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These days, petroleum hydrocarbon pollution has become a global problem, because of this, bioremediation is presented as a strategy for cleaning up sites contaminated with organic pollutants, and it has an increasing role in relation to the potential it presents as a non-invasive and cost-effective technology. The aim of this study is to optimize the biomass production of Pseudomonas sp. MT1A3 strain as a soil bioremediation approach for petroleum hydrocarbon polluted environments. Factorial experimental designs were employed to study the effect of several factors of composition medium and incubation conditions on biomass production. Agro-industrial wastes such as peanut oil as carbon source, NaNO(3) as nitrogen source and incubation temperature were found to be significant independent variables. These factors were further optimized using Box–Behnken design. Combination of peanut oil 18.69 g/L, NaNO(3) 2.39 g/L and 26.06 °C incubation temperature was optimum for maximum biomass production of MT1A3 and the model validated in a bioreactor allowed to obtain 9.67 g/L. Based on these results, this autochthonous strain was applied in bioaugmentation as a bioremediation strategy through microcosm designs, reaching 93.52% of total hydrocarbon removal at 60 days. This constitutes a promising alternative for hydrocarbon-contaminated soil. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-022-03183-6.

The existence of high conductivity features such as fractures, karst zones, and void space conduits can severely restrict the sweep efficiency of water or polymer flooding. Preformed particle gel (PPG), as a cost-effective technology, has been applied to control excessive water production. However, conventional PPG has limited plugging efficiency in high-temperature reservoirs with large fractures or void space conduits. After water breakthrough, gel particles can easily be washed out from the fractures due to the lack of particle-particle association and particle-rock adhesion. This paper presents a comprehensive laboratory evaluation of a novel water-swellable high-temperature resistant hyper-branched re-crosslinkable preformed particle gel (HT-BRPPG) designed for North Sea high-temperature reservoirs (130 °C), which can re-crosslink to form a rubber-like bulk gel to plug such high conductivity features. This paper systematically evaluated the swelling kinetics, long-term thermal stability and plugging performance of the HT-BRPPG. Bottle tests were employed to test the swelling kinetic and re-crosslinking behavior. High-pressure resistant glass tubes were used to test the long-term thermal stability of the HT-BRPPG at different temperatures, and the testing lasted for over one year. The plugging efficiency was evaluated by using a fractured model. Results showed that this novel HT-BRPPG could re-crosslink and form a rubber-like bulky gel with temperature ranges from 80 to 130 °C. The elastic modulus of the re-crosslinked gel can reach up to 830 Pa with a swelling ratio of 10. In addition, the HT-BRPPG with a swelling ratio of 10 has been stable for over 15 months at 130 °C so far. The core flooding test proved that the HT-BRPPG could efficiently plug the open fractures, and the breakthrough pressure is 387.9 psi/ft. Therefore, this novel BRPPG could provide a solution to improve the conformance of high-temperature reservoirs with large fractures or void space conduits.

This work investigates the effectiveness of ammoniacal nitrogen (NH 4 + -N) removal from contaminated water by adsorptive hollow fiber ceramic membrane (HFCM) derived from naturally made clinoptilolite. The technological value of this work is the simple mechanism of the adsorptive HFCM in removing gaseous ammonia in water by combining adsorption and separation. To test the technical feasibility of this proposed technology, clinoptilolite HFCM was fabricated via phase inversion-based extrusion/sintering technique and characterized by SEM and water permeation flux. The produced HFCM corresponds to the desired morphology of the asymmetric structure (dense and void formations) with outstanding adsorption performance of NH 4 + -N. The effects of the HFCM’s operational parameters on its removal are examined in terms of membrane dosage and isothermal studies. The adsorption isotherm behavior exhibited that the adsorption process fitted the Freundlich isotherm model with outstanding removal performance even at trace concentration of ammonia. The low amount used by HFCM (4.75×10−4m2) resulted in over 96% ammonia removal, indicating a low cost of adsorption process. The regeneration of saturated HFCM suggests an outstanding recovery of the HFCM for its subsequent use for NH 4 + -N removal. This study also reveals the potential of adsorptive HFCM as a simple and cost-effective technology for ammonia removal from wastewater.

Reducing the atmospheric CO2 level is of a great interest these days, as it is negatively affecting our environment. Despite the large efforts invested in development of technologies for CO2 fixation, there is still no large-scale, man-made solution to deal with it. A useful strategic solution is to retrieve CO2 from the air and to reduce it into valuable products, to establish a closed carbon cycle. Reduction of CO2 by electrochemical means seems to be the most practical and economical alternative, but there is still much to be done in terms of catalysts’ development, to enable energy-efficient and cost-effective technology at-scale. In this mini-review, we will focus on the progress that has been made in the area of first-row transition metals complexes as catalysts for CO2 electro-reduction, mostly under conditions that are relevant for large scale applications.

Globally, drought stress causes the negative impact on agriculture production. However, microbial inoculation is the suitable cost-effective technology to attenuate the drought stress. The aim of this experiment was conducted to evaluate the impact of microbial inoculation on morpho-physiological characters of sorghum under moisture stress condition. A pot experiment with sorghum was conducted to access the role of previously identified bacterial endophyte strains. For comparison, two non-inoculated control treatments (T1: absolute control and T2: drought control) were maintained to compare the drought and inoculation effect. Drought was imposed at flowering stage and soil moisture was measure at frequent days. When the soil moisture attains close to zero, plants were rehydrated. During drought and rehydration period, plant morphological and physiological characters were evaluated. Drought stress drastically reduces the plant characters in control (T2-uninoculated) plant. Whereas, in the presence of bacterial inoculation considerably reduces the drought effect also Bacillus sp. inoculation treatment promoted better recovery during their rehydration process than absolute control. Overall, Bacillus sp. inoculation was the most promising bacterium for possible field trials.

This paper aimed to design an autonomous indirect solar dryer, which can dehydrate the aguaymanto in a costeffective manner, yielding a quality product suitable for export from the central part highland of Peru. To complete this task, it was proposed to design a prototype of autonomous solar dryer of 100 kg per batch of aguaymanto, equipped with flat reflectors and forced air feed, and powered with photovoltaic energy. This system allows to dry aguaymanto fruit at the requirements needed for its exportation. The fryer has the following dimensions: inner dimensions of the drying chamber: bottom 0.60 m, width 1.40 m, and height 1.10 m, with additional 0.05 m for insulation. Hence, the outer measures are bottom 0.70 m, width 1.50 m, and height 1.20 m. Two solar collectors are proposed with the dimensions of each: 1.50 m wide, 2.40 m long, and 0.15 m height; 2 flat mirror reflectors are required. A 80 Wp photovoltaic panel was selected for the forced air system and process control. This solar dryer is expected to cope with the problem of post-harvest deterioration. Also, it will facilitate the export by improving product quality and providing a cost-effective technology.

