Search results for: activated clay

Authors: El-Sadek H. Nour El-deen, K. Harby

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Energy saving and environment friendly applications are turning out to be one of the most important topics nowadays. In this work, a simulation analysis using TRNSYS software has been carried out to study the benefit of employing a solar adsorption cooling system under the climatic conditions of Al-Minya city, Egypt. A theoretical model was carried out on a two bed adsorption cooling system employing granular activated carbon-HFC-404A as working pair. Temporal and averaged history of solar collector, adsorbent beds, evaporator and condenser has been shown. System performance in terms of daily average cooling capacity and average coefficient of performance around the year has been investigated. The results showed that maximum yearly average coefficient of performance (COP) and cooling capacity are about 0.26 and 8 kW respectively. The maximum value of the both average cooling capacity and COP cyclic is directly proportional to the maximum solar radiation. The system performance was found to be increased with the average ambient temperature. Finally, the proposed solar powered adsorption cooling systems can be used effectively under Al-Minya climatic conditions.

Keywords: adsorption, cooling, Egypt, environment, solar energy

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Authors: Kausar Ali

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There are several ground treatment techniques which may meet the twin objectives of increasing the bearing capacity with simultaneous reduction of settlements, but the use of stone columns is one of the most suited techniques for flexible structures such as embankments, oil storage tanks etc. that can tolerate some settlement and used worldwide. However, when the stone columns in very soft soils are loaded; stone columns undergo excessive settlement due to low lateral confinement provided by the soft soil, leading to the failure of the structure. The poor performance of stone columns under these conditions can be improved by encasing the columns with a suitable geosynthetic. In this study, the effect of reinforcement on bearing capacity of composite soil has been investigated by conducting laboratory model tests on floating and end bearing long stone columns with l/d ratio of 12. The columns were reinforced by providing geosynthetic encasement over varying column length (upper 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% column length). In this study, a group of columns has been used instead of single column, because in the field, columns used for the purpose always remain in groups. The tests indicate that the encasement over the full column length gives higher failure stress as compared to the encasement over the partial column length for both floating and end bearing long columns. The performance of end-bearing columns was found much better than the floating columns.

Keywords: geosynthetic, ground improvement, soft clay, stone column

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Authors: Daniel Fulus Fom, Gau Patrick Damulak

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In this study, the Autoregressive Fractional Integrated Moving Average (ARFIMA) and Jordan Recurrent Neural Network (JRNN) models were employed to model the forecasting performance of the daily turbidity flow of White Clay Creek (WCC). The two methods were applied to the log difference series of the daily turbidity flow series of WCC. The measurements of error employed to investigate the forecasting performance of the ARFIMA and JRNN models are the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and the Mean Absolute Error (MAE). The outcome of the investigation revealed that the forecasting performance of the JRNN technique is better than the forecasting performance of the ARFIMA technique in the mean square error sense. The results of the ARFIMA and JRNN models were obtained by the simulation of the models using MATLAB version 8.03. The significance of using the log difference series rather than the difference series is that the log difference series stabilizes the turbidity flow series than the difference series on the ARFIMA and JRNN.

Keywords: auto regressive, mean absolute error, neural network, root square mean error

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Authors: S. Taghvamanesh

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Modern landfills are highly engineered containment systems that are designed to reduce the environmental and human health impacts of solid waste (trash). In modern landfills, waste is contained by a liner system. The primary goal of the liner system is to isolate the landfill contents from the environment, thereby protecting the soil and groundwater from pollution caused by the leachate of a landfill. Landfill leachate is the most serious threat to groundwater. Therefore, it is necessary to design a system that prevents the penetration of this dangerous substance into the environment. These layers are made up of two basic elements: clay and geosynthetics. Hydraulic conductivity and flexibility are two desirable properties of these materials. There are three different types of liner systems that will be discussed in this paper. According to available data, the current article analyzed materials and methods for constructing liner layers made of distinct leachates, including various harmful components and heavy metals from all around the world. Also, this study attempted to gather data on leachates for each of the sites discussed. In conclusion, every landfill requires a specific type of liner, which depends on the type of leachate that it produces daily. It should also be emphasized that, based on available data, this article focused on the number of landfills that each country or continent possesses.

Keywords: landfill, liner layer, impervious layer, barrier layer

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Authors: Ayuko Itsuki, Sachiyo Aburatani

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In recent years, pollutions of the environment by toxic substances become a serious problem. While there are many methods of environmental clean-up, the methods by microorganisms are considered to be reasonable and safety for environment. Compost is known that it catabolize the meladorous substancess in its production process, however the mechanism of its catabolizing system is not known yet. In the catabolization process, organic matters turn into inorganic by the released enzymes from lots of microorganisms which live in compost. In other words, the cooperative of activated enzymes in the compost decomposes malodorous substances. Thus, clarifying the interaction among enzymes is important for revealing the catabolizing system of meladorous substance in compost. In this study, we utilized statistical method to infer the interaction among enzymes. We developed a method which combined partial correlation with cross correlation to estimate the relevance between enzymes especially from time series data of few variables. Because of using cross correlation, we can estimate not only the associative structure but also the reaction pathway. We applied the developed method to the enzyme measured data and estimated an interaction among the enzymes in decomposition mechanism of toluene.

