Recent molecular studies have identified substantial fungal diversity in indoor environments. Fungi and fungal particles have been linked to a range of potentially unwanted effects in the built environment, including asthma, decay of building materials, and food spoilage. The study of the built mycobiome is hampered by a number of constraints, one of which is the poor state of the metadata annotation of fungal DNA sequences from the built environment in public databases. In order to enable precise interrogation of such data - for example, "retrieve all fungal sequences recovered from bathrooms" - a workshop was organized at the University of Gothenburg (May 23-24, 2016) to annotate public fungal barcode (ITS) sequences according to the MIxS-Built Environment annotation standard (http:// gensc.org/ mixs/). The 36 participants assembled a total of 45,488 data points from the published literature, including the addition of 8,430 instances of countries of collection from a total of 83 countries, 5,801 instances of building types, and 3,876 instances of surface-air contaminants. The results were implemented in the UNITE database for molecular identification of fungi (http://unite.ut.ee) and were shared with other online resources. Data obtained from human/animal pathogenic fungi will furthermore be verified on culture based metadata for subsequent inclusion in the ISHAM-ITS database (http:// its. mycologylab.org).

The dimensions of the graded quotients of the cohomology of a plane curve complement U = P-2/C with respect to the Hodge filtration are described in terms of simple geometrical invariants. The case of curves with ordinary singularities is discussed in detail. We also give a precise numerical estimate for the difference between the Hodge filtration and the pole order filtration on H-2(U, C).

Codimension two Artinian algebras have the strong and weak Lefschetz propertiesprovided the characteristic is zero or greater than the socle degree. It is open to whatextent such results might extend to codimension three Artinian Gorenstein algebras. De-spite much work, the strong Lefschetz property for codimension three Artinian Gorensteinalgebra has remained largely mysterious; our results build on and strengthen some of theprevious results. We here show that every standard-graded codimension three ArtinianGorenstein algebra A having maximum value of the Hilbert function at most six has thestrong Lefschetz property, provided that the characteristic is zero. When the characteris-tic is greater than the socle degree of A, we show that A is almost strong Lefschetz, theyare strong Lefschetz except in the extremal pair of degrees.

We classify the orbits of nets of conics under the action of the projective linear group and we determine the specializations of these orbits, using geometric and algebraic methods. We study related geometric questions, as the parametrization of planar cubics. We show that Artinian algebras of Hilbert function H=(1,3,3,0) determined by nets, can be smoothed—deformed to a direct sum of fields; and that algebras of Hilbert function H=(1,r,2,0), determined by pencils of quadrics, can also be smoothed. This portion is a translation and update of a 1977 version, a typescript by the second two authors that was distributed as a preprint of University of Paris VII. In a new Historical Appendix A we describe related work prior to 1977. In an Update Appendix B we survey some developments since 1977 concerning nets of conics, related geometry, and deformations of Artinian algebras of small length.

Let R= k [x, y, z], the polynomial ring over a field k. Several of the authors previously classified nets of ternary conics and their specializations over an algebraically closed field, Abdallah et al. (Eur J Math 9(2), Art. No. 22, 2023). We here show that when k is algebraically closed, and considering the Hilbert function sequence T =(1,3(k),1), k >= 2 (i.e. T = (1, 3, 3, ... , 3, 1) where k is the multiplicity of 3), then the family GT parametrizing graded Artinian algebra quotients A = R/I of R having Hilbert function T is irreducible, and G(T) is the closure of the family Gor(T) of Artinian Gorenstein algebras of Hilbert function T. We then classify up to isomorphism the elements of these families Gor(T) and of G(T). Finally, we give examples of codimension 3 Gorenstein sequences, such as (1, 3, 5, 3, 1), for which G(T) has several irreducible components, one being the Zariski closure of Gor(T).

Special partial matchings (SPMs) are a generalisation of Brenti's special matchings. Let a pircon be a poset in which every non-trivial principal order ideal is finite and admits an SPM. Thus pircons generalise Marietti's zircons. We prove that every open interval in a pircon is a PL ball or a PL sphere. It is then demonstrated that Bruhat orders on certain twisted identities and quasiparabolic W-sets constitute pircons. Together, these results extend a result of Can, Cherniaysky, and Twelbeck, prove a conjecture of Hultman, and confirm a claim of Rains and Vazirani.

