Dependent Reduction Research Articles

The Effect of Technological Development on Renewable Energy

Renewable energies have an essential role in the reduction of external dependency of countries by meeting their energy needs from domestic resources, sustainable energy use as a result of diversification of resources and minimizing the damage to the environment from energy consumption. The study aims to measure technological developments' impact on Turkey's renewable energy production. Therefore, this study uses annual time series data on Turkey from 1980-2022 to investigate the causal link between technology and renewable energy production. This study applies Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) (1981), Phillips-Perron (PP) (1988), Kwiatkowski-Phillips-Schmidt-Shin (KPSS) (1992) and Ng-Perron (2001) tests for data analysis. In the long run, it has been found that there is a significant positive relationship between technological development and renewable energy; in addition, it has been found that there is a bidirectional causality relationship between renewable energy production and economic growth in the short term.

A GIS-Based Estimation of Bioenergy Potential from Cereal and Legume Straw Biomasses in Alentejo, Portugal

Portugal exhibits a large deficit in cereals with an import/export ratio of about 18%. Alentejo is a southern vast plain region, which is the largest cereal producer in the country, with about 80% of the total cereal area. The region also shows a huge local energy deficit with a ratio of about 17% between spent and produced energy. In this context, this work used GIS modeling based on available digital geographical information on soil and topographic conditions in Alentejo for estimating optimal production areas of four main classes of cereal and legume classes, which were wheat, barley, oat/lupin, and triticale/broad bean. The estimated areas were validated by 199 sample points in the field and allowed to quantify a potential of bioenergy production from straw biomasses based on yields of biomass net calorific values of 18 MJkg−1 and yields of 6, 9, 6, and 9 tons/ha for the four classes in the order indicated. The estimated areas allocated to the cereal and legume classes covered approximately four municipalities in the region. The total modeled area in Alentejo for the four cultivation classes was 44,980 ha. The results showed that even if 50% of the estimated total straw biomass produced was used for animal feed, the estimated bioenergy production of the remaining half biomass would be of about 2940 TJy−1, or about 12.5% of the actual regional energy production, which is an energy amount able to supply 35 organic Rankine cycle (ORC) 2.5 MW cogeneration units and 347 boilers with 125 kW thermal power, delivering renewable electricity to the grid, and heating facilities as diverse as buildings, nursing homes, or horticultural greenhouses. More than 160 kton of CO2 fossil emissions would also be avoided, delivering a contribution to mitigating effects of climate change. By contributing to the reduction of the large cereal dependence and the carbon emissions of the country, the proposed strategy would contribute to increasing the decentralized bioenergy production for applications in buildings and local facilities, significantly boosting the socio-economic dynamics of rural areas involved.

Managing innovations in the field of technology and equipment for the oil and gas complex

Subject. The article deals with technological progress in the oil and gas industry, the impact of international sanctions on Russia's energy security. Objectives. The study aims to assess development prospects for new methods of oil production, analyze measures to ensure environmental sustainability of industry enterprises, and regulatory and economic restrictions. Methods. The study rests on comparative and statistical analysis. Results. Processes like drilling and hydraulic fracturing increase productivity. However, sanctions have an integrated effect on project development schedules and overall competitiveness of the industry. Market volatility caused by changes in oil prices and demand patterns around the world can significantly exacerbate uncertainty. Conclusions. Digitalization cuts costs, improves plant safety, and reduces environmental impact. Diversification of markets, reduction of dependence on foreign technologies and financing, development of alternative energy sources enable to increase the industry’s stability in difficult geopolitical conditions.

