Commercial Level Research Articles

Impact of agricultural commercialization on dietary diversity and vulnerability to poverty: Insights from Chinese rural households

In this study, we examine the role of agricultural commercialization in influencing rural households’ dietary diversity and vulnerability to poverty. The instrumental variable (IV)-based approaches, including IV-Poisson and IV-Probit models, are employed to estimate the data collected through the China Land Economic Survey project. The results show that a higher level of agricultural commercialization is positively and significantly associated with higher dietary diversity and lower vulnerability to poverty. The poverty-reduction effect of agricultural commercialization is robust to the adjusted poverty line. Further analysis reveals that increasing the level of agricultural commercialization significantly increases the consumption levels of legumes, fruits, livestock meat, and poultry meat. The findings highlight the importance of linking farmers to markets for commercializing agricultural products, a practical way to improve rural household welfare and reduce the risk of falling into poverty.

Tin‐Based Eco‐Friendly Perovskites for Sustainable Future

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have opened a floodgate of diverse research. These highly functional materials have immense potential prospects in renewable energy, optoelectronic applications, to name a few. Most of the perovskites have lead (Pb) as an integral active component. Though the Pb‐based organometallic perovskites have shown outstanding performance (over 25%), significant challenges exist including the presence of Pb, its toxicity as well as the instability that can hamper the use of these devices toward practical applications. There are some instances where a complete absence of Pb has been used to achieve respectable device performance, but they face a challenge from the towering success of their counterparts. To offset the issues, significant efforts are being carried out to employ other alternatives (cations) in conjunction with Pb, without distorting the inherent material properties. To that end, tin (Sn) has emerged as a promising alternative to Pb in achieving benchmark performance. Bringing these Sn PSCs into more prominence is a crucial step in taking low Pb or Pb‐free PSCs to the next level of research and commercialization. In this topical review, the notable advancements are highlighted, overviewed and recommendations are made for prospects toward environmentally friendly Sn‐based perovskite photovoltaics.

Challenges and Prospects of Sodium‐Ion and Potassium‐Ion Batteries for Mass Production

AbstractThe exponential growth of the lithium‐ion (LIB) market is causing a significant disparity between the supply chain and demand for its resources. In this regard, sodium‐ion and potassium‐ion batteries are promising alternatives to LIBs due to their low cost. However, the larger sizes of Na+ and K+ ions create challenges that prevent them from achieving energy densities comparable to LIBs while maintaining an acceptable cycle life. In this perspective, the aim is to evaluate the status of Na‐ion and K‐ion batteries and the challenges associated with them on both fundamental and commercial levels. The focus is on the structural instability arising from phase transitions during cycling, intricate chemical degradation processes, and potential avenues for enhancing their performance with a specific goal of improving their viability for grid‐scale energy storage. Materials production and abundance limitations for the chemistries of the state‐of‐the‐art materials and account for critical parameters from both the perspective of researchers and investors are analyzed. This analysis aims to provide insights into the strategic trade‐offs required to effectively implement the technology in real‐world applications, such as grid‐scale storage and other areas. Furthermore, the utilization of metals with low or no supply‐chain problems as an important aspect of these trade‐offs is considered.

