Production Levels Research Articles

How to Assess Digitisation Impacts on the Food Industry: The Dutch Case of Microdata Collection for Firms’ Sustainability

SummaryDigital innovations can increase resilience and sustainability of food businesses due to for instance increasing efficiency, reducing pollution or improving transparency about production conditions. However, much of the research on this topic has been done at the primary production level, i.e. on technology impacts on farms, or remains at an ex‐ante case study level when looking at digital technology impacts in downstream food businesses. Therefore, ex‐post impacts of digital technologies after their adoption are largely unknown.We here argue that this knowledge gap arises from the fact that we lack single company data (i.e. micro‐data) on the adoption of digital technologies in food businesses. Only with this information can actual impacts of these technologies be assessed using causal inference methods. As a way forward, we highlight a unique dataset of digital technology adoption among Dutch downstream food businesses that is available for research purposes. We show that digital technologies already have a considerable market penetration in the Netherlands. Therefore, we urge the scientific community and governmental statistical offices to collect and make available similar data globally and make use of the already existing data. Such impact assessments will inform and accelerate the transition towards more sustainable and resilient food value chains.

Experimental evolution of yeast shows that public-goods upregulation can evolve despite challenges from exploitative non-producers

Microbial secretions, such as metabolic enzymes, are often considered to be cooperative public goods as they are costly to produce but can be exploited by others. They create incentives for the evolution of non-producers, which can drive producer and population productivity declines. In response, producers can adjust production levels. Past studies suggest that while producers lower production to reduce costs and exploitation opportunities when under strong selection pressure from non-producers, they overproduce secretions when these pressures are weak. We challenge the universality of this trend with the production of a metabolic enzyme, invertase, by Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which catalyses sucrose hydrolysis into two hexose molecules. Contrary to past studies, overproducers evolve during evolutionary experiments even when under strong selection pressure from non-producers. Phenotypic and competition assays with a collection of synthetic strains - engineered to have modified metabolic attributes - identify two mechanisms for suppressing the benefits of invertase to those who exploit it. Invertase overproduction increases extracellular hexose concentrations that suppresses the metabolic efficiency of competitors, due to the rate-efficiency trade-off, and also enhances overproducers’ hexose capture rate by inducing transporter expression. Thus, overproducers are maintained in the environment originally thought to not support public goods production.

An Innovative Vision-Guided Feeding System for Robotic Picking of Different-Shaped Industrial Components Randomly Arranged

Within an industrial plant, the handling of randomly arranged objects is becoming increasingly popular. The technology industry has introduced ever more powerful devices to the market, but they are often unable to meet the demands of the industry in terms of processing times. Using a multi-component feeder, which facilitates the automatic picking of objects arranged in bulk, is the ideal element to speed up the identification of objects by the vision system. The innovative designed feeder eliminates the dead time of the vision system since the feeder has two working surfaces, thus making the viewing time hidden in relation to the total handling cycle time. In addition, the step feeder integrated into the feeder structure allows for control over the number of objects that fall onto the work surface, optimizing the material flow. The feeder was designed to palletize aluminum hinge fins but can also handle other products with different shapes and sizes. A two-dimensional (2D) vision system is integrated into the robotic cell to identify the components to be palletized, obtaining a reduced cycle time. The innovative feeder is fully adaptable to industrial applications and allows for easy integration into the robotic cell in which it is installed; by testing its operation with different aluminum fins, male and female, significant results were obtained in terms of cycle times ranging from 1.44 s to 1.68 s per piece, with an average productivity level (PL) of 1175 pcs every 30 min.

Detection of Coffee Leaf Miner Using RGB Aerial Imagery and Machine Learning

The sustainability of coffee production is a concern for producers around the world. To be sustainable, it is necessary to achieve satisfactory levels of coffee productivity and quality. Pests and diseases cause reduced productivity and can affect the quality of coffee beans. To ensure sustainability, producers need to monitor pests that can lead to substantial crop losses, such as the coffee leaf miner, Leucoptera coffeella (Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae), which belongs to the Lepidoptera order and the Lyonetiidae family. This research aimed to use machine learning techniques and vegetation indices to remotely identify infestations of the coffee leaf miner in coffee-growing regions. Field assessments of coffee leaf miner infestation were conducted in September 2023. Aerial images were taken using remotely piloted aircraft to determine 13 vegetative indices with RGB (red, green, blue) images. The vegetation indices were calculated using ArcGis 10.8 software. A comprehensive database encompassing details of coffee leaf miner infestation, vegetation indices, and crop data. The dataset was divided into training and testing subsets. A set of four machine learning algorithms was utilized: Random Forest (RF), Logistic Regression (LR), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD). Following hyperparameter tuning, the test subset was employed for model validation. Remarkably, both the SVM and SGD models demonstrated superior performance in estimating coffee leaf miner infestations, with kappa indices of 0.6 and 0.67, respectively. The combined use of vegetation indices and crop data increased the accuracy of coffee leaf miner detection. The RF model performed poorly, while the SVM and SGD models performed better. This situation highlights the challenges of tracking coffee leaf miner infestations in fields with varying ages of coffee plants, different cultivars, and other environmental variables.

