Abstract-In an electricity market environment, energy storage plant owners are remunerated for the provision of services to multiple electricity sectors. Some of these services, however, may accelerate battery aging and degradation and hence this needs to be properly balanced against associated services remunerations. In this framework, we propose a combined economic-degradation model to quantify effects of operational policies (mainly focused on constraining State of Charge -SOC-to prescribed levels in order to reduce effects of aging) on gross revenue, multi-service portfolios, degradation and lifespan of distributed energy storage plants that can provide multiple services to energy and balancing market participants and Distribution Network Operators (DNO). Through various case studies based on the Great Britain (GB) system, we demonstrate that although operational policies focused on battery damage reduction will lead to a revenue loss in the shortterm, such loss can be more than compensated by long-term revenues due to a lengthier battery lifespan. We also demonstrate that operational policies to reduce battery degradation mainly affect services related to the energy (rather than balancing) market, which represents a smaller proportion of the overall revenue streams of a distributed storage plant. The model is also used to study effects of ambient temperature fluctuations.Index Terms-Distributed energy storage, multi-service portfolios, degradation, temperature control, power system economics. I. NOMENCLATURE A. Parameters

Artículo de publicación ISIWe present the implementation of a particle-filteringbased prognostic framework that utilizes statistical characterization of use profiles to (i) estimate the state-of-charge (SOC), and (ii) predict the discharge time of energy storage devices (lithium-ion batteries). The proposed approach uses a novel empirical statespace model, inspired by battery phenomenology, and particle-filtering algorithms to estimate SOC and other unknown model parameters in real-time. The adaptation mechanism used during the filtering stage improves the convergence of the state estimate, and provides adequate initial conditions for the prognosis stage. SOC prognosis is implemented using a particle-filtering-based framework that considers a statistical characterization of uncertainty for future discharge profiles based on maximum likelihood estimates of transition probabilities for a two-state Markov chain. All algorithms have been trained and validated using experimental data acquired from one Li-Ion 26650 and two Li-Ion 18650 cells, and considering different operating conditions.Project FONDECYT 114077

Hospital interventions in support of breastfeeding have been highly successful in areas where the indigenous population has a well established environment of breastfeeding. However, programmes designed to improve breastfeeding patterns in urban populations have met with mixed success. This paper presents a prospective intervention study with a control group in which a health system-based breastfeeding promotion programme was initiated to support optimal breastfeeding for both child health and child spacing. Following collection of control data, a four-step intervention programme (Breastfeeding Promotion Program) was instituted. This paper reports the process of the development of the intervention programme as well as the comparison of the control and study populations. Major findings include significant increases in duration of full breastfeeding from 31.6 per cent at 6 months in the control group to 66.8 per cent in the intervention group. The duration of lactational amenorrhea was similarly increased: 22 per cent of the control mothers and 56 per cent of the intervention group women were in amenorrhoea at 180 days. The cost-effectiveness of the hospital changes is illustrated.

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OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine prospectively whether unplanned pregnancies are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes among users of natural family planning. METHODS: Women who became pregnant while using natural family planning were identified in five centers worldwide: there were 373 unplanned and 367 planned pregnancies in this cohort. The subjects were followed up at 16 and 32 weeks' gestation and after delivery. The risks of spontaneous abortion, low birth-weight, and preterm birth were estimated after adjustment by logistic regression. RESULTS: The women with unplanned pregnancies were more likely to be at the extremes of age, to report more medical problems before and during the index pregnancy, and to seek antenatal care later in gestation than the women with planned pregnancies. However, women with planned pregnancies reported a higher rate of spontaneous abortion in previous pregnancies (28.8%) than did women with unplanned pregnancies (12.9%). There were no significant differences in the rates of spontaneous abortion, low birthweight, or preterm birth between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: No increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes was observed among women who experienced an unplanned pregnancy while using natural family planning.

Several studies were designed to evaluate the effect of oral TRH on prolactin (PRL) secretion and mammary function in nursing women. Initially, efficacy was studied in nursing women following 5 mg TRH. PRL levels rose to a mean maximum of 46.3 ng/ml above baseline at 60 min. Plasma TSH also incresed from a mean baseline of 2.6 to 17.6 muU/ml at 180 min. No changes were observed following placebo. In order to observe the long term effects of oral TRH, two groups of women in full nursing were studied. Beginning on day 29 postpartum, either 5 mg TRH or placebo were taken twice daily for four weeks. No chronic elevations were observed in maternal PRL and TSH or in infant TSH before or after one month of either regimen. Milk composition expressed in terms of per cent protein and per cent fat did not differ between the groups. Weekly gonadotropin levels were also similar as were infant weight gain and growth. In a group of women with lactational insufficiency receiving 5-20 mg TRH twice daily for five days, basal PRL concentrations markedly increased. While changes in milk composition were not significant, fat percentages increased slightly and protein percentages declined. Breast engorgement and milk letdown increased and full nursing was restored. While the oral TRH used in fully nursing women had no demonstrable effect on mammary function, it may prove useful in those women with lactational insufficiency. Because two women developed iatrogenic hyperthyroidism following 40 mg oral TRH twice daily, care must be exercised in determining the dosage to be employed.

It is well accepted that breastfeeding contributes significantly to child survival and child nutrition. Healthful child spacing is associated with improved birth outcomes and maternal recovery. On a population basis, breastfeeding may contribute more to birth spacing than all family planning use combined in many countries. However, while breastfeeding does provide a period of infertility, until recently, there was no reliable way for an individual woman to capitalize on this lactational infertility for her own efficacious child spacing. The Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM) is a new introductory family planning method that simultaneously promotes child spacing and breastfeeding, with its optimal nutrition and disease preventive benefits for the infant. LAM, as it is called, is based on the utilization of lactational infertility for protection from pregnancy and indicates the time for the introduction of a complementary family planning method. LAM is recommended for up to six months postpartum for women who are fully or nearly fully breastfeeding and amenorrheic, and relies on the maintenance of appropriate breastfeeding practices to prolong lactational infertility, with the concomitant delay in menses return. A recent clinical trial confirmed the theoretical 98% or higher effectiveness of the method and field trials are demonstrating its acceptability. Nonetheless, some demographers and family planning organizations continue to debate its value. The development, efficacy, and sequelae of the method are presented using data from several studies by the authors.