It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Saturday, July 30, 2022
Equity and exclusion issues in cashless fare payment systems for public transportation
Researchers Aaron Golub, John MacArthur and Sangwan Lee of Portland State University, Anne Brown of the University of Oregon, and Candace Brakewood and Abubakr Ziedan of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville have published a new journal article in the September 2022 volume of Transportation Research: Interdisciplinary Perspectives.
Rapidly-evolving payment technologies have motivated public transit agencies in the United States to adopt new fare payment systems, including mobile ticketing applications. The article, "Equity and exclusion issues in cashless fare payment systems for public transportation," explores the challenges facing transit riders in the U.S. who lack access to bank accounts or smartphones, and potential solutions to ensure that a transition to cashless transit fares does not exclude riders. Learn more about the project and read an open-access version of the final report.
The study asks: who is most at risk of being excluded by the transition to new fare payment systems and how would riders pay transit fares if cash payment options were reduced or eliminated? Researchers answer these questions using intercept surveys of 2,303 transit riders in Portland-Gresham, OR, Eugene, OR, and Denver, CO.
The article's authors explore existing research on emerging fare payment systems, as well as research on disparities in access to the various pieces of the new payment ecosystem, including credit and banking, Internet and smartphones. They then present qualitative and quantitative analyses used to investigate this topic, and conclude with a discussion of results and implications for policy and planning. The paper is based on a pooled-fund study supported by the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC). Read more about the original study: Applying an Equity Lens to Automated Payment Solutions for Public Transportation.
Photo courtesy of TriMet
The National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) is one of seven U.S. Department of Transportation national university transportation centers. NITC is a program of the Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University. This PSU-led research partnership also includes the Oregon Institute of Technology, University of Arizona, University of Oregon, University of Texas at Arlington and University of Utah. We pursue our theme — improving mobility of people and goods to build strong communities — through research, education and technology transfer.
Invasions by amphibians and reptiles – when species spread beyond the regions they are native to – are estimated to have cost the global economy at least US$ 17.0 billion between 1986 and 2020, according to a study published in Scientific Reports. The findings highlight the need for more effective policies to limit the spread of current and future amphibian and reptile invasions.
Species invasions can lead to damage including the displacement or extinction of native species, the spread of disease and crop losses. Ismael Soto and colleagues examined the worldwide costs of amphibian and reptile invasions using data from the InvaCost database, which compiles estimates of the economic costs of species invasions. Data was taken from peer-reviewed articles, documents on governmental, academic and non-governmental organisation webpages and documents retrieved from biological invasion experts.
The authors found that between 1986 and 2020 the total cost of reptile and amphibian invasions exceeded US$ 17.0 billion. Of this, amphibian invasions cost US$ 6.3 billion, reptile invasions cost US$ 10.4 billion and invasions involving both amphibians and reptiles cost US$ 0.3 billion. 96.3% (US$ 6.0 billion) of costs due to amphibians were attributed to a single species, the American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus), while 99.3% (US$ 10.3 billion) of costs due to reptiles were attributed solely to the brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis). 99.7% (US$ 6.3 billion) of costs due to amphibians were associated with managing invasions, for example by eradicating invasive species. 96.6% (US$ 10.0 billion) of costs due to reptiles were associated with damages caused by invasions, such as crop yield losses. For amphibian invasions, 96.3% (US$ 6.0 billion) of economic costs were incurred by European countries while 99.6% (US$ 10.4 billion) of costs due to reptile invasions were incurred by Oceania and Pacific Island countries.
The authors suggest that the economic costs of amphibian and reptile invasions could be reduced by investing in measures to limit global transport of invasive species and to enable the early detection of invasions. This could reduce the need for long-term management of species invasions and the scale of damage incurred, they add.
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Article details
Global economic costs of herpetofauna invasions
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-15079-9
Corresponding Authors:
Ismael Soto University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Vodňany, Czech Republic Email: isma-sa@hotmail.com
Phillip Haubrock Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Gelnhausen, Germany Email: phillip.haubrock@senckenberg.de
LA JOLLA, CA—Four billion years ago, the Earth looked very different than it does today, devoid of life and covered by a vast ocean. Over the course of millions of years, in that primordial soup, life emerged. Researchers have long theorized how molecules came together to spark this transition. Now, scientists at Scripps Research have discovered a new set of chemical reactions that use cyanide, ammonia and carbon dioxide—all thought to be common on the early earth—to generate amino acids and nucleic acids, the building blocks of proteins and DNA.
