Multi-component active plasmas are modeled in the presence of a constant oblique magnetic field by using the hydrodynamics equations. Assuming the electrons and negative ions have Boltzmann distribution and the positive ions have finite temperature, the sheath formation criterion is derived by analyzing the Sagdeev potential. It is found that the Bohm velocity of positive ions depends sensitively on the plasma parameters such as ion-neutral collision frequency, electron impact ionization frequency, positive and negative ion temperatures, initial densities of the charged particles and direction of the applied magnetic field. Also, using our obtained Bohm criterion, the sheath properties of an active magnetized plasma consisting of electrons and positive and negative ion species are investigated numerically and the results are compared with the results of a similar quiescent plasma. The Bohm criterion is one of the most famous results in plasma physics because knowing the speed at which ions leave a plasma is important for determining how a plasma interacts with a material boundary4.Sheaths always surround a plasma boundary and depend on the plasma and wall conditions. The characteristics of the sheaths are critical to the operation of all devices which depend on plasmas such as light sources to materials processing plasmas, fusion plasmas and space physicsk is the Boltzmann constant, 5. As it is seen, this criterion allows to choose uniquely the ion sound speed as the magnitude of the ion velocity at the entrance of the sheath for a plasma with a single ion species6. In recent years, this criterion was generalized to the case of magnetized collisional plasma sheathes with thermal ions11.In 1949 Bohm showed that stationary sheath exists if the entrance velocity of ions into the sheath becomes equal to or greater than the so called Bohm velocity 12 investigated sheath structure in a collisionless electronegative plasma consisting of electrons, cold positive ions and hot negative ions. Also, the sheath criterion for a magnetized collisional electronegative plasma consists of hot electrons, hot negative ions and cold positive ions was investigated by Zou et al.13. Furthermore, considering the thermal effect of positive ions, the generalized Bohm criterion for a collisonless two-component electron-ion plasma was formulated by Dubinov and Senilov14. In addition, Shaw et al.15 investigated the properties of a magnetized multi-component plasma sheath consisting of two species of warm positive ions, negative ions and electrons by using three fluid hydrodynamic model. Moreover, a generalized Bohm criterion in the plasma including hot electrons and multiply charged ions was analytically obtained in Ref.16. It should be noted that in the above mentioned works, the ionization effect has been ignored. However, some authors have studied the plasma sheath problem by considering the presence of ionization process. For example, Gyergyek and Kovacic17 have studied the plasma-wall transition problem in a magnetized electropositive plasma by considering elastic collisions between ions and electrons, and creation/ annihilation of charged particles. Also, Adhikari et al.18 have analyzed the influence of the forces that control the ion dynamics inside a magnetized electropositive plasma sheath under collisionless conditions. Furthermore, a criterion of sheath formation has been obtained by Moulick et al.19 for magnetized low pressure electropositive plasmas including the effect of collision and ionization. It is worthwhile to mention that in the generalization of the Bohm criterion for multi-component plasmas, similar to what happens in the single ion species plasmas, some authors have assumed that every species of ion reaching the sheath edge at its own Bohm velocity21. However, this assumption did not prove by experimental results of two-ion species plasmas24. In these experiments, the measured velocity of each ion species was closer to the system sound velocity, The conditions are somewhat complicated in multi-component plasmas such as dusty plasma, electronegative plasma with two negative components and electropositive plasma with two species of positive ions. Several researchers investigated the Bohm criterion and plasma sheath properties in the multi-component plasmas. For example, Wang et al.30) to include an oblique external magnetic field, ion-neutral collision and electron impact ionization as well as multi-charged positive and negative ion species and find analytically the sheath formation criterion in a magnetized multi-component plasma with ion source term (active plasma) consisting of multi-charged positive and negative ion species. In order to do this, we use a fluid model of plasma and analyze the Sagdeev potential. Considering 1.In the present paper, we extend the results of the previous works   x directThe following normalizations have been introduced in order to express the equations , 5) and and5) anWith these dimensionless quantities the normalized set of the model equations can be written as follows:In this section, the sheath formation criterion for a magnetized and collisional plasma consisting of multi-charged positive and negative ion species, electrons and neutral atoms is derived. This is one of the most important boundary condition to solve Eqs. –16)..16).Integrating Eq.  once, onFrom Eq.  and defiTaking into account rom Eqs. –22), on, on\docu32.Unmagnetized quiescent plasma consisting of singly-charged warm negative and positive ions: Assuming relation , we have16.Unmagnetized quiescent plasma consisting of multi-charged negative and warm positive ions: Assuming νp1=0 in , the she8.Unmagnetized active plasma with electrons and cold positive ions: Ignoring the effect of magnetic field (elations  and 24)\documentUnmagnetized active plasma with singly-charged warm positive ions: Assuming elations  and 24)\documentUnmagnetized active plasma with singly-charged negative and warm positive ion: Considering Qp1=1 in  and 24)\document13.Magnetized quiescent plasma consisting of singly-charged negative and cold positive ions: Assuming equality , we have11 for isothermal ion flow.Magnetized quiescent plasma consisting of singly-charged warm positive ions: By considering relation , the sheMagnetized collisional active plasma with multi-charged warm positive ions: Assuming elations  and 24)\documentMagnetized collisional active plasma consisting of warm multi-charged positive and negative ions, and electrons: In this case, from relations  and 24)24), we hNow we are going to investigate the validity of our modified Bohm criterion by reducing it to some special cases studied previously by authors: Now, we are going to use the generalized Bohm criterion Eq.  to invesmentclasspt{minimaing Eqs.  using a 36. This figure indicates that density distribution of the charged particles and also the sheath width in both active and quiescent plasma increase in the presence of a constant magnetic field which is in agreement with the result of Ref.37. The physical reason is the gyral effects of the magnetic force on the positive ions in the sheath. In fact, magnetic force can not only speed up but also slow down the ion flow in the x-axis direction. On the other hand, the positive ion density distribution has effects on electron and negative ions by the Poisson’s equation. Therefore, the density distributions of the three kinds of charged particles are higher in the presence of magnetic field. In addition, it is seen that the negative ion density distribution falls down much faster than that for the positive ion and electron in both kind of plasmas (Figure mentclass2pt{minimEffect of the magnetic field on the sheath potential and net space-charge of an active plasma is depicted in Fig. entclass1pt{minima39. The reason behind decrease in the sheath width is that by increasing the positive ion temperature, the gradient of the ion pressure increases and so the ions hit the wall more quickly due to the higher velocity entering sheath and the larger ion pressure. This effect, of course, causes decrease in the sheath width by the increase in To see the effect of the positive ion temperatures on the sheath properties of an active magnetized multi-component plasma consisting of electrons and positive and negative ions, we plot Figs. mentclass2pt{minim40, the sheath thickness increases by increasing the collision frequency.At the end of this section, we are going to investigate the effect of the collision frequency Hydrodynamics equations were used to investigate the plasma sheath criterion and properties in a multi-component active plasma consisting of positive and negative ion species and electrons in the presence of an external oblique magnetic field. It was assumed that the positive ions have finite temperatures and the electrons and negative ions obey the Boltzmann density distribution with different temperatures. Also, considering the


The co-creation and sharing of knowledge among different types of actors with complementary expertise is known as the Multi-Actor Approach (MAA). This paper presents how Horizon2020 Thematic-Networks (TNs) deal with the MAA and put forward best practices during the different project phases, based on the results of a desktop study, interviews, surveys and expert workshops. The study shows that not all types of actors are equally involved in TN consortia and participatory activities, meaning TNs might be not sufficiently demand-driven and the uptake of the results is not optimal. Facilitators are key to contributing to the relationships and the mutual understanding between different actors. Moreover, a user-friendly digital knowledge platform linked to demonstration activities and peer-to-peer exchange can improve the sharing of knowledge, enhancing impact in agricultural and forestry innovation in the longer term.The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40100-021-00209-0. Co-creating solutions and sharing knowledge between different actors that have complementary expertise are key to promoting innovation in agriculture and forestry. According to the European Commission, innovation is defined as the introduction of something new which turns into an economic, social or environmental benefit for rural practice COM . InnovatThe European Commission promotes and facilitates the actors’ interconnection through the Agricultural European Innovation Partnership (EIP-AGRI). The EIP-AGRI aims to bridge the gap between research and practice using the MAA, in line with