Dynamic optimal allocation of energy storage systems integrated within photovoltaic based on a dual timescale dynamics model

Energy storage systems(ESSs)operate as independent market participants and collaborate with photovoltaic(PV)generation units to enhance the flexible power supply capabilities of PV units.However,the dynamic variations in the profitability of ESSs in the electricity market are yet to be fully understood.This study introduces a dual-timescale dynamics model that integrates a spot market clearing(SMC)model into a system dynamics(SD)model to investigate the profit-aware capacity growth of ESSs and compares the profitability of independent energy storage systems(IESSs)with that of an ESS integrated within a PV(PV-ESS).Furthermore,this study aims to ascertain the optimal allocation of the PV-ESS.First,SD and SMC models were set up.Second,the SMC model simulated on an hourly timescale was incorporated into the SD model as a subsystem,a dual-timescale model was constructed.Finally,a development simulation and profitability analysis was conducted from 2022 to 2040 to reveal the dynamic optimal range of PV-ESS allocation.Additionally,negative electricity prices were considered during clearing processes.The simulation results revealed differences in profitability and capacity growth between IESS and PV-ESS,helping grid investors and policymakers to determine the boundaries of ESSs and dynamic optimal allocation of PV-ESSs.

Spectrum of COVID-19 induced liver injury:A review report

The coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic has caused changes in the global health system,causing significant setbacks in healthcare systems worldwide.This pandemic has also shown resilience,flexibility,and creativity in reacting to the tragedy.The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)infection targets most of the respiratory tract,resulting in a severe sickness called acute respiratory distress syndrome that may be fatal in some individuals.Although the lung is the primary organ targeted by COVID-19 viruses,the clinical aspect of the disease is varied and ranges from asymptomatic to respiratory failure.However,due to an unorganized immune response and several affected mechanisms,the liver may also experience liver cell injury,ischemic liver dysfunction,and drug-induced liver injury,which can result in respiratory failure because of the immune system’s disordered response and other compromised processes that can end in multisystem organ failure.Patients with liver cirrhosis or those who have impaired immune systems may be more likely than other groups to experience worse results from the SARS-CoV-2 infection.We thus intend to examine the pathogenesis,current therapy,and consequences of liver damage concerning COVID-19.

Susceptibility patterns and virulence genotypes of Helicobacter pylori affecting eradication therapy outcomes among Egyptian patients with gastroduodenal diseases

BACKGROUND Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori)is a significant human pathogen that is responsible for a variety of illnesses,including mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma,gastric cancer,peptic ulcers,and gastritis.AIM To investigate the frequency of H.pylori infection and its resistance patterns among Egyptian patients and to determine the influence of H.pylori virulence genetic determinants on the eradication success of 14-d triple therapy regimen.METHODS H.pylori infections were investigated in 72 patients with gastroduodenal complications suggestive of H.pylori infection.The cagA and vacA genotypes of cultured strains were studied using polymerase chain reaction.The patients underwent 14 d of triple-therapy treatment.The treatment response was examined using histology and a rapid urease test 6 wk after therapy discontinuation.RESULTS The intention-to-treat eradication rate was 59.2%(95%CI:48.2%-70.3%).Rates of H.pylori resistance to clarithromycin,amoxicillin,and metronidazole were 52.8%,81.9%,and 100%,respectively.Successful eradication of H.pylori was more significantly associated with vacA s1-positive strains[adjusted odds ratio(aOR)=0.507,95%CI:0.175-0.822].A significant association was found between failed eradication rate and H.pylori strains resistant to clarithromycin(aOR=0.204,95%CI:-0.005 to 0.412)and amoxicillin(aOR=0.223,95%CI:0.026-0.537).CONCLUSION This study’s low H.pylori eradication rate following 14-d triple therapy is concerning and worrying.H.pylori pan-resistance to metronidazole followed by the high resistance to ciprofloxacin,amoxicillin,and clarithromycin in this research is challenging and of great concern.

