The world is facing environmental pollution and is in an alarming situation due to industrialization and urbanization. Especially, industrial wastewater discharge is causing serious pollution in the ...environment (water, soil, and air) and has become a challenge for researchers and scientists. Wastewater contains heavy metals like Cu, Ni, Cr, Pb, and Ar and causes toxicity in living beings and the environment. In this review, the sources of heavy metals and their toxicological effects on the environment have been reviewed. Various remediation techniques such as reverse osmosis, chemical precipitation, and ultrafiltration are being used for the treatment of wastewater, but still are limited in their efficiencies, residues, cost, and versatility. In this study, the most promising wastewater treatment technique, the physic-chemical technique, has been reviewed along with its working mechanism and efficiency. Further, the pros and cons of this technique and sub-techniques have also been reviewed to provide a basic understanding to beginners and a pathway to experts in the selection of better techniques.
5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) being a mainstream anticancer drug is under keen and detailed investigation for prodrugs formulations in order to minimize the associated side effects. Cocrystallization of 5-FU ...is an innovative technique for the synthesis of 5-FU prodrugs to improve its anticancer effectiveness. The present study is based on the synthesis of 5-FU supramolecular synthons with four coformers: succinic acid, cinnamic acid, malic acid, and benzoic acid utilizing acetone as a solvent. Solid state grinding followed by a slow evaporation solution method was applied. Colorless clear crystals were obtained in all the cases. The cocrystal formation was supported with the help of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD). Through FTIR, the main peaks of interest in the spectrum of 5-FU were N–H (3409.02 cm–1) and carbonyl group (1647.80 cm–1), which were prominently shifted in all spectra of the cocrystals demonstrating the replacement as well as the development of already present interactions with the new ones. For 5-FU–cinnamic acid cocrystals, the anticipated peaks were observed at 1673.13 cm–1 (−CO) and 3566.89 cm–1 (N–H) manifesting a significant change in comparison to 5-FU. Furthermore, with the help of PXRD characterization, the representative peak of 5-FU was recorded at 2θ = 28.80°. The shifting of this specific peak and development of many new ones in the spectra of cocrystals proved the development of new structural entities. Finally, the anticancer activity of all cocrystals was evaluated in comparison to that of API. All cocrystals manifest significantly greater growth inhibition potential than the main active pharmaceutical ingredient. 5-FU–Cinnamic acid (3C) was the one that proved to be the most potent anticancer agent at all four concentrations: 4.82% (12 μg/mL), 34.21% (25 μg/mL), 55.08% (50 μg/mL), and 67.29% (100 μg/mL). In short, this study proved to be a true example to enhance the anticancer potential of 5-FU following fairly easy fabrication requirements of the cocrystallization phenomenon. After the successful synthesis of these supramolecular synthons and subsequent enhancement of growth inhibition potential of 5-FU, these cocrystals can further be evaluated for in vivo trials and membrane crossing potentials in the future.
Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is a popular natural drug, traditionally used for the treatment of a wide range of diseases. Its root, as its most popular part used for medicinal purposes, contains ...different types of phytochemicals and minerals. This review summarizes what is currently known on biochemistry, safety, pharmacological activities (mechanistically), and clinical applications of turmeric. In short, curcumin is considered as the fundamental constituent in ground turmeric rhizome. Turmeric possesses several biological activities including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer, antimutagenic, antimicrobial, antiobesity, hypolipidemic, cardioprotective, and neuroprotective effects. These reported pharmacologic activities make turmeric an important option for further clinical research. Also, there is a discussion on its safety and toxicity.
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•A comprehensive review of perovskite anode and cathode materials for SOFC has been provided.•The selection of initial composition, dopants addition with critical challenges have been ...assessed.•Doping strategies for energy storge applications were highlighted.•The problems and future directions of dopants addition on SOFCs were critically analyzed.
Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have the potential to be used in energy conversion technology. Most of the studies aimed at modifications of anode concerning various issues such as component degradation, sulfur poisoning, and carbon deposition at high temperatures, hindering its applications at the industrial level. Different perovskite structure-related compounds are discussed in this article, which could be possible electrode materials in SOFCs. Literature also revealed the successful utilization of various cathode materials in a wide range of temperature in which cobalt-based materials exhibits higher conductivity than cobalt-free once. The selection of initial composition, dopants addition in different electrodes with critical challenges inherent to this material family have been assessed herein which play a vital role in enhanced electrochemical performance. The other aim of this review article is to provide some useful recommendations and prospective directions for designing future electrode materials of SOFCs. The review analysis is done based on different processing parameters and their effect on thermal expansion coefficient, electrical conductivity, mechanical and electrochemical properties, etc. In a nutshell, a detailed overview is critically analyzed for energy conversion and storage applications, which can open many gateways towards the advancement of SOFCs.
