Search results for: liquid crystal

Authors: Magdalena Blachnio, Viktor Bogatyrov, Mariia Galaburda, Anna Derylo-Marczewska

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Agricultural waste materials from traditional oil mill and after extraction of natural raw materials in supercritical conditions were used for the preparation of carbon nanomaterials (activated carbons) by two various methods. Chemical activation using acetic acid and physical activation with a gaseous agent (carbon dioxide) were chosen as mild and environmentally friendly ones. The effect of influential factors: type of raw material, temperature and activation agent on the porous structure characteristics of the materials was discussed by using N₂ adsorption/desorption isotherms at 77 K. Furthermore scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to examine the physicochemical properties of the obtained sorbents. Selection of a raw material and an optimization of the conditions of the synthesis process, allowed to obtain the cheap sorbents with a targeted distribution of pores enabling effective adsorption of the model organic pollutants carried out in the multicomponent systems. Adsorption behavior (capacity and rate) of the chosen activated carbons was estimated by utilizing Crystal violet (CV), 4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (4-CPA), 2.4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2.4-D) as the adsorbates. Both rate and adsorption capacity of the organics on the sorbents evidenced that the activated carbons could be effectively used in sewage treatment plants. The mechanisms of organics adsorption were studied and correlated with activated carbons properties.

Keywords: activated carbon, adsorption equilibrium, adsorption kinetics, organics adsorption

Procedia PDF Downloads 172

Authors: Kamlesh Vishwakarma, Bipul Behari Saha, Sunilkumar Sing, Abhishek Mishra, Sreenivas Rao

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A rapid, sensitive and inexpensive method has been developed for complete analysis of Clodinafop Propargyl. Clodinafop Propargyl enantiomers were separated on chiral column, Chiral Pak AS-H (250 mm. 4.6mm x 5µm) with mobile phase n-hexane: IPA (96:4) at flow rate 1.5 ml/min. The effluent was monitored by UV detector at 230 nm. Clodinafop Propagyl content and impurity quantification was done with reverse phase HPLC. The present study describes a HPLC method using simple mobile phase for the quantification of Clodinafop Propargyl and its impurities. The method was validated and found to be accurate, precise, convenient and effective. Moreover, the lower solvent consumption along with short analytical run time led to a cost effective analytical method.

Keywords: Clodinafop Propargyl, method, validation, HPLC-UV

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: Moustafa M. S. Sanad

Abstract:

The worsening of energy supply crisis and the exacerbation of climate change by environmental pollution problems have become the greatest threat to human life. One of the ways to confront these problems is to rely on renewable energy and its storage systems. Nowadays, huge attention has been directed to the development of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) as efficient tools for storing the clean energy produced by green sources like solar and wind energies. Accordingly, the demand for powerful electrode materials with excellent electrochemical characteristics has been progressively increased to meet fast and continuous growth in the market of energy storage systems. Therefore, the electronic and electrical properties of conversion anode materials for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) can be enhanced by introducing lattice defects and oxygen vacancies in the crystal structure. In this regard, the intended presentation will demonstrate new insights and effective ways for enhancing the electrical conductivity and improving the electrochemical performance of different anode materials such as MgFe₂O₄, CdFe₂O₄, Fe₃O₄, LiNbO₃ and Nb₂O₅. The changes in the physicochemical and morphological properties have been deeply investigated via structural and spectroscopic analyses (e.g., XRD, FESEM, HRTEM, and XPS). Moreover, the enhancement in the electrochemical properties of these anode materials will be discussed through Galvanostatic Cycling (GC), Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) techniques.

Keywords: structure modification, cationic substitution, non-stoichiometric synthesis, plasma treatment, lithium-ion batteries

Procedia PDF Downloads 54

Authors: Mohammad Hassan Ziraksaz

Abstract:

Fuel atomizers are used in a wide range of IC engines, turbojets and a variety of liquid propellant rocket engines. As the fuel spray fully develops its characters approach their ultimate amounts. Fuel spray characters such as SMD, injection pressure, mass flow rate, droplet velocity and spray cone angle play important roles to atomize the liquid fuel to finely atomized fuel droplets and finally form the fine fuel spray. Well performed, fully developed, fine spray without any defections, brings the idea of finding an experimental relation between the main effective spray characters. Extracting an experimental relation between SMD and other fuel spray physical characters in swirl fuel atomizers is the main scope of this experimental work. Droplet velocity, fuel mass flow rate, SMD and spray cone angle are the parameters which are measured. A set of twelve reverse engineering atomizers without any spray defections and a set of eight original atomizers as referenced well-performed spray are contributed in this work. More than 350 tests, mostly repeated, were performed. This work shows that although spray cone angle plays a very effective role in spray formation, after formation, it smoothly approaches to an almost constant amount while the other characters are changed to create fine droplets. Therefore, the work to find the relation between the characters is focused on SMD, droplet velocity, fuel mass flow rate, and injection pressure. The process of fuel spray formation begins in 5 Psig injection pressures, where a tiny fuel onion attaches to the injector tip and ended in 250 Psig injection pressure, were fully developed fine fuel spray forms. Injection pressure is gradually increased to observe how the spray forms. In each step, all parameters are measured and recorded carefully to provide a data bank. Various diagrams have been drawn to study the behavior of the parameters in more detail. Experiments and graphs show that the power equation can best show changes in parameters. The SMD experimental relation with pressure P, fuel mass flow rate Q ̇ and droplet velocity V extracted individually in pairs. Therefore, the proportional relation of SMD with other parameters is founded. Now it is time to find an experimental relation including all the parameters. Using obtained proportional relation, replacing the parameters with experimentally measured ones and drawing the graphs of experimental SMD versus proportion SMD (〖SMD〗_P), a correctional equation and consequently the final experimental equation is obtained. This experimental equation is specified to use for swirl fuel atomizers and the use of this experimental equation in different conditions shows about 3% error, which is expected to achieve lower error and consequently higher accuracy by increasing the number of experiments and increasing the accuracy of data collection.

