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Automatic mandible segmentation of CT images is an essential step to achieve an accurate preoperative prediction of an intended target in three-dimensional (3D) virtual surgical planning. Segmentation of the mandible is a challenging task due to the complexity of the mandible structure, imaging artifacts, and metal implants or dental filling materials. In recent years, utilizing convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have made significant improvements in mandible segmentation. However, aggregating data at pooling layers in addition to collecting and labeling a large volume of data for training CNNs are significant issues in medical practice. We have optimized data-efficient 3D-UCaps to achieve the advantages of both the capsule network and the CNN, for accurate mandible segmentation on volumetric CT images. A novel hybrid loss function based on a weighted combination of the focal and margin loss functions is also proposed to handle the problem of voxel class imbalance. To evaluate the performance of our proposed method, a similar experiment was conducted with the 3D-UNet. All experiments are performed on the public domain database for computational anatomy (PDDCA). The proposed method and 3D-UNet achieved an average dice coefficient of 90% and 88% on the PDDCA, respectively. The results indicate that the proposed method leads to accurate mandible segmentation and outperforms the popular 3D-UNet model. It is concluded that the proposed approach is very effective as it requires more than 50% fewer parameters than the 3D-UNet.

Background: 131I source is widely used in the treatment of hyperthyroidism and thyroid cancers. 131I emits both beta and gamma-rays. Radiation protection is considered for gamma rays emitted by 131I. It seems no special shield against 131I source to be designed. Objective: This research aims to evaluate determination of optimum shields in nuclear medicine against 99Tcm and 131I sources by dosimetric method. Additionally, Monte Carlo simulation was used to find the optimum thickness of lead for protection against 131I source.Material and Methods: This is an experimental research in the field of radiation protection. A calibrated model of GraetzX5C Plus dosimeter was used to measure exposure rates passing through the shields. The efficiency of the shields was evaluated against 99Tcm and 131I. Furthermore, Monte Carlo simulation was used to find the optimum thickness of lead for protection against 131I source. Results: The findings of the dosimetric method show that the minimum and maximum efficiencies obtained by the lead apron with lead equivalent thickness of 0.25 mm and the syringe holder shields with thickness of 0.5 mm lead were 50.86% and 99.50%, respectively. The results of the simulations show that the minimum and maximum efficiencies obtained by lead thicknesses of 1 mm and 43 mm were 19.36% and 99.79%, respectively. Conclusion: The optimum shields against 99Tcm are the syringe holder shield, the tungsten syringe shield, and the lead partition, respectively. Furthermore, based on simulations, the thicknesses of 11-28 mm of lead with efficiencies between 90.6% to 99% are suggested as the optimum thicknesses to protect against 131I source.

Contaminated and carcinogenic sludge including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds with hydrophobic properties is formed during wastewater treatment process in lubricant refineries. This sludge will cause environmental pollution in case of landfill or if incinerated. In the present study, an anaerobic digestion system based on the degradability of PAH compounds has been investigated, with the perspective toward reducing environmental risks. Also, it was found during anaerobic digestion the energy recovered and biogas produced can contribute to combustion sources in furnaces. To analyze the degradation and thermodynamic kinetics of PAH compounds, factors including optimum conditions of degradation temperature, time duration, methanogenic substrate and energy required for the removal of these compounds have been investigated. The degradation kinetics of the two naphthalene and acenaphthene compounds in industrial sludge of lubricant refinery, through anaerobic digestion, have been evaluated at different temperatures and time durations. The results are well consistent with Arrhenius’ hypothetical relationship, which is a first-order linear equation, and show that the concentration of PAH compounds does not affect the decomposition kinetics. 71% of these two compounds decompose at optimal temperatures of 60 °C after 40 days, and the results indicate that at temperatures above 60 °C, very little degradability occurs despite high energy consumption. It is possible to remove PAH compounds from industrial sewage sludge by imposing economic costs. Any attempt to reduce economic costs requires optimizing process conditions; thereby, environmental valuable resources will be better protected.

