Methane decomposition for hydrogen production over biomass fly ash-based CeO2 nanowires promoted cobalt catalyst

In this work, the biomass fly ash (BFA) was investigated as a potential catalyst for the thermo-catalytic decomposition of methane and attractive approach for hydrogen (H-2) production. The BFA based CeO2 nanowires promoted cobalt catalyst was synthesized for catalytic methane (CH4) decomposition and was tested in a fixed bed reactor. The physicochemical properties of the catalyst were investigated using various techniques such as X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, and Fourier transformed infrared. The pure crystalline micro-flake BFA was modified using synthesized CeO2 nanowires and the resulted micro flakes cross-linked with nanowires shown thermal stability up to 900 degrees C. The high stability of the catalyst makes it suitable for the thermal catalytic decomposition of methane. The activity of the catalyst was tested at 850 degrees C to analyze the H-2 production and CH4 conversion. The obtained results revealed that support and promoter exhibit a strong impact on the CH4 conversion and H-2 yield in catalyst screening tests. A maximum conversion of 71% for CH4 with 44.9% H-2 yield was recorded for 34 h on stream activity while using 5% Co/CeO2-BFA as the catalyst. While BFA and Co-BFA as catalyst showed 36% and 47% conversion of CH4, respectively which indicates that the addition of promoter shows an increase in values of both conversion of CH4 and H-2 yield. Compared to traditional catalyst support, the use of waste-sourced catalyst support for CH4 decomposition provides a greener and more economical route for H-2 production

An innovative state-of-the-art health storytelling technique for better management of type 2 diabetes

Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a chronic lifelong disease that requires long-term prevention and management strategies in a community setting. A health story is a novel technique that may be used as an effective tool for better prevention and management of T2D. Objective: The main objective of this study is to develop a story to be used as a social health technique based on contemporary scientific knowledge that may be used at a community level for better communication and management of T2D. Methods: A community–academic partnership was formed with a not-for-profit Nutrition Education, Awareness, and Training (NEAT) organization in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. We agreed to develop a story that may be used as a health and nutrition education communication tool for better management of patients with T2D. The following phases were followed during the story creation process: (1) the theory phase, (2) the modeling phase, and (3) the evaluation phase. Raters evaluated the story to determine its literary and scientific quality, comprehensiveness, and T2D specificity. Results: The title of the story translated into English is “The Story of Diabetes—The Story of Success.” It is text based and contains 86 pages in the local language, “Pashto,” with an English translation. The story is divided into five chapters and describes the initial diagnosis, fear associated with the disease, issues related to referral to certified practitioners, the importance of a balanced diet, and related lifestyle habits. After story evaluation, the raters suggested its literary and scientific quality, comprehensiveness, and T2D specificity (Pearson correlation scores of \u3e0.8). Conclusion: This unique story was created for T2D and found to be of significant quality in terms of its literary and scientific quality, as well as its comprehensiveness and diabetes specificity. As a result, it may be suggested that it can be used in subsequent studies to improve T2D management among adult patients

An innovative state-of-the-art health storytelling technique for better management of type 2 diabetes

BackgroundType 2 diabetes (T2D) is a chronic lifelong disease that requires long-term prevention and management strategies in a community setting. A health story is a novel technique that may be used as an effective tool for better prevention and management of T2D.ObjectiveThe main objective of this study is to develop a story to be used as a social health technique based on contemporary scientific knowledge that may be used at a community level for better communication and management of T2D.MethodsA community–academic partnership was formed with a not-for-profit Nutrition Education, Awareness, and Training (NEAT) organization in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. We agreed to develop a story that may be used as a health and nutrition education communication tool for better management of patients with T2D. The following phases were followed during the story creation process: (1) the theory phase, (2) the modeling phase, and (3) the evaluation phase. Raters evaluated the story to determine its literary and scientific quality, comprehensiveness, and T2D specificity.ResultsThe title of the story translated into English is “The Story of Diabetes—The Story of Success.” It is text based and contains 86 pages in the local language, “Pashto,” with an English translation. The story is divided into five chapters and describes the initial diagnosis, fear associated with the disease, issues related to referral to certified practitioners, the importance of a balanced diet, and related lifestyle habits. After story evaluation, the raters suggested its literary and scientific quality, comprehensiveness, and T2D specificity (Pearson correlation scores of >0.8).ConclusionThis unique story was created for T2D and found to be of significant quality in terms of its literary and scientific quality, as well as its comprehensiveness and diabetes specificity. As a result, it may be suggested that it can be used in subsequent studies to improve T2D management among adult patients

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Fabrication of DNA/RNA templated conductive metal wires for DYE-sensitized solar cell applications / Sehar Shakir

In this work, fabrication of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) templated metal wires on substrates were presented and their use as modified counter electrode (CE) in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) has been studied. This research demonstrates a novel and controllable scribing method to fabricate DNA/RNA templated submicron to nanoscale metal wires employing natural capillary force action and the coffee-ring effect. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements showed that DNA/RNA templated metal wires on Si, ITO and Platinum (Pt)/ITO substrates exhibited higher electro-catalytic activity with improved conductivity than conventional Pt/ITO CEs due to the synergistic effect of Pt and metal wire network on ITO. DSSCs designed using TiO2 photoanode, N719 dye, I-/I3- electrolyte and modified electrodes show higher power conversion efficiency under AM 1.5, 100 mWcm-2 illumination compared to cells assembled using the same parameter but conventional (Pt/ITO) CE. Moreover, to enhance photoabsorption and electron generation in DSSCs and to develop compatible photoanodes with our modified CEs, TiO2-based photoanodes were developed using aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition (AACVD) and electrophoretic deposition (EPD). The effect of magnesium doping in AACVD developed films at various concentrations and surface modification of EPD films using tin (Sn) were analyzed. A detailed morphological and structural analysis of the films developed using AACVD and EPD has been presented. The overall efficiency improvements were observed when the modified CEs and modified photoanodes were used. Various characterization techniques were employed to analyze the fabricated metal wires and deposited TiO2 electrodes including X-ray diffraction for phase purity, crystallinity and crystallite size determination, X-ray photon spectroscopy for determination of valence state of the metal wires, CV for determination of catalytic activity of the CEs, current density-voltage (J-V) characteristics for analyzing the performance of the DSSCs etc. Various DSSCs were formed and the maximum efficiency of 6.68 % was achieved in DSSC fabricated using DNA templated Au wires on Pt/ITO substrates as CE and 2 mol% Mg doped AACVD TiO2 film on ITO as photoanode

