286 research outputs found
Potential Use of Marine Compounds to Modulate the Ubiquitin-Proteasome System
The Ubiquitin-Proteasome System (UPS) is a major intracellular protein degradation system, highly conserved throughout life kingdoms, where the proteasome is the core. Due to its enhanced or inhibited activity, dysregulation of the UPS has undoubtedly been implicated in the pathogenesis of various diseases, including cancer and neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. Consequently, given its crucial role in maintaining cellular homeostasis and protein quality control, targeting the different UPS components has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy. Here, we shortly review the capability of marine-derived compounds as novel modulators of the proteasome under their peculiar features, making them attractive for future therapeutic applications. Marine compounds present in disparate organisms inhabiting oceans exhibit different biological activities and often possess specific proteasome-modulating properties. Currently, dozens of newly isolated marine-derived compounds have shown the ability to modulate proteasome activity at very low concentrations (e.g., nano- to the micro-molar range), pointing out their superior potency and efficacy and envisaging a potential future use in the clinic. Nowadays, the marine environment has represented a fruitful “spring” for identifying different unique metabolites, and to several extents, arguably, it still holds overwhelming scientific wonders to modulate the UPS
Planning & Open-Air Demonstrating Smart City Sustainable Districts
The article is focused on the \u201cdemonstration\u201d activities carried out by the University of
Genoa at Savona Campus facilities in order to implement the \u201cLiving Lab Smart City\u201d. The idea is
to transform the Savona Campus in a Living Lab of the City of the Future: smart technologies in
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and energy sectors were installed in order to show
a real application of the Smart City concept to population and external stakeholders. Moreover, special
attention was given to the environment, personal wellbeing, and social equalities. The sustainable
energy Research Infrastructures (RIs) of Savona Campus allowed enhancement of the applied research
in degree programs and the collaboration with several companies. In particular, an important
partnership with the Italian electric Distribution System Operator (DSO), ENEL S.p.A., started in 2017
to test the capability of these RIs to operate disconnected from the National Grid, relying only on the
supply of renewables and storage systems. The \u201cLiving Lab Smart City\u201d is an important action to
reduce the carbon footprint of the Savona Campus and to increase the awareness of students, teachers
and researchers towards Sustainable Development in Higher Education Institutes
The Smart City Energy Infrastructures at the Savona Campus of the University of Genoa
This paper presents ongoing research activities and technology upgrades carried out by the Power System Research team of the University of Genoa on the Smart City test-bed facilities installed at the Savona Campus. These facilities consist of a Smart Polygeneration Microgrid (SPM) feeding the Campus, of a Smart Energy Building (SEB) connected to the SPM and acting as a \u201cprosumer\u201d and of an Energy Management System (EMS) controlling the Campus generating units and thermal and electrical loads. The SPM, initially set up as a grid-tied system, is now subjected to further improvements in order to be operated in islanded mode. The paper shows that all the aforementioned infrastructures constitute a real example of how to build a sustainable smart city
Levelized cost of electricity in renewable energy communities: Uncertainty propagation analysis
[EN]Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) are being deployed all around the World as a technically feasible solution to decreasing users' dependence on fossil fuels. Several demonstration facilities have shown their potential to provide final consumers with clean energy and all associated environmental benefits. However, the economic evaluation of these systems as a whole set is more complex than evaluating generation technologies individually, which can be considered a barrier, and it may be more complicated to calculate its uncertainty with precision. This paper deals with this challenge and adapts a model for the evaluation of the global Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of a polygeneration microgrid to the characteristics of a typical REC, allowing the assessment of the distribution of the LCOE depending on the uncertainty of the input parameters. Thanks to its simple analytical formulation, the proposed model, that can be used for any combination of technologies (both renewable and conventional), provides relevant information on uncertainty propagation in a symbolic way that avoids the need to run numerical simulations or make assumptions on the distribution of the random input parameters. A case study has been presented, considering a typical small electrical REC with photovoltaic plants and micro wind turbines. Although the model can be defined to any market, as a representative example, it has been evaluated according to the current Spanish and Italian regulations, which are analyzed in depth with reference to the scientific literature. Results show that uncertainties in parameter estimates give rise to a very large scatter in the LCOE, pointing out a set of quantities whose role is crucial for a reliable estimate, among which electricity purchase and selling prices, yearly power load, and self-consumption / virtually-shared energy rates stand out.SIPublicación en abierto financiada por el Consorcio de Bibliotecas Universitarias de Castilla y León (BUCLE), con cargo al Programa Operativo 2014ES16RFOP009 FEDER 2014-2020 DE CASTILLA Y LEÓN, Actuación:20007-CL - Apoyo Consorcio BUCL
