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To develop two-dimensional (2D) upper airway normative values in pediatric patients and correlate upper airway measurements with age.Cone beam computed tomography scans of 3738 patients were examined, and a sample of 61 patients, divided into two age groups (7-11 and 12-17 years), was used to reconstruct lateral cephalograms.The mean adenoid-nasopharynx (A/N) ratio was 0.45 and 0.44 for age groups 1 and 2, respectively. The mean PNS-ad1 and PNS-ad2 were 24 and 18.7 mm, respectively, for age group 1, and 26.7 and 21.2 mm, respectively, for age group 2. Additional normative values for the hyoid bone, airway space, uvula, and tongue are presented. The highest correlation with age was the upper airway length (Although cephalometric radiographs remain 2D reconstructions of three-dimensional structures, they have significant value and can aid clinicians in the screening process for pediatric sleep apnea.

This study identifies and analyzes the relationship between the diversity of the board of directors and the president director's educational background on the bank's financial performance. Based on 38 samples of Indonesian banks that have been listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. This study examines the static and dynamic relationship between the framework, which controls for the specific effects of each of the factors being tested. The results of this study indicate a significant influence and direction of negative correlation between gender diversity and citizenship diversity on bank financial performance. This study also shows a significant influence and direction of a positive correlation between the president director with an economic or business education background on the bank's financial performance. This study also discusses several managerial implications for banking companies and recommendations for the government in relation to the regulation of the board of directors of banks in Indonesia. DOI : https://doi.org/10.26905/jkdp.v25i2.5154

Aims The aim of this study was to determine the contemporary use of reperfusion therapy in the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) member and affiliated countries and adherence to ESC clinical practice guidelines in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Methods and results Prospective cohort (EURObservational Research Programme STEMI Registry) of hospitalized STEMI patients with symptom onset

Burns, which generate hypertrophic scar formation, may decrease functional and aesthetical aspects of patients’ quality of life. To date, grafting treatments were not only proceeded solitarily. The technological development of burn treatments emerged with approaches, such as negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) and tissue-engineered skin (TES). By incorporating negative pressure on the wound bed, NPWT was able to remove debris, remove exudates, maintain humidity, and improve epithelization. A latter development of wound management, TES, also showed prominent results of wound healing. Benefitting from tissue engineering approaches, TES provided the wound bed with extracellular matrix (ECM) and 3D structure to support wound healing. In some reports, NPWT was combined with TES to promote better efficacy. Unfortunately, the efficacies of NPWT, TES, or NPWT-TES hybrid as assisting approaches for skin drafting techniques are not reviewed yet, as well as the cost comparison of the three treatments. In this report, the comparison of skin grafting techniques assisted with the three treatments (NPWT, TES, or NPWT-TES hybrid) was investigated in terms of efficacy and cost. The review starts with brief technical aspects of the three treatments. Subsequently, the efficacy and cost analyses were discussed.

Saleh H Alwadei,1 Khalid Almotiry,2 Amjad AlMawash,3 Farhan H Alwadei,1 Abdurahman H Alwadei3 1Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Saleh H AlwadeiDepartment of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz, University, Alkharj, 11942, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaTel +966115886262Fax +966115886201Email s.alwadei@psau.edu.saBackground: Dentofacial problems have a definitive impact on patients’ psychological well-being, quality of life, and satisfaction. Therefore, patients’ satisfaction with their dentition should be an essential goal for dental caregivers.Aim: To compare parental satisfaction with their children’s rapid palatal expansion treatment outcome provided by orthodontists and pediatric dentists.Materials and Methods: The authors reviewed 605 medical records and contacted 134 parents whose children received early orthodontic treatment from orthodontists and pediatric dentists using a rapid palatal expander. Eighty-eight parents (65.7%) responded to a validated questionnaire about patients’ satisfaction with orthodontic treatment outcomes.Results: At baseline; there were no significant differences in relation to parent-related demographic variables. However, there were statistically significant differences between patients’ ages and treatment duration (p < 0.001). Independent t-tests showed statistically significant differences in the means for the subscales of doctor–patient relationship and situational aspects (p < 0.05). Spearman’s rho correlation coefficients and multivariate linear regression analysis showed that the overall satisfaction is significantly related to, and can be predicted by, parents’ educational level, child’s gender, and the specialty of the dentist who provided the treatment (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Overall parental satisfaction with their children’s rapid palatal expansion treatment is significantly higher when provided by pediatric dentists as compared with orthodontists. Factors related to doctor–patient relationship and situational aspects (ie, office location and design, appointment waiting, and treatment duration) significantly impacted parental satisfaction.Keywords: rapid palatal expansion, parents’ satisfaction, pediatric dentists, orthodontists

