Promising Developments in Bio-Based Products as Alternatives to Conventional Plastics to Enable Circular Economy in Ukraine

Transforming the plastic industry toward producing more sustainable alternatives than conventional plastics, as an essential enabler of the bio-based circular economy (CE), requires reinforcing initiatives to drive solutions from the lab to the market. In this regard, startups and ideation and innovation events can potentially play significant roles in consolidating efforts and investments by academia and industry to foster bio-based and biodegradable plastic-related developments. This study aimed to present the current trends and challenges of bioplastics and bio-based materials as sustainable alternatives for plastics. On this basis, having conducted a systematic literature review, the seminal research themes of the bio-based materials and bioplastics literature were unfolded and discussed. Then, the most recent developments of bio-based sustainable products in Ukraine, as alternatives to petroleum-based plastics, that have gained publicity through local startup programs and hackathons were presented. The findings shed light on the potential of the bio-based sector to facilitate the CE transition through (i) rendering innovative solutions most of which have been less noticed in academia before; (ii) enhancing academic debate and bridging the gap between developers, scholars, and practitioners within the plastic industry toward creating circularity across the supply chain; (iii) identifying the main challenges and future perspectives for further investigations in the future

A Turbulent Transport Network Model in MULTIFLUX Coupled with TOUGH2

A new numerical method is described for the fully iterated, conjugate solution of two discrete submodels, involving (a) a transport network model for heat, moisture, and airflows in a high-permeability, air-filled cavity; and (b) a variably saturated fractured porous medium. The transport network submodel is an integrated-parameter, computational fluid dynamics solver, describing the thermal-hydrologic transport processes in the flow channel system of the cavity with laminar or turbulent flow and convective heat and mass transport, using MULTIFLUX. The porous medium submodel, using TOUGH2, is a solver for the heat and mass transport in the fractured rock mass. The new model solution extends the application fields of TOUGH2 by integrating it with turbulent flow and transport in a discrete flow network system. We present demonstrational results for a nuclear waste repository application at Yucca Mountain with the most realistic model assumptions and input parameters including the geometrical layout of the nuclear spent fuel and waste with variable heat load for the individual containers. The MULTIFLUX and TOUGH2 model elements are fully iterated, applying a programmed reprocessing of the Numerical Transport Code Functionalization model-element in an automated Outside Balance Iteration loop. The natural, convective airflow field and the heat and mass transport in a representative emplacement drift during postclosure are explicitly solved in the new model. The results demonstrate that the direction and magnitude of the air circulation patterns and all transport modes are strongly affected by the heat and moisture transport processes in the surrounding rock, justifying the need for a coupled, fully iterated model solution such as the one presented in the paper

Hydrogen Technology Development and Demonstration at the Savannah River Technology Center

The Savannah River Technical Center (SRTC) has been active in teaming with academic and industrial partners to advance hydrogen technology. A primary focus of SRTC's R and D has been hydrogen storage using metal and complex hydrides. SRTC and its Hydrogen Technology Laboratory (HyTech) have been very successful in leveraging their defense infrastructure, capabilities and investments to help solve this country's energy problems. Many of HyTech's programs support dual-use applications. HyTech has participated in projects to convert public transit and utility vehicles for operation on hydrogen fuel. Two major projects include the H2Fuel Bus and an Industrial Fuel Cell Vehicle (IFCV) also known as the GATORTM. Both of these projects were funded by DOE and cost shared by industry

Recent Decisions

Comments on recent decisions by William J. Daner, William T. Huston, James D. Matthews, Benedict R. Danko, John E. Lindberg, Maynard R. Bissonnette, Joseph H. Harrison, Peter J. Donahue, Louis J. Mustico, Donald John Tufts, Henry M. Shine, Jr., Arthur L. Beaudette, Luke R. Morin, John F. Mendoza, and Thomas A. Muscatello

GAGA Factor Maintains Nucleosome-Free Regions and Has a Role in RNA Polymerase II Recruitment to Promoters

