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The primary source of soil pollution is a complex mixture of numerous inorganic and organic compounds (including chlorinated compounds, nutrients, and heavy metals, etc.). The presence of all of these compounds makes remediation and cleanup difficult. In this study, the phytoremediation ability of Jatropha curcas and Pongamia pinnata was tested to remove nickel (Ni) and Zinc (Zn) from paper mill and municipal landfill contaminated soils, to understand the uptake potential and to estimate the accumulation pattern of Ni and Zn in the vegetative parts of the plant. The experiments were carried out in pots (3 kg capacity) and the different combinations of soil were made by mixing the contaminated soil with a reference soil (forest soil) as T 0 , T 25 , T 50 , T 75 and T 100. The plant biomass, chlorophyll content, proline, nitrate reductase activity and metal removal efficiency (%)were determined after 120 DAS (i.e., the days after sowing). The results of the study showed that with increasing metal stress, there is a reduction in the above-ground biomass content in both the plant species with a slightly less impact on the root biomass. Over a period of 4 months, J. curcas and P. pinnata removed 82–86% and 93-90% Ni, respectively. The removal of Zn was significantly less as compared to Ni as most of the Zn remained in the belowground part (roots) and in the soil. Besides, the phytostabilization capacities of the plants were calculated on the basis of their tolerance index (TI), bioaccumulation factor (BAF) and translocation factor (TF). The low BAF and TF values with increasing heavy metals (HMs) content indicates its higher phytostabilization capacity in the root and rhizospheric region as compared to phytoaccumulation. [Display omitted] • J. curcas and P. pinnata removes 82 - 86 % and 93- 90 % Ni respectively. • High biomass and bioaccumulation factor (BAF) > 1: Suitable for metal phytoextraction. • Low biomass and BAF < 1: Suitable for metal phytostabilization. • Low translocation factor (< 1) indicated the phytostabilization capacity of the plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the mystery of baryogenesis for isotropic and anisotropic universe models in the context of Rastall's theory of gravity (RTG). In the first part, we utilize the Rastall field equations (FEs) for the flat Friedmann Robertson Walker (FRW) metric to find the solutions of density ρ and Hubble parameter H. Additionally, Rastall parameter plays a crucial role to discuss baryogenesis and fulfilling its criteria on the observational ground. It is found that very large positive/negative values of Rastall parameter like λ ≥ 1 0 5 4 (for ω = 0) and λ ≤ − 1 0 2 2 (for ω = 1) are required to satisfy the observational bounds on baryon asymmetry factor (BAF), see Fig. 1. In the second part, we develop the FEs for RTG using the Locally Rotationally Symmetric (LRS) Bianchi type-1 line-element. Then we find the solutions of the FEs and use them to find the BAF using Rastall parameter as λ ≤ − 1 0 3 7 and anisotropic parameter n ≥ 2 to meet the consistency with the experimental limit, see Fig. 3. For n = 1 , the anisotropic model reduces to the isotropic FRW model, where we have a zero BAF. Finally, we conclude that RTG with both universe models is a good candidate to study baryogenesis in the early universe and the variable λ has a considerable impact on the BAF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current applications in the energy sector are based largely on fossil fuels which release greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. To face the issue of global warming, the energy sector has to transfer to and develop sustainable energy solutions that do not release carbon emissions. This is one of the primary motivators for the SDEWES conference as well as for this review, and previous ones, examining the most recent works based on sustainable and green energy production in such fields. The 17th Conference on the Sustainable Development of Energy, Water, and Environment Systems (SDEWES) was held on 6–10 November 2022 in Paphos, Cyprus. The SDEWES conference aims at solving complex and ongoing concerns that approach a long-term perspective and supporting innovative solutions and continuous monitoring and evaluation. This review paper aims at collecting the main presented papers focused on the following hot topics: low-carbon technologies based on renewable and clean-energy systems, including mainly biomass, solar, and wind energy applications; energy storage systems; hydrogen-based systems; energy-saving strategies in buildings; and the adoption of smart management strategies using renewable energy systems. These topics are investigated in order to propose solutions to address the issues of climate change, water scarcity, and energy saving. From the analyzed works, we note that some key issues for sustainable development remain to be further addressed: such as novel and advanced energy storage systems, green hydrogen production, novel low-temperature district heating and cooling networks, novel solar technologies for the simultaneous production of power and high temperature heat, solar desalination for hydrogen production systems, and agrivoltaic systems for the production of power and