Towards Congestion Management in Distribution Networks:a Dutch Case Study on Increasing Heat Pump Hosting Capacity

The current high gas prices motivate end-users to replace their gas heating with electric heat pumps. This will likely cause frequent congestion issues in low-voltage (LV) distribution grids and slow down the heat pump adoption rate. To avoid or defer the expensive and complicated grid expansion, this study shares a solution approach of a Dutch Distribution System Operator (DSO) to enable the increasing adoption of heat pumps in existing dense housing areas. Data of the DSO and a local housing company have been combined to investigate the heat pump hosting capacity on a dense urban LV feeder, including realistic data of grid topology, load and heat dynamics, and practical operating characteristics of heat pumps. Our simulation compares two control strategies: (1) individual peak shaving and (2) central optimal power flow control. We show the central optimal power flow control with end-users' thermal comfort constraints and an objective function of minimizing losses can smoothen total grid loading and lead to flat voltage profiles. This allows the approach to be robust against baseload forecast errors, while the individual peak shaving is more prone to such errors. Moreover, by simulating the strategies on the worst-case scenarios where heat pumps are allocated to end-users at the end of the feeder, we determine the individual peak shaving strategy can slightly increase the heat pump hosting capacity from 49% where no control is imposed to 51%, while the central optimal power flow control allows 100% heat pump connections without causing grid congestion. Finally, recommendations to increase the heat pump hosting capacity are given based on simulation results

Review of Recent Developments in Technical Control Approaches for Voltage and Congestion Management in Distribution Networks

The increasing installation of distributed energy resources in residential households is causing frequent voltage and congestion issues in low- and medium-voltage electrical networks. To defer or avoid the costly and complicated grid expansion, technical, pricing-based, and market-based approaches have been proposed in the literature. These approaches can help distribution system operators (DSOs) exploit flexible resources to manage their grids. This study focuses on technical control approaches, which are easier to implement, and provides an up-to-date review of their developments in modeling, solution approaches, and innovative applications facilitating indirect control from DSOs. Challenges and future research directions are also discussed

Influence of daily 10-85 mu g vitamin D supplements during pregnancy and lactation on maternal vitamin D status and mature milk antirachitic activity

Pregnant and lactating women and breastfed infants are at risk of vitamin D deficiency. The supplemental vitamin D dose that optimises maternal vitamin D status and breast milk antirachitic activity (ARA) is unclear. Healthy pregnant women were randomised to 10 (n 10), 35 (n 11), 60 (n 11) and 85 (n 11) mu g vitamin D-3/d from 20 gestational weeks (GW) to 4 weeks postpartum (PP). The participants also received increasing dosages of fish oil supplements and a multivitamin. Treatment allocation was not blinded. Parent vitamin D and 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) were measured in maternal plasma at 20 GW, 36 GW and 4 weeks PP, and in milk at 4 weeks PP. Median 25(OH)D and parent vitamin D at 20 GW were 85 (range 25-131) nmol/l and 'not detectable (nd)' (range nd-40) nmol/l. Both increased, seemingly dose dependent, from 20 to 36 GW and decreased from 36 GW to 4 weeks PP. In all, 35 mu g vitamin D/d was needed to increase 25(OH)D to adequacy (80-249 nmol/l) in >97 center dot 5 % of participants at 36 GW, while >85 mu g/d was needed to reach this criterion at 4 weeks PP. The 25(OH)D increments from 20 to 36 GW and from 20 GW to 4 weeks PP diminished with supplemental dose and related inversely to 25(OH)D at 20 GW. Milk ARA related to vitamin D-3 dose, but the infant adequate intake of 513 IU/l was not reached. Vitamin D-3 dosages of 35 and >85 mu g/d were needed to reach adequate maternal vitamin D status at 36 GW and 4 weeks PP, respectively

The acceptance and voice quality of a new voice prosthesis ‘Vega High performance’:a feasibility study

