Acetylated African Oil Bean Seed Pod For Crude Oil Spill Mop

Oil spill remediation has continued to be a challenge in the world today. Thus efforts are still been made to develop more efficient oil spill mop up techniques. Natural adsorption with agricultural wastes, which otherwise constitute environmental pollution, has become an attractive technique for oil spill mop. Acetylation using acetic anhydride with iodine catalyst was carried out to improve the hydrophobicity of African oil bean seed pod (AOBSP), which is a lignocellulosic material and as such is naturally hydrophilic. Characterization of the raw and acetylated AOBSP were done using SEM, BET and FTIR analyses. Batch crude oil sorption tests were performed using both the raw and acetylated AOBSP. Isotherm, kinetic and thermodynamic studies were also carried out. FTIR analysis showed evidence of successful acetylation of AOBSP and adsorption of crude oil onto the raw and acetylated AOBSP. SEM and BET analyses showed improvement of the surface properties of AOBSP by the acetylation process. The BET surface area increased from 226.4 m2/g for the raw AOBSP to 310.0 m2/g for the acetylated AOBSP. Oil sorption was found to be by monolayer coverage, with monolayer sorption capacity of 5000mg/g and 12500mg/g for raw and acetylated AOBSP, respectively. The rate-controlling mechanism for the sorption processes was chemisorption. Negative values of ΔGo, ΔHo and ΔSo were obtained, showing that the sorption processes were feasible, spontaneous and exothermic, with a degree of orderliness at the solid–mixture interface. The results obtained from this study show that both raw and acetylated AOBSP are efficient oil sorbents with potentials for further improvement for oil spill mop.

Application of Theory in Chronic Pain Rehabilitation Research and Clinical Practice

Introduction: Chronic pain has multiple aetiological factors and complexity. Pain theory helps us to guide and organize our thinking to deal with this complexity. The objective of this paper is to critically review the most influential theory in pain science history (the gate control theory of pain) and focus on its implications in chronic pain rehabilitation to minimize disability. Methods: In this narrative review, all the published studies that focused upon pain theory were retrieved from Ovoid Medline (from 1946 till present), EMBAS, AMED and PsycINFO data bases. Results: Chronic pain is considered a disease or dysfunction of the nervous system. In chronic pain conditions, hypersensitivity is thought to develop from changes to the physiological top-down control (inhibitory) mechanism of pain modulation according to the pain theory. Pain hypersensitivity manifestation is considered as abnormal central inhibitory control at the gate controlling mechanism. On the other hand, pain hypersensitivity is a prognostic factor in pain rehabilitation. It is clinically important to detect and manage hypersensitivity responses and their mechanisms. Conclusion: Since somatosensory perception and integration are recognized as a contributor to the pain perception under the theory, then we can use the model to direct interventions aimed at pain relief. The pain theory should be leveraged to develop and refine measurement tools with clinical utility for detecting and monitoring hypersensitivity linked to chronic pain mechanisms.

Control of laminar breakdown in a supersonic boundary layer employing streaks

In this study direct numerical simulations are employed to investigate the effects of various parameters on the laminar-flow-control capabilities of narrowly spaced streaks in a supersonic boundary layer at Mach $2.0$ . Previous work by Sharma et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 873, 2019, pp. 1072–1089) has found these streak modes, excited by a spanwise blowing-and-suction strip, to be highly effective at delaying pure oblique-type breakdown. In the present work it is shown that spectrum-enriching subharmonic modes, relevant with increasing running-length Reynolds number, do not destroy the controlling mechanism, and also a complex breakdown scenario, triggered by a multi-frequency point source, is found to be effectively controlled. Moreover, the control-streak excitation by roughness elements is compared in detail with the blowing-and-suction method, revealing relevant differing features.

Sustainable Practices Through Competitive Capabilities in the Apparel Industry: Sri Lankan Experience

The study aims to explore competitive capabilities that enable sustainability practices in the Apparel Industry in the Sri Lankan context. It employs an exploratory approach using the case study method. The study discloses six competitive capabilities: organizational climate, operational flexibility, technological competency, alliance and partnership, knowledge sharing, and learning capabilities which drives twenty-four sustainable practices explored in ten categories: water conservation, energy conservation, carbon footprint reduction, fabric waste management, use of environment-friendly materials, controlling mechanism for suppliers, controlling mechanism for leasing/sub-contracting manufacturing plants, reduce the polluted air release, transportation, and ensuring the well-being of the people. Companies in the apparel industry should inculcate a supportive organizational climate, maintain operational flexibility, invest in required technology, maintain healthy relationships in the supply chain, share knowledge and encourage learning to adopt sustainable practices in the Apparel Industry. This study is the first to explore the specific competitive capabilities that bring respective sustainable practices in the Apparel Industry in a South Asian country.