the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) principles COM . The MAAThe EIP-AGRI puts into practice and implements the MAA through Operational Groups (OGs), Multi-Actor Projects (MAPs) and Thematic Networks (TNs). Table This study focuses on providing guidelines to maximise the MAA in TNs, and it was performed within the H2020 EURAKNOS project.Despite the effort that the EIP-AGRI is making to implement the MAA, the concept is not easily applicable due to a vast heterogeneity of actors and different ways of interaction in projects  EURAKNOS . In thisThe remainder of this paper is organized as follows. First, the methodology section describes the strategies used to address the research questions. The main findings of this paper are then presented and subsequently discussed. Finally, the main outcomes of this work and future prospects are presented in the conclusion section.The experimental design of this work consisted of several steps, as presented in Fig. The analysis of the MAA was performed considering three main phases of project writing and execution. We identified these as the following: (i) the conceptualisation or pre-award phase, (ii) the implementation or post-award phase and (iii) the post-execution phase. These are also shown in Fig. After identifying the three phases, we used several tools and materials to assess the MAA in TNs. These are each discussed in the following subsections.All TNs that started since 2015 34 TNs) were considered between January and March 2019. However, six TNs just started at the moment of the analysis and did not dispose of a website and/or sufficient data to be taken into account for this analysis’ purpose. Seventeen other TNs were in an advanced stage of project progress. The last eleven TNs were in their first year of project work. Thus, in total, 28 Horizon 2020 funded TNs were investigated in this research. These are listed in Table 4 TNs werAll collected data were publicly available on TN websites and the CORDIS (Community Research and Development Information Service) website. In the desktop study, five main aspects were investigated: (1) type of actors involved in the TN consortium, (2) residence country of TN consortium partners, (3) partner’s allocation budget, (4) connection with OGs and/or other MAPs, and (5) participatory MA activities  in the conceptualisation, implementation and post-execution phase with the emphasis on user groups’ involvement.Additionally, TN coordinators were asked to provide the mid-term and final reports of their project, for a total of 14 reports Table . These rThe actor's involvement and engagement in the TN;The main contributor and the missing actor in the co-creation process of the TN;Tools and strategies to enhance farmers engagement;The barriers faced in a TN regarding the MAA;The stimulation of the co-creative process in a TN.The face-to-face (F2F) interviews aimed to complete the information gathered with the desktop study to obtain a more in-depth overview of the MAA of the TNs, the implementation and its success and/or failures. The interviews took place between March and May 2019. The questions for the oral interviews were grouped as follows.SMART AKIS, Hennovation, OK-net Arable and Inno4Grass). Thirdly, the questions were redrafted, an online survey considered all quantitative questions ; the qualitative questions  were kept for the F2F interviews. For the online survey, the tool SurveyMonkey® was used. The complete questionnaire used during the interviews and the online surveys is given in Additional file The design of the F2F interviews combined with an online survey followed a three-step validation process. Firstly, a draft was performed and the questions were discussed, prioritised and circulated among all EURAKNOS project partners. Secondly, the first list of interview questions was corroborated by TNs coordinators involved in the project consortium  and Skype calls (11). Interviews were performed with TNs key actors responsible for the MA involvement and TNs coordinators Table . Since 1Three participatory workshops with TN actors were organised. During these workshops, the results obtained from the desktop study, F2F interviews and the online survey were further discussed and validated. The participatory workshops consisted of plenary sessions and parallel working sessions for which the group was split into subgroups. The parallel working sessions consisted of round table discussions where participants were asked to present their view on the specific aspect of the MAA listed below. A facilitator was in charge of moderating each working session. During the discussions, participants were asked to present their view and their opinions were collected and written down on a post-it board. In this way, they could be presented and further discussed during the plenary sessions.Validation of the results obtained during the prior analysis of TNs ;Ways of communication of farmers and foresters on their needs in a TN;Type of potential actors/end users and ways of engagement of actors in TNs.The first workshop was held in September 2019 in Budapest. A total number of 58 participants from 17 Member States attended the event . The main objective from this workshop was:Discussion on best practice and methods to foster the MAA in TNs;Engagement of users in the conceptualisation, execution and post-execution phase of MAPs;Profile and role of a facilitator to catalyse the MAA process.The second workshop was held in Paris in December 2019. Twelve experts from 7 Member States, of which researchers, farmer/foresters, advisors, and policymakers were involved. The TN The third workshop was performed online in May 2020 through the use of the video conferencing tool Zoom (Version 5.4.9). The workshop was performed online due to the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic.EUREKA, FAIRshare, I2Connect, NEFERTITI, SmartProtect, Organic PLUS, DESIRA) and OGs  took part.The event gathered in total 89 participants . A facilitator was present in each breakout room. The below tools were used to ask questions and create an interactive atmosphere with participants. The online survey systems MentimeterNEFERTITI, SMARTPROTECT, OPTIMA, FAIRShare) were also present among the participants.To further investigate the MAA, 6 cross-exchange visits (CEVs) were organised between actors from TNs and the broader EIP-AGRI community (MAPs and OGs). They were carried out online between June and September 2020 through the use of the video conferencing tool Zoom. A total of 81 participated in these CEVs ;Maximisation of knowledge exchange between actors.The investigated aspects related to the MAA during the CEVs are the following:A facilitator was present in each CEV. The online tools that were used to create an interactive atmosphere with participants were the same used in the online workshop.In this section, the main results of the previously described methodology are described. The analysis of the MA involvement led to the following observations, organised according to the three phases of a TN project:During the conceptualisation phase of a TN, it is decided which partners with which expertise will play a role in the consortium. The desktop study of the actors’ composition in 28 TN consortia showed that on average TN consortia are composed of 15 partners Fig. . AcademiFERTINNOWA and Ok Net Arable highlighted how these projects would have benefited from actors as sociologists, professional communicators, students from vocational schools and policymakers.During the F2F interviews, it was found that some key actors and/or expertise are sometimes missing in consortia. For example, the TN The geographical spread among different TN actors is presented in Fig. During the online survey, it was observed that 53% of the responding TNs considered themselves demand-driven. In contrast to this 53%, 27% of the TN projects are research and policy-driven. 13% of the TNs stated that their project was both demand and research/policy-driven and finally, 7% answered that their project was individual driven. These results tell us that a bottom-up approach, which is the basic reason for the existence of TNs, is well understood. Although, not all TNs are oriented towards users’ needs in practice.The F2F meetings with TNs coordinators and MAA representatives learned us that the type of actors taking up the responsibility in writing the proposal during the Conceptualisation phase is typically researchers (100%), followed by advisors (73%) and farmers associations 55%). Farmers and facilitators are less represented (36%). Consumers and students are not involved at all (0%)  and EUFRAS , respectively. Advisory Board members at a local, national and/or EU level meet less frequently during the project implementation and are mostly not directly involved in project activities. Additionally, the Advisory Board of FERTINNOWA, CERERE and AFINET directly involved users such as growers, consumer and government organizations, as well as industry and NGOs.From the F2F interviews, it was found that the main strategy to ensure the actor’s participation during Conceptualisation is to engage a well-defined target group of actors through being part of the consortium (87.5% of TNs). In co-creation, the scope and objectives of the project proposal are written. Regarding the involvement of farmers/foresters, TNs indicated that it is important to have (a) representative (s) as part of the consortium, or to have key intermediaries with a specific advisory role (e.g. advisors or applied research organizations/institutions). The TNs During the workshops, participants stressed the importance of the facilitator’s role to stimulate the co-creation process and involve users’ groups and discuss their needs, from the early stages of the conceptualisation phase. To remain impartial and objective, the facilitator may be replaced by another actor (that takes the same facilitating role) during subsequent phases of the project. Once the implementation of the project starts, the facilitator starts building a trusting space to allow healthy organic interactions amongst the consortium partners as well as interactions with external actors.Facilitators are expected to possess three main skills: organizational , social  and communicative skills .Hennovation and Agrispin, where facilitators helped the consortia and other external actors to detect problems and to set up new ideas.The results collected during the consultation of the experts in the workshops confirmed that the involvement of facilitators in innovative agricultural