SMART materials & systems: has embracing uncertainty become vital to commercialisation?

As humans we have a tendency to seek to confirm data and to avoid disconfirming data. COVID-19 that has thrown plans large and small into disarray, but well before then, the pace of change was already challenging the ability of SMART materials and systems to achieve full scalable commercialisation. While plans may not be feasible, what is possible and indeed necessary is planning. In this presentation I will present a toolkit that takes account of and even embraces uncertainty as a planning method directed at a more effective route for commercialisation and market growth.

The Inside Story of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Diamond Princess as the prime mover of Present and Future Ship Design

But this coronavirus has forced us into a new framework, within which we move without any ease: everything has new ways, everything appears as never seen, it's like finding yourself in an uncharted territory.. ' (G. Arma, 2020) With these words Gennaro Arma, Captain of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, describes the very first moments following the detection of what would become the first recorded outbreak of Covid-19 outside of China. It occurred during a roundtrip cruise which departed from Yokohama port, in Japan, on 20 January 2020. Among the 3,700 people on board, more than 700 tested positive for the virus, 14 of whom died during hospitalization. A situation which was faced without the support of emergency protocols that contemplated a modus operandi to follow. The ship constituted a confined control volume which allowed to analyze the main routes of virus propagation that mainly occur through direct contact between individuals, indirect one via contaminated objects and surfaces (also referred to as fomites) and airborne transmission. This has greatly affected the overall design paradigm, especially concerning the safety levels to be assured on board. The paper is going to analyze these focal points, starting from a possible implementation of HVAC system. It comes after an extensive study of the air flow circulation, as well as the application of filtering and purifications solutions, considering ship age and ventilation type, assessing the possibility of isolating those sectors of the plant acting on some areas dedicated to the management of emergency situations. Synoptically, there will be an extensive analysis related to the different surface types present on board and possible design interventions (i.e. smart materials). The Diamond Princess experience represents the prime mover aimed at the world of scientific research at the formulation of design guidelines applicable to the world of cruise ships and, consequently, in the civil architecture field. The outcome results have helped to build a transversal, holistic know-how, thanks to which it will be possible to control the occurrence of future pandemic episodes. © 2022 The authors and IOS Press. All rights reserved.

Smart materials: rational design in biosystems via artificial intelligence.

Industry 4.0 encompasses a new industrial revolution in which advanced manufacturing systems are interconnected with information technologies. These sophisticated data-gathering technologies have led to a shift toward smarter manufacturing processes involving the use of smart materials (SMs). The properties of SMs make them highly attractive for numerous biomedical applications. The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) enables them to be effectively used in the design of novel biomedical platforms to overcome shortcomings in the current biotechnology industry. This review summarizes recent advances in AI-assisted SMs for different healthcare products. The current challenges and future perspectives of AI-supported smart biosystems are also discussed, particularly with the regard to their applications in drug design, biosensors, theranostics, and electronic skins.

Smart Material Choice: The Importance of Circular Design Strategy Applications for Bio-Based Food Packaging Preproduction and End-of-Life Life Cycle Stages

This article provides a systematic literature review on the integrated approach of bio-based plastic food packaging in a circular economy. It focuses on the following key areas: (1) the role of bio-based plastic food packaging in a circular product design strategy and material choice in the preproduction life cycle stage;(2) the role of bio-based plastic food packaging in circular resource management systems and the product disposal life cycle stage;and (3) an optimal bio-based plastic food packaging application in regard to prioritising end-of-life treatment. While there are dedicated publications on the role of packaging in a circular economy, circular packaging design, packaging waste management, and bio-origin plastic applications in food packaging, this article aims to provide an integrated review and recommendations on the best bio-based plastic food packaging material selection, applications based on a circular economy, and scenarios on waste/resource management that prioritise end-of-life treatment. Three of the current most popular bio-based plastic materials in the flexible and rigid food packaging categories were selected: starch blends, bio-PE, and PLA for flexible food packaging and PLA, bio-PET, and bio-PE for rigid packaging. This article highlights the fact that a smart material choice in the circular design strategy is a key factor that has a direct impact on the last packaging life cycle stage (disposal), and concludes that bio-based plastic materials are a way to close the food packaging loop, either by re-use or recycling. This article also provides recommendations on the best bio-based plastic food packaging material selection, and applications based on the circular economy and waste management that prioritise end-of-life treatment. The research results indicate a research niche for the application of re-usable biodegradable materials in food packaging. The findings of this research allow product designers and packaging companies to advance the understanding of the most efficient bio-based plastic food packaging integration into the circular economy via decision making of product material choice and end-of-life treatment. Based on the results of this article, scholars can develop new themes for further research.

Benzene and NOx photocatalytic-assisted removal using indoor lighting conditions

Modern life-style is creating an indoor generation: human beings spend approximately 90% of their time indoors, almost 70% of which is at home – this trend is now exacerbated by the lockdowns/restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That large amount of time spent indoors may have negative consequences on health and well-being. Indeed, poor indoor air quality is linked to a condition known as sick building syndrome. Therefore, breathing the freshest air possible is of outmost importance. Still, due to reduced ventilation rates, indoor air quality can be considerably worse than outdoor. Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), air filtration systems and a well-ventilated space are a partial answer. However, these approaches involve only a physical removal. The photocatalytic mineralization of pollutants into non-hazardous, or at least less dangerous compounds, is a more viable solution for their removal. Titanium dioxide, the archetype photocatalytic material, needs UVA light to be ‘activated’. However, modern household light emitting diode lamps irradiate only in the visible region of the solar spectrum. We show that the surface of titanium dioxide nanoparticles modified with copper oxide(s) and graphene has promise as a viable way to remove gaseous pollutants (benzene and nitrogen oxides) using a common light emitting diode bulb, mimicking real indoor lighting conditions. Titanium dioxide, modified with 1 mol% CuxO and 1 wt% graphene, proved to have a stable photocatalytic degradation rate, three times higher than that of unmodified titania. Materials produced in this research work are thus strong candidates for offering a safer indoor environment. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd

Preface

The Italian Association for Stress Analysis (AIAS) was founded in 1971 by researchers from academia, research centers and industry. AIAS was intended as a community where to discuss, to share and to develop scientific knowledge related to all technical aspects of stress analysis. In the years, from an initial focus on experimental techniques, AIAS contributed considerably to the development of modern numerical methods and computational techniques for the mechanical engineering design. In 2015, AIAS turned in the Italian Scientific Society of Mechanical Engineering Design.Today, AIAS is an institutional partner that supports the instances from academia in subject area of the mechanical engineering design. Every year, AIAS organizes a technical conference offering the possibility to present research updates, share new ideas and foster collaborations. The AIAS conference has become a fundamental event for all those interested in current developments in mechanical engineering design and stress analysis, where to meet researchers, testing equipment and software developers.The 50th AIAS Conference edition was initially re-scheduled to be held in Genoa, Italy after it was switched as virtual conference in 2020 due to COVID-19 emergency. Unfortunately, due to the continuing pandemic emergency, it was decided to go virtual again to keep continuity with the tradition, confident that, despite the difficulties of the moment, united we stand.As for the previous year, the response of researchers and students has been outstanding: over 180 oral contribution have been presented in synchronous, during the three days of the conference, with three simultaneous parallel sessions. In addition to the thematic sessions on AIAS traditional subjects, special sessions on additive manufacturing, energetic methods for structural analysis and smart materials and MEMS have been successfully organized with the contribution of the AIAS technical committees.Among all contributions presented at the conference, 54 have been selected to be published after peer review, in this volume. This was made possible thanks to the active participation of all AIAS members, to the work of the AIAS Scientific Committee and Conference Papers Review panel (Profs Giovanni Meneghetti, AIAS Scientific Coordinator, Luciano Afferrante, Francesco Bucchi, Filippo Cianetti, Enrico Armentani, Marco Sasso). Their outstanding contribution is gratefully acknowledged.List of Disclaimer, Editors, Scientific Committee are available in this pdf.

Smart materials-integrated sensor technologies for COVID-19 diagnosis.

After the first case has appeared in China, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose an omnipresent threat to global health, affecting more than 70 million patients and leading to around 1.6 million deaths. To implement rapid and effective clinical management, early diagnosis is the mainstay. Today, real-time reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR test is the major diagnostic practice as a gold standard method for accurate diagnosis of this disease. On the other side, serological assays are easy to be implemented for the disease screening. Considering the limitations of today's tests including lengthy assay time, cost, the need for skilled personnel, and specialized infrastructure, both strategies, however, have impediments to be applied to the resource-scarce settings. Therefore, there is an urgent need to democratize all these practices to be applicable across the globe, specifically to the locations comprising of very limited infrastructure. In this regard, sensor systems have been utilized in clinical diagnostics largely, holding great potential to have pivotal roles as an alternative or complementary options to these current tests, providing crucial fashions such as being suitable for point-of-care settings, cost-effective, and having short turnover time. In particular, the integration of smart materials into sensor technologies leverages their analytical performances, including sensitivity, linear dynamic range, and specificity. Herein, we comprehensively review major smart materials such as nanomaterials, photosensitive materials, electrically sensitive materials, their integration with sensor platforms, and applications as wearable tools within the scope of the COVID-19 diagnosis.

Prevent or Cure-The Unprecedented Need for Self-Reporting Materials.

Self-reporting smart materials are highly relevant in modern soft matter materials science, as they allow for the autonomous detection of changes in synthetic polymers, materials, and composites. Despite critical advantages of such materials, for example, prolonged lifetime or prevention of disastrous material failures, they have gained much less attention than self-healing materials. However, as diagnosis is critical for any therapy, it is of the utmost importance to report the existence of system changes and their exact location to prevent them from spreading. Thus, we herein critically review the chemistry of self-reporting soft matter materials systems and highlight how current challenges and limitations may be overcome by successfully transferring self-reporting research concepts from the laboratory to the real world. Especially in the space of diagnostic self-reporting systems, the recent SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic indicates an urgent need for such concepts that may be able to detect the presence of viruses or bacteria on and within materials in a self-reporting fashion.

Bacteriophage Based Biosensors: Trends, Outcomes and Challenges.

Foodborne pathogens are one of the main concerns in public health, which can have a serious impact on community health and health care systems. Contamination of foods by bacterial pathogens (such as Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococci, Legionella pneumophila, Escherichia coli, Campylobacter jejuni and Salmonella typhimurium) results in human infection. A typical example is the current issue with Coronavirus, which has the potential for foodborne transmission and ruling out such concerns is often difficult. Although, the possible dissemination of such viruses via the food chain has been raised. Standard bacterial detection methods require several hours or even days to obtain the results, and the delay may result in food poisoning to eventuate. Conventional biochemical and microbiological tests are expensive, complex, time-consuming and not always reliable. Therefore, there are urgent demands to develop simple, cheap, quick, sensitive, specific and reliable tests for the detection of these pathogens in foods. Recent advances in smart materials, nanomaterials and biomolecular modeling have been a quantum leap in the development of biosensors in overcoming the limitations of a conventional standard laboratory assay. This research aimed to critically review bacteriophage-based biosensors, used for the detection of foodborne pathogens, as well as their trends, outcomes and challenges are discussed. The future perspective in the use of simple and cheap biosensors is in the development of lab-on-chips, and its availability in every household to test the quality of their food.