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Generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) is a rare variant of psoriasis with severe clinical symptoms. However, the quality of life (QoL) of the patients is largely unknown. We conducted a nationwide cross‐sectional survey of Japanese GPP patients using the 36‐Item Short‐Form Health Survey version 2 (SF‐36v2) to elucidate patients’ QoL and how their QoL had changed over the last decade. We analyzed QoL data of 83 patients obtained from 2016 to 2019 (present group) and compared it with that of 105 patients collected in a previous survey conducted between 2003 and 2007 (past group). Although the QoL of the present patients was still largely impaired in comparison with the standard Japanese population, substantial improvement was found in some SF‐36v2 subscales including “general health”, “vitality”, “social functioning” and “mental health” as compared with that of the past group. Advances in treatment may contribute to this QoL improvement.

Pustulotic arthro-osteitis (PAO) is an osteoarticular complication of palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP). Although guselkumab, an anti-interleukin-23p19 antibody, has been shown to be effective for PPP, its efficacy for PAO is still not well understood. We conducted a retrospective observational study to evaluate the effectiveness of 28-week guselkumab treatment for five PAO patients in daily clinical practice. Four patients had sternoclavicular arthritis, and one had only sacroiliitis. Guselkumab improved pain visual assessment scale scores in all five patients by 54.2% (11.1-87.5%) on average at week 28 compared with baseline, and discontinuation or dose reduction of analgesics was possible in four of them. Three patients showed clinically significant improvement in Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index of 2 or more. On the other hand, beneficial change in Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score of 1.1 or more was observed in only one patient. Bone scintigraphy demonstrated decreased uptake in sternoclavicular joints after guselkumab treatment in all four patients with sternoclavicular arthritis. Improvement of Palmoplantar Pustulosis Area and Severity Index was also confirmed. Guselkumab can be a treatment option for intractable PAO.

The Japanese Dermatological Association prepared the clinical guidelines for the "Wound, pressure ulcer and burn guidelines", second edition, focusing on treatments. Among them, "Guidelines for wounds in general" is intended to provide the knowledge necessary to heal wounds, without focusing on particular disorders. It informs the basic principles of wound treatment, before explanations are provided in individual chapters of the guidelines. We updated all sections by collecting references published since the publication of the first edition. In particular, we included new wound dressings and topical medications. Additionally, we added "Question 6: How should wound-related pain be considered, and what should be done to control it?" as a new section addressing wound pain, which was not included in the first edition.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic relapsing skin disease localized mainly on the apocrine gland‐bearing areas. In Japan, HS is yet to be fully understood, and no criteria have been established for its diagnosis or severity assessment. The purpose of this study was to investigate and characterize HS in Japan. We conducted a nationwide questionnaire‐based study, in which Japanese diagnostic criteria were proposed. Question items included age, sex, disease duration, past history, family history, smoking status, disease severity scores (Hurley stage, modified Sartorius score and Physician Global Assessment [PGA] score), treatments, comorbidities and prognosis. We analyzed 300 patients (219 males and 81 females) diagnosed with HS based on our criteria. Average disease duration was 92.3 ± 6.82 months. Only 12 (4%) patients had a family history of HS. Disease severity was classified by PGA score (mild, 100 [33.3%]; moderate, 133 [44.3%]; severe, 34 [11.3%]; most severe, 29 [9.7%]) and Hurley stage (I, 69 [23%]; II, 109 [36.3%]; III, 121 [40.3%]). Disease severities based on PGA score and Hurley stage were positively correlated to modified Sartorius score using the Kruskal–Wallis test (P

The Japanese Dermatological Association prepared guidelines focused on the treatment of skin ulcers associated with connective tissue disease/vasculitis practical in clinical settings of dermatological care. Skin ulcers associated with connective tissue diseases or vasculitis occur on the background of a wide variety of diseases including, typically, systemic sclerosis but also systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), dermatomyositis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), various vasculitides and antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS). Therefore, in preparing the present guidelines, we considered diagnostic/therapeutic approaches appropriate for each of these disorders to be necessary and developed algorithms and clinical questions for systemic sclerosis, SLE, dermatomyositis, RA, vasculitis and APS.

Generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) is a rare disease characterized by recurrent fever and systemic flushing accompanied by extensive sterile pustules. The committee of the guidelines was founded as a collaborative project between the Japanese Dermatological Association and the Study Group for Rare Intractable Skin Diseases under the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare Research Project on Overcoming Intractable Diseases. The aim of the guidelines was to provide current information to aid in the treatment of patients with GPP in Japan. Its contents include the diagnostic and severity classification criteria for GPP, its pathogenesis, and recommendations for the treatment of GPP. Since there are few clinical trial data with high levels of evidence for this rare disease, recommendations by the committee are described in the present guidelines.

Interleukin (IL)-21 is regarded as a potent antitumor agent, which increases the cytotoxicity of both natural killer (NK) and CD8(+) T cells. In this study, we investigated the role of IL-21 in mycosis fungoides (MF). IL-21 mRNA expression levels in patch and plaque MF were significantly higher than those in normal skin. IL-21 mRNA expression levels in tumor MF were significantly decreased compared with those in patch and plaque MF. Interestingly, mRNA expression levels of IL-21 in MF lesional skin significantly correlated with those of T-helper type-1 cytokines/chemokines such as CXCL10, CXCL11 and γ-interferon. Immunohistochemistry showed that IL-21 was expressed by keratinocytes in patch and plaque MF. Furthermore, serum IL-21 levels in patients with tumor MF were significantly lower than those of healthy controls and plaque MF. Thus, IL-21 expression was significantly downregulated in skin and blood of patients with tumor MF, which may contribute to progression of MF. Our study suggests that recombinant IL-21 would be a promising therapy for MF.

We clarified the relationship between the display size of MRI images and observer performance using a digital contrast‐detail (d‐CD) phantom. The d‐CD phantom was developed using Microsoft Visual Basic 2010 Express. It had a 512×512 matrix in size and a total of 100 holes, whose diameter increased stepwise from 4 to 40 pixels with a 4‐pixel interval in the vertical direction; the contrast varied stepwise in the horizontal direction. The digital driving level (DDL) of the background, the width of the DDL, and the contrast were adjustable. These parameters were determined on the basis of the actual T1‐weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images of the brain. In this study, the DDL, width, and contrast were set to 85, 20, and 1, respectively. The observer performance study was performed for three different display sizes (30 cm×30 cm as the enlarged size, 16 cm×16 cm as the original size, and 10 cm×10 cm as the reduced size) using a 2‐megapixel color liquid crystal display monitor, and it was analyzed using Friedman and Wilcoxon statistical tests. The observer performances for the original display (p

Some patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) show a miserable clinical course and the only option that can induce long-term remission for advanced CTCL may be hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). So far, studies on HSCT for CTCL patients have been limited. In this study, we summarized 11 cases with CTCL treated with HSCT, including nine cases in Japan and two cases in Brazil. The patients were five cases with mycosis fungoides (MF), two cases with Sézary syndrome (SS), three cases with anaplastic large cell lymphoma, and one case with primary cutaneous peripheral T-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified (PTL-NOS). Currently, seven out of 11 cases are alive (at 13-108 months after transplantation) and four died at 15 days to 14 months after transplantation. When focusing on the eight patients who received allogeneic HSCT for MF/SS and PTL-NOS, all four patients at 45 years old or under are alive at present. One case showed relapse in the skin. On the other hand, one out of the other four patients at over 45 years old survived. Engraftment failure was seen in one case and all the other three cases experienced relapse. Although this is only a case series with a small number, our study has suggested that we should be careful about age when treating patients with MF/SS by allogeneic HSCT.

Predicting the short-term healing progress of pressure ulcers is important for providing timely and appropriate intervention. Although there are some prediction methods available, these are unsuitable for ulcers with abundant necrotic tissue. We aimed to elucidate the relationship between necrotic tissue alteration and protein distributions on ulcers to establish a new prediction method. Thirty-eight pressure ulcers were retrospectively analyzed. Protein distributions on necrotic tissue were evaluated by the wound blotting at three levels: marker protein positivity, signal patterns (speckled, heterogeneous, or homogeneous), and the occupation of heterogeneous pattern. Peroxidase, alkaline phosphatase, tumor necrosis factor α, and matrix metalloproteinase-2 were used as marker proteins. One-week necrotic tissue alteration was classified as liquefaction or nonliquefaction, and associations with protein distributions were analyzed. The peroxidase positivity was significantly higher in the liquefaction than in the nonliquefaction (p = 0.031). In peroxidase-positive samples, the proportion of nonliquefaction samples was significantly higher in the heterogeneous pattern (p = 0.029). In the heterogeneous-patterned samples, the proportion of samples with an occupation values greater than the median value tended to be higher in the nonliquefaction (p = 0.087). There was no significant relationship between liquefaction and other markers. Peroxidase positivity predicts 1-week liquefaction of necrotic tissue, while a heterogeneous pattern indicates nonliquefaction.