“We’ve come up with a new paradigm to explain this shift from prebiotic to biotic chemistry,” says Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy, PhD, an associate professor of chemistry at Scripps Research, and lead author of the new paper, published July 28, 2022 in the journal Nature Chemistry. “We think the kind of reactions we’ve described are probably what could have happened on early earth.”
In addition to giving researchers insight into the chemistry of the early earth, the newly discovered chemical reactions are also useful in certain manufacturing processes, such as the generation of custom labeled biomolecules from inexpensive starting materials.
Earlier this year, Krishnamurthy’s group showed how cyanide can enable the chemical reactions that turn prebiotic molecules and water into basic organic compounds required for life. Unlike previously proposed reactions, this one worked at room temperature and in a wide pH range. The researchers wondered whether, under the same conditions, there was a way to generate amino acids, more complex molecules that compose proteins in all known living cells.
In cells today, amino acids are generated from precursors called α-keto acids using both nitrogen and specialized proteins called enzymes. Researchers have found evidence that α-keto acids likely existed early in Earth’s history. However, many have hypothesized that before the advent of cellular life, amino acids must have been generated from completely different precursors, aldehydes, rather than α-keto acids, since enzymes to carry out the conversion did not yet exist. But that idea has led to debate about how and when the switch occurred from aldehydes to α-keto acids as the key ingredient for making amino acids.
After their success using cyanide to drive other chemical reactions, Krishnamurthy and his colleagues suspected that cyanide, even without enzymes, might also help turn α-keto acids into amino acids. Because they knew nitrogen would be required in some form, they added ammonia—a form of nitrogen that would have been present on the early earth. Then, through trial and error, they discovered a third key ingredient: carbon dioxide. With this mixture, they quickly started seeing amino acids form.
“We were expecting it to be quite difficult to figure this out, and it turned out to be even simpler than we had imagined,” says Krishnamurthy. “If you mix only the keto acid, cyanide and ammonia, it just sits there. As soon as you add carbon dioxide, even trace amounts, the reaction picks up speed.”
Because the new reaction is relatively similar to what occurs today inside cells—except for being driven by cyanide instead of a protein—it seems more likely to be the source of early life, rather than drastically different reactions, the researchers say. The research also helps bring together two sides of a long-standing debate about the importance of carbon dioxide to early life, concluding that carbon dioxide was key, but only in combination with other molecules.
In the process of studying their chemical soup, Krishnamurthy’s group discovered that a byproduct of the same reaction is orotate, a precursor to nucleotides that make up DNA and RNA. This suggests that the same primordial soup, under the right conditions, could have given rise to a large number of the molecules that are required for the key elements of life.
“What we want to do next is continue probing what kind of chemistry can emerge from this mixture,” says Krishnamurthy. “Can amino acids start forming small proteins? Could one of those proteins come back and begin to act as an enzyme to make more of these amino acids?”
In addition to Krishnamurthy, authors of the study, “Prebiotic Synthesis of α-Amino Acids and Orotate from α-Ketoacids Potentiates Transition to Extant Metabolic Pathways,” are Sunil Pulletikurti, Mahipal Yadav and Greg Springsteen.
This work was supported by funding from the NSF Center for Chemical Evolution (CHE-1504217), a NASA Exobiology grant (80NSSC18K1300) and a grant from the Simons Foundation (327124FY19).
About Scripps Research
Scripps Research is an independent, nonprofit biomedical institute ranked the most influential in the world for its impact on innovation by Nature Index. We are advancing human health through profound discoveries that address pressing medical concerns around the globe. Our drug discovery and development division, Calibr, works hand-in-hand with scientists across disciplines to bring new medicines to patients as quickly and efficiently as possible, while teams at Scripps Research Translational Institute harness genomics, digital medicine and cutting-edge informatics to understand individual health and render more effective healthcare. Scripps Research also trains the next generation of leading scientists at our Skaggs Graduate School, consistently named among the top 10 US programs for chemistry and biological sciences. Learn more at www.scripps.edu.
