Effects of metal-contaminated soils on the accumulation of heavy metals in different parts of centella asiatica: a laboratory study

Centella asiatica is widely used as a medicinal plant in Malaysia and other parts of the world. In the present study, the growth and uptake of heavy metal by C. asiatica were determined based on the plant exposure to different treatment of metal-contaminated soils under laboratory conditions. Heavy metals uptake in different parts of the plants namely roots, stems and leaves were determined. In general, it was found that the metal uptake capacity followed the order: roots > stems > leaves. Since a close positive relationship was established between the concentrations of metal accumulated in different parts of the plant and the metal levels in the most contaminated soil, C. asiatica has the potential of being used as a biomonitoring plant for heavy metal pollution in the polluted soils

Effects on the metal-contaminated soils on the accumulation of heavy metals in the different parts of centella asiatica: A laboratory study.

Centella asiatica is widely used as a medicinal plant in Malaysia and other parts of the world. In the present study, the growth and uptake of heavy metal by C. asiatica were determined based on the plant exposure to different treatment of metal-contaminated soils under laboratory conditions. Heavy metals uptake in different parts of the plants namely roots, stems and leaves were determined. In general, it was found that the metal uptake capacity followed the order: roots > stems > leaves. Since a close positive relationship was established between the concentrations of metal accumulated in different parts of the plant and the metal levels in the most contaminated soil, C. asiatica has the potential of being used as a biomonitoring plant for heavy metal pollution in the polluted soils

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Study of Diesel-biodiesel Fuel Properties and Wavelet Analysis on Cyclic Variations in a Diesel Engine

Continuous searching in new energy sources has been a crucial issue for sustaining the increasing energy demand. Due to the present economic and social modernization as well as petroleum oil depletion crisis, makespromising alternatives such as renewable energy sources an important choice for the next power generation. Petroleum fuel includesdiesel currently used in power generation, transportation, and industrial sectors. The introduction of biodiesel as a secondary fuel for diesel engines has revolutionized the use of different fuels with fuel blending in current diesel. Though biodiesel-diesel fuel can substitute diesel fuel at an acceptable blending ratio rate up to 20%, fuel properties could be affected with beyond the limit from the engine manufacturer's standard when blending at high volume ratio. Thus, in the present study, the use of the diesel-biodiesel fuel (B20) was investigated corresponding to the fuel properties and engine cyclic variations. Also, the tested fuels include mineral diesel were tested experimentally in a diesel engine with the in-cylinder pressure data measurement for 1000 cycles. These data were analyzed using the coefficient of variation (COV) and wavelet power spectrum (WPS). Fuel properties test results showed significant differences in density and acid value with a significant reduction in viscosity when diesel is blended with biodiesel at 20%. Despite that, the low heating value was significantly affected for B20 compared to pure biodiesel. While as for the wavelet analysis results, the short period oscillations appear periodically in pure biodiesel and mineral diesel, but in contrast, the long and intermediate-term periodicities has are found in B20. Moreover, the spectral power has increased with B20, which attributed significantly to the engine cyclic variations. This characteristic validated the coefficient of variation (COV) for the indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) time series that B20 produces the lowest fluctuation in cyclic variations compared to other fuels

Analysis of Particulate Matter (PM) Emissions in Diesel Engines Using Palm Oil Biodiesel Blended with Diesel Fuel

This study has focused on the PM emissions of diesel engines. Diesel engines are attractive power units that are used widely in many fields and have become one of the larger contributors of total petroleum consumption. However, diesel engines are among the main contributors of emissions into the air, especially particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). PM is one of the major pollutants emitted by diesel engines and has adverse effects on human health. Accordingly, many studies have been conducted to find alternative fuels that are clean and efficient. Biodiesel, which produces less PM than diesel fuel, is preferred as an alternative source for diesel engines. Therefore, using palm oil methyl ester (POME) for diesel engines would be a more economical and sustainable solution. This study has focused on the PM emissions of diesel engines fuelled by a diesel and POME blend (B5, B10, B20, and B100). A comparison between diesel and the POME blend has been made which involves PM mass concentration and its components (soluble organic fraction (SOF) and dry soot (DS)). Combustion characteristics, such as in-cylinder pressure and rate of heat release of the engine, as well as gaseous emissions, have also been observed at different operating engine loads (0.05 MPa 20%, 0.4 MPa 40%, and 0.7 MPa 60%). The results show that PM emissions of B100 are lower than those of diesel fuel owing to the oxygen content of POME.With regard to the SOF concentration, B100 has a higher SOF value than diesel fuel at all engine loads. Meanwhile, the DS for B100 is than that of diesel fuel. Moreover, as the engine load increased, PM and SOF concentrations increased, while DS concentration decreased. The observation of in-cylinder pressure showed that the increment of pressure with the increasing POME blend, as well as the increasing engine load due to the high cetane number for B100, led to a short ignition delay. The engine brake thermal efficiency between the POME blend and mineral diesel was comparable. Furthermore, B100 fuels showed lower engine power at higher brake-specific fuel consumption compared to other tested fuels. In terms of gaseous emissions, increasing POME blends led to an increase in NOx emissions. Meanwhile, as the engine load increased, NOx also continued to increase. The effect of the POME blend on the PM-NOx trade-off observation showed that B100 simultaneously increased the NOx and decreased the PM emissions. It can be concluded that POME creates a lower PM concentration while giving some negative feedback to NOx

Investigation of Influences of Secondary butyl-alcohol Blends on Performance and Cycle-To-Cycle Variations in a Spark Ignition Engines