food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, Er3+ doped TeO 2 -ZnF 2 -BaF 2 -KF-Ta 2 O 5 tellurite glasses with low hydroxyl content (∼0.03 × 10−19 cm−3) were investigated employing both glass composition and glass melting process optimization. The Raman spectra and physical properties were characterized to analyze the structure of the glasses. Under the pumping of 980 nm LD laser, intense up-conversion fluorescence at 1.5 and 2.7 μm of samples and their lifetimes were detected and analyzed, and the related transition mechanisms with gradient-varying Er3+ doping concentrations were discussed. The maximum absorption and emission cross section at 2.7 μm was calculated to be 6.4 × 10−21 cm2 and 6.8 × 10−21 cm2, correspondingly, which were higher than those of traditional tellurite glasses. Using the calculated and measured spectroscopic parameters of bulk tellurite glass, a dual-wavelength pumping model was established to verify the feasibility of mid-infrared laser output in similar tellurite glass fiber. Experimental results support the assertion that the Er3+ doped tellurite glasses hold promise as a candidate laser gain medium for mid-infrared fiber laser systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns the Hellenistic and Early Roman cooking pottery originating from the area of Nea Paphos, Cyprus. Macroscopic examinations conducted on a few thousand local vessels and their fragments provided the detailed characterization of this group of pottery in terms of the appearance of fabric, typology, and chronology. The integration of these data with the results of laboratory analysis of selected samples revealed that the local production of cooking pottery changed through time in terms of clay composition, shapes, surface treatment, and firing techniques. The transformations observed within the local cooking pottery manufacture seem to correlate with political and social changes as well as the development of Nea Paphos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy-atom alkaline earth monofluoride molecules are considered as prospective systems to study spatial parity or spatial parity and time-reversal symmetry violating effects such as the nuclear anapole moment or the electron electric dipole moment. A comprehensive and highly accurate theoretical study of the electronic structure properties and transition energies in such systems can simplify the preparation and interpretation of the experiments. However, almost no attempts to calculate quantum electrodynamics (QED) effects' contribution into characteristics of these neutral heavy-atom molecules have been performed. Recently, we have formulated and implemented such an approach to calculate QED contributions to transition energies of molecules [L. V. Skripnikov, J. Chem. Phys. 154, 201101 (2021)]. In this paper, we perform a benchmark theoretical study of the transition energies in the Ba+ cation and BaF molecule. The deviation of the calculated values from the experimental ones is of the order 10 cm−1 and is more than an order of magnitude better than the "chemical accuracy," 350 cm−1. The achievement of such an agreement has been provided, in particular, by the inclusion of the QED effects. The latter appeared to be not less important than the high-order correlation effects beyond the coupled cluster with single, double, and perturbative triple cluster amplitude level. We compare the role of QED effects for transition energies with heavier molecules—RaF and E120F, where E120 is the superheavy Z = 120 homolog of Ra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is the editorial for the virtual special issue (VSI) of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (RSER) dedicated to three Sustainable Development of Energy Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES) Conferences held in 2022, namely: (i) the 5th South East European Conference SEESDEWES 2022 held from May 22 to 26, 2022 in Vlore, Albania; (ii) the 3rd Latin American LASDEWES 2022 held from July 24 to 28, 2022 in Sao Paulo, Brazil and (iii) the 17th SDEWES 2022 held from November 6 to 10, 2022 in Paphos, Cyprus. The VSI collected both high quality review papers and original research articles presented at these conferences, aligning with the aims and scope of RSER. Following a rigorous peer review process, seventeen articles were accepted and published. These articles explore techniques and technologies essential for advancing feasible Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems. Spanning multidisciplinary topics, many of them address almost all the Sustainable Development Goals, offering feasible solutions for much-needed decarbonization pathways. • The VSI SDEWES 2022 presents the ready solutions for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems. • Five clusters for presenting the Renewable and Sustainable energy cutting edge solutions. • The positioning in the scientific context of the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems. • Feasible solutions for much-needed decarbonization pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ever since 2002, when the first Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES) was held in Dubrovnik, the SDEWES conferences series has been providing a forum for world-wide scientists and those interested in learning about the sustainability of