This book describes a robust, low-cost electrochemical sensing system that is able to detect hormones and phthalates - the most ubiquitous endocrine disruptor compounds - in beverages and is sufficiently flexible to be readily coupled with any existing chemical or biochemical sensing system. A novel type of silicon substrate-based smart interdigital transducer, developed using MEMS semiconductor fabrication technology, is employed in conjunction with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to allow real-time detection and analysis. Furthermore, the presented interdigital capacitive sensor design offers a sufficient penetration depth of the fringing electric field to permit bulk sample testing. The authors address all aspects of the development of the system and fully explain its benefits. The book will be of wide interest to engineers, scientists, and researchers working in the fields of physical electrochemistry and biochemistry at the undergraduate, postgraduate, and research levels. It will also be highly relevant for practitioners and researchers involved in the development of electromagnetic sensors.

This book describes different approaches for solving industrial problems like product design, process optimization, quality enhancement, productivity improvement and cost minimization. Several optimization techniques are described. The book covers case studies on the applications of classical as well as evolutionary and swarm optimization tools for solving industrial issues. The content is very helpful for industry personnel, particularly engineers from the Operation, R&D and Quality Assurance sectors, and also the academic researchers of different engineering and/or business administration background.

Low water activity (aw) and dried foods such as dried dairy and meat products, grain-based and dried ready-to-eat cereal products, powdered infant formula, peanut and nut pastes, as well as flours and meals have increasingly been associated with product recalls and foodborne outbreaks due to contamination by pathogens such as Salmonella spp. and enterohemorrhagic E. coli. In particular, recent foodborne outbreaks and product recalls related to Salmonella-contaminated spices have raised the level of public health concern for spices as agents of foodborne illnesses. Presently, most spices are grown outside the U.S., mainly in 8 countries: India, Indonesia, China, Brazil, Peru, Madagascar, Mexico and Vietnam. Many of these countries are under-developed and spices are harvested and stored with little heed to sanitation. The FDA has regulatory oversight of spices in the United States; however, the agency's control is largely limited to enforcing regulatory compliance through sampling and testing only after imported foodstuffs have crossed the U.S. border. Unfortunately, statistical sampling plans are inefficient tools for ensuring total food safety. As a result, the development and use of decontamination treatments is key. This book provides an understanding of the microbial challenges to the safety of low aw foods, and a historic backdrop to the paradigm shift now highlighting low aw foods as vehicles for foodborne pathogens. Up-to-date facts and figures of foodborne illness outbreaks and product recalls are included. Special attention is given to the uncanny ability of Salmonella to persist under dry conditions in food processing plants and foods. A section is dedicated specifically to processing plant investigations, providing practical approaches to determining sources of persistent bacterial strains in the industrial food processing environment. Readers are guided through dry cleaning, wet cleaning and alternatives to processing plant hygiene and sanitation. Separate chapters are devoted to low aw food commodities of interest including spices, dried dairy-based products, low aw meat products, dried ready-to-eat cereal products, powdered infant formula, nuts and nut pastes, flours and meals, chocolate and confectionary, dried teas and herbs, and pet foods. The book provides regulatory testing guidelines and recommendations as well as guidance through methodological and sampling challenges to testing spices and low aw foods for the presence of foodborne pathogens. Chapters also address decontamination processes for low aw foods, including heat, steam, irradiation, microwave, and alternative energy-based treatments.

