Miami-Dade County (MDC) represents a major port of entry for people seeking asylum in the United States, and few studies have systematically evaluated the demographic characteristics of this vulnerable population. Moreover, while the burden of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) are thought to be higher in this population, the prevalence of these psychiatric conditions in our community is unknown. An analysis of demographics and psychiatric co-morbidities of the Human Rights Clinic (HRC) of Miami’s 93 clients between 2010 and 2015 was conducted. The HRC cohort had the following characteristics: median age of 30 years, 52% female, 46% male, 2% transgender or intersex, and 88% originating from Latin America and the Caribbean. The prevalence of PTSD was 67% and MDD was 53% in the HRC population. We conclude that the mental health burden in asylum-seekers in MDC is alarmingly high and that healthcare providers should remain keenly attentive to the unique needs of this population. Objectives1) To illustrate key epidemiologic data of the Human Rights Clinic (HRC) of Miami asylum-seeking population.2) To compare the demographics of the HRC cohort with those of Miami-Dade County (MDC).3) To quantify the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) through validated screening tools and compare to similar populations locally, nationally, and globally.BackgroundEvery year, tens of thousands of individuals arrive to the United States seeking various forms of asylum from torture and other forms of maltreatment suffered in their home countries . MDC repPurposeThe HRC, established in 2010, is an independent organization of medical students, residents, and attending physicians who complete medical and/or psychiatric examinations free of charge for individuals seeking asylum and other forms of immigration relief in South Florida. The healthcare provider’s systematic documentation of evidence of torture and/or human rights abuses, either physical or psychological, is then incorporated into a legal affidavit that becomes part of an applicant’s official application for asylum. This affidavit can play a crucial role in the subsequent legal decisions made about a case. It has been demonstrated previously that with the assistance of corroborating physicians, applicants who provide courts with medical affidavits are granted asylum at rates of up to 89%, more than double the national asylum approval rate of 37.5% and higher than the average asylum approval rate in MDC which has been estimated as low as 15.6% [ParticipantsThe HRC receives evaluation requests from a variety of community partners, including national organizations and private law firms, in the MDC metropolitan area. This analysis included all clients who received an evaluation from HRC between May 2010 and December 2015. Clients of the clinic are generally adults aged 18 and over who have requested the services of the clinic through their legal representation. Clients or their legal guardians provide informed, written consent to participate in clinic activities. The HRC clients are interviewed in physician or legal offices, free clinics, or immigration detention centers. Data collectionThe HRC student coordinators maintain a password-protected, secured, and de-identified database including information collected prior to and during evaluations. Such information includes basic demographics, type of immigration case, referral source, reasons for seeking asylum, history of torture/human rights abuses reported, and case outcomes.Measures and analysesA retrospective, descriptive analysis of the HRC database was performed. Demographics are reported as percentages, frequency distributions, and central tendencies. Prevalence of PTSD and MDD were operationalized by positive screening results on the PLC-C Civilian Screening Tool, a validated screening instrument for PTSD from the United States Veterans Administration, and the PHQ-9 or HAM-D, validated screening tools for MDD that utilize DSM-IV depression diagnostic criteria -11. StatEthics approvalThe Office of the Human Research Protection Program of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine considered this secondary data analysis of previously collected, de-identified data exempt from additional review.Some key demographic data points regarding the HRC cohort, along with parameters from MDC at large, are presented in Table Some 67% (n=62) and 53% (n=49) of the HRC cohort screened positive for PTSD and MDD, respectively. Furthermore, 82% (n=76) reported history of torture and/or human rights abuses including physical, psychological, sexual, or multiple forms of trauma. The most common forms of torture were beatings and/or whippings  and cutting/stabbing with sharp instruments . Other forms of torture reported by HRC clients included, but were not limited to, heat and chemical burns, electric shock, suffocation and/or drowning, suspension, and witnessed torture and killings. Some 20% (n=19) of clients were fleeing gang or drug trafficking-related violence, including 50% (n=12) of unaccompanied minors.Rates of intimate partner violence were 38% (n=18) among women and 100% (n=2) among transgender clients. Additionally, 66% (n=31) of women and 50% (n=1) of transgender clients reported sexual violence. Rates of reported adverse childhood experiences such as domestic or sexual abuse were 33% (n=31) among all clients, and 71% (n=17) among unaccompanied minors.Demographically, the HRC cohort mirrored the MDC population at large in terms of median age , gender , and region of origin . This observation could be explained by familial, cultural, economic, and political ties between the local setting and asylum-seekers’ native countries. Such a “pull” represents one means by which these populations can cope with the stress of acculturating to a new milieu . NotablyNew contributions to the literatureConversely, the HRC cohort displayed a high prevalence of PTSD (67%) and MDD (53%). These findings are consistent with other studies of asylum-seekers and refugees around the world. For example, Bosnian refugees who resettled in Austria and Australia were also found to have higher prevalences of PTSD, depressive, and anxiety symptoms upon arrival . FurtherNotably, 82% of the HRC cohort reported episodes of torture and/or human rights abuses; prevalence estimates of torture history vary from 6.6% at an urban primary care clinic to 11.5% in an urban emergency department cohort, and often go unreported -21. FurtLimitations To the authors’ knowledge, these estimates provide the first demographic and medical evidence regarding the unique cohort of asylum-seekers who settle in MDC. However, a significant limitation to our findings is the lack of validation of the PLC-C, PHQ-9, and HAM-D screening tools in our specific study population, as these instruments have only been previously validated for primary care settings. Another argument is that the data we have presented herein might resemble a convenience sample due to their physical location during interview; detained individuals constitute a significant minority of our study population .An additional limitation of our data is its focus on the psychiatric comorbidities exhibited by the HRC cohort upon the time of medical/psychiatric evaluation. Further research is needed to clarify acute medical conditions also experienced by this vulnerable population, including injuries related to instances of trauma and torture. Screening for other chronic medical conditions, including overweight, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and chronic pain for which this population may be at greater risk, would also be of benefit for elucidating this population’s medical burden.Implications for public health practice The data discussed in this analysis can have important implications for local officials, public health officers, and healthcare providers. First and foremost, these findings highlight that additional resources should be dedicated to assist these clients with their large burden of psychiatric comorbidities. Currently, the Florida Department of Health in MDC operates a Refugee Health Assessment Program (RHAP) in which a “mental health evaluation and referral” process is available to refugees, parolees, and asylum-seekers who lawfully enter into the United States . It woulAsylum-seekers in MDC mirror the demographics of the county at large but appear to have a much larger burden of psychiatric co-morbidities including PTSD and MDD. Moreover, the majority of these individuals has faced episodes of torture and/or human rights abuses in their countries of origin. These results suggest that local public health authorities and healthcare providers design tailored outreach programming to target this vulnerable population and ensure access to needed services.


