Phenol removal from wastewater by means of nanoporous membrane contactors

Mehrdad Hemmati,Negin Nazari,Alireza Hemmati,Saeed Shirazian 한국공업화학회 2015 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.21 No.1

A comprehensive mathematical model that takes into account mass and momentum transports wasdeveloped to simulate removal of phenol from wastewater by means of porous membrane contactors. The model was based on the hydrophobic porous membranes, in which the organic phase fills themembrane pores in a co-current and counter current liquid–liquid contact. The modelwas then validatedfor various aqueous and organic flow rates with the experimental data obtained for phenol removal fromaqueous phase using polypropylene membrane. The results showed that increasing aqueous phase flowrates reduces the percentage of phenol separation from aqueous solution.

Phytoplasma Infection could Affect Chemical Composition of Artemisia sieberi

Hemmati, Chamran,Nikooei, Mehrnoosh The Korean Society of Plant Pathology 2019 Plant Pathology Journal Vol.35 No.3

Artemisia sieberi showing symptoms resembling those caused by phytoplasma were observed in Geno Mountain, Hormozgan Province, Iran, and were examined for phytoplasma presence by PCR assays. In addition, the essential oils hydrodistilled from the aerial parts of phytoplasma-infected and healthy plants have been analyzed and compared by GC and GC/MS. Phylogenetic and virtual RFLP analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the phytoplasma associated with A. sieberi witches' broom (AsWB) was a strain of 'Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia'. The presence of the disease, however, induced a further enrichment (from 4.9 to 45.2%, a relative increase of 90%) of the entire monoterpene class as compared to the abundance in healthy samples. Conversely, a matching decrease in monoterpenoid (from 48.7 to 2%, a relative decrease of 90.2%) was observed in the infected plants. Besides the first report of phytoplasma infection of A. sieberi, the changes of its essential oils are reported.

Effects of cinnamic acid on memory deficits and brain oxidative stress in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice

Hemmati, Ali Asghar,Alboghobeish, Soheila,Ahangarpour, Akram The Korean Society of Pharmacology 2018 The Korean Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology Vol.22 No.3

The present study aimed to evaluate the cinnamic acid effect on memory impairment, oxidative stress, and cholinergic dysfunction in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic model in mice. In this experimental study, 48 male Naval Medical Research Institute (NMRI) mice (30-35 g) were chosen and were randomly divided into six groups: control, cinnamic acid (20 mg/kg day, i.p.), diabetic, and cinnamic acid-treated diabetic (10, 20 and 40 mg/kg day, i.p.). Memory was impaired by administering an intraperitoneal STZ injection of 50 mg/kg. Cinnamic acid was injected for 40 days starting from the 21st day after confirming STZ-induced dementia to observe its therapeutic effect. Memory function was assessed using cross-arm maze, morris water maze and passive avoidance test. After the administration, biochemical parameters of oxidative stress and cholinergic function were estimated in the brain. Present data indicated that inducing STZ caused significant memory impairment, whereas administration of cinnamic acid caused significant and dose-dependent memory improvement. Assessment of brain homogenates indicated cholinergic dysfunction, increase in lipid peroxidation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and decrease in glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) activities in the diabetic group compared to the control animals, whereas cinnamic acid administration ameliorated these indices in the diabetic mice. The present study demonstrated that cinnamic acid improves memory by reducing the oxidative stress and cholinergic dysfunction in the brain of diabetic mice.

Optimal Adaptive Controller Based on STATCOM and UPFC

Hemmati, Reza,Koofigar, Hamidreza,Ataei, Mohammad The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers 2016 Journal of Electrical Engineering & Technology Vol.11 No.5

Phytoplasma Infection could Affect Chemical Composition of Artemisia sieberi

Chamran Hemmati,Mehrnoosh Nikooei 한국식물병리학회 2019 Plant Pathology Journal Vol.35 No.3

Artemisia sieberi showing symptoms resembling those caused by phytoplasma were observed in Geno Mountain, Hormozgan Province, Iran, and were examined for phytoplasma presence by PCR assays. In addition, the essential oils hydrodistilled from the aerial parts of phytoplasma-infected and healthy plants have been analyzed and compared by GC and GC/MS. Phylogenetic and virtual RFLP analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the phytoplasma associated with A. sieberi witches’ broom (AsWB) was a strain of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia’. The presence of the disease, however, induced a further enrichment (from 4.9 to 45.2%, a relative increase of 90%) of the entire monoterpene class as compared to the abundance in healthy samples. Conversely, a matching decrease in monoterpenoid (from 48.7 to 2%, a relative decrease of 90.2%) was observed in the infected plants. Besides the first report of phytoplasma infection of A. sieberi, the changes of its essential oils are reported.

Increasing the flexural capacity of RC beams using partially HPFRCC layers

Ali Hemmati,Ali Kheyroddin,Mohammad K. Sharbatdar 사단법인 한국계산역학회 2015 Computers and Concrete, An International Journal Vol.16 No.4

High Performance Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Composites which are called HPFRCC, include cement matrices with strain hardening response under tension loading. In these composites, the cement mortar with fine aggregates, is reinforced by continuous or random distributed fibers and could be used for various applications including structural fuses and retrofitting of reinforced concrete members etc. In this paper, mechanical properties of HPFRCC materials are reviewed briefly. Moreover, a reinforced concrete beam (experimentally tested by Maalej et al.) is chosen and in different specimens, lower or upper or both parts of that beam are replaced with HPFRCC layers. After modeling of specimens in ABAQUS and calibration of those, mechanical properties of these specimens are investigated with different thicknesses, tensile strengths, tensile strains and compressive bars. Analytical results which are obtained by nonlinear finite analyses show that using HPFRCC layers with different parameters, increase loading capacity and ultimate displacement of these beams compare to RC specimens.

