend to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by introducing more renewable energy forms resulting in high penetration scenarios. This high penetration of DGs brings several challenges to the protection philosophy of the EPS which compromises its reliability, availability, and efficiency. Under high DG penetration scenarios, conventional islanding detection methods (Idms) fail to detect an island as the grid loses its inertia to leverage a significant frequency and voltage mismatch necessary for Idms to effectively detect an islanding event. This has given rise to the birth of Artificial Intelligent (AI) methods that are found to perform better in islanding detection. AI Idms are computationally intensive and require a lot of data to operate accurately. Because the computational burden of these methods requires fast computing hardware, the current trend of AI Idms are integrated with Wide Area Monitoring, Protection, and Control (WAMPAC) system. This paper aims at reviewing all these Idms and the WAMPAC’s system latency when hosting AI Idms which are currently the best in islanding detection. This is done to determine if the WAMPAC system latency plus Idms computational time meet the islanding detection time specified by the IEEE Standard 1547 framework.

Distribution medium voltage networks have a branched structure, many power centers, longcable and overhead lines. This complicates the process of their automation, since significant capital costs for new equipment are required. New solutions based on modern technologies can help speed up this process and make it more efficient. The authors propose the use of synchronized phasor measurement technology for automating medium voltage networks. This paper considers approaches that describe the possibilities of implementing the WAMPAC principles in such networks, provides several examples where these principles apply.

The renewed quest for situational awareness in power systems has brought about the use of digital signal processing of power system measurements, and the transmission of such data to control centres via communication networks. At the control centres, power system stability algorithms are executed to provide monitoring, protection, and control in order to prevent blackouts. This can be achieved by upgrading the existing Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems through the deployment of newly proposed power system synchrophasor-based applications for Wide Area Monitoring, Protection, and Control (WAMPAC). However, this can only be done when there is a complete understanding of the methods and technologies associated with the communication network, message structure, and formats required. This paper presents an analysis of the IEEE C37.118 synchrophasor message framework, message formats, and data communication of synchrophasor measurements from Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) for WAMPAC schemes in smart grids. A newly designed lab-scale testbed is implemented and used in the practical experimentation relating to this paper. Synchrophasor measurements from the PMUs are captured using a network protocol analyzer software-Wireshark, and the compliance of the synchrophasor message structures and formats captured was compared to the specifications defined in the IEEE C37.118 synchrophasor standard.

Angle stability appears in many forms in transmission network. There are small active power oscillations which do not endanger the normal operations whereas medium and large oscillations have implications on normal operations. These latter kinds of oscillations in some cases develop in out of step condition, which is dangerous disturbance with serious impact on transmission network and generating units. Transmission network operator’s challenges and obligations are to treat in the right manner angle stability issues in their network. Controlling and protecting network needs to be done in efficient way in order to disconnect disturbance quickly and prevent abnormal network operation without exporting disturbance in surrounding networks. Synchrophasor measurements in control centre offer a platform, which responds in a new way on angle stability in transmission network. Those measurements which are collected in phasor data concentrators, which is a part of Wide Area Monitoring will be used for creating out of step protection. This is the first step to extended system to Wide Area Monitoring Protecting And Control (WAMPAC). Paper gives progress of such project in Croatian Transmission Network Operator (HOPS). Firstly, there will be stated motives for development of new out of step protection based on synchrophasor measurements. Some feasibility aspect elaborated with emphasis on communications latency. Furthermore, designed Matlab model for transmission network and protection with small portions of simulations results and analyses presented in paper reveal potential of proposed solutions. This new protection is based on using voltage angles values from phasor data stream in phasor data concentrator.

This article presents a study on real-time testing of synchrophasor-based “wide-area monitoring system’s applications (WAMS application).” Considering the growing demand of real-time testing of “wide-area monitoring, protection, and control (WAMPAC)” applications, a systematic real-time testing methodology is formulated and delineated in diagrams. The diagrams propose several stages through which an application needs to be assessed (sequentially) for its acceptance prior to implementation into a production system. However, only one stage is demonstrated in this article which comprises the use of a prototyping software toolchain and whose potential is assessed as sufficient for preliminary real-time testing (PRTT) of WAMS applications. The software toolchain is composed of two components: the MATLAB software for application prototyping and other open-source software that allows ingesting prerecorded phasor measurement unit (PMU) signals. With this software toolchain, a PRTT study is presented for two WAMS applications: “testing of the PMU/phasor data concentrator (PDC)” and “testing of wide-area forced oscillation (FO) monitoring application.”

Many wide area monitoring, protection, and control (WAMPAC) systems are being deployed by grid operators to deal with critical operational conditions that may occur in power systems. Thanks to the real-time measurements provided by a set of distributed phasor measurement units (PMUs), different protection algorithms can be run in a central location. In this context, this article presents and validates a novel method that can be used as a backup protection for a selected area in a power system. It merges the integrated impedance angle (IIA) protection method with the theory of virtual buses in wide area electrical power systems. The backup protection works this way: once a fault is detected (pickup time), another delay (added to the pickup time) is defined in order to wait for the primary protection to act. If this does not happen, the algorithm generates its backup trip. The proposed method has been called the zone integrated impedance angle (Zone IIA). A real-time PMU laboratory has been used to test the proposed algorithm using a real-time digital simulator (RTDS). The algorithm has been programmed in a real-time automation controller (RTAC). It has been tested in two different simulated setups: first, a 400 kV transmission system, with and without the use of renewable energy sources (RES); second, a 150 kV submarine line between the Greece mainland and an island, which is currently the longest submarine alternating current connection in the world. The results obtained during the tests have yielded tripping times for area protection in the order of 48 ms, if no time delay is used between the fault detection and the trip order. According to the test results, the proposed method is stable, reliable, obedient, and secure, also with RES installed in the power system. Additionally, the method is selective, i.e., during the tests no trip was executed for external faults, no trip was executed in no-fault condition, and all the applied internal faults were detected and tripped correctly. Finally, the protection method is easy to implement. The method is also applicable to protection against short circuits in distribution systems. According to the trip times observed during the tests, it is clear that these algorithms are well suited to implement backup protections in transmission grids, even in scenarios with high penetration of renewable energies. Considering that backup trip times in transmission grids are usually set between 400 and 1000 ms, and that the actuation times obtained by the proposed algorithm are under 100 ms, the method is suitable for its use as a backup protection.

System integrity protection schemes (SIPS) are schemes that can, under potentially hazardous conditions, prevent a complete blackout of endangered parts of an electrical power system (EPS). The main objective of SIPS is to monitor the state of the power transmission network in real time and to react in emergency cases. This paper explores the use of phasor measurement unit (PMU) technology for the development of SIPS as a part of wide-area monitoring, protection, and control (WAMPAC) systems. A new SIPS development method is described using the experience from the real-time operation. The developed optimal bus-splitting scheme identifies potential actions that can eliminate or reduce power system overloads and protect the integrity of the power system. An optimal bus-splitting scheme based on a DC power flow model and PMU measurements is given as an example and is explained and tested on an IEEE 14 bus test system. Conducted simulations indicate that the described SIPS methodology supported by the PMU measurements can mitigate potential overloads of the observed network part.

This paper reports on the construction and characterization of an optical voltage transducer module for applications in the field of wide-area monitoring, protection, and control (WAMPAC). The optical medium voltage transducer (MVT) module was designed to be combined with a capacitive voltage divider (CVD) to form a voltage sensor intended for 132 kV high voltage (HV) networks. The MVT module comprises a combination of a piezoelectric transducer (PZT) and a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) as a core optical sensing element. Changes in the input voltage across the PZT translate into strain being detected by the FBG. The resultant FBG peak wavelength can be calibrated in terms of the input voltage to obtain a precise voltage measurement. The module was experimentally evaluated in the laboratory, and its performance was assessed based on the requirements specified by the IEC standards for electronic voltage transformers and low power voltage transformers. The results of accuracy tests demonstrate that the MVT module is free from hysteresis, within the experimental error, and is capable of simultaneously meeting the requirements for 0.1 metering and 1P protection classes specified by the IEC 60044-7 and IEC 61869-11 standards.

Cathodic protection is a corrosion control and prevention system that is applied to underground pipe structures by providing an electric charge to the structure to be protected. An online monitoring system for cathodic protection is urgently needed to save costs and ensure operator safety in the field in the care of the protected structure. This study aimed to evaluate cathodic protection online monitoring using a low power wide area network (LPWAN) communication system. Cathodic protection online monitoring in this study was applied using LPWAN with a radio frequency of 433 MHz. In this work, the type of communication with wireless technology has been chosen with low power consumption and can accommodate the distance between test stations in the distribution pipeline. From the results of testing the cathodic protection online monitoring system, it can be seen that measurement data that has been done manually can be replaced in real-time and monitored remotely. This system is highly recommended for areas that have so far not been covered by manual measurements, for example, remote areas prone to flooding, swamps, and interference areas that require denser data information to make handling easier to do early.

<span>Sustained growth in the demand with unprecedented investments in the transmission infrastructure resulted in narrow operational margins for power system operators across the globe. As a result, power networks are operating near to stability limits. This has demanded the electrical utilities to explore new avenues for control and protection of wide area systems. Present supervisory control and data acquisition/energy management systems (SCADA/EMS) can only facilitate steady state model of the network, whereas synchrophasor measurements with GPS time stamp from wide area can provide dynamic view of power grid that enables supervision, and protection of power network and allow the operator to take necessary control/remedial measures in the new regime of grid operations. Construction of phasor measurement unit (PMU) that provide synchrophasors for the assessment of system state is widely accepted as an essential component for the successful execution of wide area monitoring system (WAMS) applications. Commercial PMUs comes with many constraints such as cost, proprietary hardware designs and software. All these constraints have limited the deployment of PMUs at high voltage transmission systems alone. This paper addresses the issues by developing a cost-effective PMU with open-source hardware, which can be easily modified as per the requirements of the applications. The proposed device is tested with IEEE standards.</span>

Foxes, wild dogs, feral cats, rabbits, feral pigs and feral goats are believed to have deleterious impacts on native biodiversity in Australia. However, although considerable resources have been expended controlling these six species, little is known about national patterns and costs of control and monitoring. We therefore conducted a survey of pest-control operations undertaken by conservation-focused organisations in Australia. A total of 1306 control operations were reported, with most conducted during 1998–2003: there was little information prior to 1990. Foxes and rabbits were the most, and feral cats the least, frequently controlled pest species. The total area on which control was undertaken in 2003, the year for which most information was available, ranged from ~0.4 × 104 km2 for feral cats to ~10.7 × 104 km2 for foxes. A wide range of techniques and intensities were used to control each of the six species. The estimated cost of labour expended on control in 2003 ranged from $0.4 × 106 for feral cats to $5.3 × 106 for foxes. Monitoring of the pest or biodiversity occurred in 50–56% of control actions in which foxes, wild dogs and feral cats were targeted, but only 22–26% of control actions in which rabbits, feral pigs and feral goats were targeted. Our results are discussed in relation to previous studies of pest animal control and monitoring in Australia.

