Green engineering principles and application: bioremediation

The adulteration of the environment by hazardous waste, such as heavy metals, nuclear wastes, hydrocarbons, pesticides and greenhouse gases is the major serious problem which need to be reduced. Common remediation technique such as physical, chemical and biological process are being applied. Chemical process can transform and change organic contaminant of interest which is not sufficient to clean the environment, while physical technique requires additional equipment. Thus, bioremediation exist as green approach to eliminate the hazardous waste in the environment. In this review, bioremediation is comprehensively presented. Remediation process types, challenges, limitations, mechanisms, and future suggestion has been elaborated to develop bioremediation technology for future prospect.

Comparison of Water Defluoridation Using Different Techniques

Fluoride pollution in subsurface water is a significant problem for different nations across the world because of the intake of excessive fluoride caused by the drinking of the contaminated subsurface. Water pollution by flouride can be attributed to the natural and human-made agents. Increased levels of fluoride in drinking water may result in the irretrievable demineralization of bone and tooth tissues, a situation called fluorosis, and other disorders. There has long been a need for fluoride removal from drinking water to make it safe for human use. Among the various fluoride removal methods, adsorption is the method most popularly used due to its cheap cost, ease of utilization, and being a scalable and simple physical technique. According to the findings of this study, the highest concentration of fluoride (0.1–15.0 mg/L) was found in Sweden and the lowest (0.03–1.14 mg/L) in Italy. We collected the values of adsorption capacities and fluoride removal efficiencies of various types of adsorbents from valuable released data accessible in the literature and exhibited tables. There is still a need to find the actual possibility of using biosorbents and adsorbents on a commercial scale and to define the reusability of adsorbents to decrease price and the waste generated from the adsorption method. This article reviews the currently available methods and approaches to fluoride removal of water.

Taming the Huntington’s Disease Proteome: What Have We Learned?

Mass spectrometry (MS) is a physical technique used to identify specific chemicals and molecules by precise analysis of their mass and charge; this technology has been adapted for biological sciences applications. Investigators have used MS to identify differential expressions of proteins in Huntington’s disease (HD), to discover Huntingtin (HTT) interacting proteins and to analyze HTT proteoforms. Using systems biology and computational approaches, data from MS screens have been leveraged to find differentially expressed pathways. This review summarizes the data from most of the MS studies done in the HD field in the last 20 years and compares it to the protein data reported before the use of MS technology. The MS results validate early findings in the field such as differential expression of PDE10a and DARPP-32 and identify new changes. We offer a perspective on the MS approach in HD, particularly for identification of disease pathways, the challenges in interpreting data across different studies, and its application to protein studies moving forward.

Ex vivo Induction of Apoptotic Mesenchymal Stem Cell by High Hydrostatic Pressure

Among promising solutions for tissue repair and wound healing, mesenchymal stem (or stromal) cells (MSCs) have been a focus of attention and have become the most clinically studied experimental cell therapy. Recent studies reported the importance of apoptosis in MSC-mediated immunomodulation, in which apoptotic MSCs (apoMSCs) were shown to be superior to living MSCs. Nowadays, high hydrostatic pressure (HHP), a physical technique that uses only fluid pressure, has been developed and applied in various bioscience fields, including biotechnology, biomaterials, and regenerative medicine, as its safe and simply operation. In the current study, we investigated the impact of HHP treatment on human bone marrow-MSC survival and proliferation. Based on the detection of executioner caspase activation, phosphatidylserine exposure, DNA fragmentation (TUNEL) and irrefutable ultrastructural morphological changes on transmission electron microscopy (TEM), our data revealed that HHP treatment induced complete apoptosis in MSCs. Notably, this technique might provide manipulated products for use in cell-based therapies as manufacturing capability expands. We hope that our findings will contribute to the improvement of MSCs or EVs in translational research development.

Dental Unit Waterlines: A Survey of Practices in Eastern France

Water is essential during dental care. Physical and chemical techniques should be used to maintain a good water quality with respect to bacteria, and to ensure the safety of exposed patients and dental staff. The aim of this survey was to assess the modalities used by dental practitioners in Eastern France to maintain the water quality of their dental unit waterlines (DUWLs). A questionnaire about water quality maintenance practices was sent to 870 dental offices in 2016. The questionnaires were completed by 153 dental offices, covering about 223 dental care units. The majority of units were fed by mains water (91.0%), which is generally unfiltered (71.3%). One-third (33.6%) of the units had an independent water bottle reservoir. Flushing, a basic physical technique to improve the quality of units’ outflow water, was practiced in 65.4% of dental offices. Concerning the chemical treatment of water, it was used for 62.1% of the units. An analysis of the microbiological quality of the DUWL water was only carried out in 2.6% of the offices. In conclusion, providing better training to dental staff seems necessary to improve their practices and to generalize procedures that improve the microbiological quality of the water used.

Organic carbonates synthesis improved by pervaporation for CO2 utilisation

This work is focused on the synthesis of organic carbonates from CO2 and ethanol. A parametric study of the synthesis of diethyl carbonate from ethanol is performed in a 100 mL batch reactor. The influence of pressure and temperature is studied and we prove that the presence of water strongly decreases the yield in diethyl carbonate as an equilibrium is quickly reached. One method to improve this yield is to remove water from the reaction mixture to shift the equilibrium toward the formation of carbonates. The chemical methods give good results but separation and regeneration associated steps are prohibitive. For these reasons, a physical technique like pervaporation is chosen to remove water. The study of a pervaporation cell with membrane PERVAP 4100 gives good results for the dehydration of ethanol alone even at low concentrations of water from 0.33 %wt to 0.15 %wt. Twelve experiments on the dehydration of a mixture of ethanol, diethyl carbonate and water are performed. The calculated separation factors show a very good selectivity for water. That means that even in the presence of diethyl carbonate, the membrane has still a selective water permeability.

