Consumption Optimization in an Office Building Considering Flexible Loads and User Comfort

This article belongs to the Special Issue Architectures and Platforms for Smart and Sustainable CitiesThis paper presents a multiperiod optimization algorithm that is implemented in a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system. The algorithm controls lights and air conditioners as flexible loads to reduce the consumption and controls a dishwasher as a deferrable load to implement the load shifting. Several parameters are considered to implement the algorithm for several successive periods in a real building operation. In the proposed methodology, optimization is done regarding user comfort, which is modeled in the objective function related to the indoor temperature in each room, and in the constraints in order to prevent excessive power reduction, according to users' preferences. Additionally, the operation cycle of a dishwasher is included, and the algorithm selects the best starting point based on the appliance weights and power availability in each period. With the proposed methodology, the building energy manager can specify the moments when the optimization is run with consideration of the operational constraints. Accordingly, the main contribution of the paper is to provide and integrate a methodology to minimize the difference between the actual and the desired temperature in each room, as a measure of comfort, respecting constraints that can be easily bounded by building users and manager. The case study considers the real consumption data of an office building which contains 20 lights, 10 ACs, and one dishwasher. Three scenarios have been designed to focus on different functionalities. The outcomes of the paper include proof of the performance of the optimization algorithm and how such a system can effectively minimize electricity consumption by implementing demand response programs and using them in smart grid contexts.The present work was done and funded in the scope of the following projects: COLORSPTDC/EEI-EEE/28967/2017 and UIDB/00760/2020 funded by FEDER Funds through COMPETE programinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Inequalities in Infertility Service Utilization: A Comparison of Latina and Caucasian Women with Impaired Fecundity Who Seek and Do Not Seek Care

Purpose: To compare racial differences in accessing infertility services, and to characterize socioeconomic, cultural and social factors that influence the propensity to seek care. Materials and Methods: Using data from the 2002 and 2006-2010 rounds of the National Survey of Family Growth, bivariate analyses and multiple logistic regressions were performed to determine the associations between individual patient characteristics and health seeking practices, stratified by ethnicity. Results: Factors that were significantly associated with seeking infertility services included Latina ethnicity, age, country of birth, more than high school education, being born in the United States, placing importance on religion, \u3e200% federal poverty level, not having medical insurance for the past 12 months, and stating “Yes” to the question “Do you want a baby?”. Conclusions: Latinas are more likely to seek infertility services compared with Caucasian women. A number of demographic, cultural, social, and socioeconomic factors are significantly related to propensity to seek infertility care. This study shows that infertility service utilization is a multifaceted issue and further qualitative research is needed to better understand factors contributing to service utilization. Keywords: Infertility; Access to care; Health disparity; Inequalitie

Air conditioner consumption optimization in an office building considering user comfort

The rapid growth of energy consumption and its consequences in the last decades, made the world persuaded to energy optimization and energy management. Therefore, producers and prosumers should be equipped with the automation infrastructures to perform the management programs, such as demand response programs. Office buildings are considering as a proper case for implementing energy consumption minimization since they are responsible for a huge portion of total energy consumption in the world. This paper proposes a multi-period optimization algorithm implemented in Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system of an office building. The developed optimization algorithm is an efficient solution considered for minimizing the power consumption of air conditioners by considering the user comfort constraints. Two determinative parameters are defined to prevent over-power reduction from certain devices. In order to respect to user preferences, priority numbers are dedicated to each air conditioner to present the importance of each device. A case study with several scenarios is implemented to verify the performance of the proposed algorithm in real life using real data of the building. The obtained results show the impacts of proposed parameters and different comfort constraints of algorithm while the main target of the optimization has been reached.The present work was done and funded in the scope of the following projects: MAS-Society Project PTDC/EEI-EEE/28954/2017 and UID/EEA/00760/2019 funded by FEDER, Spain Funds through COMPETE program and byNational Funds through FCT, Portugal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