BACKGROUND: Microbial degradation of organophosphorus (OP) insecticides has emerged as an efficient and cost‐effective technology for removal of pesticide residues from soil. Malathion‐tolerant Aspergillus (Aspergillus niger MRU01) was developed, mass cultured, harvested, mixed with coir pith at 3% on dry weight basis, shade‐dried aseptically to a 5% moisture level and stored for 60 days. The growth, metabolic activity and insecticide removal efficiencies of the preparation were evaluated at 15‐day intervals. RESULTS: No significant change in the growth performance was observed up to 45 days of storage, after which viability decreased. The activities of carbohydrate enzymes (cellulase, invertase and amylase) and protein and carbohydrate contents of the preparation, however, did not significantly change during the experimental period. The preparation showed accelerated activities of esterases and phosphatases after treatment with malathion (500 μmol L⁻¹), parathion (470 μmol L⁻¹), chlorpyrifos (260 μmol L⁻¹) and dimethoate (680 μmol L⁻¹). The highest activity of the esterase and phosphatase enzymes was observed with malathion and the minimum with parathion treatment. Nearly 70% of the applied malathion was removed from the medium by the preparation during 5 days of incubation followed by dimethoate (68%), chlorpyrifos (58%) and parathion (54%). CONCLUSIONS: The fungal preparation was highly effective in removing malathion as well as the other three OP insecticides. A storage period of 45 days may be considered ideal for maintaining the preparation in the active state, and is recommended for field application after evaluating its efficacy under field conditions. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry

The present work proposes a novel dual dummy gate Silicon-on-Insulator Laterally Double Diffused Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (SOI-LDMOS) transistor. TCAD simulation shows considerable promise to enhance the dc, analog/RF, and switching performance than the single dummy gate and conventional SOI-LDMOS transistor. A strong accumulation region (SAR) forms under the optimum biased dummy gates (at the semiconductor surface in the drift region) that assist in increasing the On-current and, thereby, reducing the On-Resistance. The proposed device exhibits ~93.5% improvement in On-current (ION), ~144% increase in transconductance (gm), ~29% reduction in specific On-resistance (RON,sp), ~360% improvement of intrinsic gain compared to the conventional SOI-LDMOS transistor. The dummy gates, which are in short with the source contact at zero potential, act as a field plate, and minimize the gate to drain capacitance due to the shielding effect. Improvement in the cut-off frequency (fT) and the maximum frequency (fMAX) is reported. The proposed device also offers a decrease of the gate to drain charge (QGD) leading to reduction in Figure of Merit RON,sp × QGD by ~31%. The increase of maximum power per unit area by ~52% is reported for power amplifier applications. It is shown that improving the On-State performance by tuning the dummy gate bias gives a simple, new, and cost-effective technology solution for power electronics applications.

Organic-inorganic metal halide perovskite materials, i.e., ABX3 (A = methylammonium, B = Pb, X = Cl, Br, I) have been proved to be outstanding for solar energy conversion. They provide a solution to renewable energy problems with good efficiency and cost-effective technology. Here, we report the initial calculations done by solving Kohn-Sham equations by the use of density function theory. The electronic structural and band gap of CH3NH3PbI3 material are obtained by using different exchange-correlation potential (PBE, PBE-sol, GGA). Further, solar cell devices with CH3NH3PbI3 as absorption layer and CdS/TiO2/ZnTe as buffer layer have been modeled; device physics is discussed and performance of solar cell structure is analyzed in terms of short circuit current density, open circuit voltage, efficiency, fill factor, and quantum efficiency. The maximum efficiency of CH3NH3PbI3 solar cell is found to be 19.6% with TiO2 buffer layer, whereas efficiency with ZnTe buffer layer is also comparable which is 19.5%. Further the effect of layer thickness and temperature are analyzed for maximum efficiency.

This article examines the health system performance impact of China's new round of healthcare reform adopted in 2009. Specifically, we evaluated productivity and efficiency of health production pre- and post-reform period, compared the effects across all the 31 provinces of mainland China and identified potential determinants. As a major source of disability and premature mortality in China, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) had been the focus of our analysis, and the period during 2008-2015 was considered to allow enough time for the policy to have meaningful impact on the country's health system. Productivity and efficiency performance were analyzed using a bootstrapping data envelopment analysis (DEA) and the Malmquist productivity index (MPI) techniques, while a Tobit regression technique was used to identify determinants of inefficiency. We find that after the reform efficiency and productivity had declined across large number of provinces. Mean overall technical efficiency (OTE) post 2009 was about 30% lower than the potential maximum capacity, while productivity also fell at a rate of 7.57% per annum. Trends in productivity and efficiency performance were largely linked to patterns of scale of technological change observed during the study period. The findings suggest that efficiency and productivity can be improved through enhancing financial security, optimizing health resource allocation, particularly between human resources for health and hospital beds, and expanding cost-effective technology within the health sector. Better urban planning practices and investment in education were also found to contribute to improved efficiency of NCDs services.

The main objective of the present study was to demonstrate microaeration as an effective strategy to boost the biotransformation of four parabens (methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben) in an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor operated at a short hydraulic retention time (8 h). Moreover, the effect of different airflow rates (1−4 mL min−1) was also assessed from an engineering and microbiological perspective. Low mean removal efficiencies (REs) (14–20 %) were achieved under anaerobic conditions. However, the addition of only 1 mL air min−1 (0.027 L O2 L−1 feed) remarkably boosted the biotransformation of parabens, ensuring mean REs above 85 % for all compounds. In contrast, the increase in the airflow rate had a minor impact on the process, and an apparent saturation in the removal capacity was observed, noticeably from 2 to 4 mL air min−1. The reactor presented high stability throughout the experiment, and microaeration did not impair the organic matter removal and methanogenesis. However, high airflow rates can dilute biogas, compromising its use as a fuel in combined heat and power units. The microaerobic conditions increased both richness and diversity of the reactor’s microbiota, likely favoring the growth of oxygenase-producing microorganisms, which may have played a role in the biotransformation of parabens. Finally, the high REs of parabens reached in the microaerated reactor, a more cost-effective technology, are comparable to those found in high-cost wastewater treatment systems, such as activated sludge and its variants.

Solar distillation technologies offer a viable solution to the need for access to clean and safe drinking water in water-stressed parts of the world. Solar still is a renewable and cost-effective technology with relatively low distilled water output and any attempts in the direction of improving their productivity and efficiency could bring a significant improvement in the quality of life in water-scarce regions. The effect of adding a humidifier-dehumidifier (HDH) system and applying a phase change material like paraffin wax to a simple passive solar still is being investigated in this paper. The performance of the solar still were found to have improved and the modified designs were able to provide a continuous output during the day time. The experiments revealed that by adding phase change materials to stepped solar still with HDH, the production of distilled water is increased by around 84.4% compared to stepped solar still equipped with HDH alone.

Chronic diseases among older adults carry a heavy burden on a country’s healthcare system and economy. As such, there is a critical need for the development of cost-effective, technology-based tools that can be scaled to meet the needs of older adults. Gait speed, for example, is an important predictor of change in functional status and health outcomes in older adults. There is no universally accepted method for measuring gait speed in clinical practice and research, and differences in methods may influence the observed associations between gait speed and health. Moreover, existing methods are sensitive to artifacts, which are present in burgeoning low-cost wearable devices. To overcome this limitation, this paper proposes an artifact-robust gait speed calculation method using spectro-temporal signal processing of accelerometer data. To this end, a new so-called modulation domain gait speed (MD-GS) metric is proposed and tested on data collected from forty older adults performing a 400-meter walk test with a sensor placed on a waist-worn belt. Average gait speed calculation is performed for each participant. Experimental results showed the proposed method achieved very high correlation ( $\rho =0.98$ ) with ground truth gait speeds, as well as low errors and error variability (0.05±0.14) m/s, thus substantially outperforming gait speed calculation using a well-known kinematic model. The increased robustness against artifacts, make it a promising solution for aging-in-home applications based on low-cost wearable devices.