"A comprehensive guide to solid-state chemistry which is ideal for all undergraduate levels. It covers well the fundamentals of the area, from basic structures to methods of analysis, but also introduces modern topics such as sustainability." Dr. Jennifer Readman, University of Central Lancashire, UK "The latest edition of Solid State Chemistry combines clear explanations with a broad range of topics to provide students with a firm grounding in the major theoretical and practical aspects of the chemistry of solids." Professor Robert Palgrave, University College London, UK Solid State Chemistry: An Introduction 5th edition is a fully revised edition of one of our most successful textbooks with at least 20% new information. Solid-state chemistry is still a rapidly advancing field, contributing to areas such as batteries for transport and energy storage, nanostructured materials, porous materials for the capture of carbon dioxide and other pollutants. This edition aims, as previously, not only to teach the basic science that underpins the subject, but also to direct the reader to the most modern techniques and to expanding and new areas of research. The user-friendly style takes a largely non-mathematical approach and gives practical examples of applications of solid state materials and concepts. A notable and timely addition to the 5th edition is a chapter on sustainability written by an expert in the field. Examples of how solid state chemistry contribute to sustainability are also given in relevant chapters. Other new topics in this edition include cryo-electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ESCA) and covalent organic frameworks. A companion website offering accessible resources for students and instructors alike, featuring topics and tools such as quizzes, videos, web links and more has been provided for this edition. New in the Fifth Edition A companion website which offers accessible resources for students and instructors alike, featuring topics and tools such as quizzes, videos, web links and more A new chapter on sustainability in solid-state chemistry written by an expert in this field Cryo-electron microscopy X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ESCA) Covalent organic frameworks Graphene oxide and bilayer graphene Elaine A. Moore studied chemistry as an undergraduate at Oxford University and then stayed on to complete a DPhil in theoretical chemistry with Peter Atkins. After a two-year postdoctoral position at the University of Southampton, she joined the Open University in 1975, becoming a lecturer in chemistry in 1977, senior lecturer in 1998, and reader in 2004. She retired in 2017 and currently has an honorary position at the Open University. She has produced OU teaching texts in chemistry for courses at levels 1, 2, and 3 and written texts in astronomy at level 2 and physics at level 3. She was team leader for the production and presentation of an Open University level 2 chemistry module delivered entirely online. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She was co-chair for the successful Departmental submission of an Athena Swan bronze award. Lesley E. Smart studied chemistry at Southampton University, United Kingdom. After completing a PhD in Raman spectroscopy, she moved to a lectureship at the (then) Royal University of Malta. After returning to the United Kingdom, she took an SRC Fellowship to Bristol University to work on X-ray crystallography. From 1977 to 2009, she worked at the Open University chemistry department as a lecturer, senior lecturer, and Molecular Science Programme director, and she held an honorary senior lectureship there until her death in 2016. At the Open University, she was involved in the production of undergraduate courses in inorganic and physical chemistry and health sciences. She served on the Council of the Royal Society of Chemistry and as the chair of their Benevolent Fund.

This book explores the interconnections and differentiations between artisanal workshops and alchemical laboratories and between the arts and alchemy from Antiquity to the eighteenth century. In particular, it scrutinizes epistemic exchanges between producers of the arts and alchemists. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the term "laboratorium" uniquely referred to workplaces in which chemical operations were performed: smelting, combustion, distillation, dissolution and precipitation. Artisanal workshops equipped with furnaces and fire in which chemical operations were performed were also known as laboratories. Transmutational alchemy (the transmutation of all base metals into more noble ones, especially gold) was only one aspect of alchemy in the early modern period. The practice of alchemy was also about the chemical production of things--medicines, porcelain, dyes and other products as well as precious metals and about the knowledge of how to produce them. This book uses examples such as the "Uffizi" to discuss how Renaissance courts established spaces where artisanal workshops and laboratories were brought together, thus facilitating the circulation of materials, people and knowledge between the worlds of craft (today s decorative arts) and alchemy. Artisans became involved in alchemical pursuits beyond a shared material culture and some crafts relied on chemical expertise offered by scholars trained as alchemists. Above all, texts and books, products and symbols of scholarly culture played an increasingly important role in artisanal workshops. In these workplaces a sort of hybrid figure was at work. With one foot in artisanal and the other in scholarly culture this hybrid practitioner is impossible to categorize in the mutually exclusive categories of scholar and craftsman. By the seventeenth century the expertise of some glassmakers, silver and goldsmiths and producers of porcelain was just as based in the worlds of alchemical and bookish learning as it was grounded in hands-on work in the laboratory. This book suggests that this shift in workshop culture facilitated the epistemic exchanges between alchemists and producers of the decorative arts."

Provides a summary of non-equilibrium glassy and amorphous structures and their macro- and microscopic thermal properties.

The book contains a carefully selected works of fourteen internationally recognized scientists involving the advances of the physics and chemistry of the glassy and amorphous states.

