Search results for: green extraction

Authors: Mohammad A. N. M. Shafiqul Karim

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As a developing country, Bangladesh has to face numerous challenges. Self Independence in electricity, contributing to climate change by reducing carbon emission and bringing the backward population of society to the mainstream is more challenging for them. Therefore, it is essential to ensure recycled use of local products to the maximum level in every sector. Some private organizations have already worked alongside government to bring the backward population to the mainstream by developing their financial capacities. As rice husk is the largest single category of the total energy supply in Bangladesh. As part of this strategy, rice husk can play a great as a promising renewable energy source, which is readily available, has considerable environmental benefits and can produce electricity and ensure multiple uses of byproducts in construction technology. For the first time in Bangladesh, an experimental multidimensional project depending on Rice Husk Electricity and Rice Husk Ash (RHA) concrete brick/block under Green Eco-Tech Limited has already been started. Project analysis, opportunity, sustainability, the high monitoring component, limitations and finally evaluated data reflecting the viability of establishing more projects using rice husk are discussed in this paper. The by-product of rice husk from the production of green electricity, RHA, can be used for making, in particular, RHA concrete brick/block in Bangladeshi aspects is also discussed here.

Keywords: project analysis, rice husk, rice husk ash concrete brick/block, compressive strength of rice husk ash concrete brick/block

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Authors: Mustafa Abu Ghalia, Yaser Dahman

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A new class of polyurethane (PU) reinforced with green bacterial cellulose nanofibers (BC) were prepared using a solvent casting method, with the goal of fabricating green nanocomposites. Four series classes of BC (1, 2.5, 5, and 10 wt%) were reinforced into PU matrices via BC surface modification and subsequently BC-grafted into PU throughout silane coupling agent to improve BC dispersion and its interfacial interaction. The experiment results from the tensile tester were evaluated according to the response surface method (RSM) for optimizing the impacts of variable parameters, pore size, porosity, and BC contents on the mechanical properties. The compressive strength for PU-5 BC wt% was about 9.8 MPa, and decrease when being generated prosperity to recorded at 4.9 MPa. Nielson model was applied to investigate the BC stress concentration on the PU matrices. Likewise, krenche and Hapli-Tasi model were employed to evaluate the BC nanofiber reinforcement potential and BC orientation into PU matrices. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) demonstrated that only BC loading has a significant effect in increases tensile strength, young’s modulus, and a flexural modulus of the PU-BC nanocomposites. The optimal factors of the variables experiment confirmed to be 5 wt% for BC, 230 for pore size, and 80 % for porosity. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs showed that the uniform distribution of nanofibers in the PU matrices with the addition of BC 5 wt %. Hydrolytic degradation revealed that the weight loss in PU-BC scaffold is higher than PU-BC wt %.

Keywords: polyurethane scaffold, mechanical properties, tissue engineering, polyurethane

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Authors: A. Boveiri Monji, H. Yousefnia, S. Zolghadri, B. Salimi

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The main goal of this paper was to make use of green reagents as a substitute of perilous synthetic reagents and organic solvents for spectrophotometric determination of hafnium(IV). The extracts taken from six different kinds of tree leaves including Acer negundo, Ficus carica, Cerasus avium, Chimonanthus, Salix babylonica and Pinus brutia, were applied as green reagents for the experiments. In 6-M hydrochloric acid, hafnium reacted with the reagent to form a yellow product and showed maximum absorbance at 421 nm. Among tree leaves, Chimonanthus showed satisfactory results with a molar absorptivity value of 0.61 × 10⁴ l mol^-1 cm^-1 and the method was linear in the 0.3-9 µg mL ^-1 concentration range. The detection limit value was 0.064 µg mL^-1. The proposed method was simple, low cost, clean, and selective.

Keywords: hafnium, spectrophotometric determination, synthetic reagents, tree leaves

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Authors: Rahma Abed, Sahbi Bahroun, Ezzeddine Zagrouba

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Due to the huge amount of data in videos, extracting the relevant frames became a necessity and an essential step prior to performing face recognition. In this context, we propose a method for extracting keyframes from videos based on face quality and deep learning for a face recognition task. This method has two steps. We start by generating face quality scores for each face image based on the use of three face feature extractors, including Gabor, LBP, and HOG. The second step consists in training a Deep Convolutional Neural Network in a supervised manner in order to select the frames that have the best face quality. The obtained results show the effectiveness of the proposed method compared to the methods of the state of the art.

Keywords: keyframe extraction, face quality assessment, face in video recognition, convolution neural network

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Authors: Kanika Kalra, Harmeet Kaur, Dinesh Goyal

