Advancing the Cyberinfrastructure for Smart Water Metering and Water Demand Modeling

With rapid growth of urban populations and limited water resources, achieving an appropriate balance between water supply capacity and residential water demand poses a significant challenge to water supplying agencies. With the recent emergence of smart metering technology, where water use can be monitored and recorded at high resolution (e.g., observations of water use every 5 seconds), most existing research has been aimed at providing water managers with detailed information about the water use behavior of their consumers and the performance of water using fixtures. However, replacing existing meters with smart meters is expensive, and effectively using data produced by smart meters can be a roadblock for water utilities that lack sophisticated information technology expertise. The research in this dissertation presents low cost, open source cyberinfrastructure aimed at addressing these challenges. Components developed include an open source algorithm for identifying and classifying water end use events from smart meter data, a low cost datalogging and computational device that enables existing water meters to collect high resolution data and compute end use information, and a detailed water demand model that uses end use event information to simulate residential water use at a municipality level. Using this cyberinfrastructure, we conducted a case study application in the cities of Logan and Providence, Utah. We tested the applicability of the disaggregation algorithm in quantifying water end uses for different meter sizes and types. We tested the datalogging computational device at a residential household and demonstrated collection, disaggregation, and transfer of high resolution flow data and classified events into a secure server. Finally, we demonstrated a water demand model that simulates the detailed water end uses of Logan’s residents using a combination of a set of representative water end use events and monthly billing data. Using the data we collected and the outputs from the model, we demonstrated opportunities for conserving water through improving the efficiency of water using fixtures and promoting behavior changes

Activation of β2-Adrenoceptors Is Required for Mucin Production in Airway Bronchial Epithelial Cells

Asthma, a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, is associated with mucus hypersecretion by airway epithelium. Accumulated mucus in the airways contributes to airway obstruction, airway hyperresponsiveness and sometimes death. In a murine model of asthma, chronically blocking β2-adrenoceptors (β2-ARs) or genetic ablation of β2-ARs causes a reduction in mucus secretion, an index of inflammatory responses, in response to allergen. The detailed molecular components of these effects remain to be elucidated. We examined the β2-AR signaling pathways involved in mediating mucin production in response to IL-13 in airway epithelial cells. The expression of MUC5AC, the predominant mucin-producing gene in asthma, and mucin content were induced by IL-13 in normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) cells as compared to control cells only in the presence of epinephrine. Blocking β2-ARs, but not β1-ARs, attenuated the IL-13 effect. The three members of MAPK family, ERK1/2, p38 and JNK, were all involved in inducing mucin production in response to IL-13 in the presence of epinephrine. Since β2-ARs signal through the canonical Gs-adenylyl cyclase or β-arrestin signaling cascade, we examined each pathway separately. Elevating intracellular cAMP levels was associated with enhanced IL-13 response, either in the presence or absence of epinephrine and increased epithelial cell number. Moreover, inhibiting the activity of PKA and PDE4 resulted in attenuated IL-13 response. Stimulating β-arrestin-2 signaling did not alter the IL-13 response in NHBE cells, either in the presence or absence of epinephrine. However, the absence of β-arrestin-2 from mouse airway epithelial cells attenuated the response to IL-13 as compared to cells expressing β-arrestin-2. β2-ARs did not seem to affect IL-13 mediated mucuciliary shift from ciliated to goblet cells or cell proliferation. We conclude that, in human bronchial epithelial cells, epinephrine-induced β2-AR signaling is required to enhance mucus production in response to IL-13. Moreover, MAPKs, cAMP and cAMPdependent protein kinases are all involved components of β2-AR signaling in mediating the effect of IL-13 in NHBE cells.Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department o

Membrane Anaerobic System (MAS) for Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) Treatment

The direct discharge of palm oil mill effluent (POME) wastewater causes serious environmental pollution due to its high chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). Traditional ways for POME treatment have both economic and environmental disadvantages. In this study, membrane anaerobic system (MAS) was used as an alternative, cost effective method for treating POME. Six steady states were attained as a part of a kinetic study that considered concentration ranges of 8,220 to 15,400 mg/l for mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) and 6, 329 to 13,244 mg/l for mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS). Kinetic equations from Monod, Contois and Chen & Hashimoto were employed to describe the kinetics of POME treatment at organic loading rates ranging from 2 to 13 kg COD/m3/d. throughout the experiment, the removal efficiency of COD was from 94.8 to 96.5% with hydraulic retention time, HRT from 400.6 to 5.7 days. The growth yield coefficient, Y was found to be 0.62gVSS/g COD the specific microorganism decay rate was 0.21 d-1 and the methane gas yield production rate was between 0.25 l/g COD/d and 0.58 l/g COD/d. Steady state influent COD concentrations increased from 18,302 mg/l in the first steady state to 43,500 mg/l in the sixth steady state. The minimum solids retention time, which was obtained from the three kinetic models ranged from 5 to 12.3 days. The k values were in the range of and values were between 0.26 and 0.379 d-1. The solids retention time (SRT) decreased from 800 days to 11.6 days. The complete treatment reduced the COD content to 2279 mg/l equivalent to a reduction of 94.8% reduction from the original

