TOPFARM wind farm optimization tool

A wind farm optimization framework is presented in detail and demonstrated on two test cases: 1) Middelgrunden and 2) Stags Holt/Coldham. A detailed flow model describing the instationary flow within a wind farm is used together with an aeroelastic model to determine production and fatigue loading of wind farm wind turbines. Based on generic load cases, the wind farm production and fatigue evaluations are subsequently condensed in a large pre-calculated database for rapid calculation of lifetime equivalent loads and energy production in the optimization loop.. The objective function defining the optimization problem includes elements as energy production, turbine degradation, operation and maintenance costs, electrical grid costs and foundation costs. The objective function is optimized using a dedicated multi fidelity approach with the locations of individual turbines in the wind farm spanning the design space. . The results are over all satisfying and are giving some interesting insights on the pros and cons of the design choices. They show in particular that the inclusion of the fatigue loads costs give rise to some additional details in comparison with pure power based optimization. The Middelgrunden test case resulted in an improvement of the financial balance of 2.1 M€ originating from a very large increase in the energy production value of 9.3 M€ mainly counterbalanced by increased electrical grid costs. The Stags Holt/Coldham test case resulted in an improvement of the financial balance of 3.1 M€

DEVELOPMENT OF A NOVEL DEVICE FOR MEASUREMENT OF PEDAL FORCE IN CYCLING

A device was developed to be mounted between a cycling shoe and cleat with the ability to measure force perpendicular to the pedal. The device consists of a PolyPower force sensor placed in between two aluminium plates connected by three bolts. Furthermore, a mechanism allowing pulling forces to be measured is explained. The device was comparable to a golden standard when pushed upon, but did not provide valid measurements of pulling forces. In order to function as a valid and reliable power meter or a device capable of measuring pedal forces, the sensor´s recovery rate should be improved along with the pulling mechanism of the device while angular sensors could be added for assessment of pedal kinematics

Development of a human-powered watercraft for people with lower-body disabilities

Spinal cord injuries (SCI) or other lower-body disabilities can change the life of a person significantly both physically and psychologically. Chapter 1 describes how physical activity is associated with improved physical fitness, health and psychological well-being for people with lower-body disabilities but also that a number of limitations exist to potentially discourage this population from exercising. One of these limitations is a lack of exercise water activities as traditional aquatic sports such as rowing, kayak and canoe requires a level of trunk muscle activation that is often missing for people with SCI. The main aim of this dissertation has been to develop a human-powered watercraft that could be maneuvered by people with lower-body disabilities. This process is described in chapter 2 including the results of a study, which showed the metabolic expenditure when using the watercraft to be similar to other physical activities performed by people with lower-body disabilities. Moreover, the mechanical efficiency was found to be comparable to other human-powered watercrafts and could, as a result, be an alternative fitness tool especially for people with lower-body disabilities, who seek water activities. Chapter 3 describes the development of an improved version of the watercraft, and the results of testing that shows improved hydrodynamic resistance and relationship between mechanical power output and speed. Chapter 4 investigates how velocity fluctuations may affect the speed of the watercraft and if different propulsion modes have an influence. No significant differences are found but several ideas for further research are given. Finally, the interface pressure is evaluated in a setting that mimics the one on the watercraft. It is known that high interface pressure for long periods of time increases the risk of pressure ulcer development for people with SCI. Chapter 5 describes a case-study of an Italian handcycling champion arm cranking on an arm ergometer at two difference backrest inclinations while interface pressure and oxygen uptake was measured. The results showed a difference in pressure between backrest inclinations and from arm cranking and resting. This could help people with SCI to still be able to exercise even if suffering from pressure ulcers

Adverse effects from counterfeit and mislabeled medicine containing tapentadol and carisoprodol

When self-administration with counterfeit or mislabeled medicine is suspected, comprehensive laboratory analysis should be preferred over immunoassay screening to avoid false negative results. Carisoprodol, which was formerly a popular muscle relaxant drug in many countries, has reappeared on illegal drug markets, and may cause an itching, purple-colored rash, even after a single dose.</p

DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF A NOVEL HUMAN-POWERED WATERCRAFT FOR PEOPLE WITH LOWER-BODY DISABILITIES

The purpose of this study was to develop a human-powered watercraft for people with lower-body disabilities and investigate its mechanical efficiency and metabolic cost of locomotion. Metabolic variables and mechanical power output was measured during different trials and the results showed a linear correlation between metabolic power and mechanical power. Energy expenditure when pedalling the watercraft was similar to other physical activities performed by people with lower-body disabilities and could as a result, be an alternative fitness tool for those who seek water activities

Assessment of phosphopeptide enrichment/precipitation method for LC-MS/MS based phosphoproteomic analysis of plant tissue

  IntroductionMass spectrometry (MS) is a powerful technology for study of PTMs, including protein phosphorylation. Due to the low abundance of many phosphoproteins and the relatively poor ionization efficiency of phosphopeptides, specific enrichment of phosphopeptides prior to MS analysis is necessary. At present, numerous phosphopeptide enrichment approaches have been established and applied to complex biological samples. We and others have reported that multi-step phosphopeptide purification methods enable better recovery of phosphopeptide and achieve higher selectivity and sensitivity than stardand sample preparation protocols. Here, we combine 3 phosphpeptide enrichment methods (IMAC, TiO2 and Calcium Phosphate Precipitation (CPP)), and apply them to phosphoproteomic analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana plasma membrane preparation.MethodPlant plasma membranes were isolated from Arabidopsis thaliana (Col-0) leaves using a two-phase partitioning system. The concentration of plasma membrane protein was determined by Bradford assay. Protein was digested with Lys-C for 4 hours and then by trypsin overnight. The peptide mixture was purified with IMAC, TiO2, CPP, SIMAC (IMAC+TiO2), the combination of CPP and IMAC, and the combination of CPP and TiO2, respectively.Nano-LC-MS was performed using LTQ-Orbitrap XL and LTQ-Orbitrap-XL/ETD mass spectrometer (Thermo Electron, Bremen, Germany) connected to an EASY nano-LC system (Proxeon Biosystems, Odense, Denmark). In CID mode, multi-stage activation (MSA) method was used for phosphopeptide fragmentation. The resulting fragment ion spectra were processed with Proteome Discoverer software (Thermo Electron, Bremen, Germany).ResultsWe first investigated the global phosphorylation profile of plant plasma membrane proteins by enriching the phosphopeptides with IMAC, TiO2 enrichment methods prior to LTQ-Orbitrap MS analysis. 100 ug plant plasma membrane protein was used for each enrichment experiment. The data was searched against NCBI database on MASCOT server, and the results were validated by in home bioinformatic software using the A-score algorithm. Among 890 unique peptides, 389 of them were identified as phosphopeptides from IMAC enrichment. From TiO2 enrichment, 131 of 240 identified peptides were phosphopeptides. Since the results are not so satisfactory, we further investigated these samples using the combination of CPP and TiO2 enrichment methods. 1024 phosphopeptides were identified from the combined method, with a efficiency of 90% in this combined method. The results produced from the 3 enrichment experiments were carefully analyzed, and we conclude that the combined method gives better phosphopeptide recovery and higher selectivity. The overlap between the 3 enrichment experiments was quite small. We are currently investigating further combination of enrichment methods: SIMAC enrichment and the combination of CPP and IMAC enrichment. Samples will be analyzed by LTQ-Orbitrap-ETD MS, and the behavior of phosphopeptides on CID mode and ETD mode will be compared. Innovative aspects Combination of different phosphopeptide enrichment methods</p