Investigating the potential of renewable-hydrogen energy storage systems (RHES) in enabling Scotland’s farming communities net-zero transition and sizing the proposed RHES system.

Renewable-hydrogen (H2) is a key component in Scotland's decarbonisation plans and its implementation in farming communities can support achieving net-zero goals. HydroGlen, a demonstrative renewable-powered farming community at Glensaugh, is used as a case-study to investigate the potential of renewable-hydrogen in enabling Scotland farms' energy transition. For our case-study farm, two renewable-hydrogen configurations (Solar-H2 and Wind-H2) were proposed, sized, and assessed to identify their capability in supplying most of the farm's residential and commercial demands by clean renewable-energy as well as the transport demands by green hydrogen stored during renewables' surplus. The effectiveness of the proposed configurations was then assessed against that of the Solar-Wind-H2 configuration proposed by RINA (RINA 2021). The study started by assessing the currently installed renewables-system in meeting the farm's demands and results showed that the system can only meet 11% of farm's commercial and residential demands and none of the transport fuel demands. To allow meeting more residential and commercial demands as well as transport demands, a hybrid Solar-H2 system was proposed with an additional photovoltaic (PV) capacity that was sized to feed a higher percentage of the demands with renewable power and a hydrogen energy-storage system to store the surplus in PV production in the form of green H2 to be used in feeding the transport fuel demands. Components of the proposed green-H2 energy-storage system (electrolyser and storage-tank) were accordingly sized. The effectiveness of the proposed hybrid PV-H2 configuration was then assessed, and results showed it was capable of supplying 35% of the residential and commercial demands from solar energy and 100% of the transport demands by green H2. This generous amount of green H2 resulted from the plenty PV daytime surplus given that most of the residential demand is not during sun availability hours. A hybrid Wind-H2 configuration was then proposed, sized and assessed. Results showed that this configuration was capable of supplying most of the residential and commercial demands from wind energy as the wind-generation profile closely matched these demands, and around 44% of transportation fuel demand by green H2. The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) was then estimated for each of the proposed hybrid configurations showing that the LCOE for the hybrid PV-H2, 0.3 £/kWh, is more cost competitive than that of the Wind-H2 of 0.4 £/kWh; thus, the hybrid PV-H2 system was recommended for the farm. Finally, a Simulink model was developed to simulate and assess the operation of the proposed PV-H2 system given that this has not been considered in RINA study

Internet of Mirrors for Connected Healthcare and Beauty: A Prospective Vision

With the shift towards smart objects and automated services in many industries, the health and beauty industries are also becoming increasingly involved in AI-driven smart systems. There is a rising market demand for personalised services and a need for unified platforms in many sectors, specifically the cosmetics and healthcare industries. Alongside this rising demand, there are two major gaps when considering the integration of autonomous systems within these sectors. Firstly, the existing smart systems in the cosmetics industry are limited to single-purpose products and the employed technologies are not widespread enough to support the growing consumer demand for personalisation. Secondly, despite the rise of smart devices in healthcare, the current state-of-the-art services do not fulfil the accessibility demands and holistic nature of healthcare. To bridge these gaps, we propose integrating autonomous systems with health and beauty services through a unified visual platform coined as the Internet-of-Mirrors (IoM), an interconnected system of smart mirrors with sensing and communication capabilities where the smart mirror functions as an immersive visual dashboard to provide personalised services for health and beauty consultations and routines. We aim to present an overview of current state-of-the-art technologies that will enable the development of the IoM as well as provide a practical vision of this system with innovative scenarios to give a forward-looking vision for assistive technologies. We also discuss the missing capabilities and challenges the development of the IoM would face and outline future research directions that will support the realisation of our proposed framework.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figure

THE COMPELLING NECESSITY OF HOUSING AS A MEANS OF TERMINATING THE LEASE

This study deals with the compelling necessity of housing as a means of terminating the lease, which is a permit or a means granted by the legislator or the judiciary to the owner to repossess their property as a result of the realization of an emergency circumstance. To meet the aim of the current study, a comparative analytical approach is taken into account. Given the results,  the right of the owner to repossess the property by compelling necessity is restricted by not to abuse the right in order to preserve the rights of the tenant for the purposes of housing. In fact, these restrictions, which violation constitute an abuse, are represented in the absence of the intent of abusement, that the desired benefit of the act is illegitimate and that the benefit from the same is not commensurate with the harm that afflicts others in addition to not going beyond the status established by the customs and traditions

A Vision Towards the Future of Cryptocurrencies Rooting, its Financial Significance, and Legal Challenges in its Use

Encrypted currencies have become an undeniable reality among investors and speculators in various countries around the world, which necessitates standing on the most prominent issues raised by these currencies, so the researchers decided to discuss in detail the theoretical side of encrypted currencies from various perspectives such as the concept, history, reality, future, and the Islamic perspective on it. In this article, we discuss the notion of financial technology, how it began, and where it has reached, coinciding with the business world seeing a new revolution symbolized by the birth of cryptocurrencies and how the world is rapidly approaching it. Furthermore, we discuss the types of currencies and the most famous cryptocurrencies with their advantages and disadvantages in dealing with their applications, their legal regulation, and the extent of legal liability arising from their misuse, followed by a detailed presentation about the blockchain, we also talk about the relationship between cryptocurrencies, their requirements, risks, and struggles, and finally we will talk about cryptocurrencies from the point of view of investors

Collecting child-patient feedback: A systematic review on the patient-reported outcome measures for hospitalized children

