Environmental assessment of the valorisation and recycling of selected food production side flows

Abstract Residues from the food manufacturing industry require management options with the best overall environmental outcome. The identification of sustainable solutions depends however, on many influencing factors such as energy input, transport distance, and substituted product. This study shows the influence of the choice of substituted products on the overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for three specific food side-flows and their treatment in the European Union: animal blood, apple pomace and brewers' spent grain (BSG). In a direct comparison of possible treatment options, it is notable that the conversion to food ingredients (valorisation) does not always result in reduced environmental net impacts (GHG savings), which means that other options at lower levels of the waste hierarchy might be more beneficial to the environment. The further use of apple pomace or BSG for the production of food ingredients is only advantageous if the processing emissions are smaller than the emissions from the substituted products. The use of food side-flows as animal feed shows environmental advantages in all scenarios, as the use of conventional feed, such as soybean meal or hay, is reduced and so are the GHG emissions. The anaerobic digestion of food side-flows is associated with significant GHG emissions, but alternative energy also display a high GHG factor when based on fossil resources. The measuring of circularity in the food sector is a challenge in itself due to the complexity of renewable materials. This study shall help to understand the interwoven influences of certain parameters to the results

Investigation of the Young's Modulus and the Residual Stress of 4H-SiC Circular Membranes on 4H-SiC Substrates

International audienceThe stress state is a crucial parameter for the design of innovative microelectromechanical systems based on silicon carbide (SiC) material. Hence, mechanical properties of such structures highly depend on the fabrication process. Despite significant progresses in thin-film growth and fabrication process, monitoring the strain of the suspended SiC thin-films is still challenging. However, 3C-SiC membranes on silicon (Si) substrates have been demonstrated, but due to the low quality of the SiC/Si heteroepitaxy, high levels of residual strains were always observed. In order to achieve promising self-standing films with low residual stress, an alternative micromachining technique based on electrochemical etching of high quality homoepitaxy 4H-SiC layers was evaluated. This work is dedicated to the determination of their mechanical properties and more specifically, to the characterization of a 4H-SiC freestanding film with a circular shape. An inverse problem method was implemented, where experimental results obtained from bulge test are fitted with theoretical static load-deflection curves of the stressed membrane. To assess data validity, the dynamic behavior of the membrane was also investigated: Experimentally, by means of laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV) and theoretically, by means of finite element computations. The two methods provided very similar results since one obtained a Young's modulus of 410 GPa and a residual stress value of 41 MPa from bulge test against 400 GPa and 30 MPa for the LDV analysis. The determined Young's modulus is in good agreement with literature values. Moreover, residual stress values demonstrate that the fabrication of low-stressed SiC films is achievable thanks to the micromachining process developed

Unfair Trading Practice Regulation and Voluntary Agreements targeting food waste: A policy assessment in select EU Member States

This report provides a qualitative assessment of Voluntary Agreements (VAs) and Unfair Trading Practices (UTPs) as two typologies of policy interventions having an impact on food loss and waste. To carry out this assessment, two sets of country-based comparative case studies were developed, namely in the UK and Italy for regulations against UTPs, and in the UK and the Netherlands for VAs. The report found that, for both VAs and regulations against UTPs, a preliminary assessment of underlying food supply chain market structure is important to identify the most appropriate policy measures for a specific EU MS (e.g. the size and number of actors at each level of the food supply chain, the level of market concentration and power imbalance among actors, etc.). Specifically concerning UTPs, the following was identified: - Food supply chains are particularly susceptible to UTPs in MS where market power is concentrated within a few large retailers interacting with many suppliers. Perishable products, such as fresh fruits and vegetables supplied direct from primary producers to retailers are particularly at risk due to the time constraints in finding alternate outlets; - It is important to identify solutions for food surplus generated by UTPs (ex: redistributing surplus that results from order cancellations linked to UTPs or ensuring that the \u201cwrongdoer\u201d assumes the responsibility of the food product resulting from the UTPs); - To tackle UTPs, it was found that an effective approach would be the creation of an independent authority to investigate any infringement of good trading practices, (ex: through an industry code of practice, and, if needed, the introduction of sanctions on actors who are found to have not met the standard required by the industry code; - Other recommendations identified include adopting a common EU-level definition of UTPs in relation to grocery supply to avoid unequal treatment of comparable situations across EU, and to allow the judgement of cases based on the principle of equity. Furthermore, indirect and foreign suppliers also need to be protected against UTPs. Specifically concerning VAs the following was identified: - The level and the nature of funding has a significant impact on their lifetime and agendas (a mix of public and private is optimal); - To ensure a VA\u2019s relevance, signatories must benefit from their participating, either financially or in terms of heightened visibility; - VAs should establish ambitious yet realistic targets, achievable by their signatories, and robustness and transparency of data reporting should be forefront to ensure the credibility of the initiatives; - VAs can be implemented alongside compulsory legislation or provide an alternative to it. An advantage of them, compared to legislation, is that they can be designed and adapted relatively quickly depending on political goals related to food waste; - The role of a third party is crucial in managing a VA, notably to facilitate actor accession to it, ensure confidentiality of data, supervise and eventually nudge compliance with the agreement. The report ultimately shows that VAs and UTPs interlinked as VAs can be an effective tool to explore the effects of regulation against UTPs and assess actors\u2019 readiness to avoid market power abuse

