Comprehensive review of water management and wastewater treatment in food processing industries in the framework of water-food-environment nexus

Food processing is among the greatest water-consuming industries with a significant role in the implementation of sustainable development goals. Water-consuming industries such as food processing have become a threat to limited freshwater resources, and numerous attempts are being carried out in order to develop and apply novel approaches for water management in these industries. Studies have shown the positive impact of the new methods of process integration (e.g., water pinch, mathematical optimization, etc.) in maximizing water reuse and recycle. Applying these methods in food processing industries not only significantly supported water consumption minimization but also contributed to environmental protection by reducing wastewater generation. The methods can also increase the productivity of these industries and direct them to sustainable production. This interconnection led to a new subcategory in nexus studies known as water-food-environment nexus. The nexus assures sustainable food production with minimum freshwater consumption and minimizes the environmental destructions caused by untreated wastewater discharge. The aim of this study was to provide a thorough review of water-food-environment nexus application in food processing industries and explore the nexus from different aspects. The current study explored the process of food industries in different sectors regarding water consumption and wastewater generation, both qualitatively and quantitatively. The most recent wastewater treatment methods carried out in different food processing sectors were also reviewed. This review provided a comprehensive literature for choosing the optimum scenario of water and wastewater management in food processing industries.     

Food hygiene and hazard analysis critical control point in the United Kingdom food industry: practices, perceptions, and attitudes.

A mail survey was designed and distributed to 1,650 managers of food businesses across the manufacturing, retail, and catering sectors of the United Kingdom food industry. Respondents were asked about the food hygiene practices of their business, their use of systems such as hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP), and their attitudes toward a range of food hygiene-related issues. Complete responses were received from 254 businesses, a response rate of 15.3%. The results showed that 69% of manufacturers were using HACCP systems, significantly more than the 13% and 15% in the retail and catering sectors, respectively (P < 0.05); 53% of manufacturing, 59% of retail, and 48% of catering managers thought that their business represented a low risk to food safety. Among businesses using HACCP, specific training in the system was significantly related to the likelihood that businesses had adopted all seven of the HACCP principles (P < 0.05). Business size was a significant factor in the use of HACCP in both the manufacturing and retail sectors. Higher levels of food hygiene qualifications among business managers, business status, and higher perceptions among managers of the risk to food safety of the business were also significantly related to HACCP use in all sectors (P < 0.05). The results from this survey have implications for the future development of HACCP, particularly within the UK retail and catering sectors. Risk communication and training are highlighted as areas of concern for marketing HACCP within these industry sectors.     

Biotechnology, biofortification, and global health

Deficiencies of micronutrients such as iron, zinc, and vitamin A afflict over three billion people (more than 50% of the world's population), most of them women, infants, and children in resource-poor families in the developing world. This global crisis in nutritional health is the result of dysfunctional food systems that do not consistently supply enough of these essential nutrients to meet the nutritional requirements of high-risk groups. Deficiencies of micronutrients result in increased morbidity and mortality rates, lost worker productivity, stagnated national development, permanent impairment of cognitive development in infants and children, and large economic costs and suffering to those societies affected. Because agricultural systems are the primary source of all micronutrients for all people, changes in agricultural policies and systems must be made that will ensure consistent and adequate supplies of all essential nutrients to all people. Additionally, the nutrition and health sectors must turn to agricultural interventions as a primary tool in their efforts to eliminate malnutrition from the world if they want to ensure sustainability. Biotechnological advances show great promise for improving the output of bioavailable micronutrients from agricultural systems that feed the poor. This paper reviews some of these opportunities and discusses the questions and concerns that should be raised when these technologies are used to improve the micronutrient status of vast numbers of people who are dependent on staple food crops for their sustenance. Further, important issues surrounding micronutrient bioavailability and plant food factors that affect it are discussed.     

A demand-centered, hybrid life-cycle methodology for city-scale greenhouse gas inventories

Greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting for individual cities is confounded by spatial scale and boundary effects that impact the allocation of regional material and energy flows. This paper develops a demand-centered, hybrid life-cycle-based methodology for conducting city-scale GHG inventories that incorporates (1) spatial allocation of surface and airline travel across colocated cities in larger metropolitan regions, and, (2) life-cycle assessment (LCA) to quantify the embodied energy of key urban materials--food, water, fuel, and concrete. The hybrid methodology enables cities to separately report the GHG impact associated with direct end-use of energy by cities (consistent with EPA and IPCC methods), as well as the impact of extra-boundary activities such as air travel and production of key urban materials (consistent with Scope 3 protocols recommended by the World Resources Institute). Application of this hybrid methodology to Denver, Colorado, yielded a more holistic GHG inventory that approaches a GHG footprint computation, with consistency of inclusions across spatial scale as well as convergence of city-scale per capita GHG emissions (approximately 25 mt CO2e/person/year) with state and national data. The method is shown to have significant policy impacts, and also demonstrates the utility of benchmarks in understanding energy use in various city sectors.     

