Optimal planning of renewable energy-integrated electricity generation schemes with CO2 reduction target

This paper presents a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model that was developed for the optimalplanning of electricitygenerationschemes for a nation to meet a specified CO2 emission target. The model was developed and implemented in General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS) for the fleet of electricitygeneration in Peninsular Malaysia. In order to reduce the CO2 emissions by 50% from current CO2 emission level, the optimizer selected a scheme which includes Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC), Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC), nuclear and biomass from landfill gas and palm oil residues. It was predicted that Malaysia has potential to generate up to nine percent of electricity from renewableenergy (RE) based on the available sources of RE in Malaysia

Heavy metal uptake and translocation in Strobilanthes crispus for phytoremediation of sewage sludge contaminated soil

Heavy metals have been excessively released into the environment due to rapid industrialization and have created a major global concern. They are harmful to humans, animals and tend to bioaccumulate in the food chain. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential of Strobilanthes crispus as a phytoremediator to absorb heavy metals from sewage sludge contaminated soils. The experiment was conducted in a glasshouse atUniversiti Putra Malaysia. Treatments (soil+sludge) were: T0 (100% soil, control), T1 (80% soil+20% sludge), T2 (60% soil+40% sludge), T3 (40% soil+60% sludge), T4 (20% soil+80% sludge) and T5 (100% sludge). The heavy metals were analyzed using ICP-MS (Inductively Couple Plasma Mass Spectrometry). Soil particle size distribution was analyzed using the pipette gravimetric method. Soil pH and total carbon were determined using glass electrode pH meter and loss on ignition method, respectively. Chromium (Cr) was highly concentrated in the stems while copper (Cu) in the roots and Zinc (Zn) in the leaves. Cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) accumulated in both leaves and stems. Strobilanthes crispus seems to have a high potential to absorb high amounts of Cu, Zn, Cr and Pb in the leaves, stems and roots. It was able to tolerate and accumulate high concentrations of heavy metals and has high translocation factor and low bioconcentration factor values in soil at higher metal concentrations. This species therefore, can be used as a potential phytoremediator for sewage sludge contaminated soils and to mitigate soil pollution

Simulation study on the effect of fuel injection and air intake boundary setup on the brake torque response by using comprehensive vehicle model for natural gas vehicle (NGV)

An analytical, dynamic and comprehensive vehicle model, replicated a high-pressure direct injection compressed natural gas (HPDI-CNG) engine in a vehicle is proposed with the objective to study the effect of fuel injection and air intake boundary condition on the brake torque response. The model simulated the output torque in transient simulations of the natural gas vehicle (NGV) in speed-sweep mode test. The vehicle model has coupled an analytical engine model developed in Simulink with a Simscape driveline model which consists of a clutch model, a simple transmission gear and a simplified vehicle model. In all problem, independent input to the model is the throttle opening ramp. The adjusted parameter in the first study is the methods to calculate the mass of fuel inlet which is based on i) fully experimental data, ii) measured air to fuel ratio (AFR) and (iii) constant injector mass flow rate. In the second problem, the pressure limit of the manifold absolute pressure (MAP) is adjusted as (i) fully experimental data (ii) 1.2 bar (iii) 1.5 bar and (iv) unlimited pressure limit. The dependent parameter in all problem is engine output torque. The results have been compared with the actual data of torque from chassis dynamometer measurement. For the effect of fuel inlet boundary set up, in the fully predictive mode, the model predicted an almost constant maximum torque at a value about 70 Nm, whereas the measured data only produced the same peak value at a very limited instant. If the model used measured AFR as the fuel input boundary, the model overpredicted the maximum peak torque of 70 Nm. In the study on the effect of MAP limit, the maximum torque for 1.2 bar, 1.5 bar and unlimited pressure set up has produced a maximum torque of 45, 62 and 70 Nm, respectively. Results of the first study showed that the use of constant injector mass flow rate has a tendency to simulate an ideal engine acceleration process. The prediction is closed to the measured data if the fuel mass is calculated based on the measured AFR. However, the use of measured AFR in our opinion have reduced the model predictability. In the second study, the increased MAP limit significantly increased the maximum brake torque response. However, the model cannot predict the abnormalities found in the experimental data. The use of MAP limit demonstrated the sensitivity of the output torque on the maximum value of the engine MAP. The results indicated that the injection fuel inlet boundary and the MAP limit have a strong significance on the model prediction and need to be improved for future use of the model