projects is crucial to the success of MAA. Furthermore, it was agreed that facilitators should not necessarily be advisors. Any actor can cover the role as long as proper training is followed and the required skills are possessed. This viewpoint was supported by the TNs Other major challenges and possible solutions related to the Conceptualisation phase were identified during discussions in workshops at Paris, Budapest and online, and also during the cross-exchange visits. The main challenges and corresponding solutions are grouped in Table In this phase, the interaction among actors is explored once the consortium is formed. It describes how external actors are engaged in TNs.The online survey indicated that the majority of TN consortia organise two physical meetings a year. This meeting frequency was perceived by 81% of the interviewed TNs as sufficient to co-create and to fulfil the project objectives. However, according to several coordinators, this frequency should be higher. Interviews pointed out that having regular yearly meetings increase the willingness to cooperate among actors. Furthermore, a clear communication strategy in the consortia regarding the meeting frequency need to be planned to increase the trust among actors.FERTINNOWA and Sheepnet carried out short surveys and study meetings from the implementation phase to define the needs and bottlenecks of actors, using a bottom-up approach. The results were further addressed in a subsequent participatory workshop that ensured full partner engagement during the whole duration of the project. Similarly, the TN Agrispin used a storytelling strategy to learn about actors’ experiences as input for the project.The desktop study showed that the engagement of actors external to the consortia is mostly restricted to events such as workshops, CEVs, on-farm demonstrations, study days and focus groups. The TN Figure Despite the high percentage of farmers involved in participatory activities Fig. , the TN Hennovation, indicated that also the early and late majority and the laggards towards regional practice-led innovation networks were reached  to implement an innovation-driven knowledge sharing process. In such an innovation platform, actors from different European areas were brought together to exchange and discuss specific topics, solutions, and best practices. Furthermore, a dedicated space inside the online platform allowed iNets facilitators to collect and share experiences and discuss future approaches.An example of successful collaboration between actors from different countries is given by the TN During discussions held in the expert workshops and during the cross-exchange visits, additional new insights emerged related to interaction among actors in the implementation phase. Major challenges and possible solutions were identified. The challenges are grouped in Table When the interviewees were asked how to ensure the sustainability of the network and its results, 3 TNs (11%) could not answer this question as the project was just started, 24 of the interviewed TNs (89%) mentioned the links with existing OGs, other TNs and user groups such as farmers’, foresters’ and advisors’ groups. Other answers referred to the importance of creating synergies between ongoing and follow-up projects and having easily accessible outputs for practitioners including the TN website. TNs final reports also showed that the evaluation of the “success” of the project and the short-medium and long-term impact of technology produced documents was made through the use of google analytics.FERTINNOWA 10 months after the end of the project were still high, it was decided to keep the website ongoing.The number of views can indicate whether it is still useful to keep the website running after the project has ended. As the downloads of the main outcomes of Major challenges and possible solutions related to impact evaluation in the post-execution phase were identified during the discussions in the workshops. The challenges are grouped in Table From the composition of actors in the 28 TN communities Fig.  report. The lack of involvement of some actors in TN consortia can be due to the process of actor selection. Since this process can be strongly influenced by previous cooperation experiences, partners with previous project expertise are often valued more than new partners. This aspect was also highlighted in the study of Fieldsend et al. . As suchEastern, Southern and Northern European countries are less involved in TNs than Western European countries Fig. . One reaOnly half of the TNs examined in this study engaged user groups in the Conceptualisation phase Fig. , meaningThe observed outcome of this study suggested as one of the solutions that Farmers’ and foresters’ engagement can be strengthened through memberships in an Advisory Board and through participatory activities such as F2F interviews, workshops and surveys in the earlier stages of a TN. Furthermore, these pre-award participatory activities allow users and consortium members to take an active part in the shaping of the scope of the project in a co-creative process. They can also contribute to building trust between the partners and other key actors  of the visiting user. Ideally, having a digital platform that responds to each user creates trust, which can amplify the number of reached users and increase the impact. The TN In line with AKIS strategies and the CAP, the creation of an EU-wide knowledge platform that collects all-ready-for-practice materials from all TNs will help to create an EU agriculture and forestry community, strengthening the MAA. Additionally, links between research, practice, education and advisors may be easily made and knowledge is potentially more efficiently exchanged outside the national borders. Even though these platforms are structured to serve TNs users’ needs, they can have an impact also at the political level. Policymakers can also close the gap between policy and practice, enhancing the effective use of TNs outputs. However, according to Burssens et al. (2020), adequate financial resources should be foreseen to maintain the platform over time.In short, a knowledge database that combines the outputs of different TNs can allow users to have access to relevant existing networks of actors. Furthermore, it can allow having direct contact with farmers so that they can communicate their needs. Older farmers may need an intermediary, e.g. an advisor to help them decide which knowledge is relevant and how they can implement it. Hence, it is important of having digitally trained advisors and other key intermediary actors. However, to be successful and more impactful, the content needs to be well-structured and the interface of such a digital platform needs to be strongly user-oriented.The evaluation of uptake and use of new knowledge is methodologically challenging . Those two methodologies can represent a valid strategy to measure the impact; however, they are based on standardized case studies and on a long time scale and not yet applied in evaluating TNs  and the Impact of Research in South approach  and strategic planning. What was pointed out as an important step is that a good evaluation strategy at the beginning of the project is necessary to make it more impactful. Furthermore, funding schemes may be allocated by national and regional departments to enhance and to maintain TNs platforms running. An additional benefit is that an alive platform provides access to outputs also after the project is finished. This should allow long-term visibility and increase the potential of key intermediaries actors such as advisors and educators bringing the TN outcomes to the attention of farmers/foresters. Furthermore, the national/regional government can facilitate and financially support the mapping of local networks. Enhancing the collaboration of existing networks allows TNs outcomes to be transferred to users and hence broaden the outreach and uptake of their results.The MAA in TNs for agriculture and forestry innovation is overall a well understood and applied concept. This study highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of the MAA in three different phases of the TN projects: the conceptualisation, the implementation and the post-execution phase.It was observed in the conceptualisation phase that the process of actor selection can be strongly influenced by previous cooperation experiences. This can lead to a lack of involvement of some new and innovative actors in TN consortia. A TN advisory board and a facilitator can strengthen farmers’ and foresters’ engagement through participatory activities . The person in charge of covering the role of a facilitator does not need to have a technical level of expertise about the TN topic, although a sufficient level of competence in facilitating the MA knowledge exchange is needed.Furthermore, it was observed that having an engagement strategy since the conceptualisation phase is essential to optimise knowledge exchange to ensure the uptake and exploitation of TNs results. The organization of participatory activities  and the creation of an interactive digital platform may improve the exchange between innovative and more conservative farmers in a broader geographical range. Additionally, the link within OGs can be boosted in each TN.Lastly, the evaluation of knowledge uptake is still very challenging because there is no budget allocation for a post-execution or long-term evaluation. At the moment, several indicators have been used as tools to show the participation and engagement of users in TNs. However, they do not show whether users benefit from TN outputs. As such, further reflections are still needed in developing methodologies and indicators that allow having a long-term view. Involving heterogeneous actors in the early stages is essential to ensure the highest level of results uptake. Connecting partners through the share of common interests benefit the uptake of the results, as well as the TN’s impact. Therefore, this last post-execution stage requires sufficient resources as well as strategic planning.A fully operational and effective MAA allows TNs to contribute to accelerating innovation in agriculture and forestry. Besides, more efficient, sustainable and impactful TNs can contribute to a well-functioning AKIS at local, national and European levels. As such, the information flow and the sharing of knowledge between AKIS key actors are strengthened.Additional file 1.Annex I. Questionnaire for the face-to-face interviews.


