Impact of Public Charging Infrastructure on the Adoption of Electric Vehicles in London

The discussion on the importance of public charging infrastructure is usually framed around the ‘chicken-egg’ challenge of consumers feeling reluctant to purchase without the necessary infrastructure and policy makers reluctant to invest in the infrastructure without the demand. However, public charging infrastructure may be more crucial to EV adoption than previously thought. Historically, access to residential charging was thought to be a major factor in potential for growth in the EV market as it offered a guaranteed place for a vehicle to be charged. However, these conclusions were reached through studies conducted in regions with a high percentage of homes that have access to residential parking. The purpose of this study is to understand how the built environment may encourage uptake of EVs by seeking a correlation between EV ownership and public charging points in an urban and densely populated city such as London. Using a statistical approach with data from the Department for Transport and Zap Map, a statistically significant correlation was found between the total (slow, fast and rapid) number of public charging points and number of EV registrations per borough—with the strongest correlation found between EV registrations and rapid chargers. This research does not explicitly prove that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between public charging points EVs but challenges some of the previous literature which indicates that public charging infrastructure is not as important as home charging. The study also supports the notion that the built environment can influence human behaviour

Applications of lignin in the agri-food industry

Of late, valorization of agri-food industrial by-products and their sustainable utilization is gaining much contemplation world-over. Globally, 'Zero Waste Concept' is promoted with main emphasis laid towards generation of minimal wastes and maximal utilization of plantbased agri-food raw materials. One of the wastes/by-products in the agri-food industry are the lignin, which occurs as lignocellulosic biomass. This biomass is deliberated to be an environmental pollutant as they offer resistance to natural biodegradation. Safe disposal of this biomass is often considered a major challenge, especially in low-income countries. Hence, the application of modern technologies to effectively reduce these types of wastes and maximize their potential use/applications is vital in the present day scenario. Nevertheless, in some of the high-income countries, attempts have been made to efficiently utilize lignin as a source of fuel, as a raw material in the paper industry, as a filler material in biopolymer based packaging and for producing bioethanol. However, as of today, agri-food industrial applications remains significantly underexplored. Chemically, lignin is heterogeneous, bio-polymeric, polyphenolic compound, which is present naturally in plants, providing mechanical strength and rigidity. Reports are available wherein purified lignin is established to possess therapeutic values; and are rich in antioxidant, anti-microbial, anti-carcinogenic, antidiabetic properties, etc. This chapter is divided into four sub-categories focusing on various technological aspects related to isolation and characterization of lignin; established uses of lignin; proved bioactivities and therapeutic potentials of lignin, and finally on identifying the existing research gaps followed by future recommendations for potential use from agri-food industrial wastes.Theme of this chapter is based on our ongoing project- Valortech, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 810630

Cognitive impairment in children with hemophilia and children with acute Lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL): Comparison of children with hemophilia and leukemia with healthy children

Abstract &nbsp; Background and Aim: Childhood cancer is associated with fatal disorder and Countless studies about the psychological damage to children with cancer, increasing prejudice toward this group of children. The aim of this study was evaluate the accuracy of prejudices via comparison of children with cancer and children with hemophilia in cognitive impairments. &nbsp; Methods: In this study, as a causal-comparative investigation, participated 50 children with hemophilia, 50 children with acute leukemia and 50 healthy children, in range of 7-12-year-old who referred to a children hospital (Mofid Hospital). In this study, a computerized version of N-back working memory test for assessing working memory function, Continuous Performance Test (CPT) for Attention Maintenance, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) for Executive Function and flexibility were applied. &nbsp; Results: In N-back test, both groups of children with hemophilia and ALL in compare to healthy children reveal faint function in correct answer and no answer (P<0.001), but there is no significant difference between two groups of children with healthy ones in reaction time. In attention maintenance, children with hemophilia react weakly to variables like error in providing response, error elimination and the number of correct answers (P<0/001) but there were no significantly difference between two groups of children in reaction time. Comparing children with ALL and children with hemophilia in executive function showed children with hemophilia couldn&rsquo;t react well in variables % correct, % Errors, Categories achieved, and Failures to maintain set. Children with hemophilia did not differ from children with acute Lymphoblastic leukemia (e.g. active memory) in some of indicators their functions were worst (such as executive functions) and both groups showed poorer performance than healthy children. &nbsp; Conclusion: Leukemia is thought to be worse off than its hemophilia in consequences and cognitive impairment, while this study has shown that other chronic diseases, such as hemophilia, can cause the same cognitive impairment as well. The results of this study emphasize that cognitive interventions are necessary for children with chronic diseases related to blood disorders. &nbsp; &nbsp;Working memory, Executive functions, Attention-maintenance, Hemophilia, Acute Lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)