An Optimization Algorithm for Cost Minimization in Residential Buildings

The increment of the electricity consumption around the world has led many efforts on the network operators to reduce the consumption in the demand side and encourage to increase the use of renewable energies. Since the buildings have a significant part in energy consumption, and lighting systems have an important role in the energy consumption of the buildings, the optimization of the lighting system should be effective. Hence, the focus of this paper is to minimize the lamps consumption of a residential house based on electricity price and try to take advantages from photovoltaic generation as much as possible. The methodology of this work is proposed as a linear optimization problem that manages the generation of a renewable energy resource, which supplies a part of the energy consumption of the house. For the case studies, the amount of the renewable energy generation, total consumption of building, consumption of the lights, and electricity price are considered.The present work was done and funded in the scope of the following projects: H2020 DREAM-GO Project (Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 641794); and UID/EEA/00760/2019 funded by FEDER Funds through COMPETE program and by National Funds through FCT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Key performance indicators regarding user comfort for building energy consumption management

7th International Conference on Energy and Environment Research, ICEER 2020, 14–18 September, ISEP, Porto, PortugalThis paper proposes an optimization approach to minimize the power consumption of an office building considering user comfort and key performance indicators. The present approach implements the power reduction by reducing power consumption of lights and air conditioners as reducible loads, and implements load shifting by considering dishwasher as shift able load. Two key performance indicators and several comfort parameters are defined to limit the power reduction of lights and air conditioners to consider the user comfort. In the context of load shifting, the complete operation cycle of dishwasher should be shifted without interruption based on the priority weight of the periods and available power. In the present optimization approach, sufficient number of periods have been considered for running the optimization, considering operational constraints and multiple levels for key performance indicators to evaluate their effectiveness. The case study of the work contains six different scenarios to validate different characteristics of the approach. Real consumption data of 20 lights, 10 air conditioners and 1 dishwasher in 20 working days have been applied to implement six different scenarios to propose a real comparable view of present approach.This work has received funding from Portugal 2020 under SPEAR project, Portugal (NORTE-01-0247-FEDER040224) and from FEDER Funds through COMPETE program and from National Funds through (FCT, Portugal) under the project UIDB/00760/2020, and CEECIND/02887/2017info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

miR-200c regulates IL8 expression by targeting IKBKB: a potential mediator of inflammation in leiomyoma pathogenesis.

We have previously reported that leiomyoma expressed lower levels of miR-200c and elevated IL8 as compared to paired myometrium. Here we addressed the regulatory functions of miR-200c on the expression of inflammatory mediators and cellular viability using leiomyomas and paired myometrium and their isolated primary smooth muscle cells. Our results indicated that gain-of function or knockdown of miR-200c in leiomyoma smooth muscle cells (LSMC) regulated IL8 mRNA and protein expression through direct targeting of IKBKB and alteration of NF-kB activity. Additionally, leiomyoma expressed higher levels of phosphorylated IKBKB with no significant difference in the level of IKBKB mRNA and protein as compared to matched myometrium. Gain-of function of miR-200c in LSMC resulted in decreased IkBα phosphorylation and p65 nuclear translocation, which led to decreased p65 transcriptional activity of IL8 promoter, and increased caspase 3/7 activity which was not reversible following IL8 restoration. Collectively, our results suggest that NF-κB signaling pathway is a target of miR-200c regulatory function, and low level of miR-200c expression in leiomyoma by transcriptional regulation of inflammatory mediators such as IL8, in part account for development of leiomyomas

Tranilast induces MiR-200c expression through blockade of RelA/p65 activity in leiomyoma smooth muscle cells

