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This article deals with the numerical simulation of a two-dimensional instantaneous heat and mass transfer processes within a commonly used intermetallic compound (a.k.a. Mischmetal) packed in a unit disc of an annulus-disc reactors, during hydrogen gas desorption. Using the finite volumes technique bundled in the OpenFOAM® CFD code, temperature and amount of desorbed hydrogen and their time-averaged quantities inside the metal-hydride packed bed are obtained for various temperatures of fluids used in heat transfer, and several outlet pressure magnitudes. Using a set of numerical simulations, we have emphasized the impacts of both parameters on metal-hydride reactor performance related to discharging time. An excellent accord was recorded for the present simulations results compared against the literature-reported experimental data [20].

Hydrogen as an energy vector is seen as a key for the energy transition. Recently, more than 30 countries have launched their hydrogen strategies and roadmaps. Hydrogen storage and transportation are challenging steps of the hydrogen economy since all available options have significant drawbacks. This paper evaluates a power-to-liquid hydrogen process; the system is “charged” with electricity from renewable sources to produce hydrogen via water electrolysis; the produced hydrogen gas is liquefied and stored at ambient pressure and cryogenic temperature. The purpose of this paper is to report the first evaluation results of a system including a polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyser and a hydrogen liquefier. The evaluation was conducted using exergy-based methods, i.e. exergetic, exergoeconomic and exergoenvironmental analyses. The process of hydrogen liquefaction was simulated with the aid of the Aspen Plus software. The exergetic efficiencies for the liquefaction process and for the electrolyser are 42% and 47%, respectively. While the total exergetic efficiency of the power-to-liquid hydrogen system amounts to 44%. The total exergy destruction for the liquefier amounts to 9.3 MW and for the polymer electrolyser membrane electrolyser amounts to 19.3 MW. The electrolyser followed by the hydrogen compressors were identified as the components with the highest exergy destruction values and investment costs, while the compressors and the recuperators account for the highest exergoenvironmental impact. The sensitivity analysis shows that the specific liquefaction cost of hydrogen strongly varies with the electricity price and the cost of green hydrogen.

Biogas, landfill gas, associated petroleum gas, and other tail gases accompanying various industrial processes are potential sources of hydrogen and carbon monoxide for solid oxide fuel cells via the reforming process. As these gases contain heavy hydrocarbons, fine-tuning of steam and carbon dioxide addition and specific temperature control are necessary to avoid carbon deposition during the reforming process. Numerical simulation plays a crucial role in designing miniaturized steam reforming reactors and optimal working conditions. All simulations of reforming processes must account for carbon deposition. The methods commonly seen in the open literature include Gibbs free energy minimization or parametric equations formalism. This paper utilizes Gaussian process regression as a tool for making predictions about which reforming parameters are suitable for carrying out this process without the danger of damaging the catalyst due to a carbon formation. Parametric equations formalism and Gibbs free energy minimization involve either the minimization of objective function or a search for roots of nonlinear functions. These tasks are sensitive to a choice of the starting points of the algorithm — wrong choice of starting points could lead to numerical instability. Unlike conventional methods, the Gaussian process regression approach bypasses the computation of equilibrium composition. It predicts carbon formation tendencies directly from the initial conditions which ensure stability.

The article presents the results of research on the optimization of the supply of maize plants with the main nutrients under different agrochemical loads in the Forest-Steppe. The aim of the research was to establish the effect of different doses of mineral fertilizers and by-products of the predecessor as fertilizers on the supply of plants with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and corn yield. The research was carried out during 2016-2019 on dark gray wooded soil of the Forest-Steppe with the use of field, chemical, calculation-weight and mathematical-statistical methods. It were found that long-term growing of agricultural crops for 30 years under different agrochemical loading in crop rotation on dark gray wooded soil of the Forest-Steppe led to the creation of different agrochemical backgrounds. According to the results of soil and plant diagnostics, it has been established that nitrogen is the limiting nutrient for growing corn. In the variants with application of increased (N180P120K180) and high (N240P120K240) norms of mineral fertilizers against the background of by-products of the predecessor (winter wheat straw), where the highest yield of corn is formed - 11.21-12.10 t / ha, mobile phosphorus content 20 cm layer of soil was very high, mobile potassium - high, easily hydrolyzed nitrogen - very low. In these variants, maize plants in stages BBCH 16, 19 and 65 accumulated the optimal amount of nitrogen, and the content of phosphorus and potassium showed optimal and high supply during the growing season for the application of mineral fertilizers in the norms above N60P45K60.According to the results of correlation and regression analysis, the decisive role of nitrogen and potassium in the formation of corn productivity was confirmed. Mathematical models have been constructed that make it possible to predict the level of maize yield depending on the content of chemical elements in the soil and plants at the early stages of BBCH development.

The pulsed current has been proposed to achieve fast charging and extend the lifetime of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. However, the optimal condition of the pulsed current is still inconclusive in previous studies. This article experimentally investigated the effect of the low-frequency positive pulsed current (PPC) charging on the lifetime and charging performance of Li-ion batteries. A two-stage degradation model of Li-ion batteries is developed to determine the inhibitory effect of the PPC on degradation mechanisms at different aging stages. Moreover, the changes in the internal resistance (IR) and the incremental capacity (IC) curve are provided to thoroughly explore the effects of the PPC on the degradation of Li-ion batteries. Compared with the traditional constant current (CC) charging, the lifetime, maximum rising temperature, and energy efficiency of the Li-ion batteries that were cycled by the PPC charging are improved by 81.6%, 60.5%, and 9.1%, respectively, after 1000 cycles. Therefore, low-frequency PPC charging should be considered as a promising charging strategy for Li-ion batteries.

