Reaction mechanism of the ceric oxidation of benzohydroxamic acid with different acid medium

Khan Fahmida,1* Agrawal Sonalika1 and Ganesh S.2

Oxidation of benzohydroxamic acid (abbreviated as BHA) with ceric ammonium sulphate in sulphuric acid medium yielded benzoic acid, N,O-dibenzoylhydroxyamine and nitric acid. One mole of BHA was found to consume 5.49 equivalents of the oxidant in this reaction. When the reaction was carried out in the presence of sulphamic acid, the numbers of equivalents of the oxidant required were, however, found to be 3.66. Oxidation in nitric acid and perchloric acid medium showed that 6.0 equivalents of ceric ammonium nitrate were consumed per mole of BHA and benzoic acid was the oxidation product. On the basis of these observations, a mechanism for the ceric oxidation of BHA is proposed. The titre values are obtained by second derivative plots of potentiometric titrations.

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Mass balancing and life cycle assessment of municipal solid waste

Jain Neeraj* and Singh Jaswinder

The environmental problem arising from unscientific and indiscriminate disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) is a real menace for the whole society. Present study deals with characterization and life cycle assessment of MSW along with mass balancing studies for an integrated municipal solid waste management plant in Kanpur city. The studies were carried out to investigate the feasibility of the plant and technology used to achieve zero garbage strategy. The MSW characterization shows that MSW contains a good C/N ratio (23.59), while the compost has C/N ratio slightly below (15.27) the standard (20-40). The refused derived fuel (RDF) made from dry organic material of MSW has high calorific value. The inert material (brick and stone waste) is used for making building components like road pavers, blocks, tiles etc. Mass balancing studies show that waste processing is carried out in an efficient way by focusing on the 4Rs, reduce, reuse, recycle and finally recover in concurrence to the MSW Rules for effective management. After MSW processing, many useful products are produced generating revenue and only small quantities of reject material (12 %) are dumped in landfill liner (SLF), thereby reducing the burden on land.

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Adsorption Batch Studies on the Removal of Cadmium using Wood of Derris Indica based Activated Carbon

Venkatesan G.1* and Senthilnathan U.2

Activated carbon has been prepared from wood of Derris indica. Its adsorption capability in removal of cadmium from wastewater has been investigated through batch adsorption experiments. The adsorption kinetics of this carbon for various parameters like adsorbent dosage and contact time of the cadmium ion were studied. The cadmium adsorption behavior and the effect of the initial cadmium concentration on removal efficiency were also examined. The optimum dosage of wood of derris indica based activated carbon to remove 80 mg/L of cadmium from aqueous solution 0.5gms/150 mL and the optimum contact time was 20 minutes. The isotherm data confirm with both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models.

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Correlation and Regression analysis of ground water of Greater Visakhapatnam city

Rao G. Srinivas* and Babu R. Ravichandra

Water quality of Greater Vsakhapatnam city was assessed by using statistical methods like correlation and regression analysis and also the data is compared with drinking water standards of WHO and BIS. For this purpose we have identified 50 sampling points from various places in which 14 are open wells and 34 are bore wells and two are reservoirs. After collecting the samples they were analyzed for the water quality parameters, Temperature, pH, Conductivity, Dissolved Oxygen, Total dissolved solids, Hardness, Calcium, Magnesium, Alkalinity, Chloride and Nitrate. We identified good relationships between various parameters and regression equations relating these parameters were formulated. Comparison of observed and predicted values of different parameters reveals that the regression equations developed in the study can be very well used for making water quality monitoring by observing the above said parameters alone.

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Application of Artificial Neural Network for Evaluation of pKa Values and exploring the Solvation Mechanism of Phenol Derivatives in Solvent of Methanol/Water Mixture

Sanchooli M*., Ghaffari Moghaddam M. and Zangeneh M.

In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN) trained by backpropagation algorithm, quick propagation (QP) was applied to predict the pKa values of 28 phenol derivatives in 11 different (overall 308 entries) compositions of methanol/water solvent mixtures. Three different classes of electronic features including charge, dipole and orbital energy calculated in solvent were subjected in genetic algorithm (GA) method to select the relevant input variables. After evaluation of various ANN configurations, the best network was composed of 12 hidden nodes using a hyperbolic tangent transfer function. A proper model with correlation coefficient (R2) and root mean square error (RMSE) values between the actual and predicted response was determined as 0.9621 and 0.4907 for training, 0.8258 and 1.1554 for testing and 0.8456 and 1.1095 for validating dataset. The model was used to reproduce the experimental pKa values of the all data set within average absolute error less than 5.48 percent. The relatively higher contribution of orbital energy than the charge and dipole, which exposes the strong type of interactions in solution, was found. The contribution of solute orbital energies HOMO and LUM propose the stabilization of their corresponding anions through both charge donating and accepting mechanism, respectively leading to higher dissociation constant.

