ASEAN grid flexibility: Preparedness for grid integration of renewable energy

In 2015, ASEAN established a goal of increasing its renewable energy share in its energy portfolio from approximately 13–23% by 2025. Renewable electricity, especially intermittent and variable sources, presents challenges for grid operators due to the uncertain timing and quantity of electricity supply. Grid flexibility, the electric grid's ability to respond to changing demands and supply, now stands a key resource in responding to these uncertainties while maximizing the cost-effective role of clean energy. We develop and apply a grid flexibility assessment tool to assess ASEAN's current grid flexibility using six quantitative indicators: grid reliability, electricity market access; load profile ramp capacity; quality of forecasting tools; proportion of electricity generation from natural gas; and renewable energy diversity. We find that ASEAN nations cluster into three groups: better; moderately; and the least prepared nations. We develop an analytical ramp rate calculator to quantify expected load ramps for ASEAN in an integrated ASEAN Power Grid scenario. The lack of forecasting systems and limited electricity market access represent key weaknesses and areas where dramatic improvements can become cost-effective means to increase regional grid flexibility. As ASEAN pursues renewable energy targets, regional cooperation remains essential to address identified challenges. Member nations need to increase grid flexibility capacity to adequately prepare for higher penetrations of renewable electricity and lower overall system costs

Reactive oxygen species, endoplasmic reticulum stress and mitochondrial dysfunction: the link with cardiac arrhythmogenesis

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Sample entropy analysis of EEG signals via artificial neural networks to model patients' consciousness level based on anesthesiologists experience.

Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, as it can express the human brain's activities and reflect awareness, have been widely used in many research and medical equipment to build a noninvasive monitoring index to the depth of anesthesia (DOA). Bispectral (BIS) index monitor is one of the famous and important indicators for anesthesiologists primarily using EEG signals when assessing the DOA. In this study, an attempt is made to build a new indicator using EEG signals to provide a more valuable reference to the DOA for clinical researchers. The EEG signals are collected from patients under anesthetic surgery which are filtered using multivariate empirical mode decomposition (MEMD) method and analyzed using sample entropy (SampEn) analysis. The calculated signals from SampEn are utilized to train an artificial neural network (ANN) model through using expert assessment of consciousness level (EACL) which is assessed by experienced anesthesiologists as the target to train, validate, and test the ANN. The results that are achieved using the proposed system are compared to BIS index. The proposed system results show that it is not only having similar characteristic to BIS index but also more close to experienced anesthesiologists which illustrates the consciousness level and reflects the DOA successfully.This research is supported by the Center forDynamical Biomarkers and Translational Medicine, National Central University, Taiwan, which is sponsored by Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant no. MOST103-2911-I-008-001). Also, it is supported by National Chung-Shan Institute of Science & Technology in Taiwan (Grant nos. CSIST-095-V301 and CSIST-095-V302)

新一代多天线GPS系统研制

Author name used in this publication: 丁晓利, DING Xiao-liAuthor name used in this publication: 黄丁发Author name used in this publication: YIN Jian-huaAuthor name used in this publication: 陈永奇Author name used in this publication: 孙永荣Author name used in this publication: 杨育文Title in Traditional Chinese: 新一代多天線GPS系統研製Journal title in Traditional Chinese: 測繪通報2003-2004 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Epidemiologic Survey of Kawasaki Disease in Jilin from 1999 Through 2008

The epidemiologic pictures of Kawasaki disease (KD) in Jilin Province of China is still not clear. We sent a questionnaire form and diagnostic guidelines for KD to the province's 32 hospitals above the county and city level with pediatric in-patients. All patients with KD diagnosed during January 1999 through December 2008 were recruited in this survey. The incidence of KD was 1.39 to 11.07 (5.26 ± 3.97) per 100,000 children under the age of 5 years between 1999 and 2008. The ratio of male to female was 1.96 to 1. Ages at onset ranged from 58 days to 14 years. Patients under 5 years of age accounted of 88.73%. The disease occurred throughout the year, but it occurred more frequently in May to July and November. The most common cardiac abnormality was coronary artery dilatation (49.5%). Age at onset and hypoalbuminemia (<30 g/l) were selected for multivariate logistic regression equation. In conclusion, incidences of KD increased in Jilin Province. Age and gender distribution shared similarities with previous reports, and the seasonal distribution was different. Age and lower serum albumin were the most important risk factors of coronary arterial lesions (CAL) in KD. In addition, patients treated with steroids also had a possible heightened risk of contracting CAL

Artmap Networks for Classification of Ultrasonic Weld Inspection Signals

Inverse problems in Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) involve estimating the characteristics of flaws from measurements obtained during an inspection. Several techniques have been developed over the years for solving the inverse problem [1]. These techniques range from calibration approaches to numerical methods based on integral equations. Signal identification and classification is one of the more popular approaches for inverse problems encountered in many practical NDE applications

