Search results for: recalcitrant organic compounds

Authors: Ruqyyah Mushtaq, Chiacar Gamberdella, Roberta Miroglio, Fabio Novelli, Domenica Papro, M. Paturzo, A. Rubano, Angela Sardo

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Microalgae, particularly diatoms, are well suited for monitoring environmental health, especially in assessing the quality of seas and rivers in terms of organic matter, nutrients, and heavy metal pollution. They respond rapidly to changes in habitat quality. In this study, we focused on Skeletonema pseudocostatum, a unicellular alga that forms chains depending on environmental conditions. Specifically, we explored whether metal toxicants could affect the growth of these algal chains, potentially serving as an ecotoxicological indicator of heavy metal pollution. We utilized THz spectroscopy in conjunction with standard optical microscopy to observe the formation of these chains and their response to toxicants. Despite the strong absorption of terahertz radiation in water, we demonstrate that changes in water absorption in the terahertz range due to water-diatom interaction can provide insights into diatom chain length.

Keywords: THz-TDS spectroscopy, diatoms, marine ecotoxicology, marine pollution

Procedia PDF Downloads 36

Authors: Rini Jarial, Puranjan Mishra, Lakhveer Singh, Sveta Thakur, A. W. Zularisam, Mimi Sakinah

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The aim of the present study was to assess the biological properties of Camellia sinensis and to identify its functional compounds. The methanolic leaves-extract (MLE) of commercial green tea (Camellia sinensis) was assessed for anti-bacterial activities by measuring inhibition zones against a panel of pathogenic bacterial strains using agar diffusion method. The flavonoid (5.0 to 8.0 mg/ml) and protein content (10 to 15 mg/ml) of the MLE were recorded. MLE at a concentration of 25 μg/ml showed marked anti-bacterial activity against all bacterial strains (11-30 mm zone of inhibition) and was maximum against Staphylococcus aureus (30 mm). The MLE of Camellia sinensis had the best MIC values of 2.25 and 0.56 mg/ml against S. aureus and Enterobacter sp., respectively. The MLE also possessed good anti-lipolytic activity (65%) against a Porcine pancreatic lipase (PPL) and cholesterol oxidase inhibition (79%). The present study provided strong experimental evidences that the MLE of Camellia sinensis is not only a potent source of natural anti-oxidants and anti-bacterial activity but also possesses efficient cholesterol degradation and anti-lipolytic activities that might be beneficial in the body weight management.

Keywords: anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial activity, anti-lipolytic activity, Camellia sinensis, phyto-chemicals

Procedia PDF Downloads 297

Authors: Krystian Chachula, Robert Nowak

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Manufacturing home-made explosives and synthetic drugs is an increasing problem in Europe. To combat that, a data fusion system is proposed for the detection and localization of production sites in urban environments. The data consists of measurements of properties of wastewater performed by various sensors installed in a sewage network. A four-stage fusion strategy allows detecting sources of waste products from known chemical reactions. First, suspicious measurements are used to compute the amount and position of discharged compounds. Then, this information is propagated through the sewage network to account for missing sensors. The next step is clustering and the formation of tracks. Eventually, tracks are used to reconstruct discharge events. Sensor measurements are simulated by a subsystem based on real-world data. In this paper, different discharge scenarios are considered to show how the parameters of used algorithms affect the effectiveness of the proposed system. This research is a part of the SYSTEM project (SYnergy of integrated Sensors and Technologies for urban sEcured environMent).

Keywords: continuous monitoring, information fusion and sensors, internet of things, multisensor fusion

Procedia PDF Downloads 120

Authors: Ala’a H. Al-Muhtaseb, Farrukh Jamil, Lamya Al-Haj, Mohab Al-Hinai

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Bio-glycerol is considered as high boiling polar triol and immiscible with fossil fuel fractions due to which it is transformed into its respective ketals and acetals which help to improve the quality of diesel emitting less amount of aldehydes and carbon monoxide. Solketal visual appearance is transparent and it is odorless organic liquid used as fuel additive for diesel to improve its cold flow properties. Condensation of bio-glycerol with bio-acetone in presence of beta zeolite has been done for synthesizing solketal. It was observed that glycerol conversion and selectivity of solketal was largely effected by temperature, as it increases from 40 ºC to 60 ºC the conversion of glycerol rises from 80.04 % to 94.26 % and selectivity of solketal from 80.0 % to 94.21 % but further increase in temperature to 100 ºC glycerol conversion reduced to 93.06 % and solketal selectivity to 92.08 %. At the optimum conditions, the bio-glycerol conversion and solketal yield were about 94.26% and 94.21wt% respectively. This process offers an attractive route for converting bio-glycerol, the main by-product of biodiesel to solketal with bio-acetone; a value-added green product with potential industrial applications as a valuable green fuel additive or combustion promoter for gasoline/diesel engines.

