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Month: June 2022

UNAIR collaborates with Tunku Abdul Rahman University College Malaysia

Posted on by Universitas Airlangga News

Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) received a visit from Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC), Malaysia, at the Plenary Meeting Room, Management Office 4th Floor, MERR C Campus on Monday, May 30, 2022. The visit was held to discuss the education and university governance in Indonesia and opportunities for collaboration between UNAIR and TAR UC.

In his remarks, Vice-Rector for Academic, Students, and Alumni Affairs, Prof Dr Bambang Sektiari Lukiswanto expressed his joy for TAR UC’s visit to UNAIR. Prof. Bambang is looking forward to collaborating with TAR UC, not only at the university level but also national level.

Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Low Tiong Lai, as Chairman of the Board of Governors of TARC UC, also expressed his respect for UNAIR’s invitation to the semi-government university. He is also looking forward to TAR UC’s collaboration with UNAIR.

“I hope that our brotherhood in Asia can be the excellence of Asia. I look forward to our collaboration in conferences, research, student exchanges, and even lecture exchanges, ” he said.

Collaboration in various fields

The receding wave of Covid-19 makes UNAIR optimistic that it can carry out international activities offline together with TAR UC. Head of Internationalization AGE UNAIR, Dina Septiani PhD said that UNAIR is ready to send and receive students and lecturers with TAR UC. She also explained that UNAIR gladly accepted the double degree offer from TAR UC.

“We are currently discussing the double degree opportunity with several universities in Indonesia. We welcome UNAIR to collaborate in a double degree program,” said Associate Professor Say Sok Kwan as the representative of TAR UC.

He also expressed his interest in holding an international conference with UNAIR. Say Sok Kwan admitted that he was looking forward to the interaction between students from both universities.

“We hope to continue the discussion regarding the physical international conference (offline international conference, ed), which may be held in 2023. If UNAIR organizes it, we are ready to be a co-host,” he said.

Furthermore, Secretary of UNAIR Research and Community Service Institute (LPPM) Niko Azhari Hidayat dr SpBTKV also proposed collaboration in the field of entrepreneurship. According to him, UNAIR business incubators can cooperate with business incubators from TAR UC to a degree of bilateral pitching.

Let machines do the work: Automating semiconductor research with machine learning

Posted on by Tokyo University of Science

The development of new thin semiconductor materials requires a quantitative analysis of a large amount of reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) data, which is time consuming and requires expertise. To tackle this issue, scientists from Tokyo University of Science identify machine learning techniques that can help automate RHEED data analysis. Their findings could greatly accelerate semiconductor research and pave the way for faster, energy efficient electronic devices.

The semiconductor industry has been growing steadily ever since its first steps in the mid-twentieth century and, thanks to the high-speed information and communication technologies it enabled, it has given way to the rapid digitalization of society. Today, in line with a tight global energy demand, there is a growing need for faster, more integrated, and more energy-efficient semiconductor devices.

However, modern semiconductor processes have already reached the nanometer scale, and the design of novel high-performance materials now involves the structural analysis of semiconductor nanofilms. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) is a widely used analytical method for this purpose. RHEED can be used to determine the structures that form on the surface of thin films at the atomic level and can even capture structural changes in real time as the thin film is being synthesized!

Unfortunately, for all its benefits, RHEED is sometimes hindered by the fact that its output patterns are complex and difficult to interpret. In virtually all cases, a highly skilled experimenter is needed to make sense of the huge amounts of data that RHEED can produce in the form of diffraction patterns. But what if we could make machine learning do most of the work when processing RHEED data?

A team of researchers led by Dr. Naoka Nagamura, a visiting associate professor at Tokyo University of Science (TUS) and a senior researcher of National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Japan, has been working on just that. In their latest study, published online on 09 June 2022 in the international journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials: Methods, the team explored the possibility of using machine learning to automatically analyze RHEED data. This work, which was supported by JST-PRESTO and JST-CREST, was the result of joint research by TUS and NIMS, Japan. It was co-authored by Ms. Asako Yoshinari, Prof. Masato Kotsugi also from TUS, and Dr. Yuma Iwasaki from NIMS.

