Phase change materials (PCM) are characterized for storing a large amount of thermal energy while changing from one phase to another (generally solid-liquid states) at a specific temperature and ...presenting a high specific heat of phase change process. PCMs can be classified as organic, inorganic and eutectic. Such materials present some limitations, including subcooling, phase segregation, flammability, low thermal conductivity and thermal instability, among others. In order to overcome these problems, encapsulation of PCMs is being successfully developed, providing decreased subcooling, large heat transfer area, and controlling the volume change of the storage materials when the phase transition occurs. A considerable amount of studies has been published in the field of encapsulation methods for organic PCMs. Nevertheless, the information available on inorganic PCMs is scattered. Furthermore, the influence of the encapsulation techniques on thermophysical properties of PCMs is not reported in these reviews most of the time. Hence, the aim of this review is to summarize the encapsulation and characterization techniques for inorganic PCMs and to provide the analysis about the influence of synthesis parameters on thermophysical properties of encapsulated PCMs. Two principal types of encapsulated inorganic PCMs were found: core-shell PCMs (core-shell EPCMs) and shape stabilized PCMs (SS-PCMs). Classification of encapsulation methods of core-shell EPCMs and SS-PCMs are reported in this work. Among all the microencapsulation methods, inverse Pickering emulsion, electroplating, solvent evaporation–precipitation method and mechanical packaging are the most common methods described in the literature for the production of core-shell EPCM. On the other hand, for SS-PCMs, mainly sol-gel process, infiltration and impregnation encapsulation methods were found. Scientific works report a reduction in the heat of phase change for core-shell EPCMs. This is mostly because of the low content of salt in the final material. Moreover, an improvement of thermal conductivity was procured for SS-PCMs. Finally, PCM percentage, particle size, stirring rate, type of crosslinking agent and solvent properties were established as principal factors influencing the final properties of the encapsulated materials. For the best of our knowledge, this is the first profound review of encapsulation techniques for inorganic PCM.
Abstract
Vaishnava food offerings provide abundant evidence for material studies on both historical and modern-day ritual practice. The medieval Chola (9th–13th centuries) record of donative ...inscriptions offers us a wealth of details on the food cooked as naivedya or holy food offerings for temple deities. I present a range of ideas on material temple food and related food practices as gleaned from Tamil epigraphy and other Sanskrit sources, especially utilising evidence from the Srirangam temple dedicated to the reclining Vishnu, a main site of Vaishnava devotion. This article is a scholarly intervention on some key phenomena often misunderstood when considering South Indian food: controversies surrounding eating naivedya and food offerings, historical developments leading to the practice of eating temple prasad, the true ‘sambhar’ offered in Hindu temples, who cooked temple food, and where this happened. All aspects shed light on our understanding of Hindu religious practices involving food.
Climate change is affecting biodiversity and ecosystem function worldwide, and the lowland tropics are of special concern because organisms living in this region experience temperatures that are ...close to their upper thermal limits. However, it remains unclear how and whether tropical lowland species will be able to cope with the predicted pace of climate warming. Additionally, there is growing interest in examining how quickly thermal physiological traits have evolved across taxa, and whether thermal physiological traits are evolutionarily conserved or labile. We measured critical thermal maximum (CTmax) and minimum (CTmin) in 56 species of lowland Amazonian frogs to determine the extent of phylogenetic conservatism in tolerance to heat and cold, and to predict species' vulnerability to climate change. The species we studied live in sympatry and represent ~65% of the known alpha diversity at our study site. Given that critical thermal limits may have evolved differently in response to different temperature constraints, we tested whether CTmax and CTmin exhibit different rates of evolutionary change. Measuring both critical thermal traits allowed us to estimate species' thermal breadth and infer their potential to respond to abrupt changes in temperature (warming and cooling). Additionally, we assessed the contribution of life history traits and found that both critical thermal traits were correlated with species' body size and microhabitat use. Specifically, small direct-developing frogs in the Strabomantidae family appear to be at highest risk of thermal stress while tree frogs (Hylidae) and narrow mouthed frogs (Microhylidae) tolerate higher temperatures. While CTmax and CTmin had considerable variation within and among families, both critical thermal traits exhibited similar rates of evolutionary change. Our results suggest that 4% of lowland rainforest frogs assessed will experience temperatures exceeding their CTmax, 25% might be moderately affected and 70% are unlikely to experience pronounced heat stress under a hypothetical 3°C temperature increase.
The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a network of different proteins and proteoglycans that controls differentiation, migration, repair, survival, and development, and it seems that its remodeling is ...required for healthy adipose tissue expansion. Obesity drives an excessive lipid accumulation in adipocytes, which provokes immune cells infiltration, fibrosis (an excess of deposition of ECM components such as collagens, elastin, and fibronectin) and inflammation, considered a consequence of local hypoxia, and ultimately insulin resistance. To understand the mechanism of this process is a challenge to treat the metabolic diseases. This review is focused at identifying the putative role of ECM in adipose tissue, describing its structure and components, its main tissue receptors, and how it is affected in obesity, and subsequently the importance of an appropriate ECM remodeling in adipose tissue expansion to prevent metabolic diseases.
During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, PCR testing and antigen tests have proven critical for helping to stem the spread of its causative agent, SARS-CoV-2. However, these methods suffer from either ...general applicability and/or sensitivity. Moreover, the emergence of variant strains creates the need for flexibility to correctly and efficiently diagnose the presence of substrains. To address these needs we developed the diagnostic test ADESSO (Accurate Detection of Evolving SARS-CoV-2 through SHERLOCK (Specific High Sensitivity Enzymatic Reporter UnLOCKing) Optimization) which employs Cas13 to diagnose patients in 1 h without sophisticated equipment. Using an extensive panel of clinical samples, we demonstrate that ADESSO correctly identifies infected individuals at a sensitivity and specificity comparable to RT-qPCR on extracted RNA and higher than antigen tests for unextracted samples. Altogether, ADESSO is a fast, sensitive and cheap method that can be applied in a point of care setting to diagnose COVID-19 and can be quickly adjusted to detect new variants.
