Determination Of Sewage Sludge Composition As Partial Substitute In Clay Bricks

Sludge is an unavoidable by-product of wastewater treatment and creates problem of disposal. Generally, dewatered sludge is disposed of by landfilling. However, this option might not be appropriate due to land limitation and stringent environmental regulations imposed. Therefore, a joint effort study between IWK and UPM was carried out to investigate the possibility of incorporating dried sludge in building bricks at laboratory level as an alternative means of sludge disposal while being an innovative way of making construction materials. Bricks were produced with sludge additions ranging from 10 to 40% by dry weight. The texture and finish on the surface of sludge-amended clay bricks were rather poor. Nonetheless, they were every bit as attractive due to being light red in colour and odourless. As for physical and chemical properties, bricks with up to 40wt% sludge were capable of meeting the appropriate technical standards. However, bricks with more than 30wt% sludge amendment were not recommended for use since they were brittle and easily broken even when handled gently, Heavy metal leaching test carried out on crushed brick samples to simulate extreme environmental conditions resulted in leachate losses way below the USEP A extraction procedure regulatory limits. Therefore, all the bricks with different proportions of sludge were classified as non-hazardous materials and should be safe for use as a building material. In this study, which used the classical handmoulding method to compact the brick specimens in custom-made wooden moulds, the quality of bricks produced were quite varied and the structural properties results obtained were less than satisfactory compared to that of other researchers (using extruders) mainly due to the more uniform and higher moulding pressure applied on their bricks. However, results obtained in this study would serve as a guide to subsequent full-scale studies. On top of that, some anticipated improvements for future full-scale brickrnaking process based on the preliminary results, to produce better quality bricks, was given due attention. Knowing that the technical criteria of the bricks could be optimized, however, this process may require consumer education and regulatory assistance for long term success and acceptance

Behavior of shell-model configuration moments

An important input into reaction theory is the density of states or the level density. Spectral distribution theory (also known as nuclear statistical spectroscopy) characterizes the secular behavior of the density of states through moments of the Hamiltonian. One particular approach is to partition the model space into subspaces and find the moments in those subspaces; a convenient choice of subspaces are spherical shell-model configurations. We revisit these configuration moments and find, for complete $0\hbar\omega$ many-body spaces, the following behaviors: (a) the configuration width is nearly constant for all configurations; (b) the configuration asymmetry or third moment is strongly correlated with the configuration centroid; (c) the configuration fourth moment, or excess is linearly related to the square to the configuration asymmetry. Such universal behavior may allow for more efficient modeling of the density of states in a shell-model framework.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure

Depression, sensation-seeking behavior and violence as mediators of the association between childhood adversity and substance use disorder

Background

Development of Modular Polymeric NPs for Drug Delivery Using Amine-Reactive Chemistry

Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide and very often requires chemotherapy treatment. Despite advances in chemotherapy treatments, some cancers remain difficult to treat due to tumour type, location, and in some cases, the development of drug resistances. In order to tackle cancer more effectively, researchers have explored and developed novel chemotherapy agents. However, many of these agents suffer from low bioavailability or prohibitively high toxicity to the body. Nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems aim to assist in protection and site-specific delivery of these potential anti-cancer agents, increasing their effectiveness and lowering toxic effects. Polymeric NP delivery systems can encapsulate drugs and be coated with functional groups or moieties to enhance various properties such as targeting. In this project, poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA ) NPs were synthesized to encapsulate curcumin (CUR) via single emulsion method. CUR, the principal constituent of Curcuma longa, commonly known as turmeric, has been explored for its anti-cancer potential, but is severely limited by its hydrophobicity and sensitivity to light and water. The PLGA NPs were coated with oligomeric chitosan (COS) and RGD peptide (peptide consisting of Arg-Gly-Asp) using amine-reactive chemistry (NHS and EDC). Both COS and RGD had been previously shown to accumulate and target many different types of cancer cells. NPs were characterised based on size distribution, zeta potential, and binding efficiency of RGD peptide. They were also evaluated on encapsulation efficiency, and stability, of CUR within the NPs. OVCAR-3 cancer cells were treated with COS and RGD-coated PLGA NPs loaded with Coumarin-6 dye for fluorescent imaging of cell uptake. They were also treated with CUR-loaded NPs to determine cytotoxicity and effectiveness of delivery. The NPs exhibited size distribution and zeta potential within expected values, though binding efficiency of RGD was low. CUR-loaded NPs showed significant increase in cytotoxicity over free (unencapsulated) CUR, and void (empty) NPs, suggesting successful delivery of CUR as an anti-cancer agent; the performance of COS and RGD coated NPs over bare PLGA NPs was inconclusive, however. Optimization will be required to improve formulation during the coating steps. Further investigation may be required into alternative binding chemistry, such as click chemistry

Medicine Wastage in Private Clinics: Drug Suppliers’ Perspective on the Causes and Measures to Reduce It

This study examines the issue of medicine wastage in private clinics from the perspective of drug suppliers in Hong Kong. Medicine wastage refers to unused or expired medication along the supply chain, and it poses significant challenges to healthcare systems worldwide. In the private healthcare sector of Hong Kong, there is a notable issue of medicine wastage, resulting in considerable economic costs and environmental hazards. The paper explores the causes of medicine wastage, including the inefficient business model of private clinics, the frequent use of general medicines, the decline in medical tourists, disruptions in the supply chain due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the lack of medicine recycling policy and facility. Additionally, the paper suggests implementing a centralized medicine procurement and inventory management system, separating medicine prescribing and dispensing, and developing a medicine recycling policy to reduce medicine wastage in Hong Kong

Exploring the moderating effects of incidental emotions on rewards for encouraging hotel guests’ towel reuse behavior

Promoting sustainable practices to hotel guests, such as towel reuse, can help reduce the hotel industry’s environmental impact and raise awareness about the importance of environmental conservation. However, little is known about how hotel guests’ incidental emotions that arise incidentally (not intentionally induced) influence the effectiveness of rewards in promoting sustainable behavior. This study adopts the Appraisal Tendency Framework (ATF) to examine the interaction effect of incidental emotions (hope vs. fear) and reward certainty on tourists’ pro-environmental behaviors. The study employs a 2 × 2 between-subject experimental design (Incidental emotions: hope vs. fear) × (Reward types: certainty vs uncertainty). The findings show that there are significant interaction effects of incidental emotions and (un)certain monetary rewards on guests’ towel reuse behavior. The research has both theoretical implications for research on reward types and incidental emotions and practical implications for designing and implementing rewards to encourage pro-environmental behaviors

Understanding Mobility-Related Challenges for AAPI Older Adults: A Preliminary Study in Southern California

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) Nationwide, the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community is projected to constitute 11 percent of people 65 years and older in the United States by 2050 (He et al., 2005). The challenges limiting the transportation and mobility of AAPI older adults include, but are not limited to, language barriers, cultural barriers, anti-Asian hate, accessibility to public transit, traffic safety and public security concerns, and changes to mobility due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This project conducted an extensive literature review and a preliminary multi-language survey in Southern California to better understand mobility-related challenges for Asian American and Pacific Islander older adults. The results of this project can provide government agencies and organizations with recommendations for policy and program changes to benefit AAPI older adults and the broader communities