Economic model predictive control (EMPC) has received increasing attention in the wind energy community due to its ability to trade off economic objectives with ease. However, for wind turbine applications, inherent nonlinearities, such as from aerodynamics, pose difficulties in attaining a convex optimal control problem (OCP), by which real-time deployment is not only possible but also a globally optimal solution is guaranteed. A variable transformation can be utilized to obtain a convex OCP, where nominal variables, such as rotational speed, pitch angle, and torque, are exchanged with an alternative set in terms of power and energy. The ensuing convex EMPC (CEMPC) possesses linear dynamics, convex constraints, and concave economic objectives and has been successfully employed to address power control and tower fatigue alleviation. This work focuses on extending the blade loads mitigation aspect of the CEMPC framework by exploiting its individual pitch control (IPC) capabilities, resulting in a novel CEMPC-IPC technique. This extension is made possible by reformulating static blade and rotor moments in terms of individual blade aerodynamic powers and rotational kinetic energy of the drivetrain. The effectiveness of the proposed method is showcased in a mid-fidelity wind turbine simulation environment in various wind cases, in which comparisons with a basic CEMPC without load mitigation capability and a baseline IPC are made. Results indicate that CEMPC-IPC can achieve better reduction in rotating blade loads, as well as similar performance in the mitigation of shaft and yaw bearing loads, with the added advantage of convenient economic objectives trade-off tuning.

We examined associations between mild or asymptomatic prenatal SARS-CoV-2 infection and preterm live birth in a prospective cohort study. During August 2020–October 2021, pregnant persons were followed with systematic surveillance for RT-PCR or serologically-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection until pregnancy end. The association between prenatal SARS-CoV-2 infection and preterm birth was assessed using Cox proportional-hazards regression. Among 954 pregnant persons with a live birth, 185 (19%) had prenatal SARS-CoV-2 infection and 123 (13%) had preterm birth. The adjusted hazard ratio for the association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and preterm birth was 1.28 (95% confidence interval 0.82-1.99, p=0.28), although results did not reach statistical significance.

Background/Purpose Stage at diagnosis is an important metric in treatment and prognosis of cancer, and also in planning and evaluation of cancer control. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), for the latter, the only data source is the population-based cancer registry (PBCR). For childhood cancers, the “Toronto Staging Guidelines” have been developed to facilitate abstraction of stage by cancer registry personnel. Although the feasibility of staging using this system has been shown, there is limited information on the accuracy of staging. Methods A panel of case records of 6 common childhood cancers was established. 51 cancer registrars from 20 SSA countries staged these records, using Tier 1 of the Toronto guidelines. The stage that they assigned was compared with that decided by two expert clinicians. Results The registrars assigned the correct stage for 53-83% of cases (71% overall), with the lowest values for acute lymphocytic leukaemia (ALL), retinoblastoma and non Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), and the highest for osteosarcoma (81%) and Wilms tumour (83%). For ALL and NHL, many unstageable cases were mis-staged, probably due to confusion over the rules for dealing with missing data; for the cases with adequate information, accuracy was 72-73%. Some confusion was observed over the precise definition of three stage levels of retinoblastomas. Conclusions A single training in staging resulted in an accuracy, for solid tumours, that was not much inferior to what has been observed in high income settings. Nevertheless, some lessons were learned on how to improve both the guidelines, and the training course.

In this article, a sustainable defect-engineering strategy for dealumination of Y zeolite is described. This strategy includes the green synthesis of a well-crystallized Y zeolite with point defects arising from the incorporation of Fe atoms by using a Fe-containing perlite and the subsequent preparation of ultra-stable Y (USY) zeolite by effective dealumination. The systematic characterizations verify that Fe atoms originally existing in the perlite are incorporated into the as-synthesized Y zeolite and function as point defects, leading to the distortion of framework Al. The step-by-step investigation of the dealumination process shows that vacancies are formed by the extraction of framework Fe in the ammonium exchange, and the framework dealumination is promoted under the combined effect of the distorted framework Al and the formed vacancies during the steaming treatment. The resulting USY zeolite owns excellent features in (hydro)thermal stability, pore structure and acid property, and thus exhibits outstanding catalytic cracking performance.

