Search results for: Biological nutrient removal
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1061

Search results for: Biological nutrient removal

641 Recovery of Acetonitrile from Aqueous Solutions by Extractive Distillation–Effect of Entrainer

Authors: Aleksandra Yu. Sazonova, Valentina M. Raeva

Abstract:

The aim of this work was to apply extractive distillation for acetonitrile removal from water solutions, to validate thermodynamic criterion based on excess Gibbs energy to entrainer selection process for acetonitrile – water mixture separation and show its potential efficiency at isothermal conditions as well as at isobaric (conditions of real distillation process), to simulate and analyze an extractive distillation process with chosen entrainers: optimize amount of trays and feeds, entrainer/original mixture and reflux ratios. Equimolar composition of the feed stream was chosen for the process, comparison of the energy consumptions was carried out. Glycerol was suggested as the most energetically and ecologically suitable entrainer.

Keywords: Acetonitrile, entrainer, extractive distillation, water.

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640 Modeling and Optimization of Process Parameters in PMEDM by Genetic Algorithm

Authors: Farhad Kolahan, Mohammad Bironro

Abstract:

This paper addresses modeling and optimization of process parameters in powder mixed electrical discharge machining (PMEDM). The process output characteristics include metal removal rate (MRR) and electrode wear rate (EWR). Grain size of Aluminum powder (S), concentration of the powder (C), discharge current (I) pulse on time (T) are chosen as control variables to study the process performance. The experimental results are used to develop the regression models based on second order polynomial equations for the different process characteristics. Then, a genetic algorithm (GA) has been employed to determine optimal process parameters for any desired output values of machining characteristics.

Keywords: Regression modeling, PMEDM, GeneticAlgorithm, Optimization.

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639 Adsorption of Copper by using Microwave Incinerated Rice Husk Ash (MIRHA)

Authors: N.A.Johan, S.R.M.Kutty, M. H. Isa, N.S.Muhamad, H.Hashim

Abstract:

Many non-conventional adsorbent have been studied as economic alternative to commercial activated carbon and mostly agricultural waste have been introduced such as rubber leaf powder and hazelnut shell. Microwave Incinerated Rice Husk Ash (MIRHA), produced from the rice husk is one of the low-cost materials that were used as adsorbent of heavy metal. The aim of this research was to study the feasibility of using MIRHA500 and MIRHA800 as adsorbent for the removal of Cu(II) metal ions from aqueous solutions by the batch studies. The adsorption of Cu(II) into MIRHA500 and MIRH800 favors Fruendlich isotherm and imply pseudo – kinetic second order which applied chemisorptions

Keywords: Copper (II) aqueous solution, batch study, MIRHA500, MIRHA800, Microwave Incinerated Rice Husk Ash(MIRHA)

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638 Evaluation of the Impact of Dataset Characteristics for Classification Problems in Biological Applications

Authors: Kanthida Kusonmano, Michael Netzer, Bernhard Pfeifer, Christian Baumgartner, Klaus R. Liedl, Armin Graber

Abstract:

Availability of high dimensional biological datasets such as from gene expression, proteomic, and metabolic experiments can be leveraged for the diagnosis and prognosis of diseases. Many classification methods in this area have been studied to predict disease states and separate between predefined classes such as patients with a special disease versus healthy controls. However, most of the existing research only focuses on a specific dataset. There is a lack of generic comparison between classifiers, which might provide a guideline for biologists or bioinformaticians to select the proper algorithm for new datasets. In this study, we compare the performance of popular classifiers, which are Support Vector Machine (SVM), Logistic Regression, k-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN), Naive Bayes, Decision Tree, and Random Forest based on mock datasets. We mimic common biological scenarios simulating various proportions of real discriminating biomarkers and different effect sizes thereof. The result shows that SVM performs quite stable and reaches a higher AUC compared to other methods. This may be explained due to the ability of SVM to minimize the probability of error. Moreover, Decision Tree with its good applicability for diagnosis and prognosis shows good performance in our experimental setup. Logistic Regression and Random Forest, however, strongly depend on the ratio of discriminators and perform better when having a higher number of discriminators.

