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Exposure to glyphosate produces various toxic effects, due to this, different methods have been evaluated for its elimination. The objective of this work was to formulate chitosan-based adsorbents and evaluate their efficiency in the removal of glyphosate in vitro. Four films were made by varying the weight ratio of silica/chitosan particles, and four sponges were made by varying the chitosan/chitosan ratio in a reticulated manner. Both adsorbents were characterized based on their porosity, water absorption, glyphosate removal, and reusability. It was found that increasing the porosity in both films and sponges resulted in an increase in the adsorption efficiency of glyphosate. The adsorption process exhibited a better fit in both adsorbents to the pseudo-second-order model. The adsorption of glyphosate to the films fit better with the Langmuir model, demonstrating that the process occurs in the form of a monolayer. In the case of sponges, the adsorption of glyphosate fit better with the Freundlich model, indicating that the process takes place in a multilayer form. Finally, when the reusability was evaluated, the adsorbents showed a loss of effectiveness. However, they still proved to be an efficient alternative for the removal of glyphosate in water, providing a cost-effective and environmentally friendly solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effectiveness of two routes of administration of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) upon oestrus induction in anoestrus mix-breed goats was evaluated. Goats [n = 27, 39.6 ± 2.18 kg live weight and body condition score of 1.71 ± 0.02 units (scale 1-5)] were primed with 20 mg P4-intravulvosubmucosal (IVSM) 24 h prior to hCG administration. Thereafter, goats were randomly allocated to three groups to receive 100 IU hCG (0.1 mL) intramuscular (IM, n = 9), or IVSM (n = 9), and saline (0.5 mL) IM injection (CONT, n = 9). Ovarian follicular or luteal tissue was monitored by transrectal ultrasonographic scanning 15 days pre- and 5 days post-treatment. Besides, goats were daily monitored (0800 and 1800 h)  × 15 days to detect oestrus signs with the use of aproned sexually active bucks, treated with testosterone; 12 h after the onset of oestrus, goats were mated. While the CONT-goats never depicted neither oestrus nor ovulation (P < .05), the ovarian response from the IM and IVSM groups was 89% vs 68%, respectively (P > .05). Oestrus response (83.5%), pregnancy (60.6%) and litter size (1.55 ± 0.2) did not differ (P > .05) between the IM and IVSM groups. A single application of 100 IU hCG, irrespective of administration route, induced sexual activity in acyclic goats, generating key out-of-season reproductive outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advancement of interdisciplinary approaches in today's modern engineering, current efforts in optimal design of composites include seeking material selection protocols that can (1) simultaneously consider a series of mechanical/ electrical/chemical cost criteria over a set of alternative material options, and (2) closely take into account environmental aspects of final products including recycling and end-of-life disposal options. In this paper, in addition to a review of some recent experimental and methodological advances in the above areas, a new application of multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) is presented to deal with decision conflicts often seen among design criteria in composite material selection with the help of life cycle assessment (LCA). To show the application, an illustrative case study on a plastic gear material selection is conducted where the cost, mechanical and thermal properties along with environmental impact criteria are to be satisfied simultaneously. A pure plastic gear is compared to a Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)/aluminum-powder composite alternative. Results suggest that simple MCDM models, including a signal-to-noise measure adapted to MCDM in the same case study, can be used to explore both trade-offs and design break-even points in large decision spaces as the decision maker's perspective over environmental, material performance and cost attributes change during the design process. More advanced topics including the account of material data uncertainties are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]