Capacitive deionization (CDI) is a promising and cost-effective technology that is currently being widely explored for removing dissolved ions from saline water. This research developed materials based on activated carbon (AC) materials modified with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods and used them as high-performance CDI electrodes for water desalination. The as-prepared electrodes were characterized by cyclic voltammetry, and their physical properties were studied through SEM and XRD. ZnO-coated AC electrodes revealed a better specific absorption capacity (SAC) and an average salt adsorption rate (ASAR) compared to pristine AC, specifically with values of 123.66 mg/g and 5.06 mg/g/min, respectively. The desalination process was conducted using a 0.4 M sodium chloride (NaCl) solution with flow rates from 45 mL/min to 105 mL/min under an applied potential of 1.2 V. Furthermore, the energy efficiency of the desalination process, the specific energy consumption (SEC), and the maximum and minimum of the effluent solution concentration were quantified using thermodynamic energy efficiency (TEE). Finally, this work suggested that AC/ZnO material has the potential to be utilized as a CDI electrode for the desalination of saline water.

The research aim is to identify the most energy-saving and cost-effective technology for winter wheat cultivation. The maximum moisture content of soil was recorded when it was processed using Mini-till technology – from 17.2% to 17.9%, and the lowest - with traditional technology – from 15.7% to 16.4%. The lowest soil density with traditional winter wheat technology is both on the background with fertilizer (1.18%) and on the background without fertilizer (1.21%). The lowest contamination of crops with traditional technology without mineral fertilizers (42 pcs/м2). With the Mini-till technology, the total blockage increased to 51pcs/м2, and with the No-till technology, it was maximum- 128 pcs/м2. Against the mineral fertilizers, the same tendency of total blockage-from – from 40 pcs/м2 to 132 pcs/м2, respectively. With No-till technology, the total plant damage increased from 17.0 % to 14.6 %, with traditional treatment – from 12.4% to 10.1%, and with Mini-till technology-from 12.7% to 9.6%. The yield of winter wheat when using traditional plowing against the background of mineral fertilizer is 3.59 t / ha, and against the background without mineral fertilizer – 2.24 t / ha. The yield of Mini-till technology for mineral background is 3.13 t / ha, and without fertilizers-1.81 t / ha. With the No-till technology, the winter wheat yield is 1.69 t/ha, and without fertilizers – 1.11 t/ha. The highest level of profitability with Mini-till technology against the background of mineral fertilizers-73.2%.

The occurrence of pesticides even at low concentrations in drinking water sources might induce potential risks to public health. This study aimed to investigate the removal mechanisms of eight pesticides by the nitrifying expanded-bed filter using biological activated carbon media at the pretreatment of a drinking water plant. The field analysis demonstrated that four pesticides Flutolanil, Buprofezin, Chlorpyrifos, and Fenobucard, were removed at 82%, 55%, 54%, and 52% respectively, while others were not significantly removed. Under controlled laboratory conditions with continuous and batch experiments, the adsorption onto the biological activated carbon media was demonstrated to be the main removal pathway of the pesticides. The contribution of microorganisms to the pesticide removals was rather limited. The pesticide removals observed in the field reactor was speculated to be the adsorption on the suspended solids presented in the influent water. The obtained results highlighted the need to apply a more efficient and cost-effective technology to remove the pesticide in the drinking water treatment process. Keywords: biological activated carbon; drinking water treatment; nitrifying expanded-bed filter; pesticide removal.

In accordance with market relations, scientific approaches to the regional specialization and rational placement of agricultural production have been made. The article analyzes the economic growth of the country through the assessment of the territorial specialization of the state and its constituent entities, the effective use of domestic opportunities and potential of the regions of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the basis of scientific approaches, adaptation to agricultural market mechanisms. In addition, appropriate recommendations were made based on the results of consistent work carried out on the basis of regional specialization of agricultural production and crop placement. KEYWORDS: agricultural production, regional specialization, rational placement of crop types and varieties, regional natural and economic conditions, cost-effective technology, economic efficiency, assessment of regional specialization, free market conditions, efficient distribution

Visible light positioning has the potential to be a cost-effective technology for accurate indoor positioning. However, existing approaches often require large amounts of incoming data, usually in the form of high resolution images or dense lighting distributions. Additionally, a line of sight between transmitter and receiver is generally required at all times. In this work, we present a positioning approach that combines measurements from a camera, encoders and a gyroscope. We compare multiple algorithms for fusing these data, namely an extended Kalman filter, a particle filter and a hybrid approach. The end result is a system that provides location estimates even with sparse lighting distributions and temporary outages, yet achieves an average accuracy of 2 to 4 cm. Even in the 95th percentile of the cumulative error distribution, accuracy can be as low as 2 cm and is often lower than 10 cm. Moreover, due to the use of a low-resolution camera (640x480 pixels) and efficient fusion algorithms, the latency is relatively low on a standard laptop (between 5.6 and 21 milliseconds). Even on a low-cost embedded board, latency generally does not exceed 100 milliseconds. We validate our approach experimentally and show that it is robust under a wide range of illumination conditions.

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) offer a sustainable solution for alternative energy production by employing microorganisms as catalysts for direct conversion of chemical energy of feedstock into electricity. Electricity from urine (urine-tricity) using MFCs is a promising cost-effective technology capable of serving multipurpose benefits - generation of electricity, waste alleviation, resource recovery and disinfection. As an abundant waste product from human and animal origin with high nutritional values, urine is considered to be a potential source for extraction of alternative energy in the coming days. However, developments to improve power generation from urine-fed MFCs at reasonable scales still face many challenges such as non-availability of sustainable materials, cathodic limitations, and low power density. The aim of this paper was to critically evaluate the state-of-the-art research and developments in urine-fed MFCs over the past decade (2008-2018) in terms of their construction (material selection and configuration), modes of operation (batch, continuous, cascade, etc.) and performance (power generation, nutrient recovery and waste treatment). This review identifies the preference for sources of urine for MFC application from human beings, cows and elephants. Among these, human urine-fed MFCs offer a variety of applications to practice in the real-world scenario. One key observation is that, effective disinfection can be achieved by optimizing the operating conditions and MFC configurations without compromising on performance. In essence, this review demarcates the scope of enhancing the reuse potential of urine for renewable energy generation and simultaneously achieving resource recovery.

BackgroundPatients with mental health-related complaints are a key driver of increasing emergency medical service (EMS) demand; however, they require minimal intervention by EMS personnel. We describe the outcomes of a video telehealth study by mental health nurses (MHNs) in an EMS call-taking centre.MethodsThis was a prospective study of adult (≥18 years) EMS callers with non-urgent mental health concerns in Victoria, Australia who underwent secondary triage between 1 March 2020 and 31 May 2021. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to compare the influence of video telehealth with voice-only triage by an MHN or secondary triage practitioner on the need for ambulance dispatch. One-week follow-up was conducted with video telehealth patients. Interviews were conducted with MHNs and a cost analysis was performed.ResultsA total of 9588 patients were included of which 738 (7.7%) completed video consultation. The median age of video telehealth patients was 34 years (Q1: 24, Q3: 47), 62% were female and the most common complaint was suicidal or self-harm ideation (50.0%). After multivariable adjustment, video telehealth was associated with reduced odds of emergency ambulance dispatch (OR=0.173, 95% CI 0.144 to 0.209) when compared with voice-only triage by a secondary triage practitioner, but not voice-only triage by an MHN (OR=1.009, 95% CI 0.827 to 1.232). Video triage was associated with increased referrals to alternative services (excluding EDs) when compared with voice-only triage by an MHN (OR=1.321, 95% CI 1.087 to 1.606). Among those responding to 1-week follow-up, 92.8% were satisfied with the telehealth service and MHNs viewed it favourably. The average cost per video telehealth case was half that of a traditional secondary triage.ConclusionThe use of video telehealth by MHNs was associated with fewer emergency ambulance dispatches when compared with voice-only triage by secondary triage practitioners, and increased referrals to alternative services. This cost-effective technology was viewed favourably by patients and MHNs. Expansion of video technology in EMS call taking warrants exploration.