Treatment with Gac Fruit Extract and Probiotics Reduces Serum Trimethylamine N-Oxide in Chronic Kidney Disease Rats.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects more than 850 million people worldwide, contributing to morbidity and mortality, particularly through cardiovascular disease (CVD). The altered composition in CKD patients leads to increased production and absorption of uremic toxins such as trimethylamine (TMA) and its oxidized form, trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), which are associated with cardiovascular risks. This study investigated the potential of supplementary interventions with high-carotenoid-content gac fruit extract and probiotics to mitigate serum TMAO by modulating the gut microbiota. We conducted an animal study involving 48 male Wistar rats, divided into six groups: the control, CKD control, and four treatment groups receiving gac fruit extract, carotenoid extract, or combinations with Ligilactobacillus salivarius and Lactobacillus crispatus and Lactobacillus casei as a standard probiotic. CKD was induced in rats using cisplatin and they were supplemented with choline to enhance TMA production. The measures included serum creatinine, TMAO levels, gut microbiota composition, and the expression of fecal TMA lyase and intestinal zonula occluden-1 (ZO-1). CKD rats showed increased TMA production and elevated serum levels of TMAO. Treatment with gac fruit extract and selective probiotics significantly altered the composition of the gut microbiota by decreasing Actinobacteriota abundance and increasing the abundance of Bacteroides. This combination effectively promoted ZO-1 expression, reduced fecal TMA lyase, and subsequently lowered serum TMAO levels, demonstrating the therapeutic potential of these interventions. Our results highlight the benefits of gac fruit extract combined with probiotics for the effective reduction in serum TMAO levels in rats with CKD, supporting the further exploration of dietary and microbial interventions to improve outcomes in patients with CKD.

Cannabis consumers’ preferences for legal and illegal cannabis: evidence from a discrete choice experiment

BackgroundIn U.S. states that legalized and commercialized recreational cannabis, cannabis sales in illegal markets are still sizable or even larger than those in legal markets. This study aimed to assess cannabis consumers’ preferences for purchasing cannabis from legal and illegal markets and estimate the trade-offs under various policy scenarios.Methods963 adults were recruited, who used cannabis in the past year and lived in a state with recreational cannabis legalization. In a discrete choice experiment, participants chose purchasing cannabis from a legal dispensary or an illegal dealer with varying levels in product attributes including quality, safety, accessibility, potency, and price. Mixed logit models were used to analyze preferences.ResultsThe likelihood of choosing legal cannabis increased with a higher quality, the presence of lab test, a shorter distance to seller, a higher tetrahydrocannabinol level, and a lower price. The likelihood of choosing illegal cannabis increased with a higher quality, a shorter distance to seller, and a lower price. Among product attributes, quality and accessibility were perceived to be the most important for legal cannabis and price was perceived to be the most important for illegal cannabis. Policy simulations predicted that improving quality, ensuring safety, allowing delivery services, increasing dispensary density, and lowering prices/taxes of legal cannabis may reduce illegal cannabis market share.ConclusionsIn the U.S., cannabis consumers’ preferences for illegal cannabis were associated with both legal and illegal cannabis product attributes. Policies regulating legal cannabis markets should consider potential spillover effects to illegal markets.

Deciphering the differences of bacterial communities between high- and low-productive wheat fields using high-throughput sequencing.

