Cost calculation of ancillary services including system security, automatic generation control and reactive power

The recent changes in the electric utility industry due to the deregulation of the industry have created an immense need for the evaluation of all the services provided. The electric utility companies all across the United States have been providing these services for a long period of time. However, under the light of current deregulation, each one of these services have to be identified and evaluated separately. This thesis discusses three of these services, including security of the power system operation (Spinning and operating reserves), Automatic Generation Control (Load Following) and reactive power support. These three services are vital in operation of any power system. There is a lot of research currently being done to evaluate the cost of providing these services. The thesis makes an attempt to recognize the importance of these services and uses the system dispatch and unit commitment theory and principles to evaluate the cost of each of the above mentioned services

"ChatGPT, a Friend or Foe for Education?" Analyzing the User's Perspectives on the Latest AI Chatbot Via Reddit

Latest developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and big data gave rise to Artificial Intelligent agents like Open AI's ChatGPT, which has recently become the fastest growing application since Facebook and WhatsApp. ChatGPT has demonstrated its ability to impact students' classroom learning experience and exam outcomes. However, there is evidence that ChatGPT provides biased and erroneous information, yet students use ChatGPT in academic tasks. Therefore, an accurate understanding of ChatGPT user perception is crucial. This study has analyzed 247 Reddit top posts related to the educational use of ChatGPT from a prominent subreddit called "ChatGPT" for user perception analysis. Descriptive statistics, sentiment analysis using NLP techniques, and LDA topic modeling were used for analysis to gather a contextual understanding of the data. Results show that the majority of the users took a neutral viewpoint. However, there was more positive perception than negative regarding the usefulness of ChatGPT in education

Frequency of Depression Among Patients With Parkinson Disease

Background and Objective: Parkinson\u27s disease is a degenerative neurological condition that affects a large number of individuals worldwide. One of the common non-motor symptoms associated with this disease is depression, which can pose challenges for both patients and their caregivers. The main objective of this research was to determine the frequency of depression among patients with Parkinson disease. Methods:This was a cross-sectional study that was conducted in Karachi, Pakistan, between March 26, 2022, and September 30, 2022. Male and female patients diagnosed with Parkinson\u27s disease according to the UK Parkinson\u27s Disease Society Brain Bank Clinical Diagnostic Criteria, who were receiving either outpatient or inpatient care at two medical facilities, Neuro Clinic and Falij care center, Karachi and Darul Sehat Hospital, Karachi, were evaluated for depression using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. The collected data were analyzed statistically, using the SPSS version. Results:According to the results of the study, 100 Parkinson\u27s disease patients were included, out of which 81 individuals were identified as experiencing depression while the rest showed no signs of depression. Among those suffering from depression, 35 individuals were found to have mild depression, 52 had moderate depression, and 13 individuals had severe depression. Conclusion:The study concluded that depression is a common non-motor symptom among Parkinson\u27s disease patients, with a substantial number of patients having mild to moderate depression

Karachi cancer registry (KCR): Age-standardized incidence rate by age-group and gender in a mega city of Pakistan

