The Experts below are selected from a list of 8550579 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
C Ruscasas - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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impacts of array orientation and tilt angles for photovoltaic self sufficiency and self consumption indices in olive mills in spain
Electronics, 2020Co-Authors: G Jimenezcastillo, F J Munozrodriguez, Antonio Javier Martinezcalahorro, Giuseppe Marco Tina, C RuscasasAbstract:Olive mills are extensive in the Mediterranean Basin, and Spain constitutes approximately 45% of global production. The industrial sector faces a new energetic paradigm where distributed generation provided by small renewable energy sources may reduce the dependence from fossil energy sources as well as avoid energy distribution losses. Photovoltaic Self-Consumption systems can play an important role in confronting this challenge due to their modularity and their decreasing cost. Most of self-sufficiency energy studies are focused on building sector and discussions about the idiosyncrasy of industrial load profiles, and their matching capability with photovoltaic generation profiles can be scarcely found. This work analyzes the potential of photovoltaic Self-Consumption systems as a function of the array power, array tilt, and orientation angles to face the electric consumption in olive mills. Different recording intervals and reporting periods are considered. Results show that a self-sufficiency index of 40% may be achieved on olive harvest basis. Moreover, due to the load profile particularities, percentage error lower than 1.6% has been found when considering a recording interval of 60 min when matching the olive load consumption and photovoltaic generation profiles. Chosen array tilt and orientation angles may be key parameters to maximize the self-sufficiency index.
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a new approach to sizing the photovoltaic generator in self consumption systems based on cost competitiveness maximizing direct self consumption
Renewable Energy, 2019Co-Authors: D.l. Talavera, F J Munozrodriguez, G Jimenezcastillo, C RuscasasAbstract:Abstract Applications for sizing Photovoltaic (PV) Self-Consumption systems have been studied over recent years in order to achieve either an optimization of the cost of energy, the investment cost or any economic profitability criteria. However, PV Self-Consumption systems at the residential or small business level can be designed with the aims of reducing the electricity consumption from the conventional local grid and achieving competitiveness with grid electricity prices. These criteria will provide not only greater environmental benefits, security and independence of the grid but it will make the cost of PV Self-Consumption electricity competitive with electricity prices from the power grid. In this sense, this paper proposes a method to size the generator for a PV Self-Consumption system based on cost-competitiveness, maximizing direct Self-Consumption. The method will be applied for three different households located in the south of Spain using the household daily consumption and generation profiles for a single year. However, the method here illustrated can be applied to other countries. The results obtained suggest that residential direct PV Self-Consumption systems with an annual global irradiation at the optimal tilt angle higher than 1000 kWh/(m2·year) may be a feasible investment to future owners of these systems.
Ke Xu - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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dna methylation signature on phosphatidylethanol not on self reported alcohol consumption predicts hazardous alcohol consumption in two distinct populations
Molecular Psychiatry, 2020Co-Authors: Xiaoyu Liang, Amy C Justice, Kaku Soarmah, John H Krystal, Rajita Sinha, Ke XuAbstract:The process of diagnosing hazardous alcohol drinking (HAD) is based on self-reported data and is thereby vulnerable to bias. There has been an interest in developing epigenetic biomarkers for HAD that might complement clinical assessment. Because alcohol consumption has been previously linked to DNA methylation (DNAm), we aimed to select DNAm signatures in blood to predict HAD from two demographically and clinically distinct populations (Ntotal = 1,549). We first separately conducted an epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) for phosphatidylethanol (PEth), an objective measure of alcohol consumption, and for self-reported alcohol consumption in Cohort 1. We identified 83 PEth-associated CpGs, including 23 CpGs previously associated with alcohol consumption or alcohol use disorder. In contrast, no CpG reached epigenome-wide significance on self-reported alcohol consumption. Using a machine learning approach, two CpG subsets from EWAS on PEth and on self-reported alcohol consumption from Cohort 1 were separately tested for the prediction of HAD in Cohort 2. We found that a subset of 143 CpGs selected from the EWAS on PEth showed an excellent prediction of HAD with the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 89.4% in training set and 73.9% in validation set of Cohort 2. However, CpGs preselected from the EWAS on self-reported alcohol consumption showed a poor prediction of HAD with AUC 75.2% in training set and 57.6% in validation set. Our results demonstrate that an objective measure for alcohol consumption is a more informative phenotype than self-reported data for revealing epigenetic mechanisms. The PEth-associated DNAm signature in blood could serve as a robust biomarker for alcohol consumption.
