A Unit Commitment Model with Demand Response for the Integration of Renewable Energies

The output of renewable energy fluctuates significantly depending on weather conditions. We develop a unit commitment model to analyze requirements of the forecast output and its error for renewable energies. Our model obtains the time series for the operational state of thermal power plants that would maximize the profits of an electric power utility by taking into account both the forecast of output its error for renewable energies and the demand response of consumers. We consider a power system consisting of thermal power plants, photovoltaic systems (PV), and wind farms and analyze the effect of the forecast error on the operation cost and reserves. We confirm that the operation cost was increases with the forecast error. The effect of a sudden decrease in wind power is also analyzed. More thermal power plants need to be operated to generate power to absorb this sudden decrease in wind power. The increase in the number of operating thermal power plants within a short period does not affect the total operation cost significantly; however the substitution of thermal power plants by wind farms or PV systems is not expected to be very high. Finally, the effects of the demand response in the case of a sudden decrease in wind power are analyzed. We confirm that the number of operating thermal power plants is reduced by the demand response. A power utility has to continue thermal power plants for ensuring supply-demand balance; some of these plants can be decommissioned after installing a large number of wind farms or PV systems, if the demand response is applied using an appropriate price structure.Comment: submitted to 2012 IEEE Power & Energy Society General Meetin

The diacylated lipopeptide FSL-1 induces TLR2-mediated Th2 responses

The diacylated lipopeptide FSL-1 enhanced the generation of IgG antibodies in TLR2+/+ mice, but not in TLR2-/- mice, when administered together with hen egg lysozyme as an antigen. Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide enhanced the generation of antigen-specific antibodies in both TLR2-/- and TLR2+/+ mice. In TLR2+/+ mice, the enhancement level by FSL-1 was similar to that by lipopolysaccharide. Analysis of the IgG antibodies subclass demonstrated that level of Th2-type IgG1 antibodies was higher than that of Th1-type IgG2a antibodies. Both FSL-1 and lipopolysaccharide induced production of IL-10 and IL-6 by splenocytes from TLR2+/+ mice. Lipopolysaccharide also induced production of these cytokines by splenocytes from TLR2-/- mice, but FSL-1 did not. Neither FSL-1 nor lipopolysaccharide induced IL-12p70 production by splenocytes from both types of mice. FSL-1 upregulated B7.2 expression in B220+ cells from TLR2+/+ mice but not those from TLR2-/- mice, whereas lipopolysaccharide upregulated B7.2 expression in B220+ cells from both types of mice. FSL-1 and, to a lesser extent, lipopolysaccharide activated mitogen-activated protein kinases in splenocytes. FSL-1 and, to a lesser extent,lipopolysaccharide induced the expression of c-Fos, which is known to be involved in Th2-type responses, in splenocytes. Thus, this study demonstrated that FSL-1 possessed TLR2-mediated Th2-type responses in vivo

CD14 directly binds to triacylated lipopeptides and facilitates recognition of the lipopeptides by the receptor complex of Toll-like receptors 2 and 1 without binding to the complex

It has demonstrated that the recognition of triacylated lipopeptides by Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 requires TLR1 as a coreceptor. In the NF-κB reporter assay system in which human embryonic kidney 293 cells were transfected with TLR2 and TLR1 together with an NF-κB luciferase reporter gene, S-(2,3-bispalmitoyloxypropyl)-N-palmitoyl-Cys-Lys-Lys-Lys-Lys (Pam3CSK4) and Pam3CSSNA were recognized by TLR2/TLR1, but the recognition level was unexpectedly very low. However, cotransfection of CD14 drastically enhanced the recognition of triacylated lipopeptides by TLR2/TLR1. The CD14-induced enhancement did not occur without cotransfection of TLR1. Both CD14dS39-A48, a mutant with deletion of the part of possible N-terminal ligand-binding pocket, and anti-CD14 monoclonal antibody reduced the CD14-induced enhancement. Transfection of a TIR domain-deficient mutant of TLR2 (TLR2dE772-S784) or TLR1 (TLR1dQ636-K779) completely abrogated the CD14-induced enhancement. Soluble recombinant CD14 added extracellularly enhanced the recognition of Pam3CSSNA by TLR2/TLR1. Immunoprecipitation analysis demonstrated that CD14 was not associated with TLR2 but that TLR1 was associated with TLR2. In addition, surface plasmon resonance-based assay demonstrated that CD14 binds to Pam3CSK4 at a dissociation constant of 5.7 µM. This study suggests that CD14 directly binds to triacylated lipopeptides and facilitates recognition of the lipopeptides by the TLR2/TLR1 complex without binding to the receptor complex

Agriculture in Hokkaido

Agriculture in Hokkaido dawned in 1868; the time when the Meiji Government was established. Warriors who were deprived of their positions by the new government after the Meiji Revolution, and farmers who could afford only small area in the main islands of Japan, immigrated to Hokkaido. They cleared the land and planted crops facing sever winters of Hokkaido. Presently, Hokkaido leads agriculture in Japan, proudly tops the production of rice, wheat, potato, beans, sugar beet, vegetables, and especially dairy products. The people of Hokkaido, however, shall never forget that it is the hard work of their predecessors for more than hundred years that has earned the present position for Hokkaido. At the same time, misunderstanding between immigrants and native Ainu people, and environmental degradation caused by reclamation of Hokkaido, should be matters of concern. This book describes past, present and future of Hokkaido's agriculture. The articles for this have been contributed by the professors outstanding in their respective fields in Hokkaido University. All chapters have been written in a simple language and illustrated with relevant photographs. Though this book has been produced as a textbook for the foreign students at Hokkaido University, it can serve a wide range of readers. It will be a great pleasure for us if this book is read by all concerned including visitors to this lovely land of Hokkaido

