Thermo-catalytic co-pyrolysis of palm kernel shell and plastic waste mixtures using bifunctional HZSM-5/limestone catalyst : Kinetic and thermodynamic insights

Kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of catalytic co-pyrolysis of palm kernel shell (PKS) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) with three different catalysts (zeolite HZSM-5, limestone (LS) and bifunctional HZSM-5/LS) using thermogravimetric analyser via nitrogen environment were studied. The experiments were carried out at different heating rates ranging from 10 to 100 K/min within temperature range of 50–900 °C. Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO), Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) and modified Distributed Activation Energy Model (DAEM) methods were employed in this current study. The average Ea for PKS, HDPE, PKS/HDPE (2:8) – HZSM-5, PKS/HDPE (2:8) – LS, PKS/HDPE (2:8) – HZSM-5/LS, PKS/HDPE (5:5) – HZSM-5/LS, PKS/HDPE (8:2) – HZSM-5/LS are 137.26–145.49, 247.73–250.45, 168.97–172.50, 149.74–152.79, 115.30–120.39, 124.36–129.41, 151.03–154.47 and 152.67–157.31 kJ mol−1, respectively. Among the different catalysts used, LS demonstrated the lowest average Ea (151.30–120.39 kJ mol−1) and ΔH (109.65–114.74 kJ mol−1). Positive values for ΔH and ΔG were found for the catalytic co-pyrolysis of PKS/HDPE mixtures which indicates the process is in endothermic reaction and possess non-spontaneous nature. The kinetic and thermodynamic analyses revealed the potential of PKS and HDPE as a potential feedstock for clean bioenergy production