The researchers focused on the surface superstructures that form on the first atomic layers of clean single-crystal silicon (one of the most versatile semiconductor materials). depending on the amount of indium atoms adsorbed and slight differences in temperature. Surface superstructures are atomic arrangements unique to crystal surfaces where atoms stabilize in different periodic patterns than those inside the bulk of the crystal, depending on differences in the surrounding environment. Because they often exhibit unique physical properties, surface superstructures are the focus of much interest in materials science.

First, the team used different hierarchical clustering methods, which are aimed at dividing samples into different clusters based on various measures of similarity. This approach serves to detect how many different surface superstructures are present. After trying different techniques, the researchers found that Ward’s method could best track the actual phase transitions in surface superstructures.

The scientists then sought to determine the optimal process conditions for synthesizing each of the identified surface superstructures. They focused on the indium deposition time for which each superstructure was most extensively formed. Principal component analysis and other typical methods for dimensionality reduction did not perform well. Fortunately, non-negative matrix factorization, a different clustering and dimensionality reduction technique, could accurately and automatically obtain the optimal deposition times for each superstructure. Excited about these results, Dr. Nagamura remarks, “Our efforts will help automate the work that typically requires time-consuming manual analysis by specialists. We believe our study has the potential to change the way materials research is done and allow scientists to spend more time on creative pursuits.”

Overall, the findings reported in this study will hopefully lead to new and effective ways of using machine learning technique for materials science—a central topic in the field of materials informatics. In turn, this would have implications in our everyday lives as existing devices and technologies are upgraded with better materials. “Our approach can be used to analyze the superstructures grown not only on thin-film silicon single-crystal surfaces, but also metal crystal surfaces, sapphire, silicon carbide, gallium nitride, and various other important substrates. Thus, we expect our work to accelerate the research and development of next-generation semiconductors and high-speed communication devices,” concludes Dr. Nagamura.

We certainly hope to see more such discoveries in the future that can automate complex data analysis and ease the workload of scientists!

***

Reference

Title of original paper: Skill-agnostic analysis of reflection high-energy electron diffraction patterns for Si(111) surface superstructures using machine learning

Journal: Science and Technology of Advanced Materials: Methods

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/27660400.2022.2079942

About The Tokyo University of Science

Tokyo University of Science (TUS) is a well-known and respected university, and the largest science-specialized private research university in Japan, with four campuses in central Tokyo and its suburbs and in Hokkaido. Established in 1881, the university has continually contributed to Japan’s development in science through inculcating the love for science in researchers, technicians, and educators.

With a mission of “Creating science and technology for the harmonious development of nature, human beings, and society”, TUS has undertaken a wide range of research from basic to applied science. TUS has embraced a multidisciplinary approach to research and undertaken intensive study in some of today’s most vital fields. TUS is a meritocracy where the best in science is recognized and nurtured. It is the only private university in Japan that has produced a Nobel Prize winner and the only private university in Asia to produce Nobel Prize winners within the natural sciences field.

Website: https://www.tus.ac.jp/en/mediarelations/

About Professor Masato Kotsugi from Tokyo University of Science

Dr. Masato Kotsugi graduated from Sophia University, Japan, in 1996 and then received a PhD from the Graduate School of Engineering Science at Osaka University in 2001. He joined the Tokyo University of Science in 2015 as a lecturer and became a full Professor in the Department of Materials Creation Engineering in 2021. Prof. Kotsugi and students at his laboratory conduct cutting edge research on high-performance materials with the aim of creating a green energy society. He has published over 110 refereed papers and is currently interested in solid-state physics, magnetism, synchrotron radiation, and materials informatics.

About Dr. Naoka Nagamura from National Institute for Materials Science

Dr. Naoka Nagamura is a visiting Associate Professor at Tokyo University of Science, Japan and a senior researcher at the Research Center for Advanced Measurement and Characterization at National Institute for Materials Science, Japan. She obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo, Japan in 2011 and did a postdoctoral stint there from 2011–2013. Her research interests include graphene, synchrotron radiation X-ray analysis, operando analysis, imaging, photoemission spectroscopy, and surface and interface analysis. She has published 34 papers so far with over 500 citations to her credit.

Funding information

This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant No. 19H02561; JST-CREST Grant No. JPMJCR21O1; and JST-PRESTO Grant Nos. JPMJPR20T7 and JPMJPR17NB.

EdUHK research on vocabulary learning based on learner-generated pictorial annotations

Posted on by eduhk

Many applications of big data in language education are associated with multimedia learning, and a considerable proportion of the practices of integrating multimedia into language learning resources is associated with annotations for vocabulary learning. The literature indicates that multimedia annotations are very effective in promoting vocabulary learning and that pictorial annotations lead to effective vocabulary learning, but their creation is challenging and time-consuming.