Keywords: Classification, High dimensional data, Machine learning

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637 Applying a Noise Reduction Method to Reveal Chaos in the River Flow Time Series

Authors: Mohammad H. Fattahi

Abstract:

Chaotic analysis has been performed on the river flow time series before and after applying the wavelet based de-noising techniques in order to investigate the noise content effects on chaotic nature of flow series. In this study, 38 years of monthly runoff data of three gauging stations were used. Gauging stations were located in Ghar-e-Aghaj river basin, Fars province, Iran. Noise level of time series was estimated with the aid of Gaussian kernel algorithm. This step was found to be crucial in preventing removal of the vital data such as memory, correlation and trend from the time series in addition to the noise during de-noising process.

Keywords: Chaotic behavior, wavelet, noise reduction, river flow.

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636 Effect of Phosphate and Zinc Biofertilizers on Seed Yield and Molar Ratio of Phytic Acid to Zinc in Two Cultivars of Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

Authors: M. Mohammadi

Abstract:

In order to evaluate the effect of phosphate and Zn bio-fertilizers on the yield, phytic acid (PA), Zn concentration and PA/Zn molar ratio in bean, a field experiment was carried out for two years. The treatments included two cultivars of bean (Talash and Sadri), four levels of P (P0, P1: 100 kg ha-1 triple super phosphate (TSP), P2: 50 kg ha-1 TSP + phosphate bio-fertilizer, P3: phosphate bio-fertilizer), three levels of Zn (Zn0, Zn1: 50 kg ha-1 ZnSO4, Zn2: Zn bio-fertilizer). Phosphate bio-fertilizer consisted of inoculum of mycorrhizal fungus and Azotobacter and Zn bio-fertilizer consisted of Pseudomonas bacteria. The results revealed that there was significant difference between yield and Zn concentration between years. The effect of cultivar was significant on studied parameters. The lowest content of PA and PA/Zn were obtained from Talash. P treatment caused to significant difference on parameters in which P2 caused to increase yield, P and Zn concentration, and decrease PA and PA/Zn by 21.8%, 38.2%, 33.4%, 17.4% and 38.6% respectively. Zn treatment caused to significant difference on studied parameters. The maximum number of parameters were obtained from Zn1 and Zn2. The higher Zn concentration led to lower content of PA and PA/Zn. Using of P and Zn bio–fertilizers were caused to increasing nutrient uptake, improving growth condition and reducing PA and PA/Zn molar ratio.

Keywords: Mycorrhizae, phosphorus, pseudomonas, zinc.

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635 Adsorption of Phenol and 4-Hydroxybenzoic Acid onto Functional Materials

Authors: Mourad Makhlouf, Omar Bouchher, Messabih Sidi Mohamed, Benrachedi Khaled

Abstract:

The objective of this study was to investigate the removal of two organic pollutants; 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (p-hydroxybenzoic acid) and phenol from synthetic wastewater by the adsorption on mesoporous materials. In this context, the aim of this work is to study the adsorption of organic compounds phenol and 4AHB on MCM-41 and FSM-16 non-grafted (NG) and other grafted (G) by trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS). The results of phenol and 4AHB adsorption in aqueous solution show that the adsorption capacity tends to increase after grafting in relation to the increase in hydrophobicity. The materials are distinguished by a higher adsorption capacity to the other NG materials. The difference in the phenol is 14.43% (MCM-41), 14.55% (FSM-16), and 16.72% (MCM-41), 13.57% (FSM-16) in the 4AHB. Our adsorption results show that the grafted materials by TMCS are good adsorbent at 25 °C.

Keywords: MCM-41, FSM-16, TMCS, phenol, 4AHB.

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634 On the Mathematical Structure and Algorithmic Implementation of Biochemical Network Models

Authors: Paola Lecca

Abstract:

Modeling and simulation of biochemical reactions is of great interest in the context of system biology. The central dogma of this re-emerging area states that it is system dynamics and organizing principles of complex biological phenomena that give rise to functioning and function of cells. Cell functions, such as growth, division, differentiation and apoptosis are temporal processes, that can be understood if they are treated as dynamic systems. System biology focuses on an understanding of functional activity from a system-wide perspective and, consequently, it is defined by two hey questions: (i) how do the components within a cell interact, so as to bring about its structure and functioning? (ii) How do cells interact, so as to develop and maintain higher levels of organization and functions? In recent years, wet-lab biologists embraced mathematical modeling and simulation as two essential means toward answering the above questions. The credo of dynamics system theory is that the behavior of a biological system is given by the temporal evolution of its state. Our understanding of the time behavior of a biological system can be measured by the extent to which a simulation mimics the real behavior of that system. Deviations of a simulation indicate either limitations or errors in our knowledge. The aim of this paper is to summarize and review the main conceptual frameworks in which models of biochemical networks can be developed. In particular, we review the stochastic molecular modelling approaches, by reporting the principal conceptualizations suggested by A. A. Markov, P. Langevin, A. Fokker, M. Planck, D. T. Gillespie, N. G. van Kampfen, and recently by D. Wilkinson, O. Wolkenhauer, P. S. Jöberg and by the author.

Keywords: Mathematical structure, algorithmic implementation, biochemical network models.

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633 Adsorption of Inorganic Salt by Granular Activated Carbon and Related Prediction Models

Authors: Kai-Lin Hsu, Jie-Chung Lou, Jia-Yun Han

Abstract:

In recent years, the underground water sources in southern Taiwan have become salinized because of saltwater intrusions. This study explores the adsorption characteristics of activated carbon on salinizing inorganic salts using isothermal adsorption experiments and provides a model analysis. The temperature range for the isothermal adsorption experiments ranged between 5 to 45 ℃, and the amount adsorbed varied between 28.21 to 33.87 mg/g. All experimental data of adsorption can be fitted to both the Langmuir and the Freundlich models. The thermodynamic parameters for per chlorate onto granular activated carbon were calculated as -0.99 to -1.11 kcal/mol for DG°, -0.6 kcal/mol for DH°, and 1.21 to 1.84 kcal/mol for DS°. This shows that the adsorption process of granular activated carbon is spontaneously exothermic. The observation of adsorption behaviors under low ionic strength, low pH values, and low temperatures is beneficial to the adsorption removal of perchlorate with granular activated carbon.

Keywords: Water Treatment, Per Chlorate, Adsorption, Granular Activated Carbon

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632 Effect on Yield and Yield Components of Different Irrigation Levels in Edible Seed Pumpkin Growing

Authors: Musa Seymen, Duran Yavuz, Nurcan Yavuz, Önder Türkmen

Abstract:

Edible seed pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.) is one of the important edibles preferred by consumer in Turkey due to its higher nutrient contents. However, there is almost very few study on water consumption and irrigation water requirement of confectionary edible seed pumpkin in Turkey. Therefore, a 2-year study (2013-2014) was conducted to determine the effects of irrigation levels on the seed yield and yield components of drip-irrigated confectionary edible seed pumpkin under Turkey conditions. In the study, the experimental design was made in randomized blocks with three replications. Treatments consisted of five irrigation water levels that compensated for the 100% (I100, full irrigation), 75% (I75), 50% (I50), 25% (I25) and 0% (I0, no irrigation) of crop water requirements at 14-day irrigation intervals. Seasonal evapotranspiration of treatments varied from 194.2 to 625.2 mm in 2013 and from 208.6 to 556.6 mm in 2014. In both years, the highest seasonal evapotranspiration was obtained in I100 treatment. Average across years, the seed yields ranged between 1090 (I100) and 422 (I0) kg ha-1. The irrigation treatments were found to significantly affect the yield parameters such as the seed yield, oil seed yield number of seeds per fruit, seed size, seed width, fruit size, fruit width and fruit index.

Keywords: Irrigation level, edible seed pumpkin, seed quality, seed yield.

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631 An Efficient Gaussian Noise Removal Image Enhancement Technique for Gray Scale Images

Authors: V. Murugan, R. Balasubramanian

Abstract:

Image enhancement is a challenging issue in many applications. In the last two decades, there are various filters developed. This paper proposes a novel method which removes Gaussian noise from the gray scale images. The proposed technique is compared with Enhanced Fuzzy Peer Group Filter (EFPGF) for various noise levels. Experimental results proved that the proposed filter achieves better Peak-Signal-to-Noise-Ratio PSNR than the existing techniques. The proposed technique achieves 1.736dB gain in PSNR than the EFPGF technique.

