• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2019

Clean soil environment is of crucial importance to sustain lives of ecosystem and humans. With rapid industrialization, there has been a great increase of soil contamination by accidental releases of petroleum products. In general, soil remediation is an expensive and time-consuming process as compared to cleanup of water and air. Moreover, determining the source and responsible parties of soil pollution often turns into legal conflicts and that further delay the cleanup process of contaminated sites. In practice, total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) analysis has been employed to determine the petroleum species and to track down the responsible polluters. However, this approach often suffers from differentiating similar TPH species. In this study, we analyzed TPH chromatogram patterns of 24 domestic petroleum products in specific carbon ranges (${\sim}C_{10}$, $C_{10}-C_{12}$, $C_{12}-C_{36}$, and $C_{36}{\sim}$) and the fractional changes of THP ratio in the mixture products of gasoline, kerosene and diesel. The proposed TPH analysis method in this study could serve as a useful tool to better analyze the petroleum species in soils contaminated with complex oil mixtures, and ultimately be used to identify the polluters of soil.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.179-188
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• 2019

This paper presents an experimental study to evaluate the effect of palm oil on the selected basic physical-chemical and geotechnical properties of kaolin. The experimental findings are further compared with literature outcomes investigating similar properties of fine grained soils subjected to contamination by different types of oils. To this end, palm oil was mixed with oven dried kaolin samples-aiding oil's interaction (coating) with dry particles first, in anticipation to emphasize the effect of oil on the properties of kaolin, which would be difficult to achieve otherwise. Oil content was limited to 40% by dry weight of kaolin, supplemented at intervals of 10% from clean kaolin samples. Observations highlight physical particle-to-particle bonding resulting in the formation of pseudo-silt sized clusters due to palm oil's interaction as evinced in the particle size distribution and SEM micrographs. These clusters, aided by water repellency property of the oil coating the kaolin particles, was analyzed to show notable variations in kaolin's consistency-measured as liquid and plastic limits. Furthermore, results from compaction tests indicates contribution of oil's viscosity on the compaction behavior of kaolin - showing decrease in the maximum dry unit weight (${\gamma}_{d,max}$) and optimum moisture content ($w_{opt}$) values with increasing oil contents, while their decrease rates were directly and inversely proportional in ${\gamma}_{d,max}$ and $w_{opt}$ values with oil contents respectively. Comparative study in similar terms, also validates this lower and higher decrease rates in ${\gamma}_{d,max}$ and $w_{opt}$ values of the fine grained soils respectively, when subjected to contamination by oil with higher viscosity.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.135-144
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• 2019

There have been some reports on schistosomiasis of school children in Sudan's Nile River basin area; however, information about the infection status of Schistosoma species and intestinal helminths among village residents of this area is very limited. Urine and stool samples were collected from the 1,138 residents of the Al Hidaib and Khour Ajwal villages of White Nile State, Sudan in 2014. The prevalence of overall schistosomiasis and intestinal helminthiasis was 36.3% and 7.7%, respectively. Egg positive rates were 35.6% for Schistosoma haematobium, 2.6% for S. mansoni, and 1.4% were mixed. The prevalence of schistosomiasis was significantly higher in men (45.6%) than in women (32.0%), in Khou Ajwal villagers (39.4%) than in Al Hidaib villagers (19.2%), and for age groups ${\leq}15$ years old (51.5%) than for age groups >15 years old (13.2%). The average number of eggs per 10 ml urine (EP10) of S. haematobium infections was 18.9, with 22.2 eggs in men vs 17.0 in women and 20.4 in Khou Ajwal villagers vs 8.1 in Al Hidaib villagers. In addition to S. mansoni eggs, 4 different species of intestinal helminths were found in the stool, including Hymenolepis nana (6.6%) and H. diminuta (1.0%). Collectively, urinary schistosomiasis is still prevalent among village residents in Sudan's White Nile River basin and was especially high in men, children ${\leq}15$ years, and in the village without a clean water system. H. nana was the most frequently detected intestinal helminths in the 2 villages.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.60 no.4
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• pp.209-213
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• 2020

