Sources and processes affecting sulfate in a karstic groundwater system of the Franconian Alb, southern Germany

Chemical and isotope analyses on groundwater sulfate and 3H measurements on groundwaterwere used to determine the sulfate sources and sulfur transformation processes in a heterogeneous karst aquifer of the Franconian Alb, southern Germany. Sulfate was found to be derived from atmospheric deposition. Young groundwater was characterized by high sulfate concentrations and delta34S values similar to those of recent atmospheric sulfate deposition. However, the delta18O values of groundwater SO4(2-) were depleted by several per mil with respect to those of atmospheric deposition. This isotopic shift is indicative of mineralization of carbon-bonded S in the vadose zone of the karst system. In groundwater with mean residence times of more than 60 years, a trend of increasing delta34S values and delta18O values with decreasing sulfate concentrations was observed. This trend could not be solely explained by preindustrial atmospheric sulfate deposition with higher delta34S values, and hence, we conclude that bacterial (dissimilatory) sulfate reduction in the porous matrix of the karst aquifer must have occurred. This process has the potential to contribute to long-term biodegradation of contaminants in the porous rock matrix representing the dominantwater reservoir of the fissured porous karst aquifer.     

Vulnerability to smoking after trying a single cigarette can lie dormant for three years or more

Objective

To examine the development of smoking behaviour among adolescents who, at age 11, had tried cigarettes just once.

Design

A five‐year prospective study.

Setting

36 schools in South London, England.

Subjects

A socioeconomically and ethnically diverse sample of students completed questionnaires annually from age 11–16. A total of 5863 students took part, with an annual response rate ranging from 74–85%. 2041 (35%) provided smoking status data every year.

Main outcome measures

Current smoking (smoking sometimes or more often) for the first time. Cotinine assays provided biochemical verification of smoking status.

Results

Students who at age 11 reported having tried smoking cigarettes just once (n = 260), but were not smoking at the time, were more likely to take‐up smoking at a later age than those that had not tried smoking (n = 1719), even after a gap of up to three years of not smoking. The odds of starting to smoke at age 14 were 2.1 times greater (95% confidence interval 1.2 to 3.5) in the age 11 “one time triers” than the “non‐triers”, even once sex, ethnicity, deprivation, parental smoking and conduct disorder were adjusted for.

Conclusions

This is the first clear demonstration of a “sleeper effect” or period of dormant vulnerability. Our findings have implications for understanding the development of cigarette use and for policies to reduce smoking in young people. Preventing children from trying even one cigarette may be important, and the design of interventions should recognise adolescents who have smoked just once, several years previously, as potentially vulnerable to later smoking uptake.     

Photostability of Sodium Iron Ethylenediaminetetraacetic Acid (NaFeEDTA) in Stored Fish Sauce and Soy Sauce

ABSTRACT: Sodium iron ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (NaFeEDTA) has been suggested as a fortification compound for fish sauce and soy sauce. Its susceptibility to photodegradation in aqueous solutions however is a potential disadvantage. We determined the photostability of NaFeEDTA in fish and soy sauce stored under well-defined conditions. No degradation of NaFeEDTA was observed during storage of fortified soy sauce. Losses of up to 35% NaFeEDTA, however, occurred within 2 to 6 wk in fortified fish sauce stored in clear bottles exposed to direct sunlight. Losses were prevented by storage in amber bottles or by storing the clear bottles under indirect sunlight or in the dark.     

Experimental Study of Thermo-Physical Properties of Nanofluids Based on γ-Fe2O3 Nanoparticles for Heat Transfer Applications

The main goal of the present study was to prepare and also to investigate the effects of both temperature and weight concentration on the thermo-physical properties of γ-Fe₂O₃/water nanofluids. The γ-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles were synthesized by laser pyrolysis technique and characterized using TEM, XRD, and EDX techniques. Thermal conductivity, viscosity and surface tension of γ-Fe₂O₃/water nanofluids were investigated within the range of the temperature of 20°C to 70°C for various weight concentrations of nanoparticles (0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 wt%). The experimental results show that the thermal conductivity ratio is much higher than of thermal conductivity of base fluid. Thus, the relative thermal conductivity was 59% for a concentration of 4.0 wt% and a temperature of 50°C. Also, it has been observed that the influence of weight concentration of nanoparticles on viscosity was lower at temperatures over 55°C. At standard temperature of 25°C and 2.0 wt.% concentration of nanoparticles, the relative dynamic viscosity was 5.61%. Experimental results show that the surface tension increases with increase of weight concentrations and decreases with increase of temperatures. For a temperature of 70°C and 2.0 wt.% concentration of nanoparticles, the relative surface tension was 46%. The experimental results were compared with data available in literature.     

