Wind Turbine Blades Using Recycled Carbon Fibers: An Environmental Assessment.

Polymers reinforced with virgin carbon fibers (VCF) are being used to make spar caps of wind turbine (WT) blades and polymers with glass fibers (GF) to make skins of the blade components. Here, we assess the life cycle environmental performance of the hybrid blades with spar caps based on VCF and the shells and shear webs based on RCF (recycled CF) composites (RCF-hybrid). The production of the WT blades and associated reinforced polymers is assumed to occur in Sweden, with their uses and end-of-life management in the European region.

Treatment for vestibular schwannoma: Systematic review and single arm meta-analysis.

Objective: Vestibular schwannoma is a benign tumor in the schwannoma cells of the 8th cranial nerve. It causes symptoms like tinnitus, vertigo and end up with loss of hearing so the appropriate treatment is very important. There are many treatment techniques including conservative, surgery and radiosurgery.

Enhanced electrical conductivity of anticorrosive coatings by functionalized carbon nanotubes: effect of hydrogen bonding.

Carbon nanotubes and nanofibers (CNFs) are well-known nano additives to produce coating materials with high electrical and thermal conductivity and corrosion resistance. In this paper, coating materials incorporating hydrogen bonding offered significantly lower electrical resistance. The hydrogen bonding formed between functionalized carbon nanotubes and ethanol helped create a well-dispersed carbon nanotube network as the electron pathways.

Geomorphology variables predict fish assemblages for forested and endorheic rivers of two continents.

Stream fishes are restricted to specific environments with appropriate habitats for feeding and reproduction. Interactions between streams and surrounding landscapes influence the availability and type of fish habitat, nutrient concentrations, suspended solids, and substrate composition. Valley width and gradient are geomorphological variables that influence the frequency and intensity that a stream interacts with the surrounding landscape.

Enhanced biohydrogen production with low graphene oxide content using thermophilic bioreactors.

Modern society envisions hydrogen (H) fuel to drive the transportation, industrial, and domestic sectors. Here, we explore use of graphene oxide nanoparticles (GO NPs) for greatly enhancing bio-H production by a consortium based on Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum spp. Thermophilic batch bioreactors were set up at 60 C and initial pH of 8.

Two-phase anaerobic digestion of food waste: Effect of semi-continuous feeding on acidogenesis and methane production.

In present investigation, effect of diverting acidogenic off-gas from leached bed reactor (LBR) to up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor during semi-continuous food waste (FW) anaerobic digestion was evaluated. In test LBR headspace pressure (3.3 psi) was maintained with intermittent headspace gas transfer into UASB.

Natural background levels in groundwater in the Pearl River Delta after the rapid expansion of urbanization: A new pre-selection method.

Establishment of natural background levels (NBL) of groundwater in urbanized areas such as the Pearl River Delta (PRD) is challenging. Pre-selection methods are the most common approaches for NBL assessment, but it will overestimate (or underestimate) contaminated groundwater in urbanized areas by using present pre-selection methods with empirical definite values because of complicated human activities. Unlike present pre-selection methods, this study aims to establish a new pre-selection method with the indicative of Cl/Br ratios to identify contaminated groundwaters with convincing evidences.

In-plane quasi-single-domain BaTiO via interfacial symmetry engineering.

The control of the in-plane domain evolution in ferroelectric thin films is not only critical to understanding ferroelectric phenomena but also to enabling functional device fabrication. However, in-plane polarized ferroelectric thin films typically exhibit complicated multi-domain states, not desirable for optoelectronic device performance. Here we report a strategy combining interfacial symmetry engineering and anisotropic strain to design single-domain, in-plane polarized ferroelectric BaTiO thin films.

Influence of glucose, sucrose, and dextran coatings on the stability and toxicity of silver nanoparticles.

Aqueous colloids, consisting of 15-30 nm-sized silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs), were prepared using the reducing and stabilizing abilities of glucose, sucrose, and dextran. The long-term stability of coated Ag NPs increases from glucose over sucrose to dextran, i.e.

Sterols lower energetic barriers of membrane bending and fission necessary for efficient clathrin-mediated endocytosis.

Clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) is critical for cellular signal transduction, receptor recycling, and membrane homeostasis in mammalian cells. Acute depletion of cholesterol disrupts CME, motivating analysis of CME dynamics in the context of human disorders of cholesterol metabolism. We report that inhibition of post-squalene cholesterol biosynthesis impairs CME.

Algal-based system for removal of emerging pollutants from wastewater: A review.

The bioremediation of emerging pollutants in wastewater via algal biotechnology has been emerging as a cost-effective and low-energy input technological solution. However, the algal bioremediation technology is still not fully developed at a commercial level. The development of different technologies and new strategies to cater specific needs have been studied.

Transmembrane MUC18 Targeted Polydopamine Nanoparticles and a Mild Photothermal Effect Synergistically Disrupt Actin Cytoskeleton and Migration of Cancer Cells.

Transmembrane MUC18 is highly expressed on most metastatic cancers. Herein, we demonstrate that targeting MUC18 with polydopamine nanoparticles (PDA NPs) and a mild photothermal effect can completely cease the migration of melanoma and breast cancer cells without killing the cells. The inhibited cell migration can be attributed to the altered actin cytoskeleton, cell stiffness, and cell morphology, as revealed by nanomechanical and super resolution fluorescence imaging techniques.

