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Background Sex separation of mosquitoes at different stages is currently being attempted to ensure the successful release of male mosquitoes in novel vector control approaches. Mechanical and behavioral techniques have been tried most frequently. Methods Batches of ( n  = 300) Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus pupae were used for standard sieving (using sieves with 1.12, 1.25, 1.40 and 1.60 mm mesh sizes) and the Fay-Morlan glass plate separation methods. Male and female separation by each method was calculated. For behavioral separation, a spiked blood meal with different concentrations (0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 ppm) of ivermectin and spinosad (spinosyn, 12% w/v), were provided to a batch ( n  = 300) of adult Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus (1:1 sex ratio) followed by observation of mortality. An additional “double feeding method” involved provision of a further blood meal after 24 h, with the same concentrations of ivermectin and spinosad as the initial feeding, followed by a 48-h observation of mortality. All experiments were repeated five times. Results In the standard sieving method, the percentage of males and females separated at different pore sizes differed significantly ( P  < 0.05). The majority of the male pupae were collected in the 1.12 mm pore sized sieve for both Ae. aegypti (73%) and Ae. albopictus (69%) while females were retained mainly in the sieve with the pore size of 1.25 mm. In the Fay-Morlan glass plate separation, 99.0% of the Ae. aegypti and 99.2% of the Ae. albopictus introduced male pupae could be separated, but with female contaminations of 16 and 12%, respectively. Provision of a blood meal spiked with 8 ppm of ivermectin under the “double feeding” was identified as the most effective way of achieving 100% female elimination for both Aedes species. Conclusions With 100% separation, use of a spiked blood meal is a more effective method of sex separation than the mechanical methods. Application of the spiked blood meal approach as a second separation level for sexes, after applying the Fay-Morlan glass plate method, could achieve 100% sex separation of sexes whilst allowing a reduction in the amount of toxicants required.

In this study, new composite materials comprising zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) structures and microchannel glass (MCG) plates were fabricated using the hydrothermal method and their morphological and spectral properties were investigated using XRD, SEM, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopy. XRD studies of powder samples revealed the presence of an additional phase for a ZIF-8 sample, whereas ZIF-67 samples, which were prepared through two different chemical routes, showed no additional phases. A detailed analysis of the FTIR and micro-Raman spectra of the composite samples revealed the formation of stable ZIF structures inside the macropores of the MCG substrate. The hydrophilic nature of the MCG substrate and its interaction with the ZIF structure resulted in the formation of stable ZIF-MCG composites. We believe that these composite materials may find a wide range of important applications in the field of sensors, molecular sieving.

The production of a large number of mosquitoes of high biological qualities and reliable sex sorting before release are key challenges when applying the sterile insect technique as part of an area-wide integrated pest management approach. There is a need to fully evaluate the production capacity of the equipment developed in order to plan and maintain a daily production level for large-scale operational release activities. This study aimed to evaluate the potential use of the FAO/IAEA larval rearing unit for Aedes aegypti and the subsequent female contamination rate after sex sorting with a Fay–Morlan glass separator. Trays from each rack were tilted and their contents sorted either for each individual tray or after mixing the content of all trays from the rack. The pupal production and the female contamination rate were estimated with respect to day of collection, position of the tray, type of pupae collection, and sorting operator. Results showed significant daily variability of pupal production and female contamination rate, with a high male pupal production level achieved on the second day of collection and estimated female contamination of male pupae reached around 1%. Neither tray position nor type of pupae collection affected the pupal production and female contamination rate. However, the operator had a significant effect on the female contamination rate. These results highlight the need to optimize pupal production at early days of collection and to develop a more effective and automated method of sex separation. La production d’un grand nombre de moustiques de haute qualité biologique et le tri des sexes avant les lâchers sont des défis clés lors de l’application de la technique des insectes stériles, dans le cadre d’une approche de lutte intégrée contre les ravageurs à l’échelle d’une zone. Il est nécessaire d’évaluer pleinement la capacité de production des équipements développés afin de planifier et de maintenir un niveau de production quotidien pour les activités de libération opérationnelle à grande échelle. Cette étude visait à évaluer l’utilisation potentielle de l’unité d’élevage larvaire FAO/AIEA pour Aedes aegypti et le taux de contamination par des femelles après le tri sexuel avec un séparateur en verre Fay–Morlan. Les plateaux de chaque rack ont été inclinés et leur contenu trié soit pour chaque plateau, soit après avoir mélangé le contenu de tous les plateaux du rack. La production de pupes et le taux de contamination par des femelles ont été estimés en fonction du jour de collecte, de la position du bac, du type de collecte des pupes et de l’opérateur du tri. Les résultats ont montré une variabilité quotidienne significative de la production de pupes et du taux de contamination par des femelles, avec un niveau élevé de production de pupes mâles atteint le deuxième jour de collecte et la contamination estimée des pupes mâles par des femelles a atteint environ 1 %. Ni la position du plateau ni le type de collecte des pupes n’ont affecté la production de pupes et le taux de contamination par des femelles. Cependant, l’opérateur avait un effet significatif sur le taux de contamination par les femelles. Ces résultats mettent en évidence la nécessité d’optimiser la production des pupes dès les premiers jours de la collecte et de développer une méthode de séparation des sexes plus efficace et automatisée.