Roles of N-linked glycans in the recognition of microbial lipopeptides and lipoproteins by TLR2

Details of roles of carbohydrates attached to Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in the recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns and in the formation of the functional receptor complex still remain unknown. This study was designed to determine whether the glycans linked at Asn114, Asn199, Asn414 and Asn442 residues of TLR2 ectodomain were involved in the recognition of diacylated lipopeptide and lipoprotein. Single and multiple mutants were transfected into human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells together with a NF-κB luciferase reporter plasmid. All of these mutants were expressed on the surface. SDS-PAGE of the transfectants demonstrated that these mutants migrated lower than wild-type TLR2 and their molecular masses decreased as the number of mutated Asn residues increased. TLR2N114A, TLR2N199A and TLR2N414A as well as wild-type TLR2 induced NF-κB activation when stimulated with these ligands, whereas TLR2N442A failed to induce NF-κB activation. All of triple and quadruple mutants failed to induce NF-κB activation, but were associated with both wild-type TLR2 and TLR6 in the transfectants. TLR2N114A,N199A, TLR2N114A,N414A and, to a lesser extent, TLR2N114A,N442A, in which two N-linked glycans are speculated to be exposed to the concave surface of TLR2 solenoid, not only induce NF-κB activation but also are associated with wild-type TLR2 and TLR6. These results suggest that the glycan at Asn442 and at least two N-linked glycans speculated to be exposed to the concave surface of TLR2 solenoid are involved in the recognition of ligands by TLR2 and/or in formation or maturation of a functional TLR2 receptor complex

The synthetic analogue of mycoplasmal lipoprotein FSL-1 induces dendritic cell maturation through

GM-CSF-differentiated bone marrow-derived DCs (BMDCs) were stimulated with FSL-1 or E.coli LPS. FSL-1 induced the production of TNF-α and IL-12 by C57BL/6-derived BMDCs but not by BMDCs from Toll-like receptor 2-deficient (TLR2-/-) mice, whereas LPS induced the production of TNF-α and IL-12 by BMDCs derived from either type of mice. FSL-1 did not induce production of IL-10 by BMDCs from either type of mice, whereas LPS induced small amounts of IL-10 by BMDCs from both types of mice. FSL-1 upregulated the expression of CD80, CD86 and the MHC class II molecule IAb in both dose- and time-dependent manners on the surfaces of C57BL/6-derived BMDCs but not on the surface of TLR2-/--derived BMDCs, whereas LPS upregulated the expression of them on the surfaces of BMDCs from both types of mice. The expression of CD11c on the surfaces of C57BL/6-derived BMDCs was upregulated by stimulation with both FSL-1 and LPS up to 12 h and then the expression was downregulated.The results suggest that FSL-1 has activity to accelerate maturation of BMDCs and that the activity of FSL-1 is mediated by TLR2

Positive Correlations between Short-Term and Average Long-Term Fluctuations in Wind Power Output

Wind power has been increasingly deployed in the last decade to decarbonize the electricity sector. Wind power output changes intermittently depending on weather conditions. In electrical power systems with high shares of variable renewable energy sources, such as wind power, system operators aim to respond flexibly to fluctuations in output. Here, we investigated very short-term fluctuations, short-term fluctuations (STFs), and long-term fluctuations (LTFs) in wind power output by analyzing historical output data for two northern and one southern balancing areas in Japan. We found a relationship between STFs and the average LTFs. The percentiles of the STFs in each month are approximated by linear functions of the monthly average LTFs. Furthermore, the absolute value of the slope of this function decreases with wind power capacity in the balancing area. The LTFs reflect the trend in wind power output. The results indicate that the flexibility required for power systems can be estimated based on wind power predictions. This finding could facilitate the design of the balancing market in Japan

The diacylated lipopeptide FSL-1 enhances phagocytosis of bacteria by macrophages through Toll-like receptor 2-mediated signaling pathway

Enormous lines of evidence have been accumulated that Toll-like receptors (TLRs) function as sensors for microbial invasion. However, less is known about how signaling triggered by TLRs leads to phagocytosis of pathogens. This study was designed to determine whether stimulation of TLR2 with mainly the lipopeptide FSL-1 plays a role in phagocytosis of pathogens by macrophages. FSL-1 markedly enhanced phagocytosis of E. coli more strongly than that of S. aureus, but did not enhance phagocytosis of latex beads. FSL-1 stimulation resulted in enhanced phagocytosis of bacteria by macrophages from TLR2+/+mice but not those from TLR2-/- mice. Chinese hamster ovary cells stably expressing TLR2 failed tophagocytose these bacteria, but the cells expressing CD14 did. FSL-1 induced upregulation of the expression of phagocytic receptors including MSR1, CD36, DC-SIGN and Dectin-1 in THP-1 cells.Human embryonic kidney 293 cells transfected with DC-SIGN and MSR1 phagocytosed these bacteria. These results suggest that the FSL-1-induced enhancement of phagocytosis of bacteria by acrophages may be explained partially by the upregulation of scavenger receptors and the C-type lectins through TLR2-mediated signaling pathways and that TLR2 by itself does not function as a phagocytic receptor