Cold Plasma Produced Catalytic Materials

The cold plasma techniques are widely applied to create new materials possessing unique properties, which cannot be prepared by any other methods. Among the many interesting substances produced with the participation of cold plasma, a special place is occupied by materials with catalytic properties. The chapter gives a brief review of various cold plasma methods used for the preparation of catalytic materials – from the plasma modification of conventional catalysts via plasma-enhanced classical synthesis of catalysts to the advanced thin catalytic films fabricated by plasma sputtering processes but primarily by plasma deposition from metalorganic precursors (PECVD). Recently, the catalytic films have attracted considerable attention due to the possibility of depositing them as very thin coatings on virtually all supports without any change in their geometry. Such coatings open the way for new reactor designs, so-called structured reactors, designated for various chemical processes. They can also be used as catalytic deposit on the surface of electrodes for fuel cells and photoelectrodes for water splitting processes. Recent developments in this field and further prospects for thin catalytic films are discussed, all the more so because it is one of the main areas of research in our department

Plasma Modified Polycarbonate Nonwovens as Filtering Material for Liquid Aerosols

The filter materials commonly used in filtration processes consist of nonwoven fabrics made by melt blowing. In order to improve filtration properties they are subjected to various modifications. This paper presents the treatment of polycarbonate nonwovens with lowpressure cold plasma generated by a 13.56 MHz RF discharge using process gases such as Ar and O2. The effectiveness of such treatment was assessed on the basis of results of the penetration of nonwovens by paraffin oil mist as well as the air flow resistance. The effects of plasma on polycarbonate nonwovens, especially on their surface morphology and chemical structure, were evaluated by electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicate that Ar plasma is a good tool for improving the filtration properties of polycarbonate filtering materials. According to these results, the surface roughness plays an important role in the high-efficiency filtration of liquid aerosols with a small increase in air flow resistance

Vaccine conjugate

Describes a method of producing active immunity against a viral disease in an animal subject. It comprises of administering a vaccine conjugate consisting essentially of a live virus and a neutralizing factor bound to the live virus to the subject. The neutralizing factor is selected from the group consisting of antibodies and antibody fragments. The live virus is one capable of producing disease in the subject, and the antibody or antibody fragment is one capable of neutralizing the live virus

Method of treating viral diseases in animals

Describes a method of producing active immunity against a viral disease in an animal subject. It comprises of administering a vaccine conjugate consisting essentially of a live virus and a neutralizing factor bound to the live virus to the subject. The neutralizing factor is selected from the group consisting of antibodies and antibody fragments. The live virus is one capable of producing disease in the subject, and the antibody or antibody fragment is one capable of neutralizing the live virus. Preferred subjects are birds, a preferred virus is Infectious Bursal Disease Virus, and a preferred route of administration to birds is by in ovo administration

Method of treatment

Describes a method of producing active immunity against a viral disease in an animal subject. It comprises of administering a vaccine conjugate consisting essentially of a live virus and a neutralizing factor bound to the live virus to the subject. The neutralizing factor is selected from the group consisting of antibodies and antibody fragments. The live virus is one capable of producing disease in the subject, and the antibody or antibody fragment is one capable of neutralizing the live virus. Preferred subjects are birds, a preferred virus is Infectious Bursal Disease Virus, and a preferred route of administration to birds is by in ovo administration

Vaccine conjugate for treatment of avian diseases

A method of producing active immunity against infectious bursal disease virus in an avian subject comprises administering to the subject a vaccine conjugate consisting essentially of a live virus and a neutralizing factor bound to the live virus. The neutralizing factor is selected from the group consisting of antibodies and antibody fragments. The live virus is one capable of producing disease in the subject, and the antibody or antibody fragment is one capable of neutralizing the live virus. A preferred route of administration to birds is by in ovo administration

Feasibility of Organo-Beryllium Target Mandrels Using Organo-Germanium PECVD as a Surrogate

Inertial Confinement Fusion capsules incorporating beryllium are becoming attractive for use in implosion experiments designed for modest energy gain. This paper explores the feasibility of chemical vapor deposition of organo-beryllium precursors to form coating materials of interest as ablators and fuel containers. Experiments were performed in a surrogate chemical system utilizing tetramethylgermane as the organometallic precursor. Coatings with up to 60 mole percent germanium were obtained. These coatings compare favorably with those previously reported in the literature and provide increasing confidence that a similar deposition process with an organo-beryllium precursor would be successful

Metabolic engineering of astaxanthin biosynthesis in maize endosperm and characterization of a prototype high oil hybrid

Maize was genetically engineered for the biosynthesis of the high value carotenoid astaxanthin in the kernel endosperm. Introduction of a β-carotene hydroxylase and a β-carotene ketolase into a white maize genetic background extended the carotenoid pathway to astaxanthin. Simultaneously, phytoene synthase, the controlling enzyme of carotenogenesis, was over-expressed for enhanced carotenoid production and lycopene ε-cyclase was knocked-down to direct more precursors into the β-branch of the extended ketocarotenoid pathway which ends with astaxanthin. This astaxanthin-accumulating transgenic line was crossed into a high oil- maize genotype in order to increase the storage capacity for lipophilic astaxanthin. The high oil astaxanthin hybrid was compared to its astaxanthin producing parent. We report an in depth metabolomic and proteomic analysis which revealed major up- or down- regulation of genes involved in primary metabolism. Specifically, amino acid biosynthesis and the citric acid cycle which compete with the synthesis or utilization of pyruvate and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, the precursors for carotenogenesis, were down-regulated. Nevertheless, principal component analysis demonstrated that this compositional change is within the range of the two wild type parents used to generate the high oil producing astaxanthin hybrid