In this paper, we present a new processing method, called MOSES—Impacts, for the detection of micrometer-sized damage on glass plate surfaces. It extends existing methods by a separation of damaged areas, called impacts, to support state-of-the-art recycling systems in optimizing their parameters. These recycling systems are used to repair process-related damages on glass plate surfaces, caused by accelerated material fragments, which arise during a laser–matter interaction in a vacuum. Due to a high number of impacts, the presented MOSES—Impacts algorithm focuses on the separation of connected impacts in two-dimensional images. This separation is crucial for the extraction of relevant features such as centers of gravity and radii of impacts, which are used as recycling parameters. The results show that the MOSES—Impacts algorithm effectively separates impacts, achieves a mean agreement with human users of (82.0 ± 2.0)%, and improves the recycling of glass plate surfaces by identifying around 7% of glass plate surface area as being not in need of repair compared to existing methods.

Glass has outstanding optical properties, hardness, and durability, but its applications are limited by its inherent brittleness and poor impact resistance. Lamination and tempering can improve impact response but do not suppress brittleness. We propose a bioinspired laminated glass that duplicates the three-dimensional “brick-and-mortar” arrangement of nacre from mollusk shells, with periodic three-dimensional architectures and interlayers made of a transparent thermoplastic elastomer. This material reproduces the “tablet sliding mechanism,” which is key to the toughness of natural nacre but has been largely absent in synthetic nacres. Tablet sliding generates nonlinear deformations over large volumes and significantly improves toughness. This nacre-like glass is also two to three times more impact resistant than laminated glass and tempered glass while maintaining high strength and stiffness.

Our laboratory has been exploring the development of tools for drilling holes in glass plates, and the drilling techniques to be adopted for it. A devised tool shape that could prevent the occurrence of cracks at the exit holes achieved high quality through hole drilling of 100 holes or more using only the drilling cycle. However, crack-free drilling beyond this number of holes cannot be performed. This is due to the adhesion of the residual chip on the tool surface when the number of holes increases. Therefore, further improvement of chip discharge is needed to achieve crack-free drilling. In this report, we consider that chip discharge results from the flow of the machining fluid. To investigate the cause of chip discharge, we analyzed the flow of the machining fluid in the hole using computational fluid dynamics and the supposed chip discharge conditions. The results obtained in this study are summarized as follows. (1) In the case of a cylindrical tool, the Z -axis directional flow of the machining fluid did not occur in the hole. This is because the tool does not have bumps to agitate the fluid on the side, and the gap between the tool and the inner surface of the hole is narrow. (2) The plate side widened the gap between the tool and inner surface of the hole. Therefore, the fluid was likely to flow in the Z -axis direction in the hole. (3) For the tool with the plane side bit, the flow entered the hole from one plane side and exited the hole from the other plane side. (4) When the tool end is spherical, the Z -axis directional flow of the fluid occurs at the tool end. (5) The fluid flow of the devised tool weakened as the drilling depth increased. To improve the chip discharge performance of the designed tool, the Z -axis directional flow of the machining fluid must occur in an area deeper than 2 mm.

