Adsorbed Natural Gas Storage for Vehicular Applications

The use of adsorbed natural gas (ANG) as a transportation fuel is a relatively cleaner alternative compared to that of gasoline and is important from the perspective of environmental safety. However, unlike gasoline and diesel, natural gas requires compression, liquefaction, and adsorption techniques for its storage, as it has a very low volumetric energy density. Among all storage techniques, adsorption-based natural gas (ANG) storage is considered as more economical and relatively safe technology due to its mild temperature and pressure conditions for the storage. This chapter will summarize the recent advances in the area of ANG with reference to various synthetic storage materials recently developed for the purpose and their efficiency towards storage and deliverability of natural gas. Particular emphasis will be given to adsorbents based on porous carbon materials, metal organic frameworks, and covalent organic frameworks for the said application. The synthetic procedure for the above adsorbents, followed by their efficiency to store and deliver natural gas, will be discussed. Finally, in the conclusion, the future scope of the technology will be summarized.

Nonthermal Mechanochemical Destruction of POPs

The present chapter is dedicated to all relevant theoretical and application aspects of mechanochemical destruction technology for mineralization of POPs, both stockpiled ones and as contaminants in environmental and waste matrices. It will show that such solid-state technology, realized by high energy milling of POPs with a co-milling solid reagent, can achieve complete mineralization of haloorganics into graphitic/amorphous carbon, carbon oxides, and halides; it takes place at near environmental temperature, thus limiting unintentional formation of dioxins (if treatment conditions are selected carefully); and, in some cases, it can be used to produce useful materials instead of just detoxified waste. The chapter will also give a comprehensive picture of complex mechanochemical destruction mechanism, including mechanochemical activation of the co-milling reagent and the cascade of radical reactions that cause POP molecules mineralization. Finally, technological and economic considerations will be provided, which corroborate the validity and feasibility of the mechanochemical destruction as an effective and safe technology to treat POPs.

Pendugaan Umur Simpan Bubuk Kopi Arabika Menggunakan Metode Arrhenius dengan Kemasan Aluminium Foil dan Plastik (Polipropilen)

The storage method is one way to maintain coffee quality. Storage with aluminum foil and plastic (PP) packaging is an effective and safe technology to protect coffee grounds. Specialty coffee powder cannot be accepted if the organoleptic score is below 80, for that it is necessary to estimate the shelf life. This study aims to analyze the quality degradation of Bondowoso arabica coffee powder based on specialty standards using the SCAA protocol during storage with aluminum foil packaging and compare it with plastic packaging (PP) and estimated the shelf life of Bondowoso arabica ground coffee products based on flavor value parameters using the arrhenius method. Coffee powder quality degradation with plastic packaging (PP) is faster than aluminum foil packaging. This is because plastic packaging on the fourth day with a temperature of 40°C is not meet specialty standards. The greater the temperature used, the greater the decrease in quality. The shelf life of coffee powder uses aluminum foil packaging, which is 3 days at 40°C, 2 days at 50°C, and 1.3 days at 60°C. Whereas with plastic packaging (PP), the shelf life is shorter, which is 2 days at 40°C, 1.2 days at 50°C and 1 day at 60°C. Keyword: accelerated Shelf-Life Testing (ASLT), aluminum foil, arabica coffee, packaging, shelf

Impacts of Prolonged Online Learning Practice during COVID-19 Epidemic on Body Functions and Wellbeing: A Review Article

The COVID-19 pandemic has had impact on life on a global scale, however, one of the most affected aspects are the teaching and learning practices. Advances in technology have made distance learning a good alternative option for on-site learning, as students can both interact with one another and with the tutor, use audio, video, text to learn, as well as use the internet for research purposes. However, this mode of education will extend throughout 2020 and early 2021, which could have negative implications on the health and body functions of university students. This review aims to shed light on the negative consequences of the prolonged technology-based, remote online learning on the students’ wellbeing. Therefore, in this review we will discuss some of the physiological functions and body systems which could be affected during the COVID-19 pandemic in an attempt to suggest preventive measures in advance for safe technology-based learning.

