A digital twin model-based approach to cost optimization of residential community microgrids

This paper presents a peer-to-peer community cost optimization approach based on a single-prosumer energy management system.Its objective is to optimize energy costs for prosumers in the community by enhancing the consumption efficiency.This study was conducted along two main axes.The first axis focuses on designing a digital twin for a residential community microgrid platform.This phase involves data collection,cleaning,exploration,and interpretation.Moreover,it includes replicating the functionality of the real platform and validating the results.The second axis involves the development of a novel approach that incorporates two distinct prosumer behaviors within the same community microgrid,while maintaining the concept of peer-to-peer energy trading.Prosumers without storage utilize their individual PV systems to fulfill their energy requirements and inject excess energy into a local microgrid.Meanwhile,a single prosumer with a storage system actively engages in energy exchange to maximize the community’s profit.This is achieved by optimizing battery usage using a cost optimization solution.The proposed solution is validated using the developed digital twin.

A finite element modeling of the human lumbar unit including the spinal cord

The purpose of this present work is to provide a tool to better understand mechanically related pathologies of the lumbar unit and the spinal structure by providing spinal cord deformations in different loading cases. In fact, spinal cord injury (SCI) resulting from a traumatic movement leades to a deformation of the neural and vascular structure of the spinal cord. And since the magnitude of the spinal cord stress is correlated with the pressure of the vertebral elements, stresses will be computed on all theses components. Physical properties of the vertebrae, various ligaments, the discs, and the spinal cord are described under simple loading as compression, and combined loading, flexion and lateral bending to evaluate the pressure undergone by different components of the lumbar unit. A nonlinear three-dimensional finite element method is used as a numerical tool to perform all the computations. This study provides accurate results for the localisation and the magnitude of maximum equivalent stress and shear stress on the lumbar unit and especially for the spinal cord. These results showed that stresses are more important when a compression of 500 N is combined with a flexion and a lateral bending. In particular, shear stresses are maximum for the spinal cord and the four intervertebral discs for the case of a flexion of 3.8 N.m and a lateral bending of 6.5 N.m.

Directors＇ Board Characteristics and Audit Quality： Evidence From Belgium

This study investigates the relationship between board characteristics and external audit quality on a sample of 97 Belgian listed companies during the period 2003-2007. Board characteristics proxies are the composition of the board, its independence, its structure in terms of duality or independence and its diligence. Our results are consistent with board independence and size being complements with external audit, rather than substitutes

Robust ACO-Based Landmark Matching and Maxillofacial Anomalies Classification

Imagery assessment is an efficient method for detecting craniofacial anomalies.A cephalometric landmark matching approach may help in orthodontic diagnosis,craniofacial growth assessment and treatment planning.Automatic landmark matching and anomalies detection helps face the manual labelling lim-itations and optimize preoperative planning of maxillofacial surgery.The aim of this study was to develop an accurate Cephalometric Landmark Matching method as well as an automatic system for anatomical anomalies classification.First,the Active Appearance Model(AAM)was used for the matching process.This pro-cess was achieved by the Ant Colony Optimization(ACO)algorithm enriched with proximity information.Then,the maxillofacial anomalies were classified using the Support Vector Machine(SVM).The experiments were conducted on X-ray cephalograms of 400 patients where the ground truth was produced by two experts.The frameworks achieved a landmark matching error(LE)of 0.50±1.04 and a successful landmark matching of 89.47%in the 2 mm and 3 mm range and of 100%in the 4 mm range.The classification of anomalies achieved an accuracy of 98.75%.Compared to previous work,the proposed approach is simpler and has a comparable range of acceptable matching cost and anomaly classification.Results have also shown that it outperformed the K-nearest neigh-bors(KNN)classifier.

Gravimetric Study of Geological Structures of Teboursouk Area, Northern Tunisia

Gravity data associated with surface geology in the Northern Tunisian Atlas offer better understand to the underlying structures in Teboursouk area and to highlight other deep or unknown structures in surface. The gravity study was based on qualitative and quantitative analysis including the construction of the gravity Bouguer anomaly, upward continuations, residual anomaly, and Horizontal gradient maxima maps. The main results display many positive and negative anomalies as the response of geological structures (J. Cheid Triassic structure, Khalled plain, El Aroussa plain). In addition, the horizontal gradient maxima integrated with geological and structural maps let the identification of major directions of gravimetric lineaments in the study area us NE-SW trending features at the boundaries of J. Cheid structure, NW-SE direction that limit Gaafour plain and Tabet Ech Cherif syncline, and N-S trending that bordered El Aroussa basin. Major results allowed the construction of a new structural map of the study zone.

