Power quality and electromagnetic compatibility: special report, session 2

The scope of Session 2 (S2) has been defined as follows by the Session Advisory Group and the Technical Committee: Power Quality (PQ), with the more general concept of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and with some related safety problems in electricity distribution systems. Special focus is put on voltage continuity (supply reliability, problem of outages) and voltage quality (voltage level, flicker, unbalance, harmonics). This session will also look at electromagnetic compatibility (mains frequency to 150 kHz), electromagnetic interferences and electric and magnetic fields issues. Also addressed in this session are electrical safety and immunity concerns (lightning issues, step, touch and transferred voltages). The aim of this special report is to present a synthesis of the present concerns in PQ&EMC, based on all selected papers of session 2 and related papers from other sessions, (152 papers in total). The report is divided in the following 4 blocks: Block 1: Electric and Magnetic Fields, EMC, Earthing systems Block 2: Harmonics Block 3: Voltage Variation Block 4: Power Quality Monitoring Two Round Tables will be organised: - Power quality and EMC in the Future Grid (CIGRE/CIRED WG C4.24, RT 13) - Reliability Benchmarking - why we should do it? What should be done in future? (RT 15

Multiancestry analysis of the HLA locus in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases uncovers a shared adaptive immune response mediated by HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes

Across multiancestry groups, we analyzed Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) associations in over 176,000 individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) versus controls. We demonstrate that the two diseases share the same protective association at the HLA locus. HLA-specific fine-mapping showed that hierarchical protective effects of HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes best accounted for the association, strongest with HLA-DRB1*04:04 and HLA-DRB1*04:07, and intermediary with HLA-DRB1*04:01 and HLA-DRB1*04:03. The same signal was associated with decreased neurofibrillary tangles in postmortem brains and was associated with reduced tau levels in cerebrospinal fluid and to a lower extent with increased Aβ42. Protective HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes strongly bound the aggregation-prone tau PHF6 sequence, however only when acetylated at a lysine (K311), a common posttranslational modification central to tau aggregation. An HLA-DRB1*04-mediated adaptive immune response decreases PD and AD risks, potentially by acting against tau, offering the possibility of therapeutic avenues

Sensitivity analysis of cable trench modelling with concrete duct bank and multiple material layers for the current rating of 150kv cables

Due to the high building density in the city of Zurich, 150 kV cable connections are laid in concrete duct banks in order to protect them from damage and to enable renewal without construction work. The laying conditions have to be taken into account for thermal modelling, when the current rating of the cables is determined. In order to define standardized laying conditions, the laying of the cables has to be thoroughly analysed. Standardized laying conditions have been determined as the basis for dimensioning high voltage cables for the ewz target grid for 2050 as well as for determining the maximum permissible current of high voltage cables for the monitoring system. In order to determine a standard parameter set for a typical cable trench at ewz which accounts for the vast majority of cases, a sensitivity analysis was conducted for various allocations of the concrete duct bank and 150 kV cable types. In addition, to enabling swift comparison a simplified model with a unique thermal resistivity of the soil layers surrounding the concrete duct bank was defined taking into account different cable types and installation types (cable arrangement and duct bank types). In the sensitivity analysis parameters were varied to investigate the influence of these factors on the cable current rating

The RAD51C exonic splice-site mutations c.404G > C and c.404G > T are associated with familial breast and ovarian cancer

Whereas RAD51C mutations increase the relative risk for ovarian cancer (OC) to 5.88 (95% confidence interval= 2.91-11.88, P= 7.65x10(-7)), the associated risks for breast cancer (BC) remain largely unknown, as deleterious RAD51C alterations are extremely rare in BConly families. Here, we report the results of a RAD51C mutational screening in a large series of German familial index patients negative for pathogenic BRCA1/2 mutations and the in-vitro characterization of two novel exonic RAD51C splice-site mutations. A total of 610 index cases derived from BC/OC (n= 587) or OC-only families (n= 23) were screened for potentially deleterious germline mutations in RAD51C. The frequencies of two splice-site mutations were assessed by single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping in 1410 additional cases not enriched for OC family history. In three independent families, we identified novel splice-site mutations affecting the last nucleotide of exon 2 (c.404G > C, c.404G > T). Both mutations disrupt proper RAD51C pre-mRNA processing and cause a missense substitution immediately followed by a stop codon (p.Cys135Serfs* 2; p.Cys135Leufs* 2). Even though both mutations have similar effects on the protein level, they are associated with either BC/OC, OC-only, or BC-only family histories. The rare finding of a clearly truncating RAD51C mutation in an early-onset BC patient with a BC-only family history supports the notion that compromised RAD51C function may result in both BC and OC. Large international collaborative studies are needed to quantify the relative risk of RAD51C alterations for BC and to unravel the genetic modifying factors that determine phenotypic variability with respect to cancer site.Copyright (C) 2017 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved