Dynamic response of multi-unit floating offshore wind turbines to wave, current and wind loads

Motion of a multi-unit wind-tracing floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) to combined wave–current and wind is obtained in the frequency-domain. The linear diffraction wave theory with a Green function for small current speeds and the blade-element momentum method are used for the hydrodynamic and aerodynamic analysis, respectively. A finite-element method is coupled with the hydrodynamic and aerodynamic equations to obtain the elastic responses of the FOWT to the environmental loads. The wind-tracing FOWT consists of three 5 MW wind turbines installed at the corners of an equilateral triangular platform. The platform is connected to the seabed through a turret-bearing mooring system, allowing the structure to rotate and face the dominant wind direction; hence, the multi-unit FOWT is called the wind-tracing FOWT. In this study, rigid-body responses of the wind-tracing FOWT to waves and wind are compared with those to combined wave, current, and wind loads for several current speeds and various wave heading angles. For a chosen current speed and wave heading angle, hydro- and aeroelastic responses of the wind-tracing FOWT to combined waves, current, and wind are obtained and compared with those of the rigid structure. Discussion is provided on the effect of the wave–current interaction on the motion and elastic responses of the wind-tracing FOWT. The numerical results show that under the rated wind speed, the motion of the wind-tracing FOWT is mainly governed by the wave-induced hydrodynamic forces and moments and the presence of current results in larger elastic motion of the FOWT to the environmental loads

Dynamic response of multi-unit floating offshore wind turbines to wave, current and wind loads

Motion of a multi-unit wind-tracing floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) to combined wave–current and wind is obtained in the frequency-domain. The linear diffraction wave theory with a Green function for small current speeds and the blade-element momentum method are used for the hydrodynamic and aerodynamic analysis, respectively. A finite-element method is coupled with the hydrodynamic and aerodynamic equations to obtain the elastic responses of the FOWT to the environmental loads. The wind-tracing FOWT consists of three 5 MW wind turbines installed at the corners of an equilateral triangular platform. The platform is connected to the seabed through a turret-bearing mooring system, allowing the structure to rotate and face the dominant wind direction; hence, the multi-unit FOWT is called the wind-tracing FOWT. In this study, rigid-body responses of the wind-tracing FOWT to waves and wind are compared with those to combined wave, current, and wind loads for several current speeds and various wave heading angles. For a chosen current speed and wave heading angle, hydro- and aeroelastic responses of the wind-tracing FOWT to combined waves, current, and wind are obtained and compared with those of the rigid structure. Discussion is provided on the effect of the wave–current interaction on the motion and elastic responses of the wind-tracing FOWT. The numerical results show that under the rated wind speed, the motion of the wind-tracing FOWT is mainly governed by the wave-induced hydrodynamic forces and moments and the presence of current results in larger elastic motion of the FOWT to the environmental loads

Gaining comprehensive data about sexual knowledge through surveys

Background: Delivery of sexual health services rely on rigorous facts extracted from surveys, but often those facts cannot be available due to the lack of culturally-sensitive questionnaires. Objective: our aim was to show the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the Acquisition of Sexual Information Test (ASIT), a measure selected due to its assemblages with Iranian culture. Materials and Methods: Forward-backward procedure was applied to translate the questionnaire. Cross-sectional study was carried out and psychometric properties of the Iranian version were tested in a thirty sample of reproductive-age women. Face validity was assessed by qualitative and quantitative methods. Content validity was also assessed by calculating two quantitative indicators as content validity index (CVI) and content validity ratio (CVR). Reliability was assessed by test-retest analyses. Results: Impact score was 1.5, the majority of participants (83.3%) stated that the overall level of questionnaire was high but some of the questions were irrelevant to sexual knowledge. Many questions (90%) gained a CVR less than 0.56, and all of them gained CVIs lower than 0.7. Correlation in test-retest reliability was 0.85

Highly concentrated and stable few-layers graphene suspensions in pure and volatile organic solvents

