Assessing changes on poly(ethylene terephthalate) properties after recycling: Mechanical recycling in laboratory versus postconsumer recycled material

Keeping rheological, mechanical and thermal properties of virgin poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, is necessary to assure the quality of second-market applications. A comparative study of these properties has been undertaken in virgin, mechanical recycled and commercial recycled PET samples.     

Polymer-derived ceramic/graphene oxide architected composite with high electrical conductivity and enhanced thermal resistance

A low temperature method for the fabrication of architected ceramic composites contining graphene is developed based on the infiltration of lightweight graphene oxide (GO) micro-lattices with a preceramic polymer. Self-supported highly porous three-dimensional (3D) GO structures fabricated by direct ink writing are infiltrated with a liquid organic-polysilazane (a compound of Si, C, H, N), and subsequently pyrolyzed at temperatures of 800–1000?ºC to activate the ceramic conversion. These ceramic composites replicate the patterned GO skeleton and, whereas the graphene network provides the conductive path for the composite (electrical conductivity in the range 0.2–4?S?cm^?1), the ceramic wrapping serves as a protective barrier against atmosphere, temperature (up to 900?°C in air) and even direct flame. These structured composites also show hydrophobicity (wetting angle above 120°) and better load bearing capacity than the corresponding 3D GO lattice. The process is very versatile, being applicable to different liquid precursors.     

Impact of thermoplastic extrusion process on chemical,nutritional, technological and sensory properties of gluten-free breakfast cereals from pigmented rice

The black rice and red rice varieties cultivated in Brazil are rich in dietary fibres, proteins, and phenolic compounds with great antioxidant potential, being a promising alternative for the production of healthy gluten-free snacks. In this study, pigmented rice flours and their respective extrudates were characterised for the nutrient profile, phenolic compounds, antioxidant capacity, technological properties and colour aspects, and the results were compared through heat map analysis. Black rice snacks presented better nutrient and phenolic profiles, while the red rice snacks stood out for the expansion and texture properties. Both breakfast cereals were nutritive, gluten-free, hypoallergenic, naturally coloured (no need to add artificial colorants) and presented good sensory acceptance, with the higher scores for the attributes shape, size, colour and crispness.     

Fast Sequential Importance Sampling to Estimate the Graph Reliability Polynomial

The reliability polynomial of a graph counts its connected subgraphs of various sizes. Algorithms based on sequential importance sampling (SIS) have been proposed to estimate a graph’s reliability polynomial. We develop an improved SIS algorithm for estimating the reliability polynomial. The new algorithm runs in expected time O(mlogn α(m,n)) at worst and ≈m in practice, compared to Θ(m ²) for the previous algorithm. We analyze the error bounds of this algorithm, including comparison to alternative estimation algorithms. In addition to the theoretical analysis, we discuss methods for estimating the variance and describe experimental results on a variety of random graphs.     

Regionalization of housing policies? An exploratory study of Andalusia,Catalonia and the Basque Country

The Spanish home ownership sector has been hit hard by the economic crisis. Repossessions stand at around half a million in the period from 2008 to 2014. This article investigates how the authorities, both at the level of the Spanish state and of the autonomous communities (regions), have responded to this problem. We investigated whether they assist troubled home owners and aim to design a less risky housing system, with more (social) rental housing. Our research in Catalonia, the Basque Country and Andalusia shows that Autonomous Communities are playing an increasingly important role in this matter. This finding fits well with theories on the formation of regional varieties of welfare, which indicate that flaws of the central governments in providing social welfare, are increasingly addressed by regions. The Basque Country seems to be on the way of designing the most comprehensive system of housing policies of the three regions, including a strong Right to Housing. All three regions regard the mobilisation of the large vacant dwelling stock as an important means to provide more affordable rental housing. However, the owners are often unwilling and the three regions have proposed drastic measures, such as fines and even temporary expropriations. The central government resists such measures, because they might interfere with the proper working of the country’s financial system. It shows that certain policy competences can never be totally isolated from other policy fields and multi-level distribution of competences makes it all the more complex.