bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Preparation of raw oyster shell for removal of coomassie brilliant blue R-250 dye from aqueous solution
Authors: Veni V K , Brenda T H
Published: May 2021

The removal of dye from textile wastewater effluent has become an important process nowadays. In this study, raw oyster shell was used as adsorbent for removal of Coomassie Brilliant Blue R-250 (CBB) dye by using the adsorption method in order to reduce the amount of waste oyster shells in waters and landfills which can cause pollution. Various parameters such as adsorbent size, adsorbent dosage, initial dye concentration, contact time and pH were investigated to study the potential of oyster shell as an adsorbent. The optimum adsorption was obtained at adsorbent size of 75 µm and 2.3 g of adsorbent dosage at 50 mg/L concentration of CBB dye. Optimum contact time of the dye adsorption was determined at 9 hours and the most effective condition for CBB dye removal was at pH 2. The removal efficiency was achieved at 99.64%. Thus, this study shows potential as an economical and environment friendly dye removal process for wastewater treatment.
Physicochemical analysis of natural herbal medicated ointment enriched with Cymbopogon nardus and virgin coconut oil
Authors: Azmin S N H Mohammad , Halim A S Abdul , Nor M S Mat
Published: May 2021

Natural compounds from herbal plants have been extensively used for the application of various natural care products, including ointment. The essential oil ofCymbopogon nardushas been widely used in multiple applications such as mosquito repellent, perfumery and soap making. Besides, a small dose of this plant’s volatile oil could be applied to comfort the stomach and aid digestion. Therefore, this study aims to formulate herbal ointments with varyingCymbopogon nardusoil concentration and investigate different oil concentration effects on the ointment properties. In this study, five ointment formulations of ratio virgin coconut oil to herb, 1:2, 1:4, 1:6, 1:8 and 1:10, were evaluated. At the same time, five infused oil ratios to beeswax (5:95, 10:90, 15:85, 20:80 and 25:75) were used. Preparation ofCymbopogon nardusoil involved the soaking of the prepared plant in virgin coconut oil. The infused oil then was mixed with the beeswax before it was heated and left to be semi-solid (ointment). The ointment then was tested for physicochemical properties, including hardness, viscosity, pH, turbidity, and colour. The developed ointment showed a good result within pH 6-7.5. Ointment fromCymbopogon nardusshowed light green as visually observed. However, the colour became darker when the ratio ofCymbopogon nardusincreased. The developed ointments’ viscosity was almost the same as the commercial which the values were within 19.3-25 Pa.s. The comparison of the physicochemical properties of the developed and commercial ointments was almost similar. Thus, the developed ointment in this study can be considered safe and natural. However, the microbial and clinical tests must be conducted in further study to ensure the product’s safety.
Application of response surface methodology on sensory properties in the development of mushroom-based patties from grey oyster mushroom (Pleurotus pulmonarius)
Authors: Yusof N N Mohd , Yee Y K , Zakaria Z
Published: May 2021

Fast food especially meat patty has undeniably been a part of the culinary landscape across the globe. However, most of patties found in the market and fast food chains nowadays are made up with addition of fat and by-products which are considered unhealthy. Therefore, the objective of this study is to develop a healthy mushroom patty by optimizing the amount of mushroom and all-purpose flour in the formulation. Mushroom contains high protein and low fat content which can be an alternative for meat. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to investigate the effects of different amount of mushroom and all-purpose flour on the consumer acceptance towards sensory properties such as appearance, aroma, taste, texture and overall acceptability by using a 7-point hedonic scale sensory test. The optimized conditions suggested by RSM were found to be 60% of mushroom with 17% of all-purpose flour. At the selected optimum conditions as given above, the highest preference of appearance (5.97), aroma (6.13), taste (6.07), texture (5.87) and overall acceptability (6.10) were obtained. The high sensory analysis scores for all sensory properties indicated the success of this study which will benefit the research on healthier meat alternative products and provide wide opportunities for new food developments in the future.
Volatile organic compound modification by lactic acid bacteria in fermented chilli mash using GC-MS headspace extraction
Authors: Nor S Md , Yusof N N Mohd , Ding P
Published: May 2021

This study was conducted to assess the volatile compound generated in fermented chili using the static headspace gas chromatography (GC-MS). Three types of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) inoculant were used; Lactobacillus plantarum Alo1, Lactobaciluss pentosus Alo2 and Lactobacillus platarum Au2 for the lactic acid fermented chili mash. Raw chili and natural fermented chili mash were served as negative and positive control. The volatile compound was grouped into 7 main compounds consist of ester, alcohol, alkane, acid, hydrocarbon, ether and nitrogen-containing group. Study showed that LAB inoculated chili mash has lower amount of ethanol as compared to naturally fermented chili mash. Besides, volatile compound generated among each inoculant was different. A compound known as n-Hexadecanoic acid was the primary compound detected in all LAB-inoculated chili mash. Result proved that LAB can be used as the potential starter culture in modifying the aroma of fermented chili mash.
Quality preservation (total phenolic content and antioxidant properties) of mas cotek (Ficus deltoidea) leaves by postharvest technology using microwave drying
Authors: Johar H Mohd , Rukunudin I H
Published: May 2021

