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A layer of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) was applied on the photoanode of a self-powered photoelectrochemical (PEC) UV photodetector based on TiO2 nanotubes (NTs).

Power systems with high penetration of wind resources must cope with significant uncertainties originated from wind power prediction error. This uncertainty might lead to wind power curtailment and load shedding events in the system as a big challenge. Efficient modeling and incorporation of wind power uncertainty in generation and reserve scheduling can prevent these events. This paper presents a new framework for wind power cumulative distribution function (CDF) modeling and its incorporation in a new chance-constrained economic dispatch (CCED) problem. The proposed CDF modeling uses few moments of wind power random samples. To validly capture the actual features of the wind power distribution such as main mass, high skewness, tails, and especially boundaries from the moments, an efficient moment problem is presented and solved using the beta kernel density representation (BKDR) technique. Importantly, a new polynomial cost function for efficient modeling of wind power misestimation costs is proposed for the CCED problem that eliminates the need for an analytical CDF and enables the use of an accurate piecewise linearization technique. Using this technique, the non-linear CCED problem is converted to a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP)-based problem that is convex with respect to the continuous variables of the problem. Therefore, it is solved via off-the-shelf mathematical programming solvers to reach more optimal results. Numerical simulations using the IEEE 118-bus test system show that compared with conventional approaches, the proposed MILP-based model leads to lower power system total cost, and thereby is suggested for practical applications.

The dielectric spectra and conductivity properties of neat poly(epichlorohydrin-co-ethylene oxide)(PECH-co-EO) copolymer and two modified copolymers with a 20% or 40% of dendron 3,4,5-tris[4-(n-dodecan-1-yloxy)benzyloxy] benzoate units were analysed. A process of thermal orientation was applied to the copolymers to fine-tune the molecular motion of the side chains and determine their validity for cation transport materials. The study was conducted using Dielectric Thermal Analysis (DETA). The spectra of the modified unoriented and oriented copolymers consisted of five dielectric relaxations (δ, γ, β, αTg, and αmelting). The analysis of the relaxations processes shows that as the grafting with the dendron units increases, both the lateral and main chains have a greater difficulty moving. The thermal orientation induces in the main chain partial crystallization, including the polyether segments, and modifies the cooperative motion of the main chain associated with the glass transition (αTg). A deep analysis of the electrical loss modulus revealed that the degree of modification only modifies the temperature peak of each relaxation, and this effect is more perceived if the dendron unit content is higher (40%). The thermal orientation process seems equal to the spectra of CP20-O and CP40-O to the point that the degree of modification does not matter. Nevertheless, the fragility index denotes the differences in the molecular motion between both copolymers (40% and 20%) due to the thermal orientation. The study of the electric conductivity showed that the ideal long-range pathways were being altered by neither the thermal orientation process nor the addition of dendrimers. The analysis of the through-plane proton conductivity confirmed that the oriented copolymer with the highest concentration of dendrimers was the best performer and the most suitable copolymer for proton transport materials.

Tile-based viewport-adaptive streaming methods have been used in delivering omnidirectional video for virtual reality applications. In these methods, the 360° video is encoded in multiple quality versions by using the motion constrained tile set (MCTS) technique. A set of high-quality and low-quality tiles, corresponding to viewport and non-viewport areas, respectively, are selected and transmitted to the user. However, these methods require frequent intra random access points to ensure seamless viewport switching capability, very high decoding complexity, or a multi-layer coding scheme. The frequent intra random access points include very high bitrate in viewport switching points. The high decoding complexity and multi-layer decoder requirements are not aligned with the omnidirectional media format (OMAF) standard. Such requirements make these methods sub-optimal or impractical for streaming the omnidirectional video. This paper studies the current tile-based solutions for delivering the omnidirectional content. Moreover, the OMAF-compliant shared coded picture (SCP)-based scheme is proposed in this paper for streaming the omnidirectional video. The core concept of the SCP-based method is to manipulate the switching point pictures in a way that the frequent intra-coded pictures are no longer required for the viewport switching operations between different quality versions of the content. The experiments illustrated that the SCP-based method outperforms the MCTS-based method on average by 11% to 14% in terms of streaming bitrate reduction with only 4% extra decoding complexity.

