The dust-collection system, as the core of a sweeper vehicle, directly inhales dust particles on the pavement. The influence of variable operational conditions on particle-separation performance was investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) Euler−Lagrange multiphase model. The particle-separation performance efficiency and retention time were used to evaluate the dust-collection efficiency. The uniform design (UD) and multiple regression analysis (MRA) methods were employed to predict and optimize the effects of reverse-blowing flow rate, pressure drop, and traveling speed on separation efficiency. The results indicated that the dust-collection performance initially increased and then decreased with increasing reverse-blowing flow rate. As the pressure drop increased, there was an increase in total dust-collection efficiency. However, the efficiency decreased with increasing traveling speed. The regression model showed that the proposed approach was able to predict the part... [more]

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a recent rising concern amongst diabetics and diabetologist. Characterized by abnormal renal function and ending in total loss of kidney function, this is becoming a lurking danger for the ever increasing population of diabetics. This review touches upon the intensity of this complication and briefly reviews the role of bioinformatics in the area of diabetes. The advances made in the area of DN using proteomic approaches are presented. Compared to the enumerable inputs observed through the use of bioinformatics resources in the area of proteomics and even diabetes, the existing scenario of skeletal application of bioinformatics advances to DN is highlighted and the reasons behind this discussed. As this review highlights, almost none of the well-established tools that have brought breakthroughs in proteomic research have been applied into DN. Laborious, voluminous, cost expensive and time-consuming methodologies and advances in diagnostics and biomarker dis... [more]

The processing of fine and ultrafine particles using a fluidized bed is challenging in view of their unpredictable hydrodynamic behavior due to interparticle forces. The use of assisted fluidization techniques in such cases can be effective in improving the bed hydrodynamics. This work investigates the dynamics of pulsed fluidized bed of ultrafine nanosilica subjected to square-wave flow pulsations. The pulse duration used in this study is sufficient to allow the complete collapse of the pulsed fluidized bed between two consecutive flow pulsations. The proposed pulsation strategy is carefully implemented using electronic mass flow controllers with the help of analog output signals from data acquisition system. Given that the different regions of the fluidized bed exhibit varying dynamics, which together contribute to overall bed dynamics, the bed transients in the upper, central, and lower regions of the fluidized bed are monitored using several sensitive pressure transducers located a... [more]

Based on fifteen European plant species, a statistical model for the estimation of the anaerobic biodegradability of plant material was developed. We show that this new approach represents an accurate and cost-effective method to identify valuable energy plants for sustainable energy production. In particular, anaerobic biodegradability (Bo) of lignocellulosic material was empirically found to be related to the amount of cellulose plus lignin, as analytically assessed by the van Soest method, i.e., the acid detergent fiber (ADF) value. Apart from being theoretically meaningful, the ADF-based empirical model requires the least effort compared to the other four proposed conceptual models proposed, as individual fractions of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin do not need to be assessed, which also enhances the predictive accuracy of the model’s estimation. The model’s results showed great predictability power, allowing us to identify interesting crops for sustainable crop rotations. Fin... [more]

In this study, the response surface methodology (RSM) and desirability function (DF) were utilized to optimize the recycling conditions of aluminum (AA6061) chips, in the presence of particulate alumina (Al2O3), to obtain a metal matrix composite of recycled aluminum (MMC-AlR) using hot press forging processes. The effects of temperature (430−530 °C) and holding time (60−120 min) were investigated. The introduction of 2.0 wt. % of Al2O3 to the aluminum matrix was based on preliminary research and some pilot tests. This study employed the 2k factorial design of experiments that should satisfy the operating temperatures (T) of 430 °C and 530 °C with holding times (t) of 60 min and 120 min. The central composite design (CCD) was utilized for RSM with the axial and center point to evaluate the responses to the ultimate tensile strength (UTS), elongation to failure (ETF), and microhardness (MH). Based on RSM, with the desirability of 97.6%, the significant parameters T = 530 °C and t = 120... [more]

