Impact of food hazards in school meals on students' health,academic work and finance – Senior High School students' report from Ashanti Region of Ghana

The study investigated the types of food hazards, the incidences and effect of foodborne diseases (FBD) in Senior Secondary Schools in Ghana. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 180 boarding school level 1 and 2 students from 45 sampled public schools in the Ashanti Region of Ghana and analysed with SPSS Version 21. Stones and insects in food received the highest complaints alongside food allergy and intolerance. Out of 180 students, 51.7% had experienced FBD with 21.1% of these reporting to health centers within their 1–2 years in school. FBD incidence rate was 3–12 times per academic year and 12% of the students had been absent from active academic work for as long as 5 days due to FBD with 10% spending between GHC 30.00 → 50.00 on medication per each episode. Students recommended improved GHP including standard cleaning procedures, food temperature control, available hand washing facilities with detergents at the dining halls and kitchens. Mandatory requirement of routine hygiene and food safety training for food handlers was required in schools with heightened monitoring, surveillance and law enforcement on acceptable practices. Supplier control across the food chain to reduce physical and chemical contaminants in agro products and food vendor's access control was required. Improving the quality and variety of school meals could also reduce dependence on other sources for food and help in controlling food safety risks. There was a need to increase awareness on the appropriate channels to report FBD incidence in schools for effective control measures and infection treatment.     

Organic richness,kerogen types and maturity in the shales of the Dakhla and Duwi formations in Abu Tartur area,Western Desert,Egypt: Implication of Rock–Eval pyrolysis

The objective of this study is to assess the organic material for petroleum potential and characterize the relationships between organic material, thermal maturity, and the depositional environments. This is done using “14” samples from the shales of the Dakhla and Duwi formations in Abu Tartur area. The samples have been analyzed using the geochemical method of Rock–Eval pyrolysis. The analysis shows that the total organic carbon content lies between 0.56 and 1.96 wt%. It also shows that kerogen is a mixture of type II and III that is dominant, and is deposited in the shallow and restricted marine environment under prevailing reducing conditions. This type of kerogen is prone to oil and oil/gas production. The geochemical diagrams show that all the studied samples have good thermal maturation. The Dakhla and Duwi formations which have been divided into all zones are mature (have T_max over 435 °C), and have organic carbon content located at the oil window (T_max between 435 and 443 °C).     

Crude oil and condensate in the Ordovician–Silurian formations of the Eastern European: The Western Black Sea Basin

The Lower Paleozoic sediments of Eastern Europe extend from Poland to the Black Sea Coasts. The Lower Ordovician Bakacak Formation and Middle Ordovician–Silurian Karadere, Ketencikdere, and F?nd?kl? formations of the Western Black Sea Basin contain mudstones and black shales with sandstone and limestone intervals. The mudstones of the Lower Ordovician do not display any potential. But some intervals of the Middle Ordovician–Silurian black shales have potential for unconventional exploration because total organic carbon (TOC) of organic matter contents ranges from 0.11% to 1.94%. Hydrogen index (HI) values of the Karadere, Ketencikdere, and F?nd?kl? formations are ranging 0–139 mg oil/g TOC. Vitrinite reflection equivalent (Roe) estimation from HI shows that the shales locate within the oil, wet gas-condensate, and dry gas zone. In-situ oil and condensate volumes of the black shales have been calculated between 0 and 2812 mg HC/g TOC. These volumes indicate presence of potentially producible hydrocarbon in the some intervals of the Middle Ordovician–Silurian shales. Mineralogical properties of the Karadere, Ketencikdere, and F?nd?kl? formations are suitable for hydraulic fracturing because the shales are dominated by quartz/carbonate. Quartz ratio ranges from 12% to 91% with an average 53%. Total calcite/dolomite content is an average of 13/0.5%. Total clay mineral chance between 0% and 39% with an average of 21%.     

Risk identification in food safety: Strategy and outcomes of the EFSA emerging risks exchange network (EREN), 2010–2014

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) established an Emerging Risks Exchange Network (EREN) to exchange information between EFSA and the Member states (MSs) on possible emerging risks for food and feed safety in 2010. The Network is composed of delegates from MSs and Norway designated through the Advisory Forum of EFSA and observers from the European Commission, EU pre-accession countries, the Food and Drug Administration of the USA and the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations. Through 2010 to 2014, the EREN met 12 times. The EREN discussed a total of 63 signals of potential emerging issues that were presented and assessed using a standard template developed by the Emerging Risks unit of EFSA (EMRISK). Out of these signals, 39 originated from EFSA, 24 from MSs. The issues discussed were mainly microbiological and chemical hazards, but also food safety issues as result of illegal activity, new consumer consumption trends, biotoxins, new technologies and processes, allergens, animal health, environmental pollution, new analytical methods, new food packaging technology and unknown hazards were on the agenda. Based on the available evidence, EREN recommended whether an issue should be considered emerging or not, and if it merited further consideration, such as generating data on the issue, starting a full risk assessment and/or consultation of other bodies. According to the emerging risks identification process set in place at EFSA, the issues discussed and found of relevance by EREN were sent to the EFSA's Scientific Committee Standing Working Group on Emerging Risks for final evaluation. With four case studies, i.e the zoonotic potential of Usutu virus, risk of ciguatera fish poisoning in EU, zoonotic aspects of illegally imported wildlife products and benefits and risks of 3D food printing, the method developed to preliminary assess signals of potential emerging issues is presented and discussed.     

