Chitosan Functionalized with Carboxyl Groups as a Recyclable Biomaterial for the Adsorption of Cu (II) and Zn (II) Ions in Aqueous Media

The modification of chitosan represents a challenging task in obtaining biopolymeric materials with enhanced removal capacity for heavy metals. In the present work, the adsorption characteristics of chitosan modified with carboxyl groups (CTS-CAA) towards copper (II) and zinc (II) ions have been tested. The efficacy of the synthesis of CTS-CAA has been evaluated by studying various properties of the modified chitosan. Specifically, the functionalized chitosan has been characterized by using several techniques, including thermal analyses (differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry), spectroscopies (FT-IR, XRD), elemental analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. The kinetics and the adsorption isotherms of CTS-CAA towards both Cu (II) and Zn (II) have been determined in the aqueous solvent under variable pH. The obtained results have been analyzed by using different adsorption models. In addition, the experiments have been conducted at variable temperatures to explore the thermodynamics of the adsorption process. The regeneration of CTS-CAA has been investigated by studying the desorption process using different eluents. This paper reports an efficient protocol to synthesize chitosan-based material perspective as regenerative adsorbents for heavy metals.     

Molecular Pathogenesis of Glioblastoma in Adults and Future Perspectives: A Systematic Review

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and malignant tumour of the central nervous system. Recent appreciation of the heterogeneity amongst these tumours not only changed the WHO classification approach, but also created the need for developing novel and personalised therapies. This systematic review aims to highlight recent advancements in understanding the molecular pathogenesis of the GBM and discuss related novel treatment targets. A systematic search of the literature in the PubMed library was performed following the PRISMA guidelines for molecular pathogenesis and therapeutic advances. Original and meta-analyses studies from the last ten years were reviewed using pre-determined search terms. The results included articles relevant to GBM development focusing on the aberrancy in cell signaling pathways and intracellular events. Theragnostic targets and vaccination to treat GBM were also explored. The molecular pathophysiology of GBM is complex. Our systematic review suggests targeting therapy at the stemness, p53 mediated pathways and immune modulation. Exciting novel immune therapy involving dendritic cell vaccines, B-cell vaccines and viral vectors may be the future of treating GBM.     

Study of hot air generator with quasi-uniform temperature using concentrated solar radiation: Influence of the shape parameters

The non-uniformity of the air temperatures and the slow flow rate at the plane collector exit constitute the main cause of the limitations of the solar drying systems. In order to obtain an uniform and a variable flow rate for different uses, a hot air generator using concentrated solar radiation is proposed. To improve the thermal efficiency of the generator, a study of the influence of different shape parameters is realized. The generator is simulated in the laboratory while investigating the flow induced by a circular disc heated uniformly by Joule effect at constant temperature. This disc is placed at the entrance of an open ended vertical cylinder of a larger diameter. Thermal radiation emitted by the hot disc heats the cylinder wall. The heating of the fluid at the cylinder-inlet generates a thermosiphon flow around the one created by the hot disc. The comparison of the velocity and the temperature profiles of the resulting flow permits to determine the influence of the cylinder height, the vertical source-cylinder spacing and the radius ratio, on the resulting flow at the system exit. Thus, a judicious choice of the shape parameters entails an improvement of the flow rate as well as the thermal flux absorbed by the air and a good homogenization of the air temperature at the generator exit.     

Numerical investigation of the effects of geometric parameters of heaters on mixed covection in a lid‐driven cavity filled with different nanofluids

In this paper, the effects of the thicknesses and locations of two rectangular heaters, located on the bottom and one side of on an enclosure, on mixed convection of nanofluid flows in a lid‐driven cavity are numerically investigated. The enclosure is simultaneously heated partially by these two heaters which have similar or different thicknesses and also filled with different nanofluids containing nanoparticles of Cu, Ag, Al₂O₃, and TiO₂ within the base fluid of water. A finite volume approach by the SIMPLE algorithm is used to solve the governing equations. The effects of different Rayleigh numbers (), Reynolds numbers (), solid volume fractions (), heater lengths (), heater locations () and heater thicknesses () on the streamlines, isotherms and the average Nusselt number along two heaters are studied accurately. Also, variations of average Nusselt number of two heaters are considered whenever one heater is fixed and the other heater moves along on the wall. Moreover, variations of the length of one heater on the average Nusselt number are also studied whenever the length of the other heater is fixed. In addition, variations of the thickness of one heater on the average Nusselt number are studied whenever the thickness of the other heater is fixed.     

