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Industrial processes are characterized by energy losses, such as heat streams rejected to the environment in the form of exhaust gases or effluents occurring at different temperature levels. Hence, waste heat recovery (WHR) has been a challenge for industries, as it can lead to energy savings, higher energy efficiency, and sustainability. As a consequence, WHR methods and technologies have been used extensively in the European Union (EU) (and worldwide for that matter). The current paper revisits and reviews conventional WHR technologies, their use in all types of industry, and their limitations. Special attention is given to alternative “new” technologies, which are discussed for parameters such as projected energy and cost savings. Finally, an extended review of case studies regarding applications of WHR technologies is presented. The information presented here can also be used to determine target energy performance, as well as capital and installation costs, for increasing the attractiveness of WHR technologies, leading to the widespread adoption by industry.

The wide adoption of heat recovery technologies in industry is hampered by specific “barriers” related to both technical and non-technical issues. This paper attempts to determine these barriers and make recommendations on how to address them. First, a literature review of related material is presented. Among numerous barriers, the main ones identified are (i) lack of information, (ii) lack of technology knowledge, (iii) technology risks, (iv) high initial and running and maintenance costs, (v) lack of financial support and lack of governmental incentives, (vi) size and available space limitations, (vii) lack of available infrastructure, (viii) production constraints and risk of production disruptions, (x) risk of the system negative impact on the company operations, and (xi) policy and regulations restrictions. Then, based on the above, a structured questionnaire on barriers to the adoption of waste heat recovery (WHR) technologies was prepared and issued to a number of industries throughout the European Union. Upon analyzing the questionnaire, an assessment of the importance and negative impact of each of the above-mentioned barriers is made. Subsequently, strategies and recommendations on how to overcome the barriers is reported. These recommendations are hoped to be adopted as far as possible in the packaging, installation, commissioning, and demonstration of new and old WHR technologies.

Thermal processes account for 70% of the EU industry final energy, with 30% thereof being wasted through losses. This fact has been a motivating factor toward applying various technologies and methods for waste heat recovery. Already such technologies exist and are applied in many industrial sectors, while some \"new\" technologies have also been tested or suggested. It is therefore useful to obtain insight information into such processes, together with their temperature ranges and, hence, assess the potential market for each industrial sector. Here such an attempt is made, based on existing literature. Estimates on the total energy that can be recovered through the EU industry are given and a special case study on the important Iron and Steel industry is presented. This kind of information can be useful for the improvement of existing and the development of \"new\" technologies or techniques.

Industrial processes are currently responsible for nearly 26% of European primary energy consumptions and are characterized by a multitude of energy losses. Among them, the ones that occur as heat streams rejected to the environment in the form of exhausts or effluents take place at different temperature levels. The reduction or recovery of such types of energy flows will undoubtedly contribute to the achievement of improved environmental performance as well as to reduce the overall manufacturing costs of goods. In this scenario, the current work aims at outlining the prospects of potential for industrial waste heat recovery in the European Union (EU) upon identification and quantification of primary energy consumptions among the major industrial sectors and their related waste streams and temperature levels. The paper introduces a new approach toward estimating the waste heat recovery in the European Union industry, using the Carnot efficiency in relation to the temperature levels of the processes involved. The assessment is carried out using EU statistical energy databases. The overall EU thermal energy waste is quantified at 920 TWh theoretical potential and 279 TWh Carnot potential.

