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\"[This] is a knife skills class in book form and an introduction to the best knives you can buy from all over the world. From a premier knife purveyor and go-to knives expert, this comprehensive guide details the elements of buying and caring for good knives, including sharpening and knife skills\"--Amazon.com.

Food is an integral part of everyone’s life. Disposable food serving utensils and tableware are a very convenient solution, especially when the possibility of the use of traditional dishes and cutlery is limited (e.g., takeaway meals). As a result, a whole range of products is available on the market: plates, trays, spoons, forks, knives, cups, straws, and more. Both the form of the product (adapted to the distribution and sales system) as well as its ecological aspect (biodegradability and life cycle) should be of interest to producers and consumers, especially considering the clearly growing trend of “eco-awareness”. This is particularly important in the case of single-use products. The aim of the study was to present the current trends regarding disposable utensils intended for contact with food in the context of their biodegradability. This paper has summarized not only conventional polymers but also their modern alternatives gaining the attention of manufacturers and consumers of single-use products (SUPs).

The synthesis of a carbon nanobelt, comprising a closed loop of fully fused edge-sharing benzene rings, has been an elusive goal in organic chemistry for more than 60 years. Here we report the synthesis of one such compound through iterative Wittig reactions followed by a nickel-mediated aryl-aryl coupling reaction. The cylindrical shape of its belt structure was confirmed by x-ray crystallography, and its fundamental optoelectronic properties were elucidated by ultraviolet-visible absorption, fluorescence, and Raman spectroscopic studies, as well as theoretical calculations. This molecule could potentially serve as a seed for the preparation of structurally well-defined carbon nanotubes.

This article presents a method for calculating the working body of a cultivator in the form of a rotary knife drum. Since the knives on the drum are arranged radially, the ends of the knives under the translational movement of the rotary drum describe the trajectory of successively located arcs. As a result of the theoretical calculations conducted, three types of trajectories were obtained, depending on the value of the kinematic parameter. It was established that with an increase in the depth of the cultivated soil, the kinematic parameter increases. This indicates that high-quality tillage is ensured when the rotary knife drum moves along an elongated trajectory.

The use of plastic in food packaging and cutlery is one of the significant factors that cause environmental pollution. The alternative solution that can be given to reduce the use of plastic is to create edible spoons. The features and attributes required for the spoon are essential factors in the process of product development. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the level of consumer acceptance and satisfaction regarding the features and attributes of the product by using the Kano method. This analysis involves distributing questionnaires, validity and reliability tests, and dividing requirements into specific categories. The requirements distributed in the questionnaire are various dimensions of product quality that need to be analyzed in product development. The results of the Kano questionnaire showed that of the 17 requirements, there were five essential attributes: having a BPOM certificate, hygienic packaging, a list of nutritional contents on the package, the good nutritional content on the edible spoon, and a product that is not easy to stale. These five attributes are the ones that should be considered in developing edible spoon products.

Prokaryotes have engineered sophisticated surface nanomachines that have allowed them to colonize Earth and thrive even in extreme environments. Filamentous machineries composed of type IV pilins, which are associated with an amazing array of properties ranging from motility to electric conductance, are arguably the most widespread since distinctive proteins dedicated to their biogenesis are found in most known species of prokaryotes. Several decades of investigations, starting with type IV pili and then a variety of related systems both in bacteria and archaea, have outlined common molecular and structural bases for these nanomachines. Using type IV pili as a paradigm, we will highlight in this review common aspects and key biological differences of this group of filamentous structures. Using type IV pili as a paradigm, we review common genetic, structural and mechanistic features (many) as well as differences (few) of the exceptionally widespread and functionally versatile prokaryotic nano-machines composed of type IV pilins.

Manufacturing industries are vital for economic development, but they cause significant environmental damages. As there are scarce research studies for this industrial sector from developing countries, this article reports a comprehensive environmental and economic analyses for cutlery manufacturing in Pakistan. SimaPro 9.5 was used as a modelling software tool, while ReCiPe 2016 methods were used to evaluate various midpoint and endpoint environmental impacts. Various economic indicators were used to evaluate the economic performance of different alternative scenarios. The results revealed that injection molding process, due to its energy-intensive nature caused the most environmental impacts as compared to other manufacturing processes. Global warming and terrestrial ecotoxicity were the most affected impact categories with values of 11.8 kg CO 2 eq and 12.0 kg 1,4-DCB, respectively. Meanwhile, at endpoint level, human health category was most damaged as compared to others. Based on technical process intervention and energy transition, four different alternative scenarios were developed. In comparison with baseline scenario, the alternative scenario with double-cavity mold resulted in a reduction of more than 30% for various impact categories. The other three alternatives were grounded on the use of solar energy (50% or 100%) and injection mold with double or single cavity. Overall, the alternative scenario with 50% solar energy and double-cavity mold was the best solution that showed more than 50% reduction in most of the impact categories, less than 3-year payback time, 2.12 million (Pakistani Rupees) net present value, and 36.3% of return on investment. This study clearly shows the importance of renewable energy resources and simple changes in process technology for improving sustainability performance. The relevant stakeholders can effectively use the results and methodology of this study as a reference and guide for future research and practical interventions, especially in developing countries. Graphical abstract

The uniformity of the flow in the air knives play a crucial role for the quality of the galvanized anti-corrosion coating. Simulations of the flow are carried out to study the uniformity. To simplify the simulations, the air knife is segmented into two parts: the ends- and the periodic-segments. The velocity, vorticity, and turbulent kinetic energy both around the air distribution plates and the outlet are analyzed. Results show that the uniformity in downstream of the air distribution plates is higher in the periodic segment than that in the ends segment. While the uniformity around the outlet is found similar in the ends- and the periodic- segments. When the opening degree of the knife lip decreasing, the uniformity increases in downstream of the air distribution plates and decreases around the outlet. In such way, the present study sheds some light for the internal flow field of the air knife, and provides technical support for the design of air knife.

Closed circuit television systems (CCTV) are becoming more and more popular and are being deployed in many offices, housing estates and in most public spaces. Monitoring systems have been implemented in many European and American cities. This makes for an enormous load for the CCTV operators, as the number of camera views a single operator can monitor is limited by human factors. In this paper, we focus on the task of automated detection and recognition of dangerous situations for CCTV systems. We propose algorithms that are able to alert the human operator when a firearm or knife is visible in the image. We have focused on limiting the number of false alarms in order to allow for a real-life application of the system. The specificity and sensitivity of the knife detection are significantly better than others published recently. We have also managed to propose a version of a firearm detection algorithm that offers a near-zero rate of false alarms. We have shown that it is possible to create a system that is capable of an early warning in a dangerous situation, which may lead to faster and more effective response times and a reduction in the number of potential victims.