Widespread studies on the biodegradation of plastics have been carried out in order to overcome the environmental problems associated with synthetic plastic waste. Recent work has included studies of the distribution of synthetic polymerdegrading microorganisms in the environment, the isolation of new microorganisms for biodegradation, the discovery of new degradation enzymes, and the cloning o...

Interpolymer complex formation of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) with carboxyvinyl polymer (CP) was examined by turbidity measurement, a binding isotherm study and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The interpolymer complex of PVP with CP was found to be formed in the unit molecular ratio of 1: 1 under ideal conditions, though the ratio of PVP in the solid complex was lower than 1: 1 under pr...

The authors present a simplified fabrication method for the creation of free-standing dielectric mirrors for use in monolithic wavelength tunable surface-normal photonic devices, including vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers. This process utilizes a nonplasma dry etching process, based on the noble gas halide, xenon difluoride XeF2 , to remove an inorganic sacrificial film comprised of low-...

Wound healing is a complicated, multistep process involving many cell types, growth factors and compounds(1-3). Because of this complexity, wound healing studies are most comprehensive when carried out in vivo. There are many in vivo models available to study acute wound healing, including incisional, excisional, dead space, and burns. Dead space models are artificial, porous implants which are...

PURPOSE To evaluate the size and shape of commercially available polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) particles and to determine whether they change in size when suspended in nonionic contrast and in a solution of nonionic contrast and absolute alcohol. METHODS The two-dimensional area and the long and short axis of PVA particles from several different vendors were measured using a light microscope attach...

Polyvinyl alcohol-containing desizing wastewater discharged within final textile wastewater has a great impact to the environment due to its poor biodegradability. An improved lab-scale hybrid anaerobic baffled reactor was developed to treat desizing wastewater. The modification was achieved by increasing the height of hybrid anaerobic baffled reactor and application of proper effluent recycle ...