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Versatile sensing matrixes are essential for the development of enzyme-immobilized optical biosensors. A novel three-dimensional titanium dioxide nanotubes/alginate hydrogel scaffold is proposed for the detection of sweat biomarkers, lactate, and glucose in artificial sweat. Hydrothermally synthesized titanium dioxide nanotubes were introduced to the alginate polymeric matrix, followed by cross-linking nanocomposite with dicationic calcium ions to fabricate the scaffold platform. Rapid colorimetric detection (blue color optical signal) was carried out for both lactate and glucose biomarkers in artificial sweat at 4 and 6 min, respectively. The superhydrophilicity and the capillarity of the synthesized titanium dioxide nanotubes, when incorporated into the alginate matrix, facilitate the rapid transfer of the artificial sweat components throughout the sensor scaffold, decreasing the detection times. Moreover, the scaffold was integrated on a cellulose paper to demonstrate the adaptability of the material to other matrixes, obtaining fast and homogeneous colorimetric detection of lactate and glucose in the paper substrate when image analysis was performed. The properties of this new composite provide new avenues in the development of paper-based sensor devices. The biocompatibility, the efficient immobilization of biological enzymes/colorimetric assays, and the quick optical signal readout behavior of the titanium dioxide nanotubes/alginate hydrogel scaffolds provide a prospective opportunity for integration into wearable devices. The authors acknowledge support from Gobierno de Espana, Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (Grant No. BIO2016-80417-P) (AEI/FEDER, UE), "Ministerio de Ciencia y Educacion de Espana" under grant PID2020-120313GB-I00/AIE/10.13039/501100011033 and the Basque Government (Grant IT1271-19). This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 766007. The authors convey their special thanks to SGIker of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and Dr. Javier G. Inanez for the technical equipment facility support. F.B.-L. and L.B.-D. acknowledge the "Red de Microfluidica Espanola" RED2018102829-T.

After a long-term toxicity study on Bisphenol A (BPA), the European Union and U.S food and drug administration updating the rules regarding the usage of BPA by extending the prohibition of BPA to include in the production of papers, on February 2018. Therefore, it is essential to establish the trace level BPA detectors in paper samples. In this report, the synthesis of novel ZnO nanoclusters wrapped with reduced graphene oxide (ZnO NCs/rGO) and its application towards the selective electrocatalytic detection of BPA are described. Initially, ZnO NCs/rGO is synthesized by the one-step hydrothermal approach, and various characterizations explain the compound's compositions and structure. The significance of ZnO NCs/rGO together with good electrocatalytic properties leads this material to the platform for electrochemical sensor. Finally, ZnO NCs/rGO was fabricated and validated as an effective sensor for the sensitive detection of BPA. The demonstrated sensor revealed excellent detection of BPA with the very low detection limit (2.1 nM), and also it offered good analytical parameters with more extensive linear range and higher sensitivity. Likewise, the sensor annexes good durability, reproducibility, and selectivity towards the determination of BPA. Due to the nourishing capacity of the prepared ZnO NCs/rGO, it is employed for the detection of BPA in tissue paper samples.

A backward computation method has been developed to accelerate modelling of the critical state magnetization current in a staggered-array bulk high-temperature superconducting (HTS) undulator. The key concept is as follows: i) a large magnetization current is first generated on the surface of the HTS bulks after rapid field-cooling (FC) magnetization; ii) the magnetization current then relaxes inwards step-by-step obeying the critical state model; iii) after tens of backward iterations the magnetization current reaches a steady state. The simulation results show excellent agreement with the H-formulation method for both the electromagnetic and electromagnetic-mechanical coupled analyses, but with significantly faster computation speed. Solving the FEA model with 1.8 million degrees of freedom (DOFs), the backward computation method takes less than 1.4 hours, an order of magnitude or higher faster than other state-of-the-art numerical methods. Finally, the models are used to investigate the influence of the mechanical stress on the distribution of the critical state magnetization current and the undulator field along the central axis., 12 pages, 7 figures