Background: The Provox Vega High Performance (PVHP) is a newly developed voice prosthesis (VP) with an aim to achieve a longer and more predictable lifetime.Objectives: This feasibility study aims to assess patient acceptance of the PVHP VP, evaluate adverse events, voice quality, and device lifetime. Methods: Laryngectomized patients previously using a Provox Vega or ActiValve Light were included. Acceptance and voice outcomes were evaluated at two-time points with a 2-week interval. Baseline measurements were taken with the standard VP, followed by placement of the PVHP for the 2-week assessment. Results: Fifteen participants completed the study, with thirteen being initial Vega-users. PVHP acceptance was 87% 2 weeks after placement. Median device lifetime for all VPs was 64 d (range 14–370). In the subgroup without periprosthetic leakage, the median device lifetime was 101 d (range 31–370). Acceptance dropped to 40% after device failure. Voice quality did not differ between PVHP and baseline VP. The most reported adverse event was PVHP valve stickiness (46%). Conclusion and significance: Acceptance of the PVHP is largely dependent on device lifetime, decreasing from 87% to 40% after leakage or replacement. Voice quality remains consistent across different VPs. Developing a long-lasting VP remains a challenge.</p

The acceptance and voice quality of a new voice prosthesis ‘Vega High performance’:a feasibility study

Background: The Provox Vega High Performance (PVHP) is a newly developed voice prosthesis (VP) with an aim to achieve a longer and more predictable lifetime.Objectives: This feasibility study aims to assess patient acceptance of the PVHP VP, evaluate adverse events, voice quality, and device lifetime. Methods: Laryngectomized patients previously using a Provox Vega or ActiValve Light were included. Acceptance and voice outcomes were evaluated at two-time points with a 2-week interval. Baseline measurements were taken with the standard VP, followed by placement of the PVHP for the 2-week assessment. Results: Fifteen participants completed the study, with thirteen being initial Vega-users. PVHP acceptance was 87% 2 weeks after placement. Median device lifetime for all VPs was 64 d (range 14–370). In the subgroup without periprosthetic leakage, the median device lifetime was 101 d (range 31–370). Acceptance dropped to 40% after device failure. Voice quality did not differ between PVHP and baseline VP. The most reported adverse event was PVHP valve stickiness (46%). Conclusion and significance: Acceptance of the PVHP is largely dependent on device lifetime, decreasing from 87% to 40% after leakage or replacement. Voice quality remains consistent across different VPs. Developing a long-lasting VP remains a challenge.</p

The acceptance and voice quality of a new voice prosthesis ‘Vega High performance’:a feasibility study

Background: The Provox Vega High Performance (PVHP) is a newly developed voice prosthesis (VP) with an aim to achieve a longer and more predictable lifetime.Objectives: This feasibility study aims to assess patient acceptance of the PVHP VP, evaluate adverse events, voice quality, and device lifetime. Methods: Laryngectomized patients previously using a Provox Vega or ActiValve Light were included. Acceptance and voice outcomes were evaluated at two-time points with a 2-week interval. Baseline measurements were taken with the standard VP, followed by placement of the PVHP for the 2-week assessment. Results: Fifteen participants completed the study, with thirteen being initial Vega-users. PVHP acceptance was 87% 2 weeks after placement. Median device lifetime for all VPs was 64 d (range 14–370). In the subgroup without periprosthetic leakage, the median device lifetime was 101 d (range 31–370). Acceptance dropped to 40% after device failure. Voice quality did not differ between PVHP and baseline VP. The most reported adverse event was PVHP valve stickiness (46%). Conclusion and significance: Acceptance of the PVHP is largely dependent on device lifetime, decreasing from 87% to 40% after leakage or replacement. Voice quality remains consistent across different VPs. Developing a long-lasting VP remains a challenge.</p

The acceptance and voice quality of a new voice prosthesis ‘Vega High performance’:a feasibility study