照顧者實用資訊手冊

手冊源起 香港面對人口高齡化，醫療和福利系統無可避免面臨持續的挑戰。照顧者因壓力問題而引發的家庭悲劇時有發生，反映照顧者自身亦極需要社會的重視和支援。 現時照顧者人數眾多，當中不乏配偶、父母、子女、女婿、媳婦，對長者照顧及社會無酬的付出，確實值得社會的認同和肯定。然而，儘管本港為長者及照顧者提供不少支援服務，由於不同的原因，照顧者似乎未有善用現有的服務，常常需要一力承擔所有照顧的責任，這無疑增加了他們的壓力。 照顧者需求多樣性 照顧者有不同種類，所需要的服務或支援亦有所不同。例如：「新手照顧者」剛開始接觸照顧工作，需要盡快提升日常護理和相關的疾病知識，以及獲得合適的離院/復康服務支援。「隱蔽照顧者」一直承擔照顧工作但沒有接受任何支援，因此，他們需要的是服務提供者/鄰里的主動接觸，並被轉介合適的照顧服務，以分擔他們部分照顧工作。「高危照顧者」幾乎長時間被照顧的工作佔據了其生活，他們需要的是喘息空間和暫託服務，甚至可能是情緒支援。即使「資深的照顧者」也可能需要喘息或暫託的支援服務去減輕壓力；而結束了照顧工作的「畢業照顧者」，無論是情緒的支援，還是重新規劃財務與就業的安排，都有非常實際的需求。基於照顧者的不同需要，照顧者的支援和服務也是多樣化，如何讓不同種類的照顧者能夠輕易了解現有的社區支援服務、可考慮甚麼因素選取相關服務、如何獲取所需的支援包括申領經濟支援或預早準備長期護理開支、如何自強增值等，都是這本手冊希望解答的問題。 手冊的目的 編製這本手冊的目的就是要減少照顧者四處尋找資訊的麻煩，提供一個整全且易於瀏覽的資訊來源。本手冊主要有兩大目標：其一，幫助照顧者認識不同的服務和資源，積極尋求援助；其二是一站式提供豐富的資訊服務，提升照顧者的能力和平衡身心健康。 手冊的意義 此手冊的社會意義是期望提高大眾對照顧者需要的關注，並引導更多的行動以支援照顧者。如果您的親友是照顧者，又或您認識的朋友甚至鄰居正面對照顧家人的困難，您可以主動伸出援手，又或利用這本手冊作為啟示，向他們介紹相關的服務。 另外，這本手冊可以視作為支援照顧者的工具，讓照顧者明白在承擔照顧家人的重任時並不需要孤軍奮戰，也可以善用社區提供的各種資源和服務。 手冊架構 本手冊由四個主要部分組成，每部分都專注於特定的主題，旨在提供照顧者的全方位支援和資訊，幫助他們在面對挑戰時能夠有所依賴，並從中獲得力量： 第一部分主要提供基礎知識，其中包括不同種類的照顧者的介紹、四種長者常見疾病（包括認知障礙、中風、老年抑鬱和癌症）的病徵說明、以及照顧者可能面臨的壓力與「喘息服務」的重要性。第二部分專注介紹長者常用的社區及健康服務。我們按照地區將服務機構進行了分類，羅列「認知障礙、中風、老年抑鬱、癌症」常用的服務機構，此外，我們還提供家居安全、樂齡科技租賃服務，以及財務支援等相關建議。第三部分將焦點重新放回照顧者身上，提供了支援照顧者的社福機構介紹、照顧者同路人的心得分享，以及照顧者的培訓資訊，旨在幫助照顧者在面對困難時能自強不息。最後，在本手冊的結尾部分，我們特別邀請了四位專家學者就照顧者政策提出見解和建議，為加強照顧者支援服務提供新思路。 如果按持份者來分類，手冊的四個部分的重點如下： 第一部分：照顧者的基礎知識 ◎ 針對預備照顧者、新手以及隱蔽照顧者，讓他們了解照顧者的角色和需要；照顧體弱長者的基礎知識，並提供應對壓力的建議，包括自我照顧和喘息服務等。 第二部分：照顧者支援 ◎ 針對所有護老者，提供長者常用的社區服務、健康服務和支援計劃，包括暫託、住宿、護送及陪診、善別支援、情緒支援、復康用品津貼及租賃的支援計劃，以及財務策劃師提供的理財貼士。 第三部分：照顧者自強 ◎ 針對照顧者，資訊包括不同的照顧者支援組織、同路人和畢業照顧者的經驗心得、培訓課程，以及實用的電子資訊平台推介。 第四部分：對照顧者支援政策的看法和展望 ◎ 針對服務提供者、政策倡議者及制定者，提供專家學者對照顧者服務及政策的未來發展方向的看法和建議，以期引發更多關於「如何為照顧者提供更好支持」的討論。 給讀者的使用指引 本手冊內容十分豐富，讀者可以先瀏覽目錄，選擇與您相關的部分進行細讀。對於新手照顧者或剛接觸/關注護老服務的人士(例如：學生、社區人士)，我們建議您可以參考手冊第24-33頁「給照顧者的智慧錦囊」的個案，了解不同照顧者可能面對的情境，這可能會給您一點概念，讓您可以考慮尋求哪些支援服務，又或您身邊照顧者朋友有哪些需要，以及如何協助他們獲取所需要的支援。我們深知閱讀本手冊時，您可能會遇到一些不明白的地方，請不必感到困惑。您可以嘗試找身邊的朋友、鄰居或社會服務機構的工作人員一起閱讀，或者向本中心的職員進行查詢。 此外，為方便讀者可以隨時隨地閱讀而不需要攜帶整本手冊，我們為本手冊設立了一個專屬網頁，免費下載整本手冊或某些章節內容。 希望您在閱讀的過程中能找到有用的資訊，並能從中獲得實際的幫助。https://commons.ln.edu.hk/apias_guide/1009/thumbnail.jp

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Investigation and modeling of flight technical error (FTE) associated with UAS operating with and without pilot guidance

