A Novel Scalable Reconfiguration Model for the Postdisaster Network Connectivity of Resilient Power Distribution Systems

The resilient operation of power distribution networks requires efficient optimization models to enable situational awareness. One of the pivotal tools to enhance resilience is a network reconfiguration to ensure secure and reliable energy delivery while minimizing the number of disconnected loads in outage conditions. Power outages are caused by natural hazards, e.g., hurricanes, or system malfunction, e.g., line failure due to aging. In this paper, we first propose a distribution-network optimal power flow formulation (DOPF) and define a new resilience evaluation indicator, the demand satisfaction rate (DSR). DSR is the rate of satisfied load demand in the reconfigured network over the load demand satisfied in the DOPF. Then, we propose a novel model to efficiently find the optimal network reconfiguration by deploying sectionalizing switches during line outages that maximize resilience indicators. Moreover, we analyze a multiobjective scenario to maximize the DSR and minimize the number of utilized sectionalizing switches, which provides an efficient reconfiguration model preventing additional costs associated with closing unutilized sectionalizing switches. We tested our model on a virtually generated 33-bus distribution network and a real 234-bus power distribution network, demonstrating how using the sectionalizing switches can increase power accessibility in outage conditions

Dealing With Non-stationarity in Decentralized Cooperative Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning via Multi-Timescale Learning

Decentralized cooperative multi-agent deep reinforcement learning (MARL) can be a versatile learning framework, particularly in scenarios where centralized training is either not possible or not practical. One of the critical challenges in decentralized deep MARL is the non-stationarity of the learning environment when multiple agents are learning concurrently. A commonly used and efficient scheme for decentralized MARL is independent learning in which agents concurrently update their policies independently of each other. We first show that independent learning does not always converge, while sequential learning where agents update their policies one after another in a sequence is guaranteed to converge to an agent-by-agent optimal solution. In sequential learning, when one agent updates its policy, all other agent's policies are kept fixed, alleviating the challenge of non-stationarity due to simultaneous updates in other agents' policies. However, it can be slow because only one agent is learning at any time. Therefore it might also not always be practical. In this work, we propose a decentralized cooperative MARL algorithm based on multi-timescale learning. In multi-timescale learning, all agents learn simultaneously, but at different learning rates. In our proposed method, when one agent updates its policy, other agents are allowed to update their policies as well, but at a slower rate. This speeds up sequential learning, while also minimizing non-stationarity caused by other agents updating concurrently. Multi-timescale learning outperforms state-of-the-art decentralized learning methods on a set of challenging multi-agent cooperative tasks in the epymarl(Papoudakis et al., 2020) benchmark. This can be seen as a first step towards more general decentralized cooperative deep MARL methods based on multi-timescale learning

Histological study of alimentary canal in Binni (Mesopotamichthys sharpeyi) during the early developmental stages

Study of fishes’ alimentary canal ontogeny is important to understand their nutritional requirements during their early development and is a research priority for candidate species in aquaculture. Therefore, this work was conducted to study the early development of the Binni fish’s (Mesopotamichthys sharpeyi) alimentary canalusing histological method. A total of 200 larvae and fry were sampled from hatching up to 41 day post hatching (DPH), and then histological sections were prepared using paraffin method and staining with hematoxylin-eosin. Based on the results, mouth opening, exogenous feeding and the esophagus development covered with a cuboid epithelium were happened on 3 DPH, and the emergence of the gill arches on the 4 DPH. The complete absorption of the yolk sacs was lasted until the 4 DPH. The developmental characteristics of Binni fish during its early stages indicated the concurrence of biological structures with their needs. In addition, these ontogenic changes were similar to those of other cyprinid’s digestive system

The Impact of Health Education based on the Health Belief Model on Improving Osteoporosis preventive Behavior among Women

