Flexible poly(styrene-ethylene-butadiene-styrene) hybrid nanofibers for bioengineering and water filtration applications

Among the thermoplastic elastomers that play important roles in the polymer industry due to their superior properties, styrene-based species and polyurethane block copolymers are of great interest. Poly(styrene-ethylene-butadiene-styrene) (SEBS) as a triblock copolymer seems to have the potential to meet many demands in different applications due to various industrial requirements where durability, biocompatibility, breaking elongation, and interfacial adhesion are important. In this study, the SEBS triblock copolymer was functionalized with natural (Satureja hortensis, SH) and synthetic (nanopowder, TiO₂) agents to obtain composite nanofibers by electrospinning and electrospraying methods for use in biomedical and water filtration applications. The results were compared with thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) composite nanofibers, which are commonly used in these fields. Here, functionalized SEBS nanofibers exhibited antibacterial effect while at the same time improving cell viability. In addition, because of successful water filtration by using the SEBS composite nanofibers, the material may have a good potential to be used comparably to TPU for the application.     

Visualizing for the Non‐Visual: Enabling the Visually Impaired to Use Visualization

The majority of visualizations on the web are still stored as raster images, making them inaccessible to visually impaired users. We propose a deep‐neural‐network‐based approach that automatically recognizes key elements in a visualization, including a visualization type, graphical elements, labels, legends, and most importantly, the original data conveyed in the visualization. We leverage such extracted information to provide visually impaired people with the reading of the extracted information. Based on interviews with visually impaired users, we built a Google Chrome extension designed to work with screen reader software to automatically decode charts on a webpage using our pipeline. We compared the performance of the back‐end algorithm with existing methods and evaluated the utility using qualitative feedback from visually impaired users.     

Combination of vegetable soup and glucan demonstrates synergistic effects on macrophage-mediated immune responses

Vegetable soup (VS), a plant-based functional food, has been used as a traditional folk medicine and is attracting attention for its ability to enhance the immune response. β-Glucan, a well-established and effective immunomodulator, has synergistic effects when used in combination with some bioactive compounds. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the synergistic immunomodulatory effects of the combination of VS and β-glucan on macrophage-mediated immune responses. β-Glucan was demonstrated to synergistically enhance the VS-stimulated immune response, including the production of interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, and nitric oxide, mainly through the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway in macrophages. In addition, this combination has the potential for further development in functional foods with immune-enhancing activity.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10068-021-00888-x.     

A study on UV-curable coatings for HD-DVD: Primer and top coats

This study relates to the development of coatings for optical discs in high-density digital versatile disc systems (HD-DVD or blue lay disk) that use a high numerical aperture of 0.85 at 405 nm wavelength and have a protective top layer over a primer layer for protection against damage and dust. Ultraviolet-curable raw materials of two acrylic monofunctional monomers ( isobornylacrylate, IBA and tetrahydrofurfurylacrylate, THFA) and two kinds of urethaneacrylate oligomers (OUMD and OUME) have been easily mixed with photoinitiators. Curing rate of these materials was characterized by FT-IR. In case of top coats, VTES (vinyltriethoxysilane) and acrylic acid were added to enhance the abrasion resistance. These two kinds of UV-curable resinous materials having no solvent were synthesized and investigated as means for making a blue ray disk having good optical and mechanical properties. In addition, dynamic characteristics including reflectivity, fluctuation of RF signal and noise level were also investigated.     