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Total phenolics were extracted from waste orange peels by solvent extraction and alkali hydrolysis method. The most efficient solvents for extracting phenolic compounds from waste biomass were methanol (60%) > dimethyl sulfoxide > ethanol (60%) > distilled water. The extraction yields were significantly impacted by solvents (ethanol, methanol, and dimethyl sulfoxide) due to varying polarity and concentrations. Extraction of phenolics using 60% methanol yielded the highest phenolics (in terms of gallic acid equivalent (GAE) per gram of biomass) in orange peels. Alkali hydrolyzed extract from orange peels contained 7.58±0.33 mg GAE g⁻¹. By using the solvent extraction technique, it was observed that 60% methanol is comparatively the best-suited solvent for extracting polyphenolic compounds and gave the maximum yield of 4.68 ± 0.47 mg GAE g⁻¹ in orange peel extracts. DPPH radical scavenging activity and reducing the power of orange peel extract were checked, where 60% methanolic extract showed the highest antioxidant activity, 85.50±0.009% for DPPH, and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) extract gave the highest yield of 1.75±0.01% for reducing power ability of the orange peels extract. Characterization of the polyphenolic compounds was done by using Fourier transformation infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Solvent and alkali hydrolysed extracts were evaluated for antibacterial activity using the agar well diffusion method against Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis MTCC441 and Gram-negative Escherichia coli MTCC729. Methanolic extract at 300µl concentration showed an inhibition zone of around 16.33±0.47 mm against Bacillus subtilis, whereas, for Escherichia coli, it was comparatively less. Broth-based turbidimetric assay revealed the antibacterial effect of different volumes of orange peel extracts against both organisms.

Keywords: orange peels, total phenolic content, antioxidant, antibacterial

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Authors: Mehtab Alam

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Sustainable tourism practices require to improve the decreased performance levels in phases of change management for image branding. This paper addresses the innovative approach of using sustainable tourism for image branding as a contemporary tool of foreign policy. The sustainable tourism-based foreign policy promotes cultural values, green tourism, economy, and image management for the avoidance of rising global conflict. The mixed-method approach (quantitative 382 surveys, qualitative 11 interviews at saturation point) implied for the data analysis. The research finding provides the potential of using sustainable tourism by implying skills and knowledge, capacity, and personal factors of change management in improving tourism-based performance levels. It includes the valuable tourism performance role for the success of a foreign policy through sustainable tourism. Change management in tourism-based foreign policy provides the destination readiness for international engagement and curbing of climate issues through green tourism. The research recommends the impact of change management in improving the tourism-based performance levels of image branding for a coercive foreign policy. The paper’s future direction for the immediate implementation of tourism-based foreign policy is to overcome the contemporary issues of travel marketing management, green infrastructure, and cross-border regulation.

Keywords: decrease performance levels, change management, sustainable tourism, image branding, foreign policy

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Authors: Rubab Zafar Kahlon, Ibtisam Butt

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Forest resources are deteriorating and experiencing decline around the globe due to unsustainable use and over exploitation. The present study was an attempt to determine the relationship between human activities, forest resource utilization, extraction methods and practices of forest resource exploitation in the district Jhelum of Pakistan. For this purpose, primary sources of data were used which were collected from 8 villages through structured questionnaire and tabulated in Microsoft Excel 365 and SPSS 22 was used for multiple linear regression analysis. The results revealed that farming, wood cutting, animal husbandry and agro-forestry were the major occupations in the study area. Most commonly used resources included timber 26%, fuelwood 25% and fodder 19%. Methods used for resource extraction included gathering 49%, plucking 34% trapping 11% and cutting 6%. Population growth, increased demand of fuelwood and land conversion were the main reasons behind forest degradation. Results for multiple linear regression revealed that Forest based activities, sources of energy production, methods used for wood harvesting and resource extraction and use of fuelwood for energy production contributed significantly towards extensive forest resource exploitation with p value <0.5 within the study area. The study suggests that effective measures should be taken by forest department to control the unsustainable use of forest resources by stringent management interventions and awareness campaigns in Jhelum district.

Keywords: forest resource, biodiversity, expliotation, human activities

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Authors: Khalida Boutemak, Nasssima Benali, Nadji Moulai-Mostefa

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Effect of enzyme on the yield and chemical composition of Artemisia campestris essential oil is reported in the present study. It was demonstrated that enzyme facilitated the extraction of essential oil with increase in oil yield and did not affect any noticeable change in flavour profile of the volatile oil. Essential oil was tested for antibacterial activity using Escherichia coli; which was extremely sensitive against control with the largest inhibition (29mm), whereas Staphylococcus aureus was the most sensitive against essential oil obtained from enzymatic pre-treatment with the largest inhibition zone (25mm). The antioxidant activity of the essential oil with hemicellulase pre-treatment (EO2) and control sample (EO1) was determined through reducing power. It was significantly lower than the standard drug (vitamin C) in this order: vitamin C˃EO2˃EO1.

Keywords: Artemisia campestris, enzyme pre-treatment, hemicellulase, antibacterial activity, antioxidant activity

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Authors: Mishadi Herath, Amin Talei, Andreas Hermawan, Clarina Chua

