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In this paper, by a simple example it is shown that existing market-based criteria alone cannot completely and correctly evaluate the transmission network expansion from market view. However criteria congestion cost (CC) and social welfare (SW) together are able to correctly evaluate transmission network from market view and so they are adopted for the market-based transmission expansion planning. To simply indicate the limits of CC and SW social welfare percentage (SWP) and congestion cost percentage (CCP) are defined. To consider uncertainty in bids of market producers and consumers, and also indeterminacy in the acceptable boundaries of the SWP and CCP and their priorities, fuzzy... 

This paper presents a particle swarm optimization (PSO) based approach to solve the multi-stage transmission expansion planning problem in a competitive pool-based electricity market. It is a large-scale non-linear combinatorial problem. We have considered some aspects in our modeling including a multi-year time horizon, a number of scenarios based on the future demands of system, investment and operating costs, the N - 1 reliability criterion, and the continuous non-linear functions of market-driven generator offers and demand bids. Also the optimal expansion plan to maximize the cumulative social welfare among the multi-year horizon is searched. Our proposed PSO based approach, namely... 

In this paper, by a simple example it is shown that existing market-based criteria alone cannot completely and correctly evaluate the transmission network expansion from market view. However criteria congestion cost (CC) and social welfare (SW) together are able to correctly evaluate transmission network from market view and so they are adopted for the market-based transmission expansion planning. To simply indicate the limits of CC and SW social welfare percentage (SWP) and congestion cost percentage (CCP) are defined. To consider uncertainty in bids of market producers and consumers, and also indeterminacy in the acceptable boundaries of the SWP and CCP and their priorities, fuzzy... 

In this study, a new method is presented for transmission expansion planning in restructured power systems. In this method, the future values of maximum load demanded, bid of generators to sell power and bid of consumers to buy power are assumed uncertain. The objective of the planning problem is the minimization of the total investment cost. The constraint of the problem is satisfying two constraints with a high probability: first, the total congestion costs must be limited to a certain value and second the n-1 reliability criterion must be satisfied by the transmission network. Due to extent of the problem solution space in this study, simulated annealing algorithm is used to determine the... 

Objective This study was conducted to evaluate the changes occurring in the thickness of deep trunk muscles, measured using ultrasound imaging, after 4 wks of lumbosacral orthosis use in conjunction with routine physical therapy. Design This parallel-group, randomized, controlled trial was conducted on 44 patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain, randomly allocated to the experimental and control groups. Both groups received eight sessions of physical therapy twice per week for 4 wks. The experimental group wore nonextensible lumbosacral orthosis, in addition to undergoing routine physical therapy. The thickness of the transversus abdominis, obliquus internus, and lumbar multifidus... 

Due to the important role that distribution systems play in quality of power delivered to the customers, there has always been a great deal of interest in investigating different methods of efficiency enhancement for these networks. Two of these methods are Feeder Reconfiguration (FR) and Capacitor Allocation (CA); both have been widely employed to reduce losses and improve several other operational characteristics in electrical power distribution systems. As in FR process the topology of the network changes, it is necessary to change some previous settings; for instance: the capacity of capacitor banks in service in each bus, after each reconfiguration process. This is due to the fact that... 

In this paper, first, two new criteria, which are titled social welfare percent (SWP) and congestion cost percent (CCP), are defined for static transmission expansion planning in restructured power systems. Then by a simple example it will be shown that none of the already presented market-based criteria could completely and truly evaluate the transmission network expansion from market view. Hence the SWP and CCP criteria altogether are proposed to completely and truly evaluate the transmission network expansion. Then a least-investment cost expansion plan is searched that its SWP and CCP are in predefined acceptable limits. The results of applying of the proposed method are illustrated over... 

In this paper, first, two new criteria, which are titled social welfare percent (SWP) and congestion cost percent (CCP), are defined for static transmission expansion planning in restructured power systems. Then by a simple example it will be shown that none of the already presented market-based criteria could completely and truly evaluate the transmission network expansion from market view. Hence the SWP and CCP criteria altogether are proposed to completely and truly evaluate the transmission network expansion. Then a least-investment cost expansion plan is searched that its SWP and CCP are in predefined acceptable limits. The results of applying of the proposed method are illustrated over... 

This work concerns modeling of gas-oil gravity drainage for a single block of naturally fractured reservoirs. The nonlinearity induced from saturation-dependant capillary pressure and relative permeability functions makes a gravity drainage model difficult to analytically and numerically solve. Relating the capillary pressure and relative permeability functions is a potential method to overcome this problem. However, no attempt has been made in this regard. In this study a generalized one-dimensional form of gas-oil gravity drainage model in a single matrix block, presented in the literature, is considered. In contrast with commonly used forms of capillary pressure and relative permeability... 

Despite numerous experimental and numerical studies, fundamental understanding of how the matrix block height, the density difference between petroleum and gas, and matrix capillary pressure could affect the oil recovery from a single matrix block in naturally fractured reservoirs remains a topic of debate in the literature. In this work a one-dimensional gravity drainage model developed by Firoozabadi and Ishimoto (1994) is considered and numerically solved. The Fourier series method is applied for a numerical Laplace inversion of the dimensionless mathematical model; this type of inversion method has rarely been used in petroleum applications. The obtained results revealed that by... 

