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Intensified cavitation‐assisted biogas production from sustainable feedstock has been discussed describing the working principles and governing mechanisms for intensification. Various methods of biogas production discussed in the work include activated sludge processes, membrane bioreactor (MBR), and processes involving methanogenic and sulfate‐reducing microorganisms. Design aspects of cavitational reactors (sonochemical and hydrodynamic cavitation) have been presented with detailed understanding into effect of several operational parameters, such as the biomass‐to‐water ratio, operating pressure, treatment duration, operating temperature, power dissipation, and so on. Selection of optimum parameters is crucial to improve the performance and observed intensification from such processes. The possible benefits in terms of applicability to various types of biomass, efficiency, higher yields, and energy‐saving as compared to the conventional production processes have been demonstrated. Overall, cavitation‐assisted techniques are very effective in increasing biogas production and have significant potential for commercial applications, which would result in significant cost savings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioethanol, as a sustainable alternative to the fossil fuels is gaining more attention now a times. To address the growing energy demands and environmental problems, this sustainable practice plays a vital role. Bioethanol is a more reliable source, produced by lignocellulosic biomass which is abundantly available. This review article focuses on the valorization of the LCB to produce Bioethanol by understanding various pathways that can be utilized to produce bioethanol. Many pretreatment methods play an effective role in converting biomass into fermentable sugars that have an implicit effect on bioethanol production. This review highlights the challenges and the environmental problems that need to be overcome to achieve cost production and the meeting energy demands. This greener solution toward mitigating energy resource depletion will lead to a greener and more eco-friendly future for coming generation. This review also addresses the present technological advancements that prove the bioethanol as a most potential source for the eco-friendly energy future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Chinese Journal of Inorganic Analytical Chemistry / Zhongguo Wuji Fenxi Huaxue is the property of Beijing Research Institute of Mining & Metallurgy Technology Group and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This research investigated the effect of kitchen wastewater (KWW) concentrations and pretreatment methods on Chlorella vulgaris biomass production, lipid content and nutrient removal. This study was divided into two separate experiments. The first experiment determined the appropriate dilution rate of KWW for the growth of microalgae, sterilized KWW was varied between 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%(v/v). The result indicated that 50%(v/v) showed the highest nutrient removal by 90.23%, 85.87%, and 80.64% of sCOD, TKN, and TP, respectively. The highest biomass and lipid content were obtained with 50%(v/v) (1.447 g/L, 37.9%). The second experiment was to find an effective physical pretreatment method, which separated the biotic contaminant, non-sterilized KWW was diluted 50%(v/v) and filtered with different mesh size filters (150 μm, 50 μm, and 30 μm) compared with sterilized KWW as a control sample. The result indicated that pretreatment with 50 μm filtration was found highest nutrient removal by 90.51%, 84.74%, and 77.50% of sCOD, TKN, and TP, respectively. The highest biomass and lipid content were obtained with 50 μm filtration (1.496 g/L, 39.4%). Our results support the hypothesis that the optimal dilution and proper filtration of KWW helps create more favorable environment for microalgal growth. The application of microalgae in actual wastewater treatment was the improper amount of nutrients and the presence of biotic contaminant in the non-sterilized wastewater, which is inhibit the microalgae growth. Hence, it is necessary to develop the technique for controlling biotic contamination and appropriately diluting wastewater to enable full-scale microalgae cultivation in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cinnamomum camphora seed kernels (CCSKs) are rich in phytochemicals, especially plant extracts. Phytochemicals play a vital role in therapy due to their strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Extracts from CCSK can be obtained through multiple steps, including pretreatment, extraction and purification, and the purpose of pretreatment is to separate the oil from other substances in CCSKs. However, C. camphora seed kernel extracts (CKEs) were usually considered as by-products and discarded, and their potential bioactive values were underestimated. Additionally, little has been known about the effect of pretreatment on CKE. This study aimed to investigate the effects of pretreatment methods (including the solvent extraction method, cold pressing method, aqueous extraction method and sub-critical fluid extraction method) on the extraction yields, phytochemical profiles, volatile compounds and antioxidant capacities of different CKE samples. The results showed that the CKE samples were rich in phenolic compounds (15.28–20.29%) and alkaloids (24.44–27.41%). The extraction yield, bioactive substances content and in vitro antioxidant capacity of CKE pretreated by the sub-critical fluid extraction method (CKE-SCFE) were better than CKEs obtained by other methods. CKE pretreated by the solvent extraction method (CKE-SE) showed the best lipid emulsion protective capacity. Moreover, the