The presented studies were focused on evaluating the utility of one of sequential extraction methods for evaluating the bioavailability of mercury in soils polluted by this element. Soil samples collected from horizons 0-20 cm and 20-80 cm were subject to analysis of the basic physical and chemical properties of soils. Moreover, the total content of mercury was determined and sequential extraction of mercury was conducted using a modified five-stage Wallschläger method. The analyses show that the studied soils are characterized by a variable mercury content, the highest in the surface soil horizons. Sequential extraction of mercury in the analyzed soils has indicated that the highest percentage content in the total content had mercury linked with sulphides. A high content of mercury linked with organic matter was also noted. The content of bioavailable mercury did not exceed 1.5% of the total content.

The aim of these studies was to determine solubility and availability of the heavy metals in soil using single extraction procedure. The acid extractants: 1 M HCI, 10% HNO, and 0.43 M CH,COOH were tested as eluents. Extracting capacity of inorganic acids were higher than 65% of total Pb and Zn and hardly depended on their total content. Acetic acid leached less than 5% of total Cu, Ni and Pb. A statistical analysis showed that physico-chemical soil parameters affected heavy metals solubility in acids eluents. Single extraction in acid solution is a simple way to determine the soil contamination with heavy metals.

In the present work, amine based extractant and its mixture with cationic and solvating extractants were tested for the extraction of HCl from chloride solution containing Al(III). The chloride feed solution resulted from the leaching of spent HDS (hydro-desulfurization) catalysts. For this purpose, amine extractants, such as TOA (trioctyl amine), Alamine 336 (a mixture of tri-octyl/decyl amine), Alamine 308 (tri-isooctyl amine), and TEHA (tri 2-ethylhexyl amine) were used and the extraction and stripping behavior of HCl was compared. The extracted HCl was easily stripped from loaded TEHA phase, when compared with the other tested tertiary amine system. Solvent extraction reaction of HCl by TEHA was determined from the extraction data. Unlike TOA and Alamine 336, adding cationic extractant to TEHA had negligible effect on the extraction and stripping of HCl. In our experimental ranges, no Al was extracted by amines and pure HCl was recovered. MaCabe- Thiele diagrams for the extraction and stripping of HCl by TEHA were constructed.

Elevated content or heavy metals in soils is characteristic of the Dąbrowa Górnicza region. The highest concentrations of lead. cadmium and zinc exceed herc 650, 15, and 1000 mg/kg of soil, respectively. Samples of soi I from selected sites underwent the speciation analysis with the use of the Tessier method. modified according to Kersten and Forstner. Results of the investigations proved the highest concentrations or these metals in the area of Trzebiesławice. They occur here in the strongly bound forms and, mainly, their occurrence is related to presence of limestone rocks. The greatest amounts of these metals in easily assimilable to plant forms occur within the area of the town of Dąbrowa Górnicza. The most probable source ot· most of these heavy metals in soils are here contaminants emitted by the industry, mainly by the metallurgy. In the vicinity of the town of Błędów, mainly sandy soils occur, characteristic or which is low content of considered metals. Weak sorption capacities of these soils account for relatively good cxtractability of the three metals. In soils from the Lęka area, strong binding of these metals was confirmed. Occurrence or cadmium should be of special attention because this metal occurs as built in the crystal lattice of minerals.

The phytoremediation effectiveness of heavy metals contaminated soils in the area of Upper Silesia was assessed on the basis of its real quantity in biomass harvest per 1 ha. The content of each heavy metal was compared with its quantity in the fraction of mobile and total value in horizon till 20 cm depth. The content of Zn uptake in carrot or parsley harvest (leaves and root) did not exceed 2.5% of its quantity in mobile fraction and 0.05% of its total content. The Cd and Pb values amount: 2.41%, 0.1% and 1.47%, 0.01 6%, respectively.

