Search Results (331)

In this study, a battery case was developed using a 3D (three dimensional)-printed composite of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) and polylactic acid (PLA) to enhance the thermal performance of lithium-ion battery (LiB) modules. A 10 wt.% amount of hBN was incorporated into the PLA matrix to improve the composite’s thermal conductivity while maintaining electrical insulation. A 3S2P (3 series and 2 parallel) battery configuration was initially evaluated based on the results of a baseline study for comparison and subsequently subjected to a newly developed test procedure to assess the thermal behavior of the designed case under identical environmental conditions. Initially, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses were utilized for material characterization, and their results verified the successful integration of hBN by confirming its presence in the hBN-PLA composite. In thermal tests, experimental results revealed that the fabricated hBN-PLA composite battery case significantly enhanced heat conduction and reduced surface temperature gradients compared to the previous baseline study with no case. Specifically, the maximum cell temperature (T_max) decreased from 48.54 °C to 45.84 °C, and the temperature difference (ΔT) between the hottest and coldest cells was reduced from 4.65 °C to 3.75 °C, corresponding to an improvement of approximately 20%. A 3S2P LiB module was also tested under identical environmental conditions using a multi-cycle charge–discharge procedure designed to replicate real electric vehicle (EV) operation. Each cycle consisted of sequential low and high discharge zones with gradually increased current values from 2 A to 14 A followed by controlled charging and rest intervals. During the experimental procedure, the average ΔT between the cells was recorded as 2.38 °C, with a maximum value of 3.50 °C. These results collectively demonstrate that the 3D-printed hBN-PLA composite provides an effective and lightweight passive cooling solution for improving the thermal stability and safety of LiB modules in EV applications. Full article

As a typical representative of soft capping, primary vegetation capping has both protective and destructive effects on earthen city walls. Addressing its detrimental aspects constitutes the central challenge of this project. Because the integration of MICP technology with plants offered advantages, including soil solidification, erosion resistance, and resilience to dry–wet cycles and freeze–thaw cycles, the application of MICP technology to root–soil composites was proposed as a potential solution. Employing a combined approach of RF-RFE-CV modeling and microscopic imaging on laboratory samples from the Western City Wall of the Jinyang Ancient City in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China, key factors and characteristics in the mineralization process of Sporosarcina pasteurii were quantified and observed systematically to define the optimal pathway for enhancing urease activity and calcite yield. The conclusions were as follows. The urease activity of Sporosarcina pasteurii was primarily regulated by three key parameters with bacterial concentration, pH value, and the intensity of urease activity, which required stage-specific dynamic control throughout the growth cycle. Bacterial concentration consistently emerged as a high-importance feature across multiple time points, with peak effectiveness observed at 24 h (1.127). pH value remained a highly influential parameter across several time points, exhibiting maximum impact at around 8 h (1.566). With the intensity of urease activity, pH exerted a pronounced influence during the early cultivation stage, whereas inoculation volume gained increasing importance after 12 h. To achieve maximum urease activity, the use of CASO AGAR Medium 220 and the following optimized culture conditions was recommended: an activation culture time of 27 h, an inoculation age of 16 h, an inoculation volume of 1%, a culture temperature of 32 °C, an initial pH of 8, and an oscillation speed of 170 r/min. Furthermore, to maximize the yield of CaCO₃ in output and the yield of calcite in CaCO₃, the following conditions and procedures were recommended: a ratio of urea concentration to Ca²⁺ concentration of 1 M:1.3 M, using the premix method of Sporosarcina pasteurii, quiescent reaction, undisturbed filtration, and drying at room-temperature in the shade environment. Full article