Soil salinity is a major issue limiting efficient crop production. Seed priming with nanomaterials (nanopriming) is a cost-effective technology to improve seed germination under salinity; however, the underlying mechanisms still need to be explored. Here, polyacrylic acid coated nanoceria (cerium oxide nanoparticles) (PNC, 9.2 nm, -38.7 mV) are synthesized and characterized. The results show that under salinity, PNC priming significantly increases rapeseed shoot length (41.5%), root length (93%), and seedling dry weight (78%) compared to the no-nanoparticle (NNP) priming group. Confocal imaging results show that compared with NNP group, PNC priming significantly reduces reactive oxygen species (ROS) level in leaf (94.3% of H

A large amount of lab-based research has shown that algae can be used for wastewater treatment and biofuel production. However, on the large scale there are significant practical limitations that must be overcome, including infrastructure costs, energy and water costs, slow algal growth rates, separation of algae from the medium, and algal cell lysis for downstream use. This chapter will: (1) explore the practical aspects of growing algae for bioremediation of agriculture waste, (2) review the use of algae as a substrate for methane production, and (3) provide the latest downstream processing techniques for algae separation and cell lysis. Where possible cost of the technologies and process economics are discussed, enabling the reader to determine whether or not algal bioremediation may be a cost-effective technology for specific applications.

The wide presence of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the environment is a global concern, thus their degradation is an imminent task. In this study, oxidative and/or reductive degradation of three representative PFAS – perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was achieved using nanoscale zero-valent iron (Fe0 NPs) under ultraviolet (UV) light, both with and without the presence of oxygen. Higher degradation and defluorination rates were obtained for a longer chain PFNA compared to PFOA, and a higher removal of PFAS was achieved without the presence of O2 compared to that with O2. The degradation followed first-order reaction kinetics, and obtained the highest rates of 97.6, >99.9, and 98.5% without the presence of O2 for PFOA, PFNA, and PFOS, respectively. The degradation rates increased with an increase in the nanoparticle concentrations in the range of 1–100 mg/L. In addition to fluoride ions, shorter chain perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) were detected as the main intermediates during PFAS degradation; PFHpS and 6:2 FTS were also detected during PFOS degradation. Hydroxyl radicals (·OH) and superoxide radicals (·O2−) were not involved in the degradation of PFOA, but likely involved in the degradation of PFOS. Emerging contaminants PFAS degradation using the UV/Fe0 system is a cost-effective technology owing to the low cost and recyclability of Fe0 nanomaterials, low energy consumption in the system, and its capability to degrade PFAS both with and without the presence of oxygen. This technology can be potentially applied to treat PFAS-contaminated waters in the environment.

To eliminate organic micropollutants (OMPs) from (surface) water, activated carbon adsorption is a cost-effective technology to remove a broad range of OMPs without producing any byproducts. However, co-existing dissolved organic matter (DOM), at much higher concentrations (mg C/L) than OMPs (ng/L-μg/L), inducing adsorption competition, can interfere with OMP removal. Direct site competition and pore blocking are two DOM competition mechanisms, and low molecular weight (LMW) DOM has been recognized as the major competitor in the site competition against OMPs. However, the insights into DOM molecular properties are limited with regard to DOM competition. Therefore, the objective of this research was to relate (LMW) DOM properties to the competitiveness against OMPs, clarify the mechanism of direct site competition, and explore a useful DOM surrogate to predict DOM competitiveness.Model DOM compounds (mDOMs) could be described individually and more accurately with molecular properties than a complex, real DOM matrix in water. To elucidate the impact of LMW DOM characteristics (hydrophobicity/polarity and aromaticity) on DOM competitiveness, fifteen model compounds (mDOM), differed in functional groups (hydroxyl, phenol, carboxyl groups, etc.), were used to represent several elemental structures of LMW DOM. By temporarily occupying adsorption sites prior to OMPs, LMW mDOM was found to be more competitive to inhibit OMP adsorption kinetics than OMP adsorption equilibrium. Although OMPs were more preferentially adsorbed onto activated carbon than mDOM, the large concentration asymmetry (~500 μg DOC/μg OMP) made a few mDOM compounds exert strong competition against OMPs. The mDOM competitiveness increased when compounds were more hydrophobic and more aromatic, whereas π-π interactions were more important to determine mDOM competitiveness than hydrophobic interaction for LMW mDOM compounds. As an integrated indicator, mDOM adsorbability, defined by mDOM adsorption capacity, was considered better to associate with mDOM competitiveness than hydrophobicity and aromaticity individually. The competition was found to be strong between strongly adsorbable mDOM and weakly adsorbable OMPs, where weakly adsorbable mDOM could even co-adsorb with strongly adsorbable OMPs with little to no competition.To relate DOM adsorbability to competitiveness in natural waters, a two-stage adsorption procedure was designed to differentiate the adsorption of DOM fractions and OMPs by removing variously adsorbable DOM fractions with activated carbon pretreatment and analyzing the competitiveness of the remaining DOM fractions. Our results demonstrated that adsorbable (LMW) DOM was not necessarily competitive against OMPs. In addition, an increasing amount of DOM competitors was observed against the weaker adsorbable OMPs, compared to their stronger adsorbable counterparts. Similarly, more DOM competitors were identified at high initial OMP concentrations, due to the increased loading of OMPs on activated carbon, highlighting the variable roles (varying competitiveness/ complementary adsorption) of differently adsorbable DOM fractions in competition.To elucidate the role of molecular weight (MW), polarity and aromaticity in DOM competition from a natural DOM with a complex molecular composition, activated carbon and anion exchange resin (AER) pretreatment served for differentiating competitive DOM from natural DOM. Ultrahigh-resolution Fourier transform mass spectrometry was employed for the DOM analysis at the molecular level. A large percentage of molecular formulas in untreated DOM was PAC-absorbable (97.8% for 40 mg PAC/L), while ~75% of PAC-absorbable formulas were considered poorly competitive, since these molecular formulas were not detected in DOM remaining after AER pretreatment that was highly competitive. The semi-quantitative analysis revealed that aromaticity was the dominant factor for LMW DOM adsorbability and competitiveness. In contrast, with higher MW, the competitiveness of an increasing number of aromatic DOM compounds was diminished due to strong dissociation induced by relatively high polarity.Finally, the interference of ozone-modified NOM with the adsorption of 2-methylisoborneol (MIB, an odorous OMP) was studied in three natural waters and one standard humics solution in order to study how ozonation influences the competitiveness of DOM with different MW distributions. In the three natural waters, it was found that reducing NOM competition against MIB was found to coincide with increasing ozone consumption. The cleavage of the macromolecules in a standard humics solution, with larger molecular weight and higher aromaticity than the humics in natural waters, only induced a slightly stronger competition under low/moderate ozone consumptions. Overall, the declined aromaticity outweighed the produced LMW DOM in the competitiveness of DOM against MIB in ozonated natural waters. The UV absorbance of the LMW DOM was better correlated with the competitiveness of ozonated/non-ozonated waters than the LMW DOM concentration itself, underlining the role of LMW hydrophobic aromatics in competitive adsorption prediction.From this thesis, it could thus be concluded that the DOM competition against OMPs is not ubiquitous for all (adsorbable, LMW) DOM fractions. The amount of DOM competitors, as well as their competitiveness, strongly varies with to OMP adsorbability and the initial OMP concentrations (i.e., the concentration asymmetry). For LMW DOM, aromaticity was a key characteristic to promote DOM competitiveness, while the high polarity reduced the DOM competitiveness by DOM dissociation (and thus high hydrophilicity/polarity). To project the competitiveness of ozonated DOM of which the hydrophobicity and aromaticity were simultaneously diminished, LMWUV can then be a handy DOM surrogate instead of LMW DOM concentration itself.

