The environmental footprint of morphine: a life cycle assessment from opium poppy farming to the packaged drug

OBJECTIVE: To examine the environmental life cycle from poppy farming through to production of 100 mg in 100 mL of intravenous morphine (standard infusion bag). DESIGN: \u27Cradle-to-grave\u27 process-based life cycle assessment (observational). SETTINGS: Australian opium poppy farms, and facilities for pelletising, manufacturing morphine, and sterilising and packaging bags of morphine. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The environmental effects (eg, CO2 equivalent (\u27CO2 e\u27) emissions and water use) of producing 100 mg of morphine. All aspects of morphine production from poppy farming, pelletising, bulk morphine manufacture through to final formulation. Industry-sourced and inventory-sourced databases were used for most inputs. RESULTS: Morphine sulfate (100 mg in 100 mL) had a climate change effect of 204 g CO2 e (95% CI 189 to 280 g CO2 e), approximating the CO2 e emissions of driving an average car 1 km. Water use was 7.8 L (95% CI 6.7- to 9.0 L), primarily stemming from farming (6.7 L). All other environmental effects were minor and several orders of magnitude less than CO2 e emissions and water use. Almost 90% of CO2 e emissions occurred during the final stages of 100 mg of morphine manufacture. Morphine\u27s packaging contributed 95 g CO2 e, which accounted for 46% of the total CO2 e (95% CI 82 to 155 g CO2 e). Mixing, filling and sterilisation of 100 mg morphine bags added a further 86 g CO2 e, which accounted for 42% (95% CI 80 to 92 g CO2 e). Poppy farming (6 g CO2 e, 3%), pelletising and manufacturing (18 g CO2 e, 9%) made smaller contributions to CO2 emissions. CONCLUSIONS: The environmental effects of growing opium poppies and manufacturing bulk morphine were small. The final stages of morphine production, particularly sterilisation and packaging, contributed to almost 90% of morphine\u27s carbon footprint. Focused measures to improve the energy efficiency and sources for drug sterilisation and packaging could be explored as these are relevant to all drugs. Comparisons of the environmental effects of the production of other drugs and between oral and intravenous preparations are required

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Reliability Sensitivity Analysis by the Axis Orthogonal Importance Sampling Method Based on the Box-Muller Transformation

The axis orthogonal importance sampling method proves to be one version of efficient importance sampling methods since the quasi-Monte Carlo simulation is its basic ingredient, in which it is now a common practice to transform low-discrepancy sequences from the uniform distribution to the normal distribution by the well-known inverse transformation. As a valid transformation method for low-discrepancy sequences, the Box-Muller transformation is introduced into the axis orthogonal importance sampling method and compared with the inverse transformation in this paper for structural reliability sensitivity analysis. Three representative quasi-random sequences with low discrepancy are presented to generate samples following the target distribution and explore the interaction with the transformation method, which is used as a sample plan along the tangent plane at the most probable failure point in the axial orthogonal importance sampling for structural reliability analysis and reliability sensitivity analysis. The numerical experiments show that the reliability sensitivity analysis method by means of the Box-Muller transformation is a good alternative to the inverse transformation to generate samples from low-discrepancy sequences to the normal distribution. In particular, the scheme of the Box-Muller transformation combined with the Sobol sequence needs fewer samples with more accuracy and is more applicable for solving reliability sensitivity analysis in various nonlinear problems

Biodegradation of organic compounds in the coal gangue by Bacillus sp. into humic acid

Coal gangue (CG), one of the world's largest industrial solid wastes produced during coal mining, is extremely difficult to be used owing to its combined contents of clay minerals and organic macromolecules. This study explored a novel process of degrading the harmful organic compounds in the CG into humic acid using a biological method characterized by scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive spectrometer, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and elemental analyzer. The results reveal that adding selected Bacillus sp. to the CG for 40 days can increase the humic acid content by similar to 17 times, reaching 17338.17 mg/kg, which is also the best level for promoting plant growth. FTIR and XPS spectra show that the organic compounds in the CG transforms primarily from C=C to C=O, COOH, and O-H groups, indicating that the organic compounds are gradually oxidized and activated, improving the humic acid concentration of soil. In addition, Bacillus sp. decreases pH and benzo[a]pyrene contents, and increases the content of available nutrients. After microbial degradation, coal gangue can be turned into ecological restoration materials

Response Surface Method for Reliability Analysis Based on Iteratively-Reweighted-Least-Square Extreme Learning Machines

A response surface method for reliability analysis based on iteratively-reweighted-least-square extreme learning machines (IRLS-ELM) is explored in this paper, in which, highly nonlinear implicit performance functions of structures are approximated by the IRLS-ELM. Monte Carlo simulation is then carried out on the approximate IRLS-ELM for structural reliability analysis. Some numerical examples are given to illustrate the proposed method. The effects of parameters involved in the IRLS-ELM on accuracy in reliability analysis are respectively discussed. The results exhibit that a proper number of samples and neurons in hidden layer nodes, an appropriate regularization parameter, and the number of iterations for reweighting are of important assurance to obtain reasonable precision in estimating structural failure probability