Aberrant subcutaneous adipogenesis precedes adult metabolic dysfunction in an ovine model of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects over 10% of women. Insulin resistance, elevated free fatty acids (FFAs) and increased adiposity are key factors contributing to metabolic dysfunction in PCOS. We hypothesised that aberrant adipogenesis during adolescence, and downstream metabolic perturbations, contributes to the metabolic phenotype of adult PCOS. We used prenatally androgenized (PA) sheep as a clinically realistic model of PCOS. During adolescence, but not during fetal or early life of PA sheep, adipogenesis was decreased in subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) accompanied by decreased leptin, adiponectin, and increased FFAs. In adulthood, PA sheep developed adipocyte hypertrophy in SAT paralleled by increased expression of inflammatory markers, elevated FFAs and increased expression of genes linked to fat accumulation in visceral adipose tissue. This study provides better understanding into the pathophysiology of PCOS from puberty to adulthood and identifies opportunity for early clinical intervention to normalise adipogenesis and ameliorate the metabolic phenotype

Systems maps and analytical framework. Mapping food waste drivers across the food supply chain

This report generated 17 systems maps for five contrasting product types that were investigated along their supply chains. The system maps identify: (1) Product specific drivers: drivers specific to the selected food products at a specific stage of the supply chain); (2) Generic drivers: drivers which concern two or more selected products (e.g. labelling errors, limited shelf life etc.); (3) Systemic drivers: drivers that are interlinked with more than one step of the supply chain (e.g. minimum orders, last minute cancellation, lack of data and communication, minimum life on receipt criteria etc.). The cross cutting systemic drivers emphasized supply chain issues, e.g. regarding notably the interactions between the different businesses and unfair trading practices. The systems map approach also shed light on two key factors that impact drivers according to the product specificity: (1) Impacts of food waste drivers highly depend on the level of perishability and microbiological risk of food products. For example, less perishable food products such as frozen and canned products are more likely to be wasted because of product damage, labelling errors and/or equipment breakdown. More perishable and higher risk food products are more likely to be wasted when approaching the \u201cbest before\u201d date or because of supply and demand imbalances and poor information sharing along the supply chain. (2) Lack of communication and cooperation is a central drivers of food waste. The impacts of these are higher in more complex products/supply chains where trouble with one ingredient affects the whole product (e.g. prepared meals). Finally, the systems mapping shed light on drivers which were \u201chiding\u201d behind other drivers. For example, the question of date labelling is a well-known cause of waste for perishable products, but very often there are further drivers behind it (e.g. overstocking in the retail sector)

Exocomets from a Solar System Perspective

Exocomets are small bodies releasing gas and dust which orbit stars other than the Sun. Their existence was first inferred from the detection of variable absorption features in stellar spectra in the late 1980s using spectroscopy. More recently, they have been detected through photometric transits from space, and through far-IR/mm gas emission within debris disks. As (exo)comets are considered to contain the most pristine material accessible in stellar systems, they hold the potential to give us information about early stage formation and evolution conditions of extra Solar Systems. In the Solar System, comets carry the physical and chemical memory of the protoplanetary disk environment where they formed, providing relevant information on processes in the primordial solar nebula. The aim of this paper is to compare essential compositional properties between Solar System comets and exocomets. The paper aims to highlight commonalities and to discuss differences which may aid the communication between the involved research communities and perhaps also avoid misconceptions. Exocomets likely vary in their composition depending on their formation environment like Solar System comets do, and since exocomets are not resolved spatially, they pose a challenge when comparing them to high fidelity observations of Solar System comets. Observations of gas around main sequence stars, spectroscopic observations of "polluted" white dwarf atmospheres and spectroscopic observations of transiting exocomets suggest that exocomets may show compositional similarities with Solar System comets. The recent interstellar visitor 2I/Borisov showed gas, dust and nuclear properties similar to that of Solar System comets. This raises the tantalising prospect that observations of interstellar comets may help bridge the fields of exocomet and Solar System comets.Comment: 25 pages, 3 figures. To be published in PASP. This paper is the product of a workshop at the Lorentz Centre in Leiden, the Netherland

