What are the key elements of a sustainable university?

Nowadays, the principles of sustainable development are becoming increasingly important and universities are acting as agents in promoting these principles within society. In the future, universities will inevitably play crucial role in propagating these principles. This paper highlights important documents and discusses definitions of the term education for sustainable development. Elements, based on continuous feedback loop (Deming spiral) are discussed, in order to incorporate sustainability principles into university activities. The University of Maribor has been used as a case study to test the effectiveness of the proposed integration of sustainable development principles.     

Molecular cloning and characterization of a thermostable α-amylase exhibiting an unusually high activity

An α-amylase gene was cloned from the thermophilic bacterium Bacillus subtilis isolated from Indonesian oil palm shell waste. The gene expressed an extracellular enzyme. Optimal hydrolysis conditions for the enzyme were 70°C and pH 6.0. The specific activity of the enzyme was 16.0 kU per mg of protein, which was higher than for other thermostable amylases. Hydrolytic products of the enzyme using starch and glycogen were mainly maltohexaose and maltopentaose. The enzyme had a K _m value of 0.099 mg/mL for amylopectin, more than 10 times lower than for amylose. The catalytic efficiency of the enzyme using amylopectin was 39,200 mL/mg·s and was 3,270 mL/mg·s using amylose. The enzyme liquefied corn starch at pH 5.0, which was successfully converted to glucose using commercial glucoamylase and pullulanase without pH adjustment. The enzyme has advantages for industrial applications.     

SnO2-coated multiwall carbon nanotube composite anode materials for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries

SnO₂-coated multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) nanocomposites were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method. The as-prepared nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The SnO₂/MWCNT composites, when combined with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) as a binder, show excellent cyclic retention, with the high specific capacity of 473 mAh g⁻¹ beyond 100 cycles, much greater than that of the bare SnO₂ which was also prepared by the hydrothermal method in the absence of MWCNTs. The enhanced capacity retention could be mainly attributed to good dispersion of the tin dioxide particles in the matrix of MWCNTs, which protected the particles from agglomeration during the cycling process. Furthermore, the usage of CMC as a binder is responsible for the low cost and environmental friendliness of the whole electrode fabrication process.     

Tuneable Singlet Exciton Fission and Triplet–Triplet Annihilation in an Orthogonal Pentacene Dimer

Fast and highly efficient intramolecular singlet exciton fission in a pentacene dimer, consisting of two covalently attached, nearly orthogonal pentacene units is reported. Fission to triplet excitons from this ground state geometry occurs within 1 ps in isolated molecules in solution and dispersed solid matrices. The process exhibits a sensitivity to environmental polarity and competes with geometric relaxation in the singlet state, while subsequent triplet decay is strongly dependent on conformational freedom. The near orthogonal arrangement of the pentacene units is unlike any structure currently proposed for efficient singlet exciton fission and may lead to new molecular design rules.     

Free-standing single-walled carbon nanotube/SnO2 anode paper for flexible lithium-ion batteries

Free-standing single-walled carbon nanotube/SnO₂ (SWCNT/SnO₂) anode paper was prepared by vacuum filtration of SWCNT/SnO₂ hybrid material which was synthesized by the polyol method. From field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, the CNTs form a three-dimensional nanoporous network, in which ultra-fine SnO₂ nanoparticles, which had crystallite sizes of less than 5 nm, were distributed, predominately as groups of nanoparticles on the surfaces of single walled CNT bundles. Electrochemical measurements demonstrated that the anode paper with 34 wt.% SnO₂ had excellent cyclic retention, with the high specific capacity of 454 mAh g^?1 beyond 100 cycles at a current density of 25 mA g^?1, much higher than that of the corresponding pristine CNT paper. The SWCNTs could act as a flexible mechanical support for strain release, offering an efficient electrically conducting channel, while the nanosized SnO₂ provides the high capacity. The SWCNT/SnO₂ flexible electrodes can be bent to extremely small radii of curvature and still function well, despite a marginal decrease in the conductivity of the cell. The electrochemical response is maintained in the initial and further cycling process. Such capabilities demonstrate that this model hold great promise for applications requiring flexible and bendable Li-ion batteries.     

