Sähkövarastot osana virtuaalivoimalaitosta

Opinnäytetyö toteutettiin sähkövarastoja maahantuovalle yritykselle. Tavoitteena oli selvittää sähkövarastojen merkitystä osana virtuaalivoimalaitoksia ja sähkömarkkinoiden murrosta. Olennaisena osana tähän markkinalähtöiseen kokonaisuuteen kuului sähkömarkkinoiden toiminnan selvitys ja erityisesti kysyntäjouston osuus siinä. Nykyisen ja tulevan lainsäädännön merkitystä tarkasteltiin sähkövarastojen osalta. Työssä arvioitiin sähkövarastojen taloudellista kannattavuutta nyt ja tulevaisuudessa. Työ tehtiin tutustumalla alan tieteellisiin julkaisuihin ja asiantuntijoiden seminaarimateriaaleihin. Markkinatoimijoiden ja viranomaisten verkkojulkaisut olivat myös merkittävässä roolissa kokonaisuuden muodostamisessa. Selvitystyön perusteella olemme selkeästi menossa kohti vihreää energiantuotantoa, jossa suurteollisuuden lisäksi yhä useamman kuluttajan on mukautettava sähkönkäyttöään sään mukaan vaihtelevaan uusiutuvan energian tuotantoon. Sähköä kun pitää tuottaa ja kuluttaa joka hetki yhtä paljon. Tehopohjaiseen hinnoitteluun siirtyminen ohjaa kuluttajia leikkaamaan omia kulutushuippujaan. Joustava sähkönkäyttäjä pääsee hyötymään näistä muutoksista. Yksin tai palveluntarjoajan avustuksella sähkövaraston omistavat yritykset ja kuluttajat voivat myydä kalliilla ja ostaa tuulisena ja aurinkoisena päivä akut täyteen halpaa energiaa. Myös tehopiikkien leikkaaminen on sähkövarastojen omistajille vaivatonta. Joustamattomat sähköntuottajat ja –kuluttajat joutuvat taas maksamaan nykyistä suuremman osan sähköjärjestelmän tasapainottamisen kuluista. Virtuaalivoimalaitospilotteja on käynnissä ympäri Suomea. Sähkölaitokset kokoavat omien tuotantolaitoksiensa ja teollisten yhteistyökumppaneiden lisäksi pientuottajia ja –kuluttajia yhteen ja hyödyntävät saavutettavan kysyntäjouston sähkömarkkinoilla. Palvelun tarjoajina eli aggregaattoreina toimii myös muita yhtiöitä kuin sähkölaitoksia. Sähkövarastot ovat merkittävä osa näitä projekteja. Lakien ja määräysten muutokset 2020-luvun alkupuolella tulevat laajentamaan sähkövarastojen käyttöä samalla kuin hintakehitys on alaspäin. Tällä hetkellä luodaan valmiuksia toimia ja jaetaan markkinaosuuksia tulevaisuuden sähkömarkkinoilla.This study was made for a distributor of electrical energy storages. The aim was to provide an overview on how important electrical energy storages are and will be as a part of virtual power plants and in the energy change. Essential part of this market driven research was to find out how electricity market and demand-side management are working. The thesis was implemented by examining literature and seminar materials, as well as internet material. Based on the study, it can be said that switching to green electricity system is a reality. Big industry has been active in the electricity market and adapted its consumption. In the future this is not enough. Electricity consumers also need to adapt their consumption to weather-dependent production. Electricity must be generated and consumed in precisely the same amount at every moment. Since the cost of electricity reflects the need to adapt consumption, active and flexible consumers benefit financially, if they participate in the electricity market. As an owner of electrical energy storage you can sell electricity either direct or through service provider when the price is high, and fill your storage when the price is low. It will also mean that inflexible electrical consumers and producers will have to pay a larger share of the total costs to balance the power system. Virtual power plant pilots are ongoing all over Finland. Electrical utilities are putting together also consumers on the top of industrial partners and their own manufacturing units to be able to make benefits of demand-side management at energy market. An aggregator, as these service providers are called, can be also other companies than electrical utility. Electrical energy storages are big part of these projects. In couple of years there will be legal changes which help to use these storages. Prices are also going down. At this moment companies are working hard to find the best possible way to gain market share at the future electricity market

