Search Results (107)

A crucial factor when developing e-textiles is ensuring their robustness and functionality during everyday activities, particularly washing. The ability to launder e-textile garments is not merely a matter of convenience but a necessity for widespread adoption. Incorporating electronics into textiles can lead to damage due to mechanical and chemical stresses, which most electronics are not designed to withstand. This work focuses on electronic yarn technology (e-yarn), in which electronic functionality is added to textiles by embedding small electronic components into a flexible yarn-like structure. First, the component is soldered onto thin conductive wires. The soldered component is then enclosed in a protective polymer resin (micro-pod). Micro-pods have different diameters depending on the size of the embedded electronic component. The ensemble is finally covered in a textile sheath. This study focuses on the wash durability of e-yarns integrated with textiles in three different ways: embroidered onto the surface of a woven fabric, within a knitted channel in a knitted fabric, and woven as a weft yarn. Further, the work studied the impact of using different sizes of micro-pods on the e-yarns’ wash durability. Ultimately, good wash durability was observed under all testing conditions. Full article

Anaerobic digestion (AD) for food waste (FW) treatment has faced many challenges, especially ammonia nitrogen, acid, and salinity inhibition at a high organic loading rate (OLR). Therefore, a systematic understanding of the issues arising during the FW AD process is a necessity under a high OLR (over 3 g-VS/L d). Primarily, in terms of ammonia nitrogen inhibition, ammonia ions inhibit methane synthesis enzymes, and free ammonia (FAN) contributes to the imbalance of microbial protons. Regulation strategies include substrate C/N ratio regulation, microbial domestication, and ammonia nitrogen removal. In addition, with regard to acid inhibition, including volatile fatty acid (VFA) and long-chain fatty acid (LCFA) accumulation, the elevated acid concentration can contribute to reactive oxygen species stress, and a solution to this includes the addition of alkaline agents and trace elements or the use of microbial electrochemical and biofortification technology and micro-aeration-based AD technology. Furthermore, in terms of salinity inhibition, high salinity can result in a rapid increase in cell osmotic pressure, which can cause cell rupture, and water washing and bio-electrochemical AD are defined as solutions. Future research directions are proposed, mainly in terms of avoiding the introduction of novel containments into these regulation strategies and applying them in large-scale AD plants under a high OLR. Full article

The Roma population is one of Europe’s largest ethnic minorities, often living in inadequate living conditions, worse than those of the majority population. They frequently lack access to essential services, even in high-income countries. This lack of basic services—particularly in combination with proximity to (stray) animals and human and solid waste—significantly increases environmental health risks, and leads to a higher rate of endoparasitic infections. Our study sheds light on the living conditions and health situation in Roma communities in Slovakia, focusing on the prevalence of intestinal endoparasitic infections across various settlement localisations. It highlights disparities and challenges in access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and other potentially disease-exposing factors among these marginalised populations. This study combines a comprehensive review of living conditions as per national data provided through the Atlas of Roma communities with an analysis of empirical data on parasitological infection rates in humans, animals, and the environment in settlements, applying descriptive statistical methods. It is the first study in Europe to provide detailed insights into how living conditions vary and cause health risks across Roma settlements, ranging from those integrated within villages (inside, urban), to those isolated on the outskirts (edge, sub-urban) or outside villages (natural/rural). Our study shows clear disparities in access to services, and in health outcomes, based on where people live. Our findings underscore the fact that (i) place—geographical centrality in particular—in an already challenged population group plays a major role in health inequalities and disease exposure, as well as (ii) the urgent need for more current and comprehensive data. Our study highlights persistent disparities in living conditions within high-income countries and stresses the need for greater attention and more sensitive targeted health-promoting approaches with marginalised communities in Europe that take into consideration any and all of the humans, ecology, and animals affected (=One Health). Full article

