Enabling Competing Energy Storage Technologies: Towards a Carbon-Neutral Power System

Assessment of energy storage technologies at a macro-scale for grid integration, has often focused on singular technologies and neglected competition between them, thus leaving out of the optimization the decision of which energy storage to prioritize. We present a systematic deployment analysis method that enables system-value evaluation in perfect competitive markets and demonstrate its application to 20 different energy storage technologies across 40 distinct scenarios for a representative future power system in Africa. Our results demonstrate the significant benefits of optimizing energy storage with competition compared to without (+10% cost savings) and highlight the relevance of several energy storage technologies in various scenarios. This work provides insights into the role of multi-technology energy storage in carbon-neutral power systems and informs future research and policy decisions

Epidemiology of Herpes Simplex Virus Infection in Pregnancy: A Pilot Study:

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection is one of the most common sexually transmitted viral diseases worldwide. HSV type 2 causes most genital herpes and HSV type 1 is usually transmitted via non-sexual contacts. We studied 109 pregnant women between January 2007 and December 2008, in relation to their age, condom use, number of sexual partners, age at first intercourse, parity and smoking habits. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of HSV cervical infection and HSV co-infection with other genital microorganisms associated with poor neonatal outcome. Our results show that of the 109 outpatients enrolled, 30% were HSV1 and/or HSV2 positive, of whom 30% were infected with both HSV1 and HSV2, 18% were infected with HSV1 alone and 52% with HSV2 alone. A significant association between HSV1 and HSV2 infection was found, and the prevalence of HSV2 infection in women infected with HSV1 was 63%. The prevalence of HSV1/2 varied in the presence of other vaginal microorganisms but a statistical significant association was not found. This pilot study is probably too small to obtain statistically significant results. Nevertheless, using these observed results, we calculated that about 530 patients with comparable features should be enrolled to detect an increase of 50% in HSV infection due to the presence of other genital infections and potential risk factors

Characterization of a Multiresistance Plasmid Carrying the optrA and cfr Resistance Genes From an Enterococcus faecium Clinical Isolate

open13noEnterococcus faecium E35048, a bloodstream isolate from Italy, was the first strain where the oxazolidinone resistance gene optrA was detected outside China. The strain was also positive for the oxazolidinone resistance gene cfr. WGS analysis revealed that the two genes were linked (23.1 kb apart), being co-carried by a 41,816-bp plasmid that was named pE35048-oc. This plasmid also carried the macrolide resistance gene erm(B) and a backbone related to that of the well-known Enterococcus faecalis plasmid pRE25 (identity 96%, coverage 65%). The optrA gene context was original, optrA being part of a composite transposon, named Tn6628, which was integrated into the gene encoding for the ζ toxin protein (orf19 of pRE25). The cfr gene was flanked by two ISEnfa5 insertion sequences and the element was inserted into an lnu(E) gene. Both optrA and cfr contexts were excisable. pE35048-oc could not be transferred to enterococcal recipients by conjugation or transformation. A plasmid-cured derivative of E. faecium E35048 was obtained following growth at 42°C, and the complete loss of pE35048-oc was confirmed by WGS. pE35048-oc exhibited some similarity but also notable differences from pEF12-0805, a recently described enterococcal plasmid from human E. faecium also co-carrying optrA and cfr; conversely it was completely unrelated to other optrA- and cfr-carrying plasmids from Staphylococcus sciuri. The optrA-cfr linkage is a matter of concern since it could herald the possibility of a co-spread of the two genes, both involved in resistance to last resort agents such as the oxazolidinones.openMorroni, Gianluca; Brenciani, Andrea; Antonelli, Alberto; Maria D’Andrea, Marco; Di Pilato, Vincenzo; Fioriti, Simona; Mingoia, Marina; Vignaroli, Carla; Cirioni, Oscar; Biavasco, Francesca; Varaldo, Pietro E.; Rossolini, Gian Maria; Giovanetti, EleonoraMorroni, Gianluca; Brenciani, Andrea; Antonelli, Alberto; Maria D’Andrea, Marco; Di Pilato, Vincenzo; Fioriti, Simona; Mingoia, Marina; Vignaroli, Carla; Cirioni, Oscar; Biavasco, Francesca; Varaldo, Pietro E.; Rossolini, Gian Maria; Giovanetti, Eleonor

Databook of lakes and reservoirs of Argentina

Es un gusto prologar esta obra producto de importante esfuerzo de un conjunto de jóvenes profesionales argentinos. Siendo los lagos, en general, cuerpos de agua que ejercen un gran atractivo espiritual a los seres humanos, no me cabe la menor duda que se dispone en el país de mayor información que la que se presenta ordenadamente en esta primera parte. Dada la calidad de los ingenieros, hidrólogos, limnólogos y biólogos con que cuenta la Argentina, los datos que se consignan tienen coherencia científica. Es causa de satisfacción desde el punto de vista nacional, el interés en describir numéricamente estos cuerpos de agua. Profesionales como los que se ocupan y ocuparán, tienen bien claro que los lagos son parte importante de la rama superficial y subterránea del ciclo hidrológico y con un libro de calidad como el que nos ocupa, es probable que puedan inducir a los poderes públicos sobre la importancia de agrupar adecuadamente las cuencas y/o regiones hídricas, siendo que ya muchos lo están y que además es imprescindible el mantenimiento y la continuidad de las observaciones para poder decidir no sólo el manejo diario y mensual, sino las modificaciones que propongan a la infraestructura en esos paisajes. (del prólogo de Mario C. Fuschini Mejía)Ministerio de Economía y Obras y Servicios Público