Microbial communities have been demonstrated to be essential for healthy and productive soil ecosystems. However, an understanding of the relationship between soil microbial community and soil productivity levels is remarkably limited. In this study, bulk soil (BS), rhizosphere soil (RS), and root (R) samples from the historical high-productive (H) and low-productive (L) soil types of wheat in Hebei province of China were collected and analyzed by high-throughput sequencing. The study highlighted the richness, diversity, and structure of bacterial communities, along with the correlation networks among different bacterial genera. Significant differences in the bacterial community structure between samples of different soil types were observed. Compared with the low-productive soil type, the bacterial communities of samples from the high-productive soil type possessed high species richness, low species diversity, complex and stable networks, and a higher relative abundance of beneficial microbes, such as Pseudoxanthomonas, unclassified Vicinamibacteraceae, Lysobacter, Massilia, Pseudomonas, and Bacillus. Further analysis indicated that the differences were mainly driven by soil organic matter (SOM), available nitrogen (AN), and electrical conductivity (EC). Overall, the soil bacterial community is an important factor affecting soil health and crop production, which provides a theoretical basis for the targeted regulation of microbes in low-productivity soil types.

How Productivity, Capital Investment, Employment, Human Capital and Energy Are Affecting Economic Growth in Morocco? An ARDL, FMOLS, DOLS and CCR Approaches

Abstract This paper aims to scrutinize the effects of; productivity, capital investment, human capital, employment and energy intensity; on economic growth in Morocco under the Energy-augmented Cobb Douglas production function (CDPF) framework, using extended data from 1965 to 2022. The ADF unit root test confirmed the existence of cointegration among variables, then, the ARDL BTA/ECM model proved the presence of long-term relationship within, in which the explanatory variables progress all together positively and proportionally to generate economic growth, just as stipulate the standard CDPF. The outputs reliability was validated by FMOLS, DOLS, and CCR tests. Results implies that an additional unit in GDP corresponds, in terms of units to, 1.87 in productivity level, 0.12 in capital investment, 4.19 in of human capital, 0.98 in labor force and 2.52 in energy intensity, that Moroccan economy is human capital intensive unlike when it comes to physical capital. In the light of this findings, we think that Morocco should accelerate its industrial transition, proceed to a large modernization and mechanisation of its agriculture in order to inspire more productivity to its entire economy, keep acting in the sense of more structural reforms to improve the business environment, share out the public spending equitably following two dimensions, physical by upgrading local infrastructure to attract more investments, human by promoting human capital through education and social protection.

Quantifying the impact of trade liberalization on Lao imports (evidence from product-level data)

AbstractIn pursuing economic development after market-oriented reforms, Lao PDR has actively liberalized imports through engagement in regional and multilateral trade agreements. However, a substantial research gap exists in assessing the impact of this liberalization, especially in terms of ex-post empirical studies, which are essential for nuanced policy evaluation. This study aims to thoroughly quantify the impact of tariff liberalization on Lao imports, specifically examining how the elimination of tariffs under regional trade and multilateral trade schemes affects Lao imports. In this study, a balanced gravity panel dataset at a product level from 2013 to 2022 was constructed using data from the Lao Official Import Management Database for a standard gravity model analysis. Results of this analysis reveal that tariff liberalization has significantly boosted Lao imports with an elasticity of -0.327. Counterfactual analysis strengthens this finding, indicating an approximate 6.7% increase in the average value of imports from 2018 to 2022.

Does supply chain transparency affect corporate cleaner production? A study based on the risk spill-over perspective

Taking the Chinese A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2021 as the research sample, this article empirically tests the influence and mechanism of supply chain transparency on enterprise behaviour from the perspective of enterprise cleaner production. First, supply chain transparency has a significant governance effect on enterprise cleaner production. Second, compared with enterprises in high-concentration markets and eastern regions, this governance effect is more significant in low-concentration markets and central and western regions of China. Through the mechanism research, it is found that supply chain transparency can improve the level of enterprise cleaner production through the path of risk spill-over. Finally, the enterprises with weaker dialogue rights in supply chain information disclosure have a stronger governance effect, and this disclosure method has an alternative governance effect on enterprise green information disclosure. This study not only helps to enrich the research on the internal mechanism of enterprise cleaner production from the perspective of supply chain transparency but also guides the information disclosure system to promote enterprise cleaner production.