Keywords: bio-acetone, bio-glycerol, acetylation, solketal

Procedia PDF Downloads 265

Authors: Pradthana Sianglam, Wittaya Ngeontae

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A new approach for the fabrication of cadmium ion (Cd2+) sensor is demonstrated. The detection principle is based on the in-situ generation of cadmium sulfide quantum dots (CdS QDs) in the presence of chiral thiol containing compound and detection by the circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD). Basically, the generation of CdS QDs can be done in the presence of Cd2+, sulfide ion and suitable capping compounds. In addition, the strong CD signal can be recorded if the generated QDs possess chiral property (from chiral capping molecule). Thus, the degree of CD signal change depends on the number of the generated CdS QDs which can be related to the concentration of Cd2+ (excess of other components). In this work, we use the mixture of cysteamine (Cys) and L-Penicillamine (LPA) as the capping molecules. The strong CD signal can be observed when the solution contains sodium sulfide, Cys, LPA, and Cd2+. Moreover, the CD signal is linearly related to the concentration of Cd2+. This approach shows excellence selectivity towards the detection of Cd2+ when comparing to other cation. The proposed CD sensor provides low limit detection limits around 70 µM and can be used with real water samples with satisfactory results.

Keywords: circular dichroism sensor, quantum dots, enaniomer, in-situ generation, chemical sensor, heavy metal ion

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: Thierry Pauporté, Sana Koussi, Fabrice Odobel

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The preparation of semiconductor oxide layers and structures by soft techniques is an important field of research. Higher performances are expected from the optimizing of the oxide films and then use of new methods of preparation for a better control of their chemical, morphological, electrical and optical properties. We present the preparation of NiO by electrodeposition from pure polar aprotic medium and mixtures with water. The effect of the solvent, of the electrochemical deposition parameters and post-deposition annealing treatment on the structural, morphological and optical properties of the films is investigated. We remarkably show that the solvent is inserted in the deposited layer and act as a blowing agent, giving rise to mesoporous films after elimination by thermal annealing. These layers of p-type oxide have been successfully used, after sensitization by a dye, in p-type dye-sensitized solar cells. The effects of the solvent on the layer properties and the application of these layers in p-type dye-sensitized solar cells are described.

Keywords: NiO, layer, p-type sensitized solar cells, electrodeposition

Procedia PDF Downloads 298

Authors: Somdutt Mujwar, Kamal Raj Pardasani

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Cholera pandemics are caused by facultative pathogenic Vibrio cholera bacteria persisting in the countries having warmer climatic conditions as well as the presence of large water bodies with huge amount of organic matter, it is responsible for the millions of deaths annually. Presently the available therapy for cholera is Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) with an antibiotic drug. Excessive utilization of life saving antibiotics drugs leads to the development of resistance by the infectious micro-organism against the antibiotic drugs resulting in loss of effectiveness of these drugs. Also, many side effects are also associated with the use of these antibiotic drugs. This riboswitch is explored as an alternative drug target for Vibrio cholera bacteria to overcome the problem of drug resistance as well as side effects associated with the antibiotics drugs. The bacterial riboswitch is virtually screened with 24407 legends to get possible drug candidates. The 10 ligands showing best binding with the riboswitch are selected to design a pharmacophore, which can be utilized to design lead molecules by using the phenomenon of bioisosterism.

Keywords: cholera, drug design, ligand, riboswitch, pharmacophore

Procedia PDF Downloads 356

Authors: G. Blázquez, A. Gálvez-Pérez, M. Calero, I. Iáñez-Rodríguez, M. A. Martín-Lara, A. Pérez

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The production of olive oil is considered as one of the most important agri-food industries. However, some of the by-products generated in the process are potential pollutants and cause environmental problems. Consequently, the management of these by-products is currently considered as a challenge for the olive oil industry. In this context, several technologies have been developed and tested. In this sense, the autohydrolysis of these by-products could be considered as a promising technique. Therefore, this study focused on autohydrolysis treatments of a solid residue from the olive oil industry denominated olive cake. This one comes from the olive pomace extraction with hexane. Firstly, a water washing was carried out to eliminate the water soluble compounds. Then, an experimental design was developed for the autohydrolysis experiments carried out in the hydrothermal pressure reactor. The studied variables were temperature (30, 60 and 90 ºC) and time (30, 60, 90 min). On the other hand, aliquots of liquid obtained fractions were analysed by HPLC to determine the fructose and sucrose contents present in the liquid fraction. Finally, the obtained results of sugars contents and the yields of the different experiments were fitted to a neuro-fuzzy and to a polynomial model.