Keywords: enzyme activities, comparative analysis, compost, toluene

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Authors: Iranga Weerakkody, Palitha Sri Geegana Arachchige, Dasith Tilakaratna

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The aim of this research is to study how folk wisdom can be applied to assist in the process of purification of water. This is qualitative research, and by random sampling, it is focused on to the dry zone of Sri Lanka. The research limitation has been set to the use of Ingini seeds (Strychnos potatorum) to purify water. Here the research is based on connecting traditional knowledge regarding water purification using Ingini seeds to modern times and the advantages and disadvantages of using Ingini seeds to purify water sources. Ingini seeds have been used among villagers of the dry zone to purify water for a long time by methods such as planting Ingini plants around water sources and depositing seeds covered with a cotton cloth inside wells. Crushed Ingini seeds have been put into clay water pots to reduce the hardness of water, as well as the number of impurities present in the water. This shows that Ingini seeds have a property that is successful in precipitating dissolved impurities in water. Ingini seeds are also used to precipitate solid impurities in herbal wine. The advantages of using Ingini seeds are that it can be obtained naturally from the ecology without an additional cost and that it is completely organic forest produce. Another specialty is that in practices, it is used to treat kidney stones and other water-related diseases affecting the kidneys.

Keywords: folklife, Ingini seeds, Strychnos potatorum, organic forest produce, water purification

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Authors: N. Ouslimani, M. T. Abadlia

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Wastewater from manufacturing industries are responsible for many organic micropollutants such as some detergents and dyes. It is estimated that 10-15 % of these chemical compounds in the effluents are discharged. In the method of dyeing the dyes are often used in excess to improve the dye and thereby the waste water are highly concentrated dye. The treatment of effluents containing dye has become a necessity given its negative repercussions on ecosystems mainly due to the pollutant nature of synthetic dyes and particularly soluble dyes such as acid dyes. Technology adsorptive separation is now a separation technologies of the most important treatments. The choice led to the use of bentonite occurs in order to use an equally effective and less costly than replacing charcoal. This choice is also justified by the importance of the material developed by, the possibility of cation exchange and high availability in our country surface. During this study, therefore, we test the clay, the main constituent is montmorillonite, whose most remarkable properties are its swelling resulting from the presence of water in the space between the sheets and the fiber structure to the adsorption of acid dye "red Bemacid. "The study of various parameters i.e. time, temperature, and pH showed that the adsorption is more favorable to the temperature of 19 °C for 240 minutes at a Ph equal to 2.More styles and Langmuir adsorption Freundlich were applied to describe the isotherms. The results show that sodium bentonite seems to affect the ability and effectiveness to adsorb colorant.Les ultimate quantities are respectively 0.629 mg/g and 0.589 mg/g for sodium bentonite and bentonite gross.

Keywords: Bentonite, treatment of polluted water, acid dyes, adsorption

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Authors: Amir Hajiali, Gevorg P. Pirumyan

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In this research, removal of Non-Organic Suspended Solids and Non-Organic Solved Solids with and without sediment in treatment of an industrial wastewater system before and after ozonation was studied and compared. The most hazardous part of these substances is monomers of chlorophenolic combinations which in biological reactors in a liquid phase could be absorbed much easier and with a high velocity. These monomers and particularly monomers with high molecular weights are seen a lot in such wastewater treatment systems. After the treatment, the measured non-organic solved and suspended solids contents in the cyclic ozonation-biotreatment system compared to the non-organic solved and suspended solids values in the treatment method without ozonation. Sedimentation was the other factor which was considered in this experiment.The solids removals were measured with and without sediments. The comparison revealed that the remarkable efficiency of the cyclic ozonation-biotreatment system in removing the non-organic solids both with and without sediments is extremely considerable. Results of the experiments showed that ozone can be dramatically effective for solving most organic materials in activated sludge in such a wastewater or for making them mineral. Moreover, bio dissolubility increase related to the solved materials was reported.

