The effect of load modelling on phase balancing in distribution networks using search harmony algorithm

Due to the unequal loads in phases and different customer consumption, the distribution network is unbalanced. Unbalancing in the distribution network, in addition to increasing power losses, causes unbalancing in voltages and increases operating costs. To reduce this unbalancing, various methods and algorithms have been presented. In most studies and even practical projects due to lack of information about the network loads, load models such as constant power model, constant current or constant impedance are used to model the loads. Due to the changing and nonlinear behaviours of today's loads, these models cannot show results in accordance with reality. This paper while introducing an optimal phase-balancing method, discusses the effect of load modelling on phase balancing studies. In this process the re-phasing method for balancing the network and the harmony search algorithm for optimizing the phase displacement process have been used. The simulation was carried out on an unbalanced distribution network of 25 buses. The results show well the effect of this comprehensive modelling on phase balancing studies. It also shows that in the re-phasing method for balancing the network and in the absence of a real load model, the use of which model offers the closest answer to optimal solutions

The global, regional, and national burden of cirrhosis by cause in 195 countries and territories, 1990-2017 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background Cirrhosis and other chronic liver diseases (collectively referred to as cirrhosis in this paper) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality globally, although the burden and underlying causes differ across locations and demographic groups. We report on results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017 on the burden of cirrhosis and its trends since 1990, by cause, sex, and age, for 195 countries and territories. Methods We used data from vital registrations, vital registration samples, and verbal autopsies to estimate mortality. We modelled prevalence of total, compensated, and decompensated cirrhosis on the basis of hospital and claims data. Disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) were calculated as the sum of years of life lost due to premature death and years lived with disability. Estimates are presented as numbers and age-standardised or age-specific rates per 100 000 population, with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). All estimates are presented for five causes of cirrhosis: hepatitis B, hepatitis C, alcohol-related liver disease, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and other causes. We compared mortality, prevalence, and DALY estimates with those expected according to the Socio-demographic Index (SDI) as a proxy for the development status of regions and countries. Findings In 2017, cirrhosis caused more than 1.32 million (95% UI 1.27-1.45) deaths (440000 [416 000-518 000; 33.3%] in females and 883 000 [838 000-967 000; 66.7%] in males) globally, compared with less than 899 000 (829 000-948 000) deaths in 1990. Deaths due to cirrhosis constituted 2.4% (2.3-2.6) of total deaths globally in 2017 compared with 1.9% (1.8-2.0) in 1990. Despite an increase in the number of deaths, the age-standardised death rate decreased from 21.0 (19.2-22.3) per 100 000 population in 1990 to 16.5 (15.8-18-1) per 100 000 population in 2017. Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest age-standardised death rate among GBD super-regions for all years of the study period (32.2 [25.8-38.6] deaths per 100 000 population in 2017), and the high-income super-region had the lowest (10.1 [9.8-10-5] deaths per 100 000 population in 2017). The age-standardised death rate decreased or remained constant from 1990 to 2017 in all GBD regions except eastern Europe and central Asia, where the age-standardised death rate increased, primarily due to increases in alcohol-related liver disease prevalence. At the national level, the age-standardised death rate of cirrhosis was lowest in Singapore in 2017 (3.7 [3.3-4.0] per 100 000 in 2017) and highest in Egypt in all years since 1990 (103.3 [64.4-133.4] per 100 000 in 2017). There were 10.6 million (10.3-10.9) prevalent cases of decompensated cirrhosis and 112 million (107-119) prevalent cases of compensated cirrhosis globally in 2017. There was a significant increase in age-standardised prevalence rate of decompensated cirrhosis between 1990 and 2017. Cirrhosis caused by NASH had a steady age-standardised death rate throughout the study period, whereas the other four causes showed declines in age-standardised death rate. The age-standardised prevalence of compensated and decompensated cirrhosis due to NASH increased more than for any other cause of cirrhosis (by 33.2% for compensated cirrhosis and 54.8% for decompensated cirrhosis) over the study period. From 1990 to 2017, the number of prevalent cases snore than doubled for compensated cirrhosis due to NASH and more than tripled for decompensated cirrhosis due to NASH. In 2017, age-standardised death and DALY rates were lower among countries and territories with higher SDI. Interpretation Cirrhosis imposes a substantial health burden on many countries and this burden has increased at the global level since 1990, partly due to population growth and ageing. Although the age-standardised death and DALY rates of cirrhosis decreased from 1990 to 2017, numbers of deaths and DALYs and the proportion of all global deaths due to cirrhosis increased. Despite the availability of effective interventions for the prevention and treatment of hepatitis B and C, they were still the main causes of cirrhosis burden worldwide, particularly in low-income countries. The impact of hepatitis B and C is expected to be attenuated and overtaken by that of NASH in the near future. Cost-effective interventions are required to continue the prevention and treatment of viral hepatitis, and to achieve early diagnosis and prevention of cirrhosis due to alcohol-related liver disease and NASH. Copyright (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Global, regional, and national cancer incidence, mortality, years of life lost, years lived with disability, and disability-Adjusted life-years for 29 cancer groups, 1990 to 2017 : A systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study