Technical and Economic Evaluation of a 50 MW Solar Power Plant in Quetta

Pakistan is a developing country that is facing its worst energy crisis in two decades. In recent years, the gap between demand and supply has multiplied. With increasing demand, this situation has triggered a complete power shutdown in urban areas for 10–12 h and rural areas for 16–18 h. The prime objective of this study is to evaluate the techno-economic feasibility of a 50 MW solar farm in Quetta, Pakistan. Solar radiation data are collected from radiation devices, i.e., a tier two weather station with a rotating shadow band irradiometer. The devices collected data every 10 min. The data were gathered for one year, and a techno-economic evaluation of the information has been carried out. For the proposed plant’s economic feasibility evaluation, the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) model is used and estimates that the energy produced by the proposed power plant will cost 6 Pkr/kWh. Technical evaluation of the power plant reveals that 91.980 GWh of electricity can be produced per year at the capital cost of 59.689 million USD, with an O and M cost of 0.9 million USD/year and a 10.5498 discount rate (%). An economic evaluation of the proposed PV plant produces electricity at 0.0385 USD/kWh. The results of this study depict that a 50 MW PV plant will be feasible for Quetta

Fabrication of un-doped and magnesium doped TiO2 films by aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition for dye sensitized solar cells

A Photoanode in dye sensitized solar cell is responsible for photoabsorption and conduction of the generated electrons for which TiO2 is a highly employed material due to its non-toxic nature and low cost. This study reports a convenient and facile method to prepare un-doped and magnesium (Mg) doped TiO2 thin films using Aerosol assisted Chemical Vapor deposition on Indium doped Tin oxide substrates. The as prepared films were subjected to morphological and structural characterizations as well as the optical absorption, band gap and surface area measurements of films. The studies indicated that Mg substituted Ti in the TiO2 lattice and formed new energy levels which decreased the band gap of the doped films. Moreover, increasing the concentration of Mg shifted the optical absorption of the films from ultra-violet region to the visible region. The IV measurements of the DSSCs fabricated using 2 mol% Mg doped TiO2 film, N719 dye, I−/I3− redox electrolyte and platinum sputtered on ITO counter electrode, revealed approximately twofold increase in overall efficiency of DSSCs as compared to undoped TiO2 based DSSC. The increase in Voc and Jsc, as well as the efficiency of 6.1%, is an indication that 2 mol% Mg doped TiO2 film is a potential candidate as a photoanode material in DSSC

Fabrication of Metal (Cu and Cr) Incorporated Nickel Oxide Films for Electrochemical Oxidation of Methanol

Methanol electrochemical oxidation in a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is considered to be an efficient pathway for generating renewable energy with low pollutant emissions. NiO−CuO and Ni0.95Cr0.05O2+δ thin films were synthesized using a simple dip-coating method and tested for the electro-oxidation of methanol. These synthesized electrocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and Raman spectroscopy. Different electrochemical techniques were used to investigate the catalytic activity of these prepared electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation, including linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and chronoamperometry (CA). In the presence of 0.3 M methanol, the current densities of NiO−CuO and Ni0.95Cr0.05O2+δ thin films were found to be 12.2 mA·cm−2 and 6.5 mA·cm−2, respectively. The enhanced catalytic activity of NiO−CuO and Ni0.95Cr0.05O2+δ thin films may be a result of the synergistic effect between different metal oxides. The Chronoamperometry (CA) results of the mixed metal oxide thin films confirmed their stability in basic media. Furthermore, the findings of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) of mixed metal oxide thin films demonstrated a lower charge transfer resistance as compared to the pure NiO, CuO, and Cr2O3 thin films

Metallization of Silver Through Coffee‐Ring Assisted Ribonucleic Acid Scaffolding Technique

Preferential binding of base pair units with metallic ions within deoxyribonucleic acids (DNA) to form metal-DNA complexes are well studied and understood. Excitingly, such natural processes have been utilized “artificially” for designing and fabricating nanometallic structures and patterns primarily using double stranded DNA. However, little or no effort has been given to ribonucleic acid or RNA in this aspect. Therefore, in this work we study the scaffolding effect of RNA on metalizing silver (Ag) ions and further the diffusion of majority of the Ag-RNA complexes towards artificially introduced cut or scribed edges as a result of the coffee-ring effect. Upon removal of the RNA scaffold, metallic nanostructures remain along the line of the cut corresponding to the micrometre scale length of the cut, exercising some amount of control and manipulation of parameter. Other parameters such as the height and diameter may directly be related to the concentration and diffusion of the Ag-RNA complexes, while gap size related to the cut width. We anticipate that further in-depth studies will be required before a comprehensive model could be proposed for highly controllable and flexible nanostructure and nanowire fabrication using nucleic acid scaffolding techniques. © 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinhei