Composites of cellulose nanocrystals in combination with either cellulose nanofibril or carboxymethylcellulose as functional packaging films.

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) were mixed with either cellulose nanofibril (CNF) or carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) in variable proportions (0/100, 20/80, 40/60, 50/50, 60/40, 80/20 and 100/0) to obtain cast films with acceptable barrier and mechanical properties as replacements for food packaging plastics. Both CNF and CMC improved tensile strength, elongation, UV opacity, air resistance, hydrophobicity (WCA-water contact angle), water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) and oxygen impermeability in pure CNC. WVTR and oxygen permeability were strongly dependent on relative humidity (RH).

Power assisted MFC-based biosensor for continuous assessment of microbial activity and biomass in freshwater ecosystems.

Microbial activity and biomass are important factors that determine nutrient and carbon fluxes in freshwater ecosystems and, therefore are also related to both water quality and climate change induced stressors. This study aimed at assessing the feasibility of a power assisted Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC)-based biosensors for the continuous monitoring of microbial activity and biomass concentrations in saturated freshwater ecosystems. For this purpose, four lab-scale reactors were constructed and operated for 30 weeks.

Condensation of the Drosophila nerve cord is oscillatory and depends on coordinated mechanical interactions.

During development, organs reach precise shapes and sizes. Organ morphology is not always obtained through growth; a classic counterexample is the condensation of the nervous system during Drosophila embryogenesis. The mechanics underlying such condensation remain poorly understood.

Fate and removal of emerging contaminants in anaerobic fluidized membrane bioreactor filled with thermoplastic gel as biofilm support.

The Anaerobic Fluidized Membrane Bioreactor (AnFMBR) is a membrane-based hybrid technology that can overcome the limitations of conventional anaerobic sewage treatment. Although previous studies have demonstrated excellent performance in the removal of conventional organic pollutants, further research into the removal paths of emerging contaminants (ECs) under various operating conditions is required for proper design and development of the AnFMBR technology. Regarding this, the fate of four ECs in a lab-scale AnFMBR filled with thermoplastic gel for biofilm growth was investigated under various Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) conditions.

Report of RILEM TC 281-CCC: outcomes of a round robin on the resistance to accelerated carbonation of Portland, Portland-fly ash and blast-furnace blended cements.

Unlabelled: Many (inter)national standards exist to evaluate the resistance of mortar and concrete to carbonation. When a carbonation coefficient is used for performance comparison of mixtures or service life prediction, the applied boundary conditions during curing, preconditioning and carbonation play a crucial role, specifically when using latent hydraulic or pozzolanic supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). An extensive interlaboratory test (ILT) with twenty two participating laboratories was set up in the framework of RILEM TC 281-CCC 'Carbonation of Concrete with SCMs'.

An ensemble of parameters from a robust Markov-based model reproduces L-type calcium currents from different human cardiac myocytes.

The development of modeling structures at the channel level that can integrate subcellular and cell models and properly reproduce different experimental data is of utmost importance in cardiac electrophysiology. In contrast to gate-based models, Markov Chain models are well suited to promote the integration of the subcellular level of the cardiomyocyte to the whole cell. In this paper, we develop Markov Chain models for the L-type Calcium current that can reproduce the electrophysiology of two established human models for the ventricular and Purkinje cells.

Multi-Scale Computational Modeling of Spatial Calcium Handling From Nanodomain to Whole-Heart: Overview and Perspectives.

Regulation of intracellular calcium is a critical component of cardiac electrophysiology and excitation-contraction coupling. The calcium spark, the fundamental element of the intracellular calcium transient, is initiated in specialized nanodomains which co-locate the ryanodine receptors and L-type calcium channels. However, calcium homeostasis is ultimately regulated at the cellular scale, by the interaction of spatially separated but diffusively coupled nanodomains with other sub-cellular and surface-membrane calcium transport channels with strong non-linear interactions; and cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmia mechanisms are ultimately tissue-scale phenomena, regulated by the interaction of a heterogeneous population of coupled myocytes.

Investigating the Impact of Information Sharing in Human Activity Recognition.

The accuracy of Human Activity Recognition is noticeably affected by the orientation of smartphones during data collection. This study utilized a public domain dataset that was specifically collected to include variations in smartphone positioning. Although the dataset contained records from various sensors, only accelerometer data were used in this study; thus, the developed methodology would preserve smartphone battery and incur low computation costs.

Inorganic carbon stimulates the metabolic routes related to the polyhdroxybutyrate production in a Synechocystis sp. strain (cyanobacteria) isolated from wastewater.

Cyanobacteria are capable of transforming CO into polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB). In this study, different inorganic carbon concentrations (0-2 gC L) were evaluated for a Synechocystis sp. strain isolated from wastewater.

A federated learning method for real-time emotion state classification from multi-modal streaming.

Emotional and physical health are strongly connected and should be taken care of simultaneously to ensure completely healthy persons. A person's emotional health can be determined by detecting emotional states from various physiological measurements (EDA, RB, EEG, etc.).

A study on correlations between precipitation ETCCDI and airborne pollen/fungal spore parameters in the NE Iberian Peninsula.

