Production Methods Research Articles

Electrodialysis as a Method for LiOH Production: Cell Configurations and Ion‐Exchange Membranes

Electrodialysis as a Method for LiOH Production: Cell Configurations and Ion‐Exchange Membranes

LC-MS/MS-based quantitative method and metrological traceability technology for measuring components of animal origin in beef and lamb and their products

Establishing a quantitative detection method for adulterated meat products is crucial for ensuring food safety. However, due to the lack of metrological traceability in current quantitative methods, poor reliability and comparability always occur when measuring adulterated meat. Therefore, this study established an accurate quantitative method with metrological traceability for the quantitative analysis of pork and duck meat added to beef, lamb, and their products. We took the amino acid certified reference materials (CRMs) as the source of traceability, and traced the quantitative peptide concentrations of adulterated beef, lamb and their products to SI. Finally, the quantitative method has high accuracy and high repeatability and we utilized it to achieve accurate quantification of adulterated meat products, with an uncertainty range of 10.7 %–18.5 %, k = 2.

Investigating aquaculture farmers' preferences for multiobjective green production schemes: A discrete choice experiment in China

In recent years, the objectives of green agricultural development have increasingly diversified, incorporating food safety, pollution control, and resource conservation. This diversification has further heightened the potential for conflicts between policy objectives and the individual interests of farmers. Understanding farmer trade-offs with respect to multiobjective green production (MOGP) policies is crucial for the comprehensive implementation of agricultural green development policies. The green and healthy aquaculture action (GHAA) encompassing multiple green technology objectives promoted by the Chinese government provides a favorable policy context. On the basis of the policy background of the GHAA, this study utilized the choice experiment method (CEM) to explore the preferences of aquaculture farmers for various green technology objectives and supporting measures. The results indicate that aquaculture farmers are willing to make trade-offs among various green technology objectives with the support of specific measures to transform traditional production methods. Farmers have varying preferences for different green technology objectives. Overall, they tend to prefer implementing compound feed utilization but are averse to implementing aquaculture effluent treatment. In terms of support measures, providing technical guidance is more effective than providing aquaculture insurance in incentivizing farmers to participate in MOGP schemes. Further analysis indicates that there are three latent preference classes, which differ in their preferences for green technology objectives and support measures. Age, gender, aquaculture area, risk preferences, and participation in cooperatives explain the probability of preference class membership.

Iron-MOFs for Biomedical Applications.

Over the past two decades, iron-based metal-organic frameworks (Fe-MOFs) have attracted significant research interest in biomedicine due to their low toxicity, tunable degradability, substantial drug loading capacity, versatile structures, and multimodal functionalities. Despite their great potential, the transition of Fe-MOFs-based composites from laboratory research to clinical products remains challenging. This review evaluates the key properties that distinguish Fe-MOFs from other MOFs and highlights recent advances in synthesis routes, surface engineering, and shaping technologies. In particular, it focuses on their applications in biosensing, antimicrobial, and anticancer therapies. In addition, the review emphasizes the need to develop scalable, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective production methods for additional Fe-MOFs to meet the specific requirements of various biomedical applications. Despite the ability of Fe-MOFs-based composites to combine therapies, significant hurdles still remain, including the need for a deeper understanding of their therapeutic mechanisms and potential risks of resistance and overdose. Systematically addressing these challenges could significantly enhance the prospects of Fe-MOFs in biomedicine and potentially facilitate their integration into mainstream clinical practice.