Test Shows Fracturing Can Also Create Underground Water Heating Systems

Fervo Energy has shown that fracturing can be used to build a geothermal heating system in hot, hard rock. During a 37-day test at its Project Red test site, the Houston company produced as much as 63 L/s (998 gal/min) of water heated to 336°F. By pumping water from an injection well through fractured hot rock to a producing well, it heated enough water to generate up to 3.5 MW of power, according to a company release. In a world where demand is commonly measured in gigawatts, that’s not much, but it is more than double the highest flow rate from tests going back decades. And unlike those earlier tests, the company has a clear path to heating higher volumes and lowering the cost. “I think this is just a big moment for both our company, but also the industry at large, to finally have this proof point where we can deliver commercial levels of permeability and flow rates for these wells,” said Jack Norbeck, co-founder and chief technical officer for Fervo. The idea of injecting water through hot rock has been around for decades as a way to create enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), but this is the first time someone has achieved this level of flow and is moving next to create a group of geothermal wells for commercial generation. Fervo has taken methods developed to extract oil and gas from ultratight rock and shown they can be used to do something quite different. “Overall, there’s nothing really surprising here—they used a pretty standard shale frac design and observed pretty similar performance from what you would see in a shale play. Or at least, what you’d expect if you used a shale well as a long-term water injector and circulated fluid over to a neighboring production well,” said Mark McClure, chief executive of ResFrac, a reservoir modeling and consulting firm, in a blog post. This fracturing-based option poses a challenge to EGS researchers who live in countries where completions using oil industry fracturing techniques are not an option. “The EGS community has conventionally been focused on ‘stimulating natural fractures,’ and this has led them to use fracture designs that would be considered suboptimal, from the perspective of oil and gas field experience,” McClure said. What Fervo has done is show that fracturing can be used to get past a barrier blocking EGS development using current fracturing technology. “The breakthrough is that someone actually had the guts and organization to go out and do it,” McClure said. Those at Fervo, though, have little time to celebrate the milestone as they focus on improving those methods to economically produce geothermal energy. “In successfully completing this project, we have demonstrated that no major technical barriers exist to deploying horizontal EGS in similar meta-sedimentary or igneous formations to temperatures of approximately 400°F,” according to a Fervo paper. That feat was recognized by a leader at the FORGE test site, which is also doing EGS research and development with substantial financial support from the US Department of Energy.

Removal of crystal violet dye from wastewater using low-cost biosorbent Trifolium repens stem powder

Crystal violet (CV) synthetic dyes are well known in the dyeing industry for their mitotic and mutagenic poisoning. CV dye being a toxic organic dye is responsible for serious health issues as well as environmental damage. In this study, an inexpensive biosorbent (white clover: Trifolium repens) stem powder was tested for the adsorption of CV dye (cationic dye) from an aqueous solution. The batch adsorption measurements were designed to find out the influence of contact time, pH, adsorbent dose, and dye concentration, for dye removal. The operation parameters studied are the contact time (20 to 160 min), initial dye concentration (10–100 mg/L), dose (0.1–1 g), and pH, (1–10). At optimum conditions, maximum percent removal of 92.997% and adsorption capacity value of 1.952 mg/g was achieved at pH 2, adsorbent dose (1 g), and contact time (140 min), and dye concentration (70 ppm). The results suggested that the removal of CV rose with the contact time and adsorbent dose. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were applied to the equilibrium adsorption data, and data were perfectly fitted to Langmuir isotherm model. Pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-orders were applied to the data, and it was found that the pseudo-second-order kinetic model was best fitted to the experimental data. It was also revealed that the stem powdered of the Trifolium repens plant can be employed as a useful adsorbent to remove cationic CV dye from different water samples (tap, river and distilled). Furthermore, the performance of adsorbent was also evaluated in saline water containing sodium chloride, potassium chloride and manganese chloride salts to check the effect of various ions on the performance of adsorbent and it was observed that the adsorbent showed excellent performance in saline water. Moreover, a comparative study was performed to check the efficiency of different commercial adsorbents (silica gel and active carbon) and to compare their performance with our study. All these experiments revealed that the biosorbent used in this study effectively removes contaminating dyes from industrial wastewater and as well as saline water and thus, can be used for the treatment of wastewater at the commercial level.