Postharvest technology is one of the crucial aspects of quality control in herb processing. Herb such as Ficus deltoidea (also known as Mas Cotek) is one of the 10 prioritized herbs shortlisted by the government of Malaysia. In this study, the postharvest treatment of Ficus deltoidea by microwave drying is studied in order to determine the best microwave drying method to preserve the total phenolic content and antioxidant properties of the dried leaves with respect to the fresh leaves. Three microwave power levels (300, 600 and 800 W) were used to examine the quality changes of dried Ficus deltoidea leaves in terms of total phenolic content and antioxidant properties. Microwave power levels were found to significantly (p < 0.05) affect the quality of the dehydrated Ficus deltoidea leaves. It was found that the total phenolic content and antioxidant properties were higher at the microwave power level of 600 and 800 W as compared to 300 W (p < 0.05).
Flexural and thermal properties of biocomposites from Cerbera manghas L. and polypropylene
Authors: Ong H L , Kam K W , Islam A M , Bautista-Patacsil L , Villagracia A R
Published: May 2021

Cerbera manghas L., sea mango (SM) was used as filler in polymer biocomposites. The hot melt internal mixing technology for blending SM as filler in polypropylene (PP) matrix is demonstrated. Different weight percentages (5 wt% - 25 wt%) of SM was added into the PP matrix. Results indicated that biocomposite with 10wt% of SM showed improvement in the flexural strength, and stiffness of the biocomposites was increased as the SM content increased. Further enhancement of biocomposites flexural properties, thermal stability and degree of crystallinity showed positive results when compatibilizer such as polypropylene-grafted-maleic anhydride copolymer (PP-g-MA) was incorporated in the biocomposite system. SM has played an important role in providing excellent thermal stability to the biocomposites, which increasing the thermal degradation temperature up to 25 °C at low filler content. The PP-g-MA compatibilizer improved the wettability between SM and PP with the presence of esterification bonding that bridged together both polymer matrix and natural filler.
Optimization of Upstream Processing for the Production of Bioethanol from Leucaena leucocephala Seeds using Kluyveromyces marxianus UniMAP 1-1
Authors: Ishak M Z , Kuan M L , Ismail K S K
Published: May 2021

Biofuel industry is gradually growing as the market starts to shift the demand from non-renewable energy sources to renewable energy sources The aim of this study is to produce bioethanol from biomass feedstock which is Leucaena leucocephala. It is a potential lignocellulosic energy source as it contains high composition of carbohydrates which can be broken down into fermentable sugar through pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis prior to the fermentation into bioethanol. Screening for both upstream processing were conducted by OFAT experiments to optimize several parameters tested such as pretreatment temperatures and NaOH concentrations. Fermentation process was conducted in Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF) conditions aided by Kluyveromyces marxianus UniMAP 1-1 as the fermenting microbes. This yeast is capable in converting sugar to ethanol at high temperature. The optimization of pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis by using OFAT gave the optimum value for both process prior to fermentation. The ethanol obtained from this SSF Fermentation is 3.15 g/L of bioethanol from 25.0 g/L of total sugars in hydrolysate. This report provides further information in the interest of producing bioethanol from Leucaena leucocephala seeds using Kluyveromyces marxianus UniMAP 1-1.
Potential of 2-Amino-2-Methyl-1-Propanol Solution as Absorbent for CO2 Absorption from Biogas
Authors: Rajiman V , Halim H N A , Shariff A M , Ali U F M , Dzahir M I H M
Published: May 2021

Biogas is a source of clean energy that mainly consists of methane (CH 4) and carbon dioxide (CO 2). However, the presence of CO 2 in biogas limits the heating value of the gas. Thus, biogas upgrading is a crucial process for reducing the CO 2 content in raw biogas for purified biomethane production. Chemical absorption is a matured technology for CO 2 removal process. The selection of chemical solvent with desirable characteristics is a substantial consideration for the effectiveness of the process. In this work, a potential solvent, 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP) was tested for the removal of CO 2 from simulated biogas. The absorption process was conducted at different gas flow rates (22.1 kmol/m 2.hr and 26.5 kmol/m 2.hr) in a packed column at an operating pressure of 2 bars. The performance was evaluated in terms of percentage of CO 2 removal along the column. It was found that the CO 2 removal performance decreased by about 15 % at higher gas flow rates. Besides, the absorption efficiency of AMP was also compared with a well-established solvent, monoethanolamine (MEA). The experiment substantiated that 30 wt.% MEA effectively captured CO 2 with 100 % removal as compared to 30 wt.% and 40 wt.% AMP with only 69 % and 87 % removal. In order to achieve high reaction rate for efficient CO 2 removal, the addition of activator to form a blended amine solution with AMP was suggested to accelerate the CO 2 absorption performance.
Microwave-assisted extraction of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) lipid
Authors: Hao M J , Elias N H , Aminuddin M H , Zainalabidin N
Published: May 2021

Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) contain high lipids considered as a sustainable feedstock for lipid production to biofuels. In this study, microwave-assisted extraction of BSFL was prepared. The response surface methodology was employed to investigate the effects of parameters, namely, microwave power (230 - 290 W), solid-solvent ratio (1:10 - 1:20 g/ml), and extraction time (20 - 40 min) for maximum lipid extraction. The data were statistically analysed to predict the optimal combination of factors, and finally, experiments were conducted for verification. By comparing verification tests and predicted results, the optimised microwave-assisted extraction operating conditions were 260 W, 1:15 (w/v %), and 31 min with 30.53% (g/g) of extracted lipids were attained. Besides, compared with the Soxhlet method, the extracted yield from the microwave-assisted extraction technique was improved by 20% without significantly affecting lipid characteristics. Therefore, microwave-assisted extraction is an efficient lipid extraction technique from BSFL. This study also provides an insight into developing the microwave-assisted extraction techniques for producing high lipid yield and acceptable lipid stability to produce biofuels.
Ammonium adsorption - desorption using rice husk biochar
Authors: Sohaimi K S A , Iberahim N I , Ghani A A , Zamrud Z , Heng C W
Published: May 2021

Rice husk was utilized into biochar by pyrolysis and used as adsorbent for ammonium removal. Rice husk biochar (RHB) was produced at temperature of 350°C, 400°C, 450°C, 500°C, and 550°C. Characteristics of biochar were analyzed by moisture content, ash content, pH Zero Charge and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy. As the temperature for the pyrolysis increases, the moisture content of RHB decreases while the ash content of RHB increases. From the pH zero charge analysis, the value obtained from analysis is pH 7. The FTIR spectra showed the organic part of RHB with different functional groups such as alkene, alcohol, phenol, ether, ester etc. Based on the result of the characterization test, RHB500 was chosen as the best biochar for the adsorption of ammonium. The equilibrium contact time was 180 minutes and the optimum adsorbent dosage was 0.1g and the optimum concentration of ammonium was 1.2 ppm. For the adsorption-desorption of ammonium, RHB can run up to 5 cycles for biochar regeneration. Adsorption kinetic, pseudo-second-order model is more preferable than pseudo-first-order model because R2 value is 0.9995 which closer to 1.
Carbon footprint analysis for Sunway University campus
Authors: Devandran A , Dewika M , NorRuwaida J , Sara Y Y , Khairunnisa M P
Published: May 2021

Carbon footprint can be quantified from the emission of carbon dioxide gas (CO2) through human activities, whereby it has impacted the environment. Burning of crude oil as a main source of fuel for combustion to provide energy for transportation and electricity production, releases various Greenhouse gas (GHG), mainly CO2gas. Hence, a study was conducted at Sunway University to calculate its carbon emission from electricity consumption and transportation usage by campus dwellers (Sunwayians) whereby CO2equivalent (CO2eq) computations were performed on monthly electricity consumption for the year 2018 till 2019 and the number of vehicles parked within the campus. Behavioural and awareness studies were performed based on survey questionnaires. Results indicated that the total Carbon Footprint from CO2emission for electricity consumption were 10,369 MTCO2eq and 10,005 MTCO2eq for year 2018 and 2019, respectively while emission from transportations scored 0.383 MTCO2eq per day. The survey showed that a significant correlation
Initial Study on the Growth of Haematococus pluvialis for Astaxanthin Production
Authors: Karim Fatin Fazira Abd , Mohamad Shaza Eva , Iwamoto Koji
Published: May 2021

This research emphasizes the identification of best nutrients among the four medium that will be used for a better growth rate of Haematococcus pluvialis. The growth rate of H. pluvialis is controlled or regulated by the physical and chemical parameters. Each of the parameters gives different yield productions to H. pluvialis. Different types of medium composed of different nutrients composition resulted in various maturation and growth rate of H. pluvialis monitored by the change in the optical density at 750 nm over time. The best medium was Rudic’s medium which gave OD750nm at 0.757 after 20-day culture. Then, Bold Basal medium, Basal medium and BG11 medium were followed as 0.677 at day 20, 0.358 at day 12 and 0.162 at day 15, respectively. Besides, this research also focuses on identifying the most suitable carbon source. Sodium acetate was found to be the best in the cultivation of H. pluvialis with the maximum absorbance of 0.99 in Rudic’s medium. The higher cell density cultures was achieved with 4 g/L concentration of sodium acetate. Carbon source also promoted better maturation process of H. pluvialis which will enhance yield of astaxanthin production in a shorter period of time. The primary composition that contribute to the high growth of H. pluvialis can be determined by adding 50% of concentration CaCl 2 in the medium with control flask contain 0.0585 g/L concentration of CaCl 2. The growth of H. pluvialis at day 9 was shown to increase by 27%. with absorbance of 0.301 if compared to control which gave absorbance 0.236. High concentration of CaCl 2 contribute to high growth of H. pluvialis.
Solar Dryer with Reheating System for Annatto Fruit Pericarp
Authors: Atienza A H , Cataluña L , Combis A , Cosino V A
Published: May 2021