There is a great deal of excitement in higher education about the value of adaptive learning to personalize learning paths according to students' individual needs. The authors explored the impact of an Adaptive Learning Platform (ALP) on learning, by comparing learning effectiveness between dental students who used the ALP in a blended learning environment formatively and summatively compared with students who did not use the ALP (i.e., face-to-face), as measured by students' performance on the final exam in a single review preparatory course during the academic years 2013-2018. Paired t-tests showed significant improvement in post-test scores across different course instructional modalities (P < 0.01). The learning gain was greater for students who studied using the ALP summatively (t = 26.20) than those who used it formatively or studied using a face-to-face format (t = 13.10 and 14.13, respectively). Controlling for pre-test scores, analysis of covariance tests indicate that: (1) intervention groups (formative and summative ALP) scored significantly higher than the traditional group (B = 9.34 points, P < 0.01, for summative ALP group) and (B = 4.47 points, P < 0.05, for formative ALP group), and (2) summative ALP group scored significantly higher than formative ALP group (B = 4.84 points, P < 0.05). This study provides empirical evidence that an adaptive learning intervention can have a significant impact on student learning performance. The success of any adaptive learning system relies mainly on sound instructional design. Technology will continue to grow at an overwhelming pace; the cautionary note the authors highlight is that conceptions of pedagogy, complemented by technology, must guide the development of adaptive learning systems.

Objectives The purpose of this work was to study maternal and fetal outcomes of women with uncorrected congenital heart disease (CHD). Background Globally, CHD is an important cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in women reaching reproductive stage. Data are lacking from larger cohorts of women with uncorrected CHD. Methods The 10-year data from the European Society of Cardiology EORP ROPAC (EURObservational Research Programme Registry of Pregnancy and Cardiac disease) registry of women with uncorrected CHD were analyzed. Results Of 5,739 pregnancies in 53 countries, 3,295 women had CHD, 1,059 of which were uncorrected cases. Of these, 41.4% were from emerging countries. There were marked differences between the cardiac defects in uncorrected cases versus those in corrected CHD cases with primary shunt lesions (44.7% vs. 32.4%, respectively), valvular abnormalities (33.5% vs. 12.6%, respectively), and Tetralogy of Fallot and pulmonary atresia (0.8% vs. 20.3%, respectively; p < 0.001). In patients with uncorrected CHD, 6.8% were in modified World Health Organization risk class IV, approximately 10% had pulmonary hypertension (PH), and 3% were cyanotic prior to pregnancy. Maternal mortality and heart failure (HF) in the women with uncorrected CHD were 0.7% and 8.7%, respectively. Eisenmenger syndrome was associated with a very high risk of cardiac events (65.5%), maternal mortality (10.3%), and HF (48.3%). Coming from an emerging country was associated with higher pre-pregnancy signs of HF, PH, and cyanosis (p < 0.001) and worse maternal and fetal outcomes, with a 3-fold higher rate of hospital admissions for cardiac events and intrauterine growth retardation (p < 0.001). Conclusions Marked differences between cardiac conditions in pregnant women with uncorrected CHD and those in corrected CHD were found, with a markedly worse outcome, particularly in women with Eisenmenger syndrome and from emerging countries.

