NETMAT: A knowledge-based grid system analysis tool

The increasing expansion of electric power systems renders the power system operator's task increasingly complex. The integration into energy management systems of further analytical algorithms implies that more data has to be analysed by the control engineer. For these reasons and many others, more sophisticated tools are required by power engineers to ease the pressure under which they perform their task. The advent of knowledge-based systems has led to a new approach to the problem. The combination of expert systems and numerical algorithms can be advantageously exploited to assist the power system engineer in operating the system. This paper presents the development of a knowledge-based tool for grid system analysis. The tool, NETMAT (NETwork Modelling AssistanT) , is to be used to analyse the impact of grid system maintenance and modification procedures and of new generating plants on power utilities, and in particular on their ability to generate and sell electricity. NE TMAT consists of a number of numerical applications interfaced to an expert system shell through specific problem domain knowledge bases. Results are presented based on the use of the IEEE-30 busbar network as a test network

The GRB luminosity function in the internal shock model confronted to observations

We compute the expected luminosity function of GRBs in the context of the internal shock model. We assume that GRB central engines generate relativistic outflows characterized by the respective distributions of injected kinetic power Edot and contrast in Lorentz factor Kappa = Gamma_max/Gamma_min. We find that if the distribution of contrast extends down to values close to unity (i.e. if both highly variable and smooth outflows can exist) the luminosity function has two branches. At high luminosity it follows the distribution of Edot while at low luminosity it is close to a power law of slope -0.5. We then examine if existing data can constrain the luminosity function. Using the log N - log P curve, the Ep distribution of bright BATSE bursts and the XRF/GRB ratio obtained by HETE2 we show that single and broken power-laws can provide equally good fits of these data. Present observations are therefore unable to favor one form of the other. However when a broken power-law is adopted they clearly indicate a low luminosity slope ~ -0.6 +- 0.2, compatible with the prediction of the internal shock model.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Improvement of power transformer differential protection through detection and exploitation of the negative sequence currents

Introduction. Power transformers are the most important and the most expensive equipment used in transport and distribution of electrical energy. Their failure results in huge economic losses. Despite the great advances in the design of power equipment in recent years, the feeble link in the chain remains the insulation weakness of coil turns of the power transformer. The novelty of the proposed research consists in the development of a new procedure for diagnosing and localizing the occurrence of turn to turn short-circuits in the windings of three-phase power transformer. The main problems of the current differential relay are short circuits of one or more turns of a transformer winding. Hence a new approach using' the amplitude comparison between the negative sequence currents' is developed and a digital discriminator internal / external fault is applied to discriminate turn to turn faults among the other ones. The proposed procedure is based on the exploitation of the negative sequence currents. The purpose of using this new procedure is to identify small faults inside power transformer coils and to distinguish inner faults from the outer faults by using an ameliorate circuit. The method used in this paper is a novel algorithm which based on the comparison between the negative sequence current amplitudes and to calculate the corresponding phase angle shifts. The performance of the proposed procedure has been confirmed by MATLAB/Simulink environment. The results of simulation reveal the efficiency of the suggested procedure, and indicate that this procedure can provide fast and sensitive approach for detecting low level turn-to-turn faults.Вступ. Силові трансформатори – найважливіше і найдорожче устаткування, яке використовується при передачі та розподілі електроенергії. Їх відмова призводить до величезних економічних втрат. Незважаючи на великі успіхи в проектуванні силового обладнання в останні роки, слабкою ланкою в ланцюзі залишається недостатня міцність ізоляції витків котушки силового трансформатора. Новизна запропонованого дослідження полягає в розробці нової методики діагностики та локалізації виникнення міжвиткових коротких замикань в обмотках трифазних силових трансформаторів. Основні проблеми диференціального реле струму – це коротке замикання одного або декількох витків обмотки трансформатора. Тому, розроблено новий підхід, який використовує порівняння амплітуд струмів зворотної послідовності, а також застосовується цифровий дискримінатор внутрішніх/зовнішніх несправностей для розрізнення міжвиткових короткого замкнень серед інших. Запропонована методика заснована на використанні струмів зворотній послідовності. Мета використання цієї нової методики – виявити невеликі несправності всередині котушок силового трансформатора і відрізнити внутрішні несправності від зовнішніх несправностей за допомогою поліпшеної схеми. Метод, який використовується в цій статті, це новий алгоритм, заснований на порівнянні амплітуд струму зворотної послідовності і обчисленні відповідних зміщень фазового кута. Еефективність запропонованої методики підтверджена у середовищі MATLAB/Simulink. Результати моделювання показують ефективність запропонованої методики і вказують на те, що цій метод може забезпечити швидкий і чутливий підхід для виявлення міжвиткових коротких замикань низького рівня

Taxonomic study and partial characterization of antimicrobial compounds from a moderately halophilic strain of the genus Actinoalloteichus

A moderately halophilic actinomycete strain designated AH97 was isolated from a saline Saharan soil, and selected for its antimicrobial activities against bacteria and fungi. The AH97 strain was identified by morphological, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analyses to the genus Actinoalloteichus. Analysis of the 16S rDNA sequence of strain AH97 showed a similarity level ranging between 95.8% and 98.4% within Actinoalloteichus species, with A. hymeniacidonis the most closely related. The comparison of the physiological characteristics of AH97 with those of known species of Actinoalloteichus showed significant differences. Strain AH97 showed an antibacterial and antifungal activity against broad spectrum of microorganisms known to be human and plant pathogens. The bioactive compounds were extracted from the filtrate culture with n-butanol and purified using thin layer chromatography and high pressure liquid chromatography procedures. Two active products were isolated, one hydrophilic fraction (F1) and another hydrophobic (F2). Ultraviolet-visible, infrared, mass and 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies suggested that these molecules were the dioctyl phthalate (F2) and an aminoglycosidic compound (F1)

Nitric Oxide Bioavailability and Its Potential Relevance to the Variation in Susceptibility to the Renal and Vascular Complications in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE—We compared the renal and systemic vascular (renovascular) response to a reduction of bioavailable nitric oxide (NO) in type 2 diabetic patients without nephropathy and of African and Caucasian heritage. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Under euglycemic conditions, renal blood flow was determined by a constant infusion of paraminohippurate and changes in blood pressure and renal vascular resistance estimated before and after an infusion of l-Ng-monomethyl-l-arginine. RESULTS—In the African-heritage group, there was a significant fall in renal blood flow (Δ−46.0 ml/min per 1.73 m(2); P < 0.05) and rise in systolic blood pressure (Δ10.0 mmHg [95% CI 2.3–17.9]; P = 0.017), which correlated with an increase in renal vascular resistance (r(2) = 0.77; P = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS—The renal vasoconstrictive response associated with NO synthase inhibition in this study may be of relevance to the observed vulnerability to renal injury in patients of African heritage