Loss of consciousness (LOC) in long QT syndrome (LQTS) patients can be caused by torsade de pointes (TdP) or vasovagal syncope (VVS). On genetic testing and head-up tilt testing (HUTT), we diagnosed three young patients with both genotyped LQTS and autonomic dysregulation. According to grade of prolongation of QT interval and LOC status, syncope episodes in two patients were classified as due to VVS, while those of the other patient were due to TdP. We also diagnosed one patient with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. Syncope in LQTS patients should not automatically be labeled TdP. If there is a possibility of VVS, HUTT should be performed, but careful observation is required because TdP cannot be completely ruled out.

CCR4 is expressed on tumor cells of mycosis fungoides (MF) and Sézary syndrome (SS). In MF, most infiltrating cells in patches and plaques express CXCR3, while tumor cells express CCR4 in advanced stages. Poteligeo Test IHC (CCR4 staining kit) is a newly developed staining kit that can examine the presence of CCR4 expressed on tumor cells of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma, peripheral T-cell lymphoma and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma before treatment of anti-CCR4 antibody using paraffin-embedded samples. In this study, we analyzed CCR4 expression in lesional skin of MF, SS, atopic dermatitis (AD) and psoriasis with this new kit. CCR4 was expressed on infiltrating cells in lesional skin of patch, plaque, tumor MF and SS, and the number of positive cells increased as the disease progressed. Immunohistochemistry with frozen sections also showed some positive cells scattered in the dermis, although the quality was not high enough to quantify positive cells. There were significant positive correlations between CCR4(+) cells and serum lactate dehydrogenase levels. Interestingly, CCR4(+) cells were also detected in AD skin, whose number was larger than that in psoriatic skin. Previous studies showed only scattered CCR4(+) cells in skin samples by standard immunohistochemical staining. The new, sensitive CCR4 staining kit has revealed that CCR4 is expressed on infiltrating cells in lesional skin of early MF and AD as well as advanced MF and SS. These cells can be therapeutic targets for patients who are resistant to standard treatments.

Because wound exudate includes secreted proteins that affect wound healing, its biochemical analysis is useful for objective assessment of chronic wounds. Wound blotting allows for collection of fresh exudate by attaching a nitrocellulose membrane onto the wound surface. To determine its applicability for several analysis methods and its executability in clinical wound assessment, this study comprised an animal experiment and clinical case reports. In the animal experiment, full-thickness wounds were created on the dorsal skin of mice, and exudate samples were collected daily by a conventional method and by wound blotting. Extremely small but adequate volumes of exudate were collected by wound blotting for subsequent analysis in the animal experiments. Immunostaining showed the concentration and distribution of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α. The activity of alkaline phosphatase was visualized by reaction with chemiluminescent substrate. The TNF distribution analysis indicated three different patterns: wound edge distribution, wound bed distribution, and a mostly negative pattern in both the animal and clinical studies, suggesting association between the TNF distribution pattern and wound healing. Our results indicate that wound blotting is a convenient method for biochemical analysis of exudate and a candidate tool with which to predict the healing/deterioration of chronic ulcers.

Background CC chemokine ligand (CCL) 18 is expressed by monocytes and dendritic cells (DCs), and has potent chemotactic activity for T cells, B cells and DCs. CCL18 expression is up-regulated in lesional skin of atopic dermatitis and bullous pemphigoid, suggesting its important roles in the development of these skin diseases. Objective To investigate roles of CCL18 in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). Methods The CCL18 messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in CTCL skin (n = 21) and in normal skin (n = 7) was examined by quantitative RT-PCR. CCL18 expression was also examined by immunohistochemistry. Serum CCL18 levels were measured in 38 patients with CTCL and 20 healthy controls by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We also analysed correlation between serum CCL18 levels and other clinical and laboratory data. Results The CTCL lesional skin contained higher levels of CCL18 mRNA than normal skin. CCL18 was expressed by dermal macrophages and DCs in CTCL skin. Serum CCL18 levels in patients with CTCL were significantly higher than those of healthy controls and correlated with types of skin lesions. They also significantly correlated with modified severity-weighted assessment scores, serum sIL-2R, LDH, IL-4, IL-10, IL-31, CCL17 and CCL26 levels. Patients with high serum levels of CCL18 showed significantly poor prognosis compared with those with low CCL18 levels. Conclusion CCL18 mRNA is up-regulated in CTCL lesional skin, and serum CCL18 levels are significantly increased and correlated with the severity of CTCL. These results suggest that CCL18 may be associated with the development of CTCL.