Critical halo loss locations in the LHC
Results of simulations with all movable elements of the LHC collimation system [1] are discussed for various operation modes. Compared to previous results, the placing of additional collimators reduced the beam losses by a factor 10 in the ideal machine case, i.e. nominal collimators settings for both 450 GeV and 7 TeV beam energies. First results for Beam 2 are also reviewed. The sensitivity of the system to free orbit oscillations is addressed. These results show that it is sufficient to use a limited number of beam loss monitors (BLMs) for the setup and optimization of the LHC Collimation System
Sustainable microgrids with energy storage as a means to increase power resilience in critical facilities: An application to a hospital
[EN] This manuscript proposes to study different cases that require the use of renewable energies in addition to diesel generators and energy storage systems with the aim of increasing the resilience of a microgrid feeding critical facilities. The aim of the work here presented is to quantify the benefits provided by an improvement of the energy resilience that could be achieved by installing a microgrid in a hospital fed by renewable energy sources. The microgrid will use a scheme based on solar PV in addition to diesel generators and an energy storage system based on electrochemical batteries. First, it has been evaluated how the implant of the microgrid increases the resilience of the power supply when a power failure occurs, considering that the main application in a hospital, even in the event of breakdowns, is to ensure the continuity of the surgical procedures and safely store drug stocks. Thus, these have been defined as the critical loads of the system. The components sizes have been optimized by considering both economic profitability but also the resilience capacity, observing that, by installing solar photovoltaic modules, Li-ion batteries and diesel generators, according to simulations performed in REopt® software, the microgrid could save approximately 440.191. en promedio durante un ciclo de vida de 20 años de la instalación (considerando tanto la mitigación del suministro de energía por la red eléctrica como las pérdidas evitadas durante probables interrupciones del servicio eléctrico), al tiempo que se aumenta la resiliencia mínima de la instalación a más de 34 h.S
A simple strategy to optimally design and manage a photovoltaic plant integrated with a storage system for different applications
The main goal of the present paper is that of proposing a methodology for the optimal sizing of a Photovoltaic (PV) unit and a Storage (ST) device, basing on data concerning typical load and PV production profiles. To achieve this result, a set of simple requirements to manage the charging/discharging of the storage is firstly proposed. Then, the overall cost of the whole system is deduced as a function of two variables (PV and ST sizes) and minimized in order to find the optimal sizing of the system. Finally, an economic analysis is presented to determine whether or not the investment is profitable
Levelized Cost of Energy Indicator
[EN] In this chapter we present the fundamentals of the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOEn) focusing on renewable power plants and multi-vector energy systems. After having introduced the basic formulation for the LCOEn, we extend its definition to polygeneration systems, hybrid systems (generators working in parallel with energy storage devices as a single unit) and microgrids/nanogrids. Although we focus on the LCOE (Levelized Cost of Electricity) we also analyze other variants of LCOEn (i.e., Levelized Cost of Stored Energy: LCOS, Levelized Cost of Heat: LCOH, and Levelized Cost of Cooling: LCOC). Furthermore, we present a novel approach to analyze multi-vector energy systems and we propose the Levelized Cost of Exergy (LCOEx) as a new useful indicator in the field
Levelized Cost of Energy in Sustainable Energy Communities: A Systematic Approach for Multi-Vector Energy Systems
La versión final autenticada está disponible en línea en: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-95932-6[EN] Presents a comprehensive review of the levelized cost of energy for multiple power systems Utilises case studies to exemplify the points discussed Provides guidance for the design of flexible demand strategies and other policy decision
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