This article is devoted to the issues of creating an adaptive intelligent system, for monitoring and controlling the technological process for electrochemical corrosion protection of main pipelines (MP), which has been designed for remote control of electrochemical protection (EChP) parameters and their optimization as well as adaptive control of the parameters of cathodic protection stations while taking into account changes in external conditions. The multi-objective problem of optimizing the operating modes of cathodic protection stations (CPS) is considered because optimization is carried out according to both the criterion of optimal distribution of the protective potential (uniform distribution of the protective total (pipe-to-soil) potential along the length of the pipeline) and to the criterion of the minimum total protective current of stations. The structure of the distributed electrochemical protection system is described in the article. A more complete picture of the protection of the pipeline and solving the problems of optimizing the electrochemical protection modes in real time is possible due to remote monitoring of control and measuring points (CMP) in the middle of the pipeline between neighboring cathodic protection stations, as well as in all corrosion and hazardous zones where they are also installed. In addition to the often-used GSM/GPRS networks in electrochemical protection systems, an energy-efficient LPWAN (Low-Power Wide-Area Network) data transmission network is also used and data collection is carried out using a cloud IoT platform. The functionality of the system is described, web application screens are shown in various operating modes for remote monitoring and control of the protective parameters of cathodic protection stations is reported. Analytical data processing for the tasks assessing the protection of objects in the pipeline system against corrosion are also shown. The system ensures that the electrochemical protection process is maintained at an optimal level between the destructive zones of “underprotection” and “overprotection”, taking into account monitoring data, geological conditions at the pipeline site, climatic or seasonal changes and other factors. In general, this system provides an increase in the reliability of the electrochemical protection system as a whole and, accordingly, it prevents possible emergency situations on the pipeline system while also reducing the cost of pipeline maintenance due to the reliability and continuity of protection.

With environmental issues arising from the excessive use of fossil fuels, clean energy has gained widespread attention, particularly the application of lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries are integrated into various industrial products, which necessitates higher safety requirements. Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) is an LPWA (Low Power Wide Area Network) technology that provides IoT devices with low-power, low-cost, long-endurance, and wide-coverage wireless connectivity. This study addresses the shortcomings of existing lithium-ion battery pack detection systems and proposes a lithium-ion battery monitoring system based on NB-IoT-ZigBee technology. The system operates in a master-slave mode, with the subordinate module collecting and fusing multi-source sensor data, while the master control module uploads the data to local monitoring centers and cloud platforms via TCP and NB-IoT. Experimental validation demonstrates that the design functions effectively, accomplishing the monitoring and protection of lithium-ion battery packs in energy storage power stations.

Cascade tripping of power lines triggered by maloperation of zone-3 relays during stressed system conditions, such as load encroachment, power swing and voltage instability, has led to many catastrophic power failures worldwide, including Indian blackouts in 2012. With the introduction of wide-area measurement systems (WAMS) into the grids, real-time monitoring of transmission network condition is possible. A phasor measurement unit (PMU) sends time-synchronized data to a phasor data concentrator, which can provide a control signal to substation devices. The latency associated with the communication system makes WAMS suitable for a slower form of protection. In this work, a method to identify the faulted line using synchronized data from strategic PMU locations is proposed. Subsequently, a supervisory signal is generated for specific relays in the system for any disturbance or stressed condition. For a given system, an approach to decide the strategic locations for PMU placement is developed, which can be used for determining the minimum number of PMUs required for application of the method. The accuracy of the scheme is tested for faults during normal and stressed conditions in a New England 39-bus system simulated using EMTDC/PSCAD software. With such a strategy, maloperation of relays can be averted in many situations and thereby blackouts/large-scale disturbances can be prevented. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Energy management: flexibility, risk and optimization’.

Lightning location systems (LLS) provide data on lightning activity such as lightning type, GPS location, exact time of the lightning stroke, lightning current amplitude, measurement error, etc. The proper application of LLS data using customized software support can be a powerful decision-making tool in the control, maintenance and development of power systems. The utilization of lightning data in power systems requires a customized software support with specific functionalities. Software functionalities include real time lightning activity visualization with alarm function; analysis, reports and historical lightning activity visualization; spatial correlation between lightning data and alarm zones around geographically represented power system’s objects (power lines, power facilities, etc.); calculation of lightning statistics; generation of wide area lightning density maps, generation of high resolution lightning density maps inspecting alarm zones around the power lines; real time correlation between lightning activity and the power system protection equipment (distant protection relays), gathered through the SCADA system. In this paper, emphasis will be given to the application in correlation between faults and outages in the power network and lightning strokes. Today, many power companies monitor data related to circuit breaker operation or reclosing using various equipment. Such equipment allows online monitoring of circuit breakers and alarm statuses of equipment in substations.

The smart grid includes wide-area applications in which inter-substation communication is required to realize innovative monitoring, protection, and control solutions. Internet-based data exchange, i.e., communication over Internet Protocol (IP), is regarded as the latest trend for inter-substation communication. Interoperability can be achieved via the use of standardized IEC 61850-90-5 messages communicating over IP. Wide-area applications can obtain benefits from IP-multicast technologies and use a one-to-many communication model among substations communicating across a communication network. Cellular Internet is being considered as a potential cost-efficient solution which can be used for the IP-multicast communication. However, it requires knowledge of communicating uncommon IP-multicast traffic over the Internet. Moreover, it presents challenges in terms of cybersecurity and real-time requirements. These challenges must be overcome to realize authentic and correct operation of the wide-area applications. There is thus a need to examine communication security and to evaluate if the communication network characteristics satisfy the application real-time requirement. This paper investigates the secure communication of IEC61850-90-5 multicast messages over the public communication network and proposes two network architectures using the Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) tunnel and multipoint GRE (mGRE) within Dynamic Multipoint VPN (DMVPN). Additionally, this paper evaluates the feasibility of cellular (5G and 4G) Internet for the communication of multicast Routable Generic Object Oriented Substation Events (R-GOOSE) messages in wide-area protection applications. For this purpose, we introduce a lab setup to experiment the transmission of R-GOOSE messages within the proposed network architectures. The lab setup contains both software and hardware components. A software application is developed to publish multicast R-GOOSE with a fresh timestamp acquired from time synchronization equipment. These messages are transmitted over the Internet by computer networking devices that support cellular communication. The communication latency of the transmitted messages is measured and analyzed statistically. The statistical analysis results are discussed to evaluate performance of R-GOOSE over cellular Internet for two communication-based protection applications: Logic Selectivity and Loss-of-Main protection schemes.

An intelligent vehicle anti-theft alarm system has been designed with DSP technology and GPRS technology. This system is mainly composed of a signal collection system, alarm system, control system, communication system and the four wheel locking system, which can realize the safety status monitoring of vehicle after parking, the dialogue of people-vehicle under unsafe conditions and tracking and positioning of the vehicle after stolen. But the system has a wide range covering network, information transmission speed, low cost and the use cost , small blind area and multiple anti-theft functions and so on. A new way and thought has been provided for automobile anti-theft protection.

Introduction: The Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) is vulnerable to false alarms about the violation of the required navigation parameter availability under geomagnetic disturbances. As a consequence, the system operation efficiency might decrease because of a mismatch between the output of the control system and the actual quality of the navigation-time support. Purpose: Comparative analysis of the actual quality of navigation-and-time support for GPS users and the output information of the system for monitoring the availability of the required WAAS navigation parameters under a moderate magnetic storm and with technical failures during the operation of separate segments of GPS and WAAS systems. Results: Location errors were calculated for 82 reference stations in the USA equipped with GPS navigation receivers. The calculations used the geometric ranges of visible navigation satellites and the corresponding real values of the ionospheric range-measurement error determined by the method of two-frequency measurements. Based on the same data and through the use of the conventional standard WAAS availability control algorithm, the user protection levels were calculated in the horizontal and vertical planes. The results of these calculations are presented as a time graph of WAAS operating area coverage percentage, which was compared with the respective graphs presented in the official WAAS work reports. It is established that there are cases of significant discrepancy between the forecasts about the availability of the required navigation parameters according to the WAAS data and the real quality of positioning in the operating area of this system. There are discrepancies in the results of calculations of protection levels in the horizontal and vertical planes obtained from official reports on the operation of the system and in calculations based on the geometric range and real ionospheric range-measurement error. Practical relevance: Recommendations are proposed in order to reconsider the development of a navigation parameter availability control for wide-area augmentation systems, splitting the calculation into “locally dependent” and “globally dependent” components of differential corrections of range-measurement errors. It will reduce the likelihood of false alarms or dangerous inconsistencies in information within the system.

Synchrophasor technology opens a new window for power system observability. Phasor measurement units (PMUs) are able to provide synchronized and accurate data such as frequency, voltage and current phasors, vibration, and temperature for power systems. Thus, the utilization of PMUs has become quite important in the fast monitoring, protection, and even the control of new and complicated distribution systems. However, data quality and communication are the main concerns for synchrophasor applications. This study presents a comprehensive survey on wide-area monitoring systems (WAMSs), PMUs, data quality, and communication requirements for the main applications of PMUs in a modern and smart distribution system with a variety of energy resources and loads. In addition, the main challenges for PMU applications as well as opportunities for the future use of this intelligent device in distribution systems will be presented in this paper.

This paper presents a comprehensive approach for performing phasor and frequency estimation from voltage and/or current signals of the modern power system. Undesirable components, such as decaying DC, if present in the input signal, are first attenuated using a complex-gain filter. The initial estimates of phasor and frequency are obtained next using the discrete Fourier transform and an improved estimation of signal parameters via rotational invariance technique, respectively. Finally, the accuracy of phasor and frequency estimates are increased based on the identified system condition. Simulations performed to evaluate the proposed approach confirm that it can do fast and accurate estimation of phasor and frequency under diverse operating conditions, making it ideal for wide-area monitoring, protection, and control applications in power systems.

The spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana, Clem., is the most significant defoliating pest of boreal balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) and spruce (Picea sp.) in North America. Historically, spruce budworm outbreaks have been managed via a reactive, foliage protection approach focused on keeping trees alive rather than stopping the outbreak. However, recent theoretical and technical advances have renewed interest in proactive population control to reduce outbreak spread and magnitude, i.e., the Early Intervention Strategy (EIS). In essence, EIS is an area-wide management program premised on detecting and controlling rising spruce budworm populations (hotspots) along the leading edge of an outbreak. In this article, we lay out the conceptual framework for EIS, including all of the core components needed for such a program to be viable. We outline the competing hypotheses of spruce budworm population dynamics and discuss their implications for how we manage outbreaks. We also discuss the practical needs for such a program to be successful (e.g., hotspot monitoring, population control, and cost–benefit analyses), as well as the importance of proactive communications with stakeholders.

The article considers one of the possible ways to implement the constitutional right of citizens to reliable information about the state of the environment. Environmental monitoring carried out on the territory of Izhevsk by the state and departmental organizations is extremely limited in the territorial and time aspect. Monitoring results are usually published only in specialized annual reports, or are provided to citizens on a paid basis. Publication of the Izhevsk Medical and Environmental Atlas and its availability to a wide range of interested citizens, both at the professional and consumer level, corresponds to three main conditions for environmental protection: scientific and expert support, public control and public awareness. The article reflects the regulatory considerations of creating the atlas, gives its brief structural and content characteristics, and provides examples of component-wise and integrated large-scale maps. Some results of zoning of the city microdistricts by the level of medical and environmental well-being are also presented, taking into account the territorial distribution of such indicators as the level of morbidity of the child population, the complex index of air pollution, noise pollution from traffic flows and the area of green spaces.

The article is devoted to the problem of information protection generated by a glide path beacon of the PRMG format for providing instrumental approach of aircraft for landing. To en-sure a safe approach, the radio beacon landing system forms a descent trajectory in space - a glide path. A developed multilevel control system is designed to ensure the integrity of the land-ing system by continuous monitoring of the position of a given glide path and the steepness of the indicated glide path parameter. However, during flight tests of a glide path beacon (GPB), a false glide path is sometimes detected in the area of the landing system, which naturally vio-lates its integrity. The article shows the reason for this phenomenon - a violation of the multi-plicity of the heights of the suspension of the radiating elements of the GPB antenna array. Flight measurements data of the glide path zone at the airfield in the foothills are given. The experimental results confirm the theoretically found regularities in the behavior of the informa-tion parameter of the glide path beacon in a wide sector of angles. Recommendations are pro-posed for maintaining the integrity of the landing system

In this paper, a data-centric communication framework is proposed for multicast routable generic object-oriented substation event (GOOSE) messages (MRGM) over the wide area network (WAN) for effective substation-to-substation (SS2SS) and substation to control center (SS2CC) communications. In this structure, the IEC 61850 GOOSE message is transmitted over the WAN using the data distribution service (DDS) as a fast, reliable, and secure data-centric communication middleware. The main feature of this framework is its multicast capability, where several authorized subscribers can receive a published message simultaneously. This can significantly improve the system monitoring and control of the protection systems in modern smart grids, where intelligent schemes can be applied. The effectiveness of the proposed platform, in terms of total end-to-end delay between participants, is evaluated through experimental results obtained from the actual hardware-based test setup developed at the Florida International University (FIU) smart grid testbed. The results demonstrate that the latency between sending and receiving a GOOSE message among participants is within its maximum time span defined by the IEC 61850-90-5 working group for communications over the WAN.

This paper aims to demonstrate the viability of energy harvesting for wide area wireless sensing systems based on dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) under diffuse sunlight conditions, proving the feasibility of deploying autonomous sensor nodes even under unfavorable outdoor scenarios, such as during cloudy days, in the proximity of tall buildings, among the trees in a forest and during winter days in general. A flexible thin-film module and a glass thin-film module, both featuring an area smaller than an A4 sheet of paper, were initially characterized in diffuse solar light. Afterward, the protype sensor nodes were tested in a laboratory in two different working conditions, emulating outdoor sunlight in unfavorable lighting and weather to reconstruct a worst-case scenario. A Li-Po battery was employed as a power reserve for a long-range wide area network (LoRaWAN)-based sensor node that transmitted data every 8 h and every hour. To this end, an RFM95x LoRa module was used, while the node energy management was attained by exploiting a nano-power boost charger buck converter integrated circuit conceived for the nano-power harvesting from the light source and the managing of the battery charge and protection. A positive charge balance was demonstrated by monitoring the battery trend along two series of 6 and 9 days, thus allowing us to affirm that the system’s permanent energy self-sufficiency was guaranteed even in the worst-case lighting and weather scenario.

On 24 December 2018, the Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 on the governance system of the Energy Union and Climate Action entered into force. The Governance Regulation provides the European Union with a new regulatory regime for renewable energies and energy efficiency. It has the function of an ‘Umbrella Regulation’ which aims at the overarching control of energy and climate policies for the period 2021 to 2030. Its target is to implement the climate protection goals of the Paris Agreement. At the same time, it represents a compromise and compensation for the European Union’s lack of competences in the area of energy supply, especially concerning the determination of the energy mix of the Member States. Despite choosing a Regulation (which applies automatically) as the legislative tool, its steering and sanctioning mechanisms are in this respect rather ‘soft’: The Regulation gives the Member States a wide scope of decision-making. Which goals and instruments are established by the Governance Regulation, which scope of decision making remains at the national level, how Germany exercises its decision making powers and how it should be exercised are key questions addressed in this article.

The seafarers carried out the professional activity in a complex electromagnetic environment (EME), with technical means, structural materials, depending on the purpose of the watercraft, architectural features, and vessel classification. There are static electric fields, permanent magnetic and low-frequency electric and magnetic fields on ships. Marine radio-electronic means (REM) creates Electromagnetic fields (EMF) of the radio frequency range that provide communication, the safety of navigation and operation, and solving navigation problems. According to the documents of the sanitary legislation, specialists carry out control of the maximum permissible EMF levels for watercraft and marine structures at the design stage of the vessel by calculating the intensity of electromagnetic fields during commissioning, instrumental control of EMF levels. There are new technical means in modern automated vessels of various types and purposes that create electromagnetic fields in the crew's stay zones, which makes it urgent to improve regulatory and methodological documents in the area of ensuring the electromagnetic safety of the team and passengers. The study aims to develop proposals for regulatory, methodological, and hardware control over compliance with the maximum permissible levels of electromagnetic fields on ships to ensure the electromagnetic safety of the crew. Generalization of materials of own research of EME on ships, systematization of sources of electromagnetic fields. Analysis of regulations in occupational safety and health for the protection of the crew from the effects of EME, methodological documents on the calculation forecasting, and instrumental determination of the levels of electromagnetic fields. Experts have revealed that there are electromagnetic fields of a wide frequency range in the premises of ships and on open decks. The study showed that electromagnetic fields of a wide frequency range are created in the premises of ships and on open decks. Indoors, the most significant is the impact on the crew of electric and magnetic fields with a frequency of 50 Hz created by the ship's electric power systems. In addition, on open decks (at workplaces and in crew recreation areas), the protection of the crew from EMF antennas of the radio frequency range is relevant. Therefore, it is necessary to develop methods for calculating the prediction of EMF levels and improve the means of measuring electromagnetic fields on ships. The most common sources of EMF in the crew's stay areas are radio communication and radar facilities, ship's electric power systems. The task of developing a methodological document on the calculated prediction of EMF levels in rooms and on open decks at the design stage of ships is urgent. In addition, it is necessary to develop devices-meters of electromagnetic fields for instrumental monitoring of EMF levels in actual operating conditions of the vessel.

Livestock farming is, in most cases in Europe, unsupervised, thus making it difficult to ensure adequate control of the position of the animals for the improvement of animal welfare. In addition, the geographical areas involved in livestock grazing usually have difficult access with harsh orography and lack of communications infrastructure, thus the need to provide a low-power livestock localization and monitoring system is of paramount importance, which is crucial not for a sustainable agriculture, but also for the protection of native breeds and meats thanks to their controlled supervision. In this context, this work presents an Internet of things (IoT)-based system integrating low-power wide area (LPWA) technology, cloud, and virtualization services to provide real-time livestock location monitoring. Taking into account the constraints coming from the environment in terms of energy supply and network connectivity, our proposed system is based on a wearable device equipped with inertial sensors, Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, and LoRaWAN transceiver, which can provide a satisfactory compromise between performance, cost, and energy consumption. At first, this article provides the state-of-the-art localization techniques and technologies applied to smart livestock. Then, we proceed to provide the hardware and firmware co-design to achieve very low energy consumption, thus providing a significant positive impact to the battery life. The proposed platform has been evaluated in a pilot test in the northern part of Italy, evaluating different configurations in terms of sampling period, experimental duration, and number of devices. The results are analyzed and discussed for packet delivery ratio, energy consumption, localization accuracy, battery discharge measurement, and delay.

The authors refer to several aspects of the most recent proposal to amend the Executive Penal Code, published by the Ministry of Justice in autumn 2021 and widely consulted as part of the legislative process. The draft is a voluminous document, 52 pages long, and covers a wide range of issues with varying degree of detail. The article is not intended to offer a comprehensive analysis of the whole project – we confine ourselves to a few threads that, in our opinion, are the most important, as well as require commentary due to their possible consequences for the system of penal executive law and the protection of the rights of persons deprived of their liberty. These are the issues related to the implementation of sentences in the electronic monitoring system, the problem of complaints and judicial control in enforcement proceedings, the institution of “preventive measures” in penitentiary institutions, principles of transferring offenders sentenced to life imprisonment to semi-open and open institutions, authorization of the Minister of Justice to issue a regulation on determining the surface area of living cells, modification of the content of Art. 117 of the Penal Code as a consequence of the decision of the Constitutional Tribunal concerning the treatment and rehabilitation of convicted addicts and the principles of functioning of psychiatric institutions with reinforced and maximum security.