This volume examines the interrelated fields of food security, energy security and sustainable agriculture as the key to a stable global agricultural platform and is arranged in six parts. The first part is focused on policy considerations relating to food and energy security and sustainable agriculture. The authors from this part include Former Under Secretary of Agriculture Gale Buchanan, Former Under Secretary of Energy Raymond Orbach (Chapter 1), Stephen Hughes, Bryan Moser and William Gibbons (Chapter 2) and Thomas Redick (Chapter 3). Part II addresses soil and water, which are two of the key components in secure and sustainable food production. Authors from this part are Jerry Hatfield (Chapter 4) and Mahbub Alam, Sharon Megdal et al. (Chapter 5). The third part covers sustainable and secure food production specifically addressing genetically modified traits in Chapter 6 (James McWilliams) and omega-3 fatty acids in Chapter 7 (Jay Whelan et al.). Agronomic implications relative to food security and sustainable agriculture are described in Part IV. Authors include Ravi Sripada, Pradip Das et al. (Chapter 8), Duska Stojsin, Kevin Matson and Richard Leitz (Chapter 9) and S.H. Lee, David Clay and Sharon Clay (Chapter 10). International sustainable agriculture and food security is addressed in Part V with authors Jeff Vitale and John Greenplate (Chapter 11), Julie Borlaug et al. (Chapter 12) and Sylvester Oikeh et al. (Chapter 13). The final part covers the use of chemicals in sustainable agriculture and food/energy security with Leonard Gianessi and Ashley Williams communicating the role of herbicides and Harold Reetz emphasizing the importance of fertilizers both in maximizing crop yields to maintain a sustainable secure source for food production."

Special distillation processes are required for separation of mixtures close to boiling point or for forming azeotrope mixtures into their pure components. In Special Distillation Processes, the authors focus on latest developments in the field, such as separation methods that may prove useful for solving problems encountered during research. Topics include extraction, membrane and adsorption distillation involving the separation principle, process design and experimental techniques. The relationship between the processes and the techniques are also presented. Comprehensive and easy-to-read, this book provides key information needed to understand the processes and is a valuable reference source for chemical engineers as well as students wishing to branch out in chemical engineering.
* The only comprehensive book available on special distillation processes
* Contains a thorough introduction to recent developments in the field
* A valuable reference for students and engineers in chemical engineering

Researchers in polymeric membranes as well as R&D professionals will find this work an essential addition to the literature. It concentrates on the method recently developed to study the surfaces of synthetic polymeric membranes using an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), which is fast becoming a very important tool. Each chapter includes information on basic principles, commercial applications, an overview of current research and guidelines for future research.

The 5th volume of Green Chemical Processing considers sustainable chemistry in the context of governmental and corporate interests, explaining how "red tape" can help or hinder the "greening" of industry processes. The American Chemical Society's 12 Principles of Green Chemistry are woven throughout this text as well as the series to which this book belongs.

This book systematically covers immunoassays for food, presenting detailed approaches such as antigen design, food matrix pre-treatment and detection format optimization for 9 classes of food hazards and nutrition constituents. Offering ideas on how to improve the efficiency of recognized xenobiotics and food contents, this practical book also describes the discovery and utilization of novel immune agents like aptamer and molecular imprinted polymers in food analysis. It is intended for a broad range of areas, including biologists and food chemists, and is sure to become a key reference resource for students and professionals alike.

This book addresses and analyzes the mechanisms responsible for functionality of two technologically relevant materials, giving emphasis on the relationship between structural transitions and electromechanical properties. The author investigates the atomic crystal structure and microstructure by means of thermal analysis, as well as diffraction and microscopy techniques. Electric field-, temperature- and frequency-dependent electromechanical properties are also described. Apart from this correlation between structure and properties, characterization was also performed to bridge between basic research and optimization of application-oriented parameters required for technological implementation. The author proposes guidelines to the reader in order to engineer functional properties in other piezoelectric systems, as well as in other similar functional materials with the perovskite structure.

This book provides important insights into the combustion behavior of novel energy crops and agricultural fuels. It describes a new experimental approach to combustion evaluation, involving fundamental, bench-scale and commercial-scale studies. The studies presented were conducted on two representative biomass energy crops: a woody biomass poplar (Populus sp. or poplar) and an herbaceous biomass brassica (Brassica carinata or brassica). Moreover, agricultural residues of Manihot esculenta or cassava were also analyzed. The main accomplishments of this work are threefold. Firstly, it offers an extensive characterization of the above-mentioned fuels, their ash chemistry and their emissions of both solid particles and gaseous compounds that form at typical grate combustion conditions. Secondly, it presents an in-depth analysis of ash fractionation processes for major ash species. Thirdly, it describes the role of some critical and volatile key elements (K, Cl, S and P) in grate-fired combustion systems and elucidates the main differences in the ash chemistry during combustion of Si-rich and P-rich fuels. All in all, this work provides novel insights on the basic and fundamental mechanisms of biomass grate combustion with a special focus on ash transformation and highlights important issues and recommendations that need to be considered for an appropriate conversion of ash-rich fuels and for the development of future technology in the context of both small- and medium-scale biomass-based heat and power production.

