Search results for: aqueous media

Authors: Priyanwada I. Singhapathirana

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The public land ownership is a common phenomenon in many countries in the world however, the development approaches and the institutional structures are greatly diverse. The existing scholarship around public land development has been greatly limited to Europe and advanced Asian economies. Inferences of such studies seem to be inadequate and inappropriate to comprehend the peculiarities of public land development in developing Asian economies. The absence of critical inquiry on the public land ownership and the long-established institutional structures which govern the development has restrained these countries from institutional innovations. In this context, this research investigates the issues related to public land development and the institutional responses in Sri Lanka. This study introduces the concept of ‘Institutional Responsiveness’ in Public land development, which is conceptualized as the ability of the institutions to respond to the spatial, market and fiscal stimulus. The inquiry was carried out through in-depth interviews with five key informants from apex public agencies in order to explore the responsiveness of land institutions form decision-makers' perspectives. Further, the analysis of grey literature and recent media reports are used to supplement the analysis. As per the findings, long term abandonment of public lands and high transaction costs are some of the key issues in relation to public land development. The inability of the institutions to respond to the market and fiscal stimulus has left many potential public lands underutilized. As a result, the public sector itself and urban citizens have not been able to relish the benefits of the public lands in cities. Spatial analysis at the local scale is suggested for future studies in order to capture the multiple dimensions of the responsiveness of institutions to the development stimulus.

Keywords: institutions, public land, responsiveness, under-utilization

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Authors: Chong Zhang

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There is widespread debate about the nationalistic top-down approach to citizenship education. Employing the notion of cultural citizenship as a useful theoretical lens, citizenship education research tends to focus on the process of subjectivity construction among students’ citizenship learning process. As the Communist Party of China (CPC) plays a dominant role in cultivating citizens through ideological and political education (IaPE) in Chinese universities, the research problem herein focuses on the dynamics and complexity of how Chinese university students construct their subjectivities regarding citizenship learning through IaPE, mediated by the interaction between the state and university teachers. Drawing on questionnaire data from 212 students and interview data from 25 students in one university in China, this paper examines the ways in which students understand and respond to dominant discourses. Its findings reveal there is a deficit of citizenship learning in IaPE, and that students feel ideologically pressurized. From its analysis of social contexts’ influence, the article suggests Chinese higher education students act as either mild changemakers or active self-motivators to enact complex subjectivities, in that they must involve themselves in IaPE for personal academic and career development, yet adopt covert strategies to realise their self-conscious citizenship learning expectations. These strategies take the form of passive and active freedoms, ranging from obediently completing basic curriculum requirements and distancing themselves by studying abroad, to actively searching for learning opportunities from other courses and social media. This paper contributes to the research on citizenship education by recognizing the complexities of how subjectivities are formed in formal university settings.

Keywords: university students, citizenship learning, cultural citizenship, subjectivity, Chinese higher education

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Authors: Ginevra Addis

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The possibility of reproducing physical artifacts in a digital format is one of the opportunities offered by the technological advancements in information and communication most frequently promoted by museums. Indeed, the study and conservation of our cultural heritage have seen significant advancement due to the three-dimensional acquisition and modeling technology. A variety of laser scanning systems has been developed, based either on optical triangulation or on time-of-flight measurement, capable of producing digital 3D images of complex structures with high resolution and accuracy. It is necessary, however, to explore the challenges and opportunities that this practice brings within museums. The purpose of this paper is to understand what change is introduced by digital techniques in those museums that are hosting digital masterpieces. The methodology used will investigate three distinguished Italian exhibitions, related to the territory of Milan, trying to analyze the following issues about museum practices: 1) how digitizing art masterpieces increases the number of visitors; 2) what the need that calls for the digitization of artworks; 3) which techniques are most used; 4) what the setting is; 5) the consequences of a non-publication of hard copies of catalogues; 6) envision of these practices in the future. Findings will show how interconnection plays an important role in rebuilding a collection spread all over the world. Secondly how digital artwork duplication and extension of reality entail new forms of accessibility. Thirdly, that collection and preservation through digitization of images have both a social and educational mission. Fourthly, that convergence of the properties of different media (such as web, radio) is key to encourage people to get actively involved in digital exhibitions. The present analysis will suggest further research that should create museum models and interaction spaces that act as catalysts for innovation.

Keywords: digital masterpieces, education, interconnection, Italian museums, preservation

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Authors: Farzad Doostishoar, Abdolreza Hasanzadeh, Seyed Amin Ayatolahi Mousavi

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Introduction and Goals: Deuterium has different action from its isotopes hydrogen in chemical reactions and biochemical processes. It is not a significant difference in heavier atoms between the behavior of heavier isotope and the lighter One but for very lighter atoms it is significant . According to that most of the weight of all creatures body is water natural rate can be significant. In this article we want to study the effect of reduced deuterium on the fungus cell. If we saw the dependence of deuterium concentration of environment on the cells growth we can test this in invivo models too. Methods: First we measured deuterium concentration of the distillated water this analyze was operated by Arak’s heavy water company. Then the deuterium was diluted to ½ ¼ 1/8 1/16 by adding water free of deuterium for making media. In tree of samples the deuterium concentration was increased by adding D2O up to 10,50,100 times more concentrated. For candida albicans growth we used sabor medium and for aspergillus fomigatis growth we used sabor medium containing chloramphenicol. After culturing the funguses species we put the mediums for each species in the shaker incubator for 10 days in 25 centigrade. In different days and times the plates were studied morphologically and some microscopic characteristics were studied too. This experiments and cultures were repeated 3 times. Results: Statistical analyzes by paired-sample T test showed that aspergilus fomigatoos growth was decreased in concentration of 72 ppm( half deuterium concentration of negative control) significantly. In deuterium concentration reduction the growth reduce into the negative control significantly. The project results showed that candida albicans was sensitive to reduce and decrease of the deuterium in all concentrations.

Keywords: deuterium, cancer cell, growth, candida albicans

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Authors: Bandi Aruna

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The increase of multidrug-resistant pathogens and the restriction on the use of antibiotics due to its side effects have drawn attention to the search for possible alternatives. Bacteriocins are ribosomally synthesized antimicrobial peptides that are active against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The bacteriocins from lactic acid bacteria represent an important application of these peptides as clinical drugs or as food biopreservatives. The present study describes the isolation of bacteriocin producing lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from fermented batter of green gram and bengal gram using Man, Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) media. The bacteriocin produced by these organisms inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella species, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, The isolates G1, G2 were isolated from green gram; B1 and B2 were isolated from fermented bengal gram batter. G1 and G2 were identified as Lactobacillus casie and B1 and B2 were identified as Streptococcus species. Antimicrobial activity of the bacteriocin produced by these strains was studied by agar well diffusion method. Bacteriocins produced by the Lactobacillus casie and Streptococcus secies retained their antagonistic property at pH of 5 and pH of 7. Exposure of bacteriocin to UV light for 4 min showed antibacterial activity. The antagonistic property was observed even at 100°C demonstrating stability at higher temperatures of the bacteriocin. The bacteriocins were stable for a period of 15 days at 27°C. The bacteriocins of G1, G2, and B2 exhibited highest antagonistic activity at pH of 5 and B1 at pH of 7. Therefore, the bacteriocins of the isolates may find important application in controlling the food-borne pathogens.

