Search results for: microbial fuel cell (MFC)

Authors: Olusegun Ayodeji Olagunju, Christine Tyreesa Pillay

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Biodiesel from waste sources is regarded as an economical and most viable fuel alternative to depleting fossil fuels. In this work, biodiesel was produced from three different sources of waste cooking oil; from cafeterias, which is vegetable-based using the transesterification method. The free fatty acids (% FFA) of the feedstocks were conducted successfully through the titration method. The results for sources 1, 2, and 3 were 0.86 %, 0.54 % and 0.20 %, respectively. The three variables considered in this process were temperature, reaction time, and catalyst concentration within the following range: 50 oC – 70 oC, 30 min – 90 min, and 0.5 % – 1.5 % catalyst. Produced biodiesel was characterized using ASTM standard methods for biodiesel property testing to determine the fuel properties, including kinematic viscosity, specific gravity, flash point, pour point, cloud point, and acid number. The results obtained indicate that the biodiesel yield from source 3 was greater than the other sources. All produced biodiesel fuel properties are within the standard biodiesel fuel specifications ASTM D6751. The optimum yield of biodiesel was obtained at 98.76%, 96.4%, and 94.53% from source 3, source 2, and source 1, respectively at optimum operating variables of 65 oC temperature, 90 minutes reaction time, and 0.5 wt% potassium hydroxide.

Keywords: waste cooking oil, biodiesel, free fatty acid content, potassium hydroxide catalyst, optimization analysis

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Authors: Venkat Garigapati

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Cell-based therapies are limited due to underlying host immune system activity. Microencapsulation of living cells to overcome this issue has some serious drawbacks, such as limitations of nutrient and oxygen diffusion, which pose a threat to the function and longevity of cells. The conformal coating could overcome the issues which are generally involved in traditional microencapsulation. Some of the theoretical advantages of conformal coating include superior nutrient and oxygen supply to cells, prolonged lifespan, improved drug-secreting cell functionality and an opportunity to load high cell doses in small volumes. Despite several advantages to the conformal coating, there are no suitable methods available to apply to living cells. The ultra-thin conformal coating was achieved utilizing click-reactive methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) polymers, which are capable of specifically reacting one polymer to another at neutral pH in the aqueous isotonic system at the desired temperature suitable for living cells without the need of deleterious initiators. ARPE-19 (Adult Retinal Pigment Epithelial cell line-19) cell-spheroids and rat pancreatic islets were used in the formulation studies. The in vitro studies of coated ARPE-19 cell-spheroids and rat islets indicate that the coat was intact; cells were viable and functioning. The in vitro study results revealed that the conformal coating technology seems promising and in vivo studies are being planned.

Keywords: cells, hydrogel, conformal coating, microencapsulation, insulin

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Authors: Masaumi Nakahara, Sou Watanabe, Hiromichi Ogi, Atsuhiro Shibata, Kazunori Nomura

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In the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, three types of experimental research, advanced reactor fuel reprocessing, radioactive waste disposal, and nuclear fuel cycle technology, have been carried out at the Chemical Processing Facility. The facility has generated high level radioactive liquid and solid wastes in hot cells. The high level radioactive solid waste is divided into three main categories, a flammable waste, a non-flammable waste, and a solid reagent waste. A plastic product is categorized into the flammable waste and molten with a heating mantle. The non-flammable waste is cut with a band saw machine for reducing the volume. Among the solid reagent waste, a used adsorbent after the experiments is heated, and an extractant is decomposed for its stabilization. All high level radioactive solid wastes in the hot cells are packed in a high level radioactive solid waste can. The high level radioactive solid waste can is transported to the 2nd High Active Solid Waste Storage in the Tokai Reprocessing Plant in the Japan Atomic Energy Agency.

Keywords: high level radioactive solid waste, advanced reactor fuel reprocessing, radioactive waste disposal, nuclear fuel cycle technology

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Authors: S. Sivakumar, Ashwin Bala, S. Prithviraj, K. Panthala Rajakumaran, R. Pradeep, J. Udhayakumar

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Studies reveal that acetylene gas derived from hydrolysis of calcium carbide has similar properties to that of diesel. However, the self-ignition temperature of acetylene gas is higher than that of diesel. Early investigations reveal that acetylene gas could be used as alternative fuel mode. In the present work, acetylene gas of 31/min were inducted and diesel was injected into the combustion chamber of a single cylinder air cooled diesel engine. It was observed that the higher calorific value of acetylene gas improves the brake thermal efficiency at full load conditions. The CO and HC emissions were higher at part load conditions as compared to conventional diesel. The Nox emission level was higher and smoke emission was lower during dual fuel mode under all operating conditions. It is concluded that dual fuel mode of acetylene gas and diesel improves the brake thermal efficiency and reduces smoke in diesel engine.

