Elevated serum uric acid (sUA) concentrations are common in the general population and are associated with chronic metabolic conditions and adverse clinical outcomes. We evaluated secular trends in ...the burden of hyperuricaemia from 2006-2014 within the Irish health system.
Data from the National Kidney Disease Surveillance Programme was used to determine the prevalence of elevated sUA in adults, age > 18 years, within the Irish health system. Hyperuricaemia was defined as sUA > 416.4 μmol/L in men and > 339.06 μmol/L in women, and prevalence was calculated as the proportion of patients per year with mean sUA levels above sex-specific thresholds. Temporal trends in prevalence were compared from 2006 to 2014 while general estimating equations (GEE) explored variation across calendar years expressed as odds ratios (OR) and 95% Confidence intervals (CI).
From 2006 to 2014, prevalence of hyperuricaemia increased from 19.7% to 25.0% in men and from 20.5% to 24.1% in women, P<0.001. The corresponding sUA concentrations increased significantly from 314.6 (93.9) in 2006 to 325.6 (96.2) in 2014, P<0.001. Age-specific prevalence increased in all groups from 2006 to 2014, and the magnitude of increase was similar for each age category. Adjusting for baseline demographic characteristics and illness indicators, the likelihood of hyperuricemia was greatest for patients in 2014; OR 1.45 (1.26-1.65) for men and OR 1.47 (1.29-1.67) in women vs 2006 (referent). Factors associated with hyperuricaemia included: worsening kidney function, elevated white cell count, raised serum phosphate and calcium levels, elevated total protein and higher haemoglobin concentrations, all P<0.001.
The burden of hyperuricaemia is substantial in the Irish health system and has increased in frequency over the past decade. Advancing age, poorer kidney function, measures of nutrition and inflammation, and regional variation all contribute to increasing prevalence, but these do not fully explain emerging trends.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) of thiolated gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) has emerged as an attractive and alternative strategy to improve their brightness. This study demonstrates ...Ce(iii)-triggered AIEE of glutathione-capped AuNCs (GSH-AuNCs) through the coordination between two carboxylic groups of GSH and Ce(iii). The cluster size and valence state of GSH-AuNCs are almost identical to those of a Ce(iii)-induced assembly of GSH-AuNCs (named Ce(iii)-GSH-AuNCs). More importantly, the as-prepared Ce(iii)-GSH-AuNCs exhibit a higher quantum yield (up to 13%), longer luminescence lifetime, and shorter maximum luminescence peak than GSH-AuNCs. Additionally, Ce(iii)-GSH-AuNCs possess redox-switchable luminescence, high salt stability, and long-term storage stability. These findings provide clear evidence that the Ce(iii)-triggered aggregation of GSH-AuNCs is a crucial factor to improve the luminescence property of GSH-AuNCs. Intriguingly, the presence of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) switches off the luminescence of Ce(iii)-GSH AuNCs through the significant formation of Ce(iii)-ATP complexes. Furthermore, the ATP-induced luminescence quenching of Ce(iii)-GSH-AuNCs can be paired with the alkaline phosphatase (ALP)-ATP system to design a turn-on luminescent probe for ALP; the limit of detection for ALP is estimated to be 0.03 U L-1. Also, the biocompatibility of Ce(iii)-GSH-AuNCs enables the proposed system to detect ALP in human serum and HeLa cells.
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•We investigated the costs and GHG emissions of three blue hydrogen production technologies.•Blue hydrogen cost ranges from $1.69-$2.55 per kg H2 depending on the production ...technology.•Autothermal reforming (ATR) with carbon capture and storage (CCS) and natural gas decomposition with CCS produce H2 has the lowest and highest cost, respectively.•Blue hydrogen from ATR process has the lowest GHG emissions, 3.91 kgCO2eq/kg H2.•The economics of a steam reforming plant depends on the CO2 capture rate.