development, to present research progress and to discuss the state of the art, the future directions and priorities in the various areas of sustainable development. One of the main issues of the coming decades is to improve efficiencies by integrating various energy systems, using excess from one, as resource in another in the correct moment. Integrating electricity, heating, cooling, transport, water, buildings, waste, wastewater, industry, forestry and agriculture systems will be pivotal towards sustainable development. SDEWES has maintained high publishing standard as 2408 SDEWES papers were published in special issues of leading scientific journals including "Energy - The International Journal". In 2022, the 17th SDEWES Conference was held during November 6–10 in Paphos, Cyprus, the 5th SEE Conference took place in May 22–26, 2022 in Vlorë, Albania, the 3rd Latin American Conference was held through a virtual platform during July 24–28, 2022. The Energy journal has continued its cooperation with SDEWES launching a special issue dedicated to the 2022 Conferences. The special issue includes papers which traditionally cover a range of energy issues - higher renewables penetration and various technologies and fuels assessments at energy supply side, as well as, energy efficiency in various sectors, buildings, district heating, electric vehicles and demand modelling at energy demand side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The effect of protective layer on the performance of smart radiation devices is comprehensively evaluated. • The emission regulation can be enhanced to 0.65, while the solar absorption can be decreased to 0.18. • The performance of the proposed SRD meets the requirement of the spacecraft thermal control devices. • This work provides a theoretical basis for the design of more reasonable spacecraft thermal control devices. With the arrival of the space economy, the miniaturization of spacecraft and their multi-functional trends have put a greater demand on space thermal control systems. Smart radiation devices (SRDs) are gaining attention as a low-cost, light-weight material for the thermal control of spacecraft. Previous works have focused on how to enhance IR emittance tunability of SRDs. In fact, the SRDs performance and lifetime may be affected by the external space environment. Thus, researchers proposed to cover the SRDs with a protective layer to resist oxidation and other problems. However, the influence of protective layer on the performance of SRDs, including IR emittance tunability Δ ε and solar absorption α s , has not been studied systematically yet. In this paper, the impact of protective layer on the performance of SRDs is comprehensively evaluated in theory. Firstly, a three-layer SRD is composed of a vanadium dioxide (VO 2) film, BaF 2 , and a silver (Ag) substrate, which is optimized using the transfer matrix method. The IR emittance tunability and solar absorption can reach 0.64 and 0.29, respectively. Secondly, the smart thermal control device with three protection materials (BaF 2 , Al 2 O 3 and Si) is investigated. The results show that the performance of SRD can be enhanced or deteriorated, depending on the types of protection materials and the thickness. When the protection material is Si, the IR emittance tunability can be enhanced to 0.65, while the solar absorption can be decreased to 0.18. The performance of the proposed SRD meets the requirement of the spacecraft thermal control devices. We believe that this work provides a theoretical basis for the design of more reasonable spacecraft thermal control devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WRKY transcription factors (TFs) play an important role in regulating plant growth and responses to environmental stress. However, the molecular mechanism of WRKY to cadmium (Cd) stress is unclear, which prevents phytoremediation of Cd-contaminated soil from widely application. To determine the underlying mechanism, PyWRKY48 -overexpressing poplars were obtained (OE-32 and OE-67) to study the Cd tolerance and accumulation in poplars. Results showed that the Cd content in the aboveground part of the two transgenic poplar lines were 1.57 and 1.99 times higher than that of wild type (WT), and lateral roots, GSH, PCs content and GST activity increased significantly. RNA-seq. data about transgenic and WT poplars revealed that 2074 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in roots, 4325 in leaves, and 499 in both tissues. And these DEGs were mainly concentrated in ABC transport protein (PaABC), heavy-metal binding protein (PaHIPP), and transportation and loading of xylem (PaNPF , PaBSP) proteins, and they enhanced Cd accumulation. Meanwhile, PyWRKY48 increased the Cd tolerance of transgenic poplars by up-regulating the expression of PaGRP , PaPER and PaPHOS , which encode cell wall proteins, antioxidant enzyme, and heavy metal-associated proteins, respectively. In addition, overexpression PyWRKY48 promoted poplar growth by increasing the chlorophyll a nd carotenoid content. This study generated PyWRKY48 -overexpressing poplars and functionally verified them in Cd-contaminated soil, to analyze the effects of the gene on poplar growth, Cd tolerance and Cd accumulation. RNA seq. data revealed that several genes are involved in Cd exposure. This may provide a strong molecular basis and new ideas for improving the phytoremediation efficiency of Cd-contaminated soils. Importantly, the transgenic poplars grew better and accumulated more Cd than the wild-type. Therefore, PyWRKY48 -overexpressing poplars could be considered useful for mitigating environmental pollution. • Overexpressed PyWRKY48 poplars grew better than the wild type. • Overexpressed PyWRKY48 poplars enhanced cadmium tolerance and accumulation. • PaABC , PaHIPP , PaNPF , PaBSP , etc. may involve in cadmium stress induced by PyWRKY48. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a representative persistent organic pollutant and its disposal by mechanochemical (MC) technology emerges in recent years. However, degradation mechanism of PFOA especially rupture of C−F bonds during MC process is still unclear. Therefore, we innovatively employed barium titanate as co-milling reagent in MC system to disclose an electron-dominated reduction process. By stimulating piezoelectric effect of BaTiO 3 under MC impact, free electrons were generated. The results implied more than 95.00% degradation and 60.00% defluorination efficiency were obtained after 6 h′ ball milling. DPPH• was used as probe to confirm the existence of piezo-excited electrons, which were further verified to be major reactive species by atmosphere experiments. Thus, PFOA destruction was dominated by reduction process, characterizing by breakage of C−F bonds induced by electrons. Accordingly, the fate of organic fluorides was explored and BaF 2 was identified as final product. The cleavage of carboxyl group initiated PFOA decomposition, following by successive removal of CF 2 groups and elimination of F−. Moreover, the practical experiments and reusable trials implied promising application of this method. Overall, this paper provides a novel perspective for reductive decomposition of PFOA by MC technology and reveals the major role of electrons during reaction process. [Display omitted] • PFOA is reductive degraded in solid phase by MC technology using BaTiO 3. • Free electrons generated by piezoelectric effect is main reactive species. • Organic fluorine detaches from carbon chain and converts into BaF 2. • Effects of soil matrix is systematically evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The short-wavelength sub-nanosecond luminescence in BaF 2 material, discovered in the early 80s, gave a new direction to research into fast scintillators and phosphors. In contrast to 'typical' luminescence occurring within the forbidden band gap, the new type of emission was due to transitions between the upper core and valence bands. Thus it was named core-valence luminescence (CVL); the terms cross-luminescence and Auger-free luminescence have also been used. Given its unusual nature, this new luminescence process has attracted considerable interest in the field of condensed matter physics. During the sequent decades (till the end of the previous century) CVL has been experimentally observed in several dozen compounds and the conditions for detecting CVL have been established. Interest in this kind of luminescence increased in recent years due to the emergence of new methods of crystal synthesis, the development of high-speed solid-state photodetectors, and the construction of unique modern set-ups using synchrotron radiation. This paper analyzes the numerous studies of CVL, obtained mainly over the past decade. Experimental and theoretical data on this topic are considered in detail. Special attention is given to new results on scintillation characteristics of BaF 2 in the form of single crystals, ceramics, nanoparticles, and composites. The features of CVL in binary and ternary compounds are discussed. Some Cs- and Ba-based ternary halides show relatively high light yields and represent promising fast scintillators. The prospects of using materials with CVL as fast scintillators for time-of-flight positron emission tomography and other applications are deliberated. • Overview of recent theoretical and experimental findings on Core Valence luminescence. • Most attractive CVL crystals for ultrafast scintillator applications analyzed. • Prospects for future studies and underexplored CVL materials listed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• With the introduction of Tm3+, Dy3+ can achieve broadband emission between 2600 and 3400 nm. • The mid-infrared fluorescence intensity enhanced with the increase of Tm3+ due to the energy transfer process between Dy3+ and Tm3+. • Larger absorption and emission cross-sections the glass owned, the gain coefficient was also greatly improved. • The fluorescence lifetime at 2.9 μm were prolonged with the addition of Tm3+. We report the 2600–3400 nm strong mid-infrared (MIR) fluorescence emission with the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 355 nm in the zirconium fluoride glass incorporated with Dy3+, Tm3+ ions. In this paper, Dy3+, Tm3+ ions co-doped ZrF 4 -BaF 2 -LaF 3 -AlF 3 -YF 3 zirconium fluoride glasses are synthesized by high temperature melting method. Structure information is obtained by raman spectroscopy, and the maximum phonon energy of the synthesized glass is 575 cm−1. Optical performance is mainly characterized by transmission spectrum, absorption spectrum and emission spectrum, theoretical analysis is described by