In this study, a novel application of lab-scale dual chambered air-cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC) has been developed for simultaneous bio-treatment of real pharmaceutical wastewater and renewable electricity generation. The microbial fuel cell (MFC) was provided with zeolite-packed anodic compartment and a cation exchange membrane (CEM) to separate the anode and cathode. The performance of the proposed MFC was evaluated in terms of COD removal and power generation based on the activity of the bacterial consortium in the biofilm mobilized on zeolite bearer. The MFC was fueled with real pharmaceutical wastewater having an initial COD concentration equal to 800 mg/L and inoculated with anaerobic aged sludge. Results demo

Background: The irradiation of teeth with a laser results in an interaction between the light and the biological constituents of the dental hard substance, which is converted directly into heat.This thermal effect is the cause of the structural and chemical enamel changes.The combined treatment of topical fluoride agent with laser may increase fluoride uptake, and reduce progression of caries-like lesions. The aim of this study was to measure the uptake of the acidulated phosphate fluoride and sodium fluoride to the buccal and lingual caries-like lesion enamel surfaces before and after irradiated by Nd-YAG laser in comparison with matching control group. Materials and methods: The sample consisted of 30 human healthy upper premolar teeth wh

In this work, the plasma parameters (electron temperature and
electron density) were determined by optical emission spectroscopy
(OES) produced by the RF magnetron Zn plasma produced by
oxygen and argon at different working pressure. The spectrum was
recorded by spectrometer supplied with CCD camera, computer and
NIST standard of neutral and ionic lines of Zn, argon and oxygen.
The effects of pressure on plasma parameters were studied and a
comparison between the two gasses was made.

A comparison between the resistance capacity of a single pile excited by two opposite rotary machines embedded in dry and saturated sandy soil was considered experimentally. A small-scale physical model was manufactured to accomplish the experimental work in the laboratory. The physical model consists of: two small motors supplied with eccentric mass 0·012 kg and eccentric distance 20 mm representing the two opposite rotary machines, an aluminum shaft with 20 mm in diameter as the pile, and a steel plate with dimensions of (160 × 160 × 20 mm) as a pile cap. The experimental work was achieved taking the following parameters into consideration, pile embedment depth ratio (L/d; length to diameter) and operating freq

Cr2O3 thin films have been prepared by spray pyrolysis on a glass substrate. Absorbance and transmittance spectra were recorded in the wavelength range (300-900) nm before and after annealing. The effects of annealing temperature on absorption coefficient, refractive index, extinction coefficient, real and imaginary parts of dielectric constant and optical conductivity were expected. It was found that all these parameters increase as the annealing temperature increased to 550°C.

According to the prevalence of multidrug resistance bacteria, especially Pseudomonas aeruginosa, in which the essential mechanism of drug resistance is the ability to possess an efflux pump by which extrusion of antimicrobial agents usually occurs, this study aims to detect the presence of mexB multidrug efflux gene in some local isolates of this bacteria that show resistance towards three antibiotics, out of five. Sensitivity test to antibiotics was performed on all isolates by using meropenem (10μg/disc), imipenem (10μg/disc), amikacin (30 μg/disc), ciprofloxacin (5μg/disc) and ceftazidime (30 μg/disc). Conventional PCR results showed the presence of mexB gene (244bp) in four isolates out of ten (40%). In addition,25, 50μg/ml of cur

The aim of this study is to evaluating the antibacterial activity of Laurus nobilis leaves extract on E. coli isolates. Maceration and Soxhlet apparatus were used to prepare aqueous and methanolic extracts; total phenolic content and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) were conducted to determine the active compounds in the extracts. The results showed that both Laurus nobilis methanolic and aqueous extracts have a noticeable effect on scavenging free radicals. Free radical scavenging activity. The total phenolic contents were 28.60 ±0.12 and 16.58 ±0.11mg/g in 50 mg/ml, in methanolic and aqueous extracts respectively. The antibacterial activity of Laurus nobilis leaves extracts showed that the methanolic extract was more effective than

The sunflower plants are attacked by serious seed and soil-borne pathogens including charcoal rot disease that caused by Macrophomina phaseolina. This disease has serious damages to sunflower crop. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus against charcoal rot disease as fungicide alternative.