Optimization of Load Frequency Control Gain Parameters for Stochastic Microgrid Power System

Interconnected multi-area microgrids are vital for the future of sustainable and reliable power systems. Effective load frequency control (LFC) is indispensable for ensuring their stable operation. This paper introduces a PID-based LFC system tailored for a stochastic microgrid with diverse power sources, including solar, wind, diesel engine generators, and electrical batteries. The gain parameters of the proposed microgrid PID LFC controller are optimized using genetic algorithms (GA), teaching learning-based optimization (TLBO), and cohort intelligence algorithms. Integral time-multiplied absolute error (ITAE) and integral time-squared error (ITSE) serve as the cost functions for all optimization algorithms. The study evaluated the performance of these optimized microgrid PID LFC configurations under random step load disruptions. Our primary findings reveal that the cohort intelligence-optimized PID LFC controller excels in minimizing computation time (upto 76% and 94% lesser than GA and TLBO respectively) and exhibits superior robust response characteristics. Moreover, the cohort intelligence algorithm requires fewer iterations (upto 66% and 90% lesser than GA and TLBO respectively) and enhances power supply quality within the multi-power microgrid electrical framework, specifically in terms of effective load frequency control

Is Cerebrospinal Fluid C-reactive Protein a Better Tool than Blood C-reactive Protein in Laboratory Diagnosis of Meningitis in Children?

Objectives: This study aimed to test whether C-reactive protein (CRP) measurement could differentiate between different types of meningitis and become a routine test. Methods: A prospective study included 140 children admitted to Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal, between July 2009 and June 2011. The subjects had a blood test and detailed cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis, including blood and CSF CRP levels. Results: Of those admitted, 31.1% had pyogenic meningitis (PM), 26.2% partially treated meningitis (PPM), 33% viral meningitis (VM), and 9.7% tubercular meningitis (TBM), with 26.4% controls. Organisms were isolated in 12.5% of the cases by blood culture and 25% of cases through CSF culture. Blood CRP was positive in all groups, with the highest values in PM (53.12 ± 28.88 mg/dl) and PPM (47.55 ± 34.34 mg/dl); this was not statistically significant (P = 0.08). The CSF CRP levels were significantly higher (P <0.001) in PM (45.75 ± 28.50 mg/dl) and PPM (23.11 ± 23.98 mg/dl). The sensitivity and specificity of blood CRP was 90.62%, 88.88%, 64.7%, 70% and 32.4%, 30.97%, 24.52%, 26.12% and that of CSF CRP was 96.87%, 66.66%, 20.58%, 10% and 74.73%, 63.71%, 50.94%, 55.35% for PM, PPM, VM and TBM, respectively. Conclusion: Because of its high sensitivity, both CSF CRP and blood CRP can be used to screen for bacterial meningitis (both PM and PPM). CSF CRP screening yielded results with a higher specificity than blood CRP; hence, it can be a supportive test along with CSF cytology, biochemistry, and microbiology for diagnosing meningitis

Scrub Typhus Presenting as Subdural Hemorrhage with Normal Platelet Counts: A Rare Case Presentation

Scrub typhus is a common zoonotic disease with high case fatality rate. The clinical presentation of this disease may vary from acute febrile illness, thrombocytopenia, gastrointestinal manifestations, coagulopathy to neurological manifestations. The common neurological manifestations are meningitis and meningoencephalitis, whereas subdural hemorrhage, cerebrovascular accident, i.e., intracerebral hemorrhage, infarct, subarachnoid hemorrhage, etc. are among rare neurological presentations. Scrub typhus-induced neurological disease should be investigated to provide a timely and appropriate diagnosis and to reduce the mortality in complicated scrub typhus infection. Here we report a case of scrub typhus complicated with subdural hemorrhage admitted in our hospital

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Will An Additional Observer Enhance Adenoma Detection During Colonoscopy?

Background: Due to varied level of experience, the detection rate of adenoma on colonoscopy is different. In presence of both fellows and attending the incidence rates of adenoma are shown to increase in a small study reported by Rogart et al [4]. Based on similar hypothesis, a study was undertaken with much larger sample size to improve the power of the study. Aims and objective: To know if presence of additional observer will enhance adenoma detection during colonoscopy. Material and Methods: 2236 consecutive colonoscopies performed at Metro Health Medical Centre, Cleveland, Ohio were included in the study from July 2005 to August 2006. Cases with history of colorectal, surgical resection of colon, inflammatory bowel diseases and hereditary polyposis syndrome were excluded. Inpatient colonoscopies were also excluded. With all usual precautions for colonoscopy and after giving polyethylene glycol electrolyte (PEGEL) colonoscopies were performed by one of the nine experienced staff attending using an Olympus colonoscope and Evis Exera processors. All colonoscopies performed by fellows were supervised by an attending throughout the procedure. Advanced adenomas were defined as adenomas greater than 1 cm size. Statistical analysis was done using Tall hassee, FL software; Fisher’s exact test, unpaired t test and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed. p-value of <0.05 is considered as statistically significant. Results: Of the total 2236 colonoscopies included in the study, 1527 were performed by fellows under supervision of attending and 709 by the attending. There was no significant difference in patient demographics, caecal intubation or poor preparation colonoscopies. The mean age of the group was 55 years in both of the groups. There was no statistically significant different in the polyp detection rate (35% Vs 36.8%) as well as overall adenoma detection rate (28.4% Vs 27.7%) between these two groups of performers. However, increased rate of adenoma detection was seen for the adenomas of size 0.5 to 1.00 cm in the fellow and attending group (7.2%) as compared to attending alone group (4.0%). There was no difference in the number of colonoscopies aborted due to poor bowel preparations There was no statistically significant difference in the number of colonoscopies aborted due to poor bowel prep, 91(5.9%) Vs 32(4.5%). Conclusions: Our retrospective study has shown no improvement in the rate of adenoma detection when fellows performed colonoscopy with a supervising attending in comparison to procedures performed by attending alone. In fact, Adenoma Detection Rate (ADR) and caecal intubation rates are increasingly seen as important quality measure. We propose that ADR needs to be used as a tool to assess trainee competency and should be a marker to evaluate proper training. These could be evaluated in randomized prospective trials in future

