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Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the handgrip strength difference by using a handheld dynamometer in spastic diplegic cerebral palsy children. Methodology: Descriptive cross-sectional study design was done by utilizing a non-probability purposive sampling technique. The study was held at the Pakistan Society of Rehabilitation and Disabled Hospital, Lahore from August 2021 to January 2022. The sample size was 69 calculated by using select-statistics.co.uk with a 5% precision level, both genders of aged 7 to 12 years, and only those having spastic diplegia involving both upper extremities were included. A handheld dynamometer was used for the handgrip strength measurements and data was entered into the self-structured questionnaire. The results are calculated by using sample-paired tests using SPSS. Results: The mean age was 9.014±2.096years, height was 113.67±19.246cm, weight was 20.101±8.711kg, & BMI was 14.907±3.368kg/m2. The mean of the right affected handgrip and the left affected handgrip of cerebral palsy children was 3.744±1.634 & 3.698±1.607 respectively with a p-value > 0.05. Conclusions: It was concluded from the study that there were no statistical differences between right and left handgrips of spastic diplegic cerebral palsy children. Keywords: Cerebral Palsy, Handgrip Strength, Muscle Strength Dynamometer, Muscle Spasticity.

Biodiesel production has received considerable attention in the recent past as a renewable fuel to mitigate climate change and for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) clean affordable energy and climate action. This research study was based on optimization of the conversion of pongame oil into biodiesel fuel through lab scale batch reactor by acid esterification and alkali transesterification. using Statistical simulation analysis was conducted by Taguchi Orthogonal Array Design, with input factor variables were volume of methanol (20, 25, 30, 40 mL), quantity of catalyst used (0.8, 1.0, 1.8, 2.0 g), volume of acid used (0.2, 0.3, 0.4 0.5 mL), reaction time (55, 60, 90, 120 min) and reaction temperature levels (55, 60, 65, 70 °C). The highest pongamia biodiesel yield was obtained 78.25% experimentally as compared to simulation yield of 84.02% by weight with an error of 5.44%. The highest biodiesel yield was achieved with transesterification carried out for 100 mL pongamia oil under optimized reaction parameters such as methanol amount of 20 mL, KOH amount of 0.8 g, acid amount of 0.2 mL, reaction time 60 min reaction temperature of 55 °C at stirring rate of 700 rpm. The results showed that the properties of the pongamia biodiesel were in compliance with ASTM D 6751 and can be used as blended fuel with petro-diesel in transportation sector, thus reducing environmental pollution causing climate change and global warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The destructive effects of burning conventional fossil fuels on the environment have created the realisation of the significance of using alternative fuels as a mitigating measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One of the most promising and environmentally friendly substitutes for petroleumbased gasoline fuel is bioethanol. This study uses agricultural residue (bagasse), halophytes and non-edible biomass as feedstocks to produce bioethanol, through lignin content extraction from Panicum antidotale, Phragmites karka, Sugarcane bagasse, Jatropha curcas husk and Conocarpus erectus leaves and then cellulose reduced by acid pretreatment followed by hydrolysis. The cellulose content was found higher in Panicum antidotale (43.39 percent) and lowest in Jatropha curcas husk (35.10 percent), while moderate values of (42.81 percent) in Sugarcane bagasse, Phragmites karka (37.48 percent), and Conocarpus erectus (38.53 percent). At the beginning and end of the fermentation process, the total carbohydrate contents of the hydrolysed biomass were analysed, and their bioethanol yields were measured. Maximum reducing sugar was found 19 gm/L (1.186 lb/ft3 ) in Panicum antidotale followed by Phragmites karka, sugarcane bagasse, Jatropha curcas husk, and Conocarpus erectus leaves as 15.89 gm/L (0.991 lb/ft³ ) and 12.09 gm/L (0.754 lb/ft3 ), 10.52 gm/L (0.656 lb/ft3 ), 4.51 gm/L (0.281 lb/ft3 ), respectively. Bioethanol percentage yield by volume was found as 4.36 percent (Panicum antidotale), 3.93 percent (Phragmites karka), 2.87 percent (Jatropha curcas husk), 2.52 percent (sugarcane bagasse) and 1.64 percent (Conocarpus erectus leaves), respectively. The results showed the potential of producing eco-friendly bioethanol as biofuels from halophytes that will help ease the strain on food crops by providing inexpensive and abundant feedstock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoparticles enhance the positive and negative lightning breakdown voltages of vegetable insulating oils due to a reduced streamer velocity. Pre-breakdown streamers in vegetable oil based h-BN and Fe3O4 nanofluids were observed using the shadowgraph method under a lightning impulse voltage. The propagation of streamers until their stopping length is analyzed using shadowgraph images for the different nanofluids. The results suggest that these nanofluids present a higher breakdown voltage per unit length compared with pure oil. Secondary reverse streamers are observed to appear at the dissipation stage of the streamer. In particular, the secondary reverse streamer of the nanofluids appeared earlier and seemed to be shorter than that of pure oil under positive impulse voltages. The underlying mechanism was analyzed using space charge theory.