Genetic selection for high growth improves the efficiency of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) in using novel diets with insect meal, single-cell protein and a DHA rich-microalgal oil

Genetic selection and novel raw materials for aquafeeds are current key tools in the ongoing effort to increase the productivity, efficiency, and sustainability of the aquaculture sector. Selective breeding could also improve the utilization of novel dietary formulations with emergent ingredients. Gilthead sea bream juveniles, either coming from a selective breeding program based on growth traits, or a non-selected population, were nutritionally challenged with two novel dietary formulations that were compared with a Control diet based on 15% FM and 6% FO dietary commercial levels for this species. The novel formulations included an insect meal diet (INS) at 5% of the diet to replace 33.3% of the dietary FM, or a single-cell protein diet (SCP) at 10% of the diet and to replace 66.7% of the dietary FM. Fish oil was also totally replaced in these diets by a blend of poultry oil and Veramaris algal oil. Better growth and feed utilization of the selected genotype compared to non-selected fish was observed, at any of the diets assayed. INS and SCP novel diets reduced general performance of fish by reducing feed intake. However, selected fish fed novel diets showed very similar growth and lower feed conversion ratio compared with non-selected fish fed a control diet. The novel formulations increased n-3 LC-PUFA in fish tissues, particularly DHA, irrespective of the genotype, as a result of the dietary inclusion of the DHA-rich microalgal oil. Neither genetic selection nor the use of novel raw materials affected fillet proximate composition and consequently, sea bream fillet quality in terms of texture and sensorial perception of consumers. Overall, the results reaffirm the positive effects of selective breeding programs in improving sea bream key productive indicators, as well as support the use of novel dietary formulations, using insect meal from H. illucens, single-cell protein from M. capsulatus as partial replacers of FM in diets for gilthead sea bream (33 and 66% of replacement, respectively), and a blend of DHA-rich microalgal and poultry oils as total replacer of FO.

Enhancing Effect of Boron-Doping on the Activity of Nife-MOF-74 Towards Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Alkaline

Water splitting has drawn significant attention due to the capability of mass-producing hydrogen, which is considered a promising alternative to fossil fuels in the future.[1] The development of electrochemical energy conversion and storage technologies, such as water electrolyzers, metal-air batteries, and regenerative fuel cells, is of great importance to support the transition to clean and renewable energy.[2] Based on the merits of high surface area, 3D periodic porous structure, large porosities, diverse composition and well-defined metal centers, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and their derivatives have been widely exploited as OER electrocatalysts.[3]However, MOFs have some limitation to be used as a OER catalysts, considering their poor stabilities (in water, especially basic/acidic conditions) and low electrical conductivities. Incorporation of boron atoms into an aromatic carbon framework offers a wide variety of functionalities. [4] In this work, the flower-like bimetallic NiFe-MOF-74 dopped with boron were fabricated, and they exhibit superior catalytic activity with a very low overpotential of 318 mV for OER at a laboratory grade current density of 10 to 100 mA/cm2 and fast reaction kinetics with a small Tafel slope of 89 mV dec-1 in 1.0 M KOH using a catalyst fabrication process that is scalable to commercial levels. Additional work is required to demonstrate current densities at commercial levels. Reference [1] L. Fan, Z. Kang, M. Li, D. Sun, Recent progress in pristine MOF-based catalysts for electrochemical hydrogen evolution, oxygen evolution and oxygen reduction, Dalton Trans. 50 (2021) 5732–5753. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1DT00302J.[2] Bimetallic metal–organic frameworks and MOF-derived composites: Recent progress on electro- and photoelectrocatalytic applications - ScienceDirect, (n.d.). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010854521005385 (accessed April 27, 2022).[3] J. Du, F. Li, L. Sun, Metal–organic frameworks and their derivatives as electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction, Chem. Soc. Rev. 50 (2021) 2663–2695. https://doi.org/10.1039/D0CS01191F.[4] Y. Xie, Z. Meng, T. Cai, W.-Q. Han, Effect of Boron-Doping on the Graphene Aerogel Used as Cathode for the Lithium–Sulfur Battery, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 7 (2015) 25202–25210. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5b08129.