Single-atom catalysts for (photo)electrocatalytic biomass valorization to high-value-added chemicals

As a crucial renewable energy resource, biomass can be converted into high-value-added chemicals via unique catalytic routes, which facilitate the reduction of excessive dependency on fossil resources. However, the complex functional groups inherent in biomass and biomass-derived compounds enable considerable difficulties for their selective functionalization. The precise cleavage of special chemical bonds in biomass highly depended on the structure design of catalysts. Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have garnered significant attention in biomass valorization through the electrocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic processes due to their maximal atom utilization efficiency, unique electronic structure, and tunable coordination environments. The present review outlines the latest research progress in this emerging field, focusing on the (photo)electrocatalytic application of SACs in biomass valorization, including cellulose-derived and hemicellulose-derived compounds and lignin. We also emphasize the innovative design and precise modulation of atomically dispersed metal active sites at the atomic level. Through state-of-the-art catalytic systems, we elaborately discuss the structure-activity relationship and elucidate the mechanisms of the (photo)electrocatalytic processes over SACs. Finally, we provide the prospects of SACs in (photo)electrocatalytic biomass valorization.

Molecular basis for the enzymatic inactivity of class III glutaredoxin ROXY9 on standard glutathionylated substrates

Class I glutaredoxins (GRXs) are nearly ubiquitous proteins that catalyse the glutathione (GSH)-dependent reduction of mainly glutathionylated substrates. In land plants, a third class of GRXs has evolved (class III). Class III GRXs regulate the activity of TGA transcription factors through yet unexplored mechanisms. Here we show that Arabidopsis thaliana class III GRX ROXY9 is inactive as an oxidoreductase on widely used model substrates. Glutathionylation of the active site cysteine, a prerequisite for enzymatic activity, occurs only under highly oxidizing conditions established by the GSH/glutathione disulfide (GSSG) redox couple, while class I GRXs are readily glutathionylated even at very negative GSH/GSSG redox potentials. Thus, structural alterations in the GSH binding site leading to an altered GSH binding mode likely explain the enzymatic inactivity of ROXY9. This might have evolved to avoid overlapping functions with class I GRXs and raises questions of whether ROXY9 regulates TGA substrates through redox regulation.

Real-world mepolizumab treatment in patients with severe asthma decreased exacerbations, oral corticosteroid use, and healthcare resource utilization and costs over 4 years: a retrospective analysis

Objective Although the efficacy of mepolizumab in reducing exacerbations and oral corticosteroid (OCS) use in severe asthma is well-established, real-world long-term effectiveness data are limited. This study evaluated the real-world impact of mepolizumab treatment in patients with severe asthma over a 4-year follow-up period. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of patients with asthma initiating mepolizumab (index date: first claim, November 2015–September 2019) using the Merative MarketScan Commercial and Medicare Databases. Outcomes included asthma exacerbations, OCS use, and exacerbation-related healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and costs, assessed 12-months pre-index (baseline) and annually during the 4-year follow-up period. Results Among 189 eligible patients, mean asthma exacerbation rate (AER) declined progressively from baseline during follow-up: AER decreased by 53.8% at Year 1 and 73.8% by Year 4 (p < 0.001). The annual OCS prescription rate reduced from baseline by 41.1% at Year 1 and 62.2% at Year 4 (p < 0.001). The proportion of patients with both no exacerbations and no OCS use progressively increased from 6.4% at baseline to 18.5% at Year 1 and 41.8% at Year 4. Exacerbation-related HCRU including inpatient, emergency room, and outpatient office visits decreased from baseline (9.0%, 21.7%, and 78.8%, respectively), at Year 1 (3.2%, 12.2%, and 49.2%), and Year 4 (0.0%, 4.8%, and 31.8%). Exacerbation-related healthcare costs declined from $4,635 at baseline to $1,487 at Year 1 and $217 at Year 4 (p < 0.001). Conclusion Patients treated with mepolizumab demonstrated progressive and sustained long-term, real-world reductions in exacerbation frequency, OCS dependency, and exacerbation-related HCRU and costs over 4 years.