With the increasing interest in the utilization of urban airspace for unmanned aerial system (UAS) operations, be it for cargo delivery or passenger transportation, the future city sky could become quite a crowded place if all those visions become reality. In such case, the question of how close two operations could be conducted while sharing an airspace must be answered to ensure the safe and efficient use of the urban airspace. The lateral separation needed to prevent inadvertent intrusion by neighboring tracks is especially important when designing airspace corridors constrained by the urban landscape. This paper documents a series of flight tests conducted in open fields with the goal of assessing the along-track (longitudinal), cross-track (lateral),and altitude (height) deviation under two different flight conditions: operator guided operation within Visual Line of Sight (VLoS), and the waypoint-guided mission analogous to operating Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLoS). The flight test statistics were also compared to the Monte-Carlo based path prediction model that was used in earlier studies for collision prediction. The goal is to determine the Flight Technical Error (FTE) that forms a part of the Total System Error (TSE) for Performance Based Navigation (PBN) of UAS to support the establishment of separation requirements in urban airspace.Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS)Nanyang Technological UniversityAccepted versionThis project is supported by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore under their collaboration in the Air Traffic Management Research Institute

Initial reliability assessment of a commercial-off-the-shelf GPS sensor for generic UAVs

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have gathered much attention commercially in recent times owing to the advancement in technology, such as the introduction of brushless-DC motors and micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). As a result, these UAVs can undertake complex missions and pose potential benefits to a multitude of use cases, for instance, last-mile cargo delivery, infrastructure inspection, and even search-and-rescue missions. With the increase in the adoption of UAVs and the abundance of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components, the airworthiness of the UAVs grows to be of concern as the assessment criteria for them are not as stringent as that of manned aircraft, largely due to the absence of an onboard pilot or passengers. In addition, UAVs with COTS components lack data to provide assurance of their reliability and determine if the UAVs are fit to fly. On-board navigational sensors are one of the critical subsystems in a UAV and any deterioration in the performance of these sensors can precipitate into a UAV system failure during flight missions, potentially leading to a crash. As such, the reliability of these sensors has to be ascertained before any flight mission to ensure their airworthiness. In this paper, we will assess a COTS GPS sensor that has been commonly used in self-assembled UAVs and predict its reliability based on the characteristics of the Surface Mounted Devices (SMD) and Integrated Circuits (IC) using MIL-HDBK-217F. Results from this assessment will provide a preliminary representation of the reliability of a typical COTS GPS sensor for the determination of its suitability for its intended operation.Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS)Nanyang Technological UniversityNational Research Foundation (NRF)Submitted/Accepted versionThis project is supported by the National Research Foundation, Singapore, and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, under the Aviation Transformation Programme. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of National Research Foundation, Singapore, and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. The Ph.D. candidature scholarship provided to the first author by Nanyang Technological University through Air Traffic Management Research Institute Leader’s Track is greatly appreciated

Data analysis on track deviation of UAS operating under Visual Line of Sight (VLoS) condition

The management of collision risk posed by recreational unmanned aerial systems (UAS) intruding into controlled airspace is becoming more critical with the surge in accessibility and popularity of these UAS. Risk mitigation actions that could be taken by the airport operators currently are limited by the lack of reliable UAS detection equipment, which limits their ability to track UAS positions over time and predict the collision risks posed by the UAS. While recent developments in airborne collision prevention of manned aircraft could utilize Markov Decision Process with state probabilities based on historical flight track records and processed using Bayesian Network, this method is not suitable for the off-nominal case of UAS intrusion into controlled airspace. Instead, the prediction of collision risk posed by non-cooperative recreational UAS have to rely on the assumption of worst-case intention, where the UAS aims for the aircraft operating within the aerodrome, and the Reich collision risk model to generate the probable distribution of future UAS positions. This paper documents a series of flight test to simulate such scenario with a UAS operating under visual line of sight condition while aiming for an imaginary three dimensional target in the air. The data was analyzed for the deviation in UAS positions at fixed time interval in the (horizontal) longitudinal and lateral direction, as well as the deviation in altitude. A comparison between the observed deviation and a Monte-Carlo based UAS path prediction following the UAS flight dynamic model were also conducted.Accepted versionThe authors would like to thank Air Traffic Management Research Institute for funding this research under the Urban Aerial Transport Traffic Management and Systems (UAT-TM&S) Project. The authors would also like to thank Mr. Shi Kun Tan for his assistant with flight data collection