Annatto fruit is one of the sources of natural food dye coming from its seeds. Aside from this part, the pericarp of the annatto fruit is a candidate for potential source of fuel. It is necessary for the pericarp to undergo drying prior to biomass energy conversion. The pericarp can be dried at least five days in sun drying to remove the seeds. In line with this, the researchers had designed a solar cabinet dryer introducing a reheating system and gravel used as thermal storage to lessen the drying time of the annatto fruit pericarp. The solar cabinet dryer had a multi layered wire mesh inside the drying cabinet that allows hot air from the collector to circulate and evenly dry the pericarp. Using the solar cabinet dryer, the drying time was lessened to seven hours with a drying rate of 4.37 g/min. The experiment compared three modes of drying consists of no reheating, with partial reheating and full reheating. During the drying process, several parameters such as the temperature, humidity and mass of each tray were measured, recorded and analyzed. It is found out that fully opened reheater has the highest moisture removed with 90.38% system efficiency.
Comparison of Ultrasound Assisted Extraction and Conventional Extraction Technique on Recovery of Phenolic and Flavonoid Compounds from Aloe barbadensis Miller
Authors: Osman WHW , Badri NL , Chong AT , Mohamad M , Sulaiman AZ
Published: May 2021

Aloe barbadensis Miller (Aloe vera) is useful for skin care and its bioactive compounds could replace the insecure chemical compounds that used in cosmeceutical application. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of solvents and ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) parameters such as duty cycle and sonication time on the concentration of phenolic and flavonoid compounds from Aloe vera. The extraction efficiencies of the best condition of UAE were compared with that of conventional extraction technique. The Aloe vera gel sample was used in this study. The total phenolic and flavonoid compounds were determined by using UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The result shows that extraction solvents significantly affect extraction yield of phenolic and flavonoid compounds, and it was found that ethanol to be the most suitable solvent. The best condition of UAE was duty cycle of 50% and 40 min of sonication time. The sonication time with the UAE was 40 min, which was six-times shorter than with the conventional extraction technique. The highest concentrations of total phenolic and flavonoid compounds using UAE were found to be 11.41±0.04 and 6.76±0.05 mg/mL, respectively. The UAE was found to be more efficient in extraction of phenolic and flavonoid in comparison with conventional extraction technique.
Synthesis and Characterization of Fly Ash-based Geopolymer Membrane for Methylene Blue Dye Removal
Authors: Daud N A Ahmad , Shamsuddin M R , Pradanawati S A
Published: May 2021

Utilization of fly ash-based geopolymer membranes for the removal of environmentally hazardous materials has become an attractive route due to its cheaper processing cost and prolonged use. This paper reports the preparation of geopolymer composite membranes and the filtration performance of the prepared geopolymer membranes for the removal of methylene blue (MB) contaminant. The geopolymer membrane was prepared by the dissolution of raw material, i.e., fly ash in alkaline activator i.e., sodium hydroxide solution. Various proportions of foaming agents as a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and egg white were added to investigate their impacts on the prepared membrane pore structures and morphology. The morphology, pore structure and functional groups of geopolymeric composite membranes were characterized using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) respectively. The performance of the membranes was evaluated for the removal of MB in aqueous solution using a lab-scale membrane filtration setup. The performance tests revealed a promising result with all the rejection was above R>90% for membranes GE0, GE1, GE2.5 and GE5, meanwhile the best permeation obtained was 15 L/m 2.h when GE5 was used. The results were correlated to BET and FESEM results which showed that the pore structures of GE5 were homogeneous and uniform while having the highest pore size which is 19.60 nm.
Spent Mushroom Substrate Based Fish Feed Affects The Growth of Catfish (Clarias gariepinus)
Authors: Zakaria Zarina , Rasib Nur Aziera Abd , Tompang Mohammad Fahrurrazi
Published: May 2021

A preliminary study was conducted to identify the effect of Spent Mushroom Substrate (SMS), a biomass from mushroom cultivation, towards catfish growth and intake performance when developed into fish feed. The fish experiment on catfish was conducted up to 12 weeks and analyzed on the weight, length size, survival rate and digestibility for the three types of SMS based feed in pellet form and a commercial pellet that applied for ten catfish each. Among the SMS based fish feed, Ganoderma obtained the highest weight of 32.46 g followed by White (30.71 g) and Abalone (17.74 g). For the length size, Ganoderma, White and Abalone SMS based feed had achieved in average 18.05 cm, 17.12 cm and 14.85 cm respectively. Commercial feed still manage to obtain the highest weight and length size as 39.33 g and 20.83 cm respectively. The survival rate was found 30 % higher in SMS based feed compared to commercial feed. The digestibility study of dry matter for Ganoderma, White and Abalone SMS based feed were found 77.34 %, 78.20 %, 77.76 % respectively whereas for commercial pellet was 60.92 % indicates that SMS based feed was consumed and digested better than commercial feed.
Potential of Wild Fungi (Amanita princeps & Tylopilus felleus) in Mycoremediation of Selected Heavy Metals in Soil
Authors: Zahari N Z , Calder A , Tuah P M , Cleophas F N , Adnan F A F , Budin K , Ali S A M , Rahim S A
Published: May 2021

This study was conducted to determine the potential of wild fungi, namely Amanita princeps and Tylopilus felleus in mycoremediation of selected heavy metals (Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Lead and Zinc) in soil. The wild fungi were collected in two different location which are at Sabah Agricultural Park, Lagud Seberang, Tenom and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) peak, respectively. The classification of fungi species and its characteristics was done by identifying their morphology and habitat. The uptake and distribution of heavy metals in their parts (root, stem and cap) were determined using ICP-OES instrument. The samples were digested using an acid digestion method; mixture of nitric acid (HNO3), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and hydrochloric acid (HCL). The result shows that the uptakes of heavy metal by both Amanita princeps and Tylopilus felleus in all plant parts were highest by Zn>Cu>Cr>Pb respectively. Study on phytoremediation mechanism shows that the enrichment factor (EF) for both fungi was recorded below 1 (EF<1) indicating the low ability to absorb and accumulate heavy metals. On the other hand, results on translocation factor (TF) shows that heavy metal Zn was higher with value more than 1(TF>1) on both species while Cu recorded high (TF>1) in Amanita princeps. The results also show that the TF value for most heavy metals are below 1 (TF<1), which suggested as both plants used as phytostabilization mechanism in reduction of bioavailability of heavy metals in soil.
A Novel Innovation Design of Advanced Sublimation Printing Machine
Authors: Masri M N , Hamid A , Mohamed M , Mohamad M , Sobri S A
Published: May 2021

The fabric manufacture change in the direction of the production of high value-added products, Malaysia has the capability to cultivate manufacturing and home fabrics, functional fabrics, and clothing. This paper aims on the development of innovative product by highlighting its benefits over the current sublimation printing machine. These incorporate by developing adaptable roller paper spindle, exterior refill ink tank and the infrared drying system. The impact of these improvements in technology vital is a rapid and useful process, enhance the output of the company, expertise transmission and distributing, reduce working expense and fewer waste of used fabric. At the same time, community socio economic development might be reached instantaneously.
Superior sewage sludge disposal with minimal greenhouse gas emission via fast pyrolysis in a fluidized bed reactor
Authors: Arazo R , de Luna M D , Capareda S , Ido A , Mabayo V I
Published: May 2021

In response to global carbon footprint reduction efforts, the promising waste-to-energy sludge disposal is assessed according to greenhouse gas emissions and biofuel production. Life cycle assessment and GEsTABouses were used in quantifying the CO 2 eq emissions of sludge disposal routes. In energy content assessment, fast pyrolysis experiment was done using a fluidized bed reactor, and the energy contents of derived biofuels were accounted for. The result shows that sewage sludge disposal through fast pyrolysis is the most environmentally sustainable route with the lowest emissions (696.7 kg CO 2 eq) compared to liming and land application (833.3 kg CO 2 eq), composting and land application (756.3 kg CO 2 eq), and incineration with household wastes (2805.3 kg CO 2 eq) per ton of dried sludge. The fast pyrolysis supremacy is illustrated by net negative emission balance (–1070.9 kg CO 2 eq), manifesting its significant contribution to emission mitigation. Fast pyrolysis has a high bio-oil yield (35.68 wt%) with a high heating value of 36.43 MJ/kg. Energy contents per ton of dried sludge are: bio-oil = 13.0 GJ, biogas = 2.73 GJ, biochar = 1.75 GJ. Overall, this study demonstrated fast pyrolysis as a superior sludge disposal route contributing to the environment and energy sustainability.
Eutectic freeze crystallization: application, process design and future potential
Authors: Mazli W N A , Samsuri S , Mohamad Annuar A
Published: May 2021

This paper aims to analyze the process of eutectic freeze crystallization, as well as its current use and future potential. The fundamental concepts of this process and the equipment required are studied to ascertain its advantages compared to conventional separation methods such as evaporative crystallization and reverse osmosis. Various equipment or combinations of equipment are also evaluated in terms of energy requirement and cost in order to optimize eutectic freeze crystallization based on situational conditions. By looking at current industrial applications of eutectic freeze crystallization, the future of this process and its feasibility in larger scale productions can be determined. Lastly, an in-depth analysis is carried out on the use of eutectic freeze crystallization in Kemira Chemical Plant and DWP Botlek of Evides Industriewater to improve the understanding of this process in a real industrial setting.
Methanolysis of duckweed and azolla: A comparative analysis
Authors: Rohim R , Isa K M , Abdullah T A T , Rashid R A , Aziz M A
Published: May 2021

This paper compares the bio-oil and chemical compositions produced from methanolysis of duckweed and Azolla. The methanolysis was carried out at 230°C, 250°C and 300°C for 30 minutes using the CJF-0.1L reactor. Oil yield produced from azolla was 34% and this is 3% higher as compared to the bio-oil yield produced by duckweed at 250°C. The Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) analysis showed that alcohol, ketone, amine, ether and ester compositions in the bio-oil produced from duckweed were slightly higher than azolla. However, carboxylic acids, amide and phenol compounds in the bio-oil produced from azolla are different and higher than duckweed. The results suggest that duckweed and azolla are the potential feedstocks from aquatic biomass to be further investigated for bio oil use.
Property model prediction of the boiling point for pure and mixture solvents applied in herbal extraction
Authors: Mohammad Azmin S N H , Mat Nor M S
Published: May 2021

