Biodegradation of used lubricating and diesel oils by a new yeast strain Candida viswanathii KA-2011

Disposal of the automotive lubricating oil after usage can cause environmental hazards. This study aimed to isolate a microbial isolate is that able to biodegrade lubricating oil effectively. A new yeast strain, identified by 18S-rRNA gene sequencing as Candida viswanathii KA-201l, was isolated from used lubricating oil, showed high biodegradation efficiency for different used lubricating oils. Capability of this isolate to degrade different high and low molecular weight hydrocarbons, castor oil, diesel oil and grease was tested. It showed high degradation efficiency for most of the tested compounds. The biodegradation products were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) in most cases. The biodegradation efficiency under high osmotic pressure was studied. It effectively biodegrade lubricating and diesel oils (58.6 and 93.9%, respectively) at 6% salt concentration after four days only. C. viswanathii KA-2011 can be effectively used for removal of lubricants, diesel or vegetative oils pollution from soil, wastewater and sea water. Use of C. viswanathii KA-2011 in the bioremediation of lubricant or gasoline contaminated sea-water save the aquaculture from these pollutants, as well as it open new horizons in using of contaminated soil and wastewater in agriculture.Keywords: Lubricating oils, diesel oil, biodegradation, Candida viswanathi

The Road Pavement Condition Index (PCI) Evaluation and Maintenance: A Case Study of Yemen

The pavement condition index (PCI) is a simple, convenient and inexpensive way to monitor the condition of the surface of roads, identify maintenance and rehabilitation (M-and-R) needs as well as ensure that road maintenance budgets are spent wisely. In this research, the pavement condition was evaluated in terms of the surface distresses existing at the time of the field evaluation. The PCI procedure was used in this research because it deals with the subject of pavement distress identification most comprehensively and is based on a sound statistical technique of pavement sampling. Because of limited maintenance fund availability in Yemen, timely and rational determination of M-and-R needs and priorities are very important factors. The PAVER™ (1982) condition rating procedure, as described in the Technical Manual TM 5-623, Pavement Maintenance Management, which is based on the PCI, was used in this study to evaluate a major heavy-traffic road corridor connecting Aden city (the commercial capital of Yemen) with major cities located in the northern region of the country. Based on the PCI of the road sections, the necessary maintenance or rehabilitation procedure is suggested

Cognitive Radio Platforms For Disaster Response Networks, Survey

Either natural or man-made a disaster is defined as unexpected destructive event that causes damages and malfunction of existing systems and services all around the disaster area, these destructive effects are unfortunately beyond the capability of local authorities to recover and respond immediately, the disaster recovery plans are immediately initiated so that rescue and aid operations can help those who are trapped in disaster area to survive, those efforts need to be controlled and coordinated with reliable communication systems that are more likely partially or fully disabled due to the disaster, the capabilities of cognitive radio technology enables it to play a significant role in providing efficient communication services for the rescue teams and headquarters as well as trapped victims, in this paper, we survey the cognitive radio architectures that can replace the Software Defined Radio SDR in order to reduce the network expenses in terms of network size and network computational complexit

Significance of selenium in ameliorating the effects of irrigation deficit via improving photosynthesis efficiency, cell integrity, osmo-protectants, and oil profile of anise crop