Greenhouses and indoor farming systems play an important role in providing fresh and nutritious food for the growing global population. Farms are becoming larger and greenhouse growers need to make complex decisions to maximize production and minimize resource use while meeting market requirements. However, highly skilled labor is increasingly lacking in the greenhouse sector. Moreover, extreme events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, can make farms temporarily less accessible. This highlights the need for more autonomous and remote-control strategies for greenhouse production. This paper describes and analyzes the results of the second “Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge”. In this challenge, an experiment was conducted in six high-tech greenhouse compartments during a period of six months of cherry tomato growing. The primary goal of the greenhouse operation was to maximize net profit, by controlling the greenhouse climate and crop with AI techniques. Five international teams with backgrounds in AI and horticulture were challenged in a competition to operate their own compartment remotely. They developed intelligent algorithms and use sensor data to determine climate setpoints and crop management strategy. All AI supported teams outperformed a human-operated greenhouse that served as reference. From the results obtained by the teams and from the analysis of the different climate-crop strategies, it was possible to detect challenges and opportunities for the future implementation of remote-control systems in greenhouse production. Greenhouses and indoor farming systems play an important role in providing fresh food, such as fruits and vegetables being high in vitamins and minerals. Greenhouses combine high crop production per unit area with a high water use efficiency per unit of produce , but at 2 and for actively controlling different actuators  in order to control all growth factors important for crop production at every moment. Today’s growers determine the climate, irrigation and crop management strategies based on experience and defines the setpoints for climate and irrigation control manually. Actuators then operate based on setpoints configured in a process computer, while sensors give feedback on measured data for the control loop. Additional sensors monitoring crop status are able to provide the grower with further information on photosynthesis rate [Today’s high-tech greenhouses are equipped with different standard sensors for monitoring light, temperature, humidity, and COsis rate , sap flosis rate  and leafsis rate  to be adsis rate ,20,21,22Dynamic climate models have been developed ,26,27,28The crop has a central role in every greenhouse production system. Crop management decisions and actions are mostly taken by the greenhouse staff. Manual labor is still required for planting, crop training, leaf and fruit pruning, and fruit harvesting in greenhouses with high-wire vegetable production. While manual labor requirement is high, crop management decisions can be supported. Since experienced and well-trained crop managers are scarce, crop simulation models can play a role in decision making. An overview of greenhouse crop models and modelling approaches are given in other studies ,41,42,43AI algorithms are widely used in horticultural research and have recently been implemented in practice. Main application fields are plant stress detection , fruit dIn the current paper the results of the second Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge conducted in six high-tech greenhouse compartments at Wageningen University & Research, Bleiswijk, in The Netherlands in 2020, was described. The challenge was designed to make further breakthroughs in fresh food production with fewer resources using AI algorithms for and automatic and remote control of a greenhouse crop production. While the first experiment  was simphttps://doi.org/10.4121/uuid:88d22c60-21b3-4ea8-90db-20249a5be2a7.The aim of this paper is to describe the results of the experiment in terms of net profit, yields and resource use, to analyze different climate and crop management strategies, to explain the results with the help of a digital twin model of a virtual greenhouse, and to detect possible improvements of automatic control for the future. The experiment provided a valuable public dataset which can be used for future AI training purposes and which can be found at 2 floor area and was equipped with technology comparable to commercial high-tech greenhouses  and 8 multi-spectrum controllable LED lamps . Power supply to the LED lamps was coupled to the power supply of the HPS, meaning that LED lamps could only be used additionally to the HPS-lamps. For control of natural light and energy saving two types of inside moveable screens  were present. For temperature control a rail pipe heating system on the floor and a pipe heating system at crop height  were installed, both controllable independently. Next to that, a continuous roof ventilation (ventilation area of 0.3 m2 opening per m2 greenhouse), equipped with anti-thrips netting was available and a fogging system (maximum capacity of 330 g/m2/h), and CO2 supply (maximum capacity 15 g/m2/h) were mounted. Plants were grown in rockwool cubes, placed on rockwool slabs , located on elevated gutters. Irrigation water, premixed with nutrients was supplied with drippers, pressurized by an on/off controlled irrigation pump. The surplus of irrigation water (drain) was collected in the gutter and measured in terms of quantity, EC, and pH.The experiment described in this paper has been conducted in a high-tech greenhouse with six identical compartments at Wageningen University & Research, Bleiswijk, The Netherlands. Each compartment measured 96 menhouses . The set3), CO2 concentration (ppm), and time between subsequent irrigation turns (min). Setpoints were sent via a digital interface  to a process computer , which then operated the equipment accordingly  controlled their own greenhouse compartment  remotely based on their own algorithms. A sixth greenhouse compartment (303) was manually controlled by Dutch growers and served as a reference. Competing teams used their own control algorithms to determine the climate and irrigation control setpoints. Setpoints teams could control were comparable to our earlier experiment described in : artificordingly . A nutriordingly  and retuordingly . This inThe competing teams developed hybrid systems and combined expert policies with control and predictive algorithms to support their growing strategies. Diverse algorithms were explored and applied, varying from conditional, rule-based algorithms, to data enabled predictive control (DeePC), long short-term memory networks (LSTM), bidirectional LSTM, reinforcement learning, and imitation learning.2/d), outside photosynthetically active radiation PAR (μmol/m2/s), air temperature outside (°C), outside relative humidity (%), and wind speed (m/s);Sensors monitoring outside weather parameters: cumulative outside global radiation (J/cm2), outside air temperature forecast (°C), outside relative humidity forecast (%), and wind speed forecast (m/s);Outside weather forecast parameters: outside global radiation forecast (W/m2) for both heating systems, air absolute humidity inside (g/m3), CO2 dosage (kg/ha/h);Sensors monitoring inside climate parameters and equipment status: lamp status (on/off) of both lighting systems (HPS and LED) and intensity of the four channels of LED lighting (0–100%), energy and black-out screen position (%), air temperature inside (°C), heating pipe temperature (°C), heating power used (W/m2), drain amount (L/m2), drain EC (dS/m), and drain pH (−), EC in slab (dS/m), pH in slab (-), and temperature in slab (°C).Sensors monitoring fertigation parameters and equipment status: irrigation supply amount (L/mIn each greenhouse compartment standard sensors continuously measured data. Standard sensors were comparable to our earlier experiment described in  and can 2), heating energy used (kWh/m2), electricity used (kWh/m2), CO2 dosage (kg/m2), water consumption (L/m2). Measurements and calculations were sent back to the teams via a digital interface . Data from additional sensors was received by teams at different time intervals depending on the parameters and devices and acquired via the specific supplier companies’ interfaces and/or arranged by teams via separate interface.Teams could install additional sensors at the start of the experiment. They chose different types of sensors, such as additional aspirated measurement boxes for indoor temperature, humidity and CO2, all teams opted for a 2-stem young plant. The reference started with 4.0 stems/m2. Changes in stem density during the cropping period were different for the teams in time. The first harvest was on 13 February 2020, and the last harvest was for all teams set to 29 May 2020. Based on this last harvest date, the date of topping  had to be chosen by the teams and differed from 16 to 30 April 2020. The crop in the reference compartment was topped on 16 April 2020.The experiment was conducted with an indetermined type of cherry tomato crop. Seedlings cv. “Axiany”  were sown on 19 October 2019, grafted on Maxifort rootstock, planted in rockwool cubes and were transplanted to the greenhouse compartments on 16 December 2019. Teams took over remote control on 20 December 2019. The crop was grown in a high-wire growing system. Initial plant density and stem density were determined by the teams in advance and varied between 2.6 and 4.0 stems/m2. Fruit pruning strategies led to a different maximum plant load of 500 to 800 fruits/m2. Crop parameters such as stem elongation (cm per week), stem thickness (mm), fruit growth period (d), and truss formation rate (#truss/week) were manually measured per week on 10 sample plants. The stem thickness refers to the thickness of the stem just below the highest flowering cluster near the plant top. The fruit growth period refers to the time between the day that the first fruits on the cluster clearly start to grow and the day of harvest of the cluster. Plant load (#fruits/m2) was estimated from stem density, numbers of new and harvested trusses, and number of fruits per new truss, and was weekly shared with the teams. Harvest was performed per truss, approximately five times every two weeks. Harvest data on number of harvested trusses (#/m2) and fresh fruit weight (kg/m2) of class A, were obtained manually by the greenhouse staff. Additionally, fruit quality analyses were carried out in the laboratory. Based on laboratory measurements of total soluble solids , titratable acid , % juice pressed from the fruit wall of the tomato , breaking force of the fruit wall, as an indicator of the perceived firmness during chewing  and average fruit weight , the fruit flavor  were calculated with the WUR Flavor Tomato Model version 2.1 (update 2011) [Teams sent weekly instructions with regards to stem density, and fruit and leaf pruning in the top of the canopy to the greenhouse staff. Stem density over time ranged from 2.6 to 8.0 stems/mte 2011) . Results2 use efficiency (kg CO2 dosage/kg tomato), water use efficiency (L supplied/kg tomato), fertilizer use efficiency (g fertilizer/kg tomato). Fertilizer use efficiency was estimated based on the average supply EC and using the rough relation that 1 EC corresponds to 1 kg of dissolved salts per m3 of water.Resource use efficiency was calculated based on measured data: energy use efficiency for heat (MJ/kg tomato) and electricity (kWh/kg tomato), CO2, water, nutrients, and labor were measured during the experiment per greenhouse compartment and multiplied with the given price: electricity on-peak price (07:00–23:00 h) € 0.08 per kWh and off-peak price (23:00–7:00 h) € 0.04 per kWh; heating price € 0.03 per kWh; CO2 price € 0.08 per kg up to 12 kg/m2 and € 0.20 per kg above; labor for crop maintenance € 0.0085 per stem per m2 per day. Other greenhouse equipment used, was identical, and therefore capital costs were not considered in the calculation of the net profit. All economical parameters were communicated to the teams prior to the start of the challenge and had therefore no uncertainty.Net profit was calculated based on income minus costs. The income was determined from the kg tomato fruits harvested x price per kg fruits and fruit quality. The price depended on fruit quality, namely its Brix value, and on the season . The cosTeams operated the different greenhouse compartments using their own AI algorithms. The outcome were different management strategies for climate, irrigation, and crop, affecting crop yields, product qualities and resource use efficiencies, and thus income, costs, and net profit.2 etc.In a performance analysis the realized results of the real greenhouse crop production in different compartments were compared