Waste management issues are prevalent in many parts of the world. Member states of the European Union (EU) are expected to follow the guidelines of the Waste Framework Directive set by the EU. The directive includes targets intended to facilitate waste management practices such as recycling and landfilling. Unfortunately, several countries in the Mediterranean regions are failing to meet these targets, one such country being Cyprus. The country is the third largest generator of municipal waste in the EU and majority of the country’s waste (approx. 80%) are landfilled, while just 19% are recycled. Cyprus has failed to meet the target for recycling 50% of the municipal waste by 2020. Much of the problems can be attributed to the fact that the country lacks good infrastructures such as recycling facilities and services for separate processing of recyclables and biodegradables. Cyprus University of Technology,situated in the city of Limassol, is a leading university in country that values environmental protection and sustainability and has won several awards for depicting their commitment towards sustainable development. Owing to their good environmental record, a study was conducted at this university in the form of a waste audit and nudging experiment along with a complimentary questionnaire. Nudging is a concept in behavioural science which proposes positive reinforcement through the form of indirect suggestions as a strategy to influence decisions and behaviours of individuals or groups. Nudging was undertaken through the intervention of an informative sign at the recycle bins. The waste audit was separated into two periods, control (without nudging) and intervention (with nudging). Later, a questionnaire was distributed to students to understand their attitudes and behaviours towards recycling and the nudging experiment. This research is analysed using a mixed method approach whereby data is collected and analysed using both quantitative and qualitative methods. A secondary data analysis was also utilised for recommending possible solutions to improving waste management problems in Cyprus based on recycling initiatives in other countries, particularly from the Mediterranean region. The research found that there has been an increase in the rate of recycling since nudging was introduced. The questionnaire results also implied that there is a general concern among students for recycling and that much more has to be done by the university to help with waste separation and recycling. The secondary analysis of literature also reveals Cyprus has a long way to go, but proper waste management can be achieved through the government’s prioritisation of environmental protection and improvement of waste management infrastructures. Although the findings in this research has been successful, it could have been further investigated if the waste audit period had been extended and more responses were acquired to the questionnaire. Additionally, conducting interviews of certain individuals could have provided more insight into the waste management challenges in the future.

Sewage sludge/biosolids are by-wastes of municipal and industrial wastewater treatment. As sources of nutrients (C, N, P) they are widely used in intensive farming where large supplementation of organic matter to maintain fertility and enhance crop yields is needed. However, according to the report of European Commission published in 2010, only 39% of produced sewage sludge is recycled into agriculture in the European Union. This situation occurs mainly due to the fact, that the sewage sludge may contain a dangerous volume of different contaminants. For over decades, a great deal of attention has been focused on total concentration of few heavy metals and pathogenic bacteria Salmonella and Escherichia coli. The Sewage Sludge Directive (86/278/EEC) regulates the allowable limits of Zn, Cu, Ni, Pb, Cd, Cr and Hg and pathogens and allows for recovery of sludge on land under defined sanitary and environmentally sound conditions. In this paper, a review on quality of sewage sludge based on the publications after 2010 has been presented. Nowadays there are several papers focusing on new serious threats to human health and ecosystem occurring in sewage sludge – both chemicals (such as toxic trace elements – Se, Ag, Ti; nanoparticles; polyaromatic hydrocarbons; polychlorinated biphenyl; perfluorinated surfactants, polycyclic musks, siloxanes, pesticides, phenols, sweeteners, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, benzotriazoles) and biological traits (Legionella, Yersinia, Escherichia coli O157:H7)., Highlights • Sewage sludge contains organic and inorganic contaminants not regulated by law. • Total content of many compounds (heavy metals) is not a reliable indicator of toxicity. • Regular monitoring is crucial to limit a release of toxic substances to ecosystem.