In (Stanley, 1978), Stanley constructs an example of an Artinian Gorenstein (AG) ring A with non-unimodal H-vector (1,13,12,13,1). Migliore-Zanello show in (Migliore and Zanello, 2017) that for regularity r=4, Stanley's example has the smallest possible codimension c for an AG ring with non-unimodal H-vector.

The weak Lefschetz property (WLP) has been much studied for AG rings; it is easy to show that an AG ring with non-unimodal H-vector fails to have WLP. In codimension c=3 it is conjectured that all AG rings have WLP. For c=4, Gondim shows in (Gondim, 2017) that WLP always holds for r≤4 and gives a family where WLP fails for any r≥7, building on Ikeda's example (Ikeda, 1996) of failure for r=5. In this note we study the minimal free resolution of A and relation to Lefschetz properties (both weak and strong) and Jordan type for c=4 and r≤6.

A net in P^2 is a configuration of lines A and points X satisfying certain incidence properties. Nets appear in a variety of settings, ranging from quasigroups to combinatorial design to classification of Kac–Moody algebras to cohomology jump loci of hyperplane arrangements. For a matroid M and rank r, we associate a monomial ideal (a monomial variant of the Orlik–Solomon ideal) to the set of flats of M of rank ≤r. In the context of line arrangements in P^2, applying Alexander duality to the resulting ideal yields insight into the combinatorial structure of nets.

Nowadays companies are in a dynamic environment leading to competition in finding new revenue streams to strengthen their positions in their markets by using new technologies to provide capabilitiesto organize resources whilst taking into account changes that can occur in their environment. Therefore, decision making is inevitable to combat uncertainties where taking the optimal action by leveraging concepts and technologies that support decision making such as Business Intelligence (BI)tools and systems could determine a company’s future. Companies can optimize their decision making with BI features like Data-Driven Alerts that sends messages when fluctuations occur within a supervised threshold that reflects the state of business operations. The purpose of this research was to conduct an empirical study on how Swedish companies and enterprises located in different industries apply BI tools and with Data-driven Alerts features for decision making whereby we further studied the characteristics of Data-driven Alerts in terms of usability from the perspectives of different industry professionals through the thematic lens of the Technology acceptance model (TAM) in a qualitative approach. We conducted interviews with professionals from diverse organizations where we applied the Thematic Coding technique on empirical results for further analysis. We found out that by allowing possibilities for users to analyze data in their own preferences for decisions, it will provide managers and leaders with sufficient information needed to empower strategic and tactical decision-making. Despite the emergence of state-of-the-art predictive analytics technologies such as Machine Learning and AI, the literature clearly states that these processes are technical and complex to be comprehended by the decision maker. At the end of the day, prescriptive analytics will end up providing descriptive options being presented to the end user as we move towards automated decision making. This we see as an opportunity for reporting tools and data-driven alerts to be in contemporary symbiotic relationship with advanced analytics in decision making contexts to improve its outcome, quality and user friendliness.

Artificial intelligence is a phenomenon that is only getting bigger and bigger in the world and in Sweden. The technology is becoming increasingly common for cars to be able to drive themselves, in other words self-driving cars. Sweden currently has no legislation for fully self-driving cars in Sweden. Through a quantitative survey, the public's attitude and acceptance of the phenomenon in Sweden has been examined. Furthermore, the study investigated who the Swedish population believes should be held accountable in car accidents with self-driving cars. The authors were able to state that the legislation lags behind the technology and in order for fully self-driving cars to be implemented in Sweden, there should be a change in the legislation to meet the general perception of self-driving cars in Sweden. The results of the study came to the conclusion that a change in the current legislation should be relevant where the law benefits people as well as the companies behind the technology, not just as it is now that the law only benefits the car manufacturers as they have no responsibility in car accidents with semi-autonomous cars. In order for people to trust the technology, a greater knowledge of the phenomenon is needed. The car manufacturers could fix this by letting the user of the car have greater knowledge of, for example, the data that the companies collect and what it is used for. 

