Search results for: liquid crystalline polymers

Authors: Badr Eddine Lebrouhi, Melissa Lopez Viveros, Silvia De Los Santos, Kolthoum Missaoui, Pamela Ramirez Vidal

Abstract:

Since the Paris Climate Agreement, numerous countries, including France, have committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 by enhancing renewable energy capacity and decarbonizing various sectors, including aviation. In this way, the Occitanie region aspires to become a renewable energy pioneer and has focused on Toulouse's Blagnac airport—a prominent hub characterized by high-energy demands. As part of a holistic strategy to reduce the airport's energy dependency, green hydrogen has emerged as a promising alternative fuel, offering the potential to significantly enhance aviation's environmental sustainability. This study assesses the technical and economic aspects of green hydrogen production, particularly its potential to replace fossil kerosene in aviation at Toulouse-Blagnac airport. It analyzes future liquid hydrogen fuel demand, calculates energy requirements for electrolysis and liquefaction, considers diverse renewable energy scenarios, and assesses the Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH) for economic viability. The research also projects LCOH evolution from 2023 to 2050, offering a comprehensive view of green hydrogen's feasibility as a sustainable aviation fuel, aligning with the region's renewable energy and sustainable aviation objectives.

Keywords: Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, green hydrogen, aviation decarbonization, electrolysis, renewable energy, technical-economic feasibility

Procedia PDF Downloads 55

Authors: Yonghwa Lee, Yoon Suk Kim, Yongsub Yi

Abstract:

This study was to confirm the effects of anti-melanogenesis and anti-inflammatory effects from Opuntia humifusa fruit and stem extracts. A potent anti-oxidant activity was shown from the leaf extract at IC50 value of 38.33±1.07 μg/mL and fruit extract at IC50 value of 40.23±2.21 μg/mL by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. Also, phenolic contents were confirmed total phenolic assay by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Fraction of taxifolin from leaf extract was identified using HPLC and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The extracts of Opuntia humifusa fruit and stem were confirmed about toxicity effect in B16 F1 by cell viability. Melanin contents were decreased. Opuntia humifusa fruit and stem extracts had a positive effect of melanin synthesis inhibition for skin whitening. In investigating the anti-inflammatory activities of Opuntia humifusa, the results of cell viability indicated that taxifolin did not show cytotoxicity on RAW264.7 cells at 500 μM of concentration. The results show that taxifolin inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced production of Nitrite oxide (NO). In addition, taxifolin indicated the inhibition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced tumor necrosis factor (TNF) -α and interleukin (IL) -6 productions by cytokine assay and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 expression by western blot analysis, meaning that taxifolin had a significant anti-inflammatory effect. Our results suggested that taxifolin from Opuntia humifusa has anti-melanogenesis and anti-inflammatory activities.

Keywords: anti-melanogenesis, anti-inflammatory, Opuntia humifusa, taxifolin

Procedia PDF Downloads 309

Authors: D. S. Mohale, A. P. Dewani, A. S.tripathi, A. V. Chandewar

Abstract:

Present work demonstrates the applicability of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV-Vis detection for the quantification of malondialdehyde as malondialdehyde-thiobarbituric acid complex (MDA-TBA) in-vivo in rats. The HPLC method for MDA-TBA was achieved by isocratic mode on a reverse-phase C18 column (250mm×4.6mm) at a flow rate of 1.0mLmin−1 followed by detection at 532 nm. The chromatographic conditions were optimized by varying the concentration and pH of water followed by changes in percentage of organic phase optimal mobile phase consisted of mixture of water (0.2% triethylamine pH adjusted to 2.3 by ortho-phosphoric acid) and acetonitrile in ratio (80:20v/v). The retention time of MDA-TBA complex was 3.7 min. The developed method was sensitive as limit of detection and quantification (LOD and LOQ) for MDA-TBA complex were (standard deviation and slope of calibration curve) 110 ng/ml and 363 ng/ml respectively. Calibration studies were done by spiking MDA into rat plasma at concentrations ranging from 500 to 1000 ng/ml. The precision of developed method measured in terms of relative standard deviations for intra-day and inter-day studies was 1.6–5.0% and 1.9–3.6% respectively. The HPLC method was applied for monitoring MDA levels in rats subjected to chronic treatment of levofloxacin (LEV) (5mg/kg/day) for 21 days. Results were compared by findings in control group rats. Mean peak areas of both study groups was subjected for statistical treatment to unpaired student t-test to find p-values. The p value was <0.001 indicating significant results and suggesting increased MDA levels in rats subjected to chronic treatment of LEV of 21 days.

Keywords: malondialdehyde-thiobarbituric acid complex, levofloxacin, HPLC, oxidative stress

Procedia PDF Downloads 329

Authors: G. R. Hashemi Tabar, G. R. Razmi, F. Mirshekar

Abstract:

Echinococcus granulosus have ten strains from G1 to G9. Each strain is related to special intermediated host. The morphology, epidemiology, treatment and control in these strains are different. There are many morphological and molecular methods to differentiate of Echinococcus strains. However, using both methods were provided better information about identification of each strain. The aim of study was to identify Echinococcus granulosus strain of hydrated cysts in slaughtered sheep using morphological and molecular methods in Mashhad area. In the present study, the infected liver and lung with hydatid cysts were collected and transferred to laboratory. The hydatid cyst liquid was extracted and morphological characters of rostellar hook protosclocies were measured using micrometer ocular. The total length of large blade length of large hooks, total length of small and blade length of small hooks, and number of hooks per protoscolex were 23± 0.3μm, 11.7±0.5 μm, 19.3±1.1 μm,8±1.1 and 33.7±0.7 μm, respectively. In molecular section of the study, DNA each samples was extracted with MBST Kit and development of PCR using special primers (EgF, EgR) which amplify fragment of ITS1 gen. The PCR product was digested with Bsh1236I enzyme. Based on pattern of PCR-RLFP results (four band forming), G1, G2 and G3 strain of Echinococcus granulosus were obtained. Differentiation of three strains was done using sequencing analysis and G1 strain was diagnosed. The agreement between the molecular results with morphometric characters of rosetellar hook was confirmed the presence of G1 strain of Echinococcus in the slaughtered sheep of Mashhad area.

