Smart Health Monitoring and Management System for Organizations Using Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology in Hospitals or Emergency Applications.

In the public health domain, healthcare systems are a crucial part of the economy, transportation, education, health infrastructure, and military of any country. In this study, a system is proposed to implement smart people management, monitoring, and tracking processes that can be used in hospitals to automate and organize information management. For disease management in a public setting, measuring forehead temperatures is a standard method of identifying people for further treatment. To prevent disease transmission on campuses or in any public space, daily temperature checks for everyone have been mandated at the entrances to many public spaces. Although this task can be performed in seconds for an individual, substantial human resources are required to perform temperature checks for all people arriving at one or more specified checkpoints each day during an epidemic. As a result, a smart measuring, monitoring, and management system is urgently needed. We propose a complete solution that includes current Internet of Things technology that can be used in hospitals or any public space to automate and organize information management operations. This system offers a cost-effective means of enhancing reliability, privacy, and security for healthcare record management. One attractive feature of the system is its low cost due to the use of off-the-shelf devices and sensors that can be sourced and operated in our region. Recorded measurements of vital sig/ns are presented via a compact, user-friendly interface that can be monitored remotely. Because the proposed solution is based on mature existing hardware modules and software packages, any experienced information technology professional can quickly build an analogous monitoring and management system by following the instructions presented in this paper.

Evaluation of remediation process with soapberry derived saponin for removal of heavy metals from contaminated soils in Hai-Pu, Taiwan.

The use of a biodegradable natural plant-based surfactant extracted from soapberry is proposed for the remediation of Ni, Cr and Mn from industrial soil site in Hai-Pu, Taiwan. Batch experiments were performed under variation of fundamental factors (saponin concentration, pH, and incubation time) for metal remediation. Removal of Ni and Mn were increased with increasing saponin concentration (0.015-0.150 g/L), whereas the removal of Cr was increased upto 0.075 g/L saponin. The Ni, Cr and Mn were removed significantly (p < or = 0.05) at near to the neutral and slightly acidic (pH 5 to 8) conditions. Removal efficiency of Ni (99%) from the soil was found to be greater than that of Cr (73%) or Mn (25%) in the presence of saponin at a concentration of 0.150 g/L at pH 5. The removal percentage increased with incubation time where the removal of Ni was faster than that of Cr and Mn. The result indicates the feasibility of eco-friendly removal of heavy metal (Ni, Cr and Mn) from industrial soil by soil washing process in presence of plant derived saponin.

Removal of Cu, Pb and Zn by foam fractionation and a soil washing process from contaminated industrial soils using soapberry-derived saponin: a comparative effectiveness assessment.

The feasibility of using the eco-friendly biodegradable surfactant saponin (a plant-based surfactant) from soapberry and surfactin from Bacillus subtilis (BBK006) for the removal of heavy metals from contaminated industrial soil (6511mgkg(-1) copper, 4955mgkg(-1) lead, and 15090mgkg(-1) zinc) by foam fractionation and a soil flushing process was evaluated under variation of fundamental factors (surfactant concentration, pH, temperature and time). The results of latter process showed that 1-2% Pb, 16-17% Cu and 21-24% Zn was removed by surfactin after 48h, whereas the removal of Pb, Cu and Zn was increased from 40% to 47%, 30% to 36% and 16% to 18% in presence of saponin with an increase from 24 to 72h at room temperature by the soil washing process at pH 4. In the foam fractionation process, the metal removal efficiencies were increased with increases in the saponin concentration (0.075-0.15gL(-1)) and time (24-72h), whereas the efficiency was decreased with increasing pH (4-10) and temperature (>40°C). The removal efficiencies of Pb, Cu and Zn were increased significantly from 57% to 98%, 85% to 95% and 55% to 56% with an increase in the flow rate from 0.2 to 1.0Lmin(-1) at 0.15gL(-1) saponin (pH 4 and 30°C). The present investigation indicated that the foam fractionation process is more efficient for the removal of heavy metal from contaminated industrial soil in comparison to the soil washing process. The plant-based eco-friendly biodegradable biosurfactant saponin can be used for environmental cleanup and pollution management.

Comparative bioelectricity production from various wastewaters in microbial fuel cells using mixed cultures and a pure strain of Shewanella oneidensis.

Current and power density from four wastewaters, agriculture (AWW), domestic (DWW), paper (PWW), and food/dairy (FDWW), were comparatively evaluated in combination with three inocula: wastewater endogenous microbes (MFC1), Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 (MFC2), and wastewater endogenous microbes with MR-1 (MFC3) in single chamber microbial fuel cells (MFC). Using AWW (0.011 mA/cm(2); 0.0013 mW/cm(2)) and DWW (0.017 mA/cm(2); 0.0036 mW/cm(2)), MFC2 was the best candidate providing the maximum current, whereas AWW-MFC1 and DWW-MFC1 were unable to construct a well-established MFC. FDWW produced a maximum current from MFC3 (0.037 mA/cm(2); 0.015 mW/cm(2)), and confirmed the unsuitability of MFC2 at an alkaline pH. FDWW-MFC3 also performed best with the highest substrate degradation and coulombic efficiency. Mixed culture in MFC3 resulted in higher current generation under the influence of MR-1 (except in PWW), indicating the endogenous microbes were not solely responsible for the current but the outperformance was significantly attributed to the association of MR-1.

Removal of hexavalent chromium from acidic aqueous solutions using rice straw-derived carbon.

This study evaluates the removal of Cr(VI) from water by carbon derived from the burning of rice straw. Rice straw was burned in the air to obtain rice carbon (RC), and then the removal of Cr(VI) by RC was investigated under various pHs and ionic strengths. After the experiments, the oxidation state of Cr bound to RC was analyzed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, which revealed that Cr bound to RC was predominately in the trivalent form. The results showed that upon reacting with RC, Cr(VI) was reduced to Cr(III), which was either adsorbed on RC or released back into solution. The extent and rate of Cr(VI) removal increased with decreasing solution pH because the Cr(VI) adsorption and the subsequent reduction of adsorbed Cr(VI) to Cr(III) both occur preferentially at low pH. The minimal effect of ionic strength on the rates of Cr(VI) removal and Cr(III) adsorption indicated specific interactions between Cr(VI)/Cr(III) and their surface binding sites on RC. These results suggest that rice straw-based carbon may be effectively used at low pH as a substitute for activated carbon for the treatment of Cr(VI) contaminated water.