Sticky Issue Research Articles

Tailoring of Self-Healable Polydimethylsiloxane Films for Mechanical Energy Harvesting.

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have emerged as potential energy sources, as they are capable of harvesting energy from low-frequency mechanical actions such as biological movements, moving parts of machines, mild wind, rain droplets, and others. However, periodic mechanical motion can have a detrimental effect on the triboelectric materials that constitute a TENG device. This study introduces a self-healable triboelectric layer consisting of an Ecoflex-coated self-healable polydimethylsiloxane (SH-PDMS) polymer that can autonomously repair mechanical injury at room temperature and regain its functionality. Different compositions of bis(3-aminopropyl)-terminated PDMS and 1,3,5-triformylbenzene were used to synthesize SH-PDMS films to determine the optimum healing time. The SH-PDMS films contain reversible imine bonds that break when the material is damaged and are subsequently restored by an autonomous healing process. However, the inherent stickiness of the SH-PDMS surface itself renders the material unsuitable for application in TENGs despite its attractive self-healing capability. We show that spin-coating a thin layer (≈32 μm) of Ecoflex on top of the SH-PDMS eliminates the stickiness issue while retaining the functionality of a triboelectric material. TENGs based on Ecoflex/SH-PDMS and nylon 6 films show excellent output and fatigue performance. Even after incisions were introduced at several locations in the Ecoflex/SH-PDMS film, the TENG spontaneously attained its original output performance after a period of 24 h of healing. This study presents a viable approach to enhancing the longevity of TENGs to harvest energy from continuous mechanical actions, paving the way for durable, self-healable mechanical energy harvesters.

Levofloxacin removal by 2D-Vermiculite loaded with NiCo2O4 activated peroxymonosulfate: Performance and mechanism

The presence of antibiotics in wastewater threatens the human living environment. Activated peroxymonosulfate (PMS) method is often used for catalytic degradation of antibiotics. However, how to reduce catalyst cost and ensure efficient degradation of antibiotics at the same time is a sticky issue for the activated PMS method. Two-dimensional vermiculite flakes (2D-VMT) is cost-effective and can be used as catalyst carriers for PMS activation. Hence, we exfoliated 2D-VMT from natural vermiculite and prepared NiCo2O4 loaded 2D-VMT (NiCo2O4/2D-VMT) catalyst. Levofloxacin (LVX), as a normal antibiotic, was used to evaluate the catalytic capacity of NiCo2O4/2D-VMT in PMS systems. Also, LVX degradation mechanism through NiCo2O4/2D-VMT activated PMS were explored here. XRD, EDS, TEM, and HRTEM analysis all demonstrated NiCo2O4 nanoparticles were successfully anchored on 2D-VMT. NiCo2O4/2D-VMT had a high specific surface area and abundant active sites. The NiCo2O4/2D-VMT/PMS system, with a 15% mass ratio of NiCo2O4 to 2D-VMT (15%-CN/2D-VMT), achieved LVX removal efficiency of 87% and LVX removal rate of 0.034 min−1. 1O2 and SO4·- were the major ROS for LVX degradation. The reversible redox cycle between Co(III)/Co(II) and Ni(III)/Ni(II) played a crucial role in activating PMS to generate ROS for LVX degradation process. Also, based on intermediates identification by LC-MS, possible degradation pathways of LVX were proposed and their ecotoxicological evolution was assessed by using the ECOSAR software. 15%-CN/2D-VMT may be a worth recommended loaded catalyst for antibiotics removal in environmental remediation, owing to its high reusability and excellent renewability.