Background Postinjection delirium/sedation syndrome (PDSS) has been reported uncommonly during treatment with olanzapine long-acting injection (LAI), a sustained-release formulation of olanzapine. Aims The primary aim of the study was to estimate the incidence per injection and per patient of PDSS events in adult patients with schizophrenia who were receiving olanzapine LAI in real-world clinical practice. Secondary aims were to further characterise the clinical presentation of PDSS events, to identify potential risk factors associated with PDSS events and to characterise hospitalisations at baseline and post-baseline. Method A prospective observational study of adult patients with schizophrenia receiving olanzapine LAI from 24 countries. Data were collected on patient characteristics, olanzapine LAI treatment and any adverse events (AEs). All AEs were reviewed and adjudicated for PDSS using predetermined criteria. Results There were 46 confirmed PDSS events (0.044% of the 103 505 injections) in 45 patients (1.17% of the 3858 patients). Based on 45 confirmed events with time-to-onset information, 91.1% ( n =41) occurred within 1 h of injection. Time-to-recovery from the event was within 72 h for 95.6% of patients (range 6 h to 11 days). Risk factors for PDSS (per-injection) included high dose (odds ratio (OR) high/low =3.95; P =0.006) and male gender (OR female/male =0.42; P =0.017). Conclusions Results of this study confirm previously reported PDSS rates, time to onset and recovery, and the severity of PDSS events, and suggest that higher doses and male gender are potential risk factors associated with PDSS. Declaration of interest All authors are full-time employees and hold stock/stock options in Eli Lilly, which funded this study. This post-authorisation safety study (PASS) was proposed by Eli Lilly when submitting the original marketing authorisation application for olanzapine LAI in 2007. The protocol and final study report for this European Union regulatory commitment are publicly accessible via the European Network of Centres for Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacovigilance (ENCePP) European Union PASS Register (www.encepp.eu/encepp/viewResource.htm?id=16847). The current manuscript describes the results within the final study report. Copyright and usage © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2017. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license.

BACKGROUND: Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is considered to be a subtype of depression.AIMS: To compare the clinical picture of SAD to non-seasonal affective disorders (non-SADs).METHOD: Diagnoses according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) were established in 2185 participants of the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety. The Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire was administered to diagnose SAD. Symptoms of depression and anxiety were measured with the Inventory of Depressive Symptoms, the Beck Anxiety Inventory and the Fear Questionnaire.RESULTS: Participants with SAD, participants with a lifetime bipolar disorder and participants with a lifetime comorbid anxiety and depressive disorder scored highest in terms of psychopathology in the past year. The seasonal distribution of major depressive episodes was not different for participants with or without SAD.CONCLUSIONS: SAD may be a measure of severity of depression with a subjectively perceived worsening of symptoms in the winter months.DECLARATION OF INTEREST: Y.M. has received research funding and served as a consultant for Royal Philips Electronics NV and The Litebook Company Ltd. W.A.N. has received grants from the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development, the European Union, the Stanley Medical Research Institute, Astra Zeneca, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline and Wyeth; has received honoraria/speaker's fees from Astra Zeneca, Pfizer, Servier and Wyeth; and has served in advisory boards for Astra Zeneca, Pfizer and Servier.COPYRIGHT AND USAGE: © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2017. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license.

Thermal papers (e.g. point of sale receipts, adhesive labels, tickets) significantly contribute to contamination of paper material cycles and the environment with substances of (eco-) toxicological concern. In particular, they contain color developers like endocrine disrupting bisphenols in typical concentrations of about 1–2 percent per weight (wt%). Bisphenol A (BPA) was used as the common color developer over the last decades, but it will be restricted for thermal paper application in the European Union to a limit of 0.02 wt% from 2020 onwards. Consequently, a variety of BPA substituents such as bisphenol S (BPS) and its derivatives gain importance in thermal paper application. In this study, a rapid, reliable and cost-effective method for identification and quantification of BPA, alternative color developers and related substances like sensitizers is presented based on HPLC separation coupled with diode array detection (DAD) and Corona charged aerosol detection (CAD). Quantification was performed with regard to the intended use of the substances in thermal papers. Besides traditional UV external calibration using reference standards, alternative quantification approaches, in particular UV chromophore concentration for BPS derivatives and CAD universal response technique for low-volatile color developers, were applied and compared in order to allow quantification without reference substances. A market analysis for intended used color developers and sensitizers was performed on thermal paper samples (n = 211) collected in Germany during 2018 and 2019. Pergafast 201 (in 41.7% of the samples) was the most common color developer with concentrations above 0.02 wt%, followed by BPA (36.0%), BPS (13.3%) and other BPS derivatives known as D8, D-90, BPS-MAE and TGSA, that are mainly present in adhesive labels. Sensitizers were determined in over 90% of the samples.

Migration of formaldehyde to aqueous extracts from paper and cardboard food packaging materials was determined by an ultraviolet visible-spectrophotometric method at 410 nm. Intraday and interday precision of the method, expressed as coefficient of variation, varied between 1.5 to 4.4% and 7 to 8.8%, respectively. The limit of quantification was 0.28 mg kg(-1) for formaldehyde in aqueous extracts. The recovery of the method was over 90% for two different concentration levels in aqueous extracts. The method was applied to the migration of formaldehyde to aqueous extracts from 31 different paper and cardboard materials collected from the packaging sector, intended for food contact, such as tea filters, hot water filters, paper pouches and folding boxes. The results were between limit of detection 0.23 mg/kg and 40 mg kg(-1) and were evaluated according to the relevant directives.

