Industrial activities lead to a substantial share of current anthropogenic CO 2 emissions and are some of the most challenging to abate. Direct utilization of industrial flue gases to produce fuels or value-added chemicals is challenging due to the presence of impurities and low concentrations of CO 2 . Herein, we demonstrate a rational assembly of a permselective gas diffusion electrode (PGDE) for direct CO 2 conversion from quasi flue gas (i.e., 10−15% CO 2 , 4% O 2 , and N 2 balance at 100% relative humidity). The electrode design consists of a metal−organic framework (MOF) based mixed matrix membrane (MMM) that enables the selective permeation of CO 2 to a silver electrocatalyst. The MOF is CALF-20, notable for the ability to physisorb CO 2 in wet gas streams. Applying this approach, we convert N 2 -diluted CO 2 streams to CO at a faradaic efficiency of 95% compared to 58% for the nonmodified counterpart electrode with MMM. The PGDE retained its electrochemical performance when introducing O 2 by preventing ∼84% loss of current toward parasitic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and reported 30 mA cm −2 CO partial current density. Further, wetting the gas stream showed a negligible effect on the MOF and the electrochemical performance. Using our PDGE, we report nearly constant CO selectivity over 19 h in a membrane electrode assembly electrolyzer. This approach offers the potential for direct utilization of low-concentration CO 2 while avoiding the economic and environmental costs of obtaining purified CO 2 feedstocks.

An experiment was conducted at the experimental farm of the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh with fifteen maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes to assess the genetic variability, characters association and divergence among the genotypes for yield and yield attributing traits. The experiment was conducted during November 2015 to May 2016, following Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replicates in two adjacent environments to discern the performance of the genotypes in interacting environments. No significant variation was observed for environments, which was perhaps due to their close proximity. The genotypes differed significantly for most of the studied traits. The phenotypic co-efficient of variation (PCV) was higher than genotypic co-efficient of variation (GCV) for all the evaluated traits. High heritability along with high genetic advance was observed for 1000 seed weight, seed numbers ear-1 and yield plant-1. Yield plant-1 was significantly associated with plant height, ear length, ear girth, husk girth, kernel length, 1000 seed weight, kernel numbers row-1, seed numbers ear-1 in positive direction and negatively associated with days to anthesis and moisture loss (%). Path co-efficient analysis revealed that the maximum positive direct contribution towards yield was through 1000 seed weight, seed number ear-1 and kernel length whereas plant height, ear girth, ear length, kernel numbers row-1 showed negative direct contribution towards yield due to negative indirect effects of several parameters. Cluster analysis exhibited five distinct groups. Considering mean values Cluster II provided the best result in terms of yield and earliness, followed by Cluster IV and V. The results of principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that first five components accounted for 82.7% of total variation. The findings indicate the presence of ample genetic diversity among maize genotypes which can be exploited in future breeding program for better utilization of maize germplasm.The Agriculturists 2017; 15(2) 101-114

The refining process of petroleum crude oil generates asphaltenes, which poses complicated problems during the production of cleaner fuels. Following refining, asphaltenes are typically combusted for reuse as fuel or discarded into tailing ponds and landfills, leading to economic and environmental disruption. Here, we show that low-value asphaltenes can be converted into a high-value carbon allotrope, asphaltene-derived flash graphene (AFG), via the flash joule heating (FJH) process. After successful conversion, we develop nanocomposites by dispersing AFG into a polymer effectively, which have superior mechanical, thermal, and corrosion-resistant properties compared to the bare polymer. In addition, the life cycle and technoeconomic analysis show that the FJH process leads to reduced environmental impact compared to the traditional processing of asphaltene and lower production cost compared to other FJH precursors. Thus, our work suggests an alternative pathway to the existing asphaltene processing that directs toward a higher value stream while sequestering downstream emissions from the processing.

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Traditional medicines including Ayurveda, Unani have been used as therapeutics in the Indian subcontinent since 5000 BC. Because of the abundance of secondary metabolites, medicinal plants are becoming priceless natural resources for better drug development. Till date almost no ethnopharmacological evidences were available on Colocasia genus except Colocasia esculenta. As a part of our continuing assessment of evidence based use of traditional medicine, we have identified bioactive polyphenols in the ethanolic leaves extract of Colocasia affinis Schott using HPLC-DAD method and evaluated its anti-allergy, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic potentials for the first time. Chromatographic investigation showed the presence of p-coumaric acid, trans-ferulic acid, rosmarinic acid, myricetin and kaempferol in the leaves extract. Pharmacological profile exploration demonstrated its anti-inflammatory activity at a dose of 250- and 500-mg/kg in xylene-induced ear edema in mice. The extract significantly reduced the allergy like symptoms such as sneezing, scratching, rhinorrhea, redness and swelling in Tolune diisocyanate (TDI) sensitized allergy model mice at 250- and 500-mg/kg doses. Besides, the extract also exhibited reduction in the level of neutrophils, lymphocytes and eosinophils in a dose dependent manner in the experimental animal. The extract also confirmed reduction of blood glucose levels in the experimental mice at a dose of 250- and 500-mg/kg. Therefore, it is evident that C. affinis demonstrated possesses medicinal values through its anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic and anti-hyperglycaemic potentials. Bangladesh Pharmaceutical Journal 24(1): 1-10, 2021