Elsevier,
Biomass and Bioenergy, Volume 123, April 2019
Pyrolysis converts biomass into liquid, gaseous and solid fuels. This work reviews the existing models for biomass pyrolysis, including kinetic, network and mechanistic models. The kinetic models are based on the global reaction mechanisms and have been extensively used for a wide range of biomass under various operating conditions. Major emphases have been on the network models as these models predict the structural changes during biomass pyrolysis. Key aspects of various network models include reaction schemes, structural characteristics and applications to CFD simulations.
Elsevier, Advances in Radiation Oncology, Volume 4, April - June 2019
The proportion of female trainees in radiation oncology has generally declined despite increasing numbers of female medical students; as a result, radiation oncology is among the bottom 5 specialties in terms of the percentage of female applicants. Recently, social media has been harnessed as a tool to bring recognition to underrepresented groups within medicine and other fields.
Elsevier,
International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Volume 35, April 2019
Groundwater storage (GWS) – a hidden resource underneath the land surface, plays a critical role in sustaining irrigated agriculture in these river basins, particularly during the dry season when rice crops are generally grown in irrigated lands across South Asia. Although monitoring of groundwater levels has been operational in the region for a number of decades, a basin-wide comprehensive assessment of GWS is lacking in most river basins.
Elsevier, Heliyon, Volume 5, April 2019
Background: Genetic diversity is a characteristic trait of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and has been associated with different clinical outcomes. In South Africa, HBV infection is a major public health concern. Most HBV infections are caused by genotype A strains. However rare cases of infection with HBV genotype D have been reported. The purpose of this study was to investigate the molecular characteristics of a rare HBV subgenotype D4 isolate. Methods: The full-length genome of isolate ZADGM6964 was amplified in a one-step polymerase chain reaction.
Elsevier,
SLAS Technology, Volume 24, 1 April 2019
Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease affecting more than 70,000 people worldwide. Caused by a mutation in the CFTR gene, cystic fibrosis can result in difficulty breathing, widespread bacterial infections, edema, malnutrition, pancreatitis, and death. Current drug-based treatments struggle to reach the site of action due to the thick mucus, and only manage symptoms such as blocked airways, lung infections, and limited ability to digest food. Nanotechnology opens up possibilities for improved treatment strategies by focusing on drug penetration through the mucus lining, eliminating resulting bacterial infections, and targeting the underlying genetic cause of the disease. In this review, we present recent nanoparticle developments for cystic fibrosis, challenges in nanomedicine therapeutics, and future research directions in gene editing and nonviral vectors for gene delivery.
Elsevier,
Free Radical Biology and Medicine, Volume 134, April 2019
More than 30 sterols/oxysterols/sterol-acids analysed in human CSF. 7α,25-Dihydroxy-3-oxocholest-4-en-26-oate reduced in AD patient-group. 7α,25-Dihydroxy-3-oxocholest-4-en-26-oate – an intermediate in bile acid synthesis. Bile acid synthesis linked to AD.
Elsevier, Joule, Volume 3, 20 March 2019
Solar photovoltaic modules have suddenly emerged as one of the cheapest options for bulk electricity supply. In a recent Energy Policy article, Kavlak et al. (2018) describe a methodology for quantifying causes of such cost movements and apply it to photovoltaic modules. Their approach, however, overlooks the “butterfly effect” of serendipitously interacting people and events, without which photovoltaics likely would still be expensive.
Solar water disinfection catalyzed by metal-free photocatalyst has emerged as a promising approach for clean water production. By using the edge-functionalized graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) as photocatalytic disinfectants, we find that the pathogen-rich water can be rapidly purified in 30 min with a disinfection efficiency of over 99.9999% under visible-light irradiation, which meets the requirement for drinking water.
Dementia can disturb the circadian rhythm more than in normal ageing people. And their biological clock is often not enough stimulated by light. Sleep disturbances form a high burden for informal caregivers and is the main reason for institutionalization. The effect of biodynamic lighting with varying intensity and colour resembling a daylight curve has hardly been objectively researched. In this study, we evaluate the exposure to biodynamic lighting on circadian functioning of 13 patients with dementia admitted to a psychiatric hospital.
#SmartME has been one of the first initiatives in Italy to realize a Smart City through the use of open technologies. Thanks to the use of low cost sensor-powered devices scattered over the city area, different “smart” services have been deployed having the Stack4Things framework as the common underlying middleware. In this paper, we present the results obtained after 2 years of project highlighting the vertical solutions that have been proposed in different areas ranging from environmental monitoring to parking management.