Gamma oryzanol (GO) is a natural anti-oxidant found in rice bran with potential health benefits. Conventional isolation of GO from rice bran requires the use of non-eco-friendly solvents such as acetone, ethyl acetate and hexane due to its low aqueous solubility. Further, nanoencapsulation of GO is required for the enhancement of stability and bioavailability. Plant-derived nanovesicles (PDNVs) are natural/intrinsic exosome-mimetic vesicles isolated from edible plants using green methods. Washed/soaked rice water (SRW) is often discarded as waste prior to cooking rice. However, traditional knowledge indicates its health-promoting anti-oxidant benefit, probably contributed by the presence of GO. Herein, for the first time, we isolated PDNVs from SRW by the cost-effective Polyethylene glycol 6000(PEG) precipitation method and demonstrated the presence of GO in PDNVs. In our initial screen, PDNVs were isolated from both rice grains (RGs) as well as the SRW of four different rice varieties, in which we identified the copious presence of GO in black RGs and brown SRW PDNVs. Both RG and SRW PDNVs were non-toxic to keratinocytes. SRW PDNVs displayed distinct cellular uptake mechanisms compared to RG PDNVs in human keratinocytes. Compared to native GO, brown SRW PDNVs containing GO displayed superior anti-oxidant activity in HaCaT keratinocytes, likely due to its enhanced cellular uptake. Overall, we describe here a waste-to-wealth green approach using an economical PEG method for the extraction of GO in bioavailable form. Given that oxidative stress is a driving factor for inflammation and related diseases, SRW PDNVs provide an affordable natural formulation for the treatment of diseases with underlying oxidative stress and inflammation. Full article

To date, the nitrogen metabolism pathways and salt-tolerance mechanisms of halophilic denitrifying bacteria have not been fully studied, and full-scale engineering trials with saline fly ash-washing wastewater have not been reported. In this study, we isolated and screened a halophilic denitrifying bacterium (Marinobacter sp.), GH-1, analyzed its nitrogen metabolism pathways and salt-tolerance mechanisms using whole-genome data, and explored its nitrogen removal characteristics under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions at different salinity levels. GH-1 was then applied in a full-scale engineering project to treat saline fly ash-washing leachate. The main results were as follows: (1) Based on the integration of whole-genome data, it is preliminarily hypothesized that the strain possesses complete nitrogen metabolism pathways, including denitrification, a dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA), and ammonium assimilation, as well as the following three synergistic strategies through which to counter hyperosmotic stress: inorganic ion homeostasis, organic osmolyte accumulation, and structural adaptations. (2) The strain demonstrated effective nitrogen removal under aerobic, anaerobic, and saline conditions (3–9%). (3) When applied in a full-scale engineering system treating saline fly ash-washing wastewater, it improved nitrate nitrogen (NO₃⁻-N), total nitrogen (TN), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiencies by 31.92%, 25.19%, and 31.8%, respectively. The proportion of Marinobacter sp. increased from 0.73% to 3.41% (aerobic stage) and 2.86% (anoxic stage). Overall, halophilic denitrifying bacterium GH-1 can significantly enhance the nitrogen removal efficiency of saline wastewater systems, providing crucial guidance for biological nitrogen removal treatment. Full article

This paper presents a study on the repeatability of washing effects on two antenna-based sensors for breathing monitoring. One sensor is an embroidered meander antenna-based sensor integrated into a T-shirt, and the other is a loop antenna integrated into a belt. Both sensors were subjected to five washing cycles, and their performance was assessed after each wash. The embroidered meander antenna was specifically compared before and after washing to monitor a male volunteer’s different breathing patterns, that is, eupnea, apnea, hypopnea, and hyperpnea. Stretching tests were also conducted to evaluate the impact of mechanical deformation on sensor behavior. The results highlight the changes in sensor performance across multiple washes and stretching conditions, offering insights into the durability and reliability of these embroidered and loop antennas for practical applications in wearable health monitoring. The findings emphasize the importance of considering both washing and mechanical stress in the design of robust antenna-based sensors. Full article