Biodegradation of organic compounds in the coal gangue by Bacillus sp. into humic acid

Coal gangue (CG), one of the world's largest industrial solid wastes produced during coal mining, is extremely difficult to be used owing to its combined contents of clay minerals and organic macromolecules. This study explored a novel process of degrading the harmful organic compounds in the CG into humic acid using a biological method characterized by scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive spectrometer, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and elemental analyzer. The results reveal that adding selected Bacillus sp. to the CG for 40 days can increase the humic acid content by similar to 17 times, reaching 17338.17 mg/kg, which is also the best level for promoting plant growth. FTIR and XPS spectra show that the organic compounds in the CG transforms primarily from C=C to C=O, COOH, and O-H groups, indicating that the organic compounds are gradually oxidized and activated, improving the humic acid concentration of soil. In addition, Bacillus sp. decreases pH and benzo[a]pyrene contents, and increases the content of available nutrients. After microbial degradation, coal gangue can be turned into ecological restoration materials

Analysis and control of nonlinear vibration of autonomous vehicle passing through hybrid consecutive speed control humps

In order to improve the safety and comfort of autonomous vehicles passing through the expressway, relevant departments of expressway construction often design and lay consecutive speed control humps (SCHs) with cross-sections of different shapes according to different road conditions, such as the combination of trapezoidal and sinusoidal SCHs. In this paper, we conduct a study about the nonlinear dynamic characteristics of the autonomous vehicle passing through hybrid SCHs. Firstly, a four-degree-of-freedom (4-DOF) nonlinear model of the vehicle suspension and the speed coupling excitation model under hybrid SCHs are established. Then the fourth-fifth order Runge–Kutta method is used to simulate the nonlinear system, and its nonlinear dynamic characteristics are analyzed. The results show that chaotic motion occurs when the vehicle passes through hybrid SCHs, and the speed range of chaotic motion is obtained. Then, a direct variable feedback control method is used to suppress the chaotic vibration of semi-active suspension vehicles, and the effect is verified by simulation experiments. Finally, this paper presents a multi-objective optimization model based on a genetic algorithm (GA) for active suspension vehicles. The optimization model selects the vertical displacement and pitching angle of the vehicle body as the objective function. The research results of this paper can provide information on the ride comfort’s optimization for autonomous vehicles passing through hybrid SCHs and on the design of vehicle suspension system

The Effect of a Fly Ash-Based Soil Conditioner on Corn and Wheat Yield and Risk Analysis of Heavy Metal Contamination

The utilization of coal fly ash (CFA) as a soil conditioner has been a research hotspot in recent years. In this paper, the continuity and stability of the yield-increasing effect of a fly ash-based soil conditioner were investigated through field trials for three consecutive years. The yield-increasing effect and applicability were also investigated by planting a variety of crops in different types of soil. Field test results revealed that the new fly ash-based soil conditioner had wide adaptability and stability under the condition of reducing the application of traditional fertilizers by 20%. For corns grown in castano-cinnamon soil and dark brown soil, the application of the new fly ash-based soil conditioner for three consecutive years has steadily increased the yield by more than 10%. The yield of wheat planted in castano-cinnamon soil also increased by 15%. Additionally, considering that heavy metals (HMs) contained in the fly ash-based soil conditioner may cause environmental contamination, this paper calculated and analyzed the bio-concentration factor (BCF) and the translocation factor (TF) of Cr, As, Cd, Hg and Pb in the corn experimental fields. The results showed that the five heavy metals were not significantly enriched in various parts of the corn stalk after application of the soil conditioner, and there was temporarily no environmental risk in terms of returning straws to the field or raising livestock

Lactococcus lactis phages from the perspective of their diversity, thermal and biocidal resistance

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB), particularly Lactococcus lactis, are of great significance in dairy fermentations. Many LAB strains are susceptible to attack by phages that affect their technological, biochemical and physiological functions. Phages of L. lactis are a serious concern because of the economic importance of this bacterium in the dairy industry. Members of L. lactis phages belonging to the P335, 936 and c2 groups are more problematic for the dairy industry. Many phages of the 936 group are resistant to various thermal and biocidal treatments commonly used in the dairy industry. This article reviews the diversity of L. lactis bacteriophages of the P335, 936 and c2 groups and discusses their interaction with their bacterial hosts. In addition, this review provides an overview of the resistance of L. lactis phages to thermal treatments and chemical biocides, and highlights some novel strategies to destroy these phages

Phenotypic and genetic heterogeneity within biofilms with particular emphasis on persistence and antimicrobial tolerance.

Phenotypic changes or phase variation within biofilms is an important feature of bacterial dormant life. Enhanced resistance to antimicrobials is one of the distinct features displayed by a fraction of cells within biofilms. It is believed that persisters are mainly responsible for this phenotypic heterogeneity. However, there is still an unresolved debate on the formation of persisters. In this short review, we highlight all known genomic and proteomic changes encountered by bacterial cells within biofilms. We have also described all phenotypic changes displayed by bacterial cells within biofilms with particular emphasis on enhanced antimicrobial tolerance of biofilms with particular reference to persisters. In addition, all currently known models of persistence have been succinctly discussed