Keywords: droplet velocity, experimental relation, mass flow rate, SMD, swirl fuel atomizer

Procedia PDF Downloads 158

Authors: S. Niamkaeo, O. Robert, O. Chaowalit

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In this investigation, we focus on discovering spatial relationship of drug smuggling along the northern border of Thailand. Thailand is no longer a drug production site, but Thailand is still one of the major drug trafficking hubs due to its topographic characteristics facilitating drug smuggling from neighboring countries. Our study areas cover three districts (Mae-jan, Mae-fahluang, and Mae-sai) in Chiangrai city and four districts (Chiangdao, Mae-eye, Chaiprakarn, and Wienghang) in Chiangmai city where drug smuggling of methamphetamine crystal and amphetamine occurs mostly. The data on drug smuggling incidents from 2011 to 2017 was collected from several national and local published news. Geo-spatial drug smuggling database was prepared. Decision tree algorithm was applied in order to discover the spatial relationship of factors related to drug smuggling, which was converted into rules using rule-based system. The factors including land use type, smuggling route, season and distance within 500 meters from check points were found that they were related to drug smuggling in terms of rules-based relationship. It was illustrated that drug smuggling was occurred mostly in forest area in winter. Drug smuggling exhibited was discovered mainly along topographic road where check points were not reachable. This spatial relationship of drug smuggling could support the Thai Office of Narcotics Control Board in surveillance drug smuggling.

Keywords: decision tree, drug smuggling, Geographic Information System, GIS knowledge discovery, rule-based system

Procedia PDF Downloads 164

Authors: M. Akif Ceviz, Alirıza Kaleli, Erdoğan Güner

Abstract:

LPG pressure regulator is a device which is used to change the phase of LPG from liquid to gas by decreasing the pressure. During the phase change, it is necessary to supply the latent heat of LPG to prevent excessive low temperature. Engine coolant is circulated in the pressure regulator for this purpose. Therefore, pressure regulator is a type of heat exchanger that should be designed for different engine operating conditions. The design of the regulator should ensure that the flow of LPG is in gaseous phase to the injectors during the engine steady state and transient operating conditions. The pressure regulators in the LPG gaseous injection systems currently used can easily change the phase of LPG, however, there is no any control on the LPG temperature in conventional LPG injection systems. It is possible to increase temperature excessively. In this study, a control unit has been tested to keep the LPG temperature in a band. Result of the study showed that the engine performance characteristics can be increased by using the system.

Keywords: temperature, pressure regulator, LPG, PID

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Authors: Rabih Al-Kaysi

Abstract:

When quasi-stable solutions of 9-methylanthracene (pi-electron donor, 0.0005 M) and 1,2,4,5-Tetracyanobenzene (pi-electron acceptor, 0.0005 M) in aqueous sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS, 0.025 M) were gently mixed, uniform-shaped rectangular charge-transfer nanocrystals precipitated out. These red colored charge-transfer (CT) crystals were composed of a 1:1-mole ratio of acceptor/ donor and are highly insoluble in water/SDS solution. The rectangular crystals morphology is semi hollow with symmetrical twin pockets reminiscent of nanocapsules. For a typical crop of nanocapsules, the dimensions are 21 x 6 x 0.5 microns with an approximate hollow volume of 1.5 x 105 nm3. By varying the concentration of aqueous SDS, mixing duration and incubation temperature, we can control the size and volume of the nanocapsules. The initial number of CT seed nanoparticles, formed by mixing the D and A solutions, determined the number and dimensions of the obtained nanocapsules formed after several hours of incubation under still conditions. Prolonged mixing of the donor and acceptor solutions resulted in plenty of initial seeds hence smaller nanocapsules. Short mixing times yields less seed formation and larger micron-sized capsules. The addition of Doxorubicin in situ with the quasi-stable solutions while mixing leads to the formation of CT nanocapsules with Doxorubicin sealed inside. The Doxorubicin can be liberated from the nanocapsules by cracking them using ultrasonication. This method can be extended to other binary CT complex crystals as well.