Keywords: Echinococcus granulosus, Hydatid cyst, PCR, sheep

Procedia PDF Downloads 513

Authors: Laura Salvia Diaz Silvarrey, Anh Phan

Abstract:

Municipal Plastic Waste (MPW) comprises a mixture of thermoplastics such as high and low density polyethylene (HDPE and LDPE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Recycling rate of these plastics is low, e.g. only 27% in 2013. The remains were incinerated or disposed in landfills. As MPW generation increases approximately 5% per annum, MPW management technologies have to be developed to comply with legislation . Pyrolysis, thermochemical decomposition, provides an excellent alternative to convert MPW into valuable resources like fuels and chemicals. Most studies on waste plastic kinetics only focused on HDPE and LDPE with a simple assumption of first order decomposition, which is not the real reaction mechanism. The aim of this study was to develop a kinetic study for each of the polymers in the MPW mixture using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) over a range of heating rates (5, 10, 20 and 40°C/min) in N2 atmosphere and sample size of 1 – 4mm. A model-free kinetic method was applied to quantify the activation energy at each level of conversion. Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose (KAS) and Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (FWO) equations jointly with Master Plots confirmed that the activation energy was not constant along all the reaction for all the five plastic studied, showing that MPW decomposed through a complex mechanism and not by first-order kinetics. Master plots confirmed that MPW decomposed following a random scission mechanism at conversions above 40%. According to the random scission mechanism, different radicals are formed along the backbone producing the cleavage of bonds by chain scission into molecules of different lengths. The cleavage of bonds during random scission follows first-order kinetics and it is related with the conversion. When a bond is broken one part of the initial molecule becomes an unsaturated one and the other a terminal free radical. The latter can react with hydrogen from and adjacent carbon releasing another free radical and a saturated molecule or reacting with another free radical and forming an alkane. Not every time a bonds is broken a molecule is evaporated. At early stages of the reaction (conversion and temperature below 40% and 300°C), most products are not short enough to evaporate. Only at higher degrees of conversion most of cleavage of bonds releases molecules small enough to evaporate.

Keywords: kinetic, municipal plastic waste, pyrolysis, random scission

Procedia PDF Downloads 347

Authors: Ravi Patel, Ravisinh Solanki, Dignesh Khunt

Abstract:

A stability-indicating reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method was developed and validated for estimating Nirmatrelvir in its self-emulsifying drug delivery system (SEDDS). The separation of Nirmatrelvir and its degradation products was accomplished by employing an Agilent Zorbax Eclipse plus C18 (250 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 µm) column, through which the mobile phase 5 mM phosphate buffer (pH 4.0) as mobile phase A and Acetonitrile as mobile phase B in a ratio of (40:60 % v/v) was pumped at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min, through the HPLC system. Chromatographic separation and elution were monitored by a photo-diode array detector at 210 nm. Stress studies have been employed to evaluate this method's ability to indicate stability. Nirmatrelvir was exposed to several stress conditions, such as acid, alkali, oxidative, photolytic, and thermal degradations. Significant degradation was observed during acid and alkali hydrolysis, and the resulting degradation product was successfully separated from the Nirmatrelvir peak, preventing any interference. Furthermore, the primary degradant produced under alkali degradation conditions was identified using UPLC-ESI-TQ-MS/MS. The method was validated in accordance with the International Council on Harmonization (ICH) and found to be selective, precise, accurate, linear, and robust. The apparent permeability of Nirmatrelvir SEDDS was 4.20 ± 0.21×10-6 cm/sec, and the average proportion of free drug recovered was 0.5%. The method developed in this study was feasible and accurate for routine quality control evaluation of Nirmatrelvir SEDDS.

Keywords: Nirmatrelvir, SEDDS, degradation study, HPLC, LC-MS/MS

Procedia PDF Downloads 7

Authors: Funda Ates

Abstract:

Primary energy sources, such as petroleum, coal and natural gas are principle responsible of world’s energy consumption. However, the rapid worldwide increase in the depletion of these energy sources is remarkable. In addition to this, they have damaging environmentally effect. Renewable energy sources are capable of providing a considerable fraction of World energy demand in this century. Biomass is one of the most abundant and utilized sources of renewable energy in the world. It can be converted into commercial fuels, suitable to substitute for fossil fuels. A high number of biomass types can be converted through thermochemical processes into solid, liquid or gaseous fuels. Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of biomass in the absence of air or oxygen. In this study, barley straw has been investigated as an alternative feedstock to obtain fuels and chemicals via pyrolysis in fixed-bed reactor. The influence of pyrolysis temperature in the range 450–750 °C as well as the catalyst effects on the products was investigated and the obtained results were compared. The results indicated that a maximum oil yield of 20.4% was obtained at a moderate temperature of 550 °C. Oil yield decreased by using catalyst. Pyrolysis oils were examined by using instrumental analysis and GC/MS. Analyses revealed that the pyrolysis oils were chemically very heterogeneous at all temperatures. It was determined that the most abundant compounds composing the bio-oil were phenolics. Catalyst decreased the reaction temperature. Most of the components obtained using a catalyst at moderate temperatures was close to those obtained at high temperatures without using a catalyst. Moreover, the use of a catalyst also decreased the amount of oxygenated compounds produced.

Keywords: Barley straw, pyrolysis, catalyst, phenolics

Procedia PDF Downloads 219

Authors: Bernhard Widhalm, Cornelia Rieder-Gradinger, Ewald Srebotnik

Abstract:

Pine wood (Pinus sylvestris L.) is the basic raw material for the production of Oriented Strand Boards (OSB) and the major source of volatile organic compounds, especially terpenes (like α- and β-pinene). To lower the total emission level of OSB, terpene metabolising microorganisms were therefore applied onto pine wood strands for the production of emission-reduced boards. Suitable microorganisms were identified during preliminary tests under laboratory conditions. At first, their terpene degrading potential was investigated in liquid culture, followed by laboratory tests using unsterile pine wood particles and strands. The main focus was laid on an adoptable terpene reduction in a short incubation time. An optimised bacterial mixture of Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas fluorescens showed the best results and was therefore used for further experiments on a larger scale. In an industry-compatible testing procedure, pine wood strands were incubated with the bacterial mixture for a period of 2 to 4 days. Incubation time was stopped by drying the strands. OSB were then manufactured from the pre-treated strands and emissions were measured by means of SPME/GC-MS analysis. Bacterial pre-treatment of strands resulted in a reduction of α-pinene- and β-pinene-emissions from OSB by 40% and 70%, respectively, even after only 2 days of incubation. The results of the investigation provide a basis for the application of microbial treatment within the industrial OSB production line, where shortest possible incubation times are required. For this purpose, the performance of the bacterial mixture will have to be further optimised.