Keywords: acetylene gas, diesel engine, Nox emission, CO emission, HC emission

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Authors: M. Manjunath, R. Rakesh, Y. T. Krishne Gowda, G. Panduranga Murthy

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The availability of energy resources plays a vital role in the progress of a country. Over the last decades, there is an increase in the consumption of energy worldwide resulting in the depletion of fossil fuels. This necessitates dependency on other countries for energy resources. Therefore, a renewable eco-friendly alternate fuel is replaced in place of fossil fuel which can be vegetable oils as a substitute fuel for diesel. Since oils are more viscous it cannot be used directly in CI engines without any engine modification. Thus, a conversion of vegetable oils to biodiesel is done by a Transesterification process. The present paper is restricted to Biofuel substitute for diesel and which can be obtained from a number of edible and non-edible oil resources. The oil from these resources can be Transesterified by a suitable method depending on its FFA content for the production of biodiesel and that can be used to operate CI engine. In this work, an attempt is made to test the performance of CI engine using Transesterified peanut and sunflower oil methyl esters blends with diesel.

Keywords: SOME, POME, BMEP, BSFC, BTE

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Authors: Leila Ayat, Afak Meftah

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Amorphous-silicon alloys have great promise as low cost solar cell materials. They have excellent photo-conductivity and high optical absorption to sunlight. Now PIN a-Si:H based solar cells are widely used in power generation modules. However, to improve the performance of these cells further, a better fundamental under-standing of the factors limiting cell performance in the homo junction PIN structure is necessary. In this paper we discuss the sensitivity of light J-V characteristics to various device and material parameters in PIN homo junction solar cells. This work is a numerical simulation of the output parameters of a PIN a-Si:H solar cell under AM1.5 spectrum. These parameters are the short circuit current (Jsc), the open circuit voltage (Voc), the fill factor (FF), the conversion efficiency. The simulation was performed with SCAPS-1D software version 3.3 developed at ELIS in Belgium by Marc Burgelman et al. The obtained results are in agreement with experiment. In addition, the effect of the thickness, doping density, capture cross sections of the gap states and the band microscopic mobilities on the output parameters of the cell are also presented.

Keywords: amorphous silicon p-i-n junctions, thin film, solar cells, sensitivity

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Authors: Rajapaksha Gedara Prasad Tharanga Jayasooriya, Matharage Gayani Dilshara, Yung Hyun Choi, Gi-Young Kim

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Camptothecin (CPT) is a quinolone alkaloid which inhibits DNA topoisomerase I that induces cytotoxicity in a variety of cancer cell lines. We previously showed that CPT effectively inhibited invasion of prostate cancer cells and also combined treatment with subtoxic doses of CPT and TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) potentially enhanced apoptosis in a caspase-dependent manner in hepatoma cancer cells. Here, we found that treatment with CPT caused an irreversible cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase. CPT-induced cell cycle arrest was associated with a decrease in protein levels of cell division cycle 25C (Cdc25C) and increased the level of cyclin B and p21. The CPT-induced decrease in Cdc25C was blocked in the presence of proteasome inhibitor MG132, thus reversed the cell cycle arrest. In addition to that treatment of CPT-increased phosphorylation of Cdc25C was the resulted of activation of checkpoint kinase 2 (Chk2), which was associated with phosphorylation of ataxia telangiectasia-mutated. Interestingly CPT induced G2/M phase of the cell cycle arrest is reactive oxygen species (ROS) dependent where ROS inhibitors NAC and GSH reversed the CPT-induced cell cycle arrest. These results further confirm by using transient knockdown of nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) since it regulates the production of ROS. Our data reveal that treatment of siNrf2 increased the ROS level as well as further increased the CPT induce G2/M phase cell cycle arrest. Our data also indicate CPT-enhanced cell cycle arrest through the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway. Inhibitors of ERK and JNK more decreased the Cdc25C expression and protein expression of p21 and cyclin B. These findings indicate that Chk2-mediated phosphorylation of Cdc25C plays a major role in G2/M arrest by CPT.

Keywords: camptothecin, cell cycle, checkpoint kinase 2, nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2, reactive oxygen species

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Authors: Saleh Alkarri, Melinda Frame, Dimple Sharma, John Cairney, Lee Maddan, Jin H. Kim, Jonathan O. Rayner, Teresa M. Bergholz, Muhammad Rabnawaz

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Reported herein is an investigation of anti-bacterial and anti-virus properties, mode of action of Mg(OH)₂ and copper-infused Mg(OH)₂ nanoplatelets (NPs) on melt-compounded and thermally embossed polypropylene (PP) surfaces. The anti-viral activity for the NPs was studied in aqueous liquid suspensions against SARS-CoV-2, and the mode of action was investigated on neat NPs and PP samples that were thermally embossed with NPs. Anti-bacterial studies for melt-compounded NPs in PP confirmed approximately 1 log reduction of E. coli populations in 24 h, while for thermally embossed NPs, an 8 log reduction of E. coli populations was observed. In addition, the NPs exhibit anti-viral activity against SARS-CoV-2. Fluorescence microscopy revealed that reactive oxygen species (ROS) is the main mode of action through which Mg(OH)₂ and Cu-Infused Mg(OH)₂act against microbes. Plastics with anti-microbial surfaces from where biocides are non-leachable are highly desirable. This work provides a general fabrication strategy for developing anti-microbial plastic surfaces.