Fractured vuggy reservoirs exhibit intricate fracture networks, where large fractures impose significant shielding effects on smaller ones, posing formidable challenges for efficient exploitation. A systematic evaluation of foaming volume, drainage half-life, decay behavior, and viscosity under varying temperatures and salinities was conducted for conventional foam, polymer-enhanced foam, and gel foam. The results yield the following conclusions: Compared to conventional foam, polymer-enhanced foam exhibits markedly improved stability. In contrast, gel foam, cross-linked with chemical agents, maintains stability for over one week at elevated temperatures, albeit at the expense of reduced foaming capacity. The three-dimensional network structure formed post-gelation enables gel foam to retain a thicker liquid film, exhibiting exceptional foam stability. As salinity increases, the base liquid viscosity of conventional foam remains largely unaffected, whereas polymer foam shows marked viscosity reduction. Gel foam displays a non-monotonic viscosity response—initially increasing due to ionic cross-linking and subsequently declining from excessive charge screening. All three systems exhibit significant viscosity decreases under high-temperature conditions. Visualized plate fracture model experiments revealed distinct flow patterns and mobility control performance; narrow fractures exacerbate bubble coalescence under shear stress, leading to enlarged bubble sizes and diminished plugging efficiency. Among the three systems, gel foam exhibited superior mobility control characteristics, with uniform bubble size distribution and enhanced stability. Integrating the findings from the foam mobility control experiments in parallel fracture systems with the diversion outcomes of mobility control and flooding, distinct performance trends emerge. It can be seen that the stronger the foam stability, the stronger the mobility control ability, and the easier it is to start the shielding effect. Combined with the stability of different foam systems, understanding the mobility control ability of a foam system is the key to increasing the sweep coefficient of a complex fracture network and improve oil-washing efficiency. Full article

As the severe environmental impacts of plastic pollution demand determined action, the European Union (EU) has included recycling at the core of its policies. Consequently, evolving jurisdiction now aims to achieve a recycling rate of 65% for non-PET plastic bottles by 2040. However, the widespread use of post-consumer high-density polyethylene (rPE-HD) recyclates in household chemical containers is still limited by PP contamination, poor mechanical properties, and low environmental stress cracking resistance (ESCR). Although previous studies have explored the improvement of regranulate properties through additives, few have examined whether reducing the variety of extrusion blow-moulded PE-HD packaging could offer similar benefits. Therefore, two sorted fractions of rPE-HD hollow bodies were processed into regranulates under industrial conditions, including hot washing, extrusion, and deodorisation. Subsequently, both materials underwent comprehensive characterisation regarding their composition and performance. The opaque material, which was sourced from milk bottles in the UK, exhibited greater homogeneity with minor impurities, leading to improved ductility and melt strain hardening at moderate strain rates compared to the mixed material stream, which contained approximately 2.5% PP contamination. However, both rPE-HD recyclates exhibited similar short-term creep behaviour, relatively low strain hardening moduli, and were almost devoid of inorganic particles. Considering the sum of the investigated properties, melt blending with suitable virgin material is likely one of the most effective options to maximise regranulate utilisation in hollow bodies, followed by recycling-oriented packaging design (e.g., for efficient sorting), and the employment of advanced sorting technology. Full article

The scarcity of natural aggregates and the growing accumulation of waste materials have driven the demand for sustainable and circular economy solutions in transportation infrastructure, and this has led to the utilization of waste materials in transport infrastructure, such as recycled rubber. Although numerous laboratory experiments have been conducted on granular mixtures mixed with rubber, predicting the complex stress–strain behaviour of these mixtures mathematically and capturing the influence of rubber on the geotechnical properties of waste mixtures are imperative. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the constitutive models developed to predict the stress–strain behaviour, dilatancy, and shear strength of rubber-mixed waste materials, including sand–rubber, coal wash–steel furnace slag–rubber crumbs, and coal wash–rubber crumbs in various transport infrastructure applications under static loading. This paper also highlights the innovations and limitations of these existing constitutive models on rubber-mixed materials. It was found that existing constitutive models based on hyperbolic, hypoplastic, critical state, and bounding surface plasticity approaches can capture the behaviour of these materials under static loading conditions. However, further developments are required to incorporate the influence of the type and size of the rubber, particle breakage, and damping properties and also account for train-induced cyclic loading in models developed for railway substructures. This paper contributes to advancing future research aimed at deepening the fundamental understanding of rubber-mixed materials used in transportation infrastructure. Full article

