A virtual power plant model for time-driven power flow calculations

This paper presents the implementation of a custom-made virtual power plant model in OpenDSS. The goal is to develop a model adequate for time-driven power flow calculations in distribution systems. The virtual power plant is modeled as the aggregation of renewable generation and energy storage connected to the distribution system through an inverter. The implemented operation mode allows the virtual power plant to act as a single dispatchable generation unit. The case studies presented in the paper demonstrate that the model behaves according to the specified control algorithm and show how it can be incorporated into the solution scheme of a general parallel genetic algorithm in order to obtain the optimal day-ahead dispatch. Simulation results exhibit a clear benefit from the deployment of a virtual power plant when compared to distributed generation based only on renewable intermittent generation.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

AFL-CIO Legislative Guide: 112th Congress (2011–2012)

The AFL-CIO Legislative Guide for the 112th Congress covers the following issues as they relate to labor and public policy: The Economy Freedom to Form a Union Health Care Retirement Security Core Labor Laws, Labor Standards and Workplace Protections Education, Civil and Human Rights, Fair and Open Elections The Global Econom

Avances en Ciencias y Técnicas del Frío - 11

Este año 2022 se han cumplido 20 años desde la fundación de la Sociedad Española de Ciencias y Técnicas del Frío (SECYTEF; http://secytef.upct.es/), que tuvo lugar precisamente en la Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, durante la celebración en esta Universidad del primer congreso CYTEF en 2002. Fue el Primer Congreso Español de Ciencias y Técnicas del Frío de esta serie de congresos CYTEF. Posteriormente, los congresos CYTEF han tenido lugar cada 2 años, y de su organización se ha encargado especialmente la SECYTEF, ya que es su principal cometido Los trabajos de investigación presentados en los Congresos CYTEF han sido publicados en los libros de actas correspondientes que constituyen una serie denominada Avances en Ciencias y Técnicas del Frío. Contando con este libro de Actas del CYTEF 2022, ya son 11 números de esta serie de libros los publicados. Representan una valiosa fuente de información científico-técnica para los investigadores, técnicos y profesionales interesados en las Ciencias y Técnicas del Frío, tanto en lo que se refiere a tecnologías de producción de frío, como a las tecnologías de su aplicación en los distintos sectores

Control de robots en neurorehabilitación: desde sensores neurales a sensores portables

Las interfaces BCI tienen ya un cierto grado de desarrollo en el ámbito del diagnóstico y de la interacción persona-computador, sin embargo su aplicación al control de dispositivos robóticos está todavía muy limitado debido a la dificultad de interpretación dinámica. Es por ello que actualmente el control BCI queda muy limitado a órdenes elementales y para el control de robots la información proporcionada por esta interfaz debe complementarse con otros tipos de sensores y estrategias. Este artículo describe las diferentes líneas de trabajo que se llevan a cabo en control volitivo y cooperativo de robots asistenciales en el grupo de investigación de Robótica Inteligente y Sistemas (GRINS) del Centro de investigación en Ingeniería Biomédica (CREB) de la UPC.Peer ReviewedPreprin

DNA copy number variation associated with anti-tumour necrosis factor drug response and paradoxical psoriasiform reactions in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis

Biological drugs targeting tumour necrosis factor are effective for psoriasis. However, 30–50% of patients do not respond to these drugs and may even develop paradoxical psoriasiform reactions. This study search-ed for DNA copy number variations that could predict anti-tumour necrotic factor drug response or the ap-pearance of anti-tumour necrotic factor induced pso-riasiform reactions. Peripheral blood samples were collected from 70 patients with anti-tumour necrotic factor drug-treated moderate-to-severe plaque pso-riasis. Samples were analysed with an Illumina 450K methylation microarray. Copy number variations were obtained from raw methylation data using conumee and Chip Analysis Methylation Pipeline (ChAMP) R packa-ges. One copy number variation was found, harbouring one gene (CPM) that was significantly associated with adalimumab response (Bonferroni-adjusted p-value < 0.05). Moreover, one copy number variation was identified harbouring 3 genes (ARNT2, LOC101929586 and MIR5572) related to the development of paradoxical psoriasiform reactions. In conclusion, this study has identified DNA copy number variations that could be good candidate markers to predict response to ada-limumab and the development of anti-tumour necrotic factor paradoxical psoriasiform reactions.This study was supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III PI 13/01598 and the Ministry of Science and Innovation and the European Regional Development’s funds (FEDER). Conflicts of interest. FA-S has been a consultant or investigator in clinical trials sponsored by the following pharmaceutical companies: Abbott, Alter, Chemo, Farmalíder, Ferrer, GlaxoSmithKline, Gilead, Janssen-Cilag, Kern, Normon, Novartis, Servier, Teva, and Zambon. ED has potential conflicts of interest (advisory board member, consultant, grants, research support, participation in clinical trials, honoraria for speaking, and research support) with the following pharmaceutical companies: AbbVie (Abbott), Amgen, Janssen-Cilag, Leo Pharma, Novartis, Pfizer, MSD, Lilly and Celgene. ML-V has potential conflicts of interest as she has participated in clinical trials or as consultant with Abbvie (Abbott), Galderma, Janssen-Cilag, Leo Pharma, Pfizer, Novarties, Lilly, Almirall and Celgene. MCO-B has potential conflicts of interest (honoraria for speaking and research support) with Janssen-Cilag and Leo Pharma. The other authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. AS-T has served as a consultant and/or paid speaker for and/or participated in clinical trials sponsored by companies that manufacture drugs used for the treatment of psoriasis, including AbbVie, Celgene, Janssen-Cilag, LEO Pharma, Lilly, Novartis and Pfizer. RB-E has served as a consultant and/or paid speaker for and/or participated in clinical trials sponsored by companies that manufacture drugs used for the treatment of psoriasis, including AbbVie, Celgene, Janssen-Cilag, LEO Pharma, Lilly, Novartis and Pfizer