The advent of synchrophasor technology has completely revolutionized the modern smart grid, enabling futuristic wide-area monitoring protection and control. The Synchrophasor Communication Network (SCN) is a backbone that supports communication of synchrophasor data among Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) and Phasor Data Concentrators (PDCs). The operator at the control center can visualize the health of the smart grid using synchrophasor data aggregated at PDCs from several PMUs. Since the core of the SCN is the existing IP network as an underlying communication infrastructure, the synchrophasor data is subjected to attacks that can compromise its security. The attacks, such as denial-of-service (DoS), can result in degradation of performance and even can disrupt the entire operation of the smart grid, if not controlled. Thus, a resilient SCN is a pertinent requirement in which the system continues to operate with accepted levels of performance even in response to the DoS. This article endeavors to propose a comprehensive resiliency framework for the SCN with enhanced resiliency metrics based on hardware reliability and data reliability. The proposed framework is deployed for a SCN pertaining to a practical power grid in India for its resiliency analysis. The proposed work can be regarded as a significant contribution to smart grid technology, as it provides a framework for resiliency analysis covering different aspects such as hardware reliability, data reliability, and parameters validation using the QualNet network simulator. Nevertheless, an analytical design of the hybrid SCN proposed in this work can even be extended to other topological designs of SCN.

It is expected that a coordinated operation of several system integrity protection schemes will become a necessity in the future. This research represents an innovative strategy for coordinating under-frequency load shedding and intentional controlled islanding schemes for improving electric power system stability and resilience. In the great majority of real-world cases, both approaches follow conventional tactics, i.e., disconnecting a fixed number of feeders at predefined frequency thresholds and isolating a predefined area of a power system regardless of the actual conditions. Under the newly arisen network conditions in which weather-dependent distributed energy sources introduce a significant level of intermittency, conventional approaches need to be upgraded in order to retain a high level of power system operation security. In this paper, a mixed-integer linear programming approach is used to adjust the island size, including/excluding additional substations according to the available amount of generation in the region. The fine-tuning of the power rebalancing is achieved by potentially blocking selected load shedding stages. This minimizes the power imbalance of the newly formed islands, which helps to reduce the number of partial or even total blackouts and also accelerates the power system’s restoration process. The optimization approach was tested on a generic IEEE 39-bus network and shows promising results along with the capability of coping with real-world applications using wide-area monitoring systems as a source of real-time measurements. The results also indicated the importance of appropriate load modelling since both voltage and frequency dependence are recognized to have a significant effect on intentional controlled islanding.

The presence of appropriate habitats is a necessary condition for the existence of flora and fauna. In recent decades, it has become obvious that monitoring of a state not only populations of rare species, and, first, habitats which for a biota are vital, is necessary (Galdenzi et al., 2012; Rodríguez et al., 2012; Izco, 2015; Keith et al., 2015; etc.). The paper discusses the main European programs and projects devoted to the classification, mapping and inventory of habitats, the formation of lists of biotopes in need of protection (Berne Convention, Habitats Directive, Nature 2000, CORINE, EUNIS, etc.). The implementation of these projects makes a significant contribution to the state environmental policy of European countries. Since the Berne Convention for the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, adopted in 1979 and to date, great importance has been given to the protection of natural habitats in the countries of the European Union. Given their diversity, the most important tasks of diagnostics and monitoring of habitats were the development of classification schemes, inventory and allocation of biotopes that require protection. In 1985, the European Commission initiated the CORINE (Coordination of Information on the Environment) project on the inventory of habitats or biotopes. Its main goal was information support for pan-European and national policies in the field of environmental management, control of their consequences and the proposal of corrective measures. The CORINE habitat classification was first published in 1991 and served as the basis for the selection of habitats listed in Annex I of the 1992 (EU Habitat Directive 92/43/EEC). Since the adoption of this document, known as the “Habitats Directive”, there has been a turning point in the EU in the prospects for the management of biological diversity and the transition of scientific research in the field of ecology and nature protection to a qualitatively new level. Annex I lists 233 European types of natural habitats, including 71 priority ones, that are at risk of extinction and whose natural areas mainly distributed into the EU. The most important achievement of the Habitats Directive is the creation of a network of protected areas in Europe, known as Natura 2000, the world’s largest ecological network created to protect the rarest and most endangered species of plants, animals and habitats in Europe. Natura 2000 is not a Specially Protected Natural Areas system, but also includes all EU protected areas, although most of the land in this network is privately owned. EU member States have an obligation to ensure the sustainable management of all Natura 2000 facilities, regardless of ownership, both environmentally and economically. In 1995, the International Seminar in Paris recognized the need to develop an improved European classification. Since that time, the development of the EUNIS (European Union Nature Information System) habitat classification has begun. This classification covers all European habitats: marine, terrestrial and freshwater, natural, semi-natural and anthropogenic and is currently one of the main systems developed for the study and protection of European Union habitats. Despite its shortcomings, EUNIS serves as a pan-European integration system with certain standards for the identification and characterization of habitats. It ensures compara­bility between national and international classifications. The system provides extensive opportunities to establish relationships (crosswalks) of habitat categories with other pan-European (Habitat Directive, NATURE 2000, CORINE, Palaearctic Habitats) and national classifications. Approaches to mapping habitats at different scales are considered — display on the map physiognomically and topographically expressed territorial units of vegetation using remote sensing, reflecting the ecological characteristics and originality of the earth’s surface. It is noted that the diagnostics and inventory of habitats, their mapping are based, first of all, on the materials of geobotanical mapping. The mapping of habitat types and categories can be presented at different scales. For inventory and monitoring purposes, large-scale mapping is most widely used, which is based on the allocation and diagnosis of territorial units of vegetation. A review of several dozen European projects showed that the scale from 1 : 5 000 to 1 : 50 000 is mainly used to display habitat types on the map (Terrestrial ..., 2014). A smaller scale is used to map the distribution of individual habitat types and categories within wide areas. In this case, a grid with cells of different sizes (from 1 to 10 km2) is often used. One of the main tasks in the study and evaluation of the current state of habitats is the identification and organization of monitoring of biotopes that are under the threat of degradation or complete disappearance under the impact, first of all, of human activities. For this purpose, pan-European and national Red Lists of Habitats are being created, which are taken into account in the development plans of the territories of the EU countries. The problems of classification, mapping and inventory of habitats, the preparation of Red Lists of Habitats are currently among the priority areas of environmental science and make a significant contribution to the state environmental policy of the EU countries. The high efficiency of this approach at all levels, from municipal to European, is evidenced by the large number of programs implemented in Europe in the last decade, which were funded both at the national and EU level. Considering that such an approach underlies the formation of an environmentally orien­ted economy and environmental protection activities in many European countries, it seems promising to implement it in the Russian Federation and, first of all, for the Arctic, as the territory most vulnerable to the impact of anthropogenic and climatic factors. This region is currently experiencing a significant anthropogenic impact due to the development of dozens of hydrocarbon deposits, the construction of industrial facilities and infrastructure elements, and numerous oil and gas pipelines. At the same time, the Russian Arctic is a territory of high concentration of species of biota in need of protection, numerous populations of waterfowl and mammals (polar bear, walrus), many of which have international protection status. Due to the high sensitivity to anthropogenic and climatic factors, not only individual protected areas, but the entire territory of the Russian Arctic should be under constant control by the state. In the context of industrial development of Arctic territories, it is necessary to monitor the state not only of populations of certain species of plants and animals in need of protection, but especially habitats that are vital to them. Among the top-priority tasks is the preparation of a list of habitats in the Russian Arctic requiring constant control and protection by the state (Red List of Russian Arctic Habitats). These include areas of concentration of populations of Red Data Book species, the most important resource species and species that are of high importance for maintaining homeostasis and supporting the potential of Arctic ecosystems. The creation of such a list will significantly complement the system of protected areas in the Arctic, since it will allow taking into account and monitoring the state of not only the natural complexes of the existing reserves, but also habitats outside this system, which are of great importance for the preservation of arctic ecosystems and biota. Giving them the status of protected areas of a certain rank, given their multiplicity and dispersion in the territory, is certainly impractical. However, when planning economic activities, special attention will need to be paid to the presence of Red List Habitats and to monitor their condition. The latter, taking into account Remote Sensing technologies, is now quite feasible, and allows for large-scale monitoring in such a vast area.

Introduction. The toxic and hygienic assessment of both the final product and intermediate synthesis products remains the key preventive measure to avoid intoxication of workers’ body by industrial xenobiotics in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry and in the context of a constant increase in the range of used compounds. In recent years, nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds of the pyridine group have been widely used in various industries. One of these substances is the anti-tuberculosis drug ethionamide, the intermediate product in the synthesis of which is 2-ethyl-4-nitropyridine N-oxide. Materials and methods. In experiments, the toxic properties of 2-ethyl-4-nitropyridine N-oxide were studied. The investigations were carried out on outbred rats and mice, rabbits and guinea pigs. The effect of the substance on experimental animals was assessed using standard physiological, biochemical, hematological and morphological indices. Intermediate toxicity was studied with different methods of substance administration (oral, percutaneous and inhalation) both in single and repeated experiments. The obtained results were processed using the Statistic 10.0 software package. Results. Mean lethal doses of 2-ethyl-4-nitropyridine N-oxide for female rats and male mice were 1250 mg/kg (976.6÷1600.0 mg/kg) and 430 mg/kg (355.4÷520.3mg/kg), respectively; for female mice - 675 mg/kg. The ability of the substance to accumulate was average: the cumulation coefficient was 4.0. There were no significant differences in the effect of the substance on animals of different species and gender. The substance didn’t show a local irritating effect on the skin, skin-resorptive and allergic effects, but a pronounced irritating effect on the mucous membranes of the eyes was revealed. In the subacute experiment, 2-ethyl-4-nitropyridine N-oxide showed a toxic effect mainly on the blood system. A specific damaging effect was revealed, which was expressed in an imbalance of the content of oxyhemoglobin and methemoglobin with a significant increase in the latter. The threshold index of acute inhalation effect was 76.7 mg/m3. The tentative safe exposure level in the air of the working area for the substance was calculated at the level of 0.5 mg/m3. Limitations. The investigation is limited to the study of the toxicological characteristics of 2-ethyl-4-nitropyridine N-oxide. In accordance with the directive documents on the protection of experimental animals, the limited number of in vivo experiments is connected with the dangers for animals and with public ethical views on in vivo experiments. Conclusion. The proposed tentative safe level of exposure to 2-ethyl-4-nitropyridine N-oxide in the air of the working area at the level of 0.5 mg/m3 makes it possible to attribute the xenobiotic to hazard class II. Under the conditions of compliance with the specified standard, the dose absorbed by the worker under the production conditions will be no more than 5-10 mg per work shift, which guarantees safety for health and minimizes the risk to the health of workers. Information on the toxicity of 2-ethyl-4-nitropyridine N-oxide can be useful for solving a wide range of tasks fixed in the control and supervisory activities of the Federal Service for Supervision in Protection of the Rights of Consumer and Man Wellbeing, hygienic rationing and monitoring, and will contribute to the prevention and reduction of incidence rate associated with the exposure to harmful factors of the production environment.

