Comparative Assessment of Electrical Generating Systems for a Greek Island

This master thesis is the last part of the master studies in the department of Energy Management and Sustainability, at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne. This work has been performed in collaboration with the company Renenig Energy, in Athens. The reader should note that the report is an academical work. Results and conclusion are influenced by hypothesis and should not be taken as general truths. The case study is a fictive project but it is composed of values adapted from another real but confidential project, which makes the analysis plausible. The owner of a private island in Greece wants to build a luxury resort on his island. Therefore, he will also need an electrical generating system that must cover the future electricity demand. Usually, diesel generators are used in remote areas in order to produce electricity. However, this technology is very expensive, and harmful for the environment. This master thesis covers the estimation of the electricity demand and the technico-economical assessment of different energy systems. The objective is to evaluate the potential of a microgrid composed of different renewable energy technologies and compare it to the a baseline system composed of generators only. The hourly electricity demand of the entire island has been modeled using a bottom-up approach with a list of representative types of locals. The consumption of these locals have been divided into three categories : The appliances, the lighting and the heating/cooling. For the energy system which must produce electricity, supply strategies have been defined based on the type of technology. For all strategies, an optimization of the technology installed capacities is performed with the software HOMERPro. It is used as a tool to minimize the net present cost of the energy system and analyze the microgrid energetic behavior. The yearly electricity demand of the island has been estimated to around 11 GWh, with a peak load of 2,5 MW during the summer. The cost of serving this load with generators is $63 million with a levelized cost of electricity of 0.467$/kWh. When integrating solar panels, the system cost decreases to $51.3 million with a LCOE of 0.378$/kWh. Moreover, wind turbines and a battery storage system are also economically viable. The last strategy consists of distributed PV panels on building roofs, wind turbines and a battery storage system. Results show that this energy system can decrease the cost to $ 39.8 million while emitting half of the carbon dioxide compared with the baseline system. However, the battery bank has a large impact on CO2 emissions due to its manufacturing processes. Further work can be done for this case study, especially on the network stability assessment, which was not part of this master thesis. Moreover, the potential of implementing hydrogen in the microgrid could be interesting. This could bring a good storage alternative to batteries

Safety assessment of cosmetic products, with emphasis on the ocular area: regulatory aspects and validation processes

Before marketing a cosmetic product, a series of biological assays, such as ocular irritation tests, must be conducted in order to prove that the product is safe. However, a few scientific articles mention the discussion and evolution of cosmetic products testing performed in the eyes area. the aim of this study was to review the available literature on the evolution of tests carried out with cosmetics, in the ocular area, as well as to describe the methodologies that have been used and that are currently accepted. in Brazil, tests performed on animals are still allowed. However, the international laws strongly recommend the use of alternative methods for evaluating the risk of cosmetic ingredients and products. Regulatory requirements involving the registration of these products also request safety support of them in human beings. To perform ocular tests in human beings, it is necessary to involve an ophthalmologist for conducting clinical protocols. These protocols signed by the expert physician are sent to the National Health Surveillance Agency in order to endorse the product manufacturer concerning its safety. the safety support of a cosmetic product is very important, taking into account that the consumer has free access to these products of widespread use in today's society.Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Inst Environm Chem & Pharmaceut Sci, BR-09913030 Diadema, SP, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Med, São Paulo, SP, BrazilGrp Invest, Campinas, SP, BrazilTRIDSKIN Labs Ltda, Grp Invest, Campinas, SP, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Inst Environm Chem & Pharmaceut Sci, BR-09913030 Diadema, SP, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Med, São Paulo, SP, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Achieving energy sustainability in future neighborhoods through building refurbishment and energy hub concept: a case study in Hemberg-Switzerland

This study aims to investigate the role of distributed generation through the energy hub concept and refurbishment of existing buildings. More specifically, a computational platform combining (i) the urban energy modelling tool CitySimPro and (ii) the microgrid simulation tool Homer is developed. The energy flow on hourly basis is assessed for buildings in Hemberg, a small village in Switzerland, considering occupancy, lighting and appliances profiles, as defined by the Swiss normative. System design of the energy hub is optimized considering three energy system configurations: (i) present scenario, (ii) energy hub catering electrical demand, (iii) energy hub catering both electrical and thermal demand including heat pumps. Results for the integration of an energy hub on site show that the current use of renewables can be increased from 0.15% to over 60% by integrating heat pumps in the city energy network

Zinc Finger RNA-Binding Protein Zn72D Regulates ADAR-Mediated RNA Editing in Neurons.

Adenosine-to-inosine RNA editing, catalyzed by adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR) enzymes, alters RNA sequences from those encoded by DNA. These editing events are dynamically regulated, but few trans regulators of ADARs are known in vivo. Here, we screen RNA-binding proteins for roles in editing regulation with knockdown experiments in the Drosophila brain. We identify zinc-finger protein at 72D (Zn72D) as a regulator of editing levels at a majority of editing sites in the brain. Zn72D both regulates ADAR protein levels and interacts with ADAR in an RNA-dependent fashion, and similar to ADAR, Zn72D is necessary to maintain proper neuromuscular junction architecture and fly mobility. Furthermore, Zn72D\u27s regulatory role in RNA editing is conserved because the mammalian homolog of Zn72D, Zfr, regulates editing in mouse primary neurons. The broad and conserved regulation of ADAR editing by Zn72D in neurons sustains critically important editing events

