System Restoration Navigator: A decision support tool for System Restoration

Power system restoration is well recognized as an important task to reduce the duration of a disturbance that occures in power systems. The complex tasks of emergency recovery require advanced decision support tools to enhance the resilience and, utimately, self-healing capabilities for a smart grid. A piece of software entitled “System Restoration Navigator” (SRN) has been developed based on the Generic Restoration Milestones (GRMs) concept, with the support of EPRI during the last two years. This paper addresses the development and functionality of SRN. Firstly, the basic philosophy of GRMs is introduced. Secondly, the functionality of SRN and integration of SRN with EPRI Operator Training System (OTS) are demonstrated. Thirdly, the Power and Light (PALCO) system is used to illustrate the general restoration plan and concrete restoration actions under a blackout scenario. It is believed that the development of SRN and its integration with OTS is a major step towards the on-line decision-making for system restoration.published_or_final_versio

The Healing Touch: Tools and Challenges for Smart Grid Restoration

Major electric power disturbances can be triggered by storms, heat waves, solar flares, and many other sources, but all have their roots in the mechanical, cyber, and human vulnerabilities of existing power grids. As shown in ?Figure 1, 2012 was a particularly bad year for extreme weather in the United States. An aging grid infrastructure only exacerbates this problem by creating new concerns over energy reliability and grid resiliency. A single storm can cost billions of U.S. dollars in terms of direct damage to the grid, and it can cause significant power outage-related costs, including lost productivity.published_or_final_versio

New light on the ‘Drummer of Tedworth’: conflicting narratives of witchcraft in Restoration England

This paper presents a definitive text of hitherto little-known early documents concerning ‘The Drummer of Tedworth’, a poltergeist case that occurred in 1662-3 and became famous not least due to its promotion by Joseph Glanvill in his demonological work, Saducismus Triumphatus. On the basis of these and other sources, it is shown how responses to the events at Tedworth evolved from anxious piety on the part of their victim, John Mompesson, to confident apologetic by Glanvill, before they were further affected by the emergence of articulate scepticism about the case

Malignancy rates in Crohn's disease patients with perianal fistula: A German retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND Patients with inflammatory bowel disease are at increased risk of colorectal and extra-intestinal cancer. However, the overall cancer risk in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) with perianal fistulas (PF) (CPF) and those with CD without PF (non-PF CD) is unclear. OBJECTIVE To describe the prevalence and incidence of cancer in patients with CPF and non-PF CD, and to estimate incidence rate ratio (IRR) of cancer between CPF and non-PF CD groups. METHODS A retrospective cohort study was conducted using the German InGef (Institute for Applied Health Research Berlin) research database. Patients with a CD record and PF from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2014 were identified and followed up from 1 January 2015 until the first occurrence of cancer, end of health insurance contributing data, death, or end of study period (31 December 2020). Prevalence of any type of cancer including patients with CD diagnosed with cancer in the selection period and incidence of cancer excluding patients with CD diagnosed with cancer in the selection period were calculated. RESULTS In total, 10,208 patients with CD were identified. Of 824 patients with CPF (8.1%), 67 had had a malignancy (6-year period crude malignancy prevalence 8.13% [95% confidence interval (CI) 6.36%-10.21%]), which was lower than patients with non-PF CD (19.8% [95% CI 19%-20.6%]). Incidence (per 100,000 person-years) in patients with CPF was 1184 (95% CI 879-1561) and in non-PF CD was 2365 (95% CI 2219-2519). There was no significant difference in the adjusted IRR of cancer for the CPF group compared with the non-PF CD group (0.83 [95% CI 0.62-1.10]; p = 0.219). CONCLUSION There was no significant difference in the incidence of any cancer in patients with CPF compared with non-PF CD. However, patients with CPF had a higher numerical risk of cancer than the general German population

