Optimal security-constrained power scheduling by Benders decomposition

This paper presents a Benders decomposition approach to determine the optimal day-ahead power scheduling in a pool-organized power system, taking into account dispatch, network and security constraints. The study model considers the daily market and the technical constraints resolution as two different and consecutive processes. The daily market is solved in a first stage subject to economical criteria exclusively and then, the constraints solution algorithm is applied to this initial dispatch through the redispatching method. The Benders partitioning algorithm is applied to this constraints solution process to obtain an optimal secure power scheduling. The constraints solution includes a full AC network and security model to incorporate voltages magnitudes as they are a critical factor in some real power systems. The algorithm determines the active power committed to each generator so as to minimize the energy redispatch cost subject to dispatch, network and security constraints. The solution also provides the reactive power output of the generators, the value of the transformers taps and the committed voltage control devices. The model has been tested in the IEEE 24-bus Reliability Test System and in an adapted IEEE 118-bus Test System. It is programmed in GAMS mathematical modeling language. Some relevant results are reported.Publicad

Combining dimensional analysis with model based systems engineering

The model based systems engineering (MBSE) approach describes a system using consistent views to provide a holistic model as complete as possible. MBSE methodologies end with the physical architecture of the system, but a physical model is clearly incomplete without the study of its associated physical laws and phenomena related to the whole system or its parts. However, the computational demands could be excessive even for modest projects. Dimensional analysis (DA) is common in fluid dynamics and chemical engineering, but its application to systems engineering is still limited. We describe an engineering methodological process, which incorporates DA as a powerful tool to understand the physical constraints of the system without the burden of complex analytical or numerical calculations. A detailed example describing a microantenna is presented showing the benefits of this approach. The selected example describes a problem rarely covered in modern expositions of DA in order to show the wide benefit of these techniques. The information provided by this analysis is very useful to select the best physically realizable architectures, testing design, and conduct trade-off studies. The complexity of modern systems and systems of systems demands new testing procedures in order to comply with increasingly demanding requirements and regulations. This can be accomplished through research in new DA methods. Finally, this article serves as a fairly comprehensive guide to the use of DA in the context of MBSE, detailing its strengths, limitations, and controversial issues

H.264/AVC inter prediction on accelerator-based multi-core systems

The AVC video coding standard adopts variable block sizes for inter frame coding to increase compression efficiency, among other new features. As a consequence of this, an AVC encoder has to employ a complex mode decision technique that requires high computational complexity. Several techniques aimed at accelerating the inter prediction process have been proposed in the literature in recent years. Recently, with the emergence of many-core processors or accelerators, a new way of supporting inter frame prediction has presented itself. In this paper, we present a step forward in the implementation of an AVC inter prediction algorithm in a graphics processing unit, using Compute Unified Device Architecture. The results show a negligible drop in rate distortion with a time reduction, on average, of over 98.8 % compared with full search and fast full search, and of over 80 % compared with UMHexagonS search

Evaluation of the oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalytic activity of postsynthetically modified covalent organic frameworks

The pyrolysis of organic precursors to produce heteroatomic-doped carbonaceous materials has emerged as a powerful tool to construct metal-free heterogeneous electrocatalysts due to their low cost and their environmental friendliness. However, the lack of control in the atomic positions or the location of the chemical functionalities makes it difficult to establish structure-property relationships. Herein, we report an easy strategy to compare the electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) performance of metal-free and nonpyrolyzed materials by postsynthetic modification of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) via click-chemistry. This method facilitates the evaluation of different active centers using materials with the same morphology and prevents active site agglomeration by covalently anchoring these moieties inside of a porous and crystalline framework. In this study we developed a series of diimide-based materials (XDI0.17-COFs) with a loading of 7.65 × 10-4 mol of active site/mg of host COF. The bulk COFs have been delaminated to perform electrode modification by drop-casting. The electrocatalytic response toward the ORR has been studied in alkaline media obtaining the best results for the NDI0.17-COF with an onset potential of 0.77 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode, RHE) and a limiting current of 4.2 mA/cm2 by a preferred pathway toward water electroreduction. Finally, an adequate combination of density functional theory with the thermochemical Gibbs free energy formalism has been used to theoretically rationalize the ORR mechanism in these metal-free and nonpyrolyzed materials. We have obtained theoretical ORR overpotentials for each COF system agreeing with the experimental observation, which correlate with the ability of the NDI, BzDI, and PDI molecular blocks to accommodate electrons. Our work provides a guideline on how to study the electrocatalytic performance of different organic moieties in metal-free and non-pyrolyzed COFs avoiding their de novo synthesis by using the click postsynthetic methodologyTED2021-129886B-C43, PID2019-106268GB-C32, RED2018-102412-T, PID2020-116728RB-I00, PID2020-113142RB-C21, PLEC2021-007906, 2018/NMT-4349TRANSNANOAVANSENS, S2018/NMT-4367, Y2020/NMT646

