Development of aerobic granules in sequencing batch reactor system for treating high temperature domestic wastewater

The application of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) in treating real domestic wastewater at high temperature is still lacking. In this study, the microstructure and morphology of the granules, as well as bioreactor performance, were investigated during the treatment of real domestic wastewater at high temperature (50 °C). The experiment was executed in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) with a complete cycle time of 3 hours for the treatment of low-strength domestic wastewater at an organic loading rate (OLR) of 0.6 kg COD m−3 d−1. Stable mature granules with average diameters between 2.0 and 5.0 mm, and good biomass concentration of 5.8 g L−1 were observed in the bioreactor. AGS achieved promising results in the treatment of domestic wastewater with good removal rates of 84.4 %, 99.6 % and 81.7 % for chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3−N), and total phosphorus (TP), respectively. The study demonstrated the formation capabilities of AGS in a single, high and slender column type-bioreactor at high temperature which is suitable to be applied in hot climate condition areas especially countries with tropical and desert-like climates

A case study of green building in Malaysia: cost saving analysis

The building sector consumes about forty percent of world energy, making energy efficiency in existing buildings an important issue. This study has been undertaken to investigate energy consumption of a building that has been redesigned to incorporate energy efficient features. It was found that the introduction of energy efficient features has helped to achieve savings up to 46% of the total spent on energy particularly based on electricity bills

PICK-ing Malaysia’s Epidemic Apart: Effectiveness of a Diverse COVID-19 Vaccine Portfolio

Malaysia rolled out a diverse portfolio of predominantly three COVID-19 vaccines (AZD1222, BNT162b2, and CoronaVac) beginning 24 February 2021. We evaluated vaccine effectiveness with two methods, covering 1 April to 15 September 2021: (1) the screening method for COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and symptomatic COVID-19; and (2) a retrospective cohort of confirmed COVID-19 cases for COVID-19 related ICU admission and death using logistic regression. The screening method estimated partial vaccination to be 48.8% effective (95% CI: 46.8, 50.7) against COVID-19 infection and 33.5% effective (95% CI: 31.6, 35.5) against symptomatic COVID-19. Full vaccination is estimated at 87.8% effective (95% CI: 85.8, 89.7) against COVID-19 infection and 85.4% effective (95% CI: 83.4, 87.3) against symptomatic COVID-19. Among the cohort of confirmed COVID-19 cases, partial vaccination with any of the three vaccines is estimated at 31.3% effective (95% CI: 28.5, 34.1) in preventing ICU admission, and 45.1% effective (95% CI: 42.6, 47.5) in preventing death. Full vaccination with any of the three vaccines is estimated at 79.1% effective (95% CI: 77.7, 80.4) in preventing ICU admission and 86.7% effective (95% CI: 85.7, 87.6) in preventing deaths. Our findings suggest that full vaccination with any of the three predominant vaccines (AZD1222, BNT162b2, and CoronaVac) in Malaysia has been highly effective in preventing COVID-19 infection, symptomatic COVID-19, COVID-19-related ICU admission, and death