Keywords: anti-microbial activity, E. coli K-12 MG1655, anti-viral activity, SARS-CoV-2, copper-infused magnesium hydroxide, non-leachable, ROS, compounding, surface embossing, dyes

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Authors: DaeHae Kim, MinJun Kwon, Sewon Kim

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This study is aimed to develop ultra-low NOₓ burner using the internal recirculation of flue gas inside the combustion chamber that utilizes the momentum of intake fuel and air. Detailed experimental investigations are carried out to study these fluid dynamic effects on the emission characteristics of newly developed burner in industrial steam boiler system. Experimental parameters are distance of Venturi tube from burner, Coanda nozzle gap distance, and air sleeve length at various fuel/air ratio and thermal heat load conditions. The results showed that NOₓ concentration decreases as the distance of Venturi tube from burner increases. The CO concentration values at all operating conditions were negligible. In addition, the increase of the Coanda nozzle gap distance decreased the NOₓ concentration. It is experimentally found out that both fuel injection recirculation and air injection recirculation technique was very effective in reducing NOₓ formation.

Keywords: Coanda effect, combustion, burner, low NOₓ

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Authors: Soufiane Benoumhani, Nadia Saifi, Boubekeur Dokkar, Mohamed Cherif Benzid

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This work presents the design and simulation of electric equipment for a hybrid solar vehicle. The new drive train of this vehicle is a parallel hybrid system which means a vehicle driven by a great percentage of an internal combustion engine with 49.35 kW as maximal power and electric motor only as assistance when is needed. This assistance is carried out on the rear axle by a single electric motor of 7.22 kW as nominal power. The motor is driven by 12 batteries connecting in series, which are charged by three PV panels (300 W) installed on the roof and hood of the vehicle. The individual components are modeled and simulated by using the Matlab Simulink environment. The whole system is examined under different load conditions. The reduction of CO₂ emission is obtained by reducing fuel consumption. With the use of this hybrid system, fuel consumption can be reduced from 6.74 kg/h to 5.56 kg/h when the electric motor works at 100 % of its power. The net benefit of the system reaches 1.18 kg/h as fuel reduction at high values of power and torque.

Keywords: light car, hybrid system, PV panel, electric motor

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Authors: Sharon Yunger, Liat Altman, Yuval Garini, Yaron Shav-Tal

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Understanding the dynamics of transcription in living cells has improved since the development of quantitative fluorescence-based imaging techniques. We established a method for following transcription from a single copy gene in living cells. A gene tagged with MS2 repeats, used for mRNA tagging, in its 3' UTR was integrated into a single genomic locus. The actively transcribing gene was detected and analyzed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and live-cell imaging. Several cell clones were created that differed in the promoter regulating the gene. Thus, comparative analysis could be obtained without the risk of different position effects at each integration site. Cells in S/G2 phases could be detected exhibiting two adjacent transcription sites on sister chromatids. A sharp reduction in the transcription levels was observed as cells progressed along the cell cycle. We hypothesized that a change in chromatin structure acts as a general mechanism during the cell cycle leading to down-regulation in the activity of some genes. We addressed this question by treating the cells with chromatin decondensing agents. Quantifying and imaging the treated cells suggests that chromatin structure plays a role both in regulating transcriptional levels along the cell cycle, as well as in limiting an active gene from reaching its maximum transcription potential at any given time. These results contribute to understanding the role of chromatin as a regulator of gene expression.

Keywords: cell cycle, living cells, nucleus, transcription

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Authors: Christelle E. Chua, Alicia L. Ho

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The development of a panel of differential gene expression signatures has been of interest in the field of biomarker discovery for radiation exposure. In the absence of the availability of exposed human subjects, lymphocyte cell lines have often been used as a surrogate to human whole blood, when performing ex vivo irradiation studies. The extent of variation between different lymphocyte cell lines is currently unclear, especially with regard to the expression of extracellular miRNA. This study compares the expression profile of extracellular miRNA isolated from different lymphocyte cell lines. It also compares the profile of miRNA obtained when different exosome isolation kits are used. Lymphocyte cell lines were created using lymphocytes isolated from healthy adult males of similar racial descent (Chinese American and Chinese Singaporean) and immortalised with Epstein-Barr virus. The cell lines were cultured in exosome-free cell culture media for 72h and the cell culture supernatant was removed for exosome isolation. Two exosome isolation kits were used. Total exosome isolation reagent (TEIR, ThermoFisher) is a polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based exosome precipitation kit, while ExoSpin (ES, Cell Guidance Systems) is a PEG-based exosome precipitation kit that includes an additional size exclusion chromatography step. miRNA from the isolated exosomes were isolated using miRNEASY minikit (Qiagen) and analysed using nCounter miRNA assay (Nanostring). Principal component analysis (PCA) results suggested that the overall extracellular miRNA expression profile differed between the lymphocyte cell line originating from the Chinese American donor and the cell line originating from the Chinese Singaporean donor. As the gender, age and racial origins of both donors are similar, this may suggest that there are other genetic or epigenetic differences that account for the variation in extracellular miRNA gene expression in lymphocyte cell lines. However, statistical analysis showed that only 3 miRNA genes had a fold difference > 2 at p < 0.05, suggesting that the differences may not be of that great a significance as to impact overall conclusions drawn from different cell lines. Subsequent analysis using cell lines from other donors will give further insight into the reproducibility of results when difference cell lines are used. PCA results also suggested that the method of exosome isolation impacted the expression profile. 107 miRNA had a fold difference > 2 at p < 0.05. This suggests that the inclusion of an additional size exclusion chromatography step altered the subset of the extracellular vesicles that were isolated. In conclusion, these results suggest that extracellular miRNA can be isolated and analysed from exosomes derived from lymphocyte cell lines. However, care must be taken in the choice of cell line and method of exosome isolation used.