Evaluation of the anti-angiogenic potential of hydroxytyrosol derivatives

Angiogenesis, a process which allows the formation of new vessels from pre-existing ones, is an essential phenomenon for tumor survival since it allows cancer cells to obtain nutrients and oxygen. This explains the increasing interest showed by many groups of research and pharmaceutical companies to find compounds with potential to disrupt at least one of the steps within the angiogenic process. Hydroxytyrosol (3,4-dihydroxyphenyl ethanol) has been identified as the most important health-related phenolic compound of virgin olive oil because of its pleiotropic effects on multiple targets. In 2012, our group identified hydroxytyrosol as an anti-angiogenic compound able to inhibit several key steps in the angiogenic process. In the present study, the potential effects of six hydroxytyrosol derivatives are tested and compared with those exhibited by hydroxytyrosol by making use of several in vitro and in vivo assays. Results indicate that these are candidate new anti-angiogenic compounds with potential utility in anti-tumor and anti-angiogenic therapies.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech [Our experimental work is supported by grants BIO2014-56092-R (MINECO and FEDER) and P12-CTS-1507 (Andalusian Government and FEDER) and funds from group BIO-267 (Andalusian Government). The "CIBER de Enfermedades Raras" is an initiative from the ISCIII (Spain)]. This communication has the support of a travel grant

Interaction of 8 He with 208Pb at near-barrier energies: 4 He and 6 He production

Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness-FPA-2010-22131-CO2-01 (FINURA) y FPA2013-47327-C2-1-RMinistry of Science and Higher Education of Poland-N202 033637National Science Centre of Poland-2013/08/M/ST2/00257 (LEA-COPIGAL) y 2014/14/M/ST2/00738 (COPIN-INFN Collaboration)European Science Foundation-EUI2009-04163432 (EUROGENESIS

Supramolecular caging for cytosolic delivery of anionic probes

The cytosolic delivery of hydrophilic, anionic molecular probes and therapeutics is a major challenge in chemical biology and medicine. Herein, we describe the design and synthesis of peptide-cage hybrids that allow an efficient supramolecular binding, cell membrane translocation and cytosolic delivery of a number of anionic dyes, including pyranine, carboxyfluorescein and several sulfonate-containing Alexa dyes. This supramolecular caging strategy is successful in different cell lines, and the dynamic carrier mechanism has been validated by U-tube experiments. The high efficiency of the reported approach allowed intracellular pH tracking by exploiting the ratiometric excitation of the pyranine fluorescent probe

Proposal of an ISO/IEEE11073 platform for healthcare telemonitoring: plug-and-play solution with new use cases

Proceeding of: 29th Annual International Conference of IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, (EMBS 2007), Lyon, France, 23-26th august 2007.Remote patient monitoring in e-Health is everyday closer to be a mature technology / service. However, there is still a lack of development in areas such as standardization of the sensor’s communication interface, integration into Electronic Healthcare Record systems or incorporation in ambient-intelligent scenarios. This work identifies a set of use cases involved in the personal monitoring scenario and highlights the related features and functionalities, as well as the integration and implementation difficulties found when these are to be implemented in a system based on the ISO/IEEE11073 (X73) standard. It is part of a cooperative research effort devoted to the development of an end-to-end standards-based telemonitoring solution. Standardization committees are working towards adapting the X73 standard to this emerging personal health devices market and use case identification is essential to direct these revisions.This research work has been partially supported by projects TSI2005-07068-C02-01 and TSI2004-04940-C02-01 from Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Spanish Government), and a personal grant to both M.Galarraga and M. Martinez-Espronceda from Navarre Regional Governmen

Genetic studies in sunflower broomrape

Much research has been conducted to identify sources of genetic resistance to sunflower broomrape (Orobanche cumana Wallr.) and to study their mode of inheritance. However, studies on the parasite have been scarce. This manuscript reviews three genetic studies in sunflower broomrape. First, the inheritance of the absence of pigmentation in a natural mutant of this species with yellow plant color phenotype was studied. In a first stage, lines from the unpigmented mutant and a normally pigmented population were developed by several generations of self-pollination. Plants of both lines were crossed and the F1, F2, and F3 generations were evaluated. The results indicated that plant pigmentation is controlled by a partially dominant allele at a single locus. Second, the unpigmented mutant was used to evaluate outcrossing potential of the species. Two experiments in which single unpigmented plants were surrounded by normally pigmented plants were conducted under pot and field conditions. The cross-fertilization rate was estimated as the percentage of F1 hybrids in the progenies of unpigmented plants, which averaged 21.5% in the pot and 28.8% in the field experiment. The results indicated that, under the conditions of this study, the species was not strictly self-pollinated. Finally, the inheritance of avirulence was studied in crosses of plants from lines of O. cumana races E and F, developed by several generations of self-pollination. The F1 and F3 generations were evaluated on the differential line P-1380 carrying the race-E resistance gene Or5. The results suggested that race E avirulence and race F virulence on P-1380 are allelic and controlled by a single locus, which confirmed the gene-for-gene theory for the O. cumana-sunflower interaction.The manuscript reviews research partially funded by Fundación Ramón Areces, Madrid. The contribution of Dr. Enrique Quesada Moraga, entomologist from the University of Córdoba, Spain, to taxonomic classification of pollinators is gratefully acknowledged. R. Pineda-Martos was the recipient of a PhD fellowship from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) (JAEPre_08_00370)Peer Reviewe