Study on variable condition model for steam turbine based on internal and external characteristics

It is not easy to carry out the detailed variable condition calculation of steam turbine in engineering application. In this paper, a variable condition calculation model based on the internal and external characteristics of steam turbine is proposed, and a variable condition calculation model of constant power and constant flow is established. The model is applied to calculate 75% THA, 50%THA, typical industrial and heating extraction conditions of a subcritical 330 MW unit. The error is small compared with the design value, and the calculation accuracy meets the requirements. The results show that the model has high accuracy and can meet the requirements of engineering application.

Plant Antimicrobial Peptides as Potential Tool for Topic Treatment of Hidradenitis Suppurativa

Among chronic skin autoinflammatory diseases, Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) stands out for its chronicity, highly variable condition, and profound impact on the patients’ quality of life. HS is characterized by suppurative skin lesions in diverse body areas, including deep-seated painful nodules, abscesses, draining sinus, and bridged scars, among others, with typical topography. To date, HS is considered a refractory disease and medical treatments aim to reduce the incidence, the infection, and the pain of the lesions. For this purpose, different classes of drugs, including anti-inflammatory molecules, antibiotics and biological drugs are being used. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), also called defense peptides, emerge as a new class of therapeutic compounds, with broad-spectrum antimicrobial action, in addition to reports on their anti-inflammatory, healing, and immunomodulating activity. Such peptides are present in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, as part of the innate eukaryotic immune system. It has been proposed that a deregulation in the expression of AMPs in human epithelial tissues of HS patients may be associated with the etiology of this skin disease. In this scenario, plant AMPs stand out for their richness, diversity of types, and broad antimicrobial effects, with potential application for topical systemic use in patients affected by HS.

Faults Detection and Classification under Variable Condition Using Intrinsic Time - Scale Decomposition and Neural Network

Misalignment and unbalance are a common fault occurring in the rotor system. A new approach for detecting misalignment and unbalance problems combining the intrinsic time - scale decomposition (ITD), the root mean square (RMS) and perceptron multilayer network (MLP) is proposed in this paper. Vibration signals of normal condition, misalignment horizontal, misalignment vertical and unbalance with different level are collected under different speed. ITD, nonlinear analysis of signals, was applied to decompose the vibration signals into 8 proper rotation components. The RMS values of 8 components are calculated and using as features vector. Last, the perceptron multilayer network was used for fault identification and classification. The proposed approach accurately classified and detection of unbalance and misalignment; the average accuracy achieved is 97.99%.

Seal Tightly and Store in a Cool Dry Place: Exploring Soil Phosphorus Storage in a Subtropical Treatment Wetland.

Oligotrophic wetlands of the Everglades are often the final recipients of nutrients from adjacent ecosystems and tend to accumulate phosphorus (P) in their soils. Understanding P source and sink dynamics in wetlands are critical for managing wetland ecosystems and protecting downstream resources. In this study, soil P storage capacity (SPSC) was evaluated within two treatment flow-ways of the Everglades Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs). This study hypothesized that SPSC will vary between flow-ways, soil depth, and spatially along the inflow-to-outflow gradient. The P storage capacity in the STAs depend on the proportion of iron, aluminum, calcium, and magnesium (Fe, Al, Ca, and Mg, respectively) to P with floc and recently accreted soils (RAS) being associated more with Ca and Mg and pre-STA soils being associated more with Fe and Al. Phosphorus loss, as indicated from SPSC values would vary between systems and soil depths suggesting a variable condition of P sink and source within and along flow-ways. This result, while limited, demonstrates the applicability of SPSC to wetlands systems and provides information that will aid operational or management decisions associated with improving P retention of the Everglades STAs.

Epilepsy—Work-Up and Management in Children

Pediatric epilepsy is a highly variable condition due to age-related expression of syndromes that require specific diagnosis, evaluations, and treatments. Children with epilepsy differ from their adult counterparts in many important ways, mostly related to the age-related expression of specific epilepsy syndromes. This results in many important considerations related to the epilepsy diagnosis, classification, evaluations to determine an etiology, as well as treatment guidelines. A good understanding of these factors will help to establish an accurate epilepsy diagnosis, which in turn will guide appropriate testing and treatment decisions. In this way, patients will have improved seizure outcomes, and families will be educated appropriately and provided with the most accurate prognostic information available. The purpose of this article is to review the diagnosis, work-up, and management of pediatric epilepsy.

