The effect of metal nanoparticles on the anaerobic digestion of sludge and the sludge bacterial community are still not well-understood, and both improvements and inhibitions have been reported. This study investigated the impact of 2, 10, and 30 mg/g TS silver and copper oxide nanoparticles (AgNPs and CuONPs) on the mesophilic anaerobic digestion of sludge and the bacterial community structure. The reactors were monitored for changes in tCOD, sCOD, TS, VS, biogas generation, and cell viability. Also, the relative abundance and taxonomic distribution of the bacterial communities were analyzed at the phylum and genus levels, including the genera involved in anaerobic digestion. Both AgNPs and CuONPs exhibited some inhibition on anaerobic digestion of sludge and biogas generation, and the inhibition was more evident at higher concentrations. CuONPs had a stronger inhibitory effect compared to AgNPs. After the introduction of AgNPs and CuONPs, cell viability initially decreased over the first two weeks but recovered after that. At high concentrations, AgNPs and CuONPs decreased the overall bacterial diversity, and inhibited the dominant bacterial species, allowing those in less abundance to flourish. The relative abundance of the bacteria responsible for hydrolysis and acidogenesis increased and the relative abundance of acetogenic bacteria decreased with higher AgNP and CuONP concentrations. The majority of the parameters measured for monitoring the anaerobic digestion performance and bacterial community were not statistically significant at 2 mg/g TS of AgNPs and CuONPs, which represents naturally present concentrations in wastewater sludge that are below the USEPA ceiling concentration limits.
Aluminum oxide thin films were prepared by dc reactive sputtering technique using different mixing ratios of argon and oxygen gases (90:10, 70:30, 50:50, 30:70, and 10:90). These films were characterized to introduce their crystalline structures, surface morphology, and elemental composition. A progressive transition occurs from a predominantly amorphous to a highly crystalline Al2O3 film as the oxygen content in the Ar:O2 gas mixture is increased. Increasing the oxygen content leads to a progressive decrease in surface roughness, resulting in smoother and more uniform films with finer granular features. The oxygen-rich environments yield the smoothest surfaces, while argon-rich environments result in significantly rougher surfaces. These f
... Show MoreLevofloxacin belongs to the fluoroquinolone family; it is a potent broad-spectrum bactericidal agent. The pharmacophore required for significant antibacterial activity is the C-3 carboxylic acid group and the 4-pyridine ring with the C-4 carbonyl group, into which binding to the DNA bases occur. In this work, we tried to show that by masking the carboxyl group through amide formation using certain amines to form levofloxacin carboxamides, an interesting activity is kept. Levofloxacin carboxamides on the C-3 group were prepared, followed by the formation of their copper complexes. The target compounds were characterized by FT-IR, elemental analysis. The antimicrobial activity of the target compounds was evaluated and showed satisfactory resu
... Show MoreThe impact of undergraduate research experiences on students' academic development and retention in STEM fields is significant. Students' success in STEM fields is based on developing strong research and critical thinking skills that make it essential for students to engage in research activities throughout their academic programs. This work evaluates the effectiveness of undergraduate research experiences with respect to its influence on student retention and academic development. The cases presented are based on years of experience implementing undergraduate research programs in various STEM fields at Colorado State University Pueblo (CSU Pueblo) funded by HSI STEM Grants. The study seeks to establish a correlation between students' reten
... Show MoreColorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common disease and cause of death globally. The aim of the study is investigation and detection of some bacterial interfering with CRC occurrence and progression. The study conducted between September 2022 till February 2023, a total of 50 specimens were collected from confirmed CRC patients. In addition, 50 stool specimens were collected from Healthy volunteers, considers as control group. Isolation and identification of bacteria in all collected specimens were done by using cultural and differential media (blood agar, macconkey agar and Pfizer agar), as well as the VITEK- 2 compact system. The bacterial species, in the specimens of control were ( Escherichia coli 50 (86.20%), Klebsiella Pneumoni
... Show MoreBackground: Neonatal septicemia is a major health problem in developing countries furthermore data on bacteriological profile in early onst sepses (EOS) and late neonatal sepsis (LOS) are lacking in context of continuous change in bacteriological profile and increasing resistant strains. Objectives: The study done to determine the pattern of organisms implicated in neonatal septicemia in a neonatal care unit and to measure the degree of bacterial resistance to some antibiotics.
Type of the study : cross –sectional study.
Methods: Confirmed cases of neonatal septicemia admitted at Al-Alwyia pediatric teaching hospital for the period from January 20
... Show MoreThe attention of civil society organizations, governments and international non-governmental organizations in recent years has focused on the acute practices adopted by companies with the aim of reducing the tax burden, and the results of these practices have a negative impact on the tax revenues that the state uses to finance public needsThe aim of the research is to measure the impact of the voluntary disclosure of companies on tax planning for the period from 2011 to 2015 and the research community is in the General Tax Authority. The research sample is 6 companies within the private sector in the financial, banking, insurance and industrial fields. The research was based on a special model to measure the optional disclosure,
... Show MoreThe disposal of textile effluents to the surface water bodies represents the critical issue especially these effluents can have negative impacts on such bodies due to the presence of dyes in their composition. Biological remediation methods like constructed wetlands are more cost-effective and environmental friendly technique in comparison with traditional methods. The ability of vertical subsurface flow constructed wetlands units for treating of simulated wastewater polluted with Congo red dye has been studied in this work. The units were packed with waterworks sludge bed that either be unplanted or planted with Phragmites australis and Typha domingensis. The efficacy of present units was evaluated by monitoring of DO, Temperature, COD
... Show MorePatient safety is the main issue in health care organization, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality defines it as, “freedom from accidental or preventable injuries produced by medical care. Thus, practices or interventions that improve patient safety are those that reduce the occurrence of preventable adverse events”. The purpose of this study was to evaluate Iraqi pharmacist perception about the culture of patient safety. As well as estimate whether safety is a principal issue in their pharmaceutical practice this study was carried out on 435 pharmacists who are working in community pharmacies in various Iraqi provinces. A survey was distributed via the internet during the period from May to June 2020. A community pharmacy
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