Very High Power Short Duration Ablation: It Takes Two to Make a Thing Go Right? Samuel D. Maidman, M.D. & Chirag R. Barbhaiya, M.D.From the Leon H. Charney Division of Cardiology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, NYU Langone Health, New York, New York, USA

Deciduous forests form the dominant natural vegetation of Europe today, but were restricted to small refugia during Pleistocene cold stages, implying an evolutionary past shaped by recurrent range contractions and expansions. Cold-stage forest refugia were probably widespread in southern and central Europe, with the northwestern Balkan Peninsula being of particular importance. However, the actual number and location of deciduous forest refugia, as well as the connections between them, remain disputed. Here, we address the evolutionary dynamics of the deciduous forest understorey species Euphorbia carniolica as a proxy for past forest dynamics. To do so, we obtained genomic and morphometric data from populations representing the species' entire range, investigated phylogenetic position and intraspecific genetic variation, tested explicit demographic scenarios and applied species distribution models. Our data support two disjoint groups linked to separate refugia on the northwestern and central Balkan Peninsula. We find that genetic differentiation between groups started in the early Pleistocene via vicariance, suggesting a larger distribution in the past. Both refugia acted as sources for founder events to the southeastern Alps and the Carpathians, whereas the latter were likely colonized before the last cold stage. In line with traditional views on the pre-Pleistocene origin of many southeastern European deciduous forest species, the origin of E. carniolica was dated to the late Pliocene. The fact that E. carniolica evolved at a time when a period of continuous forestation was ending in much of Eurasia provides an interesting biogeographical perspective on the past links between Eurasian deciduous forests and their biota.

RATIONALE Ambient ionization mass spectrometry (AIMS) delivers realistic data from samples in their native state. In addition, AIMS methods reduce time and costs for sample preparation and have less environmental impact. However, AIMS data are often complex and require substantial processing before interpretation. METHODS We developed an interactive R script for the guided processing of mass spectrometry (MS) data. The ‘MQ_Assistant’ is based on MALDIquant, a popular R package for MS data processing. In each step, the user can try and pre-view the effect of chosen parameters before deciding on the values with the best result and proceeding to the next stage. The outcome of the MQ_Assistant is a feature matrix that can be further analyzed in R and statistics tools such as MetaboAnalyst. RESULTS Using 360 AIMS example spectra, we demonstrate the step-by-step processing for creating a feature matrix. In addition, we show how to visualize the results of tree biological replicates of a plant-microbe interaction between Arabidopsis and Trichoderma as a heatmap using R and upload them to MetaboAnalyst. The final parameter set can be saved for reuse in MALDIquant workflows of similar data. CONCLUSIONS The MQ_Assistant helps novices and experienced users to develop workflows for (AI)MS data processing. The interactive procedure supports the quick finding of appropriate settings. These parameters can be exported and reused in future projects. The step-wise operation with visual feedback also suggests the use of the MQ_Assistant in education.

When a chemical reaction occurs via tunnelling, a simple mass-dependence is expected, where substitution of atoms by heavier isotopes leads to a reduced reaction rate. However, as shown in a recent study of CO orientational isomerization at the NaCl(100) interface [Choudhury et al., Nature 612, 691 (2022)], the lightest isotopologue need not exhibit the fastest tunnelling; for the CO/NaCl system, the non-monotonic mass-dependence is understood through a new picture of condensed phase tunnelling where the overall rate is dominated by a few pairs of reactant/product states. These state-pairs – termed quantum gateways – gain dynamical importance through accidentally-enhanced tunnelling probabilities, facilitated by a confluence of the energetic landscape underlying the reaction as well as the phonon bath of the surrounding medium. Here, we explore gateway tunnelling through measurements of the kinetic isotope effect (KIE) for CO isomerization in a monolayer buried by many layers of either CO or N2. With an N2 overlayer, tunnelling rates are accelerated for all four isotopologues (12C16O, 13C16O, 12C18O, and 13C18O), but the degree of acceleration is isotopologue-specific and non-intuitively mass dependent. A one-dimensional tunnelling model involving an Eckart barrier cannot capture this behaviour. This reflects how a change to the potential energy surface moves states in and out of resonance, changing which tunnelling gateways can be accessed in the isomerization reaction.

