Micro economics for demand-side management

This paper aims to interpret Demand-Side Management (DSM) activity and to point out its problems, adopting microeconomics as an analytical tool. Two major findings follow. first, the cost-benefit analysis currently in use has the following problems: (i) inconsistency in cost comparison between utility costs on the supply-side and utility costs plus customer costs on the demand-side, (ii) inconsistency in price comparisons among different consumption levels, and (iii) arbitrary pricing after DSM implementation. Second, DSM programs can be recognized as a conventional economic activity, if we assume "energy service concept" as a definition for demand and also recognize the DSM program as a supply-side option. Concurrently, (i) DSM is justified, since it increases social welfare, and (ii) we are in a position to determine the amount of rebate to be paid. However, (iii) the utility bill of a DSM participant should not be reduced in the name of demand reduction, since the utility continues to provide energy service at the same volume, and must recover the DSM costs in order to avoid double payment to the participant. (iv) We note that the compensation method of DSM cost recover, which is applied in several states, has a limitation. (v) The interpretation of DSM activity proposed in this paper is also useful in the case of marginal cost supply-side decrease.Supported by The Institute for Energy Economics, Japan

Irritable Bowel Syndrome Subtypes: Clinical And Psychological Features, Body Mass Index And Comorbidities

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is classified into subtypes according to bowel habit. Objective: To investigate whether there are differences in clinical features, comorbidities, anxiety, depression and body mass index (BMI) among IBS subtypes. Methods: The study group included 113 consecutive patients (mean age: 48 11 years; females: 94) with the diagnosis of IBS. All of them answered a structured questionnaire for demographic and clinical data and underwent upper endoscopy. Anxiety and depression were assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HAD). Results: The distribution of subtypes was: IBS-diarrhea (IBS-D), 46%; IBS-constipation (IBS-C), 32%, and mixed IBS (IBS-M), 22%. IBS overlap with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), functional dyspepsia, chronic headache and fibromyalgia occurred in 65.5%, 48.7%, 40.7% and 22.1% of patients, respectively. Anxiety and/or depression were found in 81.5%. Comparisons among subgroups showed that bloating was significantly associated with IBS-M compared to IBS-D (odds ratio-OR-5.6). Straining was more likely to be reported by IBS-M (OR 15.3) and IBS-C (OR 12.0) compared to IBS-D patients, while urgency was associated with both IBS-M (OR 19.7) and IBS-D (OR 14.2) compared to IBS-C. In addition, IBS-M patients were more likely to present GERD than IBS-D (OR 6.7) and higher scores for anxiety than IBS-C patients (OR 1.2). BMI values did not differ between IBS-D and IBS-C. Conclusion: IBS-M is characterized by symptoms frequently reported by both IBS-C (straining) and IBS-D (urgency), higher levels of anxiety, and high prevalence of comorbidities. These features should be considered in the clinical management of this subgroup.1082596

Anti-Integrins, Anti-Interleukin 12/23p40, and JAK Inhibitors for the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Treatment

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) present a broad inflammatory cascade that is sometimes difficult to control. Patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) are exposed to intense and harmful effects that compromise their quality of life. There is a constant need for new classes of drugs that act on different fronts of inflammation control. Initially, biologics revolutionized inflammatory bowel disease treatment. Anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) agents and infliximab, followed by adalimumab and certolizumab pegol, have been proven to induce clinical and endoscopic remission. However, some patients are primary nonresponders, and a significant proportion of initial responders lose response throughout the treatment. The emergence of new therapies, such as anti-integrins, anti-interleukins, and inhibitors of Janus kinase (JAK), can become an alternative option for patients with previous therapeutic failures, besides offering greater safety than other biological therapies up to now. Among anti-integrins, vedolizumab is the drug with proven efficacy in both induction and maintenance of remission and has local and selective action in the intestine. Ustekinumab represents the group of anti-interleukins, acting to control interleukin-12 (IL12) and interleukin-23 (IL23). JAK inhibitors (tofacitinib) act on intracellular inflammatory mediators and have the advantage of being orally administered