Keywords: Gaussian noise, adaptive bilateral filter, fuzzy peer group filter, switching bilateral filter, PSNR

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630 Developing Manufacturing Process for the Graphene Sensors

Authors: Abdullah Faqihi, John Hedley

Abstract:

Biosensors play a significant role in the healthcare sectors, scientific and technological progress. Developing electrodes that are easy to manufacture and deliver better electrochemical performance is advantageous for diagnostics and biosensing. They can be implemented extensively in various analytical tasks such as drug discovery, food safety, medical diagnostics, process controls, security and defence, in addition to environmental monitoring. Development of biosensors aims to create high-performance electrochemical electrodes for diagnostics and biosensing. A biosensor is a device that inspects the biological and chemical reactions generated by the biological sample. A biosensor carries out biological detection via a linked transducer and transmits the biological response into an electrical signal; stability, selectivity, and sensitivity are the dynamic and static characteristics that affect and dictate the quality and performance of biosensors. In this research, a developed experimental study for laser scribing technique for graphene oxide inside a vacuum chamber for processing of graphene oxide is presented. The processing of graphene oxide (GO) was achieved using the laser scribing technique. The effect of the laser scribing on the reduction of GO was investigated under two conditions: atmosphere and vacuum. GO solvent was coated onto a LightScribe DVD. The laser scribing technique was applied to reduce GO layers to generate rGO. The micro-details for the morphological structures of rGO and GO were visualised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman spectroscopy so that they could be examined. The first electrode was a traditional graphene-based electrode model, made under normal atmospheric conditions, whereas the second model was a developed graphene electrode fabricated under a vacuum state using a vacuum chamber. The purpose was to control the vacuum conditions, such as the air pressure and the temperature during the fabrication process. The parameters to be assessed include the layer thickness and the continuous environment. Results presented show high accuracy and repeatability achieving low cost productivity.

Keywords: Laser scribing, LightScribe DVD, graphene oxide, scanning electron microscopy.

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629 Microfluidic Paper-Based Electrochemical Biosensor

Authors: Ahmad Manbohi, Seyyed Hamid Ahmadi

Abstract:

A low-cost paper-based microfluidic device (PAD) for the multiplex electrochemical determination of glucose, uric acid, and dopamine in biological fluids was developed. Using wax printing, PAD containing a central zone, six channels, and six detection zones was fabricated, and the electrodes were printed on detection zones using pre-made electrodes template. For each analyte, two detection zones were used. The carbon working electrode was coated with chitosan-BSA (and enzymes for glucose and uric acid). To detect glucose and uric acid, enzymatic reactions were employed. These reactions involve enzyme-catalyzed redox reactions of the analytes and produce free electrons for electrochemical measurement. Calibration curves were linear (R² > 0.980) in the range of 0-80 mM for glucose, 0.09–0.9 mM for dopamine, and 0–50 mM for uric acid, respectively. Blood samples were successfully analyzed by the proposed method.

Keywords: Multiplex, microfluidic paper-based electrochemical biosensors, biomarkers, biological fluids.

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628 Effect of Different Methods of Soil Fertility on Grain Yield and Chickpea Quality

Authors: Mohammadi K., Ghalavand A., Aghaalikhani M

Abstract:

In order to evaluation the effects of natural, biological and chemical fertilizers on grain yield and chickpea quality, field experiments were carried out in 2007 and 2008 growing seasons. In this research the effects of different organic, chemical and biological fertilizers were investigated on grain yield and quality of chickpea. Experimental units were arranged in split-split plots based on randomized complete blocks with three replications. The highest amounts of yield and yield components were obtained in G1×N5 interaction. Significant increasing of N, P, K, Fe and Mg content in leaves and grains emphasized on superiority of mentioned treatment because each one of these nutrients has an approved role in chlorophyll synthesis and photosynthesis ability of the crop. The combined application of compost, farmyard manure and chemical phosphorus (N5) had the best grain quality due to high protein, starch and total sugar contents, low crude fiber and reduced cooking time.

Keywords: soil fertility, grain yield, chickpea, natural resources.