Hooked on audio! Unveiling the secrets of podcast stickiness through social identity and uses and gratification theories

The study integrated the social identity theory and the uses and gratification theory in probing factors behind the stickiness of audience to podcast programs, mainly in the two dimensions of perceived characteristics of the podcast creator (identity similarity, identity uniqueness, identity prestige, sincerity, and self-disclosure) and perceived podcast features (entertaining, narrative transportation, and multitasking). Podcast creator characteristics can affect audience stickiness via their psychological response (wishful identification, parasocial relationship). The study was conducted via a questionnaire survey, soliciting 302 valid responses and employing the partial least squares technique for testing hypotheses. The study finds that except for identity distinctiveness and self-disclosure, all the other podcast creator characteristics positively influence the audience's psychological response and, thus, their stickiness to podcasts. Among podcast program nature, both entertaining and narrative transportation affect podcast stickiness significantly, but multitasking has no significant influence. The study provides theoretical and practical insight into the audience stickiness issue for digital audio media podcasts.

Physical and functional stability of spray-dried jamun (Syzygium cumini L.) juice powder produced with different carrier agents.

Jamun (Syzygium cumini L.) fruit is an underutilized source of bioactive phytochemicals. Therefore, preserving this fruit in various forms over the year is necessary. Spray drying can effectively preserve jamun juice; but the stickiness issue of fruit juice powder mainly arises during the drying, which may be overcome by using different carriers. Consequently, this experiment aimed to ascertain the effect of different carrier types (maltodextrin, gum arabic, whey protein concentrate, waxy starch, and maltodextrin: gum arabic) on the physical, flow, reconstitution, functional, and color stability of spray-dried jamun juice powder. The physical parameters of the produced powder such as moisture content, bulk, and tapped density were in the range of 2.57%-4.95% (w.b.), 0.29-0.50 and 0.45-0.63 g/mL, respectively. The powder yield ranged between 55.25% and 75.9%. The flow characteristics, Carr's index and Hausner ratio, were in the range of 20.89-35.90 and 1.26-1.56, respectively. Reconstitution attributes viz., wettability, solubility, hygroscopicity, and dispersibility were in the range of 90.3-199.7s, 55.28%-95%, 15.23-25.86 g/100 g, and 70.97%-95.79%, respectively. The functional attributes include total anthocyanin, total phenol content, and encapsulation efficiency, were in the range of 75.13-110.01 mg/100 g, 129.48-215.02 g GAE/100 g, and 40.49%-74.07%, respectively. The L*, a*, and b* values ranged from 41.82 to 70.86, 14.33 to 23.04, -8.12 to -0.60, respectively. A combination of maltodextrin and gum arabic was found effective in producing jamun juice powder with appropriate physical, flow, functional, and color attributes.

Sticky issues in turbulent transport.

We investigate the role of partial stickiness among particles or with a surface for turbulent transport. For the former case, we re-derive known results for the case of the compressible Kraichnan model by using a method based on bi-orthogonality for the expansion of the propagator in terms of left and right eigenvectors. In particular, we show that enforcing the constraints of orthogonality and normalization yields results that were previously obtained by a rigorous, yet possibly less intuitive method. For the latter case, we introduce a general model of transport within the atmospheric boundary layer. As suggested by experimental observations on the transport of atmospheric tracers, both drift and diffusivity scale with the height to the ground. The strength of the drift is parameterized by a velocity V. We use the bi-orthogonality method to show that for V in the range -1 < V < 0 and 0 < V < 1 there is a one-parameter family of boundary conditions that are a priori admissible. Outside of that range, there is a single boundary condition that is admissible. In physical terms, the one-parameter family is parametrized by the degree to which particles stick to the ground.

The N-Word and Other Sticky Issues: Considering Alice Childress’s Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Relationship in Black and White in the Black Lives Matter Era

Abstract Alice Herndon Childress’s 1962 play Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White mines many of the issues that the most recent US race crisis has brought to the forefront, but in the twenty-first century, a long overdue shift in political climate has raised new questions regarding what is acceptable, even in the realm of art. Childress investigates oppressive forces through realistic, compelling characters and setting, and electric dialogue, yet in doing so, she employs the N-word and other disturbing epithets that discomfit contemporary students, actors, and audiences. In a time when use of such words can result in one’s being fired or sued, do the lessons of this play outweigh the turmoil that such terms can cause? This study argues that they do, with an important caveat: just as words’ meanings are contingent on their context, the positive power of the play is contingent on careful treatment of it, suggesting that current US sociopolitical crises, like those of the past, cannot be satisfactorily resolved by simple rules or mandates.

