1,782 research outputs found
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons biodegradation using isolated strains under indigenous condition
The treatment and disposal of domestic sIudge is an expensive and environmentally sensitive
problem. It is also a growing problem since sludge production will continue to increase as
new wastewzter treatment plants are built due to population increase. The large volume of
domestic sIudge produced had made it difficult for many countries including Malaysia to
assure complete treatment of the sludge before discharging to the receiving environment.
Domestic sludge contains diverse range of pollutants such as pathogen, inorganic and organic
compounds. These pollutants are toxic, mutagenic or carcinogenic and may threaten human
health. Iiilproper disposal and handling of sludge may pose serious impact to the environment
especially on soil and water cycles. Previous studies on Malaysian domestic sludge only
reported on bulk parameters and heavy metals. Thus, no study reported on organic micro
pollutants, namely, polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Their recalcitrance and
persistence make them problematic environmental contaminants. Microbial degradation is
considered to be the primary mechanism of PAHs removal from the environment. Much has
been reported on biodegradation of PAHs in several countries but there is a lack of
information quantitative on this subject in Malaysia. This study is carried out to understand
the nature of domestic sludge and to provide a better understanding on the biodegradation
processes of PAHs. The methodology of this study comprised field activities, laboratory work
and mathematical modelling. Field activities involved sampling of domestic sludge from
Kolej Mawar, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor. Laboratory activities
include seven phases of experimental works. First phase is characterization study of domestic
sludge based on bulk parameters, heavy metals and PAHs. Second phase is enrichment and
purification of bacteria isolated from domestic sludge using single PAHs and mixed PAHs as
growth substrate. This was followed by identification of bacteria using BIOLOG system. The
fourth phase focussed on turbidity test to monitor growth rate of the isolated bacteria.
Preliminary degradation study involves optimization of the process at different substrate
concentration, bacteria concentration, pH and temperature. The optimum conditions
established from optimization study were used in degradation study. In biodegradation study,
two experimental conditions were performed. These conditions include using bacteria isolated
from single PAHs as substrate and bacteria isolated from mixed PAHs. Protein and pH tests
were done during degradation study. Final activity is mathematical modelling of the
biodegradation process. In general results on bulk parameters are comparable to previous
studies. Zinc was the main compound with a mean concentration of 11 96.4 mglkg. PAHs
were also detected in all of the samples, with total concentration between 0.72 to 5.36 mglkg
dry weight for six PAHs. In the examined samples, phenanthrene was the main compound
with a mean concentration of 1.0567 mglkg. The results fiom purification studies of bacteria
strains sucessfull isolated 13 bacteria strains fiom single PAH substrate while three bacteria
were isolated from the mixed PAHs substrate. Based on bacteria growth rates, only six strains
grown on single PAHs and three strains grown on mixed PAHs were used for further studies.