Multifractal Analysis of Soil Surface Roughness

Soil surface roughness (SSR) is a parameter highly suited to the study of soil susceptibility to wind and water erosion. The development of a methodology for quantifying SSR is therefore instrumental to soil evaluation. We developed such a method, based on the multifractal analysis (MFA) of soil elevation measurements collected at the intersections on a 2- by 2-cm2 grid in a 200- by 200-cm2 plot. Samples were defined using the gliding box algorithm (GB), in which a box of a given size "glides" across the grid map in all possible directions. The advantage of the GB over the box counting algorithm is that it yields a greater number of large sample sizes, which usually leads to better statistical results. Standard deviation, semivariogram fractal dimension, and semivariogram crossover length were estimated for all scenarios to compare the results of SSR multifractal analysis to indices found with traditional techniques. For its high sensitivity to the spatial arrangement implicit in a data set, MFA appears to be better suited than classical indices to compare plots tilled under different management criteria. The results showed that MFA is able to effectively reflect the heterogeneity and complexity of agricultural SSR. Based on this type of analysis, two new indices have been defined to compare the multifractal spectrum characteristics of the raw data to the characteristics of a random field with the same average and SD

Replication and Characterization of Association between ABO SNPs and Red Blood Cell Traits by Meta-Analysis in Europeans.

Red blood cell (RBC) traits are routinely measured in clinical practice as important markers of health. Deviations from the physiological ranges are usually a sign of disease, although variation between healthy individuals also occurs, at least partly due to genetic factors. Recent large scale genetic studies identified loci associated with one or more of these traits; further characterization of known loci and identification of new loci is necessary to better understand their role in health and disease and to identify potential molecular mechanisms. We performed meta-analysis of Metabochip association results for six RBC traits-hemoglobin concentration (Hb), hematocrit (Hct), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and red blood cell count (RCC)-in 11 093 Europeans from seven studies of the UCL-LSHTM-Edinburgh-Bristol (UCLEB) Consortium. We identified 394 non-overlapping SNPs in five loci at genome-wide significance: 6p22.1-6p21.33 (with HFE among others), 6q23.2 (with HBS1L among others), 6q23.3 (contains no genes), 9q34.3 (only ABO gene) and 22q13.1 (with TMPRSS6 among others), replicating previous findings of association with RBC traits at these loci and extending them by imputation to 1000 Genomes. We further characterized associations between ABO SNPs and three traits: hemoglobin, hematocrit and red blood cell count, replicating them in an independent cohort. Conditional analyses indicated the independent association of each of these traits with ABO SNPs and a role for blood group O in mediating the association. The 15 most significant RBC-associated ABO SNPs were also associated with five cardiometabolic traits, with discordance in the direction of effect between groups of traits, suggesting that ABO may act through more than one mechanism to influence cardiometabolic risk.British Heart Foundation (Grant ID: RG/10/12/28456, RG/08/013/25942, RG/13/16/30528, RG/98002, RG/07/008/23674); Medical Research Council (Grant ID: G0000934, G0500877, MC_UU_12019/1, K013351); Wellcome Trust (Grant ID: 068545/Z/02, 097451/Z/11/Z); European Commission Framework Programme 6 (Grant ID: 018996); French Ministry of Research; Department of Health Policy Research Programme (England); Chief Scientist Office of Scotland (Grant ID: CZB/4/672, CZQ/1/38); National Institute on Ageing (NIA) (Grant ID: AG1764406S1, 5RO1AG13196); Pfizer plc (Unrestricted Investigator Led Grant); Diabetes UK (Clinical Research Fellowship 10/0003985); Stroke Association; National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (5RO1HL036310); Agency for Health Care Policy Research (HS06516); John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Networks on Successful Midlife Development and Socio-economic Status and Health; Swiss National Science Foundation (33CSCO-122661); GlaxoSmithKline. Faculty of Biology and Medicine of Lausanne,Switzerland.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Public Library of Science (PLOS) via http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.015691

