Nanoporous silver fabricated with pretreated Ag-Al alloy toward surface enhanced Raman sensing

Nanoporous silver (NPS), characterized by its three-dimensional bi-continuous interpenetrating ligament channel structure, is a good candidate for surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), attributed to its exceptional surface-to-volume ratio and significant SERS enhancement capabilities. Here, we have successfully fabricated NPS through the dealloying ofα-terpineol (α-TPN) coated Ag55Al45alloy. The resultingα-NPS exhibits uniform ligaments and nanopore sizes, maintaining high SERS performance even after being exposed to air for more than one month. The pretreatment of precusor alloy withα-TPN is crucial not only for the formation of nanoporous structure but also for ensuring the long term stability ofα-NPS. Specifically,α-TPN functions as a surfactant, facilitating atomic diffusion to achieve a superior interconnected NPS. Furthermore, during the dealloying process, the carbonization ofα-TPN serves as a protective layer, effectively inhibiting the oxidation of silver.

Seasonality Affects Low-Molecular-Weight Organic Acids and Phenolic Compounds' Composition in Scots Pine Litterfall

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Secondary plant metabolites, including organic acids and phenolic compounds, have a significant impact on the properties of organic matter in soil, influencing its structure and function. How the production of these compounds in foliage that falls to the forest floor as litterfall varies across tree age and seasonality are of considerable interest for advancing our understanding of organic matter dynamics.

METHODS

Monthly, we collected fallen needles of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) across stands of five different age classes (20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 years) for one year and measured the organic acids and phenolic compounds.

RESULTS

Seven low-molecular-weight organic acids and thirteen phenolic compounds were detected in the litterfall. No differences were observed across stand age. Significant seasonal differences were detected. Most compounds peaked during litterfall in the growing season. Succinic acid was the most prevalent organic acid in the litterfall, comprising 78% of total organic acids (351.27 ± 34.27 µg g- 1), and was 1.5 to 11.0 times greater in the summer than all other seasons. Sinapic acid was the most prevalent phenolic compound in the litterfall (42.15 µg g- 1), representing 11% of the total phenolic compounds, and was 39.8 times greater in spring and summer compared to autumn and winter. Growing season peaks in needle concentrations were observed for all thirteen phenolic compounds and two organic acids (lactic, succinic). Citric acid exhibited a definitive peak in late winter into early spring.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results highlight the seasonal dynamics of the composition of secondary plant metabolites in litterfall, which is most different at the onset of the growing season. Fresh inputs of litterfall at this time of emerging biological activity likely have seasonal impacts on soil's organic matter composition as well.

Constructing Carbon Nanotube-Enhanced Ultra-Thin Organic Compounds with Multi-Redox Sites for "All-Temperature" Potassium-Ion Battery Anode and its Step-Wise K-Storage Mechanism

Organic compounds are regarded as important candidates for potassium-ion batteries (KIBs) due to their light elements, controllable polymerization, and tunable functional groups. However, intrinsic drawbacks largely restrict their application, including possible solubility in electrolytes, poor conductivity, and low diffusion coefficients. To address these issues, an ultrathin layered pyrazine/carbonyl-rich material (CT) is synthesized via an acid-catalyzed solvothermal reaction and homogeneously grown on carbon nanotubes (CNTs), marked as CT@CNT. Such materials have shown good features of exposing functional groups to guest ions and good electron transport paths, exhibiting high reversible capacity and remarkable rate capability over a wide temperature range. Two typical electrolytes are compared, demonstrating that the electrolyte of LX-146 is more suitable to maximize the electrochemical performances of electrodes at different temperatures. A stepwise reaction mechanism of K-chelating with C═O and C═N functional groups is proposed, verified by in/ex situ spectroscopic techniques and theoretical calculations, illustrating that pyrazines and carbonyls play the main roles in reacting with K+ cations, and CNTs promote conductivity and restrain electrode dissolution. This study provides new insights to understand the K-storage behaviors of organic compounds and their "all-temperature" application.

Repellent and Attractant Activities of Organic Compounds on Female and Male Philonthus decorus (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae)

The use of organic compounds in different spheres of human activity is accompanied by their influx to and accumulation in the environment. The negative impact of those compounds can be one of the reasons for a decline in populations and biodiversity of aboveground invertebrates. Chemical compounds can potentially cause a variety of effects (attractant or repellent) on insects, including species of the Staphylinidae family. In a laboratory experiment, we identified repellent and attractant influence of 40 organic compounds and mixtures of compounds (acids, alcohols, ketones, phenols, aldehydes, aromatic carbohydrates solvents, and vehicle fuels) on Philonthus decorus Gravenhorst, 1802. The ambulatory responses of the males and females to the same chemical compounds most often varied. A strong repellent activity against both sexes of Ph. decorus was caused by oleic acid, while hexane repelled the males. Acetic acid, 1-butanol, and ammonia solution were found to be strongly repellent against females. A moderate (average) repellent activity towards male Ph. decorus was displayed by organic solvents and fuels, some alcohols (isopropanol, isoamyl alcohol, methanol, ethanol), acids (acetic, formic acid), aromatic carbohydrates (toluene, xylene), and formaldehyde. Female Ph. decorus in general were less sensitive to the odors. The list of repellents with moderate activity against the females was much shorter: solvent 646, white spirit, toluene, isopropanol, isoamyl alcohol, citric and oxalic acids, and glycerol. Moderate attractant activity for Ph. decorus was exhibited by some amino acids, alcohols, and fuel mixes: glycine and L-cysteine (for the males), and phenylalanine, methanol, and diesel fuel (for the females). The rest of the 40 chemical compounds we studied caused no ambulatory responses in Ph. decorus. The difficulties we encountered in the interpretation of the results suggest a need for further experimental studies that would expand the knowledge of the chemoecology of insects.

Evaluation of phytoconstituents in marigold effluent for their antifungal activity against plant pathogens

The current study placed an intense emphasis on the excess discharge of agro-based industrial effluent and the use of plant extract antimicrobials to inhibit the growth of pathogens in crop plants. An effluent (treated and untreated) from the marigold flower processing industry has been identified for the presence of volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds, and a total of 18 in treated effluent and 23 in untreated effluent were found using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A total of 13 classes were identified, which include carboxylic acid, phenols, esters, alkanes, alkenes, alcohols, cyanide, heterocyclic, flavonoids, aldehydes, polycyclic aromatic, cycloalkanes, and cycloalkenes. A principal component analysis with varimax rotation was applied to discern the abundance of identified compounds under each class. An in vitro antifungal bioassay was conducted using effluents at three different concentrations against plant pathogens (Alternaria alter nata, Sclerotium rolfsii, Rhizoctonia solani, Pythium aphanidermata, Fusarium oxysporum, and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides). The study proved that treated and untreated effluents clearly inhibited the growth of fungal pathogens by 10 to 32% and 37 to 92%, respectively. The findings suggest that marigold flower effluent can be a promising resource for developing new plant protection methods that are effective against pathogenic fungi.

The Effects of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress via Intratracheal Instillation of Water-Soluble Acrylic Acid Polymer on the Lungs of Rats

Polyacrylic acid (PAA), an organic chemical, has been used as an intermediate in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. It has been suggested recently that PAA has a high pulmonary inflammatory and fibrotic potential. Although endoplasmic reticulum stress is induced by various external and intracellular stimuli, there have been no reports examining the relationship between PAA-induced lung injury and endoplasmic reticulum stress. F344 rats were intratracheally instilled with dispersed PAA (molecular weight: 269,000) at low (0.5 mg/mL) and high (2.5 mg/mL) doses, and they were sacrificed at 3 days, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after exposure. PAA caused extensive inflammation and fibrotic changes in the lungs' histopathology over a month following instillation. Compared to the control group, the mRNA levels of endoplasmic reticulum stress markers Bip and Chop in BALF were significantly increased in the exposure group. In fluorescent immunostaining, both Bip and Chop exhibited co-localization with macrophages. Intratracheal instillation of PAA induced neutrophil inflammation and fibrosis in the rat lung, suggesting that PAA with molecular weight 269,000 may lead to pulmonary disorder. Furthermore, the presence of endoplasmic reticulum stress in macrophages was suggested to be involved in PAA-induced lung injury.