Research of Safe Technology of Impregnation of Heated Reinforcing Materials with Binder

Prepreg manufacturing process is one of the most important preparatory technological processes, quality of which has the decisive influence on the physical, mechanical, processing and operational characteristics of the finished composite product. However, manufacturing of prepregs is associated with a number of harmful factors, negatively affecting the participants in the technological process and the environment. Consequently, significant additional costs are required in order to ensure specified maximum permissible levels and concentrations of the harmful products released by the components of polymeric composite materials in the product manufacturing process. The paper deals with the study of peculiarities and efficiency of impregnation of the heated reinforcing material using solvent-free binder. The method for predicting the optimal process parameters of binder solutions for impregnation of prepregs, taking into account the safety of production activity, has been developed. The problem of thermal conductivity from the heated reinforcing material to the binder, which allowed establishing the law of temperature distribution over the depth of the impregnating bath, depending on the duration of continuous impregnation, has been solved. It is found that the binder, with the duration of impregnation even within one working shift, heats up to the temperatures excluding the formation of centers of exothermic polymerization reaction in it. It indicates the availability of the effective regimes of impregnation using the method under study. The paper proposes the practical ways of improvement of the investigated method of impregnation by varying the wavelength, programmed change of the temperature of the reinforcing material at the entry to the bath, and setting of the optimal coordinates of the binder supply as it is drawn in the process of continuous impregnation of the reinforcing material.

Mobile health monitoring based studies for diabetes mellitus: a review

Diabetes as a chronic disease is considered to be a serious problem not only for diabetic patients but also for caregivers, families and countries. Hazardously, as an example, 16% of the Middle East population died every year because of diabetes as it is reported by World Health Organization (WHO). Therefore, it is crucial to utilize the recent advances and technologies to find the best instrument for diabetes monitoring and management. Recently, mobile health (mHealth) technologies have a vital role in the healthcare industrial world. Undoubtedly, mHealth technologies are used to manage, track, monitor, diagnose, and prevent chronic diseases including, diabetes. Certainly, the main advantages of mHealth include a real-time and continuous monitoring with high reliability, accessibility, and availability. In addition to that, mHealth is considered to be a fast, accurate, simple, cheap, comfortable, and safe technology. Hence, the proposed study aims to review existing mHealth studies for managing, diagnosing, tracking, detecting, and predicting diabetic mellitus. Moreover, challenges and future trends of this emerging topic are also discussed.

Green Electrospinning of Polymer Latexes: A Systematic Study of the Effect of Latex Properties on Fiber Morphology

Green electrospinning is a relatively new promising technology in which a polymer (latex) can be spun from an aqueous dispersion with the help of a template polymer. This method is a green, clean and safe technology that is able to spin hydrophobic polymers using water as an electrospinning medium. In this article, a systematic study that investigates the influence of the template polymer molar mass, the total solids content of the initial dispersion and the particle/template ratio is presented. Furthermore, the influence of the surfactant used to stabilize the polymer particles, the surface functionality of the polymer particles and the use of a bimodal particle size distribution on the final fiber morphology is studied for the first time. In green electrospinning, the viscosity of the initial complex blend depends on the amount and molar mass of the template polymer but also on the total solids content of the dispersion to be spun. Thus, both parameters must be carefully taken into account in order to fine-tune the final fiber morphology. Additionally, the particle packing and the surface chemistry of the polymer particles also play an important role in the obtained nanofibers quality.

Virtual reality among children with mental disorders: A mini-review

Background: Mental disorders are a group of disorders that affect thinking and behavior by causing discomfort or disability to the person. Almost one in eight people aged 5 to 19 deals with these kinds of disorders and his or her growth may be significantly affected. It seems that using novel technologies in such cases are helpful. One of these advanced technologies, which has recently attracted a lot of attention in many fields such as health, is Virtual Reality. Therefore, the present study aimed to provide a brief review about the use of Virtual Reality among children with mental disorders. Methods: In this study, articles in which Virtual Reality were used among children dealing with mental disorders published during 2012 to 2021 were investigated. PsycINFO electronic databases, PubMed Google Scholar, Medline, were searched. Results: Children deal with different types of mental disorders and Virtual Reality has been used for many of them. The most common of them, in which Virtual Reality have been used and caused improvements include Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Depressive Disorder, Schizophrenia Disorder, and Developmental Disability. Discussion and conclusion: According to the results, Virtual Reality is a very interesting, useful, effective and safe technology for patients dealing with mental disorders especially children and adolescence. It is actually a highly specialized technology which can provide improvement, and in some cases completely new ways of treatment for children suffering from mental disorders.