Advances In Practical Applications Research Articles

Encapsulation and delivery of phage as a novel method for gut flora manipulation in situ: A review.

Intestinal flora regulation is an effective method to intervene and treat diseases associated with microbiome imbalance. In addition to conventional probiotic supplement, phage delivery has recently exhibited great prospect in modifying gut flora composition and regulating certain gene expression of gut bacteria. However, the protein structure of phage is vulnerable to external factors during storage and delivery, which leads to the loss of infection ability and flora regulation function. Encapsulation strategy provides an effective solution for improving phage stability and precisely controlling delivery dosage. Different functional materials including enzyme-responsive and pH-responsive polymers have been used to construct encapsulation carriers to protect phages from harsh conditions and release them in the colon. Meanwhile, diverse carriers showed different characteristics in structure and function, which influenced their protective effect and delivery efficiency. This review systematically summarizes recent research progress on the phage encapsulation and delivery, with an emphasis on function properties of carrier systems in the protection effect and colon-targeted delivery. The present review may provide a theoretical reference for the encapsulation and delivery of phage as microbiota modulator, so as to expedite the development of functional material and delivery carrier, as well as the advances in practical application of intestinal flora regulation.

Recent advances in threshold-dependent gene drives for mosquitoes.

Mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria, dengue and chikungunya, cause morbidity and mortality around the world. Recent advances in gene drives have produced control methods that could theoretically modify all populations of a disease vector, from a single release, making whole species less able to transmit pathogens. This ability has caused both excitement, at the prospect of global eradication of mosquito-borne diseases, and concern around safeguards. Drive mechanisms that require individuals to be released at high frequency before genes will spread can therefore be desirable as they are potentially localised and reversible. These include underdominance-based strategies and use of the reproductive parasite Wolbachia. Here, we review recent advances in practical applications and mathematical analyses of these threshold-dependent gene drives with a focus on implementation in Aedes aegypti, highlighting their mechanisms and the role of fitness costs on introduction frequencies. Drawing on the parallels between these systems offers useful insights into practical, controlled application of localised drives, and allows us to assess the requirements needed for gene drive reversal.

Functioning of Fluorescent Proteins in Aggregates in Anthozoa Species and in Recombinant Artificial Models

Despite great advances in practical applications of fluorescent proteins (FPs), their natural function is poorly understood. FPs display complex spatio-temporal expression patterns in living Anthozoa coral polyps. Here we applied confocal microscopy, specifically, the fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) technique to analyze intracellular localization and mobility of endogenous FPs in live tissues. We observed three distinct types of protein distributions in living tissues. One type of distribution, characteristic for Anemonia, Discosoma and Zoanthus, is free, highly mobile cytoplasmic localization. Another pattern is seen in FPs localized to numerous intracellular vesicles, observed in Clavularia. The third most intriguing type of intracellular localization is with respect to the spindle-shaped aggregates and lozenge crystals several micrometers in size observed in Zoanthus samples. No protein mobility within those structures was detected by FRAP. This finding encouraged us to develop artificial aggregating FPs. We constructed “trio-FPs” consisting of three tandem copies of tetrameric FPs and demonstrated that they form multiple bright foci upon expression in mammalian cells. High brightness of the aggregates is advantageous for early detection of weak promoter activities. Simultaneously, larger aggregates can induce significant cytostatic and cytotoxic effects and thus such tags are not suitable for long-term and high-level expression.

Hybrid States of Biomolecules in Strong-Coupling Regime

The strong coupling of exciton and plasmon states is the result of the reversible energy exchange between the excited states of atomic exciton systems or molecules and the electromagnetic field. This leads to the formation of hybrid (mixed) states whose energies differ from those of the exciton and photon. To date, the implementation of strong-coupling hybrid states has been attracting great attention in terms of designing state-of-the-art emitting systems and quantum information technologies; controlling chemical reaction efficiency and targeted influence on biological systems; and applying the observed effects in medicine, microelectronics, robotics technologies, and other fields. This review deals with a model of strong light-matter interaction and its characteristics, ways to the practical implementation of hybrid states (including those in biological systems), and parameters affecting strong coupling. The recent advances in practical applications of strong coupling effects, prospects for their use, and the problems entailed are discussed as well.