This chapter gives an overview of how artificial intelligence is used by the retail sector to enhance customer experience and to improve profitability. It provides information about the role of the pandemic in stimulating AI adoption by retailers. It deliberates on how AI tools help retailers to engage customers online and in stores. Firms gain better understanding of customers, design immersive experiences, and enhance customer lifetime value using cost-effective technology solutions. It discusses popular AI algorithms like recommendation algorithm, association algorithm, classification algorithm, and predictive algorithm. Popular applications in retail include chatbots, visual search, voice search engine optimisation, in-store assistance, and virtual fitting rooms.

In this work, glycolysis of post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate with simultaneous dissolution and decomposition with a mixture of bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate and its oligomers is studied. High efficiency of this process was shown. For the glycolysis agent containing 75 wt% bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate and 25 wt% dimer and oligomers, the optimal molar ratio of the glycolysis agent units to the polyethylene terephthalate units is 5:1. On the basis of the process, a productive and cost-effective technology can be developed for the chemical destruction of post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate. A formula for calculating the bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate conversion taking into account the presence of oligomers in it is proposed.

Faridmarandi S, Khare YP, Naja GM. 2020. Long-term regional nutrient contributions and in-lake water quality trends for Lake Okeechobee. Lake Reserv Manage. XX:XXX–XXX. A long-term dataset was used to investigate the historical regional changes in Lake Okeechobee water quality from water year 1974 to 2018. During this period, the total phosphorus (TP) load from the northern region to the lake remained statistically stable while the in-lake TP concentrations showed a statistically significant increasing trend, despite decades of state plans to restore this ecosystem. During the investigated period of record, the inflow TP flow weighted mean concentration from the southern region had a slightly higher value of 0.191 mg/L (when compared to the northern region) with a statistically significant increasing trend. The average annual total nitrogen unit area inflow loading (678.6 kg/km2) and flow weighted mean concentration (4.35 mg/L) into Lake Okeechobee from the southern region had the highest levels when compared to other regions. Lake Okeechobee TP sedimentation rate showed a statistically significant decreasing trend indicating a reduction in the capacity of the lake sediments to assimilate phosphorus. Results showed that the lake sediments may become a continuous source of phosphorus in water year 2035. Sustained and long-term efforts on the scale of decades will be required for restoring the lake using a multipronged approach consisting of mainly the implementation of nutrient/fertilizer best management practices and the construction of ∼200 km2 of constructed wetlands for a total project cost of US$4.26 billion. Unless a proven cost-effective technology is developed to tackle the legacy TP problem in the lake sediments, a prioritization of state resources is required while focusing on Lake Okeechobee watershed.

Microalgae readily develop tolerance against environmental pollutants and are also capable of utilizing heavy metals in their metabolic activities. Microalgae-based heavy metal removal provides an eco-friendly, cost-effective technology to treat wastewater. In this study, a strain of the green alga Chlorococcum aquaticum, isolated from water polluted with Pb2+, was selected for bioremediation of Pb2+ in aqueous solutions. Chlorococcus aquaticum showed a high level of tolerance toward Pb2+ with an LC50 of 100 mg L−1. To assess the efficacy and practicality of the bioremediation process, adsorption isotherms and kinetic models were developed. The best-fitted adsorption model was Freundlich isotherm with the adsorption constant (KF) = 2.18 mg g−1 and n = 1.01, suggesting a multilayer adsorption to heterogeneous surfaces. The kinetic studies revealed that the interaction of Pb2+ with C. aquaticum obeys pseudo second-order kinetics with the rate constant (k′) = 1.21 × 10−5 g mg−1 min−1 and the amounts of Pb2+ adsorbed per gram of adsorbent at equilibrium (qe) = 500 mg g−1, indicating that the rate determining step involves a chemical reaction mechanism. Chlorococcum aquaticum showed a high tolerance toward Pb2+, high adsorption capacity and a moderate adsorption rate. Thus, growing C. aquaticum can be identified as a potential environmentally friendly and low-cost sorbent to remove a wide range of Pb2+concentrations from wastewater.

Kerala State in India has 4.3% of the total number of small-scale industries in the country which is around 4,52,826 and this number is increasing per annum. Even though industrialization and urbanization are considered as the steppingstone to a country’s development, the effluents released into the water bodies may lead to unrepairable damage to the aquatic environment thereby affecting livelihood of coastal people. The present investigation was done in Cochin inshore waters (9° 59’ 12. 56” N and 76° 16’ 20. 74” E) polluted due to effluent discharge into the canal water connecting to the sea through the lake. The chemical parameters showed wide variation in ammonia content in effluent water which was found to be very high with a value of 4.05 mg/l compared to the normal estuarine water (0.14 mg/l) and was 96% higher in effluent water. Similarly, the phosphate and silicate content of the effluent water was about 84.3 and 87.6% higher than the normal estuarine water. The presence of heavy metals like zinc as well as copper was also observed in the effluent. Experiment conducted in the laboratory using aquatic plants like Eichhornia crassipes, Pistia stratiotes and mangrove such as Rhizophoramucronata and Bruguiera gymnorrhiza for 5 days showed increase in DO and BOD level with decreasing TSS and nutrients. The absorption of ammonium ion was quite low, ranging from 4.0 -10.5%, but toxicity of ammonia was observed to affect the aquatic plant and mangrove used for treatment. The biosorption study was carried out for the removal of heavy metals from the effluent by passing through a column packed with seaweed powder of Sargassum wightti and Kappaphycus alvarezii. Sargassum could accumulate zinc 17.6 (mg/kg) and copper (1.96 mg/kg) whereas Kappaphycus could accumulate 76.1 (mg/kg) of zinc and 16.64 (mg/kg) of copper in different effluent collected from outfall area leaving the elute below the detection level. The main aim of this study is to bring forth a new concept of eco-friendly processes to counter contamination of water bodies by phytoremediation using various aquatic plants and suggest the industries to implement this cost effective technology of effluent treatment. This will ensure reuse of freshwater and protect the fragile aquatic system from pollution besides mining the heavy metals from the seaweed through phytomining.

