Microgrid Demonstration Platform: Modbus TCP/IP Connection for Real-Time Monitoring of a Wind Turbine

Several countries promote wind energy despite their high installation cost, since over time these investments can become profitable. It is important that energy entrepreneurs have up-to-date information of operation parameters, to identify places where excessive energy consumption occurs. For energy management, it is necessary to have an overview of the whole system, such that reporting and further result analysis can be made. With monitoring and control systems, it is possible to enable an improved management of resources, especially in terms of balance between generation and consumption. In this work, it is proposed a graphical interface to monitor and control a wind turbine, in a simulation environment running four operation scenarios.The present work was done and funded in the scope of the following projects: H2020 DREAM-GO Project (Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 641794); EUREKA - ITEA2 Project SEAS with project number 12004; NETEFFICITY Project (P2020 - 18015); and UID/EEA/00760/2013 funded by FEDER Funds through COMPETE program and by National Funds through FCT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Loss of expression of ATM is associated with worse prognosis in colorectal cancer and loss of Ku70 expression is associated with CIN

Repair of double strand DNA breaks (DSBs) is pivotal in maintaining normal cell division and disruption of this system has been shown to be a key factor in carcinogenesis. Loss of expression of the DSB repair proteins have previously been shown to be associated with poorer survival in colorectal cancer. We wished to ascertain the relationship of altered expression of the DSB repair proteins γ-H2AX (gamma-H2AX), ATM and Ku70 with biological and clinico-pathological features of colorectal cancer. 908 tumours from the VICTOR clinical trial of stage II/III colorectal cancer were analysed for expression of γ-H2AX, ATM and Ku70 using immunohistochemistry. Expression levels were correlated with CIN and with diseasefree survival, correcting for microsatellite instability, BRAF/KRAS mutation status, Dukes stage, chemo/radiotherapy, age, gender and tumour location. Down-regulated Ku70 expression was associated with chromosomal instability (p=0.029) in colorectal cancer. Reduced ATM expression was an independent marker of poor disease-free survival (HR=1.67, 95% CI 1.11-2.50, p=0.015). For Ku70, further studies are required to investigate the potential relationship of non-homologous end joining with chromosomal instability. Loss of ATM expression might serve as a biomarker of poor prognosis in colorectal cancer

Impact of soybean cropping frequency on soil carbon storage in Mollisols and Vertisols

The high cropping frequency of soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.), mainly as a single annual crop, in the extensive agricultural systems of South America may adversely affect the soil organic carbon (SOC) storage, which may be different between soils depending on aggregation agents. The aim of this work was to evaluate the impact of the soybean cropping frequency on the SOC storage in different soil aggregate size classes in a Mollisol and in a Vertisol in the Northeastern Pampas of Argentina under no-tillage management. In each soil, the samples were collected at 0-5, 5-15 and 15-30 cm depths in eleven cropped and one uncropped fields. The number of months occupied with soybean in relation to the total number of months occupied with crops within crop sequences, over a 6-year period, was used to calculate the soybean cropping frequency. The SOC stocks in equivalent soil mass, the SOC concentration both in the whole sample and in different aggregate size classes, and the stratification ratio of the SOC stock and of the SOC concentration were determined. The increase in soybean cropping frequency reduced the SOC stock in both soils at 0-5 cm, and in the Vertisol at 5-15 and 0-30 cm but the change was evident only between the cropped and the uncropped situation. A decrease in soybean cropping frequency resulted in a higher amount of macroaggregates (> 250 um), a higher SOC concentration and a higher stratification ratio in the Mollisol at 0-5 cm, whereas in the Vertisol the soybean cropping frequency did not affect the stratification ratio or the aggregate distribution in any size class. The increase in soybean cropping frequency reduced SOC storage only in macroaggregates (> 250 µm) in both soils at 0-5 cm, particularly in the largest macroaggregates (> 2000 µm), and more in the Mollisol than in the Vertisol. Our results show that a high soybean cropping frequency may severely affect the SOC storage in the Mollisol, and suggest that in the Vertisol this effect may lead to a reduction in the SOC storage in the long term.Fil: Novelli, Leonardo Esteban. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Entre Ríos. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Paraná; ArgentinaFil: Caviglia, Octavio Pedro. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Entre Ríos. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Paraná; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos; ArgentinaFil: Melchiori, R. J. M.. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Entre Ríos. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Paraná; Argentin