A study on the performance of corn grain dryer using hybrid solar drying with liquefied petroleum gas

Corn is a widely produced and consumed agricultural product, used as fuel, staple food, and livestock feed. The high level of corn production can lead to potential post-harvest food losses. Drying methods offer a solution to extend the shelf life of a substance. Hybrid solar drying, which combines solar drying with additional heating, particularly using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), was introduced in this research to ensure faster and more efficient drying processes. The three drying methods compared in this study consist of open sun drying, natural solar drying, and hybrid solar drying. The research results show an average corn grain moisture content of 13.95% over 10.5 hrs, 13.75% over 6 hrs, 13.65% over 7 hrs, 13.45% over 5 hrs, and 13.65% over 4.5 hrs in open sun drying, natural solar drying, and hybrid solar drying with temperature variables of 40°C, 50°C, and 60°C. The average drying rates were 0.212 g/min, 0.364 g/min, 0.318 g/min, 0.439 g/ min, and 0.477 g/min, respectively. The average drying efficiency values for each variable were 2.968%, 4.719%, 5.358%, 5.271%, and 6.037%. In the proximate test, the corn grain moisture content in the hybrid solar drying variable at 60°C was 13.8%, ash was 1.24%, protein was 7.76%, fat was 4.40%, and carbohydrate was 72.8%. For the corn grain color test, the average values obtained were L = 46.48, a = 4.58, and b = 25.37. Meanwhile, the aflatoxin test for dried corn grains showed values of aflatoxin B1, B2, G1, and G2 <0.5 with a total aflatoxin content <2.00. Therefore, hybrid solar drying is recommended over open sun drying and natural solar drying because of its ability to operate even in unfavorable weather conditions, its temperature control capability, its ability to accelerate the drying process, and its capacity to maintain the quality of the material.

Defining Risk: Hepatitis A Virus in Philippine Shellfish (Oyster and Mussels)

The hepatitis A virus (HAV) endemicity in the Philippines ranges from moderate to high. Despite this, health risks related to local seafood consumption are associated with red tide or mass fish kill. However, government agencies should consider the safety of local shellfish and culture sites to HAV. This article examines the current trends relevant to the presence of HAV along the local shellfish supply chain – including production levels, microbial concentration, consumer behavior, and food safety regulations. Despite the susceptibility of local shellfish to HAV, the study identified crucial data gaps: [1] reliance on bacterial indicators, [2] absence of monitoring records for HAV concentration in local shellfish products and culturing sites, and [3] limited studies regarding the effect of local cooking practices on HAV inactivation. The synthesis of this analysis will guide the national food safety risk managers in addressing the identified data gaps to facilitate a full-blown food risk analysis of HAV in Philippine shellfish.

Digital transformation of enterprises: Job creation or job destruction?

In recent years, the technological advancements embodied by digital technology have received significant attention from policymakers and researchers because of their profound impacts on the economy and society. In particular, the relationship between digital technology and employment continues to be a subject of considerable debate. This article focuses on the microperspective, and the causal effects and mechanisms of corporate digital transformation on labour employment are examined. With the use of data on Chinese A-share manufacturing companies from 2008– to 2019, text analysis is employed in this study to construct a comprehensive index of corporate digital transformation. We utilise a combination of fixed effects models, difference-in-differences (DiD) models, and instrumental variable methods and demonstrate that digital transformation stimulates enterprise labour demand, a conclusion that remains valid after multiple endogeneity tests and robustness assessments. The heterogeneous results indicate that nonstate-owned enterprises (non-SOEs), nonhigh-tech enterprises, enterprises with low financing constraints, and small enterprises exhibit greater employment creation effects through digital transformation. Mechanistic analysis suggests that digital transformation increases enterprise employment by increasing operational and management efficiency, profitability, and labour productivity levels. Further exploration reveals that digital transformation increases the demand for labour with varying skills and human capital upgrading in enterprises. This article, through the lens of digital technology, enriches the body of research on the nexus between technological progress and employment, provides novel insights into employment fluctuations under the digital paradigm, and outlines significant implications for countries balancing digital economy development, employment growth, and social stability.

Effect of Manure Dosage on the Growth and Yield of Bambara Beans through a Multilocation Test

The purpose of this study is to determine the suitability and productivity level of Bambara beans in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, especially to determine and examine the effect of the use of organic fertilizer from livestock manure on the growth and yield of Bambara beans. The implementation of the study involved a multi-location test of Bambara bean cultivation in three subdistricts, namely Tempel, Sedayu, and Cangkringan. In these three areas, manure was applied with 3 dose variations, namely 10 tons/Ha, 20 tons/ha and 30 tons/ha. The study was arranged in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) where each treatment was carried out with 3 replication plots. The test results showed that the dose of manure was not significantly different from the production of Bambara beans. Therefore, a dose of manure of 10 tons/ha can be recommended to achieve higher economic benefits in Bambara bean cultivation. In addition, based on the evaluation of the growth phase and plant yield, the location of Bambara bean planting in Tempel gave higher yields compared to Sedayu and Cangkringan. Bambara bean cultivation in Tempel can produce 686.45 g/plot. Keywords: Bambara beans, Growth, Multilocation test, Organic fertilizer, Yield.

