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This Excel model encodes the analytical capability required to undertake an application of the adapted National Infrastructure Systems Modelling (NISMOD) capability, which has been developed by the Infrastructure Transitions Research Consortium (ITRC) - a UK based research consortium, led by the University of Oxford. Through a partnership between the United Nations Office for Project Service (UNOPS) and the ITRC, an initial national infrastructure assessment for Curaçao, known as Evidence-Based Infrastrastucture Assessment, has been performed. The focus of this model lies on one priority sector for the SIDS Curaçao: 'Waste Management'.

Cities are progressively heightening their climate aspirations to curtail urban carbon emis- sions and establish a future where economies and communities can flourish within the Earth’s eco- logical limits. Consequently, numerous climate initiatives are being launched to control urban car- bon emissions, targeting various sectors, including transport, residential, agricultural, and energy. However, recent scientific literature underscores the disproportionate distribution of climate poli- cies. While cities in the Global North have witnessed several initiatives to combat climate change, cities in the Global South remain uncovered and highly vulnerable to climate hazards. To address this disparity, we employed the Balanced Iterative Reducing and Clustering using the Hierarchies (BRICH) algorithm to cluster cities from diverse geographical areas that exhibit comparable socio- economic profiles. This clustering strives to foster enhanced cooperation and collaboration among cities globally, with the goal of addressing climate change in a comprehensive manner. In summary, we identified similarities, pa􏰀erns, and clusters among peer cities, enabling mutual and generaliza- ble learning among worldwide peer-cities regarding urban climate policy exchange. This exchange occurs through three approaches: (i) inner-mutual learning, (ii) cross-mutual learning, and (iii) outer-mutual learning. Our findings mark a pivotal stride towards a􏰀aining worldwide climate ob- jectives through a shared responsibility approach. Furthermore, they provide preliminary insights into the implementation of “urban climate policy exchange” among peer cities on a global scale.

The data is solar incident radiation on building skins ( four facades and roof) of 4 cities together with the analysis for a whole year.

In order to achieve paramount economy, hybrid renewable energy sources are gaining importance, as renewable sources are costless. Over the past few years wind energy incorporation drew more consideration in the electricity market, as wind power took an affirmative role in energy saving as well as sinking emission pollutants. Recently developed Grey wolf optimizer (GWO) algorithm has conspicuous behavior for verdicting global optima, without getting ensnared in premature convergence. In the proposed research the exploitation phase of the grey wolf optimizer has been further improved using random exploratory search algorithm, which uses perturbed solutions vectors along with previously generated solution vectors. The paper presents a hybrid version of Grey Wolf Optimizer algorithm combined with random exploratory search algorithm (hGWO-RES) for the solution of combinatorial scheduling and dispatch problem of electric power systems. To validate the feasibility of the algorithm, the proposed algorithm has been tested on 23 benchmark problems. To verify the feasibility and efficacy of operation of proposed algorithm on generation scheduling and dispatch of electric power systems, small and medium scale power systems consisting of 7-, 10-, 19-, 20- and 40-generating units systems taken into consideration. Commitment and scheduling pattern has been evaluated with and without wind integration and it has been experimentally founded that proposed hybrid algorithm provides superior solution as compared to other recently reported meta-heuristics search algorithms.

This study assessed the hand hygiene performance in French nursing homes using the consumption of alcohol-based hand rubs (AHRs) as a surrogate. Nursing homes from the 17 French regions were contacted to collect their AHR consumption and occupancy in 2018 and 2019. A total of 1290 nursing homes from 15 French regions participated in the survey. The estimated median number of hand hygiene actions per resident-day was 1.48 (interquartile range: 1.04-2.03) in 2018 and 1.60 (1.10-2.26) in 2019. A significantly higher AHR consumption was observed in public nursing homes with an infection control team or link nurse.

