3D-printed polyamide structures coated with TiO2 nanoparticles, towards a 360-degree rotating photocatalytic reactor

3D-printed polyamide structures coated with TiO2 nanoparticles were obtained by a simple impregnation method. This novel type of 3D reactor was evaluated for its photocatalytic activity towards the degradation of methylene blue under UV light using a 360-degree rotating stage. Rotation improved the photocatalytic activity under UV light for all the 3D structures. The best photocatalytic structure showed a 94.1 % methylene blue degradation, after 180 min under UV irradiation with 360-degree rotation.publishedVersio

Post combustion carbon capture with supported amine sorbents: From adsorbent characterization to process simulation and optimization

Supported amine sorbents are extensively studied in literature due to their moisture tolerating abilities. Most of the work with this group of adsorbents pertain to experimental studies on adsorption capacity, kinetics, and stability tests on powdered sorbents. Only a handful of published studies have carried out thermodynamic assessment and process modelling to evaluate the performance of supported amine sorbents in the context of pressure and temperature swing adsorption processes. In this work, we have evaluated a commercially available mesoporous silica (PERLKAT) adsorbent grafted with N-[3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl] ethylenediamine for post-combustion carbon capture by vacuum swing adsorption process (VSA). Experiments were first carried out to obtain information on single component and ternary equilibrium data. The adsorbent has a total capacity of 0.95 mmol/g at 0.15 bar CO2 and 0.8 mmol/g at 0.05 bar CO2 respectively at 70 °C. Ternary experiments at low relative humidity shows that the CO2 capacity is not affected in the presence of moisture. These results were used as input to simulate and optimize a 6-step dual reflux vacuum swing adsorption (VSA) cycle. Detailed process optimization shows that it is possible to capture 90% of the CO2 at 95% purity using our adsorbent. The minimum specific energy is 1 MJ/kg CO2 captured on an electric basis when the VSA process is operated at 90 °C.publishedVersio

Giving Moral Competence High Priority in Medical Education. New MCT-based Research Findings from the Polish Context

Nowadays, healthcare and medical education is qualified by test scores and competitiveness. This article considers its quality in terms of improving the moral competence of future healthcare providers. Objectives. Examining the relevance of moral competence in medico-clinical decision-making despite the paradigm shift and discussing the up-to-date findings on healthcare students (Polish sample). Design and method. N=115 participants were surveyed with a standard Moral Competence Test to examine how their moral competence development was affected by the learning environment and further important factors. Results. The sample allowed the identification of a regress in moral competence during students’ pre-clinical curriculum, and progress during their clinical curriculum. A gender-related bias, a segmentation effect, and a pronunciation effect were noticed. Explanations. Scholarly literature usually reports a linear decrease of medical students’ C-scores resulting from, e.g., competitive trends in education. We identified such trends in terms of gender-specific competitive tactics. Religious and ethical affiliations were discussed to explain the unexpected gender bias and the related segmentation and pronunciation effects. The findings can be regarded as predictive for similar developments in educational institutions regardless of cultural contexts as the sample examined in this article represents medical education in a country facing a transition from a non-competitive to competitive tertiary education model, and between presecular and monocultural to secular and pluralist social ethics

