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With growing concerns regarding environmental pollution and the need for sustainable waste management practices, this study investigates the potential of utilizing spent coffee grounds (SCG) as a precursor for producing functional carbon materials aimed at organophosphorus pesticide remediation under environmentally relevant conditions. Carbonization of SCG is followed by various activation methods, including treatment with potassium hydroxide, phosphoric acid, and carbon dioxide, individually or in combination. The resulting biochars are systematically analyzed for their adsorption performance towards malathion and chlorpyrifos. Screening tests revealed a selective adsorption preference towards aromatic chlorpyrifos over aliphatic malathion. Activation processes significantly influence adsorption kinetics and efficiency, with physical activation showing notable adsorption rates and capacity enhancements. Moreover, the SCG-derived biochars exhibit a pronounced dependency on adsorption temperature. Adsorption, regeneration, and reuse of the most promising material are tested in a real, spiked tap water sample, proving that the presence of ions in tap water did not affect the adsorption and that the material has the potential to be reused more than ten times. This work proposes a straightforward approach for recycling SCG by converting it into functional carbon materials, underscoring the importance of selecting the appropriate activation processes and conditions for practical applications in pesticide remediation.

This study investigates the development of electrically conductive panels for application as emergency detection sensors in smart house systems. These panels, composed of wood chips coated with polymeric methylene diphenyl isocyanate, were modified with carbon black and carbon fibers to enable detection of moisture, temperature, and pressure variations. Manufactured via hot pressing, the panels retained standard mechanical properties and exhibited stable performance under diverse environmental conditions. Carbon black-filled panels achieved electrical percolation at a lower filler concentration (5%) compared to carbon fiber-filled panels. The incorporation of carbon black reduced the electrical resistivity to 8.6 ohm·cm, while the addition of carbon fibers further decreased it to 7.7 ohm·cm. In terms of sensor capabilities, panels containing carbon fibers demonstrated superior sensitivity to moisture and pressure changes. However, carbon black was ineffective for temperature sensing. Among the carbon fiber-filled panels, those with 20 wt.% concentration exhibited the best performance for moisture and pressure detection, whereas panels with 40 wt.% carbon fiber content displayed the most reliable and consistent temperature-sensing properties.

Diverse origins and causes are described for papyraceous mummifications of porcine foetuses, but the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is not one of them. In contrast, PRRSV is unlikely to cause mid-term placental transmission but may cause late-term abortions and weakness of piglets. This case report describes a sudden occurrence of mummified foetuses of various sizes and stillborns and delayed birth (>115 days) in more than 50% of sows from one farrowing batch, while newborn piglets were mostly vital. Neither increased embryonic death nor infertility was reported. Three litters with mummies, autolysed piglets and stillborn piglets were investigated, and infections with porcine parvoviruses, porcine teschoviruses, porcine circoviruses, encephalomyocarditis virus, Leptospira spp. and Chlamydia spp. were excluded. Instead, high viral loads of PRRSV were detected in the thymus pools of piglets at all developmental stages, even in piglets with a crown-rump length between 80 and 150 mm, suggesting a potential mid-term in utero transmission of the virus. Genomic regions encoding structural proteins (ORF2-7) of the virus were sequenced and identified the virulent PRRSV-1 strain AUT15-33 as the closest relative. This case report confirms the diversity of PRRSV and its potential involvement in foetal death in mid-gestation.

Growing pollution is making it necessary to find new strategies and materials for the removal of undesired compounds from the environment. Adsorption is still one of the simplest and most efficient routes for the remediation of air, soil, and water. However, the choice of adsorbent for a given application ultimately depends on its performance assessment results. Here, we show that the uptake of and capacity for dimethoate adsorption by different viscose-derived (activated) carbons strongly depend on the adsorbent dose applied in the adsorption measurements. The specific surface areas of the investigated materials varied across a wide range from 264 m 2 g -1 to 2833 m 2 g -1 . For a dimethoate concentration of 5 × 10 -4 mol L -1 and a high adsorbent dose of 10 mg mL -1 , the adsorption capacities were all below 15 mg g -1 . In the case of high-surface-area activated carbons, the uptakes were almost 100% under identical conditions. However, when the adsorbent dose was reduced to 0.01 mg mL -1 , uptake was significantly reduced, but adsorption capacities as high as 1280 mg g -1 were obtained. Further, adsorption capacities were linked to adsorbents' physical and chemical properties (specific surface area, pore size distribution, chemical composition), and thermodynamic parameters for the adsorption process were evaluated. Based on the Gibbs free energy of the adsorption process, it can be suggested that physisorption was operative for all studied adsorbents. Finally, we suggest that a proper comparison of different adsorbents requires standardization of the protocols used to evaluate pollutant uptakes and adsorption capacities., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of Interest.

