A Techno-Economic Analysis of Wind Generation in Conjunction With Compressed Air Energy In The Integrated Single Electricity Market.

The Integrated Single Electricity Market (I-SEM) is the proposed wholesale electricity market for Ireland and it is intended to replace the current Single Electricity Market (SEM) by 2018. Subsequently, substantial modifications will be required to the SEM and this has led to significant uncertainty for stakeholders. The SEM currently features no forecast risk for renewables such as wind and there is no concept of balance responsibility. Under the I-SEM, wind generation will be exposed to forecast risk and the requirement to be balance responsible. The use of Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) could represent a better system configuration which would reduce the reliance on expensive generation for system balancing and reduce the financial risk to wind generation. Thus, the aim of this research was to estimate the economic performance of wind generation with and without CAES from a private investor’s perspective in the I-SEM. More specifically, the Balancing Mechanism (BM) System Marginal Prices (SMPs), total generation costs and CO2 emissions were estimated from a systems perspective under the I-SEM. The approach was to quantify the SMPs, total generation costs and CO2 emissions for each scenario using a validated unit commitment and economic dispatch PLEXOS model of the Irish and British electricity markets under the I-SEM structure. The private Net Present Value of wind generation was then evaluated using the collected financial and technical project data and the electricity price and generation outputs from the I-SEM model for each scenario. The economic viability of CAES from a systems perspective was then assessed using techno-economic data for the CAES plant and outputs from the I-SEM model. Results revealed that the SMPs increase between the day-ahead and BM markets for the both scenarios. Moreover, the SMPs are most sensitive to the fuel and carbon prices, while the remaining input parameters have a more modest impact. A comparison of the total generation costs revealed that the inclusion of the CAES plant in the I-SEM led to savings of €8 million over the year 2020. The CO2 emissions were estimated for each scenario and a modest emissions increase of 1% (0.1 MtCO2) between the BAU and BAU+CAES scenarios occurred due to the addition of the CAES plant. The NPV of wind generation was estimated as €1.91bn and €2.01bn for the BAU and BAU+CAES scenarios, respectively. The CAES plant receives a positive net revenue of €21.6 million over the year and is considered economically viable given that it recovers it costs from the revenue of selling energy to the I-SEM

Assessing the Benefits of Compressed Air Energy Storage on the 2020 Irish Power System

Power systems have evolved as countries implement energy policies focusing on energy efficiency and increased share of renewable energy sources (RES). At the forefront is non-dispatchable generation such as wind and solar. Traditionally power systems were designed for fully dispatchable generating plant. However, these powers systems are under additional pressure due to the variable operational characteristics of RES. Consequently, capital investments in grid reinforcement, interconnection, additional gas generators and smart grid initiatives have been proposed and implemented. Moreover, an increased interest in energy storage technologies has evolved due to their various economic and operational benefits to power systems. Current compressed air energy storage (CAES) plants have shown economic feasibility and reliability. Thus, the main focus of this paper is to investigate and compare two scenarios; one without CAES and a second with CAES as an additional generator in the 2020 Irish power system using power systems simulation software PLEXOS

Autonomous sensors for nutrient monitoring

Cultural eutrophication is the process whereby a body of water becomes over-enriched with nutrients, in particular nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), resulting in algal blooms and subsequent death and decomposition which deplete oxygen levels in the water (i.e. hypoxia), leading to the loss of aquatic animals (e.g. fishes). This is caused by excess N and P. Agriculture is the major source to Irish rivers and estuaries, with 70% of P loads and 82% of N loads attributed to agricultural sources . Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico has been linked to excessive N loading. Nuisance algal blooms in Lake Erie have been linked to agricultural P. Previous efforts have concentrated on measuring agricultural runoff directly using grab samples or spot measurements, but high frequency sampling will be essential to accurately characterize the extent and temporal resolution of agricultural impacts. Low cost real-time nutrient sensors are critical for quantifying the influence of agriculture on freshwater, and more broadly, for effective water management throughout Irish, European, and American river basins

Estimating the Electricity Prices, Generation Costs and CO2 Emissions of Large Scale Wind Energy Exports from Ireland to Great Britain

