What\u27s in your Water: Chemical Compositions of Surface Waters in the Schenectady County Watershed

The Schoharie River and Hans Groot’s Kill are both tributaries into the Mohawk River. Thus, it is likely that they all have similar chemical compositions. One-third of the volume of the Mohawk River is contributed by the Schoharie River, while Hans Groot’s Kill also feeds into the Mohawk River after passing through the residential homes of the “GE Plot” and Union College. Some chemicals are naturally occuring while others are introduced to the bodies of water via anthropogenic products.https://digitalworks.union.edu/waterprojectposters/1004/thumbnail.jp

Development of a novel high-throughput platform for efficient perfusion-based cell culture process development

Perfusion technology has been successfully used for the commercial production of biotherapeutics, in particular unstable recombinant proteins, for more than a decade. However, there has been a general lack of high-throughput cell culture tools specifically for perfusion-based cell culture processes. Here we have developed a high-throughput cell retention operation for use with the ambr® 15 bioreactor system. Metabolite, titer, and cell concentrations were modeled using Matlab software and process parameters were defined to mimic continuous perfusion systems, with experimental results confirming model fidelity. Employing an offline process for cell retention and a variable volume approach, the established platform has demonstrated cell culture performance (\u3e 90 E6 cells/mL and \u3e95% viability) comparable to bench scale bioreactors. The model was successfully implemented for use in media development and clone screening with similar ranking of clones across scales, highlighting the accuracy of a microreactor screening approach and the utility of the ambr® 15 perfusion mimic. The automated, single use, high-throughput perfusion platform is a powerful tool that allows for rapid and efficient process development and demonstrates significant improvements over other established methods

Process improvements for AAV production by transient transfection of HEK293 cells

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How can diagnostic assessment programs be implemented to enhance inter-professional collaborative care for cancer?

BackgroundInter-professional collaborative care (ICC) for cancer leads to multiple system, organizational, professional, and patient benefits, but is limited by numerous challenges. Empirical research on interventions that promote or enable ICC is sparse so guidance on how to achieve ICC is lacking. Research shows that ICC for diagnosis could be improved. Diagnostic assessment programs (DAPs) appear to be a promising model for enabling ICC. The purpose of this study was to explore how DAP structure and function enable ICC, and whether that may be associated with organizational and clinical outcomes.MethodsA case study approach will be used to explore ICC among eight DAPs that vary by type of cancer (lung, breast), academic status, and geographic region. To describe DAP function and outcomes, and gather information that will enable costing, recommendations expressed in DAP standards and clinical guidelines will be assessed through retrospective observational study. Data will be acquired from databases maintained by participating DAPs and the provincial cancer agency, and confirmed by and supplemented with review of medical records. We will conduct a pilot study to explore the feasibility of estimating the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio using person-level data from medical records and other sources. Interviews will be conducted with health professionals, staff, and referring physicians from each DAP to learn about barriers and facilitators of ICC. Qualitative methods based on a grounded approach will be used to guide sampling, data collection and analysis.DiscussionFindings may reveal opportunities for unique structures, interventions or tools that enable ICC that could be developed, implemented, and evaluated through future research. This information will serve as a formative needs assessment to identify the nature of ongoing or required improvements, which can be directly used by our decision maker collaborators, and as a framework by policy makers, cancer system managers, and DAP managers elsewhere to strategically plan for and implement diagnostic cancer services

Nanostructured Ternary Nickel-Based Mixed Anionic (Telluro)-Selenide as a Superior Catalyst for Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Developing Protocols for Designing High-Efficiency, Durable, Cost-Effective Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) Necessitates Deeper Understanding of Structure–property Correlation as a Function of Composition. Herein, It Has Been Demonstrated that Incorporating Tellurium into Binary Nickel Chalcogenide (NiSe) and Creating a Mixed Anionic Phase Perturbs its Electronic Structure and Significantly Enhances the OER Activity. a Series of Nanostructured Nickel Chalcogenides Comprising a Layer-By-Layer Morphology Along with Mixed Anionic Ternary Phase Are Grown in Situ on Nickel Foam with Varying Morphological Textures using Simple Hydrothermal Synthesis Route. Comprehensive X-Ray Diffraction, X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, and in Situ Raman Spectroscopy Analysis Confirms the Formation of a Trigonal Single-Phase Nanocrystalline Nickel (Telluro)-Selenide (NiSeTe) as a Truly Mixed Anionic Composition. the NiSeTe Electrocatalyst Exhibits Excellent OER Performance, with a Low overpotential of 300 MV at 50 MA Cm−2 and a Small Tafel Slope of 98 MV Dec−1 in 1 M KOH Electrolyte. the Turnover Frequency and Mass Activity Are 0.047 S−1 and 90.3 Ag−1, Respectively. Detailed Electrochemical Measurements Also Reveal Enhanced Charge Transfer Properties of the NiSeTe Phase Compared to the Mixture of Binaries. Density Functional Theory Calculations Reveal Favorable OH Adsorption Energy in the Mixed Anionic Phase Compared to the Binary Chalcogenides Confirming Superior Electrocatalytic Property

Clone selection and process lever optimization using an AMBR® 15 system for conversion of a roller bottle process to a suspension, perfusion bioreactor platform