Highly stable graphene suspensions in pure organic solvents, including volatile solvents such as ethanol, tetrahydrofurane, chloroform, acetone or toluene have been prepared by re-dispersion of a graphene-powder. Such re-dispersable solid is produced by precipitation or solvent elimination from graphene suspensions obtained by sonication of graphite in several organic solvent-water mixtures. Re-dispersion is feasible in a wide range of pure organic solvents, obtaining high quality few-layers graphene flakes stable in suspension for months. As a proof-of-concept, on-glass spray deposition of some of these suspensions, e.g. ethanol or tetrahydrofuran, results on electrically conductive transparent coatings. These results suggest industrial potential use of the scalable technology here developed to fabricate low-cost devices with many different potential applicationsThis research was financially supported by Abengoa Co., the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MAT2013-46753-C2-1-P and RYC2012-09864) and Comunidad de Madrid (CAM 09-S2009_MAT-1467

Engineering visible light emitting point defects in Zr-implanted polycrystalline AlN films

We have investigated the impact of thermal annealing gaseous atmosphere of argon, nitrogen, and forming gas on the structural and optical properties of thin polycrystalline AlN films subjected to high-energy zirconium ions implantation. X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy measurements show that the structural and morphological properties of the Zr-implanted AlN films depend on the annealing gaseous environment. Post-implantation annealing under argon atmosphere yields the lowest structured surface roughness with increased grain size. Photoluminescence spectroscopy revealed multiple point defects and defect complexes related emission bands in the visible range. A series of absorption bands have been observed using photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy. The origin of the emission or absorption bands is identified and attributed to various types of point defects and defect complexes, theoretically reported for AlN. New emission and absorption peaks at 1.7eV (730nm) and 2.6eV (466nm), respectively, have been identified and attributed to the (ZrAl–VN)0 defect complexes

Sexual behaviors and its predictors among iranian women living in Kashan city 2017: A cross-sectional study

Background Women’s sexual well-being has been the center of attention in the field of sexology. Study of sexual behavior and investigating its predictors are important for women’s health promotion. This study aimed to explore the components of women’s sexual behaviors and their possible associations with demographic variables. Materials and Methods This study was a cross-sectional study (descriptive and analytic) that was conducted in Kashan city, Iran. A National Sexual Behavior Assessment Questionnaire was completed by 500 women of 15 to 49 who referred to the public health centers. To analyze the data, R software was used, ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis (for parametric or nonparametric data, respectively) were used to compare outcomes among different groups. In order to evaluate the correlation between the subscales, the Pearson correlation coefficient was used. Results From all participants, 31.8% obtained high scores in the sexual capacity, 21.2% had high scores in sexual motivation and 0.2% had high scores in sexual function. In sexual script component, 86.2% of women who held traditional beliefs toward sexual behaviors; the majority (91.5%) of women believed in mutual and relational sexuality, 83.4% believed in androcentricity (male-dominated sexuality). Pearson correlation test showed a significant positive correlation between sexual capacity, motivation, function and sexual script. Linear Regression model showed that sexual capacity is associated with women’s education and age of her spouse. Sexual function and sexual motivation were significantly associated with the age of subjects' spouses. Conclusion In this study, subjects had low scores in sexual performance while higher scores were achieved in sexual capacity and motivation. This discrepancy can be attributed to the role of sexual scripts dominating the participants’ sexual interactions in this study. We suggest gender-specific and culturally-sensitive education should become a part of women’s health programs in Iran. Keywords: Iran, Sexual Behaviors, Women

Factors affecting quality of care in family planning clinics: A study from Iran

Background. Despite good contraceptive coverage rates, recent studies in Iran have shown an alarmingly high incidence of unplanned pregnancy. Objective. To determine factors affecting quality of family planning services, a cross-sectional study was performed from June to August 2006 on women visiting urban Primary Health Care clinics in a provincial capital in western Iran. The primary focus of the study was on provider-client interaction. Method. We used a slightly edited version of a UNICEF checklist and a convenient sampling method to assess quality of care in 396 visits to the family planning sections at 25 delivery points. Results. Poor performance was observed notably in Counselling and Choice of method sections. In logistic regression analysis, the following factors were found to be associated with higher quality of care: provider experience OR (odds ratio) = 1.9, CI0.95 (confidence interval) = 1.2-3.0, low provider education (OR = 6.7, CI0.95 = 4.0=10.8), smaller workload at the clinic (OR = 3.7, CI0.95 = 2.0-6.7), and 'new client' status (OR = 4.2, CI0.95 = 2.6-6.7). Conclusion. This study identified the issues of counselling and information exchange as the quality domains in serious need of improvement; these areas are expected to be the focus of future training programmes for care providers. Also, priority should be given to devising effective supervision mechanisms and on-the-job training of senior nursing and midwifery graduates to make them more competent in delivering basic family planning services. © The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care; all rights reserved

