Characterization of Waste Tire Rubber and Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR 20) as Potential Raw Materials for Pyrolysis

Rubber tire is a very useful product that is mainly used in the automotive industry. However, the used rubber tires that are no longer useful for vehicles due to punctures or wear become a problematic waste. One way to reduce the waste rubber tire is by recycling the product. Different methods have been developed over time to find the best way for recycling the waste tires. One of these methods is pyrolysis that allows the conversion of the waste tire rubber into valuable chemical products. This project evaluated the use of the rubber tire as a potential raw material for pyrolysis. The samples of waste tire were pyrolysed at different temperatures, to see the effect of temperature on the product yield. The temperatures used for the pyrolysis were 4500C, 5000C, and 5500C. Each set of temperature will be tested three times to get the average of product yield. From the pyrolysis experiment, it shows that the best result for oil yield is at 5000C and decreasing after the temperature is increased. Before the pyrolysis of waste tire, elemental analysis was conducted to find the initial composition of waste tire. The elemental analysis was conducted using CHNS for carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulfur content. The analysis showed that the sulfur content in the waste tire is 2.30% and the main component is carbon, with the composition of 83.57%. Thermal decomposition of waste tire was tested using thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), which showed that the waste tire completely decomposes between 450 to 5000C and Py-GC-MS was used to obtain the composition of waste tire, mainly showing that the highest component of the waste tire is 1,3-butadiene. The yield of the products of waste tire pyrolysis, the char, oil, and gas, were calculated for the yield for each temperature and the yield vs. temperature graph was plotted. The composition of the product was tested based on the temperature and product yield. The gas yield was analyzed using GC-TCD for the composition of non-condensable gases. The char and oil was tested using CHNS for the composition of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulfur

Construction and evaluation of in house pcrbased diagnostic method for detection of helicobacter pylori infection

The specific primers for He/icobacter pylori were constructed. The primer were standardized and optimized by using ATCC strains. The PCR were performed to eighty-nine antral biopsy samples from patients suspected to have gastric ulcer. Simultaneously, histopathological examination was performed on the biopsy samples. The agreement between the two test methods was measured

Characterization of Waste Tire Rubber and Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR 20) as Potential Raw Materials for Pyrolysis

Rubber tire is a very useful product that is mainly used in the automotive industry. However, the used rubber tires that are no longer useful for vehicles due to punctures or wear become a problematic waste. One way to reduce the waste rubber tire is by recycling the product. Different methods have been developed over time to find the best way for recycling the waste tires. One of these methods is pyrolysis that allows the conversion of the waste tire rubber into valuable chemical products. This project evaluated the use of the rubber tire as a potential raw material for pyrolysis. The samples of waste tire were pyrolysed at different temperatures, to see the effect of temperature on the product yield. The temperatures used for the pyrolysis were 4500C, 5000C, and 5500C. Each set of temperature will be tested three times to get the average of product yield. From the pyrolysis experiment, it shows that the best result for oil yield is at 5000C and decreasing after the temperature is increased. Before the pyrolysis of waste tire, elemental analysis was conducted to find the initial composition of waste tire. The elemental analysis was conducted using CHNS for carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulfur content. The analysis showed that the sulfur content in the waste tire is 2.30% and the main component is carbon, with the composition of 83.57%. Thermal decomposition of waste tire was tested using thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), which showed that the waste tire completely decomposes between 450 to 5000C and Py-GC-MS was used to obtain the composition of waste tire, mainly showing that the highest component of the waste tire is 1,3-butadiene. The yield of the products of waste tire pyrolysis, the char, oil, and gas, were calculated for the yield for each temperature and the yield vs. temperature graph was plotted. The composition of the product was tested based on the temperature and product yield. The gas yield was analyzed using GC-TCD for the composition of non-condensable gases. The char and oil was tested using CHNS for the composition of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulfur

Bentonite and Magnetite Filler-Modified Polyurethane Foam in Fixed Bed Column for the Adsorption of Mercury(II) Ions from Aqueous Solution

