Titanium-salt flocculation and its sludge resource recovery to photocatalyst for advanced water treatment

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.This research embraces several objectives targeting different aspects of environmental concern in terms of wastewater flocculation, sludge disposal and removing of persistent organic pollutants from water and wastewater. The production of a large amount of sludge using coagulants of iron (Fe) and aluminium (Al) salts that needs disposal is considered as the most costly and environmentally problematic challenge in wastewater treatment. Titanium (Ti) salt used as an alternative coagulant reduces the cost of sludge disposal and protects the environment by producing titania photocatalyst from the incinerated sludge. However, titania photocatalyst is only a UV light responsive and its pollutant-specific photocatalytic degradation for various organic pollutants has not being examined. Thus, the main objectives of this study are: 1. Increase the efficiency of Ti-salt flocculation in terms of organic matter removal and sludge reduction by using a natural polymer of chitosan as a coagulant-aid. 2. Trace the seasonal variation in the characteristics of Ti-salt flocculation and as prepared-titania photocatalyst. 3. Produce pollutant-specific titania photocatalyst by synthesising titanate nanotubes (TN) and thiourea (CSN2H4) doped-titanate nanotubes (TD-TN) photocatalysts through the hydrothermal treatment of as prepared-titania. 4. Investigate the pollutant-specific photocatalytic activity of as prepared-titania and the synthesised titania photocatalysts in photodegrading of organic pollutant of gaseous acetaldehyde, humic acid (HA), dichloroacetic acid (DCA), rhodamine B (RhB), metsulfuron methyl (M&M) and phenol under UV, visible and solar light irradiation. 5. Then, select the best pollutant-specific titania for removing of 16 micropollutants of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) and endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in water. Our findings indicated that Ti-salt flocculation exhibited more reduction in turbidity, and colour of wastewater compared with Fe- and Al-salt flocculation. In addition, the use of chitosan was very efficient for enhancing the performance of Ti-salt flocculation. Ti-salt and chitosan flocculation improved significantly the turbidity and organic removal of wastewater up to 85%, considerably reduced the optimum dose of Ti-salt from 25 mg/L to less than 5 mg/L, solved the low pH of Ti-salt flocculation, and achieved in 40% reduction of Ti-salt flocculation sludge. The change in wastewater characteristics in different seasons has a negligible influence in the characteristics of Ti-salt flocculation and as prepared-titania. During the whole seasons, the turbidity and orthophosphate removal of Ti-salt flocculation were varied from 70 to 90% and 96 to 99%, respectively. As prepared-titania photocatalyst exhibited predominant anatase structure, high BET surface area and insignificant change in its photocatalytic activity. The photocatalytic degradation of HA and RhB was varied from 85 to 90% and 91 to 98%, respectively. The modified TD-TN photocatalyst exhibited superior photocatalytic activity than as prepared-titania and TN photocatalysts for photocatalytic degradation of the tested organic pollutants under visible and solar light. TD-TN photocatalyst was selected to photodegrade a set of 16 micropollutants of PPCPS and EDCs in water, exhibited a complete photocatalytic degradation of 7 micropollutants at TD-NT concentration of 50 mg/L. The photocatalytic degradation significantly increased with increasing in TD-NT concentration and complete photocatalytic degradation was achieved at TD-NT concentration of 500 mg/L after 90 minutes. The high photocatalysis activity of TD-NT in decomposing persistent organic pollutants and micropollutants would increase the attention to use of Ti-salt coagulant and titania photocatalyst as alternatives in water and wastewater treatment

Environmental Management's Values and Ethics Among Jadara University Students in Jordan

This paper aims at examining the acquired level of environmental values and ethics (EVEs) regarding Environmental Management (EM) by students in the social science faculty at Jadara University (JU) in Jordan. For achieving the purpose of this study, the random sample consisted of (44) male, and (56) female students. To gain the results, the researcher used a test of multiple choices with (30) questions. Means, standard deviations, percentages, and t-Tests were used to analyze data. The results revealed a good level(70.4%) of students’ awareness and the acquired EVEs, but  it is not catch the requested criteria level (80%). The results revealed also statistical differences in acquiring EVEs for the benefit of rural, while there are no statistical differences ascribed to students' sex. In the light of the results, the researcher recommended and suggested a number of recommendations and suggestions. Keywords: environmental management values, Jadara University, environment, students' awareness and ethics

