A data analytic approach to automatic fault diagnosis and prognosis for distribution automation

Distribution Automation (DA) is deployed to reduce outages and to rapidly reconnect customers following network faults. Recent developments in DA equipment have enabled the logging of load and fault event data, referred to as ‘pick-up activity’. This pick-up activity provides a picture of the underlying circuit activity occurring between successive DA operations over a period of time and has the potential to be accessed remotely for off-line or on-line analysis. The application of data analytics and automated analysis of this data supports reactive fault management and post fault investigation into anomalous network behavior. It also supports predictive capabilities that identify when potential network faults are evolving and offers the opportunity to take action in advance in order to mitigate any outages. This paper details the design of a novel decision support system to achieve fault diagnosis and prognosis for DA schemes. It combines detailed data from a specific DA device with rule-based, data mining and clustering techniques to deliver the diagnostic and prognostic functions. These are applied to 11kV distribution network data captured from Pole Mounted Auto-Reclosers (PMARs) as provided by a leading UK network operator. This novel automated analysis system diagnoses the nature of a circuit’s previous fault activity, identifies underlying anomalous circuit activity, and highlights indications of problematic events gradually evolving into a full scale circuit fault. The novel contributions include the tackling of ‘semi-permanent faults’ and the re-usable methodology and approach for applying data analytics to any DA device data sets in order to provide diagnostic decisions and mitigate potential fault scenarios

Investigation of fatigue by Australian General Practice Registrars: a cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION: Fatigue is the most common undifferentiated problem presenting in general practice. Previous studies have shown that this presentation leads to multiple investigations. There is no published literature describing the management of patients with fatigue by general practice (GP) registrars. AIM: To document the investigation-ordering behaviour of GP registrars in managing patients with a new diagnosis of unexplained fatigue. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional analysis of data from Registrar Clinical Encounters in Training (ReCEnT), an ongoing cohort study of GP registrars’ consultations. We established the prevalence of new diagnoses of unexplained fatigue and associations with that diagnosis, the rate of test ordering and the number and types of investigations ordered. RESULTS: 644 registrars contributed data from 68 986 encounters. In 0.78% of patient encounters, a new diagnosis of unexplained fatigue was made. Pathology was ordered in 78.4% of these problems (versus 18.1% in non-fatigue problems), at a rate of 488 tests per 100 new fatigue problems. DISCUSSION: Our study suggests that unexplained fatigue elicits a non-rational approach to test ordering by registrars. These findings contribute to the understanding of GP registrar management of fatigue, and undifferentiated presentations more broadly, and suggest educational approaches to improve practice, including dealing with uncertainty

Melanoma staging: Evidence‐based changes in the American Joint Committee on Cancer eighth edition cancer staging manual

Answer questions and earn CME/CNETo update the melanoma staging system of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) a large database was assembled comprising >46,000 patients from 10 centers worldwide with stages I, II, and III melanoma diagnosed since 1998. Based on analyses of this new database, the existing seventh edition AJCC stage IV database, and contemporary clinical trial data, the AJCC Melanoma Expert Panel introduced several important changes to the Tumor, Nodes, Metastasis (TNM) classification and stage grouping criteria. Key changes in the eighth edition AJCC Cancer Staging Manual include: 1) tumor thickness measurements to be recorded to the nearest 0.1 mm, not 0.01 mm; 2) definitions of T1a and T1b are revised (T1a, <0.8 mm without ulceration; T1b, 0.8‐1.0 mm with or without ulceration or <0.8 mm with ulceration), with mitotic rate no longer a T category criterion; 3) pathological (but not clinical) stage IA is revised to include T1b N0 M0 (formerly pathologic stage IB); 4) the N category descriptors “microscopic” and “macroscopic” for regional node metastasis are redefined as “clinically occult” and “clinically apparent”; 5) prognostic stage III groupings are based on N category criteria and T category criteria (ie, primary tumor thickness and ulceration) and increased from 3 to 4 subgroups (stages IIIA‐IIID); 6) definitions of N subcategories are revised, with the presence of microsatellites, satellites, or in‐transit metastases now categorized as N1c, N2c, or N3c based on the number of tumor‐involved regional lymph nodes, if any; 7) descriptors are added to each M1 subcategory designation for lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level (LDH elevation no longer upstages to M1c); and 8) a new M1d designation is added for central nervous system metastases. This evidence‐based revision of the AJCC melanoma staging system will guide patient treatment, provide better prognostic estimates, and refine stratification of patients entering clinical trials. CA Cancer J Clin 2017;67:472‐492. © 2017 American Cancer Society.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/139981/1/caac21409_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/139981/2/caac21409-sup-0001-suppinfo01.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/139981/3/caac21409.pd