A research by Dr Zou Di, Assistant Professor at the Department of English Language Education, The Education University of Hong Kong, investigated the potential for using big data for vocabulary learning by having students search for images on Google and social media to help understand, learn and retain vocabulary. The research examined learners’ perceptions of creating pictorial annotations using Google images and social media images, their evaluation of the learner-generated pictorial annotations, and the effectiveness of Google and social media pictorial annotations in promoting vocabulary learning.

The study included 153 undergraduates learning English as a foreign language, all non-English majors in a local university in Hong Kong, split randomly into five groups. Group 1 created pictorial annotations taken from Google and social media for 10 target words (burglarize, grin, inflammation, ostensible, procrastination, rake, shatter, shiver, tumble, and wrath), and after training, Group 2 evaluated Group 1’s pictorial annotations. Based on the students’ evaluation scores, two experts selected two sets of pictorial animations for each of the 10 target words, and two experiment groups learned the target words with them, Group 3 using the Google pictures and Group 4 using the social media pictures. Group 5 was the control group.

The Group 3 and 4 participants’ prior knowledge of the target words was measured through a pre-test before the intervention, and their initial learning and retention of the words were measured through an immediate post-test right after the intervention and a delayed post-test one week later.

The results indicated positive attitudes towards using Google and social media pictorial annotations for language enhancement and significant effectiveness in both learning and remembering the target words. The study found that Google pictorial annotations were more appropriate and reliable and achieved better results than those from social media. It also found that the participants who created word lists with images were more likely to engage in active learning when they selected and organised the verbal and visual information of target words by themselves and actively integrated this information with their prior knowledge.

Over 90% of the participants found using Google and social media data as resources for language enhancement interesting and creative, and over 80% of them considered it feasible and reliable. The participants generally agreed that it was easy to create pictorial annotations using Google and social media data. Learner-generated annotations for words with concrete meanings were much more highly rated than the annotations for words with abstract meanings.

The research was conducted together with Associate Professor Xie Haoran at the Department of Computing and Decision Science, Lingnan University.

Taipei Medical University pioneers to fill body with 3D printed organs in Taiwan

Posted on by Taipei Medical University

Taipei Medical University (TMU) Innovation & Entrepreneurship Education Center (IEEC) recently held the inaugural Medical Humanistic Care Workshop 2022 in collaboration with Shuang Ho Hospital, themed “Applying medical 3D printing to restore the body integrity of organ donors”.

The use of 3D printing for the replication of organs enables donors’ bodies to be returned to a full body state after donation and acts as a reassuring measure for the donor and their relatives in the process of organ donation. Influenced by traditional ideas, Taiwan’s organ donation rate has been much lower than most Western countries.

According to the statistics from the Taiwan Organ Registry and Sharing Center , over 10,000 patients are on the waiting list for an organ transplant as of May 2022, among them less than 335 (3.2%) have already received an organ or tissue transplant. Data over the years shows that in total only close to 10% of those waiting for organ donation successfully received an organ transplant, while many patients with organ failure are still waiting desperately for a life-saving donation.

The organ recruitment team leader, Dr. Hui-Tzung Luh from the Neurosurgery Department of Shuang Ho Hospital said that currently most of those on the waiting list are in need of a new kidney. On average, there are about 8,000 patients in need of kidney transplantation each year, but only over 200 are ever successful in receiving an organ transplant. Most patients can only rely on dialysis and keep waiting for the right match. The use of dialysis machines not only is a heavy burden on health insurance finances, but also seriously affects the quality of life of patients who routinely have to use the machines.

Dr. Luh explained that after an organ is removed from the donor, the cavity in the body will be dented and deformed where it has been sutured, and this will affect the body’s appearance. With the use of 3D printing, the shape of the organ can be realistically restored, so that the appearance of the donor will not be greatly affected. Shuang Ho Hospital recently used such method on a brain-dead patient, whose body was sutured and filled with the 3D printed organs with thank-you message after the organ donation.

