Evaluation of some trace elements in sera of asthma patients: a case control study.

Introduction: Asthma is a chronic in&#64258;ammatory disease of the airways characterized by recurrent respiratory symptoms of dyspnea, wheezing, chest tightness, and cough. Aim: This study aims to investigate the concentrations of Cu, Zn, Mg, Mn, Fe, Cr, Ni, and Al in the serum of asthmatic patients. Materials and methods: An atomic absorption technique was used to determine the levels of trace elements. The study included sixty asthmatic patients and ninety healthy individuals as control group their ages ranging from 20 to 45 years. Results: We found a significant increase of the levels of copper, iron, and aluminum by 20%, 54%, and 47% (p<0.01), respectively, in the asthmatic patients as compared with the controls. On the other hand, in comparison with the controls, the levels of zinc, magnesium, manganese, and nickel were found to be significantly decreased (p<0.01) by 24%, 16%, 53%, and 81%, respectively, in the asthmatic patient group. Moreover, chromium level showed non-significant differences (p>0.05) between patients and control group. Conclusions: The increased level of Cu and Fe may reflect their potential role in the pathogenesis of asthma. Furthermore, the serum iron levels tend to be increased as a result of the inflammatory process that occurs in asthma. Low levels of Zn, Mg, and Mn may contribute to allergic diseases due to their role in the synthesis of certain antioxidants or to their effect on the immune system.

Raw Biogas Desulphurization Using the Adsorption-Absorption Technique for a Pilot Production of Agricultural Biogas from Pig Slurry in Poland

The article reviews selected methods and techniques of agricultural biogas desulphurization. Presented is the current state of technological and measurement systems as well as raw biogas purification methods in terms of control and measurement-socio-economic aspects were also pointed out. On the example of a pilot agricultural biogas with the use of pig slurry, the required technical and technological criteria for the production and processing of agricultural biogas were indicated. The article presents the preliminary results of experimental studies on the course of changes in the volumetric composition of biogas on the basis of the average daily production of agricultural biogas.The amount of H2S in raw and purified biogas was analyzed with the proprietary biogas desulphurization method in terms of the process parameters. A novelty is the use of a developed carbon mixture (activated carbon) with turf ore (iron compounds), which allows for 100% desulfurization of raw agricultural biogas under process conditions for mesophilic fermentation. The measurement results show a clear influence of desulphurization using the proprietary adsorption-absorption technique-agricultural biogas.

Synthesis of BiF3 and BiF3-Added Plaster of Paris Composites for Photocatalytic Applications

A BiF3 powder sample was prepared from the purchased Bi2O3 powder via the precipitation route. The photocatalytic performance of the prepared BiF3 powder was compared with the Bi2O3 powder and recognized as superior. The prepared BiF3 powder sample was added in a plaster of Paris (POP) matrix in the proportion of 0%, 1%, 5%, and 10% by wt% to form POP–BiF3(0%), POP–BiF3(1%), POP–BiF3(5%), and POP–BiF3(10%) composite pellets, respectively, and activated the photocatalytic property under the UV–light irradiation,in the POP. In this work, Resazurin (Rz) ink was utilized as an indicator to examine the photocatalytic activity and self-cleaning performance of POP–BiF3(0%), POP–BiF3(1%), POP–BiF3(5%), and POP–BiF3(10%) composite pellets. In addition to the digital photographic method, the UV–visible absorption technique was adopted to quantify the rate of the de-colorization of the Rz ink, which is a direct measure of comparative photocatalytic performance of samples.

Rainbow Pancyclicity in Graph Systems

Let $G_1,\ldots,G_n$ be graphs on the same vertex set of size $n$, each graph with minimum degree $\delta(G_i)\ge n/2$. A recent conjecture of Aharoni asserts that there exists a rainbow Hamiltonian cycle i.e. a cycle with edge set $\{e_1,\ldots,e_n\}$ such that $e_i\in E(G_i)$ for $1\leq i \leq n$. This can be viewed as a rainbow version of the well-known Dirac theorem. In this paper, we prove this conjecture asymptotically by showing that for every $\varepsilon>0$, there exists an integer $N>0$, such that when $n>N$ for any graphs $G_1,\ldots,G_n$ on the same vertex set of size $n$ with $\delta(G_i)\ge (\frac{1}{2}+\varepsilon)n$, there exists a rainbow Hamiltonian cycle. Our main tool is the absorption technique. Additionally, we prove that with $\delta(G_i)\geq \frac{n+1}{2}$ for each $i$, one can find rainbow cycles of length $3,\ldots,n-1$.

Beta-decay studies for applied and basic nuclear physics

In this review we will present the results of recent $$\beta $$ β -decay studies using the total absorption technique that cover topics of interest for applications, nuclear structure and astrophysics. The decays studied were selected primarily because they have a large impact on the prediction of (a) the decay heat in reactors, important for the safety of present and future reactors and (b) the reactor electron anti-neutrino spectrum, of interest for particle/nuclear physics and reactor monitoring. For these studies the total absorption technique was chosen, since it is the only method that allows one to obtain $$\beta $$ β -decay probabilities free from a systematic error called the Pandemonium effect. The total absorption technique is based on the detection of the $$\gamma $$ γ cascades that follow the initial $$\beta $$ β decay. For this reason the technique requires the use of calorimeters with very high $$\gamma $$ γ detection efficiency. The measurements presented and discussed here were performed mainly at the IGISOL facility of the University of Jyväskylä (Finland) using isotopically pure beams provided by the JYFLTRAP Penning trap. Examples are presented to show that the results of our measurements on selected nuclei have had a large impact on predictions of both the decay heat and the anti-neutrino spectrum from reactors. Some of the cases involve $$\beta $$ β -delayed neutron emission thus one can study the competition between $$\gamma $$ γ - and neutron-emission from states above the neutron separation energy. The $$\gamma $$ γ -to-neutron emission ratios can be used to constrain neutron capture (n,$$\gamma $$ γ ) cross sections for unstable nuclei of interest in astrophysics. The information obtained from the measurements can also be used to test nuclear model predictions of half-lives and Pn values for decays of interest in astrophysical network calculations. These comparisons also provide insights into aspects of nuclear structure in particular regions of the nuclear chart.