Certain Taraxacum species, such as Taraxacum koksaghyz and Taraxacum brevicorniculatum, produce large amounts of high-quality natural rubber in their latex, the milky cytoplasm of specialized cells known as laticifers. This high-molecular mass biopolymer consists mainly of poly(cis-1,4-isoprene) and is deposited in rubber particles by particle-bound enzymes that carry out the stereospecific con...

Oxytocin is a hormone of the posterior pituitary that promotes lactation, maternal bonding, and birth. Recent studies have shown that oxytocin may modulate social recognition in both sexes, and thus it may be related to empathy. Brain regions that are associated with social recognition and empathy (e.g., the insular cortex) are activated in the rubber hand illusion (RHI), which involves illusor...

This report evaluates the effectiveness of rubber-asphalt and ebonite-asphalt mixes based on a review of published literature and unpublished reports. It discusses in detail various aspects of these mixes, including: diffe ent applications, physical properties, experiences of state highway agencies, and claimed advantages and problems associated with their use. The addition of ground tire rubbe...

Rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) self-rooting juvenile clones (JCs) are promising planting materials for rubber production. In a comparative trial between self-rooting JCs and donor clones (DCs), self-rooting JCs exhibited better performance in rubber yield. To study the molecular mechanism associated with higher rubber yield in self-rooting JCs, we sequenced and comparatively analyzed the late...

The dimensioning of injection heads for the extrusion of rubber profiles is exclusively based on empiric knowledge of the non-linear flow behaviour of elastomers. The swelling of the extrudate when emerging from a capillary is typical for viscoelastic fluids, such as polymers and rubber blends, respectively. Therefore, the experimental investigation and numerical treatment of this swelling beha...

Water ingress into cracked concrete structures is a serious problem, as it can cause leakage and reinforcement corrosion and thus reduce functionality and safety of the structures. In this study, the application of water-swelling rubber particles for providing the cracked concrete a self-sealing function was developed. The feasibility of applying water-swelling rubber particles and the influenc...

a newly developed natural rubber deproteinization process produces deproteinized natural rubber (dpnr) wastewater as an intermediate product containing a high concentration of sodium dodecyl sulfate (sds) and rubber. in this study, a novel process to recover the residual rubber and energy as methane from dpnr wastewater was developed. as a pretreatment, sds and residual rubber in dpnr wastewate...

Natural rubber (NR) is stored in latex as rubber particles (RPs), rubber molecules surrounded by a lipid monolayer. Rubber transferase (RTase), the enzyme responsible for NR biosynthesis, is believed to be a member of the cis-prenyltransferase (cPT) family. However, none of the recombinant cPTs have shown RTase activity independently. We show that HRT1, a cPT from Heveabrasiliensis, exhibits di...

Rubber industry has increased the requirements for quality and uniformity of natural rubber produced in Brazil. Technological properties of latex and natural rubber of clones GT 1, PB 235, IAN 873 and RRIM 600 [Hevea brasiliensis (Willd. Former Adr. de Juss.) Muell.Arg] were evaluated by standard methods of the dry rubber content (DRC%), percentage of nitrogen (N%) and percentage of ashes (ASH%...

Strain M was isolated from the latex of Hevea brasiliensis that grow in the rubber farm area of Malaysia Rubber Board. Strain M was tentatively identified as Bacillus sp. Strain M demonstrated high protease production at pH 9, and this was suitable to be applied in rubber processing that was in alkaline conditions. The right and suitable proportion to be used in applying supernatant into the la...