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Recently, the conversion of livestock manure to solid fuel via torrefaction has brought more attention to moving forward to a carbon neutral society. A proper design of livestock manure to solid fuel is key for sustainable waste management. In this study, cow manure, as a representative of livestock manure, was examined for solid fuel production, focusing on enhancing the heating value. The torrefaction process was adopted as a main solid fuel generation process and compared to simple drying. The heating value of the torrefied cow manure was increased as the torrefaction temperature increased from 200 °C to 300 °C. The heating value was nearly saturated at around 30 min when the torrefaction temperature was increased from 20 min to 40 min. The heating value was further increased when the cow manure was mixed with sawdust or rice straw. The sawdust, which originally possessed a higher heating value, showed its potential as a candidate for additives to the torrefaction of cow manure. Compared to simple drying, torrefaction showed a higher heating value and energy density, successfully converting to stable carbon material.

Dimethylmonothioarsinic acid (DMMTA(V)) and dimethyldithioarsinic acid (DMDTA(V)), which are commonly found in landfill leachate and pore water of rice paddy soil, have attracted considerable attention for their high toxicity. This study aims to evaluate the behavior and potential risks of DMMTA(V) and DMDTA(V) in the environment by conducting an equilibrium sorption test using 2-line ferrihydrite and acute toxicity (immobilization) test using Daphnia magna. The overall maximum sorption capacity (qm) derived by the Langmuir isotherm model showed an increase in the order of inorganic arsenate (As(V)) > dimethylarsinic acid (DMA(V)) > DMMTA(V) > DMDTA(V), which was likely due to steric hindrance due to the presence of methyl and thiol groups. Moreover, DMMTA(V) and DMDTA(V) showed no or negligible change in qm with pH change, while qm decreased rapidly with increasing pH in As(V) and DMA(V). The 50% inhibition concentrations (IC50) for As(V), DMA(V), DMMTA(V), and DMDTA(V), which were measured after 48 h exposure to D. magna, were 9.5, > 30, 1.7, and 6.5 mg/L, respectively. Overall, the results demonstrated that DMMTA(V) and DMDTA(V) have high mobility and eco-toxicity in the environment and that methylated thioarsenicals should be accurately monitored and controlled.

Exposure to fluorine (F) in soil increases the risks of dental and skeletal fluorosis and osteoporosis. Therefore, it is important to accurately determine the soil F concentration, and quantitatively evaluate the factors that affect the human health risk of soil F. Differences in soil F concentrations were investigated based on source type (anthropogenically contaminated or naturally enriched) and determination method (perchloric acid extraction-distillation (PAED) or alkali fusion-filtration). A soil sample without contamination history (background F concentration = 208 mg·kg −1 ) was collected and injected with sodium fluoride (NaF) to prepare anthropogenically F-contaminated soil. Mica gravel (> 2 mm) was ground and mixed with quartz powder to mimic soil components of natural F origin. The F concentration in anthropogenically contaminated soil did not significantly differ between methods (slope = 0.959, p > 0.05). The concentration in the naturally F-enriched soil analyzed using alkali fusion-filtration was approximately twice that of the sample analyzed using PAED (slope = 0.548, p < 0.05). This significant difference was ascribed to the abundance of chemically stable F. Non-carcinogenic hazard quotients for children differed between methods in naturally F-enriched soil, at 1.335 (alkali fusion-filtration) and 0.641 (PAED). These findings offer valuable insights for assessing, managing, and remediating soils contaminated or enriched with F.

