Effect of epoxidized sunflower oil on polylactic acid properties

Epoxidized sunflower oil (ESO) was utilized as a plasticizer for polylactic acid (PLA) using chloroform as a solvent by a solution casting process at various ratios of PLA to ESO. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used to identify the functional groups of PLA, ESO, and PLA/ESO blends. Thermal stability and mechanical and morphological properties of the blends were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis, tensile property measurements, and scanning electron microscopy technique, respectively. The FTIR spectra indicate that there are some molecular interactions by intermolecular hydrogen bonding between PLA and ESO. PLA/ESO blends show high thermal stability and significant improvement of mechanical properties compared with pure PLA. The highest elongation at break was obtained when the ratio of the PLA/ESO blend was 80/20. Morphological results of PLA/ESO blends show that ESO was well miscible with PLA.     

Terrestrial gamma dose rate in Pahang state Malaysia

Environmental terrestrial gamma radiations (TGR) were measured in Pahang state Malaysia between January and April 2013. The TGR dose rates ranged from 26 to 750 nGy h^?1. The measurements were done based on geology and soil types of the area. The mean TGR dose rate was found to be 176 ± 5 nGy h^?1. Few areas of relatively enhanced activity were located in Raub, Temerloh, Bentong and Rompin districts. These areas have external gamma dose rates of between 500 and 750 nGy h^?1. An Isodose map of the state was produced using ArcGIS9 software version 9.3. To evaluate the radiological hazard due to terrestrial gamma dose, the annual effective dose equivalent and the mean population weighted dose rate were calculated and found to be 0.22 mSv year^?1 and 168 nGy h^?1 respectively.     

Methanolic Extract of Piper sarmentosum Attenuates Obesity and Hyperlipidemia in Fructose-Induced Metabolic Syndrome Rats

Obesity and hyperlipidemia are metabolic dysregulations that arise from poor lifestyle and unhealthy dietary intakes. These co-morbidity conditions are risk factors for vascular diseases. Piper sarmentosum (PS) is a nutritious plant that has been shown to pose various phytochemicals and pharmacological actions. This study aimed to investigate the effect of PS on obesity and hyperlipidemia in an animal model. Forty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five experimental groups. The groups were as follows: UG—Untreated group; CTRL—control; FDW—olive oil + 20% fructose; FDW-PS—PS (125 mg/kg) + 20% fructose; FDW-NGN—naringin (100 mg/kg) + 20% fructose. Fructose drinking water was administered daily for 12 weeks ad libitum to induce metabolic abnormality. Treatment was administered at week 8 for four weeks via oral gavage. The rats were sacrificed with anesthesia at the end of the experimental period. Blood, liver, and visceral fat were collected for further analysis. The consumption of 20% fructose water by Wistar rats for eight weeks displayed a tremendous increment in body weight, fat mass, percentage fat, LDL, TG, TC, HMG-CoA reductase, leptin, and reduced the levels of HDL and adiponectin as well as adipocyte hypertrophy. Following the treatment period, FDW-PS and FDW-NGN showed a significant reduction in body weight, fat mass, percentage fat, LDL, TG, TC, HMG-CoA reductase, and leptin with an increment in the levels of HDL and adiponectin compared to the FDW group. FDW-PS and FDW-NGN also showed adipocyte hypotrophy compared to the FDW group. In conclusion, oral administration of 125 mg/kg PS methanolic extract to fructose-induced obese rats led to significant amelioration of obesity and hyperlipidemia through suppressing the adipocytes and inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase. PS has the potential to be used as an alternative or adjunct therapy for obesity and hyperlipidemia.     

Optimization and Characterization of Mesoporous Sulfonated Carbon Catalyst and Its Application in Modeling and Optimization of Acetin Production

In this study, an optimized mesoporous sulfonated carbon (OMSC) catalyst derived from palm kernel shell biomass was developed using template carbonization and subsequent sulfonation under different temperatures and time conditions. The OMSC catalyst was characterized using acid-base titration, elemental analysis, XRD, Raman, FTIR, XPS, TPD-NH₃, TGA-DTA, SEM, and N₂ adsorption–desorption analysis to reveal its properties. Results proved that the OMSC catalyst is mesoporous and amorphous in structure with improved textural, acidic, and thermal properties. Both FTIR and XPS confirmed the presence of -SO₃H, -OH, and -COOH functional groups on the surface of the catalyst. The OMSC catalyst was found to be efficient in catalyzing glycerol conversion to acetin via an acetylation reaction with acetic acid within a short period of 3 h. Response surface methodology (RSM), based on a two-level, three-factor, face-centered central composite design, was used to optimize the reaction conditions. The results showed that the optimized temperature, glycerol-to-acetic acid mole ratio, and catalyst load were 126 °C, 1:10.4, and 0.45 g, respectively. Under these optimum conditions, 97% glycerol conversion (GC) and selectivities of 4.9, 27.8, and 66.5% monoacetin (MA), diacetin (DA), and triacetin (TA), respectively, were achieved and found to be close to the predicted values. Statistical analysis showed that the regression model, as well as the model terms, were significant with the predicted R² in reasonable agreement with the adjusted R² (<0.2). The OMSC catalyst maintained excellent performance in GC for the five reaction cycles. The selectivity to TA, the most valuable product, was not stable until the fourth cycle, attributable to the leaching of the acid sites.     