Holistic Approaches to Plant Stress Alleviation: A Comprehensive Review of the Role of Organic Compounds and Beneficial Bacteria in Promoting Growth and Health

Plants select microorganisms from the surrounding bulk soil, which act as a reservoir of microbial diversity and enrich a rhizosphere microbiome that helps in growth and stress alleviation. Plants use organic compounds that are released through root exudates to shape the rhizosphere microbiome. These organic compounds are of various spectrums and technically gear the interplay between plants and the microbial world. Although plants naturally produce organic compounds that influence the microbial world, numerous efforts have been made to boost the efficiency of the microbiome through the addition of organic compounds. Despite further crucial investigations, synergistic effects from organic compounds and beneficial bacteria combinations have been reported. In this review, we examine the relationship between organic compounds and beneficial bacteria in determining plant growth and biotic and abiotic stress alleviation. We investigate the molecular mechanism and biochemical responses of bacteria to organic compounds, and we discuss the plant growth modifications and stress alleviation done with the help of beneficial bacteria. We then exhibit the synergistic effects of both components to highlight future research directions to dwell on how microbial engineering and metagenomic approaches could be utilized to enhance the use of beneficial microbes and organic compounds.

Towards Industrially Important Applications of Enhanced Organic Reactions by Microfluidic Systems

This review presents a comprehensive evaluation for the manufacture of organic molecules via efficient microfluidic synthesis. Microfluidic systems provide considerably higher control over the growth, nucleation, and reaction conditions compared with traditional large-scale synthetic methods. Microfluidic synthesis has become a crucial technique for the quick, affordable, and efficient manufacture of organic and organometallic compounds with complicated characteristics and functions. Therefore, a unique, straightforward flow synthetic methodology can be developed to conduct organic syntheses and improve their efficiency.

Small organic molecules containing amorphous calcium phosphate: synthesis, characterization and transformation

As the primary solid phase, amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) is a pivotal precursor in cellular biomineralization. The intrinsic interplay between ACP and Howard factor underscores the significance of understanding their association for advancing biomimetic ACP development. While organic compounds play established roles in biomineralization, this study presents the synthesis of ACP with naturally occurring organic compounds (ascorbate, glutamate, and itaconate) ubiquitously found in mitochondria and vital for bone remodeling and healing. The developed ACP with organic compounds was meticulously characterized using XRD, FTIR, and solid-state 13C and 31P NMR. The morphological analysis revealed the characteristic spherical morphology with particle size close to 20 nm of all synthesized ACP variants. Notably, the type of organic compound strongly influences true density, specific surface area, particle size, and transformation. The in vitro analysis was performed with MC3T3-E1 cells, indicating the highest cell viability with ACP_ASC (ascorbate), followed by ACP_ITA (itaconate). The lowest cell viability was observed with 10 %w/v of ACP_GLU (glutamate); however, 1 %w/v of ACP_GLU was cytocompatible. Further, the effect of small organic molecules on the transformation of ACP to low crystalline apatite (Ap) was examined in Milli-Q® water, PBS, and α-MEM.

Study on the auxin-like activity of organic compounds extracted from corn waste hydrochar prepared by hydrothermal carbonization

This work studied the auxin-like activity of liquid and solid hydrochar from aboveground corn biomass prepared using hydrothermal carbonization (HTC). Understanding the action of organic compounds in regulating plant metabolism is important to develop strategies to improve plant growth and production. Bioassays were performed by testing liquid hydrochar concentrations in the range of 0.0557-5570.0 mg carbon L-1; and solid hydrochar (via extracted dissolved organic matter, DOM) in the range of 0.026-2600.0 mg carbon L-1, using seeds of Lactuca sativa. SEM, ATR-FTIR, and Py-GC/MS were applied to assess the effect of HTC on hydrochar production/composition. Liquid hydrochar presented an intense bioactivity, completely inhibiting the germination of testing seeds at higher concentrations. Liquid hydrochar also was considerably more bioactive. Py-GC/MS allowed the identification of the molecules involved in IAA-like effects: carboxylic acids (linear and aromatic) and amino acids. The concentration of more bioactive molecules, rather than their simple presence in the hydrochar fraction, determined the bio-stimulating effect, besides an excellent linear regression between the auxin-like effect and the concentration of active molecules.

Advancements in Nanotechnology for Enhanced Antifungal Drug Delivery: A Comprehensive Review

Infections caused by fungi can be mildly bothersome or fatal, causing life-threatening conditions or even death. Antifungal drugs have used synthetic chemicals, organic compounds, and phytoconstituents in their formulations to treat fungal infections. Research into novel antifungal drugs has progressed more rapidly than into antibacterial treatments. This can be attributed to the low resistance of fungal infections to antifungal bioactivities and the relatively low incidence of these diseases. Carrier systems based on nanotechnology have generated much interest recently because of the incredible potential of these systems. By using nanoarchitecture as a better carrier and drug delivery system (DDS), we can have greater antifungal effectiveness, bioavailability, targeted action, and less cytotoxicity, a development made possible using nanotechnology. This review discusses various nanocarrier-based technologies in addition to other nanotechnological methods. These include liposomes, transfersomes, ethosomes, niosomes, dendrimers, polymeric nanoparticles, polymer nanocomposites, metallic nanoparticles, carbon nanomaterials, etc. This review focused on general information regarding fungi infections, different antifungal agent types and mechanisms of action, and an overview of formulation strategies such as nanotechnology systems, which are frequently researched for antifungal therapies. We concluded that new drug delivery systems are crucial to delivering antifungal medicines to their target site with the optimum concentration. The researchers also concentrated on these innovative drug delivery systems, which primarily focus on regulating and maintaining the release of antifungal drugs.

Single-Grating Monolithic Spatial Heterodyne Raman Spectrometer: An Investigation on the Effects of Detector Selection

Spatial heterodyne Raman spectrometers (SHRSs) are modified forms of Michelson interferometers, except the mirrors in a Michelson interferometer are replaced with stationary diffraction gratings. This design removes the need for an entrance slit, as is the case in a dispersive spectrometer, and removes the need to scan the spectrum by using a moving mirror in a modern Michelson interferometer. In previous studies, various SHRS variants, such as free-standing two-grating SHRS, single-grating SHRS (1g-SHRS), monolithic SHRS (mSHRS), and single-grating mSHRS (1g-mSHRS), have been evaluated. However, the present study exclusively focuses on the 1g-mSHRS configuration. The 1g-mSHRS and 1g-SHRS increase the spectral range at fixed grating line density while trading off spectral resolution and resolving power. The mSHRS benefits from increased rigidity, lack of moving parts, and reduced footprint. In this study, we investigate how the choice of detector impacts the performance of the 1g-mSHRS system, with a specific focus on evaluating the performance of three types of cameras: charged-coupled device (CCD), intensified CCD (ICCD), and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) cameras. These systems were evaluated using geological, organic, and inorganic samples using a 532 nm continuous wave laser for the CMOS and CCD cameras, and a 532 nm neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet pulsed laser for the ICCD camera. The footprint of the 1g-mSHRS was 3.5 × 3.5 × 2.5 cm3 with a mass of 272 g or 80 g, depending on whether the monolith housing is included or not. We found that increasing the number of pixels utilized along the x-axis of the camera increases fringe visibility (FV) and optimizes the resolution (by capturing the entirety of the grating and magnifying the fringes). The number of pixels utilized in the y-axis, chip size, and dimensions, affect the signal-to-noise ratio of the systems. Additionally, we discuss the effect of pixel pitch on the recovery of Fizeau fringes, including the relationship between the Nyquist frequency, aliasing, and FV.