Keywords: biomarker, extracellular miRNA, isolation methods, lymphocyte cell line

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Authors: Yessica Nataliani, Miin-Shen Yang

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Cell formation (CF) is an important step in group technology. It is used in designing cellular manufacturing systems using similarities between parts in relation to machines so that it can identify part families and machine groups. There are many CF methods in the literature, but there is less spectral clustering used in CF. In this paper, we propose a spectral clustering algorithm for machine-part CF. Some experimental examples are used to illustrate its efficiency. Overall, the spectral clustering algorithm can be used in CF with a wide variety of machine/part matrices.

Keywords: group technology, cell formation, spectral clustering, grouping efficiency

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Authors: Hend Mesbah, Yehia Youssef, Ibrahim Hassan, Shaaban Nosier, Ahmed El-Shazly, Ahmed Helal

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The problem of drinking water shortage is becoming more crucial nowadays as a result of the increased demand due to the population growth and the rise in the standard living. In recent years, desalination using electrodialysis powered by solar energy (PV-ED) is being widely used to help provide treated water and reduce the scarcity in water supply. In the present study, a water desalination laboratory scale ED cell with a fixed bed circulation system was designed, developed, and tested. The effect of three parameters (namely, cell voltage , flowrate, and salt concentration) on the removal percentage of salt ions was studied. The cell voltage was adjusted at 3 , 4 and 6 V. A flow rate of 5, 10, and 20 ml/s and an initial salt concentration of 2000, 5000, and 7000 ppm were investigated. The maximum salt percentage removal obtained was 52.5% at the lowest initial concentration (2000 ppm) and at the highest cell voltage (6 V). There was no significant effect of the flow rate on the removal percentage. A model of PV module has also been developed to calculate the dimensions of a solar cell based on the amount of energy consumed and it was calculated from the Overall ED cell voltage.

Keywords: desalination, electrodialysis, solar desalination, photovoltaic electrodialysis

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Authors: Amin Alvani

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Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, often disabling disease in which the immune system attacks the myelin sheath of neurons in the central nervous system. The present study aimed to investigate the Relationship between behavioral inhibition/approach system (BIS-BAS) and perceived stress (PS) whit control white blood cell (WBC). 60 MS patients (male=36.7, female=63.3%; age range=15-65 participated in the study and completed the demographic questionnaire, the count blood cell (CBC) test, the behavioral Activation and behavioral inhibition scale (BIS-BAS), and the perceived stress Questionnaire (PSS-14). The results revealed that Between of BAS-reward responsiveness (BAS-DR) subscale and PS, in more than MS patient (BIS), there are increase WBC.

Keywords: behavioral inhibition/approach system, perceived stress, white blood cell, multiple sclerosis

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Authors: Zehui Du, Chaiwat Prapainainar, Paisan Kongkachuichay, Paweena Prapainainar

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The aim of this work was to obtain small crystalline size and high crystallinity of mordenites and analcimes, by modifying the aging time, agitation, water content, crystallization temperature and crystallization time. Two different hydrothermal methods were studied. Both methods used Na2SiO3 as the silica source, NaAlO2 as the aluminum source, and NaOH as the alkali source. The first method used HMI as the template while the second method did not use the template. Mordenite crystals with spherical shape and bimodal in size of about 1 and 5 µm were obtained from the first method using conditions of 24 hr aging time, 170°C and 24 hr crystallization. Modernites with high crystallinity were formed using agitation system in the crystallization process. It was also found that the aging time of 2 hr and 24 hr did not much affect the formation of mordenite crystals. Analcime crystals were formed in spherical shape and facet on surface with the size between 13-15 µm by the second method using the conditions of 30 minutes aging time, 170°C and 24 hr crystallization without calcination. By increasing water content, the crystallization process was slowed down and resulted in smaller analcime crystals. Larger size of analcime crystals were observed when the samples were calcined at 300°C and 580°C. Higher calcination temperature led to higher crystal growth and resulted in larger crystal size. Finally, mordenite and analcime was used as fillers in zeolite/Nafion composite membrane to solve the fuel cross over problem in direct alcohol fuel cell.

