294 research outputs found
Coordination of Heterogeneous Deferrable Loads using the F-MBC Mechanism
No full textIncreasing participation of prosumers in the electricity grid calls for efficient operational strategies for utilizing the flexibility offered by Distributed Energy Resources (DER) to match supply and demand. This paper investigates the coordination performance of a recently proposed coordination scheme for deferrable loads: Forecast Mediated Market Based Control (F-MBC). Enhancements are made to the simulation setup to enable an analysis of performance in realistic scenarios, with heterogeneous loads and an open-ended simulation horizon. Operational scenarios were formulated to showcase the ability of F-MBC to schedule heterogeneous populations of deferrable loads with dynamic load profiles, supported by a mix of renewable and flexible generation. Availability patterns of devices were generated to take into account varying user preferences. Simulation results indicate that F-MBC was able to achieve good distributed scheduling performance for devices with a high initial power consumption. However, performance for devices with low initial power consumption has been found to be less satisfactory. Several directions for further improvement of the F-MBC scheme and its applications are identified.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Intelligent Electrical Power Grid
Does the addition of whole-body MRI to routine imaging influence real-world treatment decisions in metastatic breast cancer?
No full textBACKGROUND: The assessment of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) can be limited with routine imaging such as computed tomography (CT) especially in bone-only or bone-predominant disease. This analysis investigates the effects of the use of WBMRI in addition to the use of routine CT, bone scintigraphy (BS) and fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography with computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) on influencing systemic anti-cancer treatment (SACT) decisions in patients with known MBC. METHODS: MBC patients undergoing SACT who had WBMRI undertaken within 8 weeks of either a routine CT, BS or FDG-PET/CT were reviewed retrospectively. The clinical indications for undertaking the WBMRI examinations were recorded. Data on the extent and distribution of the disease were collected and discordance/concordance of disease status across the imaging modalities were compared. SACT decisions at each time point were also evaluated. RESULTS: There were 105 MBC patients with 148 WBMRI studies paired with CT, BS or FDG-PET/CT. 50 pairs (33.8%) showed differences in the extent of disease, with 44 pairs due to additional sites (AS) reported on WBMRI alone. 81 patients (Group 1) had one WBMRI paired with routine imaging due to a variety of indications, with clinical symptoms (such as bone pain) being the most common (24.7%). 24 patients (Group 2) had more than one WBMRI study paired with routine imaging comprising 67 pairs. 13/67 pairs (19.4%) showed discordance in assessments. 10/13 pairs had progressive disease (PD) reported on WBMRI alone. SACT change due to AS reported on WBMRI alone occurred in 21/23 pairs (91.3%) in Group 1. SACT change due to PD reported on WBMRI alone in Group 2 occurred in 6/14 pairs (42.9%). SACT change due to AS/PD in both groups occurred in 11/102 pairs (10.8%) with known invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and 13/28 pairs (46.4%) with invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC). CONCLUSIONS: The use of WBMRI in MBC led to earlier recognition of PD and SACT change compared with the other imaging modalities. A higher proportion of discordant response assessments and SACT changes were observed in ILC compared with IDC in our patient group, although larger-scale studies are required to investigate this further
On the effects of an azimuth offset in the MBC-transformation used by IPC for wind turbine fatigue load reductions
No full textWind energy currently is one of the most attractive solutions to help in the goal of switching to a more sustainable way of energy production. To stay competitive with other forms of energy production, the reduction of the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE) is an important indicator. One way of achieving this goal is by increasing the size of the wind turbine. As a result, the increased blade length also comes with a significant increase in fatigue loads present on the wind turbine’s rotating and fixed structure.Individual Pitch Control (IPC) forms an interesting opportunity in attenuating these fatigue loads. IPC is generally applied with the help of the Multi-Blade Coordinate (MBC-) transformation. The IPC control strategy uses the Out-of-Plane (OoP) bending moments measured on each blade. The MBC-transformation transforms the measured OoP bending moments towards the non-rotating reference frame. As a result the OoP bending moments are transformed into non-rotating yaw- and tilt-moments. The minimisation of these signals is then used as a control objective. Subsequently, the provided non-rotating control signals are then transformed back to the rotating domain to obtain the implementable individual pitch signals.In the literature this controller synthesis is often employed by two separately operating Single-Input Single-Output (SISO) control loops. Whereby implicitly (or sometimes explicitly) assuming that the yaw- and tilt-moments are sufficiently decoupled to make this type of control viable. In the literature, a recent frequency domain analysis has shown that the coupling is non-negligible. Literature suggests that the introduction of an offset in the inverse MBC-transformation can help decouple these yaw- and tilt-moments, although this offset is usually found in a heuristic manner and its real effects are unknown.In this study a thorough analysis on the effects of the azimuth offset is given on simplified and high-fidelity models. It is shown that the choice of blade-dynamic model structures has a significant effect on the analysis for maximum decoupling. It is also shown that a first-order model approximation is able to locate the ideal offset of a complex high-fidelity non-linear wind turbine model, which is subsequently verified by simulations and a sensitivity function analysis.Mechanical Engineering | Systems and Contro
Translation and cross-cultural adaption of the motor behavior checklist (MBC) into Brazilian Portuguese
No full textIntroduction:There are only a few instruments available to assess behavioral problems in school-age children based on reports of physical education teachers. The Motor Behavior Checklist (MBC; Efstratopoulou, Janssen, Simons, 2012) was designed to be completed by this professional in free play-situations or during physical education classes to rate students’ motor-related behavior using 5-point Likert scales. The MBC comprises 59 items distributed into two broadband factors (externalizing and internalizing) and seven behavior problem scales: rule breaking, hyperactivity/impulsivity, lack of attention, low energy, stereotyped behaviors, lack of social interaction, and lack of self-regulation. The objective of this study was to describe the translation and cross-cultural adaptation processes of the MBC into Brazilian Portuguese.
