scholarly journals Biofriendly micro/nanomotors operating on biocatalysis: from natural to biological environments

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 179-192
Author(s):  
Ziyi Guo ◽  
Jian Liu ◽  
Da-Wei Wang ◽  
Jiangtao Xu ◽  
Kang Liang
Keyword(s):  
Internal Energy ◽  
Environmental Remediation ◽  
Working Condition ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Environmental Water ◽  
Proof Of Concept ◽  
Environmental Technology ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Recent Advances

Abstract Micro/nanomotors (MNMs) are tiny motorized objects that can autonomously navigate in complex fluidic environments under the influence of an appropriate source of energy. Internal energy-driven MNMs are composed of certain reactive materials that are capable of converting chemical energy from the surroundings into kinetic energy. Recent advances in smart nanomaterials design and processing have endowed the internal energy-driven MNMs with different geometrical designs and various mechanisms of locomotion, with remarkable traveling speed in diverse environments ranging from environmental water to complex body fluids. Among the different design principals, MNM systems that operate from biocatalysis possess biofriendly components, efficient energy conversion, and mild working condition, exhibiting a potential of stepping out of the proof-of-concept phase for addressing many real-life environmental and biotechnological challenges. The biofriendliness of MNMs should not only be considered for in vivo drug delivery but also for environmental remediation and chemical sensing that only environmentally friendly intermediates and degraded products are generated. This review aims to provide an overview of the recent advances in biofriendly MNM design using biocatalysis as the predominant driving force, towards practical applications in biotechnology and environmental technology.

scholarly journals Graphene and its Phononics: A Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 30-38
Author(s):  
FAREED AHMAD ◽  
◽  
SUNDAR SINGH ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Remediation ◽  
Quantum Physics ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Thermal Interface Materials ◽  
Circuit Boards ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
New Research ◽  
Few Layer Graphene ◽  
Interface Materials ◽  
Structure Properties

Graphene, a unique allotrope of carbon, has garnered a huge amount of attention amongst researchers as its unique properties and promising applications in various real-life domains like in efficient batteries, solar cells, medicinal technologies, environmental remediation, circuit boards, lighting and display, and anti-corrosion has resulted in its commercial exploitation and implementation in everyday life. Since 2004 graphene has been one of the most beautiful scientific and technological achievements. The unique electronic cloud forming the bond between different carbon atoms in graphene leads to several inquisitive questions raised in the field of quantum physics. Till now graphene has been exploited for its electronic and optical properties but new research has shown that phononic properties of graphene will lead to the development of “killer” practical applications in the future. In this review article we have explored the structure, properties and the phononics of graphene with a special reference to few-layer graphene (FLG) and graphene Thermal Interface Materials (TIMs).

A peek in the micro-sized world: a review of design principles, engineering tools, and applications of engineered microbial community

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 399-409
Author(s):  
Baizhen Gao ◽  
Rushant Sabnis ◽  
Tommaso Costantini ◽  
Robert Jinkerson ◽  
Qing Sun
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Community ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Environmental Remediation ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Design Principles ◽  
Microbial Interactions ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
New Gene ◽  
Global Biogeochemical Cycles ◽  
Synthetic Microbial Communities

Microbial communities drive diverse processes that impact nearly everything on this planet, from global biogeochemical cycles to human health. Harnessing the power of these microorganisms could provide solutions to many of the challenges that face society. However, naturally occurring microbial communities are not optimized for anthropogenic use. An emerging area of research is focusing on engineering synthetic microbial communities to carry out predefined functions. Microbial community engineers are applying design principles like top-down and bottom-up approaches to create synthetic microbial communities having a myriad of real-life applications in health care, disease prevention, and environmental remediation. Multiple genetic engineering tools and delivery approaches can be used to ‘knock-in' new gene functions into microbial communities. A systematic study of the microbial interactions, community assembling principles, and engineering tools are necessary for us to understand the microbial community and to better utilize them. Continued analysis and effort are required to further the current and potential applications of synthetic microbial communities.

REVIEW ON RECENT ADVANCES IN ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION AND RELATED TOXICITY OF ENGINEERED NANOPARTICLES

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 923-934 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammadreza Kamali ◽  
Ana Paula Duarte Gomes ◽  
Zahra Khodaparast ◽  
Tahereh Seifi
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Remediation ◽  
Engineered Nanoparticles ◽  
Recent Advances

Recent advances and emerging trends in (BiO)2CO3 based photocatalysts for environmental remediation: A review

2021 ◽  
pp. 101273
Author(s):  
Vishal Dutta ◽  
Sheetal Sharma ◽  
Pankaj Raizada ◽  
Aftab Aslam Parwaz Khan ◽  
Abdullah M. Asiri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Remediation ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Emerging Trends

scholarly journals Sensuator: A Hybrid Sensor–Actuator Approach to Soft Robotic Proprioception Using Recurrent Neural Networks

Actuators ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Pornthep Preechayasomboon ◽  
Eric Rombokas
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Recurrent Neural Networks ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Open Loop ◽  
Proof Of Concept ◽  
State Estimator ◽  
Loop Control ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Soft Actuator ◽  
The Cost

Soft robotic actuators are now being used in practical applications; however, they are often limited to open-loop control that relies on the inherent compliance of the actuator. Achieving human-like manipulation and grasping with soft robotic actuators requires at least some form of sensing, which often comes at the cost of complex fabrication and purposefully built sensor structures. In this paper, we utilize the actuating fluid itself as a sensing medium to achieve high-fidelity proprioception in a soft actuator. As our sensors are somewhat unstructured, their readings are difficult to interpret using linear models. We therefore present a proof of concept of a method for deriving the pose of the soft actuator using recurrent neural networks. We present the experimental setup and our learned state estimator to show that our method is viable for achieving proprioception and is also robust to common sensor failures.

scholarly journals Heterodimer Formation of the Homodimeric ABC Transporter OpuA

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 5912
Author(s):  
Patricia Alvarez-Sieiro ◽  
Hendrik R. Sikkema ◽  
Bert Poolman
Keyword(s):  
Abc Transporter ◽  
Conformational Dynamics ◽  
Host Organism ◽  
Affinity Tag ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Fundamental Research ◽  
Protein Multimerization ◽  
Biochemical Analyses

Many proteins have a multimeric structure and are composed of two or more identical subunits. While this can be advantageous for the host organism, it can be a challenge when targeting specific residues in biochemical analyses. In vitro splitting and re-dimerization to circumvent this problem is a tedious process that requires stable proteins. We present an in vivo approach to transform homodimeric proteins into apparent heterodimers, which then can be purified using two-step affinity-tag purification. This opens the door to both practical applications such as smFRET to probe the conformational dynamics of homooligomeric proteins and fundamental research into the mechanism of protein multimerization, which is largely unexplored for membrane proteins. We show that expression conditions are key for the formation of heterodimers and that the order of the differential purification and reconstitution of the protein into nanodiscs is important for a functional ABC-transporter complex.

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