Comparison of particle-phase polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their variability causes in the ambient air in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and in Osaka, Japan, during 2005-2006

A comparative study of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) associated with particulate matter (TSP) in the ambient air in an urban area in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and in Osaka, Japan was carried out from 2005 to 2006. The objective of this study was to investigate the environmental levels, emission sources, seasonal variations and health risk of eleven PAHs in the two cities, especially Ho Chi Minh City where air pollution is becoming a serious concern. The results showed that the concentrations of TSP and total PAHs were significantly higher in Ho Chi Minh City than levels in Osaka. The concentrations of 5- and 6-ring PAHs (BeP, BbF, BkF, BaP, BghiP and InP) were much higher in TSP samples in Ho Chi Minh City than in Osaka, accounting for 82% and 51% of total PAHs, respectively. These PAHs are known to be highly carcinogenic and mutagenic in humans. Vehicular emission is suggested as one of the main pollution sources of PAHs in both cities. Motorcycles and gasoline automobiles are suggested as the main emission sources of PAHs in Ho Chi Minh City, whereas diesel automobiles are the primary source in Osaka. Seasonal variations of PAHs were observed in this study; higher concentrations of PAHs were found in the rainy season (May-December) and lower concentrations corresponded to the dry season (February-April) in Ho Chi Minh City, while higher concentrations of PAHs were observed in the winter (November-January) in Osaka. The number of sunshine hours was an important meteorological factor affecting seasonal variations of PAHs in Ho Chi Minh City, while the temperature was a main factor causing the variations of PAHs in Osaka. The high BaP equivalent concentration of 5- and 6-ring PAHs even in the ambient air is an alarming signal for harmfulness to human health and environmental quality in Ho Chi Minh City.     

Hydrogen Generation from CO2 Reforming of Biomass-Derived Methanol on Ni/SiO2 Catalyst

Topics in Catalysis - CO2 reforming of methanol for producing hydrogen was experimentally carried out in a fixed-bed reactor on 10%Ni/SiO2. The 10%Ni/SiO2 was completely reduced during H2...     

Photoluminescence of erbium-doped silicon: Excitation power dependence

The intensity of the photoluminescence of erbium in silicon is analyzed by a model which takes into account the formation of free excitons, the binding of excitons to erbium ions, the excitation of inner-shell 4f electrons of erbium ions and their subsequent decay by light emission. Predictions of this model for the dependence of luminescence intensity on laser excitation power are compared with experimental observations. The results for float-zone and Czochralski-grown silicon, in which erbium is introduced by implantation with or without oxygen co-implantation, are remarkably similar. To obtain agreement between model analysis and experimental data it is necessary to include in the model terms describing energy dissipation by an Auger process of both the erbium-bound excitons and the erbium ions in excited state with free electrons in the conduction band. A good quantitative agreement is achieved. Fiz. Tekh. Poluprovodn. 33, 644–648 (June 1999) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Reproduced here with stylistic changes by the Translation Editor.     

An application of the contingent valuation method to estimate the loss of value of water resources due to pesticide contamination: the case of the Mekong Delta,Vietnam

This paper determines the degradation of the rural water system in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, due to pesticide application for rice production. The theoretical framework of the contingent valuation method is identified and its empirical application to the valuation of the rural water resources is presented via a case study in the Mekong Delta. Study results show that the loss of value of the rural water resources due to pesticide contamination in the Mekong Delta is about US$251 million.     

Effect of filler surface treatment on the properties of recycled high‐density polyethylene/(natural rubber)/(Kenaf powder) biocomposites

Biocomposites were prepared from a kenaf core powder and recycled high‐density polyethylene/(natural rubber) blend by using an internal mixer at 165^oC and 50 rpm. The effect of the filler content and the filler surface treatment was studied. Chemical modification of kenaf filler was performed with alkali pretreatment followed by treatment with silane. Scanning electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy studies confirmed changes in the chemical compositions and structural characteristics induced through the modification. It was found that treated biocomposites offered higher tensile strength and tensile modulus, but lower elongation at break compared with untreated biocomposites. Lower water absorption and higher thermal stability of the resultant biocomposites were also obtained when treated fillers were used. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 20:218–224, 2014. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Novel portable electrical detection system for DNA SENSOR application

A novel, portable, electrical detection system was constructed for DNA sensor application to detect DNA hybridisation. The read-out circuit consists of an analogue circuit and a digital circuit. The analogue circuit with an IC MAX038 generates a sine wave with a constant frequency (10?kHz), which serves as the input for the DNA sensor. The DNA sensor consists of active and reference sensors. DNA hybridisation between the DNA probe and the target sequences causes changes in the conductance of the conductive membrane (DNA/MWCNTs) on the sensor surface, which lead to changes in the amplitude of the sine wave from the sensor output compared with that of the reference signal output (input sine wave). We used a digital circuit with a microprocessor (PIC33FJ256MC710) to determine the change in the amplitude of the sine wave signal of the sensor. From these digital data, the difference in the amplitudes of the active and reference sensors was calculated and displayed on the liquid crystal display. Measurement results show that the portable electrical detection system can detect DNA target concentrations as low as 0.16?µM. The detection of the amplified polymerase chain reaction sample and the reproducibility of the DNA sensor results were also determined using the designed readout circuit. The proposed electrical detection system is suitable for DNA sensor application.     