Application of engineered compressible inclusions to mitigating soilstructure interaction issues in integral bridge abutments

The thermally induced cyclic loading on integral bridge abutments causes soil deformation and lateral stress ratcheting behind the abutment wall due to the expansion and contraction of the bridge deck.The forward and backward movements of the abutment in response to the expansion/contraction of the bridge deck lead to the formation of settlement trough and surface heaving,frequently creating a bump at the bridge approach and increasing the lateral earth pressure behind the abutment.Measures to reduce the bump at the bridge approach,including several treatment methods,such as compaction of selected backfill materials,grout injection,installation of approach slab,and using a layer of compressible inclusion material behind the abutment were proposed.However,these guidelines still lack sufficient design details and there are limited experimental findings to validate design assumptions.In this paper,the use of engineered compressible materials to alleviate the lateral earth pressure ratcheting and settlement at the bridge approach is investigated.The comparative study is presented for the soil-inclusion,material-structure and soil-structure interactions for an integral bridge under three different backfill conditions,i.e.(a)sand,(b)sand and EPS geofoam,and(c)sand and Infinergy®.The study was conducted in a special large-scale test chamber with a semi-scale abutment to gain better insights into the soil-structure interaction(SSI).The kinematics and rearrangement of the soil during the cyclic loading have been investigated to identify the mitigating effects of compressible inclusions.The comparative study indicates that both compressible inclusions perform comparatively well,however,Infinergy®is a better alternative than the medium-density EPS geofoam,as it works more effectively to reduce the backfill settlement and heaving as well as soil ratcheting effects under cyclic translational movement.

Toward Secure Software-Defined Networks Using Machine Learning: A Review, Research Challenges, and Future Directions

Over the past few years,rapid advancements in the internet and communication technologies have led to increasingly intricate and diverse networking systems.As a result,greater intelligence is necessary to effectively manage,optimize,and maintain these systems.Due to their distributed nature,machine learning models are challenging to deploy in traditional networks.However,Software-Defined Networking(SDN)presents an opportunity to integrate intelligence into networks by offering a programmable architecture that separates data and control planes.SDN provides a centralized network view and allows for dynamic updates of flow rules and softwarebased traffic analysis.While the programmable nature of SDN makes it easier to deploy machine learning techniques,the centralized control logic also makes it vulnerable to cyberattacks.To address these issues,recent research has focused on developing powerful machine-learning methods for detecting and mitigating attacks in SDN environments.This paper highlighted the countermeasures for cyberattacks on SDN and how current machine learningbased solutions can overcome these emerging issues.We also discuss the pros and cons of using machine learning algorithms for detecting and mitigating these attacks.Finally,we highlighted research issues,gaps,and challenges in developing machine learning-based solutions to secure the SDN controller,to help the research and network community to develop more robust and reliable solutions.

Optimization of ITO/V_(2)O_(5)/Alq3/TPBi/BPhen/LiF/Al Layers Configuration for OLED and Study of Its Optical and Electrical Characteristics

Nowadays,OLEDs have shown aesthetic potential in smart cards,sensor displays,other electronic devices,sensitive medical devices and signal monitoring etc.due to their wide range of applications like low power consumption,high contrast ratio,speed highly electroluminescent,wide viewing angle and fast response time.In this paper,a highly efficient organic LED ITO/V_(2)O_(5)/Alq3/TPBi/BPhen/LiF/Al with low turn-on voltage and high optically efficiency is presented including electrical and optical characteristics.The simulation of electrical characteristics like current versus applied voltage,current density versus applied voltage,recombination prefactor versus excess carrier density characteristics and optical characteristics like light flux versus current density,light flux versus applied voltage and optical efficiency versus applied voltage has been explained.The physical design,working principle and thickness of different layers along with the process of formation of singlet and triplet excitons are discussed in detail.Here double electron transport layer(ETL),cathode layers are used to enhance the electrical and optical efficiency of OLED.The operating voltage is found to be~3.2 V for the ITO/V_(2)O_(5)/Alq3/TPBi/BPhen/LiF/Al heterostructure based OLED.The designed organic LED has achieved the maximum optical efficiency at 3 V.

