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The prevalent use of lithium-ion cells in electric vehicles poses challenges as these cells rely on rare metals, their acquisition being environmentally unsafe and complex. The disposal of used batteries, if mishandled, poses a significant threat, potentially leading to ecological disasters. Managing used batteries is imperative, necessitating a viable solution. The remedy lies in implementing robust battery recycling systems. This paper explores diverse disposal methods, particularly focusing on their relevance within the automotive industry, while also acknowledging other potential applications. By adopting a closed-loop approach, this system not only addresses the waste issue but also circumvents environmental costs linked to the extraction and production of new raw materials. Consequently, it not only resolves waste concerns but also mitigates environmental strain and conserves resources. It was described the use of used batteries as energy storage devices. This is an innovative approach to extend battery life cycle, reduce waste and provide cost-effective energy storage solutions. This practice is particularly important for large-scale energy storage systems, such as those used in conjunction with renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy. The work pays significant attention to battery thermal regimes, which refer to the various temperature conditions in which batteries operate. These systems significantly impact battery performance, lifespan, safety and efficiency. Understanding and managing these thermal regimes is critical to optimizing the use of batteries in a variety of applications, including electric vehicles, portable electronics and renewable energy storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large class of synthetic compounds, many of which are persistent, mobile and toxic (PMT). The sheer number of PFAS makes a substance-by-substance based approach to regulating this group unfeasible. Given the known risks of many PFAS, a precautionary approach (i.e., the Essential Use Concept; EUC) has been called for, whereby any substance is assumed to be harmful and should be phased out, unless it is shown that: (a) the use of this substance is necessary for health and safety, or is critical for the functioning of society and (b) there are no available technically and economically feasible alternatives. While experts, including chemists and toxicologists, are well-placed to assess the second criteria, determining what is necessary for the "functioning of society" requires a wider consideration of societal beliefs and preferences and greater involvement of various interested and affected parties, especially those whose voices are less heard but may be most vulnerable. The aim of the current paper is to provide a preliminary framework and research agenda outlining why and at what points in the essential use decision-making process broader societal perspectives are required, and how such 'social data' can be collected. The ultimate goal is to improve chemicals management by supporting citizens in becoming more informed and engaged participants in relevant debates and policies, including in how to operationalise the EUC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Associations of perchlorate, thiocyanate, and nitrate exposures with bone mineral density (BMD) in adults have not previously been studied. This study aimed to estimate the associations of individual and concurrent exposure of the three chemicals with adult BMD. Based on National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES, 2011–2018), 1618 non-pregnant adults (age ≥ 20 years and 47.0% female) were included in this study. Survey-weighted linear regression models were used to estimate individual urinary perchlorate, thiocyanate, and nitrate concentrations with lumbar spine BMD and total BMD in adults. Then, weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) models were conducted to evaluate associations of co-occurrence of the three chemicals with adult BMD. In all participants, nitrate exposure was inversely associated with lumbar spine BMD (β = − 0.054, 95%CI: − 0.097, − 0.010). In stratification analyses, significant inverse associations were observed in female and participants older than 40 years old. In WQS regressions, significant negative associations of the weighted sum of the three chemicals with total and lumbar spine BMD (β = − 0.014, 95%CI: − 0.021, − 0.007; β = − 0.011, 95%CI: − 0.019, − 0.004, respectively) were found, and the dominant contributor was nitrate. In the BKMR models, non-linear dose–response associations of nitrate exposure with lumbar spine and total BMD were observed. These findings suggested that environmental perchlorate, thiocyanate, and nitrate exposure may reduce adult BMD and nitrate is the main contributor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to certain chemicals prenatally and in childhood can impact development and may increase risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Leveraging a larger set of literature searches conducted to synthesize results from longitudinal studies of potentially modifiable risk factors for childhood ADHD, we present meta-analytic results from 66 studies that examined the associations between early chemical exposures and later ADHD diagnosis or symptoms. Studies were eligible for inclusion if the chemical exposure occurred at least 6 months prior to measurement of ADHD diagnosis or symptomatology. Included papers were published between 1975 and 2019 on exposure to anesthetics (n = 5), cadmium (n = 3), hexachlorobenzene (n = 4), lead (n = 22), mercury (n = 12), organophosphates (n = 7), and polychlorinated biphenyls (n = 13). Analyses are presented for each chemical exposure by type of ADHD outcome reported (categorical vs. continuous), type of ADHD measurement (overall measures of ADHD, ADHD symptoms only, ADHD diagnosis only, inattention only, hyperactivity/impulsivity only), and timing of exposure (prenatal vs. childhood vs. cumulative), whenever at least 3 relevant effect sizes were available. Childhood lead exposure was positively associated with ADHD diagnosis and symptoms in all analyses except for the prenatal analyses (odds ratios (ORs) ranging from 1.60 to 2.62, correlation coefficients (CCs) ranging from 0.14 to 0.16). Other statistically significant associations were limited to organophosphates (CC = 0.11, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.03–0.19 for continuous measures of ADHD outcomes overall), polychlorinated biphenyls (CC = 0.08, 95% CI: 0.02–0.14 for continuous measures of inattention as the outcome), and both prenatal and childhood mercury exposure (CC = 0.02, 95% CI: 0.00–0.04 for continuous measures of ADHD outcomes overall for either exposure window). Our findings provide further support for negative impacts of prenatal and/or childhood exposure to certain chemicals and raise the possibility that primary prevention and targeted screening could prevent or mitigate ADHD symptomatology. Furthermore, these findings support the need for regular review of regulations as our scientific understanding of the risks posed by these chemicals evolves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though the importance of laboratory safety has been recognized for many years, educational institutions have been slower in adopting safety protocols. Chemistry experiments, when performed in a laboratory, are associated with certain potential dangers. Still, with careful planning and safety regulations, most of the hazards can be avoided. Enforcement of safety practices in the laboratory is mandatory for every individual working in the laboratory. Safety and health should be an integral part of the planning, preparation, and implementation of any experiment. In an educational establishment where a student learns and experiences new activities, the chances of incidents, injury, and damage are higher compared to industries. Therefore, the students must be made aware of what can go wrong, how to prevent such accidents from occurring, and how to respond in case of an emergency through first-aid measures. Though many safety guides and protocols exist on paper, case studies are effective ways to get a better understanding of documented facts in real-world situations. These help in active engagement as they serve as strong pieces of evidence for the documented facts. This write-up explains how to deal with some of the common accidents in chemistry laboratories with past cases of laboratory incidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cotton is noted for its absorbency, strength, and comfort; yet, it has poor crease recovery and abrasion resistance. Researchers are urged to use traditional dimethyloldihydroxylethyleneurea