Ease Of Reusability Research Articles

Selected Aspects of Sustainable Construction—Contemporary Opportunities for the Use of Timber in High and High-Rise Buildings

Due to the favourable pro-environmental properties of timber, including the origin of the raw material from renewable sources, ease of reuse, negative carbon footprint, low specific weight, possibility of prefabrication, etc., there is increasing interest in the use of timber in construction. This paper takes a closer look at the new uses of timber as a load-bearing structure for high and high-rise buildings. Cases described in the literature concerning this type of building with residential and public functions erected worldwide were analysed. The first buildings of this type were put into use in 2009. The aim of this paper is to show new possibilities and to extend the use of timber as a load-bearing structure of high and high-rise buildings previously made of reinforced concrete or steel. The scope of the analysis includes two postulates of sustainable construction, directly related to the above-mentioned goals: limiting interference in the natural areas of cities through efficient use of building plots for high or high-rise buildings and the use of renewable materials—timber—for the load-bearing structure of buildings. A research method based on a case study was used. Conclusions were made on the pro-environmental spatial–functional and material–structural design of these high and high-rise buildings.

Increased Range of Catalytic Activities of Immobilized Compared to Colloidal Gold Nanoparticles.

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) can be described as nanozymes, species that are able to mimic the catalytic activities of several enzymes, such as oxidase/peroxidase, reductase, or catalase. Most studies in the literature focus on the colloidal suspension of AuNPs, and it is obvious that their immobilization could open the doors to new applications thanks to their increased stability in this state. This work aimed to investigate the behavior of surfaces covered by immobilized AuNPs (iAuNPs). Citrate-stabilized AuNPs (AuNPs-cit) were synthesized and immobilized on glass slides using a simple dip coating method. The resulting iAuNPs were characterized (surface plasmon resonance, microscopy, quantification of immobilized AuNPs), and their multi-enzymatic-like activities (oxidase-, peroxidase-, and catalase-like activity) were evaluated. The comparison of their activities versus AuNPs-cit highlighted their added value, especially the preservation of their activity in some reaction media, and their ease of reuse. The huge potential of iAuNPs for heterogeneous catalysis was then applied to the degradation of two model molecules of hospital pollutants: metronidazole and methylene blue.

Amino-induced cadmium metal–organic framework based on thiazole ligand as a heterogeneous catalyst for the epoxidation of alkenes

Selective epoxidation of olefins is of high interest in the chemical industry due to the many applications of epoxides. This study reports on the synthesis of Cd-MOF, [Cd(DPTTZ)(5-AIP)] (IUST-1) (where DPTTZ = 2, 5-di (pyridine-4-yl) thiazolo [5, 4-d] thiazole, 5-AIP = 5-Aminoisophthalic acid), by a reflux method, which can be considered as a fast and simple process. The morphology and structure of the synthesized IUST-1 were determined by using FE-SEM (Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy), EDX (Energy Dispersive Analysis of X-ray), Mapping (Elemental Mapping), CHNS (Elemental analysis), XRD (X-Ray Diffraction), FT-IR (Fourier Transform Infrared), and TGA (Thermo Gravimetric Analysis). The epoxidation of cyclooctene was investigated using the activity of catalytic IUST-1. The results showed that in the presence of tert-butyl hydroperoxide and CCl4 in a 1:2 alkene/oxidant ratio, a high epoxide yield (99.8%) was obtained. In addition, IUST-1 can be easily separated by simple filtration and recycled five times successfully with a slight decrease in activity. This compound has some advantages such as high yield, short reaction time, and ease of reuse, which make it a suitable heterogeneous catalyst for the epoxidation of cyclooctene.

