Finding an optimal strategy of incorporating renewable sources of energy and electricity storing systems in a regional electrical grid

A game with a finite (more than three) number of players on a polyhedron of connected player strategies is studied. This game describes the interaction among (a) the base load power plant (the generator), (b) all the large customers of a regional electrical grid that receive electric energy from the generator, as well as from the available renewable sources of energy, both directly and via electricity storing facilities, and (c) the transmission company. An auxiliary three-person game on polyhedra of disjoint player strategies that is associated with the initial game is also considered. It is shown that an equilibrium point in the auxiliary game is an equilibrium point in the above game with connected player strategies. Verifiable necessary and sufficient conditions of an equilibrium in the auxiliary three-person game are proposed, and these conditions allow one to find equilibria in (the auxiliary) solvable game by solving three linear programming problems two of which form a dual pair

A game-theoretic approach to optimizing the scale of incorporating renewable sources of energy and electricity storing systems in a regional electrical grid

The problem of developing a decision support system for estimating a) the scale of incorporating available renewable sources of energy (such as solar and wind energy) in a part of a country’s electrical grid (called a regional electrical grid further in this paper), and b) the scale of storing electricity in this (regional) electrical grid to make these renewable sources of electric power competitive with traditional power generators (such as fossil-fuel and nuclear ones) and to reduce the cost of acquiring electricity from all the electric power generating facilities in the grid is considered. In the framework of this system, renewable sources of energy are viewed as electricity generating facilities under both existing and expected electricity prices, and the uncertainty of energy supply from them and the uncertainty of the grid customer demand for electricity during every 24 h are taken into account. A mathematical model underlying the system allows one to study the interaction of all the grid elements as a game with a finite (more than three) number of players on a polyhedron of connected player strategies (i.e., strategies that cannot be chosen by the players independently of each other) in a finite-dimensional space. It is shown that solving both parts of the problem under consideration is reducible to finding Nash equilibrium points in this game

Three Quantitative Management Problems in Public Procurement and Decision Procedures for their Analysis and Solving

Three management problems that a state (or a public administration acting on its behalf) faces in procuring goods and/or services are considered: a) choosing the type of a contract to be awarded and the type of a competitive bidding to determine the winning bid, b) setting the initial price for a contract being the subject of the bidding, and c) designing (or choosing) a set of rules for determining the winning bid by means of the chosen competitive bidding. Mathematical models and decision procedures for analyzing and solving these problems are discussed

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Three Proposals to Introduce the Nationwide Popular Vote in U.S. Presidential Elections

The idea of reforming the Electoral College recurs each time a presidential election nears. Polls show that an overwhelming majority of respondents support abolishing the Electoral College in favor of direct popular election of the President. Yet, it is doubtful whether these polls really imply that such a move would be best for the country. Despite the seeming simplicity of direct popular presidential election, its introduction in the United States—a country in which the clear separation of powers between the states and the federal government has existed for more than two centuries—would have hidden drawbacks that the media and pollsters usually fail to communicate. Further, the existing Electoral College-based system of electing a President is complicated, and the simplistic media coverage of American social and political phenomena fails to educate voters about the nuances of that system. Thus, pollsters are asking people whether they favor replacing the Electoral College, a system that many respondents don’t sufficiently understand, with direct popular election, a system that many respondents also don’t necessarily understand

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Three Proposals to Introduce the Nationwide Popular Vote in U.S. Presidential Elections

The idea of reforming the Electoral College recurs each time a presidential election nears. Polls show that an overwhelming majority of respondents support abolishing the Electoral College in favor of direct popular election of the President. Yet, it is doubtful whether these polls really imply that such a move would be best for the country. Despite the seeming simplicity of direct popular presidential election, its introduction in the United States—a country in which the clear separation of powers between the states and the federal government has existed for more than two centuries—would have hidden drawbacks that the media and pollsters usually fail to communicate. Further, the existing Electoral College-based system of electing a President is complicated, and the simplistic media coverage of American social and political phenomena fails to educate voters about the nuances of that system. Thus, pollsters are asking people whether they favor replacing the Electoral College, a system that many respondents don’t sufficiently understand, with direct popular election, a system that many respondents also don’t necessarily understand

Who Will Be the Next President?: A Guide to the U.S. Presidential Election System

