Characteristics and Risk of Microgrid Outages from a Complex Systems Point of View

Cordova is a town of approximately 2,000 people located on the southern coast of Alaska. A power grid for a town this size, with a large seasonal fishing economy, is considered a moderate to large sized microgrid in terms of power produced. Understanding the vulnerabilities and risks of failures in such a grid is important for planning and operations. Investigating these characteristics in the context of complex system dynamics is a novel approach. The analysis of Cordova’s microgrid is a case study relevant to a large class of microgrid communities. We analyze the outage data based on size, cause characteristics and load demand on the system and find long time correlations and power laws in the failure size distributions. Finally we apply a risk metric to give a single numerical value to the risk of an outage occurring during certain time periods and under certain conditions

Early regular egg exposure in infants with eczema: a randomized controlled trial

BackgroundObservational studies suggest that early regular ingestion of allergenic foods might reduce the risk of food allergy.ObjectiveWe sought to determine whether early regular oral egg exposure will reduce subsequent IgE-mediated egg allergy in infants with moderate-to-severe eczema.MethodsIn a double-blind, randomized controlled trial infants were allocated to 1 teaspoon of pasteurized raw whole egg powder (n = 49) or rice powder (n = 37) daily from 4 to 8 months of age. Cooked egg was introduced to both groups after an observed feed at 8 months. The primary outcome was IgE-mediated egg allergy at 12 months, as defined based on the results of an observed pasteurized raw egg challenge and skin prick tests.ResultsA high proportion (31% [15/49]) of infants randomized to receive egg had an allergic reaction to the egg powder and did not continue powder ingestion. At 4 months of age, before any known egg ingestion, 36% (24/67) of infants already had egg-specific IgE levels of greater than 0.35 kilounits of antibody (kUA)/L. At 12 months, a lower (but not significant) proportion of infants in the egg group (33%) were given a diagnosis of IgE-mediated egg allergy compared with the control group (51%; relative risk, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.38-1.11; P = .11). Egg-specific IgG4 levels were significantly (P ConclusionInduction of immune tolerance pathways and reduction in egg allergy incidence can be achieved by early regular oral egg exposure in infants with eczema. Caution needs to be taken when these high-risk infants are first exposed to egg because many have sensitization already by 4 months of age.Debra J. Palmer, Jessica Metcalfe, Maria Makrides, Michael S. Gold, Patrick Quinn, Christina E. West, Richard Loh, and Susan L. Prescot

Timing of complementary feeding for early childhood allergy prevention: An overview of systematic reviews.

OBJECTIVE: To summarise and critically appraise systematic review (SR) evidence on the effects of timing of complementary feeding (CF) on the occurrence of allergic sensitisation and disease. DESIGN: Overview of SRs. AMSTAR-2 and ROBIS were used to assess methodological quality and risk of bias (RoB) of SRs. RoB 2 Tool was used to assess RoB of primary randomised controlled trials (RCTs) (or extracted). The certainty of evidence (CoE) was assessed using GRADE. Findings were synthesised narratively. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE (via PubMed and Ovid), the Cochrane Library and Web of Science Core Collection (2010 to 27 February 2023). ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: SRs investigating the effects of timing of CF in infants or young children (0-3 years) on risk of developing food allergy (FA), allergic sensitisation, asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic eczema and adverse events based on RCT evidence. RESULTS: Eleven SRs were included. Only two SRs had low RoB; common issues were failure to report on funding of primary studies and failure to provide a list of excluded trials. Common limitations of included trials were lack of blinding of outcome assessment or detailed trial preregistration, and inadequate handling of high loss to follow up. Primary study overlap was very high for specific FA and slight to moderate for FA in general and other primary outcomes. Introducing specific foods (peanut, cooked egg) early probably reduces the risk of specific FA. Evidence for other allergic outcomes was mostly very uncertain and based on few primary studies. Trials varied regarding timing of CF, nature of complementary foods and population risk, which limited comparability between SRs. CONCLUSIONS: For developing guidelines to support decision-making on the timing of CF as a preventive strategy, early introduction of specific foods (i.e. egg and peanut) seems promising and safe, whereas more extensive research is required regarding other allergic outcomes and potential adverse events

Lipopolysaccharide O1 Antigen Contributes to the Virulence in Klebsiella pneumoniae Causing Pyogenic Liver Abscess

Klebsiella pneumoniae is the common cause of a global emerging infectious disease, community-acquired pyogenic liver abscess (PLA). Capsular polysaccharide (CPS) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) are critical for this microorganism's ability to spread through the blood and to cause sepsis. While CPS type K1 is an important virulence factor in K. pneumoniae causing PLA, the role of LPS in PLA is not clear. Here, we characterize the role of LPS O antigen in the pathogenesis of K. pneumoniae causing PLA. NTUH-K2044 is a LPS O1 clinical strain; the presence of the O antigen was shown via the presence of 1,3-galactan in the LPS, and of sequences that align with the wb gene cluster, known to produce O-antigen. Serologic analysis of K. pneumoniae clinical isolates demonstrated that the O1 serotype was more prevalent in PLA strains than that in non-tissue-invasive strains (38/42 vs. 9/32, P<0.0001). O1 serotype isolates had a higher frequency of serum resistance, and mutation of the O1 antigen changed serum resistance in K. pneumoniae. A PLA-causing strain of CPS capsular type K2 and LPS serotype O1 (i.e., O1:K2 PLA strain) deleted for the O1 synthesizing genes was profoundly attenuated in virulence, as demonstrated in separate mouse models of septicemia and liver abscess. Immunization of mice with the K2044 magA-mutant (K1− O1) against LPS O1 provided protection against infection with an O1:K2 PLA strain, but not against infection with an O1:K1 PLA strain. Our findings indicate that the O1 antigen of PLA-associated K. pneumoniae contributes to virulence by conveying resistance to serum killing, promoting bacterial dissemination to and colonization of internal organs after the onset of bacteremia, and could be a useful vaccine candidate against infection by an O1:K2 PLA strain

