Global NEST Journal

The current study explores the capacities of Moringa oleifera (L), to overcome and/or tolerate oxidative stress induced by a saline substrate as a constraining factor. For this, Moringa seeds have been treated for 15 days after germination in vitro with increasing concentrations of NaCl, and specifically at 0 (control), 5; 7.5; 10; 12.5 and 15g l-1. Morpho-physiological and biochemical aspects were evaluated which were considered as probable indicators of tolerance or sensitivity to this stress. Our results reveal an increased synthesis of proline, lipids, proteins, CAT, GPX, APX, flavonoids, condensed tannins and a decrease in total polyphenols (-29.97%), mainly due to their high carbon cost. The state of degradation of the cell membranes was evaluated by the MDA assay, which increased by 91.25%. On the other hand, the evaluation of the oxidative damage caused by Reactive Oxidative Species (ROS) was detected by H2O2, which decreased by 37.89%. Additionally, our results revealed a disturbance of the germinative power of the seeds indicating moderate resistance to stress as it was manifested by the development of epicotyledonary axes, even under 15 g l-1 of NaCl without showing symptoms of stress or sensitivity. This result supports our hypothesis of the ability of the species to maintain or even improve its oxidative status.

In this study, water-soluble disperse dyes [Disperse Violet 93 (DV93); Diffused Blue 79 (DB79); Disperse Orange 30 (DO30)] color removal by ozonation, which is one of the advanced treatment methods of synthetic dye waste solutions containing and whose decolorization conditions have not been investigated before, were investigated and the most suitable parameter criteria were determined. The experiments were carried out using a semi-batch reaction. The decolorization process of the reactive dye was carried out by bubbling ozone at the bottom of a bubble column reactor containing the dye solution. The effects of the ozonation time (0-120 min), the initial dye concentration (150-600 mg/L), ozone concentration (4.21-24.03 g/m3), the initial pH (2-12), and decolorization time was studied. As a result, COD values obtained from color measurements determined by the spectrophotometric method of disperse dye wastewater prepared synthetically after optimum conditions were achieved in experiments decreased by 61.05%, 72.88%, and 77.43%, respectively, and a significant color removal occurred under basic conditions (pH: 10 for DV93 and DB79; pH: 12 for DO30). For each dye processed separately, decolorization occurred within 16 minutes, 12 minutes, and 9 minutes, respectively. Ozonation kinetics were studied and it was found that decoloring showed first-order kinetics for the three dyes. The study showed that the apparent rate constant increased both at the applied ozone dose and under basic conditions, and decreased logarithmically with respect to the initial dye concentration. As a result of the study, it was determined that ozonation is a usable method for the treatment of azo dyes in textile wastewater; optimum conditions were determined for parameters such as the shortest time, optimum ozone dose, and appropriate pH range.

In the present investigation, marine biomass (Posidonia Oceanica) (PO), in both its unmodified PO and basic-modified (Na-PO) forms, was studied for its possible utilisation as a cheap biosorbent for the retention of amoxicillin (AMX). Biosorption studies were carried out in a batch system and the effects of solution pH, biosorbent dose, initial AMX concentration, contact time and temperature were studied in detail. Characterization of the biosorbent was performed using Fourier transforms infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR) and pHPZC. The biosorption of AMX was adjusted by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models, equilibrium isotherms were applicable with maximum monolayer biosorption capacity of 51.33 mg g-1 and 75.33 mg g-1 for PO and Na-PO, respectively. Kinetics investigations showed that both biosorbents followed the pseudo-second order. Thermodynamics studies indicated that the biosorption of AMX onto PO and Na-PO was spontaneous and endothermic in nature. These results proved that chemical modification of Posidonia Oceanica surface improved the biosorption properties of AMX.

In this work, the ArcGIS technology combines analogue and digital geospatial data to derive multiple resolution meshes with a triangulated irregular networks (TINs) approach that serves to integrate the geospatial data such as surface topography, hydro graphic features and land surface characteristics into an adaptive representation of a basin biosystem. The ArcGIS model that has been developed is applied at the municipal level to a small remote settlement with less than 2000 people in Northern Greece. The aim was a site assessment for constructing an artificial wetland (ATW) system as a viable solution to the wastewater management problem and protection of biosystems. This study demonstrates that there are discrepancies in Greece between the existing open geospatial data and on the basis of the results from our study we can conclude that this combination of local maps and geographic information in ArcGIS with a TIN approach increases our knowledge of the physical terrain. It accordingly facilitates the analysis and implementation of action plans by selecting suitable sites for construction of ATW systems in small remote settlements. We moreover discuss problems regarding spatial data quality and scale and provide suggestions for improvement while the desktop classification steps can be easily reproduced for other data-similar countries.