Abiotic Reduction of Organic and Inorganic Compounds by Fe(II)-Associated Reductants: Comprehensive Data Sets and Machine Learning Modeling

Iron-associated reductants play a crucial role in providing electrons for various reductive transformations. However, developing reliable predictive tools for estimating abiotic reduction rate constants (logk) in such systems has been impeded by the intricate nature of these systems. Our recent study developed a machine learning (ML) model based on 60 organic compounds toward one soluble Fe(II)-reductant. In this study, we built a comprehensive kinetic data set covering the reactivity of 117 organic and 10 inorganic compounds toward four major types of Fe(II)-associated reductants. Separate ML models were developed for organic and inorganic compounds, and the feature importance analysis demonstrated the significance of resonance structures, reducible functional groups, reductant descriptors, and pH in logk prediction. Mechanistic interpretation validated that the models accurately learned the impact of various factors such as aromatic substituents, complexation, bond dissociation energy, reduction potential, LUMO energy, and dominant reductant species. Finally, we found that 38% of the 850,000 compounds in the Distributed Structure-Searchable Toxicity (DSSTox) database contain at least one reducible functional group, and the logk of 285,184 compounds could be reasonably predicted using our model. Overall, the study is a significant step toward reliable predictive tools for anticipating abiotic reduction rate constants in iron-associated reductant systems.

An ozone catalytic oxidation system for the degradation of organic compounds in secondary wastewater from refining and chemical processes

To overcome the low catalytic efficiency, insufficient catalyst strength, and poor ozone circulation in the advanced treatment of secondary wastewater, a hollow cylindrical Fe-Cu-Ce-Mn/Al2O3 catalyst was prepared by the step impregnation method. Compared with the common impregnation method, the step impregnation method produced a more uniform and compact distribution of each metal element, which was more conducive to generating the synergistic effect of various metals; thus, increasing the mineralization rate of organic matter. The hollow cylindrical design ensured the strength of the catalyst and the circulation of ozone. The reduction of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) was compared under different experimental conditions, with the optimal conditions found to be an ozone contact time of 40 min and ozone dosage of 40 mg/L. The average COD, ammonia nitrogen, and ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm (UV254) removal rates were 36%, 19%, and 20%, respectively. After 3 weeks of continuous experiment, the removal rate was still high. Following analysis by three dimensional fluorescence, GC-MS, and the molecular weight detection of water samples before and after treatment, it was found that the catalyst enhanced the effect of ozone on wastewater treatment, with a significant removal of tryptophan-like aromatic proteins and soluble microbial metabolites, and the removal of most of the small molecular organic matter. In addition, part of the refractory organic matter could be converted into easily degradable organic matter, which greatly improved the biodegradability and mineralization rate of wastewater, and provided good conditions for subsequent treatment.

[Research progress on preparation and applications of covalent organic framework-based chromatographic stationary phases]

Given continuous developments in industrial and scientific research, the separation and analysis of complex systems with high sensitivity, throughput, and selectivity is facing new challenges. Chromatography plays an irreplaceable role in separation science and is widely applied in environmental monitoring, pharmaceutical analysis, and food safety. Owing to their outstanding advantages, such as high loading capacity, precise quantification, and good reproducibility, chromatographic separation techniques based on various retention mechanisms have been utilized to detect different analytes. The stationary phase is the core material of chromatographic columns and has an extremely important influence on their separation performance. The selectivity and efficiency of separation largely depend on the chromatographic stationary phase. However, traditional stationary phases, such as silicon-based matrices, are characterized by complex preparation processes, poor permeability, large mass transfer resistance, and a narrow pH range. In addition, polymer matrices show poor mechanical stability and susceptibility to swelling, which limit their applications in the field of separation. Therefore, the development of novel stationary phases with the advantages of traditional stationary phases has become a research emphasis in the field of analytical science in efforts to meet separation requirements under different environments. Various stationary phases based on novel porous materials, such as metal organic frameworks (MOFs), porous organic cages (POCs), and covalent organic frameworks (COFs), are used for chromatographic separation. As mesh crystalline porous materials, MOFs have the advantages of a large surface area, adjustable structure, and easy functionalization; thus, they are widely used as chromatographic stationary phases in reverse-phase chromatography, hydrophilic-mode chromatography, mixed-mode chromatography, and other separation modes. However, because the pore size of MOFs is small and most MOFs demonstrate poor chemical stability under acidic or alkaline conditions, their applications in chromatographic separation are greatly limited. COFs are porous, crystalline polymer materials composed of light elements (H, O, C, N, B, and Si) connected via covalent bonds. Their advantages include a low density, large specific surface area, high porosity, good chemical and thermal stability, regular pores, and adjustable pore sizes. Because of their unique structures and properties, COFs are widely used in many fields such as catalysis, enrichment, gas capture, and sensing. COF materials are also suitable for separation analysis and considered ideal materials for novel chromatographic stationary phases. This review summarizes the latest research progress on the preparation and applications of COF-based chromatographic stationary phases over the past five years. First, the preparation of COF-based stationary phases (SiO2@COFs stationary phase, COFs monolithic stationary phase, pure COFs stationary phase and COFs-coated stationary phase) is introduced. The latest applications of COF-based stationary phases in the separation of organic compounds, isomers, and chiral compounds are then described in detail. Finally, the future development trends and challenges of chromatographic stationary phases based on COFs are discussed to provide new ideas for the future design and development of novel chromatographic stationary phases based on COFs.

The smell of death. State-of-the-art and future research directions

The decomposition of a body is inseparably associated with the release of several types of odors. This phenomenon has been used in the training of sniffer dogs for decades. The odor profile associated with decomposition consists of a range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), chemical composition of which varies over time, temperature, environmental conditions, and the type of microorganisms, and insects colonizing the carcass. Mercaptans are responsible for the bad smell associated with corpses; however, there are no unified recommendations for conducting forensic analysis based on the detectable odor of revealed corpses and previous research on VOCs shows differing results. The aim of this review is to systematize the current knowledge on the type of volatile organic compounds related to the decomposition process, depending on a few variables. This knowledge will improve the methods of VOCs detection and analysis to be used in modern forensic diagnostics and improve the methods of training dogs for forensic applications.

Role of Membrane-Solute Affinity Interactions in Carbamazepine Rejection and Resistance to Organic Fouling by Nano-Engineered UF/PES Membranes

In this study, polyethersulfone (PES) ultrafiltration (UF) membranes were modified with GO, Ag, ZnO, Ag-GO and ZnO-GO nanoparticles to improve carbamazepine removal and fouling prevention by making membrane surfaces more hydrophilic. The fabricated membranes were characterized for surface and cross-sectional morphology, surface roughness and zeta potential, as well as hydrophilicity, functional groups, surface tension parameters and water permeability Thereafter, the membranes were evaluated for their efficiency in removing MgSO4 and carbamazepine as well as antifouling properties. To understand the role of affinity interactions in rejection and fouling, membrane-solute adhesion energies (∆Gslm) were quantified based on the Lifshitz-van der Waals/acid-base method. Unlike previous studies, which have generalized fouling prevention to be due to improvements in hydrophilicity upon adding nanoparticles, this work further explored the role of surface tension components on rejection and fouling prevention. The addition of nanoparticles improved membrane hydrophilicity (77-62°), water permeability (11.9-17.7 Lm-2 h-1 bar-1), mechanical strength (3.46-4.11 N/mm2), carbamazepine rejection (30-85%) and fouling prevention (60-23% flux decline). Rejection and antifouling properties increased as ∆Gslm became more repulsive (i.e., less negative). Membrane modification reduced irreversible fouling, and the fouled membranes were cleaned by flushing with water. Fouling related more to membrane electron donor components (γ-), while the roles of electron acceptor (γ+) and Lifshitz-van der Waals components (γLW) were less important. This work provides more insights into the role of affinity interactions in rejection and fouling and how rejection and fouling mechanisms change with nanoparticle addition.

