Degradation pathways of dissolved carbon in landfill leachate traced with compound-specific 13C analysis of DOC

The isotopic compositions of carbon compounds in landfill leachate provide insights into the biodegradation pathways that dominate the different stages of waste decomposition. In this study, the carbon geochemistry of different carbon pools, environmental stable isotopes and compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) of leachate dissolved organic carbon (DOC) fractions and gases show distinctions in leachate biogeochemistry and methane production between the young area of active waste emplacement and the old area of historical emplacement at the Trail Road Landfill (TRL).

The active area leachate has low DOC concentrations (<200 mg l^?1) dominated by fulvic acid (FA=160 mg l^?1), and produces CH₄ dominantly by CO₂ reduction (D? excess=20.6‰). Leachate generated in the area of older waste has high DOC (>4770 mg l^?1) dominated by FA (4482 mg l^?1) and simple fatty acids (acetic=1008 mg l^?1 and propionic=608 mg l^?1), and produces CH₄ by the acetate fermentation pathway (D? excess=9.8‰). CSIA shows an advanced degradation and a progressive accumulation of ¹³C of fatty acids in leachate from the older area. The enriched ¹³C value of FA (?20 and?26‰ for the older and active parts, respectively,) and of low molecular weight DOC (?8 and?27‰) as well as of the bulk DOC (?21 and?25‰) shows more advanced degradation in the older part of the landfill, which is consistent with the shift in the humic/FA ratios (0.05 and 0.18). The ¹³C enrichment of acetate (?12‰) above the ¹³C of DOC (?21‰) and of propionic acid (?19‰), in older leachate, suggests that this acetate has not evolved from the simple degradation of larger organic molecules, but by homoacetogenesis from the enriched dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) pool (8‰) and H_2, which produce a more enriched ¹³C of acetate. In contrast, the ¹³C of the minor acetate in the active area (?17‰) indicates that CO₂-reducing bacteria must be the primary consumers of H₂, which has resulted in enriched ¹³C_DIC (10‰) and depleted ¹³C_CH4 (?58‰).     

Contractualism, Politics, and Morality

Rawls developed a contractualist theory of social justice and Scanlon attempted to extend the Rawlsian framework to develop a theory of rightness, or morality more generally. I argue that there are some good reasons to adopt a contractualist theory of social justice, but that it is a mistake to adopt a contractualist theory of rightness. I begin by illustrating the major shared features of Scanlon and Rawls’ theories. I then show that the justification for these features in Rawls’ theory, the centrality of cooperative fairness to social justice, cannot be used to defend their use in Scanlon’s. Finally, I argue that Scanlon has not provided an adequate alternative defense of these features, and show that they create problems when contractualists try to explain major features of our common-sense morality.     

Predictive QSAR modeling for the antioxidant activity of natural compounds derivatives based on Monte Carlo method

Molecular Diversity - In this research, QSAR modeling was carried out through SMILES of compounds and on the basis of the Monte Carlo method to predict the antioxidant activity of 79 derivatives of...     

Synthesis and characterization of PEGylated iron and graphene oxide magnetic composite for curcumin delivery

Nowadays, nanostructures have been given significant attention in medical and biological fields. Among these nanostructures, graphene oxide (GO) has been widely used in drug delivery systems, because of its unique properties, and the ability to connect to other nanostructures such as magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) as well as polymers by its functional groups. In this research, first, GO was prepared by exfoliating graphite according to the modified Hummer’s method, and then the Fe₃O₄ NPs were synthesized by a simple co-precipitation method on GO nanosheets. In the next step, with the help of the ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide/N-hydroxysuccinimide coupling reagents, the polyethylene glycol (PEG) polymer was bonded to the GO-Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite. Finally, anti-cancer drug, curcumin (Cur) was loaded onto the nanocomposite and the Cur loading ratio was measured at about 8%. The samples were evaluated using Fourier transform-infrared, differential scanning calorimtery, vibrating-sample magnetometry, atomic force microscopy and dynamic light scattering techniques. The results show that the prepared nanocomposite is an appropriate candidate for biomedical applications.     