Adversarial-Causal Representation Learning Networks for Machine fault diagnosis under unseen conditions

To address the challenges of obtaining diverse data, domain generalization (DG) methods for fault diagnosis have been developed. Domain adversarial methods are currently the most popular, due to their ability to handle data from unknown domains without requiring target domain information. However, their capacity to extract domain-irrelevant features remains challenging, often resulting in accuracy below 90% in many DG scenarios. This limitation stems from their inability to fully capture global dependencies, causing feature entanglement and redundant dependencies. To address these issues, we proposed a novel intelligent fault diagnosis method called Adversarial-Causal Representation Learning Networks (ACRLN), which is based on causal learning. By spatial mask domain adversarial method, ACRLN can significantly enhance data utilization by fully capturing the global dependency that are often ignored by domain adversarial algorithms. At the same time, causal learning is integrated into the ACRLN to further accomplish feature decoupling and the reduction of redundant dependency. This is achieved through channel feature orthogonality method combined with a loss function rooted in correlation analysis. Moreover, it adeptly addresses the spill-over effect often encountered in causal learning. Finally, ACRLN achieves better results and proves its effectiveness by comparison with several state-of-the-art fault diagnosis and DG algorithms on multiple datasets.

Microbially mediated iron redox processes for carbon and nitrogen removal from wastewater: Recent advances.

Iron is the most abundant redox-active metal on Earth. The microbially mediated iron redox processes, including dissimilatory iron reduction (DIR), ammonium oxidation coupled with Fe(III) reduction (Feammox), Fe(III) dependent anaerobic oxidation of methane (Fe(III)-AOM), nitrate-reducing Fe(II) oxidation (NDFO), and Fe(II) dependent dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (Fe(II)-DNRA), play important parts in carbon and nitrogen biogeochemical cycling globally. In this review, the reaction mechanisms, electron transfer pathways, functional microorganisms, and characteristics of these processes are summarized; the prospective applications for carbon and nitrogen removal from wastewater are reviewed and discussed; and the research gaps and future directions of these processes for the treatment of wastewater are also underlined. This review is expected to give new insights into the development of economic and environmentally friendly iron-based wastewater treatment procedures.

Measuring the impact of COVID-19 exposure on reporting of intimate partner violence in India using an intent-to-treat framework

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only posed alarming health challenges but also exacerbated the scenarios of intimate partner violence (IPV) against women globally. While global studies indicate a conspicuous increase in IPV during COVID-19 lockdowns; Indian studies exhibit mixed evidence. This ambiguity in world’s most populous country underscores a greater need to examine the nexus between exposure to COVID-19 and IPV using a large nationally representative sample of India. This study employs an ‘intent-to-treat (ITT) framework’ approach to assess the effect of COVID-19 exposure on IPV for women with “exposure (or cases)” compared to those with “no exposure (or controls)”. Using data from National Family Health Survey-5, the study employs a methodology comprising three stages: first, descriptive and bivariate statistics that characterize the sample population. Second, a multivariable logistic regression model was employed to examine the influence of COVID-19 on IPV reporting. Finally, the study validated its main findings using the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) tool with an ITT framework. The result from multiple statistical approaches indicates a reduction in IPV during COVID-19 — primarily suggesting significant under-reporting of domestic violence cases in the data collected during its exposure period. This underreporting remains consistent across diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. The study advances that reduction in the incidents of IPV among women surveyed after exposure to COVID-19 compared to their counterparts can be attributable to underreporting or greater socio-emotional cohesion among partners during menaces like COVID-19. While the under-reporting of cases can also be attributed to the lack of accessibility to peer groups and social and community networks, who often help women to identify and report IPV. Further, it can also possible due to the reduction in alcohol consumption and greater dependency of female on male partners due to jobloss during COVID-19 lockdown. This study, thereby, underscores the need for innovative survey tools to capture Violence Against Women (VAW) in general and IPV in particular during an extraordinary situation like COVID-19.

Effect of Compost Fertilizer Dosage and Compost Tea on the Growth of Red Calliandra (Calliandra calothyrsus Meisn.) Seedlings