The effect of heating (roasting and microwave radiation heating) along with a traditional pistachio flavouring mixture (containing verjuice, thyme extract, and sodium chloride) was investigated on reducing aflatoxins (AFs) and ochratoxin A (OTA) in pistachios. The naturally and artificially contaminated samples were soaked in the flavouring mixture (for 5, 10 and 24 h) and then subjected to roasting (at 120 and 150 °C for 50 min) and heating by microwave radiation (6 and 10 min). The residual mycotoxins were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. The results showed that all treatments were able to reduce mycotoxin content (aflatoxin B1, B2, G1, G2 and OTA) significantly (P

The foundation of buildings commonly assumed to be fixed in practical seismic response analysis. However, in severe earthquake loadings, the uplift phenomenon would be occurred due to the lack of tensile strength in the subsoil. This research aims to investigate this nonlinear phenomenon to obtain the actual behavior of diagonally braced steel frames. For this purpose, four 4-, 8-, 12-, and 15-story X-braced frames are modeled in the software framework of OpenSees. Some key parameters such as the natural period of vibration, inter-story drift ratio, base-shear force, the axial force along with the plastic deformation of braces are examined in two cases consist of fully and partially restrained supports. In the latter case, gap link elements (no tension behavior) are employed to model the soil–structure interaction (SSI). Overall, the results showed that by occurring the uplift the first period and inter-story drifts of the structure are increased; while, the base-shear, axial force and plastic deformation of braces will be reduced.

This study aimed at developing a new method for measuring acrylamide, the toxic compound formed during the thermal processing of carbohydrate-rich food components, using high performance liquid chr...

This work reports a one-pot procedure of laser ablation on a graphite target in a liquid medium, based on the variation of different parameters such as target type, laser wavelength, and ablation medium, to obtain high-quality graphene nanosheets. The morphology of derived products was characterized by the field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Then, the morphology and structure of the optimized sample were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet-visible-near infrared (UV–vis-NIR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). By controlling the laser ablation parameters, we were able to prepare micrometer-sized few-layer graphene nanosheets with mainly less than ten layers. Such synthesized graphene nanosheets were grown at the surface of a flexible graphite target, indicating many potential applications in fundamental research, electrochemical and as hydrophobic surfaces.

The utilization of smart materials in construction, to improve the seismic response of structures is one of the most interesting topics in earthquake engineering. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate the use of shape memory alloy (SMA) bars within X-knee-braced frames (X-KBFs). To fulfill the objectives of this research, three 3-, 5-, and 7-story frames are modeled in the OpenSees at first. Then, by placing these superelastic elements between the beam-column joints and knee members, some structural properties such as stiffness, ductility, strength, and recentering are examined against seismic loading. Moreover, by performing pushover analyses, the influence of SMA bars on the formation of plastic hinges is investigated. Considering 12 different diameters for SMA bars, a number of nonlinear time-history analyses are performed in the software framework of OpenSees; and, the results show that the employment of such members does not remarkably change the stiffness, ductility, and strength of structures. Contrary to these features, an interesting finding is that the permanent roof displacements of the structures are significantly reduced through these elements due to their excellent recentering capacity.

Background and Objective: Dewatered sewage sludge is a by-product of wastewater treatment process which can cause health and environmental problems if not properly managed. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of composting of Yazd WWT dewatered sludge with windrow method using different treatments. Materials and Methods: In this study, the dewatered sewage sludge was mixed with two treatments of agricultural wastes (straw) and green waste (leaves), respectively. The mixture was done based on weight ratio of 20:1 and 10:1 (agricultural waste: dewatered sludge, and green waste: dewatered sludge) to achieve a ratio of C/N:20. The windrows were built with a length of 2 m, width of 75 cm and height of 1.5 m. Composting process was controlled by measuring the temperature, humidity, volatile solids, ash, pH, EC, organic carbon and estimating the C/N ratio. The results were compared with those of the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran. Results: After 100 days of composting, C/N ratio was 13.08±6.25 in the treatment with green waste and reached to 15.46±5.35 in the treatment with agricultural waste. The amount of volatile solids decreased to 19.8±14.01% and 20.71±16.06% in the treatments with green waste and agricultural waste, respectively. The amount of EC had an increasing trend in both treatments. Conclusion: composting with both treatments was led to an improvement in indicators of organic fertilizers in dewatered sewage. However, the windrow containing green waste reached to the mature compost standards sooner than the windrow containing agricultural waste.

