Fixed Bed Column Study for Removal of Textile Effluent Acid Orange 7 by NaOH Treated Eggshells and Amberlite FPA-98 as Efficient Adsorbents Using Response Surface Methodology.

In this study, we investigated the adsorption of Methylene blue (MB) dye on prepared activated carbons from eggshells treated with NaOH (TES) and eggshells Without Treatment (NTES)  as a new and potential biosorbent. Biosorption capacities and rates of different kinds of treated bioadsorbent for Removal of MB dye from aqueous solutions were compared under laboratory conditions as a function of initial dye concentration, temperature and pH . The extent of dye removal increased with increasing in the initial concentration of the dye ,increased with increase in contact time and the initial pH of the solution and also decreased with increasing in temperature of the adsorbent. Adsorption data were modeled using the Freundlich and Langmuir to fit experimental equilibrium data at different solution temperatures and the isotherm parameters were calculated in order to describe the biosorption process;  Langmuir model was found suitable for describing the biosorption of the dye by all the bioadsorbent. Among the two  adsorbents , TES exhibited the highest dye uptake capacity (Q0 =200 mg/g) at 20°C. A Comparison of different kinetic models parameters was evaluated for the pseudo-first-order and the pseudo-second-order model on the removal of MB. The results indicated that the dye uptake process followed the pseudo-second-order kinetics for each dye–adsorbent system. The thermodynamic parameters were evaluated; The negative values of ΔH° and ΔG° indicated respectively that the adsorption of MB onto TES and NTES was exothermic and spontaneous process, concerning  ΔS° which is also negative, it have showed that disorder in the interface system decreases during the adsorption process. In summary, the results have established good potentiality for the TES and NTES particles to be employed as  a low cost  sorbent for the removal of colour and dyes from wastewater.

EVALUATION OF FARMERS' PHYTOSANITARY PRACTICES IN THE PLAIN OF TRIFFA (EASTERN MOROCCO), IDENTIFICATION AND EVALUATION OF SANITARY AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS.

The use of pesticides in agriculture has certainly led to a dramatic increase in agricultural yields worldwide. Nevertheless, it is not without consequences for the environment and human health. In this context, we conducted a survey among 67 farmers in the Plain of Triffa of the Berkane region to analyze their phytosanitary practices and assess the risks to the environment and human health. 98% of the farmers have never received training on the use of pesticides. 181 different commercial specialty chemicals were inventoried.  Insecticides (50%) are the most commonly used pesticides, followed by fungicides and herbicides with 28% and 10% respectively.  The whole is divided into 19 chemical families, the most inventoried of which are organophosphorus (30%) and pyrethroids (29%). Organochlorines, despite their worldwide ban, are still in use. Of the 68 active ingredients listed, the most frequently used are imidacloprid, chlorpyrifos, lambda cyhalothrin, glyphosate, and deltamethrin. The doses used by farmers are in the majority of cases higher than those recommended.  As for the pre-harvest interval, few farmers comply with the prescribed standards. Almost all farmers (85%) neglect the necessary protective measures. Empty packaging of plant protection products is either abandoned in the wild, incinerated or reused for domestic purposes. Thus, the phytosanitary practices of the farmers surveyed are described as poor. Faced with this frightening situation, there is an urgent need to intervene to support farmers and agricultural producers for better professional and environmental protection on the one hand and for healthy and safe production on the other

Decolourization of Acid Orange 7 Dye from Aqueous Solution by Adsorption on NaOH Treated Eggshells in Continuous Fixed Bed Reactor Application using Response Surface Methodology: Optimization by Box–Behnken Design.