Bio-Enzyme Hybrid with Nanomaterials: A Potential Cargo as Sustainable Biocatalyst

With advancements in bionanotechnology, the field of nanobiocatalysts has undergone rapid growth and revolutionized various nanomaterials as novel and fascinating nanocarriers for enzyme immobilization. Nanotubes, nanofibers, nanopores, nanoparticles, and nanocomposites have been successfully developed and used as nanocarriers. The construction of robust nanobiocatalysts by combining enzymes and nanocarriers using various enzyme immobilization techniques is gaining incredible attention because of their extraordinary catalytic performance, high stability, and ease of reusability under different physical and chemical conditions. Creating appropriate surface chemistry for nanomaterials promotes their downstream applications. This review discusses enzyme immobilization on nanocarriers and highlights the techniques, properties, preparations, and applications of nanoimmobilized enzymes.

Study on phase demodulation algorithm of fiber optic pressure sensor based on nonlinear differential equation

Fiber optic Fabry–Pérot sensors have been widely developed with unique advantages, such as ease of reuse, resistance to electromagnetic interference, light weight, and their ability to work in extreme environments. There are many demodulation methods that can be applied to fiber optic Fabry–Pérot sensors, including the intensity demodulation method, spectral demodulation, and the phase carrier method, but these demodulation methods cannot meet the requirements that take into account range, speed, and dynamic and static demodulation capabilities. In view of these problems, this paper uses nonlinear differential equations to solve the problem of simultaneous measurement of a large number of ranges and dynamic and static parameters. The measuring interferometer in the demodulation module was built using a polarizing interferometer, which avoids the difficulty in optical wedge processing when using a Fizeau interferometer. Regarding the problems of high and low signal-to-noise ratios of the generated signal, for the problem that the introduction of dispersion in the crystal causes the demodulation result of the traditional demodulation method to be wrong, a nonlinear differential equation is proposed to achieve the correct demodulation of the fiber optic sensor: the slow demodulation speed problem. This paper designs the acquisition, transmission, and processing system based on digital signal processing and a field-programmable gate array, which provide a hardware platform for real-time demodulation. Finally, experiments to test the resolution, linearity, stability, and repeatability of the interferometer were carried out on the designed demodulation system.

A large-scale study on research code quality and execution

This article presents a study on the quality and execution of research code from publicly-available replication datasets at the Harvard Dataverse repository. Research code is typically created by a group of scientists and published together with academic papers to facilitate research transparency and reproducibility. For this study, we define ten questions to address aspects impacting research reproducibility and reuse. First, we retrieve and analyze more than 2000 replication datasets with over 9000 unique R files published from 2010 to 2020. Second, we execute the code in a clean runtime environment to assess its ease of reuse. Common coding errors were identified, and some of them were solved with automatic code cleaning to aid code execution. We find that 74% of R files failed to complete without error in the initial execution, while 56% failed when code cleaning was applied, showing that many errors can be prevented with good coding practices. We also analyze the replication datasets from journals’ collections and discuss the impact of the journal policy strictness on the code re-execution rate. Finally, based on our results, we propose a set of recommendations for code dissemination aimed at researchers, journals, and repositories.

Zeolite ZSM-11 as a reusable and efficient catalyst promoted improved protocol for synthesis of 2,4,5-triarylimidazole derivatives under solvent-free condition

Zeolite ZSM-11 catalyst was prepared by hydrothermal method and characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, HRTEM, EDS, and BET analysis techniques. The catalyst shows good catalytic activity toward synthesis of 2,4,5-triarylimidazole derivatives which is prepared by using benzil, aldehyde and ammonium acetate in solvent-free condition. The reaction, one pot synthesis is highly adaptable and eco-friendly and has several merits such as short reaction time, mild reaction conditions, and high yield. The ease of reusability and recovery of catalyst for five consecutive reactions makes this protocol highly suitable.