An ongoing call to implement a circular economy is underway in the European Union, and a specific attention has been placed on the forest industry, which seeks additional recycling routes for its side streams, including biosludge. Biosludge is often dried and incinerated, thus wasting the nitrogen contained therein. This paper describes a study in which the release of nitrogen during thermal drying, the impact of the drying temperatures of 130°C, 180°C, and 210°C on the mass of ammonia released, and the potential for recovery of nitrogen from biosludge were examined. The results indicate that 1310–1730 mg kgTS−1 of nitrogen was released, which corresponded to 56–74% of the soluble nitrogen in biosolids or 4.0–5.3% of the total nitrogen. Of this released nitrogen, 83–85% was identified in condensate and absorbing water, thus indicating a high potential for recovering nitrogen from biosludge.

WOS: 000380137500017 PubMed: 27146949 The aim of this study was the optimisation of a multi-analyte method for the analysis of primary aromatic amines ( PAAs) from napkins in order to support official controls and food safety. We developed a UHPLC- MS/ MS method for the simultaneous determination of 36 toxicologically relevant PAAs for paper and board. Good regression coefficients of the calibration curves in a range of 0.992- 0.999 and reproducibilities in a range of 2.3- 15% were obtained. Limits of detections ( LODs) were in the range of 0.03-1.4 mu g l(-1) and recoveries were in a range of 21-110% for all the amines. A total of 93 coloured paper napkin samples from different European countries were bought and extracted with water to determine the PAAs. The results showed that 42 of 93 samples contained at least one PAA. More than half of the detected PAAs are considered as toxic, carcinogenic or probably carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer ( IARC), or are classified as such in the European Union legislation on chemicals. Summed concentrations of PAAs in seven samples were higher than 10 mu g l(-1), the limit of summed PAA in the European Union plastic food contact material regulation. Also, eight PAAs, classified as Category 1A and 1B carcinogen in the European Union legislation of chemicals, were detected at concentrations higher than 2 mu g l(-1), exceeding the limit proposed by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment in Germany. Aniline ( n = 14) was most frequently present in higher concentrations followed by o-toluidine, o-anisidine, 2,4-dimethylaniline and 4-aminoazobenzene. Red, orange, yellow and multicoloured paper napkins contained the highest concentrations of total PAAs (> 10 mu g l(-1)). Although the European Union has not harmonised the legislation of paper and board materials and, thus, there is no specific migration limit for PAAs from paper napkins, the present study showed that coloured paper napkins can contain toxic and carcinogenic PAAs at concentrations that are relevant for monitoring.

Photoinitiators are widely used to cure ink on packaging materials used in food applications such as cardboards for the packaging of dry foods. Conventional migration testing for long-term storage at ambient temperature with Tenax® was applied to paperboard for the following photoinitiators: benzophenone (BP), 4,4ʹ-bis(diethylamino)benzophenone (DEAB), 2-chloro-9H-thioxanthen-9-one (CTX), 1-chloro-4-propoxy-9H-thioxanthen-9-one (CPTX), 4-(dimethylamino)benzophenone (DMBP), 2-ethylanthraquinone (EA), 2-ethylhexyl-4-dimethylaminobenzoate (EDB), ethyl-4-dimethylaminobenzoate (EDMAB), 4-hydroxybenzophenone (4-HBP), 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone (HMBP), 2-hydroxy-4ʹ-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-2-methylpropiophenone (HMMP), 2-isopropyl-9H-thioxanthen-9-one (ITX), 4-methylbenzophenone (MBP) and Michler’s ketone (MK). Test conditions (10 days at 60°C) were according to Regulation (EU) No. 10/2011 and showed different migration patterns for the different photoinitiators. The results were compared with the migration in cereals after a storage of 6 months at room temperature. The simulation with Tenax at 60°C overestimated actual migration in cereals up to a maximum of 92%. In addition, the effect of a lower contact temperature and the impact of the Tenax pore size were investigated. Analogous simulation performed with rice instead of Tenax resulted in insufficiently low migration rates, showing Tenax is a much stronger adsorbent than rice and cereals.