Abstract: Historical monuments as architectural heritage are,
economically and culturally, considered one of the key aspects for
modern communities. Cultural heritage represents a country-s
national identity and pride and maintains and enriches that country-s
culture. Therefore, conservation of the monuments remained from
our ancestors requires everybody-s serious and unremitting effort.
Conservation, renewal, restoration, and technical study of cultural
and historical matters are issues which have a special status among
various forms of art and science in the present century and this is due
to two reasons: firstly, progress of humankind in this century has
created a factor called environmental pollution which not only has
caused new destructive processes of cultural/historical monuments
but also has accelerated the previous destructive processes by several
times, and secondly, the rapid advance of various sciences, especially
chemistry, has lead to the contribution of new methods and materials
to this significant issue.
Abstract: The quantitative determination of several trace
elements (Cr, As, Se, Cd, Hg, Pb) existing as inorganic impurities in
some oriental herb-products such as Lingzhi Mushroom capsules,
Philamin powder, etc using ICP-MS has been studied. Various
instrumental parameters such as power, gas flow rate, sample depth, as
well as the concentration of nitric acid and thick background due to
high concentration of possible interferences on the determination of
these above-mentioned elements was investigated and the optimum
working conditions of the sample measurement on ICP-MS
(Agilent-7500a) were reported. Appropriate isotope internal standards
were also used to improve the accuracy of mercury determination.
Optimal parameters for sampling digestion were also investigated. The
recovery of analytical procedure was examined by using a Certified
Reference Material (IAEA-CRM 359). The recommended procedure
was then applied for the quantitative determination of Cr, As, Se, Cd,
Hg, Pb in Lingzhi Mushroom capsule, and Philamine powder samples.
The reproducibility of sample measurement (average value between
94 and 102%) and the uncertainty of analytical data (less than 20%)
are acceptable.
Abstract: This study has investigated the antidiabetic and
antioxidant potential of Pseudovaria macrophylla bark extract on
streptozotocin–nicotinamide induced type 2 diabetic rats. LCMSQTOF
and NMR experiments were done to determine the chemical
composition in the methanolic bark extract. For in vivo experiments,
the STZ (60 mg/kg/b.w, 15 min after 120 mg/kg/1 nicotinamide, i.p.)
induced diabetic rats were treated with methanolic extract of
Pseuduvaria macrophylla (200 and 400 mg/kg·bw) and
glibenclamide (2.5 mg/kg) as positive control respectively.
Biochemical parameters were assayed in the blood samples of all
groups of rats. The pro-inflammatory cytokines, antioxidant status
and plasma transforming growth factor βeta-1 (TGF-β1) were
evaluated. The histological study of the pancreas was examined and
its expression level of insulin was observed by
immunohistochemistry. In addition, the expression of glucose
transporters (GLUT 1, 2 and 4) were assessed in pancreas tissue by
western blot analysis. The outcomes of the study displayed that the
bark methanol extract of Pseuduvaria macrophylla has potentially
normalized the elevated blood glucose levels and improved serum
insulin and C-peptide levels with significant increase in the
antioxidant enzyme, reduced glutathione (GSH) and decrease in the
level of lipid peroxidation (LPO). Additionally, the extract has
markedly decreased the levels of serum pro-inflammatory cytokines
and transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-β1). Histopathology
analysis demonstrated that Pseuduvaria macrophylla has the
potential to protect the pancreas of diabetic rats against peroxidation
damage by downregulating oxidative stress and elevated
hyperglycaemia. Furthermore, the expression of insulin protein,
GLUT-1, GLUT-2 and GLUT-4 in pancreatic cells was enhanced.
The findings of this study support the anti-diabetic claims of
Pseudovaria macrophylla bark.
