Abstract: Bacterial strains capable of degradation of malathion
from the domestic sewage were isolated by an enrichment culture
technique. Three bacterial strains were screened and identified as
Acinetobacter baumannii (AFA), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PS1),
and Pseudomonas mendocina (PS2) based on morphological,
biochemical identification and 16S rRNA sequence analysis.
Acinetobacter baumannii AFA was the most efficient malathion
degrading bacterium, so used for further biodegradation study. AFA
was able to grow in mineral salt medium (MSM) supplemented with
malathion (100 mg/l) as a sole carbon source, and within 14 days,
84% of the initial dose was degraded by the isolate measured by high
performance liquid chromatography. Strain AFA could also degrade
other organophosphorus compounds including diazinon, chlorpyrifos
and fenitrothion. The effect of different culture conditions on the
degradation of malathion like inoculum density, other carbon or
nitrogen sources, temperature and shaking were examined.
Degradation of malathion and bacterial cell growth were accelerated
when culture media were supplemented with yeast extract, glucose
and citrate. The optimum conditions for malathion degradation by
strain AFA were; an inoculum density of 1.5x 10^12CFU/ml at 30°C
with shaking. A specific polymerase chain reaction primers were
designed manually using multiple sequence alignment of the
corresponding carboxylesterase enzymes of Acinetobacter species.
Sequencing result of amplified PCR product and phylogenetic
analysis showed low degree of homology with the other
carboxylesterase enzymes of Acinetobacter strains, so we suggested
that this enzyme is a novel esterase enzyme. Isolated bacterial strains
may have potential role for use in bioremediation of malathion
contaminated.
Abstract: An attempt has been made in the present
communication to elucidate the efficacy of robust ANOVA methods
to analyse horticultural field experimental data in the presence of
outliers. Results obtained fortify the use of robust ANOVA methods
as there was substantiate reduction in error mean square, and hence
the probability of committing Type I error, as compared to the regular
approach.
Abstract: Text mining techniques are generally applied for
classifying the text, finding fuzzy relations and structures in data
sets. This research provides plenty text mining capabilities. One
common application is text classification and event extraction,
which encompass deducing specific knowledge concerning incidents
referred to in texts. The main contribution of this paper is the
clarification of a concept graph generation mechanism, which is based
on a text classification and optimal fuzzy relationship extraction.
Furthermore, the work presented in this paper explains the application
of fuzzy relationship extraction and branch and bound (BB) method
to simplify the texts.
Abstract: Compositions of different molar ratios of
polymethylmethacrylate-co-methacrylic acid (PMMA-co-MAA)
were synthesized via free-radical polymerization. Polymer coated
surfaces have been produced on silicon wafers. Coated samples were
analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results have shown
that the roughness of the surfaces have increased by increasing the
molar ratio of monomer methacrylic acid (MAA). This study reveals
that the gradual increase in surface roughness is due to the fact that
carboxylic functional groups have been generated by MAA segments.
Such surfaces can be desirable platforms for fabrication of the
biosensors for detection of the viruses and diseases.
Abstract: The effect of the inclusion of thyme and rosemary
essential oils into chitosan films, as well as the microbiological and
physical properties when storing chitosan film with and without the
mentioned inclusion was studied. The film forming solution was
prepared by dissolving chitosan (2%, w/v), polysorbate 80 (4% w/w
CH) and glycerol (16% w/w CH) in aqueous lactic acid solutions
(control). The thyme (TEO) and rosemary (REO) essential oils (EOs)
were included 1:1 w/w (EOs:CH) on their combination 50/50
(TEO:REO). The films were stored at temperatures of 5, 20, 33°C
and a relative humidity of 75% during four weeks. The films with
essential oil inclusion did not show an antimicrobial activity against
strains. This behavior could be explained because the chitosan only
inhibits the growth of microorganisms in direct contact with the
active sites. However, the inhibition capacity of TEO was higher than
the REO and a synergic effect between TEO:REO was found for S.
enteritidis strains in the chitosan solution.
