This work focuses on exploring a new configuration for the reduction of water hardness based surface modification polyurethane (PU) open cell foams by deposition thin graphene oxide (GO) washcoat layers. GO was deposited dip–squeeze coating procedure and consolidated thermal treatment. The final load controlled performing consecutive depositions, after three which, inventory up to 27 wt% obtain...

In a globalized economy, the control of fruit ripening is of strategic importance because excessive softening limits shelf life. Efforts have been made to reduce fruit softening in transgenic tomato through the suppression of genes encoding cell wall-degrading proteins. However, these have met with very limited success. N-glycans are reported to play an important role during fruit ripening, alt...

In temperate European climates, the season of peak water demand by vegetation (summer) is out of phase with the season of greatest rainfall (winter). This results in seasonal fluctuations in soil water content and, in clay soils, associated problems of shrinking and swelling that can in turn contribute to strain-softening and progressive slope failure. This paper presents field measurements of ...

A high flux thin-film nanocomposite membrane epoxy/ zeolite NaA nanocomposite films prepared by using ultrasonic mixing and spin coating. The synthesized nanocomposites film was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal gravity analysis (TGA), and FTIR spectroscopy. Water softener and water flux characteristics of the epoxy/ zeolite NaA nanocomposite ...

After transecting the squid giant axon in the presence of an artificial external medium, which was composed of the ions normally present in squid blood, the cut ends of the axon constrict. This constriction could be completely blocked by cutting the axon in the presence of an artificial internal medium composed of the ions normally present inside the axon. By interchanging the ions in the inter...

Fruit softening in apple (Malus x domestica) is associated with an increase in the ripening hormone ethylene. Here, we show that in cv Royal Gala apples that have the ethylene biosynthetic gene ACC OXIDASE1 suppressed, a cold treatment preconditions the apples to soften independently of added ethylene. When a cold treatment is followed by an ethylene treatment, a more rapid softening occurs tha...

Recent studies of passive myocardial mechanics have shown that strain softening behavior is present during both inflation of isolated whole rat hearts and shearing of tissue blocks taken from the left ventricular free wall in pigs. Strain softening is typically manifested by a stiffer force-extension relation in the first deformation cycle relative to subsequent cycles and is distinguished from...