High Concentrations Of Organic Solvents Research Articles

Utilization of turmeric residue for the preparation of ceramic foam

Turmeric residue, a solid waste discharged from the curcuminoids industry, is difficult to recover due to high concentrations of strong acids, organic solvents, and plant fibers. In this study, organic turmeric residue was used as the main raw material for the preparation of ceramic foam, in comparison with inorganic granite scraps. The bulk density, compressive strength, and thermal conductivity of ceramic foam were evaluated. And the microstructure, phase assemblage, and reaction at the high temperature were respectively characterized by computed tomography, X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis. The results revealed that the addition of turmeric residue was conducive to the formation of pore and the generation of amorphous glass phase, thereby improving the lightweight, mechanical performance, and thermal insulation. This study would provide a new perspective for the utilization of turmeric residue and the preparation of ceramic foam.

Biochemical characterization of a novel halo/organic-solvents/final-products tolerant GH39 xylosidase from saline soil and its synergic action with xylanase

Xylosidases with tolerance to high concentration of salts, organic solvents, and enzyme hydrolytic products are preferential for industrial application but were rarely reported. In this study, a novel xylosidase XYL21 belong to glycoside hydrolase 39 was characterized with optimal temperature of 45 °C and optimal pH of 5.50. Different to other GH39 xylosidases, XYL21 had excellent tolerance to salts, the activity of which is not inhibited but slightly increased in 0.50–1.50 M NaCl. It is also tolerant to organic solvents, especially retaining 105.18% relative activity even in the presence of 15.00% (v/v) ethanol. Moreover, XYL21 was insensitive to the final lignocellulose hydrolysis products including glucose, xylose, arabinose, mannose and galactose, which retains 111.36% and 53.49% relative activity in 0.30 and 0.90 M xylose, respectively. Further structural modeling analysis indicated that its excellent tolerance may be attributed to its high structural flexibility caused by the high proportion of random coils. Furthermore, XYL21 had a wide substrate specificity to catalyze xylan and xylo-oligosaccharides, and it significantly cooperated with xylanase to improve the hydrolysis efficiency with 1.52-fold. Considering these unique properties, XYL21 is a good candidate for both basic research and various potential industrial applications such as seafood processing and bioethanol production.

Organic solvent stability and long-term storage of myoglobin-based carbene transfer biocatalysts.

Recent years have witnessed a rapid increase in the application of enzymes for chemical synthesis and manufacturing, including the industrial-scale synthesis of pharmaceuticals using multienzyme processes. From an operational standpoint, these bioprocesses often require robust biocatalysts capable of tolerating high concentrations of organic solvents and possessing long shelflife stability. In this work, we investigated the activity and stability of myoglobin (Mb)-based carbene transfer biocatalysts in the presence of organic solvents and after lyophilization. Our studies demonstrate that Mb-based cyclopropanases possess remarkable organic solvent stability, maintaining high levels of activity and stereoselectivity in the presence of up to 30%-50% (v/v) concentrations of various organic solvents, including ethanol, methanol, N,N-dimethylformamide, acetonitrile, and dimethyl sulfoxide. Furthermore, they tolerate long-term storage in lyophilized form, both as purified protein and as whole cells, without significant loss in activity and stereoselectivity. These stability properties are shared by Mb-based carbene transferases optimized for other type of asymmetric carbene transfer reactions. Finally, we report on simple protocols for catalyst recycling as whole-cell system and for obviating the need for strictly anaerobic conditions to perform these transformations. These findings demonstrate the robustness of Mb-based carbene transferases under operationally relevant conditions and should help guide the application of these biocatalysts for synthetic applications.

Tuning the Outcome of Enzyme-Mediated Dynamic Cyclodextrin Libraries to Enhance Template Effects.

Enzyme-mediated dynamic combinatorial chemistry combines the concept of thermodynamically controlled covalent self-assembly with the inherent biological relevance of enzymatic transformations. A system of interconverting cyclodextrins has been explored, in which the glycosidic linkage is rendered dynamic by the action of cyclodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase). External factors, such as pH, temperature, solvent, and salinity are reported to modulate the composition of the dynamic cyclodextrin library. Dynamic libraries of cyclodextrins (CDs) could be obtained in wide ranges of pH (5.0-9.0), temperature (5-37 °C), and salinity (up to 7.5 m NaNO3 ), and with high organic solvent content (50 % by volume of ethanol), showing that enzyme-mediated dynamic systems can be robust and not limited to physiological conditions. Furthermore, it is demonstrated how strategic choice of reaction conditions can enhance template effects, in this case, to achieve highly selective production of α-CD, an otherwise challenging target due to competition from the structurally similar β-CD.

