Appreciable Power Research Articles

Sparse item testing of clinical scales in neurology trials to alleviate burden to patients.

Neurology trials typically rely on composite scales for measuring symptom severity. Completing all items in a long scale can be burdensome for patients, caregivers, and trial personnel. To test the hypothesis that sparse item testing, aided by item-response modelling, can preserve the power for detecting treatment effect in a controlled trial. UPDRS (Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale) Part III (motor examinations) data from a placebo-controlled trial (N = 391) of ropinirole were analysed with a longitudinal item-response model. Symptom severity was estimated directly from item scores as a latent variable, without needing the total score. This enabled sparse item testing. With the symptom severity as a clinical endpoint, the potential power loss for detecting treatment effect due to the sparse testing was assessed by simulation. When each patient took 18 of all 27 tests in UPDRS Part III at each study visit, there was no appreciable power loss. Reducing four visits to three also had negligible effects on power. A threefold reduction of the total tests that each patient needed to do throughout the trial, from 108 to 27, only compromised power slightly, e.g., from 92 to 87% at N = 160. These findings show that using the symptom severity derived from item scores as the endpoint allows sparse testing to drastically reduce trial burden without incurring major power loss. This benefit would multiply for indications like Alzheimer's disease where modern trials often require patients to be tested on multiple scales at several times.

Renewable Musa Sapientum derived porous nano spheres for efficient energy storage devices

Biomass-based carbonaceous materials derived from Musa Sapientum have gained much attention in recent years for their application in energy storage devices, especially supercapacitors. In the present work, we synthesized carbonaceous material from banana peel as the biomass precursor by using a pyrolysis method carried out at various temperatures (600, 800, and 1000 °C). The characterization of the prepared carbonaceous materials BP600, BP800 and BP1000 was done by using different characterization techniques such as FTIR, XRD, FE-SEM, and TEM, studies. The electrochemical study of the synthesized material was carried out by cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge–discharge (GCD) electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The supercapacitive performance of the material was studied using a 3-electrode system with 3M KOH as an electrolyte. As a result, the BP600 exhibited a better specific capacitance with higher energy and power densities along with a maximum cyclic stability of 16,000 cycles. To show the practical applicability of the material BP 600, two electrode system studies were carried out as well, which showed preferentially good values for specific capacitance with appreciable power and energy density values. The study provides us with a green approach for the fabrication of non-toxic, low-cost, and environmentally friendly potential porous carbonaceous electrode materials by converting bio-waste into a clean and renewable source of energy.

Transfiguring energy with an advantageous supercapacitor integrating MoS2/carbon quantum dots bi‐composites into a high‐performance polypyrrole matrix for unprecedented efficiency

AbstractFor the first time, a simple one‐step in situ chemical polymerization technique is used to create a novel molybdenum disulphide/sulphonated carbon quantum dots (CQDs) and polypyrrole (MCP) nanocomposite that is extended for successful use in charge storage supercapacitor (SC) device. By inheriting qualities of excellent electrical conductivity of MoS2, CQDs and improved pseudocapacitive activity of polypyrrole (PPy), the MCP nanocomposite provides a suitable SC electrode material. 0.6 MCP nanocomposited three‐electrode system demonstrates 93.21% retention after 5000 cycles, and a maximum specific capacity of 2253 F/g at 2 mV/s with higher side of energy density as 106.06 Wh/kg along with a considerable power density as 180.28 W/kg. Using MCP as anode and an AC or activated charcoal electrode as cathode, a solid‐state asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) was constructed. The fabricated device supplies a greater value of specific capacitance as 154.09 F/g at 100 mV/s and 175 F/g at 0.1 A/g, also evidenced superior energy density data as 126 Wh/kg along with an appreciable power density of 604.8 W/kg. After charging the ASC for 2 min, the light emitting diode shone for 5 min. The findings underpin that MCP is a potential electrode material that could be utilized as a better alternative in futuristic supercapacitor devices.

