Impacts of magnetic water treatment on water quality, feeding efficiency and growth performance of common carp in integrated recirculating aquaculture systems

An integrated recirculating aquaculture system (IRAS) is considered as an alternative solution for efficient utilization of available resources, nutrient recycling and maintaining ecological balance. The effects of using magnetized water on the growth performance of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) and water quality parameters were investigated in an IRAS. Six independent IRASs were designed; each system consisted of three tanks: a fish rearing tank, a waste-collection tank and a biological filter tank. An additional crop of macrophyte (Lemna minor) was used as a medium in the biological filter tanks in order to qualify as an IRAS. Two treatments with three replicates were set up in a randomized design. The experimental treatment was supplied with the magnetic field device, while there was no device in the control treatment. The fish growth, feeding efficiency and water quality parameters were measured in all systems. The results revealed that the use of magnetized water in the IRASs increased the specific growth rate of common carp and the growth rate of plants; while, decreased the feed conversion ratio. However, the magnetized water had no effects on the concentrations of ammonium nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen. The study suggested that the use of magnetized water in the IRASs could be beneficial as a cost-effective technique to increase the profitability of the system

Effect of graphite particles on physical and mechanical properties of nickel matrix composite

The composite materials have effective properties and characteristics for use in most modern and important applications such as space and transportation applications, especially in internal combustion engines as well as applications and marine industries. In this study, Nickel – 5 vol.% Zirconium dioxide composites with 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 vol. % of graphite particles are prepared by powder metallurgy technique. The samples are pressed at 900 MPa for 1 min after mixing the hybrid composite powders for 15 min by using a mechanical mixer, followed by sintering at 1160 oC for 3 hours. The hybrid composites are characterized by using an optical microscope. The wear test under dry sliding conditions was performed under various loads of 5, 10, 15 and 20 Newton and at a fixed sliding distance of around 1810 m. It is found that increasing graphite content results decrease in bulk and apparent densities in contrast with total porosity, apparent porosity, and water absorption. Alternatively, the increasing volume fraction of graphite particles improves the micro-hardness, diametral compressive strength and wear resistance till an optimum value up to 4 %, then severely reduction is observed. Whereas the wear resistance decreased by increasing the applied loads for all reinforcement content. The results, in conclusion, reveal that the hybrid composites at 4 % graphite particles relatively have high mechanical and wear properties, and it could be considered a suitable because of high corrosion resistance in our daily life applications

Performance of chitosan from mushroom as biocoagulant agent for kaolin and palm oil mill effluent wastewater

This project aims to investigate the potential use of commercial chitosan produced from mushroom (CMs) as bio-coagulants which are water-soluble chitosan (WSC) and acid-soluble chitosan (ASC) in wastewater treatment. Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is wastewater generated from the palm oil milling industry must be treated properly before being discharged into the environment. The use of inorganic coagulants like alum can potentially lead to the spread of chronic diseases due to the residual content of the coagulants in the treated wastewater. Thus, this study searched for an alternative coagulant using (CMs) for coagulation process. In this study, the optimum condition for synthetic water kaolin treatment when WSC was at pH 8, with a dosage of 10 mg/L, and with almost 100% turbidity removal. While ASC optimum conditions were at pH 11, dosage 10 mg/L and almost 100% turbidity removal. On the other hands, the performances of CMs coagulants as bio-coagulants were compared to aluminum sulphate (alum) coagulant. The results showed that alum gave 93% turbidity removal at optimum pH 4 and with an optimum dosage of 1200 mg/L. The treatment of POME wastewater by using CMs as a bio-coagulant was successfully able to reduce COD with up to 73% in value, 70% of BOD reduction and 99% of TSS removal, whereas alum coagulant resulted in 71% of COD, 65% of BOD reduction and 86% of TSS removal. The second objective of this study was to examine the characterization of the WSC and ASC by using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis, Zeta Potential, and antimicrobial activity. The results of FTIR confirmed the existence of amino groups in the backbone of CMs. The results of Zeta Potential analysis showed that the surface charges for WSC and ASC were 40.46 mV ± 1.01 and +70.24 mV ± 3.69, respectively. The antimicrobial activity analysis showed that ASC is more active than WSC where the concentration used of CMs was 10%. The ASC was active to inhibit microbes within around 7 mm zone which is considered clear zone of inhibition. The estimated cost for treatment using WSC, ASC and alum was RM 5.5, 4.52 and 84 per cubic meter respectively of POME treated wastewater. In conclusion, this study has proven that chitosan mushroom possesses a significant potential to be used as a bio-coagulant for wastewater treatment and also economical