Importance: Cancer and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are now widely recognized as a threat to global development. The latest United Nations high-level meeting on NCDs reaffirmed this observation and also highlighted the slow progress in meeting the 2011 Political Declaration on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases and the third Sustainable Development Goal. Lack of situational analyses, priority setting, and budgeting have been identified as major obstacles in achieving these goals. All of these have in common that they require information on the local cancer epidemiology. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study is uniquely poised to provide these crucial data. Objective: To describe cancer burden for 29 cancer groups in 195 countries from 1990 through 2017 to provide data needed for cancer control planning. Evidence Review: We used the GBD study estimation methods to describe cancer incidence, mortality, years lived with disability, years of life lost, and disability-Adjusted life-years (DALYs). Results are presented at the national level as well as by Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income, educational attainment, and total fertility rate. We also analyzed the influence of the epidemiological vs the demographic transition on cancer incidence. Findings: In 2017, there were 24.5 million incident cancer cases worldwide (16.8 million without nonmelanoma skin cancer [NMSC]) and 9.6 million cancer deaths. The majority of cancer DALYs came from years of life lost (97%), and only 3% came from years lived with disability. The odds of developing cancer were the lowest in the low SDI quintile (1 in 7) and the highest in the high SDI quintile (1 in 2) for both sexes. In 2017, the most common incident cancers in men were NMSC (4.3 million incident cases); tracheal, bronchus, and lung (TBL) cancer (1.5 million incident cases); and prostate cancer (1.3 million incident cases). The most common causes of cancer deaths and DALYs for men were TBL cancer (1.3 million deaths and 28.4 million DALYs), liver cancer (572000 deaths and 15.2 million DALYs), and stomach cancer (542000 deaths and 12.2 million DALYs). For women in 2017, the most common incident cancers were NMSC (3.3 million incident cases), breast cancer (1.9 million incident cases), and colorectal cancer (819000 incident cases). The leading causes of cancer deaths and DALYs for women were breast cancer (601000 deaths and 17.4 million DALYs), TBL cancer (596000 deaths and 12.6 million DALYs), and colorectal cancer (414000 deaths and 8.3 million DALYs). Conclusions and Relevance: The national epidemiological profiles of cancer burden in the GBD study show large heterogeneities, which are a reflection of different exposures to risk factors, economic settings, lifestyles, and access to care and screening. The GBD study can be used by policy makers and other stakeholders to develop and improve national and local cancer control in order to achieve the global targets and improve equity in cancer care. © 2019 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Vortex-assisted ionic liquid microextraction coupled to flame atomic absorption spectrometry for determination of trace levels of cadmium in real samples

A simple and rapid vortex assisted ionic liquid based liquid–liquid microextraction technique (VALLME) was proposed for preconcentration of trace levels of cadmium. According to this method, the extraction solvent was dispersed into the aqueous samples by the assistance of vortex agitator. Cadmium preconcentration was mediated by chelation with the 8-hydroxyquinoline (oxine) reagent and an IL, 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([Omim][PF6]) was chosen as the extraction solvent to extract the hydrophobic complex. Several variables such as sample pH, concentration of oxine, volume of [Omim][PF6] and extraction time were investigated in details and optimum conditions were selected. Under the optimum conditions, the limit of detection (LOD) was 2.9 μg L−1 for Cd (ІІ) and relative standard deviation (RSD%) for five replicate determinations of 125 μg L−1 was 4.1%. The method was successfully applied to the determination of cadmium in tap water, apple and rice samples