with a greenhouse climate and crop simulation model, a virtual greenhouse crop production . With the availability of this digital twin of the real greenhouse, a detailed analysis can be performed to better understand the roles of different growth factors such as light, temperature, CO2 concentration and air humidity. This output is then used as input for the tomato crop model INTKAM [The virtual greenhouse crop production model consisted of a combination of a dynamic greenhouse climate model KASPRO  and a tol INTKAM , which cl INTKAM , tomato 2). The crop model was appropriately calibrated. With this calibrated digital twin of the greenhouse, the effects of changes in light, air temperature and CO2 control strategies on fresh production were investigated for each compartment of the experiment. The influence of light availability was investigated by increasing or decreasing the number of lighting hours by max 3 h per day, not changing the applied light intensity. CO2 dosing capacity was varied from 50 to 200 kg/ha/h, while simultaneously changing the setpoint of CO2 concentration from −100 to +50 ppm compared to the applied strategy. Temperature setpoints were changed by −2 to 2 °C, compared to the applied strategy. Effects on net profit were investigated.The digital twin was used to calculate the tomato crop yield of each compartment, while using the real greenhouse construction, the real equipment, the real weather conditions and the realized climate and crop management strategies in the individual compartment as inputs. The calculated output was the predicted fresh yield ; and 305 achieved much lower CO2 levels (2 use efficiencies (Table 2) due to lower production . The reference growers (303) started with relatively low CO2 concentration and dosage but increased it at the end of the growing cycle (2 use efficiency (Table 2) since they maintained high CO2 levels during winter with low ventilation losses and lower CO2 levels during summer, which limits the ventilation losses.2 dosage ; 302 rea2 levels , howeverng cycle . Compart2 for compartment 302 to 832 L/m2 for compartment 304. After subtracting the collected and re-used drain water, the crop water uptake was 334 L/m2 for compartment 302 and 537 L/m2 for compartment 304. The average usage was 450 L/m2, the team with the best strategy (306) used 430 L/m2.The amount of irrigation water provided in the different compartments differed substantially. This was caused by different irrigation supply strategies , resulti2. A low initial stem density reduced the costs for plant starting material. During the growing period stem densities were increased up to 4.5–5.8 stems per m2, by allowing shoots to develop to secondary stems. In the end phase of the crop cycle, just before topping, the reference growers (303) doubled stem density to 8.0 stems per m2. The purpose was to enable the development of two additional fruit clusters per stem. However, since labor costs were related to stems per m2, this action resulted in the highest labor cost .Total income consists of the amount of fruit harvest, fruit quality and product prices. Product prices per kg tomato were assumed to vary with fruit quality (Brix) during the growing period, reflecting market reality . Since f2), while the best strategy has average costs (26.07 €/m2) and the reference growers were high in costs (29.38 €/m2), especially very in high energy and labor costs  from the existing realized data, simulation results of important climate parameters, such as temperature . The lowest CO2 setpoints, reduced the production for some teams substantially, up to 0.72 kg/m2, representing a value of €1.80 per m2 for team 301. At a CO2 price of €0.08 per kg it is clear that the reduction of income is far more than the savings on CO2, so reduction of CO2-dosing is not beneficial for profitability. When increasing CO2 dosing, there is some benefit to gain, but the benefit is small for most teams, which show that the teams were operating at quite an optimal strategy.2 dosing and temperature. Moreover, the response seems to be quite linear, except for team 303 and team 305, which already applied a lot of lighting in the reality.Finally, The strong effect of light on net profit in the performance analysis requires a somewhat deeper analysis. Because of the large increase of the amount of natural sunlight towards summer  and the 2 when applied around the tenth week after planting  and in a strong drop towards the end of the growing period. The small effect at the end of the growing period can be expected, based on the increase of natural light and the decrease in product prices. However, the simulation also shows that in the first weeks after planting, adding additional artificial lighting leads to a decrease in net profit. The crop then is still small and only few fruits act as a sink for carbohydrates. Control of artificial light could be based on crop source-sink balance throughout the season, of which plant load  until the computed net profit showed a maximum for the particular compartment. An increase in net profit of 3.6 €/m2), reaching the target fruit size means that the grower has to manage the number of fruits produced. The number of fruits is determined by the number of trusses per stem, the number of fruits per truss and the stem density. In order to obtain the desired total number of fruits, the number of fruits per stem is to a certain extent interchangeable with stem density. However, given the fact that in this challenge the fruits were harvested and sold per cluster, the maximum number of fruits per cluster is constrained. This was done in order to limit the difference in maturity of the consecutive fruits within a cluster [2, which saved on labor, where other teams applied a higher stem density and a lower number of fruits per cluster, which promoted evenly ripened clusters. It could be concluded that these are important parameters for optimization. Automated recording of relevant crop data is needed in the future to allow automated optimization.Profitable tomato production implies the production of the maximum number of fruits of a certain quality while using a rational amount of resources. The product quality is determined by the size  and Brix . With the choices in cultivation, growers aim on realizing a certain fruit size. As fruit size is negatively correlated to the number of fruits  versus CO2 concentration and crop production (income).Simulations with the virtual greenhouse and crop model demonstrated that net profit of the crop production was not very sensitive to COtrations . It coul2 in such a way that the maximum number of fruits with a satisfying fruit weight is produced. Stem density is a strategic decision that can be changed only sporadically during the growing season, number of fruits per truss can be modified weekly, and temperature can be controlled at any moment; although, the response of the tomato crop in terms of production is based on the temperature management over at least several days or one week. It could be concluded that the temperature strategy offers clear opportunities for autonomous control. Since temperature management influences the number of trusses formed through truss formation rate and fruit ripening time over time, camera systems could automatically detect these parameters. The other two parameters, number of fruits per truss and the number of stems per m2, can be optimized by, e.g., sensors or model estimates of the photosynthetic capacity of the crop.Simulations with the virtual greenhouse and crop model were also carried out to study the effect of temperature on crop production and net profit. The effect of temperature on crop growth and development has a number of aspects and is therefore complex. With regards to photosynthesis, the effect temperature is small within moderate ranges (18–24 °C) , which iSimulations with the virtual greenhouse and crop model were also carried out to study the effect of lighting strategies on crop production and net profit. There is a strong difference between the instantaneous effect and the integrated daily effect of light on crop photosynthesis. As long as light is the limiting factor, its increase will cause a higher photosynthesis rate. However, even if instantaneous photosynthesis has reached on optimum, the integrated daily value will change if the light period is lengthened. This is the reason why more light caused more simulated growth and production . HoweverGreenhouses are highly non-linear, complex, multi-input and multi-output (MIMO) systems . The undPrior to the start of the greenhouse crop experiment, teams could explore, build, and train algorithms using a virtual greenhouse environment emulated by the available climate-crop models ,43. The 2 as well as NIR and PAR sensors were placed by teams on different heights, to monitor climate homogeneity. Spatial mapping of the parameters supported algorithms of the teams on climate control decisions  and crop management . The digital images of optical low- and high- resolution camera systems RGB, and thermal cameras allowed teams to remotely and visually inspect crop growth and well-being, monitor the number and ripening of the fruits as well as the temperature of the leaves at different crop heights. Wide-view cameras enabled the control of operations of actuators . Some teams labelled the collected imagery datasets based on expert knowledge and used them for phenotyping certain crop traits. In literature, several authors focused on spatial mapping of climate or digital image data for greenhouse growing crops [Additional sensors of the teams varied from low-cost tailor made, to novel sensors for climate and crop monitoring. Natural and mechanical ventilated climate sensors for temperature, humidity, and COng crops ,70,71,72ng crops  reportedEach team followed a different approach for determining their strategies and controls of the greenhouse climate and crop. However, the majority decided to breakdown the system into long- and short-term decisions and controls. The decision-making scheme of team 306 consisted of three managerial levels: strategic, tactical, and operational. The strategic level aimed at defining their crop strategy . It received historical data, expert knowledge, digital images and crop registration data as input. Tactical decisions defined their climate strategy and generated 24-h baseline setpoints based on weather forecast, outputs of the strategic level, and indoor climate measurements. The operational level received data on the short term anticipated outdoor conditions, 24-h setpoints from tactical level and climate measurements, to generate climate control setpoints. To find an optimal greenhouse climate control the team explored model predictive control (MPC) and non-linear model predictive control (NMPC) framework to address the non-linear dynamics. Computation of their optimal control policies was conducted using data-enabled predictive control (DeePC). Using weather forecast and historic data and real time feedback their single optimization framework determined a non-parametric model representing the dynamics of the system, estimated the states and optimized the systems trajectories for a defined horizon . For irrOther teams explored the use of long-short-term memory (LSTM) or bidirectional LSTM (BiLSTM) or tried reinforcement learning algorithms. AI algorithms were combined with conditional (rule based) decisions and expert policies based on historical recorded or empirical data for either climate or crop growing strategies or both. We can conclude that none of the teams had implemented a fully autonomous AI based control yet. All teams used humans in the decision loop. Further improvements towards fully autonomous control still have to be made in the future.In the experiment described here all teams remotely controlling the greenhouse tomato crop production by AI outperformed the human reference growers.Crop management has been shown to be important for high  production.2 or temperature.Optimizing lighting strategies would have improved the production and net profit of the team with the best strategy more than optimizing CO2, temperature, and source-sink balance of the crop.There are clear opportunities for autonomously control crop growth based on automated control of lighting, COObjective is data needed on all aspects of growing since the lack of data hampers further development of AI and/or optimum control strategies.Objective data can be obtained by specific crop sensors, especially the further development of robust camera’s and computer vision algorithms to detect crop specific parameters  seem to be interesting to improve in the future for fully autonomous growing.The last step towards fully autonomous growing would be to automate also all crop handling, more development on robotics would be needed for that (not part of this research).