Keywords: GC-MS, OSB, Pseudomonas sp., terpene degradation

Procedia PDF Downloads 262

Authors: Y. Saylan, F. Yılmaz, A. Denizli

Abstract:

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) which is the most common autoimmune disorder of the body's own immune system attacking healthy cells. RA has both articular and systemic effects.Until now romatiod factor (RF) assay is used the most commonly diagnosed RA but it is not specific. Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies are IgG autoantibodies which recognize citrullinated peptides and offer improved specificity in early diagnosis of RA compared to RF. Anti-CCP antibodies have specificity for the diagnosis of RA from 91 to 98% and the sensitivity rate of 41-68%. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) are materials that are easy to prepare, less expensive, stable have a talent for molecular recognition and also can be manufactured in large quantities with good reproducibility. Molecular recognition-based adsorption techniques have received much attention in several fields because of their high selectivity for target molecules. Quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) is an effective, simple, inexpensive approach mass changes that can be converted into an electrical signal. The applications for specific determination of chemical substances or biomolecules, crystal electrodes, cover by the thin films for bind or adsorption of molecules. In this study, we have focused our attention on combining of molecular imprinting into nanofilms and QCM nanosensor approaches and producing QCM nanosensor for anti-CCP, chosen as a model protein, using anti-CCP imprinted nanofilms. For this aim, anti-CCP imprinted QCM nanosensor was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, contact angle measurements and ellipsometry. The non-imprinted nanosensor was also prepared to evaluate the selectivity of the imprinted nanosensor. Anti-CCP imprinted QCM nanosensor was tested for real-time detection of anti-CCP from aqueous solution. The kinetic and affinity studies were determined by using anti-CCP solutions with different concentrations. The responses related with mass shifts (Δm) and frequency shifts (Δf) were used to evaluate adsorption properties and to calculate binding (Ka) and dissociation (Kd) constants. To show the selectivity of the anti-CCP imprinted QCM nanosensor, competitive adsorption of anti-CCP and IgM was investigated.The results indicate that anti-CCP imprinted QCM nanosensor has a higher adsorption capabilities for anti-CCP than for IgM, due to selective cavities in the polymer structure.

Keywords: anti-CCP, molecular imprinting, nanosensor, rheumatoid arthritis, QCM

Procedia PDF Downloads 358

Authors: Olufunmilola A. Abiodun, Adegbola O. Dauda, Ayobami Ojo, Samson A. Oyeyinka

Abstract:

Serendipity berry (Dioscoreophyllum cumminsii diel) is a tropical dioecious rainforest vine and native to tropical Africa. The vine grows during the raining season and is used mainly as sweetener. The sweetener in the berry is known as monellin which is sweeter than sucrose. The sweetener is extracted from the fruits and the seed is discarded. The discarded seeds contain bitter principles but had high yield of oil. Serendipity oil was extracted using three methods (N-hexane, expression and expression/n-hexane). Fatty acids and physicochemical properties of the oil obtained were determined. The oil obtained was clear, liquid and have odour similar to hydrocarbon. The percentage oil yield was 38.59, 12.34 and 49.57% for hexane, expression and expression-hexane method respectively. The seed contained high percentage of oil especially using combination of expression and hexane. Low percentage of oil was obtained using expression method. The refractive index values obtained were 1.443, 1.442 and 1.478 for hexane, expression and expression-hexane methods respectively. Peroxide value obtained for expression-hexane was higher than those for hexane and expression. The viscosities of the oil were 125.8, 128.76 and 126.87 cm³/s for hexane, expression and expression-hexane methods respectively which showed that the oil from expression method was more viscous than the other oils. The major fatty acids in serendipity seed oil were oleic acid (62.81%), linoleic acid (22.65%), linolenic (6.11%), palmitic acid (5.67%), stearic acid (2.21%) in decreasing order. Oleic acid which is monounsaturated fatty acid had the highest value. Total unsaturated fatty acids were 91.574, 92.256 and 90.426% for hexane, expression, and expression-hexane respectively. Combination of expression and hexane for extraction of serendipity oil produced high yield of oil. The oil could be refined for food and non-food application.

Keywords: serendipity seed oil, expression method, fatty acid, hexane

Procedia PDF Downloads 269

Authors: R. Vetrimurugan, Terry Lim, M. J. Goodson, R. Nagarajan

Abstract:

This study investigates the cleaning performance of high intensity 360 kHz frequency on the removal of nano-dimensional and sub-micron particles from various surfaces, uniformity of the cleaning tank and run to run variation of cleaning process. The uniformity of the cleaning tank was measured by two different methods i.e 1. ppbTM meter and 2. Liquid Particle Counting (LPC) technique. In the second method, aluminium metal spacer components was placed at various locations of the cleaning tank (such as centre, top left corner, bottom left corner, top right corner, bottom right corner) and the resultant particles removed by 360 kHz frequency was measured. The result indicates that the energy was distributed more uniformly throughout the entire cleaning vessel even at the corners and edges of the tank when megasonic sweeping technology is applied. The result also shows that rinsing the parts with 360 kHz frequency at final rinse gives lower particle counts, hence higher cleaning efficiency as compared to other frequencies. When megasonic sweeping technology is applied each piezoelectric transducers will operate at their optimum resonant frequency and generates stronger acoustic cavitational force and higher acoustic streaming velocity. These combined forces are helping to enhance the particle removal and at the same time improve the overall cleaning performance. The multiple extractions study was also carried out for various frequencies to measure the cleaning potential and asymptote value.