This was a great comfort to the patient’s mother. The TMU team behind this 3D printing technology hopes that the adoption of such method helps address concerns of the individuals wishing to observe traditional ideas and gives the public more confidence in voluntary organ donation in the future. The Director of IEEC at TMU, Professor Yu-Cheng Hsiao indicated that 3D printing can quickly customize and is now a commonly used tool. However, there are still challenges in the 3D printing of organs such as making the organs match close to the size of the donor’s body and considering how they will be disposed of during cremation. And for those considerations, corn flour was therefore used as the material for its organic properties suitable for printing of human organs.

Director Hsiao pointed out that the workshop not only taught students how to operate the medical 3D printer to make the organs, but more importantly, gave the students a thorough knowledge of the organ donation process. The workshop was set to teach medical students for the time being, but its long-term objectives are expected to be reaching out to anyone who wanted to know more about the organ donation process in the future. Director Hsiao hopes that the willingness of the Taiwanese public to voluntarily donate organs will increase when they are given the option of filling the body with 3D printed organs, hence improving the likelihood of those waiting for organ donation getting matched with the organs they need.

UiTMLaw organises webinar on lecturers’ role in helping students with mental health issues

Posted on by ilyanailias

Although the prime role of lecturers is to teach, educate and cultivate the potential in their students, in certain situations, they are also expected to help students with mental health issues. The student population can be facing mental issues because they are stressed out by a number of factors which include intense studying, continuous assessments and being away from the comfort of family.

To improve the prevention and intervention in instances involving mental health issues, the role of lecturers is indispensable. To what extent will lecturers react to these issues? Are they equipped with the knowledge to deal with mental health issues among their students and do they know how and where to get help for the students?

In view of these issues, the Faculty of Law of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTMLaw) in collaboration with UiTM Health Centre and UiTM Career and Counselling Centre organised a webinar on 20 May 2022 with the principal objective of creating awareness among the lecturers on their subsidiary role to deal with mental health issues among students.

It is submitted that in the absence of appropriate knowledge, the effort to assist the student may lead to a fruitless outcome. The keynote speaker was Dr Zaiton Nasir, the Director of UiTM Health Centre. The panellists comprise Dr Norhazlina Hashim, Medical Officer, UiTM Health Centre, Ms Wan Nurhashima Wan Sahid, Psychology Officer, UiTM Career and Counselling Centre and Dr Nor Jannah Nasution Raduan, Psychiatrist, UiTM Hospital. The webinar was moderated by Dr Diyana Sulaiman, UiTMLaw Lecturer.

The keynote speaker explained the common types of mental health conditions suffered by students namely depression, anxiety, panic attack, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress and sleep disorders. She also added that UiTM has established an integrated approach to ensure an effective mechanism to address this issue involving relevant stakeholders including UiTM Health Centre, UiTM Career and Career Centre, Islamic Affairs Division and Psychiatry Department. Additionally, UiTM has set up Healthy Mind Clinic under Health Centre in 2019 with the objective of providing easy access to treatment, reducing stigma and increasing life quality.

According to her, a comprehensive Standard Operation Procedures (SOP) has been developed highlighting proper process flow to be observed when facing mental health issues among students. The said SOP emphasises compliance with ethical requirements to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of the party involved. The first panellist talked about some tips for the educators in creating trusting relationships that centres upon care for the students and guided by a sense of belonging. It is important for the lecturers to equip themselves with the right knowledge regarding mental health issues. As best as possible, lecturers are encouraged in improving their communication skills that is essential in developing trust among students and conduct their actions without being judgemental. The lecturers are anticipated to have knowledge about the existing facilities which can be reached to help the students such as counselling services whether internally or externally and try to reduce the barriers to getting access to existing mental health facilities.

The second panellist provided her insight from the counsellors’ perspective. According to her, currently, the number of UiTM certified counsellors nationwide is 74. In helping the students, the lecturers may opt either to offer personal advice or guidance. Alternatively, if they are not able to do so, they may advise the students to get professional help through registration via the Counselling2U platform or directly call the respective counsellor in charge of the faculty. One of the important points highlighted by the last panellist is that the lecturers themselves must take care of their mental health before they can effectively offer a helping hand to the students.

It is hoped that this webinar will shed some light on the important role of the lecturers to detect the early signs of mental health among students and guide them on the right way in handling their situations.

Chula’s innovations for the aging society

Posted on by Chulalongkorn University

The increased longevity happening all over the world means we are likely to live longer than our parents and grandparents.

