Inspired by the phenomenon of cell dehydration in electrolyte solutions, a simple salting out method was performed to fabricate controllable water releasing hydrogels, achieving solid–liquid ...composite lubrication within a single material.
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•MXene/PVA hydrogel with controllable water release was prepared by salting out.•The salt out effect induced densification of the hydrogel structure and water release.•The structure and properties of MXene/PVA hydrogel were significantly strengthened.•The hydrogel achieved solid–liquid composite lubrication within a single material.
Due to the unique synergistic lubrication mechanisms, solid–liquid composite lubrication has received widespread attention in tribology. However, the cumbersome preparation process and solid–liquid separated service conditions limit its practical application. Inspired by the phenomenon of cell dehydration in electrolyte solutions, a simple salting out method is employed to develop multi-crosslinked and salted out MXene/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) (MS-MP) hydrogels that can release water controllably for achieving solid–liquid composite lubrication in a single material. In this work, zinc ions (Zn2+) with both multi-crosslinking effect and salting out effect are incorporated into MXene/PVA hydrogels. These effects not only induce the formation of crystalline domains and the strengthening of network structure of hydrogels, but also release the water in hydrogels to realize the solid–liquid composite lubrication. Furthermore, the structure and tribological properties of MS-MP hydrogels can be regulated by adjusting the salting out degree, resulting in the acquisition of a structurally stable hydrogel with exceptional load-bearing capacity and superior lubrication performance. In brief, this work provides a novel and simple strategy for the fabrication of solid–liquid composite lubricating hydrogels, which shows great potential in fabricating liquid-containing lubrication materials.
Reconstruction of cell wall polysaccharide is necessary for fruit development and ripening. Arabinose is the one of neutral sugars constituting wall polysaccharides and arabinose-containing ...polysaccharides play an important role in cellular attachment. In this study, expression patterns of α- l -arabinofuranosidase genes were examined in three tomato cultivars, the processing type ‘OSKAR’, fresh market type ‘Ailsa Craig’, and their hybrid ‘Shonan Pomoron Red’, to elucidate the function of α- l -arabinofuranosidase in fruit traits such as shape, growth, firmness, and juiciness. While there was no significant difference in fruit diameter among the cultivars, longitudinal elongation was observed in ‘OSKAR’ with increasing fruit weight. The hybrid ‘Shonan Pomoron Red’ showed intermediate longitudinal growth. Compared to ‘OSKAR’ at the red ripe stage, fruit flesh softened more in ‘Ailsa Craig’ and much water was released from the pericarp disk. The rate of water release in ‘Shonan Pomoron Red’ was intermediate. The α- l -arabinofuranosidase genes, SlArf/Xyl2, LeXYL1 and LeXYL2, were highly expressed in the young fruits and SlArf/Xyl1 and LeXYL1 were up-regulated when ripening initiated. However, their expression levels did not appear to cause the difference in fruit traits such as growth rate, fruit shape, and firmness among the cultivars. On the other hand, expression levels of SlArf/Xyl1, LeARF1 and LeXYL2 were consistent with the rate of water release from ripe fruit. Therefore, α- l -arabinofuranosidase could influence fruit flesh texture and juiciness in fresh market and processing cultivars.
•Both A. chlorotica and winter wheat changed soil physico-hydraulic properties.•Macropores had higher proportion of flow (up to 92%) in the presence of earthworms.•A. chlorotica increased soil water ...holding capacity and plant growth.•Plant root – earthworm interactions had a synergistic effect.•Plant roots and earthworms increased water flow up to 39 times that of the control.
Earthworms directly and indirectly affect soil physico-hydraulic properties. We studied interactions between winter wheat and the common European earthworm Allolobophora chlorotica, testing for impacts upon soil physico-hydraulic properties. Column experiments with three different soil textures and field-relevant earthworm densities were conducted. Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) increased over time in earthworm treatments, with the increase occurring most rapidly in the plant plus earthworm treatment. After 16 weeks Ks had increased in the treatment comprising both plants and earthworms by factors of 12, 34 and 39 in the loam, silt-loam and sandy-loam soils respectively relative to controls. The presence of earthworms resulted in an 88.5% increase in the contribution of pores >3 mm diameter to water flow. In the majority of treatments, soil water-holding capacity and percentage water-stable aggregates of the 5 cm topsoil in both the plant and the earthworm treatments increased significantly compared to controls with the plant plus earthworm treatment showing the greatest increase. Plant growth was greater in the presence than absence of earthworms. Our study shows synergistic and additive effects on soil physical properties in the presence of both earthworms and plants compared to when only earthworms or plants are present. It shows that it is not just vertical-burrowing anecic earthworms that can have a significant effect on soil hydraulic properties but that field-relevant densities of endogeic earthworms such as A. chlorotica can also contribute to soil water flow regulation.
