The modern distribution networks under the smart grid paradigm have been considered both interconnected and reliable. In grid modernization concepts, the optimal asset optimization across a certain ...planning horizon is of core importance. Modern planning problems are more inclined towards a feasible solution amongst conflicting criteria. In this paper, an integrated decision-making planning (IDMP) approach is proposed. The proposed methodology includes voltage stability assessment indices linked with loss minimization condition-based approach, and is integrated with different multi-criteria decision-making methodologies (MCDM), followed by unanimous decision making (UDM). The proposed IDMP approach aims at optimal assets sitting and sizing in a meshed distribution network to find a trade-off solution with various asset types across normal and load growth horizons. An initial evaluation is carried out with assets such as distributed generation (DG), photovoltaic (PV)-based renewable DG, and distributed static compensator (D-STATCOM) units. The solutions for various cases of asset optimization and respective alternatives focusing on technical only, economic only, and techno-economic objectives across the planning horizon have been evaluated. Later, various prominent MCDM methodologies are applied to find a trade-off solution across different cases and scenarios of assets optimization. Finally, UDM is applied to find trade-off solutions amongst various MCDM methodologies across normal and load growth levels. The proposed approach is carried out across a 33-bus meshed configured distribution network. Findings from the proposed IDMP approach are compared with available works reported in the literature. The numerical results achieved have validated the effectiveness of the proposed planning approach in terms of better performance and an effective trade-off solution across various asset types.
This paper offers a new improved voltage stability assessment index (VSAI_B)-centered planning approach, aiming at the attainment of technical and cost related objectives with simultaneous multiple ...asset deployment in a mesh distribution systems (MDS). The assets such as multiple distributed generation (DG) and distributed static compensator (D-STATCOM) units have been utilized; aiming at voltage stabilization, loss minimization, and associated objectives. The proposed planning approach incorporates expressions of VSAI_B aiming at initial simultaneous assets placement followed by loss minimization conditions (LMC) for appropriate asset sizing, which is further utilized for performance evaluations. The VSAI_B-LMC-based integrated planning approach is applied to configured MDS models such as a 33-bus test distribution system (TDS) for detailed analysis. The performance evaluations with the presented approach have been conducted for different cases along with respective scenarios considering various technical and cost-economic performance metrics. First, three cases referring to multiple DGs sitting and sizing for various power factors have been presented, followed later by two cases of multiple DGs and D-STATCOMs with respective evaluation scenarios. Finally, benchmark analysis is conducted on a 69-bus TDS for validity demonstration of the proposed approach. The comparison of achieved results in comparison with the available literature points out toward the validity and improved performance of the proposed approach.
Amid rising energy crises and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, designing energy efficient, GHG mitigation and profitable conservation farming strategies are pertinent for global food security. ...Therefore, we tested a hypothesis that no-till with residue retaining could improve energy productivity (EP) and energy use efficiency (EUE) while mitigating the carbon footprint (CF), water footprint (WF) and GHG emissions in rice-wheat double cropping system. We studied two tillage viz., conventional and conservation, with/without residue retaining, resulting as CT0 (puddled-transplanted rice, conventional wheat -residue), CTR (puddled-transplanted rice, conventional wheat + residue), NT0 (direct seeded rice, zero-till wheat -residue), and NTR (direct seeded rice, zero-till wheat + residue). The overall results showed that the NTR/NT0 had 34% less energy consumption and 1.2-time higher EP as compared to CTR/CT0. In addition, NTR increased 19.8% EUE than that of CT0. The grain yield ranged from 8.7 to 9.3 and 7.8–8.5 Mg ha−1 under CT and NT system, respectively. In NTR, CF and WF were 56.6% and 17.9% lower than that of CT0, respectively. The net GHG emissions were the highest (7261.4 kg CO2 ha−1 yr−1) under CT0 and lowest (4580.9 kg CO2 ha−1 yr−1) under NTR. Notably, the carbon sequestration under NTR could mitigate half of the system's CO2-eq emissions. The study results suggest that NTR could be a viable option to offset carbon emissions and water footprint by promoting soil organic carbon sequestration, and enhancing energy productivity and energy use efficiency in the South Asian Indo-Gangetic Plains.
•Net GHG emissions were 58.5% greater in CT0 compared to NTR.•No-till with residue returning (NTR) decreased water and C footprints.•Overall, no-till had ∼18% less input cost than conventional tillage.