Results from the optimization study of biodegradation indicated that maximum rate of PAHs
removal occurred at 100 mg~-' of PAHs, 10% bacteria concentration, pH 7.0 and 30°C. The
results showed that bacteria grown on lower ring of PAHs are not able to grow on higher ring
of PAHs. As for example Micrococcus diversus grown on napthalene as sole carbon source
was unable to degrade other PAHs like acenapthylene, acenapthene, fluorene, phenanthrene
and antlracene. In the case of bacteria isolated from mixed PAHs, the results showed that
most of the napthalene was degraded by isolated strains with the highest average degradation
rate followed by acenapthylene, acenapthene, fluorene, phenanthrene and anthracene. 377.1�781.8�781�+
D4ff + c\,cpda~ition trends were observed in the study could be attributed to the different
subsr , i,lo\~ir 'Led during isolation process. Interaction through cometabolism and synergistic
ocolq bacteria strains isolated from single substrate. Thus, only synergistic interaction
was oL, :a 77ed for bacteria isolated from mixed substrate. Corynebacterium urolyticum
re\e;;ed I,, be the best strain in degrading PAHs. The experimental results have led to a model
conccl~t desclibing I'AHs degradation
On the Experimental Evaluation of Vehicular Networks: Issues, Requirements and Methodology Applied to a Real Use Case
One of the most challenging fields in vehicular communications has been the
experimental assessment of protocols and novel technologies. Researchers
usually tend to simulate vehicular scenarios and/or partially validate new
contributions in the area by using constrained testbeds and carrying out minor
tests. In this line, the present work reviews the issues that pioneers in the
area of vehicular communications and, in general, in telematics, have to deal
with if they want to perform a good evaluation campaign by real testing. The
key needs for a good experimental evaluation is the use of proper software
tools for gathering testing data, post-processing and generating relevant
figures of merit and, finally, properly showing the most important results. For
this reason, a key contribution of this paper is the presentation of an
evaluation environment called AnaVANET, which covers the previous needs. By
using this tool and presenting a reference case of study, a generic testing
methodology is described and applied. This way, the usage of the IPv6 protocol
over a vehicle-to-vehicle routing protocol, and supporting IETF-based network
mobility, is tested at the same time the main features of the AnaVANET system
are presented. This work contributes in laying the foundations for a proper
experimental evaluation of vehicular networks and will be useful for many
researchers in the area.Comment: in EAI Endorsed Transactions on Industrial Networks and Intelligent
Systems, 201
Robotic Wireless Sensor Networks
In this chapter, we present a literature survey of an emerging, cutting-edge,
and multi-disciplinary field of research at the intersection of Robotics and
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) which we refer to as Robotic Wireless Sensor
Networks (RWSN). We define a RWSN as an autonomous networked multi-robot system
that aims to achieve certain sensing goals while meeting and maintaining
certain communication performance requirements, through cooperative control,
learning and adaptation. While both of the component areas, i.e., Robotics and
WSN, are very well-known and well-explored, there exist a whole set of new
opportunities and research directions at the intersection of these two fields
which are relatively or even completely unexplored. One such example would be
the use of a set of robotic routers to set up a temporary communication path
between a sender and a receiver that uses the controlled mobility to the
advantage of packet routing. We find that there exist only a limited number of
articles to be directly categorized as RWSN related works whereas there exist a
range of articles in the robotics and the WSN literature that are also relevant
to this new field of research. To connect the dots, we first identify the core
problems and research trends related to RWSN such as connectivity,
localization, routing, and robust flow of information. Next, we classify the
existing research on RWSN as well as the relevant state-of-the-arts from
robotics and WSN community according to the problems and trends identified in
the first step. Lastly, we analyze what is missing in the existing literature,
and identify topics that require more research attention in the future
The Dynamics of Vehicular Networks in Urban Environments
Vehicular Ad hoc NETworks (VANETs) have emerged as a platform to support
intelligent inter-vehicle communication and improve traffic safety and
performance. The road-constrained, high mobility of vehicles, their unbounded
power source, and the emergence of roadside wireless infrastructures make
VANETs a challenging research topic. A key to the development of protocols for
inter-vehicle communication and services lies in the knowledge of the
topological characteristics of the VANET communication graph. This paper
explores the dynamics of VANETs in urban environments and investigates the
impact of these findings in the design of VANET routing protocols. Using both
real and realistic mobility traces, we study the networking shape of VANETs
under different transmission and market penetration ranges. Given that a number
of RSUs have to be deployed for disseminating information to vehicles in an
urban area, we also study their impact on vehicular connectivity. Through
extensive simulations we investigate the performance of VANET routing protocols
by exploiting the knowledge of VANET graphs analysis.Comment: Revised our testbed with even more realistic mobility traces. Used
the location of real Wi-Fi hotspots to simulate RSUs in our study. Used a
larger, real mobility trace set, from taxis in Shanghai. Examine the
implications of our findings in the design of VANET routing protocols by
implementing in ns-3 two routing protocols (GPCR & VADD). Updated the
bibliography section with new research work
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