Preterm labor is known as delivery prior to 37 completed weeks of gestation. Because 10% of total labors are preterm and 70% of neonatal mortality is caused by this problem, preterm labor is a significant problem in obstetrics, pediatrics & midwifery. This study aims at comparing the efficacy as well as adverse effects profile of (human chorionic gonadotropin hormone and magnesium sulphate) in suppression of preterm labor. This study was designed as a prospective comparative randomized clinical trial done from 4th April to 1st September 2020. The study population included pregnant women with preterm labor, who were admitted to Salah Al Din General Hospital, in Tikrit city. Sixty two cases who consented (Informed written consent was obtained from all the patients) were randomly allocated to 2 different intervention groups, named A and B. Group A and B consisted of 30 and 32 pregnant women, respectively. All cases were admitted in labour room and baseline investigations were done. Group A: For patients of group A: received an intravenously loading dose of 4 g (1 g/min) Magnesium sulphate. A continual infusion of 2 g per 1 hr was then administrated. The infusion was continued until 12 h of uterine quiescence is done. Group B: (32 women), intramuscular injection Human Chorionic Gonadotropin was administered as an initial dose of 5000 IU. Half hourly assessment of uterine contractions, maternal vital signs, fetal heart rate monitoring was done. All of the patients were under monitoring in the hospital until 24 h of the end of drug infusion. Also, both of the groups received Betamethasone, 12 mg every 24 hr for 2 doses. Patients were under control until the end of pregnancy. It was foun that Delay of Labour for ≥21 day was higher among Human Chorionic Gonadotropin group (68.8%) than among MgSO4 group (60%), and delivery within

The air quality of industry gets affected due to the industrial processing like heating of metals such as steel, copper. The burning and processing alters the level of NitrogenDioxide (NO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Carbon Dioxide (C02), methane (CH4), and Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG). The each parameter in the air has to be maintained in safe level. If safe level is not maintained makes discomfort to the human health. The existing methods are measuring the air quality and display it at same station which may handle with less care. The proposed method consists of MQ2, MQ3, MQ6, and MQ9 sensors used to measure CO, CO2, NO2, and CH4 &LPG levels. The sensor gives the analog output. The proposed method uses the Arduino Nano - ATMEGA 168 based controlled to handle the analog sensors. The analog quantity is converted into digital value and which compared with safe limit value by the controller. The measured value is updated in cloud server- web based and Mobile application. The emergency alarm is fixed in the instrument in sound and light form to alert the workers. The device is tested in air polluted industry. The device showed the CO level as 525 PPM, NO2 level as 56 PBP, CO2 level as 164PPM, and mixed gas as 154PSI. The device notified CO level is high. The output is observed in cloud and mobile application.

Carbon Reinforced Plastics/polymers are metamaterials, widely used for diversified purposes for their unique features. The bibliometric analysis had been conducted to understand the active authors, organizations, journals, and countries involved in the research domain of “Carbon Reinforced Plastics”. All published articles related to “Carbon Reinforced Plastics” from “Scopus”, were analyzed using the VOS viewer to develop analysis tables and visualization maps. This article had set the objective to consolidate the scientific literature regarding the “Carbon Reinforced Plastics” and also to find out the trends related to the same. The most active journals in this research domain were Mechanics of Composite Materials, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, and Applied Mechanics Reviews. The most active countries were China, Japan, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. The leading organizations engaged in the research regarding Carbon Reinforced Plastics were the University of Tokyo of Japan, the Russian Academy of Sciences of Russia, and the Ministry of Education of China. The most active authors who had made valuable contributions related to Carbon Reinforced Plastics were Yates B. Davim J.P. Reis P. and Ishikawa T.

Eutectic gallium indium (E-GaIn) alloy based liquid metal is considered to be a promising material for manufacturing interconnects in stretchable electronics based applications due to its high electrical conductivity and inherent mechanical deformability. The current work demonstrates an easy and single step method of fabricating micron-sized (the width of ~ 200 μm) highly conducting stretchable interconnects by stencil printing of E-GaIn on stretchable polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate. The obtained stretchable pattern showed excellent electrical and mechanical property by exhibiting a low average resistance value of ~ 6.5 O even at elongation up to 50%. Moreover, it showed superior stability against stretching cycles with just ± 0.12 Ω of variation in resistance. A commercial light emitting diode was mounted on the patterns and illuminated to describe the role of interconnects in a realistic circuit.

The transparent relaxor ferroelectric ceramics of the system lanthanum modified lead magnesium niobate (PLMN-13PT) have been investigated for a variety of electro-optic, properties; good electro-optic switching times and modest half-wave voltages. In this work, the dependence of microstructural, structural, dielectrical, optical, and electro-optical properties in function of Rare Earth (RE = Tm3+, Nd3+, Yb3+, Er3+ and Ho3+) has been reported. PLMN-13PT:RE with excellent properties were obtained, highlighting the electrical, optical, and electrooptical properties, suitable for the fabrication of multifunctional devices. The most prominent or important feature is the largest quadratic Electro-optic coefficient achieved ((9.37 ± 0.39) × 10−16 m2/V2) corresponding to PLMN-13PT:Ho transparent ceramics. This result in addition to the electrical and photoluminescence properties becomes a promising alternative to building multifunctional devices.

Hydrogen is an outstanding source of energy and plays very important part in energy system. Hydrogen is one of the best energy carrier alternatives to fossil fuels because of its high energy density. It is very important to produce clean and renewable energy sources due to increasing population and pollution day by day. In 2018, the maximum hydrogen (94%) is manufactured from fossil fuels by steam reforming of natural gas, partial oxidation of the methane gas as well as coal gasification. The hydrogen production plays important role in any industrialized society, since hydrogen is required for many essential chemical processes. Several designed metal-based ideas can be employed as an efficient catalyst for hydrogen production for the alternate source of energy and society benefits. Proposed review is highlighting the different efficient strategies for hydrogen production.

The current manuscript introduces a dielectric regulated charge plasma based Triple metal Gate Tunnel Field Effect Transistor (CPB-TG-TFET) biological sensor. In which a nano-cavity is introduced below the gate and source electrode to detect the biological molecules like amino acids (AAs), protein, etc. The proposed P + and N + regions are contrived depending upon the electrode’s work function on the device’s silicon body. The effects of metal electrode work function modulation, gate electrode length variation and gate oxide thickness variation are analyzed for improving band-to-band tunneling efficiency at the source- channel transition. The proposed structure shows noticeable sensitivity results for neutral and charged biomolecules. The sensitivity of the neutral biomolecules having higher dielectric constant(Kp) is observed higher; the surface potential sensitivity of the Gelatin (Kp = 14) is estimated as 3 . × 10 10 which is 13% and 35% higher than the sensitivity of Keratin (Kp = 10) and Bacteriophage T7 (Kp = 5) respectively at the cavity length of 30 nm.