Kaliandra (Calliandra calothyrsus Meisn) is a plant capable of producing large amounts of biomass, potentially as a renewable energy source that supports the reduction of dependence on fossil fuels. The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy is an urgent and long-term solution, as the use of fossil fuels as an energy source contributes to global warming and climate change.This study aims to evaluate the effect of compost fertilizer dosage and compost tea on the growth of height and diameter of kaliandra seedlings. Using a one-factor complete randomized design (CRD) method with treatment of compost fertilizer doses K0 (0 grams), K1 (60 grams), K2 (75 grams) and K3 (90 grams) and compost tea doses TK1 (0 ml), TK1 (50 ml), TK2 (75 ml) and TK3 (100 ml). Research results: 1. The treatment of compost doses and compost tea showed significant differences in the height growth of calliandra seedlings. 2. Compost fertilizer with a dose of 90 grams (K3) showed a better height growth rate than compost tea fertilizer with a dose of 100 ml (TK3), 75 ml (TK2), and 50 ml (TK1). 3. Compost tea fertilizer with doses of 50 ml (TK1) and 75 ml (TK2) showed a better height growth rate than compost fertilizer with doses of 60 grams (K1) and 75 grams (K2). 4. The compost fertilizer dose treatment showed a significant difference in the growth rate of Calandra seedling diameter, while the compost tea dose treatment did not show a significant difference. 5. Compost fertilizer with doses of 75 grams (K2) and 90 grams (K3) showed better diameter growth than compost tea fertilizer with doses of 75 ml (TK2) and 100 ml (TK3). 6. The optimal dosage recommendation in this study is 90 grams of compost fertilizer and 75 ml of compost tea.

Determination of Biomass Potential of Muş Province

Today, most of the energy consumption in the world is met from fossil resources. Despite the gradual decrease in fossil fuel reserves, the demand for energy is increasing day by day with the increase in population and the spread of technological devices that make life easier. This situation leads countries to alternative energy sources other than existing energy sources. One of these alternative and renewable energy sources stands out as biomass. Biomass is an energy source that can be used as an alternative to fossil fuels, which is found as a raw material wherever human, animal or plant life exists, and because of its renewable, easily available and clean energy source characteristics. In addition, this important local alternative, which will contribute to the reduction of foreign energy dependence of Turkey, which is not rich in fossil fuels, and to the energy supply security for the sustainable economic development of the country, should be evaluated as much as possible. Therefore, in this study, firstly, the biomass potential of Muş province was calculated. Then, the percentage of the total energy consumption of the city covered by the biomass potential was tried to be determined. Thus, it has been tried to contribute to raising public awareness about the importance of evaluating the theoretical biomass potential of the city.

Cost efficiency of inpatient rehabilitation following acquired brain injury: the first international adaptation of the UK approach

ObjectivesTo adapt and apply a model for evaluating the functional benefits and cost efficiency of specialist inpatient rehabilitation to the Australian context, comparing functional outcomes and savings in the cost...

Escaping the resource curse: does resource dependence reduction mitigate income inequality?

This paper quantifies the impact of resource dependence reduction on income inequality. Using an exogenous shock triggered by China’s sustainable program for resource-based regions and prefecture-level data during 2004–2020, we perform a difference-in-differences estimation and find that reducing resource dependence has a sizable narrowing effect on urban-rural income gap. On average, the sustainable program reduces the gap (as measured by a ratio indicator) by 4.11%, with the effect being more pronounced in regions with initial low institutional quality. Further evidence suggests that the rise of labor-intensive industries and the increased rural investment, which benefit the poor more, help explain the narrowing effect. This paper sheds light on the sustainable development of resource-dependent regions.

Opportunities and threats of the intellectual products and services market in Russia

Subject. The article examines problems of radical restructuring of the Russian market of intellectual products and services, a reduction in dependence on foreign developments. Objectives. The purpose is to analyze prospects for the development of the market of intellectual products and services in the context of sanctions. Methods. The study rests on methods of system analysis. Results. Tougher sanctions caused a shortage of intellectual products and services in the Russian market. However, there is an opportunity for Russian developers to occupy the vacated market segments. Conclusions. Russia has a good potential for the development of the said market, but it lags significantly behind economically developed countries. In the current situation, it is necessary to ensure the formation of a completely independent local market for intellectual products and services.

Evolutionary Adaptations in Biliverdin Reductase B: Insights into Coenzyme Dynamics and Catalytic Efficiency.