Some physical properties were modified by the inclusion of
essential oils. The addition of essential oils does not affect the
mechanical properties (tensile strength, elongation at break, puncture
deformation), the water solubility, the swelling index nor the DSC
behavior. However, the essential oil inclusion can significantly
decrease the thickness, the moisture content, and the L* value of
films whereas the b* value increased due to molecular interactions
between the polymeric matrix, the loosing of the structure, and the
chemical modifications. On the other hand, the temperature and time
of storage changed some physical properties on the chitosan films.
This could have occurred because of chemical changes, such as
swelling in the presence of high humidity air and the reacetylation of
amino groups. In the majority of cases, properties such as moisture
content, tensile strength, elongation at break, puncture deformation,
a*, b*, chrome, 7E increased whereas water resistance, swelling
index, L*, and hue angle decreased.
Abstract: Batteries of electric vehicles (BEV) are becoming
more attractive with the advancement of new battery technologies
and promotion of electric vehicles. BEV batteries are recharged on
board vehicles using either the grid (G2V for Grid to Vehicle) or
renewable energies in a stand-alone application (H2V for Home to
Vehicle). This paper deals with the modeling, sizing and control of a
photovoltaic stand-alone application that can charge the BEV at
home. The modeling approach and developed mathematical models
describing the system components are detailed. Simulation and
experimental results are presented and commented.
Abstract: In view of a possible application in optical data
storage devices, diffraction grating efficiency of an organic dye, Acid
Fuchsin doped in PMMA matrix was studied under excitation with
CW diode pumped Nd: YAG laser at 532 nm. The open aperture Zscan
of dye doped polymer displayed saturable absorption and the
closed aperture Z-scan of the samples exhibited negative
nonlinearity. The diffraction efficiency of the grating is the ratio of
the intensity of the first order diffracted power to the incident read
beam power. The dye doped polymer films were found to be good
media for recording. It is observed that the formation of gratings
strongly depend on the concentration of dye in the polymer film, the
intensity ratios of the writing beams and the angle between the
writing beams. It has been found that efficient writing can be made at
an angle of 20o and when the intensity ratio of the writing beams is
unity.
Abstract: Replacement of plastics used in the food industry
seems to be a serious issue to overcome mainly the environmental
problems in recent years. This study investigates the hydrophilicity
and permeability properties of starch biopolymer which ethylene
vinyl alcohol (EVOH) (0-10%) and nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC)
(1-15%) were used to enhance its properties. Starch -EVOH
nanocomposites were prepared by casting method in different
formulations. NCC production by acid hydrolysis was confirmed by
scanning electron microscopy. Solubility, water vapor permeability,
water vapor transmission rate and moisture absorbance were
measured on each of the nanocomposites. The results were analyzed
by SAS software. The lowest moisture absorbance was measured in
pure starch nanocomposite containing 8% NCC. The lowest
permeability to water vapor belongs to starch nanocomposite
containing 8% NCC and the sample containing 7.8% EVOH and 13%
NCC. Also the lowest solubility was observed in the composite
contains the highest amount of EVOH. Applied Process resulted in
production of bio films which have good resistance to water vapor
permeability and solubility in water. The use of NCC and EVOH
leads to reduced moisture absorbance property of the biofilms.
Abstract: In situ modified cyclohexanone-formaldehyde resins
were prepared by addition of alendronic acid during resin
preparation. Clay nanocomposites in ketonic resins were achieved by
adding clay into the flask at the beginning of the resin preparation.
The prepared resins were used for the synthesis of fire resistant
polyurethanes foam. Both phosphorous containing modifier
compound alendronic acid and nanoclay increases fire resistance of
the cyclohexanone-formaldehyde resin thus polyurethane produced
from these resins. The effect of the concentrations of alendronic acid
and clay on the fire resistance and physical properties of
polyurethanes was studied.
Abstract: A feeding experiment was conducted to determine the
optimum dietary protein and lipid levels for juvenile fancy carp. Eight
experimental diets were formulated to contain four protein levels (200,
300, 400 and 500 g kg-1) with two lipid levels (70 and 140 g kg-1).
