Search results for: Aging Treatment

Authors: W. P. Hu, J. V. Kumar, Jeffrey J. P. Tsai

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The inhibition of SH2 domain regulated protein-protein interactions is an attractive target for developing an effective chemotherapeutic approach in the treatment of disease. Molecular simulation is a useful tool for developing new drugs and for studying molecular recognition. In this study, we searched potential drug compounds for the inhibition of SH2 domain by performing structural similarity search in PubChem Compound Database. A total of 37 compounds were screened from the database, and then we used the LibDock docking program to evaluate the inhibition effect. The best three compounds (AP22408, CID 71463546 and CID 9917321) were chosen for MD simulations after the LibDock docking. Our results show that the compound CID 9917321 can produce a more stable protein-ligand complex compared to other two currently known inhibitors of Src SH2 domain. The compound CID 9917321 may be useful for the inhibition of SH2 domain based on these computational results. Subsequently experiments are needed to verify the effect of compound CID 9917321 on the SH2 domain in the future studies.

Keywords: Nonpeptide inhibitor, Src SH2 domain, LibDock, molecular dynamics simulation.

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Authors: J. Uka, B. McKay, T. Minton, O. Adole, R. Lewis, S. J. Glanvill, L. Anguilano

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Effective heat treatment conditions to obtain maximum aluminium swarf recycling are investigated in this work. Aluminium swarf briquettes underwent treatments at different temperatures and cooling times to investigate the improvements obtained in the recovery of aluminium metal. The main issue for the recovery of the metal from swarfs is to overcome the constraints due to the oxide layers present in high concentration in the swarfs since they have a high surface area. Briquettes supplied by Renishaw were heat treated at 650, 700, 750, 800 and 850 ℃ for 1-hour and then cooled at 2.3, 3.5 and 5 ℃/min. The resulting material was analysed using SEM EDX to observe the oxygen diffusion and aluminium coalescence at the boundary between adjacent swarfs. Preliminary results show that, swarf needs to be heat treated at a temperature of 850 ℃ and cooled down slowly at 2.3 ℃/min to have thin and discontinuous alumina layers between the adjacent swarf and consequently allowing aluminium coalescence. This has the potential to save energy and provide maximum financial profit in preparation of swarf briquettes for recycling.

Keywords: Aluminium, swarf, oxide layers, recycle, reuse.

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Authors: Bo-Wun Huang, Jao-Hwa Kuang, J.-G. Tseng, Yan-De Wu

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An investigation of noise in a micro stepping motor is considered to study in this article. Because of the trend towards higher precision and more and more small 3C (including Computer, Communication and Consumer Electronics) products, the micro stepping motor is frequently used to drive the micro system or the other 3C products. Unfortunately, noise in a micro stepped motor is too large to accept by the customs. To depress the noise of a micro stepped motor, the dynamic characteristics in this system must be studied. In this article, a Visual Basic (VB) computer program speed controlled micro stepped motor in a digital camera is investigated. Karman KD2300-2S non-contract eddy current displacement sensor, probe microphone, and HP 35670A analyzer are employed to analyze the dynamic characteristics of vibration and noise in a motor. The vibration and noise measurement of different type of bearings and different treatment of coils are compared. The rotating components, bearings, coil, etc. of the motor play the important roles in producing vibration and noise. It is found that the noise will be depressed about 3~4 dB and 6~7 dB, when substitutes the copper bearing with plastic one and coats the motor coil with paraffin wax, respectively.

Keywords: micro motor, noise, vibration

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Authors: I. Markovska, F. Yovkova, G. Minov, D. Rusev, L. Lyubchev

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The present research focus on the processing of mullite-based ceramics from oil refinery industrial wastes and byproducts of agricultural industry and on the investigating of silane modified surface of ceramics. Two waste products were used as initial material – waste aluminum oxide and waste rice husk. The burning - out additives used were waste rise husk. It is known that  the oxide ceramics surface is hydrophilic due to the presence of – OH groups in it. The nature of ceramic surface regarding permeation of water and hydrocarbons can be changed by further treatment with silanes. The samples were studied mainly by X-ray analysis, FT-IR absorbance measurements and microscopic analysis. The X-ray analyses showed the phase composition depends on the firing temperature and on the purity of the starting alumina. Two kind of silanes were used for the transformation of surface from hydrophilic to hydrophobic – trimethoxymethylsilane (TMMS) and trimethylclorsilane (TMCS).

Keywords: Porous mullite ceramics, waste materials, trimethoxymethylsilane, trimethylclorsilane.

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Authors: H. Bouaziz, N. Soudania, M. Essafia, I. Ben Amara, A. Hakim, K. Jamoussi, Km. Zeghal, N. Zeghal

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In this investigation, we have evaluated the effects of arsenic trioxide on hepatic function in pregnant and lactating Swiss albino mice and their suckling pups. Experiments were carried out on female mice given 175 ppm As2O3 in their drinking water from the 14th day of pregnancy until day 14 after delivery. Our results showed a significant decrease in plasma levels of total protein and albumin, cholesterol and triglyceride in As2O3 treated mice and their pups. The hyperbilirubinemia and the increased plasma total alkaline phosphatase activity suggested the presence of cholestasis. Transaminase activities as well as lactate deshydrogenase activity in plasma, known as biomarkers of hepatocellular injury, were elevated indicating hepatic cells’ damage after treatment with As2O3. Exposure to arsenic led to an increase of liver thiobarbituric acid reactive substances level along with a concomitant decrease in the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase and in glutathione.

Keywords: Antioxidant status, arsenic trioxide, hepatotoxicity, mice, oxidative stress.

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Authors: N.R.N. Idris

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This study uses simulated meta-analysis to assess the effects of publication bias on meta-analysis estimates and to evaluate the efficacy of the trim and fill method in adjusting for these biases. The estimated effect sizes and the standard error were evaluated in terms of the statistical bias and the coverage probability. The results demonstrate that if publication bias is not adjusted it could lead to up to 40% bias in the treatment effect estimates. Utilization of the trim and fill method could reduce the bias in the overall estimate by more than half. The method is optimum in presence of moderate underlying bias but has minimal effects in presence of low and severe publication bias. Additionally, the trim and fill method improves the coverage probability by more than half when subjected to the same level of publication bias as those of the unadjusted data. The method however tends to produce false positive results and will incorrectly adjust the data for publication bias up to 45 % of the time. Nonetheless, the bias introduced into the estimates due to this adjustment is minimal

Keywords: Publication bias, Trim and Fill method, percentage relative bias, coverage probability

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Authors: Li Yongfeng, Liu Yixing, Li Jian, Li Jun

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A novel biomass composite inspired from wood porous structure was manufactured by impregnating vinyl monomer into wood cellular structure under vacuum conditions, and initiating the monomer for in situ polymerization through a thermal treatment. The vacuum condition was studied, and the mechanical properties of the composite were also tested. SEM observation shows that polymer generated in the wood porous structure, and strongly interacted with wood matrix; and the polymer content increased with vacuum value increasing. FTIR indicates that polymer grafted onto wood matrix, resulting chemical complex between them. The rate of monomer loading increased with increasing vacuum value and time, accordance with rate of polymer loading. The compression strength and modulus of elasticity linearly increased with the increasing rate of polymer loading. Results indicate that the novel biomass composite possesses good mechanical properties capable of applying in the fields of construction, traffic and so forth.

Keywords: Biomass composite, manufacture, vinyl monomer, wood cellular structure.

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Authors: F. Allag, S. Bouharati, M. Belmahdi, R. Zegadi

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The rapid expansion of deserts in recent decades as a result of human actions combined with climatic changes has highlighted the necessity to understand biological processes in arid environments. Whereas physical processes and the biology of flora and fauna have been relatively well studied in marginally used arid areas, knowledge of desert soil micro-organisms remains fragmentary. The objective of this study is to conduct a diversity analysis of bacterial communities in unvegetated arid soils. Several biological phenomena in hot deserts related to microbial populations and the potential use of micro-organisms for restoring hot desert environments. Dry land ecosystems have a highly heterogeneous distribution of resources, with greater nutrient concentrations and microbial densities occurring in vegetated than in bare soils. In this work, we found it useful to use techniques of artificial intelligence in their treatment especially artificial neural networks (ANN). The use of the ANN model, demonstrate his capability for addressing the complex problems of uncertainty data.

Keywords: Desert soil, Climatic changes, Bacteria, Vegetation, Artificial neural networks.

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Authors: Simin Sadeghi-Saeb

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Metacognitive strategies consistently play important roles in reading comprehension. The metacognitive strategies involve the active monitoring and consequent regulation and orchestration of the cognitive processes in relation to the cognitive objects or data on which they bear. In this paper, the effect of instruction in using metacognitive strategies on reading academic materials, type of metacognitive strategies were mostly used by college university students before and after the instruction and the level they use those strategies before and after the instruction were studied. For these aims, 50 female college students were chosen. Then, they were divided randomly into two groups, experimental and control groups. At first session, students in both groups took the standard TOFEL exam. After the pre-test had been administered, the instruction began. After treatment, a post-test was taken. It is useful to state that after pre-test and post-test the same questionnaire was handed to the students of experimental group. The results of this research show that the instruction of metacognitive strategies has positive effect on the students' scores in reading comprehension tests. Furthermore, it showed that before and after the instruction, the students' usage of metacognitive strategies changed. Also, it demonstrated that the instruction affected the students' level of metacognitive strategies' usage.

Keywords: EFL students, English reading comprehension, instruction, metacognitive strategies.

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Authors: Aresh Vikram Singh, Sarika Nagar

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The tamarind based resin containing hydroxypropane sulphonic acid groups has been synthesized and their adsorption behavior for heavy metal ions has been investigated using batch and column experiments. The hydroxypropane sulphonic acid group has been incorporated onto tamarind by a modified Porath's method of functionalisation of polysaccharides. The tamarind hydroxypropane sulphonic acid (THPSA) resin can selectively remove of heavy metal ions, which are contained in industrial wastewater. The THPSA resin was characterized by FTIR and thermogravimetric analysis. The effects of various adsorption conditions, such as pH, treatment time and adsorbent dose were also investigated. The optimum adsorption condition was found at pH 6, 120 minutes of equilibrium time and 0.1 gram of resin dose. The orders of distribution coefficient values were determined.

Keywords: Distribution coefficient, industrial wastewater, polysaccharides, tamarind hydroxypropane sulphonic acid resin, thermogravimetric analysis.

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Authors: Anwar Sadat

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Today, the Internet based communication has widen the opportunity of event monitoring system in the medical field. There is always a need of analyzing and designing secure and reliable mobile communication between the hospital and biomedical engineers mobile units. This study has been carried out to find possible solution using SIP-based event notification for alerting the technical staff about the Biomedical Device (BMD) status and Patients treatment session. The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) can be used to create a medical event notification system. SIP can work on a variety of devices. Its adoption as the protocol of choice for third generation wireless networks allows for a robust and scalable environment. One of the advantages of SIP is that it supports personal mobility through the separation of user addressing and device addressing. The solution for Telemed alert notification system is based on SIP - Specific Event Notification. The aim of this project is to extend mobility service to the hospital technicians who are using Telemedicine system.

Keywords: Biomedical, Mobility Service, Notify, Proxy Server, SIP, Subscribe, Telemedicine.

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Authors: Ashutosh Kumar Choudhary, Satish Kumar, Chhaya Sharma

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This study evaluates the performance of horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland (HSSF-CW) for the removal of chlorinated resin and fatty acids (RFAs) from pulp and paper mill wastewater. The dimensions of the treatment system were 3.5 m x 1.5 m x 0.28 m with surface area of 5.25 m2, filled with fine sand and gravel. The cell was planted with an ornamental plant species Canna indica. The removal efficiency of chlorinated RFAs was in the range of 92-96% at the hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 5.9 days. Plant biomass and soil (sand and gravel) were analyzed for chlorinated RFAs content. No chlorinated RFAs were detected in plant biomass but detected in soil samples. Mass balance studies of chlorinated RFAs in HSSF-CW were also carried out.