Methane is the most abundant constituent of natural gas and it is difficult to fully oxidize without effective catalysts. Pd is recognized as the most efficient catalyst for the methane combustion reaction. However, few routes are available for the preparation of near-monodisperse Pd clusters for catalysis. Here we focused on the synthesis and activation of mercaptoundecanoic acid-protected Pd clusters (1.1 ± 0.3 nm) and encapsulated them in a silica matrix using sol-gel chemistry. EXAFS analysis revealed that nearly complete removal of thiolate ligands at 250 ˚C in air leads to the partial oxidation of Pd clusters and that the clusters are completely oxidized to PdO at 650 ˚C. TEM and CO chemisorption studies suggest that silica coated Pd clusters are much more resistant to sintering than the control sample of Pd clusters deposited on silica spheres. The activity studies over silica-coated and non-coated catalysts for the methane combustion reaction indicate the presence of the silica shell on the Pd clusters significantly improves the catalytic activity.

Neurodevelopmental disorder, communication problems, and repetitive/stereotypic behaviour are all characteristics of autism, a severe developmental disorder. Even though the pathophysiological causes of autism are still unclear and contested in many cases, genetic and environmental factors (and their interactions) have been identified as contributing factors. While it is widely acknowledged that various factors can cause autism, environmental factors have received a great deal of attention recently. A large part of the international debate has focused on neurotoxins such as Lead, Iron, and Cadmium, with some arguing that these and other toxic metals have a role in the development of the condition. Methods: Between March and December 2020, the study is being performed in Iraq's Al-Anbar province. 75 autistic children and 20 volunteers children served as controls in the study, all of whom had confirmed DSM-V diagnoses. An atomic absorption spectrophotometer is used to test hair samples. Two heavy elements (Lead and Iron) and one trace element (Cadmium) are measured. The results are shown as significant high in Lead ,and Iron concentrations in Autistic compared with Control, and International Normal Value, more than Lead, and Iron considered as risk environment factor for ASD, While a cadmium concentration is expressed significant high in autism and slightly in control compare with International Normal Value, and considered no risk environmental factor in Iraqi populations. It could be due to the pollution of the Iraqi environment.

Microstrip silicon detectors are one of the key trackers in particle physics experiment like LHC at CERN. There is a continuous need to improve upon various parameters of detectors like breakdown voltage, leakage current, full depletion voltage, post radiation hardness, charge collection efficiency and low thermal budget. We have introduced new doping less silicon microstrip detector for the very first time and investigated the various parameter of the detector. We have studied and compared the results of doped and dopingless charge plasma silicon microstrip detector. Our study shows improvement in Preradiation breakdown voltage of 2200 V with leakage current of 5.2 pA/um in dopingless charge plasma microstrip detector as compared to 1500 V of breakdown voltage with leakage current of 6.5pA/um as in the case of doped silicon microstrip detector.

Carbon fiber reinforced aluminum composites with ordered architectures of shear-induced aligned carbon fibers were fabricated by 3D printing. The microstructures of the printed and sintered samples and mechanical properties of the composites were investigated. Carbon fibers and aluminum powder were bonded together with resin. The spatial arrangement of the carbon fibers was fixed in the aluminum matrix by shear-induced alignment in the 3D printing process. As a result, the elongation of the composites with a parallel arrangement of aligned fibers and the impact toughness of the composites with an orthogonal arrangement were 0.82% and 0.41 ​J/cm2, respectively, about 0.4 and 0.8 times higher than that of the random arrangement.

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is considered a potential photoactive semiconductor for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution (PHE). Although being active in producing hydrogen, it is in general suffering from severe charge recombination rate, low mobility of charge and narrow visible light response range largely, which has restricted its greater application. Existing reviews on g-C3N4 are lacking of systematic and summative view on the effects of the physical-chemical structure-activity relationship between g-C3N4 and the modification involving phosphorus (P). Many studies indicate that adding P into g-C3N4 could effectively elevate the photo-activity. Underlying reasons for the observed improved photo-activity are discussed in this review. Here, P-containing g-C3N4 photocatalysts are grouped into the categories of P elemental doping, composite with elemental P, as well as the addition of metal phosphide as cocatalysts. These P-containing g-C3N4 possess novel properties demonstrating favorable photocatalytic activities as compared with the other elemental (such as O, S, B)-based materials. Therefore, in this mini review, we summarize and discuss the advances on the P-containing g-C3N4 photocatalysts, including the preparation strategies, physicochemical properties, the application for hydrogen production as well as the related reaction mechanism. Importantly, the physical-chemical structure-activity relationship between g-C3N4 and the integrated P is revealed. Finally, an overview of the current research status and challenges on future is presented, which would be helpful in designing and developing other P-containing photocatalysts for various photocatalytic applications.

This paper demonstrates the developments toward a high performance monolithic wheeled structure horizontal dual-axis (pitch (X-axis) and roll (Y-axis)) microelectromechanical system (MEMS) gyroscope based on off-plane coupling suppression silicon gratings. Gyroscopes have been fabricated with a silicon-on-glass fabrication process with vacuum-sealed in a metal packaging. The featured gyroscope operates in split-mode with the bandwidths of two axes devices both ~70Hz. By unitizing two individual active restraining control loops that adjust the quadrature amplitude via differentially biasing the silicon gratings in real-time, the off-plane mechanical couplings of the two sense modes are significantly reduced by ~95 and ~30 times, which enables ~25-fold and ~56-fold improvements in the bias instability for a typical dual-axis device. Tactical-grade performances are achieved for both the X-axis and Y-axis gyroscopes with angle random walk (ARW) of 0.02 deg/h and 0.045 deg/h along with in-run bias instability (BI) of 0.26 deg/h and 0.65 deg/h respectively without any temperature compensation. The current preliminary results show great potential to achieve navigation grade precision by employing the mode-matching technique in the future. The use of silicon gratings for out-of-plane coupling reduction also provides an effective way to build a high performance planar monolithic chip inertial measurement unit (IMU).

Clean and renewable energy plays important role in achieving carbon neutrality and nature sustainability, especially the application of green hydrogen in new energy system. Hydrogen (H2) produced from visible light has attracted attention owing to its high conversion efficiency and cleaner process. In this review, different photocatalyst preparation methods which can directly design the same structure were clarified. Also, different mechanism design which can realize different electron transfers were also proposed. Thus, various morphologies and different mechanisms of electron transfer have been summarized and evaluated. Also, the methods of photocatalysts’ construction were mentioned, all H2 production reactions depend on the amount of reaction sites and photo-generate electrons. It was evident that the concentration of reaction sites and photo-generate electrons play important roles in efficient H2 production. This review provides fundamental knowledge to design and construct variable morphologies with different electron transfer processes to enhance efficiency of H2 production.