Triplicate groups of fish (initial weight, 12.1±0.2 g fish-1) were
hand-fed the diets to apparent satiation for 8 weeks. Fish growth
performance, feed utilization and feed intake were significantly
(P0.05). Weight gain and feed efficiency ratio tended to
increase as dietary protein level increased up to 400 and 500 g kg-1,
respectively. Daily feed intake of fish decreased with increasing
dietary protein level and that of fish fed diet contained 500 g kg-1
protein was significantly lower than other fish groups. The protein
efficiency ratio of fish fed 400 and 500 g kg-1 protein was lower than
that of fish fed 200 and 300 g kg-1 protein. Moisture, crude protein and
crude lipid contents of muscle and liver were significantly affected by
dietary protein, but not by dietary lipid level (P>0.05). The increase in
dietary lipid level resulted in an increase in linoleic acid in liver and
muscle paralleled with a decrease in n-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids
content in muscle of fish. In considering these results, it was concluded
that the diet containing 400 g kg-1 protein with 70 g kg-1 lipid level is
optimal for growth and efficient feed utilization of juvenile fancy carp.
Abstract: Liposome plays an important role in medical and
pharmaceutical science as e.g. nano scale drug carriers. Liposomes
are vesicles of varying size consisting of a spherical lipid bilayer and
an aqueous inner compartment. Magnet-driven liposome used for the
targeted delivery of drugs to organs and tissues. These liposome
preparations contain encapsulated drug components and finely
dispersed magnetic particles.
Liposomes are vesicles of varying size consisting of a spherical
lipid bilayer and an aqueous inner compartment that are generated in
vitro. These are useful in terms of biocompatibility, biodegradability,
and low toxicity, and can control biodistribution by changing the size,
lipid composition, and physical characteristics. Furthermore,
liposomes can entrap both hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs and are
able to continuously release the entrapped substrate, thus being useful
drug carriers. Magnetic liposomes (MLs) are phospholipid vesicles
that encapsulate magneticor paramagnetic nanoparticles. They are
applied as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
The biological synthesis of nanoparticles using plant extracts plays
an important role in the field of nanotechnology. Green-synthesized
magnetite nanoparticles-protein hybrid has been produced by treating
Iron (III) / Iron (II) chloride with the leaf extract of Datura inoxia.
The phytochemicals present in the leaf extracts act as a reducing as
well stabilizing agents preventing agglomeration, which include
flavonoids, phenolic compounds, cardiac glycosides, proteins and
sugars.
The magnetite nanoparticles-protein hybrid has been trapped
inside the aqueous core of the liposome prepared by reversed phase
evaporation (REV) method using oleic and linoleic acid which has
been shown to be driven under magnetic field confirming the
formation magnetic liposome (ML). Chemical characterization of
stealth magnetic liposome has been performed by breaking the
liposome and release of magnetic nanoparticles. The presence iron
has been confirmed by colour complex formation with KSCN and
UV-Vis study using spectrophotometer Cary 60, Agilent.
This magnet driven liposome using nanoparticles-protein hybrid
can be a smart vesicles for the targeted drug delivery.
Abstract: TiO2 thin films have been prepared by the sol-gel dipcoating
technique in order to elaborate antireflective thin films for
monocrystalline silicon (mono-Si). The titanium isopropoxyde was
chosen as a precursor with hydrochloric acid as a catalyser for
preparing a stable solution. The optical properties have been tailored
with varying the solution concentration, the withdrawn speed, and the
heat-treatment. We showed that using a TiO2 single layer with 64.5
nm in thickness, heat-treated at 450°C or 300°C reduces the mono-Si
reflection at a level lower than 3% over the broadband spectral
domains [669-834] nm and [786-1006] nm respectively. Those latter
performances are similar to the ones obtained with double layers of
low and high refractive index glasses respectively.