Chemicalengineering education comprises a complexity of technicalskills that include learning processes that are currently relevantin industry. Despite being a rather old industrial process, the manufacturingof viscose fibers still accounts for the major fraction of all human-madecellulosic fibers worldwide. Here we describe a laboratory setup tointroduce chemistry and engineering students into the principles ofcellulose fiber spinning according to the viscose process. The setupfor fiber spinning is kept simplistic and allows the experiments tobe performed without professional spinning equipment. However, allof the steps are performed analogously to the industrial process.The professional setting in process and chemical engineering involveswork on projects and in teams. Hence, we have incorporated the fiberspinning laboratory experiment in the context of working in teamson projects. We will also present our experience on transferring areal-life laboratory experiment online, as this is required at timesthat online education is preferred over real-life teaching. They realized that the produced cellulosexanthate is very soluble in dilute sodium hydroxide solution and canbe converted after a processing step to cellulose fibers and filmsby exposure to an acidic bath. By the 1930s, a wide range of productionfacilities in the U.S. had started producing either viscose or otherrayons.9 In general, the term rayon refersto a wide range of human-made cellulose fibers from different processes.10 Among those, the viscose process is nowadaysthe most important process to manufacture human-made wood-based fibers,with production volumes of several million tons per year.12 Although the basic principle is still the same as it was at theend of the 19th century, much progress has been made in the preparationof the alkali cellulose, the removal of undesired impurities, andthe procedures to obtain spinning dopes suitable for the productionof high-quality fibers.15 Besides progress in fiber/filmmanufacturing, also the processes to recycle the used chemicals andremove them from the air have been improved significantly.17 For instance, emissions by the largest viscose manufacturer in Europe,Lenzing AG, is at an extremely low level, which is a prerequisiteconsidering that the plant site is located close to residential areas.18 Since the demand for fibers is steadily growingand cotton plantations are more or less at the limit of potentialland use, the only way to close the gap is to focus on wood-basedfibers.19 The viscose process is certainlya part of the solution to this challenge.The history of human-made wood-basedfibers dates back to 1884,when Svan dissolved nitrocellulose and then injected this solutioninto a regeneration bath to produce cellulose fibers with a wonderfulshine, the first artificial silk. In the years to come, a varietyof other processes were introduced and commercialized, such as thecuprammonium rayon process and—with large success—theviscose silk process.21 In the formingphase, the team may experience consensus, but pushing the boundariesof the consensus later on can lead to a storming phase. The stormingphase is critical for the team to reach a status where individualcompetencies and ways of working are established and the team canreach an optimized performing phase. Adjourning is a part of time-limitedprojects that is characteristic of the work in student teams in education.Mastery of technical skills isnot the sole requirement for professionals who are being educatedin engineering programs in universities. Additionally, it is requiredthat the students are able to function as a part of a professionalsetting. Such work at the current time is carried out by teams inwhich individual team members are carefully selected on the basisof their competences but also on their abilities to work in teams.Working in teams relies on functioning team dynamics. Team work inprojects has been described to consist of the phases of forming, storming,norming, performing, and adjourning.22 Hence, the fiber spinning experiment is plannedto be conducted in small groups (four or five students) with interactionbetween the students. Indeed, mastery of soft skills can be decisivein future recruitments of the students after their studies. Sharma23 confirmed that in recruitment for technicaljobs, communication skills were rated as the most important by 72%,followed closely by teamwork at 66% and then time management at 60%.Working in teams during degree studies is vital for the developmentof soft skills such as communication, problem solving, and time management.24 Within this context, the technical backgroundof the students was considered in the teams’ composition: chemistry,biorefinery engineering, and material science students were distributedto enable diverse teams. The aim of executing the project in teamswas that it would enable more efficient learning via sharing of knowledgeand tasks than working individually. We also aimed to provide thestudents a setting emulating real life and hypothesized that it wouldlead to motivation.Diversity in teams has been identified to be favorable, as diversityin competencies and personalities can create a synergy in teams.To be ableto work in small teams (four to five students)in a project and to exchange experiences between teamsTo acquire knowledge on how to effectively perform literatureresearch, store and manage the literature, and extract the requiredinformation in a synopsis.The intended learning outcomes relevantto the nontechnical skillsare the following:2 to form an alkaline-soluble compound, so-called cellulosexanthate (CX). The last step in viscose fiber spinning is the conversionof CX back to cellulose, a process commonly called “regeneration”.The laboratory project has the intentionto demonstrate the basic steps of viscose fiber manufacturing 1. The fiSupporting Information) for each individual step.The intended learning outcomes relevant to the technical skills arethe following:Understandingchallenges in cellulose processing andhow to overcome themAcquiring practicalknowledge in wood-based fiber manufacturingExploring the morphological properties of the spun wood-basedfibersDistinguishing between the supramolecularstructuresof viscose fibers and natural ones Documenting the observations made during the differentsteps of fiber spinningThese reactions are the basis for the achieving the pedagogicalgoals and are complemented by theoretical background .The grading of the laboratory projectconsisted of 100 points and comprised a starting exam (30%), performancein the laboratory (30%), and the final report (40%). These evaluatedevents take place in a sequence, and the students receive feedbackafter each section is finished. The completed section is a gate tothe next one.The starting exam  takes place prior to the beginning of theexperimental work in the laboratory. The exam covers the theoreticalbackground and the experimental procedures, including safety aspectsand hazards of the involved chemicals. The performance of the studentsin the laboratory (30%) is assessed by the supervisor and is basedon understanding the process steps and order, chemical reactions ineach step, and ability to follow safety guidelines. The final reportwas evaluated for structure (a template was given), accuracy of descriptionof the process and reactions, clarity of presentation, and match withthe actual events in the laboratory.The emphasis in the evaluationof all steps is to examine whetherthe students can follow and understand the process chain startingfrom pulp followed by alkali cellulose, cellulose xanthate, and regenerationto cellulose and how this relates to the working principle of fiberspinning. Lack of knowledge in details, e.g., concerning side or secondaryreactions in xanthation, is not punished in the course if the overallconcept of fiber spinning including the main steps is well understood.The grading of the virtual laboratorycourse consisted of the following tasks in a sequence: (1) preparationof a literature database (10%) that was evaluated by quantity andquality; (2) description of the three most significant scientificpublications on viscose spinning (20%) in 800–1000 words, forwhich the assessment criteria were relevance to the lab course designand ability to summarize concisely the main results; and (3) designof the laboratory experiment (70%), which was evaluated on the basisof quality and involved a detailed description of the required chemicals,glassware, devices, procedures, and processes, the feasibility ofperforming the experiments in a standard chemistry laboratory, anda consideration of safety aspects. In an ideal report, the main chemicalreactions as well as potential hazards were identified, and adequateprotective gear was proposed. The description of the process comprisedalso the post-treatment of the fibers as well as their analysis.Supporting Information. The optimum group size is two or threestudents for each experiment.The experimentalparts necessaryfor the production of viscose fibers in a laboratory course are inprinciple the same steps that are necessary in large-scale viscosefiber production. However, simplified equipment can be used, and itis not necessary to perform all of the steps in the course, providingflexibility while adjusting to the skills and background of students.The options range from a half-day laboratory project, where the focusis only on the main part (the fiber spinning), to a laboratory projectthat lasts 4 days, where all of the important steps of wood-basedfiber production are practiced. In the following, an overview of theindividual units  of thelaboratory course on viscose fiber spinning will be given; detailedinformation on every step is available in the 26The reactionof celluloseto give alkali cellulose is performed. A native cellulose source  is stirred in an 18 wt % sodium hydroxide solutionfor 2 h. After this, the excess sodium hydroxide solution is removedfrom the cellulose by pressing. Afterward, the cellulose is aged overnight.25The aged alkali cellulose is stirred, andcarbon disulfide is added dropwise. After addition of the carbon disulfide,the xanthation takes place, and the white alkali cellulose fibersare converted to an orange, sticky pulp. The cellulose xanthate canthen be dissolved in a 4 wt % sodium hydroxide solution under constantstirring and cooling, resulting in the so-called viscose solution.After the cellulose xanthate is completely dissolved, the viscosesolution is subjected to aging before it can be used for fiber spinning.The aged cellulosexanthate is injectedinto a 10 wt % sulfuric acid solution at 50 °C. For the injection,different experimental setups are used. The basic spinneret consistsof a simple syringe with an injection needle, while a more sophisticatedone employs a syringe pump with different spinning nozzles. The fibersare collected, for example, with a simple stirring bar when injectedby hand or by a rotating polypropylene cylinder operated by a laboratorystirrer in the case a syringe pump is used.27 and the effects ofdifferent injection needles, injection speeds, and ways of injectionon the fiber quality are studied.In the last part of the course, thechanges in chemistry during the