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The Wenchuan earthquake was a catastrophic earthquake in China. The aim of this study is to explore longitudinally the rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression in adolescents after the Wenchuan earthquake, and to identify independent predictors of PTSD. PTSD and depression symptoms among adolescents at 6, 12 and 18 months after the Wenchuan earthquake were investigated using the PTSD Checklist Civilian Version and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Subjects in this study included 548 high school student survivors in a local boarding high school. The rates of PTSD symptoms were 9.7%, 1.3% and 1.6% at the 6-, 12- and 18-month follow-ups, respectively. BDI scores were found to be the best predictor of severity of PTSD at 6, 12 and 18 months. Gender was another variable contributing significantly to PTSD at 6 and 12 months after the earthquake. In the 12-month follow-up, home damage was found to be a predictor of severity of PTSD symptoms. Being a child with siblings was found to be a predictor of severity of PTSD symptoms at 12 and 18 months after the earthquake. PTSD symptoms changed gradually at various stages after the earthquake. Depression symptoms were predictive of PTSD symptoms in the 18-month follow-up study. Other predictors of PTSD symptoms included female gender and being a child with siblings. The results of this study may be helpful for further mental health interventions for adolescents after earthquakes.

A new model describing the uncertainty of fault clearing time for probabilistic transient stability assessment of power systems is proposed. In this, a corrected transient energy function-based strategy is developed to evaluate the probabilistic instability index of systems. The advantage of this approach is that evaluations of critical clearing time in the system stability probability assessment are only conducted for very severe contingencies, an extremely small fraction of all considered contingencies. Hence, the computation efficiency has been remarkably enhanced. Case studies on a representation of the North China power system are reported to show that the proposed assessment strategy is effective and practical.

A new generation rescheduling model is proposed for transient stability enhancement of power systems, which can optimally reallocate power generations for eliminating potential transient stability threat. The idea of angle norm has been introduced to develop a sensitivity-based transient stability constraints of the rescheduling model. The trajectory sensitivity mapping technique is studied to evaluate the sensitivity factor of the angle norm at maximum swing angle to the power input of generators. The augmented Lagrangian method is employed to solve the rescheduling problem in an iteration manner. Case studies on the IEEE 50-generator test power system are reported to verify the effectiveness of the proposed generation rescheduling method.

Definitions of angle radius and coordinates axis are presented, to propose a new transient stability method that is simple and reliable for transient stability assessment. The concept of angle radius is further developed to introduce the novel concept of projection energy function (PEF), which in turn allow to the assessment of critical clearing time and generation limit of system in a new way. The advantage of the new method is that no concept of advanced generator group is required in the assessment contingency stability index. Case studies on the ten-generator New England test power system are reported to verify the validity of the PEF method.

A nonlinear programming model for simultaneously coordinated parameters design of power system stabiliser and thyristor-based static synchronous compensator stabiliser is presented. A modified simplex-simulated annealing (MSSA) algorithm is developed for solving the programming model. The MSSA can shift all eigenvalues of the system into specified regions on the s-plane for the preconfigured multiple operational points. The MSSA algorithm combines the merits of conventional simplex and simulated annealing methods together, such as global optimal solution, robustness to initial parameter settings, acceptable convergence speed, and so on and also improves the ability of solving constrained optimisation problems. The numerical results including eigenvalue analysis and the nonlinear simulation on the 10-generator New England test power system are presented to indicate the effectiveness and the potential engineering applications of the MSSA algorithm.