The synthesized PBSeT showed a high molecular weight  and good elastomeric properties. In particular, the PBSeT64  sample showed an elongation at break value of over 1600%. However, further increasing the DMT content decreased the elongation properties but increased the tensile strength due to the inherent strength of the aromatic unit. The melting point and crystallization temperature were difficult to observe in PBSeT64, indicating that an amorphous copolyester was formed at this mole ratio. Interestingly, wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) curves was shown in the cases of PBSeT46 and PBSeT64, neither the crystal peaks of PBSe nor those of poly (PBT) are observed, that is, PBSeT64 showed an amorphous form with low crystallinity. The Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrum showed C–H peaks at around 2900 cm−1 that reduced as the DMT ratio was increased. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) showed well-resolved peaks split by coupling with the sebacate and DMT moieties. These results highlight that elastomeric PBSeT with high molecular weight could be synthesized by applying DMT monomer and showed promising mechanical properties.In this study, poly(butylene sebacate- Plastics are widely applied in various industrial fields and their usage is continuously increasing due to their low price and excellent physico-chemical properties. However, concerns over the depletion of petroleum resources, which represent the main raw material for plastics, are intensifying ,2. AdditTherefore, the importance of developing eco-friendly biodegradable plastic materials to solve the problems of conventional plastic materials mentioned above is rapidly increasing. Two major strategies have been used for the development of eco-friendly biodegradable polymer materials. The first involves avoiding the consumption of non-renewable resources by using a polymer monomer obtained from nature ,5,6 and PBS is a biodegradable and compostable polyester that is synthesized via the polycondensation of succinic acid (SA) and 1,4-butanediol (BDO). A two-step process is generally used for the polycondensation: First, excess diol is esterified with a diacid to form PBS oligomers with the elimination of water. Secondly, these PBS oligomers are trans-esterified under vacuum to form a high-molecular-weight polymer. Because of its excellent processability, which originates from its low melting point and controllable melt flow index (MFI), PBS has been applied in eco-plastics such as mulching films, compostable bags, non-woven fabrics and catering tools that can replace non-degradable polymers ,15,16.Recently, research into Bio-PBS, which is produced using succinic acid obtained via the conversion of natural sugar (Bio-SA) rather than petroleum-based resources, has also been promoted. Utilizing naturally derived materials as monomers for biodegradable polymers not only prevents petroleum resource depletion but is also an attractive way to increase the utilization of various byproducts generated in the biorefinery process ,18.Along with SA, sebacic acid (Se), which can be obtained from castor oil, is also attracting attention as a monomer for bioplastics. It has shown promising results in biodegradation studies conducted by Organic Waste System (OWS) and other research centers, demonstrating its potential as a new material for bioplastics ,20. Thesco-terephthalate) (PBSeT) with about 19,000 g/mol of molecular weight has been synthesized using different compositions of Se and terephthalic acid and the most amorphous PBSeT  sample showed highly promising biodegradable characteristics . Th. Th24]. 2– peak at 1.3 ppm. These Changes were followed changing of ratio of aromatic unit or sebacate unit in chemical domain and it was observed as the integration of specific peak  ,35 Mw ofMelt flow index (MFI) measurement is a common technique for describing polymer flow behavior and polymer processability. −1 were observed in all the samples and were attributed to C–H bond related to the aliphatic functional sites of the polymer chain [−1 in the spectrum of PBSe; the intensity of these peaks weakened with increasing DMT content [−1). In the PBSeT samples, the C-H bond signals of the PBSe domain weakened and shifted as the DMT content increased [−1 upon addition of DMT. Around 1700 cm-1 region is a carbonyl functional unit [−1 gradually decreased as the DMT content increased. The C–O stretching peaks at 1260–1268 cm−1 in PBSe and PBSeT tended to increase gradually as the content of DMT increased. The 1164 cm−1 peak related to the C–O stretching or C–O–C of PBSe decreased with increasing DMT content and shifted from 1164 to 1169 cm−1 [FTIR peaks at approximately 3000 cmer chain ,37. The  content ,39. PBT ncreased ,41,42. Wnal unit  and all 169 cm−1 ,35.The tensile strength and elongation behavior of the synthesized PBSeT are shown in Mn and the lowest polymer dispersity index at 2.3, demonstrating its good dispersion during polymerization. Similar results have been reported for poly; one study of PBAT containing various terephthalate ratios reported that a 40% ratio of terephthalate in the matrix resulted in the highest value of elongation and that adding more than 40% of terephthalate contributed to lower elongation at break [Increasing the DMT ratio in the PBSe matrix affects the elongation properties of the resulting polymers. The sample with 40% DMT content showed a significantly higher elongation at break (1632%) value than the other samples but the elongation at break decreased as the DMT content was further increased beyond 40%. PBSeT46 showed approximately 1009% elongation at break; this value was similar to that of PBSeT28. However, the tensile strength of PBSeT46 was 16.4 MPa, which was higher than that of the 20% DMT sample. Adding 80% DMT dramatically decreased the elongation at break to 34.2%; this was pronouncedly lower than that of the other samples. PBT showed high stiffness, with 7.8% elongation at break. Based the elongation study results, 40% was found to be the most suitable DMT content for the PBSeT copolyesters. The elongation properties of the synthesized PBSeT64 polyester indicated that the DMT monomer was well positioned in the matrix to increase the amorphous phase, as also demonstrated from the XRD results in Figure 8. As described above, PBSeT64 showed the highest at break . Based on these results, the addition of a terephthalate such as DMT seems to affect the rigidity characteristics of the polymer matrix. In the stress–strain curve, PBT showed extremely low strain compared to other samples, while PBSeT64 showed the highest strain value and a relatively low stress value, indicating that PBSeT64 has good elastomeric property. PBSeT46 showed a high level of stress with high strain. These are the most appropriate characteristics for packaging film applications similar to those of poly ,45. Overall, the PBSe, PBSeT and PBT polymers synthesized in this study showed three or four major decomposition points in TGA/DTGA analysis . The DTGThe TGA graphs show that the onset temperature of thermal degradation gradually decreased with increasing DMT content . The addT1 (401.8 °C); it showed three major decomposition peaks in DGTA analysis. In comparison, PBT showed a thermal degradation onset temperature of 371.0 °C and a primary degradation weight loss of 86.0% at T1 (393.7 °C). The weight loss during the first thermal degradation for the polymers containing 20%, 40%, 60% and 80% of DMT were higher than that of the 0% DMT polymer  at 86.6%, 84.9%, 85.1% and 80.4%, respectively. All the synthesized PBSeT samples showed a lower temperature of primary degradation than PBSe; however, it decreased slightly with increasing DMT ratio. However, a new peak appeared near 560 °C in the 20%, 40% and 60% DMT samples. This was attributed to the effect of the –COO ester functional group [For PBSe, the onset temperature of thermal degradation was 377 °C with a primary thermal degradation weight loss of 66.4% at al group . HoweverHf were very low as 1.9 J/g and 6.3 J/g, respectively. Similarly, as the content of DMT increased to 40%, the ΔHc signals were also remarkably getting weaker compared to the ΔHc enthalpies of other samples. The decreased crystallinity and weak peak intensity of Tm of PBSeT64 could be explained in terms of a change from a semicrystalline to an amorphous phase state, that is, an increase in the amorphous phase in the domain.DSC analysis of the synthesized samples revealed large differences among the melting temperatures of PBSe, PBT and PBSeT with various dimethyl terephthalate ratios . PBSe exTc of 190 °C among the polymers.The melting points increased sharply to 149 and 190 °C when the DMT content was increased to 60% and 80%, respectively. Since the melting point of PBT was 220 °C, this phenomenon was thought to reflect the high melting point of the aromatic part in addition to the content of DMT. In addition to the melting point, the Tc also increased significantly to 91 and 146 °C at DMT contents of 60% and 80%, respectively. PBT showed the highest Tg) was observed in PBSeT64. PBSe exhibited −29.8 °C of Tg and all of PBSeT samples showed the Tg under −20 °C, which were similar to previously reported Tg of synthesized aliphatic–aromatic copolymers with sebacate [Tg means that the polymers are in rubber state with possible elastomeric properties at room condition. These polymers, which had low glass transition temperatures, showed very soft properties similar to those of PBAT and poly(ethylene) [The lowest glass transition temperature  ,49.Tm and Tc values and high elongation at break value, which deviated from the trends observed for the other PBSeT polymers.X-ray diffraction is a useful analysis method that can determine not only the crystal structure of a polymer material but also its degree of crystallization. PBSeT was successfully synthesized using DMT, sebacic acid and 1,4-butanediol. The tensile strength decreased as the DMT content increased. However, the elongation at break increased when the DMT content was increased to 20% and 40% and that of the polymer with a DMT content of 40% was the highest at 1632%. This phenomenon indicated that the most suitable DMT content in terms of elongation at break was 40% and that excess DMT content worsens the physical properties. The onset temperature of thermal decomposition and initial thermal decomposition rate of PBSeT decreased with increasing DMT content but the melting points increased sharply to 149 and 191 °C at DMT contents of 60% and 80%, respectively. This phenomenon was attributed to the high thermal decomposition temperature of PBT and it was thought that the melting temperature naturally increased as the content of DMT increased. In this study, we investigated the effect of DMT on the physical properties by synthesizing sebacic acid and 1,4-butanediol. Although varying the DMT content from 20% to 80% did not have a large effect on the tensile strength, it showed an effect on the elongation, with the highest value being obtained at 40% DMT content. It was thought that these physical properties could be complemented in future studies by incorporating polymers with hard physical properties such as polylactic acid (PLA) and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs).