Background: Knowledge of the specific dynamics of influenza introduction and spread in university settings is limited. Methods: Persons with acute respiratory illness symptoms received influenza testing by molecular assay during October 6–November 23, 2022. Viral sequencing and phylogenetic analysis were conducted on nasal swab samples from case-patients. Case-control analysis of a voluntary survey of persons tested was used to identify factors associated with influenza; logistic regression was conducted to calculate odds ratios and 95% CIs. A subset of case-patients tested during the first month of the outbreak was interviewed to identify sources of introduction and early spread. Results: Among 3,268 persons tested, 788 (24.1%) tested positive for influenza; 744 (22.8%) were included in the survey analysis. All 380 sequenced specimens were influenza A (H3N2) virus clade 3C.2a1b.2a.2, suggesting rapid transmission. Influenza (OR [95% CI]) was associated with indoor congregate dining (1.43 [1.002–2.03]), attending large gatherings indoors (1.83 [1.26–2.66]) or outdoors (2.33 [1.64–3.31]), and varied by residence type (apartment with ≥1 roommate: 2.93 [1.21–7.11], residence hall room alone: 4.18 [1.31–13.31], or with roommate: 6.09 [2.46–15.06], or fraternity/sorority house: 15.13 [4.30–53.21], all compared with single-dwelling apartment). Odds of influenza were lower among persons who left campus for ≥1 day during the week before their influenza test (0.49 [0.32–0.75]). Almost all early cases reported attending large events. Conclusions: Congregate living and activity settings on university campuses can lead to rapid spread of influenza following introduction. Isolating following a positive influenza test or administering antiviral medications to exposed persons may help mitigate outbreaks.

Collagenous colitis (CC) is microscopic colitis characterized by watery diarrhea without bloody stools. The main treatment for CC is discontinuing the causative drugs and smoking cessation. Very few patients are refractory to drug treatment and require surgical management.

In this article, the switching-like adaptive event-triggered dynamic output feedback H ∞ control for the interval type-2 (IT-2) Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy system over networks with hybrid attacks and Markovian packet losses is investigated. The switching-like adaptive event-triggered mechanism (SAETM) is involved with the characteristic of dynamically adjusting trigger threshold according to the change of the system states and appropriately selecting the event-triggered scheme in the light of the packet loss process is creatively proposed. The hybrid attack which is consisted of deception attack and aperiodic Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack is considered, and the deception attack is expressed as the Bernoulli random variable, while the aperiodic DoS attack is characterized by the frequency and duration in view of the average dell-time (ADT) technique. By applying the packet loss dependent multiple Lyapunov function technique and iterative method, the sufficient condition is derived to address the stability of NCS, and the existence condition is established to guarantee the prescribed performance of the H ∞ controller. Finally, two simulation examples are applied to show the availability of the provided algorithm.

Aim: The Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) is the most widely distributed Asian pangolin species. It is one of the most trafficked mammals in the world, which not only negatively impacts wild Sunda pangolin populations, but also poses a potential disease risk to other species, including humans and livestock. Despite the imminent threat to the species’ survival and its prevalence in the wildlife trade, the phylogeography and evolution of the Sunda pangolin is not well understood. We aimed to investigate the species’ phylogeography across its distribution to improve our understanding of the species’ evolutionary history, elucidate any taxonomic uncertainties and enhance the species’ conservation genetic management and wildlife forensics applications. Location: Southeast Asia and southern China. Methods: We sequenced mtDNA genomes from 23 wild Sunda pangolins from Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia. We used these data in conjunction with previous generated mtDNA and nuclear datasets from across the species’ range to perform various phylogenetic and population genetic analyses. Results: We identified an evolutionarily distinct mtDNA lineage in north Borneo, which was estimated to be ~1.6 million years divergent from lineages in west/south Borneo and the mainland, comparable to the divergence time of the Palawan pangolin. There appeared to be mitonuclear discordance, with no apparent genetic structure across Borneo based on analysis of nuclear SNPs. Main conclusions: These findings are consistent with the ‘out of Borneo hypothesis’, whereby Sunda pangolins diversified in Borneo before subsequently migrating throughout Sundaland, and/or a secondary contact scenario between mainland and Borneo. We have elucidated possible taxonomic issues in the Sunda/Palawan pangolin complex, and highlight the critical need for additional georeferenced samples to accurately apportion its range-wide genetic variation into appropriate taxonomic and conservation units. Additionally, these data have improved forensic species identification testing involving these species and permit the implementation of geographic provenance testing in some scenarios.

