Authors of the article state that airborne particulate matter (PM) can accumulate on feather surfaces and alter feather appearance, so they quantified PM accumulation on Rock Pigeon feathers and analyzed the spectral properties of extracted particulates. Their findings suggest that wild birds could incur an urban pollution penalty as PM accumulation has the potential to alter feather properties.

Article discusses authors' findings that through genetic screening for suppressors of defense gene induction in the low lignin ccr1-3 mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana, we found that loss of function of the receptor-like kinase FERONIA, although not restoring growth, affected cell wall remodeling and blocked release of elicitor-active pectic polysaccharides as a result of the ccr1-3 mutation. They determine that engineering plant cell walls will require development of ways to bypass endogenous pectin signaling pathways.

Authors of the article use analytical results for viscous dissipation in phononic crystals to calculate the decay coefficient of a sound wave propagating at low frequencies through a two-dimensional phononic crystal with a viscous fluid background. They claim that the decay coefficient exhibits dependence on the direction of propagation; that is, a homogenized phononic crystal behaves like an anisotropic viscous fluid.

Article states that gene editing tools such as CRISPR/Cas9 are often thought of as a means to prevent gene expression; however, a more subtle and yet powerful approach is the enhancement of gene expression by precise deletion of repressor sites within a gene of interest. Authors argue that gene editing of miRNA target sites is preferable over deletion of the miRNA genes themselves, given that it avoids the pitfalls of unspecific derepression of miRNA target(s) beyond the gene of interest.

A detailed chemical kinetic model for oxidation of CH3CHO at intermediate to high temperature and elevated pressure has been developed and evaluated by comparing predictions to novel high-pressure flow reactor experiments as well as shock tube ignition delay measurements and jet-stirred reactor data from literature. The flow reactor experiments were conducted with a slightly lean CH3CHO/O2 mixture highly diluted in N2 at 600–900 K and pressures of 25 and 100 bar. This is the accepted manuscript version of the published article.

Article asserts that oxidation of acetonitrile has been studied in a flow reactor in the absence and presence of nitric oxide. A detailed chemical kinetic model for oxidation of acetonitrile was developed, based on a critical evaluation of data from literature. This is the accepted manuscript version of the published article.

Article describes how metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous crystalline materials, and their large pores make them particularly interesting for membranes, gas separation, and gas storage. The authors discuss how gas-MOF interactions alter the MOFs' spectral fingerprints.

Article describes how the selective removal of the β-emitting pertechnetate ion (99TcO4−) from nuclear waste streams is technically challenging. In this article, a practical approach is proposed for the selective removal of 99TcO4− (or its surrogate ReO4−) under extreme conditions of high acidity, alkalinity, ionic strength, and radiation field.

Article describes how biophotons are an ultra-weak emission of photons in the visible energy range from living matter. The authors study the emission from germinating seeds using an experimental technique designed to detect light of extremely small intensity.