Adsorption of Escherichia coli Using Bone Char

The aim of study was providing a novel adsorbent for the removal of Escherichia coli (E.coli) as a microbial model from contaminated air especially in hospital units using bone char (BC). The BC was prepared from cattle animal bone by pyrolysis in a furnace at 450°C for 2 h. The characteristics of BC have been determined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), pHzpc, apparent density and iodine number. Nebulizer system applied to convert the E.coli with different concentration into bioaerosols. The variables included: BC weights (4-10 g), the adsorbent pore size (20-40 mesh) and microbial concentrations (103-107 CFU/mL). Characteristics of the adsorbent show the ability of the BC to remove E.coli fromair. The results shows the higher amounts of BC, the more efficiency achieved to purify contaminate air and particles in the range of 20-40 mesh were more practical in removing bioaerosols. An efficient time for removing the more E.coli was 30 minutes. The maximum bacterial efficiency removal achieved was 99.99%. Comparison of removalefficiency with other literature showed that the BC particles were better mineral sorbents than other organic adsorbents and a commercial activated carbon. In this study, we investigated a novel air purification adsorbent and the information obtained in the paper is of fundamental significance for the mineral adsorbents especially bone charin cleaning of indoor bioaeroso

Escherichia Coli Removal from Water Using Electrophotocatalytic Method

Electrochemical has the suitable method of drinking water disinfection. This method leads to production of hydroxyl radicals which are known powerfull oxidant agent. In recent years, water disinfection using electrophotocatalytic method is spreading. The aim of this experimental applied study is to evaluate the removal of Escherichia Coli, as the microbial contamination indicator of water, from drinking water using electrophotocatalytic method. The contaminated water in an electrophotocatalytic reactor were prepared by adding 102-103 cell of E. coli bacteria to drinking water. The studied variables were pH (6-8), the number of bacterial suspensions (102-103 cells / ml), the UV-A lamps (2-4 W), times (5-40 min), the distances between electrodes (2-3.5 cm), layering of zinc oxide nanoparticles (1-3), and voltages (10-40). The findings showed the correlation between removal of cells and UV-A lamps, voltage, and time of electrolysis. Optimal removal (MPN: 0) was obtained at pH 8, time of electrolysis: 5 minutes, 2 layer of nano ZnO, and voltage of 10 V. This result offers that this method is an efficient method for water disinfection. @JASEMKeywords: Escherichia Coli , Water disinfection, Electrophotocatalytic, UV- AJ. Appl. Sci. Environ. Manage. Sept, 2011, Vol. 15 (3) 439 - 44

Experimental Study of Natural Convective Flow over a Hot Horizontal Rhombus Cylinder Immersed in Water via PIV Technique

Natural convective flow over a horizontal cylinder is a phenomenon used in many industries such as heat transfer from an electrical wire, heat exchanger, pipe heat transfer, etc. In this research, fluid dynamics of natural convective flow over a horizontal rhombus cylinder, with uniform heat flux, is investigated by using two-dimensional Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) Technique. Experiments are carried out in a cubical tank full of water having an interface with air and the cylinder is placed horizontally inside the tank. The heater is turned on for 40s and the effects of heater's power and the height of water above the cylinder are surveyed. The experiments are carried out in three different heights of water and two different heater’s powers in which Rayleigh number changes from 1.33×107 to 1.76×107. The emitted heat flux causes the buoyancy force to be made and the main branch of flow to be formed. Then, moving up the main branch flow through the stationary water generates two equal anti-direction vortexes. These vortexes are developed when they reach the free surface. The results indicate that the flow pattern changes for different values of water height and heater’s power

Alkali ratio control for lead-free piezoelectric thin films utilizing elemental diffusivities in RF plasma

High performance piezoelectric thin films are generally lead-based, and find applications in sensing, actuation and transduction in the realms of biology, nanometrology, acoustics and energy harvesting. Potassium sodium niobate (KNN) is considered to be the most promising lead-free alternative, but it is hindered by the inability to control and attain perfect stoichiometry materials in the thin film form while using practical large area deposition techniques. In this work, we identify the contribution of the elemental diffusivities in the radio frequency (RF) plasma in determining the alkali loss in the KNN thin films. We have also examined the effect of the substrate temperature during the RF magnetron sputtering deposition on the crystal structure of the substrate and KNN thin films, as well as the effect of the postannealing treatments. These results indicate the need for well-designed source materials and the potential to use the deposition partial pressure to alter the dopant concentrations