A Reputation-Based AODV Protocol for Blackhole and Malfunction Nodes Detection and Avoidance

Enhancing the security of Wireless Sensor Networks(WSNs)improves the usability of their applications.Therefore,finding solutions to various attacks,such as the blackhole attack,is crucial for the success of WSN applications.This paper proposes an enhanced version of the AODV(Ad Hoc On-Demand Distance Vector)protocol capable of detecting blackholes and malfunctioning benign nodes in WSNs,thereby avoiding them when delivering packets.The proposed version employs a network-based reputation system to select the best and most secure path to a destination.To achieve this goal,the proposed version utilizes the Watchdogs/Pathrater mechanisms in AODV to gather and broadcast reputations to all network nodes to build the network-based reputation system.To minimize the network overhead of the proposed approach,the paper uses reputation aggregator nodes only for forwarding reputation tables.Moreover,to reduce the overhead of updating reputation tables,the paper proposes three mechanisms,which are the prompt broadcast,the regular broadcast,and the light broadcast approaches.The proposed enhanced version has been designed to perform effectively in dynamic environments such as mobile WSNs where nodes,including blackholes,move continuously,which is considered a challenge for other protocols.Using the proposed enhanced protocol,a node evaluates the security of different routes to a destination and can select the most secure routing path.The paper provides an algorithm that explains the proposed protocol in detail and demonstrates a case study that shows the operations of calculating and updating reputation values when nodes move across different zones.Furthermore,the paper discusses the proposed approach’s overhead analysis to prove the proposed enhancement’s correctness and applicability.

Quantitative analysis of cefixime via complexation with palladium(Ⅱ) in pharmaceutical formulations by spectrophotometry

An optimized and validated spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of cefixime in pharmaceutical formulations. The method is based on the complexa- tion reaction between cefixime and palladium ion in the presence of acidic buffer solution （pH 3） in ethanol-distilled water medium at room temperature. The complex absorbed maximally at 352 nm. Beer＇s law is obeyed in the working concentration range of 2.5-35 μg/mL with apparent molar absorptivity of 1.015×104 L/mol cm and Sandell＇s sensitivity of 0.001 μg/cm2/0.001 absorbance unit. The limits of detection and quantitation for the proposed method are 0.175 and 0.583μg/mL, respectively. The effect of common excipients used as additives has been studied in the determination of cefixime. The proposed method has been successfully applied for the determina- tion of cefixime in pharmaceutical formulations. The results obtained by the proposed method were statistically compared with the reference method using t and F values and found no significant difference between the two methods.

A Technical Framework for Selection of Autonomous UAV Navigation Technologies and Sensors

The autonomous navigation of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV)relies heavily on the navigation sensors.The UAV’s level of autonomy depends upon the various navigation systems,such as state measurement,mapping,and obstacle avoidance.Selecting the correct components is a critical part of the design process.However,this can be a particularly difficult task,especially for novices as there are several technologies and components available on the market,each with their own individual advantages and disadvantages.For example,satellite-based navigation components should be avoided when designing indoor UAVs.Incorporating them in the design brings no added value to the final product and will simply lead to increased cost and power consumption.Another issue is the number of vendors on the market,each trying to sell their hardware solutions which often incorporate similar technologies.The aim of this paper is to serve as a guide,proposing various methods to support the selection of fit-for-purpose technologies and components whilst avoiding system layout conflicts.The paper presents a study of the various navigation technologies and supports engineers in the selection of specific hardware solutions based on given requirements.The selection methods are based on easy-to-follow flow charts.A comparison of the various hardware components specifications is also included as part of this work.