This study examined the residue of dl-methylephedrine hydrochloride (MEP) on the muscle of pigs administered orally with MEP 12 g/ton feed for seven consecutive days. Twenty healthy cross swine were administered MEP. Four treated animals were selected arbitrarily to be sacrificed at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 days after treatment. MEP residue concentrations in the muscle were determined by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. The drug was extracted from muscle samples using 10 mM ammonium formate in acetonitrile followed by clean-up with n-hexane. The analyte was separated on an XBridgeTM hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography column using 10 mM ammonium formate in deionized distilled water and acetonitrile. The correlation coefficient (R2) of the calibration curve was 0.9974, and the limits of detection and quantification were 0.05 and 0.15 ㎍/kg, respectively. The recoveries at three spiking levels were 94.5-101.2%, and the relative Standard Deviations was less than 4.06%. In the MEP-treated group, MEP residues on one day post-treatment were below the maximum residue limit in the muscle. The developed method is sensitive and reliable for the detection of MEP in porcine muscle tissues. Furthermore, it exhibits low quantification limits for animal-derived food products destined for human consumption.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.646-654
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• 2020

Objectives: Users of parks or children's play facilities have pointed to pets' bowel movements as the most serious problem when using them. In prior studies, a very low detection rate of parasites (eggs) in sand flooring materials has been found. Even though feces have been identified, no parasites (eggs) have been detected. Method: A standard solution of nitrate nitrogen was used to verify the reliability of a new nitrogen analysis method. The linearity, precision, and accuracy of the nitrate nitrogen analysis method were verified. Using this method, the pollution distribution of the sand flooring material and the degree of pollution at each point were investigated. Results: As a result of the verification of the nitrogen analysis method, the linearity was found to be good at r2=0.999 when distilled water is mixed in a standard substance solution. The standard substance additive solution r2=0.968 was found to be good. Precision represented 0.01 to 0.06% RSD for peak height. The recovery rate was 92.4 to 104.0 percent, indicating high accuracy. According to the same method of analysis, the flooring material sand at a general amusement facility with the largest number of concealed spaces was nitrate nitrogen 6.1 times higher than at the entrance of the playground. Also, in a comparison between clean sand and sandy flooring, the average nitrogen concentration of the sand flooring material was 24.4-167 times higher than pure sand. Conclusions: As such, no parasites (eggs) were detected at all points under investigation, but the sand flooring was exposed to animal fecal contamination. Therefore, the management of nitrogenous components should allow accurate identification of animal fecal contamination so that the timing of sand replacement can be managed hygienically and safely.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.384-392
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• 2021

Growing pollution due to industrialization leads to difficulties in survival of mankind. Generation of clean water from wastewater by membrane separation process is emerging cost efficient technology. Membrane prepared from renewable resources are in lots of demand to reduce burden on synthetic polymers which is one of the source of environmental pollution. Bacterial cellulose (BC) is very pure and distinct form of cellulose nanofibrils (CNF). Nanopapers prepared from CNF are used ad ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) membrane for different applications. High crystallinity of BC gives rise to excellent mechanical property, an essential criterion for wastewater treatment membrane. In this review, BC based membrane for application in dye, oil, heavy metal and chemical removal from wastewater is discussed.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.334-344
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• 2022

Bacterial wilt is a re-emerging disease on dry bean and can affect many other crop species within the Fabaceae. The causal agent, Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens (CFF), is a small, Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterium that is seed-transmitted. Infections in the host become systemic, leading to wilting and economic loss. Clean seed programs and bactericidal seed treatments are two critical management tools. This study characterizes the efficacies of five bactericidal chemicals against CFF. It was hypothesized that this bacterium was capable of forming biofilms, and that the cells within biofilms would be more tolerant to bactericidal treatments. The minimum biocide eradication concentration assay protocol was used to grow CFF biofilms, expose the biofilms to bactericides, and enumerate survivors compared to a non-treated control (water). Streptomycin and oxysilver bisulfate had EC95 values at the lowest concentrations and are likely the best candidates for seed treatment products for controlling seed-borne bacterial wilt of bean. The results showed that CFF formed biofilms during at least two phases of the bacterial wilt disease cycle, and the biofilms were much more difficult to eradicate than their planktonic counterparts. Overall, biofilm formation by CFF is an important part of the bacterial wilt disease cycle in dry edible bean and antibiofilm bactericides such as streptomycin and oxysilver bisulfate may be best suited for use in disease management.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.272-275
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• 2009