volatile substances composition of the CKE samples was greatly influenced by the pretreatment method. The results provided a fundamental basis for evaluating the quality and nutritional value of CKE and increasing the economic value of by-products derived from CCSK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Chinese Journal of Inorganic Analytical Chemistry / Zhongguo Wuji Fenxi Huaxue is the property of Beijing Research Institute of Mining & Metallurgy Technology Group and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of New Building Materials / Xinxing Jianzhu Cailiao is the property of New Building Materials Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Research of Soil & Water Conservation is the property of Institute of Soil & Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences & Ministry of Water Resources and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rock & Mineral Analysis is the property of Editorial Board of Rock & Mineral Analysis and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Food Safety & Quality is the property of Journal of Food Safety & Quality Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The demand for hygiene products has increased worldwide since the outbreak of global COVID-19. As the hygiene products market is expanding, it is necessary to manage microbial contamination in wet towels and wet wipes. This study evaluated pretreatment methods for microbial recovery from wet towels and wipes and microbial contamination levels in wet towels and wipes with the pretreatment method. Escherichia coli (NCCP14038 and NCCP14039), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC25923 and ATCC29213), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (NCCP10250 and NCCP11229) were inoculated on five fabric materials of wet towels and wet wipes. The recovery rates of the bacteria from wet towels and wet wipes using three pretreatment methods (pummeling, hand shaking, and portion cutting method) were investigated. Using the selected pretreatment method, the contamination levels of E. coli, S. aureus, and P. aeruginosa were evaluated for 238 wet towels and 244 wet wipes, which were collected in April to August, 2019. The presence of toxA and antibiotic resistance of P. aeruginosa isolated from wet towels were evaluated. The overall recovery rates of the pummeling method and hand shaking method were higher than the portion cutting method. Considering the convenience, the pummeling method was used to investigate the microbial contamination in the wet towels and wet wipes. P. aeruginosa was detected in two wet towels at an average of 9.9×10² CFU/towel. E. coli and S. aureus were not detected in both wet towels and wipes. P. aeruginosa isolates showed no resistances to piperacillin, piperacillin-tazobactam, aztreonam, and gentamicin, but had toxA. The results indicate that the pummeling method is the most appropriate pretreatment method for the recovery of microorganisms, and microbial analysis showed that this method could be useful in monitoring microbial contamination in wet towels and wet wipes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utilization of recycled aggregate can avert the squandering of resources and the destruction of the environment. Nevertheless, there exists a slew of old cement mortar and microcracks on the surface of recycled aggregate, which give rise to the poor performance of aggregates in concrete. In this study, for the sake of ameliorating this property of recycled aggregates, the surface of the recycled aggregates is covered with a layer of cement mortar to compensate for the microcracks on the surface and reinforce the bond between old cement mortar and aggregates. In order to demonstrate the influence of recycled aggregate by different cement mortar pretreatment methods, this study prepared natural aggregate concrete (NAC) and concretes with recycled aggregate after the wetting pretreatment (RAC-W) and cement mortar pretreatment (RAC-C), and conducted uniaxial compressive strength tests on different types of concrete at different curing ages. The test results indicated that the compressive strength of RAC-C at a 7 d curing age was higher than that of RAC-W and NAC, and the compressive strength of RAC-C at a 28 d curing age was higher than RAC-W but lower than NAC. The compressive strength of NAC and RAC-W at a 7 d curing age was about 70% of that at a 28 d curing age, and the compressive strength of RAC-C at a 7 d curing age was about 85–90% of that at a 28 d curing age. The compressive strength of RAC-C increased dramatically at the early stage, while the post-strength of the NAC and RAC-W groups increased rapidly. The fracture surface of RAC-W mainly occurred in the transition zone between the recycled aggregates and old cement mortar under the pressure of the uniaxial compressive load. However, the main failure of RAC-C was the crushing destruction of cement mortar. With changes in the amount of cement added beforehand, the proportion of aggregate damage and A-P interface damage of RAC-C also changed accordingly. Therefore, the recycled aggregate pretreated with cement mortar can significantly improve the compressive strength of recycled aggregate concrete. The optimal amount of pre-added cement was 25%, which is recommended for practical engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three pretreatment methods, including direct extraction method, neutral alumina column method and molecular imprinted column method, were established for the determination of benzo (a) pyrene in vegetable oil by high performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detector. The results showed that the linear relationship between the concentration of benzo (a) pyrene standard curve and the corresponding