Research on the Differences in Phenotypic Traits and Nutritional Composition of Acer Truncatum Bunge Seeds from Various Regions

Acer truncatum Bunge (ATB) is an excellent edible woody oil tree species since it bears a huge amount of fruit and has strong adaptability to be widely cultivated. Selecting an optimal cultivation region for ATB is crucial to improving China's woody oil industrialization. Chemical analysis, correlation analysis, and affiliation function values were used in the present research to systematically analyze the phenotypic traits, organic compound content, and seed oil chemical composition of the seeds of ATB from nine regions. The average contents of oil, protein, and soluble sugar in ATB seeds were 43.30%, 17.40%, and 4.57%, respectively. Thirteen fatty acids were identified from ATB seed oil, the highest content of which was linoleic acid (37.95%) and nervonic acid content was 5-7%. The maximum content of unsaturated fatty acids in ATB seed oil was 90.09%. Alpha-tocopherol content was up to 80.75 mg/100 g. The degree of variation in seed quality traits (25.96%) was stronger than in morphological traits (14.55%). Compared to environmental factors, the phenotypic traits of seeds contribute more to organic compounds and fatty acids. Combining the values of the indicator affiliation functions, Gilgarang, Tongliao, Inner Mongolia was selected as the optimal source of ATB for fruit applications from nine regions.

Study of Brewer's Spent Grain Environmentally Friendly Processing Ways

BACKGROUND

This article is devoted to the study of the effect of electrochemically activated water (catholyte with pH 9.3) on organic compounds of the plant matrix of brewer's spent grain in order to extract various compounds from it.

METHODS

Brewer's spent grain was obtained from barley malt at a pilot plant by mashing the malt followed by filtration and washing of the grain in water and storing it at (0 ± 2) °C in craft bags. For the organic compound quantitative determination, instrumental methods of analysis (HPLC) were used, and the results were subjected to mathematical analysis.

RESULTS

The study results showed that at atmospheric pressure, the alkaline properties of the catholyte showed better results compared to aqueous extraction with respect to β-glucan, sugars, nitrogenous and phenolic compounds, and 120 min was the best period for extraction at 50 °C. The excess pressure conditions used (0.5 ÷ 1 atm) revealed an increase in the accumulation of non-starch polysaccharide and nitrogenous compounds, while the level of sugars, furan and phenolic compounds decreased with increasing treatment duration. The waste grain extract ultrasonic treatment used revealed the effectiveness of catholyte in relation to the extraction of β-glucan and nitrogenous fractions; however, sugars and phenolic compounds did not significantly accumulate. The correlation method made it possible to reveal the regularities in the formation of furan compounds under the conditions of extraction with the catholyte: Syringic acid had the greatest effect on the formation of 5-OH-methylfurfural at atmospheric pressure and 50 °C and vanillic acid under conditions of excess pressure. Regarding furfural and 5-methylfurfural, amino acids had a direct effect at excess pressure. It was shown that the content of all furan compounds depends on amino acids with thiol groups and gallic acid; the formation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and 5-methylfurfural is influenced by gallic and vanillic acids; the release of furfural and 5-methylfurfural is determined by amino acids and gallic acid; excess pressure conditions promote the formation of furan compounds under the action of gallic and lilac acids.

CONCLUSIONS

This study showed that a catholyte allows for efficient extraction of carbohydrate, nitrogenous and monophenolic compounds under pressure conditions, while flavonoids require a reduction in extraction time under pressure conditions.

A surface plasmon resonance nanostructure containing graphene and BaTiO3 layers for sensitive defection of organic compounds

Organic compound-based sensors are used in a variety of significant fields, including medical research, azeotropic calibration, vegetable oil extraction, the shoe industry and geothermal power plants. Here, a high-performance, two-dimensional material-based organic compound sensor has been proposed using a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) nanostructure consisting of a BK7 glass prism, Ag, BaTiO₃, Ag, graphene and sensing layer. The reflectivity curves of the SPR device have been investigated when the sensing media are Pentane, n-Hexane, n-Heptane and n-Octane. The thickness of the BaTiO₃ layer and the number of graphene sheets have been optimized to maximize the sensitivity. The highest sensitivity attained is 220.83 deg/RIU for n-Octane with 45 nm silver/10 nm BaTiO₃/8 nm silver and four layers of graphene. We believe that the SPR-based sensors are simple and can replace the spectrometry, chromatography and electrochemical based sensors. The proposed design is extremely effective for diverse applications in biological, industrial and chemical detection because of its simple structure and great performance.

Remote Raman Sensing Using a Single-Grating Monolithic Spatial Heterodyne Raman Spectrometer: A Potential Tool for Planetary Exploration

Advances in Raman instrumentation have led to the implementation of a remote dispersive Raman spectrometer on the Perseverance rover on Mars, which is used for remote sensing. For remote applications, dispersive spectrometers suffer from a few setbacks such as relatively larger sizes, low light throughput, limited spectral ranges, relatively low resolutions for small devices, and high sensitivity to misalignment. A spatial heterodyne Raman spectrometer (SHRS), which is a fixed grating interferometer, helps overcome some of these problems. Most SHRS devices that have been described use two fixed diffraction gratings, but a variance of the SHRS called the one-grating SHRS (1g-SHRS) replaces one of the gratings with a mirror, which makes it more compact. In a recent paper we described monolithic two-gratings SHRS, and in this paper, we investigate a single-grating monolithic SHRS (1g-mSHRS), which combines the 1g-SHRS with a monolithic setup previously tested at the University of South Carolina. This setup integrates the beamsplitter, grating, and mirror into a single monolithic device. This reduces the number of adjustable components, allows for easier alignment, and reduces the footprint of the device (35 × 35 × 25 mm with a weight of 80 g). This instrument provides a high spectral resolution (∼9 cm^-1) and large spectral range (7327 cm^-1) while decreasing the sensitivity to alignment with a field of view of 5.61 mm at 3m. We discuss the characteristics of the 1g-mSHRS by measuring the time-resolved remote Raman spectra of a few inorganic salts, organics, and minerals at 3 m. The 1g-mSHRS makes a good candidate for planetary exploration because of its large spectral range, greater sensitivity, competitively higher spectral resolution, low alignment sensitivity, and high light throughput in a compact easily aligned system with no moving parts.

The Phenolic Compounds' Role in Beer from Various Adjuncts

BACKGROUND

The present article considers the influence of malt with various adjuncts on beer organic compounds and taste profile composition, with more attention paid to the phenol complex change. The topic under consideration is relevant since it studies the interactions of phenolic compounds with other biomolecules, and expands the understanding of the adjuncts organic compounds contribution and their joint effect on beer quality.

METHODS

Samples of beer were analyzed at a pilot brewery using barley and wheat malts, barley, rice, corn and wheat, and then fermented. The beer samples were assessed by industry-accepted methods and using instrumental analysis methods (high-performance liquid chromatography methods-HPLC). The obtained statistical data were processed by the Statistics program (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA, 2006).

RESULTS

The study showed that at the stage of hopped wort organic compounds structure formation, there is a clear correlation between the content of organic compounds and dry substances, including phenolic compounds (quercetin, catechins), as well as isomerized hop bitter resines. It is shown that the riboflavin content increases in all adjunct wort samples, and mostly with the use of rice-up to 4.33 mg/L, which is 9.4 times higher than the vitamin levels in malt wort. The melanoidin content in the samples was in the range of 125-225 mg/L and its levels in the wort with additives exceeded the malt wort. Changes in β-glucan and nitrogen with thiol groups during fermentation occurred with different dynamics and depending on the adjunct's proteome. The greatest decrease in non-starch polysaccharide content was observed in wheat beer and nitrogen with thiol groups content-in all other beer samples. The change in iso-α-humulone in all samples at the beginning of fermentation correlated with a decrease in original extract, and in the finished beer there was no correlation. The behavior of catechins, quercetin, and iso-α-humulone has been shown to correlate with nitrogen with thiol groups during fermentation. A strong correlation was shown between the change in iso-α-humulone and catechins, as well as riboflavin and quercetin. It was established that various phenolic compounds were involved in the formation of taste, structure, and antioxidant properties of beer in accordance with the structure of various grains, depending on the structure of its proteome.

CONCLUSIONS

The obtained experimental and mathematical dependences make it possible to expand the understanding of intermolecular interactions of beer organic compounds and take a step toward predicting the quality of beer at the stage of using adjuncts.