Effect of Selective Medicinal Plant Extract on Blood Glucose, Sperm Shape and Various Physiological Parameters

Salvadora persica, Moringa pergrina and Citrullus colocynthis are three traditional important medicinal species used in indigenous medicinal herbal drugs to cure various diseases in South Asia and Middle East countries. The objective of the present study is to investigate the effects of oral administration of extracts of Salvadora persica leaves, Moringa pergrina leaves and Citrullus colocynthis seeds on different physiological parameters of mice. The leaves of Salvadora persica, Moringa pergrina and Citrullus colocynthis seeds were collected from Ibri and Al-Musanaa, dried and crushed into powder and extract was obtained by soxhalet apparatus. The extract was then administered to mice at a dosage of 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0% for twenty one days. The mice treated with different concentrations of plant extracts showed different physiological changes, Salvadora persica leaf extract at 1.5% and 2.0% showed hypo activity, grooming, prostration, while mice treated with 0.5% and 1.0% showed no effective behavioral changes. The Moringa pergrina leaf extract dosage of 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0% produced significant weight loss and affected the blood sugar level. Citrullus colocynthis seed extract at 1.5% and 2.0% showed abnormal sperms shape like circular head, double head and double tails whereas at 0.5% and 1.0% exhibited normal sperm shape.

Exergy Efficiency and Environmental Impact of Electricity of a 620 MW-Natural Gas Combined Cycle

In the first part of this investigation, a Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC) producing 620 MW of electricity was simulated using the commercial software Aspen Hysys V9.0 and the Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) equation of state. The aim of this second part is to use exergy-based analyses in order to calculate its exergy efficiency and evaluate its environmental impact under standard conditions. For the exergy efficiency, the performance index under investigation is the exergy destruction ratio (yD). The results of the study show that the combustor is the main contributor to the total exergy destruction of the power plant (yD = 24.35%) and has the lowest exergy efficiency of 75.65%. On the other hand, the Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG) has the lowest contribution to the exergy destruction (yD = 5.63%) of the power plant and the highest exergy efficiency of 94.37%. For the overall power plant, the exergy efficiency is equal to 53.28%. For the environmental impact of the power plant, the relative difference of exergy-related environmental impacts (rb) is utilized as the performance index for each equipment of the plant and the environmental impact of a kWh of electricity (EIE) is used to represent the performance index of the overall power plant. In agreement with the exergy analysis, the results indicate that the combustor and the HRSG have respectively the highest (rb = 32.19%) and the lowest (rb = 5.96%) contribution to the environmental impact. The environmental impact of a kWh of electricity of the power plant is 34.26 mPts/kWh (exergy destruction only), and 34.42 mPts/kWh (both exergy destruction and exergy loss).

Simulation of a NGCC Power Generation Plant for the Production of Electricity from CO₂Emissions Part I: The Methanation Reactor

The final goal of this applied research is to simulate a Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC) power plant with a CO2 capture unit. The originality of this investigation is the integration of a methanation process to produce the natural gas of the power plant from the captured CO2. The objective of this first part of the investigation is to simulate a methanation reactor for the production of methane using 1 kg/hr. of captured carbon dioxide containing 95% mol. CO2 and 5% mol. H2O. To reach this goal, Aspen Plus software and the Redlich-Kwong-Soave equation of state with modified Huron-Vidal mixing rules are utilized. Three parameters are considered in order to maximize the production of CH4 production: 1) temperature, varying from 250°C to 300°C, 2) pressure varying between 10 atm to 40 atm and 3) [H2/CO2] ratio which varies between 2 to 6. The maximum production of methane of 0.875 kmol/hr. was obtained for the following operating conditions: [H2/CO2] ratio of 3.5, at relatively low temperature (250°C - 270°C) and high pressures 30 and 40 atm.

The Use of Low Molecular Weight Heparin for Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis in Medical Patients: How Much Are We Adherent to the Guidelines?

