Application of spent grains to increase porosity in bricks

The dumping of spent grains is going to be more difficult because of the increasing number of cattle. That means new ways of dumping must be developed.The goal of the work was to test the technical properties of bricks produced with spent grains added to increase porosity.The flexural strength of the fired samples remained at 8.5 MPa; the air-dried samples exhibited a small increase in flexural strength. The shrinkage and true density were almost identical, while the raw density, capacity for water absorption and open porosity showed minor differences.In the large-scale experiment no problems were observed during the production. The bricks produced with spent grains possessed a comparable or higher strength, a higher porosity and a reduced density after firing than those from a standard production clay. Because of the lower sintering temperatures the fired clay product was more strongly sintered, exhibiting both greater strength and higher porosity.     

HPLC–MS analysis of the green food colorant sodium copper chlorophyllin

Five commercial samples of sodium copper chlorophyllin, a green food colorant, were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using diode-array detection (DAD) and mass spectrometry (MS). Some of the constituents were identified using authentic standards, whereas others were identified tentatively based on their absorption spectra and mass data. The composition of three of the samples was very similar, whereas the other two were quite different. In the three former samples, the three largest peaks could be assigned to Cu chlorin e₆, Cu chlorin p₆, and Cu isochlorin e₄. In one of the two other samples, these three compounds were also among the largest peaks, whereas Cu chlorin e₆ was a small peak in the last sample and Cu chlorin p₆ was absent altogether. Porphyrins were also present in the samples, while except in one of the samples chlorins derived from chlorophyll b were largely absent.Industrial relevanceSodium copper chlorophyllin is a green food colorant made from chlorophyll. Sodium copper chlorophyllin is made by saponifying chlorophyll and coppering the resulting product. This processing leads to a complex mixture of compounds. An analytical method was developed that can be used to identify many of these compounds and show the extent of coppering and degradation of sodium copper chlorophyllin, which may be used industrially to optimize the production of sodium copper chlorophyllin.     

Application of an electronic nose for quality assessment of modified atmosphere packaged poultry meat

The applicability of an electronic nose for the quality control of modified atmosphere (MA) packaged broiler chicken cuts was evaluated in different temperature regimes. The electronic nose results were compared with those obtained by microbiological, sensory and headspace GC analyses. The electronic nose could clearly distinguish broiler chicken packages with deteriorated quality from fresh packages either earlier than or at the same time as the sensory quality deteriorated. Concerning the microbiological quality, the counts of Enterobacteriaceae and hydrogen sulphide-producing bacteria were most consistent with the electronic nose results. The results indicated that the electronic nose was capable of detecting even early signals of spoilage in MA packed poultry meat.     

我国突发性水资源污染事故应急机制的若干问题评述

基于突发性水资源污染事故应急处理现状的分析,对目前我国突发性水资源污染事故防范和应急机制的建立进行探讨,指出当前工作中的三大缺陷,并有针对性地提出如何加快防范突发性水资源污染事故以及建立相关应急机制的进程的若干措施,包括突发污染事故的隐患调查、脆弱性评价、水质预报、动态监测以及应急组织机构等方面,以期能为我国减少突发性水资源污染事故及其损失提供一定的理论分析依据。     

Antibacterial effect of phenolic compounds from different wines

The antimicrobial properties of pure phenolic compounds and polyphenols of different wines against pathogens were investigated. It was observed that bacterial species exhibited different sensitivities towards the different concentrations of phenolic compounds. Escherichia coli was the most sensitive bacterium and Flavobacterium sp. was resistant against all phenolic compounds tested. All wine samples showed antimicrobial properties and the inhibition increased when the polyphenols concentration of wines increased. Clarified wines were inactive against all bacteria, indicating that polyphenolic compounds present in red wines, are responsible for the antimicrobial effects observed. The different concentrations of polyphenols in wines could have an important impact on consumers with the consequent increase in wine commercialization.     

Detection of acylated homoserine lactones in gram-negative proteolytic psychrotrophic bacteria isolated from cooled raw milk

Through a mechanism called quorum sensing, bacteria are able to express specific genes in response to population density. Cell-to-cell communication in bacteria is mediated by signal molecules such as acylated homoserine lactones (AHLs). This work aimed to detect AHL production in Gram-negative psychrotrophic bacteria isolated from raw milk. A total of 84.9% of the bacteria were identified as AHL producers eliciting a diversity of responses in the AHL-monitor systems. These results demonstrate that AHL-production is common among psychrotrophic bacteria isolated from milk, and indicate that quorum sensing may play an important role in the spoilage of this product.     

Study of fuel insolubles: Formation conditions and characterization of copper compounds

The solids formed in the systems containing copper in different oxidation states, in the presence and absence of hexanoic acid and dodecanethiol, together and separately, at room temperature, were studied. The experiments were performed in a mineral oil matrix, free of sulfur compounds and metals; a diesel oil matrix; and the reagents alone, without any matrix. The deposits formed were analyzed by elemental analysis (EA), infrared spectroscopy (IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and total copper by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), for their identification and determination of the probable structures. In samples containing both hexanoic acid and dodecanethiol, when there is copper(I), anhydrous copper(II) hexanoate is preferentially formed, but in samples of copper(II), copper(II) mercaptate is formed first. In samples of metallic copper in mineral oil matrix, no deposit formations occur. In all cases in which deposits were formed, they were the same as in diesel oil matrix.     

高效液相法测定鹅肥肝和鹅肝酱中维生素A

研究了运用高效液相法检测鹅肥肝和鹅肝酱中VA的方法。通过比较3种不同的处理样品方法，选择了其中较为快速、准确的处理方法。实验测定回收率为98．21％，鹅肥肝和鹅肝酱测定的变异系数分别为0.44％和1.14％。     

Good agricultural practices in a Brazilian produce plant

A Brazilian produce plant was evaluated according to good agricultural practices (GAPs) using a checklist. The agricultural water was sampled for total and faecal coliform and Escherichia coli counts. Equipment/handler sanitary facilities, the handling of agrochemicals and pesticides, records of the composting process, prior analysis of the irrigation water for the identification of heavy metals and pesticide residues, inadequate temperature control of the raw material storage room, qualified person to manage the operations and periodic training programmes on food manipulation, hygiene and microbiology, were the main critical points found during the inspection. Microbiological analyses of the irrigation water gave counts between 0.3 and 1.2 log MPN/ml for total and faecal coliforms, respectively and absence of E. coli. The results are discussed and the necessary corrections suggested in order to improve process safety.     

Evaluation of landscape and instream modeling to predict watershed nutrient yields

The project goal was to loosely couple the SWAT model and the QUAL2E model and compare their combined ability to predict total phosphorus (TP) and NO₃-N plus NO₂-N yields to the ability of the SWAT model with its completely coupled water quality components to predict TP and NO₃-N plus NO₂-N yields from War Eagle Creek watershed in Northwest Arkansas. Model predictions were compared using a statistical approach to identify significant differences between the two modeling methods. Results from two variations of the Pearson product-moment correlation (p < 0.05) indicated that correlation coefficients and regression slopes for the two data sets were not significantly different. This implies that neither modeling method was significantly better in predicting monthly TP and NO₃-N plus NO₂-N yields from the watershed. Additionally, no significant differences were present between predicted outputs of the SWAT model with instream components active compared with when instream components were inactive, indicating a need for further testing and refinement of the SWAT algorithms simulating instream processes. We can further infer that the instream processes available in SWAT may not be enhancing its predictive abilities as far as simulating instream components.