Cr-doped tri-metallic nano prism catalyst for efficient alkaline and seawater splitting

Electrochemical water splitting is one of the most promising methods for sustainable production of green hydrogen. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a crucial step in the process of water splitting. However, it exhibits sluggish kinetics and requires a significant overpotential for functioning at reasonable reactionrates. The efficiency of the reaction can be enhanced by reducing the overpotential, lowering the energy barrier, and using an effective electrocatalyst. Transition metal-basedcatalysts are well studied for this purpose. Specially, nickel–cobalt (Ni-Co) based catalysts have been regarded as the best OER electrocatalysts. Therefore, several studies have been carried out to enhance the electrocatalytic efficiency of Ni-Co catalysts. While mixing other transition metals with Ni-Co is a straightforward and reliable method to improve the OER activity of Ni-Co catalysts, there is still a need for a thorough examination of the design of Ni-Co catalysts with various additional elements. Seawater electrolysis, which utilizes abundant water resources that constitute over 97% of the world’s water, is highly appealing for sustainable energy production. To achieve commercial feasibility, scientists are striving to solve challenges, such as corrosion resistance, highoverpotential, and the need for efficient and durable electrocatalysts.In this study, we fabricated a transition metal-based trimetallic catalyst (CNF), consisting of cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), and iron (Fe). Furthermore, CNF was doped with chromium (Cr-doped CNF) and tested for the OER in alkaline freshwater and alkaline seawater. Our Cr-doped trimetallic CNF catalyst demonstrates exceptional performance in both seawater and freshwater, with overpotential of 320 mV and 280 mV at 10 mA cm−2 current density, making it a promising candidate for large-scale, sustainable hydrogen production.

A strategic evaluation of BIM-driven information management in the context of ISO 19650-2 standard

PurposeThis paper presents an in-depth evaluation of BIM-driven information management in the context of ISO 19650-2. The study aimed to understand and evaluate the existing mechanisms and the recommended activities and tasks of collaborative information management, particularly as the Turkish AEC organizations are currently implementing ISO 19650-2.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed a qualitative research design based on information management stages of ISO 19650-2. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with purposefully selected professionals. The framework analyses were made with MAXQDA through conceptual coding to identify current drivers, challenges and incentives for BIM-driven information management. The frequencies of common themes, required tasks and semantic relationships were reported systematically and interpreted to provide a conceptual implementation map, practical insights and actionable recommendations.FindingsThe study results encompass strategies for establishing new tasks and implementation procedures to uphold business value by aligning information management standards with evolving project requirements, providing detailed and responsive EIRs, early use of CDEs, compliant production methods, clarity of roles and responsibilities, increased organizational capacity and capabilities, sustained planning and production quality and leveraging lessons learned.Originality/valueThe study provides evidence-based arguments and strategic insights for BIM-driven information management, focusing on the current implementation compatibilities with ISO 19650-2. Findings and discussions highlight the necessity of industry-wide transformations, reengineered activities/tasks and compliant information flows, which are crucial for adopting ISO 19650-2 and the formulation of national annex documents.

Development of biocatalysts for high-value-added compounds.

High-value-added compounds, such as monoterpenoids, are an important industrial targets because they are an essential group of compounds for pharmaceutical and industrial applications. Meanwhile, the depletion of natural resources and climate change demands sustainable production methods. In recent years, biocatalysis, which allows microbial bioproduction by regio- and stereo-selective reaction under mild conditions, has been attracted researchers' attention as a possible alternative to conventional methods. In this mini-review, we focus on the identification of biotransformation pathways in the non-model microorganism Acinetobacter sp. Tol 5 using geraniol, a representative monoterpenoid, and on the construction of an unconventional bioproduction method for high-value-added monoterpenoid (E)-geranic acid, which has great potential for industrial applications. This method offers a more environmentally friendly approach and insights contribute to optimizing biotransformation and bioproduction strategies for high-value-added compounds.

Innovations in Engineering and Technology of Worm-Type Gears

Relatively small changes in engineering and technology of traditional established products turn over time into a series of milestones that determine both technical characteristics and production methods, and as a consequence - the competitiveness of the final product. Accordingly, it is relevant to periodically look at the evolution of the accumulated solutions and make some conclusions on it. For this purpose, the paper reviews innovations in design and production of worm-type gears obtained in Izhevsk scientific school in the field of gears for the last two decades: spiroid gears operating at low rotational speeds and transmitting high loads, leading to plastic deformations due to compactness of gears; spiroid gears with small gear ratios (3...8) competing with more expensive in production bevel and hypoid ones; worm gears with steel hardened gearwheels with increased strength and manufacturability; planetary spiroid gears providing extremely high gear ratio, improved methods and techniques of design and preproduction of gear cutting. The paper presents the review of innovations in design of worm-type gears made in Izhevsk scientific school in the field of gears for the last two decades: spiroid gears for cases of low speeds and small gear ratios, worm gears with steel hardened gearwheels, planetary and spiroid gears, improved methods and techniques of design and preparation of gear cutting.