Numerical simulation of dimethyl ether/natural gas blend fuel HCCI combustion to investigate the effects of operational parameters on combustion and emissions

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion phasing control is one of the most difficult challenges of operating this new concept of...     

Trigonometrically fitted high-order predictor–corrector method with phase-lag of order infinity for the numerical solution of radial Schrödinger equation

In this paper, we present a new optimized symmetric ten-step predictor–corrector method with phase-lag of order infinity (phase-fitted). The method is based on the symmetric eight-step predictor–corrector method of Simos and et al, that is constructed to solve numerically the radial Schrödinger equation during the resonance problem with the use of the Woods–Saxon potential. It can also be used to integrate related IVPs with oscillating solutions such as orbital problems. We compare the new method to some recently constructed optimized methods from the literature. We measure the efficiency of the methods and conclude that the new method with infinite order of phase-lag is the most efficient of all the compared methods and for all the problems solved.     

The β‐Agostic Structure in (C5Me5)2Sc(CH2CH3): Solid‐State NMR Studies of (C5Me5)2Sc−R (R=Me,Ph, Et)

Multinuclear solid‐state NMR studies of Cp*₂Sc?R (Cp*=pentamethylcyclopentadienyl; R=Me, Ph, Et) and DFT calculations show that the Sc?Et complex contains a β‐CH agostic interaction. The static central transition ⁴⁵Sc NMR spectra show that the quadrupolar coupling constants (C_q) follow the trend of Ph≈Me>Et, indicating that the Sc?R bond is different in Cp*₂Sc?Et compared to the methyl and phenyl complexes. Analysis of the chemical shift tensor (CST) shows that the deshielding experienced by Cβ in Sc?CH₂CH₃ is related to coupling between the filled σ_C‐C orbital and the vacant orbital.     

Polyimide‐coated magnetic nanoparticles as a sorbent in the solid‐phase extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in seawater samples

Magnetic polyimide poly(4,4′‐oxydiphenylene‐pyromellitimide) nanoparticles were successfully synthesized and developed for the solid‐phase extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in seawater samples. The aromatic rings of polyimide coating provided a good adsorption capacity (28.3–42.5 mg/g) for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons because of the π–π stacking interaction. The developed method was used as a simple, fast, and efficient extraction and preconcentration technique for the trace analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The high chemical, physical and thermal stability, excellent reusability, and good magnetic properties are the merits of the sorbent. High preconcentration factors (41–63) were obtained. The sorbent was also characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X‐ray spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometry. After optimizing several appropriate extraction parameters, the results indicated that the extraction recoveries of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were in the range of 61.6–94.7%, with relative standard deviations between 2.9 and 5.4%, the calibration graph was linear in the concentration range of 1–100 μg/L (r > 0.9991) with limit of detection in the range of 0.15–0.19 μg/L (n = 3). Seawater samples were analyzed as real samples and good recoveries (68.5–99.5%) were obtained at different spiked values.     

Electrochemical study of Cu2O/CuO composite coating produced by annealing and electrochemical methods

The electrochemical behavior of a copper oxide electrode produced by annealing and electrochemical methods was studied in an acetonitrile solvent by means of the cyclic voltammetry method. The presence of different peaks of oxidation and reduction produced by repeating the potential scans, numerous variations in the current, and shifts of peak potentials in consecutive cycles have been justified. Voltammograms proved that various oxidation species can be produced in solid-deposited forms of Cu₂O_s and CuO_s and dissolved forms of Cu(II)_sol and Cu(I)_sol ions. The experimental results indicated that higher amounts of Cu₂O_s than CuO_s can be produced in the process of copper electrode annealing. Also, the nature of copper species is responsible for different peak currents in the cyclic voltammograms, characterized by UV–Vis and XRD spectrometric methods.