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Electrochemically induced Reaction of Mesalazine Drug with Barbituric Acid Derivatives: Mechanism and Kinetics Evaluation

Tammari E.,1* Amani A.,2 Nematollahi D.,2 Jalili R.3 and Kazemi M.1

The electrochemical behavior of oxidation of mesalazine drug in the presence of barbituric acid derivatives was investigated by means of cyclic voltammetry and coulometry methods. Investigation was performed in two acidic (pH 1.7) and neutral (pH 7.0) media. It was found that the mentioned reaction shows two clearly different electrochemical behaviors in acidic and neutral media. It was demonstrated that the preferred electrochemical mechanism in acidic medium is a catalytic (EC′) mechanism whereas in neutral medium it is an EC electrochemical mechanism. In kinetics evaluation step, cyclic voltammetry digital simulation method is used for examination and comparison of chemical rate constants.

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Biosorption of Cr(VI) by activated Ziziphus Jujuba leaf powder

Gupta Vikal *, Sumit, Lal Magan and Bhati Mahendra

This research paper describes the removal of Cr(VI) ions by adsorption on activated Ziziphus Jujuba leaf powder (local name -Bordi) using fixed-bed adsor- ption column technique. This plant is locally available in arid and semi arid zone. The biosorption of Cr(VI) ions from aqueous solution by activated Ziziphus Jujuba leaf powder (ZJLP) was studied in a fixed-bed adsorption column as a function of pH, contact time, metal ion concentration, mass of adsorbent. The adsorption data fit well with Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm model.

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2D and 3D-QSAR study on the fish embryo Toxicity test of EC50

Liu Jining1,2, Fan Deling1, Shi Lili2, Wang Lei 2, Zhou Linjun2, Chen Yingwen1 and Shen Shubao1*

Quantitative structure–toxicity relationships were developed for the prediction of the fish embryo toxicity test, based on the linear heuristic method (HM) and support vector machines (SVM). Each kind of compound was represented by several calculated structural descriptors, derived for a diverse set of 30 compounds using DFT-B3LYP/6-31+G (d) level of the theory. A seven-parameter correlation was found to be the most important descriptor affecting the toxicity. In the HM method, the value of square of the correlation coefficient R2 is 0.761, in the SVM method, the value of the R2 is 0.867 in the training set. We report 3D-QSAR analyses using CoMFA and CoMSIA in order to have a better understanding of the mechanism of action and structure-activity relationship of these compounds. In the CoMFA method, the value of square of the correlation coefficient r2 is 0.964, in the CoMSIA method, the value of the r2 is 0.912 in the training set. The steric and hydrophobic play relatively important roles on the toxicity.

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Effect of air pollution on physiology and yield of mulberry silkworm, Bombyx mori L.

Ghosh M.,1* Mukhopadhyay A.2 and Mukhopadhyay U.K.3

The silk is the protein polymer spun into fibers by the silkworms (Bombyx mori L). It is a textile fiber highly appreciated for its outstanding properties (handle, luster, dye ability, comfort). In addition silk has been recently investigated as a starting material for non-textile applications23. In order to assess the effect of air pollution on the yield and quality of silk fibers, two locations of Murshidabad district, West Bengal, India had been chosen on the basis of the ambient air quality for rearing of mulberry silkworm, Bombyx mori L. One location (Berhampore city) was considered polluted as about six Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) have been identified and the concentrations of them quantitated to be as high as 8.8 μg/m3 apart from heavy particulate matter in the ambient air sample of that area, while the other location (Kiriteswari village) was the control. Different biological indicators for the silkworms as well as yield and quality of silk fibers between the two sites were considered extensively and it was found that overall condition of the silkworms as well as the yield and quality of silk is better in less polluted areas.

