Available transfer capability calculation with post-contingency generation rescheduling/load curtailment

The available transfer capability (ATC) is an important index indicating the remaining transfer capability in the physical transmission network for further commercial activity above existing commitments. In this paper, ATC mathematical model considering post-contingency generation rescheduling and load curtailment is first formulated. Benders decomposition method is then used to partition the ATC model above into a base case master problem and a series of independent subproblems relevant to various contingencies. Finally, an improved parallel solution scheme is employed to improve the convergence. Numerical results on a 4-bus test system show clearly the effectiveness of the presented method and necessity of considering post-contingency generation rescheduling and load curtailment in calculating ATC.published_or_final_versio

URGENSI PENDIDIKAN BERKUALITAS BAGI PEKERJA ANAK

ABSTRAKAnak memiliki peran strategis penentu masa depan bangsa. Anak harus di lindungi segala kepentingannya, baik fisik, psikis dan intelektualnya serta hak-hak lainnya beserta harkat dan martabatnya. Namun bagi pekerja anak hak-haknya kurang sempurna didapatkan, di mana prestasi anak lemah, kemudian kecakapan sosial dan kepribadiannya kurang bisa dikembangkan. Padahal pendidikan sesungguhnya bertujuan membentuk manusia cerdas intelektualnya, serta mampu mengembangkan spiritualnya. Berkaitan dengan hal tersebut urgensi pendidikan berkualitas bagi pekerja anak sangat penting untuk dilakukan.  Melalui kegiatan pengabdian pada masyarakat yang memberikan penjelasan dan pemahaman pentingnya pendidikan berkualitas bagi pekerja anak.  Teknik yang digunakan dalam kegiatan ini meliputi beberapa tahapan diantaranya: persiapan dilakukan dengan koordinasi kepada mitra pengabdian pada masyarakat. Selanjutnya pelaksanaan yang berisi pelatihan terkait penjelasan tentang konsep pendidikan secara umum, penjelasan pentingnya pendidikan berkualitas bagi pekerja anak kemudian  sesi interaktif. Selanjutnya evaluasi dan pelaporan. Adapun hasil dari kegiatan pengabdian masyarakat bahwa peserta mendapatkan pemahaman yang kompleks tentang urgensi pendidikan berkualitas bagi pekerja anak dengan mengenal pekerja anak, identifikasi permasalahan belajar pekerja anak, serta langkah yang dapat dilakukan dalam memberikan pendidikan berkualitas bagi pekerja anak. Kata kunci: urgensi; pendidikan berkualitas; pekerja anak ABSTRACTChildren have a strategic role in determining the future of the nation. Children must have all their interests protected, both physical, psychological and intellectual, as well as other rights along with their honor and dignity. However, for child workers, their rights are less than perfect, where children's performance is weak, their social skills and personality cannot be developed. In fact, education actually aims to form people who are intellectually intelligent and able to develop spiritually. In this regard, the urgency of quality education for child workers is very important. The techniques used in this activity include several stages including: preparation is carried out in coordination with community service partners. Next, the implementation contained training related to an explanation of general education concepts, an explanation of the importance of quality education for child workers and then an interactive session. Next is evaluation and reporting. The results of community service activities show that participants gain a complex understanding of the urgency of quality education for child workers by getting to know child workers, identifying learning problems for child workers, as well as steps that can be taken to provide quality education for child workers. Keywords: urgency; quality education; child labo

Penyusunan Proposal Penelitian Tindakan Kelas (PTK) Bagi Guru-Guru MTs dan MA Di Kecamatan Woja Kabupaten Dompu

Abstrak: Tujuan kegiatan pengabdian ini adalah untuk meningkatkan pengetahuan dan keterampilan guru-guru MA dan MTs Swasta di Kecamatan Woja Kabupaten Dompu dalam membuat proposal penelitian tindakan kelas (PTK). Untuk mencapai tujuan ini, kegiatan ini menggunakan metode workshop melalui cara pelatihan dan pendampingan. Hasilnya menunjukkan bahwa guru-guru mampu mengikuti   rangkaian kegiatan dan mampu membuat proposal PTK. Kegiatan disambut baik oleh guru-guru dan mereka mengharapkan agar kegiatan serupa dapat dilakukan secara periodik. Kata Kunci: penyusunan proposal, penelitian tindakan kela

STUDY OF PALLADIUM ANALYTE BINARY-SYSTEM IN THE GRAPHITE-FURNACE BY SURFACE ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES

The mechanisms of the stabilization of Pb, Zn and As by a palladium modifier were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction spectrometry and X-ray photoelectron spectrometry. All three elements were found to form an intermetallic solid solution with excess of Pd. The concentration ratio of Pd to analyte varies with the surface depth of Pd-analyte species. Chemical shifts measured in the binding energy of Pd and analyte are insignificant. The monophase of the Pd lattice in which some Pd atoms are displaced by the analyte atoms has been identified as being dominant. It is suggested that the reduced Pd and analyte form a stable intermetallic solid solution during the ashing stage and the analyte atoms remain in the Pd lattice until the temperature is high enough to break down the lattice

Adsorption and reduction of palladium (Pd2+) by Bacillus licheniformis R08

Preliminary study on the mechanism of Pd2+ biosorption by resting cells of Bacillus licheniformis R08 biomass has been carried out by means of chemical kinetics and AAS, TEM, XRD and FTIR methods. The results showed that at 30degreesC and PH 3.5, when dry R08 biomass powder (800 mg/L) was mixed with Pd2+ (100 mg/L) for 45 min, the rate constant k of biosorption of Pd2+ attained a maximum of 5.97 x 10(-2) min(-1) and the half life period of the reaction reached 12 min. The part of Pd2+ adsorbed by R08 biomass was reduced to elemental, cell-bound Pd-0 at the same condition. The cell wall of R08 biomass was the primary location for accumulating Pd2+, and aldoses, i. e. hydrolysate of a part of polysaccharides on the peptidoglycan layer in the acidic medium, serving as the electron donor, in situ reduced the Pd2+ to Pd-0

The impact of IL28B genotype on the gene expression profile of patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with pegylated interferon alpha and ribavirin

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recent studies of CH-C patients have demonstrated a strong association between IL28B CC genotype and sustained virologic response (SVR) after PEG-IFN/RBV treatment. We aimed to assess whether IL28B alleles rs12979860 genotype influences gene expression in response to PEG-IFN/RBV in CH-C patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Clinical data and gene expression data were available for 56 patients treated with PEG-IFN/RBV. Whole blood was used to determine IL28B genotypes. Differential expression of 153 human genes was assessed for each treatment time point (Days: 0, 1, 7, 28, 56) and was correlated with IL28B genotype (IL28B C/C or non-C/C) over the course of the PEG-IFN/RBV treatment. Genes with statistically significant changes in their expression at each time point were used as an input for pathway analysis using KEGG Pathway Painter (KPP). Pathways were ranked based on number of gene involved separately per each study cohort.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The most striking difference between the response patterns of patients with IL28B C/C and T* genotypes during treatment, across all pathways, is a sustained pattern of treatment-induced gene expression in patients carrying IL28B C/C. In the case of IL28B T* genotype, pre-activation of genes, the lack of sustained pattern of gene expression or a combination of both were observed. This observation could potentially provide an explanation for the lower rate of SVR observed in these patients. Additionally, when the lists of IL28B genotype-specific genes which were differentially expressed in patients without SVR were compared at their baseline, IRF2 and SOCS1 genes were down-regulated regardless of patients' IL28B genotype. Furthermore, our data suggest that CH-C patients who do not have the SOCS1 gene silenced have a better chance of achieving SVR. Our observations suggest that the action of SOCS1 is independent of IL28B genotype.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>IL28B CC genotype patients with CH-C show a sustained treatment-induced gene expression profile which is not seen in non-CC genotype patients. Silencing of SOCS1 is a negative and independent predictor of SVR. These data may provide some mechanistic explanation for higher rate of SVR in IL28B CC patients who are treated with PEG-IFN/RBV.</p

Plant Food Delphinidin-3-Glucoside Significantly Inhibits Platelet Activation and Thrombosis: Novel Protective Roles against Cardiovascular Diseases

Delphinidin-3-glucoside (Dp-3-g) is one of the predominant bioactive compounds of anthocyanins in many plant foods. Although several anthocyanin compounds have been reported to be protective against cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), the direct effect of anthocyanins on platelets, the key players in atherothrombosis, has not been studied. The roles of Dp-3-g in platelet function are completely unknown. The present study investigated the effects of Dp-3-g on platelet activation and several thrombosis models in vitro and in vivo. We found that Dp-3-g significantly inhibited human and murine platelet aggregation in both platelet-rich plasma and purified platelets. It also markedly reduced thrombus growth in human and murine blood in perfusion chambers at both low and high shear rates. Using intravital microscopy, we observed that Dp-3-g decreased platelet deposition, destabilized thrombi, and prolonged the time required for vessel occlusion. Dp-3-g also significantly inhibited thrombus growth in a carotid artery thrombosis model. To elucidate the mechanisms, we examined platelet activation markers via flow cytometry and found that Dp-3-g significantly inhibited the expression of P-selectin, CD63, CD40L, which reflect platelet α- and δ-granule release, and cytosol protein secretion, respectively. We further demonstrated that Dp-3-g downregulated the expression of active integrin αIIbβ3 on platelets, and attenuated fibrinogen binding to platelets following agonist treatment, without interfering with the direct interaction between fibrinogen and integrin αIIbβ3. We found that Dp-3-g reduced phosphorylation of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase, which may contribute to the observed inhibitory effects on platelet activation. Thus, Dp-3-g significantly inhibits platelet activation and attenuates thrombus growth at both arterial and venous shear stresses, which likely contributes to its protective roles against thrombosis and CVDs