By performing local projective measurements on a two-qubit entangled state one can certify in a device-independent way up to one bit of randomness. We show here that general measurements, defined by positive-operator-valued measures, can certify up to two bits of randomness, which is the optimal amount of randomness that can be certified from an entangled bit. General measurements thus provide an advantage over projective ones for device-independent randomness certification.

Business analysis is an increasingly popular trend that many organisations use because of its potential to establish valuable insights, increased profitability and improved operational efficiency. Something that has proved to be rather problematic as the desired results rarely is a certainty. The purpose of the study is to examine how fashion retailers can use business analytics to generate positive insights through value-creating mechanisms by applying a process model. Based on semi-structured interviews with the employees of a fashion company and a starting point in previous research, we have mapped how business analysis can be used to obtain value. The empirical study resulted in three valuable insights (1) The examined organisation uses business analysis to increase profitability. (2) The data assets of the organisation are enough to acquire valuable insights. (3) Further we discovered that the organisation uses influencers as a valuable asset and can be categorised as a business analysis capability, previously undefined in preceding research.

A bio-based thermoset resin was reinforced with flax fabrics and Lyocell fiber. The effect of different weave architectures was studied with four flax fabrics with different architectures: plain, twill (two different types), and dobby. The effect of the outer ply thickness was studied and characterized with flexural and impact testing. Composites manufactured with plain weave reinforcement had the best mechanical properties. The tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural strength, flexural modulus, and impact strength were 280 MPa, 32 GPa, 250 MPa, 25 GPa, and 75 kJ/m2, respectively. Reinforcements with twill-weave architecture did not impart appreciable flexural strength or flexural modulus even when the outer thickness was increased. Plain- and dobby (basket woven style)-weave architectures gave better reinforcing effects and the flexural properties increased with an increase in outer thickness.Water absorption properties of the composites were studied and it was observed that the hybridization with Lyocell fiber reduced the water uptake. Fieldemission scanning electron microscopy was used to study the micro-structural properties of the composites.

Biobased composites were manufactured with a compression-molding technique. Novel thermoset resins from soybean oil were used as a matrix, and flax fibers were used as reinforcements. The air-laid fibers were stacked randomly, the woven fabrics were stacked crosswise (0/90 ), and impregnation was performed manually. The fiber/resin ratio was 60 : 40. The prepared biobased composites were characterized by impact and flexural testing. Scanning electron microscopy of knife-cut cross sections of the specimens was also done to investigate the fiber–matrix interface. Thermogravimetric analysis of the composites was carried out to provide indications of thermal stability. Three resins from soybean oil [methacrylated soybean oil, methacrylic anhydride modified soybean oil (MMSO), and acetic anhydride modified soybean oil] were used as matrices. The impact strength of the composites with MMSO resin reinforced with air-laid flax fibers was 24 kJ/m2, whereas that of the MMSO resin reinforced with woven flax fabric was between 24 and 29 kJ/m2. The flexural strength of the MMSO resin reinforced with air-laid flax fibers was between 83 and 118 MPa, and the flexural modulus was between 4 and 6 GPa, whereas the flexural strength of the MMSO resin reinforced with woven fabric was between 90 and 110 MPa, and the flexural modulus was between 4.87 and 6.1 GPa.