Background: In all populations, bone mass decreases with age, so the researchers in this study sought to study the application of the health belief model (HBM) for adopting preventive behaviors on osteoporosis among women. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental research conducted on 64 middle-aged women (32 in test and 32 in control group). Data collection tools were a questionnaire based on HBM model with demographic questions, the food frequency questionnaire and the standard questionnaire of physical activity. After confirming the content validity and reliability, questionnaires were completed before and 6 weeks after the intervention. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean ± SD) and analytical statistics (correlation coefficient, paired t- test and covariance) and through SPSS 16 at the significance level of 0.05. Results: Before the intervention, the mean score of HBM model constructs were not significantly different between the two groups. After the intervention, and by controlling for confounding variables the two groups showed significant differences in variables of knowledge, perceived severity, perceived self-efficacy, cues to action, perceived benefits and Calcium intake (p< 0.05), while they showed no significant difference in regard to constructs of perceived susceptibility, perceived barriers and physical activity. Conclusion: The use of health belief model was effective in adopting the prevention of osteoporosis and improving calcium intake in women, but it did not lead to the desired results in regard to improving physical activity behavior

Comparison of Ultrasonography and Radiography in Detection of Thoracic Bone Fractures; a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Introduction: The potential benefit of ultrasonography for detection of thoracic bone fractures has been proven in various surveys but no comprehensive conclusion has been drawn yet; therefore, the present study aimed to conduct a thorough meta-analytic systematic review on this subject. Methods: Two reviewers independently carried out a comprehensive systematic search in Medline, EMBASE, ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and ProQuest databases. Data were summarized as true positive, false positive, true negative and false negative and were analyzed via STATA 11.0 software using a mixed-effects binary regression model. Sources of heterogeneity were further assessed through subgroup analysis. Results: Data on 1667 patients (807 subjects with and 860 cases without thoracic fractures), whose age ranged from 0 to 92 years, were extracted from 17 surveys. Pooled sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonography in detection of thoracic bone fractures were 0.97 (95% CI: 0.90-0.99; I2= 88.88, p&lt;0.001) and 0.94 (95% CI: 0.86-0.97; I2= 71.97, p&lt;0.001), respectively. The same measures for chest radiography were found to be 0.77 (95% CI: 0.56-0.90; I2= 97.76, p&lt;0.001) and 1.0 (95% CI: 0.91-1.00; I2= 97.24, p&lt;0.001), respectively. The sensitivity of ultrasonography was higher in detection of rib fractures, compared to fractures of sternum or clavicle (97% vs. 91%). Moreover, the sensitivity was found to be higher when the procedure was carried out by a radiologist in comparison to an emergency medicine specialist (96% vs. 90%). Conclusion: Base on the findings of the present meta-analysis, screening performance characteristic of ultrasonography in detection of thoracic bone fractures was found to be higher than radiography. However, these characteristics were more prominent in detection of rib fractures and in cases where was performed by a radiologist

Alendronate improves fasting plasma glucose and insulin sensitivity and decreases insulin resistance in prediabetic osteopenic postmenopausal women: a randomized triple-blind clinical trial

Aims Postmenopausal women receive bisphosphonates for osteoporosis treatment. The effect of these medications on developing diabetes mellitus (DM) in prediabetic patients is yet to be investigated. We aimed to determine the effect of alendronate on plasma glucose, insulin indices of postmenopausal women with prediabetes and osteopenia. Methods This triple‐blind randomized controlled clinical trial included 60 postmenopausal women, aged 45–60 years. All patients were vitamin D sufficient. They were randomly enrolled in intervention (70 mg/week alendronate for 12 week) and control (placebo tablet per week for 12 weeks) groups. The morning 8 hour fasting blood samples were collected at the baseline and follow–up visits to measure the fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (mg/dl), insulin and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). Plasma glucose and insulin concentration were measured 30, 60, and 120 minutes after glucose tolerance test. Matsuda index, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA–IR), homeostasis model assessment of beta–cell function (HOMA–B) and the area under the curves (AUC) of glucose and insulin were calculated. Results Mean (SD) FPG (102.43 (1.46) mg/dl vs. 94.23)1.17) mg/dl, P=0.001), 120‐minutes insulin concentration (101.86)15.70) mU/l vs. 72.60 (11.36), P=0.026), HbA1c (5.60 (0.06) % vs. 5.40 (0.05)%, P=0.001), HOMA‐IR (3.57 (0.45) vs. 2.62 (0.24), P=0.021) and Matsuda index (7.7 (0.41) vs. 9.2 (0.4), P=0.001) significantly improved in the alendronate‐treated group. There was statistically significant more reductions in FPG (‐8.2 (8.63) mg/dl vs. ‐2.5 (14.26) mg/dl, P=0.002) and HbA1c (‐0.2 (0.23) % vs. ‐0.09 (0.26) %, P=0.015) were observed in alendronate‐treated group than placebo group during the study course, respectively. Conclusions Administration of 70 mg/week alendronate improves fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c and insulin indices in postmenopausal women