Comparison of thermoluminescence energy response of optical fiber subject to photon irradiation between Monte Carlo simulation and experiments

This study is focused on energy response of Ge-doped silicon dioxide optical fiber subjected to photon irradiation. The TL responses for photon energies, ranging from 20 keV to 20MeV, were investigated as energy absorbed in the TL materials of Ge-doped silicon dioxide optical fiber. The simulation was performed using Monte Carlo N-particle transport code version 5 (MCNP5). The input parameters included in this study are source information, geometry specification, material information and tallies F6. Comparisons of energy response were done between simulation and previous results of experiments. A flat response can only be seen in the energy range of 200 keV to 10 MeV.     

Laboratory Investigation of LNAPL Migration in Double-Porosity Soil Under Fractured Condition Using Digital Image Analysis

Gas production from shale gas reservoirs plays a significant role in satisfying increasing energy demands. Compared with conventional sandstone and carbonate reservoirs, shale gas reservoirs are characterized by extremely low porosity, ultra-low permeability and high clay content. Slip flow, diffusion, adsorption and desorption are the primary gas transport processes in shale matrix, while Darcy flow is restricted to fractures. Understanding methane diffusion and adsorption, and gas flow and equilibrium in the low-permeability matrix of shale is crucial for shale formation evaluation and for predicting gas production. Modeling of diffusion in low-permeability shale rocks requires use of the Dusty gas model (DGM) rather than Fick’s law. The DGM is incorporated in the TOUGH2 module EOS7C-ECBM, a modified version of EOS7C that simulates multicomponent gas mixture transport in porous media. Also included in EOS7C-ECBM is the extended Langmuir model for adsorption and desorption of gases. In this study, a column shale model was constructed to simulate methane diffusion and adsorption through shale rocks. The process of binary \(\hbox {CH}_{4}{-}\hbox {N}_{2}\) diffusion and adsorption was analyzed. A sensitivity study was performed to investigate the effects of pressure, temperature and permeability on diffusion and adsorption in shale rocks. The results show that methane gas diffusion and adsorption in shale is a slow process of dynamic equilibrium, which can be illustrated by the slope of a curve in \(\hbox {CH}_{4}\) mass variation. The amount of adsorption increases with the pressure increase at the low pressure, and the mass change by gas diffusion will decrease due to the decrease in the compressibility factor of the gas. With the elevated temperature, the gas molecules move faster and then the greater gas diffusion rates make the process duration shorter. The gas diffusion rate decreases with the permeability decrease, and there is a limit of gas diffusion if the permeability is less than \(1.0\,\times \,10^{-15}\, \hbox { m}^{2}\). The results can provide insights for a better understanding of methane diffusion and adsorption in the shale rocks so as to optimize gas production performance of shale gas reservoirs.     

Radiological mapping of Kelantan,Malaysia, using terrestrial radiation dose rate

Measurements of the environmental terrestrial gamma radiation dose rate (TGRD) in each district of Kelantan state, Malaysia, were carried out using a portable hand-held radiation survey meter and global positioning system. The measurements were done based on geology and soil types of the area. The mean TGRD was found to be 209 nGy h^–1. Few areas of relatively enhanced activity were observed in Pasir Mas, Tanah Merah and Jeli districts, which have a mean TGRD between 300 and 500 nGy h^–1. An isodose map of the area was produced using ArcGIS software version 9.3.     

The effect of CuO and MgO impurities on the optical properties of lithium potassium borate glass

Previous study proved the efficiency of copper as one of the most luminescent activators. In this work, Li₂CO₃–K₂CO₃–H₃BO₃ (LKB) glasses co-doped with copper oxide (CuO) and magnesium oxide (MgO) have been prepared by chemical quenching technique. Two techniques have been applied to investigate the effect of co-dopants on the physical and optical properties of the new glass network. The X-ray Diffraction (XRD) results showed the amorphous nature of the sample. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, energy band gap, density, ion concentration, molar volume, Polaron radius and inter-nuclear distance have been analyzed in the light of the different oxidation states of co-doped ions in the glass matrix. The exchange in the concentration of magnesium and copper ions illustrated the great effect of magnesium as a co-dopant on the Photoluminescence (PL) emission of LKB doped with copper oxide. Due to the change in the copper concentration, a broad green emission with intensity of around 300 (a.u) has been observed. Enhancement of about three times has been shown with the increment of 0.1 mol% of CuO and MgO as a co-dopant technique. It is well known that magnesium oxide alone does not show strong-luminescence, but during this increment, MgO acted as activator (co-dopant) for Cu ions. This enhancement may contribute to the energy transfer from Mg²⁺ ions to monovalent Cu⁺ ion. The current results are discussed and compared with other related studies.     

Optical properties of lithium magnesium borate glasses doped with Dy and Sm ions

Several studies showed the interesting properties of trivalent lanthanide ions when doped in various types of glasses. Optical and physical properties of lithium magnesium borate glasses doped with Dy³⁺ then with Sm³⁺ ions were determined by measuring their absorption and luminescence spectra in the visible region. The absorption spectra of Dy³⁺ showed eight absorption bands with hypersensitive transition at 1265 nm (⁶H_15/2→⁶F_11/2-⁶H_9/2) and three PL emission bands at 588 nm (⁴F_9/2→⁶H_15/2), 660 nm (⁴F_9/2→⁶H_13/2) and 775 nm (⁴F_9/2→⁶H_11/2). Regarding the Sm3⁺, nine absorption bands were observed with hypersensitive transition at 1237 nm (⁶H_5/2–⁶F_7/2); the PL spectrum showed four prominent peaks at ⁴G_5/2→⁶H_5/2 (yellow color), ⁴G_5/2→⁶H_7/2 (bright orange color), ⁴G_5/2→⁶H_9/2 (orange reddish color) and ⁴G_5/2→⁶H_11/2 (red color), respectively. Finally, a series of physical parameters such as the oscillator strengths, refractive index, ions concentration, Polaron radius and other parameters were calculated for each dopant.