Perfluoroalkyl substances in circum-ArcticRangifer: caribou and reindeer

Livers of caribou and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) from Canada (n = 146), Greenland (n = 30), Svalbard (n = 7), and Sweden (n = 60) were analyzed for concentrations of eight perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids and four perfluoroalkane sulfonic acids. In Canadian caribou, PFNA (range < 0.01–7.4 ng/g wet weight, ww) and PFUnDA (<0.01–5.6 ng/g ww) dominated, whereas PFOS predominated in samples from South Greenland, Svalbard, and Sweden, although the highest concentrations were found in caribou from Southwest Greenland (up to 28 ng/g ww). We found the highest median concentrations of all PFAS except PFHxS in Akia-Maniitsoq caribou (Southwest Greenland, PFOS 7.2–19 ng/g ww, median 15 ng/g ww). The highest concentrations of ΣPFAS were also found in Akia-Maniitoq caribou (101 ng/g ww) followed by the nearby Kangerlussuaq caribou (45 ng/g ww), where the largest airport in Greenland is situated, along with a former military base. Decreasing trends in concentrations were seen for PFOS in the one Canadian and three Swedish populations. Furthermore, PFNA, PFDA, PFUnDA, PFDoDA, and PFTrDA showed decreasing trends in Canada’s Porcupine caribou between 2005 and 2016. In Sweden, PFHxS increased in the reindeer from Norrbotten between 2003 and 2011. The reindeer from Västerbotten had higher concentrations of PFNA and lower concentrations of PFHxS in 2010 compared to 2002. Finally, we observed higher concentrations in 2010 compared to 2002 (albeit statistically insignificant) for PFHxS in Jämtland, while PFNA, PFDA, PFUnDA, PFDoDA, and PFTrDA showed no difference at all.publishedVersio

JAK/STAT Signalling in Huntington's Disease Immune Cells.

Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin (HTT) gene. Both central and peripheral innate immune activation have been described as features of the disease. Isolated human HD monocytes have been shown to produce more cytokines upon LPS stimulation compared to control monocytes. Understanding alterations in the signalling cascades responsible and activated by this increase in pro-inflammatory cytokine production is crucial in understanding the molecular basis of this phenomenon. Here we investigated the signalling cascade most commonly activated by pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 - the JAK/STAT signalling cascade. Using flow cytometry, we show that one out of three key transcription factors activated by JAK/STAT signalling is altered in primary human HD innate immune cells, suggesting that this pathway may only play a minor, additive role in the immune cell dysfunction in HD

Analys av möjlighet till effektpositivitet för en planerad spårvagnsdepå i Uppsala

Uppsala står inför stora utmaningar gällande kapacitetsbristen i regionen, vilket gör det nödvändigt att hitta lösningar för det elektriska effektuttaget. Syftet med projektarbetet är att ta fram koncept för hur den planerade spårvagnsdepån i Uppsala kan uppnå effektpositivitet. För att identifiera under vilka timmar som depån måste vara effektpositiv för att inte bidra till kapacitetsbristen har en nätbelastningsprofil tagits fram från Svenska Kraftnät för elområde SE3. De timmarna som depån är effektpositiv är 09:00 till 11:00 samt 17:00 till 20:00. Koncepten innefattar olika storlekar på solcellsanläggning på taket, olika storlekar på batterilager samt en beteenderelaterad lösning där den största lasten på depån, hjulsvarven, flyttades från användning under dagtid till nattid. Detta för att minska belastningen på elnätet under de timmar på dagen då behovet i den omliggande staden är som allra störst. Projektet innefattar en detaljerad kartläggning av depåns timvisa effektbehov för att möjliggöra identifiering av konsumtionstoppar. Undersökningar för att hitta en rimlig, men även bäst lämpad energimix presenteras i rapporten. Genom simuleringar i UUBEM har olika energilösningar undersökts, som innefattar både energislag och kvantiteter. Baserat på dessa data har flertalet koncept tagits fram, där både beteenderelaterade och elförsörjningslösningar tas i beaktning. Dessa koncept inkluderar kombinationer av solceller, batterier och biogas- eller biodieselgeneratorer. Resultaten visar att om taket beläggs med solceller på 50 % av ytan finns en möjlighet att leverera effekt tillbaka till nätet. Även att vid val av två batterier kan depån vara helt självförsörjande, inte konsumera effekt från nätet. En ekonomisk analys presenteras också för att bedöma de olika alternativen. De slutliga valen av lösningar kommer huvudsakligen att bero på ekonomiska och politiska faktorer.Uppsala faces significant challenges regarding capacity shortages in the region, making it necessary to find solutions for electrical power consumption. The purpose of this project is to develop concepts for how the planned tram depot in Uppsala can achieve power positivity. Identification for the hours when the depot needs to be power positive to avoid contributing to the capacity shortage, a grid load profile has been created with data from Svenska Kraftnät for the SE3 electricity area. The concepts include various sizes of solar installations on the roof, different sizes of battery storage, and a behavior-related solution where the largest load at the depot, the wheel lathe, is moved from use during the day to nighttime. This is to reduce the load on the power grid during the hours of the day when the surrounding city's demand is at its highest. The project includes a detailed mapping of the depot's hourly power needs to enable the identification of consumption peaks. The project involves a detailed mapping of the depot's hourly power needs to enable the identification of consumption peaks. Investigations to find a reasonable, yet best-suited energy mix are presented in the report. Through simulations in UUBEM, various energy solutions have been examined, encompassing both energy sources and quantities. Based on these data, several concepts have been developed, considering both behavioral and power supply solutions. These concepts include combinations of solar cells, batteries, and biogas or biodiesel generators. The results show that if the roof is covered with solar cells on 50% of the surface, there is a possibility to deliver power back to the grid. Also, with the choice of two batteries, the depot can be completely self-sufficient, not consuming power from the grid. An economic analysis is also presented to evaluate the different alternatives. The results show that the depot has good potential to achieve the goal of becoming power positive. However, the final choices of solutions will mainly depend on economic and political factors