Citrate coated magnetite: A complete magneto dielectric, electrochemical and DFT study for detection and removal of heavy metal ions

The super paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) such as magnetite (Fe3O4) appear as an emerging class of materials in the field of environmental remediation owing to its biocompatibility, high surface area, super paramagnetic properties and ease of reuse and recovery. However, susceptibility of bare Fe3O4 to oxidation and agglomeration limits its use as an adsorbent material in aqueous medium, which demands the surface capping of these Fe3O4 nanoparticles for effective adsorption performance. We have successfully capped Fe3O4 with sodium citrate with a purpose to develop a felicitous magnetic sorbent material containing abundant metal trap centers at its surface. The successful surface modification of Fe3O4 with citrate is noticeable from FT-IR, TGA, XRD, Zeta potential (DLS), SEM, EDX,TEM, DR-UV, and contact angle measurements. For the first time, we report electrical impedance spectroscopic studies on this capped magnetic nanoparticle to understand the capacitive behavior of super paramagnetic Fe3O4 and citrate@Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The cyclic voltammograms manifested the excellent electrochemical response of citrate@Fe3O4 modified glassy carbon electrode to mM concentrations of Pb2+, Cd2+ and Zn2+ ions with response in order Pb2+> Cd2+> Zn2+. Differential Pulse Voltammetry confirms the descent sensitivity towards Pb2+ ions at different concentration with a 0.3 µM detection limit. The adsorption of Pb2+ ions followed Langmuir isotherm model with maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 58.93 mg g−1. To further validate the experimental adsorption results and the mode of interaction between Pb2+and citrate@Fe3O4, quantum calculations using density functional theory were performed which indicate a good coherence between experimental and theoretical data. The presence of abundant carboxyl and hydroxyl metal trap centers at the surface of citrate@Fe3O4 is responsible for its promising adsorption capacity for Pb2+ ions removal. Both experimental as well as theoretical results suggest that surface functionalization has a positive impact for detection of heavy metal ions and should be given prime importance while designing absorbent materials. The citrate@Fe3O4 nanoparticles exhibit outstanding stability and regeneration over various cycles of sorption.

Exploring the possibilities of FDM filaments comprising natural fiber-reinforced biocomposites for additive manufacturing

<abstract> In recent years, with the recent advancements in the field of additive manufacturing, the use of biobased thermoplastic polymers and their natural fiber-reinforced biocomposite filaments have been rapidly emerging. Compared to their oil-based counterparts, they provide several advantages with their low carbon footprints, ease of reusability and recyclability and abundancy, and comparable price ranges. In consideration of their increasing usage, the present study focused on the development and analysis of biocomposite material blends and filaments by merging state-of-the-art manufacturing and material technologies. A thorough suitability study for fused deposition modeling (FDM), which is used to manufacture samples by depositing the melt layer-by-layer, was carried out. The mechanical, thermal, and microstructural characterization of birch fiber reinforced PLA composite granules, in-house extruded filaments, and printed specimens were investigated. The results demonstrated the printability of biocomposite filaments. However, it was also concluded that the parameters still need to be optimized for generic and flawless filament extrusion and printing processes. Thus, minimal labor and end-products with better strength and resolutions can be achieved. </abstract>

Measuring the Cognitive Complexity in the Comprehension of Modular Process Models

Modularization in process models is a method to cope with the inherent complexity in such models (e.g., model size reduction). Modularization is capable to increase the quality, the ease of reuse, and the scalability of process models. Prior conducted research studied the effects of modular process models to enhance their comprehension. However, the effects of modularization on cognitive factors during process model comprehension are less understood so far. Therefore, this article presents the results of two exploratory studies (i.e., a survey research study with <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$N = 95$ </tex-math></inline-formula> participants; a follow-up eye tracking study with <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$N = 19$ </tex-math></inline-formula> participants), in which three types of modularization (i.e., horizontal, vertical, and orthogonal) were applied to process models expressed in terms of the business process model and notation (BPMN) 2.0. Furthermore, the effects of modularization on the cognitive load, the level of acceptability, and the performance in process model comprehension were investigated. In general, the results revealed that participants were confronted with challenges during the comprehension of modularized process models. Furthermore, performance in the comprehension of modularized process models showed only a few significant differences, however, the results obtained regarding the cognitive load revealed that the complexity and concept of modularization in process models were misjudged initially. The insights unraveled that the attitude towards the application and the behavioral intention to apply modularization in process models is still not clear. In this context, horizontal modularization appeared to be the best comprehensible modularization approach leading to a more fine-grained comprehension of the respective process models. The findings indicate that alterations in modular process models (e.g., change in the representation) are important to foster and enable their comprehension. Finally, based on our results, implications for research and practice as well as directions for future work are discussed in this article.

