Nanostructured Al2O3/Graphene Additive in Bio-Based Lubricant: A Novel Approach to Improve Engine Performance

Personal and industrial use of internal combustion engines (ICEs) is projected to continue until 2050 and beyond. Yet demands to reduce global dependence on petrochemicals and fossil fuel-derived lubricants are increasing and environmentally necessary. New strategies for maintaining and enhancing ICE performance by reducing friction, wear, fuel consumption, and exhaust emissions will reduce the depletion of mineral and fossil fuel reserves and environmental pollution. This paper reports the tribological enhancement of nano-bio lubricants formulated using 2D nanocomposites of Al2O3/graphene as novel additives in coconut oil, whose performance as a lubricant compares favourably with the mineral-based engine oil 15W40. Structural, compositional, and morphological characterization of an Al2O3/graphene nanocomposite synthesized via thermal annealing revealed an ultra-fine particle size (<10 nm) with spherical/laminar morphology and a rich sp2 domain, exhibiting a consistent colloidal stability when formulated as nanofluid. Through the use of various characterisation techniques, including friction and wear analysis we gained valuable insight into the tribological mechanism. Our optimisation of 2D tribological system using coconut oil formulation resulted significant reductions in the coefficient of friction (28%), specific fuel consumption (8%), and exhaust pollutants (CO, SO2, and NOx) emissions. This work demonstrates the benefits of using nano-bio lubricant formulated using coconut oil and 2D based hybrids as base stock and additives, delivering solutions to global challenges such as improving fuel consumption while reducing environmental pollution; solutions that can be transferred to other areas where lubricants are a necessity

ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITIES OF LEAVES, SKIN, FLESH AND SEEDS OF SRI LANKAN VARIETY OF CUCURBITA MOSCHATA

Reactive oxygen species are continuously produced by normal physiological activities of the human body and these cause damage to the cell membrane and biomolecules and thereby resulting chronic diseases. Antioxidants are scavengers of such free radicals and could combat oxidative stress. In spite of the advances in modern medicine, plant based remedies are increasingly sort after due to their lesser side effects. The antioxidants capacity and antimicrobial properties of ethyl acetate, acetone and methanol extracts of seeds, leaves, flesh and skin of the Sri Lankan variety of Cucerbita moschata were investigate. The ethyl acetate extracts of leaves gave the highest rate of change of reducing power with concentration (0.1625 ml/mg) in Fe3+ reducing power assay and the highest hydroxyl radical activity (72.8±3.8%). The acetone extract of leaves gave the highest rate of change of radical scavenging activity with concentration (7.016 ml/mg) during DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging assay. Ethyl acetate extract of leaves also showed the highest phenolic content (42.4±2.4 mg (PGE/g)) and highest flavonoid content (40.2±0.6 mg (QE)/g). All extracts of skin and seeds as well as the methanol extract of leaves and acetone extract of flesh showed antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis. The three extracts of skin and the acetone extract of leaves showed antibacterial activity against the Escherichia coli

