Growing population leads to industrialisation and urbanization which in turn generate huge amount of waste that represents a big problem for many developed and developing countries. Emerging solution for this problem can be use of wastes as a sustainable source of energy in the form of heat, electricity, fertilizer and biofuel like bioethanol. Type of technology employed is mainly based on the composition of waste whether it is rich in organic matter like MSW or not. WTE technologies reduce the volume of waste as well as decrease the dependence on fossil fuels for energy generation.This study focuses on overview of various available waste to energy conversion technologies like pyrolysis, gasification, incineration, biochemical treatments like landfill gas, aerobic and anaerobic digestion of wastes.

We developed an amorphous solid dispersion (ASD) of the poorly water-soluble molecule niclosamide that achieved more than a 2-fold increase in bioavailability. Notably, this niclosamide ASD formulation increased the apparent drug solubility about 60-fold relative to the crystalline material due to the generation of nanoparticles. Niclosamide is a weakly acidic drug, BCS class II, and a poor glass former with low bioavailability in vivo. Hot-melt extrusion is a high-throughput manufacturing method commonly used in the development of ASDs for increasing the apparent solubility and bioavailability of poorly water-soluble compounds. We utilized the polymer polyvinylpyrrolidone–vinyl acetate (PVP–VA) to manufacture niclosamide ASDs by extrusion. Samples were analyzed based on their microscopic and macroscopic behavior and their intermolecular interactions, using DSC, XRD, NMR, FTIR, and DLS. The niclosamide ASD generated nanoparticles with a mean particle size of about 100 nm in FaSSIF media. In a side-by-side diffusion test, these nanoparticles produced a 4-fold increase in niclosamide diffusion. We successfully manufactured amorphous extrudates of the poor glass former niclosamide that showed remarkable in vitro dissolution and diffusion performance. These in vitro tests were translated to a rat model that also showed an increase in oral bioavailability.

Nanoparticles offer available tools for MDD research. In this assay, we applied CBR1 (cannabinoid receptor 1) knockout (CB1-/-) mice to study whether functionalized solid lipid nanoparticles loading with curcumin and dexanabinol (Cur/SLNs-HU-211) exhibited anti-depressant outcomes through CBR1. Wild-type (CB1+/+) animals together with CBR1 knockout (CB1-/-) animals received daily injections of Corticosterone (CORT) for 3 weeks to obtain MDD mice model, and then the therapeutic action of Cur/SLNs-HU-211 were evaluated, respectively. Our work show that Cur/SLNs-HU-211 nanoparticles in the existence of CBR1 facilitate an efficient motor function improvement in CORT-induced MDD mice model. Cur/SLNs-HU-211 nanoparticles alleviated symptoms on CB1+/+ MDD mice and resulted in dopamine and norepinephrine recovery following CORT-induced neurotoxicity. In conclusion, the possible mechanisms underlying the antidepressant effect of Cur/SLNs-HU-211 might be the induction of CB1 expression and downstream RASGEF1C and Egr1 expression, together with a significantly upregulation of neuron-specific genes in CB1+/+ mice only. In conclusion, CBR1 is necessary during the process of antidepressant activities of Cur/SLNs-HU-211 nanoparticles. This study confirms that Cur/SLNs-HU-211 nanoparticles based CBR1 in vivo targeting would be a potentially feasible and safe way to motivate future therapeutic strategies of Major Depressive Disorder.

Gas Path Analysis and matching turbine engine models to experimental data are inverse problems of mathematical modelling which are characterized by parametric uncertainty. This results from the fact that the number of measured parameters is significantly lower than the number of components’ performance parameters needed to describe the real engine. In these conditions, even small measurement errors can result in a high variation of results, and obtained efficiency, loss factors etc. can appear out of the physical range. The current methods of engine model identification have developed considerably to provide stable, precise and physically adequate solutions. Presented in this work is an estimation method of engine components’ parameters based on multi-criteria identification which provides stable estimations of parameters and their confidence intervals with the known measurement errors. A priori information about the engine, its parameters and performance is used directly in the regularised identification procedure. The mathematical basis for this approach is the fuzzy sets theory. Forming objective functions and scalar convolutions synthesis of these functions is used to estimate gas-path components’ parameters. A comparison of the proposed approach with traditional methods showed that its main advantage is high stability of estimation in the parametric uncertainty conditions. Regularization reduces scattering, excludes incorrect solutions which do not correspond to a priori assumptions, and also helps to implement the Gas Path Analysis at the limited number of measured parameters. The method can be used for matching thermodynamic models to experimental data, Gas Path Analysis and also adapting dynamic models for the needs of the engine control system.

ZnO thin films with a thickness of 300 nm were deposited on Si and Al2O3 substrates using electron beam evaporation technique with the aim to be tested as low cost and low power consumption gas sensors for ozone (O3). To characterize the surface roughness and the grain size, which are the main parameters recognized to enhance gas sensitivity since they directly influence the effective sensing area, surface morphology and roughness analyses of the films were performed using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, respectively. The crystalline structure and elemental composition were studied through Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Gas tests were conducted at room temperature and zero-bias voltage to assess the sensitivity and response as a function of time of the films to O3 pollutant. The results indicate that the films deposited on Al2O3 exhibit promising characteristics, such as high sensitivity and a very short response time (< 2 s) to the gas concentration. Additionally, it was observed that the films display pronounced degradation effects after a significant exposure to O3.

Researchers have been exploring seaweed to reduce methane (CH4) emissions from livestock. This study aimed to investigate the potential of a red alga, Bonnemaisonia hamifera, as an alternative to mitigate CH4 emissions. B. hamifera, harvested from the West coast of Sweden, was used in an in vitro experiment using a fully automated gas production system. The experiment was a ran-domized complete block design consisting of a 48-h incubation that included a control (grass si-lage) and B. hamifera inclusions at 2.5%, 5.0% and 7.5% of grass silage OM mixed with buffered rumen fluid. Predicted in vivo CH4 production and total gas production were estimated by ap-plying a set of models to the gas production data and in vitro fermentation characteristics were evaluated. The results demonstrated that the inclusion of B. hamifera reduced (P = 0.01) predicted in vivo CH4 and total gas production, and total gas production linearly decreased (P = 0.03) with higher inclusion of B. hamifera. The molar proportion of propionate increased (P = 0.03) while isovalerate decreased (P = 0.04) with inclusion of B. hamifera. There was a tendency for increased (0.06 ≤ P ≤ 0.10) total volatile fatty acid production, as well as lower proportions of butyrate, isobutyrate, and 2-methylbutyrate. Chemical analyses revealed that B. hamifera had moderate concentrations of polyphenols. The iodine content was low and there was no detectable bromo-form, suggesting quality advantages over Asparagopsis taxiformis. Additionally, B. hamifera exhib-ited antioxidant activity comparable to the positive control Resveratrol. The findings of this study indicated that B. hamifera harvested from temperate waters in Sweden possesses capacity to mitigate CH4 in vitro.

Inert gas asphyxiation is a rarely observed form of suffocation in which the decedent breathes in an inert chemical, such as helium or nitrogen, in the absence of oxygen. The ultimate cause of death is not a result of the chemical itself, but rather from the oxygen starvation as the inert gas displaces vital oxygen. In this case report, a 66-year-old Caucasian female with a history of gastroparesis, degenerative disc disease, and chronic pain was found deceased with a plastic bag secured around her head. Plastic tubing terminated inside the bag and connected to a nearby canister of nitrogen gas. This case study discusses the challenges in determining inert gas asphyxiation as the cause of death in a postmortem setting and emphasizes the importance of understanding the decedent’s history and context of the environment in which they were found.

Gas embolism is a medical condition leading to the blockage of blood flow in the microvasculature by gas bubbles. While reported as rare, gas embolism often has devastating, fatal physiological consequences. Despite this acute importance, the genesis and evolution of air bubbles in blood vessels under different physiological conditions, such as blood viscosity and blood flow rate, is still understudied, largely because of difficult experimentation and in situ visualization. The objective of this work was to study the gas embolism phenomenon in vitro, using a microfluidic system that mimicked the architecture of microvasculature. The microfluidic systems comprised linear channels with two different air inlet types, namely, T- and Y-junctions with three different widths (20 µm, 40 µm, and 60 µm), and a 30 µm width honeycombed network with three bifurcation angles (30°, 60°, and 90°). Three synthetic liquids equivalent to 0%, 20%, and 46% hematocrit that mimicked the physiological blood viscosity and hematocrit concentrations were used. Our results show that: (i) 20 µm and 40 µm width channels had an elevated risk of gas embolism due to wide fluctuations in the total slug sizes; (ii) the resistance to the flow of air bubbles increased with the increase in the equivalent concentration of hematocrit; (iii) gas bubbles causing blockages and dampening of the flow velocity were frequently observed in 20 µm channels, and lastly (iv) increased risk of gas embolism was observed in the honeycomb architecture with 60° and 30° bifurcations. This work suggests that in vitro experimentation using microfluidic devices with microvascular tissue-like structures opens the possibility of studying this medical condition with high reproducibility and impacts the fact-based medical guidelines for preventing or mitigating iatrogenic occurrences.

sustainability reporting, critical paradigm, upstream oil, and gasThe operating activities of the upstream oil and gas industry directly impact the environment. This industry faces significant social challenges and directly impacts the environment. Many Reputable international sustainability institutions organize sustainability awards. However, community conditions do not have a positive impact on sustainability practices. There are vari-ous serious violations related to sustainability, environmental pollution, multiple cases of cor-ruption, human rights, and other violations. In contrast, the companies receiving this award also received inspection findings of violations committed by The Audit Board of the Republic of In-donesia. This study uses critical discourse analysis that begins with phenomena related to viola-tions of sustainability reporting from scientific journals and other references using a systematic literature review approach over the last ten years. It produces a critical paradigm that is not val-ue-free, which is the basis for framing thought utilizing the theory of hegemony. The results of this study indicate that the upstream oil and gas industries are obliged to implement Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices and Sustainability Reports (SR), has biased factors that are contrary to the sustainability concept and are not under the sustainability award based on evi-dence obtained from the stages of manuscript analysis with systematic literature review

60\% of the global population is expected to be in cities by 2050. At the same time the climate is changing at an accelerated rate. In this short paper we discuss the conflation of these two phenomena and how it may change the cities of the future. We formulate this as an optimization problem that could help answer important questions such as where are they likely to be located? How are they to be powered? What would be their demand for mobility and how might this be met? How over or under ground might these cities be? This paper first looks at a historical paradigm of cities in the absence of the climate crisis and then proposes the new paradigm to look at cities of the future faced by the challenge of the climate change crisis.

Accurate prediction of mercury content emitted from fossil-fueled power stations is of utmost importance for environmental pollution assessment and hazard mitigation. In this paper, mercury content in the output gas of power stations’ boilers was predicted using an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) method integrated with particle swarm optimization (PSO). The input parameters of the model include coal characteristics and the operational parameters of the boilers. The dataset has been collected from 82 power plants and employed to educate and examine the proposed model. To evaluate the performance of the proposed hybrid model of ANFIS-PSO model, the statistical meter of MARE% was implemented, which resulted in 0.003266 and 0.013272 for training and testing, respectively. Furthermore, relative errors between acquired data and predicted values were between -0.25% and 0.1%, which confirm the accuracy of the model to deal nonlinearity and representing the dependency of flue gas mercury content into the specifications of coal and the boiler type.

The hydrodynamic results obtained from the permeability of porous materials not only affect the assessment of the stream of the gas flow through those materials but they also refer to the loss of pressure energy in that flow. The direct measure of that loss is flow resistances.The results of experimental research upon the assessment of the flow resistances of porous materials with respect to gas flow. The research conducted applied to natural materials with an anisotropic gap-porous structure. The tests were carried out on a gas permeability measuring system, adapted to different shapes of porous material samples. The process issue of the total pressure drop on a porous deposit was considered in the Reynolds number category. The coefficient of flow resistance for anisotropic materials was defined and the value of this coefficient was compared to the gas stream and the total pressure drop on the porous bed was experimentally evaluated.

Simulation programs contain Computational Fluid Dynamics - CFD codes and are a useful tool used for gas flow through porous materials. Conducting numerical simulations allows for detailed analysis of hydrodynamic phenomena. The results of numerical modeling should always be verifiable based on experimental data. Only their compliance with the results of experimental tests is a determinant of the correctness of the applied method. As part of the work, experimental studies of hydrodynamics of gas flow through an isotropic porous material were carried out and numerical simulation for material of the same shape was used. In the CFD modeling Kolmogorov's hypothesis for the transport of kinetic energy of turbulence k and transport of dissipation rate of kinetic energy of turbulence ε was used.

