Nord Pool Ontology to Enhance Electricity Markets Simulation in MASCEM

This paper proposes the use of ontologies to enable information and knowledge exchange, to test different electricity market models and to allow players from different systems to interact in common market environments. Multi-agent based software is particularly well fitted to analyse dynamic and adaptive systems with complex interactions among its constituents, such as the complex and dynamic electricity markets. The main drivers are the markets’ restructuring and evolution into regional and continental scales, along with the constant changes brought by the increasing necessity for an adequate integration of renewable energy sources. An ontology to represent the concepts related to the Nord Pool Elspot market is proposed. It is validated through a case study considering the simulation of Elspot market. Results show that heterogeneous agents are able to effectively participate in the simulation by using the proposed ontologies to support their communications with the Nord Pool market operator.This work has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 641794 (project DREAM-GO) and from FEDER Funds through COMPETE program and from National Funds through FCT under the project UID/EEA/00760/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Development of a new ‘ultrametric’ method for assessing spawning progression in female teleost serial spawners

The collection and presentation of accurate reproductive data from wild fish has historically been somewhat problematic, especially for serially spawning species. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to develop a novel method of assessing female spawning status that is robust to variation in oocyte dynamics between specimens. Atlantic cod (Barents Sea stock) were used to develop the new ‘ultrametric’ method, that is based on the progressive depletion of the vitellogenic oocyte pool relative to the rather constant previtellogenic oocyte (PVO) pool. Fish were subsequently partitioned into one of four categories that accurately reflected changes in their oocyte size frequency distribution characteristics and gonadosomatic index throughout spawning. The ultrametric method overcomes difficulties associated with presence of bimodal oocyte distributions, oocyte tails, lack of clear hiatus region, and presence of free ova, and can be implemented at a single sampling point. Much of the workflow is fully automated, and the technique may circumvent the need for histological analysis depending on the desired outcome. The ultrametric method differs from the traditional autodiametric method in that PVOs can be separated by ultrasonication and then enumerated, and ovarian homogeneity is not a mandatory requirement per se. The method is designed for determinate spawners but might be extended to include indeterminate spawners

Planet Populations as a Function of Stellar Properties

Exoplanets around different types of stars provide a window into the diverse environments in which planets form. This chapter describes the observed relations between exoplanet populations and stellar properties and how they connect to planet formation in protoplanetary disks. Giant planets occur more frequently around more metal-rich and more massive stars. These findings support the core accretion theory of planet formation, in which the cores of giant planets form more rapidly in more metal-rich and more massive protoplanetary disks. Smaller planets, those with sizes roughly between Earth and Neptune, exhibit different scaling relations with stellar properties. These planets are found around stars with a wide range of metallicities and occur more frequently around lower mass stars. This indicates that planet formation takes place in a wide range of environments, yet it is not clear why planets form more efficiently around low mass stars. Going forward, exoplanet surveys targeting M dwarfs will characterize the exoplanet population around the lowest mass stars. In combination with ongoing stellar characterization, this will help us understand the formation of planets in a large range of environments.Comment: Accepted for Publication in the Handbook of Exoplanet

Enrichment analysis of Alu elements with different spatial chromatin proximity in the human genome

Transposable elements (TEs) have no longer been totally considered as “junk DNA” for quite a time since the continual discoveries of their multifunctional roles in eukaryote genomes. As one of the most important and abundant TEs that still active in human genome, Alu, a SINE family, has demonstrated its indispensable regulatory functions at sequence level, but its spatial roles are still unclear. Technologies based on 3C(chromosomeconformation capture) have revealed the mysterious three-dimensional structure of chromatin, and make it possible to study the distal chromatin interaction in the genome. To find the role TE playing in distal regulation in human genome, we compiled the new released Hi-C data, TE annotation, histone marker annotations, and the genome-wide methylation data to operate correlation analysis, and found that the density of Alu elements showed a strong positive correlation with the level of chromatin interactions (hESC: r=0.9, P<2.2×1016; IMR90 fibroblasts: r = 0.94, P < 2.2 × 1016) and also have a significant positive correlation withsomeremote functional DNA elements like enhancers and promoters (Enhancer: hESC: r=0.997, P=2.3×10−4; IMR90: r=0.934, P=2×10−2; Promoter: hESC: r = 0.995, P = 3.8 × 10−4; IMR90: r = 0.996, P = 3.2 × 10−4). Further investigation involving GC content and methylation status showed the GC content of Alu covered sequences shared a similar pattern with that of the overall sequence, suggesting that Alu elements also function as the GC nucleotide and CpG site provider. In all, our results suggest that the Alu elements may act as an alternative parameter to evaluate the Hi-C data, which is confirmed by the correlation analysis of Alu elements and histone markers. Moreover, the GC-rich Alu sequence can bring high GC content and methylation flexibility to the regions with more distal chromatin contact, regulating the transcription of tissue-specific genes

Converting simulated total dry matter to fresh marketable yield for field vegetables at a range of nitrogen supply levels

Simultaneous analysis of economic and environmental performance of horticultural crop production requires qualified assumptions on the effect of management options, and particularly of nitrogen (N) fertilisation, on the net returns of the farm. Dynamic soil-plant-environment simulation models for agro-ecosystems are frequently applied to predict crop yield, generally as dry matter per area, and the environmental impact of production. Economic analysis requires conversion of yields to fresh marketable weight, which is not easy to calculate for vegetables, since different species have different properties and special market requirements. Furthermore, the marketable part of many vegetables is dependent on N availability during growth, which may lead to complete crop failure under sub-optimal N supply in tightly calculated N fertiliser regimes or low-input systems. In this paper we present two methods for converting simulated total dry matter to marketable fresh matter yield for various vegetables and European growth conditions, taking into consideration the effect of N supply: (i) a regression based function for vegetables sold as bulk or bunching ware and (ii) a population approach for piecewise sold row crops. For both methods, to be used in the context of a dynamic simulation model, parameter values were compiled from a literature survey. Implemented in such a model, both algorithms were tested against experimental field data, yielding an Index of Agreement of 0.80 for the regression strategy and 0.90 for the population strategy. Furthermore, the population strategy was capable of reflecting rather well the effect of crop spacing on yield and the effect of N supply on product grading