Demonstrating a smart controller in a hospital integrated energy system

Integrated energy systems have recently gained primary importance in clean energy transition. The combination of the electricity, heating and gas sectors can improve the overall system efficiency and integration of renewables by exploiting the synergies among the energy vectors. In particular, real-time optimization tools based on Model Predictive Control (MPC) can considerably improve the performance of systems with several conversion units and distribution networks by automatically coordinating all interacting technologies. Despite the relevance of several simulation studies on the topic, however, it is significantly harder to have an experimental demonstration of this improvement. This work presents a methodology for the real-world implementation of a novel smart control strategy for integrated energy systems, based on two coordinated MPC levels, which optimize the operation of all conversion units and all energy vectors in the short- and long-term, respectively, to account also for economic incentives on critical units. The strategy that was previously developed and evaluated in a simulation environment has now been implemented, as a supervisory controller, in the integrated energy system of a hospital in Italy. The optimal control logic is easily actuated by dynamically communicating the optimal set-points to the existing Building Management System, without having to alter the system configuration. Field data collected over a two-year period, firstly when it was business as usual and when the new operation was introduced, show that the MPC increased the economic margin and revenues from yearly incentives and lowered the amount of electricity purchased, reducing dependency on the power grid

Proteomic analysis of proteins responsive to drought and low temperature stress in a hard red spring wheat cultivar

Drought stress is becoming more prevalent with global warming, and has been shown to have large effects on gluten proteins linked to wheat bread making quality. Likewise, low temperature stress can detrimentally affect proteins in wheat. This study was done to determine the differential abundance of high molecular weight (HMW) glutenin proteins in a drought and low temperature stressed high quality hard red spring wheat cultivar (PAN3478), against a control. The treatments were applied in the greenhouse at the soft dough stage. HMW glutenin proteins were extracted from the flour, and were separated by using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Protein spots that had p values lower than 0.05 and fold values equal to or greater than 1.2 were considered to be significantly differentially abundant. These proteins were further analyzed by using tandem mass spectrometry. There was a 1.3 to 1.8 fold change in 17 protein spots due to the cold treatment. The drought treatment caused a 1.3 to 3.8 fold change in 19 protein spots. These spots matched either HMW or low molecular weight (LMW) glutenin subunits. In the latter case, the C subunits of LMW glutenins were notably found to be up-regulated under both stress conditions. All the proteins that have been identified can directly influence dough characteristics. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with the identifier PXD017578

Non-Coding RNA and Tumor Development in Neurofibromatosis Type 1: ANRIL Rs2151280 Is Associated with Optic Glioma Development and a Mild Phenotype in Neurofibromatosis Type 1 Patients

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are known to regulate gene expression at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels, chromatin remodeling, and signal transduction. The identification of different species of ncRNAs, microRNAs (miRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs), and long ncRNAs (lncRNAs)-and in some cases, their combined regulatory function on specific target genes-may help to elucidate their role in biological processes. NcRNAs' deregulation has an impact on the impairment of physiological programs, driving cells in cancer development. We here carried out a review of literature concerning the implication of ncRNAs on tumor development in neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), an inherited tumor predisposition syndrome. A number of miRNAs and a lncRNA has been implicated in NF1-associated tumors, such as malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs) and astrocytoma, as well as in the pathognomonic neurofibromas. Some authors reported that the lncRNA ANRIL was deregulated in the blood of NF1 patients with plexiform neurofibromas (PNFs), even if its role should be further elucidated. We here provided original data concerning the association of a specific genotype about ANRIL rs2151280 with the presence of optic gliomas and a mild expression of the NF1 phenotype. We also detected the LOH of ANRIL in different tumors from NF1 patients, supporting the involvement of ANRIL in some NF1-associated tumors. Our results suggest that ANRIL rs2151280 may be a potential diagnostic and prognostic marker, addressing early diagnosis of optic glioma and predicting the phenotype severity in NF1 patients

Thermal, electric and durability characterization of supercaps for energy back-up of automotive ECU

A new generation of mechatronic devices, such as the E-latch for door closure, is introduced in the automotive field to replace mechanical systems with electro-actuated parts with embedded electronic control unit (ECU) connected to the main vehicle network. Due to severe automotive safety-critical requirements an energy back-up solution is proposed, based on supercaps and boost converter, to ensure E-latch operation even in case of main battery failure. An in-depth thermal, electrical and durability characterization of the supercaps proves the suitability of the energy back-up unit for automotive applications

