Randomly primed and ligation-independent PCR methods: High efficiency and cost effective strategies for genome walking and flanking sequence cloning

The bioavailability of phosphorus from different sources has been evaluated in the catchment area of the River Ilmenau (Lower-Saxony, Germany) by using algal assays. The P bioavailability describes the different potential of P from various sources of supporting eutrophication. Effluents from sewage treatment plants were highly bioavailable (72% of TP) whereas rainwater (26%) and erosion effluents (30%) showed a low bioavailability. In order to develop effective strategies to minimize P inputs into the river, source specific P bioavailability indices were determined and combined with a P balance to calculate inputs of vioavailable P (BAP) instead of total P (TP). It could be shown that the relative importance of the different P sources changes when applying BAP. Measures to reduce P inputs into the River Ilmenau will take P bioavailability into consideration and therefore lead to a more cost-effective management.

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Chemical Modification of Combusted Coal Gangue for U(VI) Adsorption: Towards a Waste Control by Waste Strategy

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13158421 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (15) ◽

pp. 8421

Author(s):

Yuan Gao ◽

Jiandong Huang ◽

Meng Li ◽

Zhongran Dai ◽

Rongli Jiang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Structural Analysis ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Low Cost ◽

Chemical Activation ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Coal Gangue ◽

Order Kinetic ◽

Practical Applications ◽

Detailed Structural Analysis ◽

Alkaline Conditions

Uranium mining waste causes serious radiation-related health and environmental problems. This has encouraged efforts toward U(VI) removal with low cost and high efficiency. Typical uranium adsorbents, such as polymers, geopolymers, zeolites, and MOFs, and their associated high costs limit their practical applications. In this regard, this work found that the natural combusted coal gangue (CCG) could be a potential precursor of cheap sorbents to eliminate U(VI). The removal efficiency was modulated by chemical activation under acid and alkaline conditions, obtaining HCG (CCG activated with HCl) and KCG (CCG activated with KOH), respectively. The detailed structural analysis uncovered that those natural mineral substances, including quartz and kaolinite, were the main components in CCG and HCG. One of the key findings was that kalsilite formed in KCG under a mild synthetic condition can conspicuous enhance the affinity towards U(VI). The best equilibrium adsorption capacity with KCG was observed to be 140 mg/g under pH 6 within 120 min, following a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. To understand the improved adsorption performance, an adsorption mechanism was proposed by evaluating the pH of uranyl solutions, adsorbent dosage, as well as contact time. Combining with the structural analysis, this revealed that the uranyl adsorption process was mainly governed by chemisorption. This study gave rise to a utilization approach for CCG to obtain cost-effective adsorbents and paved a novel way towards eliminating uranium by a waste control by waste strategy.

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Platforms for Production of Protein-Based Vaccines: From Classical to Next-Generation Strategies

Biomolecules ◽

10.3390/biom11081072 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. 1072

Author(s):

Raquel Cid ◽

Jorge Bolívar

Keyword(s):

Infectious Diseases ◽

Mammalian Cells ◽

Vaccine Development ◽

Low Cost ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Insect Larvae ◽

Subunit Vaccines ◽

Effective Strategies ◽

Alternative Systems ◽

Inactivated Vaccines

To date, vaccination has become one of the most effective strategies to control and reduce infectious diseases, preventing millions of deaths worldwide. The earliest vaccines were developed as live-attenuated or inactivated pathogens, and, although they still represent the most extended human vaccine types, they also face some issues, such as the potential to revert to a pathogenic form of live-attenuated formulations or the weaker immune response associated with inactivated vaccines. Advances in genetic engineering have enabled improvements in vaccine design and strategies, such as recombinant subunit vaccines, have emerged, expanding the number of diseases that can be prevented. Moreover, antigen display systems such as VLPs or those designed by nanotechnology have improved the efficacy of subunit vaccines. Platforms for the production of recombinant vaccines have also evolved from the first hosts, Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, to insect or mammalian cells. Traditional bacterial and yeast systems have been improved by engineering and new systems based on plants or insect larvae have emerged as alternative, low-cost platforms. Vaccine development is still time-consuming and costly, and alternative systems that can offer cost-effective and faster processes are demanding to address infectious diseases that still do not have a treatment and to face possible future pandemics.