with multifunctional carboxylic acids as a result of this. However, due to their significant toxicity, non-formaldehyde-based crosslinkers are being used to improve the essential properties. As a result, numerous chemicals, including sodium chloride, sodium carbonate, triethylenetetramine (HY951), and 1,1,4,4-butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA), were utilized in this experiment at varying concentrations to treat cotton materials. Considering variations in treatment, the physico-mechanical and wicking characteristics were also investigated. The drapability, crease recovery, and strength of treated cotton fabrics increase progressively from 5 and 10% concentration. In particular, cotton fabrics treated with up to 10% concentrations of sodium chloride, sodium carbonate, and BTCA improved the properties. The properties start to deteriorate after this concentration. The mechanical and physical qualities of cotton are drastically diminished with HY951 treatment. As the chemical concentration rises, the weight loss brought on by abrasion decreases. Additionally, a modest improvement in wicking characteristics was noted. It was discovered as a result that using BTCA on cotton fabric is beneficial in terms of enhancing fabric qualities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable municipal solid waste leachate (MSWL) management requires a paradigm shift from removing contaminants to effectively recovering resources and decreasing contaminants simultaneously. In this study, two types of humic substances, fulvic acid (FA) and humic acid (HA) were extracted from MSWL. HA was extracted using HCl and NaOH solution, followed by FA using a column bed under diversified operations such as flow rate, input concentration, and bed height. Also, this work aims to evaluate efficiency of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Dynamic adsorption models in predicting FA. With the flow rate of 0.3 mL/min, bed height of 15.5 cm, and input concentration of 4.27 g/mL, the maximum capacity of FA was obtained at 23.03 mg/g. FTIR analysis in HA and FA revealed several oxygen-containing functional groups including carboxylic, phenolic, aliphatic, and ketone. The high correlation coefficient value (R2) and a lower mean squared error value (MSE) were obtained using the ANN, indicating the superior ability of ANN to predict adsorption capacity compared to traditional modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass is a renewable, almost infinite reservoir of a large diversity of highly functionalized chemicals. The conversion of biomass toward biobased platform molecules through biorefineries generally still lacks economic viability. Profitability could be enhanced through the development of new market opportunities for these biobased platform chemicals. The fine chemical industry, and more specifically the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals is one of the sectors bearing significant potential for these biobased building blocks to rapidly emerge and make a difference. There are, however, still many challenges to be dealt with before this market can thrive. Continuous flow technology and its integration for the upgrading of biobased platform molecules for the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals is foreseen as a game-changer. This perspective reflects on the main challenges relative to chemical, process, regulatory and supply chain-related burdens still to be addressed. The implementation of integrated continuous flow processes and their automation into modular units will help for tackling with these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review addresses the need for a framework to increase the consistency, objectivity and transparency in the regulatory assessment of respiratory sensitisers and associated uncertainties. Principal issues are considered and illustrated through a case study (with methyl methacrylate). In the absence of test methods validated for regulatory use, formal documentation of the weight-of-evidence for hazard classification both at the level of integration of individual studies within lines of evidence and across a broad range of data streams was agreed to be critical for such a framework. An integrated approach is proposed to include not only occupational studies and clinical evidence for the regulatory assessment of respiratory sensitisers, but also information on structure and physical and chemical factors, predictive approaches such as structure activity analysis and in vitro and in vivo mechanistic and toxicokinetic findings. A weight-of-evidence protocol, incorporating integration of these sources of data based on predefined considerations, would contribute to transparency and consistency in the outcome of the assessment. In those cases where a decision may need to be taken on the basis of occupational findings alone, conclusions should be based on transparent weighting of relevant data on the observed prevalence of occupational asthma in various studies taking into account all relevant information including the range and nature of workplace exposures to the substance of interest, co-exposure to other chemicals and study quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decades, industrial and scientific communities have developed a complex standardized system (e.g., OECD, ISO, CEN) to evaluate the biodegradability of chemical substances. This system includes for OECD three levels of testing (ready and inherent biodegradability tests, simulation tests). It was adopted by many countries and is completely integrated into European legislation (registration, evaluation, authorization, and restriction of chemicals, REACH). Nevertheless, the different tests have certain deficiencies, and the question arises of how accurately these tests display the situation in the real environment and how the results can be used for predictions. This review will focus on the technical advantages and weaknesses of current tests concerning the technical setup, the inoculum characterization, and its biodegradation potential as well as the use of adequate reference compounds. A special focus of the article will be on combined test systems offering enhanced possibilities to predict biodegradation. The properties of microbial inocula are critically discussed, and a new concept concerning the biodegradation adaptation potential (BAP) of inocula is proposed. Furthermore, a probability model and different in silico QSAR (quantitative structure-activity relationships) models to predict biodegradation from chemical structures are reviewed. Another focus lies on the biodegradation of difficult single compounds and mixtures of chemicals like UVCBs (unknown or variable composition, complex reaction products, or biological materials) which will be an important challenge for the forthcoming decades. Key points: • There are many technical points to be improved in OECD/ISO biodegradation tests • The proper characterization of inocula is a crucial point in biodegradation tests • Combined biodegradation test systems offer extended possibilities for biodegradation tests [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a straightforward modeling procedure to derive 'expected risk' (ER) of chemical substances. Starting from proposed use volumes, intended uses, physical and chemical substance properties and toxicity information, the procedure combines multimedia environmental fate modeling with species sensitivity modeling to derive the probability that exposure concentrations exceed critical effect concentrations. The procedure was tested on 1977 so-called mono-constituent organic chemicals that had been registered to be marketed in the EU, after 'possibility to be used safely' had been demonstrated by showing that the possible Risk Quotients (RQ) defined as PEC/PNEC ratios (Predicted Exposure Concentration & Predicted No Effect Concentration) were expected to remain below the value of 1, as required by REACH. It appears from this study that (i) RQ and ER of chemicals can be calculated readily, reliably, transparently and reproducibly, that (ii) both RQ and ER can be used to assess whether a new chemical may exceed a chosen acceptability level, but that (iii) in addition ER can be straightforwardly used to rank chemicals according to expected environmental safety. In conclusion, the paper states that modeling ER of chemicals (instead of estimating RQ values), could strengthen the scientific basis of environmental risk assessment for use in REACH. The paper further recommends that more robust environmental risk calculation can be done by using acute EC50, instead of chronic NOEC as critical effect concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current approaches for the assessment of environmental and human health risks