Biodegradation of dodecylbenzene solfonate sodium by Stenotrophomonas maltophilia Biofilm

Immobilization for microbial cultures has proved to be advantageous in municipal and industrial sewage treatment because of high degradation efficiency and good operational stability. In this survey, a bacterial strain was isolated from activated sludge that utilized branched anionic surfactants (BAS) as a sole carbon source. Identification of isolated strain was from 16S rRNA sequencing method. The immobilized cells on silanized glass beads as support and unmodified surfaces were used for removal of BAS; both types showed effective biodegrading of BAS. The removal rate in silanized surface was about 2 fold of unmodified surface. The result of biodegradation was studied by HPLC method and scanning electron microscope

Social Responsibility Accounting and its Role in the Assessment of the Social Performance of the Business Organizations

The social difficulties have been grown worldwide, in particular in the developing countries, under which the Arab countries are classified and form an important part thereof. This era is characterized by the era of giant organizations (The incorporated companies) as well as known the era of globalization, where the whole world becomes a small town in the light of the modern communication means. To avoid efforts scattering, losing accountabilities and resources, all individuals of the Arab Society must cooperate, to confront these challenges. This requires the development of concept and then the role which can be played by the Business Organizations in both aspects; the economic activity and social activity, in the consideration that these organizations have rights and at the same time commitments towards the society. Due to the fact that these organizations enjoy the wealth of the society, including the various natural, material and human resources, so they must contribute in solving its difficulties within their capabilities and capacity. This will lead us to the position of recognition the social responsibilities side by side with the special responsibility (financial) of the organizations owners.

ESBL determination and antibacterial drug resistance pattern of Klebsiella Pneumoniae amongst patients at PIMS Islamabad

Background: A number of life threatening infections due to various bacterial pathogens are major cause  of death in Pakistan. In a situation like the other developing countries, there is a general increase in the  drug resistance due to the irrational use of the antibiotics. The present study was carried out to evaluate the prevalence and development of resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae against commonly used antibiotics.Methods and Materials: A total of 200 samples from different wards of the hospitals were received by the pathology laboratory of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, which comprised of urine  65, blood 50 and other miscellaneous samples from various sources. Klebsiella pneumoniae was isolated and characterized using morphological, cultural, and biochemical methods and were further confirmed by using commercially available API 20E kit. The isolates were subjected to culture sensitivity test using  Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method.Results: The organism was found to be the most prevalent Gram-negative bacilli. K. pneumoniae showed  highest resistance against coamoxiclav and cephalosporins.Conclusion: The study revealed that ESBL producing strains were resistant to most of the beta-lactam antibiotics. This trend therefore has become a significant problem and can be controlled with continued surveillance or monitoring for rationally improved antibiotics usage, in order to prevent the drug resistance and re-emergence of infection.Key words: Klebsiella pneumoniae, ESBL (Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase), API (Analytical Profile Index

TOTAL QUALITY CULTURE (TQC) IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS: A GULF CORPORATION COUNCIL (GCC) REGION STUDY

Adoption of Total Quality Management (TQM) principles has been recognised as a new framework for managing change within educational institutions. Although there have been studies examining the adoption of TQM, research on Total Quality Culture (TQC) in the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) countries context and from educational institutions is lacking. To fill this gap, this paper uses 11 Critical-Success-Factors (CSFs) developed in revisited model of leverage points for a Total Quality Culture (TQC) to evaluate the progress of TQM. To conduct this empirical research, managers, principals, faculty, and administrators in charge of TQM or acceleration from many educational institutions in GCC countries were involved. This paper adds insight on the state of TQM in education in the Middle East, and particularly in the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) context

Implementation of some remedial actions to improve the performance and level of transit service for public transport bus routes in Baghdad city

The objective of this study was to improve level of transit service of public transport bus routes in Baghdad city through the implementation of some remedial actions. Eight public transport bus routes were selected to evaluate and improve the Level of Transit Service (LOTS). These routes represent Al-Tahrir bus network (A) which was located in the center of Baghdad city (capital of Iraq). The suggested remedial actions include reduction of legal bus stops delay (B), the elimination of illegal bus stops delay (b), the elimination of signalized intersections delay (I), and the reduction of traffic congestion delay (C). These suggested remedial actions are leaded to improve the values of total delay, bus travel time, service frequency (headway), adjusted running speed, and capacity. The values of level of transit service for these transit performance measures were improved. The overall routes level of transit service were improved for bus routes No. (72, 36, 13, 114, 11, 30, 37, and 9) from LOTS (D, E, E, E, E, D, E, and E) to LOTS (C, D, C, D, D, C, D, and D) respectively. The overall network LOTS was improved from LOTS (E) to LOTS (D), indicating that the application of the suggested remedial actions was effective and suitable to improve the performance and Level of Transit Service for public transport bus routes in Baghdad city. Therefore, this study recommended to use the remedial actions which proposed by authors to improve level of transit service for others bus networks

Scheduling of Multiple Energy Consumption in The Smart Buildings with Peak Demand Management