Peanut Oil Cake Biomass‐Derived Hierarchical Porous Carbon by Dual Step Activation as Potential Electrodes for Fabrication of Prototype Symmetric Supercapacitor Device

Peanut oil cake biomass is a major by‐product of oil industry and can be a suitable precursor for the production of biomass‐based porous carbon. Herein, dual‐stage activation, physical activation at 400°C, and chemical activation using KOH between 600 and 900°C are adopted to prepare hierarchical porous carbons (HPCs) from peanut oil cake biomass for use as electrode material in electrochemical supercapacitors. The textural and structural properties of the HPC were evaluated by N2‐adsorption/desorption, X‐ray diffraction, Raman, FT‐IR spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The prepared HPC inherited sufficient micropores and mesopores distribution with a maximum BET surface area of 640 m2/g. The electrochemical properties of the HPC electrodes were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge–discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic analysis. Among different HPC electrodes prepared, the carbon prepared at 800°C (HPC‐P8) electrode material exhibited a high specific capacitance of 187 F/g at 0.5 A/g in 1M Na2SO4 electrolyte in three‐electrode systems. Symmetric supercapacitors were also fabricated using HPC‐P8//HPC‐P8 as positive and negative electrodes using 1M Na2SO4 electrolyte, in a two‐electrode cell configuration via split cell method. Maximum specific capacitance of 30 F/g was achieved with superior cycle stability of 93.8% capacitance retention over 5,000 cycles for the symmetric device. The device operated at a wide potential window (0–2.0 V) resulted in appreciable specific energy and power density of 15.89 Wh/kg and 493 W/kg, respectively. HPC‐P8 had an ion diffusion coefficient of 7.79 × 10−8 cm2/s which is higher than the other prepared carbon samples. The symmetric device showed relatively high charge storage capacity and cyclic stability without any material degradation. The fabricated prototype portable supercapacitor module was tested for red LED glow with maximum intensity brightness up to 4 min. Thus, the present study reveals that HPC derived from peanut oil cake biomass can behave as a promising electrode material for supercapacitor applications.

Determination of Polyphenols and Flavonoids and Evaluation of Antioxidant Activity of Crude Extraction from the Leaves, Seeds, Stems and Roots of Cassia occidentalis

In this article, we studied four organs of Cassia occidentalis namely leaves, seeds, stems and roots. Cassia occidentalis is a plant used in traditional Senegalese medicine to treat several pathologies including asthma, malaria, high blood pressure, bronchitis, anemia, stubborn stomach aches, etc. This study focuses on the determination of the antioxidant activity of these extracts. This study focuses on the determination of total polyphenols and flavonoids of different organ extracts (leaves, seeds, stems and roots) of Cassia occidentalis and the determination of the antioxidant activity of these extracts. Total polyphenols are assayed using the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and total flavonoids using aluminum trichloride (AlCl3). The antioxidant activity of the extracts is evaluated by the DPPH method using TROLOX as reference antioxidant. The results of this study show that leaves and roots are the richest organs in polyphenols with contents ranging from 0.4941 ± 0.0633 mg EAG/g to 11.5114 ± 0.0791 mg EAG/g for leaves and 0.1235 ± 0.0220 mg EAG/g to 4.1968 ± 0.0481 mg EAG/g for roots. These same organs are richer in flavonoids with contents ranging from 1.6645 ± 0.0215 mg EQ/g to 7.2215 ± 0.1728 mg EQ/g for the leaves and 0.0813 ± 0.0022 mg EQ/ g to ​​3.4839 ± 0.0538 mg EQ/g for roots. These contents are higher in the methanolic and aqueous extracts. Total antioxidant capacities are significantly correlated with polyphenol and flavonoid contents. This is because the leaves and roots have more antioxidants that can react with the DPPH radical. This quantity is more noted in the methanolic extracts (14.1502 ± 0.3781 mg ETr/g for the leaves and 7.7042 ± 0.0619 mg ETr/g for the roots). Only the methanolic extracts show remarkable antiradical activities with IC50 values ​​of 0.2409 ± 0.0006 mg/mL for the leaves and 0.1415 ± 0.0005 mg/mL for the roots. IC50 values for other extracts are not available, due to the low total antioxidant capacity. In short, the methanolic extracts of the roots and leaves therefore have an appreciable antioxidant power. This antioxidant power is more significant at the level of the methanolic root extract with the lowest IC50 value. This would justify the use of Cassia occidentalis in traditional Senegalese medicine to fight against several pathologies. This plant would therefore be a good source of natural antioxidants.

