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Neutral nanoparticles (NPs) of copper (Cu), iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) are widely used in agriculture. Polymer seed coating with different metal NPs may supply important nutrients during plant growth and consequently enhances yields. In this research, three kinds of metal NPs were conducted to optimize the optimal concentration through seed coating for improving plant growth and productivity of tomato. Seeds of Venice tomato cultivars were coated by polymer‐based mixture with different concentrations of Cu, Fe and Zn NPs, respectively. At harvest, seed germination, internode length, average weight of single fruit, yield and fruit shape index were measured. When compared with control, the internode length increased by 7.3% and 6.8% with low concentration of Fe NPs and Zn NPs, respectively. The average weight per fruit improved over control by 10.2% and 7.5% with low concentration of Cu NPs and Fe NPs, respectively. The yield with low concentration of Cu NPs and Fe NPs increased the yield by 10.7% and 6.5% compared with control. These results indicated that polymer seed coating with low concentration of metal NPs may promote the uptake of some nutrient and thus improve the productivity of tomato.

BACKGROUND During winemaking, after extraction from the skins, anthocyanins and tannins adsorb onto the pulp flesh cell walls. This study aims to quantify the amounts adsorbed and their impact on wine composition, the impact of variety and ethanol on adsorption, and whether the presence of anthocyanins plays a role and impacts tannin adsorption. RESULTS Anthocyanin and tannin fractions obtained by mimicking winemaking conditions were mixed with fresh flesh cell walls of two varieties: Carignan and Grenache. Adsorption isotherms were measured. Adsorption of tannins was higher with Carignan than with Grenache and decreased when the ethanol content increased. In comparison, anthocyanins were adsorbed in small amounts, and their mixing with tannins had no impact on their adsorption. The differences were related to differences in pulp cell wall composition, particularly in terms of extensins and arabinans. CONCLUSION Adsorption of tannins, which can reach 50% of the initial amount, depends on the pulp cell wall composition. This needs to be further investigated. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

As the global population grows, large quantities of agrochemicals are used to secure food demand and there is an urgent need to develop efficient and environmentally friendly pesticides and fertilizers. Compared with traditional pesticides, nanopesticide formulations can achieve better foliar wettability, chemical stability, and water dispersibility without or with the minimal use of organic solvents, in line with the development of sustainable agriculture.In this research, glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) was used as an intermediate and glycine methyl ester (GLY) was used as an organic nitrogen source to modify carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) to synthesize a pesticide nanocarrier CMC-PGMA-GLY. A nanopesticide EB@CMC-PGMA-GLY (EB@CPG) was formed by the hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions of emamectin benzoate (EB), which had good water dispersion. The good affinity of the composite towards leaves led to the effective moistening of the leaf surface by the pesticide and through the pH control pesticide release. Biological experiments show that nanopesticides can maintain high insecticidal activity and have no toxicity to seed germination. The results of pot experiment showed that the nanocarriers could be used as an organic nitrogen fertilizer to increase the fresh weight of plants by 39.77%.This environmentally friendly pesticide carrier can be used as a fertilizer to provide sufficient nutrients for crops, opening a new method for the development of sustainable agriculture. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

An inclusive chemical definition of “reactive” dyeing of textiles is introduced, encompassing the CI Azoic, CI Mordant, CI Reactive, CI Sulphur and CI Vat dye application classes. Such reactive dyeing increases fibre retention of dye and makes application practically possible. The analogous application of dyes and fluorescent probes as microscopic stains in biology and medicine is outlined, focussing on using reactive fluorescent probes with living cells. Parallels with textile dyeing are noted, eg, enhanced probe retention and facilitation of probe application. However, the primary purpose of using reactive probes with live cells is detection of properties of biological systems: to identify biological structures and chemical/biochemical contents; assess biological functions and physicochemical properties; and determine changes in locations of cells and cell components. Problems occurring with such probes are outlined, particularly the problematic character of many standard protocols, and localisation artefacts arising with reactive probes whose reactant and product species are physiochemically significantly different. This latter problem is explored via a case study of possible reactant/product artefacts with probes for reactive oxygen species. Comparison of experimental observations of probe localisations with the localisations predicted using quantitative structure activity (QSAR) modelling indicates that such artefacts can occur with a significant proportion of chemically diverse, widely used, commercially available probes, as well as with experimental compounds reported in the literature. A graphical flowchart is provided to assess possible occurrence of reactant/product artefacts arising with reactive fluorescent probes localising in various organelles of living cells.

