Sonophotocatalysis—Limits and Possibilities for Synergistic Effects

Advanced oxidation processes are promising techniques for water remediation and degradation of micropollutants in aqueous systems. Since single processes such as sonolysis and photocatalysis exhibit limitations, combined AOP systems can enhance degradation efficiency. The present work addresses the synergistic intensification potential of an ultrasound-assisted photocatalysis (sonophotocatalysis) for bisphenol A degradation with a low-frequency sonotrode (f = 20 kHz) in a batch-system. The effects of energy input and suspended photocatalyst dosage (TiO 2 -nanoparticle, m = 0–0.5 g/L) were investigated. To understand the synergistic effects, the sonication characteristics were investigated by bubble-field analysis, hydrophone measurements, and chemiluminescence of luminol to identify cavitation areas due to the generation of hydroxyl radicals. Comparing the sonophotocatalysis with sonolysis and photocatalysis (incl. mechanical stirring), synergies up to 295% and degradation rates of up to 1.35 min −1 were achieved. Besides the proof of synergistic intensification, the investigation of energy efficiency for a degradation degree of 80% shows that a process optimization can be realized. Thus, it could be demonstrated that there is an effective limit of energy input depending on the TiO 2 dosage

Idéfix:identifying accidental sample mix-ups in biobanks using polygenic scores

MOTIVATION: Identifying sample mix-ups in biobanks is essential to allow the repurposing of genetic data for clinical pharmacogenetics. Pharmacogenetic advice based on the genetic information of another individual is potentially harmful. Existing methods for identifying mix-ups are limited to datasets in which additional omics data (e.g. gene expression) is available. Cohorts lacking such data can only use sex, which can reveal only half of the mix-ups. Here, we describe Idéfix, a method for the identification of accidental sample mix-ups in biobanks using polygenic scores. RESULTS: In the Lifelines population-based biobank, we calculated polygenic scores (PGSs) for 25 traits for 32 786 participants. We then applied Idéfix to compare the actual phenotypes to PGSs, and to use the relative discordance that is expected for mix-ups, compared to correct samples. In a simulation, using induced mix-ups, Idéfix reaches an AUC of 0.90 using 25 polygenic scores and sex. This is a substantial improvement over using only sex, which has an AUC of 0.75. Subsequent simulations present Idéfix’s potential in varying datasets with more powerful PGSs. This suggests its performance will likely improve when more highly powered GWASs for commonly measured traits will become available. Idéfix can be used to identify a set of high-quality participants for whom it is very unlikely that they reflect sample mix-ups, and for these participants we can use genetic data for clinical purposes, such as pharmacogenetic profiles. For instance, in Lifelines, we can select 34.4% of participants, reducing the sample mix-up rate from 0.15% to 0.01%. AVAILABILITYAND IMPLEMENTATION: Idéfix is freely available at https://github.com/molgenis/systemsgenetics/wiki/Idefix. The individual-level data that support the findings were obtained from the Lifelines biobank under project application number ov16_0365. Data is made available upon reasonable request submitted to the LifeLines Research office ([email protected], https://www.lifelines.nl/researcher/how-to-apply/apply-here). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online

Die "silberne" Zukunft gestalten: Handlungsoptionen im Demografischen Wandel am Beispiel alternativer Wohnformen für ältere Menschen

