Thermal performance of calcium-rich alkali-activated materials: A microstructural and mechanical study

The effects of Si/Al, Na/Al and water/solids ratios on thermal performance of alkali-activated materials (AAM) based on fly ash-slag blends are investigated. Higher Na/Al decreased compressive strength but increased post-heated strength retention and mass loss while reducing cracking at 1000 °C. Lower Si/Al resulted in lowest initial strength but highest thermal stability, with an increase in strength after exposure to 1000 °C, while a high degree of cracking was observed at higher Si/Al ratio. The effect of w/s on thermal performance was subtle. Computed tomography analysis showed for the first time thermally induced expansion of pores which reduced surface cracking via water vapour pressure release. Thermal performance of alkali-activated materials (AAM) is significantly better than Portland cement (PC) of the same compressive strength because of the very low bound water content. The porosity, pore connectivity and number of pores of the AAM were considerably higher than those in the PC binder

Factors influencing farmers' forestland-use changes over 15 years (2005–2020) in Thua Thien Hue province, Vietnam

Over the last decades, Vietnam has seen substantial shifts in forest landscape uses and associated livelihoods. We document the livelihood transformations in Nam Dong, a mountainous district of Central Vietnam, where land uses have changed from the utilisation of products from natural forests and shifting cultivation (swidden agriculture) to acacia tree-dominated plantation forestry. Forestry policies (forestland allocation, plantation development agendas), the increase in the economic value of acacia, and household livelihood assets are the primary factors driving these changes. We also found that there are differences in the access to and ownership of forestland with regard to households of different communities and between poor vs wealthy households. Therefore, careful attention needs to be paid to guide future land use policies in the area to foster social and ecological sustainability. HIGHLIGHTS • Major livelihood and forestland-use changes have taken place in central Vietnam over the last two decades. • There has been widespread conversion of forestland (degraded natural forests, swidden land) and cropland to acacia plantations. • Household-scale forestland use changes were primarily driven by forestry policies, the market for woodchips, and land resource access. • There is inequality in access to and ownership of forestland between poor and wealthier households in the mountain district of Vietnam. • Cases of illegal forestland conversions pose challenges to ensuring sustainable forest landscapes

Safeguarding pollinators and their values to human well-being

Wild and managed pollinators provide a wide range of benefits to society in terms of contributions to food security, farmer and beekeeper livelihoods, social and cultural values, as well as the maintenance of wider biodiversity and ecosystem stability. Pollinators face numerous threats, including changes in land-use and management intensity, climate change, pesticides and genetically modified crops, pollinator management and pathogens, and invasive alien species. There are well-documented declines in some wild and managed pollinators in several regions of the world. However, many effective policy and management responses can be implemented to safeguard pollinators and sustain pollination services.Environmental Biolog

Correction: Linkmind: Link optimization in swarming mobile sensor networks. Sensors 2011, 11, 8180-8202

The author’s affiliation was wrong in [1]. The “National University of Brunei” should be “University of Brunei Darussalam”

Religious feeling and authenticity: Dialogues between william james and bernard lonergan

The paper analyzes the tricky phenomenon of religious feelings related to the question of authenticity. The challenge to describe and make sense of this elusive relationship, providing one exists at all, becomes clearer against the background of two important figures dealing with the psychology of religion – William James (primarily a psychologist) and Bernard Lonergan (primarily a theologian). While James was a naturalist psychologist who put his study on a background of human nature and followed academic scientific discipline, Lonergan was a Christian theologian who set the goal for his whole system not on the level of cognition but on the transcending dimension of being-in-love with God. They both avoided the extremes of their positions and reached out to a more balanced way of understanding religion in its complexity and sometimes ambiguous significance in the lives of human moral subjects. © 2021, Slovenska Vzdelavacia Obstaravacia. All rights reserved

Initiation of cellular organization in lymph nodes is regulated by non-B cell-derived signals and is not dependent on CXC chemokine ligand 13

The molecular and cellular events that initiate the formation of T and B cell areas in developing lymph nodes are poorly understood. In this study we show that formation of the lymphoid architecture in murine neonatal lymph nodes evolves through a series of distinct stages. The initial segregation of T and B cells is regulated in a CXCL13-independent manner, characterized by the localization of B cells in a ring-like pattern in the outer cortex on day 4. However, during this CXCL13-independent phase of lymph node modeling, CXCL13 is expressed and regulated in a lymphotoxin-alpha1beta2 (LTalpha1beta2)-dependent manner. Surprisingly, neonatal B cells are unable to respond to this chemokine and also lack surface LTalpha1beta2 expression. At this time, CD45+CD4+CD3- cells are the predominant LTalpha1beta2-expressing cells and are also capable of responding to CXCL13. From day 4 on, architectural changes become CXCL13 dependent, and B cells become fully CXCL13 responsive, express LTalpha1beta2, and cluster in anatomically distinct follicles. Because the initial induction of CXCL13 is dependent on LTalpha1beta2, a role for CD45+CD4+CD3- cells in inducing chemokine expression in the developing lymph nodes is proposed and, as such, a role in initiation of the shaping of the microenvironment

Summary for policymakers of the thematic assessment on pollinators, pollination and food production

Environmental Biolog