This paper presents a formulation of unit commitment for thermal units integrated with wind and solar energy systems and electrical vehicles with emphasizing on Mixed Integer Nonlinear Programming (MINLP). The renewable energy resources are included in this model due to their low electricity cost and positive effect on environment. As well as, coordinated charging strategy of electrical vehicle...

Energy harvesting is a conventional method to collect the dissipated energy of a system. In this paper, we investigate the optimal location of a piezoelectric element to harvest maximum power concerning different excitation frequencies of a vibrating cantilever beam. The cantilever beam oscillates by a concentrated sinusoidal tip force, and a piezoelectric patch is integrated on the beam to gen...

In mammals, the thalamus plays important roles for cortical processing, such as relay of sensory information and induction of rhythmical firing during sleep. In neurons of the avian cerebrum, in analogy with cortical up and down states, complex patterns of regular-spiking and dense-bursting modes are frequently observed during sleep. However, the roles of thalamic inputs for shaping these firin...

The thalamus is an essential structure in the mammalian forebrain conveying information topographically from the sensory periphery to primary neocortical areas. Beyond this initial processing stage, "higher-order" thalamocortical connections have been presumed to serve only a modulatory role, or are otherwise functionally disregarded. Here we demonstrate that these "higher-order" thalamic nucle...

High-frequency deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the thalamus alleviates most kinds of tremor, yet its mechanism of action is unknown. Studies in subthalamic nucleus and other brain sites have emphasized non-synaptic factors. To explore the mechanism underlying thalamic DBS, we simulated DBS in vitro by applying high-frequency (125 Hz) electrical stimulation directly into the sensorimotor thalamu...

Low threshold Ca2+ currents mediated by T-type channels underlie burst spike activities of relay neurons in the thalamus. We have previously reported that knock-out mice for T-type channels show an enhanced nociceptive response to visceral pain, accompanied by an increase in tonic spikes in the absence of burst spikes in thalamic relay neurons. These results raised a possibility that T-type cha...

Deep brain stimulation of the thalamus (thalamic DBS) is an established therapy for medically intractable essential tremor and tremor caused by multiple sclerosis. In both disorders, motor disability results from complex interaction between kinetic tremor and accompanying ataxia with voluntary movements. In clinical studies, the efficacy of thalamic DBS has been thoroughly assessed. However, th...

The detailed study of electrical power systems is a key element of many curricula in Industrial Technology. A novel laboratory set-up has been designed and implemented at the University of Northern Iowa as an instructional resource for teaching electrical power system and renewable energy concepts. The set-up consists of a photo-voltaic solar-cell array, a mast mounted wind generator, lead-acid...