Zinc plant residue is a hazardous waste which contains high quantity of nickel and other valuable metals. Process parameters such as reaction time, acid concentration, solid-liquid ratio, particle size, stirring speed and temperature for nickel extraction from this waste were optimized using factorial design. Main effects and their interactions were obtained by the analysis of variance ANOVA. Empirical regression model was obtained and used to predict nickel extraction with satisfactory results and to describe the relationship between the predicted results and the experiment results. The important parameters for maximizing nickel extraction were identifi ed to be a leaching time solid-liquid ratio and acid concentration. It was found that above 90% of nickel could be extracted in optimum conditions.

The enzymatic synthesis of a highly hydrophobic product (dipeptide precursor) in which the reaction is accompanied by the mass transfer of the reaction product to the organic phase and the substrates to the water phase is considered. Equations describing both continuous and batch processes are formulated. The range of variability in the operating parameters of such a bioreactor is specified, and the correlations reported in the literature to describe mass transfer in the membrane contactor are validated. The proposed process was verified experimentally, and good agreement between the determined and calculated concentrations was obtained in both phases.

Composite scaffolds with increased hydrophilicity were prepared for cancellous bone regeneration by the freeze-extraction method. As a construction material, a poly–L–lactide (PLLA) was applied. As a hydrophilic, modifying agent a methacrylic acid copolymer, trade name Eudragit®, was used. Apreliminary investigation and optimization of the processwere performed. For the obtained scaffolds, regression equations determining the effect of: Eudragit®E100/PLLA weight ratio; volume ratio of methanol (porophore)/PLLA solution in dioxane on interconnected porosity and mass absorbability of obtained implants were calculated.

In this study, the process of membrane cleaning by supercritical fluid extraction was investigated. Polypropylene microfiltration membranes, contaminated with oils, were treated in a batch process with a supercritical fluid (SCF). As extractant, pure supercritical carbon dioxide or supercritical carbon dioxide with admixtures of methanol, ethanol and isopropanol were used. Single-stage and multi-stage extraction was carried out and process efficiency was determined. The obtained results showed that addition of organic solvents significantly enhances the cleaning performance, which increases with increase of organic solvent concentration and decreases with increasing temperature. All three solvents showed a comparable effect of efficiency enhancement. The results confirmed that supercritical fluid extraction can be applied for polypropylene membrane cleaning.

The solution of applications for air pollution control in foundries for iron and non-ferrous metals may not only be understood as the observance of requested emission limit values at the stack outlet. An effective environmental protection already starts with the greatest possible capture of pollutants at the source with at the same time minimisation of the volume flow necessary for this. Independent of this, the downstream installed filtration system has to realise a degree of separation of definitely above 99%. Furthermore, when selecting the filter construction, attention has to be paid to a high availability. An even temporarily production without filter will more and more no longer be accepted by residents and authorities. Incidents at the filter lead to a shutdown of the whole production. Additional measures for heat recovery while preparing concepts for filtration plants help to reduce the energy consumption and serve for a sustained conservation of environment. A consequent consideration of the items above is also condition for the fact that environmental protection in foundries remains affordable. The lecture deals with the subjects above from the point of view of a plant constructor.

FeCl3 bearing etching solution is mainly used for etching of metals used in shadow masks, PCBs and so on. Due course of Invar alloy etching process the FeCl3 bearing etching solution get contaminated with Ni2+ which affect adversely the etching efficiency. Hence, FeCl3 bearing etching solution discarded after several cycle of operation causes an environmental and economic problem. To address both the issues the etching solution was purified through solvent extraction and remained Ni2+ recovered by wet chemical reduction using hydrazine. For optimum Fe3+ extraction efficiency, various extraction parameter were optimized and size and morphology of the recovered pure Ni powder was analyzed. The reported process is a simple process to purify and recover Ni from industry etching solution.

Increasing numbers of implanted cardiovascular electronic devices, results in a need for lead extractions, which has increased to an annual volume of over 10,000 worldwide. We present a cadaveric dissection body with a single chamber pacemaker implanted 5y before death.

