Materials Scientists Find New Technique That Could Help Create the Perfect Light-Absorbing Material

James Rondinelli, from the Northwestern University, makes use of quantum mechanical calculations to work at the atom-level of materials. He uses these calculations to anticipate and design the characteristics of new materials.

Rondinelli and his group have been credited with the discovery of a new way to regulate the electronic band gap in highly sophisticated oxide materials. All this has been achieved without changing the overall composition of the material. This finding could potentially help in the development of more improved electro-optical devices (read lasers) and new materials that could either generate energy or convert it from one form to another. Solar cells with heightened absorbency or photoelectrocatalysis with higher sunlight conversion abilities are an example of such materials.

Rondinelli, said that when it comes to collecting the sun’s light, there are no perfect materials. That’s precisely why materials scientists are constantly trying to engineer such a material from scratch. This entails trying to understand the material’s structure, its arrangement of atoms, and how these traits add to or take away from the functionalities and properties of that material.

In the context of light harvesting, conversion and transmission technologies, the electronic band gap is a foundational parameter. Using band-gap engineering, materials scientists can alter the portion in the material to change exactly that portion within a solar spectrum that can be absorbed by solar cells. These factors require that the chemical make-up or structure of the material be changed.

Rondinelli's method is revolutionary in that it can bring about a 200% change to the band gap without causing any modifications to the material’s chemistry.

This research endeavor – supported by the United States Department of Energy (USDE) and the DARPA – has been described in detail in a paper published in the journal Nature Communications. The paper has been co-authored by Prasanna Balachandran, from the New Mexico-based Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Pfizer Wades Deep into Biosimilars Market with US$17 billion Hospira Acquisition

Pharmaceutical major Pfizer made the headlines this week with its decision to acquire Hospira for a whopping US$17 billion, inclusive of debt. The company is obviously not holding back anything because it wants to see this deal come through successfully – and eventually, profitably. With this move, Pfizer is also trying to cash in on a new class of generic drugs that are very sophisticated copies of elite biotech drugs. This obviously makes the new class of generics incredibly costly.

It is evident that Pfizer wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths to acquire Hospira if it wasn’t for the promise that this deal holds. The company is confident that the Hospira acquisition will help it earn lucrative revenue in the future in the biosimilars segment.

A consultant who works at the pharmaceutical division of PricewaterhouseCoopers told media that the emerging biosimilars market is where future growth lies. He termed it as being the “land of opportunity”.

Biosimilars are essentially highly complex copies of biologic drugs that have little or no competition within the market in the United States. Biologic drugs are produced in living cells, which is why they cannot be copied precisely. That’s also the reason why they are called biosimilars, and not generic drugs. Despite being touted as the most promising trend in the pharmaceutical industry, unanswered questions about the durability of biosimilars still exist. In Europe, biosimilars have been on the market for a number of years. But the FDA is yet to approve biosimilars for the U.S. market. This situation is on the brink of change, as an FDA advisory panel recently gave a nod of approval for the launch of a biosimilar of Neupogen by Amgen. The drug is used for cancer treatment.

Thus, Pfizer’s venture in the biosimilars market could just be the beginning of similar deals in the future.

Beer Giant Carlsberg Partners with ecoXpac to Produce Wood-Fiber Bottle with ‘Zero-Waste’ Attributes

For several years now, the beverage packaging industry has earned brownie points by using rigid recyclable containers made from aluminum, PET and glass. But now, a few market leaders are taking their eco-credibility quotient several notches higher with innovative materials. Carlsberg and ecoXpac, a supplier of molded-fiber packaging, have partnered to produce a biodegradable bottle using wood-fiber. The new project has already garnered much interest in the sustainable packaging sector worldwide after the beverage manufacturer announced it at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The project – currently being called the Green Fiber Bottle initiative – will also see participation from the Technical University of Denmark and the Innovation Fund Denmark.

The goal of the project is to produce a beverage bottle that’s 100% biodegradable and uses wood fiber that is sustainably sourced. The partners on this project will make use of both biodegradable and bio-based materials not just in the bottle, but also on components used for closure.

The bottle is being touted as ‘zero waste’ and those close to the project say that it will be compatible for use not just with beer, but with a wide variety of beverages such as carbonated soft drinks and juices. However, it might still be early to understand how the bottle will shape up. Though one thing is clear – it will not be a transparent bottle. However, this attribute of the bottle will make it especially suited for beer. Wood-fiber will block light and keep beer from going off. An opaque material also brings another advantage to the table – blocking UV rays. Other aspects such as taste testing cannot be predicted just as yet, said officials from Carlsberg. However, the aim of the project will obviously remain to ensure that the taste of beverages does not change on account of the container’s material.

New ‘Electronic Nose’ Sniffs Food to Ascertain Whether it is Safe to Consume

Foodstuff that is past its use-by date can be detrimental to one’s health in more ways than one. According to the CDC, about a sixth of all Americans—or 48 million people—suffer from food borne illnesses every year. Because it is sometimes difficult to determine whether food is fresh, food poisoning can be an especially difficult condition to prevent. It is to address this gap that a new product – the Foodsniffer – has been conceptualized and created by Augustas Alesiunas, a Lithuanian inventor.

