Vehicle-to-grid regulation based on a dynamic simulation of mobility behavior

This study establishes a new approach to analyzing the economic impacts of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) regulation by simulating the restrictions arising from un-predictable mobility requests by vehicle users. A case study for Germany using average daily values (in the following also called the "static" approach) and a dynamic simulation including different mobility use patterns are presented. Comparing the dynamic approach with the static approach reveals a significant difference in the power a vehicle can offer for regulation and provides insights into the necessary size of vehicle pools and the possible adaptations required in the regulation market to render V2G feasible. In a first step, the regulation of primary, secondary and tertiary control is ana-lyzed based on previous static methods used to investigate V2G and data from the four German regulation areas. It is shown that negative secondary control is economically the most beneficial for electric vehicles because it offers the high-est potential for charging with 'low-priced' energy from negative regulation. In a second step, a new method based on a Monte Carlo simulation using stochastic mobility behavior is applied to look at the negative secondary control market in more detail. Our simulation indicates that taking dynamic driving behavior into account results in a 40% reduction of the power available for regulation. Be-cause of the high value of power in the regulation market this finding has a strong impact on the resulting revenues. Further, we demonstrate that, for the data used, a pool size of 10,000 vehicles seems reasonable to balance the var-iation in driving behavior of each individual. In the case of the German regula-tion market, which uses monthly bids, a daily or hourly bid period is recom-mended. This adaptation would be necessary to provide individual regulation assuming that the vehicles are primarily used for mobility reasons and cannot deliver the same amount of power every hour of the week. --

Sequence Skill Acquisition and Off-Line Learning in Normal Aging

It is well known that certain cognitive abilities decline with age. The ability to form certain new declarative memories, particularly memories for facts and events, has been widely shown to decline with advancing age. In contrast, the effects of aging on the ability to form new procedural memories such as skills are less well known, though it appears that older adults are able to acquire some new procedural skills over practice. The current study examines the effects of normal aging on procedural memory more closely by comparing the effects of aging on the encoding or acquisition stage of procedural learning versus its effects on the consolidation, or between-session stage of procedural learning. Twelve older and 14 young participants completed a sequence-learning task (the Serial Reaction Time Task) over a practice session and at a re-test session 24 hours later. Older participants actually demonstrated more sequence skill during acquisition than the young. However, older participants failed to show skill improvement at re-test as the young participants did. Age thus appears to have a differential effect upon procedural learning stages such that older adults' skill acquisition remains relatively intact, in some cases even superior, compared to that of young adults, while their skill consolidation may be poorer than that of young adults. Although the effect of normal aging on procedural consolidation remains unclear, aging may actually enhance skill acquisition on some procedural tasks

High-fat diet exacerbates SIV pathogenesis and accelerates disease progression

Copyright: © 2019. American Society for Clinical Investigation.Consuming a high-fat diet (HFD) is a risk factor for obesity and diabetes; both of these diseases are also associated with systemic inflammation, similar to HIV infection. A HFD induces intestinal dysbiosis and impairs liver function and coagulation, with a potential negative impact on HIV/SIV pathogenesis. We administered a HFD rich in saturated fats and cholesterol to nonpathogenic (African green monkeys) and pathogenic (pigtailed macaques) SIV hosts. The HFD had a negative impact on SIV disease progression in both species. Thus, increased cell-associated SIV DNA and RNA occurred in the HFD-receiving nonhuman primates, indicating a potential reservoir expansion. The HFD induced prominent immune cell infiltration in the adipose tissue, an important SIV reservoir, and heightened systemic immune activation and inflammation, altering the intestinal immune environment and triggering gut damage and microbial translocation. Furthermore, HFD altered lipid metabolism and HDL oxidation and also induced liver steatosis and fibrosis. These metabolic disturbances triggered incipient atherosclerosis and heightened cardiovascular risk in the SIV-infected HFD-receiving nonhuman primates. Our study demonstrates that dietary intake has a discernable impact on the natural history of HIV/SIV infections and suggests that dietary changes can be used as adjuvant approaches for HIV-infected subjects, to reduce inflammation and the risk of non-AIDS comorbidities and possibly other infectious diseases.This study was funded through NIH/NHLBI/NIAID/NIDDK/ NCRR R01 grants HL117715 (to IP), HL123096 (to IP), AI119346 (to CA), DK113919 (to IP and CA), DK119936 (to CA), RR025781 (to CA and IP), and AI104373 (to RMR). RMR was funded by grant PTDC/ MAT-APL/31602/2017 from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portugal). DNF and CCW were supported by the University of Colorado GI and Liver Innate Immunity Program. KDR and BBP were partly supported by the NIH Training Grant T32AI065380. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A perspectiva pragmática nas pesquisas sobre prática instrumental: condições e implicações procedimentais A pragmatic perspective in instrumental practice research: conditions and procedural implications