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Innovating on Inhaled Bioequivalence: A Critical Analysis of the Current Limitations, Potential Solutions and Stakeholders of the Process

Pharmaceutics ◽

10.3390/pharmaceutics13071051 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (7) ◽

pp. 1051

Author(s):

Jonattan Gallegos-Catalán ◽

Zachary Warnken ◽

Tania F. Bahamondez-Canas ◽

Daniel Moraga-Espinoza

Keyword(s):

New Technologies ◽

Innovation Process ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Regulatory Agencies ◽

Drug Products ◽

Effective Strategies ◽

Rate Analysis ◽

Orally Inhaled Drug Products ◽

Next Generation Impactor ◽

First Time

Orally inhaled drug products (OIDPs) are an important group of medicines traditionally used to treat pulmonary diseases. Over the past decade, this trend has broadened, increasing their use in other conditions such as diabetes, expanding the interest in this administration route. Thus, the bioequivalence of OIDPs is more important than ever, aiming to increase access to affordable, safe and effective medicines, which translates into better public health policies. However, regulatory agencies leading the bioequivalence process are still deciding the best approach for ensuring a proposed inhalable product is bioequivalent. This lack of agreement translates into less cost-effective strategies to determine bioequivalence, discouraging innovation in this field. The Next-Generation Impactor (NGI) is an example of the slow pace at which the inhalation field evolves. The NGI was officially implemented in 2003, being the last equipment innovation for OIDP characterization. Even though it was a breakthrough in the field, it did not solve other deficiencies of the BE process such as dissolution rate analysis on physiologically relevant conditions, being the last attempt of transferring technology into the field. This review aims to reveal the steps required for innovation in the regulations defining the bioequivalence of OIDPs, elucidating the pitfalls of implementing new technologies in the current standards. To do so, we collected the opinion of experts from the literature to explain these trends, showing, for the first time, the stakeholders of the OIDP market. This review analyzes the stakeholders involved in the development, improvement and implementation of methodologies that can help assess bioequivalence between OIDPs. Additionally, it presents a list of methods potentially useful to overcome some of the current limitations of the bioequivalence standard methodologies. Finally, we review one of the most revolutionary approaches, the inhaled Biopharmaceutical Classification System (IBCs), which can help establish priorities and order in both the innovation process and in regulations for OIDPs.

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Optical spin-symmetry breaking for high-efficiency directional helicity-multiplexed metaholograms

Microsystems & Nanoengineering ◽

10.1038/s41378-020-00226-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Muhammad Ashar Naveed ◽

Muhammad Afnan Ansari ◽

Inki Kim ◽

Trevon Badloe ◽

Joohoon Kim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Efficiency ◽

Spin Symmetry ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Dielectric Materials ◽

Additional Degree ◽

Cost Effective Alternative ◽

Spin Orbit Interactions ◽

Smart Mobile ◽

The Cost ◽

Hydrogenated Amorphous

AbstractHelicity-multiplexed metasurfaces based on symmetric spin–orbit interactions (SOIs) have practical limits because they cannot provide central-symmetric holographic imaging. Asymmetric SOIs can effectively address such limitations, with several exciting applications in various fields ranging from asymmetric data inscription in communications to dual side displays in smart mobile devices. Low-loss dielectric materials provide an excellent platform for realizing such exotic phenomena efficiently. In this paper, we demonstrate an asymmetric SOI-dependent transmission-type metasurface in the visible domain using hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) nanoresonators. The proposed design approach is equipped with an additional degree of freedom in designing bi-directional helicity-multiplexed metasurfaces by breaking the conventional limit imposed by the symmetric SOI in half employment of metasurfaces for one circular handedness. Two on-axis, distinct wavefronts are produced with high transmission efficiencies, demonstrating the concept of asymmetric wavefront generation in two antiparallel directions. Additionally, the CMOS compatibility of a-Si:H makes it a cost-effective alternative to gallium nitride (GaN) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) for visible light. The cost-effective fabrication and simplicity of the proposed design technique provide an excellent candidate for high-efficiency, multifunctional, and chip-integrated demonstration of various phenomena.