Previous studies have shown that GAGA Factor (GAF) is enriched on promoters with paused RNA Polymerase II (Pol II), but its genome-wide function and mechanism of action remain largely uncharacterized. We assayed the levels of transcriptionally-engaged polymerase using global run-on sequencing (GRO-seq) in control and GAF-RNAi Drosophila S2 cells and found promoter-proximal polymerase was significantly reduced on a large subset of paused promoters where GAF occupancy was reduced by knock down. These promoters show a dramatic increase in nucleosome occupancy upon GAF depletion. These results, in conjunction with previous studies showing that GAF directly interacts with nucleosome remodelers, strongly support a model where GAF directs nucleosome displacement at the promoter and thereby allows the entry Pol II to the promoter and pause sites. This action of GAF on nucleosomes is at least partially independent of paused Pol II because intergenic GAF binding sites with little or no Pol II also show GAF-dependent nucleosome displacement. In addition, the insulator factor BEAF, the BEAF-interacting protein Chriz, and the transcription factor M1BP are strikingly enriched on those GAF-associated genes where pausing is unaffected by knock down, suggesting insulators or the alternative promoter-associated factor M1BP protect a subset of GAF-bound paused genes from GAF knock-down effects. Thus, GAF binding at promoters can lead to the local displacement of nucleosomes, but this activity can be restricted or compensated for when insulator protein or M1BP complexes also reside at GAF bound promoters

The country's economic growth models and the potential for budgetary, monetary and private financing of gross domestic product growth

This article examines the financing of GDP growth within the framework of catch-up, evolutionary and dynamic models of economic development. Methods/statistical analysis: using the principles of the Solow model and the Cobb-Douglas function, an analysis of the nature of the models has been carried out, considering the processes of capital accumulation, the rate of growth of the workforce, and various aggregate factor productivities. With the help of historical logic and statistical evaluation, examples of countries relating to each of the models examined are reviewed. Based on the analysis, the main ways of financing economic growth are noted: both the state ones, due to budgetary and monetary policy measures, and private ones. It has been proven that with the transition from catch-up to an evolutionary or dynamic model, the role of the state as a centralizing force is diminishing. At the same time, the specificity of a dynamic model is due to the country's objective ability to be among the technological leaders, which is predetermined by the high values of current GDP, per capita GDP, and population size. Countries with an evolutionary model of development are constrained in their ability to maintain a comparable pace of development only within separate "growth points". The main result of the work is the assessment of Russia's potential from the viewpoint of one of the models considered, based on a comparative analysis of several capital indicators, as well as a logical analysis of data on the level of GDP and population with other countries. This makes it possible to make recommendations for financing the country's GDP growth in the medium to long term. Scope/Improvements: The findings can be used in the development of Russia's financial and economic strategy up to 2030.peer-reviewe

Model for integrating monetary and fiscal policies to stimulate economic growth and sustainable debt dynamics

This article examines the main integration trends of the state's monetary and fiscal policy in influencing economic growth and maintaining the sustainability of public debt. It is argued that the relationship between these trends of macroeconomic regulation is predetermined, on the one hand, by the potentially negative impact of fiscal expansion from the point of view of inflation, and by the negative impact of a likely state default in failing to refinance the debt from the Ministry of Finance, on the other hand. The paper studies the selected array of statistical data using the fiscal policy multipliers concept, the relationship between the effect of increase/decrease in budget expenditures, the slowdown in economic activity and the efforts by the Central Bank to offset fiscal measures, on the one hand, and the ratio of an increase/decrease in budget revenues and debt expenditures used to finance the budget investments, on the other hand. It is revealed that the investments are effective if implementing budget expenditures in the presence of the GDP gap and unrealized expectations of economic agents, while reducing spending in such a situation will intensify the recession. The GDP growth determined by these investments should provide the tax effect sufficient to cover the expenses. Otherwise, there can be negative effects of debt that establishes the need for measures to refinance public debt by the Central Bank. The conclusions of the paper can be used to assess the possible integration of monetary and fiscal policy based on various states.peer-reviewe