Problem statement. The main issues that exist in the management of strains of particularly dangerous microorganisms are primarily related to the weakening of state supervision and control. Surprisingly, nowadays, there is no single official register of owners of pathogenic microorganisms and strains of dangerous and especially dangerous infectious diseases. Some biological objects are found, even in private collections. There are no permitting procedures for handling such facilities and sanctions for violating them. That is why it is not surprising that the Prosecutor General’s Office has announced that the head of the State Research and Control Institute of Biotechnology and Microorganism Strains has identified dangerous virus strains that are known as infectious animal pathogens and can spread rapidly on a large scale across national borders. Dual-use studies should be supervised to address the risks arising from the development of biomedical sciences. Continuous monitoring and verification of scientific and technological advances sensitive from the point of view of security allow to minimize the possibility of the adoption of biological and toxic weapons and other risks. Analysis of recent sources and publications. Theoretical issues of legal regulation of activities in the field of circulation of certain groups of drugs containing strains of microorganisms, in particular in vaccination, attract the attention of many researchers. They were studied, in particular by: R.A. Maidanyk, I.Ya. Senyuta, etc. However, the peculiarities of activities in the field of particularly dangerous microorganisms’ strains treatment have been left without due attention of researchers, including specialists in medical law. Formulating Goals. The aim of the work is to study the state of relations in the field of especially dangerous microorganisms’ strains treatment legal regulation in Ukraine, analysis of the current legislation of Ukraine and the practice of its application in this area. There have been used scientific publications of leading experts and current Ukrainian legislation. The research is based on an organic combination of general scientific and special legal research methods. Presenting main material. The main sources of biological threats are: 1) epidemics and outbreaks of infectious human diseases; 2) epizootics (high incidence among animals); 3) epitophytia (spread of infectious plant disease in large areas); 4) accidents at biologically dangerous objects; 5) natural reservoirs of pathogenic microorganisms; 6) transboundary transfer of pathogenic microorganisms, representatives of flora and fauna, dangerous for ecological systems; 7) sabotage at biologically dangerous objects; 8) biological terrorism; 9) the use of biological weapons by the state. It should be noted that the regulatory framework in the field of particularly dangerous microorganisms’ strains treatment in the context of biosafety in Ukraine is fragmentary. Although the list of laws and other regulations governing biosafety and/or biosecurity in Ukraine is impressive. Nowadays, the use of strains of microorganisms is gaining popularity, in particular in agriculture, because they can be used for the needs of veterinary medicine and for the production of certain foods such as yogurt, kefir etc. Therefore, in addition to the basic law, regulation of the use of strains and protection of rights to them is regulated by other acts, in particular the Law of Ukraine “On protection of rights to inventions and utility models”. Namely, in accordance with Part 2 of Art. 6 strains of microorganisms that have been bred or would be bred shall be considered as the objects of the invention. It follows that the owner who invented the strain must certify the authorship and the right to obtain a patent or declaratory patent. However, this procedure, unlike others, is complicated. After all, to obtain a full patent, you need to conduct an appropriate qualification examination, which would establish whether the strain meets the conditions of patentability. Also, in addition to filing an application for the invention of a utility model and obtaining a patent, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Veterinary Medicine” when registering a domestic veterinary immunobiological agent, the applicant must deposit strains of microorganisms in a special collection – depository. There are currently three national depositories in Ukraine, each of which specializes in a specific type: non-pathogenic strains; pathogenic to humans; pathogenic to animals. The procedure of depositing strains of microorganisms is carried out in accordance with the Instruction on the procedure of depositing strains of microorganisms in Ukraine for the purpose of patent procedure, approved by the order № 106/115 of the State Patent and the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine of 26.06.1995. Moreover, in accordance with the Regulations on the National Center for Microorganism Strains and the procedure for depositing microorganism strains, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine regulation № 637 of 07.05.1998, deposit of microorganism strains in Ukraine is carried out by the National Center for Microorganism Strains. Its task is to preserve the production and control of strains of microorganisms, maintain biotechnological indicators, control the state of their population, as well as the preparation of new strains. It is necessary to pay attention to the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine “On Biosafety of Ukraine”, which states that at the moment there is an increase in the negative impact of various biological factors on the population, which may lead to threats of biological origin. The reasons for such plural regulation are: 1) the lack of a program on biosafety and prevention of biological terrorism, no national system of counteraction to possible biothreats; 2) no automated and integrated data banks on possible threats of biological and chemical origin. Funding and logistics for laboratories also remain unsatisfactory. Also, the state supervision and control in the field of biosafety is weakened, namely when the owner of high-risk facilities changes or when there is a risk of unauthorized access to laboratories due to imperfect protection of pathogenic microorganisms and strains of dangerous and especially dangerous infectious diseases, which in turn can lead to the leakage of pathogenic microorganisms into the environment and cause mass infectious disease. In addition, there is a legal gap in the legislation of Ukraine regarding the location and control of viral and biological laboratories by foreign states. However, in almost all European countries, as well as in the United States, domestic law prohibits the placement of such laboratories in these countries, because they are potentially dangerous to the population. The danger behind viral and biological laboratories, even with the strictest observance of all necessary safety rules, is extremely great, because the pathogenic microorganisms of human and animal origin in them are considered potential agents of biological weapons. Although Ukraine ratified the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction of 10 April, 1972, an agreement was signed in 2005 between the US Department of Defense and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine (expired on 31.05.2013) regarding cooperation in the field of prevention of the spread of technologies, pathogens and knowledge that can be used in the development of biological weapons and the US Department of Defense has begun construction of its objects on the territory of our country. At the same time, microbiological laboratories and production facilities are considered to be areas of the highest biological risk. Infecting of persons while working with microorganisms in laboratories is noted throughout the existence of microbiology and is considered as an indisputable confirmation of occupational hazards. In general, there is a wide variety of ways of potential attacks involving bio-toxic weapons and there are several ways to assimilate biotechnologies with their transformation into weapons due to: 1) use of various agents (e.g., bacteria, viruses, fungi, toxins, bioregulators); 2) use against various aims (humans, animals and plants); 3) different scales of application (tactical, strategic); 4) use for various purposes (open or covert war, murder, terrorism or criminal activity). Probably because of this, in 2012 the WHO adopted the Framework Strategy for Laboratory Biorisk Management for 2012-2016, aimed at creating sustainable global, regional and national plans for biological risk management in laboratories. It recognizes that “In accordance with the International Health Regulations (IHR (2005), all participating countries have made a legal commitment to evaluate, develop and maintain their national key oversight, evaluation and response functions”. Conclusions. The current state of legal regulation of relations in the field of strain management requires, given the intersectoral nature of the issue, consideration of the creation of a single intersectoral body for the supervision of hazardous biological objects. Such a body may not only be a licensing body, but also responsible for the introduction of a register of owners of hazardous biological objects that are not economic entities (for example, individual owners of collections of such biological objects). In this paper, it is impractical to consider the circulation of products with GMOs, on the one hand, this issue is perfectly regulated in other special regulations, on the other hand, today there is an issue concerning the treatment of dangerous strains of pathogenic viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms and toxins, as well as poisons of animal and plant origin. For entities engaged in economic activities with pathogenic microorganisms and strains of dangerous infectious diseases, it is advisable to introduce licensing of this type of activity, which requires further development of a bylaw on licensing conditions. For other persons who are the owners of such biological objects and who are not engaged in economic activities, it is necessary to introduce other forms of permit, including special requirements for their handling and storage conditions. The next important bylaw should be the Regulations on the state register of pathogenic microorganisms and strains of dangerous and especially dangerous infectious diseases. Particular attention should be paid to the disposal of hazardous biological objects. Nowadays, for example, there is no effective system for the disposal of vaccines and other immunobiological drugs that have expired (for reference, the shelf life of the flu vaccine is 7-8 months). The cost of recycling is not always profitable for pharmaceutical operators. There are cases when such drugs are falsified by replacing the expiration date, which adversely affect the health of patients. In this context, it can also be mentioned the fact of importing humanitarian aid in Ukraine in the form of a vaccine against measles and rubella (from the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada). The storage temperature of this vaccine was up to minus 48 degrees. After importation into the customs territory of Ukraine, given the shortcomings of customs legislation and the lack of effective control, the temperature regime was not observed. However, the Ministry of Health still carried out compulsory vaccination of children (there were cases of deteriorating health), which is not only negative for the health of children, but also for the very idea of vaccination. In this case, the Ministry of Health, given the interest, was not able to make the right and lawful decision. This is why an independent intersectoral body of state control (supervision) is needed.