Studies on the effect of different solvent used in herbal extraction on the extraction yield have been commonly investigated. However, the impact of solvent property, such as boiling point attracts less attention. Besides, the measurement of the solvent boiling point requires much time and effort. Therefore, this study aims to use property models in predicting the boiling point of single and mixture solvents. Three pure property models were applied for several solvents while two mixture property models were utilised for the selected mixture solvents. The prediction data then were compared with the experimental data obtained from the previously published result. The mean relative error was computed to choose the best property model that can be applied to calculate the boiling point. In this study, the Marrero and Gani’s method was selected to be the best model in predicting boiling point for pure solvent. In contrast, Klein and Wu’s method was chosen as the best model for the boiling point prediction of mixture solvents. The selection of the best property model was made by choosing the lowest mean relative error.
Fabrication and Characterisation of Polyvinylidene Fluoride Co-Hexafluoropropylene Polymer Inclusion Membranes for Reactive Orange 16 Dye Removal
Authors: Ravi S , Shoparwe N F , Abdul-Halim N S , Makhtar M M Z , Shukor H
Published: May 2021

By implementing green technology, polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs) were used as an extractant for the removal of Reactive Orange 16 (RO16) dye as it is an easy and effective way. The extraction process is used because it is found to be more economical and effective compared to other dye removal methods. The PIMs consists of Polyvinylidene Fluoride Co-HFP (PVDF-Co-HFP) as a base polymer, Aliquat 336 as a carrier; dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (THF). The formulation of the components was varied to determine the optimum composition of PIMs with the effective extraction ability. The PIMs was characterised by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ion exchange capacity (IEC), water uptake, contact angle and Universal Testing Machine (UTM) methods to determine the physical, mechanical and chemical properties of the PIMs. Various parameters such as effect of carrier, initial dye concentration and pH were investigated. The optimum extraction of RO16 dye at 99.62% were obtained at PIMs were 9 % of carrier,10 mg/L initial dye concentration, pH 2 and agitation speed of 500 rpm at room temperature for 4 hrs. This proven that the fabricated PIMs has potential in removing dye.
Methylene blue dye removal using Parkia speciosa pod based activated carbon
Authors: Aziz A , Hassan H , Yahaya N K EM , Karim J , Ahmad M A
Published: May 2021

Critical environmental issues have emerged from wastewater of industrial textile effluent discharge which consists of refractory dyes. Effective methods such as activated carbon (AC) adsorption is extremely demanded for solving this environmental pollution. In this study, low-cost AC was developed from Parkia speciosa pods (PSP) using microwave-assisted activation technique for the methylene blue (MB) dye adsorption. Optimization on activating conditions in terms of MB removal and AC yield was performed using response surface methodology (RSM). The optimum microwave irradiation power (MIP) of 416.50 W was found to have significant effect on MB removal at 2 minutes activation. The Parkia speciosa pods activated carbon (PSPAC) possessed intermediate surface area and total pore volume of 51.3 m 2/g and 0.0681 cm 3/g, respectively. PSPAC surface morphology was microscopically observed with highly porous structure indicating characteristics of good AC. Batch adsorption studies with various initial concentrations discovered that MB adsorption increased with increasing initial concentrations and contact time. The experimental data was in close fit using Langmuir isotherm and followed pseudo-first-order kinetic models. The MB dye adsorption process was governed by simultaneous surface adsorption and intraparticle diffusion. The results of studies proved that PSPAC is a potential adsorbent for dye-contaminated wastewater.
Carbonized chilli stalk adsorbent to remove methylene blue dye from aqueous solution: Equilibrium and kinetics studies
Authors: Aziz A , Hassan H , Yahaya N K E M , Karim J , Ahmad M A , Karim K A
Published: May 2021

The fast growth of textile industry has led to afflictive water pollution problems. The discharge of dyes into the environment poses health threats to the ecosystem due to their carcinogenicity and mutagenicity. Adsorption process is among the most utilized approach in treating textile wastewater. Chilli stalk which is abundantly available as agrowaste was transformed into adsorbent through carbonization process at various temperatures for the adsorption of methylene blue (MB). Dye batch adsorption studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of initial dye concentration (25 – 300 mg/L), contact time (0 – 24 hours) and carbonization temperature (350 - 400 °C). The surface characteristics, proximate and elemental analyses, surface morphology and chemistry were studied on both chilli stalk (CS) and carbonized chilli stalk adsorbent (CCSA). The maximum MB dye removal was 97.04% at 400 °C of carbonization temperature. The data fitted Freundlich isotherm model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model for adsorption equilibrium and kinetic studies, respectively.
Growth of thermotolerant Pichia kudriavzevii UniMAP 3-1 strain for ethanol production using xylose and glucose at different fermentation temperatures
Authors: Rahman K H A , Ismail K S K , Najimudin N
Published: May 2021