Different tillage and residue management practices can strongly impact soil structure stability and soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration. However, the detailed information about the aggregate ...stability, SOC protection, and mineralization within aggregates are still lacking. Using aggregate fractionation with laboratory incubation, we investigated aggregate-associated SOC, soil structural stability, and SOC mineralization in rice–wheat rotation under different tillage treatments: CT0 (puddled rice, conventional wheat − residue); CTR (puddled rice, conventional wheat + residue); NT0 (direct rice seeding, zero-tilled wheat − residue); and NTR (direct rice seeding, zero-tilled wheat + residue). NTR significantly enhanced the large macro-aggregate fraction (> 2 mm) at the 0–45 cm soil layer and macro-aggregate-associated SOC at the 0–15 cm soil layer. However, CTR enhanced the macro-aggregate-associated SOC at the 15–30 cm layer. Notably, the mean weight diameter (~8%) and geometric mean diameter (~24%) were higher under NTR than those under other treatments, and the effect was more pronounced in 30–45 cm layer. The highest average cumulative carbon mineralization
C
m
(~9%) was observed in macro-aggregates (> 2 mm) than micro-aggregates (< 2 mm). With regard to tillage systems, the
C
m
was higher under NTR compared to other treatments. However,
C
m
at the 15–30 cm layer was higher (~22%) under CTR than that in other treatments. Notably, a positive relationship was found between total carbon input and soil aggregation. Specifically, carbon input of NT0, NTR, and CTR increased > 2 mm aggregates at 0–15 cm, while carbon input of CTR increased > 2 mm at 15–30 cm soil depth. Overall, no tillage with residue return (NTR) could enhance the soil macro-aggregation and associated SOC accumulation by decreasing SOC mineralization in rice–wheat double cropping system.
Background: Diabetic patients are at higher risk of cardiovascular disease than non-diabetics. Elevated glucose level in type 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2DM) can induce variations in blood composition and ...blood vesicles, which lead towards coagulation abnormalities and cardiovascular disease. Prothrombin Time (PT) Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time (APTT) and platelet count are commonly used tests to assess the coagulation abnormalities of blood. Objectives: To evaluate the variations in PT, APTT and platelet count in T2DM and their correlation with glycated hemoglobin. Methodology: This cross sectional study was performed at Asia Diagnostic Center, Islamabad. Pre-diagnosed 52 adults with type 2 Diabetes mellitus, from 35 to 65 years of age, and 52 sex and age matched healthy subjects were considered as control in this study. Glycosylated Hemoglobin (HbA1c), APTT, PT and platelet counts were measured in both groups. Results: PT and APTT were significantly lower in T2DM patients (p value < 0.0001) and platelet count was slightly higher in T2DM (p value = 0.13) than the control group. PT (r2= -0.23) and APTT (r2= -0.16) were negatively correlated with HbA1c, while platelet count was positively correlated with HbA1c (r2=0.23) in T2DM group. Conclusion: From our study, it was concluded that low PT and APTT with relatively high platelet count in T2DM than control group may induce coagulopathies that can lead toward thrombosis in T2DM patients.
The rapid increase in urbanization has an important effect on cropping pattern and land use/land cover (LULC) through replacing areas of vegetation with commercial and residential coverage, thereby ...increasing the land surface temperature (LST). The LST information is significant to understand the environmental changes, urban climatology, anthropogenic activities, and ecological interactions, etc. Using remote sensing (RS) data, the present research provides a comprehensive study of LULC and LST changes in water scarce and climate prone Southern Punjab (Multan region), Pakistan, for 30 years (from 1990 to 2020). For this research, Landsat images were processed through supervised classification with maps of the Multan region. The LULC changes showed that sugarcane and rice (decreased by 2.9 and 1.6%, respectively) had less volatility of variation in comparison with both wheat and cotton (decreased by 5.3 and 6.6%, respectively). The analysis of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) showed that the vegetation decreased in the region both in minimum value (−0.05 1990 to −0.15 2020) and maximum value (0.6 1990 to 0.54 2020). The results showed that the built-up area was increased 3.5% during 1990–2020, and these were some of the major changes which increased the LST (from 27.6 to 28.5°C) in the study area. The significant regression in our study clearly shows that NDVI and LST are negatively correlated with each other. The results suggested that increasing temperature in growing period had a greatest effect on all types of vegetation. Crop-based classification aids water policy managers and analysts to make a better policy with enhanced information based on the extent of the natural resources. So, the study of dynamics in major crops and surface temperature through satellite RS can play an important role in the rural development and planning for food security in the study area.
Abstract
Timely and accurate estimation of rice-growing areas and forecasting of production can provide crucial information for governments, planners, and decision-makers in formulating policies. ...While there exists studies focusing on paddy rice mapping, only few have compared multi-scale datasets performance in rice classification. Furthermore, rice mapping of large geographical areas with sufficient accuracy for planning purposes has been a challenge in Pakistan, but recent advancements in Google Earth Engine make it possible to analyze spatial and temporal variations within these areas. The study was carried out over southern Punjab (Pakistan)-a region with 380,400 hectares devoted to rice production in year 2020. Previous studies support the individual capabilities of Sentinel-2, Landsat-8, and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) for paddy rice classification. However, to our knowledge, no study has compared the efficiencies of these three datasets in rice crop classification. Thus, this study primarily focuses on comparing these satellites’ data by estimating their potential in rice crop classification using accuracy assessment methods and area estimation. The overall accuracies were found to be 96% for Sentinel-2, 91.7% for Landsat-8, and 82.6% for MODIS. The F1-Scores for derived rice class were 83.8%, 75.5%, and 65.5% for Sentinel-2, Landsat-8, and MODIS, respectively. The rice estimated area corresponded relatively well with the crop statistics report provided by the Department of Agriculture, Punjab, with a mean percentage difference of less than 20% for Sentinel-2 and MODIS and 33% for Landsat-8. The outcomes of this study highlight three points; (a) Rice mapping accuracy improves with increase in spatial resolution, (b) Sentinel-2 efficiently differentiated individual farm level paddy fields while Landsat-8 was not able to do so, and lastly (c) Increase in rice cultivated area was observed using satellite images compared to the government provided statistics.