Impact of refreshing perception on mood, cognitive performance and brain oscillations: An exploratory study

The aim of the present research was to evaluate the effect of refreshing perception on mental energy in terms of cortical activation and cognitive performance. Refreshing perception was induced by the consumption of an optimized citrus-flavored water ice with specific sensory properties leading to cooling and mouth-wetting sensations. Comparison treatments were standard water ices differing in refreshing intensity but matched in flavor and energy content, and a glass of water. In a first experiment, electroencephalographic activity of participants was monitored while performing a task of sustained attention. Relative to both comparison treatments, results revealed that the optimized water ice improved cortical activation in the alpha and beta powers known to be involved in neural circuits of attention, working memory and sensory-motor integration. In a second experiment, results revealed improved performance of attention after consumption of the optimized water ice relative to comparison treatments. Altogether, our results provide preliminary evidence supporting the beneficial impact of refreshing perception, reflected in the enhancement of cortical activation necessary for recruiting optimal resources for task performance.     

Conflict management programs in trans-disciplinary research projects: the case of a food security project in Tanzania

The scientific response to the challenges of security for food systems, as well as other global topics such as climate change, has been to shift from research projects with a narrow focus on one or a few sectors of the food system to broader trans-disciplinary approaches. Such research settings are inherently complex and involve the potential for substantial conflict that can put the success of the entire research project at risk. Allocating time and resources to establish mechanisms that facilitate meta-communication among project members is increasingly advocated in order to minimize conflicts. The aim of this paper is to analyze and then facilitate the integration of conflict management programs as a tool within such research projects. This was achieved by establishing the framework characteristics that define the food security research environment as: (1) donor-funded; (2) temporary; (3) virtual; (4) international; (5) inter-organizational; and (6) trans-disciplinary; and by discussing their implications for the implementation of a conflict management program. A participatory and transdisciplinary food security research project active in Tanzania (Trans-SEC) was used as the case study, with qualitative research methods applied.     

高校人事管理问题探析及相应建议——基于人事争议的问卷调查结果

高校人事管理存在的问题,是高校建立现代大学制度、制定大学章程,实现高校依法治校、民主办学必须面对的问题。通过对全国60所高校的问卷调查的分析总结,得出结论:高校人事管理中存在的主要问题是高校行政权力泛化、民主权得不到充分尊重,高校的制度不完善、管理不到位以及没有摆正"师德、教学、科研"三者之间的关系。由此提出了避免和减少高校人事争议的六条建议。     

Determination of total water and surface water in sugars

A clear distinction between differently bound water fractions by drying techniques is usually not possible. The Karl Fischer titration was used to achieve such a differentiation. As this technique is based on a chemical reaction, water is only determined when it comes into direct contact with the reagents. Surface water can therefore be detected easily. To limit the determination to this fraction, dissolution of the sample must be avoided. If, on the contrary, the total water is to be determined, the sample must either be dissolved completely or measures must be taken to liberate the water from the sample matrix. The aim of this work was to find titration parameters and working conditions that allow the distinction between the total water content and the surface water of sugars.     

智慧能源管控在高端化纤行业的应用与发展探讨

国家发改委2019年29号令明确鼓励智能化、低能耗纺织工厂的升级、改造,随着中国经济的高速发展,中国的工业发展已经正式迈入精细化时代,更加致力于全球共同发展。作为工业大国,中国更需要直面经济快速发展带来的日趋严峻的环境恶化问题,低效率、高能耗产业需要转型,这对国内企业的节能环保行业提出了更高的要求。近几年,国内环保产业已经初见规模,各类环保问题的大监管格局逐渐形成,新材料、新能源企业各类能源管理系统必须随企业的持续发展而不断完善拓展,运用现代信息技术,利用大数据云平台、数据挖掘、系统监控、视频监控资源等技术,建设资源共享,构筑一个可拓展性强、融合性强的智慧能源综合服务平台势在必行。     

Chemical composition,health effects,and uses of water caltrop

BackgroundWater caltrop (Trapa spp.) has been cultivated for food and traditional medicine in Asia for thousands of years. It is, however, considered as a pest in North America due to the adverse effects on ecological systems. Thus, a better understanding of the chemistry and potential applications of water caltrop may suggest strategies to utilize this aquatic plant.Scope and approachThis review summarizes the chemical composition, nutritional benefits, processing, and food and industrial uses of different parts of water caltrop from diverse species. The relationships between the components and potential uses of water caltrop are discussed.Key findings and conclusionsPeels and kernels of water caltrop are rich in starch, dietary fiber, essential amino acids, and certain types of phenolics and minerals, and showed a range of bioactivities such as anti-cancer and antioxidant capacities. Water caltrop has been utilized in diverse food and non-food sectors. There is great potential of water caltrop for various applications due to the unique chemical composition and abundance of supply.     