Keywords: power distribution, megasonic sweeping, cavitation intensity, particle removal, laser particle counting, nano, submicron

Procedia PDF Downloads 415

Authors: Esra Yel, Tabriz Aslanov, Merve Sogancioglu, Suheyla Kocaman, Gulnare Ahmetli

Abstract:

The disposal of waste plastics has become a major worldwide environmental problem. Pyrolysis of waste plastics is one of the routes to waste minimization and recycling that has been gaining interest. In pyrolysis, the pyrolysed material is separated into gas, liquid (both are fuel) and solid (char) products. All fractions have utilities and economical value depending upon their characteristics. The first objective of this study is to determine the co-pyrolysis product fractions of waste HDPE- (high density polyethylene) and LDPE (low density polyethylene)-olive pomace (OP) and to determine the qualities of the solid product char. Chars obtained at 700 °C pyrolysis were used in biocomposite preparation as additive. As the second objective, the effects of char on biocomposite quality were investigated. Pyrolysis runs were performed at temperature 700 °C with heating rates of 5 °C/min. Biocomposites were prepared by mixing of chars with bisphenol-F type epoxy resin in various wt%. Biocomposite properties were determined by measuring electrical conductivity, surface hardness, Young’s modulus and tensile strength of the composites. The best electrical conductivity results were obtained with HDPE-OP char. For HDPE-OP char and LDPE-OP char, compared to neat epoxy, the tensile strength values of the composites increased by 102% and 78%, respectively, at 10% char dose. The hardness measurements showed similar results to the tensile tests, since there is a correlation between the hardness and the tensile strength.

Keywords: biocomposite, char, olive pomace, pyrolysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 245

Authors: Nagalingam Arun Prasanth, Ahmed Syed Adnan, S. H. Yeo

Abstract:

Surface topography plays a significant role in the functional performance of engineered parts. It is important to have a control on the surface geometry and understanding on the surface details to get the desired performance. Hence, in the current research contribution, a non-contact micro-texturing technique has been explored and developed. The technique involves ultrasonic excitation of a tool as a prime source of surface texturing for aluminum alloy workpieces. The specimen surface is polished first and is then immersed in a liquid bath containing 10% weight concentration of Ti6Al4V grade 5 spherical powders. A submerged slurry jet is used to recirculate the spherical powders under the ultrasonic horn which is excited at an ultrasonic frequency and amplitude of 40 kHz and 70 µm respectively. The distance between the horn and workpiece surface was remained fixed at 200 µm using a precision control stage. Texturing effects were investigated for different process timings of 1, 3 and 5 s. Thereafter, the specimens were cleaned in an ultrasonic bath for 5 mins to remove loose debris on the surface. The developed surfaces are characterized by optical and contact surface profiler. The optical microscopic images show a texture of circular spots on the workpiece surface indented by titanium spherical balls. Waviness patterns obtained from contact surface profiler supports the texturing effect produced from the proposed technique. Furthermore, water droplet tests were performed to show the efficacy of the proposed technique to develop hydrophilic surfaces and to quantify the texturing effect produced.

Keywords: surface texturing, surface modification, topography, ultrasonic

Procedia PDF Downloads 218

Authors: Helen Dilman, Eyal Oz, Shmuel Hayun, Nahum Frage

Abstract:

The conventional approach for manufacturing silicon carbide and boron carbide reaction bonded composites is based on infiltrating a ceramic porous preform with molten silicon. The relatively high melting temperature of the silicon infiltrating medium is a drawback of the process. The present contribution is concerned with an approach that allows obtaining reaction bonded composites by pressure-less infiltration at a significantly lower (850-1000oC) temperature range. This approach was applied for the fabrication of fully dense SiC/(Si-Al) and (SiC+B4C)/(Si-Al) composites. The key feature of the approach is based on using Si alloys with low melting temperature and the Mg-vapor atmosphere, under which an adequate wetting between ceramics and liquid alloys for the infiltration process is achieved. In the first set of the experiments ceramic performs compacted from multimodal SiC powders (with the green density of about 27 vol. %) without free carbon addition were infiltrated by Si-20%Al alloy at 950oC. In the second set, 19 vol. % of a fine boron carbide powder was added to SiC powders as a source of carbon. The green density of the SiC-B4C preforms was about 23-25 vol. %. In both cases, successful infiltration was achieved and the composites were fully dense. The density of the composites was about 3g/cm3. For the SiC based composites the hardness value was 750±150HV, Young modulus-280GPa and bending strength-240±30MPa. These values for (SiC-B4C)/(Si-Al) composites (1460±200HV, 317GPa and 360±20MPa) were significantly higher due to the formation of novel ceramics phases. Microstructural characteristics of the composites and their phase composition will be discussed.

Keywords: boron carbide, composites, infiltration, low temperatures, silicon carbide

Procedia PDF Downloads 544

Authors: S. Djaziri, F. Sket, A. Hynowska, S. Milenkovic

Abstract:

The use of Fe-Al based intermetallics as an alternative to Cr/Ni based stainless steels is very promising for industrial applications that use critical raw materials parts under extreme conditions. However, the development of advanced Fe-Al based intermetallics with appropriate mechanical properties presents several challenges that involve appropriate processing and microstructure control. A processing strategy is being developed which aims at producing a net-shape porous Fe-based preform that is infiltrated with molten Al or Al-alloy. In the present work, porous Fe-based preforms produced by two different methods (selective laser melting (SLM) and Kochanek-process (KE)) are studied during infiltration with molten aluminum. In the objective to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the formation of Fe-Al intermetallic phases during infiltration, an in-house furnace has been designed for in situ observation of infiltration at synchrotron facilities combining x-ray radiography (XR) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The feasibility of this approach has been demonstrated, and information about the melt flow front propagation has been obtained. In addition, reactive infiltration has been achieved where a bi-phased intermetallic layer has been identified to be formed between the solid Fe and liquid Al. In particular, a tongue-like Fe₂Al₅ phase adhering to the Fe and a needle-like Fe₄Al₁₃ phase adhering to the Al were observed. The growth of the intermetallic compound was found to be dependent on the temperature gradient present along the preform as well as on the reaction time which will be discussed in view of the different obtained results.

Keywords: combined synchrotron radiography and diffraction, Fe-Al intermetallic compounds, in-situ molten Al infiltration, porous solid Fe preforms

Procedia PDF Downloads 220

Authors: Yousef M. Abouzeed A. Elfahem, F. Zgheel, M. A. Saad, Mohamed O. Ahmed

Abstract:

The bioactive properties of phytochemicals indicate their potential as natural drug products to prevent and treat human disease; in particular, compounds with antioxidant and antimicrobial activities may represent a novel class of safe and effective drugs. Following desiccation, grapes (Vitis vinifera) become more resistant to microbial-based degradation, suggesting that raisins may be a source of antimicrobial compounds. To investigate this hypothesis, total phenolic extracts were obtained from common raisins, local market-sourced. The acetone extract was tested for antibacterial activity against four prevalent bacterial pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli). Antibiotic sensitivity and the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) were determined for each bacterium. High performance liquid chromatography was used to identify compounds in the total phenolic extract. The raisin phenolic extract inhibited growth of all the tested bacteria; the greatest inhibitive effect (normalized to cefotaxime sodium control antibiotic) occurred against P. aeruginosa, followed by S. aureus > Salmonella spp.= E. coli. The phenolic extracts contained the bioactive compounds catechin, quercetin, and rutin. Thus, phytochemicals in raisin extract have antibacterial properties; this plant-based extract, or its bioactive constituents, may represent a promising natural preservative or antimicrobial agent for the food industry or anti-infective drug.

