Thesis (M.Sc.)--York University, 2005. Graduate Programme in Earth and Space Science. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 139-147). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss &rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR11793

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Iowa, 2007. / Supervisor: Gregory Carmichael. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-136).

The spreading of infection is a significant and well-known problem in all healthcare environments today. The most prevalentways that infection spreads are either by direct contact between two individuals where one has an infection, or with anintermediate person or object as an infection carrier. This thesis aims to evaluate a method that could operate to disinfect thetype of medical equipment which is not suited to be disinfected by the commercially existing methods. In keeping with the long term goal of preventing the spread of infection, this project evaluates an ozone cabinet according to itsantimicrobial properties and investigates if the cabinet is suited to work as a disinfectant for some chosen test objects. Theobjects were borrowed from different hospital institutions at Motala Lasarett and the antimicrobial effect was evaluatedaccording to the reduction of colony forming units (CFUs) of samples taken from the object's surfaces after the treatment. The results show that the ozone cabinet is not able to kill bacterial spores (Geobacillus stearothermophilus), but could be veryefficient at killing living bacteria. Concentration setting 4 (56 ppm) in combination with a treatment period of at least 40minutes proves bacterial reductions varying between 83-98 %. Nevertheless, the sources of error are numerous and there is agreat variation between identical runs which indicates that more studies need to be performed in order to obtain clearer results.

Severe ozone depletion in the polar lower stratosphere has been linked to significant changes in tropospheric circulation patterns in the both hemispheres. Observed Southern Hemisphere circulation changes are easily reproduced in climate models and may be achieved by either increasing ozone depleting substances in a chemistry-climate model(CCM) or by imposing observed ozone losses as a zonally-symmetric perturbation in a prescribed-ozone global circulation model (GCM). In the Northern Hemisphere however, only the CCM method produces a circulation response in agreement with analysis of observations, while the GCM method is unable to produce any significant tropospheric circulation changes from imposing observed zonal-mean Arctic ozone losses. Confidence in a mechanistic link between Arctic stratospheric ozone change and changes in tropospheric circulation is greatly increased if the change can be reproduced using a GCM in addition to being reproducible in a CCM. This thesis demonstrates that by allowing ozone to vary along longitude, and by imposing ozone depletion during a realistic timeframe, the GCM method can produce circulation changes compatible with both the CCM method and observations. An equivalent-latitude coordinate allows the prescribed ozone field, and imposed ozone losses, to follow the polar vortex as it is systematically disturbed or displaced off the pole throughout the winter, producing a realistic circulation response in the troposphere in contrast to when ozone and its imposed losses are zonally-symmetric. Timing the imposed ozone depletion with the breakup of the polar vortex reveals that the appearance of the circulation response is very sensitive to the relative timing of these events and to the pre-existing dynamical state of the polar vortex. These results demonstrate that prescribing ozone as a zonally symmetric climatology within a GCM, as has been recent practice in the literature, is only representative of the Southern Hemisphere and is inappropriate for accurately representing processes within the Arctic stratosphere. Moreover this work demonstrates that these dynamically-evolving zonal asymmetries in ozone, which are not present in zonally-symmetric ozone schemes, play a crucial role in allowing perturbations in the Arctic stratosphere to influence the troposphere and surface conditions.

