Mini Renewable Hybrid Distributed Power Plants for Lebanon

AbstractLebanon has spent billions of dollars on its electricity sector, but the demand is higher than available power. In peak demand time, blackouts are the major phenomena in almost all the Lebanese regions. As the world today is going into green energy, this project This step will minimize green house gas emissions, increase the reliability of the grid finally, increase the power generation capacity in Lebanon. For all the mentioned problems, distributed generation using hybrid-renewable energy systems is proposed as a future solution for the Lebanese energy sector. Losses in the transmission and distribution system will be reduced since power is generated near loads. The grid availability and stability will increase and individuals can save money in their electricity bill and finally the generated power is clean and nonpolluting. A study of a design will be launched, including simulation using MATLAB/SIMULINK

Inflammatory response and clinical course of adult patients with nosocomial bloodstream infections caused by Candida spp.

ABSTRACTCandida spp. are an important cause of nosocomial bloodstream infection (nBSI) and are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. An historical cohort study was performed to evaluate the clinical course of 60 randomly selected adult patients with nBSIs caused by Candida spp. Patients with BSI caused by Candida albicans (n = 38) and non-albicans spp. (n = 22) were compared with 80 patients with Staphylococcus aureus BSI by serial systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and APACHE II scores. The patients had a mean age of 52 years, the length of hospital stay before BSI averaged 21 days, and 57% of patients required care in an intensive care unit before BSI. The mean APACHE II score was 17 on the day of BSI, and 63% of BSIs were caused by C. albicans. Antifungal therapy within the first 24 h of onset of BSI was appropriate in 52% of patients. Septic shock occurred in 27% of patients, and severe sepsis in an additional 8%. Overall mortality was 42%, and the 7-day mortality rate was 27%. The inflammatory response and clinical course were similar for patients with BSI caused by C. albicans and non-albicans spp. In univariate analysis, progression to septic shock was correlated with high overall mortality, as was an APACHE II score >25 at the onset of BSI. In multivariate analysis, the APACHE II score at the onset of BSI and a systemic inflammatory response independently predicted overall mortality, but the 7-day mortality rate was only predicted independently by the APACHE II score. Clinical course and mortality in patients with Candida BSI were predicted by systemic inflammatory response and APACHE II score, but not by the infecting species

Truth and transparency in expertise research

Across research areas, general issues of low statistical power, publication bias, undisclosed flexibility in data analysis, and researcher degrees of freedom, can be recipes for irreproducibility. To address the problem, a reform movement known as the “credibility revolution” emphasizes the need for greater transparency in how research is conducted. In this article, we describe a general approach to creating a culture of openness—tailored for expertise researchers—and describe how and why practices such as preregistration, open notebooks, open data, open materials, and open communication, might be applied to research on experts. We argue that adopting these practices helps to connect end-users with the entire research lifecycle and helps reconnect researchers with the process of gaining knowledge. By sharing notes about our predictions and plans along the way, we are forced to confront their merits. By documenting design and data analytic decisions ahead of time, and by sharing data and materials, we make errors and insights more discoverable. And by inviting research partners, expert practitioners, and the public into the lab, we stand the best chance of successfully translating research into practice.Rachel A. Searston, Matthew B. Thompson, Samuel G. Robson, Brooklyn J. Corbett, Gianni Ribeiro, Gary Edmond, and Jason M. Tange