This article aims to explore the reactions and cognitions of Chinese and US societies toward Japan’s nuclear water release by comparing the methods used to construct this event in media reports from ...these two countries. Adopting corpus linguistic methods and a discursive news value analysis approach, this study examines news values through key words, nomination strategies and photographs in Chinese and US mainstream English language news coverage. The results show that by exercising overall control in multimodal news devices, the Chinese media dominantly constructed Japan’s nuclear water release as an environmentally harmful and legally irresponsible behavior for international society and demonstrated a prominent antagonistic position and critical attitude, while the US media mainly constructed Japan’s nuclear water release as a technically safe and politically rational behavior and manifested its neutral position and acceptive attitude. The results indicate that the acceptance of US society was supported by Japan’s technical treatment of nuclear waste water and by Japan’s political authorities’ justification for their behaviors, while the opposition of Chinese society was supported by their inquiries about the illegality of Japan’s behavior and their worries about the damage caused by Japan to the ocean environment and to the security of the international community. This study revealed the social cognitive grounds for supporting the political positions of the two countries in terms of Japan’s nuclear water release and demonstrated an effective sociological analysis method for examining the maritime disputes and marine strategies of different countries.
•Total dissolved gas (TDG)fluctuated periodically with high supersaturation under the intermittent discharge mode.•The intermittent supersaturated TDG caused apparent gas bubble trauma in Prenant's ...schizothoracin.•Fish suffered more severe mortality under the intermittent discharge mode than those under the regular discharge mode.•Prenant’s schizothoracin had more obvious GBT signs and suffered more severe mortality than elongate loach in TDG supersaturated water.•The ucrit decreased significantly after a flood discharge period and recovered to normal level after an interval period.
Total dissolved gas (TDG) supersaturation caused by the operation of hydropower stations can threaten the survival and swimming performance of fish species. Different modes of hydropower flood discharges (regular vs. intermittent) from the Dagangshan hydropower station in China were studied in July and September 2017 to study the impact of TDG supersaturation on two native fish species in the downstream Dadu River. The average TDG supersaturation value was 114.3% in July under the regular discharge mode. In September, the supersaturation of TDG fluctuated in response to the intermittent discharge mode with an average TDG of 119.3%. Apparent gas bubble trauma was found on young-of-the-year (YOY) Prenant's schizothoracin and elongate loach in cages at different water depths during the flood discharge period. The mortality rate of YOY Prenant's schizothoracin and elongate loach in cages with water depths of 0–1 m were 16.25% and 2.5%, respectively, in July. The fluctuating TDG levels with higher peaks in September caused higher fish mortality rates. The final mortality rates of YOY Prenant's schizothoracin and elongate loach in cages with water depths of 0–1 m were 75% and 33.75%, respectively. Fish in the cages at a 0–3 m water depth survived better than those in the cages at a 0–1 m water depth. The critical swimming speeds (Ucrit) of YOY Prenant's schizothoracin and elongate loach without exposure to TDG supersaturation were 11.64 and 16.76 BL s−1, respectively. Ucrit decreased significantly after experiencing the flood discharge period and recovered to the normal level after experiencing the corresponding interval period.
Effects of earthworms on soil physico-hydraulic and chemical properties, herbage production and wheat growth in long-term arable soils following conversion to ley were investigated. Seven intact soil ...monoliths were collected from each of four arable fields. One monolith per field served as a control. The other six were defaunated by deep-freezing; three were left defaunated (DeF) and three (DeF+E) were repopulated with earthworms to mimic pasture field density and diversity. The monoliths were planted with a grass-clover ley and inserted into pre-established ley strips in their original fields for 12 months. Hydraulic conductivity measurements at −0.5 cm tension (K0.5) were taken five times over the year. K0.5 significantly increased in summer 2017 and spring 2018 and decreased in winter 2017–18. K0.5 was significantly greater (47%) for DeF+E than DeF monoliths. By the end of the experiment, pores >1 mm diameter made a significantly greater contribution to water flow in DeF+E (98%) than DeF (95%) monoliths. After only a year of arable to ley conversion, soil bulk density significantly decreased (by 6%), and organic matter (OM) content increased (by 29%) in the DeF treatments relative to the arable soil. Earthworms improved soil quality further. Compared to DeF monoliths, DeF+E monoliths had significantly increased water-holding capacity (by 9%), plant-available water (by 21%), OM content (by 9%), grass-clover shoot dry biomass (by 58%), water-stable aggregates >250 μm (by 15%) and total N (by 3.5%). In a wheat bioassay following the field experiment, significantly more biomass (20%) was produced on DeF+E than DeF monolith soil, likely due to the changed soil physico-hydraulic properties. Our results show that earthworms play a significant role in improvements to soil quality and functions brought about by arable to ley conversion, and that augmenting depleted earthworm populations can help the restoration of soil qualities adversely impacted by intensive agriculture.
