High Efficiency Values Research Articles

Influencing Factors of Urinary Tract Stones Complicated by Urinary Tract Infections and the Construction of a Column Chart Prediction Model.

Objective: To analyze the influencing factors of urinary tract stones complicated by urinary tract infections and construct a column chart prediction model. Patients and Methods: From July 2020 to October 2023, 345 patients with urinary tract stones admitted to our hospital were collected as the training set, they were separated into an infection group of 51 cases and a non-infection group of 294 cases on the basis of the presence or absence of concurrent urinary tract infections; 192 patients with urinary tract stones were used as the testing set and were divided into an infection group of 26 cases and a non-infection group of 166 cases on the basis of the presence or absence of concurrent urinary tract infections. Data such as gender, age, and procalcitonin (PCT) were recorded. Multi-variable logistic regression analysis was applied to screen predictive factors, R4.0.2 software was applied to construct a column chart model, the calibration curve and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve were applied to evaluate the discrimination and calibration of the column chart model; decision curve analysis curve was applied to evaluate the predictive performance of column chart models. Results: The proportions of female, diabetes mellitus, indwelling time of urinary catheter ≥7 days, the PCT, and urine pH in the infected group were greater than those in the non-infected group (p < 0.05). Female, diabetes mellitus, catheter retention time ≥7 days, high PCT, and high urine pH were independent risk factors for urinary calculi complicated with urinary tract infection (p < 0.05). Training set: C-index was 0.913, Area Under Curve (AUC) was 0.943 [95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 0.912-0.973], sensitivity was 86.36%, and specificity was 89.81%, testing set: C-index was 0.905, AUC was 0.959 (95% CI = 0.928-0.989), sensitivity was 84.65%, and specificity was 95.84%, indicating good discriminability of the line graph model; Hosmer-Lemeshow test showed χ2 = 2.843, 2.894, p = 0.944, 0.941, the calibration curve approached the ideal curve, and the line graph model had good calibration. When the risk threshold for urinary tract stones complicated by urinary tract infections was between 0.08 and 0.86, this column chart model provided clinical net benefits. Conclusion: The column chart prediction model for urinary tract stones complicated by urinary tract infections constructed in this study has high predictive efficiency and clinical practical value, and can provide reference for medical staff.

Formulating a Horseradish Extract in Phospholipid Vesicles to Target the Skin

Background/Objectives: Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana L.) roots—largely used in traditional medicine for their multiple therapeutic effects—are a rich source of health-promoting phytochemicals. However, their efficacy can be compromised by low chemical stability and poor bioavailability. Incorporation into phospholipid vesicles is often proposed to tackle this problem. Methods: In this study, a hydroalcoholic extract was produced from horseradish roots. The extract was characterized by UPLC-MS and HPLC-PDA and formulated in conventional liposomes and Penetration Enhancer-containing Vesicles (PEVs) for skin application. Results: The obtained nanovesicles were small in size (&lt;100 nm), negatively charged, uni/bilamellar, and with high values of entrapment efficiency (&gt;85%) for the flavonoids identified in the extract. Both the free and the nanoformulated extract showed optimal biocompatibility, measured as the absence of hemolysis of erythrocytes and absence of cytotoxicity in skin cell lines. Furthermore, the nanoformulations displayed antioxidant activity in vitro. Conclusions: The proposed nananoformulations could be exploited to counteract oxidative stress involved in the pathogenesis and progression of numerous skin disorders.

CuI/MnO2 nanocatalysed synthesis of bioactive 2-substituted benzimidazoles

This work focusses on the development and characterization of efficient CuI/MnO2 nano catalyst, characterized using XPS, XRD, EDAX, FTIR, FESEM, BET (surface area: 8.01 m2/g, a pore radius: 17.052 Å and a pore volume: 0.011 cm3/g) and TEM techniques. The reactivity of this catalyst was evaluated for the synthesis of biologically active 2-substituted benzimidazoles through condensation of o-phenylenediamine with benzaldehydes. The process features short reaction time, high TON (997.35), green conditions, high yield, easy work-up, good green metrices values such as low E-factor (0.17) and Process mass efficiency (PMI) (1.16) high Reaction mass efficiency (RME) value (91.2 %) and carbon efficiency (CE) (94 %) are good characteristics of the synthesized catalyst.