Bearing capacity of horizontally layered geosynthetic reinforced stone columns

In very soft soils, the bearing capacity of stone columns may not improve significantly due to very low confinement of the surrounding soil. Therefore, they may be reinforced with geosynthetics by using vertical encasement or horizontal layers. Very limited studies exist on horizontally reinforced stone columns (HRSCs). In this research, some large body laboratory tests have been performed on horizontally reinforced stone columns with diameters of 60, 80, and 100?mm and groups of stone columns with 60?mm diameter. Results show that the bearing capacity of stone columns increases by using horizontally reinforcing layers. Also, they reduce lateral bulging of stone columns by their frictional and interlocking effects with stone column aggregates. Finally, numerical analyses were carried out to study main affecting parameters on the bearing capacity of HRSCs. Numerical analysis results show that the bearing capacity increases considerably with increasing the number of horizontal layers and decreasing space between layers.     

Radio resource management for LTE-A relay-enhanced cells with spatial reuse and max–min fairness

One of the major issues in LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems is the poor capacity at the cell edge. This is mainly due to the interference experienced by the users as a result of the aggressive frequency reuse usually implemented. Relaying offers an attractive solution for this problem by offering better links than those with the eNodeB (eNB) for the terminals suffering from high path loss or high interference. However, adding relays complicates the resource allocation problem at the eNB and therefore the need for more efficient schemes arises. This is also aggravated by the reuse of resource blocks (RBs) by the relays to fully exploit the scarce spectrum, which, in turn, leads to intra-cell interference. In this paper, we study the joint power and resource allocation problem in LTE-A relay-enhanced cells that exploit spatial reuse. To guarantee fairness among users, a max–min fair optimization objective is used. This complex problem is solved using coordinate ascent and the difference of two convex functions (DC) programming techniques and the proposed scheme indeed converges to a local-optimum quickly. This is shown to be a satisfactory solution according to the simulation results that indicate an almost sevenfold increase in the 10th percentile capacity when compared to previously proposed solutions.     

Influence of design and operating conditions on the performance of tandem photoelectrochemical reactors

Solar-driven photoelectrochemical water splitting technology is a promising avenue for a sustainable hydrogen production. In this work, a comprehensive 2-dimensional model is developed and numerically simulated with hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) as the principal photoelectrode. The model evaluates light absorption, charge transport and electrochemical reactions to elucidate the effects of light transmitting materials, electrolyte height and electrolyte velocity on hydrogen and oxygen gas production. Results indicated that major losses in photocurrents are attributed to the transparent conducting oxide while losses due to the electrolyte increase with its height. Gas concentrations increase with increasing photocurrent densities and also in the direction of the flow. Gas bubbles however decrease with increasing electrolyte velocity. From these results, light reception in the reactor is uneven and poses a bigger challenge due to the bias in gas bubble distribution. Prospects of upscaling tandem schemes hence not only lie in the semiconductor material combinations but rather in the proper integration of system components and operating conditions.     

Numerical simulation of two-phase mass transport in three-dimensional naturally fractured reservoirs using discrete streamlines

Simulation of multiphase mass transport in large field-scale heterogeneous, naturally fractured reservoirs with common grid-based methods is very time consuming and costly. An in-house streamline-based simulator is extended to simulate two-phase flow of oil and water in 3D heterogeneous, naturally fractured reservoirs. Different waterflooding problems have been simulated in 2D and 3D fractured reservoirs, and their results are compared with those of the grid-based commercial software. It has been shown that the streamline-based simulator can predict the results of the grid-based software with an acceptable accuracy, while its computational time and required memory is exceptionally less than the grid-based method.     

沉积岩和火成岩对γ射线的吸收及散射的比较研究

介绍沉积岩（Ｓｉｔｉｏｎｅ和Ｃｏｎｇｌｏｍｅｒａｔｅ）和火成岩（ａｎｄｅｓｉｔｅ和ｆｅｌｓｉｔｅ）的γ射线的衰减系数与散射系数的测量方法和测量结果。四种材料均制成颗粒粗细不同的粉末，在制成样品。颗粒的尺寸有：０．１７、０．１３、０．０９５、０．０３５、０．０６３ｎｍ五种。同时也测量上述品种的天然岩石的衰减系数与散射系数。使用６０Ｃｏ、１３７Ｃｓ、１３３Ｂａ等γ射线源，能量在０．３６到１．３３ＭｅＶ范围。详细地研究了线性衰减系数μ，质量衰减系数μ／ρ、弛豫长度冲及侧边散射系数φ与颗粒直径ｄ、样品密度ρ和γ射线能量是Ｅ的关系。发现线性衰减系数与ｄ和Ｅ成反比与ρ成正比，而侧边散射系数与ｄ和Ｅ成正比但与ρ成反比。比较此两大类岩石的μ和φ差异的原因。实验的结果认为这些材料可用于屏蔽γ射线。