Abstract: Borate minerals have attracted considerable attention in the past years due to their structural chemistry and mechanical properties in several industries. Recently, increasing attention has been paid to the use of; synthetically produced magnesium borates as catalysts reinforcing material for plastics, the conversion of hydrocarbons, electro-conductive treating agent, anti-wear and anti-corrosion materials. Magnesium borates can be synthesized by several methods such as; hydrothermal and solid-state (thermal) processes. In this study the hydrothermal production method was applied at the modest temperature of 80C along with convenient crystal growth. Using MgCl2.6H2O, H3BO3, and NaOH as starting materials, 30, 60, 120, 240 minutes of reaction times were studied. After all, the crystal structure and the morphology of the products were examined by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). As a result the forms of Admontite and Mcallisterite minerals were synthesized.
Abstract: Acid rain occurs when sulphur dioxide (SO2) and
nitrogen oxides (Nox) gases react in the atmosphere with water,
oxygen, and other chemicals to form various acidic compounds. The
result is a mild solution of sulfuric acid and nitric acid. Soil has a
greater buffering capacity than aquatic systems. However excessive
amount of acids introduced by acid rains may disturb the entire soil
chemistry. Acidity and harmful action of toxic elements damage
vegetation while susceptible microbial species are eliminated. In
present study, the effects of simulated sulphuric acid and nitric acid
rains were investigated on crop Glycine max. The effect of acid rain
on change in soil fertility was detected in which pH of control sample
was 6.5 and pH of 1%H2SO4 and 1%HNO3 were 3.5. Nitrogen nitrate
in soil was high in 1% HNO3 treated soil & Control sample.
Ammonium nitrogen in soil was low in 1% HNO3 & H2SO4 treated
soil. Ammonium nitrogen was medium in control and other samples.
The effect of acid rain on seed germination on 3rd day of germination
control sample growth was 7 cm, 0.1% HNO3 was 8cm, and 0.001%
HNO3 & 0.001% H2SO4 was 6cm each. On 10th day fungal growth
was observed in 1% and 0.1%H2SO4 concentrations, when all plants
were dead. The effect of acid rain on crop productivity was
investigated on 3rd day roots were developed in plants. On12th day
Glycine max showed more growth in 0.1% HNO3, 0.001% HNO3 and
0.001% H2SO4 treated plants growth were same as compare to control
plants. On 20th day development of discoloration of plant pigments
were observed on acid treated plants leaves. On 38th day, 0.1, 0.001%
HNO3 and 0.1, 0.001% H2SO4 treated plants and control plants were
showing flower growth. On 42th day, acid treated Glycine max variety
and control plants were showed seeds on plants. In Glycine max
variety 0.1, 0.001% H2SO4, 0.1, 0.001% HNO3 treated plants were
dead on 46th day and fungal growth was observed. The toxicological
study was carried out on Glycine max plants exposed to 1% HNO3
cells were damaged more than 1% H2SO4. Leaf sections exposed to
0.001% HNO3 & H2SO4 showed less damaged of cells and
pigmentation observed in entire slide when compare with control
plant. The soil analysis was done to find microorganisms in HNO3 &
H2SO4 treated Glycine max and control plants. No microorganism
growth was observed in 1% HNO3 & H2SO4 but control plant showed
microbial growth.
Abstract: Micro droplet formation is considered as a growing
emerging area of research due to its wide-range application in
chemistry as well as biology. The mechanism of micro droplet
formation using two immiscible liquids running through a T-junction
has been widely studied.
We believe that the flow of these two immiscible phases can be of
greater important factor that could have an impact on out-flow
hydrodynamic behavior, the droplets generated and the size of the
droplets. In this study, the type of the capillary tubes used also
represents another important factor that can have an impact on the
generation of micro droplets.
The tygon capillary tubing with hydrophilic inner surface doesn't
allow regular out-flows due to the fact that the continuous phase
doesn't adhere to the wall of the capillary inner surface.
Teflon capillary tubing, presents better wettability than tygon
tubing, and allows to obtain steady and regular regimes of out-flow,
and the micro droplets are homogeneoussize.
