Storage Cans Research Articles

Antibiotic Susceptibility Pattern of Bacteria Isolated from Stored Water in Some Residential Homes

The right to water is a basic human right, but if the water is contaminated with microbes, it defeats the purpose of providing safe water and good health. Containers used to store water at home can be sources of microorganism. This study assesses the bacterial pollution of stored water in different homes and the antimicrobial pattern of the bacterial isolates. About 30 samples comprising of 15 storage water cans and 15 swabs from respective storage cans in 5 different homes were used in this study. Spread plate technique was used to enumerate the microbial distribution. Biochemical tests were also conducted to confirm the presence of microorganisms. The total heterotrophic bacterial count ranged between 1.4x106 to 1.55x107CFU/ml, total coliform count ranged between 0.00 ×103 to 2.0×105 CFU/ml, total fungal count ranged between 1.0×103 to 8.0×104 CFU/ml. The nine bacterial isolates from water samples belonged to Staphylococcus sp, Micrococcus sp, Proteus sp, Bacillus sp, Klebsiella sp, Escherichia coli, Salmonella sp, Enterobacter sp, and Shigella sp. The frequency occurrences of the isolates were 11.5%, 7.6%, 11.5%, 19.2%, 7.6%, 7.6%, 3.8%, 19.2% and 11.5% respectively. The 8 bacterial isolates from swab samples belonged to Bacillus sp, Staphylococcus sp, Shigella sp, Vibro sp, Escherichia coli, Proteus sp, Enterobacter sp and Aeromonas sp. The frequency occurrences of the isolates were 19.2%, 19.2%, 11.5%, 7.6%, 19.2%, 11.5%, 7.6% and 3.8% respectively. The presence of Klebsiella sp., Proteus sp, Enterobacter sp. and S. aureus in the water source have been known to cause diverse disease on human beings, such as skin infections, wound infections, urinary tract infections, gastroenteritis and respiratory tract infections, therefore there is need for regular washing of water containers used for water storage. The antibiogram showed that ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin and gentamicin are the most effective antibiotics, thus, they are recommended for treatment of infections.

Investigating the effect of temperature and NaCl concentration on corrosion behavior using commercial food cans

In the present work, commercial tin-plate used as storage cans for three different products (salmon fish, green peas, and corn) are used to investigate the corrosion to storage temperature and salt concentration. The corrosion process was electrochemically monitored using the potentiodynamic polarization method and the structure and concentrations of the corrosion products were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD). To characterize the resulting sample morphology, emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was used. The results showed that the corrosion resistance of the tin-coating, was important constant and by changing the NaCl concentration and operation temperature, the corrosion resistance was lower. It is believed that the steel substrate dissolution that is underneath the tin coating is the main driving force for the investigated corrosion process. The experimental results show that the operating temperature has a higher impact on the corrosion rate because it promotes a heavy tendency on the rate of diffusion of molecules or ions in a solution. Green peas tin-plates are corroded more than corn, and salmon fish tin-plates when the temperature was increased from 25℃ to 50℃ and showed higher negative corrosion potential and higher corrosion current density in sodium chloride solutions.

Effect of can-storage parameters of finisher drawframe on combed ring spun yarn quality