Keywords: Keywords: Antibacterial activity, Lactic acid bacteria, Bacteriocin

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Authors: Hasan AL-Khshemawee, Manjree Agarwal, Xin Du, Yonglin Ren

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The possibility use of stable isotopes to study Medfly mating and life history were investigated in these experiments. 13C6 glucose was incorporated in the diet of the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephidae). Treatments included labelling and unlabelled of either the media or adult sugar water. The measured started from egg hatching till the adults have died. After mating, the adults were analysed for 13C6 glucose ratio using Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry LC-MS in two periods of time immediately and after three days of mating. Results showed that stable isotopes were used successfully for labelling Medfly in laboratory conditions, and there were significant differences between labelled and unlabelled treatment in eggs hatching, larval development, pupae emergence, survival of adults and mating behaviour. Labelling during larval development and combined labelling of larvae and adults resulted in detectable values. The label glucose in larvae stage did not effect on mating behaviour, however, the label glucose in adults’ stage was affected by mating behaviour. We recommended that it is possible to label adults of Mediterranean fruit fly C. capitata and detected the label after mating. This method offers good tools to study mating behaviour in Medfly and other types of insects and could be providing useful tools in genetic studies, sterile insect technique (SIT) or agricultural pest management. Also, we recommended using this technique in the field.

Keywords: stable isotope, sterile insect technique (SIT), medfly, mating behaviour

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Authors: Ashit Syngle, Inderjit Verma, Pawan Krishan

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Objective: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have reparative potential in overcoming the endothelial dysfunction and reducing cardiovascular risk. EPC depletion has been demonstrated in the setting of established atherosclerotic diseases. With this background, we evaluated whether reduced EPCs population are associated with endothelial dysfunction, subclinical atherosclerosis and inflammatory markers in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients without any known traditional cardiovascular risk factor in AS patients. Methods: Levels of circulating EPCs (CD34+/CD133+), brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation, carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and inflammatory markers i.e erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), tissue necrosis factor (TNF)–α, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1 were assessed in 30 AS patients (mean age33.41 ± 10.25; 11 female and 19 male) who fulfilled the modified New York diagnostic criteria with 25 healthy volunteers (mean age 29.36± 8.64; 9 female and 16 male) matched for age and sex. Results: EPCs (CD34+/CD133+) cells were significantly (0.020 ± 0.001% versus 0.040 ± 0.010%, p<0.001) reduced in patients with AS compared to healthy controls. Endothelial function (7.35 ± 2.54 versus 10.27 ±1.73, p=0.002), CIMT (0.63 ± 0.01 versus 0.35 ± 0.02, p < 0.001) and inflammatory markers were also significantly (p < 0.01) altered as compared to healthy controls. Specifically, CD34+CD133+cells were inversely multivariate correlated with CRP and TNF-α and endothelial dysfunction was positively correlated with reduced number of EPC. Conclusion: Depletion of EPCs population is an independent predictor of endothelial dysfunction and early atherosclerosis in AS patients and may provide additional information beyond conventional risk factors and inflammatory markers.

Keywords: endothelial progenitor cells, atherosclerosis, ankylosing spondylitis, cardiovascular

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Authors: Oleg Redkin, Olga Bernikova

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It is commonly accepted that every language is both pure linguistic phenomenon as well as socially significant communicative system, which exists on the basis of certain society - its collective 'native speaker'. Therefore the language evolution and features besides its own linguistic rules and regulations are also defined by the influence of a number of extra-linguistic factors. The above mentioned statement may be illustrated by the example of the Arabic language which may be characterized by the following peculiarities: - the inner logic of the Arabic language - the 'algebraicity' of its morphological paradigms and grammar rules; - association of the Arabic language with the sacred texts of Islam, its close ties with the pre-Islamic and Islamic cultural heritage - the pre-Islamic poetry and Islamic literature and science; - territorial distribution, which in recent years went far beyond the boundaries of its traditional realm due to the development of new technologies and the spread of mass media, and what is more important, migration processes; - association of the Arabic language with the so called 'Renaissance of Islam'. These peculiarities should be remembered while considering the status of the Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) language or the Classical Arabic (CA) language as well as the Modern Arabic (MA) dialects in synchrony or from the diachronic point of view. Continuity of any system in diachrony on the one hand depends on the level of its ability to adapt itself to changing environment and by its internal ties on the other. Structural durability of language is characterized by its inner logic, hierarchy of paradigms and its grammar rules, as well as continuity of their implementation in acts of everyday communication. Since the Arabic language is both linguistic and social phenomenon the process of the Arabic language acquisition and study should not be focused only on the knowledge about linguistic features or development of communicative skills alone, but must be supplied with the information related to culture, history and religion of peoples of certain region that will expand and enrich competences of the target audience.

Keywords: Arabic, culture, Islam, language

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Authors: Guram Adamashvili

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Surface plasmon polariton is a surface optical wave which undergoes a strong enhancement and spatial confinement of its wave amplitude near an interface of two-dimensional layered structures. Phosphorene (single-layer black phosphorus) and other two-dimensional anisotropic phosphorene-like materials are recognized as promising materials for potential future applications of surface plasmon polariton. A theory of an optical breather of self-induced transparency for surface plasmon polariton propagating in monolayer or few-layer phosphorene is developed. A theory of an optical soliton of self-induced transparency for surface plasmon polariton propagating in monolayer or few-layer phosphorene have been investigated earlier Starting from the optical nonlinear wave equation for surface TM-modes interacting with a two-dimensional layer of atomic systems or semiconductor quantum dots and a phosphorene monolayer (or other two-dimensional anisotropic material), we have obtained the evolution equations for the electric field of the breather. In this case, one finds that the evolution of these pulses become described by the damped Bloch-Maxwell equations. For surface plasmon polariton fields, breathers are found to occur. Explicit relations of the dependence of breathers on the local media, phosphorene anisotropic conductivity, transition layer properties and transverse structures of the SPP, are obtained and will be given. It is shown that the phosphorene conductivity reduces exponentially the amplitude of the surface breather of SIT in the process of propagation. The direction of propagation corresponding to the maximum and minimum damping of the amplitude are assigned along the armchair and zigzag directions of black phosphorus nano-film, respectively. The most rapid damping of the intensity occurs when the polarization of breather is along the armchair direction.