Pesquisas em prática instrumental evidenciam tendências que expressam certos aspectos de racionalidade calculada da ação e apontam para uma perspectiva pragmática de engajamento pessoal frente às situações de prática. Sistematizações sobre modos intencionais de proceder na prática instrumental em conexão com níveis de especialização músico-instrumental encontram-se não somente nos resultados dessas pesquisas, mas também implícitos nos conceitos de prática. Assim, o presente artigo discute a natureza e a finalidade das condições procedimentais implícitas nos conceitos e resultados de pesquisas em prática instrumental. Implicações procedimentais apresentam-se também nas discussões referentes à quantidade e a qualidade na prática, e justificam a existência de níveis diferenciados de especialização músico-instrumental na prática. O presente artigo aborda ainda a relação entre procedimentos e estratégias de prática.<br>Research in instrumental practice has shown some trends that express certain aspects of calculated rationality, and point out to a pragmatic regime of personal commitment during practice. The systematization of the intentional procedures of the performer in order to improve and to refine one's music expertise level is present in research as well as in the concepts of instrumental practice. Thus, the present article discusses the nature and the goals of the procedimental conditions implicit in the concepts and research results in instrumental practice. Procedimental implications are also present in the discussion of the role of quantity and quality in the practice and justify the existence of different levels of instrumental expertise in the practice. This article also raises the relationship between procedures and strategies of practice

Environment of Peace: Security in a New Era of Risk

The environmental crisis is increasing risks to security and peace worldwide, notably in countries that are already fragile. Indicators of insecurity such as the number of conflicts, the number of hungry people and military expenditure are rising; so are indicators of environmental decline, climate change, biodiversity, pollution and other areas. In combination, the security and environmental crises are creating compound, cascading, emergent, systemic and existential risks. Without profound changes in approach by institutions of authority, risks will inevitably proliferate quickly.Environment of Peace: Security in a New Era of Risk surveys the evolving risk landscape and documents a number of developments that indicate a pathway to solutions––in international law and policy, in peacekeeping operations and among non-governmental organizations. It finds that two principal avenues need to be developed: (a) combining peacebuilding and environmental restoration, and (b) effectively addressing the underlying environmental issues. It also analyses the potential of existing and emerging pro-environment measures for exacerbating risks to peace and security. The findings demonstrate that only just and peaceful transitions to more sustainable practices can be effective––and show that these transitions also need to be rapid.Environment of Peace: Security in a New Era of Risk offers policy principles and recommendations for navigating this new era of risk. A longer report setting out the evidence base in detail will be published later this year

Environment of Peace: Security in a New Era of Risk

The environmental crisis is increasing risks to security and peace worldwide, notably in countries that are already fragile. Indicators of insecurity such as the number of conflicts, the number of hungry people and military expenditure are rising; so are indicators of environmental decline, climate change, biodiversity, pollution and other areas. In combination, the security and environmental crises are creating compound, cascading, emergent, systemic and existential risks. Without profound changes in approach by institutions of authority, risks will inevitably proliferate quickly.Environment of Peace: Security in a New Era of Risk surveys the evolving risk landscape and documents a number of developments that indicate a pathway to solutions––in international law and policy, in peacekeeping operations and among non-governmental organizations. It finds that two principal avenues need to be developed: (a) combining peacebuilding and environmental restoration, and (b) effectively addressing the underlying environmental issues. It also analyses the potential of existing and emerging pro-environment measures for exacerbating risks to peace and security. The findings demonstrate that only just and peaceful transitions to more sustainable practices can be effective––and show that these transitions also need to be rapid.Environment of Peace: Security in a New Era of Risk offers policy principles and recommendations for navigating this new era of risk. A longer report setting out the evidence base in detail will be published later this year