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627 Preparation and Characterisation of Chemically Activated Almond Shells by Optimization of Adsorption Parameters for Removal of Chromium VI from Aqueous Solutions

Authors: Inamullah Bhatti, Khadija Qureshi, R. A. Kazi, Abdul Khalique Ansari

Abstract:

Activated carbon was prepared from agricultural waste “almond (Prunus amygdalus) nut shells" by chemical activation with phosphoric acid as an activating agent at 450 °C for 24 hr soaking time. The physical and chemical properties were analyzed. The adsorption of chromium VI from aqueous solution on almond nut shell activated carbon (ASAC) was investigated. The adsorption process parameters pH, agitation speed, agitation time, adsorbent dose were optimized. 98% of Cr VI was sorbed at pH 2 and stirring speed 200 rpm.. Surface structure showed that ASAC has a spongy type structure showing large number of pores

Keywords: adsorption, sorbent , sorbate and activation

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626 Modeling of Coagulation Process for the Removal of Carbofuran in Aqueous Solution

Authors: Roli Saini, Pradeep Kumar

Abstract:

A coagulation/flocculation process was adopted for the reduction of carbamate insecticide (carbofuran) from aqueous solution. Ferric chloride (FeCl3) was used as a coagulant to treat the carbofuran. To exploit the reduction efficiency of pesticide concentration and COD, the jar-test experiments were carried out and process was optimized through response surface methodology (RSM). The effects of two independent factors; i.e., FeCl3 dosage and pH on the reduction efficiency were estimated by using central composite design (CCD). The initial COD of the 30 mg/L concentrated solution was found to be 510 mg/L. Results exposed that the maximum reduction occurred at an optimal condition of FeCl3 = 80 mg/L, and pH = 5.0, from which the reduction of concentration and COD 75.13% and 65.34%, respectively. The present study also predicted that the obtained regression equations could be helpful as the theoretical basis for the coagulation process of pesticide wastewater.

Keywords: Carbofuran, coagulation, optimization, response surface methodology.

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625 Using SNAP and RADTRAD to Establish the Analysis Model for Maanshan PWR Plant

Authors: J. R. Wang, H. C. Chen, C. Shih, S. W. Chen, J. H. Yang, Y. Chiang

Abstract:

In this study, we focus on the establishment of the analysis model for Maanshan PWR nuclear power plant (NPP) by using RADTRAD and SNAP codes with the FSAR, manuals, and other data. In order to evaluate the cumulative dose at the Exclusion Area Boundary (EAB) and Low Population Zone (LPZ) outer boundary, Maanshan NPP RADTRAD/SNAP model was used to perform the analysis of the DBA LOCA case. The analysis results of RADTRAD were similar to FSAR data. These analysis results were lower than the failure criteria of 10 CFR 100.11 (a total radiation dose to the whole body, 250 mSv; a total radiation dose to the thyroid from iodine exposure, 3000 mSv).

Keywords: RADionuclide, transport, removal, and dose estimation, RADTRAD, symbolic nuclear analysis package, SNAP, dose, PWR.

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624 Stability and Kinetic Analysis during Vermicomposting of Sewage Sludge

Authors: Ashish Kumar Nayak, Dhamodharan K., Ajay S. Kalamdhad

Abstract:

The present study is aimed at alteration of sewage sludge into stable compost product using vermicomposting of sewage sludge mixed with cattle manure and saw dust in five different proportions based on C/N ratios (C/N 15 (R1), 20 (R2), 25 (R3) and 30 (R4); and control (R5)) by employing an epigeic earthworm Eisenia fetida. Higher reductions in C/N ratio, CO2 evolution and OUR were observed in R4 demonstrated the compost stability. In addition, R4 proved to be best combination for the growth of the earthworms. In order to observe the optimal degradation, kinetics for degradation of organic matter in vermicomposting were quantitatively evaluated. An approach model was developed by assuming that composting process is carried out in a homogeneous way and the kinetics for decomposition reaction is represented by a Monod-type equation. The results exhibit comparable variations in the kinetic constants Km and K3 under varying parameters during vermicomposting process. Results suggested that higher R2 value in R4, enhanced suitability towards Lineweaver-Burke plot. R4 yields higher degradability coefficient (K) reveals that the occurrence of optimal nutrient balance, which not only enhanced the affinity of enzymes towards substrate but also improved its degradation process. Therefore, it can be proved that R4 provided to be the best feed combination for vermicomposting process as compared to other reactors.

Keywords: Vermicomposting, Eisenia fetida, Sewage sludge, C/N ratio, Stability, Enzyme kinetics concept.