Germline BAP1 Inactivation Is Preferentially Associated with Metastatic Ocular Melanoma and Cutaneous-Ocular Melanoma Families

Background: BAP1 has been shown to be a target of both somatic alteration in high-risk ocular melanomas (OM) and germline inactivation in a few individuals from cancer-prone families. These findings suggest that constitutional BAP1 changes may predispose individuals to metastatic OM and that familial permeation of deleterious alleles could delineate a new cancer syndrome. Design: To characterize BAP1’s contribution to melanoma risk, we sequenced BAP1 in a set of 100 patients with OM, including 50 metastatic OM cases and 50 matched non-metastatic OM controls, and 200 individuals with cutaneous melanoma (CM) including 7 CM patients from CM-OM families and 193 CM patients from CM-non-OM kindreds. Results: Germline BAP1 mutations were detected in 4/50 patients with metastatic OM and 0/50 cases of non-metastatic OM (8 % vs. 0%, p = 0.059). Since 2/4 of the BAP1 carriers reported a family history of CM, we analyzed 200 additional hereditary CM patients and found mutations in 2/7 CM probands from CM-OM families and 1/193 probands from CM-non-OM kindreds (29 % vs. 0.52%, p =.003). Germline mutations co-segregated with both CM and OM phenotypes and were associated with the presence of unique nevoid melanomas and highly atypical nevoid melanoma-like melanocytic proliferations (NEMMPs). Interestingly, 7/14 germline variants identified to date reside in C-terminus suggesting that the BRCA1 binding domain i

Junctional Adhesion Molecule 2 Mediates the Interaction between Hatched Blastocyst and Luminal Epithelium: Induction by Progesterone and LIF

National Basic Research Program of China [2011CB944402]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [30930013, 31071276]Background: Junctional adhesion molecule 2 (Jam2) is a member of the JAM superfamily. JAMs are localized at intercellular contacts and participated in the assembly and maintenance of junctions, and control of cell permeability. Because Jam2 is highly expressed in the luminal epithelium on day 4 of pregnancy, this study was to determine whether Jam2 plays a role in uterine receptivity and blastocyst attachment in mouse uterus. Methodology/Principal Findings: Jam2 is highly expressed in the uterine luminal epithelium on days 3 and 4 of pregnancy. Progesterone induces Jam2 expression in ovariectomized mice, which is blocked by progesterone antagonist RU486. Jam2 expression on day 4 of pregnancy is also inhibited by RU486 treatment. Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) up-regulates Jam2 protein in isolated luminal epithelium from day 4 uterus, which is blocked by S3I-201, a cell-permeable inhibitor for Stat3 phosphorylation. Under adhesion assay, recombinant Jam2 protein increases the rate of blastocyst adhesion. Both soluble recombinant Jam2 and Jam3 can reverse this process. Conclusion: Jam2 is highly expressed in the luminal epithelium of receptive uterus and up-regulated by progesterone and LIF via tyrosine phosphorylation of Stat3. Jam2 may play a role in the interaction between hatched blastocyst and receptive uterus

Search for New Physics in e mu X Data at D0 Using Sleuth: A Quasi-Model-Independent Search Strategy for New Physics

We present a quasi-model-independent search for the physics responsible for electroweak symmetry breaking. We define final states to be studied, and construct a rule that identifies a set of relevant variables for any particular final state. A new algorithm ("Sleuth") searches for regions of excess in those variables and quantifies the significance of any detected excess. After demonstrating the sensitivity of the method, we apply it to the semi-inclusive channel e mu X collected in 108 pb^-1 of ppbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.8 TeV at the D0 experiment during 1992-1996 at the Fermilab Tevatron. We find no evidence of new high p_T physics in this sample.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figures. Submitted to Physical Review