Waste rice husk continuous carbonizers for carbon sequestration and energy in rural Philippine Regions

This chapter describes a process for eliminating the current practice of dumping unwanted rice production waste, and uncontrolled burning of wastes in the field. Widescale rice husk conversion systems remain constrained by limited regionally-specific agronomic research on the efficacy of the resultant carbonised waste biochar on rice yields, fertilizer use efficiency, and stable carbon fractions for reliable and safe soil carbon biosequestration practices, as well as the economic incentives for farmers to integrate waste conversion technologies into rice farms. In this study a carbonizer technology was developed and applied to the rice production systems currently used in rural areas of the Philippines. The carbonizer prototypes were fabricated at the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) machine shop in Muñoz Science City, Nueva Ecija, Philippines, and used similar manufacturing techniques commonly used in the local machine shops, i.e., with locally available equipments, skills, and parts. Results from the second refined prototype demonstrated a processing capacity of up to 40 kg hr-1 of rice husk into biochar, with around 40% in biochar yield (by mass), and a biochar purity of approximately 99%. The refined prototype has a smokeless chimney emission during operation and carbon monoxide emissions were greatly reduced (431 ppm). The carbonizer enables waste heat extraction using exchangers or microboilers, with heat produced during combustion available as additional source of energy to partially replace kerosene and firewood currently used. This additional energy source from the use of agriculture waste in carbonizers can play a vital role in protecting the forests in rural Philippines, whereas population growth and current practices (kerosene and firewood from unmanaged forests) are drivers to illegal deforestation. The adoption of carbonizers can increase carbon sequestration by decreasing firewood demand and avoiding deforestation, (a REDD activity), and the application of biochar for fertilizer further reducing net emissions in the region through soil carbon storage. By increasing aboveground and belowground carbon stocks in the agro-ecosystem, carbonizers can be used strategically for sustainable resource management and as a important tool for reducing emissions as an effective and practical climate change mitigation strategy

In a Cosy Little Homestead On the Old New England Shore

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-me/1105/thumbnail.jp

Liquid–liquid equilibria of mixtures containing methyl acetate + methanol + hexane or heptane

This paper reports the results of a new experimental study of liquid–liquid equilibria for the mixtures methyl acetate + methanol + hexane or heptane at atmospheric pressure and at (268.15, 278.15, 288.15, and 298.15)K. The equilibrium compositions were measured by gas chromatography from samples split isothermally into a glass-stirred device, and phase diagrams are reported at each temperature. The experimentally determined liquid-liquid equilibria were satisfactorily correlated by the NRTL and UNIQUAC equations. A comparative analysis was performed by application of UNIFAC group contribution method and its modifications to predict experimental liquid–liquid equilibria (LLE) behavior of these ternary mixtures. A poor prediction was observed from these contribution methods

Modelling the carbonization process to develop a cost-effective, smokeless, continuous, down-draft rice husk carbonizer suitable for rice growing regions

This work discusses modeling of the operational processes occurring in a small-scale, down-draft, continuous rice husk (40 kg h-1) carbonizer suitable for application in poor rice growing regions. The model was used as a tool to optimize the performance of a constructed carbonizer using material and heat balances. The carbonizer technology operating principles are discussed in terms of four operational “zones” and the possible reactions occurring in each zone. The material balance model was used to determine the amounts of each participating material at each zone, and the energy balance was generated using the material balance solutions. The final output of the model for O2, CO, and CO2 was reconciled with testing performance of the constructed carbonizer. The results suggested that 99.2% (weight basis) of the total CO produced during carbonization was burnt at the ignition chamber zone, resulting in only 0.8% CO emission from the chimney. The energy balance determined there was a high potential for the carbonizer to produce useful heat, for rice farm activities, with flue gasses calculated at 724oC. The material and heat balance models were successfully verified by prototype testing

Co‐existing monophasic teratoma and uterine adenocarcinoma in a female dog

Ovarian teratomas are occasionally reported in dogs; the rarest type is the monophasic teratoma,composed of tissues originating from only one germ layer. Canine endometrial adenocarcinomas are also rare in dogs and mainly affect geriatric females. This report describes case of co-existing ovarian teratoma and uterine adenocarcinoma in a 10-year old nulliparous female Boxer presented with lethargy, anorexia and purulent vaginal discharge. Abdominal ultrasonography evidenced pyometra and a mass in the left ovary. This was composed of a uniform whitish tissue with multiple cystic structures. The histology revealed an atrophy of the ovarian parenchyma, compressed by a proliferation of well-differentiated nervous tissue staining positively to vimentin, S100 and neuronal specific enolase (NSE), and negatively to keratin and inhibin. The left uterine horn, whose diameter was markedly increased, showed foci of endometrial cellular atypia, evident nucleoli and mitoses, at light microscopy. To our best knowledge, this is the first report of a coexisting ovarian monophasic teratoma and endometrial adenocarcinoma, two rare reproductive neoplasia in dogs

