The nature of weather and climate impacts in the energy sector

The power sector’s meteorological information needs are diverse and cover many different distinct applications and users. Recognising this diversity, it is important to understand the general nature of how weather and climate influence the energy sector and the implications they have for quantitative impact modelling. Using conceptual examples and illustrations from recent research, this chapter argues that the traditional ‘transfer function’ approach that is common to many industrial applications of weather and climate science—whereby weather can be directly mapped to an energy impact—is inadequate for many important power system applications (such as price forecasting and system operations and planning). The chapter concludes by arguing that a deeper understanding of how meteorological impacts in the energy sector are modelled is required

Predictive feedback control and Fitts' law

Fitts’ law is a well established empirical formula, known for encapsulating the “speed-accuracy trade-off”. For discrete, manual movements from a starting location to a target, Fitts’ law relates movement duration to the distance moved and target size. The widespread empirical success of the formula is suggestive of underlying principles of human movement control. There have been previous attempts to relate Fitts’ law to engineering-type control hypotheses and it has been shown that the law is exactly consistent with the closed-loop step-response of a time-delayed, first-order system. Assuming only the operation of closed-loop feedback, either continuous or intermittent, this paper asks whether such feedback should be predictive or not predictive to be consistent with Fitts law. Since Fitts’ law is equivalent to a time delay separated from a first-order system, known control theory implies that the controller must be predictive. A predictive controller moves the time-delay outside the feedback loop such that the closed-loop response can be separated into a time delay and rational function whereas a non- predictive controller retains a state delay within feedback loop which is not consistent with Fitts’ law. Using sufficient parameters, a high-order non-predictive controller could approximately reproduce Fitts’ law. However, such high-order, “non-parametric” controllers are essentially empirical in nature, without physical meaning, and therefore are conceptually inferior to the predictive controller. It is a new insight that using closed-loop feedback, prediction is required to physically explain Fitts’ law. The implication is that prediction is an inherent part of the “speed-accuracy trade-off”

Identification of Colletotrichum species associated with anthracnose disease of coffee in Vietnam

Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, C. acutatum, C. capsici and C. boninense associated with anthracnose disease on coffee (Coffea spp.) in Vietnam were identified based on morphology and DNA analysis. Phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences from the internal transcribed spacer region of nuclear rDNA and a portion of mitochondrial small subunit rRNA were concordant and allowed good separation of the taxa. We found several Colletotrichum isolates of unknown species and their taxonomic position remains unresolved. The majority of Vietnamese isolates belonged to C. gloeosporioides and they grouped together with the coffee berry disease (CBD) fungus, C. kahawae. However, C. kahawae could be distinguished from the Vietnamese C. gloeosporioides isolates based on ammonium tartrate utilization, growth rate and pathogenictity. C. gloeosporioides isolates were more pathogenic on detached green berries than isolates of the other species, i.e. C. acutatum, C capsici and C. boninense. Some of the C. gloeosporioides isolates produced slightly sunken lesion on green berries resembling CBD symptoms but it did not destroy the bean. We did not find any evidence of the presence of C. kahawae in Vietnam