Regulation of electron-hole recombination kinetics on uniform metal-semiconductor nanostructures for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution has garnered considerable attention as a potential technology for the conversion of solar energy to chemical energy to replace fossil fuels with the development of hydrogen energy infrastructure. Semiconductors have been intensively studied as photocatalysts due to their tunable bandgap, eco-friendly reaction mechanism, photochemical stability, and ease of reusability. To achieve highly efficient photocatalysts, regulation of exctions, which are photoinduced electrons and holes in photocatalysts, is necessary. Semiconductor nanoparticles have been applied in this purpose because of their confined exciton pathways and differentiated catalytic characteristics depending on their size, shape, and morphology. In addition, metal cocatalysts have been decorated with semiconductor nanoparticles because the metal cocatalyst not only provides efficient shuttling of photoinduced electrons and proper reaction sites for the hydrogen evolution but also controls exciton pathways via fast electron transfer kinetics from semiconductor to metal. This research update reviews recent advances in representative metal-semiconductor hybrid nanostructures of core-shell and tipped nanorods for photocatalysts with a focus on the exciton pathways. The metal at semiconductor core-shell nanostructures has shown extraordinary photocatalytic stability via passivation of the metal by a semiconductor. In photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, the semiconductor shell hinders electron transfer to water. Hence, various core-shell related metal-semiconductor nanostructures such as yolk-shell, core-island shell, and double shell hollow structures have been proposed in efforts to overcome the electron transfer barrier to water. Metal tipped nanorods are another versatile nanostructure to control and monitor exciton pathways. The correlation between exciton pathways and photocatalytic efficiencies was demonstrated by monitoring metal tipped semiconductor nanorods with different composition, morphology, and surface structure. The insights reported here suggest a rational and versatile design strategy of metal-semiconductor hybrid nanostructures for developing highly efficient photocatalysts for hydrogen evolution.

Current and potential ecodesign integration in small and medium enterprises: Construction and related industries

AbstractThe ecodesign of products is becoming an important part of environmental and innovation policies in many sectors. The aim of this study was to understand how product ecodesign activities can be effectively introduced to stimulate step changes in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the construction and building sector, together with SMEs from related industrial sectors. Based on an interview study among Slovenian SMEs, the general level of managers’ awareness of how their products impact the environment and how they understand the concept of product ecodesign to provide potential measures for ecodesign implementation was investigated. The results showed the quantified aggregate of degrees of implementation related to individual ecodesign strategies based on life cycle phases and individual environmental aspects. The study revealed that the most frequently implemented criteria were maximizing product lifetime and ease of reuse, disassembly and recycling. The highest ecodesign implementation level was observed in the “design for use” phase.

Bismuth titanate modified and immobilized TiO2 photocatalysts for water purification: broad pollutant scope, ease of re-use and mechanistic studies

Bi4Ti3O12–TiO2 on glass beads photodegrades pollutants including consumer-product precursors, pesticides, drugs and explosives.

