Influence of coal ash on the concrete properties and its performance under sulphate and chloride conditions

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study investigated the influence of coal bottom ash (CBA) on the concrete properties and evaluate the effects of combined exposure of sulphate...     

Efficacy and safety of doravirine in treatment-naive HIV-1-infected adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This research aims to study the safety and efficacy of doravirine in the treatment of HIV-1 (human immunodeficiency virus) patients. We conducted an...     

Repeated exposure to cat urine induces complex behavioral,hormonal, and c-fos mRNA responses in Norway rats (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Rattus norvegicus</Emphasis>)

Prey species show specific adaptations that allow recognition, avoidance, and defense against predators. This study was undertaken to investigate the processing of a chronic, life-threatening stimulus to Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus). One hundred forty-four Norway rats were tested by repeated presentation of cat urine for 1 h at different days in a defensive withdrawal apparatus. Rats exposed to urine for short periods showed significantly larger defensive behavioral and medial hypothalamic c-fos messenger RNA (mRNA) responses than other groups. These defensive responses habituated shortly after the presentation of cat urine. Serum levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone and corticosterone increased significantly when animals were repeatedly exposed to cat urine. However, the hormonal responses took longer to habituate than the behavioral and molecular responses did. We conclude that the behavioral and c-fos mRNA responses are “primed” for habituation to repeated exposures to cat urine, while the hormonal responses show “resistance.” The results support our hypothesis that the strongest anti-predator responses at three levels would occur during short-term exposure to cat urine and that these responses would subsequently disappear on prolonged exposure. This study assists understanding the way in which the different levels of defensive responses are integrated and react during chronic stress.     

Floating roof storage tank boilover

Storage tanks are important facilities for the major hazard installations (MHIs) to store large quantity of crude oil. There is several fire types can occur with large diameter open top floating roof storage tanks. Boilover is considered one of the most dangerous fires in large-scale oil tank. The world has witnessed many incidents due to boilover in floating roof storage tank. Boilover problem has been studied in experiments and by models to understand how to control the boilover phenomena. An experimental study has been carried out in Jebel Dhanna (JD) terminal area by Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) with support of Resource Protection International (RPI) consultant. 2.4 m diameter and 4.5 m diameters pans have been used to study the characteristics of the large oil-tank fires (i) to gain more knowledge of the boilover phenomenon of crude oil (ii) verify if the crude oil stored by ADCO would boilover (ii) estimation of rate of hot-zone growth and the period needed from ignition to boilover (iii) estimation of radiant heat and consequences of boilover. This paper presents an overview on the floating roof storage tank boilover. The paper also presents briefly boilover experimental research study carried out by ADCO.     

Epidemiology of tornado destruction in rural northern Bangladesh: risk factors for death and injury

The epidemiology of tornado-related disasters in the developing world is poorly understood. An August 2005 post-tornado cohort study in rural Bangladesh identified elevated levels of death and injury among the elderly (≥ 60 years of age) (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 8.9 (95 per cent confidence interval (CI): 3.9-20.2) and AOR = 1.6 (95 per cent CI: 1.4-1.8), respectively), as compared to 15-24 year-olds, and among those outdoors versus indoors during the tornado (AOR = 10.4 (95 per cent CI: 5.5-19.9) and AOR = 6.6 (95 per cent CI: 5.8-7.5), respectively). Females were 1.24 times (95 per cent CI: 1.15-1.33) more likely to be injured than males. Elevated risk of injury was significantly associated with structural damage to the house and tin construction materials. Seeking treatment was protective against death among the injured, odds ratio = 0.08 (95 per cent CI: 0.03-0.21). Further research is needed to develop injury prevention strategies and to address disparities in risk between age groups and between men and women.     