Abstract: At present, the evaluation of voltage stability
assessment experiences sizeable anxiety in the safe operation of
power systems. This is due to the complications of a strain power
system. With the snowballing of power demand by the consumers
and also the restricted amount of power sources, therefore, the system
has to perform at its maximum proficiency. Consequently, the
noteworthy to discover the maximum ability boundary prior to
voltage collapse should be undertaken. A preliminary warning can be
perceived to evade the interruption of power system’s capacity. The
effectiveness of line voltage stability indices (LVSI) is differentiated
in this paper. The main purpose of the indices used is to predict the
proximity of voltage instability of the electric power system. On the
other hand, the indices are also able to decide the weakest load buses
which are close to voltage collapse in the power system. The line
stability indices are assessed using the IEEE 14 bus test system to
validate its practicability. Results demonstrated that the implemented
indices are practically relevant in predicting the manifestation of
voltage collapse in the system. Therefore, essential actions can be
taken to dodge the incident from arising.
Abstract: Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has always been of
great interest in the food and agriculture industries. The development
of prediction models has facilitated the estimation process in recent
years. In this study, 110 crude palm oil (CPO) samples were used to
build a free fatty acid (FFA) prediction model. 60% of the collected
data were used for training purposes and the remaining 40% used for
testing. The visible peaks on the NIR spectrum were at 1725 nm and
1760 nm, indicating the existence of the first overtone of C-H bands.
Principal component regression (PCR) was applied to the data in
order to build this mathematical prediction model. The optimal
number of principal components was 10. The results showed
R2=0.7147 for the training set and R2=0.6404 for the testing set.
Abstract: Safety is one of the most important considerations
when buying a new car. While active safety aims at avoiding
accidents, passive safety systems such as airbags and seat belts
protect the occupant in case of an accident. In addition to legal
regulations, organizations like Euro NCAP provide consumers with
an independent assessment of the safety performance of cars and
drive the development of safety systems in automobile industry.
Those ratings are mainly based on injury assessment reference values
derived from physical parameters measured in dummies during a car
crash test.
The components and sub-systems of a safety system are designed
to achieve the required restraint performance. Sled tests and other
types of tests are then carried out by car makers and their suppliers
to confirm the protection level of the safety system. A Knowledge
Discovery in Databases (KDD) process is proposed in order to
minimize the number of tests. The KDD process is based on the
data emerging from sled tests according to Euro NCAP specifications.
About 30 parameters of the passive safety systems from different data
sources (crash data, dummy protocol) are first analysed together with
experts opinions. A procedure is proposed to manage missing data
and validated on real data sets. Finally, a procedure is developed to
estimate a set of rough initial parameters of the passive system before
testing aiming at reducing the number of tests.
Abstract: This study presents an attempt to evaluate the
antioxidant potential and antimicrobial activity of methanolic extract,
and essential oils prepared from the leaves of sage (Salvia officinalis
L.). The content of polyphenol in the methanolic extracts from the
leaves of Salvia officinalis was determined spectrophotometrically,
calculated as gallic acid and catechin equivalent. The essential oils
and methanol extract were also subjected to screenings for the
evaluation of their antioxidant activities using 2, 2-diphenyl-1-
picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) test. While the plant essential oils showed
only weak antioxidant activities, its methanol extract was
considerably active in DPPH (IC50 = 37.29 μg/ml) test. Appreciable
total polyphenol content (31.25 mg/g) was also detected for the plant
methanol extract as gallic acid equivalent in the Folin–Ciocalteu test.
The plant was also screened for its antimicrobial activity and good to
moderate inhibitions were recorded for its essential oils, and
methanol extracts against most of the tested microorganisms.
The present investigation revealed that this plant had rich source
of antioxidant properties. It is for this reason that sage has found
increasing application in food formulations.
Abstract: Heavy rare earth (HRE) oxalate concentrates were
prepared from the Egyptian crude monazite sand (graded about 47%).
The concentrates were specified quantitatively for their constituents
of individual rare earth elements using ion chromatograph (IC) and
qualitatively by scanning electron microscope (SEM) for the other
major constituents. The 1st concentrate was composed of 10.5%
HREE where 7.25% of them represented yttrium. The 2nd concentrate
contained about 41.7% LREE, 17.5% HREE and 13.6% Th. The
LREE involved 18.3% Ce, 10.5% La and 8% Nd while the HREE
were 8.7% Y, 3.5% Gd and 2.9% Dy. The 3rd concentrate was
containing about 8.0% LREE (3.7% Ce, 2.0% La and 1.5% Nd),
10.2% HREE (6.4% yttrium and 2.0% Dy) and 2.1% uranium. The
final concentrate comprised 0.84% uranium beside iron, chromium
and traces of REE.