Volumetric and compressibility studies of aqueous triethylammonium based protic ionic liquids at T = 298.15 K

The significant considerations have centred on the utilization of the bio-ionic liquids as green solvents to replace or minimize conventional environment-harming organic solvents. Ionic liquids have many remarkable environment-accepting properties such as ease of reuse, low vapour pressure, and thermal stability etc. The present work focuses on thermodynamic understanding of aqueous solutions of protic ionic liquids (PILs) namely triethylammonium formate [TEAF], triethylammonium propionate [TEAP], triethylammonium butanoate [TEAB], triethylammonium glycolate [TEAG], and triethylammonium pyruvate [TEAPy]. The density and speed of sound measurements for aqueous solutions of these PILs are reported at T=298.15K and the data were used to obtain the apparent and partial molar volumes, isentropic and apparent molar isentropic compressibilities for aqueous PILs solution. From the data of density and sound speed, we estimated electrostriction, hydration numbers of PILs, limiting volumetric and compressibility properties and finally discussed the results obtained in terms of ion-ion, ion-solvent interaction through hydration behaviour of PILs, kosmotropic effect, hydrophobic interactions, etc.

Room Temperature Ionic Liquids as Green Solvent Alternatives in the Metathesis of Oleochemical Feedstocks

One of the most important areas of green chemistry is the application of environmentally friendly solvents in catalysis and synthesis. Conventional organic solvents pose a threat to the environment due to the volatility, highly flammability, toxicity and carcinogenic properties they exhibit. The recently emerged room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) are promising green solvent alternatives to the volatile organic solvents due to their ease of reuse, non-volatility, thermal stability and ability to dissolve a variety of organic and organometallic compounds. This review explores the use of RTILs as green solvent media in olefin metathesis for applications in the oleochemical industry.

Red flags in data: Learning from failed data reuse experiences

ABSTRACTThis study examined the data reusers' failed or unsuccessful experience to understand what constituted reusers' failure. Learning from failed experiences is necessary to understand why the failure occurred and to prevent the failure or convert the failure to success. This study offers an alternative view on data reuse practices and provides insights for facilitating data reuse processes by eliminating core components of failure. From the interviews with 23 quantitative social science data reusers who had failed data reuse experiences, the study findings suggest: (a) ease of reuse, particularly the issue of access and interoperability, is the important initial condition for a successful data reuse experience; (b) understanding data through documentation may be less of an issue, at least for experienced researchers to make their data reuse unsuccessful, although the process can still be challenging; and (c) the major component of failed experience is the lack of support in reusing data, which emphasizes the need to develop a support system for data reusers.

Synthesis of novel cross-linked cyclopolymer bearing polyzwitterion-dianionic moieties and its sorption efficiency for Ni(II) removal from waters

The study reports the synthesis of a unique cross-linked polymer containing zwitterionic (±) and dianionic (=) moieties in each repeating unit via tert-butyl hydroperoxide-initiated cyclopolymerization of N,N-diallyl-N-sulfopropyl ammonio-propyl phosphonic acid in the presence of a cross-linker to give a cross-linked polyzwitterion (CPZ). The cross-linked polyzwitterion/dianion (CPZDA) was accessed by the treatment of CPZ with NaOH. The structure and morphology of the polymer were characterized by using FTIR, TGA, EDX and SEM. The adsorption performance of the resin was evaluated using Ni(II) as a model under the influence of various parameters such as pH, initial metal ion concentration, contact time and temperature to arrive at the optimum conditions. The mechanism of the adsorption was investigated using kinetic, diffusion, isotherm and thermodynamic models. The maximum adsorption capacity at 296K was found to be 45.5mg/g at pH 5.5. The adsorption process fitted well pseudo-second order kinetic model and its mechanism was studied by intraparticle diffusion model. The thermodynamic parameters revealed the adsorption process as endothermic in nature with activation energy of 15.8kJ/mol. In the context of metal ion removal, resin CPZDA has demonstrated its advantage of good stability, fast uptake, high capacity, and the ease of reusability. The resin's excellent ability to remove nickel(II) ions even from wastewater samples makes it a potential candidate for real sorption applications.