Keywords: breathers, nonlinear waves, solitons, surface plasmon polaritons

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Authors: Fatima Faraz

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BACKGROUND: While Artificial intelligence (AI) provides new opportunities across a wide variety of industries, healthcare is no exception. AI can lead to advancements in how the healthcare system functions and improves the quality of patient care. Developing countries like Pakistan are lagging in the implementation of AI-based solutions in healthcare. This demands increased knowledge and AI literacy among health care professionals. OBJECTIVES: To assess the level of awareness among medical students and faculty about AI in preparation for teaching AI basics and data science applications in clinical practice in an integrated medical curriculum. METHODS: An online 15-question semi-structured questionnaire, previously tested and validated, was delivered among participants through convenience sampling. The questionnaire composed of 3 parts: participant’s background knowledge, AI awareness, and attitudes toward AI applications in medicine. RESULTS: A total of 182 students and 39 faculty members from Rawalpindi Medical University, Pakistan, participated in the study. Only 26% of students and 46.2% of faculty members responded that they were aware of AI topics in clinical medicine. The major source of AI knowledge was social media (35.7%) for students and professional talks and colleagues (43.6%) for faculty members. 23.5% of participants answered that they personally had a basic understanding of AI. Students and faculty (60.1%) were interested in AI in patient care and teaching domain. These findings parallel similar published AI survey results. CONCLUSION: This survey concludes interest among students and faculty in AI developments and technology applications in healthcare. Further studies are required in order to correctly fit AI in the integrated modular curriculum of medical education.

Keywords: medical education, data science, artificial intelligence, curriculum

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Authors: Patrizia Frontera, Anastasia Macario, Sebastiano Candamano, Fortunato Crea, Pierluigi Antonucci

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The increasing of the world energy demand makes today biomass an attractive energy source, based on the minimizing of CO2 emission and on the global warming reduction purposes. Recently, COP-21, the international meeting on global climate change, defined the roadmap for sustainable worldwide development, based on low-carbon containing fuel. Hydrogen is an energy vector able to substitute the conventional fuels from petroleum. Ethanol for hydrogen production represents a valid alternative to the fossil sources due to its low toxicity, low production costs, high biodegradability, high H2 content and renewability. Ethanol conversion to generate hydrogen by a combination of partial oxidation and steam reforming reactions is generally called auto-thermal reforming (ATR). The ATR process is advantageous due to the low energy requirements and to the reduced carbonaceous deposits formation. Catalyst plays a pivotal role in the ATR process, especially towards the process selectivity and the carbonaceous deposits formation. Bimetallic or trimetallic catalysts, as well as catalysts with doped-promoters supports, may exhibit high activity, selectivity and deactivation resistance with respect to the corresponding monometallic ones. In this work, NiMoCo/GDC, NiMoCu/GDC and NiMoRe/GDC (where GDC is Gadolinia Doped Ceria support and the metal composition is 60:30:10 for all catalyst) have been prepared by impregnation method. The support, Gadolinia 0.2 Doped Ceria 0.8, was impregnated by metal precursors solubilized in aqueous ethanol solution (50%) at room temperature for 6 hours. After this, the catalysts were dried at 100°C for 8 hours and, subsequently, calcined at 600°C in order to have the metal oxides. Finally, active catalysts were obtained by reduction procedure (H2 atmosphere at 500°C for 6 hours). All sample were characterized by different analytical techniques (XRD, SEM-EDX, XPS, CHNS, H2-TPR and Raman Spectorscopy). Catalytic experiments (auto-thermal reforming of ethanol) were carried out in the temperature range 500-800°C under atmospheric pressure, using a continuous fixed-bed microreactor. Effluent gases from the reactor were analyzed by two Varian CP4900 chromarographs with a TCD detector. The analytical investigation focused on the preventing of the coke deposition, the metals sintering effect and the sulfur poisoning. Hydrogen productivity, ethanol conversion and products distribution were measured and analyzed. At 600°C, all tri-metallic catalysts show the best performance: H2 + CO reaching almost the 77 vol.% in the final gases. While NiMoCo/GDC catalyst shows the best selectivity to hydrogen whit respect to the other tri-metallic catalysts (41 vol.% at 600°C). On the other hand, NiMoCu/GDC and NiMoRe/GDC demonstrated high sulfur poisoning resistance (up to 200 cc/min) with respect to the NiMoCo/GDC catalyst. The correlation among catalytic results and surface properties of the catalysts will be discussed.

Keywords: catalysts, ceria, ethanol, gadolinia, hydrogen, Nickel

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Authors: Anish Shah, Steve A. Wakelin, Derrick Moot, Aurélie Laugraud, Hayley J. Ridgway

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A mixed pasture system of ryegrass-clover is used in New Zealand, where clovers are generally inoculated with commercially available strains of rhizobia. The community of rhizobia living in the soil and the way in which they interact with the plant are affected by different biotic and abiotic factors. In general, bacterial richness and diversity in soil varies by soil pH. pH also affects cell physiology and acts as a master variable that controls the wider soil physiochemical conditions such as P availability, Al release and micronutrient availability. As such, pH can have both primary and secondary effects on soil biology and processes. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of soil pH on the genetic diversity and metabolic profile of Rhizobium leguminosarum strains nodulating clover. Soils were collected from 12 farms across New Zealand which had a pH(water) range of between 4.9 and 7.5, with four acidic (pH 4.9 – 5.5), four ‘neutral’ (5.8 – 6.1) and four alkaline (6.5 – 7.5) soils. Bacteria were recovered from nodules of Trifolium repens (white clover) and T. subterraneum (subterranean clover) grown in the soils. The strains were cultured and screened against a range of pH-amended media to demonstrate whether they were adapted to pH levels similar to their native soils. The strains which showed high relative growth at a given pH (~20% of those isolated) were selected for metabolic and taxonomic profiling. The Omnilog (Biolog Inc., Hayward, CA) phenotype array was used to perform assays on carbon (C) utilisation for selected strains. DNA was extracted from the strains which had differing C utilisation profiles and PCR products for both forward and reverse primers were sequenced for the following genes: 16S rRNA, recA, nodC, nodD and nifH (symbiotic).