环境管理中的水环境监测及其保护研究

随着时代的发展,我国政府已经认识到经济发展不能建立在破坏环境的基础上,经济和环境的最佳关系是经济发展促进环境保护,而不是牺牲环境.为了更好地完成水资源的保护,我国提出了水环境监测的工作任务,要求在环境管理中注意水环境的一切情况,并且根据监测内容进行管理,一切造成污染的行为都需要严肃惩罚.本文将从环境管理中的水环境监测要...     

Combating iodine deficiency: lessons from China,Indonesia, and Madagascar

This study investigated the factors contributing to a successful and sustainable elimination of iodine-deficiency disorders, drawing from salt fortification experiences in China, Indonesia, and Madagascar. Government officials, salt farmers, salt producers, and wholesalers were interviewed to collect data during field visits. Analyses used in the study include simple correlation, and wherever data permit, regression. The study found that measures crucial for combating iodine deficiency include raising public awareness of the disorders, ensuring easy access to iodated salt, promoting compliance in the salt industry, and monitoring and enforcement. Factors that ensure a reliable supply of iodated salt are equally important as those that create the demand for it. Governments must ensure that surveillance and enforcement mechanisms are functioning right from the time that salt iodation is made compulsory. For sustainability during later years, the adequacy of iodine in iodated salt must be monitored, and incentives must be modified as needed to increase compliance rates in the salt industry. Once national coverage of iodated salt reaches over 90%, the government can concentrate on fine-tuning and targeting resources at areas with a low consumption of iodated salt. Elimination of micronutrient deficiencies has a long-term impact on public health; moreover, poorer segments of the population, who are more vulnerable to such deficiencies, have more to gain from fortification programs. Thus, lessons from the successful elimination of iodine-deficiency disorders are valuable for future similar micronutrient activities.     

开发、使用环保助剂,为印染清洁生产服务

印染行业属高污染行业,实施清洁生产从能源、生产和服务过程、产品抓起,使用清洁的能源和原材料,用消耗少、效率高、无污染、少污染和清洁工艺设备,减少污染从水、气等递质整体考虑,防止末端治理中污染物在不同递质之间转移,做到清洁生产.     

Novel quantification of coupled natural and cross-sectoral water and nutrient/pollutant flows for environmental management

Human water use and anthropogenic water pollution and ecosystem deterioration have increased so much that it is now a strategic challenge to maximize benefits from various possible water uses, while ensuring that basic human needs are met and the environment is protected. We propose and develop a novel use of input-output flow analysis as a relatively simple, compact and powerful tool for quantification of coupled natural and cross-sectoral flows of water, nutrients, and pollutants in catchments. The tool quantifies implications of various environmental regulation and management scenarios for both natural water systems and engineered-economic systems and sectors that use and impact natural waters for meeting human needs. Specific case study application to water and nitrogen flows in the Swedish Norrstr?m drainage basin indicates considerable nitrogen load contributions to surface and coastal waters from slow groundwater flow paths and legacies of accumulated nitrogen in subsurface and immobile water pools. This implies that effective nitrogen load abatement cannot focus only on active sources but must also include downstream measures, which can capture and abate nitrogen/pollutant loading from different types of known and yet unknown point and diffuse sources within associated catchments.     

大数据共享背景下食品分类的探讨

食品分类方法不统一是我国食品安全相关部门间实现抽检、监测大数据信息融合共享的瓶颈。本文对我国现行的3个主要食品分类系统迚行了分析,在此基础上探讨了新的食品分类系统构建,通过制定统一的食品分类国家标准,纳入更多的食品类别,建立科学的分类原则,形成合理的分类层级和及时增补机制,构建一套统一、科学、权威的食品分类系统,解决当前食品分类不兼容导致各食品安全部门抽检数据难融合的现实问题,可实现跨部门大数据集成共享、信息互联互通,形成食品安全多部门共治的新格局,从而提高我国食品安全监管整体敁率。     

