Energetic and exergetic analysis of combined cycle power plant: Part-1 operation and performance

Energetic and exergetic analyses are conducted using operating data for Sabiya, a combined cycle power plant (CCPP) with an advanced triple pressure reheat heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis is carried out on the HRSG using a recent approach to differentiate between the sources of irreversibility. The proposed system was modelled using the IPSEpro software and further validated by the manufacturer’s data. The performance of the Sabiya CCPP was examined for different climatic conditions, pressure ratios, pinch point temperatures, high-pressure steam, and condenser pressure values. The results confirmed that 60.9% of the total exergy destruction occurs in the combustion chamber, which constitutes the main source of irreversibilities within a system. The exergy destruction was significantly affected by both the pressure ratio and the high-pressure steam, where the relation between them was seen to be inversely proportional. The high-pressure stage contributes about 50% of the exergy destruction within the HRSG compared to other stages and the reheat system, due to the high temperature difference between the streams and the large number of components, which leads to high energy loss to the surroundings. Numerous possibilities for improving the CCPP’s performance are introduced, based on the obtained results

Exergetic, exergoeconomic and exergoenvironmental analysis of intercooled gas turbine engine

Exergetic and exergoeconomic and exergoenvironmental analyses have been performed for an advanced aero-derivative intercooled gas turbine engine. The proposed system was modelled using the IPSEpro software package and validated using manufacturer’s published data. The exergoeconomic model evaluates the cost-effectiveness of the gas turbine engine based on the Specific Exergy Costing [SPECO] method. The CO2 emissions per KWh were estimated using a generic combustor model, HEPHAESTUS, developed at Cranfield University. It is well known that the exergetic analysis can determine the magnitudes, locations and types of losses within an energy system. The effect of load and ambient temperature variations on gas turbine performance were investigated for two different configurations. The first system, Case-I, was a simple gas turbine (SCGT) engine, and the second, Case-II, an intercooling gas turbine (ICGT) system. The latter enhances gas turbine efficiency but, at the same time, has an adverse effect on the combustion chamber due to reduced compressed air temperature. It was confirmed that full load and low ambient temperature are preferable due to the low waste exergy. The unit exergy cost rate for both SCGT and ICGT have been calculated as 8.59 and 8.32 US$/GJ respectively. The exergoenvironmental results show the ICGT achieved lower emission levels and is more environmentally friendly than the SCGT

Teacher evaluation by different internal evaluators: Head of departments, teachers themselves, peers and students

This study analyzed teacher evaluation in school, through involving different internal evaluators, in order to determine the extent to which they evaluate teacher performance accurately and objectively. Evaluation survey instruments are used in this study, which are designed based the criteria of existing teacher evaluation system in the context, along with other criteria for evaluating teachers. The sample of this study included teachers, heads of departments and students from high schools in four different districts in Kuwait, received responses as 100 from heads of department, 100 from teachers ‘self-evaluation’, 100 from peer and 912 from students. The findings show that there is no significant difference between teachers’ self-evaluation and heads of departments’ evaluation. On the other hand, this study finds that subjectivism and competition may have an effect on peer evaluation and students may over-evaluate their teachers’ performance as attempt to draw a better picture of their teachers in front of evaluators

Patient Engagement through Mobile Health Interventions of Diabetes: A Systematic Literature Review

This paper aims to review the HIMSS patient engagement framework\u27s applicability and to recognise the patient engagement features presented in current mHealth interventions for improving engagement in diabetes self-management. Scopus, Web of Science and Medline databases were searched for relevant studies. The selected studies were then analysed using the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) patient engagement framework. Twenty engagement features were identified from twenty-nine studies reviewed. Half of the HIMSS patient engagement framework categories were seen in the studies. This review shows that mHealth interventions have achieved the third and fourth phases of the HIMSS patient engagement framework. In addition, this review suggests improvements in patient engagement facilitation, including integrating patient-generated data into electronic health records, collaboration access to the health records, and peer support through online community forums. Finally, the future patient engagement framework is discussed for mHealth technology

Exergetic and sustainability analysis of an intercooled gas turbine cogeneration plant with reverse osmosis desalination system