JOURNAL
Nature Chemistry
ARTICLE TITLE
Prebiotic Synthesis of α-Amino Acids and Orotate from α-Ketoacids Potentiates Transition to Extant Metabolic Pathways
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
28-Jul-2022
HKU Laboratory for Space Research put a positive spin on the Buckyball ‘C60’: Its potential for high level ionisation and as the origin for some of the Mysterious Unidentified Infrared Emission Bands seen in the Universe
IMAGE: SOLAR SYSTEM ILLUSTRATION OF THE C60 AND SOME OF ITS HIGHLY POSITIVELY CHARGED CATIONS, REPRESENTING THEORETICALLY CALCULATED NORMAL MODES VIBRATION MOTIONS AND RELATIVE MOLECULAR SIZES (VOLUMES). C6010+, THE LITTLE BUCKY, IS THE ONLY CHARGED FULLERENE INHERITED FROM THE SYMMETRY OF C60. THE BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER IS THE THEORETICALLY PREDICATED IR FINGERPRINT OF THIS EXOTIC SPECIES (BROWN PROFILE), OVERLAPPED ONTO THE ASTRONOMICALLY OBSERVED EMISSION SPECTRUM OF TC1 PLANETARY NEBULA WITHIN THE SAME WAVELENGTH REGION.view more
CREDIT: SEYEDABDOLREZA SADJADI AND QUENTIN ANDREW PARKER
Is there now at long last some plausible theoretical basis for the molecular origins and carriers of at least some of the most prominent so called ‘UIE’ (unidentified Infrared Emission) bands that have mystified astronomers for decades?
The theoretical astrophysicists and astrochemists at the Laboratory for Space Research (LSR) and Department of Physics at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) seem to think so (at least in theory) in a peer-reviewed paper just published in the prestigious ‘The Astrophysical Journal.’
A team led by Dr SeyedAbdolreza SADJADI, member of the LSR, and Professor Quentin PARKER, Director of the LSR in the Department of Physics, has now placed some interesting theoretical work into the mix. It identifies highly ionised species of the famous football shaped ‘Buckminster’ fullerene C60 molecule as plausible carriers of at least some of the most prominent and enigmatic UIE bands that have challenged astronomers since they were first discovered and studied over 30 years ago.
First, Dr Sadjadi and Professor Parker proved theoretically that C60 could survive, in stable states, from being ionised up to +26 (i.e. 26 of the 60 electrons in the buckyball being removed) before the buckyball disintegrates (Sadjadi & Parker 2021). Now they have shown, via applying first principles quantum chemical calculations, what theoretical mid-infrared signatures of these ionised forms of fullerene can be expected. The results are extremely interesting and provocative and may at last point the way forward to at least a partial resolution of this enduring astrophysical mystery.
Professor Parker said, ‘I am extremely honoured to have played a part in the astonishingly complex quantum chemistry investigations undertaken by Dr Sadjadi that have led to these very exciting results. They concern first the theoretical proof that Fullerene–Carbon 60–can survive to very high levels of ionisation and now this work shows the infrared emission signatures from such species are an excellent match for some of the most prominent Unidentified Infrared Emission features known. This should help re-invigorate this area of research.’
The HKU lead team found that some of these positively charged fullerenes show strong emission bands that match extremely well the position of key astronomical UIE emission features at 11.21, 16.40 and 20-21 micrometers (μm). This makes them key target species for identification of the currently unidentified UIE features and provides strong motivation for future astronomical observations across the mid infrared wavelength range to test these theoretical findings. They also found that the IR signatures of the group of these C60 cations with q = 1 − 6 are well separated from the 6.2 μm bands, that are associated with free/isolated aromatic hydrocarbon molecules (so called PAH’s, another potential carrier of UIE). This significantly aids in their identification from other potential carriers. This finding is particularly important for discrimination and exploration of the coexistence of complex hydrocarbon organics and fullerenes in astronomical sources.