The aim of this study was to characterize the properties of lactoferrin (LF) obtained in a process developed for its isolation from acid whey derived from the production of fresh curd cheese, using a unique technology of ion-exchange chromatography on CIM® monolithic columns. The freeze-dried lactoferrin samples produced on the pilot plant (capacity 1 m3) were examined for the purity, iron-binding capacity, antibacterial activity, and pH- and temperature-stability. Apo-LF inhibited several tested strains (enterobacteria, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus salivarius) except clostridia, lactic acid bacteria, and bifidobacteria. Sample of LF intentionally saturated with Fe3+ lost its antibacterial activity, indicating the involvement of mechanisms based on depriving bacteria of an iron source. All samples, regardless of the iron-saturation level, exhibited stability in pH range 4.0 to 11.0. LF with higher iron content (A-value = 41.9%) showed better thermal stability. Heat treatment up to 72... [more]

This study aimed to investigate the performance of accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) as a green approach for the recovery of polyphenols and pigments from wild nettle leaves (NL). ASE was operated at different temperatures (20, 50, 80 and 110 °C), static times (5 and 10 min) and cycle numbers (1−4) using ethanol (96%) as an extraction solvent. In order to compare the efficiency of ASE, ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) at 80 °C for 30 min was performed as a referent. Polyphenol and pigment analyses were carried out by HPLC and antioxidant capacity was assessed by ORAC. Seven polyphenols from subclasses of hydroxycinnamic acids and flavonoids, along with chlorophylls a and b and their derivatives and six carotenoids and their derivatives were identified and quantified. Chlorogenic acid was the most abundant polyphenol and chlorophyll a represented the dominant pigment. ASE conditions at 110 °C/10 min/3 or 4 cycles proved to be the optimal for achieving the highest yields of analyz... [more]

Oxidative stress is a prominent event in several acute and chronic diseases including neoplasia. Although its direct involvement in carcinogenesis still remains to be clearly defined, a deeper knowledge of oxidative stress in oncologic patients could help to monitor their clinical outcome and to develop new therapeutic approaches. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to explore redox status in blood of neoplastic dogs affected either by multicentric lymphoma or by primary cutaneous mastocytoma. Superoxide anion (O2 •−), nitric oxide (NO) and hydroperoxides (ROOH) were measured. Detoxifying enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD) and total non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity (ferric reducing-antioxidant power (FRAP)) were assessed. The oxidative stress index (OSi) both for enzymatic (OSiE) and non-enzymatic (OSiNE) scavengers were evaluated. Both pathologies, showed a reduced NO generation, while O2 •− levels were decreased only in mastocytoma. The oxidative stress indexes showed a sign... [more]

The paper describes the process of n-butanol abatement by unicellular fungi, able to deplete n-butanol content in gas, by using n-butanol as source of carbon. Isolated and identified fungi species Candida albicans and Candida subhashii were subjected to a viability process via assimilation of carbon from hydrophilic and hydrophobic compounds. The isolates, which exhibited the ability to assimilate carbon, were immobilized on four different types of artificial support materials used for biotrickling filtration. Application of optical microscopy, flow cytometry and the tests employing propidium iodide and annexin V revealed viability of the fungi isolated on support materials’ surfaces at the average level of 95%. The proposed method of immobilization and its evaluation appeared to be effective, cheap and fast. Based on performed comparative analyses, it was shown that polyurethane foam and Bialecki rings (25 × 25) could be attractive support materials in biotrickling filtration.