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Challenges for Evaluation of the Safety of Engineered Nanomaterials

Chemistry International ◽

10.1515/ci-2021-0102 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 43 (1) ◽

pp. 4-7

Author(s):

Linda J. Johnston ◽

Norma Gonzalez-Rojano ◽

Kevin J. Wilkinson ◽

Baoshan Xing

Keyword(s):

Rapid Development ◽

Sustainable Use ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Engineered Nanomaterials ◽

Full Potential ◽

Effective Strategies ◽

Toxicological Studies ◽

Regulatory Guidelines ◽

Significant Effort ◽

Safe By Design

Abstract Nanotechnology has developed rapidly in the last two decades with significant effort focused on the development of nano-enabled materials with new or improved properties that offer solutions for current world challenges. The commercialization of products containing engineered nanomaterials (ENM) has progressed much more rapidly than the development of practical approaches to ensure their safe and sustainable use. The lack of adequate detection and characterization techniques and reproducible and validated methods for toxicological studies have been identified as major limitations. The rapid development of ENM of increasing complexity and diversity and concerns over the adequacy of existing regulations also contribute to safety concerns with these materials. The full potential of nanotechnology can only be realized when feasible, cost-effective strategies to ensure a safe-by-design approach, effective risk assessment approaches and appropriate regulatory guidelines are in place.

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Sustainable Ventilation Strategies for a Medium-Sized Space with Regional Effect

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13094651 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. 4651

Author(s):

Ming-Lun Alan Fong

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Life Cycle Cost ◽

Co2 Emission ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Regional Climate ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Regional Effect ◽

Climate Conditions ◽

Ventilation Strategies ◽

Set Up

The analysis of ventilation strategies is fundamentally affected by regional climate conditions and local cost databases, in terms of energy consumption, CO2 emission and cost-effective analysis. A systematic approach is covered in this paper to estimate a local economic and environmental impact on a medium-sized space located in two regions during supply-and-installation and operation phases. Three ventilation strategies, including mixing ventilation (MV), displacement ventilation (DV) and stratum ventilation (SV) were applied to medium-sized air-conditioned space with this approach. The trend of the results for three ventilation systems in the life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost (LCC) analysis is SV < DV < MV. The result of CO2 emission and regional LCC shows that SV is the lowest one in both regional studies. In comparison with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) during 20 Service years, the case analysis demonstrates that the percentage differences in LCC analysis of MV, DV & SV in Guangdong are less than 20.5%, 19.4% and 18.82% respectively. Their CO2 emission of MV, DV and SV in Guangdong are more than HKSAR in 10.69%, 11.22% and 12.05%, respectively. The present study could provide information about regional effects in the LCA and LCC analysis of three ventilation strategies emissions, and thereby help set up models for decision-making on high efficiency and cost-effective ventilation strategy plans.

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Solar Thermophotovoltaic Converters Based on Tungsten Emitters

Journal of Solar Energy Engineering ◽

10.1115/1.2734576 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 129 (3) ◽

pp. 298-303 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

V. M. Andreev ◽

A. S. Vlasov ◽

V. P. Khvostikov ◽

O. A. Khvostikova ◽

P. Y. Gazaryan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Band Gap ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Radiation Spectrum ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Fresnel Lens ◽

Photocurrent Density ◽

Back Side ◽

High Concentration ◽

Emitter System ◽

Solar Powered

Results of a solar thermophotovoltaic (STPV) system study are reported. Modeling of the STPV module performance and the analysis of various parameters influencing the system are presented. The ways for the STPV system efficiency to increase and their magnitude are considered such as: improvement of the emitter radiation selectivity and application of selective filters for better matching the emitter radiation spectrum and cell photoresponse; application of the cells with a back side reflector for recycling the sub-band gap photons; and development of low-band gap tandem TPV cells for better utilization of the radiation spectrum. Sunlight concentrator and STPV modules were designed, fabricated, and tested under indoor and outdoor conditions. A cost-effective sunlight concentrator with Fresnel lens was developed as a primary concentrator and a secondary quartz meniscus lens ensured the high concentration ratio of ∼4000×, which is necessary for achieving the high efficiency of the concentrator–emitter system owing to trap escaping radiation. Several types of STPV modules have been developed and tested under concentrated sunlight. Photocurrent density of 4.5A∕cm2 was registered in a photoreceiver based on 1×1cm2GaSb cells under a solar powered tungsten emitter.

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