COVID-19 trajectories among 57 million adults in England: a cohort study using electronic health records

BACKGROUND: Updatable estimates of COVID-19 onset, progression, and trajectories underpin pandemic mitigation efforts. To identify and characterise disease trajectories, we aimed to define and validate ten COVID-19 phenotypes from nationwide linked electronic health records (EHR) using an extensible framework. METHODS: In this cohort study, we used eight linked National Health Service (NHS) datasets for people in England alive on Jan 23, 2020. Data on COVID-19 testing, vaccination, primary and secondary care records, and death registrations were collected until Nov 30, 2021. We defined ten COVID-19 phenotypes reflecting clinically relevant stages of disease severity and encompassing five categories: positive SARS-CoV-2 test, primary care diagnosis, hospital admission, ventilation modality (four phenotypes), and death (three phenotypes). We constructed patient trajectories illustrating transition frequency and duration between phenotypes. Analyses were stratified by pandemic waves and vaccination status. FINDINGS: Among 57 032 174 individuals included in the cohort, 13 990 423 COVID-19 events were identified in 7 244 925 individuals, equating to an infection rate of 12·7% during the study period. Of 7 244 925 individuals, 460 737 (6·4%) were admitted to hospital and 158 020 (2·2%) died. Of 460 737 individuals who were admitted to hospital, 48 847 (10·6%) were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), 69 090 (15·0%) received non-invasive ventilation, and 25 928 (5·6%) received invasive ventilation. Among 384 135 patients who were admitted to hospital but did not require ventilation, mortality was higher in wave 1 (23 485 [30·4%] of 77 202 patients) than wave 2 (44 220 [23·1%] of 191 528 patients), but remained unchanged for patients admitted to the ICU. Mortality was highest among patients who received ventilatory support outside of the ICU in wave 1 (2569 [50·7%] of 5063 patients). 15 486 (9·8%) of 158 020 COVID-19-related deaths occurred within 28 days of the first COVID-19 event without a COVID-19 diagnoses on the death certificate. 10 884 (6·9%) of 158 020 deaths were identified exclusively from mortality data with no previous COVID-19 phenotype recorded. We observed longer patient trajectories in wave 2 than wave 1. INTERPRETATION: Our analyses illustrate the wide spectrum of disease trajectories as shown by differences in incidence, survival, and clinical pathways. We have provided a modular analytical framework that can be used to monitor the impact of the pandemic and generate evidence of clinical and policy relevance using multiple EHR sources. FUNDING: British Heart Foundation Data Science Centre, led by Health Data Research UK

Sonde Hybride Bi-Fréquence -Émission cMUT/Réception P(VDF- TrFE)- pour l’Imagerie Harmonique

L’imagerie harmonique est aujourd’hui un standard en pratique clinique. Elle consiste à émettre des ultrasons à une fréquence f<sub>0</sub> et de les recevoir à 2f<sub>0</sub>. De plus, l’utilisation de microbulles (agents de contraste) permet d’obtenir des images échographiques avec un contraste amélioré et l’imagerie super-harmonique d’exploiter en réception des harmoniques jusqu’à 7f<sub>0</sub> pour des applications haute-résolution comme l’angiographie. Dans ce cas, l’écart de fréquence entre l’émission et la réception ne permet plus d’effectuer correctement ces deux fonctions en utilisant un seul et même transducteur. Le choix de combiner deux technologies de sondes ultrasonores pour répondre à cette problématique peut être une solution : le P(VDF-TrFE) est un copolymère piézoélectrique sensible en réception sur une très large gamme de fréquences. Néanmoins, son manque de puissance à l’émission nécessite d’utiliser une autre technologie comme un cMUT. Sa bande passante est moindre mais reste généralement supérieure à celle d’un transducteur intégrant un matériau piézoélectrique classique. Premièrement, les transducteurs sont étudiés séparément. Le champ de pression de la barrette de 128 éléments de cMUT (f<sub>c</sub>=7MHz) est mesuré afin de s’assurer que le volume insonifié est supérieur à la taille d’une tumeur de 4mm<sup>3</sup> avec une pression négative minimale de 300kPa à 1,7cm pour obtenir un index mécanique supérieur à 0,3 pour l’excitation des microbulles. La barrette est caractérisée sur sa bande de fréquence 5-10MHz pour s’adresser à différentes familles de microbulles. La barrette à base de P(VDF-TrFE) constituée de 32 éléments est caractérisée en réception sur la gamme 5-40MHz. Un banc in-vitro est réalisé et utilisé avec des bulles MicroVevo Marker™ afin d’obtenir une image en utilisant des formations de faisceau standard (ici, compounding) mais adaptées à la configuration de la sonde unifiée. Les résultats montrent clairement l’intérêt de ce dispositif pour améliorer la résolution de l’image obtenue