ObjectiveTo determine the prevalence and associated features of demoralization in Parkinson disease (PD).MethodsParticipants with PD and controls were prospectively recruited from outpatient movement disorder clinics and the community. Demoralization was defined as scoring positively on the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research, Demoralization questionnaire or Kissane Demoralization Scale score ≥24. Depression was defined as Patient Health Questionnaire-9 score ≥10. Forward stepwise logistic regression was used to determine the odds of having demoralization in the overall, control, and PD cohorts.ResultsDemoralization occurred in 18.1% of 94 participants with PD and 8.1% of 86 control participants (p = 0.05). These 2 groups were otherwise comparable in age, sex, education, economics, race, and marital status. Although demoralization was highly associated with depression, there were individuals with one and not the other. Among participants with PD, 7 of 19 (36.8%) depressed individuals were not demoralized, and 5 of 17 (29.4%) demoralized individuals were not depressed. In the overall cohort, having PD (odds ratio 2.60, 95% confidence interval 1.00–6.80, p = 0.051) was associated with demoralization, along with younger age and not currently being married. In the PD cohort, younger age and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, part III score (per score 1) were associated with demoralization (odds ratio 1.06, 95% confidence interval 1.01–1.12, p = 0.02).ConclusionsDemoralization is common in PD and is associated with motor dysfunction. In demoralization, there is a prominent inability to cope, making it somewhat distinct from depression. Treatment approaches are also different, making it important to identify demoralization in patients with PD.

Aims The Acute Cardiac Care Association (ACCA)–European Association of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (EAPCI) Registry on ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) of the EurObservational programme (EORP) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) registry aimed to determine the current state of the use of reperfusion therapy in ESC member and ESC affiliated countries and the adherence to ESC STEMI guidelines in patients with STEMI. Methods and results Between 1 January 2015 and 31 March 2018, a total of 11 462 patients admitted with an initial diagnosis of STEMI according to the 2012 ESC STEMI guidelines were enrolled. Individual patient data were collected across 196 centres and 29 countries. Among the centres, there were 136 percutaneous coronary intervention centres and 91 with cardiac surgery on-site. The majority of centres (129/196) were part of a STEMI network. The main objective of this study was to describe the demographic, clinical, and angiographic characteristics of patients with STEMI. Other objectives include to assess management patterns and in particular the current use of reperfusion therapies and to evaluate how recommendations of most recent STEMI European guidelines regarding reperfusion therapies and adjunctive pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments are adopted in clinical practice and how their application can impact on patients’ outcomes. Patients will be followed for 1 year after admission. Conclusion The ESC ACCA-EAPCI EORP ACS STEMI registry is an international registry of care and outcomes of patients hospitalized with STEMI. It will provide insights into the contemporary patient profile, management patterns, and 1-year outcome of patients with STEMI.

To develop and compare pediatric upper airway three-dimensional normative values using the two most commonly used cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) software: Invivo5 (fixed threshold) and Dolphin 3D (interactive threshold). Out of 3738 CBCT scans, scans of 81 pediatric patients were utilized after applying strict exclusion criteria. The sample was grouped into two age groups (7–11 and 12–17 years). Intra-class correlation coefficient was used to test intra-rater and inter-rater reliability and showed coefficients greater than 0.9 indicating good reliability of the methods used. Paired t tests showed that volumetric and area measurements obtained using Dolphin 3D were significantly larger than those obtained using Invivo5 (p

Agents are intelligent entities placed in some environment to make wise decisions and act flexibly and autonomously based on their built-in intelligence along with their previous experiences. This paper focuses on the main features of smart grid, anatomy of an agent and the applications of these intelligent agents in power grid to achieve the envisioned goal of the smart grid. A thorough literature survey of intelligent agents and smart grids relating the applications of agents in smart grids has been done. Agents appeared to be the intelligent entities best suited for monitoring, control, electricity market activities and the efficient usage of energy. They provide a market place for electric vehicles (EVs) and demand response (DR).

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common, chronic neurologic condition, which causes a persistent urge to move the legs in the evening that interferes with sleep. Human and animal studies have been used to study the pathophysiologic state of RLS and much has been learned about the iron and dopamine systems in relation to RLS. Human neuropathologic and imaging studies have consistently shown decreased iron in different brain regions including substantia nigra and thalamus. These same areas also demonstrate a state of relative dopamine excess. While it is not known how these changes in dopamine or iron produce the symptoms of RLS, genetic and hormone studies of RLS have identified other biologic systems or genes, such as the endogenous opioid and melanocortin systems and BTBD9 and MEIS1, that may explain some of the iron or dopamine changes in relation to RLS. This manuscript will review what is known about the pathophysiology of RLS, especially as it relates to changes in iron, dopamine, genetics, and hormonal systems.