In conclusion, significant GHG emissions reduction can be achieved by utilizing SRF in cement production. Especially in the middle-income and low-income countries where waste is dumped to the open landfills, emissions could be reduced without huge investments to waste incineration plants.Cement production is responsible for a significant share of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A potential option to reduce the cement production emissions is to use alternative fuels which can have also an impact on emissions from the waste management sector. This work investigates the change in global warming potential (GWP) of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) production and affected waste management systems when conventional fuels are partially replaced by solid recovered fuel (SRF) made from commercial and industrial waste (C&IW). A life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted with a functional unit of 1 metric tonne of OPC production and treatment of 194 kg of C&IW. Data from an existing cement plant have been used, where the share of SRF from total fuel energy demand increased from 0% to 53% between 2007 and 2016. Four scenarios were established with varying waste treatment methods and SRF share in the thermal energy mix of cement production. It was found that GHG emissions decreased by 20% from 1036 kg carbon dioxide (CO2), eq. -1 in Scenario 1 to 832 kg CO2, eq. -1 in Scenario 3. Furthermore, it is possible to reach a reduction of 30% to 725 kg CO The pro emitter . In 2016missions  . Of themissions . To redumissions .The cement industry utilizes solid recovered fuel (SRF) as alternative fuel, which is usually produced from municipal solid waste (MSW), commercial and industrial waste (C&IW), and construction and demolition waste (C&D). In most high-income countries, C&IW is usually utilized in waste incineration plants after separating recyclable and inert materials from it . IncinerLife cycle assessment (LCA) is a method for quantifying the potential environmental impact of a product or service throughout its life cycle . The envWaste can be treated in the cement industry or waste incineration plants. Also, in many parts of the world, landfill is still the ultimate option for waste treatment. Energy can be recovered from waste incineration or the landfilling process and used for replacing energy, which is produced from other sources. Therefore, while using waste in the cement industry, it is important to investigate the impact when waste is not used for energy recovery and thus no energy is replaced. This study combines both the cement industry and affected waste management system together, while considering SRF which is derived from C&IW as fuel in the cement industry.One of the main objectives of this study is to quantify the change in global warming potential (GWP) of cement production when conventional fuels are replaced with SRF in a cement plant. Since in this study, the alternative fuel is SRF, this means that there are also changes in the associated waste management system that need to be considered. Therefore, this study also investigates, the GWP impact of the affected waste management system.The LCA in this study was conducted in accordance with ISO 14040 standards , which dFinnsementti’s cement production (in Lappeenranta factory) is used as a case for this study. According to The goal of the study is to determine the change in environmental impact when replacing conventional fuels with SRF in the cement production process as well as diverting C&IW from waste incineration and landfills to cement plants. In this study, it was estimated that to supply enough SRF to replace 80% of the fuel energy needed to produce 1 Mt of cement in the case plant, 194 kg of C&IW would be needed. That is why the functional unit of this study is the production of 1 Mt of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and treatment of 194 kg C&IW.2 emission, the reduction of the emissions of NOx, SOx, and other emissions due to the utilization of SRF is uncertain, therefore, NOx, SOx, and other emissions were excluded from this study. That is why the impact category evaluated in this study is GWP, which represents an important area of environmental concern for cement production. The possible changes in NOx and SOx emissions would affect acidification and eutrophication impact categories but the relation between NOx and SOx emission with SRF utilization could not be established. In addition, the environmental requirements in Finland dictate that the NOx and SOx emissions remain within the allowed limits and these emissions can be controlled with air pollution devices which were installed limiting the possible environmental impact changes.A cradle-to-gate approach was selected, and the LCA calculations were performed using GaBi 8.0 software . Impact The system boundary of this LCA model is illustrated in The affected systems include the transportation and treatment of C&IW in landfills or incineration plants, recycling of by-products of the system, such as steel and aluminium from the SRF production process, electricity and district heating from waste incineration, and electricity from landfill gas (LFG). In addition, the affected systems include steel and aluminium production from recycling systems, average district heating production from Finnish district heating production mix in 2017, and electricity production from the Finnish electricity production mix in 2017.According to Four scenarios were analysed with varying C&IW treatment methods and SRF share in the thermal energy consumption mix during clinker production. Calculations were made using the system expansion method; therefore, no emission displacement resulted from the process. Instead, in all the scenarios, the same amount of electricity, heat, and materials go into and leave the system boundary.2 emission factors of recycled aluminium and steel are presented in the Online Supplementary Table 1. Energy recovered from C&IW incineration in SC 2 can be used for energy replacement. Since, SC 1, SC 3, and SC 4 do not have an equal amount of energy supply to SC 2, these scenarios are required to have energy supply from other sources.The maximum amount of C&IW treated occurs in Scenario 4 (SC 4), where 80% of thermal energy is supplied by SRF. That same quantity of C&IW has to be treated in all other scenarios. Since SC 4 has the highest mass of C&IW directed to SRF production at the plant, this scenario also has the highest amount of metal recovery. As a result, the amount of metal production for the remaining three scenarios must be equal to SC 4. Those scenarios with lesser amounts of metal output have to obtain metal supply from external sources, which are assumed to be recycled aluminium and steel. The COScenario 1 (SC 1): In this scenario, 100% of the thermal energy consumed during clinker production is supplied from FF sources, which comprised 47% from coal, 47% from petroleum coke, and 6% from waste oil. The collected 194 kg C&IW is considered to be disposed of at landfill sites, where LFG is collected and used for electricity production.Scenario 2 (SC 2): Similar to SC 1, an equal quantity and share of FFs are used during clinker production in SC 2. However, instead of landfill disposal, the untreated C&IW is directed to waste incineration plants for recovering heat and electricity.Scenario 3 (SC 3): SRF supplies 50% of total required thermal energy for cement production. The remaining energy requirements are met through FFs, which includes 37% from petroleum coke, 4% from coal, 5.5% from waste oil, and 0.5% from light fuel oil (LFO). In this scenario, 121 kg of C&IW  is used for SRF production, whereas the rest of the 73 kg of C&IW is treated in the waste incineration plant for recovering energy.Scenario 4 (SC 4): In this scenario, SRF provides 80% of the total thermal energy. The remaining energy is supplied from petroleum coke. In SC 4, all the collected C&IW is used for SRF production.x, and carbon monoxide, possible blockages in the heat exchange system, control of pre-calciner operations, and ensuring the quality of the produced cement are considered to be the most crucial , is calculated using 2 emission from each of the raw materials preparation has been collected from GaBi thinkstep database (see Online Supplementary Table 2):Finnsementti utilizes on average 1200 kg of raw materials for 1 Mt of cement production. The utilized raw materials for cement production can be divided into five major components to provide calcium oxides, aluminium oxides, silica, ferrous oxides, and calcium sulphate . In thiswhereRMm = total mass of raw materials per Mt cement (kg Mt−1 cement),RM,iw = share of raw material i −1), andRM,iCE = CO2 emission from raw material i preparation −1).2 emission factor from the preparation of FFs, CEFp  such as coal, petroleum coke, and LFO were collected from the GaBi thinkstep database (see Online Supplementary Table 3). The total GHG emissions of fuel preparation, FPGHG −1), can be calculated by p and required mass of fuels which is presented in Online Supplementary Table 4:The emissions from thermal energy consumption are caused by fuel preparation and fuel combustion. For calculating the emissions from fuel preparation, the COwhereF,i =m mass of fuel i per mass of cement (kg (Mt cement)−1),p,i =CEF CO2 emission factor FF i preparation −1).2 emission factor of SRF combustion per energy content, CEFe,SRF  is calculated based on the compositions as well as non-biogenic carbon content of the waste fractions, which are presented in Online Supplementary Table 5. The mass of non-biogenic carbon per mass of SRF, mCnb,SRF (g C (kg SRF)−1), is calculated by The emissions from fuel combustion are caused by the fossil carbon content of the fuels. The COwhereSRF,i =w share of SRF component i (kg SRF component i (kg SRF)−1),SRF,i =TS share of total solid in the SRF component i −1),SRF,i =C share of C in the total solid of the SRF component i −1), andSRF,i =Cnb share of non-biogenic C in the total C of the