Adaptive control of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles based on energy management strategy and dynamic programming algorithm

This study mainly analyses the fuel consumption of plug-in hybrid vehicles during operation. A new control method for automobiles based on energy management strategy and dynamic programming algorithm is proposed. The new method plans and analyses the minimum electricity consumption, and then uses dynamic programming algorithms to analyse this parameter. The research results indicated that the vehicle state was constantly changing with the variation of SOC value during driving. The energy mobilization of the vehicle was more obvious after adding dynamic programming strategy. The efficiency of the vehicle was relatively high in driving state 1, with a minimum value of 70%, which was about 20% higher than in driving state 4. The average fuel consumption in driving state 2 was 1.8L higher than in other driving states. The overall efficiency of automobiles after incorporating dynamic programming was improved, with a shorter time to reach the lowest efficiency point compared with not incorporating dynamic programming algorithms. The highest efficiency value was 7.86% higher than that of not incorporating dynamic programming models. The new control method can reduce energy consumption and improve the energy management and control effect. The study provides a better research direction for energy management and control of hybrid electric vehicles in the future.

Dynamic Fe-O-Cu induced electronic structure modulation on CuOx electrode for selective electrocatalytic oxidation of glycerol

Electrocatalytic glycerol oxidation reaction to produce high-value organic chemicals has research significance for managing the overproduction of glycerol and handling the energy crisis. Herein, a copper-based self-supporting catalytic electrode with a dynamic Fe-O-Cu optimized coordination (Fe-CuOx/CF) was prepared. The oxygen-bridged asymmetric coordination structure (Fe-O-Cu) optimized the electronic configuration and promoted the formation of the crucial intermediate species. After Fe was embedded in the lattice of copper oxides, a remarkable enhancement in the adsorption capacity of OH- and glycerol was confirmed. As a result, Fe-CuOx/CF exhibited an excellent production capacity of formate, with high faradaic efficiency and selectivity values of 93.65 % and 95.10 %. Concurrent production of formate and high purity hydrogen was achieved in the double-electrode flow electrolyzer. This work provides guiding significance for the optimization of the catalytic coordination and the design of high-efficiency transition metal-based catalysts for electrooxidation of biomass platform molecules.

Effect of Bacillus subtilis – based microbiological preparations on the numerical composition of cultured forms of endophytic bacteria, content of mineral nutrition elements, photosynthetic pigments, as well as on chlorophyll fluorescence indices in leaves of columnar apple trees

The results of agrochemical field experiments conducted in an orchard of columnar apple tree (Malus domestica Borkh.) in the Moscow Oblast during the period of 2021–2022 are presented. The research objects were the ‘Valuta’, ‘Triumph’, and ‘President’ varieties. The effect of foliar treatments of plants with Bacillus subtilis (strain V167) and Bacillus subtilis (strain V417) strains, as well as Bacillus subtilis – based microbiological preparations “Extrasol” (strain Ch13) and “Phytosporin-M” (strain 26D) on such indicators as the microbiological and chemical composition of leaves, the content of photosynthetic pigments in leaves, and chlorophyll fluorescence indices was studied. Plant samples were analyzed using standard methodology. When applying strains and microbiological preparations based on Bacillus subtilis, the taxonomic composition of endophytic bacterial forms cultured on dense nutrient media and isolated from leaves was represented by the Bacillus genus. For comparison, when treating plants with Bacillus subtilis strain V417 and “Phytosporin-M”, the Pseudomonas genus was also detected. The number of cultivated forms of endophytic bacteria in the treated plants was consistently growing, having reached the maximum value of 406800 CFU/g in the “Extrasol” variant. Notably, the content of photosynthetic pigments in leaves depended on both the plant variety and the strain used. High values of maximal efficiency of PSII photochemistry (Fv/Fm) were observed both in experimental and control variants. A consistent increase in leaf N content was detected when applying “Extrasol”. In this respect, the ‘President’ variety showed the greatest response, i.e., a 16.1 % increase compared to the control. The ‘President’ and ‘Triumph’ varieties demonstrated an increase in leaf K content under the influence of foliar treatment of plants with the studied strains and microbiological preparations. The greatest effect of 17.2 % above the control was observed in the ‘Triumph’ variety when treated with “Extrasol”. Foliar treatments of ‘President’ and ‘Valuta’ plants with microbiological preparations contributed to increased, compared to the control, Mg contents in their leaves.