Water is an important component of our life. However, the unavailability of fresh water and its contamination are emerging problems. The textile industries are the major suppliers of contamination of ...water, producing high concentrations of heavy metals and hazardous dyes posing serious health hazards. Several technologies for water purification are available in the market. Among them, the membrane technology is a highly advantageous and facile strategy to remediate wastewater. Herein, the distinguished combination of pore-forming agents, solvent, and nanoparticles has been used to achieve improved functioning of the polymeric composite membranes. To do so, graphene oxide (GO) was fabricated via Hummer's technique and GO functionalization using chloroacetic acid (c-GO) was performed. Thermoplastic polyurathane (TPU) membranes having different concentrations c-GO were made using the phase inversion technique. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to examine surface morphology, chemical functionalities on membranes surfaces, and crystallinity of membranes, respectively. The temperature-dependent behavior of c-GO composite membranes has been analyzed using DSC technique. The water contact angle measurements were performed for the estimation of hydrophilicity of the c-GO based TPU membrane. The improved water permeability of the composite membrane was observed with increasing the c-GO concentration in polymeric membranes. c-GO was observed as a potential candidate that enhanced membrane physicochemical properties. The proposed membranes can behave as efficient candidates in multiple domains of environmental remediation. Furthermore, the improved dye rejection characteristics of proposed composite membranes suggest that the membranes can be best suited for wastewater treatment as well.
Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is an autoimmune disease characterised by production of autoantibodies against platelet surface antigens. Recent studies have demonstrated a paramount ...association of ITP and Helicobacter pylori (H-pylori) infection with significant rise in platelet count following H-pylori eradication therapy. The H-pylori infection induced ITP is validated by many proposed mechanisms such as molecular mimicry due to production of autoantibodies against H-pylori surface virulent factors (CagA) and cross reactivity of these antibodies with platelet surface antigens (GP IIb/IIIa, GP Ib/IX, and GP Ia/IIa), phagocytic perturbation due to enhanced phagocytic activity of monocytes, enhanced dendritic cell numbers and response, platelets aggregation due to presence of anti- H-pylori IgG and von Willebrand factor (vWf) and finally host immune response against H-pylori virulent factors CagA and VacA leading to ITP. The effectiveness of H-pylori eradication therapy has also been demonstrated with platelet count being used as a predictive factor for assessment of treatment efficacy. Out of 201 patients 118 were responding to the triple therapy and remaining 83 patients were non-responders, showing the response rate of 58.7%. Out of 118 responders 69 patients were showing complete response (CR) and 49 were showing partial response (PR) to the H-pylori eradication therapy. However, more studies are required to elucidate this association and treatment efficacy.
Background
Celiac disease (CD) was considered a rare disease before and was perceivably only limited to children but now affects almost 1–2% of the global population. This abrupt increase in ...prevalence is due to advancements in diagnostic criteria and medical facilities but still many countries lack the basic data that can assess the severity of this health issue. The present study was conducted with the aim to assess the common but rarely diagnosed condition with the identification of its underlying secondary ailments.
Materials and methods
Patients visiting public sector hospitals were recruited and tested for clinical symptoms secondary to gluten-containing foods (wheat and barley, etc.), followed by serological testing for immunoglobulin A, tissue transglutaminase A, and anti-endomysial antibodies. Only seropositive candidates were included in the endoscopic and biopsy examination for the features of villous atrophy and intestinal cell damage. The secondary ailments including anemia, growth retardation, and gastrointestinal symptoms were also documented for the tested positive patients. The modified European Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) criterion was followed throughout the study.
Results
From 647 suspected cases from March 2018 to July 2019, 113 were confirmed with CD while 58% were female children and 42% were male children. The majority of them were from a lower class (75%) and 26% of them had a positive family history of CD. A total of 67% of patients with CD were underweight while wasting was observed in 38%, and 80% were stunted as well. Of the positively tested patients with CD, 49% had moderate anemia with 15% having severe anemia. Approximately 33% had hypoalbuminemia as well. The majority of them had a mild to severe range of gastrointestinal symptoms, such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, flatus, eructation, diarrhea, and steatorrhea.
Conclusion
The study finding indicates an increased number of patients diagnosed with CD with an excessive sum of secondary ailments, such as anemia, growth failure, growth retardation, malnutrition, and gastrointestinal symptoms.
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