Comparative study on the preventing effects of oral vanadyl sulfate and dietary restriction on the age-related glucose intolerance in rats.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Aging is associated with a progressive impairment of glucose tolerance. The aim of this study was to explore the protective effects of the chronic oral administration of the insulino-mimetic agent vanadyl sulfate (VOSO4) as compared with those exerted by a long-lasting dietary restriction. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats, either fed ad libitum (AL) or subjected to 40% dietary restriction (DR), were used. VOSO4 (0.5 mg/mL drinking water) was administered to a subgroup of AL rats for two months, starting at 16 months of age. Rats were subjected to an intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) at 16 and 18 months of age. Finally, the beta-cell responsiveness to glucose was evaluated in vitro by the isolated perfused pancreas preparation. RESULTS: The IVGTT performed in 16-month-old rats showed that DR prevented the development of the moderate glucose intolerance observed in AL rats. The IVGTT performed at 18 months of age confirmed the beneficial effect of DR and showed that VOSO4 was able to prevent the further age-related progression of glucose intolerance observed in AL rats. Pancreas perfusion studies showed that no increase in insulin secretion occurred in both VOSO4-treated and DR rats with respect to the age-matched AL controls, consistently with the in vivo observation of post-loading insulinaemic changes. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of these results, we conclude that the beneficial effect of both treatments is mostly related to an improvement of tissue sensitivity to insulin rather than to an insulinotropic effect

COVID-19 and genetic variants of protein involved in the SARS-CoV-2 entry into the host cells

The recent global COVID-19 public health emergency is caused by SARS-CoV-2 infections and can manifest extremely variable clinical symptoms. Host human genetic variability could influence susceptibility and response to infection. It is known that ACE2 acts as a receptor for this pathogen, but the viral entry into the target cell also depends on other proteins. The aim of this study was to investigate the variability of genes coding for these proteins involved in the SARS-CoV-2 entry into the cells. We analyzed 131 COVID-19 patients by exome sequencing and examined the genetic variants of TMPRSS2, PCSK3, DPP4, and BSG genes. In total we identified seventeen variants. In PCSK3 gene, we observed a missense variant (c.893G>A) statistically more frequent compared to the EUR GnomAD reference population and a missense mutation (c.1906A>G) not found in the GnomAD database. In TMPRSS2 gene, we observed a significant difference in the frequency of c.331G>A, c.23G>T, and c.589G>A variant alleles in COVID-19 patients, compared to the corresponding allelic frequency in GnomAD. Genetic variants in these genes could influence the entry of the SARS-CoV-2. These data also support the hypothesis that host genetic variability may contribute to the variability in infection susceptibility and severity

Effects of low-dose VOSO4 on age-related changes in glucose homeostasis in rats

The effects of low doses of vanadyl sulfate (0.2 mg/ml in the drinking water) on the age-related impairment of glucose homeostasis in Sprague-Dawley rats were investigated. VOSO(4) administration was initiated in 5-month-old animals and lasted 3 months. Thus, in 8-month-old rats, we investigated glucose metabolism in vivo and insulin secretory function in vitro. Results showed that VOSO(4) allowed the disposal of an oral glucose load at lower insulin levels than in age-matched controls. No significant changes were found in muscle glucose transporter (GLUT-4) levels or in glycogen content upon VOSO(4) treatment. Islets isolated from VOSO(4)-treated rats released less insulin than control islets, but showed a better preserved sensitivity to secretagogues, in terms of incremental release over basal release, secretory efficiency, and maintenance of the priming effect of glucose. In conclusion, chronic low-dose VOSO(4) treatment facilitates insulin action by a mechanism independent of muscle GLUT-4 levels and helps preserve the appropriate sensitivity of beta cells to stimuli, thereby preventing age-dependent functional alterations

HLA allele frequencies and susceptibility to COVID-19 in a group of 99 Italian patients

With the aim to individuate alleles that may reflect a higher susceptibility to the disease, in the present study we analyzed the HLA allele frequency distribution in a group of 99 Italian patients affected by a severe or extremely severe form of COVID-19. After the application of Bonferroni's correction for multiple tests, a significant association was found for HLA-DRB1*15:01, -DQB1*06:02 and -B*27:07, after comparing the results to a reference group of 1017 Italian individuals, previously typed in our laboratory. The increased frequencies observed may contribute to identify potential markers of susceptibility to the disease, although controversial results on the role of single HLA alleles in COVID-19 patients have been recently reported

Caracterização dos agroecossistemas e manejo de germoplasma de Citrullus em três regiões do Nordeste brasileiro.

Sendo assim, este trabalho teve como objetivos caracterizar, estudar e descrever os agroecossistemas nordestinos representados pelos distritos de Jamarí-MA, Massaroca-BA e Urimamã-PE