This study assesses the impact of hydroelectric dams on the discharge and total suspended solids (TSS) concentration in the Huong River basin in Vietnam. The analysis is based on hydrologic and sediment transport simulations by the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model driven by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) 3B42V6 rainfall data, from January 2003 through December 2010. An upstream sub-basin not affected by the hydroelectric dams was used for model calibration. The calibration results indicate good agreement between simulated and observed daily data (0.67 Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency, 0.82 Pearson correlation coefficient). The calibrated model for discharge and TSS simulation is then applied on another major sub-basin and then the whole Huong River basin. The simulation results indicate that dam operation in 2010 decreased downstream discharge during the rainy season by about 35% and augmented it during the dry season by about 226%. The downstream TSS concentration has decreased due to the dam operation but the total sediment loading increased during the dry season and decreased during the rainy season. On average, the dam construction and operation affected the pattern of discharge more than that of the sediment loading. Results indicate that SWAT, driven by remotely sensed inputs, can reasonably simulate discharge and water quality in ungauged or poorly gauged river basins and can be very useful for water resources assessment and climate change impact studies in such basins.

Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has experienced unusual levels of urbanization in the past few decades, making it one of the fastest growing cities in the world. This paper examines flood hazards in the rapidly urbanizing catchment of Al-Aysen in Riyadh. Remote sensing and geographic information system techniques were employed to obtain and prepare input data for hydrologic and hydraulic models, with the former based on the very popular curve number approach. Due to the limited nature of the rainfall data, observations from two rain gauges in the vicinity of the catchment were used to estimate design storms. The hydrologic model was run in a semi-distributed mode by dividing the catchment into many sub-catchments. The impact of urbanization on run-off volume and peak discharge resulting from different storms was investigated, with various urbanization scenarios simulated. Flood hazard zones and affected streets were also identified through hydrologic/hydraulic model simulation. The mismatch between administrative and catchment boundaries can create problems in flood risk management for similar cities since hydrologic processes and flood hazards are based on the hydrologic connectivity. Since flooding events impact the road network and create driving hazards, governmental decision-makers must take the necessary precautions to protect drivers in these situations.

Contraction of resilience on generation side due to the introduction of inflexible renewable energy sources is demanding more elasticity on consumption side. It requires more intelligent systems to be implemented to maintain power balance in the grid and to fulfill the consumer needs. This paper is concerned about the energy balance management of the system using intelligent agent-based architecture. The idea is to limit the peak power of each individual household for different defined time regions of the day according to power production during those time regions. Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) has been employed to study the behavior of a particular number of households for maintaining the power balance based on proposed technique to limit the peak power for each household and even individual load level. Flexibility of two major loads i.e. heating load (heat storage tank) and electric vehicle load (battery) allows us to shift the peaks on demand side proportionally with the generation in real time. Different parameters related to heating and Electric Vehicle (EV) load e.g. State of Charge (SOC), storage capacities, charging power, daily usage, peak demand hours have been studied and a technique is proposed to mitigate the imbalance of power intelligently.

Limited range of Electric Vehicle's (EV) battery in terms of number of miles per recharge, requires EV to recharge the battery at least once during the long trip. However, long charging durations are not acceptable in these cases, therefore fast charging of EV is needed. Fast charging of EV needs more charging power for relatively shorter period of time, which gives rise to overloading of the power network due to simultaneous charging of multiple EVs at the fast charging stations. This paper studies the power network requirements to meet the EV fast charging needs on highways. Different parameters are considered in the study, for instance, arrival order of EVs at the charging stations, number of charging slots per charging station, power rating of installed chargers, distance between charging stations, state of charge (SoC) of EVs arriving for charging, battery capacities, waiting time at charging stations and the duration of charging. Various scenarios are simulated using Monte Carlo Simulations (MCS) to see the impact of fast charging on the power network loading. The key finding is the peak load on individual fast charging stations with respect to different penetration levels of EVs on the road. A real highway case in Finland is considered in this study to show the rationality of the results.