Addressing the Sticky Issue of How to Consolidate Rehabilitation Counseling Professional Associations

Although the idea of consolidation has seemed to enjoy relative unanimity, the questions of who and how to consolidate have always proved a greater challenge. In this article, we describe rehabilitation counseling professionals’ thoughts about these more challenging questions. More specifically, we sought greater understanding about whether private rehabilitation counseling providers and educators would like to see their specializations represented in a consolidated association. We also sought participant perspectives about how to consolidate through a combination of quantitative and qualitative inquiry. Results suggest that most participants desired to see a more inclusive consolidated association. Opinions were more mixed on how to consolidate the existing associations, with the greatest frequency of participants being undecided. Implications and recommendations grounded in the business and professionalization literature offer insights into how the discipline can proactively move forward in an effort to sustain our preeminence among human service providers in the provision of counseling and vocational services to people with disabilities.

Application of a novel electrostatic dry powder coating technology on capsules for enteric release

Dry coating of pharmaceutical dosages represents the future of functional coating given its environmental friendliness and cost effectiveness. Based on the electrostatic dry powder coating technology developed by our group, hard gelatin capsules and HPMC capsules were successfully coated for the first time to achieve enteric release. In the coating process, plasticizer was sprayed prior to coating powder to lower the glass transition temperature and to increase the powder adhesion. Sufficient weight gain is required to ensure enough coating film thickness to achieve enteric release. And higher weight gain comes with increased powder adhesion rate by using more plasticizer. Accelerated stability tests demonstrated good stability for coated gelatin and HPMC capsules. The powder coating also avoided the commonly encountered stickiness issue associated with the organic or aqueous coating process. Comparatively, gelatin capsules appear to be advantageous over HPMC capsules as they have higher powder adhesion rate, more rapid drug release when exposed to buffer solution and better performance in accelerated stability test.

Sticky Issues: What APs Need to Know About Anticoagulants and Patients With Cancer.

During the JADPRO Live Virtual 2020 conference, Val R. Adams, PharmD, FCCP, FHOPA, BCOP, discussed how to determine which patients with cancer should be treated with direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), the similarities and differences between the DOACs, and recent data on the prevention and treatment of cancer-associated venous thromboembolism.

Daily briefing: The sticky issue of honey fraud

Daily briefing: The sticky issue of honey fraud

Lightweight and low thermal conducted face-centered-cubic cementitious lattice materials (FCLMs)

Lightweight and thermal insulative cementitious materials with large porous structures for improving energy efficiency have rapid development currently. However, the design of cementitious materials for energy-efficient building system in terms of low thermal conductivity, excellent mechanical properties and lightweight remains a crucial challenge in construction & building fields. Recently, the polymer-based lattice-inspired structures fabricated by 3D printing technology (3DPT) show a rapid development that achieves a balance of thermal and mechanical properties due to their ordered and large-scale cellular architecture. In this work, a novel category of lattice-inspired cementitious lattice materials was first proposed for applying in the energy-efficient building systems by integrating the 3DPT and traditional casting technology. Taking face-centered cubic (FCC) lattice as an example, the advantages of the proposed fabrication technology and FCLMs are follows: (i) ultralight weight; (ii) enhanced ductility of brittle cementitious materials; (iii) low thermal conductivity. Through the structural and material design, the proposed fabrication technology could effectively overcome the current issues of 3DPT, such as the weakness of interlayer performance and low accuracy (Extrusion-based 3DPT) as well as limited feasible materials (Powder-bed-based 3DPT), in the civil engineering. Statement of SignificanceHow to design cementitious materials for energy-efficient building system in terms of thermal conductivity, mechanical properties and lightweight requirement remains a crucial challenge in construction & building fields. Inspired by the low thermal conductivity and lightweight structure of metamaterials in the previous researches (Song et al., Materials & Design, 2019. 173: 107773-86; Nicholas et al. Nano letter, 2018. 18: 4755-61), here a novel category of lattice-inspired cementitious materials with ordered porous structures has been proposed for energy-efficient building materials with lightweight, low thermal conductivity and good mechanical properties characteristics.Additionally, recently there is increased interest to use 3D concrete printing technology (3DCPT) to automatically manufacture complicated and customized structure. However, currently, 3DCPT encounters many sticky issues, involving that (i) weak interlayer performance induced by cold joints between layers; (ii) deformation under self-weight due to the low yield stress of fresh mix; (iii) probable shrinkage under the low water/cement ratios typically used in printed mortars; (iv) geometrical instability owing to creating suspended structures. It is not a trivial to directly print cementitious porous materials, and therefore this work also achieved a breakthrough in developing cementitious porous materials combining advanced SLA 3D printing and traditional casting technology for the first time. It is worth mention that compared to Extrusion-based 3DCPT and Powder-bed-based 3DCPT, the advantages of the manufacture technology include that (i) automatically printing 3D complex structure; (ii) Optional cementitious materials; (iii) Good interlayer performances of prepared materials.We expect that the proposed design idea and novel manufacture strategy could serve as the guideline to develop material-structural-functional integrated energy-efficient building materials combining 3D printing technology, advanced structure design and high-performance cementitious materials.

