Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The extraction of lactic acid by emulsion type of liquid membranes using alamine 336 in escaid 100

The extraction of lactic acid from aqueous solutions through an emulsion liquid membrane containing Alamine 336 as carrier was investigated. The influence of mixing speed, diluent type, surfactant concentration, extractant concentration, feed solution pH, stripping concentration, phase ratio, and feed concentration were examined. Liquid membrane consists of a diluent (n-heptane, toluene, kerosene, Escaid 100, and Escaid 200), a surfactant (Span 80) and an extractant (Alamine 336), and Na2CO3 were used as a stripping solution. It is possible to extract 91% of lactic acid from aqueous solutions using Alamine 336 in Escaid 100, as an extractant and a diluent respectively.
Deliquescence and Crystallization of Ammonium Sulfate Particles Internally Mixed with Water-Soluble Organic Compounds

The deliquescence and crystallization of ammonium sulfate particles internally mixed with water-soluble organic material have been studied, restricted to an organic mass fraction of less than 0.6. The organic species used were malonic acid, glycerol, levoglucosan (1,6-anhydro-β-d-glucopyranose), and Suwannee River fulvic acid. Our deliquescence results for systems with malonic acid and fulvic acid are in agreement with existing literature values. Glycerol deliquescence results are slightly lower than previous measurements. The levoglucosan results are the first of this kind. Total deliquescence relative humidities for the different systems are the same within the uncertainty of the measurements when the organic mole fraction is less than approximately 0.35. At an organic mole fraction of 0.6, the maximum deviation of total deliquescence relative humidities between the systems is approximately 10% relative humidity. We show that thermodynamic calculations based on a simplified version of a model recently p.
Biological Treatment of TNT-Contaminated Soil. 1. Anaerobic Cometabolic Reduction and Interaction of TNT and Metabolites with Soil Components

The explosive 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), found as a major contaminant at armament plants from the two world wars, is reduced by a variety of microorganisms when electron donors such as glucose are added. This study shows that the cometabolic reduction of TNT to 2,4,6-triaminotoluene by an undefined anaerobic consortium increased considerably with increasing TNT concentrations and decreased with decreasing concentrations and feeding rates of glucose. The interactions of TNT and its reduction products with montmorillonitic clay and humic acids were investigated in abiotic adsorption experiments and during the microbial reduction of TNT. The results indicate that reduction products of TNT particularly hydroxylaminodinitrotoluenes and 2,4,6-triaminotoluene bind irreversibly to soil components, which would prevent or prolong mineralization of the contaminants. Irreversible binding also hinders a further spread of the contaminants through soil or leaching into the groundwater.
Kinetics and Equilibrium Study of Cadmium Ion Sorption onto Date Pits — An Agricultural Waste

Activated carbons derived from date pits obtained as a surplus agricultural solid waste and natural date pits were used for the adsorption of cadmium ions from water. The effect of contact time, pH, temperature, cadmium ion concentration, sorbent dose, salinity, as well as the activation temperature on the removal of cadmium ions by date pits was studied. The maximum adsorption capacity of date pits for cadmium ions was obtained using the linear Langmuir isotherm model and used as a basis for comparative purposes. Three sorption kinetic models were used for explaining the probable mechanisms of cadmium ion uptake. The kinetic data for the adsorption process obeyed a second-order rate equation.
Electrical resistivity tomography as a non‐destructive method for mapping root biomass in an orchard

Multi‐electrode soil electrical resistivity (ρ) tomography was used for the non‐invasive study of tree roots in situ and their spatial distribution in an agricultural soil. The quantitative relations of ρ and root biometry and the contribution of different root size classes were investigated with two‐ and three‐dimensional 48‐electrode tomograms in an orchard in southern Italy on a Typic haploxeralf fine, mixed termic soil. Root biomass density (RD) and root length density (RLD) were measured destructively on coarse (>2 mm diameter) and fine roots, and soil paste electrical conductivity, water content, stone content, texture, organic matter and pH were measured on soil samples taken up to 0.48‐m deep. Areas of large ρ values (up to 460 ohm m) were found close to tree trunks and variability in ρ was related to RD (0–0.137 Mg m−3) only; the resistive response was from coarse roots. The effect of other soil variables on ρ was overshadowed by the presence of roots and therefore no significant multivariate relationship was found. A highly significant ρ‐RD gamma GLM model used to fit positively skewed data provides a useful framework for regression analysis when ρ is dominated by roots. Soil electrical resistivity is promising as a proxy for RD in orchards, but not for RLD, and the effect of tree roots on ρ needs to be taken into account in electrical surveys of soils.
Biological Nutrient Removal in Municipal Wastewater Treatment: New Directions in Sustainability

