Effect of Nanoparticles on Viscosity and Interfacial Tension of Aqueous Surfactant Solutions at High Salinity and High Temperature

Surfactant flooding has widely been used as one of the chemically enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques. Surfactants majorly influence the interfacial tension, γ, between oil and brine phase and control capillary number and relative permeability behavior and, thus, influence ultimate recovery. Additives, such as nanoparticles, are known to affect surfactant properties and are regarded as promising EOR agents. However, their detailed interactions with surfactants are not well understood. Thus, in this work, we examined the influence of silica nanoparticles on the ability of surfactants to lower γ and to increase viscosity at various temperatures and salinities. Results show that the presence of nanoparticles decreased γ between n-decane and various surfactant formulations by up to 20%. It was found that γ of nanoparticles–surfactant solutions passed through a minimum at 35 °C when salt was added. Furthermore, the viscosity of cationic surfactant solutions increased at specific salt (1.5 wt.%) and nanoparticle (0.05 wt.%) concentrations. Results illustrate that selected nanoparticles–surfactant formulations appear very promising for EOR as they can lower brine/n-decane interfacial tension and act as viscosity modifiers of the injected fluids.     

GPR55 Receptor Activation by the N-Acyl Dopamine Family Lipids Induces Apoptosis in Cancer Cells via the Nitric Oxide Synthase (nNOS) Over-Stimulation

GPR55 is a GPCR of the non-CB1/CB2 cannabinoid receptor family, which is activated by lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI) and stimulates the proliferation of cancer cells. Anandamide, a bioactive lipid endocannabinoid, acts as a biased agonist of GPR55 and induces cancer cell death, but is unstable and psychoactive. We hypothesized that other endocannabinoids and structurally similar compounds, which are more hydrolytically stable, could also induce cancer cell death via GPR55 activation. We chemically synthesized and tested a set of fatty acid amides and esters for cell death induction via GPR55 activation. The most active compounds appeared to be N-acyl dopamines, especially N-docosahexaenoyl dopamine (DHA-DA). Using a panel of cancer cell lines and a set of receptor and intracellular signal transduction machinery inhibitors together with cell viability, Ca²⁺, NO, ROS (reactive oxygen species) and gene expression measurement, we showed for the first time that for these compounds, the mechanism of cell death induction differed from that published for anandamide and included neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) overstimulation with concomitant oxidative stress induction. The combination of DHA-DA with LPI, which normally stimulates cancer proliferation and is increased in cancer setting, had an increased cytotoxicity for the cancer cells indicating a therapeutic potential.     

COVID-19 crisis impact on the stability between parties in crowdfunding and crowdsourcing

This research reviews challenges in building sustainable relationships between the parties involved in the crowdfunding and crowdsourcing projects, which are running in extreme situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to solve problems that generate the crowdsourcing concerns and to find better alternatives to increase trust for crowdfunding among donors, as this impacts their strategic sustainability in the conditions of turbulence and COVID-induced financial crisis. It was found that factors influence donor decisions in different ways, yet the common tendency for donor activity is non-monotonicity. Future development in the field of sustainable relationships should focus on creating a donor classification system.

     

The Rational Use of Water Resources in the Strategy of Industry 4.0

The article substantiates that the transformation of the world economy associated with Industry 4.0 leads to a significant change in the way resources are used and affects the possibility of implementing the concept of sustainable development. In this regard, a combined analysis of the concept of new industrial development and the concept of sustainable development, as well as an assessment of the current practice of their implementation is required. In this paper, such an analysis was carried out on the example of water resources management. The paper proposes a methodology for assessing the correlation of water management and industrial development levels of regions. This includes the use of both traditional statistical approaches to the analysis of the level of development of economic systems, and elements of data mining. The neural network is constructed in order to estimate the forecasted values of the water intensity of the gross regional product when the indicators of the level of industrial development of the regions change. The results show that the most significant indicators for changing water intensity include advanced production technologies used, the share of value-added to high-tech industries, and innovative activities of organisations.

