Heat Rate and Economic Evaluation of a Photovoltaic- Assisted Combine Cycle Power Plant

Gas turbine combined cycle (GTCC) power plants are widely used as major power plants in grid systems, while world energy prices are rather high and renewable energy is now stepping in to replace conventional fossil energy. Therefore, the efficiency of the GTCC needs to be improved for both thermal efficiency and economic aspects. This concept will help GTCC improve its heat rate by bringing in renewable energy. In the present research, the installation of solar photovoltaics (PV) in the GTCC power plant for supplying the auxiliary equipment of the power plant was studied. The heat rate comparison between the proposed method and conventional GTCC, including an economic evaluation, was conducted through a case study of an independent power producer operating a 700 MW GTCC in Thailand. The performance test and calculation methodology followed the Performance Test Code 46 of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, which eliminated the uncontrollable impact of environments. As a result, the PV system could replace some of the auxiliary power consumption by utilizing a PV system of 980 kW, the GTCC heat rate was improved to 59.17 kJ/kWh, and the electrical power generation was 1,393,379 kWh per year, which reduced the natural gas consumption by 10,086,671 MJ annually or 100,867 GJ for the remaining lifetime of the power plant

Serum Calcium and 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D Level in Normal and Early Onset Pre-eclamptic Pregnant Women:A Study from Indonesia

Introduction: Pre-eclampsia is one of the most common causes of fetomaternal morbidity and mortality worldwide. This disorder is categorised into Early Onset Pre-eclampsia (EOPE) and Late-Onset Pre-eclampsia (LOPE). EOPE is usually accompanied by severe complications for both the mother and fetus, while LOPE is accompanied by relatively mild fetomaternal complications. Although the pathogenesis of EOPE is not yet fully elucidated, recent studies indicate that serum calcium and 25 Hydroxy Vitamin D (25(OH)D) levels may play a role in its pathogenesis.Aim: To find out the relationship of calcium and 25(OH)D serum levels in pregnant women with normal pregnancy and with EOPE in Indonesia.Materials and Methods: This study was a case-control study, conducted in Dr. Soetomo General Hospital from July to October 2017. A total of 36 women with EOPE and 64 women with normal pregnancy were included in this study. Inclusion criteria were pregnant women in 2nd or 3rd-trimester with BMI &gt; 18 kg/m(2). Blood sample analysis was done to measure serum calcium and 25(OH)D level. Data were expressed as Mean +/- Standard Deviation. Data distribution was analysed using Shappiro-Wilk test. Comparison of serum calcium and 25(OH)D level between groups was analysed using Independent t-test. Correlation between serum calcium and 25(OH)D level was analysed using Pearson's correlation test. The p-value ofResults: There was a significant difference in serum calcium level between case and control group (8.294 +/- 0.725 vs 8.670 +/- 0.405 mg/dL; p=0.006). In 25(OH)D level, there was no difference between both groups (16.128 +/- 7.5463 vs 17.325 +/- 6.4992 ng/mL; p=0.406). No correlation was found between calcium and 25(OH)D level (r=0.165; p=0.101).Conclusion: Calcium deficiency plays a role in the incidence of EOPE among pregnant women in Indonesia. The actual role of calcium deficiency in EOPE needs further investigation.</p

Posterior Segment Ophthalmic Drug Delivery: Role of Muco-Adhesion with a Special Focus on Chitosan.

Posterior segment eye diseases (PSEDs) including age macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) are amongst the major causes of irreversible blindness worldwide. Due to the numerous barriers encountered, highly invasive intravitreal (IVT) injections represent the primary route to deliver drugs to the posterior eye tissues. Thus, the potential of a more patient friendly topical route has been widely investigated. Mucoadhesive formulations can decrease precorneal clearance while prolonging precorneal residence. Thus, they are expected to enhance the chances of adherence to corneal and conjunctival surfaces and as such, enable increased delivery to the posterior eye segment. Among the mucoadhesive polymers available, chitosan is the most widely explored due to its outstanding mucoadhesive characteristics. In this review, the major PSEDs, their treatments, barriers to topical delivery, and routes of topical drug absorption to the posterior eye are presented. To enable the successful design of mucoadhesive ophthalmic drug delivery systems (DDSs), an overview of mucoadhesion, its theory, characterization, and considerations for ocular mucoadhesion is given. Furthermore, chitosan-based DDs that have been explored to promote topical drug delivery to the posterior eye segment are reviewed. Finally, challenges of successful preclinical to clinical translation of these DDSs for posterior eye drug delivery are discussed