Prediction of total bed material load for rivers in Malaysia: A case study of Langat,Muda and Kurau Rivers

A soft computational technique is applied to predict sediment loads in three Malaysian rivers. The feed forward-back propagated (schemes) artificial neural network (ANNs) architecture is employed without any restriction to an extensive database compiled from measurements in Langat, Muda, Kurau different rivers. The ANN method demonstrated a superior performance compared to other traditional sediment-load methods. The coefficient of determination, 0.958 and the mean square error 0.0698 of the ANN method are higher than those of the traditional method. The performance of the ANN method demonstrates its predictive capability and the possibility of generalization of the modeling to nonlinear problems for river engineering applications.     

Exergy for better environment and sustainability

In this paper, some key aspects and definitions of exergy are presented, and practical examples are given in order to highlight its usefulness in design, analysis and performance improvement for various types of energy processes for better environment and sustainable development. The relations between exergy, sustainability and environmental impact are illustrated to show how improving the performance of the process through exergy efficiency affects the environmental impact and sustainable development. Both exergy and energy efficiencies for various systems/processes are also studied for comparison purposes.     

Design for occupational safety and health of workers in construction in developing countries: a study of architects in Nigeria

Purpose. Design for safety (DfS) of workers is amongst the prominent ways of tackling poor occupational safety and health performance in construction. However, in developing countries there is extremely limited research on DfS. This study thus makes an important contribution to the subject of DfS in developing countries by specifically examining the awareness and practice of DfS amongst architects within the construction sector of Nigeria. Materials and methods. A survey of architects, yielding 161 valid responses, was conducted. Results. While there is high awareness of the concept of DfS, the actual practice is low. Additionally, although there is high interest in DfS training, the engagement in DfS training is low. Significantly, awareness of DfS, training and education related to DfS, and membership of a design professional body have very limited bearing on the practice of DfS by architects. Conclusions. The findings are thus symptomatic of the prevalence of influential DfS implementation barriers within the construction sector. Industry stakeholders should seek to raise the profile of DfS practice within the sector. Furthermore, similar empirical studies in the construction sector of other developing countries would be useful in shedding light on the status of DfS in these countries.     

Chemical and microbiological examination of well and Nile water

The chemical composition and microbiological contamination of well water and Nile River water used for drinking were investigated in localities around Khartoum, Sudan, to present baseline data. The chemical analyses results obtained indicated that public health hazards due to pH, Ca⁺⁺, CO₃^??, HCO₃^?, and NO₃^? are unlikely in all the samples studied, while Na⁺ and Cl^? ions concentrations in well water warrant some attention. Contamination from organic matter and suspended material is also negligible. Microbial contamination with coliform and fecal coliform is high in surface wells and in the Nile River, but negligible in deep bores, tap water, and mineral water. The logarithm of the colony count ranges from zero for mineral water to 6.8 for water from the White Nile. In addition to drawing further attention to the well water and Nile water used for drinking by a wide sector of the population, the microbial count data for water from the Nile disagreed with the generally held belief that the Nile, being one of the largest rivers of the world, carries no detectable fecal contamination. Our data also did not support the belief that the White Nile is more contaminated than the Blue Nile.     

Ciprofloxacin adsorption from aqueous solution onto chemically prepared carbon from date palm leaflets

A chemically prepared carbon was synthesized from date palm leaflets via sulphuric acid carbonization at 160℃. Adsorption of ciprofloxacin (CIP) from aqueous solution was investigated in terms of time, pH, concentration, temperature and adsorbent status (wet and dry). The equilibrium time was found to be 48 hr. The adsorption rate was enhanced by raising the temperature for both adsorbents, with adsorption data fitting a pseudo second-order model well. The activation energy, E_a, was found to be 17 kJ/mol, indicating a diffusion-controlled, physical adsorption process. The maximum adsorption was found at initial pH 6. The wet adsorbent showed faster removal with higher uptake than the dry adsorbent, with increased performance as temperature increased (25-45℃). The equilibrium data were found to fit the Langmuir model better than the Freundlich model. The thermodynamic parameters showed that the adsorption process is spontaneous and endothermic. The adsorption mechanism is mainly related to cation exchange and hydrogen bonding.