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In the face of the ever-increasing pressure on climate change, recent decades witnessed booming interests in the integrated energy systems (IES) consisting of intermittent renewable energy and dispatchable power sources, such as reformed gas-fed solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). However, optimization of system design and operation is challenging due to the system complexity, inevitable couplings, and various constraints. To this end, this paper proposes a comprehensive model to describe integrated energy systems with combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP). Optimal economic performance is formulated as the objective function. Constraints are derived based on the safety and operation requirements. The problem is solved by developing a two-stage stochastic programming framework to achieve the optimized results in terms of both design and operation. The second stage concerns the operation scheduling given the operation plan and stochastic characteristics, based on which the first stage concerns the design planning to realize the prescribed CCHP capacity. Considering the computation complexity of the second stage, the stochastic characteristics are represented by selected scenarios. And to present the mutual influence of energy demands and climate conditions, the time sequence correlation among energy demands and renewable energy availability is considered in the clustering-based scenario selection technique. To solve the proposed two-stage framework, the real-coded genetic algorithm and mixed integer linear programming method are applied in the first and second stages, respectively. A case study in San Francisco is carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, providing some intuitive guidance for future IES operation and system planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methyl mercaptan (CH3SH) is a colorless, toxic gas with potential for occupational exposure and used as a weapon of mass destruction. Inhalation at high concentrations can result in dyspnea, hypoventilation, seizures, and death. No specific methyl mercaptan antidote exists, highlighting a critical need for such an agent. Here, we investigated the mechanism of CH3SH toxicity, and rescue from CH3SH poisoning by the vitamin B12 analog cobinamide, in mammalian cells. We also developed lethal CH3SH inhalation models in mice and rabbits, and tested the efficacy of intramuscular injection of cobinamide as a CH3SH antidote. We found that cobinamide binds to CH3SH (Kd = 84 µM), and improved growth of cells exposed to CH3SH. CH3SH reduced cellular oxygen consumption and intracellular ATP content and activated the stress protein c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK); cobinamide reversed these changes. A single intramuscular injection of cobinamide (20 mg/kg) rescued 6 of 6 mice exposed to a lethal dose of CH3SH gas, while all six saline-treated mice died (p = 0.0013). In rabbits exposed to CH3SH gas, 11 of 12 animals (92%) treated with two intramuscular injections of cobinamide (50 mg/kg each) survived, while only 2 of 12 animals (17%) treated with saline survived (p = 0.001). We conclude that cobinamide could potentially serve as a CH3SH antidote. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we discuss the inference problem about the Box-Cox transformation model when one faces left-truncated and right-censored data, which often occur in studies, for example, involving the cross-sectional sampling scheme. It is well-known that the Box-Cox transformation model includes many commonly used models as special cases such as the proportional hazards model and the additive hazards model. For inference, a Bayesian estimation approach is proposed and in the method, the piecewise function is used to approximate the baseline hazards function. Also the conditional marginal prior, whose marginal part is free of any constraints, is employed to deal with many computational challenges caused by the constraints on the parameters, and a MCMC sampling procedure is developed. A simulation study is conducted to assess the finite sample performance of the proposed method and indicates that it works well for practical situations. We apply the approach to a set of data arising from a retirement center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked autosomal recessive genetic disorder caused by mutations in DMD gene. Approximately 70% of the mutations are caused by deletions or duplications of DMD exons, while the remaining were minor mutations.Case report: We present a 5-year-old boy with typical clinical features of DMD. A novel mutation was identified as a c.9358_9359insA of DMD gene by next-generation sequencing. This mutation which was origined from mother, generated a frameshift mutation and resulted in abnormal synthesis of protein polypeptide chains.Conclusion: We demonstrated a novel mutation of DMD gene and expanded the spectrum of mutations causing DMD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intrinsic ill-posed nature of the inverse problem in near infrared imaging makes the reconstruction of fine details of objects deeply embedded in turbid media challenging even for the large amounts of data provided by time-resolved cameras. In addition, most reconstruction algorithms for this type of measurements are only suitable for highly symmetric geometries and rely on a linear approximation to the diffusion equation since a numerical solution of the fully non-linear problem is computationally too expensive. In this paper, we will show that a problem of practical interest can be successfully addressed making efficient use of the totality of the information supplied by time-resolved cameras. We set aside the goal of achieving high spatial resolution for deep structures and focus on the reconstruction of complex arrangements of large regions. We show numerical results based on a combined approach of wavelength-normalized data and prior geometrical information, defining a fully parallelizable problem in arbitrary geometries for time-resolved measurements. Fast reconstructions are