Caricin Grad, Justiniana Prima, urban planning, fortification, settlement, aerial photography, geophysical surveys, LiDAR, photogrammetry, excavations, GIS. Thanks to the application of modern non-destructive sensing and detection methods, in recent years a series of new data on urban planning in Caricin Grad was obtained. For the most part, the current research programme studies the Upper Town?s northern plateau, wooded until recently and hence the only previously unexplored unit of the city. In the course of this programme, the classical research method - the excavations started in 2009 - is for the first time combined with the systematic application of airborne and terrestrial sensing and detection techniques. The analysis of historic aerial photographs and topographic plans proved to be very useful as well. Along with them, LiDAR-derived DTMs, photogrammetric DEMs, different geophysical and orthophotographic plans are stored in the GIS database for Caricin Grad and the Leskovac Basin. In this way almost 80 percent of the plateau area was defined, and the obtained plan is hypothetical only to a small extent, which particularly refers to the unexcavated northern rampart of the Upper Town. Each source provided relevant information for the reconstruction of both the rampart and the settlement, which points to the value of a holistic approach to documentation from various dates. The first source to be studied were archival aerial photographs of Caricin Grad from 1938 and 1947 (Figs. 1, 2.1). The latter one was originally processed by Aleksandar Deroko and Svetozar Radojci}, who drew the plan of the town after it, labelling the unexplored Upper Town?s northern plateau as ?a probable habitation area?. The route of the northern rampart was aslo rather precisely determined by the authors (Fig. 2.2). Recently, these photographs were rectified and georeferenced in the GIS. The 1938 shot reveals the position of some towers as well, and it is also indicative of the way of construction of certain buildings. From the spatial layout of whitish zones, originating from mortar scattered along the slope, it can be deduced which buildings were constructed in opus mixtum - the horreum and the so-called Building with Pillars east of it. Traces of mortar can be observed along the route of the rampart too. These archival images are particularly important because they record the topography of the site before it was filled with heaps of earth from the excavations. The topographic mappings of this area were conducted in 1981 and 2006 (Fig. 3). The first plan was drawn after an airborne stereophotogrammetric survey of Caricin Grad, and in 2006, after the wood was cut down, this whole area was surveyed with the total station, with a density of nine points per square meter. This survey also resulted in a 3D terrain model (Fig. 3.2) indicating the layout of the buildings, which was to be proved by geophysical surveys and archaeological excavations. In the course of the Serbian-French reaearch programme, in 2007 geomagnetic surveys were carried out by Alain Kermorvan of the University of Tours. Thanks to the application of this method the remains of collapsed stone structures could be observed, and in 2015, in cooperation with the Roman-Germanic Central Museum, Mainz, and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute from Vienna, the middle and eastern parts of the plateau were scanned with GPR (Fig. 4.2). Precise plans of the buildings were obtained in the areas in which LiDAR scanning and photogrammetric and geomagnetic surveys failed to produce clear images. Within the framework of the ArchaeoLandscapes Europe project, in 2011 we managed to organise an airborne LiDAR survey of the wider area of Caricin Grad. With its density of some 20 points per square meter, this scanning proved to be crucial for our comprehension of the town. The standard DTM provided numerous important data, especially its version calculated in the focal statistics function of the ArcGIS software package (Fig. 5. 1-2). These models show not only the route of the Upper Town?s northern rampart, the position of its towers and the layout of the buildings, but also the line of the Outer Town?s western rampart. Visible only in the DTM, this entirely new aspect of the Caricin Grad fortification has been attested by the excavations. Highly important plans of the town, and of the northern plateau of the Upper Town in particular, were obtained by UAV photogrammetric surveys. The first drone survey was conducted in 2014 within the scope of the same project. It resulted in a cloud with up to 1,600 points per square meter (Fig. 6.1-2). Unlike the LiDAR technology, photogrammetry cannot penetrate vegetation; therefore the preliminary clearing of the ground proved to be a most important step. After the 2015 campaign was finished, the excavation area in the Upper Town was documented again in the same manner. Regular photogrammetric surveys make possible the control of the works and reliable visual monitoring of the progress of exploration (Fig. 9). After the wood was cut down in 2006 and enormous heaps of earth from twentieth-century excavations and restoration works were carefully removed by machinery in 2008 and 2010, without disturbing the original layers of debris, wide excavations could begin. At first only the humus layer was removed from fifteen-meter squares, which was followed by technical drawing. In 2009 and 2010 we did not explore the debris or the cultural layers (Fig. 7.1-2). The additional two squares were opened and documented in the same fashion in 2011, when previously recorded buildings 11 and 15C were explored in detail, together with the part of the corridor between them where a bread oven was found. These buildings were oriented south-north, cascading along the mild slope towards the northern rampart of the Upper Town. Fragments of pithoi and carbonised fruits were found in the buildings, allowing for an economic interpretation. Judging by coinfinds, the buildings ended in fire after the year 602. Some of the buildings on the northern plateau were oriented differently, following the route of the northern rampart of the Acropolis in the east-west direction. In 2012 building 18 was excavated, leaning on the rampart. Rectangular in plan and some 12 by 7.5 meters large, it had a storey and a 7 by 5.5 meters spacious paved atrium in the west. Parallel to building 18 is building 20, the only one on the northern plateau constructed in opus mixtum. The two buildings are separated by a four-meter-wide street, running from east to west. This street, corridor 4, was partly cut in the rock. In some sections it had a substructure of fragmented debris. Building 20 has been carefully excavated for several years now. After the initial documenting, the surface layer of debris was removed, but not the collapsed structures with characteristic construction details; to the east of the building a collapsed wall was uncovered, containing as many as eight successive rows of stone and brick. Beneath these layers are the occupation ones, so far investigated only to a small extent. Building 20 is rectangular in plan, covering 25 by 12.5 meters. In its central axis there is a row of masonry pillars, dividing the building into two naves. On its western side there was a vestibule with a pair of doors matching the main entrances to the building. In the back of the vestibule, between these entrances and in axis with the pillars, there was a staircase. Adetailed analysis of these features led us to conclude that building 20 was a horreum, the first such edifice to be discovered in Caricin Grad. Taking into account the details of its ground plan, pillars, parts of collapsed walls and especially arches, it will be possible to reconstruct the original form of the horreum. Judging by the existing estimate, although somewhat rough, it was 13.5 meters high. It could be observed that in its later phases the horreum was partitioned into several rooms, and some of its entrances were walled up. In the vestibule only these later occupation phases were documented, as the original brick pavement was removed from its northern part. This was followed by a significant accumulation of cultural layers, which were sealed by the debris stratum. South of the horreum there is a spacious courtyard connected with the western street of the Upper Town. The Upper Town?s northern rampart has never been graphically reconstructed, despite the fact that Aleksandar Deroko and Svetozar Radojci} published its accurate (although schematic) ground plan as early as 1950 (Fig. 2.2). This part of the town has gradually been left out of the research focus, mainly due to the vegetation growth. Upon employing all the methods described above, however, it is possible to undertake such an effort. The ideal reconstruction suggested here includes the rampart route, the disposition and the form of the towers, and the possible locations of the posterns. The line of the rampart can be traced following the trenches left by the locals dismantling the walls. Only the section of the northwestern rampart in front of the western postern of the Acropolis cannot be presented, being still covered by massive earth deposits. On the other hand, the recently discovered western rampart of the Outer Town can be traced to its full length in the LiDAR-derived DTM. Its form can be easily reconstructed on the basis of the results of the 2012 excavations and the section of the same rampart uncovered east of the main fortifications in 1955-56 (Fig. 8). Having studied the microtopography of the terrain, we were able to determine the position of a number of towers. They were clearly indicated by bumps, regularly distributed along the northern and northeastern sections of the rampart. The position of the tower below the Acropolis? western postern could be easily determined as well, unlike the position of the tower opposite to the horseshoe-shaped one of the Acropolis fortification. Yet, it is hard to imagine that a hundred-meter-long section of the rampart was left unprotected. The rectangular shape of the towers is suggested because almost all the towers of the town?s outer fortification were constructed in that way. On the other hand, at present we cannot exclude the possibility that some towers were different, horseshoe-shaped in plan, like the ones on the Acropolis rampart. The disposition of the towers along the northeastern rampart of the Upper Town, in the area where the northern street presumably met the fortification, is not clear. This part of the site still lies under massive heaps of earth, and even the 1938 and 1947 aerial photographs are not indicative enough in this regard. However, the tower(s) might have been erected there, not only because the eighty-meter-long stretch of the rampart would be left without protection in an opposite scenario, but because it is likely that the northern street ended in a gate, or at least a postern. It is already known that some of the posterns on the Caric in Grad fortifications were defended by towers. The average distance between the towers of the town?s main fortification extends from 20 meters on the southern to 40 meters on the western rampart of the Lower Town; in our reconstruction the average interval on the Upper Town?s northern rampart is 44 meters. Another argument is that this gate might have connected the Upper and the Outer Towns. The position of the second postern is determined thanks to a depression in the terrain following the axis of another communication route in the Upper Town, leading from corridor 4 and running towards the north along the rows of buildings. Finally, the 3.8 meter width of the rampart in the section adjoining the northern tower of the Upper Town?s eastern gate may only indicate a staircase, the last reconstructed fortification element. On the plateau stretching between the northern ramparts of the Acropolis and the Upper Town fortifications a settlement developed with its radially distributed rows of buildings cascading down the slope. In the eastern part of the plateau there is the horreum, adjoined from the east by another building - the storage called Building with Pillars. Larger than the other buildings and constructed in opus mixtum, the two buildings follow the route of the Upper Town?s northern street, all of which indicates that they belong to the initial construction phase. One should not exclude the possibility that this part of the town was originally conceived as an economic district with storages and similar edifices. By all appearances, the original concept was soon abandoned. Already at the time of Justinian a settlement of numerous smaller buildings was created. With their walls of stone and wattle and daub, the buildings were roofed with tiles. Yet one should underscore that this construction phase, although less sophisticated than the first one, was accomplished according to a previously prepared plan; the spread of the buildings speaks to that effect. Shortly afterwards, if not at the same time, buildings were erected along the outer face of the Acropolis rampart - a clear indication of abandoning urban planning (Fig. 9). Public space was turned into private, in spite of the legal proscriptions of that time. During the last phase of the town?s life the buildings described, whether public or private, were partitioned into small rooms, often with fireplaces and with some of their entrances walled up. Just like the edifices constructed in opus mixtum, some of the more modest buildings from the second construction phase were used to store food - namely buildings 11 and 15C. The plan of this part of the site points to an organised settlement, most probably inhabited by persons servicing a significant clergy and administration. On the other hand, except for some houses - such as building 18 - small buildings along the Acropolis fortification, facing the main street, corridor 4, might have served as shops and workshops. Traces of furnaces, slag and bone working were also encountered in this area. The parallel application of classical research methods and modern techniques of sensing and detection enabled the reconstruction of the northern rampart and the urban matrix of the Upper Town?s northern plateau. Until recently among the least known parts of the town, this unit can now be regarded as one of the best defined. This is important not only for our understanding of Caricin Grad (Justiniana Prima), but also for the study of Early Byzantine urban planning in general.