Background and Objective: About 1.35×105 tons of pistachio waste are produced in annually Iran that can result in environmental problems if managed improperly. . The purpose of this study was to investigate in-vessel composting of pistachio residuals with addition of cow manure and dewatered sludge as a recycling alternative. Materials and Methods: Pistachios wastes were combined with weight ratio of 5.5:10 (dewatered sludge: pistachio waste) and weight ratio of 1:10 (Cow manure: pistachio waste) to achieve the carbon to nitrogen ratio of 25:1. The parameters measured were pH, EC, percentage of moisture, total and volatile solids, ash, organic carbon, temperature, and phenol. The 20th edition of SPSS software was used for t-test statistical analysis and comparing the results with standards and Microsoft Excel 2007 was used for drawing the plots. Results: During the 60-days process of in-vessel composting of pistachio residuals with addition of cow manure, the ratio of carbon to nitrogen reduced from 25:1 to 13:1, dewatered sludge from 25:1 to 14:1; phenol amount in cow maneuver decreased from 4980 to 254 ppm and in dewatered sewage sludge from 6100 to 254 ppm. The maximum temperature in cow manure and dewatered sewage sludge treatments in the composting process reached to 51.9 and 48.9 ˚C respectively. Conclusion: Results showed that the produced compost with cow manure has a higher fertilizing value compared with the dewatered sewage sludge due to its better organic degradation.

Introduction: Composting is one of the pistachio wastes management methods. In the appropriate compost production nutrients and heavy metals are determinant. The aim of this study is survey the effect of pistachio wastes composting process with different treatments on the concentration of heavy metals. Methods: In this study, during the 60-day pistachio wastes composting process with two treatments of dewatered sewage sludge and cow manure, pH, EC, carbon to nitrogen ratio, Heavy metals and nutrients indicators were studied. The results were compared with WHO and Iranian National standard. Drawing the diagrams by Excel software (Version 2007) and Statistical analysis was performed by Spss Software (version 20) at a significance level of 0.005. Results: During the 60-day composting pH initially had downward trend and then increased. The Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn and C/N ratio had downward trend and the EC, Na, K had increasing trend. Eventually, Iron, zinc, copper and manganese were less than the standard, Sodium was in Standard range and potassium was more than specifiedstandards in the produced compost from pistachios waste with both treatments. Conclusion: The results showed that the concentration of heavy metals and nutrients in the produced compost with both treatments were in the acceptable range. Eventually quality of produced compost with cow manure treatment due to better decomposition and greater stability was better than processed compost with dewatered sewage sludge treatment.

A spatially resolved crystal plasticity finite element model in conjunction with computational homogenization is proposed to simulate the micromechanisms of cyclic plastic deformation of an extruded ZK60 magnesium alloy. Dislocation slipping, twinning and detwinning are included through an integrated framework. The ability of the proposed model to reproduce experimental macroscopic responses has been evaluated through the numerical solution of a real representative volume element (RVE) of microstructure under strain-controlled cyclic loading. The proposed model can capture the main macroscopic cyclic plastic characteristics of the ZK60 extruded Mg alloy including asymmetry in stress–strain curve, mechanical anisotropy, strain amplitude dependency of response, mean stress evolution and Bauschinger effect. Simulations were carried out up to 1 % macroscopic strain. In agreement with experimental texture, both basal as well as off-basal grains, whose c-axes deviate from being normal to extrusion direction (ED), are included in the RVE. To assess the micromechanisms of cyclic plastic deformation three distinct grain ensembles termed as microtextures have been implanted in the bulk texture. The mixed grain cluster consists of both basal and off-basal grains. Off-basal microtexture is comprised of off-basal grains. Twinned microtexture is formed when a few contiguous grains are in a favorable position for twinning. The simulation results show that under certain conditions, off-basal and twinned microtextures can act as a channel for long-range flow softening and strain localization which evolves with loading cycles. Additionally, severe incompatible plastic deformation stemming from the presence of micro-textures induces short or long-range evolving intergranular stress concentration.