To control eutrophication in receiving water bodies, biological nutrient removal (BNR) of nitrogen and phosphorus has been widely used in wastewater treatment practice, both for the upgrade of existing wastewater treatment facilities and the design of new facilities. However, implementation of BNR activated sludge AS systems presents challenges attributable to the technical complexity of balancing influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) for both biological phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) removal. Sludge age and aerated/unaerated mass fractions are identified as key parameters for process optimization. Other key features of selected BNR process configurations are discussed. Emerging concerns about process sustainability and the reduction of carbon footprint are introducing additional challenges in that influent COD, N, and P are increasingly being seen as resources that should be recovered, not simply removed. Energy recovery through sludge digestion is one way of recovering energy from influent wastewater b.
The content and retention of some major and trace minerals in sheep's milk and cheese

aim of the study was to determine the content and retention of selected elements of sheep's milk in 5 types of sheep's milk cheeses: curd rennet (bundz - Bu), soft (bryndza - Br), brine (feta type - Ft), scaled-smoked (oscypek type - Os) and maturing cheese (semi-hard cheese - Pt). The heavy metal and arsenic (Pb, Cd, Hg and As) content of milk and cheeses was below the limit of quantification. Milk contained the major elements Ca - 2.47, Mg - 0.21, Na - 0.56, K - 1.49 and P - 1.67 g/kg, and the trace elements Cr - 0.024, Zn - 6.66, Fe - 0.69 and Cu - 0.09 mg/kg. Average major element content of Bu, Br, Ft, Os and Pt cheeses was 6.6, 7.1, 5.9, 10.3 and 9.0 g/kg for Ca; 0.39, 0.39, 0.33, 0.50 and 0.48 g/kg for Mg; and 3.9, 4.6, 4.5, 6.5 and 6.1 g/kg for P, respec- tively. Average trace element content of Bu, Br, Ft, Os and Pt cheeses was 0.050, 0.048, 0.045, 0.083 and 0.084 mg/kg for Cr; 18.77, 21.22, 17.95, 35.35 and 27.77 mg/kg for Zn; 2.11, 2.00, 1.94, 3.28 and 2.34 mg/kg for Fe; and 0.18, 0.24, 0.22, 0.35 and 0.31 mg/kg for Cu. The highest potassium content was characteristic of Br cheese, followed by Pt, Ft, Bu and Os cheeses (2.0, 1.8, 1.6, 1.4 and 1.2 g/kg, respectively). The Ca : P ratio in the ana- lysed cheeses ranged from 1.31 for Ft cheese to 1.68 for Bu cheese. The retention of most elements in the cheeses was similar and averaged 76.2% for Ca, 47.9 for Mg, 73.4 for P, 59.9 for Cr, 86.8 for Zn, 79.0 for Fe and 68.8% for Cu. Potassium retention was the lowest and showed significant differences; it was the highest in Br cheese (37.3%), intermediate in Bu, Ft and Pt cheese (28.7% on average), and the lowest in Os cheese (14.0%).
Antioxidant Activity and Constituents of Propolis Collected in Various Areas of Japan

Propolis is a resinous substance collected by honeybees from various plant sources. We examined the antioxidant activity of Japanese propolis from various areas of Japan: Hokkaido, Akita (Minamiakita and Kazuno), Fukushima (Aizuwakamatsu and Futaba), Gifu, Nagano, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Okayama, Tottori, Fukuoka and Okinawa. We prepared ethanol extracts of propolis (EEP), and evaluated the antioxidant activity of EEP samples by the β-carotene bleaching and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay systems. Further, we identified the major constituents in EEP by HPLC analysis by a photodiode array (PDA) and mass spectrometric (MS) detection, and quantitatively analyzed each component. EEP from Akita (Minamiakita) and Okinawa had relatively strong antioxidant activity, and was correlated with total polyphenol contents. Propolis from Akita (Minamiakita) contained large amounts of the antioxidative compounds, caffeic acid and phenethyl caffeate. Propolis from Okinawa appeared to have antioxidants not seen in propolis from other areas.
Condensational Growth of Polydisperse Aerosol for the Entire Particle Size Range