Dynamic avalanche (DA) phenomena and current filament (CF) formation are two extreme conditions observed in high-power devices, setting the maximum limit on turn-on/off current capability and di/dt in Silicon-based bipolar devices. The properties of the Silicon Carbide (SiC) material enable devices with increased resilience for DA and CF compared to Si counterparts, and thus the SOA limits may be extended. In this study, the limit of DA and CF in SiC-based semiconductor structures are investigated by numerical TCAD simulations, for different current levels, di/dt, and temperatures for high-voltage devices (e.g., 20 kV class). DA is first indicated for di/dt beyond 105 kA/μs for current densities in the range of 50–1000 A/cm2, at 448 K. Similarly, stray inductance induced avalanche conditions are initiated above 33 kA/μs, while CF is initiated for di/dt starting from 83 kA/μs for current densities in the range of 8.3 kA/cm2. Moreover, the effects of the stray inductance in the main circuit loop are studied which may cause critical voltage transients during certain operating conditions. The outcome of the study may be useful to determine safe-operating-area limits and to be used as input for power electronic converter design as well as gate driver design for high-power electronic systems.

Creep age forming (CAF) is an advanced forming technology that combines creep deformation and age hardening processes. When compared with the conventional forming technologies including roll bending and shot-peen forming, CAF has many advantages of low residual stress, excellent dimensional stability, good service performance and short production cycle. It is an optimal technique for precise manufacturing for shape and properties of large-scale complicated thin-walled components of light-weight and high strength aluminum alloys in the aviation and aerospace industries. Nevertheless, CAF has an inevitable disadvantage that a large amount of springback occurs after unloading, which brings a challenge on the accurate shape forming and property tailoring of components. Therefore, how to achieve accurate prediction and control of springback has always been a bottleneck hindering the development of CAF to more industrial applications. After the factors of affecting springback and measures of reducing springback are summarized from the internal and external aspects, constitutive models for predicting springback and springback compensation methods for CAF of aluminum alloy panel components are reviewed. Then, a review of research progresses on tool design for CAF is presented. Finally, in view of the key issue that it is difficult to predict and control the shape and properties of components during CAF, the technical challenges are discussed and future development trends of CAF are prospected.

Hydrogen is a renewable gas, efficient to produce energy that makes it a suitable alternative and effective solution for a carbon-free environment. Unlike other fossil fuels, combustion of hydrogen does not produce toxic compounds, such as greenhouse gases, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, etc., resulting in less environmental pollution. Agro-industrial residues contain several lignocelluloses that favor the growth of microorganisms to produce valuable products such as hydrogen. Of the diverse techniques in hydrogen production, bioconversion proves to be an efficient method in permuting agro-industrial residues into hydrogen. This review provides detailed information on the bioconversion processes and factors involved in hydrogen production from agro-industrial residues including different fermentation processes such as dark fermentation and photo-fermentation, and fuel cell systems such as microbial electrolysis cell and microbial fuel cell. Different pretreatment techniques to enhance the availability of lignocellulose for hydrogen production have been elaborated in this review. Various factors including pH, temperature and nutrient composition of feed, affecting the production efficiency and purity of the products during fermentation have been discussed.

Hyponatraemia is the most common electrolyte disturbance observed in hospital inpatients. We report a 90-year-old woman admitted generally unwell following a fall with marked confusion. Examination revealed a tender suprapubic region, and investigations observed elevated inflammatory markers and bacteriuria. Admission investigations demonstrated a serum sodium of 110 mmol/L with associated serum osmolality 236 mmol/kg and urine osmolality 346 mmol/kg. She was treated for hyponatraemia secondary to syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) and urosepsis. However, her serum sodium failed to normalise despite fluid restriction, necessitating treatment with demeclocycline and hypertonic saline. Despite slow reversal of hyponatraemia over 1 month, the patient developed generalised seizures with pontine and thalamic changes on MRI consistent with osmotic demyelination syndrome (ODS). This case highlights the risk of ODS, a rare but devastating consequence of hyponatraemia treatment, despite cautious sodium correction.

A 63-year-old woman was referred to the specialised knee revision clinic with ongoing knee pain after total knee replacement. She incidentally had cobalt and chromium levels measured. These were seen to be elevated. Comprehensive assessment and investigation did not identify any other source of cobalt or chromium. Aseptic loosening of the knee was diagnosed, and the knee was revised. At the time of surgery, the tissue was seen to be darkened consistent with metallosis. Multiple samples excluded infection on extended cultures. Aspirated fluid showed that periprosthetic fluid had elevated cobalt levels. The knee was successfully revised with good symptomatic outcome and significantly, over the course of several months post-revision, the cobalt and chromium levels returned to normal.

Statement of problem Strontium has been validated for potent bone-seeking and antiosteoporotic properties and elicits a potentially beneficial impact on implant osseointegration in patients with osteoporosis. However, the efficacy of strontium supplementation on improving new bone formation and implant osseointegration in the presence of osteoporotic bone is still unclear. Purpose The purpose of this systematic review was to comprehensively assess the efficacy of strontium supplementation, encompassing oral intake and local delivery of strontium, on implant osseointegration in patients with osteoporosis. Material and methods Searches on electronic databases (MEDLINE or PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO, Embase, and Clinicaltrials.gov ) and manual searches were conducted to identify relevant preclinical animal trials up to June 2020. The primary outcomes were the percentage of bone-implant contact and bone area; the secondary outcomes were quantitative parameters of biomechanical tests and microcomputed tomography (μCT). Results Fourteen preclinical trials (1 rabbit, 1 sheep, and 12 rat), with a total of 404 ovariectomized animals and 798 implants, were eligible for analysis. The results revealed a significant 17.1% increase in bone-implant contact and 13.5% increase in bone area, favoring strontium supplementation despite considerable heterogeneity. Subgroup analyses of both bone-implant contact and bone area exhibited similar outcomes with low to moderate heterogeneity. Results of biomechanical and μCT tests showed that strontium-enriched implantation tended to optimize the mechanical strength and microarchitecture of newly formed bone despite moderate to generally high heterogeneity. Conclusions Based on the available preclinical evidence, strontium supplementation, including local and systemic delivery, showed promising results for enhancing implant osseointegration in the presence of osteoporosis during 4 to 12 weeks of healing. Future well-designed standardized studies are necessary to validate the efficacy and safety of strontium supplementation and to establish a standard methodology for incorporating Sr into implant surfaces in a clinical setting.