Natural resources and the extractive industries play a central role in the economy of developing countries and the lives of nearly half of the world’s population. The increasing demand for oil, gas, and mineral resources has led some countries to prioritize the extractive industries; yet, there is growing empirical evidence that in some cases governments have neglected other sectors of the economy, making them highly dependent and vulnerable to volatile commodity prices. Latin American countries face the challenge of changing their model of primary-export specialization and move away from their dependence on natural resource-intensive exports in order to avoid being vulnerable to commodity cycles. In this context, given the limited literature available on measuring the dependence on the extraction of oil, gas and minerals of the Ecuadorian economy, the objective of this article is to twofold. First, to provide a snapshot of the historical and current situation of Ecuador’s natural resource dependence. Second, to estimate the Extractives Dependence Index (EDI) scores for Ecuador for the years 2003 to 2017. The EDI is a generally accepted method for measuring a country’s aggregate dependence on natural and mineral resources. Based on the EDI scores obtained, we analyze the variation of this indicator and investigate the effect of extractives dependence on the Ecuadorian economy. Results show that despite the government’s significant efforts to diversify Ecuador’s economy, the country has a persistent dependence on the extractive sector.

For much of the last two decades, the Central and East European (CEE) economies have experienced a deep structural reform, moving away from a socialist economic system towards a market economy. The political situation of the second half of the 20th century had a significant impact on the economic development and competitiveness of these transition countries, when compared with their Western European counterparts. A vast number of studies have been conducted to analyze the structural changes required for resource-dependent economies to achieve long-term development and to understand the synergies between commodities and diversification. Yet, the dynamics of resource extraction and the resource dependence of regions that have experienced periods of sustained levels of growth have largely been overlooked, especially the Central and Eastern European region. In this context, this article presents an analysis of the level of resource dependence of six countries which joined the European Union between 2004 and 2007. Using data spanning from the year 2000 to 2017, we calculate the Extractives Dependence Index (EDI) of six former Soviet satellite nations and one former Soviet state. Our results indicate that the commodity structure of trade in the six countries which joined the European Union has changed considerably. These countries have reduced their economic dependence on extractive resources by developing their high value-added and technology-intensive sectors. Our findings also reveal that Poland experienced the highest decrease in EDI scores among the six CEE countries.

Coal mining activities carried out for 200 years in Upper Silesia have had a negative effect on buildings. T his impact is in all cases related with continuous deformations of the surface and in certain cases with discontinuous deformations (mostly cave-ins), changes in water relations and mining tremors. T he paper presents an evaluation of the impact of a mining activity on a building situated in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin. T he building was affected by continuous deformations and mining tremors. Calculations were made of the values of deformation rates by means of Budryk–Knothe’s theory, which were partly verified on the basis of the results from geodetic measurements. An analysis of the velocity and acceleration of basement vibrations caused by mining-induced tremors was also conducted. T he conclusions included a high consistency between the results obtained on the basis of calculations and the values obtained by means of PGA and PGV measurements. In the case of tremors with the highest energy in the hipocentrum, there an empirical formula allowing for calculation of PGA value in given geological and mining conditions was also proposed. T he application range of the formula mentioned above is obviously limited only to the conditions in consideration. The presented conclusions indicate that at present, sufficiently precise methods, allowing for calculations for practical purposes, not only of deformation indices’ values, but also of PGV and PGA values, presently exist.

The aim of the study was fractionation of Zn, Cu, Ni, Pb in the bottom sediments of two small reservoirs: at Krempna on the Wisłoka River and at Zcslwicc on the Dlubnia River. The partitioning of metals for various fractions was performed with the use of Tessier's sequential chemical extraction method. All together five metal fractions were distinguished: exchangeable metals (fraction I), metals bound to carbonates (fraction II), metals bound to hydrate Fe-Mn oxides (fraction III), metals bound to organic matter (fraction IV), and metals bound to minerals (fraction V). The largest quantities of metals were bound with fraction V, the smallest occurred in the forms most easily available for living organisms, in faction I. Proportions ofZn, Ni and Pb in the exchangeable fraction were about 1%. The amounts of metals bound with fraction II were also relatively low, except lor Zn in bottom sediment at the Zeslawice Reservoir. In this bottom sediment the share of Zn bound to carbonates was 33%. Medium metal quantities were associated with hydrate Fe-Mn oxides (fraction III) and with organic matter (fraction IV). Relatively high proportion ofmetals in fraction V and trace amounts ofmetals in fraction I as well as alkaline and neutral reaction of the sediments may prove a potentially low hazard of the metal release in the case of chemical changes in the reservoirs.