A Thermo-Mechanical Behavior Simulation of A NiTi Staple Used for the Correction of Idiopathic Scoliosis

In order to treat scoliosis, a thermo-mechanical behavior study of shape memory alloy bone staple has been proposed. A pre-stretched shape-memory-alloy bone staple, which has been heated above the transition temperature, provides greater compressive force upon insertion between two vertebrae and allows the control of idiopathic scoliosis development. Until now, the optimal design has not been reached due to the lack of appropriate design tools for shape memory alloy devices. In this paper, a shape memory alloy bone staple model is proposed by developing a user subroutine UMAT based on Boyd et al. unified thermodynamic shape memory alloy constitutive law using the finite element analysis software, ABAQUS. The numerical results for superelastic and shape memory effect under the tensile and three-point bending tests are presented. Simulations of the shape memory effects and force generation of the shape memory alloy staple are also shown.

Direct Adaptive Fuzzy Based Backstepping Control of Semi Strict Feedback Nonlinear Systems

In this paper, a direct adaptive fuzzy tracking control is proposed for a class of uncertain single-input single-output nonlinear semi-strict feedback systems. Based on Takagi-Sugeno type fuzzy systems, a direct adaptive fuzzy tracking controller is developed by using the backstepping approach. The main advantage of the developed method is that for an n-th order system, only one parameter is needed to be adjusted online. It is proven that, under the appropriate assumptions, the developed scheme can achieve that the output system converges to a small neighborhood of the reference signal and all the signals in the closed-loop system remain bounded. The efficacy of the proposed algorithm is investigated by an illustrative simulation example of one link robot.

Synthesis, Crystal Structure and Infrared Characterization of Bis(4-dimethylamino-pyridinium) Tetrachlorocuprate

The chemical preparation, crystal structure and spectroscopic characterization of a novel organic-inorganic hybrid material, bis(4-dimethylaminopyridinium) tetrachlorocuprate, have been reported. This compound crystallizes in the monoclinic system in space group C2/c and cell parameters a = 12.4356 (18), b = 12.0901 (17), c = 14.094 (2) Å, β = 115.303 (2)°, Z = 4 and V = 1915.8 (5) Å3. In the title salt, (C7H11N2)2CuCl4, both 4-dimethylaminopyridinium cations are protonated at their pyridine N atoms. The geometry of the CuCl2-4 ions is intermediate between tetrahedral and square planar. The atomic arrangement can be described by an alternation of inorganic layers built up by tetrachlorocuprate anions and organic layers formed by 4-dimethylaminopyridinium cations. The organic layers are located in sandwich between the inorganic layers. The anionic and cationic layers are held together by N-H···Cl and C-H···Cl hydrogen bonds into a three-dimensional network. The individual cations are π-π stacked with their neighbors at a distance of 3.7622 (5) Å. The vibrational absorption bands were identified by infrared spectroscopy and DFT calculations allowed their attribution.

Crystal Structure of ZnCl₃(Methyl-(2-Pyridin-2-yl-Ethyl)-Ammonium)

A new Zn(II) complex with the monodentate ligand methyl-(2-pyridin-2-yl-ethyl)-ammonium, ZnCl3C8H13N2, has been prepared and characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The Zn(II) ion is tetracoordinated by one nitrogen atom of organic ligand and three chlorine ligands. In the atomic arrangement, the ZnNCl3 tetrahedra form corrugated chains extending along the b-axis. The organic entities are located between these chains through N-H···Cl, C-H···Cl and C-H···N hydrogen bonds to form layers parallel to (b, c) plan. Among these hydrogen bonds two are bifurcated.

Bayesian genetic analysis of milk yield in Tunisian Holstein dairy cattle population

The genetic determinism of 305-d milk yield and its genetic parameters were investigated in Tunisian Holstein dairy cattle population through Bayesian segregation analyses using a Monte Carlo Markov Chains (MCMC) method. Data included 49,709 records of 305-d milk yield collected between 1996 and 2003 from 114 dairy herds. The postulated major gene was assumed to be additive biallelic locus with Mendelian transmission probabilities and priors used for variance components were uniform. Gibbs sampling was used to generate a chain of 500,000 samples, which were used to obtain posterior means of genetic parameters. Estimated marginal posterior means ± posterior standard deviations of variance components of milk yield were 402866.28 ± 23629.97, 271256.66 ± 34477.83, 68276.83 ± 233027.62 and 1098855.75 ± 10009.52 for polygenic variance (σ2u), permanent environmental variance (σ2ne), major gene variance (σ2G) and error variance (σ2e), respectively. The main finding of this paper showed the postulated major locus was not significant, since the 95% highest posterior density regions (HPDs95%) of most major gene parameters included 0, and particularly for the major gene variance. Estimated transmission probabilities for the 95% highest posterior density regions (HPDs95%) were overlapped. Genetic parameters of 305-d milk yield were very similar under both mixed inheritance and polygenic models. These results indicated that the genetic determinism of milk yield in Tunisian Holstein dairy cattle population is purely polygenic. Based on 50,000 Gibbs samples, heritability and repeatability estimates using polygenic model were h2 = 0.22 ± 0.012 and r = 0.38 ± 0.006, respectively.