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common complication seen during or after hospitalization that manifests as deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and/or pulmonary embolism (PE). PE is considered the commonest preventable cause of death during and/or after hospitalization. Thus, pharmacological and mechanical methods are used to prevent VTE in hospitalized patients. Despite the availability of guidelines for VTE prophylaxis, it is crucial to assess the adherence and adaptation of the institution to these guidelines. Purpose: This study aimed to investigate adherence to the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) 2012 VTE prophylaxis guidelines in hospitalized medical patients in a tertiary care hospital in the United Arab Emirates. Methods: An observational prospective design was utilized in this study. To achieve the purpose, primary and secondary end points were identified to be the core of the investigation. The primary end points were: the incidence of bleeding, VTE, and cardiovascular events. While the secondary end points were: dose and indication validity for prophylaxis, VTE and bleeding risk assessments, adverse drug events (ADE) other than bleeding, appropriate monitoring when on low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) and the presence of contraindication at the time of prescribing LMWH. Results: 16 patients (20%) out of the total 80 met one or more of the primary end points. The vast majority of patients (81.25%) developed bleeding, while VTE was seen in one case only during hospitalization. 11 patients (13.75%) received LMWH while a contraindication was present. 15 patients (18.75%) who were prescribed LMWH had an International Medical Prevention Registry on Venous Thromboembolism (IMPROVE) bleeding risk score of ≥7. However, 5 out of 13 patients (38.46%) who developed bleeding had a bleeding score of ≥7, and the relationship between bleeding score of ≥7 and the development of bleeding was statistically significant (p = 0.047). When investigating the doses that were utilized, 40% were prescribed an inappropriate dose. Conclusion: Various factors played a role in the inappropriateness of VTE prophylaxis such as;poor adherence to VTE guidelines, inappropriate dosing and monitoring, and not evaluating the bleeding risk. Hence, to be able to achieve effective VTE prophylaxis, these factors need to be addressed through adherence to and adaptation of the ACCP 2012 VTE prophylaxis guidelines.

Process Simulation of a 620 Mw-Natural Gas Combined Cycle Power Plant with Optimum Flue Gas Recirculation

The main objective of this investigation is to obtain an optimum value for the flue gas recirculation ratio in a 620 MW-Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC) power plant with a 100% excess air in order to have a composition of the exhaust gas suitable for an effective absorption by amine solutions. To reach this goal, the recirculated flue gas is added to the secondary air (dilution air) used for cooling the turbine. The originality of this work is that the optimum value of a Flue Gas Recirculation (FGR) ratio of 0.42 is obtained from the change of the slope related to the effects of flue gas recirculation ratio on the molar percentage of oxygen in the exhaust gas. Compared to the NGCC power plant without flue gas recirculation, the molar percentage of carbon dioxide in the flue gas increases from 5% to 9.2% and the molar percentage of oxygen decreases from 10.9% to 3.5%. Since energy efficiency is the key parameter of energy conversion systems, the impact of the flue gas recirculation on the different energy inputs and outputs and the overall efficiency of the power plant are also investigated. It is found the positive effects of the flue gas recirculation on the electricity produced by the steam turbine generator (STG) are more important than its cooling effects on the power output of the combustion turbine generator (CTG). The flue gas recirculation has no effects on the water pump of the steam cycle and the increase of energy consumed by the compressor of flue gas is compensated by the decrease of energy consumed by the compressor of fresh air. Based on the Low heating value (LHV) of the natural gas, the flue gas recirculation increases the overall efficiency of the power plant by 1.1% from 57.5% from to 58.2%.

