Large-scale unit commitment under uncertainty: an updated literature survey

The Unit Commitment problem in energy management aims at finding the optimal production schedule of a set of generation units, while meeting various system-wide constraints. It has always been a large-scale, non-convex, difficult problem, especially in view of the fact that, due to operational requirements, it has to be solved in an unreasonably small time for its size. Recently, growing renewable energy shares have strongly increased the level of uncertainty in the system, making the (ideal) Unit Commitment model a large-scale, non-convex and uncertain (stochastic, robust, chance-constrained) program. We provide a survey of the literature on methods for the Uncertain Unit Commitment problem, in all its variants. We start with a review of the main contributions on solution methods for the deterministic versions of the problem, focussing on those based on mathematical programming techniques that are more relevant for the uncertain versions of the problem. We then present and categorize the approaches to the latter, while providing entry points to the relevant literature on optimization under uncertainty. This is an updated version of the paper "Large-scale Unit Commitment under uncertainty: a literature survey" that appeared in 4OR 13(2), 115--171 (2015); this version has over 170 more citations, most of which appeared in the last three years, proving how fast the literature on uncertain Unit Commitment evolves, and therefore the interest in this subject

JPN Guidelines for the management of acute pancreatitis: epidemiology, etiology, natural history, and outcome predictors in acute pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis is a common disease with an annual incidence of between 5 and 80 people per 100 000 of the population. The two major etiological factors responsible for acute pancreatitis are alcohol and cholelithiasis (gallstones). The proportion of patients with pancreatitis caused by alcohol or gallstones varies markedly in different countries and regions. The incidence of acute alcoholic pancreatitis is considered to be associated with high alcohol consumption. Although the incidence of alcoholic pancreatitis is much higher in men than in women, there is no difference in sexes in the risk involved after adjusting for alcohol intake. Other risk factors include endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, surgery, therapeutic drugs, HIV infection, hyperlipidemia, and biliary tract anomalies. Idiopathic acute pancreatitis is defined as acute pancreatitis in which the etiological factor cannot be specified. However, several studies have suggested that this entity includes cases caused by other specific disorders such as microlithiasis. Acute pancreatitis is a potentially fatal disease with an overall mortality of 2.1%–7.8%. The outcome of acute pancreatitis is determined by two factors that reflect the severity of the illness: organ failure and pancreatic necrosis. About half of the deaths in patients with acute pancreatitis occur within the first 1–2 weeks and are mainly attributable to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). Depending on patient selection, necrotizing pancreatitis develops in approximately 10%–20% of patients and the mortality is high, ranging from 14% to 25% of these patients. Infected pancreatic necrosis develops in 30%–40% of patients with necrotizing pancreatitis and the incidence of MODS in such patients is high. The recurrence rate of acute pancreatitis is relatively high: almost half the patients with acute alcoholic pancreatitis experience a recurrence. When the gallstones are not treated, the risk of recurrence in gallstone pancreatitis ranges from 32% to 61%. After recovering from acute pancreatitis, about one-third to one-half of acute pancreatitis patients develop functional disorders, such as diabetes mellitus and fatty stool; the incidence of chronic pancreatitis after acute pancreatitis ranges from 3% to 13%. Nevertheless, many reports have shown that most patients who recover from acute pancreatitis regain good general health and return to their usual daily routine. Some authors have emphasized that endocrine function disorders are a common complication after severe acute pancreatitis has been treated by pancreatic resection

Assessment of Post-Dengue Rheumatic Symptoms Using the WOMAC and DAS-28 Questionnaires in a Honduran Population after a Four-Month Follow-Up

Introduction: Alphaviruses may cause arthritis, but there is a lack of studies assessing it in flaviviruses such as dengue. Through the 28 Joint Disease Activity Score (DAS-28), incorporating swollen joint counts, and through the Arthritis Index from Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC), we assessed pain, stiffness, and dimensions of arthritic function in post-DENV patients. Methods: Prospective study of a cohort of participants who were diagnosed with dengue in centres in Honduras from December 2019 to February 2020, with a follow-up period of 4 months to evaluate post-dengue rheumatological disease through the WOMAC and DAS-28 questionnaires. Results: After a four-month follow-up phase with 281 participants, the final cohort comprised 58.8% women and 41.20% men. After the follow-up, 63.02% persisted with the clinical findings. According to WOMAC, joint involvement was higher in women with (58.76%) (p < 0.0001) these symptoms or functional limitations when performing daily activities were limited to pain when walking (34.81% vs. 5.51%), climbing or descending stairs (36.46% vs. 8.66%), and at night at bedtime (28.73% vs. 7.08%). With the DAS-28, we found at least one alteration with inflammation or pain in 14.91% of the participants, primarily women (p < 0.01). Discussion: Joint involvement was high during the dengue epidemic in 2019. We observed a significant proportion of women with inflammation and joint pain, showing that dengue may lead to the development of chronic rheumatological findings, although lower than in CHIKV, still affecting everyday life and, consequently, their quality of life. Additional long-term evaluation studies after dengue are required

Fístula gastrocólica na síndrome de Bartter em uso de indometacina: relato de dois casos Gastrocolic fistula in Bartter's syndrome caused by indometacin: report of two cases

Os autores relatam dois casos de fístula gastrocólica causada por uso crônico de indometacina em pacientes com síndrome de Bartter, em acompanhamento no Instituto da Criança do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo. O diagnóstico foi realizado por meio de trânsito intestinal, que evidenciou passagem de contraste da grande curvatura gástrica para o cólon transverso. O tratamento foi cirúrgico em ambos os casos.<br>The authors report two cases of gastrocolic fistula caused by chronic therapy with indometacin in patients with Bartter's syndrome followed at the outpatients clinic of "Instituto da Criança do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo", Brazil. The diagnosis was suggested by a barium meal that showed a gastrocolic fistula between the greater curvature of the stomach and the transverse colon. Treatment was surgical in the both cases