Optimization of an RFID location identification scheme based on the neural network

An indoor localization technology is increasingly critical as location‐aware applications evolve. Researchers have proposed several indoor localization technologies. Because most of the proposed indoor localization technologies simply involve using the received signal strength indicator value of radio‐frequency identification (RFID) for indoor localization, radio‐frequency interference, and environmental factors often limit the accuracy of localization results. Therefore, this study proposes an accurate RFID localization based on the neural network (ARL‐N²), a passive RFID indoor localization scheme for identifying tag positions in a room, combining a location identification based on dynamic active RFID calibration algorithm with a backpropagation neural network (BPN). The proposed scheme composed of two phases: in the training phase, an appropriate BPN architecture is constructed using the training data derived from the coordinates of reference tags and the coordinates obtained using the localization algorithm. By contrast, the online phase involves calculating the tracking tag coordinates and using these values as BPN inputs, thereby enhancing the estimated location. A performance evaluation of the ARL‐N² schemes confirms its high localization accuracy. The proposed method can be used to locate critical objects in difficult‐to‐find areas by creating minimal errors and applying and economical technique. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Antibiotic contamination and occurrence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in aquatic environments of northern Vietnam

The ubiquitous application and release of antibiotics to the environment can result in bacterial antibiotic resistance, which in turn can be a serious risk to humans and other animals. Southeast Asian countries commonly apply an integrated recycling farm system called VAC (Vegetable, Aquaculture and Caged animal). In the VAC environment, antibiotics are released from animal and human origins, which would cause antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB). This study evaluated occurrence of ARB in the VAC environment in northern Vietnam, with quantitative analysis of antibiotic pollution. We found that sulfonamides were commonly detected at all sites. In dry season, while sulfamethazine was a major contaminant in pig farm pond (475-6662 ng/l) and less common in city canal and aquaculture sites, sulfamethoxazole was a major one in city canal (612-4330 ng/l). Erythromycin (154-2246 ng/l) and clarithromycin (2.8-778 ng/ml) were the common macrolides in city canal, but very low concentrations in pig farm pond and aquaculture sites. High frequencies of sulfamethoxazole-resistant bacteria (2.14-94.44%) were found whereas the occurrence rates of erythromycin-resistant bacteria were lower (< 0.01-38.8%). A positive correlation was found between sulfamethoxazole concentration and occurrence of sulfamethoxazole-resistant bacteria in dry season. The sulfamethoxazole-resistant isolates were found to belong to 25 genera. Acinetobacter and Aeromonas were the major genera. Twenty three of 25 genera contained sul genes. This study showed specific contamination patterns in city and VAC environments and concluded that ARB occurred not only within contaminated sites but also those less contaminated. Various species can obtain resistance in VAC environment, which would be reservoir of drug resistance genes. Occurrence of ARB is suggested to relate with rainfall condition and horizontal gene transfer in diverse microbial community.     

3D打印混凝土技术在澳大利亚的最近研究进展

3D打印,又被称为增材制造,是通过逐层累积叠加制造三维物体的一种技术手段。过去几年中,这种技术吸引了越来越多来自建筑业的关注。与传统混凝土浇筑技术相比,3D打印混凝土的应用可以实现更加高效的自由建筑制造,同时减小对人工劳动力的依赖。在全球范围内,由于相关高校和科研单位的积极参与,关于3D打印混凝土的研究工作取得了巨大的进展,其中包括澳大利亚的相关研究。本文主要对澳大利亚在3D打印混凝土研究方面有代表性的两所高校的最新进展进行介绍,两所学校分别是皇家墨尔本理工大学(RMIT大学)和斯威本科技大学。本文首先介绍了两所高校的打印设备及其特点,随后讨论了具体研究领域和近期发表的相关文章。RMIT大学主要侧重于研究纤维增强对3D打印混凝土力学性能方面的影响,而斯威本科技大学则着重研究3D打印地聚物混凝土的性能。本文旨在促进相关领域研究人员对澳大利亚3D打印混凝土研究团队和研究进展的理解。