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Paper mills are characterized as polluting industries, these use pulping process for paper manufacturing, due to which toxic chemicals released into environment. Therefore, the biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the emanating stream is high and dissolved oxygen (DO) is low. To resolve this predicament, two dominant bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Micrococcus luteus, and one fungi Phanerochaete crysosporium was isolated from pulp and paper mills effluent (PPME) soils. These microbes were individually and in consortium were inoculated in (PPME) without diluting and no addition of carbon or nitrogen sources. Experiment was conducted under shaking and stationary conditions for nine days. These microbes were found competent of reducing BOD up to 87.2 %, COD up to 94.7% and lignin content up to 97% after 9 d under shaking conditions and brought down pH of raw PPME to neutral and increased DO from 0.8 mg/L to 6.8 mg/L. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacteria make expolysaccharides (EPS) in two basic forms; as firmly attached capsular-EPS and loosely attached slime-EPS. Hence, the objective of this paper was to investigate the optimization of exopolysaccharide (EPS) production by bacteria strains isolated from brewery wastewater sludge collected from a Brewery Company in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria using random mutagenesis. Bacterial isolates from brewery wastewater sludge samples were screened for EPS production using standard microbiological method. Six (6) best EPS-producing bacterial isolates were selected, identified molecularly as Bacillus altitudinis, Bacillus velezensis, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Heyndrickxia oleronia, and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, and used for optimization of EPS production after exposure to UV-irradiation and ethidium bromide (EtBr). In all the isolates, UV-irradiation caused the production of significantly (P<0.05) higher EPS yield than EtBr. However, both treatments induced the formation of mutant strains with higher EPS yields than the wild strains. The quantity of EPS produced varied among the mutant strains and ranged from 0.46±0.02 g/100ml in EtBr-mutant strain EPBS.6 to 0.86±0.01 g/100ml in UV-mutant strain EPBS.1, indicating 15.1% to 26.5% yield increase compared to the wild strains with EPS yields of 0.40±0.02 g/100ml to 0.68±0.01 g/100ml. Previous studies have reported Bacillus altitudinis, Bacillus velezensis, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus as EPSproducers, but little or no known report was on ground regarding EPS producing capacity of Heyndrickxia oleronia, sufficing that it might be a novel EPS-producing bacteria strain. Based on these results, we therefore conclude that the bacteria strains obtained have the potential to produce EPS and the production can be improved through random mutagenesis with UV-irradiation and EtBr. We recommend brewery wastewater sludge as a rich source of novel EPS-producing bacteria and suggest further study on the mechanism of mutagenesis on EPS production by bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a longstanding and challenging task to develop sustainable environment-friendly and cost-effective corrosion-protection technologies for Mg alloys, especially under marine conditions in which corrosion can normally be significantly accelerated by bacterial activity. However, this paper reports on the corrosion of highly active Mg interestingly inhibited by an algal-symbiotic bacterium Bacillus altitudinis. The corrosion of Mg in the presence of the bacterium drastically reduced by one order of magnitude after 14 days of immersion. This means that the algal-symbiotic bacterium widely available in natural ocean environments may be employed as a green and sustainable inhibitor in the marine industry. Based on electrochemical measurements, surface analyses and microbe experiments, a combined inhibition mechanism is proposed in the paper to interpret the interesting corrosion behavior of Mg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanisms modulated by periodontal pathogens in atherosclerosis are not fully understood. Aim: to perform an integrative analysis of gene and protein expression modulated by periodontal pathogens in cells and animal models for atherosclerosis. Cochrane, PRISMA and AMSTAR2 guidelines for systematic reviews were followed. Data search was conducted in Pub-med, LILACS and Science Direct databases. Gene and protein expression data were collected from the included papers to perform an overrepresentation analysis using the Reactome Pathway Analysis tool and the KEGG database. Thirty-two papers were included in the review, they analyzed the effect of Fusobacterium nucleatum , Porphyromonas gingivalis , Streptococcus anginosus , Streptococcus sanguinis , Tannerella forsythia , and Treponema denticola or/and their virulent factors on gene and protein expression in human cells and animal models of atherosclerosis. Some of the modulated pathways include the immune system, programmed cell death, cellular responses to external stimuli, transport of small molecules, and signal transduction (p < 0.05). Those pathways are known to be involved in different stages of atherosclerosis progression. Based on the performed analysis, it is possible to state that periodontal pathogens have the potential to be a contributing factor for atherosclerosis even in absence of a high-fat diet or high shear stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute Otitis media (AOM), an inflammation of the middle ear, is a common infection in children worldwide. It poses significant health challenges as it is the leading cause of hearing loss. This paper therefore investigate the prevalence and risk factors associated with Otitis media amongst 120 children aged 0-48 months attending hospital in Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria. Ear swab specimens were collected using sterile swab sticks for bacterial isolation and identification. Information on sociodemographic and potential risk factors associated with otitis media was obtained from parents of the children via questionnaire. Streptococcus pneumoniae (20%) and Staphylococcus aureus (18.3%) were the major causative agents of AOM. The prevalence of AOM was found to be higher among male children (54.2%) than females (45.8%) in the age group 0-12 months. The highest rate of occurrence was found among children whose mothers had low socioeconomic status (61.7%), low educational level (45.8%), unemployed (71.7%), use bottle-feeding method (52.5%), procumbent position during feeding (81.7%), use cotton buds for ear cleaning (80%), poor feeding hygiene (56.7%) as well as children who have not taken pneumococcal vaccine (68.3%), and those with symptoms related to respiratory tract infections (78.3%). In conclusion, AOM is highly prevalent in Adamawa majorly affecting children less than one year. The main predisposing factors are bottle feeding, procumbent feeding position, poor hygiene, not vaccinating, use of cotton bud and upper respiratory tract infections. There is a need to inform mothers about the risk factors associated with AOM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examining the concentration and types of airborne bacteria in waste paper and cardboard sorting plants (WPCSP) is an urgent matter to inform policy makers about the health impacts on exposed workers. Herein, we collected 20 samples at 9 points of a WPCSP every 6 winter days, and found that the most abundant airborne bacteria were positively and negatively correlated to relative humidity and temperature, respectively. The most abundant airborne bacteria (in units of CFU m−3) were: Staphylococcus sp. (72.4) > Micrococcus sp. (52.2) > Bacillus sp. (30.3) > Enterococcus sp. (24.0) > Serratia marcescens (20.1) > E. coli (19.1) > Pseudomonas sp. (16.0) > Nocardia sp. (1.9). The lifetime average daily dose (LADD) for the inhalation and dermal routes for the intake of airborne bacteria ranged from 3.7 × 10−3 ≤ LADD Inhalation ≤ 2.07 × 101 CFU (kg d)−1 and 4.75 × 10−6 ≤ LADD Dermal ≤ 1.64 × 10−5 CFU (kg d)−1, respectively. Based on a sensitivity analysis (SA), the concentration of airborne bacteria (C) and the exposure duration (ED) had the most effect on the LADD Inhalation and LADD Dermal for all sampling locations. Although the Hazard Quotient of airborne bacteria was HQ < 1, an acceptable level, the indoor/outdoor ratio (1.5 ≤ I/O ≤ 6.6) of airborne bacteria typically exceeded the threshold value (I/O > 2), indicating worker's exposure to an infected environment. Therefore, in the absence of sufficient natural ventilation the indoor ambient conditions of the WPCSP studied should be controlled by supplying mechanical ventilation. [Display omitted] • Airborne bacteria from waste paper and cardboard sorting plant were studied. • Health risks to plant workers regarding exposure to airborne bacteria were quantified. • The ratio of indoor bacteria to outdoor bacteria (I/O) ranged from 1.5 to 6.6. • LADDs for bacteria ranged from 4.75 × 10−6 to 2.07 × 101 CFU (kg d)−1. • Bacterial exposure during sorting of waste increases with increased suspended particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Clinical significance of co-existence of Candida albicans and bacterial pathogens. • Discussion of bacteria and C. albicans surface proteins involved in the physical interaction. • Evolutionary relatedness of the bacterial surface proteins exhibiting specificity to the Candida surface proteins. • Study of molecular interactions between C. albicans and bacterial surface proteins. • Endosymbiotic association of bacterial pathogens inside the C. albicans vacuole. • Multiple strategies to eliminate the co-existence of C. albicans- bacterial pathogens. The co-existence of Candida albicans with the bacteria in the host tissues and organs displays interactions at competitive, antagonistic, and synergistic levels. Several pathogenic bacteria take advantage of such types of interaction for their survival and proliferation. The chemical interaction involves the signaling molecules produced by the bacteria or Candida spp. , whereas the physical attachment occurs by involving the surface proteins of the bacteria and Candida. In addition, bacterial pathogens have emerged to internalize inside the C. albicans vacuole, which is one of the inherent properties of the endosymbiotic relationship between the bacteria and the eukaryotic host. The interaction occurring by the involvement of surface protein from diverse bacterial species with Candida species has been discussed in detail in this paper. An in silico molecular docking study was performed between the surface proteins of different bacterial species and Als3P of C. albicans to explain the molecular mechanism involved in the Als3P-dependent interaction. Furthermore, in order to understand the specificity of C. albicans interaction with Als3P, the evolutionary relatedness of several bacterial surface proteins has been investigated. Furthermore, the environmental factors that influence bacterial pathogen internalization into the Candida vacuole have been addressed. Moreover, the review presented future perspectives for disrupting the cross-kingdom interaction and eradicating the endosymbiotic bacterial pathogens. With the involvement of cross-kingdom interactions and endosymbiotic relationships, the bacterial pathogens escape from the environmental stresses and the antimicrobial activity of the host immune system. Thus, the study of interactions between Candida and bacterial pathogens is of high clinical significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have previously shown that exposure to TiO 2 nanoparticles (NPs) reduces the resistance of HeLa cells to bacterial infection. Here we demonstrate that the increased infectivity is associated with enhanced asymmetry in the cholesterol distribution. We applied a live cell imaging method which uses tunable orthogonal cholesterol sensors to visualize and quantify in-situ cholesterol distribution between the two leaflets of the plasma membrane (PM). In the control culture, we found marked transbilayer asymmetry of cholesterol, with the concentration in the outer plasma membrane (OPM) being 13 ± 2-fold higher than that in the inner plasma membrane (IPM). Exposure of the culture to 0.1 mg/mL of rutile TiO 2 NPs increased the asymmetry such that the concentration in the OPM was 51 ± 10 times higher, while the total cholesterol content increased only 21 ± 2%. This change in cholesterol gradient may explain the increase in bacterial infectivity in HeLa cells exposed to TiO 2 NPs since many pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus used in the present study, require cholesterol for proper membrane attachment and virulence. RT-PCR indicated that exposure to TiO 2 was responsible for upregulation of the ABCA1 and ABCG1 mRNAs, which are responsible for the production of the cholesterol transporter proteins that facilitate cholesterol transport across cellular membranes. This was confirmed by the observation of an overall decrease in bacterial infection in ABCA1 knockout or methyl-β-cyclodextrin-treated HeLa cells, as regardless of TiO 2 NP exposure. Hence rather than preventing bacterial infection, TiO 2 nanoparticles upregulate genes associated with membrane cholesterol production and distribution, hence increasing infectivity. A great deal of work has been done regarding the toxicology of the particles, especially focusing on detrimental outcomes associated with reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. In this paper we show unambiguously a very surprising result, namely the ability of these particles to enhance bacterial infection even at very small exposure levels, where none of the deleterious effects of ROS products can yet be detected. Using a new imaging technique, we are able to demonstrate, in operando, the effect of the particles on cholesterol generation and distribution in live HeLa cells. This paper also represents the first in a series where we explore other consequences of increased membrane cholesterol, due to particle exposure, which are known to have multiple other consequences on human tissue function and development. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Big data is a huge amount of heterogeneous information which keeps getting rapidly increased minute to minute. Volume is one of the most important features of big data and it is handled only in cloud computing which provides significant facility of on-demand availability. Routing plays vital role in accessing big data in cloud computing. If traditional protocols applied for routing the big data means it will never give its best performance in network and it will lead to increased reduced delivery of packets and increased delay. To overcome issue, this paper proposes an optimization-based routing protocol namely Energy Efficient Robust Bacterial Foraging Routing Protocol (EE-RBFRP) which is inspired from foraging behavior of bacteria. EE-RBFRP initially investigates the whole search space and performs local-search and global-search separately to exploit the promising regions of the network to find the best route to access the big data in cloud computing. EE-RBFRP is evaluated against existing protocol using NS2 with benchmark performance metrics. Results make a better indication that EE-RBFRP has better performance