Keywords: ANFIS, olive cake, polyols, saccharides

Procedia PDF Downloads 158

Authors: Nisha Prakash, Kritika Anand, Arun Barvat, Prabir Pal, Sonachand Adhikari, Suraj P. Khanna

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Group-III nitride semiconductors (GaN, AlN, InN and their ternary and quaternary compounds) have attracted a great deal of attention for the development of high-performance Ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors. Any midgap defect states in the epitaxial grown film have a direct influence on the photodetectors responsivity. The proportion of the midgap defect states can be controlled by the growth parameters. To study this we have grown high quality epitaxial GaN films on MOCVD- grown GaN template using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE) with different growth parameters. Optical and electrical properties of the films were characterized by room temperature photoluminescence and photoconductivity measurements, respectively. The observed persistent photoconductivity behaviour is proportional to the yellow luminescence (YL) and the absolute responsivity has been found to decrease with decreasing YL. The results will be discussed in more detail later.

Keywords: gallium nitride, plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy, photoluminescence, photoconductivity, persistent photoconductivity, yellow luminescence

Procedia PDF Downloads 325

Authors: B. Voucko, M. Benkovic, N. Cukelj, S. Drakula, D. Novotni, S. Balbino, D. Curic

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Oxidative stress is considered as one of the causes leading to metabolic disorders in humans. Therefore, the ability of antioxidants to inhibit free radical production is their primary role in the human organism. Antioxidants originating from cereals, especially flavonoids and polyphenols, are mostly bound and indigestible. Micronization damages the cell wall which consecutively results in bioactive material to be more accessible in vivo. In order to ensure complete fragmentation, micronization is often combined with high temperatures (e.g., for bran 200°C) which can lead to degradation of bioactive compounds. The innovative non-thermal technology of cryo-milling is an ultra-fine micronization method that uses liquid nitrogen (LN2) at a temperature of 195°C to freeze and cool the sample during milling. Freezing at such low temperatures causes the material to become brittle which ensures the generation of fine particles while preserving the bioactive content of the material. The aim of this research was to determine if production of ultra-fine material with cryo-milling will result in the augmentation of available bioactive compounds of buckwheat and pumpkin seed cake. For that reason, buckwheat and pumpkin seed cake were ground in a ball mill (CryoMill, Retch, Germany) with and without the use of LN2 for 8 minutes, in a 50 mL stainless steel jar containing one grinding ball (Ø 25 mm) at an oscillation frequency of 30 Hz. The cryo-milled samples were cooled with LN2 for 2 minutes prior to milling, followed by the first cycle of milling (4 minutes), intermediary cooling (2 minutes), and finally the second cycle of milling (further 4 minutes). A continuous process of milling was applied to the samples ground without freezing with LN2. Particle size distribution was determined using the Scirocco 2000 dry dispersion unit (Malvern Instruments, UK). Antioxidant activity was determined by 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) test and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay, while the total phenol content was determined using the Folin Ciocalteu method, using the ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer (Specord 50 Plus, Germany). The content of the free phenolic acids, rutin in buckwheat, tyrosol in pumpkin seed cake, was determined with an HPLC-PDA method (Agilent 1200 series, Germany). Cryo-milling resulted in 11 times smaller size of buckwheat particles, and 3 times smaller size of pumpkin seed particles than milling without the use of LN2, but also, a lower uniformity of the particle size distribution. Lack of freezing during milling of pumpkin seed cake caused a formation of agglomerates due to its high-fat content (21 %). Cryo-milling caused augmentation of buckwheat flour antioxidant activity measured by DPPH test (23,9%) and an increase in available rutin content (14,5%). Also, it resulted in an augmentation of the total phenol content (36,9%) and available tyrosol content (12,5%) of pumpkin seed cake. Antioxidant activity measured with the FRAP test, as well as the content of phenolic acids remained unchanged independent of the milling process. The results of this study showed the potential of cryo-milling for complete raw material utilization in the food industry, as well as a tool for extraction of aimed bioactive components.

Keywords: bioactive, ball-mill, buckwheat, cryo-milling, pumpkin seed cake

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Farrukh Jamil, Ala'a H. Al-Muhtaseb, Lamya Al-Haj, Mohab A. Al-Hinai

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Glycerol is considered as high boiling polar triol and immiscible with fossil fuel fractions due to which it is transformed into its respective ketals and acetals which help to improve the quality of diesel emitting less amount of aldehydes and carbon monoxide. Solketal visual appearance is transparent, and it is odorless organic liquid used as a fuel additive for diesel to improve its cold flow properties. Condensation of bio-glycerol with bio-acetone in presence of beta zeolite has been done for synthesizing solketal. It was observed that glycerol conversion and selectivity of solketal was largely effected by temperature, as it increases from 40 ºC to 60 ºC the conversion of glycerol rises from 80.04 % to 94.26 % and selectivity of solketal from 80.0 % to 94.21 % but further increase in temperature to 100 ºC glycerol conversion reduced to 93.06 % and solketal selectivity to 92.08 %. At the optimum conditions, the bio-glycerol conversion and solketal yield were about 94.26% and 94.21wt% respectively. This process offers an attractive route for converting bio-glycerol, the main by-product of biodiesel to solketal with bio-acetone; a value-added green product with potential industrial applications as a valuable green fuel additive or combustion promoter for gasoline/diesel engines.