Keywords: bacterial diversity, clover, metabolic and taxonomic profiling, pH adaptation, rhizobia

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Authors: Ewelina Grabowska, Martyna Marchelek

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Among the various semiconductors, nanosized TiO2 has been widely studied due to its high photosensitivity, low cost, low toxicity, and good chemical and thermal stability. However, there are two main drawbacks to the practical application of pure TiO2 films. One is that TiO2 can be induced only by ultraviolet (UV) light due to its intrinsic wide bandgap (3.2 eV for anatase and 3.0 eV for rutile), which limits its practical efficiency for solar energy utilization since UV light makes up only 4-5% of the solar spectrum. The other is that a high electron-hole recombination rate will reduce the photoelectric conversion efficiency of TiO2. In order to overcome the above drawbacks and modify the electronic structure of TiO2, some semiconductors (eg. CdS, ZnO, PbS, Cu2O, Bi2S3, and CdSe) have been used to prepare coupled TiO2 composites, for improving their charge separation efficiency and extending the photoresponse into the visible region. It has been proved that the fabrication of p-n heterostructures by combining n-type TiO2 with p-type semiconductors is an effective way to improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency of TiO2. SrTiO3 is a good candidate for coupling TiO2 and improving the photocatalytic performance of the photocatalyst because its conduction band edge is more negative than TiO2. Due to the potential differences between the band edges of these two semiconductors, the photogenerated electrons transfer from the conduction band of SrTiO3 to that of TiO2. Conversely, the photogenerated electrons transfer from the conduction band of SrTiO3 to that of TiO2. Then the photogenerated charge carriers can be efficiently separated by these processes, resulting in the enhancement of the photocatalytic property in the photocatalyst. Additionally, one of the methods for improving photocatalyst performance is addition of nanoparticles containing one or two noble metals (Pt, Au, Ag and Pd) deposited on semiconductor surface. The mechanisms were proposed as (1) the surface plasmon resonance of noble metal particles is excited by visible light, facilitating the excitation of the surface electron and interfacial electron transfer (2) some energy levels can be produced in the band gap of TiO2 by the dispersion of noble metal nanoparticles in the TiO2 matrix; (3) noble metal nanoparticles deposited on TiO2 act as electron traps, enhancing the electron–hole separation. In view of this, we recently obtained series of TiO2@SrTiO3 and SrTiO3 photocatalysts loaded with noble metal NPs. using photodeposition method. The M- TiO2@SrTiO3 and M-SrTiO3 photocatalysts (M= Rh, Rt, Pt) were studied for photodegradation of phenol in aqueous phase under UV-Vis and visible irradiation. Moreover, in the second part of our research hydroxyl radical formations were investigated. Fluorescence of irradiated coumarin solution was used as a method of ˙OH radical detection. Coumarin readily reacts with generated hydroxyl radicals forming hydroxycoumarins. Although the major hydroxylation product is 5-hydroxycoumarin, only 7-hydroxyproduct of coumarin hydroxylation emits fluorescent light. Thus, this method was used only for hydroxyl radical detection, but not for determining concentration of hydroxyl radicals.

Keywords: composites TiO2, SrTiO3, photocatalysis, phenol degradation

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Authors: Shady S. Hassan, Brijesh K. Tiwari, Gwilym A. Williams, Amit K. Jaiswal

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EU is known as the destination with the highest rate of the coffee consumption per capita in the world. Spent coffee grounds (SCG) are the main by-product of coffee brewing. SCG is either disposed as a solid waste or employed as compost, although the polysaccharides from such lignocellulosic biomass might be used as feedstock for fermentation processes. However, SCG as a lignocellulose have a complex structure and pretreatment process is required to facilitate an efficient enzymatic hydrolysis of carbohydrates. However, commonly used pretreatment methods, such as chemical, physico-chemical and biological techniques are still insufficient to meet optimal industrial production requirements in a sustainable way. Ultrasound is a promising candidate as a sustainable green pretreatment solution for lignocellulosic biomass utilization in a large scale biorefinery. Thus, ultrasound pretreatment of SCG without adding harsh chemicals investigated as a green technology to enhance enzyme hydrolysis. In the present work, ultrasound pretreatment experiments were conducted on SCG using different ultrasound frequencies (25, 35, 45, 130, and 950 kHz) for 60 min. Regardless of ultrasound power, low ultrasound frequency is more effective than high ultrasound frequency in pretreatment of biomass. Ultrasound pretreatment of SCG (at ultrasound frequency of 25 kHz for 60 min) followed by enzymatic hydrolysis resulted in total reducing sugars of 56.1 ± 2.8 mg/g of biomass. Fourier transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was employed to investigate changes in functional groups of biomass after pretreatment, while high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was employed for determination of glucose. Pretreatment of lignocellulose by low frequency ultrasound in water only was found to be an effective green approach for SCG to improve saccharification and glucose yield compared to native biomass. Pretreatment conditions will be optimized, and the enzyme hydrolysate will be used as media component substitute for the production of ethanol.

Keywords: lignocellulose, ultrasound, pretreatment, spent coffee grounds

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Authors: Seyedeh Pardis Hosseini

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With increased levels of clean and affordable water scarcity crises in many countries, wastewater treatment has been chosen as a viable method to produce freshwater for various consumptions. Even though reverse osmosis dominates the wastewater treatment market, forward osmosis (FO) processes have significant advantages, such as potentially using a renewable and low-grade energy source and improving water quality. FO is an osmotically driven membrane process that uses a high concentrated draw solution and a relatively low concentrated feed solution across a semi-permeable membrane. Among many novel FO membranes that have been introduced over the past decades, polybenzimidazole (PBI) membranes, a class of aromatic heterocyclic-based polymers, have shown high thermal and chemical stability because of their unique chemical structure. However, the studies reviewed indicate that the hydrophilicity of PBI membranes is comparatively low. Hence, there is an urgent need to develop novel FO membranes with modified PBI polymers to promote hydrophilicity. A few studies have been undertaken to improve the PBI hydrophilicity by fabricating mixed matrix polymeric membranes and surface modification. Thereby, in this study, two different sulfonated polybenzimidazole (SPBI) polymers with the same backbone but different functional groups, namely arylsulfonate PBI (PBI-AS) and propylsulfonate PBI (PBI-PS), are introduced as FO membranes and studied via the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation method. The FO simulation box consists of three distinct regions: a saltwater region, a membrane region, and a pure-water region. The pure-water region is situated at the upper part of the simulation box, while the saltwater region, which contains an aqueous salt solution of Na+ and Cl− ions along with water molecules, occupies the lower part of the simulation box. Specifically, the saltwater region includes 710 water molecules and 24 Na+ and 24 Cl− ions, resulting in a combined concentration of 10 weight percent (wt%). The pure-water region comprises 788 water molecules. Both the saltwater and pure-water regions have a density of 1.0 g/cm³. The membrane region, positioned between the saltwater and pure-water regions, is constructed from three types of polymers: PBI, PBI-AS, and PBI-PS, each consisting of three polymer chains with 30 monomers per chain. The structural and thermophysical properties of the polymers, water molecules, and Na+ and Cl− ions were analyzed using the COMPASS forcefield. All simulations were conducted using the BIOVIA Materials Studio 2020 software. By monitoring the variation in the number of water molecules over the simulation time within the saltwater region, the water permeability of the polymer membranes was calculated and subsequently compared. The results indicated that SPBI polymers exhibited higher water permeability compared to PBI polymers. This enhanced permeability can be attributed to the structural and compositional differences between SPBI and PBI polymers, which likely facilitate more efficient water transport through the membrane. Consequently, the adoption of SPBI polymers in the FO process is anticipated to result in significantly improved performance. This improvement could lead to higher water flux rates, better salt rejection, and overall more efficient use of resources in desalination and water purification applications.

