Application of Feature Extraction Methods for Chemical Risk Classification in the Pharmaceutical Industry

The features that are used in the classification process are acquired from sensor data on the production site (associated with toxic, physicochemical properties) and also a dataset associated with cybersecurity that may affect the above-mentioned risk. These are large datasets, so it is important to reduce them. The author’s motivation was to develop a method of assessing the dimensionality of features based on correlation measures and the discriminant power of features allowing for a more accurate reduction of their dimensions compared to the classical Kaiser criterion and assessment of scree plot. The method proved to be promising. The results obtained in the experiments demonstrate that the quality of classification after extraction is better than using classical criteria for estimating the number of components and features. Experiments were carried out for various extraction methods, demonstrating that the rotation of factors according to centroids of a class in this classification task gives the best risk assessment of chemical threats. The classification quality increased by about 7% compared to a model where feature extraction was not used and resulted in an improvement of 4% compared to the classical PCA method with the Kaiser criterion, with an evaluation of the scree plot. Furthermore, it has been shown that there is a certain subspace of cybersecurity features, which complemented with the features of the concentration of volatile substances, affects the risk assessment of chemical hazards. The identified cybersecurity factors are the number of packets lost, incorrect Logins, incorrect sensor responses, increased email spam, and excessive traffic in the computer network. To visualize the speed of classification in real-time, simulations were carried out for various systems used in Industry 4.0.

Bioactive Films from Willow Bark Extract and Nanocellulose Double Network Hydrogels

In nature, the protection of sensitive components from external threats relies on the combination of physical barriers and bioactive secondary metabolites. Polyphenols and phenols are active molecules that protect organisms from physical and chemical threats such as UV irradiation and oxidative stress. The utilization of biopolymers and natural bioactive phenolic components as protective coating layers in packaging solutions would enable easier recyclability of materials and greener production process compared with the current plastic-based products. Herein, we produce a fully wood-based double network material with tunable bioactive and optical properties consisting of nanocellulose and willow bark extract. Willow bark extract, embedded in nanocellulose, was cross-linked into a polymeric nanoparticle network using either UV irradiation or enzymatic means. Based on rheological analysis, atomic force microscopy, antioxidant activity, and transmittance measurements, the cross-linking resulted in a double network gel with enhanced rheological properties that could be casted into optically active films with good antioxidant properties and tunable oxygen barrier properties. The purely biobased, sustainably produced, bioactive material described here broadens the utilization perspectives for wood-based biomass, especially wood-bark extractives. This material has potential in applications where biodegradability, UV shielding, and antioxidant properties of hydrogels or thin films are needed, for example in medical, pharmaceutical, food, and feed applications, but also as a functional barrier coating in packaging materials as the hydrogel properties are transferred to the casted and dried films.

Implementation of Priority Measures to Eliminate the Accumulated Environmental Damage Caused by Chemical Enterprises in the City of Usolye-Sibirskoye, Irkutsk Region

A difficult situation, close to an environmental disaster, had been developing in the town of Usolye-Sibirskoye, Irkutsk Region, since the 90s of the ХХ century. In 2020, the problem of accumulated environmental damage caused by chemical enterprises of the ecological zone of Lake Baikal, reached the federal level. On July 30, 2020, the President of the Russian Federation set the task of eliminating chemical contamination on the territory of the former enterprise LLC «Usoliekhimprom». The aim of this work is to summarize the experience of the Russian NBC Protection Troops, accumulated in course of eliminating the environmental damage, caused by the activities of chemical enterprises in the city of Usolye-Sibirskoye, Irkutsk region. The plan on priority measures was drawn up on the basis of careful monitoring of the «Usoliekhimprom» LLC industrial site in order to eliminate the chemical threats, existed at the facility. The special group of troops (forces) was formed to take part in liquidation activities. This group was formed from NBC Protection Troops, the State Atomic Energy Corporation «Rosatom», the Russian Emergencies Ministry, the Russian Guard and the Federal Biomedical Agency. In course of the training, the special group of troops (forces) worked out all the issues related to the safe conduct of the work, organized interaction between departments, and distributed the functional responsibilities. After the completion of the preparatory stage, the group began to work. 17 emergency railway tanks containing 104, 3 tons of toxic chemicals were fragmented, the above-ground part of the mercury electrolysis workshop with more than 600 tons of mercury was dismantled, the most dangerous wells Р-2Х and Р-5 with 107 thousand liters of epichlorohydrin production wastes were pumped out. In course of work, the detachment of the NBC Protection Troops carried out continuous monitoring of the chemical situation on the territory of the industrial site of «Usoliekhimprom LLC» and the adjacent territory. When carrying out liquidation measures, the personnel of the detachment of the NBC Protection Troops faced a number of problematic issues related to ensuring chemical safety. The solution of these problems made it possible to complete all the work in time and at a high professional level. All the work was carried out from August 8 to November 24, 2020.

Fabrication of Graphene Based Durable Intelligent Personal Protective Clothing for Conventional and Non-Conventional Chemical Threats

Conventional or non-conventional chemical threat is gaining huge attention due to its unpredictable and mass destructive effects. Typical military protective suits have drawbacks such as high weight, bulky structure, and unpredictable lifetime. A durable, light, and scalable graphene e-fabric was fabricated from CVD-grown graphene by a simple co-lamination method. The sheet resistance was below 1 kΩ/sq over the wide surface area even after 1000 bending cycles. A graphene triboelectric nanogenerator showed the peak VOC of 68 V and the peak ICC of 14.4 μA and 1 μF capacitor was charged successfully in less than 1 s. A wearable chemical sensor was also fabricated and showed a sensitivity up to 53% for nerve chemical warfare agents (GD). DFT calculations were conducted to unveil the fundamental mechanisms underlying the graphene e-fabric sensor. Additionally, protection against chemical warfare agents was tested, and a design concept of graphene-based intelligent protective clothing has been proposed.

Membrane Exporters of Fluoride Ion

Microorganisms contend with numerous and unusual chemical threats and have evolved a catalog of resistance mechanisms in response. One particularly ancient, pernicious threat is posed by fluoride ion (F−), a common xenobiotic in natural environments that causes broad-spectrum harm to metabolic pathways. This review focuses on advances in the last ten years toward understanding the microbial response to cytoplasmic accumulation of F−, with a special emphasis on the structure and mechanisms of the proteins that microbes use to export fluoride: the CLCF family of F−/H+ antiporters and the Fluc/FEX family of F− channels. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Biochemistry, Volume 90 is June 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Intellectual support systems for management decisions to counter biological and chemical threats in healthcare

The main scientific and practical results of the implementation of the created system of intellectual support for managerial decisions (SIP-RA) to counteract biological and chemical threats in health care (on the example of the Republic of Adygea) are presented.