Migration of mineral oil from printed paperboard into dry foods: survey of the German market

From the German market, 119 samples of dry food were analyzed for the migration of mineral oil. The products selected were packed in paperboard boxes and intended for storage for extended periods of time at ambient temperature. The 0.6 mg/kg limit for mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) derived from the WHO/JECFA evaluation was frequently exceeded by a factor of 10–100. Typically, 10–20% of the migrating mineral oil consisted of aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH). Most samples were merely 2–3 months old and far from the end of their shelf life (usually 1–3 years). From the assumption that about 70% of the MOSH and MOAH which are eluted from GC up to the C₂₄ n-alkane (<C24) end up in the food (potential of migration), it was estimated that migration might almost triple before the products reach the end of their shelf life, reaching 31 mg/kg on average, with several samples exceeding 100 mg/kg. At the time of the analysis, products without an internal bag and with a bag of paper or polyethylene reached up to about 80% of the potential of migration (average, 30–50%). Bags of polypropylene, acrylate-coated polypropylene, PET or with an aluminum layer seemed to block migration (with one possible exception), but it was premature to reach conclusions on long-term functional barrier properties. From the comparison with <C₂₄ MOSH concentrations in unprinted recycled paperboards, it was estimated than on average about a quarter of the migrating mineral oil was from printing ink used for decorating the box.     

Thermal degradation of anthocyanins and its impact on color and in vitro antioxidant capacity

The aim of the current study was to thoroughly investigate the structural changes of anthocyanins at pH 3.5 in purified fractions from black carrot, elderberry and strawberry heated over 6 h at 95 degrees C. Degradation products were monitored by HPLC-DAD-MS(3 )to elucidate the prevailing degradation pathways. In addition, alterations of color and antioxidant properties observed upon heating were scrutinized. Most interestingly, the degradation pathways at pH 3.5 were found to differ from those at pH 1. Among others, chalcone glycosides were detected at 320 nm in heat-treated elderberry and strawberry pigment isolates, and opening of the pyrylium ring initiated anthocyanin degradation. In the case of acylated anthocyanins, acyl-glycoside moieties were split off from the flavylium backbone, first. Finally, for all pigment isolates, phenolic acids and phloroglucinaldehyde were the terminal degradation products as remainders of the B- and A-ring, respectively. Maximum and minimum antioxidant stabilizing capacities were found in black carrot and strawberry, respectively, which was explained by the high degree of acylation in the former. After heating, decline of trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) was observed in all samples, which was attributed to both anthocyanins and their colorless degradation products following thermal exposure. As deduced from the ratio of TEAC value and anthocyanin content, the loss of anthocyanin bioactivity could not be compensated by the antioxidant capacity of newly formed colorless phenolics upon heating.     

Overview of the use of artificial neural networks for energy‐related applications in the building sector

The incessant growing of the world's energy consumption and associated greenhouse gases emissions have created tremendous problems to be solved by today's and future generations. As the building sector is one of the biggest energy consumers, reducing its energy consumption is now mandatory. Being able to conceive and built efficient buildings, to effectively manage and operate them, and to rapidly renovate the existing building stock is a challenging task. Neural networks models open new possibilities to address this problem. This paper offers a comprehensive review of the studies that use neural networks for energy‐related applications in the building sector focusing on their application and on the technical characteristics of the network (ie, learning algorithm, number of layers, number of neurons, inputs and output variables, and performance criteria). On the basis of this review, limitations concerning the use of neural networks in the building sector along with existing research gaps and future research directions are identified.     

Radiative transfer within non Beerian porous media with semitransparent and opaque phases in non equilibrium: Application to reflooding of a nuclear reactor

A local radiative transfer model is developed for strongly anisotropic porous media with an opaque phase and a mixture of two semitransparent phases. At the optically thick limit, the homogenized phase associated with the opaque interfaces is characterized by generalized extinction and scattering coefficients at equilibrium, a phase function and an effective refraction index, by following the model of Taine et al. [1] for non Beerian media. The radiative transfer model is based on a Radiative Transfer Equation (RTE) with three source terms, which are associated with the temperature fields of the opaque interfaces and the two semitransparent phases. This RTE has been solved by a perturbation technique, which allows radiative interfacial fluxes and radiative powers per unit volume, that are exchanged between phases, to be computed at local scale. The main contributions are obtained at zeroth order perturbation. Corrective contributions at first order perturbation are also determined: Radiative fluxes and powers are then expressed from coupled Fourier’s laws, which are characterized by radiative conductivity tensors associated with each phase.Illustrative results are given for the radiative modeling of reflooding of a damaged nuclear reactor core. Pragmatic conclusions on the cooling efficiency by steam and water droplets are finally given.