The role of cooperatives in food safety management of fresh produce chains: Case studies in four strawberry cooperatives

Recent outbreaks with fresh produce have raised questions regarding management of quality and safety in the complex supply chains, where cooperatives play a central role. The overall objective of this article was to investigate the role of cooperatives in food quality and safety management in the fresh produce chain, focussing on the food safety management systems implemented on the farms. More specifically, we raise the question how a more market-like or a more hierarchy-like governance of transactions via cooperatives affect the quality and safety management system of the members. The research employed case studies in four cooperatives in Belgium and the Netherlands, each with different size and per cent of contractual sales. Data was collected with a diagnostic tool for assessment of food safety management systems (FSMS) on the farms, and semi-structured interviews with the quality assurance managers of the cooperative firms. Twenty-eight strawberry farms were assessed with the diagnostic tool, seven per each cooperative. Cooperatives play a double role in managing quality and safety in the food supply chain. They are responsible for the supply chain management, including tactical decisions about coordination of quality and safety requirements between customers, cooperative firms and their farmers. At the same time, they are selling the products of their members and make strategic decisions about the governance of transactions in the supply chain, which ultimately may have an impact on the supply chain management and the FSMS on the farms. Farmers in cooperatives with more hierarchical relationships showed better operation of control activities (score 3), and advanced assurance activities at score 4 (advanced level), more science-based, adapted and tested for their effectiveness. This was associated with more effort put in supply chain management by the cooperative to support collaboration and coordination in the chain. However, the largest cooperative had moderate scores for several key control functions, suggesting that large cooperatives with complex business functions may suffer from lower commitment of members, leading to lower FSMS performance at farms.     

The role of ion bridging in controlling competitive electrodeposition processes

It was shown by the following three different types of measurements that the effect of thiocyanate on electrodeposition processes involving cobalt, nickel and lead could be predicted by regarding the thiocyanate as a bridging anion for deposition the transition elements and merely as a blocking agent for the deposition of the non-transition elements.

• 1.(1) Voltammetric methods showed that the thiocyanate increased the rate of deposition of the transition elements, cobalt and nickel, but only inhibited the deposition of the non-transition elements lead and hydrogen.
• 2.(2) Current efficiency measurements showed that addition of thiocyanate ions increased the current efficiency for the deposition of the transition elements cobalt and nickel, but decreased the current efficiency for deposition of the non-transition element lead.
• 3.(3) Alloy deposition studies showed that addition of thiocyanate ions increased the percentage of cobalt and nickel in cobalt-lead and Ni-Pb alloys.

     

Calculating the degree of degradation of the volatile solids in continuously operated bioreactors

Determining the degree of degradation is an important means of assessing the efficiency of biological processes. However, one should consider the fact that during degradation, the reference value, such as volume or the mass of total solids, is also subject to change. The assumption that the incoming and outgoing mass flows are identical is only possible for substrates with a high water content and hence, a low energy density. For substrates with a higher energy density, a correction by the gaseous mass flow is required, but usually its quantification is difficult, especially when examining full-scale plants or open systems. Based on the assumption that the mass of inorganic solids is constant during the process, a universally applicable equation has been developed, requiring only the input and output volatile solids concentrations for calculation.     

Preparation and characterization of 3-chloropropyl polysiloxane-based heat-curable silicone rubber using polyamidoamine dendrimers as cross-linkers