Organic Compounds and Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Behavior in Greywater Treated by a Constructed Wetland

Laundry greywater is considered as an alternative source of non-potable water, as it is discharged in approximately 70% of homes. Because this water contains compounds such as biodegradable and recalcitrant organic matter, surfactants, and microbiological compounds, it must be treated prior to reuse. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the behavior of organic matter and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) in greywater treated by a constructed wetland (CW). The results show that the organic matter removal efficiencies were 67.19%, 50.15%, and 63.57% for biological oxygen demand (BOD₅), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC), respectively; these efficiencies were not significant (p > 0.05). In addition, the CW allows the distribution of TOC and ionic compounds in the fractions below 1000 Da to increase by 5.03% and 13.05%, respectively. Meanwhile, the treatment of microbiological compounds generated non-significant removals (p > 0.05), along with increases in bacteria resistant to the antibiotics ciprofloxacin (CIP) and ceftriaxone (CTX) of 36.34%, and 40.79%, respectively. In addition, a strong association between ARB to CIP, CTX, cationic and non-ionic surfactants was determined, indicating the role of surfactants in ARB selection. It is suggested that disinfection systems should be employed prior to the reuse of the treated water.

Arrhenius Crossover Temperature of Glass-Forming Liquids Predicted by an Artificial Neural Network

The Arrhenius crossover temperature, TA, corresponds to a thermodynamic state wherein the atomistic dynamics of a liquid becomes heterogeneous and cooperative; and the activation barrier of diffusion dynamics becomes temperature-dependent at temperatures below TA. The theoretical estimation of this temperature is difficult for some types of materials, especially silicates and borates. In these materials, self-diffusion as a function of the temperature T is reproduced by the Arrhenius law, where the activation barrier practically independent on the temperature T. The purpose of the present work was to establish the relationship between the Arrhenius crossover temperature TA and the physical properties of liquids directly related to their glass-forming ability. Using a machine learning model, the crossover temperature TA was calculated for silicates, borates, organic compounds and metal melts of various compositions. The empirical values of the glass transition temperature Tg, the melting temperature Tm, the ratio of these temperatures Tg/Tm and the fragility index m were applied as input parameters. It has been established that the temperatures Tg and Tm are significant parameters, whereas their ratio Tg/Tm and the fragility index m do not correlate much with the temperature TA. An important result of the present work is the analytical equation relating the temperatures Tg, Tm and TA, and that, from the algebraic point of view, is the equation for a second-order curved surface. It was shown that this equation allows one to correctly estimate the temperature TA for a large class of materials, regardless of their compositions and glass-forming abilities.

Solubility and Decomposition of Organic Compounds in Subcritical Water

In this article, studies on organic solubility and stability in subcritical water reported during the past 25 years have been reviewed. Data on the solubility and decomposition of organic compounds in subcritical water, a green solvent, are needed in environmental remediation, chemistry, chemical engineering, medicine, polymer, food, agriculture, and many other fields. For solubility studies, the experimental systems used to measure solubility, mathematical equations derived and applied for the modeling of the experimentally determined solubility data, and the correlation between the predicated and experimental data have been summarized and discussed. This paper also reviewed organic decomposition under subcritical water conditions. In general, the solubility of organics is significantly enhanced with increasing water temperature. Likewise, the percentage of organic decomposition also increases with higher temperature.

Cucurbit[n]uril-based fluorescent indicator-displacement assays for sensing organic compounds

The widespread conversion of synthetic receptors into luminescent sensors has been achieved via the use of fluorescent-indicator displacement assays (F-IDAs). Due to their rigid structures and efficient binding affinities, cucurbit[n]urils, combined with a variety of fluorescent guests, have gained extensive utilization in fluorescent-indicator displacement assays for sensing non-fluorescent or weakly fluorescent organic compounds (analytes) in a selective and specific manner. This mini-review summarizes recent advances in the design of cucurbit[n]uril-based fluorescent-indicator displacement assays and discusses the current challenges and future prospects in this area.

A Perspective on Using Organic Molecules Composing Carbon Dots for Cancer Treatment

Fluorescent Carbon dots (CDs) derived from biologically active sources have shown enhanced activities compared to their precursors. With their prominent potentiality, these small-sized (<10nm) nanomaterials could be easily synthesized from organic sources either by bottom-up or green approach. Their sources could influence the functional groups present on the CDs surfaces. A crude source of organic molecules has been used to develop fluorescent CDs. In addition, pure organic molecules were also valuable in developing practical CDs. Physiologically responsive interaction of CDs with various cellular receptors is possible due to the robust functionalization on their surface. In this review, we studied various literatures from the past ten years that reported the potential application of carbon dots as alternatives in cancer chemotherapy. The selective cytotoxic nature of some of the CDs towards cancer cell lines suggests the role of surface functional groups towards selective interaction, which results in over-expressed proteins characteristic of cancer cell lines. It could be inferred that cheaply sourced CDs could selectively bind to overexpressed proteins in cancer cells with the ultimate effect of cell death induced by apoptosis. In most cases, CDs-induced apoptosis directly or indirectly follows the mitochondrial pathway. Therefore, these nanosized CDs could serve as alternatives to the current kinds of cancer treatments that are expensive and have numerous side effects.

Progresses and Perspectives of Near-Infrared Emission Materials with "Heavy Metal-Free" Organic Compounds for Electroluminescence

Organic/polymer light-emitting diodes (OLEDs/PLEDs) have attracted a rising number of investigations due to their promising applications for high-resolution fullcolor displays and energy-saving solid-state lightings. Near-infrared (NIR) emitting dyes have gained increasing attention for their potential applications in electroluminescence and optical imaging in optical tele-communication platforms, sensing and medical diagnosis in recent decades. And a growing number of people focus on the "heavy metal-free" NIR electroluminescent materials to gain more design freedom with cost advantage. This review presents recent progresses in conjugated polymers and organic molecules for OLEDs/PLEDs according to their different luminous mechanism and constructing systems. The relationships between the organic fluorophores structures and electroluminescence properties are the main focus of this review. Finally, the approaches to enhance the performance of NIR OLEDs/PLEDs are described briefly. We hope that this review could provide a new perspective for NIR materials and inspire breakthroughs in fundamental research and applications.

Use of Magnesium Silicate Contaminated with Organic Compounds in Ceramic Materials as a Pore Modifier

This study investigated the use of organic compound waste (OCW) contaminated magnesium silicate/diatomite in ceramics. Substituting part of the clay (between 5 and 20 wt.%) with OCW modifies a pore structure and enhances the ceramic product's thermal conductivity, density, and frost resistance. Prepared samples were tested at 1000-1060 °C temperatures and their structural parameters and Maage factor, useful for frost resistance prediction, were evaluated. Results show that OCW modifies the porous structure and improves the insulating properties of the ceramic body. Increasing OCW content up to 15% in the ceramic body decreases density by up to 15.0%, and thermal conductivity by up to 42.5%, because of the modified pore structure. According to structural parameters calculation, the higher frost resistance can be predicted for ceramic bodies containing 5-10% of OCW, according to Maage factor calculation ceramic bodies containing 5-20% of OCW are frost resistant. Designed ceramic products can be attractive for use in construction due to improved energy efficiency and reduced energy consumption in buildings due to their low thermal conductivity, satisfactory mechanical strength, and sustainability based on predicted frost resistance.

Oxygen Vacancy-Mediated Activates Oxygen to Produce Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) on Ce-Modified Activated Clay for Degradation of Organic Compounds without Hydrogen Peroxide in Strong Acid

The treatment of acid wastewater to remove organic matter in acid wastewater and recycle valuable resources has great significance. However, the classical advanced oxidation process (AOPs), such as the Fenton reaction, encountered a bottleneck under the conditions of strong acid. Herein, making use of the oxidation properties of CeAY (CeO₂@acid clay), we built an AOPs reaction system without H₂O₂ under a strong acid condition that can realize the transformation of organic matter in industrial wastewater. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) proved that the CeAY based on Ce³⁺ as an active center has abundant oxygen vacancies, which can catalyze O₂ to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS). Based on the electron spin-resonance spectroscopy spectrum and radical trapping experiments, the production of •O₂^- and •OH can be determined, which are the essential factors of the degradation of organic compounds. In the system of pH = 1.0, when 1 mg CeAY is added to 10 mL of wastewater, the degradation efficiency of an aniline solution with a 5 mg/L effluent concentration is 100%, and that of a benzoic acid solution with a 100 mg/L effluent concentration is 50% after 10 min of reaction. This work may provide novel insights into the removal of organic pollutants in a strong acid water matrix.

