Materials recovery from waste liquid crystal displays: A focus on indium

In the present work the recovery of indium and of the polarizing film from waste liquid crystal displays was experimentally investigated in the laboratory. First of all, the polarizing film was removed by employing a number of different techniques, including thermal and chemical treatments. Leaching of indium was then performed with HCl 6 N, which allowed solubilisation of approximately 90% In (i.e. 260 mg In per kg of glass) at room temperature, without shredding. Indium recovery from the aqueous phase was then investigated through solvent extraction with polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based aqueous biphasic systems. Indium extraction tests through the PEG-ammonium sulphate-water system were conducted as a function of PEG concentration, salt concentration and molecular weight of PEG, using 1,10 phenanthroline as a ligand. The experimental results demonstrated that indium partitioning between the bottom (salt-rich) and the top (PEG-rich) phase is quite independent on the composition of the system, since 80-95% indium is extracted in the bottom phase and 5-20% in the top phase; it was also found that when PEG concentration is increased, the ratio between the bottom and the upper phase volumes decreases, resulting in an increase of indium concentration in the bottom phase (at [PEG]=25% w/w, indium concentration in the bottom phase is ~30% higher than the initial concentration before the extraction)

Strategic research and innovation agenda on circular economy

CICERONE aims to bring national, regional and local governments together to jointly tackle the circular economy transition needed to reach net-zero carbon emissions and meet the targets set in the Paris Agreement and EU Green Deal. This document represents one of the key outcomes of the project: a Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for Europe, to support owners and funders of circular economy programmes in aligning priorities and approaching the circular economy transition in a systemic way

Identification of Marine Biotechnology Value Chains with High Potential in the Northern Mediterranean Region

© 2023. The authors. This document is made available under the CC-BY 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by /4.0/ This document is the Accepted version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Marine Drugs. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.3390/md21070416Marine (blue) biotechnology is an emerging field enabling the valorization of new products and processes with massive potential for innovation and economic growth. In the Mediterranean region, this innovation potential is not exploited as well as in other European regions due to a lack of a clear identification of the different value chains and the high fragmentation of business innovation initiatives. As a result, several opportunities to create an innovative society are being missed. To address this problem, eight Northern Mediterranean countries (Croatia, France, Greece, Mar. Drugs 2023, 21, 416. https://doi.org/10.3390/md21070416 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/marinedrugs Mar. Drugs 2023, 21, 416 2 of 26 Italy, Montenegro, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain) established five national blue biotechnology hubs to identify and address the bottlenecks that prevent the development of marine biotechnology in the region. Following a three-step approach (1. Analysis: setting the scene; 2. Transfer: identification of promising value chains; 3. Capitalization: community creation), we identified the three value chains that are most promising for the Northern Mediterranean region: algae production for added-value compounds, integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) and valorization aquaculture/fisheries/processing by-products, unavoidable/unwanted catches and discards. The potential for the development and the technical and non-technical skills that are necessary to advance in this exciting field were identified through several stakeholder events which provided valuable insight and feedback that should be addressed for marine biotechnology in the Northern Mediterranean region to reach its full potential

Identification of Marine Biotechnology Value Chains with High Potential in the Northern Mediterranean Region

©2023. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This document is the Published, version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Marine Drugs. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/ 10.3390/md21070416Marine (blue) biotechnology is an emerging field enabling the valorization of new products and processes with massive potential for innovation and economic growth. In the Mediterranean region, this innovation potential is not exploited as well as in other European regions due to a lack of a clear identification of the different value chains and the high fragmentation of business innovation initiatives. As a result, several opportunities to create an innovative society are being missed. To address this problem, eight Northern Mediterranean countries (Croatia, France, Greece Italy, Montenegro, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain) established five national blue biotechnology hubs to identify and address the bottlenecks that prevent the development of marine biotechnology in the region. Following a three-step approach (1. Analysis: setting the scene; 2. Transfer: identifi cation of promising value chains; 3. Capitalization: community creation), we identified the three value chains that are most promising for the Northern Mediterranean region: algae production for added-value compounds, integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) and valorization aquacul ture/fisheries/processing by-products, unavoidable/unwanted catches and discards. The potential for the development and the technical and non-technical skills that are necessary to advance in this exciting field were identified through several stakeholder events which provided valuable insight and feedback that should be addressed for marine biotechnology in the Northern Mediterranean region to reach its full potential

“Non-criteria antiphospholipid antibodies”: bridging the gap between seropositive and seronegative Antiphospholipid Syndrome

Objective: We aimed to analyze the prevalence of non-criteria anti-phospholipid (aPL) antibodies and their role in the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis in a cohort of patients with clinical features consistent with a diagnosis of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), but persistently negative for criteria aPL-anti-cardiolipin antibodies (aCL), anti-β2-glycoprotein I antibodies (aβ2-GPI), and lupus anticoagulant (LA) - named seronegative APS (SN-APS). Methods: Sera from SN-APS patients were tested for aCL by TLC-immunostaining, anti-vimentin/cardiolipin (aVim/CL) and anti-phosphatidylserine/prothrombin (anti-PS/PT) by ELISA. Control groups of our study were APS patients and healthy controls. Results: We enrolled 114 consecutive SN-APS patients, 69 (60.5%) resulted positive for at least one non-criteria test in two occasions 12 weeks apart. Among the persistently positive patients to these tests, 97% resulted positive for aCL by TLC-immunostaining, 52.3% for aVim/CL and 17.4% for aPS/PT. SN-APS patients with double positivity (aCL by TLC-immunostaining and aVim/CL) showed a likelihood positive ratio of 8 to present mixed thrombotic and obstetrical features. Among SN-APS patients tested positive, after the therapeutic changes, 3 cases of recurrent thrombosis were observed [median follow-up 41 months (IQR 39.5)]. Twenty pregnancies were recorded in 17 SN-APS patients after the detection of unconventional aPL and 12 of them (60%) experienced a good outcome under conventional treatment for APS. Conclusions: This is the largest monocentric study demonstrating that aCL tested by TLC-immunostaining and aVim/CL can detect aPL positivity in SN-APS. It may encourage clinicians to monitoring and providing adequate targeted therapy, which improve SN-APS prognosis

The Use of Mixed Composed Amendments to Improve Soil Water Content and Peach Growth (<i>Prunus persica</i> (L.) Batsch) in a Mediterranean Environment

Reduction of water availability imposes the agronomic issues of increasing the storage capacity of the soil and improving the use of rainwater or irrigation water. A field experiment in 2021 was conducted in a 5-year-old peach orchard in a Mediterranean environment to study the effect of mixed composed amendments (ACM), applied in different amounts, on the dynamics of soil water status. Water balance was monitored during the peach vegetative reproductive cycle on a daily scale. Three treatments of mixed composed amendments (ACM) were compared: A0, control; A1, with amendment (10 t ha−1); and A2, with half dose of amendment (5 t ha−1). On a seasonal scale, soil water content increased by 27% and 33% in A1 and A2 compared to A0, while relative extractable water varied between 0.41 (A0) and 0.65 (A1 and A2). Both soil water balance indicators show that storage capacity increases with the addition of amendment. Improved soil storage capacity was associated with higher values of stem water potential (throughout the growing season) and stomatal conductance (at the end of the season). Shoot and fruit growth observations were consistent with soil water content dynamics