A numerical homogenisation strategy for micromorphic continua

Cellular materials are of special interest according to their peculiar mechanical properties. In this paper, special attention is paid to the simulation of size-dependent microtopological effects. We introduce a numerical homogenisation scheme for a two-scale problem dealing with a micromorphic continuum theory on the macroscale and a classical Cauchy continuum on the microscale. The transitions between both scales are obtained by projection and homogenisation rules derived from an equivalence criterion for the strain energy, also known as the Hill-Mandel condition

A material degradation study of novel FeCrAl alloys, stainless steels and nickel base alloy in fluidized bed heat exchangers of a waste-fired CFB boiler

This study aimed to evaluate the material degradation resistance of two newly developed FeCrAl alloys exposed within the loop seal region of an 85 MWth waste-fired CFB boiler in Sweden. In addition to the FeCrAl alloys, two commercial austenitic stainless steel and one nickel base (Ni-base) alloy were also studied. The samples were exposed for 6 and 12 months by clamping half-moon rings onto tubes of the installed superheater bundle, achieving a material temperature of 500–520 \ub0C. The material degradation of the samples was assessed by evaluating material loss using an ultrasonic thickness gauge in combination with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Microstructural analysis was carried out using SEM coupled with Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Both FeCrAl alloys showed promising results achieving material losses in the same range as the investigated austenitic stainless steels and the Ni-base alloy. A thin inward-growing Cr/Al-rich and thick outward-growing Fe-rich oxide were present for the FeCrAl alloys, and an internal nitridation zone was formed in the material matrix close to the metal/oxide interphase. The material loss and extent of the corrosion attack for the austenitic stainless steels varied depending on the alloy composition. However, the corrosion attack remained similar, as all the austenitic steels suffered from internal and intergranular corrosion. For the Ni-base alloy, the attack was defined by an internal Cr-rich oxide formation with no intergranular corrosion. This study suggests that the novel FeCrAl alloys provide satisfying resistance towards corrosion and erosion of the fluidized bed heat exchangers in the loop seal region of a waste-fired boiler. In addition, the stainless steel SX and the Ni-base alloy Sanicro\uae 69 performed well. Furthermore, the results revealed that corrosion rather than erosion was the dominating degradation process of the investigated samples, as deposit formation was observed on most of the samples as well as corrosion product layers. Thus, the erosive aspect of the attack was expected to be minor