Keywords: charge-transfer, nanocapsules, nanocrystals, doxorubicin

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Authors: Raudone Lina, Raudonis Raimondas, Liaudanskas Mindaugas, Pukalskas Audrius, Viskelis Pranas, Janulis Valdimaras

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Human health fortification, its protection and disease prophylaxis are the main problems of the health care systems. Plant origin materials and their preparations are applied for the prevention of the common diseases. Oxidative stress takes part in the pathogenesis of many autoimmune, neurodegenerative, tumor and ageing processes. The antioxidants are able to protect the human body from the free radicals and to stop the progression of numerous chronic diseases. The research of plant origin materials is relevant for the search of natural antioxidants. A group of compounds that gained scientific attention due to antioxidant properties and effects on human health are phenolic compounds. Phenolic compounds are widely abundant in various parts of plants, i.e. leaves, stems, roots, flowers and fruits. Most commonly consumed fruits all over the world are apples. It is very important to analyze the antioxidant activity of apples as they are extensively used in the prevention of various diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the antioxidant profiles of Malus domestica Borkh fruit cultivars (Aldas, Auksis, Connel Red, Ligol, Lodel, Rajka) and to identify the phenolic compounds with potent contribution to antioxidant activity. Nineteen constituents were identified in apple cultivars using ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadruple and time-of-flight mass spectrometers (UPLC–QTOF–MS). Phytochemical profile was constituted of phenolic acids, procyanidins, quercetin derivatives and dihydrochalcones. Reducing and radical scavenging activities of individual constituents were determined using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to post-column FRAP and ABTS assay, respectively. Significant differences of total radical scavenging and reducing activity (expressed as trolox equivalents, TE µmol/g) were determined between the investigated cultivars. Chlorogenic acid and complex of procyanidins were the main contributors to antioxidant activity determining up to 35 % and 55 % of total TE values, respectively. Determined phenolic composition and antioxidant activity significantly depend on apple cultivars. It is important to determine the individual compounds that are significant for antioxidant activity and that could be investigated in vivo systems. The identification of the antioxidants provides information for the further research of standardized extracts that could be used for pharmaceutical preparations with specific phenolic traits.

Keywords: FRAP, ABTS, antioxidant, phenolic, apples, chlorogenic acid

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Authors: Marjan Heidarzadeh

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High quality and purity of DNA isolated from canned tuna is essential for species identification. In this study, the efficiency of five different methods for DNA extraction was compared. Method of national standard in Iran, the CTAB precipitation method, Wizard DNA Clean Up system, Nucleospin and GenomicPrep were employed. DNA was extracted from two different canned tuna in brine and oil of the same tuna species. Three samples of each type of product were analyzed with the different methods. The quantity and quality of DNA extracted was evaluated using the 260 nm absorbance and ratio A260/A280 by spectrophotometer picodrop. Results showed that the DNA extraction from canned tuna preserved in different liquid media could be optimized by employing a specific DNA extraction method in each case. Best results were obtained with CTAB method for canned tuna in oil and with Wizard method for canned tuna in brine.

Keywords: canned tuna PCR, DNA, DNA extraction methods, species identification

Procedia PDF Downloads 652

Authors: Hilary Rutto, Linda Sibali

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In these modern times, we constantly search for new and innovative technologies to lift the burden of our extreme energy demand. The overall purpose of biofuel production research is to source an alternative energy source to replace the normal use of fossil fuel as liquid petroleum products. This experiment looks at the basis of biodiesel production with regards to alternative catalysts that can be used to produce biodiesel. The key factors that will be addressed during the experiments will focus on temperature variation, catalyst additions to the overall reaction, methanol to oil ratio, and the impact of agitation on the reaction. Brine samples sources from nearby plants will be evaluated and tested thoroughly and the key characteristics of these brine samples analysed for the verification of its use as a possible catalyst in biodiesel production. The one factor at a time experimental approach was used in this experiment, and the recycle and reuse characteristics of the heterogeneous catalyst was evaluated.

Keywords: brine sludge, heterogenous catalyst, biodiesel, one factor

Procedia PDF Downloads 165

Authors: Elmineh Tsegahun Gedif

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Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have attracted huge attention due to catalytic, optical, photonic, and antibacterial activity. Zinc oxide nanoparticles were successfully synthesized via a fast, non-toxic, cost-effective, and eco-friendly method by biologically reducing Zn(NO3)2.6H2O solution with Neem (Azadirachta indica) leaf extract under optimum conditions (pH = 9). The presence of active flavonoids, phenolic groups, alkaloids, terpenoids, and tannins, which were in the biomass of the Neem leaf extract before and after reduction, was identified using qualitative screening methods (observing the color changes) and FT-IR Spectroscopy. The formation of ZnO NPs was visually indicated by the color changes from colorless to light yellow color. Biosynthesized nanoparticles were also characterized by UV-visible, FT-IR, and XRD spectroscopies. The reduction process was simple and convenient to handle and was monitored by UV-visible spectroscopy that showed surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of the ZnO NPs at 321 nm. This result clearly revealed the formation of ZnO NPs. X-ray diffraction was used to investigate the crystal structure. The average particle size of ZnO powder and around 20 nm using the line width of the plane, and the refraction peak using Scherrer’s equation. The synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles were evaluated for antimicrobial activities against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Zinc nanoparticles exhibited the maximum zone of inhibition against Escherichia coli (15 mm), while the least activity was seen against Staphylococcus aureus.