Objectives: To estimate the cancer incidence by age group and gender for the population of Karachi Division by analyzing the Karachi Cancer Registry data of 2017-19.Settings: The population of Karachi division is 16.1 million according to national census 2017. \u27Karachi Cancer Registry\u27 which is a part of \u27National Cancer Registry\u27 is collecting data from eight major hospitals in Karachi since 2017. For outcome measures, cancer counts and the age standardized incidence rates (ASIR) per 100,000 population were computed for age groups (0-14, 15-19 and ≥20 years), in both genders and all cancer site/type.Methods: The population denominators were based on the population of Karachi division estimated at 16.1 million in the population census, 2017. Counts and age-standardized incidence rates (ASIR) were calculated for each of the three age categories.Results: From Jan 2017 till Dec 2019 a total of 33,309 malignant cases were recorded in KCR database comprising 17,490 (52.5%) females and 15,819 (47.5%) males. ASIRs in age groups 0-14, 15-19 and ≥ 20 years, among female were 11.5, 2.4 and 223.6 and in males were 17.6, 3.2 and 216.7 respectively. The commonest diagnosis in children, adolescent and adults were (1) among females: children; bone (3.12), leukemia (2.09) brain/CNS (1.26); in adolescents: bone (0.78), brain/CNS (0.27), connective and soft tissue (0.11), in adults: breast cancer (76.07), oral cancer (16.68) and ovary (10.89) respectively, and (2) among males: children; bone (4.56), leukemia (2.79) and brain/CNS (1.88); in adolescent; bone (1.19), brain/CNS (0.31) and leukemia (0.21) and in adults: oral cancer (42.83), liver (16.10) and bone (13.37) respectively.Conclusion: Oral Cancer, a largely preventable cancer is the leading cancer in Karachi adult males while in female adults Breast Cancer is the leading cancer followed by Oral Cancer. In children and adolescents Bone, Leukemia and Brain/CNS malignancies are most common.

Correlation of prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time with serum immunoglobulin and M-band in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients

Background: Multiple myeloma is the second most frequent malignancy which constitute 13% of hematologic cancers. Thrombotic and hemorrhagic complications have been frequently observed in multiple myeloma patients. Methods: The study was conducted in the department of pathology, Government medical college Srinagar. A total of fifty (50) patients were recruited for the study. The patients were advised coagulation profile and complete myeloma profile. Results: Our findings indicate that prolonged PT is associated with high serum IgG levels. A mild to moderate correlation was seen with kappa-free light chains and an inverse correlation was seen between PT and lmbda-free light chains. Conclusions: Screening of multiple myeloma for hemostatic abnormalities at the diagnosis should improve prognosis in such cases

Strategies of Daily Living Rehabilitative Activities for Post Stroke Patients at Minia University Hospital

Back ground: Stroke is a leading cause of disability. Rehabilitation aims to hasten and maximize recovery from stroke by treating the disabilities caused by the stroke. Therefore, the aim of this study determine the post stroke patients' knowledge and practices in relation to disease and activities of daily living before the implementation of stroke rehabilitation and examine the effect of stroke rehabilitation on stroke patients' knowledge and practices in relation to disease and activities of daily living strategies. To fulfill the aim of these study three research hypotheses were formulated; Quasi-experimental research design was utilized to fulfill the aim of this study. The study sample included 60 male and female adult patients with stroke they were allocated randomly into two groups, study and control (30 patients each) the sitting Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Department at Minia University Hospital. Four tools were utilized for data collection; socio-demographic and medical data sheet, pre/post knowledge questionnaire interview schedule, Barthel index scale, Ashworth scale and Construction patient teaching booklet about stroke and activities of daily living performance. Before, immediate post test, after two month. Results of the study documented a significant improvement in knowledge and practices post strategies in study group in addition to reaching of an optimum level of independence for daily activities living and improvement degree of spasticity in study group more than control group, . In conclusion, education of stroke patient is necessary to achieve an optimum level of functioning. Replication of this study on larger probability sample is highly recommended. Key words: Activities of Daily Living Strategies - Stroke- Patient's out come

Understanding Male Infertility for Promising ART

Infertility is a serious problem of not being able to conceive despite regular intercourse for more than a year. Natural conception is seen to be achieved in 80%–85% of couples. About 15% of couples suffer infertility with male factor contributing to almost 50% of cases. Paradoxically, on traditional assessment, the underlying etiology of male contribution towards infertility remains unrecognized in 30% of the patients and thereby grouped as idiopathic. Diagnostics of male infertility cannot therefore be limited to usual semen analysis only. The spectrum of the recent research encourages the experts in the field to approach the Clinical, Molecular and cytogenetic shades associated with the problem besides secondary factors like life style and environment. Clinical assessment sums the medical history and physical examination of the affected individual. Molecular and cytogenetic analysis help gain new insights in understanding the problem and thereby an advantage for a successful assisted reproductive treatment (ART). Given the cost and burden ART puts in and prior to application of any invasive techniques, understanding precisely the etiology associated with male infertility is essential for the fertility specialist to circumvent inefficient or any unproductive steps in the fertilization process besides helping in counseling patients on their chance of success with the use of reproductive technology