Transparent functional oxide stretchable electronics: micro-tectonics enabled high strain electrodes

Fully transparent and flexible electronic substrates that incorporate functional materials are the precursors to realising nextgeneration devices with sensing, self-powering and portable functionalities. Here, we demonstrate a universal process for transferring planar, transparent functional oxide thin films on to elastomeric polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates. This process overcomes the challenge of incorporating high-temperature-processed crystalline oxide materials with low-temperature organic substrates. The functionality of the process is demonstrated using indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films to realise fully transparent and flexible resistors. The ITO thin films on PDMS are shown to withstand uniaxial strains of 15%, enabled by microstructure tectonics. Furthermore, zinc oxide was transferred to display the versatility of this transfer process. Such a ubiquitous process for the transfer of functional thin films to elastomeric substrates will pave the way for touch sensing and energy harvesting for displays and electronics with flexible and transparent characteristics

High-performance field effect transistors using electronic inks of 2D molybdenum oxide nanoflakes

Planar 2D materials are possibly the ideal channel candidates for future field effect transistors (FETs), due to their unique electronic properties. However, the performance of FETs based on 2D materials is yet to exceed those of conventional silicon based devices. Here, a 2D channel thin film made from liquid phase exfoliated molybdenum oxide nanoflake inks with highly controllable substoichiometric levels is presented. The ability to induce oxygen vacancies by solar light irradiation in an aqueous environment allows the tuning of electronic properties in 2D substoichiometric molybdenum oxides (MoO3-x). The highest mobility is found to be approximate to 600 cm(2) V-1 s(-1) with an estimated free electron concentration of approximate to 1.6 x 10(21) cm(-3) and an optimal I-On/I-Off ratio of >10(5) for the FETs made of 2D flakes irradiated for 30 min (x = 0.042). These values are significant and represent a real opportunity to realize the next generation of tunable electronic devices using electronic inks

25th annual computational neuroscience meeting: CNS-2016

The same neuron may play different functional roles in the neural circuits to which it belongs. For example, neurons in the Tritonia pedal ganglia may participate in variable phases of the swim motor rhythms [1]. While such neuronal functional variability is likely to play a major role the delivery of the functionality of neural systems, it is difficult to study it in most nervous systems. We work on the pyloric rhythm network of the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion (STG) [2]. Typically network models of the STG treat neurons of the same functional type as a single model neuron (e.g. PD neurons), assuming the same conductance parameters for these neurons and implying their synchronous firing [3, 4]. However, simultaneous recording of PD neurons shows differences between the timings of spikes of these neurons. This may indicate functional variability of these neurons. Here we modelled separately the two PD neurons of the STG in a multi-neuron model of the pyloric network. Our neuron models comply with known correlations between conductance parameters of ionic currents. Our results reproduce the experimental finding of increasing spike time distance between spikes originating from the two model PD neurons during their synchronised burst phase. The PD neuron with the larger calcium conductance generates its spikes before the other PD neuron. Larger potassium conductance values in the follower neuron imply longer delays between spikes, see Fig. 17.Neuromodulators change the conductance parameters of neurons and maintain the ratios of these parameters [5]. Our results show that such changes may shift the individual contribution of two PD neurons to the PD-phase of the pyloric rhythm altering their functionality within this rhythm. Our work paves the way towards an accessible experimental and computational framework for the analysis of the mechanisms and impact of functional variability of neurons within the neural circuits to which they belong

One-Dimensional Performance Improvement of a Single-Stage Transonic Compressor

This paper presents an innovative one-dimensional optimization of a transonic compressor based on the radial equilibrium theory by means of increasing blade loading. Firstly, the rotor blade of the transonic compressor is redesigned based on the constant span-wise deHaller number and diffusion. The code is applied to extract compressor meridional plane and blade to blade geometry containing rotor and stator in order to design blade three-dimensional view. A structured grid is generated for the numerical domain of fluid. Finer grids are used for regions near walls to capture boundary layer effects and behavior. RANS equations are solved by finite volume method for rotating zones (rotor) and stationary zones (stator). The experimental data, available for the performance map of NASA Rotor67, is used to validate the results of simulations. Then, the capability of the design method is validated by CFD that is capable of predicting the performance map. The numerical results of new geometry show about 19% increase in pressure ratio and 11% improvement in overall efficiency of the transonic stage; however, the design point mass flow rate of the new compressor is 5.7% less than that of the original compressor