NaOH Treated Eggshells   (TES) was investigated for the removal of Acide Orange 7 (AO7) from aqueous solution using the continuous method was modeled by response surface methodology (RSM) and was optimized using Box–Behnken design (BBD) . Fixed bed adsorption has become a frequently used in wastewater treatment processes. Various low cost adsorbents have been studied for their applicability in treatment of different types of effluents.  In this work, the intention of the study was to explore the efficacy and feasibility for azo dye, AO7 adsorption onto fixed bed column of TES. The effect of operating parameters such as flow rate, initial dye concentration, and bed height were exploited in this study. The studies confirmed that the breakthrough curves were dependent on flow rate, initial dye concentration solution of AO7 and bed depth.The precision of the equation obtained by Box–Behnken design (BBD) utility for modeling and optimization by response surface methodology RSM was confirmed by the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and calculation of correlation coefficient relating the predicted and the experimental values of removal of dye. The results revealed a good agreement between the predicted values, as obtained by the model, and the experimental values for AO7. The optimum conditions proposed by Box–Behnken design (BBD) to reach the maximum dye removal through adsorption process. Under the optimum conditions, the removal efficiency of AO7 were 89.89%.The application of response surface methodology in order to optimize using Box–Behnken design (BBD) . The research on modeling adsorption by RSM has been highly developed and The TES was shown to be suitable adsorbent for adsorption of AO7 using fixed-bed adsorption column

Properties of Healthcare Teaming Networks as a Function of Network Construction Algorithms

Network models of healthcare systems can be used to examine how providers collaborate, communicate, refer patients to each other. Most healthcare service network models have been constructed from patient claims data, using billing claims to link patients with providers. The data sets can be quite large, making standard methods for network construction computationally challenging and thus requiring the use of alternate construction algorithms. While these alternate methods have seen increasing use in generating healthcare networks, there is little to no literature comparing the differences in the structural properties of the generated networks. To address this issue, we compared the properties of healthcare networks constructed using different algorithms and the 2013 Medicare Part B outpatient claims data. Three different algorithms were compared: binning, sliding frame, and trace-route. Unipartite networks linking either providers or healthcare organizations by shared patients were built using each method. We found that each algorithm produced networks with substantially different topological properties. Provider networks adhered to a power law, and organization networks to a power law with exponential cutoff. Censoring networks to exclude edges with less than 11 shared patients, a common de-identification practice for healthcare network data, markedly reduced edge numbers and greatly altered measures of vertex prominence such as the betweenness centrality. We identified patterns in the distance patients travel between network providers, and most strikingly between providers in the Northeast United States and Florida. We conclude that the choice of network construction algorithm is critical for healthcare network analysis, and discuss the implications for selecting the algorithm best suited to the type of analysis to be performed.Comment: With links to comprehensive, high resolution figures and networks via figshare.co

Improving Scalability and Maintenance of Software for High-Performance Scientific Computing by Combining MDE and Frameworks

International audienceIn recent years, numerical simulation has attracted increasing interest within industry and among academics. Paradoxically, the development and maintenance of high performance scientific computing software has become more complex due to the diversification of hardware architectures and their related programming languages and libraries. In this paper, we share our experience in using model-driven development for numerical simulation software. Our approach called MDE4HPC proposes to tackle development complexity by using a domain specific modeling language to describe abstract views of the software. We present and analyse the results obtained with its implementation when deriving this abstract model to target Arcane, a development framework for 2D and 3D numerical simulation software

Bio-accumulation des métaux lourds chez l'oursin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck) sur la côte Est de la Méditerranée marocaine

La composition minérale de l’oursin (Paracentrotus lividus), échinoderme benthique fréquent dans la côte Est de la Méditerranée marocaine, concorde avec celle de l’eau du site de prélèvement. En outre, la comparaison des valeurs obtenues sur des oursins récoltés en automne avec celles élevées qui sont obtenues sur des oursins récoltés au printemps suppose l’existence d’un cycle métabolique saisonnier. Les teneurs observées dans l’épithélium digestif et dans les gonades laissent présager les possibilités d’échanges métaboliques entre les systèmes digestif et reproducteur. Ce phénomène est non étudié jusqu’à présent chez les Échinides. Les lysosomes sont les organites cibles où la plupart des éléments, absorbés à l’état de traces sous forme soluble, se concentrent sous forme de précipités de phosphates insolubles