Vegetables Production (Tomato, Lettuce, Spinach, and Capsicum) Through Utilization of Hydroponic Technology

In the present situation, Bangladesh needs food security which entails that each and every person must have physical and economic access to safe and nutritious food to meet dilatory needs. Scarcity of usable water for agriculture leads to production of lesser production of food which ultimately leads to hunger and malnutrition of a large number of people in our country. So, there is an utmost need for the adoption of such technology in agriculture that can contribute towards water saving and have a positive impact on food production and availability. ‘Hydroponics’ is one such methodology of soilless cultivation and the water use efficiency of this is much more than conventional system. Currently, hydroponics cultivation is gaining popularity all over the world because of its management of resources in a very efficient way and the production of quality foods. Several benefits of this technique include less growing time for crops than conventional crop growing in soil, round-the-year production, minimum disease and pest infestation, and elimination of several intercultural operations like weeding, spraying, watering, etc. which is labor intensive. Under hydroponics, by using different nutrient solutions and substrates such as coco coir, wood fiber, rice bran, and water, production of leafy as well as other vegetables, 70%-90% water is saved. Some leading countries like Israel, France, Canada, and the Netherlands have adopted this technique at the commercial level. On the basis of the above performance, it is revealed that hydroponics can play a significant role in quality vegetable production. For this reason, an experiment was conducted at Rabindra Maitree University (RMU) in Kushtia Sadar, Kushtia district and the title states that "Vegetable production (Tomato, Lettuce, Spinach, and Capsicum) through the utilization of hydroponics technology”.

(Invited) Achieving High Areal Capacity and Extreme Critical Current Densities through Tailored Garnet Solid Electrolyte Structures

Garnet structured electrolytes are an exceptional candidate to substitute for organic liquid electrolytes owing to its high ionic conductivity and safety.[1] One of the main issues preventing the commercialization of this electrolyte is limited lithium plating capacity and lithium dendrite shorting.[2] To address this, we invented new single-phase mixed ion electron conducting (MIEC) garnet with comparable lithium-ion and electron conductivity at room temperature. We demonstrate that in a trilayer architecture, with a porous MIEC framework supporting a thin dense garnet solid electrolyte, the critical current density can be as high as 100 mA/cm2, with no dendrite-induced shorting at room temperature and without any stack pressure. The single-phase MIEC conductor spreads the potential uniformly across the material surface preventing dendrite propagation through the dense garnet solid electrolyte layer. Additionally, high lithium stripping capacity and impressive cycling stability were observed at commercial level current densities of well over 10 mA/cm2. The role of the porous MIEC garnet structure is elucidated using various electrochemical and electron microscopy techniques. Wang, C. et al. Garnet-Type Solid-State Electrolytes: Materials, Interfaces, and Batteries. Chem. Rev. 120, 4257–4300 (2020).Albertus, P., Babinec, S., Litzelman, S. & Newman, A. Status and challenges in enabling the lithium metal electrode for high-energy and low-cost rechargeable batteries. Nat. Energy 2017 31 3, 16–21 (2017).

Ultrasounds assisted one-pot oxidative desulfurization of model fuel using green synthesized aluminum terephthalate [MIL-53(Al)

Oxidative desulfurization (ODS) is considered to be one of the most promising desulfurization processes as it is energy-efficient and requires mild operating conditions. In this study, a novel green synthesized Al- based metal–organic framework with high surface area has been synthesized hydrothermally using waste polyethylene terephthalate bottles (PET) as a source of terephthalic acid as an organic linker. The prepared Al based MOF have been characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The catalytic activity of the prepared Al-MOF was evaluated in the oxidative desulfurization (ODS) of both modeled and real crude oil samples. The different operating parameters (temperature, time, catalyst dose, oxidant loading and sonication) on the ODS performance have been optimized. The optimal conditions for maximum removal of thiophene from modeled oil samples were found to be 30 min, 0.5 g of catalyst and 1:3 oil to oxidant ratio. Under the optimized conditions, sulfur removal in real oil samples obtained from Alexandria petroleum company was 90%. The results revealed that, the presented approach is credited to cost-effectiveness, environmental benignity, and ease of preparation, predicting great prospects for desulfurization of fuel oils on a commercial level.