Objective: To describe serum levels of calcium, copper, selenium, magnesium, iron and zinc and evaluate their relationship with maternal socio-demographic characteristics and dietary variables in women in the first trimester of pregnancy. Method: Cross-sectional study with 1279 participants from the INMA cohorts. Results: The concentrations of the elements analyzed were within the normal range. Associations with higher levels of these metals were found for calcium with white meat intake (p = 0.026), for cop-per with excess body weight (p < 0.01), low social class (p = 0.03) and being multipara (p < 0.01), for magnesium with being over 35 years old (p = 0.001), high social class (p = 0.044), primiparous status (p = 0.002) and low daily intake of bread (p = 0.009) and legumes (p = 0.020); for zinc with university edu-cation (p = 0.039) and residence in Gipuzkoa (p < 0.01), and for selenium with residence in Valencia (p < 0.01), university education (p = 0.001), vitamin B6 supplementation (p = 0.006), fish intake (> 71 g/day) (p = 0.014) and having been born in Spain (p = 0.001). Further, lower iron levels were associated with being overweight (p = 0.021) or obese (p < 0.001) and vitamin B12 supplementation (p = 0.006). Conclusions: Our results suggest that trace elements in the analyzed cohorts are adequate for this stage of pregnancy. The variability in these elements is mainly linked to socio-demographic and anthropometric variables. This study is part of the INMA (Infancia y Medio Ambiente) project. It was supported by grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (FIS-FEDER: 06/0867, 09/00090, 13/1944, 16/1288, 19/1338; Miguel Servet-FEDER: CP15/0025; Miguel Servet-FSE: MS15/0025) , by the Council of Gipuzkoa (DFG15/009) and by the Health Department of the Basque Government.

New perspectives arise in the therapeutic practice for cancer, with the objective to not only treat patients, but also improve their quality of life. Guarana, a plant from Brazilian Amazon presents...

Helium (He) is commercially produced from natural gas by low-temperature condensation. The process is energy extensive because of the extremely low He concentration (

We have demonstrated a highly sensitive novel platform for real-time detection of Mercury (Hg2+) ions after successfully making silver nanowires (AgNWs)-MoS2 nanocomposite and functionalizing it over ungated AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT). The AlGaN/GaN HEMT structures were grown over the sapphire substrate using Molecular Beam Epitaxy. AgNWs-MoS2 nanocomposites were optimized for the device functionalization and 1:4 ratio was found highly sensitive for Hg2+ ions. The sensor exhibits high sensitivity towards Hg2+ ions of 1.604 mA/ppb and calculated its Limit of Detection (LoD) up to the range of 20 ppt. The observed sensitivity is highest among previously reported AlGaN/GaN fabricated HEMT based sensors for Mercury (Hg2+) ions detection and is well below the standard permissible limits as set by World Health Organization (WHO) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The enhancement in sensitivity is due to the enhanced surface to volume ratio of AgNW-MoS2 nanocomposite and the highly conductive nature of silver nanowires incorporated in MoS2. Moreover, we also performed sensing on real water samples of tap water and lake water. Further, we showed the smart sensing capability of our developed sensor by illustrating the Internet of Things (IoT) enabled system for next-generation heavy metal ion sensing.

Sub-10 nm ferroelectric and multiferroic materials are attracting increased scientific and technological interest, owing to their exciting physical phenomena and prospects in miniaturized electronic devices, neuromorphic computing, and ultra-compact data storage. The Bi6Ti2.9Fe1.5Mn0.6O18 (B6TFMO) Aurivillius system is a rare example of a multiferroic that operates at room temperature. Since the formation of magnetic impurity phases can complicate attempts to measure ferromagnetic signal intrinsic to the B6TFMO multiferroic phase and thus limits its use, herein we minimize this by utilizing relatively large (49%) bismuth excess to counteract its volatility during sub-10 nm growth. X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy show sample crystallinity and purity are substantially improved on increasing bismuth excess from 5 to 49%, with the volume fraction of surface impurities decreasing from 2.95–3.97 vol% down to 0.02–0.31 vol%. Piezoresponse force microscopy reveals 8 nm B6TFMO films are ferroelectric, with an isotropic random distribution of stable in-plane domains and weaker out-of-plane piezoresponse. By reducing the volume fraction of magnetic impurities, this work demonstrates the recent progress in the optimization of ultra-thin B6TFMO for future multiferroic technologies. We show how the orientation of the ferroelectric polarization can be switched in 8 nm B6TFMO and arrays can be “written” and “read” to express states permitting anti-parallel information storage.

Hydrogen and light hydrocarbon components are essential resources of the refinery. The optimization of the refinery hydrogen system and recovery of the light hydrocarbon components contained in the gas streams are key strategies to reduce the operating costs for sustainable development. Many research efforts have been focused on the optimization of single impurity hydrogen network, and the flowrates of the hydrogen sources and sinks are assumed to be constant. However, their flowrates vary along with the quality of crude oil and refinery processing plans. A general superstructure of multicomponent refinery hydrogen network is proposed, which considers four components, namely H2, H2S, CH4 and C 2 + , as well as the flowrate variations of hydrogen source and hydrogen sink. The mathematical model based on the superstructure is developed with objective functions, including the minimization of total annualized cost and the maximization of overall satisfaction of the hydrogen network. Moreover, the model considers the removal of hydrogen sulfide and the recovery of light hydrocarbon components (i.e., C 2 + ) in the optimization. To verify the applicability of the proposed mathematical model, a simplified industrial case study with four scenarios is solved. The optimization results show that the economic benefit can be maximized by considering both the direct reuse of gas streams from high-pressure separator (HP gas stream) and from low-pressure separator (LP gas stream) and the recovery of the light hydrocarbon streams. The fuzzy optimization method can be used to guide the optimal design of the refinery hydrogen system with multi-period variable flowrates.

Even though catalyst loading is one of the first crucial steps in organic and inorganic catalytic reactions, it has not been frequently discussed or improved to date. In particular, when a solid catalyst is added to an oxygen- and moisture-sensitive reaction mixture, a carefully tuned process to ensure an inert atmosphere (under nitrogen or argon) is required. Although gloveboxes are nowadays considered to be a universal solution, it is still associated with unsolved problems, such as high cost, high space consumption, difficult temperature control, and handling difficulties on account of the gloves. Herein, we report a recently developed simple apparatus that enables the addition of a solid without opening the reaction vessel. This solid-addition funnel drastically improved the yield (from trace to 64%) and the reproducibility of our original glycosylation reaction.