Marketing communication strategies of colleges and universities based on spatial and temporal distribution of students

The development of marketing strategies based on temporal and spatial student’s distribution is extremely important in order to win a niche in the market of educational services. The object of the study is information about the place of origin of the Henan Institute of Science and Technology students in 2016 and 2020. The data used are provided by the Office of Academic Affairs of Henan Institute of Science and Technology, which selects identity data of students admitted and registered at the university in 2016 and 2020. The temporal and spatial distribution and spatial aggregation characteristics of the student enrolments are analyzed, as well as factors affecting the quality of the student flows, such as geographic location, total number of students per year, and publicity. The paper uses spatial data analysis (ESDA), which determines the spatial weight between districts. Global Moran’s I index was used for spatial analysis. The analysis carried out on the example of Henan province showed that the number of graduates in each city in a given year directly affects the number of university entrants (in 2020, the largest number of school graduates was recorded in the cities of Zhoukou and Nanyang, which had the highest number of university entrants). The spatial arrangement of colleges and universities is identified as the main factor influencing the recruitment of students of each educational institution. The choice of colleges and universities by applicants and their parents in China is also determined by proximity to large cities, convenient transportation, and employment opportunities. It has been established that advertising educational services of universities is also an additional factor in their popularization and attraction of students. The important achievements and characteristics of the school should be highly summarized to ensure that all the information on the school brand is spread in the whole domain in a comprehensive manner. Different media should be selected for different students from different places. Attention should be paid to the use of new media such as WeChat, Micro-blog, Tiktok etc. Also, a significant role should be given to interpersonal communication and mobilization of the enthusiasm of graduates to increase the popularity of a particular educational institution. Colleges and universities should reflect on themselves, correct in time, and actively establish a complete, effective, and dynamic evaluation mechanism for marketing, to improve marketing strategies, including through surveys of graduates, students, parents and other stakeholders of higher education

Scintillator counters with WLS fiber/MPPC readout for the side muon range detector (SMRD)of the T2K experiment

The T2K neutrino experiment at J-PARC uses a set of near detectors to measure the properties of an unoscillated neutrino beam and neutrino interaction cross-sections. One of the sub-detectors of the near-detector complex, the side muon range detector (SMRD), is described in the paper. The detector is designed to help measure the neutrino energy spectrum, to identify background and to calibrate the other detectors. The active elements of the SMRD consist of 0.7 cm thick extruded scintillator slabs inserted into air gaps of the UA1 magnet yokes. The readout of each scintillator slab is provided through a single WLS fiber embedded into a serpentine shaped groove. Two Hamamatsu multi-pixel avalanche photodiodes (MPPC's) are coupled to both ends of the WLS fiber. This design allows us to achieve a high MIP detection efficiency of greater than 99%. A light yield of 25-50 p.e./MIP, a time resolution of about 1 ns and a spatial resolution along the slab better than 10 cm were obtained for the SMRD counters.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures; talk at TIPP09, March 12-17, Tsukuba, Japan; to be published in the conference proceeding

The T2K Side Muon Range Detector

The T2K experiment is a long baseline neutrino oscillation experiment aiming to observe the appearance of {\nu} e in a {\nu}{\mu} beam. The {\nu}{\mu} beam is produced at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC), observed with the 295 km distant Super- Kamiokande Detector and monitored by a suite of near detectors at 280m from the proton target. The near detectors include a magnetized off-axis detector (ND280) which measures the un-oscillated neutrino flux and neutrino cross sections. The present paper describes the outermost component of ND280 which is a side muon range detector (SMRD) composed of scintillation counters with embedded wavelength shifting fibers and Multi-Pixel Photon Counter read-out. The components, performance and response of the SMRD are presented.Comment: 13 pages, 19 figures v2: fixed several typos; fixed reference