Gout is an arthritis characterized by the deposition of sodium monoacid crystals in the synovial membrane, articular cartilage, and periarticular tissues that leads to an inflamatory process. In most cases, the diagnosis is established by clinical criteria and analysis of the synovial fluid for MSU crystals. However, gout may manifest in atypical ways and make diagnosis difficult. In these situations, imaging studies play a fundamental role in helping to confirm the diagnosis or even exclude other differential diagnoses. Conventional radiography is still the most commonly used method in the follow-up of these patients, but it is a very insensitive test, because it only detects late changes. In recent years, advances in imaging methods have emerged in relation to gout. Ultrasound has proven to be a highly accurate test in the diagnosis of gout, identifying MSU deposits in articular cartilage and periarticular tissues, and detecting and characterizing tophi, tendinopathies, and tophi enthesopathies. Computed tomography is an excellent exam for the detection of bone erosions and evaluation of spinal involvement. Dual-energy computed tomography, a new method that provides information on the chemical composition of tissues, allows identification of MSU deposits with high accuracy. MRI can be useful in the evaluation of deep tissues not accessible by ultrasound. In addition to diagnosis, with the emergence of drugs that aim to reduce the tophaceous burden, imaging examinations become a useful tool in the follow-up treatment of gout patients.

The direct expansion heat pump with solar energy is an energy conversion system used for water heating applications, air heating for air conditioning buildings, water desalination, solar drying, among others. This paper reviews the main designs and analysis of experiments in order to identify the fundamental objectives of any experiment which may be: to determine the factors that have a significant influence, to obtain a mathematical model and/or to optimize performance. To achieve this task, the basic and advanced configuration of this system is described in detail in order to characterize its thermal performance by means of energy analysis and/or exergy-based analysis. This review identifies possible lines of research in the area of design and analysis of experiments to develop this water heating technology for industrial applications.

This study aims to explore the asymmetric impact of renewable energy on the sectoral output of the Indian economy by analyzing the time series data from 1971 to 2019. The nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag approach (NARDL) is employed to examine the short- and long-run relationships between the variables. Most studies focus on economic growth, ignoring sectoral dynamics. The result shows that the sectoral output shows a differential dynamism with respect to the type of energy source. For instance, agricultural output responds positively to the positive shock in renewable energy, whereas industry and service output behave otherwise. Since the latter sectors depend heavily on non-renewable energy sources, they behave positively towards them. Especially, electricity produced from non-renewable energy sources significantly influences service sector output. However, growing evidence across the world is portraying the strong relationship between the growth of renewable energy sources and economic growth. However sectoral dynamism is crucial to frame specific policies. In this regard, the present paper’s result indicates that policies related to promoting renewable energy sources will significantly influence sectoral output in the long run in India.

Electrical energy is known as an essential part of our day-to-day lives. Renewable energy resources can be regenerated through the natural method within a reasonably short time and can be used to bridge the gap in extended power outages. Achieving more renewable energy (RE) than the low levels typically found in today’s energy supply network will entail continuous additional integration efforts into the future. This study examined the impacts of integrating renewable energy on the power quality of transmission networks. This work considered majorly two prominent renewable technologies (solar photovoltaic and wind energy). To examine the effects, IEEE 9-bus (a transmission network) was used. The transmission network and renewable sources (solar photovoltaic and wind energy technologies) were modelled with MATLAB/SIMULINK^®. The Newton-Raphson iteration method of solution was employed for the solution of the load flow owing to its fast convergence and simplicity. The effects of its integration on the quality of the power supply, especially the voltage profile and harmonic content, were determined. It was discovered that the optimal location, where the voltage profile is improved and harmonic distortion is minimal, was at Bus 8 for the wind energy and then Bus 5 for the solar photovoltaic source.

We analyze Thailand’s projected 2023–2030 energy needs for power generation using a constructed linear programming model and scenario analysis in an attempt to find a formulation for sustainable electricity management. The objective function is modeled to minimize management costs; model constraints include the electricity production capacity of each energy source, imports of electricity and energy sources, storage choices, and customer demand. Future electricity demands are projected based on the trend most closely related to historical data. CO₂ emissions from electricity generation are also investigated. Results show that to keep up with future electricity demands and ensure the country’s energy security, energy from all sources, excluding the use of storage systems, will be necessary under all scenario constraints.