This paper discusses the results of the influences of subcritical (T = 320 °C; P = 17 MPa) and supercritical water (T = 374 °C; P = 24.6 MPa) on the yield and composition of oil hydrocarbons generated from carbonaceous−siliceous Domanic shale rocks with total organic content (Corg) of 7.07%. It was revealed that the treatment of the given shale rock in sub- and supercritical water environments resulted in the decrease of oil content due to the intensive gas formation. The content of light hydrocarbon fractions (saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons) increased at 320 °C from 33.98 to 39.63%, while at 374 °C to 48.24%. Moreover, the content of resins decreased by almost twice. Insoluble coke-like compounds such as carbene−carboids were formed due to decomposition of kerogen after supercritical water treatment. Analysis of oil hydrocarbons with FTIR method revealed a significant number of oxygen-containing compounds, which are the hydrogenolysis products of structural fragments formed after... [more]

Pyrolysis process has been considered to be an efficient approach for valorization of lignocellulosic biomass into bio-oil and value-added chemicals. Bio-oil refers to biomass pyrolysis liquid, which contains alkanes, aromatic compounds, phenol derivatives, and small amounts of ketone, ester, ether, amine, and alcohol. Lignocellulosic biomass is a renewable and sustainable energy resource for carbon that is readily available in the environment. This review article provides an outline of the pyrolysis process including pretreatment of biomass, pyrolysis mechanism, and process products upgrading. The pretreatment processes for biomass are reviewed including physical and chemical processes. In addition, the gaps in research and recommendations for improving the pretreatment processes are highlighted. Furthermore, the effect of feedstock characterization, operating parameters, and types of biomass on the performance of the pyrolysis process are explained. Recent progress in the identificat... [more]

The employment of used vegetable oils (UVOs) as raw materials in key sectors as energy production or bio-lubricant synthesis represents one of the most relevant priorities in the European Union (EU) normative context. In many countries, the development of new production processes based on the circular economy model, as well as the definition of future energy and production targets, involve the utilization of wastes as raw material. In this context, the main currently applied EU regulations are presented and discussed. As in the EU, the general legislative process consists of the definition in each State Member of specific legislation, which transposes the EU indications. Two relevant countries are herein considered: Italy and Spain. Through the analysis of the conditions required in both countries for UVOs’ collection, disposal, storage, and recycling, a wide panorama of the current situation is provided.

Despite the utilization of dusting flour and oil to reduce dough stickiness during the production process in food industry, they do not effectively help in eliminating the problem. Stickiness remains the bane of the production of bakery and confectionery products, including cookies. In addition, the high moisture content of cookie dough is unduly important to obtain a high breaking and compression strengths (cookies with high breaking tolerance). This study was conducted in light of insufficient research hitherto undertaken on the utilization of response surface methodology and superimposition to enhance the stickiness and moisture content of quick oat-based cookie dough. The study aims at optimizating, validating and superimposing the best combination of factors, to produce the lowest stickiness and highest moisture content in cookie dough. In addition, the effect of flour content and resting time on the stickiness and moisture content of cookie dough was also investigated, and micros... [more]

A dynamic model of a Direct Methanol Fuel Cell is developed in the MATLAB platform. A newly proposed Coefficient Diagram based Proportional Integral Controller (CD-PIC) is designed and its parameters are calculated. The newly designed CD-PIC is implemented in a real time Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) experimental setup. Performances in real time operation of the Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) are evaluated. The performance of CD-PIC is obtained under tracking of set point changes. In order to evaluate the CD-PIC performances, most popular tuning rules based Conventional PI Controllers (C-PIC) are also designed and analyzed. Set point tracking is carried out for the step changes of ±10% and ±15% at two different operational points. The controller performances are analyzed in terms of Controller Performance Measuring (CPM) indices. The said performance measures indicate that the proposed CD-PIC gives the superior performances for set point changes and found very much robust in contr... [more]

Based on low-cost and easy to enlarge, the bubble column device has been widely concerned in chemical industry. This paper focuses on bubble plumes in laboratory-scale three-dimensional rectangular air-water columns. Static behavior has been investigated in many experiments and simulations, and our present investigations consider the dynamic behavior of bubble plume offset in three dimensions. The investigations are conducted with a set of closure models by the Euler−Euler approach, and subsequently, literature data for rectangular bubble columns are analyzed for comparison purposes. Moreover, the transient evolution characteristics of the bubble plume in the bubble column and the gas phase distribution in sections are introduced, and the offset characteristics and the oscillation period of the plume are analyzed. In addition, the distributions of the vector diagram of velocity and vortex intensity in the domain are given. The effects of different fluxes and column aspect ratios on bub... [more]

