Producing Ceramic Water Purifiers Made Of Iraqi Bentonite Type (Bpl1)

In this study, ceramic purifier (CP) was produced from a mixture of Iraqi raw materials. This ceramic mixture was prepared using Bentonite as a Clay, Porcelanite as a Silica, and Limestone as a flux. The produced ceramic filter was formed by semi-dry compressing method and was fired at 1200 C?. Physical properties of the produced CP were measured. A hydraulic test rig was constructed to study the hydraulic conductivity of the produced CP. The average hydraulic conductivity of the produced CP was 55 times that of commercial types of ceramic filters. The mineral composition of the produced ceramics was found by X-Ray tests. Tests results showed that all of the produced ceramics filters composed mainly of low Cristobalte and Tridoymite in addition to some of other minerals. Both of the raw and the water purified by produced ceramic were tested for a number of water quality parameters. that the ceramic disc purifier could remove, as an average percentages of removal, 99.98% of turbidity, 78.86% of the electrical conductivity , 81.61% of the total dissolved solids, 73.45% of Ca++, 49.69% of Na+, 55.63% of NO3-, 37.54% of HCO3- . The results showed that CP has excellent adsorption ability for solutes of seven heavy metals, Mn, Fe, Pb, Cd, Co, Cu and Zn, at concentrations of 1 mg/leach and 10 mg/l each. The adsorption capacities of each filter to adsorb seven heavy metals were computed according to Langmuir model and Freundlich models. The results showed variety in adsorption capacities for each heavy metal

Fabrication of ZnO /Ag Nanocomposite and Their Antibacterial Activities

The ZnO nano powder has been successfully synthesized by a simple hydrothermal technique using zinc acetate and Triethanolamine (TEA) as surfactant agents. The resultant powder was annealed at 140 ᵒC for 12 hours. The as – synthesized ZnO nanopowder was then mixed with AgNO3 to prepare ZnO /Ag nanocomposites. The structural, morphological, and optical properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and UV-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis). The characterization results confirm that Ag nanoparticles (NPs) have been covered the ZnO hexagonal NPs, and show the red shift with the peak centered at 334 nm, which is due to the interfacial electron coupling between ZnO and Ag NPs, the surface Plasmon peak centered at 403 nm was detected along with the excitonic peak of ZnO confirming the formation of ZnO /Ag nanocomposite. The antibacterial effect of ZnO / Ag nanocomposites was studied for Gram- negative (E.coli) and Gram– positive (Staphylococcus aureus), which showed that the diameter of the inhibition zone of pathogenic bacteria about 15 mm for E.coli and did not show any activity for Staphylococcus aureus

Assessment of Dapagliflozin Effectiveness as Add-on Therapy for the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in a Qatari Population

The effectiveness of dapagliflozin in the management of type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2-DM) is an essential issue for establishing a basis for prescribing dapagliflozin. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of dapagliflozin in combination with other hypoglycemic agents (OHAs) in reducing glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and fasting blood glucose (FBG) at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. This retrospective observational study included all patients who visited the endocrine clinics at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and were treated with dapagliflozin. Demographics and laboratory data were obtained retrospectively from computerized patient medical profiles (eMR-viewer). The main outcome measures were the differences in HbA1c and FBG from baseline at different months. Eighty-one Qatari patients were found to have received dapagliflozin during the study period; 72% of them (n = 58) were males, with a mean age of 57.0 ± 9.0 years and a mean baseline HbA1c of 9.0 ± 1.4%. Administration of dapagliflozin as an add-on therapy was found to decrease HbA1c significantly by 0.8 percentage point after 6 months (P = 0.006) and by 1.5 percentage point after 12 months (P = 0.062). FBG was significantly reduced at 6 months and 9 months (P = 0.001 and P = 0.03, respectively). Dapagliflozin effectively reduced the HbA1c level and FBG when used in combination with other OHAs or insulin within 6 to 12 months. © 2019, The Author(s).Ethical approval. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the Medical Research Center of Hamad Medical Corporation. The authors would like to thank the Hamad Medical Corporation for proving the research funding. This work was supported by the Medical Research Center of Hamad Medical Corporation [grant number 15292/15].Scopu

Optimal network reconfiguration for congestion management optimization in active distribution networks

Recently, the distribution networks are working close to their physical device limits. When congestion takes place, distributed switches can be controlled to change their status in order to find a new optimal network configuration that solves that congestion. In this paper, a new methodology for congestion management by means of distributed network reconfiguration is presented. Switches and controllable voltage units such as PV units were used in the optimization process. The optimization process is guided by a weighted objective function that takes into account real power losses as well as operational limits of the power system under study. The methodology is tested in an Italian real power distribution system.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union seventh framework program FP7-SMARTCITIES-2013 under grant agreement 608860 IDE4L – Ideal grid for all