Étude expérimentale de la bio-accumulation des lanthanides chez la moule Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamarck) du littoral méditerranéen marocain

La microscopie ionique et la microanalyse X ont été utilisées pour détecter in situ, sur coupes histologiques, les éléments bio-accumulés dans la moule Mytilus galloprovincialis, contaminée expérimentalement in vitro par le cérium, le thulium et le lanthane. Les éléments absorbés, sous forme soluble à l’état de traces dans les organites cibles (les lysosomes), sont concentrés sous forme de précipités de phosphate insolubles dans les cellules épithéliales des branchies, des glandes digestives et des palpes labiaux

Properties of healthcare teaming networks as a function of network construction algorithms

This is the final version. Available on open access from Public Library of Science via the DOI in this recordData Availability: The Center for Medicare Services Outpatient Claims DE-SynPUF (DE-SynPUF)\cite{RN120} test set is publicly available from the CMS web site. The full 2013 Medicare Part B Limited Data Set for Medicare claims can be obtained from the Center for Medicare Services. This data is bound by a privacy and limited distribution agreement, as well as HIPAA regulations, and thus cannot be made public with this manuscript. However, the files can be requested from the Center for Medicare Services by individual investigators and used to reproduce our findings. Release of the derived networks is also limited by Medicare requirements to remove nodes and edges where the total number of shared patients 11 shared patients, and these are available on figshare.com as referenced in the Supplemental Data section of the manuscript.Network models of healthcare systems can be used to examine how providers collaborate, communicate, refer patients to each other, and to map how patients traverse the network of providers. Most healthcare service network models have been constructed from patient claims data, using billing claims to link a patient with a specific provider in time. The data sets can be quite large (106±108 individual claims per year), making standard methods for network construction computationally challenging and thus requiring the use of alternate construction algorithms. While these alternate methods have seen increasing use in generating healthcare networks, there is little to no literature comparing the differences in the structural properties of the generated networks, which as we demonstrate, can be dramatically different. To address this issue, we compared the properties of healthcare networks constructed using different algorithms from 2013 Medicare Part B outpatient claims data. Three different algorithms were compared: Binning, sliding frame, and trace-route. Unipartite networks linking either providers or healthcare organizations by shared patients were built using each method. We find that each algorithm produced networks with substantially different topological properties, as reflected by numbers of edges, network density, assortativity, clustering coefficients and other structural measures. Provider networks adhered to a power law, while organization networks were best fit by a power law with exponential cutoff. Censoring networks to exclude edges with less than 11 shared patients, a common de-identification practice for healthcare network data, markedly reduced edge numbers and network density, and greatly altered measures of vertex prominence such as the betweenness centrality. Data analysis identified patterns in the distance patients travel between network providers, and a striking set of teaming relationships between providers in the Northeast United States and Florida, likely due to seasonal residence patterns of Medicare beneficiaries. We conclude that the choice of network construction algorithm is critical for healthcare network analysis, and discuss the implications of our findings for selecting the algorithm best suited to the type of analysis to be performed.National Institute of HealthPhilip Templeton FoundationUniversity of Rochester Center for Health Informatic

Shear Forces during Blast, Not Abrupt Changes in Pressure Alone, Generate Calcium Activity in Human Brain Cells

Blast-Induced Traumatic Brain Injury (bTBI) describes a spectrum of injuries caused by an explosive force that results in changes in brain function. The mechanism responsible for primary bTBI following a blast shockwave remains unknown. We have developed a pneumatic device that delivers shockwaves, similar to those known to induce bTBI, within a chamber optimal for fluorescence microscopy. Abrupt changes in pressure can be created with and without the presence of shear forces at the surface of cells. In primary cultures of human central nervous system cells, the cellular calcium response to shockwaves alone was negligible. Even when the applied pressure reached 15 atm, there was no damage or excitation, unless concomitant shear forces, peaking between 0.3 to 0.7 Pa, were present at the cell surface. The probability of cellular injury in response to a shockwave was low and cell survival was unaffected 20 hours after shockwave exposure