The use of slip-critical bolted connections is strongly emphasized for steel structures located in seismic zones by building codes. Obviously, the type of contact surface has a significant effect on the slip resistance of such connections. The purpose of this research is to experimentally and numerically evaluate the effect of the type of plate contact surface on the frictional resistance of these structural components. To this end, some samples of bolted connections with different contact situations were selected and tested. The surfaces selected for this purpose include sandblasted, painted (with different thicknesses), and grooved (triangular and square shapes with two different groove's heights). Subsequently, in order to perform numerical analyses, the force-displacement relationship of the connections are simulated by constructing some Finite Element (F.E.) models for each case. The obtained data from numerical simulations were verified by the experiments, indicating an acceptable match. Overall, the results of this study showed that the square-grooved sample had the highest frictional resistance; while, the painted specimen exhibited the least frictional resistance. The frictional resistance of grooved samples with regard to sandblasted, ordinary, and painted are significantly higher. These values imply that with grooving the steel surface, in practice, the strength of such connections can be effectively improved.

Wrought magnesium alloys exhibit strong basal texture after extrusion or rolling process. In this study, a numerically improved crystal plasticity finite element model in conjunction with computational homogenization has been used to investigate the micromechanism of strain localization in AZ31 Mg alloy under uniaxial tension along rolling direction (RD), uniaxial compressin along normal direction (ND) and biaxial tension in RD-TD plane. To this aim, the effect of texture and especially off-basal grains distribution on strain localization is elaborated in detail. Three realistic representative volume elements (RVE) of microstructure with 34, 60 and 58 grains and ≈ 578 , ≈ 546 and ≈ 1103 elements per grain have been synthetically constructed and analyzed to examine the effect of basal and off-basal grains distribution on the deformation patterns. Strongest strain localization was found in RVE. 1 where off-basal grains were arranged in a banded form. RVE. 2 with differing spatial position of off-basal grains showed weaker, yet discernible localized band. RVE. 3 with a nearly random distribution of off-basal grains depicted no clear side-by-side localized band. It was found that basal slip is the main contributor of compound strain localization regions. Moreover, high stresses inside the localized band can enforce well-oriented grains for non-basal slip located between off-basal grains to deform cooperatively. Upon the formation of localized bands, the remaining part of the RD-TD faces experienced insignificant deformation and clear deformation partitioning occurred. Regarding RD-ND faces, two distinct microscale localized zones have been observed. Basal and prismatic slip was the former of localized zones on the RD-ND faces.

Aim: The aim of this study is to find an optimum material to protect garment for protection against 99 Tc m radionuclide. Materials and Methods: Monte Carlo simulation code was applied to investigate radiation attenuation of 13 shielding materials including: Ba, gray Sn, white Sn, Sb, Bi, Bi 2 O 3 , BaSO 4 , Sn/W, Sb/W, Pb and W with thicknesses of 0.5 and 1 mm to determine an optimum protective garment material in nuclear medicine against 99 Tc m . Furthermore, the dose enhancement on the staff body was investigated for shielding materials such as tungsten and lead. Results: The findings of the simulations show that the maximum and minimum attenuation obtained with thicknesses of 1 mm W and 1 mm BaSO 4 were 96.46% and 14.2%, respectively. The results also demonstrate that tungsten does not cause any dose enhancement on staff body but this is not true for lead. Tungsten provides the highest radiation attenuation without dose enhancement on the body of staff. Conclusion: Among materials evaluated, tungsten is the optimum material and it can be applied for the design of protective garment for nuclear medicine staff against 99 Tc m .

Accumulative roll bonding (ARB) and plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) were used to fabricate Al/Al 2 O 3 composite. A uniform distribution of Al 2 O 3 fragments was achieved within the Al matrix after six ARB cycles. In contrast to the large fragments, small fragments contained no porosity and revealed good bonding at interfaces. The Al/Al 2 O 3 composite exhibited improved tensile strength of about 180 MPa, in comparison to the annealed Al (47 MPa).

