Dam and powerhouse operation sustainability is a major concern from the hydraulic engineering perspective. Powerhouse operation is one of the main sources of vibrations in the dam structure and hydropower plant; thus, the evaluation of turbine performance at different water pressures is important for determining the sustainability of the dam body. Draft tube turbines run under high pressure and suffer from connection problems, such as vibrations and pressure fluctuation. Reducing the pressure fluctuation and minimizing the principal stress caused by undesired components of water in the draft tube turbine are ongoing problems that must be resolved. Here, we conducted a comprehensive review of studies performed on dams, powerhouses, and turbine vibration, focusing on the vibration of two turbine units: Kaplan and Francis turbine units. The survey covered several aspects of dam types (e.g., rock and concrete dams), powerhouse analysis, turbine vibrations, and the relationship between dam and hydropower plant sustainability and operation. The current review covers the related research on the fluid mechanism in turbine units of hydropower plants, providing a perspective on better control of vibrations. Thus, the risks and failures can be better managed and reduced, which in turn will reduce hydropower plant operation costs and simultaneously increase the economical sustainability. Several research gaps were found, and the literature was assessed to provide more insightful details on the studies surveyed. Numerous future research directions are recommended.
The paper present design of a control structure that enables integration of a Kinematic neural controller for trajectory tracking of a nonholonomic differential two wheeled mobile robot, then proposes a Kinematic neural controller to direct a National Instrument mobile robot (NI Mobile Robot). The controller is to make the actual velocity of the wheeled mobile robot close the required velocity by guarantees that the trajectory tracking mean squire error converges at minimum tracking error. The proposed tracking control system consists of two layers; The first layer is a multi-layer perceptron neural network system that controls the mobile robot to track the required path , The second layer is an optimization layer ,which is impleme
... Show MoreThe musical sign was associated with the first appearances of acting that are based on human gestures and expressive and silent movements, and they contributed in accentuating and clarifying these gestures and explain their meanings and indications, and they remained with them until these gestures turned into artistic theatrical shows so that the musical sign would have many functions and constitute the main pillars for this kind of show.
The musical sign is a language not much different than the human language in the semiotic analysis. There has been an increased interest in it and its use in the mime shows by the graduates who realized its necessity and significance in the pantomime show intellectually, artistically and aesthetical
The current research dealt with the issue of organizational skillfulness as an entry point to reach strategic agility. The study has been tested in Iraq's mobile operators - Asia Cell, Zain Iraq and Cork Telecom. The study was applied to a sample of (93) managers distributed at various levels of management (board members, general managers, commissioners, department managers, people managers, unit managers, office managers). The survey used the questionnaire as a key tool for collecting data and information as well as personal interviews. It has sought to test a number of hypotheses related to correlation and influence relationships between the variables of the study, in order to answer the questions related to the problem of stud
... Show MoreBackground This in vitro study compares a novel calcium-phosphate etchant paste to conventional 37% phosphoric acid gel for bonding metal and ceramic brackets by evaluating the shear bond strength, remnant adhesive and enamel damage following water storage, acid challenge and fatigue loading. Material and Methods Metal and ceramic brackets were bonded to 240 extracted human premolars using two enamel conditioning protocols: conventional 37% phosphoric acid (PA) gel (control), and an acidic calcium-phosphate (CaP) paste. The CaP paste was prepared from β-tricalcium phosphate and monocalcium phosphate monohydrate powders mixed with 37% phosphoric acid solution, and the resulting phase was confirmed using FTIR. The bonded premolars were expo
... Show MoreObjective: Atorvastatin therapy is now recommended for reduction of cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetic patients (T2DM), based on convincing evidence of reductions in mortality and vascular events in major clinical outcome trials. The aim is to evaluate the effects of atorvastatin on proinflammatory markers (TNF-α, IL-6), HbA1c andleptin in obese patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: Sixty fivenewly diagnosed T2DM patients were randomly allocated into 2 groups; group I treated with metformin only; in group II atorvastatin was added with metformin. Twenty healthy subjects were enrolled as control group. While maintaining their usual eating habits, fasting blood samples were collected at baseline and after 12 weeks of treatment. Results
... Show MoreAlbizia lebbeck biomass was used as an adsorbent material in the present study to remove methyl red dye from an aqueous solution. A central composite rotatable design model was used to predict the dye removal efficiency. The optimization was accomplished under a temperature and mixing control system (37?C) with different particle size of 300 and 600 ?m. Highest adsorption efficiencies were obtained at lower dye concentrations and lower weight of adsorbent. The adsorption time, more than 48 h, was found to have a negative effect on the removal efficiency due to secondary metabolites compounds. However, the adsorption time was found to have a positive effect at high dye concentrations and high adsorbent weight. The colour removal effi
... Show MoreSeveral parameters affect the properties of Portland cement and one of these parameters is the cooling rate of the clinker. If the effectiveness of the cooling method of the clinker increases, a good enhancement in the properties of Portland cement will be found. Depending on the new cooling method suggestion by Nasr et. al. [20], the counter pattern of air clinker flow was studied using (FLUENT 6.3.26). The dimensions of the cooling room in grate cooler, the constant mass flow rate of both clinker and air, different height ratios, and different clinker porosity were considered in this numerical work. The results show that the heat transfers in the first half of the cooling room (0 < X < 0.9 m) is larger than that in the secon
... Show MoreBackground:
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease believed to be the result of autoimmune disorders of the central nervous system, characterised by inflammation, demyelination, and axonal transection, affecting primarily young adults. Disease modifying therapies have become widely used, and the rapid development of these drugs highlighted the need to update our knowledge on their short- and long-term safety profile.
Objective:
The study aim is to evaluate the impact of disease-modifying treatments on thyroid functions and thyroid autoantibodies with subsequent effects on the outcome of the disease.
Materials and Methods:
A retro prospective study
... Show MoreIn the geotechnical and terramechanical engineering applications, precise understandings are yet to be established on the off-road structures interacting with complex soil profiles. Several theoretical and experimental approaches have been used to measure the ultimate bearing capacity of the layered soil, but with a significant level of differences depending on the failure mechanisms assumed. Furthermore, local displacement fields in layered soils are not yet studied well. Here, the bearing capacity of a dense sand layer overlying loose sand beneath a rigid beam is studied under the plain-strain condition. The study employs using digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) and finite element method (FEM) simulations. In the FEM, an experiment
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