Spectroscopic Analysis of Star-forming Regions in the Spiral Galaxy NGC 628

NGC 628 is one of many spiral galaxies that has been observed and analyzed to determine the chemical composition. Since there have been improvements in the methods of analysis recently, this paper finds new values for the electron temperatures within this galaxy. Additionally, it brings up a previously unnoticed iron line contamination problem that has affected the [O iii] temperatures and fluxes. Temperature results are compared against, the most recent chemical analysis of the same galaxy.

Unsafe at Low Levels: Adopt a Federal MCL for 1,2,3-Trichloropropane in United States’ Drinking Water

1,2,3-trichloropropane (TCP) is a toxic, man-made chemical used widely in agricultural and other contexts from the 1940s to the 1980s. TCP has settled into the groundwater supplies nearly everywhere it was used. In 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) included TCP on the Third Contaminant Candidate list (CCL3) and listed the safe oral reference dose (RfD) for TCP at 0.004 milligrams per kilogram per day. Since then, we have learned that the scope of the TCP contamination problem is greater than first understood. At least 13 states and one territory have contaminated wells. Animal studies show that TCP is a potent carcinogen, and toxicology studies suggest that TCP is unsafe at levels at and above its 5 ppt detection limit. Three states, California, Hawaii, and New Jersey have adopted enforceable maximum contaminant levels of TCP in groundwater. As other states become aware of contamination levels, it is likely that some of them will also regulate TCP, but that could take many years. Federal legislation could mandate EPA advisories sooner than state legislation. The EPA has used the detection limit as the maximum for at least one other chemical, 1,2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP), a common co-contaminant of TCP. We recommend that the EPA adopt TCP’s lowest detection level, 5 ppt, as the federal maximum contaminant level

Physicochemical and Microbial Quality of Prepackaged Shrimp Processed by a Scaled-Up Microwave-Assisted Induction Heating Technology

A second generation and scaled-up equipment, named Aligo-2TM (microwave-assisted induction heating, MAIH) with a sample capacity of approximately 1.0 L was designed and invented by Bottle Top Machinery Co., Ltd., Taiwan. Pre-packaged raw shrimps were heated in a scaled-up system using heating temperatures of 130 °C and 90 °C for 80 to 150 s, and the physicochemical and microbial qualities were evaluated. The total plate count, psychrotrophic bacteria count, and coliform levels decreased as heating time increased, whereas the cooking loss, color (L*, a*, and W) value, and texture increased. When shrimps were heated for the longest time of 120 s at 130 °C or 150 s at 90 °C, they displayed obvious overcooked, shrunken, and dry appearance. To obtain samples that showed a red color, cooked well, and had no microbial count, better heating conditions for the processing of pre-packaged shrimps via the MAIH scale-up system were 130 °C for 100 s or 90 °C for 130 s. This novel and scaled-up MAIH equipment provides shrimp to be cooked after being packed, thereof avoiding the post-contamination problem.

EGMM video surveillance for monitoring urban traffic scenario

PurposeIn the traffic monitoring system, the detection of stirring vehicles is monitored by fitting static cameras in the traffic scenarios. Background subtraction a commonly used method detaches poignant objects in the foreground from the background. The method applies a Gaussian Mixture Model, which can effortlessly be contaminated through slow-moving or momentarily stopped vehicles.Design/methodology/approachThis paper proposes the Enhanced Gaussian Mixture Model to overcome the addressed issue, efficiently detecting vehicles in complex traffic scenarios.FindingsThe model was evaluated with experiments conducted using real-world on-road travel videos. The evidence intimates that the proposed model excels with other approaches showing the accuracy of 0.9759 when compared with the existing Gaussian mixture model (GMM) model and avoids contamination of slow-moving or momentarily stopped vehicles.Originality/valueThe proposed method effectively combines, tracks and classifies the traffic vehicles, resolving the contamination problem that occurred by slow-moving or momentarily stopped vehicles.

Design of a contamination-free microfluidic device for Electrolyte-Gated Organic Field-Effect Transistor (EGOFET) biosensors

In this work a new microfluidic platform is designed and validated to remove analyte contamination problem in EGOFETs biosensors.

Light-Induced Advanced Oxidation Processes as PFAS Remediation Methods: A Review

PFAS substances, which have been under investigation in recent years, are certainly some of the most critical emerging contaminants. Their presence in drinking water, correlated with diseases, is consistently being confirmed by scientific studies in the academic and health sectors. With the aim of developing new technologies to mitigate the water contamination problem, research activity based on advanced oxidation processes for PFAS dealkylation and subsequent mineralization is active. While UV radiation could be directly employed for decontamination, there are nevertheless considerable problems regarding its use, even from a large-scale perspective. In contrast, the use of cheap, robust, and green photocatalytic materials active under near UV-visible radiation shows interesting prospects. In this paper we take stock of the health problems related to PFAS, and then provide an update on strategies based on the use of photocatalysts and the latest findings regarding reaction mechanisms. Finally, we detail some brief considerations in relation to the economic aspects of possible solutions.

Inline Index Helped in Cleaning up Data Contamination Generated During Library Preparation and the Subsequent Steps

High-throughput sequencing involves library preparation and amplification steps, which may induce contamination across samples or between samples and the environment. We tested the effect of applying an inline-index strategy, in which DNA indices of 6 bp were added to both ends of the inserts at the ligation step of library prep for resolving the data contamination problem. Our results showed that the contamination ranged from 0.29–1.25% in one experiment and from 0.83–27.01% in the other. We also found that contamination could be environmental or from reagents besides cross-contamination between samples. Inline-index method is a useful experimental design to clean up the data and address the contamination problem which has been plaguing high-throughput sequencing data in many applications.

Nitro-oxidized Carboxycellulose Nanofibers From Moringa Plant: Effective Bioadsorbent for Mercury Removal

Mercury contamination in drinking water is a worldwide problem due to its severely harming effects on the human body. A nanostructured natural bioadsorbent, carboxycellulose nanofiber extracted from raw moringa plant using the nitro-oxidation method (termed NOCNF), capable of effectively remediating this problem has been demonstrated. Nitro-oxidation is a simple approach that can extract carboxylated nanocellulose directly from raw biomass. In this study, the produced NOCNF contained a large density of carboxylate groups on the cellulose surface (0.97 mmol/g), capable of removing Hg2+ ions by simultaneous electrostatic-interactions and mineralization processes. Using the Langmuir analysis, the adsorption results indicated that the highest Hg2+ removal capacity of this NOCNF was 257.07 mg/g, which is higher than most of the reported values. The interactions between Hg2+ and NOCNF were further characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with electron diffraction and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) methods, suggesting the existence of two distinct removal mechanisms: predominant adsorption at low Hg2+concentrations (< 250 ppm) and predominant mineralization at high Hg2+ concentrations (> 1000 ppm). The applications of NOCNF were illustrated in both suspension form, as an adsorbent/coagulant, and dry powder form using filtration column. The results indicated that NOCNF in suspension exhibited a higher maximum removal efficiency of 81.6 % as compared to the dry state of 74.3 %. This work demonstrated the feasibility of extracting nanostructured adsorbents from biomass feedstocks to tackle the Hg2+ contamination problem in drinking water.