Breath Analysis via Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy.

Breath analysis is increasingly recognized as a powerful noninvasive diagnostic technique, and a plethora of exhaled volatile biomarkers have been associated with various diseases. However, traditional analytical methodologies are not amenable to high-throughput diagnostic applications at the point of need. An optical spectroscopic technique, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), mostly used in the research setting for liquid sample analysis, has recently been applied to breath-based diagnostics.

Low-cost heat assisted ambient ionization source for mass spectrometry in food and pharmaceutical screening.

Ambient Ionization Mass Spectrometry (AI-MS) techniques have revolutionized analytical chemistry by enabling rapid analysis of samples under atmospheric conditions with minimal to no preparation. In this study, the optimization of a cold atmospheric plasma for the analysis of food and pharmaceutical samples, liquid and solid, using a Heat-Assisted Dielectric Barrier Discharge Ionization (HA-DBDI) source is described. A significant enhancement in analyte signals was observed when a heating element was introduced into the design, potentially allowing for greater sensitivity.

SIGNIFICANCE deep learning based platform to fight illicit trafficking of Cultural Heritage goods.

The illicit traffic of cultural goods remains a persistent global challenge, despite the proliferation of comprehensive legislative frameworks developed to address and prevent cultural property crimes. Online platforms, especially social media and e-commerce, have facilitated illegal trade and pose significant challenges for law enforcement agencies. To address this issue, the European project SIGNIFICANCE was born, with the aim of combating illicit traffic of Cultural Heritage (CH) goods.

Demographic models predict end-Pleistocene arrival and rapid expansion of pre-agropastoralist humans in Cyprus.

The antiquity of human dispersal into Mediterranean islands and ensuing coastal adaptation have remained largely unexplored due to the prevailing assumption that the sea was a barrier to movement and that islands were hostile environments to early hunter-gatherers [J. F. Cherry, T.

Investigation on the source of VOCs emission from indoor construction materials using electronic sensors and TD-GC-MS.

Indoor air quality (IAQ) is critical to the health and wellbeing of people. As the majority of people spend greater amounts of time indoors, either in office spaces or households, the level of air pollutants in such environments is critical. Building materials and furniture are known sources of air pollutants such as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and may be associated with discomfort, detrimental health of the occupants, etc.

Advanced micro-extraction techniques (SPME, HiSorb) for the determination of goat cheese whey wastewater VOCs.

HiSorb and solid-phase microextraction (SPME), two environmentally friendly micro-extraction techniques based on the same fundamental principles, were evaluated for their extraction efficiency of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from goat cheese whey wastewater. For this purpose, a sample preparation method based on the headspace-HiSorb technique was developed and evaluated for its efficiency in terms of the amount of extracted compounds and reproducibility of results. Thermal desorption-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TD-GC/MS) and GC/MS analytical methods were used to perform the wastewater analysis, respectively.

Fecal Microbiota and Associated Volatile Organic Compounds Distinguishing No-Adenoma from High-Risk Colon Adenoma Adults.

Microbiota and the metabolites they produce within the large intestine interact with the host epithelia under the influence of a range of host-derived metabolic, immune, and homeostatic factors. This complex host-microbe interaction affects intestinal tumorigenesis, but established microbial or metabolite profiles predicting colorectal cancer (CRC) risk are missing. Here, we aimed to identify fecal bacteria, volatile organic compounds (VOC), and their associations that distinguish healthy (non-adenoma, NA) from CRC prone (high-risk adenoma, HRA) individuals.

Optimization of Carob Products Preparation for Targeted LC-MS/MS Metabolomics Analysis.

Carob () is an exceptional source of significant bioactive compounds with great economic importance in the Mediterranean region, where it is widely cultivated. Carob fruit is used for the production of a variety of products and commodities such as powder, syrup, coffee, flour, cakes, and beverages. There is growing evidence of the beneficial effects of carob and the products made from it on a range of health problems.

Assessment of volatile emissions by aging books.

Indoor air quality (IAQ) has attracted a lot of attention due to its complexity and direct effect on human health. Indoor settings in libraries entail various volatile organic compounds (VOCs) linked to the aging and degradation of print material. The effect of the storage environment on paper life expectancy was investigated by targeting the VOC emissions of old and new books using headspace solid phase micro extraction-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC/MS) analysis.

Tomato waste biochar in the framework of circular economy.

Tomato pomace was slowly pyrolyzed at 350 and 550 °C (under an N flow of 50 L/h) at a rate of 6 °C/min and a residence time of 1:30 h to produce two biochars named B350 and B550, respectively. In addition, the two biochars were chemically activated with ΚΟΗ (at a ratio of 1:10 w/v) at 800 °C to produce two new materials named BA350 and BA550. The four biochars produced were characterized physically and chemically (pH, yield, calorific value).

HS-SPME-GC/MS Analysis for Revealing Carob's Ripening.

Carob's recognized nutritional and medicinal value next to its unique agriculture importance is associated with an array of social, economic, and cultural activities. The carob fruit is popular for its intense aroma due to the emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The composition of VOCs released from carob fruits changes during ripening, rendering it a non-invasive tool for the determination of the ripening period and freshness of the fruit.

Photovoltaic-driven electrochemical remediation of drilling fluid wastewater with simultaneous hydrogen production.