than existing protocols in terms of reducing the delay and energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and Objective. Abortion can occur in sheep, among others, in response to bacterial infection. The present article reviews the latest reports on the various economic and health consequences for the herd, other animals and humans. Review methods. Two independent reviewers searched in PubMed and Google scholar (any date to September 2021) for studies concerning bacterial abortion in sheep. Keywords for the search strategy were: bacteria, sheep, and abortion. Papers were reviewed for scientific merit and relevance as well as for current information. Brief description of the state of knowledge. In the reviewed literature, much attention was paid to infections by Brucella spp., Campylobacter spp., Coxiella burnetti, Listeria spp., and Salmonella spp. As the presence of these bacteria varies according to region, any differential diagnosis should consider the most common pathogens in a given area. It also should be noted that most of the described pathogens have zoonotic potential and, as such, it is extremely important to observe safety rules when assisting in delivering births and when dealing with stillbirths. Conclusions. Identification of the etiological agent seems to be a key factor in the management of abortions, especially in flocks where their numbers appear to be increasing; this is needed to manage and control disease in the flock, and to protect humans and other animal species on the farm. Most studies use molecular methods as diagnostic tools, mainly PCR, and use both foetuses and placenta as research material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper investigated 10 carbapenemase genes and selected the hosts of these genes in the estuary of Bohai Bay. The results showed that the OXA-58 producer accounted for a large percentage of carbapenem resistant bacteria in the sampling points, whereas the VIM, KPC, NDM, IMP, GES, OXA-23, OXA-24, OXA-48 and OXA-51 producers were not detected in the study. In addition, 9 bacterial genera with 100% identical bla OXA-58 sequences, including Pseudomonas , Rheinheimera , Stenotrophomonas , Shewanella , Raoultella , Vibrio , Pseudoalteromonas , Algoriphagus , Bowmanella and Thalassospira , were isolated from seawater. It is suggested that the host of bla OXA-58 gene were varied and many kinds of them could survive in the seawater. Moreover, we preformed the quantitative RT-PCR and the result shown the abundance of bla OXA-58 fluctuated between 2.8 × 10−6 copies/16S and 2.46 × 10−4 copies/16S, which was of the same order of magnitude as some common antibiotic resistance genes in environment. Furthermore, the variation trend of bla OXA-58 gene suggested that pollution discharge and horizontal gene transfer could contribute to the increase of the gene in coastal area. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • We reported the abundance of bla OXA-58 gene in coastal area for the first time. • bla OXA-58 carbapenemase gene was found in 9 bacterial genera. • All OXA-58-producing isolates have multidrug-resistance phenotypes. This paper quantified the carbapenemase gene bla OXA-58 and found this gene can exist in nine bacteria genera in coastal area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The causative agent of Q fever, Coxiella burnetii , has the potential to be developed for use in biological warfare and it is classified as a bioterrorism threat agent by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and as a category B select agent by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). In this paper we focus on the in-host properties that arise when an individual inhales a dose of C. burnetii and establish a human time-dose response model. We also propagate uncertainty throughout the model allowing us to robustly estimate key properties including the infectious dose and incubation period. Using human study data conducted in the 1950's we conclude that the dose required for a 50% probability of infection is about 15 organisms, and that one inhaled organism of C. burnetti can cause infection in 5% of the exposed population. In addition, we derive a low dose incubation period of 17.6 days and an extracellular doubling time of half a day. In conclusion this paper provides a framework for detailing the parameters and approaches that would be required for risk assessments associated with exposures to C. burnetii that might cause human infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Serbian Dental Journal / Stomatološki Glasnik Srbije is the property of National Library of Serbia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents a computer-based method for recognizing digital images of bacterial cells. It covers auto- matic recognition of twenty genera and species of bacteria chosen by the author whose original contribution to the work consisted in the decision to conduct the process of recognizing bacteria using the simultaneous analysis of the following phys- ical features of bacterial cells: color, size, shape, number of clusters, cluster shape, as well as density and distribution of the cells. The proposed method may be also used to recognize the microorganisms other than bacteria. In addition, it does not require the use of any specialized equipment. The lack of demand for high infrastructural standards and complemen- tarity with the hardware and software widens the scope of the method's application in diagnostics, including microbiological diagnostics. The proposed method may be used to identify new genera and species of bacteria, but also other microorganisms that exhibit similar morphological characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is focused on degradation caused by microorganisms, a process called biodegradation, and on risks for human health caused by them. Bacteria and algae are the primary microorganisms on external building surfaces. These pioneer microorganisms have an enriched space of organic carbon, which is necessary for the growth of any subsequent microorganism which is often mold. Biodegradation is a synergic process of chemical reactions (chemical biodegradation) and physical effects of microbial bodies on building materials (biophysical degradation). The paper is a summary of the current state of art and knowledge in the field of biodegradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many people attend barbing shops for personal care on frequent basis. Despite the frequent patronage of barbing shops, so many risks and hazards are possible. This paper intended to determine the safety practices of modern barbers in Gwadabawa local government, Sokoto state, Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey type of study was conducted. Therein, fifty respondents were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaire and their shops were inspected. Summarily, poor safety practices among the respondents were revealed. It is pertinent that, the government, advocators, and health bodies, facilitate the training and regulation of barbing workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents hybrid spiral-dynamic bacteria-chemotaxis algorithms for global optimisation and their application to control of a flexible manipulator system. Spiral dynamic algorithm (SDA) has faster convergence speed and good exploitation strategy. However, the incorporation of constant radius and angular displacement in its spiral model causes the exploration strategy to be less effective hence resulting in low accurate solution. Bacteria chemotaxis on the other hand, is the most prominent strategy in bacterial foraging algorithm. However, the incorporation of a constant step-size for the bacteria movement affects the algorithm