Keywords: non-organic solids, ozonation, sediment, wastewater treatment

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Authors: Thandie Veronicah Sima, Moatlhodi Wiseman Letshwenyo

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Discharge of wastewater is one of the major sources of phosphorus entering streams, lakes and other water bodies causing undesired environmental problem such as eutrophication. This condition not only puts the ecosystem at risk but also causes severe economic damages. Stringent laws have been developed globally by different bodies to control the level of phosphorus concentrations into receiving environments. In order to satisfy the constraints, a high degree of tertiary treatment or at least a significant reduction of phosphorus concentration is obligatory. This comprehensive review summarizes phosphorus removal technologies, from the most commonly used conventional technologies such as chemical precipitation through metal addition, membrane filtration, reverse osmosis and enhanced biological phosphorus removal using activated sludge system to passive systems such as constructed wetlands and filtration systems. Trends, perspectives and scientific procedures conducted by different researchers have been presented. This review critically evaluates the advantages and limitations behind each of the technologies. Enhancement of passive systems using reactive media such as industrial wastes to provide additional uptake through adsorption or precipitation is also discussed in this article.

Keywords: adsorption, chemical precipitation, enhanced biological phosphorus removal, phosphorus removal

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Authors: Ali Sinan Soğancı

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Expansive soils are often encountered in many parts of the world, especially in arid and semi-arid fields. Such kind of soils, generally including active clay minerals in low water content, enlarge in volume by absorbing the water through the surface and cause a great harm to the light structures such as channel coating, roads and airports. The expansive soils were encountered on the path of Apa-Hotamış conveyance channel belonging to the State Hydraulic Works in the region of Konya. In the research done in this area, it is predicted that the soil has a swollen nature and the soil should be filled with proper granular equipment by digging the ground to 50-60 cm. In this study, for purpose of helping the other research to be done in the same area, it is thought that instead of replacing swollen soil with the granular soil, by stabilizing it with polypropylene fiber and using it its original place decreases effect of swelling percent, in this way the cost will be decreased. Therefore, a laboratory tests were conducted to study the effects of polypropylene fiber on swelling characteristics of expansive soil. Test results indicated that inclusion of fiber reduced swell percent of expansive soil. As the fiber content increased, the unconfined compressive strength was increased. Finally, it can be say that stabilization of expansive soils with polypropylene fiber is an effective method.

Keywords: expansive soils, polypropylene fiber, stabilization, swelling percent

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Authors: K. Żak, S. Przetocka, R. Kitel, K. Guzik, B. Musielak, S. Malicki, G. Dubin, T. A. Holak

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Studies on tumor genesis revealed a number of factors that may potentially serve as molecular targets for immunotherapies. One of such promising targets are PD1 and PDL1 proteins. PD1 (Programmed cell death protein 1) is expressed by activated T cells and plays a critical role in modulation of the host's immune response. One of the PD1 ligands -PDL1- is expressed by macrophages, monocytes and cancer cells which exploit it to avoid immune attack. The notion of the mechanisms used by cancer cells to block the immune system response was utilized in the development of therapies blocking PD1-PDL1 interaction. Up to date, human PD1-PDL1 complex has not been crystallized and structure of the mouse-human complex does not provide a complete view of the molecular basis of PD1-PDL1 interactions. The purpose of this study is to obtain crystal structure of the human PD1-PDL1 complex which shall allow rational design of small molecule inhibitors of the interaction. In addition, the study presents results of binding small-molecules to PD1 and fragment docking towards PD1 protein which will facilitate the design and development of small–molecule inhibitors of PD1-PDL1 interaction.

Keywords: PD1, PDL1, cancer, small molecule, drug discovery

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Authors: Flavia Laffleur, Andreas Bernkop-Schnürch

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Purpose: This study was aimed to investigate preactivated thiomers for their mucoadhesive potential. Methods: Accordingly, chitosan-thioglycolic-mercaptonicotinamide conjugates (chitosan-TGA-MNA) were synthesized by the oxidative S-S coupling of chitosan-thioglycolic acid (chitosan-TGA) with 6-mercaptonicotin amide (MNA). Unmodified chitosan, chitosan-TGA (thiomers) and chitosan-TGA-MNA conjugates were compressed into test discs to investigate cohesive properties, cytotoxicity assays and mucoadhesion studies. Results: Due to the immobilization of MNA, the chitosan-TGA-MNA conjugates exhibit comparatively higher swelling properties and cohesive properties corresponding unmodified chitosan. On the rotating cylinder, discs based on chitosan-TGA-MNA conjugates displayed 3.1-fold improved mucoadhesion time compared to thiolated polymers. Tensile study results were found in good agreement with rotating cylinder results. Moreover, preactivated thiomers showed higher stability. All polymers were found non-toxic over Caco-2 cells. Conclusion: On the basis of achieved results the pre activated thiomeric therapeutic agent seems to represent a promising generation of mucoadhesive polymers which are safe to use for a prolonged residence time to target the mucosa.