Structural and optical properties of silicon nitride film generated on Si substrate by low energy ion implantation

In this work the surface of (4 0 0) p-type Si wafers is bombarded with 29 keV nitrogen ions at various ion beam fluency varied from 1016 to 1018 ions/cm2 and the results are investigated. Si3N4 film with orthorhombic structure is formed on silicon surface with cubic structure while the lattice parameter of the generated layer is not affected by change of nitrogen ion beam dose. RMS roughness of implanted samples increases by increasing the nitrogen dose, specially when the dose is more than 3×1017 ions/cm2. Surface resistivity of samples is increased by increasing the dose of ion beam. Although changes in the transmission of implanted samples does not differ very much in comparison with row sample but reflection of implanted samples decrease about 60% for the electromagnetic wave in the range of 200 to 1500 nm. Absorption coefficient of samples is obtained and the band gap energy of samples is calculated. It is observed that formation of defect levels changes the magnitude of band gap energy

Prevalence of the rs7903146C&gt;T polymorphism in TCF7L2 gene for prediction of type 2 diabetes risk among Iranians of different ethnicities

Mojgan Allahdini,1 Behnam Kamalidehghan,2 Leila Akbari,3 Parisa Azadfar,3 Ali Rahmani,1 Fatemeh Ahmadipour,2 Goh Yong Meng,4 Abbas Masserrat,5 Massoud Houshmand6 1Department of Molecular Biology, Ahar Branch Islamic Azad University, Ahar, Iran; 2Pharmacy Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 3Department of Biology, Sciences and Research Branch, Azad University, Tehran, Iran; 4Department of Veterinary Preclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia; 5Department of Medical Genetics, Taban Clinic, 6Department of Medical Genetics, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran, Iran Background: Pharmacogenetics&nbsp;is&nbsp;the study of genetic polymorphisms affecting responses to drug therapy. The common rs7903146&nbsp;(C&gt;T) polymorphism of the TCF7L2 gene has recently been associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D). In this study, prevalence of the rs7903146&nbsp;(C&gt;T) polymorphism in the TCF7L2 gene for prediction of T2D risk was examined in an Iranian population of different ethnicities.Methods: The prevalence of rs7903146&nbsp;(C&gt;T) and the predicted phenotypes, including extensive metabolizers, intermediate metabolizers, and poor metabolizers were investigated in blood samples of 300 unrelated healthy individuals in an Iranian population, including Fars, Turk, Lure, and Kurd, using polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism and direct genomic DNA sequencing.Results: The homozygous wild-type (C/C), heterozygous (C/T), and homozygous (T/T) allelic frequencies of rs7903146&nbsp;(C&gt;T) in the TCF7L2 gene were 29% (extensive metabolizers), 66.34% (intermediate metabolizers), and 4.66% (poor metabolizers), respectively. The C/C, C/T, and T/T genotypic frequencies of the rs7903146&nbsp;(C&gt;T) allele were significantly different (P&lt;0.01) among Iranians of different ethnicities. The frequency of the homozygous T/T variant of the rs7903146&nbsp;(C&gt;T) allele was significantly low in the Lure (P&lt;0.01) and high in the Fars (P&lt;0.001) ethnicities. Additionally, the frequency of the T/T variant of the rs7903146&nbsp;(C&gt;T) allele in the South of Iran was the highest (P&lt;0.04), while the East of Iran had the lowest frequency (P&lt;0.01).Conclusion: The prediction of rs7903146&nbsp;(C&gt;T) is required in drug research and routine treatment, where the information would be helpful for clinicians to optimize therapy and adverse drug reactions and predict drug response in individuals at risk of T2D. Keywords: pharmacogenetics of type 2 diabetes (T2D), transcription factor 7-like 2 gene, TCF7L2, rs7903146&nbsp;(C&gt;T) SNP, Fars Turk Lure and Kurd, Iranian populations of different ethnicitie