A novel cross-linked pH-responsive tetrapolymer: Synthesis, characterization and sorption evaluation towards Cr(III)

A novel cross-linked acidic tetrapolymer (CPZA) was synthesized via the cyclopolymerization of different zwitterionic monomers bearing amino, carboxylate, phosphonate and sulfonate motifs and a cross-linker using ammonium persulfate as the initiator. The cross-linked tetrapolymeric anionic polyelectrolyte (CAPE) was obtained by the treatment of CPZA with NaOH. The sorption activity of CAPE was evaluated for the adsorption of chromium (III) using batch equilibrium technique. The experimental data fitted Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherm models. The maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 48.5mg/g at pH 5.5 and temperature of 296K. The adsorption process fitted pseudo-second order kinetic model well and the mechanism was studied by intraparticle diffusion model. Thermodynamic parameters reveal that the adsorption process was endothermic in nature. The resin has not only the advantages of fast uptake with high capacity but also the ease of reusability and good stability. The resin demonstrates an excellent ability to remove chromium (III) ions even from real wastewater samples, suggesting that the resin could be a good candidate for real sorption applications.

Ease of Reuse: An Empirical Comparison of Components and Objects

The paper presents an empirical study that compares IT professionals' perceptions about the ease of reuse in modeling business systems from component versus object libraries. Results indicate that they perceive components to be much easier to reuse than objects.

The impact of open access upon public health

Arthur Amman, President of Global Strategies for HIV Prevention (www.globalstrategies.org), tells the following story: I recently met a physician from southern Africa, engaged in perinatal HIV prevention, whose primary access to information was abstracts posted on the Internet. Based on a single abstract, they had altered their perinatal HIV prevention program from an effective therapy to one with lesser efficacy. Had they read the full text article they would have undoubtedly realized that the study results were based on short-term follow-up, a small pivotal group, incomplete data, and were unlikely to be applicable to their country situation. Their decision to alter treatment based solely on the abstract's conclusions may have resulted in increased perinatal HIV transmission. Amman's story shows the potentially deadly gap between the information-rich and the information-poor. This gap is not the result of lack of technology or of money, but of a failure of imagination. We live in the most information-rich era of history, when the Internet allows immediate global dissemination of crucial health information, and the inter-linking of online information creates an integrated, living body of information--the ultimate vision of which is the semantic web. (1) What is preventing such a living web? For scientific and medical information, two obstacles are vested interests and traditions. Central to these traditions is the role of copyright, which was developed when the dissemination of work was on paper. Initially, applying copyright to medical articles protected both the intellectual investment of authors and the commercial investment of publishers. Authors of scientific articles handed over their copyright to the publishers to prevent unauthorized print copying. Thus, the prevention of unauthorized copying helped to disseminate information, by providing a valid business model for publishers. But the proliferation of subscription-based medical and scientific journals led to readers having to pay more and more to publishers in order to keep up with current knowledge, and an increasing fragmentation of knowledge between different publishers. Print is no longer the most efficient way to disseminate information. The Internet provides the means to revolutionize publishing in two crucial ways. First, it makes it possible to disseminate health information at no charge to anyone in the world with online access. Although it costs money to peer review, edit, produce, and host an online article, this is a one-time, fixed cost. If research funders are willing to pay this cost, then the published work can be made freely available to all readers worldwide, and there would he no need for journal subscriptions. This is one way of financing an open-access model of publishing. (2) Second, because the Internet allows not just ease of access but ease of reuse, an article's usefulness is limited only by a user's imagination. To allow this, the traditional role of copyright has to change. Instead of publishers using copyright to restrict use, authors can retain copyright and grant the public the right to creatively reuse their work. Licences such as those developed by the Creative Commons, (w3) which facilitate rather than prohibit reuse, are used by the open-access publishers Public Library of Science (PLoS) (w4) and BioMed Central (BMC). The result is that: ... copyright can be used for what it is meant to in science, not to make the articles artificially scarce and in the process restrict their distribution, but instead, to ensure that their potential for maximum possible dissemination can be realised. …