Dr Sadjadi said, ‘In our first paper we showed theoretically that highly ionised fullerenes can exist and survive the harsh and chaotic environment of space. It is like asking how much air you can push out of a football ball and the ball still maintains its shape. In this paper we worked with two other leading astrophysicists and planetary scientists Professor Yong ZHANG and Dr Chih-Hao HSIA , both ex-HKU staff but still affiliated to the LSR, to determine the molecular vibrational notes of a celestial symphony, ie the spectral features that these ionised buckyballs would play/produce. We then hunted for them in space showing their notes/signatures are easily distinguishable from PAHs.’
For media enquiries, please contact Ms Casey To, External Relations Officer (Tel: 3917-4948; email: caseyto@hku.hk) and Ms Cindy Chan, Assistant Communications Director of Faculty of Science (Tel: 3917-5286; email: cindycst@hku.hk).
Reference: 1. It remains a cage: ionisation tolerance of C60 fullerene in planetary nebulae Sadjadi, SeyedAbdolreza ; Parker, Quentin Andrew in Fullerenes, Nanotubes and Carbon Nanostructures, vol. 29, issue 8, pp. 620-625; Pub Date:August 2021
Long periods in space damage bone structure irreparably in some cases and can make parts of the human skeleton age prematurely by up to 10 years. This is what a sport scientist at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) has now discovered in conjunction with other researchers from Germany, Canada and the USA. Adapted training programs in conjunction with medication could provide better protection for astronauts on future space missions. The researchers have published their findings, which will now be also be used for treating rheumatic conditions in clinical practice, in the scientific journal Nature Scientific Reports. Will humans one day fly to Mars? Such a mission has been the subject of debate for several decades and does not depend simply on technical requirements. “If human beings are in space for three years at a time, we need to keep an eye on the health risks involved as well,” says Dr. Anna-Maria Liphardt. “This already applies today for missions where astronauts are subject to zero-gravity conditions for usually no longer than six months.”
After space travel: Bones age by up to ten years Liphardt is a sports scientist and gained her doctoral degree at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the German Sport University Cologne and now researches the effects of rheumatic-inflammatory diseases on the human skeleton at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen. In conjunction with fellow researchers from Germany, Canada and the USA, she investigated how bone structure changes in space and recovers back on Earth in a long-term study. 14 men and three women were checked before their flights into space as well as six and twelve months after their return. The bone density and strength of the tibia and radius (shin bone and lower arm bone) were measured as well as the trabecular microstructure inside the bones. The bone turnover was also measured using biomarkers in their blood and urine. The results are worrying: Even twelve months after the end of their missions in space, nine out of the 17 astronauts had not completely recovered and had a reduction in bone strength and bone mineral density of up to 2 percent. “This may not sound like much, but it corresponds to age-related bone loss of at least a decade,” explains Anna-Maria Liphardt. “For those affected, this means they will have to expect a much earlier onset of osteoporosis and susceptibility for fractures.” In contrast to aging on Earth, the inner structure of astronauts’ bones are affected more than the periosteum on the exterior surface. Some of the astronauts examined even have irreparable damage to the rod-shaped units or trabeculae. “We were able to demonstrate that regeneration is more difficult the longer the astronauts were in space,” says Liphardt.
Training and medication must be adapted Astronauts with higher bone turnover before spaceflight also had more significant problems with bone regeneration. “Bone turnover is the process by which cells are broken down and new ones form,” explains Liphardt. “People with higher activity levels have a higher bone turnover and the challenge is to keep up these activity levels during missions in space.” Even though the ISS has various types of equipment such as a running machine, exercise bike and a weight training program for the astronauts to maintain their levels of activity, adapting the training programs during spaceflight to better meet the individual needs of the astronauts is crucial. Liphardt: “Developing new sports equipment that works in zero-gravity conditions and that does not take up much space is particularly challenging.” Astronauts could also benefit from medication if it is taken during spaceflight in addition to exercise programs. This medication includes, for example, bisphosphonates, which are already successfully used for treating and preventing osteoporosis because they prevent bone degradation. “Bisphosphonates are already used by NASA, but we do not yet know enough about exactly how they work in microgravity,” explains Liphardt. “We recommend conducting further systematic research into the combination of medical therapy and physical exercise.”
