Explore the vast range of titles available.

Ethanol produced from various biobased sources (bioethanol) has been gaining high attention lately due to its potential to cut down net emissions of carbon dioxide while reducing burgeoning world dependence on fossil fuels. Global ethanol production has increased more than six-fold from 18 billion liters at the turn of the century to 110 billion liters in 2019, only to fall to 98.6 billion liters in 2020 due to the pandemic. Sugar cane and corn have been used as the major feedstocks for ethanol production. Lignocellulosic biomass has recently been considered as another potential feedstock due to its non-food competing status and its availability in very large quantities. This paper reviews recent developments and current status of commercial production of ethanol across the world with a focus on the technological aspects. The review includes the ethanol production processes used for each type of feedstock, both currently practiced at commercial scale and still under developments, and current production trends in various regions and countries in the world.

Reducing CO2 emissions is urgently needed to slow down the impacts of climate change. CO2 capture using an amine solution has been developed and implemented at pilot and commercial scales. However, amine scrubbing, in particular, produces a lot of degraded solvents as waste and is energy intensive. Solid sorbents have been used to overcome these drawbacks. In this work, waste biomass-derived carbon materials were developed and characterized. Advanced thermal chemical processes, i.e., hydrothermal and pyrolysis processes, were applied to produce materials from agrifood waste, such as soybean and okara. It was found that functional groups (-C=O and -OH) appeared in the synthesized materials, implying the generation of surface oxygenated groups. Preliminary results showed that synthesized activated carbons were obtained with good yields and relatively high surface areas, which may be applied as CO2 adsorption materials to solve CO2 emission problems.

The activated carbons (ACs) derived from okara powder waste with high surface areas were modified with ammonia aqueous solution impregnation in an autoclave to enhance their CO2 adsorption properties. The impregnated ACs were characterized, where the chemical composition and properties of the ACs were analyzed by SEM-EDX and FTIR. Activated carbons were functionalized with ammonia aqueous solution (25%) through a hydrothermal process within 24, 48, and 72 h. The adsorption performance of CO2 onto carbon samples was experimentally evaluated through a TPD CO2 measurement. FTIR spectra confirm the N-containing in N-modified activated carbons and the presence of the –C=O stretch and N-H groups. CO2 uptakes of activated carbons are 0.24; 1.78; 2.24; and 1.26 mmol/g, which are relatively comparable with those of activated carbons studied in the literature.

As novel pollutants, flame retardants (FRs) are prone to accumulating in soil and might increase human health risks. It is advisable to emphasize the biomagnification of FRs within the terrestrial food chain, particularly concerning mammals occupying higher trophic levels. Exposure to soil particles laden with FRs may result in numerous health complications. These findings offer significant insights into FR pollutant profiles, tracing origins and recognizing health risks associated with soil samples. Reports have revealed that exposure to FRs can pose serious health risks, including neurodevelopmental impairments, endocrine system disruption, and an increased likelihood of cancer. Nanomaterials, with their high surface area and flexible properties, possess the ability to utilize light for catalytic reactions. This unique capability allows them to effectively degrade harmful contaminants, such as FRs, in soil. Additionally, biological degradation, driven by microorganisms, offers a sustainable method for breaking down these pollutants, providing an eco-friendly approach to soil remediation. These approaches, combined with optimum remediation strategies, hold great potential for effectively addressing soil contamination in the future. Further research should prioritize several key areas, including ecological behavior, contaminant monitoring, biological metabolomics, toxicity evaluation, and ecological impact assessment.

During the last half-century, the CO2 concentration in the world’s atmosphere has increased from 310 p.p.m. to over 380 p.p.m. This is due to the widespread usage of fossil fuels as a main source of energy. Modeling forecasts have shown that this trend will continue to rise and reducing CO2 emissions is a challenging task for multi-stakeholders, including research institutions. The UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26) has stressed that stakeholders need to work together to achieve a NetZero target. Technologies involving absorbents for the capture of CO2 from a gas mixture are energy-intensive. Carbon adsorption and conversion (CAC) approaches have been gaining attention recently since these technologies can mitigate CO2 emissions. In this review, materials ranging from advanced carbon-based materials to natural resources-based materials will be reviewed. Adsorption and conversion capacities as well as the scalability possibility of these technologies for solving the CO2 emission problem will be investigated. The review, therefore, is timely and meaningful concerning the net zero emission targets set by countries and developmental organizations worldwide.