Depletion of fossilised fuels coupled with stringent energy security has directed automotive researches to continuously investigate the use of alternative fuels in internal combustion engines. Within this subject, the research presented in this work is focused on using butanol as gasoline fuels substitution in a spark ignition engines. The present study reveals the combustion analysis specifically on cycle-to-cycle variations in spark ignition engines and performance characteristics of secondary butyl alcohol (sec-butanol) – gasoline blends at 5%, 10% and 15% by volume of sec-butanol in gasoline fuels. The engine performance characteristics was evaluated at 1000 to 4000 RPM with 50% of wide open throttle positions, while the in-cylinder pressure data were collected over 200 consecutive engine cycles for engine test at 3500 RPM. The indicated mean effective pressure time series is analyzed using the coefficient of variations and the wavelet analysis method. Comparative analysis of the performance characteristics showed that 2-butanol–gasoline blended fuel produced less brake power and brake mean effective pressure by 12.3%, 9.2% and 4.3%, for GBu5, GBu10 and GBu15, respectively, with regard to G100. From the wavelet power spectrum, it is observed that the long-term periodicities appear in gasoline fuels, while the short period oscillations become intermittently visible in blended fuels. Reduction of coefficient of variations occur as the additive of sec-butanol ratios increased, which agrees with the wavelet analysis results. Furthermore, the spectral power reduced with an increase in the additive ratio, indicating that the additive has a noticeable influence on reducing the cycle-to-cycle variations

INFLUENCE OF PALM METHYL ESTER (PME) AS AN ALTERNATIVE FUEL IN MULTICYLINDER DIESEL ENGINE

Palm oil is one of the vegetable oil, which is converted to biodiesel through a transesterification process using methanol as the catalyst. Palm oil biodiesel or palm methyl ester (PME) can be used in diesel engines without any modification, and can be blended with conventional diesel to produce different proportions of PME-diesel blend fuels. The physical properties of PME were evaluated experimentally and theoretically. The effect of using neat PME as fuel on engine performance and emissions was evaluated using a commercial four-cylinder four-stroke IDI diesel engine. The experimental results on an engine operated with PME exhibited higher brake specific fuel consumption in comparison with the conventional fuel. With respect to the in-cylinder pressure and heat release rate, these increased features by over 8.11% and 9.3% with PME compared to conventional diesel. The overall results show that PME surpassed the diesel combustion quality due to its psychochemical properties and higher oxygen content

Effects of Particulate Matter Emissions of Diesel Engine using Diesel–Methanol Blends

In this work, Palm Palm Oil Methyl Ester (PME) was added to methanol-biodiesel fuel in order to reduce the emissions. Thus, for diesel engines, alcohols are receiving increasing attention because they are oxygenated and renewable fuels. Therefore, in this study, the effect of PM emission level of a four cylinder, naturally aspirated, indirect injection diesel engine has been experimentally investigated by using methanol-blended diesel fuel from 0% to 20% with an increment of 5%. Thus, the effects of methanol on particulate matter (PM) components, soluble organic fraction (SOF) and dry soot (DS) using different type of fuel blends were investigated. Using a composite filter, the ester-methanol-diesel characteristic such as mass concentration in term PM, SOF and DS were analyzed under different engine operating conditions. The results show that the combination of 10% of methanol with 20% of Palm Oil Methyl Ester gives less PM emissions. Thus, PME20M10 of methanol-biodiesel fuel can reduce the PM emissions effectively for all load condition

Overview of the oxygenated fuels in spark ignition engine: Environmental and performance

Oxygenated fuels such as alcohols and ethers have the potential to provide reliable sources, and environmentally friendly fuel to world's increasing future energy demands. Oxygenated fuels have a promised future since are renewable and produced from several sources, also can be produced locally. The first objective of this paper is to systematically review of oxygenated fuels including alcohol and ether regarding the production, environmental impacts and potential using as octane booster of gasoline that used in spark ignition SI) engine. Another objective of this paper is to review the effects of oxygenated fuels on performances and emissions characteristics of spark ignition engine. Alcohol and ether burn very cleanly than regular gasoline and produce lesser carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Mainly the ether fuels (methyl tertiary butyl ether MTBE and Dimethyl EtherDME) are used as additives at low blending ratio to enhance the octane number and oxygen content of gasoline. Furthermore, alcohols and ethers have significant impacts on the environment, greenhouse gas and human health. In addition to this, application of oxygenated fuel on SI engines can decrease environmental pollution, strengthen agricultural economy and decrease gasoline fuel requirements. The increase in engine performance could be attained with an increased compression ratio along with the use of alcohol fuelswhich have a higher-octane value. Overall, oxygenated fuels have been found to be a very promising alternative fuel for SI engines, capable of providing high thermal efficiency, and lower NOx levels

Experimental studies of engine single cylinder run on diesel-biodiesel-butanol blends

Biodiesel and butanol are excellent additive fuels, especially for diesel fuel. Many studies in the literature report that biodiesel-butanol with various ratios is applied to diesel engines. In this experiment, diesel engines operated using biodiesel-butanol blend in low proportions 5-5%, 5-10% 10-5%, 10-10%, 15-5% and 15-10% mixed with pure diesel, and the blend is characterized. This blend of fuels can be represented as B5Bu5, B5Bu10, B10B5, B10Bu10, B15Bu5 and B15B10 with a numeric number in the fuel blends. This fuel blend is used as test fuel which is operated on a single cylinder diesel engine, four steps, direct injection (DI) at a constant speed of 1200 rpm and engine load of 25% and 50%. The combustion characteristics, performance and engine emissions are analyzed and evaluated by comparing each load and the speed of the engine being operated. Furthermore, fuel additives with pure diesel are needed to check emissions from the engine when the engine is run with a blend of diesel-biodiesel-butanol fuel. Among the six fuel blends samples examined in this experiment, better performance was shown in the B5B10 blend and produced fewer emissions. The results of the whole experiment are presented in full in this paper