Background CD26 is a multifunctional type II transmembrane glycoprotein, which also exists as a secreted isoform, soluble CD26 (sCD26). The CD26 expression on circulating T cells is decreased in some skin diseases such as cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) and psoriasis. It remains to be determined whether sCD26 can be used as a marker of skin diseases or not. Objective To investigate utility of sCD26 as a diagnostic marker of skin diseases in combination with thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC). Methods Serum sCD26 levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 130 participants including 32 patients with atopic dermatitis (AD); 45 patients with CTCL; 26 patients with psoriasis; and 27 healthy controls. Results Serum sCD26 levels in patients with CTCL and psoriasis (162.1 ± 80.2 ng/mL and 125.4 ± 82.1 ng/mL respectively) were significantly lower than those of healthy controls (392.6 ± 198.7 ng/mL; P

It is necessary to develop new power generation systems using the unused low-temperature thermal energy around 100 °C from the viewpoint of global warming prevention. Even if a shape memory alloy is bent at normal temperature, when it is warmed, it has the character that it returns to the original straight form. Using this character of a shape memory alloy, unused thermal energy will be able to transform into rotation energy, and finally it can change into electric energy. We solved this energy conversion mechanism and the validity of this theory was indirectly verified by experiment. Furthermore, the power generation characteristic of the Shape Memory Alloy Engine was obtained by experiment. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 165(3): 8–15, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.20620

This paper deals with two types of control method for induction generators used in wind power generating stations. One is aimed at maintaining the voltage of the station node and the other is aimed at maintaining a constant power factor through the branch connecting to the station. Both can be in the controllable area by adjusting the generator reactive power with compensating capacitors. First, theoretical equations for the terminal voltage and power factor of an induction generator are derived, and then the compensating capacitance corresponding to the wind velocity variation is determined quantitatively. By using the proposed control method, it is shown to be possible to maintain the terminal voltage and operating power factor of a wind power generation system at the target values, even when abrupt deviations are caused by wind power disturbances. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 163(3): 19– 26, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.20298

In recent years, the electric utility industry worldwide has been facing pressure to be deregulated. Also, the risk of blackout in large areas will increase. Actually, it is still vivid in our memory that the northeastern United States and southern Canada suffered the worst blackout in history. Consequently, a method to find the optimal solution rapidly is needed all the more. In this paper, we propose a new multi-agent method for a bulk power system restoration. In order to demonstrate the capability of the proposed multi-agent system, it has been applied to a model bulk power system, which consists of three local areas including 12 generating units and 12 loads, and three remote areas with 12 loads. A large number of simulations are carried out on this model network with changing conditions. The simulation results show that the proposed multi-agent approach is effective and promising. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 164(1): 69–76, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.20485

With the recent increase in demand, power systems have become large and complex and generation plants are located far from the load center. As a result, power system instability has become more serious. On the other hand, the active and reactive powers am controlled rapidly and flexibly by the superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) system. This paper proposes a practical method to suppress power oscillation in a multimachine power system by using SMES wherein its active power is controlled by the signal derived from a bus frequency deviation. This controlled scheme is conducted easily only by detecting the frequency deviation on the site. The proposed method is examined on a 4-machine miniature power system connecting a I-MJ SMES as well as another digital simulation using the same model. The effectiveness of the proposed method is shown.