Health related issues, stringent environmental protection policies, search for cost effective and alternative materials, crave for renewability and sustainability and quest for high performance materials for structural applications give the motivation for research in polymer composites and material science. Due to the health, safety and environmental concerns over the conventional synthetic materials and the legislation against their usage both in domestic and industrial applications, alternatives sources that will be comparable in properties are being sought. There is an emerging market for biodegradable polymers which is expected to increase substantially in the coming years.[1] Preparation of Composites Airlaid and woven flax fibre mats were first treated with 4% sodium hydroxide solution for one hour and then washed with plenty of water. This was done in order to remove any residual impurities. The fibres were dried at room temperature for 24 hr and then dried in a vacuum oven for 1hr at a temperature of 105°С. The 8 sheets of the fibre were hand laid cross- wisely and the impregnation was done manually. The fibre/ resin ratio was about 60% to 40%. Methacrylated soybean oil, methacrylic anhydride and acetic anhydride modified soybean oil were the synthesized matrices used. The compression moulding was done at a temperature of 170°С for 5 min at 40bar. Characterisations The tensile testing was performed based on an ISO-test method for tensile tests on plastic materials. The Charpy impact strength of unnotched specimens was evaluated in accordance with ISO 179 using a Zwick test instrument and scanning electron microscopy analysis was done on the fractured specimens. The composites showed various mechanical properties, having impact strengths between 24 and 63 kJ/m² and tensile strength up to 51MPa.

The complete Pomatoschistus minutus mitochondrion genome. The voucher NRM:NRM69326 is stored at The Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden. The Genbank Accession number of the annotated sequence MW092827.

Background: Vertebrate mitochondrial genomes are optimized for fast replication and low cost of RNA expression. Accordingly, they are devoid of introns, are transcribed as polycistrons and contain very little intergenic sequences. Usually, vertebrate mitochondrial genomes measure between 16.5 and 17 kilobases ( kb). Results: During genome sequencing projects for two novel vertebrate models, the invasive round goby and the sand goby, we found that the sand goby genome is exceptionally small (16.4 kb), while the mitochondrial genome of the round goby is much larger than expected for a vertebrate. It is 19 kb in size and is thus one of the largest fish and even vertebrate mitochondrial genomes known to date. The expansion is attributable to a sequence insertion downstream of the putative transcriptional start site. This insertion carries traces of repeats from the control region, but is mostly novel. To get more information about this phenomenon, we gathered all available mitochondrial genomes of Gobiidae and of nine gobioid species, performed phylogenetic analyses, analysed gene arrangements, and compared gobiid mitochondrial genome sizes, ecological information and other species characteristics with respect to the mitochondrial phylogeny. This allowed us amongst others to identify a unique arrangement of tRNAs among Ponto-Caspian gobies. Conclusions: Our results indicate that the round goby mitochondrial genome may contain novel features. Since mitochondrial genome organisation is tightly linked to energy metabolism, these features may be linked to its invasion success. Also, the unique tRNA arrangement among Ponto- Caspian gobies may be helpful in studying the evolution of this highly adaptive and invasive species group. Finally, we find that the phylogeny of gobiids can be further refined by the use of longer stretches of linked DNA sequence.

Sweden's municipalities face major challenges in the future to be able to provide the welfare services that are expected of them, primarily due to an increasing elderly population. To cope with these challenges, digitalization and the utilization of today's technology have been highlighted as a solution, where e-services have a central role for municipalities. However, several municipalities have stated that they have problems with developing e-services in step with societal development and that existing e-services are not used to the expected extent The purpose of the study is thus to explore the phenomenon of "the introduction of e-services" within municipalities in Sweden, with a focus on why municipalities choose to introduce the e-services they do. A qualitative method has been used where a small-N study was carried out. The data collection consisted of seven semi-structured interviews in which a total of eight different municipalities were included. The respondents have been selected based on the information they were able to provide. A content analysis has then been carried out where a number of categories have been identified through open and axial coding. The analysis shows that the municipalities' choice of e-services is influenced by how they identify and manage ideas for e-services, a collection of obstacles to the introduction of e-services as well as their collaborations with other municipalities and public bodies regarding e-services. The study can contribute to an increased awareness for the municipalities about why they choose the e-services they do, which can ease and improve their work with e-services. This can help the municipalities to fulfill the existing potential with e-services and meet the challenges they are facing in the future. This study is written in Swedish.

This study aims to examine how web developers work with ecologically sustainable web development and what may impel them to do so. The global impact from the use and development of web products and services are growing in a steady pace. This was inves-tigated through a qualitative study including semi structured interviews with five web developers.