An analysis of synteny of Arachis with Lotus and Medicago sheds new light on the structure, stability and evolution of legume genomes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Most agriculturally important legumes fall within two sub-clades of the Papilionoid legumes: the Phaseoloids and Galegoids, which diverged about 50 Mya. The Phaseoloids are mostly tropical and include crops such as common bean and soybean. The Galegoids are mostly temperate and include clover, fava bean and the model legumes <it>Lotus </it>and <it>Medicago </it>(both with substantially sequenced genomes). In contrast, peanut (<it>Arachis hypogaea</it>) falls in the Dalbergioid clade which is more basal in its divergence within the Papilionoids. The aim of this work was to integrate the genetic map of <it>Arachis </it>with <it>Lotus </it>and <it>Medicago </it>and improve our understanding of the <it>Arachis </it>genome and legume genomes in general. To do this we placed on the <it>Arachis </it>map, comparative anchor markers defined using a previously described bioinformatics pipeline. Also we investigated the possible role of transposons in the patterns of synteny that were observed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The <it>Arachis </it>genetic map was substantially aligned with <it>Lotus </it>and <it>Medicago </it>with most synteny blocks presenting a single main affinity to each genome. This indicates that the last common whole genome duplication within the Papilionoid legumes predated the divergence of <it>Arachis </it>from the Galegoids and Phaseoloids sufficiently that the common ancestral genome was substantially diploidized. The <it>Arachis </it>and model legume genomes comparison made here, together with a previously published comparison of <it>Lotus </it>and <it>Medicago </it>allowed all possible <it>Arachis-Lotus-Medicago </it>species by species comparisons to be made and genome syntenies observed. Distinct conserved synteny blocks and non-conserved regions were present in all genome comparisons, implying that certain legume genomic regions are consistently more stable during evolution than others. We found that in <it>Medicago </it>and possibly also in <it>Lotus</it>, retrotransposons tend to be more frequent in the variable regions. Furthermore, while these variable regions generally have lower densities of single copy genes than the more conserved regions, some harbor high densities of the fast evolving disease resistance genes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We suggest that gene space in Papilionoids may be divided into two broadly defined components: more conserved regions which tend to have low retrotransposon densities and are relatively stable during evolution; and variable regions that tend to have high retrotransposon densities, and whose frequent restructuring may fuel the evolution of some gene families.</p

Genetic inhibition of neurotransmission reveals role of glutamatergic input to dopamine neurons in high-effort behavior

Midbrain dopamine neurons are crucial for many behavioral and cognitive functions. As the major excitatory input, glutamatergic afferents are important for control of the activity and plasticity of dopamine neurons. However, the role of glutamatergic input as a whole onto dopamine neurons remains unclear. Here we developed a mouse line in which glutamatergic inputs onto dopamine neurons are specifically impaired, and utilized this genetic model to directly test the role of glutamatergic inputs in dopamine-related functions. We found that while motor coordination and reward learning were largely unchanged, these animals showed prominent deficits in effort-related behavioral tasks. These results provide genetic evidence that glutamatergic transmission onto dopaminergic neurons underlies incentive motivation, a willingness to exert high levels of effort to obtain reinforcers, and have important implications for understanding the normal function of the midbrain dopamine system.Fil: Hutchison, M. A.. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Gu, X.. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Adrover, Martín Federico. National Institutes of Health; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; ArgentinaFil: Lee, M. R.. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Hnasko, T. S.. University of California at San Diego; Estados UnidosFil: Alvarez, V. A.. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Lu, W.. National Institutes of Health; Estados Unido

SHIELD: Neutral Gas Kinematics and Dynamics

We present kinematic analyses of the 12 galaxies in the "Survey of HI in Extremely Low-mass Dwarfs" (SHIELD). We use multi-configuration interferometric observations of the HI 21cm emission line from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to produce image cubes at a variety of spatial and spectral resolutions. Both two- and three-dimensional fitting techniques are employed in an attempt to derive inclination-corrected rotation curves for each galaxy. In most cases, the comparable magnitudes of velocity dispersion and projected rotation result in degeneracies that prohibit unambiguous circular velocity solutions. We thus make spatially resolved position-velocity cuts, corrected for inclination using the stellar components, to estimate the circular rotation velocities. We find circular velocities <30 km/s for the entire survey population. Baryonic masses are calculated using single-dish HI fluxes from Arecibo and stellar masses derived from HST and Spitzer imaging. Comparison is made with total dynamical masses estimated from the position-velocity analysis. The SHIELD galaxies are then placed on the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation. There exists an empirical threshold rotational velocity <15 km/s, below which current observations cannot differentiate coherent rotation from pressure support. The SHIELD galaxies are representative of an important population of galaxies whose properties cannot be described by current models of rotationally-dominated galaxy dynamics