Composites in 25 kg batches were compounded of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) and thermomechanical pulp (TMP) and shaped into caps at industrial facilities on a pilot-plant scale. Some of the material was also injection molded into plaques to compare the effect of laboratory-scale and pilot-scale compounding of poly(ethylene-co-acrylic acid) (EAA7) and poly(caprolactone) composites reinforced with 10 wt% CNC and TMP. The materials compounded under laboratory-scale conditions showed a different morphology, improved mechanical properties, and a higher viscosity, than the materials compounded on a pilot-scale. In some cases, the rheological properties of the melts indicated the presence of a relatively strong percolating cellulosic network, and the interphase region between the cellulose and the matrix appears to be important for the mechanical performance of the composites. After the compounding on a pilot scale, both the length and width of the pulp fibers was reduced. The TMP provided better reinforcement than the CNC possibly due to the higher aspect ratio.

Lignin is an abundant plant-based biopolymer that has found applications in a variety of industries from construction to bioethanol production. This recalcitrant branched polymer is naturally degraded by many different species of microorganisms, including fungi and bacteria. These microbial lignin degradation mechanisms provide a host of possibilities to overcome the challenges of using harmful chemicals to degrade lignin biowaste in many industries. The classes and mechanisms of different microbial lignin degradation options available in nature form the primary focus of the present review. This review first discusses the chemical building blocks of lignin and the industrial sources and applications of this multifaceted polymer. The review further places emphasis on the degradation of lignin by natural means, discussing in detail the lignin degradation activities of various fungal and bacterial species. The lignin-degrading enzymes produced by various microbial species, specifically white-rot fungi, brown-rot fungi, and bacteria, are described. In the end, possible directions for future lignin biodegradation applications and research investigations have been provided.

Large quantities of seaweed in marine environments and coastal areas can cause serious hygienic and environmental problems. Anaerobic digestion (AD) could provide a solution and could also be useful for the production of bioenergy and fertilizer. However, the AD of algae biomass has some limitations and further work is required on the process. To increase the efficiency of the process, batches of 350 mL feedstock containing seaweed biomass (Sargassum sp.), inoculum, and different dosages of sludge from drinking water treatment (DWTS) as a micronutrient source to improve biogas production were digested in a 500 mL glass reactor and under mesophilic conditions, leading to significantly enhanced methane production. The highest methane yield (199 NmL g−1 VS) was observed when 6 mg L−1 DWTS was added, which showed a 30% improvement compared with the control digester and accounted for a 249.4 kWh increase in net energy per ton. The biodegradability index also increased by 10% compared with the control after the addition of DWTS.

Water disinfection is a crucial challenge for humanity. Approaches that are effective, cheap, environmentally friendly, and do not promote gene exchange between bacteria are urgently required. Strongly oxidizing radicals are highly promising to achieve this as they lead to bacterial activation at high efficiencies. However, sources to consistently generate these radicals are limited to high energy UV/H2O2 treatments requiring a large energy input. Here the use of abundant, cheap, brownmillerite (Ca2Fe2O5) is demonstrated as an efficient radical generation material under dark conditions, showing a seven order of magnitude decrease in bacterial concentration over 10 min. This decrease is attributed to the release of interlayer Ca2+ from the layered structure of Ca2Fe2O5 and hydroxyl radical generation. The efficacy of Ca2Fe2O5 is demonstrated by disinfecting turbid sewage sludge. The identification of this cheap, abundant, and nontoxic antibacterial material will provide an opportunity for broad scale clean water generation globally, and address the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal of clean water and sanitation.

