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Agro-Wastes are identified as to manufacture potential valuable organic biochar fertilizer product economically while also managing the waste. Biochar (BC) produced from agriculture waste is helps to improve the soil because of its neutral pH, addition of organic carbon to the soil and lower salt index values. This study focused on the development of nano-biochar into a more enhanced biochar product where it was checked whether the biochar derived from wheat straw can absorb nutrients and then act as support matter for releasing micro-nutrients and macro-nutrients for the plants on slow liberation basis. Wheat biochar (WBC) and wheat nano-biochar (WBNC) were synthesized by pyrolysis at two different temperatures and nutrients were fused into the WBC via impregnation technique. Physical parameters such as Proximate, Ultimate analysis & other were also studied and inspected by standard control procedures. Studies were also carried out on water retention (WR), water absorbance (WA), swelling ratio (SR) and equilibrium water content (EWC) for all samples; data was collected and compared for the better sample. Slow-release studies performed portrayed the release pattern of nutrients for prolonged periods, which are very important for the plant growth, yield and productivity. Overall, the experimental results displayed that BNC produced at 350 °C showed promising features of (SI:0.05, SR: 3.67, WA:64%, EWC:78.6%, FC:53.05% and pH:7.22), is a good substance however the nano-biochar has improved results; environmental friendly & could be utilized as a potential fertilizer on slow release for sustainable and green agriculture application. [Display omitted] • Slow pyrolysis was performed on 300–350 °C to product wheat biochar. • Biochar impregnated with Micro-Macro nutrients to synthesize Nano-biochar. • Nano-biochar at 350 °C displayed better slow-release characteristics. • Sustainable agriculture product with lower salt index and pH value of 7.22. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we report a 3D hierarchical heterostructure LSTN@NiMn-layered double hydroxide (La0.4Sr0.4Ti0.9Ni0.1O3-δ@NiMn-LDH) as a novel electrode material for supercapacitors with outstanding performance. Designing the heterostructure with the wet chemical approach followed by the hydrothermal reaction to grow LDH layers has engineered LSTN@NiMn-LDH, a highly active towards the electrochemical performance. The formation of hybrid structure is characterized using X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy, which confirmed as well as showed the uniform growth of NiMn-LDH layers on LSTN nanoparticles. The electrochemical performance was studied by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge, representing the outstanding performance of the electrode materials. The capacity of LSTN@NiMn-LDH was found to be 485 mAh/g (1745 C/g) at 1 A/g, with 86% capacitive retention after 10,000 cycles at 2 A/g. The improved electrochemical performance of the LSTN@NiMn-LDH electrode could be ascribed to rapid diffusion pathways provided by LSTN and improved redox reactions of NiMn-LDH nanosheets owing to the high surface area. [Display omitted] • LSTN@NiMn-LDH composite was prepared by a simple two-step method. • NiMn-LDH increases the specific surface area and electrical conductivity of the material. • LSTN could encourage the electron transportation in NiMn-LDH. • The composite showed a high capacity of 485 mAh/g (1745 C/g) at 1 A/g. • Capacity retention of 86% was observed after 10,000 cycles at 2 A/g. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Pyrolysis mechanism and kinetics were investigated for microalgal biomass. • Activation energy profile indicated complex degradation process in pyrolysis zone. • Positive values of ΔH & ΔG indicated requirement of external energy source. Bioenergy potential of microalage Scednedesmus quadricuda through pyrolysis was investigated using kinetic and thermodynamic analyses. From model-free isoconversional methods, the estimated average activation energies were 152.37 (±20.93), 174.98 (±22.38), and 153.00 (±21.23) kJ/mol, using Friedman, OFW and advance Vyazovkin methods, respectively. Avrami-Erofeev's A1/4 reaction model was the most probable single-step reaction mechanism determined from the combined kinetic analysis. The activation energy profile, however, indicated a complex degradation process in the active pyrolysis zone. Two independent parallel reactions were considered in the active pyrolysis zone. Average activation energy for low temperature conversion was 77.95 (±3.12) kJ/mol, pre-exponential coefficient 4.86E4 (±2.24E4) s−1, and n = 1.51 (±0.10), whereas for high temperature conversion, the activation energy was 73.26 (±17.93) kJ/mol, pre-exponential coefficient 1.32E3 (±2.61E3) s−1, and n = 1.21 (±0.16). Thermodynamic analysis of pyrolysis in terms of enthalpy, Gibbs free energy, and entropy indicated the feasibility of conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Untorrefied and torrefied pellets of biomass and their blends are produced. • Untorrefied pellets doesn't provide high quality solid fuel. • 25%WS + 75%CW blend pellets showed high rate of devolatilization. • Higher content of CW in blend pellets showed high degree of torrefaction. Energy densification of biomass is usually done by pelletizing the raw biomass and then its torrefaction to obtain clean fuel from renewable resources. The objective of this study is to compare the untorrefied and torrefied pellets of two agricultural biomass residues as cotton waste (CW) and wheat straws (WS) with the different mixing ratios i.e., 100:0, 75:25, 25:75, 50:50, 0:100, respectively. Torrefaction of the pure biomass and their blending pellets were performed at 300 °C in a tube furnace at a heating rate of 10 °C/min with a residence time of 30 min. Characterization of untorrefied pellets showed slightly increase in carbon contents and its energy contents enhancement due to densification of the biomass residue owing to pelletization. Furthermore, its blends showed higher carbon content with the addition of cotton waste. Moreover, mass and energy yield data and Van Krevelon plot showed that the torrefied pellets with high CW to WS ratio specified even more rise in carbon contents and energy value due to high rate of devolatilization of hemicelluloses in CW residue. Finally, torrefaction severity index revealed that CW dictates its high degree of degradation as compared to WS which is an indication of high rate of hydrogen and oxygen loss and resulting enhancement in carbon content. Experimental results showed increased values of carbon contents and energy contents, which shows significant synergistic effect of blending and torrefaction to produce carbon rich solid biofuel. As a result carbon contents and calorific value of blended 25% WS + 75%CW torrefied pellets increased from 41.5 % to 64.84 % and 18.322 MJ/Kg to 28.5 MJ/K g respectively, similarly energy yield and torrefaction index showed higher values of 91.67 % and 1.379 respectively compared to untorrefied pellets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 has destabilized the global economy, disrupted the lives of billions of people globally, and caused the workforce to suffer. Furthermore, the spread of this disease has caused most nations to impose strict lockdown regulations and shutdown most industries. This study aimed to highlight the key issues of energy project performance alongside construction activities that were halted during the COVID-19 outbreak to follow social distancing, lockdown, and public safety parameters. A questionnaire survey was administered to accomplish the purpose of this study. The responses of 42 energy project professionals and experts were evaluated using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) for group decision-making. AHP shows that the biggest influences on project performance during COVID-19 pandemic were government measures and personal factors. The findings provide insight to support energy project planning and management during and after the pandemic, including prioritization of labor force health and safety. • Analyze the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on energy project performance. • Initiatives and safety parameter policies implemented by the Pakistani government. • The COVID-19 Pandemic has become a major public health concern in Pakistan. • Policy implications are derived to build resilient nation, which can face shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An osteoid osteoma is typically a benign bone tumor affecting young adult males, often presenting with nocturnal pain alleviated by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDS). It usually manifests as a solitary nidus with surrounding sclerosis. An osteoid osteoma with a multicentric nidus, characterized by multiple nidi, is a rare variant. A 12-year-old girl presented with a one-year history of worsening, nighttime pain in her upper left leg. Plain radiographs revealed two lytic lesions with sclerosis. A computed tomography (CT) scan confirmed two well-defined sclerotic lesions with central lytic lesions. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated two hypointense lesions with peripheral hyperintensity on short tau inversion recovery (STIR) sequences, suggestive of osteoid osteoma with a multicentric nidus. Differential diagnoses included osteomyelitis with Brodie's abscess, osteoblastoma, chondroblastoma, and malignant lesions. Due to the atypical presentation and lack of experience with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for multicentric cases, surgical excision was performed. Histopathology confirmed osteoid osteoma. After rehabilitation, the patient was asymptomatic at six months with no recurrence on radiographs. This case highlights the unusual presentation of osteoid osteoma with a multicentric nidus in a young female. Radiological workup with plain films, CT, and MRI was crucial for diagnosis. While RFA is gaining popularity, surgical excision remains a valid option, especially for atypical cases., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Thirlapuram et al.)

