At-line measurement of lactose in dairy-processing plants

Environmental and process control applications have needs for sensors that operate continuously or repeatedly, making them applicable to batch measurement and flowing product stream measurement. Additionally, for lactose monitoring in dairy-processing plants, the sensors must have sufficient flexibility to handle a wide range of substrate concentration and be resilient to withstand wide pH excursions brought about by frequent exposure to clean-in-place chemicals that happen without any warning. This paper describes the development and trialling of an at-line lactose biosensor that meets the needs of the dairy industry for loss monitoring of lactose in dairy-processing plants by the combination of a third-generation enzyme biosensor with a sequential injection analyser. Results, both from grab sample analysis and an at-line factory prototype, are shown from their operation when installed at a Fonterra dairy factory (New Zealand) during the 2011–2012 season. Previous sensor fabrication methods were converted to a single-step process, and the flow-through cell was adapted to bubble-free operation. The lactose concentration in wastewater-processing streams was successfully monitored by taking and analysing samples every 2–3 min, semi-continuously, for 3 months by an unskilled operator. The Fonterra site flushes approximately 100–300,000 L of wastewater per hour from its lactose plant. In the 2011–2012 season, the daily mean lactose content of this wastewater varied significantly, from 0.0 to 8.0 % w/v (0–233,712 μM) and equated to substantial total losses of lactose over a 6-month period. These lactose losses represent lost saleable or useable product.     

A multiscale poromicromechanical approach to wave propagation and attenuation in bone

Ultrasonics is an important diagnostic tool for bone diseases, as it allows for non-invasive assessment of bone tissue quality through mass density–elasticity relationships. The latter are, however, quite complex for fluid-filled porous media, which motivates us to develop a rigorous multiscale poromicrodynamics approach valid across the great variety of different bone tissues. Multiscale momentum and mass balance, as well as kinematics of a hierarchical double porous medium, together with Darcy’s law for fluid flow and micro–poro-elasticity for the solid phase of bone, give access to the so-called dispersion relation, linking the complex wave numbers to corresponding wave frequencies. Experimentally validated results show that 2.25 MHz acoustical signals transmit healthy cortical bone (exhibiting a low vascular porosity) only in the form of fast waves, agreeing very well with experimental data, while both fast and slow waves transmit highly osteoporotic as well as trabecular bone (exhibiting a large vascular porosity). While velocities and wavelengths of both fast and slow waves, as well as attenuation lengths of slow waves, are always monotonously increasing with the permeability of the bone sample, the attenuation length of fast waves shows a minimum when considered as function of the permeability.     

Inside the glassmaker technology: search of Raman criteria to discriminate between Emile Gallé and Philippe‐Joseph Brocard enamels and pigment signatures

The development of solid‐state chemistry at the end of the 19th century offered a variety of routes to colour a glass matrix. Eight enamelled glass objects made by Philippe‐Joseph Brocard and two representative objects made by Emile Gallé have been analysed using a mobile Raman instrument at the Musée des arts décoratifs (Paris) in order to compare their colouration technology. White, blue, yellow, green, orange, red, brown and black pigments have been identified. If most of the pigment palette is common to both craftsmen and typical of the second half of the 19th century, innovative uses are recognized for Gallé (wollastonite as an opacifier, manganese oxides in black mixtures) and Brocard (specific black and grey, pigment mixture, shade modification by small addition of white and red pigments). This preliminary work confirms the potential of Raman spectroscopy, not as a simple analytical method but as a way to document the ancient technology of fine art objects and to discriminate between different genuine productions and/or copies. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Metabolism of selenite in human lung cancer cells: X-ray absorption and fluorescence studies

Selenite is an inorganic form of selenium that has a cytotoxic effect against several human cancer cell lines: one or more selenite metabolites are considered to be responsible for its toxicity. X-ray absorption spectroscopy was used to monitor Se speciation in A549 human lung cancer cells incubated with selenite over 72 h. As anticipated, selenodiglutathione and elemental Se both comprised a large proportion of Se in the cells between 4 and 72 h after treatment, which is in accordance with the reductive metabolism of selenite in the presence of glutathione and glutathione reductase/NADPH system. Selenocystine was also present in the cells but was only detected as a significant component between 24 and 48 h concomitant with a decrease in the proportion of selenocysteine and the viability of the cells. The change in speciation from the selenol, selenocysteine, to the diselenide, selenocystine, is indicative of a change in the redox status of the cells to a more oxidizing environment, likely brought about by metabolites of selenite. X-ray fluorescence microscopy of single cells treated with selenite for 24 h revealed a punctate distribution of Se in the cytoplasm. The accumulation of Se was associated with a greater than 2-fold increase in Cu, which was colocalized with Se. Selenium K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy revealed Se-Se and Se-S bonding, but not Se-Cu bonding, despite the spatial association of Se and Cu. Microprobe X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy (μ-XANES) showed that the highly localized Se species was mostly elemental Se.