Narrow Results

The experiment investigated the dielectric properties of copper ferrite nanoparticle-doped cotton and cotton–polyester mixture and observed the higher dielectric permittivity of cotton–copper ferrite nanoparticles mixture than the cotton–polyester–copper ferrite nanoparticles mixture. This work describes the effects of copper ferrite nanoparticles on the dielectric properties of cotton and cotton–polyester mixture theoretically. The real and imaginary parts of the complex dielectric permittivity as function of temperature and concentration of copper ferrite nanoparticles are calculated. The decrease of dielectric permittivity of cotton–copper ferrite nanoparticles mixture and cotton–polyester–copper ferrite nanoparticles mixture with the increase of frequency has been observed. The comparison between theoretical and experimental results has been presented.

The properties of the cotton fabric with water-repellence finishing by sol method with the hexadecyltrimethoxysilane as additive were observed. The cotton fabrics were immersed in the prepared sols with double dip and double nip dried at 90°C, annealed at 160°C for 3 min. The water repellence and the physical properties such as gas permeability, bending properties, beetling properties, tensile strength, elongation at break, abrasion resistance, and anti-crease properties of the cotton fabrics were investigated. The results showed that anti-crease and tensile strength were improved. However, the abrasion resistance of the cotton fabrics decreased in some way. Both the bending and beetling properties measurement proved that the handle of the treated cotton fabrics changed stiffness. For the dyed fabrics by the water-repellent finishing, the hue was slightly changed, the deeper color was achieved. There is no adverse effect for treated fabric by water-repellent finishing on the fastness.

The $n$-methylol dimethyl phosphono propionamide (MDPA) flame retardant compounds are predominantly used for cotton fabric treatments with trimethylol melamine (TMM) to obtain better crosslinking and enhanced flame retardant properties. Nevertheless, such treatments are associated with a toxic issue of cancer-causing formaldehyde release. An eco-friendly finishing was used to get formaldehyde-free fixation of flame retardant to the cotton fabric. Citric acid as a crosslinking agent along with the sodium hypophosphite as a catalyst in the treatment was utilized. The process parameters of the treatment were enhanced for optimized flame retardant properties, in addition, low mechanical loss to the fabric by response surface methodology using Box–Behnken statistical design experiment methodology was achieved. The effects of concentrations on the fabric’s properties (flame retardancy and mechanical properties) were evaluated. The regression equations for the prediction of concentrations and mechanical properties of the fabric were also obtained for the eco-friendly treatment. The R-squared values of all the responses were above 0.95 for the reagents used, indicating the degree of relationship between the predicted values by the Box–Behnken design and the actual experimental results. It was also found that the concentration parameters (crosslinking reagents and catalysts) in the treatment formulation have a prime role in the overall performance of flame retardant cotton fabrics.

India’s Nath Seeds Ties up with Chinese Biotech Firm for Bt Cotton.

Japan’s Takara Grants Molmed Right to Use RetroNectin for Gene Therapy.

Sumitomo to Access LifeSpan’s GPCR Expression and Localization Database.

Wyeth Lederle Japan Transfers Over-the-counter Drugs to Takeda.

Kyowa Hakko Develops New Antibody Technology.

Australia’s BTF Completes Prototype for Precise Culture Based Microorganisms.

Novogen to Start Phenoxodiol Clinical Trials in Australia.

China Investigates Fault in US-made Tempo Pacemakers.

Japan Drugmakers to Boost Sales in China.

YuHan at Forefront of Pharmaceuticals in Korea.

Eli Lilly Opens Asian Headquarters in Hong Kong.

DSM Produces Semi-synthetic Penicillin in China.

World Diagnostics to Sell Test Kits in India and Vietnam.

AMDL Reports Disappointing Sales from Asian Distributor.

Taiwan University and AbGenomics to Develop Proprietary Biomedical Platforms.

Omeros Medical Systems and Singapore Institute to Develop New Drug Delivery System.

OGTR Receives GM Cotton Application.

Australian Farmers Appeal Against GM Canola.

China Tightens Regulation on Tar Contents in Cigarettes.

India to Tackle Fake Drug Problem.

Tariff on Biotech Vaccines May Increase in India.

India to Set Up Pharmacopoeia Commission by April 03.

Compulsory Chinese Labeling on Imported Medicines.

The First New Line Super Vegetables — Broccoli.

New Gene to Combat Leaf Blotch in Wheat Plants.

Uphill Task Ahead to Improve Rice Production in Cambodia.

China Develops Han Dao Rice Strain.

Bt Cotton Plagued with New Problem.

Increased Popularity of Food Labels among Consumers.

Biotechnology Offers Solutions for Sustaining Agricultural Growth.

Avestha Gengraine Granted Patent for New Transgenic Technology.

Controversy over Regulation of Bt Cotton.

Japan Prefers Taiwanese Agricultural Produce.

Biotech-Led Green Revolution.

PhilRice-CODA Pact for Field Test of Bt Cotton.

Interview with Kurt Wüthrich – Why Structural Biology Matters.

The PCR Revolution – An Interview with Carl T Wittwer.

Viva-University Children's Cancer Centre Opens at NUH.

Biotech Crops — The Evergreen Revolution.

From Velocity11 to Agilent Automation Solutions — The Revolutionary Road to Automation in Life Sciences.

Schering-Plough Sets Up Translational Medicine Research Centre in Singapore.

Biotechnology unveils secrets of Chinese medicine.

Climate change a mixed blessing for wheat, say experts.

NTOU identified germ cells and somatic cells in coral bodies for the first time in the world.

Researchers tabulate disturbing changes and disappearance in biodiversity in Southern Taiwan coral reefs over last 26 years.

NCKU research team discovers new complex in treating cancer.

Chinese scientists successfully crack the genome of diploid cotton.