Seven spot ladybird beetle, (Coccinella septempunctata) is a widely distributed natural enemy of soft-bodied insect pests especially aphids worldwide. Both the adult and larvae of this coccinellid beetle are voracious feeders and serve as a commercially available biological control agent around the globe. Different techniques are adopted to enhance the mass rearing and storage of this natural enemy by taking advantage of its natural ability to withstand under extremely low temperatures and entering diapause under unfavorable low temperature conditions. The key objective of this study was to develop a cost effective technique for enhancing the storage life and predatory potential of the larvae of C. septempunctata through cold storage in conjunction with the use of nuclear techniques, gamma radiations. Results showed that the host eating potential of larvae was enhanced as the cold storage duration was increased. Gamma irradiation further enhanced the feeding potential of larvae that were kept under cold storage. Different irradiation doses also affected the development time of C. septempuntata larvae significantly. Without cold storage, the lower radiation doses (10 and 25 GY) prolonged the developmental time as compared to un-irradiated larvae. Furthermore, the higher dose of radiation (50GY) increased the developmental time after removal from cold storage. This study first time paves the way to use radiation in conjunction with cold storage as an effective technique in implementation of different biological control approaches as a part of any IPM programs.Key wordGamma irradiations; cold storage, Coccinella septempunctata larvae; predatory potential; integrated pest management programme.INTRODUCTIONNuclear techniques such as gamma radiations have a vast application in different programmes of biological control including continuous supply of sterilized host and improved rearing techniques (Greany and Carpenter, 2000; Cai et al., 2017). Similarly irradiation can be used for sentinel-host eggs and larvae for monitoring survival and distribution of parasitoids (Jordão-paranhos et al., 2003; Hendrichs et al., 2009; Tunçbilek et al., 2009; Zapater et al., 2009; Van Lenteren, 2012). Also, at the production level, such technique may facilitate the management of host rearing, improve quality and expedite transport of product (Fatima et al., 2009; Hamed et al., 2009; Wang et al., 2009). Gamma irradiations can also be used to stop insect’s development to enhance host suitability for their use in different mass rearing programs (Celmer-Warda, 2004; Hendrichs et al., 2009; Seth et al., 2009). Development and survival of all insects have a direct connection with temperatures which in turn affect the physical, functional and behavioral adaptations (Ramløy, 2000). Many insects living in moderate regions can survive at low temperature by process of diapause. A temperature between 0 to 10oC may cause some insects to become sluggish and they only become active when the temperature is suitable. Such insects show greater adaptations to flexible temperature regimes for better survival. Many studies have reported this concept of cold-hardiness in insects in general (Bale, 2002; Danks, 2006) and specifically in coccinellid beetles over past years (Watanabe, 2002; Koch et al., 2004; Pervez and Omkar, 2006; Labrie et al., 2008; Berkvens et al., 2010). Using this cold hardiness phenomenon, many coccinellids have been studied for the effect of cold storage such as Coccinella undecimpunctata (Abdel‐Salam and Abdel‐Baky, 2000), Coleomegilla maculata (Gagné and Coderre, 2001) and Harmonia axyridis (Watanabe, 2002). This natural phenomenon, therefore, can be a helpful tool in developing low temperature stockpiling for improving mass-rearing procedures (Mousapour et al., 2014). It may provide a significant output in terms of providing natural enemies as and when required during pest infestation peaks (Venkatesan et al., 2000). Use of irradiation in conjunction with cold storage proves to be an effective technique in implementation of different biological control approaches as a part of any IPM programme. A study reported that the pupate of house fly, Musca domestica irradiated at dose of 500 Gy and can stored up to 2 months at 6°C for future use for a parasitoid wasp Spalangia endius rearing (Zapater et al., 2009). Similarly, when irradiated at 20 GY, parasitic wasps Cotesia flavipes were stored safely up to two months without deterioration of their parasitic potential (Fatima et al., 2009). Similarly, bio-control program of sugarcane shoot borer Chilo infescatellus proved successful through the use of irradiation combined with cold storage of its egg and larval parasitoids Trichogramma chilonis and C. flavipes (Fatima et al., 2009). Less mobile life stages such as larvae are of significance in any IPM strategy because they remain on target site for more time period as compared to adults. Therefore, use of predatory larvae is very promising in different biological control approaches because of their immediate attack on pests and more resistance to unfavorable environmental conditions than delicate egg stage. In addition, with their augmentation into fields, larval stage shows their presence for longer time than adult stage and their feeding potential is also satisfactory as that of adults. For the best utilization of these predators in the field and maximum impact of 3rd and 4th larval instars on prey, we should encourage late 2nd second instar larvae of predatory beetles in the fields as these instars have more feeding capacity due to increased size and ability to handle larger preys.In spite of higher significance, there is little information available about the effect of cold storage on the survival of larval instars of different ladybird beetles and its effect on their predatory potential. Very few studies report the use of cold storage for non-diapausing larval stage like for Semiadalia undecimnotata and only one study reported the short-term storage (up to two weeks) of 2nd and 3rd instar coccinellid, C. maculate, without any loss in feeding voracity of larvae after storage (Gagné and Coderre, 2001). The survival of 3rd and 4th larval instars of C. undecimpunctata for 7 days after storage at 5oC was reported in a study but the survival rate declined after 15-60 days of storage (Abdel‐Salam and Abdel‐Baky, 2000). As C. septempunctata is considered one of the voracious predators (Afroz, 2001; Jandial and Malik, 2006; Bilashini and Singh, 2009; Xia et al., 2018) and diapause is a prominent feature of this beetle and it may undergo facultative diapause under suitable laboratory conditions (Suleman, 2015). No information is available to date about the combined effect of cold storage and irradiation on the larval instars of this species.OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to devise a cost effective technique for the cold storage and its effect on the subsequent predatory potential of the seven spotted ladybird beetle larvae in conjunction with the use of gamma radiations. Hypothesis of the study was that an optimum length of low temperature treatment for storage purpose would not affect the predation capacity of C. septempunctata larvae and their developmental parameters including survival and pupation will remain unaffected. Furthermore, use of gamma irradiation will have some additional effects on survival and feeding capacity of irradiated C. septempunctata larvae. Such techniques can be utilized in different biocontrol programs where short term storage is required. So these larvae can be successfully imparted in different IPM programs against sucking complex of insect pests as a component of biological control strategyMATERIALS AND METHODSPlant materials: Collection and rearing of C. septempunctata: Adult C. septempunctata were collected from the wheat crop (in NIAB vicinity and farm area) in the month of March during late winter and early in spring season 2016-2017. They were kept in plastic jars and were fed with brassica aphids. Under controlled laboratory conditions (25+2oC, 16h: 8h L:D and 65+5% R.H.), eggs of C. septempuctata were obtained and after hatching, larvae were also given brassica aphids as dietary source. Larvae of second instar were selected for this experiment (as the first instar is generally very weak and vulnerable to mortality under low temperatures). As the larvae approached second instar, they were separated for the experimentation. Irradiation of larvae at different doses: Irradiation of larvae was carried out by the irradiation source 137CS at Radiation laboratory, and the larvae were then brought back to the IPM laboratory, Plant Protection Division, Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB) Faisalabad. Radiation doses of 10 GY (Grey), 25 GY and 50 GY were used to treat the second instar larvae. There were three replicates for each treatment and five larvae per replicate were used. Control treatment was left un-irradiated.Cold storage of irradiated larvae: In present work, second instar C. septempunctata larvae were studied for storage at low temperature of 8oC. The larvae were kept at 8oC for 0, I and II weeks where week 0 depicts no cold treatment and this set of larvae was left under laboratory conditions for feeding and to complete their development. For larvae that were kept under cold storage for one week at 8°C, the term week I was devised. Similarly, week II denotes the larvae that remained under cold conditions (8°C) for two continuous weeks. Larvae were removed from cold storage in their respective week i.e., after week I and week II and were left under laboratory conditions to complete their development by feeding on aphids. Data collection: For recording the predatory potential of C. septempunctata larvae, 100 aphids were provided per larva per replicate on a daily basis until pupation as this number was more than their feeding capacity to make sure that they were not starved (personal observation). Observations were recorded for survival rate, developmental time and feeding potential. Data analysis: Data were statistically analysed by Statistical Software SPSS (Version 16.0). The data were subjected to normality check through the One-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Non normal data were transformed to normal data which were then used for all parametric variance tests. One-way and two-way analyses of variance were used. For comparison between variables, LSD test at α 0.05 was applied.RESULTSFeeding potential of irradiated larvae after removal from cold storage: Results showed an increase in the feeding potential of C. septempunctata larvae with increased cold storage duration. The feeding potential was significantly higher for the larvae that spent maximum length of time (week II) under cold storage conditions followed by week I and week 0. Gamma irradiations further enhanced the feeding potential of larvae that were kept under cold storage. When larvae were irradiated at 10 GY, the eating capacity of larvae increased significantly with the duration of cold storage. Similarly, larvae that were irradiated at 25 GY, showed increase in feeding potential on aphids as the time period of cold storage increased. The feeding potential of larvae that were irradiated at 50 GY, was again significantly increased with increase of cold storage duration. When different radiation doses were compared to week 0 of storage, there was a significant difference in feeding potential and larvae irradiated at 50 GY consumed the maximum numbers of aphids when no cold storage was done followed by larvae irradiated at 10 and 25 GY. With the other treatment, where larvae were kept under cold storage for one week (week I) the larvae irradiated at 50GY again showed the highest feeding potential. The feeding potential of irradiated larvae was again significantly higher than the un-irradiated larvae that were kept for two weeks (week II) under cold storage (table 1).Two-way ANOVA was performed to check the interaction between the different radiation doses and different lengths of storage durations for feeding potential of C. septempunctata larvae on aphids. The feeding potential of larvae irradiated at different doses and subjected to variable durations of cold storage were significantly different for both the radiation doses and cold storage intervals. Furthermore, the interaction between the radiation doses and storage duration was also significant meaning that the larvae irradiated at different doses with different length of cold storage were having significant variations in feeding levels (table 2).Developmental time of irradiated larvae after removal from cold storage: Significant difference was found in the development time of the larvae of C. septempunctata when irradiated at different doses at week 0 (without cold storage). The larvae irradiated at 10 GY took the maximum time for development and with the increase in irradiation dosage, from 25 to 50 GY, the time of development was shortened. The larvae irradiated at 50 GY had the same development time as the un-irradiated ones. When, the irradiated larvae were subjected to cold storage of one week duration (week I), their development time after removal from storage condition varied significantly. The larvae irradiated at 25 GY took the maximum time for development followed by larvae irradiated at 50 GY and 10 GY. There was an indication that the development time was extended for irradiated larvae as compared to un-irradiated larvae.Results also depicted a significant difference in the time taken by irradiated larvae to complete their development after taken out from cold storage of two weeks duration (week II). As the storage time of irradiated larvae increased, the development time was prolonged. Results showed that the larvae that were irradiated at 25 and 50 GY, took the maximum time to complete their development. With the prolonged duration of cold storage up to two weeks (week II), this difference of development time was less evident at lower doses (10 GY). The larvae irradiated at 10 GY showed a significant difference in their developmental duration after being taken out of cold storage conditions of the week 0, I and II. There was no difference in the developmental duration of larvae that were