According to the United Nations, the world’s population age structure will continue to shift due to increasing life expectancy and decreasing levels of fertility. The global number of older persons is expected to more than double over the next three decades, reaching over 1.5 billion in 2050.

As one of the countries with a rapidly increasing aging population, especially this 2022, Thailand is now becoming an ‘aging’ society and will likely become a ‘super-aging society’ by 2031. To better meet the needs and provide services to the nation’s aging society, experts from various fields at Chulalongkorn University have conducted research to produce and develop innovations for the elderly.

To read more about Chula’s innovations that support healthy aging, follow the links below:

– Chula Dementia Day Center Can Help You Prepare for Old Age with a Clear Mind and Away from Alzheimer’s
https://www.chula.ac.th/en/highlight/73820/

– DeepGI AI – A Thai Innovation for the Precision in Colorectal Polyp Detection
https://www.chula.ac.th/en/highlight/73670/

– “Intestinal Microflora” as Health Indicator, A National-level Research Project by Chula Doctors in Response to Problems of an Aging Society
https://www.chula.ac.th/en/highlight/71551/

– Chula Launches PDPlus Application to Monitor Symptoms in Parkinson’s Patients for a Better Quality of Life
https://www.chula.ac.th/en/highlight/71287/

– A Success for Thai Medical Doctors! Producing Hip Prosthesis for the First Time – Enabling the Aged to Walk Again and Enjoy a Better Quality of Life
https://www.chula.ac.th/en/highlight/68527/

– Chula Medical Breakthrough! RED-GEM Molecules to Reverse Aging
https://www.chula.ac.th/en/highlight/59580/

– How to Sleep to Ensure Good Health – The Excellence Center for Sleep Disorders (Nidra Vej Center) Has the Answers
https://www.chula.ac.th/en/highlight/48356/

– Continuing Education, Skills Enhancement, and Self-Reliance: Essential Ingredients for an Aging Society
https://www.chula.ac.th/en/highlight/46792/

– Chula Ari, an Innovation Driving the Model Society to Support the Thai Aging Community
http://www.sustainability.chula.ac.th/report/2547/

UiTM Cawangan Pahang carries out energy conservation project

Posted on by Mohd Ikhsan Md Raus

In March 2020, to curb the spread of the Covid-19 infection in Malaysia, the Malaysian Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, had imposed the Movement Control Order (MCO) which led to the closure of all pre-schools, public and private schools, as well as university institutions nationwide. Online and distance learning (ODL) replaced physical classes in the education system until 2021, and both students and educators were required to remain at home while classes were conducted virtually. Despite the drawbacks of ODL implementation, however, the challenge has successfully led to other achievements.

Jawatankuasa Pengurusan Utiliti Negeri (JPUN) Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Pahang (UCPh) initiated an energy conservation management project during this period. While the students and staff were away from campus, the campus buildings and colleges were not fully operational. This was a great opportunity for PPII to analyze opportunities to enhance the campus’s energy conservation. By referring to the Dasar dan Garis Panduan Pengurusan Tenaga (the Energy Management Guide and Policy document) UCPh, JPUN had successfully accomplished the aim to improve the efficiency and conservation of energy, water, and fuel. UCPh also managed to comply with the Efficient Management of Electrical Energy Regulations 2008 and Akta Bekalan Elektrik 1990.

In January, February and March 2020, when students and staff were still in campus, UCPh had spent RM278,922.03 (639,773.00 kWH), RM224,603.80 (488,079.00 kWH) and RM267,151.41 (583,044.00 kWH) respectively on electric consumption. However, beginning April 2020 when the first MCO was enforced, the bills reduced significantly until December 2020. UCPh had spent RM115,308.45 (289,764.00 kWH) in April 2020, RM120,658.61 (282,219.00 kWH) in May 2020, RM138,714.50 (317,305.00 kWH) in June 2020, RM151,885.91 (373,053.00 kWH) in July 2020, RM159,347.17 (377,390.00 kWH) in August 2020, 174,661.65 (418,066.00 kWH) in September 2020, RM183,710.97 (441,604.00 kWH) in October 2020, RM176,281.93 (418,598.00 kWH) in November 2020, and RM168304.70 (403330.00 kWH) in December 2020. UCPh had effectively reduced energy consumption by 44.49% and saved RM1,730,880.12 in electricity bills in 2020. This was acknowledged as a major achievement of the efforts made by UCPh, Pejabat Pembangunan Infrastruktur dan Infostruktur (PPII) (the Office of Infrastructure Management and Infostructure), and the UCPh staff.

