Optical detection of microplastics in water Iri, Ahmet H.; Shahrah, Malek H. A.; Ali, Ali M. ...
Environmental science and pollution research international,
12/2021, Letnik:
28, Številka:
45
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Unfortunately, the plastic pollution increases at an exponential rate and drastically endangers the marine ecosystem. According to World Health Organization (WHO), microplastics in drinking water ...have become a concern and may be a risk to human health. One of the major efforts to fight against this problem is developing easy-to-use, low-cost, portable microplastic detection systems. To address this issue, here, we present our prototype device based on an optical system that can help detect the microplastics in water. This system that costs less than $370 is essentially a low-cost Raman spectrometer. It includes a collimated laser (5 mW), a sample holder, a notch filter, a diffraction grating, and a CCD sensor all integrated in a 3D printed case. Our experiments show that our system is capable of detecting microplastics in water having a concentration less than 0.015% w/v. We believe that the designed portable device can find a widespread use all over the world to monitor the microplastic content in an easier and cost-effective manner.
DNA methylation and blood circulating proteins have been associated with many complex disorders, but the underlying disease-causing mechanisms often remain unclear. Here, we report an epigenome-wide ...association study of 1123 proteins from 944 participants of the KORA population study and replication in a multi-ethnic cohort of 344 individuals. We identify 98 CpG-protein associations (pQTMs) at a stringent Bonferroni level of significance. Overlapping associations with transcriptomics, metabolomics, and clinical endpoints suggest implication of processes related to chronic low-grade inflammation, including a network involving methylation of NLRC5, a regulator of the inflammasome, and associated pQTMs implicating key proteins of the immune system, such as CD48, CD163, CXCL10, CXCL11, LAG3, FCGR3B, and B2M. Our study links DNA methylation to disease endpoints via intermediate proteomics phenotypes and identifies correlative networks that may eventually be targeted in a personalized approach of chronic low-grade inflammation.
Next Generation cellular networks are expected to offer better service quality, secure and reliable service provisioning, and more cooperative operation even in unexpected stressful situations. ...Service provider cooperation can facilitate reliable service provisioning and extended coverage in disasters situations or partial network failures. However, the current 4G and 5G standards do not offer security and privacy-friendly support for inter-operator agility and service mobility, a key enabler for such cooperation. The situation becomes more critical in presence of attackers, where establishing trust relationships becomes very complicated. This paper presents a novel UAV-assisted user-agility support framework that enables trustworthy seamless service migration in a zero-trust environment. The proposed framework facilitates temporal authentication-authority delegation and proxying to enable preservice, all-party mutual authentication. The framework is implemented and tested on top of the srsRAN open-source 4G/5G software stack. Experiments showed that the presented framework managed to facilitate effective and efficient trustworthy service migration between heterogeneous service provider networks.
Mn and Cu:Mn co-doped CdS nanostructures were chemically prepared and deposited as thin films on glass slides by PLD technique. XRD peaks showed hexagonal nanostructure (Greenockite) phase. The ...studied parameters are as follows: strain, particle size, bond length, and stress to get more information about crystal structures. The analysis confirmed that the Cu/Mn ratio co-doping remarkably influenced the surface morphologies of the (Cu
x
Mn
1−x
) co-doped CdS (QDs) at (x = 0, 1, 2 and 3) at.%. The chemical composition analysis EDX announced that the Cu/Mn is present in the doped films. Two luminescence peaks appeared in the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum for all samples of the compounds referring recombination of the defect sates of Mn:CdS. The energy gap values of all deposited films were observed to be in the range of (2.97‒2.74) eV, optical absorbance has two absorption peaks, and shifted to higher wavelengths, UV–Vis particle size was in the range (2.47‒3.10 nm) and was estimated using Brus equation.
Date palm is one of the most economically important woody crops cultivated in the Middle East and North Africa and is a good candidate for improving agricultural yields in arid environments. ...Nonetheless, long generation times (5-8 years) and dioecy (separate male and female trees) have complicated its cultivation and genetic analysis. To address these issues, we assembled a draft genome for a Khalas variety female date palm, the first publicly available resource of its type for a member of the order Arecales. The ∼380 Mb sequence, spanning mainly gene-rich regions, includes >25,000 gene models and is predicted to cover ∼90% of genes and ∼60% of the genome. Sequencing of eight other cultivars, including females of the Deglet Noor and Medjool varieties and their backcrossed males, identified >3.5 million polymorphic sites, including >10,000 genic copy number variations. A small subset of these polymorphisms can distinguish multiple varieties. We identified a region of the genome linked to gender and found evidence that date palm employs an XY system of gender inheritance.
•Performances of four PV panels of various technologies are compared during one year of exposure under natural outdoor conditions.•An original platform and methodology of test allow a real-time scan ...of several PV panel parameters.•The technologies compared are micromorph silicon, monocrystalline silicon, amorphous silicon, polycrystalline silicon.•The performance ratio point out a difference of behavior between the four technologies over one year.•Results are directly exploitable in costal regions of Mediterranean countries.