due to exposure to chemical substances have served their purpose reasonably well. Nevertheless, the systems in place for different uses of chemicals are faced with various challenges, ranging from a growing number of chemicals to changes in the types of chemicals and materials produced. This has triggered global awareness of the need for a paradigm shift, which in turn has led to the publication of new concepts for chemical risk assessment and explorations of how to translate these concepts into pragmatic approaches. As a result, next-generation risk assessment (NGRA) is generally seen as the way forward. However, incorporating new scientific insights and innovative approaches into hazard and exposure assessments in such a way that regulatory needs are adequately met has appeared to be challenging. The European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC) has been designed to address various challenges associated with innovating chemical risk assessment. Its overall goal is to consolidate and strengthen the European research and innovation capacity for chemical risk assessment to protect human health and the environment. With around 200 participating organisations from all over Europe, including three European agencies, and a total budget of over 400 million euro, PARC is one of the largest projects of its kind. It has a duration of seven years and is coordinated by ANSES, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ambition to retain products and materials for as long as possible in a circular economy may dilute, disperse and accumulate hazardous substances. However, in addition to exemptions for circulated products, the regulatory regime targets only a small percentage of all hazardous substances. This emerging problem is just one of many examples why the focus needs to shift from the win–win potential of a circular economy towards a reflexive consideration of tensions, trade-offs and policy conflicts between increased circulation and other topical issues, such as, in this case, reduced dispersion of hazardous substances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective and methods: Three-dimensional (3D) printing is providing new tools. However, the feedstocks use synthetic polymers, such as acrylonitrile, butadiene, styrene, polylactic acid, nylon, and some metals; and while 3D printing, volatile organic compounds and nanoparticles can be released. The literature search was performed using the key terms "3D printing", "chemicals", "toxicity", "health", and "workers". This review examines the search responses for their related experimental results, as well as adverse effects or toxicities, to gain more understanding of their health effects, and help prevent the occupational diseases of workers from the 3D printing process. Results and conclusion: Additive manufacturing or "3D-printing" is a ground-breaking technology that enables the production of complex 3D parts. Its rapid growth calls for immediate toxicological investigations of possible human exposure to estimate occupational health risks. General management measures for hazardous chemicals or harmful factors include substitution, isolation, and ventilation as engineering measures, and the wearing of protective equipment and education as administrative measures. Environmental management measures may be applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural waste, such as rice husk (RH), can be utilized directly or by converting it into various value-added chemicals or functional materials. This minireview has two main objectives: the first is to provide collective information about conversion of RH to value-added products via chemical treatments and the second is to enlist with discussion the various functional materials derived from RH. The chemical treatments help remove recalcitrant structure of lignin and allow carbon-rich organic compounds to separate from RH. The useful products obtained from RH through this method are xylooligosaccharides, bioethanol, levulinic acid, butyric acid, vanillin, benzoic acid, etc. The production of functional materials does not require pretreatment of RH. In this method, RH is combined with metals, non-metals, or their oxides to obtain the functional materials. Due to their porous nature, these RH-based functional materials are used in various applications, such as micro- or nano-adsorbents for the removal of harmful organic and inorganic pollutants; as catalysts because of their active catalytic sites; and as electrode materials because of their high surface area and good carbon quality. In this review, the relevant and latest reports about these applications are discussed with critical analysis.Highlights: Rice husk (RH) is a useful agricultural waste. RH can be transformed into useful materials for various applications. Value-added chemicals can be obtained on suitable treatment of RH. RH can be used as a raw material in small industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus refers to a group of widespread viruses. The name refers to the specific morphology of these viruses because their spikes look like a crown under an electron microscope. The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that has been reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, was proclaimed an international public health emergency (PHEIC) on 30 January 2020, and on 11 March 2020, it was declared as a pandemic (World Health Organization 2020). The official name of the virus was declared by the WHO as "COVID-19 virus", formerly known as "2019-nCoV", or "Wuhan Coronavirus". The International Committee on Virus Taxonomy's Coronavirus Research Group has identified that this virus is a form of coronavirus that caused a severe outbreak of acute respiratory syndrome in 2002–2003 (SARS). As a result, the latest severe acute respiratory syndrome has been classified as a corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pathogen by this committee. This disease spread quickly across the country and the world within the first 3 months of the outbreak and became a global pandemic. To stop COVID-19 from spreading, the governing agencies used various chemicals to disinfect different commercial spaces, streets and highways. However, people used it aggressively because of panic conditions, anxiety and unconsciousness, which can have a detrimental impact on human health and the environment. Our water bodies, soil and air have been polluted by disinfectants, forming secondary products that can be poisonous and mutagenic. In the prevention and spread of COVID-19, disinfection is crucial, but disinfection should be carried out with sufficient precautions to minimize exposure to harmful by-products. In addition, to prevent inhalation, adequate personal protective equipment should be worn and chemical usage, concentrations, ventilation in the room and application techniques should be carefully considered. In the USA, 60% of respondents said they cleaned or disinfected their homes more often than they had in the previous months. In addition to the robust use of disinfection approaches to combat COVID-19, we will explore safe preventative solutions here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide. In Taiwan, workers exposed to any of 31 hazardous chemicals or carcinogens in the work environment are designated as especially exposed workers (EEWs) by Taiwan's Ministry of Labor. We assessed the risk of breast cancer in this nationwide female EEW cohort. Methods: We conducted a nationwide retrospective study of 4,774,295 workers combining data collected from Taiwan's Ministry of Labor's EEW database between 1997 and 2018 and Taiwan's Cancer Registry between 1997 and 2016. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) for women exposed to different hazards and breast cancer incidence rate ratios (IRRs) were calculated by Poisson regression, adjusting for age and duration of exposure. Results: 3248 female workers with breast cancer and 331,967 without breast cancer were included. The SIRs and adjusted IRRs were 1.27 (95% CI 1.18–1.35) and 1.31 (95% CI 1.21–1.42) for lead, 1.74 (95% CI 1.23–2.24) and 1.52 (95% CI 1.13–2.04) for 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, 1.47 (95% CI 1.12–1.82) and 1.42 (95% CI 1.12–1.81) for trichloroethylene/tetrachloroethylene), 1.40 (95% CI 1.23–1.57) and 1.38 (95% CI 1.22–1.57) for benzene, and 2.07 (95% CI 1.06–3.09) and 1.80 (95% CI 1.10–2.94) for asbestos. The results remained similar when factoring in a 2- or 5-year latency period. Conclusion: This study found possible correlations between occupational exposure to lead, chlorinated solvents (such as 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, trichloroethylene, and tetrachloroethylene), benzene, and asbestos with breast cancer risk among female EEW, suggesting a need for regular screening for breast cancer for employees exposed to these special workplace hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The major portion of the marine area is polluted with waste of marine organism that creates severe environmental problems. This includes oyster, snail, mollusca, prawn, crab, shrimp, lobster, crab shell, mussels to name a few. This waste material, is a rich source of nutrients and chemicals, such as proteins, amino acids, minerals, enzymes, chitin, carotenoids, calcium, calcium carbonate. Unfortunately, these resources are underutilized and they are discarded into the environment. However, there are many ways to treat these marine resources to extract valuable chemicals and food, as well as pharmaceutical, nutraceuticals and biomedical agents. This paper is focused on the extraction and usage of value-added products originating from marine resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Pyroprobe 5000 pyrolyzer connected to a gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (Py-GC-TOF–MS) was used to analyze the decomposition behavior of waste tire (WT). Effects of several typical parameters such as heating rate, atmosphere, reaction temperature, retention time, and zeolites on molecular composition and relative contents of the liquid products were investigated. Without added zeolite, the pyrolysis products mainly consisted of limonene, 1,4-pentadiene, and monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (MAHs) such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX). L-limonene was the dominant fraction (> 85%) of the limonene. Temperature and time presented the most significant effect on the liquid products' molecular composition and relative content, and increasing temperature and time reduced the contents of alkenes and increased the concentration of MAHs. With added zeolite, the molecular composition of the liquid products was greatly affected. All the liquid products produced with zeolite had higher MAHs and lower alkenes compared with those without added zeolite. Among the zeolites tested, Hβ was the most beneficial catalyst to the production of aromatic hydrocarbons as the MAHs reached the highest value of 53.09%. The N, S-compound mainly consisted of benzothiazole and 2-methyl-benzothiazoles-important rubber accelerators. The O, S-compound mainly consisted of sulfones or sulfoxides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By law, the US government must publicly display the quantities of harmful chemicals in cigarettes by brand, but doing so could mislead people to incorrectly think that some cigarettes are safer than others. We evaluated formats for presenting chemical quantities side-by-side to see if any were misleading. We recruited US convenience (n = 604) and probability (n = 1440) samples. We randomized participants to 1 of 5 formats: checklist, point estimates, ranges, a visual risk indicator, or no-quantity control. Participants were far more likely to incorrectly endorse one cigarette brand as riskier than the other in the checklist (65% made error), point estimate (67–70%), range (64–67%), or risk indicator (68–75%) conditions as compared to the no-quantity control (1%, all p <.001). Among smokers, erroneous risk perceptions mediated the impact of quantity format on interest in switching brands. People viewing chemical quantities for cigarette brands side-by-side misperceived differences in risk, suggesting limited public health value of this information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recently developed Ru containing drugs have some significant advantages over contemporary Pt-based agents due to their more sophisticated mechanisms of action, lower toxicity, absence of cross resistance, and broad spectrum of activities. In this review, we discuss the recent noteworthy entries devoted to Ru-based anticancer drugs, their industrial utilization and market value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultra-processed foods and drinks (UPF) are formulation of ingredients, mostly of exclusive industrial use, that result from a series of industrial processes. They usually have a low nutrient but high energy density, with a high content of saturated and trans fats, and added sugars. In addition, they have characteristic organoleptic properties, and usually contain sophisticated additives, including artificial sweeteners, to intensify their sensory qualities and imitate the appearance of minimally processed foods. In addition, recent research has warned about the presence of chemicals (e.g., bisphenol) and neo-formed contaminants in these products. UPF production and consumption growth have been spectacular in the last decades, being specially consumed in children and adolescents. UPF features have been associated with a range of adverse health effects such as overeating, the promotion of inflammatory and oxidative stress processes, gut dysbiosis, and metabolic dysfunction including problems in glucose regulation. The evidence that these UPF-related adverse health effects may have on the neural network implicated in eating behavior are discussed, including the potential impact on serotonergic and dopaminergic neurotransmission, brain integrity and function. We end this review by placing UPF in the context of current food environments, by suggesting that an increased exposure to these products through different channels, such as marketing, may contribute to the automatic recruitment of the brain regions associated with food consumption and choice, with a detrimental effect on inhibitory-related prefrontal cortices. While further research is essential, preliminary evidence point to UPF consumption as a potential detrimental factor for brain health and eating behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nitrogen-rich pyrolysis is a significant technique to improve the utilization and value addition of biomass. The bio-oil derived from the biomass nitrogen-rich pyrolysis is abundant in high-value nitrogenous compounds. Carbamide-pretreated pine powder was used to produce bio-oil through fast pyrolysis in this paper. Effects of pyrolysis temperature and the concentration of carbamide solution on the product distribution and the content of important compounds (e.g., phenols, amines, indoles, pyrroles) in pine powder–derived bio-oil were investigated. The results showed that the bio-char yield decreased as the concentration of carbamide solution increased. The highest bio-oil yield (51.8%) appeared at a temperature of 400 °C and an impregnated carbamide solution concentration of 10%. The contents of acids, ketones, and aldehydes in the bio-oil obtained by carbamide-impregnated pine powder significantly decreased while the content of phenols observably increased. Compared with the bio-oil derived from raw pine powder, there were various nitrogenous compounds generated in the bio-oil produced by carbamide-impregnated pine powder. As the concentration of carbamide solution increased, the varieties of nitrogenous compounds increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to comparatively appraise the environmental impacts of formulating two metal surface coating chemicals (Product A and B) that can substitute each other via life cycle assessment methodology. The effect of using various energy sources during manufacturing is investigated. The functional unit is defined as 1000 kg product. A cradle-to-gate approach is adopted as system boundaries. The explored environmental impact categories are as follows: global warming (GWP), abiotic depletion (ADP fossils and elements), acidification (AP), eutrophication (EP), freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity (FAETP), human toxicity (HTP), ozone depletion (ODP), photochemical ozone creation (POCP) and terrestrial ecotoxicity (TETP) potentials. GWP of Product A is 7% higher than that of Product B. For all the other impact categories apart from GWP, Product A yields lower results. FAETP, ADP elements, ODP, EP, HTP, POCP, AP, ADP fossil and TETP of Product B are 116%, 72%, 55%, 49%, 38%, 33%, 26%, 26% and 18% higher than Product A, respectively. Noteworthy reductions on environmental impacts generated by energy consumption are obtained for almost all of the impact categories apart from ADP elements, when photovoltaic cells are used instead of grid electricity. Similarly, reductions in all environmental impact categories except for ADP elements are found in the case of using wind turbines instead of the grid. More than 95% decreases are observed for ADP fossil, AP, EP, GWP, ODP and POCP by getting energy from wind instead of grid. The most environmentally friendly energy alternative is addressed as wind energy except for ADP elements. It is recommended to perform LCA studies related to zinc phosphating chemicals, as