Thermal Stability of Highly Filled Cellulosic Biocomposites Based on Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate Copolymer.

The effect of plant-based fillers on thermal resistance in highly filled biocomposites based on ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) was studied. Wood flour and microcrystalline cellulose were used as fillers. It was shown that the introduction of microcrystalline cellulose into EVA did not affect the thermal stability of the polymer matrix.

Thermochemical valorization of greenhouse cucumber, tomato and pepper as biofuel.

Agricultural residues adequate managing contributes to reduce CO emissions and easy the circular economy. In this paper, cucumber, tomato and pepper greenhouse crop residues were characterized both chemically and energetically to potential of waste as a biofuel. When compared to other herbaceous and woody biomass, the data show higher moisture, ash and chlorine contents.

Nutritional Performance of Five Citrus Rootstocks under Different Fe Levels.

Iron is an essential micronutrient for citrus, playing an important role in photosynthesis and yield. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the tolerance to Fe deficiency of five citrus rootstocks: sour orange (S), Carrizo citrange (C), (M), Troyer citrange (T), and Volkamer lemon (V). Plants were grown for 5 weeks in nutrient solution that contained the following Fe concentrations (in µM): 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20.

Advances in Postharvest Preservation and Quality of Fruits and Vegetables.

Numerous agricultural regions face the daunting task of providing high-quality fresh fruits and vegetables to increasingly competitive markets [...

Use of Sub-Atmospheric Pressure Storage to Improve the Quality and Shelf-Life of Marmande Tomatoes cv. Rojito.

In this study, the feasibility of storing Marmande tomatoes ( cv Rojito) under hypobaric conditions was evaluated. The fruits were sorted into four lots of 72 fruits each. One lot was considered as a control, and the fruits were kept in the open box, while the fruits of the rest of the three remaining lots were enclosed in airtight containers and subjected to 101, 75 and 50 Kpa, respectively.

Challenges of aerobic granular sludge utilization: Fast start-up strategies and cationic pollutant removal.

Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) is a self-aggregated microorganism consortium with pollutant removal properties. The aim of this work is to study and review the application of aerobic granules for water treatment with special focus on new applications and methodologies. Carbon-nitrogen containing pollutants are the classic targets of AGS technology.

Superplastic Behavior and Microstructural Features of the VT6 Titanium Alloy with an Ultrafine-Grained Structure during Upsetting.

In this paper, the superplastic behavior of the two-phase titanium alloy VT6 with an ultrafine-grained (UFG) structure produced by equal-channel angular pressing is examined. The deformation of specimens with a UFG structure was performed by upsetting in a temperature range of 650-750 °C and strain rate range of 1 × 10-5 × 10 s. Under these conditions, an increased strain-rate sensitivity coefficient m was observed.

Effect of the Texture of the Ultrafine-Grained Ti-6Al-4V Titanium Alloy on Impact Toughness.

In this work, the strength properties and impact toughness of the ultrafine-grained (UFG) Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy produced by severe plastic deformation (SPD) in combination with upsetting were studied, depending on the direction of crack propagation. In the billets processed by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP), the presence of anisotropy of ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and ductility was observed, conditioned by the formation of a metallographic and crystallographic texture. At the same time, the ECAP-processed UFG alloy exhibited satisfactory values of impact toughness, ~0.

Microstructural Features and Microhardness of the Ti-6Al-4V Alloy Synthesized by Additive Plasma Wire Deposition Welding.

Wire arc additive manufacturing (AM) is able to replace the traditional manufacturing processes of Ti alloys. At the same time, the common drawback of Ti workpieces produced by AM via wire deposition welding is the formation of a coarse-grained dendritic structure, its strong anisotropy and, consequently, lower strength as compared to a monolithic alloy. In this work, a new method is proposed for the enhancement of the strength properties of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy synthesized by AM via wire deposition welding, which involves the use of a wire with an initial ultrafine-grained (UFG) structure.

Low-Temperature Superplasticity and High Strength in the Al 2024 Alloy with Ultrafine Grains.

This study aims to achieve an ultrafine-grained (UFG) Al 2024 alloy superplasticity at temperatures lower than the traditional ones for commercial Al alloys (400-500 °C). The UFG structure with a mean grain size of 100 nm produced in the alloy by high-pressure torsion at room temperature provided a very high strength-microhardness (HV) of 286 ± 4, offset yield strength (σ) of 828 ± 9 MPa, and ultimate tensile strength (σ) of 871 ± 6 MPa at elongation to failure (δ) of 7 ± 0.2%.

Strength of Products Made of Ultrafine-Grained Titanium for Bone Osteosynthesis.

This paper evaluates the fatigue strength of ultrafine-grained (UFG) Grade 4 Ti in the low-cycle fatigue region, as well as the strength of medical implants (plates and screws) made of UFG Ti under various types of loading in comparison with the strength of products made of coarse-grained (CG) Ti. To produce a UFG state, titanium billets after annealing were processed by the ECAP-Conform technique. The fatigue of the prismatic specimens with a thickness of 10 mm from CG and UFG Ti was tested by the three-point bending method using an Instron 8802 facility.

