A nearly zero-energy microgrid testbed laboratory: Centralized control strategy based on SCADA system

Currently, despite the use of renewable energy sources (RESs), distribution networks are facing problems, such as complexity and low productivity. Emerging microgrids (MGs) with RESs based on supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) are an effective solution to control, manage, and finally deal with these challenges. The development and success of MGs is highly dependent on the use of power electronic interfaces. The use of these interfaces is directly related to the progress of SCADA systems and communication infrastructures. The use of SCADA systems for the control and operation of MGs and active distribution networks promotes productivity and efficiency. This paper presents a real MG case study called the LAMBDA MG testbed laboratory, which has been implemented in the electrical department of the Sapienza University of Rome with a centralized energy management system (CEMS). The real-time results of the SCADA system show that a CEMS can create proper energy balance in a LAMBDA MG testbed and, consequently, minimize the exchange power of the LAMBDA MG and main grid

Universal mean-field upper bound for the generalization gap of deep neural networks

Modern deep neural networks (DNNs) represent a formidable challenge for theorists: according to the commonly accepted probabilistic framework that describes their performance, these architectures should overfit due to the huge number of parameters to train, but in practice they do not. Here we employ results from replica mean field theory to compute the generalization gap of machine learning models with quenched features, in the teacher-student scenario and for regression problems with quadratic loss function. Notably, this framework includes the case of DNNs where the last layer is optimized given a specific realization of the remaining weights. We show how these results-combined with ideas from statistical learning theory-provide a stringent asymptotic upper bound on the generalization gap of fully trained DNN as a function of the size of the dataset P. In particular, in the limit of large P and N-out (where N-out is the size of the last layer) and N-out << P, the generalization gap approaches zero faster than 2N(out)/P, for any choice of both architecture and teacher function. Notably, this result greatly improves existing bounds from statistical learning theory. We test our predictions on a broad range of architectures, from toy fully connected neural networks with few hidden layers to state-of-the-art deep convolutional neural networks

Bone Involvement in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by a wide variability of clinical manifestations due to the potential involvement of several tissues and internal organs, with a relapsing and remitting course. Dysregulation of innate and adaptive immune systems, due to genetic, hormonal and environmental factors, may be responsible for a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations, affecting quality of life, morbidity and mortality. Bone involvement represents one of the most common cause of morbidity and disability in SLE. Particularly, an increased incidence of osteoporosis, avascular necrosis of bone and osteomyelitis has been observed in SLE patients compared to the general population. Moreover, due to the improvement in diagnosis and therapy, the survival of SLE patient has improved, increasing long-term morbidities, including osteoporosis and related fractures. This review aims to highlight bone manifestations in SLE patients, deepening underlying etiopathogenetic mechanisms, diagnostic tools and available treatment

The optical links for the trigger upgrade of the Drift Tube in CMS

The first phase of the upgrade of the electronics of Drift Tubes (DT) in the CMS experiment is reported. It consists of the translation of the readout and trigger data from electrical into optical and their transmission from the CMS experimental cavern to the counting room. Collecting the full information of the DT chambers in the counting room allows the development of new trigger hardware and algorithms

Anti-cyclic-citrullinated-protein-antibodies in psoriatic arthritis patients: how autoimmune dysregulation could affect clinical characteristics, retention rate of methotrexate monotherapy and first line biotechnological drug survival. A single center retrospective study

Aim: Occasional findings of anti-cyclic-citrullinated-protein-antibodies (anti-CCP) were rarely observed in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). The aim of our study is to evaluate whether the presence of anti-CCP can determine different clinical subsets and influence methotrexate monotherapy survival, and biotechnological drug retention rate. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study on PsA patients. All patients were required to fulfill the CASPAR criteria for PsA, and to present juxta-articular osteo-proliferative signs at X-ray. The exclusion criteria were age less than 18 years old, satisfaction of rheumatoid arthritis classification criteria, and seropositivity for rheumatoid factor. Clinical characteristics, anti-CCP titer, drug survival and comorbidities information were recorded for each patient. Statistical significance was set at p ⩽ 0.05. Results: Of 407 patients with PsA screened 113 were recruited. Twelve patients were anti-CCP positive. Methotrexate monotherapy survival was shorter in patients with anti-CCP (150 ± 48.3 weeks versus 535.3 ± 65.3 weeks; p = 0.026) [discontinuation risk hazard ratio (HR) = 2.389, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.043, 5.473; p = 0.039] than those without. Significant shorter survival of first-line biotechnological drugs (b-DMARDs) was observed in the anti-CCP positive group than in that without (102.05 ± 24.4 weeks versus 271.6 ± 41.7 weeks; p = 0.005) with higher discontinuation risk (HR = 3.230, 95% CI 1.299, 8.028; p = 0.012). A significant higher rate of multi-failure (more than second-line b-DMARDs) was found in anti-CCP positive patients than in those without (50% versus 14%, p = 0.035). Conclusion: Anti-CCP in PsA could be suggestive of more severe disease, with worse drug survival of both methotrexate monotherapy and first-line b-DMARDs, and higher chance to be b-DMARDs multi-failure. So, they can be considered for more intensive clinical management of these patients

Upgrade of the L2 electronics in the CMS Muon Drift Tubes system

The excellent performance of the DT system during the past years is expected to be pursued at the increased luminosity, so the main motivation driving the DT upgrade is focused on improving the electronic system to maintain its reliability. The fulfillment of this project envisages to turn electrical signals into optical signals for a total number of 3500 optical channels that run at up to 480 Mb/s data rate. A Bit Error Rate (BER) of the order of 10−12 with a confidence level (CL) of 95% has been measured which ensures that an appropriate components choice has been made in view of the full boards production