Keywords: forward osmosis, molecular dynamics simulation, sulfonated polybenzimidazole, water permeability

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Authors: Alicia Carranza, Hildemar Dos Santos, W. Lawrence Beeson, R. Patti Herring, Kimberly R. Freeman, Adam Arechiga

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Early exposure to trauma can impact health-related behaviors later in life, which poses a considerable challenge for young adults transitioning into independence when they are lacking the necessary skills and support to live a healthy life. The study will be a non-experimental, mixed methods pre- and post-test (where subjects will serve as their own controls) to determine the impact of an eight-week trauma-informed healthy lifestyle program on self-efficacy for adopting health-promoting behaviors and health outcomes among young adults. Forty-two adults, ages 18-24 who are living in Orange County, CA will be recruited to participate in the eight-week trauma-informed healthy living program. Baseline and post-intervention assessments will be conducted to assess changes in self-efficacy for nutrition and physical exercise, sleep quality and quantity, body mass index (kg/m2), and coping skills used by comparing pre- to post-intervention. Some of the planned activities include cooking demonstrations, mindful eating activities and media literacy using Instagram. Frequencies analyses, paired t-test, and multiple regression will be used to determine if there was a change in coping skills. The results of this study can serve to assess the potential for mitigating the effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), or other toxic stress, experienced during adolescence across the lifespan. Young adults who learn how to cope with stress in a healthy way and engage in a healthy lifestyle can be better prepared to role model that behavior to their children.

Keywords: nutrition, healthy lifestyle, trauma-informed, stress management

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Authors: Reine Suci Wulandari, Rosa Suryantini

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Albizia (Paraserianthes falcataria) is a woody plant species that has a high economic value and multifunctional. Albizia is important timber, medicinal plants and can also be used as a plant to rehabilitate critical lands. The demand value of Albizia is increased so that the large quantities and high quality of seeds are required. In vitro propagation techniques are seed propagation that can produce more seeds and quality in a short time. In vitro cultures require growth regulators that can be obtained from biological agents such as endophytic fungi. Endophytic fungi are micro fungi that colonize live plant tissue without producing symptoms or other negative effects on host plants and increase plant growth. The purposes of this research were to isolate and identify endophytic fungi isolated from the root of Albizia and to study the effect of endophytic fungus on the growth of Albizia in vitro. The methods were root isolation, endophytic fungal identification, and inoculation of endophytic fungi to Albizia plants in vitro. Endophytic fungus isolates were grown on PDA media before being inoculated with Albizia sprouts. Incubation is done for 4 (four) weeks. The observed growth parameters were live explant percentage, percentage of explant shoot, and percentage of explant rooted. The results of the research showed that 6 (six) endophytic fungal isolates obtained from the root of Albizia, namely Aspergillus sp., Verticillium sp, Penicillium sp., Trichoderma sp., Fusarium sp., and Acremonium sp. Statistical analysis found that Trichoderma sp. and Fusarium sp. affect in vitro growth of Albizia. Endophytic fungi from the results of this research were potential as plant growth promoting. It can be applied to increase productivity either through increased plant growth and increased endurance of Albizia seedlings to pests and diseases.

Keywords: Albizia, endophytic fungi, propagation, in vitro

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Authors: Asim Majeed, Anwar Ul Haq, Ayesha Asim, Mike Lloyd-Williams, Arshad Jamal, Usman Butt

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This study aims to investigate the impact of data leak of M&S customers on digital communities. Modern businesses are using digital communities as an important public relations tool for marketing purposes. This form of communication helps companies to build better relationship with their customers which also act as another source of information. The communication between the customers and the organizations is not regulated so users may post positive and negative comments. There are new platforms being developed on a daily basis and it is very crucial for the businesses to not only get themselves familiar with those but also know how to reach their existing and perspective consumers. The driving force of marketing and communication in modern businesses is the digital communities and these are continuously increasing and developing. This phenomenon is changing the way marketing is conducted. The current research has discussed the implications on M&S business performance since the data was exploited on digital communities; users contacted M&S and raised the security concerns. M&S closed down its website for few hours to try to resolve the issue. The next day M&S made a public apology about this incidence. This information was proliferated on various digital communities and it has impacted negatively on M&S brand name, sales and customers. The content analysis approach is being used to collect qualitative data from 100 digital bloggers including social media communities such as Facebook and Twitter. The results and finding provide useful new insights into the nature and form of security concerns of digital users. Findings have theoretical and practical implications. This research will showcase a large corporation utilizing various digital community platforms and can serve as a model for future organizations.

Keywords: Digital, communities, performance, dissemination, implications, data, exploitation

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Authors: Jason Dew

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Podcasts are increasingly sources of intellectual content for many who desire to broaden their worldview. Topics range from sports to folklore, entertainment to spirituality. The list from which to choose is large, demonstrating the public’s interest in this medium. While traditional classrooms continue to serve the curious and upward bound, podcasts also satisfy intellectual cravings, especially for those on the go. The paper will explore how the podcast, The Professor’s Bayonet, attempts to scratch these itches by offering 4-5 minute commentaries on literary works, both classic and contemporary, through the dual lenses of current trends in society and theology. The reason for this approach is borne out of the direction many students take in exchanges of ideas. They have a sincere interest in how the books that are covered are relevant to their lives, and their questions are probing to the extent that dips into theology are helpful. Cursory examinations of whatever topic just won’t suffice. Those in Generation Z, especially, are parched for real and true answers. The paper, therefore, will share some excerpts from a selection of episodes, explaining the reasons behind why certain works were showcased. In an episode entitled “The Possibility of Evil,” for example, Shirley Jackson’s 1965 short story of the same name is explored, focusing on why the protagonist, Adela Strangeworth, leaves nasty little notes in the mailboxes of those in her small community she deems deserving of a good tongue-lashing. There is a negative result and the opportunity to make the connection to social media and how millions of individuals are guilty of the very same thing Adela Strangeworth is guilty of, making Jackson’s work somewhat prophetic. Reasons for this behavior are explored, namely what it says about how we as a society have evolved both interpersonally and spiritually.

