Integration of Design and Control under Uncertainty: A New Back-off Approach using PSE Approximations

Chemical process design is still an active area of research since it largely determines the optimal and safe operation of a new process under various conditions. The design process involves a series of steps that aims to identify the most economically attractive design typically using steady-state optimization. However, optimal steady-state designs may fail to comply with the process constraints when the system under analysis is subject to process disturbances (e.g. the composition of a reactant in a feed stream) or parameter uncertainty (e.g. the activation energy in a chemical reaction). Moreover, the practice of overdesigning a process to ensure feasibility under process disturbances and parameter uncertainty has been proven to be costly. Therefore, a new methodology for simultaneous design and control for dynamic systems under uncertainty has been proposed. The proposed methodology uses Power Series Expansions (PSE) to obtain analytical expressions for the process constrains and cost function. The key idea is to use the back off approach from the optimal steady state design to address the simultaneous process and design problem in an efficient systematic manner using PSE approximations. The challenge in this method is to determine the magnitude of the back-off needed to accommodate the transient and feasible operation of the process in presence of disturbances and parameter uncertainty. In this approach, PSE functions are used to obtain analytical expressions of the actual process constraints and are explicitly defined in terms of system’s uncertain parameter and the largest variability in a constraint function due to time-varying changes in the disturbances. Also, the PSE approximation for each constraint is developed around a nominal point in the optimization variables and for each realization considered for the uncertain parameters. The PSE-based constraint represents the actual process constraint and can be evaluated faster since it is explicitly defined in the terms of the optimization variables. The work focuses on calculating various optimal design and control parameters by solving various sets of optimization problems using mathematical expressions obtained from power series expansions. These approximations are used to determine the direction in the search of optimal design parameters and operating conditions required for an economically attractive, dynamically feasible process. The proposed methodology was tested on an isothermal storage tank and a step by step procedure to develop the methodology has been presented. The methodology was also tested on a non-isothermal CSTR and the results were compared with the formal integration process. Effect of tuning parameter, which is a key parameter in the methodology, have been studied and the results show that the quality of the results improves when smaller values of tuning parameter are used but at the expense of higher computational costs. The effect of the order of the PSE approximation used in the calculations has also been studied and it shows that the quality in the results is improved when higher orders in the PSE approximations are used at the expense of higher computational costs. The methodology was also tested on a large-scale Waste Water treatment plant. A comparison was made for different values of tuning parameters and the most feasible value was chosen for the case study. Effects of different disturbances profiles such as step and ramp changes were also studied. The studies concluded that a lower cost value is obtained when ramps are used as disturbance profile when compared with step changes. The methodology was also tested when parameter uncertainty was introduced and the results show a higher cost is required when uncertainty is present in the system when compared with no uncertainty. The results show that this method has the potential to address the integration of design and control of dynamic systems under uncertainty at low computational costs

Maternal and perinatal outcome in term singleton breech presentation at term pregnancy