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623 A Genetic Based Algorithm to Generate Random Simple Polygons Using a New Polygon Merge Algorithm

Authors: Ali Nourollah, Mohsen Movahedinejad

Abstract:

In this paper a new algorithm to generate random simple polygons from a given set of points in a two dimensional plane is designed. The proposed algorithm uses a genetic algorithm to generate polygons with few vertices. A new merge algorithm is presented which converts any two polygons into a simple polygon. This algorithm at first changes two polygons into a polygonal chain and then the polygonal chain is converted into a simple polygon. The process of converting a polygonal chain into a simple polygon is based on the removal of intersecting edges. The experiments results show that the proposed algorithm has the ability to generate a great number of different simple polygons and has better performance in comparison to celebrated algorithms such as space partitioning and steady growth.

Keywords: Divide and conquer, genetic algorithm, merge polygons, Random simple polygon generation.

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622 Kinetics Studies on Biological Treatment of Tannery Wastewater Using Mixed Culture

Authors: G.Durai, N.Rajamohan, C.Karthikeyan, M.Rajasimman

Abstract:

In this study, aerobic digestion of tannery industry wastewater was carried out using mixed culture obtained from common effluent treatment plant treating tannery wastewater. The effect of pH, temperature, inoculum concentration, agitation speed and initial substrate concentration on the reduction of organic matters were found. The optimum conditions for COD reduction was found to be pH - 7 (60%), temperature - 30ÔùªC (61%), inoculum concentration - 2% (61%), agitation speed - 150rpm (65%) and initial substrate concentration - 1560 mg COD/L (74%). Kinetics studies were carried by using Monod model, First order, Diffusional model and Singh model. From the results it was found that the Monod model suits well for the degradation of tannery wastewater using mixed microbial consortium.

Keywords: Tannery, Wastewater, Biological treatment, Aerobic, Mixed culture, Kinetics.

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621 Study the Biological Activities of Tribulus Terrestris Extracts

Authors: Ahmed A. Hussain, Abbas A. Mohammed, Heba. H. Ibrahim, Amir H. Abbas

Abstract:

In this study the extracts of the Iraqi herb Tribulus terrestris (Al-Hassage or Al-Kutub) was done by using of polar and non polar solvents, then the biological activity of these extractants was studied in three fields, First, the antibacterial activity (in vitro) on gram positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus), and gram negative bacteria (E. coli, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aerugiuosa, and Klebsiella), all extracts showed considerable activity against all bacteria. Second, the effect of extracts on free serum testosterone level in male mice (in vivo), the alcoholic, and acetonitrilic extracts showed significant (P < 0.05) increase in free serum testosterone level, and we found that the extracts contained compounds with less genotoxic effects in mice germ cells. 3rd, was to study the effect of methanolic extract of T. terrestris in diabetes management.

Keywords: Genotoxic, germ cells, tribulus terrestris, testosterone.

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620 Investigation of Effective Parameters on Annealing and Hot Spotting Processes for Straightening of Bent Turbine Rotors

Authors: Esmaeil Poursaeidi, Mostafa Kamalzadeh Yazdi, Mohammadreza Mohammadi Arhani1

Abstract:

The most severe damage of the turbine rotor is its distortion. The rotor straightening process must lead, at the first stage, to removal of the stresses from the material by annealing and next, to straightening of the plastic distortion without leaving any stress by hot spotting. The straightening method does not produce stress accumulations and the heating technique, developed specifically for solid forged rotors and disks, enables to avoid local overheating and structural changes in the material. This process also does not leave stresses in the shaft material. An experimental study of hot spotting is carried out on a large turbine rotor and some of the most important effective parameters that must be considered on annealing and hot spotting processes are investigated in this paper.

Keywords: Annealing, Hot Spotting, Effective Parameter, Rotor

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619 Study of Methylene Blue Dye Adsorption on to Activated Carbons from Olive Stones

Authors: L. Temdrara, A. Khelifi, A. Addoun

Abstract:

Activated carbons were produced from olive stones by a chemical process. The activated carbon (AC) were modified by nitric acid and used as adsorbents for the removal of methylene blue dye from aqueous solution. The activated carbons were characterized by nitrogen adsorption and enthalpy of immersion. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to study the effect of initial different concentrations solution on dye adsorption properties. Isotherms were fitted to Langmuir model, and corresponding parameters were determined. The results showed that the increase of ration of ZnCl2 leads to increase in apparent surface areas and produces activated carbons with pore structure more developed. However, the maximum MB uptakes for all carbons were determined and correlated with activated carbons characteristics. 