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni which has gained industrial and scientific interests is a suitable nutritional alternative to sucrose as a sweetener. Recently, there have been studies which show the extraction of this phytochemical substance from stevia leaves and purification methods by several alcohols and chromatographic methods. However, these methods are not cost-effective. Therefore, an attempt was made to extract and purify ST using inexpensive, scalable and simple techniques where different steps like extraction, electrocoagulation, ion exchange, activated charcoal, vacuum evaporation and butanol wash were used as purification steps. The present study established a new improved technology of extraction of ST from stevia leaves using water as a solvent followed by various purification steps. 496 mg of Stevioside extracted in the form of crystals was obtained from 100 g of leaves which is 10 times more than the reported yield of 54 mg from 100 g stevia leaves in literature. This methodology can be scaled up at the industry level for future large production to meet the huge demand for natural sweeteners.

Antibiotics are used for postsurgical wound healing purposes but unfortunately, resistance against them demands some alternatives for quick recovery. Sepsis of wounds is a challenge for medical as well as veterinary professionals. Nanoparticles have significant advantages in wound treatment and drug resistance reversal. This study was conducted to appreciate emerging alternates of antibiotics like zinc oxide nanoparticles and plant extracts in topical application. Zinc oxide is considered a good wound healer and its nanoparticles are easy to access. So, the efficacies of zinc oxide nanoparticles and sweet flag plant extract ointments were tested to compare modern and traditional therapeutics as sweet flag is considered a pure medicinal plant. Rabbits were selected for this study due to the healing properties of their skin. Wounds were inflicted on the thoracolumbar region and treated for 29 days post-surgically daily with normal saline and the ointment of zinc oxide nanoparticles and sweet flag extract ointment, prepared in a hydrophilic solvent. Wound shrinkage was observed daily and histopathological analysis was made and results were compared. Zinc oxide nanoparticles ointment showed the most satisfactory results for every parameter included in the study. No side effects of its topical application were observed. Healing was normal without any complications. The preparations of zinc oxide nanoparticles may help in the era of antibiotic resistance as topical drugs in the future.

Herpesviruses (HV) are pathogens causing infections in humans and animals worldwide. Since it shares many common features with other HV, bovine HV type 1 (BoHV-1) was selected as a model to test the anti-herpesviral activity of medicinal plants.

Fifteen plants were chosen in this study for their medical, antibacterial and antiviral properties. The aim was to investigate ethanolic extracts from the selected medicinal plants for anti-BoHV-1 activity. The virucidal activities were evaluated by comparing the effect of noncytotoxic concentrations of extracts on BoHV-1 strain 1640 replication in Madin-Darby bovine kidney (MDBK) cells. Virucidal activity was determined by means of virus titration after exposure to the extracts. The extract of Desmodium canadense was found to be the most effective virucide – the 50% tissue culture infective dose (TCID50) after exposure was 3.75 log10 and the virus reduction factor was ≥5.0±0.25 log10. The extract of D. canadense was therefore chosen for further studies. Virus yield reduction assays showed that D. canadense extract had time-dependent and dose-dependent effects. It effectively reduced virus titre from 8.33 log10 to 4.67 log10 (p<0.01). The virucidal activity was also confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR), where the number of threshold cycles (Ct) was inversely proportional to the virus titre in TCID50 The virucidal activity was also confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR). This method showed that the number of threshold cycles (Ct) was inversely proportional to the virus titre (direct correlation with exposure time R=0.9321). The extract of D. canadense showed a high virus reduction capacity. In future, such active substances should be identified for the development of effective antivirals.