The one-dimensional gas of bosons interacting via a repulsive contact potential was solved long ago via Bethe's ansatz by Lieb and Liniger [Phys. Rev. {\bf 130}, 1605 (1963)]. The low energy excitation spectrum is a Luttinger liquid parametrized by a conformal field theory with conformal charge $c=1$. For higher energy excitations the spectral function displays deviations from the Luttinger behavior arising from the curvature terms in the dispersion. Adding a corrective term of the form of a mobile impurity coupled to the Luttinger liquid modes corrects this problem. The ``impurity'' term is an irrelevant operator, which if treated non-perturbatively, yields the threshold singularities in the one-particle and one-hole hole Green's function correctly. We show that the exponents obtained via the finite size corrections to the ground state energy are identical to those obtained through the shift function.

This study investigated the evolution of density, gas permeability and thermal conductivity of sugar maple wood during the thermo-hygro-mechanical densification process. The results suggested that the oven-dry average density of densified samples was significantly higher than that of the control samples. However, the oven-dry density did not show a linear increase with the decrease of wood samples thickness. The radial intrinsic gas permeability of the control samples was 5 to 40 times higher than that of densified samples, which indicated that the void volume of wood was reduced notably after the densification process. The thermal conductivity increased by 0.5 - 1.5% per percent increase of moisture content for densified samples. The thermal conductivity of densified wood was lower than that of the control samples. The densification time had significant effects on the oven-dry density and gas permeability. Both the densification time and the moisture content had significant effects on thermal conductivity, but their interaction effect was not significant.

High-throughput screening of samples is the strategy of choice to detect occupational exposure biomarkers, yet it requires user-friendly apparatus that gives relatively prompt results while ensuring high degrees of selectivity, precision, accuracy and automation, particularly in preparation processes. In the last 10 years, miniaturization has attracted much attention in analytical chemistry and has driven solvent and sample savings and easier automation, the latter thanks to the introduction on the market of three axis autosampler. In light of the above, this contribution describes a novel user-friendly solid-phase microextraction (SPME) off- and on-line platform coupled with gas chromatography triple quadrupole-mass spectrometry to determine urinary 1- and 2-hydroxy-napthalene, 9-hydroxy-phenantrene, 1-hydroxy-pyrene, 3- and 9-hydroxy-benzoantracene and 3-hydroxy-benzo[a]pyrene, metabolites of the related polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. In this new procedure chromatography’s sensitivity is combined with the user-friendliness of N-tert-butyldimethylsilyl-N-methyltrifluoroacetamide on-fiber SPME derivatization previous direct immersion sampling, to which is added the quantitative accuracy afforded using specific isotope-labelled internal standards. The detection limits for the seven OH-PAHs were ranged from 0.28 to 1.87 ng/L. Intra-(from 2.5 to 3.0%) and inter-session (from 2.4 to 3.9%) repeatability was also evaluated. This method serves to identify suitable risk-control strategies for occupational hygiene conservation programs

A lead zirconate titanate [PZT;Pb(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃] layer embedded infrared (IR) detector decorated with wavelength-selective plasmonic crystals has been investigated for high-performance non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) spectroscopy. A plasmonic IR detector with an enhanced IR absorption band has been designed based on numerical simulations, fabricated by conventional microfabrication techniques, and characterized with a broadly tunable quantum cascade laser. The enhanced responsivity of the plasmonic IR detector at specific wavelength band has improved the performance of NDIR spectroscopy and pushed the limit of detection (LOD) by an order of magnitude. In this paper, a 13 fold enhancement in the LOD of a methane gas sensing using NDIR spectroscopy is demonstrated with the plasmonic IR detector.

The physical properties of coal reservoirs are the main restrictions to exploration and development of CBM. The study of the physical characteristics of coal reservoirs and their controlling factors is of great significance to the safe and efficient development and utilization of CBM resources in the mining area. The Pingdingshan No. 10 coal mine was chosen for this study because of its better gas production effect at the test wells. The reservoir properties of the main coal seams of the No. 10 coal mine were tested and analyzed to comprehensively evaluate the reservoir properties. The results indicate that (1) The gas content and methane purity of the No. 4 coal seam are significantly higher than the No. 2 seam, and therefore they have better development potential than the No. 2 seam; (2) The average adsorption time of the No. 2 coal seam is less than that of the No. 4 seam, making it easier to reach the peak production capacity of CBM wells in the short term, but is not conducive to long-term stable production of CBM. The Langmuir volume of the No. 2 coal seam samples was significantly greater than for the No. 4 coal seam; however, the No. 4 coal seam contains about three times the amount of gas in the No. 2 seam; (3) All three coal seams have high porosity, which is favorable for large amounts of CBM adsorption and storage. Micropores predominate, transitional pores are less frequent, and a few mesopores occur; macropores are the least common. Samples from the No. 4 seam contained the highest proportion of micropores; (4) Organic pores were common in the all coal samples, with pore diameters not more than 30 µm, mainly concentrated between 50.5 and 1000 nm. Microfractures with aperture less than 70 nm were relatively frequent, mainly in the 50–65 nm range. A large number of the nanoscale microfractures were curved or jagged; (5) Fractures in the No. 2 and No. 4 coal seam samples with widths of 50 nm to 20 µm were more developed, and many were filled with kaolinite, quartz and other minerals; (6) The samples contained mostly layered silicate minerals (kaolinite), with hard granular minerals (quartz) next, and a very small quantity of iron-type minerals such as siderite and pyrite in dendritic form. The results of this study can provide a reference basis for the large-scale development and utilization of subsequent CBM wells.

The Pingbei area is the main accumulation area of oil and gas in the Xihu Sag. The phase characteristics of oil and gas in this area are complex, and the understanding of their genesis is still unclear. In this paper, based upon discussions of crude oil and natural gas geochemical data, integrated with local geological features, we discuss the sources, migration, and phase state characteristics of oil and gas in the Pingbei area of the Xihu Sag. The study results showed that the crude oil and natural gas in the Pingbei area are coal-derived and the oil and gas produced by the humic organic matter during the maturity stage. The oil and gas source correlation showed that crude oil and natural gas have good affinity with the Eocene Pinghu Formation (PF) coal-bearing source rocks. Crude oil has the characteristics of near-source accumulation and short-distance migration while natural gas is supplied from a dual source: the coal-derived hydrocarbon rocks of PH in the deep part of the study area, supplemented by the coal-derived hydrocarbon rocks of PH on the bottom of the slope, and adjacent hydrocarbon-bearing sub sag. The distribution characteristics and geochemical migration indices of hydrocarbon showed that the oil generated from the hydrocarbon source rocks of PH in the deep Pingbei area mainly migrates vertically along the fault connecting the reservoir and the source rocks to the trap, where it accumulates, while the natural gas exhibits deep and large faults that mainly migrate vertically, supplemented by its lateral migration along the composite transport system composed of faults and sandstone layers in the slope zone. The mechanisms of produced, exhausted, and geochromatographic effects (PGE), as well as evaporative fractionation (EF) and phase-controlled migration fractionation (PMF), result in the obvious discrepancy of hydrocarbon’s properties on the vertical profiles.

Background: Mitigating climate change requires fundamentally redesigned energy systems in which renewable energy sources ultimately replace fossil fuels such as natural gas. In this context, the question how and to which extent the gas sector can contribute to an increasingly climate-neutral future EU energy system is heavily debated among scholars, energy industry experts and policy makers. Methods: We take a two-step approach: We begin with a review of studies from energy industry and academia to discuss potential gas sector contributions from a holistic energy system design point of view; this is followed by a comprehensive discussion of technical potentials, micro-economic conditions and societal implications of renewable gas. We then enrich our findings with the results of an empirical focus group process. Results: The gas sector can not only contribute to balancing volatile renewable energy production but also enable the supply of renewable energy to end-users in gaseous form; based on existing infrastructure. This could reduce costs for society, increase public acceptance and ultimately speed up the energy system transformation. There is the theoretical technical potential to substitute major parts of natural gas with renewable gas of biogenic and synthetic nature. This, however, crucially requires a supportive policy framework like the one established for renewable electricity. Conclusion: Given the societal benefits and the competitiveness of renewable gas as compared to renewable alternatives, energy policy makers should incorporate renewable gas and the existing gas infrastructure in the future energy system framework. The objective should be an optimized interplay of various energy vectors and their infrastructure along the entire energy supply chain. This requires a level playing field for different renewable technologies across different policy areas and a form of public support that strikes the balance between facilitating the gradual substitution of natural gas by renewable gas while maintaining public acceptance for this transformation despite higher costs for end-users.: Given the societal benefits and the competitiveness of renewable gas as compared to renewable alternatives, energy policy makers should incorporate renewable gas and the existing gas infrastructure in the future energy system framework. The objective should be an optimized interplay of various energy vectors and their infrastructure along the entire energy supply chain. This requires a level playing field for different renewable technologies across different policy areas and a form of public support that strikes the balance between facilitating the gradual substitution of natural gas by renewable gas while maintaining public acceptance for this transformation despite higher costs for end-users.

This article aimed to evaluate, using statistical tools, the generation and composition of urban solid waste (MSW) in the city of Belém, Pará, from nine urban collection sectors in the municipality, and the average nominal income of the population. Approximately 900kg of urban solid waste were col-lected from the municipality in the period from 2021 to 2022. Statistical tests were carried out on hypotheses with 5% significance in comparative evaluations, and their respective average nominal incomes. The results indicated that the organic fraction corresponds to 55.57% of the waste generated in the municipality, 14.26% is inert waste (potentially contaminating) and 0.67% is miscellaneous waste. It was observed that the waste generated by families with high purchasing power tends to contain higher percentages of recyclables, while in families with lower purchasing power the highest percentages tend to be organic. Knowledge of the generation of MSW is fundamental for the choice and dimensioning of operations and processes involved in the management chain at the municipal level. The decentralization of services offered based on solid waste management would enable greater success in serving the population.

Sr4Al6O12SO4 samples were obtained from the compound mixture formed by a solid–state reaction of Al2O3, SrSO4, and SrCO3. Samples were compacted at 100MPa to form pellets of 1 and 4cm in diameter and were sintered at 1400°C for 4 hours. The compound was analyzed by X–ray diffraction. Static immersion and wettability tests were performed to evaluate corrosion resistance in contact with Al–Si. Corrosion tests were carried out by immersion at 800, 900, and 1000°C for 24, 50, and 100 hours, while wettability was carried out at 900, 1000, and 1100°C for 2 hours. Subsequently, the samples were prepared metallographically. Samples were analyzed by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and image analysis. In general, reaction products consisting of alumina, spinel, oxides, and sulfates were found. The contact angles obtained were 124° to 135°. It is concluded that ceramic substrate Sr4Al6O12SO4 is resistant to corrosion by Al–Si alloy, since the slight thickness of the reaction products found in the samples (100μm) considering the severe conditions of the experiment: 1000°C and 100 hours of isothermal temperature. Furthermore, it can be said that Sr4Al6O12SO4 is not wettable by Al–Si alloys.

Since there are no morphological clues capable of making a pathologist suspect a possible mammary origin of a metastatic lesion without adequate clinical information, the histologic diagnosis of brain metastasis from BC is still based on the immunohistochemical expression of mammary gland markers such as GATA-3, ERs, PgRs and HER-2. The present retrospective study aimed to select purely morphological features capable to suggest the mammary origin of a metastatic carcinoma to the brain. The following histological features were collected on a series of 30 cases of brain metastases from breast cancer:(i) solid growth pattern; (ii) presence of comedonecrosis; (iii) glandular differentiation. Our results showed that most cases histologically exhibited solid growth pattern with at least focal comedonecrosis, producing an overall morphology closely reminiscent of mammary high-grade ductal carcinoma in situ. Although the above-mentioned morphological parameters are not strictly specific to a mammary origin, they may have an important diagnostic utility in leading pathologists to suspect a possible breast primary tumor and to include GATA-3, ERs, PgRs and HER-2 to the immunohistochemical panel.

In this study, we presented a simple highly sensitive sensor based on commercially available solid core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) for measuring the refractive index (RI) of analytes. The numerical simulation based on the finite element method (FEM) has been examined to compute the optical properties such as confinement loss, power spectrum, and transmission intensity of the sensor. The most sensitive and inert plasmonic materials (gold and silver) have been assumed to be coated inside the fiber with the range of analytes RI from 1.32 to 1.40. The performance of the proposed sensor has been evaluated by tracing the several optical features like wavelength sensitivity, amplitude sensitivity, resolution of the sensor, and figure of merit. As a result, the comparative study between silver and gold elements has been carried out in which the maximum sensitivity received as 1.15 μm/RIU and 1.10 μm/RIU respectively. Whereas, on the base of power spectrum the obtained sensitivity was 513 μm/RIU for the gold layer. Moreover, the effect of other structural parameters (air holes and plasmonic layers thickness) on the sensing performance has been taken into an account. According to the simulation analysis and results, this sensor would have a great potential in various sensing applications of biomedical and liquid refractive index.

