Use of Hydrogen as Fuel: A Trend of the 21st Century

The unbridled use of fossil fuels is a serious problem that has become increasingly evident over the years. As such fuels contribute considerably to environmental pollution, there is a need to find new, sustainable sources of energy with low emissions of greenhouse gases. Climate change poses a substantial challenge for the scientific community. Thus, the use of renewable energy through technologies that offer maximum efficiency with minimal pollution and carbon emissions has become a major goal. Technology related to the use of hydrogen as a fuel is one of the most promising solutions for future systems of clean energy. The aim of the present review was to provide an overview of elements related to the potential use of hydrogen as an alternative energy source, considering its specific chemical and physical characteristics as well as prospects for an increase in the participation of hydrogen fuel in the world energy matrix.

Academic Stress among Rural Adolescents due to COVID -19 : A Comparative Analysis

Adolescence is a period during which individuals’ transit from puberty to adulthood. Children go through many changes throughout this time, including biological, cognitive, and emotional changes. Excessive stress caused by studies, high expectations, and lack of capacity to maintain studies is referred to as academic stress. The study’s major goal was to assess the academic stress among rural adolescents owing to COVID- 19. The study was conducted in Udaipur district of Rajasthan. For the sample selection from four villages having Sr. Sec, schools were randomly selected. From selected schools, 180 students of age group of 16-18 years were selected randomly. The sample consisted equal no. of adolescent boys and adolescent girls. Slightly modified Academic stress scale developed by Rao (2012) was used to assess academic stress in adolescent boys and girls. Collected data was further classified, in tabulated form and analyzed through using suitable statistical measures. Results indicated that adolescents’ boys and girls faced moderate to high academic stress. Furthermore, girls were facing high academic stress as compared to boys.

Effects of Calcium Sulfate Whiskers on the Mechanical Properties and Light Transmittance of PE Greenhouse Films

Calcium sulfate whisker (CSW) is a kind of fiber crystal material with high orientation structure. The major goal of this research is to study the changes of mechanical properties and light transmittance of PE greenhouse film with different proportions of CSW. The experimental results show that the mechanical properties and light transmittance of PE/CSW films are enhanced compared with the pure PE. For PE/2%CSW, it shows a 18.6% increase in tear strength, a 3.1% increase in luminous transmittance and 17.7% increase in haze. The PE/5%CSW demonstrates a 12.8% higher in tensile strength, a 20.5% higher in tear strength, a 23.9% lower in luminous transmittance and a 53.0% higher in haze. This article gives a new formula to strengthen the mechanical properties of PE greenhouse films and finds the direction for the research and development of astigmatic covering film.

Innate Immunity as an Executor of the Programmed Death of Individual Organisms for the Benefit of the Entire Population

In humans, over-activation of innate immunity in response to viral or bacterial infections often causes severe illness and death. Furthermore, similar mechanisms related to innate immunity can cause pathogenesis and death in sepsis, massive trauma (including surgery and burns), ischemia/reperfusion, some toxic lesions, and viral infections including COVID-19. Based on the reviewed observations, we suggest that such severe outcomes may be manifestations of a controlled suicidal strategy protecting the entire population from the spread of pathogens and from dangerous pathologies rather than an aberrant hyperstimulation of defense responses. We argue that innate immunity may be involved in the implementation of an altruistic programmed death of an organism aimed at increasing the well-being of the whole community. We discuss possible ways to suppress this atavistic program by interfering with innate immunity and suggest that combating this program should be a major goal of future medicine.

Reactivity of Iridium Complexes of a Triphosphorus-Pincer Ligand Based on a Secondary Phosphine. Catalytic Alkane Dehydrogenation and the Origin of Extremely High Activity

The selective functionalization of alkanes and alkyl groups is a major goal of chemical catalysis. Toward this end, a bulky triphosphine with a central secondary phosphino group, bis(2 di-t-butyl-phosphinophenyl)phosphine (tBuPHPP), has been synthesized. When complexed to iridium it adopts a meridional (“pincer”) configuration. The secondary phosphino H atom can undergo migration to iridium to give an anionic phosphido-based-pincer (tBuPPP) complex. We describe novel metal-ligand cooperativity of the iridium-phosphido unit. Stoichiometric reactions of the (tBuPPP)Ir complexes reflect a distribution of steric bulk around the iridium center in which the coordination site trans to the phosphido group is quite crowded, one coordination site cis to the phosphido is even more crowded, while the remaining site is particularly open. The (tBuPPP)Ir precursors are the most active catalysts reported to date for dehydrogenation of n-alkanes, by about two orders of magnitude. The electronic properties of the iridium center are very similar to that of well-known analogous (RPCP)Ir catalysts. Accordingly, DFT calculations predict that (tBuPPP)Ir and (tBuPCP)Ir are, intrinsically, comparably active for alkane dehydrogenation. While dehydrogenation by (RPCP)Ir proceeds through an intermediate trans-(PCP)IrH2(alkene), (tBuPPP)Ir follows a pathway proceeding via cis-(PPP)IrH2(alkene), thereby circumventing unfavorable placement of the alkene at the bulky site trans to phosphorus. (tBuPPP)Ir and (tBuPCP)Ir, however, have analogous resting states: square planar (pincer)Ir(alkene). Alkene coordination at the crowded trans site is therefore unavoidable in the resting states. Thus the resting state of the (tBuPPP)Ir catalyst is destabilized by the unusual architecture of the ligand, and this is largely responsible for its unusually high catalytic activity.

