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This article provides information on a study that proposed a preventive control strategy for an integrated security monitoring and control system. There are two categories underlying the preventive control problem: dynamical and statical. Information is presented on the P-Q decomposition used in the study. The objective functions of each sub-problem are discussed, as well as the effectiveness of the proposed technique in reducing operating costs.

[Display omitted] • The data area division method is proposed to divide wind speed data into areas. • Noise reduction and decomposition strategy of data for wind speed time series. • Genetic algorithm-optimized deep learning neural networks are used. • Forecasting of wind speed time series for different time intervals. • The wind power impact indicator is proposed to judge the forecast deviation. Wind speed forecasting is essential for the dispatch, controllability, and stability of power grids, and its accuracy is vital to the effective use of wind resources. In this study, a novel hybrid wind speed forecasting system is developed based on the data area division (DAD) method and a deep learning neural network model. The system consists of three modules: extraction module, data preprocessing module, and forecasting module. In the data extraction module, a large amount of valid historical data is extracted, filtered, and classified from the forecast location and the surrounding locations. In the data preprocessing module, complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition is used to decompose the wind speed data. In the forecasting module, a long short-term memory network optimized by using a genetic algorithm is used to forecast the decomposed wind speed data and integrate them into the final forecast results. Numerical simulation results show that (a) the forecast system maintains RMSE in the range of 0.2–0.6 m/s and MAPE in the range of 3.0–7.0% for short-term wind speed forecasts at different locations for different time periods, showing good stability. (b) For wind speed forecasting at different time intervals, the accuracy of wind speed forecasting at 10-minute and 30-minute intervals is better, while the accuracy of forecasting at a 60-minute interval needs to be improved, but overall, the forecasting system shows good generalizability. (c) The forecast system improves the forecast accuracy of short-term wind speed forecasting more effectively than other conventional methods, and the improvement of RMSE and MAPE remains in the range of 14–39% and 13–27% even compared with the hybrid forecast model that has better forecast accuracy. (d) For area-wide short-term wind power forecasting, the forecast deviation value of this forecasting system remains below 6% throughout the year, showing good practicality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy (RE) sources like wind and solar power have been introduced to power systems to make the energy market more sustainable and environmentally friendly. For this reason, the supply-demand mismatch in power systems is more severe than before, in terms of both frequency and magnitude. It is therefore necessary to reinforce the capability to make supply and demand adjustments in power grids. Here, we clarified the dynamic characteristics of biogas plants with combined heat and power (CHP) systems, that represent controllable RE power sources, and evaluated the possibility of using these systems as a new resource for supply-demand adjustments in the power grid. Additionally, the properties of the exhaust gas from the investigated CHP engines were measured as an environmental evaluation. We considered real-world biogas CHP systems operating in both Germany and Japan. Based on the results, biogas CHP systems have the potential to contribute to a long-term power equivalent adjustment such as tertiary control reserve (TCR) in Germany. However, these systems required several minutes between starting and stopping. Furthermore, increased emissions of methane and formaldehyde were measured when the CHP systems were starting up. We found that an operation with as few starts and stops as possible is therefore desirable. • Evaluation of the dynamic characteristics of actual biogas CHP systems. • Investigation of load response with biogas CHP systems operating in Germany and Japan. • Analysis of load adjustment as well as start-up and shut-down behavior of CHP systems. • Measurement exhaust gas emissions during supply-demand adjustment. • Biogas CHP systems can contribute to long-term power equivalent adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which developed a manufacturing process of piezoelectric thin film dual-state actuator for positioning a magnetic head for high density hard disk drives. Microactuator structure and fabrication; Effect of internal stress on specific inductive capacity; Migration test results.

Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Background/aim: The treatment strategy for metastatic upper tract urothelial carcinoma (mUTUC) is currently based on the evidence from metastatic urinary bladder cancer (mUBC). However, some reports have shown that the outcomes of UTUC differ from those of UBC. Therefore, we retrospectively analyzed the prognosis of patients with mUBC and mUTUC treated with first-line platinum-based chemotherapy., Patients and Methods: Patients who underwent platinum-based chemotherapy at the Kindai University Hospital and affiliated hospitals between January 2010 and December 2021 were included in the study. There were 56 patients with mUBC and 73 with mUTUC. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to estimate progression-free (PFS) and overall (OS) survival. Multivariate analyses were performed using Cox proportional hazards model to predict prognostic factors., Results: The median PFS was 4.5 and 4.0 months for the mUBC and mUTUC groups, respectively (p=0.094). The median OS was 17.0 months for both groups (p=0.821). The multivariate analysis showed no prognostic factor for PFS. The multivariate analysis for OS showed that younger age at the initiation of chemotherapy and immune checkpoint inhibitor use after first-line therapy were significantly associated with better OS., Conclusion: Platinum-based chemotherapy had a similar effect on patients with mUTUC and mUBC., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest related to this study., (Copyright 2023, International Institute of Anticancer Research.)

Multiple factors regulate glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) secretion, but a group of apparently healthy subjects showed blunted responses of GLP-1 secretion in our previous study. In this study, we examined whether the reduction in GLP-1 secretory capacity is associated with increased extent of coronary artery stenosis in non-diabetic patients. Non-diabetic patients who were admitted for coronary angiography without a history of coronary interventions were enrolled. Coronary artery stenosis was quantified by Gensini score (GS), and GS ≥ 10 was used as an outcome variable based on its predictive value for cardiovascular events. The patients (mean age, 66.5 ± 8.8 years; 71% males, n = 173) underwent oral 75 g-glucose tolerant tests for determination of glucose, insulin and active GLP-1 levels. The area under the curve of plasma active GLP-1 (AUC-GLP-1) was determined as an index of GLP-1 secretory capacity. AUC-GLP-1 was not correlated with fasting glucose, AUC-glucose, serum lipids or indices of insulin sensitivity. In multivariate logistic regression analysis for GS ≥ 10, AUC-GLP-1 < median, age and hypertension were selected as explanatory variables, though fasting GLP-1 level was not selected. The findings suggest that reduction in GLP-1 secretory capacity is a novel independent risk factor of coronary stenosis., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

The aim of the present study was to investigate the colonization status of Clostridium difficile in healthy individuals. In total, 139 healthy adults from two study groups were examined at intervals of 3 months. Among the 18 positive subjects, the number of subjects from whom C. difficile was isolated once, twice, three times or four times was 10 (55.6%), three (16.7%), two (11.1%) and three (16.7%), respectively. In the student group, different subjects were colonized by different PCR ribotype/PFGE types. However, the same PCR ribotype/PFGE types of C. difficile were isolated from different subjects in the employee group, indicating that cross-transmission may have occurred in this group. Continuous colonization by the same PCR ribotype/PFGE type was only observed in three subjects. C. difficile-positive subjects were significantly more densely colonized by enterococci (P<0.05) than C. difficile-negative subjects: subjects that were found to be C. difficile-positive three or four times appeared to have higher concentrations of enterococci. The present results demonstrate that, although colonization by a C. difficile strain is transient in many cases, there are healthy individuals that are colonized persistently by C. difficile. They also suggest that dense colonization of the intestine by enterococci may be associated with C. difficile colonization.

We report that the intraperitoneal injection of Clostridium perfringens alpha-toxin into mice induces ascites. This phenomenon was monitored by measuring fluid volume and analyzing hematologic data. The mouse toxicity test provides a simple and useful model for examining C. perfringens alpha-toxin-induced vascular permeability.