PETROLEUM GEOLOGY AND HYDROCARBON POTENTIAL OF THE GUBAN BASIN,NORTHERN SOMALILAND

The Guban Basin is a NW‐SE trending Mesozoic‐Tertiary rift basin located in northern Somaliland (NW Somalia) at the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden. Only seven exploration wells have been drilled in the basin, making it one of the least explored basins in the Horn of Africa – southern Arabia region. Most of these wells encountered source, reservoir and seal rocks. However, the wells were based on poorly understood subsurface geology and were located in complex structural areas. The Guban Basin is composed of a series of on‐ and offshore sub‐basins which cover areas of 100s to 1000s of sq. km and which contain more than 3000 m of sedimentary section. Seismic, gravity, well, outcrop and geochemical data are used in this study to investigate the petroleum systems in the basin. The basin contains mature source rocks with adequate levels of organic carbon together with a variety of reservoir rocks. The principal exploration play is the Mesozoic petroleum system with mature source rocks (Upper Jurassic Gahodleh and Daghani shales) and reservoirs of Upper Jurassic to Miocene age. Maturity data suggest that maximum maturity was achieved prior to Oligocene rift‐associated uplift and unroofing. Renewed charge may have commenced during post‐ Oligocene‐Miocene rifting as a result of the increased heat flows and the increased depth of burial of the Upper Jurassic source rocks in localised depocentres. The syn‐rift Oligocene‐Miocene acts as a secondary objective owing to its low maturity except possibly in localised offshore sub‐basins. Seals include various shale intervals some of which are also source rocks, and the Lower Eocene evaporites of the Taleh Anhydrite constitute an effective regional seal. Traps are provided by drag and rollover anticlines associated with tilted fault blocks. However, basaltic volcanism and trap breaching as a consequence of the Afar plume and Oligocene‐Miocene rifting of the Gulf of Aden cause considerable exploration risk in the Guban Basin.     

Microfluidic Spinning of Cell‐Responsive Grooved Microfibers

Engineering living tissues that simulate their natural counterparts is a dynamic area of research. Among the various models of biological tissues being developed, fiber‐shaped cellular architectures, which can be used as artificial blood vessels or muscle fibers, have drawn particular attention. However, the fabrication of continuous microfiber substrates for culturing cells is still limited to a restricted number of polymers (e.g., alginate) having easy processability but poor cell–material interaction properties. Moreover, the typical smooth surface of a synthetic fiber does not replicate the micro‐ and nanofeatures observed in vivo, which guide and regulate cell behavior. In this study, a method to fabricate photocrosslinkable cell‐responsive methacrylamide‐modified gelatin (GelMA) fibers with exquisite microstructured surfaces by using a microfluidic device is developed. These hydrogel fibers with microgrooved surfaces efficiently promote cell encapsulation and adhesion. GelMA fibers significantly promote the viability of cells encapsulated in/or grown on the fibers compared with similar grooved alginate fibers used as controls. Importantly, the grooves engraved on the GelMA fibers induce cell alignment. Furthermore, the GelMA fibers exhibit excellent processability and could be wound into various shapes. These microstructured GelMA fibers have great potential as templates for the creation of fiber‐shaped tissues or tissue microstructures.     

Scanning electron microscopy of bio‐fabricated Fe2O3 nanoparticles and their application to control brown rot of citrus

Citrus is the leading fruit crop of Pakistan and exported to different parts of the world. Due to suitable weather condition, this crop is affected by different biotic factors which seriously deteriorate its quality and quantity. During the months of November 2018 to January 2019, citrus brown rot symptoms were recurrently observed on sweet oranges in National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Islamabad. Causal agent of citrus brown rot was isolated, characterized, and identified as Fusarium oxysporum. For environment‐friendly control of this disease, leaf extract of Azadirachta indica was used for the green synthesis of iron oxide (Fe₂O₃) nanoparticles. These nanoparticles were characterized before their application for disease control. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) of these synthesized nanoparticles described the presence of stabilizing and reducing compounds like alcohol, phenol, carboxylic acid, and alkaline and aromatic compounds. X‐Ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed the crystalline nature and size (24 nm) of these nanoparticles. Energy dispersive X‐Ray (EDX) analysis elaborated the presence of major elements in the samples. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed the spinal shaped morphology of prepared nanoparticles. Successfully synthesized nanoparticles were evaluated for their antifungal potential. Different concentrations of Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles were used and maximum mycelial inhibition was observed at 1.0 mg/ml concentration. On the basis of these findings, it could be concluded that Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles, synthesized in the leaf extract of A. indica, can be successfully used for the control of brown rot of sweet oranges.     

Pomegranate oil as a valuable pharmaceutical and nutraceutical

Pomegranate oil is the unique edible oil produced from the seed of the pomegranate fruit (Punica granatum L.), which can be extracted by various methods including supercritical CO₂, superheated hexane, cold pressing, microwaves and ultrasound. The oil composition of pomegranate seed has received particular attention recently due to its content of antioxidant and anticancer agents, which may be important components for the production of new medicines and cosmetics.     

k‐strong privacy for radio frequency identification authentication protocols based on physically unclonable functions