Aluminum flakes were modified with 0.25 M amino trimethylene phosphonic acid (ATMP) to enhance their corrosion resistance. The surface chemistry of the unmodified and modified pigments was evaluated by x-ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, and a contact angle measuring device. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was used to investigate the corrosion resistance of aluminum flakes in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. Results obtained from XPS analysis revealed that the ATMP molecules adsorbed on the surface of the aluminum flakes via acid-base interaction in a bi-dentate conformation. Also, the corrosion resistance of the pigment was significantly enhanced after surface modification. Results showed that the maximum adsorption of ATMP on the surface of the pigment was observed after 12 h of treatment. The electrochemical measurements showed higher corrosion resistance of the modified particles than the unmodified ones. The effects of the...

Aluminum nanoparticle was modified with amino trimethylene phosphonic acid (ATMP). The surface characterization of the nanoparticles was done by X-ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermal gravimetric analysis. The influence of the replacement of 2 wt% of zinc dust in the standard zinc-rich epoxy coating by nanoparticles on the electrochemical action of the coating was studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and salt spray tests. The morphology and phase composition of the zinc rich paints were evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and filed-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Results showed that the ATMP molecules successfully adsorbed on the surface of Al nanoparticles. Results obtained from salt spray and electrochemical measurements revealed that the addition of surface modified nanoparticles to the zinc rich coating enhanced its galvanic action and corrosion protection properties.

This paper aims to determine the best environmental and economic scenario for Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management of the Maku city by using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach. The functional elements of this study are collection, transportation, and disposal of MSW in Maku city. Waste composition and density, as two key parameters of MSW, have been determined by field sampling, and then, the other important specifications of MSW like chemical formula, thermal energy and water content were calculated. These data beside other information related to collection and disposal facilities are used as a reliable source of data to assess the environmental impacts of different waste management options, including landfills, composting, recycling and energy recovery. The environmental impact of MSW management options has been investigated in 15 different scenarios by Integrated Waste Management (IWM) software. The photochemical smog, greenhouse gases, acid gases, toxic emissions, and energy consumption of each scenario are measured. Then, the environmental indices of each scenario are specified by weighting these parameters. Economic costs of scenarios have been also compared with each other based on literature. As final result, since the organic materials make more than 80% of the waste, compost can be a suitable method. Although the major part of the remaining 20% of waste can be recycled, due to the high cost of necessary equipment, the landfill option has been suggested. Therefore, the scenario with 80% composting and 20% landfilling is selected as superior environmental and economic scenario. This study shows that, to select a scenario with practical applications, simultaneously environmental and economic aspects of different scenarios must be considered., {"references":["A. S. Yay, \"Application of life cycle assessment (LCA) for municipal solid waste management: a case study of Sakarya,\" Journal of Cleaner Production. vol.94, pp. 284-93, May 2015.","E. Gidarakos, G. Havas, P. Ntzamilis, \"Municipal solid waste composition determination supporting the integrated solid waste management system in the island of Crete,\" Waste management, vol. 26, no. 6, pp. 668-679, Dec 2006.","P. K. Pradhan, C. R. Mohanty, A. K. Swar, P. Mohapatra, \"Urban Solid Waste Management of Guwahati City in North-East India (doi: 10.4090/juee. 2012. v6n2. 