Degradation of gaseous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by a novel UV-ozone technology.

In this study, a UV-assisted ozonation (UV/O3) process for the degradation of VOCs emissions with a final scrubbing phase was implemented to evaluate the removal efficiency of toluene and to prevent the release of polluting intermediates of the single-step process. Inlet toluene concentration and applied voltage were varied in order to investigate several operating conditions. The results highlighted that at higher inlet concentration the abatement of toluene was lower, while increase in ozone concentration led to an increase of the degradation efficiencies. The additional water scrubbing step enhanced the abatement of UV/O3 up to 98.5%, due to the solubilisation of ozone and by-products in the process water and, thus, the further oxidation of the contaminants within this phase. A maximum Elimination Capacity (ECmax) of 22.6 g m-3 h-1 was achieved with the UV/O3 + Scrubbing. The combined system boosted higher performance and stability compared to the stand-alone (UV/O3) process along with a more economical and environmental sustainability.

Next-generation of instrumental odour monitoring system (IOMS) for the gaseous emissions control in complex industrial plants.

Odour emissions from complex industrial plants may cause potential impacts on the surrounding areas. Consequently, the validation of effective tools for the control of the associated environmental pressures, without hindering economic growth, is strongly needed. Nowadays, senso-instrumental methods by using Instrumental Odour Emissions Systems (IOMSs) is among the most attractive tool for the continuous monitoring of environmental odours, allowing the possibility of obtaining real-time information to support the decision-making process and proactive approach. The systems complexity and scarcity of real data limited their wider full-scale employment. The study presents an advanced prototype of IOMS for the continuous classification and quantification of the odours emitted in ambient air by complex industrial plants, to continuously control the plants emissions with backwards approach. The IOMS device was designed and optimized and included the system for the automatic control of the conditions inside the measurement chamber. The designed operational procedures were presented and discussed. Results highlighted the influence of temperature and air flow rate for the measurement repeatability. Accurate prediction model was created and optimized and resulted able to distinguish 3 different industrial odour sources with accuracy approximately equal to 96%. The models were optimized thanks to the software features, which allowed to automatically apply the designed statistical procedures on the identified dataset with different pre-processing approach. The usefulness of having a fully-developed and user-friendly flexible system that allowed to select and automatically compare different settings options, including the different feature extraction methods, was demonstrated in order to identify the best prediction model.

Synthesized esters of ferulic acid induce release of cytochrome c from rat testes mitochondria.

Ferulic acid plays a chemopreventive role in cancer by inducing tumor cells apoptosis. As mitochondria play a key role in the induction of apoptosis in many cells types, here we investigate the mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) and the release of cytochrome c induced by ferulic acid and its esters in rat testes mitochondria, in TM-3 and MLTC-1 cells. While ferulic acid, but not its esters, induced MPT and cytochrome c release in rat testes isolated mitochondria, in TM-3 cells we found that both ferulic acid and its esters induced cytochrome c release from mitochondria in a dose-dependent manner, suggesting a potential target of these compounds in the induction of cell apoptosis. The apoptosis induced by ferulic acid is therefore associated with the mitochondrial pathway involving cytochrome c release and caspase-3 activation.

An inventory to assess psychopathology of mentally retarded adults.

An inventory of psychopathology (self-report and informant versions) was developed for mentally retarded adults. The inventory was administered to 110 retarded adults from institutional (n = 59) and community (n = 51) settings. Data indicated that both versions of the instrument showed acceptable levels of internal consistency and test-retest reliability. In addition, the correlations between self-report and informant versions were low but significant for selected symptom clusters. To provide preliminary evidence regarding the clinical utility of the measure, we examined the relationship of diagnosis of depression (based on informant ratings) to other measures of psychopathology. The diagnosis of depression on the informant version of the inventory corresponded to other self-report and clinical ratings of dysfunction. The feasibility of this instrument in identifying psychopathology among retarded persons and its future use as a screening instrument for additional psychiatric evaluation were discussed.

Diagnosis and drug use in mentally retarded, emotionally disturbed adults.

Inpatient and outpatient, emotionally disturbed, borderline to severely mentally retarded adults (N = 110) were assessed to evaluate the relationship of medication to psychiatric diagnosis and symptomatology. Patients were assessed on the Psychiatric Instrument for Mentally Retarded Adults, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, and the Social Performance Survey Schedule--a measure of social adaptation. All these instruments had been modified for use with mentally retarded persons. Comparisons were made evaluating patients receiving major tranquilizers, anticonvulsant and antianxiety drugs, by diagnostic category. Furthermore, an assessment was made of inpatients versus outpatients, based on amount of medication prescribed. It was found that considerable variation in the numbers of drugs and the amount of drug used occurred, based on the type of psychiatric condition, particularly those on informant data on schizophrenia, affective disorder, and adjustment reaction disorder. Implications of these and related results for psychotropic drug use with mentally retarded emotionally disturbed persons are discussed.

Psychometric properties of the psychopathology instrument for mentally retarded adults.

One hundred and ten adults, from borderline to severe levels of mental retardation, were assessed through the outpatient clinic of a university-affiliated mental health center and a large state psychiatric hospital. These patients were included only after they had demonstrated the ability to respond to questions of similar difficulty to those presented in the Psychopathology Instrument for Mentally Retarded Adults. This measure was designed by the authors based on DSM III criteria, and covered seven types of psychopathology including schizophrenia, depression, psychosexual disorders, adjustment disorder, anxiety, somatoform disorders, and personality problems. In the present study the psychometric properties of the scale were reviewed and/or evaluated including internal consistency of items and test-retest reliability, and factor analysis.

Assessment of depression in mentally retarded adults.

Depression and psychopathology were assessed in 110 adult patients (ages 18-71 years) classified as borderline, mildly, moderately, or severely mentally retarded. Patients completed modified versions of the Beck Depression Inventory, the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, the MMPI depression scale, the Thematic Apperception Test, and the Psychopathology Instrument for Mentally Retarded Adults. Clinicians and ward personnel rated the patients on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and an informant version of the Psychopathology Instrument for Mentally Retarded Adults. The measures correlated significantly with each other and were consistently related to the diagnosis of depression.

Development of a rating scale to assess social skill deficits in mentally retarded adults.

In the current study, two experiments were conducted to establish the reliability of a scale developed with persons of normal intelligence for the assessment of social skill deficits and excesses of the mentally retarded. The experiment was divided into two studies. The first was aimed at establishing which of the 100 items could be accurately rated by having pairs of staff independently score 22 mild and moderately retarded adults who were outpatients at a local community mental health center. A correlation of r = .30 was established as a minimum cut off for reliability. With this criterion, 57 items were selected from the scale for further testing. In the second study, 207 different patients from the same outpatient clinic, from the mental retardation center of a nearby state psychiatric hospital and from Champaign, Illinois, were assessed on the 57-item Social Performance Survey Schedule. A factor analysis was then run and four subscales of the assessment instrument were established. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Verbal behaviors in depressed and nondepressed mentally retarded persons.

Thirty depressed and 30 nondepressed mentally retarded adults were selected from an initial pool of 110 patients seen at either inpatient or outpatient psychiatric settings in western Pennsylvania. These two groups were compared on each of 14 operationally defined behaviors in an analogue interview setting. Despite the fact that these behaviors are typically considered to characterize depression, no difference was found between the depressed and nondepressed groups. A discussion of the possibilities for these results is made.