Identification of Contradictory Patterns in Experimental Datasets for the Development of Models for Electrical Cables Diagnostics

International audienceThe state of health of an electrical cable may be difficult to know, without destructive or very expensive tests. To overcome this, partial discharge (PD) measurements have been proposed as a relatively economic and simple-to-apply experimental technique for retrieving information on the state of health of an electrical cable. The retrieval is based on a relationship between PD measurements and the health of the cable. Given the difficulties in capturing such relationship by analytical models, empirical modeling techniques based on experimental data have been propounded. In this view, a set of PD measurements have been collected by Enea Ricerca sul Sistema Elettrico-ERSE during past campaigns, for building a diagnostic system of electrical cable health state. These experimental data may contain contradictory information which remarkably reduces the performance of the state classifier, if not a priori identified and possibly corrected. In the present paper, a novel technique based on the Adaboost algorithm is proposed for identifying contradictory PD patterns within an a priori analysis aimed at improving the diagnostic performance. Adaboost is a bootstrap-inspired, ensemble-based algorithm which has been effectively used for addressing classification problems

Short- and Long-Term Impact of Prior Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Exacerbations on Healthcare Resource Utilization and Related Costs : An Observational Study (SHERLOCK)

Acknowledgments Medical writing support, under the direction of the authors, was provided by Sara Cameron, MPhil, CMC Connect, a division of IPG Health Medical Communications, funded by AstraZeneca in accordance with Good Publication Practice (GPP 2022) guidelines [Citation28]. All authors were involved in the design and conduct of the study and in the interpretation of the data. All authors were involved in the writing of the manuscript and the final decision to submit to COPD: Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Funding This study was sponsored by AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca authors were involved in the design of the study; in the analysis, and interpretation of the data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The long-term clinical impact of COPD exacerbations : a 3-year observational study (SHERLOCK)

Acknowledgements Medical writing support, under the direction of the authors, was provided by Sara Cameron, M. Phil., of CMC Connect, McCann Health Medical Communications, funded by AstraZeneca in accordance with Good Publication Practice (GPP3) guidelines. The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by AstraZeneca. Employees of AstraZeneca were involved in the design of the study, interpretation of the data (but not the data collection), in the writing of the report, and in the decision to submit the article for publication.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Prognostic risk factors for moderate-to-severe exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic literature review

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. COPD exacerbations are associated with a worsening of lung function, increased disease burden, and mortality, and, therefore, preventing their occurrence is an important goal of COPD management. This review was conducted to identify the evidence base regarding risk factors and predictors of moderate-to-severe exacerbations in patients with COPD. METHODS: A literature review was performed in Embase, MEDLINE, MEDLINE In-Process, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL). Searches were conducted from January 2015 to July 2019. Eligible publications were peer-reviewed journal articles, published in English, that reported risk factors or predictors for the occurrence of moderate-to-severe exacerbations in adults age ≥ 40 years with a diagnosis of COPD. RESULTS: The literature review identified 5112 references, of which 113 publications (reporting results for 76 studies) met the eligibility criteria and were included in the review. Among the 76 studies included, 61 were observational and 15 were randomized controlled clinical trials. Exacerbation history was the strongest predictor of future exacerbations, with 34 studies reporting a significant association between history of exacerbations and risk of future moderate or severe exacerbations. Other significant risk factors identified in multiple studies included disease severity or bronchodilator reversibility (39 studies), comorbidities (34 studies), higher symptom burden (17 studies), and higher blood eosinophil count (16 studies). CONCLUSIONS: This systematic literature review identified several demographic and clinical characteristics that predict the future risk of COPD exacerbations. Prior exacerbation history was confirmed as the most important predictor of future exacerbations. These prognostic factors may help clinicians identify patients at high risk of exacerbations, which are a major driver of the global burden of COPD, including morbidity and mortality

Electrical cables diagnostics using an experimental dataset of Partial Discharge measurements containing contradictory patterns

International audiencePartial Discharge (PD) measurements have been proposed as a relatively economic and simple-to-apply experimental technique for retrieving information on the health state of an electrical cable. A set of PD measurements have been collected by Enea Ricerca sul Sistema Elettrico (ERSE), for building a diagnos-tic system of electrical cable health state. These experimental data may contain contradictory information which remarkably reduce the performance of the state classifier. In the present work, a novel technique based on the Adaboost algorithm is proposed for identifying contradictory PD patterns within an a priori analysis aimed at improving the diagnostic performance. Adaboost is a bootstrap-inspired, ensemble-based algorithm which has been effectively used for addressing classification problems

Emergent expansion of clinical epigenetics in patients with cardiovascular diseases

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are typically caused by multifactorial events including mutations in a large number of genes. Epigenetic-derived modifications in the cells are normal but can be amended by aging, lifestyle, and exposure to toxic substances. Major epigenetic modifications are DNA methylation, histone modification, chromatin remodeling as well as the noncoding RNAs. These pivotal players are involved in the epigenetic-induced modifications observed during CVDs. Nevertheless, despite impressive efforts capitalized in epigenetic research in the last 50 years, clinical applications are still not satisfactory

A methodology for evaluating PEVs hosting capacity margins in distribution grids

none6F. Baccino; M. de Nigris; I. Gianinoni; S. Grillo; S. Massucco; E. TironiBaccino, Francesco; M., de Nigris; I., Gianinoni; Grillo, Samuele; Massucco, Stefano; E., Tiron

A methodology for evaluating PEVs hosting capacity margins in distribution grids

The paper describes the definition and the validation of a methodology, based on an extension of the hosting capacity concept, aimed at assessing the effects of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) charging on low voltage distribution networks. An index (called time-dependent hosting capacity) is proposed, which enables to include in its formulation the charging duration, in order to point out the grid constraints. The validation of this index was performed through simulations on the CIGRÉ low voltage European reference grid. The simulations consisted in a series of load flow calculations while varying both the load conditions and the number of charging electric vehicles, assuming a constant daily energy need for all vehicles. Moreover, for some simulations the contribution of distributed generation to improve the quality of supply according to EN 50160 was also investigated