The share of wind generation in the Irish and British electricity markets is set to increase by 2020 due to renewable energy (RE) targets. The United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland have set ambitious targets which require 30% and 40% of electricity demand to come from RE, mainly wind, by 2020, respectively. Ireland has sufficient indigenous onshore wind energy resources to exceed the RE target, while the UK faces uncertainty in achieving its target. A possible solution for the UK is to import RE directly from large scale onshore and offshore wind energy projects in Ireland; this possibility has recently been explored by both governments but is currently on hold. Thus, the aim of this paper is to estimate the effects of large scale wind energy in the Irish and British electricity markets in terms of wholesale system marginal prices, total generation costs and CO2 emissions. The results indicate when the large scale Irish-based wind energy projects are connected directly to the UK there is a decrease of 0.6% and 2% in the Irish and British wholesale system marginal prices under the UK National Grid slow progression scenario, respectively

APCR, factor V gene known and novel SNPs and adverse pregnancy outcomes in an Irish cohort of pregnant women

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Activated Protein C Resistance (APCR), a poor anticoagulant response of APC in haemostasis, is the commonest heritable thrombophilia. Adverse outcomes during pregnancy have been linked to APCR. This study determined the frequency of APCR, factor V gene known and novel SNPs and adverse outcomes in a group of pregnant women.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Blood samples collected from 907 pregnant women were tested using the Coatest^®Classic and Modified functional haematological tests to establish the frequency of APCR. PCR-Restriction Enzyme Analysis (PCR-REA), PCR-DNA probe hybridisation analysis and DNA sequencing were used for molecular screening of known mutations in the factor V gene in subjects determined to have APCR based on the Coatest^®Classic and/or Modified functional haematological tests. Glycosylase Mediated Polymorphism Detection (GMPD), a SNP screening technique and DNA sequencing, were used to identify SNPs in the factor V gene of 5 APCR subjects.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Sixteen percent of the study group had an APCR phenotype. Factor V Leiden (FVL), FV Cambridge, and haplotype (H) R2 alleles were identified in this group. Thirty-three SNPs; 9 silent SNPs and 24 missense SNPs, of which 20 SNPs were novel, were identified in the 5 APCR subjects. Adverse pregnancy outcomes were found at a frequency of 35% in the group with APCR based on Classic Coatest^®test only and at 45% in the group with APCR based on the Modified Coatest^®test. Forty-eight percent of subjects with FVL had adverse outcomes while in the group of subjects with no FVL, adverse outcomes occurred at a frequency of 37%.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Known mutations and novel SNPs in the factor V gene were identified in the study cohort determined to have APCR in pregnancy. Further studies are required to investigate the contribution of these novel SNPs to the APCR phenotype. Adverse outcomes including early pregnancy loss (EPL), preeclampsia (PET) and intrauterine growth restriction (IGUR) were not significantly more frequent in subjects with APCR compared to normal pregnant women however Pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) was found to be associated with FVL in our study group.</p

Anthropometric profiles of elite athletes

Quantifying body composition is central to monitoring performance and training in athletes, however limited sport-specific anthropometric reference data, assessed and reported in a standardised manner, is available. This study provides anthropometric profiles in elite male athletes from different sports. Elite male athletes (n = 73) from National squads of boxing (n = 10), cricket (n = 21), swimming (n = 23), hockey (n = 10) and eventing (n = 9) were assessed for body mass, height, eight skinfolds (triceps, subscapular, biceps, iliac crest, supraspinal, abdominal, thigh and medial calf), body circumferences (arm, waist, hip, thigh and calf) and muscle circumferences (arm, thigh, calf) using ISAK standardised guidelines. For all athletes, large variability exists for measures of skinfold thickness at each skinfold site. Swimming (64.6 ± 16.1 mm) and boxing (63.5 ± 16.1 mm) were similar for the sum of eight skinfolds (Σ8SKF) but swimming had lower Σ8SKF compared to cricket (86.1 ± 21.3 mm; p = .011) and eventing (89.9 ± 30.7 mm; p = .028). Hockey (81.9 ± 26.3 mm) and eventing had the most varied Σ8SKF. Thigh body (p=.006) and muscle circumferences (p = .005) were significantly reduced in boxing compared to hockey. No differences were seen between sports for arm (p = .346; ES = .06) and calf (p = .382; ES = .06) muscle circumferences. The anthropometric profiles for elite athletes from various sports during pre-season training will be a useful resource for sports professionals when monitoring and interpreting body composition data. Large variation exists in anthropometric profiles between the different athletes and different sports, highlighting the necessity to have sport-specific normative ranges available to allow optimal monitoring of individual athletes particularly varying across sports as well as age, training status and position

