A life cycle framework for the investigation of environmentally benign nanoparticles and products

While significant advances in our understanding of the behavior of engineered nanoparticles in the environment continue, there remains a need to engage the nanoparticle research community directly in the development and evaluation of environmentally benign nanoparticles to ensure that nanomaterial‐based industries emerge as tools for sustainability rather than environmental liabilities. Current research efforts aimed at understanding the environmental implications of nanotechnology emphasize existing groups of nanoparticles and products already in commercial distribution. While this is clearly necessary, this approach fails to identify and address the many tradeoffs associated with product performance and environmental quality. We believe this to be a critical gap in the ongoing exploration of nanostructured materials and their properties and applications. We posit that a number of issues are not being holistically addressed, including resource availability and allocation, manufacturing energy requirements and embodied energy, material efficiency, environmental properties of nanomaterials and nanoproducts, and waste generation. An interdisciplinary approach to research, based on the life cycle paradigm and devoted to the identification, investigation, synthesis, testing, and analysis of groups of new, more environmentally conscious nanoparticles is needed. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Erratum: A life cycle framework for the investigation of environmentally benign nanoparticles and products [Phys. Status Solidi RRL 5, No. 9, 312–317 (2011)]

The name of a further author and contributor to this work, Roland Clift , has been added to the author list of the article in agreement with all co‐authors. It had been inadvertently omitted from the original version of the paper (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

一种吸油烟机声品质满意度分级限值评定方法

声品质作为一种描述吸油烟机噪声听觉感知特性的手段已经被行业所接受,团体标准T/CAS 341–2019《吸油烟机噪声声品质测试方法》给出了吸油烟机声品质测试与建模方法,同时通过声品质指数给出了声品质的数值化表达.该标准为各厂商定量描述声品质提供了依据,但目前仍缺乏对产品声品质满意度级别的划分方法,这不利于声品质技术的推...     

Aromatic patterns: Tryptophan aromaticity as a catalyst for the emergence of life and rise of consciousness

Sunlight held the key to the origin of life on Earth. The earliest life forms, cyanobacteria, captured the sunlight to generate energy through photosynthesis. Life on Earth evolved in accordance with the circadian rhythms tied to sensitivity to sunlight patterns. A unique feature of cyanobacterial photosynthetic proteins and circadian rhythms' molecules, and later of nearly all photon-sensing molecules throughout evolution, is that the aromatic amino acid tryptophan (Trp) resides at the center of light-harvesting active sites. In this perspective, I review the literature and integrate evidence from different scientific fields to explore the role Trp plays in photon-sensing capabilities of living organisms through its resonance delocalization of π-electrons. The observations presented here are the product of apparently unrelated phenomena throughout evolution, but nevertheless share consistent patterns of photon-sensing by Trp-containing and Trp-derived molecules. I posit the unique capacity to transfer electrons during photosynthesis in the earliest life forms is conferred to Trp due to its aromaticity. I propose this ability evolved to assume more complex functions, serving as a host for mechanisms underlying mental aptitudes – a concept which provides a theoretical basis for defining the neural correlates of consciousness. The argument made here is that Trp aromaticity may have allowed for the inception of the mechanistic building blocks used to fabricate complexity in higher forms of life. More specifically, Trp aromatic non-locality may have acted as a catalyst for the emergence of consciousness by instigating long-range synchronization and stabilizing the large-scale coherence of neural networks, which mediate functional brain activity. The concepts proposed in this perspective provide a conceptual foundation that invites further interdisciplinary dialogue aimed at examining and defining the role of aromaticity (beyond Trp) in the emergence of life and consciousness.     

