Reducing Power Losses in Smart Grids with Cooperative Game Theory

In a theoretical framework of game theory, one can distinguish between the noncooperative and the cooperative game theory. While the theory of noncooperative games is about modeling competitive behavior, cooperative game theory is dedicated to the study of cooperation among a number of players. The cooperative game theory includes mostly two branches: the Nash negotiation and the coalitional game theory. In this chapter, we restrict our attention to the latter. In recent years, the concept of efficient management of electric power has become more complex as a result of the high integration of distributed energy resources in the scenarios to be considered, mainly distributed generation, energy storage distributed, and demand management. This situation has been accentuated with the appearance of new consumption elements, such as electric vehicles, which could cause a high impact on distribution gridworks if they are not managed properly. This chapter presents an innovative approach toward an efficient energy model through the application of the theory of cooperative games with transferable utility in which the management, capacity, and control of distributed energy resources are integrated to provide optimal energy solutions that allow achieving significant savings in associated costs. This chapter presents a general description of the potential of the application of the theory to address Smart Grid, providing a systematic treatment

The experience of preparing a closing session

This short article explains the development of a closing project developed with students of English as a foreign language. The project emerged with the idea of innovating in the classroom and trying to make links with their reality which could help developed a more meaningful process. Students involved study English for different reasons but most of them do it as a complementary activity for their job or study. They attend classes on the weekends so this project was enhanced also with the intention to break the old scheme of the foreign language as an additional but unconnected activity. The cooperative work and the motivation arisen from this task were some of the more valuable results

Witnessing microtubule-based transport in the living brain: Impact of the cargomotor receptor, amyloid precursor protein, and Alzheimer’s plaques

Most amyloid precursor protein (APP)-based Alzheimer’s models overexpress mutant human APP resulting in Abeta plaques. Yet the relative contribution of this elevated APP and the presence of plaques to neurodegeneration remains a big question. APP’s role as a cargo-motor receptor for axonal transport suggests that overexpression might lead to increased transport. Indeed we showed that transport is increased in Down’s syndrome and decreased in APP knockout mice. Hence transport may be elevated in APP overexpressors and lead to either beneficial or deleterious consequences. Here we use high field microMRI with Mn2+, an MR contrast agent useful as a track-tracer, to pose this cell biological quest ion within the whole living brains of wildtype and Alzheimer’s model mice. Injection of Mn2+ into the CA3 region of the hippocampus results in measurable transport over time. Application of 3D unbiased whole brain image analysis detects all circuitry emanating from the hippocampus. By driving APP Swe/Ind transgene expression with a tetracycline-sensitive promoter, APPSwe/Ind expression can be decoupled from the presence of plaques with doxycycline (doxy). Three groups of mice were studied: group ‘A’ (no doxy, +plaques, +APP); group ‘B’ (doxy at 8 days before sacrifice, +plaques, no APP), and group ‘C’ (doxy prior to conception, and stopped 8 days before sacrifice, no plaques, +APP). Images were captured before and sequentionally after Mn2+ injection into CA 3 (1, 7, 25 hr). Images were aligned and analyzed by statistical parametric mapping to identify differential accumulation within the hippocampal projections. Histopathology revealed well-developed plaques in A and B, and Western blots showed human APP expressed five-fold over WT in in A and C. Our preliminary results show increased transport in A and C, with APP Swe/Ind expression when compared with B, where expression is suppressed. Cholinergic neurons in the medial septal nucleus were decreased as determined by anti-ChAT staining in Group C (p=0.0006 by one-way ANOVA, n=15). In conclusion, the effects of elevated APP expression are separable from consequences of plaque, and each may

Directed paths on hierarchical lattices with random sign weights

We study sums of directed paths on a hierarchical lattice where each bond has either a positive or negative sign with a probability $p$. Such path sums $J$ have been used to model interference effects by hopping electrons in the strongly localized regime. The advantage of hierarchical lattices is that they include path crossings, ignored by mean field approaches, while still permitting analytical treatment. Here, we perform a scaling analysis of the controversial ``sign transition'' using Monte Carlo sampling, and conclude that the transition exists and is second order. Furthermore, we make use of exact moment recursion relations to find that the moments always determine, uniquely, the probability distribution $P(J)$. We also derive, exactly, the moment behavior as a function of $p$ in the thermodynamic limit. Extrapolations ($n\to 0$) to obtain for odd and even moments yield a new signal for the transition that coincides with Monte Carlo simulations. Analysis of high moments yield interesting ``solitonic'' structures that propagate as a function of $p$. Finally, we derive the exact probability distribution for path sums $J$ up to length L=64 for all sign probabilities.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figure

