Zebrafish as a Model Organism to Study Nanomaterial Toxicity

Recent developments in nanotechnology has increased the market value of nanoproducts in various industries. This has increased concerns associated with potential toxicity of nanoproducts to humans and the environments. Even though, green and biosynthesized nanoparticles are considered to be less toxic than chemically synthesized nanoparticles, they still possess some level of toxicity. Conventional toxicity assessments via human cells, live animals such as rat, frog or rabbit have several drawbacks including ethical issue and challenges involving the maintenance and development of cell cultures. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a transparent vertebrate fish that can reproduce rapidly. Its larvae develop in 5 days up to 3-5 cm long. It also possesses about 69% similar genetic profile, molecular mechanism, cell development and organ physiology as humans. Hence, it has the potential to be utilized as an alternative to humans or live animal models for initial drug screening and toxicity tests. European Union, USFDA and ICH have approved the use of zebrafish for toxicological evaluation of pharmaceutical products including nanomedicines. The article presents for the potential of zebrafish in preclinical evaluation of the toxicity of nanomaterials. It also discusses other potential applications, including medical imaging and environmental toxicity

A photobioreactor design for large-scale microalgae cultivation

Microalgae are a promising alternative feedstock for producing biofuels (e.g., bioethanol and biodiesel) and bio-products (e.g., omega-3 and chlorophyll). However, the high cost of developing products from microalgae remains an obstacle to the full use of microalgae. Major hindrances to the commercial viability of algae are the operational and maintenance costs associated with large-scale cultivation. Most microalga cultivation operations rely on improvised photobioreactor designs, of which open-pond systems are frequently considered for large-scale operations. A cost-effective cultivation method is needed to improve the sustainability and economics of microalga cultivation, whilst minimising space and culture contamination and maintaining the integrity of desired species. Several photobioreactor designs are reviewed for the effective cultivation of microalgae, and the advantages and limitations of these photobioreactors are highlighted. Process challenges to scaling up the design of photobioreactors for commercial operations are also discussed

Energy Efficiency Enhancement of Fossil-Fuelled Power Systems

Energy efficiency is the simplest and cost-effective approach for power and process industries to meet a growing demand for cleaner energy, and this applies to the power generating industries as well. Energy efficiency of fossil-fuelled power systems in developed as well as developing countries is abnormally low, consuming high quantity of fuel to generate per unit electricity, which is a fundamental issue throughout the globe. Though energy efficiency improvements are possible at all sections of a power system, this paper put forward an energy efficiency enhancement opportunity at the power generation station itself by proper scheduling of the generating units. To show the efficacy of the proposed strategy, an economic dispatch algorithm has been applied to several dissimilar realistic systems at different load conditions and the outcome of one such realistic system is presented in this paper. Keywords: Energy efficiency enhancement; fossil-fuelled power systems; generation scheduling JEL Classifications: B4; C8; L8; O1; O

Sub-critical water technology for enhanced extraction of bioactive compounds from microalgae

Current extraction technologies, including chemical, mechanical, and biological based methods, routinely used to extract biochemical compounds from microalgal biomass are disadvantaged with lengthy processing steps, energy intensive operations, high operational cost, lower product yields and environmentally unfriendly processes. Hence, the search for a sustainable low-cost technology for high throughput extract ion of biochemicals from microalgal biomass is major research endeavour. Sub-critical water extraction (SWE) technology has been used for the extraction of active compounds from different biomass materials with low process cost, mild operating conditions, short process times, and environmental sustainability. With the limited application of the technology to microalgal biomass, this work investigates the factors that affect the production yield of bioactive compounds during SWE of microalgal biomass. The SWE process was investigated under different process conditions include temperature (180-374 ̊C), extraction time (1-20min) and biomass loading (5-40 wt%). The results showed that the highest carbohydrate and protein yields of 14.2 g/100g and 31.2 g/100g, respectively, were achieved at 277ºC, 5 min with 5% of biomass loading. This productivity level which is in keeping or higher than that of current production systems endorses SWE as a promising technique for extracting bioactive compounds from microalgae