This paper examines Vaudenay's privacy model, which is one of the first and most complete privacy models that featured the notion of different privacy classes. We enhance this model by introducing two new generic adversary classes, k‐strong and k‐forward adversaries where the adversary is allowed to corrupt a tag at most k times. Moreover, we introduce an extended privacy definition that also covers all privacy classes of Vaudenay's model. In order to achieve highest privacy level, we study low cost primitives such as physically unclonable functions (PUFs). The common assumption of PUFs is that their physical structure is destroyed once tampered. This is an ideal assumption because the tamper resistance depends on the ability of the attacker and the quality of the PUF circuits. In this paper, we have weakened this assumption by introducing a new definition k‐resistant PUFs. k‐PUFs are tamper resistant against at most k attacks; that is, their physical structure remains still functional and correct until at most k^th physical attack. Furthermore, we prove that strong privacy can be achieved without public‐key cryptography using k PUF‐based authentication. We finally prove that our extended proposal achieves both reader authentication and k‐strong privacy. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Removal of Congo Red dye by adsorption onto phyrophyllite

Synthetic dye‐containing wastewaters from textile, paper, plastic and leather‐tanning industries are a most common organic pollutant. Such dyes may be toxic not only to aquatic life, but also to human beings. Consequently, dye removal from wastewater significantly benefits the environment. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of phyrophyllite as an adsorbent for Congo Red dye from wastewater. Dye sorption rates were investigated in bench‐scale studies. Evaluation of adsorption performance of phyrophyllite on Congo Red necessitated the determination of Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. Adsorption of Congo Red on phyrophyllite was found to be in conformity with both isotherms. The adsorption capacity for phyrophyllite was found to increase with decrease in particle size and with increase in temperature and intensity of agitation. The results indicated that phyrophyllite was a good adsorbent for Congo Red from wastewaters.     

Impact of organization size and project type on BIM adoption in the Chinese construction market

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is perceived as an effective tool for improving the delivery and coordination of construction projects. The Chinese construction sector has demonstrated significant interest in implementing the 3-dimensional modelling-based process. BIM adoption is influenced by several factors which can either be operational or strategic related. Factors which can have a significant impact include the size of the construction organization and the type of projects that the organization has to deliver (i.e. building vs infrastructure projects). This study aims to evaluate the effect of project type and size on BIM adoption in the Chinese market, via an adoption model which analyses factors impacting the adoption decision. The study examines 200 samples collected from the Chinese construction industry, split equally between infrastructure and building construction data groups, as well as SMEs and large organizations. The collected data are first analyzed by principal component analysis and then through a Structural Equation Modelling-based multiple group analysis. Results demonstrate that essential factors such as operational risks are considered by small organization, whereas large organizations focus on implementation challenges. Implementation benefits and challenges are significant on the adoption decision in infrastructure organizations, but not in building organizations. In addition, the study reveals that “technical support” is an important factor when it comes to BIM adoption among all types of organizations, regardless of the organization’s size and project type delivered.     

L-cystein modified bentonite-cellulose nanocomposite (cellu/cys-bent) for adsorption of Cu2+, Pb2+, and Cd2+ ions from aqueous solution

In this study, L-cystein modified bentonite-cellulose (cellu/cys-bent) nanocomposite was synthesized and characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM with EDS, TGA, and TEM techniques. In order to optimize the process the effect of various operational parameters such as pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time, and temperature were also investigated. The adsorption experiments were carried out in initial concentrations range of 20-100 mg L^?1and the adsorbent affinity for metal ions was found to be in order of Cu²⁺ > Pb²⁺ > Cd²⁺. The optimum pH for adsorption of Cu²⁺ and Cd²⁺ was observed at 5 while for Pb²⁺ it was pH 6. Based on the Langmuir model, the maximum adsorption capacity of Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺, and Cd²⁺ at 50^?C was found to be 32.36, 18.52, and 16.12 mg g^?1, respectively. The Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second order model were found to be better fitted than the other isotherms and kinetic models. The results of thermodynamic parameters confirmed the process to be endothermic and spontaneous in nature.     

Miscibility enhancement of poly(vinyl chloride)/polystyrene blend: Application to membrane separation of benzene from benzene/cyclohexane mixture by pervaporation

In order to improve the miscibility of poly(vinyl chloride)/polystyrene (PVC/PS) system and to use the prepared material as a membrane to separate benzene from benzene/cyclohexane mixture by pervaporation technique, two poly(styrene-co-N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PSVP) copolymers containing 6.67 and 13.55 mol% of N-vinylpyrrolidone (N-VP) contents were synthesized through a radical polymerization. A comparative study of the miscibility of the PVC/PSVP blends with different compositions was carried out using differential scanning calorimetry, viscosimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy methods in which the interaction parameters between the two components were widely investigated. To improve the pervaporative flux of PVC membrane to separate benzene from benzene/cyclohexane mixture, a preliminary test of swelling and sorption was performed on PVC/PSVP7 membranes using an azeotropic benzene/cyclohexane mixture. It was revealed that the PVC/PSVP7 membrane containing 10 wt% of PSVP7 showed the best performance and the diffusion behaviour of this mixture through PVC and PVC/PCVP7 membranes has a Fickian behaviour. The pervaporation parameters of this membrane support those of the swelling and selective sorption data and reveal that this membrane could enhance the total flux without significantly affecting its selectivity to benzene.     

A novel solvent-impregnated resin containing 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid for stepwise extraction of Th(IV) and U(VI) over other coexistence ions

A new solvent-impregnated resin (SIR) was constructed using Amberlite XAD-2 and 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid (3H2NA). The SIR was applied for stepwise extraction of Th(IV) and U(VI) from the coexistence ions dissolved in aqueous media at pHs of 3.0 and 7.0, respectively. The U(VI) and Th(IV) ions adsorbed on the minicolumn were consecutively eluted with 0.5 M and 4 M HCl solutions. They were then measured by Arsenazo III at their maximum absorption wavelengths. The characteristic parameters for the successful separation of these ions from the aqueous media were investigated. The SIR showed excellent reproducibility during the 800 subsequent extraction cycles.