Extensive use of pesticides resulting in their accumulation in the environment presents a hazard for their non-target species, including humans. Hence, efficient remediation strategies are needed, and, in this sense, adsorption is seen as the most straightforward approach. We have studied activated carbon fibers (ACFs) derived from viscose fibers impregnated with diammonium hydrogen phosphate (DAHP). By changing the amount of DAHP in the impregnation step, the chemical composition and textural properties of ACFs are effectively tuned, affecting their performance for dimethoate removal from water. The prepared ACFs effectively reduced the toxicity of treated water samples, both deionized water solutions and spiked tap water samples, under batch conditions and in dynamic filtration experiments. Using the results of physicochemical characterization and dimethoate adsorption measurements, multiple linear regression models were made to reliably predict performance towards dimethoate removal from water. These models can be used to quickly screen among larger sets of possible adsorbents and guide the development of novel, highly efficient adsorbents for dimethoate removal from water.

Leptospira spp. cause the zoonotic disease leptospirosis, which occurs in numerous mammalians worldwide. Isolation is still important for serotyping and genotyping of Leptospira , which in turn is essential for epidemiological surveillance of leptospirosis and the development of diagnostic tests and vaccines. However, isolation of Leptospira from clinical specimens is inherently insensitive. This study was conducted to examine the influence of selective agents, sample filtration, sample pH and the use of phosphate buffered saline (PBS) buffer for sample storage to improve the success of cultivation and isolation of Leptospira interrogans serovar Icterohaemorrhagiae from swine urine. EMJH (Ellinghausen McCullough, Johnson and Harris) medium including the selective agents sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, amphotericin, fosfomycin and 5-fluorouracil (STAFF) increased the success of Leptospira isolation from spiked swine urine samples. Sample filtration yielded only negative results. Isolation in EMJH-STAFF was successful from swine urine with a density as low as 10 4   Leptospira /mL, and urine with pH ≤ 7 impaired the cultivation rate. Cultivation and isolation were not improved by the addition of PBS to spiked urine samples prior to storage for 24 h at 4 °C. The results of the study demonstrate that cultivation and isolation of leptospires from swine urine can be improved by enhanced methods.

Application of low-cost carbon black from lignin highly depends on the materials properties, which might by determined by raw material and processing conditions. Four different technical lignins were subjected to thermostabilization followed by stepwise heat treatment up to a temperature of 2000 °C in order to obtain micro-sized carbon particles. The development of the pore structure, graphitization and inner surfaces were investigated by X-ray scattering complemented by scanning electron microscopy and FTIR spectroscopy. Lignosulfonate-based carbons exhibit a complex pore structure with nanopores and mesopores that evolve by heat treatment. Organosolv, kraft and soda lignin-based samples exhibit distinct pores growing steadily with heat treatment temperature. All carbons exhibit increasing pore size of about 0.5-2 nm and increasing inner surface, with a strong increase between 1200 °C and 1600 °C. The chemistry and bonding nature shifts from basic organic material towards pure graphite. The crystallite size was found to increase with the increasing degree of graphitization. Heat treatment of just 1600 °C might be sufficient for many applications, allowing to reduce production energy while maintaining materials properties.

Carbon microparticles were produced from organosolv lignin at 2000 °C under argon atmosphere following oxidative thermostabilisation at 250 °C. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, small-angle X-ray scattering, and electro-conductivity measurements revealed that the obtained particles were electrically conductive and were composed of large graphitic domains. Poly(lactic acid) filled with various amounts of lignin-derived microparticles showed higher tensile stiffness increasing with particle load, whereas strength and extensibility decreased. Electric conductivity was measured at filler loads equal to and greater than 25% w / w .