Determination of alcohol ethoxylates in environmental samples using derivatisation and LC/MS

A new method for the analysis of alcohol ethoxylates (AEs) using liquid chromatography with electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS) is described. The procedure in. corporates a novel derivatisation step with phthalic anhydride for the analysis of E00_,o ethoxylates in a single analysis. The derivatives obtained have proved to be very stable and the negative ion spectra show reduced background ions and competing adduct formation as compared to positive ion spectra. An automated solid phase extraction (SPE) step is used to allow both pre- concentration and clean-up of the environmental samples. The addition of 40 % v/v methanol prior to loading samples provides more efficient recovery of AEs across the C12 to C18 range than previously reported in the literature, reducing hydrophobic losses. Recoveries from final effluent spiked at 100 pg/L total AE, for the 126 species analysed, were found to be in the range 55 — 117%, with approximately 100 of the individual analytes having recoveries of 90 —105 %. A method detection limit of 0.02 iig/L for individual ethoxylate components is reported with the instrument operated in scan mode over the range m/z 300 to 1300. The method was applied to sewage effluent and influent samples, with AEs determined at approximately 7 and 5000 µg/L, respectively, indicating efficient removal of AEs in the sewage treatment plant. The AEs in the final effluent consisted primarily of fatty alcohols (FAs). Similar optimisation in the extraction of sediment and sludge samples was carried out with ultrasonic, Soxhlet and accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) methodology being compared. The most efficient technique was ASE, which was then used to analyse an activated sludge sample, where again. significantly high levels of FAs, compared to other AEs, were found in the sample. This data and the final effluent data are consistent with other current monitoring data for AEs and show the importance of a method capable of extracting and ionising the free alcohol efficiently. The AE fingerprint during biodegradation studies was also accurately determined giving elucidation of mechanisms of primary degradation. Linear and branched AEs were investigated with metabolite identification also carried out for the linear AE. Biodegradation of native AEs present in sewage influent was also studied in direct discharge scenarios to aid in. risk assessment in situations where sewage treatment is absent

Developing Online Resources to Support How Students Approach Assignment Questions: Enhancing Reflection and Practice for Staff and Students

This small-scale project involved a team of staff from the Centre for Labour Market Studies. An action research approach was used to develop new learning resources to support students' understanding of how to approach an assignment question. The objective of this project was to have a set of online resources that can take students through the steps of critically analysing an assignment question, understanding what it is asking them to do, then proceeding on to creating an effective assignment plan they can submit to tutors for formative feedback. Prior to this project being undertaken, all study skills and course materials at CLMS were provided in a primarily paper-based format. Some CLMS students also attend face-to-face workshops at twice-yearly optional teaching days, in a limited range of locations worldwide, or sought advice on a one-to-one basis. This project aims to create additional, supplementary resources that make use of new technologies to provide an alternative, interactive learning tool. The online assignment tutorial takes students through a number of steps in order to build a firm basis for critical understanding and action. It should be noted that the tutorial is accessible to all distance learners across the CLMS courses (Undergraduate, MSc, DSocSci) and is designed in a format that supports a wide range of learning styles

Instrumentalism, power maximisation, or legitimation? Understanding the European Commission’s response to the Global Financial Crisis, 2008-10

In October 2008, as Europe and the world stood in the midst of unpreceded turmoil on global financial markets, the European Commission launched a process that resulted in a proposal to create a European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS) in the EU; these proposals included the regulations to create three European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) on Financial activities. These reforms generated a lot of scholarly output between 2009 and 2011. Studies focused on the suitability of the solutions put forward by the Commission or the preferences of the member states in shaping the reforms. But despite the more prominent role of the Commission and other International Organizations (IOs) in decision-making processes and governance frameworks after the Global Financial Crisis (Helleiner, Pagliari, and Zimmermann 2010) the Commission’s motivations for action in designing the post Global Financial Crisis supervisory reforms and framework for governance remained under-investigated. Recently, European integration scholars have sought to rebalance the intergovernmental reading of European decision-making post Global Financial Crisis by revisiting and expanding the conceptual definition of supranational entrepreneurship (Howarth and Roos 2017; Bauer and Becker 2014). However, an in-depth empirical investigation of the Commission’s motivations for action is lacking. Furthermore, this literature tends to assume that the Commission is motivated by delivering higher technical efficiency and facilitating collaboration (instrumental), or by rational choice calculations to maximize its influence vis a vis other institutions or the member states (power maximizing). Less explored is the possibility that the Commission’s actions may be guided by a concern for securing legitimacy in its environment. In contrast to predominant accounts of organizations as motivated by power maximizing or instrumental goals, this thesis draws on theories that view organizations as concerned first and foremost by survival and legitimacy (Powell and DiMaggio 1991), and as deriving organizational legitimacy from mirroring norms and expectations in their environments (Brunsson 2002; Scott et al. 1994). This approach allows for the investigation of the cognitive dimension of preference formation inside the Commission; and it allows for a conceptualisation of organizational fields in which boundaries between organizations and their environment are fluid and norms are mutually constitutive. Using an interpretivist approach, the analysis focuses on understanding the perspective of those people involved in decision-making to investigate different motivations guiding action: power-maximization concerns to increase influence, instrumental concerns to provide a solution to the problem revealed by the crisis, and legitimacy concerns to conform to perceived expectations. Through interviews and document analysis, this thesis offers a rigorous empirical analysis of the different motivations that guided the Commission’s actions in the decision-making process to create the three European Supervisory Authorities. The analysis suggests that the Commission was driven by a richer set of substantive goals than is assumed or hypothesised by instrumental and power-maximization approaches. Though valuable, these approaches to organizational behaviour provide a truncated or narrow platform for exploring motivations for action: they tend to black box preferences and don’t take into account the cognitive dimensions in decision-making thereby also portraying an overly schematic relationship of the organization and its environment. The approach adopted in his thesis develops a more nuanced theoretical account of the study of motivations for action in the Commission with insights for the study of behaviour in international organizations (IOs) more generally

