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Based on the children’s road traffic injuries analysis and field pedestrians’ behavior observations during the roadway crossing, in order to reduce accidents among pedestrians-children, to create safe approaches to educational institutions is proposed.

ABSTRACTA novel design for a high temperature SOFC, based on lamellar electrode-electrolyte segments obtained by solidification of an oxidic eutectic melt on an electrolyte substrate is presented. Such “composite” electrodes contain NiO or MnO - 8Y-ZrO2 lamellae, which after reduction / oxidation yield electrode-electrolyte lamellae with 1–2 μm width and a vertical dimension of> 100 μm, depending upon the amount of eutectic melt solidified on a polycrystalline substrate. The nucleation of the eutectic on a polycrystalline substrate followed by a semi-directional crystallization of the two phases yields a gradient of 3-phase boundaries over the height of such an electrode, with the number of 3-phase boundaries increasing towards the substrate.

Thin films of nickel hydroxide were prepared using the cathodic template method and were tested in different electrolytes. The electrolytes were 0.1 M KOH and 0.1 M KOH with the addition of 0.1, 0.3 and 1 mM K2WO4. The test revealed, that the presence of tungstate can have a significant effect on electrochemical and electrochromic characteristics of Ni(OH)2 films. The initial sample, cycled in 0.1 M KOH showed different characteristics from those cycled in tungstate-containing electrolytes: significant difference between current densities of cathodic and anodic peaks and presence of the current plateau on the cyclic voltamperometry curve. However, the initial sample demonstrated the highest coloration degree of 74 %. On the other hand, the sample showed degradation of the coloration degree past initial growth.The samples cycled in the tungstate-containing electrolyte showed better electrochemical characteristics – sharper cathodic and anodic peaks, with the lesser difference between peak values. The dynamics of the absolute coloration degree of the samples cycled in tungstate-containing electrolyte showed a constant increase. The sample tested in a solution with 1 mM tungstate had the lowest value of the absolute coloration degree – 60 %. For tungstate concentrations of 0.1 and 0.3 mM, the absolution coloration degree at the last cycle was 72 and 71 % respectively.The samples tested in a solution with tungstate additive had a significantly lower bleaching time – 40–50 s in comparison to 360 s of the sample cycled in 0.1 М KOH.A possible mechanism that explains such differences in behavior was proposed

Abstract Recently, the oxygen potential dependence of the signal of a potentiometric CO 2 sensor, based on a cation conductor with carbonate as gas sensitive layer, has been interpreted as caused by electronic transference through the electrolyte. Though this interpretation is quite correct, the relationships on the basis of which the effect of electronic conductivity has been discussed are wrong and so are the conclusions on the electronic conduction parameter of the electrolyte material under consideration, i.e. of the lithium ion conductor Li 3 PO 4 + SiO 2 (5 mol%). In what follows, the questionable points will be corrected and the role of the electronic conductivity for the understanding of the behaviour of a CO 2 sensor will be re-examined.

Pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) are discharged into receiving water bodies mainly from sewage treatment plants. Due to the inefficient removal in conventional wastewater treatment facilities, PPCPs have become a major concern to aquatic ecosystems, water quality, and public health worldwide since they cause harmful effects on aquatic life and human even at low doses. Among the PPCPs, carbamazepine (CBZ) is one of the most commonly prescribed anticonvulsant drugs and consumed more than 1,000 tons per year. Due to its structural complexity, CBZ is known as recalcitrant compound highly stable during wastewater treatment. Consequently, it has become one of the most frequently detected pharmaceuticals in waste water, surface water, and even drinking water. In this study, Korean indigenous microalgae strains were tested as eco-friendly and cost-effective solutions for CBZ removal. Based on the preliminary biological CBZ degradation tests, Tetradesmus obliquus KNUA061 demonstrating the best CBZ removal rate was selected for further experiments. In order to increase strain KNUA061's CBZ removal efficiency, NaOCl, which is widely accepted in the water purification process, was used as an additional stimulus to induce stress conditions. At around 20 μg L−1 CBZ, addition of 1.0 mg NaOCl resulted in approximately 20% of removal rate increase without suppressing cells growth. Roughly 90% of CBZ remained its original form and the composition of the transformed secondary metabolites was less than 10% during the biodegradation process by the microalga. Based on the results of the antioxidant enzyme activities, degree of lipid oxidation, and amino acid contents, it was concluded that the redox-defence system in microalgal cells may have been activated by the NaOCl treatment. Biomass analysis results showed that higher heating value (HHV) of strain KNUA061 biomass was higher than those of lignocellulosic energy crops suggesting that it could be utilized as a possible renewable energy source. Even though its biodiesel properties were slightly below the international standards due to the high PUFA contents, the biodiesel produced from T. obliquus KNUA061 could be used as a blending resource for transportation fuels. It was also determined that the microalgal biomass has acceptable feasibility as a sustainable dietary supplement feedstock due to its high essential amino acid contents.

The surface of a VNIITU-1 carbon mesoporous hemosorbent is modified with poly-N-vinylpyrrolidone, which possesses its own antibacterial activity. The modification is performed in two steps: (1) impregnation of the monomer, N-vinylpyrrolidone, and the initiator in an aqueous solution and (2) polymerization in an inert atmosphere. The composition of products produced during polymerization reaction is analyzed by NMR 13C. The texture characteristics, the relief and the morphology, and the content of nitrogen in the initial and modified sorbents are studied by current physicochemical methods. Bench tests show that the contact with the modified sorbent leads to a decrease in the amount of Staphylococcus aureus bacterial cells and inhibition of their growth in comparison with the initial carbon sorbent.

As COVID-19 spreads worldwide, governments have been implementing a wide range of measures to contain it, from movement restrictions to economy-wide shutdowns. Understanding their impacts is essential to support better policies for countries still experiencing outbreaks or in case of emergence of subsequent pandemic waves. Here we show that the cumulative decline in electricity consumption within the 5 months following the stay-home orders ranges between 3% and 12% in the most affected EU countries and USA states, except Florida, which shows no significant impact. Italy, France, Spain, California, Austria, and New York have recovered baseline consumption by the end of July, whereas Great Britain and Germany remain below baseline levels. We also show that the relationship between measures stringency and daily decline in electricity consumption is nonlinear. These results illustrate the severity of the crisis across countries and can support further research on the effect of specific measures.

Abstract The modeling of fuel cells requires the coupling of fluid transport with electro-chemical reactions. There are two approaches commonly used. Firstly, the electrodes can be treated as two planes, where the potential gradient can be considered as being locally one-dimensional. In this case a two dimensional current density distribution is obtained. Secondly, the two electrode layers can be spatially resolved and the protonic and electronic potentials obtained by solving a pair of coupled Poisson equations. The latter approach requires much higher computational resources, because a higher spatial resolution is required and a large set of model parameters is required. On the other hand, much more detailed local information can be obtained by this method. The motivation for this study was to compare the results quantitively with detailed experimental data for a high temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cell with a geometric area of 200 cm2. Both model approaches show very good agreement with measured local current density distributions. The second model is able to provide a deeper insight into the current density variation through the membrane and catalyst layers and reveals points with local extremes. The present results are specific for high temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells but the conclusions may readily be applied to the modeling of other high temperature fuel cell types.