13C-labelled Glucose Reveals Shifts In Fermentation Pathway During Cathodic Electro-Fermentation With Mixed Microbial Culture.

Cathodic Electro Fermentation (CEF) is an innovative approach to manage the spectrum of products deriving from anaerobic fermentation. Herein, mixed microbial culture fermentation using a ternary mixture containing labelled 13C glucose and non-labelled acetate and ethanol was studied to identify the role of polarization on the metabolic pathways of glucose fermentation. CEF at an applied potential of -700 mV (vs. SHE, Standard Hydrogen Electrode) enhanced the production yield of acetate, propionate, and butyrate (0.90 ± 0.10, 0.22 ± 0.03, and 0.34 ± 0.05 mol/mol; respectively) compared to control tests performed at open circuit potential (OCP) (0.54 ± 0.09, 0.15 ± 0.04 and, 0.21 ± 0.001 mol/mol, respectively). Results indicate that CEF affected the 13C labelled fermented product levels and their fractional 13C enrichments, allowing to establish metabolic pathway models. This work demonstrates that, under cathodic polarization, the abundance of both fully 13C labelled propionate and butyrate isotopomers increased compared to control tests. The effect of CEF is mainly due to intermediates initially produced from the glucose metabolic transformation in the presence of non-labelled acetate and ethanol as external substrates. These findings represent a significant advancement in current knowledge of CEF, which offers a promising tool to control mixed cultures bioprocesses.

Field-grown lettuce production optimized through precision irrigation water management using soil moisture-based capacitance sensors and biodegradable soil mulching

AbstractScientists, environmentalists, and farmers are currently in pursuit of sustainable agricultural practices that can effectively ensure global food security while simultaneously mitigating environmental degradation. A field experiment was conducted to elucidate the impact of low-cost capacitance soil moisture-based sensors on lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) irrigation water conservation, agro-physiological aspects, and nutritional characteristics. The experiment also involved the use of five different types of soil mulching films: white geotextile (WGup), green geotextile (GGup), black plastic (BPup), white geotextile for both above and below ground (WGup-down), green geotextile for both above and below ground (GGup-down), in addition to un-mulched soil (control). The findings demonstrated that the application of WGup, BPup, WGup&down, and GGup&down resulted in a significant improvement in irrigation water conservation, with WGup exhibiting the highest savings at 41.86%, while the control group exhibited the least amount of water savings at 19.87%. Moreover, the highest productivity levels were observed in plants mulched with GGup&down, reaching 47,944.68 kg ha−1, whereas the lowest productivity was recorded in plants mulched with green geotextile GGup at 22,377.89 kg ha−1. In terms of irrigation water productivity (IWP), the order of effectiveness was BPup > GGup-down > WGup > WGup-down > GGup > Control, with BPup achieving the highest IWP at 60.19 kg m−3 and the control treatment reporting the lowest at 27.80 kg m−3. The percentage of the irrigation water applied for crop evapotranspiration (Irc) showed that the control treatment saved the least amount of irrigation water, saving only 19.87%, while the best treatment was WGup, achieved the highest percentage of irrigation water savings at 41.86%. Additionally, mulched plants exhibited higher levels of nutrients (N, P, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, and Zn), ascorbic acid (AsA), and total phenol content (TPC), while showing lower nitrate content in the leaves compared to non-mulched plants. Overall, the utilization of soil moisture-based capacitance sensors and biodegradable mulching films has proven to be highly effective and low cost by 16.633 US$ year−1 to enhance irrigation water productivity, growth performance, nutritional quality, and overall productivity of lettuce crops, thereby contributing to the sustainability of lettuce production in arid regions.

Directional Nature of Technological Progress in the Petrochemical Industry Prompting Energy Marginal Substitution

Technological progress does not uniformly benefit all industries or factors' productivity levels. The energy productivity and labour employment situation in the Chinese petrochemical industry have not witnessed substantial improvements in the last decade. The literature has overlooked the importance of recognizing the directional nature of technological progress, which could enable a more strategic approach to economic development, resource allocation, and policy formulation. This study, guided by the core principles of endogenous economic growth theory, aims to uncover the influencing mechanisms and effects of technological progress bias on energy and employment by extending a theoretical model to account for energy, capital, and labour factors. The results reveal: (1) From 2000 to 2021, the relationship between labour, capital, and energy factors in the Chinese petrochemical industry has been predominantly complementary, with technological progress favouring labour-augmenting that is increasing labour productivity; (2) The gross complementarity of production factors leads to labour-augmenting technological progress, ultimately biased towards energy and capital factors; (3) Energy-capital-biased technological progress encourages producers to invest more energy and capital to substitute for labour factors, leading to a limited improvement in energy productivity and a consistent decline in labour employment since 2011. This study further corroborates that without government intervention, it would lead to improper factor allocation in the industry, resulting in market failure. Finally, corresponding policy recommendations are proposed.