Keywords: antimicrobial activity, azadirachta indica, green synthesis, ZnO NPs

Procedia PDF Downloads 106

Authors: Hayrettin Eroglu, Adem Kara

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Recently there has been significant attention given to imaging of the biological tissues via microwave imaging techniques. In this study, a phantom for the test and calibration of Microwave imaging used in detecting unhealthy breast structure or tumors was produced by using sol gel method. The liquid and gel phantoms being used nowadays are not durable due to evaporation and their organic ingredients, hence a new design was proposed. This phantom was fabricated from materials that were widely available (water, salt, gelatin, and glycerol) and was easy to make. This phantom was aimed to be better from the ones already proposed in the literature in terms of its durability and stability. S Parameters of phantom was measured with 1-18 GHz Probe Kit and permittivity was calculated via Debye method in “85070” commercial software. One, three, and five-week measurements were taken for this phantom. Finally, it was verified that measurement results were very close to the real biological tissue measurement results.

Keywords: phantom, breast tissue, cancer, microwave imaging

Procedia PDF Downloads 350

Authors: Ncoza Dlova, Tivani Mashamba-Thompson

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Garcinia livingstonei (Clusiaceae) extracts, morelloflavone- 7″- sulphate and sargaol were shown to be effective against hyper-pigmentation through inhibition of tyrosinase enzyme, in vitro . The aim of this study is to elucidate the structural mechanism through which morelloflavone- 7″- sulphate and sargaol binds human tyrosinase. Implementing a homology model to construct a tyrosinase model using the crystal structure of a functional unit from Octopus hemocyanin (PDB: 1JS8) as a reference template enabled us to create a human tyrosinase model. Molecular dynamics and binding free energy calculations were optimized to enable molecular dynamics simulation of the copper dependent inhibitors. Results show the importance of the hydrogen bond formation morelloflavone- 7″- sulphate and sargaol between compound and active site residues. Both complexes demonstrated the metallic coordination between compound and arginine residue as well as copper ions within the active site. The comprehensive molecular insight gained from this study should be vital in understanding the binding mechanism morelloflavone- 7″- sulphate and sargaol. Moreover, these results will assist in the design of novel of metal ion dependent enzyme inhibitors as potential anti-hyper-pigmentation disorder therapies.

Keywords: hyper-pigmentation disorders, dyschromia African skin, morelloflavone- 7″- sulphate, sagoal

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Authors: I. Ben Kaddour, S. Larbaoui

Abstract:

Since their first synthesis in 1984, silicoaluminophosphates have proven their effectiveness as a good adsorbent and catalyst in several environmental and energy applications. In this work, the photocatalytic reaction of the photo-degradation of a pharmaceutical product in water was carried out in the presence of a series of materials based on titanium oxide, anatase phase, supported on the microporous framework of the SAPO4-5 at different levels, under ultraviolet light. These photo-catalysts were characterized by different physicochemical analysis methods in order to determine their structural, textural, and morphological properties, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), microscopy scanning electronics (SEM), nitrogen adsorption measurements, UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis-DRS). In this study, liquid chromatography coupled with spectroscopy of mass (LC-MS) was used to determine the nature of the intermediate products formed during the photocatalytic degradation of DCF.

Keywords: photocatalysis, titanium dioxide, SAPO-5, diclofenac

Procedia PDF Downloads 64

Authors: Thaís T. Valério Caetano, João Máximo De Siqueira, Carlos Alexandre Carollo, Arthur Ladeira Macedo, Vanessa C. Stein

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Nicotiana glauca, commonly known as wild tobacco or tobacco bush, belongs to the Solanaceae family. It is native to South America but has become naturalized in various regions, including Australia, California, Africa, and the Mediterranean. N. glauca is listed in the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD) and the Invasive Species Compendium (CABI). It is known for producing pyridine alkaloids, including anabasine, which is highly toxic. Anabasine is predominantly found in the leaves and can cause severe health issues such as neuromuscular blockade, respiratory arrest, and cardiovascular problems when ingested. Mistaken identity with edible plants like spinach has resulted in food poisoning cases in Israel and Brazil. Anabasine, a minor alkaloid constituent of tobacco, may contribute to tobacco addiction by mimicking or enhancing the effects of nicotine. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the production pattern of anabasine and its relationship to the developmental stages of the plant. This study aimed to establish the relationship between the phenological plant age, cultivation place, and the increase in anabasine concentration, which can lead to human intoxication cases. In this study, N. glauca plants were collected from three different rural areas in Brazil for a year to examine leaves at various stages of development. Samples were also obtained from cultivated plants in Marilândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil, as well as from Divinópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil, and Arraial do Cabo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In vitro cultivated plants on MS medium were included in the study. The collected leaves were dried, powdered, and stored. Alkaloid extraction was performed using a methanol and water mixture, followed by liquid-liquid extraction with chloroform. The anabasine content was determined using HPLC-DAD analysis with nicotine as a standard. The results indicated that anabasine production increases with the plant's development, peaking in adult leaves during the reproduction phase and declining afterward. In vitro, plants showed similar anabasine production to young leaves. The successful adaptation of N. glauca in new environments poses a global problem, and the correlation between anabasine production and the plant's developmental stages has been understudied. The presence of substances produced by the plant can pose a risk to other species, especially when mistaken for edible plants. The findings from this study shed light on the pattern of anabasine production and its association with plant development, contributing to a better understanding of the potential risks associated with N. glauca and the importance of accurate identification.

