Abstract: A novel application for non-thermal plasma is the induction of immunogenic cancer cell death for cancer immunotherapy. Cells undergoing immunogenic death emit danger signals which facilitate anti-tumor immune responses. Although pathways leading to immunogenic cell death are not fully understood; oxidative stress is considered to be part of the underlying mechanism. Here; we studied the interaction between dielectric barrier discharge plasma and cancer cells for oxidative stress-mediated immunogenic cell death. We assessed changes to the intracellular oxidative environment after plasma treatment and correlated it to emission of two danger signals: surface-exposed calreticulin and secreted adenosine triphosphate. Plasma-generated reactive oxygen and charged species were recognized as the major effectors of immunogenic cell death. Chemical attenuators of intracellular reactive oxygen species successfully abrogated oxidative stress following plasma treatment and modulated the emission of surface-exposed calreticulin. Secreted danger signals from cells undergoing immunogenic death enhanced the anti-tumor activity of macrophages. This study demonstrated that plasma triggers immunogenic cell death through oxidative stress pathways and highlights its potential development for cancer immunotherapy.

Abstract: Biosensing platforms are answering the increasing demand for analytical tools for environmental monitoring of small molecules, such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). By transferring toxicological findings in bioreceptor design we can develop innovative pathways for biosensor design. Indeed, toxicological studies provide fundamental information about PFAS-biomolecule complexes that can help evaluate the applicability of the latter as bioreceptors. The toolbox of native mass spectrometry (MS) can support this evaluation, as shown by the two case studies reported in this work. The analysis of model proteins’ (i.e. albumin, haemoglobin, cytochrome c and neuroglobin) interactions with well-known PFAS, such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), demonstrated the potential of this native MS screening approach. In the first case study, untreated albumin and delipidated albumin were compared in the presence and absence of PFOA confirming that the delipidation step increases albumin affinity for PFOA without affecting protein stability. In the second case study, the applicability of our methodology to identify potential bioreceptors for PFOS/PFOA was extended to other proteins. Structurally related haemoglobin and neuroglobin revealed a 1 : 1 complex, whereas no binding was observed for cytochrome c. These studies have value as a proof-of-concept for a general application of native MS to identify bioreceptors for toxic compounds.

Abstract: This study shows the first Raman microscopy (RM) and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) characterization of two 14th and 15th century lead-glazed and luster ceramics from the Manises and Paterna workshops (Valencia, Spain) produced after the Aragon Christian conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (14th century). According to experts, these coetaneous ceramics were most probably involved in a process of technological transfer from the Islamic area of Southeast Spain to the Christian area of Valencia (East Spain) at the beginning of the 14th century; later on, the celebrated Manises and Paterna workshops were formed. Although these ceramics have been studied widely in terms of production technology (ceramic body, glazes and luster) using an array of diverse analytical techniques, until now, an RM study has not been carried out. This paper presents results regarding the complex chemical composition of the glaze and luster coloring agents, and the quality of color manufacturing processes, elucidating firing conditions via spectral components analysis (i.e., Q(n) for stretching/bending components) and polymerization index (Ip), emphasizing chronology and pigment technology changes between both Valencian workshops. Coloring agents identified in glazes and lusters were cobalt present in blue glazes, copper in greenish glazes, copper and cobalt in the turquoise glaze, and pyrolusite in black glazes. Tin oxyde was used as an opacifier in white glazes. Two luster manufacture recipes were recognized mainly based on copper and silver compounds. Calculated firing temperatures were up to 1000 degrees C for white glazes and up to 600 degrees C for luster and color glazes. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract: A new hydrometallurgical method was investigated for selective leaching of chromium from stainless steel slag (SS slag) consisting of temperature controlled extraction with NaOH in the presence of NaOCl, followed by water leaching. After parameter optimization of the NaOCl-NaOH extraction step, a selective Cr leaching of 68% was reached, while dissolution of matrix materials was low (Al 0.3%, Ca 2.0%, Si 0.4%). The optimum conditions for the investigated system are: 105 degrees C, 6 h, SS slag particle size <63 mu m, mass ratio of NaOH to SS slag 0.13, and 3.3 mmol NaOCl to 1 g SS slag. The described oxidative alkaline leaching process by hypochlorite enables selective recovery of Cr at a significantly lower temperature and required amount of alkaline agent than molten salt or alkaline roasting processes. BaCrO4 was precipitated to purify and concentrate Cr from the leachate in which also minor amounts of Mn and V were present. This method allowed for a 99.9% Cr recovery rate. The obtained leaching residue shows no alterations of the SS slag's mineralogy with respect to untreated material. Therefore, a known carbonation treatment of the slag can be applied to prepare novel construction materials with a lowered Cr content. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Abstract: Determination of count losses and pile-up pulse effects in quantitative and qualitative analysis became a vital step in various analyses. Therefore, compensating for counting losses is of importance. These counting losses are due to the pulse pile-up, paralyzable and non-paralyzable system dead time or a combination of these mechanisms. In this work, a new method is suggested for the correction of dead time losses resulting from the above mechanisms. For this purpose, a source code was developed. It was found that the peaking time was an important parameter over system dead time. The method suggested seems to be more effective even at high count rate. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Abstract: Urine contains the majority of nutrients in urban wastewaters and is an ideal nutrient recovery target. In this study, stabilization of real undiluted urine through nitrification and subsequent microalgae cultivation were explored as strategy for biological nutrient recovery. A nitrifying inoculum screening revealed a commercial aquaculture inoculum to have the highest halotolerance. This inoculum was compared with municipal activated sludge for the start-up of two nitrification membrane bioreactors. Complete nitrification of undiluted urine was achieved in both systems at a conductivity of 75 mS cm−1 and loading rate above 450 mg N L−1 d−1. The halotolerant inoculum shortened the start-up time with 54%. Nitrite oxidizers showed faster salt adaptation and Nitrobacter spp. became the dominant nitrite oxidizers. Nitrified urine as growth medium for Arthrospira platensis demonstrated superior growth compared to untreated urine and resulted in a high protein content of 62%. This two-stage strategy is therefore a promising approach for biological nutrient recovery.

