Orchestration of renewable generation in low energy buildings and districts using energy storage and load shaping

There is increasing penetration of renewable generation in buildings and districts. There are challenges in making the effective use of this generation. The objective of the ORIGIN project (Orchestration of Renewable Integrated Generation In Neighborhoods) is to shape loads so that the fraction of energy consumed that is from local renewable generation is maximized, and energy imported from outside sources is minimized. This paper presents the overall approach taken in the ORIGIN project and explores building physics aspects of solar thermal storage system orchestration. The case study districts are briefly introduced and characteristics of their generation, buildings, districts and shiftable loads described. The orchestration approach taken in ORIGIN is then presented. At the core of the ORIGIN system is the orchestration algorithm which generates informational and control outputs to shape future loads to best meet the objectives. The model based approach used to quantify thermal and electrical load shifting opportunities for pre-charging, coasting or avoiding loads, while meeting thermal comfort and other demands, is described using a solar thermal storage system as an example. The future steps for the ORIGIN project; retrofit of the ORIGIN system into existing districts and potential for other future applications is briefly discussed

From evidence to action: applying gender mainstreaming to pay gaps in the Welsh public sector

Progress on reducing gender disparities remains painfully slow, despite efforts to identify the determinants of gender pay gaps and specify size and shape. Recent studies highlight the need for a more nuanced account of the way that public policy shapes organizational responses and insights into the types of organizational practices that diminish pay disparities. In response, this research reports on an action research intervention in three large Welsh public organizations, subject to a unique statutory equality duty. Data demonstrate how an evidence‐based gender mainstreaming approach facilitated the development of a ‘no blame’ strategy, which legitimized organizational proactivity through collaborative and empowering change management processes. The research contributes to the study of gender pay gaps by demonstrating that gender mainstreaming, with facilitative local conditions and supportive public policy, shapes action on gender segregation, with particular success in women's low‐paid employment. Conclusions highlight theoretical and policy implications arising from the research

Surveillance of RNase P, PMMoV, and CrAssphage in wastewater as indicators of human fecal concentration across urban sewer neighborhoods, Louisville, Kentucky

Wastewater surveillance has been widely used as a supplemental method to track the community infection levels of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. A gap exists in standardized reporting for fecal indicator concentrations, which can be used to calibrate the primary outcome concentrations from wastewater monitoring for use in epidemiological models. To address this, measurements of fecal indicator concentration among wastewater samples collected from sewers and treatment centers in four counties of Kentucky (N = 650) were examined. Results from the untransformed wastewater data over 4 months of sampling indicated that the fecal indicator concentration of human ribonuclease P (RNase P) ranged from 5.1 × 101 to 1.15 × 106 copies/ml, pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) ranged from 7.23 × 103 to 3.53 × 107 copies/ml, and cross-assembly phage (CrAssphage) ranged from 9.69×103 to 1.85×108 copies/ml. The results showed both regional and temporal variability. If fecal indicators are used as normalization factors, knowing the daily sewer system flow of the sample location may matter more than rainfall. RNase P, while it may be suitable as an internal amplification and sample adequacy control, has less utility than PMMoV and CrAssphage as a fecal indicator in wastewater samples when working at different sizes of catchment area. The choice of fecal indicator will impact the results of surveillance studies using this indicator to represent fecal load. Our results contribute broadly to an applicable standard normalization factor and assist in interpreting wastewater data in epidemiological modeling and monitoring

Global perspectives on the provision of diabetic retinopathy screening and treatment: Survey of health care professionals in 41 countries.

AIM: To assess the level of awareness and provision of screening and treatment for Diabetic Eye Disease (DED) comprising Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) and Diabetic Macular Edema (DME) among health care professionals. METHODS: The study was conducted in two phases. The first phase consisted of a qualitative study, based on semi-structured face-to-face and telephone interviews in 8 countries. The second phase used a quantitative approach utilising online surveys in 41 countries. The survey for health care professionals comprised of 43 questions covering provider information, practice characteristics, management of adults with diabetes and specific information from ophthalmologists on screening and treatments for DR. RESULTS: There were 2329 health care professionals who participated in the online survey. More than one third of diabetes specialists surveyed reported that they did not discuss eye care with their diabetes patients. Nearly two-thirds of all health care professionals surveyed reported that they had written information about diabetes for patients available in their practice. Only one in five (22%, n = 58) primary care providers reported they had material that contained sufficient information on eye complications, and 37% (n = 252) of ophthalmologists reported that they had sufficient information on eye complications. Sixty-five percent (n = 378) of ophthalmologists reported that most of their patients presented when visual problems had already occurred. Six percent (n = 36) stated that most of their patients presented when it was already too late for effective treatment. The most substantial barriers to eye health mentioned by health care professionals responding to the survey were: a patients' lack of knowledge and/or awareness about eye complications (43%), followed by lack of importance given to eye examinations by patients (33%), and the high cost of care (32%). Ophthalmologists also reported late screening (66%), and lack of patient education materials (55%) as obstacles for improving eye health outcomes. CONCLUSION: Health care professionals need to be appropriately supported and trained so they can provide adults with diabetes with information about the risks of DR, support them in reducing their risk, and advocate for the provision of affordable DR screening and treatment as required

Prodromal neuroinflammatory, cholinergic and metabolite dysfunction detected by PET and MRS in the TgF344-AD transgenic rat model of AD: A collaborative multi-modal study