Rare earth elements (lanthanide and yttrium, abbreviated as REY) provide important support for national security, energy production, environmental protection and economic growth. In recent years, many studies have shown that the content of REY in some coal or coal by-products is close to or even higher than that in traditional REY ore, which makes coal a potential source of REY. This study took the No. 17 coal of Panzhou mining area in Liupanshui coal field as the research object, and the content and occurrence modes of REY in raw coal and 7 density fraction samples were studied. The results show that the content of REY in the raw coal reaches 220.67 μg/g, which is significantly higher than the average REY in the World coal and Chinese coal as reported in the literature. Gravity separation has a certain pre-enrichment effect on REY and the fraction sample ＞1.8 g/cm3 has the highest REY of 426.27 μg/g (equal to rare earth oxide 0.1%). Study on correlation between REY and ash yields reveals that the organic affinity of the light rare earth is higher than the medium rare earth and the heavy rare earth. As shown by XRD and XRF, the major minerals in coal are kaolinite, quartz and calcite, and the content of REY in coal is significantly related to Al and Si and kaolinite, which implies that REY occur mainly in kaolinite. LA-ICP-MS was adopted to determine chemical composition of micro-zone in kaolinite in coal and the results show that there is no obvious correlation between REY and the content of Al and Si. This indicates that the REY occurred probably in the form of adsorption. The research results provide a scientific reference for the potential extraction of the associated REY in the coal.

As environmental crises such as global warming become more and more serious due to the large amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the burning of fossil fuels, much attention has been paid to carbon neutrality. Hydrogen, with zero carbon content, is a clean and renewable energy carrier having a large energy density. It is considered as one of the most desirable alternatives to fossil fuels. Electrochemical water splitting, unlike the steam reforming process accelerating fossil fuels depletion and CO2 emissions, can produce H2 powered by renewable energy such as solar or wind. As a promising way to promote carbon neutralization, hydrogen production by electrolysis of water is meaningful both in terms of scientific research and practical application. In order to drive electrochemical water splitting with low power consumption, efficient, durable and affordable electrocatalysts with low overpotentials are in urgent need. Therefore, this mini-review briefly introduces the current development status and mainstream obstacles of carbon-based materials used in electrochemical water splitting.

Hydrogen is widely used in many industries, yet its role in the clean energy transition goes beyond being an element of these industries. Near-term practical large-scale clean hydrogen production can be made available by involving nuclear, solar, and other renewable energy sources in the process of hydrogen production, and coupling their energy systems to sustainable carbon-free hydrogen technologies. This requires further investigation and assessment of the different alternatives to achieve clean hydrogen using these pathways. This paper assesses the technoeconomics of promising hydrogen technologies that can be coupled to nuclear and solar energy systems for large-scale hydrogen production. It also provides an overview of the design, status and advances of these technologies.

Photocatalysts for harvesting solar energy to either electricity or chemical fuels have attracted much attention recently, but they have big obstacles such as wide bandgaps and rapid charge recombinations to overcome for final applications. In this study, we investigates a useful method to utilize vanadium redox pairs, which are commonly applied for vanadium redox flow batteries, to diminish charge recombinations and thus to enhance photocurrent response in regenerative solar energy storage. The results reveal significant improvements in photocurrent density by forming cuprous and cupric oxides in TiO2/CuxO electrodes under solar AM 1.5 illuminations using the vanadium photoelectrochemical storage cell at 0.025M of vanadium redox species in the acid electrolytes. In addition, the stabilized photocurrent density of the copper content optimized TiO2/CuxO electrodes is almost tripled from the TiO2 only electrode because the charge recombinations can be mitigated with the content optimized TiO2/CuxO electrodes. Therefore, the optimized TiO2/CuxO electrode results in the highest charge storing performance in the catholyte chamber, and the roles of vanadium redox species are also clearly demonstrated.

The successful use of a microband electrode printed on a silicon internal reflection element to perform time resolved infrared spectroscopy is described. Decreasing the critical dimension of the microband electrode to several hundred micrometers provides a sub-microsecond time constant in a Kretschmann configured spectroelectrochemical cell. The high brilliance of synchrotron sourced infrared radiation has been combined with a specially designed horizontal attenuated total reflectance (ATR) microscope to focus the infrared beam on the microband electrode. The first use of a sub-microsecond time constant working electrode for ATR surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (ATR-SEIRAS) is reported. Measurements show that the advantage afforded by the high brilliance of the synchrotron source is at least partially offset by increased noise from the experimental floor. The test system was the potential induced desorption of an adsorbed monolayer of 4-methoxypyridine (MOP) as measured using step-scan interferometry. Based on diffusion considerations alone, the expected time scale of the process was less than 10 microseconds but was experimentally measured to be three orders of magnitude slower. A defect-mediated dissolution of the condensed film is speculated to be the underlying cause of the unexpected slow kinetics.

The objective was to determine the optimal cell saver device settings (infusion rate and wash rate) at which hematocrit is preserved and potassium and lactate are removed from banked red blood cells (RBC).Red cells were washed using the Cobe BRAT 2 Autologous Blood Recovery Unit and sampled for electrolyte composition and hematocrit pre- and postwash.This was a single-center study.Red cells were washed using six infusion rates (100-1,000 mL/min) and six wash rates (100-1,000 mL/min) for a total of 36 combinations. Hematocrit, potassium, glucose, and lactate were evaluated before and after washing.At wash rates ≤400 mL/min, hematocrit increased independent of infusion rate. At wash rates ≥400 mL/min, slower infusion rates were associated with higher hematocrit compared to faster infusion rates (p0.0001 for a wash rate 400-800 mL/min, p0.0005 for a wash rate 1,000 mL/min). Maximal wash speeds were associated with decreasing hematocrit. Infusion and wash rate were both independent predictors of potassium change; slower rates were associated with a larger decrease in potassium. Glucose decreased proportionally as infusion and wash rate decreased. Lactate did not show an association with either infusion or wash rate.Red-cell washing produces higher hematocrit and lower potassium as infusion rate and wash rate decrease. A 340-mL unit of RBC can be processed in 4.26 minutes without loss of hematocrit or an increase in potassium when both infusion and wash rates are set to 400 mL/min.

