Oily wastewater is one of the most challenging streams to deal with especially if the oil exists in emulsified form. In this study, electrospinning method was used to prepare nanofiberous polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes and study their performance in oil removal. Graphene particles were embedded in the electrospun PVDF membrane to enhance the efficiency of the membranes. The prepared membranes were characterized using a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to verify the graphene stabilization on the surface of the membrane homogeneously; while FTIR was used to detect the functional groups on the membrane surface. The membrane wettability was assessed by measuring the contact angle. The PVDF and PVDF / Graphene membranes efficiency was tested in separation of emulsified oil from aqueous solutions. The results showed that PVDF-Graphene nanofiber membrane exhibited better performance than the plain PVDF nanofiber membrane with average water flux of 210 and 180 L.m-2.h-1, respectively. Both membranes showed high oil rejection with more than 98%.
Effect of [Cu/In] ratio on the optical properties of CuInS2 thin films prepared by chemical spray pyrolysis on glass slides at 300oC was studied. The optical characteristics of the prepared thin films have been investigated using UV-VIS spectrophotometer in the wavelength range (300-1100 nm). The films have a direct allow electronic transition with optical energy gap (Eg) decreased from 1.51 eV to 1.30 eV with increasing of [Cu/In] ratio and as well as we notice that films have different behavior when annealed the films in the temperature 100oC (1h,2h), 200oC (1h,2h) for [Cu/In]=1.4 . Also the extinction coefficient (k), refractive index (n) and the real and imaginary dielectric constants (ε1, ε2) have been investigated
Background: Cyclophosphamide is an alkylating agent that is effective against a broad spectrum of tumors, with nephrotoxicity as a side effect. Irigenin is a natural isoflavonoid isolated from the rhizome of Belamcanda chinensis that has been reported to exert antioxidant activities. Objective: Evaluating the possible protective effects of irigenin on cyclophosphamide-induced nephrotoxicity in male rats. Methods: Fifty apparently healthy male albino rats were divided into five groups: (control, induction, irigenin, irigenin with cyclophosphamide, and vitamin E with cyclophosphamide. At the end of the experiment (day 29), all rats were sacrificed. Different parameters were evaluated, including urea and creatinine serum concentration,
... Show MorePigeons have accompanied humans since ancient time because they are used as a source of food, pets, hobby, and religious symbols. Pigeons have shown high prevalence rate of infection with gastrointestinal helminths and protozoan. This study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of parasitic infections in the domestic pigeon (Columba livia domestica) from October, 2017 to April, 2018, purchased from bird market of Zakho City, Kurdistan region. The samples were taken from 50 adult pigeons (28 males and 22 females). The birds were transferred to Parasitology Laboratory, Faculty of Science, Zakho University. In the laboratory, each bird was sacrificed and immediately the feather and skin of under wings, chest and the rest of the
... Show MoreWe propose an intraguild predation ecological system consisting of a tri-trophic food web with a fear response for the basal prey and a Lotka–Volterra functional response for predation by both a specialist predator (intraguild prey) and a generalist predator (intraguild predator), which we call the superpredator. We prove the positivity, existence, uniqueness, and boundedness of solutions, determine all equilibrium points, prove global stability, determine local bifurcations, and illustrate our results with numerical simulations. An unexpected outcome of the prey's fear of its specialist predator is the potential eradication of the superpredator.
Carbon dioxide geo-sequestration (CGS) into sediments in the form of (gas) hydrates is one proposed method for reducing anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere and, thus reducing global warming and climate change. However, there is a serious lack of understanding of how such CO2 hydrate forms and exists in sediments. We thus imaged CO2 hydrate distribution in sandstone, and investigated the hydrate morphology and cluster characteristics via x-ray micro-computed tomography in 3D in-situ. A substantial amount of gas hydrate (∼17% saturation) was observed, and the stochastically distributed hydrate clusters followed power-law relations with respect to their size distributions and surface area-volume relationships. The layer-
... Show MoreThe Gullfaks field was discovered in 1978 in the Tampen area of the North Sea and it is one of the largest Norwegian oil fields located in Block 34/10 along the western flank of the Viking Graben in the northern North Sea. The Gullfaks field came on stream in 1986 and reached a peak of production in 2001. After some years, a decrease in production was noticed due to the decrease in pressure in the well. The goal of this paper is to improve the production of a well located in Gullfaks field by injecting CO2 through coiled tubing. The use of the CO2 injection method is due to the fact that it is a greenhouse gas, and its production in the atmosphere contributes to global warming. It is important to reduce its emission
... Show MoreIn this study, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized using a cold plasma technique and a plasma jet. They were then used to explore how photothermal treatment may be used to treat lung cancer (A549) and normal cells (REF) <i>in vitro</i>. The anti-proliferative activity of these nanoparticles was studied after A549 cells were treated with (AgNPs) at various concentrations (100%, 50%, or 25%) and exposure times (6 or 8 min) of laser after 1 h or 24 h from exposed AgNPs. The highest growth inhibition for cancer cells is (75%) at (AgNPs) concentration (100%) and the period of exposure to the laser is (8 min). Particle size for the prepared samples varied according to the diameter o
... Show MoreThis study was design to investigate the dimensional stability of heat-activated acrylic resin with different methods of flask cooling (15 minutes rapid cooling, one hour bench cooling, four hours delayed deflasking, and 24 hours delayed deflasking) at different time intervals (immediately, two days, seven days, 30 days) after deflasking. Heat-activated acrylic resin was used to prepare acrylic samples. Then, measurement of the distances where achieved between the centers of selected marks in the acrylic samples. They were measured at different time intervals for different methods of flask cooling. The results showed that the group samples of the four hours and 24 hours of delayed deflasking was insignificantly different from the control an
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