Adsorption and migration mechanisms of methane and carbon dioxide in gas shales at pore scale

Storage and production mechanisms in gas shales are controlled by pore-scale adsorption and diffusion, respectively. Using a series of experimental and numerical techniques these processes that occur at a molecular level are investigated for their impact on field-scale technologies. Type I adsorption isotherms were obtained for Lothian shale samples. Net sorption was found to contribute to the biggest errors in sorption characterization. Whilst the DR (Dubinin-Radushkevich) isotherm was found to provide the best fit, the Langmuir isotherm was thermodynamically consistent providing good fits to both adsorption and adsorption uptake, making it the best isotherm for shale reservoir characterization. Of three parameter isotherms, the Toth isotherm is preferred over the Sips isotherm given that it is more thermodynamically consistent. Using a series of numerical experiments, importance of adsorption and adsorption uptake on diffusion and gas production in shales are then investigated. Intrinsic permeability of shales decreased with increasing adsorption uptake. A dual porosity FEM (Finite Element Method) is solved to determine reserves. The decrease in effective diffusion with increasing adsorption was found to be quite significant and increasing amounts of sorbed gas in the reservoir counterintuitively results in decreased production for some reservoirs. However, it is possible to minimize this effect by good design of production technology. Smaller fracture spacing and higher fracture heights with very high fracture conductivity could be used to increase sorbed gas production from shale reservoirs. Effect of geochemistry and pore structure on adsorption in Bowland shales is investigated using a series of experimental techniques. Pore characteristics are investigated under the SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy, and mineral phases are identified using EDS (Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy). This provided good agreement with the shale’s TOC (Total Organic Carbon) and XRD (X-Ray Diffraction) data. Using image analysis techniques, micropore volume was found to be predominantly located in the organic matter phase of gas shales. Clay minerals contribute to micropore volume, but to a lesser extent. Pore size distribution was analysed using N2 isotherms with BET (Braunner-Emmett-Teller), BJH (Barrett-Joyner-Halenda), and DFT (Density Functional Theory) techniques. Most Bowland shales exhibit a bimodal pore size distribution with peaks in the micropore and mesopore range corresponding to pores contributed by organic and clay minerals content, respectively. The BET theory corresponds to minimum energetic sorption in heterogeneous shales. For determination of pore size distribution, the DFT theory provides much better predictions compared to the BJH theory. High pressure adsorption and diffusion for methane and carbon dioxide in Bowland shales are determined using the manometric rig. A linear isotherm was obtained for sorption up to 60 bars. The second order kinetics based fit was found to better estimate diffusion than the first order based fit. Sorption and diffusion in shales was a strong function of organic matter, clay mineral content, surface area, and micropore volume. Carbon dioxide sequestration in shales is investigated using a series of experimental and numerical techniques. Shales provide excellent carbon dioxide sequestration capabilities adsorbing nearly 1.25 times carbon dioxide as methane in laboratory experiments. High pressure methane and carbon dioxide adsorption isotherms are used as input parameters in a reservoir simulation using FEM (Finite Element Method) in COMSOL. 10 years of production was simulated to deplete the reservoir, followed by 10 years of carbon dioxide injection for carbon sequestration. A rapid dissipation of pressure was observed in the reservoir after carbon dioxide injection with nearly 10% of the total gas stored due to sorption. Sorbed carbon dioxide was also very stable even under methane production. However, there was no benefit to methane production under Huff-and-Puff carbon dioxide injection technology, which was conducted in a 5 year cycle. This is because high adsorption uptakes are expected to decrease the shale intrinsic permeability consistent with previous results. Also, longer injection times are required to store a similar amount of carbon dioxide in the reservoir for the same reason. Adsorption characterization in methane was done at multiple temperatures to determine the temperature dependence and the heat of sorption. Governing equations of heat and mass balance are modified to include sorption and heat of sorption. These are solved using FEM in COMSOL. Thermal stimulation was found to provide strong benefits for methane production increasing ultimate recovery by 10%. Isosteric heat of sorption is an important parameter in the thermal stimulation of gas shales. Not including isosteric heat over predicted production by 13% compared to production with heat of sorption. Permeability, Langmuir volume, and Langmuir pressure are also significant parameters

IR-UWB Radar-based Situational Awareness System for Smartphone-Distracted Pedestrians

With the widespread adoption of smartphones, ensuring pedestrian safety on roads has become a critical concern due to smartphone distraction. This paper proposes a novel and real-time assistance system called UWB-assisted Safe Walk (UASW) for obstacle detection and warns users about real-time situations. The proposed method leverages Impulse Radio Ultra-Wideband (IR-UWB) radar embedded in the smartphone, which provides excellent range resolution and high noise resilience using short pulses. We implemented UASW specifically for Android smartphones with IR-UWB connectivity. The framework uses complex Channel Impulse Response (CIR) data to integrate rule-based obstacle detection with artificial neural network (ANN) based obstacle classification. The performance of the proposed UASW system is analyzed using real-time collected data. The results show that the proposed system achieves an obstacle detection accuracy of up to 97% and obstacle classification accuracy of up to 95% with an inference delay of 26.8 ms. The results highlight the effectiveness of UASW in assisting smartphone-distracted pedestrians and improving their situational awareness