WPA position statement on prisoner mental and public health care

As a group, prisoners have a tendency not to engage effectively with healthcare services while they are in the community because they have so many other competing priorities. Other priorities may include access to adequate finance, finding a place to sleep that is dry and safe, having sufficient food for themselves and their families, or the need to meet existing addictions. However, as a group, they present with high levels of health morbidity across domains of physical and mental health and addictions. It is widely established that screening people for healthcare conditions at the point when they are received into prison can assist in identifying a range of medical conditions. Although the process has limitations, the practice of screening is recommended internationally. After screening has taken place, healthcare services are meant to be provided in prisons to the same extent and quality as would be available in the community, yet across the world, there have often been problems in ensuring the adequacy of prison healthcare systems. Prison healthcare departments have often lagged behind regarding funding, and many countries have reported problems with the quality and consistency of delivery. Also, issues with training and continuous professional development are often cited as problematic in this area. This curriculum has been prepared to assist countries in ensuring that systems are in place for the effective training and continuous professional development of staff. It is meant to assist those who design such programs for local use

Replication and characterization of association between ABO SNPs and red blood cell traits by meta-analysis in Europeans

Published: June 9, 2016Red blood cell (RBC) traits are routinely measured in clinical practice as important markers of health. Deviations from the physiological ranges are usually a sign of disease, although variation between healthy individuals also occurs, at least partly due to genetic factors. Recent large scale genetic studies identified loci associated with one or more of these traits; further characterization of known loci and identification of new loci is necessary to better understand their role in health and disease and to identify potential molecular mechanisms. We performed meta-analysis of Metabochip association results for six RBC traits-hemoglobin concentration (Hb), hematocrit (Hct), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and red blood cell count (RCC)-in 11 093 Europeans from seven studies of the UCL-LSHTM-Edinburgh-Bristol (UCLEB) Consortium. We identified 394 non-overlapping SNPs in five loci at genome-wide significance: 6p22.1-6p21.33 (with HFE among others), 6q23.2 (with HBS1L among others), 6q23.3 (contains no genes), 9q34.3 (only ABO gene) and 22q13.1 (with TMPRSS6 among others), replicating previous findings of association with RBC traits at these loci and extending them by imputation to 1000 Genomes. We further characterized associations between ABO SNPs and three traits: hemoglobin, hematocrit and red blood cell count, replicating them in an independent cohort. Conditional analyses indicated the independent association of each of these traits with ABO SNPs and a role for blood group O in mediating the association. The 15 most significant RBC-associated ABO SNPs were also associated with five cardiometabolic traits, with discordance in the direction of effect between groups of traits, suggesting that ABO may act through more than one mechanism to influence cardiometabolic risk.Stela McLachlan, Claudia Giambartolomei, Jon White, Pimphen Charoen, Andrew Wong, Chris Finan, Jorgen Engmann, Tina Shah, Micha Hersch, Clara Podmore, Alana Cavadino, Barbara J. Jefferis, Caroline E. Dale, Elina Hypponen, Richard W. Morris, Juan P. Casas, Meena Kumari, Yoav Ben-Shlomo, Tom R. Gaunt, Fotios Drenos, Claudia Langenberg, Diana Kuh, Mika Kivimaki, Rico Rueedi, Gerard Waeber, Aroon D. Hingorani, Jacqueline F. Price, Ann P. Walker, UCLEB Consortiu

EFFECTS OF VITAMIN C SUPPLEMENTATION ON THE CHRONIC PHASE OF CHAGAS DISEASE

Introduction: In order to examine the effectiveness of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in combating the oxidative insult caused by Trypanosoma cruzi during the development of the chronic phase of Chagas disease, Swiss mice were infected intraperitoneally with 5.0 × 104 trypomastigotes of T. cruzi QM1strain. Methods: Mice were given supplements of two different doses of vitamin C for 180 days. Levels of lipid oxidation (as indicated by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances-TBARS), total peroxide, vitamin C, and reduced glutathione were measured in the plasma, TBARS, total peroxide and vitamin C were measured in the myocardium and histopathologic analysis was undertaken in heart, colon and skeletal muscle. Results: Animals that received a dose equivalent to 500 mg of vitamin C daily showed increased production of ROS in plasma and myocardium and a greater degree of inflammation and necrosis in skeletal muscles than those that received a lower dose or no vitamin C whatsoever. Conclusion: Although some research has shown the antioxidant effect of vitamin C, the results showed that animals subject to a 500 mg dose of vitamin C showed greater tissue damage in the chronic phase of Chagas disease, probably due to the paradoxical actions of the substance, which in this pathology, will have acted as a pro-oxidant or pro-inflammatory