Net-metering is commonly known as a practice by which owners of distributed generation (DG) units may offset their electricity consumption from the grid with local generation. The increasing number ...of prosumers (consumers that both produce and consume electricity) with solar photovoltaic (PV) generation combined with net-metering results in reduced incomes for many network utilities worldwide. Consequently, this pushes utilities to increase charges per kWh in order to recover costs. For non-PV owners, this could result into inequality issues due to the fact that also non-PV owners have to pay higher chargers for their electricity consumed to make up for netted costs of PV-owners. In order to provide insight in those inequality issues caused by net-metering, this study presents the effects on cross-subsidies, cost recovery and policy objectives evolving from different applied netmetering and tariff designs for a residential consumer. Eventually this paper provides recommendations regarding tariffs and metering that will result in more explicit incentives for PV, instead of the current implicit incentives which are present to PV owners due to net-metering.
•Network users are frequently charged by energy charging and fixed charging.•Net-metering with energy charging causes potential problems for DSO cost recovery.•Increasing rolling credit timeframes amplify net-metering impacts on cost recovery.•Observed capacity charging can incentivize local storage and self-consumption.•PV owners should receive direct incentives in order to avoid cross subsidization.
Diagnostic tests play an important role in medical research and clinical practice. The ultimate goal of a diagnostic test is to distinguish between diseased and nondiseased individuals and before a ...test is routinely used in practice, it is a pivotal requirement that its ability to discriminate between these two states is thoroughly assessed. The overlap coefficient, which is defined as the proportion of overlap area between two probability density functions, has gained popularity as a summary measure of diagnostic accuracy. We propose two Bayesian nonparametric estimators, based on Dirichlet process mixtures, for estimating the overlap coefficient. We further introduce the covariate‐specific overlap coefficient and develop a Bayesian nonparametric approach based on Dirichlet process mixtures of additive normal models for estimating it. A simulation study is conducted to assess the empirical performance of our proposed estimators. Two illustrations are provided: one concerned with the search for biomarkers of ovarian cancer and another one aimed to assess the age‐specific accuracy of glucose as a biomarker of diabetes.
Background and Objectives
The variability in the number of donations together with a growing demand for platelet concentrates and plasma‐derived medicines make us seek solutions aimed at optimizing ...the processing of blood. Some mathematical models to improve efficiencies in blood banking have been published. The goal of this work is to validate and evaluate an algorithm's impact in the production of blood components in the Blood and Tissues Bank of Aragon (BTBA).
Materials and Methods
A mathematical algorithm was designed, implemented and validated through simulations with real data. It was incorporated into the fractionation area, which uses the Reveos® fractionation system (Terumo BCT) to split blood into its components. After 9 months of daily routine validation, retrospective activity data from the Blood Bank and Transfusion Services before and during the use of the algorithm were compared.
Results
Using the algorithm, the outdating rate of platelet concentrates (PC) decreased by 87.8% in the blood bank. The average shelf life remaining of PC supplied to Transfusion Services increased by almost 1 day. As a consequence, the outdating rate in the Aragon Transfusion Network decreased by 33%. In addition, extra 100 litres of plasma were obtained in 9 months.
Conclusions
The algorithm improves the blood establishment's workflow and facilitates the decision‐making process in whole blood processing. It resulted in a decrease in PC outdating rate, increase in PC shelf life and finally an increase in the volume of recovered plasma, leading to significant cost savings.
En este artículo estudio las políticas fiscales aplicadas sobre la población india de Chiapas entre 1812 y 1815. Parto de la idea de que la crisis que enfrentaba la monarquía hispánica tras la ...abdicación de Fernando VII, la promulgación de los decretos y la Constitución de Cádiz y los problemas financieros del erario guatemalteco propiciaron cambios en las distintas fiscalidades a las que estaban sujetos los indios. Muestro cómo la inestabilidad política y social que padecía el reino de Guatemala en aquellos años limitó el alcance de estas medidas, bien porque algunas fueron canceladas, bien porque otras se aplicaron tibiamente con el fin de no encender el descontento popular.
Animal care and use play a pivotal role in the research process. Ethical concerns on the use of animals in research have promoted the creation of a legal framework in many geographical areas that ...researchers must comply with, and professional organizations continuously develop recommendations on specific areas of laboratory animal science. Scientific evidence demonstrates that many aspects of animal care and use which are beyond the legal requirements have direct impact on research results. Therefore, the review and oversight of animal care and use programs are essential to identify, define, control, and improve all of these aspects to promote the reproducibility, validity, and translatability of animal-based research outcomes. In this chapter, we summarize the ethical principles driving legislation and recommendations on animal care and use, as well as some of these laws and international recommendations. Examples of the impact of specific animal care and use aspects on research, as well as systems of internal and external oversight of animal care and use programs, are described.