The transport sector is going through a transition from a traditional to a sustainable system. Advanced countries have evaluated the costs and benefits of such transition, however, developing ...countries like Pakistan have rarely looked into evaluating such transition rigorously. This paper uses the transport sector of Pakistan as a case study and provides an economic evaluation of different scenarios for sustainable transportation in the region. The study has used the Long-range Energy Alternative Planning (LEAP) framework to evaluate the environmental and social costs of three scenarios, Business as Usual Scenario (BAUS), Efficient Combustion Scenario (ECS), and Hybrid Vehicle Scenario (HVS). It concluded that by 2040, the HVS and ECS will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 303.7 and 213.3 million metric tons respectively compared to BAUS. These savings in terms of social cost will be US$ 10.1 billion in HVS and US$ 7.2 billion in ECS as compared to BAUS. By the year 2040, oil demand in the transportation system will also be possible to contain at the 2026 level. This research is anticipated to help discover the best policy decisions for increasing the share of green fuels in the transport sector of Pakistan.
•Energy demand evaluation in the transportation sector of Pakistan.•Scenario based road, rail and air transportation analysis.•Environmental emissions and externality cost assessment.•Economic and environmental analysis in long range energy alternative planning.•Encouraging the energy efficient technologies for transportation.
Internal Combustion (IC) engines are prevalent in the process sector, and maintaining sufficient Air-Fuel Ratio (AFR) regulation in their fuel system is crucial for enhanced engine performance, fuel ...economy, and environmental safety. Faults in the AFR system's sensors cause the engine to shut down, hence, fault tolerance is essential. In order to avoid engine shutdown, this paper offers a novel Active Fault-Tolerant Control System (AFTCS) for air-fuel ratio control of an Internal Combustion (IC) engine in a process plant. In the Fault Detection and Isolation (FDI) unit, the proposed AFTCS uses a nonlinear regression-based observer model for analytical redundancy. The suggested system was simulated in the MATLAB / Simulink environment. The proposed system was tested at two different speeds (300 r/min and 600 r/min) and the results show that the system's response is within the acceptable bound without compromising the stability. The findings also demonstrate the higher fault tolerance capability for sensor defects of the AFR control system, particularly for the MAP sensor (at 300 r/min) in terms of reduced oscillatory response in comparison to the current literature. Compared to the linear regression-based and Genetic Algorithm (GA) based model, the nonlinear regression-based model results in a more accurate estimation of the faulty sensors. The proposed model is also efficient in terms of computation power and response time.
Heavy metal contamination in water is a serious environmental issue due to the toxicity of metals like lead. This study developed zeolite and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) incorporated ...polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers
via
needleless electrospinning and examined their potential for lead ion adsorption from aqueous solutions. The adsorption process was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) modeling approaches. The adsorbent displayed efficient lead removal of 84.75% under optimum conditions (adsorbent dose (2.21 g), adsorption time (207 min), temperature (48 °C), and initial concentration (62 ppm)). Kinetic studies revealed that the adsorption followed pseudo-first-order kinetics governed by interparticle diffusion. Isotherm analysis indicated Langmuir monolayer adsorption with improved 5.90 mg g
−1
capacity compared to pristine PAN nanofibers. Thermodynamic parameters suggested the adsorption was spontaneous and endothermic. This work demonstrates the promise of electrospun zeolite/MWCNT nanofibers as adsorbents for removing lead from wastewater.
Heavy metal contamination in wastewater is a serious environmental issue due to the toxicity of metals like lead.
