Pesticide exposure can be harmful to insect pollinators and the ecosystem services they provide. As many pesticide guidelines warn against applying such products when pollinators are active, it is important to evaluate how pollinator activity changes with time of day to determine the most appropriate time to spray.We walked transects from sunrise to sunset in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) field

Free-standing nanowires can gain intracellular access without causing stress or apoptosis. Current approaches to generate nanowires focus on lithographic patterning and inorganic materials (Si, GaAs, Al2O3, etc.) while organic materials are less explored. Use of organic conductive polymers allows for the creation of soft mixed ion–electron conducting nanowires. Processing conductive polymers into

Preemptive identification of potential failure under loading of engineering structures is a critical challenge. Our study presents an innovative approach to design built-in prefailure indicators within multiscale structural designs with optimized load carrying capabilities utilizing the design freedom of topology optimization. The indicators are engineered to visibly signal load conditions approac

Concrete features significant microstructural heterogeneity which affects its mechanical behavior. Strain localization in the matrix phase of concrete has received significant attention due to its relation to microcracking and our ability to quantify it with X-ray computed tomography (XRCT). In contrast, stresses in sand and aggregates remain largely unmeasured but remain critical for micromechani

BACKGROUND: Low-level viremia during antiretroviral therapy (ART) has been associated with inferior outcomes, but knowledge on the impact of low-level viremia in the current era of dolutegravir-based ART in low-income countries is limited.OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether low-level viremia predicts virologic non-suppression and attrition from care in people with HIV receiving ART in Ethiopia.METHO

Aluminum is a promising carbon-free energy carrier. The combustion of aluminum in steam offers a novel method for the simultaneous production of hydrogen and heat through the reaction: 2Al + 3H2O = Al2O3 + 3H2 + heat. A comprehensive understanding of the combustion mechanism is crucial for predicting and optimizing the performance of aluminum-fueled devices.This thesis develops different lab-scale

When a storm exceeds the design storm or when the hydraulic capacity of a conduit is reduced, flooding occurs. The flooded water moves outside the conduit system. The volumes, discharges and overland flow depth when flooding occurs in upstream and downstream parts of an urban basin are computed for a hypothetical basin as well as for real basins, for very extreme flows as well as for moderate flow

An economical and optimal construction of rainwater storage cistern in the Loess Plateau of Gansu is introduced. The collection alternatives of rainwater showed a dramatic difference on cistern water quality. Roof-yard catchment systems can harvest drinking water that generally meets the international guidelines. Among the tested disinfectants - chlorine dioxide, potassium permanganate, chloramine

Qanats are renewable water supply systems that have sustained human settlement on the Iranian plateau for millennia. By their very nature, Qanats have encouraged sustainable water use. Recent intense socio-economic changes in Iran have introduced other water harvesting methods like dams and deep wells. The short run advantages of new methods caused Qanats to be laid aside even though the applicati

In this paper we propose a technique to enhance the performance of a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID)-based control structure for Depth-of-Hypnosis control in total intravenous anesthesia when set-point changes are required during the maintenance phase. In particular, the PID controller, tuned for disturbance rejection, is integrated with a feedforward action based on Model Predictive Contro

Traits that affect organismal fitness are often very genetically variable. This genetic variation is vital for populations to adapt to their environments, but it is also surprising given that nature (after all) “selects” the best genotypes at the expense of those that fall short. Explaining the extensive genetic variation of fitness-related traits is thus a longstanding puzzle in evolutionary biol

Alarming water shortage and increased water scarcity worldwide has led to increased interests in alternative water sources. Rainwater harvesting is one of them which is getting more and more attention. There is a huge potential for generalization and extension of rainwater harvesting system as an alternative water supply. This is especially important for arid and semi-arid regions where the water

This paper revisits the glazed redware Scanian jug, brought to the fore by Kulturen archaeologist Anders W. Mårtensson in 1973. Characterized by its faceted base and distinct handle, the jug stands out from its contemporaries. This brief paper presents new chemical data for the Scanian jug, its most common rim forms and a discussion on its area of production. So far, no medieval ceramic production

The ongoing climate change has been increasingly reflected in climate observations around the world, both in terms of averages and extremes, and attributed to anthropogenic climate forcing. When it comes to changing extremes, attribution to climate change is now especially well-established for heat-related extremes worldwide. Understanding changes in extremes is important for climate adaptation as

This study uniquely combines advanced continental-scale data from two distinct sources: pollen-based past land cover (paleoecology) and ancient DNA (aDNA), developing a novel statistical model for spatiotemporal reconstructions of past land use across Europe. This groundbreaking approach integrates paleo-pollen and aDNA data, providing unprecedented insights into the environmental impacts of Holoc

This study uniquely combines advanced continental-scale data fromtwo distinct sources: pollen-based land cover (PbLC) and ancient DNA(aDNA), developing a novel statistical model for spatiotemporal reconstructionsof past land use across Europe.The aDNA data serves as a proxy for human habitation, differentiatinganthropogenic and natural land cover from PbLC reconstruction. Thiswill be accomplished