Synthesis Method of Unsolvated Organic Derivatives of Metal Borohydrides

A new, scalable, wet-chemistry single-pot method of synthesising pure unsolvated organic derivatives of metal borohydrides is presented. The metathetic reaction in a weakly coordinating solvent is exemplified by the synthesis of [(n-C₄H₉)₄N][Y(BH₄)₄] and [Ph₄P][Y(BH₄)₄] systems. For the latter compound, the crystal structure was solved and described. Organic borohydride salts obtained by the new method can find various applications, e.g., can be used as precursors in synthesis of hydrogen-rich mixed-metal borohydrides-promising materials for solid-state chemical storage of hydrogen.

South American National Contributions to Knowledge of the Effects of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Wild Animals: Current and Future Directions

Human pressure due to industrial and agricultural development has resulted in a biodiversity crisis. Environmental pollution is one of its drivers, including contamination of wildlife by chemicals emitted into the air, soil, and water. Chemicals released into the environment, even at low concentrations, may pose a negative effect on organisms. These chemicals might modify the synthesis, metabolism, and mode of action of hormones. This can lead to failures in reproduction, growth, and development of organisms potentially impacting their fitness. In this review, we focused on assessing the current knowledge on concentrations and possible effects of endocrine disruptor chemicals (metals, persistent organic pollutants, and others) in studies performed in South America, with findings at reproductive and thyroid levels. Our literature search revealed that most studies have focused on measuring the concentrations of compounds that act as endocrine disruptors in animals at the systemic level. However, few studies have evaluated the effects at a reproductive level, while information at thyroid disorders is scarce. Most studies have been conducted in fish by researchers from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia. Comparison of results across studies is difficult due to the lack of standardization of units in the reported data. Future studies should prioritize research on emergent contaminants, evaluate effects on native species and the use of current available methods such as the OMICs. Additionally, there is a primary focus on organisms related to aquatic environments, and those inhabiting terrestrial environments are scarce or nonexistent. Finally, we highlight a lack of funding at a national level in the reviewed topic that may influence the observed low scientific productivity in several countries, which is often negatively associated with their percentage of protected areas.

Assessing plant uptake of organic contaminants by food crops tomato, wheat, and corn through sap concentration factor

This study investigated uptake of two organic compounds including hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) and exogenous caffeine by tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), corn (Zea mays L.), and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The plants were grown in a growth chamber under recommended conditions and then were exposed to these compounds for 19 days. The uptake of the compounds was measured by sap concentration factor. The plant samples (stem transpiration stream) and solution in the exposure media were taken and analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The plant stem samples were analyzed after a freeze-thaw centrifugation process. The average sap concentration factor for the RDX by tomato, wheat, and corn was 0.71, 0.67, and 0.65. The average sap concentration factor for the exogenous caffeine by tomato, wheat, and corn was 0.72, 0.50, and 0.34. These relatively high sap concentration factor values were expected as available predictive models offer high sap concentration factor values for moderately hydrophobic and hydrophilic compounds. The generated sap concentration factor values for the RDX and exogenous caffeine are important for improving the accuracy of previously developed machine learning models predicting the uptake and translocation of emerging contaminants.

Applications of Deep Eutectic Solvents in Sample Preparation and Extraction of Organic Molecules

The use of deep eutectic solvents (DES) is on the rise worldwide because of the astounding properties they offer, such as simplicity of synthesis and utilization, low-cost, and environmental friendliness, which can, without a doubt, replace conventional solvents used in heaps. In this review, the focus will be on the usage of DES in extracting a substantial variety of organic compounds from different sample matrices, which not only exhibit great results but surpass the analytical performance of conventional solvents. Moreover, the properties of the most commonly used DES will be summarized.

Long-Life Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries of Organic Iminodianthraquinone/rGO Cathode Assisted by Zn2+ Binding with Adjacent Molecules

Organic compounds have been extensively used as zinc-ion battery (ZIB) cathodes due to their high capacities and outstanding properties. Nevertheless, poor electrical conductivity limits their developments. RGO (reduced graphene oxide) can well interact with organic compounds through π-π stacking for furnishing capacious ion diffusion paths and active sites to enhance conductivity and capacity. Herein, a 1,1'-iminodianthraquinone (IDAQ)/rGO composite is utilized as cathode of ZIBs, demonstrating ultrahigh stability with 96% capacity retention after 5000 cycles. Zn2+ and H+ synergetic mechanism in IDAQ/rGO has been deeply discussed by ex situ analysis and theoretical calculation. Consequently, the structure of IDAQ2(H+)6(Zn2+) is the most probable product after discharging progress. Prospectively, the IDAQ/rGO material with excellent stability and good performance would provide new insights into designing advanced ZIBs.

Molecularly Imprinted Membrane Produced by Electrospinning for β-Caryophyllene Extraction

Molecularly imprinted membrane of β-caryophyllene (MIM-βCP) was fabricated incorporating β-caryophyllene molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles (βCP-NP) into polycaprolactone (PCL) fibers via electrospinning. The βCP-NP were synthesized by precipitation polymerization using the βCP as a template molecule and acrylic acid as a functional monomer in the proportion of 1:4 mol, respectively. Atomic force microscopy images and X-ray diffraction confirmed the nanoparticles' incorporation into MIM-βCP. MIM-βCP functionalization was evaluated by gas chromatography. The binding capacity was 1.80 ± 0.05 μmol/cm², and the selectivity test was performed with a mixing solution of βCP and caryophyllene oxide, as an analog compound, that extracted 77% of the βCP in 5 min. The electrospun MIM-βCP can be used to detect and extract the βCP, applications in the molecular sieve, and biosensor production and may also contribute as an initial methodology to enhance versatile applications in the future, such as in the treatment of skin diseases, filters for extraction, and detection of βCP to prevent counterfeiting of commercial products, and smart clothing with insect-repellent properties.

Computational 1 H and 13 C NMR in structural and stereochemical studies

Present review outlines the advances and perspectives of computational ¹ H and ¹³ C NMR applied to the stereochemical studies of inorganic, organic, and bioorganic compounds, involving in particular natural products, carbohydrates, and carbonium ions. The first part of the review briefly outlines theoretical background of the modern computational methods applied to the calculation of chemical shifts and spin-spin coupling constants at the DFT and the non-empirical levels. The second part of the review deals with the achievements of the computational ¹ H and ¹³ C NMR in the stereochemical investigation of a variety of inorganic, organic, and bioorganic compounds, providing in an abridged form the material partly discussed by the author in a series of parent reviews. Major attention is focused herewith on the publications of the recent years, which were not reviewed elsewhere.

Permanganate Oxidation of Organic Contaminants and Model Compounds

Permanganate oxidation is an attractive environmental remediation strategy due to its low cost, ease of use, and wide range in reactivity. Here, permanganate reactivity trends are investigated for model organic compounds and organic contaminants. Second-order permanganate reaction rate constants were compiled for 215 compounds from 82 references (journal articles, conference proceedings, master's theses, and dissertations). Additionally, we validated some phenol rate constants and contribute a few additional phenol rate constants. Commonalities between contaminant oxidation products are also discussed, and we tentatively identify several model compound oxidation products. Aromatic rings, alcohols, and ether groups had low reaction rate constants with permanganate. Alkene reaction sites had the highest reaction rate constants, followed by phenols, anilines, and benzylic carbon-hydrogen bonds. Generally, permanganate reactivity follows electrophilic substitution trends at the reaction site where electron donating groups increase the rate of reaction, while electron withdrawing groups decrease the rate of reaction. Solution conditions, specifically, buffer type and concentration, may impact the rate of reaction, which could be due to either an ionic strength effect or the buffer ions acting as ligands. The impact of these solution conditions, unfortunately, precludes the development of a quantitative structure-activity relationship for permanganate reaction rate constants with the currently available data. We note that critical experimental details are often missing in the literature, which posed a challenge when comparing rate constants between studies. Future research directions on permanganate oxidation should seek to improve our understanding of buffer effects and to identify oxidation products for model compounds so that extrapolations can be made to more complex contaminant structures.