SRF component i (g non-biogenic C/(g C)−1).2 (kg SRF)−1) is calculated by The mass of carbon dioxide per mass of SRF (g COwheren = molar amount (mol), andM = molar mass (g mol−1).e,SRF (g CO2 MJ−1), can be calculated with The emission factor of SRF combustion per energy content of SRF, CEFwherear,SRF =LHV lower heating value as received of SRF (MJ kg−1).Online Supplementary Table 6 presents the LHVar of utilized fuels along with their CO2 emission factor. Based on the thermal energy requirement for 1 Mt of cement, SC 1 and SC 2 utilized 106 kg of fuel. In SC 3, fuel utilization was increased to 125 kg for 1 Mt of cement because the SRF share in the thermal energy supply was increased to 53% as well as SRF has lower LHVar compared to the FFs used in this study. The quantity of utilized fuel was increased even further to 139 kg in SC 4 when the SRF share was increased to 80%.The total fuel energy need was considered to be 3000 MJ per Mt of cement. The quantity of fuel required in the scenarios depends on the LHVar of the fuels. GHG −1), depends on the LHVar and CO2 emission factor of the fuels and can be calculated with The total amount of GHG emissions from fuel combustion, FCwhereTE = required thermal energy (MJ (Mt cement)−1),TE,i =w share of fuel i −1), ande,I =CEF CO2 emission factor of fuel i .GHG −1), is determined by The overall GHG emissions from thermal energy consumption, TEGHG −1), was calculated to be 438 kg CO2, eq. (Mt of cement)−1 using In this study, it was assumed that calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate from limestone was completely decomposed due to the high temperature (1450°C) and lengthy burning time. The amount of GHG emissions from the calcination process depends on several factors, such as the amount of clinker in the cement and the share of calcium oxide (CaO) and magnesium oxide (MgO) in the clinker. In this study, the clinker to cement ratio was 80%, whereas the mass share of CaO and MgO in clinker were 65% and 3%, respectively. The remaining portion was composed mainly of silicon dioxide and, to a smaller extent, aluminium oxide and iron oxide. The amount of GHG emissions produced by the calcination process, CPwherecl =w share of clinker in cement (kg clinker (kg cement)−1),CaO =w share of CaO in the clinker (kg CaO (kg clinker)−1),MgO =w share of MgO in the clinker (kg MgO (kg clinker)−1),CaO =M molar mass of CaO (kg kmole−1), andMgO =M molar mass of MgO (kg kmole−1).2 emission factor of electricity production was 158 kg CO2, eq. per MWh . In addition to SRF, fine and heavy fractions, metals (ferrous and nonferrous), and reject materials are also produced from the SRF production process. According to −1 using the heating value of SRF which was obtained from −1) was obtained from In SC 3 and SC 4, SRF is produced from C&IW, after passing through the required treatment processes such as shredding, screening, metal separation, air classification, near-infrared sorting, and the dust extraction system  . The calculated CO2 emission factor of C&IW was 49 g CO2, eq. MJ−1 and for reject material, it was 42 g CO2, eq. MJ−1. It was mentioned in the “System boundary and scenarios” subsection that all the scenarios should have the same amount of energy output from the system. If a scenario does not have an equal amount of energy output from the system, energy from outside sources is required. In this study, it was assumed to be the electricity and district heating production mix in Finland in 2017. The average emission of Finnish district heat production has been 164 kg CO2, eq MWh−1 (The COeq MWh−1 .4), CO2 and other compounds produced through the anaerobic digestion process. C&IW landfilling emission data were obtained from the GaBi database and 28% of the LFG was assumed to be directed to electricity production, 22% to flare, and 49% released to the atmosphere  was compared to requirements in 2007 (3400 MJ (Mts cement)−1).Thermal energy consumption is one of the major sources of GWP production in cement production. Therefore, thermal energy consumption is included in the sensitivity analysis to determine the GWP impact when thermal energy requirement is changed during the calcination process. The thermal energy requirement of the Finnsementti plant in 2016 (3000 MJ (Mt cement)There is a straightforward relationship between the proportion of clinker in the cement and the amount of GHG emissions produced by the calcination process. The need of thermal energy for 1 Mt of cement production also depends on the clinker ratio in cement. That is why the influence of clinker share on total GHG emissions from the cement production process is investigated as part of the sensitivity analysis in this study. It is assumed that in 2050 the proportion of clinker in cement production will be on average 70% . TherefoWood fuel is the largest source (33%) of district heating in Finland, followed by hard coal (23%) . Therefo2, eq. −1 in SC 1 to 725 kg CO2, eq. −1 in SC 4. GWP from cement production remains unchanged between SC 1 and SC 2, because in both of the scenarios, equal amounts and share of fuels have been used. However, due to the consideration of different C&IW management methods, SC 1 generates more than 100 kg CO2, eq. −1 than SC 2. Furthermore, by applying SRF in the kiln, SC 3 and SC 4 experience reduction in both the cement production process and affected system.The results in 2, eq. −1, which is mainly comprises emissions from CO2 release during calcination, 55%, and fuel combustion during the calcination process, 35%. Online Supplementary Table 10. Calcination and fuel combustion together generate 90% of total GHG emissions from cement production, which is consistent with the published figure from In SC 1 and SC 2, the cement production process generates 790 kg CO−1) (−1)   than pap−1) (−1) . If a lo4, and CO2. Since plastic is hard to break down and degrades over a very long period of time, it hardly contributes to the GHG emissions. On the contrary, plastic waste incineration generates GHG emissions. In SC 3, 80% of the emission results from C&IW incineration, and the rest from the incineration of rejects from SRF production. In SC 4, emission from incineration comes only from reject incineration. The result of the study shows that in C&IW management, 80% SRF utilization in the cement industry reduces up to 85% of GHG emissions from SC 1 and 84% from SC 2. However, taking the overall affected system into consideration, SC 4 generates 57% less emission from SC 1 and 24% less emission from SC 2, which is primarily due to the heat supply from outside sources.The SRF utilization in cement plants has a significant impact on the GWP of the affected waste management system, which can be seen from 2, eq. (Mt cement)−1 −1 . SC 4 ofement)−1 . In someement)−1 . InsteadThe GHG emissions from cement production processes, such as fuel acquisition, preparation, and transportation are related to the per unit thermal energy consumption in the plant. When the thermal energy requirement is changed, GHG emissions from those processes change simultaneously. Since the functional unit is unchanged, the amount of energy supply from SRF is also unchanged. However, the fuel energy share changes in SC 3 and SC 4. The fuel energy share for supplying 3400 MJ of thermal energy is estimated to be 47% SRF, 42% petroleum coke, 4% coal, 6% waste oil, and 1% LFO in SC 3. In SC 4, the estimated fuel energy share is 70% SRF and 30% petroleum coke. The sensitivity analysis result on increased energy demand in cement production see  shows thThermal energy consumption in the cement plant depends on the clinker share in the cement. The sensitivity analysis revealed that thermal energy consumption for 1 Mt of cement decreased from 3000 MJ to 2600 MJ when clinker share in the cement was reduced from 80% to 70%. Since the thermal energy need is reduced and functional unit remains unchanged, the fuel energy share in thermal energy is changed to 62% for SRF, 31% for petroleum coke, 3% for coal, and 4% for waste oil in SC 3. In SC 4, the estimated fuel energy share is 92% SRF and 8% petroleum coke. It was discussed earlier that obtaining more than 80% of fuel energy from SRF was economically and technically challenging. Therefore, 92% SRF in thermal energy share requires further technical development and budget for appropriate plant design.The results of the sensitivity analysis in In this study, GHG emissions from an affected system significantly relies on the addition of electricity and district heat to the system and is more affected by the addition of district heat. The results presented in −1 and a 70% clinker to cement ratio. The emission reduction for using SRF could be gained in a case where a dry rotary kiln with pre-heater and pre-calciner are used. A wet rotary kiln requires more thermal energy than a dry rotary kiln, which may lead to more fuel consumption and thus generate more emissions. Also, locally produced SRF should be used to minimize emissions from transportation. Since this study is limited to GWP impact, a further assessment on other impact categories should be conducted.To sum up, this study shows that, the best option to achieve highest environmental benefit from cement production as well as the system affected by the fuel utilization in the cement industry is to utilize 80% SRF in the cement industry. This also needs a thermal energy requirement of 3000 MJ (Mt cement)The change in GWP of both the cement production and affected waste management systems when introducing SRF to replace conventional fuels in cement plants was analysed using LCA. The study was based on real plant data, where four scenarios were established with a varying share of SRF in the thermal energy consumption mix of the cement plant. According to the results, SRF can play an important role in reducing the GWP of the cement production system, while also reducing the GWP of the affected system by diverting C&IW from landfills or waste incineration plants to cement plants. The GWP of both systems decreased along with the increase of SRF share from the thermal energy consumption mix. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the environmental benefits from utilizing SRF in cement plants can be increased by lowering the clinker-to-cement ratio and thermal energy requirement for clinker production.2 emission factor. Waste fractions with high fossil carbon content usually have higher LHVar compared to fractions with higher biogenic carbon content, meaning that SRF with higher LHVar also has higher CO2 emission factor and vice versa. On the other hand, lower LHVar means that more SRF is required to provide an equal amount of fuel energy as with SRF with higher LHVar, which lowers the benefit of a lower CO2 emission factor. Second, for middle-income and low-income countries to achieve environmental benefits from SRF utilization similar to those in high-income countries, an integrated waste management system, including waste collection with source separation practice, should be developed.Despite SRF utilization having significant impact on the reduction of the GWP of cement production and C&IW management systems, certain aspects need to be borne in mind. First, LHVar of the SRF depends on the composition of waste, which also affects the COClick here for additional data file.Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-wmr-10.1177_0734242X20978277 for Impact of utilizing solid recovered fuel on the global warming potential of cement production and waste management system: A life cycle assessment approach by Md Musharof Hussain Khan, Jouni Havukainen and Mika Horttanainen in Waste Management & Research


Cardiac tissue engineering (CTE) aims to generate potential scaffolds to mimic extracellular matrix (ECM) for recreating the injured myocardium. Highly porous scaffolds with properties that aid cell adhesion, migration and proliferation are critical in CTE. In this study, electrospun porous poly (l-lactic acid) (PLLA) porous scaffolds were fabricated and modified with different ECM derived proteins such as collagen, gelatin, fibronectin and poly-L-lysine. Subsequently, adult human cardiac fibroblasts (AHCF) were cultured on the protein modified and unmodified fibers to study the cell behavior and guidance. Further, the cytotoxicity and reactive oxygen species (ROS) assessments of the respective fibers were performed to determine their biocompatibility. Excellent cell adhesion and proliferation of the cardiac fibroblasts was observed on the PLLA porous fibers regardless of the surface modifications. The metabolic rate of cells was on par with the conventional cell culture ware while the proliferation rate surpassed the latter by nearly two-folds. Proteome profiling revealed that apart from being an anchorage platform for cells, the surface topography has modulated significant expression of the cellular proteome with many crucial proteins responsible for cardiac fibroblast growth and proliferation. Myocardial infarction—or ‘heart attack’—is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, which ensues upon the blockage of coronary artery that cuts oxygen supply to the heart muscles, which adversely affects cell orientation and often leads to the injury or death of myocytes . Tissue To overcome these challenges in the field of cardiac tissue engineering, fabrication of a scaffold as a 3D support to closely mimic cardiac ECM for better cell-cell communication is essential. Electrospinning is a robust, simple and economical technique for fabricating fibers with high surface area to volume ratio, facilitating cell infiltration, which is ideal for cardiac tissue engineering . The eleSynthetic polymer-based scaffolds are often surface-functionalized with cardiac ECM proteins such as collagen, gelatin, fibronectin to enhance cell proliferation adhesion and differentiation ,24. CollIn the present study, porous PLLA electrospun fiber scaffolds were fabricated to mimic the naive ECM of heart and were topologically modified with different proteins such as collagen, gelatin, fibronectin and poly L lysine to test cell adhesion and proliferation of human cardiac fibroblasts. All materials were purchased from Sigma  (Merck) or Wako chemicals , Japan unless otherwise stated. Poly (L-lactide) (PLLA) with molecular weight (Mw) of ~80,000–100,000 was purchased from Polyscience Inc. . Porcine Gelatin 0.1% was purchased from Merck . Collagen calf skin type—I 0.1%, Fibronectin 0.1%, Poly L lysine 0.01% were purchased from Sigma Aldrich . Fibroblast medium 3, Detach kit, adult human cardiac fibroblast was purchased from Promocell . Presto Blue cell viability reagent was purchased from Invitrogen . 2’,7’-Dichlorofluorescin diacetate (DCFH-DA) was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich . Proteome profiler array (ARY007) and Human Ki-67/MKI67 DuoSet ELISA (DY7617-05) were from R&D systems. Zetasizer 100 μm tracer polystyrene microsphere particles were purchased from Malvern . N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF) in the ratio of 9:1 under stirring for 18 h at 25 °C and subsequently the solution was kept for 4 h for resting prior to electrospinning. The polymer solution was filled in a 10 mL syringe with a blunt-ended 18-gauge needle. A flow rate of 1 mL·h−1 was optimized between the needle tip and collector. Distance between the needle and the ground collector was 15 cm. The stainless collector plate was covered with aluminum foil for easy collection of the electrospun fibers. To obtain a stable polymer jet, an optimized voltage  was applied between the needle and the collector. The electrospinning process was carried out at room temperature. After collecting the electrospun fibers on the aluminum foil, the obtained fiber scaffolds were air dried for 72 h to remove the residual organic solvent. The solution and spinning parameters including viscosity, polymer concentration, solvent and flow rate were optimized before fabricating the fibers. Thus, formed electrospun scaffolds were cut into discs of 7 mm diameter using a punch, for further characterizations. PLLA fibers were fabricated using an electrospinner . The PLLA electrospinning solution with a concentration of 11.5 wt% was prepared dissolving PLLA in chloroform/To enhance the surface compatibility of the substrates for cell culture, electrospun PLLA fiber scaffolds were surface functionalization by a simple drop coating physical adsorption method. The electrospun PLLA fiber were cut into desired size and UV sterilized for 1 h. After sterilization, protein solutions such as fibronectin (0.1%), collagen (0.01%), gelatin (0.1%) and poly L lysine (0.01%) were drop coated onto the fibers, respectively. The fiber scaffolds were incubated for 1 h at room temperature to aid better adsorption and functionalization of proteins followed by aspiration of residual protein solution. The surface-modified samples were oven dried (37 °C) before further characterization and use. −1. Nitrogen was used as purge gas at a flow rate of 10 mL·min−1. The weight loss was determined using weight loss curve obtained by comparing the initial and final weights of the fibers. Surface contact angle measurements to determine the hydrophilic properties of both bare and protein functionalized PLLA scaffolds were performed by the half angle sessile drop method using Kyowa Interface Sciences Drop Master DM 301, where 1 μL droplet of deionized distilled water was placed on the surface of each sample and the contact angle ‘θ’ was measured. 4-point random measurements were performed on each sample and the results were analyzed using FAMAS interface measurement and analysis system software ver 3.5.4 . The surface zeta potential for bare and protein functionalized PLLA scaffolds were measured using Malvern Zetasizer Nano ZS . All the measurements were performed using deionized water as the dispersant and polyethylene tracer particles of 1 μm diameter. Optical Microscope  was used to immediately (1–2 min post fiber formation) observe the fiber integrity for optimizing the electrospinning voltage and feed rate to avoid polymer bead formations. Based on the morphology, the parameters such as voltage and feed rate were adjusted to achieve bead-free and continuous fibers. Morphology and size distribution of the bare and protein functionalized PLLA scaffolds were determined using a scanning electron microscope . The electrospun fibers were Pt coated and the micrographs were taken at an accelerating voltage of 5 kV with beam current of 20.0 µA. To determine the average diameter and size distribution of the electrospun PLLA fibers, approximately 100 individual fiber diameters were measured randomly on the fiber mat and a size distribution curve was plotted. Surface topography of the bare and protein modified PLLA scaffolds was analyzed using a confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) . The physiochemical characterizations were assessed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). XPS was performed using ULVAC-PHI, Inc.  PHI Quantes instrument with the binding energy of all spectra being recorded from 0 to 1000 eV with pass energies of 69 eV, 140 eV and 280 eV. Al was used for X-ray generation, for the high resolution and wide scan spectra respectively. The thermal degradation characteristics for bare and protein functionalized PLLA scaffolds was performed using Thermogravimetric analyzer . The measurements were carried out by heating the sample from room temperature to 600 °C at a rate of 10 °C·mino is the starting dry weight and Wt is the dry weight after PBS/media incubation. In vitro fiber degradation studies were carried out to analyze the organization and geometry of the electrospun fiber scaffolds in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) (pH = 7.4) and cell culture media. Seven mm diameter fiber mats with a thickness of 80 μm were placed in 24 well plates and immersing in 1 mL of PBS and kept in a rocking incubator at 37 °C for 24, 48, 72 h, 15 days and 30 days for PBS and 24, 48, 72 h for media, respectively. 