Many of the effects of dioxins, which are potent environmental pollutants and teratogens, are mediated through the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, also known as the dioxin receptor. The purpose of the present study was to characterize dioxin-responsive genes in a comprehensive manner using two complementary approaches: bioinformatic analysis and microarray analysis. First, we characterized the overall distribution of the cis-regulatory element for the dioxin-responsive element sequence (DRE) ‘gcgtg’ within putative promoter regions. We assembled the upstream sequences 10 kb from the transcription start site and evaluated their location and frequency in the human and mouse genomes. Second, we characterized the expression profile of mouse embryonic day 12 fetal brain exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrarchlorodibenzo-p-dioxin. The distributions of 26 680 DREs among 2843 human genes and 98 711 DREs among 18 541 mouse genes were examined. In both species, the DREs tended to be located close to the transcription start site. Forty genes exhibited significant induction or repression following dioxin exposure in fetal mice. The set of genes exhibited a strong functional coherence, with statistically significant enrichment in organogenesis and the DNA-dependent regulation of transcription, according to Gene Ontology annotations. In both humans and mice, DREs were preferentially distributed close to transcription start sites. Evolutionary conservation of this unique DRE distribution pattern suggests that DREs may be involved in transcriptional regulation. In mice, prenatal dioxin exposure altered the expression of 10 transcription factors, many of which have been documented to play a role in organogenesis. These genes may represent potential mediators of dioxin’s effects in fetal tissues.

Utilization of renewable energy is becoming increasingly important from the viewpoints of environmental protection and conservation of fossil fuel. However, the generating power of renewable energy is always fluctuating due to the environmental status. Energy storage systems are indispensable in compensating these fluctuating components. An energy capacitor system (ECS) composed of an electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC) with power-electronics devices is useful for compensation of fluctuating power, since it is capable of controlling both active and reactive power simultaneously. This paper proposes a current-source ECS (CS-ECS), which consists of an EDLC, a bidirectional buck-boost DC-DC converter, and a bidirectional inverter. We present the control systems for active/reactive power control of CS-ECS, and show the effectiveness of CS-ECS through computer simulations for the case of a wind power generation system. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 154(4): 34–41, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.20181

This paper proposes a multiagent approach to decentralized power system restoration for a distribution system network. The proposed method consists of several feeder agents (FAGs) and load agents (LAGs). LAG corresponds to the customer load, while a FAG is developed to act as a manager for the decision process. From the simulation results, the proposed multiagent system was able to reach the right solution by making use of only local information. This means that the proposed multiagent restoration system is a promising approach to more large-scale distribution networks. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 152(3): 21–28, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.20065

In recent years, the PMU (Phasor Measurement Unit) has received a great deal of attention as a synchronized measurement system of power systems. Synchronized phasor angles obtained by the PMU provide valuable information for evaluating the stability of a bulk power system. The aspect of instability phenomena during midterm tends to be more complicated, and the stability analysis using the synchronized phasor measurements is effective in order to keep a complicated power system stable. This paper proposes a midterm stability evaluation method for the wide-area power system using synchronized phasor measurements. By clustering the power system to some coherent groups, step-out is predicted on the basis of an aggregated two-machine equivalent power system. The midterm stability of a longitudinal power system model of Japan's 60-Hz systems constructed by a hybrid-type power system simulator is practically evaluated using the proposed method. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 147(1): 25–32, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.10274

In this paper, to achieve both damping of power system oscillation and terminal voltage control simultaneously on a multimachine power system, we propose a decentralized H∞ excitation controller. In the proposed method, H∞ control via the Normalized Coprime Factorization approach is used to achieve the proposed design idea. By the Normalized Coprime Factorization approach, the weighting function in H∞ control design is simplified, and output feedback controllers that take into account the realities and constraints of the power systems are designed. The proposed controller is subjected to model reduction of H∞ controllers, and is transformed to a discrete system to perform digital control by computer systems in consideration of application to a real system. We verify that the proposed excitation controller can achieve both damping of power system oscillation and terminal voltage control by computer simulations of a multimachine power system. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 147(1): 33–41, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.10254

In recent year, power generation from renewable energy sources is comming up. Particularly, wind power generation is attractive because of it’s advantages like, pollution free, no fuel cost, abundantly available in nature etc. However, the generated power is fluctuating and it mainly depends on the wind speed. These fluctuations will arise the bus voltage fluctuations and will cause power oscillations. A superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) unit based on a self-commutated inverter using Gate-turn-off (GTO) thyristor is capable of controlling both the active and reactive power simultaneously and quickly. In this paper, control system conguration for active and ractive output power control of the series and parallel compensator which applied SMES is presented. Furthermore, this paper also describes the effectiveness of generating power leveling of transmission line and compensation of the generator’s terminal bus voltage instantaneous sag. It is show through simulations, that the controlling sequence of charging and discharging of the SMES coil effectively damps out the generator’s terminal bus voltage fluctuations and transmission line power oscillations.