Gene effects and heterosis for grain Fe and Zn content in barnyard millet (Echinochloa frumentacea (Roxb.) link)

Barnyard millet (Echinochloa frumentacea) is an unexplored nutri-rich crop that thrives well in harsh environments and supports many small farmers in Southern and Eastern Asia. Although it has rich sources of micronutrients, the genetic studies are very limited which further impedes in its genetic improvement. Therefore, we attempted to assess the genetic diversity for Fe and Zn content in 40 barnyard millet germplasm and to evaluate the combining ability and heterosis in sixteen F1 cross combinations through line × tester model. The Mahalanobis D2 analysis grouped the 40 genotypes into nine different clusters. Cluster III and I were the largest groups containing 22 and 6 genotypes, respectively and the rest of seven clusters were the lowest group containing one or two genotypes. Positive correlation was observed between Fe and Zn content though both had a non-significant association with grain yield. This indicate that there would not be any compromise on increase or decrease of grain yield while breeding for varieties high in micronutrient content. Combining ability analysis revealed that lines, testers, and their interaction components are significant. The predictability ratio indicated the predominance of additive variance for Fe and Zn content and non-additive variance in the inheritance of yield components. Genotypes, ACM 331, ACM 333, ACM 335 and MA 10 exhibited positive gca effects for Fe and Zn content and grain yield. Two cross combinations, ACM 331 × ACM 335 and ACM 331 × MA 10 involved one or both the parents with good gca effects exhibited, high mean, positive mid-parent heterosis and sca effects for Fe, Zn content and yield components. Thus, the present investigation provided a significant understanding of the gene action and the possibility of utilizing the selected parents and cross combination for exploiting micronutrient traits in barnyard millet crop

Reducing User Perceived Latency in Smart Phones Exploiting IP Network Diversity

The Fifth Generation (5G) wireless networks set its standard to provide very high data rates, Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), and significantly improved Quality of Service (QoS). 5G networks and beyond will power up billions of connected devices as it expands wireless services to edge computing and the Internet of Things (IoT). The Internet protocol suite continues its evolution from IPv4 addresses to IPv6 addresses by increasing the adoption rate and prioritizing IPv6. Hence, Internet Service Providers (ISP's) are using the address transition method called dual-stack to prioritize the IPv6 while supporting the existing IPv4. But this causes more connectivity overhead in dual-stack as compared to the single-stack network due to its preference schema towards the IPv6. The dual-stack network increases the Domain Name System (DNS) resolution and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection time that results in higher page loading time, thereby significantly impacting the user experience. Hence, we propose a novel connectivity mechanism, called NexGen Connectivity Optimizer (NexGenCO), which redesigns the DNS resolution and TCP connection phases to reduce the user-perceived latency in the dual-stack network for mobile devices. Our solution utilizes the IP network diversity to improve connectivity through concurrency and intelligent caching. NexGenCO is successfully implemented in Samsung flagship devices with Android Pie and further evaluated using both simulated and live-air networks. It significantly reduces connectivity overhead and improves page loading time up to 18%

Dental neglect among children in Chennai

Background: Child dental neglect is the failure of a parent or guardian to meet the child′s basic oral health needs such that the child enjoys adequate function and freedom from pain and infection, where reasonable resources are available to family or caregiver. Aim: The aim of the study is to evaluate the phenomenon of dental neglect among children in Chennai and to associate dental neglect with oral health status of children aged 3-12 years. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study involving 478 pairs of parents and children. Dental neglect scale and a questionnaire were used to assess the dental neglect score among parents of the children involved in the study. Oral health status of children was clinically assessed using oral hygiene index, decayed, extracted, filled teeth (def(t)), pulp, ulcers, fistula, abscess (pufa), decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMFT), PUFA as per the World Health Organization criteria and pufa/PUFA index. Student′s t-test and one-way ANOVA were used appropriately for statistical analysis using SPSS software version 20.0. Results: A significant higher dental neglect score was reported among the parents who reside in the suburban location (P 3 years (P = 0.001). A significant higher DMFT (P = 0.003), deft (P = 0 < 0.001), pufa (P = 0.011), and debris index (P = 0.002) scores were seen in the higher dental neglect group. Conclusion: Child dental neglect is seen among the parents whose educational qualification was secondary, who reside in the suburban location, and who have not utilized the dental services for more than 3 years in Chennai. This dental neglect results in poorer oral health of children