Partitioning genetic effects on birthweight at classical human leukocyte antigen loci into maternal and fetal components, using structural equation modelling.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region in both maternal and fetal genomes have been robustly associated with birthweight (BW) in previous genetic association studies. However, no study to date has partitioned the association between BW and classical HLA alleles into maternal and fetal components. We used structural equation modelling (SEM) to estimate the maternal and fetal effects of classical HLA alleles on BW. Our SEM leverages the data structure of the UK Biobank (UKB), which includes ∼270 000 participants' own BW and/or the BW of their firstborn child. We show via simulation that our model yields asymptotically unbiased estimates of the maternal and fetal allelic effects on BW and appropriate type I error rates, in contrast to simple regression models. Asymptotic power calculations show that we have sufficient power to detect moderate-sized maternal or fetal allelic effects of common HLA alleles on BW in the UKB. Applying our SEM to imputed classical HLA alleles and own and offspring BW from the UKB replicated the previously reported association at the HLA-C locus and revealed strong evidence for maternal (HLA-A*03:01, B*35:01, B*39:06, P <0.001) and fetal allelic effects (HLA-B*39:06, P <0.001) of non-HLA-C alleles on BW. Our model yields asymptotically unbiased estimates, appropriate type I error rates and appreciable power to estimate maternal and fetal effects on BW. These novel allelic associations between BW and classical HLA alleles provide insight into the immunogenetics of fetal growth in utero.

Energy Band Alignment in ZnO-Sm2O3 Heterostructure for Low Temperature Ceramic Fuel Cells

Energy band alignment in ZnO-Sm2O3 was proposed to design promising electrolyte materials for low temperature ceramic fuel cells. The arrangement of energy bands leads to local electric field at the interface, avoiding short-circuit problems and accelerating ion conduction in ZnO-Sm2O3 electrolyte low temperature ceramic fuel cells. The optimized composite electrolyte 7ZnO-3Sm2O3 fuel cell devices an appreciable maximum power density of 790 mW cm−2 and stable power density of 125 mW cm−2 for 40 h at 500 °C.

Influence of the Downstream Blade Sweep on Cross-flow Turbine Performance

Because cross-flow turbines rotate perpendicular to their inflow, the blades encounter a continually fluctuating angle of attack and relative velocity that can lead to the unsteady, non-linear phenomenon of dynamic stall. Additionally, because of appreciable deceleration of the flow through the turbine rotor (induction), the relative velocity a blade experiences during the upstream portion of its cycle differs appreciably to that of the downstream portion. Both dynamic stall severity and turbine induction depend on the ratio of the blade tangential velocity to the inflow velocity - the dimensionless ”tip-speed ratio”. Consequently, the power generated by a blade varies substantially with tip-speed ratio and angular position. As the tip-speed ratio increases, the angle of attack range experienced by the blade decreases, dynamic stall weakens, and the relative velocity incident on the blade increases. In aggregate, this increases the amplitude of the performance peak in the upstream sweep and shifts the peak later in the cycle. In contrast, as the tip-speed ratio increases, power losses during the downstream sweep becomes increasingly detrimental to time-averaged turbine performance. Recent works, both experimental and computational, have investigated the near-blade hydrodynamics of cross-flow turbines in concert with performance measurements. However, despite the significance of the downstream sweep on performance, most attention has focused on the power generating phases.&#x0D; Here, we specifically investigate the impact of the downstream blade sweep on cross-flow turbine performance using a 1-bladed turbine (NACA 0018 foil). Because turbine torque is measured at the center shaft in our experiments, a one-bladed turbine allows us to isolate the performance contributions for the upstream and downstream sweeps (i.e., with a multi-bladed turbine, the torque contribution from each blade is ambiguous). Additionally, flow fields are investigated to understand the hydrodynamic mechanisms for the observed degradation in downstream performance at high tip-speed ratios. For this purpose, two-component, phase-locked, planar particle image velocimetry data is obtained inside the turbine swept area for two tip-speed ratios. We find that the average performance in the upstream sweep continues to increase beyond the optimal tip-speed ratio, with respect to time-averaged performance, of 2.5. In contrast, the average performance in the downstream sweep is net neutral until the optimal tip-speed ratio where it begins to decrease at a faster rate than the upstream performance increases. This indicates that the optimal tip-speed ratio is strongly influenced by the point at which the downstream sweep begins to consume appreciable power. These results highlight the importance of understanding hydrodynamics in the downstream sweep, where induction and upstream disturbances violate simple models to predict angles of attack and relative velocity. An improved understanding may suggest strategies to improve performance in the downstream sweep and increase optimal tip-speed ratios and performance of cross-flow turbines.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

Utilization, Phytochemistry and Biological Activity of Hua gabonii Pierre ex De Wild.