Extraction of selected prohealth substances from Curcuma longa and Zingiber officinale in artificial digestive juices

BACKGROUND

The study determined the content of selected bioelements, toxic metals and phenolic acids occurring in Curcuma longa L. and Zingiber officinale Rosc. Natural raw materials in the form of powder, slices, dried and fresh rootstock, tablets and capsules were analyzed. To determine the actual bioavailability of the metals and phenolic acids present in the raw materials, they were extracted into artificial digestive juices (artificial gastric and intestinal juices).

RESULTS

The maximum amounts of bioelements found in turmeric were as follows (mg kg-1 dry weight): Ca, 1911; Cu, 10.4; Fe, 248; K, 123; Mg, 1896; Mn, 181; Na, 332; Zn, 242. On the other hand, the maximum amounts of these bioelements found in ginger were as follows (mg kg-1 dry weight): Ca, 287; Cu, 7.4; Fe, 113; K, 2903; Mg, 1162; Mn, 11.3; Na, 1678; Zn, 186. It was found that bioelements from all the tested samples of raw materials were released to artificial digestive juices.

CONCLUSION

The amount of substances extracted to digestive juices from the analyzed raw materials varied depending on their form. The highest content of bioelements was found in the fresh rhizomes of turmeric and ginger. On the other hand, powdered rhizome was characterized by the highest bioavailability of elements for humans. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Polysulfide Regulation by Hypervalent Iodine Compounds for Durable and Sustainable Lithium-Sulfur Battery

Herein, a type of hypervalent iodine compound-iodosobenzene (PhIO)-is proposed to regulate the LiPSs electrochemistry and enhance the performance of Li-S battery. PhIO owns the practical advantages of low-cost, commercial availability, environmental friendliness and chemical stability. The lone pair electrons of oxygen atoms in PhIO play a critical role in forming a strong Lewis acid-base interaction with terminal Li in LiPSs. Moreover, the commercial PhIO can be easily converted to nanoparticles (≈20 nm) and uniformly loaded on a carbon nanotube (CNT) scaffold, ensuring sufficient chemisorption for LiPSs. The integrated functional PhIO@CNT interlayer affords a LiPSs-concentrated shield that not only strongly obstructs the LiPSs penetration but also significantly enhances the electrolyte wettability and Li⁺ conduction. The PhIO@CNT interlayer also serves as a "vice current collector" to accommodate various LiPSs and render smooth LiPSs transformation, which suppresses insulating Li₂ S₂ /Li₂ S layer formation and facilitates Li⁺ diffusion. The Li-S battery based on PhIO@CNT interlayer (6 wt% PhIO) exhibits stable cycling over 1000 cycles (0.033% capacity decay per cycle) and excellent rate performance (686.6 mAh g^-1 at 3 C). This work demonstrates the great potential of PhIO in regulating LiPSs and provides a new avenue towards the low-cost and sustainable application of Li-S batteries.

Emission characteristics, sources, and airborne fate of speciated organics in particulate matters in a Hong Kong residence

A growing number of studies warn of the adverse health effects of indoor particulate matters (PM). However, little is known about the molecular compositions and emission characteristics of PM-bound organics (OM) indoors, a critical group of species with highest concentration and complexity in indoor PM. In a Hong Kong residence where prescribed activities were performed with normal frequency and intensity, we found that the activities significantly elevated not only the total concentration but also the fraction of OM in indoor PM. However, the concentration of the total PM-bound OM outdoors (10.3 ± 0.7 μg/m³ ) surpassed that for the indoor counterpart during the undisturbed period (8.2 ± 0.1 μg/m³ ), that is, period when there was no activity with high emission of PM but the residual effects of previous activities might remain. Emissions of indoor activities involving combustion or high-temperature processes significantly elevated the indoor-to-outdoor (I/O) ratios for a majority of organic species. In addition, gas-to-particle partitioning, secondary formation, carrying-over (residues of pollutants in the air), and re-emission also modulated the I/O ratios of some compounds. Chemically comprehensive emission profiles of speciated organics were obtained for 5 indoor activities in the residence. While the indoor contribution to PM-bound OM was estimated to be not higher than 13.1% during the undisturbed period, carrying-over and/or re-emission seemed to exist for certain compounds emitted from cigarette smoking and incense burning. This study enhances knowledge on emissions and airborne fate of speciated organics in indoor PM.

Behavior of counterpoise correction in many-body molecular clusters of organic compounds: Hartree-Fock interaction energy perspective

The counterpoise (CP) correction by Boys and Bernardi has been well accepted as a reliable strategy to account for basis set superposition error (BSSE) in intermolecular complexes. The behavior of the CP correction was thoroughly studied in individual molecules of molecular complexes. This work studies the performance of the CP correction in many‐body clusters including three‐body clusters of organic compounds in the 3B‐69 dataset. Additionally, we used crystal structures of polymorphs of benzene, aspirin, and oxalyl dihydrazide (ODH) to construct a many‐body cluster dataset, abbreviated as the MBC‐36 dataset, consisting of two, four and eight molecules, and 16 molecules in the case of benzene. A series of Dunning's basis sets—cc‐pXZ and aug‐cc‐pXZ (X = D and T)—were used to predict CP‐corrected Hartree–Fock (HF) interaction energies of the 3B‐69 and MBC‐36 datasets. The CP‐corrected interaction energies were found to be basis‐set independent, whereas the non‐CP corrected interaction energies were found not to a follow a smooth exponential fitting as previously found for electronic energies of individual molecules. This observation was attributed to the presence of non‐additive induction forces in some clusters. Two 2 × 2 × 2 supercells of benzene polymorphs were constructed to explore the local nature of BSSE effects. A cut‐off radius of 10 Å was demonstrated to be sufficient to fully recover these effects. Although the behavior of CP correction was found to be non‐conventional in many‐body clusters of organic compounds, the use of a small basis set such as cc‐pVDZ showed excellent performance in the prediction of HF interaction energies.

In vitro study of redroot pigweed effects as weed plant species on leukemia

Redroot pigweed is a well-known allelopathic weed worldwide with diverse organic compounds which involving in its allelopathic interactions as well. Preliminary tests of redroot pigweed extract against leukemia and various human phatogenic microorganisms revealed that amaranth extract inhibits the viability and proliferation of NB4 cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner and has an excellent anti-bacterial effect on gram-positive bacteria and Candida fungi. Interestingly, the anti-luekemia effects of redroot pigweed is reported for the first time. Phytochemical analysis of redroot pigweed extract, led to the identification amaranth bioactive compounds that largely were including terpenoid compounds (51.71%) as the main group and Carvacrol (11.33%) was the key compound. Redroot pigweed contains various organic compounds with allelopathic and therapeutic properties and current investigation is a promising revelation for the pharmaceutical importance of this plant.

Trends in Innovations and Recent Advances in Membrane Protected Extraction Techniques for Organics in Complex Samples

Membrane protected extraction is an ongoing innovation for isolation and pre-concentration of analytes from complex samples. The extraction process, clean-up and pre-concentration of analytes occur in a single step. The inclusion of solid sorbents such as molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) after membrane extraction ensures that selective double extraction occurs in a single step. The first step involves selective extraction using the membrane and diffused analytes are trapped on the solid sorbent enclosed in the membrane. No further clean-up is required even for very dirty samples like plant extracts and wastewaters samples. Sample clean-up occurs during extraction in the first process and not as additional step since matrix components are prevented from trapping on the sorbent. This can be referred to as prevention is better than cure approach. In this work, the analytical methods that employed membrane protected extraction for various organics such as pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and pharmaceuticals are reviewed. The designs of these analytical methods, their applications, advantages and drawbacks are discussed in this review. Literature suggests that the introduction of solid sorbents in membrane creates the much-needed synergy in selectivity. Previous reviews focused on membrane combinations with MIPs while discussing micro-solid-phase extraction. The scope of this review was broadened to include other sample preparation aspects such as membrane protected stir bar solvent extraction and membrane protected solid-phase microextraction. In addition, novel sample preparation methods for solid samples which include Soxhlet membrane protected molecular imprinted solid phase extraction and membrane protected ultra sound assisted extracted are discussed.