This handy kitchen gadget helps people determine whether a food item is still edible by simply ‘sniffing’ the food and relaying the results of the sniff test to the user’s smartphone. The makers of this gadget claim that the Foodsniffer is the first electronic nose in the world. It can be used with a variety of food items such as fish, poultry and meat. The device makes use of a set of special sensors to gauge factors such as ammonia, humidity, temperature, and other dangerous organic compounds that are present in food that’s gone off.

Alesiunas stumbled upon the idea of inventing a gadget such as this when he fell severely ill after consuming stale food. He said that while people often try to identify whether food is still fresh by smelling, what they don’t realize is that some poisonous compounds can in fact, be odorless. Considering this aspect, it can be extremely difficult for people to ascertain whether food has gone bad. According to Alesiunas, food spoilage can sometimes take place as a result of contact with other foodstuff stored in the refrigerator or certain types of cookware.

The launch price of the Foodsniffer is US$120, and it will be available in the market starting March 2015. This gadget can help reduce food wastage by helping people ascertain whether food items are safe to consume.

Buoyant Construction Sector in the Philippines Helps Boost Overall Jobs Growth: PSA Report

The Philippines construction sector has been buoyant for some time now, and the positive cascading effect is evident in the fact that the 2014 third quarter saw a growth in jobs in Metro Manila.  These were the findings of a report published by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The PSA’s report that deals with employment statistics states that consistent growth in activities related to areas such as business support services and administration, as well as the construction industry, technical activities, and professional scientific activities have helped the market gain more jobs and revenues.

According to the PSA data, the labor turnover as of September 2014 quarter showed an uptick of 2.35%. This figure marks an encouraging rise from the first quarter growth (a mere 0.59%) and the second quarter (0.88%) in 2014. The latest data also shows that the latest growth figures hover close to those of the same period last year (2.38%).

In the third quarter of 2014, construction industry growth was seen to be 11.9% YoY, which was the strongest during this period.  The report shows that for every 1,000 company workers employed in the National Capital Region or the NCR, about 23 new employees were added during the 3 months leading up to September 2014. And, for every thousand employees, about 131 new employees joined the ranks of workers. However, 108 workers were either fired or quit. 

The report also showed that the rate of hiring soared by 13.11%, while the rate of separation remained at about 10.76% during the same period. In addition, the rate of employment in the overall industry showed an improvement of about 2.45% and the services sector also showed an uptick of 2.34%. The agriculture sector, on the other hand, witnessed a drop in jobs by about 0.19%.

Plastic Chemicals Could Hasten Onset of Menopause: Study

A team of researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) have said that chemicals found in cosmetics and plastics could cause women to experience premature menopause. The researchers said that women who were found to have these chemicals in higher percentages in their bodies were more likely to suffer from earlier menopause as a result of weakened ovarian function. Senior author of the study, Amber Cooper, who also teaches gynecology and obstetrics at the (WUSM) said that certain chemicals have been linked to the earlier onset of menopause. 

The medical journal PLOS ONE published the study, which did not clearly prove that being exposed to certain chemicals could cause menopause, but authors of the study said that they have uncovered associations that can provide leads for more in-depth research. The findings of this study were based on a sample of women at the menopausal stage, collected from all over the United States. The average age of this representative sample of women was 61 years, and only those women who were not known to be taking therapies for estrogen replacement were brought on board. The other criterion for the study was that the participants should not have undergone ovary-removal procedures.

Researchers studied urine and blood samples collected from these women to look for as many as 111 chemicals that are either suspected to proven to interfere with the natural distribution and production of hormones in the female body. After studying the samples, scientists found that of the 111 chemicals on their radar, 15 were seen to be associated with the early onset of menopause to a significant degree and also caused the function of ovaries to decline.

These 15 chemicals included nine PCBs, two phthalates, and three pesticides that are seen to be present in cosmetics (nail polish, perfumes, hair spray, makeup, pharmaceuticals, liquid soap, and other products) as well as in common household use products. The researchers have now called for closer examination of these chemicals.

Scotch Whisky Contributes GBP 4.96 Billion to UK Economy Annually: Scotch Whisky Association Report

The Scotch whisky industry contributes a whopping GBP 4.96 billion to Great Britain’s economy every year. In revenue terms, this makes the Scotch whisky sector larger than industries such as textiles, steel, computer industries, and shipbuilding, the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has said in its latest report published in January 2015. The SWA report states that Scotch whisky surpasses the food and beverages sector in the UK, in terms of value.

According to the report, 40,300 jobs are created in the UK within the liquor distilling industry. This marks an increase of 15% since 2008, when the total jobs in this industry stood at 35,000. The jobs are created across a myriad of core and ancillary sector such as labeling and glass manufacturing. Of the total number of people that earn a livelihood via the Scotch whisky industry, about 10,900 workers are directly employed in the whisky manufacturing industry in Scotland. The average salary of such workers amounts to GBP 47,000. This places the Scotch whisky industry third among the highest paying professions in the United Kingdom, beating professions such as finance.

The report further states that over 90% of all operating expenditure of the Scotch whisky industry remains within the UK. This industry also continues to remain a cornerstone of the UK’s revenues from exports, accounting for 25% of all exports from the nation.

Scotch whisky can be classified as a traditional homegrown industry that dates back to the late 15th century. Workforce across verticals such as distilling, bottling, labeling, sales and marketing, and advertising, and logistics play a role behind every bottle of scotch produced in the UK. Taking inspiration from the success of this alcoholic drink in Scotland, other countries such as Japan, the United States and Canada have also started facilities that recreate the most famous drink of Scotland.