Objective: Due to current selection practices for increased egg production and peak persistency, the production profile, age at maturity, and body weight criteria for commercial layers are constantly changing. Body weight and age at the time of photostimulation will thus always be the factors that need to be adequately addressed among various production systems. The current study was carried out to determine the effects of pullets' body weight (low, medium, and heavy) on their performance, welfare, physiological response, and hormonal profile., Methods: With regard to live weight, 150 16-week-old pullets were divided into three groups using a completely randomized design (CRD) and held until the 50th week. One-way analysis of variance was used to evaluate the data under the CRD, and the least significant difference test was used to distinguish between treatment means., Results: In comparison to the medium and light birds, the heavy birds had higher body weight at maturity, an earlier age at maturity, and higher egg weight, eggshell weight, eggshell thickness, egg yolk index, breaking strength, egg surface area, egg shape index, egg volume, and hormonal profile except corticosterone. However, the medium and light birds had lower feed consumption rates per dozen eggs and per kilogram of egg mass than the heavy birds. Light birds showed greater body weight gain, egg production, and egg specific gravity than the other categories. At 20 weeks of age, physiological response, welfare aspects, and catalase were non-significant; however, at 50 weeks of age, all these factors-aside from catalase-were extremely significant., Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that layers can function at lower body weights during photostimulation; hence, dietary regimens that result in lighter pullets may be preferable. Additionally, the welfare of the birds was not compromised by the lighter weight group.