Keywords: analcime, hydrothermal synthesis, mordenite, zeolite

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Authors: Mohammadjavad Sotoudeheian, Soroush Nematollahi

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Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic gastrointestinal segment inflammation encompassing immune dysregulation in a genetically susceptible individual in response to the environmental triggers and interaction between the microbiome and immune system. Uncontrolled inflammation leads to long-term complications, including fibrotic strictures and enteric fistulae. Increased production of Th1 and Th17-cell cytokines and defects in T-regulatory cells have been associated with CD. Th17-cells are essential for protection against extracellular pathogens, but their atypical activity can cause autoimmunity. Intrinsic defects in the control of programmed cell death in the mucosal T-cell compartment are strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of CD. The apoptosis defect in mucosal T-cells in CD has been endorsed as an imbalance of the Bcl-2 and the Bax. The immune system encounters foreign antigens through microbial colonization of mucosal surfaces or infections. In addition, FOSL downregulated IL-26 expression, a cytokine that marks inflammatory Th17-populations in patients suffering from CD. Furthermore, the expression of IL-23 is associated with the transcription factor primary leucine zipper transcription factor ATF-like (Batf). Batf-deficiency demonstrated the crucial role of Batf in colitis development. Batf and IL-23 mediate their effects by inducing IL-6 production. Strong association of IL-23R, Stat3, and Stat4 with IBD susceptibility point to a critical involvement of T-cells. IL-23R levels in transfer fistula were dependent on the AP-1 transcription factor JunB that additionally controlled levels of RORγt by facilitating DNA binding of Batf. T lymphocytes lacking JunB failed to induce IL-23- and Th17-mediated experimental colitis highlighting the relevance of JunB for the IL-23/ Th17 pathway. The absence of T-bet causes unrestrained Th17-cell differentiation. T-cells are central parts of immune-mediated colon fistula. Especially Th17-cells were highly prevalent in inflamed IBD tissues, as RORγt is effective in preventing colitis. Intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) contain unique T-cell subsets, including cells expressing RORγt. Increased activated Th17 and decreased T-regulatory cells in inflamed intestinal tissues had been seen. T-cells differentiate in response to many cytokines, including IL-1β, IL-6, IL-23, and TGF-β, into Th17-cells, a process which is critically dependent on the Batf. IL-23 promotes Th17-cell in the colon. Batf manages the generation of IL-23 induced IL-23R+ Th17-cells. Batf is necessary for TGF-β/IL-6-induced Th17-polarization. Batf-expressing T-cells are the core of T-cell-mediated colitis. The human-specific parts of three AP-1 transcription factors, FOSL1, FOSL2, and BATF, are essential during the early stages of Th17 differentiation. BATF supports the Th17 lineage. FOSL1, FOSL2, and BATF make possession of regulatory loci of genes in the Th17 lineage cascade. The AP1 transcription factor Batf is identified to control intestinal inflammation and seems to regulate pathways within lymphocytes, which could theoretically control the expression of several genes. It shows central regulatory properties over Th17-cell development and is intensely upregulated within IBD-affected tissues. Here, we demonstrated that targeting Batf in IBD appears as a therapeutic approach that reduces colitogenic T-cell activities during fistula formation while aiming to affect inflammation in the gut epithelial cells.

Keywords: immune system, Crohn’s Disease, BATF, T helper cells, Bcl, interleukin, FOSL

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Authors: Abhishek Gandhi, Naresh Bhatnagar

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In this article, a new technique has been developed to manufacture open cell extruded thermoplastic foamed sheets with the aid of extrudate surface-quenching phenomenon. As the extrudate foam exits the die, its surface is rapidly quenched which results in freezing of cells on the surface, while the cells at the core continue to grow and leads to development of open-cellular microstructure at the core. Influence of chill roll temperature was found to be extremely significant in developing porous morphological attributes. Subsequently, synergistic effect of blowing agent content and chill roll temperature was examined for their expansion ratio and open-cell microstructure. Further, chill roll rotating speed was found extremely significant in obtaining open-cellular foam structures. This study intends to enhance the understanding of researchers working in the area of open-cell foam processing.

Keywords: foams, porous materials, morphology, composite, microscopy, open-cell foams

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Authors: Win Nee Phong, Tau Chuan Ling, Pau Loke Show

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From an industrial perspective, the exploitation of microalgae for protein source is of great economical and commercial interest due to numerous attractive characteristics. Nonetheless, the release of protein from microalgae is limited by the multiple layers of the rigid thick cell wall that generally contain a large proportion of cellulose. Thus an efficient cell disruption process is required to rupture the cell wall. The conventional downstream processing methods which typically involve several unit operational steps such as disruption, isolation, extraction, concentration and purification are energy-intensive and costly. To reduce the overall cost and establish a feasible technology for the success of the large-scale production, microalgal industry today demands a more cost-effective and eco-friendly technique in downstream processing. One of the main challenges to extract the proteins from microalgae is the presence of rigid cell wall. This study aims to provide some guidance on the selection of the efficient solvent to facilitate the proteins released during the cell disruption process. The effects of solvent types such as methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol and water in rupturing the microalgae cell wall were studied. It is interesting to know that water is the most effective solvent to recover proteins from microalgae and the cost is cheapest among all other solvents.

