Nine patients with intermittent claudication diagnosed at least 6 months before this investigation were evaluated to determine the effects of walking exercise on serum lactate accumulation (HLa, mmol⁻¹), ankle pressure index (API), total treadmill time (sec), and onset of leg pain (sec) in the most severely diseased limb. Subjects were evaluated via a functional walking tolerance test before participation in a thrice-weekly exercise program lasting 6 weeks. Post- treatment, the participants were re-evaluated on an identical walking test. Measurements of HLa accumulation and API were taken at rest and immediately following termination of the treadmill test. In the training sessions, body weight (kg), exercise heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and distance traveled (m) were recorded daily. There were no significant changes (p<.05) after training in total time (mean increase = 23.7%) or time for onset of pain in the treadmill test (mean increase = 30.1%). Neither were there significant changes (p<.05) in API or HLa levels taken immediately after exercise, when pre- and post-training treadmill test data were compared. The weekly responses for exercise HR, and SBP, as well as body weight remained stable throughout. Mean distance walked by the subjects increased 203% (± 45%) across the 6 weeks. These data suggest that increases in total distance walked in an exercise program were apparently not related to HLa accumulation or API measurements in the working muscles, and that other mechanisms must be investigated in future studies to explain enhanced performance of such subjects. / Master of Science

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第24892号 / 工博第5172号 / 新制||工||1988(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院工学研究科社会基盤工学専攻 / (主査)教授 渦岡 良介, 教授 安原 英明, 教授 肥後 陽介 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DGAM

As a special subset of ad hoc networks, airborne networks aim to provide efficient network access for airborne and ground assets in a tactical environment. Conventional ad hoc routing protocols face some difficulties in such networks. First, significant overhead may be generated due to the high node mobility and dramatic topology changes. Second, temporary link failure may abort the delivery of a packet in some intermediate router. In this thesis, we propose a cluster-based reactive routing protocol to alleviate these problems. Our solution takes advantage of mesh routers installed in unmanned aerial vehicles or aircraft capable of hovering, when such airborne assets are available. As those mesh points usually have relatively stable connections among themselves, they play the role of cluster heads, forming a hierarchical routing structure. A simple self-organizing rule is introduced in cluster management to limit the cluster control overhead and route discovery flooding. In addition, a disruption tolerant mechanism (DTM) is deployed in the routing protocol to increase resilience to temporary link or node failure. The DTM utilizes the location, bearing and speed information provided by each node and intelligently maintains a buffer of packets that cannot be immediately delivered. If a temporary link failure occurs in the intermediate router during delivery, the packet is then buffered in that router up to a maximum time-to-live. The DTM also keeps track of link changes and tries to deliver the message as soon as a new path toward the destination is found. If the buffered messages are about to time out and the destination is still unreachable, the DTM still makes an effort to deliver the packet to another router with higher probability of eventually reaching the destination. This thesis also presents an implementation of the proposed solution in the ns-2 network simulator. The conventional Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) routing protocol is adopted as the base model in the implementation. A mesh router model is programmed with two wireless interfaces. One of the interfaces is utilized to exchange routing information and packets with cluster members; the other is used to communicate with other mesh routers. This model is then installed on top of the AODV routing protocol and forms the hierarchical routing structure. The traditional AODV messages, including RREQ, RREP and HELLO, and routing tables are modified to support additional location information. Finally, the DTM is programmed and added to the AODV buffer management. The objective of this research is to use a mesh structure and DTM to improve the reliability and performance of airborne networks. The metrics of throughput and routing overhead are taken into consideration. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed solution satisfies our research objectives. It achieves better performance than the conventional AODV, but introduces little overhead. The mesh structure can effectively adapt to high mobility, dynamic topology and different routing capabilities. The DTM provides a sophisticated way to maintain the buffer and mitigates the impact of intermittent links. / Master of Science

