Significant Untapped Resource Research Articles

Processes of Metal Oxides Catalyst on Conversion of Spent Coffee Grounds into Rich-Synthesis Gas by Gasification

Spent coffee grounds (SCGs), a waste product of the coffee industry, present a significant untapped resource for fuel production. This study aims to optimize the gasification of SCG using various metal catalysts (NiO, MnO2, Al2O3, and Fe2O3) to maximize syngas yield. SCG samples were gasified at different temperatures (800 °C, 900 °C, 1000 °C) and analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TG-DTA), and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to evaluate catalyst performance and reaction mechanisms. The findings indicated that utilizing mixing techniques for physical contact to introduce catalysts led to a uniform distribution of catalyst particles throughout the sample. The decomposition rate of the gasification experiment after adding the catalyst was 24% faster than that of the pure SCGs. In the gasification experiment, the MnO2 catalyst showed the highest CO production, which was 71% higher than that of NiO under the same conditions. At this temperature, MnO2 generated around 171% more CO than at 800 °C, surpassing the yields observed with other catalysts. The study concludes that Mn emerged as the most promising catalyst, significantly improving both CO and CH4 yields. Selecting the appropriate metal catalyst and optimizing operational temperatures are crucial for enhancing the efficiency of SCG gasification.

A community health worker led approach to cardiovascular disease prevention in the UK-SPICES-Sussex (scaling-up packages of interventions for cardiovascular disease prevention in selected sites in Europe and Sub-saharan Africa): an implementation research project.

This paper describes a UK-based study, SPICES-Sussex, which aimed to co-produce and implement a community-based cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk assessment and reduction intervention to support under-served populations at moderate risk of CVD. The objectives were to enhance stakeholder engagement; to implement the intervention in four research sites and to evaluate the use of Voluntary and Community and Social Enterprises (VCSE) and Community Health Worker (CHW) partnerships in health interventions. A type three hybrid implementation study design was used with mixed methods data. This paper represents the process evaluation of the implementation of the SPICES-Sussex Project. The evaluation was conducted using the RE-AIM framework. Reach: 381 individuals took part in the risk profiling questionnaire and forty-one women, and five men participated in the coaching intervention. Effectiveness: quantitative results from intervention participants showed significant improvements in CVD behavioural risk factors across several measures. Qualitative data indicated high acceptability, with the holistic, personalised, and person-centred approach being valued by participants. Adoption: 50% of VCSEs approached took part in the SPICES programme, The CHWs felt empowered to deliver high-quality and mutually beneficial coaching within a strong project infrastructure that made use of VCSE partnerships. Implementation: Co-design meetings resulted in local adaptations being made to the intervention. 29 (63%) of participants completed the intervention. Practical issues concerned how to embed CHWs in a health service context, how to keep engaging participants, and tensions between research integrity and the needs and expectations of those in the voluntary sector. Maintenance: Several VCSEs expressed an interest in continuing the intervention after the end of the SPICES programme. Community-engagement approaches have the potential to have positively impact the health and wellbeing of certain groups. Furthermore, VCSEs and CHWs represent a significant untapped resource in the UK. However, more work needs to be done to understand how links between the sectors can be bridged to deliver evidence-based effective alternative preventative healthcare. Reaching vulnerable populations remains a challenge despite partnerships with VCSEs which are embedded in the community. By showing what went well and what did not, this project can guide future work in community engagement for health.

Bayesian Calibration of a Natural State Geothermal Reservoir Model, Krafla, North Iceland

AbstractThe Krafla area in north Iceland hosts a high‐temperature geothermal system within a volcanic caldera. Temperature measurements from boreholes drilled for power generation reveal enigmatic contrasts throughout the drilled area. While wells in the western part of the production field indicate a 0.5–1 km thick near‐isothermal (∼210°C) liquid‐dominated reservoir underlain by a deeper boiling reservoir, wells in the east indicate boiling conditions extending from the surface to the maximum depth of drilled wells (∼2 km). Understanding these systematic temperature contrasts in terms of the subsurface permeability structure has remained challenging. Here, we present a new numerical model of the natural, pre‐exploitation state of the Krafla system, incorporating a new geologic/conceptual model and a version of TOUGH2 extending to supercritical conditions. The model shows how the characteristic temperature distribution results from structural partitioning of the system by a rift‐parallel eruptive fissure and an aquitard at the transition between deeper basement intrusions and high‐permeability extrusive volcanic rocks. As model calibration is performed using a Bayesian framework, the posterior results reveal significant uncertainty in the inferred permeability values for the different rock types, often exceeding two orders of magnitude. While the model shows how zones of single‐phase supercritical vapor develop above the deep intrusive heat source, more data from deep wells is needed to better constrain the extent and temperature of the deep supercritical zones. However, the model suggests the presence of a significant untapped resource at Krafla.