Keywords: green, microalgae, protein, solvents

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Authors: Jia-Shiun Chen, Hsiu-Ying Hwang

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Hybrid electric vehicles can reduce pollution and improve fuel economy. Power-split hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) provide two power paths between the internal combustion engine (ICE) and energy storage system (ESS) through the gears of an electrically variable transmission (EVT). EVT allows ICE to operate independently from vehicle speed all the time. Therefore, the ICE can operate in the efficient region of its characteristic brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) map. The two-mode powertrain can operate in input-split or compound-split EVT modes and in four different fixed gear configurations. Power-split architecture is advantageous because it combines conventional series and parallel power paths. This research focuses on input-split and compound-split modes in the two-mode power-split powertrain. Fuzzy Logic Control (FLC) for an internal combustion engine (ICE) and PI control for electric machines (EMs) are derived for the urban driving cycle simulation. These control algorithms reduce vehicle fuel consumption and improve ICE efficiency while maintaining the state of charge (SOC) of the energy storage system in an efficient range.

Keywords: hybrid electric vehicle, fuel economy, two-mode hybrid, fuzzy control

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Authors: Chayma Bahar, Chokri Baccouch, Hedi Sakli, Nizar Sakli

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Harvesting and transport of optical and radiofrequency signals are a topical subject with multiple challenges. In this paper, we present a Optical RECTENNA system. We propose here a hybrid system solar cell antenna for 5G mobile communications networks. Thus, we propose rectifying circuit. A parametric study is done to follow the influence of load resistance and input power on Optical RECTENNA system performance. Thus, we propose a solar cell antenna structure in the frequency band of future 5G standard in 2.45 GHz bands.

Keywords: antenna, IoT, optical rectenna, solar cell

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Authors: Hossam El-Sayed Emam

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As an essential issue for life, water while it’s important for all living organisms. However, the world is dangerously facing the serious problem for the deficiency of the sources of drinking water. Within the aquatic systems, there are various gases, microbes, and other toxic ingredients (chemical compounds and heavy metals) occurred owing to the draining of agricultural and industrial wastewater, resulting in water pollution. On the other hand, fuel (gaseous, liquid, or in solid phase) is one of the extensively consumable energy sources, and owing to its origin from fossil, it contains some sulfur-, nitrogen- and oxygen-based compounds that cause serious problems (toxicity, catalyst poisoning, corrosion, and gum formation andcarcinogenic effects), to be ascribed as undesirable pollutants.MOFs as porous coordinating polymers are superiorly exploited in the adsorption and separationof contaminants for wastewater treatment and fuel purification. The inclusion of highly adsorbent materials like MOFs to be immobilized within cellulosic materialscould be investigated as a new challenge for the separation of contaminants with high efficiency and opportunity for recyclability. Therefore, the current approach ascribes the exploitation of different MOFsimmobilized within cellulose (powder, films, and fabrics)for applications in environmental. Herein, using cellulose containing MOFs in dye removal (degradation and adsorption), pharmaceutical intermediates removal, and fuel purification were summarized.

Keywords: cellulose, MOFs, dye removal, pharmaceutical intermediates, fuel purification

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Authors: S. V. Ukwungwu, A. J. Abbas, G. G. Nasr

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The increasing high price of natural gas and oil with attendant increase in energy demand on world markets in recent years has stimulated interest in recovering residual oil saturation across the globe. In order to meet the energy security, efforts have been made in developing new technologies of enhancing the recovery of oil and gas, utilizing techniques like CO2 flooding, water injection, hydraulic fracturing, surfactant flooding etc. Surfactant flooding however optimizes production but poses risk to the environment due to their toxic nature. Amongst proven records that have utilized other type of bacterial in producing biosurfactants for enhancing oil recovery, this research uses a technique to combine biosurfactants that will achieve a scale of EOR through lowering interfacial tension/contact angle. In this study, three biosurfactants were produced from three Bacillus species from freeze dried cultures using sucrose 3 % (w/v) as their carbon source. Two of these produced biosurfactants were screened with the TEMCO Pendant Drop Image Analysis for reduction in IFT and contact angle. Interfacial tension was greatly reduced from 56.95 mN.m-1 to 1.41 mN.m-1 when biosurfactants in cell-free culture (Bacillus licheniformis) were used compared to 4. 83mN.m-1 cell-free culture of Bacillus subtilis. As a result, cell-free culture of (Bacillus licheniformis) changes the wettability of the biosurfactant treatment for contact angle measurement to more water-wet as the angle decreased from 130.75o to 65.17o. The influence of microbial treatment on crushed rock samples was also observed by qualitative wettability experiments. Treated samples with biosurfactants remained in the aqueous phase, indicating a water-wet system. These results could prove that biosurfactants can effectively change the chemistry of the wetting conditions against diverse surfaces, providing a desirable condition for efficient oil transport in this way serving as a mechanism for EOR. The environmental friendly effect of biosurfactants applications for industrial purposes play important advantages over chemically synthesized surfactants, with various possible structures, low toxicity, eco-friendly and biodegradability.