The anthropogenic carbon emissions in the power system would continue to increase with growing energy consumption. In this regard, researchers have focused on managing the demand side with carbon tracing tools (e.g., carbon emission flow model) to achieve low-carbon transition, as it is the need of customers that drives the combustion of fossil fuels and creates substantial carbon emissions. However, such a low-carbon transition cannot be achieved effectively without the right incentive scheme. It is desired to improve the computation quality of carbon tracing tools and extend their applications by state-of-art techniques. To fulfil these existing research gaps, in this paper, a low-carbon optimal scheduling model with carbon intensity control by demand response (DR) mechanism is proposed. It aims to reduce the dependence of customers on energy sources with high carbon intensities while decreasing reasonable energy consumption. Herein, energy consumption is linked to carbon emission via carbon emission flow (CEF) model. Also, a data-driven approach conducted with the Bayesian interfere regression is proposed to carry out the CEF analysis to cope with the drawbacks of the conventional emission calculation. Moreover, the storage emission and relevant dynamic impacts to the system are fully considered.

This paper sheds the light on the future of green hydrogen in Tunisia. So, a detailed economic assessment and evaluation of the Levelized Hydrogen Cost (LHC) and the Net Profit (NP) of a Photovoltaic (PV) Hydrogen Refueling Station (HRS) are presented and discussed. Tunisia is characterized by its high PV potential which makes the production of electricity from solar energy an effective alternative source. However, due to the regulations and issues related to the connection of medium PV scale to the power grid, the energy produced from renewable sources (RS) is still less than 3% of the total produced electricity. On the other hand, the price of hydrocarbon fuels is still increasing. The gap between production and total demand in hydrocarbons has created a deficit in the primary energy balance. Therefore, the production of hydrogen from solar energy for refueling Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCV)s consists of a promising solution to boost the development of the country, reduce hydrocarbon fuels consumption, and protect the environment. The sizing of a small PV-HRS to produce 150 kg of hydrogen per day shows the necessity to install PV systems with a total Direct Current (DC) capacity of 1.89 MWp. The Initial Cost (IC) analysis shows that while the PV system cost represents 48.5% of the total IC, the IC of electrolysers represents 41%. The storage system cost is approximately equal to 3.2% of the total IC. The LHC is equal to 3.32€/kg with a total IC of 2.34 million €.

Fabricating highly efficient and robust oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts is challenging but desirable for practical Zn-air batteries. As an early transition-metal oxide, zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) has emerged as an interesting catalyst owing to its unique characteristics of high stability, anti-toxicity, good catalytic activity, and small oxygen adsorption enthalpies. However, its intrinsically poor electrical conductivity makes it difficult to serve as an ORR electrocatalyst. Herein, we report ultrafine N-doped ZrO2 nanoparticles embedded in an N-doped porous carbon matrix as an ORR electrocatalyst (N-ZrO2/NC). The N-ZrO2/NC catalyst displays excellent activity and long-term durability with a half-wave potential (E1/2) of 0.84 V and a selectivity for the four-electron reduction of oxygen in 0.1 M KOH. Upon employment in a Zn-air battery, N-ZrO2/NC presented an intriguing power density of 185.9 mW cm−2 and a high specific capacity of 797.9 mA h gZn−1, exceeding those of commercial Pt/C (122.1 mW cm−2 and 782.5 mA h gZn−1). This excellent performance is mainly attributed to the ultrafine ZrO2 nanoparticles, the conductive carbon substrate, and the modified electronic band structure of ZrO2 after N-doping. Density functional theory calculations demonstrated that N-doping can reduce the band-gap of ZrO2 from 3.96 eV to 3.33 eV through the hybridization of the p state of the N atom with the 2p state of the oxygen atom; this provides enhanced electrical conductivity and results in faster electron-transfer kinetics. This work provides a new approach for the design of other enhanced semiconductor and insulator materials.

This study examines how well producing hydrogen via electrolysis from curtailed electricity from renewables could fulfil environmental benefits against the cost of producing hydrogen via electrolysis in the context of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the East Asia Summit (EAS). The cost of producing hydrogen via electrolysis ranges from less than USD2 per kgH2 when the electrolyser load factor is 1500 h or above to USD10 per kgH2 or even higher when the electrolyser load factor is 500 h or lower. The amount of CO2 emissions abated by hydrogen produced from curtailed electricity from renewables ranges from about 130 million tonnes to about 150 million tonnes for ASEAN and from about 18,000 million tonnes to about 19,000 million tonnes for EAS. Applying prevailing carbon prices to the CO2 emissions abated, the possible monetised benefits of hydrogen produced via electrolysis from curtailed electricity from renewables range from about USD0.25 per kgH2 to about USD9.00 per kg H2 for ASEAN and from about USD0.50 per kgH2 to about USD15.00 per kg H2 for EAS. The results of the cost-benefit analysis suggest that the price of carbon needs to be about USD15 per tonne of CO2 to justify hydrogen produced via electrolysis from curtailed electricity from renewables for both ASEAN and EAS. The results also suggest that high electrolyser load factors make hydrogen produced via electrolysis from curtailed electricity from renewables cost-competitive even under low carbon prices.

Hydrogen is rapidly turning into one of the essential energy carriers for future sustainable energy systems. The main reason for this is the possibility of off-peak excess power production and storage of renewable stations such as wind farms, photovoltaic plants, etc. For hydrogen (itself) or its sub-productions methanol, ammonia, etc. Such energy systems are so-called power2X technologies. For hydrogen and other biogases, using a fuel cell is a promising method for returning the fuel to the power grid or electric cars in the form of electricity. In this paper, a novel hybrid energy system consisting of a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) and different options to generate hydrogen from the waste heat of the MCFC is investigated. The system consists of two scenarios of weather using proton exchange membrane electrolyzer (PEME) of vanadium chloride (VCL) cycle. The article presents a comprehensive thermodynamic, economic, and environmental analysis of the system optimized by tri-objective optimization (as an innovative optimization) methods. The aim of the optimization task here is to minimize the costs and emissions while maximizing efficiency. A parametric study is conducted to see the effect of different design parameters on the system's performance. Results demonstrate that fuel utilization factor, stack temperature, and current density have the most critical effect on the system performance. In addition, the system coupled with the VCL cycle exhibits better performance than the system with PEME. In addition, at the optimized point, the efficiency, cost rate, and emission become 69.28%, 3.73 ($/GJ), and 1.16 kg/kWh, respectively. In addition, the produced hydrogen in VCL and PEME are 585 kg/day and 293 kg/day respectively.

