Unripe calamansi peels were prepared and used as a bioadsorbent in the removal of congo red from an aqueous solution using batch adsorption studies. The efficiency of adsorption was evaluated by varying adsorbent dose and contact time. The removal of congo red increased at higher adsorbent dose and longer contact time. The overall rate of adsorption processes appeared to be in accordance with the pseudo-second order reaction mechanism. Higher initial adsorption rate, extent of surface coverage, and activation energy were favored at a lower adsorbent dose, while the intraparticle diffusion was relatively faster at a higher adsorbent dose. The intraparticle diffusion, Elovich, and MacArthur-Wilson models were adequate in describing the chaotic behavior of the kinetic processes involved in the removal of congo red dye onto unripe calamansi peels.

Batch adsorption of toxic Cr(VI) ion from an aqueous solution using lumbang (Aleurites moluccana) activated carbon-chitosan composite crosslinked with epichlorohydrin as an adsorbent was investigated. The adsorption experiments were performed at varying pH, agitation time, initial Cr(VI) ion concentration, temperature, and adsorbent dose. At an initial concentration of 60 ppm Cr(VI), the maximum adsorption was observed at pH 3, adsorbent dose of 3 g/L, contact time of 75 min, and temperature of 30 o C. Analysis of the experimental data using different kinetic models revealed that the biosorption phenomenon behaved under a pseudo second-order rate mechanism.

No abstract

IntroductionThe global demand for fossil fuel which is triggered by rapid technological advancement and population upsurge has grown exponentially for the past decades 1, 2 . It is predicted that by the year 2050, with population close to 9 billion or more, the expanding world s economy will demand for greater energy consumption, with India and China getting a large share not only of the energy cost but also of the bulk of contaminants inherent in the utilization of fossil fuels 3 .The rising concern on environmental incompatibility of fossil fuels due to excessive CO 2 emissions has led to a continuous search for fossil fuel alternatives 4,5 . Biodiesel is one of the fossil fuel substitutes or additives that has caught attention for the past years because of its close property to petrodiesel fuel, but with good environmental compatibility such as biodegradability, carbon neutral, low COx, and SOx emissions 6 . Because of the high oxygen and low sulfur contents of biodiesel, it has the advantage of re-

Removal of Pb(II) using lumbang activated carbon carboxymethylcellulose composite crosslinked with epichlorohydrin was investigated. Batch adsorption studies were performed to evaluate the effects of pH, contact time, temperature, adsorbent dose, and metal concentration. To characterize the adsorbent, proximate analysis, bulk density, DSC, FT-IR, and SEM analysis were performed. Results of FT-IR revealed that crosslinking did not alter the structure of carboxymethylcellulose due to the presence of the -COO functional groups, while the presence of the C-O signal indicates that the adsorbent was successfully crosslinked by epichlorohydrin. Furthermore, SEM results showed highly porous nature of the prepared adsorbent. The optimized parameters of the adsorbent were pH 3, contact time of 15 min. 30 o C temperature, adsorbent dose of 4 g/L at 5 ppm Pb (II) solution. With these optimized parameters, 73% removal of Pb (II) was attained in aqueous solutions, while 37% removal was observed in the wastewater sample. Moreover, the adsorption process was best described by Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm and obeyed the pseudo-second order kinetic model.

No abstract

Multivariate statistical models were utilized to identify the interaction between the inhibitory activity and the molecular properties of the different antimycotics against Microsporum canis. Information on the inhibitory potency against M. canis and molecular properties of antifungal agents were obtained from literature. The relationship between the inhibitory potency and the molecular properties of the different antimycotics against M. canis was established using multiple linear regression analysis (MLRA) and principal component analysis (PCA). Three major descriptors: topological polar surface area, molecular weight, and rotatable bond count of the antimycotics were identified to confer inhibitory action against M. canis using MLRA (r 2 =0.8968, p<0.0001) and PCA (95.86% total contribution rate). Both MLRA and PCA as statistical approaches demonstrate their potential as tools in computational structure design and for possible synthesis of next generation antimycotics as more effective treatments of fungal infections.

Background: There is an increasing incidence of liver failure and lack of effective drugs for liver diseases. Aim and Objective: This study identified the phytochemicals present in aqueous and ethanolic Bixa orellana L. leaf extracts and investigated the hepatoprotective activity against carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 )-induced hepatotoxicity in mice. Specifically, the study compared serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and examined liver tissues histopathology. Materials and Methods: Aqueous and ethanolic B. orellana L. leaf extracts were prepared and screened for phytochemical contents. An oral dose of 500 mg/kg body weight was identified from toxicity test and administered to albino mice. Microscopic examination of the liver tissues assessed the extent of hepatic injury. Serum AST and ALT levels were compared using one-way analysis of variance with Bonferroni post hoc analysis at 5% level of significance using Stata/SE V12.0 software. Results: B. orellana L. leaves contained alkaloids, anthraquinones, sugars, and tannins. Aqueous and ethanolic leaf extracts of B. orellana L. did not show any toxicity up to 2000 mg/kg body weight oral dose in mice. Pre-treatment for 7 days before CCl 4 administration significantly prevented elevation of serum AST and ALT levels with histopathologic findings showing a protective effect on the hepatocytes. Conclusion: B. orellana L. leaves have potent hepatoprotective activity against oxidative damage.