Unveiling microplastic spectral signatures under weathering and digestive environments through shortwave infrared hyperspectral sensing.

Microplastic (MP) pollution presents a novel challenge for marine environmental protection, necessitating comprehensive and long-term monitoring and assessment approaches. Environmental MPs can undergo weathering and microorganism-related digestive processes, altering their original surface properties and chemical structure, thus complicating their quantification and identification. This study aims to establish a comprehensive hyperspectral database for weathered and digestion-degraded MPs, using a wide variety of polymer types collected as either virgin particles or commercial products (within a size range of approximately 3 mm), and to investigate the impact of these processes on their spectral characteristics. Polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) MPs exhibited significant responses to weathering treatment, as indicated by the formation of new characteristic peaks or slight peak shifts around 1679-1705 nm, which can be attributed to the formation of carbonyl and vinyl functional groups through Norrish reactions. Similarly, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), and polystyrene (PS) MPs demonstrated notable degradation following digestive treatment, as evidenced by the emergence of new absorption peaks at approximately 1135-1165 nm, possibly associated with alterations involving carbonyl and vinyl functional groups. The results were further validated based on their comparable spectral characteristics of the resultant MPs to reference polymers and possible additives, considering a reasonably accurate match of approximately 80% for the studied MP samples. This study showcases the significant advantage of using shortwave infrared hyperspectral sensing for rapid identification of virgin and exposed MPs with a relatively large scan area after a simple sample preparation. This approach, combined with other complementary characterization techniques, shall provide highly throughput results for MPs identification. This research provides valuable insights into the features extracted from environmental MPs and establishes a foundation for improving their classification efficiency for environmental applications.

An improved hyperspectral sensing approach for the rapid determination of copper ion concentrations in water environment using short-wavelength infrared spectroscopy.

Copper ion is one of the hazardous pollutants often present in industrial wastewater or acid mine drainage that is regarded as a primary environmental challenge. Hyperspectral remote sensing has a long tradition in water quality monitoring. However, its application in heavy metal detection is relatively similar, and the detection is highly influenced by water turbidity or total suspended matter (TSM), requiring research efforts to improve accuracy and generalize the applicability of this technique. In this study, the use of simple filtration (pore size of 0.7 µm) for sample pretreatment to improve hyperspectral remote sensing of copper ion concentrations (Cu, 100-1000 mg/L) in water samples is proposed. A wide variety of water samples, including as-prepared and field (fish pond and river water) samples, were investigated to validate the developed method. Spectral data containing sensitive bands characterized in the range of 900-1100 nm were first preprocessed with logarithm transformation, followed by quantitative prediction model development using stepwise multivariate linear regression (SMLR) with the most sensitive wavebands at around 900 nm and 1080 nm. Satisfactory prediction performance for Cu ions was found for turbid water samples (TSM greater than approximately 200 mg/L) after simple filtration pretreatment, suggesting that pretreatment removed suspended solids in the mixtures and enhanced the spectral features of Cu ions in the model. Moreover, good agreement between the laboratory results and the field samples (adjusted R2 > 0.95 and NRMSE <0.15) highlights the suitability of the developed model and filtration pretreatment for obtaining relevant information for the rapid determination of Cu ion concentrations in complex water samples.

Environmental trade-offs and externalities of electrochemical-based batteries: Quantitative analysis between lithium-ion and vanadium redox flow units.

This study aims to increase the scientific knowledge of the environmental impacts and externalities of two promising electrochemical-based techniques for large-scale stationary energy storage: lithium nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) and vanadium redox flow (VRF) batteries. The global warming potential (GWP) and cumulative energy demand (CED) for NCM and VRF batteries are 28 kg CO2eq and 410 MJ and 186 kg CO2eq and 3080 MJ, respectively, for the provision of 1 MWh of electricity. While the trend of the environmental externality results is proportional to the environmental impact results, the environmental costs from GWP and terrestrial ecotoxicity impacts contribute the largest share of the total environmental costs for both batteries. Overall, NCM batteries have favorable environmental performance in terms of their impact values and externalities but still show relatively higher contributions in human toxicity and ozone layer depletion impacts, based on their high resource uses. The VRF batteries, on the other hand, report higher impacts in abiotic depletion, GWP and terrestrial ecotoxicity, mainly due to their great mass of the electrolyte. Our results highlight the importance of substituting the active metals with low-impact metals or carefully considering the origin of key materials while also taking advantage of the properties of the battery to carefully assess possible advancements in battery design. The environmental externality results also provide essential information for the future development of battery industries for stationary applications with energy and environmental benefits.

TiO2-embedded mesoporous silica with lower porosity is beneficial to adsorb the pollutants and retard UV filter absorption: A possible application for outdoor skin protection.