A series of high-temperature vulcanization (HTV) silicone rubber was prepared with polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers as concentrative cross-linkers and polysiloxane containing 3-chloropropyl groups (CPPS) as gums in a novel curing system. The curing, mechanical, and thermal properties of this novel HTV silicone rubber (MCSR) were studied through rheometry, mechanical testing, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The curing process was analyzed on the basis of the cure curves obtained by rheometry. The optimal conditions to prepare MCSR were determined by changing curing conditions, including cross-linker concentration, curing temperature, and postcuring temperature. MCSR exhibited a tensile strength of 9.34 MPa and a tear strength of 47.71 kN/m when the molar ratio of [3-chloropropyl]/[N–H] was 1:1.5. These excellent mechanical properties were attributed to the concentrative cross-linking effect from PAMAM dendrimers. Meanwhile, the mechanical properties slightly changed as the generation of PAMAM dendrimers increased because of steric hindrance. In addition, TGA results indicated that MCSR was thermally stable in a nitrogen atmosphere even at high degradation temperatures, such as T_{5 wt.% loss} (MCSR-3) = 451.7 °C and T_{50 wt.% loss} (MCSR-3) = 659.0 °C. DSC analysis revealed that a glass transition peak followed by a melt was identified for MCSR at − 160 °C to 30 °C. The experimental results showed that using PAMAM dendrimers as cross-linkers is a practical way to obtain silicone rubber with excellent properties.     

Biogas production from catch crops: Increased yield by combined harvest of catch crops and straw and preservation by ensiling

The combination of catch crop cultivation with its use for biogas production would increase renewable energy production in the form of methane, without interfering with the production of food and fodder crops. The low biomass yield of catch crops has been shown as the main limiting factor for using these crops as co-substrate in biogas plants, since the profit obtained from the sale of methane barely compensates the harvest costs. Therefore, a new agricultural strategy to harvest catch crops together with the residual straw of the main crop was investigated, in order to increase the biomass and the methane yield per hectare. Seven catch crops harvested together with stubble from the previous main crop were evaluated. The effects of stubble height, harvest time and ensiling as a storage method for the different catch crops/straw blends were studied. Biomass yields as TS ranged between 3.2 and 3.6 t ha⁻¹ y⁻¹of which the catch crop constituted around 10% of the total biomass yield. Leaving the straw on the field until harvest of the catch crop in the autumn could benefit methane production from the straw both due to increased biomass yield and an increased organic matter bioavailability of the straw taking place on the field during the autumn months. Ensiling as a storage method could be feasible in terms of energy storage and guaranteeing the feedstock availability for the whole year. This new agricultural strategy may be a good alternative for economically feasible supply of catch crops and straw for biogas production.     

General method for predicting the sand erosion rate of GFRP

Sand erosion behavior and wear mechanism of various types of glass fibre reinforced plastics (GFRP) were investigated. Erosion behavior of fibre reinforced plastics (FRP) changed from ductile manner to brittle one with increase of glass fibre content, and erosion rate was maximum at vertical impact for higher glass fibre content FRP. FRP showed higher resistance to erosion damage than resin matrix at low angle of attack, the contrary tendency can be observed at higher angle of attack. The importance of damage of glass fibre bundles accompany with surrounding resin and effect of orientation angle of fibres on erosion damage of FRP were pointed out. Based on these factors and applying similar equation of the rule of mixture for strength of FRP, prediction method for erosion rate was proposed.By using this method, erosion rates of all types of GFRP under various angles of attack and impacting velocity can be estimated by knowing only the rate of matrix resin.     

Annotation of miRNAs in COVID-19 coronavirus

The COVID-19 coronavirus is a new strain of coronavirus that had not been previously detected in humans. As its severe pathogenicity is concerned, it is important to study it thoroughly to aid in the discovery of a cure. In this study, the microRNAs (miRNAs) of COVID-19 were annotated to provide a powerful tool for the study of this novel coronavirus. We obtained 16 novel coronavirus genome sequences and the mature sequences of all viruses in the microRNA database (miRbase), and then used the miRNA mature sequences of the virus to perform the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) analysis in the coronavirus genome, extending the matched regions of approximately 20 bp to two segments by 200 bp. Six sequences were obtained after deleting redundant sequences. Then, the hairpin structures of the mature miRNAs were determined using RNAfold. The mature sequence on one hairpin arm was selected into a total of 4 sequences, and finally the relevant miRNA precursor prediction tools were used to verify whether the selected sequences are miRNA precursor sequences of the novel coronavirus. The miRNAs of the novel coronavirus were annotated by our newly developed method, which will lay the foundation for further study of this virus.     

