Replacing fossil fuels wtih solar energy in an SME in UK and Kurdistan, Iraq: Kansas fried chicken case study

Energy management and analysis are more common in large companies since they have the resources and commitment to assign such tasks to employee compared to SMEs. Only a very small proportion of the overall business costs pertains to energy requirements and therefore SMEs pay little attention to energy analysis and management. Fossil fuels, which cause issues related to global warming, can viably be replaced with renewable energy sources such as solar energy. Trends in solar cell development are likely to yield a potential solution to problems generated by an over reliance on fossil fuels. Solar solutions are relatively simple to implement in SMEs than in large corporation and the combined impact small businesses is likely to be much greater. A micro-business has been utilized as a cases study for the purposes of illustration in the UK and Kurdistan-Iraq. Even though Kurdistan-Iraq is abundant in oil and gas, its climatic favour the implementation of solar cells which can replace the existing use of non-renewable fossil fuel. Our comparative study suggests that solar can replaced a reasonable amount of the energy needs even in the UK and a much higher amount in Kurdistan-Iraq. Using 20% efficient solar, can replace 23% and 70% of the energy requirements of the microbusiness in UK and Kurdistan-Iraq respectively

The age distribution entropy of selected countries as a function of time.

<p>Note that there is a slight decrease in the entropy of the Indonesia’s population from 1990 to 2000 perhaps due to the difference in the statistics method used in the years (1990 vs 2000) considered as indicated in <a href="https://international.ipums.org/international/" target="_blank">https://international.ipums.org/international/</a>.</p

The estimated age distributions for household size 5 in the year 2010 using US data.

<p>The estimated age distributions for household size 5 in the year 2010 using US data.</p

The estimated age distributions for household size 6 in the year 2010 using US data.

<p>The estimated age distributions for household size 6 in the year 2010 using US data.</p

The prediction of number of household size distribution for US in the year 2010.

<p>The prediction of number of household size distribution for US in the year 2010.</p

Illustration of the three stages for forecasting the demographic trends.

<p>Illustration of the three stages for forecasting the demographic trends.</p

The estimated age distributions for household size 2 in the year 2010 using US data.

<p>The estimated age distributions for household size 2 in the year 2010 using US data.</p

The acute toxic effects of silver nanoparticles on myocardial transmembrane potential, <i>I</i>_Na and <i>I</i>_K1 channels and heart rhythm in mice

<p>This study focused on the potential toxicity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on cardiac electrophysiology which is rarely investigated. We found that AgNPs (10⁻⁹–10⁻⁶g/ml) concentration-dependently depolarized the resting potential, diminished the action potential, and finally led to loss of excitability in mice cardiac papillary muscle cells <i>in vitro</i>. In cultured neonatal mice cardiomyocytes, AgNPs (10⁻⁹–10⁻⁷g/ml) concentration-dependently decreased the Na⁺ currents (<i>I</i>_Na), accelerated the activation, and delayed the inactivation and recovery of Na⁺ channels from inactivation within 5 min. AgNPs at 10⁻⁸g/ml also rapidly decreased the inwardly rectifying K⁺ currents (<i>I</i>_K1) and delayed the activation of <i>I</i>_K1 channels. Intravenous injection of AgNPs at 3 mg/kg only decreased the heart rate, while at ≥4 mg/kg sequentially induced sinus bradycardia, complete atrio-ventricular conduction block, and cardiac asystole. AgNPs at 10⁻¹⁰–10⁻⁶g/ml did not increase reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and only at 10⁻⁶g/ml mildly induced lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release in the cardiomyocytes within 5 min. Endocytosis of AgNPs by cardiomyocytes was not observed within 5 min, but was observed 1 h after exposing to AgNPs. Comparative Ag⁺ (≤0.02% of the AgNPs) could not induce above toxicities. We conclude that AgNPs exert rapid toxic effects on myocardial electrophysiology and induce lethal bradyarrhythmias. These acute toxicities are likely due to direct effects of AgNPs on ion channels at the nano-scale level, but not caused by Ag⁺, ROS, and membrane injury. These findings provide warning to the nanomedical practice using AgNPs.</p

The action potential-shaping and arrhythmogenic effects of MWCNTs.

<p><b><i>A</i></b>, an overlap of the action potentials of isolated ventricular myocytes at baseline and after MWCNT treatment. <b><i>B</i></b><i> and </i><b><i>C</i></b>, statistical data showing the effects of MWCNTs on the APD and APA, respectively. <b><i>D</i></b>, typical surface ECGs and ventricular MAPs recorded from an in-situ heart showing that intravenous MWCNTs soon induced bradycardia, AV block and cardiac asystole. P, QRS and T represented the P wave, QRS complex and T wave, respectively.</p

Effects of MWCNTs on the <i>I</i>_to of isolated rat ventricular myocytes.

<p><b><i>A</i></b>, a typical example of <i>I</i>_to recorded from ventricular myocytes. <b><i>B</i></b>, voltage-dependent activation and inactivation curves of <i>I</i>_to from rat ventricular myocytes with or without (control) MWCNTs (20 µg/ml) incubation. <b><i>C</i></b>, comparison of the <i>I</i>_to traces and τ_decay in rat ventricular myocytes with (<i>thick</i>) or without (<i>thin</i>) MWCNTs treatment. Ventricular myocytes were depolarized from −50 mV to +50 mV. <b><i>D</i></b>, statistical data of the τ_decay of ventricular myocytes with or without MWCNTs treatment. <b><i>E</i></b>, <i>I</i>_to recovery curves. <b><i>F</i></b>, statistical τ_recovery bar graphs of control cells and MWCNT-treated cells. * <i>P</i><0.05 <i>vs.</i> control.</p