JPUN is now actively raising the awareness of energy consumption among the UCPh staff. Behavior adjustments are recognized to have the highest potential to drive utility savings and is very simple to perform. For instance, turning off lights or appliances when they are not needed, and minimizing the use of air conditioning at the office, can contribute not only to energy conservation, but help save the Earth. With the cooperation from PPII, traditional incandescent light bulbs are replaced with light-emitting diode bulbs (LEDs), which utilize from 25 to 80 percent less electricity and last 3 to 25 times longer than traditional bulbs. Even tough LEDs are more expensive, its higher efficiency and longer lifetime cost less in the long run. Although there are many other methods to conserve energy, from simple behavioral adjustments to extensive office improvements, these two actions to conserve energy in UCPh had successfully lowered the cost of utility bills and, at the same time, help protect the environment.

This initiative reflects UCPh’s initiative to meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 and ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all. To expand on energy access, it is crucial to enhance energy efficiency and invest in renewable energy. From 2021 until now, UCPh has begun to replace the main building’s energy consumption from traditional electricity to solar energy. This project also aligns with SDG 11 with the aim to renew and plan UCPh and other quarters in a way that offers opportunities for all with access to basic services, energy, housing, transportation and green public spaces, while reducing resource use and environmental impact.

Plastic waste recycled at Heritage Institute of Technology

Posted on by Partha

Plastic waste is increasing day by day throughout the world. Where proper garbage collection system is not available, it creates a threat to the environment this polluting it to a greater extent. A large amount of plastic wastes are discarded which leads to the contamination of environment and air.

The large volume of materials required for infrastructure construction is potentially considered to be a major area for the reuse of waste materials. Recycling the plastics has many advantages since it is widely used worldwide and has a long service life, which means that the waste is being removed from the waste stream for a long period.

On the occasion of World Environment Day 2022, students of Heritage Institute of Technology from Department of Chemical Engineering had made a project where they had invented a technology to produce highly efficient and low-cost plastic blocks from waste plastics which have significant advantage over traditional bricks. This will not only reduce plastics waste but would save our environment and soil.

The cost of producing such plastic block is nearly 30% cheaper as compared to conventional bricks. Moreover, the developed plastic composite bricks are not just stronger and lighter than concrete blocks, but they hold twice the weight threshold of conventional concrete blocks. The plastic act as a binder and make the blocks more robust and less brittle.

“The project is now in the nascent stage but we are studying in depth the feasibility si that it can be successfully implemented. Technology related to this had been discovered but this one will make light weight bricks which is yet to be found in the market,” said Prof. Avijit Ghosh who is guiding the students in this project.

Students involved in the project were Debarghya Mukherjee, Soumyajit Mundu, Saubhik Malik, Ishita Samanta and Sanya Sharma from B. Tech Chemical Engineering.

Hydrogen peroxide from tea, coffee residue: new pathway to sustainability

Posted on by Tokyo University of Science

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is an important chemical, with a wide variety of applications. However, the current method used to manufacture H2O2 is expensive and generates a considerable amount of waste, making it an unsustainable approach. In this study, a group of researchers from Japan produced H2O2 from waste coffee grounds and tea leaves, and then demonstrated its industrial use. Their novel method proved to be simple, cost-effective, and most importantly, sustainable.

Coffee and tea are two of the most popular beverages around the world. The extensive consumption of these drinks produces large amounts of coffee grounds and tea leaves, which are typically discarded as waste. These unused biomass resources, however, have the potential to produce several useful chemicals. Tea and coffee contain a group of compounds called polyphenols, which can produce hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).

H2O2 has a lot of industrial value; this chemical plays a critical role in the oxidation of several compounds. The oxidation process is typically catalyzed by an enzyme called P450 peroxygenase, but it can’t occur unless H2O2 is present. These oxidation reactions are used to produce many chemicals of note.

Now, H2O2 is currently produced through an unsustainable method called the anthraquinone process, which is not only energy-intensive but also produces a lot of waste, highlighting the need for a greener, environmentally friendly alternative. While there are other methods which use enzymes or light to produce H2O2, these are expensive because they require catalysts and additional reagents.

