We synthesis CuO nanoparticles of average diameter 8
nm by a simple precipitation technique and study the thermal properties of the suspensions. The thermal conductivity enhancement observed in water ...and ethylene glycol based nanofluids with 1
vol.% CuO nanoparticles loading are 31.6 and 54%, respectively. The large enhancement in thermal conductivity is attributed to the finer particle size and monodispersity of nanoparticles. It has been found that the thermal conductivity of the nanofluid increases nonlinearly with the volume fraction of nanoparticles. The time-dependent thermal conductivity in water based CuO nanofluid shows that the thermal conductivity decreases with elapsed time due to clustering of nanoparticles with time, as confirmed microscopically. The experimental results show that the nanoparticles size, polydispersity, cluster size and the volume fraction of particles have a significant influence on thermal conductivity.
Worldwide, a massive amount of agriculture and food waste is a major threat to the environment, the economy and public health. However, these wastes are important sources of phytochemicals ...(bioactive), such as polyphenols, carotenoids, carnitine, coenzymes, essential oils and tocopherols, which have antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticarcinogenic properties. Hence, it represents a promising opportunity for the food, agriculture, cosmetics, textiles, energy and pharmaceutical industries to develop cost effective strategies. The value of agri-food wastes has been extracted from various valuable bioactive compounds such as polyphenols, dietary fibre, proteins, lipids, vitamins, carotenoids, organic acids, essential oils and minerals, some of which are found in greater quantities in the discarded parts than in the parts accepted by the market used for different industrial sectors. The value of agri-food wastes and by-products could assure food security, maintain sustainability, efficiently reduce environmental pollution and provide an opportunity to earn additional income for industries. Furthermore, sustainable extraction methodologies like ultrasound-assisted extraction, pressurized liquid extraction, supercritical fluid extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, pulse electric field-assisted extraction, ultrasound microwave-assisted extraction and high hydrostatic pressure extraction are extensively used for the isolation, purification and recovery of various bioactive compounds from agri-food waste, according to a circular economy and sustainable approach. This review also includes some of the critical and sustainable challenges in the valorisation of agri-food wastes and explores innovative eco-friendly methods for extracting bioactive compounds from agri-food wastes, particularly for food applications. The highlights of this review are providing information on the valorisation techniques used for the extraction and recovery of different bioactive compounds from agricultural food wastes, innovative and promising approaches. Additionally, the potential use of these products presents an affordable alternative towards a circular economy and, consequently, sustainability. In this context, the encapsulation process considers the integral and sustainable use of agricultural food waste for bioactive compounds that enhance the properties and quality of functional food.
As a result of the depletion of fossil resources, ongoing population growth, and the industrialized economy, energy demand has been rising quickly throughout the world. India is now the world’s ...third-largest oil consumer, surpassing Japan and Russia. Today, biofuel research is conducted worldwide because surrounding two essential characteristics: sustainability and renewability. Biofuels have gained considerable significance as a result of dwindling oil sources, worries about energy security, and the escalating environmental issues associated with climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. In most cases, biofuels are produced by subjecting materials that have been densified to the process of heat conversion. In the disciplines of research and development, alternative energy development is a top focus. Due to the depletion of fossil fuel resources, it has become important to find innovative replacements for fossil fuels, such as biofuels, to generate heat and power. Biofuels may be generated using several methodologies, encompassing biological, chemical, and physical approaches. The three steps of densification systems’ pre-, during-, and post-pelletization procedures convert biomass into pellets. Several agricultural wastes, such as grain dust, crop leftovers, and fruit tree residues, are available as sources of agricultural energy. Bioenergy from biomass, such as leftovers and energy crops, can be used to produce contemporary energy carriers. This article focuses on an overview of sustainable and renewable biofuel resources and their commercialization.
Using Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 standard, radio frequency waves are mainly used for communication on various devices such as mobile phones, laptops, and smart televisions. Apart from communication ...applications, the recent research in wireless technology has turned Wi-Fi into other exploration possibilities such as human activity recognition (HAR). HAR is a field of study that aims to predict motion and movement made by a person or even several people. There are numerous possibilities to use the Wi-Fi-based HAR solution for human-centric applications in intelligent surveillance, such as human fall detection in the health care sector or for elderly people nursing homes, smart homes for temperature control, a light control application, and motion detection applications. This paper’s focal point is to classify human activities such as EMPTY, LYING, SIT, SIT-DOWN, STAND, STAND-UP, WALK, and FALL with deep neural networks, such as long-term short memory (LSTM) and support vector machines (SVM). Special care was taken to address practical issues such as using available commodity hardware. Therefore, the open-source tool Nexmon was used for the channel state information (CSI) extraction on inexpensive hardware (Raspberry Pi 3B+, Pi 4B, and Asus RT-AC86U routers). We conducted three different types of experiments using different algorithms, which all demonstrated a similar accuracy in prediction for HAR with an accuracy between 97% and 99.7% (Raspberry Pi) and 96.2% and 100% (Asus RT-AC86U), for the best models, which is superior to previously published results. We also provide the acquired datasets and disclose details about the experimental setups.