Although few studies are reported, Hua gabonii remains scientifically unknown due to the lack of studies. However, this aromatic plant is used in developing countries as a condiment or in traditional medicine to treat various ailments. The literature reported that this species is rich in proteins, essential amino acids, and vitamins C and E. Its fruits would present an appreciable antioxidant power. Therefore, given its numerous uses in tropical countries, H. gabonii is a good candidate for further studies.

Thermoelectric properties of Ru2TiGe Heusler phase

We report a study of structural, magnetic, heat capacity and thermoelectric properties of a Ru-based Heusler alloy, Ru2TiGe. The magnetic measurements reveal that at higher temperatures, diamagnetic and Pauli paramagnetic contributions dominate the magnetic behaviour whereas, at lower temperatures (T ≤ 20 K), superparamagnetic interaction among clusters is observed. The development of such magnetism, however, does not exhibit any noticeable influence in thermoelectric properties. Though the temperature dependence of electrical resistivity exhibits a metal-like nature, the large value of Seebeck coefficient leads to an appreciable power factor of the order of 0.54 mW/mK2 at 300 K. Large power factor as well as low thermal conductivity results in a value of zT = 0.025 at 390 K for Ru2TiGe that is orders of magnitude higher than that of the other pure Heusler alloys and point towards its high potential for practical thermoelectric applications.

Detection of methylation-based prognostic signatures in liquid biopsy specimens from patients with meningiomas.

2073 Background: Detection of distinct epigenetic biomarkers in circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) of liquid biopsy (LB) specimens (e.g. blood) fosters opportunity for prognostication of central nervous system (CNS) tumors and has not been thoroughly explored in patients with meningiomas. Methods: We profiled the cfDNA methylome (EPIC array) in serum from patients with meningiomas (MNG; n = 93) and harnessed internal and external meningioma tissue methylome data with reported follow up (n = 77). To predict recurrence risk (RR), we consolidated a tissue cohort with at least 5 years of follow up and divided them into confirmed recurrence (CR; either reported progressive disease in post-surgical imaging, or additional resections following initial surgery) and confirmed no-recurrence (CNR: no confirmed disease progression w/in at least 5-years of follow-up). Then through application of an iterative process consisting of multiple tissue- and serum-based supervised analyses, we identified risk-specific methylation markers with potential for serum application. which, when inputted into a random forest algorithm allowed for segregation of both tumor tissue and liquid biopsy specimens according to recurrence risk. We estimated immune cell composition using MethylCIBERSORT, where a reference methylome atlas of chosen immune cell types was utilized to deconvolute the MNG samples. Results: The resulting recurrence risk classifier demonstrated an appreciable predictive power in classifying samples as high or low recurrence risk across the tumor tissue cohort (ACC: 87.7%, CUI+: 86.4%). When compared to another classifier of rivaling purpose, our model demonstrated statistically significant agreement across primary meningioma samples (κ = 0.269, p = 0.01), and more accurately predicted samples to recur across expanded time windows (time to recurrence &gt; 5 yrs). Across resulting liquid biopsy classifications, recurrence risk subgroups were analogous with reported risk factors, including WHO grade, extent of resection, and tumor location. Recurrence risk subgroups also demonstrated differential estimated immune cell contributions, with low-risk samples exhibiting a “hot” profile, or enrichment of B-Cells, CD56- and CD4 T-Cells, and natural killer cells. Notably, the estimated neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, previously purported to be relevant to tumor prognosis, was appreciably higher for those meningioma samples with the highest recurrence risk. Conclusions: DNA methylation markers identified in the serum are suitable for the development of machine learning-based models which present high predictive power to prognosticate patients with meningioma and estimate a differential immune profile across recurrence risk groups. After validation in an external cohort, this noninvasive approach may improve the presurgical therapeutic management of patients with meningiomas.

Lipid Characteristics of the Muscle and Perirenal Fat in Young Tudanca Bulls Fed on Different Levels of Grass Silage.

