Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing ambitious nature conservation strategies within a 2 degree warmer and food-secure world

Global biodiversity is projected to further decline under a wide range of future socio-economic development pathways, even in sustainability oriented scenarios. This raises the question how biodiversity can be put on a path to recovery, the core challenge for the CBD post-2020 global biodiversity framework. We designed two contrasting, ambitious global conservation strategies, ‘Half Earth’ (HE) and ‘Sharing the Planet’ (SP), and evaluated their ability to restore terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity and to provide ecosystem services while also mitigating climate change and ensuring food security. We applied the integrated assessment framework IMAGE with the GLOBIO biodiversity model, using the ‘Middle of the Road’ Shared Socio-economic Pathway (SSP2) with its projected human population growth as baseline. We found that both conservation strategies result in a reduction in the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services globally, but without additional measures to achieve effective climate mitigation they will be insufficient to restore biodiversity. The HE strategy performs better for terrestrial biodiversity protection (biodiversity intactness (MSA), Red List Index, geometric mean abundance) in currently still natural regions, reflecting global conservation priorities. The SP strategy yields more improvements for biodiversity in human-used areas, aquatic biodiversity and for regulating ecosystem services (pest control, pollination, erosion control), reflecting regional priorities. However, ‘conservation only’ scenarios show a considerable increase in food security risks (especially in Sub-Saharan Africa) compared to the baseline and limited reduction of global temperature increase. Only when conservation strategies are combined with climate change mitigation efforts and additional actions especially in the agricultural and energy system into a portfolio of ‘integrated sustainability measures’, both conservation strategies result in restoring biodiversity to current values or even some improvement, while keeping global warming below two degrees and keeping food security risks below baseline. Minimizing food wastes and reducing consumption of animal products will be crucial.
Glass Fiber-Reinforced Phenol Formaldehyde Resin-Based Electrical Insulating Composites Fabricated by Selective Laser Sintering

In this study, glass fiber (GF)/phenol formaldehyde resin (PF)/epoxy resin (EP) three-phase electrical insulating composites were fabricated by selective laser sintering (SLS) additive manufacturing technology and subsequent infiltration. In the three-phase composites, glass fibers modified by a silane coupling agent (KH-550) were used as reinforcements, phenol formaldehyde resin acted as the binder and matrix, and infiltrated epoxy resin was the filler. Mechanical and electrical properties such as tensile strength, bending strength, dielectric constant, electrical conductivity, and electric breakdown strength of the GF/PF/EP three-phase composite parts were investigated. The results indicated that after being infiltrated with EP, the bending strength and tensile strength of the GF/PF/EP composites increased by 30% and 42.8%, respectively. Moreover, the flexural strength and tensile strength of the GF/PF/EP composite increased with the increase of the glass fiber content. More importantly, the three-phase composites showed high electrical properties. Significant improvement in the dielectric constant, electric breakdown strength, and resistivity with the increase in the content of glass fiber was observed. This enables the prepared GF/PF/EP composites to form complex structural electrical insulation devices by SLS, which expands the materials and applications of additive manufacturing technology.
The Improvement Effect and Mechanism of Longitudinal Ultrasonic Vibration on the Injection Molding Quality of a Polymeric Micro-Needle Array

A polymeric micro-needle array with high quality has been fabricated using a longitudinal ultrasonic-assisted micro-injection molding (LUμIM) method. To realize the practicability and stability in actual industrial processing, this paper is aimed at studying the improvement mechanism of ultrasonic vibration on the molding quality. The melt-filling process in the micro-needle array cavity is simulated, and the improvement effect of ultrasonic vibration is discussed. The enhancement effect of ultrasonic vibration on material properties of polypropylene and polymethylmethacrylate parts are experimentally investigated. The results show that in the manufacturing of the micro-needle array part using LUμIM, the mold-filling quality is improved by the enhanced melt filling capability and pressure compensation effect, which are caused by the increased corner viscosity gradient, reduced the filling time and melt viscosity under ultrasonic vibration. Material properties of both the semi-crystalline polymer and amorphous polymer could be enhanced by the transformation of micromorphology. It is proved that for a semi-crystalline polymer, this novel method could be employed as a material properties enhancement method, and an optimal excitation voltage of ultrasonic vibration is obtained to achieve the best material properties.
Smart Shear-Thinning Hydrogels as Injectable Drug Delivery Systems