The condensation problem of polydisperse aerosols is investigated theoretically. The single particle growth rate suggested by Kulmala (1993) is approximated and simplified by neglecting the Kelvin effect and by adopting the harmonic mean method for the transition correction, which is a good approximation of the representative flux-matching theories. An analytical solution to the particle size distribution change by condensation is derived in an explicit form using the modified growth rate. This study represents the first analytical solution to the condensation problem of polydisperse aerosols for the entire particle size range. The derived solution is compared with results of the previous study of Kulmala (1993) and is shown to be reasonably accurate, except for very small particles for which the Kelvin effect cannot be neglected.
Scaling behaviour of different polymer models in dissipative particle dynamics of unentangled melts

We present a dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) study of scaling behaviour for three polymer models. The scaling behaviour is explored for the conformational and dynamic properties of unentangled polymer melts. DPD employs a bead–spring model together with an aggressive coarse-graining to represent polymers at the mesoscale. The first model studied utilises a simple soft repulsion potential for the bead–bead interactions together with a harmonic spring potential to connect beads into a polymer chain. The second model differs from the first model by replacing the harmonic spring with a finitely extensible nonlinear elastic spring. The third model uses realistic coarse-grain potentials for the bead–bead, spring and bending interactions based on the iterative Boltzmann inversion procedure and it corresponds to a mesoscopic model of polyethylene. We systematically vary the chain length and spring constant (in the case of the first and second models), and simulate the conformational properties such as the end-to-end distance or radius of gyration, and dynamic properties such as the centre-of-mass self-diffusion coefficient or viscosity. The scaling of the conformational and dynamic properties with chain length (scaling laws) is compared with the Rouse theory, which is considered as a standard theory for unentangled polymer melts. The comparison shows that simulated scaling laws typically agree with the Rouse scaling laws for the DPD polymer models with more than 10 DPD beads. For the shorter DPD polymers, deviations from the Rouse theory exist and become significant for the dynamic properties, especially for the viscosity of the polymer melts.
Chemical ozone loss in a chemistry‐climate model from 1960 to 1999

In the recent WMO assessment of ozone depletion, the minimum ozone column is used to assess the evolution of the polar ozone layer simulated in several chemistry‐climate models (CCMs). The ozone column may be strongly influenced by changes in transport and is therefore not well‐suited to identify changes in chemistry. The quantification of chemical ozone depletion can be achieved with tracer‐tracer correlations (TRAC). For forty Antarctic winters (1960–1999), we present the seasonal chemical depletion simulated with the ECHAM4.L39(DLR)/CHEM model. Analyzing methane–ozone correlations, we find a mean chemical ozone loss of 80 ± 10 DU during the 1990s, with a maximum of 94 DU. Compared to ozone loss deduced from HALOE measurements the model underestimates chemical loss by 37%. The average multidecadal trend in loss from 1960 to 1999 is 17 ± 3 DU per decade. The largest contribution to this trend comes from the 62 ± 11 DU ozone loss increase between the 1970s and 1990s.
Electronic Structure and Physical-Chemistry Property Relationship for Oxazole Derivatives by Ab Initio and DFT Methods

The geometric, electronic structure, effect of the substitution, and structure physical-chemistry relationship for oxazoles derivatives have been studied by ab initio and DFT theory. In the present work, the calculated values, namely, net charges, bond lengths, dipole moments, electron affinities, heats of formation, and QSAR properties are reported and discussed in terms of the reactivity of oxazole derivatives.
Design of Potential Hydrogen-Storage Materials Using First-Principle Density-Functional Calculations