Method: The following procedures were conducted: forward translation of the original instrument, production of a synthesized version, back-translation, literal and semantic comparison, back-translator’s evaluation of divergent items, synthesized version with back-translator’s suggestions, clarity assessment of the synthesized version by professionals (physical education teachers), focus group to assess clarity indicators of the instrument, evaluation of adjustments by the author of the instrument, and production of the final version.
Results: The results indicated a satisfactory level of agreement between the original and the back-translated versions, with 68% of exact equivalence between the translated items and 16% of terms requiring minor adjustments. In the draft version, 84% of the items were evaluated as clear by physical education teachers.
Conclusion:Future studies should be conducted to assess the psychometric properties of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the MBC
Recent advances in the synthesis and application of magnetic biochar for wastewater treatment
No full textMagnetic biochar (MBC) is a novel bio-carbon material with both desired properties as adsorbent and magnetic characteristics. This review provides an up-to-date summary and discussion on the latest development of MBC, which covers the progress on its synthesis, application, and techno-economic analysis. The review indicates that the direct hydrothermal synthesis has been catching more research attention to produce MBC due to its mild reaction conditions. Instead of the Fe-loaded MBC, there is a trend of using Mn for the magnetization. For the MBC application, how to improve its adsorption performance for water decontamination, ideally to match that of the biochar (BC) or activated carbon, is important. In addition, more studies on the environmental impacts of MBC and life-cycle assessment decoding the process optimization options are necessary. This review will provide valuable references for the development of MBC and MBC-based materials for wastewater treatment
Potential of fermented papaya beverage in the prevention of foodborne illness incidence
No full textFoodborne illness is recognized as an emerging infectious disease. The incidence of foodborne
infections is common and the majority cases are undiagnosed or unreported. Apart from some
diarrhea or minor gastrointestinal problem, some foodborne pathogenic microbes may cause
death, particularly to those people with weakened immune system. In this study, we have
developed a new fermented papaya beverage using symbiotic culture of yeast and acetic acid
bacteria under controlled biofermentation process. An in-vitro assessment of fermented papaya
beverage against few foodborne pathogenic microorganism was conducted to determine
its minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC>99). Three types of foodborne pathogen:
Escherichia coli O157, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium ATCC 53648, Salmonella
enterica serovar Enteritidis (isolated from infectious chicken) were selected. From minimum
bactericidal concentration (MBC>99) assay, both fermented papaya pulp and leaves beverages
have shown 100% killing rate against three selected foodborne pathogenic microbes. Inversely,
non-fermented papaya pulp and leaves beverages indicated no inhibition at all. In fact, further
dilution of fermented papaya pulp and leaves beverages demonstrated different degree of
MBC>99 and brix value, but the pH value remained less than 3.5. These findings indicated
the combination of soluble solid compounds presents in both fermented papaya beverage and
product acidity play an important role in the inhibition of pathogenic microorganisms. The
preliminary promising results of this work have shown that the great potential of fermented
papaya beverages as a preventive measure to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in metastatic breast cancer (MBC): prognosis, drug resistance and phenotypic characterization.