In this study, we fabricated and characterized a smart shear-thinning hydrogel composed of gelatin and laponite for localized drug delivery. We added chitosan (Chi) and poly N-isopropylacrylamide-co-Acrylic acid (PNIPAM) particles to the shear-thinning gel to render it pH-responsive. The effects of total solid weight and the percentage of laponite in a solid mass on the rheological behavior and mechanical properties were investigated to obtain the optimum formulation. The nanocomposite gel and particles were characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), zeta potential, and dynamic light scattering techniques. Finally, release related experiment including degradability, swelling and Rhodamine B (Rd) release at various pH were performed. The results suggest that incorporation of silicate nanoplatelets in the gelatin led to the formation of the tunable porous composite, with a microstructure that was affected by introducing particles. Besides, the optimum formulation possessed shear-thinning properties with modified rheological and mechanical properties which preserved its mechanical properties while incubated in physiological conditions. The release related experiments showed that the shear-thinning materials offer pH-sensitive behavior so that the highest swelling ratio, degradation rate, and Rd release were obtained at pH 9.18. Therefore, this nanocomposite gel can be potentially used to develop pH-sensitive systems.
Electrospun Polycaprolactone Nanofibers as a Reaction Membrane for Lateral Flow Assay

Electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers have emerged as a promising material in diverse biomedical applications due to their various favorable features. However, their application in the field of biosensors such as point-of-care lateral flow assays (LFA) has not been investigated. The present study demonstrates the use of electrospun PCL nanofibers as a reaction membrane for LFA. Electrospun PCL nanofibers were treated with NaOH solution for different concentrations and durations to achieve a desirable flow rate and optimum detection sensitivity in nucleic acid-based LFA. It was observed that the concentration of NaOH does not affect the physical properties of nanofibers, including average fiber diameter, average pore size and porosity. However, interestingly, a significant reduction of the water contact angle was observed due to the generation of hydroxyl and carboxyl groups on the nanofibers, which increased their hydrophilicity. The optimally treated nanofibers were able to detect synthetic Zika viral DNA (as a model analyte) sensitively with a detection limit of 0.5 nM. Collectively, the benefits such as low-cost of fabrication, ease of modification, porous nanofibrous structures and tunability of flow rate make PCL nanofibers a versatile alternative to nitrocellulose membrane in LFA applications. This material offers tremendous potential for a broad range of point-of-care applications.
Sol–Gel-Processed Organic–Inorganic Hybrid for Flexible Conductive Substrates Based on Gravure-Printed Silver Nanowires and Graphene

In this study, an organic–inorganic (O–I) nanohybrid obtained by incorporating an alkoxysilane-functionalized amphiphilic polymer precursor into a SiO2–TiO2 hybrid network was successfully utilized as a buffer layer to fabricate a flexible, transparent, and stable conductive substrate for solution-processed silver nanowires (AgNWs) and graphene under ambient conditions. The resulting O–I nanohybrid sol (denoted as AGPTi) provided a transmittance of the spin-coated AgNWs on an AGPTi-coated glass of 99.4% and high adhesion strength after a 3M tape test, with no visible changes in the AgNWs. In addition, AGPTi acted as a highly functional buffer layer, absorbing the applied pressure between the conductive materials, AgNWs and graphene, and rigid substrate, leading to a significant reduction in sheet resistance. Furthermore, gravure-printed AgNWs and graphene on the AGPTi-based flexible substrate had uniform line widths of 490 ± 15 and 470 ± 12 µm, with 1000-cycle bending durabilities, respectively.
Switchable Release of Bone Morphogenetic Protein from Thermoresponsive Poly(NIPAM-co-DMAEMA)/Cellulose Sulfate Particle Coatings