THE JOY OF TECHNOLOGY VS. PRIVACY

Few organizations anywhere remain untouched by the profound changes that have swept over their business efforts in the past few years. Customers of all groups have developed much more sophisticated expectations, demands and services patterns than ever before due to the advent of the Web. The Internet provides easy access to extensive information about organization services, as well as a rich array of interaction options. This means customer’s loyalty is tougher than ever to build and maintain. Neither new prospects nor existing customer will respond to business messages that are not timely, relevant and offer recognized value. By reducing time and distance to nearly zero, technology has shifted the power in the customer-organization relationship to the customer. Customer now chooses when, how and where they will interact with organization services. Also customer noticed that current organization web services provide information through a one size fits-all approach where all customer travel through the same network of pages and directories, and that delivers the same information each time the customer logs on. As organization web sites are becoming larger and more complex system, which include huge databases, text search, multimedia, interactive interfaces and advance e-learning tools, from user point of view, it becomes very difficult to find useful updated information and personalized services hidden in huge cover of the organization database

Sustainable Development Environmental Values and in Islamic views

Sustainable development ethics in Islam involves embracing environmental values and ethics in the Holy Qura’n and Sunnah. These values may require changes in the individual’s behavior and culture in order to care for the environment and its ecosystems. This paper aims at investigating the sustainable Environmental Values and Ethics (EVEs) in a number of Holy verses and Prophetic speeches. The paper focused on three fields of EVEs that reflect the ethics of sustainable development. The first is on bringing about environmental balance by cooperation between individuals and groups, and appreciating their components. The second provides some EVEs related to environmental management through the rational use of non-renewable resources, and investment in renewable ones. The final field offers, as examples, some EVEs for environmental protection through preventing pollution. Finally, the section of conclusion was set up. Keywords: Sustainable Development Ethics, Islamic Environmental Value

The Role of Social Support and Patient Empowerment Through Online Health Communities in Enhancing Patient–Physician Relationship

Purpose: The goal of this project is to investigate how online health communities can improve patient-physician relationships by providing social support and patient empowerment.   Theoretical framework: Nowadays, on online health forums, patients can connect with other patients and healthcare professionals and share knowledge and experiences. However, there is a dearth of research on how patient-physician relationships might be improved via online health communities.    Design/Methodology/Approach: In this analytical study, a sample of 61 individuals receiving treatment in Jordan's private hospitals were given a questionnaire via two of the most popular health communities' Facebook pages.   Findings: The findings showed that while patient empowerment had no impact on the patient-physician connection, computer-mediated social support had an impact on that relationship. These findings support the need to suggest Jordanian online health community models that might strengthen this kind of engagement.     Research, Practical and Social Implications: Online health community providers need to be aware of the tactics they should use in these communities to strengthen the patient-physician relationship and integrate these efforts into patient treatment. Additionally, these communities can help medical practitioners ensure that patients receive the appropriate information and type of support.   Originality/Value: As online health groups grew, so did the number of patients who relied on them for information and emotional support. Although the majority of studies focused on this type of support, little is known about how it affects the patient-physician interaction

Characterisation of titanium tetrachloride and titanium sulfate flocculation in wastewater treatment

Flocculation with titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) and titanium sulfate (Ti(SO4)2) was investigated in terms of different coagulant doses, pH, turbidity, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), UV-254, colour, zeta potential, particle size and molecular weight distribution. The two coagulants were compared with the commonly used coagulants such as ferric chloride (FeCl3) and aluminium sulfate (Al2(SO 4)3). Titanium tetrachloride showed the highest turbidity removal, while titanium sulfate showed the highest reduction of UV-254 and colour at all pH values. The four coagulants were found to have similar organic removal up to 60-67% and resulted in similar organic removal in terms of various MW ranges. The decantability of the settled flocs was very high for titanium tetrachloride, titanium sulfate and ferric chloride compared with aluminium sulfate. The dominating coagulation mechanisms for titanium tetrachloride and titanium sulfate are still to be studied, since different precipitation reactions might take place at different pH even without flocculant addition. Titanium tetrachloride and titanium sulfate were found as effective new coagulants in wastewater treatment not only in terms of organic matter removal, but also in sludge reduction through the production of titanium dioxide. © IWA Publishing 2009

Can political public relations be used as a tool for social integration, with particular reference to the Muslim community in the UK?

Political, social and demographic change has resulted in a search for new techniques for building public trust and reconciling relationships between the Muslim community and others in society. In this study, extremism and social cohesion have been chosen as potential new aims for the PR industry. This study assesses whether political PR can be diverted from its role in spin doctoring towards new cultural and social functions. My argument is that political public relations can be used as a tool for social integration with particular reference to the Muslim community in the UK. This research distinguishes between two issues. The first connects with political PR within a political communication background, which relates to politicians, election campaigns, news management, and their relationship with the media. The second issue is that political PR can be reconsidered from a corporate perspective, one that endorses the use of PR in challenging political environments. My study places emphasis on the second issue. It applies a triangulating methodology based on using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to answer the research questions. A sample of seven UK public relations academics evaluated the current communication policies for their effectiveness, explained how political PR could help, and gave their recommendations. In addition, seven NGOs in Britain described their work, the problems they encountered, and their concerns. A lack of social integration and the continuing rise of extremism were repeatedly explained in terms of stereotyping, marginalisation, and counter-productive techniques. The results suggest that a change in political PR is possible and should be encouraged to intervene in fighting against radicalisation, extremism, and enhancing social cohesion. They also show a lack of PR support for NGOs. More broadly, my findings move the field of inclusivity forward by working on a bottom-up approach instead of a top-down model of communication. The best answer for sustaining long-term community relationships was improved communication and engagement, inclusive messages and campaigns, and the Muslim community remaining open to others in society

The Impact of Integration Between Intellectual Capital and Social Capital in Achieving the Competitive Advantage for the Public Industrial Jordanian Joint Stock Companies

The developed world today Witnesses dynamic transformations and many rapid changes in the structure of companies and organizations that are formed during the enormous economic growth and the technological acceleration. These changes and transformations did not occur as a result of technological developments and new technologies, but due to the increase attention towards two important resources which are: the intellectual capital and the social capital. Recent studies in those areas have confirmed that any corporation or pioneer company, in order to ensure its growth and survival and not to collapse or decay, should take advantage of these resources to gain access and be competitive, not only at the local level, but worldwide also. Based on the foregoing, this research worked on studying the fact of integration between the intellectual capital and the social capital in achieving the competitive advantage for Jordanian industrial companies from the standpoint of corporate managers. The most important results of the research were the consideration of both, the  intellectual and  social capital, as the most  important axis of companies survival, and without those capitals even simple companies cannot  survive, for this, they must maintain those capitals with quality, this can be done by providing a good work environment and studying  the work barriers and finding the best solutions for them, through the study of the properties of each of the social capital and the intellectual capital to reach the global competitiveness. the most important recommendations of this research is to urge the industrial companies to pay the necessary attention to the intellectual and social capitals, through social polarization and development in order to achieve the competitive advantage as for they are considered the real capital of the company. Keywords: Intellectual Capital, Social Capital, Competitive Advantage

The mediating role of perceived value on electronic service quality and customer satisfaction: Evidence from Malaysia

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of customers’ perceived value in mediating the relationship between Electronic Service Quality (ESQ) and customer satisfaction in online banking in Malaysia. The research model is developed based on the disconfirmation theory. Non-probability purposive sampling was adopted for data collection. A cross-sectional technique with a self-administered questionnaire was applied. The unit of analysis in this study is bank customers using online banking in Selangor, Malaysia. One hundred twenty-eight usable responses were received and analyzed. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was applied to analyze the data. Findings showed that the variance in customer satisfaction can be significantly explained via E-service quality dimensions (R2 = 0.52). The ease of use, security, reliability, responsiveness (ESQ) have a significant and positive impact on customer satisfaction among online banking users (p = 0.000). Furthermore, it was found that the customers’ perceived value significantly mediates the relationship between E-service quality and customer satisfaction (p-value = 0.0004). The experimental findings for this paper strengthen and expand the theoretical understanding of the relationship between ESQ, customer perceived value, and customer satisfaction that helps the banks in Malaysia to perform more successfully in the rapid business environment. This study also contributed to diminishing the gap in the ESQ literature between developed and developing countries, especially in the Malaysian context