Keywords: bacillus, biosurfactant, enhanced oil recovery, residual oil, wettability

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Authors: P. Jost, L. Muckova, M. Matula, J. Pejchal, D. Jun, R. Stetina

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Sulfur mustard (bis(2-chlorethyl) sulfide) is highly toxic, chemical warfare agent that has been used in the past in several armed conflicts. Except for the skin, respiratory tract is one of the important routes of exposure. The elucidation and understanding of the mechanism of toxicity of SM have been effort intensive research. The multiple targets character of SM caused cellular damage resulted in activation of many different mechanisms which contribute to cellular response and participate in the final cytopathology effect. In our present work, we compared time-dependent changes in sulfur mustard exposed adult human lung fibroblasts NHLF and lung epithelial alveolar cell line A-549. Cell viability (MTT assay, Calcein-AM assay, and xCELLigence - real-time cell analysis), apoptosis (flow cytometry), mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm, flow cytometry), reactive oxygen species induction (DC and cell cycle distribution (flow cytometry) were studied. We observed significantly decreased mitochondrial membrane potential and subsequent induction of apoptosis correlating with decreased cellular viability in the sulfur mustard exposed cells. In low concentrations, sulfur mustard-induced S-phase cell cycle arrest, on the other hand, high concentrations, cell cycle phase distribution of sulfur mustard exposed cells resembled cell cycle phase distribution of control group, which implies nonspecific cell cycle inhibition. Epithelial cells A-549 was found as more sensible to sulfur mustard toxicity. Acknowledgements: This work was supported by a long-term organization development plan Medical Aspects of Weapons of Mass Destruction of the Faculty of Military Health Sciences, University of Defence.

Keywords: apoptosis, cell cycle, cytotoxicity, sulfur mustard

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Authors: Adedoyin Akintunde Adedayo, Onilude Abiodun Anthony

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The continuous usage of synthetic antibiotics in livestock production has led to the resistance of microbial pathogens. This has prompted research to find alternative sources. This study aims to compare the growth and intestinal health of broilers fed scent leaf meal (SLM) as an alternative to synthetic antibiotics. The study used a completely randomized design (CRD) with 300 one-week-old Arbor Acres broiler chicks. The chicks were divided into six treatments with five replicates of ten birds each. The feeding trial lasted 49 days, including a one-week acclimatization period. Commercial broiler diets were used. The diets included a negative control (no leaf meal or antibiotics), a positive control (0.10% oxy-tetracycline), and four diets with different levels of SLM (0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0%). The supplementation of both oxy-tetracycline and SLM improved feed intake during the finisher phase. Birds fed SLM at a 1% inclusion level showed significantly (P<0.05) improved average body weight gain (ABWG), lowered feed-to-gain ratio, and cost per kilogram of weight gain compared to other diets. The mortality (2.0%) rate was significantly higher in the negative control group. White blood cell levels varied significantly (P<0.05) in birds fed SLM-supplemented diets, and the use of 2% SLM led to an increase in liver weight. However, welfare indices were not compromised.

Keywords: Arbor Acres, phyto-biotic, synthetic antibiotic, white blood cell, liver weight

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Authors: Lukáš Plošek, Jaroslav Hynšt, Jaroslav Záhora, Jakub Elbl, Antonín Kintl, Ivana Charousová, Silvia Kovácsová

Abstract:

Compost can influence soil fertility and plant health. At the same time compost can play an important role in the nitrogen cycle and it can influence leaching of mineral nitrogen from soil to underground water. This paper deals with the influence of compost addition and mineral nitrogen fertilizer on leaching of mineral nitrogen, nitrogen availability in microbial biomass and plant biomass production in the lysimetric experiment. Twenty-one lysimeters were filed with topsoil and subsoil collected in the area of protection zone of underground source of drinking water - Březová nad Svitavou. The highest leaching of mineral nitrogen was detected in the variant fertilized only mineral nitrogen fertilizer (624.58 mg m-2), the lowest leaching was recorded in the variant with high addition of compost (315.51 mg m-2). On the other hand, losses of mineral nitrogen are not in connection with the losses of available form of nitrogen in microbial biomass. Because loss of mineral nitrogen was detected in variant with the least change in the availability of N in microbial biomass. The leaching of mineral nitrogen, yields as well as the results concerning nitrogen availability from the first year of long term experiment suggest that compost can positive influence the leaching of nitrogen into underground water.