This paper, a first-person account, describes a community psychology-aligned intervention into a precalculus mathematics class at an Hispanic Serving Research Institution. The intervention was designed because the standard precalculus mathematics class had a high failure rate, especially for Latinx students, which was serving as a barrier for declaration of a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics major. The high failure rate indicates a structural problem that requires a structural intervention. The paper is coauthored with the teaching team, undergraduates who had taken the course, a graduate student who evaluated the class, and a community psychologist. We describe the ways that the new course, the College Math Academy, transformed the social environment through capacity building, providing access to valued resources for historically marginalized groups, facilitating opportunities to critique dominant power structures, prioritizing perspectives and experiences of people of color, and promoting understanding of how various social forces shape culture and values. The course also decentered white educational norms via adapting decoloniality and liberatory practices. In turn, each person describes their experience of the course. We draw on the first-person accounts to show how they illustrate a transformative, decolonial, and liberatory social environment. We end with implications for how community psychologists can work in their universities to support structural change.

The aim of the present work was to investigate the current state of the art concerning factors affecting physical and mental health and well- being of workers using collaborative robots (cobots) in manufacturing industries. A scoping review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines to identify studies aimed at investigating potential factors affecting workers’ physical and mental health and well-being during human-robot collaboration. Each identified factor was classified using the SHELLO (Software-Hardware- Environment-Liveware-Liveware-Organization) conceptual model. Strengths and limitations of such an approach were outlined. A total of 53 papers were included in the scoping review. In 35 papers at least one risk factor referred to the SHELLO Liveware-Hardware interaction, followed by factors concerning Liveware-Software (16 papers), Liveware-Liveware (11 papers), the Liveware intrinsic factor (10 papers), Liveware- Organization (8 papers), and Liveware-Environment (8 papers). Most of the factors classified within the L-H interaction related with physical well- being, while factors classified in the remaining SHELLO interactions were mainly associated with mental and psychological well-being. The scoping review provided a structured overview of factors affecting physical and mental health and well- being of cobot workers. The SHELLO model proved to effectively highlight human factors relevant for the design of future generations of cobots and can be used to provide a systemic approach to investigate human factors in other complex sociotechnical systems. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time the model is applied in the field of human-cobot interaction.

Modern wind turbine blades experience tip speeds that can exceed 110 m/s. At such speeds, water droplet impacts can cause erosion of the leading edge, which can have a detrimental effect on the performance of the wind turbine blade. More specifically, rain erosion is leading to both reduced efficiency and increased repair costs. The industry is using polymeric coatings—leading-edge protection (LEP) materials—to protect the blades but those are also prone to rain erosion. In this work, LEP materials that are currently used by the industry for the protection of wind turbine blades were selected and their performance assessed. The LEP materials were characterised in terms of mechanical properties by using different experimental methods, and they were also assessed in terms of durability by performing rain erosion testing (RET). Finally, the damage and failure mechanisms observed were further investigated using CT scanning. This paper provides an insight to the properties of LEP materials, their durability, and the damage and failure mechanisms they experienced during rain erosion.

A medical imaging system is often required to monitor bone growth or bone healing in patients. X-ray imaging method is one of the most used imaging systems but it affects human health due to the ionizing effect of X-rays on matter. In this paper, authors investigated the healing period of a bone structure by using electromagnetic antennas. Two different design approaches were examined which are the monopole antenna approach and the horn antenna approach with the frequency bands of 4-10 and 3-18 GHz, respectively. According to simulation results of the first scenario, radius change of a circular bone from 1 to 8 mm causes a transmission reduction from -13.5 dB to -20 dB at 7 GHz. In the second scenario, the thickness of the bone changed from 0.05 to 20 mm and the corresponding transmission value is reduced from -5 to -25 dB at 10 GHz of constant frequency. All these two approaches showed that the bone variation with time changes the transmission characteristics of detector antennas at the operating frequencies. In the last step of this study, an experimental measurement is carried out by using two opposite horn antennas and a planar bone structure in microwave laboratory. The measured results are in a good agreement with the simulated results in the second scenario. This study gives an opportunity to determine bone healing periods in medical applications by microwave techniques.