Prevalence of the CYP2D6*10&nbsp;(C100T), *4&nbsp;(G1846A), and *14&nbsp;(G1758A) alleles among Iranians of different ethnicities

Ali Bagheri,1 Behnam Kamalidehghan,2 Maryam Haghshenas,3 Parisa Azadfar,4 Leila Akbari,4 Mohammad Hossein Sangtarash,1 Faramarz Vejdandoust,5 Fatemeh Ahmadipour,2 Goh Yong Meng,6 Massoud Houshmand7,8 1Department of Biology, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran; 2Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 3Department of Biology, Pardis International Unit, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran; 4Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Azad University, Tehran, Iran; 5Department of Biology, Azad University, Ashkezar Branch, Yazd, Iran; 6Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia; 7Medical Genetics Department, Special Medical Center, 8Medical Genetics Department, National Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran, Iran Abstract: The presence of polymorphisms in the&nbsp;CYP2D6&nbsp;gene may modulate enzyme level and activity, thereby affecting individual responses to pharmacological treatment. Here, we compared the prevalence of the CYP2D6*10, *4, and 14* alleles in an Iranian population of different ethnicities with those of other populations. Allele and genotype frequency distributions of CYP2D6*10&nbsp;variants and predicted phenotypes including extensive metabolizers, intermediate metabolizers, and poor metabolizers were analysed in blood samples of 300&nbsp;unrelated healthy individuals in an Iranian population using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism, PCR-single-strand conformation polymorphism, and direct genomic DNA sequencing. The CYP2D6*4&nbsp;(G1846A) and *14&nbsp;(G1758A) allelic frequencies were not detected in different ethnicities, demonstrating the absence of a significant contribution of these alleles in Iranian populations. However, the T/T, C/T, and C/C genotype frequencies of the CYP2D6*10&nbsp;allele were significantly different (P&lt;0.01) in all Iranian ethnic groups. Additionally, the frequency of the homozygous T/T variant of the CYP2D6*10&nbsp;allele was significantly high in the Lure (P&lt;0.017) and low in the Kurd (P&lt;0.002) ethnicities. The frequency of the T/T variant of the CYP2D6*10&nbsp;allele in central Iran was the highest (P&lt;0.001), while the south of Iran had the lowest frequency (P&lt;0.001). The frequency of the C/T variant of the CYP2D6*10&nbsp;allele was significantly a bit high (P&lt;0.001) in females compare to males, while the frequencies of the T/T variant in females is similar to males, which are 24.4% and 24.3%, respectively. In contrast to absence of the CYP2D6*4&nbsp;(G1846A) and *14&nbsp;(G1758A) alleles in Iranian populations of different ethnicities, the prediction of the CYP2D6*10&nbsp;allele is required in drug research and routine treatment, where the information would be helpful for clinicians to optimize therapy or identify persons at risk of adverse drug reactions before clinical trials. Approximately 39.3% of subjects (24.3% homozygous T/T CYP2D6*10&nbsp;as poor metabolizers and 15% heterozygous C/T CYP2D6*10&nbsp;as intermediate metabolizers) had this allele; therefore, the harmful effects of drugs are relatively common among Iranians. Keywords: pharmacogenetics, polymorphism, cytochrome P450&nbsp;genes, CYP, Iranian population, antipsychotics, antidepressants&nbsp