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Purpose: A burgeoning literature investigates the importance of student teaching placements for teacher candidate development, but an important perspective that is largely missing from the existing literature is that of the school districts that host student teachers. In this paper, we describe the student teaching process from the perspective of Spokane Public Schools (SPS), highlighting the challenges associated with the student teacher placement process and several initiatives SPS has undertaken to improve student teaching experiences for teacher candidates. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic effort by a school district to improve the student teaching process and study the effects on teacher candidate outcomes. Conceptual Argument: Teacher education programs and school districts have a mutual interest in creating high-quality student teaching experiences. A fundamental challenge in efforts to improve student teaching is that teacher education programs have no authority over what happens to student teachers in the classrooms of public school districts. The initiatives undertaken by SPS illustrate the potential for districts to take a leadership role in defining the student teaching process and highlight some of the challenges inherent in hosting student teachers. Implications: The extent to which other districts have taken an active role in defining the student teaching process is unclear, but the experience of SPS thus far suggests that playing an active role can be a positive step toward improving the training received by the teacher candidates who are likely to be staffing their schools in the future.

The inter-district school choice law in Massachusetts was passed in 1991. Its two main goals were to provide education options to Massachusetts parents and children, and to spur competition among districts. School choice allows school districts to enroll non-resident pupils from other districts at a tuition cost that starts at $5,000 but averages more than $6,000 when special education expenses are added in. The tuition is paid entirely by the students' home districts, at no cost to the parents. In fiscal year 2017, more than 16,000 of the Commonwealth's 950,000 students were enrolled as choice pupils. Nearly 60 percent (190) of the state's 322 school districts accepted students through the program. There is one common complaint about the program. The law says the tuition rate should be 75 percent of the receiving district's per pupil expenditure or $5,000, whichever is lower. The $5,000 cap has been in place since the program's inception 27 years ago. At this point all receiving districts are subject to that cap, which should be raised to levels high enough to incentivize more high-performing districts to accept non-residents. At the same time, consideration must be given to maintaining fiscal stability in the sending districts. Even those who are aware of the program may be uninformed about the specifics of how it actually works. The admission process is designed to be open and non-discriminatory. Treatment of students after admission is straightforward: the students treated just like residents. The funding is at first blush blessedly simple--$5,000 per pupil plus any special education charges--but if one digs deeper it becomes far more intricate. Recently, there has been little independent research published on the topic perhaps because it has changed very little since it's inception. This paper attempts to bring into focus not just the mechanics of how it functions, but some of the issues surrounding the program, and recommendations for how they might be resolved in the future.

UMass' flagship Amherst campus has become increasingly prestigious over the last decade and a half. The growing prominence of UMass Amherst has made the school competitive with the nation's most elite public universities. However, the policies that have largely driven the school's standings have controversial implications for Massachusetts residents seeking to enroll there. Massachusetts students are finding it increasingly difficult to gain admission, and some parents of rejected or waitlisted UMass applicants share concerns that the University has prioritized maximizing the financial benefit derived from accepting out-of-state students over serving in-state applicants. Based on information provided to Pioneer Institute by the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education in response to a public records request, there are notable differences when comparing the profiles of in-state and out-of-state students accepted at UMass Amherst. Admissions changes, taken from publicly reported UMass Amherst data, show a pattern in which a higher proportion of out-of-state students have been accepted to UMass each year for over a decade, with the exception of fall 2017, when more in-state than out-of-state students were accepted for the first time since 2014. The combined trends of increasing the volume of out-of-state acceptances and a slightly higher acceptance rate for this cohort suggest that it is getting easier for out-of-state students to matriculate at UMass Amherst, while admissions standards have become disproportionately more rigorous for Massachusetts residents. The UMass system has aggressively sought to increase its out-of-state population, and UMass Amherst in particular has defended its nonresident recruitment efforts. Data presented by the 2016 Pioneer reports combined with information in this paper delineate UMass' proactive out-of-state recruitment. Examples from other state university systems offer useful guidance to address these trends and ameliorate the harm to Massachusetts residents.

In 2017, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and Root Solutions, with funding from the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund, created the "Turning the Page on Campus Paper Use" initiative to assist higher education institutions in developing and implementing paper reduction behavior change projects. "Turning the Page: A Behavior Change Toolkit for Reducing Paper Use" draws upon real world experiences from the Turning the Page initiative as well as other paper reduction campaigns. The concepts, concrete examples, and tools in this guide will empower practitioners to more effectively target paper consumption behaviors at their institutions. Although this guide focuses on tackling paper reduction efforts at higher education institutions, the advice and examples provided can be applied by any organization looking to foster more sustainable behaviors. The hope is that this guide gives the reader the background, inspiration, and confidence to ideate and implement the kinds of evidence-based behavior campaigns that can result in transformational impact at their organization. [This report was produced by Root Solutions. Funding was provided by the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund.]

This occasional paper presents national demographic subgroup data for the 1975-2017 Monitoring the Future (MTF) national survey results on 8th, 10th, and 12th graders' use of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. MTF is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health under a series of investigator-initiated, competitive research grants to the University of Michigan. The study covers all major classes of illicit and licit psychoactive drugs for an array of population subgroups. The 2017 subgroup data presented accompany the "Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use: 1975-2017: Overview, Key Findings on Adolescent Drug Use" and the "Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975-2017: Volume I, Secondary School Students." Prior to 2014 subgroup data were available in tabular form only in Appendices B and D of the relevant year's "Volume I." Since 2014, the MTF subgroup definitions and data have been presented in this series of occasional papers, in both tables and figures to facilitate the examination and interpretation of trend data. The "Overview of Key Findings" presents trends in prevalence, perceived risk, disapproval, and perceived availability for most drugs under study and a brief description of subgroup differences. Volume I contains a description of MTF's design and purposes, as well as extended reporting on substance use of all kinds--licit and illicit--and a number of related factors, such as attitudes and beliefs about drugs, age of initiation, noncontinuation of drug use, perceived availability, relevant conditions in the social environment, history of daily marijuana use, use of drugs for the treatment of ADHD, and sources of prescription drugs used outside of medical supervision. The trends offered in this report in tabular and graphic forms cover demographic subgroups based on: (1) Gender; (2) College plans; (3) Region of the country; (4) Population density; (5) Education level of the parents (a proxy for socioeconomic level); and (6) Racial/ethnic identification. Detailed descriptions of the demographic categories are provided in the section starting on page 385 of this paper. The graphs and tables in this occasional paper present trend data for 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade respondents separately. Data for 12th grade begins with 1975, the first year in which a nationally representative sample of high school seniors was surveyed. Data for 8th and 10th grades begin with 1991, when the study's nationally representative annual surveys were expanded to include those lower grade levels. [For the report from the previous year "Demographic Subgroup Trends among Adolescents in the Use of Various Licit and Illicit Drugs, 1975-2016. Monitoring the Future Occasional Paper Series. Paper 88," see ED578738. For "Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975-2017: Overview, Key Findings on Adolescent Drug Use," see ED589762. For "Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975-2017. Volume I, Secondary School Students," see ED589763. For "Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975-2017. Volume II, College Students & Adults Ages 19-55," see ED589764.]