Benzene exposure is associated with cardiovascular disease risk

<div><p>Benzene is a ubiquitous, volatile pollutant present at high concentrations in toxins (e.g. tobacco smoke) known to increase cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Despite its prevalence, the cardiovascular effects of benzene have rarely been studied. Hence, we examined whether exposure to benzene is associated with increased CVD risk. The effects of benzene exposure in mice were assessed by direct inhalation, while the effects of benzene exposure in humans was assessed in 210 individuals with mild to high CVD risk by measuring urinary levels of the benzene metabolite <i>trans</i>,<i>trans</i>-muconic acid (<i>t</i>,<i>t</i>-MA). Generalized linear models were used to assess the association between benzene exposure and CVD risk. Mice inhaling volatile benzene had significantly reduced levels of circulating angiogenic cells (Flk-1⁺/Sca-1⁺) as well as an increased levels of plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL) compared with control mice breathing filtered air. In the human cohort, urinary levels of <i>t</i>,<i>t</i>-MA were inversely associated several populations of circulating angiogenic cells (CD31⁺/34⁺/45⁺, CD31⁺/34⁺/45⁺/AC133^–, CD34⁺/45⁺/AC133⁺). Although <i>t</i>,<i>t</i>-MA was not associated with plasma markers of inflammation or thrombosis, <i>t</i>,<i>t</i>-MA levels were higher in smokers and in individuals with dyslipidemia. In smokers, <i>t</i>,<i>t</i>-MA levels were positively associated with urinary metabolites of nicotine (cotinine) and acrolein (3-hydroxymercapturic acid). Levels of <i>t</i>,<i>t</i>-MA were also associated with CVD risk as assessed using the Framingham Risk Score and this association was independent of smoking. Thus, benzene exposure is associated with increased CVD risk and deficits in circulating angiogenic cells in both smokers and non-smokers.</p></div

Demographics and CVD risk history stratified by <i>t</i>,<i>t</i>-MA.

<p>Demographics and CVD risk history stratified by <i>t</i>,<i>t</i>-MA.</p

Association between <i>t</i>,<i>t</i>-MA and CACs.

<p>Association between <i>t</i>,<i>t</i>-MA and CACs.</p

Association between cigarette smoke exposure and <i>t</i>,<i>t-</i>MA levels.

<p>Associations of <i>t</i>,<i>t</i>-MA with cotinine (A) and 3-HPMA (B) were established by regression analysis. Cigarette smoke is the major source of benzene exposure in the smoking sub-group.</p

Complete blood count of mice exposed to volatile benzene or HEPA-filtered air for six weeks.

<p>Complete blood count of mice exposed to volatile benzene or HEPA-filtered air for six weeks.</p

Association between <i>t</i>,<i>t-</i>MA and CVD risk.

<p>Associations between low (< 20; n = 44) and high (≥ 20 or experienced a cardiovascular event; n = 166) Framingham Risk Score and <i>t</i>,<i>t-</i>MA were determined for the total population (A; p = 0.024) and in non-smokers (B; p = 0.006).</p

Additional file 1 of Micro-RNA-186-5p inhibition attenuates proliferation, anchorage independent growth and invasion in metastatic prostate cancer cells

Table S1. De-identified demographic and clinico-pathological data. Clinical data and serum from 15 men diagnosed with prostate cancer and five disease-free individuals were obtained from the BioServe Biotechnologies Biorepository (Beltsville, MD). Subjects were self-identified as European American males. There were no significant differences in median age between cases and controls (p = 0.726). Among men diagnosed with prostate cancer, 60% were diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, 66.7% were smokers, and 73.3% received two or more therapies. Relative to controls, cases had higher median serum PSA level (ng/ml) (p = 0.048) and BMI (p = 0.225) values. (DOCX 63 kb

Additional file 5 of Micro-RNA-186-5p inhibition attenuates proliferation, anchorage independent growth and invasion in metastatic prostate cancer cells

Figure S2. Up-regulation of AKAP12 in PC-3 cells and pAKT in HEK 293 T cells. A) Total RNA was collected from PC-3 cells transfected with miR-186-5p inhibitor and scramble control 72 h post-transfection. AKAP12 transcript expression was increased by 1.7-fold in transient miR-186-5p inhibited PC-3 cells relative to negative controls (p = 0.0597). B) Protein lysate (35 μg) was collected from HEK 293 T cells transfected with miR-186-5p mimic and scramble control 72 h post-transfection. pAKT expression was enhanced by 1.67-fold increase via miR-186-5p overexpression in HEK 293 T cells (p = 0.196). Data was quantitated from at least 2–3 independent experiments and are represented as mean ± S.D. (TIFF 457 kb

Additional file 3 of Micro-RNA-186-5p inhibition attenuates proliferation, anchorage independent growth and invasion in metastatic prostate cancer cells

Figure S1. Transient and stable miR-186-5p inhibition and overexpression in prostate cancer and normal epithelial cells. miR-186-5p expression was measured following 24–48 h transient post-transfection and stable transfection using qRT-PCR. A) Following transient transfection of cell models with miR-186-5p inhibitor, miR-186-5p was reduced by 33–73% in PC-3 (p = 0.0002), MDA-PCA-2b (p = 0.0061) and LNCaP (p = 0.0381) cells. B) Ectopic expression of miR-186-5p in PC-3 (p = 0.0002), MDA-PCA-2b (p = 0.0061) and LNCaP (p = 0.0381) cells transiently transfected with miR-186-5p mimic. C) MiR-186-5p expression was reduced by 30% in PC-3 cells stably transfected with pcDNA-DEST-47-anti-miR-186 compared to pcDNA-DEST-47 (empty vector) (p = 0.0022). MiR-186-5p was up-regulated by 2.55-fold in RWPE1 cells stably transfected with pcDNA-DEST-47-miR-186 mimic construct compared to the empty vector control (p = 0.0019). Data was quantitated from three independent experiments and are represented as mean fold change ± S.D. (**p-value < 0.005, ***p-value < 0.007). (TIFF 1824 kb