Background/Objectives: Wounds from burns are susceptible to infections, allowing multidrug-resistant microorganisms to complicate treatments and patient recovery. This highlights the development of new strategies to control these microorganisms. This work evaluated the antibacterial activity of hydrogels containing biogenic silver nanoparticles (bio-AgNP) and Origanum vulgare essential oil (OEO) against multidrug-resistant bacteria. Methods: The formulations were subjected to organoleptic, pharmacotechnical, and stability characterization and antimicrobial activity assessment by time–kill tests and alternative methods, an ex vivo model using porcine skin, and an in vivo model using Galleria mellonella. Results: All hydrogels maintained their stability after the thermal stress. The hydrogel containing bio-AgNP + OEO 1% (HAgNP + OEO1) presented bactericidal effectiveness, within 2 h, against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative multidrug-resistant bacteria in the time–kill test. For alternative testing, HAgNP + OEO1 was compared with 1% silver sulfadiazine (SS) and the base formulation. In the ex vivo test, both HAgNP + OEO1 and SS treatments showed a similar reduction in superficial washing of the burn for S. aureus 999, while for P. aeruginosa, the reduction was more expressive for SS treatment. In the burn tissue, HAgNP + OEO1 treatment was more effective against S. aureus 999, while for P. aeruginosa 1461, both formulations were similarly effective. In the Galleria mellonella test, survival rates after 48 h were 84% for the control group (base) and 50% for both HAgNP + OEO1 and SS treatment groups. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that the hydrogel combining antimicrobials is effective against multidrug-resistant microorganisms, offering a promising alternative for the treatment of infected burns. Full article

Drug-coated balloons (DCBs) are designed to deliver an anti-proliferative drug to the stenotic vessel to combat restenosis after an angioplasty treatment. However, significant drug loss can occur during device navigation toward the lesion site, thus reducing the delivery efficiency and increasing the off-target drug loss. In this framework, this study aimed to design a novel in vitro setup to estimate the drug loss due to blood flow–coating interaction during tracking. The system consists of a millifluidic chamber, able to host small drug-coated flat patches representative of DCBs, connected at the inlet to a syringe pump able to provide an ad hoc flow and, at the outlet, to a vial collecting the testing fluid with possible drug removed from the specimen. Unlike other studies, the device presented here uniquely evaluates flow-related drug loss from smaller-scale DCB samples, making it a precise, easy-to-use, and efficient assessment tool. In order to define proper boundary conditions for these washing off tests, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models of a DCB in an idealized vessel were developed to estimate the wall shear stresses (WSSs) experienced in vivo by the device when inserted into leg arteries. From these simulations, different target WSSs were identified as of interest to be replicated in the in vitro setup. A combined analytical–CFD approach was followed to design the testing system and set the flow rates to be imposed to generate the desired WSSs. Finally, a proof-of-concept study was performed by testing eight coated flat specimens and analyzing drug content via high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results indicated different amounts of drug loss according to the different imposed WSSs and confirmed the suitability of the designed system to assess the washing off resistance of different drug coatings for angioplasty balloons. Full article

Sprouts have many advantages, such as high nutritional value and simple cultivation conditions. In recent years, the loss rate of sprouts due to microbial contamination has been as high as 40%, and it is necessary to strengthen microbial control technology to reduce such losses. Current microbial control methods have issues such as a narrow bactericidal spectrum and high cost and contamination, whereas slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW), as a new type of disinfectant, can solve these problems. In the present study, the efficacy of SAEW treatments in the disinfection of oat sprouts during germination and washing was evaluated at 25 °C and 4 °C compared to a TW control group. The results showed that compared to the TW control group, the Escherichia coli detection rates were significantly decreased by 2.32, 4.44 and 5.55 log₁₀ CFU/g after soaking, undergoing germination for 60 h and washing with SAEW at 4 °C. This indicated that the 4 °C + SAEW treatment had a favorable bactericidal effect on the whole process of oat sprout washing. This result was demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In addition, for natural colony counts in oat sprouts, the 4 °C + SAEW treatment also showed strong bactericidal ability. Therefore, the application of SAEW combined with low temperature stress treatment in sprout production and processing has high potential. Full article