Digital Trade in the Australia – EU FTA: A Future-Forward Perspective

This paper assesses the significance of the Digital Trade Chapter of the Australia – EU FTA and focuses on the disciplines necessary to boost digital trade. In the ongoing negotiations, the EU and Australia are likely to agree upon conventional digital trade disciplines (e.g., e-signatures, e-authentication, paperless trading, customs duties on electronic transmissions) as well as provisions on online consumer trust and spam, and more contemporary disciplines on source code disclosure and data localization. These disciplines can undoubtedly contribute to boosting digital trade between Australia and the EU. However, data flows and data protection will remain a sticky issue in the ongoing negotiations, given the differences in data protection laws of the EU and Australia, and the EU’s exceptionally defensive approach in data protection. Instead of bypassing such issues, the FTA negotiators should view the negotiations as an opportunity to build mutual consensus and foster cooperation in formulating standards and mechanisms for data transfer. Further, the negotiations provide an opportunity for adopting deeper disciplines on digital trade facilitation that can nurture start-ups as well as experimenting with novel models for regulatory cooperation in nascent policy areas including AI ethics and open government data.

Perception of Educators towards the Adoption of Education 5.0: A Case of a State University in Zimbabwe

This study was an exploration of educators’ perceptions towards the adoption of Education 5.0 which was conducted at a state University in Zimbabwe. Education 5.0 is a new curriculum reform that would need a buy-in of educators for possible smooth implementation. The study revealed that educators perceived Education 5.0 as a helpful and more beneficial to the education system than the preceding Education 3.0 although they bemoaned lack of infrastructure and financial resources for proper implementation. The study recommended that the University administrators should source funding from business partners and banks to build physical infrastructures such as industrial parks and innovation hubs to support Education 5.0 adoption. The study also recommended that the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development conduct seminars with educators to address sticky issues regarding Education 5.0, since educators are directly involved in its implementation.

The physicochemical characteristics of whey dangke fermentation powder at various levels of carrageenan and drying time

Whey dangke fermentation producing lactic acid as a food additive can overcome environmental pollution caused by whey dangke; however, its high water content causes a short shelflife product and makes distribution difficult. Drying fermented products requires additional ingredients to overcome stickiness issue in the dryer. This research aimed to examine the use of carrageenan as drying aids at 4, 6, 8, and 10% levels and drying time of 23, 24, and 25 hours in the production of fermented whey powder in drying oven. The quality parameters of the fermented whey dangke powder included yield, water content, solubility, and protein and lactose contents. The results showed that the fermented whey dangke powder had a yield of 33.15-49.20%; water content of 2.30-9.07%; solubility of 94.0-99.0%; protein content of 9,70-13,92%; and lactose content of 7.92-15.58%. Carrageenan level has a very significant effect (P<0.01) on yield, water content, and lactose content, and it also has a significant effect (P<0.05) on protein content, while drying time has a significant effect (P<0.05) on lactose content. The use of carrageenan at 8% level and 24-hour drying time is the most optimal treatment to produce the best physicochemical characteristics of fermented whey dangke powder.