Reaching Natural Growth: The Significance of Light and Temperature Fluctuations in Plant Performance in Indoor Growth Facilities

Recommendations for near-natural plant growth under indoor conditions have been described without considering environmental fluctuations, which might have important consequences for researchers and plant producers when comparing results from indoor facilities with natural ecosystems or production. Previous authors proposed that differences in temperature, light quantity, and the lack of their variation are sources of deviations between indoor and outdoor experiments. Here, we investigated the effect of fluctuating light, temperature, and humidity in an indoor environment on plant performance. Seven plant species from different functional plant types were grown outdoors during summer and spring. The same species were then grown in indoor growth chambers under different scenarios of climate complexity in terms of fluctuations of temperature, air humidity, and light: (1) fixed night and day conditions, (2) daily sinusoidal changes, and (3) variable conditions tracking the climate records from the field trials. In each scenario, the average of the environmental variables was the same as in the respective field trial. Productivity-, gas exchange-, and leaf pigment-traits were measured in all plants at the end of the experiments. The plant trait responses were highly dependent on species and treatment, but general trends were observed. The variable condition yielded lower biomass compared to the fixed and sinusoidal conditions, together with a higher specific leaf area and increased chlorophyll concentrations. A principal component analysis (PCA) across all plant traits in response to climatic conditions suggested that at least a sinusoidal fluctuation is recommended for a more natural-like plant performance in indoor growth facilities. However, prevailing significant differences for several traits between field- and indoor-grown plants even under variable climates indicate that additional factors other than those controllable in standard phytotrons (e.g., wind speed and direction, leaf and soil temperature) can still significantly bias plant performance in indoor facilities.

May-Thurner Syndrome and Recurrent DVT: A Case Report

May-Thurner syndrome/Cockets syndrome/ileocaval syndrome is a rarely diagnosed, anatomical and pathologically variable condition, causing venous flow obstruction in iliocaval territory. We report a case of 64 year old male patient who presented with unprovoked proximal deep venous thrombosis (DVT) of left lower limb. Evaluated for hypercoagulable state, which was negative, the patient underwent catheter guided thrombolysis and anticoagulation for 6 months. Two years later, he developed left lower limb swelling, and venous doppler revealed acute DVT; CT venogram was consistent with left common iliac vein compression by right common iliac artery suggestive of May-Thurner syndrome. Catheter-guided thrombolysis was done, and percutaneous transluminal peripheral angioplasty/stent was placed from inferior vena cava to left common iliac vein. This case highlights the importance of high index of suspicion in managing patients with DVT for possible ileocaval syndrome wherein anticoagulation alone is insufficient and needs more aggressive and definitive treatment to relieve the obstruction and to prevent recurrence.

Watching the tide roll away – contested interpretations of the nature of the Lower Lakes of the Murray Darling Basin

The Murray Darling Basin Plan (Murray Darling Basin Authority 2012) represents the largest investment by government in an Australian environmental management challenge and remains highly conflicted owing to the contested allocation of diminishing water resources. Central to the decision to reallocate consumptive water to environmental purposes in this Plan was the case made to maintain the freshwater character of two lakes at the terminus of the Murray Darling Basin, in South Australia. This freshwater state was identified as the natural condition on the basis of selected anecdotal evidence and was enshrined in the site’s listing under the Ramsar Convention. The commitment to the freshwater state was challenged under drought when sea water was seen as a means of averting acidification when low river flows risked the exposure of sulfidic sediments. Independent evidence from water quality indicators (diatoms) preserved in lake sediment records, however, attested to an estuarine, albeit variable, condition before the commissioning of near-mouth barrages in 1940. This interpretation for a naturally estuarine history, published after peer review, was overlooked in a report to the South Australian government, which argued, without the provision of new evidence from the lakes, that they were fresh for their entire history. This revised interpretation is widely cited in the scientific literature, government reports and online discussion and underpins a watering strategy aimed at a freshwater future for the Lower Lakes. The allocation of large volumes of fresh water to achieve this condition presents significant difficulties owing to the highly contested nature of water use across the Basin.