Stochastic Simulation of Controlled Radical Polymerization Forming Dendritic Hyperbranched Polymers

Stochastic simulation of the formation process of hyperbranched polymers (HBPs) based on the reversible deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) using a branch-inducing monomer, evolmer, has been carried out. The simulation program successfully reproduced the change of dispersities (Đs) during the polymerization process. Furthermore, the simulation suggested that the observed Đs (=1.5–2) are due to the distribution of the number of branches instead of undesired side reactions, and that the branch structures are well controlled. In addition, the analysis of the polymer structure reveals that the majority of HBPs have structures close to the ideal one. The simulation also suggested the slight dependence of branch density on molecular weight, which was experimentally confirmed by synthesizing HBPs with an evolmer having phenyl group

Dyspeptic symptoms in patients with type 1 diabetes: endoscopic findings, helicobacter pylori infection, and associations with metabolic control, mood disorders and nutritional factors

To evaluate, in a group of patients with long-standing type 1 diabetes (DM1), an association of dyspepsia symptoms with: changes in the gastroduodenal mucosa, infection by Helicobacter pylori, glycemic control, and psychological and nutritional factors. Subjects and methods: A total of 32 patient with DM1 were studied (age: 38 +/- 9 years; females: 25; diabetes duration: 22 +/- 5 years). All patients answered a standardized questionnaire for the evaluation of gastrointestinal symptoms and underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, with gastric biopsies for the evaluation of Helicobacter pylori infection. The presence of anxiety and depression was evaluated by the HAD scale. Nutritional parameters were BMI, arm and waist circumference, skinfold measurement, and body fat percentage. Results: Upper endoscopy detected lesions in the gastric mucosa in 34.4% of the patients, with similar frequency in those with (n = 21) and without dyspepsia (n = 11). The patients with dyspepsia complaints showed greater frequency of depression (60% vs. 0%; p = 0.001), higher values for HbA1c (9.6 +/- 1.7 vs. 8.2 +/- 1.3%; p = 0.01) and lower values for BMI (24.3 +/- 4.1 vs. 27.2 +/- 2.6 kg/m(2); p = 0.02), body fat percentage (26.6 +/- 6.2 vs. 30.8 +/- 7.7%; p = 0.04), and waist circumference (78.7 +/- 8 vs. 85.8 +/- 8.1 cm; p = 0.02). No association was found between the symptoms and the presence of Helicobacter pylori. Dyspepsia symptoms in patients with long-standing DM1 were associated with glycemic control and depression, and they seem to negatively influence the nutritional status of these patients59212913

Anisotropic spin freezing in the S=1/2 zigzag ladder compound SrCuO2

Using magnetic neutron scattering we characterize an unusual low temperature phase in orthorhombic SrCuO2. The material contains zigzag spin ladders formed by pairs of S=1/2 chains (J=180 meV) coupled through a weak frustrated interaction |J'|<0.1J. At T<Tc1=5.0(4)K an elastic peak develops in a gapless magnetic excitation spectrum indicating spin freezing on a time scale larger than 200 picoseconds. While the frozen state has long range commensurate antiferromagnetic order along the chains with the correlation length exceeding 200 lattice periods along the c-axis and a substantial correlation length of 60(25) spacings along the a-axis perpendicular to the zigzag plane, only 2 lattice units are correlated along the b-axis which is the direction of the frustrated interactions. The frozen magnetic moment of each Cu ion is very small, 0.033(7) Bohr magneton even at T=0.35K, and has unusual temperature dependence with a cusp at Tc2=1.5K reminiscent of a phase transition. We argue that slow dynamics of stripe-like cooperative magnetic defects in tetragonal a-c planes yield this anisotropic frozen state.Comment: 4 pages, LaTeX, submitted to PR

Observation of Ion-Transfer of Photochemical Reaction Products of p-Aminodiphenylamine across an Aqueous | 1,2-Dichloroethane Solution Interface by Photo-Modulation Voltammetry with an Ultraviolet Laser

ArticleAnalytical sciences : the international journal of the Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry. 23(9): 1143-1146 (2007)journal articl