Keywords: biomedical application, drug delivery, polymer, thiomer

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Authors: Charmaine Lamiel, Van Hoa Nguyen, Marjorie Baynosa, Jae-Jin Shim

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Electrochemical supercapacitors have attracted considerable attention because of their high potential as an efficient energy storage system. The combination of carbon-based material and transition metal oxides/sulfides are studied because they have long and improved cycle life as well as high energy and power densities. In this study, a hierarchical mesoporous carbon sphere/nickel cobalt sulfide (CS/Ni-Co-S) core/shell structure was synthesized using a facile hydrothermal method without any further sulfurization or post-heat treatment. The CS/Ni-Co-S core/shell microstructures exhibited a high capacitance of 724 F g−1 at 2 A g−1 in a 6 M KOH electrolyte. After 2000 charge-discharge cycles, it retained 86.1% of its original capacitance, with high Coulombic efficiency of 97.9%. The electrode exhibited a high energy density of 58.0 Wh kg−1 at an energy density of 1440 W kg−1, and high power density of 7200 W kg−1 at an energy density of 34.2 Wh kg−1. The successful synthesis was considered to be simple and cost-effective which supports the viability of this composite as an alternative activated material for high performance supercapacitors.

Keywords: carbon sphere, electrochemical, hydrothermal, nickel cobalt sulfide, supercapacitor

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Authors: I. Apostol, M. Mosoarca

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Romania is a seismic country, with two major seismic zones, Vrancea and Banat. One of the most important cities from Banat seismic area is Timisoara, where a lot of valuable historical buildings were built before any design codes, but still they kept their stability during past earthquakes. This article presents the influence of the adjacent buildings during an earthquake and the way that the specific failure mechanism is changed when the building is part of an aggregate. The investigation was made using nonlinear analysis based on Tremuri software, first analyzing the buildings as isolated and second, considering the entire aggregate of buildings. There were noticed significant differences through the two situations regarding the specific failure mechanism activated for each building, showing the fact that in some situations, the presence of the adjacent buildings has positive or negative contribution for the seismic behavior of the analyzed one. The difference between the failure mechanism of the same buildings considered isolated and in aggregate aims to provide explications for the good structural state of the existing historical areas of Timisoara, as part of a larger multidisciplinary study, which will help local authorities to prioritize the consolidation works for the historical buildings in order to assure that the history of the city will be kept alive for the next generations.

Keywords: failure mechanism, analysis, aggregate, masonry, earthquake

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Authors: Andy Obinna Ibeje

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In this study, the erodibility indices and some soil properties of some cassava farms in selected areas of Abia and Imo States were investigated. This study involves taking measurements of some soil parameters such as permeability, soil texture and particle size analysis from which the erodibility indices were compared. Results showed that soils of the areas are very sandy. The results showed that Isiukwuato with index of 72 has the highest erodibility index. The results also showed that Arondizuogu with index of 34 has the least erodibility index. The results revealed that soil erodibility (k) values varied from 34 to 72. Nkporo has the highest sand content; Inyishie has the least silt content. The result indicates that there were respectively strong inverse relationship between clay and silt contents and erodibility index. On the other hand, sand, organic matter and moisture contents as well as soil permeability has significantly high positive correlation with soil erodibility and it can be concluded that particle size distribution is a major finger print on the erodibility index of soil in the study area. It is recommended that safe cultural practices like crop rotation, matching and adoption of organic farming techniques be incorporated into farming communities of Abia and Imo States in order to stem the advances of erosion in the study area.

Keywords: erodibility, indices, soil, sand

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Authors: Víctor Martínez del Rey, Kourosh Nasr Esfahani, Amir Masoud Samani Majd

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In this experimental study, the behaviors of Mixed Oxidant solution components (MOS) and sodium hypochlorite (HYPO) as the most commonly applied surface disinfectant were compared through the effectiveness of chlorine disinfection as a function of the contact time and residual chlorine. In this regard, the variation of pH, free available chlorine (FAC) concentration, and electric conductivity (EC) of disinfection solutions in different concentrations were monitored over 48 h contact time. In parallel, the plant stress activated by chlorine-based disinfectants was assessed by comparing MOS and HYPO. The elements of pH and EC in the plant-soil and their environmental impacts, spread by disinfection solutions were analyzed through several concentrations of FAC including 500 mg/L, 1000 mg/L, and 5000 mg/L in irrigated water. All the experiments were carried out at the service station of Sant Cugat, Spain. The outcomes indicated lower pH and higher durability of MOS than HYPO at the same concentration of FAC which resulted in promising stability of FAC within MOS. Furthermore, the pH and EC value of plant-soil irrigated by NaOCl solution were higher than that of MOS solution at the same FAC concentration. On-site generation of MOS as a safe chlorination option might be considered an imaginary future of smart cities.