The purpose of the current investigation was to develop multifunctional TiO2-embedded mesoporous silica incorporating avobenzone to protect against environmental stress through pollutant adsorption and UVA protection. We sought to explore the effect of the mesoporous porosity on the capability of contaminant capture and the suppression of avobenzone skin penetration. The porosity of the mesoporous silica was tuned by adjusting the ratio of template triblock copolymers (Pluronic P123 and F68). The Pluronic P123:F68 ratios of 3:1, 2:2, and 1:3 produced mesoporous silica with pore volumes of 0.66 (TiO2/SBA-L), 0.47 (TiO2/SBA-M), and 0.25 (TiO2/SBA-S) cm3/g, respectively. X-ray scattering and electron microscopy confirmed the SBA-15 structure of the as-prepared material had a size of 3-5 µm. The maximum adsorbability of fluoranthene and methylene blue was found to be 43% and 53% for the TiO2/SBA-S under UVA light, respectively. The avobenzone loaded into the mesoporous silica demonstrated the synergistic effect of in vitro UVA protection, reaching an UVA/UVB absorbance ratio of near 1.5 (Boots star rating = 5). The encapsulation of avobenzone into the TiO2/SBA-S lessened cutaneous avobenzone absorption from 0.76 to 0.50 nmol/mg, whereas no reduction was detected for the TiO2/SBA-L. The avobenzone-loaded TiO2/SBA-S hydrogel exhibited a greater improvement in skin barrier recovery and proinflammatory mediator mitigation compared to the SBA-S hydrogel (without TiO2). The cytokines/chemokines in the photoaged skin were reduced by two- to three-fold after TiO2/SBA-S treatment compared to the non-treatment control. Our data suggested that the mesoporous formulation with low porosity and a specific surface area showed effective adsorbability and UVA protection, with reduced UVA filter absorption. The versatility of the developed mesoporous system indicated a promising potential for outdoor skin protection.

Body Weight Gain Status during the Incubator Weaning Process in Very Low Birth Weight Premature Infants.

Incubator care is essential for premature infants during early hospitalization. As the infants' conditions improve, incubator weaning becomes necessary. This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the effect of body weight gain and status of intake-calorie gain on the incubator weaning process for very low birth weight (VLBW) premature infants. The study included 127 VLBW premature neonates. We analyzed data on clinical characteristics potentially associated with the weaning period and the end-weaning body weight (EWBW), including body weight gain status, intake-calorie gain status, and disease conditions. The neonates were weaned from the incubators at a mean postmenstrual age (PMA) of 35.1 ± 1.3 weeks; postnatal days, 37.7 ± 18.2 days; and body weight, 1882.8 ± 157.1 g. The total weaning period was 3.5 ± 3.1 days. Regarding the weaning period, there was a strong positive relationship only in the end-weaning PMA and the daily body weight within 3 days before incubator weaning. Further, regarding the factors associated with EWBW, only the end-weaning PMA and necrotizing enterocolitis had a significant positive impact. Body weight gain and the status of intake-calorie gain showed no association with either the weaning period or the EWBW and, thus, were not related to the incubator weaning process.

Incidence of plastic ingestion by the shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus, off the northeast coast of Taiwan.

This present study documents the incidence of plastic digestion by shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus), caught by the Taiwanese small-scale tuna longline fishery in the Northwest Pacific Ocean (between the northeast coast of Taiwan and Japan). In 20 stomachs of shortfin mako, nearly 10% of samples contained at least one piece of plastic debris. The ingested plastic debris was found in the forms of films (5.0 cm) and fragments (3.0 mm) and was identified as polypropylene (PP) based on its polymer characteristics. The results from the analysis provide evidence for the anthropogenic origin and potential intake pathway of direct engulfment of ingested plastics. Our results also confirmed the low incidence of plastic ingestion in shortfin mako, suggesting that pelagic marine species may be relatively less affected by plastic pollution. Future research efforts are thus needed to assess the long-term impact of plastic pollution on marine species.

Ultrafast Graphene Growth on Insulators via Metal-Catalyzed Crystallization by a Laser Irradiation Process: From Laser Selection, Thickness Control to Direct Patterned Graphene Utilizing Controlled Layer Segregation Process.

Despite the vast progress in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) graphene grown on metals, the transfer process is still a major bottleneck, being not devoid of wrinkles and polymer residues. In this paper, a structure is introduced to directly synthesize few layer graphene on insulating substrates by a laser irradiation heating process. The segregation of graphene layers can be manipulated by tuning the metal layer thickness and laser power at different scanning rates. Graphene deposition and submicrometer patterning resolution can be achieved by patterning the intermediate metal layer using standard lithography methods in order to overcome the scalability issue regardless the resolution of the laser beam. The systematic analysis of the process based on the formation of carbon microchannels by the laser irradiation process can be extended to several materials, thicknesses, and methods. Furthermore, hole and electron mobilities of 500 and 950 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) are measured. The laser-synthesized graphene is a step forward along the direct synthesis route for graphene on insulators that meets the criteria for photonics and electronics.