Disrupted controlling mechanism of salience network on default-mode network and central-executive network in schizophrenia

Neuroimaging studies suggest that the human brain consists of intrinsically organized large-scale neural networks. Among those networks, the interplay among default-mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), and central-executive network (CEN)has been widely employed to understand the functional interaction patterns in health and diseases. This triple network model suggests that SN causally controls DMN and CEN in healthy individuals. This interaction is often referred to as the dynamic controlling mechanism of SN. However, such interactions are not well understood in individuals with schizophrenia. In this study, we leveraged resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data of schizophrenia (n = 67) and healthy controls (n = 81) to evaluate the functional interactions among DMN, SN, and CEN using dynamical causal modeling. In healthy controls, our analyses replicated previous findings that SN regulates DMN and CEN activities (Mann-Whitney U test; p < 10−8). In schizophrenia, however, our analyses revealed the disrupted SN-based controlling mechanism on DMN and CEN (Mann-Whitney U test; p < 10−16). These results indicate that the disrupted controlling mechanism of SN on two other neural networks may be a candidate neuroimaging phenotype in schizophrenia.

Designing a User-Centered Interaction Interface for Human–Swarm Teaming

A key challenge in human–swarm interaction is to design a usable interface that allows the human operators to monitor and control a scalable swarm. In our study, we restrict the interactions to only one-to-one communications in local neighborhoods between UAV-UAV and operator-UAV. This type of proximal interactions will decrease the cognitive complexity of the human–swarm interaction to O(1). In this paper, a user study with 100 participants provides evidence that visualizing a swarm as a heat map is more effective in addressing usability and acceptance in human–swarm interaction. We designed an interactive interface based on the users’ preference and proposed a controlling mechanism that allows a human operator to control a large swarm of UAVs. We evaluated the proposed interaction interface with a complementary user study. Our testbed and results establish a benchmark to study human–swarm interaction where a scalable swarm can be managed by a single operator.

Probability Distribution of ADAS Metal Dampers in R.C. Buildings Using Nonlinear Analysis: التوزيع الاحتمالي لمخمدات معدنية من نوع ADAS في المباني البيتونية المسلحة باستخدام التحليل اللاخطي

This study discusses the effect of metallic yielding dampers (ADAS) on the behavior of reinforcement concrete buildings when exposed to seismic shocks. The objective of the study is to reduce the negative impacts on the main structural elements (plastic, fall) by using the technique of metallic dampers. The method of metallic dampers is one of the modern ways based on the principle of dissipating the resulting energy from the seismic shock and reducing the needed energy in the main structural elements of the building to keep it in a flexible state. This technique also provides a controlling mechanism for story displacement, the handling of the soft story mechanic and the torsion mechanic of the buildings. In this study, the effect of the addition of ADAS dampers on the construction behavior was observed in terms of (building period, base shear, roof displacement, roof acceleration, story displacement, dissipative energy). Based on the preceding, this study will give the possibility of predicting the behavior of the building when using ADAS metal dampers in the reinforced concrete structures with their distribution methods.

Enhanced Performance of Natural Polymer Coagulants For Dye Removal From Wastewater: Coagulation Kinetics, And Mathematical Modelling Approach

This study explores the potentials of Brachystegia eurycoma coagulant (BEC) and Vigna subterranean coagulant (VSC) as natural organic polymers (NOPs) for the decolourisation of Crystal Ponceau 6R (AR 44) in wastewater. Materials characterisation studies were done on the precursors. Detailed kinetics study was employed. The decolourisation procedures were evalu­ated through time-dependent reduction in the concentration of particles, with the variation of the independent parameters. The proximate analysis showed protein contents of 19.77% and 18.15% for BEC and VSC, respectively. The functional test shows the presence of –OH, N–H, and C=H. Surface morphological study reveals that some rough surfaces, different pores sizes, and compact-net structures were evidenced. The order of removal efficiency was VSC > BEC with an optimum of 88.8% and 73.3%, respectively. The values of K and α obtained for BEC and VSC were 6.38 x 10-4 Lmg-1min-1, 1.8 and 4.03 x 10-3 L/mg-1min-1, 1.9, respectively. The coagulation time, Tag of 31.35 and 26.96 min for BEC and VSC respectively disclosed a quick coagulation. The coagulation-flocculation kinetics demonstrated that the process conforms to the pseudo-second-order model with R2 >0.997, suggesting that the rate-controlling mechanism is governed by chemisorption. The experimental data were well predicted by the cross-validation test, with percentage mean relative deviation modulus (M%) of 3.26 and 2.54 for BEC and VSC, respectively. These coagulants have added meaningful progress in wastewater treatment by coagulation-flocculation while displaying significant adsorption features. Likewise, the usage of kinetics studies and particle behaviour modelling should be a prerequisite in water treatment processes.