Keywords: podcast, social commentary, theology, literary

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Authors: A. B. A. Ahmed, D. I. Amar, R. M. Taha

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This research aims to investigate callus induction, somatic embryogenesis and indirect plant regeneration of Crassula ovata (Mill.) Druce – the famous ornamental plant. Experiment no.1: Callus induction was obtained from leaf and stem explants on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with various plant growth regulators (PGRs). Effects of different PGRs, plant regeneration and subsequent plantlet conversion were also assessed. Indirect plant regeneration was achieved from the callus of stem explants by the addition of 1.5 mg/L Kinetin (KN) alone. Best shoot induction was achieved (6.5 shoots/per explant) after 60 days. For successful rooting, regenerated plantlets were sub-cultured on the same MS media supplemented with 1.5 mg/L KN alone. The rooted plantlets were acclimatized and the survival rate was 90%. Experiment no.2: Results revealed that 0.5 mg/L 2,4-D alone and in combination with 1.0 mg/L 6-Benzyladenine (BA) gave 89.8% callus from the stem explants as compared to leaf explants. Callus proliferation and somatic embryo formation were also evaluated by ‘Double Staining Method’ and different stages of somatic embryogenesis were revealed by scanning electron microscope. Full Strength MS medium produced the highest number (49.6%) of cotyledonary stage somatic embryos (SEs). Mature cotyledonary stage SEs developed into plantlets after 12 weeks of culture. Well-rooted plantlets were successfully acclimatized at the survival rate of 85%. Indirectly regenerated plants did not show any detectable variation in morphological and growth characteristics when compared with the donor plant.

Keywords: callus induction, indirect plant regeneration, double staining, somatic embryogenesis, Crassula ovata

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Authors: Nawaf A. Alqahtani, Ali M. Alqahtani, Khalid A. Alqahtani, Huda S. Abdullfattah, Ebtehal A. Alessa, Khalid S. Al Gelban, Ossama A. Mostafa

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Background: The internet is an exciting medium that is becoming an essential part of everyday life. Although the internet is fully observed in Saudi Arabia, young people may be vulnerable to problematic internet use, possibly leading to addiction. Aim of study: To explore the magnitude of internet addiction (IA) among medical students associated risk factors and its impact on students' academic achievement. Subjects and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in 2014 on 571 medical students (293 males and 278 females) at the College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia. Data Collection was done through using the Arabic version of the Compulsive Internet Use Scale and a checklist of demographic characteristics. Results: Age of participants ranged from 19 to 26 years (Mean+SD: 21.9+1.5 years). Internet access was available to 97.4% of students at home and to 80.2% of students at their mobile phones. The most frequently accessed websites by medical students were the social media (90.7%), scientific website (50.4%) and the news websites (31.3%). IA was mild in 47.8% of medical students while 5.8% had moderate IA. None of the students had severe IA. Prevalence of IA was significantly higher among female medical students (p=0.002), availability of internet at home (p=0.022), and availability of internet at the students' mobile phone (p=0.041). The mean General Point Average (GPA) was highest among students with mild IA (4.0+0.6), compared with 3.6+0.6 among those with moderate addiction, and 3.9+0.6 among those who did not show IA. Differences in mean GPA according to grade of IA were statistically significant ((P=0.001). Conclusions: Prevalence of IA is high among medical students in Saudi Arabia. Risk factors for IA include female gender, availability of internet at home or at the mobile phone. IA has a significant impact on students' GPA. Periodic screening of medical students for IA and raising their awareness toward the possible risk of IA are recommended.

Keywords: internet addiction, medical students, risk factors, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: Qi Liu, Jiqin Yao, Xiaohu Zhou, Bo Zheng

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The first artificial cell was produced by Thomas Chang in the 1950s when he was trying to make a mimic of red blood cells. Since then, many different types of artificial cells have been constructed from one of the two approaches: a so-called bottom-up approach, which aims to create a cell from scratch, and a top-down approach, in which genes are sequentially knocked out from organisms until only the minimal genome required for sustaining life remains. In this project, bottom-up approach was used to build a new cell-free expression system which mimics artificial cell that capable of protein expression and communicate with each other. The artificial cells constructed from the bottom-up approach are usually lipid vesicles, polymersomes, hydrogels or aqueous droplets containing the nucleic acids and transcription-translation machinery. However, lipid vesicles based artificial cells capable of communication present several issues in the cell communication research: (1) The lipid vesicles normally lose the important functions such as protein expression within a few hours. (2) The lipid membrane allows the permeation of only small molecules and limits the types of molecules that can be sensed and released to the surrounding environment for chemical communication; (3) The lipid vesicles are prone to rupture due to the imbalance of the osmotic pressure. To address these issues, the hydrogel-based artificial cells were constructed in this work. To construct the artificial cell, polyacrylamide hydrogel was functionalized with Acrylate PEG Succinimidyl Carboxymethyl Ester (ACLT-PEG2000-SCM) moiety on the polymer backbone. The proteinaceous factors can then be immobilized on the polymer backbone by the reaction between primary amines of proteins and N-hydroxysuccinimide esters (NHS esters) of ACLT-PEG2000-SCM, the plasmid template and ribosome were encapsulated inside the hydrogel particles. Because the artificial cell could continuously express protein with the supply of nutrients and energy, the artificial cell-artificial cell communication and artificial cell-natural cell communication could be achieved by combining the artificial cell vector with designed plasmids. The plasmids were designed referring to the quorum sensing (QS) system of bacteria, which largely relied on cognate acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) / transcription pairs. In one communication pair, “sender” is the artificial cell or natural cell that can produce AHL signal molecule by synthesizing the corresponding signal synthase that catalyzed the conversion of S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) into AHL, while the “receiver” is the artificial cell or natural cell that can sense the quorum sensing signaling molecule form “sender” and in turn express the gene of interest. In the experiment, GFP was first immobilized inside the hydrogel particle to prove that the functionalized hydrogel particles could be used for protein binding. After that, the successful communication between artificial cell-artificial cell and artificial cell-natural cell was demonstrated, the successful signal between artificial cell-artificial cell or artificial cell-natural cell could be observed by recording the fluorescence signal increase. The hydrogel-based artificial cell designed in this work can help to study the complex communication system in bacteria, it can also be further developed for therapeutic applications.

