Design and Development of a SNAP-8 Mercury Pump Motor Assembly

Design and performance of mercury pump motor for SNAP 8 electrical generato

Clinical use of gatifloxacin ophthalmic solution for treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis

Bacterial conjunctivitis is a common infectious disease of the eye, characterized by conjunctival hyperemia, eyelid edema, and purulent discharge. Although the prevalence and incidence are not well reported, bacterial conjunctivitis represents one of the most frequent causes of patient visits to both primary care physicians and ophthalmologists. Most cases of nongonococcal and nonchlamydial bacterial conjunctivitis are self-limiting and may resolve without intervention. There is a place for treatment, however, which allows for a shorter time to clinical and microbiological resolution which may decrease the mild morbidity, decrease health care costs of visits and potential complications, return patients back to school or the work force, and limit the potential spread of this communicable infection. Gatifloxacin ophthalmic solution is a broad spectrum 8-methoxyfluroroquinolone bactericidal antibiotic, with good activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus species, and Gram-negative pathogens. It also has a relatively good resistance profile, making it a more than adequate choice in the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis when therapy is warranted

Deep bed filter as pre-treatment to stormwater

This paper presents the results of experiments on the application of dual media and single media deep bed filters as pre-treatments to stormwater. In-line flocculation-filtration experiments were conducted with dual and single media filter. The single filter media (80 cm) consisted of either anthracite or sand, and the dual media filter consisted of sand (40 cm at the bottom) and anthracite (40 cm on top). Filtration velocities of 5 m/h, 10 m/h and 15 m/h were examined. The removal efficiency for turbidity, suspended solids and TOC was found to be 95%, 99% and 30-45% respectively at a flocculant dose of FeCl3 of 15 mg/L. The anthracite filter media showed a lower head loss development (26 cm, operated at 5 m/h filtration velocity with FeCl3 dose of 5 mg/L). The removal efficiency for nitrogen was lower than phosphorus which was relatively good (up to 50%). The removal efficiency for heavy metals such as Cd, Pb, Cr and Ni was found to be very low for all tested filtration systems because concentrations of these metals in the influent were also low. This filter can be used as a pretreatment to a membrane filter as the modified fouling index was reduced from 750 s/L2 (for stormwater) to 15 s/L2 (for filtered effluent). Detailed submerged membrane filter experiments conducted with pre-treated water showed that the membrane filter can be successfully be used as post-treatment to in-line flocculant-filter at a sustainable flux of 10 L/m2.h to remove the remaining solids and pathogens. An increase of air scouring in the membrane unit decreased the pressure development although it did not have any effect on increasing the critical flux beyond 10 L/m2.h. © 2009 Desalination Publications

Removing rubidium using potassium cobalt hexacyanoferrate in the membrane adsorption hybrid system

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. Highly-priced rubidium (Rb) can be effectively extracted from seawater using potassium cobalt hexacyanoferrate (KCoFC) and ammonium molybdophosphate (AMP) adsorbents in the membrane adsorption hybrid system (MAHS). KCoFC (<0.075 mm), KCoFC (0.075–0.15 mm), and AMP (<0.075 mm) had Langmuir adsorption capacities of 145, 113, and 77 mg/g at pH 6.5–7.5, respectively. When KCoFC (<0.075 mm) at a dose of 0.2 g/L was initially added to 4 L of a solution containing 5 mg Rb/L in the MAHS and 25% of the initial dose was repeatedly added every hour, the amount of Rb removed remained steady at 90–96% for the experiment's 26 h duration. The removal of Rb by AMP under similar conditions was 80–82%. The cumulative Rb removed by KCoFC (<0.075 mm) in MAHS was only 33% reduced in the presence of high concentrations of other cations in synthetic seawater compared to that in solution containing only Rb. Approximately 30% of the adsorbed Rb was desorbed using 1 M KCl. When the desorbed solution was passed through a column containing resorcinol formaldehyde (RF), 35% of the Rb in the desorbed solution was adsorbed on RF. Furthermore 50% of the Rb adsorbed on RF was recovered by 1 M HCl leaching of the column. This sequence of concentration and separation of Rb in the presence of other cations in synthetic seawater is an efficient method for recovering pure Rb from real seawater and seawater reverse osmosis brine

Relative persistence of AAV serotype 1 vector genomes in dystrophic muscle

The purpose of this study was to assess the behavior of pseudotyped recombinant adeno-associated virus type 1 (rAAV2/1) vector genomes in dystrophic skeletal muscle. A comparison was made between a therapeutic vector and a reporter vector by injecting the hindlimb in a mouse model of Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy Type 2D (LGMD-2D) prior to disease onset. We hypothesized that the therapeutic vector would establish long-term persistence through prevention of myofiber turnover. In contrast, the reporter vector genome copy number would diminish over time due to disease-associated muscle degradation

Living Walls in The City: Community Values and Expectations

There is an increasing interest in living walls in the urban environment, particularly when linked into green infrastructure for urban heat island mitigation. However, the social acceptance of such systems in Australia is largely untested. To address this knowledge gap, a survey of nineteen local government authorities and twenty living wall owners and managers was conducted. The survey participants included commercial and residential buildings. The survey was used to study living wall owners’ motivations and expectations of living walls as well as the social values attached to the installed infrastructure. This study related the experiences of living wall owners to the current technical knowledge of living walls and contextualised the benefits and costs of living walls for Australian homes and buildings within the public attitudes and motivations for installing such infrastructure. The survey found that social acceptance and the aesthetic values placed on living walls and greenery more broadly represented a substantial advantage for living walls

Living Walls in The City: Community Values and Expectations

There is an increasing interest in living walls in the urban environment, particularly when linked into green infrastructure for urban heat island mitigation. However, the social acceptance of such systems in Australia is largely untested. To address this knowledge gap, a survey of nineteen local government authorities and twenty living wall owners and managers was conducted. The survey participants included commercial and residential buildings. The survey was used to study living wall owners’ motivations and expectations of living walls as well as the social values attached to the installed infrastructure. This study related the experiences of living wall owners to the current technical knowledge of living walls and contextualised the benefits and costs of living walls for Australian homes and buildings within the public attitudes and motivations for installing such infrastructure. The survey found that social acceptance and the aesthetic values placed on living walls and greenery more broadly represented a substantial advantage for living walls

Rubidium extraction using an organic polymer encapsulated potassium copper hexacyanoferrate sorbent

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. Sea water reverse osmosis (SWRO) brine contains significant quantity of Rb. As an economically valuable metal, extracting Rb using a suitable and selective extraction method would be beneficial. An inorganic sorbent, copper based potassium hexacyanoferrate (KCuFC), exhibited high selectivity to extract Rb compared to potassium hexacyanoferrate consisting of other transition metal combinations such as Ni, Co and Fe. An organic polymer (polyacrylonitrile, PAN) encapsulated KCuFC (KCuFC-PAN) achieved a Langmuir maximum Rb sorption capacity of 1.23 mmol/g at pH 7.0 ± 0.5. KCuFC-PAN showed Rb selectivity over a wide concentration range of co-existing ions and salinity of SWRO brine. High salinity (0.5–2.5 M NaCl) resulted in 12–30% sorption capacity reduction. At a molar ratio of Li:Rb (21:1), Cs:Rb (0.001:1) and Ca:Rb (14,700:1) commonly found in SWRO brine, sorption reduction of only 18% occurred. Nevertheless, at a very high K:Rb molar ratio (7700:1), KCuFC-PAN sorption capacity of Rb reduced significantly by 65–70%. KCuFC-PAN was well suited for column operation. In a fixed-bed KCuFC-PAN column (influent concentration 0.06 mmol Rb/L, flow velocity 2 m/h), two sorption/desorption cycles were successfully achieved with a maximum Rb sorption capacity of 1.01 (closely similar to the batch study) and 0.85 mmol/g in the first and second cycles, respectively. Around 95% of Rb was desorbed from the column with 0.2 M KCl. Resorcinol formaldehyde (RF) resin showed promising results of separating Rb from K/Rb mixed solution in effluents from a fixed-bed column, and a subsequent sequential acid desorption, producing 68% purified Rb