Purpose The present work is a systematic study to understand the cause of poor quality of sliver, roving and yarn due to defective sliver storage can-spring at finisher drawframe machine in spinning preparatory. This study aims to investigate the influence of can-spring stiffness factor, sliver deposition rate and sliver coils position on yarn unevenness and thin places considering two cases of sliver storage time. Design/methodology/approach Combed ring spun yarn samples were produced by varying finisher drawframe variables, which were can-spring stiffness, delivery speed and sliver coils position in storage can. For research design, three-factor three levels of Box-Behnken experimental design was adopted. To investigate the effect of sliver storage time on combed yarn unevenness and thin places, yarn samples were produced at 8 h sliver storage time and without allowing any storage time. Sliver storage time is the time for which combed drawn sliver kept idle in storage cans before feeding to speedframe machine. The 8 h sliver storage time was considered for present study after consulting industrial experts. Adequate numbers of the samples were tested for yarn quality parameters such as yarn unevenness and thin places 50 per cent/km on standard instruments. Finally, the test results were analyzed using statistical software to check the statistical significance of all the independent variables on observed response through analysis of variance. Findings The experimental results showed that the yarn samples produced from older can-springs and bottom position sliver coils stored at 8 h storage time were showing higher yarn unevenness and thin places compared to other yarn samples. The results also showed that the effect of delivery speed is not significant on yarn unevenness for samples produced without allowing any sliver storage time. Research limitations/implications The present study is an outcome of a practical problem experienced at the finisher drawframe machine in a spinning industry. For this purpose, only scrutinized finisher drawframe variables were considered for the evaluation. There are many equally important other factors, which were not considered due to research work feasibility. Social implications This paper investigates the effect of some imperative factors at the finisher drawframe stage on combed yarn quality. The present study will boost existing knowledge of the spinner’s community regarding the effect of can-spring stiffness, sliver coils position and storage time on resultant combed yarn quality parameters. Originality/value The work is original and only a few references are available. The study reveals that storage can-spring stiffness should be chosen carefully for better sliver handling. It is observed that finisher drawframe can-spring stiffness, sliver storage time and sliver coils position play a vital role in deciding quality characteristics of stored sliver and ultimately affect yarn quality.

Prevalence of elevated blood lead levels among pregnant women and sources of lead exposure in rural Bangladesh: A case control study

Prenatal and early childhood lead exposures impair cognitive development. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of elevated blood lead levels (BLLs) among pregnant women in rural Bangladesh and to identify sources of lead exposure. We analyzed the BLLs of 430 pregnant women randomly selected from rural communities in central Bangladesh. Fifty-seven cases were selected with the highest BLLs, ≥ 7 μg/dL, and 59 controls were selected with the lowest BLLs, < 2 μg/dL. An exposure questionnaire was administered and soil, rice, turmeric, water, traditional medicine, agrochemical, and can samples were analyzed for lead contamination. Of all 430 women, 132 (31%) had BLLs > 5 μg/dL. Most women with elevated BLLs were spatially clustered. Cases were 2.6 times more likely than controls to consume food from a can (95% CI 1.0–6.3, p = 0.04); 3.6 times more likely to use Basudin, a specific brand of pesticide (95% CI 1.6–7.9, p = 0.002); 3.6 times more likely to use Rifit, a specific brand of herbicide (95% CI 1.7–7.9, p = 0.001); 2.9 times more likely to report using any herbicides (95% CI 1.2–7.3, p = 0.02); and 3.3 times more likely to grind rice (95% CI 1.3–8.4, p = 0.01). Five out of 28 food storage cans were lead-soldered. However, there was minimal physical evidence of lead contamination from 382 agrochemical samples and 129 ground and unground rice samples. Among 17 turmeric samples, one contained excessive lead (265 μg/g) and chromium (49 μg/g). Overall, we found evidence of elevated BLLs and multiple possible sources of lead exposure in rural Bangladesh. Further research should explicate and develop interventions to interrupt these pathways.

Investigation of water adsorption on metal oxide surfaces under conditions representative of PuO2 storage containers.

ABSTRACTWe have developed a QCM (Quartz Crystal Microbalance) based method for direct gravimetric determination of water adsorption on PuO2 surrogate surfaces, especially CeO2, under conditions representative of those in a typical PuO2 storage can. In this application, the method of transduction of the QCM relies upon the linear relationship between the resonant frequency of piezoelectrically active quartz crystals and the mass adsorbed on the crystal surface. The spurious effect of high temperatures on the resonant frequency of coated QCM crystals has been compensated for by modeling the temperature dependence of the frequency response of the surrogate coated-QCM crystal in the absence of water. Preliminary results indicate that water is readily adsorbed from the vapor phase into porous metal oxide structures by capillary condensation, an observation that may have important ramifications for water uptake within the packed powder beds that may obtain in PuO2 storage cans.