Streptococcus mutans由来デキストラン関連酵素の構造と機能に関する研究 [全文の要約]

Streptococcus mutansは、う蝕形成に関わる口内細菌として知られ、菌体外にデキストラン様の多糖を生産することがその要因の１つである。一方、本糖質は当該細菌にとり貯蔵多糖と理解できるので、デキストランを分解する酵素を産する。従って、デキストラン分解酵素の研究は興味深く、特に触媒作用の分子機構を明らかにすることは極めて重要である。我々は、既にエンド型デキストラナーゼ（DEXaseと略; デキストランをランダムに加水分解する酵素）およびデキストラン・グルコシダーゼ[DGaseと略; デキストランやイソマルトオリゴ糖（α-1,6結合のグルコース残基から成るオリゴ糖）を非還元末端からエキソ型に加水分解する酵素] の２酵素についてX線結晶構造解析に成功した。本研究では、それらの立体構造を基に分子機構の解析を試みた。その結果、DEXaseでは生成物特異性を制御する構造因子を解明でき、DGaseは基質認識に重要な構造因子を明らかにした。また、オリゴ-1,6-グルコシダーゼ（O16Gaseと略）はイソマルトオリゴ糖を非還元末端からエキソ型に加水分解するが、O16Gaseと保存性が高い酵素タンパク質をコードする遺伝子をS.mutansのゲノム中に見出した。本タンパク質の機能を解明するために当該遺伝子の異種宿主発現を行うとともに、基質認識機構を調べた。なお、DGaseとO16Gaseは類似したエキソ型分解反応を触媒するが、両者の相違はDGaseが長鎖オリゴ糖に高い作用を示すのに対し、O16Gaseは短鎖オリゴ糖を好む点にある。この博士論文全文の閲覧方法については、以下のサイトをご参照ください。https://www.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dissertations/copy-guides

A procedure to estimate the distance between two facial features on a standard mug-shot photograph based on analysis of non-standard photograph

The problem considered in this thesis, grew out of attempts to apply a pattern recognition approach to the retrieval of 'look-alikes' from a mugfile to forgery cases. In forgery cases, we usually have a photograph taken at the time the forged check was cashed of the person cashing it. Unfortunately, photographs of forgery suspects are not all taken in the straight-on position (front bust view), therefore horizontal and vertical distances on these non-standard photographs do not correspond to distances on a standard mug-shot photograph. This thesis presents a procedure to estimate the distance between the pupils of the eyes on a standard photograph using measurements made on a non-standard photograph. The procedure can be extended to other horizontal and vertical measures and the precision should be adequate for application to the forgery problem.Industrial Engineering, Department o

Effects of mutation of Asn694 in Aspergillus niger α-glucosidase on hydrolysis and transglucosylation

Aspergillus niger α-glucosidase (ANG), a member of glycoside hydrolase family 31, catalyzes hydrolysis of alpha-glucosidic linkages at the non-reducing end. In the presence of high concentrations of maltose, the enzyme also catalyzes the formation of α-(1 -> 6)-glucosyl products by transglucosylation and it is used for production of the industrially useful panose and isomaltooligosaccharides. The initial transglucosylation by wild-type ANG in the presence of 100 mM maltose [Glc(α 1-4)Glc] yields both α-(1 -> 6)- and α-(1 -> 4)-glucosidic linkages, the latter constituting similar to 25% of the total transfer reaction product. The maltotriose [Glc(α 1-4)Glc(α 1-4)Glc], α-(1 -> 4)-glucosyl product disappears quickly, whereas the α-(1 -> 6)-glucosyl products panose [Glc(α 1-6)Glc(α 1-4)Glc], isomaltose [Glc(α 1-6)Glc], and isomaltotriose [Glc(α 1-6)Glc(α 1-6)Glc] accumulate. To modify the transglucosylation properties of ANG, residue Asn694, which was predicted to be involved in formation of the plus subsites of ANG, was replaced with Ala, Leu, Phe, and Trp. Except for N694A, the mutations enhanced the initial velocity of the α-(1 -> 4)-transfer reaction to produce maltotriose, which was then degraded at a rate similar to that by wild-type ANG. With increasing reaction time, N694F and N694W mutations led to the accumulation of larger amounts of isomaltose and isomaltotriose than achieved with the wild-type enzyme. In the final stage of the reaction, the major product was panose (N694A and N694L) or isomaltose (N694F and N694W)