Mechanisms and modeling of the effects of additives on the nitrogen oxides emission

A theoretical study on the emission of the oxides of nitrogen in the combustion of hydrocarbons is presented. The current understanding of the mechanisms and the rate parameters for gas phase reactions were used to calculate the NO(x) emission. The possible effects of different chemical species on thermal NO(x), on a long time scale were discussed. The mixing of these additives at various stages of combustion were considered and NO(x) concentrations were calculated; effects of temperatures were also considered. The chemicals such as hydrocarbons, H2, CH3OH, NH3, and other nitrogen species were chosen as additives in this discussion. Results of these calculations can be used to evaluate the effects of these additives on the NO(x) emission in the industrial combustion system

Mass-Induced Crystalline Color Superconductivity

We demonstrate that crystalline color superconductivity may arise as a result of pairing between massless quarks and quarks with nonzero mass m_s. Previous analyses of this phase of cold dense quark matter have all utilized a chemical potential difference \delta\mu to favor crystalline color superconductivity over ordinary BCS pairing. In any context in which crystalline color superconductivity occurs in nature, however, it will be m_s-induced. The effect of m_s is qualitatively different from that of \delta\mu in one crucial respect: m_s depresses the value of the BCS gap \Delta_0 whereas \delta\mu leaves \Delta_0 unchanged. This effect in the BCS phase must be taken into account before m_s-induced and \delta\mu-induced crystalline color superconductivity can sensibly be compared.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures. v2: very small change onl

A Diagrammatic Approach to Crystalline Color Superconductivity

We present a derivation of the gap equation for the crystalline color superconducting phase of QCD which begins from a one-loop Schwinger-Dyson equation written using a Nambu-Gorkov propagator modified to describe the spatially varying condensate. Some aspects of previous variational calculations become more straightforward when rephrased beginning from a diagrammatic starting point. This derivation also provides a natural base from which to generalize the analysis to include quark masses, nontrivial crystal structures, gluon propagation at asymptotic densities, and nonzero temperature. In this paper, we analyze the effects of nonzero temperature on the crystalline color superconducting phase.Comment: 15 pages. 2 eps figure

The Crystallography of Color Superconductivity

We develop the Ginzburg-Landau approach to comparing different possible crystal structures for the crystalline color superconducting phase of QCD, the QCD incarnation of the Larkin-Ovchinnikov-Fulde-Ferrell phase. In this phase, quarks of different flavor with differing Fermi momenta form Cooper pairs with nonzero total momentum, yielding a condensate that varies in space like a sum of plane waves. We work at zero temperature, as is relevant for compact star physics. The Ginzburg-Landau approach predicts a strong first-order phase transition (as a function of the chemical potential difference between quarks) and for this reason is not under quantitative control. Nevertheless, by organizing the comparison between different possible arrangements of plane waves (i.e. different crystal structures) it provides considerable qualitative insight into what makes a crystal structure favorable. Together, the qualitative insights and the quantitative, but not controlled, calculations make a compelling case that the favored pairing pattern yields a condensate which is a sum of eight plane waves forming a face-centered cubic structure. They also predict that the phase is quite robust, with gaps comparable in magnitude to the BCS gap that would form if the Fermi momenta were degenerate. These predictions may be tested in ultracold gases made of fermionic atoms. In a QCD context, our results lay the foundation for a calculation of vortex pinning in a crystalline color superconductor, and thus for the analysis of pulsar glitches that may originate within the core of a compact star.Comment: 41 pages, 13 figures, 1 tabl

Heavy metals concentration in soils under rainfed agro-ecosystems and their relationship with soil properties and management practices