Hepato- and nephrotoxicity in male albino rats exposed to malathion and spinosad in stored wheat grains

Adult male albino rats were fed on stored wheat grains (Triticum aestivum L.) treated with malathion and spinosad at both 8 and 16 ppm for 90 consecutive days to evaluate their hepatic and renal toxicity. The activity of serum acetylcholinesterase (AChE) was decreased in rats treated with the higher concentration of both tested pesticides. Biochemical parameters of liver functions [i.e., aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), acid phosphatase (ACP) activity, as well as total protein, albumin, bilirubin and cholesterol levels] were severely affected especially at higher concentration. Malathion and spinosad elevated the activity of ALT, AST, ALP and ACP in rats treated with the higher concentration. Also, total and direct bilirubin levels increased in rats treated with the higher concentration of both pesticides. On the contrary, both pesticides decreased total protein and albumin levels in treated rats in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, malathion was found to be hyperglycemic. Kidney function parameters (i.e., urea and creatinine levels) were increased in treated rats in a concentration-dependent manner. The above mentioned effects were supported by histopathological examination of liver and kidney tissues. The obtained results indicated also that malathion was able to cause a more pronounced hepato- and renal toxicity in rats than spinosad

Demulsification of petroleum emulsions using microwave separation method

The formation of emulsions during oil production and processing is a costly problem, both in terms of chemicals used and production losses. For economic and operational reasons, it is necessary to separate the water completely from crude oils before transporting or refining them. Experimental data are presented to show the influences of Triton X-100, low-sulfur wax residue (LSWR), sorbitan monooleate (Span 83) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) on the stability and microwave demulsification of petroleum emulsions. It was found that emulsion stability was related to several parameters including the surfactant concentration, water-to-oil phase ratio (10 to 90%), temperature and agitation speed. Based on this study, a possible emulsion-minimization approach utilizing microwave irradiation is suggested, which could be implemented in refineries. Compared with conventional heating, the use of microwave heating can significantly enhance the demulsification rate, reaching over 90 v/v% for the emulsions studied in this work

Three years clinical experience with intestinal transplantation

BACKGROUND: After the successful evolution of hepatic transplantation during the last decade, small bowel and multivisceral transplantation remains the sole elusive achievement for the next era of transplant surgeons. Until recently, and for the last thirty years, the results of the sporadic attempts of intestinal transplantation worldwide were discouraging because of unsatisfactory graft and patient survival. The experimental and clinical demonstration of the superior therapeutic efficacy of FK 506, a new immunosuppressive drug, ushered in the current era of small bowel and multivisceral transplantation with initial promising results. STUDY DESIGN: Forty-three consecutive patients with short bowel syndrome, intestinal insufficiency, or malignant tumors with or without associated liver disease, were given intestinal (n=15), hepatic and intestinal (n=21), or multivisceral allografts that contained four or more organs (n=7). Treatment was with FK 506 based immunosuppression. The ascending and right transverse colon were included with the small intestine in 13 of the 43 grafts, almost evenly distributed between the three groups. RESULTS: After six to 39 months, 30 of the 43 patients are alive, 29 bearing grafts. The most rapid convalescence and resumption of diet, as well as the highest three month patient survival (100 percent) and graft survival (88 percent) were with the isolated intestinal procedure. However, this advantage was slowly eroded during the first two postoperative years, in part because the isolated intestine was more prone to rejection. By the end of this time, the best survival rate (86 percent) was with the multivisceral procedure. With all three operations, most of the patients were able to resume diet and discontinue parenteral alimentation, and in the best instances, the quality of life approached normal. However, the surveillance and intensity of care required for these patients for the first year, and in most instances thereafter, was very high, being far more than required for patients having transplants of the liver, kidney or heart. CONCLUSIONS: Although intestinal transplantation has gone through the feasibility phase, strategies will be required to increase its practicality. One possibility is to combine intestinal transplantation with contemporaneous autologous bone marrow transplantation