Advanced Packaging Techniques-A Mini-Review of 3D Printing Potential.

Packaging and packaging technology constitute a pivotal industry deeply intertwined with our daily lives and prevalent in various settings, including grocery stores, supermarkets, restaurants, and pharmacies. The industry is constantly evolving thanks to technological advances. This article delves into the dynamic landscape of 3D printing in packaging, exploring its profound implications and potential. While this article highlights the advantages of traditional packaging approaches, it also highlights the many benefits of 3D printing technology. It describes how 3D printing enables personalization, rapid prototyping, and low-cost production, streamlining packaging design and manufacturing processes. Offering innovative solutions in design, functionality, and accessibility, the potential of 3D printing in packaging is promising.

Comparative Analysis of Crosslinking Methods and Their Impact on the Physicochemical Properties of SA/PVA Hydrogels.

Hydrogels, versatile materials used in various applications such as medicine, possess properties crucial for their specific applications, significantly influenced by their preparation methods. This study synthesized 18 different types of hydrogels using sodium alginate (SA) and two molecular weights of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Crosslinking agents such as aqueous solutions of calcium (Ca2+) and copper (Cu2+) ions and solutions of these ions in boric acid were utilized. The hydrogels were subjected to compression strength tests and drying kinetics analysis. Additionally, six hydrogel variants containing larger PVA particles underwent Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) post-drying. Some samples were lyophilized, and their surface morphology was examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results indicate that the choice of crosslinking method significantly impacts the physicochemical properties of the hydrogels. Crosslinking in solutions with higher concentrations of crosslinking ions enhanced mechanical properties and thermal stability. Conversely, using copper ions instead of calcium resulted in slower drying kinetics and reduced thermal stability. Notably, employing boric acid as a crosslinking agent for hydrogels containing heavier PVA molecules led to considerable improvements in mechanical properties and thermal stability.

Waste Valorization towards Industrial Products through Chemo- and Enzymatic- Hydrolysis.

This paper reviews the scientific literature on the latest technologies for treating waste by chemical hydrolysis, enzymatic hydrolysis and supporting processes. Particular attention is focused on wastes of biological origin, especially high-protein materials and those containing fats and sugars, as valuable components can be extracted from these recyclables to produce plant growth-stimulating compounds and animal feed, chemicals, biofuels or biopolymers. The wastes with the greatest potential were identified and the legislative regulations related to their processing were discussed. Chemical and enzymatic hydrolysis were compared and their main applications directions and important process parameters were indicated, as well as the need to optimize them in order to increase the efficiency of extraction of valuable components.

Management of biological sewage sludge: Fertilizer nitrogen recovery as the solution to fertilizer crisis.

In the current situation of a serious raw material crisis related to the disruption of supply chains, the bioeconomy is of particular significance. Rising prices and the problem with the availability of natural gas have made N fertilizers production very expensive. It is expected that due to natural gas shortages, conventional production of nitrogen fertilizers by chemical synthesis will be hindered in the coming season. An important alternative and an opportunity to solve the problems of fertilizer nitrogen availability are biological wastewater treatment plants, which can be treated as a renewable biological nitrogen mines. Sewage sludge (including activated sludge) contains up to 6-8% DM. N. Considering the quantity of sewage sludge generated in wastewater treatment plants, it can become an important raw material for the sustainable production of organic-mineral fertilizers from renewable resources available locally, with a low carbon footprint. Furthermore, the sewage sludge management method should take nitrogen retention into account and should not allow the emission of greenhouse gases containing nitrogen. This article analyzes the technological solutions of nitrogen recovery for fertilization purposes from biological wastewater treatment plants in the context of a new and difficult resource situation. Conventional and new nitrogen recovery methods were analyzed from the perspective of the current legal situation. An attempt was made to evaluate the possibility of implementing the assumptions of the circular economy through the recovery of renewable nitrogen resources from municipal wastewater treatment plants.

Biodegradation of pharmaceuticals in photobioreactors - a systematic literature review.