Heavy metals are governed by parent material of soils and influenced by the soil physicochemical properties and soil and crop management practices. This paper evaluates total heavy metal concentrations in rainfed soils under diverse management practices of tropical India. Vertisols (clayey soils with high shrink/swell capacity) had the highest concentrations of heavy metals. However, chromium (Cr) content was above the threshold value in Aridisol [calcium carbonate (CaCO3)]-containing soils of the arid environments with subsurface horizon development. Concentration increased at lower depths (>30 cm). Basaltic soils showed higher concentrations of nickel (Ni), copper (Cu) and manganese (Mn). Cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), Cu and Mn concentrations were higher in soils cultivated to cotton, whereas Cr concentration was above the threshold level of 110 mg kg−1 in food crop cultivated soils. As the specific soil surface is closely related to clay content and clay type, soil’s ability to retain heavy metals is more closely tied to the specific surface than to the soil cation exchange capacity. Higher positive correlations were found between heavy metal concentrations and clay content [Cd(r = 0.85; p ≤ 0.01); Co (r = 0.88; p ≤ 0.05); Ni (r = 0.87; p ≤ 0.01); Co (r = 0.81; p ≤ 0.05); Zn (r = 0.49; p ≤ 0.01); Cr (r = 0.80; p ≤ 0.05); Mn (r = 0.79; p ≤ 0.01)]. The amounts of nitrogen–phosphorus–potassium applied showed a positive correlation with Co and Ni (r = 0.62; p ≤ 0.05). As several soils used for growing food crops are high in Ni, Cr and Mn, the flow of these metals in soil–plant–livestock/human chain needs further attention

Propulsion Investigation for Zero and Near-Zero Emissions Aircraft

As world emissions are further scrutinized to identify areas for improvement, aviation s contribution to the problem can no longer be ignored. Previous studies for zero or near-zero emissions aircraft suggest aircraft and propulsion system sizes that would perform propulsion system and subsystems layout and propellant tankage analyses to verify the weight-scaling relationships. These efforts could be used to identify and guide subsequent work on systems and subsystems to achieve viable aircraft system emissions goals. Previous work quickly focused these efforts on propulsion systems for 70- and 100-passenger aircraft. Propulsion systems modeled included hydrogen-fueled gas turbines and fuel cells; some preliminary estimates combined these two systems. Hydrogen gas-turbine engines, with advanced combustor technology, could realize significant reductions in nitrogen emissions. Hydrogen fuel cell propulsion systems were further laid out, and more detailed analysis identified systems needed and weight goals for a viable overall system weight. Results show significant, necessary reductions in overall weight, predominantly on the fuel cell stack, and power management and distribution subsystems to achieve reasonable overall aircraft sizes and weights. Preliminary conceptual analyses for a combination of gas-turbine and fuel cell systems were also performed, and further studies were recommended. Using gas-turbine engines combined with fuel cell systems can reduce the fuel cell propulsion system weight, but at higher fuel usage than using the fuel cell only

Novel Marine Phenazines as Potential Cancer Chemopreventive and Anti-Inflammatory Agents

Two new (1 and 2) and one known phenazine derivative (lavanducyanin, 3) were isolated and identified from the fermentation broth of a marine-derived Streptomyces sp. (strain CNS284). In mammalian cell culture studies, compounds 1, 2 and 3 inhibited TNF-α-induced NFκB activity (IC50 values of 4.1, 24.2, and 16.3 μM, respectively) and LPS-induced nitric oxide production (IC50 values of >48.6, 15.1, and 8.0 μM, respectively). PGE2 production was blocked with greater efficacy (IC50 values of 7.5, 0.89, and 0.63 μM, respectively), possibly due to inhibition of cyclooxygenases in addition to the expression of COX-2. Treatment of cultured HL-60 cells led to dose-dependent accumulation in the subG1 compartment of the cell cycle, as a result of apoptosis. These data provide greater insight on the biological potential of phenazine derivatives, and some guidance on how various substituents may alter potential anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects

Syntheses and Electronic Properties of Rhodium(III) Complexes Bearing a Redox-Active Ligand