Photoelectrocatalytic humic acid degradation kinetics and effect of pH,applied potential and inorganic ions

This study addresses the removal of humic acid (HA) dissolved in an aqueous medium by a photoelectrocatalytic process. UV₂₅₄ removal and the degradation of color (Vis₄₀₀) followed pseudo‐first order kinetics. Rate constants were 1.1 × 10^?1 min^?1, 8.3 × 10^?2 min^?1 and 2.49 × 10^?2 min^?1 (R² > 0.97) for UV₂₅₄ degradation and 1.7 × 10^?1 min^?1, 6.5 × 10^?2 min^?1 and 2.0 × 10^?2 min^?1 for color removal from 5 mg dm^?3, 10 mg dm^?3 and 25 mg dm^?3 HA respectively. Following a 2 h irradiation time, 96% of the color, 98% of the humic acid and 85% of the total organic carbon (TOC) was removed from an initial 25 mg dm^?3 HA solution in the photoanode cell. Photocatalytic removal on the same photoanode was also studied in order to compare the two methods of degradation. Results showed that the photoelectrocatalytic method was much more effective than the photocatalytic method especially at high pH values and with respect to UV₂₅₄ removal. The effect of other important reaction variables, eg pH, external potential and electrolyte concentration, on the photoelectrocatalytic HA degradation was also studied. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

The hygienic working practices of maintenance personnel and equipment hygiene in the Finnish food industry

The hygienic working practices of the maintenance personnel as well as the hygiene of the equipment in the food industry were investigated with questionnaires and microbial surveys. The protective clothing, washing of hands and tools as well as avoiding foreign bodies left on the production lines should be targeted when the hygienic working practices are developed for maintenance personnel. Based on the questionnaire to food processors, packaging machines, conveyers, dispensers, slicing and cooling machines were considered the most problematic pieces of equipment hygienically mainly because of poor hygienic design. In order to improve food safety, both the training of maintenance personnel in food hygiene and equipment design should be more emphasised.     

Susceptibility of Listeria monocytogenes strains to disinfectants and chlorinated alkaline cleaners at cold temperatures

Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC), suspension and biofilm tests were used in evaluating the disinfecting efficacy of eight commercially available disinfectants and four chlorinated alkaline cleaners against 10 strains of Listeria monocytogenes at refrigerated temperatures. The adaptive response and cross-adaptation of L. monocytogenes to the disinfectants and chlorinated alkaline cleaners were investigated. The bactericidal components in the agents used were chlorine, quaternary ammonium compound (QAC), peracetic acid, ethanol and isopropanol. With some exceptions the disinfectants were efficient against the L. monocytogenes strains. One alkaline hypochlorite containing disinfectant was not efficient in the suspension and MIC tests at the lowest concentration recommended by the manufacturer. The chlorinated alkaline cleaners were effective against L. monocytogenes. A QAC-based disinfectant was found to be the least-effective agent on both glass bead-blasted polyethylene and stainless-steel surfaces. Adaptive and cross-adaptive responses of L. monocytogenes strains were observed towards the QAC-based agent, but over 2-fold increases to other agents were not observed. These results suggest that the adaptive responses of L. monocytogenes to disinfectants or chlorinated alkaline cleaners are of a minor concern.     

On studying methods for cleaning dielectric oil for impregnation of high-voltage pulse capacitors with film dielectric

Methods for cleaning commercial T-1500 dielectric oil with different adsorbents are studied. The oil is intended for impregnation of high-voltage pulse capacitors with film dielectric.     

Ozonolysis of cyclododecene

Ozonolysis of cyclododecene was carried out to produce an w-formyl carboxylic acid (12-oxododecanoic acid) which is derived from zwitterion and aldehyde moiety that are formed during the reaction. The ozonolysis was performed to examine the product distribution under such reaction variables as temperature, kinds of solvent, and presence of catalyst. The yield of polymeric ozonide, which is undesirable product, was measured to be dominantly 86% without pyridine catalyst, whereas, only 10.25% with the catalyst. The optimum reaction condition was to be in MC (methylene chloride) solvent, and in the presence of equimolar olefin and pyridine catalyst at O°C, at which the yields of polymeric ozonide, 1,12-dodecanedialdehyde, 1,12-dodecanedicarboxylic acid, and 12-oxo-dodecanoic acid were 10.25%, 26.72%, 26.31%, and 36.72%, respectively.