BAT: block analytics tool integrated with blockchain based IoT platform

The Internet of Things (IoT) is currently the paradigm of connectivity and driving force behind the state-of-art applications and services. However, the exponential growth of the number of IoT devices and services, their distributed nature, and scarcity of resources has increased the number of security and privacy concerns ranging from the risks of unauthorized data alterations to the potential discrimination enabled by data analytics over sensitive information. A blockchain based IoT-platform is introduced to address these issues. Built upon the tamper-proof architecture, the access management mechanisms ensure the authenticity and integrity of data. Moreover, a novel approach called Block Analytics Tool (BAT), integrated with the platform is proposed to analyze and make predictions on data stored on blockchain. BAT enables the data-analysis applications to be developed using the data stored in the platform in an optimized manner acting as an interface to off-chain processing. A pharmaceutical supply chain is the use case scenario to show the functionality of the proposed platform. Furthermore, a model to forecast the demand of the pharmaceutical drugs is investigated using a real-world data set to demonstrate the functionality of BAT. Finally, the performance of BAT integrated with the platform is evaluated

The distribution, fate, and environmental impacts of food additive nanomaterials in soil and aquatic ecosystems.

Nanomaterials in the food industry are used as food additives, and the main function of these food additives is to improve food qualities including texture, flavor, color, consistency, preservation, and nutrient bioavailability. This review aims to provide an overview of the distribution, fate, and environmental and health impacts of food additive nanomaterials in soil and aquatic ecosystems. Some of the major nanomaterials in food additives include titanium dioxide, silver, gold, silicon dioxide, iron oxide, and zinc oxide. Ingestion of food products containing food additive nanomaterials via dietary intake is considered to be one of the major pathways of human exposure to nanomaterials. Food additive nanomaterials reach the terrestrial and aquatic environments directly through the disposal of food wastes in landfills and the application of food waste-derived soil amendments. A significant amount of ingested food additive nanomaterials (> 90 %) is excreted, and these nanomaterials are not efficiently removed in the wastewater system, thereby reaching the environment indirectly through the disposal of recycled water and sewage sludge in agricultural land. Food additive nanomaterials undergo various transformation and reaction processes, such as adsorption, aggregation-sedimentation, desorption, degradation, dissolution, and bio-mediated reactions in the environment. These processes significantly impact the transport and bioavailability of nanomaterials as well as their behaviour and fate in the environment. These nanomaterials are toxic to soil and aquatic organisms, and reach the food chain through plant uptake and animal transfer. The environmental and health risks of food additive nanomaterials can be overcome by eliminating their emission through recycled water and sewage sludge. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Jackfruit (Artocapus heterophyllus Lam.) and teak (Tectona grandis L.) leaf extracts as green corrosion inhibitors

The inhibition effect of water and methanol extracts (WE and ME) of raw and ripe jackfruit leaves (JL) and raw teak leaves (TL) on the corrosion of mild steel (MS) in 1M HCl was studied. Weight loss measurements and potentiodynamic polarization techniques were used to investigate the behavior of the above inhibitors. The percentage of inhibition efficiency (% IE) increased with the increasing concentration of inhibitors in 1 M HCl medium. Water extract of ripe JL was found to be the most effective inhibitor and % IE was 73 at the concentration of 400 ppm. The effectiveness of other inhibitors towards corrosion in the descending order is WE of TL, ME of ripe JL, WE of raw JL, ME of TL and ME of raw JL. With the increase of the temperature, even the adsorption of the most efficient inhibitor, WE of ripe JL, decreased and the rate of corrosion increased. According to the estimated adsorption equilibrium constant, Kads and standard Gibbs free energy change, ∆G0ads, adsorption of WEs of ripe JL and TL on mild steel surface mainly observed to be by chemisorption. Potentiodynamic polarization scans have revealed the possibility of mixed type corrosion inhibition by WEs of ripe JL and TL

Deactivation and regeneration of chromia and vanadia catalysts in alkane dehydrogenation

The deactivation and regeneration of a 6 % CrOx/alumina catalyst and a 3.5 % VOx/alumina catalyst has been studied after use in butane dehydrogenation at 873 K. Both catalysts deactivate due to carbonaceous deposits and with both catalysts the isomerisation reaction from 1-butene to cis and trans-2-butene is poisoned more effectively than the dehydrogenation reaction. The chromia catalyst deactivates three times faster than the vanadia system but the total amount of carbon deposited is similar indicating that the nature of the deposit on the chromia system is much more deleterious. The vanadia catalyst can be regenerated at room temperature in a flow of oxygen by removal of reaction intermediates, which desorb as butane, butene and butadiene. Over 75 % of the activity can be retrieved and by 1 hour on stream no difference can be discerned, whereas no significant desorption is detected from the chromia catalyst at room temperature and no regeneration is observed. TPO of both systems show different profiles with the deposit on the chromia catalyst more resistant to oxidation, which suggests a more dehydrogenated or more graphitic type material, which would be in keeping with the faster deactivation. After regeneration at 873 K the chromia catalyst recovers all its activity, whereas even after 873 K regeneration the vanadia catalyst does not recover all its activity. This is likely due to a change in structure and electronic properties of the polyvanadate species