Collagen peptides (CPs) have been shown to potentially have a role as a treatment option in osteopenia. In the present randomized prospective study, we examined the effect of calcium, vitamin D with and without CPs supplementation on changes in volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) and bone geometry assessed by peripheral quantitative computed tomography at the tibia, areal bone mineral density (aBMD) assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at the lumbar spine and the hip and bone turnover markers over 12-mo. Fifty-one postmenopausal women with osteopenia were allocated to Group A who received orally 5 g CPs, 500 mg calcium and 400 IU vitamin D3 and Group B who received the same dose of calcium and vitamin D3 per day. The primary endpoint was the change of trabecular bone mineral content (BMC) and vBMD after 12-mo supplementation in Groups A and B. At the trabecular site (4% of the tibia length), Group A had a significant increase of total BMC by 1.96 ± 2.41% and cross-sectional area by 2.58 ± 3.91%, trabecular BMC by 5.24 ± 6.48%, cross-sectional area by 2.58 ± 3.91% and vBMD by 2.54 ± 3.43% and a higher % change of these parameters at 12 mo in comparison to Group B (p0.01, p = 0.04, p0.01, p = 0.04, p = 0.02, respectively). At the cortical site (38% of the tibia length), total and cortical vBMD increased by 1.01 ± 2.57% and 0.67 ± 1.71%. Furthermore, the mean aBMD at the spine was higher (p = 0.01), while bone markers decreased in Group A compared to Group B. The present study shows improvement of trabecular and cortical parameters as assessed by peripheral quantitative computed tomography at the tibia, prevention of aBMD decline and decrease of bone turnover after 12-mo supplementation with calcium, vitamin D with CPs.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a novel imaging modality that provides volumetric in-vivo high-resolution (1-15μm) images in real-time. Multi-channel OCT (MOCT) imaging utilizes many imaging channels simultaneously yielding several advantages over single-channel OCT. The benefits of MOCT are at the cost of the added requirement of several imaging beams, which demands high power output from the laser source. Dual-core Ytterbium (Yb) doped fiber was used in two configurations to demonstrate its use as a MOCT light source gain medium: 1) within a ring cavity resonator and 2) in a post-amplification regime with a low powered seed-laser. The amplification wavelength range was tailored to be centered at ~1060nm, where light absorption and scattering is at a minimum in water. In the post-amplification configuration, the output power was increased from 5mW to >200mW, with the axial resolution reducing from 10μm to 12μm. We also present initial in-vivo MOCT imaging of a tadpole.

Objectives Chronic exposure to arsenic has been reported as a risk factor for nonmelanoma skin cancer, notably squamous cell carcinoma. However, current knowledge is limited about the association between arsenic exposure and melanoma. Our objectives were to (1) measure the association between total urinary arsenic levels and melanoma compared with nonmelanoma skin cancer and no cancer and (2) analyze the association between water source and melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer. Methods We collected cross-sectional data from the 2003-2016 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We conducted univariate and multivariate logistic regressions. To evaluate the possible association of skin cancer with source of tap water, we calculated odds ratios for participants with melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer, compared with participants with no cancer. Results White race, higher education, higher socioeconomic status, and smoking history were associated with melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer in the full study population. After adjusting for age and race/ethnicity, the adjusted odds ratio of participants with >50 μg/L of total urinary arsenic for melanoma or nonmelanoma skin cancer was 1.87 (95% CI, 0.58-6.05) and 2.23 (95% CI, 1.12-4.45) times higher compared with no cancer, respectively. Participants with nonmelanoma skin cancer had 2.06 increased odds of reporting a nonmunicipal water source compared with participants without cancer. Conclusions We did not find a relationship between the incidence of melanoma and exposure to arsenic among US adults. Nonmunicipal water sources were associated with nonmelanoma skin cancer and should be further investigated.

Acknowledgements: Not applicable., Funder: Fisher and Paykal Healthcare, BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive surgery is becoming more common and transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve replacement is offered to older patients with multiple comorbidities. Sternotomy is not required but patients must lie flat and still for up to 2-3 h. This procedure is increasingly being performed under conscious sedation with supplementary oxygen, but hypoxia and agitation are commonly observed. METHODS: In this randomised controlled trial, we hypothesised that high-flow nasal oxygen would provide superior oxygenation as compared with our standard practice, 2 l min-1 oxygen by dry nasal specs. This was administered using the Optiflow THRIVE Nasal High Flow delivery system (Fisher and Paykel, Auckland, New Zealand) at a flow rate of 50 l min-1 and FiO2 0.3. The primary endpoint was the change in arterial partial pressure of oxygen (pO2) during the procedure. Secondary outcomes included the incidence of oxygen desaturation, airway interventions, the number of times the patient reached for the oxygen delivery device, incidence of cerebral desaturation, peri-operative oxygen therapy duration, hospital length of stay and patient satisfaction scores. RESULTS: A total of 72 patients were recruited. There was no difference in change in pO2 from baseline using high-flow compared with standard oxygen therapy: median [IQR] increase from 12.10 (10.05-15.22 [7.2-29.8]) to 13.69 (10.85-18.38 [8.5-32.3]) kPa vs. decrease from 15.45 (12.17-19.33 [9.2-22.8]) to 14.20 (11.80-19.40 [9.7-35.1]) kPa, respectively. The percentage change in pO2 after 30 min was also not significantly different between the two groups (p = 0.171). There was a lower incidence of oxygen desaturation in the high-flow group (p = 0.027). Patients in the high-flow group assigned a significantly higher comfort score to their treatment (p ≤ 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study has demonstrated that high flow, compared with standard oxygen therapy, does not improve arterial oxygenation over the course of the procedure. There are suggestions that it may improve the secondary outcomes studied. TRIAL REGISTRATION: International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN) 13,804,861. Registered on 15 April 2019. https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN13804861.

In a patient with a history of bariatric surgery, severe copper deficiency presenting with macrocytic hyperregenerative anaemia was diagnosed. Besides the impaired intestinal absorption due to a short bowel syndrome, the enteral zinc supplementation competitively decreased the intestinal copper uptake. Once the zinc supplementation was stopped, enteral copper replacement ensued and normalised haemoglobin levels with decreasing median corpuscular volume were observed during follow-up visits.