Disinformation, Fakes and Propaganda Identifying Methods in Online Messages Based on NLP and Machine Learning Methods

A new method of propaganda analysis is proposed to identify signs and change the dynamics of the behaviour of coordinated groups based on machine learning at the processing disinformation stages. In the course of the work, two models were implemented to recognise propaganda in textual data - at the message level and the phrase level. Within the framework of solving the problem of analysis and recognition of text data, in particular, fake news on the Internet, an important component of NLP technology (natural language processing) is the classification of words in text data. In this context, classification is the assignment or assignment of textual data to one or more predefined categories or classes. For this purpose, the task of binary text classification was solved. Both models are built based on logistic regression, and in the process of data preparation and feature extraction, such methods as vectorisation using TF-IDF vectorisation (Term Frequency – Inverse Document Frequency), the BOW model (Bag-of-Words), POS marking (Part-Of-Speech), word embedding using the Word2Vec two-layer neural network, as well as manual feature extraction methods aimed at identifying specific methods of political propaganda in texts are used. The analogues of the project under development are analysed the subject area (the propaganda used in the media and the basis of its production methods) is studied. The software implementation is carried out in Python, using the seaborn, matplotlib, genism, spacy, NLTK (Natural Language Toolkit), NumPy, pandas, scikit-learn libraries. The model's score for propaganda recognition at the phrase level was obtained: 0.74, and at the message level: 0.99. The implementation of the results will significantly reduce the time required to make the most appropriate decision on the implementation of counter-disinformation measures concerning the identified coordinated groups of disinformation generation, fake news and propaganda. Different classification algorithms for detecting fake news and non-fakes or fakes identification accuracy from Internet resources ana social mass media are used as the decision tree (for non-fakes identification accuracy 0.98 and fakes identification accuracy 0.9903), the k-nearest neighbours (0.83/0.999), the random forest (0.991/0.933), the multilayer perceptron (0.9979/0.9945), the logistic regression (0.9965/0.9988), and the Bayes classifier (0.998/0.913). The logistic regression (0.9965) the multilayer perceptron (0.9979) and the Bayesian classifier (0.998) are more optimal for non-fakes news identification. The logistic regression (0.9988), the multilayer perceptron (0.9945), and k-nearest neighbours (0.999) are more optimal for identifying fake news identification.

Comprehensive Review on Bubbles: Synthesis, Modification, Characterization and Biomedical Applications.

Accurate detection, treatment, and imaging of diseases are important for effective treatment outcomes in patients. In this regard, bubbles have gained much attention, due to their versatility. Bubbles usually 1 nm to 10 μm in size can be produced and loaded with a variety of lipids, polymers, proteins, and therapeutic and imaging agents. This review details the different production and loading methods for bubbles, for imaging and treatment of diseases/conditions such as cancer, tumor angiogenesis, thrombosis, and inflammation. Bubbles can also be used for perfusion measurements, important for diagnostic and therapeutic decision making in cardiac disease. The different factors important in the stability of bubbles and the different techniques for characterizing their physical and chemical properties are explained, for developing bubbles with advanced therapeutic and imaging features. Hence, the review provides important insights for researchers studying bubbles for biomedical applications.

Chemistry of Antimony in Radiopharmaceutical Development: Unlocking the Theranostic Potential of Sb Isotopes.