Results and analysis show that web developers today do not work to any great extent with ecologically sustainable web development. The biggest reason for this is ignorance and that there is no correct definition of what it means. Web developers' attitudes are positive towards such work, but the drivers do not match the attitudes, since sustainable work is not a priority. The study shows that there are both opportunities and obstacles to work with ecologically sustainable web development. The greatest opportunities lie in the fact that interest in sustainability increases and that it has positive effects. The biggest obstacles are ignorance and the fact that sustainability is not yet given high priority.

The use of IT-related services has increased massively over the past years and it shows no signs to stop. But alongside the usage increasing the risks also increases, because what will happen when the IT-services that so many rely upon suddenly cease to function, or in other ways become inaccessible? To protect against such scenarios it is increasingly more common for IT-service businesses to use incident management, whose purpose is to recover IT-services to their functional state, using predefined processes, should an event occur. It is common for IT-service businesses when implementing an incident management process to use some kind of framework or method to facilitate and streamline its work process, and as of writing this paper, the most used frameworks are ITIL and COBIT.

It is very common for an IT-service business that in the incident management process develop a system or application whose purpose is to facilitate and streamline the incident management, and these are commonly referred to as Incident Management Systems. Even though ITIL and COBIT being widely used worldwide, there are some weaknesses in them, regarding Incident Management Systems, since both of the frameworks lack focus and depth of what an Incident Management System should manage. Such lack of focus and depth of a vital and central part of the Incident Management process, may prove expensive to IT-service businesses since the business needs to investigate what the system needs to manage, and how to manage it.

This paper address the problem with ITIL and COBIT lack of focus and depth regarding the central part of the incident management process, the Incident Management System by investigating and reciprocate the following questions.

Which implied and explicit requirements should an Incident Management System meet?

 Which Incident Management System requirements can be found from the most used frameworks regarding Incident Management?

 How well does the identified requirements match those requirements made by a real world company?

The target audience for this paper is mainly IT-service business or individuals that considers themselves in need of a compilation of requirements that an Incident Management System should meet and can be used as a supporting tool when implementing or purchasing a new Incident Management System. By identifying requirements that an Incident Management Systems should meet from the most used framework regarding Incident Management, this paper will contribute with means for the implementation of the Incident Management System, reducing the costs for the investigation of demands of such a system. It will also present interested parties with a concrete example, the single case study, to compare with the requirements from the frameworks, contributing with a benchmark for IT-service business to start from when implementing or purchasing an Incident Management System.

In this work two different examples of water absorbtion in polymers are studied by Monte Carlo simulations. Both of them are of large technical and commercial impotance. The first example is the water absorption in polyethylene cables where the water absorption plays a crucial role in the degradation of the cable insulation and thus should be as low as possible. The second example is bio-based superabsorbents made from denatured protein where water absorption capability is the prime desired property. Methods Gibbs Ensemble Monte Carlo simulations [1] were used to study the hydration of polymers. All simulations are performed with two boxes, one of which is filled with water at the start of the simulation, whereas the other contains polymer molecules and possible ions. The polymer molecules are not allowed to swap boxes whereas the water molecules are allowed to do so thus constituting an osmotic Gibbs ensemble [2]. For the polyethylene a connectivity-altering algorithm was used whereas the protein molecules were simulated using a side-chain regrowth model in addition to traditional Monte Carlo moves. For the polyethylene, the TraPPE [3] force field was used and the protein molecules, the Amber force field [4] was used. Water was modelled using simple point charge models [5]. Electrostatic interactions are treated using Ewald summation methods. The protein molecules were of different amino acid compositions and in different conformations, e.g., β-turns and random coils obtained using the amorphous cell method[6]. Studies were made with different degrees of charging on, e.g., lysine side chains mimicking different ionization states. Results The studies of polyethylene revealed the importance of ions left from the polymerisation catalyst for the absorbtion of water and the concomitant degradation of polyethylene cable insulation. Also the absorption properties of the protein molecules is strongly related to the presence of charged groups and fully charged protein molecules absorb large amounts of water. However, neither native nor denatured protein molecules show superabsorbing properties (i.e. absorbing hundreds of times their own mass) as they show in experimental studies and the reasons for this discrepancy will be discussed. References 1. A.Z. Panagiotopoulos, Mol. Phys. 61, 813 (1987). 2. E. Johansson, K. Bolton, D.N. Theodorou, P. Ahlström, J. Chem. Phys., 126, 224902 (2007). 3. M.G. Martin, and J.I. Siepmann, J. Phys. Chem. B, 103, 4508-4517 (1999). 4. W.D. Cornell, P. Cieplak, C.I. Bayly, I.R. Gould, K.M. Merz Jr, D.M. Ferguson, D.C. Spellmeyer, T. Fox, J.W. Caldwell, P.A. Kollman (1995). J. Am. Chem. Soc. 117, 5179–5197. 5. H. J. C. Berendsen, J. P. M. Postma and W. F. van Gunsteren, in Intermolecular Forces, B. Pullman, ed. (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1981) p. 331; H. J. C. Berendsen, J. R. Grigera and T. P. Straatsma, J. Phys. Chem. 91, 6269 (1987). 6. D.N. Theodorou, U.W. Suter, Macromolecules, 18, 1467 (1985).

