Bacteriophages MS2 and PRD1 in Turfgrass by Subsurface Drip Irrigation

The contamination of turfgrass by bacteriophages MS-2 and PRD-1 was assessed in the field under sprinkler irrigation (SI) and subsurface drip irrigation (SDI). No contamination of turfgrass by MS-2 was observed using SDI in the summer or winter seasons. In the summer, PRD-1 was detected in low numbers in SDI turfgrass; however, at significantly lower numbers than in SI turfgrass (p<0.05). In contrast, SI turfgrass was readily contaminated with MS-2 and PRD-1 during both seasons. Column experiments showed that viral migration was greater in sandy soil than in clay soil. Descending viral transport was more pronounced than upward migration, but only significantly greater (p<0.05) in sandy soil. The survival in soil of MS-2 and PRD-1 was compared with that of poliovirus 1 and enteric adenovirus 40. MS-2 showed shorter survival in comparison to the other viruses (p<0.05). The results obtained in this study suggest that SDI used to irrigate turfgrass with wastewater may effectively reduce the risk of contamination by potential viral pathogens.     

FTIR Spectroscopy to Reveal Lipid and Protein Changes Induced on Sperm by Capacitation: Bases for an Improvement of Sample Selection in ART

Although being a crucial step for Assisted Reproduction Technologies (ART) success, to date sperm selection is based only on morphology, motility and concentration characteristics. Considering the many possible alterations, there is a great need for analytical approaches allowing more effective sperm selections. The use of Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) may represent an interesting possibility, being able to reveal many macromolecular changes in a single measurement in a nondestructive way. As a proof of concept, in this observational study, we used a FTIR approach to reveal features related to sperm quality and chemical changes promoted by in vitro capacitation. We found indication that α-helix content is increased in capacitated sperm, while high percentages of the β-structures seem to correlate to poor-quality spermatozoa. The most interesting observation was related to the lipid composition, when measured as CH₂/CH₃ vibrations (ratio 2853/2870), which resulted in being strongly influenced by capacitation and well correlated with sperm motility. Interestingly, this ratio is higher than 1 in infertile samples, suggesting that motility is related to sperm membranes stiffness and lipid composition. Although further analyses are requested, our results support the concept that FTIR can be proposed as a new smart diagnostic tool for semen quality assessment in ART.     

Reconstitution of Food Powders Granulated with Oil-in-Water Emulsions

Vegetable soups are complex mixtures containing vegetables in different percentages, thickeners, salt, fat, and emulsifying/wetting agents. When prepared as dehydrated powders in convenience foods, they need to be rehydrated before consumption and this can lead to formation of undesired lumps when carried out in hot water. Elimination of lumps and simplification of the preparation procedure were reached by granulating three different vegetable mixtures, each with a predominant vegetable (spinach, beetroot, and carrot), using an alternative liquid binder besides water. The use of an oil-in-water emulsion affected positively some technological properties of the dry products like granule strength and flowability, and the rehydrated soups in terms of complete dispersion in hot water. Also, the interplay between starches and soluble sugars, naturally present in vegetables, was found to impact the complete rehydration of the soups.     

Evaluation of durability and cleanability performances of protective treatments for lapped ceramic tiles - Part 2

The aim of this work is to evaluate the cleanability performances of lapped porcelain stoneware surfaces with and without protective treatments. The knowledge of the material cleanability is an important selection parameter in buying tiles. However, an objective basis for testing and assessing this property still is lacking. In this study, standardized and laboratory tests to evaluate the cleanability performance of lapped porcelain stoneware products have been carried out and compared. Cleanability tests were performed by applying two different soiling suspensions, optimized for tile surfaces and reproducing chemical and mechanical actions simulating the working conditions and traditional cleaning operations. Surface characteristics (microstructure, topography, roughness) were analyzed before and after cleanability tests. The results showed a good correlation between different behavior in terms of cleanability and the microscopic and topographic characteristics of lapped tile. Respect to international standardized tests specific for ceramic tiles, such as stains resistance test, the laboratory procedures to evaluate the surface cleanability are able to better show cleanability improvements of lapped tiles with protective treatments.     