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Influence of Smoking and Alcohol Consumption on Serum Zinc and Chromium Levels in North Indian Type 2 Diabetic Subjects

Singh Ruchi* and Kumar Ashok

Present study investigated variation of zinc and chromium concentrations in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus subjects (n= 56) and age matched non diabetic normal subjects (n=40) of both genders from North Indian region, levels were further correlated on the basis of smoking and alcohol consumption habit. Intravenous blood was collected from each subject and serum was separated by centrifugation. Samples were analyzed with an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Significant difference of Zn and Cr between diabetic and normal subjects was observed. Smoking and tobacco intake were found to effect levels of these micro-nutrients while no effect was noticed in case of alcohol consumption.

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Synthetic Dye Decolorization by Three Sources of Fungal Laccase

Forootanfar Hamid1,2, Moezzi Atefeh1, Aghaie-Khouzani Marziyeh1, Janlou Yasaman1, Niknejad Farhad3 and Faramarzi Mohammad Ali1*

Decolorization of six synthetic dyes using three sources of fungal laccase with the origin of Aspergillus oryzae, Trametes versicolor and Paraconiothyrium variabile was investigated. Among them the enzyme from P. variabile was the most efficient which decolorized Bromophenol blue (100%), Commassie brilliant blue (91%), Panseu-S (56%), Rimazol brilliant blue R (RBBR 47%), Congo red (18.5%) and Methylene blue (21.3%) after 3h incubation in presence of hydroxybenzotriazole (HBT 5mM) as the laccase mediator. It was also observed that decolorization percent of all dyes was enhanced by increasing of HBT concentration from 0.1mM to 5mM. Laccase from A oryzae was able to remove 53% of methylene blue and 26% of RBBR after 30min incubation in absence of HBT but the enzyme could not efficiently decolorize other dyes even in presence of 5mM of HBT. In the case of laccase from T. versicolor, only RBBR was decolorized (93%) in absence of HBT after 3h incubation.

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In Vitro Cytotoxicity Evaluation of Doxorubicin loaded on GlycolatedMn-Doped CoFe2O4Magnetic Nanoparticles

Mirabdollah Seyed Sadjadi1*, Somayyeh Rostamzadehmansour1, Asadollah Asadi2 and Gargh Shankar3

In this work, we report in vitro cytotoxicity evaluationof doxorubicin (DOX) loaded on polyethylene glycolated (PEG)manganese doped cobalt ferrite (Mn0.02Co0.98Fe2O4); (MCF); nanoparticlesin particle size of about 35 nm. Characterization of the prepared samples wascarried out using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns,Fourier Transform infra-red spectra(FTIR). Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) has been used to evaluate magnetic properties of the samples and the potential and efficiency of doxorubicin loaded samplesagainst resistant leukemia cancer cells, K562,was finally measured by standard 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl- tetrazolium bromide (MTT assay). The results indicated that the DOX/PEG/MCF nanoparticles against resistant leukemia cancer cells, K562are promising for magnetically targeted drug delivery system and may be useful for in vivo and in vitro biomedical applications.

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Review Paper: A brief review of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) removal from contaminated air and water

Songolzadeh Mohammad1, Soleimani Mansooreh1* and Behnood Reza2

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) as a gasoline additive has become a prevalent and persistent groundwater and surface water pollutant. In this study, various technologies for MTBE removal from contaminated air and water were reviewed. The results of this study can help to provide specific guidance into process selection to treat MTBE in waste air and contaminated waters. Common technologies for MTBE removal from contaminated air include: advanced oxidation, adsorption, thermal treatment, membrane and biofilter. Advanced oxidation, thermal and catalytic treatment are used when vapor phase is highly contaminated. For low contaminated air, adsorption and biofilter are useful technologies. Based on the membrane type, different membrane reactors can be used for the removal of various concentrations of MTBE. In this work, the main methods for MTBE removal from waste water (physical, chemical and biological methods) were briefly compared. The physical meth-ods are air stripping and adsorption onto different adsorbents. In the chemical methods, MTBE is decomposed to less harmful materials as a result of a chemical reaction. Advanced oxidation with hydrogen peroxide, ozone, chloride ion, potassium permang-anate and sulfuric acid is the most important chemical technology. In the biological methods, MTBE is biologically decomposed with applied microorganism. Among different methods, adsorption treatment with different porous materials such as activated carbons, zeolites and synthetic resins are highly efficient for dilute solution of MTBE, whereas air stripping and advanced oxidation technologies are suitable for MTBE removal from concentrated solutions. Biologic-al methods are efficient for permanent water treatment.

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