We demonstrate the use of a nanotechnology-based approach for the investigation of enzymatic activity of a single molecule of horseradish peroxidase with a solid-state nanopore. The artificial 5 nm solid-state nanopore has been formed in a 40-nm-thick silicon nitride structure. Single molecule of HRP has been entrapped into the nanopore. The activity of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) enzyme molecule inserted in the nanopore has been monitored by recording the time dependence of the ion current through the nanopore in the course of the reaction of 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS) oxidation reaction. We have found that in the process of ABTS oxidation in the presence of 2.5 mM hydrogen peroxide, individual HRP enzyme molecules are able to retain activity for approximately 700 seconds before a decrease in the ion current through the nanopore, which can be explained by structural changes of the enzyme.

The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of the citric acid on the properties of solid pine wood, which were submitted to thermomechanical treatment. A preliminary test was performed in a previous study to evaluate the influence of different temperatures of pressing and concentrations of citric acid over the physical properties of wood. After choosing the best treatments (170°C and 5% and 10% of citric acid) it was evaluated the effect of these on the chemical properties (SEM, FTIR and pH), on the density profile using an X-ray microtomography, and on the resistance to ageing through abrasion test. The result of the chemical analysis allowed to observe an increase of the presence of ester functional groups, as well as a better coverage and higher acidity of the surface. The density profile technique allowed to observe the formation of peaks of density on the surface where the acid was applied. Lastly, it was also possible to verify an increase in the resistance to abrasion because of the application of the citric acid.

The present study was designed to develop a self-micellizing solid dispersion (SMSD) containing Thymoquinone (TQM), a phytonutrient obtained from Nigella sativa seeds, aiming to improve its biopharmaceutical and nephroprotective functions. The apparent solubility of TQM in polymer solutions was used to choose an appropriate amphiphilic polymer that could be used to make an SMSD system. Based on the apparent solubility, Soluplus® was chosen as an appropriate carrier, and mixing with TQM, SMSD-TQM with different loadings of TQM (5–15%) was made by solvent evaporation and freeze-drying techniques, respectively, and the formulations were optimized. The optimized SMSD-TQM was evaluated in terms of particle size distribution, morphology, release characteristics, pharmacokinetic behavior, and nephroprotective effects in a rat model of acute kidney injury. SMSD-TQM significantly improved the dissolution characteristics (97.8%) of TQM in water within 60 min. Oral administration of SMSD-TQM in rats exhibited a 4.9-fold higher systemic exposure than crystalline TQM. In a cisplatin-induced (6 mg/kg, i.p.) acute kidney-damaged rat model, oral SMSD-TQM (10 mg/kg) improved the nephroprotective effects of TQM based on the results of kidney biomarkers and histological abnormalities. These findings suggest that SMSD-TQM might be efficacious in enhancing the nephroprotective effect of TQM by overcoming biopharmaceutical limitations.

Nigella sativa's thymoquinone (TQM), a water-insoluble phytonutrient exhibits nephroprotective effects. This study intends to develop a self-micellizing solid dispersion (SMSD) of TQM for better biopharmaceutical and nephroprotective performance. Soluplus®-based SMSD of TQM was created and tested for physicochemical properties, solubility, and pharmacokinetics in rats. Plasma creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), nephrotoxic indicators, and oxidative stress biomarkers were also tested. During SMSD preparation, TQM was found amorphous, boosting solubility. Minimal band changes between TQM and Soluplus® indicate insignificant drug-carrier interactions. SMSD-TQM generated fine micelles in water, improving TQM's solubility by 97.8% in 60 min. SMSD-TQM was 4.9 times more bioavailable orally in rats than crystalline TQM. In a rat model of acute renal damage by cisplatin (6 mg/kg, i.p.), SMSD-TQM (10 mg-TQM/kg, p.o.) reduced blood creatinine and BUN by 56% and 63.2%, respectively. These findings imply that SMSD-TQM may be a potent dosage option for enhancing TQM's nutrient value.

Glucocorticoids (GCs) have been the mainstay of immunosuppressive therapy in solid organ transplantation (SOT) for decades due to their potent effects on the innate immunity and tissue protective effects. But, some SOT centers are reluctant to administer GCs for long-time due to the various side effects. This review summarizes advantages and disadvantages of GCs in SOT. PubMed and Scopus databases were searched from 2011 to April 2021 using search syntaxes cover “transplantation” and “glucocorticoids”.GCs are used in transplant recipients, transplant donors, and organ perfusate solution to improve transplant outcomes. In SOT recipients GCs are administered as induction and maintenance immunosuppressive therapy. GCs are also the cornerstone to treat acute anti-body- and T-cell-mediated rejections. Addition of GCs to organ perfusate solution and pretreatment of transplant donors with GCs are recommended by some guidelines and protocols to reduce ischemia-reperfusion injury peri-transplant. GCs with low bioavailability and high potency for GC receptors such as budesonide, nanoparticle-mediated targeted delivery of GCs to specific organs, and combination use of dexamethasone with inducers of immune-regulatory cells are new methods of GC usage in SOT patients to reduce side effects or induce immune-tolerance instead of immunosuppression. Various side effects on different non-targeted organs/tissues such as bone, cardiovascular, neuromuscular, skin, and gastrointestinal tract have been noted for GCs. There are also potential drug-drug interactions for GCs in SOT patients.

Trophoblast cell-surface antigen 2 (Trop 2) is a transmembrane glycoprotein that is highly expressed in various cancer types with relatively low or no baseline expression in most of normal tissues. Its overexpression is associated with tumor growth and poor prognosis; Trop 2 is therefore, an ideal therapeutic target for epithelial cancers. Several Trop 2 targeted therapeutics have recently been developed for the treatment of cancers, such as anti-Trop 2 antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), as well as Trop 2-specific cell therapy. In particular, the safety and clinical benefit of Trop 2-based ADCs have been demonstrated in clinical trials across multiple tumor types, including those with limited treatment options, such as triple-negative breast cancer, platinum-resistant urothelial cancer, and heavily pretreated non-small cell lung cancer. In this review, we elaborate on recent advances in Trop 2 targeted modalities and provide an overview of novel insights for future developments in this field.

Sulfonated carbon was used as an efficient and reusable heterogeneous solid acid catalyst for the synthesis of biodiesel via esterification of oleic acid with methanol under high voltage conditions. Using an inexpensive and reusable catalyst, environmental benignity, excellent yields in short times, synthesis in atmospheric pressure and low temperature conditions are some of the important features of this protocol. In the final results were confirmed by GC.

Municipal landfills play a vital role in disposing of the solid waste from a community. One of the biggest challenges landfill management face is when the available storage space is being reduced faster than the rate that was planned for. This shortening of the landfill lifecycle impacted the city of Wilmington, Delaware when it was found that their landfill had lost 11 years of its projected lifespan and would reach fully capacity within the next decade. In order to remedy the situation six alternative solutions were devised, with each having different costs (capital, operating, and transport) and varying lengths of landfill extension. This research used the principle of optimization via a LINDO program to determine which solution would achieve the longest landfill extension for the minimum total cost. Other constraints placed on the program include reducing the waste being sent to the landfill and to achieve a minimum of 25 additional years for the landfill. The calculated solution produced a cost reduction of $232.64 million dollars and 3.2 additional years of operation from the option that was eventually chosen by the landfill authority.

2017 was an excellent year in terms of new drugs (chemical entities and biologics) approved by the FDA, with a total of forty-six. In turn, one of the highlights was the number of peptides (six) included in this list. Here, the six peptides are analysed in terms of chemical structure, synthetic strategy used for their production, source, biological target, and mode of action.

The author demonstrates a stable Lagrangian solid modeling method, tracking the interactions of solid mass particles rather than using a meshed grid. This numerical method avoids the problem of tensile instability often seen with smooth particle applied mechanics by having the solid particles apply stresses expected with Hooke's law, as opposed to using a smoothing function for neighboring solid particles. This method has been tested successfully with a bar in tension, compression, and shear, as well as a disk compressed into a flat plate, and the numerical model consistently matched the analytical Hooke's law as well as Hertz contact theory for all examples. The solid modeling numerical method was then built into a 2-D model of a pressure vessel, which was tested with liquid water particles under pressure and simulated with smoothed particle hydrodynamics. This simulation was stable, and demonstrated the feasibility of Lagrangian specification modeling for fluid–solid interactions.

Downwind odor characteristics can be very different depending upon the size of the upwind point-source, interim topography, and wind conditions. At one extreme, the downwind odor plume from a relatively large, confined animal feeding operation (CAFO), located on a flat open plain and under stable, near-straight-line wind conditions can be rather broad, sustained and predictable relative to a fixed receptor site downwind. In contrast, the plume from a small point-source (e.g., a roof vent stack) located on irregular topography and under rapidly shifting wind conditions can be intermittent and fleeting. These transient odor events can be surprisingly intense and offensive, in spite of their fleeting occurrence and perception. This work reports on efforts to optimize an environmental odor sampling strategy, which is optimized for the challenges of (1) sampling of such transient odor 'spikes' and (2) the prioritization of odors/odorants from multiple, closely co-located point-sources, under such transient event conditions. Protocol refinement has emerged by way of 2 environmental odor assessment projects which have been undertaken on behalf of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The challenge of transient odor events has been mitigated utilizing rapid, odor cued whole-air grab capture sampling into metalized-FEP gas sampling bags, followed by immediate adsorption transfer onto SPME fibers or sorbent tubes for stabilization during the shipment and storage interval between collection and final analysis. Initial results demonstrated approximately 11 fold increases in target odorant yields for 900 mL sorbent tube transfers from 2-3 second 'burst' odor event bag-captures, as compared to equivalent direct collections at the same downwind receptor location but during perceived (stable) odor 'lull' periods. Results-to-date targeting refinement and field trials of this integrated environmental odor assessment strategy are presented. Preliminary application targeting general odor sampling and point-source differentiation utilizing tracer gases is also presented.

A Natural gas is increasingly being sought after as a vital source of energy, given that its production is very cheap and does not cause the same environmental harms that other resources, such as coal combustion, do. Understanding and characterizing the behavior of natural gas is essential in hydrocarbon reservoir engineering, natural gas transport, and process. Natural gas compressibility factor, as a critical parameter, defines the compression and expansion characteristics of natural gas under different conditions. In this study, a simple second-order polynomial model based on the group method of data handling (GMDH) is presented to determine the compressibility factor of different natural gases at different conditions, using corresponding state principles. The accuracy of the model evaluated through graphical and statistical analyses. The results show that the model is capable of predicting natural gas compressibility with an average absolute error of only 2.88%, a root means square of 0.03, and a regression coefficient of 0.92. The performance of the developed model compared to widely known, previously published equations of state (EOSs) and correlations, and the precision of the results demonstrates its superiority over all other correlations and EOSs.

The operation of electricity and natural gas transmission networks in the U.S. are increasingly interdependent, due to the growing number of installations of gas fired generators and the penetration of renewable energy sources. This development suggests the need for closer communication and coordination between gas and power transmission system operators in order to improve the efficiency and reliability of the combined energy system. In this paper, we present a co-simulation platform for examining the interdependence between natural gas and electricity transmission networks based on a direct current unit-commitment and economic dispatch model for the power system and a transient hydraulic gas model for the gas system. We analyze the value of day-ahead coordination of power and natural gas network operations and show the importance of considering gas system constraints when analyzing power systems operation with high penetration of gas generators and renewable energy sources. Results show that day-ahead coordination contributes to a reduction in curtailed gas during high stress periods (e.g., large gas offtake ramps) and a reduction in energy consumption of gas compressor stations.

Gas and power networks are tightly coupled and interact with each other due to physically interconnected facilities. In an integrated gas and power network, a contingency observed in one system may cause iterative cascading failures, resulting in network wide disruptions. Therefore, understanding the impacts of the interactions in both systems is crucial for governments, system operators, regulators and operational planners, particularly, to ensure security of supply for the overall energy system. Although simulation has been widely used in the assessment of gas systems as well as power systems, there is a significant gap in simulation models that are able to address the coupling of both systems. In this paper, a simulation framework that models and simulates the gas and power network in an integrated manner is proposed. The framework consist of a transient model for the gas system and a steady state model for the power system based on AC-Optimal Power Flow. The gas and power system model are coupled through an interface which uses the coupling equations to establish the data exchange and coordination between the individual models. The bidirectional interlink between both systems considered in this studies are the fuel gas offtake of gas fired power plants for power generation and the power supply to LNG terminals and electric drivers installed in gas compressor stations and underground gas storage facilities. The simulation framework is implemented into an innovative simulation tool named SAInt (Scenario Analysis Interface for Energy Systems) and the capabilities of the tool are demonstrated by performing a contingency analysis for a real world example. Results indicate how a disruption triggered in one system propagates to the other system and affects the operation of critical facilities. In addition, the studies show the importance of using transient gas models for security of supply studies instead of successions of steady state models, where the time evolution of the line pack is not captured correctly.

The brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a species often affected by natural and man-made disasters such as hurricanes and oil spills as well as general human activities; that subsequently receives medical care and rehabilitation. During rehabilitation, blood may be collected for various testing to help with diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring. Reference intervals for this species are limited, dated, and typically from small sample sizes. Seventy one presumed healthy brown pelicans were sampled as a part of their pre-release examination from rehabilitation at the Wildlife Center of Texas after a large volume stranding in December 2014 to January 2015, and various venous analytes were measured to establish updated reference intervals for Brown Pelicans. Fibrinogen was measured via heat precipitation and the Abaxis VSPro equine Fibrinogen cartridge to determine reference intervals, and in an attempt to validate the VSPro for use in avian species. Abaxis VS2 Avian/Reptile Chemistry panel, iSTAT CG4+, and iSTAT Chem8+ results in addition to body condition score, spun PCV, cloacal temperature and fibrinogen were measured. Proposed reference intervals for brown pelicans are presented. Fibrinogen results were not comparable between the gold standard method and the VSPro, indicating that the VSPro is not appropriate for use in brown pelicans.

In this study, a novel flexible ethanol gas sensor was created by the deposition of CoFe2O4 (CFO) thin film was on a thin mica substrate using pulsed laser deposition. Transition electron microscopy (TEM) investigations clearly demonstrated the successful growth of CFO on the mica, where a well-defined interface was observed. Ethanol gas-sensing studies showed optimal performance at 200 °C, with the highest response, 19.2, to 100 ppm ethanol. Operating the sensor in self-heating mode under 7 V applied voltage, which was corresponds to a temperature of approximately 200 °C, produced a maximal response to ethanol of 19.2. This aligned with the highest responses observed during testing at 200 °C, confirming the sensor’s accuracy and sensitivity to ethanol under self-heating conditions. In addition, the sensor exhibited good selectivity to ethanol and excellent flexibility; maintaining its high performance after bending and tilting up to 5000 times. As this is the first report on flexible self-heated CFO gas sensors, we believe that this research holds great promise for the future development of high-quality sensors based on this approach.

Hydrogen from natural gas reforming can be produced efficiently with a high CO2 capture rate. This can be achieved with oxygen-blown autothermal reforming as core technology combined with pressure-swing adsorption for hydrogen purification and refrigeration-based tail gas separation for CO2 capture and recirculation of residual hydrogen, carbon monoxide and methane. The low-temperature tail gas separation section is presented in detail, and to quantify the exergy efficiency of this section, a detailed exergy analysis is conducted. The irreversibilities in 42 different process components are quantified. In order to provide a transparent verification of the consistency of exergy calculations, the total irreversibility rate is calculated by two independent approaches: Through the bottom-up approach, all individual irreversibilities are added to obtain the total irreversibility rate. Through the top-down approach, the total irreversibility rate is calculated solely by the exergy flows crossing the control volume boundaries. The consistency is verified as the comparison of results obtained by the two methods shows a relative deviation of 4·10-7. The exergy efficiency of the CO2 capture process is calculated based on two different definitions. Both methods give a baseline exergy efficiency of 58.38%, which indicates a high degree of exergy utilisation in the process.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is revolutionizing the oil and gas industry by offering powerful insights and innovative solutions. This paper explores the cutting-edge applications of CFD in enhancing and innovating within the sector. CFD simulations provide engineers with invaluable insights into fluid behavior, enabling optimized designs and informed decision-making. The software facilitates foresight by predicting system performance, optimizing drilling techniques, and maximizing reservoir management strategies. Moreover, CFD optimizes equipment design, increases operational efficiency, and reduces costs through virtual testing, eliminating the need for costly physical prototypes. The application of CFD aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), promoting energy efficiency, climate action, responsible production, and sustainable consumption. It addresses flow assurance challenges, enhances safety protocols, and mitigates environmental impacts. CFD is a powerful tool driving innovation, resilience, and sustainability within the oil and gas industry, ensuring a more efficient, safe, and environmentally conscious future. As advancements in CFD methodologies continue, the potential for further enhancements and breakthroughs within the sector becomes even more promising, driving the industry towards a sustainable and prosperous future.

Cellulose-based carbon (CBC) has been widely concerned with its porous structure, high specific surface area, and is liable to adsorb gas molecules and macromolecular pollutants. However, the application of CBC in gas sensing has been little studied. In this paper, ZnO/CBC heterojunction was formed by means of simple co-precipitation and high temperature carbonization. As a new ammonia sensor, the prepared ZnO/CBC sensor can detect ammonia compared with that of the previous pure ZnO ammonia sensor can not at room temperature. It has great gas sensing response, stability and selectivity to ammonia concentration at 200 ppm. This study provides a new idea for the design and synthesis of biomass carbon-metal oxide composites.

The scope of this paper is to use plastic waste through the gasification process for producing electricity with low carbon dioxide emissions. Worldwide, plastic production increased, reaching 367 million tons in 2020, compared with 1.5 million tons in 1950. It is known that plastic incineration generates approximately 400 million tons of CO2 annually, and consequently, new solutions for a more efficient plastics reuse in terms of emissions generated are still expected. One method is to use plastic waste in a gasifier unit and the syngas generated in a gas turbine for electricity production. The co-gasification process (plastic waste with biomass) was analysed in different ratios. Gasification was carried out with air for an equivalent ratio (ER) between 0.10-0.45. The volume concentration of CO2 in syngas ranged from 2-12%, with the highest value obtained when poplar content in the mix was 95%. In this study, the option of pre- and post-combustion integration of the chemical absorption process (CAP) was investigated. Thus, CO2 emissions have decreased by 90% compared with the case without CO2 capture. By integrating the capture process, the global efficiency has reduced with 5.5 – 6.1 percentage points in a post-combustion case, according to the plastic content in the mix.

Detection of partial discharge (PD) activities in high-voltage equipment can be done according to the several mechanisms of signal detection, which are electromagnetic wave signal detection, acoustic signal detection, chemical reactions, electrical signal detection, or optical emission detection. Recently, multiple methods of detection and localization of partial discharge activities occurred in power transformers and gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) have been proposed to monitor the health condition of high-voltage equipment, especially when the awareness regarding preventive maintenance has been emphasized at the industrial level and electrical providers. In aligning the needs of industrial and the improvement of PD detection methods, this manuscript focused on reviewing the current practice methods for the detection and localization of PD signals in high-voltage equipment and comparing their efficacy, in summarizing the future direction of research work-related methods of PD detection. The comparative reviews are discussed in terms of the mechanism of PD signal detection, indication parameters, calibration technique, advantages, and limitations of each method of PD measurement in detail.

Methane is the main cause of sewer explosion accidents, and the available monitoring methods mainly use portable gas sensors for on-site detection. However, these methods cannot grasp the dynamic changes in methane in a sewer in real time or make better predictions of methane explosion accidents. Here, we present a low-power online monitoring system for sewer methane in order to ensure the safety of urban sewers. A low-power ultrasonic gas sensor was used to monitor the methane content in biogas. Due to the impacts of changes in CO2, temperature, and humidity in the sewer on the ultrasonic methane measurement results, a corresponding compensation method was proposed. The effectiveness of the compensation method was verified through experiments, which measured the methane concentration under different influences, and the methane values measured before and after compensation were compared. The power consumption was only 1.28 mW if the system worked in intermittent operation mode, and it could operate for about 1.5 years by selecting a lithium battery with a capacity of 5 A · H. The experimental results showed that the gas detection accuracy could meet the commercial requirements and had a high compensation for the impacts of carbon dioxide, temperature, and humidity.

A set of aromatic copolyimides was obtained by reaction of 4,4′-(hexafluoroisopropylidene) diphthalic anhydride (6FDA), and mixtures of the diamines 1,4-bis(4-amino-2-trifluoromethylphenoxy)-2,5-di-tert-butylbenzene (CF3TBAPB) and 3,5-diamino benzoic acid (DABA). These polymers were characterized and compared with the homopolymer derived from 6FDA and CF3TBAPB. All copolyimides showed high molecular weight values and good mechanical properties. The presence of carboxylic groups in these copolymers allowed their cross-linking by reaction with 1,4-butanediol. The crosslinked polymer films were extensively characterized and it was observed that the degree of crosslinking was low in the copolyimides possessing a small number of carboxyl groups. The degradation temperature of these crosslinked copolyimides was lower than their corresponding non-crosslinked ones. Glass transition temperatures were higher than 260 oC, showing the non-crosslinked copolyimides the highest values. Young moduli of these crosslinked showed values higher than 1.9 GPa, and slightly lower elongation at break when compared with the precursor copolyimides. All copolyimides (precursor, and crosslinked ones) films could be tested as gas separation membranes. It was seen that CO2 permeability values were around 100 barrer, having better selectivity than that of the homopolymer. Moreover, the plasticization resistance of the crosslinked material having a large number of carboxylic groups was excellent.

This investigation was conducted to determine the chemical composition and nutritional value of five plant species commonly used as ruminant feeds namely: Artemisia herba-alba, Acer monspessulanum, Amygdalus lycoides, Amygdalus scoparia, and Atriplex leucoclada. After the collecting samples, the chemical compositions of plants included dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), ash (CA), cell wall (NDF), and non-lignin cell wall (ADF) were determined according to standard methods. For degradation testing, the nylon bag technique was applied using three native Sistani fistula calves. Organic matter digestibility (OMD) and metabolisable energy (ME) were determined through the gas production technique. The CP value ranged from 5.30 (Amygdalus scoparia) to 11.72% (Atriplex leucoclada) while NDF value ranged from 52.62 (Amygdalus lycoides) to 69.05% (Amygdalus scoparia). The range of OMD, DOMD, and ME was from 36.67 to 53.27%, 34.67 to 49.11%, and 5.57 to 8.08 (MJ/kg), respectively. The results showed a positive correlation between cell wall composition and dry matter digestibility in plant species. The nutritional value of Amygdalus lycoides, Atriplex leucoclada, Acer monspessulanum, and Artemisia herba-alba was acceptable composition and digestibility.

To achieve efficient utilization of low-concentration mine gas, reduce resource waste, and alleviate environmental pollution, high-temperature oxidation of low-concentration gas at a concentration range of 1.00% to 1.50% that is directly discharged into the atmosphere during coal mine production was oxidized to recover heat for reuse. The gas oxidation equipment was improved for the heating process, and the safety of low-concentration gas oxidation under high-temperature environment was evaluated. Experimental results showed that the reactor could provide a 1000 ℃ high-temperature oxidation environment for gas oxidation after installing high-temperature resistant ceramics. The pressure variation curves of the reactor with air and different concentrations of gas were similar. Due to the thermal expansion, the air pressure slightly increased and then returned to normal pressure. In contrast, the low-concentration gas exhibited a stable pressure response in the high-temperature environment of 1000 ℃. The outlet pressure was significantly greater than the inlet pressure, and the pressure difference between the inlet and outlet exhibited a trend to increase with the gas concentration. The explosion limit varied with the temperature and the blend with oxidation products. The ratio of measured gas pressure to air pressure after oxidation was below the explosion criterion, indicating that the measured concentration gas is still safe after the shift of explosion limit, which provides a safe concentration range for efficient use of low-concentration gas in the future.

Background: Qazvin province has suffered a lot of natural disasters (earthquakes) for a long time. so, the establishment of the first industrial city in Iran, has always been a source of concern. One of these problems is the possibility of chlorine gas leaking from the chlorination system of drinking water and treatment plant the existing ones are on the health of the inhabitants of this region.Material and method: This analytical study was carried out in Novorossiysk district of Alborz in December 2012. Initially, chlorine gas leakage scenarios from these facilities were simulated by ALOHA and WISER software, and then using the Emergency Level System, according to the CCPS Consultative Center's Chemical Process Safety Advice, the Emergency Response Program was presented. Results: ALOHA software, in comparison with WISER software, has more precision to identify and address the consequences of chlorine gas leakage hazards and according to the simulation of this software in the event of a leak from the well and water resources unit at 8240 m from the area and at night 7520 meters will be affected. Due to the speed of delivering results through the WISER software, this software can be used at times when the operating speed is considered (incident time).Conclusion: According to the CCPS model, the emergency conditions were classified at levels 3 and 4, therefore, the relevant crisis management agencies (Qazvin Crisis Management Committee, Alborz City Health Center, Red Crescent and Firefighting Authority) should provide training maneuvers At Alborz city level, and informing people of cities and industrial companies, many efforts have been made to reduce human and environmental damage in case of possible leakage.