Obese people have a higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease, which is supposed to be due to autonomic dysfunction and/or metabolic disorder. The alterations in cardiac autonomic functions bring out the changes in the heart rate variability (HRV) indicators, an assessing tool for cardiac autonomic conditions. To compare the cardiac autonomic activity between obese and normal weight adults and find out the highest association between the indices of HRV and obesity. The study was conducted in 30 adult obese persons (body mass index [BMI] >30 kg/m ) and 29 healthy normal weight controls (BMI 18-24 kg/m ). Short-term HRV variables were assessed using standard protocol. Data were compared between groups using Mann-Whitney test. Obesity indices such as waist circumference, hip circumference, waist-hip ratio (WHR), and BMI were measured and calculated, and they were correlated with HRV indices using Spearman's correlation analysis. In the obese group, there was a significant increase in the mean heart rate, whereas the HRV parasympathetic indicators were less (eg, root mean square of differences of successive RR intervals [28.75 {16.72-38.35} vs 41.55 {30.6-56.75} ms, =0.018], number of RR intervals that differ by >50 ms, that is, NN50 [15.5 {2-39} vs 83.5 {32.75-116.25}, =0.010], etc) and the sympathetic indicator low frequency (LF)/high frequency (HF) ratio (1.2 [0.65-2.20] vs 0.79 [0.5-1.02], =0.045) was more than that of the normal weight group. Spearman's correlation between HRV and obesity indices showed significant positive correlation of WHR with LF in normalized unit ( =0.478, <0.01) and LF/HF ratio ( =0.479, <0.01), whereas it had significant negative correlation with high frequency power ms ( =-0.374, <0.05) and HF in normalized unit ( =-0.478, <0.01). There was a nonsignificant correlation of BMI with HRV variables in obese individuals. Increased WHR, by far an indicator of visceral adiposity, was strongly associated with reduced cardiac parasympathetic and increased sympathetic activity in obese individuals defined by BMI. However, BMI itself has a weak relationship with HRV cardiac autonomic markers. Thus, even with a slight increase in WHR in an individual, there could be a greater risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality brought about by cardiac autonomic alterations.

Waste heat recovery (WHR) can represent a solution to improve the efficiency of ships’ propulsion, helping to exceed stringent greenhouse gas emission limits. This is particularly suitable in the case of propulsion based on gas turbines due to their medium-high temperature level of the exhaust gases. This study analyzes the performance of a hybrid energy grid, in which the heat is recovered by the exhaust gases of an aeroderivative gas turbine, a GE LM2500+, when the bottoming system is a supercritical CO2 gas turbine. Given the issues and peculiarities related to the onboard installation, where size and weight are fundamental concerns, six WHR schemes have been analyzed. They span from the simple cycle to partial preheated and regenerative, to a cascade layout in which an ORC system receives thermal power by the sCO2 GT. The influence of the seawater temperature on the performance of the hybrid energy system has been also considered. The energetic and exergetic performance comparison of the different schemes has been carried out by using the commercial software Thermoflex. The results showed that an increase in overall performance by up to 29% can be obtained and that the increase in seawater temperature can lead to a decrease in the overall performance.

Background In association with the rapid lengthening of life expectancy and the ever-rising prevalence of obesity, many studies explored in the elderly the phenomenon usually defined as the obesity paradox. Objective and methods This article is a narrative overview of seventy-two papers (1999–2019) that investigated the obesity paradox during the aging process. Twenty-nine documents are examined more in detail. Results The majority of studies suggesting the existence of an obesity paradox have evaluated just BMI as an index of obesity. Some aspects are often not assessed or are underestimated, in particular body composition and visceral adiposity, sarcopenic obesity, and cardio fitness. Many studies support that central fat and relative loss of fat-free mass may become relatively more important than BMI in determining the health risk associated with obesity in older ages. Conclusion Inaccurate assessments may lead to a systematic underestimation of the impact of obesity on morbidity and premature mortality and, consequently, to clinical behaviors that are not respectful of the health of elderly patients. Knowledge of the changes in body composition and fat distribution will help to better understand the relationship between obesity, morbidity, and mortality in the elderly. Level of evidence Level V, narrative overview.

Background: Body image research deals a lot with awareness of the body as an entity. Studies that consider individual anatomical aspects and place them in an intercultural context are rarely present. Methods: For this purpose, general data, body perception and judgment of body images from 2163 (48% female and 52% male) participants from Germany, Nigeria, the USA and Japan were evaluated as part of a survey. Results: There were clear differences in the personal body image of the participants’ own buttocks, the buttocks as a beauty ideal and the way in which dissatisfaction was dealt with in different countries. In addition to sexual well-being (importance score: 0.405 a.u.), the country of origin (0.353), media consumption (0.042) and one’s own weight (0.069) were also identified as influencing factors for satisfaction with one’s own buttocks. A clear evolution could be derived regarding a WHR (waist-to-hip ratio) of well below 0.7, which was consistently favored by the participants but also propagated by influencers through images (p < 0.001). In this context, participants who indicated celebrities as role models for the buttocks showed a correspondingly high level of dissatisfaction with their own buttocks (R = −0.207, p < 0.001, ρ = −0.218). Conclusion: Overall, a highly significant correlation was shown between the consumption frequency of Instagram, TikTok and pornography with the negative perception of women’s own buttocks.

