Analysis of the regulations concerning circular economy and its relationship to the reduction of food loss and waste on an international level: A review.

The term food loss and waste (FLW) refers to discarded food during the different stages of the food chain. Food loss occurs during the initial stages of the food chain, and food waste occurs during the final stages. The relation between FLW and circular economy (CE) is particularly important for countries which are beginning to implement actions or regulations on this topic. These proposals may have an impact in strategic sectors of their economy. The objective of this review document was to analyse the regulations of FLW and CE in some countries located throughout the European Union, Asia, Africa and Latin America. To fulfil this objective, FLW and CE regulations were identified and analysed in 12 countries located in the aforementioned regions. The analysis showed that France, Spain, Japan and Uruguay included objectives related to FLW in their CE legislations focusing on food waste reduction, whereas China, Chile, Argentina and Mexico did not include FLW in their CE legislations. African countries did not have CE legislations in place yet. France and Japan have had more success in the reduction of FLW. In conclusion, CE regulation should include FLW regulation to achieve more efficiency at reducing and reusing these residues.

Virtual power plant for energy management: Science mapping approach.

A bibliometric analysis was conducted to examine the trends and developments in the field of Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) from 2000 to June 2022. The selection and identification of data involved a systematic search resulting in 1245 articles for bibliometric analysis after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Strategic diagrams, overlay graphs, and evolution maps were used to analyze the trends and themes in different periods. The analysis reveals the emergence and evolution of various themes and their interconnections. In the early periods, the focus was on energy market issues, distributed generation, and the control of Distributed Energy Resources. Themes such as microgrids, renewable energy, electric vehicles, and economic analysis have gained prominence over time. The present study also identified the introduction of new concepts such as prosumers, collaborative networks, and dynamic power plants in later periods. The performance analysis for the last period (2022) highlighted the centrality and density of themes such as power plants, renewable power plants, battery energy storage systems, and robust optimization. These themes are considered both fundamental and transverse in the research field. This study discusses the importance of VPPs and battery energy storage systems in addressing grid intermittency issues and providing auxiliary market services. The analysis also emphasized the management of the demand side and the integration of electric vehicles and Building Energy Management Systems in VPPs. Therefore, future directions for VPP research include innovative structures and topologies, big-data analysis, and diversified optimization techniques. This study provides insights into the evolution and current state of research in the field of VPPs and identifies areas for further exploration and development.

Bioelectronics-on-a-chip for cardio myoblast proliferation enhancement using electric field stimulation.

BACKGROUND: Cardio myoblast generation from conventional approaches is laborious and time-consuming. We present a bioelectronics on-a-chip for stimulating cells cardio myoblast proliferation during culture. METHOD: The bioelectronics chip fabrication methodology involves two different process. In the first step, an aluminum layer of 200 nm is deposited over a soda-lime glass substrate using physical vapor deposition and selectively removed using a Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser to create the electric tracks. To perform the experiments, we developed a biochip composed of a cell culture chamber fabricated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) with a glass coverslip or a cell culture dish placed over the electric circuit tracks. By using such a glass cover slip or cell culture dish we avoid any toxic reactions caused by electrodes in the culture or may be degraded by electrochemical reactions with the cell medium, which is crucial to determine the effective cell-device coupling. RESULTS: The chip was used to study the effect of electric field stimulation of Rat ventricular cardiomyoblasts cells (H9c2). Results shows a remarkable increase in the number of H9c2 cells for the stimulated samples, where after 72 h the cell density double the cell density of control samples. CONCLUSIONS: Cell proliferation of Rat ventricular cardiomyoblasts cells (H9c2) using the bioelectronics-on-a-chip was enhanced upon the electrical stimulation. The dependence on the geometrical characteristics of the electric circuit on the peak value and homogeneity of the electric field generated are analyzed and proper parameters to ensure a homogeneous electric field at the cell culture chamber are obtained. It can also be observed a high dependence of the electric field on the geometry of the electrostimulator circuit tracks and envisage the potential applications on electrophysiology studies, monitoring and modulate cellular behavior through the application of electric fields.