An Isothermal Model for Predicting Performance Loss in PEMFCs from BOP Leachates

In the development of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), the cost of balance of plant (BOP) materials and their effect on PEMFC durability can retard commercialization. 1 One opportunity to decrease these costs would be to use off-the-shelf materials rather than custommade materials if leachates from the less expensive materials do not affect performance and lifetime. To understand contamination mechanisms and their impacts on PEMFCs, experimental studies conducted and found the sensitivity of performance to the low levels of contamination. 2-9 A model for contamination of a PEMFC which includes adsorption on the Pt catalyst, absorption into the membrane, and ion-exchange with ionomeric components is presented. The model predictions for three sources of voltage (i.e., performance) loss account for two-dimensional timedependent contamination along the channel and into the membrane as shown in 9 For typical parameters, the predicted voltage loss in the electrode by an ion-exchange mechanism shows slower reaction rates but greater performance losses than other mechanisms. More broadly, the model also provides a tolerance limits for contamination

Dectin-2 mediates Th2 immunity through the generation of cysteinyl leukotrienes

Dectin-2 expression on GM-CSF–cultured bone marrow cells is required for the generation of cysteinyl leukotrienes and Th2 cytokines in response to the house dust mite Dermatophagoides farinae in vivo

Ecosystem profile: east melanesian islands biodiversity hotspot

The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) is designed to safeguard the world’s biologically richest and most threatened regions, known as biodiversity hotspots. It is a joint initiative of l’Agence Française de Développement, Conservation International (CI), the European Commission, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the World Bank. A fundamental purpose of CEPF is to engage civil society, such as community groups, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), academic institutions and private enterprises, in biodiversity conservation in the hotspots. To guarantee their success, these efforts must complement existing strategies and programs of national governments and other conservation funders. To this end, CEPF promotes working alliances among diverse groups, combining unique capacities and reducing duplication of efforts for a comprehensive, coordinated approach to conservation. One way in which CEPF does this is through preparation of “ecosystem profiles”—shared strategies, developed in consultation with local stakeholders, which articulate a five-year investment strategy informed by a detailed situational analysis. This document is the ecosystem profile for the East Melanesian Islands Hotspot, which includes the island nations of Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands and the islands region of Papua New Guinea (PNG), which includes the provinces of Manus, New Ireland, East New Britain and West New Britain plus the Autonomous Region of Bougainville. The East Melanesian Islands qualify as a hotspot due to their high levels of plant and animal endemism and accelerating levels of habitat loss, caused chiefly by widespread commercial logging and mining, expansion of subsistence and plantation agriculture, population increase, and the impacts of climate change and variability. The East Melanesian Islands Hotspot holds exceptional cultural and linguistic diversity. Vanuatu, for example, has 108 living languages: more per unit area than any other country. Because many languages are spoken by only a few hundred people, they are disappearing, leading to a rapid erosion of traditional knowledge and practice. This is highly significant in a region where most land and resources are under customary ownership, and local people are true stewards of biodiversity

Impact of Zinc, Vitamins C and D on Disease Prognosis among Patients with COVID-19 in Bangladesh: A Cross-Sectional Study

Vitamin C, (ascorbic acid), vitamin D (cholecalciferol) and zinc (zinc sulfate monohydrate) supplements are important in immunity against coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). However, a limited number of studies have been conducted on the association of vitamins and supplements with the reduced risks of COVID-19 infection. This study aims to evaluate the association of vitamins and supplements as treatment options to reduce the severity of COVID-19. Data were collected from 962 participants from 13 December 2020 to 4 February 2021. The presence of COVID-19 was confirmed by qRT-PCR. The Chi-square test and multivariate regression analyses were conducted. The ratio of uptake of vitamin C:vitamin D:zinc was 1:1:0.95. Uptake of vitamin C, vitamin D and zinc were significantly associated with the reduced risk of infection and severity of COVID-19 (OR: 0.006 (95% CI: 0.03–0.11) (p = 0.004)) and (OR: 0.03 (95% CI: 0.01–0.22) (p = 0.005)). The tendency of taking supplements was associated with the presence of infection of COVID-19 (p = 0.001), age (p = 0.02), sex (p = 0.05) and residence (p = 0.04). The duration of supplementation and medication was significantly associated with reduced hospitalization (p = 0.0001). Vitamins C, D and zinc were not significantly (p = 0.9) associated with a reduced risk of severity when taken through the diet. Hospitalization (p = 0.000001) and access to health facilities (p = 0.0097) were significantly associated with the survival period of the participants. Participants with better access to health facilities recovered early (OR: 6.21, 95% CI 1.56–24.7). This study will add knowledge in the field of treatment of COVID-19 by using vitamins and zinc supplements