Keywords: Adsorption, activated carbon, chemical activation, enthalpy of immersion.

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618 A Comparison of Conventional and Biodegradable Chelating Agent in Different Type of Surfactant Solutions for Soap Scum Removal

Authors: Prariyada Theptat, Sumaeth Chavadej, John F. Scamehorn

Abstract:

One of the most challenges for hard surface cleaning product is to get rid of soap scum, a filmy sticky layer in the bathroom. The deposits of soap scum can be removed by using a proper surfactant solution with chelating agent. Unfortunately, the conventional chelating agent, ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), has low biodegradability, which can be tolerance in water resources and harmful to aquatic animal and microorganism. In this study, two biodegradable chelating agents, ethylenediamine disuccinic acid (EDDS) and glutamic acid diacetic acid (GLDA) were introduced as a replacement of EDTA. The result shows that using GLDA with amphoteric surfactant gave the highest equilibrium solubility of soap scum.

Keywords: Biodegradable chelating agent, EDDS, GLDA, Soap scum.

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617 Construct Pairwise Test Suites Based on the Bak-Sneppen Model of Biological Evolution

Authors: Jianjun Yuan, Changjun Jiang

Abstract:

Pairwise testing, which requires that every combination of valid values of each pair of system factors be covered by at lease one test case, plays an important role in software testing since many faults are caused by unexpected 2-way interactions among system factors. Although meta-heuristic strategies like simulated annealing can generally discover smaller pairwise test suite, they may cost more time to perform search, compared with greedy algorithms. We propose a new method, improved Extremal Optimization (EO) based on the Bak-Sneppen (BS) model of biological evolution, for constructing pairwise test suites and define fitness function according to the requirement of improved EO. Experimental results show that improved EO gives similar size of resulting pairwise test suite and yields an 85% reduction in solution time over SA.

Keywords: Covering Arrays, Extremal Optimization, Simulated Annealing, Software Testing.

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616 Methodology for Quantifying the Meaning of Information in Biological Systems

Authors: Richard L. Summers

Abstract:

The advanced computational analysis of biological systems is becoming increasingly dependent upon an understanding of the information-theoretic structure of the materials, energy and interactive processes that comprise those systems. The stability and survival of these living systems is fundamentally contingent upon their ability to acquire and process the meaning of information concerning the physical state of its biological continuum (biocontinuum). The drive for adaptive system reconciliation of a divergence from steady state within this biocontinuum can be described by an information metric-based formulation of the process for actionable knowledge acquisition that incorporates the axiomatic inference of Kullback-Leibler information minimization driven by survival replicator dynamics. If the mathematical expression of this process is the Lagrangian integrand for any change within the biocontinuum then it can also be considered as an action functional for the living system. In the direct method of Lyapunov, such a summarizing mathematical formulation of global system behavior based on the driving forces of energy currents and constraints within the system can serve as a platform for the analysis of stability. As the system evolves in time in response to biocontinuum perturbations, the summarizing function then conveys information about its overall stability. This stability information portends survival and therefore has absolute existential meaning for the living system. The first derivative of the Lyapunov energy information function will have a negative trajectory toward a system steady state if the driving force is dissipating. By contrast, system instability leading to system dissolution will have a positive trajectory. The direction and magnitude of the vector for the trajectory then serves as a quantifiable signature of the meaning associated with the living system’s stability information, homeostasis and survival potential.

Keywords: Semiotic meaning, Shannon information, Lyapunov, living systems.

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615 Investigation on Machine Tools Energy Consumptions

Authors: Shiva Abdoli, Daniel T. Semere

Abstract:

Several researches have been conducted to study consumption of energy in cutting process. Most of these researches are focusing to measure the consumption and propose consumption reduction methods. In this work, the relation between the cutting parameters and the consumption is investigated in order to establish a generalized energy consumption model that can be used for process and production planning in real production lines. Using the generalized model, the process planning will be carried out by taking into account the energy as a function of the selected process parameters. Similarly, the generalized model can be used in production planning to select the right operational parameters like batch sizes, routing, buffer size, etc. in a production line. The description and derivation of the model as well as a case study are given in this paper to illustrate the applicability and validity of the model.