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Green walls are vegetated structures on building’s wall that are considered as part of sustainable urban design. They are proved to have many micro-climate benefits such as reduction in indoor temperature, noise attenuation, and improvement in air quality. On the other hand, several studies have also been conducted on potential reuse of greywater in urban water management. Greywater is relatively clean when compared to blackwater; therefore, this study was aimed to assess the potential reuse of it for irrigating a green wall system. In this study, the campus of Monash University Malaysia located in Selangor state was considered as the study site where total 48 samples of greywater were collected from 7 toilets hand-wash and 5 pantries during 3 months period. The samples were tested to characterize the quality of greywater in the study site and compare it with local standard for irrigation water. PH and concentration of heavy metals, nutrients, Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), total Coliform and E.coli were measured. Results showed that greywater could be directly used for irrigation with minimal treatment. Since the effluent of the system was supposed to be drained to stormwater drainage system, the effluent needed to meet certain quality requirement. Therefore, a biofiltration system was proposed to host the green wall plants and also treat the greywater (which is used as irrigation water) to the required level. To assess the performance of the proposed system, an experimental setup consisting of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) soil columns with sand-based filter media were prepared. Two different local creeper plants were chosen considering several factors including fast growth, low maintenance requirement, and aesthetic aspects. Three replicates of each plants were used to ensure the validity of the findings. The growth of creeping plants and their survivability was monitored for 6 months while monthly sampling and testing of effluent was conducted to evaluate effluent quality. An analysis was also conducted to estimate the potential cost and benefit of such system considering water and energy saving in the system. Results showed that the proposed system can work efficiently throughout a long period of time with minimal maintenance requirement. Moreover, the biofiltration-green wall system was found to be successful in reusing greywater as irrigating water while the effluent was meeting all the requirements for being drained to stormwater drainage system.

Keywords: biofiltration, green wall, greywater, sustainability

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Authors: Laure Wiest, Barbara Giroud, Azziz Assoumani, Francois Lestremau, Emmanuelle Vulliet

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Due to their production at high tonnages and their extensive use, surfactants are contaminants among those determined at the highest concentrations in wastewater. However, analytical methods and data regarding their occurrence in river water are scarce and concern only a few families, mainly anionic surfactants. The objective of this study was to develop an analytical method to extract and analyze a wide variety of surfactants in a minimum of steps, with a sensitivity compatible with the detection of ultra-traces in surface waters. 27 substances, from 12 families of surfactants, anionic, cationic and non-ionic were selected for method optimization. Different retention mechanisms for the extraction by solid phase extraction (SPE) were tested and compared in order to improve their detection by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The best results were finally obtained with a C18 grafted silica LC column and a polymer cartridge with hydrophilic lipophilic balance (HLB), and the method developed allows the extraction of the three types of surfactants with satisfactory recoveries. The final analytical method comprised only one extraction and two LC injections. It was validated and applied for the quantification of surfactants in 36 river samples. The method's limits of quantification (LQ), intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy were evaluated, and good performances were obtained for the 27 substances. As these compounds have many areas of application, contaminations of instrument and method blanks were observed and considered for the determination of LQ. Nevertheless, with LQ between 15 and 485 ng/L, and accuracy of over 80%, this method was suitable for monitoring surfactants in surface waters. Application on French river samples revealed the presence of anionic, cationic and non-ionic surfactants with median concentrations ranging from 24 ng/L for octylphenol ethoxylates (OPEO) to 4.6 µg/L for linear alkylbenzenesulfonates (LAS). The analytical method developed in this work will therefore be useful for future monitoring of surfactants in waters. Moreover, this method, which shows good performances for anionic, non-ionic and cationic surfactants, may be easily adapted to other surfactants.

Keywords: anionic surfactant, cationic surfactant, LC-MS/MS, non-ionic surfactant, SPE, surface water

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Authors: D. S. Fardhyanti, Megawati, W. B. Sediawan

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Coal tar is a liquid by-product of the process of coal gasification and carbonation. This liquid oil mixture contains various kinds of useful compounds such as aromatic compounds and phenolic compounds. These compounds are widely used as raw material for insecticides, dyes, medicines, perfumes, coloring matters, and many others. This research investigates thermodynamic modelling of liquid-liquid equilibria (LLE) in the separation of phenol from the coal tar by solvent extraction. The equilibria are modeled by ternary components of Wohl, Van Laar, and Three-Suffix Margules models. The values of the parameters involved are obtained by curve-fitting to the experimental data. Based on the comparison between calculated and experimental data, it turns out that among the three models studied, the Three-Suffix Margules seems to be the best to predict the LLE of p-Cresol mixtures for those system.

Keywords: coal tar, phenol, Wohl, Van Laar, Three-Suffix Margules

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Authors: Mihai-Alexandru Florea, Veronica Drumea, Roxana Nita, Cerasela Gird, Laura Olariu

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The aim of this study was to investigate the residues of pesticide found in tea water infusions. A multi-residues method to determine 147 pesticides has been developed using the QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, Safe) procedure and dispersive solid phase extraction (d-SPE) for the cleanup the pesticides from complex matrices such as plants and tea. Sample preparation was carefully optimized for the efficient removal of coextracted matrix components by testing more solvent systems. Determination of pesticides was performed using GC-MS/MS (100 of pesticides) and LC-MS/MS (47 of pesticides). The selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode was chosen to achieve low detection limits and high compounds selectivity and sensitivity. Overall performance was evaluated and validated according to DG-SANTE Guidelines. To assess the pesticide residue transfer rate (qualitative) from dried tea in infusions the samples (tea) were spiked with a mixture of pesticides at the maximum residues level accepted for teas and herbal infusions. In order to investigate the release of the pesticides in tea preparations, the medicinal plants were prepared in four ways by variation of water temperature and the infusion time. The pesticides from infusions were extracted using two methods: QuEChERS versus solid-phase extraction (SPE). More that 90 % of the pesticides studied was identified in infusion.

