Time—energy budgets (TEB) of Gambel's Quail (Callipepla gambelii) were compiled during two summers in the Colorado Desert of California. Quail spent 6.77 h/d foraging, 6.2 h/d inactive during daylight hours, and 11.02 h/d inactive at night. Field metabolic rate (FMR) calculated from this activity budget was 81.8 kJ/d. Of this, 47.3 kJ/d was expended during foraging, 12.6 kJ/d in daytime inactivity, and 20.4 kJ/d in nighttime inactivity. Despite the extremely hot thermal environment (maximum ambient temperature °45°C), there was no energy cost above resting levels for thermoregulation. FMR was also measured simultaneously with doubly labeled water (DLW), and averaged 90.8 kJ/d. TEB and DLW values agreed to within 6% when differences in measurement period were taken into account. A laboratory validation study indicated that DLW and balance methods agreed to within 5%. The FMR of C. gambelii was only 40% of that predicted for a bird of its body mass. This low FMR is primarily the result of a low resting metabolic rate (RMR): 51% of the predicted basal rate in 1981, and 70% of predicted in 1982. The basis and significance of this low and variable RMR are unclear. Energy assimilation efficiency, measured in laboratory feeding experiments with a mixed seed and arthropod diet, was 60.3%. An individual quail in the field thus required 150.3 kJ/d in its diet, representing a dry matter intake of 8.1 g/d. A diet of seeds alone provides insufficient water for Gambel's Quail in summer, so they must either incorporate moist food items in their diet or drink free water. It was calculated that over the course of a year, a population of Gambel's Quail consumes seeds with a total energy content °15% as great as that in seeds consumed by a population of desert rodents or harvester ants in the same area. Gambel's Quail thus may be important factors in the competition for resources among desert granivores, particularly because they can eat one of their competitors (harvester ants).

Chukars (Alectoris chukar) and Sand Partridges (Ammoperdix heyi), two ground—dwelling phasianids, are permanent residents of the Negev desert and are sympatric over much of their ranges. Sand Partridges (body mass = 150—250 g), however, inhabit only arid and very arid areas, whereas Chukars (mb = 350—600 g) are widely distributed and inhabit deserts only at the margins of their ranges. We compared some of the desert adaptations of these phasianids by measuring the seasonal field metabolic rates (FMR) and water influxes (using doubly labelled water), diet selection, and food requirements of free—living Chukars and Sand Partridges at a site where both species occurred. Both species showed adaptation in the form of low energy metabolism, which ranged from 43 to 81% of that expected for birds of similar body mass. During summer, Sand Partridges had lower energy expenditures (5.47 kJ°g— ⁰ . ⁶ ¹°d— ¹) and water influxes 72.3 mL°kg— ⁰.⁷ ⁵°d— ¹) than did Chukars (6.42 kJ°g— ⁰ . ⁶ ¹°d— ¹ and 93.5 mL°kg— ⁰ . ⁷ ⁵°d— ¹, respectively), indicating more pronounced adjustments to arid conditions in the desert specialist. However, both species obtained more than half of their water influx in summer by drinking. Their summer diet was relatively dry, consisting mainly of seeds (80%) along with some green vegetation (18%) and, in Chukars, occasional arthropods. This situation changed abruptly after winter rains, which induced germination and reduced the availability of seeds. Chukars were unable to maintain energy balance in the face of low ambient temperatures and a diet (90% green vegetation) that contained much water but comparatively little energy, and they mobilized fat reserves to meet energy requirements. Most Sand Partridges left the study area after winter rains, apparently migrating to the lower elevation, warmer, and drier Arava (part of the Rift Valley). The winter rainy season appears to be the most stressful time of the year for both species. The adaptations to hot, dry conditions possessed by Sand Partridges may be accompanied by constraints on their abilities to cope with cool, wet conditions, and this may restrict them to arid and very arid habitats.

Cold plasma is an emerging non-thermal disinfection and surface modification technology which is chemical free, and eco-friendly. Plasma treatment of water, termed as plasma activated water (PAW), creates an acidic environment which results in changes of the redox potential, conductivity and in the formation of reactive oxygen (ROS) and nitrogen species (RNS). As a result, PAW has different chemical composition than water and can serve as an alternative method for microbial disinfection.This paper reviews the different plasma sources employed for PAW generation, its physico-chemical properties and potential areas of PAW applications. More specifically, the physical and chemical properties of PAW are outlined in relation to the acidity, conductivity, redox potential, and concentration of ROS, RNS in the treated water. All these effects are in microbial nature, so the applications of PAW for microbial disinfection are also summarized in this review. Finally, the role of PAW in improving the agricultural practices, for example, promoting seed germination and plant growth, is also presented.PAW appears to have a synergistic effect on the disinfection of food while it can also promote seedling growth of seeds. The increase in the nitrate and nitrite ions in the PAW could be the main reason for the increase in plant growth. Soaking seeds in PAW not only serves as an anti-bacterial but also enhances the seed germination and plant growth. PAW could potentially be used to increase crop yield and to fight against the drought stress environmental conditions.

