Breast cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer and the second leading cause of mortality, affecting 1 in 9 women in the United States. Recent studies have shown that antipsychotic drug use is associated with increased prolactin levels, which, in turn, is associated with increased risk of breast cancer. However, studies of the association between antipsychotic drug use and the risk of breast cancer are sparse and have largely been conducted in homogenous populations. Therefore, we evaluated this relationship in postmenopausal women (N = 119 524) in a diverse population of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) cohort. Antipsychotic drug use was self-reported and in situ and invasive breast cancer cases were confirmed by medical records for the WHI clinical trial (CT) and the WHI observational study (OS), from 1993 through 2018. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to model breast cancer risk against antipsychotic drug use while adjusting for dietary and lifestyle factors. Overall, antipsychotic users made up 0.41% of this population. There was no overall association between antipsychotic drug use and postmenopausal breast cancer risk (HR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.73 – 1.40). Among typical antipsychotic drug users, there was a suggested two-fold increased risk in developing in situ breast cancer (HR = 2.02, 95% CI = 0.84, 4.86). Thus, antipsychotic drug use does not appear to increase breast cancer risk overall, but the potential association between antipsychotics and in situ breast cancer merits further study.

This subject of this thesis is the risk analysis of selected accidents. The aim is to analyze risk based on typical accidents, which are the main causes of chemical substances leakage . The practical part includes an estimation of the hazard zones and their impact on each substance, in case of leakage.

Comparative performance of the electronic, conventional, and combination (electronic and conventional) ovens was studied in the preparation of five typical foods: baked custard, lemon cake, baked potatoes, orange marmalade tea loaf, and roast chicken. The data collected included final temperature of each food and ratings of each food by a taste panel. Foods prepared electronically and by the combination method required significantly less time with the exception of lemon cake. Foods prepared by the combination and conventional methods were preferred by the taste panel over foods prepared electronically with the exception of custard which was rated superior to custard cooked conventionally.

Changes in weather patterns worldwide and global warming increased the demand for high-performance buildings resilient to climate change. Building Performance Simulation (BPS) is a robust technique to test, assess, and enhance energy efficiency measures and comply with stringent energy codes of buildings. Climate has a considerable impact on the buildings' thermal environment and energy performance; therefore, choosing reliable and accurate weather data is crucial for building performance evaluation and reducing the performance gap. Typical Weather Years (TWYs) have been traditionally used for energy simulation of buildings. Even if detailed energy assessments can be performed using available multi-year weather data, most simulations are carried out using a typical single year. As a result, this fictitious year must accurately estimate the typical multi-year conditions. TWYs are widely used because they accelerate the modeling process and cut down on computation time while generating relatively accurate long-term predictions of building energy performance. However, there is no certainty that a single year can describe the changing climate and year-by-year variations in weather patterns. Nowadays, with increased computational power and higher speeds in calculation processes, it is possible to adopt multi-year weather datasets to fully assess long-term building energy performance and avoid errors and inaccuracies during the preliminary selection procedures. This study aims to investigate the impact of Typical Weather Years and Actual Weather Years (AWYs) on a single-family house and a university building under two opposite climates, Winnipeg (cold) and Catania (hot). First, a single-family house in Winnipeg, Canada, was selected to evaluate how typical weather years affect the energy performance of the building and compare it with AWYs simulation. Two widely used typical weather data, CWEC and TMY, were selected for the simulation. The results were compared with the outcomes of simulation using AWYs derived from the same weather station from 2015 to 2019, which covered the latest climate changes. The results showed that typical weather years could not sufficiently capture the year-by-year variation in weather patterns. The typical weather years overestimated the cooling load while underestimating the heating demands compared to the last five actual weather years. A more extensive study was conducted for more confidence in the findings and understanding of the weather files. The research was expanded by comparing the results of building performance simulation of the single-family house and an institutional building with more complex envelope characteristics belonging to the University of Manitoba under cold (Winnipeg, Canada) and hot (Catania, Italy) climates. Overall, 48 simulations were performed using ten actual weather years from 2010 to 2019 and two TWYs from each climate for both buildings. The results showed that while the TWYs either overestimate or underestimate the cooling and heating demands of both buildings, cooling load predictions were highly overestimated in the heating-dominant climate of Winnipeg, ranging from 10.5% to 82.4% for both buildings by CWEC and TMY weather data. In the cooling-dominant climate of Catania, energy simulations using IWEC and TMY typical weather data highly overestimated the heating loads between 2.8% and 82.4%.