Mouse models of Alzheimer s disease (AD) are valuable but do not fully recapitulate human AD pathology, such as spontaneous Tau fibril accumulation and neuronal loss, necessitating the development of new AD models. The transgenic (TG) TgF344-AD rat has been reported to develop age-dependent AD features including neuronal loss and neurofibrillary tangles, despite only expressing APP and PSEN1 mutations, suggesting an improved modelling of AD hallmarks. Alterations in neuronal networks as well as learning performance and cognition tasks have been reported in this model, but none have combined a longitudinal, multimodal approach across multiple centres, which mimics the approaches commonly taken in clinical studies. We therefore aimed to further characterise the progression of AD-like pathology and cognition in the TgF344-AD rat from young-Adults (6 months (m)) to mid-(12 m) and advanced-stage (18 m, 25 m) of the disease. Methods: TgF344-AD rats and wild-Type (WT) littermates were imaged at 6 m, 12 m and 18 m with [18F]DPA-714 (TSPO, neuroinflammation), [18F]Florbetaben (A) and [18F]ASEM (7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor) and with magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and with (S)-[18F]THK5117 (Tau) at 15 and 25 m. Behaviour tests were also performed at 6 m, 12 m and 18 m. Immunohistochemistry (CD11b, GFAP, A, NeuN, NeuroChrom) and Tau (S)-[18F]THK5117 autoradiography, immunohistochemistry and Western blot were also performed. Results: [18F]DPA-714 positron emission tomography (PET) showed an increase in neuroinflammation in TG vs wildtype animals from 12 m in the hippocampus (+11%), and at the advanced-stage AD in the hippocampus (+12%), the thalamus (+11%) and frontal cortex (+14%). This finding coincided with strong increases in brain microgliosis (CD11b) and astrogliosis (GFAP) at these time-points as assessed by immunohistochemistry. In vivo [18F]ASEM PET revealed an age-dependent increase uptake in the striatum and pallidum/nucleus basalis of Meynert in WT only, similar to that observed with this tracer in humans, resulting in TG being significantly lower than WT by 18 m. In vivo [18F]Florbetaben PET scanning detected A accumulation at 18 m, and (S)-[18F]THK5117 PET revealed subsequent Tau accumulation at 25m in hippocampal and cortical regions. A plaques were low but detectable by immunohistochemistry from 6 m, increasing further at 12 and 18 m with Tau-positive neurons adjacent to A plaques at 18 m. NeuroChrom (a pan neuronal marker) immunohistochemistry revealed a loss of neuronal staining at the A plaques locations, while NeuN labelling revealed an age-dependent decrease in hippocampal neuron number in both genotypes. Behavioural assessment using the novel object recognition task revealed that both WT & TgF344-AD animals discriminated the novel from familiar object at 3 m and 6 m of age. However, low levels of exploration observed in both genotypes at later time-points resulted in neither genotype successfully completing the task. Deficits in social interaction were only observed at 3 m in the TgF344-AD animals. By in vivo MRS, we showed a decrease in neuronal marker N-Acetyl-Aspartate in the hippocampus at 18 m (-18% vs age-matched WT, and-31% vs 6 m TG) and increased Taurine in the cortex of TG (+35% vs age-matched WT, and +55% vs 6 m TG). Conclusions: This multi-centre multi-modal study demonstrates, for the first time, alterations in brain metabolites, cholinergic receptors and neuroinflammation in vivo in this model, validated by robust ex vivo approaches. Our data confirm that, unlike mouse models, the TgF344-AD express Tau pathology that can be detected via PET, albeit later than by ex vivo techniques, and is a useful model to assess and longitudinally monitor early neurotransmission dysfunction and neuroinflammation in AD

Cadmium accumulation and interactions with zinc, copper, and manganese, analysed by ICP-MS in a long-term Caco-2 TC7 cell model

The influence of long-term exposure to cadmium (Cd) on essential minerals was investigated using a Caco-2 TC7 cells and a multi-analytical tool: microwave digestion and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Intracellular levels, effects on cadmium accumulation, distribution, and reference concentration ranges of the following elements were determined: Na, Mg, Ca, Cr, Fe, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Mo, and Cd. Results showed that Caco-2 TC7 cells incubated long-term with cadmium concentrations ranging from 0 to 10 lmol Cd/l for 5 weeks exhibited a significant increase in cadmium accumulation. Furthermore, this accumulation was more marked in cells exposed long-term to cadmium compared with controls, and that this exposure resulted in a significant accumulation of copper and zinc but not of the other elements measured. Interactions of Cd with three elements: zinc, copper, and manganese were particularly studied. Exposed to 30 lmol/l of the element, manganese showed the highest inhibition and copper the lowest on cadmium intracellular accumulation but Zn, Cu, and Mn behave differently in terms of their mutual competition with Cd. Indeed, increasing cadmium in the culture medium resulted in a gradual and significant increase in the accumulation of zinc. There was a significant decrease in manganese from 5 lmol Cd/l exposure, and no variation was observed with copper. Abbreviation: AAS – Atomic absorption spectrometry; CRM– Certified reference material; PBS – Phosphate buffered saline without calcium and magnesium; DMEM – Dubelcco’s modified Eagle’s medium

How User‐centric Innovation is Affecting Stakeholder Marketing Strategies: Exploratory Findings from the Music Industry

This paper empirically explores how user‐centric innovation (UCI) in the music industry is affecting how key stakeholder groups are approaching and developing their marketing (and associated management) strategies. The three‐stage interview‐based research methodology consisted of 52 semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with UCI experts and artist managers, as well as representatives from major record labels. The findings make four substantial contributions to theory and practice in the interrelated fields of UCI, marketing and the music industry. First, they provide practical and pragmatic insights for industry practitioners on how different UCI marketing approaches are affecting their management strategies. Second, they take steps towards answering many of the identified gaps in research and knowledge relating to the concept of UCI. Third, they present theoretical models as a foundation for which new UCI marketing theory can be built upon. Last, they offer directions for future research to advance our empirical findings.</jats:p