viscose process are observed by Infrared(IR) spectroscopy,The interaction of thevirtual laboratory course was organized using digital meeting software(Webex). Meetings took place at regular intervals, at least once perweek over a period of 8 weeks. In the first session, the studentswere introduced to the topic, and the challenge was presented to them.This included (1) literature research on the viscose process, witha focus on experimental design and analysis; (2) creation of a literaturedatabase using Citavi or Mendeley; (3) summary of the three most relevantpapers in 800–1000 words, using their own language, includingjustification of relevance to the design of the laboratory course;(4) design of the laboratory course using the collected literature;and (5) delivery of a laboratory course procedure containing the stepsof the viscose process, including safety measures, that could be usedby university students at the Master’s level. During the weeklydigital meetings, every student had the opportunity to express problemsand obstacles impeding the progress in solving the final challenge.These issues were discussed in the group from the very beginning,allowing for the generation of a team experience. Further guidingsupport was provided by the teacher.2S is toxic and potentially harmful to environmentand health. Additionally, the work with the 10 wt % sulfuric acidrequires attention. After the fibers have been washed, they can behandled and investigated without any safety equipment.Dependingon the individual substeps of the laboratory experiment,attention has to be paid to potentially occurring risks. General protectivemeasures include the use of protective glasses, gloves, and a laboratorycoat. The safety data sheets for the used chemicals have to be studiedbeforehand. In the alkali cellulose synthesis, the 18 wt % sodiumhydroxide solution has to be handled with care because of its highalkalinity. The xanthation reaction uses small amounts of carbon disulfide,a highly flammable and potentially harmful compound. The use of afume hood is obligatory, and any type of operation should be performedusing syringes to avoid any exposure. For the regeneration of thecellulose xanthate, the spinning bath should also be placed in a fumehood because during regeneration traces of hydrogen sulfide gas areformed. HUniversity students are familiarwith working on projects involving technical challenges with a clearlydefined aim. They master intrinsically the basic concepts of communicationin writing and time management to allow the tasks to be finalized.Most often the challenges arise from working in teams and especiallymanagement of interpersonal relationships. This can define the inputthat an individual is motivated to give to the exercise. How to workin teams and the communication between the students in this laboratoryproject were enabled but not supported with specific activities. Thesupervisor monitors the teamwork and facilitates it. However, we foreseethat especially performing the project as a virtual laboratory coursecreates a need for first observing how the students are able to worktogether virtually and later on by developing a systematic supportfor teamwork that will be a subject of iterations as we learn moreabout team dynamics in virtual settings.In our standard laboratory protocol,the students focus on opticaland microscopy observations regarding fiber shape and structure whenneedles with different diameters are used for the injection or whenthe injection speed of the syringe pump is changed. The fiber diameterhas to be determined from the optical microscopy images, and the changesin diameter have to be explained. The second important part in theanalytical section is to acquire IR spectra of all of the cellulosederivatives appearing in the process and to explain the changes instructure and the ongoing chemical reactions using the absorptionbands in the infrared spectra.However, if available, many othercharacterization techniques like tensile testing for the fibers orviscometric studies of the ripening of the cellulose xanthate solutioncan be used.Supporting Information. The absolutecellulose content could then be compared with the theoretical cellulosecontent based on the amount of cellulose source used. Normally theabsolute and theoretical cellulose contents fit well: in the providedexample, 3.5% was calculated and 3.6% was experimentally determined.28The determinationof the cellulose content in the spinning dope is an easy way to characterizethe dope without any further analytical instrument needed, as describedin the The fibers presentedin –1 (νOH) andfrom 3000 to 2850 cm–1 (C–H stretching vibrations),a series of small weak bands in the region of 1430 to 1150 cm–1 , strong and overlappingbands from 1160 to 950 cm–1 , and a small band at 899 cm–1 .29IR spectroscopy is a widely availableand commonly used method to study the reactions of cellulose and itsderivatives. The used starting material, highly purified cotton fibers,exhibit an IR spectrum characteristic of cellulose I 2. It fea–1 is shifted from 3500 to 3650 cm–1 in the alkalicellulose spectrum, and the form changes to a single band. The increasedintensity at 1640 cm–1 indicates the presence ofadditional OH stretching and deformation vibrations caused by remainingwater stored in the alkali cellulose.The alkali cellulose spectrum differs significantlyfrom the cottonspectrum. The broad band at 3600–3000 cm2 (νC=S at 1520 cm–1), sodium sulfide (1420 and 920 cm–1), and sodiumtrithiocarbonate .30 The remaining bands at 1452 and 1382 cm–1 as wellas a weak band at 2725 cm–1 can be assigned to NaOH,which is present from the dissolution of CX. Since NaOH is highlyhygroscopic, the water peak at 1640 cm–1 is pronouncedas well. The C–S and C=S vibrations for CX have beenreported in the region around 900 cm–1 and between1050 and 1250 cm–1 and interfere with these productsas well as with vibrations of the pyranose ring, which also showsabsorption bands in this range.31 Therefore,an unambiguous assignment is not possible.In the case of CX, theinterpretation of the IR spectrum is notthat straightforward. Significant amounts of primary and secondaryreaction products can be identified. These products can be identifiedas CSAfter regenerationand extensive washing of the spun fibers, againa cellulose spectrum is obtained, which is denoted as cellulose II.33 The use ofliterature database programs created a new experience that is usefulfor later courses in the study programs of the students. The assignmentto sum up complex papers in short paraphrases and justify their relevanceto the laboratory course improved their writing skills. The work requiredintense interaction in a virtual manner with the other students andwith the teacher.For the students, it wasa unique experience to design a laboratory course. Usually, the studentsfollow a more-or-less strict procedure in laboratory courses thathas been designed by others. This procedure contains many meta-aspects of whichmost students were not aware. Furthermore, the involvement in designingteaching content engages students.Although the course was virtual, the workloadwas high and was underestimated by the students in the beginning.As the relevant literature for the viscose process is from the 1920–1970s,some of the content is not easily available on the online and requiresthe use of databases such as SciFinder and ISIS Web of Knowledge.Some of the relevant literature was not available at all in electronicform and required a visit to the university library. The feedbackfrom the students was positive. However, they mentioned that in thebeginning they were overwhelmed, as this was a new approach for them.In addition, the virtual format slows down the social interactionwith others, meaning that the teacher needs to provide extra supportand motivation for the students to team up. The supervisor enabledthis by setting up regular team meetings online where the studentsand teams could interconnect and share their experiences as well astheir approach toward solving problems, particularly on literaturesearch. The supervisor needs to seek a moderating role in such meetingsand needs to actively motivate students to talk to each other to enablestudent–student interactions. As the laboratory course progressed,students got more self-confident on the challenge, and in the endthey considered it a valuable experience and enrichment to their educationprogram.Working in teams ina project is a necessary skill for chemistsand engineers and hence should be part of university education. Here,teamwork was executed on a project that had a technical challengerelevant to industry. The procedure for the synthesis of cellulosexanthate and the following spinning of regenerated cellulose fibersis an easy-to-follow laboratory experiment that does not require expensivematerials or extraordinary characterization techniques. An additionalbenefit of this experiment is that it is not necessary to have extensiveand specialized knowledge in the production of human-made fibers throughthe viscose process. The time frame for the course is flexible, dependingon which steps are performed with the students and which materialsare prepared beforehand. A basic knowledge of organic chemistry anda laboratory equipped with the standard tools, safety precautions,and a motivated teacher are required. The learning outcomes for thestudents involve practical knowledge on fiber spinning using the viscoseprocess, including all of the required steps and analytical procedures.They are aware of the difficulties in shaping and processing of cellulose,including the challenges to make fibers of good quality. The successof the laboratory project was reflected by comparison of the resultsof the exams before the practical work started and the laboratoryreports.The virtual laboratory course represents an alternativeto getstudents familiarized with the viscose process. The virtual versionof the laboratory course differs from the real-life experience asit targets the design of a laboratory course from scratch, requiringthe students to think outside their normal laboratory course bubble,where the materials are readily available and a supervisor is in controlof the course of experiments. The exercise is definitely more challengingnot only for the university students but also the university teacher,as it requires constant efforts and focus on motivation and studentinteraction in a virtual setting. Although the virtual course cannotfully replace hands-on training, it is a viable way to provide thestudents with useful knowledge in times where laboratory access isrestricted.The students were able to fulfill the intended learningoutcomesdirected toward the soft skills that constitute the ability to workin teams and acquire, process, and communicate information. The performancewas not assessed in the final grade, but learning of these outcomesis deemed a necessity to arrive at the submission of a report thatcan be accepted from the technical side. Achieving the technical learningoutcome shows variation within students that was reflected in thegrade of the laboratory exercise. That is typical in the case of masteringa complex process in a technical university teaching setup.