Systematic analysis of disease-specific immunological signatures in patients with febrile illness from Saudi Arabia

10.1002/cti2.1163Clinical and Translational Immunology98e116

Comparison of Different selenium Sources on Performance, Serum Attributes and Cellular Immunity in Broiler Chickens

The effects of organic and inorganic sources and concentration (0 and 0.3 mg per kg of diet) of Selenium (Se) on growth performance, blood biochemical and immune system were evaluated in broiler chickens. Chickens were fed corn-soy-based diets formulated to 8 dietary treatments containing no added Se (negative control), negative control plus yeast (positive control), and 6 diets had 0.3 mg/kg of diet supplemented with Se from Availa Se, Sel-plex, SeleMax, Se enriched yeast, sodium selenite and sodium selenate. Four hundred Ross 308 male chickens were randomly divided into 8 treatments and 5 replicates of 10 birds each. Feed intake, body weight gain, and feed conversion ratio were measured at starter (0-10 d), grower (11-24 d), and finisher (25-42 d) periods. On d 24 and 42, one bird from each replicate was killed by cervical dislocation and blood samples were collected to determine blood chemicals, glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity and heterophile to lymphocyte ratio. Results showed that Se supplementation had no effect on feed intake, body weight gain, and feed conversion ratio of the chickens (P < 0.05). However, blood triglycerides, GPx activity and heterophile to lymphocyte ratio were significantly affected by organic and inorganic Se sources (P < 0.05). Results showed that selenium in organic and inorganic forms didn't have any effect on growth performance and blood parameters but they could improve immune system through increase in GPx activity

Genetic variation study on the grey mullet (Mugilcephalus) stocks from Mediterranean Sea, the Pacific Ocean and Oman Sea

Two of the three objectives of project was carried out success that one of them is following: The genetic diversity of Liza salien(Risso,1810) in the south part of Caspian sea using the Mitochondrial DNA sequencing (mtDNA) was carried out as first objective of project that based on the mitochondrial DNA sequencing (mtDNA) of 16S rRNA was used in order to clarify genetic structure and genetic diversity of lizasaliens in three western (Anzali), middle (sari), and eastern (Gomishan lagoon) of south part of Caspian sea. As a result we obtained 552base pairs of 16SrRNA sequence. A total of 6 different haplotypes and 29 variable sites were identified .The average nucleotide diversity(π) and haplotype diversity(h) in samples of all regions were 0.29 , and 0.004 respectively. The results obtained from genetic distance showed low rate in that of 3 regions. Estimates of gene flow indicated there is no reproductive isolation between three regions and also there was not significant genetic differentiation between differentregions (p>0.05). the findings from the present study suggest that there is equal population of Liza saliens in the studied regions: Genetic differences and phylogenic relationships among six Mugilidae species (Mugilcephalus, M. capito, Liza subviridis, L. saliens, L. aurata, Valamugilbuchanani) were determined using PCR-sequencing as second objective of project. M. cephalus, L. subviridis and V. buchanani from the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea, and L. aurata and L. saliens from the Caspian Sea were collected. Samples of an imported, Egyptian species M. capito (this species was mixed with the main imported species as M. cephalusfingerling) were obtained from the Gomishan Research Center in Gorgan. Total DNA from the samples were extracted according to phenol-chloroform method Mithochondrial DNA ,16s RNA was amplified using thermo cyclermachine with universal primers and thensequenced by sending to Takapoozist Company and thereafter to France. Analysis of the sequences showed great differences between Mugil species and the other studied species. The phylogenetic tree obtained through Neighbor-Joining method revealed that L. saliensand L. aurata were in the same branch while L. subviridis was in a separate branch. In contrast, Maximum Parsimony tree located L. subviridis and L. aurata in a single branch and assigned L. saliens to a distinct branch. This result brings in the question of monophyletic origin of the genus Liza.Also