performance. Defining a large step-size results in faster convergence speed but produces low accuracy while defining a small step-size gives high accuracy but produces slower convergence speed. The hybrid algorithms proposed in this paper synergise SDA and bacteria chemotaxis and thus introduce more effective exploration strategy leading to higher accuracy, faster convergence speed and low computation time. The proposed algorithms are tested with several benchmark functions and statistically analysed via nonparametric Friedman and Wilcoxon signed rank tests as well as parametric t -test in comparison to their predecessor algorithms. Moreover, they are used to optimise hybrid Proportional-Derivative-like fuzzy-logic controller for position tracking of a flexible manipulator system. The results show that the proposed algorithms significantly improve both convergence speed as well as fitness accuracy and result in better system response in controlling the flexible manipulator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a biophysical method to characterize single bacterium in water by using an on-chip optofluidic immersion refractometer. Water safety is a major factor in the well-being of people, but the presence of bacteria such as Escherichia coli ( E. coli ), bacillus subtilis , Shigella flexneri and vibrio cholera in drinking water can lead to infectious diseases such as typhoid fever. Hence, it is crucial to detect and identify bacteria to prevent bacterial outbreaks. In this paper, an optofluidic immersion refractometer is developed to measure three biophysical parameters, i.e. size, shape and refractive index. The refractive index of a single bacterium is measured in high sensitivity of 0.005 RIU. This system is an innovative method to allow on-site real-time detection of single bacterium in water. It significantly reduces the amount of detection time and do not require trained personnel or additional chemical and biological reagents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative analysis of periodontal bacteria is considered useful for clinical diagnosis, evaluation and assessment of the risk of periodontal disease. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of sampling of saliva, supragingival and subgingival plaque for evaluation of periodontal bacteria. From each of 12 subjects, i) subgingival plaque was collected from the deepest pocket using a sterile paper point, ii) stimulated whole saliva was collected after chewing gum, and iii) supragingival plaque was collected using a tooth brush. These samples were sent to the medical examination laboratory for quantitative analysis of the counts of three periodontal bacterial species: Porphyromonas gingivalis, Treponema denticola, and Tannerella forsythia. The proportions of these bacteria in subgingival plaque were higher than those in saliva or supragingival plaque, but lower in subgingival plaque than in saliva or supragingival plaque. In several cases, periodontal bacteria were below the levels of detection in subgingival plaque. We concluded that samples taken from subgingival plaque may be more useful for evaluating the proportion of periodontal bacteria in deep pockets than is the case for other samples. Therefore, for evaluation of periodontal bacteria, clinicians should consider the characteristics of the specimens obtained using different sampling methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Identify bacterial species in necrotic root canals of teeth with chronic apical periodontitis, and to evaluate the antimicrobial effectiveness of rotary and reciprocating instrumentation techniques in the elimination of bacterial species from necrotic canals of teeth with chronic apical periodontitis. Materials and Methods: Forty patients with necrotic teeth with chronic apical periodontitis were selected for this study based on previously defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. After they had signed an informed consent, the participants were included in this clinical study and randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups depending on the root canal instrumentation technique used: Group 1. Wave One Gold technique; Group 2. ProTaper Next instrumentation technique. In both groups, root canals were irrigated with 2.5% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) solution during the instrumentation, and then the final irrigation protocol was applied in both groups: 3 ml NaOCl, 2 ml ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and 2 ml NaOCl. A single visit root canal treatment was performed by one doctor of dental medicine, who finished intracanal procedures by the cold lateral condensation technique using an epoxy resin based sealer and gutta-percha. Microbiological samples from the root canal were collected for three times using a paper point technique: before instrumentation (sample 1.), after chemo-mechanical treatment (sample 2.) and after the final irrigation protocol (sample 3.). Microbiological analysis was carried out by identification of bacteria using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and colony forming units (CFUs) counting by the culture method. The Wilcoxon test was used for statistical analysis with a significance level of 0.05. Results: The first sample showed the presence of 55 aerobic and anaerobic bacterial species in the patients. After chemomechanical treatment of root canals with Wave One Gold and ProTaper Next technique, the number of bacteria was significantly reduced in both groups (p<0.001). The final irrigation protocol also further reduced the number of bacterial species in both groups (p<0.001). The ProTaper Next technique proved to be more successful in reducing the number of bacterial colonies than the Wave One Gold technique (p<0.001). Conclusion: Although both root canal instrumentation techniques were effective in removing bacteria from the necrotic canals of teeth with chronic apical periodontitis, the ProTaper Next technique was more effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Economic dispatch is carried out at the energy control center to find out the optimal output of thermal generating units such that power balance criterion is met, unit operating limits are satisfied and the fuel cost is minimized. With growing environmental awareness and strict government regulations throughout the world, it has become essential to optimize not only the total fuel cost but also the harmful emissions, both, under static as well as dynamic conditions. The static environment economic dispatch finds the optimal output of generating units for a fixed load demand at a given time, while the dynamic environmental economic dispatch schedules the output of online generators with changing power demands over a certain time period (normally one day) so as to minimize these two conflicting objectives, simultaneously. In this paper, the price penalty factor approach is employed for simultaneous minimization of cost and emission. The generator ramp rate constraints, non-convex and discontinuous nature of cost function and the large number of generators in practical power plants, make this problem very difficult to solve. Here, a fuzzy ranking approach is employed to identify the solution which offers the best compromise between cost and emission objectives. This paper proposes an improved bacterial foraging algorithm (IBFA) in which a parameter automation strategy and crossover operation is used in micro BFA to improve computational efficiency. The performance of IBFA is compared with classical BFA and with previously published literature on four standard test systems and is found to be better. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Sludge dewatering and treatment may cost as much as the wastewater treatment. Usually large proportion of the pollutants in wastewater is organic. They are attacked by saprophytic microorganisms, i.e. organisms that feed upon dead organic matter. Activity of organisms causes decomposition of organic matter and destroys them, where the bacteria convert the organic matter or other constituents in the wastewater to new cells, water, gases and other products. Demolition activities, including renovation/remodeling works and complete or selective removal/demolishing of existing structures either by man-made processes or by natural disasters, create an extensive amount of wastes. These demolition wastes are characterized as heterogeneous mixtures of building materials that are usually contaminated with chemicals and dirt. In developing countries, it is estimated that demolition wastes comprise 20% to 30% of the total annual solid wastes. In Egypt, the daily quantity of construction and demolition (C&D) waste has been estimated as 10 000 tones. That is equivalent to one third of the total daily municipal solid wastes generated per day in Egypt. The zabbaliin have since expanded their activities and now take the waste they collect back to their garbage villages where it is sorted into recyclable components: paper, plastics, rags, glass, metal and food. The food waste is fed to pigs and the other items are sold to recycling centers. This paper summarizes the wastewater and solid wastes management in Egypt now and future. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the domain of human brain image analysis, identification of tumor region and segmentation of tissue structures tend to be a challenging task. Automated segmentation of Magnetic Resonance (MR) brain images would be of great assistance to radiologist, as they minimize the complication evolved due to human interface and offer quicker segmentation results. Automated algorithms offer minimal time duration and lesser manual intervention to a radiologist during clinical diagnosis. Moreover, larger volumes of patient data could be assessed with the aid of an automated algorithm and one such algorithm is proposed through this research to identify the tumor region bounded between normal tissue regions and edema portions. The proposed algorithm offers a better support to a radiologist in the process of diagnosing the pathologies, since; it utilizes both optimization and clustering techniques. Bacteria Foraging Optimization (BFO) and Modified Fuzzy K − Means algorithm (MFKM) are the optimization and clustering techniques used to render efficient MR brain image analysis. The proposed combinational algorithm is compared with Particle Swarm Optimization based Fuzzy C − Means algorithm (PSO based FCM), Modified Fuzzy K − Means (MFKM) and conventional FCM algorithm. The suggested methodology is evaluated using the comparison parameters such as sensitivity, Specificity, Jaccard T animoto C o − efficient Index (TC) and Dice Overlap Index (DOI), computational time and memory requirement. The algorithm proposed through this paper has produced appreciable values of sensitivity and specificity, which are 97.14% and 93.94%, respectively. Finally, it is found that the proposed BFO based MFKM algorithm offers better MR brain image segmentation and provides extensive support to radiologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As fresh and abundant water sources become increasingly scarce, desalination methods based on renewable energy emerge as a sustainable alternative. The solar still is one such method that has received notable revived attention recently. Research primarily focused on enhancing the productivity of the still with a very limited number of studies addressing the water quality issue of the distillate produced by the still, as it is often assumed that this distillate is safe to consume without proper analysis. In addition a very limited number of studies have examined the ability of the still to remove conventional and emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals. The objective of this paper is to address the bacteriological and chemical aspects of the distillate produced from a number of different water sources using several experimental setups. Results show that moderate temperature alone is not sufficient to kill bacteria hence the importance of ultra-violet light from solar radiation. It is also important that all parts of the still be accessible to sunlight to avoid bacterial breeding at shaded sections. Chemical quality parameters were found to be within the limits recommended by WHO standards for potable water. As for the pharmaceuticals considered, all three compounds that were spiked into the feed water were completely absent from the distillate, however, degradation products were found in the brine. The level of pharmaceutical degradation was influenced by the solar still configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Naukovi visti NTUU - KPI is the property of National Technical University of Ukraine KPI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Synthetic aromatic compounds consisting of various functional groups are known as dyes. These colored compounds are often discharged in effluents, and they are very dangerous to aquatic life. Basically, the dye industry started by using natural plant and insect sources, and then suddenly turned into artificial manufacturing. Natural equilibrium of our environment gets changed by the reduction in photosynthetic activity due to the dyes. In China 900,000 tons of all kinds of dyes are usually produced, which are used in many industries like food, textile, food, paper and leather. Untreated wastewater contaminates aquatic bodies by causing eutrophication, change in water color, oxygen depletion which affect aquatic organisms to a great extent. Dye wastewater is now the key environmental pollution form. In recent eras an extensive study line has been developed to explore the dye decolorization and biodegradation under both aerobic as well as anaerobic conditions. In this review, the chemistry, toxicity and microbial biodegradation/decolorization are presented. Some recent studies along with the new techniques and methodologies of remediating the dye pollution are also discussed to provide the bases of their handling. Overall, efficient and high biodegradation potential make microbes an impending foundation for green chemistry to eradicate toxic dyes from industrial wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: A common bottleneck during ontology evaluation is knowledge acquisition from domain experts for gold standard creation. This paper contributes a novel semi-automated method for evaluating the concept coverage and accuracy of biomedical ontologies by complementing expert knowledge with knowledge automatically extracted from clinical practice guidelines and electronic health records, which minimizes reliance on expensive domain expertise for gold standards generation.Methods: We developed a bacterial clinical infectious diseases ontology (BCIDO) to assist clinical infectious disease treatment decision support. Using a semi-automated method we integrated diverse knowledge sources, including publically available infectious disease guidelines from international repositories, electronic health records, and expert-generated infectious disease case scenarios, to generate a compendium of infectious disease knowledge and use it to evaluate the accuracy and coverage of BCIDO.Results: BCIDO has three classes (i.e., infectious disease, antibiotic, bacteria) containing 593 distinct concepts and 2345 distinct concept relationships. Our semi-automated method generated an ID knowledge compendium consisting of 637 concepts and 1554 concept relationships. Overall, BCIDO