Jonathan Komisar¹, Shubhika Srivastava², Miwa Geiger², John Doucette³, Helen Ko², Jay Shenoy², Rajesh Shenoy²

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.1, pp. 67-73, 2017

Abstract Background: Antenatal diagnosis of congenital heart defects (CHD) can impact outcomes in neonates with severe CHD. Obstetric screening guidelines and the indications for fetal echocardiography (FE) have evolved in an attempt to improve the early prenatal detection of CHD. Analyzing yield for specific indications will help clinicians better stratify at-risk pregnancies.
Methods: Retrospective cohort study of all FE performed between 2000 and 2010 at a single tertiary care academic medical center in New York City. A total of 9878 FE met inclusion criteria for our study. In cases of multiple gestations (MG), each fetus was counted as… More >

Kendra A. Allen¹, Sarah Cady², David Grewell^1*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.5, Suppl.1, pp. 124-126, 2017, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634139

Abstract Biobased fillers were utilized as components in soy-elastomer composites. Soy flour is lightweight, low cost, and high strength, which makes it an ideal alternative to petroleum-derived fillers. However, poor interfacial adhesion and low dispersion within the polymer matrix are limiting factors for composite performance. Soy flour chemically pretreated by acetylation was compounded with synthetic rubber elastomers. In general, soy flour (as received) concentration in the composite is proportional to the ultimate strength. However, soyelastomer composites with acetylated filler performed similar to the neat elastomer. In addition, the pretreated composite’s thermal stability increased and exhibited less More >

Shanshan Huo, Chad A. Ulven^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.5, Suppl.1, pp. 106-116, 2017, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634136

Abstract The development of flax fiber reinforced polymer composites with improved properties has been increasingly studied by many researchers because of their sustainability. However, the effects of thermal residual stresses on the interfacial properties of flax composites have not been evaluated or very well understood. In this study, the thermal properties of flax, vinyl ester matrices and their composites were accessed by different techniques, including thermomechanical analyzer, dynamic mechanical analyzer, and X-ray diffraction combined with aluminum particles. The effects of thermal properties of flax fibers and vinyl ester resin systems on the mechanical properties of their More >

N. Elbers¹, C. K. Ranaweera¹, M. Ionescu², X. Wan², P. K. Kahol³, Ram K. Gupta^1,2*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.5, Suppl.1, pp. 74-83, 2017, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634137

Abstract The objective of this research is to prepare rigid polyurethane (PU) foams from α-phellandrene, a biobased compound. Two types of polyols were synthesized by reacting α-phellandrene with 2-mercaptoethanol and α-thioglycerol via thiol-ene chemistry route. The completion of the reaction was identified by using FTIR. PU foams from α-phellandrene polyols and commercial polyol were compared with regard to foam characteristics and properties. All the PU foams showed apparent density of 28–39 kg/m³ with closed-cell content above 90%. The highest glass transition temperature of 229 °C and compressive strength of 220 kPa were observed for the polyol synthesized More >

Taein Ohm^1*, Jongseong Chae¹, Younghyo Kim¹, Seunghyun Moon²

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.5, Suppl.1, pp. 13-21, 2017, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634127

Abstract With the dramatic increase in the quantity of organic wastes, economic and environmentally friendly technologies are urgently required for reducing the volume of sludge and remediating its harmful impacts. In this study, drying experiments were performed on sludge through fry-drying technology and the characteristics of the resulting fuels were investigated to identify proper methods for treating sewage sludge, wastewater sludge, swine excreta, and food waste and converting them into fuels. The four types of organic wastes were fry-dried, and the best drying conditions were found to be 140 °C for 8 min for sewage sludge More >

C. K. Ranaweera¹, M. Ionescu², N. Bilic², X. Wan², P. K. Kahol³, Ram K. Gupta^1,2*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.5, Suppl.1, pp. 1-12, 2017, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634105

Abstract Biobased polyol was synthesized using 1-thioglycerol and limonene, an extract of orange peel, via thiol-ene chemistry as an alternative to petrochemical-based polyol for preparation of rigid polyurethane foams (RPFs). Fire-retardant polyurethane foams were prepared by addition of different amounts of dimethyl methyl phosphonate (DMMP) in the polyol. The effect of DMMP on the properties of RPFs was studied. All the biobased RPFs maintained a regular cell structure with uniform cell distribution and over 90% of closed cell. The RPFs showed excellent compressive strength of ~230 kPa without addition of DMMP. These RPFs almost retained their… More >

Massuh Y^1,2, LE Torres¹, SF Ocaño¹, P Bruentti¹, AG Chaves¹, JA Zygadlo², MS Ojeda¹

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.86, pp. 214-223, 2017, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2017.86.214

Abstract Tagetes minuta L. (Asteraceae) is an annual herb that is of great interest due to the bioactive properties of its essential oil (EO) and its industrial use. In Argentina, 0.5 tons/year of EO are obtained from wild populations and commercialized with a value of 80-120 US$/kg. The introduction of the species in culture, and the initiation of a process of domestication, selection and breeding material aimed at generating higher yields and quality of EO as an alternative to wild collection. The goal of this work was to generate a population with a broad genetic base to… More >

Zhou C^1,2, CA Busso³, YG Yang², Z Zhang⁴, ZW Wang¹, YF Yang⁵, XG Han¹

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.86, pp. 205-213, 2017, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2017.86.205

Abstract The mixed salt stress is common in nature. Salt stress always affects plant growth. Different plant species have different adaptive capacity to salty soils. Leymus chinensis is an herbaceous plant with different leaf colors. However, little research was conducted to explore the different tolerance mechanisms to salt stress among the three different leaf colour genotypes of Leymus chinensis (grey green, transitional color, yellow green). Pot experiments for Leymus chinensis in three leaf colors were conducted under mixed salt treatments in 2010. Malondialdehyde (MDA) and protein concentrations, and the activity of various antioxidant enzymes [i.e., superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase… More >

Castillo-Aguilar C de la C¹, JJ Zúñiga-Aguilar², AA Guzmán-Antonio², R Garruña³

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.86, pp. 199-204, 2017, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2017.86.199

Abstract The Habanero pepper (Capsicum chinense) is intensively cultivated in the Yucatan peninsula, México. Because of adverse environmental conditions, it required seeding in germination trays, from which six-week-old seedlings were transplanted to the soil. Adequate nursing and fertilization programmes were made to improve health and vigour before seedlings transplanting. During seed germination, we investigated the effects of inoculation with four plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on growth, nutrient uptake and gas exchange of 8-week-old Capsicum chinense plants. Inoculation was made with Pseudomonas sp. -P61-, Pseudomonas sp. -A46-, Bacillus pumillus -R44-, and Paenibacillus polymyxa-BSP1.1-. The BSP1.1 strain produced the highest increase in… More >

Zhang J, YF Yang, HY Li, W Sun

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.86, pp. 163-170, 2017, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2017.86.163

Abstract Community succession is an orderly replacement process between dominant species of such community. The mutual opulations changes of two clonal plant species, Leymus chinensis and Kalimeris integrifolia, were analyzed during a process of restoration succession in a degraded meadow in Northeast China. It was based on the methods of space-for-time substitution and continuous sampling in different mixed ratios of community sections. The results showed that the two species populations adjusted the size of ramets to ensure a relatively stable number in the mixed community. The fluctuation and instability were more obvious in the K. integrifolia than in the L.… More >