Gas turbine size optimization in a hybrid system considering SOFC degradation

The coupling of a pressurized solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and a gas turbine has been proven to result in extremely high efficiency and reduced emissions. The presence of the gas turbine can improve system durability compared to a standalone SOFC, because the turbomachinery can supply additional power as the fuel cell degrades to meet the power request. Since performance degradation is an obstacles to SOFC systems commercialization, the optimization of the hybrid system to mitigate SOFC degradation effects is of great interest. In this work, an optimization approach was used to innovatively study the effect of gas turbine size on system durability for a 400 kW fuel cell stack. A larger turbine allowed a bigger reduction in SOFC power before replacing the stack, but increased the initial capital investment and decreased the initial turbine efficiency. Thus, the power ratio between SOFC and gas turbine significantly influenced system economic results

Modular Middleware for Gestural Data and Devices Management

In the last few years, the use of gestural data has become a key enabler for human-computer interaction (HCI) applications. The growing diffusion of low-cost acquisition devices has thus led to the development of a class of middleware aimed at ensuring a fast and easy integration of such devices within the actual HCI applications. The purpose of this paper is to present a modular middleware for gestural data and devices management. First, we describe a brief review of the state of the art of similar middleware. Then, we discuss the proposed architecture and the motivation behind its design choices. Finally, we present a use case aimed at demonstrating the potential uses as well as the limitations of our middleware

Constrained Local UniversE Simulations: A Local Group Factory

Near field cosmology is practiced by studying the Local Group (LG) and its neighbourhood. The present paper describes a framework for simulating the near field on the computer. Assuming the LCDM model as a prior and applying the Bayesian tools of the Wiener filter (WF) and constrained realizations of Gaussian fields to the Cosmicflows-2 (CF2) survey of peculiar velocities, constrained simulations of our cosmic environment are performed. The aim of these simulations is to reproduce the LG and its local environment. Our main result is that the LG is likely a robust outcome of the LCDM scenario when subjected to the constraint derived from CF2 data, emerging in an environment akin to the observed one. Three levels of criteria are used to define the simulated LGs. At the base level, pairs of halos must obey specific isolation, mass and separation criteria. At the second level the orbital angular momentum and energy are constrained and on the third one the phase of the orbit is constrained. Out of the 300 constrained simulations 146 LGs obey the first set of criteria, 51 the second and 6 the third. The robustness of our LG factory enables the construction of a large ensemble of simulated LGs. Suitable candidates for high resolution hydrodynamical simulations of the LG can be drawn from this ensemble, which can be used to perform comprehensive studies of the formation of the LGComment: 13 pages, accepted for publication in MNRA

A REST-based framework to support non-invasive and early coeliac disease diagnosis

The health sector has traditionally been one of the early adopters of databases, from the most simple Electronic Health Record (formerly Computer-Based Patient Record) systems in use in general practice, hospitals and intensive care units to big data, multidata based systems used to support diagnosis and care decisions. In this paper we present a framework to support non-invasive and early diagnosis of coeliac disease. The proposed framework makes use of well-known technologies and techniques, both hardware and software, put together in a novel way. The main goals of our framework are: (1) providing users with a reliable and fast repository of a large amount of data; (2) to make such repository accessible by means of a suitable API in multiple modes, such as intuitive web-based or mobile visual interfaces; (3) to allow for data processing and analysis, as a basis for decision support systems

\u201cRelaparoscopic\u201d management of surgical complications: The experience of an Emergency Center

Background/aim: Laparotomy has been the approach of choice for re-operations in patients with surgical complications. The aim of this retrospective analysis was to evaluate the feasibility and the safety of laparoscopic approach for the management of general abdominal surgery complications. Materials and methods: We report a retrospective review of 75 patients who underwent laparoscopic evaluation for postoperative complications over a 4-year period. Primary outcomes (resolution rate by exclusive laparoscopic approach, conversion rate, further surgery rate) and secondary outcomes (mortality, hospitalization, prolonged ileus, wounds problems and median operative time) were evaluated. Results: Sixty-six patients (88 %) were managed with laparoscopic approach without conversion; of these, sixty-three patients (84 %) had no more or further complications and were discharged from hospital between 4 \ub1 3 days after \u201csecond-look\u201d surgery; three patients (4 %) developed postoperative complications requiring a third surgery. Nine cases (12 %) underwent conversion in open surgery after laparoscopic approach. Two elderly patients (2.7 %) died in intensive care unit, because of multi-organ failure syndrome. Median time elapsed between an intervention and another was about 2.5 \ub1 9.5 days. Mean operative time was 90 \ub1 150 min. Postoperative hospital stay was between 4.5 and 18 days. Discussion and conclusion: Laparoscopy has begun to be the preferred method to manage postoperative problems, but only few reports are available actually. Our experience in \u201crelaparoscopic\u201d management of surgical complications seems to suggest that laparoscopy \u201csecond look\u201d is an effective tool after open or laparoscopic surgery for the management of postoperative complications and it may avoid diagnostic delay and further laparotomy and related problems