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dna methylation signature on phosphatidylethanol not self reported alcohol consumption predicts hazardous alcohol consumption in two distinct populations
bioRxiv, 2019Co-Authors: Xiaoyu Liang, Amy C Justice, Kaku Soarmah, John H Krystal, Rajita Sinha, Ke XuAbstract:ABSTRACT The process of diagnosing hazardous alcohol drinking (HAD) is based on self-reported data and is thereby vulnerable to bias. There has been an interest in developing epigenetic biomarkers for HAD that might complement clinical assessment. Because alcohol consumption has been previously linked to DNA methylation (DNAm), here, we aimed to select DNAm signatures in blood to predict HAD from two demographically and clinically distinct populations (Ntotal=1,549). We first separately conducted an epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) for phosphatidylethanol (PEth), an objective measure of alcohol consumption, and for self-reported alcohol consumption in Cohort 1. We identified 102 PEth-associated CpGs, including 32 CpGs previously associated with alcohol consumption or alcohol use disorders. In contrast, no CpG reached epigenome-wide significance on self-reported alcohol consumption. Using a machine learning approach, two subsets of CpGs from EWAS on PEth and on self-reported alcohol consumption from Cohort 1 were separately tested for the prediction of HAD in Cohort 2. We found that a subset of 130 CpGs selected from the EWAS on PEth showed an excellent prediction of HAD with area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 91.31% in training set and 70.65% in validation set of Cohort 2. However, CpGs preselected from the EWAS on self-reported alcohol consumption showed a poor prediction of HAD with AUC 75.18% in the training set and 57.60% in the validation set. Our results demonstrate that an objective measure for alcohol consumption is a more informative phenotype than self-reported data for revealing epigenetic mechanism. The PEth-associated DNAm signature in blood is a robust biomarker for alcohol consumption.
Thomas Dietz - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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altruism self interest and energy consumption
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2015Co-Authors: Thomas DietzAbstract:How can we encourage greater energy efficiency? Estimates that take account of behavioral plasticity—the ease with which actions can be taken—indicate that the United States could reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions by 7% if households adopted simple and money-saving efficiency actions (1). However, most households are not taking these actions despite the benefits for the environment and for household budgets. By engaging key factors that influence household energy consumption, Asensio and Delmas shed light on unrealized energy efficiency (2). Their results provide useful insights for the design of programs to encourage energy efficiency; in doing so, they hone our understanding of environmental decision making.
Daan J Touw - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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urinary ethyl glucuronide as measure of alcohol consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease a population based cohort study
Journal of the American Heart Association, 2020Co-Authors: Inge A T Van De Luitgaarden, Ilse C Schrieks, Lyanne M Kieneker, Daan J Touw, Adriana J Van Ballegooijen, Sabine Van Oort, Diederick E Grobbee, Kenneth J Mukamal, Jenny E KootstrarosAbstract:Background Moderate alcohol consumption has been associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality compared with heavy drinkers and abstainers. To date, studies have relied on self-reported consumption, which may be prone to misclassification. Urinary ethyl glucuronide (EtG) is an alcohol metabolite and validated biomarker for recent alcohol consumption. We aimed to examine and compare the associations of self-reported alcohol consumption and EtG with CVD and all-cause mortality. Methods and Results In 5676 participants of the PREVEND (Prevention of Renal and Vascular End-Stage Disease) study cohort, EtG was measured in 24-hour urine samples and alcohol consumption questionnaires were administered. Participants were followed up for occurrence of first CVD and all-cause mortality. Cox proportional hazards regression models, adjusted for age, sex, and CVD risk factors, were fitted for self-reported consumption, divided into 5 categories: abstention, 1 to 4 units/month (reference), 2 to 7 units/week, 1 to 3 units/day, and ≥4 units/day. Similar models were fitted for EtG, analyzed as both continuous and categorical variables. Follow-up times differed for CVD (8 years; 385 CVD events) and all-cause mortality (14 years; 724 deaths). For both self-reported alcohol consumption and EtG, nonsignificant trends were found toward J-shaped associations between alcohol consumption and CVD, with higher risk in the lowest (hazard ratio for abstention versus 1-4 units/month, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.02-1.98) and highest drinking categories (hazard ratio for ≥4 units/day versus 1-4 units/month, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.68-1.84). Neither self-report nor EtG was associated with all-cause mortality. Conclusions Comparable associations with CVD events and all-cause mortality were found for self-report and EtG. This argues for the validity of self-reported alcohol consumption in epidemiologic research.
