Inter-seasonal compressed air energy storage using saline aquifers

Meeting inter-seasonal fluctuations in electricity production or demand in a system dominated by renewable energy requires the cheap, reliable and accessible storage of energy on a scale that is currently challenging to achieve. Commercially mature compressed-air energy storage could be applied to porous rocks in sedimentary basins worldwide, where legacy data from hydrocarbon exploration are available, and if geographically close to renewable energy sources. Here we present a modelling approach to predict the potential for compressed-air energy storage in porous rocks. By combining this with an extensive geological database, we provide a regional assessment of this potential for the United Kingdom. We find the potential storage capacity is equivalent to approximately 160% of the United Kingdom’s electricity consumption for January and February 2017 (77–96 TWh), with a roundtrip energy efficiency of 54–59%. This UK storage potential is achievable at costs in the range US$0.42–4.71 kWh−1

Habitat Composition and Connectivity Predicts Bat Presence and Activity at Foraging Sites in a Large UK Conurbation

Background: Urbanization is characterized by high levels of sealed land-cover, and small, geometrically complex, fragmented land-use patches. The extent and density of urbanized land-use is increasing, with implications for habitat quality, connectivity and city ecology. Little is known about densification thresholds for urban ecosystem function, and the response of mammals, nocturnal and cryptic taxa are poorly studied in this respect. Bats (Chiroptera) are sensitive to changing urban form at a species, guild and community level, so are ideal model organisms for analyses of this nature. Methodology/Principal Findings: We surveyed bats around urban ponds in the West Midlands conurbation, United Kingdom (UK). Sites were stratified between five urban land classes, representing a gradient of built land-cover at the 1 km 2 scale. Models for bat presence and activity were developed using land-cover and land-use data from multiple radii around each pond. Structural connectivity of tree networks was used as an indicator of the functional connectivity between habitats. All species were sensitive to measures of urban density. Some were also sensitive to landscape composition and structural connectivity at different spatial scales. These results represent new findings for an urban area. The activity of Pipistrellus pipistrellus (Schreber 1774) exhibited a non-linear relationship with the area of built land-cover, being much reduced beyond the threshold of,60 % built surface. The presence of tree networks appears to mitigate the negative effects of urbanization for this species

Increased immunogenicity to P815 cells modified with malondialdehyde and acetaldehyde

Aldehyde modified proteins have been associated with the development and/or progression of alcoholic liver disease (ALD). These protein adducts are capable of initiating many immunological responses that are harmful to the normal homeostasis of organism function. Previous studies have shown that malondialdehyde (MDA) and acetaldehyde (AA) synergistically form a unique adduct (MAA) with soluble proteins, which are capable of inducing cytokine release, T-cell proliferation, and antibody production. The purpose of this study was to determine whether MAA-adduction can elicit similar responses to cells using a well-defined tumor model. The mouse mastocytoma P815 tumor cell line was modified with MAA (P815-MAA) or left unmodified (P815) and 10(6) irradiated cells were injected into DBA/2 mice once a week for 5 weeks. Serum was collected and tested for antibody responses to P815 cells and the MAA epitope. Immunization of MAA-adducted P815 cells into syngeneic DBA/2 mice induced a strong antibody response to the MAA epitope as determined by ELISA on Alb and MAA-Alb (508 µg/ml and 1092 µg/ml, respectively). In addition, antibody to unmodified P815 cells was detected by fluorescent technique. Mice immunized with P815 cells or PBS showed little or no reactivity to the MAA epitope or P815 cells. Studies to assess IL-12 stimulation showed that peritoneal macrophages from P815 and PBS immunized animals produced modest amounts of IL-12 (20 and 35 pg/ml) when stimulated with Alb or MAA-Alb. However, macrophage from P815-MAA immunized mice responded to soluble MAA-adduct (142 pg/ml). Finally, in tumor survival studies the mean survival was 14.25 days in PBS treated mice; 15.75 days with P815 immunized mice and 18.25 days with P815-MAA immunized mice. Therefore, these data strongly suggest that antibody responses are induced by P815 cells modified with MAA-adducts. This may be a possible tool to begin looking at how alcohol metabolites potentially modify cells and/or cellular components making them recognizable to the immune system as foreign. It is thought that these studies define a model system that will be useful in assessing antibody and potentially T cell responses to cells that are modified by MAA