A methodological approach for assessing flexibility and capacity value in renewable-dominated power systems: A Spanish case study in 2030

Maintaining the security of supply is one of the challenges that system operators face. Variability and uncertainty increase due to the penetration of variable renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, while flexible technologies such as traditional thermal units are phased out to reduce emissions. The current methods for assessing power system adequacy are based on historical operations and are generally intended to be applied to thermal-dominated electricity systems. Therefore, it is necessary to improve current adequacy assessment methods since they usually neglect the flexibility of power systems. This paper presents a methodological approach for jointly assessing the adequacy and flexibility of power systems. The methodology's usefulness is demonstrated through its application to the Spanish power system. For the case study, results show that new closed-looped pumped storage hydro technology provides 25% flexibility while contributing to adequacy due to higher installed capacity and round-trip efficiency. Due to shorter storage duration, batteries only contribute to flexibility, supplying 16% of the total operating reserves. Therefore, this study shows that metrics of flexibility and individual contribution to the power system adequacy complement each other and simultaneously enable the scarcities of power systems to be observed.This research has been carried out thanks to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness MINECO through BC3 María de Maeztu excellence accreditation MDM-2017-0714 Maria de Maeztu Grant

The RstAB system impacts virulence, motility, cell morphology, penicillin tolerance and production of type II secretion system-dependent factors in the fish and human pathogen photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae

The RstB histidine kinase of the two component system RstAB positively regulates the expression of damselysin (Dly), phobalysin P (PhlyP) and phobalysin C (PhlyC) cytotoxins in the fish and human pathogen Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae, a marine bacterium of the family Vibrionaceae. However, the function of the predicted cognate response regulator RstA has not been studied so far, and the role of the RstAB system in other cell functions and phenotypes remain uninvestigated. Here, we analyzed the effect of rstA and rstB mutations in cell fitness and in diverse virulence-related features. Both rstA and rstB mutants were severely impaired in virulence for sea bream and sea bass fish. Mutants in rstA and rstB genes were impaired in hemolysis and in Dly-dependent phospholipase activity but had intact PlpV-dependent phospholipase and ColP-dependent gelatinase activities. rstA and rstB mutants grown at 0.5% NaCl exhibited impaired swimming motility, enlarged cell size and impaired ability to separate after cell division, whereas at 1% NaCl the mutants exhibited normal phenotypes. Mutation of any of the two genes also impacted tolerance to benzylpenicillin. Notably, rstA and rstB mutants showed impaired secretion of a number of type II secretion system (T2SS)-dependent proteins, which included the three major cytotoxins Dly, PhlyP and PhlyC, as well as a putative delta-endotoxin and three additional uncharacterized proteins which might constitute novel virulence factors of this pathogenic bacterium. The analysis of the T2SS-dependent secretome of P. damselae subsp. damselae also led to the identification of RstAB-independent potential virulence factors as lipoproteins, sialidases and proteases. The RstAB regulon included plasmid, chromosome I and chromosome II-encoded genes that showed a differential distribution among isolates of this subspecies. This study establishes RstAB as a major regulator of virulence and diverse cellular functions in P. damselae subsp. damselae.This work has been supported by grant AGL2016-79738-R (AEI/FEDER, EU) from the State Agency for Research (AEI) of Spain, and co-funded by the FEDER Programme from the European Union. The support of Xunta de Galicia (Spain) with grant ED431C 2018/18 is also acknowledged. MT thanks the Brazilian Ministry of Education and CAPES (Coordenaçao de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) for a predoctoral fellowship. XM thanks Xunta de Galicia for a predoctoral fellowship. AdV was supported by the FCT fellowship SFRH/BPD/95777/2013. The mass spectrometry technique was performed at the Proteomics i3S Scientific Platform with the assistance of Hugo Osório. This work had support from the Portuguese Mass Spectrometry Network, integrated in the National Roadmap of Research Infrastructures of Strategic Relevance (ROTEIRO/0028/2013; LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-022125)

Cyber-physical modeling of distributed resources for distribution system operations

Cosimulation platforms are necessary to study the interactions of complex systems integrated in future smart grids. The Virtual Grid Integration Laboratory (VirGIL) is a modular cosimulation platform designed to study interactions between demand-response (DR) strategies, building comfort, communication networks, and power system operation. This paper presents the coupling of power systems, buildings, communications, and control under a master algorithm. There are two objectives: first, to use a modular architecture for VirGIL, based on the functional mockup interface (FMI), where several different modules can be added, exchanged, and tested; and second, to use a commercial power system simulation platform, familiar to power system operators, such as DIgSILENT PowerFactory. This will help reduce the barriers to the industry for adopting such platforms, investigate and subsequently deploy DR strategies in their daily operation. VirGIL further introduces the integration of the quantized state system (QSS) methods for simulation in this cosimulation platform. Results on how these systems interact using a real network and consumption data are also presented

Additive Manufactured Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering: Physical Characterization of Thermoplastic Composites with Functional Fillers