Keywords: Canna indica, Chlorinated resin & fatty acids, Constructed wetland, Pulp and paper mill wastewater.

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Authors: Onur Ayaz, Nuray Ucar, Elif Bahar, Oguzhan Ucar, Mustafa Oksuz, Aysen Onen, Mehmet Ucar, Ezgi İşmar, Ali Demir

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In this study, single nozzle method used for electrospinning technique which composite polymer solution with cellulose nanowiskers (CNW) was treated by ultrasonic sonificator have been compared with coaxial (double) nozzle method, in terms of mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of composite nanofiber. The effect of water content in composite polymer solution on properties of nanofiber has also been examined. It has been seen that single nozzle method which polymer solution does not contain water has better results than that of coaxial method, in terms of mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of nanofiber. However, it is necessary to make an optimization study on setting condition of ultrasonic treatment to get better dispersion of CNW in composite nanofiber and to get better mechanical and thermal properties

Keywords: cellulose nanowhiskers, coaxial nozzle, composite nanofiber, electrospinning

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Authors: Akbar Soleimani, Alireza Heravi Moussavi, Mohsen Danesh Mesgaran, Abolqasem Golian

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Twenty - nine Holstein cows were used to evaluate the effects of different dry period (DP) lengths on milk yield and composition, some blood metabolites, and complete blood count (CBC). Cows were assigned to one of 2 treatments: 1) 60-d dry period, 2) 35-d DP. Milk yield, from calving to 60 days, was not different for cows on the treatments (p =0.130). Cows in the 35-d DP produced more milk protein and SNF compare with cows in treatment 1 (p ≤ 0.05). Serum glucose, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), beta hydroxyl butyrate acid (BHBA), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), urea, and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) were all similar among the treatments. Body condition score (BCS), body weight (BW), complete blood count (CBC) and health problems were similar between the treatments. The results of this study demonstrated we can reduce the dry period length to 35 days with no problems.

Keywords: complete blood count, dairy cows, dry period, milk yield

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Authors: Naouel Abdellatif Mami

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Since its independence in 1962, Algeria has struggled to establish an educational system tailored to the needs of the population it may address. Considering the historical connection with France, Algeria has always looked at the French language as a cultural imperative until late in the seventies. After the Arabization policy of 1971 and the socioeconomic changes taking place worldwide, the use of English as a communicating vehicle started to gain more space within globalized Algeria. Consequently, disparities in the use of French started to fade away at the cross-roads leaving more space to the teaching of English as a second foreign language. Moreover, the introduction of the Bologna Process and the European Credit Transfer System in Higher Education has necessitated some innovations in the design and development of new curricula adapted to the socioeconomic market. In this paper, I will try to highlight the important historical dimensions Algeria has taken towards the implementation of an English language methodology and to the status it acquired from second foreign language, to first foreign language to “the language of knowledge and sciences". I will also propose new pedagogical perspectives for a better treatment of the English language in order to encourage independent and autonomous learning.

Keywords: Teaching English as a foreign language, Globalization, post-colonial Algeria. the educational system.

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Authors: Hojjat Saberinejad, Adel Hashiehbaf, Ehsan Afrasiabian

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Among the various cooling processes in industrial applications such as: electronic devices, heat exchangers, gas turbines, etc. Gas turbine blades cooling is the most challenging one. One of the most common practices is using ribbed wall because of the boundary layer excitation and therefore making the ultimate cooling. Vortex formation between rib and channel wall will result in a complicated behavior of flow regime. At the other hand, selecting the most efficient method for capturing the best results comparing to experimental works would be a fascinating issue. In this paper 4 common methods in turbulence modeling: standard k-e, rationalized k-e with enhanced wall boundary layer treatment, k-w and RSM (Reynolds stress model) are employed to a square ribbed channel to investigate the separation and thermal behavior of the flow in the channel. Finally all results from different methods which are used in this paper will be compared with experimental data available in literature to ensure the numerical method accuracy.