Solitary Endobronchial Papilloma Mimicking a Neoplastic Lesion

Papilloma is a rare benign tumor. Laryngeal location is the most frequent. The bronchial involvement remains unusual. It represents 0.38% of pulmonary tumors. We report the case of a 39-year-old, smoker man, who consulted for a cough following during six months with persistent radiological opacity despite antibiotic treatment. The physical examination was without particularities. Flexible bronchoscopy revealed a swollen endobronchial lesion completely obstructing the orifice of the intermediate trunk. Bronchial biopsies at this level showed inflammatory mucosa. The chest CT scan objectified an endobronchial tissular mass in the intermediate trunk. Pulmonary neoplasia was suspected. Diagnostic and therapeutic surgery was performed. Histopathological examination concluded to an endobronchial squamous papilloma.

Unusual Location of Coelomic Cysts

Intrathoracic mesothelial cysts are congenital lesions due to an abnormal development of the pericardial coelom. They are generally unilocular and can develop in various sites. We describe a case of multicystic lesions in the anterior mediastinum of a 53-year-old woman discovered in a context of an encysted pleural effusion. Chest computed tomography (CT) scan revealed multiple cystic lesions in the anterior and posterior mediastinum. Surgery was carried out and histopathology and immunohistochemistry confirmed the diagnosis of multiple coelomic cysts of the mediastinum.

Synthesis, characterization, spectroscopic and crystallographic investigation of Cobalt(Ⅲ) schiff base complex with two perpendicular diamine coumarin ligands

New transition metal complex of Cobalt(III) of the ligand (E)-3-(1-(2-aminoethylimino)ethyl)-4-hydroxy-2H-chromen-2-one, derived from condensation of ethylene diamine with 3-acetyl-4-hydroxy-chromene-2-one have been synthesized by reaction of cobalt(III) salt and the ligand, in amounts equal to metal-ligand molar ratio of 1:2. Both the Schiff base and the complex of Co(III) were characterized by IR, UV-Vis, 1H NMR- and 13C NMR-spectroscopy techniques. Single crystal X-ray diffraction investigation, at low temperature T = 120 K, shows that the cobalt complex is triclinic P-1, a = 10.426(5) ?, b = 11.3234(2) ?, c = 15.729(5) ?, α(°) = 70.102(4), β(°) = 86.049(4), γ(°) = 82.497(4), Z = 2, and its structure consists of isolated [Co(III)(C13H13N2O3)2]+ complex cations with distorted octahedral geometry, ClO-4 counter anions, acetone solvent and water molecules. The crystal cohesion is stabilized by hydrogen bonds between ligands and water molecules, and ionic interactions between complex cations and counter anions.

Synthesis, crystal structure, magnetic properties and second harmonic generation of a new noncentrosymmetric coordination compound：Triaqua(4-amino-6-methoxypyrimidine) cuprate(Ⅱ)sulfate

The chemical preparation, crystal structure and infrared spectroscopic characterization of the triaqua（4-amino-6-methoxypyrimidine） cuprate（II） sulfate, [Cu（C5H7N3）（H2O）3]SO4, is reported. The compound crystallizes in the noncentrosymmetric orthorhombic space group P212121 with lattice parameters a = 7.9025（3）, b = 11.1189（4）, c = 12.9720（4） , V = 1139.81（7） ~3 and Z = 4. The Cu（II） cation is fivecoordinated, in an early half-way between square pyramidal and trigonal bipyramidal fashion, by two nitrogen atoms of the 4-amino-6-methoxypyrimidine ligand and three water oxygen atoms. In the atomic arrangement, the organic ligands and the 5-connected Cu centers are linked with each other to give a 1-D corrugated hybrid chain running along the b-axis direction. The chains are interconnected by the SO4^（2-） anions via O–H...O, O–H...S, C–H...O and N–H...O hydrogen bonds to form layers spreading parallel to the（011） plane. The vibrational absorption bands were identified by infrared spectroscopy. Quantitative measurements of the second harmonic generation（SHG） of a powdered sample at 1064 nm were performed and a relative efficiency of 5.2 times the KDP standard was observed. Magnetic properties were also defined to characterize the complex. Magnetic measurements revealed that this material had a onedimensional antiferromagnetic character. The magnetic parameters were g = 2.11 and 2J/k B = -36 K.