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Biogranulation is considered a promising technology in biological wastewater treatment due to its high effluent treatment quality, strong ability to withstand organic loading, strong microbial structure and high capability to remove organics, nitrogen and phosphate. Organic loading rate (OLR) is known as one of the significant factors in biogranulation process. Aerobic granules can be developed under different OLR conditions. Microorganisms are starved at low OLR while microbial growth accelerates at high OLR. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of various OLRs on the physical characteristics and treatment performance of aerobic granules in treating synthetic textile wastewater. Two reactors named as R4Y and R4N were used, where R4Y was a reactor with static mixer and R4N was without the static mixer. The OLR of 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 kg/m3.day were examined during the post development study. The study demonstrated that OLR affected the performance of biogranules. The physical characteristics of biogranules and removal efficiencies of the reactor with static mixer seemed to be better as compared to the reactor without static mixer with increasing of OLR. The granules of R4Y had better physical strength with IC of 19.6% and more excellent settling ability with SV of 82.7 m/h and SVI of 24.6 mL/g. The findings proved that static mixer had a positive influence in biogranulation system and therefore, will lower the energy consumption and operational cost.

The prevalence of goitre was determined in several communities in rural parts of Pahang. Urine specimens were collected randomly among the participants. Drinking water from various sources such as river and spring, and water from gravity feed systems was also collected to determine the iodine content by using the ashing method. The results were compared to that of Kuala Lumpur City. lt was found that the prevalence of goitre in rural areas was between 20 and 70% depending on village, ethnic group, age and gender. The interior parts of the jungle where Aborigines lived was moderately endemic with goitre prevalence of goitre more than 20% and urinary iodine content 2.0-5.0 μg I/dl). A nearby Malay traditional village which was studied had mild endemia (prevalence 10-30% and urinary iodine content 5.0-10.0 μg I/dl) while a Felda Malay resettlement scheme and Kuala Lumpur City did not have endemic goitre. Endemic goitre in rural areas was associated with low iodine content in drinking water. Even though Kuala Lumpur had low iodine content in its drinking water there was no endemic goitre, indicating that other factors were more important.

The Shimshal Valley, a remote village in Northern Pakistan, is one of the seven Pamirs of Central Asia, widely known as the roof of the world.To investigate the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in the Shimshal Valley.The Rapid Village Survey Method (RVS) was used to investigate the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis. The selection criteria were chronic cough, hemoptysis, past history of TB and close contact with a tuberculous patient. After clinical examination, a chest radiograph was done and a single spot sputum sample was obtained for smear examination.The total population of the village was 1077, of whom 231 cases were studied. Overcrowding affected 75% of the study population. The prevalence of smear positive pulmonary TB in the village studied was 554 per 100000 population, and the prevalence of active smear-negative TB was estimated at 1949/100 000. The prevalence of active pulmonary TB increased with age and the only risk factor for active TB was age over 45 years. Of the 21 cases with a past history of pulmonary TB, only 38% had completed a full course of chemotherapy.Pulmonary TB is a very serious health issue in the rural community (Shimshal Valley) of Pakistan. This study highlights the lack of efficacy of national tuberculosis control programs in the country.