Urinary β2 Microglobulin in Workers Exposed to Arc Welding Fumes

Welding is a process in which two or more metals are attached by the use of heat and, in some cases, pressure. Direct exposure and inhalation of welding fumes causes acute and chronic side effects in humans. Kidney damage is one of these important side effects. β2 microglobulin is an 11.8 kilodalton protein and levels increase in the case of some inflammatory and viral diseases, or kidney malfunction and autoimmune diseases. In this study measurements of β2 microglobulin were used as a criterion for assessing effects on the kidneys of workers exposed to welding fumes. The study population were electric arc welders in an industrial plant in Tehran, Iran. For control we selected workers who did not have any exposure to welding fumes. Both groups were selected on the basis of a questionnaire and the consideration of criteria for inclusion and exclusion. In the end 50 cases and 50 controls were chosen. A urine sample was collected from all participants and urinary pH was set to between 6-8 using NaOH (1M). Sample transportation to the laboratory complied with the related standards. The samples were assessed using the ORG 5BM kit. For quantitative assessment of β2 microglobulin we used the Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) method. The ages of the welders ranged from 21 to 48 years (mean=30.5±5.9 yrs) and of controls from 23 to 56 years (mean=31.8±5.9 yrs). Mean employment duration was 7.86±5.01years (range 2 to 27 years) for welders. Mean β2 microglobulin level was 0.10±0.096 μg/ml in welders and 0.11±0.06 in controls. This difference was not statistically significant (P=0.381). In conclusion we don't find that exposure to electric arc welding fumes cause a significant change in urinary β2 microglobulin compared to the control group

Association of FTO rs9939609 polymorphism with serum leptin, insulin, adiponectin, and lipid profile in overweight adults

FTO gene polymorphisms are associated with obesity and food intake. This study aimed to investigate the association of FTO rs9939609 polymorphism genotypes with serum glucose, lipid profile and serum hormones level. This cross-sectional study was carried out on 196 randomly selected overweight adults. Anthropometric measurements including weight, height, body mass index (BMI), fat mass, and fat-free mass were assessed. Serum TGs, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, glucose and insulin levels were measured. The FTO gene was Genotyped for rs9939609 polymorphism. Dietary intake was assessed by avalid 168-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). The homozygotes for the FTO rs9939609 risk allele (A) had higher serum leptin (p = 0.005, F: 5.131) and lower HDL (p = 0.001, F: 7.687) level than TT genotype. The differences between TT and AT genotypes were not significant. The association remained significant for HDL level after adjustments for age and sex, calorie intake, physical activity, and BMI. The association between rs9939609 polymorphism genotypes and leptin was disappeared after adjustments for calorie intake and physical activity. In conclusion, rs9939609 risk allele was associated with higher serum leptin and lower HDL levels in overweight people. Further studies are warranted

High throughput mathematical modeling and multi-objective evolutionary algorithms for plant tissue culture media formulation: Case study of pear rootstocks.

Simplified prediction of the interactions of plant tissue culture media components is of critical importance to efficient development and optimization of new media. We applied two algorithms, gene expression programming (GEP) and M5' model tree, to predict the effects of media components on in vitro proliferation rate (PR), shoot length (SL), shoot tip necrosis (STN), vitrification (Vitri) and quality index (QI) in pear rootstocks (Pyrodwarf and OHF 69). In order to optimize the selected prediction models, as well as achieving a precise multi-optimization method, multi-objective evolutionary optimization algorithms using genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) techniques were compared to the mono-objective GA optimization technique. A Gamma test (GT) was used to find the most important determinant input for optimizing each output factor. GEP had a higher prediction accuracy than M5' model tree. GT results showed that BA (Γ = 4.0178), Mesos (Γ = 0.5482), Mesos (Γ = 184.0100), Micros (Γ = 136.6100) and Mesos (Γ = 1.1146), for PR, SL, STN, Vitri and QI respectively, were the most important factors in culturing OHF 69, while for Pyrodwarf culture, BA (Γ = 10.2920), Micros (Γ = 0.7874), NH4NO3 (Γ = 166.410), KNO3 (Γ = 168.4400), and Mesos (Γ = 1.4860) were the most important influences on PR, SL, STN, Vitri and QI respectively. The PSO optimized GEP models produced the best outputs for both rootstocks