The rapid growth of an older demographic is an increasing concern around the world. Older people have been reported to suffer from physiological and neuromuscular declines in several systems including skeletal muscles, central nervous system, cardiovascular processes and respiratory function. These age-related changes are often reflected through impairments in functional performance of occupational tasks as well as activities of daily living. This may make an older population more prone to musculoskeletal disorders and injuries. In addition, health problems and injury risks are likely amplified by factors such as obesity. Obesity has emerged as a serious health concern in the United States in recent decades. However, obesity-related changes in performance and motor control as well as how they will be modified by gender, specifically among older adults, are still largely unexplored. As motor variability has recently been reported to be associated with fatigue development and may have the potential to reveal underlying mechanisms of neuromuscular control, the main goals of this study were to investigate the influence of gender and obesity on motor performance, neuromuscular control and endurance in the elderly, by examining differences in motor variability during intermittent submaximal isometric exertions of the knee and hand. Fifty-two older participants with age over 65 were recruited into four groups: obese male (9), obese female (13), non-obese male (15) and non-obese female (15). The obese groups consisted of those whose BMI was greater than 30 kg/m2. Participants were asked to perform intermittent (15s on and 15s off) isometric handgrip and knee extensions at 30% MVC until exhaustion. Force and muscle activations of the Vastus Lateralis, Rectus Femoris, Extensor Carpi Radialis and Flexor Carpi Radialis muscles were collected through the endurance task. Motor variability was quantified using the coefficient of variation (CV) and sample entropy (SaEn) of the surface electromyography (EMG) and force signals. Motor variability during exercise differed both between males and females, and between obese and non-obese people, reflecting different motor strategies employed in order to prolong endurance. Overall, across all individuals, we observed a significant positive correlation between cycle-to-cycle variability of knee extensor muscle activation during the baseline period of the task and endurance time. As for gender differences, males exhibited longer endurance times than females, and seemed to achieve that through utilizing a motor strategy involving a more variable (higher CV) and less complex (lower SaEn) agonistic muscle activity. Since this was accompanied by a lower fluctuation in the force signal (lower CV) and a higher complexity of force (SaEn), we interpreted this to be a motor strategy involving more variable recruitment of synergistic and antagonistic motor units during the knee extension task to prolong endurance time, among males compared to females. As for obesity differences, there were no obesity-related changes in endurance time. However, obese individuals exhibited a greater cycle-to-cycle variability that was positively correlated with endurance time during the knee extension task, indicating a larger alteration in the recruitment of motor units across successive contractions, which contributed to comparable endurance time and performance with their non-obese counterparts. During the hand-grip tasks, variabilities in force and muscle activity followed similar trends as the knee extension task. However, there were no significant gender or obesity differences in endurance time, and there also weren't any significant correlations between any of the dependent variables with endurance time. Thus, this study was a basic investigation into changes in motor variability and how it was associated with the development of fatigue among older adults; and the potential influences of gender and obesity on the relationships. Two tasks of high relevance to both occupational life and activities of daily living, i.e. knee extension and hand-grip were considered. Our findings enhance the theoretical understanding of the underlying neuromuscular control patterns and their relationship with fatigue for different individuals. Given that both aging and obesity rates are rising continuously and becoming a substantial health and safety problem especially in the occupational environment, the results from this study are both timely and critical for practical design applications, especially by recognizing the importance of having a variable motor pattern in task performance, even among older adults. / MS / Obesity rates in the geriatric population has emerged as serious health concern in recent decades. Yet, obesity-related differences in neuromuscular performance and neuromotor control during fatiguing tasks, as well as how they are modified by gender, specifically among older adults, are still largely unexplored. In recent decades, motor variability, referring to the natural variations in postures, movements and muscle activity, has been observed in all physical tasks and linked with fatigue development. It may have the potential to reveal