HANDLING OF CORRELATIONS OF SPECTRAL QUANTITIES IN TRACEABILITY CHAIN – BASICS FOR A PYTHON-BASED ANALYSIS FRAMEWORKE

In this contribution a framework is presented that aims to help for handling correlations within measurement uncertainty calculations for spectral quantities. Taking correlations for spectral quantities into account is necessary as they directly influence the measurement uncertainties especially for integral quantities. Therefore, determination of correlations within traceability chains at national metrology institutes (NMIs) and disseminations of correlated data to test laboratory level is encouraged and a major goal of the EMPIR project 19NRM02 “Revision and extension of standards for test methods for LED lamps, luminaires and modules” (RevStdLED). The presented python-based analysis framework is used in photometry and spectroradiometry at PTB to calculate the results and associated measurement uncertainty for spectral irradiance, spectral irradiance responsivity and luminous responsivity based on spectral calibrations.

Vocational careers of retired Olympic athletes from Switzerland: A person-oriented study

For many high-performance athletes, competing in the Olympic Games is a major goal. Achieving this goal requires more than ever substantial investments of time and personal resources towards the sports career over several years. Thus, some athletes neglect other areas of life (e.g. education), which can pose a problem for the time after high-performance sport, while other athletes pursue a dual career. Previous studies have shown that former high-performance athletes achieved higher levels of education and better vocational positions than the general population. Due to the advancing professionalization and commercialization of high-performance sport, the question emerges whether these results are valid for athletes that are more recently retired. In addition, cross-cultural generalisability of these findings are of interest. For this purpose, 341 former athletes representing Switzerland at the Olympics were surveyed about their athletic, educational, and vocational careers. It turns out that these athletes obtained more degrees of higher education than the general population. Relative to their siblings, they have higher school-leaving certificates and work in more prestigious occupations. Following the holistic-interactionistic paradigm, person-oriented analyses was performed and revealed nine – mostly satisfactory – vocational career patterns. Hence, involvement in high-performance sport facilitates rather than hinders a successful vocational career.

Genetic Variation and the Distribution of Variant Types in the Horse

Genetic variation is a key contributor to health and disease. Understanding the link between an individual’s genotype and the corresponding phenotype is a major goal of medical genetics. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) within and across populations enables highly efficient variant discovery and elucidation of the molecular nature of virtually all genetic variation. Here, we report the largest catalog of genetic variation for the horse, a species of importance as a model for human athletic and performance related traits, using WGS of 534 horses. We show the extent of agreement between two commonly used variant callers. In data from ten target breeds that represent major breed clusters in the domestic horse, we demonstrate the distribution of variants, their allele frequencies across breeds, and identify variants that are unique to a single breed. We investigate variants with no homozygotes that may be potential embryonic lethal variants, as well as variants present in all individuals that likely represent regions of the genome with errors, poor annotation or where the reference genome carries a variant. Finally, we show regions of the genome that have higher or lower levels of genetic variation compared to the genome average. This catalog can be used for variant prioritization for important equine diseases and traits, and to provide key information about regions of the genome where the assembly and/or annotation need to be improved.

Longevity Studies in the New Normal: The Move to Virtual Assessment

Extreme longevity is associated with resilience to Alzheimer’s disease. A major goal of centenarian studies is therefore to identify factors associated with maintaining cognitive function throughout life. Over the past year, two studies of centenarians and their offspring (age 60-110+ years) have pivoted from in-home assessments of cognitive and physical function to hybridized, Zoom-based assessments including comprehensive cognitive testing, blood pressure, grip strength, and accelerometry and biological sample collections. Protocols were optimized for accessibility for individuals with limited technology experience (e.g., investigator remotely controls all functions of the participant’s tablet) and sensory impairments (e.g., integration of wireless headphones) and include high-sensitivity data collection (e.g., sensor-based wearables and digital recording of cognitive test responses). Advantages of virtual administration included the ability to accommodate fatigue through multi-day assessment and to include geographically-isolated individuals. Disadvantages included participant burden due to equipment setup and inability to collect certain measures virtually (e.g., carotid ultrasounds).

Flying in the Face of Adversity: a Drosophila -Based Virtual CURE (Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience) Provides a Semester-Long Authentic Research Opportunity to the Flipped Classroom

A call for the integration of research experiences into all biology curricula has been a major goal for educational reform efforts nationally. Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) have been the predominant method of accomplishing this, but their associated costs and complex design can limit their wide adoption.