Group contribution modeling of activity coefficients in associating solutions containing water, alcohols and carboxylic acids

A modified UNIFAC group contribution model for the prediction of activity coefficients in associating solutions (A-UNIFAC) is applied to calculate phase equilibria in binary and ternary mixtures of associating and non-associating species, including alcohols, water, carboxylic acids, esters, alkanes, aromatic hydrocarbons and alkyl chlorides. Self- and cross-association in these mixtures is adequately described by the definition of a single hydrogen-bonding group. The new model is able to give good predictions of vapor-liquid equilibria, liquid-liquid equilibria and infinite dilution activity coefficients, using a single set of group-interaction parameters.The authors are grateful to the Argentinian National Research Council (CONICET) and to Universidad Nacional del Sur (UNS) for financial support. M.O. Ferreira acknowledges financial support from the PRAXIS program, FCT, Lisbon, Portugal

Prediction of cardiovascular disease in coronary patients by a clinical event recurrence score and the influence of diet. Cordioprev study.

ANTECEDENTES: Los individuos que han sufrido un evento cardiovascular tienen un riesgo que oscila entre el 5 y el 20% de padecer un nuevo evento. Actualmente, se están desarrollando diferentes escalas clínicas que tienen la finalidad de identificar a aquellos individuos con un mayor riesgo de nuevos eventos con el objetivo de adoptar en ellos un tratamiento y seguimiento más exhaustivos. Una de las más sencillas y usadas es la escala TRS2P, la cual no ha sido validada en una población como la nuestra. Por otro lado, existen marcadores subrogados que facilitan el estudio de la enfermedad cardiovascular, entre los que se encuentran la función endotelial microvascular. Hasta el momento, no se ha demostrado que la puntuación en la escala TRS2P se correlacione con cambios en marcadores subrogados como este. Nuestra hipótesis de trabajo (H1) es que la escala TRS2P es capaz de establecer un gradiente de riesgo cardiovascular a 6 años de acuerdo con la evolución de la función endotelial microvascular en pacientes con cardiopatía isquémica que han consumido una dieta cardiosaludable. OBJETIVOS: El objetivo principal de este trabajo es evaluar si la escala TRS2P es capaz de establecer un gradiente de riesgo cardiovascular en pacientes con cardiopatía isquémica de acuerdo con la evolución de la función endotelial microvascular tras el consumo de una dieta cardiosaludable. Los objetivos secundarios establecidos fueron: a. Estudiar el efecto del consumo de dos dietas cardiosaludables (dieta mediterránea y dieta baja en grasas) en la evolución de la función endotelial microvascular en pacientes con cardiopatía isquémica; b. Evaluar si existen diferencias en la evolución de la función endotelial microvascular entre los grupos de riesgo establecidos por la escala TRS2P dependiendo de la dieta consumida. POBLACIÓN, DISEÑO Y METODOLOGÍA: Los pacientes con cardiopatía isquémica incluidos en el estudio Cordioprev se clasificaron en 3 grupos de riesgo de acuerdo con la puntuación obtenida en la escala TRS2P. La función endotelial microvascular se estudió mediante flujometría láser doppler en un total de 664 individuos al inicio y tras 6 años de intervención dietética. La isquemia fue el estímulo elegido para evaluar la reactividad microvascular, la cual fue cuantificada mediante el área de hiperemia reactiva tras la isquemia. RESULTADOS: Se objetivó que el flujo basal (97,78 ± 2,79 frente a 179,31 ± 5,06 unidades de perfusión arbitrarias, aumento del 83,38 %, p 0,05). Cuando se analizó la evolución de la función endotelial microvascular según el grupo de riesgo, se obtuvo que el flujo basal aumentó de manera similar en los tres grupos (p=0,47). El área de hiperemia reactiva mejoró en mayor medida en los pacientes del grupo de bajo riesgo (4416,6 ± 193,2 vs. 10424,59 ± 308,5 unidades arbitrarias de perfusión por tiempo) en comparación con los de moderado (4120,28 ± 211,9 vs. 9133,16 ± 338,3 unidades arbitrarias de perfusión por tiempo) y alto riesgo (4073,02 ± 303,7 vs. 8995,58 ± 484,82 unidades arbitrarias de perfusión por tiempo) con una p < 0,05. No se encontraron diferencias significativas en cuanto a la evolución de la función endotelial microvascular entre los grupos de riesgo según la dieta consumida. CONCLUSIONES: La escala TRS2P tiene la capacidad de establecer un gradiente de riesgo cardiovascular en pacientes con cardiopatía isquémica de acuerdo con la evolución de la función endotelial microvascular tras 6 años de intervención dietética. Además, el consumo a largo plazo de un modelo de dieta cardiosaludable (dieta mediterránea o dieta baja en grasas) mejora la función endotelial microvascular en todos los grupos de riesgo establecidos por la escala TRS2P, sin