Keywords: boundary layer, turbulence, numerical method, rib cooling

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Authors: T. Buyuksirit, H. Kuleasan

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Natural antimicrobials are used to preserve foods that can be found in plants, animals, and microorganisms. Antimicrobial substances are natural or artificial agents that produced by microorganisms or obtained semi/total chemical synthesis are used at low concentrations to inhibit the growth of other microorganisms. Food borne pathogens and spoilage microorganisms are inactivated by the use of antagonistic microorganisms and their metabolites. Yeasts can produce toxic proteins or glycoproteins (toxins) that cause inhibition of sensitive bacteria and yeast species. Antimicrobial substance producing phenotypes belonging different yeast genus were isolated from different sources. Toxins secreted by many yeast strains inhibiting the growth of other yeast strains. These strains show antimicrobial activity, inhibiting the growth of mold and bacteria. The effect of antimicrobial agents produced by yeasts can be extremely fast, and therefore may be used in various treatment procedures. Rapid inhibition of microorganisms is possibly caused by microbial cell membrane lipopolysaccharide binding and in activation (neutralization) effect. Antimicrobial agents inhibit the target cells via different mechanisms of action.

Keywords: Antimicrobial agents, Glycoprotein, Toxic protein, Yeast.

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Authors: Magda Bădescu, Daniela Jitaru, C.Grigoraş, L.Bădescu, I. Topala, Manuela Ciocoiu

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The purpose of our study was to compare spontaneous re-epithelisation characteristics versus assisted re-epithelisation. In order to assess re-epithelisation of the injured skin, we have imagined and designed a burn wound model on Wistar rat skin. Our aim was to create standardised, easy reproducible and quantifiable skin lesions involving entire epidermis and superficial dermis. We then have applied the above mentioned therapeutic strategies to compare regeneration of epidermis and dermis, local and systemic parameter changes in different conditions. We have enhanced the reepithelisation process under a moist atmosphere of a polyurethane wound dress modified with helium non-thermal plasma, and with the aid of direct cold-plasma treatment respectively. We have followed systemic parameters change: hematologic and biochemical parameters, and local features: oxidative stress markers and histology of skin in the above mentioned conditions. Re-epithelisation is just a part of the skin regeneration process, which recruits cellular components, with the aid of epidermal and dermal interaction via signal molecules.

Keywords: Plasma medicine, re-epithelisation and tissue regeneration

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Authors: A. Sabzali, M. Nikaeen, B. Bina

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The purpose of the experiments described in this article was the comparison of integrated fixed film activated sludge (IFAS) and activated sludge (AS) system. The IFAS applied system consists of the cigarette filter rods (wasted filter in tobacco factories) as a biofilm carrier. The comparison with activated sludge was performed by two parallel treatment lines. Organic substance, ammonia and TP removal was investigated over four month period. Synthetic wastewater was prepared with ordinary tap water and glucose as the main sources of carbon and energy, plus balanced macro and micro nutrients. COD removal percentages of 94.55%, and 81.62% were achieved for IFAS and activated sludge system, respectively. Also, ammonia concentration significantly decreased by increasing the HRT in both systems. The average ammonia removal of 97.40 % and 96.34% were achieved for IFAS and activated sludge system, respectively. The removal efficiency of total phosphorus (TP-P) was 60.64%, higher than AS process by 56.63% respectively.

Keywords: Wastewater, biofilm carrier, cigarette filters rods, Activated Sludge, IFAS, nitrification.