In this study, an advanced cogeneration plant based on a 100-MW aeroderivative intercooled gas turbine (ICGT) engine and large two-pass reverse osmosis (RO) desalination system is analyzed thermodynamically. The proposed model has been developed using specialized software and validated with manufacturers’ published data. Saline water is simulated using the latest physical properties available in the literature and treated as a real mixture. Combined energetic and exergetic performance criteria for the design of a cogeneration plant is presented as being, today, the most efficient method for accurate assessment of performance, which also permits quantification of system deficiencies. The performance of the proposed plant was investigated using different loads, ambient temperatures, pressure ratios, and feed water temperatures. The results show an intercooler system improves cogeneration plant performance despite having a negative impact on the combustion chamber performance because of its reduction of compressed air temperature. The ICGT engine is considered the best available choice to integrate with a RO unit because of its high pressure ratio and low power consumption in the compressors. From an operational perspective, full load and low ambient and high feed-water temperatures are highly recommended. The exergetic efficiency of the ICGT engine, RO system, and cogeneration plant are shown to be 44.3, 32.83, and 47.6%, respectively. From a sustainability perspective, the exergetic-environmental efficiency is slightly affected by ambient temperature, whereas it is highly affected by load variation. Based upon the obtained results, numerous possibilities are presented to improve the performance of cogeneration plants

Assessment of Enchroma Filter for Correcting Color Vision Deficiency

Purpose: Color vision deficiency (CVD) especially the Red-Green type (RG), affects 8% of the male and 0.5% of the female population. There is no cure for color deficiency. However, there are specially-tinted lenses marketed to enhance the color contrast for CVD individuals. Recently, EnChroma Filters claim to enhance color perception. The aim of this study was to examine EnChroma Cx-14, red, and green filters subjectively on subjects with RG CVD. Methods: Nine males and one female (aged 19 – 52 years) with RG CVD were recruited. Five were severe deutans, two moderate deutans, and two were severe protans. Subjective responses to EnChroma were tested using ColorDx software on a tablet and online Farnsworth-Munsell (FM) 100-Hue tests. Error scores of the ColorDx and FM 100 Hue tests with EnChroma CX-14, Red and Green filters were calculated and compared against Placebo (untinted glasses). Results: In only two subjects , EnChroma filters resulted in CVD improvement from severe protan to moderate protan and from severe deutan to moderate deutan using ColorDx. Neither EnChroma nor green filters improved the mean error scores of ColorDx (p = 0.39) and (p = 1.00), respectively. However, red filter significantly improved color discrimination from severe deutan to mild deutan in all deutan subjects, and in one subject, from severe protan to mild deutan (p = 0.013). Similarly, EnChroma did not significantly improve the error score of FM 100 Hue test. Also, none of the other filters showed significant improvement in the error scores of the FM 100 Hue. Conclusions: EnChroma Cx-14 filters are multi-notch filters that modify the wavelength transmission to the observer. To our knowledge this is the first study to measure the effectiveness of EnChroma Cx-14 on digital version of Ishihara (ColorDx). Our results showed that the EnChroma filters had no significant effect on the performance of any of the CVD subjects, but improved the error score in only two subjects

Association Of BCR-ABL Alternative Splice Variants with Disease Progression, Treatment Response and Survival in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients Treated with Firstline imatinib Monotherapy

Background: Alternative RNA splicing has diverse biological effects in heath as well as disease. It also contributes to cancer onset and progression. Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) results due to BCR-ABL fusion oncogene that is created due to chromosomal translocation t [9; 22] [q34; q11]). BCR-ABL is target of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). BCR-ABL through alternative splicing can generate b2a2, b3a2 and some other rare splicing variants. BCR-ABL variants may vary in their response to TKI treatment and disease progression potential, which is a major factor contributing to dismal treatment outcome in CML. Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate correlation of BCR-ABL splice variants with TKI treatment outcome and survival in three phases of CML that has rarely been studied previously.Methods: BCR-ABL splice variants were studied using reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR). in 70 CML patients from three phases of CML who were receiving imatinib (TKI) treatment.Results: Frequencies of different BCR/ABL splice variants like b3a2, b2a2 and b3a2+b2a2 were 49 (70%), 15 (21.4%) and 6 (8.6%), respectively. Splice variant b2a2 were more common (53.3%) in chronic phase CML (CP-CML) while b3a2 had higher frequency in advanced phases of CML (44.9%). CML patients with b2a2 transcript had better complete cytogenetic response and major molecular response to TKI treatment overall (100% vs. 24.5%) as well as in CP-CML (100% vs. 85.7%) and superior survival when compared to patients with b3a2 splice variant. All patients who died had male gender, less than 33 years age, b3a2 transcript, advanced phases of CML and imatinib resistance.Conclusions: Splice variant b3a2 was associated with CML progression, poorer survival and inferior treatment outcome as compared to b2a2. Further investigations on BCR-ABL splice variants and their roles in CML pathogenesis can provide deeper insights into CML biology and new targets for BCR-ABL positive leukemia treatment.          Keywords: CML; BCR-ABL splice variants; Progression; Survival; Treatment outcome 