Background: The Provox Vega High Performance (PVHP) is a newly developed voice prosthesis (VP) with an aim to achieve a longer and more predictable lifetime.Objectives: This feasibility study aims to assess patient acceptance of the PVHP VP, evaluate adverse events, voice quality, and device lifetime. Methods: Laryngectomized patients previously using a Provox Vega or ActiValve Light were included. Acceptance and voice outcomes were evaluated at two-time points with a 2-week interval. Baseline measurements were taken with the standard VP, followed by placement of the PVHP for the 2-week assessment. Results: Fifteen participants completed the study, with thirteen being initial Vega-users. PVHP acceptance was 87% 2 weeks after placement. Median device lifetime for all VPs was 64 d (range 14–370). In the subgroup without periprosthetic leakage, the median device lifetime was 101 d (range 31–370). Acceptance dropped to 40% after device failure. Voice quality did not differ between PVHP and baseline VP. The most reported adverse event was PVHP valve stickiness (46%). Conclusion and significance: Acceptance of the PVHP is largely dependent on device lifetime, decreasing from 87% to 40% after leakage or replacement. Voice quality remains consistent across different VPs. Developing a long-lasting VP remains a challenge.</p

The acceptance and voice quality of a new voice prosthesis ‘Vega High performance’:a feasibility study

Background: The Provox Vega High Performance (PVHP) is a newly developed voice prosthesis (VP) with an aim to achieve a longer and more predictable lifetime.Objectives: This feasibility study aims to assess patient acceptance of the PVHP VP, evaluate adverse events, voice quality, and device lifetime. Methods: Laryngectomized patients previously using a Provox Vega or ActiValve Light were included. Acceptance and voice outcomes were evaluated at two-time points with a 2-week interval. Baseline measurements were taken with the standard VP, followed by placement of the PVHP for the 2-week assessment. Results: Fifteen participants completed the study, with thirteen being initial Vega-users. PVHP acceptance was 87% 2 weeks after placement. Median device lifetime for all VPs was 64 d (range 14–370). In the subgroup without periprosthetic leakage, the median device lifetime was 101 d (range 31–370). Acceptance dropped to 40% after device failure. Voice quality did not differ between PVHP and baseline VP. The most reported adverse event was PVHP valve stickiness (46%). Conclusion and significance: Acceptance of the PVHP is largely dependent on device lifetime, decreasing from 87% to 40% after leakage or replacement. Voice quality remains consistent across different VPs. Developing a long-lasting VP remains a challenge.</p

Increased water-use efficiency and reduced CO2 uptake by plants during droughts at a continental-scale

Severe droughts in the Northern Hemisphere cause a widespread decline of agricultural yield, the reduction of forest carbon uptake, and increased CO2 growth rates in the atmosphere. Plants respond to droughts by partially closing their stomata to limit their evaporative water loss, at the expense of carbon uptake by photosynthesis. This trade-off maximizes their water-use efficiency (WUE), as measured for many individual plants under laboratory conditions and field experiments. Here we analyse the 13C/12C stable isotope ratio in atmospheric CO2 to provide new observational evidence of the impact of droughts on the WUE across areas of millions of square kilometres and spanning one decade of recent climate variability. We find strong and spatially coherent increases in WUE along with widespread reductions of net carbon uptake over the Northern Hemisphere during severe droughts that affected Europe, Russia and the United States in 2001–2011. The impact of those droughts on WUE and carbon uptake by vegetation is substantially larger than simulated by the land-surface schemes of six state-of-the-art climate models. This suggests that drought-induced carbon–climate feedbacks may be too small in these models and improvements to their vegetation dynamics using stable isotope observations can help to improve their drought response

Guideline Adherence of Monitoring Antipsychotic Use for Nonpsychotic Indications in Children and Adolescents A Patient Record Review:A Patient Record Review

Contains fulltext : 231603.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access