A bidding system for peer-to-peer energy trading in a grid-connected microgrid

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) energy trading is a novel paradigm of power system operation, where people can generate their own energy from Renewable Energy Sources (RESs) in dwellings, offices and factories, and share it with each other locally. An architecture model was proposed to present the design and interoperability aspects of components for P2P energy trading in a microgrid. A specific Customer-to-Customer business model was introduced in a benchmark grid-connected microgrid based on the architecture model. The core component of a bidding system, called Elecbay, was also proposed and simulated using game theory. Test results show that P2P energy trading is able to balance local generation and demand, therefore, has a potential to enable a large penetration of RESs in the power grid

Performance evaluation of peer-to-peer energy sharing models

With the increasing installation of distributed generation at the demand side, an increasing number of consumers become prosumers, and many peer-to-peer (P2P) energy sharing models have been proposed to reduce the energy bill of the prosumers through stimulating energy sharing and demand response. In this paper, a three-stage evaluation methodology is proposed to assess the economic performance of P2P energy sharing models. First of all, joint and individual optimization are established to identify the value contained in the energy sharing region. The overall energy bill of the prosumer population is then estimated through an agent-based modelling with reinforcement learning for each prosumer. Finally, a performance index is defined to quantify the economic performance of P2P energy sharing models. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed evaluation methodology, and compare three existing P2P energy sharing models in a variety of electricity pricing environments

cDNA cloning and mRNA expression of heat shock protein 70 gene in blood clam Tegillarca granosa against heavy metals challenge

In this study, the full-length heat shock protein 70 of Tegillarca granosa was cloned from cDNA library by rapid amplification of cDNA end (RACE). The open reading frame (ORF) of heat shock protein 70 was 1968 bp, and it encoded a protein of 655 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 71.48 kDa and an isoelectric point of 5.25. Basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) analysis showed that the heat shock protein 70 of T. granosa shared high similarity with other species, supporting that it is a new member of heat shock protein family. Western blot analysis revealed that the generated polyclonal antibodies could specially detect native protein from whole cell lysate of T. granosa. The spatial distribution confirmed that the heat shock protein 70 was abundant in visceral mass, gill and haemocytes, and weakly in foot, mantle and adductor. Heavy metal pollutes such as lead (Pb2+), cadmium (Cd2+) and copper (Cu2+) could induce the gene expression in similar manners by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The present results indicate that heat shock protein 70 of T. granosa may be involved in environmental pollution challenges and should be considered as one of T. granosa promising molecular marker candidates.Keywords: Tegillarca granosa, heat shock protein 70, heavy metals, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(18), pp. 2341-235

PACT/RAX Regulates the Migration of Cerebellar Granule Neurons in the Developing Cerebellum

PACT and its murine ortholog RAX were originally identified as a protein activator for the dsRNA-dependent, interferon-inducible protein kinase PKR. Recent studies indicated that RAX played a role in embryogenesis and neuronal development. In this study, we investigated the expression of RAX during the postnatal development of the mouse cerebellum and its role in the migration of cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs). High expression of RAX was observed in the cerebellum from postnatal day (PD) 4 to PD9, a period when the CGNs migrate from the external granule layer (EGL) to the internal granule layer (IGL). The migration of the EGL progenitor cells in vivo was inhibited by RAX knockdown on PD4. This finding was confirmed by in vitro studies showing that RAX knockdown impaired the migration of CGNs in cerebellar microexplants. PACT/RAX-regulated migration required its third motif and was independent of PKR. PACT/RAX interacted with focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and PACT/RAX knockdown disturbed the FAK phosphorylation in CGNs. These findings demonstrated a novel function of PACT/RAX in the regulation of neuronal migration

Peer-to-peer energy trading in a microgrid

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) energy trading describes flexible energy trades between peers, where the excess energy from many small-scale Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) is traded among local customers. The feasibility of applying P2P energy trading to reduce costs for energy consumers, and to increase income for DER producers in a community microgrid was investigated. Three representative market paradigms were proposed, i.e. bill sharing, mid-market rate and an auction based pricing strategy. Each of them specified detailed business models, local energy exchange prices, as well as quantified individual customer's energy costs. An example of each methodology applied to a residential community microgrid with PV systems, validated the effectiveness of the proposed P2P trading mechanisms and identified the benefits

LncRNA-84277 is involved in chronic pain-related depressive behaviors through miR-128-3p/SIRT1 axis in central amygdala

Long-term chronic pain can lead to depression. However, the mechanism underlying chronic pain-related depression remains unclear. Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) is a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-dependent histone deacetylase (HDAC). Our previous studies have demonstrated that SIRT1 in the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) is involved in the development of chronic pain-related depression. In addition, increasing studies have indicated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a vital role in the pathogenesis of pain or depression. However, whether lncRNAs are involved in SIRT1-mediated chronic pain-related depression remains largely unknown. In this study, we identified that a novel lncRNA-84277 in CeA was the upstream molecule to regulate SIRT1 expression. Functionally, lncRNA-84277 overexpression in CeA significantly alleviated the depression-like behaviors in spared nerve injury (SNI)-induced chronic pain rats, whereas lncRNA-84277 knockdown in CeA induced the depression-like behaviors in naïve rats. Mechanically, lncRNA-84277 acted as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) to upregulate SIRT1 expression by competitively sponging miR-128-3p, and therefore improved chronic pain-related depression-like behaviors. Our findings reveal the critical role of lncRNA-84277 in CeA specifically in guarding against chronic pain-related depression via a ceRNA mechanism and provide a potential therapeutic target for chronic pain-related depression

De Novo Formation of Insulin-Producing “Neo-β Cell Islets” from Intestinal Crypts

SUMMARY The ability to interconvert terminally differentiated cells could serve as a powerful tool for cell-based treatment of degenerative diseases, including diabetes mellitus. To determine which, if any, adult tissues are competent to activate an islet β cell program, we performed an in vivo screen by expressing three β cell “reprogramming factors” in a wide spectrum of tissues. We report that transient intestinal expression of these factors—Pdx1, MafA, and Ngn3 (PMN)—promotes rapid conversion of intestinal crypt cells into endocrine cells, which coalesce into “neoislets” below the crypt base. Neoislet cells express insulin and show ultrastructural features of β cells. Importantly, intestinal neoislets are glucose-responsive and able to ameliorate hyperglycemia in diabetic mice. Moreover, PMN expression in human intestinal “organoids” stimulates the conversion of intestinal epithelial cells into β-like cells. Our results thus demonstrate that the intestine is an accessible and abundant source of functional insulin-producing cells

Toward an efficient ontology-based event correlation in SIEM

Cooperative intrusion detection use several intrusion detection systems (IDS) and analyzers in order to build a reliable overview of the monitored system trough a central security information and event management system (SIEM). In such environment, the definition of a shared vocabulary describing the exchanged information between tools is prominent. Since these pieces of information are structured, we propose in this paper to use an ontological representation based on Description Logics (DLs) which is a powerful tool for knowledge representation. Moreover, DLs are able to ensure a decidable reasoning. An alert correlation prototype is presented using this ontology, and an illustrative attack scenario is carried out to show the usefulness of the proposed ontolog