No description available.

<p>  </p> <p>Sleep is a critical component of early development, with over 8,000 hours spent asleep between a child's first and third birthday alone. Beginning in infancy, sleep is linked to several aspects of development, such as language, attention, and social communication. Thus, given its frequency and importance for infants and toddlers, sleep is among the most common topics raised by parents of typically and atypically developing children at well-child visits and beyond. The current dissertation includes three distinct, but integrated studies on sleep in early development. Specifically, study 1 addresses sleep in typically developing toddlers using videosomnography (an objective measure of sleep), study 2 addresses relations between sleep and attention in toddlers at low and high familial risk for ASD, and study 3 addresses prospective patterns of early sleep and development in children who later develop ASD. Overall, results from this dissertation highlight that sleep problems (e.g., night waking) can be expected even within well documented typical development. Findings from this dissertation have implications for sleep measurement in early childhood and suggest that using objective measures of sleep and developmental competence are critical for understanding normative sleep in typical and atypical development. </p>

No / In this study human color constancy was tested for two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) setups with real objects and lights. Four different illuminant changes, a natural selection task and a wide choice of target colors were used. We found that color constancy was better when the target color was learned as a 3D object in a cue-rich 3D scene than in a 2D setup. This improvement was independent of the target color and the illuminant change. We were not able to find any evidence that frequently experienced illuminant changes are better compensated for than unusual ones. Normalizing individual color constancy hit rates by the corresponding color memory hit rates yields a color constancy index, which is indicative of observers¿ true ability to compensate for illuminant changes.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo propor uma nova metodologia para o cálculo das perdas por segmento do sistema de distribuição. As perdas técnicas são agrupadas nos seguintes segmentos: rede secundária, transformador de distribuição, rede primária e subestação de distribuição. Desenvolveu-se uma metodologia destinada ao cálculo das perdas de forma hierárquica: por exemplo, selecionada uma subestação específica, são calculadas as perdas na subestação e em seus componentes a jusante (redes primárias, transformadores de distribuição, redes secundárias). As perdas, inicialmente, são obtidas por meio de cálculo elétrico para os segmentos envolvidos, com a utilização dos parâmetros da rede, com os dados de faturamento e as curvas de carga típicas por classe de consumidor e seus tipos de atividade. Com os resultados desses cálculos, treinam-se redes neurais que irão calcular as perdas em sistemas genéricos utilizando os parâmetros e topologia do segmento e as curvas típicas de cargas dos consumidores e a energia mensal consumida. O trabalho apresenta um exemplo de aplicação, em sistema de distribuição existente, mostrando os resultados obtidos, e termina apresentando as principais vantagens da metodologia. Finalmente, os resultados obtidos com a nova metodologia são comparados com os resultados obtidos por métodos analíticos de cálculo intensivo. / In this work, a new methodology for the calculation of the energy technical losses in a distribution system, is presented. The proposed approach regards the segmentation of the distribution system, thus, the losses will be obtained for segments such as: the secondary network, distribution transformer, primary network and distribution substation. It was developed a computational system aimed to the calculation of the technical losses within specific distribution networks and usable in a microcomputer. Such a calculation is done in a hierarchical way. For instance, once selected a specific substation it is calculated the losses within the substation and in all the above cited components existing downstream the substation. The energy technical losses are calculated for each segment involved in the distribution system. This is done by using the network\'s recorded data, the energy consumption data and the typical load curves by class of consumer and type of activity developed. The outcome of these calculations are then used to train the neural networks, which in turn will calculate the losses in generic distribution systems where characteristics such as the circuit parameters and topology, the consumer\'s load curves and the monthly energy consumed, are known. By using the energy data available in the supplying points, the total energy billed per month as well as the loss indexes per segment, it will be obtained the total amount of the energy losses in each segment of the system. Likewise, this procedure will enable an evaluation of the non technical losses. The results of a case study related to an existing distribution system and the main advantages of the proposed methodology, are also presented herein. Finally, the results obtained with the new methodology are compared with those obtained through analytical methods.