Interest in blue hydrogen production technologies is growing. Some researchers have evaluated the environmental and/or economic feasibility of producing blue hydrogen, but a holistic assessment is still needed. Many aspects of hydrogen production have not been investigated. There is very limited information in the literature on the impact of plant size on production and the extent of carbon capture on the cost and life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of blue hydrogen production through various production pathways. Detailed uncertainty and sensitivity analyses have not been included in most of the earlier studies. This study conducts a holistic comparative cost and life cycle GHG emissions’ footprint assessment of three natural gas-based blue hydrogen production technologies – steam methane reforming (SMR), autothermal reforming (ATR), and natural gas decomposition (NGD) to address these research gaps. A hydrogen production plant capacity of 607 tonnes per day was considered. For SMR, based on the percentage of carbon capture and capture points, we considered two scenarios, SMR-52% (indicates 52% carbon capture) and SMR-85% (indicates 85% carbon capture). A scale factor was developed for each technology to understand the hydrogen production cost with a change in production plant size. Hydrogen cost is 1.22, 1.23, 2.12, 1.69, 2.36, 1.66, and 2.55 $/kg H2 for SMR, ATR, NGD, SMR-52%, SMR-85%, ATR with carbon capture and sequestration (ATR-CCS), and NGD with carbon capture and sequestration (NGD-CCS), respectively. The results indicate that when uncertainty is considered, SMR-52% and ATR are economically preferable to NGD and SMR-85%. SMR-52% could outperform ATR-CCS when the natural gas price decreases and the rate of return increases. SMR-85% is the least attractive pathway; however, it could outperform NGD economically when CO2 transportation cost and natural gas price decrease. Hydrogen storage cost significantly impacts the hydrogen production cost. SMR-52%, SMR-85%, ATR-CCS, and NGD-CCS have scale factors of 0.67, 0.68, 0.54, and 0.65, respectively. The hydrogen cost variation with capacity shows that operating SMR-52% and ATR-CCS above hydrogen capacity of 200 tonnes/day is economically attractive. Blue hydrogen from autothermal reforming has the lowest life cycle GHG emissions of 3.91 kgCO2eq/kg H2, followed by blue hydrogen from NGD (4.54 kgCO2eq/kg H2), SMR-85% (6.66 kgCO2eq/kg H2), and SMR-52% (8.20 kgCO2eq/kg H2). The findings of this study are useful for decision-making at various levels.
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•Various types of food wastes are generated from agricultural production to consumption reviewed.•Food wastes can be valorized by recovery, recycling and reusing.•Food wastes can be ...integrated to myco-biorefinery to obtain valuable products.•Food waste bioconversion helps waste management and value addition.
Increases in population and urbanization leads to generation of a large amount of food waste (FW) and its effective waste management is a major concern. But putrescible nature and high moisture content is a major limiting factor for cost effective FW valorization. Bioconversion of FW for the production of value added products is an eco-friendly and economically viable strategy for addressing these issues. Targeting on production of multiple products will solve these issues to greater extent. This article provides an overview of bioconversion of FW to different value added products.
In this paper, the authors propose a two-dimensional (2D), wide dynamic range, linear displacement sensor based on the microwave resonator principle. The sensor employs a cylindrical dielectric ...resonator (DR) proximity coupled to a pair of 50 Ω microstrip lines that are laid orthogonally over a microwave substrate. The DR is free to move on the substrate in the 2D space between the microstrips so that the coupling strength of the excited DR mode varies with the DR's proximity to the microstrips. This variation in coupling strength can be measured in terms of the two-port scattering (S) parameters of the circuit, from which the DR's displacement can be estimated. The above circuit operates at a fixed frequency determined by the resonant frequency of the particular mode of the DR. Initial one-dimensional (1D) analysis using the |S 21 | sensitivity of the DR displacement reveals a dynamic range of more than 23 mm for the horizontal, vertical and diagonal displacements. To enable full 2D scanning by differentiating the horizontal and vertical displacements, the |S 11 | and |S 22 | parameters are also taken into account in addition to |S 21 |. Note that in all the above measurements, the sensor's operating frequency remains constant at 3.67 GHz which is the resonant frequency of the DR. Such single-frequency sensors are highly robust to frequency offsets and are also cost-effective in practical realisation compared to variable frequency sensors. This aspect as well as other performance parameters of the proposed sensor are compared with that of existing 2D sensors.
The strontium–aluminium–hexaferrite was substituted with the divalent ions (Mg/Cu) with the chemical formula of Sr
1–
x
M
x
Al
2
Fe
10
O
19
(M = Mg, Cu;
x
= 0.1, 0.2), and all the samples were ...synthesized via sol–gel auto combustion method. The thermal studies disclosed endothermic and exothermic peaks and showed magnetic phase transition behaviour in the range of 350–450 °C. The particles are shaped in a hexagonal structure with space group P63/mmc and the crystallize size ranges between 44 and 53 nm. The field-emission scanning microscopy revealed the platelet-like morphology of the particles. The magnetic studies disclosed the fine range of magnetic saturation (40.87–49.76 emu/g) and coercivity values (4619–7647 Oe). The particles own single-domain arrangement and decent energy product value (0.32–0.38 MGO
e
), implying their potential application in permanent magnets. The lower dielectric constant values at high-frequency range suggest their potential employment in microwave applications.
