Applicability and toxicity evaluation of an adsorbent based on jujube for the removal of toxic heavy metals

The removal of heavy metals from industrial wastewater is important, owing to its eco-toxicity in aqueous environment. In this study, the mechanism and efficiency of the removal of toxic heavy metals by an eco-friendly adsorbent was investigated. Various types of adsorbents made from jujube were synthesized by varying the drying temperature of gel-type beads and elution method for jujube constituents. The maximum adsorption capacity for lead and copper ions was determined using the Langmuir isotherm model, with DJB-A-S-F (freeze-dried jujube bead made from a solution of squeezed autoclaved jujube) having the highest values at 60.44 mg/g (lead) and 20.33 mg/g (copper). In addition, the characteristics of the various adsorbents were determined by the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) was used to identify the constituents of DJB-A-S-F before and after adsorption of heavy metals (Pb- and Cu-DJB-A-S-F). Furthermore, in vitro cytotoxicity assay was performed to investigate whether the binding of heavy metals to DJB-A-S-F increases cellular toxicity. As a result, no differences in cell viability between DJB-A-S-F and the ones coupled to heavy metals were observed, indicating that the developed adsorbents are non-cytotoxic with good compatibility. Thus, DJB-A-S-F is a promising adsorbent for the removal of toxic heavy metal cations from wastewater.     

Subcritical crack growth processes in SiC/SiC ceramic matrix composites

Ceramic matrix composites have the potential to operate at high temperatures and are, therefore being considered for a variety of advanced energy technologies such as combustor liners in land-based gas turbo/generators, heat exchangers and advanced fission and fusion reactors. Ceramic matrix composites exhibit a range of crack growth mechanisms driven by a range of environmental and nuclear conditions. The crack growth mechanisms include: (1) fiber relaxation by thermal (FR) and irradiation (FIR) processes, (2) fiber stress-rupture (SR), (3) interface removal (IR) by oxidation, and (4) oxidation embrittlement (OE) resulting from glass formation including effects of glass viscosity. Analysis of these crack growth processes has been accomplished with a combination experimental/modeling effort. Dynamic, high-temperature, in situ crack growth measurements have been made in variable Ar + O₂ environments while a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) developed model has been used to extrapolate this data and to add radiation effects. In addition to the modeling effort, a map showing these mechanisms as a function of environmental parameters was developed. This mechanism map is an effective tool for identifying operating regimes and predicting behavior. The process used to develop the crack growth mechanism map was to: (1) hypothesize and experimentally verify the operative mechanisms, (2) develop an analytical model for each mechanism, and (3) define the operating regime and boundary conditions for each mechanism. A map for SiC/SiC composites has been developed for chemical and nuclear environments as a function of temperature and time.     

The D2 autoreceptor agonists SND 919 and PD 128483 decrease stereotypy in developing rats

Although stereotyped behavior in adult rats is partly regulated by dopamine (DA) D2 autoreceptors, previous attempts to demonstrate D2 autoreceptor regulation of stereotypy in developing rats have been unsuccessful. In the present study, two highly selective D2 autoreceptor agonists were used to demonstrate D2 autoreceptor regulation of spontaneous stereotyped behavior in developing rats. Both SND 919 and PD 128483 produced significant dose-dependent decreases in the stereotypy counts of 21-day-old, 35-day-old, and adult rats. There was a 51% decrease in the stereotypy counts of 21-day-old rats injected with SND 919, 0.05 mg/kg, compared to a 36% decrease in the counts of rats pretreated with haloperidol. Similarly, PD 128483 significantly decreased the stereotypy counts of 21-, 35-day-old, and adult rats in a dose-dependent fashion. There was a 58% decrease in the stereotypy counts of 21-day-old rats injected with PD 128483, 0.1 mg/kg, compared to a 17% decrease in counts when the rats were first treated with haloperidol. The effect of haloperidol plus PD 128483 was significantly different from the effect of PD 128483 alone. Injection of SND 919 or PD 128483 had no significant effects on the stereotypy counts of 10-day-old rats. The results suggest that DA D2 autoreceptor-mediated regulation of spontaneous stereotyped behavior is functional at 21, but not 10, days of age.     

Harvesting small trees and forest residues

Eight countries collaborated and shared technical information on the harvesting of small trees and forest residues in a three year program. Proceedings and reports from workshops and reviews are summarized in a review of activities and harvesting systems of the participating countries. Four databases were developed for harvesting and transportation of these materials.     

Recovery of Sb(V) using a functional-ligand-containing porous hollow-fiber membrane prepared by radiation-induced graft polymerization

A ligand-containing porous membrane was prepared by radiation-induced graft polymerization of an epoxy-group-containing monomer of glycidyl methacrylate onto a polyethylene porous hollow-fiber membrane and by subsequent conversion of the epoxy group to an N-methylglucamino (NMG) group at a density of 0.78 mmol/g of the membrane. Sb(V) solution was permeated through the NMG-ligand-containing porous hollow-fiber membrane. Optimum pH for Sb(V) recovery was 3.0. Breakthrough curves of Sb (V) overlapped irrespective of residence times of Sb (V) in the membrane, due to negligible diffusional mass-transfer resistance. Maximum amount of Sb (V) adsorbed was 130 mg/g-membrane, which was equivalent to 1.3 binding molar ratio. Repeated usage of the membrane for adsorption and elution was possible.     

