Dynamic control strategies for a solar-ORC system using first-law dynamic and data-driven machine learning models

In this study, we developed and assessed the potential of dynamic control strategies for a domestic scale 1-kW solar thermal power system based on a non-recuperated organic Rankine cycle (ORC) engine coupled to a solar energy system. Such solar-driven systems suffer from part-load performance deterioration due to diurnal and inter-seasonal fluctuations in solar irradiance and ambient temperature. Real-time control strategies for adjusting the operating parameters of these systems have shown great potential to optimise their transient response to time-varying conditions, thus allowing significant gains in the power output delivered by the system. Dynamic model predictive control strategies rely on the development of computationally efficient, fast-solving models. In contrast, traditional physics-based dynamic process models are often too complex to be used for real-time controls. Machine learning techniques (MLTs), especially deep learning artificial neural networks (ANN), have been applied successfully for controlling and optimising nonlinear dynamic systems. In this study, the solar system was controlled using a fuzzy logic controller with optimised decision parameters for maximum solar energy absorption. For the sake of obtaining the optimal ORC thermal efficiency at any instantaneous time, particularly during part-load operation, the first-law ORC model was first replaced by a fast-solving feedforward network model, which was then integrated with a multi-objective genetic algorithm, such that the optimal ORC operating parameters can be obtained. Despite the fact that the feedforward network model was trained using steady-state ORC performance data, it showed comparable results compared with the first-principle model in the dynamic context, with a mean absolute error of 3.3 percent for power prediction and 0.186 percentage points for efficiency prediction

Techno-economic comparison of hydrogen- and electricity-driven technologies for the decarbonisation of domestic heating

Sustainable transition pathways currently being proposed for moving away from the use of natural gas and oil in domestic heating focus on two main energy vectors: electricity and hydrogen. The former transition would most likely be implemented using electric vapour-compression heat pumps, which are currently experiencing market growth in many industrialised countries. Electric heat pumps have proven to be an efficient alternative to gas boilers under certain conditions, but their techno-economic potential is highly dependent on the local climate conditions. Hydrogen-based heating systems, which could potentially utilise existing natural gas infrastructure, are being proposed as providing an attractive opportunity to maximise the use of existing assets to facilitate the energy-system transition. In this case, hydrogen can substitute natural gas in boilers or in thermally driven absorption heat pumps. Both heating system transition pathways may involve either installing new technologies at the household level or producing heat in centralised hubs and distributing it via district-heating systems. Although the potential of hydrogen in the context of heating decarbonisation has been explored in the past, a comprehensive comparison of electricity- and hydrogen-driven domestic heating options is lacking in literature. In this paper, a thermodynamic and economic methodology is developed to assess the competitiveness of a domestic-scale ammonia-water absorption heat pump driven by heat from a hydrogen boiler compared to a standalone hydrogen boiler, a classic vapour-compression heat pump and district heating, all from a homeowner’s perspective. Using a previously developed electric heat pump model, the different systems are compared for various climate conditions and fuel-price scenarios under a unified framework. The coefficient of performance of the absorption heat pump system under design conditions and the total system cost are found to be 1.4 and £5400, respectively. Comparing the annualised total costs of the options under consideration, it is shown that, assuming the future price of hydrogen for domestic end-users can be below 0.12 £/kWh, absorption heat pumps and hydrogen boilers can become competitive domestic heating technologies, and otherwise, electrification and the use of vapour-compression heat pump will be preferred

Erarbeitung betriebsindividueller Handlungsempfehlungen zur Verbesserung der Euter- und Stoffwechselgesundheit im Rahmen einer interdisziplinären Interventionsstudie

Kernziel des im Rahmen des Bundesprogramms Ökologischer Landbau initiierten Forschungsvorhabens „Gesundheit und Leistungsfähigkeit von Milchkühen im ökologischen Landbau interdisziplinär betrachtet“ (FKZ 07OE012 - 07OE022) ist - neben der Abschätzung des Risikos für Stoffwechselstörungen und Eutererkrankungen - die Entwicklung eines praxistauglichen, präventiv orientierten Tiergesundheitsmanagements für die Praxis der ökologischen Milchviehhaltung. Basierend auf einer Interventionsstudie auf 106 repräsentativ ausgewählten Milchviehbetrieben soll dieses Managementkonzept in einer zweijährigen Praxisphase validiert und auf seine Praxistauglichkeit überprüft werden. Als Grundlage für die Identifikation einzelbetrieblicher Interventionsmaßnahmen dienen zentrale Indikatoren der Euter- und Stoffwechselgesundheit, deren Abgleich mit im Vorfeld definierten Zielgrößen sowie Informationen zur Haltungsumwelt und zum Herdenmanagement. Das entwickelte Konzept soll eine einzelbetriebliche Einschätzung des Gesundheitsstatus der Milchviehherde bezüglich der Euter- und Stoffwechselgesundheit ermöglichen, auf deren Basis Handlungsempfehlungen zur nachhaltigen Verbesserung der Milchviehgesundheit abgeleitet werden können. Die Projektbetriebe setzten zwei Drittel der empfohlenen Maßnahmen um; eine abschließende Effektivitätskontrolle in Bezug auf die Verbesserung der Euter- und Stoffwechselgesundheit auf den Betrieben auf Basis der Daten des letzten Projektjahres steht noch aus