Keywords: nitrogen, compost, biomass production, lysimeter

Procedia PDF Downloads 348

Authors: Ofonime Ogba, Augustine Akpan

Abstract:

Objectives and Goals: The study was aimed at determining pathogenic microbial carriage on the external body parts of Camponotus consobrinus which is also known as the banded sugar ant because of its liking for sugar and sweet food. The level of pathogenic microbial carriage of Camponotus consobrinus in association to the environment in which they have been collected is not known. Methods: The ants were purposively collected from four locations including the kitchens, bedroom of various homes, food shops, and bakeries. The sample collection took place within the hours of 6:30 pm to 11:00 pm. The ants were trapped in transparent plastic containers of which sugar, pineapple peels, sugar cane and soft drinks were used as bait. The ants were removed with a sterile spatula and put in 10mls of peptone water in sterile universal bottles. The containers were vigorously shaken to wash the external surface of the ant. It was left overnight and transported to the Microbiology Laboratory, University of Calabar Teaching Hospital for analysis. The overnight peptone broths were inoculated on Chocolate agar, Blood agar, Cystine Lactose Electrolyte-Deficient agar (CLED) and Sabouraud dextrose agar. Incubation was done aerobically and in a carbon dioxide jar for 24 to 48 hours at 37°C. Isolates were identified based on colonial characteristics, Gram staining, and biochemical tests. Results: Out of the 250 Camponotus consobrinus caught for the study, 90(36.0%) were caught in the kitchen, 75(30.0%) in the bedrooms 40(16.0%) in the bakery while 45(18.0%) were caught in the shops. A total of 82.0% prevalence of different microbial isolates was associated with the ants. The kitchen had the highest number of isolates 75(36.6%) followed by the bedroom 55(26.8%) while the bakery recorded the lowest number of isolates 35(17.1%). The profile of micro-organisms associated with Camponotus consobrinus was Escherichia coli 73(30.0%), Morganella morganii 45(18.0%), Candida species 25(10.0%), Serratia marcescens 10(4.0%) and Citrobacter freundii 10(4.0%). Conclusion: Most of the Camponotus consobrinus examined in the four locations harboured potential pathogens. The presence of ants in homes and shops can facilitate the propagation and spread of pathogenic microorganisms. Therefore, the development of basic preventive measures and the control of ants must be taken seriously.

Keywords: Camponotus consobrinus, potential pathogens, microbial isolates, spread

Procedia PDF Downloads 165

Authors: A. Ridall, J. Ingels

Abstract:

Microplastics (MPs; < 5 mm) have been cited as exceptionally detrimental to marine organisms and ocean health. They can carry other pollutants and abundant microbes that can serve as food for other organisms. Their small particle size and high abundance means that non-discriminatory feeders may ingest MPs involuntarily and microbial colonization of the particles (a niche coined ‘Plastisphere’) could facilitate particle ingestion. To assess how marine nematodes, the most abundant member of the meiofauna (32-500 um), are affected by microbe-MP associations, an experiment was conducted with three MP concentrations (low, medium, and expected high values of MPs in a local bay system), and two levels of microbe-MP associations (absence or presence). MPs were introduced into sediment microcosms and treatments were removed at three distinct time points (0, 3, and 7 days) to measure mean MP consumption/individual nematode. The quantitative results from this work should inform on microbial facilitation of MP ingestion and MP effects on seafloor ecology. As most MP feeding experiments use straight-from-package or sterile MPs, this work represents an important step in realizing the effects of MPs and their plastispheres in coastal sediments where they likely accumulate microbial biofilms prior to their ingestion by marine metazoans. Furthermore, the results here convey realistic effects of MPs on faunal behaviors, as the MP concentrations used are based on field measurements rather than artificially high levels.

Keywords: ecosystem function, microbeads, plastisphere, pollution, polyethylene

Procedia PDF Downloads 96

Authors: Shiyin He, Zheng Huang

Abstract:

In this paper, deep learning methods are applied in bio-medical field to detect and count different types of cells in an automatic way instead of manual work in medical practice, specifically in bone marrow examination. The process is mainly composed of two steps, detection and recognition. Mask-Region-Convolutional Neural Networks (Mask-RCNN) was used for detection and image segmentation to extract cells and then Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), as well as Deep Residual Network (ResNet) was used to classify. Result of cell detection network shows high efficiency to meet application requirements. For the cell recognition network, two networks are compared and the final system is fully applicable.

Keywords: cell detection, cell recognition, deep learning, Mask-RCNN, ResNet

Procedia PDF Downloads 186

Authors: Ajay V. Kolhe, R. E. Shelke, S. S. Khandare

Abstract:

This study discusses the performance and combustion characteristics of a direct injection diesel engine fueled with Jatropha methyl ester (JME). In order to determine the performance and combustion characteristics, the experiments were conducted at the constant speed mode (1500rpm) under the full load condition of the engine on single cylinder 4-stroke CI engine. The result indicated that when the test engine was fuelled with JME, the engine performance slightly weakened, the combustion characteristics slightly changed when compared to petroleum based diesel fuel. The biodiesel caused reduction in carbon monoxide (CO), unburned hydrocarbon (HC) emissions, but they caused to increases in nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions. The useful brake power obtained is similar to diesel fuel for all loads. Oxygen content in the exhaust is more with JME blend due to the reason that fuel itself contains oxygen. JME as a new Biodiesel and its blends can be used in diesel engines without any engine modification.

Keywords: biodiesel, combustion, CI engine, jatropha curcas oil, performance and emission

Procedia PDF Downloads 366