Keywords: nicotiana glauca graham, global invasive species database, alkaloids, toxic

Procedia PDF Downloads 84

Authors: Hoda A. Mohammed, Esraa M. El-Fawal, Howaida M. Abd El-Salam

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Organic sulfurs in fuel oil cause serious environmental pollution and health problems. The important future direction for liquid fuel desulfurization is adsorptive desulfurization technology due to its simplicity, mild operating condition, and low cost. In this work, the well-prepared Nickel NPs were incorporated in a highly porous metal-organic framework MIL-101(Cr)) to produce Ni/Cr-MOF composite. Besides, the synthesis of Ni/Cr-MOF in the presence of Bi₂MoO₆/AC to prepare Bi₂MoO₆/AC@Ni/Cr-MOF. All the prepared composites were synthesized via a facile technique under ambient conditions to remove organosulfur compounds. The XRD, FT-IR, SEM, and BET techniques were used to characterize the prepared composites. The desulfurization performance of real gas oil by Bi₂MoO₆/AC, Ni/Cr-MOF, and Bi₂MoO₆/AC@Ni/Cr-MOF was investigated at different adsorbent doses and contact times. Bi₂MoO₆/AC@Ni/Cr-MOF shows the highest desulfurization performance, with removal efficiency reached to 80% at optimum conditions for a contact time of 4 hours.

Keywords: desulfurization, gas oil, metal-organic framework, sorption characteristics

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: Crystal Shackleford, Michael Pasek, Allon Vishkin, Jeremy Ginges

Abstract:

In the Middle East, conflict is often viewed as religiously motivated. In this context, an important question is how we think the religion of the other drives their behavior. If people see conflicts as religious, they may expect the belief of the other to motivate intergroup bias. Beliefs about the motivations of the other impact how we engage with them. Conflict may result if actors believe the other’s religion promotes parochialism. To examine how actors on the ground in Israel-Palestine think about the God of the other as it relates to the other’s behavior towards them, we ran two studies in winter 2019 with an online sample of Jewish Israelis and fieldwork with Palestinians in the West Bank. We asked participants to predict the behavior of an outgroup member participating in an economic game task, dividing the money between themselves and another person, who is either an ingroup or outgroup member. Our experimental manipulation asks participants to predict the behavior of the other when the other is thinking of their God. Both Israelis and Palestinians believed outgroup members would show in-group favoritism, and that group members would give more to their in-group when thinking of their God. We also found that participants thought outgroup members would give more to their own ingroup when thinking of God. In other words, Palestinians predicted that Israelis would give more to fellow Israelis when thinking of God, but also more to Palestinians. Our results suggest that religious belief is seen to promote universal moral reasoning, even in a context with over 70 years of intense conflict. More broadly, this challenges the narrative that religion necessarily motivates intractable conflict.

Keywords: conflict, psychology, religion, meta-cognition, morality

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Thaís T. Valério Caetano, Lívia de Carvalho Ferreira, João Máximo De Siqueira, Carlos Alexandre Carollo, Arthur Ladeira Macedo, Vanessa C. Stein

Abstract:

Nicotiana glauca, commonly known as wild tobacco or tobacco bush, belongs to the Solanaceae family. It is native to South America but has become naturalized in various regions, including Australia, California, Africa, and the Mediterranean. N. glauca is listed in the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD) and the Invasive Species Compendium (CABI). It is known for producing pyridine alkaloids, including anabasine, which is highly toxic. Anabasine is predominantly found in the leaves and can cause severe health issues such as neuromuscular blockade, respiratory arrest, and cardiovascular problems when ingested. Mistaken identity with edible plants like spinach has resulted in food poisoning cases in Israel and Brazil. Anabasine, a minor alkaloid constituent of tobacco, may contribute to tobacco addiction by mimicking or enhancing the effects of nicotine. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the production pattern of anabasine and its relationship to the developmental stages of the plant. This study aimed to establish the relationship between the phenological plant age, cultivation place, and the increase in anabasine concentration, which can lead to human intoxication cases. In this study, N. glauca plants were collected from three different rural areas in Brazil during a year to examine leaves at various stages of development. Samples were also obtained from cultivated plants in Marilândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil, as well as from Divinópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil, and Arraial do Cabo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In vitro cultivated plants on MS medium were included in the study. The collected leaves were dried, powdered, and stored. Alkaloid extraction was performed using a methanol and water mixture, followed by liquid-liquid extraction with chloroform. The anabasine content was determined using HPLC-DAD analysis with nicotine as a standard. The results indicated that anabasine production increases with the plant's development, peaking in adult leaves during the reproduction phase and declining afterward. In vitro, plants showed similar anabasine production to young leaves. The successful adaptation of N. glauca in new environments poses a global problem, and the correlation between anabasine production and the plant's developmental stages has been understudied. The presence of substances produced by the plant can pose a risk to other species, especially when mistaken for edible plants. The findings from this study shed light on the pattern of anabasine production and its association with plant development, contributing to a better understanding of the potential risks associated with N. glauca and the importance of accurate identification.

