New food safety challenges of viral contamination from a global perspective: Conventional,emerging, and novel methods of viral control

Food- and waterborne viruses, such as human norovirus, hepatitis A virus, hepatitis E virus, rotaviruses, astroviruses, adenoviruses, and enteroviruses, are major contributors to all foodborne illnesses. Their small size, structure, and ability to clump and attach to inanimate surfaces make viruses challenging to reduce or eliminate, especially in the presence of inorganic or organic soils. Besides traditional wet and dry methods of disinfection using chemicals and heat, emerging physical nonthermal decontamination techniques (irradiation, ultraviolet, pulsed light, high hydrostatic pressure, cold atmospheric plasma, and pulsed electric field), novel virucidal surfaces, and bioactive compounds are examined for their potential to inactivate viruses on the surfaces of foods or food contact surfaces (tools, equipment, hands, etc.). Every disinfection technique is discussed based on its efficiency against viruses, specific advantages and disadvantages, and limitations. Structure, genomic organization, and molecular biology of different virus strains are reviewed, as they are key in determining these techniques effectiveness in controlling all or specific foodborne viruses. Selecting suitable viral decontamination techniques requires that their antiviral mechanism of action and ability to reduce virus infectivity must be taken into consideration. Furthermore, details about critical treatments parameters essential to control foodborne viruses in a food production environment are discussed, as they are also determinative in defining best disinfection and hygiene practices preventing viral infection after consuming a food product.     

Design of frameworks for self-adaptive service-oriented applications: A systematic analysis

Self-adaptive service-oriented Applications (Self-Apps) must be able to understand themselves or the environment in which they are executed, and propose solutions to meet changing conditions. The development of these applications is not a trivial task, since it encompasses issues from different research areas. Despite the importance of frameworks for Self-Apps, there is a lack of comprehensive analysis of how the design of such applications is performed, and regarding the standardization of concepts and coverage of minimum requirements for Self-Apps. The main contribution of this article is to present this comprehensive analysis, providing the state of the art for this subject. This analysis was built through a Systematic Mapping Study, based on a total of 65 studies, from which we identify the main attributes for Quality of Service (QoS), search strategies, and service management strategies employed in the design of frameworks for Self-Apps. The main aspects of requirements involved in the design of Self-Apps were pointed out to stakeholders. For example, these applications must implement a method for evaluation of QoS based on metrics. We also put forward the S-Frame, a modular solution that brings together the main features for the design of Self-Apps, and describe the main challenges concerning these applications.     

Superradiant Emission from Coherent Excitons in van Der Waals Heterostructures

Recent advancements in isolation and stacking of layered van der Waals materials have created an unprecedented paradigm for demonstrating varieties of 2D quantum materials. Rationally designed van der Waals heterostructures composed of monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and few-layer hBN show several unique optoelectronic features driven by correlations. However, entangled superradiant excitonic species in such systems have not been observed before. In this report, it is demonstrated that strong suppression of phonon population at low temperature results in a formation of a coherent excitonic-dipoles ensemble in the heterostructure, and the collective oscillation of those dipoles stimulates a robust phase synchronized ultra-narrow band superradiant emission even at extremely low pumping intensity. Such emitters are in high demand for a multitude of applications, including fundamental research on many-body correlations and other state-of-the-art technologies. This timely demonstration paves the way for further exploration of ultralow-threshold quantum-emitting devices with unmatched design freedom and spectral tunability.     

Single Cell Bioprinting with Ultrashort Laser Pulses

Tissue engineering requires the precise positioning of mammalian cells and biomaterials on substrate surfaces or in preprocessed scaffolds. Although the development of 2D and 3D bioprinting technologies has made substantial progress in recent years, precise, cell-friendly, easy to use, and fast technologies for selecting and positioning mammalian cells with single cell precision are still in need. A new laser-based bioprinting approach is therefore presented, which allows the selection of individual cells from complex cell mixtures based on morphology or fluorescence and their transfer onto a 2D target substrate or a preprocessed 3D scaffold with single cell precision and high cell viability (93–99% cell survival, depending on cell type and substrate). In addition to precise cell positioning, this approach can also be used for the generation of 3D structures by transferring and depositing multiple hydrogel droplets. By further automating and combining this approach with other 3D printing technologies, such as two-photon stereolithography, it has a high potential of becoming a fast and versatile technology for the 2D and 3D bioprinting of mammalian cells with single cell resolution.     

Smartphone-based bulky waste classification using convolutional neural networks

Multimedia Tools and Applications - The rapid urbanization process is escalating the urban waste problem, and ineffective management has worsened the issue, leading to severe consequences to the...     

Quantification of the Phase Transformation Kinetics in High Chromium Cast Irons Using Dilatometry and Metallographic Techniques

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - Further development of high chromium cast irons (HCCI) is based on tailoring the microstructure, necessitating an accurate control over the phase...     

Nano-Design für Makroschichten

Nano design for macroscopic coatings – new application potentials by PVD coatings up to 100 μm thickness Non-homogeneous coatings still limit the application of thicker layers due to defect growth and irregular layer thickness distribution along the surface of complex shaped components. Therefore, the layer thickness is usually limited to about 10 μm. In order to limit the surface roughness by the growing layer, multilayer coating systems are deposited by highly ionized plasmas. This allows significantly smoother layers to be produced, which until now could only be produced by mechanical finishing. Furthermore, by combining selected material systems and targeted parameter selection, structures can be deposited during coating, especially on edges, which result in a reduction of the cutting edge radius. In future, edge geometries should therefore be able to be specifically adjusted through the coating process.     

A Polyallylamine Anchored Amine‐Rich Laser‐Ablated Graphene Platform for Facile and Highly Selective Electrochemical IgG Biomarker Detection

Current immunosensors have an insufficient number of binding sites for the recognition of biomolecules, which leads to false positive or negative results. In this research, a facile, cost‐effective, disposable, and highly selective electrochemical immunosensing platform is developed based on cationic polyelectrolyte polyallylamine (PAAMI) anchored laser‐ablated graphene (LAG). Here, for the first time, PAAMI is introduced to stabilize LAG flakes, while retaining the intrinsic thermal and electronic properties of the substrate by noncovalent π–π interaction and electrostatic physical absorption. The sensing platform offers a suitable number of anchoring sites for the immobilized antibodies by providing ? NH₂ functional groups. The proper grafting of PAAMI is confirmed through X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The immunosensing platform is applied to detect immunoglobulin (IgG) biomarkers as a proof of concept. Under optimized conditions, the sensing platform exhibits a linear range of 0.012–15 and 15–352 ng mL^?1 with a limit of detection of 6 pg mL^?1 for IgG detection with high selectivity. Based on the analysis, the developed immunosensing platform can be used for point‐of‐care detection of IgG in clinical diagnostic centers. Furthermore, the developed strategy is well suited for the detection of other cancer biomarkers after immobilizing the relevant antibodies.     

Adaptive path finding algorithm in dynamic environment for warehouse robot

Neural Computing and Applications - Warehouse robots have been widely used by manufacturers and online retailer to automate good delivery process. One of the fundamental components when designing a...