Keywords: bio-glycerol, catalyst, green additive, biomass

Procedia PDF Downloads 245

Authors: Mahboobeh Mohadeszadeh, Behzad Padidaran Moghaddam

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In order to measuring dinuclear molybdenum complexes formation constant First,the reactants and the products were optimized separately and then, their frequencies were measured. In next level , with using Hartree-fock (HF) and density functional theory (DFT) methods ,Theoretical studies on the geometrical parameters, electronic properties and vibrational frequencies of dinuclear molybdenum complexes [C40H44Mo2N2O20] were investigated . These calculations were performed with the B3LYP, BPV86, B3PW91 and HF theoretical method using the LANL2DZ (for Mo’s) + 6-311G (for others) basis sets. To estimate the error rate between theoretical data and experimental data, RSquare , SError and RMS values that according with the theoretical and experimental parameters found out DFT methods has more integration with experimental data compare to HF methods. In addition, through electron specification of compounds, the percentage of atomic orbital’s attendance in making molecular orbital’s, atoms electrical charge, the sustainable energy resulting and also HOMO and LUMO orbital’s energy achieved.

Keywords: geometrical parameters, hydrogen bonding, electronic properties, vibrational frequencies

Procedia PDF Downloads 280

Authors: Ahmet Aslan, Safiye Meric Acikel, Raziye Hilal Senay, Sinan Akgol

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Different chemical substances and too much water are used during leather production. Therefore, the waste water load of the leather industry is harmful to the environment. One of the pollution sources is the production of leather coloring process is a further need to focus on the removal of dye waste waters subject. These water-soluble dyes have a small organic molecular size. Besides the environmental hazards, these dyes cannot be underestimated, they also have harmful effects on human health. In this study, poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate-glycidyl methacrylate) p(HEMA-GMA) hydrogel membranes were synthesized by UV polymerization method. The hydrogel synthesized is modified with imino diacetic acid (IDA) and then chelated with Cr (III) ions. The chelating capacity of the membranes was determined according to the time, pH and concentration parameters. Dynamic swelling test, elemental analysis, ninhydrin analysis and adsorption, desorption and reusability performances of membranes were also determined.

Keywords: adsorption, dye, leather, p(HEMA-GMA)-IDA

Procedia PDF Downloads 189

Authors: Vipresh Mehta , Aman Abhishek, Jatin Batra, Gautam Iyer

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Huge amount of solar radiation reaching the earth can be harnessed to provide electricity through Photo voltaic (PV) panels. The solar PV is an exciting technology but suffers from low efficiency. A study on low efficiency in multi MW solar power plants reveals that the electric yield of the PV modules is reduced due to reflection of the irradiation from the sun and when a module’s temperature is elevated, as there is decrease in the voltage and efficiency. We intend to alter the structure of the PV system, We also intend to improve the efficiency of the Solar Photo Voltaic Panels by active cooling to reduce the temperature losses considerably and decrease reflection losses to some extent. Reflectors/concentrators and anti-reflecting coatings are also used to intensify the amount of output produced from the system. Apart from this, transformer-less Grid-tied Inverter. And also, a T-LCL immitance circuit is used to reduce the harmonics and produce a constant output from the entire system.

Keywords: PV panels, efficiency improvement, active cooling, quantum dots, organic-inorganic hybrid 3D panel, ground water tunneling

Procedia PDF Downloads 774

Authors: Khaled M. Mohamed

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Background: P-Phenylenediamine (PPD) is used in the manufacture of hair dyes and skin decoration. In some developing countries, suicidal, homicidal and accidental cases by PPD were recorded. In this work, a sensitive LC-MS/MS method for determination of PPD and its metabolites N-acetyl-p-phenylenediamine (MAPPD) and N,N-diacetyl-p-phenylenediamine (DAPPD) in human urine has been developed and validated. Methods: PPD, MAPPD and DAPPD were extracted from urine by methylene chloride at alkaline pH. Acetanilide was used as internal standard (IS). The analytes and IS were separated on an Eclipse XDB- C18 column (150 X 4.6 mm, 5 µm) using a mobile phase of acetonitrile-1% formic acid in gradient elution. Detection was performed by LC-MS/MS using electrospray positive ionization under multiple reaction-monitoring mode. The transition ions m/z 109 → 92, m/z 151 → 92, m/z 193 → 92, and m/z 136 → 77 were selected for the quantification of PPD, MAPPD, DAPPD, and IS, respectively. Results: Calibration curves were linear in the range 10–2000 ng/mL for all analytes. The mean recoveries for PPD, MAPPD and DAPPD were 57.62, 74.19 and 50.99%, respectively. Intra-assay and inter-assay imprecisions were within 1.58–9.52% and 5.43–9.45% respectively for PPD, MAPPD and DAPPD. Inter-assay accuracies were within -7.43 and 7.36 for all compounds. PPD, MAPPD and DAPPD were stable in urine at –20 degrees for 24 hours. Conclusions: The method was successfully applied to the analysis of PPD, MAPPD and DAPPD in urine samples collected from suicidal cases.

