Environmental fate of endocrine-disrupting dimethyl phthalate esters (DMPE) under sulfate-reducing condition

Dimethyl phthalate esters (DMPE) can easily be released into the environment from plastic products. As endocrine disruptors, DMPE mimic estrogenic activities in animals and humans. The metabolites of DMPE are suspected to cause even more serious health problems. Among the common sterilization techniques adopted in the study of DMPE degradation, the average loss of the parent DMPE compounds after autoclaving was as high as 21.26%. In contrast, the loss after 0.2 microm filtration was significantly lower at 2.28%. It is suggested that filtration should be used over autoclaving for sterilizing DMPE. The environmental fate of DMPE under sulfate-reducing condition was simulated and studied in microcosm system. It was observed that dimethyl phthalate (DMP), dimethyl isophthalate (DMI) and dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) could not be mineralized over an extended period of 6 months, but with the transformation to the respective monomethyl phthalate and/or phthalic acid. The dominant species of microorganisms utilizing individual DMPE isomer as the sole carbon source were isolated and identified as facultative anaerobe Thauera sp., Xanthobacter sp. and Agrobacterium sp. for DMP, DMI and DMT, respectively. This study illustrates that the detrimental DMPE and their natural metabolites may accumulate in the sulfate-reducing environment. Accordingly, proper surveillance program should be devised to monitor both the parent compounds and degradation intermediates of DMPE in order to protect the aquatic ecosystem and human health.     

Determination of Primary Amine Content in Bonding Agent Used in Composite Solid Propellants

The primary amine content in tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) and TEPAN, a bonding agent used in composite solid propellants, was determined by near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and the results were compared to those obtained by potentiometry. The band at 4930 cm⁻¹, which showed to be influenced only by primary amine groups, was chosen as the analytical band. The calibration curves based on isopropylamine (IPA) and isopropylamine/dibutylamine (IPA/DBA) mixtures proved to be suitable for determining the NH₂ content of TEPA or of samples containing mixtures of NH and NH₂ groups. It was found that TEPA contains 26.4 % of NH₂ and 25.7 % of NH, and that TEPAN contains 0.5 % of NH₂, confirming the low content of primary amine of this bonding agent. The lowest amine equivalent of TEPA is 31.1±0.3 g/eq, as determined by potentiometry, was found because this technique measures the total hydrogen content, including primary and secondary amines. The literature value of 62.6 g/eq for TEPA ACROS obtained by potentiometry in a non aqueous medium and related to the first inflection of the primary amine, validates the value obtained by NIR in this work for a similar type of amine. The equivalent weight obtained by NIR spectroscopy (62.7 g/eq) allowed to calculate the molar mass of TEPA of 195.6 g mol⁻¹, which is close to the typical value of 200 g mol⁻¹.     

Effects of Tomato and Soy Germ on Lipid Bioaccumulation and Atherosclerosis in ApoE−/− Mice

Dietary patterns with cardiovascular benefits have been recommended, but the relative contributions of individual foods and food components, alone or in combination, remain undefined. Male ApoE^?/? mice were fed either a purified AIN‐93G control diet, a Western diet (WD), or a WD with 10% tomato powder (TP), 2% soy germ (SG), or the combination, for 4 wk (n = 10 per group). Plasma total cholesterol and triglycerides were measured with enzymatic colorimetric kits, and serum amyloid A (SAA) was measured by ELISA. Liver lipids were extracted with chloroform:methanol, and triglycerides, free and esterified cholesterol measured with enzymatic colorimetric kits. Expression of Cyp27a1, Cyp7a1, Abcg5, and Abcg8 in the liver was determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Sections of the aortic root and aorta were cut and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) to assess extent of atherosclerotic lesions. WD‐fed animals had greater liver and adipose weights, plasma cholesterol and SAA, hepatic lipids, and atherosclerosis than AIN‐93G animals. TP and SG did not decrease atherosclerosis as measured by H&E‐stained sections of the aortic root, aortic arch, and descending aorta. The TP diets further increased plasma cholesterol, but also led to increased expression of the Abcg5/8 transporters involved in cholesterol efflux. Addition of SG alone to the WD attenuated WD‐induced increases in plasma cholesterol, liver lipids, and gonadal adipose weight. The results of this study do not support the use of either TP or SG for reduction of atherosclerosis, but suggest some beneficial effects of SG on lipid metabolism in this model of cardiovascular disease.     