Ticarcillin hypersusceptibility in pseudomonas aeruginosa in cystic fibrosis

Background: A subpopulation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PsA) exists in cysticfibrosis (CF) patients that&nbsp; is&nbsp; hypersusceptible&nbsp; to&nbsp; ticarcillin,&nbsp; a&nbsp; carboxypenicillin,&nbsp; in&nbsp; vitro (Tichs strain)&nbsp; defined&nbsp; as&nbsp; a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ≤4μg/ml. Methods: In a retrospective cohort study, isolates of PsA from CF (23),&nbsp; non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB) (17) and control (18) patients were analysed. MICs for each isolate were determined using agar dilution against six antibiotics and interpreted using EUCAST breakpoints. Prevalence of Tichs in&nbsp; each&nbsp; cohort&nbsp; was&nbsp; calculated.&nbsp; A&nbsp; point&nbsp; prevalence&nbsp; survey&nbsp; was&nbsp; conducted&nbsp; in&nbsp; CF&nbsp; to&nbsp; review&nbsp; the&nbsp; patients’ clinical progress following PsA isolation. Results: Prevalence of the Tichs strain in PsA was 48%, 76% and 0% in the CF, NCFB and control cohorts respectively. A statistically significant difference in geometric mean MIC was seen between the Tichs and non-Tichs&nbsp; cohorts in CF for ticarcillin (as expected) and temocillin (p=0.041and p=0.036 respectively). A similar trend was observed in NCFB for ticarcillin (p=0.038) and temocillin (p=0.067), although statistical significance was not reached for the latter.In&nbsp; CF,&nbsp; the&nbsp; Tichs&nbsp; strain&nbsp; demonstrated&nbsp; lower&nbsp; MICs&nbsp; to&nbsp; all antibiotics&nbsp; tested&nbsp; apart&nbsp; from&nbsp; gentamicin compared&nbsp; to&nbsp; their&nbsp; non-Tichs counterparts. Those&nbsp; who&nbsp; had the Tichs strain&nbsp; in&nbsp; CF&nbsp; had&nbsp; fewer&nbsp; antibiotics (13.9&nbsp; days&nbsp; versus&nbsp; 23.5&nbsp; days,&nbsp; Tichs&nbsp; and&nbsp; non-Tichs respectively)&nbsp; although&nbsp; this&nbsp; result&nbsp; was&nbsp; not&nbsp; statistically significant p=0.202. Conclusion: Our&nbsp; data&nbsp; supports&nbsp; the&nbsp; existence&nbsp; of&nbsp; a&nbsp; Tichs strain&nbsp; of&nbsp; PsA&nbsp; in&nbsp; our&nbsp; CF&nbsp; and&nbsp; NCFB&nbsp; patient populations. This strain correlated with reduced MICs to temocillin in CF, to which PsA would normally be resistant, which may be of clinical relevance.</p

Child Labour Utilization in the Tourism Industry: A Case Study from Ampara District in Sri Lanka

The tourism industry is considered as one of the world's fastest growing economic activities and the largest employer of manpower which generates millions of employment opportunities. Since tourism is a labour intensive industry there is an escalating demand for labour in different sectors of tourism. This demand becomes a critical issue due to reasons such as the scarcity of the trained and skilled human resource, lower salaries and wages and unwillingness among many people to pursue tourism-related employment. As a remedy to this critical issue, child labour has been used frequently. They have been employed in both formal and informal sectors of the tourism industry.  This situation is more common in the Sri Lanka tourism industry, especially in remote tourism regions.  The main objective of this research was to study the nature of child labour in the tourism industry of the Ampara district of Eastern Tourism region of Sri Lanka. After a preliminary survey, Ulla, Panama North and Panama West GNDs of the Ampara district of Eastern tourism region were selected as the study area. Applying judgment and purposive sampling techniques, 56 child workers and 19 accommodation establishments were selected as the sample. Both quantitative and qualitative methods such as questionnaire surveys, observations, interviews, group discussions and case studies were employed to collect data. The data was analyzed applying both qualitative and quantitative analytical methods. The overall findings of the study are discussed under several subheadings including the socioeconomic and family background of child workers, the existing nature and types of child labour, reasons for selecting of employment linked to tourism, places of work, salaries and wages, the nature of expenditure and problems faced by child workers. The overall findings of this study revealed that child workers have been employed in formal and informal sectors of the tourism industry. All the child labours are in the age range between 15 to 17 years. The most common form of utilizing child labour in the study area is as sellers. Economic burdens at home are the major reasons which draw the children to these jobs. Engaging in different activities, they are able to earn an income ranging from Rs. 3,000 to 15,000 and they have spent this income on different purposes. Since there are many problems related to child labour utilization active policies and plans are timely and significant to alleviate these problems.  KEYWORDS: Tourism Industry, Child Labour, Labour utilizatio

Use of a porous membrane for gas bubble removal in microfluidic channels: physical mechanisms and design criteria