The “Lost” Scenes fromThe Merry Wives of Windsor: Robertson Davies’s Shakespearean Hoax

This article introduces a hitherto unpublished dramatic script by Robertson Davies: a set of scenes interpolated into the Stratford Festival’s 1956 production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Although these pseudo-Elizabethan additions were first performed as an elaborate prank on Stratford audience members and theatre critics, this article argues that Davies’s work represents a major unacknowledged contribution to the performance history of Merry Wives. Working in collaboration with director Michael Langham, Davies drew on the hypotheses of early twentieth-century textual editors to reconstruct a more narratively “complete” version of the play. In its integration of scholarship and playwriting, Davies’s script not only anticipated later scholarly reconstructions of plays such as Pericles and Cardenio, but it also remains a significant untapped resource for theatre directors today.

Problems of small business development and their influence on the migration activity of the population in mountain areas of the Carpathian region of Ukraine

The basic prerequisites for the development of small business in mountain regions and the degree of their differentiation with other territories of the Carpathian region of Ukraine are generalized. The paper establishes that the increase of business activity of the population, increase of scale and efficiency of activity of small business entities as a source of job creation, increase of employment and increase of residents’ well-being are a significant untapped resource for the development of mountain regions of Ukraine. The main obstacles to the development of small business in the mountain regions of Ukraine, which accelerate the migration activity of the population in the course of conservation, are characterized. Based on the results of public polls, the causes that led to the deterioration of the functional characteristics of small business in the Carpathian region of Ukraine are identified and the deficiencies of the state migration policy in the context of mountain areas development are highlighted. The paper outlines the perspective directions of development and increase of functioning efficiency of small business in the mountain regions of the Carpathian region of Ukraine, including: opening of new business objects, starting their own business, including at the expense of employees, creation of clusters (other local integrated structures), launching and expanding cooperative practices, creating new business entities, increasing the number of employees in the small business sector. Measures have been developed to support and create an enabling environment for the development of small business as a leading factor in maintaining demo-reproductive potential and eliminating disparities in the socio-economic development of the mountainous regions of the Carpathian region of Ukraine. The whole set of measures is combined in several directions: improvement of financial resources for small business; improving the business environment for small business development; improvement of regulatory regulation of small business development.

A new technology for cost effective low grade waste heat recovery

Exergyn has developed the Exergyn Drive™, an innovative, new engine cycle which runs on hot water. This technology will enable low-grade waste heat (“LGWH”) to be recovered cost effectively for the first time, with attractive returns on investment and rapid payback. LGWH is heat below 100°C and there is no cost effective solution commercially available and, as 63% of waste heat is at a temperature below 100°C, there is a significant untapped resource. Cost effectiveness is the key barriers that have left this market untapped. Exergyn’s technology will change this as it is very simple, which allows costs to be reduced, and will enable LGWH to be recovered in a wide range of applications to deliver low cost, zero emission electricity on demand. The Exergyn Drive™ applies a solid state drive to utilise hot water of suitable temperatures (c. 90°C) from sources such as reciprocating engines, industrial processes or geothermal resources. Installation is also simple, potentially a flow and return from the heat source and an electrical hook up utilising heat directly from engine jackets without the need for heat exchangers, which enhances efficiency and reduces costs. The low through life costs give, making low grade waste heat recovery attractive for the first time.

Ginseng Metabolites on Cancer Chemoprevention: An Angiogenesis Link?