This paper is motivated by the renewed interest in space exploration and the need to provide structurally sound and resource-efficient shielding solutions for valuable assets and future habitable modules. We present, implement and test a methodology for the preliminary design and assessment of optimal arch forms subjected to self-weight as well as seismically induced loads. The numerical framework, built around a limit thrust-line analysis, previously published by the authors, is summarized first. This is followed by a detailed account of the form-finding algorithm for arches of variable thickness. Special attention is placed on the physical feasibility of our assumptions and the justification of the engineering inputs adopted. The newly form-found arches achieve material efficiencies between 10% and 50% in comparison with their constant minimum-thickness circular or elliptical counterparts, depending on the relative intensity of the seismic action. The influence of the initial input geometry and the stabilising presence of additional shielding material against extreme radiation are also evaluated with emphasis on the effects of low-gravity conditions. Finally, a case study is presented and Discrete Element Models of constant and varying thickness arches (VTAs) are assessed under a set of representative ground-motions on a lunar setting. The significant over-conservatism of constant thickness arches (CTAs) is made manifest and potential improvements of the optimally found arch shape are highlighted. Although developed with extraterrestrial applications in mind, the results and methods we present herein are also applicable to terrestrial conditions when material efficiency is of utmost concern.

Multi-fluid models have recently been proposed as an approach to improving the representation of convection in weather and climate models. This is an attractive framework as it is fundamentally dynamical, removing some of the assumptions of mass-flux convection schemes which are invalid at current model resolutions. However, it is still not understood how best to close the multi-fluid equations for atmospheric convection. In this paper we develop a simple two-fluid, single-column model with one rising and one falling fluid. No further modelling of sub-filter variability is included. We then apply this model to Rayleigh-Benard convection, showing that, with minimal closures, the correct scaling of the heat flux (Nu) is predicted over six orders of magnitude of buoyancy forcing (Ra). This suggests that even a very simple two-fluid model can accurately capture the dominant coherent overturning structures of convection.

This paper presents the Vega robot, which is a small, low cost, potentially disposable ground robot designed for nuclear decommissioning. Vega has been developed specifically to support characterization and inspection operations, such as 2D and 3D mapping, radiation scans and sample retrieval. The design and construction methodology that was followed to develop the robot is described and its capabilities detailed. Vega was designed to provide flexibility, both in software and hardware, is controlled via tele-operation, although it can be extended to semi and full autonomy, and can be used in either tethered or untethered configurations. A version of the tethered robot was designed for extreme radiation tolerance, utilizing relay electronics and removing active electronic systems. Vega can be outfitted with a multitude of sensors and actuators, including gamma spectrometers, alpha/beta radiation sensors, LiDARs and robotic arms. To demonstrate its flexibility, a 5 degree-of-freedom manipulator has been successfully integrated onto Vega, facilitating deployments where handling is required. To assess the tolerance of Vega to the levels of ionizing radiation that may be found in decommissioning environments, its individual components were irradiated, allowing estimates to be made of the length of time Vega would be able to continue to operate in nuclear environments. Vega has been successfully deployed in an active environment at the Dounreay nuclear site in the UK, deployed in nonactive environments at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, and demonstrated to many other organizations in the UK nuclear industry including Sellafield Ltd, with the goal of moving to active deployments in the future.