This study reports a facile fabrication of multifunctional cotton-modal-recycled aramid blended protective textiles through the deposition of a three-dimensional tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium chloride (THPC)-urea polymer coating. For this, blended fabrics with different compositions, weaving structures, thicknesses, GSMs and thread densities have been fabricated, followed by chemical deposition of the THPC-urea polymer coating on the fibrils of the yarn and then in the amorphous region through ammonia treatment. Full characterization of the resulting fabrics through SEM and FTIR allowed confirmation of the deposition of THPC-urea on each blended fabric. Treated and untreated samples were evaluated for their water repellency, flame retardance and antibacterial properties through diverse experimental tools. The results show that the lowest average char length (warp - 3.18 cm, weft - 2.84 cm) and radiant heat flux density (11.021 kW m<SUP>-2</SUP>), and highest LOI% (36.8%), were found in the 40%-cotton-30%-modal-30% aramid fabric, whereas the best thermal protective performance (t<INF>12</INF>- 4.0 s,t<INF>24</INF>- 5.9 s) was observed in the fabric with a high thickness and GSM. Regarding the water repellent properties, all treated samples showed superior water repellence properties expressed as water contact angle (theta<INF>H<INF>2</INF>O</INF>) as high as 141.70 degrees to 151.50 degrees. Besides, the 3D polymer coating deposited on blended fabrics exhibited high antibacterial properties (99.90%) againstStaphylococcus aureusATCC 6538 andKlebsiella pneumoniaeATCC 4352 as calculated according to the KS K 0693:2016 method. These results herein provide fundamental grounds to design blended textiles with necessary functionalities for smart and protective applications.

In this paper the nature of user involvement in a co-design process will be explored. The outlines of a research project aiming at developing support systems for self-care inpatients suffering from chronic heart failure will be presented. The project is planned to perform a co-design effort where users (patients and healthcare professionals) will be given the opportunity to influence the development of support systems. We will discuss a number of possibilities and challenges that lie in the design of this kind of project and also some findings from its early stages. This report presents the experiences of users’ input, which are discussed in the context of previous research on benefits of user contributions in systems development.

Unsaturated polyester resins, one of the most important thermosets, are invariably produced from oil-based monomers. Their application is limited in areas where high thermal stability is required due to their low Tg. Besides, these resins contain 30–40% hazardous styrene as a reactive solvent. Therefore, developing bio-based solventless unsaturated polyester resin with medium to high thermomechanical properties compared to petrochemical-based counterparts is important. In order to achieve this, a series of branched bio-based unsaturated polyester resins were synthesized using bulk polymerization method in two steps. In the first step, four different intermediates were prepared by reacting glycerol (as a core molecule) with either isosorbide (diol), 1,3-propanediol (diol), 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (saturated diacid), or adipic acid (saturated diacid). In the second step, the branched intermediate was end capped with methacrylic anhydride to introduce reactive sites for cross-linking on the branch ends. The chemical structure of the resins was characterized by 13C-NMR. FT-IR confirmed the polycondensation reaction in the first step and the end functionalization of the resins with methacrylic anhydride in the second step. The effect of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid and isosorbide on thermomechanical and thermal properties was investigated using dynamic mechanical analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermo-gravimetric analysis. Results indicated that 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid based resins had superior thermomechanical properties compared to a commercial reference unsaturated polyester resin, making them promising resins for high-temperature composite applications. For example, the resin based on 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid and isosorbide and the resin based on 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid and 1,3-propanediol gave glass transition temperatures of 173 °C and 148 °C, respectively. Although the synthesized 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid based resins had higher viscosity (22.7 Pas) than conventional unsaturated polyester (0.4–0.5 Pas) at room temperature, preheated resins can be used for making high-temperature-tolerance fiber-reinforced composite. 