In recent years, core-shell (CS) nanofiber has widely been used as a carrier for controlled drug release. This outstanding attention toward CS nanofiber is mainly due to its tremendous significance in controllable drug release in specific locations. The major advantage of CS nanofibers is forming a highly porous mesh, boosting its performance for many applications, due to its large surface-to-volume ratio. This inherently high ratio has prompted electrospun fibers to be considered one of the best drug-delivery-systems available, with the capacity to enhance properties such as cell attachment, drug loading, and mass transfer. Using electrospun fibers as CS nanofibers to incorporate different cargos such as antibiotics, anticancer agents, proteins, DNA, RNA, living cells, and diverse growth factors would considerably satisfy the need for a universal carrier in the field of nanotechnology. In addition to their high surface area, other benefit included in these nanofibers is the ability to trap drugs, easily controlled morphology, and their biomimetic characteristics. In this review, by taking the best advantages of the preparation and uses of CS nanofibers, a novel work in the domain of the controlled drug delivery by nanofiber-based scaffolds is presented.

Acceptance of the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) device may be affected by a variety of factors. This study aimed to investigate the predictor roles of spiritual well-being, healthcare professionals' support and shock anxiety in accepting ICD.This cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 patients with ICD. The data were collected by the Florida Patient Acceptance Scale, Florida Shock Anxiety Scale, Spiritual Well-Being Scale and Healthcare Professionals' Support Questionnaire.The mean (SD) scores of patient acceptance, shock anxiety, spiritual well-being and healthcare professionals' support were 65.4 (13.56), 21.93 (8.95), 88.92 (11.78) and 76.41 (10.54), respectively. The results revealed higher acceptance among the participants with lower shock anxiety levels (The study results indicated that the patients' mean score of acceptance was relatively high. In addition, the mean scores of shock anxiety, spiritual well-being and healthcare professionals' support were low, moderate and relatively high, respectively. Conducting healthcare professionals' support interventions, spiritual therapy and reducing shock anxiety can help patients accept ICDs.

Steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is one of the most widely used processes of thermal recovery for heavy oil. Investigating the effectiveness of solvent coinjection with steam is an important aspect in the optimisation of SAGD process. So far, however, the effects of using CO2 have not been closely examined. This study sheds light on the addition of hydrocarbon solvents with CO2 which reached earlier maximum ultimate oil recovery (90%) than that for other solvents coinjection. This study shows that solubility of C6, heat loss reduction and CO2 diffusion, are the main recovery mechanism in enhancing oil recovery. The present study highlights the steam propagation in the presence of C6 and CO2 and its relation to enhancing oil recovery. It is interesting to observe that physical properties of the injected fluid reduce the energy consumption. Another finding is that solvent coinjection leads to stable subcool, hence increase oil recovery.

The hyper-immunoglobulin M (HIGM) syndrome comprises a group of rare inherited immunodeficiency disorders characterized by normal or elevated levels of serum IgM with low or absent levels of serum IgG, IgA, and IgE. Patients with this syndrome usually present with a history of recurrent infections or opportunistic infections. Here, we report two male cousins from homozygote twin mothers. The first cousin presented with no signs or symptoms other than neutropenia, which was accidentally found in a routine blood test. Immunological workup in this patient showed undetectable IgG and IgA levels and normal IgM levels. The second cousin had a history of recurrent infections, and at the time of admission, he was diagnosed with Pneumocystis jirovecii infection. The immunologic workup of this patient showed undetectable IgG, decreased IgA, and increased IgM level. Due to their interesting family relationship, genetic analysis was performed, which detected a novel mutation in exon 2 (c.266 del G) of the CD40 ligand gene (CD40LG).

Introduction and aim. Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is an immune-mediated destruction of liver cells, in recognition of interface hepatitis, seropositivity for autoantibodies, and interface hepatitis in histology sections. Hepatocyte destruction in AIH is the direct result of CD4+ T-cell destruction. Yet, Th17 mediated immune attach and a diversity of cytokine networks, including pro-inflammatory cytokines such as Interleukin 1 (IL-1) and Interleukin 6 (IL-6), set the stage for the destructive liver damage. Material and method. Peripheral blood samples from 57 patients, with AIH, recruited from referrals to the main pediatric hospital in Tehran. Single nucleotide polymorphisms for the following cytokines genes, were evaluated through, polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) assay: IL-1a (C/T -889), IL-Ια (C/T -511), IL-1 β (C/T +3962), IL-1 receptor (IL-1R; C/T Pst-I 1970), IL-1RA (C/T Mspa-I 11100), and IL-6 (C/G -174 and A/G nt565). Results. Significant higher frequency of genotype AA was detected in patients in IL-6 at position nt565 (15.8% in AIH patients vs. 2.9% in controls, p = 0.003). The haplotype GA of IL-6 at -174 and nt565, was significantly overrepresented in the AIH group, compared to (20.9% of AIH vs. 1.4% in controls p Conclusion. Results of our study, indicate significant deviation toward high yield IL-6 polymorphisms, in AIH patients. These data could bring new insights in pathophysiology of disease, which could contribute to developing novel treatments for AIH.