Keywords: artificial cell, cell-free system, gene circuit, synthetic biology

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Authors: Sultan Alharby, Nick Harris, Alex Weddell, Jeff Reeve

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The concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) has received much attention over the last five years. It is predicted that the IoT will influence every aspect of our lifestyles in the near future. Wireless Sensor Networks are one of the key enablers of the operation of IoTs, allowing data to be collected from the surrounding environment. However, due to limited resources, nature of deployment and unattended operation, a WSN is vulnerable to various types of attack. Security is paramount for reliable and safe communication between IoT embedded devices, but it does, however, come at a cost to resources. Nodes are usually equipped with small batteries, which makes energy conservation crucial to IoT devices. Nevertheless, security cost in terms of energy consumption has not been studied sufficiently. Previous research has used a security specification of 802.15.4 for IoT applications, but the energy cost of each security level and the impact on quality of services (QoS) parameters remain unknown. This research focuses on the cost of security at the IoT media access control (MAC) layer. It begins by studying the energy consumption of IEEE 802.15.4 security levels, which is followed by an evaluation for the impact of security on data latency and throughput, and then presents the impact of transmission power on security overhead, and finally shows the effects of security on memory footprint. The results show that security overhead in terms of energy consumption with a payload of 24 bytes fluctuates between 31.5% at minimum level over non-secure packets and 60.4% at the top security level of 802.15.4 security specification. Also, it shows that security cost has less impact at longer packet lengths, and more with smaller packet size. In addition, the results depicts a significant impact on data latency and throughput. Overall, maximum authentication length decreases throughput by almost 53%, and encryption and authentication together by almost 62%.

Keywords: energy consumption, IEEE 802.15.4, IoT security, security cost evaluation

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Authors: Gergely Horváth

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The study presents the complexity of food safety dividing it into two layers. Beyond the basic layer of requirements, there is a more demanding higher level linked with quality and purity aspects. It would be important to give special prominence to both layers, given that massive illnesses are caused by foods even though officially licensed. Then the study discusses an exciting safety challenge stemming from the risks of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Furthermore, it features legal case examples that illustrate how certain liability questions are solved or not yet decided in connection with the production of genetically modified crops. In addition, a special kind of land grabbing, more precisely land grabbing from non-GMO farming systems can also be noticed as well as a new phenomenon eroding food sovereignty. Coexistence, the state where organic, conventional, and GM farming systems are standing alongside each other is an unsuitable experiment that cannot be successful, because of biophysical reasons (such as cross-pollination). Agricultural and environmental lawyers both try to find the optimal solution. Agri-environmental measures are introduced as a special subfield of law maintaining also food safety. The important steps of agri-environmental legislation are aiming at the protection of natural values, the environmental media and strengthening food safety as well, practically the quality of agricultural products intended for human consumption. The major findings of the study focus on searching for the appropriate approach capable of solving the security and safety problems of food production. The most interesting concepts of the Hungarian national and EU food law legislation are analyzed in more detail with descriptive, analytic and comparative methods.

Keywords: food law, food safety, food security, GMO, Genetically Modified Organisms, agri-environmental measures

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Authors: Ume Habiba, Shafaqat Ali, Mujahid Farid, Muhammad Bilal Shakoor

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Copper (Cu) is an essential micronutrient for normal plant growth and development, but in excess, it is also toxic to plants. The present study investigated the influence of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) in enhancing Cu uptake and tolerance as well as the morphological and physiological responses of Brassica napus L. seedlings under Cu stress. Four-week-old seedlings were transferred to hydroponics containing Hoagland’s nutrient solution. After 2 weeks of transplanting, three levels (0, 50, and 100 μM) of Cu were applied with or without application of 2.5 mM EDTA and plants were further grown for 8 weeks in culture media. Results showed that Cu alone significantly decreased plant growth, biomass, photosynthetic pigments, and gas exchange characteristics. Cu stress also reduced the activities of antioxidants, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and catalase (CAT) along with protein contents. Cu toxicity increased the concentration of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as indicated by the increased production of malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in both leaves and roots. The application of EDTA significantly alleviated Cu-induced toxic effects in B. napus, showing remarkable improvement in all these parameters. EDTA amendment increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes by decreasing the concentrations of MDA and H2O2 both in leaves and roots of B. napus. Although, EDTA amendment with Cu significantly increased Cu uptake in roots, stems, and leaves in decreasing order of concentration but increased the growth, photosynthetic parameters, and antioxidant enzymes. These results showed that the application of EDTA can be a useful strategy for phytoextraction of Cu by B. napus from contaminated soils.

Keywords: antioxidants, biomass, copper, EDTA, phytoextraction, tolerance

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Authors: Ahmed F. Azmy, Amal E. Saafan, Tamer M. Essam, Magdy A. Amin, Shaban H. Ahmed

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Bacterial strains capable of degradation of malathion from the domestic sewage were isolated by an enrichment culture technique. Three bacterial strains were screened and identified as Acinetobacter baumannii (AFA), Pseudomonas aeruginosae (PS1),andPseudomonas mendocina (PS2) based on morphological, biochemical identification and 16S rRNA sequence analysis. Acinetobacter baumannii AFA was the most efficient malathion degrading bacterium, so used for further biodegradation study. AFA was able to grow in mineral salt medium (MSM) supplemented with malathion (100 mg/l) as a sole carbon source, and within 14 days, 84% of the initial dose was degraded by the isolate measured by high performance liquid chromatography. Strain AFA could also degrade other organophosphorus compounds including diazenon, chlorpyrifos and fenitrothion. The effect of different culture conditions on the degradation of malathion like inoculum density, other carbon or nitrogen sources, temperature and shaking were examined. Degradation of malathion and bacterial cell growth were accelerated when culture media were supplemented with yeast extract, glucose and citrate. The optimum conditions for malathion degradation by strain AFA were; an inoculum density of 1.5x 1012CFU/ml at 30°C with shaking. A specific polymerase chain reaction primers were designed manually using multiple sequence alignment of the corresponding carboxylesterase enzymes of Acinetobacter species. Sequencing result of amplified PCR product and phylogenetic analysis showed low degree of homology with the other carboxylesterase enzymes of Acinetobacter strains, so we suggested that this enzyme is a novel esterase enzyme. Isolated bacterial strains may have potential role for use in bioremediation of malathion contaminated.