encontrar diferencias significativas entre ambos tipos de dieta.BACKGROUND: Individuals who have suffered a cardiovascular event have a risk of suffering a new event of between 5 and 20%. Currently, different clinical scores are being developed to identify those individuals with a higher risk of new events to adopt a more comprehensive treatment and follow-up for them. One of the simplest and most widely used is the TRS2P score, which has not been validated in a population such as ours. On the other hand, there are surrogate markers that facilitate the study of cardiovascular disease, including microvascular endothelial function. So far, it has not been shown that the TRS2P score correlates with changes in surrogate markers such as this. Our hypothesis (H1) is that the TRS2P score can establish a 6-year cardiovascular risk gradient according to the evolution of microvascular endothelial function in patients with coronary heart disease who have consumed a healthy dietary pattern. OBJECTIVES: The main objective of this study was to assess whether the TRS2P score is able to establish a cardiovascular risk gradient in patients with coronary heart disease according to the evolution of microvascular endothelial function after the consumption of a healthy dietary pattern. The secondary objectives were: a. To study the effect of the consumption of two healthy dietary patterns (Mediterranean diet and low-fat diet) on the evolution of microvascular endothelial function in patients with coronary heart disease; b. To assess whether there are differences in the evolution of microvascular endothelial function between the risk groups established by the TRS2P score depending on the diet consumed. POPULATION, DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY: Patients with coronary heart disease included in the Cordioprev study were classified into 3 risk groups according to the TRS2P score. Microvascular endothelial function was studied by laser Doppler flowmetry in a total of 664 individuals at baseline and after 6 years of dietary intervention. Ischaemia was the stimulus chosen to assess microvascular reactivity, which was quantified by the area of reactive hyperemia after ischemia. RESULTS: Basal flow (97.78 ± 2.79 vs 179.31 ± 5.06 arbitrary perfusion units, 83.38% increase, p0.05). When the evolution of microvascular endothelial function was analyzed according to risk group, baseline flow increased similarly in all three groups (p=0.47). The area of reactive hyperemia improved to a greater degree in patients in the lowrisk group (4416.6 ± 193.2 vs. 10424.59 ± 308.5 arbitrary perfusion units per time) compared to those in the moderate group (4120.28 ± 211.9 vs. 9133.16 ± 338.3 arbitrary perfusion units per time) and high risk (4073.02 ± 303.7 vs. 8995.58 ± 484.82 arbitrary perfusion units per time) with a p < 0.05. No significant differences were found in the evolution of microvascular endothelial function between risk groups according to the diet consumed. CONCLUSIONS: The TRS2P score can establish a cardiovascular risk gradient in patients with coronary heart disease according to the evolution of microvascular endothelial function after 6 years of dietary intervention. In addition, long-term consumption of a healthy dietary pattern (Mediterranean diet or low-fat diet) improves microvascular endothelial function in all risk groups established by the TRS2P score, with no significant differences found between the two types of diet

Behind the Comments Section: The Ethics of Digital Native News Discussions

Initially offered as a digital public sphere forum, comments sections became the preferred democratic arena for gatekeepers to encourage their readers to engage in constructive dialogue about relevant issues. However, news sites require commenters to remain civil in their interactions, which led users to seek alternative ways of commenting on the news. This article explores in-depth the contents of a sample of 98,426 user-comments collected between February-March 2019 from three major Spanish digital native newspapers: ElDiario.es, ElEspañol.com, and ElConfidencial.com. The main goals were to analyze whether comments in news outlets are deliberative, to assess the quality of the debate that takes place in them, and to describe their specific features. Discourse ethics were explored to determine the discussions’ impact, the language used, the acceptance of arguments, and the recognition and civility of participants. Findings reveal that comments sections in news outlets do not have a dialogic nature and that the debates have a low-quality profile. Nonetheless, the degree of mutual respect in interaction is acceptable, with slightly observed levels of incivility. Finally, the data suggest that the focused comments are higher on social media and that memes and emojis represent a new form of digital discourse