     

The Territorial Impact Assessment of transport: the case of the Egnatia motorway system in the cohesion potential of Southeast Europe

Territorial Impact Assessment (TIA) is proposed as a critical tool in order to investigate the way policies affect spatial development and hence territorial cohesion. The paper introduces a TIA methodological model in relation to transport sector. The design of the methodological model is based on a quantitative evaluation framework that comprises a set of selected indicators applied in a cross-border area of southeast Europe, influenced by the operation of the Greek motorway system of Egnatia and its vertical axes. The indicators are grouped into three main fields of TIA, i.e. transport intermodality, polycentric spatial organization and cross-border territorial cooperation. The TIA’s indicators are approximated by quantitative analysis. The procedure concludes to an overall composite indicator measuring the ‘level of territorial cohesion’ along with some core results and the expected added value. It also highlights some key technical aspects about the routines used and proceeds to suggestions for further refinement.     

Some Molecular and Cellular Stress Mechanisms Associated with Neurodegenerative Diseases and Atherosclerosis

Chronic stress is a combination of nonspecific adaptive reactions of the body to the influence of various adverse stress factors which disrupt its homeostasis, and it is also a corresponding state of the organism’s nervous system (or the body in general). We hypothesized that chronic stress may be one of the causes occurence of several molecular and cellular types of stress. We analyzed literary sources and considered most of these types of stress in our review article. We examined genes and mutations of nuclear and mitochondrial genomes and also molecular variants which lead to various types of stress. The end result of chronic stress can be metabolic disturbance in humans and animals, leading to accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), oxidative stress, energy deficiency in cells (due to a decrease in ATP synthesis) and mitochondrial dysfunction. These changes can last for the lifetime and lead to severe pathologies, including neurodegenerative diseases and atherosclerosis. The analysis of literature allowed us to conclude that under the influence of chronic stress, metabolism in the human body can be disrupted, mutations of the mitochondrial and nuclear genome and dysfunction of cells and their compartments can occur. As a result of these processes, oxidative, genotoxic, and cellular stress can occur. Therefore, chronic stress can be one of the causes forthe occurrence and development of neurodegenerative diseases and atherosclerosis. In particular, chronic stress can play a large role in the occurrence and development of oxidative, genotoxic, and cellular types of stress.     

Effect of co-fermentation and sequential fermentation of Candida versatilis and Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris on unsalted pork hydrolysates components

In this study, the effect of co-fermentation and sequential fermentation with a typical halophilic soy sauce yeast Candida versatilis and a non-halophilic dairy bacterium Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris in pork hydrolysates was explored for the first time with regard to their viability, physicochemical changes and volatile compound production. It was observed that the growth of C. versatilis was suppressed (only 0.6 - 1.5 log CFU mL⁻¹ increase), whilst L. lactis subsp. cremoris was stimulated (total cell counts exceeded 9.0 log CFU mL⁻¹) in mixed-cultures relative to the respective monocultures. There were no significant differences between co-inoculation and sequential inoculation regarding glucose consumption, organic acid production and free amino acids utilisation. Some distinct volatile compounds such as methionol, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one and gamma-nonalactone were found in both co-inoculated and sequentially inoculated samples, with slightly different concentrations. These results suggest that the mixed-inoculation of C. versatilis and L. lactis have a positive impact on the volatile compounds formation in pork hydrolysates.     

Continuous physical activity recognition for intelligent labour monitoring

Multimedia Tools and Applications - The paper addresses the problem of human activity recognition based on the data from wearable sensors. Human activity recognition depends on a wide context of...     

Children's Common Grounds: A Study of Intergroup Relations Among Children in Public Settings

This article discusses successful common grounds for children—public settings that enable the harmonious intermingling of children of different backgrounds, races, and ethnicities and that encourage their social interchange, play, educational development, and collaboration. Our study focused on three types of public space that tend to bring these children together: the public school, the park, and the neighborhood community center. The research employed a variety of methods to study the interaction of children 9 to 12 years of age. Field work took place at four sites in West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and the San Fernando Valley that enjoy a high level of intermixing and have a reputation for promoting diversity. Subjects in the research included children, teachers, and administrators. The article highlights the findings of the field work and concludes with a comparative analysis of the different settings and a discussion of the environmental and programmatic attributes that contribute to their success.