The growing development of distributed generation and storage devices has allowed the growth of micro-grids in low voltage and medium voltage grids. This caused the increase of voltage harmonics with high frequency in LV and MV grids. This aspect is most important to right operations of the VSI-current controlled. This paper investigated the effect of the voltage high frequency ripple in the point of common coupling for the current total harmonic distortion, hence to improve the power quality have been used active low pass filters for the feedforward grid voltages in the current inner loop. Furthermore, some types of active low pass filters and their performances have been compared.

Electric mobility requires modern, reliable and efficient infrastructures in order to finally reach a wide diffusion. At the same time, these infrastructures have to be integrated with existing, and often aging, electric networks: this matching must face several technical challenges, mostly on urban scenarios, where many technical and operational constraints are present. Moreover, electric vehicles charging operations require very accurate control devices in order, not only to avoid causing further troubles to the low voltage distribution systems, but also to help ensuring network security and power quality. In this paper, a methodology for the optimization of EVs charging operations, that aims at optimizing EVs charge and discharge in response to violations of technical constraints of power networks, congestions and other security constrained issues at LV level, is presented. Key-Words: charging station, electric vehicles, low voltage distribution networks, smart grids, storage systems

In recent years, low voltage electrical grids are experiencing the growing implementation of distributed generation systems such as solar and wind generators, EV charging systems and storage devices. For this reason the use of a smart management system for every active component becomes necessary to acquire and provide real time measurements of main parameters of power grids and execute automatic actions. In this work, the design and implementation of a cheap, flexible and reliable smart monitoring system is proposed.

In this paper, an innovative methodology to monitor and optimize the behavior of low voltage electric distribution systems through optimized electric vehicles charging operations is presented. This work is aimed at promoting short-term improvements, showing that charging times of electric vehicles, that in many cases represent one of the major obstacles to the full spreading of electric mobility, can be well managed without drastic interventions on distribution networks. The proposed approach is based on the formulation of a Three-Phase Optimal Power Flow (TOPF) problem.

Human leucocyte antigen (HLA) genes play an important role in the success of organ transplantation and are associated with autoimmune and infectious diseases. Current DNA-based genotyping methods, including Sanger sequence-based typing (SSBT), have identified a high degree of polymorphism. This level of polymorphism makes high-resolution HLA genotyping challenging, resulting in ambiguous typing results due to an inability to resolve phase and/or defining polymorphisms lying outside the region amplified. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) may resolve the issue through the combination of clonal amplification, which provides phase information, and the ability to sequence larger regions of genes, including introns, without the additional effort or cost associated with current methods. The NGS HLA sequencing project of the 16IHIW aimed to discuss the different approaches to (i) template preparation including short- and long-range PCR amplicons, exome capture and whole genome; (ii) sequencing platforms, including GS 454 FLX, Ion Torrent PGM, Illumina MiSeq/HiSeq and Pacific Biosciences SMRT; (iii) data analysis, specifically allele-calling software. The pilot studies presented at the workshop demonstrated that although individual sequencers have very different performance characteristics, all produced sequence data suitable for the resolution of HLA genotyping ambiguities. The developments presented at this workshop clearly highlight the potential benefits of NGS in the HLA laboratory.

High power converters adopted in oil and gas applications or in wind turbine applications can benefit from the introduction of medium voltage multilevel inverters, in terms of volume and efficiency. The low switching frequency lead to currents characterized by an high harmonic content despite the use of multilevel technology, hence to high filtering needs. The use of LCL-filter is the solution to limit the size and cost of inductors. However to avoid possible resonance, passive damping is adopted leading to a decrease in the efficiency. Alternative solutions consist in the use of selective resonant damping or in active damping. These solutions are reviewed in this paper. Particularly the latter are difficult to implement due to the limited sampling frequency, typically double of the switching frequency. All the solutions are compared in terms of harmonic content and losses.

ObjectivesThe aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of duloxetine in generalized anxiety disorder and the its compatibility and synergy with non-pharmacological instruments.MethodsThis observational study was carried-out in 130 patients ( 80 women and 50 men) (Table I) with generalized anxiety disorder recruited among outpatients of the Operative Unit of Mental Health, district 13, ASL Caserta. The patients were subdivided into two cohorts: the first cohort was treated with duloxetine 30 mg/die (70 patients), the second with duloxetine 30 mg/die plus a group trained in stress control counseling (60 patients). They were assessed through the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HAM-A) administered at the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th week of treatment, and the Anxiety Scale Questionnaire (ASQ) administered at T0, T-30, T-60 and follow-up at T-90 days.ResultsIn the group treated with duloxetine (dulo) + stress control counseling (scc), the improvement was more rapid than the group treated only with dulo (Fig. 1); in the first 4 weeks, 65% of patients treated with dulo plus scc and 53% of patients treated with dulo alone responded to treatment significantly; while regarding remission, there were no statistically significant differences (Fig. 2). Dulo 30 mg + scc-treated patients also showed significantly greater improvements compared with dulo 30 mg-treated patients on each of the secondary efficacy measures ( Fig. 3); with the scale ASQ, we observed that the sum score of A + B improved significantly in the first month of treatment, gradually stabilizing in the group treated with dulo plus scc (Fig. 4).ConclusionsThe results of this observational study suggest that duloxetine is effective and well tolerated at a dose of 30 mg/die for the treatment of GAD. Patients who received the drug plus the educational training group in stress control counseling have achieved a significant improvement, with reduced severity of anxiety symptoms and improving the overall performance, faster than the group treated only with the medication. These improvements were clinically significant, as indicated by the good response from the sustained improvement and remission rates at study endpoint. The clinical evidence that drugs inhibiting serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake (SNRIs) are particularly effective in treating the short, medium and long-term generalized anxiety disorder has recently found an experimental correlate at the neurochemical level. The ability of SNRIs to act simultaneously and more selectively on the serotonergic and noradrenergic transmission is certainly a peculiar property, fundamental in allowing these drugs to modulate the most efficient synthesis of trophic factors and the process of neurogenesis, the two most important phenomena associated functionally to neuroplasticity.

