Search Results (19)

In our investigation, we unveil a novel, eco-friendly, and cost-effective method for crafting a bio-derived electrode using discarded cotton fabric via a carbonization procedure, marking its inaugural application in a vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB). Our findings showcase the superior reaction surface area, heightened carbon content, and enhanced catalytic prowess for vanadium reactions exhibited by this carbonized waste cloth (CWC) electrode compared to commercially treated graphite felt (TT-GF). Therefore, the VRFB system equipped with these custom electrodes surpasses its treated graphite felt counterpart (61% at an equivalent current) and achieves an impressive voltage efficiency of 70% at a current density of 100 mA cm⁻². Notably, energy efficiency sees a notable uptick from 58% to 67% under the same current density conditions. These compelling outcomes underscore the immense potential of the carbonized waste cotton cloth electrode for widespread integration in VRFB installations at scale. Full article

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder affecting women of reproductive age. It increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, endometrial cancer, infertility, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and preterm birth. Accurately identifying predictors of these health risks is crucial. Electronic health records (EHRs) offer an affordable approach, however, the validity and reliability of EHRs for PCOS diagnosis are unclear. A scoping review of the literature on the prevalence and reliability of the diagnosis of PCOS using EHRs was performed. An analysis of the feasibility of obtaining diagnostic variables from a PCOS patient database was also carried out. Eight studies met the criteria. The prevalence of PCOS ranged from 0.27% to 5.8%. Reliability varied, with one study reporting a sensitivity of 50% and a specificity of 29%. Another study found a 74.4% agreement between international classification of disease (ICD) codes and clinical criteria. The database analysis found only 13.7%, 8%, and 7.5% of women had all the necessary variables for an objective diagnosis of PCOS using the Rotterdam, National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Androgen Excess and PCOS Society (AEPCOS) criteria, respectively. Using EHRs results in an underestimation of PCOS prevalence compared to other diagnostic criteria, and many women identified may not meet the complete diagnostic criteria. These findings have implications for future research studies on PCOS prevalence and related health risks. Full article

Salinity is one of the substantial threats to plant productivity and could be escorted by other stresses such as heat and drought. It impairs critical biological processes, such as photosynthesis, energy, and water/nutrient acquisition, ultimately leading to cell death when stress intensity becomes uncured. Therefore, plants deploy several proper processes to overcome such hostile circumstances. Grapevine is one of the most important crops worldwide that is relatively salt-tolerant and preferentially cultivated in hot and semi-arid areas. One of the most applicable strategies for sustainable viticulture is using salt-tolerant rootstock such as Ruggeri (RUG). The rootstock showed efficient capacity of photosynthesis, ROS detoxification, and carbohydrate accumulation under salinity. The current study utilized the transcriptome profiling approach to identify the molecular events of RUG throughout a regime of salt stress followed by a recovery procedure. The data showed progressive changes in the transcriptome profiling throughout salinity, underpinning the involvement of a large number of genes in transcriptional reprogramming during stress. Our results established a considerable enrichment of the biological process GO-terms related to salinity adaptation, such as signaling, hormones, photosynthesis, carbohydrates, and ROS homeostasis. Among the battery of molecular/cellular responses launched upon salinity, ROS homeostasis plays the central role of salt adaptation. Full article

Integration of remote sensing (RS) and GIS methods has allowed for the identification of potential water resource zones. Here, climatic, ecological, hydrologic, and topographic data have been integrated with microwave and multispectral data. Sentinel-2, SRTM, and TRMM data were developed to characterize the climatic, hydrologic, and topographic landscapes of Wadi Fatima, a portion of western Saudi Arabia that drains to the Red Sea. The physical characteristics of Wadi Fatima’s catchment area that are essential for mapping groundwater potential zones were derived from topographic data, rainfall zones, lineaments, and soil maps through RS data and GIS techniques. Twelve thematic factors were merged with a GIS-based knowledge-driven approach after providing a weight for every factor. Processing of recent Sentinel-2 data acquired on 4 August 2023 verified the existence of a zone of vegetation belonging to promising areas of groundwater potential zones (GPZs). The output map is categorized into six zones: excellent (10.98%), very high (21.98%), high (24.99%), moderate (21.44%), low (14.70%), and very low (5.91%). SAR CCD derived from Sentinel-1 from 2022 to 2023 showed that the parts of no unity are in high-activity areas in agricultural and anthropogenic activities. The model predictions were proven with the ROC curves with ground data, existing wells’ locations, and the water-bearing formations’ thickness inferred from geophysical data. Their performance was accepted (AUC: 0.73). The outcomes of the applied methodologies were excellent and important for exploring, planning, managing, and sustainable development of resources of water in desert areas. The present study successfully provided insights into the watershed’s hydrologic, climatic, vegetated variation, and terrain database information using radar, optical, and multi-temporal InSAR data. Furthermore, the applied multi-criteria overlay technique revealed promising areas for groundwater abstraction, which can be applied elsewhere in various environmental situations. Full article