Evidence for early Pliocene and late Miocene transgressions in southern Patagonia (Argentina): 87Sr/86Sr ages of the pectinid “Chlamys” actinodes (Sowerby)

AbstractNumerical ages based on 87Sr/86Sr dating of calcitic shells belonging to the pectinid “Chlamys” actinodes (Sowerby) document the only late Miocene (Tortonian) sea flooding event in the Austral Basin at Cabo Buentiempo (8.95 ± 0.82 Ma, 2 s.e.), and provide evidence of the first documented early Pliocene (Zanclean) transgression in Argentina recorded at Cañadón Darwin (5.15 ± 0.18 Ma, 2 s.e., Austral Basin) and at Terraces of Cerro Laciar (5.10 ± 0.21 Ma, 2 s.e.), southern San Jorge Basin). The sedimentary rocks deposited during the Tortonian are correlated with the youngest beds deposited by the “Entrerriense Sea” that covered northern Patagonia. The Zanclean marine episode is correlated with the long-term cycle represented in the Southern Hemisphere by the flooding events recorded in Cockburn and James Ross Islands (Antarctica) and in North-Central Chile

Impact of ultraviolet radiation on marine crustacean zooplankton and ichthyoplankton: a synthesis of results from the estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada

The objectives of the research program reported upon here were (1) to measure ambient levels of UV radiation and determine whichvariables most strongly affected its attenuation in the waters of the estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada; and (2) to investigate the potential direct impacts of W radiation on species of crustacean zooplankton and fish whose early life stages are planktonic. In this geographic region, productivity-determining biophysical interactions occur in the upper 0 to 30 m of the water column. Measurements of the diffuse attenuation coefficients for ultraviolet-B radiation (W-B, 280 to 320 nm) at various locations in this region indicated maximum 10% depths (the depth to which 10% of the surface energy penetrates at a given wavelength) of 3 to 4 m at a wavelength of 310 nm. Organisms residing in this layer-including the eggs and larvae of Calanus finmarchicus and Atlantic cod Gadus morhua-are exposed to biologically damaging levels of W radiation. As a result of these physical and biological characteristics, this system offered a relevant opportunity to assess the impacts of UV on subarctic marine ecosystems. Eggs of C. finmarchicus were incubated under the sun, with and without the W-B and/or UV-A (320 to 400 nm) wavebands. W-exposed eggs exhibited low percent hatchmg compared to those protected from W : W radiation had a strong negative impact on C. finmarchicus eggs. Further, percent hatching in W-B-exposed eggs was not significantly lower than that in eggs exposed to UV-A only: under natural sunlight, UV-A radiation appeared to be more detrimental to C. finmarchicus embryos than was UV-B. In analogous experiments with Atlantic cod eggs, exposure to UV-B produced a significant negative effect. However, UV-A had no negative effect on cod eggs. Additional experiments using a solar simulator (SS) revealed high wavelength-dependent mortality in both C. finmarchicus and cod embryos exposed to UV. The strongest effects occurred under exposures to wavelengths below 312 nm. At the shorter wavelengths (<305 nm) UV-B-induced mortality was strongly dose-dependent, but (for both C. finmarchicus and cod) not significantly influenced by dose-rate. Thus, at least within the limits of the exposures under which the biological weighting functions (BWFs) were generated, reciprocity held. The BWFs derived for UV-B-induced mortality in C. finmarchicus and cod eggs were similar in shape to the action spectrum for UV-B effects on naked DNA. Further, the wavelengthdependence of DNA damage was similar to that for the mortality effect. These observations suggest that W-induced mortality in C. finmarchicus and cod eggs is a direct result of DNA damage. There was no evidence of a detrimental effect of UV-A radiation in these SS-derived results. A mathematical model that includes the BWFs, vertical mixing of eggs, meteorological and hydrographic conditions, and ozone depletion, indicates that W-induced mortality in the C. finmarchicus egg population could be as high as 32.5 %, while the impact on the cod egg population was no more than 1.2%. Variability in cloud cover, water transparency (and the variables that affect it), and vertical distribution and displacement of planktonic organisms within the mixed layer can all have a greater effect on the flux of UV-B radiation to which they are exposed than will ozone layer depletion at these latitudes. Our observations indicate that C, finmarchicus and cod eggs present in the first meter of the water column (likely only a small percentage of the total egg populations) are susceptible to W radiation. However, although exposure to UV can negatively impact crustacean zooplankton and ichthyoplankton populations, these direct effects are likely minimal within the context of all the other environmental factors that produce the very high levels of mortality typically observed in their planktonic early life stages. The impact of indnect effects-which may well be of much greater import-has yet to be evaluated

