Feasibility of recovered toner powder as an integral pigment in concrete

Colour is an important property in many construction materials with pigments, coatings and paints being used primarily for aesthetic, safety and restoration purposes. However, the use of integral pigments in materials like mortar and concrete can significantly increase material costs. Recovered toner powder (RTP) from printer and photocopier cartridges has the potential to be a low cost, sustainable alternative pigment. The aim of this research was to examine the feasibility of using cyan, yellow, magenta and black RTP to create a range of colour options for mortar and concrete, and thereafter assess the colour stability in outdoor, indoor, UV and wet/dry conditions using the colour change parameter (ΔE). The work showed that the RTP as a pigment could be blended to make a range of primary and secondary colours had good colour stability in all environments with minimal impact on selected properties of hardened concrete

Lessons from the 2018 drought for management of local water supplies in upland areas : a tracer-based assessment

Funding Information: We would like to acknowledge financial support from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (project NE/P010334/1) via a CASE industrial studentship with Chivas Brothers. David Drummond, Katya Dimitrova-Petrova and Eva Loerke are thanked for assistance with fieldwork, while we acknowledge Dr Aaron Neill for his advice on young water fraction analyses. Trevor Buckley and staff at the Glenlivet Distillery are thanked for on-site assistance and supply of data and abstraction records. We thank Audrey Innes, Dr Bernhard Scheliga, and Dr Ilse Kamerling for their support with the laboratory isotope analysis. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Authors. Hydrological Processes published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Pt-Sn/C as a possible methanol-tolerant cathode catalyst for DMFC

An effective method was developed for preparing highly dispersed nano-sized Pt–Sn/C electrocatalyst synthesised by a modified polyol reduction method. From XRD patterns, the Pt–Sn/C peaks shifted slightly to lower 2θ angles when compared with commercial Pt/C catalyst, suggesting that Sn formed alloy with Pt. Based on HR-TEM images, the Pt–Sn/C nanoparticles showed small particle sizes and well dispersed onto the carbon support with a narrow particle distribution. The methanol oxidation reaction on the as-prepared Pt–Sn/C catalyst appeared at lower currents (+7.08 mA at +480 mV vs. Ag/AgCl) compared to the commercial Pt/C (+8.25 mA at +480 mV vs. Ag/AgCl) suggesting that the Pt–Sn/C catalyst has ‘methanol tolerance capabilities’. Pt–Sn/C HA Slurry pH3 catalysts showed better activity towards the oxygen-reduction reaction (ORR) than commercial Pt/C which could be attributed to smaller particle sizes. In our study, the Pt–Sn/C catalyst appears to be a promising methanol-tolerant catalyst with activity towards the ORR in the DMFC.Web of Scienc

Cortisol in hair measured in young adults - a biomarker of major life stressors?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Stress as a cause of illness has been firmly established. In public health and stress research a retrospective biomarker of extended stress would be an indispensible aid. The objective of this pilot study was to investigate whether concentrations of cortisol in hair correlate with perceived stress, experiences of serious life events, and perceived health in young adults.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Hair samples were cut from the posterior vertex area of (n = 99) university students who also answered a questionnaire covering experiences of serious life events, perceived Stress Scale and perceived health during the last three months. Cortisol was measured using a competitive radioimmunoassay in methanol extracts of hair samples frozen in liquid nitrogen and mechanically pulverised.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean cortisol levels were significantly related to serious life events (p = 0.045), weakly negatively correlated to perceived stress (p = 0.025, r = -0.061) but nor affected by sex, coloured/permed hair, intake of pharmaceuticals or self-reported health. In a multiple regression model, only the indicator of serious life events had an independent (p = 0.041) explanation of increased levels of cortisol in hair. Out of four outliers with extremely high cortisol levels two could be contacted, both reported serious psychological problems.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These findings suggest that measurement of cortisol in hair could serve as a retrospective biomarker of increased cortisol production reflecting exposure to major life stressors and possibly extended psychological illness with important implications for research, clinical practice and public health. Experience of serious life events seems to be more important in raising cortisol levels in hair than perceived stress.</p

Exercise-induced ‘browning’ of adipose tissues

Global rates of obesity continue to rise and are necessarily the consequence of a long-term imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. This is the result of an expansion of adipose tissue due to both the hypertrophy of existing adipocytes and hyperplasia of adipocyte precursors. Exercise elicits numerous physiological benefits on adipose tissue, which are likely to contribute to the associated cardiometabolic benefits. More recently it has been demonstrated that exercise, through a range of mechanisms, induces a phenotypic switch in adipose tissue from energy storing white adipocytes to thermogenic beige adipocytes. This has generated the hypothesis that the process of adipocyte ‘browning’ may partially underlie the improved cardiometabolic health in physically active populations. Interestingly, ‘browning’ also occurs in response to various stressors and could represent an adaptive response. In the context of exercise, it is not clear whether the appearance of beige adipocytes is metabolically beneficial or whether they occur as a transient adaptive process to exercise-induced stresses. The present review discusses the various mechanisms (e.g. fatty acid oxidation during exercise, decreased thermal insulation, stressors and angiogenesis) by which the exercise-induced ‘browning’ process may occur

Do Worry and Brooding Predict Health Behaviors? A Daily Diary Investigation

Background Meta-analyses have reported associations between perseverative cognition (both worry and brooding) and increased engagement in health-risk behaviors, poorer sleep, and poorer physiological health outcomes. Method Using a daily diary design, this study investigated the within- and between-person relationships between state and trait perseverative cognition and health behaviors (eating behavior, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and sleep) both crosssectionally and prospectively. Participants (n = 273, 93% students, Mage = 20.2, SD = 4.11, 93% female) completed morning and evening diaries across 7 consecutive days. Results Multilevel modeling analyses revealed that, cross-sectionally, higher levels of state worry were associated with more time spent sitting and higher levels of state brooding predicted less daily walking. Conclusion Worry and brooding may represent useful intervention targets for improving inactivity and walking levels, respectively

Measurement, reporting and verification of climate-smart agriculture: Change of perspective, change of possibilities?

The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Unique Forestry and Land Use and Vuna have been working with stakeholders in four countries in eastern and southern Africa (Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe) to assess the current state of national CSA M&E and to set out country-specific roadmaps for developing systems for monitoring and reporting on CSA. The project took a country-driven approach to documenting stakeholders’ information needs, exploring how to build on and align with existing M&E systems and international reporting frameworks, and encouraging cross-country comparisons. Though the research was grounded in southern Africa, these lessons are applicable to CSA and other topic-driven initiatives (such as land restoration and the Bonn Challenge) across similar environments and social contexts on the continent and around the world. Here we detail three key findings from the assessment