Prospects for beyond the Standard Model physics searches at the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment: DUNE Collaboration.

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will be a powerful tool for a variety of physics topics. The high-intensity proton beams provide a large neutrino flux, sampled by a near detector system consisting of a combination of capable precision detectors, and by the massive far detector system located deep underground. This configuration sets up DUNE as a machine for discovery, as it enables opportunities not only to perform precision neutrino measurements that may uncover deviations from the present three-flavor mixing paradigm, but also to discover new particles and unveil new interactions and symmetries beyond those predicted in the Standard Model (SM).

The fate and transformation of iodine species in UV irradiation and UV-based advanced oxidation processes.

Iodinated disinfection byproducts (I-DBPs) formed in water treatment are of emerging concern due to their high toxicity and the tase-and-odor problems associated with iodinated trihalomethanes (I-THMs). Iodoacetic acid and dichloroiodomethane are currently regulated in Shenzhen, China and the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China has also been considering regulating I-DBPs. Iodide (I), organoiodine compounds (e.

Search for a Higgs Portal Scalar Decaying to Electron-Positron Pairs in the MicroBooNE Detector.

We present a search for the decays of a neutral scalar boson produced by kaons decaying at rest, in the context of the Higgs portal model, using the MicroBooNE detector. We analyze data triggered in time with the Fermilab NuMI neutrino beam spill, with an exposure of 1.93×10^{20} protons on target.

Graphene Confers Ultralow Friction on Nanogear Cogs.

Friction-induced energy dissipation impedes the performance of nanomechanical devices. Nevertheless, the application of graphene is known to modulate frictional dissipation by inducing local strain. This work reports on the nanomechanics of graphene conformed on different textured silicon surfaces that mimic the cogs of a nanoscale gear.

Corrosion Resistance of Sulfur-Selenium Alloy Coatings.

Despite decades of research, metallic corrosion remains a long-standing challenge in many engineering applications. Specifically, designing a material that can resist corrosion both in abiotic as well as biotic environments remains elusive. Here a lightweight sulfur-selenium (S-Se) alloy is designed with high stiffness and ductility that can serve as an excellent corrosion-resistant coating with protection efficiency of ≈99.

Metaplasia of respiratory and digestive tissues in the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica associated with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Metaplasia is a well documented and deleterious effect of crude oil components on oysters. This reversible transformation of one cell type to another is a common response to petroleum-product exposure in molluscs. It has been shown experimentally in previous work that eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) exposed to petroleum products will exhibit metaplasia of digestive tissues.

Extremophilic Exopolysaccharides: Biotechnologies and Wastewater Remediation.

Various microorganisms thrive under extreme environments, like hot springs, hydrothermal vents, deep marine ecosystems, hyperacid lakes, acid mine drainage, high UV exposure, and more. To survive against the deleterious effect of these extreme circumstances, they form a network of biofilm where exopolysaccharides (EPSs) comprise a substantial part. The EPSs are often polyanionic due to different functional groups in their structural backbone, including uronic acids, sulfated units, and phosphate groups.

Constraints on Lightly Ionizing Particles from CDMSlite.

The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search low ionization threshold experiment (CDMSlite) achieved efficient detection of very small recoil energies in its germanium target, resulting in sensitivity to lightly ionizing particles (LIPs) in a previously unexplored region of charge, mass, and velocity parameter space. We report first direct-detection limits calculated using the optimum interval method on the vertical intensity of cosmogenically produced LIPs with an electric charge smaller than e/(3×10^{5}), as well as the strongest limits for charge ≤e/160, with a minimum vertical intensity of 1.36×10^{-7}  cm^{-2} s^{-1} sr^{-1} at charge e/160.

Nanoscale characteristics of conditioning film development on photobioreactor materials: influence on the initial adhesion and biofilm formation by a cyanobacterium.

Adsorption of conditioning films on a solid surface is the first step in the development of biofilms. With the goal of understanding the preliminary adhesion mechanisms of cyanobacteria on photobioreactor (PBR) materials to prevent biofouling, the physical changes occurring on PBR materials were investigated during the initial adhesion and biofilm formation by sp. PCC 7120, a cyanobacterium that is genetically modified to produce linalool.

Light Dark Matter Search with a High-Resolution Athermal Phonon Detector Operated above Ground.

We present limits on spin-independent dark matter-nucleon interactions using a 10.6 g Si athermal phonon detector with a baseline energy resolution of σ_{E}=3.86±0.

The structural dynamics of macropinosome formation and PI3-kinase-mediated sealing revealed by lattice light sheet microscopy.

Macropinosomes are formed by shaping actin-rich plasma membrane ruffles into large intracellular organelles in a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-coordinated manner. Here, we utilize lattice lightsheet microscopy and image visualization methods to map the three-dimensional structure and dynamics of macropinosome formation relative to PI3K activity. We show that multiple ruffling morphologies produce macropinosomes and that the majority form through collisions of adjacent PI3K-rich ruffles.