Search results for "remediation."
showing 10 items of 267 documents
Computer-aided neurocognitive remediation in schizophrenia: durability of rehabilitation outcomes in a follow-up study.
2010
Cognitive deficits in patients with schizophrenia constitute a limiting factor to the chances of rehabilitation of daily living abilities, like personal and relational autonomy and working ability. Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT) is a rehabilitative technique that aims at the recovery of single cognitive functions through the execution of massive exercises of impaired cognitive domains. This study aims to establish if the results achieved through an intensive deficit-specific neurocognitive treatment of three months duration, were maintained over time. The sample consists in 100 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia according to the criteria of DSM IV. Patients were assessed on cognitiv…
Isolation and Characterization of Oil-Degrading Bacteria from Bilge Water
2015
Twenty-one oil-degrading bacteria were isolated from bilge water. Based on a high growth rate on crude oil and on hydrocarbon degradation ability, 7 strains were selected (from 21 isolated) for further studies. 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed that isolated strains were affiliated to Bacillus, Pseudomonas and Halomonas genera; in particular, isolate BW-B12 (Bacillus sp., 99%), BW-C12 (Halomonas boliviensis, 99%) and BW-E12 (Halomonas boliviensis, 98%) were the best crude-oil degraders; after 10 days of cultivation in ONR 7a mineral medium supplemented with crude oil as single carbon source BW-B12, BW-C12 and BW-E12 showed a degradation rate of 80, 60 and 59%, respectively. The strains showed…
Organic-nanoclay composite materials as removal agents for environmental decontamination
2019
Here we overview the recent advances in the fabrication of sustainable composite nanomaterials with decontamination capacity towards inorganic and organic pollutants. In this regards, we present the development of hybrid systems based on clay nanoparticles with different shapes (such as kaolinite nanosheets and halloysite nanotubes) and organic molecules (biopolymers, surfactants, cucurbituril) as efficient removal agents for both aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. Due to their high specific surface area, clay nanoparticles have been successfully employed as fillers for composite membranes with excellent filtration capacity. The preparation of composite gel beads based on biopolymers (alg…
Photocatalytic CO<inf>2</inf> Valorization by Using Ti<inf>O2</inf>, ZrO2 and Graphitic Based Semiconductors
2018
In this century, a broad scientific interest has been devoted to fulfill sustainable industrial processes and climatic change remediation. In this prospective, various green technologies have been studied to valorize CO 2• The aim of this research is the CO 2 reduction in presence of water by using the photocatalytic technology with nanomaterials as the photocatalysts. The present work overviews the main outcomes obtained by using graphitic and oxide based photocatalysts both in gas/solid and liquid/solid batch reactors under simulated solar light. In all gas/solid regime tests the major products detected were methane, carbon monoxide, and acetaldehyde.
A critical approach to the toxic metal ion removal by hazelnut and almond shells
2018
The adsorption capacity of ground hazelnut (HS) and almond (AS) shells towards Pb(II) and Cd(II) has been studied at pH = 5, in NaNO3 and NaCl ionic media, in the ionic strength range 0.05-0.5 mol L-1. Kinetic and equilibrium experiments were carried out by using the Differential Pulse Anodic Stripping Voltammetry technique to check the amount of the metal ion removed by HS and AS materials. Different kinetic and equilibrium equations were used to fit experimental data and a statistical study was done to establish the suitable model for the data fitting. A speciation study of the metal ions in solution was also done in order to evaluate the influence of the ionic medium on the adsorption pr…
Electrospun TiO2 embedded nanofibers for photocatalytic applications
2019
The development of photocatalysts with low cost, high reactivity and easy recovery provides great potentials for environmental remediation. In this study, polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers containing titanium dioxide ([Formula: see text]) nanoparticles were successfully fabricated using a facile electrospinning technique. The effects of [Formula: see text] content, PAN concentration and thermal treatment on the adsorption and photocatalysis properties of [Formula: see text] nanofibers have been investigated. The results indicate that the embedded [Formula: see text] nanofibers possess the property to effectively decompose rhodamine B (RhB) under simulated sunlight irradiation. The enhance…
Polycaprolactone-based scaffold for oil-selective sorption and improvement of bacteria activity for bioremediation of polluted water
2017
Abstract A novel floatable and biodegradable sponge for the selective absorption of oil from water and potentially useful as cell carrier for bioremediation treatments was prepared in polycaprolactone (PCL). The eco-friendly process for fabricating the PCL sponge does not involve either synthetic routes or organic solvents, thus minimizing environmental hazard. In particular, the 3D porous materials have been prepared by mixing in the melt the polymer matrix with two water-soluble porogen agents (NaCl and PEG) and thereafter leaching the obtained PCL/NaCl/PEG composites in water. The PCL sponges here proposed are capable to remove different types of oily pollutants (up to 500 wt%), and were…
Changes in chemical and biological soil properties as induced by anthropogenic disturbance: A case study of an agricultural soil under recurrent floo…
2006
Abstract Monitoring the environmental impact of anthropogenic disturbance on soil ecosystem is of great importance for optimizing strategies for soil use, conservation and remediation. The aim of this study was to assess whether and to what extent a long-term, human-induced disturbance could have affected main chemical and biological properties in an agricultural soil. The study site was a hazel (Corylus avellana L.) orchard located in the area surrounding the volcanic apparatus of Somma-Vesuvius (Southern Italy). For the last two decades, the site has been repeatedly subjected to floodings by wastewaters containing not only alluvial sediments but also potentially hazardous compounds from i…
Construction of simplified microbial consortia to degrade recalcitrant materials based on enrichment and dilution-to-extinction cultures
2019
AbstractThe capacity of microbes degrading recalcitrant materials has been extensively explored from environmental remediation to industrial applications. Although significant achievements were obtained with single strains, focus is now going toward the use of microbial consortia because of advantages in terms of functional stability and efficiency. While consortia assembly attempts were made from several known single strains, another approach consists in obtaining consortia from complex environmental microbial communities in search for novel microbial species, genes and functions. However, assembling efficient microbial consortia from complex environmental communities is far from trivial d…
Bioinspired Metal-Organic Frameworks in Mixed Matrix Membranes for Efficient Static/Dynamic Removal of Mercury from Water
2020
The mercury removal efficiency of a novel metal-organic framework (MOF) derived from the amino acid S-methyl-L-cysteine is presented and the process is characterized by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. A feasibility study is further presented on the performance of this MOF and also that of another MOF derived from the amino acid L-methionine when used as the sorbent in mixed matrix membranes (MMMs). These MOF-based MMMs exhibit high efficiency and selectivity in both static and dynamic regimes in the removal of Hg2+ from aqueous environments, due to the high density of thioalkyl groups decorating MOF channels. Both MMMs are capable to reduce different concentration of the pollutant to …