Cold atmospheric plasma: a sustainable approach to inactivating viruses, bacteria, and protozoa with remediation of organic pollutants in river water and wastewater

Innovative technologies are needed to enhance access to clean water and avoid waterborne diseases. We investigated the performance of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP), a clean and sustainable approach for microbial inactivation and total organic carbon (TOC) degradation in environmental water. Water matrices played a crucial role in the performance of CAP efficacy; for example, complete removal of ɸX174 from dH2O required 1 min of treatment, while ɸX174 reductions of ~ 2log10 and 4log10 were obtained after 10 min of CAP exposure in river water and wastewater samples, respectively. Similarly, after 10 min of CAP treatment, bacterial concentrations decreased by 3 log10 and 4 log10, in river and wastewater samples, respectively. In contrast, after 30 s of contact time, a 4 log10 reduction of bacteria was accomplished in dH2O. Complete removal of Acanthamoeba from dH2O was found after 30 min of CAP treatment, whereas it was not removed from surface water or wastewater at the same exposure time. Additionally, the approach successfully reduced TOC, and the degradation kinetics of TOC were represented by pseudo-first-order. CAP showed higher rates of TOC degradation in the final effluent of the wastewater treatment plant compared to surface water. The difference in CAP performance between river water and wastewater could be attributed to the bulk structure of humic acids in river water compared to small organic byproducts in the final effluent of WWTP. Overall, the findings reported here support the idea that CAP holds promise as a sustainable solution for controlling pathogens, removing organic water pollution, and integrating with traditional purification processes. Low-cost systems may advance CAP technology and increase its widespread use.

Anomalous kinetic study of atenolol release from ATN@DNA a core-shell like structure

The need for more efficient drug delivery strategies with ultraprecision and control over the release of drugs has led to the growth of more sophisticated drug-releasing systems as a promising alternative to conventional clinical therapies. This new seed of strategies has explored an encouraging property to overcome the inherent problems of traditional therapies. One of the major challenges for any drug delivery system is the introduction of a complete view of the delivery system. In this article, we intend to elucidate the theoretical proof of concept of the electrosynthesis ATN@DNA core-shell like structure as a model system. Therefore, we present a fractal kinetic model (non-exponential model) taking into consideration the concept of time-dependent diffusion coefficient, which was developed using a numerical method with the help of COMSOL Multiphysics. In addition to that, we present here a general fractional kinetic model in sense of the tempered fractional operator, which leads to better characterized memory properties of the release process. Also, the fractional model is compared with the fractal kinetic model and both offer a good description of drug release processes that present anomalous kinetics. The solutions of the fractal and fractional kinetic models are also fitted successfully with our real-release results.

Oxygen atoms are critical in rendering THP-1 leukaemia cells susceptible to cold physical plasma-induced apoptosis

Cold physical plasma has been suggested as a powerful new tool in oncology. However, some cancer cells such as THP-1 leukaemia cells have been shown to be resistant towards plasma-induced cell death, thereby serving as a good model for optimizing plasmas in order to foster pro-apoptotic anticancer effects. A helium/oxygen radio frequency driven atmospheric plasma profoundly induced apoptosis in THP-1 cells whereas helium, humidified helium, and humidified helium/oxygen plasmas were inefficient. Hydrogen peroxide – previously shown as central plasma-derived agent – did not participate in the killing reaction but our results suggest hypochlorous acid to be responsible for the effect observed. Proteomic analysis of THP-1 cells exposed to He/O₂ plasma emphasized a prominent growth retardation, cell stress, apoptosis, and a pro-immunogenic profile. Altogether, a plasma setting that inactivates previously unresponsive leukaemia cells is presented. Crucial reactive species in the plasma and liquid environment were identified and discussed, deciphering the complexity of plasma from the gas phase into the liquid down to the cellular response mechanism. These results may help tailoring plasmas for clinical applications such as oxidation-insensitive types of cancer.