Physical and morphological properties of nanoclay in low molecular weight phenol formaldehyde resin by ultrasonication

The aim of the present study was to examine the characteristics and physical properties of a low molecular weight phenol formaldehyde resin (LmwPF, mw approximately 600) and modified nanoclay admixture. LmwPF resins (45% w/v) were combined separately with 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% w/w montmorillonite nanoclay nanomer (based on solid PF). Each of the solutions was ultrasonicated in a sonifier. The dispersion of nanoclay in LmwPF was examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). It was found that ultrasonication in a sonifier at 50 kHz for 60 min was able to disperse modified nanoclay up to 1.5% into the resin. XRD and TEM analyses showed that the nanoclay dispersion in the resin were either intercalated or exfoliated. The results also showed that the presence of nanoclay in the admixture significantly increased non-volatile content and reduced gelation time and pH values

Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search

Document recommendation systems for locating relevant literature have mostly relied on methods developed a decade ago. This is largely due to the lack of a large offline gold-standard benchmark of relevant documents that cover a variety of research fields such that newly developed literature search techniques can be compared, improved and translated into practice. To overcome this bottleneck, we have established the RElevant LIterature SearcH consortium consisting of more than 1500 scientists from 84 countries, who have collectively annotated the relevance of over 180 000 PubMed-listed articles with regard to their respective seed (input) article/s. The majority of annotations were contributed by highly experienced, original authors of the seed articles. The collected data cover 76% of all unique PubMed Medical Subject Headings descriptors. No systematic biases were observed across different experience levels, research fields or time spent on annotations. More importantly, annotations of the same document pairs contributed by different scientists were highly concordant. We further show that the three representative baseline methods used to generate recommended articles for evaluation (Okapi Best Matching 25, Term Frequency–Inverse Document Frequency and PubMed Related Articles) had similar overall performances. Additionally, we found that these methods each tend to produce distinct collections of recommended articles, suggesting that a hybrid method may be required to completely capture all relevant articles. The established database server located at https://relishdb.ict.griffith.edu.au is freely available for the downloading of annotation data and the blind testing of new methods. We expect that this benchmark will be useful for stimulating the development of new powerful techniques for title and title/abstract-based search engines for relevant articles in biomedical research

Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search

Document recommendation systems for locating relevant literature have mostly relied on methods developed a decade ago. This is largely due to the lack of a large offline gold-standard benchmark of relevant documents that cover a variety of research fields such that newly developed literature search techniques can be compared, improved and translated into practice. To overcome this bottleneck, we have established the RElevant LIterature SearcH consortium consisting of more than 1500 scientists from 84 countries, who have collectively annotated the relevance of over 180 000 PubMed-listed articles with regard to their respective seed (input) article/s. The majority of annotations were contributed by highly experienced, original authors of the seed articles. The collected data cover 76% of all unique PubMed Medical Subject Headings descriptors. No systematic biases were observed across different experience levels, research fields or time spent on annotations. More importantly, annotations of the same document pairs contributed by different scientists were highly concordant. We further show that the three representative baseline methods used to generate recommended articles for evaluation (Okapi Best Matching 25, Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency and PubMed Related Articles) had similar overall performances. Additionally, we found that these methods each tend to produce distinct collections of recommended articles, suggesting that a hybrid method may be required to completely capture all relevant articles. The established database server located at https://relishdb.ict.griffith.edu.au is freely available for the downloading of annotation data and the blind testing of new methods. We expect that this benchmark will be useful for stimulating the development of new powerful techniques for title and title/abstract-based search engines for relevant articles in biomedical research.Peer reviewe

Transcriptomic analysis of the late stages of grapevine (Vitis vinifera cv. Cabernet Sauvignon) berry ripening reveals significant induction of ethylene signaling and flavor pathways in the skin

Background: Grapevine berry, a nonclimacteric fruit, has three developmental stages; the last one is when berrycolor and sugar increase. Flavors derived from terpenoid and fatty acid metabolism develop at the very end of thisripening stage. The transcriptomic response of pulp and skin of Cabernet Sauvignon berries in the late stages ofripening between 22 and 37 \ub0Brix was assessed using whole-genome micorarrays.Results: The transcript abundance of approximately 18,000 genes changed with \ub0Brix and tissue type. There were alarge number of changes in many gene ontology (GO) categories involving metabolism, signaling and abioticstress. GO categories reflecting tissue differences were overrepresented in photosynthesis, isoprenoid metabolismand pigment biosynthesis. Detailed analysis of the interaction of the skin and pulp with \ub0Brix revealed that therewere statistically significantly higher abundances of transcripts changing with \ub0Brix in the skin that were involved inethylene signaling, isoprenoid and fatty acid metabolism. Many transcripts were peaking around known optimalfruit stages for flavor production. The transcript abundance of approximately two-thirds of the AP2/ERF superfamilyof transcription factors changed during these developmental stages. The transcript abundance of a unique clade ofERF6-type transcription factors had the largest changes in the skin and clustered with genes involved in ethylene,senescence, and fruit flavor production including ACC oxidase, terpene synthases, and lipoxygenases. The transcriptabundance of important transcription factors involved in fruit ripening was also higher in the skin.Conclusions: A detailed analysis of the transcriptome dynamics during late stages of ripening of grapevine berriesrevealed that these berries went through massive transcriptional changes in gene ontology categories involvingchemical signaling and metabolism in both the pulp and skin, particularly in the skin. Changes in the transcriptabundance of genes involved in the ethylene signaling pathway of this nonclimacteric fruit were statisticallysignificant in the late stages of ripening when the production of transcripts for important flavor and aroma compoundswere at their highest. Ethylene transcription factors known to play a role in leaf senescence also appear to play a role infruit senescence. Ethylene may play a bigger role than previously thought in this non-climacteric fruit