hromatographic peak area was good, and the correlation coefficient was 0.9993, when the concentration was in the range of 0.5~50 ng/mL. The blank vegetable oil was used as the matrix to carry out the spike recovery experiment. When the addition levels of benzo (a) pyrene were 2, 15 and 25 μg/kg, the average recoveries of direct extraction method, molecular imprinted column method and neutral alumina column method were 98.8%~102.8% and 91.1%~101.0% and 91.8%~113.7%, respectively, and the relative standard deviations (RSD) were 0.8%~2.0%, 2.3%~7.3% and 1.9%~8.8%, respectively. The direct extraction method has the advantages of simple pretreatment, good precision, high accuracy and sensitivity, and low cost, and is suitable for the detection of benzo (a) pyrene in vegetable oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "Dangshan" pear woolliness response is a physiological disease that mostly occurs in the pear growth process. The appearance of the disease is not obvious, and it is difficult to detect with the naked eye. Therefore, finding a way to quickly and nondestructively identify "Dangshan" pear woolliness disease is of great significance. In this paper, the near-infrared spectral (NIR) data of "Dangshan" pear samples were collected at 900–1700 nm reflectance spectra using a handheld miniature NIR spectrometer, and the data were modelled and analysed using random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM) and boosting algorithms under the processing of 24 pretreatment methods. Considering the variations between different pretreatment methods, this work determined the relative optimality index of different pretreatment methods by evaluating their effects on model accuracy and Kappa and selected the best-performing first derivative with standard normal variate and Savitzky–Golay and first derivative with multiplicative scatter correction and Savitzky–Golay as the best pretreatment methods. With the best pretreatment method, all five models in the three categories showed good accuracy and stability after parameter debugging, with accuracy and F1 greater than 0.8 and Kappa floating at approximately 0.7, reflecting the good classification ability of the models and proving that near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in the rapid identification of "Dangshan" pear woolliness response disease was feasible. By comparing the performance differences of the models before and after the pretreatment methods, it was found that the ensemble-learning models such as RF and boosting were more stringent on pretreatment methods in identifying "Dangshan" pear woolliness response disease than support vector machines, and the performance of the ensemble learning models was significantly improved under appropriate pretreatment methods. This experiment provided a relatively stable detection method for "Dangshan" pear woolliness response disease under nonideal detection conditions by analysing the impact of pretreatment methods and models on the prediction result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lignocellulosic biomass is a source of carbohydrates that can be used in the production of biogas. The aim of this study was to obtain biogas from biomass waste (leaves, stems and seed bagasse) of Ricinus communis, applying pretreatments such as temperature and humidity. We examined the effect of these pretreatments on the biomass, two enzymatic pretreatments (cellulase and cellobiohydrolase), two chemicals (NaOH and HCl) and two controls (dried castor straw and seed bagasse) on the methane content. The experiment was performed in two anaerobic digestion (AD) assays at a controlled temperature (37 °C) and at room temperature, with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 55 days. The results showed that the residues of the seed bagasse produced the highest biogas yields both at room temperature and at the controlled temperature since this material at 37 °C produced 460.63 mL gVS−1 under cellulase pretreatment; at room temperature, the highest level of production was found for the control (263.41 mL gVS−1). The lowest yields at the controlled temperature and room temperature were obtained from residues of Ricinus communis treated with cellobiohydrolase and the seed bagasse treated with alkaline (15.15 mL gVS−1 and 78.51 mL gVS−1, respectively). Meanwhile, the greatest amount of methane was produced by seed bagasse treated with cellobiohydrolase at a controlled temperature (92.2% CH4) and the lowest content of CH4 (15.5%) was obtained at a controlled temperature from castor straw under the control treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blending biodegradable polymers with plant materials is an effective method to improve the biodegradability of solid carbon sources and save denitrification costs, but the recalcitrant lignin in plant materials hinders the microbial decomposition of available carbon sources. In the present study, corncob pretreated by different methods was used to prepare polybutylene succinate/corncob (PBS/corncob) composites for biological denitrification. The PBS/corncob composite with alkaline pretreatment achieved the optimal NO3−-N removal rate (0.13 kg NO3−-N m−3 day−1) with less adverse effects. The pretreatment degree, temperature, and their interaction distinctly impacted the nitrogen removal performance and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) release, while the N2O emission was mainly affected by the temperature and the interaction of temperature and pretreatment degree. Microbial community analysis showed that the bacterial community was responsible for both denitrification and lignocellulose degradation, while the fungal community was primarily in charge of lignocellulose degradation. The outcomes of this study provide an effective