Global aerosol direct radiative forcing (DRF) is an important metric for assessing potential climate impacts of future emissions changes. However, the radiative consequences of emissions perturbations are not readily quantified nor well understood at the level of detail necessary to assess realistic policy options. To address this challenge, here we show how adjoint model sensitivities can be used to provide highly spatially resolved estimates of the DRF from emissions of black carbon (BC), primary organic carbon (OC), sulfur dioxide (SO(2)), and ammonia (NH(3)), using the example of emissions from each sector and country following multiple Representative Concentration Pathway (RCPs). The radiative forcing efficiencies of many individual emissions are found to differ considerably from regional or sectoral averages for NH(3), SO(2) from the power sector, and BC from domestic, industrial, transportation and biomass burning sources. Consequently, the amount of emissions controls required to attain a specific DRF varies at intracontinental scales by up to a factor of 4. These results thus demonstrate both a need and means for incorporating spatially refined aerosol DRF into analysis of future emissions scenario and design of air quality and climate change mitigation policies.

Due to the complex design and high costs of production, solar thermal systems have fallen behind in the world of alternative energy systems. Different mechanisms are applied to increase the efficiency of the solar collectors and to reduce the cost. Solar tracking system is the most appropriate technology to increase the efficiency of solar collectors as well as solar power plants by tracking the sun timely. In order to maximize the efficiency of collectors, one needs to keep the reflecting surface of parabolic trough collectors perpendicular to the sun rays. For this purpose microcontroller based real time sun tracker is designed which is controlled by an intelligent algorithm using shadow technique. The aim of the research project is to test the solar-to-thermal energy efficiency by tracking parabolic trough collector (PTC). The energy efficiency is determined by measuring the temperature rise of working fluid as it flows through the receiver of the collector when it is properly focused. The design tracker is also simulated to check its accuracy. The main purpose to design this embedded system is to increase the efficiency and reliability of solar plants by reducing size, complexity and cost of product.

Although evidence for Quaternary environmental changes in the Arabian Peninsula is now growing, research has mostly been conducted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and in the Sultanate of Oman. There have been virtually no recent studies in Saudi Arabia, especially in the central region such as around Al-Quwaiayh. In this area there are a series of outwash plains developed along the eastern edge of the Arabian Shield that formed in the late Quaternary. Four sedimentary sections, which are representative of the deposits that have accumulated, have been studied and five luminescence ages obtained. These are the first luminescence ages acquired from Quaternary sediments in central Saudi Arabia. The preserved fluvial deposits in the study area have formed during humid events at ca. 54 ka, ca. 39 ka and ca. 0.8 ka. In more recent times aeolian sands have been encroaching on to the distal parts of the outwash plains. Copyright # 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Purpose: Clinical outcomes for phacoemulsification surgery are still compared with the almost 10-year-old benchmark of the 1997–98 National Cataract Surgery Survey (NCSS) published in this journal. Extraneous to the peer-reviewed research literature, more recent databases suggest much better results may be being obtained. This offered the rare opportunity to perform an audit as research investigating if this was indeed the case and a new benchmark is needed, with the additional standard of rigorous study peer review by independent senior ophthalmologists. At this pilot centre for Patient Choice provision, all cataract surgery was performed on Consultant-supervised training lists, a novel extension in-sourcing care using public resources rather than to an independent sector that may not be supervised by NHS Consultants. Patient satisfaction was also surveyed. We asked whether the NCSS is out-of-date, and whether good outcomes on Choice schemes are compatible with Consultant-led training within the National Health Service? Methods: An audit of 1000 consecutive patients undergoing cataract surgery on Patient Choice at the Western Eye Hospital between October 2002 and September 2004. All subjects were scheduled for phacoemulsification. A novel policy was extending “choice” onto training list slots for this period. A validated questionnaire assessed patient satisfaction. Results: A best corrected visual acuity of 6/12 or better was obtained in 93% of cases. Over 80% of cases were ±1 D of target refraction (65.7% within 0.5 D). The total incidence of complications was 8.7%. Overall incidence of major complications was 2.4%. Incidence of vitreous loss was 1.1% and that of endophthalmitis 0.1%. Complications rates were lowest for consultants (less than 1%). User satisfaction with having cataract surgery on “patient choice” was high. Conclusions: Cataract surgery under patient choice on supervised training lists is associated with a visual outcome and an incidence of complications at least as good as the published national average. User satisfaction is high. Cataract surgery under patient choice is compatible with training activity in receiving hospitals. The improvement in outcomes since the 1997–98 NCSS suggest that the accepted standards for complication rates should be updated to reflect the fact that phacoemulsification has become an established procedure.