In the hole drilling process, produced chip cannot be released from the inside hole which leads to broken glass plate due to the adhered chip on tool. Chip discharge method was announced by many researchers. However, the method using the tool-only with drilling command is rarely seen. In this laboratory, we have developed a tool in order to discharge chip. The developed tool is capable in preventing chip adhesion and producing high quality and efficient hole drilling process. The developed tool has several hundred times longer tool life than a conventional tool. However, the amount of adhered chips on cutting tool increase as the number of hole drilling process increases. The chip adhesion condition is different according to the kind of grinding fluid. Adhesion of chips on tool can be related to the properties of grinding fluid. Thus, in this study, the types of grinding fluid used during the hole drilling process were investigated to determine the state of chip adhesion. Three types of grinding fluid used are Emulsion, Soluble and Solution and all of them include surfactant which is considered to have an effect on prevention of chip adhesion. The main conclusions obtained in this study are as follows. Chip adhesion state was investigated after drilling process and it was found that instead of grinding fluid properties, surfactant also has significant effect on chip adhesion on tool by absorbing the adhered chip from the tool. The results showed that grinding fluid with long-chain surfactant has small amount of chip adhesion whereas grinding fluid with short-chain surfactant has large amount of chip adhesion. Therefore, it can be concluded that grinding fluid with long-chain surfactant is capable in preventing chip adhesion during hole drilling process.

This article concerns a reduced order model of unconstrained glass plate exposed to low-velocity impact. First, three-parametric model consisting of two masses connected with elastic spring is introduced, its calibration procedure is described, and the simulation of its response to force impulses with different duration is shown. Then a five-parametric variant of the reduced order model is presented, calibrated and tested. Combined with the Hertzian theory of non-adhesive contact, the model allows us to determine the time evolution of contact force for arbitrary mass, stiffness and initial velocity of the impactor. The simulated results are compared to experimentally obtained data and observations about the model properties and accuracy are made.

A thick glass plate was cut by using hot wire. Crack growing was stopped when wire temperature was low. Ligament length decreased with increase in temperature of hot wire and full-cutting was achieved at the temperature of 650°C. The center region in the thickness direction seemed to propagate earlier compared to surfaces regions when the crack propagation was stopped. Finite element thermal stress analysis was carried out. According to distribution of thermal stress inside a glass plate, higher stress was generated in the bottom region at the beginning of the process but occurred in the center region in the later stage as matching with the experimental result.

Immobilization or coating of photocatalysts on supporting media can open a new avenue for industrial application of photocatalysis in wastewater treatment. Herein, we present a critical review of the recent advances in loading photocatalysts on different materials to degrade such bio-recalcitrant organics as pharmaceuticals, pesticides, surfactants, and dyes, which helps in the sustainable use of polluted water after treatment. Many of the recently developed photocatalysts have proven high stability for long periods under illumination. Consequently, employing the catalysts in retained forms provided a viable solution for reuse. Supports may be movable; these include zeolites, polymers, quartz sand, 3-D graphene or fixed, such as glass plates, aluminum plates, and stainless steel plates. Photocatalytic reactors could be an ideal solution for continuous operating treatment, especially in a large-scale operation. In this review, the use of suspended and immobilized systems are compared in the degradation of bio-recalcitrant organic pollutants. Despite the limited research used in the immobilized systems, this proved very successful. This technique has overcome many of the other suspended systems’ problems, affording economical solutions such as the possibility of repeated reuse of the catalyst, reduced risk of the catalyst escaping with treated water, and the possibility of application on an industrial scale. Graphical abstract