GARM: A stochastic evolution based genetic algorithm with rewarding mechanism for wind farm layout optimization

Wind energy has emerged as a potential alternative to traditional energy sources for economical and clean power generation. One important aspect of wind energy generation is the layout design of the wind farm so as to harness maximum energy. Due to its inherent computational complexity, the wind farm layout design problem has traditionally been solved using nature-inspired algorithms. An important issue in nature-inspired algorithms is the termination condition, which governs the execution time of the algorithm. To optimize the execution time, appropriate termination conditions should be employed. This study proposes the concept of a rewarding mechanism to achieve optimization in termination conditions while maintaining the solution quality. The proposed rewarding mechanism, adopted from the stochastic evolution algorithm, is incorporated into a genetic algorithm. The proposed genetic algorithm with the rewarding mechanism (GARM) is empirically tested using real data from a potential wind farm site with different rewarding iterations

The Effect of Hepatitis B on Humans

The aim of the study is to know the effect of the hepatitis B virus on humans, how the virus is transmitted, what is the method of preventing it, and what treatment is used to alleviate the severity of the disease. The questionnaire was designed via the Google Drive application and distributed via the social networking application (WhatsApp), with complete transparency to the population targeted by the research. The city of Mecca, from the age of (25-55 years), where 550 questionnaires were distributed via social media application groups (WhatsApp) according to available conditions (distancing), and answers to 525 questionnaires were obtained

Cleaning of Photovoltaic Panels Utilizing the Downward Thrust of a Drone

This study demonstrates that a drone flying above photovoltaic (PV) panels can clean the dust and enhance the panels’ efficiency. If operated regularly, the drone’s downward thrust generated during its cruise at a certain height above the panels can remove most of the accumulated dust. Sandstorms are frequent in Saudi Arabia, creating dust deposition on PV panels, which acts as a shield against solar radiation. As a result, the energy absorption from solar radiation is reduced and subsequently, the panels’ energy output is reduced. This experimental investigation was conducted at KFUPM University’s beach, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, to prove the effectiveness of drone-based cleaning of PV panels. Volumes of 20, 50, and 100 CC of dust were spread on the panel during different experiments. These experimental results showed that the back thrust of the drone could remove most of the dust and improve the solar panels’ energy output performance. For example, for 50 CC dust spread on the panel, the current increased from 1.34 A to 2.16 A (61.2% increase), relative to the pre- and post-drone flight for horizontal movement of the drone. Similarly, for vertical and diagonal movements, the current increased by 69.83% and 68.03%, respectively, for a dust spread of 20 CC. Furthermore, dust reductions of 74.64%, 57.0%, and 78.4% were realized during the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal paths, respectively, of the drone flight for 50 CC dust spread

Nutrient and Energy Apparent Digestibility of Protein-Based Feed Ingredients and Effect of the Dietary Factors on Growth Performance and Feed Utilization of Sobaity Seabream, <i>Sparidentex hasta</i>

Two separate feeding trials were undertaken to benchmark a series of commercial diets and determine the nutrient and energy apparent digestibility coefficients of a variety of protein-based feed ingredients when fed to sobaity seabream, Sparidentex hasta. In Experiment 1, triplicate groups of fish (initial body weight: 330.5 ± 2.6 g) were fed with one of three locally available diets containing crude protein (CP) levels ranging from 44 to 46% of dry matter (DM), each with ~12% crude fat. Fish grew at around 3.2 g day−1 with a specific growth rate (SGR) of 0.7% day−1. Both the feed conversion ratio (FCR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) were significantly better in fish fed diets, which contained the highest (46.4%) crude protein level. Overall, the data from these preliminary studies suggest that the best performance by sobaity seabream was obtained with a diet containing 46% crude protein, 20 MJ/kg, and a protein-to-energy ratio of 23 mg/kJ. In Experiment 2, fish with an initial body weight of 319 ± 7 g were held in 11 tanks and fed reference (D1) and test diets (D2–D11) for 7 days before fecal collection. This process was repeated twice in a blocking arrangement to generate three replicates. Each of the ten test diets contained 30% of a test ingredient, with the remaining 70% proportionally identical to the D1 diet. Diet apparent digestibility coefficients (ADCs) were measured, and the diet ADCs were then used to derive the protein and energy ADCs for the individual test ingredients. Ingredient protein ADC ranged between 75.5 and 93.9%, while ingredient energy ADC ranged between 66.8 and 81.2%