067073),\" Urban and Environmental Engineering (JUEE), vol.6, no. 2, Dec 2012.","S. Yildiz, C. Yaman, G. Demir, H. K. Ozcan, A. Coban, H. E. Okten, K. Sezer, S. Goren, \"Characterization of municipal solid waste in Istanbul, Turkey,\" Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 734-739, Oct 2013.","Z. Ghanami, A. Amouei, H. Fallah, H. Asgharnia, A. Mohammadi, D. Naghipour, \"Survey of Qualitative and Quantitative Characteristics of Municipal Solid Wastes in North of Iran (Babolsar city) in 2012, \" Health Scope, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 79-83, Jul 2013.","A. D. Moreno, M. G. Rodríguez, A. R. Velasco, J. C. Enriquez, R. G. Lara, A. M. Gutiérrez, N. A. Hernández, \"Mexico city's municipal solid waste characteristics and composition analysis,\" Revista Internacional de Contaminación Ambiental, vol.29, no. 1, pp. 39-46, 2013.","M. H. Bichi, D. A. Amatobi, \"Characterization of Household Solid Waste Generated in Sabon-gari Area of Kano in Northern Nigeria,\" American Journal of Research Communication, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 165-171, 2013.","A. Jain, M. K. Singhal, \"An Analysis Of Treatment Options For Solid Waste By Characterization And Composition Study-A Case Of Jaipur City,\" International Journal of Emerging Trends in Science and Technology, vol. 1, no. 3, May 2014.","A. Late, M. B. Mule, \"Composition and Characterization Study of Solid Waste from Aurangabad City,\" Universal Journal of Environmental Research & Technology, vol. 3, no. 1, Feb 2013.\n[10]\tV. Koci, T. Trecakova, \"Mixed municipal waste management in the Czech Republic from the point of view of the LCA method,\" The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 113-124, Feb 2011.\n[11]\tY. Zhao, T. H. Christensen, W. Lu, H. Wu, H. Wang, \"Environmental impact assessment of solid waste management in Beijing City, China,\" Waste management, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 793-799, Apr 2011. \n[12]\tD. Özeler, Ü. Yetiş, G. N. Demirer \"Life cycle assesment of municipal solid waste management methods: Ankara case study,\" Environment International. Vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 405-411, Apr 2006.\n[13]\tM. A. Abduli, A. Naghib, M. Yonesi, A. Akbari, \"Life cycle assessment (LCA) of solid waste management strategies in Tehran: landfill and composting plus landfill,\" Environmental monitoring and assessment, vol. 178, no. 1, pp.487-498, Jul 2011.\n[14]\tN. P. Thanh, Y. Matsui, \"Assessment of potential impacts of municipal solid waste treatment alternatives by using life cycle approach: a case study in Vietnam,\" Environmental monitoring and assessment, vol. 185, no. 10, pp. 7993-8004, Oct 2013.\n[15]\tH. H. Khoo, T. Z. Lim, R. B. Tan, \"Food waste conversion options in Singapore: environmental impacts based on an LCA perspective,\" Science of the total environment, vol. 408, no. 6, pp. 1367-1373, Feb 2010. \n[16]\tG. Finnveden, J. Johansson, P. Lind, A. Moberg \"Life cycle assessment of energy from solid waste-total energy use and emissions of greenhouse gases,\" InWorkshop on system studies of integrated solid waste management. Stockholm. Sweden, pp. 33-39, Apr 2001.\n[17]\tM. Banar, Z. Cokaygil, A. Ozkan, \"Life cycle assessment of solid waste management options for Eskisehir, Turkey,\" Waste management, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 54-62, 2009 Jan."]}