Budaya Sebagai Perekat Hubungan Antara Umat Beragama di Suku Tenger

Indonesia is a country that has diversity in ethnicity, ethnicity, race,language, religion, and culture. However, this diversity is capable ofcausing conflicts both internally and externally. As with many cases thatoccur in Indonesia. Religion itself is a foothold, belief, and life guide, evenas a scapegoat for conflicts in society. But other than the tengger tribelocated in Lumajang Regency, Malang Regency, Pasuruan Regency andProbolinggo Regency, there are three religions that coexist in one villagenamely Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. In the midst of pluralism,different societies of understanding and belief turned out to be able tohave an attitude of tolerance and mutual respect between each other.Religious diversity is not a problem for the agrosari community tointeract in carrying out daily activities. Regarding tolerance amongreligious people has recently become a very sticky issue amongacademics and the public. Local wisdom and culture are solutions toovercome this problem. Local wisdom in the Tengger tribe community isinseparable from the values of Javanese culture, as well as the culturalheritage of Majapahit which is still developing with mutual respect,tolerance, and respect for ancestral spirits and there are no strikingdifferences in ethnicity other than differences in religious beliefs.Togetherness is manifested in the form of traditional rituals such as theUnan-Unan ceremony, Bari'an (Selamatan). Each religion has its owndemands for tolerance in the Tengger tribe is ingrained, the Tenggertribe community also upholds equality and democracy in community lifeand respects religious leaders and dukun (sepiritual teachers) ratherthan administrative leaders. Because all are brothers, all families, stillpeaceful and harmonious, which is the mandate and ancestral heritage.

Peran Budaya dalam Membangun Hubungan Antara Umat Beragama di Suku Tenger

Indonesia is a country that has diversity in ethnicity, ethnicity, race, language, religion, and culture. However, this diversity is capable of causing conflicts both internally and externally. As with many cases that occur in Indonesia. Religion itself is a foothold, belief, and life guide, even as a scapegoat for conflicts in society. But other than the tengger tribe located in Lumajang Regency, Malang Regency, Pasuruan Regency and Probolinggo Regency, there are three religions that coexist in one village namely Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. In the midst of pluralism, different societies of understanding and belief turned out to be able to have an attitude of tolerance and mutual respect between each other. Religious diversity is not a problem for the agrosari community to interact in carrying out daily activities. Regarding tolerance among religious people has recently become a very sticky issue among academics and the public. Local wisdom and culture are solutions to overcome this problem. Local wisdom in the Tengger tribe community is inseparable from the values of Javanese culture, as well as the cultural heritage of Majapahit which is still developing with mutual respect, tolerance, and respect for ancestral spirits and there are no striking differences in ethnicity other than differences in religious beliefs. Togetherness is manifested in the form of traditional rituals such as the Unan-Unan ceremony, Bari'an (Selamatan). Each religion has its own demands for tolerance in the Tengger tribe is ingrained, the Tengger tribe community also upholds equality and democracy in community life and respects religious leaders and dukun (sepiritual teachers) rather than administrative leaders. Because all are brothers, all families, still peaceful and harmonious, which is the mandate and ancestral heritage.

An Augmented Linear Mixing Model to Address Spectral Variability for Hyperspectral Unmixing.

