Investigating the characteristics of biomass wastes via particle feeder in downdraft gasifier.

Particle feeding plays a crucial role in the gasifier due to its effects on the efficiency and performance metrics of the thermochemical process. Investigating particle size distribution's impact on downdraft gasification reactor performance, this study delves into the significance of feedstock characteristics (moisture, volatile matter, fixed carbon, and ash contents) during the particle feeding stage. Various biomass wastes (date palm waste, olive pomace and sewage sludge) at diverse compositions and sizes are subjected to empirical determination of mass flow rates (MFR), power ratings, and storage times for each feedstock.

Experimental and numerical analysis of the emulsification of oil droplets in water with high frequency focused ultrasound.

Focused high frequency ultrasound emulsification provides significant benefits such as enhanced stability, finer droplets, elevated focal pressure, lowered power usage, minimal surfactant usage and improved dispersion. Hence, in this study, the high frequency focused ultrasound emulsification of oil droplets in water was investigated through experiments and numerical modeling. The effect of transducer power (74-400 W), frequency (1.

Techno-economic comparative assessment of the ultrasound, electrostatic and microwave supported coalescence of binary water droplets in crude oil.

In this study, comparative assessment of the technical performance, energy usage and economic impact of ultrasound, electrostatics and microwave on the coalescence of binary water droplets in crude oil was conducted. The effect of different oil properties such as crude oil viscosity (10.6-106 mPa s) and interfacial tension (IFT) (20-250 mN/m) on the coalescence time and energy consumption was examined.

Risk factors for COVID-19 infection and disease severity in Nigeria: a case-control study.

Introduction: identifying risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease severity is critical to developing measures to protect vulnerable groups. We aimed to identify risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe disease.

Methods: this was an unmatched case-control study that recruited participants in the country from April to July 2020.

Numerical assessment of ultrasound supported coalescence of water droplets in crude oil.

In this study, a numerical assessment of the coalescence of binary water droplets in water-in-oil emulsion was conducted. The investigation addressed the effect of various parameters on the acoustic pressure and coalescence time of water droplets in oil phase. These include transducer material, initial droplet diameter (0.

Challenges and adaptations to public involvement with marginalised groups during the COVID-19 pandemic: commentary with illustrative case studies in the context of patient safety research.

Patient and public involvement (PPI) is integral to research on patient safety in the NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Translational Research Centre (NIHR GMPSTRC), and is central to our patient safety research within our theme focusing on people in marginalised groups. Due to the impact of COVID-19, researchers had to adapt how they do PPI. For marginalised groups, remote working and digital adaptations (the key adaptations made in accessing and utilising health services in the United Kingdom during COVID-19) can potentially lead to further marginalisation of people already marginalised and provide new barriers to others.

The perceptions of general practice among Central and Eastern Europeans in the United Kingdom: A systematic scoping review.

Background: Around 2 million people have migrated from Central and Eastern Europe to the UK since 2004. The UK Central and Eastern European Community (UK-CEE) are disproportionately exposed to the social determinants of poor physical and mental health. Their health and healthcare beliefs remain under-researched, particularly regarding primary care.

Recent developments, challenges, and prospects of ultrasound-assisted oil technologies.

There has been consistent drive towards research and innovation in oil production technologies in order to achieve improved effectiveness and efficiency in their operation. This drive has resulted in breakthrough in technologies such as the application of ultrasound (US) in demulsification and enhanced oil recovery (EOR), and usage of high-volume hydraulic fracturing and special horizontal well for shale oil and gas extraction. These can be observed in the increment in the number of commercial oil technologies such as EOR projects that rose from 237 in 1996 to 375 in 2017.

Visual impairment and medication safety: a protocol for a scoping review.

Background: The number of individuals with a visual impairment in the UK was estimated a few years ago to be around 1.8 million. People can be visually impaired from birth, childhood, early adulthood or later in life.

Deep Eutectic Solvent Assisted Dispersion of Carbon Nanotubes in Water.

Deep Eutectic Solvents (DESs) are emerging as a promising medium for many chemical processes. They can be used to observe specific properties required for nanomaterials' applications. Controlled CO adsorption requires disaggregation of carbon nanotubes into smaller bundles which can be accomplished by dispersing them in aqueous DES system.

Polyethylene glycol-based deep eutectic solvents as a novel agent for natural gas sweetening.

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have received significant attention as potential extracting agents in recent years due to their favorable characteristics including low cost, easy preparation and environmentally safe starting materials. Experimentally screening for highly efficient DESs meeting various requirements for natural gas sweetening remains a challenging task. Thus, an extensive database of estimated Henry's law constants (Hi) and solubilities (xi) of CO2 in 170 different DESs at 25°C has been constructed using the COSMO-RS method to select potential DESs.

Observing Consistency in Online Communication Patterns for User Re-Identification.

Comprehension of the statistical and structural mechanisms governing human dynamics in online interaction plays a pivotal role in online user identification, online profile development, and recommender systems. However, building a characteristic model of human dynamics on the Internet involves a complete analysis of the variations in human activity patterns, which is a complex process. This complexity is inherent in human dynamics and has not been extensively studied to reveal the structural composition of human behavior.

