Field Study of the Ability of Two Grassed Bioretention Cells to Reduce Storm-Water Runoff Pollution

Two grassed bioretention cells including internal storage zones (ISZs) were monitored for 16?months in central North Carolina. Each cell had a surface area of 106?m2 and fill media depths were 0.75 and 1.05?m for the north (North) and the south (South) cells, respectively. Asphalt parking lot inflow and outflows were analyzed for nitrogen and phosphorus forms and fecal coliform (FC). Outflow volumes and peak flows for individual storms were generally less than those of inflow. Overall, except for NO2,3–N, effluent nitrogen species event mean concentrations (EMCs) and loads were significantly (α = 0.05) lower than those of the inflow, and nitrogen species load reductions ranged from 47 to 88%. Apart from fall and winter, during which a longer hydraulic contact time seemed to be needed, the ISZs appeared to improve denitrification. Total phosphorus (TP) and OPO4-P EMCs were significantly lower than those of the inlet. Reductions were 58% (South) and 63% (North) for TP and 78% (North) and 74% (South) for OPO4–P. There was no significant difference in TP and OPO4–P loads between the inlet and the two outlets. Moreover, effluent concentrations for both phosphorus species were low, relative to other studies. The best nutrient EMC and load reductions occurred during the warm and humid seasons. When considering effluent concentrations in addition to removal rates, the grassed cells showed promising results for FC and nutrient pollution abatement when compared to conventionally vegetated bioretention (trees, shrubs, and mulch) previously studied in North Carolina.     

Development of a selective broth medium for the detection of injured Campylobacter jejuni by capacitance monitoring

The purpose of these studies was to develop a conductimetric method for the rapid detection of Campylobacter jejuni. Numerous basal medium components were analyzed to develop a growth-enhancing broth medium for detection of freeze-injured Campylobacter cells using a conductimetric system. The final medium was composed of a modified Campy-Line agar from which the agar and triphenyltetrazolium chloride were removed and the amino acid, L-arginine was added. Pure isolates of C. jejuni. (frozen and thawed to produce stressed cells) were utilized to test the detection methodology. Monitoring of significant changes in the capacitance signal was found suitable for detection of Campylobacter proliferation. Using stressed pure cultures, Campylobacter growth was repeatedly detected at very low inoculum levels (about one cell per well). There was a direct linear relationship between detection times (DTs) and the initial inoculum level. For example, using a single strain, the mean DT (n = 20) at the 10 CFU/ml inoculum level was 28.6 h, with 100% of the inoculated wells detecting. The mean DTs at the 100, 1,000, and 10,000 CFU/ml inoculum levels were 24.9, 21.4, and 17.0 h, respectively. This study demonstrates that conductimetric methods can be utilized for the rapid detection of C. jejuni.     

Interaction of Titanium Diboride with Nickel and Ni–20% Cr Alloy (Nichrome)

Powder Metallurgy and Metal Ceramics - The interaction in the Ni–Ti–B and Ni–Ti–B–Cr systems along the Ni–TiB2 and (Ni–20% Cr)–TiB2 sections was...     

Hyperspectral imaging based on diffused laser light for prediction of astaxanthin coating concentration

We present a study on predicting the concentration level of synthetic astaxanthin in fish feed pellet coating using multi- and hyperspectral image analysis. This was done in parallel using two different vision systems. A new instrument for hyperspectral imaging, the SuperK setup, using a super-continuum laser as the light source was introduced. Furthermore, a parallel study with the commercially available multispectral VideometerLab imaging system was performed. The SuperK setup used 113 spectral bands (455–1,015 nm), and the VideometerLab used 20 spectral bands (385–1,050 nm). To predict the astaxanthin concentration from the spectral image data, the synthetic astaxanthin content in the pellets was measured with the established standard technique; high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Regression analysis was done using partial least squares regression (PLSR) and the sparse regression method elastic net (EN). The ratio of standard error of prediction (RPD) is the ratio between the standard deviation of the reference values and the prediction error, and for both PLSR and EN both devices gave RPD values between 4 and 24, and with mean prediction error of 1.4–8.0 parts per million of astaxanthin concentration. The results show that it is possible to predict the synthetic astaxanthin concentration in the coating well enough for quality control using both multi- and hyperspectral image analysis, while the SuperK setup performs with higher accuracy than the VideometerLab device for this particular problem. The spectral resolution made it possible to identify the most significant spectral regions for detection of astaxanthin. The results also imply that the presented methods can be used in general for quality inspection of various coating substances using similar coating methods.     

Detection of multiple naturally occurring Salmonella serotypes from commercial broiler carcasses with conventional methods

Many laboratories sampling foods for Salmonella are interested only in presence or absence of Salmonella, so only one colony may be selected. The objectives of this study were to use two selective enrichment broths and two selective agar plating media for Salmonella recovery from naturally contaminated broiler carcass rinsates and evaluate these media combinations on Salmonella serotypes recovered from each carcass. Broiler carcasses (n = 52) from a commercial processing plant prior to chilling were rinsed with buffered peptone water and after incubation subcultured to gram-negative and tetrathionate, and after inoculation to Rappaport Vassiliadis broth which was incubated and then streaked onto plates of Brilliant Green Sulfa and Xylose-Lysine-Tergitol-4 agar. On 11/49 positive carcasses, both plating media yielded the same serotypes; for the other 38 positive samples different serotypes were found on the different plating media. Enrichment and plating media combinations influence the serotypes recovered and demonstrates bias even in a limited study such as this.     

In vitro release of α-tocopherol from emulsion-loaded β-lactoglobulin gels

Cold-set oil-loaded protein gels based on an emulsifying step followed by Ca²⁺-induced gelation of pre-denatured β-lactoglobulin (β-LG) have been recently developed. In vitro release and stability of a fat-soluble compound (α-tocopherol) therein were investigated in this work. Release of α-tocopherol was found to be controlled mainly by matrix erosion due to protein degradation. Compound release and matrix erosion were almost complete after incubation under gastric or intestinal conditions for 6.5 h. However, both processes were basically inhibited upon changing the dissolution medium from the gastric to the intestinal type, possibly due to β-LG partial hydrolysis products with greater emulsifying capacity anchoring to the surface of gel oil droplets. The stability of released α-tocopherol was apparently improved by binding to protein and/or hydrolysis products thereof.