We establish a general, device-oriented procedure to extract absolute pump-band metrics from room-temperature UV–Vis (ultraviolet–visible) absorbance—including the absorption coefficient α(λ), per-active-ion cross-section ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{e}\mathrm{f}\mathrm{f}}\left(\lambda \right)$, the effective per-active-ion absorption cross section ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{e}\mathrm{f}\mathrm{f}}\left(\lambda \right)$ and derivative-based line-shape descriptors. As a representative case study, the procedure is applied to nanocrystalline Er³⁺/Ho³⁺:Y₃Ga₅O₁₂ over the 350–700 nm spectral range. After baseline correction and line-shape inspection assisted by the numerical second derivative of the absorbance, we extract conservative peak positions and the full width at half maximum across the visible 4f–4f manifolds. At the technologically relevant pump wavelengths near 406 nm (Er-addressing) and 473 nm (Ho-addressing) bands, resulting absorption coefficients are α = 0.313 ± 0.047 cm⁻¹ and α = 0.472 ± 0.071 cm⁻¹, respectively. The corresponding per-active-ion ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{e}\mathrm{f}\mathrm{f}}$ of (3.62 ± 0.54) × 10⁻²² cm² and (5.46 ± 0.82) × 10⁻²² cm², referenced to the measured optical path length L = 0.22 ± 0.03 mm (approximately 15% propagated relative uncertainty; explicit 1/L rescaling). Cross sections are reported per total active-ion density (Er³⁺ + Ho³⁺). The spectra exhibit Stark-type substructure only partially resolved at room temperature; the second derivative highlights hidden components, and we report quantitative descriptors (component count, mean spacing, curvature-weighted prominence, and pump detuning) that link line-shape structure to absolute pump response. These device-grade metrics enable rate-equation modelling (pump thresholds, detuning tolerance), optical design choices (path length, single/multi-pass or cavity coupling), and host-to-host benchmarking at 295 K. The procedure is general and applies to any rare-earth-doped material given an absorbance spectrum and path length. Full article

Morchella species are edible mushrooms with high nutritional, ecological, and economic significance. Due to overharvesting and habitat loss, their natural populations face serious threats, which has led to growing interest in controlled cultivation. Although several studies have investigated Morchella growth, particularly M. importuna, key uncertainties remain regarding the environmental and nutritional requirements for optimal cultivation. Previous studies have largely focused on experimental approaches, but systematic machine learning analyses remain scarce. This study aims to fill this gap by applying machine learning algorithms to identify the most critical soil and climatic variables affecting M. importuna growth. To achieve this objective, using soil and climatic data from three localities in Türkiye, 20 features and M. importuna growth were analyzed by following a three-step procedure: (i) applying regression analysis based on eleven methods, (ii) selecting best fit model by using three goodness of fit measures, and (iii) calculating feature importances based on permutation importance and Shapley additive explanations methods. Gradient Boosting emerged as the best-performing algorithm, highlighting lime (%), phosphorus, precipitation, magnesium, minimum temperature, and maximum temperature as the most important predictors of growth. These results provide quantitative evidence that can guide cultivation strategies for morels, contributing to both conservation and commercial production. Full article

The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) estimated that by 2050, 36% industry-wide sustainable value will be created, which includes sequestering CO₂ into the cement and concrete industry to produce commercially feasible high-value products. Direct utilization of CO₂ in the cement and concrete industry, which utilizes natural and sustainable materials, is gaining momentum. Naturally occurring mixtures of hydro magnesite and huntite are important industrial minerals which, upon endothermic decomposition over a specific temperature range, will release water and CO₂. This unique chemistry has led to such mixtures being successfully utilized as fire retardants, replacing aluminum hydroxide or Alumina Tri-Hydrate (ATH). Despite the developed marketplace for magnesium-based fire-retardant products, there is little mention of CO₂ mineral carbonation methods, which attempt to recover and convert magnesium from natural seawater or industrial waste into oxides or carbonates as part of the carbon sequestration initiative. The hypothesis to be proven in this work states that if the process of seawater mineral carbonation is prematurely quenched, Mg²⁺ ionic species in seawater adsorbed on the calcite lattice formation will be trapped and therefore recovered in various oxidized forms, such as magnesium oxides, magnesium hydro magnesite, and magnesium carbonate precipitates. A novel method to recover magnesium Mg²⁺ ions from seawater was successfully explored and documented; as such, from an initial concentration of 1250 ppm Mg²⁺ in raw seawater, the average concentration of spent Mg²⁺ ions after the reaction was as low as 20 ppm. A very efficient near-total recovery of Mg²⁺ from the seawater into the solid precipitates was recorded. Subsequently, the process for continuous seawater mineral carbonation for the production of magnesium/brucite/huntite products was successfully proven and optimized to operate with a 30 s reaction time, a dynamic feedstock concentration, [CaO] at 1 gpl in seawater and a room temperature reaction temperature (30 °C), where the average yield of the fire-retardant magnesium-based compounds was 26% of the synthesized precipitates. Approximately 5000 g of the hydro magnesite materials was molded into a fire-retardant brick or concrete wall, which was subjected to an accredited fire performance and durability testing procedure BS476-22:1987. There were encouraging results from the fire resistance testing, where the fire-retardant material passed BS476-22:1987, with performance criteria such as physical integrity failure, the maximum allowable face temperature, and a minimum duration before failure, which was up to 104 min, evaluated. Full article