Mechanical properties of concrete containing microwaved sewage sludge ash as partial cement replacement

The production of sewage sludge waste from waste water treatment plant is increased every year as it is also only dumped in selected dumping area without maximize the utilization of the waste. As we are towards the process of developing our country, the demand of cement in construction industry was also increased. The problem stated has spark the idea of this research is to study the mechanical properties of the concrete that using different percentage of Microwaved Sewage Sludge Ash (MSSA) as partial cement replacement. Other objectives of this research are to determine the optimum percentage of the replacement of the MSSA in the concrete. Microwave heating method with two different temperature which are Medium and Medium High temperature were used to study the effect of different burning temperature of the Microwaved Sewage Sludge Ash (MSSA) to the concrete. The content percentage of MSSA used was tested with 0%, 5%, 10% and 15% respectively. The MSSA concrete undergo curing day for 3, 7 and 28days were then test with Compressive Strength test,Flexural Strength test and Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity (UPV) test. Based on the result, MSSA concrete with 5% replacement and heated with Medium High Temperature shows the best in result which is 44.52 MPa, with 1.25% higher in compressive strength compared to normal concrete. The Flexural Strength test shows that the 5% MSSA-Medium High temperature concrete is higher than normal concrete which is 7.79 MPa. It is also shown that UPV value for 5% MSSA-Medium High Temperature had lower value than control sample, 4.640 km/s at the age of 28days curing. As conclusion, concrete that contains 5% of MSSA replacement and burned with Medium High temperature show the best result among other sampl

Computational fluid dynamics analysis of multiphase flow in crude oil pipelines

The presence of gas, oil and water in one system triggers complications in the process of transporting products of the oil and gas exploration. Upon handling a multiphase flow, formation of hydrate and plugging of the pipeline system causes a severe problem significantly. Hence, this research investigates on the behaviours of a multiphase flow and prediction of possible location of hydrate formation within the pipeline system using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling approach. The favourable condition for hydrate to form is assigned in the pipeline system and is further investigated. The results of pressure, temperature, turbulence and volume fraction obtained from the modeling process are used to predict the possible location for hydrate formation and decomposition within the internal pipeline system. The result shows a rapid change in pressure gradient observed in the area of the bending section of the pipeline and an obvious pressure difference seen within the outer wall (11 bar) and inner wall (40 bar) section of the bending pipe. Furthermore, the results indicates the area that are highly incorporated with the turbulence is at the ending part of the bending section. Hence, this phenomena enhances the chance of the formation of hydrate and decomposition within the pipeline system. Hence, having a bending in pipeline system increases the risk of the hydrate formation and deposition

An Order Fulfillment Model Based on Lean Supply Chain: Coffee’s Case Study in Cusco, Peru

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado.Coffee is one of the most important cash crops in Peru, a significant source of employment and income, and a great demander of inputs, goods, and services. We synthesized and analyzed the findings to propose improvements and foster the long-term growth of small- and medium-sized cooperatives. Our improvement proposal is based on the supply chain models implemented in the industry. The research also relied on information sources from researchers with experience in the assessment and analysis of the perishable food supply chain in different scenarios worldwide

Cultivation Strategies of Kenaf (<i>Hibiscus cannabinus</i> L.) as a Future Approach in Malaysian Agriculture Industry

In recent years, kenaf has gained significant global attention as a more cost-effective, adaptable, and manageable alternative to other fibre crops. India and China, with nearly 70% of the global kenaf production, have emerged as the leading producers of kenaf plants. While kenaf was traditionally valued for its paper production, it has evolved into a multipurpose crop with diverse industrial applications over the past two decades. Conventional soil-based cultivation methods for kenaf require up to six months for plant maturity. However, in vitro propagation techniques offer a promising alternative that enables faster growth and reduced labour costs. In vitro propagation can be achieved using solid and liquid media, with limited research available on the pure liquid culture method for kenaf. This review aims to introduce and compare the production of kenaf using solid and liquid media, with a specific focus on the emerging country of Malaysia, which seeks to harness the potential of kenaf cultivation for the 15th Sustainable Development Goal, “life on land”, and its contribution to the economy