Minimizing bacterial biofilm in water using froth flotation and shock chlorination

Microorganisms in potable water systems are either present in the planktonic “floating stage”, or attached to surfaces, usually as biofilm. Many hygienic and economic problems are attributed to this phenomenon. Through the last seven or so decades many trials were made to overcome biofilm problems. Unfortunately, biofilm prevention stills a premature field of science. Therefore, serious solutions with new horizons are needed. The objective of this study is to provide a water distribution system which is free of microorganisms, both in the planktonic and biofilm stages, and biocides. The two components are interactive; biofilm formation is stimulated by the presence of low (residual) levels of biocides whereas removing the bacteria results in less or no biocide being needed. The first part of the research investigates the use of chemical free froth flotation to remove microorganisms. Bacteria are hydrophobic and thus should be able to be separated by froths. A method for producing froth without using chemicals has been developed to avoid water quality deterioration and this froth is shown to hold bacteria without the need for biocide treatment or frothing chemicals. Experiments were undertaken to explore how far this process can purify a water stream. The froths formed were found to hold up to 2×108 cfu ml-1 of bacteria without chemical collectors, and made a cfu/ml drop of 55% between the inlet and outlet streams. The second area of research investigated shock chlorination and dechlorination to kill the microorganisms but almost immediately remove the biocide. Among all the dechlorination techniques, aeration was found to be the most suitable method. Investigations were undertaken to determine how fast and how practically acceptable the method of dechlorination by aeration is. Dechlorination design demand was found to be (9×10-4 lair/(lwater . ppm )). Around these two main areas of research supporting researches were undertaken. Studies found that dead bacteria were able to be removed by froth flotation as well as, or even better than live bacteria. Chlorination was faster than dechlorination under the same conditions by a factor of 25%. At low bacterial content, chlorine demand is directly proportional to cfu/ml. Zero bacterial content can be obtained through shock chlorination. The newly developed iPhone and iPad colony counting applications were investigated as a rapid way of measuring bacterial count. These were found to be reliable and accurate and, with additional manual manipulation proved very suitable to use for counting bacteria

The Design and Implementation of Integrated E-Cart on E-Hyper Market

The idea in this paper is to design and build an E-Business Market that is very huge; the purpose is to enable customers to buy through the World Wide Web by applying the Browser-server architecture in Electronic Commerce. With the possibility of selling any type of goods, whether it2019;s digital or physical, you would need to increase the proportion of sales to ensure customer convenience. The hypermarket is trying as much as possible to make the process of purchasing goods very simple, therefore it is building and configuring a comprehensive electronic commercial site on the Internet. The new hypermarket provides novel services. It includes a number of commercial sites. The management of products that are offered by each site are done through the site owner. The site owner will manage the system and modify the products of his site through a set of tools provided by the main site. A new way is used to display the various products type which makes the navigation in the site and comparing its products with other related sites very easy. The E-Hyper Market website provides a flexible method of payment that allows the customer to select a payment plan that suits him. Also, unique search schema is offered. The searching process of the products according to certain conditions can be accomplished in a detailed search. This properties based search depends on determining the values and the ranges of the characteristics of the product, which provides accurate results. We have used ASP.NET as a programming language to implement this project and the database program that is used to store the products data is MY SQL. Given the extra services mentioned above, our site will be more flexible and easier to use compared with other similar sites

Inadequate Flexibility and Resistance to Change Hindering Effectiveness of ERP System in Accounting

The Enterprise Management Planning (ERP) software applications allow companies to integrate key daily activities such as procurements, financial, production, human resources, and project activities and helps organizational stakeholders to facilitate efficient decision making based on integrated data from various departments. Many accountants have not been able to realize the effectiveness of the ERP system due to its inadequate flexibility to adapt to change and resistance among some accountants that use the system. This research aims at showing the role that the inadequate flexibility of the system plays in impeding the ERP software from guaranteeing effectiveness and depicts how resistance to change among different stakeholders in an organization hinders the effectiveness of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in accounting. It uses a qualitative research method entailing semi-structured interviews with multiple employees working in the accounts department in different organizations. The study revealed that many accountants are driven by fear of new technology, making them resist the ERP system. Participants also affirmed that ERP does not readily adapt to organizational changes in the accounting departments. The major limitation of this study is that it focused on a small sample population because of the limited funds to cater to many participants