Silver doping effect on the electrochromic performance of the WO3 thin films produced by thermal evaporation in vacuum

Ag doped WO3 thin films are successfully fabricated by thermal evaporation method in vacuum as precursor, and then annealed at 450 °C in nitrogen gases atmosphere. Cyclic voltammetry, repeating chronoamperometry, chronocolumetry and optical transmittance are recorded in 1 M LiClO4/propylene carbonate electrolyte. The color of the WO3 thin films changes from transparent to the blue under the applied potential of -1.8 and +1.9 V. XRD studies show that all the films have a polycrystalline structure of WO3. The molecular formation is also confirmed by Raman and X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The EDS elemental mappings clearly confirm the homogeneous distribution of Ag, W and O elements into the WO3 network. From the optical studies, indirect band gap energy of the WO3 decreases as Ag doping level increases. The best coloration and bleaching times (2.33 and 1.25 s) are obtained for the Ag(2 %):WO3 thin films, compared to the pure WO3 (3.79 and 1.96 s). The produced WO3 films exhibit high reversibility (39.6/69.1 %), high coloration efficiency values (26.3/141.2 cm2/C), and good cycling stability. From the EIS measurements, the charge-transfer resistance is Ag(2 %):WO3 < the pure WO3 < Ag(5 %):WO3 < Ag(8 %):WO3, which means that Ag(2 %):WO3 has the biggest electrochemically active surface area. Electronic energy levels of the pure WO3 and the Ag:WO3 thin films are also given. From the Mott-Schottky studies, it is determined that the donor concentration of the materials is of the order of 1014–1015 cm−3. In the literature, there are very limited studies related to electrochromic thin films by thermal evaporation in vacuum. In this sense, the reported results in this study are promising for the electrochromic applications.

Construction and validation of a diagnostic model for high-risk papillary thyroid microcarcinoma.

The purpose of this study was to construct a diagnostic model by exploring the potential predictors of high-risk Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma (PTMC) and verifying its reliability. A retrospective analysis of PTMC patients who underwent surgical treatment from 2004 to 2015 in the SEER database (training set) and the clinical pathological ultrasound information of PTMC patients at the Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital from 2020 to 2022 (external validation set) was conducted. In the training set, univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to screen independent predictive factors for high-risk PTMC patients in pathology. A nomogram diagnostic model was further constructed. Additionally, ROC curves and calibration curves were drawn to evaluate the efficiency of the model. In the external validation set, the diagnostic model was indirectly evaluated based on preoperative ultrasound imaging features to explore the feasibility and reliability of diagnosing high-risk PTMC through preoperative ultrasound imaging features. A total of 1628 patients were included in the training set, and 530 patients were included in the test set. The independent risk factors for pathological high-risk PTMC were sex, age, tumor maximum diameter, tumor invasive, and cervical lymph nodes (P<0.05). The C-index of the nomogram constructed based on these five factors was 0.947, with an optimal sensitivity of 96.7% and a specificity of 86.0%. The calibration curve showed that the model had high consistency. The area under the curve (AUC) value of the ROC curve for high-risk PTMC predicted by the risk score based on ultrasound features was 0.824 [95% CI (0.789, 0.860)], which was highly consistent with the risk score based on pathological features (κ= 0.758, P<0.05). Indirect evaluation of a high-risk PTMC diagnostic model based on preoperative ultrasound imaging features had high predictive efficiency and potential value for clinical application.