Databook of lakes and reservoirs of Argentina

Es un gusto prologar esta obra producto de importante esfuerzo de un conjunto de jóvenes profesionales argentinos. Siendo los lagos, en general, cuerpos de agua que ejercen un gran atractivo espiritual a los seres humanos, no me cabe la menor duda que se dispone en el país de mayor información que la que se presenta ordenadamente en esta primera parte. Dada la calidad de los ingenieros, hidrólogos, limnólogos y biólogos con que cuenta la Argentina, los datos que se consignan tienen coherencia científica. Es causa de satisfacción desde el punto de vista nacional, el interés en describir numéricamente estos cuerpos de agua. Profesionales como los que se ocupan y ocuparán, tienen bien claro que los lagos son parte importante de la rama superficial y subterránea del ciclo hidrológico y con un libro de calidad como el que nos ocupa, es probable que puedan inducir a los poderes públicos sobre la importancia de agrupar adecuadamente las cuencas y/o regiones hídricas, siendo que ya muchos lo están y que además es imprescindible el mantenimiento y la continuidad de las observaciones para poder decidir no sólo el manejo diario y mensual, sino las modificaciones que propongan a la infraestructura en esos paisajes. (del prólogo de Mario C. Fuschini Mejía)Ministerio de Economía y Obras y Servicios Público

Databook of lakes and reservoirs of Argentina

Es un gusto prologar esta obra producto de importante esfuerzo de un conjunto de jóvenes profesionales argentinos. Siendo los lagos, en general, cuerpos de agua que ejercen un gran atractivo espiritual a los seres humanos, no me cabe la menor duda que se dispone en el país de mayor información que la que se presenta ordenadamente en esta primera parte. Dada la calidad de los ingenieros, hidrólogos, limnólogos y biólogos con que cuenta la Argentina, los datos que se consignan tienen coherencia científica. Es causa de satisfacción desde el punto de vista nacional, el interés en describir numéricamente estos cuerpos de agua. Profesionales como los que se ocupan y ocuparán, tienen bien claro que los lagos son parte importante de la rama superficial y subterránea del ciclo hidrológico y con un libro de calidad como el que nos ocupa, es probable que puedan inducir a los poderes públicos sobre la importancia de agrupar adecuadamente las cuencas y/o regiones hídricas, siendo que ya muchos lo están y que además es imprescindible el mantenimiento y la continuidad de las observaciones para poder decidir no sólo el manejo diario y mensual, sino las modificaciones que propongan a la infraestructura en esos paisajes. (del prólogo de Mario C. Fuschini Mejía)Ministerio de Economía y Obras y Servicios Público

Diabetes-Related Autoantibodies in Children With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

[No abstract available

Argentine Wheat Industry: Conference Report

Established and supported under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centre Progra

Immunopurification of Pathological Prion Protein Aggregates

Background: Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative disorders that can arise sporadically, be genetically inherited or acquired through infection. The key event in these diseases is misfolding of the cellular prion protein (PrP) into a pathogenic isoform that is rich in β-sheet structure. This conformational change may result in the formation of PrP, the prion isoform of PrP, which propagates itself by imprinting its aberrant conformation onto PrP molecules. A great deal of effort has been devoted to developing protocols for purifying PrP for structural studies, and testing its biological properties. Most procedures rely on protease digestion, allowing efficient purification of PrP27-30, the protease-resistant core of PrP. However, protease treatment cannot be used to isolate abnormal forms of PrP lacking conventional protease resistance, such as those found in several genetic and atypical sporadic cases. Principal Findings: We developed a method for purifying pathological PrP molecules based on sequential centrifugation and immunoprecipitation with a monoclonal antibody selective for aggregated PrP. With this procedure we purified full-length PrP and mutant PrP aggregates at electrophoretic homogeneity. PrP purified from prion-infected mice was able to seed misfolding of PrP in a protein misfolding cyclic amplification reaction, and mutant PrP aggregates from transgenic mice were toxic to cultured neurons. Significance: The immunopurification protocol described here isolates biologically active forms of aggregated PrP. These preparations may be useful for investigating the structural and chemico-physical properties of infectious and neurotoxic PrP aggregates

Expression of Mutant or Cytosolic PrP in Transgenic Mice and Cells Is Not Associated with Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress or Proteasome Dysfunction

The cellular pathways activated by mutant prion protein (PrP) in genetic prion diseases, ultimately leading to neuronal dysfunction and degeneration, are not known. Several mutant PrPs misfold in the early secretory pathway and reside longer in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) possibly stimulating ER stress-related pathogenic mechanisms. To investigate whether mutant PrP induced maladaptive responses, we checked key elements of the unfolded protein response (UPR) in transgenic mice, primary neurons and transfected cells expressing two different mutant PrPs. Because ER stress favors the formation of untranslocated PrP that might aggregate in the cytosol and impair proteasome function, we also measured the activity of the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS). Molecular, biochemical and immunohistochemical analyses found no increase in the expression of UPR-regulated genes, such as Grp78/Bip, CHOP/GADD153, or ER stress-dependent splicing of the mRNA encoding the X-box-binding protein 1. No alterations in UPS activity were detected in mutant mouse brains and primary neurons using the UbG76V-GFP reporter and a new fluorogenic peptide for monitoring proteasomal proteolytic activity in vivo. Finally, there was no loss of proteasome function in neurons in which endogenous PrP was forced to accumulate in the cytosol by inhibiting cotranslational translocation. These results indicate that neither ER stress, nor perturbation of proteasome activity plays a major pathogenic role in prion diseases