Due to the high capital costs for a new roller bottle facility, a new suspension bioreactor perfusion platform was pursued as a potential option to improve the supply network for an existing commercial roller bottle cell culture process. The first step in developing the bioreactor process was the adaptation of the current commercial working cell bank to serum-free, suspension conditions. Subcloning of this serum-free, suspension adapted pool was performed to reduce the pool to the top 50 clones based on titer and activity. In deep well plates and shake flask cultures, the top 50 clones were further screened to yield the top 10 clones based on yield, activity, and important product quality attributes including sialylation and Mannose-6-Phosphate (M6P) content, which were determined by high throughput analytical methods specifically designed for this molecule. In parallel with these activities, an ambr® 15 perfusion scale down model was developed to evaluate multiple process levers (e.g. medium osmolarity, target viable cell concentration, cell specific perfusion rate, etc.) for the serum-free, suspension adapted pool using definitive screening designs. After ambr® 15 scale down model development, the Top 10 clones identified in subcloning were evaluated in the top conditions identified from the process lever optimization study. Several of the best combinations of clones / bioreactor conditions were then repeated in 10L bench scale bioreactors to ensure reproducible cell culture performance. Furthermore, the 10L cultures were harvested and purified to mock drug substance to confirm significant product quality attributes were consistent between the ambr® 15 scale down model and bench scale bioreactors and within desired commercial specification ranges. These results suggest that the ambr® 15 perfusion scale down model can be deployed for clone selection, process optimization, and process characterization activities for the current suspension, perfusion bioreactor process, as well as development of future perfusion processes, to ensure successful launch at large scale

RNR1, a 3′–5′ exoribonuclease belonging to the RNR superfamily, catalyzes 3′ maturation of chloroplast ribosomal RNAs in Arabidopsis thaliana

Arabidopsis thaliana chloroplasts contain at least two 3′ to 5′ exoribonucleases, polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPase) and an RNase R homolog (RNR1). PNPase has been implicated in both mRNA and 23S rRNA 3′ processing. However, the observed maturation defects do not affect chloroplast translation, suggesting that the overall role of PNPase in maturation of chloroplast rRNA is not essential. Here, we show that this role can be largely ascribed to RNR1, for which homozygous mutants germinate only on sucrose-containing media, and have white cotyledons and pale green rosette leaves. Accumulation of chloroplast-encoded mRNAs and tRNAs is unaffected in such mutants, suggesting that RNR1 activity is either unnecessary or redundant for their processing and turnover. However, accumulation of several chloroplast rRNA species is severely affected. High-resolution RNA gel blot analysis, and mapping of 5′ and 3′ ends, revealed that RNR1 is involved in the maturation of 23S, 16S and 5S rRNAs. The 3′ extensions of the accumulating 5S rRNA precursors can be efficiently removed in vitro by purified RNR1, consistent with this view. Our data suggest that decreased accumulation of mature chloroplast ribosomal RNAs leads to a reduction in the number of translating ribosomes, ultimately compromising chloroplast protein abundance and thus plant growth and development

Overcoming manufacturing challenges for an early phase development program

Speed to clinic often does not allow for in-depth manufacturing process development and understanding of early phase clinical programs; however, this may be necessary when inconsistencies in process performance or product quality are observed. For a recent Phase 1 fed-batch process, drug substance manufacturing process variability was observed during development and manufacturing scale productions. Process performance variability was observed during upstream process with ending viability ranging from 90% to 60% and end product neutral glycan profile ranging from 15% to 50%. To mitigate future performance variability, two approaches were taken: 1) improve cell culture performance robustness and 2) probe the relationship between cell culture performance and product quality attributes. Using ambr®15 as a high-throughput screening tool, a series of risk-based process parameter screening studies were conducted to eliminate potential root causes for culture viability decline. Small scale studies, both at ambr®15 and benchtop bioreactor scales, offered insights suggesting shear sensitivity and raw material variability were potential contributors to inconsistent cell culture performance. Strategic process-specific alterations, such as changing aeration method and lowering the agitation intensity, resulted in culture health improvements. Small scale results also indicated high-risk medium lots may be identified and mitigated with additional shear protectants. Large scale manufacturing in-process data suggest glycosylation pattern may not be directly linked to cell culture viability. Further studies may be useful to identify other process steps that contribute to product quality variations. Learnings from this presentation highlight strategies to improve cell culture performance robustness and the need to establish the relationship between in-process attributes and end product quality

LITOS: a versatile LED illumination tool for optogenetic stimulation.

Optogenetics has become a key tool to manipulate biological processes with high spatio-temporal resolution. Recently, a number of commercial and open-source multi-well illumination devices have been developed to provide throughput in optogenetics experiments. However, available commercial devices remain expensive and lack flexibility, while open-source solutions require programming knowledge and/or include complex assembly processes. We present a LED Illumination Tool for Optogenetic Stimulation (LITOS) based on an assembled printed circuit board controlling a commercially available 32 × 64 LED matrix as illumination source. LITOS can be quickly assembled without any soldering, and includes an easy-to-use interface, accessible via a website hosted on the device itself. Complex light stimulation patterns can easily be programmed without coding expertise. LITOS can be used with different formats of multi-well plates, petri dishes, and flasks. We validated LITOS by measuring the activity of the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway in response to different dynamic light stimulation regimes using FGFR1 and Raf optogenetic actuators. LITOS can uniformly stimulate all the cells in a well and allows for flexible temporal stimulation schemes. LITOS's affordability and ease of use aims at democratizing optogenetics in any laboratory

Direct observation of light-driven, concerted electron–proton transfer

Concerted proton-coupled electron transfer (EPT) reactions in which both electrons and protons transfer in tandem are at the heart of many chemical and biological conversions including photosystem II. We report here the direct observation of absorption bands arising from photoEPT transitions, in this case, in H-bonded complexes between N-methyl-4,4′-bipyridinium cation and biologically relevant donors including tyrosine. The importance of these observations follows from the earlier experimental observations by Taube and coworkers on intervalence transfer in mixed-valence complexes. The observation of these photoEPT transitions and the appearance of reactive radical products also points to a possible, if inefficient, role in DNA photodamage and, possibly, in the formation of reactive oxygen intermediates