Efisiensi desalinasi air laut dengan menggunakan konsentrasi reflektor parabolik

Water is very important for the life of living things, many countries in the world are experiencing a clean water crisis. The total global water reserve is less than 1.4 billion km3, of which about 97.5% is in the oceans and the remaining 2.5% is fresh water contained in the atmosphere, ice mountains and groundwater. Desalination is generally the process of removing salt from seawater or saltwater. Desalination of seawater and brackish water can be utilized to increase the availability of clean water. Two types of desalination techniques used can be classified into phase change (heat) and membrane. desalination techniques with phase change processes are processes that utilize changes in a substance under certain temperature conditions. While desalination techniques with membrane processes are processes that focus on filtering a substance accurately. Comparison of desalination efficiency between the three materials in different days is the flanel sheet material, the goni and the combination of flanels and goni. Flanel leaf material has the highest efficiency value on the 1st day with a presentation of 57,71% while the lowest one has a value of 32,24%. Then on the 2nd day the most efficient value is 45,32%, while the least value is 0%. In the first day goni material has a highest efficacy value with a presentation of 34,56%, and a lowest value with 0%. Then the second day trial with the same material has its highest effectiveness value with the presentation of 41,44%, and the lower value with 0%.

Pot Skirt Configuration on the UB-03 Biomass Stove: Taguchi Approach Optimization

A biomass stove is a technology that can utilize biomass fuel as an alternative energy source. This stove is considered effective for saving fossil energy because it uses fuels such as wood, waste, and plants so that it can reduce the effects of global warming because it can minimize the emissions it produces. In its technological development, UB-03 is a biomass stove product with compact construction and affordable prices for rural communities. However, there needs to be an increase to produce more efficient performance. In this case, additional configurations in the form of a pot skirt can be used to increase the efficiency of the biomass stove. The pot skirt is a device that focuses the fire’s direction on the load to minimize wasted heat and increase the efficiency of the biomass stove. This study used the Water Boiling Test (WBT) method for experimental testing. In addition, the Taguchi method was used to analyze the data obtained. This study aims to determine the optimum conditions of the biomass stove with the addition of a pot skirt using the Taguchi method with orthogonal array L9 (33) with three factors, namely angle (64°, 65°, 66°), number of holes (9,10,11) and hole diameter (0.8 cm, 1 cm, 1.2 cm). The results of this study indicate that the optimal configuration obtained is by adding a pot skirt at an angle of 65° with 9 holes and a hole diameter of 1 cm, where the highest efficiency value is obtained, namely 21.19%.

Prestack reservoir prediction method in ray parameter domain based on wide azimuth ocean bottom node seismic data

AbstractWide azimuth seismic data play an important role in deep reservoir prediction. According to the Paleogene clastic rock reservoir prediction, the high‐density and wide azimuth 3D seismic data acquisition of ocean bottom nodes was first carried out in a Chinese offshore oilfield in 2019. After high precision amplitude‐preserving processing, we obtained the high‐quality wide azimuth gathers. However, the research on anisotropy and reservoir prediction using wide azimuth seismic data mainly focuses on carbonate and bedrock intervals, which is not suitable for clastic rock reservoir prediction. Therefore, this paper innovatively proposes a clastic rock reservoir prediction method, which studies prestack reservoir prediction in the ray parameter domain based on wide azimuth ocean bottom node seismic data. Based on the azimuth gathers, we can obtain elastic parameters through prestack amplitude versus offset inversion, which is used to characterize the reservoir, so it is significant to obtain high precision elastic parameters in order to get highly reliable reservoir prediction results. In this paper, we develop an amplitude versus offset inversion method based on the Bayesian theory in ray parameter domain, the output of which is density, P‐wave impedance and Vp/Vs. These elastic parameters have high precision, and density data are valuable input for reservoir characterization because they are sensitive to the lithology of clastic rock reservoir at different orientations. In ray parameter domain inversion, the ray path of seismic wave propagation is considered polyline, which is more consistent with the actual situation; thus, extracted amplitudes of P gathers used in inversion are more accurate. In addition, the reflection coefficient formula in ray parameter domain has higher precision when the incident angle is large. The inversion based on the Bayesian theory can improve the stability of the inversion. Test on the actual data shows that the result of ray parameter domain inversion with a Bayesian scheme is more accurate, stable and reliable. Based on the above high precision density inversion results, an innovative wide azimuth data reservoir prediction technology based on elliptical short‐axis fitting was proposed. The actual prediction of the deep reservoir in the Bohai oilfield shows that sand thickness fitting prediction results in the short axis can best match the actual drilling sandstone thickness. The coincidence rate is 86% and the short‐axis fitting results are more in agreement with geological laws. Theoretical research and practical applications have shown that this method is feasible and effective, with high prediction accuracy, computational efficiency and strong application value.