Purpose: This study analyzes the interaction effect of family ownership and product market competition on firm performance. Design/methodology/approach: The sample consists of 47 family firms listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Sotck Exchange (Vietnam) during 2010 - 2022. This research employs the capital approach to define a family firm. This research uses the Fixed Effect Model for panel data to analyze the relationship between family ownership and firm performance. To address the issues of heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation, this study employs the Huber-White estimator for the variance of the estimates. Findings: This study finds a nonlinear correlation between family ownership and firm performance. It also observes that competition in the product market inversely affects firm performance. The complementary effect emerges when competition is combined with family ownership, suggesting that competition serves as a motivator for family members to enhance firm performance. The market’s evaluation indicates that competition does not supplant the governance mechanisms of firms, and family members may prioritize the interests of the firm over those of the family. The involvement of additional family members can lead to more democratic business decisions, which in turn can boost performance. Research limitations/implications: These results can only be generalized for large-size firms. In addition, product market competition is measured using estimation methods, which are limited by certain assumptions and application contexts. Therefore, in subsequent studies, it could be beneficial to expand the measurement of competition using other methods. Originality/value: This research is the premier exploration of the combined influence of family ownership and product market competition on firm performance. While competition in the product market is a well-established research direction in corporate governance mechanisms, previous studies have primarily concentrated on analyzing the influence of competition on firm performance without considering family ownership and its complementary or substitution effects.

Our study aimed to investigate the clinical benefits of combining pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) techniques for treating chronic lumbosacral radicular (CLSR) pain resulting from grade I spondylolisthesis (G1SL). Ninety-six patients with CLSR pain between March 2021 and March 2023 were included in this study, 58 patients with G1SL without instability on dynamic radiographs – Group A and 38 patients with instability – Group B. Pre-procedure, Group B had higher pain levels than Group A. Post-procedure and at follow-up intervals, Visual Analog Scale (VAS) pain scores improved in both groups ( p  < 0.05) and there were no significant differences between the groups. Both groups also showed significant improvement in ODI scores post-procedure, which was maintained at follow-up intervals. The treatment effect, evaluated using the modified MacNab criteria, showed high rates of excellent and good outcomes in both groups, with no significant differences. Importantly, no patients experienced severe complications or required open surgery during the 6-month follow-up. Based on these findings, a new treatment combining PRF and PRP applications appears beneficial in managing pain in regenerative medicine. So, further clinical studies are necessary to support and validate our preliminary findings.

This study investigates the impact of migration on the well-being of children under 5 in Vietnam. For the purpose of this study migration is measured by the proportion of residents who moved from one province to another five years ago, while children’s well-being is proxied by nutritional status, height and weight for age, education, and childcare. Our estimation results show that migration increases the probability of child access to food, improves their nutritional status, and enhances childcare. Interestingly, the effects of migration on the nutritional status of children under 5 tend to be greater for children who has already had a better nutritional status. We find that income is a channel through which migration affects the well-being of children. Our findings suggest that promoting migration can be an effective tool for improving the well-being of children in Vietnam.

Leonetti and Luca [‘On the iterates of the shifted Euler’s function’, Bull. Aust. Math. Soc., to appear] have shown that the integer sequence $(x_n)_{n\\geq 1}$ defined by $x_{n+2}=\\phi (x_{n+1})+\\phi (x_{n})+k$ , where $x_1,x_2\\geq 1$ , $k\\geq 0$ and $2 \\mid k$ , is bounded by $4^{X^{3^{k+1}}}$ , where $X=(3x_1+5x_2+7k)/2$ . We improve this result by showing that the sequence $(x_n)$ is bounded by $2^{2X^2+X-3}$ , where $X=x_1+x_2+2k$ .