No full textBackground: The expression of ATP-binding cassette transporters on circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is predictive of response to chemotherapy in cancer patients. We tested the hypothesis that drug-resistant CTCs might have predictive value in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) and possibly retain stem-like properties. Patients and methods: CTCs obtained from 42 MBC patients were evaluated for multidrug-resistance-related proteins (MRPs), aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1), estrogen receptor α (ERα) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2/neu). Primary objective was to evaluate the prognostic and predictive value of CTCs profile. Secondary end points were the level of concordance in ERα and HER2/neu status between primary tumors and CTCs and the correlation in CTCs between ALDH1, drug resistance profile and number of MRPs. Results: A difference in progression-free survival (PFS) was found between CTCs-positive and CTCs-negative patients. PFS was shorter in patients with a 'drug resistance' CTCs profile and in patients whose CTCs expressed two or more MRPs. No correlation was found between tumor characteristics and ALDH1. ALDH1 correlated to negative ERα and positive HER2/neu status in CTCs. The correlation between the number of MRPs expressed in CTCs and ALDH1 was statistically significant. Conclusion: In MBC, the presence of CTCs expressing MRPs and ALDH1 is predictive of response to chemotherapy. © The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved
Translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Motor Behavior Checklist (MBC) into Brazilian Portuguese
No full textAbstract Introduction There are only a few instruments available to assess behavioral problems in school-age children based on reports of physical education teachers. The Motor Behavior Checklist (MBC) was designed to be completed by this professional in free play-situations or during physical education classes to rate students’ motor-related behavior using 5-point Likert scales. The MBC comprises 59 items distributed into two broadband factors (externalizing and internalizing) and seven behavior problem scales: rule breaking, hyperactivity/impulsivity, lack of attention, low energy, stereotyped behaviors, lack of social interaction, and lack of self-regulation. The objective of this study was to describe the translation and cross-cultural adaptation processes of the MBC into Brazilian Portuguese. Method The following procedures were conducted: forward translation of the original instrument, production of a synthesized version, back-translation, literal and semantic comparison, back-translator’s evaluation of divergent items, synthesized version with back-translator’s suggestions, clarity assessment of the synthesized version by professionals (physical education teachers), focus group to assess clarity indicators of the instrument, evaluation of adjustments by the author of the instrument, and production of the final version. Results The results indicated a satisfactory level of agreement between the original and the back-translated versions, with 68% of exact equivalence between the translated items and 16% of terms requiring minor adjustments. In the draft version, 84% of the items were evaluated as clear by physical education teachers. Conclusion The translated version has compatible content with the original version. Future studies should be conducted to assess the psychometric properties of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the MBC.</div
Translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Motor Behavior Checklist (MBC) into Brazilian Portuguese
No full textAbstract Introduction There are only a few instruments available to assess behavioral problems in school-age children based on reports of physical education teachers. The Motor Behavior Checklist (MBC) was designed to be completed by this professional in free play-situations or during physical education classes to rate students’ motor-related behavior using 5-point Likert scales. The MBC comprises 59 items distributed into two broadband factors (externalizing and internalizing) and seven behavior problem scales: rule breaking, hyperactivity/impulsivity, lack of attention, low energy, stereotyped behaviors, lack of social interaction, and lack of self-regulation. The objective of this study was to describe the translation and cross-cultural adaptation processes of the MBC into Brazilian Portuguese. Method The following procedures were conducted: forward translation of the original instrument, production of a synthesized version, back-translation, literal and semantic comparison, back-translator’s evaluation of divergent items, synthesized version with back-translator’s suggestions, clarity assessment of the synthesized version by professionals (physical education teachers), focus group to assess clarity indicators of the instrument, evaluation of adjustments by the author of the instrument, and production of the final version. Results The results indicated a satisfactory level of agreement between the original and the back-translated versions, with 68% of exact equivalence between the translated items and 16% of terms requiring minor adjustments. In the draft version, 84% of the items were evaluated as clear by physical education teachers. Conclusion The translated version has compatible content with the original version. Future studies should be conducted to assess the psychometric properties of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the MBC.</div
Water decontamination using magnetic biochar produced from biomass and mineral processing waste
No full textContamination from industrial wastewater is a serious environmental problem, often requiring innovative treatment methods beyond traditional technologies. This thesis explores the development of magnetic biochar (MBC), a carbon-rich, magnetically separable material produced by pyrolyzing biomass with iron sources as an efficient and sustainable solution for water decontamination. The research first reviews recent advances in biochar design, modification, and application for heavy metal removal, highlighting key factors like feedstock choice, pyrolysis conditions, and activation methods. In the experimental work, MBC was synthesized using different iron compounds and production methods. Among them, one-step co-pyrolysis of maple wood and FeO at 700 °C produced the most effective MBC for removing a model dye, Remazol Brilliant Blue R (RBBR), achieving nearly 100% removal under acidic conditions. Adsorption studies revealed that the process followed pseudo-second-order kinetics and fit the Langmuir isotherm model. Taking this a step further, a new approach was developed by co-pyrolyzing red mud, an industrial waste, rich in iron, with chemically activated biomass (treated with KOH and HNO3) to produce cost-effective MBC. The KOH-activated MBC demonstrated outstanding performance, achieving almost 100% removal of copper (Cu2+) and lead (Pb2+) ions from water, while also offering lower production costs compared to HNO3-activated MBC. Overall, this work demonstrates that properly engineered MBC materials, including those made from waste resources like red mud, offer a highly promising, low-cost, and eco-friendly solution for treating dye- and heavy metal-contaminated waters
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