Improving the Cardamom Marketing: Assessing the Marketing Efficiency of Cardamom in Theni District, Tamil Nadu

Introduction: The cardamom is the oldest spices and belongs to Zingiberaceae family. It is cultivated in the thick shady, rainy forests of the Western Ghats of the South India. The major growing states are Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in reference to green cardamom (Small) and its botanical name Elettaria cardamomum. The part of Theni district is constituted by thick vegetations of hills of Western Ghats and Cumbum Valley at Bodi and Uthamapalayam taluk. In these areas, the farmers are cultivating the Cardamom. This study aims to find out the socio-economic characters, marketing behavior, assess the marketing efficiency of different supply channels and ranking the major problems faced by farmers to market their agricultural product. Methodology: The author used both primary and secondary data. The maximum area covered by cardamom was used as criteria for selecting the blocks. Purposive random sampling method was used to select the villages and the data was collected from the 60 farmers and other stakeholders using well-structured questionnaire. The descriptive statistics and percentage analysis were used for interpreting the results. For marketing analysis, marketing costs, marketing margin and price spread were estimated. For marketing efficiency, Acharya’s method (2003) was used. Results: The 34 respondents with 56.67 percent were found to be 21-35 years of age group. It was found that 7 respondents only with 11.67 percent and 26 respondents with 43.33 percent were found to be illiterate and the annual turnover of 1-5 lakh respectively. Using Acharya’s method (2003), the marketing efficiency of the channel I, II, III were 5.92, 9.97, 7.27 respectively. The price spread in the marketing channel I, II, and III are Rs. 295.94 per Kg, Rs. 163.54 per Kg and 229.48 per Kg respectively. It was shown that channel II is efficient due to high efficiency value and less price spread. Producer in the marketing channel II had highest share (90.88) in consumer rupee. The result showed that the Lack of timely adequate funds were major problem faced by the cardamom farmers with garret mean score of 65.23. The financial problems were common in the respondents. Conclusion: Marketing channel II was efficient because the spice auction center plays a vital role in protecting the farmer as well as consumer from the malpractices and exploitation of Intermediaries and to provide the transparency in trading operations of cardamom. The government may increase the financial assistance or technical support program to support the cardamom growers of the Tamil Nadu. The board should educate the farmers to grade or sort the cardamom before entering the e-Auction center to get better price for better quality of the commodity and to expand the pilot project of separate e-auctions for lab tested cardamom for artificial colours and pesticidal residues to potential markets of Tamil Nadu.

Dual-donor D-A-D types electrochromic conjugated polymers employed quinoxaline as the acceptor: Synthesis, electrochemistry, and electrochromism

In this work, two donor-acceptor-donor (D-A-D) type electrochromic conjugated polymers were prepared upon electrochemical oxidation through their precursors employed dual-thiophene derivatives as the donor units and quinoxaline as the acceptor unit. The effects of different donor substituents on the polymers’ electrochemical and electrochromic properties were carefully examined. Owing to the introduction of stronger electron donor ability of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT), P(Q-T-E) demonstrated good coplanarity and dense surface morphology, outstanding redox activity and stability (retained 97 % after 1000 cycles), low optical band gap (1.45 eV). P(Q-T-T) exhibited excellent electrochromic performance of above 30 % transmittance changes in both the NIR region and the visible region, as fast as 0.75 s response time, and high coloration efficiency value of 212.8 cm2 C−1. The Dual-donor strategy may provide a new research idea to achieve high-performance electrochromic D-A-D conjugated polymers.

Construction of Concentration Quenching‐Resistant Multi‐Resonance TADF Emitters via Positional Isomerization for OLEDs

AbstractMultiple resonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR‐TADF) emitters are promising for high‐definition organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) due to their high exciton utilization and color purity. However, strong interchromophore interactions cause most MR‐TADF emitters with planar structures to aggregate at high doping concentrations, leading to degraded efficiencies. Herein, using benzenesulfonyl‐functionalized dibenzothiophene sulfoximine with steric effects, three MR‐TADF emitters (2SBN, 3SBN, and 4SBN) are synthesized by coupling the classic DtBuCzB skeleton at different sites. Three emitters exhibit green or blue‐green emission with full width at half maximum (FWHM) values less than 29 nm and photoluminescence quantum yields exceeding 90%. OLEDs based on 2SBN, 3SBN, and 4SBN achieve high maximum external quantum efficiency (EQEmax) values of 30.1%, 27%, and 33.8%, respectively, at a 5 wt.% doping concentration. Notably, due to the distorted conformation of 4SBN and suppressed intermolecular interaction, the OLED remains high EQEmax of 28.9% at a doping concentration of 20 wt.%. These results demonstrate the feasibility of molecular design to modulate spatial conformations via positional isomerism to develop MR‐TADF emitters with reduced concentration quenching.

Simple and hybrid metalens with high polarization conversion efficiency for near-infrared spectrum

Thanks to their ability to control light, research on metalenses is developing rapidly. However, it is still quite difficult to design broadband metalenses with high polarization conversion efficiency. In this study, an alternative plasmonic material, aluminum-doped zinc oxide, is presented for metalens operating in near-infrared regime. We propose simple and hybrid metalenses with high polarization conversion efficiency and high transmission values that can focus efficiently in a wide near-infrared bandwidth (700–1000 nm). We design metalens consisting of subwavelength aluminum-doped zinc oxide nanoblocks based the Pancharatnam-Berry phase method and utilizing the finite-difference time-domain method. The polarization conversion efficiency (minimum 87 %) and transmission values (minimum 85 %) calculated for the metalens unit cell are higher than those previously obtained over the entire 300 nm bandwidth. In addition, we propose hybrid metalens to focus the incident beam in right and left handed circular polarized states in the studied frequency range. The presented aluminum-doped zinc oxide metalens with high polarization conversion efficiency and transmission values can find a place in the applications of near-infrared nanophotonic systems.

3D Co-doped carbon nanosheets as high-performance electrodes for Li-S batteries

3D petal-shaped Cobalt-doped carbon nanosheets (PCoCNS) were synthesized as excellent sulfur hosts for lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. Co doping enhanced the affinity of the carbon surface for lithium polysulfides (LiPSs), inhibiting the shuttle effect. The electrocatalytic effect of the PCoCNS electrode exhibited enhanced polysulfide conversion kinetics, thereby promoting Li2S formation. Owing to the above advantages, the PCoCNS cathode exhibited satisfactory reversibility of 841 mAh/g with a high capacity retention of 91 %. Additionally, it displayed high coulombic efficiency (CE) values exceeding 97 % over 100 cycles at a current rate of 0.5C. Furthermore, the electrode demonstrated low polarization and exhibited an excellent rate performance, delivering a capacity of 575 mAh/g at the high rate of 3C. This study synthesized a promising sulfur cathode for enhancing the electrochemical performance of Li-S batteries.