Thermoplastic polymer-filler composites are excellent materials for bone tissue engineering (TE) scaffolds, combining the functionality of fillers with suitable load-bearing ability, biodegradability, and additive manufacturing (AM) compatibility of the polymer. Two key determinants of their utility are their rheological behavior in the molten state, determining AM processability and their mechanical load-bearing properties. We report here the characterization of both these physical properties for four bone TE relevant composite formulations with poly(ethylene oxide terephthalate)/poly(butylene terephthalate (PEOT/PBT) as a base polymer, which is often used to fabricate TE scaffolds. The fillers used were reduced graphene oxide (rGO), hydroxyapatite (HA), gentamicin intercalated in zirconium phosphate (ZrP-GTM) and ciprofloxacin intercalated in MgAl layered double hydroxide (MgAl-CFX). The rheological assessment showed that generally the viscous behavior dominated the elastic behavior (G″ > G′) for the studied composites, at empirically determined extrusion temperatures. Coupled rheological-thermal characterization of ZrP-GTM and HA composites showed that the fillers increased the solidification temperatures of the polymer melts during cooling. Both these findings have implications for the required extrusion temperatures and bonding between layers. Mechanical tests showed that the fillers generally not only made the polymer stiffer but more brittle in proportion to the filler fractions. Furthermore, the elastic moduli of scaffolds did not directly correlate with the corresponding bulk material properties, implying composite-specific AM processing effects on the mechanical properties. Finally, we show computational models to predict multimaterial scaffold elastic moduli using measured single material scaffold and bulk moduli. The reported characterizations are essential for assessing the AM processability and ultimately the suitability of the manufactured scaffolds for the envisioned bone regeneration application

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in locally advanced colon cancer: a systematic review

Background Preoperative or neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) has emerged as a novel alternative to treat locally advanced colon cancer (LACC), as in other gastrointestinal malignancies. However, evidence of its efficacy and safety has not yet been gathered in the literature. The aim of the present study was to perform an extensive review of the scientific evidence for NAC in patients with LACC. Methods PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE and Cochrane Library were searched for a systematic review of the literature from 2010 to 2019. Six eligible studies were included, with a total of 27,937 patients, 1232 of them (4.4%) treated with NAC. There were only one randomized controlled trial, three phase II non-randomized single arm studies and two retrospective studies. Results The baseline computed tomography scan showed that most of patients had a T3 tumor. The completion rate of the planned neoadjuvant treatment ranged from 52.5 to 93.8%. Between 97.2 and 100% of patients had the scheduled surgery. The median tumor volume reduction after NAC ranged from 62.5 to 63.7%. The anastomotic leak rate in the NAC group ranged from 0 to 7%, with no cases of postoperative mortality. There was major pathological tumor regression in 4–34.7% of cases. Between 84 and 100% of NAC patients had R0-surgery. Survival after NAC seems to be encouraging although significant improvement has only been proven in T4b tumours. Conclusions According to our systematic review, the NAC may be a safe and effective emerging therapeutic alternative for treating LACC. This approach, which is still being tested, increases the reliance on accurate radiological staging

Adaptation and transcultural translation into spanish of the patient-rated tennis elbow evaluation questionnaire

[eng] The purpose of this study was to perform the translation and cross-cultural adaptation of Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation questionnaire to Spanish language and evaluate its reliability and validity. The translation and culturally adaptation into Spanish was done in accordance with the published guidelines. One-hundred and fifty Spanish-speaking patients with unilateral chronic lateral epicondylalgia competed the questionnaire. Test-retest reliability was established by the intraclass correlation coefficient. Internal consistency was established with Cronbach's α. To establish convergent validity, we used the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand questionnaire using the Spearman's correlation coefficient. Error estimation in the measurements was calculated with the standard error of measurement. Our results showed a high internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.96) and high test-retest reliability (intra-class coefficient=0.9; 0.89-0.94; p <0.001). The Spearman's correlation coefficient (r=0.765; p <0.001) showed a good relationship between the Spanish version of the Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation questionnaire and the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand questionnaire. The standard error of measurement (11.9%) showed little variability of measurements. In conclusion, the Spanish version of the Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool that can be used to assess lateral epicondylalgia in Spanish-speaking individuals in order to implement the best treatment and reduce time with pain and disability. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Adaptation and Transcultural Translation into Spanish of the Patient‐Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation Questionnaire

The purpose of this study was to perform the translation and crosscultural adap-tation of the PatientRated Tennis Elbow Evaluation Questionnaire to Spanish lan-guage and evaluate its reliability and validity. The translation and cultural adaptationinto Spanish was done in accordance with the published guidelines. Onehundredfifty Spanishspeaking patients with unilateral chronic lateral epicondylalgia com-peted the questionnaire. Testretest reliability was established by the intraclasscorrelation coefficient. Internal consistency was established with Cronbach's α.Toestablish convergent validity, we used the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, andHand Questionnaire using the Spearman's correlation coefficient. Error estimationin the measurements was calculated with the standard error of measurement. Ourresults showed a high internal consistency (Cronbach's α = .96) and high testretestreliability (intraclass coefficient = .9; .89.94; P < .001). The Spearman's correlationcoefficient (r = .765; P < .001) showed a good relationship between the Spanishversion of the PatientRated Tennis Elbow Evaluation Questionnaire and the Dis-abilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Questionnaire. The standard error ofmeasurement (11.9%) showed little variability of measurements. In conclusion, theSpanish version of the PatientRated Tennis Elbow Evaluation Questionnaire is avalid and reliable tool that can be used to assess lateral epicondylalgia in Spanishspeaking individuals in order to implement the best treatment and reduce time withpain and disability.Sin financiación3.494 JCR (2020) Q1, 19/82 Orthopedics1.041 SJR (2020) Q1, 60/288 Orthopedics and Sports MedicineNo data IDR 2019UE