Techno-economic assessment of the residential photovoltaic systems integrated with electric vehicles: A case study of Japanese households towards 2030

Finding economical and sustainable pathways for the deployment of renewables is critical for the success of decarbonizing energy systems. Because of the variable nature of renewable energy, however, it becomes increasingly costly when the renewable penetration becomes higher. The recent rise of electric vehicles (EVs) provides us with an opportunity to increase self-consumption of solar photovoltaic (PV) at households with substantially less additional costs. In this paper, we conducted an economic assessment of residential PV systems integrated with EVs (V2H: Vehicle to Home) at Japanese households towards 2030, incorporating the cost projections of these technologies in the future. We found that a system that consists of PV and an EV is already cost-competitive with the use of grid electricity and a gasoline vehicle in 2018. By 2030, the combination of PV + EV would substantially improve the energy economics at households in Japan, reducing annual energy costs (electricity and gasoline) by as much as 68 % in 2030 and decarbonizing the household energy system by 92%. We also found that the PV + EV system is much more economical than a PV-only or PV + battery systems, due to the fact that EV’s large battery can be utilized with minimum additional costs. To facilitate the deployment of the combination of PV + EV, policy makers should reinforce policies to enhance EV, PV, V2H penetration, which will ultimately allow more renewables to be deployed in a cost-effective way

A Case of Bifid Mandibular Condyle

Bifid mandibular condyle is a rare anatomic anomaly that can result from congenital malformation, trauma, infection or tumor. We report a case of bifid mandibular condyle found after head injury. A bifid mandibular condyle was seen on the computed tomographic scan of a 41-year-old man after a car accident. The patient had asymmetry in the condylar angle and length of the condylar neck, and anomaly of occlusion resulting from many residual roots with deep caries. Mouth-opening and mandibular movements were normal, however, the presence of temporomandibular joint symptoms was unclear because of the patient’s unconsciousness at the time of the scan. The bifid mandibular condyle could have resulted from a bicycle accident when the patient was 7 years of age, based on information from the patient’s family.Isomura ET, Kobashi H, Tanaka S, Enomoto A, Kogo M (2017) A Case of Bifid Mandibular Condyle. OMICS J Radiol 6: 278. DOI: 10.4172/2167-7964.1000278

Aneurysm Identification in Cerebral Models with Multiview Convolutional Neural Network

Stroke is the third most common cause of death and a major contributor to long-term disability worldwide. Severe stroke is most often caused by the rupture of a cerebral aneurysm, a weakened area in a blood vessel. The detection and quantification of cerebral aneurysms are essential for the prevention and treatment of aneurysmal rupture and cerebral infarction. Here, we propose a novel aneurysm detection method in a three-dimensional (3D) cerebrovascular model based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs). The multiview method is used to obtain a sequence of 2D images on the cerebral vessel branch model. The pretrained CNN is used with transfer learning to overcome the small training sample problem. The data augmentation strategy with rotation, mirroring and flipping helps improve the performance dramatically, particularly on our small datasets. The hyperparameter of the view number is determined in the task. We have applied the labeling task on 56 3D mesh models with aneurysms (positive) and 65 models without aneurysms (negative). The average accuracy of individual projected images is 87.86%, while that of the model is 93.4% with the best view number. The framework is highly effective with quick training efficiency that can be widely extended to detect other organ anomalies

Serial interferon-gamma release assays during treatment of active tuberculosis in young adults

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The role of interferon-γ release assay (IGRA) in monitoring responses to anti-tuberculosis (TB) treatment is not clear. We evaluated the results of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-tube (QFT-GIT) assay over time during the anti-TB treatment of adults with no underlying disease.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We enrolled soldiers who were newly diagnosed with active TB and admitted to the central referral military hospital in South Korea between May 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009. For each participant, we preformed QFT-GIT assay before treatment (baseline) and at 1, 3, and 6 months after initiating anti-TB medication.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 67 eligible patients, 59 (88.1%) completed the study protocol. All participants were males who were human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative and had no chronic diseases. Their median age was 21 years (range, 20-48). Initially, 57 (96.6%) patients had positive QFT-GIT results, and 53 (89.8%), 42 (71.2%), and 39 (66.1%) had positive QFT-GIT results at 1, 3, and 6 months, respectively. The IFN-γ level at baseline was 5.31 ± 5.34 IU/ml, and the levels at 1, 3, and 6 months were 3.95 ± 4.30, 1.82 ± 2.14, and 1.50 ± 2.12 IU/ml, respectively. All patients had clinical and radiologic improvements after treatment and were cured. A lower IFN-γ level, C-reactive protein ≥ 3 mg/dl, and the presence of fever (≥ 38.3°C) at diagnosis were associated with negative reversion of the QFT-GIT assay.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although the IFN-γ level measured by QFT-GIT assay decreased after successful anti-TB treatment in most participants, less than half of them exhibited QFT-GIT reversion. Thus, the reversion to negativity of the QFT-GIT assay may not be a good surrogate for treatment response in otherwise healthy young patients with TB.</p

Is there something of the MCT in orientationally disordered crystals ?

Molecular Dynamics simulations have been performed on the orientationally disordered crystal chloroadamantane: a model system where dynamics are almost completely controlled by rotations. A critical temperature T_c = 225 K as predicted by the Mode Coupling Theory can be clearly determined both in the alpha and beta dynamical regimes. This investigation also shows the existence of a second remarkable dynamical crossover at the temperature T_x > T_c consistent with a previous NMR and MD study [1]. This allows us to confirm clearly the existence of a 'landscape-influenced' regime occurring in the temperature range [T_c-T_x] as recently proposed [2,3].Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, REVTEX

Laboratory investigation of lateral dispersion within dense arrays of randomly distributed cylinders at transitional Reynolds number

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