A real-time vehicle monitoring is crucial for effective bridge maintenance and traffic management because overloaded vehicles can cause damage to bridges, and in some extreme cases, it will directly lead to a bridge failure. Bridge weigh-in-motion (BWIM) system as a high performance and cost-effective technology has been extensively used to monitor vehicle speed and weight on highways. However, the dynamic effect and data noise may have an adverse impact on the bridge responses during and immediately following the vehicles pass the bridge. The fast Fourier transform (FFT) method, which can significantly purify the collected structural responses (dynamic strains) received from sensors or transducers, was used in axle counting, detection, and axle weighing technology in this study. To further improve the accuracy of the BWIM system, the field-calibrated influence lines (ILs) of a continuous multi-girder bridge were regarded as a reference to identify the vehicle weight based on the modified Moses algorithm and the least squares method. In situ experimental results indicated that the signals treated with FFT filter were far better than the original ones, the efficiency and the accuracy of axle detection were significantly improved by introducing the FFT method to the BWIM system. Moreover, the lateral load distribution effect on bridges should be considered by using the calculated average ILs of the specific lane individually for vehicle weight calculation of this lane.

Aqueous rechargeable zinc–iodine batteries are emerging high-safety and cost-effective technology for large-scale energy storage. However, the high solubility of discharge species polyiodide in aqueous electrolyte is the major challenge for iodine cathode. Herein, the polyiodide doped conductive polymer cathode is proposed to suppress the dissolution of active materials in electrolyte. High reversible capacity of 160 mAh/g and remarkable cycling stability with capacity retention of 79% after 700 cycles at 1.5 A/g are achieved.

Routine analytical methods are constrained in the speed of application, sample throughput and inability to determine the right bioavailable loading of pollutants. Microbial biosensor technology resolved these constraints by offering the most rapid, sensitive, reliable and cost-effective technology, especially in a bioavailable context. This study describes the growth characterisation and optimisation of three different lux-marked biosensors and their induction bioassay, thus testing their responses to doses of target hydrocarbons (naphthalene, toluene, Isopropylbenzene) and solution of mixed hydrocarbons. These biosensors, Pseudomonas fluorescence HK44, Escherichia coli HMS174 and Pseudomonas putidaTVA8 harbours luxCDABE reporter genes coupled to induction by hydrocarbons. Biosensors harvested at optimal exponential phase and induced with hydrocarbon using the optimised assay conditions are highly sensitive and responsive to their inducers in a proportionate dose-dependent status. The established dose responses of these catabolic biosensors signify the prospect of extrapolation for estimating the genuine contamination loading of pollutants for environmental relevance. However, several factors may contribute to the quenching effect at high concentration of inducers. Robust responsiveness to mixed hydrocarbon solution has been also realised accentuating its feasibility in analysing of real environmental samples containing heterogenous pollutants. This study emphasises the suitability of bioluminescent bacterial biosensors for pollutants analysis and notably the detection of soluble bioavailable fractions of diverse hydrocarbons, hence, serves as a reliable bioindicator of hydrocarbon pollution in an environment. Even so, the real value of biosensors is for a suite of ecologically justified biosensors to be applied in complementary combinations with other focused analytical or chemical methods for broad and resourceful inference.

Green manuring is a cost-effective technology to sustain soil fertility and enhance activities of soil micro-flora and micro-fauna. The comparison between mycoflora associated with the decomposition of Sesbania aculeata L. green manure under nylon net bag and mycoflora inhabiting soil mixed green manure at experimental site was investigated. During the study abundance, frequency and occurrence of both type of mycoflora was investigated. Maximum moisture content was recorded in the month of July and thereafter it decreased. The average number of fungi involved in the decomposition of Sesbania aculeata L. was found to be dependent on physical climate viz., moisture content, rainfall, temperature and relative humidity. The highest occurrence of mycoflora in experimental condition (48.95×104 per g green manure) and natural condition (47.85×104 per g green manure) was found in the month of July, whereas in the month of June lowest occurrence of mycoflora in both conditions was recorded. The number of fungi slightly decreased in August and thereafter declined gradually up to December. From the above finding, pattern of fungal succession on decomposing green manure was deciphered that may enable rapid decomposition of agricultural wastes.

Interfacial solar-steam generation is a promising and cost-effective technology for both desalination and wastewater treatment. This process uses a photothermal evaporator to absorb sunlight and convert it into heat for water evaporation. However solar-steam generation can be somewhat inefficient due to energy losses via conduction, convection and radiation. Thus, efficient energy management is crucial for optimizing the performance of solar-steam generation. Here, via elaborate design of the configuration of photothermal materials, as well as warm and cold evaporation surfaces, performance in solar evaporation was significantly enhanced. This was achieved via a simultaneous reduction in energy loss with a net increase in energy gain from the environment, and recycling of the latent heat released from vapor condensation, diffusive reflectance, thermal radiation and convection from the evaporation surface. Overall, by using the new strategy, an evaporation rate of 2.94 kg m−2 h−1, with a corresponding energy efficiency of solar-steam generation beyond theoretical limit was achieved.

Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) north of Australia in the Indonesian–Australian Basin are significantly influenced by Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO), an eastward-moving atmospheric disturbance that traverses the globe in the tropics. The region also has large-amplitude diurnal SST variations, which may influence the air–sea heat and moisture fluxes, that provide feedback to the MJO evolution. During the 2018/19 austral summer, a field campaign aiming to better understand the influences of air–sea coupling on the MJO was conducted north of Australia in the Indonesian–Australian Basin. Surface meteorology from buoy observations and upper-ocean data from autonomous fast-profiling float observations were collected. Two MJO convective phases propagated eastward across the region in mid-December 2018 and late January 2019 and the second MJO was in conjunction with a tropical cyclone development. Observations showed that SST in the region was rather sensitive to the MJO forcing. Air–sea heat fluxes warmed the SST throughout the 2018/19 austral summer, punctuated by the MJO activities, with a 2°–3°C drop in SST during the two MJO events. Substantial diurnal SST variations during the suppressed phases of the MJOs were observed, and the near-surface thermal stratifications provided positive feedback for the peak diurnal SST amplitude, which may be a mechanism to influence the MJO evolution. Compared to traditionally vessel-based observation programs, we have relied on fast-profiling floats as the main vehicle in measuring the upper-ocean variability from diurnal to the MJO time scales, which may pave the way for using cost-effective technology in similar process studies.

Reducing input of phosphorus is the key step for control of eutrophication and algal blooming in freshwater lakes. Adsorption technology is a cost-effective technology for phosphate removal in water for the purpose. Thus, in this study, a novel Fe–Mn–La tri-metal composite sorbent was developed, and then evaluated for phosphate removal. The results showed that the maximum adsorption capacity could be approached to 61.80 mg g−1 at 25°C under pH of 6.03. Adsorption of phosphate by Fe–Mn–La tri-metal composite adsorbent fitted better by pseudo-second-order kinetic equation and Langmuir model, which suggested that the adsorption process was surface chemical reactions and mainly in a monolayer coverage manner. The thermodynamic study indicated that the adsorption reaction was an endothermic process. The phosphate removal gradually decreased with the increasing of pH from 3.02 to 11.00. The sequence of coexisting anions competing with phosphates was that CO32− > Cl− > SO42− > NO3−. Dissolved organic matter, fulvic acid as a representative, would also decrease adsorption capacities of phosphate by Fe–Mn–La tri-metal composite adsorbents. Adsorption capacity would be decreased with increasing addition of adsorbents, while removal efficiency would be increased in this process. The Fe–Mn–La tri-metal composite adsorbent showed a good reusability when applied to removal of dissolved phosphate from aqueous solutions. The Fourier transform infrared spectrometer and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses indicated that some hydroxyl groups (–OH) on the surface of adsorbent were replaced by the adsorbed PO43−, HPO42−, or H2PO4−. Aggregative results showed that the novel Fe–Mn–La tri-mental composite sorbent is a very promising adsorbent for the removal of phosphate from aqueous solutions.