Keywords: p-Phenylenediamine, metabolites, urine, LC-MS/MS, validation

Procedia PDF Downloads 358

Authors: Emilia Olivos, R. Arroyave, A. Vargas-Calderon, J. E. Dominguez-Herrera

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More efficient cooling systems are needed to reduce building energy consumption and environmental impact. At present researchers focus mainly on environmentally-friendly magnetic materials and the potential application in cooling devices. The magnetic materials presented in this project belong to a group known as Heusler alloys. These compounds are characterized by a strong coupling between their structure and magnetic properties. Usually, a change in one of them can alter the other, which implies changes in other electronic or structural properties, such as, shape magnetic memory response or the magnetocaloric effect. Those properties and its dependence with external fields make these materials interesting, both from a fundamental point of view, as well as on their different possible applications. In this work, first principles and Monte Carlo simulations have been used to calculate exchange couplings and magnetic properties as a function of an applied magnetic field on Heusler alloys. As a result, we found a large dependence of the magnetic susceptibility, entropy and heat capacity, indicating that the magnetic field can be used in experiments to trigger particular magnetic properties in materials, which are necessary to develop solid-state refrigeration devices.

Keywords: ferromagnetic materials, magnetocaloric effect, materials design, solid state refrigeration

Procedia PDF Downloads 220

Authors: A. Iqbal Banauaji, Muchamad Sholikun

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Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolism disorder that tends to increase its prevalence in the world, including in Indonesia. The development of DM type 2 can cause oxidative stress characterized by an imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants in the body Increased oxidative stress causes type 2 diabetes mellitus to require intake of exogenous antioxidants in large quantities to inhibit oxidative damage in the body. Bran can be defined as a functional food because it consists of 11.39% fiberand 28.7% antioxidants and the purple yam consists of anthocyanin which functions as an antioxidant. With abundant amount and low price, purple yam and bran can be used for analog rice as the effort to diversify functional food. The antioxidant’s activity of analog rice from purple yam and bran which is measured by using DPPH’s method is 12,963%. The rough fiber’s level on the analog rice from purple yam is 2.985%. The water amount of analog rice from purple yam and bran is 8.726%. Analog rice from purple yam and bran has the similar texture as the usual rice, tasted slightly sweet, light purple colored, and smelled like bran.

Keywords: antioxidant, analog rice, functional food, diabetes mellitus

Procedia PDF Downloads 195

Authors: Zeynep R. Ege, Aydin Akan, Faik N. Oktar, Betul Karademir, Oguzhan Gunduz

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Early detection of cancer could save human life and quality in insidious cases by advanced biomedical imaging techniques. Designing targeted detection system is necessary in order to protect of healthy cells. Electrospun nanofibers are efficient and targetable nanocarriers which have important properties such as nanometric diameter, mechanical properties, elasticity, porosity and surface area to volume ratio. In the present study, indocyanine green (ICG) organic dye was stabilized and encapsulated in polymer matrix which polyethylene oxide (PEO) and chitosan (CHI) multilayer nanofibers via co-axial electrospinning method at one step. The co-axial electrospun nanofibers were characterized as morphological (SEM), molecular (FT-IR), and entrapment efficiency of Indocyanine Green (ICG) (confocal imaging). Controlled release profile of PEO/CHI/ICG nanofiber was also evaluated up to 40 hours.

Keywords: chitosan, coaxial electrospinning, controlled releasing, drug delivery, indocyanine green, polyethylene oxide

Procedia PDF Downloads 172

Authors: A. Benhadji, R. Maachi

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Environmental protection has become a major economic development issues. Indeed, the environment has become both market growth factor and element of competition. It is now an integral part of all industrial strategies. Ecosystem protection is based on the reduction of the pollution load in the treatment of liquid waste. The physicochemical techniques are commonly used which a transfer of pollution is generally found. Alternative to physicochemical methods is the use of microorganisms for cleaning up the waste waters. The objective of this research is the evaluation of the effects of exogenous added Pseudomonas strains on pollutants biodegradation. The influence of the critical parameters such as inoculums concentration and duration treatment are studied. The results show that Pseudomonas putida is found to give a maximum reduction in chemical organic demand (COD) in 4 days of incubation. However, toward to protect biological pollution of environment, the treatment is achieved by electro coagulation process using aluminium electrodes. The results indicate that this process allows disinfecting the water and improving the electro coagulated sludge quality.