Accurate reporting of patient experiences is a crucial resource for hospitals engaged in patient-and-family-centered care (PFCC). However, studies suggest that most children do not respond to patient satisfaction surveys and are instead represented by their parents or guardians. This study reviewed instruments used to obtain feedback from children about their healthcare experiences for two purposes: 1) To understand the limitations of current tools and 2) To determine if creating a new instrument is necessary. A systematic review was performed on PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, and Web of Science to identify peer-reviewed questionnaires designed to collect children\u27s healthcare experiences. Out of the 9,822 retrieved studies, 17 met the inclusion criteria. Among the seventeen studies, only one provided versions of the study for non-English speaking respondents. Only seven studies developed their questionnaires, nine studies used tools developed by other authors, and one study did not specify. Only 58.82% of the included studies collected both the child and their parents\u27 responses, and the remaining 41.18 % collected data solely from the child. Lastly, the included studies relied too heavily on questions that required the child to recall detailed accounts of their hospital experiences, the quality of their hospital room, and the hospital equipment used in their treatment. The study finds that these questions not only led to mixed results, it also limited self-reporting. Further, the study acknowledges the need to develop a superior instrument that asks children for their perspective of their healthcare experiences in an age-appropriate and culturally accessible way. Experience Framework This article is associated with the Policy & Measurement lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework. (http://bit.ly/ExperienceFramework) Access other PXJ articles related to this lens. Access other resources related to this lens

Thyroid Cancer in Saudi Arabia: A Histopathological and Outcome Study

Most data on differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) came from the Western world. We describe its salient characteristics and outcome from a Middle Eastern country. Patients and Methods. We studied all cases of TC seen during a 2-year period (2004-2005) seen at our institution. Results. A total of 600 consecutive cases of DTC with a median age at diagnosis of 39 years (5–85) and the female : male ratio of 459 : 141 (76.5% : 23.5%). The cases included classical papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) in 77%, follicular variant PTC in 13.3%, follicular thyroid cancer in 3.2%, and other rare subtypes 6.5%. Total or near-total thyroidectomy was performed in 93%, central and/or lateral neck dissection in 64.5% of cases, and radioactive iodine ablation in 82% of cases. Additional therapies were administered to 154 patients (25.7%). At a median follow-up period of 7.63 years (0.22–13.1), 318 patients (53.3%) were in excellent response, 147 (24.5%) having an indeterminate response, 55 (9.2%) biochemically incomplete, 33 (5.5%) structurally incomplete, and 27 (4.5%) unclassifiable. Twenty cases died secondary to DTC (disease-specific mortality 3.3%). Conclusions. In Saudi Arabia, DTC is common and occurs at young age and predominantly in females. Although remission is common, persistent disease is also common but disease-specific mortality is low

Ibuprofen Degradation from Synthetic Wastewater Using Photo-Fenton Process

   The removal of Ibuprofen antibiotics (IBU) by photo-degradation UV/H2O2/Fe+2 system was investigated in a batch reactor under different initial concentrations of H2O2 (100-500) mg/L, Fe+2 (10-40) mg/L, pH (3-9) and initial concentrations of IBU (10-80) mg/L, and their relationship with the degradation efficiency were studied. The result demonstrated that the maximum elimination of IBU was 85.54% achieved at 300 mg/L of H2O2, 30 mg/L of Fe+2, pH=3, and irradiation time of 150 min, for 10 mg/L of IBU. The results have shown that the oxidation reagent H2O2 plays a very important role in IBU degradation

Determinants of College and University Choice for High-School Students in Qatar

Drawing on existing research, this paper investigates various predictors of high school students’ college and university choice decisions in Qatar. Based on a 2015 survey of 1,427 participants, this study utilized exploratory factor analysis to identify variables that affect student choice of higher educational institutions (HEI). Three factors were extracted from the analysis, revealing the following aspects of the academic experience as important when choosing a HEI: quality of education, cultural values, and the cost of education. To further the understanding of the relevance of these factors for different student demographics, we employed ordinal logistic regression to test whether several independent variables (student’s gender, nationality, parental education, and parental occupation) act as significant predictors of the three extracted dimensions (dependent variables). The analysis revealed that, indeed, demographic characteristics significantly predict, to varying degrees, all three factors affecting student’s HEI choice. Discussion on postulated reasons behind the recorded relationships will follow, along with implications and recommendations for further study and research. Findings of this study will help HEIs in Qatar and the broader region to position themselves more effectively, and develop targeted strategies that attract a diverse student population

HERBAL MEDICINES QUESTIONNAIRE AND EVALUATION OF ATTITUDE, PERCEPTIONS AND SELF-USE AMONG HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS IN RAK, UAE: PILOT STUDY

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the perceptions of different healthcare professionals towards HM. Methods: The 16-item questionnaire on the belief of health care professionals in herbal medicine was designed by the interdisciplinary task force. Eligible participants were health care providers who were English-and Arabic-literate. The response rate was 78% of participants (781 of 1000) were respondents. In total, 553 out of 781 (71%) participants indicated that they had previously used herbal medicines. The remaining 228 participants did not believe in herbal medicine due to lack of scientific evidence, ineffectiveness and other reasons. Results: The findings of this study indicate that health care professionals including pharmacists believe they have a responsibility to provide information on HM to their patients. However, the current consensus among the respondents is that current HM-focused knowledge is inadequate for such an application. Conclusion: Health care professionals believe in using HM for their needs and have a responsibility to provide information on HM to their patients