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) elimination has been considered recently as the alternative to expensive biogas recovery to conquer environmental criticisms in the palm oil industry involving the release of biogas (i.e., a primary contributor towards climate change), during POME treatment. With POME elimination and mill-refinery integration considered, the integrated palm oil-based complex (POBC) serves as an appropriate system for sustainable food-energy-water (FEW) nexus evaluations. In this respect, multi-objective optimisation and debottlenecking of POBC has been suggested to address the economic and environmental trade-offs in palm oil mill (POM) for cleaner production. In this study, a stepwise debottlenecking framework was proposed to include previous fuzzy multi-objective optimisation approach and a new debottlenecking method to improve the fuzzy optimal POBC design and evaluate the impact of process on FEW nexus contributions. Each process creates distinctive impact or influence on the POBC performance. Shapley-Shubik Power Index (SSI) has been applied in the notion of power for yes-no voting systems. By evaluating the operate-fail possibilities of internal processes, SSI can be utilised to allocate the power of each process in achieving or failing the POBC performance target, prior to identifying the system bottleneck (SB) in terms of process stage. Therefore, a novel process-level debottlenecking approach with SSI incorporation for a sustainable FEW system was proposed. The SB of greatest impact on overall POBC performance within the fuzzy optimal flowsheet was identified based on SSI allocation and weightage assignment considering decision-maker's interest in multiple goals. Subsequently, the debottlenecked POBC flowsheet with improvement in SB process parameter was generated subjected to profit maximisation and environmental constraints. In this study, the nut/kernel separation and biomass cogeneration system was identified as the SB of fuzzy optimal POBC. The debottlenecked results show 0.8% and 51% of profit and net energy improvement upon 30% increment of boiler efficiency. The debottlenecked flowsheet is validated in the benefit-to-drawback ratio analysis with a feasible score of 3.9. The POME-eliminated POBC generated via the integrated multi-objective optimisation and debottlenecking framework is applicable for POM retrofit to secure 13%, 97% and 47% of improvements in terms of economic potential, greenhouse gas emissions and water footprint compared to the status quo biogas utilisation scenario. The results of the study could aid palm oil holders in real-life planning of budget distribution and maintenance schedule for process stages in the retrofitted POM.

The challenge in clean palm oil production falls on the management of palm oil mill effluent which is a notable source of greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution. To address these critics against edible palm oil, an integrated palm oil-based complex (POBC) considering effluent elimination and refinery integration is suitable for environmental-food-energy-water (EFEW) nexus development. Optimal retrofit of palm oil mill into EFEW nexus-integrated POBC requires multi-objective considerations to balance the trade-offs between profitability, energy contribution, greenhouse gas, water and land footprints via fuzzy optimisation. With limited practical knowledge, potential flowsheet modifications should be investigated for flexible POBC design. In a cooperative game context, interconnecting processes act as multiple players cooperating to achieve the goal of the game, i.e., POBC performance, where each player has a distinctive impact on the outcome. In this work, such process performance was suggested to be distributed using cooperative game model, to target the EFEW-based anchor process, i.e., the process stage of greatest contribution in the weighted EFEW nexus, for desired flowsheet advancement. Considering these aspects, an integrated fuzzy and cooperative game optimisation framework was developed to identify the anchor process of an EFEW nexus-integrated POBC. EFEW objective-based process performance allocation in the fuzzy optimal POBC was weighted by the decision-maker to allocate the anchor process using developed models and Excel tools. Nut/kernel separation and cogeneration stage is the EFEW-based anchor process in the fuzzy optimal POBC with EFEW nexus score of 41% in this work. A comparative analysis between the proposed method with other approach was done. The favourability of EFEW contributions by POBC in terms of benefit-drawback ratio increased with the percentage of boiler efficiency increment within the targeted anchor process. Targeting anchor process aids planning for process maintenance and advancement to avoid resource wastage on sub-critical processes.

The aim of this systematic review study was to investigate the causal relationship between environmental factors and gastric cancer (GC) in Iran. In a narrow definition, the environment includes water, soil, air, and food. This definition was the main criterion for the inclusion of articles in this study. In addition, exposure to radiation and geographical conditions were considered as less investigated environmental factors in the literatures. International (PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Cochran) and national (Scientific Information Database) databases were searched for articles on GC and environmental risk factors in Iran. Twenty-six articles were found to meet the inclusion criteria after title, abstract, and full text review. Risk factors identified for GC include consumption of red meat; high fat, fried, and salted meat; smoked, salted, and fried foods; some dairy products; roasted and fried seeds; strong and hot tea; and un-piped and unchlorinated drinking water, as well as exposure to radiation, loess sediment, soft and grassy soil, soil containing low concentration of molybdenum, and proximity to volcanos. Fresh fruits and vegetable, fresh fish, and honey consumption were recognized as protective agents. Given the risk factors identified, strategies to prevent GC would be educating people to choose a healthy diet and to cook and store food properly, providing access to safe drinking water, taking into account topographical and geographical conditions in choosing a right location to build residential areas, and regulating the use of radiation-emitting devices.