During recent Paris climate agreement, 195 courtiers pledged to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and pursue effects to limit the global temperature increase to 2 °C. Geothermal resources, as renewable sources of energy, can contribute to electricity, as well as heat production without having any negative impacts on environment or the security of energy supply. One of the ways to extract geothermal heat from the Earth’s crust are Deep Borehole Heat Exchangers, which can be either drilled especially for such purposes or, what is more cost effective, reconstructed from already existing, negative or abandoned oil or natural gas wells. In many depleted boreholes, exploiting underground geothermal waters is impossible or technically complex, therefore potential reconstruction for heat exchanger might be the only possible solution that allows utilizing geothermal heat. Polish energy sector is heavily dependent on coal resulting in large CO2 emission per capita. The country has considerable potential for geothermal energy development, as there are large numbers of deep and abandoned wells that might be utilized for geothermal heat production. Following paper investigates potential reconstruction of abandoned or negative wells into deep coaxial borehole heat exchangers. Main focus was put on selection of coaxial inner column which enables for heat carrier circulation. To maximize the heat uptake from geothermal systems based on borehole heat exchangers, it is advised to use inner column made from material with lowest possible thermal conductivity coefficient. Vacuum Insulated Tubing, as one of the options of insulated inner column, can significantly improve heat production and increase efficient energy use. This technology found plethora of applications in offshore and onshore petroleum industry and is yet to gain more popularity within geothermal sector.

Successful transition to active distribution networks (ADNs) requires a planning methodology that includes an accurate network model and accounts for the major sources of uncertainty. Considering these two essential features, this paper proposes a novel model for the multistage distribution expansion planning (MDEP) problem, which is able to jointly expand both the network assets (feeders and substations) and renewable/conventional distributed generators. With respect to network characteristics, the proposed planning model employs a convex conic quadratic format of ac power flow equations that is linearized using a highly accurate polyhedral-based linearization method. Furthermore, a chance-constrained programming approach is utilized to deal with the uncertain renewables and loads. In this regard, as the probability distribution functions of uncertain parameters are not perfectly known, a distributionally robust (DR) reformulation is proposed for the chance constraints that guarantees the robustness of the expansion plans against all uncertainty distributions defined within a moment-based ambiguity set. Effective linearization techniques are also devised to eliminate the nonlinearities of the proposed DR reformulation, which yields a distributionally robust chance-constrained mixed-integer linear programming model for the MDEP problem of ADNs. Finally, the 24-node and 138-node test systems are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed planning methodology.

This paper develops an effective model for microgrid optimal scheduling with dynamic network reconfiguration. Network reconfiguration can effectively alter local power flow and thus provide an opportunity to reduce microgrid distribution network losses during grid-connected operation (supporting microgrid economic objectives) and to reduce potential load curtailments during the islanded operation (supporting microgrid reliability objectives). The proposed optimal scheduling model is decomposed into a grid-connected operation master problem and an islanded operation subproblem. A novel and highly accurate dynamic linear power flow model, with the ability of line switching, is developed and included in both problems. The optimal schedule determined in the master problem is assessed to meet the microgrid islanding feasibility in the subproblem. If infeasible, the decision variables are amended using the islanding cuts, which will accordingly revise the network reconfiguration, as well as the schedule of dispatchable units, energy storage, and adjustable loads. The simulation results on a test microgrid demonstrate the effectiveness and satisfying performance of the proposed model.

Summary Background Ulcerative colitis (UC) is inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), characterized by chronic inflammation episodes within mucosal layer of the intestine mostly affecting colon and rectum. As the role of innate immunity in pathogenesis of disease and important role of NLRP3, the aim of this study is to investigate the association of NLRP3 SNPs with UC in Iranian patients. Methods Blood samples from 45 UC patients and 56 healthy subjects were tested for single nucleotide polymorphisms in rs10754558, rs3806265, rs4612666, and rs35829419 of NLRP3 gene, using real-time PCR method. Results Among the investigated SNPs, “GG” genotype of rs10754558 have been 2.48 times more common among UC patients (P = 0.04), while “CG” genotype has indicated protective effect against UC, as more frequently found in healthy subjects. Conclusion Despite no significant association between three investigated SNPs and disease, “GG” and “CG” genotypes of rs10754558 have been significantly associated with disease.

