Social license to automate batteries? Australian householder conditions for participation in Virtual Power Plants

Energy companies and new aggregation businesses have recently promoted Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) to solve many problems in energy systems by aggregating and coordinating rooftop solar and household batteries to act in unison. If successful, they could support deployment of renewable generation into electricity distribution networks and enable households to access multiple value streams for their assets, through participation in markets for wholesale energy and system services and payments for network support. However, while residential battery purchase may be more financially attractive if combined with VPP participation, households remain cautious about participation. This paper examines the social factors behind this gap between industry promise and the very low household uptake of VPPs in Australia. We present the key findings from a qualitative study (n = 47) of Australian residential energy users' motivations towards, and conditions for, participation in a hypothetical battery-based virtual power plant. We find that users' willingness to participate in a VPP is affected by their motivations for solar and battery purchase. In particular, VPP participation can conflict with goals of independence from the grid and security of supply. Furthermore, the financial benefits may be more attractive to households who have not already embarked on a ‘sustainability journey’ by purchasing solar and/or a battery. We also find that environmental and social benefits can help motivate VPP participation, provided transparency and fairness in the distribution of benefits are assured through regulation or operation by a trusted broker

The Institute of Archaeology Field Course at Downley Park, Singleton, West Sussex, UK. Multi period excavations around the hunting lodge of the Earls of Arundel

This paper details and considers the results of excavations and research at Downley between 2015 and 2018. The primary aim of the project was to locate and prove the site of a late medieval – Tudor period hunting lodge that was mentioned in extant and archival literature but for which no physical trace existed. Four years of excavation, after an initial test pit survey, have revealed Tudor demolition debris; sub-Chalk surface intrusive features; a stone built tower with associated undercrofts; and additionally, evidence for Iron Age and Roman occupation within and without the curtilage of the lodge. The excavation and research will continue into 201

Current quark mass dependence of nucleon magnetic moments and radii

A calculation of the current-quark-mass-dependence of nucleon static electromagnetic properties is necessary in order to use observational data as a means to place constraints on the variation of Nature's fundamental parameters. A Poincare' covariant Faddeev equation, which describes baryons as composites of confined-quarks and -nonpointlike-diquarks, is used to calculate this dependence The results indicate that, like observables dependent on the nucleons' magnetic moments, quantities sensitive to their magnetic and charge radii, such as the energy levels and transition frequencies in Hydrogen and Deuterium, might also provide a tool with which to place limits on the allowed variation in Nature's constants.Comment: 23 pages, 2 figures, 4 tables, 4 appendice

A Universal Model of Global Civil Unrest

Civil unrest is a powerful form of collective human dynamics, which has led to major transitions of societies in modern history. The study of collective human dynamics, including collective aggression, has been the focus of much discussion in the context of modeling and identification of universal patterns of behavior. In contrast, the possibility that civil unrest activities, across countries and over long time periods, are governed by universal mechanisms has not been explored. Here, we analyze records of civil unrest of 170 countries during the period 1919-2008. We demonstrate that the distributions of the number of unrest events per year are robustly reproduced by a nonlinear, spatially extended dynamical model, which reflects the spread of civil disorder between geographic regions connected through social and communication networks. The results also expose the similarity between global social instability and the dynamics of natural hazards and epidemics.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV programme: low vertical transmission in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Objective. To describe the operational effectiveness of the PMTCT programme at McCord hospital during the period from 1 March 2004 to 31 August 2005 Design. Observational cohort study Setting. McCord hospital, Durban, South Africa Subjects. Antenatal patients attending the PMTCT clinic Measurements and results. During the 18 months all 2624 women (100%) attending the antenatal clinic received HIV counselling resulting in 91% (2388) being tested for HIV. The prevalence of HIV in this cohort was 12.9% (95% confidence interval (CI) 11.6 to 14.2). Of the 302 (89%) HIV positive mothers who completed their pregnancy at the hospital, there were 3 intra-uterine deaths, 1 miscarriage, 1 maternal death (with baby in utero) and 297 live births with one early neonatal death. Only 11% (36 out of 338) were lost to follow-up. Of all women attending the antenatal clinic, a quarter (668) of partners was tested for HIV. Delivery in 70% (209) of live births was by caesarean section. Nevirapine was administered to 98% (290) of live babies and 76% (224) received AZT as well. The six week PCR baby test uptake was 81% (239 out of 296 live babies). Out of those tested 2.9% (95% CI 1.3-6.2) tested HIV positive. Conclusion. Despite the challenges faced by PMTCT providers in a resource constrained setting this state-aided hospital provides a comprehensive and integrated service and has achieved outcomes which compare favourably with those in the developed world

Probable delirium is a presenting symptom of COVID-19 in frail, older adults: a cohort study of 322 hospitalised and 535 community-based older adults

