Cost-aware design and simulation of electrical energy systems

One fundamental dimension in the design of an electrical energy system (EES) is the economic analysis of the possible design alternatives, in order to ensure not just the maximization of the energy output but also the return on the investment and the possible profits. Since the energy output and the economic figures of merit are intertwined, for an accurate analysis it is necessary to analyze these two aspects of the problem concurrently, in order to define effective energy management policies. This paper achieves that objective by tracking and measuring the energy efficiency and the cost effectiveness in a single modular framework. The two aspects are modeled separately, through the definition of dedicated simulation layers governed by dedicated virtual buses that elaborate and manage the information and energy flows. Both layers are simulated concurrently within the same simulation infrastructure based on SystemC-AMS, so as to recreate at runtime the mutual influence of the two aspects, while allowing the use of different discrete time scales for the two layers. Thanks to the tight coupling provided by the single simulation engine, our method enables a quick estimation of various cost metrics (net costs, annualized costs, and profits) of any configuration of EES under design, via an informed exploration of the alternatives. To prove the effectiveness of this approach, we apply the proposed strategy to two EES case studies, we explored various management strategies and the presence of different types and numbers of power sources and energy storage devices in the EES. The analysis proved to allow the identification of the optimal profitable solutions, thereby improving the standard design and simulation flow of EES

Parallel Multithread Analysis of Extremely Large Simulation Traces

With the explosion in the size of off-the-shelf integrated circuits and the advent of novel techniques related to failure modes, commercial Automatic Test Pattern Generator and fault simulation engines are often insufficient to measure the coverage of particular metrics. Consequently, a general working framework consists of storing simulation traces during the analysis phase and collecting test statistics from post-processing. Unfortunately, typical simulation traces can be hundreds of gigabytes long, and their analysis can require several days, even on large and powerful computational servers. In this paper, we propose a set of strategies to mitigate the evaluation time and the memory needed to analyze huge dump files stored in the standard Value Change Dump format. We concentrate on burn-in-related metrics that current commercial fault simulators and Automatic Test Pattern Generators cannot evaluate. We show how to divide the analysis process into several concurrent pipeline stages. We revise the logic process of each stage and all principal intermediate data structures, to adopt smart parallelization with very low contention and extremely low overhead. We exploit several low-level optimizations from modern programming techniques to reduce computation time and balance the different pipeline phases. We analyze simulation traces up to almost 250 GBytes computing different testing metrics. Overall, we can keep under control the memory usage, and we show time improvements of over two orders of magnitude compared to previously adopted state-of-the-art tools

Deep lobe parotidectomy—why, when, and how?

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A pilot study exploring novel contexts for out-of-office blood pressure measurement

IntroductionOut-of-office blood pressure (BP) monitoring is increasingly valuable in the diagnosis and management of hypertension. With advances in wearable BP technologies, the ability to gain insight into BP outside of traditional centers of care has expanded greatly.MethodsHere we explore the usability of a novel, wrist-worn BP cuff monitor for out-of-office data collection with participants following digital cues rather than in-person instruction. Transmitted measurements were used to evaluate BP variation with the time of day and day of week, BP variation with mood, and orthostatic measurements.ResultsFifty participants, with a mean age of 44.5 years, were enrolled and received the BP monitor. 82% of the participants transmitted data via the smartphone application, and the median wear time of the device during the 4-week study was 11 days (IQR 8-17).DiscussionThis prospective digital pilot study illustrates the usability of wearable oscillometric BP technology combined with digital cues via a smartphone application to obtain complex out-of-office BP measurements, including orthostatic vital signs and BP associated with emotion. 25 out of 32 participants who attempted orthostatic vital signs based on in-app instruction were able to do so correctly, while 24 participants transmitted BP readings associated with emotion, with a significant difference in BP noted between calm and stressed emotional states

Nonlinear deterministic equations in biological evolution

We review models of biological evolution in which the population frequency changes deterministically with time. If the population is self-replicating, although the equations for simple prototypes can be linearised, nonlinear equations arise in many complex situations. For sexual populations, even in the simplest setting, the equations are necessarily nonlinear due to the mixing of the parental genetic material. The solutions of such nonlinear equations display interesting features such as multiple equilibria and phase transitions. We mainly discuss those models for which an analytical understanding of such nonlinear equations is available.Comment: Invited review for J. Nonlin. Math. Phy

Prognostic role of intraparotid lymph node metastasis in primary parotid cancer : Systematic review

Background The prognostic importance of intraparotid lymph node metastasis (P+) in patients with primary parotid gland carcinoma is unclear. Methods Nineteen retrospective and noncomparative cohort studies, published between 1992 and 2020, met the inclusion criteria and included 2202 patients for this systematic review. Results The pooled prevalence of the P in adult patients in the unselected studies was 24.10% (95% confidence interval = 17.95-30.25). The number of P+ lymph nodes per patient was counted in only three studies and ranged from 1 to 11. The 5-year recurrence-free survival rate based on Kaplan-Meier analysis varied from 83% to 88% in P- patients compared to 36% to 54% in P+ patients. The average hazard ratio for tumor recurrence in patients with P+ compared to P- was 2.67 +/- 0.58. Conclusions P+ is an independent negative prognostic factor in primary parotid gland cancer and should be included into the treatment planning.Peer reviewe