Beef derived from grass-fed cattle is a specific quality criterion. The effect of grass silage intake on quality characteristics, i.e., fatty acids, fat-soluble vitamins, and lipid-derived volatile composition of intramuscular and perirenal fat from fattening bull weaners were studied. Visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) spectra were also obtained from perirenal fat. Perirenal fat analysis was performed for feeding differentiation purposes. A total of 22 Tudanca breed 11-month-aged bulls were finished on three different diets: grass silage and a commercial concentrate ad libitum (GS-AC), grass silage ad libitum and the commercial concentrate restricted to half of the intake of the GS-AC group (GS-LC), and barley straw and concentrate ad libitum (Str-AC). Feeding had a significant effect (p &lt; 0.05) on γ-linolenic acid and the ratio n-6/n-3 fatty acids. Furthermore, β-carotene content was greater in beef from silage groups than in the Str-AC group. Feeding also affected the perirenal fat composition. Beef from silage-fed bulls and straw-fed bulls could be differentiated by fatty acid percentages, especially 18:0, t-18:1, and c9-18:1, β-carotene content, b* colour value, and carotenoid colour index. However, the VIS or NIR spectra data showed poor differentiating performance, and the volatile composition did not have appreciable differentiation power.

Systematic investigation of effect of rotor solidity on vertical-axis wind turbines: Power performance and aerodynamics analysis

Small-scale vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) are receiving growing interest for applications in urban areas. However, the unsatisfactory power performance, mainly induced by the complex blade aerodynamics, restricts their development. Optimizing the turbine geometry is expected to improve the blade aerodynamics. In the present study, the effect of rotor solidity on the power performance and aerodynamics of VAWTs is systematically investigated using high-fidelity improved delayed detached-eddy simulations. A wide range of rotor solidity from 0.12 to 0.6 is studied for VAWTs with different numbers of blades, i.e., two- and three-bladed VAWTs. Also, different rotor diameters (0.5 m–2 m), covering VAWTs from domestic to building integration, are compared to explore the scale effect. In addition, the Reynolds number effect induced by the change of turbine geometry is considered and its impact on the solidity effect is elucidated. The results show that a low to moderate rotor solidity (e.g., lower than 0.3) allows the VAWT to achieve appreciable peak power performance. When the inflow velocity is fixed, for a given relatively low rotor solidity (e.g., 0.12), the two-bladed design is expected to achieve higher peak turbine power, while the three-bladed design is more advantageous when the rotor solidity is relatively high (e.g., 0.36). For a given rotor solidity, VAWTs with smaller rotor diameters perform relatively better due to the diminished tip loss effect. The effects of number of blades and rotor diameter are strongly affected by the variation of the chord-based Reynolds number. This study would support the optimal design of urban VAWTs.

Replacement for platinum in dye sensitized solar cell

In Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC), the platinum -free counter electrode has its own charm. Copper selenide and lead sulphide thin films are tried as substitutes for the platinum electrode in this work. These materials were prepared by the Chemical Bath Deposition technique (CBD) and their structural, compositional and electrical properties were studied in detail. DSSC was fabricated using natural dye from pomegranate as the photosensitizer. The photovoltaic performance of DSSC was evaluated with the two alternate counter electrodes and compared with the conventional platinum electrode. Results show that DSSC using copper selenide electrode exhibits appreciable power conversion efficiency when compared to platinum electrode under similar conditions.

Evaluation of Radical Scavenging and Metal Chelating Potential of Cameroonian Propolis and Isolation of Some Chemical Constituents

Five extracts were prepared from different propolis samples and denoted PR1-PR5. They were subjected to two complementary antioxidant assays, DPPH radical scavenging and metal chelation. The propolis extracts PR4 and PR5 showed good radical scavenging power with IC50 20.45 ± 1.65 μg/mL and 17.23 ± 1.40 μg/mL respectively as well as appreciable chelating power of IC50 7.52± 0.61 µg/mL and 3.47± 0.61 µg/mL for PR4 and PR5 respectively. The PR1 extract showed a moderate radical scavenging activity with an IC50 = 230.08 ± 18.60 μg/mL and exhibited a high chelating power with an IC50 of 17.40 ± 1.41 μg /mL. This potent antioxidant effects of the propolis indicates its possible application in food science. Some compounds were isolated and characterized by 1D-, 2D-NMR studies as 7-O-ß–glucopyranosylapigenine, fridelin, lupeol, β-sitosterol, 3'-hydroxypentyltetratretracontanoate, 3'-hydroxybutyltetracontanoate, propylhexatetracontanoate, methyl-tetratretraconta-noate, 1′-O-eicosanylglycerol, and 2',3'-dihydroxypropyltetraeicosanoate which was further acetylated through hemi-synthesis to yield 2',3'-diacetylpropyltetraeicosanoate.