Hybrid cryptography and steganography method to embed encrypted text message within image

The businesses in various fields use the online communication application to gather their data and information with local and global sources. The gathered data may sensitive such as the financial and businesses development information. The hackers or online thief try to stole the valuable data i.e. credit card numbers. The organizations looking for secure online channels in order to transfer their data efficiently and avoid the data thieving. One of the most applicable methods that developed to secure the online transferred data is the cryptography which transfers the original data or information to encrypted formulation. Cryptography still has many drawbacks such as stole and decrypts the original texts using automatic decryption counter. The main aim of this research is to improve the cryptography securing level using supportive method which is Steganography. The Steganography is the processes of hide the data or information in media files such as video, images and audio files. There are four stages represent the methodology of this paper; (1) encrypt the original texts using RSA algorithm, (2) hide the encrypted texts in Image files, (3) extract the encrypted texts from Image files, and (4) decrypt the original texts using decryption key of RSA algorithm. It is expected to improve the security level of the online transferred textual data. The performance of the final results will be evaluated through compare the Image files quality before and after hide the data in these files. The quality of the original and stego Image files need to be same or near in order to maximize the difficulty of detect that there data hide in these files

Grain-Boundary Physics in Polycrystalline Photovoltaic Materials: Preprint

This paper describes a study of the atomic structure and electronic effects of grain boundaries in polycrystalline photovoltaic materials such as Si, CdTe, CuInSe2, and CuGaSe2

Japanese Encephalitis—A Pathological and Clinical Perspective

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is the leading form of viral encephalitis in Asia. It is caused by the JE virus (JEV), which belongs to the family Flaviviridae. JEV is endemic to many parts of Asia, where periodic outbreaks take hundreds of lives. Despite the catastrophes it causes, JE has remained a tropical disease uncommon in the West. With rapid globalization and climatic shift, JEV has started to emerge in areas where the threat was previously unknown. Scientific evidence predicts that JEV will soon become a global pathogen and cause of worldwide pandemics. Although some research documents JEV pathogenesis and drug discovery, worldwide awareness of the need for extensive research to deal with JE is still lacking. This review focuses on the exigency of developing a worldwide effort to acknowledge the prime importance of performing an extensive study of this thus far neglected tropical viral disease. This review also outlines the pathogenesis, the scientific efforts channeled into develop a therapy, and the outlook for a possible future breakthrough addressing this killer disease

Intraperitoneal drain placement and outcomes after elective colorectal surgery: international matched, prospective, cohort study

Despite current guidelines, intraperitoneal drain placement after elective colorectal surgery remains widespread. Drains were not associated with earlier detection of intraperitoneal collections, but were associated with prolonged hospital stay and increased risk of surgical-site infections.Background Many surgeons routinely place intraperitoneal drains after elective colorectal surgery. However, enhanced recovery after surgery guidelines recommend against their routine use owing to a lack of clear clinical benefit. This study aimed to describe international variation in intraperitoneal drain placement and the safety of this practice. Methods COMPASS (COMPlicAted intra-abdominal collectionS after colorectal Surgery) was a prospective, international, cohort study which enrolled consecutive adults undergoing elective colorectal surgery (February to March 2020). The primary outcome was the rate of intraperitoneal drain placement. Secondary outcomes included: rate and time to diagnosis of postoperative intraperitoneal collections; rate of surgical site infections (SSIs); time to discharge; and 30-day major postoperative complications (Clavien-Dindo grade at least III). After propensity score matching, multivariable logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards regression were used to estimate the independent association of the secondary outcomes with drain placement. Results Overall, 1805 patients from 22 countries were included (798 women, 44.2 per cent; median age 67.0 years). The drain insertion rate was 51.9 per cent (937 patients). After matching, drains were not associated with reduced rates (odds ratio (OR) 1.33, 95 per cent c.i. 0.79 to 2.23; P = 0.287) or earlier detection (hazard ratio (HR) 0.87, 0.33 to 2.31; P = 0.780) of collections. Although not associated with worse major postoperative complications (OR 1.09, 0.68 to 1.75; P = 0.709), drains were associated with delayed hospital discharge (HR 0.58, 0.52 to 0.66; P < 0.001) and an increased risk of SSIs (OR 2.47, 1.50 to 4.05; P < 0.001). Conclusion Intraperitoneal drain placement after elective colorectal surgery is not associated with earlier detection of postoperative collections, but prolongs hospital stay and increases SSI risk