Spesifikk visuell trening som pedagogisk metode med fokus på øyebevegelser som påvirker barns lesing

Lesing er en komplisert prosess med mange ulike komponenter. Barn er av-hengige av å kunne lese for å fungere godt i hverdagen. Denne studien fokuserer på lesehastighet og øyemotoriske bevegelser hos en gruppe skoleelever på 3. trinn. Målet var å studere om Bal-A-Vis-X (Balance, Auditory and Vision eXercises) kan ha effekt på barnas øyemotorikk og lesehastighet. Måleinstru¬mentene var ReadAlyzer og Nonsensordtest. Intervensjons-/treningsmetoden var Bal-A-Vis-X, der sandsekker og små racketballer ble benyttet. Barna ble plassert i en kontroll- og en eksperimentgruppe. Begge gruppene gjennomførte både pre- og posttest. Eksperimentgruppen trente Bal-A-Vis-X i 30 minutter en gang i uken i fem måneder. Øvelsene krever visuelle følgebevegelser, øye-hånd-koordinering og stødige rytmiske bevegelser basert på både visuelle og auditive signaler som krever presis fysisk teknikk. Resultatene viste at eksperimentgruppens lesehastighet ble endret signifikant på både ReadAlyzers lesetest og Nonsensordtest. Kontrollgruppens lesehastighet endret seg ikke signifikant. Denne studien indikerer at Bal-A-Vis-X kan være et supplement for alle barn i skolen med eller uten lesevansker. Metoden har viktige komponenter som er involvert i lesing, den er gøy og den gir barna mestringsfølelse.Nøkkelord: barn, visuell trening, rytme, lesehastighetAbstractReading is a complicated process with many different components. Children need to read in order to cope in daily life. This study focuses on reading speed and eye tracking for a group of pupils in their third year of primary school. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether Bal-A-Vis-X (Balance, Auditory and Vision eXercises) could be a method to improve children’s eye tracking and reading speed. The design is quasi-experimental where ReadAlyzer Eye Move¬ment Recording System (REM) and parts of a nonsense word test were used. The intervention method was Bal-A-Vis-X, using sandbags and small racket balls. The children were placed in a control and an experimental group. Both groups completed pre- and post-tests. The experimental group trained with Bal-A-Vis-X for 30 minutes once a week for five months. The exercises require visual move¬ments, eye and hand coordination, and steady rhythmical movements, based on both visual and auditory signals that require precise physical technique. The children in the experiment group showed significant improvement in reading speed and reading nonsense words. The control group showed no sig¬nificant improvement. This study indicates that Bal-A-Vis-X can be a supple¬mental method for all children in education with or without reading problems. The method has components important for their reading skills, it is fun, and it gives the sense of achievement of new skills.Keywords: children, visual training, rhythm, reading speed

Osteoblast response to disordered nanotopography

The ability to influence stem cell differentiation is highly desirable as it would help us improve clinical outcomes for patients in various aspects. Many different techniques to achieve this have previously been investigated. This concise study, however, has focused on the topography on which cells grow. Current uncemented orthopaedic implants can fail if the implant fails to bind to the surrounding bone and, typically, forms a soft tissue interface which reduces direct bone contact. Here, we look at the effect of a previously reported nanotopography that utilises nanodisorder to influence mesenchymal stromal cell (as may be found in the bone marrow) differentiation towards bone and to also exert this effect on mature osteoblasts (as may be found in the bone). As topography is a physical technique, it can be envisaged for use in a range of materials such as polymers and metals used in the manufacture of orthopaedic implants.

Comparison of Different Physical Technique-Assisted Alkali Methods for the Extraction of Rice Bran Protein and its Characterizations

Ultrasonic, homogenization and microwave were used to assist alkali extraction of rice bran protein, respectively, and the characterizations of rice bran protein were also evaluated. The results of this study showed that the highest extraction yield of protein reached 57.89 % by using ultrasonic-assisted alkali method (U-AM), while only it was 43.74 % by microwave-assisted alkali method (M-AM). Both U-AM and homogenization-assisted alkali methods (H-AM) could effectively improve some properties of proteins such as oil absorption capacity, emulsion stability and foaming capacity, and the effects of ultrasonic were better than those of homogenization. However, protein solubility, water absorption capacity, emulsifying activity and foaming stability were subject to different degrees of impairments by using various physical technique-assisted alkali methods (AMs). Moreover, physical processing also has exhibited appreciable influence on sulfhydryl and disulfide bond contents. Taking all these factors into consideration, ultrasonic-assisted alkali method was a potential method for the extraction of rice bran protein.

Investigating peptide-lipid interactions at single molecule level

Despite the utmost importance of protein- lipid interactions in cellular activity, due to technical difficulties, this class of interactions has not been understood mechanistically. Obtaining a more complete understanding of these interactions would, for example, aid the design of more compatible and effective medicine to target specific cells. We developed a physical technique to study such interactions and investigated the interactions between small portions of a model protein with different types of membrane. We were able to detect physical interaction differences between the two at the single-molecule level. This technique is generalizable to study other small molecule-membrane interactions and helps scientists to have a better understanding of the transport of energy, nutrition and waste in and out of the cells. The machine that has been used in our investigations is a mechanical microscope called an AFM (atomic Force Microscope). In addition to making a topographical images, this tool enables us to pick up small molecules in a controlled and precise manner.