This is the Proceedings of III Advanced Ceramics and Applications conference, held in Belgrade, Serbia in 2014. It contains 25 papers on various subjects regarding preparation, characterization and application of advanced ceramic materials.

Modeling and Control of Batch Processes presents state-of-the-art techniques ranging from mechanistic to data-driven models. These methods are specifically tailored to handle issues pertinent to batch processes, such as nonlinear dynamics and lack of online quality measurements. In particular, the book proposes: a novel batch control design with well characterized feasibility properties; a modeling approach that unites multi-model and partial least squares techniques; a generalization of the subspace identification approach for batch processes; and applications to several detailed case studies, ranging from a complex simulation test bed to industrial data. The book's proposed methodology employs statistical tools, such as partial least squares and subspace identification, and couples them with notions from state-space-based models to provide solutions to the quality control problem for batch processes. Practical implementation issues are discussed to help readers understand the application of the methods in greater depth. The book includes numerous comments and remarks providing insight and fundamental understanding into the modeling and control of batch processes. Modeling and Control of Batch Processes includes many detailed examples of industrial relevance that can be tailored by process control engineers or researchers to a specific application. The book is also of interest to graduate students studying control systems, as it contains new research topics and references to significant recent work. Advances in Industrial Control reports and encourages the transfer of technology in control engineering. The rapid development of control technology has an impact on all areas of the control discipline. The series offers an opportunity for researchers to present an extended exposition of new work in all aspects of industrial control.

This edited volume provides insight into temperate fruits, with an emphasis on postharvest physiology, storage, packaging and technologies for maintaining fruit quality. Chapters are devoted to individual fruits and focus on fundamental issues such as methods for maintaining or enhancing quality, minimizing postharvest losses, and recommended technologies to boost demand. Contributions come from experts in the field, making this a key reference for all aspects of postharvest management of temperate fruits. The volume is unique in its focus on the biodiversity, nutritional and health benefits, and postharvest technologies for shelf life enhancement of temperate fruits. Contributing authors address the postharvest biology and technology of individual temperate fruits such as plum, cherry, peach, apricot, apple, pear, quince, loquat, kiwi, persimmon and berries. There has been tremendous growth in the research and development of new techniques to maintain the quality of temperate fruits from farm to table. Contributions from experts in the field cover these recent advances, providing up-to-date and relevant information for researchers, postharvest/fruit technologists, food scientists, postgraduate students, and others working in the industry.

Many cooling systems use water as cooling medium. They are found in public buildings, industrial production systems or power plants. Almost every cooling system using water is degraded by deposition, corrosion and microbiological fouling.

This book identifies the whole bunch of problems due to water cooling systems and proposes specific solutions to all of them. The authors have an expertise of over 20 years solving cooling water problems. In this book, they advise all practitioners which need to plan, buy or operate cooling systems.

One of the recent developments in regard to food safety is the legal change that consumers have a right to be sold safe food, and that the primary producer is now part of the process, which must guarantee the delivery of safe products.

This volume is a collection of papers covering various aspects of an important group of botanicals which have long been used to improve the flavor of food. It contains fresh material prepared especially for it by researchers and other technically trained workers from universities, government and industrial research groups and industry worldwide.

It will be of great value to food scientists, medical researchers, analytical and synthetic organic chemists, chefs, and all those involved with, and interested in, food and food flavours in general.

This book discusses the current biomaterials used for dental applications and the basic sciences underpinning their application. The most critical structures in the oral cavity are the teeth, which play a central role in speaking, biting, chewing, tasting and swallowing. Teeth consist of three types of tissue: the cementum, enamel and dentin, with bone and gingival tissue serving as supporting structures. Caries, tooth wear, trauma and mechanical defects can lead to severe facial conditions; however, correcting these defects remains a challenge for scientists and dentists. Presenting insights form a broad range of disciplines, including materials science, biology, physiology and clinical science, this book provides a timely review of the principles, processing and application of dental materials.

This book is designed to integrate the basic concepts of food safety with current developments and challenges in food safety and authentication. The first part describes basics of food safety, classification of food toxins, regulation and risk assessment. The second part focuses on particular toxins like mycotoxins, aromatic amines, heavy metals, pesticides, and polycyclic hydrocarbons. Recent developments and improvements in the detection of these contaminants are described. The third part deals with the authenticity and adulteration of food and food products, a topic which affects food trade on a national and international level.