No abstract

Produced water (PW) is the abundant by-product of oil and gas industries. It contains several organic pollutants and needs proper treatment before its discharge. This study investigated the effectiveness of Ferrate (VI) (Fe6+) oxidation for remediation of the organic compounds produced water. A series of batch experiments were performed by ferrate oxidation method. A glass beaker of 1000 ml as reactor covered with aluminum foil was used to protect from sunlight. Produced water sample of 300 ml and a pre-decided amount of Fe6+ was added to initiate the oxidation process. All experiments were performed at constant magnetic stirrer speed of 200 rpm at room temperature. The Fe6+ dosage of 1-25 mg/l, pH 1-7, and contact time 5-90 minutes were used to determine the effectiveness of Fe6+ for organic compounds degradation. The COD removal was increased with the increase in Fe6+ dosage and contact time. The maximum COD removal was achieved with Fe6+ dosage up to 15 mg/l; further any increase in Fe6+ dosage decreased the COD removal. The same trend was observed for pH, COD removal was increased until pH 5 beyond that COD removal was decreased. Maximum 55% of COD removal was attained under optimum conditions such as pH, Fe6+ dosage, and contact time were 5, 15mg/l and 50mins respectively. The results indicate that Ferrate (VI) oxidation is a promising method for the degradation of organic compounds in produced water.

The high order structure of mitotic chromosomes remains to be fully elucidated. How nucleosomes compact at various structural levels into a condensed mitotic chromosome is unclear. Cryogenic preservation and imaging have been applied for over three decades, keeping biological structures close to the native in vivo state. Despite being extensively utilized, this field is still wide open for mitotic chromosome research. In this review, we focus specifically on cryogenic efforts for determining the mitotic nanoscale chromatin structures. We describe vitrification methods, current status, and applications of advanced cryo microscopy including future tools required for resolving the native architecture of these fascinating structures that hold the instructions to life.

The organization of chromatin into higher-order structures and its condensation process represent one of the key challenges in structural biology. This is important for elucidating several disease states. To address this long-standing problem, development of advanced imaging methods has played an essential role in providing understanding into mitotic chromosome structure and compaction. Amongst these are two fast evolving fluorescence imaging technologies, specifically fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) and super-resolution microscopy (SRM). FLIM in particular has been lacking in the application of chromosome research while SRM has been successfully applied although not widely. Both these techniques are capable of providing fluorescence imaging with nanometer information. SRM or “nanoscopy” is capable of generating images of DNA with less than 50 nm resolution while FLIM when coupled with energy transfer may provide less than 20 nm information. Here, we discuss the advantages and limitations of both methods followed by their contribution to mitotic chromosome studies. Furthermore, we highlight the future prospects of how advancements in new technologies can contribute in the field of chromosome science.