A multimedia courseware for human heart anatomical and functional illustration

Advances in computer science have provided unique opportunities to apply Interactive Multimedia (IMM) courseware to a wide variety of medical and health care functions. Courseware can be called an easy to learn, teachable and course materials which is an important in Information Communication Technology world today. It helps the learners/students to improve their knowledge, skills and creativity. One area which holds the high ability for using computer systems is medical and health science education. This paper describes the design of an IMM courseware for learning about Human Heart. It proposes a Human Heart Anatomical and Functional Illustration (HHAFI) courseware for students, health officials and everyone interested in having a healthy heart. The HHAFI courseware is implemented by Toolbook Instructor and presented on Windows platform. The courseware includes an introduction that describes the heart and recall such as mechanisms of the heart, heart diseases, healthy tips and living a healthy lifestyle. The HHAFI courseware is tested with the student to identify the improvement in their knowledge and measure the level of interest in the topic. The HHAFI courseware provides learning and interactive training functions for interested individuals

Landmine injuries at the Emergency Management Center in Erbil, Iraq

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Landmines can cause death, injury and disability in addition to many indirect public health consequences. This study aimed at understanding the trends, demography and other epidemiological characteristics of hospitalized landmine injured patients in Erbil governorate.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The case records of landmine injured patients who had been admitted to the Emergency Management Centre in Erbil city from July 1998 to July 2007 were reviewed and descriptively analyzed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two hundred eighty five landmine injured patients were admitted to the center, their mean ± SD age was 26.5 ± 13.2 years (range 6-71 years), 95.1% were males, nearly 50% were between 19 to 35 years of age and 96.8% were civilians. Around 72% of victims sustained limb amputations; 58.6% lower limb and 13.3% upper limb out of the total. The hospital mortality rate was 2.1%. The number of admissions for landmine injury was steadily decreasing between July 1998 and July 2001, followed by prominent increase between July 2002 and July 2003. The highest proportion of admissions occurred in summer (35.4%) and majority of incidents occurred along the borders with Iran and Turkey (61.8%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Civilian male adolescents and young adults constituted the majority of hospitalized landmine victims in Erbil governorate. While a high proportion of victims sustained lower limb amputations, upper limb amputations particularly among children and injury to head and face were relatively common which might be attributed to handling explosives. This emphasizes the need to examine the reasons behind handling explosives.</p

Selected hematologic and biochemical measurements in African HIV-infected and uninfected pregnant women and their infants: the HIV Prevention Trials Network 024 protocol

Reference values for hematological and biochemical assays in pregnant women and in newborn infants are based primarily on Caucasian populations. Normative data are limited for populations in sub-Saharan Africa, especially comparing women with and without HIV infection, and comparing infants with and without HIV infection or HIV exposure. We determined HIV status and selected hematological and biochemical measurements in women at 20-24 weeks and at 36 weeks gestation, and in infants at birth and 4-6 weeks of age. All were recruited within a randomized clinical trial of antibiotics to prevent chorioamnionitis-associated mother-to-child transmission of HIV (HPTN024). We report nearly complete laboratory data on 2,292 HIV-infected and 367 HIV-uninfected pregnant African women who were representative of the public clinics from which the women were recruited. Nearly all the HIV-infected mothers received nevirapine prophylaxis at the time of labor, as did their infants after birth (always within 72 hours of birth, but typically within just a few hours at the four study sites in Malawi (2 sites), Tanzania, and Zambia. HIV-infected pregnant women had lower red blood cell counts, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and white blood cell counts than HIV-uninfected women. Platelet and monocyte counts were higher among HIV-infected women at both time points. At the 4-6-week visit, HIV-infected infants had lower hemoglobin, hematocrit and white blood cell counts than uninfected infants. Platelet counts were lower in HIV-infected infants than HIV-uninfected infants, both at birth and at 4-6 weeks of age. At 4-6 weeks, HIV-infected infants had higher alanine aminotransferase measures than uninfected infants. Normative data in pregnant African women and their newborn infants are needed to guide the large-scale HIV care and treatment programs being scaled up throughout the continent. These laboratory measures will help interpret clinical data and assist in patient monitoring in a sub-Saharan Africa context

Neisseria meningitidis Differentially Controls Host Cell Motility through PilC1 and PilC2 Components of Type IV Pili

