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Abstract Reaching universal access to electricity by 2030 requires a massive deployment of mini-grids in rural areas of developing countries. Among the many challenges hindering this process, there are the high uncertainties in assessing demand patterns in rural communities, the costs of field survey campaigns, and the absence of ample and reliable datasets coming from existing projects. This paper tries to address these issues by presenting and discussing a database of load profiles from sixty-one off-grid mini-grids from developing countries worldwide, gathered from the literature, private developers and fieldworks, and reported with technical, socio-economic and geographical characterization factors. A clustering procedure led to the identification of five archetypal load profile clusters, which are presented and analyzed together with their load duration curves. Subsequently, the distribution among the clusters of the various characterization factors selected is studied. The proposed approach allows to widen the range of load profiles usually considered, and to seek correlations between the load profile shapes, the peak power and average energy consumption per connection, the number of customers, the age of measurement, geographical position, operator model, type of tariff and generation technologies present. This work establishes a first step in the creation of a shared database for load profiles of rural mini-grids, helping to overcome the lack of available data and difficulties of demand assessment, proposing original insights for researchers to understand load patterns, and contributing to reduce risks and uncertainties for mini-grid developers.

Prenatal ethanol exposure produces severe changes in brain, liver, and kidney through mechanisms involving growth factors. These molecules regulate survival, differentiation, maintenance, and connectivity of brain, liver, and kidney cells. Despite the abundant available data on the short and mid-lasting effects of ethanol intoxication, only few data show the long-lasting damage induced by early ethanol administration. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in nerve growth factor (NGF), brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in brain areas, liver, and kidney of 18-mo-old male mice exposed perinatally to ethanol at 11% vol or to red wine at the same ethanol concentration. The authors found that ethanol per se elevated NGF, BDNF, HGF, and VEGF measured by ELISA in brain limbic system areas. In the liver, early exposure to ethanol solution and red wine depleted BDNF and VEGF concentrations. In the kidney, red wine exposure only decreased VEGF. In conclusion, the present study shows that, in aged mice, early administration of ethanol solution induced long-lasting damage at growth factor levels in frontal cortex, hippocampus, and liver but not in kidney. Otherwise, in mice exposed to red wine, significant changes were observed in the liver and kidney but not in the hippocampus and frontal cortex. The brain differences in ethanol-induced toxicity when ethanol is administered alone or in red wine may be related to compounds with antioxidant properties present in the red wine.

Abstract The primary goal of the project is to design a lighting system that provides the highest visual comfort and conserves energy for different uses and furniture layouts, which considers that the design of the house will be used by many different users. Indoor system designs vary in layout, goals and optics with two levels of intervention: when initially furnished and during daily use. Lighting is managed by a building automation system, which is equipped with motion and daylight sensors and human interfaces with user scenarios. An outdoor design that requires only a standalone system and is powered by photovoltaic and eolic devices has been developed. All systems incorporate LED technology and have been custom-developed for Med in Italy, which resulted in new patents. Lighting system projects have been involved in several competitions, e.g., Med in Italy placed in the Solar Decathlon in Architecture, Electrical Energy Balance, House Functioning, and Sustainability and took third place in the final ranking. Further research developments are in progress and will be seen in next Solar Decathlon Europe in Paris in 2014. This paper describes the project, installation and analyses of the energy savings that the Medinitaly system can achieve compared with traditional solutions. Simulation data are compared with measured data from the period of the Solar Decathlon competition.

Abstract A novel integrated energy system based on a geothermal heat source and a liquefied natural gas heat sink is proposed in this study for providing heating, cooling, electricity power, and drinking water simultaneously. The arrangement is a cascade incorporating a flash-binary geothermal system, a regenerative organic Rankine cycle, a simple organic Rankine cycle, a vapor compression refrigeration cycle, a regasification unit, and a reverse osmosis desalination system. Energy, exergy, and exergoeconomic methods are employed to analyze the suggested system. A parametric study based on decision variables is carried out to better assess the system performance. Four different multi-objective optimization problems are also carried out. At the most excellent trade-off solution specified by the TOPSIS method, the system attains 29.15% exergy efficiency and 1.512 $/GJ total product cost per exergy unit. The main output products are consequently calculated to be 101.07 kg/s cooling water, 570.44 kW net output power, and 81.57 kg/s potable water.