The crystal and electronic structures of the entire series of alkali aluminum and alkali gallium tetrahydrides (ABH4 ;A ) Li, Na, K, Rb, or Cs; B ) Al or Ga) are systematically investigated using an ab initio projected augmented plane-wave method. For structural stability studies, we have considered several possible structural modifications, and reproduced successfully the equilibrium structures for the known phases LiAlH4, NaAlH4, KAlH4, NaGaH4, and KGaH4. Moreover, we predict the equilibrium structures of the other unknown members of this series. RbAlH4, CsAlH4, RbGaH4, and CsGaH4 should crystallize with the KGaH4-type structure, and LiGaH4 should crystallize with the NaGaH4-type structure. According to the density of states, all these compounds have nonmetallic character with a finite band gap of around 5 eV. Charge-density plot and electron localization function analyses show that the (BH4) subunits almost look like a separate molecular species spread over the A matrix. An ionic type of interaction is present between the A and the (BH4) units. Crystal orbital Hamilton population analyses reveal that the interaction between the B and H atoms is stronger than the other interactions present in these compounds.
Geotechnical Aspects of the Bangkok MRT Blue Line Project

This dissertation is on the geotechnical aspects of the completed Bangkok MRT Blue Line Project and its extension which is currently under design. There were 18 cut and cover subway stations and nearly 22 km of tunnels constructed by the use of earth pressure balanced shield tunnel boring machines. The soil profile model up to depths of 60 to 65 m consists of seven layers: Weathered Crust and Backfill Material; Very Soft to Soft Bangkok Clay; Medium Stiff Clay; Stiff to Hard Clay; Medium Dense to Very Dense Sand; Very Stiff to Hard Clay; and Very Dense Sand. The strength and deformation characteristics of the Bangkok subsoils are determined from laboratory tests (mainly oedometer and triaxial tests) and in-situ field tests (such as vane tests and pressuremeter tests). Additionally, the small strain behaviour is also investigated using Bender element tests in the laboratory and cross hole seismic tests in the field. The soil parameters needed for the deformation analyses are determined for the Mohr Coulomb Model, Soft Soil Model, Hardening Soil Model, and the Hardening Soil Model with Small Strain Stiffness.
Light intensity distribution in heterogenous photocatalytic reactors

In this paper, we have discussed the state of the art on numerical techniques for estimating light intensity distribution in photocatalytic reactors. After giving a brief introduction to various photocatalytic reactor designs, a detailed derivation of the radiation transport equation (RTE) has been presented. The RTE is an integrodifferential equation and needs appropriate boundary conditions and optical properties of the medium. To provide a boundary condition for the light emitted from the radiation sources, a number of lamp source models have been described. Different approaches for the numerical simulation of the RTE have been presented with special emphasis on the Monte Carlo and finite volume (or discrete ordinate) approaches. In the Monte Carlo approach, the reaction space was divided into small cubical cells. The path of a photon was traced using a stochastic approach. A conservative variant of the discrete ordinate model available in FLUENT was used to assess the effect of wall reflectivity, catalyst loading, and phase function parameter on the light intensity distribution. For relatively low catalyst loadings, the wall reflectivity strongly influenced the light intensity distribution. However, for an optically thick medium, the wall reflectivity had very little or no effect. The volume-averaged light intensity distribution decreased rather sharply with the catalyst loading and an opposite trend was obtained for LVREA. Finally, a semiempirical kinetic model was presented to evaluate the rate of reaction and conversion of a photoreactor using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach. Model verification was carried out using experimental data for photodegradation of Bayer liquor. A correlation coefficient of 0.974 between simulated and experimental results indicated that the proposed model was adequate. Copyright © 2008 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Draft-Tube Conical Spouted Bed for Drying Fine Particles

A study has been conducted on the performance of a draft tube conical spouted bed for drying fine particles. Batch operation has been performed with nonporous, porous, and open-sided draft tubes in order to ascertain the optimum configuration of this internal device. The nonporous draft tube requires the lowest minimum spouting velocity. Nevertheless, the solid circulation rate and the drying efficiency of the open-sided draft tube are superior to any other spouted bed configuration. Moreover, it allows for reducing the height of the fountain and, consequently, the height of the drying equipment.
Development of a Comprehensive Model for Diffusion-Controlled Free-Radical Copolymerization Reactions