Neisseria meningitidis is a strictly human pathogen that has two facets since asymptomatic carriage can unpredictably turn into fulminant forms of infection. Meningococcal pathogenesis relies on the ability of the bacteria to break host epithelial or endothelial cellular barriers. Highly restrictive, yet poorly understood, mechanisms allow meningococcal adhesion to cells of only human origin. Adhesion of encapsulated and virulent meningococci to human cells relies on the expression of bacterial type four pili (T4P) that trigger intense host cell signalling. Among the components of the meningococcal T4P, the concomitantly expressed PilC1 and PilC2 proteins regulate pili exposure at the bacterial surface, and until now, PilC1 was believed to be specifically responsible for T4P-mediated meningococcal adhesion to human cells. Contrary to previous reports, we show that, like PilC1, the meningococcal PilC2 component is capable of mediating adhesion to human ME180 epithelial cells, with cortical plaque formation and F-actin condensation. However, PilC1 and PilC2 promote different effects on infected cells. Cellular tracking analysis revealed that PilC1-expressing meningococci caused a severe reduction in the motility of infected cells, which was not the case when cells were infected with PilC2-expressing strains. The amount of both total and phosphorylated forms of EGFR was dramatically reduced in cells upon PilC1-mediated infection. In contrast, PilC2-mediated infection did not notably affect the EGFR pathway, and these specificities were shared among unrelated meningococcal strains. These results suggest that meningococci have evolved a highly discriminative tool for differential adhesion in specific microenvironments where different cell types are present. Moreover, the fine-tuning of cellular control through the combined action of two concomitantly expressed, but distinctly regulated, T4P-associated variants of the same molecule (i.e. PilC1 and PilC2) brings a new model to light for the analysis of the interplay between pathogenic bacteria and human host cells

Thermal Degradation And Mechanical Characteristics Of Sugarcane Bagasse Reinforced Biodegradable Potato Starch Composites

Global pollution due to the overwhelming usage of non-biodegradable plastics is getting severe nowadays. Hence, the aim of this paper is to develop an environmentally friendly composite material from potato starch and sugarcane bagasse. The composites were prepared by hot pressing at 145℃ for 60 min. The composites were characterized for their mechanical and thermal properties. In terms of thermal properties, thermogravimetric analysis shows that incorporation of sugarcane fiber has improved the thermal stability of the composites. Meanwhile, incorporation of sugarcane fibre from 0 to 15 wt.% has significantly improved the tensile (202.7%) and flexural (198%) strength of the composites. Scanning electron micrograph of the tensile fracture showed the fibre fracture and fibre “pull-out” from the composite. Overall, the biodegradable composites have shown improved functional characteristic than the origin material. This finding shows that this Sugarcane/Potato starch composites are potential alternative material for biodegradable product i.e. biodegradable plastic packaging

Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury Leads to Distinct Temporal Cardiac Remodeling in Normal versus Diabetic Mice

Diabetes is associated with higher incidence of myocardial infarction (MI) and increased propensity for subsequent events post-MI. Here we conducted a temporal analysis of the influence of diabetes on cardiac dysfunction and remodeling after ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury in mice. Diabetes was induced using streptozotocin and IR performed by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery for 30 min followed by reperfusion for up to 42 days. We first evaluated changes in cardiac function using echocardiography after 24 hours reperfusion and observed IR injury significantly decreased the systolic function, such as ejection fraction, fractional shortening and end systolic left ventricular volume (LVESV) in both control and diabetic mice. The longitudinal systolic and diastolic strain rate were altered after IR, but there were no significant differences between diabetic mice and controls. However, a reduced ability to metabolize glucose was observed in the diabetic animals as determined by PET-CT scanning using 2-deoxy-2-(18F)fluoro-D-glucose. Interestingly, after 24 hours reperfusion diabetic mice showed a reduced infarct size and less apoptosis indicated by TUNEL analysis in heart sections. This may be explained by increased levels of autophagy detected in diabetic mice hearts. Similar increases in IR-induced macrophage infiltration detected by CD68 staining indicated no change in inflammation between control and diabetic mice. Over time, control mice subjected to IR developed mild left ventricular dilation whereas diabetic mice exhibited a decrease in both end diastolic left ventricular volume and LVESV with a decreased intraventricular space and thicker left ventricular wall, indicating concentric hypertrophy. This was associated with marked increases in fibrosis, indicted by Masson trichrome staining, of heart sections in diabetic IR group. In summary, we demonstrate that diabetes principally influences distinct IR-induced chronic changes in cardiac function and remodeling, while a smaller infarct size and elevated levels of autophagy with similar cardiac function are observed in acute phase