Cancer is a leading cause of death in the United States. Angiogenesis inhibitors have been introduced for the treatment of cancer. Based on the fact that many anticancer agents have been developed from botanical sources, there is a significant untapped resource to be found in natural products. American ginseng is a commonly used herbal medicine in the U.S., which possesses antioxidant properties. After oral ingestion, natural ginseng saponins are biotransformed to their metabolites by the enteric microbiome before being absorbed. The major metabolites, ginsenoside Rg3 and compound K, showed significant potent anticancer activity compared to that of their parent ginsenosides Rb1, Rc, and Rd. In this review, the molecular mechanisms of ginseng metabolites on cancer chemoprevention, especially apoptosis and angiogenic inhibition, are discussed. Ginseng gut microbiome metabolites showed significant anti-angiogenic effects on pulmonary, gastric and ovarian cancers. This review suggests that in addition to the chemopreventive effects of ginseng compounds, as angiogenic inhibitors, ginsenoside metabolites could be used in combination with other cancer chemotherapeutic agents in cancer management.

ODIN: the ORCID and DataCite interoperability network

Research data is increasingly seen as the most significant untapped resource in scholarship. Awareness and practice of referencing and citing research data is increasing, and different initiatives to unambiguously identify datasets are in place. Steps are being taken to identify the individuals who created or contributed to research outputs. Lack of interoperability between the different initiatives to identify datasets and contributors remains a major hurdle. The ODIN project (ORCID and DataCite Interoperability Network) tries to address this need. ODIN builds on the ORCID and DataCite initiatives to uniquely identify scientists and data sets and connect this information across multiple services and infrastructures. It aims to address some of the critical open questions in the area. We describe a conceptual model to solve the interoperability between different identifiers for data and people.

Abstract B28: Chemoprevention of colorectal cancer: Does American ginseng play a role?

Abstract Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Based on the fact that many anticancer agents are developed from botanical sources, there is a significant untapped resource to be found in natural products. American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) is a commonly used herbal medicine in the United States. Several epidemiological studies have suggested that ginseng can prevent or treat human malignancies. However, the chemopreventive effects of ginseng and its active compounds on CRC are largely unknown. It is believed that the bioactive constituents of ginseng are a group of triterpenoid glycosides, or ginsenosides. After oral ingestion, ginsenosides can be transformed to their metabolites in the gut before absorption into the body. We performed a pilot clinical study to evaluate the absorption of ginseng compounds. Six healthy human subjects received a single oral dose of 10 g of American ginseng root powder, and blood samples were collected at 0-12 h. Plasma levels of ginsenosides and their metabolites were determined with ultra-performance liquid chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/TOF-MS). To validate the data observed in the clinical study, we performed an in vitro biotransformation study on ginseng extract using human microbiota. To test the biological efficacy of ginsenosides and their metabolites, a panel of human CRC wells was used to determine their antiproliferative efficacy. The in vivo antitumor potential and involved mechanisms of the active metabolites were also evaluated. Ginsenosides Rb1, Rd, Rg2 and compound K (CK) were detected in human plasma at different points in time. The peak level of Rb1 was 19.90 ± 5.43 ng/ml at 4 h, and CK was detected from 7 h to 12 h with 7.32 ± 1.35 ng/ml at 12 h. Since the last time point was at 12 h, the peak level of CK was not observed. The areas under the concentration curves (AUC) from 0 to 12 h were 155.0 ± 19.5 ng·h/ml for Rb1 and 26.4 ± 6.4 ng·h/ml for CK, respectively. The delayed tmax of CK compared to the parent compounds suggested that intestinal microbiota may be critical in transforming Rb1 to CK. To test this hypothesis, fecal microflora from a healthy human subject was employed to transform the ginseng extract. After LC/Q-TOF-MS analysis, 25 metabolites were identified from biotransformed ginseng extract, in which the three most abundant metabolites were ginsenosides Rg3, F2 and CK. This result supported our clinical observations. Subsequent biological evaluation indicated that CK had significant antiproliferative effects in HCT-116, SW-480 and HT-29 human CRC cells at concentrations of 30-50 μM. At the same concentrations, Rb1 did not have any effect. In vivo data showed that the intraperitoneal administration of CK significantly inhibited CRC xenograft tumor growth, and the higher dose (30 mg/kg) exhibited a stronger antitumor effect (P < 0.01) than the lower dose (15 mg/kg) (P < 0.05). We observed that CK arrested the cell cycle in the G1 phase and induced cell apoptosis. CK-induced CRC cell death is mediated by multiple pathways, including ATM/p53-p21, PI3K/Akt and TGF-β. In conclusion, data from our in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies suggested that the intestinal microbiota metabolite CK, not Rb1, could be a promising ginseng-derived compound to prevent CRC. American ginseng plays a key role in colorectal cancer chemoprevention (Grant support: NIH/NCCAM AT004418 and AT005362). Citation Format: Chong-Zhi Wang, Samantha Anderson, Chun-Su Yuan. Chemoprevention of colorectal cancer: Does American ginseng play a role? [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2013 Oct 27-30; National Harbor, MD. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2013;6(11 Suppl): Abstract nr B28.

