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This paper experimentally assesses the impact of time synchronization spoofing attacks (TSSA) on synchrophasor-based wide-area monitoring, protection and control (WAMPAC) applications. Phase angle monitoring, anti-islanding protection, and power oscillation damping applications are investigated. TSSA are created using a real-time (RT) IRIG-B signal generator and power system models are executed using an RT simulator with commercial phasor measurement units (PMUs) coupled to them as hardware-in-the-loop. Because PMUs utilize time synchronization signals to compute synchrophasors, an error in the PMUs’ time input introduces a proportional phase error in the voltage or current phase measurements provided by the PMU. The experiments conclude that a phase angle monitoring application will show erroneous power transfers, whereas the anti-islanding protection mal-operates and the damping controller introduces negative damping in the system as a result of the time synchronization error incurred in the PMUs due to TSSA. The proposed test-bench and TSSA approach can be used to investigate the impact of TSSA on any WAMPAC application and to determine the time synchronization error threshold that can be tolerated by these WAMPAC applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. We assess whether it is feasible for robotic hysterectomy for endometrial cancer to be less expensive to society than traditional laparoscopic hysterectomy or abdominal hysterectomy. Methods. We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of patient characteristics, operative times, complications, and hospital charges from all (n = 234) endometrial cancer patients who underwent hysterectomy in 2009 at our hospital. Per patient costs of each hysterectomy method were examined from the societal perspective. Sensitivity analysis andMonte Carlo simulation were performed using a cost-minimizationmodel. Results. 40 (17.1%) of hysterectomies for endometrial cancer were robotic, 91 (38.9%), were abdominal, and 103 (44.0%) were laparoscopic. 96.3% of the variation in operative cost between patients was predicted by operative time (R = 0.963, P < 0.01). Mean operative time for robotic hysterectomy was significantly longer than other methods (P < 0.01). Abdominal hysterectomy was consistently the most expensive while the traditional laparoscopic approach was consistently least expensive. The threshold in operative time that makes robotic hysterectomy cost equivalent to the abdominal approach is within the range of our experience. Conclusion. It is feasible for robotic hysterectomy to be less expensive than abdominal hysterectomy, but unlikely for robotic hysterectomy to be less expensive than traditional laparoscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sequence variant (rs7216389-T) near the ORMDL3 gene on chromosome 17q21 was recently found to be associated with childhood asthma. We sought to evaluate the effect of rs7216389-T on asthma subphenotypes and its correlation with expression levels of neighboring genes. The association of rs7216389-T with asthma was replicated in six European and one Asian study cohort (N=4917 cases N=34 589 controls). In addition, we found that the association of rs7216389-T was confined to cases with early onset of asthma, particularly in early childhood (age: 0–5 years OR=1.51, P=6.89·10−9) and adolescence (age: 14–17 years OR=1.71, P=5.47·10−9). A weaker association was observed for onset between 6 and 13 years of age (OR=1.17, P=0.035), but none for adult-onset asthma (OR=1.07, P=0.12). Cases were further stratified by sex, asthma severity and atopy status. An association with greater asthma severity was observed among early-onset asthma cases (P=0.0012), but no association with sex or atopy status was observed among the asthma cases. An association between sequence variants and the expression of genes in the 17q21 region was assessed in white blood cell RNA samples collected from Icelandic individuals (n=743). rs7216389 associated with the expression of GSDMB and ORMDL3 genes. However, other sequence variants showing a weaker association with asthma compared with that of rs7216389 were more strongly associated with the expression of both genes. Thus, the contribution of rs7216389-T to the development of asthma is unlikely to operate only through an impact on the expression of ORMDL3 or GSDMB genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eosinophils are pleiotropic multifunctional leukocytes involved in initiation and propagation of inflammatory responses and thus have important roles in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases. Here we describe a genome-wide association scan for sequence variants affecting eosinophil counts in blood of 9,392 Icelanders. The most significant SNPs were studied further in 12,118 Europeans and 5,212 East Asians. SNPs at 2q12 (rs1420101), 2q13 (rs12619285), 3q21 (rs4857855), 5q31 (rs4143832) and 12q24 (rs3184504) reached genome-wide significance (P = 5.3 × 10−14, 5.4 × 10−10, 8.6 × 10−17, 1.2 × 10−10 and 6.5 × 10−19, respectively). A SNP at IL1RL1 associated with asthma (P = 5.5 × 10−12) in a collection of ten different populations (7,996 cases and 44,890 controls). SNPs at WDR36, IL33 and MYB that showed suggestive association with eosinophil counts were also associated with atopic asthma (P = 4.2 × 10−6, 2.2 × 10−5 and 2.4 × 10−4, respectively). We also found that a nonsynonymous SNP at 12q24, in SH2B3, associated significantly (P = 8.6 × 10−8) with myocardial infarction in six different populations (6,650 cases and 40,621 controls). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A refined physical map of chromosome 17q21.31 uncovered a 900-kb inversion polymorphism. Chromosomes with the inverted segment in different orientations represent two distinct lineages, H1 and H2, that have diverged for as much as 3 million years and show no evidence of having recombined. The H2 lineage is rare in Africans, almost absent in East Asians but found at a frequency of 20% in Europeans, in whom the haplotype structure is indicative of a history of positive selection. Here we show that the H2 lineage is undergoing positive selection in the Icelandic population, such that carrier females have more children and have higher recombination rates than noncarriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determination of recombination rates across the human genome has been constrained by the limited resolution and accuracy of existing genetic maps and the draft genome sequence. We have genotyped 5,136 microsatellite markers for 146 families, with a total of 1,257 meiotic events, to build a high-resolution genetic map meant to: (i) improve the genetic order of polymorphic markers; (ii) improve the precision of estimates of genetic distances; (iii) correct portions of the sequence assembly and SNP map of the human genome; and (iv) build a map of recombination rates. Recombination rates are significantly correlated with both cytogenetic structures (staining intensity of G bands) and sequence (GC content, CpG motifs and poly(A)/poly(T) stretches). Maternal and paternal chromosomes show many differences in locations of recombination maxima. We detected systematic differences in recombination rates between mothers and between gametes from the same mother, suggesting that there is some underlying component determined by both genetic and environmental factors that affects maternal recombination rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: To estimate the incidence of operative complications and compare operative cost and overall cost of different methods of benign hysterectomy including abdominal, vaginal, laparoscopic, and robotic techniques., Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort analysis (Canadian Task Force classification II-2) of all patients who underwent a hysterectomy for benign reasons in 2009 at a single urban academic tertiary care center using the χ(2) test and Student t test. A multivariate regression analysis was also performed for predictors of costs. Cost data were gathered from the hospital's billing system; the remainder of data was extracted from patient's medical records., Results: In 2009, 688 patients underwent a benign hysterectomy; 185 (26.9%) hysterectomies were abdominal, 135 (19.6%) vaginal, 352 (51.5%) laparoscopic, and 14 (2.0%) robotic. The rate of intraoperative complication was 1.7% for abdominal, 0.8% for vaginal, 0.3% for laparoscopic, and 0 for robotic. Mean total patient costs were $43,622 for abdominal, $31,934 for vaginal, $38,312 for laparoscopic, and $49,526 for robotic hysterectomies. Costs were significantly influenced by method of hysterectomy, operative time, and length of stay., Conclusion: Though complication rates did not vary significantly among minimally invasive methods of hysterectomy, patient costs were significantly influenced by the method of hysterectomy.