Regularity of nanopores in anodic alumina formed on orientated aluminium single-crystals

On aluminium single crystals with (1 1 1), (1 1 0) and (1 0 0) orientation, nanoporous alumina layers were formed in a two-step anodization process within sulphuric acid. The pore ordering within the hexagonal arrangement of the nanopores was documented by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), described on the basis of defect thermology and analyzed quantitatively by image evaluation. The best ordering was obtained in nanoporous alumina on (1 0 0) aluminium. We supposed that this is caused by the interface energy term within the driving force for the formation of the nanoporous alumina, since – in contrast to (1 1 1) and (1 1 0) aluminium as substrate – in the case of (1 0 0) aluminium the interface energy is minimised in the waved interface between aluminium and hexagonally arranged nanoporous alumina.     

CHARACTERIZATION OF SOME IRAQI ASPHALTS I. NUMBER AVERAGE MOLECULAR WEIGHT INVESTIGATION OF DORA AND QAIYARAH ASPHALTS

ABSTRACT

The number average molecular weight (Mn¯) of two Iraqi asphalts has been studied before end after thermal treatment using vapour pressure osmometery. Changes in Mn¯ values after thermal aging were compared with the changes in their physical and mechanical properties. Toluene, benzene, cyclohexane, tetrahydrofuran and carbon tetrachloride were used to fractionate the asphalts The Mn¯ of each fraction was determined before and after aging.     

Energy sustainability indicators for local energy planning: Review of current practices and derivation of a new framework

Tackling climate change is a growing concern of our society. Although action is needed at all levels of governance, local authorities play a key role in climate action. The creation of sustainable energy and climate action plans at the local level are recent trends that show increasing local commitment. During the last decade, several municipalities have started to develop plans, but surprisingly little systematic technical guidance has been provided to them. As part of an effort to develop tools to assist energy planning at the local level, this study addresses the role of indicators in energy planning. This paper aims to propose a framework of local energy sustainability indicators to be used both as an assessment and as an action-planning tool. A literature review of existing sets of sustainability indicators and the testing of the selected indicators with pilot municipalities has led to a framework composed by 18 indicators. The indicators proposed were developed by having into consideration, besides relevance, their potential use as decision criteria for identifying the most effective actions for local energy planning. The paper also investigates the presence of the proposed indicators in existing local sustainability assessment initiatives and energy and climate action plans as well as the purpose for which they were being used in the plans. The analysis of 10 local energy and climate action plans has revealed that local authorities are using indicators mostly for diagnosis purposes, paying less attention to monitoring. Using indicators as decision criteria to choose the actions to be included in the action plan is not yet a common practice. It was also found that only a small number of the indicators proposed in this paper were already considered in the action plans analysed.     

11—THE DRYING OF TEXTILE FABRICS. PART II: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AIR-MOISTURE CONTENT AND FABRIC TEMPERATURE

The measurement of fabric temperatures by contact methods during drying is shown to give an unreliable estimate of the moisture content of the air in equilibrium with the fabric because the contacting device behaves as an improperly wetted wet bulb. Automatic control systems depending on such measurement to regulate drying in a tenter are therefore unsatisfactory.     

Tracing enteric viruses in the European berry fruit supply chain

In recent years, numerous foodborne outbreaks due to consumption of berry fruit contaminated by human enteric viruses have been reported. This European multinational study investigated possible contamination routes by monitoring the entire food chain for a panel of human and animal enteric viruses.     

Organizing Individual and Collective Creativity: Flying in the Face of Creativity Clichés

The growing complexity of problems requires collective solutions to produce creative outcomes. Organizational theory on creativity has been extensively developed in recent decades, but two problematic issues remain. First, no current comprehensive model explains the development of collective creativity. Second, no empirical research has been conducted on the process of theory dissemination and its relevance within the managerial community. This paper provides evidence which can inform the design of collective creative projects within organizations, flying in the face of some managerial clichés. We design a research project which enables managerial sensemaking to emerge and which proposes a comprehensive approach to the design of team creativity. From a research design involving 24 managers and 98 eleven‐person groups, results confirm that creativity is not only about creative genius, and design for creativity is not a matter of linear correlation but implies a more sophisticated and integrative approach according to which individual creative skills, team dynamics and organizational solutions interact with each other to produce a collective creative performance.