Kinetic modeling of pyrolysis of three Iranian waste oils in a micro-fluidized bed

Different approaches have been used to convert the waste materials into a clean syngas or other chemicals such as methanol. Among them, pyrolysis is a good candidate to produce the synthesis gas and volatile matters for industrial and refinery applications. In this work, we studied the kinetic and chemical behavior of three Iranian waste oils through a kinetic model and an experimental study. The experiments carried out in a micro-FB reactor, which is a good option for low emissions. Results showed that the reaction temperature and reaction rate are two of the most important factors for maximum conversion level of fuel. Results also showed an optimum value for reaction rate. The modeling results validated against the experimental measurements and found to be in good agreements.     

In Vitro Antiamoebic Activity Evaluation and Docking Studies of Metronidazole–Triazole Hybrids

An in‐house database of 520 compounds was docked against Entamoeba histolytica thioredoxin reductase (EhTrR), a promising target for the treatment of amoebiasis. Amongst these, some metronidazole (MTZ)–triazole hybrids were ranked high, with docking scores from ?10.23 to ?7.56. Studies of the binding orientations and conformations show that the head groups of MTZ–triazole hybrids interact with the arginine residues within the binding pocket of EhTrR, making it clear that such is the optimal and most reliable orientation for this class of compounds. The top‐ten MTZ–triazole hybrids were then selected for evaluation of their activity against the HM1:IMSS strain of amoeba. The most active compound, 2‐pyridyl‐(1,2,3‐triazolyl)metronidazole 10 , with an IC₅₀ value of 8.4 nM , was significantly more active than the standard drug MTZ alone. Docking studies revealed that compound 10 may act as an EhTrR inhibitor with activity in the nanomolar range and satisfactory ADME properties; it is a suitable candidate to be carried forward as a potential lead in the discovery of drugs to combat amoebiasis.     

Optimising the production of energy from coblended food waste and biosolids using batch reactor studies

Energy production from a coblended mixture of biosolids and food waste was optimised for hydrogen and methane production. Four different blends were prepared by varying the carbohydrate : protein (carb : pro) ratios. The biosolids contained a low carbohydrate fraction and so was not suitable for hydrogen production when used alone. However coblending this waste with a carbohydrate‐enriched food waste produced a greater hydrogen yield, making this option viable. Batch studies showed that the optimised mix had a biosolids concentration of 25.7% (w/w). The largest hydrogen yield of 198.5 mL/gVS_removed was observed when the carb : pro was 2.78, and this was threefold higher than the other carb : pro ratios evaluated in this study. The digestate recovered after hydrogen recovery had a C : N of 17.5, which is in the ideal range for methane production. The biochemical methane potential test showed a methane yield of 239 mL/gVS_removed, and the total volatile solids destruction following two‐phase hydrogen and methane production was 93%.     

A Noisy Channel Tolerant Image Encryption Scheme

In this paper, we present an image encryption scheme that has the capability to tolerate noisy effects of a wireless channel. This means if the encrypted image data is corrupted by channel noise up to a certain level, correct decryption is possible with some distortion. The proposed image encryption scheme relies on some very interesting properties of orthogonal matrices containing columns that form a set of orthonormal basis vectors. Besides being tolerant to noisy channels, the proposed scheme also provides good security against well-known cryptographic attacks as demonstrated in this paper by a number of experimental results and security analysis.     

Modulation of nanotube formation in apatite single crystal via organic molecule incorporation

Hydroxyapatite materials are potentially useful for biomedical application, especially as vehicles for functional molecules. Structural control of bulk apatite materials, such as in the fabrication of hollow microspheres or porous structures, has been studied for this purpose. However, control of the internal structure of the source apatite crystal itself is still a challenge. Here, we show that small organic molecules incorporated in apatite crystals act as porogens which control the porous structure of apatite single crystal. The presence of amino acid under apatite synthesis conditions leads to firm bindings and encapsulation of the amino acid in apatite single crystals. Amino acid elimination by heating or electron beam irradiation enhances the pore formation in apatite single crystal. Moreover, incorporation of an acidic amino acid in apatite induces peapod like nanotubes in apatite single crystals. This study suggests the potential of using small organics for nano-structural control of apatite single crystals which would be valuable for enhancing drug loadings or modulating material digestion in vivo.     

Global buckling of composite structural insulated wall panels

This paper presents a new type of composites structural insulated panels (CSIPs) for structural wall applications. The proposed composite panel is made of low-cost thermoplastic orthotropic glass/poly-propylene (glass–PP) laminate as a facesheet and expanded polystyrene foam (EPS) as a core with very high facesheet/core moduli ratio. The proposed CSIP walls are intended to overcome problems of traditional Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) such as termite attack, mold buildups and poor penetration resistance against wind borne debris. This paper investigates the behavior of CSIPs under concentric and eccentric loading. CSIPs specimens failed by global buckling mode in which no debonding was observed. The eccentric specimens failed at load 35% lower than that of the concentric ones. Global buckling formulas for concentric and eccentric loading were presented and validated using the experimental results and were in a good agreement. An equivalent stiffness formula was also developed for sandwich wall under in-plane loading considering the shear deformations effect of the core. Design study for CSIP walls is also presented to help in designing this new type of composite panels.     

Lactate cannot substitute for alanine in d4T-based anti-HIV nucleotide prodrugs--despite efficient esterase-mediated hydrolysis

As part of our on-going effort to deliver masked phosphates of antiviral nucleosides inside living cells we have previously discovered that amino acid-derived phosphoramidates are particularly effective. Here we report that lactate analogues, with a simple change of bridging nitrogen for oxygen, are virtually inactive as antiviral agents and apparently do not achieve intracellular nucleoside phosphate delivery.     

Effect of enhancing the Raman gain factor on the linearity of Raman fibre amplifiers

The effect of enhancing the Raman gain factor on the linearity characteristics of Raman fibre amplifiers is analysed. In addition to providing higher Raman gain per unit pump power, a higher value for the Raman gain factor also results in a lower value for the maximum gain, and therefore the maximum output power, available from the amplifier if it is to operate in the linear regime. This has important implications for optimising the design of Raman fibre amplifiers.<>