Background: Breech presentation is defined as a fetus in a longitudinal lie with the podalic at the pelvic brim. There are three types of breech presentations: frank breech, complete, incomplete breech. The incidence of breech presentation decreases from about 20% at 28 weeks of gestation to 3-4% at term, as most babies turn spontaneously to the cephalic presentation. Studies have shown that the prevalence of term breech presentation varies globally. In India the incidence was shown to be, 2.1%, and in other Asian countries it was found to be around 2.9 -4.5%. Its incidence is around 25% at 28 weeks of gestation and it reduces to 4% by term. If patients are carefully selected, breech presentation can be delivered vaginally. However, the risk of neonatal complications still persists. sometimes the planned vaginal delivery has to be converted into emergency cesarean section. Such probability varies from 17.4 to 51%. Methods: This was a prospective observational study conducted in department of obstetrics and gynaecology department of SAMC and PGI, Indore, Madhya Pradesh from 1st April, 2021 to 31st October 2022. Ethical approval was taken from the institutional review committee. All term pregnant women (≥37 weeks) aged 18 years and above, admitted to the maternity and labor ward with the diagnosis of singleton breech presentation during the study period were included in the study. The patients were identified as having breech presentation on admission using physical examination and ultrasound. Those women who presented with antepartum hemorrhage, uterine rupture, fetuses with major congenital anomalies and intrauterine deaths were excluded from the study. After through exclusion sample of 70 people were included in study. Results: During the study period, 896 deliveries were conducted in this hospital. Among them, 70 (7.86%) of the deliveries were singleton breech delivery. The age of the participants in the study ranged from 16 to 45 years, with a mean age of 27.07±8.56 years. Most of them had elective cesarean section, and few had emergency cesarean section. The most common indication for emergency cesarean section was footling presentation. Most of the new-borns were males, mean weight of new-borns 2.75±0.5 kg. 21.9% neonates required admission in neonatal intensive care unit, 2.8% mothers developed wound infection and 10% had post-partum haemorrhage. Conclusions: Proper guidance, education and strict adherent to principles and steps of breech delivery, like monitoring taking up call for emergency c-sections, having proper NICU setup, trained doctors will help in reduction of complications. A protocol for the management of breech delivery and a regular training facility for junior health professionals to conduct assisted vaginal breech delivery are highly recommended

Śāntarakṣita and Kamalaśīla on the Advaita Vedanta Theory of a Self

In this article we assess Śāntarakṣita’s and Kamalaśīla’s critique of the Advaita Vedānta theory of self. We provide a translation of the verses 328-335 of the commentary titled Tattvasaṃgrahapañjikā, which was composed by Kamalaśīla on Śāntarakṣita’s Tattvasaṃgraha. We present Śāntarakṣita’s and Kamalaśīla’s views of a self and also explain the Advaita Vedānta theory based on the texts of Śaṅkara. It is concluded in the article that Śāntarakṣita and Kamalaśīla failed to consider the most likely Advaitin replies to their objections, especially the reply that cognitions of objects are illusory rather than real modifications, since the critique assumed that they were real modifications

Correlation between prolactin, thyroid, LH, FSH, estradiol and progesterone in the infertile women

Background: An important global health issue, infertility affects a couple’s social, psychological, economic, and sexual well-being. A variety of issues stemming from abnormal hypothalamus pituitary ovarian axis dysfunction make up the hormonal diseases of the female reproductive system. The aim of the study was to find correlation between prolactin, thyroid, LH, FSH, estradiol and progesterone in the infertile women. Methods: Present study was hospital based descriptive, cross-sectional study. 150 infertile women were required in sample size. Serum LH, FSH, estradiol was measured on day 2 of menstrual cycle and also serum TSH and serum progesterone on day 21. Results: Around one third (38%) of the cases was married since more than 10 years. Majority 108 (72%) had primary infertility and 50% of the women had history of irregular menstrual cycles. There was significant positive correlation between TSH and prolactin (p value <0.05) and significant negative correlation of TSH with FSH and LH (p value <0.05) and there was insignificant negative correlation of TSH with estrogen (D2) and progesterone (D21). The mean value of TSH in our study was 7.47±1.82 μIU/ml. Conclusions: TSH has strong positive co-relation between prolactin, FSH and LH indicating role in female infertility. These hormonal evaluations allow a routine etiological approach to the diagnosis of infertility.