Review of Multifunctional Inverter Topologies and Control Schemes Used in Distributed Generation Systems

Recent developments in power electronics technology have spurred interest in the use of renewable energy sources as distributed generation (DG) generators. The key component in DG generators is a grid-connected inverter that serves as an effective interface between the renewable energy source and the utility grid. The multifunctional inverter (MFI) is special type of grid-connected inverter that has elicited much attention in recent years. MFIs not only generate power for DGs but also provide increased functionality through improved power quality and voltage and reactive power support; thus, the capability of the auxiliary service for the utility grid is improved. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the various MFI system configurations for single-phase (two-wire) and three-phase (three- or four-wire) systems and control strategies for the compensation of different power quality problems. The advances in practical applications and recent research on MFIs are presented through a review of nearly 200 papers.

News and Notices

Health Physics, first published in 1958, provides the latest research to a wide variety of radiation safety professionals including health physicists, nuclear chemists, medical physicists, and radiation safety officers with interests in nuclear and radiation science. The Journal allows professionals in these and other disciplines in science and engineering to stay on the cutting edge of scientific and technological advances in the field of radiation safety. The Journal publishes original papers, technical notes, articles on advances in practical applications, editorials, and correspondence. Journal articles report on the latest findings in theoretical, practical, and applied disciplines of epidemiology and radiation effects, radiation biology and radiation science, radiation ecology, and related fields. Official Journal of the Health Physics Society

Author Index to Volumes 76–79, 1999–2000

Health Physics, first published in 1958, provides the latest research to a wide variety of radiation safety professionals including health physicists, nuclear chemists, medical physicists, and radiation safety officers with interests in nuclear and radiation science. The Journal allows professionals in these and other disciplines in science and engineering to stay on the cutting edge of scientific and technological advances in the field of radiation safety. The Journal publishes original papers, technical notes, articles on advances in practical applications, editorials, and correspondence. Journal articles report on the latest findings in theoretical, practical, and applied disciplines of epidemiology and radiation effects, radiation biology and radiation science, radiation ecology, and related fields. Official Journal of the Health Physics Society

Author Index to Volumes 76–79, 1999–2000

Health Physics, first published in 1958, provides the latest research to a wide variety of radiation safety professionals including health physicists, nuclear chemists, medical physicists, and radiation safety officers with interests in nuclear and radiation science. The Journal allows professionals in these and other disciplines in science and engineering to stay on the cutting edge of scientific and technological advances in the field of radiation safety. The Journal publishes original papers, technical notes, articles on advances in practical applications, editorials, and correspondence. Journal articles report on the latest findings in theoretical, practical, and applied disciplines of epidemiology and radiation effects, radiation biology and radiation science, radiation ecology, and related fields. Official Journal of the Health Physics Society

INTERNAL DOSE ESTIMATION OF HUMAN SUBJECTS ON INTAKES OF RADIOPHARMACEUTICALS IN PET STUDIES.

Health Physics, first published in 1958, provides the latest research to a wide variety of radiation safety professionals including health physicists, nuclear chemists, medical physicists, and radiation safety officers with interests in nuclear and radiation science. The Journal allows professionals in these and other disciplines in science and engineering to stay on the cutting edge of scientific and technological advances in the field of radiation safety. The Journal publishes original papers, technical notes, articles on advances in practical applications, editorials, and correspondence. Journal articles report on the latest findings in theoretical, practical, and applied disciplines of epidemiology and radiation effects, radiation biology and radiation science, radiation ecology, and related fields. Official Journal of the Health Physics Society

Advances in Practical Applications of Cyclodextrins

Advances in Practical Applications of Cyclodextrins

Preparation of Non-Oxide Ceramics by Pyrolysis of Organometallic Precursors

Chemical processing routes to advanced ceramic materials are gaining importance as a convenient approach to control the stoichiometry, purity, microstructure and final form of the ceramic products [1]. The pyrolytic conversion of organometallic molecules and polymers is one such chemical processing route that has been widely applied in ceramic fiber technology [1,2], in coating processes [1,2], and in the sintering of bulk ceramic objects [3]. Despite these advances in practical applications, there is a continuing need in this area for a better fundamental understanding of the chemistry involved during the precursor-to-ceramic conversion process and for the development of new precursors which yield the desired ceramic(s) in high yield and purity.

Insect-Control Studies with Microwaves and Other Radiofrequency Energy

Recent advances in practical application of microwave power and current interest in physical methods for insect control have given rise to hope that microwave energy might be useful for controlling insects. This is not a new concept. While available information may not be sufficient for detailed evaluation of such potential applications, considerable data are available in the literature concerning the effects on insects of energy in the radiofrequency (RF) region of the electromagnetic spectrum.