Keywords: disinfection, free available chlorine, on-site generation, sodium hypochlorite

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Authors: Hailiang Liu, Yan Ni, Jie Zheng, Xiaoyan Jiang, Min Hong

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Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) is a commonly clinical type IV allergic skin disease, with the pathological features of infiltration by mononuclear cells and tissue necrosis. Traditional Chinese medicine Radix Saposhnikoviae (RS) is traditionally employed to treat exogenous evils, rubella, itching, rheumatism and tetanus. Meanwhile, it is an important component of the commonly used anti-allergy compound. It’s now widely used as an immuno-modulating agent in mixed herbal decoctions to treat inflammation. However, its mechanism of anti-allergy remains unknown. RS was found to reduce ear thickness, as well as the infiltration of eosinophils. The proliferation of T lymphocytes was inhibited significantly by RS, markedly decreased IFN-γ levels in the supernatant of cells cultured and serum were detected with the treatment of RS. RS significantly decreased the amount of DCs in the mouse lymph nodes, and inhibited the expression of CD4 0 and CD86. Meanwhile, T-bet mRNA expression was down remarkably regulated by RS. These results indicate that RS cures Th1-induced allergic skin inflammation by regulating Th1/Th2 balance with decreasing Th1 differentiation, which might be associated with DCs.

Keywords: allergic contact dermatitis, Radix saposhnikoviae, dendritic cells, T-bet, GATA-3, CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ treg cells

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Authors: Anant Pandey, Kanika Sharma, Vibha Chopra, Shaila Bahl, Pratik Kumar, S. P. Lochab, Birendra Singh

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This paper reports the thermoluminescence (TL) properties of nanocrystalline CaSO₄ activated by Ce, Sm, and Dy. TL properties are investigated by chiefly changing the dopant element and also by varying the concentration of the dopant elements (from 0.05 mol % to 0.5 mol %) so as to establish the optimized dopant concentration for each of the activators. The method of salt preparation used is the typical chemical co-precipitation method and the technique used for characterization of the prepared samples is the X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) technique. Further, the phosphors are irradiated with gamma radiation from Co-60 (1.25 MeV) source (dose range- 30 Gy to 500 Gy). The optimized concentration (vis-a-vis TL peak intensity) of activator for CaSO₄:Ce is found to be 0.2 mol %, for CaSO₄:Sm it is 0.1 mol % and for CaSO₄:Dy it is 0.2 mol %. Further, the primary study of the TL response curves for all the three phosphors confirms linearity in the studied dose range (i.e., 30 Gy to 500 Gy). Finally, CaSO₄:Dy was also studied for its energy dependence property which plays an important role in defining the utility of a phosphor for dosimetric applications. The range of doses used for the energy dependence study was from 30 Gy to 500 Gy from Cs-137 (0.662 MeV). The nano-phosphors showed potential to be used as radiation dosimeter in the studied range of gamma radiation and thus must be studied for a wider range of doses.

Keywords: gamma radiation, nanocrystalline, radiation dosimetry, thermoluminescence

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Authors: Azam Tabatabaee, Fereshteh Dastgoshadeh, Akram Tabatabaee

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This paper describes the use of by-products as adsorbents for removing heavy metals from aqueous effluent solutions. Products of almond skin, walnut shell, saw dust, rice bran and egg shell were evaluated as metal ion adsorbents in aqueous solutions. A comparative study was done with commercial adsorbents like ion exchange resins and activated carbon too. Batch experiments were investigated to determine the affinity of all of biomasses for, Cd(ΙΙ), Cr(ΙΙΙ), Ni(ΙΙ), and Pb(ΙΙ) metal ions at pH 5. The rate of metal ion removal in the synthetic wastewater by the biomass was evaluated by measuring final concentration of synthetic wastewater. At a concentration of metal ion (50 mg/L), egg shell adsorbed high levels (98.6 – 99.7%) of Pb(ΙΙ) and Cr(ΙΙΙ) and walnut shell adsorbed high levels (35.3 – 65.4%) of Ni(ΙΙ) and Cd(ΙΙ). In this study, it has been shown that by-products were excellent adsorbents for removal of toxic ions from wastewater with efficiency comparable to commercially available adsorbents, but at a reduced cost. Also statistical studies using Independent Sample t Test and ANOVA Oneway for statistical comparison between various elements adsorption showed that there isn’t a significant difference in some elements adsorption percentage by by-products and commercial adsorbents.

