Modeling and forecasting of cooling and electricity load demand

The objective of this paper is to extend a statistical approach to effectively provide look-ahead forecasts for cooling and electricity demand load. Our proposed model is a generalized form of a Cochrane-Orcutt estimation technique that combines a multiple linear regression model and a seasonal autoregressive moving average model. The proposed model is adaptive so that it updates forecast values every time that new information on cooling and electricity load is received. Therefore, the model can simultaneously take advantage of two statistical methods, time series, and linear regression in an adaptive way. The effectiveness of the proposed forecast model is shown through a use case. The example utilizes the proposed approach for economic dispatching of a combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) plant at the University of California, Irvine. The results reveal the effectiveness of the proposed forecast model

The serum heavy/light chain immunoassay: A valuable tool for sensitive paraprotein assessment, risk, and disease monitoring in monoclonal gammopathies

Objective: The heavy/light chain (HLC)-immunoassay quantifies light chain types of each immunoglobulin class in patients with monoclonal gammopathies. Methods: We assessed 147 consecutive patients with different forms and stages of plasma cell dyscrasias (PCD) who received standard tests (serum and urine protein electrophoresis [SPEP, UPEP], immunofixation [IFE], serum-free light chain [SFLC]), and HLC-immunoassay. Patients with multiple myeloma (MM, n = 102), smoldering MM (SMM, n = 5), monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS, n = 28), and Waldenström's macroglobulinemia (WM, n = 12) were included. Results: We verified a significant correlation between HLC- and standard monoclonal protein (mp)-parameters, and HLC-increases with higher disease stage and unfavorable remission status. In patients with difficult to quantify mp, more abnormal HLC- than SPEP-, immunoglobulin-, or SFLC-results were found. In WM, a pathological HLC κ/λ-ratio and M-component were observed in 95% and 58%, respectively. In 21/28 MGUS and 5/5 SMM patients, HLC κ/λ-ratios were abnormal. Testing different HLC cutoffs, patients with extreme HLC values showed impaired progression-free survival (PFS). Conclusions: Despite the fact that different PCD patients were included, the assessment of the HLC-immunoassay in MGUS, SMM, MM, and WM, our comparison with standard mp-assays, and relevant PFS differences may excite future applications, which should be confirmed in prospective multicenter trials. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Lt

Analysis of CD8+ T-Cell-Mediated Inhibition of Hepatitis C Virus Replication Using a Novel Immunological Model

Virus-specific CD8+ T cells are required for the control of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We investigated the extent to which different effector functions of CD8+ T cells contribute to the inhibition of viral replication. Methods We developed a novel immunologic model by stably transducing the HLA-A2 gene into the replicon system, matching the epitope sequence of the replicon to the sequence targeted by an HCV-specific CD8+ T-cell clone. Luciferase activity was then measured to quantitate HCV RNA replication. Results HCV-specific CD8+ T cells strongly inhibited viral replication, through cytolytic and noncytolytic mechanisms, in a dose-dependent manner. HCV replication was almost completely inhibited at an effector-to-target ratio of 1:1 with significant cytotoxicity; however, >95% viral inhibition occurred at ratios as low as 1:100. Importantly, no cytotoxicity was observed at low effector-to-target ratios, indicating a dominant effect of noncytolytic effector functions that was confirmed by Transwell experiments. Neutralization experiments revealed that interferon gamma mediates the noncytolytic inhibition. Conclusions Only a very few HCV-specific CD8+ T cells are required to inhibit HCV replication; inhibition occurs primarily by noncytolytic effector functions