Electrochemical Micromachining of Stainless Steel with Acidified Sodium Nitrate Electrolyte

AbstractThis paper describes Electrochemical Micromachining (EMM) of stainless steel with acidified sodium nitrate. The sulphuric acid of 0.05m/L is added to the standard electrolyte namely sodium nitrate to solubilise the by-products. The foremost characteristics of EMM are researched through scheme of experiments involving various parameters, such as machining voltage, pulse on time and electrolyte concentration. The performance of acidified sodium nitrate and sodium nitrate on EMM are compared. Based on the study, the machining rate and overcut are significantly improved using acidified sodium nitrate as an electrolyte

Fabrication and spectroscopic investigation of sandwich-like ZnO:rGO:ZnO:rGO:ZnO structure by layer-by-layer approach

Transparent conducting materials (TCMs) are the heart of modern optoelectronic industries and the properties of TCMs could be improved by the introduction of 2D carbon materials. In this report, the influence of order layering on microstructural, transparency and emission characteristics of ZnO:rGO:ZnO:rGO:ZnO and rGO:ZnO:rGO:ZnO:rGO sandwich structures has been investigated. The layer-by-layer approach has been adopted for the fabrication of sandwich structured materials ZnO:rGO:ZnO:rGO:ZnO and rGO:ZnO:rGO:ZnO:rGO through the spin coating technique. The sandwich structures of ZnO and rGO exhibited hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO without any impurities were identified through XRD. The ordering of layer's influenced the microstructural parameters and were significantly altered. The spherical nature of the particles and the formation of the sandwich structures were confirmed by using SEM micrograph. The reduction in an optical transparency and narrowing bandgap of the ZnO upon the order of layering were identified through transmission spectra. The lower energy shift of near band edge (NBE) emission and reduction in the emission intensity with respect to pure ZnO nanostructures was observed. The present work provides a simple layer-by-layer approach to fabricating sandwich structures and improving the optical properties which have potential applications in various optoelectronic devices

Incorporation of opaque-2 into ‘UMI 1200’, an elite maize inbred line, through marker-assisted backcross breeding

Maize is an important agricultural plant valued for its productivity and nutritive qualities. However, a deficiency of two essential amino acids (lysine and tryptophan) significantly reduces the nutritional quality of maize proteins. The recessive opaque-2 (o2) mutant has a greater content of lysine and tryptophan in their endosperm proteins and their bioavailability is better. Therefore, marker-assisted backcross breeding (MABB) was attempted to incorporate the o2 allele from the donor line VQL 1 into the genetic background of UMI 1200 to develop quality protein maize (QPM) lines. Foreground selection for the gene o2 was effected using tightly linked molecular marker umc1066, in UMI 1200 × VQL 1 backcross series. Further, background selection was done together with stringent phenotypic selection for agronomic traits, to accelerate recurrent parent phenome recovery. As a result, three advanced QPM maize lines (DBT 4-1-1/25-10/25-10/25-16, DBT 4-1-1/25-10/25-17/25-11 and DBT 4-1-1/25-10/25-17/25-13) carrying the opaque-2 allele in a homozygous state, similar to VQL 1 were developed. The lysine and tryptophan content of these lines ranged from 0.35% to 0.40% and 0.03 to 0.05%, respectively, which is on par with the VQL 1. Background analysis using 250 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) revealed up to 97% recurrent parent genome recovery. In conclusion, the newly developed QPM lines can be used in future maize breeding programmes to improve the nutritional traits

Plant Isoquinoline Alkaloid Berberine Exhibits Chromatin Remodeling by Modulation of Histone Deacetylase To Induce Growth Arrest and Apoptosis in the A549 Cell Line

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are a group of epigenetic enzymes that control gene expression through their repressive influence on histone deacetylation transcription. HDACs are probable therapeutic targets for cancer treatment, spurring the progress of different types of HDAC inhibitors. Further, natural-source-based derived bioactive compounds possess HDAC inhibitor property. In this way, we hypothesized that plant isoquinoline alkaloid berberine (BBR) could be a HDAC inhibitor in the human lung cancer A549 cell line. BBR represses total HDAC and also class I, II, and IV HDAC activity through hyperacetylation of histones. Furthermore, BBR triggers positive regulation of the sub-G₀/G₁ cell cycle progression phase in A549 cells. Moreover, BBR-induced A549 cell growth arrest and morphological changes were confirmed using different fluorescence-dye-based microscope techniques. Additionally, BBR downregulates oncogenes (TNF-α, COX-2, MMP-2, and MMP-9) and upregulates tumor suppressor genes (p21 and p53) mRNA and protein expressions. Besides, BBR actively regulates Bcl-2/Bax family proteins and also triggered the caspase cascade apoptotic pathway in A549 cells. Our finding suggests that BBR mediates epigenetic reprogramming by HDAC inhibition, which may be the key mechanism for its antineoplastic activity