Capes / INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Modified starches are obtained by the treatment of starch suspensions with an oxidizing agent to convert hydroxyl groups to carbonyl groups and carboxyl groups, providing starch with interesting properties in the field of food manufacturing, such as neutral taste, adhesion to surfaces, low viscosity binding, transparency gels and low tendency to retrogradation. Different oxidizing treatments have been applied to obtain cassava starch with good expansion properties. In the present study, the changes that occurred in cassava starch subjected to ozone/hydrogen peroxide and the effect of oxidation on the functional properties and expansion of modified starch with the objective of get through this treatment, starches free of metal waste and with favorable expansion properties, clarity and low viscosity are of particular interest in food applications. METHODS: To study the effect of the independent variables, i.e. ozone dosage (1, 3 and 5 g) and hydrogen peroxide content (0.25, 0.5 and 0.75%), on the amylose content, specific volume of biscuits, sum of carbonyl and carboxyl groups, paste viscosity nd intrinsic viscosity, we used the method of experimental research following a 22 composite rotational design with four axial testing conditions, four factorial trials and two repetitions at the central point, for a total of eleven randomized trials. MAIN RESULTS: The modified starches showed different properties compared to the native starch, as evidenced mainly by greater reducing power and swelling. Chemical oxidation was evidenced by an increase in the carbonyl content, as well as reduced solubility and intrinsic viscosity of amylose. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The observed differences in the physicochemical properties of native starch and modified starches using experimental research design were attributed to the differences are more specific material evaluated in this experiment, since oxidation occurred mainly in amorphous starch granules. The comparative analysis between the modified starches and native starch showed that chemical oxidation increased the content of carbonyl and carboxyl groups, increased solubility and reduced the intrinsic viscosity of amylose and decreased swelling. However, the paste viscosity and the gelation temperature were higher in the oxidized starches compared to the native starch. This was evidenced by the expansion property increase nd the specific volume of biscuits when compared to the standard. Response surface analysis showed that the combination of ozone and hydrogen peroxide had an antagonistic effect and only ozone influenced the functional properties of starch. / INTRODUÇÃO E OBJETIVOS: Os amidos oxidados são obtidos através do tratamento de suspensões de amidos com um agente oxidante, que transformam seus grupos hidroxilas em grupos carbonilas e carboxilas, conferindo-lhes propriedades de interesse na área de industrialização de alimentos, tais como sabor neutro, aderência a superfícies, baixa viscosidade de pasta, géis transparentes e baixa tendência a retrogradar. Diferentes tratamentos oxidantes têm sido aplicados para a obtenção de amido de mandioca com propriedade de expansão. No presente estudo discute-se a modificação ocorrida no amido de mandioca submetido ao par ozônio/peróxido de hidrogênio e o efeito da oxidação nas propriedades funcionais e de expansão do amido modificado, com o objetivo de obter através desse tratamento, amidos isentos de resíduos metálicos e com propriedade de expansão, claridade de pasta e baixa viscosidade, de interesse em aplicações alimentícias específicas. MÉTODOS: Para estudar o efeito das variáveis independentes, dosagem de ozônio (1, 3 e 5g) e teor de peróxido de hidrogênio (0,25, 0,5 e 0,75%) sobre propriedade de pasta, claridade de pasta, teor de amilose, volume específico dos biscoitos, somatório de carbonila e carboxila, poder de inchamento e solubilidade e viscosidade intrínseca usou-se o método de pesquisa experimental, seguindo delineamento composto rotacional 22, com 4 ensaios nas condições axiais, 4 ensaios fatoriais e 2 repetições no ponto central, no total de 11 ensaios distribuídos aleatoriamente. PRINCIPAIS RESULTADOS: Os amidos modificados obtidos apresentaram diferentes propriedades em relação ao amido nativo, evidenciadas, principalmente, pela maior poder redutor e inchamento. A oxidação química foi evidenciada pelo aumento do teor carbonilas, solubilidade e redução na viscosidade intrínseca e no teor de amilose. DISCUSSÃO E CONCLUSÃO: As diferenças observadas nas propriedades físico-químicas do amido nativo e dos amidos oxidados conforme delineamentos da pesquisa experimental são atribuídos às diferenças mais específicas do material avaliado no experimento, visto que a oxidação ocorreu principalmente na região amorfa do grânulo de amido. Na análise comparativa entre os ensaios e o amido nativo, observou-se a oxidação química pelo aumento no teor de carbonilas e carboxilas, de solubilidade e de redução da viscosidade intrínseca e amilose, e diminuição do inchaço. No entanto, a viscosidade de pasta e a temperatura de gelatinização foram maiores nos amidos oxidados em comparação com amido nativo. Evidenciou-se a propriedade de expansão pelo aumento no volume específico (16,03mLg-1) dos biscoitos quando comparada ao padrão. A análise de superfície de resposta indica que a combinação de ozônio e peróxido de hidrogênio tem efeito antagônico e que somente o ozônio influencia nas propriedades funcionais do amido. / 5000-12

M.Ing. (Electrical & Electronic Engineering) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Master of Science / Food Science Institute / Jayendra K. Amamcharla / Fouling and biofilm formation on stainless-steel (SS) surfaces can be sources for cross-contamination and pose a great threat to the public health and food quality. The dairy industry needs an intervention strategy focusing on technologies discouraging the biofilm attachment and developing a sustainable eco-friendly approach for biofilm removal from the dairy processing surfaces. Since fouling encourages the attachment of bacteria to the SS surfaces, it becomes important to study the ways of reducing the fouling. The bacterial attachment to the fouled SS surfaces can be prevented by modifying the SS surface properties by chemical (using coatings) or mechanical methods. On the other hand, the degree of fouling can also be reduced by using good quality raw materials. The objective-1 of the study was focused on understanding the relationship between effect of milk protein concentrate (MPC80) solubility characteristics and fouling on SS surfaces during thermal processing. The powders were stored at different temperatures (25 ºC and 40 ºC) for 2 weeks to generate powders with different dissolution characteristics. Fouling characteristics of reconstituted MPC80 powder were studied using a custom-built benchtop plate heat exchanger. Exposing the MPC80 powder to a higher temperature during storage (40 ºC) significantly decreased the solubility and increased the amount of foulant on SS coupons (P < 0.05). Microscopic investigations (scanning electron microscopy and laser scanning confocal microscopy) of resulting fouled layers revealed heterogeneous fouling layers of varying tomographies, consisting of lipids, proteins, and calcium. In the second study, the efficacy of Micro- and Nano-bubble aqueous ozone (MNAO) as a disinfectant was studied in removal of Bacillus cereus and Bacillus licheniformis biofilm from the SS surface. For the Bacillus cereus biofilm removal, a log reduction of only 0.68 cfu/cm2 was observed after the de-ionized water wash. Whereas both MNAO and cleaning-in-place (CIP) treatments significantly reduced the bacterial counts by 2.43 and 2.88 log10 cfu/cm2, respectively. On the other hand, for the Bacillus licheniformis biofilm removal from SS surfaces, a significant log reduction observed was 1.45, 3.03, 2.92 log10 cfu/cm2, respectively after de-ionzed water, MNAO, and CIP treatments. Thus, it was observed that MNAO has great potential for removal of Bacillus cereus and Bacillus licheniformis biofilms from the SS surface, and can be used in the dairy industry as an effective sanitizer/disinfectant