This work concerns modeling of gas-oil gravity drainage for a single block of naturally fractured reservoirs. The nonlinearity induced from saturation-dependant capillary pressure and relative permeability functions makes a gravity drainage model difficult to analytically and numerically solve. Relating the capillary pressure and relative permeability functions is a potential method to overcome this problem. However, no attempt has been made in this regard. In this study a generalized one-dimensional form of gas-oil gravity drainage model in a single matrix block, presented in the literature, is considered. In contrast with commonly used forms of capillary pressure and relative permeability... 

In this article, the flow field around NACA0024 airfoil with step at lower and upper surfaces is experimentally investigated. For this purpose, particle image velocimetry technique based on the instantaneous flow structures is used to investigate the flow field around the airfoil at different times. All the experimental measurements in current study are conducted at very low Reynolds number condition based on the chord of the airfoil (Re=2000) and at angles of attack at 0° and 5° where the flow around airfoils is separated. The differences between vortical structures, mean streamlines, sizes of the wake regions, and vortex shedding of the stepped airfoils compared to unmodified airfoil are... 

Background: To identify and synthesize available published studies on the effect of local muscle vibration (LMV) on pain, stiffness, and function in individuals with knee OA.Methods: Five databases were searched to find relevant papers on April 29, 2020, including, PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE (Ovid), Science Citation Index, and COCHRANE Central Register for Controlled Trials (CENTRAL). Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and nonrandomized-controlled-trials (non-RCTs), such as interrupted time series and prospective cohort studies were included. Two independent reviewers screened articles and assessed inclusion through predefined criteria. Participants' characteristics, study design, intervention... 

In the adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) treatment, a brace is prescribed to the patients who have 20 to 45° curves on their spines to prevent the disorder's advancement. For the analysis of Milwaukee brace effects during time, finite element models (FEMs) of the spine (the thoracolumbar region) and the ribcage (contained 10 pairs of the ribs and the sternum) were prepared for two patients. For modeling the spine part, a new element was used in which a disc (as viscoelastic 3D beam) and a vertebra (as rigid link) were modeled as an element and the ribs and the sternum modeled by 3D elastic beams. The gravity, Milwaukee brace constraints and the forces of the brace's different regions... 

Background: Poor balance performance and impaired postural control have been frequently reported in patients with low back pain.However, postural control is rarely monitored during the course of treatment even though poor postural control may contribute tochronicity and recurrence of symptoms. Therefore, the present study aimed at investigating the effect of a nonextensible lumbosacralorthosis (LSO) versus routine physical therapy on postural stability of patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain.Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial conducted between November 2015 and May 2016 at the outpatient physical therapyclinic of the School of Rehabilitation Sciences. Patients with... 

Background: A few clinical trials have examined the effect of treatment interventions on postural control in patients with chronic low back pain, all of which have exclusively evaluated postural stability using traditional linear measures of postural sway. However, postural control improvement cannot be determined by exclusively relying on linear measurements, because these parameters provide no information on underlying motor control mechanisms. Objective: This study aimed to compare the effect of using lumbosacral orthoses (LSO) together with routine physical therapy, compared to routine physical therapy alone on postural control, using nonlinear analysis techniques. Methods: Forty-four... 

Background: Lumbosacral orthosis (LSO) is commonly used for the treatment of back pain. The clinical and mechanical effectiveness of this device has been repeatedly investigated in several studies; however, its sensorimotor effectiveness has been rarely considered. Regarding this, the aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of a non-extensible LSO on postural stability (as a construct of sensorimotor function) in patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain (LBP). Methods: This preliminary study was conducted on 17 patients with nonspecific chronic LBP using a single-group quasi-experimental design. Postural stability was measured while the participants were placed in a... 

The characteristics of postural sway were assessed in quiet standing under three different postural task conditions in 14 patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain and 12 healthy subjects using linear and nonlinear center of pressure parameters. The linear parameters consisted of area, the mean total velocity, sway amplitude, the SD of velocity, and the phase plane portrait. The nonlinear parameters included the Lyapunov exponent, sample entropy, and the correlation dimension. The results showed that the amount of postural sway was higher in the patients with low back pain compared with the healthy subjects. Assessing the nonlinear parameters of the center of pressure showed a lower... 

This study implements an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) approach to predict the precipitation amount of the asphaltene using temperature (T), dilution ratio (Rv), and molecular weight of different n-alkanes. Results are then evaluated using graphical and statistical error analysis methods, confirming the model’s great ability for appropriate prediction of the precipitation amount. Mean squared error and determination coefficient (R2) values of 0.036 and 0.995, respectively are obtained for the proposed ANFIS model. Results are then compared to those from previously reported correlations revealing the better performance of the proposed model. © 2018, © 2018 Taylor & Francis...