Enhancement of β-phase in PVDF films embedded with ferromagnetic Gd₅Si₄ nanoparticles for piezoelectric energy harvesting

Self-polarized Gd5Si4-polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanocomposite films have been synthesized via a facile phase-inversion technique. For the 5 wt% Gd5Si4-PVDF films, the enhancement of the piezoelectric β-phase and crystallinity are confirmed using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy (phase fraction, Fβ, of 81% as compared to 49% for pristine PVDF) and differential scanning calorimetry (crystallinity, ΔXc, of 58% as compared to 46% for pristine PVDF), respectively. The Gd5Si4 magnetic nanoparticles, prepared using high-energy ball milling were characterized using Dynamic Light Scattering and Vibrating Sample Magnetometry (VSM) to reveal a particle size of ∼470 nm with a high magnetization of 11 emu/g. The VSM analysis of free-standing Gd5Si4-PVDF films revealed that while the pristine PVDF membrane shows weak diamagnetic behavior, the Gd5Si4-PVDF films loaded at 2.5 wt% and 5 wt% Gd5Si4 show enhanced ferromagnetic behavior with paramagnetic contribution from Gd5Si3 phase. The interfacial interactions between Gd5Si4 and PVDF results in the preferential crystallization of the β-phase as confirmed via the shift in the CH2 asymmetric and symmetric stretching vibrations in the FTIR. These results confirm the magnetic Gd5Si4 nanoparticles embedded in the PVDF membrane lead to an increased β-phase fraction, which paves the way for future efficient energy harvesting applications using a combination of magnetic and piezoelectric effects

Current advances in experimental and computational approaches to enhance CAR T cell manufacturing protocols and improve clinical efficacy

Since the FDA’s approval of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells in 2017, significant improvements have been made in the design of chimeric antigen receptor constructs and in the manufacturing of CAR T cell therapies resulting in increased in vivo CAR T cell persistence and improved clinical outcome in certain hematological malignancies. Despite the remarkable clinical response seen in some patients, challenges remain in achieving durable long-term tumor-free survival, reducing therapy associated malignancies and toxicities, and expanding on the types of cancers that can be treated with this therapeutic modality. Careful analysis of the biological factors demarcating efficacious from suboptimal CAR T cell responses will be of paramount importance to address these shortcomings. With the ever-expanding toolbox of experimental approaches, single-cell technologies, and computational resources, there is renowned interest in discovering new ways to streamline the development and validation of new CAR T cell products. Better and more accurate prognostic and predictive models can be developed to help guide and inform clinical decision making by incorporating these approaches into translational and clinical workflows. In this review, we provide a brief overview of recent advancements in CAR T cell manufacturing and describe the strategies used to selectively expand specific phenotypic subsets. Additionally, we review experimental approaches to assess CAR T cell functionality and summarize current in silico methods which have the potential to improve CAR T cell manufacturing and predict clinical outcomes

Co-infections with Chikungunya Virus and Dengue Virus in Delhi, India

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are common vectors for dengue virus and chikungunya virus. In areas where both viruses cocirculate, they can be transmitted together. During a dengue outbreak in Delhi in 2006, 17 of 69 serum samples were positive for chikungunya virus by reverse transcription–PCR; 6 samples were positive for both viruses

Association of common genetic variants with lipid traits in the Indian population.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been instrumental in identifying novel genetic variants associated with altered plasma lipid levels. However, these quantitative trait loci have not been tested in the Indian population, where there is a poorly understood and growing burden of cardiometabolic disorders. We present the association of six single nucleotide polymorphisms in 1671 sib pairs (3342 subjects) with four lipid traits: total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). We also investigated the interaction effects of gender, location, fat intake and physical activity. Each copy of the risk allele of rs964184 at APOA1 was associated with 1.06 mmol/l increase in triglycerides (SE = 0.049; p = 0.006), rs3764261 at CETP with 1.02 mmol/l increase in both total cholesterol (SE = 0.042; p = 0.017) and HDL-C (SE = 0.041; p = 0.008), rs646776 at CELSR2-PSRC1-SORT1 with 0.96 mmol/l decrease in cholesterol (SE = 0.043; p = 0.0003) and 0.15 mmol/l decrease in LDL-C levels (SE = 0.043; p = 0.0003) and rs2954029 at TRIB1 with 1.02 mmol/l increase in HDL-C (SE = 0.039; p = 0.047). A combined risk score of APOA1 and CETP loci predicted an increase of 1.25 mmol/l in HDL-C level (SE = 0.312; p = 0.0007). Urban location and sex had strong interaction effects on the genetic association of most of the studied loci with lipid traits. To conclude, we validated four genetic variants (identified by GWAS in western populations) associated with lipid traits in the Indian population. The interaction effects found here may explain the sex-specific differences in lipid levels and their heritability. Urbanization appears to influence the nature of the association with GWAS lipid loci in this population. However, these findings will require replication in other Indian populations