Keeping these issues in mind, a group of scientists from Japan—including Associate Professor Toshiki Furuya and Mr. Hideaki Kawana from Tokyo University of Science, and Dr. Yuki Honda from Nara Women’s University, Japan—has found an alternative way to produce H2O2. Their product comes from an unlikely source—the leftovers of brewed tea and coffee, called spent coffee grounds (SCG) or tea leaf residue (TLR)!

“Given their polyphenol content, we predicted that SCG and TLR could be used to produce hydrogen peroxide,” says Dr. Furuya. Proving their prediction to be true, their study—published in ACS Omega on June 1, 2022—details their successful production of H2O2 using these underutilized biomass resources.

The team’s production method involved adding coffee grounds and tea leaves to a sodium phosphate buffer, then incubating this solution while shaking it. In the presence of the buffer, SCG and TLR interacted with molecular oxygen to produce H2O2.

The team also explored the scope of using this H2O2 to synthesize other chemicals of industrial importance. The newly-synthesized H2O2 aided in the production of Russig’s blue. Moreover, in the presence of peroxygenase (an enzyme that catalyzes an oxidation reaction using H2O2), TLR- and SCG-derived H2O2 was allowed to react with a molecule called styrene to produce styrene oxide—which has several applications in medicine—and another useful compound, phenylacetaldehyde.

These results prove that the team’s new approach of using SCG and TLR to produce H2O2 proved to be simple, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly, compared to the traditional anthraquinone process. Hailing these promising results, Dr. Furuya says, “Our method can be used to produce hydrogen peroxide from materials that would otherwise have been discarded. This could further result in new ways to synthesize industrial chemicals like styrene oxide, opening up new applications for these unused biomass resources.”

These findings thus open up a new way towards the sustainable production of H2O2, from the most unexpected sources: tea and coffee waste!

***
Reference

Title of original paper: Sustainable Approach for Peroxygenase-Catalyzed Oxidation Reactions Using Hydrogen Peroxide Generated from Spent Coffee Grounds and Tea Leaf Residues

Journal: ACS Omega

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.2c02186

A painless, micro injection that you can do yourself

Posted on by Chulalongkorn University

A startup under the umbrella of CU Innovation Hub in collaboration with the Chula Faculty of Science has developed an innovative “Detachable and Dissolvable Microneedle” that makes any injections easy and painless for everyone, while also significantly reducing medical wastes.

Those afraid of needles and injections rejoice! Today, getting an injection is no longer scary or painful, because we have a “Detachable and Dissolvable Microneedle”, an innovative microneedle patch that can be implanted, fully detached, and dissolved under your skin! A product from Mineed Technology Co., Ltd., a startup under the umbrella of the Innovation Hub of Chulalongkorn University (CU Innovation Hub) with Prof. Dr. Supason Wanichwecharraung, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University.

“Injection is one form of a typical treatment and prophylaxis that everyone has to deal with, whether it’s vaccination, insulin for diabetics treatment, or even a typical injections to treat facial acnes. In contrast, for people with Trypanophobia, the injection can significantly causes distress, in some cases, severe physical trauma, such as hyperhidrosis patients, who would require 30 injections under each armpit,” Prof. Supason explained about the kickoff ideas of the microneedle patch.

From Problems to the Development of “Detachable and Dissolvable Microneedles”
Microneedles were invented and have been used globally for a while, but they have not been as popular as they should be. Prof. Supason revealed the problem of the previous generation of microneedles “the needles do not dissolve immediately so that patches have to be left on for 2-6 hours. In addition, the levels of moisture on each person’s skin are different, causing the active medication embedded in the needles to absorb at a different rate, not completely dissolve, or do not penetrate the skin of the users.”

“So, we developed this innovation that once the needle patch is in place, the implanted needle can be instantly detached itself into the skin, similar to implanting a splinter into human skin, but in this case, it doesn’t hurt, 100% safe, and a lot quicker than other typical dissolving microneedles.”

Small but full-performance needles
The innovative microneedle contains active medication in a tiny needle of no more than 1 millimeter (1,000 microns). It can quickly dissolve into the skin giving a different sensation than an injection with a typical syringe.

Mr. Chokchai Puangsiri, Director of Business Development, Mineed Technology Co., Ltd., who frequently try the microneedle, described the experience of using the patches, “although it feels like something is touching the skin, it feels far less painful than a typical syringe injection, more like touching the prickly part of the velcro tape. The microneedles can also be self-administered anytime, anywhere without the need for any medical expert anymore.”

