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Visual signals are widely used by animals in foraging, mating and predator avoidance. Body coloration plays an important role in the reproductive behavioural interactions of many diurnal animal species; however, its role in the courtship of nocturnal species has received little attention. We investigated the role of conspicuous body coloration, a white stripe on the forehead region, in the reproductive interactions of the nocturnal brown huntsman spider, Heteropoda venatoria . We performed a series of mating trials in which we manipulated the body coloration of males and the vision of females and determined the probabilities of mating success of males in different treatments. Results showed that males that courted females with intact vision had a significantly lower probability of mating success than males that courted females whose vision was blocked. Females with intact vision were also more likely to choose males with a white stripe than those whose stripe was removed. Therefore, we have unambiguously demonstrated for the first time that body coloration plays an important role as a visual signal in the mating of nocturnal spiders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, waste stone sludge obtained from slab stone processing and waste silt from aggregate washing plants were recycled to manufacture artificial aggregate. Fine-powdered stone sludge was mixed with waste silt of larger particle size; vibratory compaction was applied for good water permeability, resulting in a smaller amount of solidifying agent being used. For the densified packing used in this study, the mix proportion of waste stone sludge to waste silt was 35:50, which produced artificial aggregate of more compact structure with water absorption rate below 0.1%. In addition, applying vibratory compaction of 33.3Hz to the artificial aggregate and curing for 28 days doubled the compressive strength to above 29.4MPa. Hence, recycling of waste stone sludge and waste silt for the production of artificial aggregate not only offers a feasible substitute for sand and stone, but also an ecological alternative to waste management of sludge and silt. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this research, waste glass and stone fragments from stone slab processing are recycled as raw materials for making artificial stone slabs using vibratory compaction in a vacuum environment. Waste glass powder (40%) and fine granite aggregates (60%) are mixed with unsaturated polymer resins (8%) as binder. Under compaction pressure of 14.7MPa, vibration frequency of 33.3Hz and vacuum condition at 50mmHg, artificial stone slabs with high compressive strength of 148.8MPa, water absorption below 0.02%, density of 2.445, and flexural strength of 51.1MPa are obtained after 2min compaction. The artificial stone slabs fabricated in this study prove to be superior to natural construction slabs in terms of strength and water absorption. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Metal sludge from industrial wastewater treatment plants was mixed with mining residues to be recycled into lightweight aggregate (LWA) through sintering at different temperatures. The physical properties of the LWA thus obtained were examined by scanning electron microscopy analyzer (SEM) coupled with an energy dispersive X-ray analyzer (EDX). The sequential extraction method combined with inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) was employed to determine the concentration and distribution of hazardous toxic elements in the metal sludge-based artificial LWA. The results show that the leaching concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, and Pb present in the non-sintered raw aggregate pellets reached 7.4, 68.0, 96.0, and 61.4mg/l, respectively, far exceeding the regulatory threshold. Sintering at 1150°C for 15min results in stronger chemical bonds being formed between the elements. Hence, after the first three steps of sequential extraction, the concentrations of Cr, Cu, and Pb reached 2.69, 1.50, and 1.88mg/l at 1150°C, while the final residues had total concentrations of 96.1, 88.4, and 60.6mg/kg, respectively, with Cd undetected in both phases. The concentration levels fell within the regulatory threshold, indicating that the LWA fabricated from recycled metal sludge contains elements that are toxic and hazardous but not leached. Having no harmful effect on the environment, the metal sludge-based artificial LWA is not only safe but also practical with good physical properties. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A sequential extraction method has been applied for the determination of binding forms of trace elements in the municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) fly ash and evaluating their leaching behavior in view of their potential environmental impact. The elemental determinations in the different leachates are performed by ICP-AES and ICP-MS, respectively. The morphology and mineralogical phases after extraction step were performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Total of 20 elements in the samples are investigated. A reference material of city waste incineration fly ash (BCR No. 176) is also tested to examine the applicability as well as accuracy of the proposed method. The sum of most elements present in the individual fractions shows a good agreement with the total elemental concentrations. The extraction efficiencies are generally higher than 80% except for that of Cr and V. The extractable data of most elements give information about the binding forms of various elements in both incineration fly ashes. It was found that the elements such as Ca, K, Na, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu and Sr have exhibited a remarkable mobility in fly ash. More than half of them would be dissolved or exchanged under a mild leaching condition. The toxic elements such as Pb, Cd, Zn and Cu have a great potential to be released into the environment under normal conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this study, artificial lightweight aggregate (LWA) manufactured from recycled resources was investigated. Residues from mining, fly ash from an incinerator and heavy metal sludge from an electronic waste water plant were mixed into raw aggregate pellets and fed into a tunnel kiln to be sintered and finally cooled rapidly. Various feeding and sintering temperatures were employed to examine their impact on the extent of vitrification on the aggregate surface. Microstructural analysis and toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) were also performed. The results show that the optimum condition of LWA fabrication is sintering at 1150°C for 15min with raw aggregate pellets fed at 750°C. The rapidly vitrified surface envelops the gas produced with the increase in internal temperature and cooling by spraying water prevents the aggregates from binding together, thus forming LWA with specific gravity of 0.6. LWA produced by sintering in tunnel kiln shows good vitrified surface, low water absorption rate below 5%, and low cylindrical compressive strength of 4.3MPa. In addition, only trace amounts of heavy metals were detected, making the LWA non-hazardous for construction use. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study reports a networked solid polymer electrolyte (N-SPE) containing no solvent, ionic liquid, oligomer, or semisolid additives for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The N-SPE comprises a lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) salt as well as a polymer framework constructed using cage-like polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) and serving as hubs to network poly(ethylene oxide- co -polypropylene oxide) (P(EO- co -PO)) chains. The networking prevents polymer chain twisting that hinders ion transport. Raman analysis indicates that the POSS hubs improve the dissociation of LiTFSI and localize TFSI− anions. The N-SPE exhibits a low glass transition temperature of −43 °C, a high 25 °C ionic conductivity of 1.1 × 10−4 S cm−1, and a small activation energy of 3.5 kJ mol−1 for ion conduction. The localization of TFSI− results in a high lithium transference number of 0.62, which is determined to be beneficial to Li+ transport. By incorporating the N-SPE into the LiFePO 4 cathode and using a free-standing N-SPE membrane, this study assembles a Li|N-SPE|LiFePO 4 battery, which delivers a high capacity of 160 mAh g−1 at 25 °C and exhibits excellent charge−discharge cycling stability. The free-standing feature of the N-SPE makes roll-to-roll assembly of LIBs readily scalable for industrial applications. Image 1 • Solid polymer electrolyte with no solvent, ionic liquid, oligomer, or semisolid additives. • Free-standing feature for roll-to-roll assembly of lithium ion batteries. • Polymer chains networked by hubs for high segmental mobility. • A high Li+ transference number for minimized polarization and large voltage range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]