Analytical tools to assess polymer biodegradation: A critical review and recommendations.

Many petroleum-derived plastic materials are highly recalcitrant and persistent in the environment, posing significant threats to human and ecological receptors due to their accumulation in ecosystems. In recent years, research efforts have focused on advancing biological methods for polymer degradation. Enzymatic depolymerization has emerged as particularly relevant for biobased plastic recycling, potentially scalable for industrial use.

Local structure elucidation of tungsten-substituted vanadium dioxide (V[Formula: see text]W[Formula: see text]O[Formula: see text]).

Initially, vanadium dioxide seems to be an ideal first-order phase transition case study due to its deceptively simple structure and composition, but upon closer inspection there are nuances to the driving mechanism of the metal-insulator transition (MIT) that are still unexplained. In this study, a local structure analysis across a bulk powder tungsten-substitution series is utilized to tease out the nuances of this first-order phase transition. A comparison of the average structure to the local structure using synchrotron x-ray diffraction and total scattering pair-distribution function methods, respectively, is discussed as well as comparison to bright field transmission electron microscopy imaging through a similar temperature-series as the local structure characterization.

Predictors and correlates of emotionalism across acquired and progressive neurological conditions: A systematic review.

Emotionalism can develop following a range of neurological disorders; however the aetiology of emotionalism is still unclear. To identify anatomical, neuropsychological and psychological predictors and correlates of emotionalism across neurological disorders: stroke, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. To explore if these predictors and correlates of emotionalism differ across neurological disorders.

Side-bounce beamlines using single-reflection diamond monochromators at Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source.

The design and implementation of new beamlines featuring side-bounce (single-reflection) diamond monochromators at Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) are described. Undulator radiation is monochromated using an interchangeable set of diamond crystal plates reflecting radiation in the horizontal (synchrotron) plane, where each crystal plate is set to one of the low-index Bragg reflections (111, 220, 311 and 400) in either Bragg or Laue reflection geometries. At the nominal Bragg angle of 18° these reflections deliver monochromated X-rays with photon energies of 9.

Therapist competence and clinical outcome in the rehabilitation of memory following traumatic brain injury trial.

: Therapist competencies when delivering an intervention can impact clinical outcomes. However, the relationship between competence and outcome in the context of memory rehabilitation has not previously been investigated. We aimed to evaluate whether therapist competencies in delivering a group-based memory rehabilitation intervention, as part of a randomized-controlled trial, was associated with changes in clinical outcome in the participants with traumatic brain injury.