Hydrogel nanocomposite based on alginate/zeolite for burn wound healing: In vitro and in vivo study

Objective(s): The main objective of the current assay was to evaluate the antibacterial and regenerative effects of hydrogel nanocomposite containing pure natural zeolite (clinoptilolite) integrated with alginate (Alg) as wound healing/dressing biomaterials.Materials and Methods: The zeolites were size excluded, characterized by SEM, DLS, XRD, FTIR, and XRF, and then integrated into Alg hydrogel followed by calcium chloride crosslinking. The Alg and alginate zeolite (Alg/Zeo) hydrogel was characterized by swelling and weight loss tests, also the antibacterial, hemocompatibility, and cell viability tests were performed. In animal studies, the burn wound was induced on the back of rats and treated with the following groups: control, Alg hydrogel, and Alg/Zeo hydrogel.Results: The results showed that the hydrodynamic diameter of zeolites was 367 ± 0.2 nm. Zeolites did not show any significant antibacterial effect, however, the hydrogel nanocomposite containing zeolite had proper swelling as well as hemocompatibility and no cytotoxicity was observed. Following the creation of a third-degree burn wound on the back of rats, the results indicated that the Alg hydrogel and Alg/Zeo nanocomposite accelerated the wound healing process compared with the control group. Re-epithelialization, granulation tissue thickness, collagenization, inflammatory cell recruitment, and angiogenesis level were not significantly different between Alg and Alg/Zeo nanocomposite.Conclusion: These findings revealed that although the incorporation of zeolites did not induce a significant beneficial effect in comparison with Alg hydrogel, using zeolite capacity in hydrogel for loading the antibiotics or other effective compounds can be considered a promising wound dressing

Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017

Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2—to end preventable child deaths by 2030—we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends. Here we quantified, for the period 2000–2017, the subnational variation in mortality rates and number of deaths of neonates, infants and children under 5 years of age within 99 low- and middle-income countries using a geostatistical survival model. We estimated that 32% of children under 5 in these countries lived in districts that had attained rates of 25 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births by 2017, and that 58% of child deaths between 2000 and 2017 in these countries could have been averted in the absence of geographical inequality. This study enables the identification of high-mortality clusters, patterns of progress and geographical inequalities to inform appropriate investments and implementations that will help to improve the health of all populations

Global, regional, and national burden of colorectal cancer and its risk factors, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Funding: F Carvalho and E Fernandes acknowledge support from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. (FCT), in the scope of the project UIDP/04378/2020 and UIDB/04378/2020 of the Research Unit on Applied Molecular Biosciences UCIBIO and the project LA/P/0140/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy i4HB; FCT/MCTES through the project UIDB/50006/2020. J Conde acknowledges the European Research Council Starting Grant (ERC-StG-2019-848325). V M Costa acknowledges the grant SFRH/BHD/110001/2015, received by Portuguese national funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), IP, under the Norma Transitória DL57/2016/CP1334/CT0006.proofepub_ahead_of_prin