Influence of combined empirical functions on slug flow predictions of pipelines with variable inclinations.

Prediction of internal multiphase flows in subsea pipelines is an integral part of the oil and gas production system design. High mass and pressure fluctuations are often encountered during the operation with a liquid-gas slug flow regime exhibiting a sequence of long gas bubbles and aerated liquid slugs. It is important for industry to realistically identify the slug flow occurrence and predict slug flow characteristics, depending on several multiphase flow-pipe parameters. These may be achieved using a one-dimensional, steady-state, mechanistic model accounting for a mass and momentum balance of the two liquid-gas fluids within a controlled volume often referred to as a slug unit. By reducing a 3-D flow problem to a 1-D one, several empirical or closure correlations and associated empirical coefficients have been introduced in the literature and used in commercial software predicting slug flows in subsea jumpers, pipelines and risers with variable inclinations. This study aims to investigate the influence of combined 25 closure functions on the predictions of slug flows in horizontal and inclined pipes based on a steady-state mechanistic model for a wide range of superficial liquid and gas velocities. The model with studied closures is implemented by the authors of this study as the numerical tool iSLUG. The model performance is verified with respect to the estimated film liquid holdup, film length and pressure drop per length of a slug unit for an empirically specified translational velocity, slug liquid holdup, slug liquid length and pipe wall wettability. Closure combinations are analyzed using the relative performance factors and compared against available experimental data in order to identify a set of functions suitable for upward, downward and horizontal flows, and the effect of diameter and inclination on the model prediction is considered. The present method and analysis outcomes may further contribute to the improvement of transient liquid-gas flow models to predict more practical cases

Clinical characteristics of outpatients and inpatients with COVID-19 in Bushehr: A report from the south of Iran

Aim: To investigate clinical, laboratory and imaging features of COVID-19 patients in Bushehr, a southern province of Iran. Materials & methods: A total of 148 COVID-19 patients were enrolled. The patients were categorized into four groups including inpatients, outpatients, elderly and nonelderly. Clinical, laboratory and computed tomography characteristics were analyzed and compared. Results: Levels of erythrocyte sedimentation rate, CRP, lactate dehydrogenase and aspartate aminotransferas among inpatients were higher than outpatients. There were significant differences in the levels of creatinine and blood urine nitrogen between elderly and nonelderly patients. The incidence of ground-glass opacities in inpatients was significantly higher than in outpatients. Conclusion: COVID-19 is associated with more severe renal failure in elderly patients. Elderly patients with underlying conditions are at increased risk of severe progression of COVID-19

Sensorineural deafness and male infertility: A contiguous gene deletion syndrome

Background: Syndromic hearing loss that results from contiguous gene deletions is uncommon. Deafness-infertility syndrome (DIS) is caused by large contiguous gene deletions at 15q15.3. Methods: Three families with a novel syndrome characterised by deafness and infertility are described. These three families do not share a common ancestor and do not share identical deletions. Linkage was established by completing a genome-wide scan and candidate genes in the linked region were screened by direct sequencing. Results: The deleted region is about 100 kb long and involves four genes (KIAA0377, CKMT1B, STRC and CATSPER2), each of which has a telomeric duplicate. This genomic architecture underlies the mechanism by which these deletions occur. CATSPER2 and STRC are expressed in the sperm and inner ear, respectively, consistent with the phenotype in persons homozygous for this deletion. A deletion of this region has been reported in one other family segregating male infertility and sensorineural deafness, although congenital dyserythropoietic anaemia type I (CDAI) was also present, presumably due to a second deletion in another genomic region. Conclusion: We have identified three families segregating an autosomal recessive contiguous gene deletion syndrome characterised by deafness and sperm dysmotility. This new syndrome is caused by the deletion of contiguous genes at 15q15.3

Relationship between weight status and health-related quality of life in school-age children in China

