Full AC analysis of value of DER to the grid and optimal DER scheduling

This paper presents part of the work ComEd and Quanta Technology have performed to quantify the locational and temporal value of DER to avoid distribution grid upgrade investments. It focuses on the formulation of a robust and efficient algorithm for DER optimal dispatch on a distribution feeder to mitigate the violation of current and voltage limits using the allocated cost of capacity and locational marginal value of real and reactive DER injection/withdrawal.     

Effects of yoghurt butter oils on rat plasma lipids,haematology and liver histology parameters in a 150‐day study

Although yoghurt butter oil as a fermented dairy product is widely consumed in several countries, its metabolic effects have not been fully elucidated. In this study, male Wistar rats were treated with standard diet, standard diet enriched with 10% or 20% (W/W) of either cow yoghurt butter oil (CYBO), sheep yoghurt butter oil (SYBO) or cottonseed oil (COT) for 20 weeks. Treatment of rats with CYBO or SYBO (at both concentrations) did not significantly influence haematological parameters, plasma lipids and liver histological structure. However, in contrast to popular belief, COT treatment at the higher dose induced leukocytosis, dyslipidaemia and liver steatosis.     

The Tunable Porous Structure of Gelatin–Bioglass Nanocomposite Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering Applications: Physicochemical,Mechanical, and In Vitro Properties

Unidirectional freeze‐casting method is used to fabricate gelatin–bioglass nanoparticles (BGNPs) scaffolds. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images show that sol–gel prepared BGNPs are distributed throughout the scaffold with diameters of less than 10 nm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and differential scanning calorimetric are used to evaluate the physicochemical properties of BGNPs. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs present an oriented porous structure and a homogeneous distribution of BGNPs in the gelatin matrix. The lamellar‐type structure indicates an improvement of mechanical strength and absorption capacity of the scaffolds. Increasing the concentration of BGNPs from 0 to 50 wt% have no noticeable effect on pore orientation, but decreases porosity and pore size distribution. Increase in BGNPs content improves the compressive strength. The absorption and biodegradation rate reduces with augmentation in BGNPs concentration. Bioactivity is evaluated through apatite formation after immersion of the nanocomposites in simulated body fluid and is verified by SEM–energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS), an element map analysis, X‐ray powder diffractometer, and FTIR spectrum. SEM images and methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assay confirm the biocompatibility of scaffolds and the supportive behavior of nanocomposites in cellular spreading. The results show that gelatin–(30 wt%)bioglass nanocomposites have incipient physicochemical and biological properties.     

Effect of various efficient vulcanization cure systems on the compression set of a nitrile rubber filled with different fillers

Effect of various efficient vulcanization (EV) sulfur cure systems on the compression set of a nitrile rubber filled with carbon black and silica/silane fillers was examined. The cure systems had different amounts of thiuram and sulfenamide accelerators and elemental sulfur, whilst the loading of zinc oxide and stearic acid activators was kept constant. The fillers had surface areas from 35 to 175 m²/g. In this study, the lowest compression set was measured for the rubber filled with carbon black with 78 m²/g surface area, which was cured with an EV cure system made of a small amount of elemental sulfur and large amounts of the two accelerators. Interestingly, a small change in the amount of elemental sulfur had a bigger effect on the compression set than did large changes in the loading of the accelerators in the cure system. Among the fillers, carbon black caused less compression set of the rubber vulcanizate than the silica/silane system did. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41512.     

Extraction of lipid-soluble antioxidants from rosemary leaves using vegetable oils

The objective of this research was to extract carnosic acid and carnosol, natural lipid-soluble antioxidants, from rosemary leaves without the use of chemical aid. Three different vegetable oils [high oleic soybean oil (HOSO), peanut oil (PO) and cottonseed oil (CO)] were used as the medium for extracting rosemary's lipid-soluble antioxidants. Dried rosemary leaves were ground into fine particles, added two of the selected vegetable oils, mixed and heated. The vegetable oil containing the extracted antioxidants was filtered from the rosemary particles and analysed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). As a control, a common extraction method using ethanol was performed to compare the oil extraction efficiency for carnosic acid and carnosol. HPLC analysis confirmed the presence of carnosic acid and carnosol in all three vegetable oil solutions. Compared to the ethanol extraction, a higher level of the carnosic acid was found in the vegetable oil solutions. Among the vegetable oils, high oleic soybean oil contained the most carnosic acid; however, there were similar amounts of carnosol in all three vegetable oil solutions. The extractions' efficacy was tested on soybean oil's (SO) oxidative stability by adding 2% (w/w) of the antioxidant–vegetable oil solution. The results obtained from peroxide value (PV) and p-anisidine value (AnV) analysis documented a significantly lower degree of oxidation in the soybean oil containing the extracted antioxidant solutions, compared to the pure soybean oil.     

Wireless Information and Power Transfer in Single User OFDM Systems

Wireless Personal Communications - In this article, OFDM-based single-user simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) system for power splitting (PS) and time switching (TS) plans...     

Differential graphical games for H∞ control of linear heterogeneous multiagent systems

Differential graphical games have been introduced in the literature to solve state synchronization problem for linear homogeneous agents. When the agents are heterogeneous, the previous notion of graphical games cannot be used anymore and a new definition is required. In this paper, we define a novel concept of differential graphical games for linear heterogeneous agents subject to external unmodeled disturbances, which contain the previously introduced graphical game for homogeneous agents as a special case. Using our new formulation, we can solve both the output regulation and H_∞ output regulation problems. Our graphical game framework yields coupled Hamilton‐Jacobi‐Bellman equations, which are, in general, impossible to solve analytically. Therefore, we propose a new actor‐critic algorithm to solve these coupled equations numerically in real time. Moreover, we find an explicit upper bound for the overall ‐gain of the output synchronization error with respect to disturbance. We demonstrate our developments by a simulation example.     

Ultraviolet Lamp Output Measurement: A Concise Derivation of the Keitz Equation

An equation relating the measured irradiance and the output power of a fluorescent lamp was derived by Keitz. The equation forms the basis for a new protocol that has been proposed for quantifying the total flux from an ultraviolet lamp. There has been confusion in the literature regarding the spatial distribution of flux from lamp emitters, which has led to emission models that are similar to the Keitz model but are incorrect. The Keitz equation is derived here from first principles in an effort to eliminate the confusion and present a correct method of calculating total flux.