Evaluating heat rate modifications with the EPRI Plant ModificationOperating Savings (PMOS) model

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) developed the Plant Modification Operating Savings Model (PMOS) to overcome the shortcomings of conventional planning tools in capturing the value of small-scale plant modifications. PMOS focuses on a single plant and, using readily available cost and performance data, determines the value of a modification at that plant to the system. PMOS provides decision-makers with accurate results to help select the projects with highest value to the system. It is a powerful, yet easy-to-use, computer model that is a useful addition to the utility planning toolkit. This paper discusses the PMOS use to evaluate plant heat rate modifications and describes the model's methodology and applications     

Optimal power flow emulation of interchange brokerage systems usinglinear programming

The authors propose an interchange brokerage system based on an optimal power flow (OPF) solution using linear programming (LP). Interchange brokering schedules power imports and exports between interconnected electric utilities to maximize profits for all participating parties and enhances the security of power systems. The data required for interchange brokerage systems are the amount of power available for trading and the system incremental cost. An LP software package called STORM was used to solve the active and reactive OPF subproblems and the interchange brokerage systems. The steps required for the implementation and problems involved in loss minimization are considered. The development of LP theory for OPF and interchange brokerage systems and its limitations are discussed. The experimental results are included     

Analysis and Assessment of Wind Energy Potential of Al-Hodeidah in Yemen

Renewable energy is one of the essential elements of the social and economic development in any civilized country. The use of fossil fuels and the non-renewable form of energy has many adverse effects on the most of ecosystems. Given the high potential of renewable energy sources in Yemen and the absence of similar studies in the region, this study aimed to examine the wind energy potential of Hodeidah-Yemen Republic by analyzing wind characteristics and assessment, determining the available power density, and calculate the wind energy extracted at different heights. The average wind speed of Hodeidah was obtained only for the data currently available for the five years 2005–2009 (due to the current economic and the political situation in Yemen). The results show that the average wind speed in the five years is (25.2 W/m2 at 10 m, 93.9 W/m2 at 30 m, and 173.5 W/m2 at 50 m). The average yearly wind power density (25.2 W/m2 at 10 m, 93.9 W/m2 at 30 m and 173.5 W/m2 at 50m), and the average yearly energy density (220.8 KWh/m2/year at 10 m, 822.6 KWh/m2/year at 30 m and 1519.9 KWh/m2/year at 50 m). This research is a preliminary assessment of the potential of wind energy in Hodeidah, which provides useful information for developing wind energy and an efficient wind approach. According to the International Wind Energy Rating criteria, the region of Hodeidah falls under ‘Class 2’ and is classified as ‘Marginal’ for most of the year.     

Content authentication and tampering detection of Arabic text: an approach based on zero-watermarking and natural language processing

Pattern Analysis and Applications - Due to the rapid increase in exchange of text information via internet network, the security and the reliability of the digital content has become a major...     

Unit commitment literature synopsis

Several optimization techniques have been applied to the solution of the thermal unit commitment problem. They range from heuristics such as complete enumeration to the more sophisticated ones such as Augmented LaGrangian. The heuristics have even reappeared as expert systems. The problem to solve is the optimal scheduling of generating units over a short-term horizon, typically 168 hours. This paper is an overview of the literature in the unit commitment field over the past twenty five years     

Gender-Associated Genomic Differences in Colorectal Cancer: Clinical Insight from Feminization of Male Cancer Cells

Gender-related differences in colorectal cancer (CRC) are not fully understood. Recent studies have shown that CRC arising in females are significantly associated with CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP-high). Using array comparative genomic hybridization, we analyzed a cohort of 116 CRCs (57 males, 59 females) for chromosomal copy number aberrations (CNA) and found that CRC in females had significantly higher numbers of gains involving chromosome arms 1q21.2–q21.3, 4q13.2, 6p21.1 and 16p11.2 and copy number losses of chromosome arm 11q25 compared to males. Interestingly, a subset of male CRCs (46%) exhibited a “feminization” phenomenon in the form of gains of X chromosomes (or an arm of X) and/or losses of the Y chromosome. Feminization of cancer cells was significantly associated with microsatellite-stable CRCs (p-value 0.003) and wild-type BRAF gene status (p-value 0.009). No significant association with other clinicopathological parameters was identified including disease-free survival. In summary, our data show that some CNAs in CRC may be gender specific and that male cancers characterized by feminization may constitute a specific subset of CRCs that warrants further investigation.     