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•Long term arable farming reduces soil quality including earthworm numbers.•Grass-clover leys improve soil quality including earthworm numbers within one year.•Intact soil monoliths isolated earthworm vs cultivation effects.•Earthworms accelerate the restoration of soil qualities and functions.•Boosting earthworm populations is a worthwhile practice to improve soil quality.
► In situ and ex situ modified bacterial cellulose (BC) samples were prepared. ► Effects of modifications on morphological and surface characteristics of BC were determined. ► Water holding capacity ...(WHC) and release rate (WRR) were co-related to these properties. ► WHC and WRR increase with pore volume and pore size in in situ modified BC. ► In ex situ modified BC, WHC and WRR depend on nature and arrangement of composite materials.
The biomedical applications of bacterial cellulose (BC) as a dressing material are mainly dependent on its water holding capacity (WHC) and water release rate (WRR), which in turn depend on pore size, pore volume and surface area. In the present study, the effects of structural modifications (in situ and ex situ) of BC on the WHC and WRR were investigated. The in situ modified BC was produced by the addition of various concentrations of a single sugar α-linked glucuronic acid-based oligosaccharide (SSGO) to the culture media while the ex situ modifications were carried out by preparing BC composites with chitosan (Ch) and montmorillonite (MMT). The morphological characteristics of the modified BC samples were studied with FE-SEM while their pore size, pore volume and surface area were determined through BET analysis. The results showed modifications in micro-fibril arrangements, pore size, pore volume and surface area in all BC samples compared to the control. The in situ modified BC showed denser fibril arrangement and decreasing pore size and pore volume with increasing SSGO concentration. Pore size and volume were also reduced in BC composites, probably due to the filling of pores by MMT and Ch. The variations in the WHC and WRR of BC samples were correlated to changes in various parameters after structural modifications. The WHC and WRR increased with pore volume and pore size in in situ modified BC samples. In ex situ modified BC, the WHC and WRR were dependent on the nature and arrangement of the composite materials on the surface and in the matrix of the BC sheets.
In this paper, we report on the use of confined compression to study the water release properties from food gels and model meat analogues. Confined compression is a novel method in food science that ...provides information on the dynamics of water release under mechanical load. Confined compression measurements are compared with numerical simulations based on Flory-Rehner theory. Simulation results for soy protein gels are in reasonable agreement with experiments, while they underestimate the water release from model meat analogues. Time-domain nuclear magnetic resonance (TD-NMR) revealed the presence of internal water-filled cavities in the meat analogues. These cavities could provide a path of low resistance for the water to travel through. However, they are not captured by our current model, which explains the higher fluxes observed experimentally. Our results indicate a relation between the water release properties of meat analogues and pore structure. Control of the pore structure might, therefore, provide new opportunities to improve meat analogue juiciness.
•Confined compression is a useful tool to study the water release from food gels.•Confined compression of soy protein gels can be simulated with a model based on Flory–Rehner theory.•The internal pore structure of meat analogues can increase their water release rate.
As part of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) decommissioning, the release of stored treated water began in 2023. We developed a practical tritium monitor to continuously supervise the ...tritiated water concentration at FDNPP. The monitor contains a flow cell detector comprising plastic scintillator pellets and incorporating simultaneous measurements by three detectors, a veto detector, and lead shielding to reduce the influence of environmental γ rays. The system reached a detection limit of 593 Bq L−1 in 60 min, which is lower than the discharge standard for tritiated water of 1,500 Bq L−1.
•Development of a simple and practical tritium monitor.•0.2 L flow cell type detector consisting of plastic scintillator pellets.•The efficiency of tritiated water with full water is 3.88 × 10−5 s−1 Bq−1 L.•Minimum detectable activity of 593 Bq L−1 in 60 min.
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