Assessment of Scoured Bridges Subjected to Vessel Impact Using Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis

Scour has been the number one cause of bridge failure in the United States with an average of 22 bridges collapsing or being closed owing to severe deformation each year [1]. This work attempts to deal with two important issues: (1) Potential bridge failures during the co-occurrence of scour and ship impact; (2) Incorporating IDA analysis to predict bridge responses based on barge and collision parameters, and to generate fragility curves to predict the probability of exceedance damage states. For bridges, flooding is considered the most threatening hazard. According to the National Bridge Inventory (NBI) [2], 500,000 out of 615,000 bridges that cross waterways are exposed to floods, and 26,000 bridges in the U.S. are deemed scour critical (the bridge foundation is not stable). Bridge substructure component design is based on 100-year and 500-year floods. Scour is not force effect, but scour is the loss of foundation lateral support. This loss of support affects the stability of the foundation and has significant change on forces acting on the bridge structure. The American Association of State Highway Transportation officials (AASHTO) specification [3], Load Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) methodology, does not combine probability of two extreme events: vessel collision and the bridge scour. AASHTO believes the probability of those events is very low; therefore, those events are determined separately. The two most common causes of bridge failure are hydraulic failure due to scour of the bridge foundation and collision of vessels. Scour, the loss of soil caused by high-velocity flowing water, adversely affects the stiffness of bridges. Scour has been the predominant cause of bridge failures in the U.S., accounting for 60% of them, and it may also result in excessive rotation of the column and displacement of the deck. The second most common cause of bridge failure in the U.S. is vessel collision, responsible for 12% of them. The above hazards are typically treated independently as single extreme events according to the AASHTO design guidelines. However, vessel collision with scoured bridge piers and piles can co-occur, and there is a lack of assessment methodologies to address this synchronous dual-hazard scenario. Based on past statistics, narrow and congested waterways are more prone to collisions between ships and bridges. The U.S. and the world are projected to experience an increase in ship sizes and higher frequencies of large vessel navigation in waterways due to global economic growth. Therefore, ship impact scenarios need closer scrutiny in the future. The aim of this research is to highlight and investigate potential bridge failures during the co-occurrence of scour and ship impact. The results of this research will help engineers to address such risks. The results illustrate that depending on the surrounding soil properties, ship impact locations, nonlinear dynamic load time history, and scour depth conditions, shear demand of the column base decreases due to increased scour at lower impact locations with clay soil configuration. In addition, the moment demand on the bridge column increases with the scour depth. The results of the parametric studies show larger displacement in piles under increased scour and ship impact locations close to pile cap, especially for clayey soil foundations. In addition to analyzing aforementioned multi-hazardous events, this dissertation examined Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) [4], a method of parametric analysis used in nonlinear dynamic systems for estimating the seismic capacities of bridges. IDA is usually applied to estimate the performance of structures under extreme events. In this research, IDA was used for evaluating the capacities of bridge components under the dual hazards of vessel collision and scour. In order to predict bridge response, a finite element model of the bridge was developed in OpenSees (Open system for earthquake engineering simulation) software [5], and IDA analysis was performed to establish the response parameters. The selected bridge configuration was subjected to a direct barge inertia mass force with an initial velocity and a force-deformation stiffness spring to assess the effect of the above hazards on the responses of bridge components such as displacement, rotation, shear, and moment. The IDA plot typically illustrates the intensity measure (IM) on the vertical axis and the damage measure (DM) on the horizontal axis. This study focuses on the barge velocity as the intensity measure using increments of 0.25 m/sec varying from 0 to 2 m/sec with a constant barge mass of 1000 tons while the responses of the above bridge components express the damage measure. In all test cases, three different ship impact points (3, 4, and 5 m) and five different scour levels (0 m, 1 m, 2 m, 3 m, and 4 m) are used. The results show that at higher vessel velocities, the damage responses of the bridge increase as scour levels increase. It is also shown that using this type of an IDA parametric study, engineers would be able to make accurate predictions of bridge responses due to vessel collision under scour conditions and estimate the performance of structures under the above dual hazards. Hence, the IDA can be considered an additional tool of performance assessment under the above conditions. Furthermore, using the IDA results, the damageability of the bridge column under the intensity measure of barge velocity was evaluated through fragility analyses. The results show that the scour depth leads to an increase in the probability of exceedance of all damage levels thus contributing to large deformations in the bridge column under barge impact