In the near future, research on new materials for radon barriers can be expected to rise in order to meet a greater demand of radon mitigation solutions because of the increasingly lower radon levels ...that the EU legislation aims to. Such research would need a method for the determination of the radon diffusion coefficient and this paper presents an inexpensive method for that purpose, using affordable radon detectors and a simple experimental setup that does not require any tubing or any pumping. Besides the use of two Electronic Integration Devices as radon detectors, the experimental setup used in our method consists only in a two-chamber container made of steel and a small-sized radon source, which was produced in our lab using a 226Ra solution. The radon diffusion coefficient is determined by measuring radon levels in both chambers of the container, which are separated by a membrane made of the material whose radon diffusion coefficient is to be determined. Radon diffuses from a source chamber to a receiver chamber trough the membrane, being the amount of radon that has passed through and the rate at which it has done so the key parameters in the calculation of the radon diffusion coefficient. Our method can handily measure materials with a radon diffusion coefficient above or equal to 10-11 m2 s-1 or, provided that the sample is thin enough, verify that the coefficient is lower than 10-12 m2 s-1. Its precision is good enough to provide radon coefficient diffusion values with a good repeatability as the RSD is as low as a 35% for materials in which the coefficient is in the order of 10-11 m2 s-1. This means that our method is valid for screening materials for radon barriers and checking their compliance with technical specifications.
Display omitted
•New and inexpensive method for the determination of the radon diffusion coefficient, using a simple experimental setup.•Two Electronic Integration Devices are used as radon detectors inside an airtight container, with a small-sized radon source.•This method can measure materials with low radon diffusion coefficients, allowing the screening materials for radon barriers.
The anthropogenic (137Cs, 90Sr, 239+240Pu and 241Am) and naturally occurring radionuclide (40K, 234,238U, 228,230,232Th, 226Ra and 210Pb) content in near surface air present seasonal variations ...related to natural processes, such as soil erosion, resuspension of fine particles of soil and radon exhalation from soil (210Pb). The objective is to analyze seasonal variations of their concentrations and compare with radiological events (Fukushima fallout and wild fire) in a location without any known source of anthropogenic radionuclides. The 210Pb, 40K, and 137Cs presented annual variations, with maximum activity levels in summer. Solar radiation and rainfall were correlated with 210Pb and 40K. The 234,238U, 228,230,232Th, 226Ra, 137Cs and 90Sr presented positive correlation with monthly mean values of temperature. The ratio 90Sr/137Cs was within the range of those reported for soils in Spain. Finally, the maximal effective dose rate was estimated to be 37 and 88 μSv/y for infants and adults, respectively, well below 1 mSv/y reference level. The main contributor to effective dose was 210Pb, about 92%, followed by:
210Pb ≫ 228,230,232Th > 226Ra, 234,238U > 7Be, 239+240Pu > 40K, 90Sr > 137Cs > 22Na
•Time evolution of 137Cs, 90Sr, 239+240Pu, 241Am and natural radionuclides was analyzed.•Annual variations of 137Cs were lower than due to Fukushima or wild fires.•210Pb, 40K, U, Th, 226Ra, 137Cs and 90Sr were correlated with solar radiation/temperature.•210Pb, 40K, and 137Cs presented annual variations, with maximum in summer.•Maximal effective dose rate due to inhalation was well below 1 mSv/y.
AAALAC International and Government Agencies Guillén, Javier; Bayne, Kathryn
Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science,
05/2018, Letnik:
57, Številka:
3
Journal Article
In many small communities in the Mediterranean area, groundwater is usually the only water body available. Depending mainly on the surrounding geology, their concentration of naturally occurring ...radionuclides may pose a radiological hazard. Removal of uranium and radium from drinking water is the best way to avoid it, i.e., reverse osmosis (RO), but consuming a lot of energy. Thus, two modified drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) using zeolites coated with manganese dioxide as adsorbent material were analyzed as an alternative to RO. Groundwater salinity can negatively affect this process. Radium removal decreased as water salinity increased; but it had a major impact on uranium, rendering the adsorption effectless in one DWTP. Waste management and how to avoid it from becoming radioactive are of major concern. Radium and uranium were associated to the reducible fraction in the filter material and also to the carbonate fraction in the case of uranium. Regeneration of the filter material using KCl solutions was able to remove 81% and 63% of uranium and radium, respectively.
Metal halide perovskites (MHPs) are disruptive materials for a vast class of optoelectronic devices. The presence of electronic trap states has been a tough challenge in terms of characterization and ...thus mitigation. Many attempts based on electronic spectroscopies have been tested, but due to the mixed electronic–ionic nature of MHP conductivity, many experimental results retain a large ambiguity in resolving electronic and ionic charge contributions. Here we adapt a method, previously used in highly resistive inorganic semiconductors, called photoinduced current transient spectroscopy (PICTS) on lead bromide 2D-like ((PEA)2PbBr4) and standard “3D” (MAPbBr3) MHP single crystals. We present two conceptually different outcomes of the PICTS measurements, distinguishing the different electronic and ionic contributions to the photocurrents based on the different ion drift of the two materials. Our experiments unveil deep level trap states on the 2D, “ion-frozen” (PEA)2PbBr4 and set new boundaries for the applicability of PICTS on 3D MHPs.
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