Keywords: tea, solid-phase extraction (SPE), selected reaction monitoring (SRM), QuEChERS

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Authors: Hye Jin Choi, Mirim Jin, Jeong June Choi

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Green tea, which is one of the most popular of tea, contains various ingredients that help health. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is one of the main active polyphenolic compound possessing diverse biologically beneficial effects such as anti-oxidation, anti-cancer founding in green tea. This study was performed to investigate the anti-diabetic effect of high-purity EGCG ( > 98%) in a spontaneous diabetic mellitus animal model, db/db mouse. Four-week-old male db/db mice, which was induced to diabetic mellitus by the high-fat diet, were orally administered with high-purity EGCG (10, 50 and 100 mg/kg) for 4 weeks. Daily weight and diet efficiency were examined, and blood glucose level was assessed once a week. After 4 weeks of EGCG administration, fasting blood glucose level was measured. Then, the mice were sacrificed and total abdominal fat was sampled to examine the change in fat weight. Plasma was separated from the blood and the levels of aspartate amino-transferase (ALT) and alanine amino-transferase (AST) were investigated. As results, blood glucose and body weight were significantly decreased by EGCG treatment compared to the control group. Also, the amount of abdominal fat was down-regulated by EGCG. However, ALT and AST levels, which are indicators of liver function, were similar to those of control group. Taken together, our study suggests that high purity EGCG is capable of treating diabetes mellitus based in db / db mice with safety and has a potent to develop a therapeutics for metabolic disorders. This work was supported by Korea Institute of Planning and Evaluation for Technology in Food, Agriculture, Forestry (IPET) through High Value-added Food Technology Development Program, funded by Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) (317034-03-2-HD030)

Keywords: anti-diabetic effect, db/db mouse, diabetes mellitus, green tea, epigallocatechin gallate

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Authors: Ohabuiro John Uwabunkeonye

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Source of green energy is becoming a concern in developing countries where most energy source in use emits high level of carbon (IV) oxide which contributes to global warming. More so, even with the generation of energy from fossil fuel, the electricity supply is still very inadequate. Therefore, this paper examines different ways of designing and installing photovoltaic (PV) system in terms of optimal sizing of PV array and battery storage in an area of very low peak sunlight hours (PSH) and inadequate supply of electricity from utility companies. Different sample of Peak sunlight hour for selected areas in Nigeria are considered and the lowest of it all is taken. Some means of ensuring that the available solar energy is harnessed properly and converted into electrical energy are discussed for usage in such areas as mentioned above.

Keywords: green energy, fossil fuel, peak sunlight hour, photovoltaic

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Authors: Mahsa Oroojeni Mohammad Javad

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Globalization of economic activity and rapid growth of information technology has resulted in shorter product lifecycles, reduced transport capacity, dynamic and changing customer behaviors, and an increased focus on supply chain design in recent years. The design of the supply chain network is one of the most important supply chain management decisions. These decisions will have a long-term impact on the efficacy and efficiency of the supply chain. In this paper, a two-objective mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model is developed for designing and optimizing a closed-loop green supply chain network that, to the greatest extent possible, includes all real-world assumptions such as multi-level supply chain, the multiplicity of production technologies, and multiple modes of transportation, with the goals of minimizing the total cost of the chain (first objective) and minimizing total emissions of emissions (second objective). The ε-constraint and CPLEX Solver have been used to solve the problem as a single-objective problem and validate the problem. Finally, the sensitivity analysis is applied to study the effect of the real-world parameters’ changes on the objective function. The optimal management suggestions and policies are presented.

Keywords: closed-loop supply chain, multi-level green supply chain, mixed-integer programming, transportation modes

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Authors: Nada Hamed, Mariam Aldhaheri, Sonia Abdennadher

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Islamic Finance is not a new term that emerging in the global market, but it is still under scope by many countries. Its characteristics and regulation are not widely clear and implemented. In 2015, The United Nation announced a plan about potential benefits of using Islamic Finance as a sustainable development approach. Enhancing its application in financial markets could protect from unexpected crisis that might be created from the traditional tools of finance. This paper focuses on this area to test if Islamic finance could be used for maintaining sustainable development and if the term of 'Green Islamic Finance' could be implemented to minimize the deficiencies and 'pollution’ generated from traditional techniques and tools of finance. This paper intends to measure the impact on financial performance and sustainability when financial institutions use Islamic finance or better practice it. The objective of this explanatory research is to measure the performance of Islamic Finance with using a case study of an Islamic bank. The paper would analyze and compare the behavior of financial institutions that used traditional financing tools and converted to Islamic banking system. The methodology used is based on a case study of an Islamic bank in Dubai with comparing its performance before implementing Islamic Finance and after. The selected case study represents the first national bank in Emirates Arab Unis who adopt the Islamic finance approach. Based on a time series analysis, a quantitative analysis would be also used through looking at various set of ratios that are routinely used to measure bank performance.