Keywords: alkaloid production, invasive species, nicotiana glauca, plant phenology

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: Qasim Zaheer, Jehanzeb Masud

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The understanding of entrainment and mixing phenomenon in the ejector pump is of pivotal importance for designing and performance estimation. In this paper, the existence of turbulent vortical structures due to Kelvin-Helmholtz instability at the free surface between the motive and the entrained fluids streams are simulated using Embedded LES methodology. The efficacy of Embedded LES for simulation of complex flow field of ejector pump is evaluated using ANSYS Fluent®. The enhanced mixing and entrainment process due to breaking down of larger eddies into smaller ones as a consequence of Vortex Stretching phenomenon is captured in this study. Moreover, the flow field characteristics of ejector pump like pressure velocity fields and mass flow rates are analyzed and validated against the experimental results.

Keywords: Kelvin Helmholtz instability, embedded LES, complex flow field, ejector pump

Procedia PDF Downloads 294

Authors: Zlatina Peteva, Stanislava Georgieva, Mona Stancheva, Lubomir Makedonsky

Abstract:

Yessotoxins (YTX) and pectenotoxins (PTX) are lipophilic polyether marine biotoxins that accumulate in shellfish and are regulated in the European Union. Aim of this study is investigation of the presence of YTXs and PTXs in Black Sea mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) on the North Black Sea cast of Bulgaria. YTX and PTX-2 have been identified in samples of the digestive glands of wild and cultivated samples. Mussel samples are harvested from two locations in important farming area on the Bulgarian North Black Sea coast in the period September 2016 – May 2017. Samples are analyzed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). In about 50 % of the samples analyzed the obtained concentration of YTX ranged from 10 – 5000 pg/g hepatopancreas and PTX-2 ranged from 300-7000 pg/g hepatopancreas. This is to our knowledge the first report of occurrence of lipophilic toxins in mussels from Bulgaria.

Keywords: yessotoxins, pectenotoxins, Black sea, mussels

Procedia PDF Downloads 147

Authors: Wang Jianguo, Ding Xiao, Liu Dong, Wang Haiping, Yang Yanhui, Hu Yang

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The hot deformation behavior of Inconel 718 alloy was studied by uniaxial compression tests under the deformation temperature of 940~1040℃ and strain rate of 0.001-10s⁻¹. The double cone compression (DCC) tests develop strains range from 30% to the 79% strain including all intermediate values of stains at different temperature (960~1040℃). DCC tests were simulated by finite element software which shown the strain and strain rates distribution. The result shows that the peak stress level of the alloy decreased with increasing deformation temperature and decreasing strain rate, which could be characterized by a Zener-Hollomon parameter in the hyperbolic-sine equation. The characterization method of hot processing window containing recrystallization volume fraction and average grain size was proposed for double cone compression test of uniform coarse grain, mixed crystal and uniform fine grain double conical specimen in hydraulic press and screw press. The results show that uniform microstructures can be obtained by low temperature with high deformation followed by high temperature with small deformation on the hydraulic press and low temperature, medium deformation, multi-pass on the screw press. The two methods were applied in industrial forgings process, and the forgings with uniform microstructure were obtained successfully.

Keywords: inconel 718 superalloy, hot processing windows, double cone compression, uniform microstructure

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Authors: Anton S. Perin, Vladimir M. Shandarov

Abstract:

Compensation for the nonlinear diffraction of narrow laser beams with wavelength of 532 and the formation of photonic waveguides and waveguide circuits due to the contribution of pyroelectric effect to the nonlinear response of lithium niobate crystal have been experimentally demonstrated. Complete compensation for the linear and nonlinear diffraction broadening of light beams is obtained upon uniform heating of an undoped sample from room temperature to 55 degrees Celsius. An analysis of the light-field distribution patterns and the corresponding intensity distribution profiles allowed us to estimate the spacing for the channel waveguides. The observed behavior of bright soliton beams may be caused by their coherent interaction, which manifests itself in repulsion for anti-phase light fields and in attraction for in-phase light fields. The experimental results of this study showed a fundamental possibility of forming optically complex waveguide structures in lithium niobate crystals with pyroelectric mechanism of nonlinear response. The topology of these structures is determined by the light field distribution on the input face of crystalline sample. The optical induction of channel waveguide elements by interacting spatial solitons makes it possible to design optical systems with a more complex topology and a possibility of their dynamic reconfiguration.

Keywords: self-action, soliton, lithium niobate, piroliton, photorefractive effect, pyroelectric effect

Procedia PDF Downloads 165

Authors: Shilpa Khobragade, Carlos Da Silva Granja, Niklas Sandström, Igor Efimov, Victor P. Ostanin, Wouter van der Wijngaart, David Klenerman, Sourav K. Ghosh

Abstract:

Rapid, label-free and direct detection of pathogenic bacteria is critical for the prevention of disease outbreaks. This paper for the first time attempts to probe the nonlinear acoustic response of quartz crystal resonator (QCR) functionalized with specific DNA aptamers for direct detection and quantification of viable E. coli KCTC 2571 bacteria. DNA aptamers were immobilized through biotin and streptavidin conjugation, onto the gold surface of QCR to capture the target bacteria and the detection was accomplished by shift in amplitude of the peak 3f signal (3 times the drive frequency) upon binding, when driven near fundamental resonance frequency. The developed nonlinear acoustic aptasensor system demonstrated better reliability than conventional resonance frequency shift and energy dissipation monitoring that were recorded simultaneously. This sensing system could directly detect 10⁽⁵⁾ cells/mL target bacteria within 30 min or less and had high specificity towards E. coli KCTC 2571 bacteria as compared to the same concentration of S.typhi bacteria. Aptasensor response was observed for the bacterial suspensions ranging from 10⁽⁵⁾-10⁽⁸⁾ cells/mL. Conclusively, this nonlinear acoustic aptasensor is simple to use, gives real-time output, cost-effective and has the potential for rapid, specific, label-free direction detection of bacteria.