Keywords: adsorbents, heavy metals, commercial adsorbents, wastewater, by-products

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Authors: Wenxing Chen, Guangying Chen, Yin Lu, Shile Huang

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Cryptotanshinone (CPT), a fat-soluble tanshinone from Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, has been demonstrated to inhibit mTOR pathway, resulting in inhibition of cancer cell proliferation. However, the molecular mechanism how CPT acts on mTOR is unknown. Here, cancer cells expressing rapamycin-resistant mutant mTOR are also sensitive to CPT, while phosphorylation of AMPK and TSC2 was activated, suggesting that CPT inhibition of mTOR maybe due to activating upstream of mTOR, AMPK, but not directly binding to and inhibiting mTOR. Further results indicated that Compound C, inhibitor of AMPK, could partially reversed CPT inhibition effect on cancer cells, and dominant-negative AMPK in cancer cells conferred resistance to CPT inhibition of 4EBP1 and phosphorylation of S6K1, as well as sh-AMPK. Furthermore, compared with MEF cells with AMPK positive, MEF cells with AMPK knock out are less sensitive to CPT by the findings that 4E-BP1 and phosphorylation of S6K1 express comparatively much. Furthermore, downexpression of TSC2 slightly recovered expression of 4EBP1 and phosphorylation of S6K1, while co-immunoprecipitation of TSC2 did not affect expression of TSC1 by CPT. Collectively, the above-mentioned results suggest that CPT inhibited mTOR pathway mostly was due to activation of AMPK-TSC2 pathway rather than specific inhibition of mTOR and then induction of subsequent lethal cellular effect.

Keywords: cryptotanshinone, AMPK, TSC2, mTOR, cancer cells

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Authors: M. S. Mahmoud

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This study was conducted to evaluate the manganese removal from aqueous solution using Banana peels activated carbon (BPAC). Batch experiments have been carried out to determine the influence of parameters such as pH, biosorbent dose, initial metal ion concentrations and contact times on the biosorption process. From these investigations, a significant increase in percentage removal of manganese 97.4 % is observed at pH value 5.0, biosorbent dose 0.8 g, initial concentration 20 ppm, temperature 25 ± 2 °C, stirring rate 200 rpm and contact time 2 h. The equilibrium concentration and the adsorption capacity at equilibrium of the experimental results were fitted to the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models; the Langmuir isotherm was found to well represent the measured adsorption data implying BPAC had heterogeneous surface. A raw groundwater samples were collected from Baharmos groundwater treatment plant network at Embaba and Manshiet Elkanater City/District-Giza, Egypt, for treatment at the best conditions that reached at first phase by BPAC. The treatment with BPAC could reduce iron and manganese value of raw groundwater by 91.4 % and 97.1 %, respectively and the effect of the treatment process on the microbiological properties of groundwater sample showed decrease of total bacterial count either at 22°C or at 37°C to 85.7 % and 82.4 %, respectively. Also, BPAC was characterized using SEM and FTIR spectroscopy.

Keywords: biosorption, banana peels, isothermal models, manganese

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Authors: Muthana A. M. Jamel Al-Gburi

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Elimination of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas from the atmosphere is very important but complicated since there is increasing in the amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which mainly caused by some of the human activities and the burning of fossil fuels. So that will lead to global warming. The global warming affects the earth temperature causing an increase to a higher level and, at the same time, creates tornadoes and storms. In this project, we are going to do a new technique for extracting carbon dioxide directly from the air and change it to useful minerals and Nano scale fibers made of carbon by using several chemical processes through chemical reactions. So, that could lead to an economical and healthy way to make some valuable building materials. Also, it may even work as a weapon against environmental change. In our device (Carbone Dioxide Domestic Extractor), we are using Ocean-seawater to dissolve the CO₂ gas and then converted it into carbonate minerals by using a number of additives like Shampoo, clay, and MgO. Note that the atmospheric air includes CO₂ gas, has circulated within the seawater by the air pump. More, that we will use a number of chemicals agents to convert the water acid into useful minerals. After we constructed the system, we did intense experiments and investigations to find the optimum chemical agent, which must be work at the environmental condition. Further to that, we will measure the solubility of CO₂ and other salts in the seawater.

Keywords: global warming, CO₂ gas, ocean-sea water, additives, solubility level

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Authors: M. Budakoglu, M. Karaman, D. Kiran, Z. Doner, B. Zeytuncu, B. Tanç, M. Kumral

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Lake Acıgöl is one of the large saline lacustrine environment in Turkey. Eleven trace metals (Cr, Mn, Fe, Al, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb and As) in 9 surface and subsurface sediment samples from the Lake Acıgöl were analyzed with the bulk and sequential extraction analysis methods by ICP-MS to obtain the metal distribution patterns in this extreme environment. Five stepped sequential extraction technique (1- exchangeable, 2- bond to carbonates, 3- bond to iron and manganese oxides/hydroxides, 4- bond to organic matter and sulphides, and 5- residual fraction incorporated into clay and silicate mineral lattices) was used to characterize the various forms of metals in the <63μ size sediments. The metal contents (ppm) and their percentages for each extraction step were reported and compared with the results obtained from the total digestion. Results indicate that sum of the four fraction are in good agreement with the total digestion results of Ni, Cd, As, Zn, Cu and Fe with the satisfactory recoveries (94.04–109.0%) and the method used is reliable and repeatable for these elements. It was found that there were high correlations between Fe vs. Ni loads in the fraction of F2 and F4 with R2= 0,91 and 0,81, respectively. Comparison of totally 135 chemical analysis results in three sampling location and for 5 fraction between Fe-Co, Co-Ni and Fe-Ni element couples were presented elevated correlations with R2=0,98, 0,92 and 0,91, respectively.