Hiatal Hernia Repair with Gore Bio-A Tissue Reinforcement: Our Experience

Type I hiatal hernia is associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in 50\u201390% of cases. Several trials strongly support surgery as an effective alternative to medical therapy. Today, laparoscopic fundoplication is considered as the procedure of choice. However, primary laparoscopic hiatal hernia repair is associated with upto 42% recurrence rate. Mesh reinforcement of the crural closure decreases the recurrence but can lead to complications, above all nonabsorbable ones. We experiment a new totally absorbable mesh by Gore. Case. We present a case of a 65-year-old female patient with a 6-year classic history of GERD. Endoscopy revealed a large hiatal hernia and esophagitis. pH study was positive for acid reflux; esophageal manometry revealed LES intrathoracic dislocation. With laparoscopic approach, the hiatal hernia defect was identified and primarily repaired, by crural closure. Gore Bio-A Tissue Reinforcement was trimmed to fit the defect accommodating the esophagus. Nissen fundoplication was performed. Result. Bio-A mesh was easily placed laparoscopically. It has good handling and could be cut and tailored intraoperatively for optimal adaptation. There were no short-term complications. Conclusion. Crural closure reinforcement can be done readily with this new totally absorbable mesh replaced by soft tissue over six months. However, further data and studies are needed to evaluate long-term outcomes

0.351 micron Laser Beam propagation in High-temperature Plasmas, 2007, December 21

A study of the laser-plasma interaction processes have been performed in plasmas that are created to emulate the plasma conditions in indirect drive inertial confinement fusion targets. The plasma emulator is produced in a gas-filled hohlraum; a blue 351-nm laser beam propagates along the axis of the hohlraum interacting with a high-temperature (T{sub e} = 3.5 keV), dense (n{sub e} = 5 x 10{sup 20}cm{sup -3}), long-scale length (L {approx} 2 mm) plasma. Experiments at these conditions have demonstrated that the interaction beam produces less than 1% total backscatter resulting in transmission greater than 90% for laser intensities less than I < 2 x 10{sup 15} W-cm{sup -2}. The bulk plasma conditions have been independently characterized using Thomson scattering where the peak electron temperatures are shown to scale with the hohlraum heater beam energy in the range from 2 keV to 3.5 keV. This feature has allowed us to determine the thresholds for both backscattering and filamentation instabilities; the former measured with absolutely calibrated full aperture backscatter and near backscatter diagnostics and the latter with a transmitted beam diagnostics. A plasma length scaling is also investigated extending our measurements to 4-mm long high-temperature plasmas. At intensities I < 5 x 10{sup 14} W-cm{sup -2}, greater than 80% of the energy in the laser is transmitted through a 5-mm long, high-temperature (T{sub e} > 2.5 keV) high-density (n{sub e} = 5 x 10{sup 20} w-cm{sup -3}) plasma. Comparing the experimental results with detailed gain calculations for the onset of significant laser scattering processes shows a stimulated Brillouin scattering threshold (R=10%) for a linear gain of 15; these high temperature, low density experiments produce plasma conditions comparable to those along the outer beams in ignition hohlraum designs. By increasing the gas fill density (n{sub e} = 10{sup 21} cm{sup -3}) in these targets, the inner beam ignition hohlraum conditions are accessed. In this case, stimulated Raman scattering dominates the backscattering processes and we show that scattering is small for gains less than 20 which can be achieved through proper choice of the laser beam intensity. The first three-dimensional (3D) simulations of a high power 0.351 {micro}m laser beam propagating through a high-temperature hohlraum plasma are also reported. We show that 3D linear kinetic modeling of Stimulated Brillouin scattering reproduces quantitatively the experimental measurements, provided it is coupled to detailed hydrodynamics simulation and a realistic description of the laser beam from its millimeter-size envelop down to the micron scale speckles. These simulations accurately predict the strong reduction of SBS measured when polarization smoothing is used

In Vitro Downregulation of Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 in Rat Glial Cells by CCR5 Antagonist Maraviroc: Therapeutic Implication for HIV Brain Infection

BACKGROUND: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) released by glial cells are important mediators of neuroinflammation and neurologic damage in HIV infection. The use of antiretroviral drugs able to combat the detrimental effect of chronic inflammation and target the exaggerated MMP activity might represent an attractive therapeutic challenge. Recent studies suggest that CCR5 antagonist maraviroc (MVC) exerts immunomodulant and anti-inflammatory activity beyond its anti-HIV properties. We investigated the in vitro effect of MVC on the activity of MMPs in astrocyte and microglia cultures. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Primary cultures of rat astrocytes and microglia were activated by exposure to phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) or lypopolysaccharide (LPS) and treated in vitro with MVC. Culture supernatants were subjected to gelatin zymography and quantitative determination of MMP-9 and MMP-2 was done by computerized scanning densitometry. MMP-9 levels were significantly elevated in culture supernatants from both LPS- and PMA-activated astrocytes and microglia in comparison to controls. The treatment with MVC significantly inhibited in a dose-dependent manner the levels and expression of MMP-9 in PMA-activated astrocytes (p<0,05) and, to a lesser extent, in PMA-activated microglia. By contrast, levels of MMP-2 did not significantly change, although a tendency to decrease was seen in PMA-activated astrocytes after treatment with MVC. The inhibition of levels and expression of MMP-9 in PMA-activated glial cells did not depend on cytotoxic effects of MVC. No inhibition of MMP-9 and MMP-2 were found in both LPS-activated astrocytes and microglia. CONCLUSIONS: The present in vitro study suggests that CCR5 antagonist compounds, through their ability to inhibit MMP-9 expression and levels, might have a great potential for the treatment of HIV-associated neurologic damage