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Cyber-physical systems have enabled the collection of massive amounts of data in an unprecedented level of spatial and temporal granularity. Publishing these data can prosper big data research, which, in turn, helps improve overall system efficiency and resiliency. The main challenge in data publishing is to ensure the usefulness of published data while providing necessary privacy protection. In our previous work (Jia et al. 2017a), we presented a privacy-preserving data publishing framework (referred to as PAD hereinafter), which can guarantee k-anonymity while achieving better data utility than traditional anonymization techniques. PAD learns the information of interest to data users or features from their interactions with the data publishing system and then customizes data publishing processes to the intended use of data. However, our previous work is only applicable to the case where the desired features are linear in the original data record. In this article, we extend PAD to nonlinear features. Our experiments demonstrate that for various data-driven applications, PAD can achieve enhanced utility while remaining highly resilient to privacy threats.

In the face of unprecedented challenges in environmental sustainability and grid resilience, there is an increasingly held consensus regarding the adoption of distributed and renewable energy resources such as microgrids (MGs), and the utilization of flexible electric loads by demand response (DR) to potentially drive a necessary paradigm shift in energy production and consumption patterns. However, the potential value of distributed generation and demand flexibility has not yet been fully realized in the operation of MGs. This study investigates the pricing and operation strategy with DR for a MG retailer in an integrated energy system (IES). Based on co-optimizing retail rates and MG dispatch formulated as a mixed integer quadratic programming (MIQP) problem, our model devises a dynamic pricing scheme that reflects the cost of generation and promotes DR, in tandem with an optimal dispatch plan that exploits spark spread and facilitates the integration of renewables, resulting in improved retailer profits and system stability. Main issues like integrated energy coupling and customer bill reduction are addressed during pricing to ensure rates competitiveness and customer protection. By evaluating on real datasets, the system is demonstrated to optimally coordinate storage, renewables, and combined heat and power (CHP), reduce carbon dioxide emission while maintaining profits, and effectively alleviate the PV curtailment problem. The model can be used by retailers and MG operators to optimize their operations, as well as regulators to design new utility rates in support of the ongoing transformation of energy systems.

In the face of unprecedented challenges of upcoming fossil fuel shortage and reliability and security of the grid, there is an increasing interest in adopting distributed, renewable, energy resources, such as microgrids (MGs), and engaging flexible electric loads in power system operations to potentially drive a paradigm shift in energy production and consumption patterns. Prior work on MG dispatch has leveraged decentralized technologies like combined heat and power (CHP) and heat pumps to promote efficiency and economic gains; however, the flexibility of demand has yet to be fully exploited in cooperation with the grid to offer added benefits and ancillary services. The object of the study is to develop microgrid optimal dispatch with demand response (MOD-DR), which fills in the gap by coordinating both the demand and supply sides in a renewable-integrated, storage-augmented, DR-enabled MG to achieve economically viable and system-wide resilient solutions. The key contribution of this paper is the formulation of a multi-objective optimization with prevailing constraints and utility trade-off based on the model of a large-scale MG with flexible loads, which leads to the derivation of strategies that incorporate uncertainty in scheduling. Evaluation using real datasets is conducted to analyze the uncertainty effects and demand response potentials, demonstrating in a campus prototype a 17.5% peak load reduction and 8.8% cost savings for MOD-DR compared to the non-trivial baseline, which is on par with the Oracle for perfect predictions.

A dishing model is developed to investigate the electrical effects of metal dishing in the damascene process, based on experimental data and physical analysis. A metric for dishing, the Dishing Radius, has been defined. A study utilizing this model shows that the impact of dishing on performance can be mitigated at both the process and design stages. More specifically, process improvement is most effective when the dishing radius is less than 50 Mm. During design, dishing effects can be suppressed by uniformly splitting a wide line into several narrower lines; the most beneficial number of line-splitting is between two and four from both efficiency and performance considerations.

Introduction: Sacral nerve modulation (SNM) is an established and successful treatment for fecal incontinence. We present the first successful case in Greece, performed in our department. Patients and Methods: A 60-year-old female patient presented with a 5-year-old history of fecal incontinence. The Cleveland Clinic Florida (CCF) Incontinence Score was 15. Endoanal ultrasound did not show defects of the internal or external anal sphincter. Conservative and pharmacological therapy was unsuccessful. The patient subsequently underwent a total pelvic floor repair, which was also unsuccessful. After discussing further options, the patient gave consent for percutaneous nerve evaluation (PNE), for possible permanent stimulator implantation. Results: A quadripolar lead was placed percutaneously through the dorsal S3 foramen under local anesthesia. This was connected to a test stimulator (Medtronic Interstim Model 3625, Minneapolis, MN). The stimulator was activated for a period of 4 weeks. At the end of the test period, the CCF Incontinence score was 5. This was considered successful. A permanent stimulator (Medtronic Interstim Implantable Pulse Generator Model 3058, Minneapolis, MN) was then implanted under local anesthesia. Two months after permanent implantation, the Wexner Score has not increased. Conclusion: SNM is a relatively simple, safe and minimally invasive technique for the treatment of fecal incontinence. Hippokratia 2011; 15 (4): 366-369. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]