Centralised and decentralised control of active distribution systems: models, algorithms and applications.

Power system were traditionally planned and designed by assuming unidirectional power flows from power stations to loads. Nowadays, several factors (e.g., liberalization of the electricity market, need of increased reliability, and environmental issues) lead to a situation where electricity is produced also downstream the transmission level. Connecting generators to the distribution networks could provide several benefits to the whole system, but also technical and safety problems that must be faced. On the other hand, the loads are changing: new loads like electric vehicles and electric pumps are appearing in the network and they are going to modify the electricity consumption; while traditional loads are designed in order to be more efficient, but with additional functions or special features that require more energy. For all these reasons, since 2005, the interest on Smart Grid (electricity network that can intelligently integrate the actions of all users connected to it – generators, consumers – in order to efficiently deliver sustainable, economic and secure electricity supplies) increased. In this framework different techniques to control, operate and thereby integrate distributed energy resources into the network have been analysed and developed. The first technique designed is a centralised control, characterised by a central controller (Distribution Management System) that gathers information like the measures of the main electric parameters, energy price and indicates to DERs (Active Loads, Generators, Energy Storage) the optimal set points minimizing the system cost, subject to technical and economical constraints. The second technique developed is a decentralised control using Multi Agent Systems (MAS). This type of control has been designed and developed for the direct control of active demand and plug-in electric vehicles, managed by the Aggregator, entrusted by the end users to change their consumption habits according to their needs. Moreover, the proposed decentralised MAS, with the active participation of small consumers in the electricity system, support the integration of the Electric Vehicles in the LV distribution network and reduce its harmful impact on voltage regulation. The techniques and the algorithms proposed by the author are analysed and applied in representative Italian Distribution networks, by taking into account the development of the distribution system according to the load profile evolution, providing several examples to underline the importance of the Active Management for deferring the reinforcement of the existing grid infrastructures, increasing the hosting capacity of the networ

Centralised and decentralised control of active distribution systems: models, algorithms and applications.

Power system were traditionally planned and designed by assuming unidirectional power flows from power stations to loads. Nowadays, several factors (e.g., liberalization of the electricity market, need of increased reliability, and environmental issues) lead to a situation where electricity is produced also downstream the transmission level. Connecting generators to the distribution networks could provide several benefits to the whole system, but also technical and safety problems that must be faced. On the other hand, the loads are changing: new loads like electric vehicles and electric pumps are appearing in the network and they are going to modify the electricity consumption; while traditional loads are designed in order to be more efficient, but with additional functions or special features that require more energy. For all these reasons, since 2005, the interest on Smart Grid (electricity network that can intelligently integrate the actions of all users connected to it – generators, consumers – in order to efficiently deliver sustainable, economic and secure electricity supplies) increased. In this framework different techniques to control, operate and thereby integrate distributed energy resources into the network have been analysed and developed. The first technique designed is a centralised control, characterised by a central controller (Distribution Management System) that gathers information like the measures of the main electric parameters, energy price and indicates to DERs (Active Loads, Generators, Energy Storage) the optimal set points minimizing the system cost, subject to technical and economical constraints. The second technique developed is a decentralised control using Multi Agent Systems (MAS). This type of control has been designed and developed for the direct control of active demand and plug-in electric vehicles, managed by the Aggregator, entrusted by the end users to change their consumption habits according to their needs. Moreover, the proposed decentralised MAS, with the active participation of small consumers in the electricity system, support the integration of the Electric Vehicles in the LV distribution network and reduce its harmful impact on voltage regulation. The techniques and the algorithms proposed by the author are analysed and applied in representative Italian Distribution networks, by taking into account the development of the distribution system according to the load profile evolution, providing several examples to underline the importance of the Active Management for deferring the reinforcement of the existing grid infrastructures, increasing the hosting capacity of the networ

Congenital Chagas disease in a Bolivian newborn in Bergamo (Italy)

Chagas disease (CD) is an uncommon disease in Europe. Its epidemiology has changed because of mass migration from Latin America to Europe. Herein we describe a congenital case of CD in a Bolivian newborn in Bergamo, the main city of residence for the Bolivian community in Italy. At delivery, serological analyses evidenced IgG antibodies against Trypanosoma cruzi both in the child and mother, as expected. Hemoscopic analyses on peripheral blood were repeatedly negative during the first months of life. Eventually, thanks to T. cruzi Real Time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) positivity on peripheral blood and development of progressive anemia in the following weeks, congenital Chagas disease was diagnosed and benznidazole-based therapy started. A progressive antibodies' index decrease was observed till negativity (306 days apart). RT-PCR was negative at the end of treatment. Our case is instructive and management of congenital CD is discussed from the perspective of a non-endemic country

Uncertainty Reduction on Flexibility Services Provision from DER by Resorting to DSO Storage Devices

Current trends in electrification of the final energy consumption and towards a massive electricity production from renewables are leading a revolution in the electric distribution system. Indeed, the traditional “fit & forget” planning approach used by Distributors would entail a huge amount of network investment. Therefore, for making these trends economically sustainable, the concept of Smart Distribution Network has been proposed, based on active management of the system and the exploitation of flexibility services provided by Distributed Energy Resources. However, the uncertainties associated to this innovation are holding its acceptance by utilities. For increasing their confidence, new risk-based planning tools are necessary, able to estimate the residual risk connected with each choice and identify solutions that can gradually lead to a full Smart Distribution Network implementation. Battery energy storage systems, owned and operated by Distributors, represent one of these solutions, since they can support the use of local flexibility services by covering part of the associated uncertainties. The paper presents a robust approach for the optimal exploitation of these flexibility services with a simultaneous optimal allocation of storage devices. For each solution, the residual risk is estimated, making this tool ready for its integration within a risk-based planning procedure