Keywords: Islamic finance, financial stability, green finance, Islamic finance practices, financial ratios

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Authors: Mais Nijim, Rama Devi Chennuboyina, Waseem Al Aqqad

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Advances in spatial and spectral resolution of satellite images have led to tremendous growth in large image databases. The data we acquire through satellites, radars and sensors consists of important geographical information that can be used for remote sensing applications such as region planning, disaster management. Spatial data classification and object recognition are important tasks for many applications. However, classifying objects and identifying them manually from images is a difficult task. Object recognition is often considered as a classification problem, this task can be performed using machine-learning techniques. Despite of many machine-learning algorithms, the classification is done using supervised classifiers such as Support Vector Machines (SVM) as the area of interest is known. We proposed a classification method, which considers neighboring pixels in a region for feature extraction and it evaluates classifications precisely according to neighboring classes for semantic interpretation of region of interest (ROI). A dataset has been created for training and testing purpose; we generated the attributes by considering pixel intensity values and mean values of reflectance. We demonstrated the benefits of using knowledge discovery and data-mining techniques, which can be on image data for accurate information extraction and classification from high spatial resolution remote sensing imagery.

Keywords: remote sensing, object recognition, classification, data mining, waterbody identification, feature extraction

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Authors: Arezoo Rahmani, Rinez Thapa, Juha-Matti Aalto, Petri Turhanen, Jouko Vepsalainen, Vesa-PekkaLehto, Joakim Riikonen

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Production of Scandium (Sc) is a complicated process because Sc is found only in low concentrations in ores and the concentration of Sc is very low compared with other metals. Therefore, utilization of typical extraction processes such as solvent extraction is problematic in scandium extraction. The Adsorption/desorption method can be used, but it is challenging to prepare materials, which have good selectivity, high adsorption capacity, and high stability. Therefore, efficient and environmentally friendly methods for Sc extraction are needed. In this study, the nanoporous composite material was developed for extracting Sc from an Sc ore. The nanoporous composite material offers several advantageous properties such as large surface area, high chemical and mechanical stability, fast diffusion of the metals in the material and possibility to construct a filter out of the material with good flow-through properties. The nanoporous silicon material was produced by first stabilizing the surfaces with a silicon carbide layer and then functionalizing the surface with bisphosphonates that act as metal chelators. The surface area and porosity of the material were characterized by N₂ adsorption and the morphology was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The bisphosphonate content of the material was studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The concentration of metal ions in the adsorption/desorption experiments was measured with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The maximum capacity of the material was 25 µmol/g Sc at pH=1 and 45 µmol/g Sc at pH=3, obtained from adsorption isotherm. The selectivity of the material towards Sc in artificial solutions containing several metal ions was studied at pH one and pH 3. The result shows good selectivity of the nanoporous composite towards adsorption of Sc. Scandium was less efficiently adsorbed from solution leached from the ore of Sc because of excessive amounts of iron (Fe), aluminum (Al) and titanium (Ti) which disturbed the adsorption process. For example, the concentration of Fe was more than 4500 ppm, while the concentration of Sc was only three ppm, approximately 1500 times lower. Precipitation methods were developed to lower the concentration of the metals other than Sc. Optimal pH for precipitation was found to be pH 4. The concentration of Fe, Al and Ti were decreased by 99, 70, 99.6%, respectively, while the concentration of Sc decreased only 22%. Despite the large reduction in the concentration of other metals, more work is needed to further increase the relative concentration of Sc compared with other metals to efficiently extract it using the developed nanoporous composite material. Nevertheless, the developed material may provide an affordable, efficient and environmentally friendly method to extract Sc on a large scale.

Keywords: adsorption, nanoporous silicon, ore solution, scandium

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Authors: Faisal A. Salih

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Verapamil hydrochloride (Ver) is a drug used in medicine for arrythmia, angina and hypertension as a calcium channel blocker. For the quantitative determination of Ver in dosage forms, the HPLC method is most often used. A convenient alternative to the chromatographic method is potentiometry using a Verselective electrode, which does not require expensive equipment, can be used without separation from the matrix components, which significantly reduces the analysis time, and does not use toxic organic solvents, being a "green", "environmentally friendly" technique. It has been established in this study that the rational choice of the membrane plasticizer and the preconditioning and measurement algorithms, which prevent nonexchangeable extraction of Ver into the membrane phase, makes it possible to achieve excellent analytical characteristics of Ver-selective electrodes based on commercially available components. In particular, an electrode with the following membrane composition: PVC (32.8 wt %), ortho-nitrophenyloctyl ether (66.6 wt %), and tetrakis-4-chlorophenylborate (0.6 wt % or 0.01 M) have the lower detection limit 4 × 10−8 M and potential reproducibility 0.15–0.22 mV. Both direct potentiometry (DP) and potentiometric titration (PT) methods can be used for the determination of Ver in tablets and injection solutions. Masses of Ver per average tablet weight determined by the methods of DP and PT for the same set of 10 tablets were (80.4±0.2 and80.7±0.2) mg, respectively. The masses of Ver in solutions for injection, determined by DP for two ampoules from one set, were (5.00±0.015 and 5.004±0.006) mg. In all cases, good reproducibility and excellent correspondence with the declared quantities were observed.

Keywords: verapamil, potentiometry, ion-selective electrode, pharmaceutical analysis

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Authors: Bivek Bhusal, Ana Legrand

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Detection of crop stress is one of the major applications of remote sensing in agriculture. Multiple studies have demonstrated the capability of remote sensing using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-based multispectral imagery for detection of plant stress, but none so far on Nitrogen (N) stress and PLH feeding stress on green beans. In view of its wide host range, geographical distribution, and damage potential, Potato leafhopper- Empoasca fabae (Harris) has been emerging as a key pest in several countries. Monitoring methods for potato leafhopper (PLH) damage, as well as the laboratory techniques for detecting Nitrogen deficiency, are time-consuming and not always easily affordable. A study was initiated to demonstrate if the multispectral sensor attached to a drone can detect PLH stress and N deficiency in beans. Small-plot trials were conducted in the summer of 2023, where cages were used to manipulate PLH infestation in green beans (Provider cultivar) at their first-trifoliate stage. Half of the bean plots were introduced with PLH, and the others were kept insect-free. Half of these plots were grown with the recommended amount of N, and the others were grown without N. Canopy reflectance was captured using a five-band multispectral sensor. Our findings indicate that drone imagery could detect stress due to a lack of N and PLH damage in beans.

