Effects of polymethylmethacrylate nanoplastics on the swimming behaviour and gut microbiome of the freshwater amphipod Gammarus pulex.

Plastic pollution has posed a significant environmental concern being widely spread in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Nanoplastic particles (NPs: <1000 nm) have been drawing attention for their potential toxicological implications on organisms. Aquatic animals are increasingly exposed to NPs but their effects on many aquatic invertebrates remain inadequately known.

Challenges encountered in the transfer of atorvastatin tablet manufacturing - commercial batch-based production as a basis for small-scale continuous tablet manufacturing tests.

As is the case with batch-based tableting processes, continuous tablet manufacturing can be conducted by direct compression or with a granulation step such as dry or wet granulation included in the production procedure. In this work, continuous manufacturing tests were performed with a commercial tablet formulation, while maintaining its original material composition. Challenges were encountered with the feeding performance of the API during initial tests which required designing different powder pre-blend compositions.

Mobile samplers of particulate matter - Flying omnivorous insects in detection of industrial contamination.

Flying insects are potential mobile samplers of airborne particulate matter (PM). However, current knowledge on their susceptibility to PM is limited to pollinators. Insects' capacity for particle surface accumulation depends on the lifestyle, structure of the body integuments, and behavioral patterns.

Submicron Plastic Adsorption by Peat, Accumulation in Sphagnum Mosses and Influence on Bacterial Communities in Peatland Ecosystems.

The smallest fraction of plastic pollution, submicron plastics (SMPs <1 μm) are expected to be ubiquitous in the environment. No information is available about SMPs in peatlands, which have a key role in sequestering carbon in terrestrial ecosystems. It is unknown how these plastic particles might behave and interact with (micro)organisms in these ecosystems.

Exposure to leachates from post-consumer plastic and recycled rubber causes stress responses and mortality in a copepod Limnocalanus macrurus.

Effects of household post-consumer plastics and tyre rubber on a Baltic Sea copepod Limnocalanus macrurus were assessed. Fragments of commercial recycled low-density polyethylene vegetable bags and rubber originating from recycled car tyres were incubated in seawater, and the copepods were exposed to the filtrate of the water. L.

Influence of induction-annealing temperature on the morphology of barley-straw-derived Si@C and SiC@graphite for potential application in Li-ion batteries.

Silicon, a material with high theoretical energy density, holds great promise as a candidate material for anodes in lithium-ion batteries. However, due to an alloying mechanism the material undergoes volume expansion of up to 300%, which results in rapid capacity fading. The coating of silicon with carbon is done by using a biomass-based carbon precursor.

Detection of amorphous-amorphous phase separation in small molecular co-amorphous mixtures with SEM-EDS.

Amorphicity is one possible way to increase the solubility of poorly water soluble drugs. However, amorphous solids are thermodynamically unstable and tend to recrystallize with material-specific kinetics. Crystallization is not the prime phenomenon in the whole process, although it is the easiest to measure.

Physicochemical Characterization of Aerosol Generated in the Gas Tungsten Arc Welding of Stainless Steel.

Objectives: Exposure to stainless steel (SS) welding aerosol that contain toxic heavy metals, chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), and nickel (Ni), has been associated with numerous adverse health effects. The gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) is commonly applied to SS and produces high number concentration of substantially smaller particles compared with the other welding techniques, although the mass emission rate is low. Here, a field study in a workshop with the GTAW as principal welding technique was conducted to determine the physicochemical properties of the airborne particles and to improve the understanding of the hazard the SS welding aerosols pose to welders.

Release and characteristics of fungal fragments in various conditions.

Intact spores and submicrometer size fragments are released from moldy building materials during growth and sporulation. It is unclear whether all fragments originate from fungal growth or if small pieces of building materials are also aerosolized as a result of microbial decomposition. In addition, particles may be formed through nucleation from secondary metabolites of fungi, such as microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs).

Impact of Microscale and Pilot-Scale Freeze-Drying on Protein Secondary Structures: Sucrose Formulations of Lysozyme and Catalase.

Microscale (MS) freeze-drying offers rapid process cycles for early-stage formulation development. The effects of the MS approach on the secondary structures of two model proteins, lysozyme and catalase, were compared with pilot-scale (PS) vial freeze-drying. The secondary structures were assessed by attenuated total reflection Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy.

Real-time tablet formation monitoring with ultrasound measurements in eccentric single station tablet press.

A real-time ultrasound measurement system for tablet compression monitoring is introduced. The measurement system was tested in actual manufacturing environment and found to be capable of measuring the ultrasound response of the tabletting process from bulk to tablet. The tablet sets were compressed and the ultrasound measurements were conducted as implemented in eccentric single station tabletting apparatus in through transmission geometry.

Monitoring of swelling of hydrophilic polymer matrix tablets by ultrasound techniques.

The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of ultrasound (US) techniques to monitor the swelling behaviour of hydrophilic polymer matrix tablets. Tablets were prepared from hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) polymers. The movement of the eroding front was investigated with ultrasound scanning techniques on each tablet's outer interface during tablet immersion in phosphate buffer (PB).

In-line ultrasound measurement system for detecting tablet integrity.

An ultrasound measurement system for tablet defect detection is introduced. The measurement system was implemented in an eccentric single station tabletting apparatus, where ultrasound transducers were placed inside the upper and lower punches. These instrumented punches were then used to measure the speed of sound and ultrasound attenuation values in both intact and defective tablets made from dibasic calcium phosphate, microcrystalline cellulose and lactose monohydrate.