very limited studies can be found. These results can be used to guide the environmental policies related to the chemical, metal and coating sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catalytic conversion of CO2 into chemicals and fuels is a viable method to reduce carbon emissions and achieve carbon neutrality. Through thermal catalysis, electrocatalysis, and photo(electro)catalysis, CO2 can be converted into a wide range of valuable products, including CO, formic acid, methanol, methane, ethanol, acetic acid, propanol, light olefins, aromatics, and gasoline, as well as fine chemicals. In this mini-review, we summarize the recent progress in heterogeneous catalysis for CO2 conversion into chemicals and fuels and highlight some representative studies of different conversion routes. The structure–performance correlations of typical catalytic materials used for the CO2 conversion reactions have been revealed by combining advanced in situ/operando spectroscopy and microscopy characterizations and density functional theory calculations. Catalytic selectivity toward a single CO2 reduction product/fraction should be further improved at an industrially relevant CO2 conversion rate with considerable stability in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to assess the importance of environmental pollution caused by microplastics and their high risks for the organisms living in water and soil ecosystems. Microplastics are one of the emerging contaminants which have been widely spread in soil and aquatic environments. In the last few years, many studies have been focused on their distribution and assessment of their adverse risk to the organisms living in both ecosystems. New methods for the identification of these small particles are also distinguished; however, these techniques are not adequate and sufficient for detection, toxicity, and impacts of their effects on biota. The evidence of large burden of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems has substantially increased. But we are at the beginning of understanding of the potential risk of these materials in soil, where it is still entirely unclear what the size of this problem is. Up to now, little information is present about the effects of these particles on soil organisms. Better understanding to the occurrence, spread, and negative influence of these particles in the ecosystems is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this review, we highlight our recent developments on the formic acid refining of lignocellulosic biomass and how it can be an innovative way to produce sustainable hydrogen and fuels. There is a worldwide high demand for green energy and green chemistry endeavors to drastically slow down climate change in accord with the COP 21. This review mainly focuses on the deconstruction of the lignocellulosic biomass, using formic acid-based mixtures, into its 3 main components and how they can be the new resources for hydrogen, fuels, and products in the 21st century. We are underlining the natural carbon capture in the form of atmospheric CO2 concentrated into lignocellulosic biomass wastes from the forest and agricultural land sites and the subsequent low energy organic extraction of cellulose, lignin, and hemicelluloses. We illustrate in this review that our dependence on fossil fuels will be greatly reduced, and that atmospheric CO2, sunlight and water will provide safe energy and products for future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant renewable carbon resource on earth, for which many efforts have been made to convert it using various chemocatalytic processes. Heterogeneously chemocatalytic conversion conducted based on reusable solid catalysts is the process with the greatest potential studied presently. This review provides insights into the representative achievements in the research area of heterogeneous chemical catalysis technologies for the production of value-added chemicals from lignocellulosic polysaccharides (cellulose and hemicellulose). Popular approaches for the conversion of lignocellulosic polysaccharides into chemicals, including hydrolyzation (glucose, xylose and arabinose), dehydration (5-hydroxymethylfurfuran, furfural, levulinic acid and lactic acid), hydrogenation/hydrogenolysis (sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, 1,2-propylene glycol, ethlyene glycol and ethanol), selective oxidation (gluconic acid), have been comprehensively reviewed. However, technological barriers still exist, which have to be overcome to further integrate hydrolysis with the refinery processes based on multifunctional solid catalysts, and convert ligncellulosic polysaccharides into value-added fine chemicals. In general, the approaches and technologies are discussed and critically evaluated in terms of the possibilities and potential for further industrial implementation. Heterogeneously chemocatalytic conversions conducted over reusable solid catalysts are the major processes presently studied. Popular approaches to lignocellulosic polysaccharides (cellulose and hemicellulose) conversion to chemicals have been comprehensively reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Instant controlled pressure drop (DIC) was widely used as a treatment to intensify the extraction of bioactive compounds from plants. The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of DIC treatment on the biochemical composition and functional properties of Chemlali olive leaves. DIC conditions were pressure P = 0.1 MPa, number of cycles C = 1 and time t = 11 s. The concentrations of protein, fat, ash, total carbohydrates and fibers in untreated olive leaves powder are 8.62; 3.73; 8.46; 76.49; 64.29 mg/g db, respectively. DIC treatment had significant effects on the chemical composition. Indeed, it increased the amounts of fat (8.33 mg/g db), ash (10.37 mg/g db) and decreased those of protein (6.81 mg/g db), carbohydrates (69 mg/g db) and fibers (53.57 mg/g db). While it had no significant effect on functional properties and pigments. Ten fatty acids were identified and evaluated, with the most abundant being linolenic acid (C18:3) for both olive leaves samples. Mineral analysis proved potassium and calcium as the major elements in both powders. This study showed that DIC treatment is an effective method to increase olive leaves active compounds such as fatty acids and minerals that may be useful in industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of machine learning is becoming increasingly common in computational materials science. To build effective models of the chemistry of materials, useful machine-based representations of atoms and their compounds are required. We derive distributed representations of compounds from their chemical formulas only, via pooling operations of distributed representations of atoms. These compound representations are evaluated on ten different tasks, such as the prediction of formation energy and band gap, and are found to be competitive with existing benchmarks that make use of structure, and even superior in cases where only composition is available. Finally, we introduce an approach for learning distributed representations of atoms, named SkipAtom, which makes use of the growing information in materials structure databases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective and methods: Information on chemicals was not disclosed due to the lack of technology protection in the semiconductor industry. As semiconductor technology advances, the amount of chemicals used has (sometimes) changed. This report summarizes a literature review that was undertaken by searching the major websites used in most reviews for the necessary data, including Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, and Scopus, specifically for the last five years. The search was performed using the key terms "chemicals", "effect", "health", "semiconductor", and "workers". This review examines the chemicals in the semiconductor industry, the prevention of occupational diseases of workers, and future prospects for occupational health. Results and conclusion: Based on the characteristics of the semiconductor industry and social issues of worker health, I address worker safety and discuss the perspectives of occupational health toward chemicals in the semiconductor manufacturing industries. Continuous occupational disease prevention activities must be carried out, and the development of advanced technologies such as AOP-KBs is also required. I'd like to give information on toxic chemicals such as their exposure routes, related genes, and gene interactions, target organs, symptoms, and health hazards as well as diseases or outcomes for improving future studies to prevent the occupational diseases of workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical sensing is vital to the survival of all organisms. Bacterial chemotaxis is conducted by multiple receptors that sense chemicals to regulate a single signalling system controlling the transition between the direction (clockwise vs. counterclockwise) of flagellar rotation. Such an integrated system seems better suited to judge chemicals as either favourable or unfavourable, but not for identification purposes though differences in their affinities to the receptors may cause difference in response strength. Here, an experimental setup was developed to monitor behaviours of multiple cells stimulated simultaneously as well as a statistical framework based on Bayesian inferences. Although responses of individual cells varied substantially, ensemble averaging of the time courses seemed characteristic to attractant species, indicating we can extract information of input chemical species from responses of the bacterium. Furthermore, two similar, but distinct, beverages elicited attractant responses of cells with profiles distinguishable with the Bayesian procedure. These results provide a basis for novel bio-inspired sensors that could be used with other cell types to sense wider ranges of chemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Arctic is undergoing unprecedented change. Observations and models demonstrate significant perturbations to the physical and biological systems. Arctic species and ecosystems, particularly in the marine environment, are subject to a wide range of pressures from human activities, including exposure to a complex mixture of pollutants, climate change and fishing activity. These pressures affect the ecosystem services that the Arctic provides. Current international policies are attempting to support sustainable exploitation of Arctic resources with a view to balancing human wellbeing and environmental protection. However, assessments of the potential combined impacts of human activities are limited by data, particularly related to pollutants, a limited understanding of physical and biological processes, and single policies that are limited to ecosystem-level actions. This manuscript considers how, when combined, a suite of existing tools can be used to assess the impacts of pollutants in combination with other anthropogenic pressures on Arctic ecosystems, and on the services that these ecosystems provide. Recommendations are made for the advancement of targeted Arctic research to inform environmental practices and regulatory decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is intense interest in uncovering design rules that govern the formation of various structural phases as a function of chemical composition in multi-principal element alloys (MPEAs). In this paper, we develop a machine learning (ML) approach built on the foundations of ensemble learning, post hoc model interpretability of black-box models, and clustering analysis to establish a quantitative relationship between the chemical composition and experimentally observed phases of MPEAs. The originality of our work stems from performing instance-level (or local) variable attribution analysis of ML predictions based on the breakdown method, and then identifying similar instances based on k-means clustering analysis of the breakdown results. We also complement the breakdown analysis with Ceteris Paribus profiles that showcase how the model response changes as a function of a single variable, when the values of all other variables are fixed. Results from local model interpretability analysis uncover key insights into variables that govern the formation of each phase. Our developed approach is generic, model-agnostic, and valuable to explain the insights learned by the black-box models. An interactive web application is developed to facilitate model sharing and accelerate the design of MPEAs with targeted properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal exposure to benzene and related compounds, trichloroethylene, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons has been suggested as risk factors for reproductive and developmental problem. In different countries and groups, there are differences in socioeconomic circumstances, consumer products, dietary habits, lifestyles, and so on, resulting in different exposure risks from these chemicals. This study investigated the correlation between their metabolite concentrations and socioeconomic, demographic, and dietary factors to explore the possible exposure source of the concerned pollutants in pregnant women. We conducted biological monitoring to assess the exposure of these chemicals using urine samples from 590 to 639 pregnant women during 2nd or 3rd trimester of pregnancy in six cities of China. Socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and dietary habits were collected from questionnaires. The detection rate was over 74% of the urine samples for all metabolites. Compared with the Fourth National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemical concentrations for females (FNRHEEC, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the metabolite concentrations of benzene compounds and trichloroethylene, excluding MA reported here, were higher. Principal component analysis results showed that SBMA and MHA could be proxy of the principal sources of metabolites for benzene compounds. The concentrations of SBMA and MA were higher in Fuzhou and Wuhan, respectively. The concentration of DCVMA was higher in Shenzhen, Xi'an, and Nanning, and the concentration of PGA was higher in Fuzhou, Wuhan, and Xi'an. Also, the 1-OHPG concentration in Wuhan is higher than that in Fuzhou and Shenzhen. Unhealthy dietary habits, using cosmetics and indoor exposure, contacting chemical solvent during pregnancy were associated with increased benzene compounds, trichloroethylene, and PAH exposure. There were significant positive associations between 1-OHPG level and maternal BMI, low education status, and cooking without a range hood. Pregnant women in China may be at a greater risk of exposure to most of the target compounds than US females, and their exposure levels varied in different regions. Some adverse environmental and behavioral factors may increase the exposure of environmental toxins, which can urge people to take measures to reduce the health risk to pregnant women during pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The degradation behaviour of magnesium and its alloys can be tuned by small organic molecules. However, an automatic identification of effective organic additives within the vast chemical space of potential compounds needs sophisticated tools. Herein, we propose two systematic approaches of sparse feature selection for identifying molecular descriptors that are most relevant for the corrosion inhibition efficiency of chemical compounds. One is based on the classical statistical tool of analysis of variance, the other one based on random forests. We demonstrate how both can—when combined with deep neural networks—help to predict the corrosion inhibition efficiencies of chemical compounds for the magnesium alloy ZE41. In particular, we demonstrate that this framework outperforms predictions relying on a random selection of molecular descriptors. Finally, we point out how autoencoders could be used in the future to enable even more accurate automated predictions of corrosion inhibition efficiencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colorants and chemicals used in the textile coloration process are required to meet the fashion demands; however these introduced serious environmental hazards that are mainly resulted in effluent loading, containing the toxic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic substances, to natural environment. Textile dyeing process and the rinsing of dyed fabric utilize a variety of substances including dyes/ pigment, fixing agent, surfactants, leveling agent, mordant, salts etc. However, all these substances are not fully consumed in the process, and a residual content remains in the dyeing effluent. This review observes the challenges to environment posed by the dyes and chemicals present in spent dye bath, progress in possible remedies in dyeing wastewater treatment including the nanotechnology; and particularly discusses the studies based on the dyeing effluent samples collected from the local textile processing industries. There are obvious case studies made in different regions, using the process wastewater from the local textile dyeing and processing industries, confirming the need for research and innovation to replace or control the hazardous dyes and chemicals in conventional dyeing process and making the resulting effluent more environment- friendly. Moreover, the cleaner production practices and environmental standards are introduced in