Nursing Leadership: Ten Compelling Reasons for Having a Nurse Leader on the Hospital Board

Much has been written about the importance of having physicians on the hospital board. Until recently, however, few articles have appeared in support of similar representation by nurse leaders. Most of what has been written has focused mainly on the contributions nurse leaders can make in the areas of quality of care and patient safety. 1–4 Although these are valid considerations, they are incomplete. There are a number of other important areas where nurse leaders can add value. The purpose of this article is to provide a broader view of the potential benefits that nursing leadership can bring to the hospital boardroom. Nurse leaders constitute a significant untapped resource that can help fulfill governance responsibilities in the challenging times ahead.

The mitochondrial pathway is involved in American ginseng-induced apoptosis of SW-480 colon cancer cells

Numerous effective anticancer drugs have been developed from botanical sources, and there remains a significant untapped resource in herbal medicines. In this study, we evaluated the chemical composition of extracts from American ginseng after steaming, the antiproliferative effects of the ginsenosides in the extracts on SW-480 human colorectal cancer cells, and their apoptotic mechanisms. American ginseng roots were steamed at 120 degrees C for 2 or 4 h. Representative ginsenosides in the unsteamed and steamed extracts were determined using HPLC. The antiproliferative effects of the ginsenosides Rb1, Rg3 and Rh2 on SW-480 cells were determined by the MTS method. The effect of extract steamed for 4 h on apoptosis of SW-480 cell was assayed by flow cytometry after staining with annexin V/PI. The expression of 84 apoptotic-related genes, including TNF, mitochondria and p53 pathways, was determined using real-time quantitative PCR array analysis. The mitochondrial membrane potential (Deltapsim) was analyzed after staining with FC-1. Steaming of American ginseng increased Rg3 and Rh2 content and antiproliferative activity significantly. The quantitative PCR array data demonstrated that multiple genes in mitochondrial pathway are involved in American ginseng-induced apoptosis of SW-480 cells and the expression profiling was validated by the cellular functional assay. The mitochondrial pathway may play a key role in American ginseng-mediated cancer cell apoptosis.

How to Go to Heaven, or How Heaven Goes? Natural Science and Interpretation in Cotton Mather's “Biblia Americana” (1693–1728)

Cotton Mather (1663–1728), New England's Puritan polymath, participated in a global academic network. In his immense commentary “Biblia Americana,” a significant untapped resource of American intellectual history, he evaluated early Enlightenment scholarship as he weighed in on such hotly debated issues as the creation story, Noah's flood, and the Mosaic miracles.

Reuse of state hospital property, 1970-1985.

The results of the property reuse questionnaire demonstrate that surplus state hospital property has been put to a wide variety of uses by many types of organizations. The scope of the reuse activities has been particularly significant. One might have expected that the stigma of mental illness would have limited the types of reuse activities to those related to corrections and to the provision of mental health services. However, the large number of reuse activities associated with education, office space, recreation, and housing uncovered by the survey indicate that state psychiatric hospital property offers a wide range of opportunities for reuse. The findings from the survey thus suggest that it may be possible to more fully exploit the surplus property belonging to state psychiatric hospitals. Conceivably property reuse may represent a significant untapped resource for financing hospital budgets and other mental health activities. Many questions about reuse of state hospital property, however, still ne...