The aim of the study was to examine the biogas and methane yield of maize silage, a wastes in agricultural point of view and compare it to the biogas productivity of commonly used mixture of maize silage and mixed fodder with water. The experimental study was carried out into 2 parts. Firstly, the batch experiment was conducted in Mesophilic conditions (35°C), at five different hydraulic retention times (HRT): 6 DAT, 11 DAT 20 DAT 29 DAT and 41 DAT. The results revealed that maize silage was generated the highest biogas yield of 537 mL /241 mL at the HRT of 6days /41 days. Mixed fodder produced the highest biogas yield of 421 mL at the HRT of 6th days and the lowest one was 252 mL at the HRT of 20th days. Finally, the methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide of biogas produced from maize silage and mixed fodder were analyzed using a gas chromatography. The results shown that biogas from maize silage precedes the gas less than the mixed fodder. In the field level experiment proved that from mixed fodder produced gas which would be enough for 7 member’s family used 3 months for the purpose of their cooking.

Gas membrane-based separation is considered one of the furthermost effective technology to address energy efficiency and large footprint challenges. Various classes of advanced materials including polymers, zeolites, porous carbons and metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) were attempted as membranes for gas separation. MOFs, among other porous materials, possess uniquely tunable nature, in which the pore size and environment can be controlled by connecting metal ions (or metal ion clusters) with organic linkers with various functionalities. This feature makes them attractive for thin membrane fabrication, as both diffusion and solubility components of permeability can be altered. It is interesting to notice that numerous reports have addressed the synthesis of different MOFs, fabrication of their corresponding thin films and their applications, nonetheless, relatively limited studies addressed their gas separation application as membranes. In this review, we provide a synopsis of the various MOF-based membranes that were fabricated in the last decade. In this review we propose a short introduction touching on the gas separation membrane technology and we shed light on (i) the various techniques developed for the fabrication of MOF as membranes and (ii) challenges and application for MOF thin film membranes in various important gas separation applications.

Accent is on determination of appropriate friction factor of the pipes and on selection of the representative equation for water or natural gas flow which is valuable for existing conditions in the looped network of pipelines. Note that in a municipal gas pipeline, natural gas can be treated as incompressible fluid (liquid) i.e. as water or oil. Even under this circumstance, calculation of water pipelines cannot be literary copied and applied for calculation of gas pipelines. Inappropriate friction factor, equally as e.g. inappropriate usage of water flow equations for calculation of gas networks can lead to inaccurate final results. Few iterative methods for determining the optimal hydraulic solution of water- and gas- looped pipeline networks, such as, Hardy Cross, modified Hardy Cross, node-loop method, node and M.M. Andrijashev method, will be shown. Speed of convergence will be compared and discussed using a simple network with three loops.

Due to failure of the continuum hypothesis for higher Knudsen numbers, rarefied gases and microflows of gases are particularly difficult to model. Macroscopic transport equations compete with particle methods, such as DSMC to find accurate solutions in the rarefied gas regime. Due to growing interest in micro flow applications, such as micro fuel cells, it is important to model and understand evaporation in this flow regime. Here, evaporation boundary conditions for the R13 equations, which are macroscopic transport equations with applicability in the rarefied gas regime, are derived. The new equations utilize Onsager relations, linear relations between thermodynamic fluxes and forces, with constant coefficients, that need to be determined. For this, the boundary conditions are fitted to DSMC data and compared to other R13 boundary conditions from kinetic theory and Navier-Stokes-Fourier (NSF) solutions for two one-dimensional steady-state problems. Overall, the suggested fittings of the new phenomenological boundary conditions show better agreement to DSMC than the alternative kinetic theory evaporation boundary conditions for R13. Furthermore, the new evaporation boundary conditions for R13 are implemented in a code for the numerical solution of complex, two-dimensional geometries and compared to NSF solutions. Different flow patterns between R13 and NSF for higher Knudsen numbers are observed.

The article discusses the validation process of a certain method of balancing gas contained in the pore space of rocks. The validation was based upon juxtaposition of the examination of rocks' porosity and the effects of comminution in terms of assessing the possibility of opening the pore space. The tests were carried out for six dolomite samples taken from different areas of the 'Polkowice-Sieroszowice’ copper mine in Poland. Before the rock material was ground, it was examined using the porosimetric method and subsequently subjected to the SEM analysis. After grinding, the research material was subjected to the granulometric analysis. Prior to the grinding process, the rocks' porosity fell in the range of 0.3-14.8%, while the volume of the open pores was included in the 0.01-0.06 cm3/g range. The research material was also characterized by inhomogeneous distribution of the pore volume. The grinding process was performed using an original device – the GPR analyzer. The ground samples were characterized by similar particle size distribution and mean diameters D_3.2 of about 4.0-4.5 µm. The SEM analysis revealed pores of various size and shape on the surface of the rock cores, while at the same time demonstrating lack of pores following the grinding process. The grain size distribution curves were compared with the cumulative pore volume curves of the cores before grinding. The resulting intersection points of both curves were seen as testifying to the presence of openings in the rock pores and release of the accumulated gas. The opening percentage of the pore space was associated with the coordinates of the curves' intersections. In order to confirm the argument put forward in this paper – i.e. that comminution of a rock to grains of a size comparable with the size of the rock's pores results in the release of gas contained in the pore space – the amount of gas released as a result of the comminution process was studied. The results of gas balancing demonstrated that the pore space of the investigated dolomites was filled with gas in amounts from 3.19 cm3/kg to 45.86 cm3/kg. The obtained results of the rock material comminution to grains comparable – in terms of size – to the size of the pores of investigated rocks, along with asserting the presence of gas in the pore space of the studied dolomites, were regarded as a proof that the method of balancing gas in rocks via rock comminution is correct.

The air in subterranean karst cavities is often depleted in methane (CH₄) relative to the atmosphere. Karst is considered a potential sink for the atmospheric greenhouse gas CH₄ because its subsurface drainage networks and solution-enlarged fractures facilitate atmospheric exchange. Karst landscapes cover about 14% of earth’s continental surface, but observations of CH₄ concentrations in cave air are limited to localized studies in Gibraltar, Spain, Indiana (USA), Vietnam, Australia, and by incomplete isotopic data. To test if karst is acting as a global CH₄ sink, we measured the CH₄ concentrations, δ¹³C_CH4, and δ²H_CH4 values of cave air from 33 caves in the USA and three caves in New Zealand. We also measured CO₂ concentrations, δ¹³C_CO2, and radon (Rn) concentrations to support CH₄ data interpretation by assessing cave air residence times and mixing processes. Among these caves, 35 exhibited subatmospheric CH₄ concentrations in at least one location compared to their local atmospheric backgrounds. CH₄ concentrations, δ¹³C_CH4, and δ²H_CH4 values suggest that microbial methanotrophy within caves is the primary CH₄ consumption mechanism. Only 5 locations from 3 caves showed elevated CH₄ concentrations compared to the atmospheric background and could be ascribed to local CH₄ sources from sewage and outgassing swamp water. Several associated δ¹³C_CH4 and δ²H_CH4 values point to carbonate reduction and acetate fermentation as biochemical pathways of limited methanogenesis in karst environments and suggest that these pathways occur in the environment over large spatial scales. Our data show that karst environments function as a global CH₄ sink.

Graphene materials synthesized using direct laser writing (laser-induced graphene; LIG) are fa-vorable sensor materials because of their large surface area, ease of fabrication, and cost effec-tiveness. In particular, LIG decorated with metal nanoparticles (NPs) has been used in various sensors, including chemical sensors and electronic and electrochemical biosensors. However, the effect of metal decoration on LIG sensors remains controversial; hypotheses based on computa-tional simulations do not always match experimental results, and even experimental results re-ported by different researchers have not been consistent. In the present study, we explored the effects of metal decorations on LIG gas sensors, with NO2 and NH3 gases as representative oxi-dizing and reducing agents, respectively. To eliminate unwanted side effects arising from metal salt residues, metal NPs were directly deposited by vacuum evaporation. Although the gas sen-sitivities of the sensors deteriorate upon metal decoration irrespective of the metal work function in the case of NO2 gas, they improve upon metal decoration in the case of NH3 exposure. A careful investigation of the chemical structure and morphology of the metal NPs in the LIG sensors shows that the spontaneous oxidation of metal NPs with a low work function changes the be-havior of the LIG gas sensors and that the sensor behaviors under NO2 and NH3 gases follow different principles.

The emphasis in the automotive industry towards sustainable mobility has led to a significant interest in hybrid-electric propulsion systems with high energy density batteries. Addressing the needs of this strategy, the battery market is exploring new technologies to improve the safety and lifespan of electric vehicles. To this end, there is a focus on the all-solid-state battery (ASSB) technology for its cycle capabilities. Filling the current void in the literature pertaining to accurate ageing models for ASSBs, in this work, we present an enhanced version of the numerical ageing model, originally developed for liquid electrolyte based batteries, to forecast the development of the solid electrolyte interface layer that is the major cause of battery capacity fading. The model has been tested on prototype batteries and reveals an accuracy of 99%. The capacity fade in ASSBs has been investigated under different conditions, and the enhanced ageing model has been validated using experimental data from these batteries. The findings suggest that there is potential for solid-state batteries to be commercialized, although significant work is needed to match the manufacturing level of lithium-ion batteries with liquid electrolytes.

Pt modified BaZr_0.76Y_0.2Ni_0.04O₃ (BZYN) is fabricated and characterized as a stable electrolyte for proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cell (H-SOFC). The utilization of X-ray diffraction method (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) enables the identification of the presence of platinum (Pt) in both the crystal lattice sites and the grain interface. This occurrence contributes to a reduction in grain boundary resistance. Consequently, this phenomenon improves the conductivity of the electrolyte. The electrochemical performance of the single cell with Pt modified BZY electrolyte is improved by the reduction of ohmic resistance and enhancement of ion migration. This signifies a noteworthy advancement in the creation of more efficient and durable proton-conducting SOFCs.

In this study, the objective is to analyze the economic viability of municipal household solid waste (organic matter + paper) for the production of gas, coke and biofuel through the pyrolysis and distillation process. The waste was collected in the city of Belém do Pará-Brazil and pre-treated at UFPA. The analyzed fraction (organic matter + paper) was subjected to pre-treatment of drying, crushing, sieving and was subsequently subjected to proximate characterization and finally pyrolysis of the organic fraction (organic matter + paper) in a fixed bed reactor. Initially, it was necessary to review the literature and with the yields obtained by pyrolysis of the frac-tion, economic feasibility analyzes were carried out. The economic indicators for evaluating the most viable pyrolysis process were: simple payback, discounted payback, net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and profitability index (IL). The analysis of the indicators showed the economic viability considering an analysis horizon of 10 years, of materials based on organic material and paper. The break-even point obtained was 0.96 US$/L and the minimum biofuel sales price (MFSP – “Minimum Fuel Sale Price”) obtained in this work was 1.30 US$/L. The sensitivity analysis demonstrated that material costs (organic matter + paper), bio-oil yield, total project investment and electricity, respectively, are the variables that most affect the mini-mum biofuel sales price (MFSP).

In recent years, the use of solid waste fillers to partially replace natural fillers in asphalt mixtures to produce high-performance asphalt mixtures has received widespread attention. However, differences in the material properties of solid waste fillers remain a problem for this recycling method. To address this issue, limestone powder in asphalt mixtures was replaced by three solid waste fillers (steel slag powder, tailings powder and calcium carbide slag powder) in this study. The chemical composition of the fillers was first characterized to assess the homogeneity of the material. Then, AC and SMA asphalt mixtures were designed and produced and characterized for wet stability. The results showed that asphalt mixtures with solid waste fillers were superior to LP asphalt mixtures in terms of resistance to water damage, and steel slag powder showed the best improvement in moisture stability of asphalt mixtures. The optimum substitution of solid waste filler for limestone filler was 25%. In addition, the moisture stability of asphalt mixture with limestone filler was significantly improved with the addition of anti-stripping agents. In contrast, the moisture stability of asphalt mixtures with solid waste filler was slightly improved. Solid waste fillers could be used in asphalt mixtures and have a similar function as the anti-stripping agent. In summary, the use of solid waste fillers to replace mineral fillers in asphalt mixtures is a reliable, value-added, recycling option.

Personal Information Management Systems (PIMS) are acquiring a prominent role in the data economy by promoting services that help individuals to have more control over the processing of their personal data, in line with the European data protection law. One of the highlighted solutions in this area is Solid, a new protocol that is decentralizing the storage of data, through the usage of interoperable Web standards and semantic vocabularies, to empower its users to have more control over the processing of data by agents and applications. However, to fulfill this vision and gather widespread adoption, Solid needs to be aligned with the law governing the processing of personal data in Europe, the main piece of legislation being the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). To assist with this process, we analyze the current efforts to introduce a policy layer in the Solid ecosystem, in particular, related to the challenge of obtaining consent for processing personal data, focusing on the GDPR. Furthermore, we investigate if, in the context of using personal data for biomedical research, consent can be expressed in advance, discuss the conditions for valid consent and how it can be obtained in this decentralized setting, namely through the matching of privacy preferences, set by the user, with requests for data and whether this can signify informed consent. Finally, we discuss the technical challenges of an implementation that caters to the previously-identified legal requirements.