We demonstrate and explain a simple and efficient way to remove gas bubbles from liquid-filled microchannels, by integrating a hydrophobic porous membrane on top of the microchannel. A prototype chip is manufactured in hard, transparent polymer with the ability to completely filter gas plugs out of a segmented flow at rates up to 7.4 microliter/s per mm2 of membrane area. The device involves a bubble generation section and a gas removal section. In the bubble generation section, a T-junction is used to generate a train of gas plugs into a water stream. These gas plugs are then transported towards the gas removal section, where they slide along a hydrophobic membrane until complete removal. The system has been successfully modeled and four necessary operating criteria have been determined to achieve a complete separation of the gas from the liquid. The first criterion is that the bubble length needs to be larger than the channel diameter. The second criterion is that the gas plug should stay on the membrane for a time sufficient to transport all the gas through the membrane. The third criterion is that the gas plug travel speed should be lower than a critical value: otherwise a stable liquid film between the bubble and the membrane prevents mass transfer. The fourth criterion is that the pressure difference across the membrane should not be larger than the Laplace pressure to prevent water from leaking through the membrane

Development of a rapid environmental assessment methodology for roads sector rehabilitation projects

The concern for the environment is ever growing and counter measures are also taken by manycountries to minimize environmental impacts arising from developmental activities. One tool utilised toensure that developments are sustainable is Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which hasbeen a mandatory requirement in Sri Lanka since 1993. However, due to considerable time taken bythe EIA process particularly for extensive projects such as road sector projects concerns have beenraised as to the delays caused by the process which in certain instances might even cause loss offoreign funds. Although detailed assessments are required in some cases it is not always true. Roadrehabilitation projects do not fall into the category of prescribed projects of the National EnvironmentalAct unless sensitive areas are involved and resettlement of more than 100 families are involved.However, foreign funding agencies generally require an environmental assessment of even suchprojects prior to approving of funding which generally cause delays since environmental assessorstend to follow tile same pattern of assessment for all projects regardless of the scope. Numerousmethods have evolved over the years to conduct EIAs some ct'which address environmental impact assessment of sectoral projects particularly water resource development projects which are ratherconvenient to use. However thus far such methods have not been developed for road sector projects.The present study was conducted to develop a Rapid Environment Assessment (REA) technique forthe Sri Lankan road rehabilitation projects where such a tool is yet to immerge. The REA was designedfrom the information collected from literature survey, questionnaire surveys of affected communities,field observations and subject experts' interviews. Three actual rehabilitation projects were studiedfor this purpose. Based on the information first the activities relevant to all the road rehabilitationprojects were listed with the assistance received from the field engineers. Then those activities whichhave no significant impacts were taken out keeping only the activities causing impacts forconsideration.The designed tool in this study is armed with both primary and secondary impacts whichcan arise from specific activities of road rehabilitation projects as well with proposed mitigatory measureswhich can minimize these impacts. The REA is not only comprehensive but also user friendly asactivities and impacts are predetermined and linked to each other so that the users do not have toprepare their own checklists of activities or environmental aspects. It's handy and small. It's generalin usage and could be used in any site of road rehabilitation projects. It's concise as only those activitieswith significant impacts are chosen and included.From surveys it was also discovered that to avoid unnecessary oppositions and social commotion,which would hinder the rehabilitation projects compensation should be decided and granted at theplanning stage itself. It is also highly recommended that a strong monitoring system is utilized. If anyof the proposed mitigatory measures is not effective in neutralizing the impacts, a search for newmeasures is recommended and REA is to be updated accordingly. As REA is not available for roadrehabilitation projects at present in Sri Lanka the tool designed in my study could be taken for futureroad rehabilitation projects to minimize the disadvantages of ElA. However, it should note that theREA is to be used only by experts in order to be effective and accurate. 