The effect of pre-pregnancy body mass index on breastfeeding initiation, intention and duration:A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis

Overweight and obesity not only are major risk factors for number of chronic diseases, but also a risk factor for pregnancy complications in women. The present study aims to investigate the association between pre-pregnancy BMI and the persistence and duration of BF. The electronic databases including Medline (PubMed), Scopus, Embase, Web of Science and Google Scholar were searched for papers with titles and/or abstracts including one of our keywords and published up to 15 April 2019. For dose-response relationship, the two-stage random-effects meta-analysis was performed using the �dosresmeta� function in R software. Thirty-two studies with the effect of pre-pregnancy BMI on BF initiation, intention and duration were included in the present study. Based on crude and adjusted OR models, the risk of BF cessation increased by 4 (OR = 1.04; 95 CI: 1.02�1.05) with an increase in a unit of BMI. In addition, based on crude and adjusted RR models, the risk of BF cessation increases by 2 and 1 (crude RR = 1.02; 95 CI: 1.01�1.03 and adjusted RR = 1.01; 95 CI: 0.99�1.02) with an increase in one unit of BMI. Based on the result, the health care professionals and other key stakeholders should be aware of the impact excess weight, and that women who are overweight or obese should be encouraged with continued access to guidance, counseling and support, starting from conception, to maximize BF outcomes. © 2020 The Authors Public health; Women's health; Reproductive medicine; Obstetrics and gynecology; Reproductive system; Clinical research; Pre-pregnancy, Body mass index, Breastfeeding, Initiation, Duration. © 2020 The Author

Synaptic Wnt signaling—a contributor to major psychiatric disorders?

Wnt signaling is a key pathway that helps organize development of the nervous system. It influences cell proliferation, cell fate, and cell migration in the developing nervous system, as well as axon guidance, dendrite development, and synapse formation. Given this wide range of roles, dysregulation of Wnt signaling could have any number of deleterious effects on neural development and thereby contribute in many different ways to the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders. Some major psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and autism spectrum disorders, are coming to be understood as subtle dysregulations of nervous system development, particularly of synapse formation and maintenance. This review will therefore touch on the importance of Wnt signaling to neurodevelopment generally, while focusing on accumulating evidence for a synaptic role of Wnt signaling. These observations will be discussed in the context of current understanding of the neurodevelopmental bases of major psychiatric diseases, spotlighting schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. In short, this review will focus on the potential role of synapse formation and maintenance in major psychiatric disorders and summarize evidence that defective Wnt signaling could contribute to their pathogenesis via effects on these late neural differentiation processes

A high resolution atlas of gene expression in the domestic sheep (Ovis aries)

Sheep are a key source of meat, milk and fibre for the global livestock sector, and an important biomedical model. Global analysis of gene expression across multiple tissues has aided genome annotation and supported functional annotation of mammalian genes. We present a large-scale RNA-Seq dataset representing all the major organ systems from adult sheep and from several juvenile, neonatal and prenatal developmental time points. The Ovis aries reference genome (Oar v3.1) includes 27,504 genes (20,921 protein coding), of which 25,350 (19,921 protein coding) had detectable expression in at least one tissue in the sheep gene expression atlas dataset. Network-based cluster analysis of this dataset grouped genes according to their expression pattern. The principle of 'guilt by association' was used to infer the function of uncharacterised genes from their co-expression with genes of known function. We describe the overall transcriptional signatures present in the sheep gene expression atlas and assign those signatures, where possible, to specific cell populations or pathways. The findings are related to innate immunity by focusing on clusters with an immune signature, and to the advantages of cross-breeding by examining the patterns of genes exhibiting the greatest expression differences between purebred and crossbred animals. This high-resolution gene expression atlas for sheep is, to our knowledge, the largest transcriptomic dataset from any livestock species to date. It provides a resource to improve the annotation of the current reference genome for sheep, presenting a model transcriptome for ruminants and insight into gene, cell and tissue function at multiple developmental stages

Improving the energy sustainability of a Swiss village through building renovation and renewable energy integration

The integration of renewable energy technologies and building renovation are the two main procedures for improving energy sustainability of buildings at neighborhood scale. It is difficult, however, to optimize these procedures simultaneously. This study focuses on improving energy sustainability of Hemberg, a Swiss village with a population of about 900, through optimizing these two procedures. For this purpose a computational platform was developed, combining software CitySim, HOMER Pro, QGIS and Rhinoceros. The energy demand on hourly basis for the buildings in the village was analyzed through comparing the current demand with that after retrofitting according to the Swiss energy labels (i) Minergie and (ii) Minergie-P. Swiss energy maps were used to identify the most promising renewable energy sources while three scenarios were considered for solar PV integration and energy system improvements. The first scenario presents the current condition in the village, while the second scenario explores improvements in electricity generation and the third in both electricity and heat generation. The results show that retrofitting of all buildings according to Minergie reduces the space heating demand by 70–85% and reduces the fluctuations in energy demand, thereby allowing the integration of more renewable energy. According to the simulations, building-integrated solar PV panels can cover the total annual energy demand of the village when considering the Minergie and Minergie-P scenarios. However, the energy system assessment shows that it is difficult to reach beyond 60% when integrating non-dispatchable renewable energy technologies. Finally, and more importantly, integration of wind energy at system level has an important impact in the hub