Keywords: potato leafhopper, nitrogen, remote sensing, spectral reflectance, beans

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Authors: Kiran Shehzadi, Yasmeen Akhtar, Mujahid Ameen, Tabinda Ijaz, Shoukat Siddique

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Nanoparticles, due to their different sizes and morphologies, are employed in various fields such as the medical field, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, textile industry as well as in paints, adhesives, and electronics. Metal nanoparticles exhibit excellent antimicrobial activity, dye degradation and can be used as anti-cancerous drug loading agents. In this study, sZilver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) were synthesized employing doxycycline (antibiotic) as a reducing and capping agent (biological/green synthesis). Produced Ag-NPS were characterized using UV/VIS spectrophotometry, XRD, SEM, and FTIR. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of silver nanoparticles was observed at 411nm with 90nm size with homogenized spherical shape. These particles revealed good inhibition zones for Fungi such as Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis. In this study, toxic properties of Ag-NPs were monitored by allowing them to penetrate in the cell, causing an abrupt increase in oxidative stress, which resulted ultimately in cell death. Histopathological analysis of mice organs was performed by administering definite concentrations of silver nanoparticles orally to mice for 14 days. Toxic properties were determined, and it was revealed that the toxicity of silver nanoparticles mainly depends on the size. Silver nanoparticles of this work presented mild toxicity for different organs (liver, kidney, spleen, heart, and stomach) of mice.

Keywords: metal nanoparticles, green/biological methods, toxicity, Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis

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Authors: Maiss Razem

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The construction sector is considered a major consumer of materials that undergoes processes of extraction, processing, transportation, and maintaining when used in buildings. Several metrics have been devised to capture the environmental impact of the materials consumed during construction using lifecycle thinking. Rarely has the materiality of this sector been explored qualitatively and systemically. This paper aims to explore socio-cultural forces that drive the use of certain materials in the Jordanian construction industry, using practice theory as a heuristic method of analysis, more specifically Shove et al. three-element model. By conducting semi-structured interviews with architects, the results unravel contextually embedded routines when determining qualities of three materialities highlighted herein; stone, glass and spatial openness. The study highlights the inadequacy of only using efficiency as a quantitative metric of sustainable materials and argues for the need to link material consumption with socio-economic, cultural, and aesthetic driving forces. The operationalization of practice theory by tracing materials’ lifetimes as they integrate with competencies and meanings captures dynamic engagements through the analyzed routines of actors in the construction practice. This study can offer policymakers better-nuanced representation to green this sector beyond efficiency rhetoric and quantitative metrics.

Keywords: architects' practices, construction materials, Jordan, practice theory

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Authors: Vaishali Joshi

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In the past, companies and buyers operated as if there was infinite availability of natural resources for usage, which has resulted in the loss of our globe's natural ecosystem. People's consciousness of ecological concerns had increased, which showed the way for the evolution of the green revolution with the objective of discontinuing the use of products that are harmful to the ecosystem of the earth. This green revolution has made the consumers head toward those companies which are providing eco-friendly products s/service s through less eco-harmful ways. Studies show that companies started gaining a reputation in the market through their eco-friendly activities in their business. Hence companies should be alert to understand the consumer's environmentally friendly consumption behavior to survive and be in the game of the competition. Green marketing efforts guarantee beneficial exchanges without harmful consequences for current and /or upcoming generations. This hits the green policies of those companies which are claiming environmental concern. This means that these companies not only focus on the impact of their production and products on the ecosystem but also on every small activity in their value chain. One of the most ignored parts of the value chain is the medium through which the marketing of products/services is done. These companies should also take into account to what degree their selection of advertising media affects the ecosystem of the earth. In this study, a hypothetical fashion apparel brand known as "Dolphin" will be studied. In particular, the following objectives are framed: i) to study the brand attitude of the given fashion brand due to its selection of eco-friendly advertising medium ii) to study the advertisement attitude of the given fashion brand due to its selection of eco-friendly advertising medium and iii) to study the purchase intention of the given fashion brand due to its selection of eco-friendly advertising medium. An online experiment will be conducted. Respondents between the ages of 20-and 64 years will be selected randomly from the online consumer panel database. The findings of this study will have a great impact on the companies that are claiming environmental concerns by understanding how the advertising media is affecting the company’s brand image in the long run.