covered 79% (504/637) of the concepts and 89% (1378/1554) of the concept relationships in the ID compendium. BCIDO coverage of ID compendium concepts was 92% (121/131) for antibiotic, 80% (205/257) for infectious disease, and 72% (178/249) for bacteria. The low coverage of bacterial concepts in BCIDO was due to a difference in concept granularity between BCIDO and infectious disease guidelines. Guidelines and expert generated scenarios were the richest source of ID concepts and relationships while patient records provided relatively fewer concepts and relationships.Conclusions: Our semi-automated method was cost-effective for generating a useful knowledge compendium with minimal reliance on domain experts. This method can be useful for continued development and evaluation of biomedical ontologies for better accuracy and coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy metals tolerant bacteria were isolated from electroplating industry. The activities of electroplating and metal processing industries are regarded as one of the major source of heavy metal pollution. This paper present about the role of microorganisms in heavy metal removal from industrial waste water. In this study 21 bacterial colonies were isolated and tested in the presence of different metals. After screening five best isolates which showed high resistances were selected. The result reveals that all isolates MH1, MH4, MH6 MH15 and MH21 were able to tolerate 50 mg/l of cr, cu, pb and cd. Isolates MH1 and MH21 tolerate 200 mg/l of cadmium while isolate MH4 also showed high degree of resistance to copper. These indicated that the isolates can be used efficiently in removal of heavy metals in contaminated industrial effluents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to present a measure of the performance of Food Safety Management System (FSMS) implemented in five municipal abattoirs situated in Edo State, Nigeria. Hygiene status of the abattoirs was assessed by a quantitative interpretation of observations obtained from visual inspection of abattoir's operations by a 3-member panelist. Hygiene assessment was then confirmed by microbiological performance criteria that were based on standard predetermined guide values. Results obtained from present study indicated that the overall hygienic status (hygienic status of the lairage and processing environment were 17.8 % and 12.9 % respectively) of the abattoirs was bad, indicating that no systems and no written records exist, and lay workers without any training were expected to apply hygiene standards. Results also revealed that microbial safety level was estimated at 0.83, indicating that values of microbiological parameters examined grossly exceeded the safe limit and improvements were needed to be made on multiple control activity of the food safety plan. Values of the hygienic status and microbial safety level, therefore, corroborate that the overall performance of FSMS implemented in the abattoirs in Edo State was generally evaluated as poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heather (Calluna vulgaris) honey is a special type of honey, highly valued for its characteristic strong taste, unusual texture and health properties. Antibacterial activity of honey is due to low acidity, high osmolarity, content of hydrogen peroxide and other components such as polyphenolic compounds. In this paper we proposed evaluation of the in vitro antibacterial effect of heather honey on some clinically important bacterial species. Heather honey collected from Cluj Region was chemically characterized and then subjected to antimicrobial activity determination. Disc diffusion method and dilution susceptibility test for antibacterial activity on different Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria were used. As heather honey is tixotrophic, different solutions in ultrapure water were made and it was found that 80% dilution was suitable for the experiment. The diameters of inhibition obtained were between 9-12 mm at bacterial strains tested. Heather honey has a high antibacterial activity, comparable to honey types that are used worldwide in the treatment of different bacterial infections. Further detailed studies must be carried out to establish the rightful status of this valuable type of honey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel application of bacterial foraging optimization algorithm (BFOA) in the area of design space exploration (DSE) of datapath in high level synthesis (HLS) is presented in this paper. The BFOA has been transformed into an adaptive automated DSE framework that is capable to handle tradeoffs between area-execution time during HLS. To the authors belief, no such application (or transformation) of BFOA into DSE exist in the literature. The key sub-contributions of the proposed approach can be classified as follows: i) Exploration drift using a novel chemotaxis algorithm ii) Diversity introduction in resource configuration using a novel dispersal algorithm iii) Performance analysis of proposed and related approaches on metrics such as generational distance, maximum pareto-optimal front error, spacing, spreading and weighted metric. Finally, results indicated an average improvement in Quality of Results (QoR) of ∼6% and reduction in exploration runtime of > 18% compared to three recent approaches based on PSO and GA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of História, Ciências, Saúde - Manguinhos is the property of Casa de Oswaldo Cruz and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: Traditionally, bacterial pathogens in the blood have been identified using culture-based methods that can take several days to obtain results. This can lead to physicians making treatment decisions based on an incomplete diagnosis, which can increase the patient''s risk of death. One major limitation to the development of faster diagnostic methods is that bacteria are found in very low concentrations in the blood, thus to detect them one either needs to increase their numbers by culturing the bacteria or effectively isolate and concentrate them from the blood. We are developing a device that purifies as few as 10 bacteria from 10 milliliters of whole blood, and concentrates the bacteria into a ∼30 microliter volume through a combination of preferential cell lysis and centrifugation steps. To enable the efficient capture of so few bacteria in a sea of billions of blood cells, the material properties of the device were optimized. Critical parameters include material selection, manufacturing method, surface roughness, and surface chemistry. In this paper, we present the design of this novel concentrator, optimization of these parameters, and the achieved performance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Impedimetric biosensors are promising for label-free, real-time, sensitive and selective detection of bacteria. However, these sensors do typically not detect below 103 colony forming unit (CFU) per ml in absence of dielectrophoresis and labels. This work shows that the noise source due to random distributions of bacteria on the biosensor surface strongly restricts the limit of detection (LOD) for an interdigitated microelectrode (IDE) configuration. 3D finite-element simulations also indicate that the bacteria diameter and the surface coverage influence both the sensitivity and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Optimization of the IDE design suggests that the SNR is maximized, i.e., the LOD is minimized, as the electrode gap is approximately five times the bacteria diameter and the electrode width and thickness are minimized and maximized with regards to current technological limitations, respectively. The paper finally highlights the critical design trade-off between SNR and sensitivity maximization. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The decrease of quality and availability of waters induces the research of hyphenated technologies for improving purification processes. The paper is devoted to the water treatment of a lack which accumulates a diversified pollution arising from a lot of industries. The investigated lack water contained heavy metals, fecal bacteria and high chemical pollution as measured by its chemical oxygen demand (COD). An electrocoagulation was applied as water pretreatment of a nanofiltration process. The electrocoagulation was carried out in a batch experiment with two parallel aluminum plates of 15cm2. Water analysis showed a decrease of the COD from 60 to 5mg L-1, depending upon current density, current charge and solution pH. Thanks to electrocoagulation efficiency, the most probable number (MPN) of bacteria decreased from 2500 to 2 MPN/100mL. This disinfection allowed the performing of a continuous coupling treatment of electrocoagulation and nanofiltration by using a cylindrical aluminum anode and an organic Nanomax50 membrane respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper studies the biodegradation of the atrazine-contaminated soil by the strain W16 (Rhodobacter sphaeroides sp.) under simulation conditions and analyzes the impacting factors of repairing process of atrazine-contaminated soil. The results show adding strain W16 can promote the degradation of atrazine in soil. W16s atrazine-degrading and W16 inoculation amount show positively correlated. When the inoculation amount of W16 was reduced to 1.2×105 cfu·g−1 soil, the strain W16s degradation ability of atrazine obviously weakened. The optimum temperature for strain W16 degradation atrazine in soil was 30°C and W16s atrazine-degrading rate on the 15th day was 96.86%. W16s atrazine-degrading rate in soil improved with the soil moisture content increase .When the soil moisture was 10%, the strain W16s atrazine-degrading ability was inhibited .While soil moisture content was more than 20%, atrazinedegrading rate was higher than 74.09% on the 15th day. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Effects of different growth systems and salinity on freshwater anammox bacteria were researched in this paper with SBR reactor. It was indicated that the attached growth system could retain anammox bacteria better than suspended growth system. And the nitrogen removal ratios in the attached one were obviously higher than that in the suspended one in the same degrade of sludge load. The freshwater anammox population could adapt to salinity in 7gNaCl/l. The effects of salt shock loads on freshwater anammox population were also researched. It was shown that the freshwater bacteria could afford salt shock load max to 4kgNaCl/m3 d which was function with sludge quantity. Although a substantial increase in salt load would lead to freshwater anammox bacteria unadaption, suddenly draw-off salt load would be more serious for anammox bacteria. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Bacterial foraging optimization algorithm (BFOA) is a new optimization approache to deal with nonlinear and complex problems.However,the population-based algorithm is computationally expensive due to the slow nature of the foraging process.This paper presents a novel algorithm to accelerate the BFOA.The proposed opposition-based BFOA(OBFOA) employs opposition-based learning(OBL)for population initialization and also for generation jumping.In this work,opposite numbers have been utilized to improve the convergence rate of BFOA.A comprehensive set of 6 complex benchmark functions of high dimensions is employed for experimental verification.The contribution of opposite numbers is empirically verified.We also provide a comparison of OBFOA to BFOA,BSO and BF-PSO.Experimental results confirm that the OBFOA outperforms the original BFOA,BSO and BF-PSO in terms of convergence speed and solution accuracy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The effectiveness of CO2 geological storage depends on a combination of physical and geochemical trapping mechanisms. Over time, the physical process of residual CO2 trapping and geochemical processes of solubility trapping and mineral trapping increase. According to the IPCC special report, mineral trapping is believed to be comparatively slow, potentially taking a thousand years or longer. This paper proposes a concept of enhanced mineral trapping system of CO2 geological storage by means of microbially mediated processes and describes some results of related preliminary microbial experiments. Environmental microorganisms have influences on groundwater chemistry and mineral precipitation and dissolution, and even accelerate mineral precipitation processes. The research objective is to accelerate mineral trapping by microbial activities. Especially, biomineralization of carbonate minerals acts an important role for the enhanced mineral trapping system. It is expected to reduce the time scale of mineral trapping from several thousand years to several decades (human life time). It is also expected to play a role for sealing capability. The goal of the research project is to extract optimum bacteria to form carbonate-forming habitats and to evaluate the possibility of bacteria-enhanced CO2 geological storage using numerical model. To develop the system, we plan to carry out the following four procedures; (1) looking for various kinds of carbonate-forming bacteria from natural samples, (2) extraction of bacteria for the condition of the system and further extraction of the bacteria with optimum performance of carbonate precipitation by laboratory experiments, (3) measurement the microbial kinetic parameters, such as specific growth rate of the bacteria by some laboratory experiments (4) performance assessment by hydro-bio-geochemical modeling using experimental data including microbial kinetic parameters. According to the research plan, we carried out literature investigation to make an inventory and preliminary laboratory experiments as the first step of looking for the optimum bacteria. Our target is biomineralization by moderately halophilic carbonate-forming bacteria, which few researchers have studied yet. Screenings of bacteria consists mainly of three steps as follows: 1) purchase of moderately halophilic bacteria, some of which are known carbonate-forming species, 2) selection of carbonate-formers from the isolated halophiles, and 3) selection of practically applicable carbonate-formers with higher performances. Preliminary batch culture experiments were performed with purchased different 6 species of moderately halophilic bacteria; Chromohalobacter marismortui, Halobacillus trueperi, Halomonas halophila, Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus, Marinococcus halophilus, and Virgibacillus salexigens. Initial concentration of Ca2+ was set between 2.60 g/l and 2.75 g/l in the liquid cultures. Gradual decrease in Ca2+ concentration was observed for all microbial samples. After 98 days, Ca2+ concentration in the liquid culture of Mb. hydrocarbonoclasticus was 0.440 g/l. Ca2+ concentration of C. marismortui was 0.448 g/l after 189 days. Decrease in Ca2+ concentration was also observed for other 4 microbial species, although its degree and decreasing rate varied among species. Meanwhile, decrease in Ca2+ concentration was not observed in abiotic liquid culture. Chemical analysis by EPMA was also carried out for some microbes after the incubation, and higher peak of calcium, oxygen, carbon and minor magnesium were detected. These results indicate that the decrease in Ca2+ concentration was caused by microbial carbonate precipitation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper reports the development of two recombinant bacterial systems that can be used to monitor environmental benzene contamination based on Escherichia coli, which carry genes coding for benzene dioxygenase and benzene dihydrodiol dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas putida MST. E. coli strains express these two enzymes under the control of the Ptac promoter or without any induction. These activities can be detected electrochemically or colorimetrically and used to monitor benzene pollution in environmental air samples collected from an oil refinery assessing benzene by different laboratory experimental procedures. The procedures involving whole-cell bioassays determine the concentration of benzene through benzene dioxygenase activity, which allows for direct correlation of oxygen consumption, and through the benzene dihydrodiol dehydrogenase that causes catechol accumulation and restores NADH necessary for the activity of the first enzyme. Oxygen consumption and catechol production deriving from both enzymatic activities are related to benzene concentration and their measurements determined the sensitivity of the system. The results indicated that the sensitivity was enough to detect the benzene vapor at a lower concentration level of 0.01mM in about 30min. The possibility for on-line monitoring of benzene concentration by our new recombinant cells results from the fact that no particular treatment of environmental samples is required. This is a major advantage over other biosensors or assays. Moreover, the development of microbial cells that did not require any addition or effectors for the transcription of the specific enzymes, allowed these systems to be more versatile in automated environmental benzene monitoring. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This research brings new knowledge on the particularities concerning the compared anatomy of the cardiac particular parts. It involved a number of 12 dissected pig hearts where there were some anatomical aspects worth mentioning on the valve, muscular and papillary forms, and also on the tendinous cordages of the left ventricle. Compared to the classical descriptions, especially concerning the human hearts, in this case, the observations made on pig hearts revealed that there is a large variety from one individual to another regarding the distribution of the muscular forms found. They are singled or multi papillary, they have a variable origin and a different distribution of the tendinous cordages concerning their insertion on the atria-ventricular valves. These aspects are high lightened also by the original photo images included in this paper. The observations made on this forms reveals the fact that at swine there is no common feature to be established regarding the shape and ventricular-valves distribution of these forms. On the other hand, the papillary septal and marginal forms appear constantly, but they are variable from one individual to another regarding the origin and distribution. They are seen as having an important role in the myocardial distribution of their own cardiac excite-conductive system. The forms noticed in the left ventricle are much more developed compared to the right one. From a physiological and clinical aspect, we concluded that the anatomical particularities found and described are very difficult to correlate with the individual's specific cardiac activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Neotropical Biology & Conservation is the property of Pensoft Publishers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents the modification of a technology for the production of melt-blown nonwoven filtration materials. A method of introducing a bioactive agent during melt-blown production was developed. Bioactive properties were obtained by means of biologically active modifiers. As a result of microbiological tests, it was proven that the addition of modifiers at the initial technological stage does not give satisfactory results because of difficulties in combining the modifier particles with the polymer granulate, as well as the negative influence of the temperature of the molten polymer on biocidal properties. The technological research was concerned with establishing a method of introducing various biocidal agents at different points of melt-blown production. To this end, modification of a laboratory station head and take up device was performed, and then the process parameters were optimised with special consideration for polymer consumption and polymer blow temperature. The results of the microbiological tests confirmed the usefulness of nonwoven filtration materials for the construction of respiratory bioprotective devices due to their bioactive properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present paper is to study the variation of amino acid content during the ripening of semi-hard cheese (type Holland), after adding in the milk, used for the coagulation, of a proteolytic enzyme - papaina - and the comparison with the data obtained from the analysis of a witness cheese (without enzymes added) obtained and ripen in the same technological conditions. For investigations were collected and analyzed samples at different times during ripening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper reports the new combination of cell sorting and counting capabilities on a single device. Most state-of-the-art devices combining these technologies use optical techniques requiring complicate experimental setups and labeled samples. The use of a label-free, electrical device significantly decreases the system complexity and makes it more appropriate for use in point-of-care diagnostics. Living and dead yeast cells are separated by dielectrophoretic forces and counted using coulter counters. The combination of these two methods allows the determination of the percentage of living and dead cells for viability studies of cell samples. It could further be used for sorting and counting of blood cells in applications such as diagnosis of insufficient cell concentrations, identification of cell deficiencies or bacterial contamination. The use of dielectrophoresis (DEP) as sorting principle allows to separate cells based on their dielectric properties in place of size-based separation, enabling sorting of large panels of cells and separation of infected and non-infected cells of the same type. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Acta Scientiarum Polonorum. Agricultura is the property of University of Technology & Life Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Agroinoculants are alternative products for the agrochemical products, their use reduces environmental pollution and contamination of food. The equipment for microbial inoculants application is designed to the modern technology of sowing and inoculating hoeing plants and vegetables, being used to apply a targeted suspension of bacteria inoculated in the best area for rhizosphere colonization for improve plants nutrition, protection, stimulation and soil structure. This paper presents the results obtained at the tests accomplished in laboratory conditions of the equipment for microbial inoculants application INOC, which has been designed, realized and tested at INMA Bucharest. Performing the laboratory tests it have been determined following qualitative working index: pump debit, nozzles debit, substance norms, stirring system efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment of exposure to bioaerosols in damp houses of two children who suffered from perennial rhinitis and asthma was performed. The paper presents an approach to the complex (i.e., medical and environmental) treatment of allergic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]