Characteristics of transposable element exonization within human and mouse

Insertion of transposed elements within mammalian genes is thought to be an important contributor to mammalian evolution and speciation. Insertion of transposed elements into introns can lead to their activation as alternatively spliced cassette exons, an event called exonization. Elucidation of the evolutionary constraints that have shaped fixation of transposed elements within human and mouse protein coding genes and subsequent exonization is important for understanding of how the exonization process has affected transcriptome and proteome complexities. Here we show that exonization of transposed elements is biased towards the beginning of the coding sequence in both human and mouse genes. Analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) revealed that exonization of transposed elements can be population-specific, implying that exonizations may enhance divergence and lead to speciation. SNP density analysis revealed differences between Alu and other transposed elements. Finally, we identified cases of primate-specific Alu elements that depend on RNA editing for their exonization. These results shed light on TE fixation and the exonization process within human and mouse genes.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

Competing charge transfer pathways at the photosystem II-electrode interface.

The integration of the water-oxidation enzyme photosystem II (PSII) into electrodes allows the electrons extracted from water oxidation to be harnessed for enzyme characterization and to drive novel endergonic reactions. However, PSII continues to underperform in integrated photoelectrochemical systems despite extensive optimization efforts. Here we carried out protein-film photoelectrochemistry using spinach and Thermosynechococcus elongatus PSII, and we identified a competing charge transfer pathway at the enzyme-electrode interface that short-circuits the known water-oxidation pathway. This undesirable pathway occurs as a result of photo-induced O2 reduction occurring at the chlorophyll pigments and is promoted by the embedment of PSII in an electron-conducting fullerene matrix, a common strategy for enzyme immobilization. Anaerobicity helps to recover the PSII photoresponse and unmasks the onset potentials relating to the QA/QB charge transfer process. These findings impart a fuller understanding of the charge transfer pathways within PSII and at photosystem-electrode interfaces, which will lead to more rational design of pigment-containing photoelectrodes in general.This work was supported by the U.K. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/H00338X/2 to E. Reisner), the U.K. Biology and Biotechnological Sciences Research Council (BB/K010220/1 to E. Reisner), a Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship (PIIF-GA-2012-328085 RPSII to J.J.Z.). N.P. was supported by the Winton Fund for the Physics of Sustainability. E. Romero. and R.v.G. were supported by the VU University Amsterdam, the Laserlab-Europe Consortium, the TOP grant (700.58.305) from the Foundation of Chemical Sciences part of NWO, the Advanced Investigator grant (267333, PHOTPROT) from the European Research Council, and the EU FP7 project PAPETS (GA 323901). R.v.G. gratefully acknowledges his `Academy Professor' grant from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). We would also like to thank Miss Katharina Brinkert and Prof A. William Rutherford for a sample of T. elongatus PSII, and H. v. Roon for preparation of the spinach PSII samples

Gesundheit und Leistungsfähigkeit von Milchkühen im ökologischen Landbau interdisziplinär betrachtet – eine (Interventions-) Studie zu Stoffwechselstörungen und Eutererkrankungen unter Berücksichtigung von Grundfuttererzeugung, Fütterungsmanagement und Tierhaltung

Im Mittelpunkt des Projektes stand die Stoffwechsel- und Eutergesundheit von ökologisch gehaltenen Milchkühen im prä- und peripartalen Zeitraum sowie in den ersten 100 Laktationstagen und deren Beeinflussung durch die Futter- und Nährstoffversorgung und die Haltungsumwelt im umfassenden Sinn. In einer bundesweiten Feldstudie auf 106 ökologisch wirtschaftenden Milchviehbetrieben erfolgten Erhebungen mit dem Ziel einer Risikomodellierung zu Stoffwechsel- und Eutererkrankungen. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurden die Produktionssysteme von der Pflanzenzusammensetzung im Grünland und im Ackerfutter über die Grobfutterproduktion, Futterqualität und Rationsgestaltung, Haltungsumwelt bis hin zur Tiergesundheit und Milchqualität analysiert, um hier einzelbetriebliche Risikoeinschätzungen vorzunehmen, Optimierungspotenziale aufzuzeigen und Handlungsempfehlungen abzuleiten, die anschließend betriebsindividuell implementiert wurden. Die Effektivität des so geschaffenen präventiv orientierten Tiergesundheitsmanagements wurde anhand der Entwicklung ausgewählter Kennzahlen der Euter- und Stoffwechselgesundheit geprüft. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass sich mit dieser Vorgehensweise auch unter Praxisbedingungen die Tiergesundheitssituation signifikant verbes-sern lässt. Die Feldstudie wurde mit experimentellen Untersuchungen ergänzt, die sich speziellen Fragen der Analyse von nXP in Grasprodukten, des Kraftfuttereinsatzes, der Wahl der geeigneten Rasse, dem Infektionsgeschehen, der Nutzung von Haltungstechniken im Fütterungsmanagement und der Verbesserung der Grasnarbe widmeten. Die im Projekt generierten, aufgrund ihrer Ableitung aus der Praxis widerspruchsarmen Erkenntnisse wurden über vielfältige Formen des Wissenstransfers an die Akteure in der Ökologischen Milchviehhaltung vermittelt. Ein Merkblatt zur Euter- und Stoffwechselgesundheit bei Biomilchkühen und ein modular aufgebautes Wissenstransferkonzept wurden erarbeitet, um die Projektergebnisse nachhaltig nutzen zu können