A novel DRET and FRET combined fluorescent molecule and its applications in sensing and bioimaging

The work presented herein is focused on the construction of a donor-acceptor system with large Stokes shift, which could be used for the detection of Fe3+ in different polarity environments by combining dark resonance energy transfer (DRET) and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) strategies. A silole derivative and a rhodamine 6 G derivative, linked by a flexible diethylenetriamine spacer, are chosen as donor and acceptor, respectively. Attributed to its AIE features, silole fluorophore could act both as dark energy donor in solution state and emissive energy donor in aggregation state, and the molecule possesses polarity-sensitive DRET and FRET processes from silole to rhodamine after bonding with Fe3+ ion. Thus, intense fluorescence emission from the rhodamine acceptor is obtained no matter whether the test is carried out in solution with high organic solvent content or high water content. Imaging experiments suggest that this probe could be an effective Fe3+ imaging agent for use in live cells.

Fluorous and Fluorogenic Derivatization for Selective Liquid Chromatographic Analysis of Cyanide in Human Plasma.

A liquid chromatographic (LC) method with fluorous derivatization for the determination of cyanide in human plasma is described. In this method, the cyanide was transformed to a fluorous and fluorogenic compound by derivatizing with 2,3-naphthalenedialdehyde and perfluoroalkylamine reagent under mild reaction conditions (a reaction time of 5 min at room temperature). The obtained derivative was successfully retained on the perfluoroalkyl-modified LC column with the use of a high concentration of organic solvent in the mobile phase, whereas non-fluorous derivative was hardly retained, followed by fluorometric detection at excitation and emission wavelengths of 420 and 490 nm, respectively. Under the optimized conditions, the limit of detection and the limit of quantification for cyanide in a 5-μL injection volume were 1.3 μg/L (S/N = 3) and 4.4 μg/L (S/N = 10), respectively. The recovery from spiked human plasma was achieved in the range of 54 - 90% within a relative standard deviation of 3.5%. The feasibility of this method was further evaluated by applying it to the analysis of human plasma samples.

Hydrophilic interaction in solid-phase extraction of antisense oligonucleotides.

The presented studies aimed to develop a new and simple extraction method based on hydrophilic interaction for antisense oligonucleotides with different modifications. For this purpose, solid-phase extraction cartridges with unmodified silica were used. All extraction steps were performed by utilizing water, acetonitrile, acetone or their mixtures. The results obtained show that a high content (95%) of organic solvent, used during sample loading, is critical to achieve a successful extraction, while elution with pure water allows effective oligonucleotides desorption. The recovery values were greater than 90% in the case of unmodified DNA, phosphorothioate, 2'-O-(2-methoxyethyl) and 2'-O-methyl oligonucleotides. For the mixture of phosphorothioate oligonucleotide and its two synthetic metabolites, the recovery values for the standard solutions were in the range of 70-75%, while for spiked human plasma, 45-50%. The developed method is simple, may be performed in a short time and requires simple solvents like water or acetonitrile/acetone, thus showing promise as an alternative to chaotropic salt-based or ion pair-based SPE methods.

Interpretive search of optimal isocratic and gradient separations in micellar liquid chromatography in extended organic solvent domains

Micellar liquid chromatography (MLC) is a reversed-phase mode with mobile phases containing an organic solvent and a micellised surfactant. Most procedures developed in MLC are implemented in the isocratic mode, since the general elution problem in chromatography is less troublesome. However, gradient elution may be still useful in MLC to analyse mixtures of compounds within a wide range of polarities, in shorter times. MLC using gradients is attractive to determine by direct injection moderate to low polar compounds in physiological samples. In these analyses, the use of initial micellar conditions (isocratic or gradient) with a fixed amount of surfactant above the critical micellar concentration, keeping the organic solvent content low, will provide better protection of the column against the precipitation of the proteins in the physiological fluid. Once the proteins are swept away, the elution strength can be increased using a positive gradient of organic solvent to reduce the analysis time. This may give rise to the transition from the micellar to the submicellar mode, since micelles are destroyed at sufficiently high concentration of organic solvent. In this work, several retention models covering extended solvent domains in MLC are developed and tested, and applied to investigate the performance in isocratic, linear and multi-linear gradient separations. The study was applied to the screening of β-adrenoceptor antagonists in urine samples, using mobile phases prepared with sodium dodecyl sulphate and 1-propanol. Predicted chromatograms were highly accurate in all situations, although suffered of baseline problems and minor shifts for peaks eluting close to a steep gradient segment. Two columns (C18 and C8) were investigated, with the C8 column being preferable owing to the smaller amount of adsorbed surfactant.