Judd-Ofelt (J-O) theory, cross sections and gain coefficient. Under the 808 nm Laser Diode (LD), the 2.9 μm mid-infrared emission intensity is significantly enhanced with the introduction of Tm3+, and the fluorescence lifetime is prolonged 1.85 ms, the relevant energy transfer mechanism has been further analyzed. All results show that the new glass material may be a potential medium for mid-infrared broadband fiber amplifiers and lasers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A boron-adjustment-free (BAF) control strategy was proposed for large PWRs. • A blocking logic for three independent control banks was first designed. • The strategy can realize the BAF load-follow operations of PWRs. • The blocking logic provides better AO control than that under MSHIM strategy. This paper proposes an advanced boron-adjustment-free (BAF) control strategy for large pressurized water reactors (PWRs). The strategy combines the advantages of fast power compensation of the boron-adjustment Mode-G control strategy with the closed-loop axial offset (AO) control through control rods in the Mechanical Shim (MSHIM) control strategy. It can achieve fast power compensation, exact coolant average temperature control, and automatic AO control through three independently-moving control banks, respectively. Also, to avoid mutual interference between the core power and AO control, a novel blocking logic for the three control banks was developed. Simulation results of a large PWR implementing the BAF control strategy indicate satisfactory load-follow capabilities of the reactor without the need to adjust boron concentration. Moreover, the proposed blocking logic can provide better AO control without compromising reactor power control than that referring the blocking logic of reactor power and AO control banks in the MSHIM control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of image-based localization (IBL) is to localize the real location of query image by matching reference image in database with GNSS-tags. Popular methods related to IBL commonly use street-level images, which have high value in practical application. Using street-level image to tackle IBL task has the primary challenges: existing works have not made targeted optimization for urban IBL tasks. Besides, the matching result is over-reliant on the quality of image features. Methods should address their practicality and robustness in engineering application, under metropolitan-scale. In response to these, this paper made following contributions: firstly, given the critical of buildings in distinguishing urban scenes, we contribute a feature called Building-Aware Feature (BAF). Secondly, in view of negative influence of complex urban scenes in retrieval process, we propose a retrieval method called Patch-Region Retrieval (PRR). To prove the effectiveness of BAF and PRR, we established an image-based localization experimental framework. Experiments prove that BAF can retain the feature points that fall on the building, and selectively lessen the feature points that fall on other things. While this effectively compresses the storage amount of feature index, we can also improve recall of localization results; implemented in the stage of geometric verification, PRR compares matching results of regional features and selects the best ranking as final result. PRR can enhance effectiveness of patch-regional feature. In addition, we fully confirmed the superiority of our proposed methods through a metropolitan-scale street-level image dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the effect of high effective atomic number (Z eff) materials loading in polystyrene based thin-film Plastic Scintillators (PS). Thin plastic scintillator sheets have been loaded with high Z materials such as BaFBr:Eu, Gd 2 O 2 S:Tb, Gd 2 O 3 , BaF 2 , CeO 2 and Bi 2 O 3. Polystyrene based PS sheets of 250 ± 50 μ m thickness have been prepared by dissolving predetermined quantities of polystyrene, 2,5-Diphenyloxazole (PPO) and 1,4-bis(5-phenyl-2-oxazolyl) benzene (POPOP) in the p-xylene solvent. High Z eff material powders of 23 μ m size are mixed in the plastic scintillator solution and coated over the cellulose acetate-based transparency sheets. The dried films are peeled off, and their photoluminescence, radioluminescence, pulse height spectrum and response to alpha, beta, gamma and neutron radiations are studied by adopting suitable methods. The high Z eff materials for loading in PS are selected based on their physical properties like refractive index, bandgap, Z eff , Photoluminescence (PL) properties. While the composite scintillator loaded with 14.3 wt% of BaFBr:Eu2+ showed significant increase compare to other high Z materials. The loading concentration has been optimized as 14.3 wt% from the BaFBr:Eu2+ studies. Most of the composite scintillators showed improvement in radioluminescence and pulse height spectra for different radiations. • Polystyrene based thin plastic scintillator have been prepared by solvent-based fabrication method. • Thin composite plastic scintillator are studied with high Z eff material loading. • High Z eff material loaded composite scintillators showed enhanced response to radiation. • BaFBr:Eu loaded composite PS has shown the best promising result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]