Keywords: acoustic, aptasensor, detection, nonlinear

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Authors: Cameron Truong, Mikhail Bhatia, Yangyang Chen, Viet Nga Cao

Abstract:

Using a sample of U.S. firms between 1996 and 2011, this paper documents a positive association between options trading volume and future stock price crash risk. This relation is evidently more pronounced among firms with higher information asymmetry, business uncertainty, and short-sale constraints. In a dichotomous cross-sectional setting, we also document that firms with options trading have higher future crash risk than firms without options trading. We further show in a difference-in-difference analysis that firms experience an increase in crash risk immediately after the listing of options. The results suggest that options traders are able of identifying bad news hoarding by management and choose to trade in a liquid options market in anticipation of future crashes.

Keywords: bad news hoarding, cross-sectional setting, options trading, stock price crash

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Authors: Priyansha Sharma, Sibani Mund, Sivakumar Vaidyanathan

Abstract:

Solid-state synthesis methods were used for the synthesis of pure red emissive Li¬3BaSrxCa(1-x)Eu2.7Gd0.3(MoO4)8 (x = 0.0 to 1.0) phosphors, XRD, SEM, and FTIR spectra were used to characterize the materials, and their optical properties were thoroughly investigated. PL studies were examined at different excitations 230 nm, 275nm, 465nm, and 395 nm. All the spectra show similar emissions with the highest transition at 616 nm due to ED transition. The given phosphor Li¬3BaSr0.25Ca0.75Eu2.7Gd0.3(MoO4)8 shows the highest intensity and is thus chosen for the temperature-dependent and Quantum yield study. According to the PL investigation, the phosphor-containing Eu3+ emits red light due to the (5D0 7F2) transition. The excitation analysis shows that all of the Eu3+ activated phosphors exhibited broad absorption due to the charge transfer band, O2-Mo6+, O2-Eu3+ transition, as well as narrow absorption bands related to the Eu3+ ion's 4f-4f electronic transition. Excitation spectra show Charge transfer band at 275 nm shows the highest intensity. The primary band in the spectra refers to Eu3+ ions occupying the lattice's non-centrosymmetric location. All of the compositions are monoclinic crystal structures with space group C2/c and match with reference powder patterns. The thermal stability of the 3BaSr0.25Ca0.75Eu2.7Gd0.3(MoO4)8 phosphor was investigated at (300 k- 500 K) as well as at low temperature from (20 K to 275 K) to be utilized for red and white LED fabrication. The Decay Lifetime of all the phosphor was measured. The best phosphor was used for White and Red LED fabrication.

Keywords: PL, phosphor, quantum yield, white LED

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Authors: Iftikhar Hussain, Muhammad Ahmad, Xi Chen, Li Yuxiang

Abstract:

Transition metal phosphides and phosphates are newly emerged electrode material candidates in energy storage devices. For the first time, we report uniformly distributed, interconnected, and well-aligned two-dimensional nanosheets made from trimetallic Zn-Co-Ga phosphate (ZCGP) electrode materials with preserved crystal phase. It is found that the ZCGP electrode material exhibits about 2.85 and 1.66 times higher specific capacity than mono- and bimetallic phosphate electrode materials at the same current density. The trimetallic ZCGP electrode exhibits superior conductivity, lower internal resistance (IR) drop, and high Coulombic efficiency compared to mono- and bimetallic phosphate. The charge storage mechanism is studied for mono- bi- and trimetallic electrode materials, which illustrate the diffusion-dominated battery-type behavior. By means of density functional theory (DFT) calculations, ZCGP shows superior metallic conductivity due to the modified exchange splitting originating from 3d-orbitals of Co atoms in the presence of Zn and Ga. Moreover, a hybrid supercapacitor (ZCGP//rGO) device is engineered, which delivered a high energy density (ED) of 40 W h kg⁻¹ and a high-power density (PD) of 7,745 W kg⁻¹, lighting 5 different colors of light emitting diodes (LEDs). These outstanding results confirm the promising battery-type electrode materials for energy storage applications.

Keywords: trimetallic phosphate, nanosheets, DFT calculations, hybrid supercapacitor, binder-free, synergistic effect

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Authors: Amna Abdalla Mohammed Khalid, Pietro Parisse, Silvia Onesti, Loredana Casalis

Abstract:

Basic cellular processes as DNA replication are crucial to cell life. Understanding at the molecular level the mechanisms that govern DNA replication in proliferating cells is fundamental to understand disease connected to genomic instabilities, as a genetic disease and cancer. A key step for DNA replication to take place, is unwinding the DNA double helix and this carried out by proteins called helicases. The archaeal MCM (minichromosome maintenance) complex from Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus have being studied using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), imaging in air and liquid (Physiological environment). The accurate analysis of AFM topographic images allowed to understand the static conformations as well the interaction dynamic of MCM and DNA double helix in the present of ATP.

