Experimental justification for converting paper, cardboard and plant waste into biomats.

The study is aimed at solving the urgent problem of processing waste intended for storage at MSW landfills as a result of human activities for the reclamation/restoration of disturbed territories as a result of the unauthorized placement of trade objects on land not intended for this (lawns, parks, lawns, etc.) in the urban environment. The most promising solution is to use paper and cardboard waste from office work and office work as one of the components of biomats with the inclusion of an organic component in the form of plant waste when caring for tree and shrub plantings (last year's compost of leaves and needles). As a result of a laboratory assessment of the applicability of paper and cardboard waste from office work and office work and plant waste in caring for tree and shrub plantings in the composition of biomats, it was established that there is no excess content of heavy metals and the presence of plant nutrients in the necessary quantities for the favorable growth of seeds and in protecting them from erosion processes and mechanical impact of birds and rodents.

Industrial processing of phosphogypsum into organomineral fertilizer.

The purpose of this study is to solve the problem of industrial waste storage. Waste from the production of mineral fertilizers is considered in this study (as an example-phosphogypsum LLC «Industrial group «Phosphorit¼). Waste storages on a landfill have a significant negative impact on the environment. This fact has been confirmed by studies of wastewater from the dump (drainage water). Phosphogypsum utilization as a mineral component of an organic-mineral mixture without preliminary purification is the most promising approach. In this case, the joint utilization of lignin sludge as an organic component is required. The absence of excess content of toxic elements and the presence of plant nutrients in the required quantities was established as a result of laboratory studies of soil additive. In addition, the authors noted an increased content of stable strontium in phosphogypsum. Localization of strontium in the soil mixture is ensured by fractional application. Strontium is replaced by covalent calcium when the components are absorbed by the plants. The developed soil mixture should be considered as a single-use organomineral additive with prolonged action. Forestry activities, reclamation of disturbed lands, slopes of highways and landfills of solid municipal waste are promising areas of implementation.

Monitoring of body fluid redistribution using segmental bioimpedance during rotation on a short-radius centrifuge.

OBJECTIVE: The creation of artificial gravity on board a space station is one of the promising methods for preventing health problems during space missions; a short-radius centrifuge (SRC) is the model of such a method on Earth. Our goal was to evaluate the sensitivity of bioimpedance polysegmental measurements for monitoring of the body regions' blood-filling redistribution and to analyze the dynamics of blood-filling redistribution during rotation in three SRC rotation modes. APPROACH: Nine healthy male volunteers have been observed under three SRC rotation modes with a maximum acceleration of 2.05 standard Earth gravity (g), 2.47 g, 2.98 g along the body vertical axis towards the legs with a rotation radius of 235 cm. The 5 kHz electrical resistance was evaluated using a bioimpedance analyzer in a polysegmental mode. MAIN RESULTS: Twenty-five correct records were made, of which four records were incomplete since the tests had to be stopped because the subjects were not feeling well. There was a blood-filling decrease in the head region; resistance increased to +15.4% ± 4.1% in the first SRC rotation mode. The electrical resistance of the leg regions decreased to -16.5% ± 2.3%. Slowdown of the SRC led to the reverse changes in resistance. The blood redistribution in the head and leg regions was independent of the mode of SRC rotation during the first 30 min, and varied on average by +10% and -15% respectively. SIGNIFICANCE: Bioimpedance monitoring is promising for detection and prediction of blood circulation changes during rotation on the SRC.

Smallpox subunit vaccine produced in Planta confers protection in mice.

We report here the in planta production of the recombinant vaccinia virus B5 antigenic domain (pB5), an attractive component of a subunit vaccine against smallpox. The antigenic domain was expressed by using efficient transient and constitutive plant expression systems and tested by various immunization routes in two animal models. Whereas oral administration in mice or the minipig with collard-derived insoluble pB5 did not generate an anti-B5 immune response, intranasal administration of soluble pB5 led to a rise of B5-specific immunoglobulins, and parenteral immunization led to a strong anti-B5 immune response in both mice and the minipig. Mice immunized i.m. with pB5 generated an antibody response that reduced virus spread in vitro and conferred protection from challenge with a lethal dose of vaccinia virus. These results indicate the feasibility of producing safe and inexpensive subunit vaccines by using plant production systems.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) S protein production in plants: development of recombinant vaccine.

In view of a recent spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), there is a high demand for production of a vaccine to prevent this disease. Recent studies indicate that SARS-coronavirus (CoV) spike protein (S protein) and its truncated fragments are considered the best candidates for generation of the recombinant vaccine. Toward the development of a safe, effective, and inexpensive vaccine candidate, we have expressed the N-terminal fragment of SARS-CoV S protein (S1) in tomato and low-nicotine tobacco plants. Incorporation of the S1 fragment into plant genomes as well as its transcription was confirmed by PCR and RT-PCR analyses. High levels of expression of recombinant S1 protein were observed in several transgenic lines by Western blot analysis using specific antibodies. Plant-derived antigen was evaluated to induce the systemic and mucosal immune responses in mice. Mice showed significantly increased levels of SARS-CoV-specific IgA after oral ingestion of tomato fruits expressing S1 protein. Sera of mice parenterally primed with tobacco-derived S1 protein revealed the presence of SARS-CoV-specific IgG as detected by Western blot and ELISA analysis.