The applications of thermotolerant microorganisms in the production of lignocellulosic bioethanol is the key factor for successful simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process. Thus, this study aimed to isolate a thermotolerant yeast strain that was able to convert both glucose and xylose into ethanol. An analysis based on D1/D2 region of the large-subunit ribosomal DNA identified the isolated strain namely as Pichia kudriavzevii UniMAP 3-1. The growth of this newly isolated yeast was tested with fermentation temperature at 30°C and 40°C on xylose and glucose. P. kudriavzevii UniMAP 3-1 was able to ferment xylose to ethanol at both 30°C and 40°C with a yield of 0.013 g/g and 0.019 g/g with concomitant xylitol yield of 0.24 g/g and 0.25 g/g, respectively. Fermentation of glucose to ethanol was also tested at 30°C and 40°C and the yields were 0.42 g/g and 0.41 g/g, respectively. The potential of this thermotolerant yeast to be used in high-temperature fermentation in both glucose and xylose are proven in this study.
Treatment of Synthetic Turbid Water by using Natural Tamarind Seeds
Authors: Zainol N A , Othman I S , Zailani S N , Ghani A A , Abdullah S
Published: May 2021

This study is done to find the alternatives to solve the water pollution problem. The common ways to treat polluted water is by using alum. However, the usage of alum as conventional coagulant had caused the formation of sludge that can pollute the water and also cause illness. Tamarind seed was chosen as the alternative because it is naturals, non-toxic, and 100% biodegradable sources. In this study, the research was done in two parts, there are tamarind seed extraction by using different extraction solutions and the jar test. The extraction solution that was used were sodium chloride, potassium chloride and distilled water. In jar test, synthetic turbid water with turbidity range from 200 to 220 NTU was used to determine the effectiveness of tamarind seed as natural coagulant. Form the results obtained, sodium chloride extract achieved the highest percentage or turbidity removal with the percentage 91.32% with the dosage 25mg/L at pH 6, while the distilled water extract obtained the lowest percentage of turbidity removal with the percentage 56.60 % with the dosage 30mg/L at pH 3. As a conclusion, tamarind seed can be used as a natural coagulant in the treatment of polluted water.
Carbonization of sludge biomass of water treatment plant using continuous screw type conveyer pyrolyzer for methylene blue removal
Authors: Ahmad M A , Yusop M F M , Awang S , Yahaya N K E.M. , Rasyid M A , Hassan H
Published: May 2021

The wide and fast growth of the textile industry has become one of the contributors to the water pollution. In this study, carbonized sludge (CS) was produced as an adsorbent for removal of methylene blue (MB) dye from aqueous solution. Sludge biomass from water treatment plant as precursor was carbonized using continuous screw type conveyer pyrolyzer at different conveyer frequency of 5 Hz and 10 Hz. Batch adsorption studies were carried out by varying MB initial concentrations (25 - 300 mg/L) and contact time (0 - 24 hours). The CS5Hz sample shows the highest surface area and total pore volume of 88.73 m 2/g and 0.1417 cm 3/g, respectively. This sample exhibits average pore diameter of 3.84 nm, monolayer adsorption capacity of 45.68 mg/g and well develop of pores structure. Freundlich and pseudo second order models were revealed to fit the isotherm and kinetic data, respectively with film diffusion play a major role as rate limiting step.
Sliding mode control of wastewater treatment process with activated sludge under extreme weather events
Authors: Zlateva P
Published: May 2021

The present climate change engender an increase of extreme weather events such as intensive rainfall, flash floods, droughts, prolonged periods of deviations from established average daily temperatures. These extreme weather events negative impact on sustainability of wastewater treatment process with activated sludge. The paper aim is to propose a sliding mode control of wastewater treatment process with activated sludge under extreme weather events is proposed. The principles of the binary control theory are used. The control design is carried out with direct use of the nonlinear model, described by three ordinary differential equations with uncertain parameters. The parameters are varied in the known intervals. These uncertainties are predetermined by the nature and intensity of the extreme weather events. The model of the sliding mode control is developed with respect to an auxiliary input variable in order to obtain the smooth signal of the dilution rate, which is need in the biodegradation processes. The good robustness of closed loop system with the designed sliding mode control in regard to various disturbances is proved through simulation investigations in MATLAB using Simulink.
Big data aggregation in disasters risk management systems
Authors: Kovalenko Oleksiy , Velev Dimiter
Published: May 2021

In the article the approach to aggregation of Big Data in the disasters risk management systems with using knowledge models is discussed. The basic concept is classifying and structuring the information received and stored in disasters management system using specific attributes of information, represented in the model of knowledge of disasters. We study the hierarchy of disasters risk management system and specificity of storing knowledge of disaster based on ontologies. Situation awareness is one of important elements in the complex problem of situation management. Disasters awareness is a phase of situational, or emergency, or crisis management in the case of disasters management.
Sustainable alternative futures for urban India: the resource, energy, and emissions implications of urban form scenarios
Authors: Kumar Poornima , Natarajan Ramya , Ashok Kaveri
Published: May 2021

