Equilibrium and dynamic moisture adsorption behaviour of bloodmeal based bioplastic

Bioplastics can be manufactured from protein or carbohydrate sources such as wheat gluten, corn, sun flower, keratin, casein, soy, gelatine and whey. A recently developed bioplastic is Novatein thermoplastic (NTP), which is produced from bloodmeal by adding water, urea, sodium sulphite, sodium dodecyl sulphate and tri-ethylene glycol (TEG), allowing it to be extruded and injection moulded. Bioplastics, compared to their petroleum counterparts, can readily adsorb or lose water, which then changes their physical properties such as tensile strength and glass transition temperature. NTP at different TEG and water contents was exposed to 20-85% relative humidity (RH) environments and change in mass recorded over 35 days to determine equilibrium and dynamic moisture adsorption behavior. Equilibrium behavior was modelled using modified Freundlich and Langmuir- Freundlich isotherms, and dynamic behavior modelled using Pilosof, Singh- ulshrestha, exponential, Langmuir-Freundlich and simple rate equations. Excellent fits were obtained for both isotherms and the last three rate equations gave best overall fits for dynamics. NTP adsorbed up to 28% by weight in water at 85% RH, reaching equilibrium within 20 days. Plastics with high TEG had a greater affinity for water but lower water adsorption rates, while dry plastic samples had a lower adsorption rate than wet samples. The two parameter Freundlich model and the exponential or simple rate model is recommended for modelling NTP equilibrium and dynamic water adsorption

Addressing climate change with behavioral science: a global intervention tournament in 63 countries

Effectively reducing climate change requires marked, global behavior change. However, it is unclear which strategies are most likely to motivate people to change their climate beliefs and behaviors. Here, we tested 11 expert-crowdsourced interventions on four climate mitigation outcomes: beliefs, policy support, information sharing intention, and an effortful tree-planting behavioral task. Across 59,440 participants from 63 countries, the interventions’ effectiveness was small, largely limited to nonclimate skeptics, and differed across outcomes: Beliefs were strengthened mostly by decreasing psychological distance (by 2.3%), policy support by writing a letter to a future-generation member (2.6%), information sharing by negative emotion induction (12.1%), and no intervention increased the more effortful behavior—several interventions even reduced tree planting. Last, the effects of each intervention differed depending on people’s initial climate beliefs. These findings suggest that the impact of behavioral climate interventions varies across audiences and target behaviors

Addressing climate change with behavioral science:A global intervention tournament in 63 countries

Effectively reducing climate change requires marked, global behavior change. However, it is unclear which strategies are most likely to motivate people to change their climate beliefs and behaviors. Here, we tested 11 expert-crowdsourced interventions on four climate mitigation outcomes: beliefs, policy support, information sharing intention, and an effortful tree-planting behavioral task. Across 59,440 participants from 63 countries, the interventions' effectiveness was small, largely limited to nonclimate skeptics, and differed across outcomes: Beliefs were strengthened mostly by decreasing psychological distance (by 2.3%), policy support by writing a letter to a future-generation member (2.6%), information sharing by negative emotion induction (12.1%), and no intervention increased the more effortful behavior-several interventions even reduced tree planting. Last, the effects of each intervention differed depending on people's initial climate beliefs. These findings suggest that the impact of behavioral climate interventions varies across audiences and target behaviors.</p

Addressing climate change with behavioral science:A global intervention tournament in 63 countries

Effectively reducing climate change requires marked, global behavior change. However, it is unclear which strategies are most likely to motivate people to change their climate beliefs and behaviors. Here, we tested 11 expert-crowdsourced interventions on four climate mitigation outcomes: beliefs, policy support, information sharing intention, and an effortful tree-planting behavioral task. Across 59,440 participants from 63 countries, the interventions' effectiveness was small, largely limited to nonclimate skeptics, and differed across outcomes: Beliefs were strengthened mostly by decreasing psychological distance (by 2.3%), policy support by writing a letter to a future-generation member (2.6%), information sharing by negative emotion induction (12.1%), and no intervention increased the more effortful behavior-several interventions even reduced tree planting. Last, the effects of each intervention differed depending on people's initial climate beliefs. These findings suggest that the impact of behavioral climate interventions varies across audiences and target behaviors.</p

Global disparities in surgeons’ workloads, academic engagement and rest periods: the on-calL shIft fOr geNEral SurgeonS (LIONESS) study