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Authors: Haohao Wang

Abstract:

Technology, multimedia in Open Educational Resources, can contribute positively to student performance in an online instructional environment. Student performance data of past four years were obtained from an online course entitled Applied Calculus (MA139). This paper examined the data to determine whether multimedia (independent variable) had any impact on student performance (dependent variable) in online math learning, and how students felt about the value of the technology. Two groups of student data were analyzed, group 1 (control) from the online applied calculus course that did not use multimedia instructional materials, and group 2 (treatment) of the same online applied calculus course that used multimedia instructional materials. For the MA139 class, results indicate a statistically significant difference (p = .001) between the two groups, where group 1 had a final score mean of 56.36 (out of 100), group 2 of 70.68. Additionally, student testimonials were discussed in which students shared their experience in learning applied calculus online with multimedia instructional materials.

Keywords: Online learning, Open Educational Resources, Multimedia, Technology.

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Authors: C. Cole, M. Osmani, A. Wheatley, M. Quddus

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EU and UK Government targets for minimising and recycling household waste has led the responsible authorities to research the alternatives to landfill. In the work reported here the local waste collection authority (Charnwood Borough Council) has adopted the aspirational strategy of becoming a “Zero Waste Borough” to lead the drive for public participation. The work concludes that the separate collection of food waste would be needed to meet the two regulatory standards on recycling and biologically active wastes.

An analysis of a neighbouring Authority (Newcastle-Under-Lyne Borough Council (NBC), a similar sized local authority that has a successful weekly food waste collection service was undertaken. Results indicate that the main challenges for Charnwood Borough Council would be gaining householder co-operation, the extra costs of collection and organising alternative treatment. The analysis also demonstrated that there was potential offset value via anaerobic digestion for CBC to overcome these difficulties and improve its recycling performance.

Keywords: England, Food Waste Collections, Household Waste, Local Authority.

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Authors: Adriana Souza M. Batista, Cláubia Pereira, Luiz O. Faria

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The irradiation of polymeric materials has received much attention because it can produce diverse changes in chemical structure and physical properties. Thus, studying the chemical and structural changes of polymers is important in practice to achieve optimal conditions for the modification of polymers. The effect of gamma irradiation on the crystalline structure of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) has been investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction techniques (XRD). Gamma irradiation was carried out in atmosphere air with doses between 100 kGy at 3,000 kGy with a Co-60 source. In the melting thermogram of the samples irradiated can be seen a bimodal melting endotherm is detected with two melting temperature. The lower melting temperature is attributed to melting of crystals originally present and the higher melting peak due to melting of crystals reorganized upon heat treatment. These results are consistent with those obtained by XRD technique showing increasing crystallinity with increasing irradiation dose, although the melting latent heat is decreasing.

Keywords: Differential scanning calorimetry, gamma irradiation, PVDF, X-ray diffraction technique.

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Authors: W. Intagun, T. Khamdaeng, P. Prom-ngarm, N. Panyoyai

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Biochar has been used as a soil amendment since it has high porous structure and has proper nutrients and chemical properties for plants. Product yields produced from biochar kiln are dependent on process parameters and kiln types used. The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of core puncture diameter on biochar kiln efficiency, i.e., yields of biochar and produced gas. Corncobs were used as raw material to produce biochar. Briquettes from agricultural wastes were used as fuel. Each treatment was performed by changing the core puncture diameter. From the experiment, it is revealed that the yield of biochar at the core puncture diameter of 3.18 mm, 4.76 mm, and 6.35 mm was 10.62 wt. %, 24.12 wt. %, and 12.24 wt. %, of total solid yields, respectively. The yield of produced gas increased with increasing the core puncture diameter. The maximum percentage by weight of the yield of produced gas was 81.53 wt. % which was found at the core puncture diameter of 6.35 mm. The core puncture diameter was furthermore found to affect the temperature distribution inside the kiln and its thermal efficiency. In conclusion, the high efficient biochar kiln can be designed and constructed by using the proper core puncture diameter.

Keywords: Anila stove, biochar, soil conditioning materials, temperature distribution.