Anise is one of the plants with therapeutic potential, which is classified among the most important medicinal plants with interesting biological effects. Its components could be perceived so as “natural” and “safe” alternatives to antibiotics as well as they are applied in different industries such as food and cosmetic purposes. Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient, however, its importance to improve oil yield and quality of anise has not been adequately investigated, specifically under drought. Therefore, two successive seasons were conducted to investigate the effect of selenium foliar application upon anise plants under drought stress. Selenium was applied at three different concentrations (0.0 1.0 and 2.0 mM denoted Se0, Se1 and Se2, respectively) along with two levels of crop evapotranspiration (ET): Full irrigation, 100% of ET (FI) and 60% of ET (DI). The promotive effect of combinations of DI × Se1 or Se2 (for Fv/Fm, RWC%, and MSI% in the first season) and DI × Se2 (for Fv/Fm, and MSI% in the second season) were as similar as FI × Se2. Compared to the counterpart control treatment (DI × Se0), the highest increases in total free amino acids (31.5 and 31.6%), total soluble sugars (84.2 and 86.4%) and free proline content (84.2 and 86.4%) were recorded with application of DI × Se2 practice in both seasons, respectively. Under DI, Se2 recorded the maximum values of root length, shoot fresh weight and shoot dry weight in the second season. Under drought, the increases in seed yield due to application of Se1 and Se2 amounted to 1.72 and 1.62 folds in the 1st season and 1.50 and 1.43 folds in 2nd one, respectively. The most effective practice for improving IWUE was Se1× DI in both seasons, followed by Se2 × DI. Based on the chromatographical detection, the maximum values of Anethole were recorded with FI × Se2 while L-Linalool has greatly increased with DI × Se2. In conclusion, the growers in arid and semi-arid zones are advised to use selenium (2.0 mM) in anise fertilization to mitigate the adverse impacts of drought, and keeping crop yield and quality

Material flow cost accounting, perceived ecological environmental uncertainty, supplier integration and business performance: a study of manufacturing sector in Malaysia

This article seeks to explore the implementation of Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA) across the manufacturing sector. The paper aims to understand the role of perceived ecological environmental uncertainty (PEEU) and supplierintegration (SI) on MFCA implementation, and thus subsequently examines the effect of MFCA implementation on firms’environmental and economic performance. The research model was empirically tested based on online-survey. The questionnaires were emailed to 1200 randomly selected industrial firms. The usable responses was 123 firms. The data was analysed using a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach through partial least square (PLS) software. The main results from survey of 123 companies showed low level of MFCA implementation. Further, the analysis of PLS indicated that companies which recognise bigger ecological environmental uncertainty are less motivated to implement MFCA. Tthe study also found that SI has a direct positive impact on MFCA implementation since companies which decided to implement MFCA were more likely able to achieve better environmental and economic performance. Thus, companies perceive the importance of being ecologically responsible and that such practice will increase companys’ prosperity in many ways, ecologically and economically

Conventional And Cognitive Radio Based Disaster Response Networks, A Comparative Study

The need for the deployment of reliable and efficient telecommunication systems in extreme emergency scenarios such as disaster response networks imposes a set of emerging unusual communication and routing challenges and obstacles that questions the performance of existing traditional and commercial telecommunication systems and networks in such scenarios, the revolution of telecommunication and networks industry witnessed the development of enormous telecommunication and networking services and systems that shaped their implementations in various domains of applications , in this paper, we study most of these communication standards in terms of their pros and cons, we also analyze the potentials of these standards in for Disaster Response networks in comparison with Cognitive Radio technology that has distinct capabilities and functionalities that enabled such a technology to be highly applicable for such harsh and unexpected scenario

Can Taxpayers Stand Discrimination?: Lack of Standing and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act Permits the Executive Branch to Fund Discrimination Within Religious Organizations

The Density Functional Theory (DFT) and ab initio (HF and MP2) calculations were performed on the quinoline molecule (QL) and its derivatives, namely quinaldine (QLD) and quinaldic acid (QLDA) to investigate their possible role as corrosion inhibitors for mild steel in acidic medium. Calculations were done for non-protonated and protonated forms in vacuo and in water. Some quantum chemical parameters were calculated and discussed in order to provide insight into the reactivity and selectivity of the molecules. The performance of the different calculation methods were also compared with available experimental data. The results show that DFT/B3LYP basis set is adequate in describing the geometry and quantum chemical parameters of the studied systems. Both experimental and theoretical results established that QLDA has the highest inhibition efficiency. A comparison in the trends of the quantum chemical parameters in water solution and in vacuo shows minimal influence of the solvent effects