To explore anthropometric, metabolic and dietary factors associated with and their interplays with the Val66Met polymorphism at brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene ( ) on serum BDNF levels in adolescents. Serum BDNF levels were quantified using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 644 high school students (278 males/366 females). A polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism assay were utilized for Val66Met genotyping followed by verification using DNA sequencing. Serum levels of metabolic characteristics were assayed by routine methods. The intake of macro and micronutrients was collected by a three-day food record. Serum BDNF levels were found to be significantly different in the subjects with different genotypes of Val66Met (Val/Val homozygotes, 60.05 ± 28.07 ng/mL vs Val/Met heterozygotes, 56.37 ± 29.34 ng/mL vs Met/Met homozygotes, 51.32 ± 24.54 ng/mL, p = 0.022). Among the 36 tested variables, waist-hip ratio (WHR) (β = -0.163, p < 0.001), iodine intake (β = 0.132, p = 0.001), heart rate (β = 0.108, p = 0.005), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (β = 0.098, p = 0.011) and dietary fiber intake (β = 0.082, p = 0.084) were the predictor of serum BDNF levels, while SBP (β = 0.097, p = 0.013) and WHR (β = 0.091, p = 0.021) were related with Val66Met. Moreover, WHR was observed to play a partial mediating role in the relationship between Val66Met and serum BDNF levels (95% CI [-1.161, -0.087]) and contribute 13.05% of its total effect on serum BDNF levels. There are interplays between WHR and Val66Met on serum BDNF levels, which may be among the explanations for the previous heterogeneous reports and provide novel insights into the regulation of serum BDNF levels.

To investigate serum levels of free fatty acids (FFAs) and their associations with routine serum lipids in diet-induced obese mice, which have been scantily reported before. Male C57BL/6 J mice were fed high-fat diets for 12 weeks to induce obesity. Levels of serum FFAs were measured by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry. Obese mice had higher serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), but lower triglycerides (TG) than control mice. A total of 30 FFAs were found, and 3 saturated fatty acids (SFAs), all 8 monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) and 7 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) decreased in obese mice, but one SFA (C4:0) increased. Differences in the relative levels of individual FFAs to total FFAs, SFAs, MUFAs or PUFAs between obese and control mice were different from each other and from those evaluated by concrete levels except C4:0, C16:1, C19:1 and C18:4. Only the concrete levels of C4:0, C22:3 and C18:4 were associated with routine serum lipids, including C22:3 negatively with TG in control mice, and C4:0 and C18:4 positively with LDL-C in obese mice, although the relative levels of C4:0 to total MUFAs negatively with TC, and C23:3 to total SFAs or MUFAs negatively with TG in control mice. Different relative levels of the remaining FFAs were differently associated with different routine serum lipids in obese and/or control mice. Obesity may influence serum FFAs profiles. The relationship of individual FFAs and their relative levels to other FFAs with routine serum lipids in obese and control mice suggests that individual FFAs may interact with others and obesity on levels of routine serum lipids. Once confirmed, the interactions may be novel perspectives when fatty acids are used to improve hyperlipidemia in the subjects with obesity.

Lipoprotein-X (Lp-X) is found in the plasma of patients with familial lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) deficiency syndromes. The majority of the patients with this disorder develop progressive glomerulosclerosis. In this study, the effect of Lp-X on lipid metabolism in perfused rat kidney was investigated. Lp-X was isolated from plasma of patients with familial LCAT deficiency by sequential ultracentrifugation and gel filtration column chromatography. Rat kidneys were perfused for 1-2 h with Krebs-Henseleit buffer containing 20 microM [1-(14)C]acetate or 20 microM [Me-3H]choline. In the presence of Lp-X, no significant difference in the incorporation of radioactivity into triglycerides, cholesterol, phosphocholine, CDP-choline and sphingomyelin was observed. However, incorporation of radioactivity into cholesteryl esters and phosphatidylcholine was significantly elevated in Lp-X perfused kidneys. The contents of cholesterol, cholesteryl esters and phosphatidylcholine were also significantly increased in Lp-X perfused kidneys. The increase in lipid content in the Lp-X perfused kidney is attributed to the direct deposition of Lp-X lipids into the organ. The increase in the labelling of cholesteryl esters was attributed to the increase of available substrate (cholesterol) for the acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) reaction. The increase in phosphatidylcholine labelling was caused by a reduced turnover of the newly synthesized labelled phosphatidylcholine during Lp-X perfusion.