Voxel Volumes and Biomass: Estimating Vegetation Volume and Litter Accumulation of Exotic Annual Grasses Using Automated Ultra-High-Resolution SfM and Advanced Classification Techniques.

In much of the northern Great Basin of the western United States, rangelands, and semi-arid ecosystems invaded by exotic annual grasses such as cheatgrass () and medusahead () are experiencing an increasingly short fire cycle, which is compounding and persistent. Improving and expanding ground-based field methods for measuring the above-ground biomass (AGB) may enable more sample collections across a landscape and over succession regimes and better harmonize with other remote sensing techniques. Developments and increased adoption of unoccupied aerial systems (UAS) and instrumentation for vegetation monitoring enable greater understanding of vegetation in many ecosystems.

Bio-Inspired Highly Stretchable and Ultrafast Autonomous Self-Healing Supramolecular Hydrogel for Multifunctional Durable Self-Powered Wearable Devices.

As skin bioelectronics advances, hydrogel wearable devices have broadened perspectives in environment sensing and health monitoring. However, their application is severely hampered by poor mechanical and self-healing properties, environmental sensitivity, and limited sensory functions. Herein, inspired by the hierarchical structure and unique cross-linking mechanism of hagfish slime, a self-powered supramolecular hydrogel is hereby reported, featuring high stretchability (>2800% strain), ultrafast autonomous self-healing capabilities (electrical healing time: 0.

Spin State Modulation with Oxygen Vacancy Orientates C/N Intermediates for Urea Electrosynthesis of Ultrahigh Efficiency.

The co-electrolysis of CO and NO to synthesize urea has become an effective pathway to alternate the conventional Bosch-Meiser process, while the complexity of C-/N-containing intermediates for C-N coupling results in the urea electrosynthesis of unsatisfactory efficiency. In this work, an electronic spin state modulation maneuver with oxygen vacancies (Ov) is unveiled to effectively meliorate the oriented generation of key intermediates NH and CO for C-N coupling, furnishing urea in ultrahigh yield of 2175.47 µg mg h and Faraday efficiency of 70.

Bias-free solar-driven ammonia coupled to C3-dihydroxyacetone production through photoelectrochemistry.

Conversion of solar energy into value-added chemicals through photoelectrochemistry (PEC) holds great potential for advancing sustainable development but limits by high onset potential which affects energy conversion efficiencies. Herein, we utilized a CuPd cocatalyst-modified Sb2(S,Se)3 photocathode (CuPd/TSSS) to achieve an ultra-low onset potential of 0.83 VRHE for photoelectrochemical ammonia synthesis.

Bioconversion of bread waste into high-quality proteins and biopolymers by fermentation of archaea .

The valorization of bread waste into high-quality protein and biopolymers using the halophilic microorganism presents a sustainable approach to food waste management and resource optimization. This study successfully coproduced protein and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) biopolymer with a biomass content of 8.0 ± 0.

A perspective on field-effect in energy and environmental catalysis.

The development of catalytic technologies for sustainable energy conversion is a critical step toward addressing fossil fuel depletion and associated environmental challenges. High-efficiency catalysts are fundamental to advancing these technologies. Recently, field-effect facilitated catalytic processes have emerged as a promising approach in energy and environmental applications, including water splitting, CO reduction, nitrogen reduction, organic electrosynthesis, and biomass recycling.

Innovative strategies for utilizing microalgae as dual-purpose biofertilizers and phycoremediators in agroecosystems.

The increasing need for sustainable agricultural practices due to the overuse of chemical fertilizers has prompted interest in microalgae as biofertilizers. This review investigates the potential of microalgae as biofertilizers and phycoremediators within sustainable agroecosystems, addressing both soil fertility and wastewater management. Microalgae provide a dual benefit by absorbing excess nutrients and contaminants from wastewater, generating nutrient-rich biomass that can replace chemical fertilizers and support plant growth.

Bifunctional Pd-Pt Supported Nanoparticles for the Mild Hydrodeoxygenation and Oxidation of Biomass-Derived Compounds.

The conversion of bio-based molecules into valuable chemicals is essential for advancing sustainable processes and addressing global resource challenges. However, conventional catalytic methods often demand harsh conditions and suffer from low product selectivity. This study introduces a series of bifunctional PdPt catalysts supported on TiO, designed for achieving selective and mild-temperature catalysis in biomass conversion.

Conference 2024: Building an innovative scientific research ecosystem for microbiome and One Health.

The Conference 2024 provides a platform to promote the development of an innovative scientific research ecosystem for microbiome and One Health. The four key components - Technology, Research (Biology), Academic journals, and Social media - form a synergistic ecosystem. Advanced technologies drive biological research, which generates novel insights that are disseminated through academic journals.

Constructing Strong and Tough Polymer Elastomers via Photoreversible Coumarin Dimer Mechanophores.

Advanced elastomers with outstanding strength, toughness, and reusability hold significant potential for diverse applications. Using photochemistry and mechanochemistry to develop such materials has become a very effective strategy. Here, we report that photoreversible coumarin-based mechanophores that can make force-/light-triggered cycloreversion are chemically incorporated into polyurethane elastomers to simultaneously enhance their strength and toughness.

Red Room Temperature Phosphorescence from Lignin.

Materials with red room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) derived from sustainable resources are crucial but rarely reported. Here, we produced red RTP materials from lignin. Lignin was covalently modified with Upy (1-(6-isocyanatohexyl)-3-(6-methyl-4-oxo-1,4-dihydropyrimidin-2-yl) urea) to obtain Lig-Upy.

