Solar+Storage for Low-and Moderate-Income Communities: A Guide for States and Municipalities

The Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA) has produced a new report for states and municipalities on solar+storage for low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities. The report explains how solar+storage can benefit LMI residents and describes a variety of policy tools for doing so, including grants, rebates, utility procurement standards, financing support, opening markets, and soft cost reduction

Business visualization: More I effective management tools for observation, dynamic measurement and control

Increased global competition and continual pressure to produce more work with fewer resources has become the hallmark of the 1990s. Businesses are taking steps to meet these new challenges by downsizing for better control, using networks (Valovic, 1992) and data communications for rapid response, and purchasing personal tools such as word processing programs, spreadsheets, graphics and desktop publishing programs for an increase of manager productivity. But are these steps sufficient? In order to be more profitable in today\u27s fast-paced and ever-changing environment, business managers at the strategic, tactical and operational levels must be able to visualize their operating data in a dynamic way. Business Visualization (BV) can be defined as the process of using computer based information systems to put business transactions and performance into a dynamic visible form that is readily understood by users (Marcus and van Dam, 1991). Our proposal is that business transactions and performance can and should be measured in a continuous rather than discrete manner

Multi-state epidemic processes on complex networks

Infectious diseases are practically represented by models with multiple states and complex transition rules corresponding to, for example, birth, death, infection, recovery, disease progression, and quarantine. In addition, networks underlying infection events are often much more complex than described by meanfield equations or regular lattices. In models with simple transition rules such as the SIS and SIR models, heterogeneous contact rates are known to decrease epidemic thresholds. We analyze steady states of various multi-state disease propagation models with heterogeneous contact rates. In many models, heterogeneity simply decreases epidemic thresholds. However, in models with competing pathogens and mutation, coexistence of different pathogens for small infection rates requires network-independent conditions in addition to heterogeneity in contact rates. Furthermore, models without spontaneous neighbor-independent state transitions, such as cyclically competing species, do not show heterogeneity effects.Comment: 7 figures, 1 tabl

Resilient Power Project Case Study: Sterling Municipal Light Department

Sterling Municipal Light Department (SMLD) is a municipal utility serving the small New England town of Sterling, Massachusetts, with 3,700 residential, commercial, municipal, and industrial customers. In 2013, with a total of 3.2 megawatts (MW) of solar PV installed, SMLD became the number one utilityin the country for solar watts per customer. Solar accounted for approximately 30 percent of SMLD's peak load. At this high level of penetration, the variable nature of solar generation bagan to cause problems. Additionally, the costs of capacity and transmission services, based on SMLD"s peak demand for power purchased from the grid operator, were rising dramatically. These costs increased from $500,000 in 2010 to$1.2 million in 2017. SMLD needed a new strategy to firm the output of its solar generation and control rising costs linked to the utility's share of regional demand peak.The town of Sterling was considering adding a natural gas peaker plant to avoid rising capacity costs at its Municipal Light Department. But this idea was abandoned when the option of energy storage presented itself in the form of a state grant program offered through the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER), called the Community Clean Energy Resiliency Initiative (CCERI). The grant program, initiated after Superstorm Sandy devastated the Northeast,w as designed to support municipal resilient clean energy systems. The town had also been hit by an ice storm in 2008, which had left residents without power for up to 14 days; thus, reciliency had been a longtime conern for the town. Energy storage presented an attractive means to firm the town's solar resources, add reciliency for critical infrastructure, and control rising costs

Using Technology 24/7 for Regional Assistance After Shutdown of Major Industries

People facing unemployment or who are underemployed need access to community and financial information and resources 24/7. Collaborating with community agencies and organizations, FCS educators developed a website with comprehensive local and state resources and educational tools that the consumer might otherwise not have been aware were available. Although the website was developed for five specific counties, statistics have shown that people in other counties, states and countries have found some of the information valuable. An additional tool, a Facebook page, provides updates on current issues each week

Emotional/Behavioral Disturbance and Speech/Language Disorders: Prevalence of the Dual Diagnoses in a School-Age Population

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of the comorbidity of emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) and speech/language disorders among those students identified as under The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act criteria as emotionally disturbed and speech impaired. The literature reviewed included clinical and school settings that examined a cooccurrence of language disorders in the EBD population. Other research reported a lack of routine involvement of speech/language therapists in the assessment of the EBD population. Implications from clinical studies suggested a need for greater attention to language disorders in a multi- and interdisciplinary assessment. This study investigated the prevalence of the dual occurrence of EBD and speech/language disorders in Grades 2 through 6 in Texas schools in light of the known research. Relationships in ethnicity and socioeconomic status were examined using chi-square test of independence. Aggregate data were obtained from the database of the Texas Pupil Information Management System and from survey questionnaire responses provided by speech therapists in selected districts. The literature review focused on the impact of language in the development of appropriate personal interactions and communication skills, especially those relevant to pragmatic language factors and the implications of language competency in successful personal living and career roles and supported the importance of language as an important contributor to a person's life success and the correlation of EBD disabilities and speech/language disorders. Social skills instruction, the relationship of language, especially pragmatics, and social competencies for this population are included. The results revealed a relationship between ethnicity and speech/language disorders among the students identified with EBD. In considering the population of students identified as EBD and language disordered, a significant relationship was found between ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Recommendations include suggestions for future research, assessment procedures, classroom interventions, and data collection methods

A case of autism with an interstitial deletion on 4q leading to hemizygosity for genes encoding for glutamine and glycine neurotransmitter receptor sub-units (AMPA 2, GLRA3, GLRB) and neuropeptide receptors NPY1R, NPY5R

BACKGROUND: Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder characterized by a triad of deficits: qualitative impairments in social interactions, communication deficits, and repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior. Although autism is etiologically heterogeneous, family and twin studies have established a definite genetic basis. The inheritance of idiopathic autism is presumed to be complex, with many genes involved; environmental factors are also possibly contributory. The analysis of chromosome abnormalities associated with autism contributes greatly to the identification of autism candidate genes. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe a child with autistic disorder and an interstitial deletion on chromosome 4q. This child first presented at 12 months of age with developmental delay and minor dysmorphic features. At 4 years of age a diagnosis of Pervasive Developmental Disorder was made. At 11 years of age he met diagnostic criteria for autism. Cytogenetic studies revealed a chromosome 4q deletion. The karyotype was 46, XY del 4 (q31.3-q33). Here we report the clinical phenotype of the child and the molecular characterization of the deletion using molecular cytogenetic techniques and analysis of polymorphic markers. These studies revealed a 19 megabase deletion spanning 4q32 to 4q34. Analysis of existing polymorphic markers and new markers developed in this study revealed that the deletion arose on a paternally derived chromosome. To date 33 genes of known or inferred function are deleted as a consequence of the deletion. Among these are the AMPA 2 gene that encodes the glutamate receptor GluR2 sub-unit, GLRA3 and GLRB genes that encode glycine receptor subunits and neuropeptide Y receptor genes NPY1R and NPY5R. CONCLUSIONS: The deletion in this autistic subject serves to highlight specific autism candidate genes. He is hemizygous for AMPA 2, GLRA3, GLRB, NPY1R and NPY5R. GluR2 is the major determinant of AMPA receptor structure. Glutamate receptors maintain structural and functional plasticity of synapses. Neuropeptide Y and its receptors NPY1R and NPY5R play a role in hippocampal learning and memory. Glycine receptors are expressed in very early cortical development. Molecular cytogenetic studies and DNA sequence analysis in other patients with autism will be necessary to confirm that these genes are involved in autism