Hyperspectral imagery collected from airborne or satellite sources inevitably suffers from spectral variability, making it difficult for spectral unmixing to accurately estimate abundance maps. The classical unmixing model, the linear mixing model (LMM), generally fails to handle this sticky issue effectively. To this end, we propose a novel spectral mixture model, called the augmented linear mixing model (ALMM), to address spectral variability by applying a data-driven learning strategy in inverse problems of hyperspectral unmixing. The proposed approach models the main spectral variability (i.e., scaling factors) generated by variations in illumination or typography separately by means of the endmember dictionary. It then models other spectral variabilities caused by environmental conditions (e.g., local temperature and humidity, atmospheric effects) and instrumental configurations (e.g., sensor noise), as well as material nonlinear mixing effects, by introducing a spectral variability dictionary. To effectively run the data-driven learning strategy, we also propose a reasonable prior knowledge for the spectral variability dictionary, whose atoms are assumed to be low-coherent with spectral signatures of endmembers, which leads to a well-known low-coherence dictionary learning problem. Thus, a dictionary learning technique is embedded in the framework of spectral unmixing so that the algorithm can learn the spectral variability dictionary and estimate the abundance maps simultaneously. Extensive experiments on synthetic and real datasets are performed to demonstrate the superiority and effectiveness of the proposed method in comparison with previous state-of-the-art methods.

Separation of CO2/CH4 and O2/N2 by polysulfone hollow fiber membranes: effects of membrane support properties and surface coating materials

Abstract In this study, six different types of polysulfone hollow fiber membranes were fabricated from the same polymeric dope solution by manipulating several important parameters during the spinning process, aiming to find the best membrane supports for the coating layer in the gas separation process. The experimental results showed that upon the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coating process, the gas pair selectivities of all six types of membranes were significantly increased with respect to carbon dioxide (CO2)/methane (CH4) and oxygen (O2)/nitrogen (N2) separation. However, the membrane support spun at higher air gap and lower dope extrusion rate was found to be the best support for PDMS coating owing to its good structural integrity that led to a good balance between gas permeance and gas pair selectivity. Further investigation showed that the use of poly(ether block amide) (Pebax) as coating material did not certainly improve both gas permeance and the selectivity of hollow fiber membranes, although Pebax was previously reported to exhibit better performance than PDMS in flat sheet membranes. One of the main reasons is the difficulty of forming a defect-free Pebax coating layer on the outer surface of hollow fibers owing to the stickiness issue among fibers upon coating. More research is still needed to optimize the Pebax coating solution and its drying process in order to achieve the full potential of such coating material for hollow fiber membranes.

Eudaimonism, Human Nature, and the Burdened Virtues

This article explores the prospects for a eudaimonist moral theory that is both feminist and Aristotelian. Making the moral philosophy developed by Aristotle compatible with a feminist moral perspective presents a number of philosophical challenges. Lisa Tessman offers one of the most sustained feminist engagements with Aristotelian eudaimonism (Tessman 2005). However, in arguing for the account of flourishing that her eudaimonist theory invokes, Tessman avoids taking a stand either for or against the role Aristotle assigned to human nature. She draws her account of flourishing instead from the beliefs about flourishing implicit in the feminist and black freedom movements. I examine the implicit conception of flourishing in the writings of two prominent leaders of the black freedom movement—Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X—and argue that Tessman's attempt to avoid the “sticky issue” of human nature is not successful. Tessman's defense of the burdened virtues depends on a particular reading of human nature as does a eudaimonist account of the virtues more generally.

Laser‐Printing and 3D Optical‐Control of Untethered Microrobots

The two‐photon photo‐polymerization (2PP) method is used to manufacture an articulated micro‐robot for indirect manipulation of cellular structures under laser light. To tackle the stickiness issue between the components of the proposed mechanism, optimizing the contact surface areas is carried out. A step‐by‐step procedure to manufacture and control an untethered articulated micro‐robot under laser light is demonstrated. The manufacture and optical control of a floating multi‐component micro‐mechanism has not been achieved before. This is significant because it is anticipated that the articulated microrobots could be used in complex biomedical applications where control in 3D space is required such as single‐cell analysis, embryo injection, polar‐body biopsy, nuclear transplantation, and multi‐dimensional imaging for microsurgery.