Thermoresponsive coatings of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-DMAEMA)/cellulose sulfate (PNIPAM-DMAEMA/CS) complexes are reported eluting bone-morphogenetic-protein-2 (BMP-2) on demand relevant for implant assisted local bone healing. PNIPAM-DMAEMA/CS dispersions contained colloid particles with hydrodynamic radii RH = 170–288 nm at T = 25 °C shrinking to RH = 74–103 nm at T = 60 °C. Obviously, PNIPAM-DMAEMA/CS undergoes volume phase transition (VPT) analogously to pure PNIPAM, when critical VPT temperature (VPTT) is exceeded. Temperature dependent turbidity measurements revealed broad VPT and VPTT 47 °C for PNIPAM-DMAEMA/CS colloid dispersions at pH = 7.0. FTIR spectroscopy on thermoresponsive PNIPAM-DMAEMA/CS particle coatings at germanium model substrates under HEPES buffer indicated both wet-adhesiveness and VPT behavior based on diagnostic band intensity increases with temperature. From respective temperature courses empirical VPTT ≈ 42 °C for PNIPAM-DMAEMA/CS coatings at pH = 7.0 were found, which were comparable to VPTT found for respective dispersions. Finally, the PNIPAM-DMAEMA/CS coatings were loaded with BMP-2 and model protein papain (PAP). Time dependent FTIR spectroscopic measurements showed, that for T = 37 °C there was a relative protein release of ≈30% for PAP and ≈10% for BMP-2 after 24 h, which did not increase further. Heating to T = 42 °C for PAP and to 47 °C for BMP-2 further secondary protein release of ≈20% after 24 h was found, respectively, interesting for clinical applications. BMP-2 eluted even at 47 °C was found to be still biologically active.
Over-Stretching Tolerant Conductors on Rubber Films by Inkjet-Printing Silver Nanoparticles for Wearables

The necessity to place sensors far away from the processing unit in smart clothes or artificial skins for robots may require conductive wirings on stretchable materials at very low-cost. In this work, we present an easy method to produce wires using only commercially available materials. A consumer grade inkjet printer was used to print a wire of silver nanoparticles with a sheet resistance below 1 Ω/sq. on a non-pre-strained sheet of elastic silicone. This wire was stretched more than 10,000 times and was still conductive afterwards. The viscoelastic behavior of the substrate results in a temporarily increased resistance that decreases to almost the original value. After over-stretching, the wire is conductive within less than a second. We analyze the swelling of the silicone due to the ink’s solvent and the nanoparticle film on top by microscope and SEM images. Finally, a 60 mm long stretchable conductor was integrated onto wearables, and showed that it can bear strains of up to 300% and recover to a conductivity that allows the operation of an assembled LED assembled at only 1.8 V. These self-healing wires can serve as wiring and binary strain or pressure sensors in sportswear, compression underwear, and in robotic applications.
Non-Isothermal Crystallization Behavior of PEEK/Graphene Nanoplatelets Composites from Melt and Glass States

The effect of the graphene nanoplateletets (GNP), at concentration of 1, 5 and 10 wt %, in Poly ether ether ketone (PEEK) composite crystallization from melt and during cold crystallization were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and real time X-ray diffraction experiments. DSC results revealed a double effect of GNP: (a) nucleating effect crystallization from melt started at higher temperatures and (b) longer global crystallization time due to the restriction in the polymer chain mobility. This hindered mobility were proved by rheological behavior of nanocomposites, because to the increase of complex viscosity, G′, G″ with the GNP content, as well as the non-Newtonian behavior found in composites with high GNP content. Finally, real time wide and small angle synchrotron X-ray radiation (WAXS/SAXS) X-ray measurements showed that GNP has not affected the orthorhombic phase of PEEK nor the evolution of the crystal phase during the crystallization processes. However, the correlation length of the crystal obtained by WAXS and the long period (L) by SAXS varied depending on the GNP content.
A Modular Simulation Testbed for Energy Management in AC/DC Microgrids