Structure-based drug design (SBDD) and ligand-based drug design (LBDD) are the two basic approaches of computer-aided drug design (CADD) used in modern drug discovery and development programme. Virtual screening (or in silico screening) has been used in drug discovery program as a complementary tool to high throughput screening (HTS) to identify bioactive compounds. It is a preliminary tool of CADD that has gained considerable interest in the pharmaceutical research as a productive and cost-effective technology in search for novel molecules of medicinal interest. Docking is also used for virtual screening of new ligands on the basis of biological structures for identification of hits and generation of leads or optimization (potency/ property) of leads in drug discovery program. Hence, docking is approach of SBDD which plays an important role in rational designing of new drug molecules. Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) is an important chemometric tool in computational drug design. It is a common practice of LBDD. The study of QSAR gives information related to structural features and/or physicochemical properties of structurally similar molecules to their biological activity. In this paper, a comprehensive review on several computational tools of SBDD and LBDD such as virtual screening, molecular docking and QSAR methods of and their applications in the drug discovery and development programme have been summarized. Keywords: Virtual screening, Molecular docking, QSAR, Drug discovery, Lead molecule

Lateral flow assays (LAFs) especially integrated with a microfluidic chip, provides a simple, rapid, user-friendly, potable robust, and cost-effective technology for broad assays. However, this technology suffers from low sensitivity. In this paper, one kind of automatic roller of tap, which can be precisely controlled to replace sample tap was integrated into the microfluidic LAFs platform. And then, on-stripe repeated injection and concentration were realized with this simple mechanic unit. The minimum detection concentration for human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) was 1.26 ng/mL, comparable with literature using complex enzyme/chemical reaction-based signal amplification. The linear relationship between the signal intensity and enrichment times reflected the good reproducibility of the novel device. At the same time, the good linear relationship between the predicted accumulation quantity of HCG and the gray value of bands is very meaningful for quantitative detection. Consequently, this novel universal approach shows great potential in the rapid trace analysis and broaden the application of LAFs with its attractive characteristics.

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are now intensively developed as a cost-effective technology alternative to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) for large-scale energy storage because of their various advantages such as huge abundance of sodium resources, highly safe and significantly low cost. Among many other cathode materials, layered 3d-transition metal oxides (LTMO-NaxMO2, x ≤ 1 and M = Co, Ni, Mn, Cr, Cu, Fe and V) have gained an enormous interest and attractive attention among researchers because of their low-cost, high energy density and ease of synthesis. In addition, LTMOs offer higher reversible capacities because of relatively lower molecular weights; however, complex phase transformations limit their cycling life. Based on the previous research, it was examined that the crystalline phase of LTMO highly influences the electrochemical performance of SIBs; therefore, this review mainly focuses on the latest advances of various crystalline phases such as P2-type, P3-type, O3-type and biphase/multiphase materials and its strength as well as future prospects and challenges.

Cloud Computing is the important buzzword in the today’s world of computer. Cloud is global platform that allows digital information to be stored and distributed at very less cost and very fast to use. In these days since the data is very big in size many users are interested to store their valuable data in the cloud .The application software and databases in cloud computing are moved to the centralized large data centers, where the management of the data and services may not be fully trustworthy. Cloud Computing is scalable, fast, flexible, and cost-effective technology platform for IT enabled services over the internet. There are various advantages of cloud computing but ultimately cloud service users have to put their data over the cloud i.e., third party servers which are not directly controlled by the data owner Data security has consistently been a major issue in information technology In cloud computing in users perspective mainly in government ,industry and business Data security and ivacy protection issues are relevant to both hardware and software in the cloud architecture. Cloud security is becoming a key differentiator and competitive edge between cloud providers. In spite of various benefits that are provided by the cloud computing services, cloud computing service users are very much afraid about the security of their data .So this paper focuses on various issues regarding cloud computing, data security and how cloud provides data integrity, confidentiality, availability over user’s data? How data stored over cloud storage servers will be protected from attackers? Risk management of data present on the Cloud is another challenge. There is a requirement to identify the risks an organization would be taking while hosting data and services on the Cloud. In this paper, we present those issues that are preventing people from adopting the cloud and to minimize risks of these issues.

The objective of the work is to try and assess the applicability and manufacturing possibilities to optimize an enteric coated tablet formulation containing Rabeprazole sodium as the drug aiming at the anti-acidity activity with desired drug release properties. Enteric coated tablet was chosen as dosage form being a cost-effective technology for pharmaceutical industry requiring fewer procedures. Before the implementation of the pharmaceutical technological aims, analysis of critical factors influencing the manufacture was carried out. Reproducible manufacturing processes are required to achieve suitability and tablets uniformity to achieve the uniform properties of tablets, which could influence experimental parameters. Rabeprazole in core content of tablet is blended with HPMC (different grades), xanthan gum, PVPK30, mannitol, crosspovidone, Sodium starch glycolate, Colloidal silicon dioxide to formulate the product. Prepared formulation was tested for weight and content uniformity, physical characteristics, in vitro dissolution behaviour, acid resistance and accelerated stability studies. All studies performed resulted and revealed for assurance of such enteric coated tablet formulation for drug Rabeprazole with optimum characteristics, concluding it as a promising approach to enhance drug release characteristics. Keywords: Rabeprazole, HPMC, enteric coated tablets, In Vitro evaluation.

In Arequipa (Peru), a small-scale tannery industry cannot afford costly or complicated methods for effluent treatment. In this work, we designed and tested a bubble column bioreactor for tannery effluent treatment based on the native filamentous fungi Penicillium citrinum and Trichoderma viride. The bioreactor construction used low-cost materials, with an easy-to-handle design. The parameters considered for testing were based on current Peruvian legislation. In the bioreactor, P. citrinum successfully reduced the effluent content of sulfides, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total suspended solids (TSS) and removed nearly 80% of the chromium (VI) after 120 h of reaction. The resulting treated effluent had a composition within the maximum limits permitted by Peruvian legislation. Trichoderma viride also reduced the content of TSS, COD and sulfides, but decreased the chromium (VI) concentration by only ~ 20% after the same reaction time. Both filamentous fungi were able to grow in the experimental conditions used and the bioremediation process occurred with no significant alteration in pH. These findings indicate that a bubble column bioreactor using P. citrinum as a bioremediator agent provides low-cost, effective technology for treating effluent waste produced by artisanal and small-size tannery factories in the region of Arequipa.

The indiscriminate exploitation of fossil fuels over a period of two centuries has eventually led us to a juncture where search for alternate energy sources and sustainable development has become inevitable. Solar energy remains the most reliable renewable energy source, efficient harnessing of which can serve to meet the future energy demands. Photo-assisted water splitting to generate hydrogen, a potential clean fuel has been the focus of current research in this field. Design and development of suitable materials for efficient solar energy conversion remains the major challenge to be tackled in this aspect. A cost-effective technology for conversion of solar energy is still a distant dream. The present paper attempts a general overview of the basic principles of water splitting with special focus on porphyrin-based systems as promising water splitting systems.

