Transport and sedimentation of microplastics by turbidity currents: Dependence on suspended sediment concentration and grain size.

Using lock-exchange experiments, this study investigates the transport and sedimentation of microplastics (MPs) via turbidity currents. Two hypotheses were tested: MP sedimentation is influenced by suspended sediment concentration and grain size. Utilizing flows with different sediment concentrations and grain sizes in combination with three different MPs (PET fibers, melamine, and PVC fragments), the experiments revealed distinct sedimentation patterns: higher sediment concentrations enhance MP transport, and turbidity currents with finer sediments transported MPs over greater distances, highlighting the importance of sediment characteristics to predict MP distribution by such flows.

Laser-Induced Graphene Electrodes for Flexible pH Sensors.

In the growing field of personalized medicine, non-invasive wearable devices and sensors are valuable diagnostic tools for the real-time monitoring of physiological and biokinetic signals. Among all the possible multiple (bio)-entities, pH is important in defining health-related biological information, since its variations or alterations can be considered the cause or the effect of disease and disfunction within a biological system. In this work, an innovative (bio)-electrochemical flexible pH sensor was proposed by realizing three electrodes (working, reference, and counter) directly on a polyimide (Kapton) sheet through the implementation of CO laser writing, which locally converts the polymeric sheet into a laser-induced graphene material (LIG electrodes), preserving inherent mechanical flexibility of Kapton.

Serological and molecular diagnosis of Trypanosoma vivax on buffalos (Bubalus bubalis) and their ectoparasites in the lowlands of Maranhão, Brazil.

The aim of this study was to detect trypomastigote forms of Trypanosoma vivax, in blood smears, DNA of T. vivax and anti-T. vivax antibodies in samples from buffalos reared in the lowlands of Maranhão, Brazil.

Shear induced remobilization of buried synthetic microfibers.

Microplastics are known to accumulate in sediment beds of aquatic environments where they can be buried. Once buried they can remobilize due to high energetic events, entering the water column again. Here, turbulence induced by an oscillating grid device was used to investigate the remobilization of microfibers (MF) buried into the sediment bed.

Interactions between vegetation, sedimentation and flood inundation levels in wetlands.

Wetlands produce key ecosystem services to mitigate the impacts of peak flows caused by pluvial or fluvial floods or storm surges. Sediment floods were characterized by a peak flow flowing over a simulated wetland, populated with two natural species. Floods have been drawn as flows of height H, into waters of height h, where H > h.