Numerical design of a flow restrictor for tanked liquid nitrogen undergoing reduced-gravity flights

NASA and the United States are designing multiple reduced-gravity cryogenic payloads to study various two-phase flow phenomena that will be ground-tested and subsequently flight-tested onboard parabolic flights. The setup will undergo 25+ parabolas per flight, during which liquid nitrogen will be cyclically or continuously demanded from a supply Dewar. The minimum gravity level during a parabolic maneuver is 0 ± 0.05 g, which can last around 20 seconds, and the maximum expected gravity is 2 g, which lasts for 40-50 seconds. This Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) study focuses on the design and optimization of a bi-directional perforated plate and a ring baffle to help ensure single-phase liquid nitrogen outflow during all flight phases, regardless of supply tank liquid level or gravity level. CFD analyses carried out using ANSYS FLUENT indicate that a double perforated plate with an open area percent equal or less than 0.63% can achieve high values of expulsion efficiency. Structural analyses performed using the ANSYS Static Structural solver determined the minimum plate thickness needed to withstand gravitational and hydrodynamic forces experienced during the flight.

Performance enhancement of dye solar cell using mixed synthetic organic dyes

The potential of dyes derived from Bromophenol and Rhodamine, both as single and mixed dyes, in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) to achieve panchromatic light harvesting and enhance cell performance is assessed in this study. The study finds that a high molar extinction coefficient caused by the combined properties of the dyes matched with the spectrum area where the novel sensitizers deficit light-harvesting, indicating effective co-sensitization. To ascertain the dyes' characteristics and appropriateness as sensitizers, a variety of methods, including cyclic voltammetry, UV–Vis spectroscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), are used. Cyclic voltammetry results indicate that the dyes under study exhibit excellent redox stability and sufficient thermodynamic dynamic force for efficient electron introduction. According to the photovoltaic performance statistics, the mixed dye of Rhodamine and Bromophenol based cell had the maximum efficiency (η) and power (Jsc) are 4.06 mA and 1.29 %, respectively. This is made feasible by photosensitive light-harvesting, remarkable visual activity, and sufficient energy levels. Acidified mixed dyes were more able to load on the TiO2 surface due to their homogenous dispersion, reduced steric barriers, and multi-anchor group connected to the semiconductor surface. With such novel mixed dye, it is expected that the mixed dye with not only high efficiency but higher Jsc value will be an alternative to single dyed based DSSCs.

Assessing the efficiency of active sampling methods for fishes in neotropical streams of the Caatinga Biome, Northeast Brazil

ABSTRACT This study aims to evaluate the efficiency of electric fishing and seine-net/dip-net to obtain quantitative and qualitative data on the fish community of low conductivity streams in the semi-arid region of Bahia, Brazil. Samplings were collected in 15 streams in the region of Chapada Diamantina. Two homogeneous stretches with 50 m each were selected and closed with blocking nets. Zippin analysis was used to evaluate the suitability of each capture method. Differences in abundance, richness, composition of species, and length of specimens captured were compared for each method. Twenty-nine species were collected, twenty-four using electric fishing, and twenty-one using seine-net/dip-net. There were no significant differences between methods as for abundance, richness, composition of species, and length of the individual captured. There were no significant differences in capturability. Both methods have high values of sample efficiency (SE). Therefore, electric fishing and seine-net/dip-net are equally effective on describing qualitatively and quantitatively the fish community. It is noteworthy that for an ideal choice of collection method, the geomorphological characteristics of the streams must be taken into account since they exert a direct influence on both collection methods.

Optimizing Pelton turbine performance: unveiling the power of three nozzles for maximum efficiency and sustainable hydropower generation

Water energy is one of the potential renewable energy, the problem so far has a low efficiency of the blade Pelton shape. So it takes a series of tools to know characteristics and performance of the Pelton turbine as a hydroelectric power plant in this research. Pelton turbines work by utilizing the potential energy of water stored at a certain head, which flows through a penstock/pipe that is equipped with a nozzle at the end. The high head causes the water to be under high pressure when it reaches the nozzle. The water coming out of the nozzle becomes kinetic energy in the form of a pressurized water jet, which is used to rotate the runner of the Pelton turbine. In this study, the effect of the number of nozzles used to rotate the Pelton turbine was analyzed, with the result that the number of nozzles is directly proportional to the efficiency of the Pelton turbine. Where the highest efficiency value is obtained by using 3 nozzles with a maximum efficiency value of 13.7 %, at 2 nozzles of 12.209 % and at 1 nozzle of 8.82 %.