Graphene quantum dots in alveolar macrophage: uptake-exocytosis,accumulation in nuclei,nuclear responses and DNA cleavage

Background

Given the tremendous potential for graphene quantum dots (QDs) in biomedical applications, a thorough understanding of the interaction of these materials with macrophages is essential because macrophages are one of the most important barriers against exogenous particles. Although the cytotoxicity and cellular uptake of graphene QDs were reported in previous studies, the interaction between nuclei and the internalized graphene QDs is not well understood. We thus systematically studied the nuclear uptake and related nuclear response associated with aminated graphene QDs (AG-QDs) exposure.

Results

AG-QDs showed modest 24-h inhibition to rat alveolar macrophages (NR8383), with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 200 μg/mL. Early apoptosis was significantly increased by AG-QDs (100 and 200 μg/mL) exposure and played a major role in cell death. The internalization of AG-QDs was mainly via energy-dependent endocytosis, phagocytosis and caveolae-mediated endocytosis. After a 48-h clearance period, more than half of the internalized AG-QDs remained in the cellular cytoplasm and nucleus. Moreover, AG-QDs were effectively accumulated in nucleus and were likely regulated by two nuclear pore complexes genes (Kapβ2 and Nup98). AG-QDs were shown to alter the morphology, area, viability and nuclear components of exposed cells. Significant cleavage and cross-linking of DNA chains after AG-QDs exposure were confirmed by atomic force microscopy investigation. Molecular docking simulations showed that H-bonding and π-π stacking were the dominant forces mediating the interactions between AG-QDs and DNA, and were the important mechanisms resulting in DNA chain cleavage. In addition, the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) (e.g., ?OH), and the up-regulation of caspase genes also contributed to DNA cleavage.

Conclusions

AG-QDs were internalized by macrophages and accumulated in nuclei, which further resulted in nuclear damage and DNA cleavage. It is demonstrated that oxidative damage, direct contact via H-bonding and π-π stacking, and the up-regulation of caspase genes are the primary mechanisms for the observed DNA cleavage by AG-QDs.

     

葡萄酒品牌忠诚影响因素的结构方程分析 ——以胶东地区为例

基于胶东地区206个样本,以瑞典顾客满意度指数（SCSB）模型为理论基础,采用结构方程模型,从文化认同、营销感知、产品体验、功能体验4个维度设计11个观测变量探讨影响葡萄酒品牌忠诚的因素。研究表明,4个维度因素对品牌忠诚都有直接或间接的正向促进作用。产品体验直接影响品牌忠诚,文化认同、营销感知、功能体验对品牌忠诚均有直接和间接影响,文化认同是影响葡萄酒品牌忠诚的最主要因素。最后根据研究结果提出建议。     

鲅鱼糜发酵过程中理化特性及挥发性风味成分变化

研究戊糖片球菌发酵鲅鱼糜发酵过程中理化特性及挥发性风味成分的变化规律。结果表明：在发酵36h过程中,鲅鱼糜pH值从6.16降低到4.84,水分含量从66.85%显著增加到75.00%（P＜0.05）,白度先降低后显著增加（P＜0.05）,总挥发性盐基氮（total volatile basic nitrogen,TVB-N）含量及总抗氧化活性呈现先增加后降低又增加的波动变化,相较于原料鲅鱼糜,发酵36 h鲅鱼糜TVB-N含量显著降低、总抗氧化活性显著增加（P＜0.05）;采用固相微萃取-气相色谱-质谱联用法,共检出36 种风味化合物,包括醇类9 种、醛类8 种、酯类5 种、烃类4 种、酮类3 种、酸类3 种、芳香类2 种及其他类2 种,各类化合物的含量在发酵过程中发生显著变化（P＜0.05）。