Nanogenerators and self-powered nanosensors have shown the potential to power low-consumption electronics and human-machine interfaces, but their practical implementation requires reliable, environmentally friendly and scalable processes for manufacturing and processing. Furthermore, the emerging flexible and wearable electronics technology demands direct fabrication onto innovative substrates such as paper and plastics typically incompatible with high process temperatures. This article presents a plasma synthesis approach for the fabrication of piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENGs) and self-powered sensors on paper substrates. Polycrystalline ZnO nanocolumnar thin films are deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition on common paper supports using a microwave electron cyclotron resonance reactor working at room temperature yielding high growth rates and low structural and interfacial stresses. Applying Kinetic Monte Carlo simulation, we elucidate the basic shadowing mechanism behind the characteristic microstructure and porosity of the ZnO thin films, relating them to an enhanced piezoelectric response to periodic and random inputs. The piezoelectric devices are assembled by embedding the ZnO films in polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and using Au thin layers as electrodes in two different configurations, namely laterally and vertically contacted devices. We present the response of the laterally connected devices as a force sensor for low-frequency events with different answers to the applied force depending on the impedance circuit, i.e. load values range, a behaviour that is theoretically analyzed. The characterization of the vertical devices in cantilever-like mode reaches instantaneous power densities of 80 nW/cm2 with a mean power output of 20 nW/cm2. Besides, we analyze their actual-scenario performance by activation with a fan and handwriting. Overall, this work demonstrates the advantages of implementing plasma deposition for piezoelectric films to d

The substances of very high concern (SVHCs) can be found in a wide range of consumer products. These substances can negatively influence human health depending on the route of exposure, exposure time and duration, amount of intake the substance by body and other factors. Increased number of carcinoma, sterility, diabetes can be due to the contact with SVHCs in our everyday life. Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the most commercialized SVHC chemicals and is used in many different products such as plastic packaging for water and food, storage media, and even in thermal paper. Thermal paper is used for receipts in stores and tickets for parking, bus, and trains. BPA is applied on thermal paper as a dye developer. As a dye developer, it is not chemically bound to the paper so it can easily migrate and be absorbed by the skin (fingers, palm). Studies showed that typical occupational exposures of work cashiers can increase concentrations of BPA and its metabolites in urine several times. Toxicokinetic studies showed that the route of exposure has a big effect on the concentration of BPA that circulates in the body. If BPA enters the body through dermal exposure, it metabolizes as unconjugated BPA, while oral exposure leads to a conjugated form of BPA. Studies showed that only the unconjugated form can bind to estrogen receptors, leading to the conclusion that the unconjugated form is hazardous. Due to that European Commission restricted usage of BPA to 0.02 mas%. The paper manufacturers replaced BPA with bisphenol S (BPS). It is expected that 61 % of all thermal paper in the EU will be BPS-based till now. However, the wide use of BPS in thermal paper raises concern because it was shown that BPS is also toxic. New studies of urine samples collected around the world showed the presance of BPS. Due to increasing production of BPS there is a need for the development of analytical methods for the detection of SVCHs. The most used are HPLCs with mass spectrometric detection, which a

The sharing and documentation of cardiovascular research data are essential for efficient use and reuse of data, thereby aiding scientific transparency, accelerating the progress of cardiovascular research and healthcare, and contributing to the reproducibility of research results. However, challenges remain. This position paper, written on behalf of and approved by the German Cardiac Society and German Centre for Cardiovascular Research, summarizes our current understanding of the challenges in cardiovascular research data management (RDM). These challenges include lack of time, awareness, incentives, and funding for implementing effective RDM; lack of standardization in RDM processes; a need to better identify meaningful and actionable data among the increasing volume and complexity of data being acquired; and a lack of understanding of the legal aspects of data sharing. While several tools exist to increase the degree to which data are findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR), more work is needed to lower the threshold for effective RDM not just in cardiovascular research but in all biomedical research, with data sharing and reuse being factored in at every stage of the scientific process. A culture of open science with FAIR research data should be fostered through education and training of early-career and established research professionals. Ultimately, FAIR RDM requires permanent, long-term effort at all levels. If outcomes can be shown to be superior and to promote better (and better value) science, modern RDM will make a positive difference to cardiovascular science and practice. The full position paper is available in the supplementary materials.

Health initiatives worldwide demand affordable point- of-care devices to aid in the reduction of morbidity and mortality rates of high-incidence infectious and noncommunicable diseases. However, the production of robust and reliable easy-to-use diagnostic platforms showing the ability to quantitatively measure several biomarkers in physiological fluids and that could in turn be decentralized to reach any relevant environment remains a challenge. Here, we show the particular combination of paper-microfluidic technology, electro- chemical transduction, and magnetic nanoparticle-based immunoassay approaches to produce a unique, compact, and easily deployable multiplex device to simultaneously measure interleukin-8, tumor necrosis factor-a, and myeloperoxidase biomarkers in sputum, developed with the aim of facilitating the timely detection of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The device incorporates an on-chip electrochemical cell array and a multichannel paper component, engineered to be easily aligned into a polymeric cartridge and exchanged if necessary. Calibration curves at clinically relevant biomarker concentration ranges are produced in buffer and artificial sputum. The analysis of sputum samples of healthy individuals and acutely exacerbated patients produces statistically significant biomarker concentration differences between the two studied groups. The device can be mass-produced at a low cost, being an easily adaptable platform for measuring other disease-related target biomarkers., This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) grants PCIN-2016-052 and PCIN-2016-134 and by Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Technologia grant ENMed/0049/2016, through the ERA-NET EuroNanoMed II initiative (LungCheck project). This research was also funded by the European Commision-NextGenerationEU (Regulation EU 2020/2094), through CSIC’s Global Health Platform (PTI). This work used the Spanish ICTS Network MICRONANOFABS and was partly supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

Nanogenerators and self-powered nanosensors have shown the potential to power low-consumption electronics and human-machine interfaces, but their practical implementation requires reliable, environmentally friendly and scalable processes for manufacturing and processing. Furthermore, the emerging flexible and wearable electronics technology demands direct fabrication onto innovative substrates such as paper and plastics typically incompatible with high process temperatures. This article presents a plasma synthesis approach for the fabrication of piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENGs) and self-powered sensors on paper substrates. Polycrystalline ZnO nanocolumnar thin films are deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition on common paper supports using a microwave electron cyclotron resonance reactor working at room temperature yielding high growth rates and low structural and interfacial stresses. Applying Kinetic Monte Carlo simulation, we elucidate the basic shadowing mechanism behind the characteristic microstructure and porosity of the ZnO thin films, relating them to an enhanced piezoelectric response to periodic and random inputs. The piezoelectric devices are assembled by embedding the ZnO films in polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and using Au thin layers as electrodes in two different configurations, namely laterally and vertically contacted devices. We present the response of the laterally connected devices as a force sensor for low-frequency events with different answers to the applied force depending on the impedance circuit, i.e. load values range, a behaviour that is theoretically analyzed. The characterization of the vertical devices in cantilever-like mode reaches instantaneous power densities of 80 nW/cm2 with a mean power output of 20 nW/cm2. Besides, we analyze their actual-scenario performance by activation with a fan and handwriting. Overall, this work demonstrates the advantages of implementing plasma deposition for piezoelectric films to d

Sweden’s pulp and paper sector accounts for a significant proportion of national energy usage, and generates wastewater that causes eutrophication of nearby sinks. In this paper, the possibility of optimizing a biological purification process at the Stora Enso Skoghall mill south of the city of Karlstad in central Sweden, with respect to electricity usage and the addition of nutrients, has been investigated. A computational model of the treatment process was developed, based on process data obtained from the mill, and nine different scenarios compared subsequently, with energy use, environmental impacts and operational expenses, as criteria. These nine scenarios were compared with the reference case, which is the status quo of the biological treatment at the mill. The results depicted that the most energy-efficient and cost-effective alternative was a combination of measures such as lowering the oxygen level in the MBBR from 3 mg l-1 to 2 mg l-1 and using Hyperclassic in the aerated lagoon; an arrangement that yielded a 48.5% reduction in operational expenses, and a 60% decrease in the energy use, vis-à-vis the reference case, without affecting the efficiency of the purification process. This also uncovered an opportunity to mitigate the global warming impact and the eutrophication potential, by approximately 100 tons of CO2-eq. year-1 and 140 kg PO43--eq. year-1. All attempts to optimize the use of resources and decrease the anthropogenic environmental footprint ought to be made to come closer to the targets set by the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs). The authors’ conclusion predicated on the results of the modelling and analysis done in this study is that the potential of seemingly small process modifications, such as lowering the oxygen level in the MBBR, and applying a more optimal dosage of nutrient salts, must not be overlooked.

The rise of paper electronics has been accelerated due to the public push for sustainability. Electronic waste can potentially be avoided if certain materials in electronic components can be substituted for greener alternatives such as paper. Within this report, it is demonstrated that conductive polymers poly(3,4-ethylenedoxythiophene) (PEDOT), polypyrrole, and polythiophene, can be synthesized by screen printing combined with vapor phase polymerization on paper substrates and further incorporated into functional electronic components. High patterning resolution (100 mu m) is achieved for all conductive polymers, with PEDOT showing impressive sheet resistance values. PEDOT is incorporated as conductive circuitry and as the active material in all-printed electrochromic displays. The conductive polymer circuits allow for functional light emitting diodes, while the electrochromic displays are comparable to commercial displays utilizing PEDOT on plastic substrates., Funding Agencies|Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research [EM16-0002]; Vinnova for the Digital Cellulose Center [2016-05193]; European Union [101008701]

Sweden’s pulp and paper sector accounts for a significant proportion of national energy usage, and generates wastewater that causes eutrophication of nearby sinks. In this paper, the possibility of optimizing a biological purification process at the Stora Enso Skoghall mill south of the city of Karlstad in central Sweden, with respect to electricity usage and the addition of nutrients, has been investigated. A computational model of the treatment process was developed, based on process data obtained from the mill, and nine different scenarios compared subsequently, with energy use, environmental impacts and operational expenses, as criteria. These nine scenarios were compared with the reference case, which is the status quo of the biological treatment at the mill. The results depicted that the most energy-efficient and cost-effective alternative was a combination of measures such as lowering the oxygen level in the MBBR from 3 mg l-1 to 2 mg l-1 and using Hyperclassic in the aerated lagoon; an arrangement that yielded a 48.5% reduction in operational expenses, and a 60% decrease in the energy use, vis-à-vis the reference case, without affecting the efficiency of the purification process. This also uncovered an opportunity to mitigate the global warming impact and the eutrophication potential, by approximately 100 tons of CO2-eq. year-1 and 140 kg PO43--eq. year-1. All attempts to optimize the use of resources and decrease the anthropogenic environmental footprint ought to be made to come closer to the targets set by the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs). The authors’ conclusion predicated on the results of the modelling and analysis done in this study is that the potential of seemingly small process modifications, such as lowering the oxygen level in the MBBR, and applying a more optimal dosage of nutrient salts, must not be overlooked.

Det talas allt oftare om de problem som världens plastanvändning åsamkar miljön genom exempelvis nedskräpning och mikroplaster. Det finns många olika typer och användningsområden för plast. Den typ som anses värst i avseende till miljöpåverkan är plasten som används en gång och sedan förlorar sin funktion, det som idag kallas engångsplast. Ett av de vanligaste områdena där engångsplast används är inom förpackningsindustrin för livsmedel. År 2019/2020 växte en projektidé bland en grupp elever om att se över alternativa förpackningsmaterial till främst frukt och grönt i matvaruhandeln. Idéen utvecklades och vid en expo på Textilhögskolan år 2020 presenterades ett citrusnät för ekologiska citroner stickat på en manuell stickmaskin i pappersgarn. Som fortsättning på arbetet är nu nästa steg att undersöka möjligheterna att sticka en motsvarande prototyp på en industriell maskin och vilka utmaningar som följer. Stickningen genomfördes i Borås på Textilhögskolans trikålabb. Maskinen som användes är en flatsticksmaskin av typen STOLL CMS822 HP knit and wear. Pappersgarn av olika garnnummer kom uteslutande från företaget OJO+ Fibers och baseras på pappersmassa från manillaplantan. Två bindningar stickades, en mesh-bindning och en stickning med flotteringar. Mesh-bindningen testades även med garn av olika garnnummer och olika antal ingående garn. De viktigaste parametrarna för möjligheten att sticka på industriell flatsticksmaskin visade sig vara garnets styrka, styvhet samt maskinens delning. Efter två separata produktionsgenomgångar genomfördes en visuell bedömning som avgjorde vilka stickningar som lämpade sig att gå vidare till ett dragprovstest. Standarden som användes för dragprovstest var (SS-EN ISO 13934–1:2013) och genomfördes på en Tinius Olsen H10KT (Elastocon). Fem provkroppar av varje stickning testades först i torrt- och sedan vått tillstånd genom blötläggning enligt standard. För att jämföra data från dragprovstestningen genomfördes en variansanalys för att upp, There’s an ongoing worldwide discussion regarding the environmental impact of plastic use. Single- use plastic is considered one of the most problematic due to the loss of functionality after one use. A common industry using single-use plastic is the food packaging industry. In 2019/2020, a project idea grew to review alternative packaging materials for fruits and vegetables. A prototype was presented at the Swedish School av Textile’s expo in 2020, a citrus net hand-knitted in paper yarn for organic lemons. The next step was to investigate the possibility of knitting paper nets on industrial machines and what difficulties may arise. The knitting was carried out in the Textilhögskolan in Borås machine hall on a flat knitting machine, a STOLL CMS822 HP knit and wear. The paper yarn used came exclusively from OJO+ Fibers and was made from pulp from the manilla plant. Two bindings were knitted, one mesh and one with floatations. The mesh binding was knitted in multiple variations, yarn of different yarn numbers and numbers of ingoing yarns. The most important parameters for knitting on industrial machines turned out to be the strength of the yarn, stiffness and gauge of the machine. A visual assessment was carried out after two separate production reviews and determined which knits were suitable to proceed to a tensile test. The standard used for tensile tests was (SS-EN ISO 13934-1:2013) on a Tinius Olsen H10KT (Elastocon). Five specimens of each knit were tested, first in the dry state and then in the wet state. A variance analysis compared the data from the tensile test, partly between the different constructions and between dry and wet samples within each group. The result shows a large spread within the data material, which cannot determine with certainty any conclusions about which construction is the strongest. The main reason for this spread is necessary deviations from the standard and the fact that (SS-EN ISO 13934-1:2013) is mainly for woven goods, not knitt

Printed electronic paper identifies its interest in flexible organic electronics and sustainable and clean energy applications because of its straightforward production method, cost-effectiveness, and positive environmental impact. However, current limitations include restricted material thickness and the use of supporting substrate for printing. Here, 2D and 3D electronic patterned paper are fabricated from direct ink writing (DIW) nanocellulose and PEDOT:PSS-based materials using syringe deposition and 3D printing. The conductor patterns are integrated in the bulk of the paper, while non-conductive sections are used as support to form free-standing paper. The strong interface between the patterns of electronic patterned paper gives mechanical stability for practical handling. The conductive paper-based electrode has 202 S cm(-1) and is capable of handling electric current up to 0.7 A, which can be used for high-power devices. Printed supercapacitor papers show high specific energy of 4.05 Wh kg(-1), specific power of 4615 W kg(-1) at 0.06 A g(-1), and capacitance retention above 95% after 2000 cycles. The new design structure of electronic patterned papers presents a solution for additive manufacturing of paper-based composites for supercapacitors, wearable electronics, or sensors for smart packaging.

The rise of paper electronics has been accelerated due to the public push for sustainability. Electronic waste can potentially be avoided if certain materials in electronic components can be substituted for greener alternatives such as paper. Within this report, it is demonstrated that conductive polymers poly(3,4-ethylenedoxythiophene) (PEDOT), polypyrrole, and polythiophene, can be synthesized by screen printing combined with vapor phase polymerization on paper substrates and further incorporated into functional electronic components. High patterning resolution (100 mu m) is achieved for all conductive polymers, with PEDOT showing impressive sheet resistance values. PEDOT is incorporated as conductive circuitry and as the active material in all-printed electrochromic displays. The conductive polymer circuits allow for functional light emitting diodes, while the electrochromic displays are comparable to commercial displays utilizing PEDOT on plastic substrates., Funding Agencies|Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research [EM16-0002]; Vinnova for the Digital Cellulose Center [2016-05193]; European Union [101008701]

Detecting sputum pyocyanin (PYO) with a competitive immunoassay is a promising approach for diagnosing Pseudomonas aeruginosa respiratory infections. However, it is not possible to perform a negative control to evaluate matrix-effects in competitive immunoassays, and the highly complex sputum matrix often interferes with target detection. Here, we show that these issues are alleviated by performing competitive immunoassays with a paper biosensor. The biosensing platform consists of a paper reservoir, which contains antibody-coated gold nanoparticles, and a substrate containing a competing recognition element, which is a piece of paper modified with an albumin-antigen conjugate. Detection of PYO with a limit of detection of 4.7·10-3 µM and a dynamic range between 4.7·10-1 µM and 47.6 µM is accomplished by adding the sample to the substrate with the competing element and pressing the reservoir against it for 5 min. When tested with patient samples, the biosensor was able to qualitatively differentiate spiked from non-spiked samples, whereas ELISA did not show a clear cut-off between them. Furthermore, the relative standard deviation was lower when determining sputum with the paper-based biosensor. These features, along with a mild liquefaction step that circumvents the use of harsh chemicals or instruments, make our biosensor a good candidate for diagnosing Pseudomonas infections at the bedside through the detection of sputum PYO.