underlying mechanisms of neuromuscular control. Thus, the main goals of this study were to investigate the influence of gender and obesity on motor variability and performance in the elderly, by studying intermittent isometric muscle contractions. Fifty-two older adults (Mean age: 73 (SD 6) years) were recruited into four groups: 9 obese males, 13 obese females, 15 non-obese males, and 15 non-obese females 15. Participants performed intermittent (15s contraction and 15s rest) isometric knee extensions and handgrips at 30% maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) until exhaustion. Force and muscle activations of the Vastus Lateralis (VL), Rectus Femoris (RF), Extensor Carpi Radialis (ECR) and Flexor Carpi Radialis (FCR) muscles were collected during knee extension and handgrip tasks. Performance was quantified using endurance time and force fluctuations. Motor variability was quantified using the coefficient of variation (CV) and sample entropy (SaEn) of the muscle activation signals (surface electromyography (EMG)). The CV is a linear estimator that quantified the size of motor variability. The SaEn is the non-linear estimator that can show the complexity of the signal. Across all individuals, larger cycle-to-cycle variability of baseline muscle activation was associated with longer endurance time during the knee extension task. Males exhibited longer endurance times than females, and probably achieved that by utilizing a motor strategy involving more variable recruitment of synergistic and antagonistic motor units during the knee extension task. No obesity-related changes in endurance time were found. However, obese individuals exhibited a greater cycle-to-cycle variability during the knee extension task, indicating a larger alteration in the recruitment of motor units across successive contractions, which contributed to comparable endurance time and performance with their non-obese counterparts. This study was a basic investigation into changes in motor variability and how it was associated with the development of fatigue among older adults; and the potential influences of gender and obesity on the relationships. Given that obesity rates in the older population is rising continuously and becoming a substantial health and safety problem especially in the occupational environment, the results from this study are both timely and critical for practical design applications, especially by recognizing the importance of having a variable motor pattern in task performance, particularly among older adults.

No / Intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) is a mechanical method of delivering compression to swollen limbs that can be used to treat venous leg ulcers and limb swelling due to lymphoedema. This review analyses the evidence for the effectiveness of IPC as a treatment for venous leg ulcers. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether IPC increases the healing of venous leg ulcers. To determine the effects of IPC on health related quality of life of venous leg ulcer patients. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Wounds Group Specialised Register (December 2007); the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) - The Cochrane Library Issue 4, 2007; Ovid MEDLINE - 2006 to November Week 2 2007; Ovid EMBASE - 2006 to 2007 Week 49 and Ovid CINAHL - 2006 to December Week 1 2007. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled studies either comparing IPC with control (sham IPC or no IPC) or comparisons between IPC treatment regimens, in venous ulcer management were included. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data extraction and assessment of study quality were undertaken by one author and checked by a second. MAIN RESULTS: Seven randomised controlled trials (including 367 people in total) were identified. Only one trial reported both allocation concealment and blinded outcome assessment. In one trial (80 people) more ulcers healed with IPC than with dressings (62% vs 28%; p=0.002). Four trials compared IPC with compression against compression alone. The first of these trials (45 people) found increased ulcer healing with IPC plus compression than with compression alone (relative risk for healing 11.4, 95% Confidence Interval 1.6 to 82). The remaining three trials (122 people) found no evidence of a benefit for IPC plus compression compared with compression alone. One small trial (16 people) found no difference between IPC (without additional compression) and compression bandages alone. One trial compared different ways of delivering IPC (104 people) and found that rapid IPC healed more ulcers than slow IPC (86% vs 61%; log rank p=0.003). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: IPC may increase healing compared with no compression, but it is not clear whether it increases healing when added to treatment with bandages, or if it can be used instead of compression bandages. Rapid IPC was better than slow IPC in one trial. Further trials are required to determine whether IPC increases the healing of venous leg ulcers when used in modern practice where compression therapy is widely used.