Increased LRG1 Levels in Overweight and Obese Adolescents and Its Association with Obesity Markers,Including Leptin,Chemerin, and High Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein

Leucine-rich α-2 glycoprotein1 (LRG1) is a member of the leucine-rich repeat (LRR) family that is implicated in multiple diseases, including cancer, aging, and heart failure, as well as diabetes and obesity. LRG1 plays a key role in diet-induced hepatosteatosis and insulin resistance by mediating the crosstalk between adipocytes and hepatocytes. LRG1 also promotes hepatosteatosis by upregulating de novo lipogenesis in the liver and suppressing fatty acid β-oxidation. In this study, we investigated the association of LRG1 with obesity markers, including leptin and other adipokines in adolescents (11–14 years; n = 425). BMI-for-age classification based on WHO growth charts was used to define obesity. Plasma LRG1 was measured by ELISA, while other markers were measured by multiplexing assay. Median (IQR) of LRG1 levels was higher in obese (30 (25, 38) µg/mL) and overweight (30 (24, 39) µg/mL) adolescents, compared to normal-weight participants (27 (22, 35) µg/mL). The highest tertile of LRG1 had an OR [95% CI] of 2.55 [1.44, 4.53] for obesity. LRG1 was positively correlated to plasma levels of high sensitivity c-reactive protein (HsCRP) (ρ = 0.2), leptin (ρ = 0.2), and chemerin (ρ = 0.24) with p < 0.001. Additionally, it was positively associated with plasma level of IL6 (ρ = 0.17) and IL10 (ρ = 0.14) but not TNF-α. In conclusion, LRG1 levels are increased in obese adolescents and are associated with increased levels of adipogenic markers. These results suggest the usefulness of LRG1 as an early biomarker for obesity and its related pathologies in adolescents.     

Investigating the optimum parameters of a negative photoresist to prepare a V-grooved diffraction grating on Si using photolithography and reactive ion etching techniques

In this study, the deposition parameters of the SU8 2000.5 negative photoresists have been investigated and optimized for the photolithographic technique. Then, applied the inductive coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICP RIE) to produce V-shaped groove diffraction grating on a silicon substrate. Spin coater (speed: 1000 rpm) was used to coat the photoresist over the Si substrate. The observed photoresist film thickness was measured by ellipsometry and found to be 800 nm. Interestingly, the film exhibited some stability with increasing the spin speed. The thermogravimetric analysis was used to optimize the baking temperature which was found to be ~105 °C. Contrast curves were obtained experimentally and used to optimize the exposure energy along with the images obtained from the field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The optimized energy fluence was found to be 17 mJ/cm². It was interesting to observe that the thickness of the photoresists film was increasing with the elevation of the exposure energy fluence. The FESEM images were used to optimize the ICP RIE etching process and the best etching conditions for the Si substrate were ICP power: 150 W, bias power: 100 W, and SF₆ gas flow rate: 32 SCCM (standard cubic centimeters per minute), O₂ gas flow: 8 SCCM, and Ar gas flow of 8 SCCM. It is worth to mention that well-defined V-shaped grooves were observed with a depth of 2 μm under the same experimental conditions.     

Optimal sizing of autonomous hybrid energy system using supply‐demand‐based optimization algorithm

Hybrid energy systems (HESs) comprising photovoltaic (PV) arrays and wind turbines (WTs) are remarkable solutions for electrifying remote areas. These areas commonly fulfil their energy demands by means of a diesel genset (DGS). In the present study, a novel computational intelligence algorithm called supply‐demand‐based optimization (SDO) is applied to the HES sizing problem based on long‐term cost analysis. The effectiveness of SDO is investigated, and its performance is compared with that of the genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), gray wolf optimizer (GWO), grasshopper optimization algorithm (GOA), flower pollination algorithm (FPA), and big‐bang‐big‐crunch (BBBC) algorithm. Three HES scenarios are implemented using measured solar radiation, wind speed, and load profile data to electrify an isolated village located in the northern region of Saudi Arabia. The optimal design is evaluated on the basis of technical (loss of power supply probability [LPSP]) and economic (annualized system cost [ASC]) criteria. The evaluation addresses two performance indicators: surplus energy and the renewable energy fraction (REF). The results reveal the validity and superiority of SDO in determining the optimal sizing of an HES with a higher convergence rate, lower ASC, lower LPSP, and higher REF than that of the GA, PSO, GWO, GOA, FPA, and BBBC algorithms. The performance analysis also reveals that an HES comprising PV arrays, WTs, battery banks, and DGS provides the best results: 238.7 kW from PV arrays, 231.6 kW from WTs, 192.5 kWh from battery banks, and 267.6 kW from the DGS. The optimal HES exhibits a high REF (66.4%) and is economically feasible ($104 323.10/year) and environmentally friendly. The entire load demand of the area under study is met without power loss (LPSP = 0%).