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Endometriosis is a common condition associated with debilitating pelvic pain and infertility. A genome-wide association study meta-analysis, including 60,674 cases and 701,926 controls of European and East Asian descent, identified 42 genome-wide significant loci comprising 49 distinct association signals. Effect sizes were largest for stage 3/4 disease, driven by ovarian endometriosis. Identified signals explained up to 5.01% of disease variance and regulated expression or methylation of genes in endometrium and blood, many of which were associated with pain perception/maintenance (SRP14/BMF, GDAP1, MLLT10, BSN and NGF). We observed significant genetic correlations between endometriosis and 11 pain conditions, including migraine, back and multisite chronic pain (MCP), as well as inflammatory conditions, including asthma and osteoarthritis. Multitrait genetic analyses identified substantial sharing of variants associated with endometriosis and MCP/migraine. Targeted investigations of genetically regulated mechanisms shared between endometriosis and other pain conditions are needed to aid the development of new treatments and facilitate early symptomatic intervention.

This paper presents a robust model predictive control (RMPC) method with a new mixed H2/ H linear time-varying state feedback design. In addition, we propose a linear parameter-varying model for inverters in a microgrid (MG), in which disturbances and uncertainty are considered, where the inverters connect in parallel to renewable energy sources (RES). The proposed RMPC can use the gain-scheduled control law and satisfy both the H2 and H proficiency requirements under various conditions, such as disturbance and load variation. A multistep control method is proposed to reduce the conservativeness caused by the unique feedback control law, enhance the control proficiency, and strengthen the RMPC feasible area. Furthermore, a practical and efficient RMPC is designed to reduce the online computational burden. The presented controller can implement load sharing among distributed generators (DGs) to stabilize the frequency and voltage of an entire smart island. The proposed strategy is implemented and studied in a MG with two DG types and various load types. Specifically, through converters, one type of DGs is used to control frequency and voltage, and the other type is used to control current. These two types of DGs operate in a parallel mode. Simulation results show that the proposed RMPCs are input-to-state practically stable (ISpS). Compared with other controllers in the literature, the proposed strategy can lead to minor total harmonic distortion (THD), lower steady-state error, and faster response to system disturbance and load variation.

Perovskite-type transition metal (TM) oxides are effective catalysts in oxidation and decomposition reactions. Yet, the effect of compositional variation on catalytic efficacy is not well understood. The present analysis of electronic characteristics of B-site substituted LaCoO3 derivatives via in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) establishes correlations of electronic parameters with reaction rates: TM t2g and eg orbital occupancy yield volcano-type or non-linear correlations with NO oxidation, CO oxidation and N2O decomposition rates. Covalent O 2p-TM 3d interaction, in ultra-high vacuum, is a linear descriptor for reaction rates in NO oxidation and CO oxidation, and for N2O decomposition rates in O2 presence. Covalency crucially determines the ability of the catalytically active sites to interact with surface species during the kinetically relevant step of the reaction. The nature of the kinetically relevant step and of surface species involved lead to the vast effect of XAS measurement conditions on the validity of correlations.

The evaluation of a dryer performance in terms of energy consumption, drying capacity and quality of final product is the main concern of rice milling industry at any time. A study was implemented to investigate on the benefits of common drying practices by studying the drying performances of flat-bed and inclined-bed dryers which are popular in rice industry in Malaysia and neighbouring countries. For this purpose, flat-bed dryer (FBD) and inclined-bed dryer (IBD) were designed, fabricated and operated in the laboratory based on actual industrial drying conditions. The results revealed that inclined-bed drying significantly increased drying capacity (ton m-2 h-1) of up to 25 % at drying temperature of 42-43°C and almost 29 % at 38-39°C drying air temperature compared to flat-bed drying. Furthermore, overall drying energy consumption in IBD was found to vary between 78.6 to 91.97 kW.h ton-1, while for FBD the energy consumption was more than 200 kW.h ton-1 for both levels of drying air temperatures. Both dryers were found to produce rice with desired/ acceptable commercial quality index, even though the head rice yields of FBD were higher than that of IBDs.

The evaluation of a dryer performance in terms of energy consumption, drying capacity and quality of final product is the main concern of rice milling industry at any time. A study was implemented to investigate on the benefits of common drying practices by studying the drying performances of flat-bed and inclined-bed dryers which are popular in rice industry in Malaysia and neighbouring countries. For this purpose, flat-bed dryer (FBD) and inclined-bed dryer (IBD) were designed, fabricated and operated in the laboratory based on actual industrial drying conditions. The results revealed that inclined-bed drying significantly increased drying capacity (ton m-2 h-1) of up to 25 % at drying temperature of 42-43°C and almost 29 % at 38-39°C drying air temperature compared to flat-bed drying. Furthermore, overall drying energy consumption in IBD was found to vary between 78.6 to 91.97 kW.h ton-1, while for FBD the energy consumption was more than 200 kW.h ton-1 for both levels of drying air temperatures. Both dryers were found to produce rice with desired/ acceptable commercial quality index, even though the head rice yields of FBD were higher than that of IBDs.