In India, rabies in cattle is under-reported. Religious sentiments hamper its diagnosis, discouraging post-mortem examination, particularly opening the cranium. Specimens of peripheral tissue ...innervated by the cranial nerves could potentially be used as alternative diagnostic specimens to the brain. Herein, we present a case study of a novel approach for diagnosing rabies in a cow suspected of having rabies, using skin tissue specimens of the nasolabial plate obtained post-mortem. Brain and nasolabial tissue specimens tested positive for rabies using conventional reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. This approach has been previously shown to have a high diagnostic sensitivity in animals. We encourage further studies with more nasolabial plate skin specimens for both post- and antemortem diagnosis of rabies in cattle.
The findings of the EU Fusion Programme's ‘Materials Assessment Group’ (MAG), assessing readiness of Structural, Plasma Facing (PF) and High Heat Flux (HHF) materials for DEMO, are discussed. These ...are incorporated into the EU Fusion Power Roadmap 1, with a decision to construct DEMO in the early 2030s.
The methodology uses project-based and systems-engineering approaches, the concept of Technology Readiness Levels, and considers lessons learned from Fission reactor material development. ‘Baseline’ materials are identified for each DEMO role, and the DEMO mission risks analysed from the known limitations, or unknown properties, associated with each baseline material. R&D programmes to address these risks are developed. The DEMO assessed has a phase I with a ‘starter blanket’: the blanket must withstand ≥2MWyrm−2 fusion neutron flux (equivalent to ∼20dpa front-wall steel damage). The baseline materials all have significant associated risks, so development of ‘Risk Mitigation Materials’ (RMM) is recommended. The R&D programme has parallel development of the baseline and RMM, up to ‘down-selection’ points to align with decisions on the DEMO blanket and divertor engineering definition. ITER licensing experience is used to refine the issues for materials nuclear testing, and arguments are developed to optimise scope of materials tests with fusion neutron (‘14MeV’) spectra before DEMO design finalisation. Some 14MeV testing is still essential, and the Roadmap requires deployment of a ≥30dpa (steels) testing capability by 2026. Programme optimisation by the pre-testing with fission neutrons on isotopically- or chemically-doped steels and with ion-beams is discussed along with the minimum 14MeV testing programme, and the key role which fundamental and mission-oriented modelling can play in orienting the research.
Lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) belongs to the genus Capripoxvirus and family Poxviridae. LSDV was endemic in most of Africa, the Middle East and Turkey, but since 2015, several outbreaks have been ...reported in other countries. In this study, we used whole genome sequencing approach to investigate the origin of the outbreak and understand the genomic landscape of the virus. Our study showed that the LSDV strain of 2022 outbreak exhibited many genetic variations compared to the Reference Neethling strain sequence and the previous field strains. A total of 1819 variations were found in 22 genome sequences, which includes 399 extragenic mutations, 153 insertion frameshift mutations, 234 deletion frameshift mutations, 271 Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 762 silent SNPs. Thirty-eight genes have more than 2 variations per gene, and these genes belong to viral-core proteins, viral binding proteins, replication, and RNA polymerase proteins. We highlight the importance of several SNPs in various genes, which may play an essential role in the pathogenesis of LSDV. Phylogenetic analysis performed on all whole genome sequences of LSDV showed two types of variants in India. One group of the variant with fewer mutations was found to lie closer to the LSDV 2019 strain from Ranchi while the other group clustered with previous Russian outbreaks from 2015. Our study highlights the importance of genomic characterization of viral outbreaks to not only monitor the frequency of mutations but also address its role in pathogenesis of LSDV as the outbreak continues.
We report the effect of initial pH and temperature of iron salt solutions on formation of magnetite (Fe
3O
4) nanoparticles during co-precipitation. We synthesized nanoparticles by keeping the ...initial pH at 0.7, 1.5, 3.0, 4.7, 5.7, 6.7 for two different temperatures of 30 and 60
°C. When the initial pH (prior to alkali addition) of the salt solution was below 5, the nanoparticles formed were 100% spinel iron oxide. Average size of the magnetite particles increases with initial pH until ferrihydrite is formed at a pH of 3 and the size remains the same till 4.7 pH. The percentage of goethite formed along with non-stoichiometric magnetite was 35 and 78%, respectively, when the initial pH of the solution was 5.7 and 6.7. As the reaction temperature was increased to 60
°C, maintaining a pH of 6.7, the amount of goethite increased from 78 to 100%. These results show that the initial pH and temperature of the ferrous and ferric salt solution before initiation of the precipitation reaction are critical parameters controlling the composition and size of nanoparticles formed. We characterize the samples using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometer. The results of the present work provide the right conditions to synthesis pure magnetite nanoparticles, without goethite impurities, through co-precipitation technique for ferrofluid applications.
▶ Passive film stability of 304L SS decreases with increase in nitric acid strength. ▶ In situ passive film study of 304L SS showed growth of platelet like structures. ▶ Passive film composition ...varies depending upon nitric acid concentration.
Passive film properties of type 304L stainless steel in nitric acid medium are investigated in both ex situ and in situ conditions. Ex situ results revealed that variation in passive film morphology occurs depending upon the concentration and time of immersion. In situ surface morphological investigation showed formation of platelet like structures at lower concentrations (0.1
M, 0.5
M), and towards higher concentration (0.6
M, 1
M) the platelet like structures got agglomerated, homogenized and started depleting from the surface leading to opening up of oxide boundaries. Compositional analysis of the passive film revealed duplex nature at lower concentration consisting of hydroxide and oxide layer, and with increasing concentration oxide layer predominates over the surface.
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