Determinants of avocado commercialization among smallholder farmers in Shebediono Woreda, Sidama Zone SNNPRS of Ethiopia

This study describes the characteristics of household market participation in avocado production. It investigates the approach required to overcome determinants of market participation among smallholders of avocado farmers in Shebedino woreda, SNNPRS, Ethiopia. The primary sources of the data are farm household surveys, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. Two hundred twenty-eight households were selected using a purposive sampling technique. The data obtained were evaluated using Double-hurdle econometric models. The results of the binary probit model revealed that in the decision to sell, land size, family size, distance from the nearest market center, market information, access to media, and the total amount of avocado produced played a significant role. The truncated regression model indicated that the age of the household head, family size, market information and the total amount of avocado produced significantly affected the level of commercialization. The result showed that enhancing the efficient utilization of the existing limited farmland, family size, access to market information, and the total amount of avocado produced had a higher value and was seen as a critical opportunity to improve the lower-income farm households. As a result, better market information, family planning, and new technology like improved verity are required to increase demand for avocado produce and income generation. Concerned bodies need to establish a market center for the farmers around their home, increasing the probability of avocado market participation. The findings of this study may help in the development of appropriate policy intervention mechanisms to promote smallholder avocado commercialization in Sidama Zone. Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. Tech. 13(1): 89-95, June 2023

Enhancing drought resistance in Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth. through overexpression of ACC deaminase gene using thin cell layer regeneration system.

Pogostemon cablin cultivation faces massive constraints because of its susceptability to drought stress that reduces patchouli propagation and oil yield. The present study has achieved an efficient and rapid direct regeneration system for the transgenic production of P. cablin using Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation. To establish an efficient regeneration protocol for fast in-vitro multiplication of patchouli plants, leaf, petiole, and transverse thin cell layer (tTCL) explants were used and inoculated on an MS medium supplemented with different combinations of phytohormones. A comparative study showed a maximum regeneration frequency of 93.30 ± 0.56% per explant was obtained from leaf segments on optimal MS medium fortified with 0.2mg/L BAP and 0.1mg/L NAA. Leaf and petiole explants took 25-35 days to regenerate while tTCL section showed regeneration in just 15-20 days on the same medium. Subsequently, productive genetic transformation protocol OD600 0.6, AS 200µM, 30mg/L kanamycin, and infection time 5 min. was standardized and best-suited explants were infected at optimum conditions from the Agrobacterium tumefaciens (LBA 4404) strain harboring ACC deaminase to generate transgenic P. cablin Benth. (CIM-Samarth) plants. The investigation suggested that the optimized protocol provides a maximum transformation frequency of 42 ± 1.9% in 15-20 days from tTCL. The transgenic plants were shifted to the greenhouse with a 52.0 ± 0.8% survival frequency. A molecular docking study confirmed significant binding affinity of ligand ACC with ACC deaminase at the catalytic site, and ligand interactions showed four H-bonds at the binding pocket with amino acids Cys-196, Val-198, Thr-199, and Gly-200 that validate gene relative expression in transgenic plants. Among all transgenic acclimatized greenhouse-grown patchouli plants, line PT4 showed improved drought resistance under severe water stress as its RWC was 71.7 ± 2.3% to 75.7 ± 2.1% which is greater than the RWC of the control plant, 58.30 ± 0.21%. Analysis of the other physiological indicators, H2O2, chlorophyll content, and ROS result support drought resistance ability. Our study concluded that the first report on P. cablin, tTCL direct regeneration, and standardized transformation protocol created a new opportunity for genetic manipulation to achieve drought-resistant patchouli plants for cultivation in all seasons at the commercial level.