Private International Law, International & Foreign Law, Comparative Law; US Politics; Theories of Law, Philosophy of Law, Legal History; Electoral Politics; Mathematics in the Humanities and Social Science

Resolution and Polarization Distribution in Cryogenic DNP/MAS Experiments

This contribution addresses four potential misconceptions associated with high-resolution dynamic nuclear polarization/magic angle spinning (DNP/MAS) experiments. First, spectral resolution is not generally compromised at the cryogenic temperatures at which DNP experiments are performed. As we demonstrate at a modest field of 9 T (380 MHz [superscript 1]H), 1 ppm linewidths are observed in DNP/MAS spectra of a membrane protein in its native lipid bilayer, and <0.4 ppm linewidths are reported in a crystalline peptide at 85 K. Second, we address the concerns about paramagnetic broadening in DNP/MAS spectra of proteins by demonstrating that the exogenous radical polarizing agents utilized for DNP are distributed in the sample in such a manner as to avoid paramagnetic broadening and thus maintain full spectral resolution. Third, the enhanced polarization is not localized around the polarizing agent, but rather is effectively and uniformly dispersed throughout the sample, even in the case of membrane proteins. Fourth, the distribution of polarization from the electron spins mediated via spin diffusion between [superscript 1]H–[superscript 1]H strongly dipolar coupled spins is so rapid that shorter magnetization recovery periods between signal averaging transients can be utilized in DNP/MAS experiments than in typical experiments performed at ambient temperature.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant EB002804)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant EB003151)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant EB002026)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant EB001965)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant EB004866)National Science Foundation (U.S.). Graduate Research Fellowship Progra

Non-Image-Forming Light Driven Functions Are Preserved in a Mouse Model of Autosomal Dominant Optic Atrophy

Autosomal dominant optic atrophy (ADOA) is a slowly progressive optic neuropathy that has been associated with mutations of the OPA1 gene. In patients, the disease primarily affects the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and causes optic nerve atrophy and visual loss. A subset of RGCs are intrinsically photosensitive, express the photopigment melanopsin and drive non-image-forming (NIF) visual functions including light driven circadian and sleep behaviours and the pupil light reflex. Given the RGC pathology in ADOA, disruption of NIF functions might be predicted. Interestingly in ADOA patients the pupil light reflex was preserved, although NIF behavioural outputs were not examined. The B6; C3-Opa1Q285STOP mouse model of ADOA displays optic nerve abnormalities, RGC dendropathy and functional visual disruption. We performed a comprehensive assessment of light driven NIF functions in this mouse model using wheel running activity monitoring, videotracking and pupillometry. Opa1 mutant mice entrained their activity rhythm to the external light/dark cycle, suppressed their activity in response to acute light exposure at night, generated circadian phase shift responses to 480 nm and 525 nm pulses, demonstrated immobility-defined sleep induction following exposure to a brief light pulse at night and exhibited an intensity dependent pupil light reflex. There were no significant differences in any parameter tested relative to wildtype littermate controls. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the number of melanopsin-expressing RGCs, cell morphology or melanopsin transcript levels between genotypes. Taken together, these findings suggest the preservation of NIF functions in Opa1 mutants. The results provide support to growing evidence that the melanopsin-expressing RGCs are protected in mitochondrial optic neuropathies

The tuberculosis necrotizing toxin kills macrophages by hydrolyzing NAD.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) induces necrosis of infected cells to evade immune responses. Recently, we found that Mtb uses the protein CpnT to kill human macrophages by secreting its C-terminal domain, named tuberculosis necrotizing toxin (TNT), which induces necrosis by an unknown mechanism. Here we show that TNT gains access to the cytosol of Mtb-infected macrophages, where it hydrolyzes the essential coenzyme NAD(+). Expression or injection of a noncatalytic TNT mutant showed no cytotoxicity in macrophages or in zebrafish zygotes, respectively, thus demonstrating that the NAD(+) glycohydrolase activity is required for TNT-induced cell death. To prevent self-poisoning, Mtb produces an immunity factor for TNT (IFT) that binds TNT and inhibits its activity. The crystal structure of the TNT-IFT complex revealed a new NAD(+) glycohydrolase fold of TNT, the founding member of a toxin family widespread in pathogenic microorganisms