Multi-stage flash (MSF) desalination plays an important role in achieving large-scale fresh water driven by thermal energy. In this paper, based on first-principle modeling of a typical multi-stage flash desalination system, the effects of different operational parameters on system performance and operational optimization for cost saving were extensively studied. Firstly, the modelled desalination system was divided into flash chamber modules, brine heater modules, mixed modules and split modules, and based on energy and mass conservation laws the equations were formulated and put together to describe the whole process model. Then, with physical parameter calculation the whole process was simulated and analyzed on the platform of MATLAB, and the water production performance effected by operational parameters such as the feed temperature of seawater, the recycle brine from the discharge section, steam temperature and flowrate of recycled brine were discussed and analyzed. Then, the opti... [more]

The need for miniaturised reaction systems has led to the development of various microreactor platforms, such as droplet-based microreactors. However, these microreactors possess inherent drawbacks, such as rapid evaporation and difficult handling, that limit their use in practical applications. Liquid marbles are droplets covered with hydrophobic particles and are a potential platform that can overcome the weaknesses of bare droplets. The coating particles completely isolate the interior liquids from the surrounding environment, thus conveniently encapsulating the reactions. Great efforts have been made over the past decade to demonstrate the feasibility of liquid marble-based microreactors for chemical and biological applications. This review systemically summarises state-of-the-art implementations of liquid marbles as microreactors. This paper also discusses the various aspects of liquid marble-based microreactors, such as the formation, manipulation, and future perspectives.

Electrolyzed water (EW) shows great potential as a green and economical sanitation solution for the food industry. However, only limited studies have investigated the optimum electrolysis parameters and the bactericidal effect of acidic electrolyzed water (AcEW) and alkaline electrolyzed water (AlEW). Here, the Box−Behnken experimental design was used to identify the optimum parameters. The tests were conducted with different types of electrodes, electrical voltages, electrolysis times, and NaCl concentrations. There were no obvious differences observed in the physico-chemical properties of EW when different electrodes were used. However, stainless steel was chosen as it meets most of the selection criteria. The best-optimized conditions for AcEW were at 11.39 V, 0.65 wt.% NaCl, and 7.23 min, while the best-optimized conditions for AlEW were at 10.32 V, 0.6 wt.% NaCl, and 7.49 min. The performance of the optimum EW (AcEW and AlEW) compared with commercial cleaning detergents for the fo... [more]

This article is focused on the prediction of cutting material durability by Taylor’s model. To create predictive models of the durability of cutting materials in the turning process, tools made of high-speed steel, sintered carbide without coating and with Titanium nitride (TiN) coating, cutting ceramics without coating and with TiN coating were applied. The experimental part was performed on reference material C45 using conventional lathe—type of machine SU50A and computer numerical control machine—CNC lathe Leadwell T-5 in accordance with International Organization for Standardization—ISO 3685. Implementation of the least-squares method and processing of regression analysis made predictions of cutting tool behaviour in the turning process. Using the method of regression analysis, a correlation index of 93.5% was obtained, indicating the functional dependence of the predicted relationship.

We propose a new mathematical model describing a biotechnological process of simultaneous production of hydrogen and methane by anaerobic digestion. The process is carried out in two connected continuously stirred bioreactors. The proposed model is developed by adapting and reducing the well known Anaerobic Digester Model No 1 (ADM1). Mathematical analysis of the model is carried out, involving existence and uniqueness of positive and uniformly bounded solutions, computation of equilibrium points, investigation of their local stability with respect to practically important input parameters. Existence of maxima of the input−output static characteristics with respect to hydrogen and methane is established. Numerical simulations using a specially elaborated web-based software environment are presented to demonstrate the dynamic behavior of the model solutions.