SHIELD: Comparing Gas and Star Formation in Low Mass Galaxies

We analyze the relationships between atomic, neutral hydrogen (HI) and star formation (SF) in the 12 low-mass SHIELD galaxies. We compare high spectral (~0.82 km/s/channel) and spatial resolution (physical resolutions of 170 pc - 700 pc) HI imaging from the VLA with H\alpha and far-ultraviolet imaging. We quantify the degree of co-spatiality between star forming regions and regions of high HI column densities. We calculate the global star formation efficiencies (SFE, $\Sigma_{\rm SFR}$ / $\Sigma_{\rm HI}$), and examine the relationships among the SFE and HI mass, HI column density, and star formation rate (SFR). The systems are consuming their cold neutral gas on timescales of order a few Gyr. While we derive an index for the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation of N ~ 0.68 $\pm$ 0.04 for the SHIELD sample as a whole, the values of N vary considerably from system to system. By supplementing SHIELD results with those from other surveys, we find that HI mass and UV-based SFR are strongly correlated over five orders of magnitude. Identification of patterns within the SHIELD sample allows us to bin the galaxies into three general categories: 1) mainly co-spatial HI and SF regions, found in systems with highest peak HI column densities and highest total HI masses, 2) moderately correlated HI and SF regions, found in systems with moderate HI column densities, and 3) obvious offsets between HI and SF peaks, found in systems with the lowest total HI masses. SF in these galaxies is dominated by stochasticity and random fluctuations in their ISM

Evidence for a heritable predisposition to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) came to attention in the 1980s, but initial investigations did not find organic causes. Now decades later, the etiology of CFS has yet to be understood, and the role of genetic predisposition in CFS remains controversial. Recent reports of CFS association with the retrovirus xenotropic murine leukemic virus-related virus (XMRV) or other murine leukemia related retroviruses (MLV) might also suggest underlying genetic implications within the host immune system.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We present analyses of familial clustering of CFS in a computerized genealogical resource linking multiple generations of genealogy data with medical diagnosis data of a large Utah health care system. We compare pair-wise relatedness among cases to expected relatedness in the Utah population, and we estimate risk for CFS for first, second, and third degree relatives of CFS cases.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We observed significant excess relatedness of CFS cases compared to that expected in this population. Significant excess relatedness was observed for both close (p <0.001) and distant relationships (p = 0.010). We also observed significant excess CFS relative risk among first (2.70, 95% CI: 1.56-4.66), second (2.34, 95% CI: 1.31-4.19), and third degree relatives (1.93, 95% CI: 1.21-3.07).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These analyses provide strong support for a heritable contribution to predisposition to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. A population of high-risk CFS pedigrees has been identified, the study of which may provide additional understanding.</p

Lack of effect of lowering LDL cholesterol on cancer: meta-analysis of individual data from 175,000 people in 27 randomised trials of statin therapy

&lt;p&gt;Background: Statin therapy reduces the risk of occlusive vascular events, but uncertainty remains about potential effects on cancer. We sought to provide a detailed assessment of any effects on cancer of lowering LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) with a statin using individual patient records from 175,000 patients in 27 large-scale statin trials.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Methods and Findings: Individual records of 134,537 participants in 22 randomised trials of statin versus control (median duration 4.8 years) and 39,612 participants in 5 trials of more intensive versus less intensive statin therapy (median duration 5.1 years) were obtained. Reducing LDL-C with a statin for about 5 years had no effect on newly diagnosed cancer or on death from such cancers in either the trials of statin versus control (cancer incidence: 3755 [1.4% per year [py]] versus 3738 [1.4% py], RR 1.00 [95% CI 0.96-1.05]; cancer mortality: 1365 [0.5% py] versus 1358 [0.5% py], RR 1.00 [95% CI 0.93–1.08]) or in the trials of more versus less statin (cancer incidence: 1466 [1.6% py] vs 1472 [1.6% py], RR 1.00 [95% CI 0.93–1.07]; cancer mortality: 447 [0.5% py] versus 481 [0.5% py], RR 0.93 [95% CI 0.82–1.06]). Moreover, there was no evidence of any effect of reducing LDL-C with statin therapy on cancer incidence or mortality at any of 23 individual categories of sites, with increasing years of treatment, for any individual statin, or in any given subgroup. In particular, among individuals with low baseline LDL-C (&#60;2 mmol/L), there was no evidence that further LDL-C reduction (from about 1.7 to 1.3 mmol/L) increased cancer risk (381 [1.6% py] versus 408 [1.7% py]; RR 0.92 [99% CI 0.76–1.10]).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Conclusions: In 27 randomised trials, a median of five years of statin therapy had no effect on the incidence of, or mortality from, any type of cancer (or the aggregate of all cancer).&lt;/p&gt