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic inflammation in hepatocellular tissues associated with circulating autoantibodies. Imbalance in T-cells population and dysregulation in several cytokine profiles has been implicated in pathogenesis of AIH. This study was performed to assess potential association of AIH with interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) genes single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).Fifty-six patients with AIH and 139 healthy individuals were enrolled in this study. IL-2 and IFN-γ typing was performed, using polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) assay. The frequencies of alleles, genotypes and haplotypes in AIH patients were compared to healthy controls.IL-2 T allele at position +166 (rs2069763) showed significant higher frequency in AIH group (36%), compared to the controls (21%) (OR=2.06; 95% CI, 1.24-3.43, P-value0.01). The frequency of IL-2 TT genotype at +166 position was also associated with AIH (OR=18.68, 95% CI 3.74-126.04, P-value0.01). G/T alleles of IL-2 at -330 (rs2069762) and A/T alleles on UTR +5644 position at IFN-γ and their subsequent haplotypes, did not show significant association with AIH.This study identified IL-2T allele at +166 position and TT genotype as susceptibility gene in AIH which would provide better understandings into the mechanisms of AIH and potential immune modulation therapies.

Dendronized polyethers give rise to columnar LC structures which can successfully act as cation transport materials. Therefore, we prepared two different materials, based on Poly(epichlorohydrin-co-ethylene oxide) (PECH-co-EO) grafted with methyl 3,4,5-tris[4-(n-dodecan-1-yloxy)benzyloxy] benzoate, containing 20% or 40% modified units, respectively. The obtained polymers were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction and optical microscopy between crossed polars (POM) and compared to the unmodified PECH-co-EO. In order to reach efficient transport properties, homeotropically oriented membranes were prepared by a fine-tuned thermal annealing treatment and were subsequently investigated by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and dielectric thermal analysis (DETA). We found that the presence of the dendrons induces a main chain partial crystallization of the polyether chain and coherently increases the polymer Tg. This effect is more evident in the oriented membranes. As for copolymer orientation upon annealing, the cooling rate and the annealing temperature were the most crucial factors. DMTA and DETA confirmed that grafting with the dendron strongly hinders copolymer motions, but did not show great differences between unoriented and oriented membranes, regardless of the amount of dendrons.

Nanoscale iron particles have attracted substantial interest due to their unique physical and chemical properties. Over the years, various physical and chemical methods have been developed to synthesize these nanostructures which are usually expensive and potentially harmful to human health and the environment. Synthesis of iron nanoparticles (INPs) by using plant extract is now of great interest in order to develop a novel and sustainable approach toward green chemistry. In this method the chemical compounds and organic solvents are replaced with phytochemicals and aqueous matrixes, respectively. Similar to any chemical and biochemical reaction, factors such as reaction temperature, concentration of iron precursor, concentration of leaf extract, and reaction time have critical effects on the reaction yield. This review focuses on the novel approaches used for green synthesis of INPs by using plant resources. The currently available statistics including the factors affecting the synthesis process and potential applications of the fabricated nanoparticles are discussed. Recommendations are also given for areas of future research in order to improve the production process.

Stochastic programming is a cost-effective approach to model the transmission expansion planning (TEP) considering the uncertainties of wind and load, which is known as stochastic TEP (STEP). The uncertainty can be accurately represented by a large number of scenarios, which need to be reduced to a relatively small number in order to shorten the computational time required by the STEP. The forward selection algorithm (FSA) is an accurate scenario reduction method which, however, is quite time consuming. An improved FSA (IFSA) is proposed in order to shorten the computational time. The STEP is a large-scale mixed-integer programming problem, and, therefore, is difficult to be solved directly. Benders decomposition algorithm is suitable to solve the STEP by decomposing it into master and multiple slave problems. The slave problems are nonlinear and thereby are difficult and time consuming to be solved. In this regard, a linearization method is proposed to solve the slave problems faster and to calculate the Lagrangian multipliers needed by the master problem. Two medium and a large datasets are used to demonstrate the efficiency of the IFSA and a 24-, a 300-, and a 2383-bus test systems are used to verify the efficiency of the linearization method.