Keywords: tannery, pseudomonas, biological treatment, electrocoagulation process, sludge quality

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Authors: Mona Hajirasouli

Abstract:

Abstract: introduction: Antimicrobial compounds are important in the first line of the host defense system of many animal species. Material and methods: In the present study antibacterial activity of crude and proteins precipitate of hemolymph and crude hepatopancreas extracts from Portunus segnis and Grapsus albolineatus against a range of 6 different bacterial strains evaluated. Amoxicillin as a positive control were also used. Results: Maximum activity (15.9 mm) was recorded in male haemolymph of p.segnis against Entrobacter and minimum activity (7 mm) was recorded against Serratia marcescens, Enterobacter sp. and Proteus mirabilis from different extracts of Grapsus albolineatus. Data were analyzed using independent-t in SPSS version 16, and results indicate that there were not any significant differences between hemolymph and hepatopancreas extracts of 2 species. Discussion: Antimicrobial activity has been reported earlier in the hemolymph of some brachyuran crabs such as: blue crab Callinectes sapidus, mud crab Scylla serrata, Ocypode macrocera and Carcinus maenas. This study shows that hemolymph and hepatopancreas of Portunus segnis and Grapsus albolineatus may potential antibiotics.

Keywords: brachyuran, Portunus segnis, Grapsus albolineatus, hemolymph, hepatopancreas, antibacterial

Procedia PDF Downloads 174

Authors: Susmita Sharma, Pankaj Pathak

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Biosolids are by-products of municipal and industrial wastewater treatment process. The generation of the biosolids is increasing at an alarming rate due to the implementation of strict environmental legislation to improve the quality of discharges from wastewater treatment plant. As such, proper management and safe disposal of sewage sludge have become a worldwide topic of research. Biosolids, rich in organic matter and essential micro and macronutrients; can be used as a soil conditioner, to cut fertilizer costs and create favorable conditions for vegetation. However, it also contains pathogens and heavy metals which are undesirable as they are harmful to both humans and the environment. Therefore, for safe utilization of biosolids for land application purposes, categorization of the contaminant and pathogen is mandatory. In this context, biosolids collected from a wastewater treatment plant in Maharashtra are utilized to determine its physical, chemical and microbiological attributes. This study would ascertain, if the use of these materials from the specific site, are suitable for agriculture. Further, efforts have also been made to present the internationally acceptable legal standards and guidelines for biosolids management or application.

Keywords: biosolids, sewage, heavy metal, sustainable agriculture

Procedia PDF Downloads 332

Authors: Semra Çoruh, Yusuf Tibet

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Dyes are widely used in industries such as textiles, paper, paints, leather, rubber, plastics, cosmetics, food, and drug etc, to color their products. Due to their chemical structures, dyes are resistant to fading on exposure to light, water and many chemicals and, therefore, are difficult to be decolorized once released into the aquatic environment. Many of the organic dyes are hazardous and may affect aquatic life and even the food chain. This study deals with the adsorption of malachite green dye onto fly ash and red mud. The effects of experimental factors (adsorbent dosage, initial concentration, pH and temperature) on the adsorption process were examined by using 24 full factorial design. The results were statistically analyzed by using the student’s t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and an F-test to define important experimental factors and their levels. A regression model that considers the significant main and interaction effects was suggested. The results showed that initial dye concentration an pH is the most significant factor that affects the removal of malachite green.

Keywords: malachite green, adsorption, red mud, fly ash, full factorial design

Procedia PDF Downloads 478

Authors: Abdallah Habbab, Khaled Sekkoum, Nasser Belboukhari

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Objective: This study is designed to examine the chemical composition, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of the essential oil extracted from leaves of Vitex agnus-castus. Methods: The essential oils of dry leaves of Vitex agnus-castus L. were obtained by hydro-distillation, afforded oil in the yield of 5.5% and their volatile constituents were identified by GC/MS. Antioxidant activity of the sample was determined by test system DPPH. Antifungal activity was tested against three fungal strains (Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium escpansum and Aspergillus ochraceus) by direct contact method. Results: Forty-three compounds were identified, representing 98.02% of the oil. Major components of the oil were 1,8-cineole (18.27 %), caryophyllene (8.60 %), N-(M-fluorophenyl)-maleimide (6.30 %), (+)-epi-bicyclosesquiphellandrene (6.00 %), terpinen-4-ol (5.57 %), pyrrolo (3,2,1-jk) carbazole (5.43 %), caryophyllene oxide (4.79 %), and phenol (4.09 %). Conclusion: The chemical constituents in the essential oil from the locally grown Vitex agnus-castus were identified. Therefore, the essential oil of Vitex agnus-castus is an active candidate which would be used as antioxidant, or antifungal agent in new drugs preparation for therapy of diseases.