India has proven to be one of the most diverse and dynamic economic regions in the world. Its industry focuses predominantly on the service sector and immediate economic growth seems to steer India into the economic superpower. India's unique business landscape is felt at a regional level, where massive urbanization has become an unavoidable consequence of population growth and spatial allocation to the economic hubs of metropolitan cities. Mumbai, one of the world's largest cities, represents a unique combination of a diverse economic landscape and the growth of a megacity. The role of Mumbai in India's growth is of crucial importance for India's business landscape. This paper explores the massive urbanization processes of Mumbai's peri-urban areas and compares urban sprawl with the location of its business landscape. A spatial accounting methodology based on the proximity of Mumbai's different economic hubs will be used to measure the underlying pattern of the Mumbai region, concerning past and present urbanization, and the effect of this urbanization process has on the possible location of businesses. This business-urban ecosystem perspective will be implemented by a spatial analysis on the correlation between urban compactness and urban footprints, in relation to business concentration and its spatiotemporal evolution over the last hundred years. data science, Self-organizing maps, spatial regressions, GIS. However, during the post-liberalization period, there was a harmful and robust tendency in the Indian corporate sector towards misallocation of resources . While I(i)Foster land use policies for better local management by means of transportation efficiency ,(ii)Relate to future environmental concerning in unplanned and disparate demographic regions ,(iii)Create efficient support systems for optimizing business activity within urban regions and understand its spatial factors .In the case of India, in detriment of the agriculture and rural world, economic urban hubs became ubiquitous signs of a modernized continent . This haSuch a combinatory approach allows to test vulnerability at the regional level , which eAn important issue that arises from the combination of rapid urbanisation, is the degree of pressure on the environment due to unplanned economic activity suggesting disparities at the regional level . This pa2The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) extends from 18° 53 to 19° 16 N and 72° to 72° 59 E .Figure 12 with a maximum width of 17 km east to west and 42 km north to south. In its quest to become a world-leading economic hub, Mumbai must meet the imminent challenges brought by the global economy, while facing daunting social, economic and environmental issues within an ever-expanding urban core . The Mumbai Metropolitan Region, such as most regions in Industrialized India face a series of challenges such as (i) air pollution , (ii) urban core . The metban core . Most ofban core .3Postal addresses of Mumbai's registered industries were computed through geopyMuch with the present literature on India's business landscape, the eighties and nineties were of utmost important for Mumbai's economic growth. Since early 2000, a decrease in the registered industries in Mumbai has been witnessed. Further inspection of the topology of businesses allowed to summarize industrial sectors in Mumbai . The domThe service sector has become dominant over the last decades in Mumbai; information technologies have mostly grown during the late-eighties. The spatial component of the distribution of Mumbai's business landscape was achieved by a correlation of urban land use with a hexagonal grid, which allowed to create a common topology for comparison of the different data sources. The figure below  represenThe availability of Landsat imagery since the early seventies as well as mostly free availability as a data source, make this data source particularly efficient for regional land use classification, particularly for urban land use . Supervi4i and j, and n is the total number of existing features. As such, An integrated spatial analysis for business was conducted based on a combinatory approach of land use analysis and spatial autocorrelation metrics. At a first instance, the existence of spatial autocorrelation was tested at global level, as to understand whether Mumbai in fact, represents a spatial cluster, and if so, for which industries are these clusters mostly evident. This was carried out by determination of a global Moran's I test  for the l weight  between The demonstration of spatial autocorrelation at global level allowed proceeding with a local analysis of identifying business hotspots at local level. This was done by calculating the Local Gi∗ statistic and adopted to express business density per hotspots. This was conducted by a count function per Indian parish (administrative level 3). The count function expressed a business landscape, which allowed determining the spatial-autocorrelation of hotspots for Mumbai . The dataset contains temporal specific information on the creation of the business, as well as economic activity. The geocoding process consisted of identifying the total number of businesses for India, and rectifying when necessary by comparing local addresses to guarantee the accuracy of business location. A total of 1459 businesses were correctly classified for the Greater Mumbai Area, and accuracy performance tested by means of integrating Google Maps API for validating existing addresses. Further to this, a spatial index was created, allowing not only to an aggregate location within the Greater Mumbai Area, but also an interpretation of business typology. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) was adopted as a general classification schema, guaranteeing an adequate nomenclature for business and industry typologies. The NAICS is the standard used at the Federal level for classifying business establishments and North American statistical data. Adopted in 1997, it is the replacement of the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. The standardization of the nomenclature was contributed by the U. S. Economic Classification Policy Committee (EPCP), Statistics Canada, and Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia, and this nomenclature allows detailed and high level comparability among business types. Ring buffers of 2 km each were generated up to a radius of 34 km. This originated into seventeen ring buffers measuring the distance from the Central Business District (CBD). While Mumbai considers several in literature, and no consensus exists, we based our CBD on the oldest (pre-1920) business locations, approximating through a point density map, the centroid locating the precise location of a possible center for a CBD at the beginning of business activity in Mumbai. The spatial analysis prompted to understand the diversity of business type. To achieve this Shannon-Weiner Species Diversity Index was used . To achi4.1The SOM is an unsupervised Artificial Neural Network, which can be seen as a clustering technique based on the classical vector quantization. The SOM is loosely inspired in what it is thought to be the mechanisms of the human brain, based on the idea that different parts of the brain react, or get activated, by different stimuli. In other words, in the SOM, like in the human brain, certain subgroups of neural units respond selectively to specific sensory stimuli . SOM's aThere are two main concepts to understand the SOM, the input space and the output space. The input space is the original space of the data vectors, and the output space is the n-dimensional  grid of units, also called neurons, where the data vectors will be mapped. In order to preserve the topological relations present in the input space, the SOM will map data vectors which are closed in the input space into the same or close units in the output space. It is important to note that each unit has the same number of weights as the data vectors and can be seen as a vector in the same space of the data vectors. During training (i.e. the creation of the SOM) each data vector is presented to the SOM and the closest unit is defined as the best matching unit, resulting in the mapping of the data vector onto best matching unit. During training all the data vectors are presented multiple times to the SOM, and through this iterative training process the data vectors, which are close in the input space, will be mapped to units which are close in the output space. The training of a SOM can be seen as a process of density estimation, where the units of the SOM are positioned in order to represent the density of the data vectors distribution. By the end of the training process the units, typically in much smaller number than the data vectors, can be seen as the representatives of the data vectors, mimicking the distribution density over all the input space. For a more detailed explanation of the SOM algorithm the reader is referred to In the context of this study the SOM can be a valuable tool to improve the understanding of the manifold structure of the data and the identification of the clusters present in the data. In this