In recent years, different petrochemical complexes have been established to produce aromatic compounds. Among them, Nouri Petrochemical Complex (NPC) is the largest producer of aromatic raw materials in the world, and is located in south of Iran. Environmental concerns have been raised in this region due to generation of different types of solid waste generated in the process of aromatics production, and subsequently, industrial waste characterization has been thoroughly considered. The aim of this study is qualitative and quantitative characterization of industrial waste generated in the aromatics production process and determination of the best method for industrial waste management. For this purpose, all generated industrial waste during the production process was determined using a checklist. Four main industrial wastes were identified as follows: spent industrial soil, spent catalyst, spent molecular sieves and spent N-formyl morpholine (NFM) solvent. The amount of heavy metals and organic compounds in these wastes were further measured in order to identify the nature and toxicity of such a dangerous compound. Then industrial wastes were classified based on lab analysis results as well as using different international lists of hazardous waste identification such as EPA, UNEP and Basel Convention. Finally, the best method of waste disposal is selected based on environmental, economic and technical aspects., {"references":["P. Usapein, O. Chavalparit, \"Development of sustainable waste management toward zero landfill waste for the petrochemical industry in Thailand using a comprehensive 3R methodology: A case study,\" Waste Management & Research, vol. 32, no. 6, pp. 509-518, Jun 2014.","S. Zarinabadi, A. Samimi, \"Problems of hydrate formation in oil and gas pipes deals. Journal of American Science,\" vol. 8, no. 8, 2012.","B. Mokhtarani, M. RA. Moghaddam, N. Mokhtarani, H. J. Khaledi, \"Report: future industrial solid waste management in pars special economic energy zone (PSEEZ), Iran,\" Waste management & research, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 283-288, Jun 2006.","ASTM B962 – 15. Standard Test Methods for Density of Compacted or Sintered Powder Metallurgy (PM) Products Using Archimedes' Principle, 2015.","ASTM D1976 – 12. Standard Test Method for Elements in Water by Inductively-Coupled Argon Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy, 2007.","V. Mymrine, M. Ponte, H. Ponte, N. Kaminari, U. Pawlowsky, G. Solyon, \"Oily diatomite and galvanic wastes as raw materials for red ceramics fabrication,\" Construction and Building Materials, vol. 41, pp. 360-364, Apr 2013.","D. Eliche-Quesada, \"Reusing of Oil Industry Waste as Secondary Material in Clay Bricks,\" Journal of Mineral, Metal and Material Engineering, vol.1, pp. 29-39, Oct 2015.","D. Eliche-Quesada, F. Corpas-Iglesias, \"Utilisation of spent filtration earth or spent bleaching earth from the oil refinery industry in clay products,\" Ceramics International, vol. 40, no. 10, pp. 16677-16687, Des 2014.","M. Shahrabi-Farahani, S. Yaghmaei, S. Mousavi, F. Amiri, \"Bioleaching of heavy metals from a petroleum spent catalyst using Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans in a slurry bubble column bioreactor,\" Separation and Purification Technology, vol. 132, pp. 41-49, Aug 2014. \n[10]\tD. Jafarifar, M. Daryanavard, S. Sheibani, \"Ultra fast microwave-assisted leaching for recovery of platinum from spent catalyst. Hydrometallurgy,\" vol. 78, no. 3, pp. 166-171, Aug 2005.\n[11]\tD. Mishra, Y. H. Rhee, \"Current research trends of microbiological leaching for metal recovery from industrial wastes,\" Curr Res Technol Educ Topics Appl Microbiol Microb Biotechnol, vol. 2, pp. 1289-1292, 2010.\n[12]\t I. Asghari, S. Mousavi, F. Amiri, S. Tavassoli \"Bioleaching of spent refinery catalysts: A review,\" Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 1069-81, Jul 2013. \n[13]\tS. Vyas, Y-P. Ting, \"Sequential biological process for molybdenum extraction from hydrodesulphurization spent catalyst,\" Chemosphere, 160, pp. 7-12, Oct 2016. \n[14]\t N. Su, H. Y. Fang, Z. H. Chen, F. S. Liu, \"Reuse of waste catalysts from petrochemical industries for cement substitution,\" Cement and Concrete Research, vol. 30, no. 11, pp. 1773-1783, Nov 2000. \n[15]\tK. Al-Jabri, M. Baawain, R. Taha, Z. S. Al-Kamyani, K. Al-Shamsi, A. Ishtieh, \"Potential use of FCC spent catalyst as partial replacement of cement or sand in cement mortars,\" Construction and Building Materials, pp. 77-81, Feb 2013."]}

