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AbstractGold, silver, platinum and palladium typically crystallize with the face-centred cubic structure. Here we report the high-yield solution synthesis of gold nanoribbons in the 4H hexagonal polytype, a previously unreported metastable phase of gold. These gold nanoribbons undergo a phase transition from the original 4H hexagonal to face-centred cubic structure on ligand exchange under ambient conditions. Using monochromated electron energy-loss spectroscopy, the strong infrared plasmon absorption of single 4H gold nanoribbons is observed. Furthermore, the 4H hexagonal phases of silver, palladium and platinum can be readily stabilized through direct epitaxial growth of these metals on the 4H gold nanoribbon surface. Our findings may open up new strategies for the crystal phase-controlled synthesis of advanced noble metal nanomaterials.

This study aimed to realize Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), i.e., no poverty, zero hunger, and sustainable cities and communities through the implementation of an intelligent cattle-monitoring system to enhance dairy production. Livestock industries in developing countries lack the technology that can directly impact meat and dairy products, where human resources are a major factor. This study proposed a novel, cost-effective, smart dairy-monitoring system by implementing intelligent wireless sensor nodes, the Internet of Things (IoT), and a Node-Micro controller Unit (Node-MCU). The proposed system comprises three modules, including an intelligent environmental parameter regularization system, a cow collar (equipped with a temperature sensor, a GPS module to locate the animal, and a stethoscope to update the heart rate), and an automatic water-filling unit for drinking water. Furthermore, a novel IoT-based front end has been developed to take data from prescribed modules and maintain a separate database for further analysis. The presented Wireless Sensor Nodes (WSNs) can intelligently determine the case of any instability in environmental parameters. Moreover, the cow collar is designed to obtain precise values of the temperature, heart rate, and accurate location of the animal. Additionally, auto-notification to the concerned party is a valuable addition developed in the cow collar design. It employed a plug-and-play design to provide ease in implementation. Moreover, automation reduces human intervention, hence labor costs are decreased when a farm has hundreds of animals. The proposed system also increases the production of dairy and meat products by improving animal health via the regularization of the environment and automated food and watering. The current study represents a comprehensive comparative analysis of the proposed implementation with the existing systems that validate the novelty of this work. This implementation can be further stretched for other applications, i.e., smart monitoring of zoo animals and poultry.

Coupling between the UEDGE (edge fluid model), GINGRED (grid generation) and CAKE (equilibrium reconstruction) codes opens the door for automated interpretative scrape-off-layer (SOL) analysis over entire discharges, providing information that is essential in efforts to couple the SOL to core transport codes. In this work, we utilize new developments in the autoUEDGE code (Izacard et al. 2018) to investigate the behavior of the DIII-D SOL during the temporal evolution of an edge-localized mode (ELM) cycle. Modeled temperature and density profiles in UEDGE are automatically matched to experimental measurements by iteratively and self-consistently adjusting transport coefficient profiles in the plasma edge. This analysis is completed over multiple ELM cycles of a well-diagnosed discharge with long (∼100ms) inter-ELM periods. Directly after the ELM crash, a short period of high-density, low-temperature conditions is observed in Langmuir probe measurements at the outer divertor. This regime is associated with enhanced Dαemission and incident particle flux, suggesting that the divertor enters a period of high recycling after an ELM crash. After about ∼25ms, divertor conditions return to their pre-ELM conditions and remain there for several tens of milliseconds. Using the autoUEDGE code, the SOL is modeled as a function of ELM cycle using upstream profiles as input. The 2D modeling successfully reproduces both divertor Thomson scattering measurements and the experimentally observed divertor dynamics. Though the recycling is kept fixed throughout the modeling, changes in particle fluxes are consistent with local experimental recycling changes induced by ELMs. Agreement between modeling and observation suggests a strong link between upstream profiles and the high-recycling divertor conditions directly following large type-I ELMs.