The aim of this study was to investigate antifungal and insecticidal activity of two microencapsulated antioxidants: 2(3)-tert-butyl-4 hydroxyanisole (BHA) and 2,6-di(tert-butyl)-p-cresol (BHT) against Aspergillus section Flavi and Oryzaephilus surinamensis (L.), a vector carrier of aflatoxigenic fungi on stored peanuts. Susceptibility of Aspergillus section Flavi, insects, and aflatoxin B1 accumulation in sterile peanut kernels conditioned at two different water activities (aw) (0.83 aw and 0.95 aw) was determined with different doses of antioxidant formulations (10, 20 and 30 mM) during 45 days. Moreover, Aspergillus section Flavi isolation frequency from live and dead insects was evaluated. The BHA formulation completely inhibited Aspergillus section Flavi development regardless of aw and doses assayed. Antifungal effect of microencapsulated BHT was highly dependent on aw, with 86–100% fungal inhibition at 20 and 30 mM, at the lowest aw (0.83 aw) and at the end of the experiment. No aflatoxin accumulation was detected in samples treated with the BHA formulation. In general, low levels of Aspergillus section Flavi were detected in dead insects. Our results show efficacy for 45 days, in addition microencapsulated BHT could be an alternative to control peanut pests in dry kernels.

Slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) with available chlorine concentrations (ACC) of 35 and 70 mg/L is used instead of regular production water for soaking pea (Pisum sativum L.) seeds and spraying the sprouts during seed sprouting. Sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) with the same ACC and tap water are used as a control in this study. The population of total bacteria, coliform, yeast and mold are determined at day 2, day 5, day 8, and day 11, respectively during seed sprouting. The biological indicators, nutritive indicators, and nitrite content after the sprouts are harvested are measured as well. The results indicate that when treated with SAEW, the counts of total bacteria, coliform, yeast and mold are reduced by 0.99–1.58 log CFU/g, 0.57–1.02 log CFU/g, and 1.01–1.22 log CFU/g respectively, compared to tap water treatment. Fresh weight, length, and edible rate of the sprouts significantly improve when treated with SAEW (p < 0.05). No evident adverse effects are observed in the nutritive indicators after SAEW treatment. In fact, a slight improvement (soluble sugar, flavonoid) was evident. Moreover, after a storage period of 7 d, the nitrite content of the sprouts was significantly lower in the SAEW treated samples than in any of other treatments. Therefore, SAEW could be a promising application in the production of pea sprouts to ultimately improve food safety.

The identification of CN– in water, seeds, and biological systems has, because of its high toxicity, attracted the increasing attention of many chemical industry researchers. In the work, a novel highly selective and reversible sensor, MMY, was shown to recognize CN– effectively. The color and fluorescent changes verified the interaction of MMY with CN–, and the fluorescence lifetime of MMY was also changed upon addition of CN–. A mode of interaction of MMY with CN– based on the results of various experiments was speculated. The LOD of MMY toward CN– was 9.4 × 10–¹⁰ M, lower than the concentration of CN– deemed acceptable by the WHO (World Health Organization) and the U.S. EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency). MMY showed good reversibility and reusability for detecting CN–. In addition, test slips and silica plates were both earned by ourselves, which were able to recognize CN– qualitatively. Additionally, MMY could recognize CN– in tap water quantitatively with the use of a smartphone APP. Interestingly, MMY was also used to detect CN– in seeds. It was valid to image CN– in Caenorhabditis elegans and mice with a vivid “turn-on” fluorescence. MMY thus can circulate in the bloodstream.

Recent outbreaks and recalls of low-moisture foods contaminated with Salmonella have been recognized as a major public health risk that demands the development of new Salmonella mitigation strategies and technologies. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of X-ray irradiation for inactivating Salmonella on or in almonds (kernels, meal, butter), dates (whole fruit, paste), and wheat (kernels, flour) at various water activities (aw) and storage periods. The raw materials were inoculated with Salmonella Enteritidis PT30, conditioned to 0.25, 0.45, and 0.65 aw in a humidity-controlled chamber, processed to various fabricated products, and reconditioned to the desired aw before treatment. In a storage study, inoculated almond kernels were stored in sealed tin cans for 7, 15, 27, and 103 weeks, irradiated with X ray (0.5 to 11 kGy, targeting up to a ∼2.5-log reduction) at the end of each storage period, and plated for Salmonella survivors to determine the efficacy of irradiation in terms of D10-value (dose required to reduce 90% of the population). Salmonella was least resistant (D10-value = 0.378 kGy) on the surface of almond kernels at 0.25 aw and most resistant (D10-value = 2.34 kGy) on the surface of dates at 0.45 aw. The Salmonella D10-value was 61% lower in date paste than on whole date fruit. Storage of almonds generally had no effect on the irradiation resistance of Salmonella over 103 weeks. Overall, these results indicate that product structure (whole, meals, powder, or paste), water activity (0.25 to 0.65 aw), and storage period (0 to 103 weeks) should be considered when determining the efficacy of X-ray irradiation for inactivating Salmonella in various low-water-activity foods.