The phosphogypsum (PG) pile of solid waste is of immense proportions and poses a grave threat to the ecological environment, with its reserves steadily increasing year after year. The urgent need for large-scale consumption and high-quality utilization of PG in industrial production has become apparent. The present study provides a comprehensive analysis of the correlation be-tween the macroscopic mechanical properties and microstructure of PG, elucidating the crystal morphology characteristics in different phases and outlining the crystallization preparation pro-cess. By integrating the physical and chemical properties of diverse PG phases with the intricacies associated with its preparation process, it is imperative to explore avenues for its high-value utili-zation, investigate possibilities for industrial-scale production, and analyze and predict the appli-cation trends and developmental directions in comprehensive PG utilization. These endeavors hold immense significance in guiding the realization of resource utilization potential inherent in PG.

This review provides an overview of the biotransformation of limonene and α-pinene, which are commonly found in wood residues and citrus fruit by-products, to produce high-value-added products. Essential oils derived from various plant parts contain monoterpene hydrocarbons, such as limonene and pinenes which are often considered waste due to their low sensory activity, poor water solubility, and tendency to autoxidize and polymerise. However, these terpene hydrocarbons serve as ideal starting materials for microbial transformations. Moreover, agro-industrial byproducts can be employed as nutrient and substrate sources, reducing fermentation costs, and enhancing industrial viability. Terpenes, being secondary metabolites of plants, are abundant in byproducts generated during fruit and plant processing. Microbial cells offer advantages over enzymes due to their higher stability, rapid growth rates, and genetic engineering potential. Fermentation parameters can be easily manipulated to enhance strain performance in large-scale processes. The economic advantages of biotransformation are highlighted by comparing the prices of substrates and products. For instance, R-limonene, priced at US$34/L, can be transformed into carveol, valued at around US$530/L. This review emphasises the potential of biotransformation to produce high-value products from limonene and α-pinene molecules, particularly present in wood residues and citrus fruit by-products. The utilisation of microbial transformations, along with agro-industrial byproducts, presents a promising approach to extract value from waste materials and enhance the sustainability of the antimicrobial, the fragrance and flavour industry.

Rheocasting is getting more and more attention from the electronics and automotive industries. Mechanical properties and thermophysical properties such as thermal and electrical conductivity are affected by the amount of solid phase generated in the slurry process. The RheoMetal process specifically has a significant deviation from the expected solid fraction. This deviation is discussed, explained and a way to control the excess generation of solid phase is proposed.

All-solid-state lithium batteries (ASSLBs) using argyrodite electrolyte materials have shown promise for applications in electric vehicles (EVs). However, understanding the effects of pro-cessing parameters on the ionic conductivity of these electrolytes is crucial for optimizing battery performance and manufacturing methods. This study investigates the influence of electrolyte op-erating temperature, electrolyte operating pressure, electrolyte pelletization pressure, and electro-lyte pelletizing temperature on the ionic conductivity of Li6PS5Cl0.5Br0.5 argyrodite electrolyte (AmpceraTM, D50=10 µm). A specially designed test cell is employed for the experimental meas-urements, allowing for controlled pelletization and testing within the same tooling. The results demonstrate the significant impact of the four parameters on the ionic conductivity of the argy-rodite electrolyte. The electrolyte operating temperature has a more pronounced effect than oper-ating pressure, and pelletizing temperature exerts a greater influence than pelletizing pressure. This study provides graphs that aid in understanding the interplay between these parameters and achieving desired conductivity values. It also establishes a baseline for the maximum pelletizing temperature before undesirable degradation of electrolyte occurs. By manipulating the pelletizing pressure, operating pressure, and pelletizing temperature, battery engineers can achieve the desired conductivity for specific applications. The findings emphasize the need to consider operating conditions to ensure satisfactory low-temperature performance, particularly for EVs. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into processing and operating conditions for ASSLBs utilizing Li6PS5Cl0.5Br0.5 argyrodite electrolyte.

To date, zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) have been attracting extensive attention due to their outstanding properties and the potential to be the solution for next-generation energy storage systems. However, the uncontrollable growth of zinc dendrites and water-splitting issues seriously restrict the further scalable application. Over the past few years, solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) have been regarded as a promising alternative to address these challenges and facilitate the practical advancement of zinc batteries. In this review, we revisited the research progress of SPEs applied in zinc batteries in the past few years and focus on introducing cutting-edge polymer science and technologies that can be utilized to prepare advanced SPEs for high-performance zinc batteries. The operating mechanism of SPEs and the functions of polymers will be summarized. To highlight the polymer functions, SPEs are categorized into three types, respectively, homogenous polymer SPEs, hybrids polymer SPEs, and nanocomposites SPEs, which are expected to reveal the roles and principles of various polymers in zinc batteries. This review presents the current research progress and fundamental mechanisms of polymer-based SPEs in zinc batteries, outlines the challenging issues encountered, and meanwhile proposes potential solutions for future endeavours.

Organic wastes and by-products from several activities, including food industries, farming, and animal husbandry, are a hygiene threat when aerobically decomposed. Therefore, their manage-ment is crucial for public health. In this direction, anaerobic digestion (AD) systems may be the solution by transforming waste into energy, which may decrease the environmental impact. However, their efficacy should be carefully examined. In this innovative study, we evaluated the physicochemical and microbial characteristics of liquid digestate (LD) retrieved from organic animal wastes in northern Greece using nanofiltration. Using treatment technologies including physical (solid-liquid separation, microfiltration and nanofiltration) and biological (anaerobic digestion), heavy metals and microbial (i.e., Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis) concentrations reduced and nutrients were recovered. This work sets the basis for the efficient management of liquid digestate. Our method may enable the use of treated liquid digestate for unlimited irrigation water and other industrial applications of water. Apart from the sanitation process, the recovery of nutrients for soil fertilization seems to be a more sustainable way for fu-ture agricultural practices.

We observed and studied the phenomenon of the redox front propagation in different polyaniline (PAni) deposited samples interfaced with liquid or solid polymeric electrolyte. The front of electrochemical conversion, in which the insulator and the conductor parts of PAni are interfaced, is studied observing the temporal evolution of the conductivity of PAni samples. The propagation of redox front was studied in electrochemically obtained thick (2 µm) and in thin (50 nm) poly-aniline films, obtained using Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) method. In the configuration that we tested, the speed of the red-ox front propagation for the thin LB films was found to be 200 micron/sec opening the way for the manufacturing large neural networks, realized using PAni based memristive devices, in which the memristance can be quickly changed in the programmable manner. The prototypes of the spiking neuron connections were manufactured on the basis of lithographically developed gold contacts, bridged by electrochemically grown polyaniline and placed under polymer electrolyte layer with only one counter electrode (gate) for the whole manifold of pseudo-two-terminal memristor bridges. The spike propagation was studied in such gold-polyaniline systems. The research opens the possibility of miniature spike or rate-based neural network circuits manufacture, based on metal pads and polyaniline.

A rapid and efficient method using an alkyl functionalized magnetic nanoparticles-based extraction technique combined with Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography was developed for the detection of trace amounts of polycystic aromatic hydrocarbons in tea leaves. As a popular coating for chromatographic column packing materials, C18-alkyl has been demonstrated to be effective in separating polycystic aromatic hydrocarbons. And the magnetism of the nanomaterials accelerates the extraction process while their high surface ratio enables desirable dispersity in the sample matrix. Meanwhile, the adsorbents can be washed and reused 30 times without compromise on recovery, which greatly reduced the budget. The effects of various parameters were investigated and optimized, and the recoveries for five analytes were in the range of 84.8–103.7%. The reproducibility rate of intra-day and inter-day were below 7.1% and 11.3% respectively. The limits of detection and limits of quantification ranged from 1.69–9.97 ng g-1 and 5.12–30.21 ng g-1, indicating satisfactory sensitivity. Thus, the proposed methodology is rapid, highly efficient, and economical, and it expands the application of magnetic cleanup approaches in complex food matrices.

Solid oxide cells are capable of efficiently converting various chemical energy carriers to electricity and vice versa. The urgent challenge nowadays is the faster degradation rate compared with other fuel cell/electrolyzer technologies. To understand the degradation mechanisms, simulation of a solid oxide cell is helpful. Since most previous research developed models using commercial software, such as COMSOL and ANSYS Fluent, a gap for knowledge transfer is being gradually formed between academia and industry due to licensing issues. This paper introduces a multiphysics model, developed by a computational code, openFuelCell2. The code is implemented with an open-source library, OpenFOAM. It accounts for momentum transfer, mass transfer, electrochemical reactions and metal interconnect oxidation. The model can precisely predict I-V curves under different temperatures, fuel humidity and operation modes. Comparison between OpenFOAM and COMSOL simulations shows good agreement. The metal interconnect oxidation is modelled, which can predict the thickness of the oxide scale under different protective coatings. Simulations are conducted by assuming an ultra-thin film resistance on the rib surface. It is revealed that coatings fabricated by atmospheric plasma spraying can efficiently prevent metal interconnect oxidation, with a contribution of only 0.53 \% to the total degradation rate.

A field experiment was conducted on the farm of Abi Jarash in Agricultural Collage, different rates of olive solid waste and cow manure were used, as follows: (control, fresh olive solid waste 100%, fresh olive solid waste 75%+ cow manure 25%, fresh olive solid waste 50%+ cow manure 50%, fresh olive solid waste 25+ cow manure 75%, Fermented Olive Solid Waste 100%, Fermented olive solid waste 75%+ cow manure 25%, Fermented olive solid waste 50%+ cow manure 50%, Fermented olive solid waste 25+ cow manure 75%), wheat was seeded. The impact of fresh and fermented olive solid waste and cow manure on some chemical and fertility soil properties was studied. the olive solid waste treatment 100% which added had more effect on the organic matter, exchange capacity, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in soil, plant and productivity, after that the fermented olive solid waste 75% + cow manure, fresh olive solid waste 100% comparing with the control, the values of organic matter were (25% 2.73, 2.39) and the cation exchange capacity (21.76, 20.44, 19.38) and for phosphorus (303.3, 277.8, 171.8) mg / kg, while the values of potassium ​​were (303.3, 277.8, 171.8) mg / kg. In terms of plant content, the plant content of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were the same as for grains (2.784, 2.606, 2.126), (0.4535, 0.4226, 0.2753), (1.876, 1.762, 1.234) respectively, (0.2875, 0.2016) respectively for the same previous treatments and elements. olive solid waste 100% was the highest productivity comparing with the other treatments, where the productivity of wheat was (9.513) ton. ha-1.

This article will briefly review the progress of h-BN based solid-state metal semiconductor metal (MSM) neutron detectors. In the last decade, several groups have been working on hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) based solid-state neutron detectors. Recently, the detection efficiency of 59% has been reported. Efficient, low-cost neutron detectors made from readily available materials are essential for various applications. Neutron detectors are widely used to detect fissile materials and nuclear power plants for security applications. The most common and widely used neutron detectors are 3He based, which are sometimes bulky, difficult to transport, have high absorption length, need relatively high bias voltage (>1000 V), and have low Q-value (0.764 MeV). Also, 3He is not readily available material. Thus, there is a strong need to find an alternative detection material. 10B isotope has a high neutron absorption cross-section, and it has been tested as a coating on the semiconducting materials. Due to the two-step process, neutron capture through 10B, and then electron-hole pair generation in a typical semiconducting material, the efficiency of these devices is not up to the mark. The progress in h-BN based detectors requires a review to envision the further improvement in this technology.

A wide variety of applications require high peak laser intensity in conjunction with a narrow spectral linewidth. Typically, injection-locked amplifiers have been employed for this purpose, where a continuous wave oscillator is amplified in a secondary external resonant amplifier cavity using a pulsed pump laser. In contrast, here we demonstrate a setup that combines a CW Ti:sapphire oscillator and pulsed amplifier in a single optical cavity, resulting in a compact system. Dichroic beam combination of blue wavelength semiconductor diodes and the green wavelength of a Nd:YAG laser allowed the simultaneous excitation of the Ti:sapphire crystal by both continuous-wave and pulsed pump sources. A linewidth of &lt;2MHz is achieved in continuous wave operation, while the linewidth increases to about 10MHz in the combined CW + pulsed mode with a pulse duration of 73ns. A peak pulse intensity of 0.2kW is achieved, which should enable efficient single-pass second harmonic generation in a nonlinear crystal.

