Explore the vast range of titles available.

A comprehensive study of an industrial line for the pelletization of sawmill by-products was carried out. The energy efficiency of its operation, the impact on the environment, and the cost of electricity for the main and auxiliary equipment were determined. Recommendations were proposed to reduce the specific consumption of fuel and electricity and the emissions of harmful ingredients in the production of pelletized biofuels.

The significance of control increases with the push towards improving the overall effectiveness of the health insurance system. In order for public resources to be spent lawfully and effectively, there needs to be increased control not only from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), but citizen control also needs to be incorporated in the process.The goal of this survey is to analyze the opportunities for implementing citizen control over the spending of public health funds and compare them to the real conditions as far as the outpatient medical care level. Legislation and news from NHIF’s webpage related to citizen control opportunities were studied. A direct, anonymous survey was carried out on the Google forms platform amongst Bulgarian citizens past the age of majority.The results of the questionnaire survey carried out between 24.06.2022 and 16.10.2022 among 1045 adults with compulsory health insurance from all over the country, showed that they were poorly informed on the opportunities for citizen control which have been regulated and created in practice and don’t take advantage of them. Only 45,6% of the participants were aware of the digital services “Record review for health-insured persons”, which is found on NHIF’s webpage, and less than half of them (42,8%) used this service. The NHIF’s mobile application for feedback was used by as little as 11,8% of the respondents, and only seven patients have used it to share an opinion, while nine have used it to get notifications for data changes in their patient record. The portion of participants who have taken part in NHIF inquiries was also very small – 2,5%. Merely 2,8% have posted a complaint to the NHIF after being denied medical services.All of this makes it evident that a change is necessary in order for citizen control to be strengthened as a mechanism. This will lead to the correction of proven deviations in reported medical activities and will make it easier to get the patients’ opinions on the medical care they have been provided with.

A representative sample of high-moor peat was obtained and characterized. The surface activation of the initial peat by sequential disassembly was performed to obtain lignocarbohydrate materials that differed in composition, structure, and physicochemical properties. The oil capacity of the resulting materials was evaluated, and the thermal characteristics of the initial and kerosene-saturated samples were studied. It was found that the extraction of valuable biologically active components (bitumen and biopolymers of humic nature) led to surface activation with the retained integrity of plant residues. The subsequent treatment with acids led to significant defragmentation, an increase in bulk density, and a decrease in the oil capacity of the samples. It was shown that the low ash content and the possibility of direct utilization as fuel with a high calorific value (31.9–35.4 MJ/kg) make it possible to consider low-ash high-moor peat with a low degree of decomposition as a tool for removing local oil spills.

Public data of applied studies in the recent decade and the theoretical base and functioning principles of aquatic ecosystems, including phytoplankton, were analyzed to study the effect of the active introduction of the method for correction of water bodies algacenoses (the so-called “algalization”) with the use of introduction of a wide range of strains of chlorella algae. A review of the most widely known cases to rehabilitate problematic water bodies is given; errors, delusions, and deliberate distortions of facts by representatives of agricultural industry, promoting the idea of rehabilitation of water bodies by correction of natural algacenoses, are considered.

AbstractAn electrochemical method for the neutralization, disposal, and regeneration of sulfuric acid solutions of copper etching used in the production of printed circuit boards has been proposed. The possibility of the electrochemical regeneration of sulfuric acid solutions of a copper etching containing H2O2 or \\(S_2O_8^2 - \\) oxidizer is investigated. Membraneless electrolysis is suitable exclusively for the disposal of spent solutions by removing residues of the H2O2 or \\(S_2O_8^2 - \\) oxidizing agents and toxic Cu2+ from spent solutions with a minimum power consumption of 3.88 (kW h)/(kg Cu). The possibilities of membrane electrolysis in a two-chamber cell are limited by the removal of Cu2+ and with the possibility of creating conditions for the synthesis of \\(S_2O_8^2 - ,\\) while the regeneration of the H2O2 oxidant is impossible. Electrolysis in a three-chamber cell with two ion-exchange membranes has great functionality, as it allows one to simultaneously remove Cu2+ with a fraction of the current carried by Cu2+ up to 9.7%, preserve the H2O2 oxidizer, or synthesize a \\(S_2O_8^2 - \\) oxidizer with a current efficiency of up to 42.6% (in the absence of special additives).

An ellipsometric method is used to study the optical properties of unoxidized surfaces of polycrystalline ytterbium film in the spectral range of 0.4–2.6 mm. The measured refractive indices and absorption coeffi cient of the film are used to calculate the dispersion dependences of the optical conductivity σ reflectivity R, the imaginary and real parts of the dielectric constant ε1 and ε2, and the characteristic electron energy loss functions Im(ε–1). The infrared measurements are used in a two-band model for the conductivity to calculate the electronic characteristics of ytterbium in the solid and liquid states.

Being the largest gravitationally bound structures in the Universe, galaxy clusters are huge reservoirs of photons generated by the bremsstrahlung of a hot cluster gas. We consider the absorption of high-energy photons from distant cosmological gamma-ray sources by the bremsstrahlung of galaxy clusters. The magnitude of this effect is the third in order of smallness after the effects of absorption by the cosmic microwave background and absorption by the extragalactic background light. Our calculations of the effect of absorption by the bremsstrahlung of galaxy clusters have shown that this effect manifests itself in the energy range ~1–100 GeV and can be τ ~ 10−5 in optical depth.

AbstractA technology for removing toxic Cd2+ from electroplating process electrolytes and washwater containing \\(SO_4^2 - \\) or Cl– is proposed. This technology makes it possible to decrease the concentration of Cd2+ in treated solutions to 0.1–0.07 g/L and the Cd2+ ingress into plant waste waters by 288–366 times and attain a Cd2+ recovery of 99.7%. Electrolysis in a dual-chamber cell with an anion-exchange membrane makes it possible to return Cd and a H2SO4 solution back into the process. The removal of Cd2+ from Cl– containing solutions is recommended to be performed by membrane electrolysis, separating the insoluble anode with a chemically stable cation-exchange membrane to prevent the migration of Cl– from the catholyte into the anolyte and, correspondingly, their oxidation on the insoluble anode with the liberation of toxic Cl2.

The optical properties of gadolinium in liquid and solid states have been studied. The optical constants are measured by the Beatty ellipsometry method in the range of 0.48–2.6 μm. The dispersion dependences of light conductivity σ, reflectivity R, the imaginary and real parts of dielectric permittivity ε1 and ε2, and the function Im(ε)-1 of the characteristic electron energy losses are calculated from the measured values of the refractive index and the absorption coefficient. The electronic characteristics of gadolinium in solid and liquid states are calculated on the basis of a two-band conductivity model with measurement results in the infrared spectral region.

The data of the full-scale experiment on adjustment of VOMD-24 fan rotor speed with a view to controlling the fan efficiency under impact of the piston effect are presented. The reduction in actual air flow rate at the passenger platform of subway due to decreased fan efficiency is estimated at different intensity of traffic along the subway line. The algorithm of the tunnel fan rpm adjustment per day in conformity with the train traffic density and the architecture of automated control of the tunnel fan efficiency by frequency transducer are proposed.