strategy for improving the denitrification performance of composite carbon sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple, rapid, sensitive, accurate, and automatic graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) method for detecting Cd and Pb in cereals is presented. This method enables the simultaneous determination of Cd and Pb in cereals with a pre-treatment method of diluted acid extraction and a high-performance lead–cadmium composite hollow-cathode lamp (LCC-HCL), and it realizes automatic determination from sample weighing to result output through an automatic diluted acid extraction system. Under the optimization, Pb and Cd in cereals were simultaneously and automatically detected in up to 240 measurements in 8 h. The LOD and LOQ of this method were 0.012 and 0.040 mg·kg−1 for Pb, and 0.0014 and 0.0047 mg·kg−1 for Cd, respectively. The results of the four certified reference materials were satisfied; there was no significant difference compared with the ICP-MS method according to a t-test, and the RSDs were less than 5% for Cd and Pb. The recoveries of naturally contaminated samples compared with the ICP-MS method were favorable, with 80–110% in eight laboratories. The developed method is rapid, low-cost, and highly automated and may be a good choice for grain quality discrimination and rapid analysis of Cd and Pb in different institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, a new high‐strength all‐lightweight self‐compacting concrete (HALSCC) was developed with a density less than 1760 kg/m3 and a compressive strength of more than 40 MPa. The effects of different parameters were investigated: pretreatment methods, binders, type of aggregates, and hybrid steel fibers on the properties of HALSCC. The experimental investigation evaluated the properties of fresh, mechanical, and microstructure of several concrete mixtures that incorporate low‐C3A cement, silica fume, metakaolin, and hybrid steel fibers. The results show that HALSCC can be developed. The binder pretreatment method could improve the compressive strength by 14.1% compared with the water pretreatment method through the strengthening of Zone 1 and Zone 2 of interfacial transition zone. Also, the mixes incorporating stalite could improve the compressive strength by 40.8% and 106% compared to the mixes with scoria and leca respectively. Hybrid length steel fibers could increase the mechanical properties when compared to a single type of fiber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Shipin Kexue/ Food Science is the property of Food Science Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Plastics Science & Technology / Suliao Ke-Ji is the property of Plastics Science & Technology Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A rapid colloidal gold immunochromatography assay (GICA) for the detection of pefloxacin (PEF) was established and optimized. The anti-PEF monoclonal antibody (mAb) was used to target PEF as a colloidal gold-mAb conjugate. The mAb belonged to the IgG2b subtype, lambda light chain, the affinity constant (Ka) was 5.21 × 109 L·mol−1, and its half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) was 0.23 ng·mL−1. No obvious cross-reactivity (CR) was observed with other common fluoroquinolone antibiotics, including ciprofloxacin (CIP), norfloxacin (NOR), lomefloxacin (LOM) and ofloxacin (OFL). The visual limit of detection (vLOD) of the optimized GICA was 2 ng·g−1 under the conventional pretreatment method, and the assay was completed in 15 min. Liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) was employed to confirm the performance of the strip. In addition, a novel pretreatment was established and compared with conventional pretreatment. Without the removal of organic solvents, the novel pretreatment method reduced the sample pretreatment time (more than 10 min). The vLOD of the optimized GICA was also 2 ng·g−1 when applying the novel pretreatment method. In conclusion, the proposed PEF-GICA could detect samples containing PEF rapidly and accurately, and the novel pretreatment method saved the time of sample pretreatment and improved the efficiency of detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of South-Central Minzu University (Natural Science Edition) is the property of Journal of South-Central Minzu University (Natural Science Edition) Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A pretreatment method for detecting the available (water-soluble) tetracycline (TC) contents in soils was developed using a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) synthesized with TC as the template. The infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and TC sorption isotherms revealed a specific TC binding with the synthesized MIP in water. Upon extraction and concentration from water by the MIP, the target TC could be directly analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The parameters for the pretreatment method were optimized with TC-spiked water and soils, with observed TC recoveries from water and soils equal to 74.7 ± 4.6% to 95.5 ± 6.5% (n = 3) and 48.1 ± 3.3% to 72.1 ± 2.7% (n = 3), respectively. The detected available TC contents in three test soil samples were in the range of 2.3 ± 0.1 to 3.0 ± 0.1 μg/kg (n = 3), only13.8%-39.4% of the TC contents detected by the conventional solvent-extraction method coupled with a solid-phase extraction (SPE) technique. The observed TC distribution in a vertical soil profile indicated that the proposed method for available antibiotic content coupled with the total extracted antibiotic content via the conventional (organic-solvent) extraction can be utilized to evaluate the available TC level and its mobility in contaminated soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we present a