Simulation of a NGCC Power Generation Plant for the Production of Electricity from CO2 Emissions Part II: SNGCC Power Plant

The objective of the first part of the investigation was to use Aspen Plus software and the Redlich-Kwong-Soave equation of state in order to simulate an adiabatic methanation reactor for the production of synthetic natural methane (SNG) using 1 kg/hr of carbon dioxide. In this paper, we define the Synthetic Natural Gas Combined Cycle (SNGCC) as a combined cycle power plant where the fuel is synthetic natural gas (SNG) produced by a methanation reactor. The feed of the methanation reactor is the recycled stream of carbon dioxide of a CO2 capture unit treating the flue gas of the SNGCC power plant. The objective of the second part of the investigation is the utilization of Aspen plus software with SRK equation of state for the simulation of the SNGCC power plant. The metallurgical limitation of the gas turbine was fixed at 1300°C in this investigation. For effective absorption by amine solutions, the molar percentage of CO2 in the flue gas should be higher than 10%. Moreover, in order to reduce technical problems linked to oxidative degradation of amine in the CO2 capture plant, the percentage of O2 in the flue gas should also be lower than 5%. To reach this goal, the primary air for combustion has 10% excess air (compared to stoichiometric air) and 37% of the flue gas leaving the SNGCC is recirculated as the secondary air for cooling the turbine. As a result, the concentration of CO2 and O2 of the flue gas entering the CO2 capture unit were respectively equal to 10.2% and 2.01%. The simulation results of the SNGCC power plant indicate that 6.6 MJ of electricity are produced for each kg of carbon dioxide recycled from the CO2 capture unit of the power plant. In other terms, the production of the 24.88 kg/hr of synthetic natural gas (SNG) consumes 62.36 kg/hr of recycled carbon dioxide and 16.4 kg/hr of hydrogen. The SNG produced by the methanation reactor of the power plant generates 114 kW of electricity. It is assumed in this paper that the hydrogen needed for the methanation of carbon dioxide is a product of a catalytic reforming plant that produces gasoline from heavy naphta fraction of an atmospheric distillation unit of crude oil.

Modelling and Verification of Context-Aware Intelligent Assistive Formalism

Recent years have witnessed the expeditious evolution of intelligentsmart devices and autonomous software technologies with the expandeddomains of computing from workplaces to smart computing in everydayroutine life activities. This trend has been rapidly advancing towards the newgeneration of systems where smart devices play vital roles in acting intelligently on behalf of the users. Context-awareness has emerged from the pervasive computing paradigm. Context-aware systems have the ability to acquirecontextual information from the surrounding environment autonomously,perform reasoning on it, and then adapt their behaviors accordingly. With theproliferation of context-aware systems and smart sensors, real-time monitoring of environmental situations (context) has become quite trivial. However,it is often challenging because the imperfect nature of context can cause theinconsistent behavior of the system. In this paper, we propose a contextaware intelligent decision support formalism to assist cognitively impairedpeople in managing their routine life activities. For this, we present a semanticknowledge-based framework to contextualize the information from the environment using the protégé ontology editor and Semantic Web Rule Language(SWRL) rules. The set of contextualized information and the set of rulesacquired from the ontology can be used to model Context-aware Multi-AgentSystems (CMAS) in order to autonomously plan all activities of the users andnotify users to act accordingly. To illustrate the use of the proposed formalism,we model a case study of Mild Cognitive Impaired (MCI) patients usingColored Petri Nets (CPN) to show the reasoning process on how the contextaware agents collaboratively plan activities on the user’s behalf and validatethe correctness properties of the system.

Review of Biochemical and Nutritional Constituents in Different Green Leafy Vegetables in Oman

