RED WoLF: Combining a battery and thermal energy reservoirs as a hybrid storage system

Energy consumption of households is not evenly distributed. To satisfy peak demand, additional CO2 intensive generators are turned on when demand peaks. To avoid peak demand from dwellings, the RED WoLF (Rethink Electricity Distribution Without Load Following) hybrid storage system is proposed, consisting of batteries, storage heaters and a water cylinder. This aims at avoiding the use of these peak generators and integrating a higher share of renewables on the Power Grid. This system is planned to be tested in 100 houses distributed in 6 pilot sites in Great Britain, Ireland and France, which are currently undergoing construction or refurbishment. This study presents the theoretical model of the controlling algorithm, which enables the uptake of Grid electricity only when CO2 intensity is below a dynamically computed threshold. The algorithm is tested in computer simulations over the four seasons with varying size of batteries and photovoltaic arrays. Results show how RED WoLF algorithm satisfies households demands while, at the same time, successfully avoiding domestic peak demand, with a significant drop of CO2 emissions. This is achieved by both increasing photovoltaic self-consumption and uptake of low carbon Grid energy. For example, with a 7 kWh battery and a 4 kW photovoltaic array, CO2 emissions drop by to almost , depending on the season, relative to the same house without the RED WoLF system. The system has the potential to shift residential demand from peak power/peak times to low value electricity at a time of low demand

RED WoLF Hybrid Energy Storage System: Algorithm Case Study and Green Competition Between Storage Heaters and Heat Pump

Green house gases reduction is critical in current climate emergency and was declared as major target by United Nations. This manuscript proposes the progressive adaptive recursive multi threshold control strategy for hybrid energy storage system that combines thermal storage reservoirs, heat pumps, storage heaters, photovoltaic array and a battery. The newest control strategy is tested in numerical experiment against primal dual simplex optimisation method as benchmark and previous iterations of RED WoLF threshold approaches. The proposed algorithm allows improvement in reduction of CO2 emissions by 9 % comparatively to RED WoLF double threshold approach and by 26 % comparatively to RED WoLF single threshold approach. Besides, the proposed technique is at least 100 times faster than linear optimisation, making the algorithm applicable to edge systems. The proposed method is later tested in numerical experiment on two measured datasets from Luxembourg school and office, equipped with batteries and ground source heat pumps. The system allows the reduction of CO2 emission and improvement of self-consumption, size reduction of the photovoltaic array installed at the facilities by at least by half as well as substituting battery storage by thermal storage, reducing the initial investment to the system. Intriguingly, despite 3.6 times difference in efficiency between heat pumps and storage heaters, the system equipped with latter have potential to achieve similar performance in carbon reduction, suggesting that energy storage have more prominent carbon reduction effect, than the power consumption, making cheaper systems with storage heaters a possible alternative to heat pumps

Influence of quality attributes of early, intermediate and late peach varieties on suitability for fresh-convenience products

Fresh convenience products represent a category of minimally processed fruit and vegetables (chunks, mousse, smoothies) that respond to the changes in consumer attitudes. Thanks to the image of convenience (time-saving, snack sizes, no waste, smart packaging) and healthiness their sales are steadily increasing. In this study 26 varieties (including peach, nectarines, and clingstone peaches) from Apulian production were divided into three groups according to harvest dates in early (A), middle (B) and late (C) maturing. Physical, chemical and sensorial analyses were performed in order to select high quality fruits for minimal processing according to the harvesting season. A multivariate Principal Component Analysis was applied to discriminate different varieties for quality attributes. Within Group A, ‘Honey Kist’ showed the lowest acidity and intermediate susceptibility to mechanical damage. For Group B, ‘Stark Red Gold’, ‘Zee Glo’ and ‘Venus’ resulted different in sensorial evaluation, while ‘Loadel’ and ‘Eolia’ were more susceptible to browning. For Group C, ‘Tardi Belle’ and ‘Baby Gold7’, although more sensitive to mechanical damage, were differentiated for flavor. Results of this work confirm the extreme variability among varieties in terms of sensorial quality, susceptibility to browning and to mechanical damage, and the importance of assessing varietal screening for selection of most suitable varieties for minimal processing