Cryptosporidium Priming Is More Effective than Vaccine for Protection against Cryptosporidiosis in a Murine Protein Malnutrition Model

Cryptosporidium is a major cause of severe diarrhea, especially in malnourished children. Using a murine model of C. parvum oocyst challenge that recapitulates clinical features of severe cryptosporidiosis during malnutrition, we interrogated the effect of protein malnutrition (PM) on primary and secondary responses to C. parvum challenge, and tested the differential ability of mucosal priming strategies to overcome the PM-induced susceptibility. We determined that while PM fundamentally alters systemic and mucosal primary immune responses to Cryptosporidium, priming with C. parvum (106 oocysts) provides robust protective immunity against re-challenge despite ongoing PM. C. parvum priming restores mucosal Th1-type effectors (CD3+CD8+CD103+ T-cells) and cytokines (IFNγ, and IL12p40) that otherwise decrease with ongoing PM. Vaccination strategies with Cryptosporidium antigens expressed in the S. Typhi vector 908htr, however, do not enhance Th1-type responses to C. parvum challenge during PM, even though vaccination strongly boosts immunity in challenged fully nourished hosts. Remote non-specific exposures to the attenuated S. Typhi vector alone or the TLR9 agonist CpG ODN-1668 can partially attenuate C. parvum severity during PM, but neither as effectively as viable C. parvum priming. We conclude that although PM interferes with basal and vaccine-boosted immune responses to C. parvum, sustained reductions in disease severity are possible through mucosal activators of host defenses, and specifically C. parvum priming can elicit impressively robust Th1-type protective immunity despite ongoing protein malnutrition. These findings add insight into potential correlates of Cryptosporidium immunity and future vaccine strategies in malnourished children

Planetary Candidates Observed by Kepler VI: Planet Sample from Q1-Q16 (47 Months)

\We present the sixth catalog of Kepler candidate planets based on nearly 4 years of high precision photometry. This catalog builds on the legacy of previous catalogs released by the Kepler project and includes 1493 new Kepler Objects of Interest (KOIs) of which 554 are planet candidates, and 131 of these candidates have best fit radii <1.5 R_earth. This brings the total number of KOIs and planet candidates to 7305 and 4173 respectively. We suspect that many of these new candidates at the low signal-to-noise limit may be false alarms created by instrumental noise, and discuss our efforts to identify such objects. We re-evaluate all previously published KOIs with orbital periods of >50 days to provide a consistently vetted sample that can be used to improve planet occurrence rate calculations. We discuss the performance of our planet detection algorithms, and the consistency of our vetting products. The full catalog is publicly available at the NASA Exoplanet Archive.Comment: 18 pages, to be published in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Serie

Terminal osteoblast differentiation, mediated by runx2 and p27KIP1, is disrupted in osteosarcoma

The molecular basis for the inverse relationship between differentiation and tumorigenesis is unknown. The function of runx2, a master regulator of osteoblast differentiation belonging to the runt family of tumor suppressor genes, is consistently disrupted in osteosarcoma cell lines. Ectopic expression of runx2 induces p27KIP1, thereby inhibiting the activity of S-phase cyclin complexes and leading to the dephosphorylation of the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein (pRb) and a G1 cell cycle arrest. Runx2 physically interacts with the hypophosphorylated form of pRb, a known coactivator of runx2, thereby completing a feed-forward loop in which progressive cell cycle exit promotes increased expression of the osteoblast phenotype. Loss of p27KIP1 perturbs transient and terminal cell cycle exit in osteoblasts. Consistent with the incompatibility of malignant transformation and permanent cell cycle exit, loss of p27KIP1 expression correlates with dedifferentiation in high-grade human osteosarcomas. Physiologic coupling of osteoblast differentiation to cell cycle withdrawal is mediated through runx2 and p27KIP1, and these processes are disrupted in osteosarcoma