Methyl parathion hydrolase (MPH) is an enzyme of the metallo-β-lactamase superfamily, which hydrolyses a wide range of organophosphates (OP). Recently, MPH has attracted attention as a promising enzymatic bioremediator. The crystal structure of MPH enzyme shows a dimeric form, with each subunit containing a binuclear metal ion center. MPH also demonstrates metal ion-dependent selectivity patterns. The origins of these patterns remain unclear but are linked to open questions about the more general role of metal ions in functional evolution and divergence within enzyme superfamilies. We aimed to investigate and compare the binding of different OP pesticides to MPH with cobalt(II) metal ions. In this study, MPH was modelled from Ochrobactrum sp. with two different classes of OP pesticides bound, including phosphomonoester (methyl paraoxon and dichlorvos) and S-substituted thiophsphotriester (profenofos). The docked structures for each substrate optimized by DFT calculation was selected and subjected to atomistic molecular dynamics simulations for 500 ns. It was found that alpha metal ions did not coordinate with all the pesticides. Rather, the pesticides coordinated with less buried beta metal ions. It was also observed that the coordination of beta metal ions was perturbed to accommodate the bulky pesticides. The binding free energy calculations and structure-based pharmacophore model revealed that all the three substrates could bind well at the active site. However, profenofos exhibits the stronger binding affinity to MPH in comparison to other two substrates. Therefore, the ability of the in silico analysis presented here could be informative for increasing enzyme stability and activity.

The development of green and simple chemiluminescence (CL) systems with intensive and long-lasting emission is highly desirable in lighting and extension of their applications. In this study, it is found that the involvement of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) surfactant could greatly enhance the CL of luminol–H2O2–Co2+ system. The inserted hydrophobic tetraphenylethylene fluorophore in AIE is able to increase the hydrophobicity of alkyl chain and decrease the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of surfactant. The synergistic effect of micelle-improved enrichment and CL resonance energy transfer endows luminol–H2O2–Co2+ system intensive and long-lasting emission under neutral pH conditions (pH 7.4). The visible emission is still observed even after 60 min. Our study has opened a new avenue for exploring green and simple effective CL systems through AIE surfactant with unltralow CMC toward various applications in lighting, optical sensing, and photocatalysis, etc.

Molecular aggregation affects the electronic interactions between molecules and has emerged as a powerful tool in material science. Molecular aggregation finds wide applications in the research of new physical effects; however, its value for chemical reaction development has been far less explored. Herein, we report the development of aggregation-enabled alkene insertion into carbon–halogen bonds. The spontaneous cleavage of C–X (X = Cl, Br, or I) bonds generates an intimate ion pair, which can be quickly captured by alkenes in the aggregated state. Additional catalysts or promoters are not necessary under such circumstances, and solvent quenching experiments indicate that the aggregated state is critical for initiating such sequences. The ionic insertion mode and the intimate ion pair mechanism are supported by mechanistic studies, density functional theory calculations, and symmetry-adapted perturbation theory analysis. Results show that the non-aggregated state may quench the transition state and terminate the insertion process.