This paper introduces a modular testbed to simulate AC/DC microgrids. The testbed is implemented in Matlab Simulink and is based on the energetic macroscopic representation (EMR) formalism. It is designed to be a tool to evaluate energy management strategies in AC/DC microgrids. The microgrid simulation model includes a photovoltaic generator, a fuel cell system, ultracapacitors, and batteries on the DC side. It includes voltage source converters (VSC) to couple the DC side with the AC side of the microgrid, which includes a variable AC load and a synchronous generator. Two case studies illustrate the use of the testbed. The model is implemented in Matlab Simulink and made openly available for the scientific community. Using this model, researchers can develop and evaluate energy management strategies in AC/DC microgrids.
Realising relative autonomy and adaptation in smart objects systems

The common approach for engineering of applications for the Internet of Things (IoT) relies heavily on remote resources, particularly in the cloud. As a result, data is collected and functionality is centralised in the cloud platforms leaving devices with only raw data gathering and actuation functions. IoT envisions an environment where devices can act as smart objects that are able to make decisions and operate autonomously for the benefit of the human users. Usually, autonomous functions are mixed with automatic functions that only consider the human user point of view. In this work, we propose an IoT application development framework based on goaldirected and role-based smart objects. This framework is composed of a conceptual basis, a software architecture, a middleware architecture and an adaptation method. First, we define the concepts of smart object, its autonomy and the collective of smart objects from a thorough examination of the smart object, its properties and key processes. Then, we develop a set of abstractions and the software architecture for smart objects. For easing the development effort and making this approach practical, we define a middleware architecture, intended to serve as blueprint for concrete middleware solutions. We also implemented a prototype based on this architecture. Functional components of the architecture enable smart object systems to adapt to volatile situations. We propose a method for adaptation based on the selection of smart objects, services and roles. Finally, we develop an agent-based model for simulation of IoT environments under conditions of heterogeneity, volatility and large quantities of smart objects. We use this model together with a case study and a qualitative comparison of existing solutions to evaluate our framework. Our results show that the proposed approach is a feasible and scalable alternative for IoT application development based on smart objects that incorporates the concept of relative autonomy, in this context, and the adaptation at individual and collective level.
Research on Microgrid Operation Control Strategy Under the New Power Reform

With the market-oriented reform in China's energy field, the operating model of the microgrid has changed. This paper studies the microgrid operation strategy under the new power reform system, and establishes the electricity transaction optimization model of the interconnected microgrid in the power market. The model can coordinate the power generation of each microgrid power component, schedule the amount of energy traded among microgrids in interconnected microgrid system, and optimize thee electricity sold by interconnected microgrid systems and other members of the electricity market. Steps using genetic algorithm to solve the operational strategy are given by this paper. To evaluate the performance of proposed method, simulation analysis of multiple microgrids in different operating modes and scenarios is given at the end of the article.
Impact Energy Release Characteristics of PTFE/Al/CuO Reactive Materials Measured by a New Energy Release Testing Device

Metal/polymer reactive materials have been studied and applied in a wide range of ways in recent years. This type of material is insensitive under normal conditions but reacts violently and releases a large amount of chemical energy under high-speed impact or high strain rate loading conditions. Compared with conventional explosives, it has better mechanical properties, and its unit mass energy is several times that of TNT. In this paper, PTFE/Al/CuO reactive materials are the main research objects, and we assess the impact energy release abilities of this type of reactive material through experimental research. To this end, eight sets of material formulations are designed, and the effects of particle size, the ratio of PTFE/Al and Al/CuO materials, and sintering on the energy release ability of the reactive materials are investigated. All experiments are carried out based on a self-designed new energy release testing device. The experimental device can measure the pressure time history curve generated by the reactive materials, and the rationality of the pressure time history curve can also be verified by the displacement time curve of the piston. The results show that with an increase in the Al/CuO thermite content, the energy release rate of the reactive material clearly increases, which is attributed to the reaction threshold of Al/CuO being low and because the heat generated can promote the reaction of PTFE/Al. The energy release rate of the nano-scale reactive materials is higher than that of the micron-scale reactive materials because the reduction in particle size results in a larger specific surface area. Thus, the energy required for ignition is lower. The energy release rate of sintered reactive materials is higher than that of unsintered reactive materials, which can be explained by the interfacial area between Al particles and PTFE particles in sintered reactive materials being larger, which makes the reaction more sufficient. The self-designed energy release testing device for the reactive materials and the conclusions obtained in this paper have clear significance for guiding engineering applications.
Solar‐Induced Fluorescence Does Not Track Photosynthetic Carbon Assimilation Following Induced Stomatal Closure