In this work, we studied the application of photovoltaic solar energy for driving the electrochemical processes of electrocoagulation and electrooxidation to remediate drilling fluid wastewater, and simultaneously harvest energy in the form of electrolytic hydrogen gas produced at the cathode. The electrocoagulation was performed with sacrificial aluminium electrodes and electrooxidation with dimensionally stable boron-doped diamond electrodes in batch-wise and continuously operated mode, and their efficiency in both pollutants removal and hydrogen gas production was elucidated. The parameters affecting the efficiency of the applied electrochemical processes, such as applied current density, pH, electroprocessing time and flow rate, were investigated.

Biogas upgrading to methane and removal of volatile organic compounds in a system of zero-valent iron and anaerobic granular sludge.

The current study presented a novel process of biogas upgrading to biomethane (higher than 97%) based on anaerobic sludge and zero-valent iron (ZVI) system. When ZVI was added into an aquatic system with anaerobic granular sludge (AnGrSl) under anaerobic abiotic conditions, H was generated. Then, the H and CO were converted by the hydrogenotrophic methanogens to CH.

Colon Cancer: From Epidemiology to Prevention.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent cancers affecting humans, with a complex genetic and environmental aetiology. Unlike cancers with known environmental, heritable, or sex-linked causes, sporadic CRC is hard to foresee and has no molecular biomarkers of risk in clinical use. One in twenty CRC cases presents with an established heritable component.

TD-GC/MS analysis of indoor air pollutants (VOCs, PM) in hair salons.

Hairdressing personnel is daily exposed to various chemical air pollutants, and specifically to Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and Particulate Matter (PM) in hair salons. This is of concern, due to the hazardous effects of these chemicals on the individual's health. Nevertheless, a limited exposure assessment of indoor air quality (IAQ) has been performed.

Modelling the Pleistocene colonisation of Eastern Mediterranean islandscapes.

Predictive models have become an integral part of archaeological research, particularly in the discovery of new archaeological sites. In this paper, we apply predictive modeling to map high potential Pleistocene archaeological locales on the island of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean. The model delineates landscape characteristics that denote areas with high potential to unearth Pleistocene archaeology while at the same time highlighting localities that should be excluded.

Development of food-origin biochars for the adsorption of selected volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for environmental matrices.

Four novel fruit-derived biochars were developed: pomegranate peels (PB), prickly pear peels (PPB), carob (CB), and locust bean gum (LBGB). The feedstocks were pyrolyzed at 350 and 550 ℃ (under N), respectively, and characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Elemental Analysis (EA), Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (DRIFTS), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (B.E.

Observing Thermal Conditions of Historic Buildings through Earth Observation Data and Big Data Engine.

This study combines satellite observation, cloud platforms, and geographical information systems (GIS) to investigate at a macro-scale level of observation the thermal conditions of two historic clusters in Cyprus, namely in Limassol and Strovolos municipalities. The two case studies share different environmental and climatic conditions. The former site is coastal, the last a hinterland, and they both contain historic buildings with similar building materials and techniques.

Method validation for the determination of 314 pesticide residues using tandem MS systems (GC-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS) in raisins: Focus on risk exposure assessment and respective processing factors in real samples (a pilot survey).

A multi-residue method for the simultaneous analysis of a wide range of pesticides in raisins using liquid and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS) has been validated. Pesticides are extracted from raisins with ethyl acetate, followed by centrifugation. The validation study was in accordance with DG SANTE guidelines.

Multi-Temporal Change Detection Analysis of Vertical Sprawl over Limassol City Centre and Amathus Archaeological Site in Cyprus during 2015-2020 Using the Sentinel-1 Sensor and the Google Earth Engine Platform.

Urban sprawl can negatively impact the archaeological record of an area. In order to study the urbanisation process and its patterns, satellite images were used in the past to identify land-use changes and detect individual buildings and constructions. However, this approach involves the acquisition of high-resolution satellite images, the cost of which is increases according to the size of the area under study, as well as the time interval of the analysis.

Oil biodesulfurization: A review of applied analytical techniques.

The wide use of fossil fuels and their associated environmental concerns, highlighted the importance of affordable and clean energy (goal 7), as adopted by the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations for 2030. For years now, the detection of sulfur components in liquid fuels is performed mainly for environmental and health purposes in compliance with the respective legislations. Towards this, the aerobic and anaerobic biodesulfurization (BDS) process, which entails the use of microorganisms to limit the sulfur concentration is followed.

WON-OCDMA System Based on MW-ZCC Codes for Applications in Optical Wireless Sensor Networks.

The growing demand for extensive and reliable structural health monitoring resulted in the development of advanced optical sensing systems (OSS) that in conjunction with wireless optical networks (WON) are capable of extending the reach of optical sensing to places where fibre provision is not feasible. To support this effort, the paper proposes a new type of a variable weight code called multiweight zero cross-correlation (MW-ZCC) code for its application in wireless optical networks based optical code division multiple access (WON-OCDMA). The code provides improved quality of service (QoS) and better support for simultaneous transmission of video surveillance, comms and sensor data by reducing the impact of multiple access interference (MAI).

Damage Proxy Map of the Beirut Explosion on 4th of August 2020 as Observed from the Copernicus Sensors.

On the 4th of August 2020, a massive explosion occurred in the harbor area of Beirut, Lebanon, killing more than 100 people and damaging numerous buildings in its proximity. The current article aims to showcase how open access and freely distributed satellite data, such as those of the Copernicus radar and optical sensors, can deliver a damage proxy map of this devastating event. Sentinel-1 radar images acquired just prior (the 24th of July 2020) and after the event (5th of August 2020) were processed and analyzed, indicating areas with significant changes of the VV (vertical transmit, vertical receive) and VH (vertical transmit, horizontal receive) backscattering signal.