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The operation of the utility grid is being reshaped by the continuous addition of distributed energy resources and advanced metering infrastructure, which challenge existing grid control strategies. Some utilities deploy advanced distribution management systems (ADMS) to assist with the consolidation of various applications and to augment situational awareness in response to the new power delivery dynamics. An ADMS is an integrated software platform that provides utilities with a way to enhance their reliability, control, and optimization with advanced applications, such as volt/VAR optimization (VVO). A VVO application could serve as a vehicle to deliver cost savings by providing the utility with a method to reduce rates by controlling the voltage and decreasing the energy usage in their service territory. Some utilities are reluctant to integrate an ADMS, because it is a significant investment that requires approval from the public regulatory commission and/or their customers. This paper evaluates the impact on VVO performance when using a lower-quality network model supplemented with additional measurements, which could provide an implementation for cost savings. The results show that a better model quality would provide the highest energy savings; however, some level of telemetry is necessary in all scenarios to prevent voltage exceedances.

Football is characterised by varying pace and acyclical movements that are influenced by game situations. To meet these locomotive demands in football, players need to generate energy from different sources via aerobic and anaerobic metabolism. Currently, teams are limited by small preseason windows to improve technical, tactical and physiological performances. Through the use of High Intensity Intermittent Training (HIIT), athletes may derive cardiorespiratory improvements in a short period. As such, this study aimed to determine whether HIIT could provide a practical field-based method to improve the aerobic fitness of male football players. Eighteen sub-elite football players (21 ±1.8 years, height 1.76 ± 5.7 cm, and mass 62.7 kg ± 7.2 kg), were recruited for this study. Pre- and post-experimental period, maximum oxygen uptake was measured through a modified Heck protocol test on a treadmill until volitional fatigue. A progressive overload approach was used to make the players run at intensities greater than their recorded vVO2max. Progressive overloading was implemented by increasing the vVO2max prescription percentage, along with the manipulation of the work-to-rest ratios, repetitions, sets and high-speed running total distances. The intervention was applied during the first four weeks of the pre-season, with a total of 8 specific HIIT sessions. Results obtained showed improvement in aerobic fitness metrics (pre- versus post-measurement). Specifically, statistically significant increases (p<0.0001) were noted for: VO2max (pre: 43.9 ± 4.6; post: 50.5 ± 3.4 mlO2.kg-1.mm-1); vVO2max (pre: 13.8 ± 1.5; post: 16.3 ± 1.49 km.h-1); and vVT2 (pre: 9.2 ± 1.3; post: 11.6 ± 2.0 km.h-1) as a result of the intervention. Application of the four-week intervention programme was guided by the progressive overload principle, to systematically increase the demands placed on the cardiorespiratory responses and ensure that players reach greater aerobic adaptations. Overall, the results indicate that HIIT is a time-effective training method that can efficiently improve the cardiorespiratory dynamics of football players in a limited time.

Recently, many technical challenges, such as overvoltage problems, reverse power flow, and grid instability, have occurred in Distribution Networks (DNs) because of the rising penetration of photovoltaic (PV) plants on the rooftop of houses. This study focuses on (1) the development of volt–var control methods employing static voltage regulator (SVR) and PV inverter combinations, (2) the development of Energy Management integrated volt–var optimization (VVO) employing SVR, PV inverter, and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) as a solution to mentioned problems. Elazığ DN is selected for the comprehensive analysis of the problems. Elazığ DN is modeled in MATPOWER, and the over-voltage problem is demonstrated using field measurements. Specific VVO algorithms are developed and implemented in MATPOWER. Performances are evaluated as Case studies. Results have demonstrated that only SVR can regulate the voltage of Buses at the LV level. However, line losses improvement is not satisfactory. Only PV inverter has a disadvantage on active line losses improvement. SVR + PV has improved performance with the proposed VVO method. However, SVR + PV + BESS offers self-sufficient microgrid (MG). Moreover, the proposed Energy Management integrated VVO algorithm with hourly updated daily data is given in detail. A comparison of all cases is realized by considering voltage regulation, line losses minimization, system stability, and costs.

Volvariella volvacea, also known as straw mushroom, is a common edible mushroom in Chinese cuisine. It contains many nutrients for human health. A fungal immunomodulatory protein (FIP) has been isolated from V. volvacea and named FIP-vvo. Although the regulatory effects of many FIPs on immunity have been identified, the impact of FIP-vvo in modulating dendritic cells (DCs), which play a key role to connect the innate and the adaptive immunity, is not known. In this study, we aim to study the effect of FIP-vvo on the DC maturation and function. We found that FIP-vvo slightly increased the generation of CD11c+ bone marrow-derived DC (BMDC). In addition, the surface expression of MHCII was promoted in BMDCs after the treatment of FIP-vvo, suggesting that FIP-vvo induces DC maturation. Furthermore, FIP-vvo enhanced the ability of BMDCs to activate antigen-specific T cell responses in vitro. In the in vivo study, the FIP-vvo treatment facilitated T cell response in lymph nodes. Therefore, for the first time, our data demonstrated that FIP-vvo promoted DC maturation and function and suggested that FIP-vvo could have benefits for human health by enhancing immunity.