Suicidal thoughts and depressive feelings amongst Estonian schoolchildren: effect of family relationship and family structure

Depressive feelings and suicidal ideation in a non-clinical sample of adolescents in Estonia were analysed in the context of family structure, mutual relationships amongst family members and schoolchildren's preferences regarding intimate personal contacts with particular family members. Data from the WHO collaborative study 'Health Behaviour in School-aged Children 2005/2006' (HBSC) were used. A representative sample of schoolchildren aged 11, 13 and 15 years completed the semi-structured questionnaire. The analyses included only adolescents living in households with at least one birth parent. The subjects were 4,389 schoolchildren (2,178 boys and 2,211 girls), who were divided into three groups based on: (1) suicidal thoughts, with or without depressive feelings; (2) depressive feelings; and (3) neither suicidal thoughts nor depressive feelings. Multinomial logistic regression was used. The proportion of depressive feelings increased with age for both boys and girls. Girls expressed depressive feelings more frequently than boys from ages 13 and 15 years, and suicidal thoughts from age 15 years. Self-reported satisfaction with relationships in the family reduced the likelihood of depressive feelings and suicidal thoughts. Good communication with the parents reduced the likelihood of suicidal thoughts in all age groups. Adolescents who were satisfied with their family relationships suffered less frequently from depressive feelings and suicidal thoughts. The best environment for an adolescent was a family with both birth parents. Of the adolescents in 'non-intact' families, those with a step-parent in the family showed suicidal thoughts more frequently than those in single-parent families. Associations between family-related variables and suicidal thoughts were significant even after adjusting for family economic deprivation score

Childbirth and consequent atopic disease: emerging evidence on epigenetic effects based on the hygiene and EPIIC hypotheses

Background: In most high and middle income countries across the world, at least 1:4 women give birth by cesarean section. Rates of labour induction and augmentation are rising steeply; and in some countries up to 50 % of laboring women and newborns are given antibiotics. Governments and international agencies are increasingly concerned about the clinical, economic and psychosocial effects of these interventions. Discussion: There is emerging evidence that certain intrapartum and early neonatal interventions might affect the neonatal immune response in the longer term, and perhaps trans-generationally. Two theories lead the debate in this area. Those aligned with the hygiene (or ‘Old Friends’) hypothesis have examined the effect of gut microbiome colonization secondary to mode of birth and intrapartum/neonatal pharmacological interventions on immune response and epigenetic phenomena. Those working with the EPIIC (Epigenetic Impact of Childbirth) hypothesis are concerned with the effects of eustress and dys-stress on the epigenome, secondary to mode of birth and labour interventions. Summary: This paper examines the current and emerging findings relating to childbirth and atopic/autoimmune disease from the perspective of both theories, and proposes an alliance of research effort. This is likely to accelerate the discovery of important findings arising from both approaches, and to maximize the timely understanding of the longer-term consequences of childbirth practices

Defining the Specificity of Cotranslationally Acting Chaperones by Systematic Analysis of mRNAs Associated with Ribosome-Nascent Chain Complexes

Polypeptides exiting the ribosome must fold and assemble in the crowded environment of the cell. Chaperones and other protein homeostasis factors interact with newly translated polypeptides to facilitate their folding and correct localization. Despite the extensive efforts, little is known about the specificity of the chaperones and other factors that bind nascent polypeptides. To address this question we present an approach that systematically identifies cotranslational chaperone substrates through the mRNAs associated with ribosome-nascent chain-chaperone complexes. We here focused on two Saccharomyces cerevisiae chaperones: the Signal Recognition Particle (SRP), which acts cotranslationally to target proteins to the ER, and the Nascent chain Associated Complex (NAC), whose function has been elusive. Our results provide new insights into SRP selectivity and reveal that NAC is a general cotranslational chaperone. We found surprising differential substrate specificity for the three subunits of NAC, which appear to recognize distinct features within nascent chains. Our results also revealed a partial overlap between the sets of nascent polypeptides that interact with NAC and SRP, respectively, and showed that NAC modulates SRP specificity and fidelity in vivo. These findings give us new insight into the dynamic interplay of chaperones acting on nascent chains. The strategy we used should be generally applicable to mapping the specificity, interplay, and dynamics of the cotranslational protein homeostasis network

Acquisition and Evolution of Plant Pathogenesis–Associated Gene Clusters and Candidate Determinants of Tissue-Specificity in Xanthomonas

is a large genus of plant-associated and plant-pathogenic bacteria. Collectively, members cause diseases on over 392 plant species. Individually, they exhibit marked host- and tissue-specificity. The determinants of this specificity are unknown. lineage. genome and indicate that differentiation with respect to host- and tissue-specificity involved not major modifications or wholesale exchange of clusters, but subtle changes in a small number of genes or in non-coding sequences, and/or differences outside the clusters, potentially among regulatory targets or secretory substrates