Energy-harvesting batteryless devices exploit power from various sources, such as radio waves, sunlight, and vibration. However, the sporadic availability of ambient energy causes frequent power failures, forcing the systems to operate intermittently. The computation interruptions violate forward progress and memory consistency. State-of-the-art solutions have proposed multiple mature approaches for intermittent computing to provide both application termination guarantees and consistent and idempotent results. Some solutions propose so-called just-in-time (JIT) checkpoints, where dedicated hardware is used to constantly monitor available energy and warn the system when the energy level in the energy buffer reaches critical points. These points indicate potential power failures before which the system must back up its architectural state. Other solutions propose placing checkpoints in the program code at compile time based on the energy consumption of code execution between checkpoints. A power failure can occur at any time during execution, but the computation recovers from the recent checkpoint. Instead of explicitly placing checkpoints, another set of solutions assumes the software developers split the application into failure-atomic tasks directly manipulating non-volatile memory. The common condition in task-based intermittent programming is to keep the energy consumption of each task within the capacity of the energy buffer. While efficient, the proposed solutions target off-the-shelf single-core ultra-low-power microcontrollers (MCUs) with limited flexibility and performance capability. These MCUs are energy-efficient and ideal for performing low-cost tasks. On the other hand, contemporary compute- and data-intensive, parallelizable applications demand the execution of high-cost tasks on edge devices. The reason is that sending large amounts of raw sensor data wirelessly to offload the intensive tasks to the cloud is too energy-inefficient, especially for energy-harvesting devices. Four critical limitations prevent the use of advanced multicore devices and emerging technologies for the efficient execution of modern applications on ultra-low-power batteryless edges. First, in existing systems, programmers need to exploit underlying parallelism manually by interacting directly with low-power accelerators, which is cumbersome. Programmable general-purpose multicore platforms provide the highest degree of flexibility, but the intermittent computing community has overlooked them so far. Existing intermittent computing runtimes do not support parallelism or provide language constructs to express parallelizable code blocks. Second, the availability of energy and the strength of incoming power affect an intermittent system's charging and discharging cyclical nature. When incoming power is strong enough, the device charges rapidly and spends more time on computation. Similarly, low input power forces the system to spend more time collecting energy than computing. To respond to ambient power dynamics and increase throughput, existing works have proposed workload, accuracy, voltage, frequency, and computational unit scaling techniques. However, the solutions work on a fixed hardware configuration, and target systems are limited by the performance of a single-core processor without employing available degrees of application parallelism. Third, existing low-power multicore platforms are not designed for intermittent computing. Their internal non-volatile flash memories are not suitable for intermittent computing because they have high energy requirements, low speed, and limited write endurance. The only way to exploit current low-power multicore platforms for intermittent computing is to introduce an external non-volatile memory, such as FRAM. However, this architectural configuration is very inefficient as compared to embedded FRAM due to its significant energy overhead, making backup and recovery operations energy-expensive. Finally, using emerging memories, e.g., MRAM, as an external non-volatile memory allows for in-memory processing (PIM) of data-intensive computations, eliminating unnecessary data movement and enabling data-level parallelism. While inherently idempotent, such in-memory computation is hard to integrate into traditional MCU-based intermittent systems. Successful integration lacks the effective maintenance of data flow and computation in a power failure-resilient manner. In this thesis, we tackle the limitations. In Chapter 3, we introduce AdaMICA, an intermittent computing runtime that supports parallel intermittent multicore computing and provides the highest degree of flexibility of programmable general-purpose multiple cores. AdaMICA adaptively switches to the best multicore configuration considering the dynamic input power. Therefore, it allows an intermittent system to benefit from workload parallelization, thereby increasing systems throughput and decreasing end-to-end delay while considering the energy availability. Chapter 4 presents PEARL, a power- and energy-aware multicore intermittent computing that enables, for the first time, the efficient adaptation of the common off-the-shelf low-power multicore microcontroller platforms to the intermittent computing paradigm. PEARL features a novel backup policy that significantly reduces the number of accesses to