Blind image super-resolution (SR) aims to recover a high-resolution (HR) image from its low-resolution (LR) counterpart under the assumption of unknown degradations. Many existing blind SR methods rely on supervising ground-truth kernels referred to as explicit degradation estimators. However, it is very challenging to obtain the ground-truths for different degradations kernels. Moreover, most of these methods rely on heavy backbone networks, which demand extensive computational resources. Implicit degradation estimators do not require the availability of ground truth kernels, but they see a significant performance gap with the explicit degradation estimators due to such missing information. We present a novel approach that significantly narrows such a gap by means of a lightweight architecture that implicitly learns the degradation kernel with the help of a novel loss component. The kernel is exploited by a learnable Wiener filter that performs efficient deconvolution in the Fourier domain by deriving a closed-form solution. Inspired by prompt-based learning, we also propose a novel degradation-conditioned prompt layer that exploits the estimated kernel to drive the focus on the discriminative contextual information that guides the reconstruction process in recovering the latent HR image. Extensive experiments under different degradation settings demonstrate that our model, named PL-IDENet, yields PSNR and SSIM improvements of more than 0.4dB and 1.3%, and 1.4dB and 4.8% to the best implicit and explicit blind-SR method, respectively. These results are achieved while maintaining a substantially lower number of parameters/FLOPs (i.e., 25% and 68% fewer parameters than best implicit and explicit methods, respectively).

Flexible capacitive energy storage applications require polymer nanocomposites with high dielectric properties, which can be accomplished by addition of inorganic nanofillers to the polymer matrix. Low-density polyethylene (LDPE), known for its good dielectric characteristics and wide use in electrical insulation have been investigated for the desired applications. However, the improvement of its breakdown strength still continues with the use of various nanomaterials employed as nanofillers. In this study, a waste-derived material known as biomass fly ash (BFA) as a nanofiller to improve the dielectric properties of LDPE has been explored. BFA exhibits versatility in its composition with various metal oxides, making it an attractive choice as a nanofiller. The BFA-LDPE sheets were prepared using a conventional solvent mixing and subsequent hot-pressing process, incorporating BFA loadings ranging from 1 % to 4 wt%. The effects of different BFA loadings were carefully examined, and the synthesized nanocomposites were extensively characterized using various characterization methods, such as XRD, SEM, FTIR, TGA and dielectric constant measurements, to investigate the crystallographic properties, morphology, chemical composition, and thermal stability. Among all the nanocomposites, 4 wt%BFA-LDPE exhibited the highest dielectric constant, with a value of 11.58, compared to simple LDPE that had a dielectric constant of 8.33. This improvement is ascribed to the synergistic effects of different inorganic metal oxides (SiO 2 , MgO, and Fe 2 O 3 ) present in BFA. The results showed a significant enhancement in dielectric properties, indicating that the waste-derived BFA can be purposefully applied as an effective nanofiller in the LDPE-based composites with even less than 4% loading for electrical insulating applications in future studies., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)