Keywords: Vitis vinifera raisin, extraction, phenolic compounds, antibacterial activity

Procedia PDF Downloads 600

Authors: Yaseen Muhammad, Zhenxia Zhao, Zhangfa Tong

Abstract:

A key problem with hydrodesulfurization (HDS) process of fuel oils is the application of severe operating conditions. In this study, we proposed the catalytic HDS of dibenzothiophene (DBT) integrated with ionic liquids (ILs) application at mild temperature and pressure over low loaded (0.5 wt.%) Pd promoted Co-Mo@Al₂O₃ and Ni-Mo@Al₂O₃ catalysts. Among the thirteen ILs tested, [BMIM]BF₄, [(CH₃)₄N]Cl, [EMIM]AlCl₄, and [(C₈H₁₇)(C₃H₇)₃P]Br enhanced the catalytic HDS efficiency while the latest ranked the top of activity list as confirmed by DFT studies as well. Experimental results revealed that Pd incorporation greatly enhanced the HDS activity of classical Co or Ni based catalysts. At mild optimized experimental conditions of 1 MPa H₂ pressure, 120 oC, IL:oil ratio of 1:3 and 4 h reaction time, the % DBT conversion (21 %) by Ni-Mo@Al₂O₃ was enhanced to 69 % (over Pd-Ni-Mo@ Al₂O₃) using [(C₈H₁₇) (C₃H₇)₃P]Br. The fresh and spent catalysts were characterized for textural properties using XPS, SEM, EDX, XRD and BET surface area techniques. An overall catalytic HDS activity followed the order of: Pd-Ni-Mo@Al₂O₃ > Pd-Co-Mo@Al₂O₃ > Ni-Mo@Al₂O₃ > Co-Mo@Al₂O₃. [(C₈H₁₇) (C₃H₇)₃P]Br.could be recycled four times with minimal decrease in HDS activity. Reaction products were analyzed by GC-MS which helped in proposing reaction mechanism for the IL coupled HDS process. The present approach attributed to its cost-effective nature, ease of operation with less mechanical requirements in terms of mild operating conditions, and high efficiency could be deemed as an alternative approach for the HDS of DBT on industrial level applications.

Keywords: DFT simulation, GC-MS and reaction mechanism, Ionic liquid coupled HDS of DBT, low Pd loaded catalyst, mild operating condition

Procedia PDF Downloads 146

Authors: S. Visetpotjanakit, C. Khrautongkieo

Abstract:

Radiation monitoring in the environment and foodstuffs is one of the main responsibilities of Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP) as the nuclear regulatory body of Thailand. The main goal of the OAP is to assure the safety of the Thai people and environment from any radiological incidents. Various radioanalytical methods have been developed to monitor radiation and radionuclides in the environmental and foodstuff samples. To validate our analytical performance, several proficiency test exercises from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have been performed. Here, the results of a proficiency test exercise referred to as the Proficiency Test for Tritium, Cobalt, Strontium and Caesium Isotopes in Seawater 2017 (IAEA-RML-2017-01) are presented. All radionuclides excepting ³H were analysed using various radioanalytical methods, i.e. direct gamma-ray counting for determining ⁶⁰Co, ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs and developed radiochemical techniques for analysing ¹³⁴Cs, ¹³⁷Cs using AMP pre-concentration technique and 90Sr using di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (HDEHP) liquid extraction technique. The analysis results were submitted to IAEA. All results passed IAEA criteria, i.e. accuracy, precision and trueness and obtained ‘Accepted’ statuses. These confirm the data quality from the OAP environmental radiation laboratory to monitor radiation in the environment.

Keywords: international atomic energy agency, proficiency test, radiation monitoring, seawater

Procedia PDF Downloads 168

Authors: Young Jae Choung, Seoung Bum Kim

Abstract:

Statistical Process Control (SPC) is a popular technique for process monitoring. A widely used tool in SPC is a control chart, which is used to detect the abnormal status of a process and maintain the controlled status of the process. Traditional control charts, such as Hotelling’s T2 control chart, are effective techniques to detect abnormal observations and monitor processes. However, many complicated manufacturing systems exhibit nonlinearity because of the different demands of the market. In this case, the unregulated use of a traditional linear modeling approach may not be effective. In reality, many industrial processes contain the nonlinear and time-varying properties because of the fluctuation of process raw materials, slowing shift of the set points, aging of the main process components, seasoning effects, and catalyst deactivation. The use of traditional SPC techniques with time-varying data will degrade the performance of the monitoring scheme. To address these issues, in the present study, we propose a parameterless self-organizing map (PLSOM)-based control chart. The PLSOM-based control chart not only can manage a situation where the distribution or parameter of the target observations changes, but also address the nonlinearity of modern manufacturing systems. The control limits of the proposed PLSOM chart are established by estimating the empirical level of significance on the percentile using a bootstrap method. Experimental results with simulated data and actual process data from a thin-film transistor-liquid crystal display process demonstrated the effectiveness and usefulness of the proposed chart.

