Additive manufacturing electrochemistry: An overview of producing bespoke conductive additive manufacturing filaments

Additive manufacturing represents a state-of-the-art technology that has been extensively disseminated in both the academic and industrial sectors. This technology enables the cost-effective, simple, and automated production of objects with diverse designs. Moreover, within the academic community, additive manufacturing has provided genuine scientific revolutions, particularly in the field of electrochemistry, due to the accessibility of the Fused Filament Fabrication printing methodology, which utilizes thermoplastic filaments for electrochemical platforms. Additive manufacturing has facilitated the production of conductive components for various applications, including electrochemical sensors, batteries, supercapacitors, and electrical circuits. Within recent years, the scientific community has taken an interest in bespoke filaments that are doped with highly conductive particles, which can be optimized and tailored enabling groups to produce a wide range of filaments with uncountable applications. Thus, the present review article explores the distinct methods of bespoke filament manufacturing, emphasizing its significance in the scientific landscape, and investigating the principal materials utilised in its production, such as thermoplastics, plasticizers, and conductive substances, focusing on electrochemistry applications. Furthermore, all reported additive manufacturing methods will be thoroughly discussed, along with their main advantages and disadvantages. Last, future perspectives will be addressed to guide novel advancements and applications of bespoke filaments for use within electrochemistry

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

Distribution, management and diversity of yam local varieties in Brazil: a study on Dioscorea alataL.

Widely spread in the tropics, yams were introduced into Brazil during the colonial period and are currently grown throughout the country. Despite its importance as a pharmacological and food source, there is a lack of studies describing how and where this tuber is grown in Brazil. The aim of this study was to provide an overview of the cultivation and distribution of Dioscorea alata in different Brazilian regions. A total of 63 farmers were visited in different municipalities and communities in four regions in the country: South, Southeast, Northeast and Midwest. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect socio-economic, use, management and diversity data for this crop. The majority of interviewers were men, married, with children, using retirement benefits and agriculture as income and family labour as the main support in the yam cultivation. A wide distribution of this species was found, with the occurrence of D. alata in the four sampled regions. A variety of vernacular names for this species was collected, differing according to the region where it is cultivated. Most farmers cultivate yams in fields, however an increased usage of home gardens for the cultivation of this tuber was found. Also, most farmers cultivate yams in association with other crops in areas of different sizes and slash and burn practices, although mostly disappearing, are still being used by many farmers. The results of this study provide more concrete data on the distribution and diversity of this important crop

Distribution, management and diversity of yam local varieties in Brazil: a study on Dioscorea alataL.

Widely spread in the tropics, yams were introduced into Brazil during the colonial period and are currently grown throughout the country. Despite its importance as a pharmacological and food source, there is a lack of studies describing how and where this tuber is grown in Brazil. The aim of this study was to provide an overview of the cultivation and distribution of Dioscorea alata in different Brazilian regions. A total of 63 farmers were visited in different municipalities and communities in four regions in the country: South, Southeast, Northeast and Midwest. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect socio-economic, use, management and diversity data for this crop. The majority of interviewers were men, married, with children, using retirement benefits and agriculture as income and family labour as the main support in the yam cultivation. A wide distribution of this species was found, with the occurrence of D. alata in the four sampled regions. A variety of vernacular names for this species was collected, differing according to the region where it is cultivated. Most farmers cultivate yams in fields, however an increased usage of home gardens for the cultivation of this tuber was found. Also, most farmers cultivate yams in association with other crops in areas of different sizes and slash and burn practices, although mostly disappearing, are still being used by many farmers. The results of this study provide more concrete data on the distribution and diversity of this important crop

Chemistry and Mineralogy of Soils cultivated with Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus sp.)

Chemical and mineral analyses were performed with the objective of evaluating the content and availability of nutrients for Eucalyptus growth in forests of Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. The Quartzarenic Neosol presented a very simple mineralogy, with an extremely poor nutrient content. The Melanie Gleisol, Haplic Planosol and Red-Yellow Argisol revealed a low Ca and Mg content, while the Haplic Cambisol, Litholic Neosol and Red Argisol presented higher amounts of these nutrients. The data of the annual average increment (AAI) of seven-year old Eucalyptus permitted the distinction of three soil groups according to their differential attributes: the first group formed by well drained soils (AAI >= 46 m(3)/ha/year), the second group formed by waterlogged soils (AAI approximate to 40 m(3)/ha/year) and the third group formed by very sandy soils (AAI of 38 m(3)/ha/year).388864565