Image merging has gained acceptance in geological remote sensing, however it has rarely been applied in geomorphology. We report on the usefulness of principal components substitution (PCS) to merge IRS panchromatic data with multispectral Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery, to map commonly encountered desert geomorphological features, and in relative age dating of alluvial surfaces. The merged data were applied to the identification and mapping of geomorphological features along two geolo-gically different mountain fronts in central Saudi Arabia. Two types of geomorphological maps have been created. A morphogenetic map that distinguishes between aeolian landforms, fluvial landforms, desert pavements, and gypsum crusts. Second, a morphochronological map, which shows the relative age of four geomorphic surfaces developed on an alluvial fan. The construction of the two maps is supported by field observations and laboratory measurements. Using the optimum index factor (OIF), a TM band 1, 5 and 7 image (of 20 merged composites) was found to be the optimum colour composite image for the geomorphological features in this arid environment. We discuss our findings in the context of the spatial and spectral properties required for applied geomorphological remote sensing.

Over the coming decades, new energy production technologies and the policies that oversee them will affect human health, the vitality of our ecosystems, and the stability of the global climate. The GLIMPSE decision model framework provides insights about the implications of technology and policy decisions on these outcomes. Using GLIMPSE, decision makers can identify alternative techno-policy futures, examining their air quality, health, and short- and long-term climate impacts. Ultimately, GLIMPSE will support the identification of cost-effective strategies for simultaneously achieving performance goals for these metrics. Here, we demonstrate the utility of GLIMPSE by analyzing several future energy scenarios under existing air quality regulations and potential CO2 emission reduction policies. We find opportunities for substantial cobenefits in setting both climate change mitigation and health-benefit based air quality improvement targets. Though current policies which prioritize public health protection increase near-term warming, establishing policies that also reduce greenhouse gas emissions may offset warming in the near-term and lead to significant reductions in long-term warming.

International audience; In vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs), for a large number of applications, the destination of relevant information such as alerts, is the whole set of vehicles located inside a given area. Therefore dissemination with efficient broadcast is an essential communication primitive. One of the families of broadcast protocols suitable for such networks, is the family of delay-based broadcast protocols, where farthest receivers retransmit first and where transmissions also act as implicit acknowledgements. For lossless networks, such protocols may approach the optimum efficiency. However with realistic loss models of VANET wireless communication, their performance is noticeably degraded. This is because packet losses have a double effect: directly on the amount of successfully received packets and indirectly with implicit acknowledgement misses. In this article, in order to combat the effects of packet losses, we combine delay-based broadcast with network coding, through a new protocol: Delay-based Opportunistic Network Coding protocol (DONC). By design, DONC aims at cancelling the twofold effects of packet and implicit acknowledgement losses. We describe the details of the DONC protocol, and we study its behavior, with realistic models and simulations. Results illustrate the excellent performance of the protocol.

Recent technological developments in mobile networks arena have led manufacturers to incorporate multiple radio network interfaces in modern day mobile terminals. On the other hand, the availability of a diverse range of access networks makes it possible for mobile terminals to connect to several types of networks simultaneously. In such a scenario, a mobile terminal can increase its utility by optimizing the usage of the available access networks and providing each application with a network best suitable to its specific requirements. In this paper, we propose a multiple flow/interface association scheme that allows associating several applications to the available network interfaces simultaneously while maximizing the terminal global utility. We perform a comparative study of different stochastic heuristic methods and propose an oriented diversification of the Tabu search algorithm that improves the search performance. With the help of simulation results, we show that our proposed method outperforms others.