Exploration of Missing Proteins by a Combination Approach to Enrich the Low-Abundance Hydrophobic Proteins from Four Cancer Cell Lines.

The mission of the Chromosome-Centric Human Proteome Project (C-HPP) to discover missing proteins (MPs) has become increasingly difficult due to the remaining low-abundance, high-hydrophobicity, or low-molecular-weight MPs. We have reported two approaches to resolve these identification problems for the low-abundance and high-hydrophobicity MPs, respectively. In this study, to improve the identification of low-abundance MPs with high hydrophobicity, we combined two approaches and obtained MPs from several different cancer cell lines. Their membrane fractions were isolated by ultracentrifugation, and the low-abundance proteins were enriched at the protein level with the ProteoMiner kit. After that, the peptides from the enriched proteins were separated by high concentrations of organic solvents according to their hydrophobicity as the first dimension of separation at the peptide level, and the second and third dimensions of separation involved a high pH reversed-phase and an acid reversed-phase column, respectively. In total, 16 MPs (at least two non-nested unique peptides with ≥9 amino acids) with 61 unique peptides were identified from four human cancer cell lines, including 2, 8, 2, and 7 MPs from HeLa, HCT116, SNU-1, and HepG2 cells, respectively. Furthermore, all MPs were verified with two non-nested unique peptides through parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) by matching the peptides with their chemically synthesized peptides. Interestingly, two additional MPs were verified from the same cell line by PRM assay, although the two non-nested unique peptides with ≥9 amino acids for each MP were identified from different MS injections or cell lines by data-dependent acquisition (DDA). Thus, a total of 18 MPs were dug out in this study. The data are available via ProteomeXchange (PXD014058) and PeptideAtlas (PASS01388).

Optimized synthesis of luminescent silica nanoparticles by a direct micelle-assisted method.

Silica nanoparticles (NPs) are versatile nanomaterials, which are safe with respect to biomedical applications, and therefore are highly investigated. The advantages of NPs include their ease of preparation, inexpensive starting materials and the possibility of functionalization or loading with various doping agents. However, the solubility of the doping agent(s) imposes constraints on the choice of the reaction system and hence limits the range of molecules that can be included in the interior of NPs. To overcome this problem, herein, we improved the current state of the art synthetic strategy based on Pluronic F127 by enabling the synthesis in the presence of large amounts of organic solvents. The new method enables the preparation of nanoparticles doped with large amounts of water-insoluble doping agents. To illustrate the applicability of the technology, we successfully incorporated a range of phosphorescent metalloporphyrins into the interior of NPs. The resulting phosphorescent nanoparticles may exhibit potential for biological oxygen sensing.

Enhancement of laccase activity by pre-incubation with organic solvents

Laccases that are tolerant to organic solvents are powerful bio-catalysts with broad applications in biotechnology. Most of these uses must be accomplished at high concentration of organic solvents, during which proteins undergo unfolding, thereby losing enzyme activity. Here we show that organic-solvent pre-incubation provides effective and reversible 1.5- to 4.0-fold enhancement of enzyme activity of fungal laccases. Several organic solvents, including acetone, methanol, ethanol, DMSO, and DMF had an enhancement effect among all laccases studied. The enhancement was not substrate-specific and could be observed by using both phenolic and non-phenolic substrates. Laccase preincubated with organic solvents was sensitive to high temperature but remained stable at 25 °C, for an advantage for long-term storage. The acetone-pre-incubated 3-D structure of DLac, a high-efficiency fungal laccase, was determined and confirmed that the DLac protein structure remains intact and stable at a high concentration of organic solvent. Moreover, the turnover rates of fungal laccases were improved after organic-solvent pre-incubation, with DLac showing the highest enhancement among the fungal laccases examined. Our investigation sheds light on improving fungal laccase usage under extreme conditions and extends opportunities for bioremediation, decolorization, and organic synthesis.