Establishment, molecular and biological characterization of HCB-514: a novel human cervical cancer cell line

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women. Although cure rates are high for early stage disease, clinical outcomes for advanced, metastatic, or recurrent disease remain poor. To change this panorama, a deeper understanding of cervical cancer biology and novel study models are needed. Immortalized human cancer cell lines such as HeLa constitute crucial scientific tools, but there are few other cervical cancer cell lines available, limiting our understanding of a disease known for its molecular heterogeneity. This study aimed to establish novel cervical cancer cell lines derived from Brazilian patients. We successfully established one (HCB-514) out of 35 cervical tumors biopsied. We confirmed the phenotype of HCB-514 by verifying its' epithelial and tumor origin through cytokeratins, EpCAM and p16 staining. It was also HPV-16 positive. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) showed relevant somatic mutations in several genes including BRCA2, TGFBR1 and IRX2. A copy number variation (CNV) analysis by nanostring and WES revealed amplification of genes mainly related to kinases proteins involved in proliferation, migration and cell differentiation, such as EGFR, PIK3CA, and MAPK7. Overexpression of EGFR was confirmed by phospho RTK-array and validated by western blot analysis. Furthermore, the HCB-514 cell line was sensitive to cisplatin. In summary, this novel Brazilian cervical cancer cell line exhibits relevant key molecular features and constitutes a new biological model for pre-clinical studies.Barretos Cancer Hospital Research Support Department (NAP) for sample collection, Barretos Cancer Hospital Biobank for sample processing, Dr. Flávia de Paula and Gabriela Fernandes for technical support of STRs and BRCA2 Sanger validation, respectively, and Dr. Laura Musselwhite (Duke University) for revising the manuscript. This study was supported by grants from the FINEP (MCTI/FINEP/MS/SCTIE/DECIT-01/2013 - FPXII- BIOPLAT - Process number 01.13.0469.00) and Barretos Cancer Hospital. PhD scholarship from FINEP (Grant numbers 384088/2014-7 and 380434/2015-6) and Barretos Cancer Hospital to MNR

Transient anhedonia phenotype and altered circadian timing of behaviour during night-time dim light exposure in Per3(-/-) mice, but not wildtype mice.

Industrialisation greatly increased human night-time exposure to artificial light, which in animal models is a known cause of depressive phenotypes. Whilst many of these phenotypes are 'direct' effects of light on affect, an 'indirect' pathway via altered sleep-wake timing has been suggested. We have previously shown that the Period3 gene, which forms part of the biological clock, is associated with altered sleep-wake patterns in response to light. Here, we show that both wild-type and Per3(-/-) mice showed elevated levels of circulating corticosterone and increased hippocampal Bdnf expression after 3 weeks of exposure to dim light at night, but only mice deficient for the PERIOD3 protein (Per3(-/-)) exhibited a transient anhedonia-like phenotype, observed as reduced sucrose preference, in weeks 2-3 of dim light at night, whereas WT mice did not. Per3(-/-) mice also exhibited a significantly smaller delay in behavioural timing than WT mice during weeks 1, 2 and 4 of dim light at night exposure. When treated with imipramine, neither Per3(-/-) nor WT mice exhibited an anhedonia-like phenotype, and neither genotypes exhibited a delay in behavioural timing in responses to dLAN. While the association between both Per3(-/-) phenotypes remains unclear, both are alleviated by imipramine treatment during dim night-time light

Diverse Splicing Patterns of Exonized Alu Elements in Human Tissues

Exonization of Alu elements is a major mechanism for birth of new exons in primate genomes. Prior analyses of expressed sequence tags show that almost all Alu-derived exons are alternatively spliced, and the vast majority of these exons have low transcript inclusion levels. In this work, we provide genomic and experimental evidence for diverse splicing patterns of exonized Alu elements in human tissues. Using Exon array data of 330 Alu-derived exons in 11 human tissues and detailed RT-PCR analyses of 38 exons, we show that some Alu-derived exons are constitutively spliced in a broad range of human tissues, and some display strong tissue-specific switch in their transcript inclusion levels. Most of such exons are derived from ancient Alu elements in the genome. In SEPN1, mutations of which are linked to a form of congenital muscular dystrophy, the muscle-specific inclusion of an Alu-derived exon may be important for regulating SEPN1 activity in muscle. Realtime qPCR analysis of this SEPN1 exon in macaque and chimpanzee tissues indicates human-specific increase in its transcript inclusion level and muscle specificity after the divergence of humans and chimpanzees. Our results imply that some Alu exonization events may have acquired adaptive benefits during the evolution of primate transcriptomes