A series of rhodium(III) complexes of the redox-active ligand, H(L = bis(4-methyl-2-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)phenyl)amido), was prepared, and the electronic properties were studied. Thus, heating an ethanol solution of commercial RhCl3·3H2O with H(L) results in the precipitation of insoluble [H(L)]RhCl3, 1. The reaction of a methanol suspension of [H(L)]RhCl3 with NEt4OH causes ligand deprotonation and affords nearly quantitative yields of the soluble, deep-green, title compound (NEt4)[(L)RhCl3]·H2O, 2·H2O. Complex 2·H2O reacts readily with excess pyridine, triethylphosphine, or pyrazine (pyz) to eliminate NEt4Cl and give charge-neutral complexes trans-(L)RhCl2(py), trans-3, trans-(L)RhCl2(PEt3), trans- 4, or trans-(L)RhCl2(pyz), trans-5, where the incoming Lewis base is trans- to the amido nitrogen of the meridionally coordinating ligand. Heating solutions of complexes trans-3 or trans-4 above about 100 °C causes isomerization to the appropriate cis-3 or cis-4. Isomerization of trans-5 occurs at a much lower temperature due to pyrazine dissociation. Cis-3 and cis- 5 could be reconverted to their respective trans- isomers in solution at 35 °C by visible light irradiation. Complexes [(L)Rh(py)2Cl](PF6), 6, [(L)Rh(PPh3)(py)Cl](PF6), 7, [(L)Rh(PEt3)2Cl](PF6), 8, and [(L)RhCl(bipy)](OTf = triflate), 9, were prepared from 2·H2O by using thallium(I) salts as halide abstraction agents and excess Lewis base. It was not possible to prepare dicationic complexes with three unidentate pyridyl or triethylphosphine ligands; however, the reaction between 2, thallium(I) triflate, and the tridentate 4′-(4-methylphenyl)-2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine (ttpy) afforded a high yield of [(L)Rh(ttpy)]- (OTf)2, 10. The solid state structures of nine new complexes were obtained. The electrochemistry of the various derivatives in CH2Cl2 showed a ligand-based oxidation wave whose potential depended mainly on the charge of the complex, and to a lesser extent on the nature and the geometry of the other supporting ligands. Thus, the oxidation wave for 2 with an anionic complex was found at +0.27 V versus Ag/AgCl in CH2Cl2, while those waves for the charge-neutral complexes 3−5 were found between +0.38 to +0.59 V, where the cis- isomers were about 100 mV more stable toward oxidation than the trans- isomers. The oxidation waves for 6−9 with monocationic complexes occurred in the range +0.74 to 0.81 V while that for 10 with a dicationic complex occurred at +0.91 V. Chemical oxidation of trans-3, cis-3, and 8 afforded crystals of the singly oxidized complexes, [trans- (L)RhCl2(py)](SbCl6), cis-[(L)RhCl2(py)](SbCl4)·2CH2Cl2, and [(L)Rh(PEt3)2Cl](SbCl6)2, respectively. Comparisons of structural and spectroscopic features combined with the results of density functional theory (DFT) calculations between nonoxidized and oxidized forms of the complexes are indicative of the ligand-centered radicals in the oxidized derivatives

