The rapid selecting of precursor ions and product ions of thirty-four kinds of pesticide for content determination by GC–EI/MS/MS

Pesticide residues caused great threat to human body health, and all countries protected the health of human body by specifying its upper limit. However, pesticide residues were generally very low, similar to trace analysis and as low as millionth or less, the content determination of pesticide residues was a troublesome problem. With the application and promotion of tandem mass spectrometry, it was able to do trace analysis. GC–EI/MS/MS was a common method for the determination of pesticide residues. The multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode was the most common quantitative method used in GC–EI/MS/MS. It has the characteristics of high sensitivity, good reproducibility, high accuracy, strong anti-interference and high ion flux. Multiple-twin precursor ions, product ions and collision energy of thirty-four pesticides were provided for MRM. It could play an important role in developing MRM method for the quantifying of 34 kinds of pesticide. Meanwhile, the development of MRM method for the quantifying of other compounds could also refer to this paper.     

Effect of calcium reduction on the properties of half-fat Cheddar-style cheeses with full-salt or half-salt

Standard-calcium (SCa) and reduced-calcium (RCa) half-fat (16%) Cheddar-style cheeses with full-salt (1.9%) or half-salt (0.9%) were made in triplicate, ripened for 270 d, and analysed for composition and changes in lactose metabolism, pH, proteolysis, water-sorption, fracture properties and heat-induced flowability during maturation. The pressing load applied to the moulded cheese was modified to ensure equal moisture in all cheeses despite the differences in salt and calcium levels. The RCa cheeses were characterised by higher primary proteolysis (α_S1-casein degradation, pH 4.6-soluble N development), lower secondary proteolysis (concentration of free amino acids), higher water-holding capacity on reducing relative humidity from 85 to 5%, lower fracture stress and strain, and more extensive flow on heating. Overall, calcium reduction, when used in conjunction with moisture normalisation, proved an effective means of counteracting the adverse effects of fat reduction on texture and cooking properties in half-fat, half-salt cheese.     

Kinetic modeling and simulation: Pyrolysis of Jatropha residue de-oiled cake

An improved kinetic model based on thermal decomposition of biomass constituents, i.e. cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, is developed in the present study. The model considers the independent parallel reactions of order n producing volatiles and charcoal from each biomass constituent. While estimating the kinetic parameters, the order of degradation of biomass constituents is also checked and found to be matching with the order of degradation reported in the literature. The results of thermo-gravimetric analysis of Jatropha de-oiled cakes are used to find the kinetic parameters. The experimental runs are carried out using a thermo-gravimetric analyzer (TGA 4000, Perkin Elmer). TGA study is performed in a nitrogen atmosphere under non-isothermal conditions at different heating rates and the thermal decomposition profiles are used. The model is simulated using finite difference method to predict the pyrolysis rate. The corresponding parameters of the model are estimated by minimizing the square of the error between the model predicted values of residual weight fraction and the experimental data of thermogravimetry. The minimization of square of the error is performed using non-traditional optimization technique logarithmic differential evolution (LDE).     

Innovative improvement of a drag wind turbine performance

Drag type wind turbines have strong potential in small and medium power applications due to their simple design. However, a major disadvantage of this design is the noticeable low conversion efficiency. Therefore, more research is required to improve the efficiency of this design. The present work introduces a novel design of a three-rotor Savonius turbine with rotors arranged in a triangular pattern. The performance of the new design is assessed by computational modeling of the flow around the three rotors. The 2D computational model is firstly applied to investigate the performance of a single rotor design to validate the model by comparison with experimental measurements. The model introduced an acceptable accuracy compared to the experimental measurements. The performance of the new design is then investigated using the same model. The results indicated that the new design performance has higher power coefficient compared with single rotor design. The peak power coefficient of the three rotor turbine is 44% higher than that of the single rotor design (relative increase). The improved performance is attributed to the favorable interaction between the rotors which accelerates the flow approaching the downstream rotors and generates higher turning moment in the direction of rotation of each rotor.     