Species invasions are predicted to increase in frequency with global change, but quantitative predictions of how environmental filters and species traits influence the success and consequences of invasions for local communities are lacking. Here we investigate how invaders alter the structure, diversity and stability regime of simple communities across gradients of habitat productivity, temperature, and community size structure. We examine all three-species trophic modules (apparent and exploitative competition, trophic chain and intraguild predation) with empirically derived temperature and body mass scaling of vital rates. We show that the success of an invasion and its effects on community stability and diversity are predictably determined by the effects of environmental factors on each species and the relative strengths of trophic interactions between resident and invading species. We predict that successful invaders include smaller competitors and comparatively small predators, suggesting that species invasions may facilitate the downsizing of food webs under global change.

Background: Non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) is a highly prevalent arrhythmia where loss of synchronized atrial contraction increases the risk of intracardiac thrombus particularly within the left atrial appendage (LAA). Anticoagulation is the mainstay of stroke prevention based on the CHA2DS2-VASc score; however, it does not account for LAA structural characteristics. Methods: The research comprises a retrospective matched case-control study of 196 subjects with NVAF who underwent transesophageal echo (TEE). The control group, without thrombus (n=117), was selected from two different groups, both pools had: NVAF and CHA2DS2-VASc score ≥ 3. One group underwent screening TEE prior to Watchman closure device placement from January 2015 to December 2019 (n=74) the second underwent TEE prior to cardioversion from February to October 2014 (n=43). The study group, with thrombus (n=79), included patients with NVAF, TEE study performed between February 2014 and December 2020, and LAA thrombus. The propensity score method was utilized to determine the matched controls while accounting for confounding from prognostic variables resulting in 61 matched pairs included in the analysis data set. LAA ostial area (OA) (calculated from orthogonal measurements 0, 90° or 45, 135°), LAA maximal depth, and peak LAA outflow velocity were measured. Results: Patient characteristics and TEE data were collected (Table [I](#tbl-cap-0001)) and compared using the t-test or chi-square analysis. We observed a lower LAA peak exit velocity in the thrombus group as compared to the control group. Additionally, we found that patients in the thrombus group had smaller LAA OA at 0 and 90 degrees, at 45 and 135 degrees, using largest diameter, as well as using aggregate OA, and smaller maximum LAA depth compared to patients in the control group. Candidate conditional logistic regression models for the outcome of presence of thrombus were evaluated (Table [II](#tbl-cap-0002)). Statistical results from the best-fitting conditional regression model were calculated (Table [III](#tbl-cap-0003)) showing a significant association between aggregate OA and LAA exit velocity with presence of thrombus. Conclusion: Utilizing LAA structural characteristics to predict thrombus formation may help refine current cardioembolic stroke (CES) risk estimation.

STC power control of PV modules supply requires testing large samples of modules with low uncertainty. This paper analyses the feasibility of outdoor measurements with the modules kept at their operating positions. The classical procedure of recording I-V curves and translating them to STC in accordance with IEC 60891 using the cell temperature directly observed at a few points of the rear of the module entails uncertainties larger than 3% (k=2), which is too much for this procedure being accepted in quality controls with contractual consequences. A convenient procedure for overcoming this barrier consists in comparing the I-V curves of a tested and a reference module of the same type, both working under the same operating conditions. The latter is mostly secured if they are in adjacent positions. However, when the procedure is applied to large samples of PV modules kept in their operating position, the distance between both modules can reach tens of meters and significant inter-module temperature differences can arise. An artifice for counterbalancing these differences consists of estimating the temperature of the tested module and the “true” temperature of the reference module, as deduced from the V OC measurement, by the temperature difference observed at their respective back-sheets in a central position. This allows the measured power values to be corrected and provides clues to estimating the uncertainty of the results. This procedure has been applied in seven testing campaigns, carried out at commercial PV plants. Dedicated instrumentation, based on two radio linked I-V tracers, allowing the simultaneous measurement of the I-V curves and of the temperature at the centres of the reference and the tested modules, has been developed for that. The resulting uncertainties are slightly larger than those corresponding to high-quality solar simulators, but still low enough for dealing, in practice, with strict quality control requirements.