process of exploring the data will be using the output space of the SOM to understand which are the main groups of companies that can be identified.5The adaptation of this nomenclature to India allowed to have an assessment of Mumbai's distribution of businesses .Figure 4Most businesses in the Greater Mumbai Area are located in south Mumbai, close to the financial district of the region. A strong spatial autocorrelation exists at a global level suggesting a very high Moran's I index .Figure 5This clustering pattern is a result of the very high spatial autocorrelation found in south India, suggesting that spatial explicit models apply in the context of the Greater Mumbai Area. While businesses in the Greater Mumbai Area do cluster spatially, the effect of diversity of business types must be clearly understood as to assess a spatial landscape of business opportunities. Our integrated approach provided an assessment of the Shannon-Weiner's Diversity Index .Table 2SA closer analysis of the SWDI allowed establishing a pattern relating that business diversity functions within the First Law of Geography. Diversity tends to decrease over spatial distance but not proportionally to spatial-autocorrelation- A joint assessment with urbanization patterns over the Greater Mumbai Area in a spatio-temporal examination of Mumbai's extent. Understanding the dynamic phenomenon such as urban sprawl over the space and time requires having urban extend. After extracting urban extend over the four-time series, and landscape metrics of Shannon's entropy has been applied for spatial and temporal analysis of urban sprawl to identify the extent and growth pattern of the region .Figure 6Due to the high rate of migration and population growth in Mumbai, the sprawl of the city was expected, and Mumbai can in terms of business location vis-à-vis urbanisation, be considered a polycentric city. The amount of built up area was calculated for each buffer zone separately using similar buffers as proposed in the business analysis, these zones, were thus measured through Shannon equation so as to quantify urban sprawl . The usage of spatial analysis to geocode businesses and assess therefore underlying patterns, is a unique methodology to infer additional information on spatio-temporal business clusters, but also to better understand the business ecology and its intricate relation to space, which often is not fully assessed at the regional level. The availability of the urban footprint from the German Aerospace Center (DLR), as discussed in A detailed analysis of the Self-Organizing Map results reveal that the general distribution is fairly stable, suggesting that similar industries locate within precise geographical clusters, nevertheless there are 3 main outlier units, shown in red, green and orange on 6Growing megacities such as Mumbai have shown increasing urbanization processes largely brought by population density and incremental economic activity. Mumbai's metropolitan area's core has been one of the fastest-growing regions globally, creating a nexus of urban sprawl and cumulative business activity, leading to India's urban commercial industry's diversified tradition merged with the effects of population dynamics.With the rapid change of population dynamics and economic activity, the fragmentation of previous urban landscapes has become a detrimental concern as Mumbai's economy grew over the last two decades . This paper suggested a complementary approach to abridge the spatial narrative of businesses, and the role of territorial proximity in urban cores, a growing issue in developing countries. Concerning south Asian megacities such as Mumbai, there is significant evidence that infrastructures have to be managed depending on the folio of businesses and commercial activity within the surrounding landscapes.This is especially the case considering the geodemographic transitions of populations, where urban sprawl and the disparity between income and regional impacts must be considered carefully and find sustenance between functional business activity rhetoric. Commercial activity at its core, maybe a positive driver for growing urban regions but requires a careful strategic plan that intertwines the dynamics of population, landscape, and the possibility of defining determinants of economic activity in an agenda of urban processes. The integration of spatially-explicit tools as discussed in this paper utilizing SOM, offers significant insights for a combined approach to understand the geographical space. These regional tools also bring functionality within a paradigm of urbanization and clusters of commercial land. Urbanization plays a key role for future sustainability within the urban nexus and abridges the financial district throughout the growing conclave or Mumbai's business activity.Eric Vaz, Bruno Damásio, Fernando Bação, Mahender Kotha, Elissa Penfound: Conceived and designed the experiments; Performed the experiments; Analyzed and interpreted the data; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.Shailendra Kumar Rai: Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.Data will be made available on request.The authors declare no conflict of interest.No additional information is available for this paper.


Precision grip, a prehensile function of humans, is exacted through the action of the median nerve and its main tributary, the anterior interosseus nerve (AIN). In the forearm, the AIN can be subject to nerve entrapment by tendinous and fibrous arches or accessory and variant muscles. It is also vulnerable to trauma of the upper arm and forearm. To the neurologist, an isolated neuritis or an immune-mediated medial cord or lower trunk brachial plexopathy (Parsonage-Turner syndrome) is the usual mode of presentation. When the spread of muscle weakness is beyond the territory of the AIN, the syndrome is referred to as a pseudo-AIN. The AIN is grouped into fascicles that are compartmentalized separately from the median nerve proper, and trauma in the upper arm may selectively involve the AIN. We present a case of pseudo-AIN following elbow arthroscopic surgery and outline the pathology, clinical signs, and functional anatomy of the AIN and the precision grip. The median nerve of the forearm supplies the muscles that arise from the medial epicondyle, the flexor digitorum superficialis (FDS) or sublimis and the flexor-pronator group of muscles, namely the pronator teres (PT), the flexor carpi radialis (FCR), and the palmaris longus (PL). After the median nerve emerges from between the two heads of the pronator teres, the anterior interosseus nerve (AIN) arises from the median nerve about a palm-breadth below the lateral epicondyle, coursing underneath the fibrous arch of the FDS, after which it penetrates the belly of the FDP. The AIN is a pure motor nerve, travelling on the surface of the interosseous membrane, and it supplies three muscles; the flexor pollicis longus (FPL), the radial portion of the flexor digitorum profundus (FDP), and the pronator quadratus (PQ). Proximal to the radial styloid the palmar cutaneous branch, which supplies the skin overlying the thenar eminence, is the last branch of the median nerve in the forearm. The median nerve, FPL, FDP, and FDS tendons travel through the fibro-osseus carpal tunnel .At the outset, we should note that the FDS flexes the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints and proximal interphalangeal joints (PIP) of all the fingers except the thumb, which is flexed by the FPL. Flexion of the distal interphalangeal joints (DIP) of the index and middle finger is carried out by the radial portion of the FDP which is supplied by the AIN. The ulnar portion of the FDP, which flexes the DIP joints of the ring and little fingers, is supplied by the ulnar nerve . VariatiThe AIN can be assessed by the pinch maneuvre. During a normal pinch, the attitude of the index finger and thumb form the letter "O". Normally the pulp of the index finger meets the pulp of the thumb, with perfect opposition. With an AIN paralysis, there is a failure of flexion of the thumb at the interphalangeal joint and the index finger at the distal interphalangeal joint. There is compensatory hyperflexion of the more proximal joints with the displacement of the pulp of the index finger posteriorly on the thumb. Useful clinical pearls include: (1) the PQ function can be assessed through eliminating the pronator teres pronator action by fully flexing the elbow by eliminating the function of the humeral head of the pronator trees; and (2) with an AIN injury, the pronator teres, supplied by the median nerve, shows no evidence of denervation by electromyography .The disease of the AIN can be due to inflammation, nerve entrapment, or trauma. The AIN can be involved in isolation, as in a mononeuritis, or part of a broader brachial plexitis with the involvement of muscles outside the distribution of the AIN. The brachial plexitis typically involves the medial cord of the brachial plexus with involvement of the medial cutaneous nerve of the forearm, possibly spread to the upper trunk of the brachial plexus with shoulder girdle weakness ,6. NeverThere are instances where