Carbon finance is the investment in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reduction projects in developing countries and countries with economies in transition within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) or Joint Implementation (JI) and with creation of financial instruments, i.e., carbon credits, which are tradable in carbon market. The additional revenue generated from carbon credits will increase the bankability of projects by reducing the risks of commercial lending or grant finance. Meantime, it has also demonstrated numerous opportunities for collaborating across sectors, and has served as a catalyst in bringing climate issues to bear in projects relating to rural electrification, renewable energy, energy efficiency, urban infrastructure, waste management, pollution abatement, forestry, and water resource management. Establishing additionality is essential for successful CDM project development. One of the key steps is the investment analysis. As guided by UNFCCC, financial indicators such as IRR, NPV, DSCR etc are most commonly used in both Option II & Option III. However, economic indicator such as Economic Internal Rate of Return(EIRR) are often overlooked in Option III even it might be more suitable for the project. This could be due to the difficulties in economic analysis. Although Asian Development Bank(ADB) has given guidelines in evaluating EIRR, there are still large amount of works have to be carried out in estimating the economic, financial, social and environmental benefits in the host country. This paper will present a case study of a CDM development of a 18 MW hydro power plant with carbon finance option in central Vietnam. The estimation of respective factors in EIRR, such as Willingness to Pay(WTP), shadow price etc, will be addressed with the adjustment to Vietnam local provincial factors. The significance of carbon finance to Vietnam renewable energy development will also be addressed.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.11.1-11.11
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• 2021

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare smear layer removal by conventional application (CA), passive ultrasonic irrigation (PUI), EasyClean (EC), and XP-Endo Finisher (XPF), using 17% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) after chemomechanical preparation, as evaluated with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Materials and Methods: Forty-five single-rooted human mandibular premolars were selected for this study. After chemomechanical preparation, the teeth were randomly divided into 5 groups according to the protocol for smear layer removal, as follows: G1 (control): CA of distilled water; G2 (CA): CA of 17% EDTA; G3 (PUI): 17% EDTA activated by PUI; G4 (EC): 17% EDTA activated by EC; and G5 (XPF): 17% EDTA activated by XPF. SEM images (×1,000) were obtained from each root third and scored by 3 examiners. Data were evaluated using the Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn tests (p < 0.05). Results: In the apical third, there were no statistically significant differences among the groups (p > 0.05). In the cervical and middle thirds, the experimental groups performed better than the control group (p < 0.05); however, G2 presented better results than G3, G4, and G5 (p < 0.05), which showed no differences among one another (p > 0.05). Conclusions: No irrigation method was able to completely remove the smear layer, especially in the apical third. Using CA for the chelating solution performed better than any form of activation.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.164-169
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• 2007

A selective analytical method of LC/MS/MS has been applied to determine the levels of acrylamide in food products. Food samples were 17 including 6 potato chips, and 11 french fries. The analysis of food samples includes extraction with DDDW, clean-up using C18 and mixed ion exchange SPE cartridges and detection by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The mobile phase was a mixture of 0.1 % acetic acid and 0.5 % methanol in water. The target ions were identified and determined by ESI mass spectrometer. The overall recoveries were ranged from 91 % to 101 % and the limit of quantitation was $10{\mu}g/kg$. Depending on food kinds, the levels of acrylamide were variable and the average was 0.71 mg/kg for potato chips, and 0.34 mg/kg for french fries.