Mass production system for RNA-loaded lipid nanoparticles using piling up microfluidic devices

Microfluidic devices are widely used in lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-based vaccines and nanomedicine research. These devices should be stiff enough to withstand the high flow rate for the mass production of LNPs, and malleable enough to use when fabricating complicated microchannel or micromixer structures, such as staggering herringbone micromixers. Due to the limitations of the available fabrication methods, optimal microfluidic devices have not yet been developed. In this study, we report the development of a glass-based microfluidic device based on the invasive Lipid Nanoparticle Production (iLiNP) device® reported previously. The LNP size controllability of glass-based iLiNP device was similar to that of the poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)-based iLiNP device, and the glass-iLiNP device was used for mRNA-loaded LNP production with ionizable lipids used for COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. We also demonstrate a piling- and numbering-up strategy based on glass-iLiNP device. The iLiNP unit composed of five-layered microchannels was fabricated by piling-up each glass-iLiNP device followed by parallelization (numbering-up) for the mass production of LNPs. This iLiNP system can produce LNPs with sizes ranging between 20 and 60 nm at a flow rate of 20–50 mL/min, and its performance is comparable to that of the commercially available microfluidic system like NanoAssemblr®.

Design, Development, and Manufacturing of Cost-Effective Face Shields for COVID-19

COVID-19 is a highly contagious respiratory disease and is declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). COVID-19 has disrupted global supply chains including those of medical products and created severe shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE). To ease the situation, many universities, industries, maker communities, and hobbyists have come forward and shared their designs in the public domain, to enable manufacturing of PPE such as face shields with readily available materials in partnership with local industries. Face shield protects the facial region including the mucous membranes (eyes, nose, and mouth) from splashes of body fluids that could contain harmful pathogens, in this case the novel coronavirus. The design and manufacturing of two novel reusable, low-cost, lightweight, comfortable, and easy to wear face shields are presented in the current article. The headband in one face shield (referred as FS1) is realized via additive manufacturing (popularly known as 3D printing) and the other (denoted by FS2), using conventional milling operation. The novelty in FS1 is its headband, which is designed to cover the ears too while in FS2, the headband is made of 3-ply corrugated cardboard that is biodegradable and recyclable. A 175 microns thick, high transparency, scratch-resistant, and anti-fog sheet are used as the shield material. Mass-producing face shields at low costs (INR 20 or USD 0.27) with the selected manufacturing methods are proposed. Both products received very good feedback from frontline workers. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Clinical application and development of anti-complement active substances

The complement system is an important component of the innate immune system, and the occurrence of rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, COVID-19 and other diseases is closely related to abnormalities of the complement system. At present, most of the complement inhibitors commonly used in clinical practice are chemical synthetic drugs, which are poorly selective, and long-term use can easily lead to a decrease in the body's immune ability. The anti-complement active ingredients from natural products are less toxic and easy to be digested and absorbed by the body, among which the anti-complement active substances of microbial sources have unique advantages and application potential, which can be quickly discovered and identified by genome mining, and use metabolic engineering to modify and optimize mass production, but the relevant research is still in the preliminary research and development stage. This review summarizes the clinical application of the more common complement inhibitors at home and abroad in recent years, and discusses the research and development progress of anti-complement active substances of microbial origin, in order to provide a reference for the clinical research of complement inhibitors and the development of new anti-complement active substances of natural sources.

Industry 4.0 and Its Suitability in Post COVID-19

In the present era of technological advancement and rapid change, mankind faces different kinds of challenges. The product lifecycle has been shortened dramatically, and the manufacturing industry is moving from mass production to the high personalization of mass products. This era is widely known as the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0 (I4.0). It seems that soon it will be inevitable for every society. The paper briefly focuses on empirical insights into the impact of I4.0 on various sectors of society. The traditional approaches to manufacturing, servicing, and public policy planning will no longer remain effective and would be transformed. I4.0 should be observed as an Opportunity 4.0 and draw attention to the industry, academia, and policymakers' in changing scenarios. Expectations from them are also underlined. Its favorable features in the post-COVID-19 era are also discussed. This short article invites attention to foresee beyond I4.0, e.g. Industry 5.0 and more such progressions. © 2022 World Scientific Publishing Co.