A Limited Role for Suppression in the Central Field of Individuals with Strabismic Amblyopia.

yesBackground: Although their eyes are pointing in different directions, people with long-standing strabismic amblyopia typically do not experience double-vision or indeed any visual symptoms arising from their condition. It is generally believed that the phenomenon of suppression plays a major role in dealing with the consequences of amblyopia and strabismus, by preventing images from the weaker/deviating eye from reaching conscious awareness. Suppression is thus a highly sophisticated coping mechanism. Although suppression has been studied for over 100 years the literature is equivocal in relation to the extent of the retina that is suppressed, though the method used to investigate suppression is crucial to the outcome. There is growing evidence that some measurement methods lead to artefactual claims that suppression exists when it does not. Methodology/Results: Here we present the results of an experiment conducted with a new method to examine the prevalence, depth and extent of suppression in ten individuals with strabismic amblyopia. Seven subjects (70%) showed no evidence whatsoever for suppression and in the three individuals who did (30%), the depth and extent of suppression was small. Conclusions: Suppression may play a much smaller role in dealing with the negative consequences of strabismic amblyopia than previously thought. Whereas recent claims of this nature have been made only in those with micro-strabismus our results show extremely limited evidence for suppression across the central visual field in strabismic amblyopes more generally. Instead of suppressing the image from the weaker/deviating eye, we suggest the visual system of individuals with strabismic amblyopia may act to maximise the possibilities for binocular co-operation. This is consistent with recent evidence from strabismic and amblyopic individuals that their binocular mechanisms are intact, and that, just as in visual normals, performance with two eyes is better than with the better eye alone in these individuals

E2F5 status significantly improves malignancy diagnosis of epithelial ovarian cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ovarian epithelial cancer (OEC) usually presents in the later stages of the disease. Factors, especially those associated with cell-cycle genes, affecting the genesis and tumour progression for ovarian cancer are largely unknown. We hypothesized that over-expressed transcription factors (TFs), as well as those that are driving the expression of the OEC over-expressed genes, could be the key for OEC genesis and potentially useful tissue and serum markers for malignancy associated with OEC.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using a combination of computational (selection of candidate TF markers and malignancy prediction) and experimental approaches (tissue microarray and western blotting on patient samples) we identified and evaluated E2F5 transcription factor involved in cell proliferation, as a promising candidate regulatory target in early stage disease. Our hypothesis was supported by our tissue array experiments that showed E2F5 expression only in OEC samples but not in normal and benign tissues, and by significantly positively biased expression in serum samples done using western blotting studies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Analysis of clinical cases shows that of the E2F5 status is characteristic for a different population group than one covered by CA125, a conventional OEC biomarker. E2F5 used in different combinations with CA125 for distinguishing malignant cyst from benign cyst shows that the presence of CA125 or E2F5 increases sensitivity of OEC detection to 97.9% (an increase from 87.5% if only CA125 is used) and, more importantly, the presence of both CA125 and E2F5 increases specificity of OEC to 72.5% (an increase from 55% if only CA125 is used). This significantly improved accuracy suggests possibility of an improved diagnostics of OEC. Furthermore, detection of malignancy status in 86 cases (38 benign, 48 early and late OEC) shows that the use of E2F5 status in combination with other clinical characteristics allows for an improved detection of malignant cases with sensitivity, specificity, F-measure and accuracy of 97.92%, 97.37%, 97.92% and 97.67%, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Overall, our findings, in addition to opening a realistic possibility for improved OEC diagnosis, provide an indirect evidence that a cell-cycle regulatory protein E2F5 might play a significant role in OEC pathogenesis.</p

Modernism, class and colonialism in Robert Noonan’s The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists

This essay explores Robert Noonan’s 1914 novel, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, as a work of Irish modernist fiction. Reading its fragmented narrative as a reflection of the author’s subaltern position as an Irish republican and socialist, it interprets Noonan’s work as the product of the anticolonial and class struggles in which he was involved. Its critique of capitalist and imperial hegemony and the assertions that suffering, injustice and violence are normal, natural or inevitable phenomena reflects the author’s frustration, anger and desperation. In this way the novel counters and decentres the bourgeois-imperial dynamic that was reflected in the textual stability of Victorian realism. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is an uneasy text that is at once ruptured and uncertain of its own aesthetic status and conveys, through its shifting, episodic plot, the precariousness of a working-class existence permanently poised “on the brink of destitution.” © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Grou