We present the final Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV) quasar catalog from Data Release 16 of the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS). This catalog comprises the largest ...selection of spectroscopically confirmed quasars to date. The full catalog includes two subcatalogs (the current versions are DR16Q_v4 and DR16Q_Superset_v3 at https://data.sdss.org/sas/dr16/eboss/qso/DR16Q/): a "superset" of all SDSS-IV/eBOSS objects targeted as quasars containing 1,440,615 observations and a quasar-only catalog containing 750,414 quasars, including 225,082 new quasars appearing in an SDSS data release for the first time, as well as known quasars from SDSS-I/II/III. We present automated identification and redshift information for these quasars alongside data from visual inspections for 320,161 spectra. The quasar-only catalog is estimated to be 99.8% complete with 0.3%-1.3% contamination. Automated and visual inspection redshifts are supplemented by redshifts derived via principal component analysis and emission lines. We include emission-line redshifts for H , Hβ, Mg ii, C iii, C iv, and Ly . Identification and key characteristics generated by automated algorithms are presented for 99,856 broad absorption-line quasars and 35,686 damped Lyman alpha quasars. In addition to SDSS photometric data, we also present multiwavelength data for quasars from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer, UKIDSS, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, FIRST, ROSAT/2RXS, XMM-Newton, and Gaia. Calibrated digital optical spectra for these quasars can be obtained from the SDSS Science Archive Server.
Lithium, mainly used in electrical energy storage, has also been studied in thermal energy storage. It is recognized as a “critical material” and is produced from minerals and from brines. Chile is ...one of the biggest producers, here from brine and with lower costs than in other countries. With sensible heat storage, in solar power plants lithium is seen as a way to improve the properties of molten salts used today. The low melting point in these ternary salts with lithium, represent a considerable reduction in the maintenance and operational costs associated with current solar technology, demonstrating that the fluids showed, are potential candidates for thermal energy storage (TES) in concentrated solar plants (CSP) plants. Many materials have been studied and proposed to be used as phase change materials (PCM). Between the multiple materials studied to be used in PCM, lithium materials and mixtures are listed as potential PCM for building applications and for high temperature applications. In thermochemical energy storage, lithium compounds have been used mainly in chemical heat pumps, following their use in absorption cooling.
Objective
The study objective was to investigate the effect of cold exposure on the plasma levels of five potential human brown adipokines (chemokine ligand 14 CXCL14, growth differentiation factor ...15 GDF15, fibroblast growth factor 21 FGF21, interleukin 6 IL6, and bone morphogenic protein 8b BMP8b) and to study whether such cold‐induced effects are related to brown adipose tissue (BAT) volume, activity, or radiodensity in young humans.
Methods
Plasma levels of brown adipokines were measured before and 1 h and 2 h after starting an individualized cold exposure in 30 young adults (60% women, 21.9 ± 2.3 y; 24.9 ± 5.1 kg/m2). BAT volume, 18F‐fluorodeoxyglucose uptake, and radiodensity were assessed by a static positron emission tomography‐computerized tomography scan after cold exposure.
Results
Cold exposure increased the concentration of CXCL14 (Δ2h = 0.58 ± 0.98 ng/mL; p = 0.007), GDF15 (Δ2h = 19.63 ± 46.2 pg/mL; p = 0.013), FGF21 (Δ2h = 33.72 ± 55.13 pg/mL; p = 0.003), and IL6 (Δ1h = 1.98 ± 3.56 pg/mL; p = 0.048) and reduced BMP8b (Δ2h = −37.12 ± 83.53 pg/mL; p = 0.022). The cold‐induced increase in plasma FGF21 was positively associated with BAT volume (Δ2h: β = 0.456; R2 = 0.307; p = 0.001), but not with 18F‐fluorodeoxyglucose uptake or radiodensity. None of the changes in the other studied brown adipokines was related to BAT volume, activity, or radiodensity.
Conclusions
Cold exposure modulates plasma levels of several potential brown adipokines in humans, whereas only cold‐induced changes in FGF21 levels are associated with BAT volume. These findings suggest that human BAT might contribute to the circulatory pool of FGF21.
This exploratory study measures the impact on law enforcement as it relates to police officers responding to opioid drug overdoses. A brief survey was developed to explore how responding to opioid ...overdoses impacted police officers' personal and professional lives. The results indicate that 59% of the police officers surveyed (n=262) had responded to an opioid overdose while on duty and 46% (n=204) involved a fatal overdose. Data showed that 32.7% (n=139) of the officers indicated they felt uneasy regarding the potentially adverse effects of responding to an opioid overdose and 31.8% (n=135) experienced a heightened awareness of the danger to themselves or other family members. A preliminary examination of the data indicates that opioid overdose calls may be problematic for law enforcement, provoking anxiety and impacting their family lives. The limited study revealed a small percentage of officers experienced hopelessness or feelings that responding to opioid overdose incidents is futile. Post reactions such as anxiety were documented after administering Narcan to victims of an overdose when children were present. There is a need for further research to gather additional data. At the time of this study, the use of Narcan by law enforcement was rare. Future research is recommended in assessing the anxiety level of officers administering Narcan versus other life-saving activities.
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