The increasing need for effective sludge management has positioned hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) as a viable solution, harnessing its capability to transform organic materials into renewable resources under elevated temperature and pressure conditions. This research seeks to assess the performance of HTL in processing high-solid organic sludge by examining the removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total solids (TS), and suspended solids (SS), together with improvements in biogas potential (BGP) and hydrogen yield. Experimental procedures were carried out within a temperature range of 100–210 °C and pressure levels of 20–80 kg/cm², using a hydrogen-producing microbiome (HMb) and anaerobically digested sludge as inoculants for anaerobic fermentation. Multivariate analysis was applied to investigate the influence of temperature and pressure on COD, TS, and SS removal rates as well as BGP, while a series of batch tests further confirmed the effects of these parameters on fermentation outcomes. Findings revealed that COD, SS, and TS removal efficiencies reached 90.6%, 91.5%, and 87.4%, respectively, under conditions of 100 °C and 60 kg/cm². The maximum biogas potential (BGP) of approximately 500 mL was attained at 180 °C, whereas hydrogen production demonstrated substantial enhancement within the HTL pressure range of 40–60 kg/cm², decreasing beyond this range. Additionally, total dissolved solids (TDS) reached a peak concentration of 389 g/L under conditions of 180 °C and 40 kg/cm², emphasizing HTL’s positive impact on enhancing methane fermentation efficiency. These findings demonstrate that HTL pretreatment, when operated under optimized temperature and pressure conditions, offers a promising approach for enhancing both waste reduction and bioenergy recovery from high-solid organic sludge. Full article

Accurately simulating fuses is challenging because the fuse behavior is affected by a variety of thermal and electrical factors. This paper presents a SPICE fuse model and its parameterization procedure. The model mimics the physical behavior of the time–current characteristic including the transition region. For the parameterization only, the time–current characteristic of the fuse, its resistance at room temperature and the melting temperature of the conducting material are needed. The novelty of this SPICE fuse model is the mathematical derivation of a physically based correction factor that considers the temperature dependence of the electrical fuse conductivity. The correction factor is applied to the inverted time–current characteristic. A third-order Foster thermal equivalent network is fitted to the adapted fuse characteristic using a least square algorithm. After a Foster–Cauer transformation, the thermal equivalent network is integrated into the SPICE model. Exemplary LTSpice is used to show and validate the model’s wiring diagram. Comparisons show a very good agreement with data sheet characteristics for a variety of fuse types and current ratings. In the adiabatic and transition region—i.e., at low tripping times—the maximum relative error between the data sheet characteristic and the simulated characteristic was consistently below 15% and thus within the production parameter spread. Full article

Surgical procedures have significantly contributed to the increased life expectancy of the global population. The surgical procedures are carried out in specialised rooms within a healthcare facility normally designated as operating rooms or operating theatres. These rooms require meticulously designed heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems to ensure optimal thermal comfort, strict sterility, and effective removal of airborne contaminants and anaesthetic gases. The performance of the system directly affects the risk of surgical site infections and associated post-operative complications. This study presents a computational fluid dynamics analysis of disturbance on airflow and particulate distribution within a representative operating room by the surgical staff and lighting fixtures concerning supply air velocity. The removal of the maximum possible particulate matter, precise control of air temperature and humidity, and unidirectional airflow in the surgical field were incorporated as key design strategies. The species transport model simulations revealed that while laminar airflow offers superior protection in terms of surgical site sterility, its performance is sensitive to disruptions caused by surgical lighting configurations and variations in supply air velocity. The findings highlight the complexities involved in maintaining optimal airflow conditions and underscore the need for integrative air conditioning design approaches that account for optimal design of surgical lighting and operational setups. Full article

This paper presents a new methodical procedure to monitor in real time the junction temperature of SiC Power MOSFET modules of parallel-connected chips utilized in machine drive systems to develop their reliability modelling and predict their lifetime. The paper implements the on-line measurements of temperature-sensitive electrical parameters (TSEP) approach, particularly the quasi-threshold voltage and the on-state drain to source voltage, to estimate the junction temperature in real time. The proposed procedure firstly applied computational fluid dynamics analysis on the module under study to determine the chip which undergoes the maximum junction temperature during typical operation of the module. Then, a calibration phase, using double-pulse tests on the selected chip, is used to generate look-up tables to relate the TSEPs under study to the junction temperature. Next, the real-time estimation of junction temperature was accomplished during the on-line operation of the three-phase inverter, taking into account the induced distortion/noises due to operation of the parallel-connected chips in the module. After that, a comparison between the two TSEPs under study was provided to demonstrate their advantages/drawbacks. Finally, reliability modelling was developed to predict the lifetime of the studied module based on the estimated junction temperature under a predetermined mission profile. Full article