Boric acid as a potential substitute for conventional ethylene antagonists in mitigating postharvest flower senescence of Digitalis purpurea

In the floriculture industry, postharvest senescence is one of the glaring challenges restricting the marketability of cut flowers. Hence, maintaining good quality of cut flowers and extending flower longevity are considered to be the most crucial factors in the cut flower trade. Therefore, to gain better understanding of the specific physiological and biochemical aspects of petal senescence we conducted an experiment to evaluate the efficacy of Boric acid (BA) on flower longevity in excised flowers of Digitalis purpurea L. Isolated buds were harvested at stage IV i.e, 1 day before anthesis and divided into 5 sets, with one set of buds held in distilled water (DW) designated as control. The other 4 sets were supplemented with 24h pulse treatment of different concentrations of BA viz., 50, 100, 150 and 200 μM. The application of BA at 150 μM concentration was found to be most effective in increasing flower longevity by about 4 days as compared to control. The enhanced longevity coincided with higher values of floral diameter, fresh mass, dry mass and solution uptake. Flowers with delayed senescence also retained higher soluble proteins, sugars and phenols in addition to lower bacterial density compared to control. Moreover, this ameliorated flower longevity has also been shown to be positively associated with increased activities of various antioxidant enzymes viz., superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and reduced activity of lipoxygenase (LOX)

Polyamines accentuate vase life by augmenting antioxidant system in cut spikes of Consolida ajacis (L.) Schur.

Postharvest senescence is one of the crucial challenges limiting the marketability of cut flowers. Pertinently, recent investigations implicate extensive role of polyamines in regulation of flower senescence. The present study was envisaged to test the efficacy of poylamines in preserving the postharvest quality of Consolida ajacis (C. ajacis) cut spikes. The cut spikes of C. ajacis were subjected to various treatments of polyamines viz, 4 mM Spermine (SPM), 6mM Putrescine (PUT) and 6 mM Spermidine (SPD). A separate set of spikes held in distilled water represented the control. Our results authenticate a significant improvement in vase life of cut spikes of C. ajacis as compared to control. The increment in vase life was commensurate with the higher concentration of sugars, proteins and phenols in the tepal tissues. Polyamines amplified the activity of various antioxidant enzymes viz, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) to overcome the deleterious effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The membrane outflow of tepal tissues was profoundly reduced due to attenuated lipoxygenase (LOX) activity. These findings reveal conspicuous role of polyamines particularly SPM in modulation of flower senescence in cut spikes of C. ajacis

Global patterns in endemicity and vulnerability of soil fungi

Fungi are highly diverse organisms, which provide multiple ecosystem services. However, compared with charismatic animals and plants, the distribution patterns and conservation needs of fungi have been little explored. Here, we examined endemicity patterns, global change vulnerability and conservation priority areas for functional groups of soil fungi based on six global surveys using a high-resolution, long-read metabarcoding approach. We found that the endemicity of all fungi and most functional groups peaks in tropical habitats, including Amazonia, Yucatan, West-Central Africa, Sri Lanka, and New Caledonia, with a negligible island effect compared with plants and animals. We also found that fungi are predominantly vulnerable to drought, heat and land-cover change, particularly in dry tropical regions with high human population density. Fungal conservation areas of highest priority include herbaceous wetlands, tropical forests, and woodlands. We stress that more attention should be focused on the conservation of fungi, especially root symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal fungi in tropical regions as well as unicellular early-diverging groups and macrofungi in general. Given the low overlap between the endemicity of fungi and macroorganisms, but high conservation needs in both groups, detailed analyses on distribution and conservation requirements are warranted for other microorganisms and soil organisms