Techno-economic evaluation of strategies based on two steps organosolv pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of sugarcane bagasse for ethanol production

Several strategies based on a two steps organosolv pretreatment followed by enzymatic hydrolysis of sugarcane bagasse (SCB) were evaluated with the objective of selecting operational conditions suitable to promote an efficient and low cost production of ethanol. Initially, the influence of six variables used for the organosolv pretreatment was studied. The variables included the time of the first organosolv pretreatment step, the use of 45% ethanol as pulping solution, solid-to-liquid ratio of the ethanol solution used during the first pretreatment step, time of second organosolv pretreatment, concentration of ethanol and concentration of NaOH solution used in the second pretreatment step. Further assays of enzymatic hydrolysis were carried out to promote additional reduction in the costs of the process and improve the results of cellulose conversion to glucose. Eliminating the milling step of the pretreated SCB, using a commercial tensoactive (composed of esters and several surfactants), and recycling 50% of the slurry obtained during the second step of organosolv pretreatment as reaction medium proved to be feasible for use during the enzymatic hydrolysis. Fermentation of the glucose medium produced under the selected pretreatment conditions to ethanol by Saccharomyces cerevisiae occurred with 81% efficiency and a cost of 102.88 $/hL of ethanol.     

Detection of the residues of nineteen pesticides in fresh vegetable samples using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

In this study, we investigated the presence of 19 different agricultural pesticides in 210 samples of eight types of domestic vegetables collected from several vegetable-growing regions in Bangladesh. A multiresidue method was developed to detect the pesticide levels in the collected samples using gas chromatography with mass spectrophotometry (GC–MS). Pesticide residues were detected in 51.30% of the total samples, and among the positive samples, 38.89% contained levels above the maximum residue levels (MRLs). The most frequently detected pesticides were chlorpyrifos (34) followed by carbofuran (17), diazinon (16), carbaryl (14), malathion (11), endosulfan (8), cypermethrin (7) and dimethoate (6). Some (10.47%) of the samples contained multiple residues. It is concluded that the continuous monitoring and strict regulation of pesticide use on food crops, especially vegetables, are necessary.     

Steady-state investigation of water vapor adsorption for thermally driven adsorption based greenhouse air-conditioning system

In the present study, water vapor adsorption onto silica-gel, activated carbon powder (ACP) and activated carbon fiber (ACF) has been experimentally measured at 20, 30 and 50 °C using a volumetric method based adsorption measurement apparatus for greenhouse air-conditioning (AC). The Guggenheim–Anderson–De Boer and Dubinin–Astakhov adsorption models are used to fit the adsorption data of silica-gel and ACP/ACF, respectively. The isosteric heat of adsorption is determined by Clausius–Clapeyron relationship. The adsorbents are evaluated for low-temperature regeneration with aim to develop solar operated AC system for greenhouses. Ideal growth zone for agricultural products is determined by which the steady-state desiccant AC cycle is evaluated on the psychometric chart and adsorption isobars.Steady-state moisture cycled (MC_SS) by each adsorbent is determined for demand category-I, II and III which are based on 60%, 40% and 20% relative humidity of dehumidified air, respectively. In case of demand category-I, the ACP enables maximum MC_SS at all regeneration temperatures (T_reg), ideally sitting at 47 °C. The ACF enables double MC_SS as compared to silica-gel during demand category-II at T_reg ≥59 °C. However, the silica-gel is found the only applicable adsorbent for the demand category-III.     

Monitoring the presence of residues of tetracyclines in baby food samples by HPLC-MS/MS

Tetracyclin is a group of antimicrobial permitted in animal food production, but their concentrations in food of animal origin should not exceed 100 μg kg⁻¹ (in meat and milk). Although the detection of these substances above these limits involves fines and jail for the producer, residues of tetracyclines are still being detected in food a potential risk to consumer health, especially babies.In the past, baby foods were carefully prepared at homes. However, modern lifestyles have led to the commercialization of ready-made baby food. Generally, these products are made with vegetable and meat from different animals, such as pork, chicken or beef. The presence of tetracyclines in meat at concentrations above 100 μg kg⁻¹ is forbidden in Europe by the Regulation 37/2010. Consequently this concentration is also applicable to the portion of meat present in baby food. Even if the presence of tetracyclines is controlled regularly in meat, they should also be monitored in baby food as babies are vulnerable to such as drugs.A rapid analytical method based on high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a tandem mass spectrometer (HPLC-MS/MS) for quantification of four tetracyclines (tetracycline, chlortetracycline, doxycycline and oxytetracycline) in baby food is presented. The tetracyclines are extracted with EDTA-McIlvaine buffer, acidified at pH 4.0, followed by liquid–liquid extraction with ethyl acetate. The final extract is analysed within 19 min on a Sunfire HPLC column from Waters. Validation was performed according to the Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. The mean accuracy was 103 μg kg⁻¹, and the mean precision, was less than 23% for all the tetracyclines. The method was tested on 31 prepared baby food samples containing vegetable and beef. The presence of oxytetracycline was detected in one of the samples at a concentration of 5 μg kg⁻¹.