improving the textile dyeing process. Selection of dyes and chemicals, use of best available techniques, and wastewater treatment technologies can significantly improve the textile dyeing to become an environment- friendly process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collective cell migration plays a critical role in physiological and pathological processes such as development, wound healing, and metastasis. Numerous studies have demonstrated how various types of chemical, mechanical, and electrical cues dictate the collective migratory behaviors of cells. Although an acoustic cue can be advantageous because of its noninvasiveness and biocompatibility, cell migration in response to acoustic stimulation remains poorly understood. In this study, we developed a device that is able to apply surface acoustic waves to a cell culture substrate and investigated the effect of propagating acoustic waves on collective cell migration. The migration distance estimated at various wave intensities revealed that unidirectional cell migration was enhanced at a critical wave intensity and that it was suppressed as the intensity was further increased. The increased migration might be attributable to cell orientation alignment along the direction of the propagating wave, as characterized by nucleus shape. Thicker actin bundles indicative of a high traction force were observed in cells subjected to propagating acoustic waves at the critical intensity. Our device and technique can be useful for regulating cellular functions associated with cell migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims at comparing reference methods for the assessment of cancer risk from exposure to genotoxic carcinogen chemical substances and to ionizing radiation. For chemicals, cancer potency is expressed as a toxicological reference value (TRV) based on the most sensitive type of cancer generally observed in animal experiments of oral or inhalation exposure. A dose–response curve is established by modelling experimental data adjusted to apply to human exposure. This leads to a point of departure from which the TRV is derived as the slope of a linear extrapolation to zero dose. Human lifetime cancer risk can then be assessed as the product of dose by TRV and it is generally considered to be tolerable in a 10–6–10–4 range for the public in a normal situation. Radiation exposure is assessed as an effective dose corresponding to a weighted average of energy deposition in body organs. Cancer risk models were derived from the epidemiological follow-up of atomic bombing survivors. Considering a linear-no-threshold dose-risk relationship and average baseline risks, lifetime nominal risk coefficients were established for 13 types of cancers. Those are adjusted according to the severity of each cancer type and combined into an overall indicator denominated radiation detriment. Exposure to radiation is subject to dose limits proscribing unacceptable health detriment. The differences between chemical and radiological cancer risk assessments are discussed and concern data sources, extrapolation to low doses, definition of dose, considered health effects and level of conservatism. These differences should not be an insuperable impediment to the comparison of TRVs with radiation risk, thus opportunities exist to bring closer the two types of risk assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most plastics are made of persistent synthetic polymer matrices that contain chemical additives in significant amounts. Millions of tonnes of plastics are produced every year and a significant amount of this plastic enters the marine environment, either as macro- or microplastics. In this article, an overview is given of the presence of marine plastic debris globally and its potential to reach remote locations in combination with an analysis of the oceanic long-range transport potential of organic additives present in plastic debris. The information gathered shows that leaching of hydrophobic substances from plastic is slow in the ocean, whereas more polar substances leach faster but mostly from the surface layers of the particle. Their high content used in plastic of several percent by weight allows also these chemicals to be transported over long distances without being completely depleted along the way. It is therefore likely that various types of additives reach remote locations with plastic debris. As a consequence, birds or other wildlife that ingest plastic debris are exposed to these substances, as leaching is accelerated in warm-blooded organisms and in hydrophobic fluids such as stomach oil, compared to leaching in water. Our estimates show that approximately 8100–18,900 t of various organic additives are transported with buoyant plastic matrices globally with a significant portion also transported to the Arctic. For many of these chemicals, long-range transport (LRT) by plastic as a carrier is their only means of travelling over long distances without degrading, resulting in plastic debris enabling the LRT of chemicals which otherwise would not reach polar environments with unknown consequences. The transport of organic additives via plastic debris is an additional long-range transport route that should also be considered under the Stockholm Convention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are exposed to various chemical compounds present in the environment, cosmetics, and drugs almost every day. Mutagenicity is a valuable property that plays a significant role in establishing a chemical compound's safety. Exposure and handling of mutagenic chemicals in the environment pose a high health risk; therefore, identification and screening of these chemicals are essential. Considering the time constraints and the pressure to avoid laboratory animals' use, the shift to alternative methodologies that can establish a rapid and cost-effective detection without undue over-conservation seems critical. In this regard, computational detection and identification of the mutagens in environmental samples like drugs, pesticides, dyes, reagents, wastewater, cosmetics, and other substances is vital. From the last two decades, there have been numerous efforts to develop the prediction models for mutagenicity, and by far, machine learning methods have demonstrated some noteworthy performance and reliability. However, the accuracy of such prediction models has always been one of the major concerns for the researchers working in this area. The mutagenicity prediction models were developed using deep neural network (DNN), support vector machine, k-nearest neighbor, and random forest. The developed classifiers were based on 3039 compounds and validated on 1014 compounds; each of them encoded with 1597 molecular feature vectors. DNN-based prediction model yielded highest prediction accuracy of 92.95% and 83.81% with the training and test data, respectively. The area under the receiver's operating curve and precision-recall curve values were found to be 0.894 and 0.838, respectively. The DNN-based classifier not only fits the data with better performance as compared to traditional machine learning algorithms, viz., support vector machine, k-nearest neighbor, and random forest (with and without feature reduction) but also yields better performance metrics. In current work, we propose a DNN-based model to predict mutagenicity of compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compound extremes exhibit greater adverse impacts than their univariate counterparts. Studies have reported changes in frequency and the spatial extent of extremes in India; however, investigation of compound extremes is in the infancy state. This study investigates the historical variation of compound dry and hot extremes (CDHE) and compound wet and cold extremes (CWCE) during the Indian summer monsoon period from 1951 to 2019 using monthly data. Results are analyzed for 10 identified homogeneous regions for India. Our results unravelled that CDHE (CWCE) frequency has increased (decreased) by 1–3 events per decade for the recent period (1977–2019) relative to the base period (1951–1976). Overall, the increasing (decreasing) pattern of CDHE (CWCE) is high across North-central India, Western India, North-eastern India and South-eastern coastlines. Our findings help in identification of the parts of the country affected by frequent and widespread CDHE during the recent period, which is alarming. More detailed assessments are required to disentangle the complex physical process of compound extremes to improve risk management options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed a Transformer-based artificial neural approach to translate between SMILES and IUPAC chemical notations: Struct2IUPAC and IUPAC2Struct. The overall performance level of our model is