An artificial neural network prediction on physical, mechanical, and thermal characteristics of giant reed fiber reinforced polyethylene terephthalate composite

Plant fiber reinforced hybrid polymer composites have had broad applications recently because of their lower cost advantages, lower weight, and biodegradable nature. The present work studies the influence of reinforcing giant reed fiber concentration in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymer for their physical, mechanical, and thermal characteristics and determines the optimum loading of giant reed fiber using an artificial neural network (ANN) scheme. Giant reed fiber reinforced PET matrix laminates were manufactured from compression molding with different fiber loadings such as 5 wt.%, 10 wt.%, and 20 wt.%. The mechanical characteristics such as tensile and flexural strength and the laminate’s tensile and flexural modulus were appraised and examined. The maximum value of tensile strength, flexural strength, tensile modulus, and flexural modulus were 5.4 MPa, 26 MPa, 8343 MPa, and 6300 MPa, respectively, for PET2 (10 wt.% of giant reed fiber in PET polymer) composite. Fiber pullout, gaps, and fracture behavior were examined from a scanning electron microscope in the microstructural analysis. A machine learning technique has been recommended to combine artificial intelligence while designing giant reed fiber reinforced polymeric laminates. Using the suggested method, an ANN model has been generated to attain the targeted giant reed fiber concentration for PET composite while gratifying the necessary targeted characteristics. The developed method is very effective and decreases the effort and time of material characterization for huge specimens. It will support the researchers in designing their forthcoming test efficiently.

Evaluation of Particleboards Made from Giant Reed (Arundo donax L.) Bonded with Cement and Potato Starch

There is a general concern about the rationalization of resources and the management of waste. Plant residues can contribute to the development of new non-polluting construction materials. The objective of this study was to valorize a plant residue such as the giant reed and obtain a particleboard with cement using potato starch as a plasticizer in a manufacturing process involving compression and heat. The influence of cement and starch in different proportions and its stability over time were analyzed. Finally, their physical and mechanical properties were evaluated and compared to European Standards. High-quality sustainable particleboards (boards with high structural performance) were obtained and can be classified as P6 according to European Standards. Mechanical properties were improved by increasing the starch content and pressing time, whereas greater resistance to water was obtained by increasing the cement content. Giant reed particles seem to tolerate the alkalinity of the cement since there was no sign of degradation of its fibers. The use of these residues in the manufacture of construction materials offers a very attractive alternative in terms of price, technology and sustainability.

Experimental analysis on concrete blocks reinforced with Arundo donax fibers

Over the last decades, there has been a growing attention in research and development on non-conventional building materials, such as vegetable fibers (e.g., flax; hemp; jute; etc.), to be used as eco-friendly materials in a wide range of applications in civil construction. The main reasons of this interest are related to the specific properties, price and sustainability of natural fibers, which can be considered as “green” building materials. In this article, the tensile strength of a new type of fibers extracted from stem of the Giant Reed Arundo donax L., has been investigated. These fibers, which widely grow in Mediterranean areas, but that are diffused all around the world as well, have been extracted from the outer part of the plant stem. Then, in order to have an initial idea of their influence on the mechanical properties of concrete, some experimental bricks have been prepared, with the addition of different weight percentages of this vegetal fiber. To assess the mechanical properties of these bricks, compression and tensile tests on the whole block has been performed. Hence, the differences between concrete bricks without any fiber and those reinforced with different weight percentages of natural fiber have been analyzed, then assessing their potential applications in bio-architecture.

Management of invasive alien species in Spain: A bibliometric review

Scientific and grey literature on invasive alien species (IAS) is conditioned by social, economic and political priorities, editorial preferences and species and ecosystem characteristics. This leads to knowledge gaps and mismatches between scientific research interests and management needs. We reviewed the literature on IAS management in Spain found in Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar and Dialnet to identify key deficiencies and priority research areas. The collected literature was classified, employing features describing formal aspects and content. We used bibliometric and keyword co-occurrence network analyses to assess the relationship between features and reveal the existence of additional topics. Most of the compiled documents (n = 388) were focused on terrestrial ecosystems and inland waters, whereas marine and urban ecosystems were under-represented. The literature was largely generic and not species-specific, focusing on raising awareness and proposing changes on current regulation as prominent approaches to prevent further introductions. The compiled authors exhibited many clear publishing preferences (e.g. language or document type), but less regarding target taxa. In addition, there was a strong association between species and the different features considered, especially between the methodological approach (e.g. review, field experiment) and the primary emphasis of study (i.e. basic/theoretical, applied or interdisciplinary). This indicates that research on IAS has had a strong species-specific focus. References about terrestrial species focused mainly on vascular plants, whereas references about inland waters were mostly on fishes and the giant reed (Arundo donax), which has been managed with partial success. Animal culling and plant removal were the most frequent eradication and small-scale control treatments, whereas the documents addressing wider spatial scales were largely theoretical. Consequently, the success of described treatments was largely uncertain. Spanish invasion science research has been occasionally innovative, incorporating novel technologies (e.g. species distribution modelling) and engaging society with citizen-science approaches. However, the ratio between basic/theoretical and applied studies indicates that more applied research/management is needed, especially in inland waters and marine ecosystems. We call for increasing effort in the effective dissemination of experience in IAS management to enhance current practical knowledge, including that of schemes undertaken by public agencies.

The flora of Erath County, Texas, U.S.A.

Knowledge of county floras in Texas is crucial for determining species composition, management, preservation, and restoration across the state. Like most Texas counties, floristic data for Erath County, Texas, is poorly known. The objectives of this investigation were to compile a flora for Erath County, determine the intro-duced, endemic, threatened, and endangered species, as well as make comparisons to the county’s original flora and that of the North Central Texas region. Field work was conducted from September 2003 to December 2009 at 35 sites in Erath County. In addition herbaria were searched to locate specimens from Erath County. A total of 870 species (888 taxa) were identified in 103 families. One hundred forty-four taxa were introduced while 744 taxa were native. Eighteen of the species are Texas endemics. There were two rare plants, Dalea reverchonii and Penstemon guadalupensis, but no threatened or endangered plants were found during the inves-tigation. Four state-listed noxious species were collected during the investigation—Arundo donax (giant reed), Convolvulus arvensis (field bindweed), Tamarix chinensis, and T. gallica (salt-cedars).

Biomass Valorization: Sustainable Methods for the Production of Hemicellulolytic Catalysts from Thermoanaerobacterium thermostercoris strain BUFF

Processing and selection of fruits and vegetables generate high quantities of wastes that represent an economic and environmental issue for the agroindustry sector. According to the so-called “biorefinery” approach, this biomass can be exploited for the recovery of value-added molecules. In this study, the residues of industrial processing of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum variety “Hybrid Rome”), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), potato (Solanum tuberosum) and carrot (Daucus carota) were used as sole carbon sources to support cheap and sustainable microbial growth as well as the production of secondary metabolites (hydrogen and ethanol) by Thermoanaerobacterium thermostercoris strain BUFF, a thermophilic anaerobic microorganism isolated from buffalo-dung compost. Moreover, the use of hemicellulolytic enzymes of T. thermostercoris was assayed in the bioconversion reaction of the polymer fraction extracted from the rhizome of giant reed (Arundo donax) and of the leaves and stems of cardoon (Cynara cardunculus), dedicated non-food crops employed in energy supply.