Keywords: Lake Acigol, sequancial extraction, recent lake sediment, geochemical speciation of heavy metals

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Authors: Vera Karla S. Caingles, Glen A. Lorenzo

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Soil, as the main material of landslides, plays a vital role in landslide assessment. An efficient and accurate method of doing an assessment is significantly important to prevent damage of properties and loss of lives. The study has two phases: to establish an empirical correlation of the residual soil thickness with the slope angle and to investigate the geotechnical characteristics of residual soil. Digital Elevation Model (DEM) in Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to establish the slope map and to program sampling points for field investigation. Physical and index property tests were undertaken on the 20 soil samples obtained from the area with Pliocene-Pleistocene geology and different slope angle in Kibawe, Bukidnon. The regression analysis result shows that the best fitting model that can describe the soil thickness-slope angle relationship is an exponential function. The physical property results revealed that soils contain a high percentage of clay and silts ranges from 41% - 99.52%. Based on the index properties test results, the soil exhibits a high degree of plasticity and expansion but not collapsible. It is deemed that this compendium will serve as primary data for slope stability analysis and deterministic landslide assessment.

Keywords: collapsibility, correlation, expansiveness, landslide, plasticity

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Authors: Reza Ziaie Moayed, Maedeh Akhavan Tavakkoli

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This research aims to investigate and evaluate the liquefaction potential in a project in Kerman city based on different methods for fine-grained soils. Examining the previous damages caused by recent earthquakes, it has been observed that fine-grained soils play an essential role in the level of damage caused by soil liquefaction. But, based on previous investigations related to liquefaction, there is limited attention to evaluating the cyclic resistance ratio for fine-grain soils, especially with the SPT method. Although using a standard penetration test (SPT) to find the liquefaction potential of fine-grain soil is not common, it can be a helpful method based on its rapidness, serviceability, and availability. In the present study, the liquefaction potential has been first determined by the soil’s physical properties obtained from laboratory tests. Then, using the SPT test and its available criterion for evaluating the cyclic resistance ratio and safety factor of liquefaction, the correction of effecting fine-grained soils is made, and then the results are compared. The results show that using the SPT test for liquefaction is more accurate than using laboratory tests in most cases due to the contribution of different physical parameters of soil, which leads to an increase in the ultimate N₁(60,cs).

Keywords: liquefaction, cyclic resistance ratio, SPT test, clay soil, cohesion soils

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Authors: Khalifa Alatresh, Mirac Aydin

Abstract:

This research explores the impacts of irrigation by treated wastewater (TWW) on the mineralogical and chemical attributes of sandy calcareous soils in the Southern region of Misurata. Soil samples obtained from three horizons (A, B, and C) of six TWW-irrigated pedons (29years) and six other pedons from nearby non-irrigated areas (dry-control). The results demonstrated that the TWW-irrigated pedons had significantly higher salinity (EC), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), cation exchange capacity (CEC), available phosphor (AP), total nitrogen (TN), and organic matter (OM) relative to the control pedons. Nonetheless, all the values of interest (EC < 4000 µs/cm < SAR < 13, pH < 8.5 and ESP < 15) remained lower than the thresholds, showing no issues with sodicity or salinity. Irrigated pedons contained significantly higher amounts of total clay and showed an altered distribution of particle sizes and minerals identified (quartz, calcite, microcline, albite, anorthite, and dolomite) within the profile. The observed results included the occurrence of Margarite, Anorthite, Chabazite, and Tridymite minerals after the application of TWW in small quantities that are not enough to influence soil genesis and classification.0,51 cm.

Keywords: treated wastewater, sandy calcareous soils, soil mineralogy, and chemistry

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Authors: Daniel Osorio, Janneth Gonzalez, Andres Pinzon

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In this work, proteins and metabolic pathways associated with the neuroprotective response mediated by the synthetic neurosteroid tibolone under a palmitate-induced inflammatory model were identified by flux balance analysis (FBA). Three different metabolic scenarios (‘healthy’, ‘inflamed’ and ‘medicated’) were modeled over a gene expression data-driven constructed tissue-specific metabolic reconstruction of mature astrocytes. Astrocyte reconstruction was built, validated and constrained using three open source software packages (‘minval’, ‘g2f’ and ‘exp2flux’) released through the Comprehensive R Archive Network repositories during the development of this work. From our analysis, we predict that tibolone executes their neuroprotective effects through a reduction of neurotoxicity mediated by L-glutamate in astrocytes, inducing the activation several metabolic pathways with neuroprotective actions associated such as taurine metabolism, gluconeogenesis, calcium and the Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor signaling pathways. Also, we found a tibolone associated increase in growth rate probably in concordance with previously reported side effects of steroid compounds in other human cell types.