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•Biomass composition, structural variability are key players in lignocellulosic biorefinery.•Cellulosic ethanol production has immense potential to be use as transportation ...fuels.•Efficient pretreatment and achieving high sugar/ ethanol titer are critical challenge.•State-of-the-art technology development, genetic engineering key area for exploration.
Cellulosic ethanol production has received global attention to use as transportation fuels with gasoline blending virtue of carbon benefits and decarbonization. However, due to changing feedstock composition, natural resistance, and a lack of cost-effective pretreatment and downstream processing, contemporary cellulosic ethanol biorefineries are facing major sustainability issues. As a result, we've outlined the global status of present cellulosic ethanol facilities, as well as main roadblocks and technical challenges for sustainable and commercial cellulosic ethanol production. Additionally, the article highlights the technical and non-technical barriers, various R&D advancements in biomass pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation strategies that have been deliberated for low-cost sustainable fuel ethanol. Moreover, selection of a low-cost efficient pretreatment method, process simulation, unit integration, state-of-the-art in one pot saccharification and fermentation, system microbiology/ genetic engineering for robust strain development, and comprehensive techno-economic analysis are all major bottlenecks that must be considered for long-term ethanol production in the transportation sector.
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•Virus-induced infections like SARS-CoV-2 is a serious threat to human health and economics.•SARS-CoV-2 sheds out through stools making a possible faecal-oral route of transmission to ...environment matrix.•Detection of enteric viruses in the environmental samples is extremely challenging.•Integrating two or more disinfection strategies provides an effective inactivation method for viral pathogens.
The unprecedented global spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) caused by SARS-CoV-2 is depicting the distressing pandemic consequence on human health, economy as well as ecosystem services. So far novel coronavirus (CoV) outbreaks were associated with SARS-CoV-2 (2019), middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV, 2012), and SARS-CoV-1 (2003) events. CoV relates to the enveloped family of Betacoronavirus (βCoV) with positive-sense single-stranded RNA (+ssRNA). Knowing well the persistence, transmission, and spread of SARS-CoV-2 through proximity, the faecal-oral route is now emerging as a major environmental concern to community transmission. The replication and persistence of CoV in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and shedding through stools is indicating a potential transmission route to the environment settings. Despite of the evidence, based on fewer reports on SARS-CoV-2 occurrence and persistence in wastewater/sewage/water, the transmission of the infective virus to the community is yet to be established. In this realm, this communication attempted to review the possible influx route of the enteric enveloped viral transmission in the environmental settings with reference to its occurrence, persistence, detection, and inactivation based on the published literature so far. The possibilities of airborne transmission through enteric virus-laden aerosols, environmental factors that may influence the viral transmission, and disinfection methods (conventional and emerging) as well as the inactivation mechanism with reference to the enveloped virus were reviewed. The need for wastewater epidemiology (WBE) studies for surveillance as well as for early warning signal was elaborated. This communication will provide a basis to understand the SARS-CoV-2 as well as other viruses in the context of the environmental engineering perspective to design effective strategies to counter the enteric virus transmission and also serves as a working paper for researchers, policy makers and regulators.
Thin‐walled structures with good energy absorption capability can significantly use as energy absorbers in passive vehicle safety systems. The present study deals with designing and developing ...thin‐walled carbon fiber (CF) reinforced PETG (polyethylene terephthalate glycol) composite tubes with octagonal corrugated lattice structures on the lateral surfaces. The FFF (fused filament fabrication) factors such as layer height, nozzle temperature, printing speed, line width, and infill density were optimized. The experiment outcomes such as compressive strength and dimensional length error, are measured for the respective octagonal corrugated lattice structure incorporated in 3D printed CF/PETG composite tubes. The results proclaimed that, the optimum factors for improved compressive strength in the octagonal corrugated lattice‐structured CF/PETG composite will be 0.1 mm layer height, 220°C nozzle temperature, 20 mm/sec printing speed, 0.1 mm line width and 100% infill density. Furthermore, the R‐square value for the compressive strength and dimensional length error is within an acceptable limit of 91.25% and 93.31%. So, the developed mathematical models are in good form for practical acceptance. The optimized condition3D printed samples exhibit better compressive strength and lower dimensional length deviation, which is essential for considering it in the safety protection application in automotive components.
Highlights
• 3D printed octagonal shaped lattice structured PETG/CF composite tube.
• Process parameters were optimized in terms of compressive strength.
• Layer height has contributed a major impact on the compressive strength response.
Schematic layout of 3D‐printed carbon fiber reinforced PETG composite and its optimal compressive results
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