In the mid-1800s, monitoring networks were established to investigate atmospheric composition impacts, and the conditions giving rise to them. The development of these networks, in terms of coordination and standardisation between contributing sites, has resulted in large advances in knowledge of the nature of atmospheric composition. Currently thousands of sites collect high quality atmospheric composition measurements globally. This thesis contends that in order to maximise the information derived from these measurements, a further advancement in standardisation is required to encompass the interpretation of monitoring network data. Currently there are limited examples of a common interpretation of data applied across all sites in a monitoring network, especially in relation to specific atmospheric composition impacts. In this thesis, a ‘chemical climatology’ framework is outlined which provides a common basis for targeting analysis towards identifying the linkage between a specific atmospheric composition impact and its causal drivers. Case studies apply the chemical climatology framework to demonstrate its utility in deriving scientific and policy relevant conclusions using measurement data from the UK monitoring supersites located at Harwell and Auchencorth. Prior to this, the representativeness of each site is quantified through the application of cluster analysis to ozone data at 100 rural European sites to identify groupings of sites with similar ozone variation. Harwell was representative of rural locations within 120 km of London, while Auchencorth was representative of a larger, transboundary spatial domain including the remainder of the rural UK. The first case study links the impact of ozone on human health (quantified by SOMO10 and SOMO35 metrics) and vegetation (flux-based PODY) to meteorological and emissions drivers. Between 1990 and 2013 at Harwell, there was a significant decrease in the contribution of European ozone to determining the impacts. Improvement in the human health impact was heavily dependent on the choice of metric (SOMO35 decreased, no change in SOMO10), and the vegetation impacts had not improved as high ozone episodes frequently coincided with plant conditions which reduced ozone uptake. These chemical climates emphasise the need for ozone mitigation on larger (hemispheric) scales than currently implemented. Secondly, the impact of 27 measured VOCs on the extent of the regional ozone increment is assessed. The photochemical loss of VOCs is then linked to reported gridded VOC emissions using air mass back trajectory analysis. Ethene and m+p-xylene had the largest diurnal photochemical loss during maximum monthly regional ozone increment, but the key conclusion was the limitation introduced through the reporting of gridded VOC emissions in heavily aggregated source sectors. Finally, the conditions producing the long term health impact of particulate matter (quantified by annual average PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations) at each site are derived through integration of measurements of PM10 and PM2.5 with measurements of PM constituents. It is shown that the frequent, moderate PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations made a larger contribution to annual average values compared to the relatively infrequent high, episodic concentrations. The contribution of PM constituents and the contribution of local vs regional emissions to the range of PM concentrations is investigated. It was concluded that similar reductions in the contribution of secondary inorganic aerosol to the moderate PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations could be achieved from both the reduction of frequently traversed, smaller emissions sources, and less frequently traversed, larger emissions sources. The final chapter demonstrates the benefits from the extension of this framework to an entire monitoring network. It is envisioned that for each atmospheric composition impact, a standard set of statistics would be calculated which quantify the ‘impact’, ‘state’ and ‘drivers’ of that chemical climate. Calculation of ozone human health chemical climates across 100 European monitoring sites demonstrate this concept. This standardised interpretation of monitoring network data not only allows consistent comparison of an impact, but the common basis for determining how the impact is derived allows for the consideration of novel mitigation strategies and their spatial applicability.

No description available.

Ozone readings which exceeded the National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 120 ppbv were recorded in Miami, Florida during 1978 and 1980. Similar elevated concentrations of ozone extended across upper Florida and into the Southeastern portion of the United States. It is concluded that tropospheric transport of ozone into the Miami area occurs. This conclusion is supported by lead analyses of atmospheric samples taken in Miami and by isentropic trajectories. Six case studies are presented. In all cases transport of ozone into Florida appears to occur. In only four of the cases does this result in elevated ozone levels in Miami. In one case lower Florida was experiencing an oceanic influx of air and low ozone concentrations. In the other case Miami was experiencing a stagnation and high ozone concentrations apparently generated locally. The long range transport of ozone across the Southeastern United States appears to result from circulation within a weather pattern characterized by a stagnant high pressure system over the Southeastern United States.