Adoption of recommended quality control practices by fish processing factories

Responses to mailed questionnaires from 31 fish processing factories revealed that for 55 recommended practices in quality control, the percentage of adopters varied from 21.43 to 100.The adoption index was not correlated to any of five variables studied. The mean adoption index did not differ significantly between five other criteria related to fish processing. Rate of rejection or reprocessing at the factory itself was highly correlated with the amount of water used per tonne of processed material

Synthesis, luminescence properties and EPR investigation of hydrothermally derived uniform ZnO hexagonal rods

One-dimensional (1D) zinc oxide (ZnO) hexagonal rods have been successfully synthesized by surfactant free hydrothermal process at different temperatures. It can be found that the reaction temperature play a crucial role in the formation of ZnO uniform hexagonal rods. The possible formation processes of 1-D ZnO hexagonal rods were investigated. The zinc hydroxide acts as the morphology-formative intermediate for the formation of ZnO nanorods. Upon excitation at 325 nm, the sample prepared at 180 °C show several emission bands at 400 nm (∼3.10 eV), 420 nm (∼2.95 eV), 482 nm (∼2.57 eV) and 524 nm (∼2.36 eV) corresponding to different kind of defects. TL studies were carried out by pre-irradiating samples with γ-rays ranging from 1 to 7 kGy at room temperature. A well resolved glow peak at ∼354 °C was recorded which can be ascribed to deep traps. Furthermore, the defects associated with surface states in ZnO nano-structures are characterized by electron paramagnetic resonance

Molecular Networks and Macromolecular Molar Mass Distributions for Preliminary Characterization of Danish Craft Beers

Beer is one of the most widely consumed beverages containing up to 200,000 unique small molecules and a largely uncharacterized macromolecular and particulate space. The chemical profiling of beer is difficult due to its complex nature. To address this issue, we have used various state-of-the-art methods to determine the physicochemical characteristics of beer. Specifically, we have successfully generated an LC-MS-based molecular network with minimal sample preparation to profile indoles in beer and confirmed their presence using 1H-NMR. In addition, we have identified different macromolecular signatures in beer of different colors by utilizing AF4-MALS. These preliminary findings lay the foundation for further research on the physicochemical nature of beer

Luminescence studies and EPR investigation of solution combustion derived Eu doped ZnO

ZnO:Eu (0.1 mol) nanopowders have been synthesized by auto ignition based low temperature solution combustion method. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) patterns confirm the nanosized particles which exhibit hexagonal wurtzite structure. The crystallite size estimated from Scherrer's formula was found to be in the range 35-39 nm. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies reveal particles are agglomerated with quasi-hexagonal morphology. A blue shift of absorption edge with increase in band gap is observed for Eu doped ZnO samples. Upon 254 nm excitation, ZnO:Eu nanopowders show peaks in regions blue (420-484 nm), green (528 nm) and red (600 nm) which corresponds to both Eu2+ and Eu3+ ions. The electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrum exhibits a broad resonance signal at g = 4.195 which is attributed to Eu2+ ions. Further, EPR and thermoluminescence (TL) studies reveal presence of native defects in this phosphor. Using TL glow peaks the trap parameters have been evaluated and discussed. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

History of spinal neurosurgery and spine societies

Historically, spine and spinal cord surgery have been an integral part of neurosurgery. It was always a part of the neurosurgery education and practically a significant part of neurosurgeons’ daily work. However, spine societies have mostly been pioneered by orthopedic spine surgeons. It’s only in the last 4 decades that neurosurgeons are also forming spine societies. The term “Neurospine” becomes more popular and used by many authors, institutions during the last decades, although it is not widely used in North America. There are specific reasons for its popularity: (1) It is like a combination of neurosurgery and spine surgery. Neurosurgeons widely prefer to use it. (2) It has a sense inside to remind patients that the spine is with neurological structures. “Neurospine Surgery” is also used in the sense of a combination of “neuroscience” and “spine”. There are at least 2 journals with this theme, i.e., “Neurospine” and “Journal of Neurosurgery Spine.” [1] In this paper, a brief history of spine surgery and spine-related societies is discussed. We aimed to create a global summary of neuro spine with spinal neurosurgeons’ perspectives from other parts of the world and comment on the world's current condition

An international effort towards developing standards for best practices in analysis, interpretation and reporting of clinical genome sequencing results in the CLARITY Challenge