The size of the droplets is directly dependent on the flows of the
continuous and dispersed phases. Thus, as increasing the flow of the
continuous phase, to flow of the dispersed phase stationary, the size
of the drops decreases. Inversely, while increasing the flow of the
dispersed phase, to flow of the continuous phase stationary, the size
of the droplet increases.
Abstract: Polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption
spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS) in combination with electrochemistry,
was employed to study the influence of surface charge (potential) on
the kinetics of bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorption on a
biomedical-grade 316LVM stainless steel surface is discussed. The
BSA adsorption kinetics was found to greatly depend on the surface
potential. With an increase in surface potential towards more
negative values, both the BSA initial adsorption rate and the
equilibrium (saturated) surface concentration also increased. Both
effects were explained on the basis of replacement of well-ordered
water molecules at the 316LVM / solution interface, i.e. by the
increase in entropy of the system.
Abstract: The process for predicting the ballistic properties of a liquid rocket engine is based on the quantitative estimation of idealized performance deviations. In this aim, an equilibrium chemistry procedure is firstly developed and implemented in a Fortran routine. The thermodynamic formulation allows for the calculation of the theoretical performances of a rocket thrust chamber. In a second step, a computational fluid dynamic analysis of the turbulent reactive flow within the chamber is performed using a finite volume approach. The obtained values for the “quasi-real" performances account for both turbulent mixing and chemistryturbulence coupling. In the present work, emphasis is made on the combustion efficiency performance for which deviation is mainly due to radial gradients of static temperature and mixture ratio. Numerical values of the characteristic velocity are successfully compared with results from an industry-used code. The results are also confronted with the experimental data of a laboratory-scale rocket engine.
Abstract: The purpose of research was to know the role of
immunogenic protein of 49 kDa from V.alginolyticus which capable
to initiate molecule expression of MHC Class II in receptor of
Cromileptes altivelis. The method used was in vivo experimental
research through testing of immunogenic protein 49 kDa from
V.alginolyticus at Cromileptes altivelis (size of 250 - 300 grams)
using 3 times booster by injecting an immunogenic protein in a
intramuscular manner. Response of expressed MHC molecule was
shown using immunocytochemistry method and SEM. Results
indicated that adhesin V.alginolyticus 49 kDa which have
immunogenic character could trigger expression of MHC class II on
receptor of grouper and has been proven by staining using
immunocytochemistry and SEM with labeling using antibody anti
MHC (anti mouse). This visible expression based on binding between
epitopes antigen and antibody anti MHC in the receptor. Using
immunocytochemistry, intracellular response of MHC to in vivo
induction of immunogenic adhesin from V.alginolyticus was shown.
Abstract: The draw solute separation process in Forward
Osmosis desalination was simulated in Aspen Plus chemical process
modeling software, to estimate the energy consumption and compare
it with other desalination processes, mainly the Reverse Osmosis
process which is currently most prevalent. The electrolytic chemistry
for the system was retrieved using the Elec – NRTL property method
in the Aspen Plus database. Electrical equivalent of energy required
in the Forward Osmosis desalination technique was estimated and
compared with the prevalent desalination techniques.
Abstract: Hypernetworks are a generalized graph structure
representing higher-order interactions between variables. We present a
method for self-organizing hypernetworks to learn an associative
memory of sentences and to recall the sentences from this memory.
This learning method is inspired by the “mental chemistry" model of
cognition and the “molecular self-assembly" technology in
biochemistry. Simulation experiments are performed on a corpus of
natural-language dialogues of approximately 300K sentences
collected from TV drama captions. We report on the sentence
completion performance as a function of the order of word-interaction
and the size of the learning corpus, and discuss the plausibility of this
architecture as a cognitive model of language learning and memory.