Biliverdin reductase B (BLVRB) is a redox regulator that catalyzes nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-dependent reductions of multiple substrates, including flavins and biliverdin-β. BLVRB has emerging roles in redox regulation and post-translational modifications, highlighting its importance in various physiological contexts. In this study, we explore the structural and functional differences between human BLVRB and its hyrax homologue, focusing on evolutionary adaptations at the active site and allosteric regions. Using NMR spectroscopy, we compared coenzyme binding, catalytic turnover, and dynamic behavior between the two homologues. Despite lacking the arginine "clamp" present in human BLVRB, hyrax BLVRB still undergoes conformational changes in response to the oxidative state of the coenzyme. Mutations at the allosteric site (position 164) show that threonine at this position enhances coenzyme discrimination and allosteric coupling in human BLVRB, while hyrax BLVRB does not display the same allosteric effects. Relaxation experiments revealed distinct dynamic behaviors in hyrax BLVRB, with increased flexibility in its holo form due to the absence of the clamp. Our findings suggest that the evolutionary loss of the active site clamp and modifications at position 164 in hyrax BLVRB alter the enzyme's conformational dynamics and coenzyme interactions. Identified similarities and differences underscore how key regions modulate catalytic efficiency and suggest that coenzyme isomerization may represent the rate-limiting step in both homologues.

Gold Nanoparticle Catalyzed Solvent Switchable Selective Partial Reduction of Nitrobenzene to N‐Phenylhydroxylamine and Azoxybenzene

Impregnation of phosphine‐decorated polymer immobilized ionic liquid with the tetrachloroaurate anion results in reduction of the gold(III) to gold(I) with concomitant oxidation of the phosphine to its oxide. In situ reduction of the resulting precursor, AuCl@O=PPh2‐PEG‐PIILS, generated the corresponding O=PPh2‐PEGPIIL‐stabilised AuNPs, AuNP@O=PPh2‐PEGPIILS, which is a highly active and selective catalyst for the solvent dependent partial reduction of nitrobenzene to N‐phenylhydroxylamine in water and azoxybenzene in ethanol. The initial TOFs are comparable to those obtained with gold nanoparticles generated by reduction of tetrachloroaurate‐impregnated phosphine oxide decorated polymer immobilized ionic liquid AuCl4@O=PPh2‐PEGPIILS i.e. the activity and selectivity profiles do not depend on whether the AuNPs are generated from Au(III) or in situ generated Au(I). In stark contrast, gold nanoparticles prepared by NaBH4 reduction of AuCl@PPh2‐PEGPIILS based on gold(I) confined in phosphine modified polymer immobilized ionic liquid gave markedly lower initial TOFs. The use of dimethylamine borane as the hydrogen donor resulted in a substantial enhancement in activity for reductions conducted in water compared with NaBH4 and the initial TOF of 20,400 mole nitrobenzene converted mol Au‑1h‑1 obtained with AuNPs generated in situ from AuCl4@O=PPh2‐PEGPIILS is among the highest to be reported for the metal nanoparticle catalyzed selective reduction of nitrobenzene to N‑phenylhydroxylamine.

Energy-energy correlation in the back-to-back region at N3LL+NNLO in QCD

We consider the energy-energy correlation (EEC) function in high-energy electron-positron annihilation to hadrons. In the back-to-back (two-jet) region, we perform the all-order resummation of the logarithmically enhanced contributions in QCD perturbation theory up to next-to-next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (N3LL) accuracy. Away from the back-to-back region, we consistently combine resummed predictions with the known fixed-order results up to next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO), and we are able to obtain an accurate fit of the O(αS3) remainder function from the numerical QCD computation of the full spectrum. All perturbative terms up to order αS3 are included in our calculation, and a nontrivial cross-check in the back-to-back region is obtained by comparing the soft collinear effective theory analytic calculation against the corresponding numerical QCD computation. In particular, the values of the O(αS3) resummation coefficients have been numerically verified. We regularize the Landau singularity of the QCD coupling within the so-called minimal prescription, and we discuss the reduction of the perturbative scale dependence of distributions at higher orders, as a means to estimate the corresponding residual perturbative uncertainty. Finally, after introducing within a dispersive approach nonperturbative power corrections, we are able to obtain an accurate description of experimental data at the LEP and SLC accelerators. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Soot temperature and volume fraction field predictions via line-of-sight soot integral radiation equation informed neural networks in laminar sooting flames