BACKGROUND: Frailty, increased vulnerability to physiological stressors, is associated with adverse outcomes. COVID-19 exhibits a more severe disease course in older, comorbid adults. Awareness of atypical presentations is critical to facilitate early identification. OBJECTIVE: To assess how frailty affects presenting COVID-19 symptoms in older adults. DESIGN: Observational cohort study of hospitalised older patients and self-report data for community-based older adults. SETTINGS: Admissions to St Thomas’ Hospital, London with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19. Community-based data for older adults using the COVID Symptom Study mobile application. SUBJECTS: Hospital cohort: patients aged 65 and over (n = 322); unscheduled hospital admission between 1 March 2020 and 5 May 2020; COVID-19 confirmed by RT-PCR of nasopharyngeal swab. Community-based cohort: participants aged 65 and over enrolled in the COVID Symptom Study (n = 535); reported test-positive for COVID-19 from 24 March (application launch) to 8 May 2020. METHODS: Multivariable logistic regression analysis performed on age-matched samples from hospital and community-based cohorts to ascertain association of frailty with symptoms of confirmed COVID-19. RESULTS: Hospital cohort: significantly higher prevalence of probable delirium in the frail sample, with no difference in fever or cough. Community-based cohort: significantly higher prevalence of possible delirium in frailer, older adults and fatigue and shortness of breath. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study demonstrating higher prevalence of probable delirium as a COVID-19 symptom in older adults with frailty compared to other older adults. This emphasises need for systematic frailty assessment and screening for delirium in acutely ill older patients in hospital and community settings. Clinicians should suspect COVID-19 in frail adults with delirium

UNCLES: Method for the identification of genes differentially consistently co-expressed in a specific subset of datasets

Background: Collective analysis of the increasingly emerging gene expression datasets are required. The recently proposed binarisation of consensus partition matrices (Bi-CoPaM) method can combine clustering results from multiple datasets to identify the subsets of genes which are consistently co-expressed in all of the provided datasets in a tuneable manner. However, results validation and parameter setting are issues that complicate the design of such methods. Moreover, although it is a common practice to test methods by application to synthetic datasets, the mathematical models used to synthesise such datasets are usually based on approximations which may not always be sufficiently representative of real datasets. Results: Here, we propose an unsupervised method for the unification of clustering results from multiple datasets using external specifications (UNCLES). This method has the ability to identify the subsets of genes consistently co-expressed in a subset of datasets while being poorly co-expressed in another subset of datasets, and to identify the subsets of genes consistently co-expressed in all given datasets. We also propose the M-N scatter plots validation technique and adopt it to set the parameters of UNCLES, such as the number of clusters, automatically. Additionally, we propose an approach for the synthesis of gene expression datasets using real data profiles in a way which combines the ground-truth-knowledge of synthetic data and the realistic expression values of real data, and therefore overcomes the problem of faithfulness of synthetic expression data modelling. By application to those datasets, we validate UNCLES while comparing it with other conventional clustering methods, and of particular relevance, biclustering methods. We further validate UNCLES by application to a set of 14 real genome-wide yeast datasets as it produces focused clusters that conform well to known biological facts. Furthermore, in-silico-based hypotheses regarding the function of a few previously unknown genes in those focused clusters are drawn. Conclusions: The UNCLES method, the M-N scatter plots technique, and the expression data synthesis approach will have wide application for the comprehensive analysis of genomic and other sources of multiple complex biological datasets. Moreover, the derived in-silico-based biological hypotheses represent subjects for future functional studies.The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under its Programme Grants for Applied Research Programme (Grant Reference Number RP-PG-0310-1004)

Haptoglobin Phenotype, Preeclampsia Risk and the Efficacy of Vitamin C and E Supplementation to Prevent Preeclampsia in a Racially Diverse Population

Haptoglobin's (Hp) antioxidant and pro-angiogenic properties differ between the 1-1, 2-1, and 2-2 phenotypes. Hp phenotype affects cardiovascular disease risk and treatment response to antioxidant vitamins in some non-pregnant populations. We previously demonstrated that preeclampsia risk was doubled in white Hp 2-1 women, compared to Hp 1-1 women. Our objectives were to determine whether we could reproduce this finding in a larger cohort, and to determine whether Hp phenotype influences lack of efficacy of antioxidant vitamins in preventing preeclampsia and serious complications of pregnancy-associated hypertension (PAH). This is a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial in which 10,154 low-risk women received daily vitamin C and E, or placebo, from 9-16 weeks gestation until delivery. Hp phenotype was determined in the study prediction cohort (n = 2,393) and a case-control cohort (703 cases, 1,406 controls). The primary outcome was severe PAH, or mild or severe PAH with elevated liver enzymes, elevated serum creatinine, thrombocytopenia, eclampsia, fetal growth restriction, medically indicated preterm birth or perinatal death. Preeclampsia was a secondary outcome. Odds ratios were estimated by logistic regression. Sampling weights were used to reduce bias from an overrepresentation of women with preeclampsia or the primary outcome. There was no relationship between Hp phenotype and the primary outcome or preeclampsia in Hispanic, white/other or black women. Vitamin supplementation did not reduce the risk of the primary outcome or preeclampsia in women of any phenotype. Supplementation increased preeclampsia risk (odds ratio 3.30; 95% confidence interval 1.61-6.82, p<0.01) in Hispanic Hp 2-2 women. Hp phenotype does not influence preeclampsia risk, or identify a subset of women who may benefit from vitamin C and E supplementation to prevent preeclampsia