Optimal Adaptive Controller Based on STATCOM and UPFC

Reza Hemmati,Hamidreza Koofigar,Mohammad Ataei 대한전기학회 2016 Journal of Electrical Engineering & Technology Vol.11 No.5

In this paper, an advanced and modified MRAS technique is utilized for controller design in electric power systems. The weighting factors of the proposed MRAS are tuned by using PSO. This optimal-adaptive controller is also normalized by normalization techniques to guarantee the system stability. The proposed MRAS then is applied to design STATCOM stabilizer and UPFC power flow controller. STATCOM stabilizer is a regulatory controller, while the power flow controller of UPFC is a tracking one. Therefore, the ability of the proposed MRAS technique to design regulatory and tracking controllers is investigated. In order to indicate the effectiveness of the proposed method, it is evaluated against the conventional methods. Simulation results demonstrate the validity of the method, under uncertainties and different disturbances.

Effects of Plantar Flexor Muscle Static Stretching Alone and Combined With Massage on Postural Balance

Ladan Hemmati,Zahra Rojhani-Shirazi,Samaneh Ebrahimi 대한재활의학회 2016 Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine Vol.40 No.5

Objective To evaluate and compare the effects of stretching and combined therapy (stretching and massage) on postural balance in people aged 50 to 65 years. Methods Twenty-three subjects participated in this nonrandomized clinical trial study. Each participant randomly received plantar flexor muscle stretching (3 cycles of 45 seconds with a 30-second recovery period between cycles) alone and in combination with deep stroking massage (an interval of at least 30 minutes separated the two interventions). The data were recorded with a force platform immediately after each condition with eyes open and closed. The center of pressure displacement and velocity along the mediolateral and anteroposterior axes were calculated under each condition. The data were analyzed with multiple-pair t-tests. Results The center of pressure displacement and velocity along the mediolateral axis increased after both stretching and the combined intervention. There were significant differences in both values between participants in the stretching and combined interventions (p<0.05). Conclusion Plantar flexor muscle stretching (for 45 seconds) combined with deep stroking massage may have more detrimental effects on postural balance than stretching alone because each intervention can intensify the effects of the other.

Experimental measurement and modeling of saturated reservoir oil viscosity

Abdolhossein Hemmati-Sarapardeh,Amir H. Mohammadi,Ahmad Ramazani S. A.,Seyed-Mohammad-Javad Majidi,Behnam Mahmoudi 한국화학공학회 2014 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.31 No.7

A novel mathematical-based approach is proposed to develop reliable models for prediction of saturatedcrude oil viscosity in a wide range of PVT properties. A new soft computing approach, namely least square supportvector machine modeling optimized with coupled simulated annealing optimization technique, is proposed. Six modelshave been developed to predict saturated oil viscosity, which are designed in such a way that could predict saturatedoil viscosity with every available PVT parameter. The constructed models are evaluated by carrying out extensive experimentalsaturated crude oil viscosity data from Iranian oil reservoirs, which were measured using a “Rolling Ballviscometer.” To evaluate the performance and accuracy of these models, statistical and graphical error analyses wereused simultaneously. The obtained results demonstrated that the proposed models are more robust, reliable and efficientthan existing techniques for prediction of saturated crude oil viscosity.

Effect of hydraulic retention time and temperature on submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR) performance

Alireza Hemmati,Toraj Mohammdi,Mohsen Maghami Dolatabad,Fereshteh Naeimpoor,Afshin Pak 한국화학공학회 2012 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.29 No.3

Water shortages and strict environmental provisions necessitate wastewater renovation using various wastewater treatment methods, among which applications of submerged membrane bioreactors (SMBRs) are rapidly increasing due to their advantages such as high loading capacity and quality of effluent. In this work, the effect of hydraulic retention time (HRT 8, 10 and 12 h) and temperature (25, 30 and 35 oC) on membrane fouling and sludge production was investigated in a 5-Liter SMBR equipped with immersed PVDF hollow fiber membrane module. Phenolic synthetic wastewater and acclimatized activated sludge with phenol during a 2-month period were used as toxic and microbial sources, respectively. Results showed that by increasing HRT membrane fouling decreases, while excellent treatment performance of over 99.5% phenol and 95% COD removals was achieved at all HRTs. Therefore, HRT=8 h corresponding to the highest effluent flow rate of 12 L/m2·h was used to investigate the effect of temperature, resulting in phenol and COD removals of higher than 99 and 96%, respectively, at all temperatures. Membrane fouling occurred at 12, 5 and 3 days for 25, 30 and 35 oC, respectively. Additionally, the effect of HRT and temperature on mixed liquor volatile suspended solid (MLVSS) as a measure of biomass was examined. MLVSS concentration showed decreases with increasing HRT and temperature. Overall, it was shown that SMBR can be used to efficiently treat phenolic wastewater at a range of flow rates and temperatures, among which HRT=8 h and T=25 oC are the preferred operating conditions,resulting in high flow rate and low membrane fouling.