Relieving Tensions on Battery Energy Sources Utilization among TSO, DSO, and Service Providers with Multi-Objective Optimization

The European strategic long-term vision underlined the importance of a smarter and flexible system for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Distributed energy resources (DERs) could provide the required flexibility products. Distribution system operators (DSOs) cooperating with TSO (transmission system operators) are committed to procuring these flexibility products through market-based procedures. Among all DERs, battery energy storage systems (BESS) are a promising technology since they can be potentially exploited for a broad range of purposes. However, since their cost is still high, their size and location should be optimized with a view of maximizing the revenues for their owners. Intending to provide an instrument for the assessment of flexibility products to be shared between DSO and TSO to ensure a safe and secure operation of the system, the paper proposes a planning methodology based on the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II). Contrasting objectives, as the maximization of the BESS owners’ revenue and the minimization of the DSO risk inherent in the use of the innovative solutions, can be considered by identifying trade-off solutions. The proposed model is validated by applying the methodology to a real Italian medium voltage (MV) distribution network

Vitamin E is the major contributor to the antioxidant capacity in lambs fed whole dried citrus pulp.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary whole dried citrus pulp (DCP) on the antioxidant status of lamb tissues. In total, 17 lambs were divided into two groups and fed for 56 days: a barley-based concentrate diet (CON - eight animals), or a concentrate-based diet including 35% DCP to partially replace barley (CIT - nine animals). The CIT diet contained a double concentration of phenolic compounds than the CON diet (7.9 v. 4.0 g/kg dry matter (DM), respectively), but had no effect (P>0.05) on the overall antioxidant capacity of the hydrophilic fraction of blood plasma, liver and muscle. The CIT diet contained clearly more α-tocopherol than the CON diet (45.7 v. 10.3 mg/kg DM), which could explain the higher concentration of α-tocopherol in liver, plasma and muscle (P<0.05). The dietary treatment had no effect on the extent of lipid peroxidation, measured as thiobarbituric acid and reactive substances assay (TBARS values) in the faeces, small intestine, liver, plasma and muscle. Nevertheless, when muscle homogenates were incubated in the presence of Fe3+/ascorbate to induce lipid peroxidation, the muscle from lambs fed DCP displayed lower TBARS values (P<0.01), which negatively correlated with the concentration of α-tocopherol in muscle. These results showed that feeding whole DCP to ruminants increases the antioxidant status of muscle through an increase in the deposition of α-tocopherol

Childhood and adulthood severe stressful experiences and biomarkers related to glucose metabolism: a possible association?

Background: No study investigated the association between stress exposure in different stages of life and metabolic dysfunction.Aim: We explore the association between stress exposure and several biomarkers related to glucose metabolism (insulin, c-peptide, GIP, GLP-1, glucagon) in a group of 72 healthy individuals.Method: We used the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse-Questionnaire (CECA-Q) and a modified version of the Life Events Scale to define exposure to stress, according to four categories: no exposure to childhood trauma (CT) nor to stressful life events (SLEs) (46%), only to CT (25%), only to SLEs (21%), to both (8%).Results: We found that c-peptide (p = 0.006) and insulin (p = 0.002) levels differed among the four categories: 0.77 ng/ml (SD 0.27) and 0.21 ng/ml (SD 0.06) for none, 0.77 (SD 0.37) and 0.20 (SD 0.08) for only SLEs, 0.88 (SD 0.39) and 0.27 (SD 0.12) for only CT, 1.33 (SD 0.57) and 0.40 (SD 0.28) for both, respectively. The highest levels of biomarkers were found in subjects exposed to both CT and SLEs.Conclusion: Our preliminary results seem to suggest that CT might be specifically associated with a dysfunction of glucose metabolism, which might increase the risk of poorer health outcomes in adulthood. This association seems to be even stronger in individuals additionally exposed to SLEs in adulthood. In conclusion, if confirmed in other studies, subjects exposed to both CT and SLEs appear the most vulnerable individuals, for whom preventative interventions, such as healthy lifestyle education programs, might ameliorate the risk of developing metabolic abnormalities

Body Representations in Children with Cerebral Palsy

We constantly process top-down and bottom-up inputs concerning our own body that interact to form body representations (BR). Even if some evidence showed BR deficits in children with cerebral palsy, a systematic study that evaluates different kinds of BR in these children, taking into account the possible presence of a general deficit affecting non-body mental representations, is currently lacking. Here we aimed at investigating BR (i.e., Body Semantics, Body Structural Representation and Body Schema) in children with cerebral palsy (CP) taking into account performance in tasks involving body stimuli and performance in tasks involving non-body stimuli. Thirty-three CP (age range: 5–12 years) were compared with a group of 103 typically-developing children (TDC), matched for age and sex. 63.64% of children with CP showed a very poor performance in body representation processing. Present data also show alterations in different body representations in CP in specific developmental stages. In particular, CP and TDC performances did not differ between 5 to 7 years old, whereas CP between 8 and 12 years old showed deficits in the Body Structural Representation and Body Schema but not in Body Semantics. These findings revealed the importance of taking into account the overall development of cognitive domains when investigating specific stimuli processing in children who do not present a typical development and were discussed in terms of their clinical implications