: The workload of general surgeons is multifaceted, encompassing not only surgical procedures but also a myriad of other responsibilities. From April to May 2023, we conducted a CHERRIES-compliant internet-based survey analyzing clinical practice, academic engagement, and post-on-call rest. The questionnaire featured six sections with 35 questions. Statistical analysis used Chi-square tests, ANOVA, and logistic regression (SPSS® v. 28). The survey received a total of 1.046 responses (65.4%). Over 78.0% of responders came from Europe, 65.1% came from a general surgery unit; 92.8% of European and 87.5% of North American respondents were involved in research, compared to 71.7% in Africa. Europe led in publishing research studies (6.6 ± 8.6 yearly). Teaching involvement was high in North America (100%) and Africa (91.7%). Surgeons reported an average of 6.7 ± 4.9 on-call shifts per month, with European and North American surgeons experiencing 6.5 ± 4.9 and 7.8 ± 4.1 on-calls monthly, respectively. African surgeons had the highest on-call frequency (8.7 ± 6.1). Post-on-call, only 35.1% of respondents received a day off. Europeans were most likely (40%) to have a day off, while African surgeons were least likely (6.7%). On the adjusted multivariable analysis HDI (Human Development Index) (aOR 1.993) hospital capacity &gt; 400 beds (aOR 2.423), working in a specialty surgery unit (aOR 2.087), and making the on-call in-house (aOR 5.446), significantly predicted the likelihood of having a day off after an on-call shift. Our study revealed critical insights into the disparities in workload, access to research, and professional opportunities for surgeons across different continents, underscored by the HDI

Moisture sorption and plasticization of bloodmeal-based thermoplastics

Sorption characteristics, thermo-mechanical and mechanical properties of bloodmeal-based thermoplastics have been investigated between water activities (aw) of 0.2 and 0.8, using water and tri-ethylene glycol (TEG) as plasticizers. Three different mass ratios of TEG to water were used, 1:1, 1:2 and 5:6 with a total plasticizer content of 60 parts per hundred parts bloodmeal. It was found that the equilibrium moisture content and mechanical properties were highly dependent on relative humidity suggesting that material properties may vary during use. The BET and Flory–Huggins equations gave the best fit for desorption and adsorption, respectively, but a significant difference was observed between adsorption and desorption behaviour below a water activity of 0.6, which was thought to be due to changes in intermolecular interactions. The monolayer adsorption capacity (0.05 g/g) was unaffected by the TEG content, using the BET sorption isotherm. The water activity required to form a monolayer (awl) was also independent of the amount of TEG, but was different for adsorption and desorption (about 0.5 and 0.2, respectively). Increasing TEG did not have a strong influence on the equilibrium moisture content, especially at low water activity. Dynamic mechanical analysis revealed that the glass transition temperature decreased almost linearly with increasing water activity, ranging between 3 and 85 ℃, however, above a water activity of 0.6 a second transition was observed, most likely due to phase separation. Depending of TEG content, tensile strength increased from about 10 to 15 MPa at a water activity of 0.4, where after a drastic decrease was observed. A similar trend was observed for elongation at break. At low water activity (below 0.4) elongation was less than 3%, increasing between 30 and 50% at higher water activities. It was concluded that 10–15 wt% represented a critical point above which mechanical properties becomes very sensitive to the relative humidity of the environment

Self-organization of a biogeomorphic landscape controlled by plant life-history traits

Feedbacks between geomorphology and plants are increasingly recognized as key drivers shaping a variety of landscapes. Most studies of biogeomorphic interactions have focused on the influence of physical plant characteristics, such as stem and root density, on landscape morphodynamics without considering the role of life-history traits. However, pioneer plants can have very different colonization behaviours. Fast colonizers are characterized by a high number of establishing seedlings that produce homogenous vegetation patterns. In contrast, slow colonizers are characterized by a low number of establishing seedlings that are able to expand laterally, resulting in patchy vegetation patterns. Here we combine biogeomorphic model simulations and field observations in the Western Scheldt Estuary, the Netherlands, to show that colonization behaviour can influence the evolution of wetland landscapes. We find that colonization by fast colonizers favours stabilization of pre-existing channels and consolidation of the landscape configuration. In contrast, colonization by slow colonizers facilitates the formation of new channels and thereby actively facilitates further landscape self-organization. Our findings underline the key role of life-history traits in steering landscape self-organization across different biogeomorphic systems, and potentially the long-term resilience of these landscapes to disturbances