High-energy small electron beams generated by linear accelerators are used for radiotherapy of localized superficial tumors. The aim of the present study is to assess the dosimetric performance under small radiation therapy electron beams of the novel PTW microSilicon detector by comparison with commercially available dosimeters. Relative dose measurements of circular fields with 20, 30, 40 and 50 mm aperture diameters were performed for 4 to 12 MeV energy range of electron beams generated by an Elekta Synergy linac. Percentage depth dose, transverse profiles and output factors normalized to the 10 × 10 cm2 reference field were measured. All dosimetric data were collected in a PTW MP3 motorized water phantom at SSD of 100cm by using the novel PTW microSilicon detector. The PTW diode E and the PTW microDiamond were also used in all beam aperture for benchmarking. Data for the biggest field size were also measured by the PTW Advanced Markus ionization chamber.Measurements performed by the microSilicon are in good agreement with the reference values for all the tubular applicators and beam energies, within the stated uncertainties. This confirms the reliability of the microSilicon detector for relative dosimetry of small radiation therapy electron beams collimated by tubular applicators.

Findings of new targeted treatments with adequate safety evaluations is essential for better cancer cures and mortality rates. Immunotherapy holds promise for patients with relapsed disease, with the ability to elicit long-term remissions. Emerging promising clinical results in B-cell malignancy using gene-altered T-lymphocytes uttering chimeric antigen receptors have sparked a lot of interest. This treatment could open the path for a major difference in the way we treat tumors that are resistant or recurring. Genetically altered T cells used to produce tumor-specific chimeric antigen receptors are resurrected field of adoptive cell therapy by demonstrating remarkable success in the treatment of malignant tumors. Because of the molecular complexity of chimeric antigen receptors -T cells, a variety of engineering approaches to improve safety and effectiveness are necessary to realize larger therapeutic uses. In this study, we investigate at new strategies for enhancing chimeric antigen receptors-T cell therapy by altering chimeric antigen receptors proteins, T lymphocytes, and their relations with other solid tumor microenvironment (TME) aspects.

Municipal solid waste management is a major concern for developing countries all over the world. The collection and transportation accounts for major portion of expenditure in developing country like India. The compaction of waste is being practiced in some major cities of India as they provide economical benefit but the environmental benefits of compaction are not very clear. The preset study evaluates the environmental impacts due to transportation of non-compacted and compacted waste from the transfer station to the landfill site using life cycle assessment approach. The study compared transportation of non-compacted waste with the waste compacted by the truck mounted refuse compactor and portable stationary compactor. The functional unit defined was the amount of waste generated per day in the study area taken as Patna city and GaBi 10.5 used for impact assessment. The study found that the transportation of waste compacted by truck mounted refuse compactor had the least environmental impacts on all impact categories. The study recommends the compaction of waste by the truck mounted refuse compactor and then proceed for transportation. Also, the compaction of waste is recommended as it improve the overall environment performance of municipal solid waste management.

This paper seeks to examine how the Mn-Co spinel interconnect coating microstructure can in-fluence the Cr contamination in an oxygen electrode of intermediate temperature Solid Oxide Cells at the operating temperature of 750 °C. A Mn-Co spinel coating is processed on Crofer 22 APU substrates by electrophoretic deposition and subsequently sintered following both the one-step and two-step sintering, in order to obtain significantly different densification levels. The electrochemical characterization is performed on anode supported cells with a LSCF cathode. The cells were aged prior to the electrochemical characterization in contact with the spinel coated Crofer 22 APU at 750 °C for 250 hours. Current-voltage and impedance spectra of the cells were measured after the exposure with the interconnect. Post-mortem analysis of the interconnect and the cell was carried out in order to assess the Cr retention capability of coatings with different microstructures.

Due to the rapid development of nanotechnologies, materials, in particular , solid dispersions (SDs), which are actively introduced into the life of modern man, have been obtained. Special progress in this area is observed in industry and medicine. The use of SDs in agriculture is lagging far behind, despite the growing number of scientific papers on this topic. At the same time, the prospects for the introduction of SDs in the agro-industrial complex are obvious. The review presents the results of research on the development of innovative preparations based on SD to protect plants from diseases and pests of cultivated plants, as well as parasiticides to protect animal health based on modern achievements of nanotechnology. One of these technologies is the methods of mechanochemistry, which improve the properties of poorly soluble biologically active substances by their joint mechanical treatment with water-soluble polymers and auxiliary substances.

A novel mathematical model is developed to calculate the temperature distribution on the surface and bulk of a steel plate under the laser hardening process. The model starts with the basic heat equation then it is developed into a volumetric form and is connected to the various solid existing phases. The proposed model is based on three influencing parameters of the laser hardening process which are the velocity of the laser spot and irradiation time. The results are compared with the available experimental data reported in the literature. The volumetric model provides an assessment of temperature distribution in both the vertical and horizontal axis. Laser irradiation at sufficiently high fluence can be used to create a solid-state phase change on the surface. Primary calculations show that the temperature profile has a Gaussian distribution in horizontal x and y-axis and presents an exponentially decreasing in the horizontal and vertical depth directions.

The Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription (STAT)3 and 5 are activated by many cytokine receptors to regulate specific gene expression and mitochondrial functions. Their role in cancer is largely context dependent as they can both act as oncogenes and tumor suppressors. We review here the role of STAT3/5 activation in solid cancers and summarize their association to survival in cancer patients. The molecular mechanisms that underpins the oncogenic activity of STAT3/5 signaling includes the regulation of genes that control cell cycle, cell death, inflammation and stemness. In addition, STAT3 mitochondrial functions are required for transformation. On the other hand, several tumor suppressor pathways act on or are activated by STAT3/5 signaling including the p19ARF/p53 pathway, tyrosine phosphatases, suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 and 3, the sumo ligase PIAS3, the E3 ubiquitin ligase TMF/ARA160 and the miRNAs miR-124 and miR-1181. Cancer mutations and epigenetic alterations may alter the balance between pro-oncogenic and tumor suppressor activities associated to STAT3/5 signaling explaining their context dependent association to tumor progression both in human cancers and animal models.

Global waste generation keeps increasing over the year and requires innovative solutions to minimize their impacts on environmental quality and public health. Predicted 2.2 billion tonnes per year of global municipal waste generation in the year 2025 which 1.6 fold is higher than in 2012. Hence, a strategic plan must be ascertained to overcome the future challenges of MSW locally and globally. Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) coined an initiative to demonstrate a showcase pilot plant for green energy production from MSW. Therefore, the data was obtained from the survey and actual sampling within the UPM compound to estimate the MSW generated and it's potentially used for green energy production. It is estimated that 5.0 – 7.0 tonne per day of MSW generated which about 30 - 35% is an organic fraction. Upon separation, the organic fractions were digested into biogas through anaerobic. At the maximum conversion of organic fraction, about 775 kWh of electricity may able to generate from the waste. In this study, the complete biorefinery setup and utilize organic components from the MSW generated in UPM was proposed that the biogas subsequently will be used to produce green energy in the form of electricity or cooking fuel.

Herein, we present preparation of solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) comprising of PEO, NaPF₆ and varying fraction of Succinonitrile (SN) by standard solution cast technique. The morphological features and structural properties were studied by the FESEM, XRD, respectively. FTIR was performed to study the interactions between polymer host, salt, and SN. Impedance spectroscopy, Transference number measurements, LSV and CV were used to examine the electrochemical properties. The complex permittivity/conductivity & modulus were studied to understand the dielectric properties by evaluating the dielectric strength, relaxation time, hopping frequency and dc conductivity. Based on the experimental results an interaction mechanism is presented.

India, the world’s most populous country, is the world's third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Despite employing several energy sources, it still relies heavily on coal, its primary energy source. Given India’s swiftly rising energy demand, this challenges meeting emission reduction targets. India has significantly increased investments in renewables like solar and hydrogen in recent years. While commendable, these initiatives alone cannot meet the country's expanding energy demands. In the short term, India must rely on both domestic and imported fossil fuels, with natural gas being the most environmentally friendly option. In this context, this paper attempts to forecast energy consumption, natural gas production, and consumption in India till 2050 using both univariate and multivariate forecasting methods. For multivariate forecasting, we have assumed two alternative possibilities for GDP growth: the business-as-usual and the high-growth scenarios. Each of our forecasts indicates a notable shortfall in the projected production of natural gas compared to the expected demand, implying our results are robust. Our model predicts that nearly 30-50 percent of India’s natural gas consumption will be met by imports, mainly in the form of LNG. Based on these findings, this paper recommends that Indian government policies emphasize increasing domestic natural gas production, importing LNG, and expanding renewable energy resources.

The conformations of trifluoroacetyl triflate, CF3C(O)OSO2CF3, were investigated through vibrational experimental methods (gas-phase FTIR, liquid-phase Raman, and Ar-matrix FTIR spectroscopy) and Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. A potential energy surface was computed using the B3P86 /6-31+g(d) approximation as a function of the dihedral angles τ1 = CCOS and τ2 = COSC. The surface reveals three minima, which were further optimized using the B3LYP method with various basis sets (6-31++G(d), 6-311++G(d), tzvp and cc-pvtz). The global minimum corresponds to a syn-anti conformer (the CO double bound syn with respect the O−S single bond and the C−O single bond anti with respect to de S−C single bond). The other two minima represent enantiomeric syn-gauche forms. The Ar-matrix FTIR spectrum exhibited clear evidence of the presence of two conformers. Furthermore, the randomization process observed following broad-band UV-visible irradiation facilitated the identification of the IR absorption of each conformer. Based on the Ar-matrix FTIR experiments, the vapour phase of trifluoroacetyl triflate at room temperatures was composed of approximately 60-70% of the syn-anti conformer and 30-40% of the syn-gauche form.

Developing a dependable gas and condensate value chain is vital for the ongoing prosperity of the oil and gas industries. To achieve this, NNPC is enhancing its production facilities by employing process modeling and simulation with the assistance of Symmetry iCON®. As a part of this initiative, a simulation model was created using the Symmetry iCON® pipe plexus solver to simulate the dynamic environment of the gas and condensate pipeline network in the Nigerian Southern region. To validate the model, data from a single month, specifically December 2022, was utilized. Furthermore, the algorithm was utilized to generate projections for the month of January 2023, providing valuable insights into its effectiveness. The study also highlighted the significance of accurately estimating the characteristics and properties of a pseudo component of C6+ in relation to thermodynamics and material properties, which was a particularly insightful finding. he assessment of this property has transitioned from being relatively unimportant to becoming critically important, primarily due to the lack of condensate data monitoring at specific terminals. However, it's worth noting that the model currently has an error margin of 4-6% when predicting the data. As more information becomes available in the future, the model can be easily fine-tuned to better align with the actual conditions, allowing for more accurate predictions.

Oil and Gas companies, both national and international, along with government regulators, share a common goal of efficiently managing their valuable assets. These assets refer to the Reserves of oil and Gas located underground. Typically, production and Reserves Engineers play a crucial role in managing these reserves through the implementation of well testing techniques. Thus far, the gold standard in this field has been to ensure the optimal management and utilization of these resources. In the context of well testing, the separator has traditionally been considered the gold standard. However, despite regulatory mandates for frequency of well testing (Such as the general requirements of every 30days in the Nigeria south East zone sector), There is a lack of specific regulations regarding the expected flow measurement uncertainties. This gap in the regulations leaves room for improvement in establishing guidelines for accurate flow measurements. This paper aim to Review the various test separator employed, examine the implications of the 30days testing interval under real - world conditions, and critically assess the achievable measurements uncertainties in the field. Additionally, it will provide a candid analysis that sheds light on the expected uncertainties associated with flow measurements. The introduction of the multiphase meters in the past two decades hold the potential for significant advancements in Reservoirs management performance. However, the authors suspect that this potential has not been universally realized. This paper aim to address this issue by examining the extent to which the benefits of multiphase meters have been effectively utilized in reservoir management. By doing so, it seeks to shed light on any existing gaps and propose recommendation for maximizing the impact of multiphase metres in the field. In addition to the aforementioned objectives, this paper will also address and explore the following key aspects:Identification and review of both the strength and weaknesses associated with test separators. By thoroughly examining these attributes, we can gain valuable insight into their effectiveness and potential areas for improvement. Exploration of alternative application of test separator and their impact on well testing efficiency. Real -World comparison will be provided to highlight the advantages and challenges associated with these alternative uses, offering a comprehensive understanding of their implications. Evaluation of the contribution that multiphase flows meters (MPFMs) can bring to the testing scenario and overall performance. By assessing the capabilities and potential benefits of MPFMs, we aim to provide a comprehensive picture of their role in enhancing testing procedures. Examination of the flow measurement uncertainties that can be expected from a test separator and their potential impact on reservoirs management performance. By understanding and quantifying these uncertainties, we can gain insight into how they may affect decision -making and optimization strategies in managing our materials assets effectively. Delving into the question of reconciling multiphase flow meter (MPFMs) with test separators. This analysis aims to inject a sense of realism into the world of managing our major material assets by explaining the challenges and opportunities associated with integrating and aligning these two measurement technologies. By addressing these crucial aspects, this paper strives to provide a comprehensive understanding of the complexities involved in managing our material assets, ultimately driving towards more informed decision-making and improved performance.