The relationship between temperature and mortality is well-documented, yet most existing studies assume this relationship remains static over time. This study investigates whether the temperature-mortality association in Chicago from 1987 to 2000 has changed in shape or location of key features, such as change points. We apply nonparametric regression techniques to estimate the temperature-mortality functions for each year using daily mortality and temperature data from the National Morbidity, Mortality, and Air Pollution Study (NMMAPS) database. A permutation-based test is used to assess whether the shapes of these functions differ across time, while a bootstrap procedure evaluates the consistency of change points. Intensive simulation studies are conducted to evaluate the permutation-based test and bootstrap procedure based on Type I error and power. The proposed tests are compared with F tests in terms of Type I error and power. For the real data set, the analysis finds significant variation in the functional shapes across years, indicating evolving mortality responses to temperature. However, the estimated change points—temperatures associated with peak mortality—remain statistically consistent. These findings suggest that while the population’s overall vulnerability pattern may shift, the temperature threshold linked to maximum mortality has remained stable. This study contributes to understanding the temporal dynamics of climate-sensitive health outcomes and highlights the importance of flexible modeling in public health and climate adaptation planning. Full article

Forecasting the energy consumption of different consumers became an important procedure with the creation of the European Electricity Market. This study presents a methodology for 24-hour ahead prediction of the energy consumption, which is suitable for application in animal husbandry facilities, such as pig farms. To achieve this, 24 individual models are trained using artificial neural networks that forecast the energy production 1 to 24 h ahead. The selected features include power consumption over the last 72 h, time-based data, average, minimum, and maximum daily temperatures, relative humidities, and wind speeds. The models’ Normalized mean absolute error (NMAE), Normalized root mean square error (NRMSE), and Mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) vary between 16.59% and 19.00%, 22.19% and 24.73%, and 9.49% and 11.49%, respectively. Furthermore, the case studies showed that in most situations, the forecasting error does not exceed 10% with several cases up to 25%. The proposed methodology can be useful for energy managers of animal farm facilities, and help them provide a better prognosis of their energy consumption for the Energy Market. The proposed methodology could be improved by selecting additional features, such as the variation of the controlled meteorological parameters over the last couple of days and the schedule of technological processes. Full article

The high spatial resolution of radar data enables the detailed resolution of typhoon vortices and their embedded structures; the assimilation of radar data in the initialization of numerical weather prediction exerts an important influence on the forecasting of typhoon track, intensity, and structures up to at least 12 h. For the case of typhoon Morakot (2009), Taiwan radar data was assimilated to adjust the dynamic and thermodynamic structures of the vortex in the model initialization by the three-dimensional variation data assimilation system in the Advanced Region Prediction System (ARPS). The radial wind was directly assimilated to tune the original unbalanced velocity fields through a 3-dimensional variation method, and complex cloud analysis was conducted by using the reflectivity data. The influence of radar data assimilation on typhoon prediction was examined at the stages of Morakot landing on Taiwan Island and subsequently going inland. The results showed that the assimilation made some improvement in the prediction of vortex intensity, track, and structures in the initialization and subsequent forecast. For example, besides deepening the central sea level pressure and enhancing the maximum surface wind speed, the radar data assimilation corrected the typhoon center movement to the best track and adjusted the size and inner-core structure of the vortex to be close to the observations. It was also shown that the specific humidity adjustment in the cloud analysis procedure during the assimilation time window played an important role, producing more hydrometeors and tuning the unbalanced moisture and temperature fields. The neighborhood-based ETS revealed that the assimilation with the specific humidity adjustment was propitious in improving forecast skill, specifically for smaller-scale reflectivity at the stage of Morakot landing, and for larger-scale reflectivity at the stage of Morakot going inland. The calculation of the intensity-scale skill score of the hourly precipitation forecast showed the assimilation with the specific humidity adjustment performed skillful forecasting for the spatial forecast-error scales of 30–160 km. Full article

