Non-invasive detection of iron deficiency by fluorescence measurement of erythrocyte zinc protoporphyrin in the lip

Worldwide, more individuals have iron deficiency than any other health problem. Most of those affected are unaware of their lack of iron, in part because detection of iron deficiency has required a blood sample. Here we report a non-invasive method to optically measure an established indicator of iron status, red blood cell zinc protoporphyrin, in the microcirculation of the lower lip. An optical fibre probe is used to illuminate the lip and acquire fluorescence emission spectra in similar to 1 min. Dual-wavelength excitation with spectral fitting is used to distinguish the faint zinc protoporphyrin fluorescence from the much greater tissue background fluorescence, providing immediate results. In 56 women, 35 of whom were iron-deficient, the sensitivity and specificity of optical non-invasive detection of iron deficiency were 97% and 90%, respectively. This fluorescence method potentially provides a rapid, easy to use means for point-of-care screening for iron deficiency in resource-limited settings lacking laboratory infrastructure

Non-invasive detection of iron deficiency by fluorescence measurement of erythrocyte zinc protoporphyrin in the lip

Worldwide, more individuals have iron deficiency than any other health problem. Most of those affected are unaware of their lack of iron, in part because detection of iron deficiency has required a blood sample. Here we report a non-invasive method to optically measure an established indicator of iron status, red blood cell zinc protoporphyrin, in the microcirculation of the lower lip. An optical fibre probe is used to illuminate the lip and acquire fluorescence emission spectra in similar to 1 min. Dual-wavelength excitation with spectral fitting is used to distinguish the faint zinc protoporphyrin fluorescence from the much greater tissue background fluorescence, providing immediate results. In 56 women, 35 of whom were iron-deficient, the sensitivity and specificity of optical non-invasive detection of iron deficiency were 97% and 90%, respectively. This fluorescence method potentially provides a rapid, easy to use means for point-of-care screening for iron deficiency in resource-limited settings lacking laboratory infrastructure

Production planning with price-dependent supply capacity

We consider a production planning problem in which a producer procures an input component for production by offering a price to suppliers. The available supply quantity for the production input depends on the price the producer offers, and this supply level constrains production output. The producer seeks to meet a set of demands over a finite horizon at a minimum cost, including component procurement costs. We model the problem as a discrete-time production and component supply–pricing planning problem with nonstationary costs, demands, and component supply levels. This leads to a two-level lot-sizing problem with an objective function that is neither concave nor convex. Although the most general version of the problem is NP-hard, we provide polynomial-time algorithms for two special cases of the model under particular assumptions on the cost structure. We then apply the resulting algorithms heuristically to the more general problem version and provide computational results that demonstrate the high performance quality of the resulting heuristic solution methods

Kadife Çiçeği ve Gül Taç Yaprakları Demleme Çaylarında Ön Çimlendirme Uygulamalarının Biberde Çimlenme ve Çıkış Üzerine Etkileri

Bu araştırmada, Yalova çarliston biber çeşidine ait tohumlar kadife çiçeği (Tagetes erecta, ve Tagetes patula), ve yağ gülü (Rosa damascena) çiçeklerinin kurutulmuş taç yapraklarının saf su ile hazırlanmış demleme çaylarında havalandırmalı kolon içinde 15oC sıcaklıkta 32 saat süreyle ön çimlendirme uygulamasına tabi tutulmuştur. Hiçbir uygulama görmeyen tohumlar kontrol grubu olarak belirlenmiştir. Ön çimlendirme uygulaması gören tohumlar ile kontrol tohumlarında, standart çimlenme (25oC), düşük sıcaklık stres testi (15oC), kum ortamında çıkış testi ve fide büyüme testleri gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırma sonuçlarına göre, uygulamaların normal çim oranı, ortalama çimlenme zamanı ve çim boyu üzerine etkisi önemli bulunurken, çimlenme oranı ve anormal çim oranı üzerine etkisi istatistiki olarak önemsiz bulunmuştur. En yüksek normal çim oranı %94.5 ile T. erecta demleme çayı uygulamasından elde edilirken, en düşük normal çim oranı %90.0 ile kontrol uygulamasından elde edilmiştir. Ön çimlendirme uygulamaları ortalama çimlenme zamanını kontrol tohumlarına göre 0.4 gün ile 0.8 gün arasında kısaltmıştır. Demleme çayları çim boyunu önemli ölçüde arttırmış ve en yüksek çim boyu 12.4 cm ile T. patula demleme çayı uygulamasından elde edilmiştir. Düşük sıcaklıkta çimlenme ve kumda çıkış testlerinden standart çimlendirme testindekine benzer sonuçlar elde edilmiştir. Ön çimlendirme uygulamalarının fide kalitesi üzerine etkisi önemsiz bulunmuştur. Sonuç olarak, kadife çiçeği ve yağ gülü taç yaprakları demleme çaylarının biber tohumlarında organik ön çimlendirme ajanı olarak kullanılabilmesi için daha fazla çalışmaya ihtiyaç duyulduğu söylenebilir

Experimental Comparison of Biogas and Natural Gas as Vibration, Emission, and Performance in a Diesel Engine Converted to a Dual Fuel

WOS: 000587750600004Biogas, natural gas, and their usage in the diesel engine will be important in the future. For this purpose, the effects of biogas on engine performance, emissions, and engine vibrations of the diesel engines with dual fuel system are investigated in comparison with natural gas. It has also been included in evaluating the deformation of the engine oil due to hydrogen sulfide combustion reactions. in this study, a constant speed, naturally aspirated, and direct injection of the diesel engine with volume of 2.5 liter has been converted into a dual fuel system that can be included in gas fuels. in order to determine engine performance, exhaust emissions, engine vibration, and noise, the tests were carried out at load stages of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 kW and at a constant speed of 1500 rpm. the experiments were first performed in a mono operation condition of the conventional diesel fuel. Subsequently, tests were repeated under natural gas/diesel and biogas/diesel dual fuel operation conditions, respectively. As a result of the tests, it was observed that the vibration amount decreased and the noise emission was reduced by 3.5% in all stages where biogas was used as the main fuel. Depending on fuel or operation system change, no significant change was observed in cylinder block, cylinder heat, exhaust, and intake manifold temperature. the exhaust gas temperature is measured to be lower because of the carbon dioxide (CO2) content in the biogas. When approaching from the point view of engine emissions, it was determined that the carbon monoxide (CO) emission increased at all engine loads while a decrease of 50% in oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emission occurred

An experimental study on the heat transfer performance of a radiator using MWCNT-SiO2 hybrid nanofluid

The study aims to investigate the effect of nanofluids on heat transfer through experimentation. To prepare the nanofluids, water, commonly used in radiator cooling systems, served as the base liquid. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanoparticles were added at weight concentrations of 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, and 0.4%, with two different flow rates tested. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactant was used to prevent the nanoparticles from agglomerating. After visually observing the hybrid nanocoolant, it was found that SDS as a surfactant prevented sedimentation and maintained stability for two weeks. Furthermore, STEM imaging demonstrated that spherical SiO2 particles evenly distributed throughout the tube-shaped CNTs improved the fluid’s thermophysical properties regarding heat transfer. Heat transfer improvements were assessed with water experiments. The findings indicate that greater nanoparticle weight concentration promotes heat transfer. The most significant improvement in thermal conductance (UxA) was recorded as 28% in the case of 0.4 wt.% MWCNT water-based nanofluid at 0.034 kg/s flow rate as against water. The economical performance of a nanoparticle-containing cooling system was gauged for a natural gas-powered engine. © 2023 Taylor ; Francis Group, LLC