Image reconstruction of an image sensor based optical tomography

Process tomography is a technique that has the potential for enabling great improvements in efficiency and safety in process industries, while minimizing waste and pollution in a range of applications. It provides several methods of obtaining the concentration profile of a process. It has become one of the vast growing technologies nowadays and it can be applied to many types of processes and unit operation. The main target of this project is to design a tomography system which is able to reconstruct an image from four-projection of light beams through the CMOS linear image sensors. The accuracy of the image obtained dependants on the number of sensors used, the projection technique applied and the number of projections used. For this project, the image reconstruction is based on Linear Back Projection (LBP) algorithm. The objective of this project is to investigate the process tomography, and how can it be used to construct an image inside the pipe. The characteristics of the light source and sensor are investigated in order to choose the appropriate sensor. Image reconstruction is done using MATLAB

The Effectiveness Evaluation of Current Disinfectants on Pathogens Isolated from Surface of Different Parts of Shahid Sadughi Accidents Burns Hospital in City of Yazd

Background: The burn unit is a suitable environment for the growth of pathogenic bacteria that can reduce these pathogens by appropriate disinfection methods. So, choosing an appropriate disinfectant and applying standard methods of disinfection can be effective in reducing nosocomial infections. The aim of this study is evaluation of efficacy of current disinfectants on pathogens isolated from surface of different parts of Shahid Sadughi accidents burns hospital in city of Yazd. Methods: In this study, the sampling method has done simple randomly and 240 samples were collected from 30 different parts of hospital surfaces (for every disinfectant 30 samples before and 30 samples after disinfection). The samples in the Microbiology laboratory of Medical Sciences University were cultured on blood agar and EMB agar culture. Colonies that were suspected to pathogens were identified by biochemical tests and their colony count was determined. Data were analyzed using Paired T-test. Results: The average of isolated bacteria at 4 parts of burn unit of hospital before disinfecting by Deconex 50 AF, Descoscid, Epimax SC and Silvosept was 58.02, 18897.28, 30989.05 and 38.52 respectively and after disinfecting was 12.8, 0.62, 1.65 and 5.09 respectively. Reducing of contamination in all disinfectants shown a significant difference (p<0.05). The most common isolated pathogens were Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella, staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter and Escherichia coli. Conclusion: The results showed that all disinfectants was effective on isolated pathogens and also have shown a significant difference (p<0.05) between the average of bacteria count before and after disinfection

The Effect of Nitrate as a Radical Scavenger for the Removal of Humic Acid from Aqueous Solutions by Electron Beam Irradiation

Introduction: Humic acids have adverse effects on the water quality, then should be removed from water resources. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of nitrate as a radical scavenger for removal of humic acid from aqueous solutions by electron beam irradiation. Materials and Methods: In this study, after preparation of stock humic acid solution in alkaline condition, different concentrations of humic acid (10, 25 and 50 mg/l) were prepared. Different concentrations of nitrate (25, 50 and 100 mg/l) added to humic acid samples and then absorption of samples was measured at 254 nm by using UV-Vis spectrophotometer before and after the electron beam irradiation. This study has done at pH= 8 and at different electron beam adsorbed dose of 1, 3, 6, 9 and 15 kGy. Results: The results of this study showed that the increasing of adsorbed dose from 1 to 15 kGy, the removal efficiency of humic acid also increased. By increasing of nitrate concentration from 25 to 100 mg/l, the removal efficiency of humic acid has decreased from 43.8% to 36.6% and nitrate acts as a radical scavenger. By increasing of humic acid concentration from 10 to 50mg/l, removal efficiency decreased in all adsorbed doses. Kinetic analysis of our results showed that the results well fitted with the second - order reaction. Conclusion: We can conclude from this study that electron beam irradiation could be a useful process for the treatment of natural organic matter (humic acid) from surface waters