Living with complexity; marshalling resources: a systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis of lived experience of mental and physical multimorbidity.

Background: Multimorbidity poses a major health burden worldwide yet most healthcare is still orientated towards the management of single diseases. Literature on the experience of living with multimorbidity is accumulating but has not yet been synthesised in a manner conducive to informing the design of self-management interventions for this population. This study aimed to systematically review and synthesise findings from published, in-depth qualitative studies about the experience of multimorbidity, with a view to identifying the components and motivation for successful self-management in this population.

Quality dynamics of maize 'tuwo' (non-fermented maize-based dumpling) as influenced by steaming of maize grits at different resident time.

This study was aimed at investigating the influence of starch pregelatinisation of maize flour, through grit steaming, on the quality characteristics of maize tuwo (non-fermented food dumpling). Maize grits were variously steamed, batchwise, for a period of 15, 30, 45 and 60 min respectively from which flour was obtained. The damaged starch value (13.

Managing depression in people with multimorbidity: a qualitative evaluation of an integrated collaborative care model.

Background: Patients with comorbid depression and physical health problems have poorer outcomes compared with those with single long term conditions (LTCs), or multiple LTCs without depression. Primary care has traditionally struggled to provide integrated care for this group. Collaborative care can reduce depression in people with LTCs but evidence is largely based on trials conducted in the United States that adopted separate treat to target protocols for physical and mental health.

Integrated primary care for patients with mental and physical multimorbidity: cluster randomised controlled trial of collaborative care for patients with depression comorbid with diabetes or cardiovascular disease.

Objective: To test the effectiveness of an integrated collaborative care model for people with depression and long term physical conditions.

Design: Cluster randomised controlled trial.

Setting: 36 general practices in the north west of England.

Better together? a naturalistic qualitative study of inter-professional working in collaborative care for co-morbid depression and physical health problems.

Background: Mental-physical multi-morbidities pose challenges for primary care services that traditionally focus on single diseases. Collaborative care models encourage inter-professional working to deliver better care for patients with multiple chronic conditions, such as depression and long-term physical health problems. Successive trials from the United States have shown that collaborative care effectively improves depression outcomes, even in people with long-term conditions (LTCs), but little is known about how to implement collaborative care in the United Kingdom.

Update on the collaborative interventions for circulation and depression (COINCIDE) trial: changes to planned methodology of a cluster randomized controlled trial of collaborative care for depression in people with diabetes and/or coronary heart disease.

Background: The COINCIDE trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a collaborative care intervention for depression in people with diabetes and/or coronary heart disease attending English general practices.

Design: This update details changes to the cluster and patient recruitment strategy for the COINCIDE study. The original protocol was published in Trials (http://www.

Characteristics of psychological interventions that improve depression in people with coronary heart disease: a systematic review and meta-regression.

Objective: Despite previous intervention trials, it is unclear which psychological treatments are most effective for people with coronary heart disease (CHD). We have conducted a systematic review with meta-regression to identify the characteristics of psychological interventions that improve depression and depressive symptoms among people with CHD.

Methods: Searches of multiple electronic databases up to March 2012 were conducted, supplemented by hand-searching of identified reviews and citation tracing of eligible studies.

Collaborative Interventions for Circulation and Depression (COINCIDE): study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial of collaborative care for depression in people with diabetes and/or coronary heart disease.

Background: Depression is up to two to three times as common in people with long-term conditions. It negatively affects medical management of disease and self-care behaviors, and leads to poorer quality of life and high costs in primary care. Screening and treatment of depression is increasingly prioritized, but despite initiatives to improve access and quality of care, depression remains under-detected and under-treated, especially in people with long-term conditions.

Cattle cruelty and risks of meat contamination at Akinyele cattle market and slaughter slab in Oyo State, Nigeria.

Cattle transported to the government-run cattle market and slaughter slab in Akinyele, Oyo State, Nigeria on their final voyage are facing a disturbingly cruel, filthy and unsafe environment that is also raising the risk of contamination of meat sold for human consumption. This report gives a picture of what the cattle have to go through before they are slaughtered. This study also reveals cattle awaiting slaughter in abysmal health conditions, cows pulled with extreme force towards lairage and slaughter slab.

Chemical composition and the antioxidative properties of Nigerian Okra Seed (Abelmoschus esculentus Moench) Flour.

Studies on the chemical composition and the antioxidative properties of Nigerian Okra Seed (Abelmoschus esculentus Moench) Flour were carried out. This is done to establish the nutritional composition and the antioxidative potentials of the seeds, both of which are highly implicated in health. Okra seeds were roasted at 160 degreeC for 10-60 mins.

Influence of pre-treatment on yield chemical and antioxidant properties of a Nigerian okra seed (Abelmoschus esculentus moench) flour.

Okra seeds are reported to be limited to re-generational purpose in Nigeria while majority are discarded as unfit for this purpose. Studies were carried out to evaluate the effect of soaking and blanching on the yield, proximate composition and antioxidant activity of okra seed flour. Pre-treatment by soaking and blanching were found to increase yield which was time dependent.