Heterogeneous catalytic ozonation of 2, 4-dinitrophenol in aqueous solution by magnetic carbonaceous nanocomposite: catalytic activity and mechanism

Herein, the catalytic properties of a carbonaceous nanocomposite in the catalytic ozonation process (COP) of 2, 4-dinitrophenol (2, 4-DNP) were investigated and the results were compared with those obtained from single ozonation process (SOP). Magnetic carbonaceous nanocomposite, as a novel catalyst, was applied to optimize the condition for the removal of 2, 4-DNP in the COP, and the influential parameters such as pH, catalyst dosage, addition of radical scavengers, and durability were all evaluated. The results showed that the degradation efficiency of 2, 4-DNP and COD in the COP (98.2, 92) was higher compared to the SOP (75, 61) and the highest catalytic potential was achieved at an optimal pH of 6. The first-order modeling demonstrated that the reactions were dependent on the concentration of the catalyst, with the kinetic constants varying from 0.022 (1/min) in the SOP to 1.377 (1/min) in the COP at the catalyst dosage of 4 g/L and the optimum concentration of catalyst (2 g/L). The addition of radical scavenger noticeably diminished the removal efficiency of 2, 4-DNP in the SOP from 75 down to 54, while the corresponding values for the COP dropped from 98.2 to 93. Furthermore, a negligible reduction in the catalytic properties of the catalyst was observed (~5) after five-time reuse. The results also revealed that the applied method is effectively suitable for the removal of 2, 4-DNP contaminant from industrial wastewaters. © 2015 Balaban Desalination Publications. All rights reserved

Effect of modulus and dosage of waterglass on early age shrinkage of sodium silicate activated slag paste

In recent years, alkali-activated slag (AAS) as an alternative low-carbon emission and high strength cementitious material has received increased attention. However, high shrinkage and crack tendency of AAS limit its wider industrial applications. Although considerable researches have already been carried out on Portland cement (PC) based systems, the information and understanding on the early age shrinkage of AAS is still limited. On the other hand, early age shrinkage occurs mainly due to a high rate of water evaporation from the surface of fresh concrete. Therefore, this study seeks to explore the potential of two sodium silicate activated slag mixtures variables, namely, waterglass moduli and activator content, on moisture loss and early age shrinkage properties of AAS. A control AAS mix was formulated with water glass (silica modulus of 1.5) as an activator at the dosage of 4% (Na2O equivalent) by mass of slag and fixed waterbinder ratio (w/b) of 0.4. Two mixtures with modulus of 0.75 and activator dosage of 6% were compared in this study. The most significant findings to emerge from this study is that, AAS paste with moduli of 0.75 and activator content of 4% showed lower amount of early age shrinkage. However, further study still needs to be carried out in order to establish a better understanding of the current results

XmoNet:a Fully Convolutional Network for Cross-Modality MR Image Inference

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can generate multimodal scans with complementary contrast information, capturing various anatomical or functional properties of organs of interest. But whilst the acquisition of multiple modalities is favourable in clinical and research settings, it is hindered by a range of practical factors that include cost and imaging artefacts. We propose XmoNet, a deep-learning architecture based on fully convolutional networks (FCNs) that enables cross-modality MR image inference. This multiple branch architecture operates on various levels of image spatial resolutions, encoding rich feature hierarchies suited for this image generation task. We illustrate the utility of XmoNet in learning the mapping between heterogeneous T1- and T2-weighted MRI scans for accurate and realistic image synthesis in a preliminary analysis. Our findings support scaling the work to include larger samples and additional modalities

Folate-conjugated nanoparticles as a potent therapeutic approach in targeted cancer therapy

The selective and efficient drug delivery to tumor cells can remarkably improve different cancer therapeutic approaches. There are several nanoparticles (NPs) which can act as a potent drug carrier for cancer therapy. However, the specific drug delivery to cancer cells is an important issue which should be considered before designing new NPs for in vivo application. It has been shown that cancer cells over-express folate receptor (FR) in order to improve their growth. As normal cells express a significantly lower levels of FR compared to tumor cells, it seems that folate molecules can be used as potent targeting moieties in different nanocarrier-based therapeutic approaches. Moreover, there is evidence which implies folate-conjugated NPs can selectively deliver anti-tumor drugs into cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. In this review, we will discuss about the efficiency of different folate-conjugated NPs in cancer therapy. © 2015, International Society of Oncology and BioMarkers (ISOBM)

The role of ergonomic training interventions on decreasing neck and shoulders pain among workers of an Iranian automobile factory: A randomized trial study

Background: Ergonomic training had been implemented for prevention or reduction of neck and shoulder complaints among workers. The purpose of the present study was to assess the role of ergonomic training intervention on decreasing the prevalence of neck and shoulder complaints among workers of an automobile factory. Methods: Within the present randomized clinical trial, the role of three ergonomic training methods on the prevalence of neck and shoulders pain among 503 workers of an automobile factory (Response rate: 94.23) was assessed. The eligible workers were randomly allocated into the following three interventional (pamphlet, lecture, workshop) groups and one control group. The Nordic questionnaire was used to assess the prevalence of neck and shoulder complaints. We followed and assessed the prevalence of neck and shoulders complaints among the study employees before and one year after the intervention. We used chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests to compare the prevalence of neck and shoulder complaints between the trial and control groups. A two-tailed P-value less than or equal to 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of neck and shoulders complaints among the study employees at the recent week (p= 0.002) and year (p= 0.02) had been significantly decreased in the study employees after participating in the study workshop. The prevalence of neck and shoulders complaints at the recent week and year did not significantly changed in the study employees after receiving the pamphlet and lecture as ergonomic trainings. Conclusion: Workshop as an ergonomic training method had an effective and powerful role on decreasing the prevalence of neck and shoulders complaints among workers

Life history and population growth parameters of Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Acari: Acaridae) on Fusarium graminearum in laboratory conditions

The life history of an acarid mite, Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank), on Fusarium graminearum Clade was investigated at 25 ± 1°C, 60 ± 5% RH and a photoperiod of 16: 8 (L: D) h. Incubation period for egg hatch, larval and nymphal periods and adult longevity were 2.22 ± 0.06, 3.46 ± 0.12, 4.84 ± 0.16 and 10.05 ± 0.9 days, respectively. The average life span of males and females were 22.22 ± 1.21 and 19.08 ± 1.37 days respectively. Pre-oviposition, oviposition and post-oviposition periods were 2.22, 5.77 and 1.4 days respectively. Gross and net fecundity rates were obtained 76.2 and 23 eggs per female per generation respectively. Net reproduction rate was 12.5 female eggs per female per generation, and average daily oviposition rate was 5.7 eggs. The intrinsic and finite rates of population increase were 0.15 and 1.16 day-1 respectively. The mean generation time (T) and the mean doubling time (DT) were 16.74 and 4.59 days respectively. The population mainly (78%) consisted of eggs and larvae, and nymphs and adults represented only 22% of the population