Keywords: astrocytes, flux balance analysis, genome scale metabolic reconstruction, inflammation, neuroprotection, tibolone

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Authors: Ichrak Hamrouni, Tariq Ouahbi, Natalija Lhuissier, Saïd Taibi, Mehrez Jemai, Olivier Crumeyrolle, Hatem Zenzri

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Raw earth is the oldest building technique used for over 11 centuries, thanks to its various benefits. The most known raw earth construction technics are compressed earth blocks, rammed earth, raw earth concrete, and daub. The raw earth can be stabilized with hydraulic binders, mixed by fibers, or hyper-compacted in order to improve its mechanical behaviour. Moreover, raw earth is characterized by a low thermal conductivity what make it a good thermal insulator, and it has a very important capacity to condense and evaporate relative humidity. In this context, many researches have been developed. They have shown that the mechanical characteristics of earth materials increase with the hyper-compaction and adding fibers or hydraulic binders. Besides, other researches have been determined the thermal and hygroscopic properties of raw earth. They have shown that this material able to contribute to moisture and heat control in constructions. Its hygrothermal properties are better than fired earth bricks and concrete. The aim of this study is to evaluate the thermal and hygrometric behavior of raw earth material using experimental tests allows to determine the main Hygrothermal properties such as the water Vapour permeability and thermal conductivity and compare the results with those of other building materials such as fired clay bricks and cement concrete is presented.

Keywords: raw earth material, hygro-thermal, thermal conductivity, water vapour permeability, building materials, building materials

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Authors: Sandip Sharma, Jayesh Ruparelia

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The present work focuses on the comparative study of ozone based advanced oxidation processes (AOPs): O3, O3/UV and O3/UV/Persulfate for mineralization of synthetic wastewater containing Reactive Black5 (RB5) dye. The effect of various parameters: pH, ozone flow rate, initial concentration of dye and intensity of UV light was analyzed to access performance efficiency of AOPs. The performance of all the three AOPs was evaluated on the basis of decolorization, % TOC removal and ozone consumption. The highest mineralization rate of 86.83% was achieved for O3/UV/Persulfate followed by 71.53% and 66.82 % for O3/UV and O3 respectively. This is attributed to the fact that Persulfate ions (S2O82-) upon activation produce sulfate radical (SO4-●) which is very strong oxidant capable of degrading a wide variety of recalcitrant organic compounds, moreover to enhance the performance of Persulfate it is activated using UV irradiation. On increasing the intensity of UV irradiation from 11W to 66W, TOC removal efficiency is increased by 59.04%. Ozone based AOPs gives better mineralization on basic conditions, at pH 12 it gives 68.81%, 60.01% and 40.32% TOC removal for O3/UV/Persulfate, O3/UV and O3 process respectively. The result also reveals that decolorization of 98.95%, 95.17% and 94.71% was achieved by O3/UV/Persulfate, O3/UV and O3 process respectively. In addition to above, ozone consumption was also considerably decreased by 17% in case of O3/UV/Persulfate, as efficiency of process is enhanced by means of activation of persulfate through UV irradiation. Thus study reveals that mineralization follows: O3/UV/Persulfate> O3/UV> O3.

Keywords: AOP, mineralization, TOC, recalcitrant organic compounds

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Authors: Mingjun Xu, Man Pun Wan

Abstract:

This study proposed an effective smoke control strategy for the large flat space with a low ceiling to achieve the requirement of perpetual tenability. For the large flat space with a low ceiling, the depth of the smoke reservoir is very shallow, and it is difficult to perpetually constrain the smoke within a limited space. A series of numerical tests were conducted to determine the smoke strategy. A zonal design i.e., the fire zone and two adjacent zones was proposed and validated to be effective in controlling smoke. Once a fire happens in a compartment space, the Engineered Smoke Control (ESC) system will be activated in three zones i.e., the fire zone, in which the fire happened, and two adjacent zones. The smoke can be perpetually constrained within the three smoke zones. To further improve the extraction efficiency, sequential activation of the ESC system within the 3 zones turned out to be more efficient than simultaneous activation. Additionally, the proposed zonal and sequential extraction design can reduce the mechanical extraction flow rate by up to 40.7 % as compared to the conventional method, which is much more economical than that of the conventional method.

Keywords: performance-based design, perpetual tenability, smoke control, fire plume

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