Performance of Coded Wireless Power Controllers for Wind Turbines Connected to a Smart Grid

Nowadays, with the advance of smart grid technologies, the participation of renewable energy in the power systems is changing for attend new requirements and increase efficiency of the systems. With a view of smart grid context, this work proposes the review of a modern wireless control system proposed based on for squirrel cage induction generators connected to the power grid. The wireless communication system applied transmits the reference power signals to the SCIG controller with the necessary reliability to ensure the power quality provided by the wind turbine employing the OFDM multi-carrier transmission technique associated with an LDPC coding scheme. The satisfactory results of this research endorse the operability and advantages of application of wireless control system for windy plants when some requirements and techniques, based on digital modulation and coding techniques, are employees

Erratum to: Analysis of in vitro ADCC and clinical response to trastuzumab: possible relevance of Fc\u3b3RIIIA/Fc\u3b3RIIA gene polymorphisms and HER-2 expression levels on breast cancer cell lines

BACKGROUND: Trastuzumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody (mAb) currently used for the treatment of breast cancer (BC) patients with HER-2 overexpressing tumor subtype. Previous data reported the involvement of FcγRIIIA/IIA gene polymorphisms and/or antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) in the therapeutic efficacy of trastuzumab, although results on these issues are still controversial. This study was aimed to evaluate in vitro the functional relationships among FcγRIIIA/IIA polymorphisms, ADCC intensity and HER-2 expression on tumor target cells and to correlate them with response to trastuzumab. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-five patients with HER-2 overexpressing BC, receiving trastuzumab in a neoadjuvant (NEO) or metastatic (MTS) setting, were genotyped for the FcγRIIIA 158V>F and FcγRIIA 131H>R polymorphisms by a newly developed pyrosequencing assay and by multiplex Tetra-primer-ARMS PCR, respectively. Trastuzumab-mediated ADCC of patients’ peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was evaluated prior to therapy and measured by (51)Chromium release using as targets three human BC cell lines showing different levels of reactivity with trastuzumab. RESULTS: We found that the FcγRIIIA 158F and/or the FcγRIIA 131R variants, commonly reported as unfavorable in BC, may actually behave as ADCC favorable genotypes, in both the NEO (P ranging from 0.009 to 0.039 and from 0.007 to 0.047, respectively) and MTS (P ranging from 0.009 to 0.032 and P = 0.034, respectively) patients. The ADCC intensity was affected by different levels of trastuzumab reactivity with BC target cells. In this context, the MCF-7 cell line, showing the lowest reactivity with trastuzumab, resulted the most suitable cell line for evaluating ADCC and response to trastuzumab. Indeed, we found a statistically significant correlation between an increased frequency of patients showing ADCC of MCF-7 and complete response to trastuzumab in the NEO setting (P = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Although this study was performed in a limited number of patients, it would indicate a correlation of FcγR gene polymorphisms to the ADCC extent in combination with the HER-2 expression levels on tumor target cells in BC patients. However, to confirm our findings further experimental evidences obtained from a larger cohort of BC patients are mandatory. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12967-015-0680-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

GWAS for systemic sclerosis identifies multiple risk loci and highlights fibrotic and vasculopathy pathways

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease that shows one of the highest mortality rates among rheumatic diseases. We perform a large genome-wide association study (GWAS), and meta-analysis with previous GWASs, in 26,679 individuals and identify 27 independent genome-wide associated signals, including 13 new risk loci. The novel associations nearly double the number of genome-wide hits reported for SSc thus far. We define 95% credible sets of less than 5 likely causal variants in 12 loci. Additionally, we identify specific SSc subtype-associated signals. Functional analysis of high-priority variants shows the potential function of SSc signals, with the identification of 43 robust target genes through HiChIP. Our results point towards molecular pathways potentially involved in vasculopathy and fibrosis, two main hallmarks in SSc, and highlight the spectrum of critical cell types for the disease. This work supports a better understanding of the genetic basis of SSc and provides directions for future functional experiments

Complement component C4 structural variation and quantitative traits contribute to sex-biased vulnerability in systemic sclerosis

Altres ajuts: Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), "A way of making Europe".Copy number (CN) polymorphisms of complement C4 play distinct roles in many conditions, including immune-mediated diseases. We investigated the association of C4 CN with systemic sclerosis (SSc) risk. Imputed total C4, C4A, C4B, and HERV-K CN were analyzed in 26,633 individuals and validated in an independent cohort. Our results showed that higher C4 CN confers protection to SSc, and deviations from CN parity of C4A and C4B augmented risk. The protection contributed per copy of C4A and C4B differed by sex. Stronger protection was afforded by C4A in men and by C4B in women. C4 CN correlated well with its gene expression and serum protein levels, and less C4 was detected for both in SSc patients. Conditioned analysis suggests that C4 genetics strongly contributes to the SSc association within the major histocompatibility complex locus and highlights classical alleles and amino acid variants of HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DPB1 as C4-independent signals

Postoperative chest physical therapy prevents respiratory complications in patients undergoing esophagectomy Fisioterapia respiratória pós-operatória previne complicações respiratórias em pacientes submetidos à esofagectomia