EVALUACIÓN DEL EFECTO DE LA PUTRESCINA EXÓGENA DURANTE LA MADURACIÓN Y GERMINACIÓN in vitro DE EMBRIONES SOMÁTICOS EN DOS GENOTIPOS DE AGAVE

<p><strong>Background.</strong> Agaves are an important economic source in industrial products, in the food and pharmaceutical industry, steroidal animal feed, ornamental plants and as a material for biofuels. Despite their economic importance, some species present problems in their conventional propagation, which makes their reproduction difficult and has caused some species to be in some risk category. Therefore, there is a need to develop efficient protocols for <em>in vitro</em> micropropagation via somatic embryogenesis. The positive effect of the application of exogenous putrescine on the maturation and germination of somatic embryos is known. <strong>Objective</strong>. To determine the effect of exogenous putrescine on the maturation and germination of somatic embryos of <em>A. cupreata</em> and <em>A. angustifolia</em>.<strong> Methodology</strong>. Two concentrations of putrescine (100 and 150 mg/L) and two controls, one positive and one negative, were evaluated in the somatic embryo maturation medium and later in the germination of somatic embryos. <strong>Results</strong>. Putrescine favors the maturation and germination of somatic embryos in both species. <strong>Implications</strong>. The results of this research contribute to a better understanding of the process of somatic embryogenesis and open the possibility of applying putrescine in the process of somatic embryogenesis at a commercial level. <strong>Conclusion</strong>. Exogenous putrescine in culture medium significantly improves the maturation and germination of somatic embryos in <em>Agave</em>.</p>

Strategic Management Methodology to Improve Sustainability in Companies Real Estate Housing Medians in Lima

In order to develop a strategic management technique to improve sustainability in medium-sized companies housing real estate agencies, the following investigation was carried out in the city of Lima. Both a qualitative and quantitative research approach was used to conduct the study. The sample was made up of 80 senior company managers real estate. In this way, the present study made it possible to elucidate characteristics in its current situation with respect to finance, commerce and marketing of the management business of real estate SMEs in Lima and when analyzing the results it was possible note that almost all companies in different areas of the economic sector use similar strategies, which means that the application of a strategy will have a high probability of being successful binding on any other SME real estate company . In the same order of ideas, it is specified that the proposed strategic management model was addressed at the financial, operations, commercial and marketing levels. Likewise, it is highlighted that it was developed in the stage’s transversal studies of preliminary studies, design, construction and deployment, and post-sale, which without a doubt allows a comprehensive approach adapted to the needs observed in companies addressed to ensure their sustainability.

Potential electrolytes for solid state batteries and its electrochemical analysis—A review

AbstractThe main purpose of this review is to present comprehensive research on all solid‐state electrolytes in a single frame. In next‐generation rechargeable solid‐state batteries, the solid‐state electrolytes are well known for their thermal stability, ionic conduction, and electrochemical stability. Therefore, in scientific societies, the development of potential solid‐state electrolytes become a trending debate to enhance their cycling stability and electrochemical properties. Here, the recent development of all solid electrolytes (such as ceramic and structure‐based electrolytes) to enhance their electrochemical properties is summarized. From previous studies, the installation of solid electrolytes is hindered by the following factors electrode‐electrolyte interface, dendrite growth, and discharge capacity as well as its solutions are discussed. Additionally, advanced electrochemical characterization techniques such as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and galvanostatic charging and discharging used to evaluate the electrochemical behavior of electrolytes in the solid frame are summarized for the first time. Moreover, an up‐to‐date article on battery performance with potential electrolytes and some future perspectives also give a vivid image of the pragmatic applications of these batteries at the commercial level.