This paper proposed adsorbent development by synthesizing polyurethane foam (PUF) using a simple method, mixing polyol with isocyanate and adding fillers of bentonite and magnetite to the PUF matrix. The study's main objective was to produce a PUF-based adsorbent with high reactivity to remove Hg2+ in wastewater. This bentonite and magnetite filler-modified polyurethane foam (BMPUF) adsorbent was fixed in a bed column for the adsorption of mercury (II) ions from an aqueous solution. The effect of initial Hg2+ concentration on the removal rate and the effect of contact time on adsorption efficiency was investigated. Langmuir, Freundlich, and BET non-linear models were taken into account to determine the best adsorption isotherm fitting and obtain adsorption capacity, intensity, and pore volume. As a result, it followed the non-linear Freundlich model, and the average adsorption capacity and intensity were 0.466 mg/g and 0.923, respectively. The average BET-based pore volume obtained was 0.782 L/mg. The kinetics study showed that the non-linear pseudo-first-order kinetics model was more suitable for describing the Hg2+ adsorption kinetics. The maximum equilibrium adsorption capacity was 1.770 mg/g with the adsorption rate of 0.0013 min-1 based on the non-linear model. The effect of varying bentonite and magnetite ratio on adsorption isotherm and kinetics was also investigated. Overall, the potential application of BMPUF adsorbent in the adsorption of mercury (II) ions was demonstrated in the current study.

Study of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex genotypic diversity in Malaysia reveals a predominance of ancestral East-African-Indian lineage with a Malaysia-specific signature.

International audienceTuberculosis (TB) still constitutes a major public health problem in Malaysia. The identification and genotyping based characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) isolates causing the disease is important to determine the effectiveness of the control and surveillance programs. This study intended a first assessment of spoligotyping-based MTBC genotypic diversity in Malaysia followed by a comparison of strains with those prevailing in neighboring countries by comparison with an international MTBC genotyping database. Spoligotyping was performed on a total of 220 M. tuberculosis clinical isolates collected in Kelantan and Kuala Lumpur. The results were compared with the SITVIT2 international database of the Pasteur Institute of Guadeloupe. Spoligotyping revealed 77 different patterns: 22 corresponded to orphan patterns while 55 patterns containing 198 isolates were assigned a Spoligo International Type (SIT) designation in the database (the latter included 6 newly created SITs). The eight most common SITs grouped 141 isolates (5 to 56 strains per cluster) as follows: SIT1/Beijing, n = 56, 25.5%; SIT745/EAI1-SOM, n = 33, 15.0%; SIT591/EAI6-BGD1, n = 13, 5.9%; SIT256/EAI5, n = 12, 5.5%; SIT236/EAI5, n = 10, 4.6%; SIT19/EAI2-Manila, n = 9, 4.1%; SIT89/EAI2-Nonthaburi, n = 5, 2.3%; and SIT50/H3, n = 3, 1.4%. The association between city of isolation and lineages was statistically significant; Haarlem and T lineages being higher in Kuala Lumpur (p<0.01). However, no statistically significant differences were noted when comparing drug resistance vs. major lineages, nor between gender and clades. The ancestral East-African-Indian (EAI) lineage was most predominant followed by the Beijing lineage. A comparison of strains with those prevailing in neighboring countries in South Asia, East Asia and South East Asia underlined the phylogeographical specificity of SIT745 for Malaysia, and its probable ongoing evolution with locally evolved strains sharing a specific signature characterized by absence of spacers 37, 38, and 40. Pending complementary genotyping confirmation, we propose that SIT745/EAI-SOM is tentatively reclassified as SIT745/EAI-MYS

Sensitivity evaluation of SYBR green I, SYBR safe and calcein dyes for detection of human papillomavirus 16 by loop-mediated isothermal amplification