Cloud Based Solid Waste Transportation Optimisation for Energy Conversion

Effective and efficient management of solid waste is an incessantly growing and the obdurate problem of global and regional levels particularly for local authorities in urban centers. Several processes such as monitoring, collection, transporting, processing, recycling, and disposal are involved that requires immediate attention owing to economic and environmental concerns. Expressly the gathering and moving of solid waste to the energy production/recycling/ending destination has been prioritized higher because of its significant share of the total waste management budget. All these processes involve the mammoth amount of data and their manipulation for real-time use. Hence, this paper proposes a cloud based algorithm to optimize the transportation cost of solid waste from transfer stations to the final dumping stations subject to transfer vehicle constraints. The solid waste transportation dispatching is a direct analytical approach that provides three options: (i) economic dispatch option provides a minimum operating cost of solid waste transfer and its corresponding emission; (ii) emission dispatch option provides a minimum vehicle emission for the same quantity of the solid waste transferred and its corresponding operating cost of transfer and finally (iii) an environmentally friendly economic transfer of solid waste. The efficacy of the algorithm has been shown with an enduring solid waste management system in the Indian context. Keywords: Cloud, economic and environmental concerns, solid waste transportation JEL Classifications: B41, C61, C88, R4

Sustainable Economic and Emission Control Strategy for Deregulated Power Systems

The electric power system operation and control is a multifaceted problem aims at assuring an economic, reliable, and environmentally acceptable power supply to its consumers at all times. So as to be environmentally acceptable, electric utilities are required to reduce their power plant emissions. Due to significant consumers' responsiveness on clean electrical energy, varied operational performance schemes have developed in time. The integration of renewable energy resources, implementation of advanced pollution control equipment, adoption of multi-fuel dispatching techniques, up gradation of inefficient power generating units, and emission constraint generation scheduling are a few of them. This paper proposes a non-iterative analytical algorithm for generation scheduling of deregulated energy systems with economic and emission control strategies subject to line load ability constraints. The objectives are achieved through changes in operating and control policies only without any changes in the system configuration. Application to a modified IEEE 30-bus test system validates the suitability of the proposed control schemes for real-time implementation. Keywords:  Economic control, emission control, transmission line load ability, generation scheduling, non-iterative analytical method JEL Classifications: C82, L94, P18, Q4

Cloud computing for energy management in smart grid - an application survey

The smart grid is the emerging energy system wherein the application of information technology, tools and techniques that make the grid run more efficiently. It possesses demand response capacity to help balance electrical consumption with supply. The challenges and opportunities of emerging and future smart grids can be addressed by cloud computing. To focus on these requirements, we provide an in-depth survey on different cloud computing applications for energy management in the smart grid architecture. In this survey, we present an outline of the current state of research on smart grid development. We also propose a model of cloud based economic power dispatch for smart grid

Materials, methods and systems for purification and/or seperation

Materials, methods and systems are provided for the purifn., filtration and​/or sepn. of certain mols. such as certain size biomols. Certain embodiments relate to supports contg. at least one polymethacrylate polymer engineered to have certain pore diams. and other properties, and which can be functionally adapted to for certain purifications, filtrations and​/or sepns. Biomols. are selected from a group consisting of: polynucleotide mols., oligonucleotide mols. including antisense oligonucleotide mols. such as antisense RNA and other oligonucleotide mols. that are inhibitory of gene function such as small interfering RNA (siRNA)​, polypeptides including proteinaceous infective agents such as prions, for example, the infectious agent for CJD, and infectious agents such as viruses and phage

Subcritical water technology for enhanced extraction of biochemical compounds from Chlorella vulgaris

Subcritical water extraction (SWE) technology has been used for the extraction of active compounds from different biomass materials with low process cost, mild operating conditions, short process times, and environmental sustainability. With the limited application of the technology to microalgal biomass, this work investigates parametrically the potential of subcritical water for high-yield extraction of biochemicals such as carbohydrates and proteins from microalgal biomass. The SWE process was optimized using central composite design (CCD) under varying process conditions of temperature (180–374°C), extraction time (1–20 min), biomass particulate size (38–250 μm), and microalgal biomass loading (5–40 wt.%). Chlorella vulgaris used in this study shows high volatile matter (83.5 wt.%) and carbon content (47.11 wt.%), giving advantage as a feedstock for biofuel production. The results showed maximum total carbohydrate content and protein yields of 14.2 g/100 g and 31.2 g/100 g, respectively, achieved under the process conditions of 277°C, 5% of microalgal biomass loading, and 5 min extraction time. Statistical analysis revealed that, of all the parameters investigated, temperature is the most critical during SWE of microalgal biomass for protein and carbohydrate production