Hepatitis B Virus Variants with Multiple Insertions and/or Deletions in the X Open Reading Frame 3 ' End: Common Members of Viral Quasispecies in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients

Hepatitis B virus; Insertions; Next-generation sequencingVirus de l'hepatitis B; Insercions; Seqüenciació de nova generacióVirus de la hepatitis B; Inserciones; Secuenciación de próxima generaciónDeletions in the 3′ end region of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) X open reading frame (HBX) may affect the core promoter (Cp) and have been frequently associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of variants with deletions and/or insertions (Indels) in this region in the quasispecies of 50 chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients without HCC. We identified 103 different Indels in 47 (94%) patients, in a median of 3.4% of their reads (IQR, 1.3–8.4%), and 25% (IQR, 13.1–40.7%) of unique sequences identified in each quasispecies (haplotypes). Of those Indels, 101 (98.1%) caused 44 different altered stop codons, the most commonly observed were at positions 128, 129, 135, and 362 (putative position). Moreover, 39 (37.9%) Indels altered the TATA-like box (TA) sequences of Cp; the most commonly observed caused TA2 + TA3 fusion, creating a new putative canonical TATA box. Four (8%) patients developed negative clinical outcomes after a median follow-up of 9.4 (8.7–12) years. In conclusion, we observed variants with Indels in the HBX 3′ end in the vast majority of our CHB patients, some of them encoding alternative versions of HBx with potential functional roles, and/or alterations in the regulation of transcription.This research was funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), grant number PI18/01436; PI19/00301; and by the Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial (CDTI) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Business, grant number IDI-20200297. The APC was funded by the grant PI18/01436

Standardized Hepatitis B Virus RNA Quantification in Untreated and Treated Chronic Patients: a Promising Marker of Infection Follow-Up.

The measurement and interpretation of HBV DNA and RNA levels in HBV infected patients treated with antiviral therapy supports the objective of HBV disease management. Here, we quantified circulating HBV RNA through a standardized and sensitive assay in follow-up samples from both naive and treated patients as a marker of infection evolution. HBV DNA (HBV DNA for use in Cobas 6800/8800 Automated Roche Molecular Systems), RNA (Roche HBV RNA Investigational Assay for use in the Cobas 6800/8800; Roche), HBeAg and HBsAg (Elycsys HBsAg chemiluminescence immunoassay by Cobas 8000; Roche), and core-related antigen (Lumipulse G chemiluminescence assay; Fujirebio) levels were measured in cohorts of untreated or nucleos(t)ide treated, HBV-infected subjects in an outpatient hospital setting. HBV DNA levels in untreated people were 3.6 log10 higher than corresponding RNA levels and were stable over 5 years of observation. While only five of 52 treated patients had DNA levels below the lower limit of quantification (10 IU/mL) at the end of follow-up, 13 had HBV RNA levels persistently above this limit, including eight with undetectable DNA. In samples with undetectable core-related antigen we observed a median HBsAg titer 2.7-fold higher than in samples with undetectable RNA (adjusted P = 0.012). Detectable HBV RNA with undetectable HBV DNA was a negative predictor of HBsAg decrease to a level ≤100 IU/mL (P = 0.03). In naive patients the difference between HBV DNA and RNA was higher than previously reported. HBV RNA rapidly decreased during treatment. However, in some cases, it was detectable even after years of effective therapy, being a negative predictor of HBsAg decrease. The investigational RNA assay for use on the Cobas 6800/8800 instruments is a sensitive and standardized method that could be applied in general management of HBV infection. IMPORTANCE This study focused on the quantification of circulating HBV RNA by using a standardized and sensitive assay. Thanks to this system we observed a higher difference between circulating HBV DNA and RNA than previously reported. In treated patients, HBV RNA decreased together with DNA, although some patients presented detectable levels even after years of successful antiviral treatment, suggesting a persistent viral transcription. Of note, the detection of viral RNA when HBV DNA is undetectable was a negative predictor of HBsAg decrease to a level ≤100 IU/mL. This assay could be extremely helpful in HBV patients management to study viral transcription and to identify those treated patients that may achieve sustained viral suppression

Is There A Role for Limited Parotid Resections for Primary Malignant Parotid Tumors?

Background: Lateral or total parotidectomy are the standard surgical treatmentsfor malignant parotid tumors. However, some authors have proposed a more limited procedure.(2) Methods: We performed a review of the literature on this topic. Studies were included that metthe following criteria: malignant parotid tumors, information about the extent of surgical resection,treated with less than a complete lateral lobectomy, and information on local control and/or survival.Nine articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. (3) Results: Eight of the nine series reported favorableresults for the more limited approaches. Most used them for small, mobile, low-grade cancers inthe lateral parotid lobe. Most authors have used a limited partial lateral lobectomy for a presumedbenign lesion. The remaining study analyzed pediatric patients treated with enucleation with poorlocal control. (4) Conclusions: There is weak evidence for recommending less extensive proceduresthan a lateral parotid lobectomy. In the unique case of a partial lateral parotidectomy performed fora tumor initially thought to be benign but pathologically proved to be malignant, close follow-upcan be recommended for low grade T1 that has been excised with free margins and does not haveadverse prognostic factors