Daylight can contribute to substantial reductions in the energy consumed by artificial lighting applications. However, issues such as visual comfort, illumination intensity, and availability represent major issues when daylight is relied upon to illuminate buildings. There are many technologies that are used to control received sunlight and minimize its side effects. The placement of solar film sheets on window glass is a common and popular method utilized in many buildings to minimize electric lighting energy consumption without causing undue visual discomfort to occupants. To examine the practicality of this application and its effect on room lighting, a modern office was selected in which to conduct this field study. Two measures were used to evaluate this technique: firstly, field measurements and their comparison to the specified standard illumination levels; and secondly, a short-form questionnaire survey conducted to obtain occupants’ opinions of the office lighting. Actual measurements were conducted in the selected office spaces, with and without applying solar control film coating on the window glass. Indoor luminance levels and lighting comfort were systematically recorded and analyzed. The findings of this study show that using a solar film with a visible light transmittance of 50% can achieve savings in energy consumption of up to 33% if utilized as part of an integrated lighting system. Full article

Remote sensing (RS) data have allowed prospective zones of water accumulation (PZWA) that have been harvested during rainstorms to be revealed. Climatic, hydrologic, and geological data have been combined with radar and optical remote sensing data. A wide array of remote sensing data, including SRTM, Sentinel-1&2, Landsat-8, TRMM, and ALOS/PALSAR data, were processed to reveal the topographical characteristics of catchments (elevation, slope, curvature, and TRI) and geological (lineaments, lithology, and radar intensity), hydrological (Dd, TWI, and SPI), ecological (NDVI, InSAR CCD), and rainfall zones in Wadi Queih (WQ), which is an important drainage system that drains into the Red Sea. Radar data improved the structural elements and showed that the downstream area is shaped by the northeast–southwest (NE-SW) fault trend. After giving each evidential GIS layer a weight by utilizing a GIS-based, knowledge-driven methodology, the 13 GIS layers were integrated and combined. According to the findings, the studied basin can be classified into six zones based on how water resources are held and captured, which are very low, low, moderate, high, very high, and excellent. These zones correspond to 6.20, 14.01, 21.26, 36.57, 17.35, and 4.59% of the entire area. The results suggested a specific location for a lake that can be used to store rainwater, with a capacity of ~240 million m³ in the case of increasing rainfall yield. Such a lake complements the present lake at the end of WQ, which can hold about 1 million m³. InSAR coherence change detection (CCD) derived from Sentinel-1 data revealed noticeable changes in land use/land cover (LU/LC) areas. Areas that displayed changes in surface water signatures and agricultural and human activities were consistent with the predicted very high and excellent zones. Thus, the predicted model is an important approach that can aid planners and governments. Overall, the integration of optical and radar microwaves in RS and GIS techniques can reveal promising areas of rainwater and water accumulation. Full article

Redox flow batteries represent a captivating class of electrochemical energy systems that are gaining prominence in large-scale storage applications. These batteries offer remarkable scalability, flexible operation, extended cycling life, and moderate maintenance costs. The fundamental operation and structure of these batteries revolve around the flow of an electrolyte, which facilitates energy conversion and storage. Notably, the power and energy capacities can be independently designed, allowing for the conversion of chemical energy from input fuel into electricity at working electrodes, resembling the functioning of fuel cells. This work provides a comprehensive overview of the components, advantages, disadvantages, and challenges of redox flow batteries (RFBs). Moreover, it explores various diagnostic techniques employed in analyzing flow batteries. The discussion encompasses the utilization of RFBs for large-scale energy storage applications and summarizes the engineering design aspects related to these batteries. Additionally, this study delves into emerging technologies, applications, and challenges in the realm of redox flow batteries. Full article

The Fawakhir area consists of an ophiolite sequence surrounded by an ophiolitic mélange. In the mélange, serpentinized ultramafic rock, gabbro, gabbroic diorite, diabase, andesite, and basalt occur as tectonic blocks within the metasediments. The gabbro gives a zircon U–Pb age of ~816 Ma, and the trace element composition of the zircon suggests its generation under a continental-arc tectonic setting. The geochemistry of gabbro and other tectonic blocks in the ophiolitic mélange indicates their formation from a backarc basin in a continental island arc tectonic setting. The ophiolite sequence consists of serpentinized ultramafic rock, gabbro, and basaltic rocks and was intruded by felsic dikes. The gabbro from the ophiolite sequence and felsic dikes give zircon U–Pb ages of 742 Ma and 723 Ma, respectively. Trace elements composition of this zircon refers to their formation in a continental-arc tectonic setting. The geochemistry of rocks in the ophiolitic sequence indicates their formation in a forearc basin. Together with previous studies, this study suggests that the tectonic blocks in the mélange formed in a backarc during the early-stage northwards subduction event, which may have started at ~816 Ma or earlier. On the other hand, the rocks in the ophiolite sequence can be considered to have formed in a forearc by the later eastwards subduction event at ~742–723 Ma. Full article