This work investigated the improvement of ethanol production by engineered ethanologenic Escherichia coli to express the hemoglobin from the bacterium Vitreoscilla (VHb). Ethanologenic E. coli strain FBR5 and FBR5 transformed with the VHb gene in two constructs (strains TS3 and TS4) were grown in cheese whey (CW) medium at small and large scales, at both high and low aeration, or with whey powder (WP) or sugar beet molasses hydrolysate (SBMH) media at large scale and low aeration. Culture pH, cell growth, VHb levels, and ethanol production were evaluated after 48 h. VHb expression in TS3 and TS4 enhanced their ethanol production in CW (21–419%), in WP (17–362%), or in SBMH (48–118%) media. This work extends the findings that “VHb technology” may be useful for improving the production of ethanol from waste and byproducts of various sources. 

Following the worsening energy crisis of unreliable electricity and unaffordable petroleum products coupled with the increase number of poverty-stricken people in Nigeria, the populace is desperately in need of cheap alternative energy supplies that will replace or complement the existing energy sources. Previous efforts by the government in tackling the challenge by citizenship sensitization of the need for introduction of biofuel into the country’s energy mix have not yielded the expected results because of a lack of sustained government effort. In light of the shortcomings, this study assesses the current potential of available biomass feedstock for biogas production in Nigeria, and further proposes appropriate biogas plants, depending on feedstock type and quantity, for the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria. Besides, the study proposes government-driven biogas development systems that could be effectively used to harness, using biogas technology, the estimated 270 TWh of potential electrical energy from 181 million tonnes of available biomass, in the advancement of electricity generation and consequent improvement of welfare in Nigeria.

Agricultural residues are constantly increasing with increased farming processes, and improper disposal is detrimental to the environment. Majority of these waste residues are rich in lignocellulose, which makes them suitable substrate for bacterial fermentation in the production of valueadded products. In this study, bacterial cellulose (BC), a purer and better form of cellulose, was produced by two Komagataeibacter sp. isolated from rotten banana and kombucha drink using corncob (CC) and sugarcane bagasse (SCB) enzymatic hydrolyzate, under different fermentation conditions, that is, static, continuous, and intermittent agitation. The physicochemical and mechanical properties of the BC films were then investigated by Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravimetry analysis, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), and Dynamic mechanical analysis. Agitation gave a higher BC yield, with Komagataeibacter sp. CCUG73629 producing BC from CC with a dry weight of 1.6 g/L and 1.4 g/L under continuous and intermittent agitation, respectively, compared with that of 0.9 g/L in HS medium. While BC yield of dry weight up to 1.2 g/L was obtained from SCB by Komagataeibacter sp. CCUG73630 under continuous agitation compared to that of 0.3 g/L in HS medium. FTIR analysis showed BC bands associated with cellulose I, with high thermal stability. The FE-SEM analysis showed that BC fibers were highly ordered and densely packed. Although the BC produced by both strains showed similar physicochemical and morphological properties, the BC produced by the Komagataeibacter sp. CCUG73630 in CC under intermittent agitation had the best modulus of elasticity, 10.8 GPa and tensile strength, 70.9 MPa. [GRAPHICS]