Apart from all the potential benefits offered by Electric Vehicles (EVs), they demand some structural changes in the power network to fullfill their charging needs. In this paper, we have studied the impact of EVs charging load on the distribution transformer loading. Different penetration levels of EVs have been considered to see the effect of EVs charging load on the capacities of distribution transformers. A real case study has been considered for 14 different distribution transformers in the city of Vantaa in Finland to have the real impact of the study. Analysis about the peak power of each transformer with and without EV load for different power tariffs has been done. Possible upgradation need of the network based on various penetration levels of EVs is also analyzed.

Cellular localization of neurotransmitter transporters is important for the precise control of synaptic transmission. By removing the neurotransmitters from the synaptic cleft, these transporters terminate signalling and affect duration and intensity of neurotransmission. Thus, a lot of work has been invested in the determination of the cellular compartment to which neurotransmitter transporters localize. In particular, the polarized distribution has received substantial attention. However, trafficking of transporters in the early secretory pathway has been largely ignored. Oligomer formation is a prerequisite for newly formed transporters to pass the stringent quality control mechanisms of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and this quaternary structure is also the preferred state which transporters reside in at the plasma membrane. Only properly assembled transporters are able to recruit the coatomer coat proteins that are needed for ER-to-Golgi trafficking. In this review, we will start with a brief description on transporter oligomerization that underlies ER-to-Golgi trafficking, followed by an introduction to ER-to-Golgi trafficking of neurotransmitter transporters. Finally, we will discuss the importance of oligomer formation for the pharmacological action of the illicitly used amphetamines and its derivatives.

Residential Demand Response (DR) is believed to be a feasible tool for increasing the power system operational flexibility and efficiency. In this paper, we develop a demand response methodology for residential peak load shaving. We present an optimal demand response model for scheduling the EV and storage space heating load in tandem. Realistic case studies based on Finnish household data is performed to showcase the effectiveness of the proposed methodology and the results are thoroughly compared with business as usual case. The simulation result suggests that proposed methodology can bring economic savings to the customers and reduce the peak power problem as well.

This paper presents the development of fast charging infrastructure for Electric Vehicles (EVs) with the proportional increase in the number of EVs on highways. Development of charging infrastructure includes the installation of charging units in the urban or rural areas depending upon the need, forecast for the increased energy demand on power grid and consideration of capital invested on the system as a whole. Monte Carlo Simulations (MCS) have been performed to investigate the power demand, energy needed, utilization factor of each station and socket, and the Socket-to-EV ratio considering different waiting time scenarios. Socket-to-EV ratio varies with the limitation of waiting times offered to the EVs at charging stations. Socket-to-EV ratio is considered to be the parameter that tells the number of sockets needed to fulfill the charging need of EVs in a particular scenario. Utilization factor of charging sockets for different scenarios gives an estimate of power delivery hours of charging sockets to study the cost-and-benefit ratio of various cases.

RNAi screening for kinases regulating the functional organization of the early secretory pathway in Drosophila S2 cells has identified the atypical Mitotic Associated Protein Kinase (MAPK) Extracellularly regulated kinase 7 (ERK7) as a new modulator. We found that ERK7 negatively regulates secretion in response to serum and amino acid starvation in both Drosophila and human cells. Under these conditions ERK7 turnover through the proteasome is inhibited and the resulting higher levels of this kinase lead to a modification in a site within the C terminus of Sec16 a key ER exit site component. This post translational modification elicits the cytoplasmic dispersion of Sec16 and the consequent disassembly of the ER exit sites which in turn results in protein secretion inhibition. We found that ER exit site disassembly upon starvation is TOR complex 1 (TORC1) independent showing that under nutrient stress conditions cell growth is not only inhibited at the transcriptional and translational levels but also independently at the level of secretion by inhibiting the membrane flow through the early secretory pathway. These results reveal the existence of new signalling circuits participating in the complex regulation of cell growth.