Recovery of precious metals from spent Mo–Co–Ni/Al2O3 catalyst in organic acid medium: Process optimization and kinetic studies

In present study, the leaching kinetics of the spent Mo–Co–Ni/Al₂O₃ catalyst was investigated in the presence of formic acid as an organic leaching agent. Firstly, the spent catalyst was roasted in different roasting temperature (200–700?°C) and time (15–240?min), the maximum metal extraction was achieved that at 500?°C with 90?min. Then, the leaching experiments were carried out to determine the influences of process parameters following; particle size, liquid/solid ratio, formic acid concentration, leaching temperature, leaching time and stirring speed. According to the experimental results, the highest dissolution rates of molybdenum (Mo, 75.82%), cobalt (Co, 96.81%), nickel (Ni, 93.44%) and aluminum (Al, 19.46%) were reached under optimum experimental conditions; particle size +75???30?µm; liquid/solid ratio 10?ml/g; formic acid concentration 0.6?M; leaching temperature 80?°C; leaching time 90?min and stirring speed 300 r/min. Moreover, the leaching kinetics clearly reveal that the leaching reaction is controlled by liquid film diffusion and that the activation energy values (E_a) of Co, Ni, Mo and Al were to be 24.49, 25.98, 32.36 and 33.47?kJ/mol, respectively. In conclusion, the leaching process can be conducted in the presence of formic acid for the various industrial wastes in similar structure and composition to Mo–Co–Ni/Al₂O₃ spent catalyst.     

Single-Point-of-Failure Mitigation: Prove-Out of a Green Light–Emitting Illuminant Composition in the Handheld Signal Cluster and 40-mm Parachute Configurations

The development of handheld signal cluster and 40-mm parachute green light–emitting pyrotechnic compositions is described. Of the new compositions evaluated, one was found to exceed the military requirements in burn time, luminous intensity, dominant wavelength, and spectral purity in both the cluster and parachute configurations. The new illuminant composition is not plagued by single-point-of-failure concerns, as the Laminac 4116/Lupersol binder system has been replaced by the widely available Epon 813/Versamid 140 binder system. In addition, the new illuminant composition was found to be insensitive toward impact, friction, and electrostatic discharge and had a high thermal onset temperature.     

Light hydrocarbon geochemistry: insight into oils/condensates families and inferred source rocks of the Woodford–Mississippian tight oil play in North-Central Oklahoma,USA

The Woodford–Mississippian Commingled Production is a prolific unconventional hydrocarbon play in Oklahoma, USA.The tight reservoirs feature variations in produced fluid chemistry usually explained by different possible source rocks.Such chemical variations are regularly obtained from bulk, molecular, and isotopic characteristics. In this study, we present a new geochemical investigation of gasoline range hydrocarbons, biomarkers, and diamondoids in oils from Mississippian carbonate and Woodford Shale. A set of oil/condensate samples were examined using high-performance gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The result of the condensates from the Anadarko Basin shows a distinct geochemical fingerprint reflected in light hydrocarbon characterized by heptane star diagrams, convinced by biomarker characteristics and diamantane isomeric distributions. Two possible source rocks were identified, the Woodford Shale and Mississippian mudrocks,with a variable degree of mixing. Thermal maturity based on light hydrocarbon parameters indicates that condensates from the Anadarko Basin are of the highest maturity, followed by Old Woodford-sourced oils and central Oklahoma tight oils.These geochemical parameters shed light on petroleum migration within Devonian–Mississippian petroleum systems and mitigate geological risk in exploring and developing petroleum reservoirs.     

Olefin Synthesis from Dimethyl Ether in the Presence of a Hydrothermally Treated Mg–HZSM-5/Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> Catalyst: Effect of Reaction Conditions on the Product Composition and Ratio

Systematic studies of olefin synthesis from dimethyl ether (DME) in the presence of a hydrothermally treated HZSM-5 zeolite catalyst modified with magnesium have been conducted. Dependences of DME conversion, product yield and selectivity, and lower olefin ratio on space time in the temperature range of 320–360°C have been analyzed. The type of the resulting products has been determined, and assumptions about the reaction chemistry have been made to reveal the role of methylation and hydrogen-transfer reactions in the products formation.