72 h was chosen as maximum time point for culture media for two reasons: (1). Since the cells were culture only till 72 h maximum, for all experimental assays and (2). To prevent contamination issues. Residual PBS and media were aspirated at the end of these periods. After washing respective fibers with deionized water, the samples were oven dried (37 °C) for 12 h. The respective weight was calculated using Equation (1) and morphology was observed under scanning electron microscopy (SEM).6 cells in a specialized fibroblast growth media at 37 °C in a 5% CO2 incubator. The cells were sub-cultured every 6–7 days or until confluent. Electrospun PLLA unmodified and protein functionalized samples (2 × 2 cm·sq. mats) were UV sterilized for 1 h prior to cell seeding in a 6-well culture plate. A sterilized metal O ring was placed on the fiber mat to avoid floating of fibers in the culture media. The AHCF were seeded at a cell density of 50,000 cells/PLLA sample, inside the confined space of the metal O ring. After a 1 h resting phase to allow cells to settle on the fibers, desired volume of culture media was added to each well and cultured under aforementioned conditions. Cell viability, post culturing  on the respective PLLA scaffolds was performed. The percentage cell viability is estimated by the conversion of resazurin in the dye to fluorescent resorufin by metabolically active cells. After the incubation period, 10% of PrestoBlue dye was added to each sample and incubated for 2 h. Thereafter, fluorescence intensity was measured at 530/590 nm using a multi-detection microplate reader . Adult Human cardiac fibroblasts (AHCF) were used to study their growth, adhesion and proliferation on the electrospun PLLA scaffolds. AHCF were cultured at cell density of 5 × 10The Reactive oxygen species was estimated using 2,7 dichloroflurorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) dye. 50,000 cells were seeded on the unmodified and different protein modified PLLA scaffolds. 100 μL of 2,7 dichloroflurorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) dye at a concentration of 10 mM was added to each well and the plates were incubated for 30 min. Thereafter, the absorbance was measured at 480 nm using multi detection microplate reader. The absorbance of the unmodified and protein modified scaffolds was directly proportional to amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated. AHCF cell adhesion on PLLA unmodified and protein modified scaffolds were evaluated by SEM. The culture conditions were similar to as above. After the incubation, cells were treated in 0.1% glutaraldehyde in culture media for 5 min. Then the remaining media was aspirated and treated with 2.0% glutaraldehyde in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) at room temperature for 30 min. Specimens were dehydrated with 50%, 70%, 90% and 100% ethanol for 5 min, respectively and air dried. Prior to SEM image acquisition the samples were Pt coated. The cell proliferation was assessed using Ki67 marker kit according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Similarly, the proteome profile was also obtained following the respective instructions of the manufacturer. Cell culture conditions were similar to those mentioned above. All experiments were performed as three independent experiments in triplicates. All obtained data were expressed as the mean ± standard deviation (SD). PLLA fiber were fabricated by electrospinning technique, further simple drop casting method was used to surface functionalize the electrospun scaffolds to evaluate their purpose as better niche for enhanced cell adhesion and proliferation. Electrospinning is a versatile technique for the fabrication of nano/microfibers. Key parameters such as concentration of the polymer, solution viscosity, temperature, humidity, feed rate, needle gauge, applied voltage, needle to collector distance are taken into consideration for uniform electro spun fibers ,46. The Surface-modification of electrospun scaffolds were achieved by drop casting ECM mimetic proteins such as collagen, gelatin, fibronectin and poly l-lysine as shown in Topographical parameters play a pivotal role in directly influencing the cell response and regulating cell growth . TherefoThe surface chemical composition of electrospun unmodified and protein modified fiber were analyzed by XPS. Wettability (Surface hydrophobicity) of unmodified and protein modified fiber scaffolds were determined by sessile drop method. Water contact angle on a substrate reflects its hydrophilic/hydrophobic nature, which is a crucial factor influencing cell adhesion and protein absorption on any substrate. Surface hydrophobicity greatly influences the cell behavior on a scaffold ,54. The The effects of physiological media such as PBS and culture media on the porous PLLA scaffolds were investigated to observe any possible change in the degradation behavior and related morphology of the respective fibers. On primary observation, in the case of media incubation, a film, possibly of the media serum proteins, was found to be adhered to the surface of all the scaffold variants , whereasTo understand the cell morphology in accordance to the surface topography, cell behavior, cell–material interactions and also, to assess the biocompatibility of the substrate for cell adhesion and proliferation on unmodified PLLA and protein modified PLLA fibers, AHCF cultured on these substrate for 24, 48, 72 h were analyzed by SEM. SEM observations were prioritized over actual cytocompatibility assays to first visually confirm the presence, attachment and growth of the cells on the respective substrates. Irrespective of surface modifications, the AHCF cultured on fiber substrates exhibited a spindle shaped flat morphology, which is unique key feature of the cardiac fibroblasts . Cell atTo understand the cell morphology in accordance to the surface topography, cell behavior, cell–material interactions and also, to assess the biocompatibility of the substrate for cell adhesion and proliferation on unmodified PLLA and protein modified PLLA fibers, AHCF cultured on these substrate for 24, 48, 72 h were analyzed by SEM. SEM observations were prioritized over actual cytocompatibility assays to first visually confirm the presence, attachment and growth of the cells on the respective substrates. Irrespective of surface modifications, the AHCF cultured on fiber substrates exhibited a spindle shaped flat morphology, which is unique key feature of the cardiac fibroblasts . Cell atOnce visual confirmation of cellular presence on the scaffolds was obtained , furtherThe accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) within cells and release into the culture media can be qualitatively analyzed by in vitro cell culture model to better understand the mechanism of cell death. During aerobic metabolism, highly reactive molecules of ROS are generated continuously. Excess ROS production can lead to DNA and protein oxidation, cross linking of proteins and eventually cell death. In mammalian cells, free radical species, such as ROS and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) are generated during aerobic metabolism . ROS proWe have already established that the AHCF cells are highly compatible with the PLLA scaffolds. Further, to validate the significance of our substrates, we proceeded with a study on the proliferation of cells. Ki67 is a 350–370 kDa nuclear protein linked to mitotic chromosome-associated proteins and is found in all cells except those in the G0 phase of the cell cycle, making it an excellent cell proliferation marker . When anWith the expression profile for Ki67 varying significantly, we further investigated the metabolic proteome profiling of cardiac fibroblast cells grown on different fiber substratum using array-based proteome profiler. Out of the many analytes , 8 proteAlso, there are many different analytes expressed by cells grown on different substrates as shown in In order to identify an ideal cardiac tissue engineering scaffold material, PLLA scaffolds were fabricated by the electrospinning technique with random orientation, highly interconnecting porous architecture exhibiting high specific surface area and porosity to accelerate the exchange of nutrients and oxygen, thereby enhancing the cell attachment and proliferation. Beside the topography and structural parameters, we also investigated the effects of the surface functionalization using ECM mimetic proteins on cell attachment and proliferations. A point to mention is that this is the first report of using porous electrospun PLLA fibers as scaffolds for adult human cardiac cells, thus paving the fundamental pathway for future research on similar lines. The PLLA fibers showed excellent cell attachment and proliferation characteristics as confirmed by various assays. The cells were highly compatible with the scaffolds, irrespective of the surface modifications. The cells were observed to grow extremely well and in a highly organized manner, reminiscent of the in vivo scenario, utilizing the 3D scaffold as an ECM niche. The reactive oxygen species analysis revealed negligible stress to the cells on the scaffolds but were rather highly metabolically active with an enhanced proliferation index. Proteome profiling revealed the expression of certain proteins with crucial role in cardiac fibroblast growth and differentiation in the cells cultured on the scaffolds. To sum up, most of the proteins that are predominantly expressed by cells grown on collagen/fibronectin coated porous PLLA fibers were indeed proteins that have a positive role in extracellular matrix remodeling, fibroblast expansion, differentiation, pericytes proliferation, endothelial cell survival, proliferation and migration, indicating that mechanostimulus induced by the surface topography of substrate can modulate cellular proteome expression rather than just being a mechanical support. Therefore, these scaffolds can be considered effective options for various in vitro and in vivo biomedical applications with an emphasis on the cardiac tissue engineering prospects.