Evaluation of Efficacy of the Current Disinfectants on Gram-negative Bacteria Isolated from Hospital in Yazd in 2014

as Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, and Staphylococcus that appropriate disinfection can reduce these pathogens. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different disinfectants on Gram-negative bacteria isolated from the surface of accidents and burn hospital in Yazd. Materials and Methods: In this study, 240 samples were randomly collected from different parts of accidents and burn hospital before and after disinfection. The samples were cultured on blood agar and Eusion-Metilen-Blue agar media in the Microbiology Laboratory of Medicine School of Shahid Sadoughi University in Yazd and Colony counting were determined. Identification was done by biochemical tests after incubation at 37&deg; C for 48 hours. The studied disinfectants were Deconex 50AF, Descoscid, Epimax SC, and Silvosept. At last, data were analyzed with using paired t-test. Results: The Gram-negative bacteria were isolated from burn unit before disinfection included Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Proteus spp., Klebsiella spp., Acinetobacter spp., and Enterobacter spp. According to the results, all disinfectants reduced the pollution before and after disinfection; nevertheless, this reduction at the time of using Epimax SC and Silvosept only showed a significant difference for P. aeruginosa (P = 0.001 and 0.003) and for E. coli (P = 0.020 and 0.005), respectively. Conclusion: All disinfectants were effective on Gram-negative bacteria isolated from surfaces and had shown a significant difference only between P. aeruginosa and E. coli number before and after disinfection by Epimax SC and Silvosept. The most effective disinfectant on P. aeruginosa and E. coli was Epimax SC and Silvosept, respectively

The association between the lack of safe drinking water and sanitation facilities with intestinal Entamoeba spp infection risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Intestinal protozoa infections are responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality, especially where the exposed population suffers from a lack of drinking water and sanitation facilities. In this study, the association between the lack of safe drinking water and sanitation (toilet) facilities with intestinal Entamoeba spp infection in the children (5-11 years), adult (18-55 years), and all age (5-55 years) were assessed. For this purpose, some of the international databases such as Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase were screened to up to 7 June 2019 in order to retrieve the related citations. Also, the pooled odds ratios (ORs) following 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random-effects model. Twenty-nine articles with 36 studies were included while the OR extracted or calculated by using 2 × 2 contingency tables. However, the ingestion of contaminated water insignificantly can increase the odds ratio (OR) of Entamoeba spp infection (OR 1.01, (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.58 to 1.43), no access to sanitation (toilet) facilities significantly can increase odds of Entamoeba spp infection (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.32). The meta-regression analysis showed that over time, odds of intestinal Entamoeba spp infection increased in both lack of safe drinking water (Coefficient: 3.24, P-value < 0.01) and sanitation (toilet) facilities (Coefficient: 2.36, P-value < 0.05) subgroups. Considering the findings, lack of safe drinking water resulted in a further increase in intestinal Entamoeba spp infection among adult (OR: 2.76), children (OR = 0.57) and all age groups (OR: 1.50), and also lack of sanitation (toilet) facilities resulted in further increase intestinal Entamoeba spp infection in children (OR: 1.06), adult (OR: 1.26) and all age (OR: 1.16). In this context, the lack of safe drinking water and sanitation facilities (toilet) was associated with a high risk of intestinal Entamoeba spp infection. Further attempts to providing public health facilities can control the prevalence of intestinal Entamoeba spp

Incorporation of curcumin into collagen-multiwalled carbon nanotubes nanocomposite scaffold: an in vitro and in vivo study

Aim: Fabrication of biological substitutes to regenerate damaged tissues or organs is one of the main aims of tissue engineering (TE). In this context, the goal of this study was to fabricate a scaffold that mimicked the structure and functions of the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the native tissues. Towards this aim, a novel biomimetic three-dimensional (3D) scaffold containing collagen (COL), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), and curcumin (CUR) was created using the freeze-drying technique. Materials and methods: Scaffolds were prepared by adding 0.5–1.5% MWCNTs and 5–15% CUR to pure COL solutions, followed by freeze-drying. Physical and chemical characterizations of the scaffolds were evaluated by a universal testing machine, scanning electron microscope (SEM), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Biological studies were mainly focused on in-vitro bioactivity, biodegradability, CUR release, and in-vitro and in vivo biocompatibility using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and rat animal models. Results: FTIR and XRD confirmed the presence of MWCNTs and CUR in the COL scaffolds, while SEM revealed highly interconnected porous morphology. Moreover, the addition of up to 1% MWCNTs and 10% CUR enhanced tensile strength from 5 MPa to 19 MPa. The developed COL-MWCNTs 1%-CUR 10% composite scaffolds revealed excellent surface wettability, in vitro bioactivity, and in vitro biocompatibility using rat synovial-derived MSCs (SM-MSCs). Importantly, the in vivo study revealed reduced inflammatory response in the rat animal model after six weeks of implantation, which could be attributed to the promising in vitro biodegradability and release of CUR. Conclusion: The newly developed COL-MWCNTs 1%-CUR 10% freeze-dried scaffolds have demonstrated their high potential for TE applications