Dual Cross-Link Networks To Preserve Physical Interactions Induced by Soaking Methods: Developing a Strong and Biocompatible Protein-Based Hydrogel

The engineering of natural protein-based hydrogels with outstanding mechanics and functionalities is an eternal pursuit in biomaterials science. Soaking methods have recently been used to simply and efficiently tune the macroscopic mechanical properties of hydrogels consisting of natural polymers (proteins or polysaccharides). However, the high concentration of salts or organic solvent within the soaked hydrogels is harmful to cells. Once the salts were eliminated, however, these hydrogels experience mechanics attenuation and swelling, limiting their applications as biomaterials. Here we utilize dual cross-link networks to address these problems by preserving the physical interactions formed during the soaking treatment. As an example, a dual cross-link gelatin-chitosan hydrogel is prepared by a click reaction and hydrophobic interactions, which achieve an unusual combination of abundant water content (>87%), strong mechanics (ultimate strength ∼1.8 MPa), antiswelling properties (swelling ratio of 11.25% in PBS for 7 days), thermal stability, and biocompatibility. We expect that this strategy can be generalized for the development of tough, biocompatible, and environmentally stable protein-based hydrogels.

Low-cost pencil graphite-based electrochemical detector for HPLC with near-coulometric efficiency

A concentric thin layer cell accommodating a non-standard 0.2 mm diameter pencil graphite disposable working electrode is described. The cell was installed into HPLC manifold as an electrochemical detector. Trouble-free operation in mobile phases containing both low and high content of organic solvents is demonstrated by HPLC analyses of phenolic acids and tocopherol isomers. The data obtained from HPLC separation of model mixtures of gentisic, caffeic and dihydrocaffeic acids show a remarkable electrolytic efficiency exceeding 80% at 200, and 50% at 500 μL min−1, while for gentisic acid the limit of detection (LOD) was 0.4 nmol L−1 at 20 microliter sample loading (8 fmol on-column). Similar performances were found in non-aqueous mobile phase, where a LOD of 0.8 nmol L−1 was achieved for delta-tocopherol. The developed flow-through detector is designed to allow easy replacement of pencil graphite working electrode in a highly reproducible manner. The relative standard deviation for the HPLC analysis of tocopherol isomers was of 5.3% (n = 3, C = 500 nmol L−1). The combination of simple construction, excellent electrochemical performance and hydrodynamics identical to that of commercial UV-VIS HPLC detector suggests that the proposed device is a viable low-cost alternative to commercially available electrochemical detectors.

Thoughtful automation – What does this mean for the clinical flow cytometry laboratory?

A simple, sensitive, rapid and robust manual (in glass tubes) and semi-automatic method (in a 96-well plate format) for quantification of 11-nor-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THCA) in urine using a UHPLC-MS/MS have been developed. The methods involved hydrolysis with potassium hydroxide in a 96-well plate, followed by neutralization and dilution of the sample in one step with a stable solution of formic acid-methanol-acetonitrile-water (2.2%/35/35/30) before centrifugation. The total chromatographic run time was 4.9 min, with retention times of 1.6 min for THCA. The linear calibration range (5–4000 ng/ml) prepared in urine matrix was wide to avoid reanalyzing. The methods take especially precautions to totally eliminate the carry over after run of the highest standard and to eliminate adsorption of THCA on lab-ware during sample preparation. High content of organic solvent in the neutralization and dilution solution and in the initial composition of the mobile phase gradient are therefore necessary. Standards and quality controls was pH adjusted to 8.4 to increase the solubility of the hydrophobic THCA in urine and prevent adsorption during storage. A preliminary study revealed that adsorption of THCA during semi- automatic sample preparation in a 96-well plate (plastic) was less compared to manual sample preparation in glass tube. The intermediate precision and accuracy by the manual and semi-automated method were less than 10% and ranged from 88% to 114% respectively. Results from external controls from a proficiency testing programs were within 20% accuracy. 63 urine samples positive by immunoassay screening of cannabinoids were confirmed by UHPLC-MS/MS using routine manual preparation in glass tubes and semi-automatic sample preparation using 96-well plastic and glass coated plate. Percentage difference of the measurements were calculated and plotted according to Bland & Altman and the mean percentage difference was not significant.

Identification of Resistance Genes and Response to Arsenic in Rhodococcus aetherivorans BCP1.

