Community Battery Energy Storage Systems for Enhancing Distribution System Operation: A Multi-objective Optimization Approach

The growing penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) in distribution networks (DNs) raises new operational challenges, particularly in terms of reliability and voltage regulation. In response to these challenges, we introduce an innovative DN operation framework with multi-objective optimization, leveraging community battery energy storage systems (C-BESS). The proposed framework targets two key operational objectives: first, to minimize voltage deviation, which is a concern for a distribution network service provider (DNSP), and second, to maximize the utilization of DERs on the demand side. Recognizing the conflicting nature of these objectives, we utilize C-BESS to enhance the system's adaptability to dynamically adjust DN operations. The multi-objective optimization problem is solved using the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II). Case studies using real-world data are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed framework. The results show significant improvements in voltage regulation and DER utilization, demonstrating the potential of C-BESS in enabling more reliable DN operation. Our findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on the role of C-BESS in DN operation enhancement and DER integration.Comment: IEEE International Conference on Energy Technologies for Future Grids, 2023 (IEEE ETFG 2023

An essential role for TAK1 in the contact hypersensitivity response

Contact hypersensitivity (CHS) is a delayed-type hypersensitivity that can be induced by haptens, such as 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB). Innate and adaptive immunities are both important for the development of CHS. To treat CHS-related diseases, such as allergic contact dermatitis, a disease prevalent in industrialized countries, ways of interfering with improper immune function during CHS responses need to be identified. Transforming growth factor-β-activated kinase-1 (TAK1), a member of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase family, is important for both innate and adaptive immunities. We thus hypothesized that the CHS response could be inhibited by interfering with TAK1 activity. Using a mouse model in which TAK1 deletion can be locally induced, we observed that TAK deficiency led to an impaired CHS response and was associated with defective T-cell expansion, activation and interferon (IFN)-γ production. In addition, we investigated the effect of deleting TAK1 specifically in dendritic cells (DC) on the CHS response. We found that when TAK1 is deficient in DC, the CHS response was abolished and hapten-elicited T-cell responses were defective. Collectively, this study demonstrates an essential role of TAK1 in the induction of CHS and suggests that targeting TAK1 could be a viable approach to treat CHS

Dihydroartemisinin ameliorates inflammatory disease by its reciprocal effects on Th and Treg cell function via modulating mTOR pathway

Dihydroartemisinin (DHA) is an important derivative of an herb medicine Artemisia annua L., used in ancient China. DHA is currently used world-wide to treat malaria by killing malaria-causing parasites. In addition to this prominent effect, DHA is suggested to regulate cellular functions, such as angiogenesis, tumor cell growth and immunity. Nonetheless, how DHA affects T cell function remains poorly understood. We found that DHA potently suppressed Th cell differentiation in vitro. Unexpectedly however, DHA greatly promoted Treg cell generation, in a manner dependent on TGF-βR:Smad signal. In addition, DHA treatment effectively reduced EAE onset and ameliorated ongoing EAE in mice. Administration of DHA significantly decreased Th but increased Treg cells in EAE-inflicted mice without apparent global immune suppression. Moreover, DHA modulated mTOR pathway, because mTOR signal was attenuated in T cells upon DHA treatment. Importantly, enhanced Akt activity neutralized DHA-mediated effects on T cells in an mTOR dependent fashion. This study therefore reveals a novel immune regulatory function of DHA to reciprocally regulate Th and Treg cell generation through modulating mTOR pathway. It addresses how DHA regulates immune function and suggests a new type of drug for treating diseases where mTOR activity to be tempered

Nano-Subsidence-Assisted Precise Integration of Patterned Two-Dimensional Materials for High-Performance Photodetector Arrays