Findings for clinical practice The researchers’ study not only supplied findings for future missions to space. Muscle and bone loss due to a lack of activity are also key problems in chronic diseases here on Earth. “In the field of rheumatology, it is not always clear which damage is caused by the inflammation and which by inactivity,” says Liphardt. “Our study could thus also lay the foundations for new or adapted therapies.” A new generation of high-resolution peripheral quantitative computer tomography (HR-pQCT) machines used during the study with the astronauts could be beneficial for these therapies. These machines are capable of producing high resolution images of the interior structure of bones. “An algorithm was used in older machines in order to generate the individual parameters of the microstructure from the images it produced,” explains Liphardt. “This led to imprecise results, especially in trabecular changes to the bone.” The Department of Medicine 3 at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen now has a latest generation HR-pQCT machine – which is set to benefit not astronauts but patients suffering from diseases of the muscular and skeletal systems.
Exposure to urban greenness leads to greater mental health benefits for women, although they are less likely to use these green spaces as frequently for reasons mainly related to safety concerns. This is one of the main conclusions of a study led by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) that analyses the relationship between mental health and exposure to urban greenness with a deeper look into the differences in results depending on gender and sex.
The study, recently published in the scientific journal Health and Place, finds that the effects of urban greenness on mental health are unequally distributed in women when compared to men. Specifically, the results suggest that women benefit more from contact with green spaces for walking and leisure but are less likely to use them than men. This could be due to women's safety concerns in these urban areas, as well as gender norms and social roles. "It could also be explained by the fact that the quality and characteristics of these spaces are not designed and planned for women the same way as they are for men”, explains Marta-Beatriz Fernández Núñez, researcher at ICTA-UAB and first author of the study.
The research team, which includes scientists from the Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTFC), stresses that from a policy and planning perspective, there is a need to ensure greater gendered equity and justice in greenness. They therefore call on park planners and designers to carefully plan new greenness with the voice of female residents, especially children.
New planning programs should include designs for recreational, natural and safety features that particularly respond to their individual and sociocultural needs and preferences. "For example, addressing environmental and social cues in parks through better maintenance and design could help mitigate some of the most pressing safety issues for women," says Fernandez-Nunez. In addition, designers and planners could add pathways easy for strollers and playgrounds for kids so that both children and parents could benefit from urban greenness at the same time. Otherwise, cities risk excluding residents.
The study also highlights that the existing scientific literature does not adequately use the terminology related to sex and gender in association with mental health outcomes in an urban greenness environment. Therefore, they consider that future studies need to analyse in-depth the societal gender differences associated with mental health and urban greenness and use the right terminology for it to properly assign characteristics and uses of greenness with mental health outcomes and their pathways.
IMAGE: IMAGE OF ONE OF THE NASAL PLUGS TO TACKLE NOSEBLEEDS DEVELOPED FROM FOOD INDUSTRY WASTE.view more
CREDIT: NAGORE IRAOLA. UPV/EHU.
Nosebleeds, also known as epistaxis, are one of the most frequent otolaryngologic (ENT) emergencies worldwide. It is estimated that 60% of the world's population will experience an episode of epistaxis at least once in their lifetime, although only 6-10% of them will seek medical attention. There are several methods for treating epistaxis and one of the most popular ones with a high success rate is nasal packing. However, the choice of the most appropriate nasal plug is vital to the outcome of the treatment. The ideal nasal plug should promote haemostasis –the set of biological mechanisms to stop haemorrhagic processes– and be comfortable for the patient, thus reducing damage to the nasal mucosa.
Edorta Santos-Vizcaíno, a researcher in the NanoBioCel group and one of the authors of the work, pointed out that in this joint work by the UPV/EHU's NanoBioCel and BIOMAT groups, "we have shown that by-products from the food industry are a valuable, sustainable source of biomaterials that can be used to make safe, effective nasal plugs with great haemostatic properties".
"Using natural by-products of the food industry –soy protein and chitin– we developed a scaffold or spongy matrix that displays a series of very interesting physicochemical properties: it is capable of absorbing huge quantities of water or blood, it has a large surface area to bind and house cells inside it, it does not produce any kind of rejection against the material and, what is more, it partially degrades," said the UPV/EHU researcher.