"Die Gesellschaft ist im Wandel. Wie die meisten Industrienationen befindet sich Deutschland derzeit in einer Phase tief greifender Veränderungen. Herkunft, Größe und Zusammensetzung der Bevölkerung stehen in einem dynamischen Prozess; mehr als wohl jemals zuvor sind die Entwicklungspfade der Bevölkerungsstruktur im Blickpunkt der Öffentlichkeit. Der Demografische Wandel und speziell die massiven Verschiebungen innerhalb des Altersaufbaus der Bevölkerung sind überall präsent. Dies hat Auswirkungen auf die Art und Weise wie die Menschen miteinander leben, wie sie denken und arbeiten. Sämtliche gesellschaftlichen Teilbereiche - ob wirtschaftlicher Strukturwandel, Neuausrichtung der sozialen Sicherungssysteme oder wissenschaftlich-technischer Fortschritt etc. - müssen sich dieser Herausforderung stellen. Diskutiert wird dieser Wandel der Bevölkerungsstrukturen zumeist im ablehnenden Kontext. Überalterung, Geburtenrückgang, 'von der Tanne zum Pilz' (Opaschowski, 2004, S. 31) - betrachtet man die gängigen Beschreibungen des Phänomens Demografischer Wandel, bekommt man sehr schnell den Eindruck, dass die prognostizierten Auswirkungen auf die Gesellschaft ausschließlich negativen Charakters sind. Oft hat es zudem den Anschein, dass man diesem Prozess mit all seinen vermeintlich negativen Auswirkungen hilflos ausgeliefert sei. Doch sind die Folgen einer steigenden Lebenserwartung und damit verbunden ein höherer Altersquotient wirklich Faktoren, die unsere Gesellschaft an die Grenzen ihrer Leistungsfähigkeit bringen? Bieten sich nicht vielmehr auch neue Optionen, die Auswirkungen demografischer Entwicklungen aktiv mitzugestalten und auf diesem Wege neue gesellschaftliche Potenziale zu erschließen? Was ist dran an dem facettenreichen Schreckensszenario einer grauer werdenden Gesellschaft?" (Textauszug

ITS version 5.0 : the integrated TIGER series of coupled electron/photon Monte Carlo transport codes.

ITS is a powerful and user-friendly software package permitting state of the art Monte Carlo solution of linear time-independent couple electron/photon radiation transport problems, with or without the presence of macroscopic electric and magnetic fields of arbitrary spatial dependence. Our goal has been to simultaneously maximize operational simplicity and physical accuracy. Through a set of preprocessor directives, the user selects one of the many ITS codes. The ease with which the makefile system is applied combines with an input scheme based on order-independent descriptive keywords that makes maximum use of defaults and internal error checking to provide experimentalists and theorists alike with a method for the routine but rigorous solution of sophisticated radiation transport problems. Physical rigor is provided by employing accurate cross sections, sampling distributions, and physical models for describing the production and transport of the electron/photon cascade from 1.0 GeV down to 1.0 keV. The availability of source code permits the more sophisticated user to tailor the codes to specific applications and to extend the capabilities of the codes to more complex applications. Version 5.0, the latest version of ITS, contains (1) improvements to the ITS 3.0 continuous-energy codes, (2)multigroup codes with adjoint transport capabilities, and (3) parallel implementations of all ITS codes. Moreover the general user friendliness of the software has been enhanced through increased internal error checking and improved code portability

ITS Version 6 : the integrated TIGER series of coupled electron/photon Monte Carlo transport codes.

ITS is a powerful and user-friendly software package permitting state-of-the-art Monte Carlo solution of lineartime-independent coupled electron/photon radiation transport problems, with or without the presence of macroscopic electric and magnetic fields of arbitrary spatial dependence. Our goal has been to simultaneously maximize operational simplicity and physical accuracy. Through a set of preprocessor directives, the user selects one of the many ITS codes. The ease with which the makefile system is applied combines with an input scheme based on order-independent descriptive keywords that makes maximum use of defaults and internal error checking to provide experimentalists and theorists alike with a method for the routine but rigorous solution of sophisticated radiation transport problems. Physical rigor is provided by employing accurate cross sections, sampling distributions, and physical models for describing the production and transport of the electron/photon cascade from 1.0 GeV down to 1.0 keV. The availability of source code permits the more sophisticated user to tailor the codes to specific applications and to extend the capabilities of the codes to more complex applications. Version 6, the latest version of ITS, contains (1) improvements to the ITS 5.0 codes, and (2) conversion to Fortran 90. The general user friendliness of the software has been enhanced through memory allocation to reduce the need for users to modify and recompile the code

Automated information system for the classification of data from XML documents

The article presents the developed automated information system that solves the task of structuring information obtained from the xml file and storing it in the database. Also, this AIS allows to change the information and upload it to the formats xls and xml