Putative avocado toxicity in two dogs

Two dogs were seen at the University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya, both having histories of dyspnoea, progressively enlarging abdomens, anasarca, ascites, pleural and pericardial effusion, and pulmonary oedema. One of the dogs had a mild neutrophilic leucocytosis, elevated levels of alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase and proteinuria. Histopathological examination of the myocardium revealed some damage to myocytes and a mononuclear cellular infiltration involving the myocardium, liver and kidneys. The two dogs had a fondness for avocado fruits and, as the presenting syndrome is identical to that seen in goats, sheep and horses poisoned by avocados, a comparison is made and the probable manifestation of this poisoning presented.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.mn201

Some food toxic for pets

According to world statistics, dogs and cats are the species that owners most frequently seek assistance with potential poisonings, accounting 95–98% of all reported animal cases. Exposures occur more commonly in the summer and in December that is associated with the holiday season. The majority (>90%) of animal poisonings are accidental and acute in nature and occur near or at the animal owner's home. Feeding human foodstuff to pets may also prove dangerous for their health

A comparison of different district integration for a distributed generation system for heating and cooling in an urban area

The paper proposes a comparison of different district integration options for a distributed generation system for heating and cooling in an urban area. The system considered includes several production units located close to the users, a central unit and the district heating and cooling network which can connect all the users to each other and to a central unit, where a cogeneration system and a solar plant can be placed. Thus, each user can be regarded as isolated from the others, satisfying its energy needs by means of an autonomous production unit. Alternatively, it can be connected to the others through the district heating and cooling network. When a district heating and cooling network is included in the design option the synthesis-design and operation problems cannot be solved separately, because the energy to be produced by each production site is not known in advance, as the flows through the district heating and cooling network are not defined. This paper uses a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) methodology for the multi-objective optimization of the distributed generation energy system, considering the total annual cost for owning, operating and maintaining the whole system as the economic objective function, while the total annual CO2 emissions as the environmental objective function. The energy system is optimized for different district integration option, in order to understand how they affect the optimal solutions compared with both the environmental and economic objects

Mixed Integer Linearized Exergoeconomic (MILE) method for energy system synthesis and optimization

The aim of the paper is to present an energy system optimization method, based on the Fuel Impact Formula, able to overcome typical limitations of previous formulations. In particular, the methodology allows time dependent production levels to be considered and on-off operation and presence-absence of any component to be modelled by means of binary decision variables and inequality constraints. These often happen if the synthesis and operation of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems are considered at the same time. Moreover, the effect of replacing actual not linear thermodynamic inputs-output relations of each component with linear, or even proportional ones, is highlighted in the paper. Finally, an example of application is shown, dealing with a multi-component DH and CHP system in the tertiary sector

Optimal lay-out and operation of district heating and cooling distributed trigeneration systems Paper n\ub0GT2010-23416

The paper deals with the optimization of a distributed urban district heating and cooling cogeneration system. The model is based on a Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP) and includes a set of micro-cogeneration gas turbines and a district heating network potentially connecting each considered building to all the others. Absorption machines, supplied with cogenerated heat, can be used instead of conventional electrical chiller to face the cooling demand. In addition, a district cooling network can be introduced, independently from the district heating one. The objective of the paper is to obtain the optimal synthesis and operation strategy of the whole system, in terms of Total Annual Cost for owning, maintaining and operating the system. The solution has to specify the kind, the number and the location of cogeneration equipment and absorption machines, the size and the position of district heating and cooling pipelines as well as the optimal operation of each component. The effects of different plant options, comparing cogeneration and tri-generation machines adoption and district heating and cooling pipelines installation, are considered

Optimization of an industrial area Energy Supply Systems with distrubuted cogeneration and solar district heating

The paper presents the optimization of an energy supply system for an Italian industrial area. The system is mainly composed of a district heating network (DHN), of a thermal solar plant with seasonal heat storage, of a set of combined heat and power units (CHP) and of additional thermal energy supply machines. The thermal vector can be produced by solar thermal modules, by biogas/biomass cogeneration systems, by fossil-fuel cogenerators or by conventional boilers. The optimization algorithm, based on a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model, has to determine the optimal structure of the energy system and the size of the components (solar plant area, heat storage volume, machines sizes, etc.). The model allows to calculate the economical and environmental benefits of the solar thermal plant compared to the cogenerative production, as well as the share of the thermal demand covered by renewable energies. The aim of the paper is to identify the economical conditions that make the usage of the renewable energy sources effective and how these conditions affect the optimal energy system configuration and the optimal input energy mix required to satisfy the users energy demands. The average cost of the heat produced for the users have been evaluated for different optimal configurations, and it emerges that the solution including some cogenerators located in strategic production units, the district heating network, the seasonal heat storage and the solar plant of appropriate size allow achieving the lowest cost of the heat. Thus, the integrated solution turns out to be the best both from the economical and environmental point of view

Optimization of Distributed Trigeneration Systems Integrated with Heating and Cooling Micro-grids

The paper deals with the influence of the amortization period in the optimization of a distributed urban district heating and cooling trigeneration system. The model, presented in detail in [1], is based on a Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP) and includes a set of micro-cogeneration gas turbines for producing electricity and thermal energy and a set of absorption chillers, driven by cogenerated heat, for producing cooling energy. Micro-gas turbines and absorption chillers can be used instead of purchasing electricity from the grid, producing thermal energy by boilers and cooling energy by compression chillers. Moreover, various building can be connected each other through a district heating and cooling network (DHC network). The optimization specifies the kind, the number and the location of cogeneration equipment and absorption machines, the size and the position of district heating and cooling pipelines as well as the optimal operation of each component. The objective function takes into account investment cost of micro-gas turbine, absorption chillers and DHC network, maintenance costs, operation costs and any income from the sale of electricity. The aim of the paper is to obtain the optimal solution varying the amortization period of machines and networks, for understanding the influence of capital costs on the annual total cost, the optimal system configuration and operation

OTTIMIZZAZIONE DI UN SISTEMA DI COGENERAZIONE DISTRIBUITA INTEGRATO CON PANNELLI SOLARI E ACCUMULO TERMICO A SERVIZIO DI UN AREA INDUSTRIALE

Il presente lavoro tratta l\u2019ottimizzazione di un sistema di fornitura energetica ad un\u2019area industriale situata nel nord-est Italia. Il sistema \ue8 composto da una rete di teleriscaldamento, da unit\ue0 di cogenerazione (motori a combustione interna e microturbine a gas), da caldaie ausiliarie, da un campo solare per la produzione di energia termica e da un accumulo stagionale d\u2019acqua calda. Il vettore termico pu\uf2 essere prodotto sia dai pannelli solari che da cogeneratori e caldaie alimentati a gas naturale. L\u2019algoritmo di risoluzione sviluppato \ue8 di tipo lineare misto-intero e viene utilizzato per determinare la configurazione ottima del sistema, la taglia dei componenti e la miglior strategia di operazione. Il modello permette di valutare i benefici economici ed ambientali e quindi di paragonare il sistema alimentato da fonti rinnovabili al sistema cogenerativo. L\u2019obiettivo del lavoro \ue8 quello di identificare il mix energetico ottimo che soddisfi la domanda elettrica e termica delle utenze e capire come la configurazione ottima del sistema si modifichi al variare della dimensione del campo solare. Si valuter\ue0 il costo medio del calore in differenti configurazioni in modo da identificare quale soluzione ne permette la minimizzazione. Inoltre, si effettuer\ue0 un\u2019analisi di sensibilit\ue0 della configurazione ottima al variare della dispersione dell\u2019accumulo