Investigation on flexible and thermally crosslinked bis-piperidinium-PPO anion exchange membrane (AEM) for electro-kinetic desalination and acid recovery

We investigate a facile solution phase di-cationic cross-linking strategy to fabricate anion exchange membrane (AEM) with efficient electro-kinetic desalination (EKD) attributes from brackish water. The cross-linked membranes showed transmembrane potential up to 55.60 mV and counter-ion transport number of ⁓0.97, respectively. Ionic conductivities (κm) and mechanical stability attributes were improved than un-crosslinked pristine counterpart and confirmed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and stress-strain analysis, respectively. The chemical and morphological attributes are confirmed by 1H NMR, XPS and FE-SEM analysis, membranes were dense in nature with homogenous phase morphology as confirmed by dye-impregnation method and AFM phase imaging. The higher di-cationic cross-linkable precursor improved κm by ⁓ 30% (from 6.82 to 10.30 mS cm−1) at 30 °C. Moreover, the EKD performance was evaluated for continuous operation time ≥4000min. Appreciable current efficiency and power consumption of 90% and 0.99 kWh kg−1 was realised with ≥95% salt removal in 270min at 2.0V/cell pair. Furthermore, acid recovery was evaluated via. diffusion dialysis at 30 °C and 45 °C and results are corroborated. High proton dialysis coefficient (vH+) and separation factor (Sf) of 0.015–0.019 m h−1 and 10–75 was found. The paradigms suggest membranes suitability for EKD and acid repurposing via. diffusion dialysis. Finally, the alkaline stability attributes, hydroxide conduction dynamics and degradation of AEM was probed using EIS technique in detailed manner for 360 h and discussed.

Prognostic value of lncRNAs related to fatty acid metabolism in lung adenocarcinoma and their correlation with tumor microenvironment based on bioinformatics analysis.

BackgroundAs a key regulator of metabolic pathways, long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) has received much attention for its relationship with reprogrammed fatty acid metabolism (FAM). This study aimed to investigate the role of the FAM-related lncRNAs in the prognostic management of patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) using bioinformatics analysis techniques.MethodsWe obtained LUAD-related transcriptomic data and clinical information from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The lncRNA risk models associated with FMA were constructed by single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA), weighted gene co-expression network (WGCNA), differential expression analysis, overlap analysis, and Cox regression analysis. Kaplan-Meier (K-M) and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were utilized to assess the predictive validity of the risk model. Gene set variation analysis (GSVA) revealed molecular mechanisms associated with the risk model. ssGSEA and microenvironment cell populations-counter (MCP-counter) demonstrated the immune landscape of LUAD patients. The relationships between lncRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs were predicted by using LncBase v.2 and miRTarBase. The lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network was visualized with Cytoscape v3.4.0. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis was performed using DAVID v6.8. Quantitative real-time fluorescence PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed to verify the expression levels of the prognostic lncRNAs.ResultsWe identified 249 differentially expressed FMA-related lncRNAs in TCGA-LUAD, six of which were used to construct a risk model with appreciable predictive power. GSVA results suggested that the risk model may be involved in regulating fatty acid synthesis/metabolism, gene repair, and immune/inflammatory responses in the LUAD process. Immune landscape analysis demonstrated a lower abundance of immune cells in the high-risk group of patients associated with poor prognosis. Moreover, we predicted 279 competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) mechanisms for 6 prognostic lncRNAs with 39 miRNAs and 201 mRNAs. Functional enrichment analysis indicated that the ceRNA network may be involved in the process of LUAD by participating in genomic transcription, influencing the cell cycle, and regulating tissue and organogenesis. In vitro experiments showed that prognostic lncRNA CTA-384D8.35, lncRNA RP5-1059L7.1, and lncRNA Z83851.4 were significantly upregulated in LUAD primary tumor tissues, while lncRNA RP11-401P9.4, lncRNA CTA-384D8.35, and lncRNA RP11-259K15.2 were expressed at higher levels in paraneoplastic tissues.ConclusionIn summary, the prognostic factors identified in this study can be used as potential biomarkers for clinical applications. ceRNA network construction provides a new vision for the study of LUAD pathogenesis.