non-volatile memory on multicore platforms. PEARL benefits from multicore power-aware adaptation to adjust the underlying hardware architecture and exploits energy awareness to transition an intermittent system to ultra-low-power mode, retaining memory content. In Chapter 6, we address emerging non-volatile memory, CRAM (Computational RAM), presenting PiMCo and LUTIC, novel programmable CRAM-based in-memory coprocessors that facilitate the power-failure resilient execution of parallelizable computational loads. The coprocessors are pluggable into and controlled by a general-purpose MCU via a standard communication protocol. In Chapter 7, we propose Viadotto, a novel adaptive intermittent computing system that bridges the gap between existing MCU-based intermittent systems and the emerging compute-in-memory paradigm. Viadotto introduces a high-level programming model supported by its compiler, software library, and power failure-resilient memory controller, hiding detailed low-level logic operations and data flow management in CRAM from programmers. Viadotto exploits adaptation by controlling data-level parallelism with respect to the ambient power level. In essence, this thesis addresses several pivotal challenges to enabling full-fledged parallelism on ultra-low-power batteryless devices. Hence, we have made a significant step towards the efficient deployment of modern complex applications on energy-harvesting systems.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a highly debilitating mental illness that is incited by various types of trauma and causes core symptoms of re-experiencing, hyperarousal, avoidance of trauma-related stimuli, and negative cognition and mood. It is accompanied by functional, social, and occupational impairment, as well as higher risks of medical comorbidities and mortality. Estimates indicate that PTSD affects 3.9% of the global population, and 7-9% of the US population, with only 50% of those with persistent PTSD treatment-seeking. The gold standard of PTSD treatment is prolonged exposure therapy and cognitive processing theory, with the addition of antidepressants; however, dropout rates are high likely due to the adverse effects of worsening re-experiencing of trauma and exacerbating behaviors of avoidance. As a result, alternative therapies such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) represent more tolerable treatment options. Historically, literature on TMS is promising for its low risk of side effects and efficacy, but there is no general consensus on treatment-specific targets, frequency of treatment delivery, or long-term efficacy. This proposed study will evaluate the use of neuroimaging guided intermittent theta burst stimulation, a form of TMS, for core PTSD symptom reduction and its efficacy up to one year in duration to potentially reduce the morbidity and mortality sequelae of PTSD.

Spaces with high occupancy density like classrooms are challenging to ventilate and use a lot of energy to maintain comfort. Usually, a compromise is made between low energy use and good Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), of which poor IEQ has consequences for occupants’ health, productivity and comfort. Alternative strategies that incorporate elevated air speeds can reduce cooling energy demand and provide occupant’s comfort and productivity at higher operative temperatures. A ventilation strategy, Intermittent Air Jet Strategy (IAJS), which optimizes controlled intermittent airflow and creates non-uniform airflow and non-isothermal conditions, critical for sedentary operations at elevated temperatures, is proposed herein. The primary aim of the work was to investigate the potential of IAJS as a ventilation system in high occupancy spaces. Ventilation parameters such as air distribution, thermal comfort and indoor air quality are evaluated and the system is compared with a traditional system, specifically, mixing ventilation (MV). A 3-part research process was used: (1) Technical (objective) evaluation of IAJS in-comparison to MV and displacement ventilation (DV) systems. (2) An occupant response study to IAJS. (3) Estimation of the cooling effect under IAJS and its implications on energy use. All studies were conducted in controlled chambers. The results show that while MV and DV creates steady airflow conditions, IAJS has  cyclic airflow profiles which results in a sinusoidal temperature profile around occupants. Air distribution capability of IAJS is similar to MV, both having a generic local air quality index in the occupied zone. On the other hand, the systems overall air change rate was higher than a MV. Thermal comfort results suggest that IAJS generates comfortable thermal climate at higher operative temperatures compared to MV. Occupant responses to IAJS show an improved thermal sensation, air quality perception and acceptability of indoor environment at higher temperatures as compared to MV. A comparative study to estimate the cooling effect of IAJS shows that upper HVAC setpoint can be increased from 2.3 – 4.5 oC for a neutral thermal sensation compared to a MV. This implies a substantial energy saving potential on the ventilation system. In general, IAJS showed a potential for use as a ventilation system in classrooms while promising energy savings. / Lokaler där många människor vistas, som t.ex. klassrum, är ofta