Assessment Of Adolescents' Daily Physical Activity & It’s Relation To Obesity In Secondary Schools At AL-Najaf AL-Ashraf City

AbstractObjectives: To assess the secondary schools adolescents’ daily physical activity& It’s Relation to Obesity. Methodology A descriptive study is carried out at Secondary Schools in AL-Najaf AL-Ashraf City, from December 1st, 2011 to April 6th, 2012.A multi stage sample of (1350) subjects were selected throughout the use of probability sampling. The data are collected through the use of semi-constructed questionnaire designed for the purpose of the study, which consist of three parts (1) Sociodemographic data form that consist of 14-items (2) daily physical activity Scale that consists of 10-items (3) Anthropometric Measurements which consists of Weight and Height. Reliability of the questionnaire is determined through a pilot study and the validity through a panel of (24) experts. Results The finding of the present study indicated that there is significant relationship between the daily physical activity for the study participants' and parents social status while the daily physical activity and the other variables indicated no significant relationship. The results also shows no significant relationship between the daily physical activity and the body mass index. Conclusion Present study concluded that most of the secondary schools adolescents have daily physical activity problems. Recommendation the study recommends that the students would be given opportunities to participate in students' organizations, conferences, and schools’ physical projects to promote their level of daily physical activity, constructing and implementing educational programs for secondary schools teachers about how to decrease obesity among their students. Mass media approach should be used by the Ministry of education to increase students’ knowledge and awareness of the obesity as a health problem.Key wards: assessment, adolescent, daily physical activity, secondary school

Experimental Investigation of a Temperature Change inside Pneumatic Cylinder Chambers

The investigation of the existence of a tempera-ture change with pressure inside the pneumatic cylinder chambers during the charging and dis-charging strokes in the pneumatic cylinder is ex-perimentally demonstrated. Three different varia-bles (pressure, piston displacement and tempera-ture) were measured in this work while operating with a servo pneumatic system and a discussion of the relationship between these variables was pre-sented. The cylinder used has a piston diameter of (0.05m), piston rod diameter (0.02m) and a stroke length of (0.2m). The results show a temperature rise of 23 K above atmospheric temperature at chamber (1) while air compressing and a tempera-ture drop of 17 K below atmospheric temperature at chamber (2) while air expansion and measures other temperature changes also

Sensitivity Analysis of Thermal Degradation of Plastic Waste Using Statistically Assumed Exponential Factors and Activation Energies

The rise in the production of plastic waste has prompted the exploration of various recovery options instead of landfilling, burning, and other unethical ways of decomposing. The experimentally generated rate constants for the thermal processing of plastic waste do not yield enough liquid fuels and gases for commercial-scale usage. It is imperative to predict kinetic rate constants statistically using an appropriate combination of activation energies (Ea) and frequency factors (Ao) for the optimized thermal valorization of plastic waste. This approach also assists in controlling the selectivity and quantity of the pyrolysis products. A statistical kinetic model was tested to find the best combination of rate constants from different combinations of Ea and Ao to pyrolyze the high-density polyethylene. Two series of Ea and Ao were first assumed using R software. These series were then used to predict kinetic rate constants and analyze their sensitivity independently using MATLAB. The rate constants were varied from their originally predicted values during the sensitivity analysis. It was found that the rate constant k(7) dominated the other predicted rate constants where high oil and gas yields were concerned. The gas yield increased from lower to higher extreme positions in the range of 60%–74% with the first series and from 65% to 81% with the second series. The maximum oil content was found around 74% and 65% with the first series and second series, respectively