Fire safety considerations have an impact on the design of almost all structures, ranging from small residential structures to high‐rise buildings. One important aspect of building fire safety is structural‐fire safety, with the goal of preventing or delaying collapse of structures during severe fires. Structural‐fire safety is of particular importance for steel structures, because of the high thermal conductivity of steel. Structural‐fire safety design is most often accomplished using non‐engineered prescriptive approaches. However, there is increasing interest in engineered structural‐fire safety design for potential advantages in safety, economy and design flexibility. This paper provides an overview of engineered structural‐fire safety design for steel buildings, and discusses some of the challenges in this field.

An important experimental approach for the testing of earthquake-resistant structures is scaled experimentation with experimental designs impacted upon by the similitude theory of dimensional analysis. Unfortunately, the type of similitude provided by dimensional analysis seldom applies to complex structures, which is particularly problematic when scaling ratios are large. The issue is one of scale effects where the behaviour of the scaled version of any full-size structure can be markedly different. Recently however a new theory of scaling called finite similitude has emerged in the open literature that confirms that the similitude offered by dimensional analysis is just one of a countable infinite number of alternative possibilities. The new theory of scaling raises the possibility that buildings and structures can be designed and tested in new ways and this aspect is the focus of this paper. Similitude rules for single and two scaled experiments are examined to illustrate the benefits provided by alternative forms of similitude. The two types of similitude examined are termed zeroth order and first order finite similitude, which are shown to be two forms in an infinite number of alternative possibilities efficiently defined using a recursive relationship. The theory of scaling is founded on the metaphysical concept of space scaling yet provides the means to establish all scale dependencies for structural components and high-rise steel buildings along with buildings equipped with nonlinear-fluid viscous dampers for resisting earthquake loading conditions. It is shown through case-studies of increasing complexity how the new theory can be applied to reconstruct full-scale behaviours but also revealed are some of the limitations of the new approach.

Ancient salt deposits preserve a record of highly specific environmental, climatic and biological conditions, including past surface water chemistry and water depths, local air temperatures, atmospheric composition and halophilic microorganisms. This paper presents the first sedimentological study of the mid‐Late Permian Belfast Harbour Evaporite Formation of Northern Ireland. This formation is dominated by bedded halite, contains some siliciclastic mudstone and bedded anhydrite, and is cross‐cut by intrusive igneous rocks. The bedded halite lithology contains bottom‐growth chevron and cornet crystals, efflorescent crusts and dissolution pipes, which are evidence of a saline surface brine that underwent periods of evapoconcentration, desiccation and flooding. The mudstone lithology contains dewatering structures, intraclasts and mudcracks, which indicate flooding and desiccation in dry mudflats. Bedded anhydrite was deposited as beds of gypsum cumulate crystals in saline surface waters. The Belfast Harbour Evaporite Formation was formed by saline lakes with associated mudflats, based on sedimentary characteristics and supported by mineralogical, geochemical and stratigraphic context. Diagenetic features reflect dissolution and cementation at the surface and shallow subsurface in the depositional environment and limited late‐stage alterations. Syndepositional dissolution pipes in bedded halite were formed by flooding events. Early halite cement is present in dissolution pipes and mudstones. Gypsum/anhydrite repeatedly dehydrated and rehydrated to form an interlocking crystal mosaic. Later features include fluid migration and the intrusion of mafic rocks. The Belfast Harbour Evaporite Formation was deposited by an ephemeral saline lake and dry mudflat system in an arid climate. This study, when compared to age‐equivalent continental deposits elsewhere, suggests that arid settings with saline lakes existed across much of Pangea during the Permo‐Triassic. The Belfast Harbour Evaporite Formation stratigraphically underlies the extremely low pH saline lakes of the Mercia Mudstone Group, implying that it aids in understanding the formation of Pangean acid brine lakes.

© 2021 Ernst & Sohn Verlag fur Architektur und technische Wissenschaften GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin. This is the accepted manuscript version of an article which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/cepa.1450