Burden of disease scenarios for 204 countries and territories, 2022–2050: a forecasting analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Future trends in disease burden and drivers of health are of great interest to policy makers and the public at large. This information can be used for policy and long-term health investment, planning, and prioritisation. We have expanded and improved upon previous forecasts produced as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) and provide a reference forecast (the most likely future), and alternative scenarios assessing disease burden trajectories if selected sets of risk factors were eliminated from current levels by 2050. Methods: Using forecasts of major drivers of health such as the Socio-demographic Index (SDI; a composite measure of lag-distributed income per capita, mean years of education, and total fertility under 25 years of age) and the full set of risk factor exposures captured by GBD, we provide cause-specific forecasts of mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) by age and sex from 2022 to 2050 for 204 countries and territories, 21 GBD regions, seven super-regions, and the world. All analyses were done at the cause-specific level so that only risk factors deemed causal by the GBD comparative risk assessment influenced future trajectories of mortality for each disease. Cause-specific mortality was modelled using mixed-effects models with SDI and time as the main covariates, and the combined impact of causal risk factors as an offset in the model. At the all-cause mortality level, we captured unexplained variation by modelling residuals with an autoregressive integrated moving average model with drift attenuation. These all-cause forecasts constrained the cause-specific forecasts at successively deeper levels of the GBD cause hierarchy using cascading mortality models, thus ensuring a robust estimate of cause-specific mortality. For non-fatal measures (eg, low back pain), incidence and prevalence were forecasted from mixed-effects models with SDI as the main covariate, and YLDs were computed from the resulting prevalence forecasts and average disability weights from GBD. Alternative future scenarios were constructed by replacing appropriate reference trajectories for risk factors with hypothetical trajectories of gradual elimination of risk factor exposure from current levels to 2050. The scenarios were constructed from various sets of risk factors: environmental risks (Safer Environment scenario), risks associated with communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases (CMNNs; Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination scenario), risks associated with major non-communicable diseases (NCDs; Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario), and the combined effects of these three scenarios. Using the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways climate scenarios SSP2-4.5 as reference and SSP1-1.9 as an optimistic alternative in the Safer Environment scenario, we accounted for climate change impact on health by using the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change temperature forecasts and published trajectories of ambient air pollution for the same two scenarios. Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy were computed using standard methods. The forecasting framework includes computing the age-sex-specific future population for each location and separately for each scenario. 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) for each individual future estimate were derived from the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles of distributions generated from propagating 500 draws through the multistage computational pipeline. Findings: In the reference scenario forecast, global and super-regional life expectancy increased from 2022 to 2050, but improvement was at a slower pace than in the three decades preceding the COVID-19 pandemic (beginning in 2020). Gains in future life expectancy were forecasted to be greatest in super-regions with comparatively low life expectancies (such as sub-Saharan Africa) compared with super-regions with higher life expectancies (such as the high-income super-region), leading to a trend towards convergence in life expectancy across locations between now and 2050. At the super-region level, forecasted healthy life expectancy patterns were similar to those of life expectancies. Forecasts for the reference scenario found that health will improve in the coming decades, with all-cause age-standardised DALY rates decreasing in every GBD super-region. The total DALY burden measured in counts, however, will increase in every super-region, largely a function of population ageing and growth. We also forecasted that both DALY counts and age-standardised DALY rates will continue to shift from CMNNs to NCDs, with the most pronounced shifts occurring in sub-Saharan Africa (60·1% [95% UI 56·8–63·1] of DALYs were from CMNNs in 2022 compared with 35·8% [31·0–45·0] in 2050) and south Asia (31·7% [29·2–34·1] to 15·5% [13·7–17·5]). This shift is reflected in the leading global causes of DALYs, with the top four causes in 2050 being ischaemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, compared with 2022, with ischaemic heart disease, neonatal disorders, stroke, and lower respiratory infections at the top. The global proportion of DALYs due to YLDs likewise increased from 33·8% (27·4–40·3) to 41·1% (33·9–48·1) from 2022 to 2050, demonstrating an important shift in overall disease burden towards morbidity and away from premature death. The largest shift of this kind was forecasted for sub-Saharan Africa, from 20·1% (15·6–25·3) of DALYs due to YLDs in 2022 to 35·6% (26·5–43·0) in 2050. In the assessment of alternative future scenarios, the combined effects of the scenarios (Safer Environment, Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination, and Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenarios) demonstrated an important decrease in the global burden of DALYs in 2050 of 15·4% (13·5–17·5) compared with the reference scenario, with decreases across super-regions ranging from 10·4% (9·7–11·3) in the high-income super-region to 23·9% (20·7–27·3) in north Africa and the Middle East. The Safer Environment scenario had its largest decrease in sub-Saharan Africa (5·2% [3·5–6·8]), the Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario in north Africa and the Middle East (23·2% [20·2–26·5]), and the Improved Nutrition and Vaccination scenario in sub-Saharan Africa (2·0% [–0·6 to 3·6]). Interpretation: Globally, life expectancy and age-standardised disease burden were forecasted to improve between 2022 and 2050, with the majority of the burden continuing to shift from CMNNs to NCDs. That said, continued progress on reducing the CMNN disease burden will be dependent on maintaining investment in and policy emphasis on CMNN disease prevention and treatment. Mostly due to growth and ageing of populations, the number of deaths and DALYs due to all causes combined will generally increase. By constructing alternative future scenarios wherein certain risk exposures are eliminated by 2050, we have shown that opportunities exist to substantially improve health outcomes in the future through concerted efforts to prevent exposure to well established risk factors and to expand access to key health interventions