The spatially precise integration of arrays of micropatterned two-dimensional (2D) crystals onto three-dimensionally structured Si/SiO2 substrates represents an attractive, low-cost system-on-chip strategy toward the realization of extended functions in silicon microelectronics. However, the reliable integration of such atomically thin arrays on planar patterned surfaces has proven challenging due to their poor adhesion to underlying substrates, as ruled by weak van der Waals interactions. Here, we report on an integration method utilizing the flexibility of the atomically thin crystals and their physical subsidence in liquids, which enables the reliable fabrication of the micropatterned 2D materials/Si arrays. Our photodiode devices display peak sensitivity as high as 0.35 A/W and external quantum efficiency (EQE) of ∼90%. The nano-subsidence technique represents a viable path to on-chip integration of 2D crystals onto silicon for advanced microelectronics

Subjective evaluation of the combining effect between the virtual bass and head related transfer functions

Earphones are commonly equipped with miniature loudspeaker units, which cannot transmit enough power of low-frequency sound. Meanwhile, there is often only one loudspeaker unit employed on each side of the earphone, whereby the multi-channel spatial audio processing cannot be applied. Therefore, the combined usage of the virtual bass (VB) and head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) is necessary for an immersive listening experience with earphones. However, the combining effect of the VB and HRTFs has not been comprehensively reported. The VB is developed based on the missing fundamental effect, providing that the presence of harmonics can be perceived as their fundamental frequency, even if the fundamental frequency is not presented. HRTFs describe the transmission process of a sound propagating from the sound source to human ears. Monaural audio processed by a pair of HRTFs can be perceived by the listener as a sound source located in the direction associated with the HRTFs. This paper carries out subjective listening tests and their results reveal that the harmonics required by the VB should be generated in the same direction as the high-frequency sound. The bass quality is rarely distorted by the presence of HRTFs, but the localization accuracy is occasionally degraded by the VB

Spectrometer-Based Line-of-Sight Temperature Measurements during Alkali-Pulverized Coal Combustion in a Power Station Boiler

A portable spectrometer system that simultaneously measures the temperature, emissivity, and radiation intensity of an alkali metal was used in a 1000 MW coal-fired power plant boiler furnace. A calibrated fiber-optic spectrometer system was applied to obtain the radiation intensity of the flame. A simple method based on polynomial fitting was used to separate the continuous baseline from the measured flame spectra that contained both continuous and discontinuous bands. Nine synthetic spectra that included the baseline, noise, and three simulated discontinuous bands based on a Gaussian function were created to test the accuracy of the separation method. The accuracy of the estimated continuous baseline was evaluated by the goodness-of-fit coefficient quality metric. The results indicated good spectral matching for the selected profiles. The soot emissivity model by Hottel and Broughton was employed to calculate temperature and emissivity. The influence of discontinuous emission spectra on the temperature and emissivity calculations was evaluated. The results showed that the maximum difference of the measurement points of the calculated temperature was only 6 K and that the relative difference in emissivity among the measurement points was less than 5%. In addition, a comparison between the actual intensity of the alkali metal and the calculated temperature indicated that the change in the radiation intensity of the alkali metal followed the trend of the calculated temperature. This study serves as a preliminary investigation for measuring gas-phase alkali metal concentrations in a furnace

Face recognition based on the feature fusion of 2DLDA and LBP

Conference Name:4th International Conference on Information, Intelligence, Systems and Applications, IISA 2013. Conference Address: Piraeus-Athens, Greece. Time:July 10, 2013 - July 12, 2013.To study the robustness of face recognition algorithms on conditions of complex illumination, facial expression and posture, three subset databases (Illumination, Expression and Posture subsets) are constructed by selecting images from several existing face databases. Advantages and disadvantages of seven typical algorithms on extracting global and local features are discussed respectively through the experiments on ORL and the three databases mentioned above. To improve the recognition rate, an algorithm of face recognition based on the feature fusion of Two-Dimensional Linear Discriminant Analysis (2DLDA) and Local Binary Pattern (LBP) is proposed in this paper. The experimental results verify both the complementarities of the two kinds of feature and the effectiveness of the proposed feature fusion algorithm. ? 2013 IEEE