Arsenic (As) ranks among the priority metal(loid)s that are of public health concern. In the environment, arsenic is present in different forms, organic or inorganic, featured by various toxicity levels. Bacteria have developed different strategies to deal with this toxicity involving different resistance genetic determinants. Bacterial strains of Rhodococcus genus, and more in general Actinobacteria phylum, have the ability to cope with high concentrations of toxic metalloids, although little is known on the molecular and genetic bases of these metabolic features. Here we show that Rhodococcus aetherivorans BCP1, an extremophilic actinobacterial strain able to tolerate high concentrations of organic solvents and toxic metalloids, can grow in the presence of high concentrations of As(V) (up to 240 mM) under aerobic growth conditions using glucose as sole carbon and energy source. Notably, BCP1 cells improved their growth performance as well as their capacity of reducing As(V) into As(III) when the concentration of As(V) is within 30–100 mM As(V). Genomic analysis of BCP1 compared to other actinobacterial strains revealed the presence of three gene clusters responsible for organic and inorganic arsenic resistance. In particular, two adjacent and divergently oriented ars gene clusters include three arsenate reductase genes (arsC1/2/3) involved in resistance mechanisms against As(V). A sequence similarity network (SSN) and phylogenetic analysis of these arsenate reductase genes indicated that two of them (ArsC2/3) are functionally related to thioredoxin (Trx)/thioredoxin reductase (TrxR)-dependent class and one of them (ArsC1) to the mycothiol (MSH)/mycoredoxin (Mrx)-dependent class. A targeted transcriptomic analysis performed by RT-qPCR indicated that the arsenate reductase genes as well as other genes included in the ars gene cluster (possible regulator gene, arsR, and arsenite extrusion genes, arsA, acr3, and arsD) are transcriptionally induced when BCP1 cells were exposed to As(V) supplied at two different sub-lethal concentrations. This work provides for the first time insights into the arsenic resistance mechanisms of a Rhodococcus strain, revealing some of the unique metabolic requirements for the environmental persistence of this bacterial genus and its possible use in bioremediation procedures of toxic metal contaminated sites.

Occupational cholangiocarcinoma diagnosed 18\u2009years after the end of exposure to 1,2-dichloropropane and dichloromethane at a printing company: a case report

BackgroundCholangiocarcinoma due to exposure to 1.2-dichloropropane (DCP) or dichloromethane (DCM) is classified as occupational cholangiocarcinoma. We report a case of occupational cholangiocarcinoma diagnosed 18 years after the end of exposure to organic solvents at a printing company.Case presentationA 41-year-old man presented to our hospital with jaundice and anorexia. He had previously worked for 6 years at a printing company where an outbreak of occupational cholangiocarcinoma occurred and was exposed to high concentrations of organic solvents during his employment. Computed tomography demonstrated lower bile duct obstruction by the bulky nodal metastasis at the hepatoduodenal ligament with upstream biliary dilatation, an intraductal papillary tumor in the dilated left superior lateral bile duct (B2), and enlargement of the periaortic nodes. Clinical diagnosis of an unresectable invasive intraductal papillary neoplasm of the bile duct (IPNB) with extensive nodal metastasis was made. Although chemotherapy and laparoscopic gastrojejunostomy were performed for the duodenal obstruction, the patient died due to rupture of the tumor. Pathological examination of the autopsy specimen revealed well-differentiated adenocarcinoma at the stromal site along Glisson’s sheath in segment 3, an IPNB lesion without invasion in B2, and biliary intraepithelial neoplasia and chronic bile duct injury at various sites in the large bile ducts. The bulky lymph node (poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with partial squamous cell differentiation) invaded the bile duct and duodenum.ConclusionsWe report a case of occupational cholangiocarcinoma that developed 18 years after the end of exposure to DCP and DCM. Long-term follow-up is required to carefully survey development of cholangiocarcinoma in workers with an occupational history of exposure to organic solvents.

Theoretical and experimental studies on the conformational changes of organic solvent-stable protease from Bacillus sphaericus DS11 in methanol/water mixtures.

