Minimizing laboratory waste and improving material reuse through chemical waste exchange: Case of a Brazilian institution

Concern over the management of chemical wastes from laboratories has been gaining importance since the 1990s. For a good management of chemical wastes generated from laboratories, it is recommended that managers encourage an environment of cooperation and exchange, thus reusing chemical reagents. The institution under study implemented the Chemical Waste Exchange, whose objective is to capture reagents past their expiry dates that would be discarded and make them available internally to other areas or even to other institutions. A total of 1075 reagents were reused internally and 4382 items were donated for external institutions. As for financial data, between 2011 and 2018, the internal economy was US$16,700.70 and for external institutions it was US$62,633.11. When comparing the waste reuse according to the destination, an internal address showed a significant difference when compared with the external use. Some categories of reagents have greater added value and provide even greater benefits when reused. The strategy of capturing and making available expired reagents through the Chemical Waste Exchange is positive; it helps the management of the waste generated; the economic benefit will depend on the market value of the material; the adopted strategy avoids the need to remove raw material from nature for the production of new reagents and reduces the costs related to treatment and environmentally appropriate final destination.

WASTE EXCHANGE LIMBAH ONGGOK TAPIOKA DENGAN PROSES BIOLOGIK UNTUK PERIPTAAN POLYUNSATURATED FATTY ACID

Onggok merupakan sisa dari proses penyarian singkong dengan cara pengepresan dalam produksi tapioka. Komposisinya yang didominasi oleh pati dan serat kasar membuka peluang pemanfaatan limbah onggok sebagai medium fermentasi padat untuk produksi PUFA. Periptaan PUFA secara biologik lazim menggunakan kapang Aspergillus. Aspergillus mampu menghasilkan asam lemak menyerupai asam lemak yang diperoleh dari minyak kelapa sawit, yakni linolenat dan linoleat. Kapang Aspergillus juga dikenal memiliki kemampuan mendegradasi bahan organik termasuk limbah sehingga berpotensi untuk diterapkan dalam mengolah limbah onggok, ampas tahu, molase serta dedak padi. Dengan memanfaatkan onggok sebagai media fermentasi padat seta sumber karbon dalam produksi PUFA maka terdapat potensi pengurangan biaya operasional dalam produksi PUFA. Hal ini akan meningkatkan keunggulan daya saing dalam produksi PUFA termasuk meningkatnya aspek kinerja dari sudut pandang lingkungan. Memanfaatkan limbah sebagai bahan baku dalam proses produksi merupakan penerapan nyata konsep waste to product atau waste exchange dalam membangun industri proses yang selaras dengan kaidah Sustainanle Consumption and Production. kata kunci : onggok, asam lemak tak jenuh, fermentasi padat, waste exchange, sustainable consumption and production, kualitas lingkungan

Experimentation on Geopolymer Concrete Added with Fly Ash

The technique for living and the speedy headway of advancement have provoked an extension in the total and sort of waste made, inciting waste exchange crisis. This investigation takes care of the issue of the plastic transfer emergency in condition. So as to contain certain waste, reuse of some waste materials can be supplanted in the relational word of cement. The squanders which are reused in this venture utilizes diverse level of waste plastics in cement. This monitors normal assets and illuminates a developing waste transfer emergency. Squander plastic are supplant somewhat with coarse total (0%,1%,2% and 3%). In this present examination, numerous research facility tests were done for the assessment of properties of OPC on substitutions. The tests are compressive quality, flexural quality, and circuitous elasticity (parting). At last the test outcomes are contrasted and ordinary cement.

Optimisation of a Novel Bio-Substrate as a Treatment for Atrophic Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Atrophic age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common form of AMD accounting for 90% of patients. During atrophic AMD the waste/exchange pathway between the blood supply (choroid) and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is compromised. This results in atrophy and death of the RPE cells and subsequently the photoreceptors leading to central blindness. Although the mechanisms behind AMD are unknown, the growth of fatty deposits known as drusen, have been shown to play a role in the disease. There is currently no treatment or cure for atrophic AMD. Much research focuses on developing a synthetic substrate in order to transplant healthy cells to the native Bruch’s membrane (BM), however, the diseased native BM and related structures still leave the potential for transplanted cells to succumb to disease. In this work we electrospun poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) to fabricate a nanofibrous cytocompatible synthetic BM. The apical surface of the membrane was cultured with ARPE-19 cells and the basal surface was decorated with poly(lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) or poly(glycolic acid) (PGA) degradable nanoparticles by electrospraying. The membrane exhibited hydrophilicity, high tensile strength and structurally resembled the native BM. ARPE-19 cells were able to form a monolayer on the surface of the membrane and no cell invasion into the membrane was seen. The presence of both PLGA and PGA nanoparticles increased ARPE-19 cell metabolism but had no effect on cell viability. There was a decrease in pH of ARPE-19 cell culture media 7 days following culturing with the PLGA nanoparticles but this change was eliminated by 2 weeks; PGA nanoparticles had no effect on cell culture media pH. The fluorescent dye FITC was encapsulated into nanoparticles and showed sustained release from PLGA nanoparticles for two weeks and PGA nanoparticles for 1 day. Future work will focus on encapsulating biologically active moieties to target drusen. This would allow this novel bioactive substrate to be a potential treatment for atrophic AMD that would function two-fold: deliver the required monolayer of healthy RPE cells to the macula on a synthetic BM and remove diseased structures within the retina, restoring the waste/exchange pathway and preventing vision loss.

The Gills of Reef Fish Support a Distinct Microbiome Influenced by Host-Specific Factors

ABSTRACT Teleost fish represent the most diverse of the vertebrate groups and play important roles in food webs, as ecosystem engineers, and as vectors for microorganisms. However, the microbial ecology of fishes remains underexplored for most host taxa and for certain niches on the fish body. This is particularly true for the gills, the key sites of respiration and waste exchange in fishes. Here we provide a comprehensive analysis of the gill microbiome. We focus on ecologically diverse taxa from coral reefs around Moorea, sampling the gills and intestines of adults and juveniles representing 15 families. The gill microbiome composition differed significantly from that of the gut for both adults and juveniles, with fish-associated niches having lower alpha diversity values and higher beta diversity values than those for seawater, sediment, and alga-associated microbiomes. Of ∼45,000 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) detected across all samples, 11% and 13% were detected only in the gill and the intestine, respectively. OTUs most enriched in the gill included members of the gammaproteobacterial genus Shewanella and the family Endozoicimonaceae . In adult fish, both gill and intestinal microbiomes varied significantly among host species grouped by diet category. Gill and intestinal microbiomes from the same individual were more similar to one another than to gill and intestinal microbiomes from different individuals. These results demonstrate that distinct body sites are jointly influenced by host-specific organizing factors operating at the level of the host individual. The results also identify taxonomic signatures unique to the gill and the intestine, confirming fish-associated niches as distinct reservoirs of marine microbial diversity. IMPORTANCE Fish breathe and excrete waste through their gills. The gills are also potential sites of pathogen invasion and colonization by other microbes. However, we know little about the microbial communities that live on the gill and the factors shaping their diversity. Focusing on ecologically distinct types of coral reef fish, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the fish gill microbiome. By comparison to microbiomes of the gut and the surrounding environment, we identify microbes unique to the gill niche. These microbes may be targets for further studies to determine the contribution of the microbiome to waste exchange or host immunity. We also show that despite exhibiting a unique taxonomic signature, the gill microbiome is influenced by factors that also influence the gut microbiome. These factors include the specific identity of the host individual. These results suggest basic principles describing how association with fishes structures the composition of microbial communities.