Compacted clay liners are vulnerable to desiccation cracking if exposed to atmospheric conditions for extended periods of time. Three clayey soils typically used as landfill liners were studied in relatively large-scale containers exposed to real atmospheric conditions for a full annual cycle. Desiccation cracking and particularly the variation in depth of cracks were examined in soil pairs; one set was directly exposed to atmospheric conditions and the other covered with a white separator geotextile. Cracks started to grow deeper in time with some variations with rainfall events up to a few months followed by no significant increase later. Smaller crack depths were observed for the soil with the lowest plasticity index. Using a geotextile cover resulted in 35–79% reduction in average crack depth. Hydraulic conductivity of the soils increased at the end of the experiment with greater increase for soils with deeper cracks.

Performance of compacted clay liners commonly used as landfill barrier systems can be subject to decline in terms of hydraulic conductivity if left exposed to atmospheric conditions for an extended period of time prior to placement of overlaying layers. The resulting desiccation cracking can lead to increased hydraulic conductivity. Desiccation crack intensity was studied for three clayey soils commonly used for construction of landfill barrier system in a relatively large scale test setup exposed to real time atmospheric conditions over a complete annual cycle. A white separator geotextile cover was presumed to be capable of reducing the intensity of desiccation cracking through absorbing and maintaining higher amounts of moisture and reducing the temperature of the soil surface in comparison to a directly exposed soil surface. Desiccation cracking was monitored using a digital imaging technique for three compacted clay liners in two sets, one open to air and the second covered with the white geotextile. Crack intensity factor approached a relatively stable phase after certain cycles corresponding to atmospheric dry wet cycles. The results indicated that the white separator geotextile was capable of reducing the crack intensity factor by 37.4–45.9% throughout the experiment including the cyclic phase of desiccation cracking. During the stable phase, the maximum reduction in crack intensity factor of 90.4% as a result of applying geotextile cover was observed for the soil with the lowest plastic index and clay content and therefore the lowest magnitude of crack intensity factor. The other two soils with similar clay content but different plastic index showed 23.6% and 52.2% reductions in crack intensity factor after cyclic phase when covered with geotextile.

A major issue in the convergence of an obtained series solution via the homotopy analysis method is the proper choice of the so-called convergence-control parameter $$c_{0}$$ . In this paper a new approach based on Homotopy–Pad $$\acute{\mathrm{e}}$$ technique in the prediction of the proper convergence-control parameter values $$c_{0}$$ is proposed. This approach seeks to predict an optimal value of convergence-control parameter $$c_{0}$$ to get a faster convergent series solution. The numerical results demonstrate the validity, efficiency, and performance of the proposed approach.

In this paper a new method for solving the Poisson's equation with Dirichlet conditions on irregular domains is presented. For this purpose a generalized finite differences method is applied for numerical differentiation on irregular meshes. Three examples on cylindrical and spherical domains are considered. The numerical results are compared with analytical solution. These results show the performance and efficiency of the proposed method.

In the framework of the Homotopy Analysis Method (HAM) the so-called convergence-control parameter $c_{0}$ (Liao (Int J Non-Linear Mech 32:815---822, 1997) originally used the symbol $\hbar $ to denote the auxiliary parameter. But, $\hbar $ is well-known as Planck's constant in quantum mechanics. To avoid misunderstanding, Liao (Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simulat 15:2003---2016, 2010) suggest to use the symbol $c_0$ to denote the basic convergence-control parameter.) has a key role in convergence of obtained series solution of solving non-linear equations. In this paper a modified approach in the determining of the convergence-control parameter value $c_{0}$ is proposed. The purpose of this paper is to find a proper convergence-control parameter $c_0$ to get a convergent series solution, or a faster convergent one. This modified approach minimizes the norm of a discrete residual function, systematically, in which seeks to find an optimal value of the convergence-control parameter $c_0$ at each order of HAM approximation, instead of the so-called $c_0$ -curve process. The proved theorems and numerical results demonstrate the validity, efficiency, and performance of the proposed approach.

A simple method for the reduction of aflatoxins B₁ (AFB₁), B₂ (AFB₂), G₁ (AFG₁), G₂ (AFG₂) and ochratoxin A (OTA) in white pepper was studied. Response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to determine the effect of four variables, which included time (20-60 min), temperature (30-70°C), calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)₂) (0-1%) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) (1-3%) during the washing step of white pepper. The efficacy of the method was evaluated by the determination of mycotoxins by HPLC with fluorescence detection (FD). Statistical analysis showed that the experimental data could be adequately fitted into a second-order polynomial model, with a multiple regression coefficient (R²) in the range of 0.805-0.907 for AFG₂ and AFG₁, respectively. The optimal condition was 57.8 min, 62.0°C, of 0.6% (w/v) and 2.8% (v/v) for time, temperature, Ca(OH)₂ and H₂O₂ respectively. By applying the optimum condition, the mycotoxins reduction was found to be in the range of 68.5-100% for AFB₂ and AFG₁ respectively.