Groundwater is an essential resource that meets all of humanity’s daily water demands, supports industrial development, influences agricultural output, and maintains ecological equilibrium. Remote sensing data can predict the location of potential water resources. The current study was conducted in China’s Yellow River region, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR). Through the use of a GIS-based frequency ratio machine learning technique, nine layers of evidence influenced by remote sensing data were generated and integrated. The layers used are soil characteristics, aspect, and roughness index of the terrain, drainage density, elevation, lineament density, depressions, rainfall, and distance to the river from the location. Six groundwater prospective zones (GWPZs) were found to have very low (13%), low (30%), moderate (25%), high (16%), very high (11%), and extreme potentiality (5.26%) values. According to well data used to validate the GWPZs map, approximately 40% of the wells are consistent to very high to excellent zones. Information about groundwater productivity was gathered from 150 well locations. Using well data that had not been used for model training, the resulting GWPZs maps were validated using area-under-the-curve (AUC) analysis. FR models have an accuracy rating of 0.759. Landsat data were used to characterize the study area’s changes in land cover. The spatiotemporal differences in land cover are detected and quantified using multi-temporal images which revealed changes in water, agricultural, and anthropogenic activities. Overall, combining different data sets through a GIS can reveal the promising areas of water resources that aid planners and managers. Full article

Groundwater is a critical freshwater resource that is necessary for sustaining life. Thus, targeting prospective groundwater zones is crucial for the extraction, use, and management of water resources. In this study, we combined the remote sensing, GIS-based frequency ratio (FR), and evidential belief function (EBF) techniques into a model to delineate and quantify prospective groundwater zones. To accomplish this, we processed Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), Sentinel-2, and rainfall data to reveal the geomorphic, hydrologic, and structural elements and climatic conditions of the study area, which is downstream of the Yellow River basin, China. We processed, quantified, and combined twelve factors (the elevation, slope, aspect, drainage density, lineament density, distance to rivers, NDVI, TWI, SPI, TRI, land use/cover, and rainfall intensity) that control the groundwater infiltration and occurrence using the GIS-based FR and EBF models to produce groundwater potential zones (GWPZs). We used the natural breaks classifier to categorize the groundwater likelihood at each location as very low, low, moderate, high, or very high. The FR model exhibited a better performance than the EBF model, as evidenced by the area under the curve (AUC) assessment of the groundwater potential predictions (FR AUCs of 0.707 and 0.734, and EBF AUCs of 0.665 and 0.690). Combining the FR and EBF models into the FR–EBF model increased the accuracy (AUC = 0.716 and 0.747), and it increased the areas of very high and moderate potentiality to 1.97% of the entire area, instead of the 0.39 and 0.78% of the FR and EBF models, respectively. The integration of remote sensing and GIS-data-driven techniques is crucial for the mapping of groundwater prospective zones. Full article

Revealing prospective locations of hydrothermal alteration zones (HAZs) is an important technique for mineral prospecting. In this study, we used multiple criteria inferred from Landsat-8 OLI, Sentinel-2, and ASTER data using a GIS-based weighted overlay multi-criteria decision analysis approach to build a model for the delineating of hydrothermal mineral deposits in the Khnaiguiyah district, Saudi Arabia. The utilized algorithms revealed argillic, phyllic, and propylitic alteration characteristics. The HAZs map resulted in the identification of six zones based on their mineralization potential, providing a basis for potential hydrothermal mineral deposit assessment exploration, which was created by the fusion of mineral bands indicators designated very low, low, moderate, good, very good, and excellent and covers 31.36, 28.22, 20.49, 10.99, 6.35, and 2.59%. Based on their potential for hydrothermal mineral potentiality, the discovered zones match gossans related to sulfide mineral alteration zones, as demonstrated by previous studies. Full article

Photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) technologies have demonstrated several attractive features, such as higher power and comparative efficiencies. Improving the thermal recovery from the PVT system would further improve the power output and the efficiency of the PVT system. This paper identifies the best operating factors of nanofluid-based PV thermal/nano-enhanced phase change material using artificial intelligence. The target is the maximization of thermal energy and exergy outputs. The suggested approach combines ANFIS modelling and particle swarm optimization (PSO). Four operating factors are taken into consideration: PCM (phase change material) layer thickness, HTF (heat transfer fluid) mass flow rate, MFNPCM (“mass fraction of nanoparticles in PCM”) and MFNfluid (“mass fraction of nanoparticles in nanofluid”). Using a dataset, an “adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system” (ANFIS) model has been established for simulating the thermal energy and exergy outputs in terms of the mentioned operating factors. Then, using PSO, the best values of PCM thickness, mass flow rate, MFNPCM and MFNfluid are estimated. The proposed model’s accuracy was examined by comparing the results with those obtained by response surface methodology and the experimental dataset. Full article

Flash flooding is one of the most significant natural disasters in arid/hyperarid regions and causes vast property damage and a large number of deaths. For mitigating and reducing flood risks, data from several remote sensing satellite images—Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) Digital Elevation Model (DEM), Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)—were prepared and combined through a GIS-based multicriteria decision-making technique to test and delineate the flash flood vulnerable areas of Wadi Hali in southwestern Saudi Arabia. Several flash flood thematic layers representing topographic, geomorphic, climatic, and hydrological conditions were prepared, normalized, and combined through a GIS- based analytic hierarchy process (AHP) technique to obtain flash flood hazard zones (FFHs). This method successfully presented a satisfactory output map that revealed six zones of flood risk, and areas of extreme hazard covered about 13% of the entire basin. Landsat 8 band composite 7, 5, and 3 and field data validated the FFHs. This map considered a key requirement for sustaining safe settlements downstream of Wadi Hali. Overall, the integration of remote sensing and GIS techniques revealed significant areas of flash flood zones in an arid region. Full article

Groundwater is a vital water resource for economic, agricultural, and domestic purposes in arid regions. To reduce water scarcity in arid regions, recently, remote sensing and GIS techniques have been successfully applied to predict areas with prospective water resources. Thus, this study attempted to spatially reveal groundwater potential zones (GWPZs) and to conduct change detection on the desert fringes of Wadi Asyuti, a defunct tributary of Egypt’s Nile basin in eastern Sahara. Eleven influential groundwater factors generated from remote sensing imagery, and geological, hydrological, and climatic conditions were combined after giving a weight to each factor through a GIS-based Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) coupled with the weighted overlay technique (WOT). The results revealed six distinctive zones with scores ranging from very low (10.59%) to excellent (3.03%). Thirty-three productive groundwater wells, Interferometry Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) coherence change detection (CCD), a land use map derived from Sentinel-2, and the delineated flooding zone derived from Landsat-8 data were used to validate the delineated zones. The GWPZs indicated that 48% of the collected wells can be classified as consistent to excellent. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and image classification were applied to the multi-temporal Landsat series and Sentinel-2 along with the InSAR CCD data derived from Sentinel-1 images to reveal dramatic changes in land use/land cover (LU/LC) in terms of agricultural and other anthropogenic activities in the structurally downstream area, which is the most promising area for future developments. Overall, the integration of radar and multispectral data through the GIS technique has the ability to provide valuable information about water resources in arid regions. Thus, the tested model is a promising technique, and such information is extremely significant for the guidance of planners and decision makers in the area of sustainable development. Full article

The Arabian Nubian Shield (ANS) contains a variety of gold deposits in the form of veins and veinlets formed by hydrothermal fluids. Characterizing potential areas of hydrothermal alteration zones therefore provides a significant tool for prospecting for hydrothermal gold deposits. In this study, we develop a model of exploration for hydrothermal mineral resources in an area located in the ANS, Egypt, using multiple criteria derived from Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), Landsat-Operational Land Imager (OLI), and Sentinel-2 data and field work through GIS-based fuzzy logic approach. The hydrothermal alteration zones (HAZs) map extracted from combining mineral indices, spectral bands, and ratios is consistent with observed argillic alteration zones around the mineralized veins. Combining HAZs and lineament density led to identification of six zones based on their mineralization potential, and provides a tool for successful reconnaissance prospecting for future hydrothermal mineral deposits. The detected zones are labeled as excellent, very high, high, moderate, low, and very low, based on their potential for Au production, and the predictive excellent and very high zones cover about 1.6% of the study area. This model also shows that target prospective zones are quartz veins controlled by NNW-SSE trending fracture/fault zones all crosscutting Precambrian rocks of the ANS. Field observations and petrographic and X-ray diffraction analyses were performed to validate the mineral prospective map and revealed that quartz veins consist of gold–sulfide mineralization (e.g., gold, pyrite, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite). Consistency between the high potential hydrothermal alterations zones (HAZs) and the location of gold mineralization is achieved. Full article