Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Energy and Reserve Scheduling Under a Joint Generation and Transmission Security Criterion: An Adjustable Robust Optimization Approach

This paper presents a new approach for energy and reserve scheduling in electricity markets subject to transmission flow limits. Security is imposed by guaranteeing power balance under each contingency state including both generation and transmission assets. The model is general enough to embody a joint generation and transmission n-K security criterion and its variants. An adjustable robust optimization approach is presented to circumvent the tractability issues associated with conventional contingency-constrained methods relying on explicitly modeling the whole contingency set. The adjustable robust model is formulated as a trilevel programming problem. The upper-level problem aims at minimizing total costs of energy and reserves while ensuring that the system is able to withstand each contingency. The middle-level problem identifies, for a given pre-contingency schedule, the contingency state leading to maximum power imbalance if any. Finally, the lower-level problem models the operator's best reaction for a given contingency by minimizing the system power imbalance. The proposed trilevel problem is solved by a Benders decomposition approach. For computation purposes, a tighter formulation for the master problem is presented. Our approach is finitely convergent to the optimal solution and provides a measure of the distance to the optimum. Simulation results show the superiority of the proposed methodology over conventional contingency-constrained models.
Test-retest performance of a mailed version of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey among older adults.

OBJECTIVES This study reports the reliability, internal consistency, and response patterns for a mailed version of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) among older adults. METHODS The SF-36 surveys were mailed to patients living in the community aged 65 years and older who were enrolled in two primary care practice clinics. Comorbidity scores also were assigned to patients based on their diagnoses from computerized clinic encounter forms using Deyo et al's modification of the Charlson Index. Subjects repeated the SF-36 by mail after 1 months. RESULTS Four-hundred twenty-two subjects were mailed surveys and 253 returned them (60.0%). Missing items further reduced the number of subjects with scores on all SF-36 scales. A total of 186 subjects completed both base-line and retest SF-36 surveys. Intraclass correlation coefficients generally were high and ranged from 0.648 to 0.868. Internal consistency of scales also was high (0.802 to 0.924). Mean SF-36 scale scores decreased significantly with increasing comorbidity levels. CONCLUSIONS The SF-36 demonstrated good retest reliability and internal consistency among these older adults and also showed a strong relationship to an external measure of comorbidity/health status. Mailed surveys pose a problem of response among older adults, a problem not unique to the SF-36, and methods for increasing response are needed when personal interviews are not feasible.
Liver-Assist Device With a Microfluidics-Based Vascular Bed in an Animal Model

Objective:This study evaluates a novel liver-assist device platform with a microfluidics-modeled vascular network in a femoral arteriovenous shunt in rats. Summary of Background Data:Liver-assist devices in clinical trials that use pumps to force separated plasma through packed beds of parenchymal cells exhibited significant necrosis with a negative impact on function. Methods:Microelectromechanical systems technology was used to design and fabricate a liver-assist device with a vascular network that supports a hepatic parenchymal compartment through a nanoporous membrane. Sixteen devices with rat primary hepatocytes and 12 with human HepG2/C3A cells were tested in athymic rats in a femoral arteriovenous shunt model. Several parenchymal tube configurations were evaluated for pressure profile and cell survival. The blood flow pattern and perfusion status of the devices was examined by laser Doppler scanning. Cell viability and serum protein secretion functions were assessed. Results:Femoral arteriovenous shunt was successfully established in all animals. Blood flow was homogeneous through the vascular bed and replicated native flow patterns. Survival of seeded liver cells was highly dependent on parenchymal chamber pressures. The tube configuration that generated the lowest pressure supported excellent cell survival and function. Conclusions:This device is the first to incorporate a microfluidics network in the systemic circulatory system. The microvascular network supported viability and function of liver cells in a short-term ex vivo model. Parenchymal chamber pressure generated in an arteriovenous shunt model is a critical parameter that affects viability and must be considered in future designs. The microfluidics-based vascular network is a promising platform for generating a large-scale medical device capable of augmenting liver function in a clinical setting.
The Relationship Between Optimism and Quality of Life in Newly Diagnosed Cancer Patients

Background: Understanding the relationships between social and psychological determinants of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a critical step in developing effective screening tools and targeted interventions for psychosocial care. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between dispositional optimism and HRQOL in newly diagnosed adult cancer patients. Methods: A cross-sectional, predictive correlational design was used. The sample consisted of 163 patients with mixed diagnoses and stages who were within 180 days since diagnosis and had completed a battery of psychosocial measures upon enrollment into a psychosocial data registry during their first outpatient visit or treatment. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine predictors of HRQOL. Results: Optimism was significantly correlated with spiritual well-being, anxiety, depression, and HRQOL. Optimism was not a significant predictor of HRQOL at initial diagnosis and treatment when age, scores on functional status, spiritual well-being, depression, and anxiety were entered into the regression equation. Conclusion: Dispositional optimism is not a primary factor in HRQOL at initial diagnosis and treatment. Further exploration is needed to determine if optimism exerts a greater influence on HRQOL at another point along the cancer trajectory and if there is overlap between the constructs of optimism and spirituality. Implications for Practice: Although systematic screening for dispositional optimism is not recommended, patients who display characteristics associated with low optimism require further assessment. Also, patients with poor functional status, young age, low levels of spirituality, and high levels of depression may be vulnerable for poor HRQOL.