Corn and rice waste: a comparative and critical presentation of methods and current and potential uses of treated waste

Although corn and rice waste can be hardly classified among the most hazardous waste, their treatment is very important in view of the great volume of waste materials involved. In this review article, an update is provided for most of the waste treatment techniques (composting, pyrolysis, gasification, combustion) used to alter the physical, chemical or biological character of the waste, to reduce its volume and/or toxicity and to make the waste safer for disposal. Furthermore, all current and potential uses of treated corn and rice waste such as fertilisers, biomass and biogas/biofuel are summarised. Four comprehensive tables and six figures provide a thorough presentation of both waste treatment methods (characteristics, advantages and disadvantages) and uses of treated corn and rice waste.     

An Updated Review of Meat Authenticity Methods and Applications

Adulteration of foods is a serious economic problem concerning most foodstuffs, and in particular meat products. Since high-priced meat demand premium prices, producers of meat-based products might be tempted to blend these products with lower cost meat. Moreover, the labeled meat contents may not be met. Both types of adulteration are difficult to detect and lead to deterioration of product quality. For the consumer, it is of outmost importance to guarantee both authenticity and compliance with product labeling. The purpose of this article is to review the state of the art of meat authenticity with analytical and immunochemical methods with the focus on the issue of geographic origin and sensory characteristics. This review is also intended to provide an overview of the various currently applied statistical analyses (multivariate analysis (MAV), such as principal component analysis, discriminant analysis, cluster analysis, etc.) and their effectiveness for meat authenticity.     

An update of EU legislation (Directives and Regulations) on food-related issues (Safety, Hygiene, Packaging, Technology, GMOs, Additives, Radiation, Labelling): presentation and comments

This review aims at providing an update of the current European Union (EU) Regulations and Directives on food‐related issues. Initially, a brief presentation of EU legislation in terms of structure (horizontal, vertical) was attempted. EU Regulations and Directives were classified into the following categories: food safety (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points, pesticides, radioactive, hormones, contaminants, freezing – ionisation, food additives, flavourings, packaging), genetically modified organisms, food quality, labelling, food products of plant or animal origin, imports from third countries. Apart from a synoptical presentation of all laws related to the above‐mentioned topics, proper tables were compiled where the main points of each law are cited in conjunction with its effect on previous laws (repeal, modification, amendments, replacement). In such a way the reader can rapidly acquire a first approach to the topic of his interest.     

Wheat, barley and oat waste: a comparative and critical presentation of methods and potential uses of treated waste

Wheat waste stands for one of the most important cereals both in view of its nutritive value and its high waste volume, although the latter is not considered among the most polluting source of wastes. However, it is of great importance to optimise the conversion of wheat, barley and oat waste into useful materials such as biomass, biogas/biofuel, animal feed and composting. Advantages and disadvantages and effectiveness per method (incineration, combustion, composting) are summarised by means of six comprehensive tables and six figures. It appears that the method with the greatest potential is the one aiming at conversion of wheat waste into biomass or biogas in view of the energy problems and the extended pollution of the environment due to release of carbon dioxide.     

Presentation and comments on EU legislation related to food industries–environment interactions: organic contaminants (chemicals, pesticides, dioxins, furans, biocides and their waste management)

The first part of this review on European Union (EU) legislation related to food industries–environment interactions deals with chemicals which, in their majority, make their way to food. Such substances are the pesticides and fertilizers the residues of which abound in many agricultural produces (both of plant or animal origin). Another crucial issue is the unintentional release of dioxins and furans through combustion. Detergents or sanitizers in conjunction with compounds considered hazardous or corrosive or flammable stand for other topics falling in the general category of chemicals employed in the food industry. The aim of this review is to cover all the current EU legislation in the field of chemicals (dioxins, furans, pesticides, biocides products, fertilizers, sanitizers) coming directly or indirectly in contact with food and their waste management by providing six comprehensive and easy‐to‐use tables, and a synopsis of the main points of the currently in force EU legislation.     

Capacity and Complexity Trade-offs in MIMO Analog–Digital Combining Systems

Analog–digital combining is an alternative solution to decrease the hardware complexity of an all-digital combining system. We analyze the analog weights from the perspectives of maximizing analog signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and effective channel capacity ([(C)\tilde]){(\tilde{C})}. We propose simple sub-optimal algorithms to calculate receive analog weights in both open loop (OL) and closed loop (CL) systems, and compare the proposed schemes with an all-digital combining system, in terms of [(C)\tilde]{\tilde{C}}. For both criteria, a small number of additional antennas is required to achieve the same mean capacity as an all-digital combining system in an urban micro model, e.g., 1 additional antenna in selection diversity and combining is required to achieve the same capacity as in a 2 ×  4 all-digital CL system at low SNR. The additional number of antennas is smaller in CL than in OL. The effective channel capacity based on the SNR maximization criterion is similar to that based on the [(C)\tilde]{\tilde{C}} maximization criterion, but the computational complexity the analog weights calculation is lower for the SNR maximization criterion.     

Presentation and comments on EU legislation related to food industries–environment interactions: sustainable development, and protection of nature and biodiversity – genetically modified organisms

The European Union (EU) legislation regarding sustainable development moves along two distinct lines: the impact of industries (food industries included) on the environment (release of gases and green house effect and the effect of cultivating genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on the environment. EU voted three communications [ COM(2002)524 , COM(2003)301 , COM(2004)38 ] in an attempt to set an action plan based on technologies to manage pollution, by promoting less polluting and less resource‐intensive products and services and ways to manage resources more efficiently. As such environment‐friendly technologies pervade practically all economic activities and sectors it is anticipated that they will reduce effectively energy and resource consumption thereby creating fewer emissions and less waste. As regards the cultivation and/or importing of GMOs, EU legislation was based on two directives ( E.U. 90/219/EEC, E.U. 2001/18/EC) and four regulations [ Regulation (EC) No. 258/97 , Regulation (EC) No. 1830/2003 , Regulation (EC) No. 1830/2003 and Regulation (EC) No. 1946/2003 ]. The directives aimed at adopting measures for limited use of GM micro‐organisms, making the procedure for granting consent to the deliberate release and placing on the market of GMOs more efficient and more transparent, making GMO labelling compulsory and thereby enhancing GMOs traceability along the entire food chain.