MOF Derived Cobalt Ferrite Cubic Rod-Like Materials for Highly Efficient Electrochemical Simultaneous Detection of Multiple Heavy Metal Ions.

A series of CoFeO materials derived from metal-organic framework were successfully constructed by the solvent-thermal method. The morphology of a typical sample CoFeO-1 was mostly in the form of a cubic rod-like structure with a size distribution of 3.2±0.

High-yield upcycling of feather wastes into solid-state ultra-long phosphorescence carbon dots for advanced anticounterfeiting and information encryption.

Recently, biomass-derived carbon dots (CDs) have attracted considerable attention in high-technology fields due to their prominent merits, including brilliant luminescence, superior biocompatibility, and low toxicity. However, most of the biomass-derived CDs only show bright fluorescence in diluted solution because of aggregation-induced quenching effect, hence cannot exhibit solid-state long-lived room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) in ambient conditions. Herein, matrix-free solid-state RTP with an average lifetime of 0.

Mapping rapeseed () aboveground biomass in different periods using optical and phenotypic metrics derived from UAV hyperspectral and RGB imagery.

Aboveground biomass (AGB) is a key indicator of crop nutrition and growth status. Accurately and timely obtaining biomass information is essential for crop yield prediction in precision management systems. Remote sensing methods play a key role in monitoring crop biomass.

Modification and analysis of context-specific genome-scale metabolic models: methane-utilizing microbial chassis as a case study.

Unlabelled: Context-specific genome-scale model (CS-GSM) reconstruction is becoming an efficient strategy for integrating and cross-comparing experimental multi-scale data to explore the relationship between cellular genotypes, facilitating fundamental or applied research discoveries. However, the application of CS modeling for non-conventional microbes is still challenging. Here, we present a graphical user interface that integrates COBRApy, EscherPy, and RIPTiDe, Python-based tools within the BioUML platform, and streamlines the reconstruction and interrogation of the CS genome-scale metabolic frameworks via Jupyter Notebook.

Comprehensive analysis of housekeeping genes, tissue-specific genes, and dynamic regulation across developmental stages in pearl millet.

Background: Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.

Multi-Feature Fusion for Estimating Above-Ground Biomass of Potato by UAV Remote Sensing.

Timely and accurate monitoring of above-ground biomass (AGB) is of great significance for indicating crop growth status, predicting yield, and assessing carbon dynamics. Compared with the traditional time-consuming and laborious method through destructive sampling, UAV remote sensing provides a timely and efficient strategy for estimating biomass. However, the universality of remote sensing retrieval models with multi-feature fusion under different management practices and cultivars are unknown.

Comparative analysis of selected plastic pyrolysis and catalytic versus non-catalytic pyrolysis of polyethylene using artificial neural networks for oil production.

Research on plastic pollution is crucial, particularly with the recent emphasis on converting waste plastics into oil for sustainable energy. Very few studies have utilized artificial neural network (ANN) modeling for plastic thermal conversion, such as predicting fuel yield from mixed plastics and performing sensitivity analyses to identify which plastics produce more oil. Meanwhile, no study has conducted a comparative analysis of different models for catalytic and non-catalytic thermal conversion of various plastics, nor has a sensitivity analysis of process parameters using ANN for oil production.

Recent advances in dark fermentative hydrogen production from vegetable waste: role of inoculum, consolidated bioprocessing, and machine learning.

Waste-centred-bioenergy generation have been garnering interest over the years due to environmental impact presented by fossil fuels. Waste generation is an unavoidable consequence of urbanization and population growth. Sustainable waste management techniques that are long term and environmentally benign are required to achieve sustainable development.

From micropores to mechanical strength: Fabrication and characterization of edible corn starch-sodium alginate double network hydrogels with Ca2+ cross-linking.

This study explores the fabrication and characterization of corn starch‑sodium alginate double network hydrogels using two distinct calcium ion cross-linking methods: the gluconolactone immersed method (GIM) and the calcium chloride immersed method (CCIM). We investigated the ionic cross-linking mechanism of these hydrogels and compared their microstructure and mechanical properties. Our results highlight significant differences between GIM and CCIM hydrogels, with the CCIM method producing a more uniform and compact network.

High selectivity electrocatalytic reductive amination of α-keto acids to alanine over cuprous oxide nanowires.

Herein, cuprous oxide (CuO) nanowires are synthesized by a simple process, realizing the high selectivity electrocatalytic reductive amination of biomass-derived pyruvate to alanine (organic product selectivity: ∼100%). Importantly, a total of 8 different amino acids can be efficiently synthesized using CuO nanowires, confirming the universality of CuO nanowires.

Locally Injectable, ROS-Scavenging, and ROS-/pH-Responsive Polymeric-Micelles-Embedded Hydrogels for Precise Minimally Invasive and Long-Lasting Rheumatoid Therapy.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by synovitis, bone-erosion, and joint-destruction. Here, we developed a locally injectable, ROS-scavenging, and ROS-/pH-responsive drug-delivery platform (HC@PTM) by bio-compositing of aldolizing hyaluronic acid (HA) crosslinked with chitosan (CS), and ROS-triggered/eliminated micelles (PTM) coupled with the drug methotrexate(MTX). The PTM efficiently eradicate excessive ROS in RA-joints, precisely triggering drug-release within inflamed arthritic-sites and further confer exceptional antioxidant origins to HC@PTM.