Abstract To achieve the EU climate and energy objectives, a transition towards a future sustainable energy system is needed. The integration of the huge potential for industrial waste heat recovery into smart energy system represents a main opportunity to accomplish these goals. To successfully implement this strategy, all the several stakeholders' conflicting objectives should be considered. In this paper an evolutionary multi-objective optimization model is developed to perform a sustainability evaluation of an energy system involving an industrial facility as the waste heat source and the neighbourhood as district heating network end users. An Italian case study of heat recovery from a steel casting facility shows how the model allows to properly select the district heating network set of users to fully exploit the available waste energy. Design directions such as the thermal energy storage capacity can be also provided. Moreover, the model enables the analysis of the trade-off between the stakeholders’ different perspectives, allowing to identify possible win-win solutions for both the industrial sector and the citizenship.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of increasing sulfate concentrations on chromium removal, to evaluate the effect of the presence of Cr(VI) on sulfate removal by Streptomyces sp. MC1 and to analyze the differential protein expression profile in the presence of this metal for the identification of proteins repressed or overexpressed. In the presence of Cr(VI) but in the absence of sulfate ions, bacterial growth was negligible, showing the Cr(VI) toxicity for this bacterium. However, the sulfate presence stimulated bacterium growth and Cr(VI) removal, regardless of its concentrations. Streptomyces sp. MC1 showed ability to remove chromium and sulfate simultaneously. Also, the sulfate presence favored the decrease of total chromium concentration from supernatants reaching a decrease of 50% at 48 h. In presence of chromium, seven proteins were down‐expressed and showed homology to proteins involved in protein biosynthesis, energy production and free radicals detoxification while two proteins involved in oxidation‐reduction processes identified as dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase and S‐adenosyl‐l‐methionine synthase were overexpressed.

Wide‐bandgap (WBG) perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are acknowledged as promising candidates for tandem solar cells and building photovoltaics. It is well known that cesium‐based all‐inorganic halide WBG perovskites possess the comparable optoelectronic properties as the organic–inorganic counterparts, but exhibit superior thermal stability. Among them, CsPbIBr2 is considered a feasible material for tandem solar cells after balancing the bandgap and stability of the inorganic perovskite. However, CsPbIBr2 PSCs are often subjected to drastic interfacial charge recombination especially in carbon‐based device structure derived from the chemical bonding defects (i.e., uncoordinated Pb2+) naked on CsPbIBr2 soft lattice, which dramatically limits overall efficiency of CsPbIBr2 WBG PSCs. Herein, a trimethyl ammonium salt hexyltrimethylammonium bromide is presented for CsPbIBr2/carbon interfacial modification. Benefiting from the −N+(CH3)3 passivation effect and −C6H13 hydrophobic alkyl chain, the optimal device with highly smooth morphology and sufficient charge extraction exhibits a champion power conversion efficiency of 11.24% and improved long‐term stability with 99.7% and 79.7% efficiency retention under dry air atmosphere and continuous 85 °C thermal stress, indicating the valuable potential application of the lattice solidified CsPbIBr2 WBG PSCs.

Abstract Limiting the increase of global temperature requires electrification of the railway transport, which is relatively a distinct mode of transport in terms of economy, business and socialization of a country. However, battery complemented railway transport systems such as fuel cell hybrid railway propulsion systems are constrained by the high cost of the battery, and suboptimal performance of the fuel cell under varying loads. Optimized selection of battery can reduce its costs associated with sizing, life and utilization. Similarly, managing the load distribution between the battery and fuel cell can reduce the load variations concern for fuel cell. In this study, model-based selective characterization of the battery and fuel cell is done to identify the optimal features and constraints. Following characterization, the load allocation to battery and fuel cell is determined with the targets of collaborative utilization of optimal features and mitigation of constraints. Subsequently, considering this load allocation and results of characterization, conditions are proposed for reliable sizing and optimized selection of battery. The significance of the proposed conditions in reliable sizing is explored. Based on these conditions, certain commercially developed batteries are evaluated for optimized selection of battery. The results signify this study as a foundation for research on the reliable sizing and optimized selection of battery in fuel cell hybrid railway propulsion systems.