Overlooked Impact of Moisture on the Stability of Printing Ink and Its Impact on Recycled Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) Quality.

Printing inks, composed of binders, pigments, and additives, are essential components in plastic packaging but complicate recycling due to plastic contamination and degradation. While polyolefins are resistant to hydrolytic degradation, moisture generated from upstream cleaning processes, which is often ignored, can accelerate the degradation of ink binders, affecting the recyclate quality. This study has examined the impact of 3 wt.

Efficiency and process development for microbial biomass production using oxic bioelectrosynthesis.

Autotrophic microbial electrosynthesis (MES) processes are mainly based on organisms that rely on carbon dioxide (CO) as an electron acceptor and typically have low biomass yields. However, there are few data on the process and efficiencies of oxic MES (OMES). In this study, we used the knallgas bacterium Kyrpidia spormannii to investigate biomass formation and energy efficiency of cathode-dependent growth.

Contactless radar-based heart rate estimation in palliative care - a feasibility study and possible use in symptom management.

Background: Heart rate (HR) monitoring is a medical standard to provide information about a patient's health status. In palliative care, relationship and social engagement are crucial therapeutic concepts. For fear of disrupting communication, social contact, and care, continuous HR monitoring is underutilised despite its potential to inform on symptom burden and therapeutic effects.

Automated Heart Rate Detection in Seismocardiograms Using Electrocardiogram-Based Algorithms-A Feasibility Study.

In recent decades, much work has been implemented in heart rate (HR) analysis using electrocardiographic (ECG) signals. We propose that algorithms developed to calculate HR based on detected R-peaks using ECG can be applied to seismocardiographic (SCG) signals, as they utilize common knowledge regarding heart rhythm and its underlying physiology. We implemented the experimental framework with methods developed for ECG signal processing and peak detection to be applied and evaluated on SCGs.

Vibratory insertion of press-fit acetabular components requires less force than a single blow technique.

Aims: Periprosthetic fracture and implant loosening are two of the major reasons for revision surgery of cementless implants. Optimal implant fixation with minimal bone damage is challenging in this procedure. This pilot study investigates whether vibratory implant insertion is gentler compared to consecutive single blows for acetabular component implantation in a surrogate polyurethane (PU) model.

Dimensioning of Biomimetic Beams under Bending for Additively Manufactured Structural Components.

Additively manufactured mechanical components show great lightweight characteristics and can often be enhanced by integrating biomimetic geometrical features. This study focuses on one specific subcase, namely the substitution of solid cylindrical beams that are under bending with geometrically more complex biomimetic beams. Based on the pseudo-stem of the banana plant as a role model, six geometric beam designs were derived.

Deep eutectic solvent pretreatment of cork dust - Effects on biomass composition, phenolic extraction and anaerobic degradability.

In this study, phenolic compounds using deep eutectic solvents (DES) were extracted from cork dust, and the biogas production potential of DES-treated cork dust samples was determined. The DES treatment was carried out using choline chloride and formic acid (1:2 M ratio) at various temperatures (90, 110 and 130 °C) and treatment times (20, 40 and 60 min) at a solid-to-solvent ratio of 1:10 g mL. The highest total phenolic content (137 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE) g dry cork dust) was achieved at 110 °C/20 min.

Influence of Different Powder Conditioning Strategies on Metal Binder Jetting with Ti-6Al-4V.

Metal binder jetting shows great potential for medical technology. This potential can be exploited by integrating binder jetting into existing process routes known from metal injection molding. The biggest challenge here is the flowability and packing behavior of the powders used, due to their low size distributions.

Processing of hemicellulose in wheat straw by steaming and ultrafiltration - A novel approach.

Water-soluble xylans useable for many potential applications can be produced based on the hydrolysis of wheat straw within a fixed bed using saturated steam to provide a xylan-rich hydrolysate low in particles and lignin enabling an effective ultrafiltration and xylan separation. Under defined conditions (180 °C, 10 bar, 35 min), a degree of solubilization of 29.6 % for straw and of 63 % for hemicellulose is achieved.

On-Site Visualization of Ballistocardiography Data.

We describe the background, features and functions of a custom application for the acquisition, live presentation, and convenient recording of ballistocardiography data acquired by external accelerometric sensors.

Screening the Impact of Surfactants and Reaction Conditions on the De-Inkability of Different Printing Ink Systems for Plastic Packaging.

One of the major applications (40% in Europe) of plastic is packaging, which is often printed to display required information and to deliver an attractive aesthetic for marketing purposes. However, printing ink can cause contamination in the mechanical recycling process. To mitigate this issue, the use of surfactants in an alkaline washing process, known as de-inking, has been employed to remove printing ink and improve the quality of recyclates.

Catalytic reactor for operando spatially resolved structure-activity profiling using high-energy X-ray diffraction.

In heterogeneous catalysis, operando measurements probe catalysts in their active state and are essential for revealing complex catalyst structure-activity relationships. The development of appropriate operando sample environments for spatially resolved studies has come strongly into focus in recent years, particularly when coupled to the powerful and multimodal characterization tools available at synchrotron light sources. However, most catalysis studies at synchrotron facilities only measure structural information about the catalyst in a spatially resolved manner, whereas gas analysis is restricted to the reactor outlet.

