Optimization Framework for Harmonic Mitigation in Transmission Networks with Renewable Generation

This paper introduces the optimization framework for harmonic mitigation in transmission networks. The paper defines two possible harmonic mitigation problems, one with the global mitigation, and the other with the zonal harmonic mitigation which provides differentiated harmonic performance to customers in different zones of the networks. This paper analyzes the construction of appropriate objective functions for the two forms of problem descriptions as mentioned above, and introduces the approaches of selecting feasible/cost-effective mitigation schemes and appropriate locations for placing device-based mitigation solutions. The paper emphasizes the necessity to include the uncertainties of operating conditions in optimization process in order to construct realistic scenarios for harmonic performance assessment. It discusses the approaches that are widely used for sampling operating scenarios, and especially introduces the detailed procedure of using clustering techniques to select representative operating scenarios for covering the uncertainties of network behavior in simulation

QALY league table of Iran: a practical method for better resource allocation

Background: The limited health care resources cannot meet all the demands of the society. Thus, decision makers have to choose feasible interventions and reject the others. We aimed to collect and summarize the results of all cost utility analysis studies that were conducted in Iran and develop a Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY) league table. Methods: A systematic mapping review was conducted to identify all cost utility analysis studies done in Iran and then map them in a table. PubMed, Embase, Cochrane library, Web of Science, as well as Iranian databases like Iran Medex, SID, Magiran, and Barakat Knowledge Network System were all searched for articles published from the inception of the databases to January 2020. Additionally, Cost per QALY or Incremental Cost Utility Ratio (ICUR) were collected from all studies. The Joanna Briggs checklist was used to assess quality appraisal. Results: In total, 51 cost-utility studies were included in the final analysis, out of which 14 studies were on cancer, six studies on coronary heart diseases. Two studies, each on hemophilia, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. The rest were on various other diseases. Markov model was the commonest one which has been applied to in 45 of the reviewed studies. Discount rates ranged from zero to 7.2. The cost per QALY ranged from 0.144 in radiography costs for patients with some orthopedic problems to 4,551,521 for immune tolerance induction (ITI) therapy in hemophilia patients. High heterogeneity was revealed; therefore, it would be biased to rank interventions based on reported cost per QALY or ICUR. Conclusions: However, it is instructive and informative to collect all economic evaluation studies and summarize them in a table. The information on the table would in turn be used to redirect resources for efficient allocation. in general, it was revealed that preventive programs are cost effective interventions from different perspectives in Iran. © 2021, The Author(s)

Sex-specific association between infant caudate volumes and a polygenic risk score for major depressive disorder

Polygenic risk scores for major depressive disorder (PRS-MDD) have been identified in large genome-wide association studies, and recent findings suggest that PRS-MDD might interact with environmental risk factors to shape human limbic brain development as early as in the prenatal period. Striatal structures are crucially involved in depression; however, the association of PRS-MDD with infant striatal volumes is yet unknown. In this study, 105 Finnish mother-infant dyads (44 female, 11-54 days old) were investigated to reveal how infant PRS-MDD is associated with infant dorsal striatal volumes (caudate, putamen) and whether PRS-MDD interacts with prenatal maternal depressive symptoms (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, gestational weeks 14, 24, 34) on infant striatal volumes. A robust sex-specific main effect of PRS-MDD on bilateral infant caudate volumes was observed. PRS-MDD were more positively associated with caudate volumes in boys compared to girls. No significant interaction effects of genotype PRS-MDD with the environmental risk factor "prenatal maternal depressive symptoms" (genotype-by-environment interaction) nor significant interaction effects of genotype with prenatal maternal depressive symptoms and sex (genotype-by-environment-by-sex interaction) were found for infant dorsal striatal volumes. Our study showed that a higher PRS-MDD irrespective of prenatal exposure to maternal depressive symptoms is associated with smaller bilateral caudate volumes, an indicator of greater susceptibility to major depressive disorder, in female compared to male infants. This sex-specific polygenic effect might lay the ground for the higher prevalence of depression in women compared to men.Peer reviewe

Newborn left amygdala volume associates with attention disengagement from fearful faces at eight months

After 5 months of age, infants begin to prioritize attention to fearful over other facial expressions. One key proposition is that amygdala and related early-maturing subcortical network, is important for emergence of this attentional bias – however, empirical data to support these assertions are lacking. In this prospective longitudinal study, we measured amygdala volumes from MR images in 65 healthy neonates at 2–5 weeks of gestation corrected age and attention disengagement from fearful vs. non-fearful facial expressions at 8 months with eye tracking. Overall, infants were less likely to disengage from fearful than happy/neutral faces, demonstrating an age-typical bias for fear. Left, but not right, amygdala volume (corrected for intracranial volume) was positively associated with the likelihood of disengaging attention from fearful faces to a salient lateral distractor (r = .302, p = .014). No association was observed with the disengagement from neutral or happy faces in equivalent conditions (r = .166 and .125, p = .186 and .320, respectively). These results are the first to link the amygdala volume with the emerging perceptual vigilance for fearful faces during infancy. They suggest a link from the prenatally defined variability in the amygdala size to early postnatal emotional and social traits.</p