the ulnar-innervated small muscles of the hands  manifesting as weakness of the finger spreaders and adduction of the thumb, are involved with an AIN lesion. This can happen with the Martin-Gruber anastomosis, whereby these muscles are supplied by a branch of the median nerve and not the ulnar nerve. This is known as a median-to-ulnar anastomosis and is seen in 15% of forearms. This can be recognized electrophysiologically by a greater proximal-than-distal compound muscle action potential (CMAP) recording of the abductor pollicis brevis (APB) when stimulating the median nerve at the ante-cubital fossa when compared to the wrist. This is due to the dual activation of both median and ulnar motor nerve fascicles at a site proximal to the anastomosis .A 62-year-old woman with a long-standing history of rheumatoid arthritis woke up the day after her left elbow arthroscopic surgery (debridement) with weakness of the non-dominant left hand. She noted weakness of grip and pinch with numbness (novocaine-like) of the left index finger and thumb. By the sixth month, she was still unable to zip-lock, grasp a necklace, manipulate an earring or hold utensils in the kitchen. No cervical radicular symptoms or other constitutional symptoms such as fever, fatigue, or myalgia were noted.Past medical history is significant for a 20-year history of rheumatoid arthritis treated with methotrexate 7.5 milligrams (mg) per week, hydroxycholoroquine 300 mg daily, and once-monthy subcutaneous sarilumab, an "interleukin-6 antagonist". For arthritic pain, she takes celecoxib 200 mg twice daily and gabapentin 300 mg twice daily.The pertinent neurologic examination reveals normal power in all the extremities except the left arm. The grading of muscle power of the left arm is listed below using the medical research council grading scale (MRC), Table .The weakness of the left FPL, the distal PIP joint of the index finger , MCP joint, and proximal PIP (FDS) is demonstrated below by the inability to form an "O" gesture. The pattern of weakness reflects the weakness of the AIN-innervated muscles , FPL, and PQ, with extension beyond the AIN territory, with involvement of median nerve-innervated muscles (FDS and APB). Atrophy of the APB was noted with subtle wasting of the forearm muscles (FDS and FDP). Deep tendon reflexes were diminished throughout but were enhanced by the Jendrassik maneuvre, probably reflecting the atrophy of the muscles around her arthritic joints and loss of muscle spindles. There was a complete absence of pin-prick and temperature of the left thumb and index finger as demonstrated below by the anesthetic ulceration of the left index finger. The AIN, being a motor nerve, implies that the sensory loss is due to median nerve involvement Figure .A nerve conduction study revealed the absence of the left APB compound muscle action potential (CMAP) with the absence of the median sensory nerve action potential. The FPL CMAP was reduced to 0.833 milliVolts (mV), lower limit of normal being 4 mV, implying AIN involvement Figure .The left ulnar motor amplitude  and the left ulnar sensory amplitude, latencies, and velocities were normal. The left radial motor amplitude (recording from the extensor indicis proprius) and the left radial sensory amplitude, latencies, and velocities were normal. The left medial antebrachial cutaneous sensory amplitude was also normal.Acute-on-chronic denervation of median-nerve innervated and AIN-innervated muscles are displayed below Table .The constellation of motor and sensory findings outlined above implies a predominantly AIN lesion with some spread to median-innervated muscles and sensory involvement which parallels the definition of a pseudo-AIN. The most proximate cause being nerve injury arising from arthroscopic manipulation of the elbow joint. The patient attended physical and occupational therapy but by the sixth month, the motor and sensory deficits remained static. Options to consider include tendon transfer from the brachioradialis tendon to the FPL tendon in order to restore thumb flexion or transfer of the extensor carpi radialis longus (ECRL) tendon to the FDP (index) tendon to restore index finger flexion.Prehensile function, defined as the ability to hold, secure and manipulate an object with one hand, has been perfected by mankind. Arguably, thumb-to-index finger opposition may be one of the most important steps in human evolution. This is a two-step process that involves maximal pulp-to-pulp contact between the thumb and index finger and abduction/rotation of the thumb metacarpal at the trapezophalangeal joint (TMJ) of the thumb. The former involves index finger DIP joint flexion (FDP), index finger PIP joint flexion (FDS) and TMJ flexion by the opponens pollicis, a thenar muscle. Rotation of the TMJ involves the two other thenar muscles, the abductor pollicis brevis (APB), which cocks up the thumb for action, and the flexor pollicis brevis (FPB), which flexes and rotates the thumb. With a stronger force as in a "pinch grasp", the first dorsal interosseus (FDI), which can be easily palpated, is activated in assisting the FPB. The TMJ joint, a saddle joint, is hyper-mobile allowing abduction-adduction, flexion-extension, and medial-lateral rotation. This hyper-mobility allows thumb deftness with slender and fine muscles for stability, allowing precision and dexterity. This is a simplified view of thumb dynamics as the thumb is maneuvered by nine skeletal muscles. The median nerve is responsible for "precision grip" as in engaging a light bulb into its socket and is referred to as the "nerve of precision". This is in contradistinction to the ulnar nerve which is responsible for "power grip" as in kick-opening a jar and is labelled as "the nerve of power" .One also needs to distinguish the "O" sign due to a median or AIN injury due to weakness of the FPL and FDP and inability to gesture the "okay sign" and the Froment sign due to ulnar nerve injury. In the latter, during a pinch maneuvre, a weak adductor pollicis is compensated for by activation of the FPL  and activation of the FDS to the index finger (hyperflexion of PIP joint) leading to an "okay gesture". This distinction is frequently confusing  . Morton Spinner in his classic treatise on "Injuries to the Major Branches of Peripheral Nerves of the Forearm", outlines a comprehensive and graphic account of the various pathologies encountered with the AIN. Noteworthy is the lack of reported tumorous pathology. He also cautions the reader that AIN injury can be mimicked by rupture of tendons of the FPL and the FDP to the index finger as seen with rheumatoid arthritis and by congenital absence of these muscle groups in rare instances. Many of the etiologies include aberrant tendinous origins of muscles and accessory or variant muscles Table  1]. . 1]. The author has published a case of pseudo-AIN following herpes zoster infection complicated by a medial cord brachial plexopathy with the abnormal "O" sign and impaired precision grip . BesidesThe treatment of the AIN or pseudo-AIN syndrome depends on the etiology. An accurate diagnosis is critical. Acute onset of severe pain in the volar aspect of the upper forearm or shoulder girdle pain as an antecedent to weakness with the spread of weakness outside of the AIN territory is indicative of an isolated neuritis of the AIN or a Parsonage-Turner syndrome  respectively. Electrophysiological studies with nerve stimulation of the median nerve at the antecubital fossa with recording from the belly of the FPL, the triad of the variable weakness of the FPL, FDP, and PQ with acute denervation is a prerequisite. However, this is not a substitute for a thorough history and clinical examination, as outlined in the Introduction section, where we outlined the clinical pearls. When an inflammatory etiology is suspected, conservative measures are implemented with an empirical trial of a short course of prednisone  and physical/occupational therapy . ResolutElbow debridements and synovectomies by arthroscopy are frequently performed in rheumatoid arthritis patients. This technique allows excellent visual access to the joints and facets of the elbow. However, the neurovascular bundles traversing the elbow joint can be relatively easy prey to the instruments of the surgeon and detailed knowledge of the anatomy of the region is essential ,16. NeveThe AIN and its origin, the median nerve, control dextrous finger and hand motion that epitomizes the evolutionary enhancement of a fundamental human trait, thumb-index opposition, deftness, and dexterity of the hand. Therefore these motions are complex and difficult to elucidate. Nevertheless, there are unique "spot diagnosis" patterns, such as executing the "O" gesture, which should betray the involvement of these nerves. Distinguishing an AIN and pseudo-AIN nerve injury should be relatively straightforward as the former involves exclusive weakness of a triad of muscles and the absence of sensory involvement. This seemingly straightforward clinical exercise is critical as the etiology of these entities may differ significantly, and as we outline in the Discussion section, the treatment approach can diverge accordingly.