In this article, we present the procedure of preparation of flexible electronic paper with a photosensitive azo dye layer as the key element for changing the orientation of the polarization plane. The main steps of the technology for the fabrication of flexible e-paper are reported. The possible production of Digital Mirror Devices and the roll-to-roll process is discussed. Images on flexible e-paper are demonstrated, including bank card options. The advantages of optically rewritable e-paper technology in comparison with the e-ink usually used for this purpose are highlighted. Potential applications of flexible optically rewritable e-paper include price tags for supermarkets, indoor and outdoor advertisements, smart card labels, etc. © 2023 by the authors.

Earlier work on the hygro-expansion of paper states that the larger hygro-expansivity of freely compared to restrained dried handsheets is due to structural differences between the fibers inside the handsheet. To study this hypothesis, first, the hygro-expansion of freely and restrained dried, hardwood and softwood handsheets has been characterized. Subsequently, the transient full-field hygro-expansion (longitudinal, transverse, and shear strain) of fibers extracted from these handsheets was measured using global digital height correlation, from which the micro-fibril angle was deduced. The hygro-expansivity of each individual fiber was tested before and after a wetting period, during which the fiber’s moisture content is maximized, to analyze if a restrained dried fiber can “transform” into a freely dried fiber. It was found that the longitudinal hygro-expansion of the freely dried fibers is significantly larger than the restrained dried fibers, consistent with the sheet-scale differences. The difference in micro-fibril angle between the freely and restrained dried fibers is a possible explanation for this difference, but merely for the hardwood fibers, which are able to “transform” to freely dried fibers after being soaked in water. In contrast, this “transformation” does not happen in softwood fibers, even after full immersion in water for a day. Various mechanisms have been studied to explain the observations on freely and restrained dried hardwood and softwood, fiber and handsheets including analysis of the fibers’ lumen and cross-sectional shape. The presented results and discussion deepens the understanding of the differences between freely and restrained dried handsheets.

Biofouling causes important economic losses in the paper industry. To prevent or mitigate the effects of biofilms is necessary to implement microbiological control programmes based on monitoring programs which requires the evaluation of the biofilm growth kinetic taking into account the ability of microorganisms viability. The monitoring techniques must be rapid to minimise both costs and use of chemicals. This paper presents the study of the growth kinetics of two bacterial strains known for their high capacity to produce biofilms in paper mills. After the validation of flow cytometry as a technique for microbial growth monitoring, the development of segregated kinetic models based on cell physiological states data was carried out. The developed models can be used to design microbial control programs., TRUE, pub

According to current environmental legislation concerned with water scarcity, paper industry is being forced to adopt a zero liquid effluent policy. In consequence, reverse osmosis (RO) systems are being assessed as the final step of effluent treatment trains aiming to recover final wastewater and reuse it as process water. One of the most important drawbacks of these treatments is the production of a retentated stream, which is usually highly loaded with biorecalcitrant organic matter and inorganics; and this effluent must meet current legislation stringent constraints before being ultimately disposed. The treatment of biorefractory RO retentate from a paper mill by several promising advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) – conventional Fenton, photo-Fenton and photocatalysis – was optimized considering the effect and interaction of reaction parameters; particularly using response surface methodology (RSM) when appropriate (Fenton processes). The economical cost of these treatments was also comparatively assessed. Photo-Fenton process was able to totally remove the COD of the retentate, and resulted even operatively cheaper at high COD removal levels than conventional Fenton, which achieved an 80% reduction of the COD at best. In addition, although these optimal results were produced at pH = 2.8, it was also tested that Fenton processes are able to achieve good COD reduction efficiencies (>60%) without adjusting the initial pH value, provided the natural pH of this wastewater was close to neutral. Finally, although TiO2-photocatalysis showed the least efficient and most expensive figures, it improved the biodegradability of the retentate, so its combination with a final biological step almost achieved the total removal of the COD., Unión Europea. FP7, Comunidad de Madrid, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, TRUE, pub

Agro-wastes valorization focusses on production of high value-added products, such as cellulose nanofibers (CNF), and contributes to reduce the environmental impact of these residues. CNF have been used successfully as papermaking additives and some previsions maintain that this sector will become the most important, demanding CNF at a reasonable cost. Furthermore, the optimization of the production process of CNF from agricultural residues would contribute to the goals of a circular economy, the development of rural areas and the costs reduction by producing CNF of the minimum quality fit-for-use in recycled paper. In this study, CNF was produced from two agricultural residues; corn (C-CNF) and rape (R-CNF) stalk pulps, pretreated with bleaching, refining and TEMPO-mediated oxidation. Coagulant and cationic polyacrylamide (dual system) and chitosan were the retention systems. Results show the difficulty of predicting the effect of CNF based on their properties, as fibrillation degree or anionic charge, on the improvement of mechanical properties of recycled paper. That is proved by the low differences in tensile index (TI) improvement (similar to 15% by adding 0.5% C-CNF combined with dual system), obtained with CNF with very different properties. The expensive TEMPO pretreatment could be avoid by applying bleaching pretreatment to the corn pulp, increasing the TI up to 15% without affecting drainage and decoupling the simultaneous deterioration of drainage with TI improvement (drainage time decreased nearly 50% and 20% adding bleached R-CNF and C-CNF, respectively, combined with chitosan). Similar improvements on TI can be achieved by replacing the dual retention system by chitosan without addition of CNF, but the combination of CNF and chitosan allows achieving the highest TI values., Economy and Competitiveness Ministry of Spain (MINECO), Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A: Toxic/Hazardous Substances and Environmental Engineering on 09/05/2012, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10934529.2012.672301, There is increasing concern about chemical pollutants that have the ability to mimic hormones, the so-called endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs). One of the main reasons for concern is the possible effect of EDCs on human health. EDCs may be released into the environment in different ways, and one of the most significant sources is industrial wastewater. The main objective of this research was to evaluate the treatment performance of different wastewater treatment procedures (biological treatment, filtration, advanced oxidation processes) for the reduction of chemical oxygen demand and seven selected EDCs (dimethyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, benzyl butyl phthalate, bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, bisphenol A and nonylphenol) from wastewaters from a mill producing 100 % recycled paper. Two pilot plants were running in parallel and the following treatments were compared: (i) anaerobic biological treatment followed by aerobic biological treatment, ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis (RO), and (ii) anaerobic biological treatment followed by membrane bioreactor and RO. Moreover, at lab-scale, four different advanced oxidation processes (Fenton reaction, photo-Fenton reaction, photocatalysis with TiO2, and ozonation) were applied. The results indicated that the concentrations of selected EDCs from paper mill wastewaters were effectively reduced (100 %) by both combinations of pilot plants and photo-Fenton oxidation (98 %), while Fenton process, photocatalysis with TiO2 and ozonation were less effective (70 % to 90 %, respectively)., Unión Europea. FP7, Comunidad de Madrid, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, TRUE, pub

The closure of water circuits within pulp and paper mills has resulted in a higher contamination load of the final mill effluent, which must consequently be further treated in many cases to meet the standards imposed by the legislation in force. Different treatment strategies based on advanced oxidation processes (ozonation and TiO2-photocatalysis), and their combination with biological treatment (MBR), are herein assessed for effluents of a recycled paper mill and a kraft pulp mill. Ozone treatment achieved the highest efficiency of all. The consumption of 2.4 g O3 L−1 resulted in about a 60% COD reduction treating the effluent from the kraft pulp mill at an initial pH = 7; although it only reached about a 35% COD removal for the effluent of the recycled paper mill. Otherwise, photocatalysis achieved about a 20–30% reduction of the COD for both type of effluents. In addition, the effluent from the recycled paper mill showed a higher biodegradability, so combinations of these AOPs with biological treatment were tested. As a result, photocatalysis did not report any significant COD reduction improvement whether being performed as pre- or post-treatment of the biological process; whereas the use of ozonation as post-biological treatment enhanced COD removal a further 10%, summing up a total 90% reduction of the COD for the combined treatment, as well as it also supposed an increase of the presence of volatile fatty acids, which might ultimately enable the resultant wastewater to be recirculated back to further biological treatment., Unión Europea. FP7, Comunidad de Madrid, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, TRUE, pub