ResNet-SVM: Fusion based glioblastoma tumor segmentation and classification.

Computerized segmentation of brain tumor based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data presents an important challenging act in computer vision. In image segmentation, numerous studies have explored the feasibility and advantages of employing deep neural network methods to automatically detect and segment brain tumors depicting on MRI. For training the deeper neural network, the procedure usually requires extensive computational power and it is also very time-consuming due to the complexity and the gradient diffusion difficulty.

Effect of the Application of Hydrolysate of Extracted by Different Techniques on the Growth of × .

The extraction method used to obtain biologically active compounds from microalgal biomass may affect the biostimulant capacity of the microalgae. The objective of this assay was to determine the most efficient extraction method to release the active components of the biomass of (). Plantlets of × were grown in a greenhouse and five treatments were applied: C-application with water; M-application with untreated microalgae; M-US-application with microalgae treated with ultrasound; M-USHY-application with microalgae treated with ultrasound and enzymatic hydrolysis; and M-USHYAU-application with microalgae treated with ultrasound, enzymatic hydrolysis, and autoclaving.

Determination of Quality Parameters in Mangetout ( L. ssp. ) by Using Vis/Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy.

L. ssp. , is colloquially called or mangetout because it is eaten whole; its pods are recognized as a delicatessen in cooking due to its crunch on the palate and high sweetness.

Condition monitoring of a wind turbine drivetrain based on generator stator current processing.

As the wind turbine operates in harsh conditions, numerous of its components are critical and present an important downtime for maintenance. In this paper, we propose a fault diagnosis algorithm to detect and locate the defects affecting the generator rotor and the pinion of the gearbox lay shaft in a real 25 kW wind turbine drivetrain. The induction generator was used as a fault sensor for gear teeth damage.

The prediction of partial-nitrification-anammox performance in real industrial wastewater based on granular size.

To date, the partial nitrification-Anammox (PN-A) granular sludge size has been exclusively analyzed in synthetic substrates. In this work, different ranges of granular size of PN-A sludge were studied at low oxygen concentration using real industrial wastewater as, well as a synthetic substrate. The granular sludge was characterized by the specific nitrification activity (SNA), specific anammox activity (SAA), and granule sedimentation rate.

Chloroplast-associated molecular patterns as concept for fine-tuned operational retrograde signalling.

Chloroplasts compose about one-quarter of the mesophyll cell volume and contain about 60% of the cell protein. Photosynthetic carbon assimilation is the dominating metabolism in illuminated leaves. To optimize the resource expenditure in these costly organelles and to control and adjust chloroplast metabolism, an intensive transfer of information between nucleus-cytoplasm and chloroplasts occurs in both directions as anterograde and retrograde signalling.

Synthesis, liquid crystalline behaviour and structure-property relationships of 1,3-bis(5-substituted-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)benzenes.

Two series containing 1,3-bis(1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)benzene as a rigid core (RC) and alkyl or perfluoroalkyl as terminal chains were synthesized and characterized. Liquid crystal properties of the synthesized compounds have been investigated by polarizing optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction techniques. Conformation effects of the synthesized products on the dipole moments were also investigated.

Test-retest reliability and validity of a motion capture (MOCAP) system for measuring thoracic and lumbar spinal curvatures and sacral inclination in the sagittal plane.

Objective: To evaluate the test-retest reliability and validity of the MOCAP system for measuring spinal sagittal thoracic and lumbar curvatures and sacral inclination in a standing posture.

Methods: Twenty-five male adults were evaluated on lateral standing radiographs. The thoracic and lumbar curvatures were calculated by Harrison's posterior tangent method.

Test-retest reliability and validity of a motion capture (MOCAP) system for measuring thoracic and lumbar spinal curvatures and sacral inclination in the sagittal plane.

Objective: To evaluate the test-retest reliability and validity of the MOCAP system for measuring spinal sagittal thoracic and lumbar curvatures and sacral inclination in a standing posture.

Methods: Twenty-five male adults were evaluated on lateral standing radiographs. The thoracic and lumbar curvatures were calculated by Harrison's posterior tangent method.

Effects of Acute Fatigue of the Hip Flexor Muscles on Hamstring Muscle Extensibility.

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the influence of acute fatigue of the hip flexor muscles on scores attained in tests frequently used in literature to measure hamstring muscle extensibility, namely the passive straight leg raise (PSLR), active straight leg raise (ASLR), passive knee extension (PKE), active knee extension (AKE), sit-and-reach (SR) and toe-touch (TT) tests. A total of seventy-five healthy and recreationally active adults voluntarily participated in this study. To reach fatigue, the participants actively lifted their legs alternately as many times as possible.

Workspace design for crane cabins applying a combined traditional approach and the Taguchi method for design of experiments.

Procedures in the development process of crane cabins are arbitrary and subjective. Since approximately 42% of incidents in the construction industry are linked to them, there is a need to collect fresh anthropometric data and provide additional recommendations for design. In this paper, dimensioning of the crane cabin interior space was carried out using a sample of 64 crane operators' anthropometric measurements, in the Republic of Serbia, by measuring workspace with 10 parameters using nine measured anthropometric data from each crane operator.