The War on ‘The Terrorist Other’: Islamophobia and Pakistani Muslim Men in Post-9/11 and 7/7 Fiction

This dissertation examines the “war on terror” and its dire effects on Pakistani Muslim men by discussing how Pakistani writers analyze the post-9/9 US and post-7/7 UK to articulate a male Pakistani Muslim identity. It also argues that the “war on terror” created different forms of Islamophobia that affected the Muslim communities across the Western world. The different forms of Islamophobia are national/religious/business fundamentalisms, toxic masculinity, and internalized Islamophobia regarding Muslims who become Islamophobic. Each form of Islamophobia contributes to the “war on terror” and its creation of the “Terrorist Other,” an aggressive and bloodthirsty Muslim man inspired by anti/pre-modern and fundamentalist ideology (Islam). The War On ‘The Terrorist Other’: Islamophobia and Pakistani Muslim Men in Post-9/11 And 7/7 Fiction consists of three chapters. Chapter one studies Mohsin Hamid’s novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007) and its analysis of a Pakistani Muslim man experiencing national/religious and business fundamentalisms. Chapter two analyzes Kamila Shamsie’s novel Home Fire (2017) and how she represents a young British Pakistani Muslim man who joins a terrorist organization to counter the UK’s toxic masculinity that labels him a “Terrorist Other.” Chapter 3 examines Ayad Akhtar’s Disgraced (2012). Akhtar analyzes an internalized Islamophobe who eventually destroys his Islamophobic identity. All the characters analyzed go through three stages of identity (re)formation: construction, deconstruction, and suspended reconstruction. Pakistani Muslim men articulate their identities according to the three stages of identity (re)formation to navigate the Islamophobic “war on terror” and its labels. The War On ‘The Terrorist Other,’ therefore, attempts to lay out the identities of such construction and their relations to the “war on terror.” In doing so, I am hopeful that the “Terrorist Other” label and the three stages (construction, deconstruction, and suspended reconstruction) will rejuvenate the way we read post-9/11 and 7/7 fiction and the “war on terror,” and open space for a new interpretation of Muslim mens’ identities

Original paper Allergic contact dermatitis pattern in Kuwait: nickel leads the pack. In-depth analysis of nickel allergy based on the results from a large prospective patch test series report

A b s t r a c t Introduction: Contact dermatitis is a relatively common dermatosis reported among several population groups from all around the globe. However, the data from Kuwait is unavailable. Patch tests are essential for the diagnosis of contact sensitization. Aim: To determine a relative frequency and pattern of sensitizers to different allergens in patients of suspected contact dermatitis in Kuwait and, also to study the role of the commonest sensitizer in detail. Material and methods: Patch tests were performed in 2461 consecutive patients with a clinical diagnosis of contact dermatitis seen at our hospital between September 1, 2014 and August 31, 2015. Out of the total of 1381 (56.1%) patients with positive patch test results to at least one allergen, 546 (22.2%) patients with a single positive reaction to nickel only (single largest sensitizer) were selected as the study population for further detailed analysis. Results: At least one positive patch test reaction was found in 1381 (56.12%) patients. Nickel was found to be the most common sensitizer seen in 546 (40%) patients. The mean age was 37.3 ±13.8 years and the mean duration of disease was 27.3 ±13.8 months. Most (387/546) patients sensitized were females. The forearms/hands and wrists were the most prevalent sites (52.56% of the participants). In 58.91% of women, dermatitis was more often confined to other sites, mostly ears and the neck due to earrings and necklaces. Just more than half of the number (51.09%) of nickel allergic patients were found in the age group of 15-25 years. Hairdressers/beauticians were the most affected group followed by house workers (housewives, cleaners, housekeepers). Conclusions: Nickel is the single most common sensitizer found in our patients, and female sex, young age, occupation with long hours of contact to nickel are high risk factors. We recommend that a directive, which limits the release of nickel from products with extended skin contact, be approved in Kuwait