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The oyster mushroom (Pleurotus species) is a popular and widely cultivated edible mushroom that can be found worldwide, including in Malaysia. However, its local production is unable to fulfil the market demand, partly due to the limited availability of rubber wood sawdust (RWS) as the conventional cultivation substrate. Furthermore, the palm oil industry in Malaysia generates large volumes of organic by-products that have caused environmental concerns. Therefore, the potential utilisation of oil palm waste-based substrates in order to develop a substitute RWS for Pleurotus ostreatus mushroom production is evaluated in this study, based on their agronomic performance and nutritional properties. Empty fruit bunches (EFBs), oil palm fronds (OPFs), and oil palm trunks (OPTs) were used to formulate the substrates. The control used was 100% RWS. Generally, 100% EFB showed a better agronomic performance, and mushroom growth was 1.9 times faster compared to the control, with a comparable mushroom yield. The crude protein and beta glucan content of mushrooms grown on oil palm by-product-formulated substrates were significantly higher than those grown using the control. Additionally, the number of fruiting bodies, crude protein, and beta glucan content of the mushrooms were positively correlated with potassium in the substrate. Therefore, 100% EFB could be used as a potential substitute for RWS for the cultivation and production of P. ostreatus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A spectral integration combined with a threshold method for the analysis of spectral scanning surface plasmon resonance (SPR) images can significantly increase signal recognition at low concentration of antibody solution. The 12-well SPR sensing plates consisted of gold-capped nanowire arrays with 500-nm period, 80-nm linewidth and 50-nm gold thickness which were used for generating multiple SPR images. A threshold method is introduced to eliminate background noises in spectral scanning images. Combining spectral integration and the threshold method, the detection limit of antibody concentration was 1.23 ng/mL. Using multiple-well SPR sensing plates and the proposed analytical method, multiple kinetic responses with spectral and spatial information on different sensing areas can be sensitively measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose two approaches—hot-embossing and dielectric-heating nanoimprinting methods—for low-cost and rapid fabrication of periodic nanostructures. Each nanofabrication process for the imprinted plastic nanostructures is completed within several seconds without the use of release agents and epoxy. Low-cost, large-area, and highly sensitive aluminum nanostructures on A4 size plastic films are fabricated by evaporating aluminum film on hot-embossing nanostructures. The narrowest bandwidth of the Fano resonance is only 2.7 nm in the visible light region. The periodic aluminum nanostructure achieves a figure of merit of 150, and an intensity sensitivity of 29,345%/RIU (refractive index unit). The rapid fabrication is also achieved by using radio-frequency (RF) sensitive plastic films and a commercial RF welding machine. The dielectric-heating, using RF power, takes advantage of the rapid heating/cooling process and lower electric power consumption. The fabricated capped aluminum nanoslit array has a 5 nm Fano linewidth and 490.46 nm/RIU wavelength sensitivity. The biosensing capabilities of the metallic nanostructures are further verified by measuring antigen–antibody interactions using bovine serum albumin (BSA) and anti-BSA. These rapid and high-throughput fabrication methods can benefit low-cost, highly sensitive biosensors and other sensing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policymakers around the world are confronted with the challenge of balancing between economic development and environmental friendliness, which entails a robust set of measures in energy efficiency and environmental protection. The increasing complexity of these issues has imposed pressure on the Asian countries that have been acting as global factories. This paper proposes a meta-frontier slacks-based measure (SBM) data envelopment analysis (DEA) model, with the hope that policymakers clarify the relationship between labor force, energy consumption, government expenditures, GDP, and CO2 emissions. Clarification of the causal relationship can serve as a template for policy decisions and ease concerns regarding the potential adverse effects of carbon reduction and energy efficiency on the economy. The results show: (1) Developing countries should establish their own climate change governance and policy frameworks; (2) Developed economies should seek to lower carbon emissions; (3) Energy policies play a pivotal role in energy efficiency improvement; (4) Top-down efforts are critical for the success of carbon reduction policies; (5) Learning from the success of developed countries helps to improve the effectiveness of energy policies; (6) Environmental policies should be formulated, and new production technologies, pollution prevention measures, and treatment methods should be introduced; (7) Governments are suggested to build long-term independent management institutions to promote energy cooperation and exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrostatic-driven microelectromechanical systems devices, in most cases, consist of couplings of such energy domains as electromechanics, optical electricity, thermoelectricity, and electromagnetism. Their nonlinear working state makes their analysis complex and complicated. This article introduces the physical model of pull-in voltage, dynamic characteristic analysis, air damping effect, reliability, numerical modeling method, and application of electrostatic-driven MEMS devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, glass fiber (GF)/phenol formaldehyde resin (PF)/epoxy resin (EP) three-phase electrical insulating composites were fabricated by selective laser sintering (SLS) additive manufacturing technology and subsequent infiltration. In the three-phase composites, glass fibers modified by a silane coupling agent (KH-550) were used as reinforcements, phenol formaldehyde resin acted as the binder and matrix, and infiltrated epoxy resin was the filler. Mechanical and electrical properties such as tensile strength, bending strength, dielectric constant, electrical conductivity, and electric breakdown strength of the GF/PF/EP three-phase composite parts were investigated. The results indicated that after being infiltrated with EP, the bending strength and tensile strength of the GF/PF/EP composites increased by 30% and 42.8%, respectively. Moreover, the flexural strength and tensile strength of the GF/PF/EP composite increased with the increase of the glass fiber content. More importantly, the three-phase composites showed high electrical properties. Significant improvement in the dielectric constant, electric breakdown strength, and resistivity with the increase in the content of glass fiber was observed. This enables the prepared GF/PF/EP composites to form complex structural electrical insulation devices by SLS, which expands the materials and applications of additive manufacturing technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characteristics of contamination on the insulation medium surface play an important role in the surface flashover, especially size distribution of contaminated particles. After measuring the size of contaminated particles on the porcelain insulator surface, obvious size distribution characteristics of particles were found. To study the reason for these statistical characteristics, the movement of particles was analyzed in detail combining with fluid mechanics and collision dynamics. Furthermore, an adhesion model was established in this paper. In addition, the influences of different factors on the adhesion were studied. The results showed that the size of adhered particles on the porcelain insulator surface was easy to focus on a specific range, and the influences of relative humidity and wind speed were remarkable. However, the influences of electric field type, electric field strength, and aerodynamic shape were relatively weak. This research was significant and valuable to the study of artificial contamination simulation experiments, and the influence of particles size distribution on pollution flashover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]