- A CASE STUDY ON BIODEGRADABLE COMPOSITIONS BASED ON NATURAL POLYMERS

2015 ◽  
pp. 260-273
Keyword(s):  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn J. Wright ◽  
Matthew I. Gibson ◽  
Joseph A. Christie-Oleza

AbstractRecalcitrant polymers are widely distributed in the environment. This includes natural polymers, such as chitin, but synthetic polymers are becoming increasingly abundant, for which biodegradation is uncertain. Distribution of labour in microbial communities commonly evolves in nature, particularly for arduous processes, suggesting a community may be better at degrading recalcitrant compounds than individual microorganisms. Artificial selection of microbial communities with better degradation potential has seduced scientists for over a decade, but the method has not been systematically optimised nor applied to polymer degradation. Using chitin as a case study, we successfully selected for microbial communities with enhanced chitinase activities but found that continuous optimisation of incubation times between selective generations was of utmost importance. The analysis of the community composition over the entire selection process revealed fundamental aspects in microbial ecology: when incubation times between generations were optimal, the system was dominated byGammaproteobacteria, main bearers of chitinase enzymes and drivers of chitin degradation, before being succeeded by cheating, cross-feeding and grazing organisms.ImportanceArtificial selection is a powerful and atractive technique that can enhance the biodegradation of a recalcitrant polymer and other pollutants by microbial communities. We show, for the first time, that the success of artificially selecting microbial communities requires an optimisation of the incubation times between generations when implementing this method. Hence, communities need to be transferred at the peak of the desired activity in order to avoid community drift and replacement of the efficient biodegrading community by cheaters, cross-feeders and grazers.


2015 ◽  
Vol 87 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 1075-1084 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alina Sionkowska

AbstractA short overview of recent advances in studies of the interactions between natural polymers and application of polymers from natural sources as components of the blends for biomedical and cosmetic applications is presented. This work is focused on the blends of collagen, chitosan, silk fibroin and keratin. These bioinspired and biobased materials can be good alternative for materials based on synthetic polymers. The case study of the blends made of collagen and keratin hydrolysate is presented.


2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (01) ◽  
pp. 102-129
Author(s):  
ALBERTO MARTÍN ÁLVAREZ ◽  
EUDALD CORTINA ORERO

AbstractUsing interviews with former militants and previously unpublished documents, this article traces the genesis and internal dynamics of the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (People's Revolutionary Army, ERP) in El Salvador during the early years of its existence (1970–6). This period was marked by the inability of the ERP to maintain internal coherence or any consensus on revolutionary strategy, which led to a series of splits and internal fights over control of the organisation. The evidence marshalled in this case study sheds new light on the origins of the armed Salvadorean Left and thus contributes to a wider understanding of the processes of formation and internal dynamics of armed left-wing groups that emerged from the 1960s onwards in Latin America.


2020 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Lifshitz ◽  
T. M. Luhrmann

Abstract Culture shapes our basic sensory experience of the world. This is particularly striking in the study of religion and psychosis, where we and others have shown that cultural context determines both the structure and content of hallucination-like events. The cultural shaping of hallucinations may provide a rich case-study for linking cultural learning with emerging prediction-based models of perception.


2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Povinelli ◽  
Gabrielle C. Glorioso ◽  
Shannon L. Kuznar ◽  
Mateja Pavlic

Abstract Hoerl and McCormack demonstrate that although animals possess a sophisticated temporal updating system, there is no evidence that they also possess a temporal reasoning system. This important case study is directly related to the broader claim that although animals are manifestly capable of first-order (perceptually-based) relational reasoning, they lack the capacity for higher-order, role-based relational reasoning. We argue this distinction applies to all domains of cognition.


2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penny Van Bergen ◽  
John Sutton

Abstract Sociocultural developmental psychology can drive new directions in gadgetry science. We use autobiographical memory, a compound capacity incorporating episodic memory, as a case study. Autobiographical memory emerges late in development, supported by interactions with parents. Intervention research highlights the causal influence of these interactions, whereas cross-cultural research demonstrates culturally determined diversity. Different patterns of inheritance are discussed.


Author(s):  
D. L. Callahan

Modern polishing, precision machining and microindentation techniques allow the processing and mechanical characterization of ceramics at nanometric scales and within entirely plastic deformation regimes. The mechanical response of most ceramics to such highly constrained contact is not predictable from macroscopic properties and the microstructural deformation patterns have proven difficult to characterize by the application of any individual technique. In this study, TEM techniques of contrast analysis and CBED are combined with stereographic analysis to construct a three-dimensional microstructure deformation map of the surface of a perfectly plastic microindentation on macroscopically brittle aluminum nitride.The bright field image in Figure 1 shows a lg Vickers microindentation contained within a single AlN grain far from any boundaries. High densities of dislocations are evident, particularly near facet edges but are not individually resolvable. The prominent bend contours also indicate the severity of plastic deformation. Figure 2 is a selected area diffraction pattern covering the entire indentation area.


1982 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 314-322
Author(s):  
GI Roth ◽  
RB Bridges ◽  
AT Brown ◽  
R Calmes ◽  
TT Lillich ◽  
...  

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