India’s rapid urbanisation underscores the need to balance growing consumption patterns, development goals, and climate commitments. The scenarios presented in this paper were created using our Sustainable Alternative Futures for India (SAFARI) model, a system dynamics model that simulates interlinkages between sectors in India and their competition for resources and energy at the national scale. This study presents insights from scenarios based on SAFARI’s housing and transport modules, as well as synergies and trade-offs with the industries, water, land, and agriculture modules. It focuses on urban form scenarios and their implications for energy, emissions, and resources. Using a vertically compact residential built form and less energy-intensive materials (such as aerated autoclaved concrete blocks), coupled with greater uptake of public transport and shorter trip lengths, was found to be most beneficial overall. This scenario could reduce residential land consumption by 85%, particulate emissions three-fold, embodied emissions of construction by 11%–13%, and total space cooling energy by 31%–46%, compared to the business as usual scenario. Overall, this scenario could offer a 9.1%–9.6% reduction in cumulative economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions between 2020 and 2050. An urban sprawl scenario (with longer trip lengths) could have the opposite effect, impinging on agricultural land and furthermore, exacerbating food security concerns by 2050. The paper concludes with future research directions, which include exploring the combined potential effects of urban heat islands, alternative materials, and compact urban form on space cooling energy in India.
DeepR2cov: deep representation learning on heterogeneous drug networks to discover anti-inflammatory agents for COVID-19
Authors: Wang Xiaoqi , Xin Bin , Tan Weihong , Xu Zhijian , Li Kenli , Li Fei , Zhong Wu , Peng Shaoliang
Published: May 2021

Recent studies have demonstrated that the excessive inflammatory response is an important factor of death in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. In this study, we propose a deep representation on heterogeneous drug networks, termed DeepR2cov, to discover potential agents for treating the excessive inflammatory response in COVID-19 patients. This work explores the multi-hub characteristic of a heterogeneous drug network integrating eight unique networks. Inspired by the multi-hub characteristic, we design 3 billion special meta paths to train a deep representation model for learning low-dimensional vectors that integrate long-range structure dependency and complex semantic relation among network nodes. Based on the representation vectors and transcriptomics data, we predict 22 drugs that bind to tumor necrosis factor-α or interleukin-6, whose therapeutic associations with the inflammation storm in COVID-19 patients, and molecular binding model are further validated via data from PubMed publications, ongoing clinical trials and a docking program. In addition, the results on five biomedical applications suggest that DeepR2cov significantly outperforms five existing representation approaches. In summary, DeepR2cov is a powerful network representation approach and holds the potential to accelerate treatment of the inflammatory responses in COVID-19 patients. The source code and data can be downloaded from https://github.com/pengsl-lab/DeepR2cov.git.
CyAnno: a semi-automated approach for cell type annotation of mass cytometry datasets
Authors: Kaushik Abhinav , Dunham Diane , He Ziyuan , Manohar Monali , Desai Manisha , Nadeau Kari C , Andorf Sandra
Published: May 2021

Motivation

For immune system monitoring in large-scale studies at the single-cell resolution using CyTOF, (semi-)automated computational methods are applied for annotating live cells of mixed cell types. Here, we show that the live cell pool can be highly enriched with undefined heterogeneous cells, i.e. ‘ungated’ cells, and that current semi-automated approaches ignore their modeling resulting in misclassified annotations.

Result

We introduce ‘CyAnno’, a novel semi-automated approach for deconvoluting the unlabeled cytometry dataset based on a machine learning framework utilizing manually gated training data that allows the integrative modeling of ‘gated’ cell types and the ‘ungated’ cells. By applying this framework on several CyTOF datasets, we demonstrated that including the ‘ungated’ cells can lead to a significant increase in the precision of the ‘gated’ cell types prediction. CyAnno can be used to identify even a single cell type, including rare cells, with higher efficacy than current state-of-the-art semi-automated approaches.

Availability and implementation

The CyAnno is available as a python script with a user-manual and sample dataset at https://github.com/abbioinfo/CyAnno.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Assessment of the ESC quality indicators in patients with acute myocardial infarction: a systematic review
Authors: Rossello Xavier , Massó-van Roessel Albert , Perelló-Bordoy Antoni , Mas-Lladó Caterina , Ramis-Barceló Maria F , Vives-Borrás Miquel , Pons Jaume , Peral Vicente
Published: May 2021

Aims

To help improving quality of care in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) set 20 quality indicators (QIs). There is a need to compile and summarize QI availability, feasibility, and global compliance in real-world registries.

Methods and results

A systematic review of PubMed and Web of Science was conducted including all original articles reporting the use of the ESC QIs in AMI patients. Methods and reporting follow the guidelines of the PRISMA Statement and the protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020190541). Among the 220 screened citations, 9 studies met the inclusion criteria after full-text review. Among these 9 studies, there were 11 different cohorts. Patients were recruited from three different continents (31 countries). The number of QIs assessed ranged from 6 to 20, with 5 studies (56%) reporting data for at least 75% of the 20 QIs. There were room for improvement in terms of data availability (i.e. domain 6 measuring patient’s satisfaction), feasibility (i.e. difficulties to find all data for composite QIs in domain 7), and attainment (i.e. high levels of compliance with the percentage of reperfused ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients, but low levels for a timely reperfusion).

Conclusions

Our systematic review has shown that it is possible to measure most QIs in existing registries, and that there is room for improvement in terms of data availability, feasibility, and levels of attainment to QIs. Our findings may influence the design of future registries to capture this information and help in QIs definition updates.