Distributed MPC for coordinated energy efficiency utilization in microgrid systems

To improve the renewable energy utilization of distributed microgrid systems, this paper presents an optimal distributed model predictive control strategy to coordinate energy management among microgrid systems. In particular, through information exchange among systems, each microgrid in the network, which includes renewable generation, storage systems, and some controllable loads, can maintain its own systemwide supply and demand balance. With our mechanism, the closed-loop stability of the distributed microgrid systems can be guaranteed. In addition, we provide evaluation criteria of renewable energy utilization to validate our proposed method. Simulations show that the supply demand balance in each microgrid is achieved while, at the same time, the system operation cost is reduced, which demonstrates the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed policy.Accepted manuscrip

Operando STM study of the interaction of imidazolium-based ionic liquid with graphite

Understanding interactions at the interfaces of carbon with ionic liquids (ILs) is crucially beneficial for the diagnostics and performance improvement of electrochemical devices containing carbon as active materials or conductive additives in electrodes and ILs as solvents or additives in electrolytes. The interfacial interactions of three typical imidazolium-based ILs, 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (AMImTFSI) ILs having ethyl (C2), butyl (C4) and octyl (C8) chains in their cations, with highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) were studied in-situ by electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (EC-STM). The etching of HOPG surface and the exfoliation of graphite/graphene flakes as well as cation intercalation were observed at the HOPG/C2MImTFSI interface. The etching also takes place in C4MImTFSI at −1.5 V vs Pt but only at step edges with a much slower rate, whereas C8MIm+ cations adsorbs strongly on the HOPG surface under similar conditions with no observable etching or intercalation. The EC-STM observations can be explained by the increase in van der Waals interaction between the cations and the graphite surface with increasing length of alkyl chains

Human thymic epithelial cells express an endogenous lectin, galectin-1, which binds to core 2 O-glycans on thymocytes and T lymphoblastoid cells.

Thymic epithelial cells play a crucial role in the selection of developing thymocytes. Thymocyte-epithelial cell interactions involve a number of adhesion molecules, including members of the integrin and immunoglobulin superfamilies. We found that human thymic epithelial cells synthesize an endogenous lectin, galectin-1, which binds to oligosaccharide ligands on the surface of thymocytes and T lymphoblastoid cells. Binding of T lymphoblastoid cells to thymic epithelial cells was inhibited by antibody to galectin-1 on the epithelial cells, and by two antibodies, T305 and 2B11, that recognize carbohydrate epitopes on the T cell surface glycoproteins CD43 and CD45, respectively. T lymphoblastoid cells and thymocytes bound recombinant galectin-1, as demonstrated by flow cytometric analysis, and lectin binding was completely inhibited in the presence of lactose. The degree of galectin-1 binding to thymocytes correlated with the maturation stage of the cells, as immature thymocytes bound more galectin-1 than did mature thymocytes. Preferential binding of galectin-1 to immature thymocytes may result from regulated expression of preferred oligosaccharide ligands on those cells, since we found that the epitope recognized by the T305 antibody, the core 2 O-glycan structure on CD43, was expressed on cortical, but not medullary cells. The level of expression of the UDP-GlcNAc:Gal beta 1,3GalNAc-R beta 1, 6GlcNAc transferase (core 2 beta 1, 6 GlcNAc transferase, or C2GnT), which creates the core 2 O-glycan structure, correlated with the glycosylation change between cortical and medullary cells. Expression of mRNA encoding the C2GnT was high in subcapsular and cortical thymocytes and low in medullary thymocytes, as demonstrated by in situ hybridization. These results suggest that galectin-1 participates in thymocyte-thymic epithelial cell interactions, and that this interaction may be regulated by expression of relevant oligosaccharide ligands on the thymocyte cell surface

Catecholamines Inhibit Gastric Epithelial [RGM-1] Cell Proliferation via Beta Adrenoceptors