The use of nanocelluloses as strength-enhancing additives in papermaking is widely known since both cellulose nanofibers (CNF) and nanocrystals (CNC) present similar composition than paper but their exceptional properties in the nanometer scale confers a paper quality enhancement. However, some agglomeration problems in CNF and CNC through hydrogen bonding cause a lower improvement of mechanical properties of paper. Therefore, a better dispersion of both nanocelluloses can maximize their effect on paper properties, thus reducing the needed dose to get the same increment in tensile strength and then reducing material costs. To ease the implementation of these nanocelluloses in the production process of recycled paper, typically used operations of these industries have been used. Among them, those devoted to improve the homogeneous mixture of nanocellulose in the pulp suspension have been assessed. Firstly, pulping conditions were studied, including pulping time, temperature and need for soaking as variables. Secondly, some dispersing agents used in papermaking were considered, studying the effect of different types and doses. The highest tensile strength of paper was achieved by applying long pulping times (60 min), getting increments up to 30% with the use of soaking and polyacrylamide as retention system. However, with the use of a low dose of a dispersing agent (0.003%), tensile index can be still increased up to 20.6% avoiding these long times. This study can be of great interest of those researchers trying to implement the use of nanocelluloses as strength additive in papermaking., Economy and Competitiveness Ministry of Spain (MINECO), Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub

In the present work, lignocellulosic micro/nanofibers (LCMNF) were produced from pine sawdust. For that, pine sawdust was submitted to alkali treatment and subsequent bleaching stages, tailoring its chemical composition with the purpose of obtaining effective LCMNF. The obtained LCMNF were characterized and incorporated to recycled cardboard boxes with the purpose of producing recycled paper. The obtained results showed that it was possible to obtain LCMNF with the same reinforcing potential than those cellulose nanofibers (CNF) prepared by oxidative or other chemical methods In fact, the obtained papers increased the breaking length of recycled cardboard from 3338 m to 5347 m, being a value significantly higher than the requirements to produce paper bags. Overall, the studied strategies could allow a significant reduction of paper basis weight, with the consequent material saving and, thus, contribution to the environment., Economy and Competitiveness Ministry of Spain (MINECO), Community of Madrid (Spain), Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Químicas, TRUE, pub

This paper compares Léon Walras’ and Augustin Cournot’s views on monetary regulation. It shows that whereas Cournot believed discretionary monetary regulation to be convenient and acceptable, Walras held that the only acceptable monetary system is based exclusively on the stability of the value of money under a monetary rule following a strict equivalence between metallic reserves and a pure medium of exchange form of money. The paper also advances Cournot understood more clearly than Walras the evolution of the monetary system of their days because Walras was trying to guarantee the coherence of his pure theory with his applied theory, which made him unable to accept the evolution toward a monetary system based on fiat money., Este artículo compara las teorías de Léon Walras y Augustin Cournot sobre regulación monetaria. Demuestra que, si bien Cournot creía que era conveniente y aceptable la regulación monetaria discrecional, Walras sostuvo que el único sistema monetario aceptable es el basado en la estabilidad del valor del dinero bajo una regla monetaria que siga una estricta equivalencia entre las reservas metálicas y el dinero, considerado como puro medio de cambio. El artículo también apunta a que Cournot entendió mejor que Walras la evolución del sistema monetario de su época dado que Walras trataba de mantener la coherencia de su teoría pura con su teoría aplicada, lo que hizo que fuera incapaz de aceptar la evolución hacia un sistema monetario basado en dinero fiduciario., Depto. de Economía Aplicada, Estructura e Historia, Fac. de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, TRUE, pub

This paper tackles the task of singulating and grasping paper-like deformable objects. We refer to such tasks as paper-flipping. In contrast to manipulating deformable objects that lack compression strength (such as shirts and ropes), minor variations in the physical properties of the paper-like deformable objects significantly impact the results, making manipulation highly challenging. Here, we present Flipbot, a novel solution for flipping paper-like deformable objects. Flipbot allows the robot to capture object physical properties by integrating exteroceptive and proprioceptive perceptions that are indispensable for manipulating deformable objects. Furthermore, by incorporating a proposed coarse-to-fine exploration process, the system is capable of learning the optimal control parameters for effective paper-flipping through proprioceptive and exteroceptive inputs. We deploy our method on a real-world robot with a soft gripper and learn in a self-supervised manner. The resulting policy demonstrates the effectiveness of Flipbot on paper-flipping tasks with various settings beyond the reach of prior studies, including but not limited to flipping pages throughout a book and emptying paper sheets in a box. The code is available here: https://robotll.github.io/Flipbot/. © 2023 IEEE.

["",""]Discovering "hard-to-find" relevant papers efficiently poses a challenge when employing active learning (AL)-assisted screening tools within the domain of systematic reviewing. Hard-to-find relevant papers if missed can have a significant impact on the outcomes of systematic reviews. The time to discovery (TD) measures how many records are needed to be screened in order to find a relevant paper, making it a useful tool to examine such papers. The main aim of this project was to investigate how AL model and prior knowledge choice influences the TD values of the hard-to find relevant papers and their rank-orders. A simulation study was conducted that consisted of two sets of simulations of the AL-aided screening process on a single dataset. The first set of simulations varied AL model across simulation runs, while keeping prior knowledge constant. The second set of simulations varied prior knowledge, while keeping AL model constant. The results demonstrated that AL model choice significantly influenced the TD values and the rank-order of the TD values of the hard-to-find relevant papers. Notably, the feature extractor had a larger impact on the TD values, as compared to the classifier. While prior knowledge choice did not significantly influence the TD values and the rank-order of the TD values. These findings demonstrate that AL model choice influences the difficulty of finding hard-to-find relevant papers, and that this should be considered when screening papers using an AL-aided tool. Furthermore, this paper highlights the use of the TD metric to examine the variation in the difficulty of finding relevant papers across different simulation setups. Future research should examine the characteristics of hard-to-find relevant papers to discover why they might take a long time to be found, and the effect of AL model choice on the TD values of such papers across multiple datasets in order to determine the generalisability of these findings.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to investigate the factors of Social Media on Consumer Perception and Purchase Intention towards Brand Loyalty. Theoretical framework: A recent trend of Social media has affected customers in various way. This was a conceptual paper to explore that there is relationship of consumer perception and purchase intention as mediating variable towards brand loyally. A comprehensive literature survey was carried out to evaluate various factors relating to Social media and its effectiveness to Brand Loyalty mediating effect with consumer perception and purchase intention. Method: There were 102 research papers were analysis critically to find out the connection of factors of social media on consumer perception and purchase intention towards brand loyalty Results and Conclusion: entertainment, interaction, trust, e-word of mouth and online engagement as important factors influence mostly towards brand loyalty. Search implications: The study has made contribution to the marketing and promotion and offered useful research gap for their further research on the field. Originality/value: There was a positive effect of Trust, interaction, e-word of mouth, trendiness, entertainment and online customer engagement as factors of Social media marketing influence on Brand Loyalty mediating with consumer perception and purchase intention.

Most methodologies to measure the moisture-induced deformation (hygro-expansion) of paper microconstituents, including fibres and interfibre bonds, are low resolution or time-consuming. Hence, here, a novel method is proposed and validated to measure high-resolution full-field strain maps of paper microconstituents during hygro-expansion, based on environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM). To this end, a novel climate stage enables accurate control of the relative humidity (RH) near the specimen in the ESEM from 0%–100%. The fibre surface, which is decorated a priori with a microparticle pattern, is captured during RH change. Subsequently, correlating the fibre surface using a dedicated global digital image correlation algorithm enables high-resolution hygro-expansion strain maps. Method optimisation involved performing contrast enhancement, scan-correction to reduce ESEM artefacts and a background correction, resulting in a strain resolution of (Formula presented.). Method validation revealed that the fibres' crystallinity is affected by the electron beam, even for minimal invasive electron beam settings. Interestingly, however, the fibres consistently exhibit conventional hygro-expansion behaviour during the drying slopes. Using the optimised procedure, hygro-expansion characterisation of two interfibre bonds and four interfibre bond cross-sections revealed the competition between the low longitudinal and large transverse fibre hygro-expansion in the bonded area.

