Proposal of Construction Method of Smart Liner to Block and Detect Spreading of Soil Contaminants by Oil Spill.

Soil is an important factor for public health, and when a soil contaminant occurs by oil spill, it has a great impact on the ecosystem, including humans. Accordingly, the area is blocked using a vertical barrier, and various remediation methods are being applied when an oil spill occurs. This study intends to use a smart liner to prevent and detect the spreading of soil contaminants in a situation in which oil spill detection is important. However, the smart liner is in the form of a fiber, so it is impossible to construct it in a general method. Therefore, the roll spreading and inserting method (RSIM) is proposed for smart liner construction. RSIM is a method of installing a supporting pile after excavating the ground and connecting the smart liner vertically to the ground surface. This method is the first method proposed in this study, and the design and concept have not been established. In this study, a conceptual design was established to apply RSIM in the actual field, and a scale model experiment was performed to prove it. As a result of the scale model experiment, the applicability of RSIM was confirmed. Finally, numerical analysis using Abaqus/CAE was performed to carry out the detailed design of RSIM (installation conditions such as dimensions). Analysis parameters were embedded depth, thickness, diameter, and material properties of a supporting pile according to the ground type. As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that the results of RSIM analysis were interacting with all parameters according to the ground conditions. Therefore, it was confirmed that the actual design should be based on ground investigation and economic conditions, not standardized regulations.

Numerical Analysis of the Contact Behavior of a Polymer-Based Waterproof Membrane for Tunnel Lining.

Waterproof membranes have higher initial strength, faster construction, and better waterproofing than conventional sheet membranes. In addition, their polymer constituents have much higher interfacial adhesion and tensile strength than those of conventional materials. However, despite their advantages, waterproof membranes are not widely used in civil construction. This study evaluates the material properties and interface parameters of a waterproof membrane by considering the results of laboratory experiments and numerical analysis. Since the contact behavior of a membrane at its interface with shotcrete is important for understanding the mechanism of the support it offers known as a shotcrete tunnel lining, modeling should adopt appropriate contact conditions. The numerical analysis identifies the suitability and contact conditions of the waterproof membrane in various conditions.

Enhanced phosphorus removal in the DAF process by flotation scum recycling for advanced treatment of municipal wastewater.

To remove phosphorus (P) from municipal wastewater, various types of advanced treatment processes are being actively applied. However, there is commonly a space limit in municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWTPs). For that reason, the dissolved air flotation (DAF), which is well known for small space and flexible application process, is preferred as an additive process to enhance the removal of P. A series of experiments were conducted to investigate the feasibility of flotation scum recycling for effective P removal from a MWTP using a DAF pilot plant over 1 year. The average increases in the removal efficiencies due to flotation scum recycling were 22.6% for total phosphorus (T-P) and 18.3% for PO4-P. A higher removal efficiency of T-P was induced by recycling the flotation scum because a significant amount of Al components remained in the flotation scum. The increase in T-P removal efficiency, due to the recycling of flotation scum, shifted from the boundary of the stoichiometric precipitate to the equilibrium control region. Flotation scum recycling may contribute to improving the quality of treated water and reducing treatment costs by minimizing the coagulant dosage required.

The role of alkoxy group on the A ring of isoflavones in the inhibition of interleukin-5.

Novel isoflavones were found to be potent inhibitors of interleukin-5 (Il-5). 5-Benzyloxy-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-4H-chromen-4-one (2a, 87.8% inhibition at 50 microM, IC50 = 15.3 microM) was initially identified as a potent inhibitor of IL-5. Its activity was comparable to that of budesonide or sophoricoside (1a). The benzyloxy group appeared to be critical for the enhancement of the IL-5 inhibitory activity. To identify the role of this hydrophobic moiety, 5-cyclohexylmethoxy (2d), 7-cyclohexylmethoxy (2e), 5-cyclohexylethoxy (2f), 5-cyclohexylpropoxy (2g), 5-(2-methylpropoxy) (2h), 5-(3-methylbutoxy) (2i), 5-(4-methylpentoxy) (2j) and 5-(2-ethylbutoxy) (2k) analogs were prepared and tested for their effects on the bioactivity of IL-5. Compounds 2d (IC50 = 5.8 microM), 2e (IC50 = 4.0 microM) and 2j (IC50 = 7.2 microM) exhibited the most potent activities. Considering the cLog P values of compounds 2 and the different three dimensional structures of 2d and 2e, the alkoxy group on ring A contributed to their cell permeability for the enhancement of activity, rather than playing a role in the ligand motif binding to the receptor. The optimum alkoxy group should be one that provides cLog P values of compounds 2 in the range of 4.13 to 4.39.

Simultaneous analysis of naltrexone and its major metabolite, 6-beta-naltrexol, in human plasma using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry: Application to a parent-metabolite kinetic model in humans.

We developed a method for simultaneously determining naltrexone, an opioid antagonist, and its major metabolite (6-beta-naltrexol) in plasma using LC/MS/MS. Three compounds, and naloxone as an internal standard, were extracted from plasma using a mixture of methyl-tertiary-butyl ether. After drying the organic layer, the residue was reconstituted in a mobile phase (0.1% formic acid-acetonitrile:0.1% formic acid buffer, 95:5, v/v) and injected onto a reversed-phase C(18) column. The isocratic mobile phase was eluted at 0.2ml/min. The ion transitions monitored in multiple reaction-monitoring modes were m/z 342-->324, 344-->326, and 328-->310 for naltrexone, 6-beta-naltrexol, and naloxone, respectively. The coefficient of variation of the assay precision was less than 11.520%, and the accuracy exceeded 93.465%. The limit of quantification was 2ng/ml for naltrexone and 7.2ng/ml for 6-beta-naltrexol. And the limit of detection was 0.1ng/ml for naltrexone and 0.36ng/ml for 6-beta-naltrexol. This method was used to measure the plasma concentration of naltrexone and 6-beta-naltrexol in healthy subjects after a single oral 50mg dose of naltrexone. This analytical method is a simple, sensitive, and accurate way of determining the pharmacokinetic profiles of naltrexone and its metabolites. The pharmacokinetic parameters were analyzed using both non-compartmental analysis performed for each subject according to standard methods and compartmental analysis with a parent-metabolite pharmacokinetic model that was fitted to the data, simultaneously, using the program ADAPT II. The tested parent-metabolite pharmacokinetic model successfully described the relationship between the plasma concentration of naltrexone and one of its major metabolites, 6-beta-naltrexol.