The industrial sector is one of the most energy-intensive sectors, with a share of nearly 38 % (156 EJ) of all energy used globally in 2020. Historical energy demand and consumption data from a ...poultry processing plant have been analyzed to lower greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and reliance on traditional energy sources. The study includes energy, economic, and emissions analyses for (a) solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, (b) biomass fuels, and (c) coal-fired with wood. Fixed, single, and two-axis tracking solar PV systems that are company-owned and funded by banks are considered. The historical energy consumption data of the plant shows that 52.36 % of energy demand is met by electrical energy and 47.63 % by thermal energy. The yearly electricity demand is 9,938 MWh, costs $1,192,560, and emits 5117.6 tCO2. Thermal energy demand is based on an annual use of 898 tonnes of coal and 71.6 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which costs $ 143,681 and emits 2977.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide (tCO2). Feasibility of 1.3 MW, fixed axis company-owned, solar PV plant shows an annual electricity production of 1876 MWh, GHG emission reduction of 965.9 tCO2 with a payback period of 3.4 years. Biomass system delivers yearly fuel cost savings of $25,724, reducing 2784 tCO2 with a 1.9-year payback period. Co-firing biomass offers a 3.58 % fuel cost saving and 557 tCO2 with a 0.93-year payback period. It concluded that the wood fuel feedstock biomass option is most suitable renewable energy resource for such large-scale poultry facilities.
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•A study of the viability and economics of renewable energy sources for the poultry processing industry using historical energy consumption and cost estimates.•Analysis of fixed, single- and two-axis solar PV systems owned by the company and financed by banks.•Introduction of biomass-coal fuel feedstock for co-firing in the existing boiler.•The cumulative impact of solar PV and biomass utilization on energy, economics, and the environment benefits the industrial sector.
Objective: To compare the effects of magnesium sulphate on the total dose of intravenous morphine consumption postoperatively following limb amputations along with rescue analgesia requirement, pain ...scores and side effects. Method: The prospective, triple-blinded, randomised controlled study was conducted from October 2021 to May 2022 at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Lahore, Pakistan, and comprised patients scheduled for limb amputations. They were randomised into 2 equal groups. The anaesthesia protocol was uniform for all patients. Intervention group A was administered 30mg/kg loading dose and 10mg/kg/hr maintenance dose of magnesium sulphate intravenously, while patients in control group B received the same amount of plain isotonic saline. Morphine consumption was measured for 24 hours postoperatively and included rescue analgesia, if required by the patient in the post-anaesthesia care unit, and patient-controlled analgesia. Numeric rating scale was used for the evaluation of postoperative pain in both groups at 15min, 1h, 2h, at discharge from the post-anaesthesia care unit and at 12h and 24h in the ward. Data was analysed using SPSS 23. Results: Of the 24 patients enrolled, the study was completed by 20(83.33%). There were 10(50%) patients in group A; 8(40%) males and 2(20%) females with mean age 24.8±14.14 years and mean surgery time 130.5±47.86 minutes. There were 10(50%) patients in group B; 8(40%) males and 2(20%) females with mean age 23.2±7.4 years and mean surgery time 117±23.85 minutes (p>0.05). Total morphine used over 24 hours in group A was 16±3.1mg compared to 29.6±11.2mg in group B (p<0.05). The time for first use of patient-controlled analgesia after arriving in the post-anaesthesia care unit was significantly delayed in group A 72.2±24.95 minutes compared to that in group B 25±26.68 minutes (p<0.05). Pain scores were significantly higher in the group B at 15min compared to group A (p<0.05), but not at the rest of the time points (p>0.05). Conclusion: Intravenous magnesium sulphate proved to be effective in lowering postoperative opioid requirement following limb amputations. Key Words: Postoperative pain, Analgesia, Amputation, Surgical amputation, N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, Magnesium, Magnesium sulphate, Opioid analgesics, Morphine, Patient-controlled analgesia.
The solar updraft towers harnessing solar energy are a sustainable and economical source of power, however, they suffer from low collector efficiency. Geometric characteristics have a large effect on ...the plant’s efficiency. One of the lesser-studied parameters that affect the flow behavior, and the performance of the plant is the chimney wall profile. A novel concept of parabolic wall profiles is introduced in this study using inner parabolic chimney profile (IPCP) and outer parabolic chimney (OPCP) configurations. For this purpose, the plant is modeled numerically and validated with the experimental data from the Manzanares prototype. The influence of parabolic profiles is studied at 0° to 3° chimney diverging angle (CDA) and 0° to 10° collector roof angle (CRA). The convergent effect of IPCP resulted in increased performance in contrast to OPCP. The appearance of large eddies creating a recirculation region near the base of the chimney is significantly decreased by using IPCP. The IPCP also resulted in an elevated performance when the effect of CDA and CRA is included resulting in a 12.1% increased power output. The IPCP at 1° CDA and 6° CRA is found to be the optimum among the studied configuration resulting in 80.6% and 80.7% increased power output and collector efficiency respectively. The proposed design resulted in smoother flow with smaller eddies, better thermal characteristics, and improved performance of the plant.
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