This work is a systematic review that reports state-of-the-art in removal of pharmaceuticals from water and wastewater by photosynthetic organisms in photobioreactors. The PRISMA protocol-based review of the most recent literature data from the last 10 years (2011-2021) was reported. Articles were searched by the combination of the following keywords: photobioreactor, pharmaceuticals, drugs, hormones, antibiotics, biodegradation, removal, wastewater treatment. The review focuses on original research papers (not reviews), collected in 3 scientific databases: Scopus, Web of Knowledge, PubMed. The review considered the following factors: type of microorganisms, type of micropollutants removed, degradation efficiency and associated products, types of photosynthetic organisms and photobioreactor types. The conclusion from the systematic review is that the main factors that limit widespread pharmaceuticals removal in photobioreactors are high costs and the problem of low efficiency related with low concentrations of pharmaceuticals. The review indicated a need for further research in this area due to increasing amounts of metabolites in the food chain, such as p-aminophenol and estrone, which can cause harm to people and ichthyofauna. Pharmaceuticals removal can be improved by adapting the type of microorganism used to the type of contamination and implementing photoperiods, which increase the removal efficiency of e.g. sulfamethazine by up to 28%. In the future, it is necessary to search for new solutions in terms of the construction of photobioreactors, as well as for more effective species in terms of pharmaceuticals biodegradation that can survive the competition with other strains during water and wastewater treatment.

The challenges and perspectives for anaerobic digestion of animal waste and fertilizer application of the digestate.

The increase in livestock production creates a serious problem of managing animal waste and by-products. Among the wide range of waste valorization methods available, anaerobic digestion is very promising. It is a form of material recycling that also produces renewable energy in the form of biogas, which is reminiscent of energy recycling. The effluent and digestate from the anaerobic digestion process need to be processed further. These materials are widely used in agriculture due to their composition. Both the liquid and solid fractions of digestate are high in nitrogen, making them a valuable source for plants. Before soil or foliar application, conditioning (e.g., with inorganic acids) and neutralization (e.g., with potassium hydroxide) is required to eliminate odorous compounds and microorganisms. Various methods of conducting the process by anaerobic digestion (use of additives increasing activity of microorganisms, co-digestion, multiple techniques of substrate preparation) and the possibility of controlling process parameters such as optimal C/N ratio (15-30), optimal temperature (psychrophilic (<20 °C), mesophilic (35-37 °C) and thermophilic (55 °C) for microorganism activity ensure high efficiency of the process. Literature data describing tests of various digestates on different plants prove high efficiency, determined by yield increase (even by 28%), nitrogen uptake (by 20%) or phosphorus recovery rate (by 43%) or increase of biometric parameters (e.g., leaf area).

Tannery waste-derived biochar as a carrier of micronutrients essential to plants.

The leather tannery industry generates about 33 Mt/year of solid waste with different properties, turning its management into a challenge. One of the valorization methods of tannery wastes is the production of biochar by pyrolysis of leather scratches. Biochar's sorption properties and its high nitrogen content (10%) make it suitable for its application as a soil conditioner or carrier of microelements for fertilizers. The paper presents an innovative spray method to enrich biochar with cationic micronutrients: Cu, Mn, Zn. Enriched biochar contained 1095 mg/kg Cu(II), 1334 mg/kg Mn(II) and 1205 mg/kg Zn(II). The high bioavailability of nutrients and the effectiveness of the new fertilizer were demonstrated in extraction in vitro tests - the analysis of leachability of elements to water and bioavailability of micro-nutrients. The functional properties of enriched biochar were examined in vivo (germination, pot) tests. A high biomass increase (approximately 10%) was observed compared to the group fertilized with a commercial product. The proposed solution benefits the environment in that it is made from alternative resources from which innovative fertilizers are produced according to the circular economy concept.

Phosphorus recovery from wastewater and bio-based waste: an overview.