This paper originally proposes a physics informed neural networks (PINNs) model for the simultaneous prediction of soot temperature and volume fraction fields in laminar flames from experimental soot integral radiation. Contrasted with the previous data-driven models, the PINNs model incorporates the line-of-sight soot radiation integral equation into the model architecture. Doing so, the superiority of the physics informed neural networks model is displayed in terms of prediction accuracy under limited training data size and training efficiency. Due to the significant reduction of training experimental data dependence, such gray-box physics informed methodology sheds light on practical combustion devices combustion monitoring, i.e., limited optical window endoscope engines.

Limited effect of mycorrhizal inoculation depending on soil type and fertilization level in a central European field trial

AbstractRecent trends indicate a substantial increase in the application of mycorrhizal inoculants (Myc) across Central Europe. These inoculants are projected to contribute to a reduction in fertilizer dependency and to facilitate the mobilization of soil nutrients. Nevertheless, most studies are conducted in tropical or arid regions with very few data on wether mycorrhizal inoculants affect soil biological activity and cereal growth in temperate climates. A 4-year field trial was set up to assess the effects of Myc treatments (Funneliformis, Clariodeoglomus, Rhizophagus)on two different soil types. Myc was applied in combination with conventional fertilization in the first three years (sowing corn-wheat-corn) and substantially reduced fertilizer application in the fourth year (sowing corn). Weather conditions and fertilizer application rates had the highest impact on crop yields and shoot biomass throughout the four-year period. Mycorrhizal inoculants consistently caused significantly greater root colonization than the control each year, regardless of the fertilization rate. Myc also enhanced root capacity, phosphatase enzyme activity, and yield, but these benefits were most pronounced when combined with reduced fertilization and Luvisol with nutrient deficiency. In contrast, higher levels of soil organic matter and microbial activity in Gleysol led to a greater yield and diminished the impact of Myc compared to Luvisol. In this experiment, the Myc’s capacity to increase yield was not enough to compensate for the yield decrease caused by reduced fertilization. Our results indicate how critical soil types and fertilizer application rates are in determining the effectiveness of Myc in Central European cereal production.

Особливості формування виробничого потенціалу підприємств харчової промисловості

The study aims to determine the characteristics of the production potential of food industry enterprises, assess their current state, and determine directions for increasing the efficiency of production potential in martial law conditions. The research methodology involved using existing modern scientific and empirical achievements and recommendations regarding the peculiarities of the formation of the production potential of food industry enterprises. Official statistical data were used to analyze the size and scope of production, the efficiency of using labor resources, and the volume of capital investments. The time range covered 2021-2023. Indicators characterizing the efficiency of the functioning of enterprises include the volume of manufactured and sold products, the value of which increased by 15.5% and 20.6%, respectively. The number of workers employed in the production of products tended to decrease (-6.8%). The main problems accompanying food enterprises as a result of hostilities were loss of relations with suppliers, lack of stable sales directions for manufactured products, reduction in the number of personnel due to the mobilization of part of the employees, reduction in the number of personnel due to departure abroad; instability of the credit and financial sphere (high interest rates on loans, instability of the national monetary unit); absence or instability of the supply of raw materials and materials, including gas, electricity, water; occupation of territories where enterprises operate. Despite the troubles, food industry enterprises restored the pre-war level of capital investment and exceeded it by 4.3%. The state needs to focus its efforts on the following areas: financial and credit and tax incentives and infrastructure support to increase the production potential. The following programs have already been implemented and are operating to support enterprises affected by military actions: loans for working purposes at 1% per annum; an increase in the provision of state guarantees to 80; increasing the limit under the “5-7-9%” program to 150 million hryvnias; conclusion of international trade agreements for the export of manufactured products; reduction of dependence on imported raw materials; quotas for the import of products that have a higher competitive position compared to domestic types of products; reduction of bureaucracy; referral of employees to retraining and training; stimulation of innovations, etc. Keywords: production potential, resources, size and scale of activity, food industry enterprises.