MSDD-YOLOX: An enhanced YOLOX for real-time surface defect detection of oranges by type

Using an online high-throughput detection system for sorting oranges during the post-harvest process helped improve the commercialization level of the oranges industry. Surface defects on oranges created a poor first impression for consumers, making the rapid detection of oranges surface defects a primary concern for online sorting systems. However, due to variations in defect size and the visual similarity of different defects, there were still some challenges in detecting and identifying various surface defects on orange fruits based on their types. To address these challenges, this study first categorized surface defects on oranges into three major categories: deformity, scarring, and disease spot, based on their causes and potential post-harvest losses. Subsequently, to achieve real-time detection of orange surface defects on the orange sorting machine, a YOLOX-based real-time multi-type surface defect detection algorithm (MSDD-YOLOX) for oranges was proposed. This algorithm significantly improved the detection effectiveness of scarring at different scales by introducing neck network residual connections and cascading of the neck network. To address the issue of missed detections in texture-based defects and improve the regression of predicted bounding boxes, focal loss and Complete-IoU (CIoU) were employed in the algorithm. The results showed that MSDD-YOLOX achieved F1 values of 88.3 %, 80.4 %, and 92.7 % for the detection of deformity, scarring, and disease spot, respectively, with an overall detection F1 value of 90.8 %. These values represented improvements of 13.1 %, 10.2 %, 4.5 %, and 6.4 %, respectively, compared to the baseline model. Furthermore, compared to other deep learning object detectors, namely Faster RCNN, RetinaNet, FCOS, and Swin-Transformer, the proposed algorithm achieved optimal detection accuracy. Additionally, the MSDD-YOLOX model had a compact size of only 8.98 M, enabling real-time detection on the fruit grading line with an inference speed of up to 64.2FPS. Another innovation of this research was the external validation conducted on green oranges from Hainan and mandarins from Zhejiang. The results of external testing demonstrated that MSDD-YOLOX achieved overall F1 values of 90.6 % and 81.1 % for citrus fruits in these two regions, effectively proving the online deployment capability of MSDD-YOLOX and providing a robust solution for external defect detection in citrus fruits.

Improvement of indoor air quality using a smart gate that can lessen viral aerosol (MS2 virus) and particulate matter (PM): Experimental findings

Fine particulate matter (PM) and viruses have more detrimental impacts on human health when present in an indoor setting than when present in an outdoor environment. With the COVID-19 epidemic, a healthy indoor environment has emerged as a crucial necessity. There are many different cleaning technologies available, but most of them have drawbacks and are challenging to utilize in daily-use indoor venues including workplaces, retail malls, movie theaters, subway stations, and many other locations. We created a portable, smart gate that is simple to use at a commercial level and evaluated it for effectiveness in lowering particulate matter concentrations of various sizes. The results show that 97.76% for PM10, 97.72%PM4, 97.44% for PM2.5, and 96.91% for PM1. reduction. Also, the aerosolized MS2 virus was used to test its ability to decrease viral transmission and the viral reduction efficiency of the smart gate was found around 82%. The experimental results show that the smart gate is better than all the current available cleaning technologies along with its user-friendly and easy use.

Nutritional Fish Diseases in Aquaculture: A Human Health Hazard or Mythical Theory: An Overview

