Hyperspectral chemical imaging reveals spatially varied degradation of polycarbonate urethane (PCU) biomaterials.

Unlabelled: Hyperspectral chemical imaging (HCI) is an emerging technique which combines spectroscopy with imaging. Unlike traditional point spectroscopy, which is used in the majority of polymer biomaterial degradation studies, HCI enables the acquisition of spatially localised spectra across the surface of a material in an objective manner. Here, we demonstrate that attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infra-red (ATR-FTIR) HCI reveals spatial variation in the degradation of implantable polycarbonate urethane (PCU) biomaterials.

Assessment of infant formula quality and composition using Vis-NIR, MIR and Raman process analytical technologies.

In this study, visible and near-infrared (Vis-NIR), mid-infrared (MIR) and Raman process analytical technologies were investigated for assessment of infant formula quality and compositional parameters namely preheat temperature, storage temperature, storage time, fluorescence of advanced Maillard products and soluble tryptophan (FAST) index, soluble protein, fat and surface free fat (SFF) content. PLS-DA models developed using spectral data with appropriate data pre-treatment and significant variables selected using Martens' uncertainty test had good accuracy for the discrimination of preheat temperature (92.3-100%) and storage temperature (91.

Measuring Nanoparticle Attachment Efficiency in Complex Systems.

As process-based environmental fate and transport models for engineered nanoparticles are developed, there is a need for relevant and reliable measures of nanoparticle behavior. The affinity of nanoparticles for various surfaces (α) is one such measure. Measurements of the affinity of nanoparticles obtained by flowing particles through a porous medium are constrained by the types of materials or exposure scenarios that can be configured into such column studies.

Bridging environmental and financial cost of dairy production: A case study of Irish agricultural policy.

The Irish agricultural policy 'Food Harvest 2020' is a roadmap for sectoral expansion and Irish dairy farming is expected to intensify, which could influence the environmental and economic performance of Irish milk production. Evaluating the total environmental impacts and the real cost of Irish milk production is a key step towards understanding the possibility of sustainable production. This paper addresses two main issues: aggregation of environmental impacts of Irish milk production by monetization, to understand the real cost of Irish milk production, including the environmental costs; and the effect of the agricultural policy 'Food Harvest 2020' on total cost (combining financial cost and environmental cost) of Irish milk production.

Annexin-enriched osteoblast-derived vesicles act as an extracellular site of mineral nucleation within developing stem cell cultures.

The application of extracellular vesicles (EVs) as natural delivery vehicles capable of enhancing tissue regeneration could represent an exciting new phase in medicine. We sought to define the capacity of EVs derived from mineralising osteoblasts (MO-EVs) to induce mineralisation in mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) cultures and delineate the underlying biochemical mechanisms involved. Strikingly, we show that the addition of MO-EVs to MSC cultures significantly (P < 0.

Evaluation of allocation methods for calculation of carbon footprint of grass-based dairy production.

A major methodological issue for life cycle assessment, commonly used to quantify greenhouse gas emissions from livestock systems, is allocation from multifunctional processes. When a process produces more than one output, the environmental burden has to be assigned between the outputs, such as milk and meat from a dairy cow. In the absence of an objective function for choosing an allocation method, a decision must be made considering a range of factors, one of which is the availability and quality of necessary data.

Detecting peatland drains with Object Based Image Analysis and Geoeye-1 imagery.

Background: Peatlands play an important role in the global carbon cycle. They provide important ecosystem services including carbon sequestration and storage. Drainage disturbs peatland ecosystem services.

Development and Application of a Probabilistic Risk-Benefit Assessment Model for Infant Feeding Integrating Microbiological, Nutritional, and Chemical Components.

A probabilistic and interdisciplinary risk-benefit assessment (RBA) model integrating microbiological, nutritional, and chemical components was developed for infant milk, with the objective of predicting the health impact of different scenarios of consumption. Infant feeding is a particular concern of interest in RBA as breast milk and powder infant formula have both been associated with risks and benefits related to chemicals, bacteria, and nutrients, hence the model considers these three facets. Cronobacter sakazakii, dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCB), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were three risk/benefit factors selected as key issues in microbiology, chemistry, and nutrition, respectively.

International evolution of fat, oil and grease (FOG) waste management - A review.

In recent years, issues relating to fat, oil and grease (FOG) in sewer systems have intensified. In the media, sewer blockages caused by FOG waste deposits, commonly referred to as 'fatbergs', are becoming a reminder of the problems that FOG waste can cause when left untreated. These FOG blockages lead to sanitary sewer overflows, property flooding and contamination of water bodies with sewage.

An environmental analysis of options for utilising wasted food and food residue.

The potential environmental impact of wasted food minimisation versus its utilisation in a circular bioeconomy is investigated based on a case study of Ireland. The amount of wasted food and food residue (WFFR) produced in 2010 was used for business-as-usual, (a) and four management options were assessed, (b) minimisation, (c) composting, (d) anaerobic digestion and (e) incineration. The environmental impacts Global Warming Potential (GWP), Acidification Potential (AP) and Eutrophication Potential (EP) were considered.

Multivariate Chemical Image Fusion of Vibrational Spectroscopic Imaging Modalities.

Chemical image fusion refers to the combination of chemical images from different modalities for improved characterisation of a sample. Challenges associated with existing approaches include: difficulties with imaging the same sample area or having identical pixels across microscopic modalities, lack of prior knowledge of sample composition and lack of knowledge regarding correlation between modalities for a given sample. In addition, the multivariate structure of chemical images is often overlooked when fusion is carried out.

Power ultrasound as a pretreatment to convective drying of mulberry (Morus alba L.) leaves: Impact on drying kinetics and selected quality properties.

The effect of ultrasound pretreatment prior to convective drying on drying kinetics and selected quality properties of mulberry leaves was investigated in this study. Ultrasound pretreatment was carried out at 25.2-117.

The effect of lameness on the environmental performance of milk production by rotational grazing.

Dairy production leads to significant environmental impacts and increased production will only be feasible if the environmental performance at farm level permits a sustainable milk supply. Lameness is believed to become more prevalent and severe as herd sizes increase, and can significantly reduce milk output per cow while not influencing other attributes of the production system. The objective of this work was to quantify the effect of lameness on the environmental performance of a typical grazed grass dairy farm and evaluate the theoretical value of sensor-based real-time lameness management.

Public health risks and benefits associated with breast milk and infant formula consumption.

The safety and quality of infant milk, whether it is breast milk (BM) or infant formula (IF), are a major concern for parents and public health authorities. BM is recommended as the gold standard at WHO level. However, nowadays IF appears as an essential alternative in Western countries, challenging producers to optimize nutritional quality and safety of IF.