Chitin is the basis of this new structure, i.e. the skeleton of the spongy material, while the soy protein is responsible for lining the structure to make the material highly biocompatible and in turn able to absorb large amounts of blood.
A green strategy
”The growing social demand to be environmentally friendly," said the UPV/EHU researcher, "led us to investigate whether the sponge-like material produced from soy protein and chitin could be used as a nasal plug for the treatment of epistaxis. To evaluate the potential of our material as a nasal plug, we analysed its use as a nasal plug in comparison with the current gold standard, Merocel®, made of synthetic materials", added Santos.
Both in vitro and in vivo tests on rats "show that the material developed has a porous microstructure with a great capacity to absorb water and blood. Our biomaterial was found to effectively promote blood clotting, displaying excellent red blood cell and platelet binding properties in comparison with Merocel®. All this is due to the intrinsic haemostatic properties of its natural components", said Edorta Santos. In addition, "we saw that it is able to shed weight in aqueous media and partially degrade within a few days when immersed in blood, a feature that is increasingly important for nasal plugs, otherwise its removal is invasive", added the researcher.
In short, "our material produced from food industry waste displayed superior mechanical and haemostatic properties compared with Merocel®", concluded Edorta Santos.
Research staff from both research groups agree that, "this work, carried out from a circular economy approach, demonstrates that a green strategy can be adopted to manufacture nasal plugs using upgraded by-products from the food industry; their haemostatic properties are even better than the gold standard in the clinical setting".
"In fact, we are currently in the process of applying for a European patent, and trying to find a company that is interested in the product with a view to bringing the idea to fruition, and willing to commit itself to this technology based on the concept of the circular economy," said Edorta Santos.
Nosebleeds, also known as epistaxis, are one of the most frequent otolaryngologic (ENT) emergencies worldwide. It is estimated that 60% of the world's population will experience an episode of epistaxis at least once in their lifetime, although only 6-10% of them will seek medical attention. There are several methods for treating epistaxis and one of the most popular ones with a high success rate is nasal packing. However, the choice of the most appropriate nasal plug is vital to the outcome of the treatment. The ideal nasal plug should promote haemostasis –the set of biological mechanisms to stop haemorrhagic processes– and be comfortable for the patient, thus reducing damage to the nasal mucosa.
Edorta Santos-Vizcaíno, a researcher in the NanoBioCel group and one of the authors of the work, pointed out that in this joint work by the UPV/EHU's NanoBioCel and BIOMAT groups, "we have shown that by-products from the food industry are a valuable, sustainable source of biomaterials that can be used to make safe, effective nasal plugs with great haemostatic properties".
"Using natural by-products of the food industry –soy protein and chitin– we developed a scaffold or spongy matrix that displays a series of very interesting physicochemical properties: it is capable of absorbing huge quantities of water or blood, it has a large surface area to bind and house cells inside it, it does not produce any kind of rejection against the material and, what is more, it partially degrades," said the UPV/EHU researcher.
Chitin is the basis of this new structure, i.e. the skeleton of the spongy material, while the soy protein is responsible for lining the structure to make the material highly biocompatible and in turn able to absorb large amounts of blood.
A green strategy
”The growing social demand to be environmentally friendly," said the UPV/EHU researcher, "led us to investigate whether the sponge-like material produced from soy protein and chitin could be used as a nasal plug for the treatment of epistaxis. To evaluate the potential of our material as a nasal plug, we analysed its use as a nasal plug in comparison with the current gold standard, Merocel®, made of synthetic materials", added Santos.
Both in vitro and in vivo tests on rats "show that the material developed has a porous microstructure with a great capacity to absorb water and blood. Our biomaterial was found to effectively promote blood clotting, displaying excellent red blood cell and platelet binding properties in comparison with Merocel®. All this is due to the intrinsic haemostatic properties of its natural components", said Edorta Santos. In addition, "we saw that it is able to shed weight in aqueous media and partially degrade within a few days when immersed in blood, a feature that is increasingly important for nasal plugs, otherwise its removal is invasive", added the researcher.
In short, "our material produced from food industry waste displayed superior mechanical and haemostatic properties compared with Merocel®", concluded Edorta Santos.