Microscale Modeling of Frozen Particle Fluid Systems with a Bonded-Particle Model Method.

An inventive microscale simulation approach is applied to investigate the mechanics of frozen particle fluid systems (PFS). The simulation is based on the discrete element method (DEM) and bonded-particle model (BPM) approach. Discrete particles connected by solid bonds represent frozen agglomerates.

A conditional time-varying multivariate latent growth curve model for the relationships between academics' servant leadership behavior, affective commitment, and job performance during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In our study, we investigated the change patterns in academics' servant leadership behavior and affective commitment during and after the first Covid-19 lockdown (April 2020-August 2020) in Malaysia. Furthermore, we evaluated the influence of academics' servant leadership behavior on job performance through affective commitment. We applied additional analyses to determine the degree to which the two former constructs are influenced by age and academic rank.

Seismocardiography with Smartphones: No Leap from Bench to Bedside (Yet).

For a decade, seismocardiography (SCG) on smartphones has been an interesting topic within the technical community, but mobile applications for this topic are rare on the market. The transition from laboratory to bedside application seems to have not yet been completed. To possibly increase the chances of a successful implementation, the added value of the method needs to be addressed clearly and backed up by research.

Beat to BEAT - Non-Invasive Investigation of Cardiac Function on the International Space Station.

This paper describes the protocol of the microgravity experiment BEAT (Ballistocardiography for Extraterrestrial Applications and Long-Term Missions). The current study makes use of signal acquisition of cardiac parameters with a high-precision Ballistocardiography (BCG)/Seismocardiography (SCG) measurement system, which is integrated in a smart shirt (SmartTex). The goal is to evaluate the feasibility of this concept for continuous wearable monitoring and wireless data transfer.

Time Bias Awareness in ECG-Based Multiple Source Data Matching.

For cardiological datasets acquired via different methodologies, ECG signals that are recorded in parallel allow for relatively accurate matching. Some research issues, e.g.

Anaerobic biogas formation from crops' agricultural residues - Modeling investigations.

The cultivation of field crops necessarily produces large quantities of organic residues, which could be used for the production of biogas. However, this is only successfully possible if the operators of such biogas plants have sufficient expertise in running these plants, e.g.

Phenotype analysis of cultivation processes via unsupervised machine learning: Demonstration for .

A novel approach of phenotype analysis of fermentation-based bioprocesses based on unsupervised learning (clustering) is presented. As a prior identification of phenotypes and conditional interrelations is desired to control fermentation performance, an automated learning method to output reference phenotypes (defined as vector of biomass-specific rates) was developed and the necessary computing process and parameters were assessed. For its demonstration, time series data of 90 cultivations were used which feature a broad spectrum of solventogenic and acidogenic phenotypes, while 14 clusters of phenotypic manifestations were identified.

Options to Improve the Mechanical Properties of Protein-Based Materials.

While bio-based but chemically synthesized polymers such as polylactic acid require industrial conditions for biodegradation, protein-based materials are home compostable and show high potential for disposable products that are not collected. However, so far, such materials lack in their mechanical properties to reach the requirements for, e.g.

Surface structure of magnetite (111) under oxidizing and reducing conditions.

We report on differences in the magnetite (111) surface structure when prepared under oxidizing and reducing conditions. Both preparations were done under UHV conditions at elevated temperatures, but in one case the sample was cooled down while keeping it in an oxygen atmosphere. Scanning tunneling microscopy after each of the preparations showed a different apparent morphology, which is discussed to be an electronic effect and which is reflected in the necessity of using opposite bias tunneling voltages in order to obtain good images.

Enrichment of phosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs) in a microfluidic model biofilm system by mimicking a typical aerobic granular sludge feast/famine regime.

Wastewater treatment using aerobic granular sludge has gained increasing interest due to its advantages compared to conventional activated sludge. The technology allows simultaneous removal of organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in a single reactor system and is independent of space-intensive settling tanks. However, due to the microscale, an analysis of processes and microbial population along the radius of granules is challenging.

Piston-Based Material Extrusion of Ti-6Al-4V Feedstock for Complementary Use in Metal Injection Molding.

Piston-based material extrusion enables cost savings for metal injection molding users when it is utilized as a complementary shaping process for green parts in small batch sizes. This, however, requires the use of series feedstock and the production of sufficiently dense green parts in order to ensure metal injection molding-like material properties. In this paper, a methodological approach is presented to identify material-specific process parameters for an industrially used Ti-6Al-4V metal injection molding feedstock based on the extrusion force.

"Furry tales": pet ownership's influence on subjective well-being during Covid-19 times.

The social distancing required during Covid-19 times tended to make people feel lonelier than usual. Those with pets might, however, have experienced this less, because pets are known for fostering their owners' subjective well-being. Building on a recently published structural equation model, our study enhances the understanding of subjective well-being by including the construct social distancing during Covid-19 times.