Ferulated Poly(vinyl alcohol) based hydrogels

New graft copolymers were prepared by reaction of poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with mono-imidazolide or bis-imidazolide derivatives of ferulic acid (FA) with the formation of ester bonds. The obtained graft copolymers, thanks to the crosslinking capability of FA, formed in water strong gels as verified by rheological analyses. The resulting hydrogels were characterized to evaluate their applicability as wound dressing. In this perspective, their capability to absorb and retain a large amount of fluid without dissolving was verified by swelling kinetics and Moisture Vapour Transmission Rate measurements. Their stability towards mechanical solicitations was assessed by quantifying elasticity, compliance, stress-relaxation, and adhesivity properties. The analyses pointed out that hydrogel PVA-FA2-3 obtained by feruloylation of PVA with bis-imidazole derivative of ferulic acid using an acylation agent/polymer molar ratio 0.03/1 resulted the best candidate for the foreseen application

Spontaneous polymerization of benzofulvene monomers bearing a 4-Pyri- dylacetylene substituent in different positions of the benzofulvene scaffold

Two benzofulvene derivatives bearing a 4-pyridylacetylene substituent in different positions (i. e. 2 and 6) of the benzofulvene scaffold are designed and synthesized to evaluate the effects on the spontaneous solid-state polymerization of the presence of the same substituent in two different key positions of the 3-phenylbenzoful-vene moiety. Both the benzofulvene derivatives showed the tendency to polymerize spontaneously in the consequence of solvent removal under reduced pressure without the addition of catalysts or initiators. The macromolecular structure of the stemming polymeric materials was investigated by NMR spectroscopy and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Both NMR and MALDI-TOF studies confirmed the polymeric nature of the materials and suggested for the polybenzofulvene derivative bearing the 4-pyridylacetylene substituent in po-sitions 6 a higher structural homogeneity with respect to the one bearing the same substituent in position 2. The photophysical characterization of the most homogeneous polybenzofulvene derivative led to the discovery of its outstanding hole mobility value, which was found to be around one order of magnitude higher than that pre-viously measured for two oligothiophene-based polybenzofulvene derivatives and almost two orders of magni-tude higher than that of poly(vinylcarbazole), commonly used as hole-transporter matrix. This result places the new polybenzofulvene derivative in an outstanding position as a promising material for field-effect transistor (FET) device applications

Signs of immunosenescence correlate with poor outcome of mRNA COVID-19 vaccination in older adults

Vaccination against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is effective in preventing COVID-19 hospitalization and fatal outcome. However, several studies indicated that there is reduced vaccine effectiveness among older individuals, which is correlated with their general health status1,2. How and to what extent age-related immunological defects are responsible for the suboptimal vaccine responses observed in older individuals receiving SARS-CoV-2 messenger RNA vaccine, is unclear and not fully investigated1,3–5. In this observational study, we investigated adaptive immune responses in adults of various ages (22–99 years old) receiving 2 doses of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine. Vaccine-induced Spike-specific antibody, and T and memory B cell responses decreased with increasing age. These responses positively correlated with the percentages of peripheral naïve CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and negatively with CD8+ T cells expressing signs of immunosenescence. Older adults displayed a preferred T cell response to the S2 region of the Spike protein, which is relatively conserved and a target for cross-reactive T cells induced by human ‘common cold’ coronaviruses. Memory T cell responses to influenza virus were not affected by age-related changes, nor the SARS-CoV-2-specific response induced by infection. Collectively, we identified signs of immunosenescence correlating with the outcome of vaccination against a new viral antigen to which older adults are immunologically naïve. This knowledge is important for the management of COVID-19 infections in older adults

VDAC3 as a sensor of oxidative state of the intermembrane space of mitochondria: the putative role of cysteine residue modifications

Voltage-Dependent Anion selective Channels (VDAC) are pore-forming mitochondrial outer membrane proteins. In mammals VDAC3, the least characterized isoform, presents a set of cysteines predicted to be exposed toward the intermembrane space. We find that cysteines in VDAC3 can stay in different oxidation states. This was preliminary observed when, in our experimental conditions, completely lacking any reducing agent, VDAC3 presented a pattern of slightly different electrophoretic mobilities. This observation holds true both for rat liver mitochondrial VDAC3 and for recombinant and refolded human VDAC3. Mass spectroscopy revealed that cysteines 2 and 8 can form a disulfide bridge in native VDAC3. Single or combined site-directed mutagenesis of cysteines 2, 8 and 122 showed that the protein mobility in SDS-PAGE is influenced by the presence of cysteine and by the redox status. In addition, cysteines 2, 8 and 122 are involved in the stability control of the pore as shown by electrophysiology, complementation assays and chemico-physical characterization. Furthermore, a positive correlation between the pore conductance of the mutants and their ability to complement the growth of porin-less yeast mutant cells was found. Our work provides evidence for a complex oxidation pattern of a mitochondrial protein not directly involved in electron transport. The most likely biological meaning of this behavior is to buffer the ROS load and keep track of the redox level in the intermembrane space, eventually signaling it through conformational change