Decentralized Control for Residential Energy Management of a Smart Users' Microgrid with Renewable Energy Exchange

This paper presents a decentralized control strategy for the scheduling of electrical energy activities of a microgrid composed of smart homes connected to a distributor and exchanging renewable energy produced by individually owned distributed energy resources. The scheduling problem is stated and solved with the aim of reducing the overall energy supply from the grid, by allowing users to exchange the surplus renewable energy and by optimally planning users' controllable loads. We assume that each smart home can both buy/sell energy from/to the grid taking into account time-varying non-linear pricing signals. Simultaneously, smart homes cooperate and may buy/sell locally harvested renewable energy from/to other smart homes. The resulting optimization problem is formulated as a non-convex non-linear programming problem with a coupling of decision variables in the constraints. The proposed solution is based on a novel heuristic iterative decentralized scheme algorithm that suitably extends the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers to a non-convex and decentralized setting. We discuss the conditions that guarantee the convergence of the presented algorithm. Finally, the application of the proposed technique to a case study under several scenarios shows its effectiveness.

Emerging artificial intelligence applications in gastroenterology: A review of the literature

Artificial intelligence(AI)allows machines to provide disruptive value in several industries and applications.Applications of AI techniques,specifically machine learning and more recently deep learning,are arising in gastroenterology.Computer-aided diagnosis for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy has growing attention for automated and accurate identification of dysplasia in Barrett’s esophagus,as well as for the detection of early gastric cancers(GCs),therefore preventing esophageal and gastric malignancies.Besides,convoluted neural network technology can accurately assess Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori)infection during standard endoscopy without the need for biopsies,thus,reducing gastric cancer risk.AI can potentially be applied during colonoscopy to automatically discover colorectal polyps and differentiate between neoplastic and nonneoplastic ones,with the possible ability to improve adenoma detection rate,which changes broadly among endoscopists performing screening colonoscopies.In addition,AI permits to establish the feasibility of curative endoscopic resection of large colonic lesions based on the pit pattern characteristics.The aim of this review is to analyze current evidence from the literature,supporting recent technologies of AI both in upper and lower gastrointestinal diseases,including Barrett's esophagus,GC,H.pylori infection,colonic polyps and colon cancer.

The Role of Phase Errors Distributions in Phased Array Systems Operations

A comprehensive study on the role of the phase errors distribution on the performances of the phased array systems has been led using a complete and behavioral model for radiation-pattern characteristics. The used model has many input parameters and it has a lot of features, such as parameters simulations with results analysis, unconventional two-dimensional color graph representation capability in order to show more clearly the results. The results of the study have been discussed and reported. The main achievement of this work is the demonstration that the RMS phase error is a valuable figure of merit of phased array systems but it is not sufficient to completely describe the behavior of a real system. Indeed, this work has shown how the phase errors distribution actually affects the performances of the phased arrays antennas.

Automation 5.0: The Key to Systems Intelligence and Industry 5.0

AUTOMATION has come a long way since the early days of mechanization,i.e.,the process of working exclusively by hand or using animals to work with machinery.The rise of steam engines and water wheels represented the first generation of industry,which is now called Industry Citation:L.Vlacic,H.Huang,M.Dotoli,Y.Wang,P.Ioanno,L.Fan,X.Wang,R.Carli,C.Lv,L.Li,X.Na,Q.-L.Han,and F.-Y.Wang,“Automation 5.0:The key to systems intelligence and Industry 5.0,”IEEE/CAA J.Autom.Sinica,vol.11,no.8,pp.1723-1727,Aug.2024.