Nanofluids, formed by adding nanoscale particles to insulating oil, are stable and homogeneous suspensions that present advanced performance of electrical insulation and heat dissipation. This study shows a comprehensive literature review based on the related results of nano-modified insulating oils (both mineral and vegetable insulating oils) to analyse the preparation methods, stability, dielectric spectroscopy, thermal conductivity, breakdown characteristics under AC and DC voltage, the thermal aging performance of nanofluids and oil–paper interaction. Then theoretical models have been introduced to explain the electrical mechanism of nanofluids. In addition, future research is proposed for nanofluids which would be low cost, highly stable and practically applicable to the power transformers.

Natural esters, as the renewable resources, offer excellent physiochemical and dielectric properties such as the fire-resistance, high biodegradability and satisfactory dielectric breakdown performance. Thus, natural esters are selected as the insulation and heat dissipation medium for electrical equipment. However, the electrical performance of natural esters with different structures under the long gap and higher electrical stress needs further evaluations. In this paper, streamer propagation of various natural esters under the long gap and higher electrical stress were observed optically. The influence of voltage polarity, liquid types and gap distances on streamer characteristics of natural esters were analyzed. Results show that the maximum propagation velocity of streamer in natural esters is greater than that in the hydrocarbon liquids. Breakdown voltage of natural esters under negative polarity is much higher than that under positive polarity for the same gap distance. Among all the natural esters concerned, the camellia liquid demonstrates slower streamer velocity and slight greater lightning breakdown voltages for the positive and negative polarity. The lower content of unsaturation triacylglycerol molecules in camellia liquid contributes to the inhibition of ionization and streamers propagation. Results would be valuable reference for the design, manufacture and operation of the electrical equipment filled with natural ester.

Surface discharge may cause irreversible damage to turn-to-ground insulation in valve windings of converter transformer, where withstand with AC-DC combined voltage. This paper analyzes the phenomenon and characteristics of surface discharge on oil-impregnated pressboard (OIP) under AC-DC combined voltage, and develops a discharge state recognition method. The cylinder-plate discharge model was used to simulate surface discharge. The results showed that discharge development and OIP failure were significantly accelerated by white marks on OIP which were essentially gaseous channels. The discharge characteristics before and after white mark occurrence were both dominated by AC component because of its bigger contribution to electrical field distribution (EFD), and the DC component had obvious effect on accelerating OIP failure. A set of features representing discharge state after white mark occurrence was selected out by the entropy weight method (EWM), based on which the discharge process was classified into three states (stable, fast development and pre-breakdown state) by fuzzy C means clustering method (FCM). A support vector machine (SVM) classifier to recognize discharge state was trained and showed a good performance, whose average assessment accuracy was up to 91.98%. Moreover, the ratio between negative and positive discharge numbers could be used as an auxiliary indicator of pre-breakdown state.

The current study explored bioenergy, particularly biohythane (a combination of biohydrogen (bioH2) and biomethane (bioCH4)), production from cow dung and untreated domestic wastewater sludge to valorize the waste into a value-added product. The experimental study consisted of a two-step process: dark fermentation (DF) and anaerobic digestion (AD) with a range of processing conditions varying the temperature and pH (acidic, neutral, and basic). The study maintained thermophilic conditions (55 °C) for bioH2 production and mesophilic conditions (35 °C) for bioCH4 production. The highest yields of bioH2 and bioCH4 were obtained at a pH of 5.5 (108.04 mL H2/g VS) and a pH of 7.5 (768.54 mL CH4/g VS), respectively. Microorganisms, such as Lactobacillus brevis and Clostridium butyricum, in the wastewater sludge accelerated the conversion reaction resulting in the highest bioH2 yield for an acidic environment, while Clostridium and Bacilli enhanced bioCH4 yield in basic conditions. The maximum cumulative yield of biohythane was obtained under basic pH conditions (pH 7.5) through DF and AD, resulting in 811.12 mL/g VS and a higher volumetric energy density of 3.316 MJ/L as compared to other reaction conditions. The experimental data were modelled using a modified Gompertz's model at a 95% confidence interval and showed the best-fitting data from experimental and simulation results for biohythane production. The regression coefficient R2 value was highly significant at 0.995 and 0.992 for bioH2 and bioCH4 with the change in pH during biohythane production. Thus, this study presented an effective pathway to utilize untreated domestic wastewater sludge as an inoculum, showcasing the potential of biohythane production and the generation of valuable metabolic end-products across a broad range of pH conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]