Keywords: eco-friendly advertising media, fashion, attitude, purchase intention

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Authors: Hailemariam Solomon, Taye Tadesse, Daniel Nadew, Firezer Girma

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Sorghum is an important crop in semi-arid regions and has shown resilience to drought stress. However, recurrent drought is affecting its productivity. Therefore, it is necessary to explore genes that contribute to drought stress adaptation to increase sorghum productivity. The aim of this study is to evaluate and determine the effect of root system traits, specifically root angle, on drought stress adaptation and grain yield performance in sorghum genotypes. A total of 428 sorghum genotypes from the Ethiopian breeding program were evaluated in three drought-stress environments. Field trials were conducted using a row-column design with three replications. Root system traits were phenotyped using a high-throughput phenotyping platform and analyzed using a row-column design with two replications. Data analysis was performed using R software and regression analysis. The study found significant variations in root system architecture among the sorghum genotypes. Non-stay-green genotypes had a grain yield ranging from 1.63 to 3.1 tons/ha, while stay-green genotypes had a grain yield ranging from 2.4 to 2.9 tons/ha. The analysis of root angle showed that non-stay-green genotypes had an angle ranging from 8.0 to 30.5 degrees, while stay-green genotypes had an angle ranging from 12.0 to 29.0 degrees. Improved varieties exhibited angles between 14.04 and 19.50 degrees. Positive and significant correlations were observed between leaf areas and shoot dry weight, as well as between leaf width and shoot dry weight. Negative correlations were observed between root angle and leaf area, as well as between root angle and root length. This research highlights the importance of root system architecture, particularly root angle traits, in enhancing grain yield production in drought-stressed conditions. It also establishes an association between root angle and grain yield traits for maximizing sorghum productivity.

Keywords: roor sysytem architecture, root angle, narrow root angle, wider root angle, drought

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Authors: Lokesh Harshe

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The building construction sector is using 36% of global energy consumption with 39% of CO₂ emission. Professionals in the Built Environment Sector have long been aware of the industry’s contribution towards CO₂ emissions and are now moving towards more sustainable practices. As a result of this, many organizations have introduced rating systems to address the issue of global warming in the construction sector by ranking construction projects based on sustainability parameters. The pre-construction phase of any building project is the most essential time to make decisions for addressing the sustainability aspects. Traditionally, it is very difficult to collect data from different stakeholders and bring it together to form a decision based on factual data to perform sustainability analyses in the pre-construction phase. Building Information Modelling (BIM) is the solution where one single model is the result of the collaborative approach of BIM processes where all the information is shared, extracted, communicated, and stored on a single platform that everyone can access and make decisions based on real-time data. The focus of this research is on the Indian Green Rating System IGBC® with the objective of understanding IGBC® requirements and developing a framework to create the relationship between the rating processes and BIM. A Hypothetical (Architectural) model of a hostel building is developed using AutoCAD 2019 & Revit Arch. 2019, where the framework is applied to generate results on sustainability analysis using Green Building Studio (GBS) and Revit Add-ins. The results of any sustainability analysis are generated within a fraction of a minute, which is very quick in comparison with traditional sustainability analysis. This may save a considerable amount of time as well as cost. The future scope is to integrate Architectural, Structural, and MEP Models to perform accurate sustainability analyses with inputs from industry professionals working on real-life Green BIM projects.

Keywords: sustainability analyses, BIM, green rating systems, IGBC®, LEED

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Authors: G. A. Gevorgyan, A. S. Mamyan, L. G. Stepanyan, L. R. Hambaryan

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Bacterio- and phytoplankton growth rates in 'Yerevanyan lich' reservoir and the Hrazdan river in Yerevan city, Armenia were investigated in April and June-August, 2015. Phytoplankton sampling and analysis were performed by the standard methods accepted in hydrobiological studies. The quantitative analysis of aerobic, coliform and E. coli bacteria is done by the 'RIDA COUNT' medium sheets (coated with ready-to-use culture medium). The investigations showed that the insufficient management of household discharges in Yerevan city caused the organic and fecal pollution of the Hrazdan river in this area which in turn resulted in an increase in bacterial count and increased sanitary and pathogenic risks to the environment and human health. During the investigation in April, the representatives of diatom algae prevailed quantitatively in the coastal area of 'Yerevanyan lich' reservoir, nevertheless, a significant change in the phytoplankton community in June occurred: due to green algae bloom in the reservoir, the quantitative parameters of phytoplankton increased significantly. This was probably conditioned by a seasonal increase in the water temperature in the conditions of the sufficient concentration of nutrients. However, a succession in phytoplankton groups during July-August occurred, and a dominant group (according to quantitative parameters) in the phytoplankton community was changed as follows: green algae-diatom algae-blue-green algae. Rapid increase in the quantitative parameters of diatom and blue-green algae in the reservoir may have been conditioned by increased organic matter level resulted from green algae bloom. Algal bloom in 'Yerevanyan lich' reservoir caused changes in phytoplankton community and an increase in bacterioplankton count not only in the reservoir but also in the Hrazdan river sites located in the downstream from the reservoir. Thus, the insufficient management of urban discharges and aquatic ecosystems in Yerevan city led to unfavorable changes in water quality and microbial and phytoplankton communities in “Yerevanyan lich” reservoir and the Hrazdan river which in turn caused increased sanitary and pathogenic risks to the environment and human health.