comparable to the rule-based solutions. We proved that the accuracy and speed of computations as well as the robustness of the model allow to use it in production. Our showcase demonstrates that a neural-based solution can facilitate rapid development keeping the required level of accuracy. We believe that our findings will inspire other developers to reduce development costs by replacing complex rule-based solutions with neural-based ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The resilience of coral reefs is dependent on the ability of corals to settle after disturbances. While crustose coralline algae (CCA) are considered important substrates for coral settlement, it remains unclear whether coral larvae respond to CCA metabolites and microbial cues when selecting sites for attachment and metamorphosis. This study tested the settlement preferences of an abundant coral species (Acropora cytherea) against six different CCA species from three habitats (exposed, subcryptic and cryptic), and compared these preferences with the metabolome and microbiome characterizing the CCA. While all CCA species induced settlement, only one species (Titanoderma prototypum) significantly promoted settlement on the CCA surface, rather than on nearby dead coral or plastic surfaces. This species had a very distinct bacterial community and metabolomic fingerprint. Furthermore, coral settlement rates and the CCA microbiome and metabolome were specific to the CCA preferred habitat, suggesting that microbes and/or chemicals serve as environmental indicators for coral larvae. Several amplicon sequence variants and two lipid classes—glycoglycerolipids and betaine lipids—present in T. prototypum were identified as potential omic cues influencing coral settlement. These results support that the distinct microbiome and metabolome of T. prototypum may promote the settlement and attachment of coral larvae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To solve current issues using big data, solve current issues related to the semiconductor and electronics industry, I tried to establish the data for each toxicity mechanism for adverse outcome pathway (AOP) for the exposure. Objective: I planned to increase the efficiency of human hazard assessment by searching, analyzing, and linking test data on the relationship between key events occurred at each level, which are the biological targets of chemicals in semiconductor manufacturing. Results: It was found that 48 kinds of chemicals had 11 AOPs, while 103 chemicals had multiple AOPs, and 26 had case evidence. As a result of AOP analysis, it was found that a total of 320 chemicals had 42 AOPs, and 190 major chemicals corresponded to 11 AOPs. It was found necessary to develop a complex AOP and secure an (inhalation or dermal) exposure scenario for combined exposure at work. As a comparative search (41 out of 190 chemicals) of biomarkers specific to occupational diseases, 12 biomarkers were found to be related to breast cancer. The AOPs for 50 specific chemicals were presented, together with occupational disease-specific AOPs and key events relationship from 50 chemicals, and taxonomic classification for each AOP analysis could be found. With a comparative search, 41 out of 190 chemicals were associated with specific biomarkers for occupational diseases, and 12 mRNA or protein biomarkers were found to be related to breast cancer by cross-validation with the attached Table 24 of the Enforcement Regulations of the OSHAct and the CTD. Conclusion: The mechanism of occupational diseases caused by chemicals was presented, together with pathological preventions. I believe that a strategy is needed to expand the target organization for each chemical by linking with activities, such as work environment measurement, and cooperating with screening items and methods suitable for toxic chemicals, like AOP tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computational methods accelerate the drug repurposing pipelines that are a quicker and cost-effective alternative to discovering new molecules. However, there is a paucity of web servers to conduct fast, focussed, and customized investigations for identifying new uses of old drugs. We present the NOD web server, which has the mentioned characteristics. NOD uses a sensitive sequence-guided approach to identify close and distant homologs of a protein of interest. NOD then exploits this evolutionary information to suggest potential compounds from the DrugBank database that can be repurposed against the input protein. NOD also allows expansion of the chemical space of the potential candidates through similarity searches. We have validated the performance of NOD against available experimental and/or clinical reports. In 65.6% of the investigated cases in a control study, NOD is able to identify drugs more effectively than the searches made in DrugBank. NOD is freely-available at http://pauling.mbu.iisc.ac.in/NOD/NOD/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many animals display sensitivity to external magnetic field, but it is only in the simplest organisms that the sensing mechanism is understood. Here we report on behavioural experiments where American cockroaches (Periplaneta americana) were subjected to periodically rotated external magnetic fields with a period of 10 min. The insects show increased activity when placed in a periodically rotated Earth-strength field, whereas this effect is diminished in a twelve times stronger periodically rotated field. We analyse established models of magnetoreception, the magnetite model and the radical pair model, in light of this adaptation result. A broad class of magnetite models, based on single-domain particles found in insects and assumption that better alignment of magnetic grains towards the external field yields better sensing and higher insect activity, is shown to be excluded by the measured data. The radical-pair model explains the data if we assume that contrast in the chemical yield on the order of one in a thousand is perceivable by the animal, and that there also exists a threshold value for detection, attained in an Earth-strength field but not in the stronger field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automatic recognition of unique characteristics of an object can provide a powerful solution to verify its authenticity and safety. It can mitigate the growth of one of the largest underground industries—that of counterfeit goods–flowing through the global supply chain. In this article, we propose the novel concept of material biometrics, in which the intrinsic chemical properties of structural materials are used to generate unique identifiers for authenticating individual products. For this purpose, the objects to be protected are modified via programmable additive manufacturing of built-in chemical "tags" that generate signatures depending on their chemical composition, quantity, and location. We report a material biometrics-enabled manufacturing flow in which plastic objects are protected using spatially-distributed tags that are optically invisible and difficult to clone. The resulting multi-bit signatures have high entropy and can be non-invasively detected for product authentication using 35 Cl nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) spectroscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asymptomatic leishmaniasis cases have continuously increased, especially among patients with HIV who are at risk to develop further symptoms of cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis. Thus, early diagnosis using a simple, sensitive and reliable diagnostic assay is important because populations at risk mostly reside in rural communities where laboratory equipment is limited. In this study, the highly sensitive and selective determination of Leishmania infection in asymptomatic HIV patients was achieved using dual indicators (SYBR safe and gold-nanoparticle probe; AuNP-probe) in one-step LAMP method based on basic instruments. The assay can be simply evaluated under the naked eye due to clear interpretation of fluorescent emission of LAMP-SYBR safe dye-complex and colorimetric precipitate of specific AuNP-probes. The sensitivities and specificities of fluorescent SYBR safe dye and AuNP-probe indicators were equal, which were as high as 94.1 and 97.1%, respectively. Additionally, detection limits were 102 parasites/mL (0.0147 ng/µL), ten times more sensitivity than other related studies. To empower leishmaniasis surveillance, this inexpensive one-step SYBR safe and AuNP-LAMP assay is reliably fast and simple for field diagnostics to point-of-care settings, which can be set up in all levels of health care facilities including resource limited areas, especially in low to middle income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]