Methane is a greenhouse gas and identified as a key driver of near-term climate change. Bottom-up approaches estimate annual methane loss from US natural gas production and transport at 6 Tg, but recent studies suggest this may be an underestimate. To investigate this possibility, an equipment-based emissions inventory, using EPA emission factors, was developed to calculate methane emissions from oil and gas operations in the Delaware Basin, USA. Emission factors and activity data were then updated using contemporary and region-specific measurement data. The original inventory estimated emissions at 315 Gg CH4 y-1 (gas production-normalized rate of 0.6% loss), while the updated inventory estimated emissions of 1,500 Gg CH4 y-1 (2.8% loss). The largest changes resulted from large fugitive emissions from oil production (+430 Gg CH4 y-1), updating maintenance activity emissions (+214 Gg CH4 y-1), considering flaring inefficiency (+174 Gg CH4 y-1), and the inclusion of associated gas venting (+136 Gg CH4 y-1). This study suggests that a systematic underestimate probably exists in current bottom-up inventories and identifies sources currently missing or may be incorrect. We also strongly recommend that emission factors should be validated through direct comparison against measurement campaigns that include long-tail distributions typical of oil and gas activities.

Shrubs are a significant component of urban vegetation residing in parks, but they experience various influences of biotic and abiotic agents, among which aphids play an important role. In this work, the effect of aphid colonization on three shrub species in urban environment was examined. Fourteen parameters have been analyzed, describing photosynthetic pigment content and gas exchange to carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen partition. While no significant effect of colonization was found on photosynthetic pigment parameters, the effect was significant on gas exchange parameters. The strongest effect aphid colonization achieved on nitrogen partition and C/N ratio, parameters that could be suggested in further similar studies. All parameters were classified in two groups according to principal component analysis, suggesting correlation between nitrogen and carbon content, C/N ratio, measured gas exchange parameters and chlorophyll a content. The ratio between net photosynthesis and dark respiration (A/K) was in the second group, suggesting that this parameter provide additional information on the effect of aphid colonization, and deserve special attention in further studies. There were differences in reaction of examined shrub species, where the strongest reaction by gross primary productivity (GPP) achieved Hybiscus syriacus, and by nitrogen partition and C/N ratio Spirea trilobata and Cydonia japonica.

A gas-hydrate method of CO₂ gas storage is one of the modern technology for reducing it emissions into the atmosphere. The breakup of gas bubbles by a shock wave is an actual area of scientific and technological research. However, it is little known that such research began in the late 1950s in the USSR. The article presents the main discoveries related to the destruction of gas bubbles in a liquid under the influence of a shock wave, made more than 60 years ago. Looking back: study the past to understand the present.

Several factors, such as internal algorithm, sensor technology, and obsolescence might skew outcomes when comparing different gas analysers measurements during CPET. Besides aerosol borne infectious disease are a source of contamination during cardiopulmonary exercise tests (CPET). Thus, the main aim of this study was to determine the agreement degree between the Quark RMR and the Jaeger Oxycon Pro, using an antibacterial filter with the latter. Forty-two participants (19-54 years old) performed two non-consecutive maximal graded exercise tests on a cycle-ergometer on two counterbalance and different days using the Oxycon Pro and the Quark RMR in a randomized order. Differences between devices were tested using a generalized linear model adjusted by Bonferroni, and correlation and agreement was assessed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient (R), intraclass coefficient correlation (ICC), Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) and Bland-Altman plots. No significant differences were found between devices in any of metabolic or ventilatory parameters for cardiorespiratory fitness assessment (VO_2max: 3131.3±882.1 vs. 3189.8±894.8, p=0.071, VCO_2max: 3436.3±936.0 vs. 3550.3±1043.2, p=0.071, for Quark RMR and Oxycon Pro, respectively). However, Bland-Altman plots showed a trivial tendency towards Oxycon Pro overestimation relative to Quark RMR as air flow volume increases. Both devices showed strong correlation and high level of agreement during maximal and submaximal exercise intensities (Pearson’s R: 0.974 & 0.977; ICC: 0.985 & 0.987; Lin’s CCC: 0.971 & 0.974, for VO₂ and VCO₂, respectively). Therefore, providing consistency to CPET data comparison between both devices, and insight into whether the use of these metabolic carts could be interchangeable or combined when a single device cannot be used for CPET assessment.

The increase in carbon dioxide emissions has a significant impact on human society and the global environment. As the most abundant and cheap C1 resource, the conversion and utilization of carbon dioxide has received extensive attention from researchers. In many methods of carbon dioxide conversion and utilization, the reverse water gas conversion reaction is considered to be one of the most effective ways. In this paper, the research progress of reverse water gas conversion reaction in recent years is introduced.

Soluble noble metal salts are widely used for loading noble metals as nano-catalysts in many applications. In this paper, Pt-SnO2 composite nanoceramics were prepared from SnO2 nanoparticles and H2PtCl6 using two Pt-loading methods separately: For the solution reduction method, the H2PtCl6 solution was added to a suspension of SnO2 and zinc powder to form Pt on SnO2 nanoparticles; and for the impregnation method, Pt was formed from H2PtCl6 in the course of sintering. Although a series of samples prepared using both Pt loading methods showed a strong response to H2 at room temperature, the ones prepared using the solution reduction method exhibited much better room temperature hydrogen sensing characteristics. For two samples of 0.5 wt% Pt and sintered at 825°C, the response value for the sample prepared using the solution reduction method was 5300 to 1% H2-20% O2-N2, which was much larger than that of 150 for the sample prepared using the impregnation method. Samples prepared using the two Pt loading methods have similar microstructures as characterized by XRD, FESEM, EDS, TEM, and HRTEM. However, the residual chlorine content in those using the impregnation method was found to be higher than that using the solution reduction method through analysis. It is proposed that the striking difference in the room temperature hydrogen sensing characteristics among samples prepared using these two different Pt loading methods separately resulted from their different chlorine removal process. This study demonstrates the importance of a proper method in loading noble metals from their soluble salts as nano-catalysts in many applications.

Some of Iran's gas resources are known as sour gas because one of the major by-products of this gas is water. In fact, natural gas is combined with water vapor in underground reservoirs. In some areas, the amount of water vapor in natural gas is so high that it can be used as a source of drinking water. However, it should be noted that water vapor in natural gas may exacerbate corrosion in pipes and industrial equipment, and the combustion of more natural gas produces high temperatures that can lead to the production of nitrogen oxides (NOx), which They are the cause of air pollution. This is while the processed gas has a standard percentage composition in which the amount of water has the lowest position. The removal of moisture from natural gas is due to the need to prevent the reduction of the calorific value of the gas and also to purify the gas in order to achieve the necessary standards for delivering gas to petrochemicals, industries and domestic uses. The main goal of this research is to investigate the influencing parameters on zeolite TiO2 nanocomposite membranes in order to absorb moisture from gas. For this reason, with the construction of a TiZ-V membrane as a standard membrane, the result of the initial evaluation of a suitable membrane for gas dehumidification was made, and this membrane was placed as a standard for measuring the effect of the manufacturing parameters in a way that in each stage of membrane construction It was found that it was different from standard TiZ-V membrane only in terms of one parameter. This type of investigation made it possible to determine the effect of various effective parameters in membrane construction on efficiency. The findings showed that increasing the concentration of SiO2 has the greatest effect on increasing the water flux of the membrane. According to the other findings of this study, the effect of increasing the reaction time of the vapor phase carrier has been to reduce the process of paternity selectivity loss at higher pressures. Although due to the safety limitation of the equipment to measure the efficiency of the membrane at pressures higher than 7 bar, this measurement was not carried out, but charts were presented regarding the state of the water in the water, which were a measure of the superiority of the water in the water in comparison to the gas in the water, which is the higher water in the water It is an indicator of the appropriateness of the membrane's efficiency at its corresponding pressure, so that the examination of the difference between these two graphs shows the possibility of using the membrane at higher pressures

This work presents an LC resonant passive wireless gas sensor with a novel structure designed to mitigate the negative impact of substrate. The LC sensor antenna with the new structure and the reader antenna were designed and optimized utilizing HFSS software to improve the transfer efficiency. The superiority of the designed structure compared with the general ones is highlighted and verified. The change in the substrate capacitance has essentially no interference with the parameters to be measured of the LC sensor. The sensor with the new structure was prepared by combining etching and sputtering methods. The structure of the ZnO nanowires (NWs) was characterized to confirm their high purity and wurtzite crystal structure. The LC gas sensors demonstrated excellent wireless sensing performance including a low detection limit of 0.5 ppm NO2, high response of 1.058 and outstanding stability at 180 °C. The developed new sensor structure not only prevented interference from the substrate during gas sensing testing, but also expanded the choice of sensor substrates, playing a critical role in the development of sensors based on LC resonance principle.

Methane (CH4) emissions from agricultural sources make a significant contribution to the total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. According to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines for calculating greenhouse gas emissions, agriculture is responsible for approximately 10% of total CH4 emissions from anthropogenic sources. CH4 is mainly emitted from livestock farming, especially from cattle production during enteric fermentation and from manure. The article describes the results of multivariate statistical analyzes carried out on data collected in 1961–2020 based on the data for 30 countries with the largest cattle population. The trends of temporal changes in cattle population were evaluated and groups of countries with similar patterns in the study period were distinguished. Variables which are correlated with changes in the number of cattle were indicated. Forecasts of cattle population and CH4 emission related to cattle for the coming years are presented.

A total internal reflection photonic crystal fiber (PCF) based on hexagonal core is proposed for gas sensing in a specific wavelength range. The higher sensitivity and lower confinement loss were realized by the structure of the proposed PCF consists of two layers with circular holes rotated hexagonally around a core region and six slotted air-hole in the cladding based on numerical analysis. The simulation results show that the enhancement of the relative sensitivity has been done by enhancing the diameter of the hexagonal shape air-hole cladding (d1) and the hexagonal arranged holes around the central solid core (d0) in this design. Also, the confinement loss has been reduced by enhancing the ratio of length to width of slotted holes (l/w) and decreasing the cladding air-hole diameters (d1). As the refractive index increases, the wavelength shifts toward the long wavelength. And in a certain temperature range, the transmission characteristics of the device does not change with the temperature. The results are helpful for designing high performance PCF for gas sensing applications.

: We report on a direct correlation between macroscale structural variations and the gas sorption capacities of an ion gel. Here, we chose 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethyl sulfonyl)imide ([Emim][TF2N]) and poly(vinylidene fluoride)-co-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP) as the ionic liquid and host polymer, respectively. The CO2 sorption in the thin films of IL-polymer was measured by the gravimetric method. The results of our experiment show that the trend of CO2 uptake of these mixtures is non-linearly correlated with the content of IL. Here we highlight the variation in the molecular structure of the polymers is the main reason behind the observed trend. The presented data suggest the possibility of using the composition of mixtures containing IL and polymers to realize a synergistic gain for gas sorption in these mixtures.

The previously developed models for fuel droplet heating and evaporation processes, mainly the Discrete Multi Component Model (DMCM), and Multi-Dimensional Quasi-Discrete Model (MDQDM) are investigated for the aerodynamic combustion simulation. The models have been recently improved, and generalised for a broad range of bio-fossil fuel blends so that the application areas are broadened with increased accuracy. The main distinctive features of these models are that they consider the impacts of species thermal conductivities and diffusivities within the droplets to account for the temperature gradient, transient diffusion of species and recirculation. A formulation of fuel surrogates is made, using the recently introduced model, referred to as ‘’Complex Fuel Surrogate Model (CFSM)’’ and analysing their heating, evaporation, and combustion characteristics. The CFSM is aimed to reduce the full composition of fuel to a much smaller number of components based on their mass fractions, and to formulate fuel surrogates. Such approach has provided a proof of concept with the implementation of the developed model into a commercial CFD code ANSYS-Fluent. A case study is made for the CFD modelling of gas-turbine engine using kerosene fuel surrogate. The surrogate is proposed using the CFSM. The model is implemented into ANSYS-Fluent via a user-defined function to provide the first full simulation of the combustion process. Detailed chemical mechanism is also implemented into ANSYS Chemkin for the combustion study.

Docked ships are a source of contamination for the city while they keep their engine working. Plumes emissions from large boats can carry a number of pollutants to the nearby cities causing a detrimental effect on the life quality and health of local citizens and ecosystems. A computational fluid dynamics model of the harbour area of Tromsø has been built in order to model the deposition of CO2 gas emitted by docked vessels within the city. The ground level distribution of the emitted gas has been obtained and the influence of the wind speed and direction, vessel chimney height, ambient temperature and exhaust gas temperature has been studied. The deposition range is found to be the largest when the wind speed is low. At high wind speeds, the deposition of pollutants along the wind direction is enhanced and spots of high pollutant concentration can be created. The simulation model is intended for the detailed study of the contamination in cities near the coast or an industrial pollutant source of any type of gas pollutants and can easily be extended for the study of particulate matter.