Since 2006, six satellites measuring solar‐induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) have been launched to better constrain terrestrial gross primary productivity (GPP). The promise of the SIF signal as a proxy for photosynthesis with a strong relationship to GPP has been widely cited in carbon cycling studies. However, chlorophyll fluorescence originates from dynamic energy partitioning at the leaf level and does not exhibit a uniformly linear relationship with photosynthesis at finer scales. We induced stomatal closure in deciduous woody tree branches and measured SIF at a proximal scale, alongside leaf‐level gas exchange, pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorescence, and leaf pigment content. We found no change in SIF or steady‐state PAM fluorescence, despite clear reductions in stomatal conductance, carbon assimilation, and light‐use efficiency in treated leaves. These findings suggest that equating SIF and photosynthesis is an oversimplification that may undermine the utility of SIF as a biophysical parameter in GPP models.
Microporous Materials Based on Norbornadiene-Based Cross-Linked Polymers

New microporous homopolymers were readily prepared from norbornadiene-2,5, its dimer and trimer by addition (vinyl) polymerization of the corresponding monomers with 60–98% yields. As a catalyst Pd-N-heterocyclic carbene complex or Ni(II) 2-ethylhexanoate activated with Na+[B(3,5-(CF3)2C6H3)4]− or methylaluminoxane was used. The synthesized polynorbornenes are cross-linked and insoluble. They are glassy and amorphous polymers. Depending on the nature of the catalyst applied, BET surface areas were in the range of 420–970 m2/g. The polymers with the highest surface area were obtained in the presence of Pd-catalysts from the trimer of norbornadiene-2,5. The total pore volume of the polymers varies from 0.39 to 0.79 cm3/g, while the true volume of micropores was 0.14–0.16 cm3/g according to t-plot. These polymers gave CO2 uptake from 1.2 to 1.9 mmol/g at 273 K and 1 atm. The porous structure of new polymers was also studied by means of wide-angle X-ray diffraction and positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy.
Synthesis and Evaluation of Thermoresponsive Boron-Containing Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Diblock Copolymers for Self-Assembling Nanomicellar Boron Carriers

Development of new boron nanocarriers has been a crucial issue to be solved for advancing boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) as an effective radiation treatment for cancers. The present study aimed to create a novel double-thermoresponsive boron-containing diblock copolymer based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) [poly(NIPAAm)], which exhibits two-step phase transitions (morphological transitions) at the temperature region below human body temperature. The boronated diblock copolymer considerably concentrates boron atoms into the water-dispersible (i.e., intravenous-administration possible) nanomicelles self-assembled by the first phase transition, and furthermore the properly controlled size and hydrophobicity of the second phase-transitioned nanoparticles are expected to make a significant contribution to the selective delivery and long-term retention of boron atoms into tumor tissues. Here we present the detailed synthesis of the strategic NIPAAm-based diblock copolymer with 3-acrylamidophenylboronic acid (PBA), i.e., poly(NIPAAm-block-NIPAAm-co-PBA), through a reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. Furthermore, the stepwise phase transition behavior of the obtained boronic-acid diblock copolymers was characterized in detail by temperature-variable 1H and 11B-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The phase-transition-induced molecular structural changes, including the structural compositions and sizes of nanomicelles and nanoparticles, are also discussed here.