Keywords: Vitex agnus-castus, essential oil, GC/MS, DPPH, 1, 8-cineole

Procedia PDF Downloads 467

Authors: Iltaf Khan, Munzir H. Suliman, Muhammad Usman

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The rapid growth of modern industries has led to increased energy demand and worsened fossil fuel depletion, resulting in global warming, while organic pollutants pose significant threats to aquatic environments due to their stability, insolubleness, and non-biodegradability. So, scientists are investigating high-performance materials to resolve these issues. In this study, we prepared LaFeO₃ nanosheets (LFONS) employing a solvothermal method via a soft template such as polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). The LFONS have good performance regarding surface area and charge separation as compared to LaFeO₃ nanoparticles (LFONP). To improve the efficiency of LFONS, it was further modified with Ag and ZIF-67 and utilized for CO₂ conversion. Herein, the results confirm that Ag-doped and ZIF-67 coupled LFONS (ZIF-67/Ag-LFONS) exhibit superior performance compared to pristine LFONP. In addition, the stability tests confirm that our optimal sample is the most active and stable one among various nanocomposites. Ultimately, our studies will open a new pave for cost-effective, eco-friendly, and electroactive nanomaterials for CO₂ conversion.

Keywords: LaFeO₃ nanosheets, Ag incorporation, MOFs coupling, CO₂ conversion

Procedia PDF Downloads 56

Authors: Dandan Zhang

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Elucidating the original relationship between historical materialism and German historicism from the internal dimension of intellectual history has important theoretical significance for deep understanding and interpretation of the essential characteristics of historical materialism. German historicism contains the triple deduction of scientific historicism, historical relativism, and vitalism. The historicism of science argues for its historical status as science in the name of objective, systematic, and typical research methods, and procedural principles. Historical relativism places history under the specific historical background to study epistemological and methodological issues about the nature of human beings and the value of history. German historicism walks up to natural and cultural relativism on the basis of romanticism. Vitalism emphasizes intuition, will, and experience of life from individuals and places history on the ontology of organic life and vitality. Historical materialism and German historicism have a theoretical relationship in the genetic field. The former criticizes and surpasses the latter. Meanwhile, in the evolution of German historicism, the differences between historical materialism with it are essential features of historical science.

Keywords: German historicism, scientific historicism, historical relativism, vitalism, historical materialism

Procedia PDF Downloads 52

Authors: Sylvana A. Vega, Cesar E. Huilinir, Carlos J. Gonzalez

Abstract:

Co-digestion in anaerobic biodigesters is a technology improving hydrolysis by increasing methane generation. In the present study, the dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is numerically analyzed using Ansys Fluent software for agitation in a full-scale Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR) biodigester during the co-digestion process. For this, a rheological study of the substrate is carried out, establishing rotation speeds of the stirrers depending on the microbial activity and energy ranges. The substrate is organic waste from industrial sources of sanitary water, butcher, fishmonger, and dairy. Once the rheological behavior curves have been obtained, it is obtained that it is a non-Newtonian fluid of the pseudoplastic type, with a solids rate of 12%. In the simulation, the rheological results of the fluid are considered, and the full-scale CSTR biodigester is modeled. It was coupling the second-order continuity differential equations, the three-dimensional Navier Stokes, the power-law model for non-Newtonian fluids, and three turbulence models: k-ε RNG, k-ε Realizable, and RMS (Reynolds Stress Model), for a 45° tilt vane impeller. It is simulated for three minutes since it is desired to study an intermittent mixture with a saving benefit of energy consumed. The results show that the absolute errors of the power number associated with the k-ε RNG, k-ε Realizable, and RMS models were 7.62%, 1.85%, and 5.05%, respectively, the numbers of power obtained from the analytical-experimental equation of Nagata. The results of the generalized Reynolds number show that the fluid dynamics have a transition-turbulent flow regime. Concerning the Froude number, the result indicates there is no need to implement baffles in the biodigester design, and the power number provides a steady trend close to 1.5. It is observed that the levels of design speeds within the biodigester are approximately 0.1 m/s, which are speeds suitable for the microbial community, where they can coexist and feed on the substrate in co-digestion. It is concluded that the model that more accurately predicts the behavior of fluid dynamics within the reactor is the k-ε Realizable model. The flow paths obtained are consistent with what is stated in the referenced literature, where the 45° inclination PBT impeller is the right type of agitator to keep particles in suspension and, in turn, increase the dispersion of gas in the liquid phase. If a 24/7 complete mix is considered under stirred agitation, with a plant factor of 80%, 51,840 kWh/year are estimated. On the contrary, if intermittent agitations of 3 min every 15 min are used under the same design conditions, reduce almost 80% of energy costs. It is a feasible solution to predict the energy expenditure of an anaerobic biodigester CSTR. It is recommended to use high mixing intensities, at the beginning and end of the joint phase acetogenesis/methanogenesis. This high intensity of mixing, in the beginning, produces the activation of the bacteria, and once reaching the end of the Hydraulic Retention Time period, it produces another increase in the mixing agitations, favoring the final dispersion of the biogas that may be trapped in the biodigester bottom.