Research staff from both research groups agree that, "this work, carried out from a circular economy approach, demonstrates that a green strategy can be adopted to manufacture nasal plugs using upgraded by-products from the food industry; their haemostatic properties are even better than the gold standard in the clinical setting".
"In fact, we are currently in the process of applying for a European patent, and trying to find a company that is interested in the product with a view to bringing the idea to fruition, and willing to commit itself to this technology based on the concept of the circular economy," said Edorta Santos.
IMAGE: LECTURER MARIA JESUS LUENGO, FIRST AUTHOR OF 'ECOLOGICAL BEHAVIOUR IN TIMES OF CRISIS AND ECONOMIC WELL-BEING THROUGH A COMPARATIVE LONGITUDINAL STUDY'view more
CREDIT: FERNANDO GÓMEZ. UPV/EHU
Concern for the environment and sustainability has been extensively explored. There is evidence that there is still a gap between pro-environmental attitudes and green consumption, despite the fact that consumers are increasingly concerned about the environment and that more and more companies are marketing green products. Therefore, understanding the main factors influencing green purchasing is useful when helping organisations develop strategies for producing and marketing green products.
Consumer behaviour with respect to organic products is a complex phenomenon; it is difficult to define, it is strongly influenced by internal variables of the consumer, and it is diverse and context-dependent. The UPV/EHU departments of Economics & Business and Financial Economics II conducted a longitudinal study to explore how the economic context moderates the relationships between environmental behaviour and various factors, such as motivation, attitude, effectiveness perceived by the consumer, environmental information and marketing. So they surveyed students on the Master's in Business Administration from an Innovation and Internationalization Perspective programme of the UPV/EHU during periods of economic crisis (2008-2012) and during periods of well-being (2014-2019); the survey gathered their ecological consumption habits, ecological knowledge, transport habits, recycling habits, etc.
Economic crises affect green purchasing behaviour
The UPV/EHU lecturer María Jesús Luengo explained that "the results reveal a clear influence of the economic context, which acts as a moderator in the link between the various factors and environmental behaviour". The lecturer stressed that "knowledge pertaining to ecological issues, organic consumption, organic products, is, in principle, less than we thought, and, what is more, neither does it exert an impact when it comes to deciding whether to make an organic purchase".
Green purchasing is influenced by motivations, attitudes, effectiveness perceived by the consumer and green activism, and this influence is more pronounced in times of economic crisis. Of all these, the one that most influences green activism and green purchasing in times of crisis is motivation, followed by effectiveness perceived by the consumer. "In other words, when the consumer makes that green purchase, it really seems to him/her that he/she is doing something that is effective, something that has some kind of impact, rather than knowing whether it is good or bad," explained the PhD holder in the Department of Economics & Business. However, in times of well-being, the effects of these two main factors are similar.
"We were surprised that being a green or sustainable activist, i.e. one who separates waste or uses public transport, for example, does not play a major role in deciding whether or not to make a green purchase. It's more a matter of feeling that we are really doing something good for the benefit of ourselves, and the world," explained Luengo.
Within the marketing variables, product and price have a greater influence on green activism than product promotion and outlet in times of economic crisis, while price has no effect in times of well-being. "I think that of all the variables, price is the one that varies the most when it comes to making that decision. The price of organic products has an impact when it comes to making an organic purchase in times of crisis. In times of economic boom, however, price is of little importance, whereas distribution is more important (i.e. how convenient it is to get hold of these products), for example," she said.
The influence of environmental information is greater in times of crisis than in times of well-being. So, during economic crises the dissemination of environmental information among consumers plays an important role in environmental attitudes, which in turn positively influence green purchasing. However, the high prices of organic products negatively affect organic purchasing in times of crisis, which could explain the lower levels of organic purchasing found.
IMAGE: RESEARCHERS DESIGNED A SUCROSE-MODIFIED AQUEOUS ELECTROLYTE THAT INCREASES THE MOBILITY OF ZINC ION IN RESPONSE TO THE ELECTRIC FIELD AND SUCCESSFULLY ACHIEVES DENDRITE-FREE ZINC BATTERIES WITHOUT COMPROMISING ELECTROCHEMICAL PERFORMANCE.view more
CREDIT: NANO RESEARCH, TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY
Due to their low cost and environmental friendliness, aqueous zinc batteries have the potential to play an important role in future energy storage systems for applications like the power grid. However, a safety concern has slowed the progress of this emerging technology.