Vacuum pressure combined with osmosonication as an innovative pre-drying technique for Ghanaian ginger: Evidence from the metabolome and quality characteristics of the dried product

We assessed the impact of selected pretreatment techniques, thus, vacuum-assisted osmotic dehydration (VOD), vacuum-assisted sonication (VSON) and vacuum-assisted osmosonication (VOS) on the metabolomes and quality characteristics of infrared-dried ginger slices. We found marked metabolome differences between the pretreated ginger samples, evidenced by differential amounts of 6-gingerol and 6-shogaol, total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and antioxidant activities. We also found distinct differences in the drying kinetics and sensory characteristics of the pretreated samples. Generally, VOS pretreatment gave the best outcomes. The VOS-pretreated samples contained the highest contents of the marker compounds, TPC, TFC and gave the best antioxidant activity. The VOS-pretreated samples also recorded the shortest drying time and exhibited the best sensory attributes. Overall, the general order observed was, VOS > VSON > VOD > control for all quality parameters examined. VOS pretreatment of ginger before drying therefore holds a great potential for large-scale industrial application.     

Recent trends in the applications of sonochemical reactors as an advanced oxidation process for the remediation of microbial hazards associated with water and wastewater: A critical review

Water is one of the major sources that spread human diseases through contamination with bacteria and other pathogenic microorganisms. This review focuses on microbial hazards as they are often present in water and wastewater and cause various human diseases. Among the currently used disinfection methods, sonochemical reactors (SCRs) that produce free radicals combined with advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have received significant attention from the scientific community. Also, this review discussed various types of cavitation reactors, such as acoustic cavitation reactors (ACRs) utilizing ultrasonic energy (UE), which had been widely employed, involving AOPs for treating contaminated waters. Besides ACRs, hydrodynamic cavitation reactors (HCRs) also effectively destroy and deactivate microorganisms to varying degrees. Cavitation is the fundamental phenomenon responsible for initiating many sonochemical reactions in liquids. Bacterial degradation occurs mainly due to the thinning of microbial membranes, local warming, and the generation of free radicals due to cavitation. Over the years, although extensive investigations have focused on the antimicrobial effects of UE (ultrasonic energy), the primary mechanism underlying the cavitation effects in the disinfection process, inactivation of microbes, and chemical reactions involved are still poorly understood. Therefore, studies under different conditions often lead to inconsistent results. This review investigates and compares other mechanisms and performances from greener and environmentally friendly sonochemical techniques to the remediation of microbial hazards associated with water and wastewater. Finally, the energy aspects, challenges, and recommendations for future perspectives have been provided.     

Ultrasonics in isocyanide-based multicomponent reactions: A new,efficient and fast method for the synthesis of fully substituted 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives under ultrasound irradiation

A fast and convenient approach to the synthesis of fully substituted 1,3,4-oxadiazoles via three-component reaction of aromatic carboxylic acids, acenaphthoquinone, and (N-isocyanimino)triphenylphosphorane under ultrasound irradiation is described. Furthermore, a series of compounds were synthesized and characterized by melting point, IR, NMR and MS. Utilization of easy reaction conditions, very high to excellent yields, and short reaction times makes this manipulation potentially very useful.     

A quenching fluoroimmunoassay for analysis of the pesticide propazine in an apolar organic solvent, reverse micelles of AOT inn-octane: Effect of the micellar matrix and labeled antigen structure

A simple way of directly observing antigen-antibody binding in a reverse micellar system,n-octane containing reverse micelles of aerosol OT (AOT), using the hydrophobic pesticide propazine as antigen, is described. We observed two processes during fluorescein-labeled propazine (FP)-antibody (Ab) interaction in reverse micelles: (1) quenching of the fluorescence of FP after mixing of Ab and FP (due immune complex formation) and (2) restoration of FP fluorescence after addition of excess propazine to the immune complex formed. We found that the quenching efficiency depends on both the properties of the reverse micellar system (surfactant concentration, hydration degreeW ₀ = [water]/[surfactant]) and the structure of the labeled antigen. A quenching fluoroimmunoassay of propazine both in apolar organic solvents and in water is developed. The method is homogeneous. The quenching time is 10–30 min, and the detection limit of propazine is 100 nM (20 Μg/L) in organic solvent and 10nM (2 Μg/L) in water. Propazine can be added to the reverse micellar system when dissolved in AOT/octane, or in an octane/chloroform mixture, or in chloroform. This makes possible the use of the analysis directly for pesticide extracts in nonpolar organic solvents.