Antimony-119 (119Sb) holds promise for radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT), emitting short-range Auger and conversion electrons that can deliver cytotoxic radiation on a cellular level. While it has high promise theoretically, experimental validation is necessary for 119Sb in vivo applications. Current 119Sb production and separation methods face robustness and compatibility challenges in radiopharmaceutical synthesis. Limited progress in chelator development hampers targeted experiments with 119Sb. This review compiles literature on the toxicological, biodistribution and redox properties of Sb, along with existing Sb complexes, evaluating their suitability for radiopharmaceuticals. Sb(III) is suggested as the preferred oxidation state for radiopharmaceutical elaboration due to its stability in vivo and lack of skeletal uptake. While Sb complexes with both hard and soft donor atoms can be achieved, Sb thiol complexes offer enhanced stability and compatibility with the desired Sb(III) oxidation state. For 119Sb to find application in RPT, scientists need to make discoveries and advancements in the areas of isotope production, and radiometal chelation. This review aims to guide future research towards harnessing the therapeutic potential of 119Sb in RPT.

A systematic quality-integrated diagnostic method for complex product assembly using multi-task spatial–temporal transfer learning

The assembly process is generally considered one of the primary factors influencing the quality of complex products. Currently, most existing quality-integrated diagnostic methods for products tend to deteriorate over different processes and degrade over time. To address this issue, this paper introduces a systematic quality-integrated diagnostic method for complex product assembly processes. First, the influence factors and error sources in the complex assembly process are analyzed using the 5M1E and FAHP methodologies. Next, similarity-based multi-task clustering and dismantling using RGMM is applied to divide the assembly tasks. Finally, MMD-MSE is employed to develop a quality prediction model for the complex assembly process using a spatial–temporal transfer learning approach. Experiments were conducted on an array antenna assembly task, comparing the proposed method with conventional methods. The results show that the accuracy and PrUP of the proposed model are 97.6% and 95.2%, respectively, for the quality-integrated diagnostic of complex assembly processes, with a fluctuation in accuracy of less than 6%. The diagnostic results effectively meet expert evaluations and provide a stable, reliable, and practical solution for addressing quality fluctuations in complex production assembly processes.

Geographical indication of coffee in Brazil: identification and effects of the critical success factors towards sustainability

The Geographical Indication (GI) is more than just a mechanism for protecting farmers. This mechanism, materialized by a sign of geographical identity, determines differentiation and added value in a complex process that requires an intense effort of governance and cooperativism. The aim of this study was to analyze the critical success factors for increasing competitiveness and sustainability in the process of geographical identification for certified coffee producers in the Espírito Santo do Pinhal region of Brazil. Factors such as market arrangements, production techniques, quality differentiation, price formation, cost structure, organization and articulation around the construction and maintenance of the market by producers in this region were analyzed. The proposed methodology used an analytical framework of the certification of origin market that correlates market practices with production arrangements in a longitudinal process, considering their challenges and impacts. The results indicate that critical success factors (CSFs) identified in the certification of GIs for coffee producers are related to strong cooperative and associative actions and the presence of entities that coordinate the acquisition process and establish the rules and obligations of those involved, always aiming to encourage investment in technology and technification in pursuit of efficiency and the quality of the final product. In addition, strict control of the production method, avoiding the use of production techniques that harm the environment with good coffee-growing practices, contributes to obtaining and maintaining the GI as well as to develop appropriate attributes of sustainability.

Large-scale fabrication of meta-axicon with circular polarization on CMOS platform

Abstract Metasurfaces, consisting of arrays of subwavelength structures, are lightweight and compact while being capable of implementing the functions of traditional bulky optical components. Furthermore, they have the potential to significantly improve complex optical systems in terms of space and cost, as they can simultaneously implement multiple functions. The wafer-scale mass production method based on the CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) process plays a crucial role in the modern semiconductor industry. This approach can also be applied to the production of metasurfaces, thereby accelerating the entry of metasurfaces into industrial applications. In this study, we demonstrated the mass production of large-area meta-axicons with a diameter of 2 mm on an 8-inch wafer using DUV (Deep Ultraviolet) photolithography. The proposed meta-axicon designed here is based on PB (Pancharatnam–Berry) phase and is engineered to simultaneously modulate the phase and polarization of light. In practice, the fabricated meta-axicon generated a circularly polarized Bessel beam with a depth of focus (DoF) of approximately 2.3 mm in the vicinity of 980 nm. We anticipate that the mass production of large-area meta-axicons on this CMOS platform can offer various advantages in optical communication, laser drilling, optical trapping, and tweezing applications.