Diagnosis of bearing faults is crucial in various industries. Time series classification (TSC) assigns each time series to one of a set of pre-defined classes, such as normal and fault, and has been regarded as an appropriate approach for bearing fault diagnosis. Considering late and inaccurate fault diagnosis may have a significant impact on maintenance costs, it is important to classify bearing signals as early and accurately as possible. TSC, however, has a major limitation, which is that a time series cannot be classified until the entire series is collected, implying that a fault cannot be diagnosed using TSC in advance. Therefore, it is important to classify a partially collected time series for early time series classification (ESTC), which is a TSC that considers both accuracy and earliness. Feature-based TSCs can handle this, but the problem is to determine whether a partially collected time series is enough for a decision that is still unsolved. Motivated by this, we propose... [more]

Nanoparticle-based therapeutics have been used in pulmonary formulations to enhance delivery of poorly water-soluble drugs, protect drugs against degradation and achieve modified release and drug targeting. This review focuses on the use of spray drying as a solidification technique to produce microparticles containing nanoparticles (i.e., nanoparticle (NP) agglomerates) with suitable properties as dry powders for inhalation. The review covers the general aspects of pulmonary drug delivery with emphasis on nanoparticle-based dry powders for inhalation and the principles of spray drying as a method for the conversion of nanosuspensions to microparticles. The production and therapeutic applications of the following types of NP agglomerates are presented: nanoporous microparticles, nanocrystalline agglomerates, lipid-based and polymeric formulations. The use of alternative spray-drying techniques, namely nano spray drying, and supercritical CO2-assisted spray drying is also discussed as a... [more]

This study aims to evaluate the sugar yield from enzymatic hydrolysis and the interactive effect pretreatment parameters of microwave-assisted pretreatment on glucose and xylose. Three types of microwave-assisted pretreatments of sago palm bark (SPB) were conducted for enzymatic hydrolysis, namely: microwave-sulphuric acid pretreatment (MSA), microwave-sodium hydroxide pretreatment (MSH), and microwave-sodium bicarbonate (MSB). The experimental design was done using a response surface methodology (RSM) and Box−Behenken Design (BBD). The pretreatment parameters ranged from 5−15% solid loading (SL), 5−15 min of exposure time (ET), and 80−800 W of microwave power (MP). The results indicated that the maximum total reducing sugar was 386 mg/g, obtained by MSA pretreatment. The results also illustrated that the higher glucose yield, 44.3 mg/g, was found using MSH pretreatment, while the higher xylose yield, 43.1 mg/g, resulted from MSA pretreatment. The pretreatment parameters MP, ET, and SL... [more]

Fluctuation in fossil fuel prices and the increasing awareness of environmental degradation have prompted the search for alternatives from renewable energy sources. Biodiesel is the most efficient alternative to fossil fuel substitution because it can be properly modified for current diesel engines. It is a vegetable oil-based fuel with similar properties to petroleum diesel. Generally, biodiesel is a non-toxic, biodegradable, and highly efficient alternative for fossil fuel substitution. In Malaysia, oil palm is considered as the most valuable commodity crop and gives a high economic return to the country. However, the ethical challenge of food or fuel makes palm oil not an ideal feedstock for biodiesel production. Therefore, attention is shifted to non-edible feedstock like Jatropha curcas Linnaeus (Jatropha curcas L.). It is an inedible oil-bearing crop that can be processed into biodiesel. It has a high-seed yield that could be continually produced for up to 50 years. Furthermore,... [more]

Since setup operations have significant impacts on production environments, the capacitated lot-sizing problem considering arbitrary length of setup times helps to develop flexible and efficient production plans. This study discusses a capacitated lot-sizing problem with sequence-dependent setup, setup carryover and setup crossover. A new mixed integer programming formulation is proposed. The formulation is based on three building blocks: the facility location extended formulation; the setup variables with indices for the starting and the completion time periods; and exponential number of generalized subtour elimination constraints (GSECs). A separation routine is adopted to generate the violated GSECs. Computational experiments show that the proposed formulation outperforms models from the literature.