Assessment of Scoured Bridges Subjected to Vessel Impact Using Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis

Scour has been the number one cause of bridge failure in the United States with an average of 22 bridges collapsing or being closed owing to severe deformation each year [1]. This work attempts to deal with two important issues: (1) Potential bridge failures during the co-occurrence of scour and ship impact; (2) Incorporating IDA analysis to predict bridge responses based on barge and collision parameters, and to generate fragility curves to predict the probability of exceedance damage states. For bridges, flooding is considered the most threatening hazard. According to the National Bridge Inventory (NBI) [2], 500,000 out of 615,000 bridges that cross waterways are exposed to floods, and 26,000 bridges in the U.S. are deemed scour critical (the bridge foundation is not stable). Bridge substructure component design is based on 100-year and 500-year floods. Scour is not force effect, but scour is the loss of foundation lateral support. This loss of support affects the stability of the foundation and has significant change on forces acting on the bridge structure. The American Association of State Highway Transportation officials (AASHTO) specification [3], Load Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) methodology, does not combine probability of two extreme events: vessel collision and the bridge scour. AASHTO believes the probability of those events is very low; therefore, those events are determined separately. The two most common causes of bridge failure are hydraulic failure due to scour of the bridge foundation and collision of vessels. Scour, the loss of soil caused by high-velocity flowing water, adversely affects the stiffness of bridges. Scour has been the predominant cause of bridge failures in the U.S., accounting for 60% of them, and it may also result in excessive rotation of the column and displacement of the deck. The second most common cause of bridge failure in the U.S. is vessel collision, responsible for 12% of them. The above hazards are typically treated independently as single extreme events according to the AASHTO design guidelines. However, vessel collision with scoured bridge piers and piles can co-occur, and there is a lack of assessment methodologies to address this synchronous dual-hazard scenario. Based on past statistics, narrow and congested waterways are more prone to collisions between ships and bridges. The U.S. and the world are projected to experience an increase in ship sizes and higher frequencies of large vessel navigation in waterways due to global economic growth. Therefore, ship impact scenarios need closer scrutiny in the future. The aim of this research is to highlight and investigate potential bridge failures during the co-occurrence of scour and ship impact. The results of this research will help engineers to address such risks. The results illustrate that depending on the surrounding soil properties, ship impact locations, nonlinear dynamic load time history, and scour depth conditions, shear demand of the column base decreases due to increased scour at lower impact locations with clay soil configuration. In addition, the moment demand on the bridge column increases with the scour depth. The results of the parametric studies show larger displacement in piles under increased scour and ship impact locations close to pile cap, especially for clayey soil foundations. In addition to analyzing aforementioned multi-hazardous events, this dissertation examined Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) [4], a method of parametric analysis used in nonlinear dynamic systems for estimating the seismic capacities of bridges. IDA is usually applied to estimate the performance of structures under extreme events. In this research, IDA was used for evaluating the capacities of bridge components under the dual hazards of vessel collision and scour. In order to predict bridge response, a finite element model of the bridge was developed in OpenSees (Open system for earthquake engineering simulation) software [5], and IDA analysis was performed to establish the response parameters. The selected bridge configuration was subjected to a direct barge inertia mass force with an initial velocity and a force-deformation stiffness spring to assess the effect of the above hazards on the responses of bridge components such as displacement, rotation, shear, and moment. The IDA plot typically illustrates the intensity measure (IM) on the vertical axis and the damage measure (DM) on the horizontal axis. This study focuses on the barge velocity as the intensity measure using increments of 0.25 m/sec varying from 0 to 2 m/sec with a constant barge mass of 1000 tons while the responses of the above bridge components express the damage measure. In all test cases, three different ship impact points (3, 4, and 5 m) and five different scour levels (0 m, 1 m, 2 m, 3 m, and 4 m) are used. The results show that at higher vessel velocities, the damage responses of the bridge increase as scour levels increase. It is also shown that using this type of an IDA parametric study, engineers would be able to make accurate predictions of bridge responses due to vessel collision under scour conditions and estimate the performance of structures under the above dual hazards. Hence, the IDA can be considered an additional tool of performance assessment under the above conditions. Furthermore, using the IDA results, the damageability of the bridge column under the intensity measure of barge velocity was evaluated through fragility analyses. The results show that the scour depth leads to an increase in the probability of exceedance of all damage levels thus contributing to large deformations in the bridge column under barge impact