欧洲计算流体力学——个人观点（英文）

介绍了70年代初到20世纪末欧洲科学家对CFD发展的主要贡献,并重点关注了对国际流体力学数值方法会议(ICNMFD)和国际计算力学学术会议(ISCFD)的成功举办具有重大贡献的科学家。ICNMFD始于1969年(新西伯利亚),由参与了美国和苏联太空竞赛的两国科学家联合创办,而ISCFD则作为ICNMFD在亚太地区的同类会议初创于1995年(东京)。由Oshima教授和本人提议,得益于上述两个会议全体科学委员会成员的共同努力,ICNMFD和ISCFD自2000年开始,合并成为每两年举办一次的国际计算流体力学会议(ICCFD)。绝大部分本文讨论所涉及的学者通常都在受邀进行大会报告后,成为了前述三大国际会议中的一个或多个科学委员会的成员。作者对文中讨论所涉及的研究人员的圈定负有全权责任,上述人员的选择更多地基于应用而非理论计算流体力学,因此尚存在不完善之处。此外由于文中所讨论的学者大都是作者在40多年计算流体力学研究生涯中的私交好友,因此并没有将年轻一代的科学家考虑进来,但这并非由于他们的贡献不重要。另外值得注意的是欧洲的计算流体力学同美国的计算流体力学有非常紧密的联系,本文讨论所涉及的研究学者有些最早从欧洲开始涉足计算流体力学而现在则生活和工作于美国(例如Glowinski,Roe,Van Leer等人),而有些则是在美国取得了博士学位(例如Launder,Napolitano),他们都同美国的科学家进行过合作,因此很难清晰地对欧洲和美国的计算流体力学进行界定。对那些现已移居美国的欧洲科学家们,本文优先考虑了他们移居之前的贡献。最后但并非是最不重要的,作者通过电子邮件一一联系了文中所涉及的科学家,希望他们本人能够给出其自身贡献的评价草稿,从而帮助作者以最权威的视角在文中相应章节对其工作进行评述。本文向提供自述评价的诸位致以谢意,同时也希望其他同仁能够对本人不恰当的擅自评述给予谅解。

An Eco-Route Planner for Heavy Duty Vehicles

Driving style,traffic and weather conditions have a significant impact on vehicle fuel consumption and in particular,the road freight traffic significantly contributes to the CO2 increase in atmosphere.This paper proposes an Eco-Route Planner devoted to determine and communicate to the drivers of Heavy-Duty Vehicles(HDVs)the eco-route that guarantees the minimum fuel consumption by respecting the travel time established by the freight companies.The proposed eco-route is the optimal route from origin to destination and includes the optimized speed and gear profiles.To this aim,the Cloud Computing System architecture is composed of two main components:the Data Management System that collects,fuses and integrates the raw external sources data and the Cloud Optimizer that builds the route network,selects the eco-route and determines the optimal speed and gear profiles.Finally,a real case study is discussed by showing the benefit of the proposed Eco-Route planner.

Maximizing Convergence Speed for Second Order Consensus in Leaderless Multi-Agent Systems

The paper deals with the consensus problem in a leaderless network of agents that have to reach a common velocity while forming a uniformly spaced string.Moreover,the final common velocity(reference velocity)is determined by the agents in a distributed and leaderless way.Then,the consensus protocol parameters are optimized for networks characterized by a communication topology described by a class of directed graphs having a directed spanning tree,in order to maximize the convergence rate and avoid oscillations.The advantages of the optimized consensus protocol are enlightened by some simulation results and comparison with a protocol proposed in the related literature.The presented protocol can be applied to coordinate agents such as mobile robots,automated guided vehicles(AGVs)and autonomous vehicles that have to move with the same velocity and a common inter-space gap.

Innovative Services for Electric Mobility Based on Virtual Sensors and Petri Nets

About 60%of emissions into the earth’s atmosphere are produced by the transport sector,caused by exhaust gases from conventional internal combustion engines.An effective solution to this problem is electric mobility,which significantly reduces the rate of urban pollution.The use of electric vehicles(EVs)has to be encouraged and facilitated by new information and communication technology(ICT)tools.To help achieve this goal,this paper proposes innovative services for electric vehicle users aimed at improving travel and charging experience.The goal is to provide a smart service to allow drivers to find the most appropriate charging solutions during a trip based on information such as the vehicle’s current position,battery type,state of charge,nearby charge point availability,and compatibility.In particular,the drivers are supported so that they can find and book the preferred charge option according to time availability and the final cost of the charge points(CPs).To this purpose,two virtual sensors(VSs)are designed,modeled and simulated in order to provide the users with an innovative service for smart CP searching and booking.In particular,the first VS is devoted to locate and find available CPs in a preferred area,whereas the second VS calculates the charging cost for the EV and supports the driver in the booking phase.A UML activity diagram describes VSs operations and cooperation,while a UML sequence diagram highlights data exchange between the VSs and other electromobility ecosystem actors(CP operator,EV manufacturer,etc.).Furthermore,two timed Petri Nets(TPNs)are designed to model the proposed VSs,functioning and interactions as discrete event systems.The Petri Nets are synchronized by a single larger TPN that is simulated in different use cases and scenarios to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed VSs.

Correction: Lithium-mediated electrochemical dinitrogen reduction reaction

The authors regret that the incorrect permissions were provided in the figure captions of Fig.1–15 in the original article.The correct versions of the figures,including the updated permissions,are shown below.