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Authors: K.K. Sharma, K.M.K. Sinha, T.G. Charan, D.D. Haldar

Abstract:

An attempt has been made to beneficiate the Indian coking coal fines by a combination of Spiral, flotation and Oleo Flotation processes. Beneficiation studies were also carried out on - 0.5mm coal fines using flotation and oleo flotation by splitting at size 0.063mm.Size fraction of 0.5mm-0.063mm and -0.063mm size were treated in flotation and Oleo flotation respectively. The washability studies on the fraction 3-0.5 mm indicated that good separation may be achieved when it is fed in a spiral. Combined product of Spiral, Flotation and Oleo Flotation has given a significant yield at acceptable ash%. Studies were also conducted to see the dewatering of combined product by batch type centrifuge. It may further be suggested that combination of different processes may be used to treat the -3 mm fraction in an integrated manner to achieve the yield at the desired ash level. The treatment of the 3/1 mm -0.5 mm size fraction by spiral,-0.5-0.63 mm by conventional froth flotation and - 0.063 fractions by oleo flotation may provide a complete solution of beneficiation and dewatering of coal fines, and can effectively address the environmental problems caused by coal fines.

Keywords: coal fines, dewatering, environment, flotation, oleoflotation, spiral

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Authors: S. C. Santos, S. R. Dionísio, A. L. D. De Andrade, L. R. Roque, A. C. Da Costa, J. L. Ienczak

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In this work, two fermentations at different temperatures (25 and 30ºC), with cell recycling, were accomplished to produce ethanol, using a mix of commercial substrates, xylose (70%) and glucose (30%), as organic source for Scheffersomyces stipitis. Five consecutive fermentations of 80 g L-1 (1º, 2º and 3º recycles), 96 g L-1 (4º recycle) and 120 g L-1 (5º recycle)reduced sugars led to a final maximum ethanol concentration of 17.2 and 34.5 g L-1, at 25 and 30ºC, respectively. Glucose was the preferred substrate; moreover xylose startup degradation was initiated after a remaining glucose presence in the medium. Results showed that yeast acid treatment, performed before each cycle, provided improvements on cell viability, accompanied by ethanol productivity of 2.16 g L-1 h- 1 at 30ºC. A maximum 36% of xylose was retained in the fermentation medium and after five-cycle fermentation an ethanol yield of 0.43 g ethanol/g sugars was observed. S. stipitis fermentation capacity and tolerance showed better results at 30ºC with 83.4% of theoretical yield referenced on initial biomass.

Keywords: 5-carbon sugar, cell recycling fermenter, mixed sugars, xylose-fermenting yeast.

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Authors: Watcharakorn Thongchuay, Puntip Toghaw, Montri Maleewong

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The Wavelet-Galerkin finite element method for solving the one-dimensional heat equation is presented in this work. Two types of basis functions which are the Lagrange and multi-level wavelet bases are employed to derive the full form of matrix system. We consider both linear and quadratic bases in the Galerkin method. Time derivative is approximated by polynomial time basis that provides easily extend the order of approximation in time space. Our numerical results show that the rate of convergences for the linear Lagrange and the linear wavelet bases are the same and in order 2 while the rate of convergences for the quadratic Lagrange and the quadratic wavelet bases are approximately in order 4. It also reveals that the wavelet basis provides an easy treatment to improve numerical resolutions that can be done by increasing just its desired levels in the multilevel construction process.

Keywords: Galerkin finite element method, Heat equation , Lagrange basis function, Wavelet basis function.

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Authors: N. K. Srivastava, M. K. Jha, I. D. Mall, Davinder Singh

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The treatment of the industrial wastewater can be particularly difficult in the presence of toxic compounds. Excessive concentration of Chromium in soluble form is toxic to a wide variety of living organisms. Biological removal of heavy metals using natural and genetically engineered microorganisms has aroused great interest because of its lower impact on the environment. Ralston metallidurans, formerly known as Alcaligenes eutrophus is a LProteobacterium colonizing industrial wastewater with a high content of heavy metals. Tris-buffered mineral salt medium was used for growing Alcaligenes eutrophus AE104 (pEBZ141). The cells were cultivated for 18 h at 30 oC in Tris-buffered mineral salt medium containing 3 mM disodium sulphate and 46 mM sodium gluconate as the carbon source. The cells were harvested by centrifugation, washed, and suspended in 10 mM Tris HCl, pH 7.0, containing 46 mM sodium gluconate, and 5 mM Chromium. Interaction among induction of chr resistance determinant, and chromate reduction have been demonstrated. Results of this study show that the above bacteria can be very useful for bioremediation of chromium from industrial wastewater.