Polymers are often combined with magnetostrictive materials to enhance their toughness. This study reports a cellulose nanofibril (CNF)-based composite paper containing dispersed CoFe2O4 particles (CNF-CoFe2O4). Besides imparting magnetization and magnetostriction, the incorporation of CoFe2O4 particles decreased the ultimate tensile strength and increased the fracture elongation of the CNF-CoFe2O4 composite paper. CNF was responsible for the tensile properties of CNF-CoFe2O4 composite paper. Consequently, the magnetic and magnetostrictive properties and tensile properties of CNF-CoFe2O4 composite paper can be controlled by changing the mixture ratio of CNF and CoFe2O4 particles.

The implementation of the Single-Use Plastics Directive has gained significant attention due to the detrimental impacts of plastic pollution, leading to the transition from plastic straws to paper straws for Tetra Pak’s portion-size carton packages. However, the acceptance of paper straws could be hindered by negative mouthfeel perceptions, which customers find the difficulties to accurately describe them. Objective measurement approaches, such as instrumental measurement, are expected to provide a comprehensive understanding of the mouthfeel, which can be correlated with subjective preference. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the instruments can accurately predict the results of consumer responses. The testing methods were developed in this study with the aim of investigating the useful correlations between subjective sensory perceptions and objective instrumental measurements of the mouthfeel on paper straws. Six different variants of paper straws were objectively evaluated for their mechanical and chemical properties related to mouthfeel through instrumental measurements, and their mouthfeel perception was subjectively evaluated through sensory analysis. Correlations between both subjective and objective measurements were identified using Pearson’s correlation. The results indicated that applying a coating material on paper straws effectively reduces water absorption and surface roughness but increases the coefficient of friction. In terms of compressive strength, wet paper straws exhibited significantly lower strength than dry paper straws across all variants. The subjective sensory evaluation revealed that coated paper straws were perceived to be less rough, sticky, dry, and soggy while exhibiting higher sturdiness. Some subjective and objective correlations have been identified in this study, with tactile friction and water absorption demonstrating the most potential in predicting the mouthfeel perception of paper straws. Other properties, including s, Plastic pollution has triggered a global awakening, prompting remarkable changes in how we consume plastics nowadays. To join the movement, Tetra Pak says goodbye to plastic straws and embraces the eco-friendlier alternative - paper straws for its convenient portion-size carton packages. However, this transition poses a major challenge for both companies and consumers. It is because the sensation when using paper straws may not be as satisfying for consumers as compared to plastic ones, and explaining this feeling is also difficult for consumers. But what if we could use measurement tools to accurately describe the experience and align them with the consumers' actual feelings? It would be fascinating. That is why this study comes in! Five instrumental methods (objective measurement) were developed in this study to precisely evaluate the mechanical and chemical properties of six different paper straw variants. But that is not all! The study also involved consumers' input by inviting them to participate in sensory analysis (subjective measurement), sharing their first-hand experiences with paper straws. By comparing and analyzing the results from these measurements, the study aimed to decode the secrets of paper straw mouthfeel and discover the connections between them. Here is what the study found - the fascinating correlations between what consumers felt and what the instruments measured. The findings from instrumental measurement showcased the power of coating material in transforming paper straws' mouthfeel. It effectively reduces the amount of water it absorbs (water absorption rate) and creates smoother surfaces for a delightful sipping experience. However, they showed an increase in the resisting force (friction force). Additionally, the study discovered that wet paper straws could not hold up the compressive force as much as dry ones, evidenced by their lower strength value when they were compressed in the machine. Now, let's dive into the consumer experience!

Background: Anemia during pregnancy is a kind of problem that most expectant mothers are dealing with. Consuming iron supplements is one kind of solution to lower the cases of anemia. However, the number of anemia in expectant mothers in West Sumatra is still high, 43% of them experience anemia in pregnancy and 52% of them did not adhere to consuming iron supplements. Purpose: Creating two kinds of media to motivate expectant mothers in consuming iron supplements, which are pregnancy paper fan and an Android notification system installed on their mobile phones, as well as to determine the effectivity of both media on knowledge, attitude, and adherence on consuming iron supplements. Methods: The population of this research is expectant mothers with a number of sample 110 respondents, where 55 respondents were intervened with pregnancy paper fan and 55 respondents were intervened by an android notification system. Results: The result of the bivariate analysis shows that the Android notification system has a significant impact on the adherence, knowledge, and attitude of expectant mothers on consuming iron supplements during pregnancy. However, the pregnancy paper fan has a significant impact only on knowledge and the adherence of expectant mothers on consuming iron supplements, while there is no significant impact on attitude toward consuming iron supplements. Conclusion: The use of the Android Notification System is effective on knowledge, attitudes, and compliance of expectant mothers on consuming iron supplements.

Research assessment reform is crucial for the social sustainability of research infrastructures (RIs): RIs can only thrive in the long term if the researchers who contribute to their development and growth receive academic credit for the kind of work they do in and around research infrastructures. To put it bluntly, research infrastructures have a vested interest in supporting the reform of research assessment. But, conversely, ongoing attempts to reform research assessment can also benefit from the work of research infrastructures because RIs have a great deal of experience creating and maintaining public services for producing, curating and harvesting both traditional and non-traditional academic outputs. The goal of this paper is to outline DARIAH’s position on the importance of research assessment reform for thematic RIs and the importance of thematic RIs for research assessment reform at the European level.

Context and motivation: AI-based systems (i.e., systems integrating some AI model or component) are becoming pervasive in society. A number of characteristics of AI-based systems challenge classical requirements engineering (RE) and raise questions yet to be answered. Question: This vision paper inquires the role that RE should play in the development of AI-based systems with a focus on three areas: roles involved, requirements’ scope and non-functional requirements. Principal Ideas: The paper builds upon the vision that RE shall become the cornerstone in AI-based system development and proposes some initial ideas and roadmap for these three areas. Contribution: Our vision is a step towards clarifying the role of RE in the context of AI-based systems development. The different research lines outlined in the paper call for further research in this area., This paper is part of the project TED2021-130923B-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the European Union “NextGenera-tionEU”/PRTR., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (author's final draft)