Background: Some studies from high-income countries suggest that overweight and/or obesity in children are negatively associated with health-related quality of life (HRQOL). However, the relationship between weight status and HRQOL is not well established in China, where obesity trends follow a different pattern compared with high-income countries. The risk of obesity is greater in children from higher socioeconomic backgrounds and higher in boys compared with girls. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between weight status and HRQOL in children between 6 and 7 years old in this unique country context. Methods: Baseline HRQOL and demographic data were collected from children recruited to the CHIRPY DRAGON obesity prevention trial in China. HRQOL was measured using the Chinese version of the Child Health Utility-9D (CHU-9D-CHN) and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ (PedsQL™) instruments. CHU-9D-CHN utility scores were generated using 2 scoring algorithms (UK and Chinese tariffs). Height and weight measures were taken at school by trained researchers using standardized methods, and BMI z scores were calculated using the World Health Organization 2007 growth charts. The relationship between HRQOL and weight status was examined using multivariable analyses, adjusting for age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Results: Full data were available for 1539 children (mean age, 6 years). In both unadjusted and adjusted analyses, HRQOL, using both the CHU-9D-CHN and the PedsQL™, was marginally higher in children who were overweight or living with obesity compared with children with healthy weight, although this difference did not reach statistical significance. Separate analyses and models by gender showed that the relationship between weight status and HRQOL scores was similar in boys and girls. Conclusions: Our results suggest no statistically significant difference in HRQOL between children with overweight/obesity compared with those with healthy weight. These results have implications for the methods of economic evaluation for obesity treatment and prevention interventions within this population cohort and country setting, as there appears to be no discernible consequences on children’s HRQOL from living with overweight and obesity

Techno-economic assessment of CO2 quality effect on its storage and transport: CO2QUEST: An overview of aims, objectives and main findings

This paper provides an overview of the aims, objectives and the main findings of the CO2QUEST FP7 collaborative project, funded by the European Commission and designed to address the fundamentally important and urgent issues regarding the impact of the typical impurities in CO2 streams captured from fossil fuel power plants and other CO2 intensive industries on their safe and economic pipeline transportation and storage. The main features and results recorded from some of the unique test facilities constructed as part of the project are presented. These include an extensively instrumented realistic-scale test pipeline for conducting pipeline rupture and dispersion tests in China, an injection test facility in France to study the mobility of trace metallic elements contained in a CO2 stream following injection near a shallow-water qualifier and fluid/rock interactions and well integrity experiments conducted using a fully instrumented deep-well CO2/impurities injection test facility in Israel. The above, along with the various unique mathematical models developed, provide the fundamentally important tools needed to define impurity tolerance levels, mixing protocols and control measures for pipeline networks and storage infrastructure, thus contributing to the development of relevant standards for the safe design and economic operation of CCS

FORMATION OF LANTHANUM HYDROXIDE NANOSTRUCTURES: EFFECT OF NaOH AND KOH SOLVENTS

Abstract Lanthanum hydroxide (La(OH)3) nanostructures, including elliptical nanoparticles, octahedral rods and irregular nanoparticles were prepared chemically in NaOH and KOH solutions with 10 M concentration. The obtained powders were characterized with XRD, SEM, TEM and DTA. Crystallinities, morphologies and thermal behavior of the obtained nanostructure powders were investigated under the influence of above mentioned solvents. The effect of chemical's temperature was also determined in one of the solvents (i.e. NaOH). The formation of growth in nanostructure mechanism under the influence of alkali solutions (i.e., KOH and NaOH) have been discussed considerably in this paper

Experimental study of temperature distribution and flame spread over an inert porous bed wetted with liquid fuel

A combined experimental and modelling study was carried out to investigate the flame spread phenomenon over a porous bed wetted with finite quantity of super-flash liquid fuel. Measurements included flame spread rate, temperature distribution, and visual observation. Sand particles ranging from 0.5 to 5 mm and Propanol (flash point 12 °C) were used as porous bed and liquid fuel, respectively. Results corresponding to the rate of flame spread show that regardless of airflow speed and/or direction the rate of flame spread decreases as either the bed depth or particle size increases, however the flame spread deceleration rate is more distinct under opposed airflow. Temperature measurements and mathematical modelling results indicated the existences of three different temperature regions in the bed. The magnitude of temperature in upper region was significantly larger than those of the lower region. The modelling results were in good agreement with the experimental data