Ideon Science Park is a science park in Lund, Sweden that is run and sponsored by Wihlborgs Fastigheter AB, Lund University and Lund Municipality. There about 120,000 m2 (1,300,000 sq ft) of office and lab space in over ten buildings.St Ericsson, Sony, Ericsson, Axis Communications, Active Biotech and Gambro all have their development centres right beside the park, and Mblox have one of their two Swedish offices here, with the other in Stockholm.The development of Ideon came as a result of the 1970s restructuring in the Skåne business community. Ideon was founded by a collaboration between Lund University, the then Malmöhus county, Lund municipality and the business community.
Lipid liquid crystalline (LLC) depots are a useful platform for controlled drug release due to their biocompatible characteristics and slow-release kinetics. Despite research into their bulk phase behavior, spatially resolved insights into the structural transitions within heterogeneous regions remain limited. In this study, advanced synchrotron SAXS capabilities are employed to investigate hydration-induced phase transitions with high spatial resolution, complemented by Raman scattering to study lipid distribution. The results reveal that hydration drives lipid distribution within the depot and causes the formation of a hexagonal outer layer and a cubic micellar inner structure. Lipid redistribution is revealed as a significant factor slowing down swelling kinetics and associated properties of the drug delivery vehicle, leading to concentration and structure gradients persisting on the time scale of weeks. These findings are expected to support the rational design and optimization of lipid-based drug delivery systems.
Synthetic virus-like particles (VLP), designed from simplified building blocks, can reduce the complexity of native viral proteins and be tailored for specific applications. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate the role of counterions (H2PO4-, PO43-, Cl-, and F-) in stabilizing a preassembled virus-like shell formed by cationic peptides exemplified by synthetic cyclopeptide (sequence: cyc-Gln-DLeu-Arg-DLeu-Arg-DLeu-Arg-DLeu) VLP shells. Our findings reveal that polyatomic anions (H2PO4- and PO43-) facilitate stable assemblies by condensing on the VLP shell to higher degrees, thereby neutralizing Coulombic repulsion among the peptide building blocks. Cohesion is largely promoted through the multidentate hydrogen bonds with arginine: Substituting arginine by lysine in the system with H2PO4- leads to destabilization of the structure. H2PO4- additionally engages in hydrophobic interactions with leucine side chains. By contrast, monatomic anions (Cl- and F-) show insufficient coordination to the peptides and fail to stabilize the assembly, while supplementing F- with excess 1 M NaCl can recover the structural integrity by screening electrostatic interactions. This study provides important insights into the role of counterions in molecular self-assembly and the nature of their interactions with amino-acid side chains involved in the cooperative formation and stabilization of synthetic virus-like shells.
Viable Escherichia coli were detected in sediments near a point of wastewater discharge in a marine coastal environment in Sweden. Since high concentrations were found in the sediments nearest the pipe, this suggested that treated wastewater effluent was the source of the microbes. In order to examine this hypothesis, different bioinformatics approaches were applied using 16S rRNA gene V3-V4 amplicon sequences from the sediments. Both signature-based source tracking using sequence libraries describing known sources of fecal water pollution (SourceTracker); and, a curated source tracking method, indicated that sediments were contaminated with wastewater. The results from the curated approach were independently confirmed using differential abundance analysis (DESeq2). A number of taxa originating from wastewater were identified which can be used to describe contamination of the sediments, and examine the spread of these specific taxa, even at low relative abundance, along the urban coast. Sequences of phylum Bacteroidetes (such as Bacteroides and Prevotella) and Firmicutes (such as Romboutsia) increased in sediments with higher concentrations of E. coli. In addition, sequences from Trichococcus are proposed as an indicator for treated wastewater. All three source tracking approaches, and the detection of viable E. coli, suggest that urban sediments can be a reservoir for indicator bacteria.
Hempseed protein concentrate (HPC) was extracted from hempseed press cake with a protein content of 85.7% and co-extruded with oat fibre residue (OFR) to produce high-moisture meat analogues (HMMA) at different moisture contents (60, 63, 66%), screw speeds (500, 700, 900) and temperature profiles (40-70-110-130 degrees C and 40-70-120-150 degrees C). The effect of extrusion processing parameters such as moisture content, screw speed, and different temperature profiles on the properties of the extrudates was investigated. The produced meat analogues had a fibrous structure and brown colour, which may be due to the derived hempseed protein. The specific mechanical energy (SME) required in this study was low and ranged from 63 to 185 kJ/kg. As moisture content increased, it was discovered that hardness, chewiness, and cutting strength values decreased. Nevertheless, cutting strength values increased when a higher temperature profile was used. By using a higher temperature profile, the protein was completely denatured, leading to the formation of stronger fibres in the meat analogues with a higher quality in terms of texture. The study demonstrated the possibility for both materials from underutilised side-streams to be converted into meat analogues, which would provide variety for the HMMA on the market.
With stringent effluent requirements and the implementation of new processes for micropollutant removal, it is increasingly important for wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to understand the factors affecting effluent quality. Phages (viruses infecting prokaryotes) are abundant in the biological treatment processes. They can contribute to organic carbon in the treated effluent both because they are organic in nature and occur in the effluent and because they cause lysis of microorganisms. Today very little is known about the effects of phages on effluent quality. The goal of this study was, therefore, to determine the relationship between phages and organic carbon in WWTP effluents. We also examined the diversity, taxonomy, and host-association of DNA phages using metagenomics. Effluent samples were collected from four WWTPs treating municipal wastewater. Significant differences in both organic carbon and virus-like particle concentrations were observed between the plants and there was a linear relationship between the two parameters. The phage communities were diverse with many members being taxonomically unclassified. Putative hosts were dominated by bacteria known to be abundant in activated sludge systems such as Comamonadaceae. The composition of phages differed between the WWTPs, suggesting that local conditions shape the communities. Overall, our findings suggest that the abundance and composition of phages are related to effluent quality. Thus, there is a need for further research clarifying the association between phage dynamics and WWTP function.
