An Analysis of the Effect of Electric Vehicle Charging on the Operation of the Single Electricity Market

To meet European Union renewable energy and greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets the Irish government set a target in 2008 that 10% of all vehicles in the transport fleet be powered by electricity by 2020. Similar electric vehicle targets have been introduced in other countries. However, reducing energy consumption and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions in transport is a considerable challenge due to heavy reliance on fossil fuels. In fact, transport in the Republic of Ireland in 2009 accounted for 29% of non-emissions trading scheme greenhouse gas emissions, 32% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, 21% of total greenhouse gas emissions and approximately 50% of energy-related non-emission trading scheme greenhouse gas emissions. In this paper the effect of electric vehicle charging on the operation of the single wholesale electricity market for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is analysed. The energy consumed, greenhouse gas emissions generated and changes to the wholesale price of electricity under peak and off-peak charging scenarios are quantified and discussed. Results from the study show that off-peak charging is more beneficial than peak charging.

Differential power analysis resistance of Camellia and countermeasure strategy on FPGAs

Security devices are vulnerable to Differential Power Analysis (DPA) that reveals the key by monitoring the power consumption of the circuits. In this paper, we present the first DPA attack against an FPGA implementation of the Camellia encryption algorithm with all key sizes and evaluate the DPA resistance of the algorithm. The Camellia cryptographic algorithm involves several different key-dependent intermediate operations including S-Box operations. In previous research, it was believed that the Camellia is stronger than AES due to the additional Whitening phase protecting the S-Box operation. However, we propose an attack that bypasses the Whitening phase and targets the S-Box. In this paper, we also discuss a lowcost countermeasure strategy to protect the Pre-whitening / Post-whitening and FL function of Camellia using Dual-rail Precharged Logic and to protect against attacks of the S-Box using Random Delay Insertion. © 2009 IEEE.

A pseudo-transient solution strategy for the analysis of delamination by means of interface elements

Recent efforts in the finite element modelling of delamination have concentrated on the development of cohesive interface elements. These are characterised by a bilinear constitutive law, where there is an initial high positive stiffness until a threshold stress level is reached, followed by a negative tangent stiffness representing softening (or damage evolution). Complete decohesion occurs when the amount of work done per unit area of crack surface is equal to a critical strain energy release rate. It is difficult to achieve a stable, oscillation-free solution beyond the onset of damage, using standard implicit quasi-static methods, unless a very refined mesh is used. In the present paper, a new solution strategy is proposed based on a pseudo-transient formulation and demonstrated through the modelling of a double cantilever beam undergoing Mode I delamination. A detailed analysis into the sensitivity of the user-defined parameters is also presented. Comparisons with other published solutions using a quasi-static formulation show that the pseudo-transient formulation gives improved accuracy and oscillation-free results with coarser meshes

Stability Analysis and Implementation of a Decentralized Formation Control Strategy for Unmanned Vehicles

This paper presents a new methodology for solving the multi-vehicle formation control problem. It employs a unique extension-decomposition-aggregation scheme to transform the overall complex formation control problem into a group of subproblems, which work via boundary interactions or disturbances. Thus, it is proved that the overall formation system is exponentially stable in the sense of Lyapunov, if all the individual augmented subsystems (IASs) are stable. Linear matrix inequality-based H8 control methodology is employed to design the decentralized formation controllers to reject the impact of the formation changes being treated as boundary disturbances and guarantee the stability of all the IASs, consequently maintaining the stability of the overall formation system. Simulation studies are performed to verify the stability, performance, and effectiveness of the proposed strategy.

The influence of market deregulation on fast food consumption and body mass index:A cross-national time series analysis

Objective
To investigate the effect of fast food consumption on mean population body mass index (BMI) and explore the possible influence of market deregulation on fast food consumption and BMI.

Methods
The within-country association between fast food consumption and BMI in 25 high-income member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development between 1999 and 2008 was explored through multivariate panel regression models, after adjustment for per capita gross domestic product, urbanization, trade openness, lifestyle indicators and other covariates. The possible mediating effect of annual per capita intake of soft drinks, animal fats and total calories on the association between fast food consumption and BMI was also analysed. Two-stage least squares regression models were conducted, using economic freedom as an instrumental variable, to study the causal effect of fast food consumption on BMI.

Findings
After adjustment for covariates, each 1-unit increase in annual fast food transactions per capita was associated with an increase of 0.033 kg/m2 in age-standardized BMI (95% confidence interval, CI: 0.013–0.052). Only the intake of soft drinks – not animal fat or total calories – mediated the observed association (β: 0.030; 95% CI: 0.010–0.050). Economic freedom was an independent predictor of fast food consumption (β: 0.27; 95% CI: 0.16–0.37). When economic freedom was used as an instrumental variable, the association between fast food and BMI weakened but remained significant (β: 0.023; 95% CI: 0.001–0.045).