Keywords: control chart, parameter-less self-organizing map, self-organizing map, time-varying property

Procedia PDF Downloads 265

Authors: L. Obeid, A. Bee, D. Talbot, S. Abramson, M. Welschbillig

Abstract:

The adsorption process is one of the most efficient methods to remove pollutants from wastewater provided that suitable adsorbents are used. In order to produce environmentally safe adsorbents, natural polymers have received increasing attention in recent years. Thus, alginate and chitosane are extensively used as inexpensive, non-toxic and efficient biosorbents. Alginate is an anionic polysaccharide extracted from brown seaweeds. Chitosan is an amino-polysaccharide; this cationic polymer is obtained by deacetylation of chitin the major constituent of crustaceans. Furthermore, it has been shown that the encapsulation of magnetic materials in alginate and chitosan beads facilitates their recovery from wastewater after the adsorption step, by the use of an external magnetic field gradient, obtained with a magnet or an electromagnet. In the present work, we have studied the adsorption affinity of magnetic alginate beads and magnetic chitosan beads (called magsorbents) for methyl orange (MO) (an anionic dye), methylene blue (MB) (a cationic dye) and p-nitrophenol (PNP) (a hydrophobic pollutant). The effect of different parameters (pH solution, contact time, pollutant initial concentration…) on the adsorption of pollutant on the magnetic beads was investigated. The adsorption of anionic and cationic pollutants is mainly due to electrostatic interactions. Consequently methyl orange is highly adsorbed by chitosan beads in acidic medium and methylene blue by alginate beads in basic medium. In the case of a hydrophobic pollutant, which is weakly adsorbed, we have shown that the adsorption is enhanced by adding a surfactant. Cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), a cationic surfactant, was used to increase the adsorption of PNP by magnetic alginate beads. Adsorption of CPC by alginate beads occurs through two mechanisms: (i) electrostatic attractions between cationic head groups of CPC and negative carboxylate functions of alginate; (ii) interaction between the hydrocarbon chains of CPC. The hydrophobic pollutant is adsolubilized within the surface aggregated structures of surfactant. Figure c shows that PNP can reach up to 95% of adsorption in presence of CPC. At highest CPC concentrations, desorption occurs due to the formation of micelles in the solution. Our magsorbents appear to efficiently remove ionic and hydrophobic pollutants and we hope that this fundamental research will be helpful for the future development of magnetically assisted processes in water treatment plants.

Keywords: adsorption, alginate, chitosan, magsorbent, magnetic, organic pollutant

Procedia PDF Downloads 250

Authors: Zafar Iqbal, Sana Irshad Khan

Abstract:

Organic extract from newly isolated plant growth promoting fungus (PGPF) Penicillium sp EU0013 was subjected to bioassays including anti fungal (disc diffusion) cytotoxicity (brine shrimp lethality), herbicidal (Lemna minor) and nematicidal activities. Metabolite profile of the extract was also assessed using HPLC analysis with the aim to identify bioactive natural products in the extract as new drug candidate(s). The extract showed anti fungal potential against tested fungal pathogens. Growth of the Wilt pathogen Fusarium oxyosproum was inhibited up to 63% when compared to negative reference. Activity against brine shrimps was weak and mortality up to 10% was observed at concentration of 200 µg. mL-1. The extract exhibited no toxicity against Lemna minor frond at 200 µg. mL-1. Nematicidal activity was observed very potent against root knot nematode and LC50 value was calculated as 52.5 ug. mL-1 using probit analysis. Methodically assessment of metabolites profile by HPLC showed the presence of kojic acid (Rt 1.4 min) and aflatoxin B1 (Rt 5.9 min) in the mycellial extract as compared with standards. The major unidentified metabolite was eluted at Rt 8.6 along with other minor peaks. The observed high toxicity against root knot nematode was attributed to the unidentified compounds that make fungal extract worthy of further exploration for isolation and structural characterization studies for development of future commercial nematicidal compound(s).

Keywords: penicillium, nematicidal activity, metabolites, HPLC

Procedia PDF Downloads 443

Authors: M. R. Aher, R. B. Laware, G. S. Asane, B. S. Kuchekar

Abstract:

Objective: Studies have shown that a new combination therapy with Artemisinin derivatives and curcumin is unique, with potential advantages over known ACTs. In present study an attempt was made to prepare microparticulate drug delivery system of Curcumin-Zn complex and evaluate it in combination with artemether for antimalarial activity. Material and method: Curcumin Zn complex was prepared and encapsulated using sodium alginate. Microparticles thus obtained are further coated with various enteric polymers at different coating thickness to control the release. Microparticles are evaluated for encapsulation efficiency, drug loading and in vitro drug release. Roentgenographic Studies was conducted in rabbits with BaSO 4 tagged formulation. Optimized formulation was screened for antimalarial activity using P. berghei-infected mice survival test and % paracetemia inhibition, alone (three oral dose of 5mg/day) and in combination with arthemether (i.p. 500, 1000 and 1500µg). Curcumin-Zn(II) was estimated in serum after oral administration to rats by using spectroflurometry. Result: Microparticles coated with Cellulose acetate phthalate showed most satisfactory and controlled release with 479 min time for 60% drug release. X-ray images taken at different time intervals confirmed the retention of formulation in GI tract. Estimation of curcumin in serum by spectroflurometry showed that drug concentration is maintained in the blood for longer time with tmax of 6 hours. The survival time (40 days post treatment) of mice infected with P. berghei was compared to survival after treatment with either Curcumin-Zn(II) microparticles artemether combination, curcumin-Zn complex and artemether. Oral administration of Curcumin-Zn(II)-artemether prolonged the survival of P.berghei-infected mice. All the mice treated with Curcumin-Zn(II) microparticles (5mg/day) artemether (1000µg) survived for more than 40 days and recovered with no detectable parasitemia. Administration of Curcumin-Zn(II) artemether combination reduced the parasitemia in mice by more than 90% compared to that in control mice for the first 3 days after treatment. Conclusion: Antimalarial activity of the curcumin Zn-artemether combination was more pronounced than mono therapy. A single dose of 1000µg of artemether in curcumin-Zn combination gives complete protection in P. berghei-infected mice. This may reduce the chances of drug resistance in malaria management.

Keywords: formulation, microparticulate drug delivery, antimalarial, pharmaceutics

Procedia PDF Downloads 389

Authors: Milica Karadzic, Lidija Jevric, Sanja Podunavac-Kuzmanovic, Strahinja Kovacevic, Anamarija Mandic, Katarina Penov Gasi, Marija Sakac, Aleksandar Okljesa, Andrea Nikolic

Abstract:

The present paper deals with chromatographic lipophilicity prediction of newly synthesized steroid derivatives. The prediction was achieved using in silico generated molecular descriptors and quantitative structure-retention relationship (QSRR) methodology with the artificial neural networks (ANN) approach. Chromatographic lipophilicity of the investigated compounds was expressed as retention factor value logk. For QSRR modeling, a feedforward back-propagation ANN with gradient descent learning algorithm was applied. Using the novel sum of ranking differences (SRD) method generated ANN models were ranked. The aim was to distinguish the most consistent QSRR model that can be found, and similarity or dissimilarity between the models that could be noticed. In this study, SRD was performed with average values of retention factor value logk as reference values. An excellent correlation between experimentally observed retention factor value logk and values predicted by the ANN was obtained with a correlation coefficient higher than 0.9890. Statistical results show that the established ANN models can be applied for required purpose. This article is based upon work from COST Action (TD1305), supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).