El derecho del trabajo y de la seguridad social en España en 2014

Este documento intenta reflejar algunos de los principales cambios y novedades del ordenamiento laboral español en 2014, levantando acta de cómo la mutabilidad de nuestro Derecho del Trabajo es imparable. Este informe, consciente de ello, ofrece una selección de elementos esenciales, a juicio de sus autores, especialistas en cada una de las materias, encuadrados en la Sección Juvenil de la Asociación Española de Derecho del Trabajo y de la Seguridad Social. En él, conforme a la organización de dicha Sección en grupos de trabajo, se abordan las novedades más relevantes en materia de derechos fundamentales inespecíficos, contratación laboral, vicisitudes del contrato de trabajo, Derecho colectivo, conciliación y corresponsabilidad, protección social y prevención de riesgos laborales. This paper tries to show some of the many changes and novelties in Spanish Labour Law during 2014, drawing up a record of the unstoppable character of our Labour legal system. This report offers a selection of essential elements, according to its authors, all of them specialists in each one of the subjects, being part of the Young Scholars’ Section of the Spanish Association for Labour and Social Security Law. According to the organization of the said Section in working groups, we can find novelties concerning unspecific fundamental rights, work contracts, the life of the work contract and collective Labour Law, work-life balance and co responsibility, social protection and occupational risk prevention

Planificador de rutes per a robots mòbils

Quan es vol tenir una flota de robot mòbils donant ajut a un procés productiu cal disposar d’eines que assisteixin en la tasca del disseny de les rutes. Aquest disseny ha de ser en l’espai, els llocs físics per on es desitja que el robot circuli, i temporal, quan es vol que això ocorri. Donat que la orientació del projecte STAFF és industrial i es vol aconseguir un sistema implementable a la realitat, l’orientació d’aquestes aplicacions també ho ha de ser, pensant en tot moment en processos industrials i en servir a una producció.This work was supported by the project 'Desenvolupament d'un sistema de transport automàtic i flexible entre llocs de treball del centre de fabricació flexible de la UPC' (I-00300)

Using laser and vision to locate a robot in an industrial environment: A practical experience

IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2005, Barcelona (España)The fully flexible navigation of autonomous vehicles in industrial environments is still unsolved. It is hard to conciliate strict precision requirements with quick adaptivity to new settings without undergoing costly rearrangements. We are pursuing a research project trying to combine the precision of laser-based local positioning with the flexibility of vision-based robot motion estimation. An enhanced circle approach to dynamic triangulation combining laser and odometric signals has been used to improve positioning accuracy. As regards to vision, a novel technique relating the deformation of contours in an image sequence to the 3D motion underwent by the camera has been developed. Interestingly, contours are fitted to objects already present in the environment, without requiring any presetting. In this paper, we describe a practical experience conducted in the warehouse of a beer production factory in Barcelona. A database containing the laser readings, image sequences and robot odometry along several trajectories was compiled, and subsequently processed off-line in order to assess the accuracies of both techniques under a variety of circumstances. In all, vision-based estimation turned out to be about one order of magnitude less precise than laser-based positioning, which qualifies the vision-based technique as a promising alternative to accomplish robot transfers across long distances, such as those needed in a warehouse, while backing up on laser-based positioning when accurate docking for loading and unloading operations is needed.This work was supported by projects: 'Sistema reconfigurable para la navegación basada en visión de robots caminantes y rodantes en entornos naturales.' (00), 'Sistema de posicionament i guiatge làser' (I-00553).Peer Reviewe