Le Pakistan traverse une crise énergétique terrifiante et dévastatrice. Récemment, la prévision de la consommation d'énergie s'est intensifiée par rapport à sa capacité de production, ce qui est problématique pour la stabilité sociale et économique du Pakistan. Par conséquent, il est essentiel d'examiner le lien entre la consommation d'électricité, les prix de l'électricité, la transition urbaine, les autres utilisations d'électricité et l'expansion économique de 1970 à 2018 au Pakistan. Pour l'analyse, la technique économétrique de deuxième génération de Lee et Strazicich (2013), le nouveau Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag (AARDL) et Frequency Domain Causality (FDC) est utile pour détecter l'association à moyen et à court terme entre les variables. Les résultats montrent que la consommation d'électricité stimule l'expansion économique à court et à long terme, bien que la hausse des prix de l'électricité diminue l'activité économique à court et à long terme. En outre, la transition urbaine et d'autres utilisations de l'électricité ont un impact positif et négatif substantiel sur l'expansion économique à court et à long terme. Le résultat suggère qu'un approvisionnement énergétique efficace, des prix de l'énergie à faible coût, une bonne gestion de la transition urbaine et d'autres utilisations de l'énergie pourraient être utiles aux décideurs pour atteindre les ODD 7 et 11 au Pakistan. Pakistán se encuentra en una crisis energética aterradora y devastadora. Recientemente, la predicción del consumo de energía se ha intensificado en comparación con su capacidad de producción, lo que es problemático para la estabilidad social y económica de Pakistán. Por lo tanto, es vital examinar el vínculo entre el consumo de energía, los precios de la energía, la transición urbana, otros usos de la electricidad y la expansión económica de 1970 a 2018 en Pakistán. Para el análisis, la técnica econométrica de segunda generación de Lee y Strazicich (2013), el novedoso Retraso Distribuido Autoregresivo Aumentado (AARDL) y la Causalidad en el Dominio de la Frecuencia (FDC) son útiles para detectar la asociación a largo y corto plazo entre las variables. Los resultados muestran que el consumo de energía estimula la expansión económica a corto y largo plazo, aunque el aumento de los precios de la energía disminuye la actividad económica a corto y largo plazo. Además, la transición urbana y otros usos de la electricidad tienen un impacto positivo y negativo sustancial en la expansión económica a corto y largo plazo. El resultado sugiere que el suministro eficiente de energía, los precios de la energía de bajo coste, la gestión adecuada de la transición urbana y otros usos de la energía podrían ser útiles para que los responsables políticos alcancen los ODS 7 y 11 en Pakistán. Pakistan is in a terrifying and devastating energy crisis. Recently, the prediction for energy consumption has intensified compared to its production capacity, which is problematic for Pakistan's social and economic stability. Hence, it is vital to examine the link between power consumption, power prices, urban transition, other electricity use, and economic expansion from 1970 to 2018 in Pakistan. For analysis, the second-generation econometric technique of Lee and Strazicich (2013), novel Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag (AARDL), and Frequency Domain Causality (FDC) is useful to detect the long-medium and short-run association among the variables. The results show that power consumption stimulates economic expansion in the short and long-run, though the rise in power prices declines economic activity in the short and long-run. Also, urban transition and other electricity use are a substantial positive and negative impact on economic expansion in the short and long-run. The outcome suggests that efficient energy supply, low-cost power prices, proper urban transition management, and other energy use could be useful for policymakers to achieve SDGs 7 and 11 in Pakistan. باكستان في أزمة طاقة مرعبة ومدمرة. في الآونة الأخيرة، تكثف التنبؤ باستهلاك الطاقة مقارنة بقدرته الإنتاجية، مما يمثل مشكلة للاستقرار الاجتماعي والاقتصادي لباكستان. وبالتالي، من الضروري دراسة الصلة بين استهلاك الطاقة وأسعار الطاقة والتحول الحضري واستخدام الكهرباء الأخرى والتوسع الاقتصادي من 1970 إلى 2018 في باكستان. للتحليل، فإن تقنية الاقتصاد القياسي من الجيل الثاني من Lee and Strazicich (2013)، والتأخر الموزع الانحداري الذاتي المعزز (AARDL)، وسببية مجال التردد (FDC) مفيدة للكشف عن الارتباط طويل المدى وقصير المدى بين المتغيرات. تظهر النتائج أن استهلاك الطاقة يحفز التوسع الاقتصادي على المدى القصير والطويل، على الرغم من أن ارتفاع أسعار الطاقة يؤدي إلى انخفاض النشاط الاقتصادي على المدى القصير والطويل. كما أن التحول الحضري والاستخدامات الأخرى للكهرباء لها تأثير إيجابي وسلبي كبير على التوسع الاقتصادي على المدى القصير والطويل. تشير النتيجة إلى أن إمدادات الطاقة الفعالة، وأسعار الطاقة منخفضة التكلفة، وإدارة الانتقال الحضري المناسبة، وغيرها من استخدامات الطاقة يمكن أن تكون مفيدة لصانعي السياسات لتحقيق هدفي التنمية المستدامة 7 و 11 في باكستان.

The incorporation of cover crops into the maize (Zea mays L.)-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotation in the U.S. upper Midwest may improve sustainability. Long, cold winters in the region make identifying successful cover crop species and management practices a challenge. Two experiments were conducted in Minnesota, USA from fall 2016 through spring 2019 to examine the effect of cover crops interseeded at four- to six-leaf collar (early-interseeded) and dent to physiological maturity (late-interseeded) on biomass and grain yield of maize. Annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum L.) and cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) were evaluated as monocultures and in mixtures with crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.) and forage radish (Raphanus sativus L.). Differences in canopy cover and biomass of late-interseeded cover crops were observed at the southernmost location in 2018. Additional accumulated growing-degree days in fall 2018 did not translate into increased cover crop canopy coverage of late-interseeded cover crops. Differences in cover crop canopy cover and biomass of early-interseeded cover crops were observed by fall frost at all locations in 2017 and at the northernmost location in 2018. Cover crop canopy cover and biomass at termination before planting maize, soil moisture at maize planting as well as maize aboveground biomass and yield were not affected by spring cereal rye regrowth of cover crops late-interseeded the previous year. Similarly, early-interseeded cover crops did not affect maize aboveground biomass or yield. We attribute these results to limited cover crop growth. This highlights the potential of a variety of cover crop strategies interseeded into maize in the U.S. upper Midwest; however, efforts to fine-tuning cover crop management and weather conditions are needed to benefit from such practice.

Rice husk has the potential to be used as a source of alternative energy e.g. as biofuel. Its high lignin content, however, poses difficulty to this use. This study investigates the use of microwave assisted acidic and alkaline pretreatment methods to improve the characteristics of rice husk for energy production. The use of microwave assisted 3.5% NaOH provided optimum pretreatment of rice husk; the lignin content was reduced from 17.8 to 10.2%, the cellulose content increased from 38.6 to 59.3% and the C/N ratio was within the optimum range of 25-35. The results showed enhanced potential of biofuel production from rice husk by this pretreatment.