svåra att ventilera. Att upprätthålla en bra termisk komfort kräver en hög energianvändning. Vanligtvis blir det en kompromiss mellan låg energianvändning och bra kvalitet på inomhusmiljön (IEQ). Dålig IEQ får konsekvenser för människors hälsa, produktivitet och komfort. Alternativa ventilationsstrategier, som använder förhöjda lufthastigheter, kan minska kylbehovet och därmed energianvändningen. I denna avhandling utvärderas en ny ventilationsstrategi, Intermittenta luftstrålar (IAJS), där korta perioder med hög lufthastighet genererar en svalkande effekt, när rummets temperatur upplevs som för hög. Det primära syftet med arbetet var att undersöka potentialen hos IAJS som ett ventilationssystem för klassrum, där den termiska lasten ofta är hög. Strategin jämförs mot traditionella ventilationsprinciper som omblandande ventilation (MV) och deplacerande ventilation (DV). Parametrar som luftdistributionsindex, termisk komfort, luftkvalitet och energibesparing har utvärderats. Alla studier utfördes i klimatkammare. Resultaten visar att medan MV och DV skapar konstanta luftflödesförhållanden genererar IAJS cykliska hastighetsprofiler samt en sinusformad temperaturvariation i vistelsezonen. IAJS klarar att bibehålla ett bra termiskt klimat vid högre operativa temperaturer jämfört med MV. I en jämförelse med ett traditionellt HVAC-system visar beräkningar  att dess börvärde kan höjas från 2.3 till 4.5 °C med bibehållen termisk komfort. Detta indikerar en avsevärd energibesparingspotential vid användande av IAJS.

L'entraînement par intervalles à haute intensité est plus efficace que l'entraînement continu d’intensité modérée pour améliorer la consommation maximale d’oxygène (VO2max) et le profil métabolique des patients coronariens. Cependant, il n’y a pas de publications pour appuyer la prescription d’un type d’exercice intermittent (HIIE) spécifique dans cette population. Nous avons donc comparé les réponses aiguës cardio-pulmonaires de quatre sessions différentes d’exercice intermittent dans le but d’identifier l’exercice optimal chez les patients coronariens. De manière randomisée, les sujets participaient aux sessions d’HIIE, toutes avec des phases d’exercice à 100% de la puissance maximale aérobie (PMA), mais qui variaient selon la durée des phases d’exercice et de récupération (15s ou 1 min) et la nature de la récupération (0% de la PMA ou 50% de la PMA). Chaque session était réalisée sous forme de temps limite et l’exercice était interrompu après 35 minutes. En considérant l’effort perçu, le confort du patient et le temps passé au-dessus de 80% de VO2max, nous avons trouvé que l’exercice optimal consistait à alterner des courtes phases d’exercice de 15s à 100% de la PMA avec des phases de 15s de récupération passive. Ensuite, nous avons comparé les réponses physiologiques de l’HIIE optimisé avec un exercice continu d’intensité modérée (MICE) iso-calorique chez des patients coronariens. En considérant les réponses physiologiques, l’aspect sécuritaire (aucune élévation de Troponin T) et l’effort perçu, le protocole HIIE est apparu mieux toléré et plus efficace chez ces coronariens. Finalement, une simple session d’HIIE n’induit pas d’effets délétères sur la paroi vasculaire, comme démontré avec l’analyse des microparticules endothéliales. En conclusion, l’exercice intermittent à haute intensité est un mode d'entraînement prometteur pour les patients coronariens stables qui devrait faire l’objet d’autres études expérimentales en particulier pour les patients coronariens ischémiques. / High-intensity interval training has been shown to be more effective than moderate intensity continuous training for improving maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) and metabolic profile in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). However, no evidence supports the prescription of one specific protocol of high intensity interval exercise (HIIE) in this population. We have compared the acute cardiopulmonary responses to four different sessions of HIIE in order to identify the most optimal one in CHD patients. In random fashion, subjects performed the different HIIE sessions, all with exercise phases at 100% of maximal aerobic power (MAP), but which varied in interval duration (15 s or 60 s) and type of recovery (0% of MAP or 50% of MAP). Each protocol lasted 35 minutes or until exhaustion. When considering perceived exertion, patient comfort and time spent above 80% of VO2max, we found that repeated bouts of 15s at 100% of MAP interspersed by 15s phases of passive recovery was the optimal HIIE session for these coronary patients. Then, we compared the physiological responses to the optimized HIIE versus a moderate intensity continuous training (MICE) protocol of similar energy expenditure in coronary patients. When considering physiological responses, safety (no elevation of Troponin T) and perceived exertion, the HIIE protocol appeared to be well tolerated and more efficient in this group of stable coronary patients. Finally, a single bout of HIIE did not induce deleterious effects on the endothelium, as demonstrated by endothelial microparticules analyses. We conclude that high-intensity interval exercise is a promising mode of training for patients with stable CHD that should also be further investigated in cardiac patients, particularly with exercise-induced ischemia.