Price Definitions in Energy Contracts with Investor Owned Generation

Nowadays IPP＇s power plant construction is encouraged by the current deregulatory climate. The financing technique employed to implement these projects is often the project financing formula. Under such condition an investor consortium, usually foreigner plan, build, operate the power plant and sell the generated electricity to the host utility. The sale price is determined from the expected IPP＇s production cost, enhanced from the expected welfare obtainable by selling electricity. This paper proposes a methodology for linking the uncertainty of the future production cost with the price of the electricity generated by an IPP. This is a stochastic approach to the sale price definition problem, while usually conducted through a deterministic procedure.

Lithium-mediated electrochemical dinitrogen reduction reaction

The Haber–Bosch process is the dominant approach for NH3 production today,but the process has to be maintained at energy-intensive high temperatures and pressures.Li-mediated electrocatalytic dinitrogen reduction reaction(eN_(2)RR)could instead enable sustainable and green NH_(3) production at ambient conditions.Lithium mediators realize the synthesis of NH3 via the formation of Li3N,and thus lower the energy required for the direct cleavage of N_(2).There has now been a surge of interest in devising approaches to optimize the NH3 yield rate and faradaic efficiency of the eN_(2)RR process by employing different catalysts as well as electrolytes.This review discusses the recent advances in the field of the Limediated eN_(2)RR along with the latest insights into the proposed catalytic mechanisms.Moreover,it also highlights the state-of-the-art reported electrocatalysts and electrolytes that have revolutionized the field of the Li-mediated eN_(2)RR.In addition to the above,our review provides a critical overview of certain limitations and a future prospectus that will provide a way forward to explore this area.

Effects of compost age on the release of nutrients

Composted organic materials are applied to help restore disturbed soils,speed revegetation,and control erosion;these changes are generally beneficial for stormwater quality.Ensuring that nutrient release from compost is adequate for plant needs without degrading stormwater quality is important since composts release nitrogen at variable rates(1–3%of total N/yr)and the leaching process can extend for many years.The aim of this work was to understand the effect of compost age on the extent and rates of nitrogen release by conducting detailed rainfall simulation studies of one compost type at three different ages.Models describing temporal changes in nitrogen release to runoff during a single storm and across multiple storms were developed and applied to the runoff data.Nitrogen content(%)and bulk density of compost increased with the increase in compost age and total nitrogen release decreased with increasing compost age.The three rain simulations(storms)performed on each of the three compost ages show that nitrogen release declined each day of the repeated daily storms.A first-order kinetic model was used to estimate the amount of nitrogen remaining on compost after several storms.

SPH numerical investigation of the characteristics of an oscillating hydraulic jump at an abrupt drop

This paper shows the results of the smooth particle hydrodynamics（SPH） modelling of the hydraulic jump at an abrupt drop,where the transition from supercritical to subcritical flow is characterised by several flow patterns depending upon the inflow and tailwater conditions. SPH simulations are obtained by a pseudo-compressible XSPH scheme with pressure smoothing; turbulent stresses are represented either by an algebraic mixing-length model, or by a two-equation k-ε model. The numerical model is applied to analyse the occurrence of oscillatory flow conditions between two different jump types characterised by quasi-periodic oscillation,and the results are compared with experiments performed at the hydraulics laboratory of Bari Technical University. The purpose of this paper is to obtain a deeper understanding of the physical features of a flow which is in general difficult to be reproduced numerically,owing to its unstable character： in particular, vorticity and turbulent kinetic energy fields, velocity, water depth and pressure spectra downstream of the jump, and velocity and pressure cross-correlations can be computed and analysed.

Exploring building's envelope thermal behavior of the neo-vernacular residential architecture in a hot and dry climate region of Algeria

It is well known that the passive strategies applying in traditional buildings respond satisfactory to climatic requirements and succeed to provide maximum indoor comfort with minimum energy consumption.From this point of view,it is interesting to quantitatively assess the effectiveness of the vernacular strategies to improve the environmental performance of the building's envelope under desert climate conditions.The research tries to address this issue and was undertaken in southern Algeria where a very hot and arid climate prevails.The effect of some selected passive cooling strategies on enhancing the building's envelope climate performance was examined.These strategies are inspired from the local vernacular architecture,and they are expected to provide satisfactory indoor thermal comfort for users and to reduce the energy cooling demand from residential buildings.Applying field and computational investigations,two existing residential buildings were tested:a typical residential unit and a contemporary vernacular(neo-vernacular)building.In the latter,climate responsive strategies inspired from vernacular architecture were applied.A comparison based on site measurements was carried out on the two selected buildings which differ from their envelope design properties and components.