In recent year, non-conventional energy generation is coming up for effective use of natural energy, such as wind energy. Induction generators consisting squirrel-cage rotors are widly used as wind generators because of their salient features like robust rotor design, simple in the construction, maintenance free operation, etc. However these induction generators will draw large transient inrush current, several times as large as the machine rated current, the instant when they are connected to utility grid or restored after the fault clearance. Under such situations, there will be a severe voltage fluctuations in the power system. In this paper, we present transient analysis of induction generators before and after a three-phase fault conditions. Theoretical discission is developed to determine the initial phase angle and the time at which maximum transient currents flow in the system.

We performed balloon angioplasty in three patients with postoperative coarctation in the transverse arch adjacent to the left common carotid artery. The age at arch reconstruction was 5, 6, and 2 days, while the interval between operation and balloon dilatation was 59 days, 87 days, and 12 months, respectively. Two balloons, one in the stenosis and the other in the left common carotid artery, were introduced over a wire sequentially and inflated simultaneously until the waist of the balloon in the arch disappeared. After balloon dilatation, a significant reduction in the peak-to-peak pressure gradient and an increase in vessel diameters were observed in all patients. Further growth of the transverse arch was documented at follow-up in two patients. No aneurysm has been detected in any patients. We believe that placing a protective balloon in the neck vessel increases safety during balloon dilatation of coarctation in the transverse arch.

Unit commitment problem is an optimization problem to determine the start-up and shut-down schedule of thermal units while satisfying various constraints, for example, generation-demand balance, unit minimum up/down time, system reserve, and so on. Since this problem involves a large number of 0–1 type variables that represent up/down status of the unit and continuous variables expressing generation output, it is a difficult combinatorial optimization problem to solve. The study at present concerns the method for requiring the suboptimum solution efficiently. Unit commitment method widely used solves the problem without consideration of voltage, reactive power, and transmission constraints. In this paper, we will propose a solution of unit commitment with voltage and transmission constraints, based on the unit decommitment procedure (UDP) method, heuristic method, and optimal power flow (OPF). In this method, initial unit status will be determined from random numbers and the feasibility will be checked for minimum start-up/shut-down time and demand-generation balance. If the solution is infeasible, the initial solution will be regenerated until a feasible solution can be found. Next, OPF is applied for each time period with the temporary unit status. Then, the units that have less contribution to the cost are detected and will be shut down based on the unit decommitment rules. This process will be repeated until suboptimal solution is obtained. The proposed method has been applied to the IEEE 118-bus test system with 36 generating units with successful result. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 144(3): 36–45, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.10187

This paper proposes a multiagent system to power system unit commitment problems. Multiagent is a new paradigm for developing software applications. Coordinating the behavior of autonomous agents is a key issue in agent-oriented programming techniques today. Recently, agents are being used in an increasingly wide variety of applications, ranging from comparatively small systems such as E-mail filters to large, open, complex systems such as air traffic control. Though some agent frameworks have been proposed in the power system field, the number of studies is limited. In this paper, we developed a power system unit commitment application by multiagent architecture. Our multiagent system has the following characteristics: (1) The system consists of a single facilitator agent, two mobile agents, and one or more generator agents which are elements of power system network. (2) The facilitator agent is developed to act as a manager for the process by using the singleton design pattern. The mobile agents migrate to generator-agents to increase or decrease their power generations. The generator agents have their operational data. (3) Message object is developed to communicate between the agents using KQML-like object. The proposed approach is applied to a simple model system, and the results show that the multiagent system is an efficient decentralized approach for solving power system unit commitment problems. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 141(2): 41–47, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.10057

Background Genetic background of a fetus contributes to the abnormal development after teratogen exposure. In rodents, in utero exposure to dioxins affects male external genital development. The effects of dioxins are mediated via the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) and its binding protein, aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (ARNT). In mice, aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor (AHRR), which binds to ARNT in competition with AHR, plays a critical negative regulatory role in AHR signaling. We attempt to characterize the human AHRR gene and investigate the relationship between AHRR polymorphisms and the incidence of micropenis, a phenotype of undermasculinization. Methods We identified and characterized the human homolog of mouse AHRR, taking advantage of the publicly available draft version of the human genome sequence. After detecting an AHRR protein polymorphism by the direct sequencing of pooled human genomic DNA, we evaluated the association between the polymorphism and the presence or absence of micropenis (