BACKGROUND comorbidity plays a critical role in the high mortality for chronic heart failure (CHF) in the elderly. Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) is the most extensively studied comorbidity index. No studies are available on the ability of CCI to predict mortality in CHF elderly subjects. The aim of the present study was to assess if CCI was able to predict long-term mortality in a random sample of elderly CHF subjects. METHODS long-term mortality after 12-year follow-up in 125 subjects with CHF and 1,143 subjects without CHF was studied. Comorbidity was evaluated using CCI. FINDINGS in elderly subjects stratified for CCI (1-3 and > or =4), mortality was higher in non-CHF subjects with CCI > or =4 (52.4% versus 70%, P < 0.002) but not in those with CHF (75.9% versus 77.6%, P = 0.498, NS). Cox regression analysis on 12 years mortality indicated that both CCI (HR = 1.15; 95% CI = 1.01-1.31; P = 0.035) and CHF (HR = 1.27; 95% CI = 1.04-8.83; P = 0.003) were predictive of mortality. When Cox analysis was performed by selecting the presence and the absence of CHF, CCI was predictive of mortality in the absence but not in the presence of CHF. CONCLUSION CCI does not predict long-term mortality in elderly subjects with CHF.

.Osteogenic protein-1 (rhOP-1), also called bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7), is osteoinductive. It may be possible to reconstruct a mandible by local application of rhOP-1. However, in tumour patients this can be impossible due to scars or preceding radiotherapy. Usually vascularized bone grafts are indicated. The aim of this study was to prefabricate a vascularized bone graft in the latissimus dorsi muscle for microsurgical transplantation. In nine minipigs 600 μg rhOP-1 were used with 8 ml xenogenic bone mineral (BioOss®, Geistlich, Waldenburg, Germany) as a carrier and inserted into a pouch prepared in the M. latissimus dorsi. After 6, 12, and 24 weeks the grafts were harvested. The results were evaluated using computed tomography, histology, macro- and microangiography. A high yield of newly formed bone was obtained on the osteoconductive scaffold of the xenogenic bone. It was possible to create a vascularized osseous graft in the given shape of the BioOss blocks. In cross-sections, 68% of the scaffold was coated with new bone. The amount of new bone did not differ between the prefabrication times. Bone overgrowth was 2.1% of the graft volume. In conclusion, this study has shown that it can be possible to prefabricate a neomandible within a muscle graft, which then could be transferred for microvascular reconstruction of the mandible. Further research is required before this technique can be refined for clinical use.

The objective of this study was to examine the osteoinductive capacity of different concentrations of BMP-2 on bone marrow stromal cells in vitro. Further, we intended to determine whether titanium provided with an increased surface roughness is more efficient in osteoblast differentiation than machined titanium. Therefore, 20,000 cells/ml were seeded and cultured on machined and grit-blasted titanium discs for 4, 8 and 16 days. Different concentrations of rhBMP-2 (0, 10, 100, 1000 ng/ml) were supplemented to the medium for 8 days of culturing. To evaluate cellular proliferation and differentiation, specimens were examined for DNA, alkaline phosphatase activity, and calcium content. Morphological appearance of the specimens at 8 and 16 days of incubation was evaluated using scanning electron microscopy. Two separate experimental runs were performed.Evaluation of the DNA and alkaline phosphatase data revealed that a significant difference existed for these data between both experimental runs. Further analysis of the DNA figures learned that roughening of the titanium surface and addition of BMP-2 had no effect on cell proliferation. The alkaline phosphatase analysis and calcium measurements revealed that BMP-2 stimulated the early differentiation of osteogenic cells on machined titanium substrates in a dose-dependent manner. After 16 days of culture, no significant differences in calcium content could be observed anymore between machined and roughened titanium surfaces. Further, the data revealed that the machined surfaces showed a significant increase in calcium deposition when 100 and 1000 ng/ml BMP-2 were supplemented to the medium. However, the roughened surfaces showed this significant enhancement in calcium content only with 1000 ng/ml BMP-2. In addition, SEM evaluation revealed a dose-dependent response to BMP-2. Increasing BMP-2 concentrations resulted in more calcified globular accretions on bone surfaces than when no BMP-2 was added.On the basis of our results, we conclude that (1) due to the heterogeneous nature of bone marrow, experimental results with primary rat bone marrow cells are difficult to reproduce from one experiment to the other, and (2) addition of rhBMP-2 in the medium stimulates the early differentiation and matrix mineralization of osteogenic cells on machined titanium surfaces in a dose-responsive manner. Further, we concluded that our roughened titanium surfaces had no effect on proliferation and differentiation of primary derived rate bone marrow cells.

Cattedra di Geriatria, Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica, Scienze Cardiovascolari ed Immunologiche, Universita degli Studi di Napoli ‘Federico II’, Naples, Italy Cattedra di Medicina Interna, Dipartimento di Scienze Animali, Vegetali ed Ambientali, Universita del Molise, Campobasso, Italy Istituto Scientifico di Campoli/Telese, Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri, IRCCS, Benevento, Italy Department of Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, II University of Naples, Naples, Italy Department of Medicine, Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA