Removal Of Colour And Organic Pollutants From Textile Wastewater Using Integrated Biological And Advanced Oxidation Process

Textile industrial wastewater effluent varies greatly in characteristics within a plant and even from the same process from time to time. Removal of pollutants such as colour and organics by conventional techniques has been difficult and could not reach the level of required discharge. In this study, colour and organic removals from textile wastewater in a continuous process using an integrated system of activated sludge and advanced oxidation process was studied. The primary objective was to reduce colour to 50 PtCo; the total organic carbon (TOC), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and total suspended solid (TSS) to less than 20, 50, 20 and 20 mg/l, respectively; and to remove oil and grease (O&G). Activated sludge was satisfactory in terms of removing TOC, COD, BOD, O&G and TSS. At 36 h retention time, the removal of TOC, COD, BOD, O&G and TSS were 80, 78, 79, 53 and 61%, respectively. However, the colour removal was only 37%. With equalization tank, combining of 50 mg/l O3 with 1 ml/l H2O2 and UV was proven capable of reducing the colour, TOC, COD, BOD, O&G and TSS after 60 min by 97, 60, 64, 62, 90 and 36%, respectively. Without equalization tank, activated sludge treatment was efficient in terms of removing TOC, COD, BOD, O&G and TSS from the different strengths of textile wastewater samples. Removals of TOC, COD, BOD, O&G and TSS were 76-86, 77-84, 78-82, 34-61 and 65-74%, respectively. However, colour removal was from 17 to 34%. This means that activated sludge was satisfactory in removing only organics pollutants. Having different, easy control and successful processes that treat different strengths of textile wastewater is the best formulation of process treatment options to ensure appreciable removals of colour and organic pollutants from any strength of textile wastewater. A software called TexTreat was successfully developed. It can determine the required process treatment option of AOPs for any existing textile treatment plant and predict the characteristics of the final discharge using different retention times. The validation of the process treatment options using TexTreat shows their applicability with different textile wastewater plants

FAIR and bias-free network modules for mechanism-based disease redefinitions

Even though chronic diseases are the cause of 60% of all deaths around the world, the underlying causes for most of them are not fully understood. Hence, diseases are defined based on organs and symptoms, and therapies largely focus on mitigating symptoms rather than cure. This is also reflected in the most commonly used disease classifications. The complex nature of diseases, however, can be better defined in terms of networks of molecular interactions. This research applies the approaches of network medicine – a field that uses network science for identifying and treating diseases – to multiple diseases with highly unmet medical need such as stroke and hypertension. The results show the success of this approach to analyse complex disease networks and predict drug targets for different conditions, which are validated through preclinical experiments and are currently in human clinical trials

Influence of various application types on the performance of LTE mobile networks

Modern mobile internet networks are becoming heavier and denser. Also it is not regularly planned, and becoming more heterogeneous. The explosive growth in the usage of smartphones poses numerous challenges for LTE cellular networks design and implementation. The performance of LTE networks with bursty and self-similar traffic has become a major challenge. Accurate modeling of the data generated by each connected wireless device is important for properly investigating the performance of LTE networks. This paper presents a mathematical model for LTE networks using queuing theory considering the influence of various application types. Using sporadic source traffic feeding to the queue of the evolved node B and with the exponential service time assumption, we construct a queuing model to estimate the performance of LTE networks. We use the performance model presented in this paper to study the influence of various application categories on the performance of LTE cellular networks. Also we validate our model with simulation using NS3 simulator with different scenarios

The effects of using an Electronic Interactive Whiteboard in Developing students’’ Attitude, Cognitive Motivation and Academic achievement

The aim of this study was to identify the effects of the use of an interactive whiteboard on the development of the students’ attitude towards study, cognitive motivation, and academic achievement in the eighth grade in basic education in the Sultanate of Oman. The attitude towards study, cognitive motivation and academic achievement scales was applied to a sample of (176) students from two basic education schools in one area. 86 students were chosen from school one as an experimental group and they used the electronic interactive board in teaching, and 90 students were chosen from school two as a control group using conventional way. Results showed statistically significant differences between the students in the two groups in the attitude towards study, cognitive motivation and its dimensions (motivation to acquire knowledge, the risk of acquiring knowledge and employment of knowledge), and academic achievement in favor to the students using the interactive whiteboard. The researchers recommended the use of interactive whiteboard technology in all schools, and training teachers to integrate it in teaching. Keywords.  electronic interactive whiteboard - attitude towards study- cognitive motivation -academic achievement. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-10-15 Publication date: April 30th 201

Evaluation and Analysis of Cavitation Phenomenon in Rosieres Power Plant, Sudan, 2011-2012

Cavitation is one of the serious problems in hydraulic turbines negatively affects their efficiency and may cause damages. Cavitation is a phenomenon which occurs as a pitting of metallic surfaces of turbine parts because of the formation of cavities. In this paper, cavitation in Kaplan turbine unit 2 in Rosieres power plant was studied and analyzed during flood, water restriction and blackout periods. The general features of cavitation were described and cavitation variables were determined in the plant. Cavitation indexes and critical cavitation factors were calculated and compared during these three periods. The results showed that: the turbines were operated within cavitation limit during these periods. Cavitation index was found to be higher in water restriction, while minimum power and drop of pressure, which also increase the possibility of cavities were found in flood and blackout

Clinical and echocardiographic evaluation of patients undergoing total leaflets preservation during mitral valve replacement; Does it make a difference?

Background: The effect of anterior and posterior leaflet preservation on left ventricular function after mitral valve replacement is still the subject of ongoing research. The objective of this study is to analyze the early outcomes of total leaflets preservation compared to posterior and non-leaflet preservation during mitral valve surgery on cardiac function and dimensions measured by echocardiography and on the clinical outcomes.Methods: This prospective cohort study recruited 155 patients who had mitral valve replacement (MVR) from April 2016 to March 2018 at Assiut University Hospital. Patients were divided into three groups according to the technique of leaflets preservation; Group I (no leaflet preservation-N-MVR), Group II (total leaflet preservation- T-MVR) and Group III (posterior leaflet preservation-P-MVR). Patients who underwent redo mitral valve replacement (MVR) or those with endocarditis and had combined coronary artery bypass grafting with the MVR were excluded from the study.Results: There were nine early deaths (6%); eight patients were in Group I (N-MVR). Causes of mortality were massive intracranial hemorrhage (n= 2) and left ventricular failure (n=6). One patient died in Group III (P-MVR) from intracranial hemorrhage (1.3%). Hospital stay was significantly longer in N-MVR group compared to T-MVR and P-MVR (10.6±2.13 days in N-MVR group; p= 0.03 and 0.011 respectively). Postoperative low cardiac output occurred in all patients in N-MVR group. Left ventricular function (ejection fraction= 61.28±6.02%) and dimensions (end-diastolic diameter= 5.18±0.69 mm, end-systolic diameter= 3.58±0.78 mm) improved significantly in total leaflets preservation group.Conclusion: Leaflet preservation during mitral valve replacement was associated with improved clinical and echocardiographic outcomes. Non-leaflets preservation increased the risk of postoperative complications and length of hospital stay. Leaflet preservation is recommended as the standard approach during mitral valve replacement

Cardiac Myxomas: A single center experience and ten-years follow up

Background: Cardiac myxoma is a benign tumor that carries the risk of embolization and obstruction of the blood flow. The ideal surgical approach is still debatable. We present our experience in the surgical treatment of cardiac myxomas and its ideal surgical approach.Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data for all patients who underwent surgical excision of cardiac myxoma at our institution over 11 years starting from January 2006 to December 2016. Descriptive statistics were used to present preoperative, operative and postoperative data and Kaplan Meier curve to plot long-term survival.Results: Twenty-one patients had surgical excision of a primary, single and sporadic cardiac myxoma. Thirteen patients (62 %) were females, and the mean age at operation was 55.2 years (range: 28 – 71 years). The location of myxomas was in the left atrium in 17 patients (81%) and right atrium in 4 patients (19 %). Dyspnea was the main presenting symptom (71.4%) followed by constitutional symptoms (28%), palpitations (23.8%), syncope (14.2%) and stroke (14.2%). A right atrial trans-septal incision was used in 76.5% of left atrial myxoma cases. Five patients had concomitant operative procedures (coronary artery bypass grafting (n=2), tricuspid valve repair (n=1), mitral valve replacement (n=1) and bullectomy (n=1)). Postoperative complications were reported in six patients (28.6%) (supraventricular arrhythmia (n=2), temporary conduction deficit (n=2), pulmonary atelectasis (n=1), and postoperative bleeding (n=1)). Early postoperative mortality occurred in one patient (4.76 %), and there were no late deaths related to myxoma.Conclusion: Surgical treatment of cardiac myxoma is safe with low morbidity and mortality. The right atrial trans-septal incision is the recommended surgical approach

Optimization of type 2 diabetes mellitus control in Egyptian patients

Background. Optimum management for a patient with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) requires periodic evaluation and monitoring of the patient’s risk factors to measure its impact on different classes of treatment. Also the diabetes complications must be evaluated and initial review of drug history. This study aims to analyze clinical characteristics, risk factors, and contributions of each variable on predictive performances of each protocol used in the treatment of T2DM patients. Methods. A comparative description, a study of 2000 Egyptian patients. Patients were categorized into eight groups according to the treatment protocol used. Multivariate logistic regression was applied to assess the probability of each protocol to reach target glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in comparison to the standard protocol metformin + SU (protocol A) Results. The proportion of patients in our study reaching HbA1c ≤ 7% ranged between 48.9% in dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4 inhibitors) group (protocol H), and 59.2% in metformin + DPP-4 inhibitors group (protocol B). In subgroup analysis according to disease duration (≤ 8 years duration), mean HbA1c spanned from 7.4 ± 0.49% in SU monotherapy (protocol D) to 8.6 ± 0.5% in metformin + SU; the likelihood of reaching HbA1c > 7 was lower in the protocol A and protocol B. Conclusion. Patients not controlled on metformin alone with lifestyle modification should be switched to either protocol A or protocol B based on the preferential clinical outcome if there is no contraindication, as these two protocols are associated with the best result and a high percentage of patients reaching target HbA1c

Bulked segregant analysis to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) related to heat tolerance at grain filling rate in wheat using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers

The grain-filling rate (GFR) plays an important role in determining grain yield. An F2 population of wheat was developed from a cross between the 2 wheat cultivars, Ksu106 (heat-tolerant) and Yecora Rojo (heat-sensitive). The parents and 205 F2 plants were planted on the 20th of January during the winter season of 2009 to evaluate heat tolerance during the grain-filling period. The sowing date in the present investigation represents the heat stress conditions in Saudi Arabia. Bulked – segregant analyses (BSA) was used in conjunction with simple sequence repeats (SSR) analysis to find markers linked to genes of heat tolerance. Composite interval mapping was used for mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL). The results reveal that 12 SSR markers: Wmc24, Wmc168, Wmc326, Xgwm30, Xgwm456, Wmc25, Wmc44, Wmc94, Wmc161, Wmc273, Wmc327 and Xgwm566 were linked to GFR by QTLs analysis of the F2 population. The results show that regression analysis for the relationship between the 12 markers and the phenotypes of F2 individuals were highly significant. The results demonstrate that SSR markers combined with bulked segregant analysis could be used to identify molecular markers linked to the grain filling rate as an indicator for heat tolerance in wheat.Keywords: Grain filling rate, QTL analysis, SSR marker, whea