Arabidopsis thaliana response to extracellular dna: Self versus nonself exposure

The inhibitory effect of extracellular DNA (exDNA) on the growth of conspecific individuals was demonstrated in different kingdoms. In plants, the inhibition has been observed on root growth and seed germination, demonstrating its role in plant\u2013soil negative feedback. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the early response to exDNA and the inhibitory effect of conspecific exDNA. We here contribute with a whole-plant transcriptome profiling in the model species Arabidopsis thaliana exposed to extracellular self-(conspecific) and nonself-(heterologous) DNA. The results highlight that cells distinguish self-from nonself-DNA. Moreover, confocal microscopy analyses reveal that nonself-DNA enters root tissues and cells, while self-DNA remains outside. Specifically, exposure to self-DNA limits cell permeability, affecting chloroplast functioning and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, eventually causing cell cycle arrest, consistently with macroscopic observations of root apex necrosis, increased root hair density and leaf chlorosis. In contrast, nonself-DNA enters the cells triggering the activation of a hypersensitive response and evolving into systemic acquired resistance. Complex and different cascades of events emerge from exposure to extracellular selfor nonself-DNA and are discussed in the context of Damage-and Pathogen-Associated Molecular Patterns (DAMP and PAMP, respectively) responses

Surgical site infection after caesarean section. Space for post-discharge surveillance improvements and reliable comparisons

Surgical site infections (SSI) after caesarean section (CS) represent a substantial health system concern. Surveying SSI has been associated with a reduction in SSI incidence. We report the findings of three (2008, 2011 and 2013) regional active SSI surveillances after CS in community hospital of the Latium region determining the incidence of SSI. Each CS was surveyed for SSI occurrence by trained staff up to 30 post-operative days, and association of SSI with relevant characteristics was assessed using binomial logistic regression. A total of 3,685 CS were included in the study. A complete 30 day post-operation follow-up was achieved in over 94% of procedures. Overall 145 SSI were observed (3.9% cumulative incidence) of which 131 (90.3%) were superficial and 14 (9.7%) complex (deep or organ/space) SSI; overall 129 SSI (of which 89.9% superficial) were diagnosed post-discharge. Only higher NNIS score was significantly associated with SSI occurrence in the regression analysis. Our work provides the first regional data on CS-associated SSI incidence, highlighting the need for a post-discharge surveillance which should assure 30 days post-operation to not miss data on complex SSI, as well as being less labour intensive

SARS-CoV-2 infection and replication in human gastric organoids

COVID-19 typically manifests as a respiratory illness, but several clinical reports have described gastrointestinal symptoms. This is particularly true in children in whom gastrointestinal symptoms are frequent and viral shedding outlasts viral clearance from the respiratory system. These observations raise the question of whether the virus can replicate within the stomach. Here we generate gastric organoids from fetal, pediatric, and adult biopsies as in vitro models of SARS-CoV-2 infection. To facilitate infection, we induce reverse polarity in the gastric organoids. We find that the pediatric and late fetal gastric organoids are susceptible to infection with SARS-CoV-2, while viral replication is significantly lower in undifferentiated organoids of early fetal and adult origin. We demonstrate that adult gastric organoids are more susceptible to infection following differentiation. We perform transcriptomic analysis to reveal a moderate innate antiviral response and a lack of differentially expressed genes belonging to the interferon family. Collectively, we show that the virus can efficiently infect the gastric epithelium, suggesting that the stomach might have an active role in fecal-oral SARS-CoV-2 transmission

Tamoxifen in treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma: a randomised controlled trial

Background Results from small randomised trials on tamoxifen in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are conflicting, We studied whether the addition of tamoxifen to best supportive care prolongs survival of patients with HCC. Methods Patients with any stage of HCC were eligible, irrespective of locoregional treatment. Randomisation was centralised, with a minimisation procedure accounting for centre, evidence of disease, and time from diagnosis. Patients were randomly allocated best supportive care alone or in addition to tamoxifen, Tamoxifen was given orally, 40 mg per day, from randomisation until death. Results 496 patients from 30 institutions were randomly allocated treatment from January, 1995, to January, 1997. Information was available for 477 patients. By Sept 15, 1997, 119 (50%) of 240 and 130 (55%) of 237 patients had died in the control and tamoxifen arms, respectively. Median survival was 16 months and 15 months (p=0.54), respectively, No differences were found within subgroups defined by prognostic variables. Relative hazard of death for patients receiving tamoxifen was 1.07 (95% CI 0.83-1.39). Interpretation Our findings show that tamoxifen is not effective in prolonging survival of patients with HCC

Patient and physician perspectives on biological treatment in severe asthma: a Severe Asthma Network Italy survey

: Patients with severe asthma perceive beneficial effects of biologics and good self-reported adherence to treatment, even when self-administered at home https://bit.ly/48vP70w