Fusarium species are the primary fungal pathogen affecting agricultural foodstuffs both in crop yield and economic loss. Due to these problems, control of phytopathogenic fungi has become one of the critical problems around the World. Nanotechnology is a new technology with potential in many fields, including agriculture. This study focused on determining potential effects of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with different nanosizes (3, 5, 8 and 10 nm) and at different concentrations (12.5–100 ppm) against phytopathogenic Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici (FORL) strains. The maximum antifungal activity was achieved by decreasing nanosize and increasing concentration of AgNPs. Mycelium growth abilities were decreased about 50%, 75% and 90% by AgNPs treatment with 3 nm sizes at 25 ppm, 37.5 ppm and 50 ppm concentrations, respectively. The productivity of fungal biomass in the liquid growth media was found to be too limited at the 25–37.5 ppm of AgNPs concentrations with all sizes. In addition, both septation number and dimensions of micro- and macroconidia were found to be gradually decreased with the application of silver nanoparticles. This work showed that the low concentration of AgNPs could be used as potential antifungal agents and applied for control of phytopathogens.

Based on research organized as a number of workshops, case studies and interviews with experienced practitioners as well as academics, we present in this report the most important findings on how to create and sustain successful knowledge management in a community environment. The cases, workshops and interviews deal specifically with the Microsoft Solutions Sharing Network (SSN) program, but the findings, conclusions and preliminary recommendations can be applied more generally to the development of any knowledge management community. A key conclusion is that the bulk of efforts toward creating successful knowledge management communities focus oil less technical, or softer aspects like leadership, culture, social settings and value of participation. However, these are essential, but not sufficient, ingredients for success. Technical issues, issues regarding development and customization of the tools used to facilitate knowledge management (for example, the SSN web portal), and emerging legal issues surrounding the sharing of intellectual property UP) may be perceived as somewhat less important to the participants, but are nevertheless key factors in the long term success of these communities. It is also concluded that the foundation for successful collaboration is primarily laid in the initial phases of community development. A community must make a positive impression oil its participants from the very beginning because most people will not give it a second chance. In this report we have highlighted three important areas to consider when establishing portals for knowledge management: Leadership, Purpose and Process/Infrastructure. A leadership with high credibility in the subject is needed to lead the participants in the right direction, manage the cultural processes and to make sure that relevant content can be found. Initially it is the content that brings people to a specific community. Thus, there has to be some common purpose that not only needs to be in congruence with the professional role of the participants but also be inspiring for them as well. Additionally, the community should have some sort of process that the participants can understand and suits the way they would like to interact. Face-to-face meetings and networking activities create trust which is important to get the process started. Language, IT platform, support and rules governing the contribution, creation and sharing of 'knowledge' for the community are other concerns that need to be considered within the process. Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Today students, as many other groups of citizens, are offered, indeed required to use, a rapidly increasing number of e-Services. They range from school and course sites to interactions with authorities as well as companies offering student discounts. This paper reports on a pioneering project in Sweden with a radical approach to this, namely to issue the student with a electronic assistant, an e-Me, that schools, authorities and companies are required to address when interacting with the student. A larger number of students and partners, universities, companies and authorities, have been engaged in the design of such an e-Me. It might be thought of as turning the internet around – rather than having students keep track of sites, they will have to come to the students and interact with them in the way specified by them.

This paper explores the difficulties faced by companies when implementing artificial intelligence (AI) and investigates strategies for successful AI integration. Through a combination of semi-structured interviews and a comprehensive literature review, an inductive approach was employed to analyze the challenges encountered by companies before the implementation process. The findings reveal several key areas of concern, including technical diffusion, customer collaboration, education, workers' health, labor market dynamics, and moral considerations. By addressing these challenges, companies can navigate the complexities of AI-implementation more effectively. This paper provides insights into the critical factors that influence the successful integration of AI systems in organizational settings. Understanding these challenges and employing appropriate strategies is crucial for companies seeking to harness the potential of AI while mitigating associated risks

Electro active textile fibers are key components in smart and interactive textile applications. In our previous study, we produced poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) coat edviscose fibers by using oxidative chemical vapordeposition (OCVD) technique. We tried FeCl3 as oxidant and found optimum reaction conditions at which better electrical as well as mechanical properties of conductive fibers could be achieved.