Job stress among resident physicians in Tanta University Hospitals,Egypt

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Resident physicians are the first-line health service providers, subjected to prolonged working hours, sleep deprivation and high job demands. Work...     

Effect of cooking on arsenic concentration in rice

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study assessed the effect of rinsing and boiling on total content of As (tAs) and of its inorganic and organic forms in different types of rice...     

Water Network Synthesis Using Mutation-Enhanced Particle Swarm Optimization

Different techniques for the synthesis of industrial water reuse/recycle networks have been developed in recent process integration research. These tools range from graphical pinch analysis approaches to mathematical programming models. The latter have the advantage of being flexible enough to incorporate various water network constraints, but in many cases these are often non-linear, thus making the identification of global optima difficult. Recent work has demonstrated the effectiveness of metaheuristic algorithms such as particle swarm optimization (PSO), for finding good solutions these problems. This work describes the use of a modified PSO for solving mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP) models for water network synthesis. By incorporating a mutation operator for the binary variables in the model, the algorithm is able to escape sub-optimal network topologies and proceed towards better solutions than can be found with ordinary PSO. Two case studies involving water recycle/reuse are used to demonstrate the new design methodology.     

Modeling of n-butane ignition, combustion, and preflame oxidation in the 20-l vessel

The objective of the study reported herein is to simulate various physical and chemical phenomena accompanying fuel-rich n-butane–oxygen mixture preparation, ignition, preflame oxidation, and combustion in the standard 20-l explosion vessel, by applying mathematical models. Based on the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of the mixing process and natural convection of the ignition kernel, as well as on the analysis of the detailed reaction mechanism of n-butane oxidation, laminar flame propagation, and self-ignition, possible explanations for the phenomena observed experimentally have been suggested. The results of the study indicate that seemingly inflammable mixtures can become hazardous depending on the mixture preparation procedure and forced ignition timing.