Mapping India's Energy Policy 2022

Carefully designed energy support measures—subsidies, public utilities' investments, and public finance institutions' lending—and government's energy revenues play a key role in India's transition to clean energy and reaching net-zero emissions by 2070. Looking at how the Government of India has supported different types of energy from FY 2014 to FY 2021, the study aims to improve transparency, create accountability, and encourage a responsible shift in support away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy.Mapping India's Energy Subsidies 2022 covers India's subsidies to fossil fuels, electricity transmission and distribution, renewable energy, and electric vehicles between fiscal year (FY) 2014 and FY 2021.We found that fossil fuels continue to receive far more subsidies than clean energy in India. This disparity became even more pronounced from FY 2020 to FY 2021, going from 7.3 times to 9 times the amount of subsidies to renewables

Opposite Modulation of RAC1 by Mutations in TRIO Is Associated with Distinct, Domain-Specific Neurodevelopmental Disorders

The Rho-guanine nucleotide exchange factor (RhoGEF) TRIO acts as a key regulator of neuronal migration, axonal outgrowth, axon guidance, and synaptogenesis by activating the GTPase RAC1 and modulating actin cytoskeleton remodeling. Pathogenic variants in TRIO are associated with neurodevelopmental diseases, including intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Here, we report the largest international cohort of 24 individuals with confirmed pathogenic missense or nonsense variants in TRIO. The nonsense mutations are spread along the TRIO sequence, and affected individuals show variable neurodevelopmental phenotypes. In contrast, missense variants cluster into two mutational hotspots in the TRIO sequence, one in the seventh spectrin repeat and one in the RAC1-activating GEFD1. Although all individuals in this cohort present with developmental delay and a neuro-behavioral phenotype, individuals with a pathogenic variant in the seventh spectrin repeat have a more severe ID associated with macrocephaly than do most individuals with GEFD1 variants, who display milder ID and microcephaly. Functional studies show that the spectrin and GEFD1 variants cause a TRIO-mediated hyper- or hypo-activation of RAC1, respectively, and we observe a striking correlation between RAC1 activation levels and the head size of the affected individuals. In addition, truncations in TRIO GEFD1 in the vertebrate model X. tropicalis induce defects that are concordant with the human phenotype. This work demonstrates distinct clinical and molecular disorders clustering in the GEFD1 and seventh spectrin repeat domains and highlights the importance of tight control of TRIO-RAC1 signaling in neuronal development.<br/

Prevalence and architecture of de novo mutations in developmental disorders.

The genomes of individuals with severe, undiagnosed developmental disorders are enriched in damaging de novo mutations (DNMs) in developmentally important genes. Here we have sequenced the exomes of 4,293 families containing individuals with developmental disorders, and meta-analysed these data with data from another 3,287 individuals with similar disorders. We show that the most important factors influencing the diagnostic yield of DNMs are the sex of the affected individual, the relatedness of their parents, whether close relatives are affected and the parental ages. We identified 94 genes enriched in damaging DNMs, including 14 that previously lacked compelling evidence of involvement in developmental disorders. We have also characterized the phenotypic diversity among these disorders. We estimate that 42% of our cohort carry pathogenic DNMs in coding sequences; approximately half of these DNMs disrupt gene function and the remainder result in altered protein function. We estimate that developmental disorders caused by DNMs have an average prevalence of 1 in 213 to 1 in 448 births, depending on parental age. Given current global demographics, this equates to almost 400,000 children born per year

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis

Measuring performance on the Healthcare Access and Quality Index for 195 countries and territories and selected subnational locations: A systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