Keywords: anaerobic co-digestion, computational fluid dynamics, CFD, net power, organic waste

Procedia PDF Downloads 120

Authors: Radhika S. Oke, Rebecca S. Thombre

Abstract:

Medicinal plants and herbs have a great history of their utility as remedy for treatment of variety of ailments. Secondary metabolites present in these plants are responsible for their medicinal activity. In the present investigation, phytochemical screening of aqueous and alcoholic leaf extract of Anethum graveolens L. was performed. Total phenolic content and total antioxidant activity of the extracts was quantitatively estimated by Folin-Ciocalteau method and DPPH (1, 1-Diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl) method respectively. Qualitative tests suggested that Alkaloids, tannins and phenolic compounds were present in all the extracts of the plant. Aqueous extracts was found to have more phytochemicals as compared to alcoholic extracts. Extract of Anethum graveolens L. was found to contain good amount phenolics and exhibited antioxidant activity. The extracts also demonstrated potent antimicrobial activity against selected gram positive and negative bacteria. The study revealed the potential application of Anethum graveolens L. (Dill) in medicine and health.

Keywords: Anethum graveolens L., antioxidant, antimicrobial activity, medicine and health

Procedia PDF Downloads 511

Authors: E. G. Zaki, M. A. Migahed, A. M. Al-Sabagh, E. A. Khamis

Abstract:

Inhibition effect of four novel nonionic surfactants based on sulphonamide, of linear alkyl benzene sulphonic acid (LABS), was reacted with 1 mole triethylenetetramine, tetraethylenepentamine then Ethoxylation of amide X 65 type carbon steel in oil wells formation water under H2S environment was investigated by electrochemical measurements. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersion X-ray (EDX) were used to characterize the steel surface. The results showed that these surfactants act as a corrosion inhibitor in and their inhibition efficiencies depend on the ethylene oxide content in the system. The obtained results showed that the percentage inhibition efficiency (η%) was increased by increasing the inhibitor concentration until the critical micelle concentration (CMC) reached The quantum chemistry calculations were carried out to study the molecular geometry and electronic structure of obtained derivatives. The energy gap between the highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital has been calculated using the theoretical computations to reflect the chemical reactivity and kinetic stability of compounds.

Keywords: corrosion, surfactants, steel surface, quantum

Procedia PDF Downloads 381

Authors: M. A. Ferhat, M. N. Boukhatem, F. Chemat

Abstract:

Microwave Clevenger or microwave accelerated distillation (MAD) is a combination of microwave heating and distillation, performed at atmospheric pressure without added any solvent or water. Isolation and concentration of volatile compounds are performed by a single stage. MAD extraction of orange essential oil was studied using fresh orange peel from Valencia late cultivar oranges as the raw material. MAD has been compared with a conventional technique, which used a Clevenger apparatus with hydro-distillation (HD). MAD and HD were compared in term of extraction time, yields, chemical composition and quality of the essential oil, efficiency and costs of the process. Extraction of essential oils from orange peels with MAD was better in terms of energy saving, extraction time (30 min versus 3 h), oxygenated fraction (11.7% versus 7.9%), product yield (0.42% versus 0.39%) and product quality. Orange peels treated by MAD and HD were observed by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). Micrographs provide evidence of more rapid opening of essential oil glands treated by MAD, in contrast to conventional hydro-distillation.

Keywords: clevenger, microwave, extraction; hydro-distillation, essential oil, orange peel

Procedia PDF Downloads 352

Authors: Seyed Mehdi Razavi Khosroshahi

Abstract:

In recent years a great deal of efforts has been made to find natural derivative compounds to replace it's with synthetic drugs, herbicides or pesticides for management of human health and agroecosystem programs. This process can lead to a reduction in environmental harmful effects of synthetic chemicals. Xanthotoxin, as a furanocoumarin compound, found in some genera of the Apiaceae family of plants. The current work focuses on some xanthotoxin cytotoxicity and antipathogenic activities. The results indicated that xanthotoxin showed strong cytotoxic effects against LNCaP cell line with the IC₅₀ value of 0.207 mg/ml in a dose-dependent manner. After treatments of the cell line with 0.1 mg/ml of the compound, the viability of the cells was reached to zero. The current study revealed that xanthotoxin displayed strong antifungal activity against human or plant pathogen fungi, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspegillusn flavus and Fusarum graminearum with minimum inhibitory concentration values of 52-68 µg/ml. The compound exhibited antibacterial effects on some Erwinia and Xanthomonas species of bacteria, as well

Keywords: Xanthomonas, cytotoxic, antipathogen, LNCaP, Aspergillus fumigatus, spegillusn flavus

Procedia PDF Downloads 143