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The article discusses the potential of design for addressing waterbody pollution, one of the most pressing problems of modern urban spaces. A review of domestic and international developments in the area of eco-design shows that they focus on improved waste treatment, collection and disposal, use of eco-friendly materials and technologies, and application of design tools for raising environmental awareness.

A chemical method is proposed for obtaining a nanocomposite based on gold nanoparticles (AuNP) and polyurethane foams (PUF). It includes the sorption of a reducing agent, sodium borohydride, on PUF from a solution containing sodium hydroxide as a stabilizer and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as an ion-pair reagent, and the subsequent interaction of the modified polymer with chloroauric acid, leading to the formation of a colored nanocomposite. A possibility of using the process of the formation of a nanocomposite based on AuNP and PUF for the determination of melamine in milk powder and milk powder substitute by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy is evaluated. It is found that melamine affects the formation of this nanocomposite, causing a decrease in the intensity of the surface plasmon resonance band of gold nanoparticles in the material. It is proposed to use this effect for the determination of melamine by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The influence of the interaction time, the pH of the solution, and the concentration of chloroauric acid on the analytical signal, as well as the interfering effect of amino acids in the determination of melamine, are investigated. Under the chosen conditions, the limit of detection for melamine was 0.2 mg/L., Author(s): A. I. Isachenko [sup.1], A. O. Melekhin [sup.1], V. V. Apyari [sup.1], P. A. Volkov [sup.2], S. G. Dmitrienko [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.14476.30, 0000 0001 2342 9668, Lomonosov [...]

A method is proposed for the determination of cysteine in an aqueous solution by its effect on the formation of gold nanoparticles on the surface of polyurethane foams. The method is based on the interaction of in situ formed gold nanoparticles with cysteine, which results in their stabilization in solution and in a decrease in the color intensity of the nanocomposite detected by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The effect of the concentration of the precursor, aurichlorohydric acid, contact time of phases, and the pH of the solution on the sensitivity of cysteine determination is studied. Under the selected conditions, the limit of detection for cysteine was 0.36 [mu]g/mL. A possibility of using the proposed method for the determination of cysteine in brewer's yeast is demonstrated., Author(s): A. I. Isachenko [sup.1], V. V. Apyari [sup.1], P. A. Volkov [sup.2], S. G. Dmitrienko [sup.1], Yu. A. Zolotov [sup.1] [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.14476.30, 0000 0001 2342 9668, [...]

Based on an example of participation in a competition, the article considers training techniques aimed to equip design students with abilities to address challenges of deliveries of essentials to people with disabilities.

Some aspects of the evolution of design in the context of globalization are considered. The effects of globalization processes on design and the design industry as a whole are reviewed.