Near-eye displays are fundamental technology in the next generation computing platforms for augmented reality and virtual reality. However, there are remaining challenges to deliver immersive and comfortable visual experiences to users, such as compact form factor, solving vergence-accommodation conflict, and achieving a high resolution with a large eyebox. Here we show a compact holographic near-eye display concept that combines the advantages of waveguide displays and holographic displays to overcome the challenges towards true 3D holographic augmented reality glasses. By modeling the coherent light interactions and propagation via the waveguide combiner, we demonstrate controlling the output wavefront using a spatial light modulator located at the input coupler side. The proposed method enables 3D holographic displays via exit-pupil expanding waveguide combiners, providing a large software-steerable eyebox. It also offers additional advantages such as resolution enhancement capability by suppressing phase discontinuities caused by pupil replication process. We build prototypes to verify the concept with experimental results and conclude the paper with discussion. Near-eye displays are pivotal for building augmented and virtual reality platforms, but hurdles remain in achieving comfort and realistic visual experiences. Here, authors demonstrate compact 3D holographic glasses with focus cues by combining merits of waveguide displays and holographic displays.

We aimed to determine the effect of optic disc tilt on deep learning-based optic disc classification. A total of 2507 fundus photographs were acquired from 2236 eyes of 1809 subjects (mean age of 46 years; 53% men). Among all photographs, 1010 (40.3%) had tilted optic discs. Image annotation was performed to label pathologic changes of the optic disc (normal, glaucomatous optic disc changes, disc swelling, and disc pallor). Deep learning-based classification modeling was implemented to develop optic-disc appearance classification models with the photographs of all subjects and those with and without tilted optic discs. Regardless of deep learning algorithms, the classification models showed better overall performance when developed based on data from subjects with non-tilted discs (AUC, 0.988 ± 0.002, 0.991 ± 0.003, and 0.986 ± 0.003 for VGG16, VGG19, and DenseNet121, respectively) than when developed based on data with tilted discs (AUC, 0.924 ± 0.046, 0.928 ± 0.017, and 0.935 ± 0.008). In classification of each pathologic change, non-tilted disc models had better sensitivity and specificity than the tilted disc models. The optic disc appearance classification models developed based all-subject data demonstrated lower accuracy in patients with the appearance of tilted discs than in those with non-tilted discs. Our findings suggested the need to identify and adjust for the effect of optic disc tilt on the optic disc classification algorithm in future development.

IntroductionReducing neonatal deaths in premature infants in low- and middle-income countries is key to reducing global neonatal mortality. International neonatal networks, along with patient registries of premature infants, have contributed to improving the quality of neonatal care; however, the involvement of low-to-middle-income countries was limited. This project aims to form an international collaboration among neonatal networks in Asia (AsianNeo), including low-, middle- and high-income countries (or regions). Specifically, it aims to determine outcomes in sick newborn infants, especially very low birth weight (VLBW) infants or very preterm infants, with a view to improving the quality of care for such infants.Methods and analysisCurrently, AsianNeo comprises nine neonatal networks from Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand. AsianNeo will undertake the following four studies: (1) institutional questionnaire surveys investigating neonatal intensive care unit resources and the clinical management of sick newborn infants, with a focus on VLBW infants (nine countries/regions); (2) a retrospective cohort study to describe and compare the outcomes of VLBW infants among Asian countries and regions (four countries/regions); (3) a prospective cohort study to develop the AsianNeo registry of VLBW infants (six countries/regions); and (4) implementation and evaluation of educational and quality improvement projects in AsianNeo countries and regions (nine countries/regions).Ethics and disseminationThe study protocol was approved by the Research Ethics Board of the National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan (reference number 2020–244, 2022–156). The study findings will be disseminated through educational programmes, quality improvement activities, conference presentations and medical journal publications.

We present a novel near-eye display concept which consists of a waveguide combiner, a spatial light modulator, and a laser light source. The proposed system can display true 3D holographic images through see-through pupil-replicating waveguide combiner as well as providing a large eye-box. By modeling the coherent light interaction inside of the waveguide combiner, we demonstrate that the output wavefront from the waveguide can be controlled by modulating the wavefront of input light using a spatial light modulator. This new possibility allows combining a holographic display, which is considered as the ultimate 3D display technology, with the state-of-the-art pupil replicating waveguides, enabling the path towards true 3D holographic augmented reality glasses.