Catecholamines have been implicated in the modulation of normal cell growth, exerting inhibitory or excitatory control depending on the cell type. However, there is a dearth of information on the role of adrenergic mediators in gastric cell proliferation. In the present study, the effects of adrenaline (ADR) and noradrenaline (NOR) on mucosal cell growth and the cell cycle were evaluated in vitro using a normal rat gastric mucosal cell line RGM-1. Cell proliferation was assessed using [3H]-thymidine incorporation and cell cycle patterns were determined by DNA labeling with propidium iodide and flow cytometric quantification. The expressions of adrenoceptors in RGM-1 were determined by Western blot. ADR (0.01 - 10microM) and NOR (0.01 - 10microM) inhibited the growth of RGM-1 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Pre-treatment of cells with ADR and NOR also inhibited the proliferation stimulated by epidermal growth factor (EGF). Neither phentolamine (non-selective alpha-adrenergic blocker), methoxamine (alpha1-selective agonist) nor clonidine (alpha2-selective agonist) significantly affected the inhibition of cell proliferation produced by ADR and NOR. Propranolol (non-selective beta-adrenergic blocker) and butoxamine (selective beta2-adrenergic blocker) significantly (but not totally) reversed the inhibitory action of ADR on cell proliferation. Furthermore, procaterol (selective beta-2 agonist) but not dobutamine (selective beta-1 agonist) had effects similar to those produced by ADR and NOR. Exposure of RGM-1 cells to both ADR and NOR caused significant inhibition of the G1 - S cycle progression as evidenced by the higher percentage of the G0/G1 phase and a decreased S- phase. This effect was blocked by pre-treatment with propranolol but not phentolamine These results indicate that catecholamines inhibit the proliferation of RGM-1 cells probably partly through beta-2 receptors. ©Physiological Society of Nigeria.published_or_final_versio

In vitro investigation of the hypoglycemic activity of yeasts using models of rat epididymal adipocyte and differentiated mouse 3T3-L1 adipocyte

The differentiated mouse 3T3-L1 adipocytes (3T3-L1 model) were used in studying glucose metabolisms without the need for feeding (Sprague-Dawley, SD model) the rat prior to hypoglycemic activity evaluation. Both models were adopted to evaluate the hypoglycemic activities of 58 yeast strains isolated from various sources (grape, vine yard soil, winery soil). Among the 58 tested yeast isolates, strain 54 (Saccharomyces pastorianus no. 54) which showed the highest hypoglycemic activity was chosen to be the test strain. The optimal insulin concentration used in these 2 models (SD and 3T3-L1) for measuring the hypoglycemic activity of hypoglycemic yeast extract (HGYE) was 10 nM. The range of linear relation in the dose-response curve was 0-1000 g/ml for SD model, and 0-250 g/ml for 3T3-L1 model. The linear coefficient was 0.8611. The radioactive labeled 2-[1-14C]-Deoxy-D-Glucose was also used to confirm cytoplasmic glucose uptake by 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Comparing both the results of insulin effect and dose response of HGYE by both models, it was concluded that the 3T3-L1 model can serve as a rapid and reliable assay model for in vitro evaluation of hypoglycemic activity of yeast.Key words: 3T3-L1 adipocytes, Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat, epididymal adipocytes, hypoglycemic activity, yeast

Optical properties of a novel yellow fluorescent dopant for use in organic LEDs

In this paper, the optical properties of a novel organic, 2,8-di(t-butyl)-5,11-di[4(t-butyl) phenyl]-6,12-diphenylnaphthacene (tetra(t-butyl)rubrene) have been investigated. Our results show that there are two peaks in the photoluminescence (PL) spectra of tetra(t-butyl)rubrene (TBRb) which are also confirmed in the electroluminescence (EL) spectra. Photo-quenching of the PL intensity is observed when the irradiation time increases. It is shown that oxidation is the dominant reason for photo-quenching. The absolute refractive index and absorption coefficient have also been determined and the results correlate well with the PL results. The results show that TBRb can be a good dopant to achieve the Förster energy transfer and to assist light emission. The optical properties of TBRb are similar to those of rubrene; however, the PL of TBRb is much stronger than that of rubrene. Finally, although crystalline organics have been commonly reported by heating the sample, we report crystallization of TBRb at low temperature <230 K when the TBRb film is in an amorphous form before cooling. © Springer-Verlag 2004.postprin

Oral treatment with herbal formula B307 alleviates skeletal muscle atrophy from hind-limb unloading

PosterINTRODUCTION: Muscle atrophy can result from physical inactivity, chronic bedrest, and ageing. Traditional Chinese herbal formula B307 is a health supplement with multiple potential protective functions of organs. We investigated the effects of herbal formula B307 on muscle atrophy using the hind-limb unloading (HU) model in mice …published_or_final_versio

Optical Properties of a Novel Dye in Yellow Florescent Organic LEDs

In this paper, time-resolved PL, lifetime and crystallization of a novel organic, 2,8-di(t-butyl)-5,11-di[4(t-butyl)phenyl]-6,12-diphenylnaphthacene, which is considered to be potential candidate to substitute the conventionally used 5,6,11,12-tetraphenylnaphthacene for a higher efficient yellow-color organic LED, were investigated. The PL intensity will reduce when the irradiation time increases because of photo-quenching. It is shown that oxidation is the dominant reason for photo-quenching. In addition, TBRb has two lifetimes. The short one is /spl sim/5 ns and the long one is /spl sim/31 ns. They are considerably contributed by the short PL peak and long PL peak respectively. Furthermore, we first report, to the best knowledge, crystallization of TBRb at low temperature of 11 K and with irradiation.published_or_final_versio