Abstract: Brown seaweeds are abundant in Portuguese coastline
and represent an almost unexploited marine economic resource. One
of the most common species, easily available for harvesting in the
northwest coast, is Saccorhiza polyschides grows in the lowest shore
and costal rocky reefs. It is almost exclusively used by local farmers
as natural fertilizer, but contains a substantial amount of valuable
compounds, particularly alginates, natural biopolymers of high
interest for many industrial applications.
Alginates are natural polysaccharides present in cell walls of
brown seaweed, highly biocompatible, with particular properties that
make them of high interest for the food, biotechnology, cosmetics
and pharmaceutical industries. Conventional extraction processes are
based on thermal treatment. They are lengthy and consume high
amounts of energy and solvents. In recent years, microwave-assisted
extraction (MAE) has shown enormous potential to overcome major
drawbacks that outcome from conventional plant material extraction
(thermal and/or solvent based) techniques, being also successfully
applied to the extraction of agar, fucoidans and alginates. In the
present study, acid pretreatment of brown seaweed Saccorhiza
polyschides for subsequent microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) of
alginate was optimized. Seaweeds were collected in Northwest
Portuguese coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean between May and
August, 2014. Experimental design was used to assess the effect of
temperature and acid pretreatment time in alginate extraction.
Response surface methodology allowed the determination of the
optimum MAE conditions: 40 mL of HCl 0.1 M per g of dried
seaweed with constant stirring at 20ºC during 14h. Optimal acid
pretreatment conditions have enhanced significantly MAE of
alginates from Saccorhiza polyschides, thus contributing for the
development of a viable, more environmental friendly alternative to
conventional processes.
Abstract: Animal fats (camel, sheep, goat, rabbit and chicken)
and vegetable oils (corn, sunflower, palm oil and olive oil) were
substituted with different proportions (1, 5, 10 and 20%) of lard.
Fatty acid composition in TG and 2-MG were determined using
lipase hydrolysis and gas chromatography before and after
adulteration. Results indicated that, genuine lard had a high
proportion (60.97%) of the total palmitic acid at 2-MG. However, it
was 8.70%, 16.40%, 11.38%, 10.57%, 29.97 and 8.97% for camel,
beef, sheep, goat, rabbit and chicken, respectively. It could be noticed
also the position-2-MG is mostly occupied by unsaturated fatty acids
among all tested fats except lard. Vegetable oils (corn, sunflower,
palm oil and olive oil) revealed that the levels of palmitic acid
esterifies at 2-MG position was 6.84, 1.43, 9.86 and 1.70%,
respectively. It could be observed also the studied oils had a higher
level of unsaturated fatty acids in the same position, compared with
animal fats under investigation. Moreover, palmitic acid esterifies at
2-MG and PAEF increased gradually as the substituted levels
increased among all tested fat and oil samples. Statistical analysis
showed that the PAEF correlated well with lard level. The detection
of lard in some commercial processed foods (5 French fries, 4 Butter
fats, 5 processed meat and 6 candy samples) was carried out. Results
revealed that 2 samples of French fries and 4 samples of processed
meat contained lard due to their higher PAEF, while butter fat and
candy were free of lard.
Abstract: Corrosion inhibitors are widely used in concrete
industry to reduce the corrosion rate of steel rebar which is present in
contact with aggressive environments. The present work aims to
using Zamzam water from well located within the Masjid al-Haram
in Mecca, Saudi Arabia 20 m (66 ft) east of the Kaaba, the holiest
place in Islam as corrosion inhibitor for steel in rain water and
simulated acid rain. The effect of Zamzam water was investigated by
electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and Potentiodynamic
polarization techniques in Department of Civil Engineering - IUT
Saint-Nazaire, Nantes University, France. Zamzam water is
considered to be one of the most important steel corrosion inhibitor
which is frequently used in different industrial applications. Results
showed that zamzam water gave a very good inhibition for steel
corrosion in rain water and simulated acid rain.