In addition to reducing the pain and fear of the syringe, another advantage of using microneedles is that the dosage of medication is much lower. Prof. Dr. Supason gave an example of the COVID-19 vaccination, “there are two types of COVID-19 vaccinations, intramuscular vaccinations, and subcutaneous vaccinations. Subcutaneous injections are better at stimulating the immune while using lower doses than intramuscular injections, but subcutaneous injections are more difficult to inject and, if done frequently, it can cause scarring.”

The innovative soluble microneedles, therefore, make subcutaneous injections a simple matter and eliminate the likelihood of “scarring” from injections with syringes, especially among patients who need regular subcutaneous injections, such as diabetics. Also, dissolving microneedles help significantly reducing the amount of hazardous medical waste like needles and syringes as well.

Microneedles are easy to use. Anyone can give themselves an injection.
Microneedles cater to those who need to have frequent subcutaneous injections so that they do not have to waste their time and money traveling to receive services from healthcare profession. It is also a suitable for those who are afraid of needles or do not dare to give themselves injections.

“In the past, many diabetic patients died because they did not dare to give themselves insulin injections, and therefore, were not properly treated. Therefore, microneedles are the answer for this group of people, because patients can inject themselves easily.”

“Microneedles also help extend drugs’ shelf life, as liquid drugs are solidified to be used in the microneedles, thus their shelf life is extended for up to 1-2 more years.

With various microneedle properties, Mr. Chokchai said the innovation will help healthcare profession in providing telemedicine services without patients having to come to the hospitals for their injections in the future, which is really cost inefficient.

How to use “Detachable and Dissolvable Microneedles”
The Detachable and Dissolvable Microneedle set consists of two components: a microneedle patch, and a moisture patch resembling a wet tissue. The application starts with placing the microneedle patch on the skin where the injection is needed. Use your fingers to press all over the sheet so that the needle containing the drug is embedded under the skin. Place the wet patch over the microneedle patch to dissolve it. Leave it for at least 2 minutes for those needle to be detached and dissolved under the skin. Then, peel off the wet and microneedle patches, and it’s done – both conveniently and quickly.

For people who are worried about allergic reactions, Prof. Dr. Supason explained that “the microneedle is made from hyaluronic acid, which is a polymer that is already exist in any human body, so it surely doesn’t cause any allergic reaction. The needle can be used by anyone, but it also depends on the type of drug or vaccine that is injected. If the user is allergic to the drug or vaccine, it is inevitable that there is a chance for an allergic reaction.”

Group of medicines suitable for microneedles
Microneedles can be used with all types of drugs and vaccines injected subcutaneously, whether they are topical, such as anti-acne, anti keloid scarring medicines, or drugs for bodily systems, such as diabetes, migraine, contraception, etc.

“In our Detachable and Dissolvable Microneedles, we can exactly control the dosage, the depth of the skin layer to be injected, and the time for dissolution rate appropriate to the drugs,” Mr. Chokchai said.

Unsuitable drug types for microneedles are those with high dosage, because of the limited size of patches and needles making them too small for high-dose drugs. The proper dose is 1 mg per square centimeter.

Marketing opportunities for microneedles
Mr. Chokchai mentioned that the current development of microneedles is for two markets: the cosmetics market and the pharmaceutical market.

In the cosmetics market, hospitals and cosmetology clinics, both local and overseas, have ordered and used the microneedles, which have already been registered with FDA in Thailand and Europe, with vitamins and skincare agents. In the future, interested parties with drug formulas can commission the company to develop microneedles.

For the pharmaceutical market, the process is at the Proof of Concept stage, and clinical trials are underway in collaboration with the company’s partners before the products are launched at general pharmacies.

“We tested a variety of medications, such as anti-inflammatories for the skin, acne medicines, and blood-glucose-lowering medicines for diabetics, and it worked well. But to sell them, we need to comply with the Food and Drug Administration’s regulations,” Chokchai said.

The innovative Detachable and Dissolvable microneedles can be developed for many types of medicines, such as herbal patches for mosquito bites. The characteristics and components of the microneedles can also be adjusted to match the performance of any specific medicines, such as the size of the needle, or the duration of dissolution.

Dissolvable microneedles will give people wider access to treatment and preventive medicine because there’s no need to be afraid of needles or pain any longer. Now, needles are only minute matters.