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urinary ethyl glucuronide can be used as a biomarker of habitual alcohol consumption in the general population
Journal of Nutrition, 2019Co-Authors: Inge A T Van De Luitgaarden, Ilse C Schrieks, Lyanne M Kieneker, Daan J Touw, Adriana J Van Ballegooijen, Sabine Van Oort, Diederick E Grobbee, Joline W J Beulens, Stephan J L BakkerAbstract:BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption is a frequently studied risk factor for chronic diseases, but many studies are hampered by self-report of alcohol consumption. The urinary metabolite ethyl glucuronide (EtG), reflecting alcohol consumption during the past 72 h, is a promising objective marker, but population data are lacking. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess the reliability of EtG as a marker for habitual alcohol consumption compared with self-report and other biomarkers in the general population. METHODS: Among 6211 participants in the Prevention of Renal and Vascular End-Stage Disease (PREVEND) cohort, EtG concentrations were measured in 24-h urine samples. EtG was considered positive when concentrations were ≥100 ng/mL. Habitual alcohol consumption was self-reported by questionnaire (categories: no/almost never, 1-4 units per month, 2-7 units per week, 1-3 units per day or ≥4 units per day). Plasma HDL cholesterol concentration, erythrocyte mean corpuscular volume (MCV), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT) were determined as indirect biomarkers of alcohol consumption. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, and proportions of agreement between reported consumption and EtG were calculated. To test the agreement of EtG concentration and alcohol consumption in categories, linear regression analysis was performed. In addition, the association between EtG concentrations and indirect biomarkers was analyzed. RESULTS: Mean age was 53.7 y, and 52.9% of participants men. Of the self-reported abstainers, 92.3% had an EtG concentration <100 ng/mL. Sensitivity was 66.3%, positive predictive value was 96.3%, and negative predictive value was 47.4%. The proportion of positive agreement was 78.5%, and the proportion of negative agreement was 62.7%. EtG concentrations were linearly associated with higher categories of alcohol consumption (P-trend < 0.001), adjusted for age, sex, and renal function. EtG was positively related to MCV, HDL cholesterol, and GGT but not to AST and ALT concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that urinary EtG is in reasonable agreement with self-reported alcohol consumption and therefore can be used as an objective marker of habitual alcohol consumption in the general population.
Judith A Hahn - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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comparison of self reported alcohol consumption to phosphatidylethanol measurement among hiv infected patients initiating antiretroviral treatment in southwestern uganda
PLOS ONE, 2014Co-Authors: Francis Bajunirwe, Jessica E Haberer, Yap Boum, Peter W Hunt, Rain Mocello, Jeffrey N Martin, David R Bangsberg, Judith A HahnAbstract:Background: Alcohol consumption among HIV-infected patients may accelerate HIV disease progression or reduce antiretroviral therapy adherence. Self-reported alcohol use is frequently under-reported due to social desirability and recall bias. The aim of this study was to compare self-reported alcohol consumption to phosphatidylethanol (PEth), a biomarker of alcohol consumption, and to estimate the correlation between multiple measures of self-reported alcohol consumption with PEth. Methods: The Uganda AIDS Rural Treatment Outcomes (UARTO) cohort is located in southwestern Uganda and follows patients on ART to measure treatment outcomes. Patients complete standardized questionnaires quarterly including questions on demographics, health status and alcohol consumption. Baseline dried blood spots (DBS) were collected and retrieved to measure PEth. Results: One hundred fifty samples were tested, and 56 (37.3%) were PEth positive (>8 ng/mL). Of those, 51.7% did not report alcohol use in the past month. Men were more likely to under-report compared to women, OR 2.9, 95% CI51.26, 6.65) and those in the higher economic asset categories were less likely to underreport compared to those in the lowest category (OR50.41 95% CI: 0.17, 0.94). Among self-reported drinkers (n531), PEth was highly correlated with the total number of drinking days in the last 30 (Spearman R50.73, p,0.001).
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comparison of phosphatidylethanol results to self reported alcohol consumption among young injection drug users
Alcohol and Alcoholism, 2014Co-Authors: Jennifer Jain, Jennifer L Evans, Alya Briceno, Kimberly Page, Judith A HahnAbstract:Aims: To test the value of phosphatidylethanol (PEth) as a biomarker for alcohol consumption among injecting drug users (IDUs). Methods: As part of a longitudinal study of young IDUs, dried blood spots and self-reported alcohol by structured interview were collected at baseline. We compared self-reported alcohol use to detectable PEth (≥8 ng/ml) in the blood spots as well as the rela- tionships between quantitative PEth results and quantity measures of alcohol consumption. Results: There were strong associations between PEth and self-reported categorical measures of alcohol consumption (all P< 0.01). There was high specificity for reporting abstaining from alcohol; 94% of those who reported not consuming alcohol in the prior month tested negative for PEth. PEth was well correlated with measures of alcohol use (e.g. with reported number of days drinking in the prior month: Spearman r =0.70 (P< 0.001)). Conclusions: The positive correlation of PEth with reported alcohol consumption suggests that PEth may be a useful marker in settings where alcohol consumption is difficult to assess, or to corroborate or invalidate self-reported measures of alcohol con- sumption.