A huge challenge is how to prepare flexible silicone aerogel materials with good flame retardancy, thermal stability, and hydrophobic properties. In this paper, resorcinol–formaldehyde was introduced into the silicone network composed of methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS), phenyltriethoxysilane (PTES), and dimethyldimethoxysilane (DMDMS). Flexible hybrid aerogels with excellent thermal insulation, flame retardant, and hydrophobic properties were prepared by the sol–gel method and ambient pressure drying (APD), and the preparation process does not require long-term solvent exchange, only about 3 h of soaking and washing of the wet gel. The results show that the prepared phenolic-silicone aerogel has low density (0.093 g/cm³), low thermal conductivity (0.041 W/m·K), high flexibility, and compression fatigue resistance. The phenolic microspheres are bonded to the silicone skeleton to maintain the original flexibility. After 50% compression deformation, it returns to the original size normally, and there is no significant change in the stress of the sample after 50 compression cycles. Compared with pure silicone aerogels, the hybrid aerogels doped with phenolic have better char yield (65.28%) and higher decomposition temperature (609 °C). The hybrid aerogel sample has good flame-retardant properties, which can withstand alcohol lamp burning without being ignited. The micron-sized phenolic beads give the hybrid aerogels better hydrophobic properties, showing a higher static water contact angle (152°). The excellent thermal and mechanical properties mean that the hybrid aerogels prepared in this paper have good application prospects for aerospace, outdoor equipment, and other fields. Full article

Biofouling in the membrane bioreactor (MBR) is a bottleneck in operation. This study explores the use of cis-2-decenoic acid (CDA) to mitigate biofouling. CDA is a signaling molecule known to disperse biofilms, which is reported to reduce the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of biofilms and make them less chemically resistant. In our experiments, CDA 300 nM was used for the backwashing biofouling in MBR, and backwashing with CDA followed by 0 to 500 mg/L sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) was also performed. The synergistic effect of CDA and NaOCl in alleviating biofouling was observed at CDA 300 nM and 100 mg/L NaOCl. However, controversial phenomena occurred under other conditions. An increase in biofilm removal efficiency with higher concentrations of NaOCl was not observed. Instead, the fouling rate increased at a 200 mg/L NaOCl condition compared to the control condition (i.e., DW washing). This phenomenon is hypothesized to result from the antagonistic interaction between the dispersion induction by CDA and the stress induced by NaOCl. This study specifically demonstrated the efficiency of two-stage backwashing with CDA and NaOCl in various aspects. The results of this study are expected to be utilized for optimizing MBR backwashing protocols. Full article

The preparation of sophisticated hierarchically structured and cytocompatible hydrogel scaffolds is presented. For this purpose, a photosensitive resin was developed, printability was evaluated, and the optimal conditions for 3D printing were investigated. The design and fabrication by additive manufacturing of tailor-made porous scaffolds were combined with the formation of surface wrinkled micropatterns. This enabled the combination of micrometer-sized channels (100–200 microns) with microstructured wrinkled surfaces (1–3 μm wavelength). The internal pore structure was found to play a critical role in the mechanical properties. More precisely, the TPMS structure with a zero local curvature appears to be an excellent candidate for maintaining its mechanical resistance to compression stress, thus retaining its structural integrity upon large uniaxial deformations up to 70%. Finally, the washing conditions selected enabled us to produce noncytotoxic materials, as evidenced by experiments using AlamarBlue to follow the metabolic activity of the cells. Full article