The aim of this contribution is to compare the performance of four PV panels of different technologies for one year of exposure under natural outdoor conditions of a coastal region in the southern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. An original platform of test, especially dedicated for this study is presented describing operations and techniques used for measurements of the pertinent experimental data and for their exploitation. The four panel technologies studied are micromorph silicon (μ-Si), monocrystalline silicon (M-Si), amorphous silicon (a-Si) and polycrystalline silicon (Poli-Si). Two types of results are analyzed and presented. The first type is straight forwardly linked to the PV panels standard data calculated experimentally from measurements recorded during one year of exposure and compared with the values provided by the manufacturers in their datasheets. The second type is related to the energy yield in which the corresponding monthly and annual performance ratios of the four PV panels is calculated in two ways, using 1 – the datasheet’s value of Power Max, and 2 – the data providing from experimental campaign. In addition to the general conclusions concerning the fundamental role of the experimental study at a natural site for a good sizing of a renewable energy production system, we extend the analysis and discussion for the specific localization case of southern coastal region of Mediterranean, by including the comparative performance of the four types of PV panels.
Abstract The physiological role of α‐melanocyte stimulating hormone in regulating integumental pigmentation of many vertebrate species has been recognized since the 1960's. However, its physiological ...significance for human pigmentation remained enigmatic until the 1990's. α‐Melanocyte stimulating hormone and related melanocortins are synthesized locally in the skin, primarily by keratinocytes, in addition to the pituitary gland, and therefore act as paracrine factors for melanocytes. Human melanocytes express the melanocortin 1 receptor, which recognizes α‐melanocyte stimulating hormone and the related adrenocorticotropic hormone as agonists. This review summarizes the current knowledge of the pleotropic effects of the activated melanocortin 1 receptor that maintain human melanocyte homeostasis by regulating melanogenesis and the response to environmental stressors, mainly solar radiation. Certain allelic variants of the melanocortin 1 receptor gene are associated with specific pigmentary phenotypes in various human populations. Variants associated with red hair phenotype compromise the function of the encoded receptor. Activation of the human melanocortin 1 receptor regulates eumelanin synthesis and enhances DNA damage response of melanocytes to solar radiation and oxidative stressors. We describe how synthetic selective melanocortin 1 receptor agonists can be efficacious as sunless tanning agents, for treatment of vitiligo and photosensitivity disorders, and for prevention of skin cancer, including melanoma.
Two different groups of polyethersulfone (PES) membrane have been fabricated using the phase inversion method containing different concentrations of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as additives. This was ...to optimize the concentration of the PES polymer and PVP additive in order to produce a membrane with high performance in terms of permeability. The optimized membranes have been further characterized, with the pore-size and pore-size distribution, contact angle, zeta potential and surface roughness measured. It was found that addition of PVP to solution strongly enhances the permeability of the membrane to a specific point as a consequence of the increasing hydrophilicity of the membrane. At high casting solution concentrations the permeability was observed to decrease. This may be due to a high concentration of casting solution resulting in a very dense layer on the membrane surface attenuating the membrane permeability. The influence of PVP on the mechanical properties of PES membrane has been investigated. AFM analysis of surface roughness showed no clear correlation between the measured surface roughness and PVP concentration.
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► PES membrane has been fabricated using phase inversion method. ► The formatted PES membranes have been characterized using AFM and solute transport method. ► Zeta potential measurements and contact angle measurements were conducted. ► Addition of PVP has been found to enhance the permeability of membrane. ► Mechanical property of the new formatted membranes has been influenced by PVP.
PurposeThis research aims to investigate how manufacturing flexibility can address the challenges of an ever-changing and unpredictable business environment in Bangladesh’s labor-intensive ready-made ...garment (RMG) industry, which is underserved and situated in a developing country.Design/methodology/approachUsing Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling, this study empirically evaluated the relationships between manufacturing flexibility, environmental uncertainty and firm performance. The analysis utilized 320 survey responses from potential RMG experts, representing 95 organizations.FindingsThe study achieved a decision-making model for implementing manufacturing flexibility in the RMG industry of Bangladesh with acceptable model fit criterion. The research pinpointed that workforce flexibility plays the maximum mediating among different types of manufacturing in coping with demand and supply uncertainty in the RMG sector.Research limitations/implicationsThe study made valuable contributions to theoretical and practical knowledge in the context of manufacturing flexibility in Bangladesh’s RMG and other underserved labor-intensive sectors in developing economies. It suggests that managers should shift from defensive and risky business strategies to more aggressive and proactive approaches by utilizing workforce flexibility resources adaptively to enhance manufacturing capabilities and align with dynamic market demand. Additionally, the study offers recommendations for future research to build upon its findings.Originality/valueThis study is unique in its approach because it presents a decision model for implementing manufacturing flexibility in a labor-intensive industry in a developing economy, specifically the RMG industry in Bangladesh, whereas previous research has primarily focused on high-tech industries in developed economies.
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