Associations of Specific HLA-C Loci and Socio-demographic Factors with the Prevalence of Type Ⅰ Psoriasis in Iraqi Patients

Psoriasis is an autoimmune inflammatory disease of human skin with the etiology being unknown and for which there is no cure. It is believed to be genetically and immunologically conditioned and has major negative impact on quality of life. This study aimed to determine the impact of inheritance of specific human leukocyte antigen-C loci and some sociodemographic factors on the susceptibility to early onset psoriasis (type Ⅰ). The current study included psoriatic group involving 76 patients (type Ⅰ) and a match of apparently healthy group comprising 87 persons as a control. A polymerase chain reaction based method (low resolution sequence specific primer) was used to detect C*06, C*07 and C*17 allele after informed consent. The study showed that the C*06 and C*07 allele were significantly associated with early onset psoriasis (p-value < 0.05), while C*17 showed no significant association. There was also a higher percentage of patients in urban districts (84.2%) than rural residents (15.8%). There was no significant association between smoking and type Ⅰ psoriasis (p-value > 0.05). Both of C*06 and C*07 genotypes increased the risk of early onset psoriasis, while rural residency decreased the chance of getting type Ⅰ psoriasis. Furthermore, the lack of association with smoking could not mitigate the effect of passive smoking

The Influence of Graphite Content and Milling Time on Hardness, Compressive Strength and Wear Volume of Copper - Graphite Composites Prepared Via Powder Metallurgy

Copper – graphite composites are widely used in sliding bearings and brushes due to their excellent thermal and electrical conductivities and high wear resistance. The aim of this research is to study the Influence of graphite content and milling time on hardness, compressive strength, wear volume and friction coefficient of copper - graphite composites prepared via powder metallurgy. A powder mixture containing 0,5,10,15,20 and 25 vol% graphite was milled for 1,3,5,7 and 9 hours. The milled mixture was cold pressed at 700 MPa for 30 second, followed by sintering at 900 oC for one hour. It was found through this work that increasing milling time results an appreciate increase in hardness and radial compressive strength, slight reduction in wear volume and slight increase in the coefficient of friction for all compositions except that for pure copper in which a considerable increase in wear volume and decrease in the coefficient of friction was observed. On the other hand, increasing the graphite volume fraction increases the composite hardness, till an optimum value, and decreases the radial compressive strength. A great decrease in both wear volume and coefficient of friction was observed on increasing graphite content up to 25 vol%. Finally, a graphite, cast iron chips and fireclay sintering configuration was found to be an effective procedure which minimize oxidation to levels comparative with those observed previously by sintering in argon or hydrogen atmospheres. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.25130/tjes.24.2017.31</p

Nutrient Removal Efficiency and Growth of Watercress (Nasturtium officinale) under Different Harvesting Regimes in Integrated Recirculating Aquaponic Systems for Rearing Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio L.)