Effects of feeding whole cottonseed to lactating dairy cows on glucose and palmitate metabolism

Eight lactating Holstein dairy cows were fed corn silage-based diets with or without whole cottonseed at 18.5% of the dietary dry matter. At 42 days postpartum, a pulse injection of 100 mg glucose/kg body weight was given intravenously and plasma glucose concentration was monitored for 45 min. At 50 d postpartum, biopsies of adipose tissue and mammary tissue were taken and tissue slices were incubated in vitro with either uniform carbon-14 glucose or 1-carbon-14 palmitate. Basal concentration of plasma glucose was not affected by diet, although apparent distribution volume of glucose did seem to decrease due to feeding whole cottonseed. Feeding whole cottonseed decreased uptake of glucose and palmitate in both adipose tissue and mammary tissue and also decreased oxidation of glucose to carbon dioxide in both tissues. Palmitate oxidation was not affected by diet. Incorporation of carbon-14 from glucose into adipose tissue lipids was decreased in cows fed whole cottonseed. Results indicate that fat supplementation in the form of whole cottonseed may decrease palmitate incorporation and glucose utilization for glycerol and reducing equivalent synthesis in both adipose tissue and mammary tissue of lactating dairy cows.     

Targeting optimum resource allocation using reverse problem formulations and property clustering techniques

Decoupling the constitutive equations from the balance and constraint equations allows for reformulating a conventional forward problem into two reverse problems. The first reverse problem is the reverse of a simulation problem, where the process model is solved in terms of the constitutive (synthesis/design) variables instead of the process variables, thus providing the synthesis/design targets. The second reverse problem (reverse property prediction) solves the constitutive equations to identify unit operations, operating conditions and/or products by matching the synthesis/design targets. Visualization of the problem is achieved by employing recently developed property clustering techniques, which allows a high-dimensional problem to be visualized in two or three dimensions. The clusters by definition satisfy intra-stream and inter-stream conservation through linear “mixing” rules, which allows for the development of consistent additive rules along with their ternary representation.     

Conducting polymers at low temperatures and high magnetic fields

Advances in the synthesis of organic conducting polymer systems has increased the electrical conductivity of these systems by several orders of magnitude in the last decade. Several practical applications are envisioned for such systems, but a thorough understanding of the conduction mechanisms and identification of the charge carriers is lacking, making design and implementation for bulk synthesis difficult. In order to clarify our understanding of the electrical properties of these systems, the resistivity and magnetoresistivity of various polymers doped near the metal - insulator transition, such as polyaniline protonated by camphor sulfonic acid (PANi-CSA) and polypyrrole doped with PF₆ (PPy-PF₆), have been studied down to 25 mK in magnetic fields up to 16 T.     

Dielectric relaxation and electrical conduction at low field of mineral-filled epoxy

Dielectric properties and conduction of the epoxy and its composites were measured over the temperature range — 20 to 70°C and the frequency range 10^–4-10^–1 Hz. Dielectric properties were obtained by performing Fouriertransforms on the charging and discharging curves. The resulting isothermal frequency spectra of dielectric constants and dielectric loss factors were analysed using the Cole-Cole law to obtain the activation energy for each material. The activation energies were also obtained for isothermal d.c. current. Current density-electric field-temperature characteristics are obtained for field levels up to 60 kV cm^–1, with step excitation of the applied field and currents recorded after a delay time of 10 min. Current density and electric field were computed and plotted for constant temperature. The linear (ohmic) curves were obtained for fields up to about 60 kV cm^–1 for temperatures up to about 20 °C. The non-linearity at the higher fields and temperatures did not imply the occurrence of non-ionic conduction. It has been demonstrated that both electric conduction and relaxation behaviour were ionic and could be fit by the Nakajima model for the unfilled epoxy and the Taylor model for the composites.     

Oscillating Cup Viscosity Measurements of Aluminum Alloys: A201, A319 and A356

An oscillating cup viscometer was developed to measure the absolute viscosities of molten metals. Previous experiments established the capability of the apparatus to characterize the viscosities of molten nickel-based superalloys. However, modifications to the instrument and its theoretical analysis were required for reliable measurements on molten aluminum alloys, presumably due to their lower densities and lower viscosities. The theoretical literature for the fluid flow inside an oscillating cup is reviewed, and a working equation without any correction factor is developed for the improved viscometer. Some design parameters of the viscometer that directly affect the accuracy of viscosity estimation by using the working equation are discussed. A special vertical furnace was adopted to uniformly heat a longer cylindrical sample (10 mm inner diameter and 120 mm length) with a temperature difference of less than 2°C over the sample length. The measuring procedure was also improved to get more accurate motion parameters. It is estimated that the working equation and improved instrument provide an uncertainty of less than 4%. In addition, applications and experimental data are presented for pure aluminum and three aluminum alloys: A201, A319, and A356.