Targeted delivery of C/EBPα -saRNA by pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma-specific RNA aptamers inhibits tumor growth in vivo

The 5-year survival rate for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains dismal despite current chemotherapeutic agents and inhibitors of molecular targets. As the incidence of PDAC constantly increases, more effective multidrug approaches must be made. Here, we report a novel method of delivering antitumorigenic therapy in PDAC by upregulating the transcriptional factor CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-α (C/EBPα), recognized for its antiproliferative effects. Small activating RNA (saRNA) duplexes designed to increase C/EBPα expression were linked onto PDAC-specific 2′-Fluropyrimidine RNA aptamers (2′F-RNA) - P19 and P1 for construction of a cell type–specific delivery vehicle. Both P19- and P1-C/EBPα-saRNA conjugates increased expression of C/EBPα and significantly suppressed cell proliferation. Tail vein injection of the saRNA/aptamer conjugates in PANC-1 and in gemcitabine-resistant AsPC-1 mouse-xenografts led to reduced tumor size with no observed toxicity. To exploit the specificity of the P19/P1 aptamers for PDAC cells, we also assessed if conjugation with Cy3 would allow it to be used as a diagnostic tool on archival human pancreatic duodenectomy tissue sections. Scoring pattern from 72 patients suggested a positive correlation between high fluorescent signal in the high mortality patient groups. We propose a novel aptamer-based strategy for delivery of targeted molecular therapy in advanced PDAC where current modalities fail

Ezrin interacts with the SARS coronavirus spike protein and restrains infection at the entry stage

© 2012 Millet et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Background: Entry of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and its envelope fusion with host cell membrane are controlled by a series of complex molecular mechanisms, largely dependent on the viral envelope glycoprotein Spike (S). There are still many unknowns on the implication of cellular factors that regulate the entry process. Methodology/Principal Findings: We performed a yeast two-hybrid screen using as bait the carboxy-terminal endodomain of S, which faces the cytosol during and after opening of the fusion pore at early stages of the virus life cycle. Here we show that the ezrin membrane-actin linker interacts with S endodomain through the F1 lobe of its FERM domain and that both the eight carboxy-terminal amino-acids and a membrane-proximal cysteine cluster of S endodomain are important for this interaction in vitro. Interestingly, we found that ezrin is present at the site of entry of S-pseudotyped lentiviral particles in Vero E6 cells. Targeting ezrin function by small interfering RNA increased S-mediated entry of pseudotyped particles in epithelial cells. Furthermore, deletion of the eight carboxy-terminal amino acids of S enhanced S-pseudotyped particles infection. Expression of the ezrin dominant negative FERM domain enhanced cell susceptibility to infection by SARS-CoV and S pseudotyped particles and potentiated S-dependent membrane fusion. Conclusions/Significance: Ezrin interacts with SARS-CoV S endodomain and limits virus entry and fusion. Our data present a novel mechanism involving a cellular factor in the regulation of S-dependent early events of infection.This work was supported by the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong (RGC#760208)and the RESPARI project of the International Network of Pasteur Institutes

Comparisons of host mitochondrial, nuclear and endosymbiont bacterial genes reveal cryptic fig wasp species and the effects of Wolbachia on host mtDNA evolution and diversity

Background Figs and fig-pollinating wasp species usually display a highly specific one-to-one association. However, more and more studies have revealed that the "one-to-one" rule has been broken. Co-pollinators have been reported, but we do not yet know how they evolve. They may evolve from insect speciation induced or facilitated by Wolbachia which can manipulate host reproduction and induce reproductive isolation. In addition, Wolbachia can affect host mitochondrial DNA evolution, because of the linkage between Wolbachia and associated mitochondrial haplotypes, and thus confound host phylogeny based on mtDNA. Previous research has shown that fig wasps have the highest incidence of Wolbachia infection in all insect taxa, and Wolbachia may have great influence on fig wasp biology. Therefore, we look forward to understanding the influence of Wolbachia on mitochondrial DNA evolution and speciation in fig wasps. Results We surveyed 76 pollinator wasp specimens from nine Ficus microcarpa trees each growing at a different location in Hainan and Fujian Provinces, China. We found that all wasps were morphologically identified as Eupristina verticillata, but diverged into three clades with 4.22-5.28% mtDNA divergence and 2.29-20.72% nuclear gene divergence. We also found very strong concordance between E. verticillata clades and Wolbachia infection status, and the predicted effects of Wolbachia on both mtDNA diversity and evolution by decreasing mitochondrial haplotypes. Conclusions Our study reveals that the pollinating wasp E. verticillata on F. microcarpa has diverged into three cryptic species, and Wolbachia may have a role in this divergence. The results also indicate that Wolbachia strains infecting E. verticillata have likely resulted in selective sweeps on host mitochondrial DNA