The harvesting of plant biomass is usually implemented as an effective tool for plant management and removing the nutrients absorbed in plant tissues. Here, the influence of harvesting different biomasses (50%, 33%, 25%, and 0% (no harvest)) of watercress (Nasturtium officinale) was investigated in integrated recirculating aquaponic systems (IRASs) for rearing common carp (Cyprinus carpio). Twelve independent IRASs were designed (4 &times; 3); each system consisted of a fish rearing tank, a waste collection tank, and a hydroponic bed. Water quality parameters and the growth of both fish and plants were measured in all the systems, and then the nutrient removal capacities of the hydroponic beds were calculated. The results revealed that increasing the biweekly harvested biomass of the plants decreased the growth of the watercress, while it did not affect the growth of the common carp. Increasing the harvested biomass of the plants also decreased the nitrate nitrogen and orthophosphate removal efficiencies of the aquaponic systems, while it did not affect the ammonia and nitrite nitrogen removal efficiencies. Therefore, a biweekly harvesting of less than 25% of the biomass of the growing watercress is recommended for efficient nutrient removal and the sustainable growth of both watercress and the common carp in aquaponic systems

The Effect of Treated Waste Water by Binary Irrigation on Growth and Yield of Maize

A field experiment is conducted to determine water requirements for mays crop for the fall season of 2013 in the field of Zafaraniyah Station – Ministry of Agriculture, 30 km south of Baghdad, 44.4˚ longitude, 33.14 latitude and 34 m elevation. The experiment is designed according to RCBD with three replicates and treatments are distributed randomly on experimental plots. The field is divided into experimental units. The experiment consisted five irrigation treatments: T1 (100 wastewater), T2 (75% wastewater +25% river water), T3 (50% waste water + 50% river water), T4 (25% wastewater + 75% river water) and T5 (100% river water). There is a significant increment in plant growth and yield, where plant height, leaf area, weight of 1000 grains, grains yield and grains yield per individual plant increased with increasing mixture ratio, the higher height is in T1 (100% wastewater) of 1.86 m and the lower height is 1.74 m in T5 (100% river water) with increment ratio of 2.29, 4.02, 6.32 and 6.89% for T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively. Higher leaf area was 0.58 m2 at T1 and the lower is 0.51 m2 at T5 with increment ratio of 3.77, 5.14, 12.58 and 13.30 for T4, T3, T2 and T1, respectively. Grain weight increase with increasing mixture ratio, the higher weight is 265.3 g at T1 and the lower is 235.3 g at T5 with increment ratio of 3.82, 6.12, 10.07 and 12.75% for T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively. The higher yield is 9.64 tons.h-1 at T1 and the lower is 7.63 tons.h-1 at T5 with increment ratio of 3.80, 9.44, 12.71 and 26.74% for T4, T3, T2 and T1, respectively. Grain yield per individual plant increase with the increasing mixture ratio, where the higher yield was 145.19 g at T1 and the lower was 114.56 g at T5 with increment ratio of 3.81, 9.44, 12.72 and 26.74% for T4, T3, T2 and T1, respectively. Results of the effect of treated wastewater on plant height and leaf area agree with those obtained for green canopy cover percent (CC) through applying AquaCrop program, where the higher CC was 81% at T1 and the lower CC is 77% at T4 (25% treated wastewater + 75% river water) and T5 at planting period