Circadian rhythms in the Zucker obese rat: assessment and intervention

The proximate determinants of fertility framework, developed in its current form by Bongaarts, has been used extensively by researchers for the past 20 years. Since the initial framework was developed, a wealth of new survey data on the proximate determinants has become available. This article reviews the new data and past experiences and suggests modifications to the framework that would take advantage of this experience. The major modifications suggested are (1) the use of sexual activity rather than marriage to indicate exposure to pregnancy; (2) a revision of the sterility index to measure infecundity from all causes; (3) a revised index of contraception that accounts for the fact that users of sterilization may become infecund before age 49; and (4) a revised definition and estimate of total fecundity.     

A Brief Assessment of a Dam and Its Failure Prevention

Dams are artificial lakes created to reserve water for a particular purpose. Reports on failure of dams are common things nowadays. Effects of dam’s failure on man and environment are well known, which require preventive measures. This article presents a brief assessment of a dam in Nigeria and suggested necessary failure preventive measures. The dam site was visited (up and down streams), selected soil and geological properties of the dam were conducted with a particular attention to the release of water from the reservoir as seepage, or filling of the reservoir by silt from erosion. Hydrology and hydraulic data of the study area and spillway were obtained and analyzed. The study revealed that the soil is mainly sandy-loamy soil of averagely sand (73.99 ± 3.12), clay (8.53 ± 0.18), and silt (17.48 ± 1.88). Geological structure of the soil revealed that the study area is in basement complex. The reservoir capacity is 177,000,000 m³ with about 18.5-m hydraulic high, silting rate of 0.301% per year. Hydraulic conductivity, transmissivity, and specific discharge were found to be of high side of 9.31 × 10⁻⁴ m/s, 5.08 × 10⁻⁴ m²/s, and 98.25 m/year, respectively. It was concluded that the current problems of the dam are high silting rate and seepage, big trees on the embankment and beside the spillway. All these may lead to failure of the dam in the following ways: lack of water in the reservoir due to seepage and silting, eutrophication and non-potable of the water due to silting and collapse of the embankment due to the presence of big trees. It was suggested that necessary and urgent solutions such as removal of trees from embankment, desilting and seepage control must be provided for safety of lives and properties.     

Model-driven engineering of process control software – beyond device-centric abstractions

This paper presents a new, two-level, model-driven engineering approach to industrial process control software. The first level (infrastructure engineering) is concerned with the following: the definition of the development process and guidelines, the definition of a domain-specific modeling language, the specification of the model transformations, and the development of a tool suite. This tool suite enables modeling of the process control software and the automatic code generation for programmable logic controllers. In the second level (application engineering), the process control software is engineered using the results of the infrastructure level. The approach is demonstrated on excerpts from an industrial project.     

The Life Assessment of API 5L Grade B Geothermal Pipeline in Correlation with Corrosion under Insulation

The corrosion under insulation dominates metal loss in the case of API （American Petroleum Institute） 5L Grade B geothermal pipeline, whereas, the other possible corrosion causes, such as stress corrosion and thermal cracking, did not serve a role as critical factors regarding to pipeline degradation during 26-years working operation. Actually, the header pipe diameter 32 inches and 40 inches require priority for inspection due to higher corrosion rate compared to smaller pipe diameters. By simulation method on similar heavy duty service condition in which the working pressure of 15 bars and temperature of 183 ℃, it was proved that corrosion rate will severely occur at corrosion rate more than 10 mpy in the pipe diameters of 20 inches, 32 inches and 40 inches. Further,condensation factor may contribute more significant in the case of corrosion under insulation. Practically, the metal loss at a half initial thickness requires priority for inspection, intensive maintenance or possible partial replacement.