Abstract: Groundwater is an essential and vital component of our life support system. The groundwater resources are being utilized for drinking, irrigation and industrial purposes. There is growing concern on deterioration of groundwater quality due to geogenic and anthropogenic activities. Groundwater, being a fragile must be carefully managed to maintain its purity within standard limits. So, quality assessment and management are to be carried out hand-in-hand to have a pollution free environment and for a sustainable use. In order to assess the quality for consumption by human beings and for use in agriculture, the groundwater from the shallow aquifers (dug well) in the Palakkad and Chittur taluks of Bharathapuzha river basin - a paddy dominated agricultural basin (order=8th; L= 209 Km; Area = 6186 Km2), Kerala, India, has been selected. The water samples (n= 120) collected for various seasons, viz., monsoon-MON (August, 2005), postmonsoon-POM (December, 2005) and premonsoon-PRM (April, 2006), were analyzed for important physico-chemical attributes. Spatial and temporal variation of attributes do exist in the study area, and based on major cations and anions, different hydrochemical facies have been identified. Using Gibbs'diagram, rock dominance has been identified as the mechanism controlling groundwater chemistry. Further, the suitability of water for irrigation was determined by analyzing salinity hazard indicated by sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), residual sodium carbonate (RSC) and sodium percent (%Na). Finally, stress zones in the study area were delineated using Arc GIS spatial analysis and various management options were recommended to restore the ecosystem.
Abstract: Moisture is an important consideration in many
aspects ranging from irrigation, soil chemistry, golf course, corrosion
and erosion, road conditions, weather predictions, livestock feed
moisture levels, water seepage etc. Vegetation and crops always
depend more on the moisture available at the root level than on
precipitation occurrence. In this paper, design of an instrument is
discussed which tells about the variation in the moisture contents of
soil. This is done by measuring the amount of water content in soil by
finding the variation in capacitance of soil with the help of a
capacitive sensor. The greatest advantage of soil moisture sensor is
reduced water consumption. The sensor is also be used to set lower
and upper threshold to maintain optimum soil moisture saturation and
minimize water wilting, contributes to deeper plant root growth
,reduced soil run off /leaching and less favorable condition for insects
and fungal diseases. Capacitance method is preferred because, it
provides absolute amount of water content and also measures water
content at any depth.
Abstract: Adsorption of Toluidine blue dye from aqueous solutions onto Neem Leaf Powder (NLP) has been investigated. The surface characterization of this natural material was examined by Particle size analysis, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The effects of process parameters such as initial concentration, pH, temperature and contact duration on the adsorption capacities have been evaluated, in which pH has been found to be most effective parameter among all. The data were analyzed using the Langmuir and Freundlich for explaining the equilibrium characteristics of adsorption. And kinetic models like pseudo first- order, second-order model and Elovich equation were utilized to describe the kinetic data. The experimental data were well fitted with Langmuir adsorption isotherm model and pseudo second order kinetic model. The thermodynamic parameters, such as Free energy of adsorption (AG"), enthalpy change (AH') and entropy change (AS°) were also determined and evaluated.
Abstract: Kepsut-Dursunbey volcanic field (KDVF) is located
in NW Turkey and contains various products of the post-collisional
Neogene magmatic activity. Two distinct volcanic suites have been
recognized; the Kepsut volcanic suite (KVS) and the Dursunbey
volcanic suite (DVS). The KVS includes basaltic trachyandesitebasaltic
andesite-andesite lavas and associated pyroclastic rocks. The
DVS consists of dacite-rhyodacite lavas and extensive pumice-ash
fall and flow deposits. Petrographical features (i.e. existence of
xenocrysts, glomerocrysts, and mixing-compatible textures) and
mineral chemistry of phenocryst assemblages of both suites provide
evidence for magma mixing/AFC. Calculated crystallization
pressures and temperatures give values of 5.7–7.0 kbar and 927–982
°C for the KVS and 3.7–5.3 kbar and 783-787°C for the DVS,
indicating separate magma reservoirs and crystallization in magma
chambers at deep and mid crustal levels, respectively. These
observations support the establishment and evolution of KDVF
magma system promoted by episodic basaltic inputs which may
generate and mix with crustal melts.
