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In recent years, there has been developing interests in microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology as a hopeful approach to overcome worldwide energy crisis that will come into account by restricting fossil fuels consumption in the future. In addition, many drugs around the world are accessible to some populations easily and remain unused annually. This paper discusses bioelectricity generation with whey degradation in a dual chambered MFC in the presence of some expired medicinal drug-feeding cathodes. Consequently, a two-chamber MFC applied using Escherichia coli as biocatalyst, humic acid as electron mediator and Nafion 117 with a 5 nm in size as nano-membrane. The results showed that the open-circuit potential was 0.751 V at ambient condition. Stability of the voltage was exceeded 20 h. Acetaminophen codeine and Bismuth-as two expired medicinal drugs-applied as possible catholyte. In conclusion, Bismuth revealed more opportunity for power deriving in comparison with Acetaminophen.The best values were close to 2.9 × 10 −5 W and 1.75 × 10 −4 A, referring to power generation and current production, respectively.

This study examined the relationships between left ventricular ejection fraction data derived from four commonly used cardiac ultrasound measurement methods (visual estimation, wall motion scoring, biplane Simpson's method and three-dimensional [3D] echocardiography) to assess whether they can be used interchangeably in the assessment of left ventricular systolic function. Two-dimensional (2D) and 3D data obtained from ultrasound studies for 190 patients (109 men, mean age 56 + 20 standard deviation [SD] years [range 20-87] and 81 women, mean age 61 + 18 SD [range 23-96]) with routine cardiac referrals were analysed. Ejection fractions were estimated for each patient offline using standard 2D echocardiography for visual estimation, wall motion scoring and biplane Simpson's methods, while 3D data were analysed using Phillips 3DQ Advanced software. Bland-Altman analysis was performed to test the agreement between the different measurement techniques allowing determination of significance, bias and 95% limits of agreement. Bland-Altman plots were also used to further investigate whether agreement between methods varied with different levels of left ventricular function. Only two method comparisons (visual estimation versus wall motion scoring and biplane Simpson's method versus 3D echocardiography) showed no statistically significant differences (P ¼ 0.09 and 0.99) or bias (-0.7 and 0). However, the 95% limits of agreement were wide ( -11.1% to 9.8% and -14.3% to 14.3%, respectively). Visual estimation, wall motion scoring, biplane Simpson's method and 3D echocardiography should not be used interchangeably for serial assessment of left ventricular ejection fraction.

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The performance of steam power plants, utilizing recovered waste heat from air-fuel and oxy-fuel combustion, are compared. Temperature profiles in the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), steam production rate, network output and energy efficiency are simulated for different conditions. Investigations are made into the effect of varying pinch point on HRSG performance, network and energy efficiency for power generation utilizing oxy-fuel combustion. It is found that with increased pinch point there is an associated decrease in HRSG and steam plant efficiencies. Exhaust gas composition influences the energy efficiency of the power plant. When air-fuel and oxy-fuel combustion are compared there is a reduced amount of nitrogen in the oxidant stream in the latter case. When comparing air-fuel and oxy-fuel combustion, a considerable deviation in HRSG and steam power plant performance is exhibited, with oxyfuel combustion offering benefits in system efficiency and plant output. The exhaust gas composition at the HRSG inlet contributes significantly the performance characteristics of the system. Raising the HRSG inlet temperature also increases power generation and system efficiency. The results provide insights into the use of oxy-fuel combustion for systems utilizing HRSG for power generation while demonstrating the influence of gas composition, pinch point, and exhaust gas temperature on system performance, and suggest that oxyfuel combustion can help enhance the contribution to sustainable development of some energy systems.