Arbetet Tillämpning av batterilager som energitjänsten lastutjämnare är en litteraturstudie och en kvantitativ studie. I studien har driftkarakteristiken år 2015 hos en matvarubutik legat till grunden. Arbetet har syftat i att besvara frågan kring ett batterilagers lämplighet som agerade för lastutjämning. För att ta reda på det har batterilagersegenskaper kartlagts och dimensionering gjorts utifrån två olika driftfall. En ekonomisk besparingspotential har även beräknats utifrån de bägge driftfallen. Driftfallen har valts att kallas teknisk dimensionering och ekonomisk dimensionering. De tekniska dimensionerade lagerna har en lager storlek om 617 kWh och 555kWh vilket motsvarar 7,1% respektive 5,8% av den dagliga energianvändningen. För de ekonomiskt dimensionerade lagerna har en lager storlek om 597 kWh och 233kWh vilket motsvarar 6,8% respektive 2,8% av den dagliga energianvändningen. Den ekonomiska besparingspotentialen blir som störst för en blandad körning av de bägge driftfallen. Trotts att besparingspotentialen är uppskattade under ideala förhållanden med varken förluster eller degraderad prestanda lönar det inte sig att investera i ett batterilager för att enbart utföra tjänsten effektutjämning idag. Investering i ett batterilager för effektutjämning har potential att bli lönsam först när den kan tillgodose fler energitjänster eller när alternativkostnaden är förhöjd. / This thesis, is a study of battery energy storage and its use as energy source and smoothening of power fluctuation. Studies have been made as a systematic review and a quantitative study. The study has consisted of analysing the power characteristic from a supermarket in the city of Varberg during year 2015. The object has been to evaluate the energy storage and the power smoothing qualities. Therefore the battery energy storages characteristics have been evaluated in this systematic review. For the quantitative study, calculations of the energy storage sizes were made for two separate operation modes. The two different operation modes were named technical dimensioning and economic dimensioning. The function of the technical dimensioning was to smooth the power outlet from the grid, while the function of the economic dimensioning was to enable the supermarket to buy more energy during low-price hours. Based on monthly power characteristics, each dimensioning gave as a result two energy storage possibilities, one in medium and one in small size. The technical dimensioning resulted in battery energy storage of the sizes 617 kWh and 555kWh which is comparable to 7,1% and 5,8% of the daily energy usage of the supermarket. The economic dimensioning resulted in battery energy storage of the sizes 597 kWh and 233kWh which is comparable to 6,8% and 2,8% of the daily energy usage of the supermarket. For optimizing the economic savings, a variation of technical and economic operation mode are needed, depending on calculated power usage through the day and elspot prices. The study shows that a battery storage is difficult to finance. The calculated economic savings were estimated during ideal conditions and without power loss or loss in performance. As a conclusion from this study a battery storage may have a good payback if there are several energy services to be filled.