Abstract: Using DNA microarrays the comparative analysis of a
gene expression profiles is carried out in a liver and kidneys of pigs.
The hypothesis of a cross hybridization of one probe with different
cDNA sites of the same gene or different genes is checked up, and it
is shown, that cross hybridization can be a source of essential errors
at revealing of a key genes in organ-specific transcriptome. It is
reveald that distinctions in profiles of a gene expression are well coordinated
with function, morphology, biochemistry and histology of
these organs.
Abstract: Potassium monopersulfate has been decomposed in aqueous solution in the presence of Co(II). The process has been simulated by means of a mechanism based on elementary reactions. Rate constants have been taken from literature reports or, alternatively, assimilated to analogous reactions occurring in Fenton's chemistry. Several operating conditions have been successfully applied.
Abstract: Bioinformatics and computational biology involve
the use of techniques including applied mathematics,
informatics, statistics, computer science, artificial intelligence,
chemistry, and biochemistry to solve biological problems
usually on the molecular level. Research in computational
biology often overlaps with systems biology. Major research
efforts in the field include sequence alignment, gene finding,
genome assembly, protein structure alignment, protein structure
prediction, prediction of gene expression and proteinprotein
interactions, and the modeling of evolution. Various
global rearrangements of permutations, such as reversals and
transpositions,have recently become of interest because of their
applications in computational molecular biology. A reversal is
an operation that reverses the order of a substring of a permutation.
A transposition is an operation that swaps two adjacent
substrings of a permutation. The problem of determining the
smallest number of reversals required to transform a given
permutation into the identity permutation is called sorting by
reversals. Similar problems can be defined for transpositions
and other global rearrangements. In this work we perform a
study about some genome rearrangement primitives. We show
how a genome is modelled by a permutation, introduce some
of the existing primitives and the lower and upper bounds
on them. We then provide a comparison of the introduced
primitives.
Abstract: Sol-gel method has been used to fabricate
nanocomposite films on glass substrates composed halloysite clay
mineral and nanocrystalline TiO2. The methodology for the synthesis
involves a simple chemistry method utilized nonionic surfactant
molecule as pore directing agent along with the acetic acid-based solgel
route with the absence of water molecules. The thermal treatment
of composite films at 450oC ensures elimination of organic material
and lead to the formation of TiO2 nanoparticles onto the surface of
the halloysite nanotubes. Microscopy techniques and porosimetry
methods used in order to delineate the structural characteristics of the
materials. The nanocomposite films produced have no cracks and
active anatase crystal phase with small crystallite size were deposited
on halloysite nanotubes. The photocatalytic properties for the new
materials were examined for the decomposition of the Basic Blue 41
azo dye in solution. These, nanotechnology based composite films
show high efficiency for dye’s discoloration in spite of different
halloysite quantities and small amount of halloysite/TiO2 catalyst
immobilized onto glass substrates. Moreover, we examined the
modification of the halloysite/TiO2 films with silver particles in order
to improve the photocatalytic properties of the films. Indeed, the
presence of silver nanoparticles enhances the discoloration rate of the
Basic Blue 41 compared to the efficiencies obtained for unmodified
films.
Abstract: This paper discusses a qualitative simulator QRiOM
that uses Qualitative Reasoning (QR) technique, and a process-based
ontology to model, simulate and explain the behaviour of selected
organic reactions. Learning organic reactions requires the application
of domain knowledge at intuitive level, which is difficult to be
programmed using traditional approach. The main objective of
QRiOM is to help learners gain a better understanding of the
fundamental organic reaction concepts, and to improve their
conceptual comprehension on the subject by analyzing the multiple
forms of explanation generated by the software. This paper focuses
on the generation of explanation based on causal theories to explicate
various phenomena in the chemistry subject. QRiOM has been tested
with three classes problems related to organic chemistry, with
encouraging results. This paper also presents the results of
preliminary evaluation of QRiOM that reveal its explanation
capability and usefulness.