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High-throughput and non-destructive methods for quantifying the content of the stilbene compounds of Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris L.) heartwood are needed in the breeding for decay resistance of heartwood timber. In this study, near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy calibrations were developed for a large collection of solid heartwood increment core samples in order to predict the amount of the stilbene pinosylvin (PS), its monomethyl ether (PSM) and their sum (STB). The resulting models presented quite accurate predictions in an independent validation set with R2V values ranging between 0.79 and 0.91. The accuracy of the models strongly depended on the chemical being calibrated, with the lowest accuracy for PS, intermediate accuracy for PSM and highest accuracy for STB. The effect of collecting one, two or more (up to five) spectra per sample on the calibration models was studied and it was found that averaging multiple spectra yielded better accuracy as it may account for the heterogeneity of wood along the increment core within and between rings. Several statistical pretreatments of the spectra were tested and an automatic selection of wavenumbers prior to calibration. Without the automatic selection of wavenumbers, a first derivative of normalised spectra yielded the best accuracies, whereas after the automatic selection of wavenumbers, no particular statistical pretreatment appeared to yield better results than any other. Finally, the automatic selection of wavenumbers slightly improved the accuracy of the models for all traits. These results demonstrate the potential of NIR spectroscopy as a high-throughput and non-destructive phenotyping technique in tree breeding for the improvement of decay resistance in heartwood timber.

Different electrochemical methods such as electrocoagulation, electro-oxidation, and electroreduction have been found effective for the removal of various anionic pollutants from water and wastewater. Electrochemical processes can transform contaminants directly or manipulate the redox condition of the environmental matrix to achieve adaptive condition. This review focuses on the removal of different anions, including cyanide, fluoride, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, and sulfate, from water by electrocoagulation, electro-oxidation, and electroreduction methods. Optimum treatment conditions for studied anions in each electrochemical method are discussed. An overview of electrochemical methods used for anions removal together with specific applications and experimental results are presented and discussed. It is evident from the literature reviewed that these methods have shown considerable potential for the removal of anionic pollutants from water. However, the most challenging issue in this research area is to find out the practical application of these methods on commercial scale, leading to the improvement of pollution control.