preliminary investigation of the characteristic changes in microplastic during the production process of sea salt in China. Five representative samples, including seawater, saturated brine, crude salt, coarse salt, and refined salt were successively collected from the production process of sea salt sourced from the Bohai Sea in China. The pretreatment method of microplastics was optimised and evaluated by the recovery rates of particle references. Microplastic characteristics in the five samples were investigated using consistent pretreatment, microscopic, and spectroscopic analyses. Results indicated that microplastics were present in every stage of sea salt production. During the "journey" of microplastics in salt production from seawater-to-seawater evaporation, to salt crystallisation, and external force processing, the abundance of microplastics with size ranging from 18 μm to 4936 μm increased substantially from 23 ± 8 to 413 ± 61 particles kg−1, while the proportion of larger microplastics (≥1000 μm) decreased from 33% to 9%. The results illustrate the effect of the production process on microplastic contamination of sea salt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of China Brewing is the property of China Brewing Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Food Safety & Quality is the property of Journal of Food Safety & Quality Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Food Safety & Quality is the property of Journal of Food Safety & Quality Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Food Safety & Quality is the property of Journal of Food Safety & Quality Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective To compare the effects of dry ashing and wet digestion on the determination of residual aluminum in vermicelli. Methods Samples were treated by 2 pretreatment methods and analyzed by national standard method. Ultraviolet spectrophotometer was used to determine the content of standard-added samples and quality control samples. The recoveries and reproducibility of pretreatment methods were compared. Results The recovery and reproducibility of dry ashing method were obviously higher than those of wet digestion method. The recoveries of dry ashing method were ranged from 99.3% to 110.5%. The average recovery was 104.3%. The recoveries of wet digestion method were ranged from 70.2% to 83.0%. The average recovery was77.6%. The RSD for reproducibility of dry ashing method was 9.3% and the wet digestion method was 14.9%. Conclusion The pretreatment method of dry ashing is easy, fast, maneuverable and less harm to the environment and the experimenter, which is more suitable for batch inspection of vermicelli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel extraction method was established to determine the water-extractable (available) content of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in soil. The SMX imprinted polymers (MIPs) were synthesised and the performance was evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and binding experiments. Results showed that the MIPs exhibited good selectivity for SMX, so the MIPs were applied as a sorbent. SMX in soil was extracted by water, sorbed from the extract to MIPs and analysed with a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) after its desorption from MIPs. Meanwhile, the classic organic solvent extraction was employed to measure the total SMX content in soil. Results showed that when SMX level in spiked soils varying from 1.0-500 μg kg−1, the observed recoveries of available SMX contents ranged from 63.27 ± 3.11% to 82.11 ± 2.77% (n = 3), while the total SMX varied between 89.59 ± 1.65% and 97.64 ± 3.92% (n = 3). The detection limit of the developed method for SMX in soils was 0.05 μg kg−1. Available SMX contents in five field soil samples ranged from 0.13 to 4.14 μg kg−1, which were only 0.35-25.40% of the respective total SMX contents. Results from this study manifest the importance of the extents of SMX immobilisation with different soils for assessing SMX's ecological and human health risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Norepinephrine (NE) is a kind of catecholamine neurotransmitter that participates significant function in living organism. Rapid and sensitive detection target in complex system is crucial in analytical science. A facile ferric citrate (CA‐Fe (III)) sensor was designed successfully for sensitive detection of NE by surface‐enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopy (SERRS) method. This CA‐Fe (III) sensor was prepared by modifying Fe (III) on the surface of uniform Au nanoparticles (NPs) wrapped with citrate (CA) stabilizer. The implementation of NE selective detection is attributed to significant enhancement provided by Au NPs and additional enhancement provided by ligand‐to‐metal charge transfer between chromophore and analyte. In addition, a universal CH3OH, HCl, and petroleum ether added in sequence pretreatment method was developed and applied to purify and enrich the target in practical biological sample, realizing selective detection of NE in biofluids. This novel sensor combined with SERRS and pretreatment strategy not only amplifies the Raman signal of NE but also paves the way for pretreating sample in complex system. The facile sensor of ferric citrate (CA‐Fe (III)) was successfully prepared and employed to realize sensitive detection of norepinephrine (NE) in biofluids by the surface‐enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopy (SERRS) method. This SERRS strategy not only amplifies the Raman signal of NE but also paves the way for pretreating sample in complex system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Agricultural Science & Technology (1008-0864) is the property of Journal of Agricultural Science & Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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Copyright of Journal of Food Safety & Quality is the property of Journal of Food Safety & Quality Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Food Safety & Quality is the property of Journal of Food Safety & Quality Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Food Safety & Quality is the property of Journal of Food Safety & Quality Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The potential of wheat straw for ethanol production after pretreatment with O generated in a plasma at atmospheric pressure and room temperature followed by fermentation was investigated. We found that cellulose and hemicellulose remained unaltered after ozonisation and a subsequent washing step, while lignin was degraded up to 95% by O. The loss of biomass after washing could be explained by the amount of lignin degraded. The washing water of pretreated samples (0-7 h) was analyzed for potential fermentation inhibitors. Approximately 30 lignin degradation products and a number of simple carboxylic acids and phenolic compounds were found, e.g., vanillic acid, acetic acid, and formic acid. Some components had the highest concentration at the beginning of the ozonisation process (0.5, 1 h), e.g., 4-hydroxybenzladehyde, while the concentration of others increased during the entire pretreatment (0-7 h), e.g., oxalic acid and acetovanillon. Interestingly, washing had no effect on the ethanol production with pretreatment times up to 1 h. Washing improved the glucose availability with pretreatment times of more than 2 h. One hour of ozonisation was found to be optimal for the use of washed and unwashed wheat straw for ethanol production (maximum ethanol yield, 52%). O cost estimations were made for the production of ethanol at standard conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

O generated in a plasma at atmospheric pressure and room temperature, fed with dried air (or oxygen-enriched dried air), has been used for the degradation of lignin in wheat straw to optimize the enzymatic hydrolysis and to get more fermentable sugars. A fixed bed reactor was used combined with a CO detector and an online technique for O measurement in the fed and exhaust gas allowing continuous measurement of the consumption of O. This rendered it possible for us to determine the progress of the pretreatment in real time (online analysis). The process time can be adjusted to produce wheat straw with desired lignin content because of the online analysis. The O consumption of wheat straw and its polymeric components, i.e., cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, as well as a mixture of these, dry as well as with 50% water, were studied. Furthermore, the process parameters dry matter content and milled particle size (the extent to which the wheat straw was milled) were investigated and optimized. The developed methodology offered the advantage of a simple and relatively fast (0.5-2 h) pretreatment allowing a dry matter concentration of 45-60%. FTIR measurements did not suggest any structural effects on cellulose and hemicellulose by the O treatment. The cost and the energy consumption for lignin degradation of 100 g of wheat straw were calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exhaustive extraction of analytes in their original chemical forms from samples with complex matrices is a pivotal step for speciation analysis. Herein we propose a pretreatment method for extracting and preconcentrating methylmercury and ethylmercury from coal samples by using KBr–H2SO4/CuSO4–C6H5CH3–Na2S2O3 system. The extraction conditions, including the volume of the organic phase and the extraction time, were optimized in detail. Speciation analysis of alkylmercuries was carried out by high‐performance liquid chromatography online coupled with UV‐digestion and cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry. The detection limits were 0.6 ng mL-1 for methylmercury and 1 ng mL-1 for ethylmercury, respectively. The recoveries of methylmercury and ethylmercury spiked in a sample were 84% and 82%, respectively. The method was applied successfully to analysis of alkylmercuries in four coal samples collected from northeast China.The authors were invited to contribute this paper to a special issue of the journal entitled “Spectroscopy and Automation”. This special issue was organized by Miguel de la Guardia, Professor of Analytical Chemistry at Valencia University, Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increase in demand, artificially planting Chinese medicinal materials (CHMs) has also increased, and the ensuing pesticide residue problems have attracted more and more attention. An optimized quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe (QuEChERS) method with multi-walled carbon nanotubes as dispersive solid-phase extraction sorbents coupled with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was first proposed for the detection of deltamethrin in complex matrix Corydalis yanhusuo. Our results demonstrate that using the optimized QuEChERS method could effectively extract the analyte and reduce background interference from Corydalis. Facile synthesized gold nanoparticles with a large diameter of 75 nm had a strong SERS enhancement for deltamethrin determination. The best prediction model was established with partial least squares regression of the SERS spectra ranges of 545~573 cm−1 and 987~1011 cm−1 with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.9306, a detection limit of 0.484 mg/L and a residual predictive deviation of 3.046. In summary, this article provides a new rapid and effective method for the detection of pesticide residues in CHMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]