BACKGROUND: Esophagectomy presents the highest rate of postoperative pulmonary complications among all types of upper abdominal surgery. The benefits of chest physical therapy in patients undergoing upper abdominal surgery have been shown by many studies; however, its specific effect in patients receiving esophagectomy has been seldom investigated. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to compare the frequency of respiratory complications in patients undergoing esophagectomy receiving chest physical therapy compared to no treatment. METHODS: 70 consecutive patients were evaluated retrospectively and allocated to two groups: control group (CG=no physical therapy; n=30) and chest physical therapy group (PTG; n=40). Patients received chest physical therapy which includes lung re-expansion and airway clearance maneuvers. They were not submitted to either noninvasive ventilation or exercises with devices that generate airways positive pressure. All patients were instructed to early mobilization. Information about pre-operative and respiratory complications were collected. Statistic analysis to compare the frequency of respiratory complications was performed by the Z test. The significance level was set to 5%. RESULTS: Patients in the CG and PTG were similar in terms of age, BMI, smoking and drinking status, malignant diseases, surgical and anesthesia duration and types of esophagectomy (p>0.05). Our results show that patients received chest physical therapy after esophagectomy had a lower frequency of respiratory complications (15% vs. 37%, p<0.05). In addition, the PTG needed a shorter duration of antibiotic treatment and thoracic drainage as well as less re-intubation compared with the control group (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that chest physical therapy treatment reduces respiratory complications and the need for care but does not influence on hospital length of stay.<br>CONTEXTUALIZAÇÃO: A esofagectomia apresenta a maior taxa de complicações pulmonares pós-operatórias dentre as cirurgias abdominais altas. Os benefícios da fisioterapia respiratória em pacientes submetidos à cirurgia abdominal alta convencional têm sido mostrados na literatura, porém esse efeito na esofagectomia tem sido pouco investigado. OBJETIVOS: Comparar a frequência de complicações respiratórias em dois grupos de pacientes submetidos à esofagectomia, tendo um recebido fisioterapia respiratória e o outro não. MÉTODOS: Setenta pacientes consecutivos (nenhuma exclusão) foram avaliados retrospectivamente e divididos em dois grupos: controle (GC=sem fisioterapia; n=30) e fisioterapia respiratória (GFT; n=40). O PTG recebeu manobras para expansão pulmonar e higiene das vias aéreas. Nenhum deles foi submetido à ventilação não-invasiva ou a exercícios com pressão positiva. Todos os pacientes foram orientados à mobilização ativa, progressiva e precoce. Foram coletadas informações sobre o perioperatório e complicações respiratórias. A frequência de complicações respiratórias entre os grupos foi analisada pelo teste z, considerando p<0,05. RESULTADOS: Pacientes de ambos os grupos foram similares quanto à idade, IMC, tabagismo e etilismo, doença maligna, tempos cirúrgico e anestésico e tipos de esofagectomia (p>0,05). Nossos resultados mostram que pacientes que receberam fisioterapia respiratória após a esofagectomia tiveram uma frequência menor de complicações respiratórias (15% vs. 37%, p<0,05). O PTG precisou de menos tempo de antibioticoterapia e de drenagem torácica, assim como teve menos reintubação, comparado com o controle (p<0,05). CONCLUSÕES: Os resultados sugerem que a fisioterapia respiratória após esofagectomia reduz as complicações respiratórias e a necessidade de cuidados clínicos, mas não reduz o tempo de hospitalização

Weakness of expiratory muscles and pulmonary complications in malnourished patients undergoing upper abdominal surgery

Background and objective: Malnutrition is prevalent in hospitalized patients and causes systemic damage including effects on the respiratory and immune systems, as well as predisposing to infection and increasing postoperative complications and mortality. This study aimed to assess the impact of malnutrition on the rate of postoperative pulmonary complications, respiratory muscle strength and chest wall expansion in patients undergoing elective upper abdominal surgery. Methods: Seventy-five consecutive candidates for upper abdominal surgery (39 in the malnourished group (MNG) and 36 in the control group (CG)) were enrolled in this prospective controlled cohort study. All patients were evaluated for nutritional status, respiratory muscle strength, chest wall expansion and lung function before surgery. Postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, tracheobronchitis, atelectasis and acute respiratory failure) before discharge from hospital were also evaluated. Results: The MNG showed expiratory muscle weakness (MNG 65 +/- 24 vs CG 82 +/- 22 cm H2O; P &lt; 0.001) and decreased chest wall expansion (P &lt; 0.001), whereas inspiratory muscle strength and lung function were preserved (P &gt; 0.05). The MNG also had a higher incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications compared with the CG (31% and 11%, respectively; P = 0.05). In addition, expiratory muscle weakness was correlated with BMI in the MNG (r = 0.43; P &lt; 0.01). The association between malnutrition and expiratory muscle weakness increased the likelihood of postoperative pulmonary complications after upper abdominal surgery (P = 0.02). Conclusions: These results show that malnutrition is associated with weakness of the expiratory muscles, decreased chest wall expansion and increased incidence of pulmonary complications in patients undergoing elective upper abdominal surgery

A systemic sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus pan-meta-GWAS reveals new shared susceptibility loci

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are two archetypal systemic autoimmune diseases which have been shown to share multiple genetic susceptibility loci. In order to gain insight into the genetic basis of these diseases, we performed a pan-meta-analysis of two genome-wide association studies (GWASs) together with a replication stage including additional SSc and SLE cohorts. This increased the sample size to a total of 21,109 (6835 cases and 14,274 controls). We selected for replication 19 SNPs from the GWAS data. We were able to validate KIAA0319L (P = 3.31 × 10(-11), OR = 1.49) as novel susceptibility loci for SSc and SLE. Furthermore, we also determined that the previously described SLE susceptibility loci PXK (P = 3.27 × 10(-11), OR = 1.20) and JAZF1 (P = 1.11 × 10(-8), OR = 1.13) are shared with SSc. Supporting these new discoveries, we observed that KIAA0319L was overexpressed in peripheral blood cells of SSc and SLE patients compared with healthy controls. With these, we add three (KIAA0319L, PXK and JAZF1) and one (KIAA0319L) new susceptibility loci for SSc and SLE, respectively, increasing significantly the knowledge of the genetic basis of autoimmunity