For the first time, aqueous leaf extract of Urtica dioica was used as a sustainable source of reducing and capping agents to synthesize iron nanoparticles (INPs). In this regard, zero-valent INPs were produced and entrapped in a biologic coating. INPs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), particle size analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometer, vibrating sample magnetometer, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential TGA. Based on the results, the prepared INPs were completely composed of zero-valent iron atoms without any iron oxide impurities. Nanoparticles were spherical in shape with diameters ranging from 21 nm to 71 nm with a mean particle size of 46 nm. Particles were entrapped in a biologic coating which resulted in formation of complexes ranging from 117 nm to 605 nm. High zeta potential value of these complexes (−82.6 mV) and the presence of hydrophilic groups on the biologic coating provided a stable colloid system. Prepared INPs were non-crystalline (amorphous) having a low magnetization value of 0.14 emu/g. The prepared particles are of significant interest in a wide range of scientific and technical applications.

Background A clear picture of interaction of Th1/Th2 cytokines in pathogenesis of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), remains elusive. Impaired IFN-γ production and decreased levels of IL-2 have been reported. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of Th1 cytokines; IL-2, IL-12 and IFN-γ polymorphisms with CSU. Methods 90 patients with CSU and 140 age-sex matched subjects were included in this study. DNA samples were evaluated through PCR-SSP assay in order to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms of IL-12 (A/C −1188) or (rs3212227), IFN-γ (A/T UTR5644) or (rs2069717) and IL-2 (G/T −330 and G/T +166) or (rs2069762 and rs2069763). Results G allele at −330 at promoter region of IL-2 gene was overrepresented in CSU. Heterozygotes (GT) at this locus and heterozygotes at +166 of IL-2 gene (GT) were more prevalent in CSU group. Additionally, the haplotype GT for loci −330 and +166 of IL-2 gene was powerfully associated with CSU (OR (95%CI) = 57.29 (8.43–112.7)). Conclusions SNP at position −330 and +166 of IL-2 gene are differently expressed in CSU. The haplotype GT of IL-2 at −330 and +166 might confer vulnerability to a number of immunological disorders in Iranian region.

The effect of coinjection of hydrocarbon solvents (C4, C5, C6, C7, and C8), with steam at low pressure, on heavy oil recovery is addressed. It is concluded that the coinjection of solvents reduced cumulative steam oil ratio and the lighter solvents performed better in reducing cumulative net energy oil ratio (CEOR, GJ/m3). The work illustrated that C6 was the best-performing solvent with respect to oil recovery (EOR) at 20 wt%, CEOR with an optimum of 30 wt%. An explanation on the reason for the highest EOR at 20 wt% is given. The coinjection with CO2 has also been addressed here with different schemes.

We present an efficient finetuning methodology for neural-network filters which are applied as a postprocessing artifact-removal step in video coding pipelines. The fine-tuning is performed at encoder side to adapt the neural network to the specific content that is being encoded. In order to maximize the PSNR gain and minimize the bitrate overhead, we propose to finetune only the convolutional layers' biases. The proposed method achieves convergence much faster than conventional finetuning approaches, making it suitable for practical applications. The weight-update can be included into the video bitstream generated by the existing video codecs. We show that our method achieves up to 9.7% average BD-rate gain when compared to the state-of-art Versatile Video Coding (VVC) standard codec on 7 test sequences., Comment: Accepted in ACM Multimedia 2020

We investigated the possibility of improving the performance of polysulfone (PSf) membranes to be used in carbon dioxide capture devices by blending PSf with a commercial polyethylene imine, Lupasol G20, previously modified with benzoyl chloride (mG20). Additive amount ranged between 2 and 20 wt %. Membranes based on these blends were prepared by phase inversion precipitation and exhibited different morphologies with respect to neat PSf. Surface roughness, water contact angles, and water uptake increased with mG20 content. Mass transfer coefficient was also increased for both N2 and CO2; however, this effect was more evident for carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide absorption performance of composite membranes was evaluated for potassium hydroxide solution in a flat sheet membrane contactor (FSMC) in cross flow module at different liquid flow rates. We found that, at the lowest flow rate, membranes exhibit a very similar behaviour to neat PSf; nevertheless, significant differences can be found at higher flow rates. In particular, the membranes with 2 and 5 wt % additive behave more efficiently than neat PSf. In contrast, 10 and 20 wt % additive content has an adverse effect on CO2 capture when compared with neat PSf. In the former case, a combination of additive chemical affinity to CO2 and membrane porosity can be claimed; in the latter case, the remarkably higher wettability and water uptake could determine membrane clogging and consequent loss of efficiency in the capture device.