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is a gene amplification technique whereby the amplification products are commonly visualized as turbidity by naked eye in the presence of magnesium pyrophosphate precipitation. An appropriate intercalating dye is important as it could increase the sensitivity and reduce the false positive and false negative results for the detection. The study aimed to compare the performance of three different intercalating dyes; SYBR Green I, SYBR Safe and calcein-based dyes in HPV-16 LAMP assay by naked-eye visualization, gel electrophoresis and real-time monitoring. The LAMP assay was carried out using a Loopamp DNA amplification kit in 25 μl volumes. The reaction mixture was incubated at 6

Sustainable supply network structure: understanding impact of interfirms’ relations as drivers of supply network complexity

This study examined the Inter-Firm Relation (IFR) as one of the elements to enhance Sustainable Supply Network Structure (SSNS) management in Malaysian maritime industry supply network. IFR has been an interesting research area for academics and businesses practices due to its relevance in determining the best practices and impacts to encourage SSNS. The Social Network Analysis (SNA) method was adopted to develop valid attribute for the measurement process and the embeddedness theory was used to evaluate IFR among the proposed attributes. These methods enable the researcher to transform relational data in the form of network matrix and produce reliable results for theoretical and industrial applications which have not been discovered in previous studies. A total of 37 managers in a maritime industry supply network were approached to participate in this study. Result revealed that IFR has different effects on the formation of SSNS. The finding provides useful insight in formulating the importance of IFR towards improving and understanding SSNS, particularly, in the Malaysian maritime industry. The contribution of this research extends to the literature and put forward solutions for the industry since previous studies are neglecting IFR, which is highlighted as a source of supply network complexity

Lateral flow immunoassay for naked eye detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Detection and control of infectious diseases is a major problem, especially in developing countries. Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) has been introduced as a handheld immunoassay-based point-of-care platform for an automated detection of TB. The CFP10-ESAT6 antigen of M. tuberculosis was used as the target in early detection of TB using LFIA strip-based POC strategy. An interesting platform based on optical signals is implemented as a colour change in the detection area that is visible to the naked eye. The gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were used as the colour probe for the detection of a target of interest. The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) image and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer (UV-Vis) analysis confirmed that the synthesized AuNPs were appropriate for the immunoassay designed. The platform consists of AuNPs conjugated with specific antibodies (Ab) to capture the antigen of M. tuberculosis. Under the capillary effect, sandwich immunoreactions of AuNP-Ab-antigen were performed on the test pad of the immunostrip, which can be observed by the colour signal on the test line of the strip with a short assay time. Furthermore, the newly developed biosensor was utilized in CFP10-ESAT6 antigen detection in human sputum specimens with satisfactory results. The characteristic coloured bands enable visual detection (naked eye) of target analyte without instrumentation. This noninvasive diagnose system which is sputum-based detection could provide user-friendly and affordable diagnostic tests in developing countries

Process and potential factors to develop problem solving competency in learning electrolysis

This paper discusses a preliminary study which was undertaken to develop a model of authentic chemistry problem solving competency (PSC) in learning chemistry. Recent poor performance of Malaysian students in the Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) on problem solving test could be due to a pervasive pattern of low application of higher order thinking skills (HOTS) in solving the open-ended problems in Malaysian teaching and learning scenarios. Hence, this study investigated how secondary school students solve open-ended problems in learning electrolysis and what are the underlying factors of their problem-solving competency. At the beginning, 112 chemistry students from a secondary school in Sarawak were selected as the participants. Semi-structured interviews and think aloud protocol (TAP) were conducted to five selected participants in order to investigate their problem solving processes practice. Quite similar findings have emerged: participants that scored with good score in chemistry problem solving ability test (CPSAT) have higher scientific knowledge and problem solving skills compared to low achieving participants. Scientific knowledge competency and problem solving skills have been identified as the major independent variables to develop chemistry problem solving competency. Outcomes from this study shall be used to design a module for one selected topic in chemistry and to develop a ‘Model of Authentic Chemistry Problem-solving Competency’ for school students in general