Combustion and emissions characteristics of date pit methyl ester in a single cylinder direct injection diesel engine

Current biofuels for diesel engines are largely derived from food crops and there is significant concern, recognised by legislation, that such fuels do not result in net reductions of greenhouse gas emissions when considering the entirety of the production to usage lifecycle. A potential alternative approach is to utilise the lipid content of organic waste streams arising from food crop cultivation for the manufacture of sustainable diesel fuels. This paper therefore presents experimental studies carried out on a modern direct injection diesel engine supplied with a biodiesel (fatty acid methyl esters) produced from waste date pits to determine the combustion and emissions characteristics of an alternative fuel produced from a food residue. Date pit methyl esters were tested relative to both rapeseed and soybean methyl esters, unblended and as blends with a reference fossil diesel, alongside reference fossil diesel and a commercially available fossil diesel from Oman, at constant injection timing and constant ignition timing at a constant engine speed of 1200 rpm. Gas chromatograph analysis of the methyl esters fatty acid composition found a significantly shorter mean alkyl moiety chain length and lower number of double bonds in the case of the date pit esters than either the rapeseed or soybean biodiesel. All of the methyl esters exhibited a similar duration of ignition delay less than that displayed by a reference fossil diesel, but with a higher premixed burn fraction and peak heat release rate in the case of date pit methyl esters relative to those of rapeseed and soybean. Exhaust emissions of NOx were found to be lowest for the unblended date pit methyl esters, suggesting a greater influence of adiabatic flame temperature on rates of thermal NOx production than global in-cylinder temperatures in the case of the unblended methyl esters. Relative to the reference fossil diesel and Oman diesel, all of the methyl esters tested resulted in low particulate matter emissions

Bio-Oil Upgrading by Catalytic Cracking Over Different Solid Catalysts

Fossil fuel crises along with global environmental issues, due to combustion of fossil fuel, lead to focus on biomass derived fuels. Bio-oil nowadays is seriously considered to be one of the favorable, renewable and alternative energy sources to replace fossil fuel and has become a significant energy carrier for transportation, industrial and commercial applications. In this study, bio-oil was upgraded by catalytic cracking in a fixed bed reactor in the presence of three different catalysts HY, H-mordenite and HZSM-5.All of the experimental runs were carried out at 500 °C, 0.3MPa and 15:1 oil to catalyst ratio. Catalysts characterization revealed that HZSM-5 with uniform pore and TPD analysis shows the presence of large number of acidic sites as compared to HY and H-mordenite. HZSM-5 proved its effectiveness in terms of deoxygenation and converting oxygenating compounds to hydrocarbons. The amount of hydrocarbons formed was 16.27 wt % OLP for HZSM-5, 15.16 wt% for HY and 14.954 wt % for H-mordenite. HZSM-5 possessed a strong acidity, uniform pore size and high activities which tended to permit the transformation of the oxygenated compounds present in the bio-oil to hydrocarbons. The upgraded bio-oil obtained posses improved physiochemical properties such pH which was increased from 2.21 to 3.56 while density was decreased upto 0.82 kg/m3. The calorific value also increased upto 31.65 kJ/kg. The improved bio-oil by HZSM-5 catalyst can be considered as a potential for to be used as direct fuel

Protocol for the detection and nutritional management of high-output stomas

Introduction: An issue of recent research interest is excessive stoma output and its relation to electrolyte abnormalities. Some studies have identified this as a precursor of dehydration and renal dysfunction. A prospective study was performed of the complications associated with high-output stomas, to identify their causes, consequences and management.Materials and methods: This study was carried out by a multidisciplinary team of surgeons, gastroenterologists, nutritionists and hospital pharmacists. High-output stoma (HOS) was defined as output ≥1500 ml for two consecutive days. The subjects included in the study population, 43 patients with a new permanent or temporary stoma, were classified according to the time of HOS onset as early HOS (<3 weeks after initial surgery) or late HOS (≥3 weeks after surgery). Circumstances permitting, a specific protocol for response to HOS was applied. Each patient was followed up until the fourth month after surgery.Results: Early HOS was observed in 7 (16 %) of the sample population of 43 hospital patients, and late HOS, in 6 of the 37 (16 %) non-early HOS population. By type of stoma, nearly all HOS cases affected ileostomy, rather than colostomy, patients. The patients with early HOS remained in hospital for 18 days post surgery, significantly longer than those with no HOS (12 days). The protocol was applied to the majority of EHOS patients and achieved 100 % effectiveness. 50 % of readmissions were due to altered electrolyte balance. Hypomagnesaemia was observed in 33 % of the late HOS patients.Conclusion: The protocol developed at our hospital for the detection and management of HOS effectively addresses possible long-term complications arising from poor nutritional status and chronic electrolyte alteration

Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

Background Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide.Methods A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study-a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital.Findings Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3.85 [95% CI 2.58-5.75]; p&lt;0.0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63.0% vs 82.7%; OR 0.35 [0.23-0.53]; p&lt;0.0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer.Interpretation Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised

THE INFLUENCE OF ADDING ANTIBIOTIC IN TREATMENT OF RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS PATIENTS ON STREPTOCOCCUS PYOGENES CARRIER RATE AND ON THE LIPIDS PROFILE

Objective: The main goal is to evaluate the clinical efficacy, safety, and tolerability of antibiotics and methotrexate (MTX) treatment on the disease severity, on Streptococcus pyogenes carrier rate and on the lipid profile of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: In a 6-months, double –blind trial, 130 patients with active RA were treated for four weeks with MTX therapy at a stable low dose of 12.5 mg/week instructed to receive either levofloxacin (500 mg) or placebo orally once daily while continuing to receive MTX. Before and after the treatment, disease activity parameters, rheumatoid factor (CF), C reactive protein (CRP), anti-streptolysin O (ASO) titer and lipid profile were measured. Throat swab cultures were done on suitable medium. Results: Antibiotic adds to treatment causes a significant reduction in disease activity, lower the side effects and concomitant decrease in MTX treatment dose, most of the lipid levels had returned to baseline levels, decreased S. pyogenes carrier rate from 25-30% to 3.2-6% and lower ASO titers to undetectable. Conclusion: RA patients who are treated with MTX, addition of antibiotics lower the signs, symptoms and risk factors of RA patient and S. pyogenes could be important in the etiopathogenesis of RA.Â

Microwave-Assisted Adsorptive Desulfurization of Model Diesel Fuel Using Synthesized Microporous Rare Earth Metal-Doped Zeolite Y

The microwave-assisted adsorptive desulfurization of model fuel (thiophene in n-heptane) was investigated using a synthesized rare earth metal-doped zeolite Y (RE Y). Crystallinity of the synthesized zeolite was 89.5%, the silicon/aluminium (Si/Al) molar ratio was 5.2, the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area was 980.9 m2/g, and the pore volume and diameter was 0.3494 cm3/g and 1.425 nm, respectively. The results showed that the microwave reactor could be used to enhance the adsorptive desulfurization process with best efficiency of 75% at reaction conditions of 100 °C and 15 minutes. The high desulfurization effect was likely due to the higher efficiency impact of microwave energy in the interaction between sulfur in thiophene and HO-La(OSiAl)