Identification of Tumor Evolution Patterns by Means of Inductive Logic Programming

In considering key events of genomic disorders in the development and progression of cancer, the correlation between genomic instability and carcinogenesis is currently under investigation. In this work, we propose an inductive logic programming approach to the problem of modeling evolution patterns for breast cancer. Using this approach, it is possible to extract fingerprints of stages of the disease that can be used in order to develop and deliver the most adequate therapies to patients. Furthermore, such a model can help physicians and biologists in the elucidation of molecular dynamics underlying the aberrations-waterfall model behind carcinogenesis. By showing results obtained some hints about further approach to the hypotheses. on a real-world dataset, we try to give knowledge-driven validations of such

Steerable filtering in interactive tracing of archaeological linear features using digital true colour aerial images

In this study,a semi-automatic approach to support archaeological line tracing is proposed.The suggested procedure is based on colour and texture information derived from orthorectified RGB digital aerial data and consists of four steps:(1)line sketching;(2)steerable filtering;(3)objects selection;and(4)straight line fitting and vectorisation.Good results were observed by evaluating the algorithm according to trace visibility and integrity,global difficulty and level of feature extraction.Further reliability tests were performed to study poor data initialisation and different annual seasonal land use at the same site.

Variation of Ⅰ–Ⅴ characteristics due to process parameters as base for modeling the component variability for LDD MOSFET devices

In this paper,we present the effect of process parameters variations on Ⅰ-Ⅴ characteristics of LDD MOSFETs through a simulation study,applying also to any submicron device.In particular,we examine the effect of variation of ionic implantation for different channel doping involved in MOSFET production.At last,we examine a linear Ⅰ-Ⅴ model to simulate more adequately the effects of variation of the process parameters as correction to the base model.

New few parameters differential evolution algorithm with application to structural identification

Differential evolution algorithm(DEA) is a stochastic, population-based global optimization method. In this paper, we propose new schemes for both mutation and crossover operators in order to enhance the performances of the standard DEA. The advantage of these proposed operators is that they are "parameters-less", without a tuning phase of algorithm parameters that is often a disadvantage of DEA. Once the modified differential evolutions are presented, a large comparative analysis is performed with the aim to assess both correctness and efficiency of the proposed operators. Advantages of proposed DEA are used in an important task of modern structural engineering that is mechanical identification under external dynamic loads. This is because of the importance of using a "parametersless" algorithm in identification problems whose characteristics typically vary strongly case by case, needing of a continuous set up of the algorithm proposed. This important advantage of proposed optimizers, in front of other identification algorithms, is used to develop a computer code suitable for the automatic identification of a simple supported beam subject to an impact load, that has been tested both using numerical simulations and real standard tests dynamic. The results point out that this algorithm is an interesting candidate for standard applications in structural identification problems.

Curved footbridges supported by a shell obtained through thrust network analysis

After Maillart's concrete curved arch bridges were built before the Second World War, in the second half of the past century and this century, many curved bridges have been built with both steel and concrete. Conversely, since the construction of Musmeci's shell supported bridge in Potenza, few shell bridges have been constructed. This paper explains how to design a curved footbridge supported by an anticlastic shell by shaping the shell via a thrust network analysis(TNA). By taking advantage of the peculiar properties of anticlastic membranes, the unconventional method of shaping a shell by a TNA is illustrated. The shell top edge that supports the deck has an assigned layout, which is provided by the road curved layout. The form of the bottom edge is obtained by the form-finding procedure as a thrust line, by applying the thrust network analysis(TNA) in a non-standard manner,shaping the shell by applying the boundary conditions and allowing relaxation. The influence of the boundary conditions on the bridge shape obtained as an envelope of thrust lines is investigated. A finite element analysis was performed. The results indicate that the obtained shell form is effective in transferring deck loads to foundations via compressive stresses and taking advantage of concrete mechanical properties.

To compute or not to compute?

In a previous paper "to retrofit or not to retrofit?"(Nuti and Vanzi, 2003) a straightforward procedure able to forecast the economic return of seismic structural upgrading was presented. More recently, the authors realized that the final mathematical results can be much simplified so as to allow back-of-an-envelope computation. The title of this paper tries to highlight precisely this aspect, namely that for many a regular seismic structural upgrading cases, nearly no computation is needed(apart from one subtraction and one multiplication) to assess their economic convenience. These findings are presented and discussed in this paper, together with a state of the art on the cost-studies available in literature and technical codes. The mathematical formulation leading to the proposed approximation is suitably explained, underlining its applicability field and comparing it with the rigorous solution. Also a table and a formula are furnished that alternatively allows to calculate the maximum estimation errors, in order to obtain an upper and lower bound for the maximum amount of money which should be allocated for seismic structural upgrading.