Modified dehydrogenase enzyme assay for evaluation of the influence of Hg,Cd, and Zn on the bacterial community structure of a wastewater treatment plant

In this study, a traditional assay was modified to evaluate the effect of Hg, Cd, and Zn on the bacterial community of a sequencing batch reactor and activated sludge plants and heavy metal-resistant bacterial species were determined. After the isolation of metal-resistant bacteria, their 16S rRNA gene fragments were sequenced. The BLAST program was used to compare the resulting 16S rRNA sequences with those in GenBank database to identify the isolated bacterial species. Hg was found to be the most toxic metal for both bacterial communities investigated. Sequence batch reactor bacteria were comparatively more resistant to Hg, Cd, and Zn than those from activated sludge. The resistant strains were close to the members of genus Pseudomonas, Kocuria, Stenotrophomonas, Enterococcus, and Staphylococcus. The modified dehydrogenase enzyme assay seems to be simple, robust, and competent for evaluation of the impact of metals on bacterial activity. Sequencing batch reactor systems should be preferred over activated sludge when wastewaters containing hazardous metals are to be treated.     

Radiation heat transfer in transient dust cloud flame propagation

This study investigates the impact of radiation heat transfer and heat conduction on dust cloud combustion. Radiation plays a very important role in the stability of dust cloud flame, and increasing the amount of radiation drastically raises the possibility of instability and explosion in a dust cloud mixture. Flame speed, which is a function of mixture characteristics, can exhibit a fluctuating behavior. By using the discrete heat source method, it would be possible to study the transient propagation of dust flames. Thus, the propagation speed of flame can be obtained, and as time goes by, the transient speed of dust flame will reach its steady state value. By considering the radiation effect, better agreement is observed between the obtained results and experimental data.     

Application of SHERPA to Identify and Prevent Human Errors in Control Units of Petrochemical Industry

Introduction. Studying human errors as a risk factor in the occurrence of accidents is necessary. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify, predict and control human errors in industrial control units. Method. This is a case study carried out using SHERPA in the first unit of Zagros Methanol of Asalooyeh, Iran, and its subunits. To collect the required data, various methods were used: observing, interviewing processing specialists and control unit operators, and studying technical documents and records. Results. In total, 222 human errors were identified in various occupational tasks. This study showed that 48.62% of them were action errors, 31.97% were checking errors, 6.75% were retrieval errors, 11.70% were communication errors and 0.90% were selection errors. Conclusion. It can be inferred that this method is appropriate for different industries, and it is useful for identifying human errors leading to hazardous accidents.     

Musculoskeletal Symptoms In Workers

Self-report measures of musculoskeletal discomfort are a widely used and generally accepted risk factor for musculoskeletal disorders in epidemiologic research. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in packing workers. A cross-sectional study of 75 workers was carried out using a modified Nordic questionnaire. Prevalence was determined with the percentage of positive responses to questions on musculoskeletal symptoms. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were the measures of association between prevalent musculoskeletal symptoms and demographic factors; they were determined with logistic regression. Most musculoskeletal symptoms in workers were from the low back (44.0%), shoulders (33.3%) and neck (32.0%). Years worked were strongly significantly associated with musculoskeletal symptoms and pain in the neck, shoulders and wrists/hands, P< .001-.050. Hazards related to repetitive movements and discomfort postures could be reduced with stretching exercises, rotation schedules and through new engineering solutions.     

Toxicity of Nerium oleander leaf extract in mice

Non-lethal dose of 70% ethanol extract of the Nerium oleander dry leaves (1000 mg/kg body weight) was subcutaneously injected into male and female mice once a week for 9 weeks (total 10 doses). One day after the last injection, final body weight gain (relative percentage to the initial body weight) had a tendency, in both males and females, towards depression suggesting a metabolic insult at other sites than those involved in myocardial function. Multiple exposure of the mice to the specified dose failed to express a significant influence on blood parameters (WBC, RBC, Hb, HCT, PLT) as well as myocardium. On the other hand, a lethal dose (4000 mg/kg body weight) was capable of inducing progressive changes in myocardial electrical activity ending up in cardiac arrest. The electrocardiogram abnormalities could be brought about by the expected Na+, K(+)-ATPase inhibition by the cardiac glycosides (cardenolides) content of the lethal dose.     

Removal of textile dyes from water by the electro-Fenton process

An environmentally friendly electrochemical treatment, electro-Fenton process, was applied to the depollution of a synthetic dismissal composed of three dyes, yellow drimaren, congo red and methylene blue, frequently used in textile and dyehouses. Here, we show that those dyes and their mixture are quickly degraded under current controlled electrolysis conditions, leading to an almost complete mineralization. The results show the efficiency of electro-Fenton process to quickly degrade aqueous effluents polluted by synthetic organic dyes.     

Unwanted metals and hydrophobic contaminants in bioreactor effluents are associated with the presence of humic substances

Biological treatment of landfill leachate is challenging due to the presence of complex compounds. Here, we treated an old landfill leachate using a membrane bioreactor under the following conditions: 24 h for hydraulic retention, 65 days of sludge retention and an average organic load rate of 1.71 ± 0.16 g/L/day. We observed a high removal of ammonia, phosphorous and some metals. However, removal of organic carbon was incomplete. Despite a major removal of suspended solids, hydrophobic and volatile hydrophilic compounds, high concentration of fulvic acid and hydrophilic contaminants was found in the effluent. Overally, we demonstrate that the presence of humic substances in the effluent is associated with the detection of arsenic, copper and chromium and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate.     

Evaluation of spatial and temporal variation in Karun River water quality during five decades (1968–2014)

In the present study, the multivariate statistical technique cluster analysis (CA) is used to evaluate the spatial and temporal variations in the water quality data for the Karun River, which was gathered during 46 years of monitoring (from 1968 to 2014). The data recorded electrical conductivity (EC) in the river at six water monitoring stations along its course. The mean of EC was 972.05 ± 365.466 micromhos per centimeter (μmhos/cm) at the most upstream station and showed an increase to 1458.41 ± 675.048 μmhos/cm at the most downstream of the stations. By using hierarchical CA, the six sampling stations were grouped into three clusters of similar characteristics, which may be a result of different land uses in proximity to the stations. Furthermore, two‐way analysis of variance showed that EC had a significant correlation (p < 0.001) with the season, and the mean of the pollution depended on the level of the cluster and the season (spring, summer, autumn, and winter).     

Dose-response modeling for developmental neurotoxicity data

The fact that maternal exposures to some chemicals during pregnancy can adversely affect the structure and function of the nervous system in the offspring is well established. Government agencies have for a long time been concerned with regulation of developmental neurotoxicants and safe perinatal exposures. However, despite this concern, current guidelines provide only broad and nonspecific recommendations and lack clear directions for a model based approach to risk estimation. In this paper we propose a dose-response model for the nonquantal data obtained from developmental neurotoxicological experiments. To account for the critical issue of the correlation among responses from pups in the same litter, the so called intralitter correlation, a hierarchical distributional structure is used to derive the underlying unconditional distribution of responses. The maximum likelihood method is used to estimate model parameters and the covariance matrix of the estimates is derived. An example is used to illustrate the results.