Background: A key component of achieving universal health coverage is ensuring that all populations have access to quality health care. Examining where gains have occurred or progress has faltered across and within countries is crucial to guiding decisions and strategies for future improvement. We used the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 (GBD 2016) to assess personal health-care access and quality with the Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) Index for 195 countries and territories, as well as subnational locations in seven countries, from 1990 to 2016. Methods Drawing from established methods and updated estimates from GBD 2016, we used 32 causes from which death should not occur in the presence of effective care to approximate personal health-care access and quality by location and over time. To better isolate potential effects of personal health-care access and quality from underlying risk factor patterns, we risk-standardised cause-specific deaths due to non-cancers by location-year, replacing the local joint exposure of environmental and behavioural risks with the global level of exposure. Supported by the expansion of cancer registry data in GBD 2016, we used mortality-to-incidence ratios for cancers instead of risk-standardised death rates to provide a stronger signal of the effects of personal health care and access on cancer survival. We transformed each cause to a scale of 0-100, with 0 as the first percentile (worst) observed between 1990 and 2016, and 100 as the 99th percentile (best); we set these thresholds at the country level, and then applied them to subnational locations. We applied a principal components analysis to construct the HAQ Index using all scaled cause values, providing an overall score of 0-100 of personal health-care access and quality by location over time. We then compared HAQ Index levels and trends by quintiles on the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a summary measure of overall development. As derived from the broader GBD study and other data sources, we examined relationships between national HAQ Index scores and potential correlates of performance, such as total health spending per capita. Findings In 2016, HAQ Index performance spanned from a high of 97\ub71 (95% UI 95\ub78-98\ub71) in Iceland, followed by 96\ub76 (94\ub79-97\ub79) in Norway and 96\ub71 (94\ub75-97\ub73) in the Netherlands, to values as low as 18\ub76 (13\ub71-24\ub74) in the Central African Republic, 19\ub70 (14\ub73-23\ub77) in Somalia, and 23\ub74 (20\ub72-26\ub78) in Guinea-Bissau. The pace of progress achieved between 1990 and 2016 varied, with markedly faster improvements occurring between 2000 and 2016 for many countries in sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia, whereas several countries in Latin America and elsewhere saw progress stagnate after experiencing considerable advances in the HAQ Index between 1990 and 2000. Striking subnational disparities emerged in personal health-care access and quality, with China and India having particularly large gaps between locations with the highest and lowest scores in 2016. In China, performance ranged from 91\ub75 (89\ub71-93\ub76) in Beijing to 48\ub70 (43\ub74-53\ub72) in Tibet (a 43\ub75-point difference), while India saw a 30\ub78-point disparity, from 64\ub78 (59\ub76-68\ub78) in Goa to 34\ub70 (30\ub73-38\ub71) in Assam. Japan recorded the smallest range in subnational HAQ performance in 2016 (a 4\ub78-point difference), whereas differences between subnational locations with the highest and lowest HAQ Index values were more than two times as high for the USA and three times as high for England. State-level gaps in the HAQ Index in Mexico somewhat narrowed from 1990 to 2016 (from a 20\ub79-point to 17\ub70-point difference), whereas in Brazil, disparities slightly increased across states during this time (a 17\ub72-point to 20\ub74-point difference). Performance on the HAQ Index showed strong linkages to overall development, with high and high-middle SDI countries generally having higher scores and faster gains for non-communicable diseases. Nonetheless, countries across the development spectrum saw substantial gains in some key health service areas from 2000 to 2016, most notably vaccine-preventable diseases. Overall, national performance on the HAQ Index was positively associated with higher levels of total health spending per capita, as well as health systems inputs, but these relationships were quite heterogeneous, particularly among low-to-middle SDI countries. Interpretation GBD 2016 provides a more detailed understanding of past success and current challenges in improving personal health-care access and quality worldwide. Despite substantial gains since 2000, many low-SDI and middle- SDI countries face considerable challenges unless heightened policy action and investments focus on advancing access to and quality of health care across key health services, especially non-communicable diseases. Stagnating or minimal improvements experienced by several low-middle to high-middle SDI countries could reflect the complexities of re-orienting both primary and secondary health-care services beyond the more limited foci of the Millennium Development Goals. Alongside initiatives to strengthen public health programmes, the pursuit of universal health coverage hinges upon improving both access and quality worldwide, and thus requires adopting a more comprehensive view-and subsequent provision-of quality health care for all populations