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo propor uma nova metodologia para o cálculo das perdas por segmento do sistema de distribuição. As perdas técnicas são agrupadas nos seguintes segmentos: rede secundária, transformador de distribuição, rede primária e subestação de distribuição. Desenvolveu-se uma metodologia destinada ao cálculo das perdas de forma hierárquica: por exemplo, selecionada uma subestação específica, são calculadas as perdas na subestação e em seus componentes a jusante (redes primárias, transformadores de distribuição, redes secundárias). As perdas, inicialmente, são obtidas por meio de cálculo elétrico para os segmentos envolvidos, com a utilização dos parâmetros da rede, com os dados de faturamento e as curvas de carga típicas por classe de consumidor e seus tipos de atividade. Com os resultados desses cálculos, treinam-se redes neurais que irão calcular as perdas em sistemas genéricos utilizando os parâmetros e topologia do segmento e as curvas típicas de cargas dos consumidores e a energia mensal consumida. O trabalho apresenta um exemplo de aplicação, em sistema de distribuição existente, mostrando os resultados obtidos, e termina apresentando as principais vantagens da metodologia. Finalmente, os resultados obtidos com a nova metodologia são comparados com os resultados obtidos por métodos analíticos de cálculo intensivo. / In this work, a new methodology for the calculation of the energy technical losses in a distribution system, is presented. The proposed approach regards the segmentation of the distribution system, thus, the losses will be obtained for segments such as: the secondary network, distribution transformer, primary network and distribution substation. It was developed a computational system aimed to the calculation of the technical losses within specific distribution networks and usable in a microcomputer. Such a calculation is done in a hierarchical way. For instance, once selected a specific substation it is calculated the losses within the substation and in all the above cited components existing downstream the substation. The energy technical losses are calculated for each segment involved in the distribution system. This is done by using the network\'s recorded data, the energy consumption data and the typical load curves by class of consumer and type of activity developed. The outcome of these calculations are then used to train the neural networks, which in turn will calculate the losses in generic distribution systems where characteristics such as the circuit parameters and topology, the consumer\'s load curves and the monthly energy consumed, are known. By using the energy data available in the supplying points, the total energy billed per month as well as the loss indexes per segment, it will be obtained the total amount of the energy losses in each segment of the system. Likewise, this procedure will enable an evaluation of the non technical losses. The results of a case study related to an existing distribution system and the main advantages of the proposed methodology, are also presented herein. Finally, the results obtained with the new methodology are compared with those obtained through analytical methods.

Published Article / Modern philosophy left us with an unbridgeable divide between factual reality and the domain of values (normativity). This article first of all analyze modal norms, such as the principle of avoiding what is legally excessive. There are distinct but mutually cohering kinds of laws. The distinction between modal laws / norms and type laws / norms required an example from the domain of human society - John Locke and Adam Smith, whose ideas in practice gave birth to trade unionism and labour parties. The idea of an "invisible hand" (manifest in the "free market") operates with exact (natural) laws, such as supply and demand. When modal norms are distinguished from type norms it becomes clear that states and a business enterprises can act uneconomically by wasting their money although they ought to function in a way that is guided by economic considerations of frugality. As an example the well-known natural law of energy-conservation is explained as the embodiment of an analogical link between the physical aspect and the kinematic aspect which should rather be designated as the law of energy-constancy. Finally the problem of normativity is related to the coherence between the logical-analytical aspect and its coherence with the aspects of number and space - focused on the principle of the excluded middle and its implications for diverging schools of thought within twentieth century mathematics. The last subsection concludes with reference to the norms guiding technological developments and with an assessment of the meaning of technology.