Cancer and thrombosis: Managing the risks and approaches to thromboprophylaxis

Patients with cancer are at increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) compared with patients without cancer. This results from both the prothrombotic effects of the cancer itself and iatrogenic factors, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, indwelling central venous devices and surgery, that further increase the risk of VTE. Although cancer-associated thrombosis remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality, it is often underdiagnosed and undertreated. However, evidence is accumulating to support the use of low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWHs) in the secondary prevention of VTE in patients with cancer. Not only have LMWHs been shown to be at least as effective as coumarin derivatives in this setting, but they have a lower incidence of complications, including bleeding, and are not associated with the practical problems of warfarin therapy. Furthermore, a growing number of studies indicate that LMWHs may improve survival among patients with cancer due to a possible antitumor effect. Current evidence suggests that LMWHs should increasingly be considered for the long-term management of VTE in patients with cancer

Resistance of Dynamin-related Protein 1 Oligomers to Disassembly Impairs Mitophagy, Resulting in Myocardial Inflammation and Heart Failure

We have reported previously that a missense mutation in the mitochondrial fission gene Dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) underlies the Python mouse model of monogenic dilated cardiomyopathy. The aim of this study was to investigate the consequences of the C452F mutation on Drp1 protein function and to define the cellular sequelae leading to heart failure in the Python monogenic dilated cardiomyopathy model. We found that the C452F mutation increased Drp1 GTPase activity. The mutation also conferred resistance to oligomer disassembly by guanine nucleotides and high ionic strength solutions. In a mouse embryonic fibroblast model, Drp1 C452F cells exhibited abnormal mitochondrial morphology and defective mitophagy. Mitochondria in C452F mouse embryonic fibroblasts were depolarized and had reduced calcium uptake with impaired ATP production by oxidative phosphorylation. In the Python heart, we found a corresponding progressive decline in oxidative phosphorylation with age and activation of sterile inflammation. As a corollary, enhancing autophagy by exposure to a prolonged low-protein diet improved cardiac function in Python mice. In conclusion, failure of Drp1 disassembly impairs mitophagy, leading to a downstream cascade of mitochondrial depolarization, aberrant calcium handling, impaired ATP synthesis, and activation of sterile myocardial inflammation, resulting in heart failure

Lactic acid bacteria isolated from fermented flour of finger millet, its probiotic attributes and bioactive properties

This study aims to isolate and identify lactic acid bacteria from fermented flour of selected finger millet varieties grown in Sri Lanka and to evaluate their probiotic attributes and bioactive properties in vitro. Fifteen lactic acid bacteria were isolated from three varieties of fermented finger millet flour namely ravi, raavana and oshadha. These isolates were screened for phenotypical and biochemical characteristics. The selected isolates were identified by 16 S rRNA sequencing as Bacillus cereus (five strains), Streptococcus lutetiensis, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus fermentum (two strains), Brevibacillus borstelensis, Paenibacillus species, Lactococcus lactis subspecies lactis, Enterococcus faecium, Pediococcus acidilactici, and Enterococcus lactis, and their partial sequences were deposited in GenBank. Among them, five isolates including two isolates, L. plantarum MF405176.1 and L. fermentum MF033346.1 isolated from ravi; two isolates, L. lactis MF480428.1 and E. faecium MF480431.1 isolated from raavana; and P. acidilactici MF480434.1 isolated from oshadha varieties respectively, exhibited in vitro safety attributes and could tolerate acid, gastric juice, bile, salt, phenol, and temperature under simulated gastric conditions, and also were susceptible to antibiotics tested. Further, they demonstrated bactericidal activity against both drug-sensitive and multidrug-resistant pathogens. Among the selected isolates, L. plantarum MF405176.1 demonstrated highest hydrophobicity and adhesion to both colon colorectal adenocarcinoma and colon colorectal carcinoma cell lines. L. lactis subspecies lactis MF480428.1 exhibited the highest auto-aggregation and 2, 2, diphenyl-1-pricrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging activity. P. acidilactici MF480434.1 demonstrated the lowest IC50 values against HCT-116 and HT-29 cells. None of the LAB isolates could assimilate > 10% cholesterol in vitro