Background and Objectives: The aim of our study was to evaluate in an ex vivo setting the impact of the holmium laser lithotripsy over the temperature of the irrigation fluid. Materials and Methods: We recorded temperature changes in an ex vivo porcine model during laser activation using dusting (18 Hz, 0.6 J, 10.8 W) and fragmenting settings (8 Hz, 2 J, 16 W). The temperature was recorded for each of these modes in three settings: without irrigation or access sheath, with irrigation but no access sheath, and with irrigation and a 10/12 F access sheath in place. Results: Using dusting settings, the maximum recorded temperatures were 42.3 degrees Celsius (no irrigation, no sheath), 37.3 degrees Celsius (with irrigation but no access sheath) and 36.2 degrees Celsius (with irrigation and access sheath). In fragmenting mode, the maximum recorded temperatures were 52 degrees Celsius (no irrigation, no sheath), 43.1 degrees Celsius (with irrigation but no access sheath), and 42.9 degrees Celsius (with irrigation and access sheath). Conclusions: In certain conditions (no irrigation, more watts) the temperature may rise to dangerous levels. However, in closer to real-life settings (with irrigation and especially when ureteral access sheaths are employed) the magnitude of this effect is limited, making flexible intrarenal laser lithotripsy a reasonably safe procedure. Full article

Neonicotinoids (NEOs) are a class of systemic insecticides widely used in agriculture owing to their high efficacy and selectivity. As one of the most globally consumed beverages, tea may represent a potential dietary source of pesticide residues. However, limited research has examined NEO contamination in tea and its implications for human exposure, highlighting the need for further investigation. Therefore, this study comprehensively evaluated the residue characteristics, processing effects, and human exposure risks of six NEOs—dinotefuran (DIN), imidacloprid (IMI), acetamiprid (ACE), thiamethoxam (THM), clothianidin (CLO), and thiacloprid (THI)—in Chinese tea products. According to the findings, the primary pollutants, ACE, DIN, and IMI, accounted for 95.65% of the total NEO residues in 137 tea samples, including green, oolong, white, black, dark, and herbal teas. The highest total target NEO (∑₆NEOs) residue level was detected in oolong tea (mean: 57.86 ng/g). Meanwhile, IMI exhibited the highest residue level (78.88 ng/g) in herbal tea due to the absence of high-temperature fixation procedures. Concentrations of DIN in 61 samples (44.5%) exceeded the European Union’s maximum residue limit of 10 ng/g. Health risk assessment indicated that both the chronic hazard quotient (cHQ) and acute hazard quotient (aHQ) for adults and children were below the safety threshold (<1). However, children required special attention, as their exposure risk was 1.28 times higher than that of adults. The distribution of NEO residues was significantly influenced by tea processing techniques, such as full fermentation in black tea. Optimizing processing methods (e.g., using infrared enzyme deactivation) and implementing targeted pesticide application strategies may help mitigate risk. These results provide a scientific foundation for enhancing tea safety regulations and protecting consumer health. Full article

Background: Blood transfusion is a therapeutic procedure characterized by the use of blood components for the treatment of certain pathologies. When applied properly, it is highly successful; however, it also has risks, such as transfusion reactions. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the clinical simulation of transfusion reactions on the knowledge gain of nursing students. Methods: Two groups were compared: the intervention group, which used the educational intervention: “clinical simulation of transfusion reactions in adults”, and the control group, which did not use the strategy. The study was conducted at a Higher Education Institution from August 2022 to June 2023, with nursing students in the fifth semester. An instrument on the knowledge of transfusion reactions was applied before and seven days after the intervention. Data were analyzed descriptively and inferentially using the Mann–Whitney U and Wilcoxon tests. For both, p < 0.05 was accepted. Results: The Wilcoxon test revealed a statistically significant difference in pre- and post-test scores within the intervention group (p-value: 0.003), with a large effect size (Cohen’s d = 1.14). The average score in the pre-test was 16.47 and increased to 18.93 in the post-test (p = 0.002), while in the control group there was a drop from 14.53 to 12.07 (p = 0.053). In terms of overall scores, the intervention group went from an average of 8.10 to 9.67 (p = 0.001), while the control group went from 8.13 to 8.66 (p = 0.053). The reduction in errors was significant in topics such as hand hygiene (from 56.7% to 23.3%) and the maximum exposure time of the blood component at room temperature (from 66.7% to 20%). The data showed that the clinical simulation intervention had a significant positive effect on the acquisition of theoretical knowledge about transfusion reactions. Conclusions: Through the use of simulation as a teaching strategy, students gained greater knowledge. Full article