Despite many phytochemical and pharmacological investigations, to date, there are no reports concerning the antibabesial activity of extracts of A. millefolium against B. canis. This study was aimed at investigating the biological activities of A. millefolium against the Babesia canis parasite and to identify its chemical ingredients. The water (WE), ethanol (EE) and hexane/acetone (H/AE) extracts of plant aerial parts were screened for total phenolic content (TPC), total flavo- noid compound (TFC), DPPH free radical-scavenging activity and its antibabesial activity assay. In this study, imidocarb diproprionate was used as a positive control. The H/AE and EE extracts were analysed using gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC–MS).

In the EE extract, the main compounds were 17.64% methyl octadec-9-ynoate, 16.68% stigmast-5-en-3-ol(3α,24S) and 15.17% hexadecanoic acid. In the H/AE extract, the main com- pounds were 34.55% 11-decyldocosane, 14.31% N-tetratetracontane, 8.22% β-caryophyllene, and 7.69% N-nonacosane. Extract of EE contained the highest content of phenolics followed by H/AE and WE. The concentration of flavonoids in EE, H/AE and WE extracts showed that TFC was higher in the EE samples followed by H/AE and WE. The antioxidant activities were highest for AA, followed by EE, WE and H/AE. The antibabesial assay showed that the WE, EE and H/AE extracts of A. millefolium were antagonistic to B. canis. At a 2 mg/mL concentration, it showed 58.7% (± 4.7%), 62.3% (± 5.5%) and 49.3% (± 5.1%) inhibitory rate in an antibabesial assay, respectively.

Considering these results, the present findings suggest that A. millefolium extracts may be a potential therapeutic agent and that additional studies including in vivo experiments are essential.

Individual identification of similar communication emitters in the complex electromagnetic environment has great research value and significance in both military and civilian fields. In this paper, a feature extraction method called HVG-NTE is proposed based on the idea of system nonlinearity. The shape of the degree distribution, based on the extraction of HVG degree distribution, is quantified with NTE to improve the anti-noise performance. Then XGBoost is used to build a classifier for communication emitter identification. Our method achieves better recognition performance than the state-of-the-art technology of the transient signal data set of radio stations with the same plant, batch, and model, and is suitable for a small sample size.

The market value of essential oils is steadily increasing every year. They are mainly used as aromas and preservatives in food and cosmetics industries. The content and yield of the obtained extracts change across the seasons of the year. The knowledge of these differences is important for essential oils industry to gain the best quality and quantity of products. In this study Thuja occidentalis L. (Eng. northern white cedar) extract was obtained from leaves by maceration in dichloromethane. Plant material was collected during each season of the year and the finished products were thoroughly examined through GC-MS analysis. The seasonal variations of volatile compound composition showed that the most adequate period to obtain T. occidentalis extract on an industrial scale is spring. This is due to the best efficiency (almost 10%) and the highest content of monoterpenes (67%).

The use of foam fractionation followed by aqueous two-phase extraction has emerged as a potential alternative to traditional liquid chromatography, hitherto irreplaceable in the purification of phycobiliproteins. The crude extracts of C-phycocyanin and allophycocyanin were obtained after Thermosynechococcus PCC 6715 biomass disintegration. The FF process with air flow of 2.4 L·h ^-1 resulted in purification factors up to 1.47 and partitioning coefficients of about 39, and did not require the addition of surfactants. A temperature of 35˚C allowed for the highest partitioning coefficient of 67.6 and yield of 76%; however, the purity of C-PC in condensate at this temperature was lower than at 25˚C. ATPE was tested in 20 different systems consisting of polyethylene glycol and phosphate or citrate salts, of which PEG1500-citrate gave the highest purification factor value of 2.31. Conversely, a partitioning coefficient of 2416 and 1094 were obtained for the PEG1500-phosphate and PEG3000-phosphate systems, respectively. Interestingly, the use of FF condensate in subsequent ATPE step resulted, for the first time, in the separation of the polymer phase into two fractions, one contained C-phycocyanin and the other allophycocyanin. It can be concluded that the use of a two-step system of FF and ATPE is a viable way to separate phycobiliproteins.