Conclusion
Fast food consumption is an independent predictor of mean BMI in high-income countries. Market deregulation policies may contribute to the obesity epidemic by facilitating the spread of fast food.

Lead in rice: Analysis of baseline lead levels in market and field collected rice grains

In a large scale survey of rice grains from markets (13 countries) and fields (6 countries), a total of 1578 rice grain samples were analysed for lead. From the market collected samples, only 0.6% of the samples exceeded the Chinese and EU limit of 0.2 μg g− 1 lead in rice (when excluding samples collected from known contaminated/mine impacted regions). When evaluating the rice grain samples against the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) provisional total tolerable intake (PTTI) values for children and pregnant women, it was found that only people consuming large quantities of rice were at risk of exceeding the PTTI from rice alone. Furthermore, 6 field experiments were conducted to evaluate the proportion of the variation in lead concentration in rice grains due to genetics. A total of 4 of the 6 field experiments had significant differences between genotypes, but when the genotypes common across all six field sites were assessed, only 4% of the variation was explained by genotype, with 9.5% and 11% of the variation explained by the environment and genotype by environment interaction respectively. Further work is needed to identify the sources of lead contamination in rice, with detailed information obtained on the locations and environments where the rice is sampled, so that specific risk assessments can be performed.

A well-to-wheel analysis of electric vehicles in the all-island Single Electricity Market

The European Union has set a target for 10% renewable energy in transport by 2020 to be met using biofuels and electric vehicles. In the case of biofuels, the biofuel must achieve greenhouse gas savings of 35% relative to the fossil fuel replaced. For biofuels, greenhouse gas savings can be calculated using life cycle analysis or the European Union default values. In contrast, all electricity used in transport is considered to be the same, regardless of the source or the type of electric vehicle. However, the choice of the electric vehicle and electricity source will have a major impact on the greenhouse gas saving. In this paper the initial findings of a well-to-wheel analysis of electric vehicle deployment in Northern Ireland are presented. The key finding indicates that electric vehicles require least amount of energy per mile on a well-to-wheel basis, consume the fewest resources, even accommodating inefficient fuel production, in comparison to standard internal combustion engine and hybrid vehicles.

Efficiency assessment of electricity power generation on Ireland’s Single Electricity Market by Data Envelopment Analysis

The efficiency of generation plants is an important measure for evaluating the operating performance. The objective of this paper is to evaluate electricity power generation by conducting an All-Island-Generator-Efficiency-Study (AIGES) for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland by utilising a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach. An operational performance efficiency index is defined and pursued for the year 2008. The economic activities of electricity generation units/plants examined in this paper are characterized by numerous input and output indicators. Constant returns to scale (CRS) and variable returns to scale (VRS) type DEA models are employed in the analysis. Also a slacks based analysis indicates the level of inefficiency for each variable examined. The findings from this study provide a general ranking and evaluation but also facilitate various interesting efficiency comparisons between generators by fuel type.

In silico analysis and DHPLC screening strategy identifies novel apoptotic gene targets of aberrant promoter hypermethylation in prostate cancer

BACKGROUND: Aberrant DNA methylation has been implicated as a key survival mechanism in cancer, whereby promoter hypermethylation silences genes essential for many cellular processes including apoptosis. Limited data is available on the methylation profile of apoptotic genes in prostate cancer (CaP). The aim of this study was to profile methylation of apoptotic-related genes in CaP using denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC).

METHODS: Based on an in silico selection process, 13 genes were screened for methylation in CaP cell lines using DHPLC. Quantitative methylation specific PCR was employed to determine methylation levels in prostate tissue specimens (n = 135), representing tumor, histologically benign prostate, high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia and benign prostatic hyperplasia. Gene expression was measured by QRT-PCR in cell lines and tissue specimens.

RESULTS: The promoters of BIK, BNIP3, cFLIP, TMS1, DCR1, DCR2, and CDKN2A appeared fully or partially methylated in a number of malignant cell lines. This is the first report of aberrant methylation of BIK, BNIP3, and cFLIP in CaP. Quantitative methylation analysis in prostate tissues identified 5 genes (BNIP3, CDKN2A, DCR1, DCR2 and TMS1) which were frequently methylated in tumors but were unmethylated in 100% of benign tissues. Furthermore, 69% of tumors were methylated in at least one of the five-gene panel. In the case of all genes, except BNIP3, promoter hypermethylation was associated with concurrent downregulation of gene expression.

CONCLUSION: Future examination of this "CaP apoptotic methylation signature" in a larger cohort of patients is justified to further evaluate its value as a diagnostic and prognostic marker.