In the present study a comprehensive mathematical model for diffusion-controlled free-radical copolymerization reactions is developed. Termination and propagation rate constants as well as initiator efficiency are expressed in terms of a reaction-limited term and a diffusion-limited one. The contribution of the latter term to the apparent rate constants is described in terms of the diffusion coefficients of the corresponding species (e.g., polymer chains, monomers, primary radicals), calculated using the generalized free-volume theory of Vrentas and Duda for a ternary system, and an effective reaction radius. The predictive capabilities of the present model are demonstrated by simulating three free-radical polymerization systems, namely, the bulk copolymerizations of styrene−methyl methacrylate, styrene−acrylonitrile, and p-methylstyrene−methyl methacrylate. It is shown that the model predictions are in excellent agreement with experimental data on monomer conversion, average molecular weights, and copoly.
A study of off-label and unlicensed medicines use in neonatal units

Despite all efforts to improve the on-label use of licensed medicines for neonates, there is still high percentage and demands of off-label and unlicensed medicines use in neonatal therapy. Therefore, the general objective of this survey is to provide a description of off-label and unlicensed medicines use within the neonatal therapeutic areas in a Department of Neonatology, University Clinic for Gynecology and Obstetrics, in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. All analyzed prescriptions were given in accordance with the Evidence Based Guidelines applied in the Department. During the three months’ period in 2015, there were given 1595 prescriptions, comprising 3.99 prescriptions per newborn during the hospital stay. Out of them, 532 (33.3%) were on-label medicine uses, 1052 (66%) were off-label medicines, and 11 prescriptions (0.7%) were unlicensed medicines. The results from this study show the high level of off-label medicine use in neonatal therapy. These results present only the “top of the iceberg” and require more comprehensive analysis that will gradually evolve in a National Guideline on off-label use areas in pediatric medicine, especially for critically ill newborns who are prescribed much more life-saving medicines.
Nutrient and Heavy Metal Concentration and Distribution in Corn, Sunflower, and Turnip Cultivated in a Soil under Wastewater Irrigation

To study the potential uptake and accumulati on of some essential elements and cadmi um, a field experi ment was conducted using three plants (sunflower, turni p, and forage corn in a randomized complete bl ock design (RCBD) with three replicati ons in a soil classified as Typic Haplog ypsids under wastewater irrigation. The experi ment site was selected i n the farmfiel ds located i n Varamin region in southern Tehran, Iran (2005). The results showed that maximum concentrati ons of nitrogen, phosphorus, zinc, copper, and cadmi um in sunflower were 6.05% , 1.27%, 97.27, 22.84 and 0.54 mgkg -1 respecti vel y. The highest accumulati on of nitrogen, phosphorus, zinc, and copper occurred in grain and cadmium in sunfl ower leaves. The maxi mum concentration of potassium and nitrate occurred in turni p leaves, while the maxi mum concentrations of iron and mang anese were recorded in the root and leaves of forage corn, res pecti vel y.
Métodos de estimativa da evapotranspiração de referência diária para a microrregião de Garanhuns, PE

For high frequency irrigation management, based on climate data, it is desirable to estimate reference evapotranspiration at small time steps. This work aimed at to evaluate the performance of daily reference evapotranspiration estimated by the following methods: FAO-24 Radiation, Priestley-Taylor, Hargreaves-Samani, Camargo-71 and Blaney-Criddle, for Garanhuns-PE micro-region, having FAO Penman-Monteith method as standard. Considering the mean absolute error (MAE), among other statistics, it was verified that the best performance was obtained by the Priestley-Taylor method. Regarding the methods applicable when only temperature data are available, the Hargreaves-Samani showed the best performance, having been calibrated based on the minimization of the MAE.
Effect of Different Solvent Ratios (Water/Ethylene Glycol) on the Growth Process of CaMoO4 Crystals and Their Optical Properties

In this paper, calcium molybdate (CaMoO4) crystals (meso- and nanoscale) were synthesized by the coprecipitation method using different solvent volume ratios (water/ethylene glycol). Subsequently, the obtained suspensions were processed in microwave-assisted hydrothermal/solvothermal systems at 140 °C for 1 h. These meso- and nanocrystals processed were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform Raman (FT-Raman), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), ultraviolet−visible (UV−vis) absorption spectroscopies, field-emission gun scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. XRD patterns and FT-Raman spectra showed that these meso- and nanocrystals have a scheelite-type tetragonal structure without the presence of deleterious phases. FT-IR spectra exhibited a large absorption band situated at around 827 cm−1, which is associated with the Mo−O antisymmetric stretching vibrations into the [MoO4] clusters. FEG-SEM micrographs.