The prevalence of distributed energy resources encourages the concept of an electricity "Prosumer (Producer and Consumer)". This paper proposes a distributed electricity trading system to facilitate ...the peer-to-peer electricity sharing among prosumers. The proposed system includes two layers. In the first layer, a multi-agent system is designed to support the prosumer network, and an agent coalition mechanism is proposed to enable the prosumers to form coalitions and negotiate electricity trading. In the second layer, a Blockchain based transaction settlement mechanism is proposed to enable the trusted and secure settlement of electricity trading transactions formed in the first layer. Simulations are conducted based on the java agent development environment to validate the proposed electricity trading process.
Energy consumption of a vehicle is greatly influenced by its driving behavior in highly interacting urban traffic. Strategies for fuel efficient driving have been studied and experimented with in ...various conceptual frameworks. This paper presents a novel control system to drive a vehicle efficiently on roads containing varying traffic and signals at intersections for improved fuel economy. The system measures the relevant information of the current road and traffic, predicts the future states of the preceding vehicle, and computes the optimal vehicle control input using model predictive control (MPC). A typical control objective is chosen to maximize fuel economy by regulating a safe head-distance or cruising at the optimal velocity under bounded driving torque condition. The proposed vehicle control system is evaluated in urban traffic containing thousands of diverse vehicles using the microscopic traffic simulator AIMSUN. Simulation results show that the vehicles controlled by the proposed MPC method significantly improve their fuel economy.
The recent growth in the penetration of photovoltaic generation systems (PVs) has brought new difficulties in the operating and planning of electric power distribution networks. This is because ...operators of the distribution networks normally cannot monitor or control the output of the PVs, which introduces additional uncertainty into the available information that operations must rely on. This paper focuses on the service restoration of the distribution networks, and the authors propose a problem framework and its solution method that finds the optimal restoration configuration under extensive PV installation. The service restoration problems have been formulated as combinatorial optimization problems. They do, however, require accurate information on load sections, which is impractical in distribution networks with extensively installed PVs. A combined framework of robust optimization and two-stage stochastic programming adopted in the proposed problem formulation enables us to deal with the PV-originated uncertainty using readily available information only. In addition, this problem framework can be treated by a traditional solution method with slight extensions. The validity of the authors’ proposal is verified through numerical simulations on a real-scale distribution network model and a discussion of their results.
Load shedding (LS) is implemented by distribution utilities (DUs) in addressing power supply insufficiency problems to avoid DU system damages. This is commonly implemented by the installation of LS ...relays in every DU feeder. However, in either scheduled or unscheduled supply disruptions, a huge amount of unnecessary de-loading is taking place in a feeder level LS implementation. In addition, the consumers connected to a de-loaded feeder are in total blackout, that is, consumers have no choice over which appliances to spare from being de-loaded. This study proposes an LS implementation that replaces feeder-level de-loading by a finer consumer-appliance-level de-loading and allows consumers to have some control over their de-loading. In this method, consumers can set an appliance priority level to their selected connected loads at a given time, to avoid a total blackout. Furthermore, to deal with the enormous data involved in this proposed method, both centralised and distributed optimisation approaches are employed to expedite the system processing response. Simulations are conducted to verify the proposed method's functionality. Lastly, economic analysis is done to assess the proposed method's viability.
We investigated a new preparation method for microspheres based on an Oil/Water type emulsion solvent evaporation method using non-halogenated solvents. This method is based on phase separation ...between acetone and aqueous glycerol. For the preparation of microspheres by this method, a solution of poly(
dl-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) in acetone and aqueous glycerol containing poly(vinyl alcohol) were used as the dispersed and continuous phases in the emulsification process, respectively. Vitamin B
12 was used as the model drug. The formation of PLGA microspheres was observed above 60% glycerol in the continuous phase. The yield and encapsulation efficiency of the PLGA microspheres was about 80%, which was the maximum yield obtained with 70% glycerol. The release of vitamin B
12 lasted for three weeks.
Isolated oculomotor nerve palsy occasionally occurs in patients with cavernous sinus invasion with or without pituitary apoplexy. We describe two cases of pituitary apoplexy without cavernous sinus ...invasion presenting with isolated oculomotor palsy. In both cases, computed tomography (CT) showed erosion of the right posterior clinoid process. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) depicted pituitary adenoma with apoplexy protruding latero-posteriorly to the right cavernous sinus. The medio-posterior wall of the cavernous sinus was markedly displaced latero-posteriorly by the tumor, and there was no evidence of cavernous sinus invasion. Oculomotor palsy may be caused first by unilateral erosion of the posterior clinoid process, resulting in latero-posterior protrusion of the adenoma. Hemorrhage may result in sudden kinking of the oculomotor nerve at the entrance of the oculomotor trigone.
The purpose of this study was to distinguish pseudoprogression (PP) from early true progression in patients with glioblastoma (GBM) based on the presence of a mutation in isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 ...(IDH1). We retrospectively surveyed 32 patients with GBM or GBM with oligodendroglioma component (GBMO) who underwent biopsy or maximal tumor resection followed by concurrent radiotherapy and temozolomide (TMZ). We then selected patients with early radiological progression in magnetic resonance imaging within 6 months after concurrent radiotherapy and TMZ treatment. DNA was extracted from their tumor blocks. The IDH1 mutation was analyzed in the genomic region by direct sequencing as a biomarker for PP. Twenty-eight patients were diagnosed with GBM and four with GBMO. Eleven patients were discovered to have early radiological progression. PP was detected in two patients (6.3 %) diagnosed with GBMO and one patient with GBM. Both of the GBMO patients with PP had the IDH1 mutation, the one GBM patient with PP and the other eight patients with early true progression with wild type. The sensitivity and specificity of the IDH1 mutation for detecting PP were 66.7 and 100 %, respectively. This study suggests the IDH1 mutation may become a novel molecular biomarker for PP. Analyzing the IDH1 mutation, in the case of recognizing early radiological progression, may enable distinction of PP from early true progression, and we could determine the need for second-look surgery.
SUMMARY
A method is proposed for forecasting global solar radiation. The method is based on weather information using binary trees and factor analysis. The feature of this method is that it is ...possible to use a simple linear forecasting equation. The method has been tested on meteorological and global solar radiation data obtained at several observation sites, and the results show that it is a promising means of maintaining the balance between demand and supply of electric power in power systems of the near future with a large number of photovoltaic systems installed.
Learning algorithms are being increasingly adopted in various applications. However, further expansion will require methods that work more automatically. To enable this level of automation, a more ...powerful solution representation is needed. However, by increasing the representation complexity, a second problem arises. The search space becomes huge, and therefore, an associated scalable and efficient searching algorithm is also required. To solve both the problems, first a powerful representation is proposed that unifies most of the neural networks features from the literature into one representation. Second, a new diversity preserving method called spectrum diversity is created based on the new concept of chromosome spectrum that creates a spectrum out of the characteristics and frequency of alleles in a chromosome. The combination of spectrum diversity with a unified neuron representation enables the algorithm to either surpass or equal NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies on all of the five classes of problems tested. Ablation tests justify the good results, showing the importance of added new features in the unified neuron representation. Part of the success is attributed to the novelty-focused evolution and good scalability with a chromosome size provided by spectrum diversity. Thus, this paper sheds light on a new representation and diversity preserving mechanism that should impact algorithms and applications to come.
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