In a July 28 study published in Nano Research, Chinese researchers presented a solution that involves chemically modifying common table sugar to stabilize the zinc ion environment and secure future applications.
From electric cars to wind and solar power systems, an increasingly diverse range of power-hungry applications continue to boost demands for large-scale, low-cost energy storage. Aqueous Zinc (Zn) batteries quickly rose to the top as one of the more promising options for sustainably meeting the demand, according to the study.
“They are high safety and cost-effective compared to current lithium-ion batteries with flammable organic electrolytes,” said paper author Meinan Liu, associate professor of nano-tech and nano-bionics at the University of Science and Technology of China. “In addition, Zn anode presents super high theoretical capacity, which makes these Zn batteries even more promising for applications like future grid energy storage.”
However, when the zinc ion (Zn2+) concentration on the surface of the anode drops to zero, dendrites start growing. Uncontrolled Zn dendrite growth deteriorates electrochemical performance and pose a serious threat to safe operation.
“These dendrites can penetrate the separator and cause the battery to short-circuit,” Liu said.
Past studies have shown that adjusting the solvent environment (called “solvation structure”) can increase the mobility of Zn2+ in response to the electric field successfully suppresses the growth of dendrites. The problem was that these previous adjustments — like introducing other salts or including fewer water molecules — ended up decreasing the ionic conductivity of the system as well.
There was a fundamental understanding gap between Zn2+ solvation structure and its mobility, explained by Liu. This was a key factor affecting the dendrite growth and stability of Zn anode.
In attempt to bridge this gap, a collaborative research team from multiple Chinese institutions tried a new tack: introducing common table sugar with multiple hydroxyl groups (a hydrogen and an oxygen bound together) into the electrolyte to adjust solvation structure of Zn2+.
By conducting atomistic simulations and experiments, the research team confirmed that the sucrose molecules enhanced mobility and stopped dendrite growth without compromising stability. In fact, this method provided unlooked-for benefits as well:
“Findings confirm that sucrose molecules in the solvation sheath not only enhance the mobility, ensuring fast Zn2+ kinetics, but also protects the Zn anode from water corrosion and successfully achieves Zn dendrite-free deposition and side reaction suppression,” Liu said.
This demonstrates the great potential of using this simple sucrose-modification for future high-performance zinc batteries and brings the research field a step closer to the ultimate goal of achieving a safe, green, high-performance Zn battery.
“Hopefully this safe, low-cost Zn battery could be applied in grid energy storage,” Liu said.
This technique also lends itself to additional variations and modifications: Zn-carbon cells deliver higher energy density and improved stability, suggesting a great potential application of sucrose-modified electrolytes for future Zn batteries.
In future studies, the researchers will also be considering possible use cases and roadblocks for aqueous zinc batteries, specifically how they might handle extreme temperatures.
“The aqueous electrolyte of Zn battery will be frozen in low temperature, so we are looking into how to address the temperature influence on battery performance,” Liu said.
Other contributors include Yufang Cao, Linge Li, Haifeng Tu, Yuzhen Hu, Shuang Cheng, Hongzhen Lin, Jiangtao Di, and Yongyi Zhang from theSchool of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, University of Science and Technology of China; Yufang Cao, Xiaohui Tang, Linge Li, Haifeng Tu,Yuzhen Hu, Shuang Cheng, Hongzhen Lin, Jiangtao Ii, and Yongyi Zhang are also affiliated with the Key Laboratory of Multifunctional Nanomaterials and Smart Systems, Advanced Materials Division, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as are Xiaohui Tang, Yingying Yu, and Liwen Zhang;Yufang Cao,Liwen Zhang,Jiangtao Di, and Yongyi Zhang are also with the Division of Nanomaterials and Jiangxi Key Lab of Carbonene Materials, Jiangxi Institute of Nanotechnology.
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Key Research and Development Program of China, the Science and Technology Project of Jiangxi Province, Outstanding Youth Fund of Jiangxi Province, Jiangxi Double Thousand Talent Program, and Science Technology Major Project of Nanchang.
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