If natural proteases are used in organic synthesis, they are often inactivated or give a low rate of reaction in non-aqueous or aqueous-organic media. Therefore, to reveal the molecular mechanism governing the stability of proteases in organic solvents and increase protease stability in those systems is of intriguing interest. In the present study, the activity and conformational changes of an organic solvent-stable protease (OSP) from Bacillus sphaericus DS11 in different concentrations of methanol were investigated by measuring fluorescence, UV-Vis spectra, circular dichroism (CD), and conducting molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The OSP expanded with increasing methanol concentration. The methanol molecules were able to enter into the OSP, leading to microenvironmental changes around the aromatic amino acids. More hydrophobic groups were exposed to the solvents at high methanol concentrations, and the original hydrophobic interaction in the protein decreased, thus resulting in the secondary and tertiary structure change in the OSP. Our results provide helpful insight into the molecular mechanism of the OSP tolerance to organic solvent and indicate directions for future work to design and engineer proteases that are stable at high organic solvent concentrations.

Capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry using robust poly(ether ether ketone) capillary for tolerance to high content of organic solvents

Nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis (CE) and organic-aqueous CE using high content of organic solvents are common techniques in capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS) due to various advantages. However, the long-term stability of commonly used polyimide coated fused silica capillary remains a major problem that polyimide coating is prone to swelling in organic solvents and aminolysis in alkaline buffer, which cause serious problems like irregular electrospray, current drop or clogging event. In this work, robust PEEK capillary was used as separation capillary for tolerance to high content of organic solvents in CE-MS system. It is interesting that the high mechanical and chemical stability of PEEK capillary ensured stable CE separation and electrospray when used in CE-MS. All quantitative experiments were accomplished by single PEEK capillary. In addition, the using of organic solvents as running buffer reduced adsorption of hydrophobic compounds on PEEK capillary wall and improved the symmetry of peak shape. The PEEK-based CE-MS method showed good separation performance in analysis of several groups of active alkaloids in traditional Chinese medicines and was applied for quantitative analysis of peimine and peiminine in Bulbus Fritillariae thunbergii herb with high sensitivity. Based on the advantages like simple pretreatment, easy to cut, stable and good separation performance of PEEK column in CE-MS, this study provides an effective way for improving the stability and employment of high content of organic solvents in CE-MS analysis.

The identification and use of robust transaminases from a domestic drain metagenome.

Transaminases remain one of the most promising biocatalysts for use in chiral amine synthesis, however their industrial implementation has been hampered by their general instability towards, for example, high amine donor concentrations and organic solvent content. Herein we describe the identification, cloning and screening of 29 novel transaminases from a household drain metagenome. The most promising enzymes were fully characterised and the effects of pH, temperature, amine donor concentration and co-solvent determined. Several enzymes demonstrated good substrate tolerance as well as an unprecedented robustness for a wild-type transaminase. One enzyme in particular readily accepted IPA as an amine donor giving the same conversion with 2-50 equivalents, as well as being tolerant to a number of co-solvents, and operational in up to 50% DMSO - a characteristic as yet unobserved in a wild-type transaminase. This work highlights the value of using metagenomics for biocatalyst discovery from niche environments, and here has led to the identification of one of the most robust native transaminases described to date, with respect to IPA and DMSO tolerance.

Hygienic assessment of handicapped adolescents vocational training conditions: problems and optimization opportunities

In a number of occupations, there is a shortage of labor force that can be filled with economically active part of the population, including people with disabilities (handicapped, HC). Unfortunately, observance of hygienic requirements in the context of HP adolescents vocational training has not been studied sufficiently: most scholars have researched only the conditions of teaching healthy adolescents. This study aimed to examine the HC adolescents vocational training conditions and develop measures to improve their working conditions with pathologies factored in. We examined adaptation potential, anxiety level, mental efficiency, sick rate and personal well-being assessment in HC adolescents (n = 120) aged 16–18, not impaired intellectually, studying sewing equipment operation, shoe repairs in the boarding scool. In the context of the study, we applied Smirnov hygiene criteria, Giessen Symptom Questionnaire, Spielberger's Test Anxiety Questionnaire, Sivkov scale, correction tables, Baevsky adaptation index. For the purposes of statistical analysis, we used parametric (Student t-test) and non- parametric (Mann–Whitney) criteria. The Spearman's correlation coefficient helped determine interrelationship of the studied parameters. We identified the following key adverse hygienic factors that have a significant impact on the students' health: intense character of labor performed, insufficient artificial lighting, noise level above the norm, high content of organic solvents and dust in the workshop's air. The timetable of the boarding school was also found to be inefficient. The results of this study allowed developing and introducing a software program to automatically compile the school's timetable with the aim to improve psychosomatic health of the students and halve the number of health-related complaints.