Safety-focused framework for enabling UAS traffic management in urban environment

While recent emergence of multirotor UAS as a transport option in urban area promises to unlock the vertical dimension and greatly increase the transportation capacity, managing the safety and efficiency of UAS operations in the complex and densely populated very-low altitude urban airspace could be challenging. In particular, the safety case must be made, and accepted, by the urban population for the UTM to be viable. The Aviation Transformation Programme Project 5 (ATP5) under Singapore’s National Research Fund was setup to identify and tackle the challenges for the enabling of UAS operations in highly urbanized airspace and the eventual establishment of urban UTM. The project focuses on the risk assessment for UTM in two directions: the risk of UAS operation to ground population and the risk of UAS operation to other UTM users. This paper describes the approach taken by the Air Traffic Management Research Institute in Singapore to enable the progressive opening up of urban airspace for UAS operations for various level of traffic pattern complexity and demands.Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS)National Research Foundation (NRF)Submitted/Accepted versionThis project is supported by the National Research Foundation, Singapore, and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, under the Aviation Transformation Programme

International medical Tourists’ expectations and behavioral intention towards health resorts in Malaysia

Medical tourism, a thriving industry encompassing both healthcare and tourism sectors, has experienced exponential growth over the past decades. The intensifying competition within the global market necessitates a closer examination of the pivotal role played by the perceptions of medical tourists in their decision-making process regarding health destination visits. Thus, this study aims to explore the interplay between international medical tourists' perceptions of health resort attractions and their expectations, while also investigating the mediating effect (expectations) of these perceptions on their behavioral intentions to seek medical and healthcare treatments in a Malaysian health resort. Drawing on the Expectation Confirmation Theory (ECT) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), this research employed a quantitative research method, surveying 386 international medical tourists. The distribution of the survey questionnaire utilized the online internet email method. The study employed the partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method to examine the hypothesized relationships. The results conclusively support the positive influence of health resort attractions on international medical tourists' expectations and behavioral intentions. Consequently, this study provides valuable implications for the future growth and development of the health resort and medical tourism industry in Malaysia

Framework for the estimation of safe wake separation distance between same-track multi-rotor UAS

As the surface traffic in modern cities becomes more congested, people turn to the vertical dimension to accommodate the projected increase in urban population density. In order to facilitate the utilization of the urban airspace for passenger and cargo transportation, however, a safe and efficient method of managing these traffic is needed. Several UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System) Traffic Management (UTM) concept of operations have been proposed and studied by various research agencies around the world to address this need, though hard data needed to validate the safety assessment of said concepts is lacking. The current paper proposes a hybridComputational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)-Flight Dynamics simulationworkflow to analyze the necessity of wake-vortex based separation standard for multi-rotor air-vehicles within the UTM controlled airspace. This is accomplished through the usage of Virtual Blade Model (VBM) to simplify the simulation of near-field wake of the multi-rotor air-vehicle, which is mapped into the LES domain to generate the wake-field that the SIMULINK flight dynamics model would use to generate the wake-encounter response of a follower multi-rotor air-vehicle The outlined workflow could be used to estimate the attitude of the follower vehicle and the associate rate of change for a given encounter-pair at various separation distance, which could eventually contribute, along with other factors such as navigational uncertainties etc., to the establishment of required-sizing for safety “bubble” around an UAS. This safe-separation requirement would impact the safety assessment and the overall capacity of the UTM system.Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS)Accepted versionThis project is supported by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore under their collaboration in the Air Traffic Management Research Institute. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore