Liquid waste from construction sites can cause significant negative social, economic and environmental impacts. Generally, liquid waste from construction-related trades’ activities, such as product mixing, application and tool washing; stormwater run-off; and leaching of construction material, can pollute surface soil, water bodies and groundwater sources. Therefore, construction projects must have proper management of construction-related liquid waste. This study therefore undertook a systematic literature review (SLR) to analyse the literature on liquid waste management in construction projects. The study used the PRISMA (preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (method)) framework, and the bibliometric tool, VOSviewer, to analyse and present its findings. The SLR process identified and analysed 49 papers, published between 1992 and 2022, and found that liquid waste management was an often-overlooked area within the construction sector. The review identified three liquid waste focus areas: sources and composition of construction liquid waste; construction liquid waste control methods; and construction liquid waste management. The study’s findings identified a lack of integration between research on liquid waste management and research studies on construction site water pollution. The study’s contribution highlights the current progress of construction liquid waste management research and identifies the need for future research on efficient and effective implementation of liquid waste management practices in construction projects.

Alum sludge is a byproduct of water treatment plants, and its use as a soil stabilizer has gained increasing attention due to its economic and environmental benefits. Its application has been shown to improve the strength and stability of soil, making it suitable for various engineering applications. However, to go beyond just measuring the effects of alum sludge as a soil stabilizer, this study investigates the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) methods for predicting the California bearing ratio (CBR) of soils stabilized with alum sludge. Three AI methods, including two black box methods (artificial neural network and support vector machines) and one grey box method (genetic programming), were used to predict CBR, based on a database with nine input parameters. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of AI methods in predicting CBR with good accuracy (R-2 values ranging from 0.94 to 0.99 and MAE values ranging from 0.30 to 0.51). Moreover, a novel approach, using genetic programming, produced an equation that accurately estimated CBR, incorporating seven inputs. The analysis of parameter sensitivity and importance, revealed that the number of hammer blows for compaction was the most important parameter, while the parameters for maximum dry density of soil and mixture were the least important. This study highlights the potential of AI methods as a useful tool for predicting the performance of alum sludge as a soil stabilizer.

In terrestrial quadrupeds where the forelimbs are habitually used to push against the substrate, the ulna is subjected to cranial bending and develops a caudal curvature. During arboreal locomotion, the forelimbs are habitually used to pull on the substrate during climbing and clinging, and the ulna responds to this bending load by developing a cranial curvature. This phenomenon is explored in a sample of ninety-four primate species that were each assigned to one of seven locomotor categories that characterize their forelimb use. The ulnae were photographed from the medial aspect, and nine landmarks and twelve semilandmarks were digitized using tpsDig. Measures of curvature, robusticity, and relative olecranon length were derived from these landmarks. There is a strong association between ulna curvature and locomotion, with arboreal species having cranially curved ulnae and more terrestrial species having caudally curved ulnae. This association remains true after accounting for phylogenetic relatedness, length of the ulna, and variation in body mass. The ulnae of brachiating species have less curvature than expected, which may relate to the fact that the bone is subjected to tensile loading. Large-bodied arboreal and terrestrial species tend to have more slender ulnae compared to smaller species, regardless of locomotor mode or phylogeny. This finding implies that curvature serves as an effective mechanism for mitigating habitual loading on the ulna in large-bodied species, thus allowing osseous mass to be minimized. In smaller primates, an unpredictable loading environment means that extra bone mass must be employed to manage bone stiffness.

Despite the well‐established anatomy nomenclature for the marsupial skeleton, there are no names for the epipubic bone structures. Epipubic bones are paired bones articulating with the pubis and projecting cranially in the ventral body wall, present on the pelvic girdle of cynodonts, monotremes and marsupials. These bones were commonly thought to be related to pouch support in marsupials and more recently associated with locomotion. The parts of the epipubic bones have not been named and this has impeded proper morphological analysis. We analyzed the epipubic bones of 302 skeletons comprising American and Australian marsupials, as well as 27 monotreme skeletons, and dissected 10 marsupials for myological attachments analysis. We suggest the following nomenclature for the epipubic bone structures: crest for the cranial end, shaft for the body of the bone, lateral tubercle and the medial articular process. Some markings on the epipubic bone include the oblique line, pertaining to the attachment of external abdominal oblique muscle from the opposite side. The pyramidalis line is the suggested nomenclature for the pyramidalis muscle attachment and the inguinal ligament line for the inguinal ligament attachment. Regarding myology and attachments, based on dissections and review of the literature, the muscles pyramidalis, pectineus, external and internal abdominal oblique, transversus abdominis and rectus abdominis and the structures linea alba, linea semilunaris and the inguinal ligament are connected to the epipubic bone. As has been previously noted, anatomically, epipubic bones are so named due to their position (epi—above, pubic—pubis), and the same applies to structures such as the “epipubic process” or “epipubic cartilage” in amphibians and reptiles. While testing epipubic bone homology in vertebrates is beyond the scope of this work, we believe that using “epipubic bones” or epipubic cartilage/process as standardized terms for the structures found in the most cranial part of the superior ramus of the pubis would facilitate better anatomical communication. This should be valid for other similar terms, such as “epipubes” or “prepubis”, that might occur in the literature in relation to this same physiographic position, and it should also be named as epipubic. We believe that this nomenclature will help in future morphologic studies.

This study, the first of its kind, presents a comprehensive assessment of national scale phosphorus (P) flow in the waste sector with particular focus on P recovery. The largest inflow of P in waste stream is seen in China (8124 kt), with the next largest inflow, the USA, being significantly less at 431 kt. Countries through east Asia and western Europe tend to show moderate inflows, e.g. Japan (131.66 kt), France (115.70 kt), UK (76 kt) and South Korea (65.40 kt), while northern European nations have low P inflows, Denmark (10 kt), Sweden (10 kt) and Norway (6.70 kt). The most efficient recovery rate of P from the waste sector is seen to be in Finland (67.50%). Denmark (53.70%), France (47.80%) and UK (47.40%), all have commendable recovery tracks. Even though USA has the second largest inflow of P, their recovery track is one of the lowest (2 kt), making its recycling efficiency minute (0.50%), while with a recovery of 3148 kt P, this is 39% for China. This study has also calculated the substitutability of each country's recycled P waste in minimizing extraction of virgin P resource/importing P, as found to be the highest in China (49.40). The UK and Sweden have the second and third highest substitutability of 26.10 and 19.80 respectively, while the Netherlands (1.40) and USA (0.05) have the lowest. This study can be used as a guideline for future research on P recovery from waste because it provides a comprehensive blueprint of P flow in this sector and prescribes a general framework for better recovery.

Phosphorus (P) is central to food production. Current understanding about the global phosphorus system is dominated by studies in wealthier nations where soil fertility, fertilizer supply chains, and agronomic tracking have long been established. In contrast, developing nations are experiencing major agricultural transitions and the associated phosphorus flows remain a significant knowledge gap. We compiled and analyzed several years of recent agricultural datasets for Bangladesh, currently the eighth most populous nation, using substance flow analysis for phosphorus. From 2000 to 2016, rice production increased by >50% and remained the dominant crop with remarkably higher phosphorus flow (49.96 kt in 2016) than all other crops. Phosphorus content of livestock products in 2016 exceeded 6.00 kt, more than double in the year 2000, driven primarily by phosphorus in milk and secondarily in meat/eggs. These agricultural changes coincided with a doubling of national phosphorus fertilizer consumption since 2000, a fourfold increase since the global food crisis (2009), and a pronounced rise in the phosphorus import dependency ratio, which was the highest among all countries compared. In turn, during 2010s fertilizer phosphorus use exceeded phosphorus as food + feed production leading to soil phosphorus accumulation, and loss as burned manure became one of the largest phosphorus flows in the entire system, equivalent to half of fertilizer use. This dramatic reconfiguration of the Bangladesh phosphorus system illustrates an important case of agricultural expansion and intensification that is still playing out, with similar situations occurring in developing nations where population growth rates are high, and access to commercial fertilizers has risen.

Overuse of phosphorus (P) is a key challenge to the sustainability of the finite global P resource for food production. It not only causes the rapid depletion of limited global P reserves but also leads to the deterioration of aquatic ecosystems and associated harmful consequences. This chapter provides an understanding of the concept of P overuse in the crop production system, and presents a brief overview of the P overuse around the world. It also delineates the causes of P overuse, its environmental implications, and highlights the strategies for minimizing P overuse in the crop production system.

BACKGROUND:Transsphenoidal surgical approaches involve dissection of the posterior wall of the sphenoid sinus in close proximity to the internal carotid arteries. To reduce the risk of vascular injury, a detailed study of embalmed cadavers' sellae was conducted and found the internal carotid artery approached within 4 mm of the midline in 10% of cases, and the closest intercarotid distance (ICD) occurred in the cavernous sinus, sphenoid sinus, and supraclinoid segments in 82%, 14%, and 4% of cases, respectively. These measurements have not previously been compared with living patients with modern imaging techniques. METHODS:This study measured the closest ICD of 233 coronal magnetic resonance imaging head scans from 183 patients (male = 88, female = 95) at the cavernous sinus, sphenoid sinus, or supraclinoid segments of the internal carotid artery. ICD at the sphenoid sinus was taken for all scans. RESULTS:The internal carotid approached within 4 mm of the midline in 1.3% of cases. The closest ICD occurred in the cavernous sinus, sphenoid sinus, and supraclinoid segments in 24.5%, 35.8%, and 39.7%, respectively. Both results were significantly different from previous cadaveric studies (chi-squared tests, P = 1.4 × 10-4 and P = 6.1 × 10-8, respectively). CONCLUSIONS:Surgically relevant measurements of the carotid arteries in the sellar are different in cadavers and living subjects. This is likely due to postmortem changes of surrounding structures. This study suggests clinically relevant anatomic studies using measurements taken from cadaveric specimens be updated with modern imaging techniques taken from living patients.

Although commercial membranes are well established materials for water desalination and wastewater treatment, modification on commercial membranes is still necessary to deliver high-performance with enhanced flux and/or selectivity and fouling resistance. A modification method with plasma techniques has been extensively applied for high-performance membrane production. The paper presents a mechanistic review on the impact of plasma gas and polymerization, at either low pressure or atmospheric pressure on the material properties and performance of the modified membranes. At first, plasma conditions at low-pressure such as plasma power, gas or monomer flow rate, reactor pressure, and treatment duration which affect the chemical structure, surface hydrophilicity, morphology, as well as performance of the membranes have been discussed. The underlying mechanisms of plasma gas and polymerization have been highlighted. Thereafter, the recent research in plasma techniques toward membrane modification at atmospheric environment has been critically evaluated. The research focuses of future plasma-related membrane modification, and fabrication studies have been predicted to closely relate with the implementation of the atmospheric-pressure processes at the large-scale.

Long bone curvature in animal limbs has long been a subject of interest and much work has explored why long bones should be curved. However, the ‘when’ and ‘how’ of curvature development is poorly understood. It has been shown that the rat tibia fails to attain its normal curvature if the action of muscles is removed early in life, but it is not clear if this is because the curvature fails to develop or if the bone becomes straighter without the action of muscles. No studies have examined the development of bone curvature in a normally developing quadruped, so this study tracks the course of curvature formation in the radioulna in a series of growing pigs. We also histologically examined the epiphyseal growth plates of these bones to determine if they contribute to the formation of curvature. In all three epiphyseal plates examined, the proliferative zone is thicker and more densely populated with chondrocytes on the cranial (convex) side than the caudal (concave) side. Frost’s chondral modelling theory would suggest that the cranial side of the bone is under more compression than the caudal side, and we conclude that this is due to the action of triceps extending the elbow by pulling on the olecranon process. These results support the idea that bone curvature is an adaptation to habitual loading, where longitudinal loads acting on the curved bone cause bending strains that counter the bending resulting from the habitual muscle action.

This study explores how curvature in the quokka femur may help to reduce bending strain during locomotion. The quokka is a small wallaby, but the curvature of the femur and the muscles active during stance phase are similar to most quadrupedal mammals. Our hypothesis is that the action of hip extensor and ankle plantarflexor muscles during stance phase place cranial bending strains that act to reduce the caudal curvature of the femur. Knee extensors and biarticular muscles that span the femur longitudinally create caudal bending strains in the caudally curved (concave caudal side) bone. These opposing strains can balance each other and result in less strain on the bone. We test this idea by comparing the performance of a normally curved finite element model of the quokka femur to a digitally straightened version of the same bone. The normally curved model is indeed less strained than the straightened version. To further examine the relationship between curvature and the strains in the femoral models, we also tested an extra-curved and a reverse-curved version with the same loads. There appears to be a linear relationship between the curvature and the strains experienced by the models. These results demonstrate that longitudinal curvature in bones may be a manipulable mechanism whereby bone can induce a strain gradient to oppose strains induced by habitual loading.

It has recently been proposed that the caudal curvature (concave caudal side) observed in the radioulna of terrestrial quadrupeds is an adaptation to the habitual action of the triceps muscle which causes cranial bending strains (compression on cranial side). The caudal curvature is proposed to be adaptive because longitudinal loading induces caudal bending strains (increased compression on the caudal side), and these opposing bending strains counteract each other leaving the radioulna less strained. If this is true for terrestrial quadrupeds, where triceps is required for habitual elbow extension, then we might expect that in arboreal species, where brachialis is habitually required to maintain elbow flexion, the radioulna should instead be cranially curved. This study measures sagittal curvature of the ulna in a range of terrestrial and arboreal primates and marsupials, and finds that their ulnae are curved in opposite directions in these two locomotor categories. This study also examines sagittal curvature in the humerus in the same species, and finds differences that can be attributed to similar adaptations: the bone is curved to counter the habitual muscle action required by the animal’s lifestyle, the difference being mainly in the distal part of the humerus, where arboreal animals tend have a cranial concavity, thought to be in response the carpal and digital muscles that pull cranially on the distal humerus.

The quokka (Setonyx brachyurus) is restricted to two offshore islands and small isolates on the mainland of south-western Australia. It displays a tendency to saltatorial locomotion and moves at speed by bipedal hopping, although it also uses its forelimbs at low speed. Its bipedal adaptation involves enlarged hind limbs, with elongated feet. The fibre type distribution of the elbow and knee extensors, and the ankle plantar flexors, in comparison with two eutherians, the quadrupedal rhesus monkey, as a locomotor generalist, and the jerboa, a small eutherian hopping species morphologically similar to the quokka, were studied. The quokka's forelimb showed the same characteristics as that of the jerboa, lacking the fatigue-resistant Type I fibres that are used to sustain posture. As in the jerboa, the gastrocnemius lateralis was the muscle head with the highest proportion of fast twitch fibres. Muscular fibre pattern is not identical in the quokka and the jerboa hindlimb, but it appears that both species have similar anatomical adaptations to saltatorial locomotion. Differences in muscle fibre proportions could be due to several factors including, resting posture, body size and the propensity for elastic energy storage, the burrowing behaviour of the jerboa, but also to phylogenetic constraints where the adaptation to hop on the hindlimbs is a shared behaviour of the Macropodoidea (jerboas are the only Dipodidae to have elongated hindlimbs).

Why are long bones curved? It has long been considered a paradox that many long bones supporting mammalian bodies are curved, since this curvature results in the bone undergoing greater bending, with higher strains and so greater fracture risk under load. This study develops a theoretical model wherein the curvature is a response to bending strains imposed by the requirements of locomotion. In particular the radioulna of obligate quadrupeds is a lever operated by the triceps muscle, and the bending strains induced by the triceps muscle counter the bending resulting from longitudinal loads acting on the curved bone. Indeed the theoretical model reverses this logic and suggests that the curvature is itself a response to the predictable bending strains induced by the triceps muscle. This, in turn, results in anatomical arrangements of bone, muscle and tendon that create a simple physiological mechanism whereby the bone can resist the bending due to the action of triceps in supporting and moving the body. The model is illustrated by contrasting the behaviour of a finite element model of a llama radioulna to that of a straightened version of the same bone. The results show that longitudinal and flexor muscle forces produce bending strains that effectively counter strains due to the pull of the triceps muscle in the curved but not in the straightened model. It is concluded that the curvature of these and other curved bones adds resilience to the skeleton by acting as pre-stressed beams or strainable pre-buckled struts. It is also proposed that the cranial bending strains that result from triceps, acting on the lever that is the radioulna, can explain the development of the curvature of such bones.

This study attempts to apply geometric morphometric techniques for the analysis of 3D kinematic marker-based gait data. As a test, we attempted to identify sexual dimorphism during the stance phase of the gait cycle. Two techniques were used to try to identify differences in the way males and females walk without the results being affected by individual differences in body shape and size. Twenty-eight kinematic markers were placed on the torso and legs of 6 male and 8 female subjects, and the 3D time varying coordinates of the kinematic markers were recorded. The gait cycle trials were time-normalized to 61 frames representing the stance phase of gait, and the change in the shape of the configuration of kinematic markers was analyzed using principal components analysis to produce 'gait signatures' that characterize the kinematics of each individual. The variation in the gait signatures was analyzed with a further principal components analysis. These methods were able to detect significant sexual dimorphism even after the effects of sexual body shape and size differences were factored out. We discuss insights gained from performing this study which may be of value to others attempting to apply geometric morphometric methods to motion analysis.

Macropodid (kangaroo and wallaby) males use their forelimbs as weaponry in fights for dominance and access to females. The choreography and intensity of these fights varies with species body size. It has been established that the largest species show stronger dimorphism in upper limb muscularity as a product of sexual selection via increased intermale competition. However, beyond muscularity, and across the other macropodid species, limb dimorphism is poorly understood. Here, we examine dimorphism in the relative proportions of the bones within the forelimb and between the fore- and hindlimbs. We used a large sample of bones from 15 promiscuous macropodid species to confirm that absolute dimorphism in the forelimb becomes greater with body size (indexed by cranial length), and to further explore whether dimorphism in relative forelimb proportions increases also. As macropodids are obligate bipedal hoppers, no dimorphism was expected in the lower limb. Phylogenetic generalized least-square regression was used to resolve phylogenetic non-independence of the data. Greater upper limb dimorphism was significantly correlated with longer crania, confirming established patterns, but we found it was the relative length of the male humerus that became increasingly exaggerated with species' body size, not the radius as previously suggested. Enlarged proximal limb segments are indicative of adaptations for powerful movements. This aligns with higher intensity and ritualization of male agonistic behaviour, and reflects an increased selection for strong male forelimbs in the larger promiscuous species. Contrary to our hypothesis, relative male pes length decreased with body size, possibly indicating selection for a stronger and sturdier pes required for powerful kicks. This study clarifies the patterns of sexual dimorphism in Macropodidae limbs and illustrates the power of sexual selection to influence anatomy that is fundamental to locomotion in both sexes.

Pentapedal locomotion is the use of the tail as a fifth leg during the slow gait of kangaroos. Although previous studies have informally noted that some smaller species of macropodines do not engage in pentapedal locomotion, a systematic comparative analysis of tail use during slow gait across a wide range of species in this group has not been done. Analysis of relative movement of the pelvis, tail, and joint angles of the lower limbs during slow gait, using 2D landmark techniques on video recordings, was carried out on 16 species of Macropodinae. We also compared the relative lengthening of the tibia using crural index (CI) to test whether hindlimb morphology was associated with pentapedal locomotion. Pentapedal locomotion was characterised by three features: the presence of the tail repositioning phase', the constant height of the pelvis and the stationary placement of the distal tail on the ground during the hindlimb swing phase. The mean CI of pentapedal species was significantly greater than that of non-pentapedal species (1.71 versus 1.36; P<0.001). This lends support to the hypothesis that the use of pentapedal locomotion is associated with the relative lengthening of the hindlimb, which in turn is associated with body size and habitat preference within the Macropodinae.

Among closely related species, larger mammals tend to have a longer face and proportionally smaller braincase. This putative ‘rule’ in mammalian macroevolution has been proposed for the first time in 2013 based on 3D geometric morphometrics of antelopes, fruit bats, tree squirrels and mongooses. To firmly demonstrate that this trend holds as a ‘rule’ requires expanding the analysis in more lineages and other mammalian orders: if supported in most groups, it may indeed become a new evolutionary ‘rule’ besides famous ones such as Bergmann’s and Allen’s. In this study, using statistical shape analysis and both standard and comparative methods on a sample of kangaroos, wallabies and other macropodine marsupials, we show that the ‘big size-long face’ pattern is indeed found also outside the placentals. This provides support to the hypothesis of an important role of size-related shape changes (i.e., allometry) in the origin of the exceptional disparity of mammals, that, only in terms of size, span more orders of magnitude than any other animal: from 3 to 4 g of a tiny bat to more than 100 tons in blue whales.

The western grey kangaroo, Macropus fuliginosus, is a large-bodied kangaroo that engages in pentapedal locomotion at low speeds and bipedal hopping at high speeds. The tail is thought to have functional roles in both of these modes of locomotion. In pentapedal locomotion the tail acts as a 'fifth limb' to support the body weight together with the forelimbs while the hind limbs are drawn forward. The tail has also been suggested to have a role as a counterbalance during bipedal hopping. On the basis of these functional roles for the tail in locomotion, the caudal musculature of the western grey kangaroo was dissected and described in this study. The arrangement of the caudal musculature showed particular adaptations for the role of the tail in both pentapedal locomotion and bipedal hopping.

Hypertrophied canines evolved several times among mammalian carnivores. Several palaeobiological hypotheses related to sabretooth evolution and killing behaviours have been suggested based on biomechanical and functional considerations. However, the lack of well-studied extant analogues makes it difficult to test these hypotheses. Here we propose the South American short-tailed opossum Monodelphis dimidiata as a living analogue of extinct sabretooth predators. Our morphological analysis shows that M.dimidiata not only has relatively the largest canines among extant marsupial carnivores, but they are also within the range of those of sabretooth predators. It also has cranial adaptations for a wide gape typical of sabretooth carnivores. The small body size of this species allows further biological studies that can provide useful information to understand the evolution, behaviour and physiology of extinct sabretooth carnivores.