The 2019 novel-coronavirus has affected 181 countries with approximately 1197405 confirmed cases (by 5th April). Understanding the transmission dynamics of the infection in each country which got affected on a daily basis and evaluating the effectiveness of control policies are critical for our further actions. To date, the statistics of COVID-19 reported cases show that more than 80% of infected are mild cases of disease, around 14% of infected have severe complications, and about 5% are categorized as critical disease victims. Today's report (5th April 2020; daily updates in the prepared website) shows that the confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, Spain, Italy, and Germany are 308850, 126168, 124632, and 96092, respectively. Calculating the total case fatality rate (CFR) of Italy (4th April 2020), about 13.3% of confirmed cases have passed away. Compared with South Korea's rate of 1.8% (seven times lower than Italy) and China's 4% (69% lower than Italy), the CFR of Italy is too high. Some effective policies that yielded significant changes in the trend of cases were the lockdown policy in China, Italy, and Spain (the effect observed after some days), the shutdown of all nonessential companies in Hubei (the effect observed after 5 days), combined policy in South Korea, and reducing working hours in Iran.

Simultaneous Saccharification, Filtration and Fermentation (SSFF) was developed for lignocellulosic ethanol production. In SSFF, pretreated lignocellulosic material is enzymatically hydrolyzed in a reactor, while the suspension is continuously pumped through a cross-flow membrane. The retentate goes back to the hydrolysis vessel, while a clear sugar-rich filtrate continuously perfuses through the fermentation vessel before it is pumped back to the hydrolysis vessel. The capacity and life span of the cross-flow filter module was examined for four weeks using enzymatically hydrolyzed slurry, initially with 14.4% suspended solids, without clogging or fouling. An ethanol yield of 85.0% of the theoretical yield was obtained in SSFF and a flocculating strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was successfully reused for 5 cultivations of SSFF.

Shortcomings of the conventional PLA synthesis methods have encouraged researchers to investigate on alternative methods for PLA synthesis. Utilization of chain extenders is an effective way to achieve high MW polymers. The concept of using star-shaped resins as the reinforced matrices for biocomposites or in biomedical applications is gaining more and more attention day by day. Star-shaped lactic acid based resins are a class of branched resins with a multifunctional core molecule and lactic acid branches. In order to increase the reactivity of branches, the star-shaped resin oligomers can get end-functionalized which yields in a crosslinkable product. Changing the architecture of a polymer from a linear to a multiarm or hyperbranched one, would change its chemical, diffusional and physical-mechanical properties. This review paper presents the current state and recent advances in the synthesis, characterization, properties and applications of the star-shaped resins made from lactic acid and multi-hydroxyl core molecules with a focus on the role of the morphology of the polymer on the 3 properties of resins. Rheological, physiochemical and thermomechanical properties of to date synthesized star-shaped resins are compared and discussed. Special emphasis would be made on potential opportunities, probable applications and also gaps and drawbacks concerning these systems. This review aims to provide useful information to help future development of efficient, highly engineered bioresins which can be especially designed for a certain application.

The 2019-Novel-Coronavirus (COVID-19) has affected 181 countries and out of about 1197405 confirmed cases (By April 5). Understanding the transmission dynamics of the infection in each country which affected on a daily basis and evaluating the effectiveness of control policies is critical for our further actions. To date, the statistics of COVID-19 reported cases show more than 80 percent of infected had a mild case of disease, while around 14 percent of infected experienced a severe one and about 5 percent are categorized as critical disease victims. Today's report (2020-04-05; daily updates in the prepared website) shows the confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US, Spain, Italy, and Germany are 308850, 126168, 124632, and 96092; respectively. Calculating the total Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of Italy (2020-04-04), about 13.3% of confirmed cases passed away. Compared to South Korea's rate of 1.8% (7 times lower than Italy) and China's 4% (69% lower than Italy), the CFR of Italy is too high. There are some effective policies that yield significant changes in the trend of cases. The lockdown policy in China, Italy, and Spain (the effect observed after some days), Shutdown of all non-essential companies in Hubei (the effect observed after 5 days), combined policy in South Korea, and reducing working hours in Iran.

A biobased thermoset resin was synthesized by direct condensation reaction of lactic acid with xylitol followed by the end-functionalization of the hydroxyl groups of branches by methacrylic anhydride. Chemical structures of resins were evaluated and confirmed by 13 C NMR and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Different techniques were employed for the optimization of the curing process. Techniques including Microscopy, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analysis (DMTA) were employed for characterization of the cured resins. Thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) were also carried out to check the thermal stability of the cured resins. The viscosity of the neat resin was measured at different temperatures and different stress levels. Water adsorption tests were also carried out to check the water absorption properties of cured resins. The glass temperature (Tg) of the resin was 98°C, and the viscosity of the resin was 2.97 Pa s at room temperature which drops to 0.07 Pa s upon increasing the temperature to 85°C. The biobased content of the resin was calculated

Recent researches focus on the synthesis of new cross‐linkers from natural resources. In the current work, functionalized tannic acid was employed as a replacement of petroleum‐based cross‐linkers because of its outstanding biochemical properties. Alkene‐ and epoxy‐functionalized tannic acids were synthesized as internal and external cross‐linkers, respectively. Cross‐linker structures were characterized with Ft‐IR and 1HNMR analysis. Different amounts, as well as different numbers of alkene functional group, were incorporated during the superabsorbent synthesis. Moreover, the internal cross‐linked superabsorbent was surface cross‐linked with different amounts of epoxy‐functionalized tannic acid and increased the absorbency under load about 10 g g−1. Free absorption properties in water and saline solution, absorbency under load, and rheological properties of superabsorbents were investigated. In addition, the antibacterial activity of the internal and external cross‐linked superabsorbent was studied against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria via different methods and compared with that of conventional superabsorbent.

A set of novel bio-based star-shaped thermoset resins was synthesized via ring-opening polymerization of lactide and employing different multi-hydroxyl core molecules, including ethylene glycol, glycerol, and erythritol. The branches were endfunctionalized with methacrylic anhydride. The effect of the core molecule on the melt viscosity, the curing behavior of the thermosets and also, the thermomechanical properties of the cured resins were investigated. Resins were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, 13 C-NMR, and 1 H-NMR to confirm the chemical structure. Rheological analysis and differential scanning calorimetry analysis were performed to obtain the melt viscosity and the curing behavior of the studied star-shaped resins. Thermomechanical properties of the cured resins were also measured by dynamic mechanical analysis. The erythritol-based resin had superior thermomechanical properties compared to the other resins and also, lower melt viscosity compared to the glycerol-based resin. These are of desired characteristics for a resin, intended to be used as a matrix for the structural composites. Thermomechanical properties of the cured resins were also compared to a commercial unsaturated polyester resin and the experimental results indicated that erythritol-based resin with 82% bio-based content has superior thermomechanical properties, compared to the commercial polyester resin. Results of this study indicated that although core molecule with higher number of hydroxyl groups results in resins with better thermomechanical properties, number of hydroxyl groups is not the only governing factor for average molecular weight and melt viscosity of the uncured S-LA resins.

The glycerol-lactic acid-based star-shaped modifier (SM) were synthesized and employed for surface modification of hygienic superabsorbent polymer (SAP) hydrogels for the first time. Surface crosslinking was carried out to increase the saline-absorbency under load (AUL) and the swollen gel strength. The surface treatment process was analyzed employing free absorbency and AUL tests, salt sensitivity, attenuated total reflectance-Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), oscillatory rheometry, as well as scanning electron microscopy analysis. The effect of the branched architecture and the contents of SM on the properties of the modified SAPs were studied. The implementation of surface treatment leads to increase up to a 28% in the AUL of the modified SAP. Moreover, the loss modulus was surprisingly increased, while the storage modulus was enhanced (possibly due to the star architecture of oligomers). M c and crosslink density values have been estimated based on modified rubber elasticity theory. Salt sensitivity factor ( f ) was calculated; the modified samples showed lower salt sensitivity in NaCl ( f = 0.7) and CaCl 2 ( f = 0.93-0.95) compared with the intact SAP ( f = 0.84 for NaCl, and f = 0.95-0.97 for CaCl 2 ).