This paper proposes a novel mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model for the expansion planning of active distribution networks, which not only is able to accurately reflect the fundamental characteristics of the problem, but also provides the opportunity to find its optimal solution in a computationally efficient manner. This model is able to jointly expand both the network assets (feeders and substations) and distributed generators (DGs) while minimizing the investment and operation costs and taking all the necessary physical and technical constraints into account. A highly accurate linearization method based on polyhedral approximation is utilized to eliminate the nonlinearities of AC power flow equations and obtain the proposed MILP model. Furthermore, a bi-level approach is also proposed to accelerate the solution process and reduce the computation time. This solution approach is comprised of a pre-solution level in which a simplified MILP model is solved to find a near-optimal initial solution for the expansion planning problem, and a main solution level in which the proposed accurate MILP model is solved considering the already found initial solution. Finally, a 24-node distribution system is used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed planning methodology.

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is a common oral condition with a major impact on the quality of life. The condition is thought to be due to the overexpression of T helper-1(Th1)-related cytokines. Since interleukin-4 (IL-4) and its receptor (IL-4Rα) are antagonistic to Th-1 pathways, polymorphisms in their genes may also be involved in the pathogenesis of aphthous stomatitis.Sixty-four patients diagnosed with minor RAS and 141 (age- and sex-matched) healthy controls were assessed for 3 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the promoter region of the IL-4 gene (-1098G/T, -590C/T, and -33C/T), and 1 SNP in IL-4Rα gene (+1902 A/G).No significant differences were detected between the patient and the control group regarding IL-4 allele frequencies. However, the patient group demonstrated a higher frequency of IL-4 -590 CC genotype and a lower rate of IL-4 -590 TC genotype. The TCT, GTT, GCT, and GTC haplotypes of the IL-4 gene (-1098, -590, -33) were significantly more frequent in the patients and the GCC, and TTT haplotypes were more common in healthy controls. No significant differences were found in IL-4Rα gene polymorphism between the 2 groups.Certain polymorphisms of IL4 gene could predispose individuals to RAS.

Public parking lots equipped with electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities place huge power demands on distribution networks. These huge demands, if not carefully considered at the planning stage, can create several operational problems. To address this issue, this paper proposes a novel distribution network expansion planning framework, which gives full consideration to the charging power demands of large EV parking lots. This framework provides several alternatives for construction/reinforcement of feeders and substations, while taking all the necessary constraints into account. Furthermore, the unscented transformation (UT) method is employed to model the uncertainties of load demands and EV parking lot demands. The ability of the UT method to accurately model correlated uncertain parameters makes it highly applicable in the context of distribution network expansion planning, where considerable correlated uncertainties exist. The proposed UT-based framework is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) problem, which can be solved using off-the-shelf mathematical programming solvers that guarantee convergence to the global optimal solution. A 24-node distribution system is used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.

An implicit finite difference numerical model has been developed to investigate the influence of fracture heterogeneity on the propagation of thermal front in a single horizontal fracture-matrix system. Instead of depending on a complex and data-demanding geostatistical method for a precise representation of fracture aperture, a statistical linear congruential generator (LCG) method was applied in the present study to replicate the unpredictable nature of fracture aperture morphology. The results have been compared with the parallel plate model and simple sinusoidal model. Finally, sensitivity analysis of fracture aperture size and fluid flow rate has been carried out to identify the conditions at which fracture heterogeneity is critical. The results indicate that LCG-aperture enhances the heat transfer between fracture and hot rock matrix compared to the parallel and sinusoidal fractures. Further, the temperature profiles in hot rock indicate that there was a greater loss of heat for the case of LCG-aperture (25% loss) compared to sinusoidal (16%) and parallel plate (8%) apertures. It was found that heterogeneity does not play a major role at small fracture aperture size (≤50 μm) and at low flow rates. However, as fracture aperture size increases, the heterogeneity plays a vital part even at low flow rates.

Background: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic long-lasting hepatocellular inflammation associated with circulating auto antibodies. In addition to the genetic component, several cytokines have been implicated to be involved in AIH. This study was performed to investigate potential associations of AIH with IL4 gene variants.Method: The studied alleles and genotypes included: IL4G/T allele polymorphisms at position -1098 and C/T allele polymorphisms at two positions (-33 and -590) on the IL4 gene, in addition to the A/G allele polymorphisms at position +1902 on the IL4RA gene.Result: The IL4 C allele and CC genotype at position -590 and TT genotype at position -33 had a significantly higher frequency in AIH patients.Conclusion: This study identified the IL4 C allele and CC genotype susceptibility gene in AIH, which will provide better insights into the mechanisms of AIH and potential therapeutic interventions.