Response Surface Methodology Analysis of Pyrolysis Reaction Rate Constants for Predicting Efficient Conversion of Bulk Plastic Waste into Oil and Gaseous Fuels

The growing production of plastic waste and improper dumping after use has become a worldwide challenge. This waste is a substantial source of petroleum and can be effectively converted into pyrolytic oil and other useful products. A statistical prediction of the rate constants is essential for optimizing pyrolysis process parameters, such as activation energy (Ea), frequency factor (Ao), temperature (T), and kinetic rate constants (k). In this research, we utilized Box–Behnken using RSM with Design Expert software to predict statistical rate constants at 500 °C and 550 °C. The efficiency of the predicted rate constants was investigated and compared to the findings of experimental rate constants extracted from the literature. At 500 °C, the estimated rate constants did not reveal a significant rise in the oil output since these constants promoted high gas yield. Compared to the experimental rate constants, statistically predicted rate constants at 550 °C demonstrated substantially high-oil output with only 1% byproducts. The experimental rate constants yielded 32% oil at 550 °C, whereas the predicted rate constants yielded 85% oil. The statistically predicted rate constants at 550 °C could be used to estimate commercial-scale extraction of liquid fuels from the pyrolysis of high-density plastics. It was also concluded that Ea, Ao, and T must be analyzed and optimized according to the reactor type to increase the efficiency of the expected rate constants

Anti-proliferative Effects of Arsenic, Cadmium and Lead on Rat Pups Brain Cells

Abstract.-Industrialization and anthropogenic activities are constantly introducing heavy metals in biosphere, which is becoming a serious global issue. Arsenic and cadmium are known human carcinogens, while exposure of lead is also very toxic for human body. In the present study, anti-proliferative effects of arsenic, cadmium and lead were investigated on rat pups brain cells (RPBCs). RPBCs were isolated from one day old rat pup after dissection of brain. Anti-proliferative effects of arsenic, cadmium and lead were tested by neutral red uptake assay. Both arsenic and cadmium proved to be very toxic for RPBCs and there was great reduction in growth of cells as well as change in morphology. There was marked decrease in cells proliferation when cells were exposed to higher metal concentrations (10 µg/ml) and longer duration (48 h). Exposure to lead also resulted in reduced proliferation of cells and change in morphology but effect of lead was not as severe as of arsenic and cadmium. Moreover, lead at lower concentration increased the proliferation of cells. In conclusion, arsenic, cadmium and lead are very toxic for RPBCs and impair the proliferation and morphology of cells

S. Cheema et al .

Objectives Oral health is a crucial determinant of quality of life. We aimed to determine oral health condition and factors associated with poor oral status in the adult national population of Qatar. Methods We used data from the World Health Organization supported STEPS (STEPwise approach to Surveillance) Survey conducted by the Supreme Council of Health, Qatar in 2012. A total of 2,496 Qataris (1,053 men, 1,443 women) answered the national survey. The Rao-Scott Chi-Square test was used to analyze oral health characteristics and multinomial logistic regression to assess risk factors. Results The self-perceived oral status of approximately 40 percent of respondents was either "average" or "poor" rather than "good." Poor oral status was more often reported by women (OR = 1.93; 95%CI = 1.30-2.80), by older (OR = 3.38; 95%CI = 1.59-7.19) and less educated respondents (OR = 3.58; 95%CI = 2.15-5.96). Other risk groups included people with diabetes (OR = 1.87; 95%CI = 1.24-2.81), smokeless tobacco users (OR = 3.90; 95%CI = 1.75-8.68), or ever tobacco users (OR = 1.66; 95%CI = 1.03-2.67). Oral health status appeared to be independent of diet, BMI status, and history of hypertension. Difficulties and behaviors related to oral health were more frequently reported by women than by men. These included pain (P < 0.001), difficulty chewing (P < 0.001), and discomfort over appearance of teeth (P < 0.001). Participants used toothbrushes, toothpicks, dental floss, and miswak to maintain oral hygiene. Conclusion Our results provide evidence that oral health remains a public health concern in Qatar