Abstract Increasing electrification of final uses can be a viable solution towards low-carbon energy systems, when coupled with local renewable power generation. Mountain areas can already benefit from high shares of hydro-power generation, but, at the same time, rely on oil products for transport and for the heating sector in remote areas where natural gas infrastructures are not available. This research work evaluates potential scenarios for the electrification of transport and heating sectors, by coupling the simulation tool EnergyPLAN with a multi-objective optimization algorithm to analyse economic and environmental aspects. Results show that the largest benefits are expected from the electrification of the heating sector. Indeed, a CO2 emissions reduction up to 30% can be reached by acting on the transport sector alone, while up to 65% combining it with measures on heating, industry and agriculture sectors and additional electricity generation from photovoltaic systems. Moreover, the use of heat pumps can lead to significant CO2 emissions decrease with only to a slight increase in the overall annual costs thanks to lower variable costs that partly compensate the higher required initial investment and electricity storage deployment. The optimization analyses also highlight the effect of progressive penetration of electric vehicles in the private cars fleet and hydrogen trucks in the light-duty vehicles one.

In the present paper an overview on Customer Power Devices (CPDs) for application in Smart Micro-Grid (MG) is reported. A particular attention is given to a real CPD equipped with an Energy Storage System, consisting in Lithium batteries, able to perform also functions of Distribution Static Compensators (D-STATCOM). Its typical layout, its main components and its possible functions are reported. A special focus is on its control modes and strategies for the energy management in a Smart MG and on its Battery Management System (BMS). The main figures of a real Smart MG, where the CDP is located, for active and reactive power service, are finally reported.

Background:Accumulating evidence shows the efficacy of the γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABAB) receptor agonist baclofen in reducing alcohol intake in rats, but no studies have been performed in alcoholics. In the present preliminary study we investigated the effect of short‐term baclofen administration on craving for alcohol, ethanol intake, and abstinence from alcohol in alcoholic individuals.Methods:Ten male current alcoholic individuals were admitted to the study. Baclofen was orally administered for 4 weeks, at a dose of 15 mg/day refracted in three times per day for the first 3 days, with the dose increased to 30 mg/day for the remaining 27 days. Each subject was checked as an outpatient every week for the 4 weeks; at each visit (T0‐T4) craving level was evaluated by the Alcohol Craving Scale (ACS), and abstinence from alcohol was assessed based on the individual's self‐evaluation, family member interview, and the main biological markers of alcohol abuse. A self‐reported alcohol intake was recorded as the mean number of standard drinks consumed per day.Results:Nine subjects completed the study; of these, two subjects continued to drink alcohol although they substantially reduced their daily drinks in the first week of treatment, whereas seven maintained abstinence throughout the experimental period. Craving was significantly reduced from the first week of the drug administration (p < 0.01) and remained so throughout the entire treatment period. Participants also reported that obsessional thinking about alcohol disappeared. Values of γ‐glutamyltranspeptidase, alanine aminotransferase, and mean cellular volume significantly decreased by the end of the study. Tolerability was fair in all participants; headache, vertigo, nausea, constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, hypotension, increased sleepiness, and tiredness were present as side effects in the first stage of the treatment. No participants showed craving for the drug.Conclusions:With the limitations of the low number of individuals evaluated and the open design, this preliminary clinical study supports the preclinical evidence on the effect of baclofen in reducing alcohol intake. The anticraving properties of the drug suggest a possible role of baclofen in the treatment of individuals with alcohol problems.

Disproportionation of superoxide to peroxide and O2 generates the highly reactive singlet O2, which needs to be avoided for highly reversible metal–O2 batteries.