Fossil-plastics or paper? Or for that matter, bio-plastics and paper? This is a wellentrenched question in academic research, industrial, social and policy-making circles. Asenvironmental life-cycle analyses (or more appropriately, sustainability analyses) show timeand again, no single product or process or mode of operation is a ‘total villain’. There are goodsand bads, and at times, more of the one than the other. This paper, which is based on a coursereport written by the first author at Karlstad University (Sweden), restricts itself to a review ofpublications which have opted to compare paper bags with low density polyethylene (LDPE)plastic bags, on the basis of their environmental impacts. Environmental impact categoriesinclude the global warming potential, energy demand, fossil fuel depletion, water usage,acidification, eutrophication, and a range of toxicities – human, terrestrial, freshwater-aquaticand marine-aquatic. The articles were obtained through Google Scholar, read and reviewed toglean the results presented therein. The ‘What’, ‘How’ and ‘Where’, so to say were studiedcarefully to understand the reasons behind any differences or similarities detected. On the basisof this focused review, even though no new knowledge is being added, the common belief thatthe paper bag is environmentally superior to the LDPE alternative is further consolidated.However, if one focuses on water usage and would assign a high weightage to thatenvironmental impact, LDPE perhaps may score a few ‘brownie points’ over paper. One mustalso not forget that plastics (LDPE in this instance) can be recycled without significantdeterioration in its functional properties. In a circular economy (the bioeconomy part of whichgradually will expand over time), while introducing more and more bio-based products into thetechnosphere by way of trans-materialization is recommended, plastics will still continue toexist – albeit in much smaller amounts – and it would be perfectly fine if the degre, Tworzywa sztuczne pochodzenia kopalnego czy papier? A może biotworzywa ipapier? Pytanie to stale pojawia się w kręgach akademickich, badawczych, przemysłowych,społecznych i politycznych. Jak wielokrotnie wykazały środowiskowe analizy cyklu życia (lubdokładniej, analizy zrównoważonego rozwoju), w kwestiach środowiskowych żadenpojedynczy produkt, proces czy sposób działania nie może być uznany za “jedynegowinowajcę”. Wszystkie rozwiązania niosą ze sobą zarówno dobre, jak i złe skutki, a tylko wniektórych przypadkach jedne przeważają nad drugimi. Niniejszy artykuł, bazujący nasprawozdaniu z kursu napisanym przez pierwszego z autorów na Uniwersytecie w Karlstad(Szwecja), stanowi przegląd publikacji na temat porównania wpływu toreb papierowych orazplastikowych toreb z polietylenu o niskiej gęstości (LDPE) na środowisko. Kategorie wpływuna środowisko obejmują potencjał tworzenia efektu cieplarnianego, zapotrzebowanie naenergię, wyczerpywanie paliw kopalnych, zużycie wody, zakwaszanie, eutrofizację oraztoksyczność dla ludzi, oraz ekosystemów lądowych, słodkowodnych i morskich. Przeglądliteratury mający na celu zebranie przedstawionych wyników badań obejmował artykuływyszukane za pomocą Google Scholar. Aby w pełni zrozumieć przyczyny dostrzeżonychróżnic czy podobieństw przeprowadzono uważną analizę odpowiadając na pytania “Co”, “Jak”i “Gdzie”. Mimo że ten ukierunkowany przegląd literatury przedmiotu nie wnosi żadnej nowejwiedzy, to jednak służy ugruntowaniu powszechnego przekonania o mniejszej szkodliwościtoreb papierowych dla środowiska, w porównaniu z LDPE. Jeśli jednak za istotne kryteriumwpływu na środowisko przyjmiemy zużycie wody, torby LDPE zyskują w porównaniu zpapierowymi kilka przysłowiowych punktów. Jednocześnie, nie można zapominać, żetworzywa sztuczne (w tym wypadku LDPE) można poddać recyklingowi bez znaczącegopogorszenia ich właściwości użytkowych, a chociaż w gospodarce o obiegu zamkniętym (wktórej biogospodarka będzie z czasem zyskiwać na znaczeniu) zaleca, This is a development of a course deliverable by Isabell Lidbrand, into a journal paper....

Fossil-plastics or paper? Or for that matter, bio-plastics and paper? This is a wellentrenched question in academic research, industrial, social and policy-making circles. Asenvironmental life-cycle analyses (or more appropriately, sustainability analyses) show timeand again, no single product or process or mode of operation is a ‘total villain’. There are goodsand bads, and at times, more of the one than the other. This paper, which is based on a coursereport written by the first author at Karlstad University (Sweden), restricts itself to a review ofpublications which have opted to compare paper bags with low density polyethylene (LDPE)plastic bags, on the basis of their environmental impacts. Environmental impact categoriesinclude the global warming potential, energy demand, fossil fuel depletion, water usage,acidification, eutrophication, and a range of toxicities – human, terrestrial, freshwater-aquaticand marine-aquatic. The articles were obtained through Google Scholar, read and reviewed toglean the results presented therein. The ‘What’, ‘How’ and ‘Where’, so to say were studiedcarefully to understand the reasons behind any differences or similarities detected. On the basisof this focused review, even though no new knowledge is being added, the common belief thatthe paper bag is environmentally superior to the LDPE alternative is further consolidated.However, if one focuses on water usage and would assign a high weightage to thatenvironmental impact, LDPE perhaps may score a few ‘brownie points’ over paper. One mustalso not forget that plastics (LDPE in this instance) can be recycled without significantdeterioration in its functional properties. In a circular economy (the bioeconomy part of whichgradually will expand over time), while introducing more and more bio-based products into thetechnosphere by way of trans-materialization is recommended, plastics will still continue toexist – albeit in much smaller amounts – and it would be perfectly fine if the degre, Tworzywa sztuczne pochodzenia kopalnego czy papier? A może biotworzywa ipapier? Pytanie to stale pojawia się w kręgach akademickich, badawczych, przemysłowych,społecznych i politycznych. Jak wielokrotnie wykazały środowiskowe analizy cyklu życia (lubdokładniej, analizy zrównoważonego rozwoju), w kwestiach środowiskowych żadenpojedynczy produkt, proces czy sposób działania nie może być uznany za “jedynegowinowajcę”. Wszystkie rozwiązania niosą ze sobą zarówno dobre, jak i złe skutki, a tylko wniektórych przypadkach jedne przeważają nad drugimi. Niniejszy artykuł, bazujący nasprawozdaniu z kursu napisanym przez pierwszego z autorów na Uniwersytecie w Karlstad(Szwecja), stanowi przegląd publikacji na temat porównania wpływu toreb papierowych orazplastikowych toreb z polietylenu o niskiej gęstości (LDPE) na środowisko. Kategorie wpływuna środowisko obejmują potencjał tworzenia efektu cieplarnianego, zapotrzebowanie naenergię, wyczerpywanie paliw kopalnych, zużycie wody, zakwaszanie, eutrofizację oraztoksyczność dla ludzi, oraz ekosystemów lądowych, słodkowodnych i morskich. Przeglądliteratury mający na celu zebranie przedstawionych wyników badań obejmował artykuływyszukane za pomocą Google Scholar. Aby w pełni zrozumieć przyczyny dostrzeżonychróżnic czy podobieństw przeprowadzono uważną analizę odpowiadając na pytania “Co”, “Jak”i “Gdzie”. Mimo że ten ukierunkowany przegląd literatury przedmiotu nie wnosi żadnej nowejwiedzy, to jednak służy ugruntowaniu powszechnego przekonania o mniejszej szkodliwościtoreb papierowych dla środowiska, w porównaniu z LDPE. Jeśli jednak za istotne kryteriumwpływu na środowisko przyjmiemy zużycie wody, torby LDPE zyskują w porównaniu zpapierowymi kilka przysłowiowych punktów. Jednocześnie, nie można zapominać, żetworzywa sztuczne (w tym wypadku LDPE) można poddać recyklingowi bez znaczącegopogorszenia ich właściwości użytkowych, a chociaż w gospodarce o obiegu zamkniętym (wktórej biogospodarka będzie z czasem zyskiwać na znaczeniu) zaleca, This is a development of a course deliverable by Isabell Lidbrand, into a journal paper....

Vacuum dewatering of paper is a heavily energy expensive process, even more so for greaseproof paper, which is one of the main products at Nordic Paper Seffle AB. Due to this being such an energy demanding process, improvements in the vacuum dewatering could save massive amounts of energy. The focus of this thesis is to investigate the effect of a triple vacuum suction box on the dewatering rate of greaseproof paper, using a tried and tested method of simulative triple vacuum suction box at a laboratory scale, with the difference of simulating a quadruple vacuum suction box, and how the grammage of the paper sheet affected this, using unbleached sulphate pulp consisting of soft wood with an addition of 20 % eucalyptus fibers. The results were as expected, showing the expected dryness curve behavior of diminishing returns of the dryness to dwell time ratio, and the method showed valid for improving the energy efficiency compared to a single vacuum suction box, in terms of both expended energy, and yielded dryness. The grammage had a significant effect on the dewatering, with the heavier paper at 100 gsm showing the need of higher dwell times and increased levels of vacuum pressure than the lighter paper at 50 gsm. An addition of a triple vacuum suction box could possibly replace multiple high vacuum suction boxes, leading to even greater savings. Further testing would be required for optimization of the vacuum levels and dwell times for the 100 gsm paper sheet, in order to reach the same dryness as the 50 gsm paper sheet., Vakuumavvattning av papper är en mycket energikrävande process, ännu mer för greaseproofpapper, som är en av huvudprodukterna hos Nordic Paper Seffle AB. Eftersom detta är en så energikrävande process kan förbättringar av vakuumavvattningen spara enorma mängder energi. Fokus för denna avhandling är att undersöka effekten av en trippelvakuumsuglåda på avvattningseffektiviteten av greaseproofpapper, med hjälp av en beprövad metod för simulativ trippelvakuumsuglåda i laboratorieskala, med skillnaden att simulera en fyrdubbelvakuumsuglåda, och hur ytvikten på pappersarket påverkar detta; med oblekt sulfatmassa bestående av långfiber med tillsats av 20 % eukalyptusfibrer. Resultaten var som förväntat och visade den förväntade torrhaltskurvans beteende av avtagande förbättring av torrhalten, och metoden visade sig vara giltig för att förbättra energieffektiviteten jämfört med en enda vakuumsuglåda, både vad gäller förbrukad energi och torrhalt. Ytvikten hade en stor effekt på avvattningen, där det tyngre papperet på 100 gsm visade behov av längre uppehållstider och ökade nivåer av vakuumtryck än det lättare papperet vid 50 gsm. Ett tillägg av en trippelvakuumsuglåda kan troligen ersätta flera högvakuumsugslådor, vilket leder till ännu större besparingar. Ytterligare tester skulle krävas för optimering av vakuumnivåerna och uppehållstiderna för 100 gsm pappersarket, för att nå samma torrhet som 50 gsm pappersarket.