Keywords: Chromium, Genetic Engineering, IndustrialWastewater, Plasmid

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Authors: Sonia Alberti

Abstract:

The Regional Conference to Restructure Psychiatric Care in Latin America, convened by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in 1990, oriented the Brazilian Federal Act in 2001 that stipulated the psychiatric reform which requires deinstitutionalization and community-based treatment. Since then, the 15 years’ experience of different working teams in mental health led an academic working group – supervisors from personal practices, professors and researchers – to discuss certain clinical issues, as well as supervisions, and to organize colloquia in different cities as a methodology. These colloquia count on the participation of different working teams from the cities in which they are held, with team members with different levels of educational degrees and prior experiences, in order to increase dialogue right where it does not always appear to be possible. The principal aim of these colloquia is to gain interlocution between practitioners and academics. Working with the theory of case constructions, this methodology revealed itself helpful in unfolding new solutions. The paper also observes that there is not always harmony between what the psychiatric reform demands and clinical ethics.

Keywords: Mental health, supervision, clinical cases, Brazilian experience.

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Authors: Ahmed Arkoazi, Hussein Znad, Ranjeet Utikar

Abstract:

The synergistic impact and optimization of gas flow rate, concentration of CO₂, and light intensity on CO₂ biofixation rate were investigated using wastewater as a medium to cultivate Chlorella vulgaris under different conditions (gas flow rate 1-8 L/min), CO₂ concentration (0.03-7%), and light intensity (150-400 µmol/m².s)). Response Surface Methodology and Box-Behnken experimental Design were applied to find optimum values for gas flow rate, CO₂ concentration, and light intensity. The optimum values of the three independent variables (gas flow rate, concentration of CO₂, and light intensity) and desirability were 7.5 L/min, 3.5%, and 400 µmol/m².s, and 0.904, respectively. The highest amount of biomass produced and CO₂ biofixation rate at optimum conditions were 5.7 g/L, 1.23 gL^-1d^-1, respectively. The synergistic effect between gas flow rate and concentration of CO₂, and between gas flow rate and light intensity was significant on the three responses, while the effect between CO₂ concentration and light intensity was less significant on CO₂ biofixation rate. The results of this study could be highly helpful when using microalgae for CO₂ biofixation in wastewater treatment.

Keywords: Synergistic impact, optimization, CO2 biofixation, airlift reactor.

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Authors: H.K. Luk, Y.M. Lai, L. Qin, C.W. Chan, Z. Liu, Y.P. Huang, Y.P. Zheng

Abstract:

Ultrasound is useful in demonstrating bone mineral density of regenerating osseous tissue as well as structural alterations. A proposed ultrasound method, which included ultrasonography and acoustic parameters measurement, was employed to evaluate its efficacy in monitoring the bone callus changes in a rabbit tibial distraction osteogenesis (DO) model. The findings demonstrated that ultrasonographic images depicted characteristic changes of the bone callus, typical of histology findings, during the distraction phase. Follow-up acoustic parameters measurement of the bone callus, including speed of sound, reflection and attenuation, showed significant linear changes over time during the distraction phase. The acoustic parameters obtained during the distraction phase also showed moderate to strong correlation with consolidated bone callus density and micro-architecture measured by micro-computed tomography at the end of the consolidation phase. The results support the preferred use of ultrasound imaging in the early monitoring of bone callus changes during DO treatment.

Keywords: Bone Callus Growth, Rabbit Tibial DistractionOsteogenesis, Ultrasonography, Ultrasonometry

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