Measuring performance on the Healthcare Access and Quality Index for 195 countries and territories and selected subnational locations: A systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. Background A key component of achieving universal health coverage is ensuring that all populations have access to quality health care. Examining where gains have occurred or progress has faltered across and within countries is crucial to guiding decisions and strategies for future improvement. We used the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 (GBD 2016) to assess personal health-care access and quality with the Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) Index for 195 countries and territories, as well as subnational locations in seven countries, from 1990 to 2016. Methods Drawing from established methods and updated estimates from GBD 2016, we used 32 causes from which death should not occur in the presence of effective care to approximate personal health-care access and quality by location and over time. To better isolate potential effects of personal health-care access and quality from underlying risk factor patterns, we risk-standardised cause-specific deaths due to non-cancers by location-year, replacing the local joint exposure of environmental and behavioural risks with the global level of exposure. Supported by the expansion of cancer registry data in GBD 2016, we used mortality-to-incidence ratios for cancers instead of risk-standardised death rates to provide a stronger signal of the effects of personal health care and access on cancer survival. We transformed each cause to a scale of 0-100, with 0 as the first percentile (worst) observed between 1990 and 2016, and 100 as the 99th percentile (best); we set these thresholds at the country level, and then applied them to subnational locations. We applied a principal components analysis to construct the HAQ Index using all scaled cause values, providing an overall score of 0-100 of personal health-care access and quality by location over time. We then compared HAQ Index levels and trends by quintiles on the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a summary measure of overall development. As derived from the broader GBD study and other data sources, we examined relationships between national HAQ Index scores and potential correlates of performance, such as total health spending per capita. Findings In 2016, HAQ Index performance spanned from a high of 97·1 (95% UI 95·8-98·1) in Iceland, followed by 96·6 (94·9-97·9) in Norway and 96·1 (94·5-97·3) in the Netherlands, to values as low as 18·6 (13·1-24·4) in the Central African Republic, 19·0 (14·3-23·7) in Somalia, and 23·4 (20·2-26·8) in Guinea-Bissau. The pace of progress achieved between 1990 and 2016 varied, with markedly faster improvements occurring between 2000 and 2016 for many countries in sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia, whereas several countries in Latin America and elsewhere saw progress stagnate after experiencing considerable advances in the HAQ Index between 1990 and 2000. Striking subnational disparities emerged in personal health-care access and quality, with China and India having particularly large gaps between locations with the highest and lowest scores in 2016. In China, performance ranged from 91·5 (89·1-93·6) in Beijing to 48·0 (43·4-53·2) in Tibet (a 43·5-point difference), while India saw a 30·8-point disparity, from 64·8 (59·6-68·8) in Goa to 34·0 (30·3-38·1) in Assam. Japan recorded the smallest range in subnational HAQ performance in 2016 (a 4·8-point difference), whereas differences between subnational locations with the highest and lowest HAQ Index values were more than two times as high for the USA and three times as high for England. State-level gaps in the HAQ Index in Mexico somewhat narrowed from 1990 to 2016 (from a 20·9-point to 17·0-point difference), whereas in Brazil, disparities slightly increased across states during this time (a 17·2-point to 20·4-point difference). Performance on the HAQ Index showed strong linkages to overall development, with high and high-middle SDI countries generally having higher scores and faster gains for non-communicable diseases. Nonetheless, countries across the development spectrum saw substantial gains in some key health service areas from 2000 to 2016, most notably vaccine-preventable diseases. Overall, national performance on the HAQ Index was positively associated with higher levels of total health spending per capita, as well as health systems inputs, but these relationships were quite heterogeneous, particularly among low-to-middle SDI countries. Interpretation GBD 2016 provides a more detailed understanding of past success and current challenges in improving personal health-care access and quality worldwide. Despite substantial gains since 2000, many low-SDI and middle- SDI countries face considerable challenges unless heightened policy action and investments focus on advancing access to and quality of health care across key health services, especially non-communicable diseases. Stagnating or minimal improvements experienced by several low-middle to high-middle SDI countries could reflect the complexities of re-orienting both primary and secondary health-care services beyond the more limited foci of the Millennium Development Goals. Alongside initiatives to strengthen public health programmes, the pursuit of universal health coverage hinges upon improving both access and quality worldwide, and thus requires adopting a more comprehensive view - and subsequent provision - of quality health care for all populations