In this era, renewable energy technologies are suitable to meet the challenges of fossil fuel depletion and global warming. Thus, hydrogen is gaining attention as an alternative clean energy carrier that can be produced from various methods, one of them is the iodine-sulfur (I-S) cycle which is a thermochemical process. The I-S cycle requires a material that can withstand an extremely corrosive environment at high temperatures. Immersion tests were conducted on bare superalloy Hastelloy X (HX), MoSi 2, and SiC-MoSi 2 coated HX, deposited in physical vapor deposition (PVD) to evaluate their corrosion resistance. Bare HX exhibited a high corrosion rate of 208.1 mm yr -1 when exposed to 98 wt% sulfuric acid at 300 °C. In contrast, HX with MoSi 2 coating showed a much lower corrosion rate of 23.5 mm yr -1 , and HX with SiC-MoSi 2 coating demonstrated the lowest corrosion rate at 6.5 mm yr -1 under the same conditions. The coated samples were analyzed via FESEM before and after corrosion testing. The FESEM images reveal the formation of coalescent particles on the surface of the coating. The elemental analysis illustrates an increased concentration of silicon and oxygen in the corroded samples. Elemental mapping of these samples show a uniform distribution of elements over the sample. These findings contribute not only to materials science understanding but also to practical applications in hydrogen production via the I-S cycle, where corrosion-resistant materials are critical., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Asif Hussain Khoja reports was provided by National University of Science and Technology. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Alcoholic beverages have been enjoyed worldwide as hedonistic commodities for thousands of years. The unique quality and flavor are attributed to the rich microbiota and nutritional materials involved in fermentation. However, the metabolism of these microbiota can also introduce toxic compounds into foods. Nitrogen-derived metabolic hazards (NMH) are toxic metabolic hazards produced by microorganisms metabolizing nitrogen sources that can contaminate alcoholic beverages during fermentation and processing. NMH contamination poses a risk to dietary safety and human health without effective preventive strategies. Existing literature has primarily focused on investigating the causes of NMH formation, detection methods, and abatement techniques for NMH in fermentation end-products. Devising effective process regulation strategies represents a major challenge for the alcoholic beverage industry considering our current lack of understanding regarding the processes whereby NMH are generated, real-time and online detection, and the high degradation rate after NMH formation. This review summarizes the types and mechanisms of nitrogenous hazard contamination, the potential risk points, and the analytical techniques to detect NMH contamination. We discussed the changing patterns of NMH contamination and effective strategies to prevent contamination at different stages in the production of alcoholic beverages. Moreover, we also discussed the advanced technologies and methods to control NMH contamination in alcoholic beverages based on intelligent monitoring, synthetic ecology, and computational assistance. Overall, this review highlights the risks of NMH contamination during alcoholic beverage production and proposes promising strategies that could be adopted to eliminate the risk of NMH contamination., (© 2023 Institute of Food Technologists®.)

Myeloid leukemia 1 (MCL-1), a BCL-2 protein family member, acts as an anti-apoptotic protein by interacting with pro-apoptotic BCL-2 proteins. Its overexpression is frequently observed in numerous cancer types including breast cancer, and is closely linked to the initiation and progression of tumors as well as poor prognosis and resistance to therapeutic interventions. Here, a database of 3402 chemicals with established therapeutic activity against various diseases was chosen and systematically screened against the MCL-1 protein. Visual inspection and binding energy analysis revealed that the compounds OSU-03012, Raltitrexed, Ostarine (MK-2866), Dovitinib (TKI-258), and Varespladib (LY315920) had strong binding affinity for the MCL-1 protein. Notably, their binding affinity was higher than that of the control compounds. These compounds exhibited strong interactions with critical amino acid residues of the MCL-1 protein. Furthermore, these compounds shared several common amino acid residue interactions with the control compounds. These findings suggest that these compounds may be useful as MCL-1 inhibitors in the treatment of breast cancer. However, additional experimental validation is required to confirm these findings., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2023 Biomedical Informatics.)

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a single-stranded, mosquito-borne, positive-sense RNA flavivirus that causes one of the most severe encephalitides. There are treatments available for those who contact this illness; however, there are no known cures. This disease has a 30% fatality rate, and of the people who survive, 30-50% develops neurologic and psychiatric sequelae. The JE virus genome size is 10.98 kb and contains two coding DNA sequences (CDS), two genes, and 15 mature peptides; the CDS polyprotein is 10.3 kb. In this study, we used 29 genomics sequences of the JE virus reported from different countries and infecting different animals and analysed vast dimensions of the genomic annotation of JE comparatively to understand its evolutionary aspects. The extensive SNPs analysis revealed that KF907505.1, reported from Taiwan, has only three SNPs, similar to sequences reported from India. Repeat and polymorphism analyses revealed that the genome tends to be similar in most JE sequences., Competing Interests: The authors declare there are no conflicts of interest., (© 2023 Biomedical Informatics.)