Phosphorus is one of the most important macronutrients needed for the growth of plants. The fertilizer production market uses 80% of natural, non-renewable phosphorus resources in the form of phosphate rock. The depletion of those deposits forces a search for other alternatives, including biological waste. This review aims to indicate the most important ways to recover phosphorus from biowaste, with particular emphasis on wastewater, sewage sludge, manure, slaughter or food waste. A comparison of utilized methods and directions for future research based on the latest research is presented. Combining biological, chemical, and physical methods with thermal treatment appears to be the most effective way for the treatment of wastewater sludge in terms of phosphorus recovery. Hydrothermal, thermochemical, and adsorption on thermally treated adsorbents are characterized by a high phosphorus recovery rate (over 95%). For animal by-products and other biological waste, chemical methods seems to be the most optimal solution with a recovery rate over 96%. Due to its large volume and relatively low phosphorus content, wastewater is a resource that requires additional treatment to recover the highest possible amount of phosphorus. Pretreatment of wastewater with combined methods seems to be a possible way to improve phosphorus recovery. A compressive evaluation of combined methods is crucial for future research in this area.

Antiviral Properties of Polyphenols from Plants.

Polyphenols are active substances against various types of viral infections. Researchers have characterized methods of how to isolate polyphenols without losing their potential to formulate pharmaceutical products. Researchers have also described mechanisms against common viral infections (i.e., influenza, herpes, hepatitis, rotavirus, coronavirus). Particular compounds have been discussed together with the plants in the biomass in which they occur. Quercetin, gallic acid and epigallocatechin are exemplary compounds that inhibit the growth cycle of viruses. Special attention has been paid to identify plants and polyphenols that can be efficient against coronavirus infections. It has been proven that polyphenols present in the diet and in pharmaceuticals protect us from viral infections and, in case of infection, support the healing process by various mechanisms, i.e., they block the entry into the host cells, inhibit the multiplication of the virus, seal blood vessels and protect against superinfection.

Towards a Better Molecular Diagnosis of FMR1-Related Disorders-A Multiyear Experience from a Reference Lab.

The article summarizes over 20 years of experience of a reference lab in fragile X mental retardation 1 gene (FMR1) molecular analysis in the molecular diagnosis of fragile X spectrum disorders. This includes fragile X syndrome (FXS), fragile X-associated primary ovarian insufficiency (FXPOI) and fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS), which are three different clinical conditions with the same molecular background. They are all associated with an expansion of CGG repeats in the 5'UTR of FMR1 gene. Until 2016, the FMR1 gene was tested in 9185 individuals with the pre-screening PCR, supplemented with Southern blot analysis and/or Triplet Repeat Primed PCR based method. This approach allowed us to confirm the diagnosis of FXS, FXPOI FXTAS in 636/9131 (6.96%), 4/43 (9.3%) and 3/11 (27.3%) of the studied cases, respectively. Moreover, the FXS carrier status was established in 389 individuals. The technical aspect of the molecular analysis is very important in diagnosis of FXS-related disorders. The new methods were subsequently implemented in our laboratory. This allowed the significance of the Southern blot technique to be decreased until its complete withdrawal. Our experience points out the necessity of implementation of the GeneScan based methods to simplify the testing procedure as well as to obtain more information for the patient, especially if TP-PCR based methods are used.

High prevalence of Candida yeast in milk samples from cows suffering from mastitis in poland.

Mastitis is an economically important disease in which fungi belonging to the genus Candida may participate as etiological agents. This study focused on determining the frequency of fungal isolation and differentiation of fungal species isolated from milk of mastitic cows. Sixty-six milk samples from mastitic cows were studied, and 55 strains of fungi were isolated. Seven different species classified as Candida were identified basing on phenotypic properties, and the dominating species was C. parapsilosis. Genomic DNA was isolated and amplified in PCR with ITS1 and NL2 primers. Amplification products were digested with restriction enzymes HpaII and EcoRI. Amplification of DNA with ITS1 and NL2 primers resulted in products of different sizes. Comparison of product sizes in restriction fragment PCR REA confirmed differences among species. Strains grouped together on the basis of phenotype characteristics differed in restriction fragment profiles. None of the investigated species showed similar genetic profiles.