Design, Analysis and Fabrication of Ultrasonic Power Horns Used to Produce Medical (Surgical) Face Mask and Their Supplements

Due to a wide and rapid spread of Covid-19 virus, the world exposure suffering from the severe shortage not only for those personal protective equipment that are normally used in hospitals but also extended to the care homes, and because the global rollout of the harmful virus around the world, the number of cases of for pandemic covid-19 is rapidly increased in most countries. The motivation of the current work provide a design of an efficient tools that can overcome many issues concerned with the distribution of virus, and therefore to suppress the prevalence of virus through apply the health rules for quarantine and safety. Ultrasound power technique in general, specifically ultrasonic power remains one of the efficient and reliable processes that can be performed in a wide range of applications such as medical, engineering and manufacturing, which it entered directly in processing different kinds of medicals stuff such as manufacturing medical masks and other accessories beside their other applications in most engineering and industrial fields, etc. The advantage of this technique is crucial and essential in produce protect things required for general purposes like medical masks and their supplements. Design an efficient tool that can be works on the principle of ultrasonic power with providing high performance through add slots will directly leads to enhance many criteria which are benefit in producing large numbers of medical accessories such as facial masks with consuming minimum amount of materials, cost and time. This work presents a study based on design a wide block horn have double slots and an exponential stepped profile, which the horn is modelled, analysed, fabricated based on selecting of aluminium type 7075 as horn materials and their vibration characteristics such as natural frequency and displacement are successfully extracted, using finite element model. A correlation between the design variables and characteristics of the proposed block horn is obtained through perform sensitivity analysis and investigation of the horn response surface. The simulation program of commercial code ANSYS was performed successfully to characterize the mode shapes of the selected horn models and their data discussion was confirmed experimentally using Doppler effect of 3D laser vibrometer to extract horn measurements. The correlation between electrical impedance and experimental analysis were successfully identified with minimum percentage recoded a value of 2 % varied from the natural frequency of vibrating horn. Optimizing slots position of the designing block horn have been led to significant enough frequency separation measured accordingly to the exciting axial mode with sufficient uniformity of displacement amplitude and minimum stress identified far away from the horn tip;this is recommended in the field of mass production to allow sufficient ultrasonic energy transferred to the working area. This work concludes that designing an efficient horn will surely reflect on works in acceptable quantity and quality processing parts such as in producing medical masks and their supplements. In comparison with traditional processes, performing ultrasonic power results in fewer additives attain joints material with no holes from sewing, or weak strands, revoke the rise of adhesive cost and lower the glue delivery system. In contrast, the ultrasonic process has pace cycle rate which has capability in reducing of maintenance down time.

Use of Sustainable Fuels in Aviation—A Review

As the push for carbon-neutral transport continues, the aviation sector is facing increasing pressure to reduce its carbon footprint. Furthermore, commercial air traffic is expected to resume the continuous growth experienced until the pandemic, highlighting the need for reduced emissions. The use of alternative fuels plays a key role in achieving future emission goals, while also lowering the dependency on fossil fuels. The so-called sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), which encompass bio and synthetic fuels, are currently the most viable option, but hydrogen is also being considered as a long-term solution. The present paper reviews the production methods, logistical and technological barriers, and potential for future mass implementation of these alternative fuels. In general, biofuels currently present higher technological readiness levels than other alternatives. Sustainable mass production faces critical feedstock-related challenges that synthetic fuels, together with other solutions, can overcome. All conventional fuel replacements, though with different scopes, will be important in meeting long-term goals. Government support will play an important role in accelerating and facilitating the transition towards sustainable aviation.