Background: The global marketplace is characterized by rapid and constantchange, resulting in complex logistics systems. The port industry, which is a crucial link in the supply chain, seeks to understand the complexity of market dynamics. Ports should understand the changing market dynamics to better meet the market demand and have a competitive advantage. One representative from the port industry is Swedish ports and the Port of Gothenburg, which will be the focus of this thesis. The market demand for paper and paperboard has been a significant driver of shipping activities in Swedish ports. The market demand for bulk and container shipping is also relevant due to its influence on the port’s operation. Furthermore, itis essential for port authorities to understand the demand-oriented infrastructure to develop strategies to meet the market dynamics. Purpose: This thesis has been undertaken on behalf of the PoG. The purpose of the thesis is to provide a clearer understanding of how the current and future market demand of paper and paperboard influence Swedish ports with scenario planning. Based on the future market demand for paper and paperboard, additional information of the future market demand for bulk and container will be included in the scenarios. By using the scenarios, recommendations will be given regarding investments the port authority at PoG needs to implement as a response to future paper and paperboard market demand. Methodology: The thesis has a qualitative case study with Port of Gothenburg as the study object. Data collection has been conducted through semi- and unstructuredinterviews from the Swedish forest industry, three forest companies and port authority at Port of Gothenburg. Additionally, scenario planning will be the main analysis method in this thesis. Conclusion: The current market demand for paper and paperboard indicates that demand for paper is decreasing, while demand for paperboard is increasing. The future market demand for paper an

Fossil-plastics or paper? Or for that matter, bio-plastics and paper? This is a wellentrenched question in academic research, industrial, social and policy-making circles. Asenvironmental life-cycle analyses (or more appropriately, sustainability analyses) show timeand again, no single product or process or mode of operation is a ‘total villain’. There are goodsand bads, and at times, more of the one than the other. This paper, which is based on a coursereport written by the first author at Karlstad University (Sweden), restricts itself to a review ofpublications which have opted to compare paper bags with low density polyethylene (LDPE)plastic bags, on the basis of their environmental impacts. Environmental impact categoriesinclude the global warming potential, energy demand, fossil fuel depletion, water usage,acidification, eutrophication, and a range of toxicities – human, terrestrial, freshwater-aquaticand marine-aquatic. The articles were obtained through Google Scholar, read and reviewed toglean the results presented therein. The ‘What’, ‘How’ and ‘Where’, so to say were studiedcarefully to understand the reasons behind any differences or similarities detected. On the basisof this focused review, even though no new knowledge is being added, the common belief thatthe paper bag is environmentally superior to the LDPE alternative is further consolidated.However, if one focuses on water usage and would assign a high weightage to thatenvironmental impact, LDPE perhaps may score a few ‘brownie points’ over paper. One mustalso not forget that plastics (LDPE in this instance) can be recycled without significantdeterioration in its functional properties. In a circular economy (the bioeconomy part of whichgradually will expand over time), while introducing more and more bio-based products into thetechnosphere by way of trans-materialization is recommended, plastics will still continue toexist – albeit in much smaller amounts – and it would be perfectly fine if the degre, Tworzywa sztuczne pochodzenia kopalnego czy papier? A może biotworzywa ipapier? Pytanie to stale pojawia się w kręgach akademickich, badawczych, przemysłowych,społecznych i politycznych. Jak wielokrotnie wykazały środowiskowe analizy cyklu życia (lubdokładniej, analizy zrównoważonego rozwoju), w kwestiach środowiskowych żadenpojedynczy produkt, proces czy sposób działania nie może być uznany za “jedynegowinowajcę”. Wszystkie rozwiązania niosą ze sobą zarówno dobre, jak i złe skutki, a tylko wniektórych przypadkach jedne przeważają nad drugimi. Niniejszy artykuł, bazujący nasprawozdaniu z kursu napisanym przez pierwszego z autorów na Uniwersytecie w Karlstad(Szwecja), stanowi przegląd publikacji na temat porównania wpływu toreb papierowych orazplastikowych toreb z polietylenu o niskiej gęstości (LDPE) na środowisko. Kategorie wpływuna środowisko obejmują potencjał tworzenia efektu cieplarnianego, zapotrzebowanie naenergię, wyczerpywanie paliw kopalnych, zużycie wody, zakwaszanie, eutrofizację oraztoksyczność dla ludzi, oraz ekosystemów lądowych, słodkowodnych i morskich. Przeglądliteratury mający na celu zebranie przedstawionych wyników badań obejmował artykuływyszukane za pomocą Google Scholar. Aby w pełni zrozumieć przyczyny dostrzeżonychróżnic czy podobieństw przeprowadzono uważną analizę odpowiadając na pytania “Co”, “Jak”i “Gdzie”. Mimo że ten ukierunkowany przegląd literatury przedmiotu nie wnosi żadnej nowejwiedzy, to jednak służy ugruntowaniu powszechnego przekonania o mniejszej szkodliwościtoreb papierowych dla środowiska, w porównaniu z LDPE. Jeśli jednak za istotne kryteriumwpływu na środowisko przyjmiemy zużycie wody, torby LDPE zyskują w porównaniu zpapierowymi kilka przysłowiowych punktów. Jednocześnie, nie można zapominać, żetworzywa sztuczne (w tym wypadku LDPE) można poddać recyklingowi bez znaczącegopogorszenia ich właściwości użytkowych, a chociaż w gospodarce o obiegu zamkniętym (wktórej biogospodarka będzie z czasem zyskiwać na znaczeniu) zaleca, This is a development of a course deliverable by Isabell Lidbrand, into a journal paper....

In this study, effect of two chemical compounds (i.e., 1-octanol and hexanal) respectively from the alcohol and aldehyde groups on thermophilic (55±2 °C) anaerobic process digesting the waste produced at a paper industry was investigated. In this scope, possible inhibition was monitored by the cumulative methane (CH4) yields in the batch reactors digesting the paper waste as the feedstock at concentrations of 0.005%, 0.05%, and 0.5% for each compound. Comparing the effects of the two different groups with the control reactor having only the paper waste as the substrate, the results revealed that adding 1-octanol and hexanal up to 0.05% concentrations had some synergistic effect on biogas yield (i.e., from 3% to 12% enhancement). Accordingly, the highest methane yields were 550 and 567 mL/g-VSfed, respectively on average in the presence of 1-octanol and hexanal at a concentration of 0.05% while the cumulative methane yield was observed as 490 mL/g-VSfed for the control reactor. With the exception of 1-octanol at 0.5%, adding both compounds at each investigated concentration was beneficial for the digestion in the batch process. Therefore, the selected alcohol and aldehyde sources did not cause the expected detrimental effect on the methanogens even at the maximum amounts added in this study. Nevertheless, since the effect of the chemical compounds on methane generation has been generally concentration-dependent, the toxic effects of 1-octanol and hexanal would be better observed at higher concentrations (>0.5%), especially when their threshold levels are exceeded in anaerobic reactors digesting paper wastes.