ObjectiveTo determine the mechanism by which tranilast induces miR-200c expression in leiomyoma smooth muscle cells (LSMCs).DesignExperimental study.SettingAcademic research laboratory.Patient(s)Women undergoing hysterectomy for leiomyoma.Intervention(s)Blockade of RelA/p65.Main outcome measure(s)Effects of tranilast and blockade of RelA/p65 on miR-200c expression.Result(s)Tranilast, an inflammation inhibitor, dose-dependently induced miR-200c in LSMCs and myometrium smooth muscle cells (MSMCs), with a more profound effect in LSMCs than in MSMCs. The treatment of LSMCs with Bay 117082, an inhibitor of IκB phosphorylation, further enhanced miR-200c induction by tranilast. The knockdown of RelA/p65 by small interfering RNA also induced miR-200c expression in LSMCs. Although tranilast had no effect on total RelA/p65 protein levels in LSMCs, it significantly induced RelA/p65 phosphorylation at S536 while reducing its activity as well as its nuclear translocation. ChIP assay indicated that tranilast reduces the binding ability of RelA/p65 to miR-200c promoter, resulting in miR-200c induction. Tranilast also inhibited interleukin-8 (IL8) expression in LSMCs. The induction of miR-200c by tranilast partially mediates the inhibitory effect of tranilast on the expression of IL8 and cyclin-dependent kinase 2 in LSMCs.Conclusion(s)Induction of miR-200c by tranilast in LSMCs is mediated through a transcriptional mechanism involving inhibition of the nuclear factor κB signaling pathway. These results highlight the significance of inflammation in the pathogenesis of leiomyoma and the potential utility of antiinflammatory drugs for treatment of leiomyomas

phosphorylated IKBKB displayed an inverse relationship with miR-200c expression.

<p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0095370#pone-0095370-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2A</a> shows western blot analysis of IKBKB and phosphorylated IKBKB (p-IKBKB) (Ser 177/181) of tissue extracts (N = 17) from leiomyomas (L) and paired myometrium (M) with GAPDH was used as loading control. The relative band densities of IKBKB (Fig. 2B) and phosphorylated IKBKB (Fig. 2D) in leiomyoma and paired myometrium were determined and compared with values in myometrium independently set as 1 for each pair. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0095370#pone-0095370-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2C</a> shows relative expression of IKBKB mRNA level in leiomyoma and paired myometrium from untreated group (N = 49). The data were analyzed using nonparametric student t-test. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0095370#pone-0095370-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2E</a> shows the relative expression miR-200c as compared to the level of phosphorylated IKBKB (p-IKBKB) in above 17 leiomyomas as compared to matched myometrium. The results were analyzed using paired student t-test and corresponding lines with asterisks denote statistical significance.</p

Gain-of function of miR-200c induced caspase 3/7 activity, but the effect could not be reversed by IL8 restoration.

<p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0095370#pone-0095370-g006" target="_blank">Figure 6A</a> shows influence of gain-of function of miR-200c and preNC on caspase 3/7 activity in MSMC and LSMC after 96 hrs of incubation with culture media changed every two days. The results are reported as mean ± SEM of experiments performed in six replicates from three independent cell preparations using the same paired of primary MSMC and LSMC isolated from 3 patients and analyzed using nonparametric student t-test with asterisks denote statistical significance as compared to preNC. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0095370#pone-0095370-g006" target="_blank">Figure 6B</a> shows caspase 3/7 activity in LSMC transfected with pre-miR-200c or preNC treated with or without IL8 (50 ng/ml) for 96 hrs. The results are reported as mean ± SEM of experiments performed in six replicates, using three independent cell preparations and analyzed using nonparametric student t-test with asterisks denote statistical significance as compared to preNC. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0095370#pone-0095370-g006" target="_blank">Figure 6C</a> shows a schematic representation of aberrant expression and regulatory function of miR-200c on the expression of IL8 through NF-kB signaling pathway involving IKBKB in LSMC. Our results suggest that aberrant expression of miR-200c through functional regulation of specific target genes serve as mediator of inflammatory and tissue turnover play a key role in leiomyoma development, growth and associated symptoms.</p