IoT as a Backbone of Intelligent Homestead Automation

The concepts of smart agriculture, with the aim of highly automated industrial mass production leaning towards self-farming, can be scaled down to the level of small farms and homesteads, with the use of more affordable electronic components and open-source software. The backbone of smart agriculture, in both cases, is the Internet of Things (IoT). Single-board computers (SBCs) such as a Raspberry Pi, working under Linux or Windows IoT operating systems, make affordable platform for smart devices with modular architecture, suitable for automation of various tasks by using machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision (CV). Similarly, the Arduino microcontroller enables the building of nodes in the IoT network, capable of reading various physical values, wirelessly sending them to other computers for processing and furthermore, controlling electronic elements and machines in the physical world based on the received data. This review gives a limited overview of currently available technologies for smart automation of industrial agricultural production and of alternative, smaller-scale projects applicable in homesteads, based on Arduino and Raspberry Pi hardware, as well as a draft proposal of an integrated homestead automation system based on the IoT.

Examination of the Physics solution of COVID-19

The Viruses are pathogens capable of infecting more than 10% of the world’s population annually in epidemics responsible for 3 to 5 million cases of severe illness and up to 500 000 deaths. In addition, new virus variants pose a continuous threat of sparking pandemic outbreaks. The success of the viral attack is attributed to their sheath in a capsid, abnormal mass production of infective RNA or DNA genetic material in living target. Other features include, great symmetry in structures based on assorted geometries with amazing mechanical properties. Consequently, prognostic models have been deployed to regulate and unravel understanding for successful treatment of viruses. In particular, this report seeks to investigate SARS-CoV-2 through its viral shell mechanical properties and a novel point of entropy and thermodynamic principles. It concludes with recommendation of effective physical remedies for SARS-CoV-2 from a local and global outlook.

Inkjet Printing: A Viable Technology for Biosensor Fabrication

Printing technology promises a viable solution for the low-cost, rapid, flexible, and mass fabrication of biosensors. Among the vast number of printing techniques, screen printing and inkjet printing have been widely adopted for the fabrication of biosensors. Screen printing provides ease of operation and rapid processing;however, it is bound by the effects of viscous inks, high material waste, and the requirement for masks, to name a few. Inkjet printing, on the other hand, is well suited for mass fabrication that takes advantage of computer-aided design software for pattern modifications. Furthermore, being drop-on-demand, it prevents precious material waste and offers high-resolution patterning. To exploit the features of inkjet printing technology, scientists have been keen to use it for the development of biosensors since 1988. A vast number of fully and partially inkjet-printed biosensors have been developed ever since. This study presents a short introduction on the printing technology used for biosensor fabrication in general, and a brief review of the recent reports related to virus, enzymatic, and non-enzymatic biosensor fabrication, via inkjet printing technology in particular.

Emergence, consolidation and dominance of meta-regimes: Exploring the historical evolution of mass production (1765-1972) from the Deep Transitions perspective.

Grand environmental and societal challenges have drawn increasing attention to system innovation and socio-technical transitions. A recent Deep Transitions framework has provided a comprehensive theory of the co-evolutionary patterns of multiple socio-technical systems over the last 250 years. However, so far the framework has not been subjected to systematic empirical exploration. In this paper we address this gap by exploring the co-evolutionary model linking niche-level dynamics, transitions in single systems and 'great surges of development', as conceptualized by Schot and Kanger (2018) [1]. For this purpose, we conduct a case study on the historical evolution of mass production in the Transatlantic region from 1765 to 1972. Instead of focusing on dominant technologies or common practices the development of mass production is understood as the emergence of a meta-regime, i.e. a set of mutually aligned rules guiding production activities in multiple socio-technical systems. The results broadly confirm the overall model but also enable to extend the Deep Transitions framework by uncovering new mechanisms and patterns in the variation, diffusion and contestation of meta-regimes.