OS01.7.A Detection of methylation-based prognostic signatures in liquid biopsy specimens from patients with meningiomas

Abstract Background Detection of distinct epigenetic biomarkers in circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) of liquid biopsy (LB) specimens (e.g. blood) fosters opportunity for prognostication of central nervous system (CNS) tumors and has not been thoroughly explored in patients with meningiomas. Material and Methods We profiled the cfDNA methylome (EPIC array) in serum specimens from patients with meningiomas (MNG; n= 63) and harnessed internal and external meningioma tissue methylome data with reported follow up (n=48). To predict recurrence risk (RR), we consolidated a tissue cohort with at least 5 years of follow up and divided them into confirmed recurrence (CR; either reported progressive disease in post-surgical imaging, or additional resections following initial surgery) and confirmed no-recurrence (CNR: no confirmed disease progression w/in at least 5-years of follow-up). Then through application of an iterative process consisting of multiple tissue- and serum-based supervised analyses, we identified risk-specific methylation markers with serum specific features which, when inputted into a random forest algorithm allowed for segregation of both tumor tissue and liquid biopsy specimens according to recurrence risk. We estimated immune cell composition using MethylCIBERSORT, where a reference methylome atlas of chosen immune cell types was utilized to deconvolute the MNG samples. Results The resulting recurrence risk classifier demonstrated an appreciable predictive power in classifying samples as high or low recurrence risk across the tumor tissue cohort (ACC: 87.5%, CUI+: 85.2%). When compared to another classifier, our model demonstrated statistically significant agreement across primary meningioma samples (κ=0.269, p=0.002), and more accurately predicted samples to recur across an expanded time window (time to recurrence &amp;gt;5yrs). Across resulting liquid biopsy classifications, recurrence risk subgroups were analogous with reported risk factors, including WHO grade, extent of resection, and tumor location. Recurrence risk subgroups (high and low) also demonstrated differential estimated immune cell contributions, with low-risk samples exhibiting a “hot” profile, or enrichment of B-Cells, CD56- and CD4 T-Cells, and natural killer cells. Notably, the estimated neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, previously purported to be relevant to tumor prognosis, was appreciably higher for those meningioma samples with the highest recurrence risk. Conclusion DNA methylation markers identified in the serum are suitable for the development of machine learning-based models which present high predictive power to prognosticate patients with meningioma and estimate a differential immune profile across recurrence risk groups. After validation in an external cohort, this noninvasive approach may improve the presurgical therapeutic management of patients with meningiomas.

The meaning of "war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation" in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights

The European Convention on Human Rights states that human rights can be derogated only during “war”, which has never been done, or “other public emergency threatening the life of the nation”, which was first defined a threat to the State’s community organised life affecting its whole population (Lawless case). In the Greek case the Court specified that the danger must be imminent and actual, have effects on the whole nation, threaten the continuance of the community’s life and be unmanageable by measures of ordinary law. The Court thereafter affirmed that a public emergency can last many years and that the crisis can be present only in part of a state’s territory. The State, however, has no “unlimited power of appreciation” due to the Court’s supervision. The author thinks that Covid-19 can be deemed a public emergency because the conditions from the Greek case are fulfilled.

Intelligent series inducing switching scheme (ISISS) to enhance power delivery in shaded photovoltaic array

PurposeThe aim of this research study is to mitigate shading impact on solar photovoltaic array. Photovoltaic (PV) array when getting shaded not only results in appreciable power loss but also exhibits multiple power peaks. Due to these multiple power peaks, the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controllers’ performance will be affected, as most of the times it ends up in tracking the local maximum power peak and not the global power peak.Design/methodology/approachThe PV panels in an PV array when getting shaded even partially would result in huge power loss. The pattern of shading also plays a crucial role, as it renders a cascaded impact on the overall power output because the cells/panels are connected in series and are parallel. Therefore, during shading, intelligent schemes are needed to appropriately connect and discard the unhealthy and healthy panels in right place with right combination. This research proposes one such scheme to mitigate the shading impact.FindingsTo mitigate the shading impact and also to have a smooth power-voltage (P-V) curve, a new series inducing switching scheme is introduced. The proposed scheme not only mitigates the shading impact and enhances the output power but also smoothens the P-V curve that facilitates the MPPTs to track the P-V appropriately.Originality/valueThe research findings are inventive in nature and not copied work. The reference works and the inspirations have been duly cited and credited.