Development of a Semi-definite Programming Weighted Sum Based Approach for Solving Stochastic Multi-objective Economic Dispatch Problems Incorporating CHP Units

This paper has presented a weighted sum based semidefinite programming (SDP) optimization technique for solving stochastic multi-objective economic dispatch (MOED) model that incorporates Combined Heat and Power (CHP) units. The stochastic multi-objective model was transformed into its deterministic equivalent through their expectation, with the assumption that involved random variables are normally distributed. The multi-objective problem was recast in matrix form as a SDP relaxation problem and subsequently solved with a MATLAB programming suite. The system inequality and equality constraints uncertainty were entered into YALMIP, which is a linear matrix inequality parser. Simulations were performed on modified IEEE 6 and 20 units’ networks with 2 CHP units. The efficiency of the proposed method is deter- mined by investigating reformulated problems in stochastic and deterministic models on power dispatch. The standard weighted sum method is utilized in generating the Pareto-optimal solution between two objectives’ functions. An optimal selection of control weight selection k 1 parameter that provides a better convergence property and moderately good extent of the Pareto distributions was empirically determined. The proposed SDP method performed well in accuracy of results and providing lower operational cost in the Pareto set produce

Pericardial effusion in a patient with hyperthyroidism: A case report

Pericarditis and pericardial effusion are commonly associated with hypothyroidism. It is an uncommon association with hyperthyroidism. We present a case of pericarditis/pericardial effusion in a 28-year-old Nigerian lady with hyperthyroidism. There was resolution of the pericardial effusion with antithyroid  medications and steroid therapy. We recommend a high index of suspicion of this association in patients  with hyperthyroidism and/or Graves’ disease

Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search

Document recommendation systems for locating relevant literature have mostly relied on methods developed a decade ago. This is largely due to the lack of a large offline gold-standard benchmark of relevant documents that cover a variety of research fields such that newly developed literature search techniques can be compared, improved and translated into practice. To overcome this bottleneck, we have established the RElevant LIterature SearcH consortium consisting of more than 1500 scientists from 84 countries, who have collectively annotated the relevance of over 180 000 PubMed-listed articles with regard to their respective seed (input) article/s. The majority of annotations were contributed by highly experienced, original authors of the seed articles. The collected data cover 76% of all unique PubMed Medical Subject Headings descriptors. No systematic biases were observed across different experience levels, research fields or time spent on annotations. More importantly, annotations of the same document pairs contributed by different scientists were highly concordant. We further show that the three representative baseline methods used to generate recommended articles for evaluation (Okapi Best Matching 25, Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency and PubMed Related Articles) had similar overall performances. Additionally, we found that these methods each tend to produce distinct collections of recommended articles, suggesting that a hybrid method may be required to completely capture all relevant articles. The established database server located at https://relishdb.ict.griffith.edu.au is freely available for the downloading of annotation data and the blind testing of new methods. We expect that this benchmark will be useful for stimulating the development of new powerful techniques for title and title/abstract-based search engines for relevant articles in biomedical research.Peer reviewe

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Dietary value of honey and it effects on abdominal fat deposit, blood and serum profile of finisher broiler chicks

Mineral elements of honey were determined and the effects of dietary honey flavour in finisher broiler chicks’ diets on feed intake, growth rate, abdominal fat deposit, blood and serum profile were studied. A total of 120 four weeksold Anak broiler chickens were randomly allotted to four treatments, replicated three times with 10 birds each. Four iso-nitrogenous (19% crude protein) and iso-caloric(3100kcal/kg) diets were formulated such that 0% had no honey flavour in the diet and to served as the control, while 0.5,1.0 and 1.5% contained honey flavoured diets, respectively. The honey was used to replace maize as an energy source and to serve as a therapeutics additive in the diets. The mineral contents result of honey revealed that macro-elements were high in order of potassium > phosphorus > calcium > sodium > magnesium while the micro-elements (iron > zinc > manganese > copper) were low. The results showed that 1.5% honey inclusion significantly (P < 0.05) increased feed intake and improved growth rate. The haematological formations of Packed cell volume, Red blood cell, Haemoglobin and serum biochemical components (serum protein, albumin and creatinines) of birds improved with increasing dietary honey inclusion, while the WBC and its differential counts (neutrophils, lymphocytes and monocytes) of birds on honey flavoured diets produced better (P < 0.05) immune status compared to the control dietary birds. The serum cholesterol levels of birds decreased with increasing honey flavoured diets compared to the control dietary birds due to anti-oxidants properties and vitamins in honey which are cholesterol fighters similar to those in fruits and vegetables. The abdominal fat deposit increased with increasing honey flavoured diets, indicating negative impact (P < 0.05) by honey supplementation in the diets. Honey flavoured diet at 1.5% demonstrated superiority in this study with no adverse effect on birds’ health.Keywords: honey, flavour, broiler, mineral composition, abdominal fat, haematology

Shelf life of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) seed stored under humid tropical conditions

Successful crop production depends initially on the availability of high-quality seed. Seed viability and vigour of four kenaf varieties during storage were investigated. Seeds of each variety were packed inside thick polythene bags and kept in Seed Stores under ambient conditions in two storage locations (Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) (29.8°C, 59.10 RH%) and Institute of Agricultural Research and Train- ing, Ibadan (27.5°C, 64.68 RH%) for 240 days (8 months).  Seeds were sampled during storage at 0, 60, 120, 180 and 240 days and tested for seed viability and seedling vigour index. Data collected on seed viability and seedling vigour were analyzed using ANOVA, mean separation using Duncan Multiple Range Test at 5% probability level and PROBIT analysis. The results showed differential responses in the two quality traits due to differences in storage location and varieties. Ibadan storage location provided more favourable conditions for higher seed quality compared to Abeokuta location while Ifeken 400 and Tianung had the best storage potential. The study showed that under ambient humid tropical conditions, storage period should not exceed 180 days (6 months) in order to maintain higher physiological quality with little or no cost. The PROBIT result revealed that the highest seed shelf life (longevity) of kenaf seeds of 8 to 9 months was derived for seeds of Ifeken 400 and Tianung stored in Ibadan and Abeokuta. The shortest shelf life of 6 months was esti- mated for Ifeken 100 stored in both locations.

Synthesis, Characterization and Photocatalytic activity of silver and zinc codoped TiO2 nanoparticle for photodegradation of methyl orange dye in aqueous solution

In this study, TiO2 nanocrystals, 1 mol% Ag doped and 1 mol% Ag and 0.6 mol% Zn codoped TiO2 powders were synthesized by sol-gel route. Their photocatalytic activities on methyl orange dye under visible irradiation were investigated. The powders were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), UV–Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). The XRD results revealed presence of rutile phase with average crystallite size between 9 and 11 nm. The UV-Vis spectra showed red-shift towards longer wavelength with corresponding decrease in band gap from 2.9 to 2.5 eV. The BET surface areas of the nanoparticles ranged from 4.7 to 11.8 m2g-1 with average pore size between 18.9 and 56.6 nm. The Ag doped TiO2 has the largest surface area of 11.8 m2g-1, while Ag-Zn co-doped TiO2 was found to have the highest pore size and volume. The absorption bands at 750-500 cm-1 were attributed to -O-Ti-O- bond in the TiO2 lattice. The photocatalytic efficiency was highest at optimum pH 4.1 for Ag-Zn codoped TiO2. The results confirmed that Ag doped and Ag-Zn co-doped TiO2 were more effective than pure TiO2. The kinetic data were fitted into pseudo-first-order equation using Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic modelThe accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author