Performance of concrete beams strengthened with FRP rods: A review

Ductility is a critical property in structural engineering, ensuring that beams can undergo significant deformation before failure, thereby giving plenty of notice before disastrous collapse. This study investigates the ductility properties of constructions that have been reinforced using FRP rods, which are increasingly popular due to their corrosion resistance, superior strength with low mass, and durability. Traditional steel reinforcement has well-documented ductility properties, but FRP bars, due to their brittle nature, pose challenges in achieving the desired ductility levels in structural applications. This research evaluates various factors influencing FRP-reinforced beams' ductility, including the type of FRP material, the hybridization of FRP with other reinforcing materials, and the effect of utilizing fibres in the mixtures to enhance the mechanical characterstics of concrete. Studies have indicated that the ductility of beams can be enhanced using hybrid rebar systems, which integrate steel and fibre reinforced polymer. However, complex and expensive production methods limit their practical application. Using steel bars with FRP bars can significantly incresese seriviceability requiremts such as crack width and deflection, but they also lower corrosion resistance, especially in aggressive environments. The beams' overall ductile behavior is primarily determined by the concrete's characteristics. Fibres greatly increase the mechanical characteristics, toughness, and ductility of the concrete mix, strengthening the bond between bars and the concrete and improving the overall performance of the beam.

Inkjet assisted manufacturing of untethered magnetic devices: A comparison between three routes to pattern artificial water striders

AbstractUntethered devices controlled by an external magnetic field are becoming more and more widely used in a wealth of applicative fields: medicine, precise micromanipulation, and environment management. Their production strongly relies on the use of complex and time-consuming technologies typically borrowed from the microelectronic field. In an attempt to reduce costs and enhance manufacturing flexibility, additive manufacturing has been investigated as a relevant alternative for untethered microrobots production. Between the large number of additive manufacturing technologies, inkjet printing is relatively poorly investigated for the production of this kind of devices, and the present work aims at exploring its potential. The work establishes a comparison between different approaches for the inkjet manufacturing of magnetically guidable microdevices. In particular, it focuses on the manufacturing of fully inkjet-printed magnetic devices by proposing two methods of production. The first consists in the electroless metallization of non-magnetic devices printed with SU-8 resin, while the second is based on the inkjet printing of a dispersion of magnetic nanoparticles in SU-8 resin. As a result, inkjet-printed devices controllable by an external magnetic field can be obtained. Multi-step and one-step production methods are compared in terms of quality of the obtained elements, easiness of production, and mechanical properties. The morphology of the finished devices, their surface quality, and their magnetic actuability are analyzed and discussed.

ПРОЦЕСНО-ОРІЄНТОВАНИЙ ПІДХІД ДО ОБЛІКУ ВИТРАТ Й КАЛЬКУЛЮВАННЯ СОБІВАРТОСТІ ПРОДУКЦІЇ ПІДПРИЄМСТВ З ВИРОБНИЦТВА ЗБІРНИХ ЗАЛІЗОБЕТОННИХ КОНСТРУКЦІЙ