There is tremendous potential for genome sequencing to improve clinical diagnosis and care once it becomes routinely accessible, but this will require formalizing research methods into clinical best practices in the areas of sequence data generation, analysis, interpretation and reporting. The CLARITY Challenge was designed to spur convergence in methods for diagnosing genetic disease starting from clinical case history and genome sequencing data. DNA samples were obtained from three families with heritable genetic disorders and genomic sequence data were donated by sequencing platform vendors. The challenge was to analyze and interpret these data with the goals of identifying disease-causing variants and reporting the findings in a clinically useful format. Participating contestant groups were solicited broadly, and an independent panel of judges evaluated their performance. RESULTS: A total of 30 international groups were engaged. The entries reveal a general convergence of practices on most elements of the analysis and interpretation process. However, even given this commonality of approach, only two groups identified the consensus candidate variants in all disease cases, demonstrating a need for consistent fine-tuning of the generally accepted methods. There was greater diversity of the final clinical report content and in the patient consenting process, demonstrating that these areas require additional exploration and standardization. CONCLUSIONS: The CLARITY Challenge provides a comprehensive assessment of current practices for using genome sequencing to diagnose and report genetic diseases. There is remarkable convergence in bioinformatic techniques, but medical interpretation and reporting are areas that require further development by many groups

Microwave and optical properties of monoclinic Bi

Bismuth zinc niobate (Bi2Zn2/3Nb4/3O7) thin films were deposited by PLD on fused silica substrates at different oxygen pressures. The structural, microwave dielectric, optical and Raman characteristics of these thin films were systematically studied for both the as-deposited films and films annealed at 600 °C. The microwave dielectric constant at a frequency of 10 GHz of the annealed m-BZN films varied from 56 to 71, whereas the dielectric loss tangent varied from 1.8 × 10−4 to 3.5 × 10−4 as a function of deposition pressure. The as-deposited films exhibit refractive index in the range of 2.06–2.15 with an optical absorption edge value between 3.59 and 3.67 eV. The observed Raman scattering in m-BZN thin films was slightly shifted toward the higher frequency which reveals that the local lattice disorder changes whereas the structure remains the same monoclinic in thin film as well as in bulk

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Not AvailableThe fruit fly, Carpomyia vesuviana Costa (Tephritidae: Diptera) is an important pest of ber (Ziziphus mauritiana L), leading to significant losses in yield in the hot arid agro-climate of India. Variation in resource input (antixenotics and allelochemicals) to plants trigger bottom-up effects on ber-fruit fly interactions. However, variation in plant extrinsic and intrinsic traits in response to resource availability may modify the bottom-up effects. The objectives of this study were to identify and categorize sources of resistance in ber cultivars to C. vesuviana from the arid region of India. We found that: (i) three cultivars were resistant; 13 cultivars were moderately resistant; 6 cultivars were susceptible and three cultivars were highly susceptible to fruit fly infestation; (ii) the phenol, tannin and flavonoid contents had significant negative correlations with percent fruit infestation. The percent fruit infestation had significant positive correlations with fruit length, pulp: stone ratio and had significant negative correlation with pericarp thickness. Pulp texture and fruit surface were found to be hardy and rough, respectively, in resistant cultivars of ber; and (iii) flavonoid and phenols content explained (89%) of the total variation in fruit fly infestation. Two principal components (PCs) were extracted which explained the cumulative variation of 84.7% in fruit fly infestation. PC1 explained 59.9% of the variation while PC2 explained 24.9% of the variation. Growers can adopt the potential resistant cultivars of ber (Tikadi, Katha and Illaichi cultivars) with minimal financial investment to obtain higher yields. Hence, a benefit of resistance cultivars for yield potential is apparent and resistance cultivars can be used as an important component of sustainable management.Not Availabl

Environmental assessment of coloured fabrics and opportunities for value creation: spin-dyeing versus conventional dyeing of modal fabrics

Textile wet processing such as dyeing adds value to the apparel but has the potential to cause significant environmental and human health impacts. The objective of this study is to compare the environmental impacts of fabrics made of spun-dyed modal with conventionally dyed modal fabrics (for production in Austria, system "cradle-to-factory gate"). The chosen functional unit is one kilogram of black modal knitted fabric. We assessed energy use, GHG emissions, water use and the impact categories covered by CML 2001 method. We found that the cradle to gate production of spun-dyed modal fabric has 50% lower energy use, 60% lower carbon footprint, and requires only 50% of water and has significantly lower (40–60%) environmental impacts compared to conventionally dyed fabric. Sensitivity analysis with liquor ratios and number of washing cycles does not substantially change the above results. Conventional dyeing in China leads to four-fold higher GHG emissions per kg fabric compared to spin-dyeing in Austria. Finally, we described linkages of sustainable innovation with business value creation. We showed that spin-dyeing can significantly reduce costs for value chain actors, helps reducing the environmental footprint of end products, enhances reputation of brands and retailers, and can contribute to mitigating global problems while catering for the rising demand for clothing fuelled by ever growing world population