Keywords: Process parameters, cutting process, energy efficiency, Material Removal Rate (MRR).

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614 Evaluation of Hazelnut Hulls as an Alternative Forage Resource for Ruminant Animals

Authors: N. Cetinkaya, Y. S. Kuleyin

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to estimate the digestibility of the fruit internal skin of different varieties of hazelnuts to propose hazelnut fruit skin as an alternative feed source as roughage in ruminant nutrition. In 2015, the fruit internal skins of three different varieties of round hazelnuts (RH), pointed hazelnuts (PH) and almond hazelnuts (AH) were obtained from hazelnut processing factory then their crude nutrients analysis were carried out. Organic matter digestibility (OMD) and metabolisable energy (ME) values of hazelnut fruit skins were estimated from gas measured by in vitro gas production method. Their antioxidant activities were determined by spectrophotometric method. Crude nutrient values of three different varieties were; organic matter (OM): 87.83, 87.81 and 87.78%), crude protein (CP): 5.97, 5.93 and 5.89%, neutral detergent fiber (NDF): 30.30, 30.29 and 30.29%, acid detergent fiber (ADF): 48.68, 48.67 and 48.66% and acid detergent lignin (ADL): 25.43, 25.43 and 25.39% respectively. OMD from 24 h incubation time of RH, PH and AH were 22.04, 22.46 and 22.74%; MEGP values were 3.69, 3.75 and 3.79 MJ/kg DM; and antioxidant activity values were 94.60, 94.54 and 94.52 IC 50 mg/mL respectively. The fruit internal skin of different varieties of hazelnuts may be considered as an alternative roughage for ruminant nutrition regarding to their crude and digestible nutritive values. Moreover, hazelnut fruit skin has a rich antioxidant content so it may be used as a feed additive for both ruminant and non-ruminant animals.

Keywords: Antioxidant activity, hazelnut fruit skin, metabolizable energy, organic matter digestibility.

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613 Synthesis of Unconventional Materials Using Chitosan and Crown Ether for Selective Removal of Precious Metal Ions

Authors: Rabindra Prasad Dhakal, Tatsuya Oshima, Yoshinari Baba

Abstract:

The polyfunctional and highly reactive bio-polymer, the chitosan was first regioselectively converted into dialkylated chitosan using dimsyl anionic solution(NaH in DMSO) and bromodecane after protecting amino groups by phthalic anhydride. The dibenzo-18-crown-6-ether, on the other hand, was converted into its carbonyl derivatives via Duff reaction prior to incorporate into chitosan by Schiff base formation. Thus formed diformylated dibenzo-18-crown-6-ether was condensed with lipophilic chitosan to prepare the novel solvent extraction reagent. The products were characterized mainly by IR and 1H-NMR. Hence, the multidentate crown ether-embedded polyfunctional bio-material was tested for extraction of Pd(II) and Pt(IV) in aqueous solution.

Keywords: Lipophilic chitosan, Duff reaction, crown ether and precious metal ions extraction.

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612 In vitro Biological Activity of Some Synthesized Monoazo Heterocycles Based On Thiophene and Thiazolyl-Thiophene Analogues

Authors: M. E. Khalifa, A. A. Gobouri

Abstract:

Potential synthesis of a series of 3-amino-4-arylazothiophene derivatives from reaction of 2-cyano-2-phenylthiocarbamoyl acetamide and the appropriate α-halogenated reagents, followed by coupling with different aryl diazonium salts (Japp-Klingemann reaction), and another series of 5-arylazo-thiazol-2-ylcarbamoyl-thiophene derivatives from base-catalyzed intramolecular condensation of 5-arylazo-2-(N-chloroacetyl)amino-thiazole with selected b-keto compounds (Thorpe-Ziegler reaction) was performed. The biological activity of the two series was studied in vitro. Their versatility for pharmaceutical purposes was reported, where they displayed remarkable activities against selected pathogenic microorganisms; Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus (Gram positive bacteria), Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Gram negative bacteria), and Aspergillus flavus, Candida albicans (fungi) with various degrees related to their chemical structures.

Keywords: 2-Aminothiazole, antimicrobial, monoazo compounds, thiophene, pathogenic microorganisms.

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