Simple Summary: Polar bears are native inhabitants of the Arctic ice. An increase in the ice-free season forces polar bears ashore and prompts them to invade human settlements and feed on human waste. Since their usual food objects (seals)differ extremely from human waste, the enforced diet shifts are considered to be stressful and may lead to intestinal dysbiosis and digestive disorders. To assess the resulting changes, we compared the gut bacterial community of bears feeding on their natural food and bears visiting the human waste dump. To our knowledge this is the first investigation of the fugal community in polar bears' intestines. It turned out that feeding at the dump does not facilitate the development of dysbiosis in polar bears, but, on the contrary, leads to the formation of an adaptive microbial community similar to that of omnivorous animals. This is also confirmed by the high fat reserves in the animals attending the dump, which increases their chances of surviving the starvation period. However, in the structure of the fungal community, facultative pathogenic yeast species appear, which are theoretically capable of provoking various infections. Moreover, polar bears that do not visit human settlements do not harbor a specific fungal community. Climate changes cause a dramatical increase in the ice-free season in the Arctic, forcing polar bears ashore, closer to human settlements associated with new and non-natural food objects. Such a diet may crucially transform the intestinal microbiome and metabolism of polar bears. The aim of this study was to characterize changes in the gut bacterial and fungal communities resulting from the transition to anthropogenic food objects by the means of 16S and ITS metabarcoding. Thus, rectal samples from 16 wild polar bears from the Kara–Barents subpopulation were studied. Human waste consuming resulted in a significant increase in the relative abundance of fermentative bacteria (Lactobacillaceae, Leuconostocaceae, and Streptococcaceae) and a decrease in proteolytic Enterobacteriaceae. However, the alpha-diversity parameters remained similar. Also, for the first time, the composition of the fungal community of the polar bear intestine was determined. Diet change is associated with the displacement of eurybiontic fungi (Thelebolus, Dipodascus, Candida (sake), and Geotrichum) by opportunistic Candida (tropicalis), Kazachstania, and Trichosporon. Feeding on human waste does not cause any signs of dysbiosis and probably leads to adaptive changes in the bacterial microbiome. However, the emergence of fungal facultative pathogens increases the risk of infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers design as a socially responsible tool that can and should be used to challenge existing social and cultural conditions and facilitate the humanization of social consciousness and design activity. Providing inclusivity is undoubtedly a goal of design, and many countries today are engaged in facilitating such changes in urban environments. Universal design is one of the most important tools that can meet the challenges of creating a comfortable living environment and developing an inclusive mindset. We demonstrate the potential of universal design using examples of the design projects developed by the students of the Department of Industrial Design, Ural State University of Architecture and Art. These projects show a wide range of possible applications of the principles of universal design and demonstrate the potential of universal design to facilitate and engender new understanding of inclusive and accessible environment that can help reshape public consciousness regardless of whether or not such projects are actually put into practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results of studies on the analytical capabilities of gold nanoparticles in the methods of optical molecular absorption spectroscopy are reported. Peculiar effects of the nature of nanoparticle stabilizer, its charge, morphology of nanoparticles, form in which they are present in the system (in a colloidal solution or as a part of a nanocomposite with polyurethane foam) upon the determination of organic compounds (thiols, cationic compounds, catecholamines) and inorganic anions are considered. The determination is based on aggregation of nanoparticles or change in the state of their surface and morphology as a result of silver coating, leading to significant spectral and color changes, which can be monitored both by optical molecular absorption spectroscopy and visually. The ways to increase sensitivity and to control selectivity of the analysis using gold nanoparticles and their nanocomposites are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The age structure of a dense settlement of Arctica islandica (Bivalvia) near Vysokii Island (Rugozerskaya Guba (bay)) of the White Sea is described. The data collected by trawling in 2003, 2006–2007 and grab sampling in 2009–2011 are summarized. The A. islandica community in the Rugozerskaya Guba was first described in 1953–1959, but to date, no reliable quantitative estimates have been obtained and the community’s size structure was not studied. The size structure of this community was stable over the last eight years; the main part of the community was represented by individuals with a body weight of 3–10 g. It was revealed that the distribution of different A. islandica classes depends on the depth. The majority of the largest individuals were found in the shallowest parts of the study area (9–11 m); middle-size individuals were registered at depths of 9–14 m; and the smallest ones, at depths of 12–17 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effect of amines on formation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)/polymer nanocomposites has been observed and studied. Nanocomposites based on polyurethane foam and AuNPs were synthesized by interaction between the polymer modified with sodium borohydride and aqueous solution of tetrachloroauric acid. It has been shown that some amines cause a remarkable decrease of the surface plasmon resonance band of AuNPs in the nanocomposite material. Both aliphatic and aromatic amines as well as amines containing several amino groups were studied. A possible mechanism of the effect is discussed. It is probably based on stabilization of AuNPs with an amine that entails a decrease in the degree of their adsorption on PUF and appearance of the stabilized AuNPs in solution. The decrease of the nanocomposite surface plasmon resonance band is proportional to the concentration of amine in the solution. Based on this effect, a method for the determination of cetylamine, β-naphthylamine and neomycin in water and medical formulations using a monitor calibrator as a portable household tool is proposed. Under the selected conditions, the detection limits for amines were in the range of 0.7-1.5 μM, the determination ranges were approximately an order of magnitude. The observed color change of the nanocomposite samples also provides a good basis for semiquantitative determinations., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)