Abstract: In order to sustain human life in an isolated environment, an efficient conversion of wasted nutrients to food might become mandatory. This is particularly the case for space missions where resupply from earth or in-situ resource utilization is not possible or desirable. A combination of different technologies is needed to allow full recycling of e.g. nitrogenous compounds in space. In this review, an overview is given of the different essential processes and technologies that enable closure of the nitrogen cycle in Bioregenerative Life Support Systems (BLSS). Firstly, a set of biological and physicochemical refinery stages ensures efficient conversion of waste products into the building blocks, followed by the production of food with a range of biological methods. For each technology, bottlenecks are identified. Furthermore, challenges and outlooks are presented at the integrated system level. Space adaptation and integration deserve key attention to enable the recovery of nitrogen for the production of nutritional food in space, but also in closed loop systems on earth.

Abstract: Nearly 200 terms commonly used in radioanalytical chemistry are unambiguously defined. The list is partially based on an earlier IUPAC-glossary (Pure Appl. Chem. 54 (1982) 1533-1554), but some modifications have been made, terms related to nuclear physics and technology have not been reconsidered and numerous new entries from the realm of radiometric analysis, radioimmunoassay and related techniques have been included.

Abstract: Low-temperature plasmas (LTPs) have a proven bactericidal activity governed by the generated reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) that target microbial cell components. However, RONS also interact with biomolecules in the environment. Here we assess the impact of these interactions upon exposure of liquid suspensions with variable organic content to an atmospheric-pressure dielectric barrier discharge plasma jet. Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium viability in the suspension was reduced in the absence [e. g., phosphate buffered saline (PBS)], but not in the presence of (high) organic content [Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium (DMEM), DMEM supplemented with foetal calf serum, and Lysogeny Broth]. The reduced viability of LTP-treated bacteria in PBS correlated to a loss of membrane integrity, whereas double-strand DNA breaks could not be detected in treated single cells. The lack of bactericidal activity in solutions with high organic content correlated with a relative decrease of center dot OH and O-3/O-2(a(1)Delta g)/O, and an increase of H2O2 and NO2- in the plasma-treated solutions. These results indicate that the redox reactions of LTP-generated RONS with nontarget biomolecules resulted in a RONS composition with reduced bactericidal activity. Therefore, the chemical composition of the bacterial environment should be considered in the development of LTP for antimicrobial treatment, and may affect other biomedical applications as well.

Abstract: Allergic contact dermatitis caused by polyvinyl chloride gloves is rarely reported, and in only 2 cases was bisphenol A considered to be the responsible sensitizer. We report a patient with occupational hand dermatitis after the use of a new type of high-density vinyl (HDV) gloves. Patch tests showed positive (++) reactions to both used and new HDV gloves and to bisphenol A. Chemical analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry demonstrated the presence of bisphenol A in the HDV gloves. Replacement by nitrile rubber gloves resulted in complete clearance of the hand dermatitis.

Abstract: The filtration process within a membrane bioreactor (MBR) is mostly controlled in a classic way through typical set-points such as aeration flow rate, filtration duration, backwash frequency or relaxation duration. The values of these filtration set-points result from experience and remain often unchanged during the installations operational lifetime. Filtration is dictated considerably by membrane fouling phenomena. The fouling potential of the mixed liquor however can significantly fluctuate, even daily, from changing influent characteristics. Fixed set-point values thus may represent sub-optimal filtration conditions. Consequently, a supervising advanced control system, being able to continuously adapt the set-points values would be beneficial regarding the MBR filtration process optimization. Such optimization could reduce the corresponding MBR energy consumption, e.g. linked to the filtration related membrane aeration. An Advanced Control System (ACS) based on Fuzzy Set Logic (FSL) is introduced here, enabling to supervise an existing classic membrane filtration control system. Such ACS is able to daily (or even more frequent) optimize the set-points of the underlying classic control system, from the input of various sensor and process parameter values. The theoretical background and practical implementation of the FSL based ACS concept is explained.

Abstract: Purple non-sulfur bacteria (PNSB) show potential for microbial protein production on wastewater as animal feed. They offer good selectivity (i.e., low microbial diversity and high abundance of one species) when grown anaerobically in the light. However, the cost of closed anaerobic photobioreactors is prohibitive for protein production. Although open raceway reactors are cheaper, their feasibility to selectively grow PNSB is thus far unexplored. This study developed operational strategies to boost PNSB abundance in the biomass of a raceway reactor fed with volatile fatty acids. For a flask reactor run at a 2 day sludge retention time (SRT), matching the chemical oxygen demand (COD) loading rate to the removal rate in the light period prevented substrate availability during the dark period and increased the PNSB abundance from 50-67 to 88-94%. A raceway reactor run at a 2 day SRT showed an increased PNSB abundance from 14 to 56% when oxygen supply was reduced (no stirring at night). The best performance was achieved at the highest surface-to-volume ratio (10 m(2) m(-3) increased light availability) showing productivities up to 0.2 g protein L-1 day(-1) and a PNSB abundance of 78%. This study pioneered in PNSB-based microbial protein production in raceway reactors, yielding high selectivity while avoiding the combined availability of oxygen, COD, and darkness.