Study Design This is a two-group randomized controlled trial. Introduction Finger stiffness after treatment for metacarpal fractures often occurs due to poor compliance to the conventional rehabilitation programs. Gamification has shown success in improving adherence to and effectiveness of various therapies. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether gamification, using cost-effective devices was comparable with conventional physiotherapy in improving hand functions and adherence to rehabilitation in metacarpal fractures. Methods A 2-group randomized controlled trial involving 19 patients was conducted. Participants were randomized to a control (conventional physiotherapy, n = 10) or interventional group (gamification, n = 9). The grips strength and composite finger range of motion were measured at the baseline and each follow-up together with Patient-Rated Wrist and Hand Evaluation scores and compliance. Results There were no significant differences on improvements of grip strength (means difference 24.38 vs 20.44, P = .289) and composite finger range of motion (means difference 50.50 vs 51.11, P = .886). However, the gamification group showed better results in Patient-Rated Wrist and Hand Evaluation (mean 0.44 vs 8.45, P = .038) and compliance (P Discussion Our results suggest that gamification using a cost-effective device demonstrated similar effectiveness as conventional physiotherapy in post–metacarpal fracture rehabilitation. Conclusions Gamification using a mobile device is an inexpensive and safe alternative to conventional physiotherapy for hand rehabilitation after metacarpal fractures. It effectively serves as a guide for future development of cost-effective technology–enhanced therapy.

Heavy metal pollution threatens aquatic systems worldwide, and mining activities are an important pollution source. Currently, the treatment of polluted water using a cost-effective technology that can purify multiple pollutants and is sustainable, environmentally friendly, and simple is a major challenge. The in situ preparation of Mg–Al layered double hydroxides (LDHs) and the concurrent treatment of Zn, Cd, and Pb from mining wastewater are important for preventing multiple steps and increasing adsorption sites. This study focused on mining wastewater containing high concentrations of Mg2+ and Al3+, with anion chemistry controlled by SO42−, which facilitates the formation of LDHs. The required amounts of Mg2+ and Al3+ ions were added to the wastewater, and the conditions for the creation of Mg–Al LDHs were controlled. The heavy metals in the experimental wastewater were effectively removed after the treatment via Mg–Al LDH formation. The X-ray diffraction of the post-treatment products suggested the formation of Mg–Al LDHs. The Mg/Al molar ratio (2.3:1) in the product approached the initial ratio (2:1), which meets the general limits of Mg–Al LDH formation. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the products had a sheetlike stacked morphology, providing evidence for the formation of Mg–Al LDHs. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated that SO42− might be the intercalated anion in the Mg–Al LDH layers. Consequently, SO42− was removed from the mining wastewater, as it was captured between the LDH layers during the formation reaction of Mg–Al LDHs.

Sustainable development with environmental protection is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. There is a growing consideration of the sustainable development and environmental management in new industrial cities. Investigational aspects were carried out in El Obour city as Egyptian new industrial city for estimating the current wastewater problems as well as applying mitigation actions. Industrial inventory was constructed for selected industrial sectors as food, chemical and textile sectors including water consumption, materials and energy resources. Wastewater samples from different factories and lifting stations were analyzed for estimating the industrial effluent loads. The obtained data revealed that food sector represents the highest load for BOD and TSS with values of 80 ton BOD/day and 2.33 ton SS/day. For selected industrial sectors, cost-effective technology is applied to reduce the loads on the centralized wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) as well as on the lifting stations. Inorganic polymeric ferric chloride (POFC) coagulant gives higher removal efficiency for TSS and COD without pH control. Moreover, the chemicals cost for treating wastewater is reduced by 40 % with using POFC instead of conventional coagulants.

Microbial inoculants are suitable cost-effective technology to help plants endure drought. For the development of commercial inoculants, screening of efficient plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) is a crucial step. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of PGPB to modulate drought resistance in Sorghum bicolor. A pot experiment with sorghum was conducted to access the role of previously selected PGPB strains. In addition, two non-inoculated control treatments (with and without urea fertilization) were also evaluated. For comparison, a fully irrigated treatment (FIT) was also assessed. All plants were fully irrigated for 47 days when the water supply was completely suspended for the drought-stressed treatments. When the soil moisture was close to zero, the irrigation was resumed. During dehydration and rehydration process, the leaf gas exchange (LGE) was evaluated. The parameters of plant growth and nitrogen nutrition were assessed 8 days after reirrigation. Comparing to the FIT, all treatments reduced the LGE rates, but in the presence of Bacillus sp. ESA 402 photosynthesis rate was less reduced. Some inoculation treatments promoted better recovery of photosynthesis, comparable to the FIT, 6 days after rehydration. The plant growth and nitrogen nutrition were negatively affected by the drought, but the inoculation of different bacteria reduced some negative effects. The nitrogen accumulation in the shoots was increased by all strains, suggesting their diazotrophic ability even under drought. Overall, the inoculation of Bacillus sp. ESA 402 was the best bacterium with potential for future field trials.

Due to the variability of CO2 emission sources, proper selection of viable and cost-effective technology for carbon capture is highly critical. In this work, a comparative economic analysis of phys...

Healthcare industries generate enormous amount of data, so called big data that accommodates hidden knowledge or pattern for decision making. The huge volume of data is used to make decision which is more accurate than intuition. Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) detects mistakes, finds appropriate data, checks assumptions and determines the correlation among the explanatory variables. In the context, EDA is considered as analysing data that excludes inferences and statistical modelling. Analytics is an essential technique for any profession as it forecast the future and hidden pattern. Data analytics is considered as a cost effective technology in the recent past and it plays an essential role in healthcare which includes new research findings, emergency situations and outbreaks of disease. The use of analytics in healthcare improves care by facilitating preventive care and EDA is a vital step while analysing data. In this paper, the risk factors that causes heart disease is considered and predicted using K-means algorithm and the analysis is carried out using a publicly available data for heart disease. The dataset holds 209 records with 8 attributes such as age, chest pain type, blood pressure, blood glucose level, ECG in rest, heart rate and four types of chest pain. To predict the heart disease, K-means clustering algorithm is used along with data analytics and visualization tool. The paper discusses the pre-processing methods, classifier performances and evaluation metrics. In the result section, the visualized data shows that the prediction is accurate.

Plant incineration ash is the final product from the remediation of multi-metal contaminated soils by the phytoextraction process. The content of heavy metals in plant ash was found to be higher than the regulatory criteria and it was thus classified as hazardous waste. So far, no eco-friendly and cost-effective technology has been developed for the management of this residue. Herein, a cleaner strategy of bioleaching combined with brine leaching of multi-metals from plant ash was developed. The bioleaching results indicated that 88.7% (Zn), 93.2% (Cd), 99.9% (Mn) and 13.8% (Pb) were achieved under optimum conditions of Fe(II) concentration 6.0 g L−1, pH 1.8 and pulp density 15% (w/v). Subsequently, the introduction of brine leaching using 200 g L−1 NaCl significantly increased Pb recovery to 70.6% under conditions of 15% (w/v) pulp density, thereby ultimately achieving deep recovery of all metals. An investigation of the mechanism revealed that H+ attack and microorganisms were the dominant mechanism for bioleaching of Zn, Cd and Mn, and the bioleaching kinetics of Zn in ash were controlled by interface mass transfer and diffusion across the product layer. Risk assessment tests indicated that the leached residues could pass the TCLP test standard and be safely reused as nonhazardous materials. These findings demonstrated that the two-stage leaching strategy was feasible and promising for multi-metal removal from plant ash.