饮料企业参与水管理的必要性及方法研究

在全球和中国水危机的大背景下,企业和公民社会共同面临复杂多样的水问题。饮料企业属于用水密集型行业,水是最大宗的原材料,因此来自水的挑战尤其突出。由于很多风险源自外部,仅仅关注内部要素(例如生产线、工厂、办公室)并不足以消减与水相关的商业风险。富有远见的饮料企业将走出公司大门,把目光投向更广阔的领域,采取更加积极的态度和富有创新性的手段参与水管理。本文分析了饮料企业参与水管理的社会大背景、动机、尺度和方式以及注意事项。呼吁饮料企业探求一条既有益于商业目标同时又为社会添福祉的道路。     

浅谈CORBA与DCOM的桥接

CORBA和DCOM都是具有软件集成功能的对象系统，CORBA与DCOM的集成可通过桥接来实现。通常，桥接有静态桥接和动态桥接2种方式：静态桥接效率高，但不适宜于大规模的系统；动态桥接采用动态机制实现，只需一个桥接接口，易维护。实现CORBA与DCOM的桥接可充分利用已有资源，大大减少软件集成的代码量，提高开发效率。     

Pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants in U.S. streams, 1999-2000: a national reconnaissance

To provide the first nationwide reconnaissance of the occurrence of pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants (OWCs) in water resources, the U.S. Geological Survey used five newly developed analytical methods to measure concentrations of 95 OWCs in water samples from a network of 139 streams across 30 states during 1999 and 2000. The selection of sampling sites was biased toward streams susceptible to contamination (i.e. downstream of intense urbanization and livestock production). OWCs were prevalent during this study, being found in 80% of the streams sampled. The compounds detected represent a wide range of residential, industrial, and agricultural origins and uses with 82 of the 95 OWCs being found during this study. The most frequently detected compounds were coprostanol (fecal steroid), cholesterol (plant and animal steroid), N,N-diethyltoluamide (insect repellant), caffeine (stimulant), triclosan (antimicrobial disinfectant), tri(2-chloroethyl)phosphate (fire retardant), and 4-nonylphenol (nonionic detergent metabolite). Measured concentrations for this study were generally low and rarely exceeded drinking-water guidelines, drinking-water health advisories, or aquatic-life criteria. Many compounds, however, do not have such guidelines established. The detection of multiple OWCs was common for this study, with a median of seven and as many as 38 OWCs being found in a given water sample. Little is known about the potential interactive effects (such as synergistic or antagonistic toxicity) that may occur from complex mixtures of OWCs in the environment. In addition, results of this study demonstrate the importance of obtaining data on metabolites to fully understand not only the fate and transport of OWCs in the hydrologic system but also their ultimate overall effect on human health and the environment.     

Economic input-output life-cycle assessment of trade between Canada and the United States

With increasing trade liberalization, attempts at accounting for environmental impacts and energy use across the manufacturing supply chain are complicated by the predominance of internationally supplied resources and products. This is particularly true for Canada and the United States, the world's largest trading partners. We use an economic input-output life-cycle assessment (EIO-LCA) technique to estimate the economy-wide energy intensity and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity for 45 manufacturing and resource sectors in Canada and the United States. Overall, we find that U.S. manufacturing and resource industries are about 1.15 times as energy-intensive and 1.3 times as GHG-intensive as Canadian industries, with significant sector-specific discrepancies in energy and GHG intensity. This trend is mainly due to a greater direct reliance on fossil fuels for many U.S. industries, in addition to a highly fossil-fuel based electricity mix in the U.S. To account for these differences, we develop a 76 sector binational EIO-LCA model that implicitly considers trade in goods between Canada and the U.S. Our findings show that accounting for trade can significantly alter the results of life-cycle assessment studies, particularly for many Canadian manufacturing sectors, and the production/consumption of goods in one country often exerts significant energy- and GHG-influences on the other.     

Sustainability science and engineering: the emergence of a new metadiscipline

A case is made for growth of a new metadiscipline of sustainability science and engineering. This new field integrates industrial, social, and environmental processes in a global context. The skills required for this higher level discipline represent a metadisciplinary endeavor, combining information and insights across multiple disciplines and perspectives with the common goal of achieving a desired balance among economic, environmental, and societal objectives. Skills and capabilities that are required to support the new metadiscipline are summarized. Examples of integrative projects are discussed in the areas of sustainability metrics and integration of industrial, societal, and environmental impacts. It is clear that a focus on green engineering that employs pollution prevention and industrial ecology alone are not sufficient to achieve sustainability, because even systems with efficient material and energy use can overwhelm the carrying capacity of a region or lead to other socially unacceptable outcomes. To meet the educational and human resource needs required for this new discipline, the technological and environmental awareness of society must be elevated and a sufficient and diverse pool of human talent must be attracted to this discipline.