Taiwan's healthcare market boosted by aging population.

Researchers develop mouse model of common motor neuron disease pinpointing TDP-43 protein as likely cause.

In petroleum exploration, cellulose derivatives such as carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) are frequently used in drilling, cementing and fracturing fluids. However, under extreme drilling conditions, these additives have limited performance. In this regard, cellulose nanocrystals particles (CNCs) which are also derived from cellulose material are a suitable candidate due to their shear thinning rheology and thixotropy properties, even at low concentrations, among so many properties thanks to their crystalline structure and their nanometric dimensions.

In this work, hydrolyzed fibers from industrial cotton are acetylated using acetic anhydride and sulfuric acid as catalysts, with the aim to modify surface properties of the obtained CNCs without changing their fiber structure and morphology. FTIR analysis pointed out the acetylation success of the obtained nanocrystals whose dimensions were found to be unaltered by the modification process. SEM images of cotton nanocrystal indicate that CNC_c surface modification preserves the nanoscale dimensions of the nanoparticles. Also, TGA analysis showed thermal stability for the acetylated CNC_c.

Exploiting advanced regenerable adsorbents for efficient uranium adsorption from seawater is a promising route to address uranium resources shortages. Herein, inspired by the mechanism of plant homeostasis, natural polyphenols are combined with cotton matrix to construct a polyphenol-functionalized cotton (Cot-TA-APTES) for efficient uranium extraction. Compared with pristine cotton, the polyphenol-functionalized cotton displays a rapid adsorption kinetic, and the maximum extraction efficiency for U(VI) is up 96.07% at pH 5.0 and 30${}^{\circ }$C. Additionally, Cot-TA-APTES shows a higher adsorption selection ability for U(VI) than other interfering ions. Based on FT-IR and XPS, the excellent extraction efficiency and favorable selectivity of Cot-TA-APTES for U(VI) are due to the combination of U(VI) and functional coating groups. This natural polyphenol/cotton-based absolutely bio-derived adsorbent provides a novel and potentially applicable strategy for constructing an adsorbent for nuclear environmental remediation and uranium extraction from seawater with cost-effective and biosafety.

The sun is the only source of renewable energy available to us, if geothermal energy is not taken into account. In the form of radiation (UV light, visible light, infrared light, Section 1.1) it sends us annually 178,000 terawatts (1 TW = 10¹² W; unit of power 1 W = 1 J s^–1 = 859.85 calories per hour), that is to say 15,000 times the energy consumed annually by humanity. Only 0.1% of the solar energy received by planet Earth is converted into plant biomass, i.e. 100 × 10⁹ tons per year which corresponds to ca. 180 × 10⁹ tons per year of CO₂ captured from the atmosphere. This CO₂ returns to the biosphere after the death of the plants. Consumption of fossil carbon emits ca. 35 × 10⁹ tons of CO₂ yearly. Biomass is the material produced by all living organisms (plants, animals, microorganisms, fungi)…

This study presents the first report on enhanced bacterial inactivation of E. coli by RF-plasma pretreated cotton with high surface area CuO powders compared with non-pretreated cotton textiles. The high surface area CuO (65 m/g) powder was fully characterized. The E. coli inactivation proceeded in the dark and was accelerated under visible and sunlight irradiation even at very low levels of visible light irradiation. The effect the RF-plasma pretreatment of the cotton on the binding of CuO, applied light dose, and initial E. coli concentration on the inactivation kinetics of E. coli is reported.

This study addresses unreported features for Cu DC-magnetron sputtering on cotton mediating inactivation of Escherichia coli K12 (from now on E. coli). The E. coli inactivation for cotton-Cu samples sputtered for 40 s was attained within 30 min under visible light (1.2 mW/cm²) and within 120 min in the dark. For a longer sputtering time of 180s, the bacterial inactivation kinetics under light was observed within 30 min, as was the case for the 40 s sputtered sample. This suggests that Cu-ionic species play a key role E. coli inactivation. The 40 s sputtered samples present the highest amount of Cu-sites held in exposed positions interacting on the cotton surface (or inside the cotton) with E. coli. Sputtering for 40 s deposited 4.10¹⁶ atoms Cu/cm² (taking ~10¹⁵ atoms/cm Cu per atomic layer) and this was the threshold amount of Cu necessary for complete E. coli inactivation. Cu DC-magnetron sputtering lead to thin metallic semi-transparent grey-brown Cu-coating presenting hydrophobic behavior as determined by contact angle measurements.

In this paper, a T shape macro-molecule was designed to improve the stiffness and wrinkle-resistant property of cotton fabric. In the finish process, the radical polymerization and condensation reaction step by step were introduced. The results show that the stiffness and wrinkle-resistant property of cotton fabric were improved efficiently and rapidly. The stiffness of finished cotton fabrics can reach from 0.13 to 2.67 N.m, the crease recovery angle from 147.9° to 226.2°. The whiteness improve a little. Scanning electric microscope shows the surface of modified cotton fabric has layer of material; Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy shows the modified cotton fabric has amide compound; The thermogravimetric analysis shows that the thermal stability was improved a little.

Although the color images contain a large amount of information reflecting the species characteristics, different color models also get different information. The selection of color models is the key to separating crops from background effectively and rapidly. Taking the cotton images collected under natural light as the object, we convert the color components of RGB color model, HSL color model and YIQ color model respectively. Then, we use subjective evaluation and objective evaluation methods, evaluating the 9 color components of conversion. It is concluded that the Q component of the soil, straw and plastic film region gray values remain the same without larger fluctuation when using subjective evaluation method. In the objective evaluation, we use the variance method, average gradient method, gray prediction objective evaluation error statistics method and information entropy method respectively to find the minimum numerical of Q color component suitable for background segmentation.