Objectives Obesity has an important impact on the future of total joint arthroplasty (TKA). We aimed to determine whether waist‐to‐hip ratio (WHR) is a useful measurement in predicting postoperative outcomes associated with obesity in patients undergoing primary TKA and compared the predictive value of WHR to that of body mass index (BMI). Methods Prospective data from patients undergoing unilateral primary TKA from February to May 2024 were analyzed, including BMI and WHR. Outcomes included complications, hospitalization details, and 12‐month patient‐reported function (University of California, Los Angeles [UCLA] activity scale, the Hospital for Special Surgery [HSS] score). Multivariable regression models were used to identify significant obesity‐related predictors of outcomes. Results A total of 195 patients were included, with the mean BMI of 28.2 ± 5.2 kg/m2 (range: 17.6–40.8) and the mean WHR of 1.03 ± 0.08 (range: 0.83–1.27). WHR was a significant predictor of wound complication (OR: 1.087, p = 0.016). Both WHR (OR: 1.153, p = 0.004) and BMI (OR: 1.058, p = 0.021) independently predicted systemic complications, with WHR explaining greater variance ( R 2  = 0.241 vs. 0.107 for BMI). For functional outcomes, higher WHR was associated with poorer UCLA activity scores (RR: 0.877, p = 0.012) and HSS function scores (RR: 0.921, p < 0.001), whereas BMI only showed significance for HSS function scores (RR: 0.960, p = 0.002). WHR again explained more variance in HSS function scores ( R 2  = 0.233 vs. 0.124). In contrast, neither WHR nor BMI correlated with surgical records, hospitalization days, or HSS pain scores (all p > 0.05). Conclusions The WHR demonstrates superior predictive value over BMI for perioperative complications and 12‐month patient‐reported functional outcomes following primary TKA. Preoperative WHR assessment may help surgeons improve risk stratification and better educate obese patients regarding postoperative expectations prior to elective TKA. Our findings highlight that the incorporation of preoperative WHR evaluation into clinical practice may assist surgeons in preoperative risk warning, patient education and surgical timing decisions for obese candidates considering elective total knee arthroplasty.

Weight gain among Mauritanian women, particularly Arab-Mauritanian women, remains a major public health concern. This phenomenon is largely explained by its cultural valorization, as it is perceived as a symbol of beauty and social prestige. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of weight gain and to identify the associated risk factors, including overall and abdominal, among women of reproductive age residing in urban areas of Mauritania. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 1166 women of childbearing age (15–49 years) residing in Nouakchott, Mauritania. The study combined the use of a questionnaire with precise anthropometrics measurements, and body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist to hip ratio (WHR) were used as indicators to assess overweight, obesity and abdominal obesity based on WHO classification and IDF Classification criteria. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to assess risk factors for overweight, obesity and abdominal obesity. The mean age (± SD) of these women was 31.8 (± 7.3) years. The prevalence rates for overweight and obesity were 31.6% and 39% respectively, while for abdominal obesity, determined by waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-hip circumference ratio (WHR), the prevalence rates were 85.4% and 67.2% respectively. The results reveal a significant association between age and both BMI and abdominal obesity ( p  < 0.001). In the regression analysis, marital status (married and divorced) (reference: single), low level of education (reference: higher education), as well as the age ranges 19–49 (reference: 15–18), were identified as significant risk factors for overweight, obesity and abdominal obesity based on WC and WHR. The high prevalence of overweight, obesity and abdominal obesity among women of childbearing age living in Nouakchott, Mauritania is a cause for serious concern. This worrying trend is strongly correlated with age (19–49 years), marital status and low level of education. These findings underscore the urgent need for health policies specifically targeted at these women, aimed at reversing this alarming trend and anticipating the resulting health Complications.