obtained using a diffusion approximation and Monte-Carlo simulations, parallelized in a multicore computer and a GPU respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Many different approaches are needed to achieve reductions in GHG emissions from the transportation sector. Carbon emissions trading schemes (ETSs) are widely used in industry and are effective in reducing the overall social cost of emissions abatement. This article reports the development of a downstream ETS for the transportation sector and its application in Shenzhen, China. The ETS was devised as a mandatory cap-and-trade scheme and, as a first step, was applied to public transportation. An integrated cap was set on the total emissions from buses and taxis: an absolute cap for existing vehicles and a relative increment for new entrants. Allowances were allocated by grandfathering or benchmarking and a ‘reverse mechanism’ was established to encourage the transformation of urban transportation to a low-carbon system. Online fuel consumption monitoring was used to quantify the emissions from vehicles, and the operators were required to surrender enough allowances or credits to account for their verified annual emissions. The mechanisms for allowance trading and carbon offsets provided sufficient flexibility to make emissions abatement and the use of new-energy vehicles and environmentally friendly travel within Shenzhen's urban transportation system economically attractive. Policy relevance The transportation sector is becoming a major contributor to the growth in China's GHG emissions. Achieving large reductions in GHG emissions from the transportation sector is a great challenge and requires both technology and policy innovation. The tradable carbon permit is a popular concept in mitigating climate change, but the introduction of a cap-and-trade ETS into the transportation sector is a relatively innovative concept. Shenzhen has launched the first cap-and-trade ETS in a developing country and is currently exploring ways to mitigate carbon emissions by a downstream cap-and-trade ETS for the transportation sector. This article considers the main institutional arrangements and regulatory framework of Shenzhen's transportation carbon ETS. It not only refreshes the theoretical analysis and practical application of downstream cap-and-trade carbon emissions trading in urban transportation, but also provides developing countries with a cost-effective instrument to mitigate their rapid growth in traffic carbon emissions during urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology including social media and other technology applications enabled by different technology devices offer many possibilities for second language learners to improve their learning, if they are interested in doing so. We investigated purposes for using technology among urban adolescents, including both English language learners (ELLs) and native English speakers (NESs). Data were collected through a survey of 531 students in an urban public middle school in the USA. The results showed that students used technology for diverse purposes regardless of their first language background. Although overall technology students' access was comparable to national averages, the use of technology for many specific purposes was markedly lower, lending support to the notion of a new digital divide between students from high- and low-income families based on technology knowledge and meaningful application of such knowledge rather than mere access. Student reports of their own English skills were related to various specific uses of technology, e.g., blogging and email. These relationships were stronger for ELLs, particularly those in grade 6, than for NESs. The results suggest that younger ELL adolescents may be more aware of their language constraints and prone to use technology in certain ways than their NES peers. These findings provide some preliminary insights into the complex relationships between language skills and student preferences for technology use and can ultimately provide guidance for the integration of technology into language and literacy instruction for linguistically diverse urban adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We give the necessary and sufficient conditions for all weight subspaces of the highest weight irreducible moduleV(φ) of the Lie algebra ℬ related to the Klein-bottle to be finite dimensional. We prove the Verma ℬ-moduleis irreducible if and only if the corresponding irreducible highest weight ℬ-moduleV(φ) has at least one infinite dimensional weight subspace. We also give the classification of the Harish-Chandra ℬ-module with nontrivial center. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective: To demonstrate the changes of ovarian aging markers across the Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop (STRAW) stages and modify it with subclassification of mid reproductive age stage (MR). Design: Healthy females were classified according to the STRAW system. Serum basal FSH, LH, E2, and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) were detected, FSH/LH ratio calculated, and antral follicle counts (AFCs) determined in follicular phase. Results: Progression through the whole STRAW stages under MR stage subdivided is associated with elevations in FSH, LH, FSH/LH ratio and decreases in E2, AMH and AFCs ( p < 0.001). Both serum AMH and AFCs decreased early (after 25 years) and significantly ( p < 0.01) with chronological age in MR stage. 0.982 ng/ml AMH and 3 antral follicles (low level of MR 25-30 years) were set as cutoffs to distinguish MR stage into early mid reproductive age (EMR) and late mid reproductive age (LMR) stages. The women in EMR stage compared with LMR could retrieve more oocytes in IVF treatment ( p < 0.05) and has a higher pregnancy chance (57.9%) though not significant. Conclusion(s): The early and marked fall in serum AMH levels and AFCs suggest fine markers to further categorize and define the MR stage, demonstrating disparate reproductive aging period with reduced ovarian reserve in young age across the STRAW stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]