To consume or not to consume farmed fish diagnosed with nutritional disorders within an aquaculture culture system is a question that resonates with fisheries and aquaculture experts worldwide. Proper fish health management in aquaculture should be a critical area of concern for all fish farmers. It has become a fundamental requirement for achieving sustainable aquaculture production. However, many fish farmers, particularly in developing countries lack knowledge about nutritional fish diseases and how to effectively manage them on the farm. Like human health, farmed fish’s health in aquaculture systems should be a daily priority for fish farmers. Nutritional fish diseases are often overlooked by the majority of fish farmers, even at the commercial level. Most Fish farmers may not realize that nutritional disease prevention can be achieved through the use of well-formulated fish feeds that meet all the nutritional requirements for fish growth. Additionally, maintaining good water quality and implementing best management practices are essential to ensure that the fish stock remains healthy in the culture system. Since different fish species have varying nutritional dietary requirements, it is important to formulate the right nutritional diet based on the specific fish species being cultured. Fish feeds should contain the necessary nutrients to ensure opportunistic disease resistance. Furthermore, fish farmers should be familiar with early diagnosis techniques for nutritional fish disease disorders. This ensures that the harvested fish reaching the market does not raise concerns about the quality and safety of farmed fish products. Failure to diagnose nutritional disorders associated with poor feeds and diets can create doubts in the rapidly growing aquaculture industry. Therefore, this review aims to explore the nutritional requirements of farmed fish species, the impact of nutritional deficiencies on human and public health, the causes of nutritional disorders, and viable therapies for managing these diseases in farmed fish. The data for this review article were collected from various secondary sources, including internationally reputable peer-reviewed articles, conference proceedings reports, internet searches, and more. The findings highlight the importance of providing aquaculture farmers with essential information on fish nutrition-related disease control, as nutritional diseases have been found to be detrimental to fish health and public health. Moreover, many farmed fish affected by nutritional disorders have entered the global fish market, raising questions about their impact on human health. Therefore, it is crucial for fish farmers to prioritize early diagnosis of nutritional fish diseases to ensure the safety of farmed fish in the market and maintain consumer confidence in farmed fish globally. The study recommends further research into the potentially lethal effects of different nutritional fish diseases, particularly when consumed in large quantities and to the environment especially when dead fish is discarded in the backwaters of an aquatic ecosystem.

Evaluation of heat transfer correlations based on input parameters in a solar parabolic trough collector using supercritical carbon dioxide

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technologies have emerged as leaders in generating renewable power. Parabolic trough collector (PTC) is the most widely used CSP technology for various applications of solar thermal heat at commercial level. Altering the heat transfer fluid (HTF) to supercritical CO2 (s-CO2) holds promise in improving the efficiency and operations of solar PTC. The present study discusses heat transfer correlations from literature for the horizontal flow in smooth tubes. The correlations have been evaluated for their suitability to predict the average Nusselt numbers by s-CO2 as the HTF in a solar PTC. Nusselt Numbers computed using these correlations have been compared with the validated numerical simulation. Utilizing a previously validated non-uniform solar heat flux as input for the three-dimensional finite volume method, the numerical thermal simulations were performed These correlations have been compared for the operating boundary range of the solar PTC. The impact of each thermophysical input parameter of HTF is outlined in the study. Additionally, a novel correlation is proposed based on the multiple regression of thermophysical input properties of the s-CO2 as HTF in the solar PTC. The proposed correlation based on input parameters has very high prediction accuracy. It can simplify the design analysis of the solar PTC field for the s-CO2.

Dynamic Energy Analysis of Different Heat Pump Heating Systems Exploiting Renewable Energy Sources

Renewable energy source-fed heat pumps (HPs) may perform up to very high-efficiency standards, offering a promising tool in the wider residential heat decarbonization effort. In this context, this paper investigates different heating configurations utilizing various renewable thermal sources in conjunction with an HP-based system in order to determine the optimal configuration in terms of efficiency, using an existing, fully functioning residential building in Zaragoza, Spain, as our case study, comprising 40 dwellings. Four different HP configurations are investigated:, (i) an air-source system, (ii) a ground-source system, (iii) a dual-source system with solar thermal collectors, and (iv) a triple-source system based on solar, geothermal, and ambient sources. For the purpose of such investigation, detailed dynamic energy simulations are conducted through the use of the INTEMA.building tool (developed in Modelica), applying a multi-objective optimization process that aims at minimizing both the annual electricity consumption and the net present cost. It is demonstrated that the renewable thermally driven HPs are more efficient than the conventional, air-source ones, with the seasonal coefficient of performance increasing by 9.98% (ground source), 4.57% (dual source), and 17.40% (triple source), compared to the air-source heat pump system. Finally, it is revealed (via integrated techno-economic analyses) that the most effective and economical design is the dual source system, while the most expensive is the ground-source configuration. These findings can guide the ongoing design efforts on green residential heat solutions at both research and commercial implementation level.