Removal of organics from shale gas fracturing flowback fluid using expanded granular sludge bed and moving bed biofilm reactor

Shale gas fracturing flowback fluid contains various degradation difficulty organic compounds after hydraulic fracturing. A hybrid treatment method was developed for treating flowback and produced water (FPW) using pre-treatment (NaClO) followed by the expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) and moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was employed to detect organic composition in the FPW, the pre-treated FPW, EGSB and MBBR effluent. FPW had high chemical oxygen demand (COD) (3278 mg/L) and the majority of organic compounds in the FPW composed of alkanes and heteroatomic compounds with polymers and polarity. 20% COD removal was achieved after adding 5 g/L of NaClO in FPW (pH = 7, stirring for 20 mins) as pre-treatment and > C₃₀ alkanes in FPW were decomposed a lot in the pre-treatment process. The pre-treated FPW was diluted (volumetric ratio of 20%/50%) with synthetic wastewater/pure water. In the final stage of operation, Cl^- and COD concentration of influent to EGSB-MBBR system was around 7000 ± 100 mg/L and 3000 mg/L. EGSB-MBBR system achieved 93.84% COD removal rate, in which EGSB dominated COD removal (>80%). According to the GC-MS results, EGSB had an increase of C₁₁-C₃₀ compounds and a decrease of less C₁-C₁₀ content due to the consumption of  > C₃₀ compounds and low molecular weight (LWM) compounds. Meanwhile, aerobic microorganisms in MBBR metabolized LWM organics which contributed a lot to the COD removal (25.06∼68. 22%). The results indicated that the pre-treatment and biological EGSB-MBBR system could be an efficient option used for FPW treating.

The influence of acute water stresses on the biochemical composition of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) berries

BACKGROUND

Crops are exposed to recurrent and acute drought stress episodes during their vegetative and reproductive cycles, and these episodes are increasingly frequent due to ongoing climate change. Sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum), alias bell pepper, is one of the most widely cultivated vegetables and is grown in open fields worldwide. Here we assessed the effect of acute water stress, applied to a breeding line of sweet pepper at three stages of plant development: five true-leaves (Stage 1), production of the third flower (Stage 2) and setting of the first fruit (Stage 3), on the production and biochemical composition of its ripe fruits.

RESULTS

The water stress at Stages 1 and 2 induced a delay in fruit ripening, while at Stage 3 caused a drop in production. The biochemical composition of ripe fruits was assessed by quantifying their content in vitamin C, sugars, organic acids, flavonoids as well as 190 volatile organic compounds, mainly belonging to the chemical classes of hydrocarbons, alcohols, ketones, esters, terpenes, aldehydes and ethers. Our results highlight that, at different stages of plant development, acute water stresses modulate differently the accumulation of bioactive compounds in fruits, which play a key role in setting the redox-status and osmotic adjustment of the plant. This was also the case for volatile compounds since, within each chemical class, different compounds varied their content in ripe fruits.

CONCLUSIONS

On the whole, our results demonstrate that water stresses potentially affect the organoleptic and sensory qualities of bell pepper fruits depending on when they occur. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Removal of Pesticides from Waters by Adsorption: Comparison between Synthetic Zeolites and Mesoporous Silica Materials. A Review

Pesticides are pollutants found in wastewater due to increasing agricultural activities over the years. Inappropriate dosing of pesticides results in the dispersal of active ingredients in the environment. The complete removal of pesticides from wastewater is an immediate concern due to their high toxicity and mobility. At present, adsorption is one of the most widely used methods for pesticide removal, in which synthetic zeolites and mesoporous silica materials are extensively applied. This article presents a systematic and comparative review of the applications and comparison of these adsorbents, based on the data reported in the literature. The paper summarizes the information collected from various studies, including the type of adsorbents and pesticides used, experimental conditions, and results of each work. The studies analyzed were laboratory-based and show potential advantages for the treatment of pesticide-bearing waters using functionalized and unfunctionalized synthetic zeolites and mesoporous silica materials. As a whole, functionalized materials are reported to exhibit better removal performance for different pesticides than conventional materials. It is expected that the results of this review will help researchers to establish a powerful strategy for the abatement of pesticides in wastewater.

Determination of Organic Compounds, Fulvic Acid, Humic Acid, and Humin in Peat and Sapropel Alkaline Extracts

Black, brown, and light peat and sapropel were analyzed as natural sources of organic and humic substances. These specific substances are applicable in industry, agriculture, the environment, and biomedicine with well-known and novel approaches. Analysis of the organic compounds fulvic acid, humic acid, and humin in different peat and sapropel extracts from Lithuania was performed in this study. The dominant organic compound was bis(tert-butyldimethylsilyl) carbonate, which varied from 6.90% to 25.68% in peat extracts. The highest mass fraction of malonic acid amide was in the sapropel extract; it varied from 12.44% to 26.84%. Significant amounts of acetohydroxamic, lactic, and glycolic acid derivatives were identified in peat and sapropel extracts. Comparing the two extraction methods, it was concluded that active maceration was more efficient than ultrasound extraction in yielding higher amounts of organic compounds. The highest amounts of fulvic acid (1%) and humic acid and humin (15.3%) were determined in pure brown peat samples. This research on humic substances is useful to characterize the peat of different origins, to develop possible aspects of standardization, and to describe potential of the chemical constituents.

Dynamic histone acetylation in floral volatile synthesis and emission in petunia flowers

Biosynthesis of secondary metabolites relies on primary metabolic pathways to provide precursors, energy, and cofactors, thus requiring coordinated regulation of primary and secondary metabolic networks. However, to date, it remains largely unknown how this coordination is achieved. Using Petunia hybrida flowers, which emit high levels of phenylpropanoid/benzenoid volatile organic compounds (VOCs), we uncovered genome-wide dynamic deposition of histone H3 lysine 9 acetylation (H3K9ac) during anthesis as an underlying mechanism to coordinate primary and secondary metabolic networks. The observed epigenome reprogramming is accompanied by transcriptional activation at gene loci involved in primary metabolic pathways that provide precursor phenylalanine, as well as secondary metabolic pathways to produce volatile compounds. We also observed transcriptional repression among genes involved in alternative phenylpropanoid branches that compete for metabolic precursors. We show that GNAT family histone acetyltransferase(s) (HATs) are required for the expression of genes involved in VOC biosynthesis and emission, by using chemical inhibitors of HATs, and by knocking down a specific HAT gene, ELP3, through transient RNAi. Together, our study supports that regulatory mechanisms at chromatin level may play an essential role in activating primary and secondary metabolic pathways to regulate VOC synthesis in petunia flowers.

A Win-Win Combination to Inhibit Persistent Organic Pollutant Formation via the Co-Incineration of Polyvinyl Chloride E-Waste and Sewage Sludge

Persistent organic pollutant inhibition in the combustion process of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) by prior addition of an inhibitor is currently being studied, reducing the emission of pollutants, and thus reducing the large amount of waste PVC destined for landfill. In this work, the use of sewage sludge (SS) as an alternative to chemical inhibitors to improve the quality emissions of the incineration of polyvinyl chloride waste (PVC e-waste) was studied and optimized. Different combustion runs were carried out at 850 °C in a laboratory tubular reactor, varying both the molar ratio R_i (0.25, 0.50, 0.75) between inhibitors (N + S) and chlorine (Cl) and the oxygen ratio λ (0.15, 0.50) between actual oxygen and stoichiometric oxygen. The emissions of several semivolatile compounds families such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorobenzenes (ClBzs), and polychlorophenols (ClPhs), with special interest in the emissions of the most toxic compounds, i.e., polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs), were analyzed. A notable decrease in PCDD/F and dl-PCB formation was achieved in most of the experiments, especially for those runs performed under an oxygen-rich atmosphere (λ = 0.50), where the addition of sludge was beneficial with inhibition ratios Ri ≥ 0.25. An inhibition ratio of 0.75 showed the best results with almost a 100% reduction in PCDD/F formation and a 95% reduction in dl-PCB formation.