Urban digital twin-based solution using geospatial information for solid waste management

With over 2 billion metric tons generated annually, global solid waste production has severe environmental consequences. Although it is not a primary Sustainable Development Goal, effective solid waste management (SWM) is vital for meeting targets 11.6, 12.4, and 12.5. South Africa, in particular, deals with significant SW generation and inadequate collection services. Therefore, this paper presents an Urban Digital Twin (UDT) prototype to tackle these issues, involving stakeholder prioritization, integrating real-time monitoring, citizen participation, waste generation simulations, optimized collection routes, and a control Dashboard where stakeholders’ system requirements were included. The UDT proposes optimized collection routes to reduce fuel use, operational costs, and emissions. The stakeholders’ opinions on the usefulness of the UDT varied due to their backgrounds and skills. Most of them appreciated the Dashboard visualization and the UDT possibilities for resource optimization. The performance of the UDT depends on computer capacity and local or online processing. This UDT prototype sets the foundation for digital twinning in SWM, scalable to different areas, vehicles, and production levels. The proposed approach, citizen involvement, and multi-stakeholder engagement enhance the SWM, benefiting resource-limited countries.

Optimization of Bacillus licheniformis’ nutrient system and oilfield trial for MEOR

Abstract The efficacy of microbial-enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) is contingent upon the performance of oil recovery functional bacteria. The optimization of the nutrient system for oil recovery functional bacteria can enhance their performance. In this study, the nutrient systems of the strains underwent screening and optimization procedures, utilizing single-factor combined with response surface methodology. Subsequently, field trials were conducted to assess the efficacy of MEOR. The results indicated that the carbon source in the nutrient system was sucrose, the nitrogen source was NaNO3, and the phosphorus source was a combination of KH2PO4 and Na2HPO4 (in a 1:1 ratio). The combination of the results from the single-factor experiments and the response surface experiment led to the following formulation for the strain F-T nutrient system (g/L): sucrose 10.0, NaNO3 2.0, KH2PO4 1.5, Na2HPO4 1.5, CaCl2 0.12, FeSO4 0.12, MgSO4·7H2O 0.2, Na2MoO4 0.08, yeast powder 1.0, and pH 7.2-7.5. The optimized F-T bacterium has the potential to spread oil up to a diameter of 40.50 mm. The results of the MEOR field trial indicated a 2.95 × 10 t increase in oil production, with a success rate of 83.87%. Following the implementation of MEOR, production levels were observed to decline to levels comparable to those observed prior to the intervention. This indicates that continued MEOR field applications may be necessary to further enhance crude oil recovery.

Gabapentin: An impurity profiling approach with hydrogen peroxide induced thermal oxidation in autoclave

Predicting unconventional pathways in long term stability studies can be very challenging, especially in solid state degradation. This is of vital importance for enhancement in the level of degradation and to further enable the isolation of unknown degradation products. Predicting the mechanism or pathway also help in designing control strategies to minimise the potential chances of impurity formation. In this context, the lagtime of most oxidative degradation mechanisms is extremely important, which allows enough requisite of free radicals etc., one of the unconventional pathways. This is difficult to replicate in degradation studies involving usual solution form. In this investigation, we demonstrate that employing autoclave degradation with hydrogen peroxide conditions provide an enhanced level of an unknown degradation product, which was found to be futile in traditional forced degradation studies. The conditions used probably bypass the lag time. This impurity has been isolated using preparative liquid chromatography (Prep-HPLC) method and spectroscopic techniques like high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and nuclear magnetic resonance NMR (1H, 13C, DEPT-135, NOESY, APT) for elucidation of the molecular structure. The impurity was identified as a dimer of gabapentin impurity-A (impurity (2,2′-diaza[l,2′-bispiro[4.5]decane]-3,3′-dione) and named it as impurity-U. A plausible mechanism for the formation of isolated impurity is proposed. HPLC methods have been developed and reported for the determination of gabapentin and its related substances using UV detection.