Keywords: algal bloom, bacterioplankton, phytoplankton, Hrazdan river, Yerevanyan lich reservoir

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Authors: Saeed Chehri, Sirvan Moradi, Amin Rostami

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Cooperative catalyst systems have been developed as highly promising sustainable alternatives to traditional catalysts. In these catalysts, two or more catalytic centers cooperate to reduce the energy of chemical transformations. In nature, such systems are abundantly seen in metalloenzymes that use metal and an organic cofactor. We have designed a reusable cooperative catalyst oxidation system consisting of palladium nanoparticles and polyoxometalate. This biomimetic cooperative catalytic system was synthesized by the stepwise immobilization of palladium nanoparticlesandpolyoxometalateinto the same cavity of siliceous mesocellularfoams (Pd-POM@MCF)and wascharacterizedby SEM, EDX, FT-IR, TGAand ICP techniques. POM-Pd@MCF/HQexhibits high activity toward aerobic oxidation of alcohols to the corresponding carbonyl compoundsin water solvent at room temperature. The major novelties and advantages of this oxidation method are as follows: (i) this is the first report of the co-immobilization of polyoxometalateand palladium for use as a robust and highlyefficient heterogeneouscooperative oxidative nanocatalyst system for aerobic oxidation of alcohols, (ii) oxidation of alcoholswere performed using an ideal oxidant with good to high yields in a green solvent at ambient temperature and (iii) the immobilization of the oxygen-activating catalyst(polyoxometalate) and oxidizing catalyst (Pd) onto MCF provide practical cooperative catalyst the system that can be reused several times without a significant loss of activity (vi) the methodsconform to several of the guiding principles of green chemistry.

Keywords: palladium nanoparticles, polyoxometalate, reusable cooperative catalytic system, biomimetic oxidation reaction

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Authors: Afrah E. Mohammed, Mudawi M. Nour

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Environmentally friendly green synthesis of nanomaterial has a very significant part in nanotechnology. In the present research, the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was established by treating silver ions with the aqueous extract of Calligonum comosum green shoots at room temperature. AgNPs formation was firstly detected by the colour change of mixed extract (plant extract and AgNO3). Further characterization was done by ultraviolet (UV)-Vis spectrophotometer, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), zeta potential and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The peak values for UV-VIS- spectroscopy were in the range of 440 nm, TEM micrograph showed a spherical shape for the particles and zeta potential showed the formation of negative charged nanoparticles with an average size of about 105.8 nm. 1635.41 and 3249.83 cm−1 are the peaks detected from the FTIR analysis. In this study, biosynthesized silver nanoparticles mediated by C. comosum were tested for their antimycotic activity using a well diffusion method against fungal species; Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium sp, Fusarium oxysporum. Our findings indicated that biosynthesized AgNPs showed an efficient antimycotic activity against tested species. The antimycotic action of AgNPs varied according to different fungal species. Results confirmed the ability of C. comosum green shoot extract to act as an reducing and stabilizing agent during the synthesis of AgNPs.

Keywords: AGNPS, zeta potential, TEM, SEM

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Authors: Yasin Akgul, Fazil Husem, Memis Isik

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In this study, effect of content of chromium (III) oxide on production of Al/Cr203 alloys were investigated. Experimental procedure was started with mixturing of powders in the presence of absolute ethanol, vacuum distillation technique was used for evaporation, by ultrasonic bath and mechanic stirrer. Pressing procedure was achieved by hydrolic press that has 100 tons forcing for production of 25 mm diameter compact green billets. Green bodies were sintered at 600 °C in argon atmosphere. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis for characterization of microstructure, compression test for determination of strength and Vickers test for measuring of hardness of sintered billets were done. End of the study is concluded that, enhancement of physical and mechanical properties is observed by increasing content of chromium (III) oxide.

Keywords: aluminium, chromium (III) oxide, powder metallurgy, sintering

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Authors: Ram Prasad Baral

Abstract:

A large number of herb materials contain Essential Oils with extensive bioactivities. Acknowledging the importance of plants and its medicinal value, extraction of Essential Oil had been done using Steam Distillation method. In this project, Steam Distillation was used to extract oil from different plant materials like Chamomilla recutita (L.) Rauschert, Artemisia Vulgaris L, Rhododendron anthopogon D. Don, Cymbopogon nardus L, Andropogon nardus, Cinnamomum tamala, Juniperus spp, Cymbopohonflexuosus flexuous, Mantha Arvensia, Nardostachys Jatamansi, Wintergreen Essential Oil, and Valeriana Officinalis. Research has confirmed centuries of practical use of essential oils, and we now know that the 'fragrant pharmacy' contains compounds with an extremely broad range of biochemical effects. Essential oils are so termed as they are believed to represent the very essence of odor and flavor. The recovery of Essential Oil from the raw botanical starting material is very important since the quality of the oil is greatly influenced during this step. There is a variety of methods for obtaining volatile oils from plants. Steam distillation method was found to be one of the promising techniques for the extraction of essential oil from plants as reputable distiller will preserve the original qualities of the plant. The distillation was conducted in Clevenger apparatus in which boiling, condensing, and decantation was done. Analysis of essential oil was done using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer apparatus, which gives evaluates essential oil qualitatively and quantitatively. The volume of essential oil obtained was changing with respect to temperature and time of heating.

Keywords: Chamomilla recutita (L.) Rauschert, Artemisia Vulgaris L, Rhododendron anthopogon D. Don, Cymbopogon nardus L, Andropogon nardus, Cinnamomum tamala, Juniperus spp, Cymbopohonflexuosus flexuous, Mantha

Procedia PDF Downloads 315