Simultaneous degradation of disinfection byproducts and earthy-musty odorants by the UV/H2O2 advanced oxidation process

Advanced treatment technologies that control multiple contaminants are beneficial to drinking water treatment. This research applied UV/H₂O₂ for the simultaneous degradation of geosmin, 2-methylisoborneol, four trihalomethanes and six haloacetic acids. Experiments were conducted in de-ionized water at 24 ± 1.0 °C with ng/L amounts of odorants and μg/L amounts of disinfection byproducts. UV was applied with and without 6 mg/L H₂O_2. The results demonstrated that brominated trihalomethanes and brominated haloacetic acids were degraded to a greater extent than geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol. Tribromomethane and dibromochloromethane were degraded by 99% and 80% respectively at the UV dose of 1200 mJ/cm² with 6 mg/L H₂O₂, whereas 90% of the geosmin and 60% of the 2-methylisoborneol were removed. Tribromoacetic acid and dibromoacetic acid were degraded by 99% and 80% respectively under the same conditions. Concentrations of trichloromethane and chlorinated haloacetic acids were not substantially reduced under these conditions and were not effectively removed at doses designed to remove geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol. Brominated compounds were degraded primarily by direct photolysis and cleavage of the C-Br bond with pseudo first order rate constants ranging from 10⁻³ to 10⁻² s⁻¹. Geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol were primarily degraded by reaction with hydroxyl radical with direct photolysis as a minor factor. Perchlorinated disinfection byproducts were degraded by reaction with hydroxyl radicals. These results indicate that the UV/H₂O₂ can be applied to effectively control both odorants and brominated disinfection byproducts.     

Automated effect-specific mammographic pattern measures

We investigate the possibility to develop methodologies for assessing effect specific structural changes of the breast tissue using a general statistical machine learning framework. We present an approach of obtaining objective mammographic pattern measures quantifying a specific biological effect, such as hormone replacement therapy (HRT). We compare results using this approach to using standard density measures. We show that the proposed method can quantify both age related effects and effects caused by HRT. Age effects are significantly detected by our method where standard methodologies fail. The separation of HRT subpopulations using our approach is comparable to the best methodology, which is interactive.      

A service oriented approach to Business Intelligence in Telecoms industry

This paper presents an investigation into the integration and analysis of data from CRM and CDR of Telecoms operators using SO approach to assist the organization in making real-time and accurate decision about the customer tariff plan to ensure customer satisfaction which in return can lead to increase in profit. The development of Service Oriented Business Intelligence (SOBI) architecture based on an analysis of existing architectures/models and customer requirements that were captured through questionnaires. The architecture integrates integrate data from heterogeneous data sources of the organization. A SOBI prototype system that simulates the basic operation of a typical Telecoms organization has been developed and evaluated.     

Separation and characterisation of proanthocyanidins in Virginia type peanut skins by LC-MS

Proanthocyanidins were extracted from peanut skins, an agricultural waste product of Virginia. Proanthocyanidin composition of single solvent and multistep extraction procedures of peanut skins were compared by HPLC-UV-vis absorbance. The multistep extraction procedure yielded more proanthocyanidin peaks and larger peak areas. Thus this extraction procedure was chosen for subsequent fractionation. Fractionation was performed by size exclusion (Toyopearl HW-40S) and normal phase (NP) (porous silica) high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) before reversed phase (RP) electrospray ionisation liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis (ESI-LC-MSⁿ). Proanthocyanidin separation on the NP column was better overall, compared to size exclusion chromatography, and thus was chosen for characterisation by MS. Peanut skin procyanidins were found to separate in order of increasing molecular weight on the NP column. The ESI-MS generated positive and negative molecular-type ions and their dissociation product ions were used to identify specific proanthocyanidins and procyanidins. New proanthocyanidin dimeric and trimeric species were identified. These species consisted of one or two (epi)catechin units bound to luteolin or kaempferol. Monomers through nonamers of flavan-3-ols were identified by retention time and their multistep (MSⁿ) dissociation pathway. Hexamers were identified as both singly and doubly charged negative ions, [M−zH]^z−, z = 1 or 2. Species of greater than pentamers were tentatively identified due to their low ionisation efficiency and significant overlap of species both chromatographically and in the MS spectra.     

Comparison of Two Extraction Techniques,Solid‐Phase Microextraction Versus Continuous Liquid–Liquid Extraction/Solvent‐Assisted Flavor Evaporation,for the Analysis of Flavor Compounds in Gueuze Lambic Beer

Lambic is a beer style that undergoes spontaneous fermentation and is traditionally produced in the Payottenland region of Belgium, a valley on the Senne River west of Brussels. This region appears to have the perfect combination of airborne microorganisms required for lambic's spontaneous fermentation. Gueuze lambic is a substyle of lambic that is made by mixing young (approximately 1 year) and old (approximately 2 to 3 years) lambics with subsequent bottle conditioning. We compared 2 extraction techniques, solid‐phase microextraction (SPME) and continuous liquid–liquid extraction/solvent‐assisted flavor evaporation (CCLE/SAFE), for the isolation of volatile compounds in commercially produced gueuze lambic beer. Fifty‐four volatile compounds were identified and could be divided into acids (14), alcohols (12), aldehydes (3), esters (20), phenols (3), and miscellaneous (2). SPME extracted a total of 40 volatile compounds, whereas CLLE/SAFE extracted 36 volatile compounds. CLLE/SAFE extracted a greater number of acids than SPME, whereas SPME was able to isolate a greater number of esters. Neither extraction technique proved to be clearly superior and both extraction methods can be utilized for the isolation of volatile compounds found in gueuze lambic beer.     

ORAChromatography and total phenolics content of peanut root extracts

A large number of compounds have been reported in peanut plants. Many of these compounds are phytoalexins, which are produced by plants experiencing environmental stress and often exhibit antioxidant activity. It is difficult to determine which of the many compounds has the greatest impact on total antioxidant capacity in a mixture. The objectives of this research were to examine the oxygen-radical absorbing capacity (ORAC) value and total phenolic contents of peanut root extracts and peanut root extract fractions collected via HPLC. Peanut roots were extracted from four different cultivars (Brantley, NC-12, Phillips, and Wilson) with 70% aqueous ethanol with ultrasonic assistance. Each cultivar was sampled in duplicate. The extracts were fractionated into 18 3-min fractions by HPLC using a C-18 column. Fractions and crude extracts were freeze dried. ORAC values and total phenolic content were then determined for all fractions and crude extracts. Fractions had a significant effect on the μM TE/mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE). ORAC values ranged from -46.89 μM TE to 185 μM TE in HPLC fractions. ORAChromatography can be used to focus on antioxidants in complex samples.     

Computational evaluation of effective transport properties of differential microcellular structures

This study presents a combined implementation of three-dimensional (3D) advanced imaging and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling and simulation techniques to interpret the effective transport properties of single and stacked samples of differential microcellular structures. 3D morphological analysis software (ScanIP) was used to create representative elemental volumes via high-resolution tomography data for samples of tetrakaidekahedron-shaped Inconel and bottleneck-type aluminum foams. Pore-structure-related information for single and stacked differential samples were obtained with the aid of image analysis software, while their effective transport properties were attained by computationally resolving the pressure drop developed across these materials for superficial fluid velocities in the range from 0 to 6 m s⁻¹. Model validation was demonstrated by tolerable agreement between resulting CFD predicted results and experimentally measured values of flow properties. With these techniques, contributory effects were identified for pore-structure-related properties, pore density, and flow entrance on the flow dynamics of microcellular structures. This approach could prove useful in the design of highly efficient porous metallic components for applications specific to fluid transport.