RUR53: an unmanned ground vehicle for navigation,recognition, and manipulation

ABSTRACT

This paper proposes RUR53: an Unmanned Ground Vehicle able to navigate through, identify, and reach areas of interest. There, it can recognize, localize, and manipulate work tools to perform both indoor and outdoor complex tasks. Indeed, a wide range of sensors composes the robot and enables it to perceive vast workspaces, reach distant targets, and face the uncertainties of the real world. Precise object detection is also guaranteed, essential to manipulate objects of different shapes and materials. Moreover, a customized 3-finger gripper makes the gripping mode suitable for any lightweight object. Two modalities are proposed: autonomous and teleoperated, letting both unskilled and skilled human operators easily adapt the system to complete personalized tasks. The paper exhaustively describes RUR53 architecture and demonstrates its good performance while executing both indoor and outdoor navigation and manipulation tasks. A specific case study is described where the proposed modular architecture allows to easily switch to a semi-teleoperated mode: the 2017 Mohamed Bin Zayed International Robotics Challenge, where our team ranked third in the Grand Challenge in collaboration with the Czech Technical University in Prague, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Lincoln (UK).     

Modeling pre-evacuation delay by occupants in World Trade Center Towers 1 and 2 on September 11, 2001

On September 11, 2001, two airplanes hit World Trade Center (WTC) 1 and 2 sixteen minutes apart, which forced one of the largest evacuations from high-rise buildings in US history. Path analysis is used to analyze telephone data obtained from WTC survivors to empirically determine if the theories from community evacuation hold true for building fires. Results show that community evacuation theories do hold true for building fires; specifically in WTC 1 and 2. In general, longer pre-evacuation times were predicted by witnessing a higher number of environmental cues, being on a lower floor in the building, obtaining more information, seeking additional information, and performing a higher number of pre-evacuation actions. A deeper understanding of human behavior in fire events can be gained by using path analysis techniques, which can ultimately improve evacuation education, training, and procedures for high-rise buildings across the world as well as future evacuation prediction techniques.     

Determination of fumonisin B1 in bovine milk by LC–MS/MS

The aim of the present work was to develop a sensitive and selective method for identification and quantification of fumonisin B1 (FB1) in bovine milk. FB1 was isolated by immunoaffinity column and was detected using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry in positive electrospray ionization (ESI+).The LOQ of the method was 0.1 μg/kg that was lower than the others reported in the literature. The high coefficient of determination (R² > 0.99) obtained in the range of 0.1–10.0 μg/kg, the good recovery (84%) and relative standard deviation (7%) of the proposed method ensure correct fumonisin detection in milk even at relatively low concentrations.The developed method was applied on different commercial samples in order to test its efficacy. FB1 was found above the LOQ in eight out of 10 samples analysed and the average level of contamination found was 0.26 μg/kg.     

RHEOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF NON-NEWTONIAN FLUIDS WITH A NOVEL VISCOMETER

A hydrostatic head viscometer and its novel viscosity equation were developed to determine flow characteristics of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids. The objective of this research is to test capabilities of the hydrostatic head viscometer and its novel non-Newtonian viscosity equation by characterizing rheological behaviors of well-known polyethylene oxide aqueous solutions as non-Newtonian fluids with 60 wt.% sucrose aqueous solution as a reference/calibration fluid. Non-Newtonian characteristics of 0.3-0.7 wt.% polyethylene oxide aqueous solutions were extensively investigated with the hydrostatic head viscometer and its non-Newtonian viscosity equation over a 294-306 K temperature range, a 0.14-40 Reynolds number range, and a 55-784 s^-1 shear rate range at atmospheric pressure. Dynamic viscosity values of 60 wt.% sucrose aqueous solution were determined with the calibrated hydrostatic head viscometer and its Newtonian viscosity equation over a 3-5 Reynolds number range at 299.15 K and atmospheric pressure and compared with the literature dynamic viscosity value.     

MMPI-A patterns of male juvenile delinquents.

The usefulness of the MMPI-Adolescent (MMPI-A [J. N. Butcher et al, 1992]) was examined for 162 delinquent boys in a state training school. Their base rates, patterns, and configurations on all the MMPI-A scales and subscales were determined and compared with those of the 805 nondelinquent male adolescents in the MMPI-A standardization sample and with the original MMPI patterns of 7,783 delinquents identified in a literature review. The most prominent clinical scales were 4, 6, and 9, and 49/94 was the most frequent 2-point code. The study confirmed 14 of 18 hypotheses for mean differences on the 38 MMPI-A validity, clinical, supplementary, and content scales, and also found significant mean differences on 33 of the other 51 MMPI-A scales and subscales, 13 of which were large enough to be clinically meaningful. Most of the MMPI-A patterns and configurations were consistent with the literature on male juvenile delinquents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)