Keywords: Acinetobacter baumannii, biodegradation, malathion, organophosphate pesticides

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Authors: L. Bidyalakshmi, R. Ananthan, T. Longvah

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Antioxidants are substances that can prevent or delay oxidative damage of lipids, proteins and nucleic acids by reactive oxygen species. These help in lowering incidence of degenerative diseases such as cancer, arthritis, atherosclerosis, heart disease, inflammation, brain dysfunction and acceleration of the ageing process. The north eastern part of India falls among the global hotspots of biodiversity. Over the years, the local communities in the region have developed ingenious uses of many wild plants within their environment as food sources. Many of these less familiar foods form an integral part of the diet of these communities, and some are traditionally valued for its therapeutic effects. So the study was carried to estimate the antioxidant activity of some of these indigenous foods. Twenty-eight indigenous plant foods were studied for their antioxidant activity. Antioxidant activities were determined by using DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) assay, FRAP (Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power) assay and SOSA (Super Oxide Scavenging Assay). Out of the twenty-eight plant foods, there were thirteen leafy vegetables, four fruits, five roots and tubers, four spices and two mushrooms. Water extract and methanol extract of the samples were used for the analysis. The leafy vegetable samples exhibited antioxidant capacity with IC50 ranging from 8-1414 mg/ml for lipid extract and 34-37878 mg/ml for aqueous extract in DPPH assay. Total FRAP value ranging from 58-1005 mmol FeSO4 Eq/100g of the sample, which is comparatively higher than the antioxidant capacity of some commonly consumed leafy vegetables. In SOSA, water extract of leafy vegetables show a range of 0.05-193.68 µmol ascorbic acid equivalent/g of the samples. While the methanol extract of the samples show 0.20-21.94 µmol Trolox equivalent/g of the samples. Polygonum barbatum, Wendlandia glabrata and Polygonum posumbu have higher antioxidant activity among the leafy vegetables analysed. Among the fruits, Rhus hookerii showed the highest antioxidant activities in both FRAP and SOSA methods while Spondias magnifera exhibited higher antioxidant activity in DPPH method. Alocasia cucullata exhibited higher antioxidant activity in DPPH and FRAP assays while Alpinia galanga showed higher antioxidant activity in SOSA assay when compared to the other samples of roots and tubers. Elsholtzia communis showed high antioxidant activity in all the three parameters among the spices. For the mushrooms, Pleurotus ostreatus exhibited higher antioxidant activity than Auricularia delicate in DPPH and SOSA. The samples analysed exhibited antioxidant activity at varying levels and some exhibited higher antioxidant activity than the commonly consumed foods. So consumption of these less familiar foods may play a role in preventing human disease in which free radicals are involved. Further studies on these food samples on phytonutrients and its contribution to the antioxidant activities are required.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, DPPH, FRAP, SOSA

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Authors: Raviteja Chintala

Abstract:

Water shortage in many areas of the world have predominantly increased the demand for efficient methods involved in the production of drinking water, So purification of water invoking cost effective and efficient methods is a challenging field of research. In this regard, Reverse osmosis membrane desalination of both seawater and inland brackish water is currently being deployed in various locations around the world. In the present work an attempt is made to integrate these existing technologies with novel method, Wherein carbon nanotubes at the lab scale are prepared which further replace activated carbon tubes being used traditionally. This has proven to enhance the efficiency of the water filter, Effectively neutralising most of the organic impurities. Furthermore, This ensures the reduction in TDS. Carbon nanotubes have wide range in scope of applications such as composite reinforcements, Field emitters, Sensors, Energy storage and energy conversion devices and catalysts support phases, Because of their unusual mechanical, Electrical, Thermal and structural properties. In particular, The large specific surface area, as well as the high chemical and thermal stability, Makes carbon nanotube an attractive adsorbent in waste water treatment. Carbon nanotubes are effective in eliminating these harmful media from water as an adsorbent. In this work, Candle soot method has been incorporated for the preparation of carbon nanotubes and mixed with activated charcoal in different compositions. The effect of composition change is monitored by using TDS measuring meter. As the composition of Nano carbon increases, The TDS of the water gradually decreases. In order to enhance the life time for carbon filter, Nano tubes are provided with larger surface area.

Keywords: TDS (Total Dissolved Solids), carbon nanotubes, water, candle soot

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Authors: Anna Jesionek, Aleksandra Szreniawa-Sztajnert, Zbigniew Jaremicz, Adam Kokotkiewicz, Natalia Filipowicz, Renata Ochocka, Bozena Zabiegala, Maria Luczkiewicz

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Rhododendron tomentosum (formerly Ledum palustre), an evergreen shrub grows in peaty soils in northern Europe, Asia and North America. In Poland, it is classified as an endangered species not only due to the drainage of wetlands, but also to the excessive collection of this repellent plant by human. The other valuable biological properties of R. tomentosum, used for years in folk medicine, include anti-inflammatory, analgesic and anti-microbial activity, conditioned by the essential oil content. Taking into account the importance of biodiversity and the potential therapeutic application, it was decided to establish, for the first time, the micropropagation protocol for R. tomentosum, for ex-situ conservation of this endangered species as well as to obtain the continuous source of in vivo and in-vitro plant material for further studies. This object was achieved by the selection of the explant and the media, which were modified within the scope of mineral composition, sugar content, pH and the growth regulators. As a result, the four-stage micropropagation protocol for R. tomentosum was specified, including shoot multiplication, elongation, rooting and ex-vitro adaptation. The genetic identification of the examined species and the compatibility of progeny plants with maternal ones was tested with molecular biology methods. Moreover, during the research process, the chemical composition of initial and regenerated plant and in vitro shoots was controlled in terms of volatile fraction by phytochemical analysis (GC and TLC methods). The correctness of the micropropagation procedure was confirmed by both types of studies.

Keywords: ex situ conservation, Ledum palustre, micropropagation, Rhododendron tomentosum

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Authors: Sameen Tariq, Saira Bano, Sayyada Ghufrana Nadeem

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The Ocean, which covers over 70% of the world's surface, is wealthy in biodiversity as well as a rich wellspring of microorganisms with huge potential. The oceanic climate is home to an expansive scope of plants, creatures, and microorganisms. Marine microbial networks, which incorporate microscopic organisms, infections, and different microorganisms, enjoy different benefits in biotechnological processes. Samples were collected from marine environments, including soil and water samples, to cultivate the uncultured marine organisms by using Zobell’s medium, Sabouraud’s dextrose agar, and casein media for this purpose. Following isolation, we conduct microscopy and biochemical tests, including gelatin, starch, glucose, casein, catalase, and carbohydrate hydrolysis for further identification. The results show that more gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The isolation process of marine organisms is essential for understanding their ecological roles, unraveling their biological secrets, and harnessing their potential for various applications. Marine organisms exhibit remarkable adaptations to thrive in the diverse and challenging marine environment, offering vast potential for scientific, medical, and industrial applications. The isolation process plays a crucial role in unlocking the secrets of marine organisms, understanding their biological functions, and harnessing their valuable properties. They offer a rich source of bioactive compounds with pharmaceutical potential, including antibiotics, anticancer agents, and novel therapeutics. This study is an attempt to explore the diversity and dynamics related to marine microflora and their role in biofilm formation.

Keywords: marine microorganisms, ecosystem, fungi, biofilm, gram-positive, gram-negative

Procedia PDF Downloads 45