The penetration of inverter-based distributed generators (DGs), which can control their reactive power outputs, has increased for low-voltage (LV) systems. The power outputs of DGs affect the voltage and power flow of both LV and medium-voltage (MV) systems that are connected to the LV system. Therefore, the effects of DGs should be considered in the volt/var optimization (VVO) problem of LV and MV systems. However, it is inefficient to utilize a detailed LV system model in the VVO problem because the size of the VVO problem is increased owing to the detailed LV system models. Therefore, in order to formulate and solve the VVO problem in an efficient way, in this paper, a new equivalent model for an LV system including inverter-based DGs is proposed. The proposed model is developed based on an analytical approach rather than a heuristic-fitting one, and it therefore enables the VVO problem to be solved using a deterministic algorithm (e.g., interior point method). In addition, a method to utilize the proposed model for the VVO problem is presented. In the case study, the results verify that the computational burden to solve the VVO problem is significantly reduced without loss of accuracy by the proposed model.

Endothelial diaphragms are subcellular structures critical for mammalian survival with poorly understood biogenesis. Plasmalemma vesicle associated protein (PLVAP) is the only known diaphragm component and is necessary for diaphragm formation. Very little is known about PLVAP regulation. Phorbol esters (PMA) are known to induce de novo PLVAP expression and diaphragm formation. We show that this induction relies on the de novo production of soluble factors that will act in an autocrine manner to induce PLVAP transcription and protein expression. We identified vascular endothelial growth factor‐A (VEGF‐A) signalling through VEGFR2 as a necessary but not sufficient downstream event as VEGF‐A inhibition with antibodies and siRNA or pharmacological inhibition of VEGFR2 only partially inhibit PLVAP upregulation. In terms of downstream pathways, inhibition of MEK1/Erk1/2 MAP kinase blocked PLVAP upregulation, whereas inhibition of p38 and JNK MAP kinases or PI3K and Akt had no effect on PMA‐induced PLVAP expression. In conclusion, we show that VEGF‐A along with other secreted proteins act synergistically to up‐regulate PLVAP in MEK1/Erk1/2 dependent manner, bringing us one step further into understanding the genesis of the essential structures that are endothelial diaphragms.

Implementation of anisotropy value in seismic data processing greatly affect seismic cross section image. In addition to enhanced seismic imagery, anisotropy can be used for identification of hydrocarbons. In this study, the vertical transverse isotropy (VTI) anisotropy parameter estimation by the VVO method has been done. The magnitude of the velocity value of the offset/angle is due to the ever-greater velocity with a large incidence angle being the basis of the VVO method to demonstrate the anisotropy effect. The residual moveout result of the time transfer correction caused by the velocity increase will be used as input data. Validity of the VVO method is tested using a synthetic forward modelling to obtain anisotropy parameters that describe the subsurface conditions of the target area which are then applied to the actual data. The results found that residual values continued to increase due to the anisotropy effect and there after the angle of 30 degrees with the value of ɛ = 0.14 and δ = 0.049.

Malignant tumors generate new blood vessels by secreting growth factors, particularly members of the vascular permeability factor/vascular endothelial growth factor (VPF/VEGF) family. Overall, the new blood vessels that form are hyperpermeable to plasma proteins, a property that is thought to be important for generating new stroma. However, tumor blood vessels are structurally heterogeneous and include microvessels of at least the following distinct types: mother vessels (MV), glomeruloid microvascular proliferations (GMP), arterio-venous-like vascular malformations and capillaries. Our goal was to determine whether macromolecular tracers leaked from all or from only a subset of these vessel types and to elucidate the extravasation pathways. As blood vessels are only a minor component of tumors, and therefore, difficult to study in situ, we used an adenoviral vector to express VEGF-A164, the most important member of the VPF/VEGF family, in mouse tissues. So expressed, VEGF-A164 induces large numbers of surrogate vessels of each type found in tumors in a highly reproducible manner. Overall permeability to plasma proteins was assessed qualitatively with Evan's blue dye and quantitatively with a dual tracer method employing radioactive albumin. Leaky vessels were identified by confocal microscopy (FITC-dextran) and by electron microscopy (ferritin). MV, and to a lesser extent GMP, were found to be hyperpermeable but capillaries and vascular malformations were not. Ferritin extravasated primarily by two trans-cellular routes, vesiculo-vacuolar organelles (VVOs) and fenestrae. This occurred despite a considerable reduction in VVO frequency as VVO membranes translocated to the plasma membrane during MV formation. However, reduction in the number and complexity of VVOs was offset by extensive endothelial cell thinning and a greatly shortened extravasation pathway. Extrapolating these findings to tumors predicts that only a subset of tumor vessels, MV and GMP, is hyperpermeable, and that measures of overall vessel permeability greatly underestimate the permeability of individual MV and GMP.

In this second edition, the authors present new developments in the sustainability discussion and argue that a new understanding of sustainability is needed if we are to truly serve future generations ecologically, economically, and equitably. Despite the great flurry of activity around sustainability, the concept itself remains highly contested. This book argues that a new conceptualization of sustainability is needed if we are to achieve a healthful and sustainable environment for the long term. The authors examine the uses, misuses, and abuses of sustainability and provide case studies of faux sustainability in practice. Seeking to redefine and clarify the concept and its application, they offer a new definition of sustainability - what they call neo-sustainability - to help guide policies and practices that respect the primacy of the environment, the natural limits of the environment, and the relationship between environmental, social, and economic systems. Offering a comprehensive view of sustainability, this text is essential reading for all students and scholars in the field. It will also be of interest to environmental professionals and activists.