The global energy crisis and the depletion of fossil fuels have become pressing concerns, leading experts to search for alternative solutions. This paper presents an analysis of the day-ahead operation of the multi-carrier energy system (MCES) with the aim of minimizing operational costs, reducing pollution emissions, and maximizing consumers' comfort. The authors propose an optimal scheduling strategy called energy demand curtailment (EDCS), which aims at efficiently managing electrical energy consumption. Additionally, they consider an on-site generation strategy (OGS) for consumers to operate their own energy storages. Both EDCS and OGS are modeled based on demand-side management (DSM). To optimize these strategies and achieve their objectives, fuzzy logic is employed as an optimization approach along with objective functions. Finally, two scenarios are examined through numerical simulations to illustrate the effectiveness of this approach in optimizing energy utilization in MCE

Scheduling of Multiple Energy Consumption in The Smart Buildings with Peak Demand Management

The global energy crisis and the depletion of fossil fuels have become pressing concerns, leading experts to search for alternative solutions. This paper presents an analysis of the day-ahead operation of the multi-carrier energy system (MCES) with the aim of minimizing operational costs, reducing pollution emissions, and maximizing consumers' comfort. The authors propose an optimal scheduling strategy called energy demand curtailment (EDCS), which aims at efficiently managing electrical energy consumption. Additionally, they consider an on-site generation strategy (OGS) for consumers to operate their own energy storages. Both EDCS and OGS are modeled based on demand-side management (DSM). To optimize these strategies and achieve their objectives, fuzzy logic is employed as an optimization approach along with objective functions. Finally, two scenarios are examined through numerical simulations to illustrate the effectiveness of this approach in optimizing energy utilization in MCE

Planet Netsweeper

Internet filtering technologies play a critical role in shaping access to information online. Whether we are connecting to the Internet from our homes, coffee shops, libraries, or places of work, software that inspects, manages, and/or blocks our communications has become commonplace. When used at the level of large, consumer-facing Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Internet filtering technologies can have significant human rights impacts. A growing number of governments employ Internet filtering systems at this scale in order to undertake national-level censorship of the Internet. Filtered content ranges from pornography, hate speech, and speech promoting or inciting violence, to political opposition websites, news websites, websites affiliated with various religions, and everything in-between. The growing responsibilities among network operators to filter content, either within private enterprises or on public networks, have given rise to a large and lucrative market. One industry report estimated the value of the web content filtering market at $3.8 billion USD by 2022. While network operators can manually configure their infrastructure to block specific websites or applications, the task can be time- consuming, complicated, and ineffective. Internet filtering companies provide professional services to ISPs and other clients to take care of this responsibility. Typically, Internet filtering companies dynamically categorize Internet resources and then let their clients choose pre-selected content categories or services that they wish to block. Customers can also add custom lists of their own to content that is filtered or blocked. In the hands of authoritarian regimes, such professional services can limit the ability of citizens to communicate freely and help impose opaque and unaccountable controls on the public sphere

Synthesis and Preliminary Pharmacological Evaluation of New Analogues of Diclofenac as Potential Anti-inflammatory Agents

A group of amine derivatives [4-aminobenzenesulfonamide derivatives, 2-aminopyridine and 2-aminothiazole] incorporated to α-carbon of diclofenac a well known non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) to increase bulkiness were designed and synthesized for evaluation as  a potential anti-inflammatory agents with expected COX-2 selectivity. In vivo acute anti-inflammatory activity of the selected final compounds (9, 12 and 13) was evaluated in rats using egg-white induced edema model of inflammation in a dose equivalent to (3 mg/Kg) of diclofenac sodium. All tested compounds  produced a significant reduction  in paw edema with respect to the effect of propylene glycol 50% v/v (control group). Moreover, the 4-aminobenzenesulfonamide derivative (compound 9) exhibited superior anti-inflammatory activity compared to diclofenac sodium at times 180-300 minutes with the same onset of action. The results of this study indicate that the incorporation of the selected aromatic amino groups in to diclofenac maintain its anti-inflammatory activity.                                                                                                                              Key words: amine derivatives, anti-inflammatory, diclofenac derivatives, COX-2 selectivity

Environmental impact of using geothermal clean energy (heating and cooling systems) in economic sustainable modern buildings architecture design in Iraq:a review

Nowadays, with all the climate change problems that we face worldwide, engineers from different specialists work together towards Sustainability and finding solutions, and investigating its environmental impact thoroughly. Architectural, Chemical, environmental, civil engineers have always been closely linked in designing and constructing buildings. Geothermal energy is a local, resilient, reliable, ecologically benign, and sustainable form of the renewable energy system. This type of natural energy could be generated from the earth’s heat and takes a variety of purposes, including building heating and cooling, electricity generation, supplying warm/cold water for agricultural products in greenhouses, as well as balneological usage. Furthermore, geothermal energy isn’t affected by weather and could provide electricity and heat nearly constantly through the year. This study intends to investigate the opportunity of using geothermal energy in Iraq under the ground represents one of the sustainable energy resources we can use it will be a significant environmental benefit in our housing in air conditioning applications. This review gives a summary of geothermal energy systems in general. Topics addressed include: an introduction to the environments and the energy, also their relationship, a geothermal energy history brief, an overview of geothermal energy systems throughout the world and also through Iraq, and an overview of geothermal systems environmental impacts as well as the environmental impact of Sustainable buildings architecture design, are just a few of the topics covered. Hence, the achieved conclusions of this review can make changes towards sustainable environmental design