Inter-annual ciliate distribution variation within the late stratification oxycline in a monomictic lake, Lake Alchichica (Mexico)

Deep stratified tropical water bodies pass through prolonged periods of meta-hypolimnetic anoxia, and ciliates might play a very important role in the plankton community budget there. We analysed changes in the composition and biomass of the ciliate assemblage and other microbial loop components throughout the oxycline just at the end of stratification in a warm-monomictic lake, Lake Alchichica, Mexico (four samplings: 2006-2008, 2010); the results were compared with those obtained from another lake from the re- gion, La Preciosa, sampled in 2010. Bacteria, autotrophic picoplankton (APP) and flagellates were analysed using epifluorescence microscopy. Ciliates were evaluated either in DAPI stained samples (looking for pigmented organelles and/or ingested phototrophs) or in quantitative protargol stain (QPS) permanent preparations, where they were identified at the genus or species level. The end of the stratification period in Lake Alchichica was characterized by almost uniform heterotrophic picoplankton (HPP) numbers (106 cells mL–1 ) throughout the water column. Meanwhile, APP showed epilimnetic and/or metalimnetic maxima of 105 cells mL–1 followed by an order of magnitude drop in the hypolimnion. A very important peak (105 cells mL–1 ) of the autotrophic or mixotrophic flagellate Pyramimonas sp. was observed repeatedly above and within the oxycline of Lake Alchichica. Ciliate biomass maxima were found around the oxycline and in the above-bottom layer. The top of the oxycline was dominated by Euplotes spp. and Spirostomum teres fine- to coarse-filter feeders (feeding upon APP, nanodiatoms and algae). Raptorial haptorids (in particular, Phialina sp.) were the second most important group, generally occupying the layer below euplotids, followed by Holophrya and Prorodon facultative anaer- obic prostomes. Sometimes, strictly anaerobic Caenomorpha sp. was found to be important in the anoxic hypolimnion. Minute pi- coplankton feeding species (both APP and heterotrophic bacteria feeders) were important throughout the water column: in the epilimnion, vorticellids (2006-2008) or scuticociliates (2010) dominated. Typically, the scuticociliate maximum was located in the oxycline and/or above the bottom. Some microaerophilic species were isolated; thus, their identification could be carried out. However, the apparent polymorphic ciliate life cycles were not described completely, and the species composition was only estimated: two dom- inant species (SC 1 - Cristigera-like and SC 2 - Cyclidim-like) covered nearly the total scuticociliate biomass. Strictly anaerobic scu- ticociliates were not isolated but observed in the deepest layers of the lake (bacteria symbiotic Isocyclidium globosum and Cristigera sp.). Significant statistical relation within the ciliate distribution and environmental variables was not confirmed due to unique species composition in the respective years. However, general trends in the distribution of ciliates on a species level were observed. Scutic- ociliates, including two important tentatively identified species, did not present unambiguous ecological position, and the study of their live cycle should be the next step in investigations

Probing the fuzzy sphere regularisation in simulations of the 3d \lambda \phi^4 model

We regularise the 3d \lambda \phi^4 model by discretising the Euclidean time and representing the spatial part on a fuzzy sphere. The latter involves a truncated expansion of the field in spherical harmonics. This yields a numerically tractable formulation, which constitutes an unconventional alternative to the lattice. In contrast to the 2d version, the radius R plays an independent r\^{o}le. We explore the phase diagram in terms of R and the cutoff, as well as the parameters m^2 and \lambda. Thus we identify the phases of disorder, uniform order and non-uniform order. We compare the result to the phase diagrams of the 3d model on a non-commutative torus, and of the 2d model on a fuzzy sphere. Our data at strong coupling reproduce accurately the behaviour of a matrix chain, which corresponds to the c=1-model in string theory. This observation enables a conjecture about the thermodynamic limit.Comment: 31 pages, 15 figure