The majority of human tumors are characterized by abnormal signaling caused by oncogenic RAS proteins. KRAS is a member of the RAS family and is currently one of the most thoroughly researched targets for cancer treatment due to its prevalence in a variety of deadly malignancies. Targeting the KRAS protein, which plays a crucial role in regulating cell growth, differentiation, and apoptosis, shows great potential as a strategy for fighting cancer. Herein, in silico screening of 530 natural compounds against KRAS protein was performed. The top-scoring hits, namely ZINC32502206, ZINC98363763, ZINC85645815, and ZINC98364259 displayed a robust affinity towards KRAS as evidenced by their respective binding affinity values of -10.50, -10.01, -9.80, and -9.70 kcal/mol, respectively which were notably higher than that of the control compound AMG 510 (-9.10 kcal/mol). Through virtual screening and visual inspection, it was observed that these hits effectively interacted with the essential residues located within the active site of KRAS. Based on the findings of this study, it can be inferred that these compounds may have the potential to be employed in the treatment of cancer by targeting KRAS., (© 2023 Biomedical Informatics.)

In this research, a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor is used to study the cracking of the toluene into C 1 -C 6 hydrocarbons. The combined effect of parameters such as temperature (20-400 °C) and plasma power (10-40 W) was investigated to evaluate the DBD reactor performance. The main gaseous products from the decomposition of toluene include lower hydrocarbon (C 1 -C 6 ). The cracking of toluene increases with power at all temperatures (20-400 °C). On the otherhand, it decreases from 92.8 to 73.1% at 10 W, 97.2 to 80.5% at 20, 97.5 to 86.5% at 30 W, and 98.4 to 93.7% at 40 W with raising the temperature from 20 to 400 °C. Nonetheless, as the temperature and plasma input power increase, the methane yield increases. At 40 W, the maximum methane yield was 5.1%. At 10 and 20 W, the selectivity to C 2 increases as the temperature rises up to 400 °C. At 30 and 40 W, it began to drop after 300 °C due to the formation of methane and the yield of methane increases significantly beyond this temperature., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2023 The Authors.)

It is extremely prudent and highly challenging to design a greener bifunctional electrocatalyst that shows effective electrocatalytic activity and high stability toward electrochemical water splitting. As several hundred tons of catalysts are annually deactivated by deposition of carbon, herein, we came up with a strategy to reutilize spent methane reforming catalysts that were deactivated by the formation of graphitic carbon (GC) and carbon nanofibers (CNF). An electrocatalyst was successfully synthesized by in situ deposition of noble metal-free MoS 2 over spent catalysts via a hydrothermal method that showed exceptional performance regarding the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). At 25 mA cm -2 , phenomenal OER overpotentials (η 25 ) of 128 and 154 mV and modest HER overpotentials of 186 and 207 mV were achieved for MoS 2 @CNF and MoS 2 @GC, respectively. Moreover, OER Tafel slopes of 41 and 71 mV dec -1 and HER Tafel slopes of 99 and 107 mV dec -1 were obtained for MoS 2 @CNF and MoS 2 @GC, respectively. Furthermore, the synthesized catalysts exhibited good long-term durability for about 18 h at 100 μA cm -2 with unnoticeable changes in the linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) curve of the HER after 1000 cycles. The carbon on the spent catalyst increased the conductivity, while MoS 2 enhanced the electrocatalytic activity; hence, the synergistic effect of both materials resulted in enhanced electrocatalysts for overall water splitting. This work of synthesizing enhanced nanostructured electrocatalysts with minimal usage of inexpensive MoS 2 gives a rationale for engineering potent greener electrocatalysts., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Endoscopy plays an important role in the diagnosis and management of gastrointestinal (GI) tract disorders. Chromoendoscopy has proven to be superior to white light endoscopy for early detection of various GI lesions. This has however been fraught with problems. The use of color stains, time taken to achieve an effect and the learning curve associated with the technique has been some of the pitfalls. Narrow band imaging (NBI) particularly in combination with magnifying endoscopy may allow the endoscopist to accomplish a fairly accurate diagnosis with good histological correlation similar to results achieved with chromoendoscopy. Such enhanced detection of pre-malignant and early neoplastic lesions in the gastrointestinal tract should allow better targeting of biopsies and could ultimately prove to be cost effective. Various studies have been done demonstrating the utility of this novel technology. This article will review the impact of NBI in the diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal tract disorders.