Keywords: artificial neural networks, liquid chromatography, molecular descriptors, steroids, sum of ranking differences

Procedia PDF Downloads 315

Authors: Houria Rezala, Jose Luis Valverde, Amaya Romero, Alessandra Molinari, Andrea Maldotti

Abstract:

A pillared montmorillonite containing iron doped titania (Fe/Ti-PILC) has been prepared from a natural clay. This material has been characterized by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption, temperature programmed desorption of ammonia, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, atomic absorption, and diffuse reflectance UV-VIS spectroscopy. The layer structure of Fe/Ti-PILC resulted to be ordered with an insertion of pillars, which caused a slight increase in the basal spacing of the clay. Its specific surface area was about three times larger than that of the parent Na-montmorillonite due principally to the creation of a remarkable microporous network. The doped material was a robust photocatalyst able to oxidize liquid alkyl aromatics to the corresponding carbonylic derivatives, using O2 as the oxidizing species, at mild pressure and temperature conditions. Accumulation of valuable carbonylic derivatives was possible since their over-oxidation to carbon dioxide was negligible. Fe/Ti-PILC was able to discriminate between toluene and cyclohexane in favor of the aromatic compound with an efficiency that is about three times higher than that of titanium pillared clays (Ti-PILC). It is likely that the addition of iron favored the formation of new acid sites able to interact with the aromatic substrate. Iron doping caused a significant TiO2 visible light-induced activity (wavelength > 400 nm) with only minor negative effects on its performance under UV-light irradiation (wavelength > 290 nm).

Keywords: alkyl aromatics oxidation, heterogeneous photocatalysis, iron doping, pillared clays

Procedia PDF Downloads 443

Authors: Brayan Daniel Riascos Arteaga, Carlos Costa Perez

Abstract:

Landfill leachate has an important fraction of humic substances, mainly humic acids (HAs), which often represent more than half value of COD, specially in liquids proceeded from composting processes of organic fraction of solid wastes. We propose in this article a new method of pH sensitive flocculation for COD and colour reduction in landfill leachate based on the chemical properties of HAs. Landfill leachate with a high content of humic acids can be efficiently treated by pH sensitive flocculation at pH 2.0, reducing COD value in 86.1% and colour in 84.7%. Mechanism of pH sensitive flocculation is based in protonation first of phenolic groups and later of carboxylic acid groups in the HAs molecules, resulting in a reduction of Zeta potential value. For pH over neutrality, carboxylic acid and phenolic groups are ionized and Zeta potential increases in absolute value, maintaining HAs in suspension as colloids and conducting flocculation to be obstructed. Ionized anionic groups (carboxylates) can interact electrostatically with cations abundant in leachate (site binding) aiding to maintain HAs in suspension. Simulation of this situation and ideal visualization of Zeta potential behavior is described in the paper and aggregation of molecules by H-bonds is proposed as the main step in separation of HAs from leachate and reduction of COD value in this complex liquid. CHNS analysis, FT-IR spectrometry and UV–VIS spectrophotometry show chemical elements content in the range of natural and commercial HAs, clear aromaticity and carboxylic acids and phenolic groups presence in the precipitate from landfill leachate

Keywords: landfill leachate, humic acids, COD, chemical treatment, flocculation

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Inci Develioglu, Hasan Firat Pulat

Abstract:

Sustainable development is one of the most important topics in today's world, and it is also an important research topic for geoenvironmental engineering. Dredging process is performed to expand the river and port channel, flood control and accessing harbors. Every year large amount of sediment are dredged for these purposes. Dredged marine soils can be reused as filling materials, road and foundation embankments, construction materials and wildlife habitat developments. In this study, geotechnical engineering properties and compressibility behavior of dredged soil obtained from the Izmir Bay were investigated. The samples with four different organic matter contents were obtained and particle size distributions, consistency limits, pH and specific gravity tests were performed. The consolidation tests were conducted to examine organic matter content (OMC) effects on compressibility behavior of dredged soil. This study has shown that the OMC has an important effect on the engineering properties of dredged soils. The liquid and plastic limits increased with increasing OMC. The lowest specific gravity belonged to sample which has the maximum OMC. The specific gravity values ranged between 2.76 and 2.52. The maximum void ratio difference belongs to sample with the highest OMC (De_11% = 0.38)_. As the organic matter content of the samples increases, the change in the void ratio has also increased. The compression index increases with increasing OMC.

Keywords: compressibility, consolidation, geotechnical properties, organic matter content, dredged soil

Procedia PDF Downloads 251

Authors: M. Agostini, A. Sonato, G. Greco, M. Travagliati, G. Ruffato, E. Gazzola, D. Liuni, F. Romanato, M. Cecchini

Abstract:

Since their first demonstration in the early 1980s, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors have been widely recognized as useful tools for detecting chemical and biological species, and the interest of the scientific community toward this technology has known a rapid growth in the past two decades owing to their high sensitivity, label-free operation and possibility of real-time detection. Recent works have suggested that a turning point in SPR sensor research would be the combination of SPR strategies with other technologies in order to reduce human handling of samples, improve integration and plasmonic sensitivity. In this light, microfluidics has been attracting growing interest. By properly designing microfluidic biochips it is possible to miniaturize the analyte-sensitive areas with an overall reduction of the chip dimension, reduce the liquid reagents and sample volume, improve automation, and increase the number of experiments in a single biochip by multiplexing approaches. However, as the fluidic channel dimensions approach the micron scale, laminar flows become dominant owing to the low Reynolds numbers that typically characterize microfluidics. In these environments mixing times are usually dominated by diffusion, which can be prohibitively long and lead to long-lasting biochemistry experiments. An elegant method to overcome these issues is to actively perturb the liquid laminar flow by exploiting surface acoustic waves (SAWs). With this work, we demonstrate a new approach for SPR biosensing based on the combination of microfluidics, SAW-induced mixing and the real-time phase-interrogation grating-coupling SPR technology. On a single lithium niobate (LN) substrate the nanostructured SPR sensing areas, interdigital transducer (IDT) for SAW generation and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic chambers were fabricated. SAWs, impinging on the microfluidic chamber, generate acoustic streaming inside the fluid, leading to chaotic advection and thus improved fluid mixing, whilst analytes binding detection is made via SPR method based on SPP excitation via gold metallic grating upon azimuthal orientation and phase interrogation. Our device has been fully characterized in order to separate for the very first time the unwanted SAW heating effect with respect to the fluid stirring inside the microchamber that affect the molecules binding dynamics. Avidin/biotin assay and thiol-polyethylene glycol (bPEG-SH) were exploited as model biological interaction and non-fouling layer respectively. Biosensing kinetics time reduction with SAW-enhanced mixing resulted in a ≈ 82% improvement for bPEG-SH adsorption onto gold and ≈ 24% for avidin/biotin binding—≈ 50% and 18% respectively compared to the heating only condition. These results demonstrate that our biochip can significantly reduce the duration of bioreactions that usually require long times (e.g., PEG-based sensing layer, low concentration analyte detection). The sensing architecture here proposed represents a new promising technology satisfying the major biosensing requirements: scalability and high throughput capabilities. The detection system size and biochip dimension could be further reduced and integrated; in addition, the possibility of reducing biological experiment duration via SAW-driven active mixing and developing multiplexing platforms for parallel real-time sensing could be easily combined. In general, the technology reported in this study can be straightforwardly adapted to a great number of biological system and sensing geometry.

Keywords: biosensor, microfluidics, surface acoustic wave, surface plasmon resonance

Procedia PDF Downloads 271

Authors: Phillip Minnaar, Neil Jolly, Louisa Beukes, Santiago Benito-Saez

Abstract:

Dovyalis caffra is a tree found on the African continent. Limited information exists on the effect of acetous fermentation on the phytochemicals of Kei-apple fruit. The phytochemical content of vinegars is derived from compounds present in the fruit the vinegar is made of. Kei-apple fruit juice was co-inoculated with Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Saccharomyces cerevisiae to induce alcoholic fermentation (AF). Acetous fermentation followed AF, using an acetic acid bacteria consortium as an inoculant. Juice had the lowest pH and highest total acidity (TA). The wine had the highest pH and vinegars lowest TA. Total soluble solids and L-malic acid decreased during AF and acetous fermentation. Volatile acidity concentration was not different among vinegars. Gallic, syringic, caffeic, p-coumaric, and chlorogenic acids increased during acetous fermentation, whereas ferulic, sinapic, and protocatechuic acids decreased. Chlorogenic acid was the most abundant phenolic acid in both wines and vinegars. It is evident from this investigation that Kei-apple vinegar is a source of plant-derived phenolics, which evolved through fermentation. However, the AAB selection showed minimal performance with respect to VA production. Acetic acid bacteria selection for acetous fermentation should be reconsidered, and the reasons for the decrease of certain phenolic acids during acetous fermentation needs to be investigated.

Keywords: acetic acid bacteria, acetous fermentation, liquid chromatography, phenolic acids

Procedia PDF Downloads 145

Authors: Tinomuvonga Manenji Zhou, Eubert Mahofa, Tatenda Crispen Madzokere

Abstract:

The nanostructured formulation can increase fertilizer efficacy and uptake ratio of the soil nutrients in agriculture production and save fertilizer resources. Controlled release modes have properties of both release rate and release pattern of nutrients, for fertilizers that are soluble in water might be correctly controlled. Nanoparticles can reduce the rate at which fertilizer nutrients are in the soil by leaching. A slow release NPK-hydroxyapatite nano hybrid fertilizer was synthesized using exfoliated bentonite as filler material. A simple, scalable method was used to synthesize the nitrogen-phosphorus hydroxyapatite nano fertilizer, where calcium hydroxide, phosphoric acid, and urea were used as precursor material, followed by the incorporation of potassium through a liquid grinding method. The product obtained was an NPK-hydroxyapatite nano hybrid fertilizer. A quantitative analysis was done to determine the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in the hybrid fertilizer. AAS was used to determine the percentage of potassium in the fertilizer. An accelerated water test was conducted to compare the nutrient release behavior of nutrients between the synthesized NPK-hydroxyapatite nano hybrid fertilizer and commercial NPK fertilizer. The rate of release of Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium was significantly lower in the synthesized NPK hydroxyapatite nano hybrid fertilizer than in the convectional NPK fertilizer. The synthesized fertilizer was characterized using XRD. NPK hydroxyapatite nano hybrid fertilizer encapsulated in exfoliated bentonite thus prepared can be used as an environmentally friendly fertilizer formulation which could be extended to solve one of the major problems faced in the global fertilization of low nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium use efficiency in agriculture.

Keywords: NPK hydroxyapatite nano hybrid fertilizer, bentonite, encapsulation, low release

Procedia PDF Downloads 90

Authors: Lourdita Llanto

Abstract:

This study described and assessed the implementation of artificial insemination (AI) for cattle and carabaos in the Bicol Region, Philippines: Albay, Sorsogon and Camarines Sur. Three hundred respondents were interviewed. Results were analyzed using frequency counts, means, percentages and chi-square test. Semen samples from different stations were analyzed for motility, viability and morphology. T-test was used in semen quality evaluation. Provincial AI coordinators (PAIC) were male, averaging 59 years old, married, had college education, served in government service for 34 years, but as PAIC for 5.7 years. All had other designations. Mean AI operation was 11.33 years with annual support from the local government unit of Php76,666.67. AI technicians were males, married, with college education, and trained on AI. Problems were on mobility; inadequate knowledge of farmers in animal raising and AI; and lack of liquid nitrogen and frozen semen supply. There was 2.95 municipalities and breedable cattle/carabaos of 3,091.25 per AI technician. Mean number of artificially inseminated animals per AI technician for 2011 was 28.57 heads for carabaos and 8.64 heads for cattle. There was very low participation rate among farmers. Carabaos were 6.52 years with parity 1.53. Cattle were 5.61 years, with parity of 1.51. Semen quality significantly (p ≤ 0.05) deteriorated in normal and live sperm with storage and handling at the provincial and field stations. Breed, AI technicians practices and AI operation significantly affected conception rate. Mean conception rate was 57.62%.

Keywords: artificial insemination, carabao, parity, mother tanks, frozen semen

Procedia PDF Downloads 433