Examination of Symbolic Imagery of Concept of the Perfect Man in Molana's Masnavi and Sohrevardi's Stories

The most dominant theme of the richest works on mysticism is perceptive imagery which has its origin in mythology and philosophy. Given their intrinsic link to the meanings and concepts, images are considered as the intellectual life of the writer and the poet. They attempt to create images depending on their own mental and intellectual capacity as the very same images distinguish the poets and writers from one another. One of these images is the "Sun or Sunlight" which is abundant in Masnavi as a macro metaphor and in Sohervardi's works as a pattern of thought. The present study aims to first decode the dominant thoughts which led to the creation of the image of "Sun or Sunlight" for the concept of the "Perfect Man" and second, to analyze how a single image is created for different meanings or how the same concept is depicted in different images. One possible answer is that man's understanding of various phenomena is influenced by the different "states and situations" he experiences to attain different perceptions leading these understandings to be pictured by various images

Existentialist Approach to the Concept of Loneliness in Black Romantic Poetry in Iran: 1930s and 1940s

In this article, by examining the poetry flow of black romanticism in the thirties and forties in Iran, the representation of loneliness in the poems of the poets of this flow is analyzed. The main issue is the connection between the intellectual and ideological components of the black romanticism of these two decades with the emergence of the concept of loneliness in their poetic meanings. The main reason for the emergence of the black romanticism trend is the frustration Coup D’etat of 1332 Š./1953/ 1332, which has led to dark themes and blackness in this poetic trend, and it harbors nihilistic ideas. The discussion of loneliness has strongly considered this nihilistic trend. The main poets of this trend, based on their influence from the existentialist and humanist attitude, whose works are analyzed in this article, are Hassan Honarmandi, Forough Farrokhzad and Ahmed Shamlou. The results of this research showed that although the influence of the thoughts of French thinkers about loneliness is evident in this thought stream, this is associated with the unconscious influence of the background of Iranian thought in Persian poetry and concepts such as humanism, individualism, the endlessness of life, freedom based on It has reproduced individuality

Time Weighted Average Concentration Monitoring Based on Thin Film Solid Phase Microextraction

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Environmental Science and Technology, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by publisher. To access the final edited and published work seehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b06465Time weighted average (TWA) passive sampling with thin film solid: phase micro extraction (TF-SPME) and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used for collection, identification, and quantification of benzophenone-1, benzophenone-2, benzophenone-3, benzophenone-4, 2-phenylbenzimidazole-5-sulfonic acid, octocrylene, octylmethoxycinnamate, butylmethoxydibenzgylmethane, triclocarban and triclosan in the aquatic environment. Two types of TF-SPME passive samplers, including a retracted thin film device using a hydrophilic lipophilic balance (HLB) coating, and an open-bed configuration with an, octadecyl silica-based (C18) coating, were evaluated in an aqueous standard generation system. Laboratory calibration results indicated that the thin film retracted device using HLB coating is suitable to determine TWA concentrations of polar analytes in water, with an uptake that was linear up to 70 days. In open bed form, a one-calibrant kinetic calibration technique was accomplished by loading benzophenone3-d(5) as calibrant on the C18 coating to quantify all nonpolar compounds. The experimental results showed that the one-calibrant kinetic calibration technique can be used for determination of classes of compounds in cases where deuterated counterparts are either not available or expensive. The developed passive samplers were deployed in wastewater-dominated reaches of the Grand River (Kitchener, ON) to verify their feasibility for determination of TWA concentrations in on-site applications. Field trials, results indicated that these devices are suitable for long-term and short-term monitoring of compounds varying in polarity, such as UV blockers and biocide compounds in water, and the data were in good agreement with literature data.Unilever [057423]Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [050165

Effect of laundry activities on in-stream concentrations of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate in a small rural South African river

In many parts of the world clothes are washed near to or in rivers and streams. Little information is available on resulting concentrations of detergent ingredients or on any potential effects caused. In this study, the fate of a commonly used anionic surfactant, linear alkylbenzene sulphonate (LAS) was investigated in a reach of the Balfour River (Eastern Cape Province, South Africa) which was regularly used as a site for laundry activity. Samples of river water were collected upstream of the main washing site and at a number of locations downstream on several occasions in winter and summer. Sediment samples were also collected and analysed. In addition, a household survey was conducted to ascertain the amount of detergent used and the distribution of washing practices. The results of the survey suggested that the use of riverside locations for laundry activities was seasonal. Most washing tended to be done at home during the winter with riverside sites used more frequently during the summer months. The monitoring data showed that LAS concentrations in water were very variable. They were occasionally high in the immediate vicinity of the laundry site (up to 342 µg L− 1) but were generally very low (< 11 µg L− 1) at downstream monitoring stations, suggesting that LAS was rapidly dissipated by a combination of degradation, hydrodynamic dispersion and dilution. Concentrations in the immediate vicinity of the washing site were lower than expected on the basis of the household survey because most waste water was disposed of on the river bank rather than directly in the river. No ecological effects are expected from LAS emissions at this site