Keywords: DNA, protein-DNA interaction, MCM (mini chromosome manteinance) complex, atomic force microscopy (AFM)

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Authors: Kaling Taki, Rohit Gahlot, Manish Kumar

Abstract:

Disposal of Sewage Sludge (SS) is a big issue especially in developing nation like India, where there is no control in the dynamicity of SS produced. The present research work demonstrates the potential application of SS amended with varying percentage (0-100%) of Fly Ash (FA) for brick manufacturing as an alternative of SS management. SS samples were collected from Jaspur sewage treatment plant (Ahmedabad, India) and subjected to different preconditioning treatments: (i) atmospheric drying (ii) pulverization (iii) heat treatment in oven (110°C, moisture removal) and muffle furnace (440°C, organic content removal). Geotechnical parameters of the SS were obtained as liquid limit (52%), plastic limit (24%), shrinkage limit (10%), plasticity index (28%), differential free swell index (DFSI, 47%), silt (68%), clay (27%), organic content (5%), optimum moisture content (OMC, 20%), maximum dry density (MDD, 1.55gm/cc), specific gravity (2.66), swell pressure (57kPa) and unconfined compressive strength (UCS, 207kPa). For FA liquid limit, plastic limit and specific gravity was 44%, 0% and 2.2 respectively. Initially, for brick casting pulverized SS sample was heat treated in a muffle furnace around 440℃ (5 hours) for removal of organic matter. Later, mixing of SS, FA and water by weight ratio was done at OMC. 7*7*7 cm3 sample mold was used for casting bricks at MDD. Brick samples were then first dried in room temperature for 24 hours, then in oven at 100℃ (24 hours) and finally firing in muffle furnace for 1000℃ (10 hours). The fired brick samples were then cured for 3 days according to Indian Standards (IS) common burnt clay building bricks- specification (5th revision). The Compressive strength of brick samples (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 ,60, 70, 80, 90, 100%) of FA were 0.45, 0.76, 1.89, 1.83, 4.02, 3.74, 3.42, 3.19, 2.87, 0.78 and 4.95MPa when evaluated through compressive testing machine (CTM) for a stress rate of 14MPa/min. The highest strength was obtained at 40% FA mixture i.e. 4.02MPa which is much higher than the pure SS brick sample. According to IS 1077: 1992 this combination gives strength more than 3.5 MPa and can be utilized as common building bricks. The loss in weight after firing was much higher than the oven treatment, this might be due to degradation temperature higher than 100℃. The thermal conductivity of the fired brick was obtained as 0.44Wm-1K-1, indicating better insulation properties than other reported studies. TCLP (Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure) test of Cr, Cu, Co, Fe and Ni in raw SS was found as 69, 70, 21, 39502 and 47 mg/kg. The study positively concludes that SS and FA at optimum ratio can be utilized as common building bricks such as partitioning wall and other small strength requirement works. The uniqueness of the work is it emphasizes on utilization of FA for stabilizing SS as construction material as a replacement of natural clay as reported in existing studies.

Keywords: Compressive strength, Curing, Fly Ash, Sewage Sludge.

Procedia PDF Downloads 106

Authors: Shyh Ming Chern

Abstract:

Cubic equations of state (EoS), popular due to their simple mathematical form, ease of use, semi-theoretical nature and, reasonable accuracy are normally fitted to vapor-liquid equilibrium P-v-T data. As a result, They often show poor accuracy in the region near and above the critical point. In this study, the performance of the renowned Peng-Robinson (PR) and Patel-Teja (PT) EoS’s around the critical area has been examined against the P-v-T data of water. Both of them display large deviations at critical point. For instance, PR-EoS exhibits discrepancies as high as 47% for the specific volume, 28% for the enthalpy departure and 43% for the entropy departure at critical point. It is shown that incorporating P-v-T data of the supercritical region into the retuning of a cubic EoS can improve its performance above the critical point dramatically. Adopting a retuned acentric factor of 0.5491 instead of its genuine value of 0.344 for water in PR-EoS and a new F of 0.8854 instead of its original value of 0.6898 for water in PT-EoS reduces the discrepancies to about one third or less.

Keywords: equation of state, EoS, supercritical water, SCW

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Authors: Zhidi Lei, Xixi Cai, Jue Ding, Peifen Weng, Xiaowei Li

Abstract:

In the process of preparing thin films by chemical solution method, the uniformity of gel coating has a great influence on the subsequent film thickness. Based on a coating device, the research tracks the interface development of gas-liquid flow by volume of fluid method (VOF). The effects of fluid viscosity and wall wetting property for the shape and position of the coating window are discussed in the process of slot die coating. The result shows that downstream contact lines gets closer to the corner with the increase of fluid viscosity. When the viscosity increases from 0.2Pa∙s to 0.3Pa∙s, 18.2% of the vortex region area will be reduced. With the static contact angle of upper die head surface (θ_sd) increasing, X_u decreased gradually which cause the instability changes of upstream surface. Also, θ_sd increasing brings the reduction of vortex region.

Keywords: film growth, vortex, VOF, slot die coating

Procedia PDF Downloads 370