The Role of Dopamine in the Stimulant Characteristics of Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS)—Neurobiological and Computational Assessment Using the Case of Desoxypipradrol (2-DPMP)

Stimulant drugs, including novel psychoactive substances (NPS, formerly “legal highs”) have addictive potential which their users may not realize. Stimulants increase extracellular dopamine levels in the brain, including the reward and addiction pathways, through interacting with dopamine transporter (DAT). This work aimed to assess the molecular and atomistic mechanisms of stimulant NPS actions at DAT, which translate into biological outcomes such as dopamine release in the brain’s reward pathway. We applied combined in vitro, in vivo, and in silico methods and selected 2-diphenylmethylpiperidine (2-DPMP) as an example of stimulant NPS for this study. We measured in vitro binding of 2-DPMP to rat striatum and accumbens DAT by means of quantitative autoradiography with a selective DAT-radioligand [125I]RTI-121. We evaluated the effects of intravenously administered 2-DPMP on extracellular dopamine in the accumbens-shell and striatum using in vivo microdialysis in freely moving rats. We used dynamic modeling to investigate the interactions of 2-DPMP within DAT, in comparison with cocaine and amphetamine. 2-DPMP potently displaced the radioligand in the accumbens and striatum showing dose-dependence from 0.3 to 30 μM. IC50 values were: 5.65 × 10-7M for accumbens shell and 6.21 × 10-7M for dorsal striatum. Dose-dependent responses were also observed in accumbens-shell and striatum in vivo, with significant increases in extracellular dopamine levels. Molecular dynamics simulations identified contrasting conformational changes of DAT for inhibitors (cocaine) and releasers (amphetamine). 2-DPMP led to molecular rearrangements toward an outward-facing DAT conformation that suggested a cocaine-type effect. The present combination of molecular modeling with experimental neurobiological procedures allows for extensive characterization of the mechanisms of drug actions at DAT as the main molecular target of stimulants, and provides an insight into the role of dopamine in the molecular and neurobiological mechanisms of brain responses to stimulant NPS that have addictive potential. Such knowledge reveals the risk of addiction related to NPS use. The research presented here can be adapted for other psychostimulants that act at their membrane protein targets

Performance enhancement and power management strategy of an autonomous hybrid fuel cell/wind power system based on adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system

In this paper, a hybrid wind/fuel cell generation system which can be used for loads in remote areas as a micro grid application is considered. This micro grid mainly includes fuel cell (FC), wind generator as electrical power suppliers, resistive-inductive impedance as static load, induction motor (IM) as a dynamic load, DC/AC converter and water electrolizer for supplying hydrogen gas. The Fuel cell is used to compensate the decrease in the power generated by wind, which leads to an increase in the system efficiency. Furthermore, an adaptive control model and achievement refinements of a micro-grid using Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) controller has been utilized to regulate the load voltage and frequency. This suggested microgrid system is achieved so that the wind generation unit supplies the loads, while any additional energy needed by the loads will be offset by the fuel cell generator unit. Thus, the main objective of this work is to apply an adaptive control method for improving the proposed electrical micro grid performance. In addition, the performance of the considered system is compared with the proposed ANFIS control when applying the traditional fuzzy control. The outcomes also demonstrated a better reaction and durability to the chosen control model. The MATLAB/SIMULINK programming software tools have been used for carrying out case studies towards the evaluation and validation of the methodology developed in this work with applications. The proposed solution achieved improvement in transient performance. However, the settling time is decreased to 21% in the case of using the suggested ANFIS controller comparing with conventional fuzzy control

Modeling and control design of an autonomous hybrid wind/energy storage generation unit

The purpose of the present paper is to investigate a controller design and simulations of autonomous hybrid wind turbine system with variable-speed permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) and a system for storing energy. The proposed system is mainly composed of a wind turbine drives permanent magnet synchronous generator, uncontrolled rectifier, DC/DC converter, DC/AC inverter and static loads. Furthermore, the mathematical model of the studied sub-systems and two control loops are considered. The first one is the controller which needed to preserve the DC-link voltage fixed at its desired value. The second one is the controller which needed to regulate the charge/discharge modes of the storage battery. The suggested hybrid wind/energy storage power generation model is considered and analyzed in case of without controller firstly. Then, the considered hybrid wind/energy storage power generation unit with the proposed controller is examined through a step change in wind speed. Digital simulation results show that the power desired by the linked loads may be successfully supplied and transported by the presented hybrid wind turbine and energy storage power generation system based on proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller. Also, the emulation results show that there a good foretelling of the electrical variable waveforms and good achievement in case of the presented controller emulated with the case of without controller as maintaining the load voltage fixed at its reference value

The importance of design in lithium ion battery recycling – a critical review

Recycling is always seen as an end-of-pipe process returning as much material as possible into a circular economy. There is a growing school of thought that suggests product design should be an important step in the recycling process. While this review is aimed specifically at one technological product, it contains facets that are applicable to the recycling of any complex product. Decarbonisation of energy production necessitates a proliferation of efficient electrical storage and a significant proportion of this, particularly in automotive propulsion, will use lithium ion batteries. The scale of the projected electric vehicle market means that a circular economy model needs to be established while the scale of end-of-life product is still manageable to prevent a build-up of hazardous waste. This critical review investigates the issues of lithium ion battery recycling and discusses the aspects of pack, module and cell design that can simplify battery dismantling and recycling. It highlights not only Green aspects of elemental recovery, but also technoeconomic features which may govern the appropriate direction for recycling. It also shows that as cell design changes, the approach to recycling can become more efficient.</div