Preliminary conceptual design of a geological disposal system for high-level wastes from the pyroprocessing of PWR spent fuels

The inventories of spent fuels are linearly dependent on the production of electricity generated by nuclear energy. Pyroprocessing of PWR spent fuels is one of promising technologies which can reduce the volume of spent fuels remarkably. The properties of high-level wastes from the pyroprocessing are totally different from those of spent fuels. A geological disposal system is proposed for the high-level wastes from pyroprocessing of spent fuels. The amount and characteristics of high-level wastes are analyzed based on the material balance of pyroprocessing. Around 665 kg of monazite ceramic wastes are expected from the pyroprocessing of 10 MtU of PWR spent fuels. Decay heat from monazite ceramic wastes is calculated using the ORIGEN-ARP program. Disposal modules consisting of storage cans, overpacks, and a deposition hole or a disposal tunnel are proposed. Four kinds of deposition methods are proposed. Thermal design is carried out with ABAQUS program and geological data obtained from the KAERI Underground Research Tunnel. Through the thermal analysis, the spacing between the disposal modules is determined for the peak temperature in buffer not to exceed 100 °C. Thermal analysis shows that the optimum spacing between the vertical deposition holes with 4 overpacks is 8 m when the disposal tunnel spacing is 40 m and optimum spacing of 2 m for horizontal disposal tunnel with 25 m tunnel spacing. Also, the spacing reduces to 6 m for vertical deposition when the double-layered buffer is used, which reduces the disposal area to one-sixty fifth (1/65th) compared with the direct disposal of spent fuels. Finally, the effect of cooling time on the disposal area is illustrated.

Seed Ecology of Selected Amazon Basin Successional Species

Two adjacent forest sites-a mixed forest on well-drained Oxisols and a caatinga forest on waterlogged Spodosols-were similar in the number of viable seeds m-2 in the seed bank: 180 for the mixedforest site, 200 for the caatinga site. Most germinated seeds were of successional pioneer tree species Seeds were entering the mixed-forest seed bank at a rate of ca 50 seeds m-2 yr-1. Agricultural and pasture sites tended to have larger seed banks (580-1,250 viable seeds m-2) composed almost entirely of grasses and forbs. The most common grass, forb, shrub, and pioneer tree species in the forest and disturbed-site seed banks (eight species in all) were tested for their ability to persist for 1 yr in open storage cans on the forest floor and for their response to a variety of germination triggers. Seeds of all species tested were still alive after 1 yr of incubation on the forest floor. In a lighted environment these species showed good germination under both moist and flooded conditions, but neither daily tempera...

Changes in quality of canned mackerel during long-term storage.

Chemical changes in the quality of canned mackerel during long-term storage at ambient temperature were examined in connection with sensory evaluation. By organoleptic test, the grade of canned mackerel was evaluated from a' for 0 and 1 1/4 year storage cans to b' for 10 year storage cans. Some chemical changes of canned mackerel during storage were found: the decomposition of proteins, losses of available lysine and reducing sugars, particularly glucose, and increments in the acidity of lipids, the TBA values, and the trimethylamine levels. A remarkable liberation of iron was also observed. Most of these changes occurred within 4 years of storage.

Determination of C 2–C 5 hydrocarbons in the atmosphere at low parts per 10 9 to high parts per 10 12 levels

By far the most abundant hydrocarbon in unpolluted air is methane (mixing ratio ca. 1.6 ppm). The mixing ratios of other hydrocarbons are typically in the low parts per 10 9 (ppb) and parts per 10 12 (ppt) ranges. Although methane is several orders of magnitude more abundant in clean air, it is conceivable that other hydrocarbons are still of considerable importance to clean air photchemistry, because their reaction with hydroxyl radicals proceeds much faster than that of methane. Owing to this high reactivity of many of the light non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC), mixing ratios of NMHC as low as a few ppb or several ppt can have a considerable influence on the photochemistry of unpolluted air. For this reason a gas chromatographic method has been developed that permits the determination of several C 2–C 5 hydrocarbons with detection limits of a few ppt from grab samples of 0.5– dm 3 (STP). The samples are collected in evacuated 2-1 stainless-steel containers with metal bellows-sealed stainless-steel valves. These sample collection and storage cans are specially pre-treated and cleaned to avoid changes in sample composition during transport of the samples to the laboratory. In the laboratory the samples are analysed by enrichment of the hydrocarbons on a packed pre-column at sub-ambient temperatures ( ca. - 35°C) and subsequent separation on a 7 m x 0.8 mm I.D. packed column (Spherosil XOB075). A flame-ionization detector is used. This method allowed survey measurements on a global scale of C 2–C 5 hydrocarbons, which gave an estimate of the contributions of light hydrocarbons to atmospheric photochemical reactions.