un-irradiated and subjected to different regimes of storage. Un-irradiated larvae were least affected by the duration of storage. With the increase in the storage time, a decrease in the developmental time was recorded. Larvae that were irradiated at 10 GY, took the maximum period to complete their development when no cold storage was done (week 0) followed by week I and II of cold storage. When the larvae irradiated at 25 GY were compared for their development time, there was again significant difference for week 0, I and II of storage duration. Maximum time was taken by the larvae for their complete development when removed from cold storage after one week (week I). With the increase in storage duration the time taken by larvae to complete their development after removal from cold storage reduced.When the larvae were removed after different lengths of cold storage duration i.e., week 0, week I and week II, there was a significant difference in the developmental time afterwards. Results have shown that the higher dose of radiation, increased the developmental time after removal from cold storage. The larvae irradiated at 50 GY took the longest time to complete their development after removal from cold storage (week I and week II) as compared the larvae that were not kept under cold storage conditions (week 0) (table 3).Interaction between the different radiation doses and different lengths of storage durations for development time of larvae were checked by two-way ANOVA. The development time of larvae irradiated at different doses and subjected to variable durations of cold storage were significantly different for both the doses and cold storage intervals. Furthermore, the interaction between the radiation doses and storage duration was also significant meaning that the larvae irradiated at different doses with different length of cold storage were having significant variations in development times (table 4). DISCUSSIONThe present research work indicates the possibility of keeping the larval instars of C. septempunctata under cold storage conditions of 8oC for a short duration of around 14 days without affecting its further development and feeding potential. Furthermore, irradiation can enhance the feeding potential and increase the development time of larval instars. This in turn could be a useful technique in mass rearing and field release programmes for biological control through larval instars. Usually temperature range of 8-10oC is an optimal selection of low temperature for storage as reported earlier for eggs two spotted ladybird beetle, Adalia bipunctata and the eggs of C. septempunctata (Hamalainen and Markkula, 1977), Trichogramma species (Jalali and Singh, 1992) and fairyfly, Gonatocerus ashmeadi (Hymenoptra; Mymaridae) (Leopold and Chen, 2007). However, a study reported more than 80% survival rate for the coccinellid beetle, Harmonia axyridis for up to 150 days at moderately low temperature of 3-6oC (Ruan et al., 2012). So there is great flexibility in coccinellid adults and larvae for tolerating low temperature conditions. After removal from cold storage, larvae showed better feeding potential with consumption of more aphids when compared to normal larvae that were not placed under low temperature conditions. This indicates that when the adult or immature insect stages are subjected to low temperature environment, they tend to reduce their metabolic activity for keeping them alive on the reserves of their body fats and sustain themselves for a substantial length of time under such cold environment. Hereafter, the larval instars that were in cold storage were behaving as if starved for a certain length of time and showed more hunger. This behavior of improved or higher feeding potential of stored larvae has been reported previously (Chapman, 1998). Hence, the feeding potential of C. septempunctata larvae significantly increased after cold storage. Gagné and Coderre (2001) reported higher predatory efficacy in larvae of C. maculata when stored at the same temperature as in the present study i.e., 8oC. Similarly, Ruan et al. (2012) showed that the multicolored Asian ladybug, H. axyridis, when stored under cold conditions, had more eating capacity towards aphids Aphis craccivora Koch than the individuals that were not stored. Such studies indicate that the higher feeding potential in insects after being subjected to low temperature environmental conditions could be due to the maintenance of their metabolism rate to a certain level while utilizing their energy reserves to the maximum extent (Watanabe, 2002).The individuals coming out from cold storage are therefore capable of consuming more pray as they were in a condition of starvation and they have to regain their energy loss through enhanced consumption. Furthermore, the starvation in C. septempunctata has previously been reported to affect their feeding potential (Suleman et al., 2017). In the present study, the larval development was delayed after returning to normal laboratory conditions. Cold storage affects the life cycle of many insects other than coccinellids. The cold storage of green bug aphid parasitoid, Lysiphlebus testaceipes Cresson (Hymenoptra; Braconidae) mummies increased the life cycle 3-4 times. Nevertheless, in current study the development process of stored larvae resumed quickly after taking them out and larvae completed their development up to adult stage. Similar kinds of results were reported for resumption of larval development after removal from cold storage conditions. Such studies only report satisfactory survival rates and development for a short duration of cold storage but as the length of storage is increased, it could become harmful to certain insects. Gagné and Coderre (2001) reported that cold storage for longer period (three weeks) proved fatal for almost 40% of larvae of C. maculata. Furthermore, in the same study, the feeding potential of C. maculata larvae was also affected beyond two weeks of cold storage due to the loss of mobility after a long storage period. Many studies have reported that longer durations of low temperature conditions can either damage the metabolic pathways of body cells or may increase the levels of toxins within the bodies of insects. Also, low temperature exposure for longer duration may cause specific interruptions in the insect body especially neuro-hormones responsible for insect development, which could be dangerous or even life threatening.Chen et al. (2004) also reported that the biological qualities of parasitized Bemisia tabaci pupae on population quality of Encarsia formosa were affected negatively with increase in cold storage duration. Similarly, the egg hatchability of green lacewing Chrysoperla carnea Stephen was lost completely beyond 18 days of cold storage (Sohail et al., 2019). However, in the present study the cold storage was done for maximum two weeks and it is to be regarded as a short term storage hence the survival rate was satisfactory. Longer periods of cold storage for larvae are not considered safe due to their vulnerable state as compared to adults which are hardier. Also 2nd instar larvae used in the present study for cold storage for being bigger in size and physical stronger than 1st instar. Abdel‐Salam and Abdel‐Baky (2000) reported that in C. undecimpunctata the cold storage of 3rd and 4th larval instars was higher and considered safer than early larval instars. The same study showed sharp decline in survival rate after two weeks and there was no survival beyond 30-60 days of cold storage. The present study showed that short term storage of the larvae of C. septempunctata could be done without any loss of their feeding potential or development so the quality of predator remained unaffected. Similar kind of work for many other insects had been reported previously where cold storage technique proved useful without deteriorating the fitness of stored insects. For example, the flight ability of reared codling moth Cydia pomonella Linnaeus remained unaffected after removal from cold storage (Matveev et al., 2017). Moreover, a sturdy reported that pupae of a parasitoid wasp Trichogramma nerudai (Hymenoptera; Trichogrammatidae) could be safely put in cold storage for above than 50 days (Tezze and Botto, 2004). Similarly, a technique of cold storage of non-diapausing eggs of black fly Simulium ornaturm Meigen was developed at 1oC. Another study reported safe storage of a predatory bug insidious flower bug Orius insidiosus for more than 10 days at 8°C (Bueno et al., 2014).In present study without cold storage, the lower doses of 10 and 25 GY prolonged the developmental time as compared to un-irradiated larvae and higher doses of irradiations in conjunction with cold storage again significantly prolonged the developmental time of larvae when returned to the laboratory conditions. Salem et al. (2014) also reported that Gamma irradiations significantly increased the duration of developmental stages (larvae and pupae) in cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel). In another study, where endoparasitic wasps Glyptapanteles liparidis were evaluated with irradiated and non-irradiated gypsy moth Lymantria dispar larvae for oviposition, it was found that non-irradiated larvae had a shorter time to reach the adult stage as compared to irradiated larvae (Novotny et al., 2003). Both for higher doses with cold storage and lower doses without cold storage extended the larval duration of C. septempunctata. In another study when the parasitoid wasp Habrobracon hebetor was irradiated at the dose of 10 GY, it resulted in prolonged longevity (Genchev et al., 2008). In the same study, when another parasitoid Ventruria canescens was irradiated at lower doses of 4GY and 3 GY, it resulted in increased emergence from the host larvae, while gamma irradiations at the dose of 1 GY and 2 GY significantly stimulated the rate of parasitism (Genchev et al., 2008). The current study also indicated higher rates of predation in the form of increased feeding potential of larvae as a result of irradiations at lower doses.CONCLUSIONThe outcome of the current study shows that storage of 2nd instar C. septempunctata at low temperature of 8oC for a short duration of about 14 days is completely safe and could have broader application in different biocontrol programs. Such flexibility in storage duration can also assist in different mass rearing techniques and commercial uses. The combination of gamma radiation with low temperature cold storage could be a useful tool in developing different biological pest management programs against sucking insect pests. Incidence of periodic occurrence of both the target insect pests with their predatory ladybird beetles in synchrony is an important aspect that could be further strengthened by cold storage techniques. Therefore, short or long term bulk cold storage of useful commercial biocontrol agents and then reactivating them at appropriate time of pest infestation is a simple but an advantageous method in mass rearing programs. Increased feeding capacity of stored larvae is another edge and hence such larvae may prove more beneficial as compared to unstored larvae. Both cold storage and improved feeding of the C. septempuctata larvae can be utilized for implementation of IPM for many sucking insect pests of various crops, fruits and vegetables. Due to some constraints this study could not be continued beyond two weeks but for future directions, higher doses and longer duration periods could further elaborate the understanding and better application of such useful techniques in future IPM programmes on a wider scale. Also, some other predatory coccinellid beetle species can be tested with similar doses and cold storage treatments to see how effective this technique is on other species as well.ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We acknowledge the Sugarcane Research and Development Board for providing a research grant (No. SRDB/P/4/16) to carry out this research work. 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Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) are becoming prominent in enhancing the situational awareness in wide area power system monitoring, thereby playing a vital role in its protection and control. This paper focuses on enhancing the situational awareness of transmission line using National Instruments (NI) based PMU. The data measured by the virtual PMU is used for fault detection and fault classification. The detection and the classification in the LabVIEW platform are performed using the Fourier Transform and support vector machines (SVMs) respectively. The proposed methodology has been applied on a laboratory set up consisting of transmission line, three phase load and an NI based PMU. The enhanced situational awareness in the detection and classification of transmission line faults helps in restoration of the transmission line as quickly as possible and trigger wide area control actions to maintain power system stability against the disturbances created by a fault.

AbstractThe advances in Wide Area Measurement Systems (WAMS) and deployment of a huge number of phasor measurement units (PMUs) in the grid are generating big data volume. This data can be used for a variety of applications related to grid monitoring, management, operation, protection, and control. With the increase in this data size, the respective storage capacity needs to be enhanced. Also, communication infrastructure readiness remains bottleneck to transfer this big data. One of the probable solutions could be transmitting compressed data. This paper presents techniques for data compression in the smart transmission system using singular values decomposition (SVD) and the eigenvalues decomposition (EVD). The SVD and EVD based principal component analysis (PCA) techniques are applied to the real-time PMU data collected from extra-high voltage (EHV) substations of transmission utility in the western regional grid of India. Adequacy of data is checked by Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test in order to have the satisfactory performance of these techniques towards achieving the objective of efficient data compression. Results are found satisfactory gives compression more than 80% using real time data.