Green leafy vegetables are very nutrient-dense and incredibly healthy. They are vital sources of antioxidants and they are the best which are very beneficial to providing weight loss and maintenance, because it keeps you feeling full and helps control your hunger. Also, leafy vegetables are full of fiber, vitamins;minerals and substances that help protect you from disease [1] [2]. For this we choose five types of vegetables which are lettuce, cabbage, parsley, spinach and arugula to estimate some nutritional values present on them such as: carbohydrate (sucrose, fructose, glucose and starch), protein, amino acids (lysine and phenyl alanine), vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and lipid. The results obtained were analyzed and the relative percentages of these compounds were tabulated. Among the five green leafy vegetables the glucose content was highest in lettuce and was least in arugula. Among the five green leafy vegetables the fructose content was highest in parsley and was least in cabbage. Among the five green leafy vegetables the sucrose content was highest in parsley and was least in cabbage. Among the five green leafy vegetables the starch content was highest in lettuce and was least in spinach. Among the five green leafy vegetables the ascorbic acid content was highest in lettuce and was least in parsley and arugula. Among the five green leafy vegetables the protein content was highest in parsley and was least in cabbage. Among the five green leafy vegetables the lysine content was highest in cabbage and was least in arugula. Among the five green leafy vegetables the phenyl alanine content was highest in cabbage and was least in spinach. Among the five green leafy vegetables the lipid content was highest in lettuce and was least in cabbage.

Antimicrobial activity and mode of action of terpene linalyl anthranilate against carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae

Mining of plant-derived antimicrobials is the major focus at current to counter antibiotic resistance. This study was conducted to characterize the antimicrobial activity and mode of action of linalyl anthranilate(LNA) against carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae(KPC-KP). LNA alone exhibited bactericidal activity at 2.5%(V/V), and in combination with meropenem(MPM) at 1.25%(V/V). Comparative proteomic analysis showed a significant reduction in the number of cytoplasmic and membrane proteins,indicating membrane damage in LNA-treated KPC-KP cells. Up-regulation of oxidative stress regulator proteins and down-regulation of oxidative stress-sensitive proteins indicated oxidative stress. Zeta potential measurement and outer membrane permeability assay revealed that LNA increases both bacterial surface charge and membrane permeability. Ethidium bromide influx/efflux assay showed increased uptake of ethidium bromide in LNA-treated cells, inferring membrane damage. Furthermore, intracellular leakage of nucleic acid and proteins was detected upon LNA treatment. Scanning and transmission electron microscopies again revealed the breakage of bacterial membrane and loss of intracellular materials. LNA was found to induce oxidative stress by generating reactive oxygen species(ROS) that initiate lipid peroxidation and damage the bacterial membrane. In conclusion, LNA generates ROS, initiates lipid peroxidation, and damages the bacterial membrane, resulting in intracellular leakage and eventually killing the KPC-KP cells.

The Commutants of the Dunkl Operators on <i>ε</i>(R^d)

We consider the harmonic analysis associated with the Dunkl operators on Rd. We study the Dunkl mean-periodic functions on the space ε(Rd) (the space of C∞-functions). We characterize also the continuous linear mappings from ε(Rd) into itself which commute with the Dunkl operators.

Simulation of Stripper Flooding Due to the Increase of Feed Flowrate

In this investigation, UniSim software and the Soave-Redlich-Kong (SRK) thermodynamic model were utilized to study flooding in a Naphta stripping column. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of increasing feed flowrate from a design load of 121 m3/hr. to 165 m3/hr. on the performance of the plate column. In order to study only flooding in the column, UniSim software was run by keeping the LPG (Liquefied Gas petroleum) and Naphta products within the required specifications. According to the original design specifications of the stripping column, it should not be operated at high feed rates and differential pressure must not exceed 600 mbar. For the purpose of simulation, this value corresponds to a maximum allowable flooding percentage of 85%. The simulation results show that the flooding percentage was 144.5% in the case under study and 83.7% for the design case. Flooding occurred in all parts of the column with diameters of 2 m and 2.7 m. For the case under investigation, the reflux to feed ratio was reduced from 0.45 (design case) to 0.2. The originality of this investigation is the utilization of the temperature profile in the column as a tool to detect the plates where flooding could take place. The column temperature profile during the case under study suggests instability in the plates between trays 5 to 15. It is therefore suspected that flooding takes place mainly between those plates.