Costs are one of the most important economic categories, and production costs are the main indicator of construction materials industry enterprises activity. In today's difficult business conditions for Ukrainian enterprises, taking into account the specifics of the production process of companies producing prefabricated reinforced concrete structures, constant monitoring of production costs helps to maintain the profitability and competitiveness of these business entities. Therefore, the development of management tools and cost accounting using a process-oriented approach for enterprises producing building materials allows taking into account all the features of production processes influencing the size and behavior of costs. The purpose of the article is to reveal and improve the features of cost accounting and costing of products according to production processes at enterprises producing precast reinforced concrete structures. The article analyzes the main directions of classification of production processes at enterprises of the production of prefabricated reinforced concrete structures and its influence on the organization of accounting. The directions for grouping costs in production processes are detailed and attention is focused on its impact on accounting and control of the costs. This will affect the quality of management decisions and the main performance indicators of the enterprises under study. In the process of research, the main foreign methods of accounting for costs and calculating the cost of products in production processes, which are possible for use at enterprises of the production of precast reinforced concrete structures, were determined. It was found that the ABC-costing method is the most acceptable from the point of view of the technological process of manufacturing products of the studied enterprises. Its combination with the regulatory method of cost accounting and product costing will provide significant opportunities for strategic planning of production costs, will contribute to the accuracy of product costing, and will improve the process of management decision-making.

A regio-specific 4’-O-methyltransferase from Epimedium pseudowushanense regiospecifically catalyzing 8-prenylkeampferol to icaritin

Epimedium is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine and contains rich bioactive compounds. These compounds often have a methyl group at their 4’-OH position catalyzed by methyltransferases. Therefore, studying methyltransferases in Epimedium plants is of great significance. In this study, a flavonol methyltransferase, EpOMT4, was isolated from Epimedium pseudowushanense B.L. Guo. The recombinant enzyme regiospecifically transferred a methyl group to the 4’-OH position of 8-prenylkaempferol forming icaritin. The study demonstrates that enzymatic methylation of flavonoids in Epimedium plants holds significant potential and could provide a promising alternative method for the biosynthetic production of bioactive methylated prenylflavonoids.

Excellent thermal, moisture-permeable weft-knitted fabric with core-sheath yarn structure for foot protection in cold environments

In extremely cold environments, maintaining body temperature and reducing heat dissipation is essential for maintaining human health and life safety, but the field of thermal insulation shoe upper fabric has not been deeply studied. In this paper, based on the dual-scale structure of the yarn and shoe upper fabric, a composite yarn with a core-sheath structure is designed, and a using plating stitch pattern weft-knitted whole garment thermal insulation shoe upper fabric with double-layer structure is proposed. By testing the mechanical properties and thermal and moisture performance of the shoe upper fabric and the thermal insulation performance of the whole shoe, the thermal insulation mechanism of the weft-knitted whole garment shoe upper fabric with a double-layer structure and dual-scale structure design was systematically studied. The results show that the shoes made of polyimide/hollow polyester composite yarn with core-sheath structure yarn have good thermal insulation performance. The use of core-sheath yarns can improve the thermal insulation performance of the shoe, and, with the increase of the ratio of core-sheath yarn, the thermal insulation performance of the shoe is better. Starting from the dual-scale shoe fabric structure, this article proposes a novel method for the industrial production of thermal insulation shoe upper fabrics, which is expected to provide guidance for the further development of thermal insulation shoe upper fabric in the future.

Electrochemical production of zirconium silicides from KCl–K<sub>2</sub>SiF<sub>6</sub>–ZrO<sub>2</sub> melt

The unique properties of zirconium silicides attract the attention of a large number of authors from various scientific fields. Expansion of application methods also poses the challenge of developing new, more environmentally friendly and affordable methods of production. The most environmentally friendly method without equipment requirements is the electrolysis of the molten salt. The work proposes a method for producing zirconium silicides by electrolysis of the KCl–K2SiF6–ZrO2 melt. In order to substantiate the electrolysis parameters, the kinetics of cathodic reduction was studied and the limiting stage of the process was determined. The structure and phase composition of the cathode deposit were studied using X-ray diffraction and electron scanning microscopy. In the course of the work, conclusions were drawn about the change in the content of the ZrO2 additives on the morphology of the sediment, and it was also suggested that it was possible to obtain zirconium silicides from more accessible raw materials, such as zircon.