Precipitation is one of the meteorological variables usually involved in the aerobiological studies, which presents a complex relationship with atmospheric levels of pollen and fungal spores and the temporal characteristics of their seasons. This complexity is due in a large part to rainfall's twofold impact of having, prior to pollination, a positive influence on subsequent pollen production and of contributing, during pollination, to pollen removal from the air through a wash-out effect. To better explore this impact, we place particular emphasis on extreme rainfall by calculating the correlation between airborne pollen and fungal spore parameters and the precipitation indices that the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI) proposed for characterising climate extremes.

Inverting angiogenesis with interstitial flow and chemokine matrix-binding affinity.

The molecular signaling pathways that orchestrate angiogenesis have been widely studied, but the role of biophysical cues has received less attention. Interstitial flow is unavoidable in vivo, and has been shown to dramatically change the neovascular patterns, but the mechanisms by which flow regulates angiogenesis remain poorly understood. Here, we study the complex interactions between interstitial flow and the affinity for matrix binding of different chemokine isoforms.

Circular Economy Assessment in Recycling of LLDPE Bags According to European Resolution, Thermal and Structural Characterization.

According to the Circular Economy Package promoted by the European directive, plastic bags companies must use in their formulations a percentage of polyethylene waste (industrial and/or domestic) greater than 70%. Following that regulation requires an understanding of its consequences in the final product from an industrial point of view. This manuscript analyzes the thermal and morphological changes related to the tear resistance of linear-low density polyethylene (LLDPE) samples from industrial waste generated by the company Sphere Spain subjected to the degradation produced by the recycling cycles.

Evaluation of substrate clogging in a full-scale horizontal subsurface flow treatment wetland using electrical resistivity tomography with an optimized electrode configuration.

This study investigated the spatial distribution of clogging matter in a full-scale horizontal subsurface flow treatment wetland (HSSF TW) based on an electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) method, comparing the performance of two different electrode configurations (i.e., Schlumberger and Wenner arrays).

Individual prevention and containment measures in schools in Catalonia, Spain, and community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 after school re-opening.

Background: Despite their clear lesser vulnerability to COVID-19, the extent by which children are susceptible to getting infected by SARS-CoV-2 and their capacity to transmit the infection to other people remains inadequately characterized. We aimed to evaluate the role of school reopening and the preventive strategies in place at schools in terms of overall risk for children and community transmission, by comparing transmission rates in children as detected by a COVID-19 surveillance platform in place in Catalonian Schools to the incidence at the community level.

Methods And Findings: Infections detected in Catalan schools during the entire first trimester of classes (September-December 2020) were analysed and compared with the ongoing community transmission and with the modelled predicted number of infections.

Building Resilient Cities: Climate Change and Health Interlinkages in the Planning of Public Spaces.

Greenhouse gases emissions resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels are worsening air quality and affecting the climate system. While climate change impacts on meteorological variables affects air quality by altering the concentration and distribution of pollutants, air pollution significantly influences the climate, leading to negative impacts on human health. Due to the combination of high temperatures, air pollution, and high population density, cities are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts.

Use of GPS to measure external load and estimate the incidence of muscle injuries in men's football: A novel descriptive study.

Measurement of external load in players provides objective information to optimise the weekly balance between training and recovery to improve performance and prevent injuries. Our aim was to evaluate the incidence of sports-related muscle injuries of the lower limb in relation to external load, measured by global positioning system (GPS), in football players. A descriptive study was carried out.

Advanced biokinetic and hydrodynamic modelling to support and optimize the design of full-scale high rate algal ponds.

High rate algal ponds (HRAP) are known for their suitability to treat wastewater and to produce microalgal biomass, which can be converted into bioproducts. However, full-scale application of HRAP is still limited to few cases, and design procedures are not consolidated or standardized. In this study, a demonstrative-scale HRAP system for secondary wastewater treatment to be implemented in India (treatment capacity of 50 m·d) has been designed combining conventional dimensioning techniques and advanced modelling tools.

Water Quality Indicator Interval Prediction in Wastewater Treatment Process Based on the Improved BES-LSSVM Algorithm.

This paper proposes a novel interval prediction method for effluent water quality indicators (including biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N)), which are key performance indices in the water quality monitoring and control of a wastewater treatment plant. Firstly, the effluent data regarding BOD/NH3-N and their necessary auxiliary variables are collected. After some basic data pre-processing techniques, the key indicators with high correlation degrees of BOD and NH3-N are analyzed and selected based on a gray correlation analysis algorithm.

Data Fusion Based on an Iterative Learning Algorithm for Fault Detection in Wind Turbine Pitch Control Systems.

In this article, we propose a recent iterative learning algorithm for sensor data fusion to detect pitch actuator failures in wind turbines. The development of this proposed approach is based on iterative learning control and Lyapunov's theories. Numerical experiments were carried out to support our main contribution.

Evaluation of Eco-Efficient Concretes Produced with Fly Ash and Uncarbonated Recycled Aggregates.

The fabrication of conventional concrete, as well as remains from demolition, has a high environmental impact. This paper assessed the eco-efficiency of concrete made with uncarbonated recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) and fly ash (FA). Two concrete series were produced with an effective water/cement ratio of 0.

Spatially-structured human mortality modelling using air pollutants with a compositional approach.

The human mortality models with a demographic approach are performed in function of time. The addition of information (social, economic, and environmental) in the structure of demographic models allows fitting observed values better. Air pollution influences human mortality and could be used as an environmental covariate in the demographic models.