In recent decades, disposal of dry sludge have been an important problem of sewage treatment plants due to environmental restrictions. The material is not usually permitted to be buried in soil or used as agricultural fertilizer because of high heavy metal contents. Some investigations performed on application of these materials in construction materials especially concrete mix designs. In this research, application of dry sludge produced in the Alborz (Qazvin) industrial/domestic sewage treatment plant in mass concrete at water to cement (w/c) ratios of 0.55 and 0.45 was investigated. The dry sludge was characterized for chemical composition (XRF analysis), crystalline phases (XRD analysis) and pozzolanic activity (Thermal gravimetery). Thereafter, it was used at 0, 5, 10, 20 and 30% of cement content in concretes. Effect of the dry sludge on compressive strength at different ages of curing 3, 7, 28 and 90 days was investigated. Besides, flexural strength, water absorption and porosity of concretes containing 20% dry sludge were measured after 28 and 90 days of curing. It was found that using dry sludge at 5, 10 and 20% caused decrease in compressive strength about 9, 14.5 and 29% in 28 days cured and 3.5, 8 and 20% in 90 days cured specimens in comparison to control specimens, respectively.

Disposal of human sewage has become a necessity for societies, today. The construction of treatment plants has caused problems with huge contents of dry sludge. It has been found that each person produce 35 to 85 grams of solid sludge per day.In recent years, waste production has increased dramatically in developing nations such as Iran. There are two methods for the disposal of solid waste (dry sludge) including landfilling and using the sludge as fertilizer. Both of these methods have been prohibited by Iran's Environmental Organization, due to the dangers of heavy metals present in the sludge. Due to these limitations, high volumes of dry sludge have been produced and collected in treatment plants.

Background and Objective: 2, 4 dinitrophenol is observed in sewage produced from chemical and petrochemical industries. Contamination of drinking water with these pollutants causes toxicity, health problems and change in taste and odor. The present study was developed to evaluate the efficiency of removal 2, 4-DNP through dried sludge adsorbent and modified calcium chloride sludge adsorbent. Materials and Methods: At first, sludge was dried at temperature of 60 ° C. Next, CaCl2 was used to improve adsorption capacity. The removal efficiency of 2, 4 dinitrophenol were determined by HPLC at wavelength of 360 nm. The effects of influencing factors including pH, initial pollutant concentration, contact time, and adsorbent dose were examined. Results: The optimum pH of adsorption for both adsorbents was found to be 7. The optimum concentration of 2, 4-DNP was 10 ppm. The results obtained from the present research showed that the removal of the contaminant using dried and modified sludge sorbent was increased from 72. 6% to 86% at a dosage of 1. 5 g. The adsorption kinetics were fitted with the pseudo second order kinetics model for both adsorbents. The isotherm data also showed that the adsorption of this pollutant on both adsorbents is fitted with the Freundlich model. Conclusion: Results obtained from the present study indicated that the efficiency of the modified sludge ash is more than the non-modified sludge in 2, 4 dinitrophenol removal. This can reduce adsorbent consumption in industrial treatment plants.

In the first stage of this study, the compound effects of sludge dry solid content and residual bulking agent type (paper, saw dust, straw) mixed with activated sludge (10, 15, and 20% dry solids) on volatile solids (V.S.) reduction were investigated using Eisenia foetida in pilot scale experiments with batches of fifty earthworms in each of the 10 experimental treatments over a period of 10 weeks. The maximum V.S. reduction was attained in the mixture of sludge and paper, with a D.S. of 15% (0.42 ±0.03 % day-1) while the minimum V.S. reduction was achieved in the mixture of sludge and straw, with a D.S. of 10% (0.26±0.01 % day-1). In the second stage, the survival of Eisenia foetida in the anaerobic sewage sludge was investigated. In the unmixed raw anaerobic sludge, all the earthworms died during the first 9 weeks of the study period due to acute toxicity. From week 10, however, their survival rate improved so that by week 12 when toxicity reduced to 25.40%, they completely survived. This is while in the mixture of anaerobic sludge with paper (D.S. 15%), 100% of the earthworms survived from week 8 after the volatile solids reduced to 20.42% and 17.40%.

Background: Myofascial pain syndrome of upper trapezius muscle is common; reports about successful treatment with dry needling and physical therapy have been published. This study was performed with the objective of comparing the efficacy of these two treatment modalities in relieving the symptoms in patients with myofascial pain in the trapezius referred to the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Center at the Shohadaye Tajrish Hospital from Apr 2009 to March 2010.Methods: It was a randomized controlled trial performed on 28 patients. After matching age, sex, duration of symptoms, pain severity, pain pressure threshold of trigger point and quality of life measures, subjects were randomly put in to subgroups of case (dry needling) or control (physical therapy). One week and one month after receiving treatment, outcomes and intra and inter group changes in pain severity, pain pressure threshold of trigger point and quality of life measures were evaluated and compared.Results: 28 subjects in two 14 patients groups took part in this study. After one month of both physical therapy and dry needling, there was a decrease in resting, night and activity pain levels, (p<0.05). Pain pressure threshold of trigger point, scores of physical functioning, role limitation due to physical problems, social functioning and bodily pain were improved (p<0.05). Results were similar in the two groups, (p<0.4).Conclusion: It seems that both physical therapy modalities and dry needling have equal effect in decreasing myofascial pain of upper trapezius muscle.

The disposal of excess sludge from wastewater treatment plant represents a rising challenge in activated sludge processes. Hence, the minimization of excess sludge production was investigated by increasing the dissolved oxygen in aeration basin. Units of the pilot include: Primary sedimentation tank, aeration basin, secondary sedimentation tank, and return sludge tank. Volume of aeration basin is 360 l and influent flow rate is 90 L/h. Influent of pilot is taken from effluent of grit chamber of Isfahan's North Wastewater treatment plant. The experiments were done on different parts of pilot during the 5 month of study. Results show that increase of dissolved oxygen in aeration tank affect on decrease of excess sludge. Increase of dissolved oxygen from 0.5 to 4.5 mg/L resulted in 25% decrease of excess sludge. Variation of dissolved oxygen affect on settle ability of sludge too. By increase of dissolved oxygen, SVI decreased and then increased. Value of 1-3 mg/L was the adequate range of dissolved oxygen by settles ability of sludge and optimum range was 2-2.5 mg/L. It could be concluded by increasing of dissolved oxygen up to of 3 mg/L, sludge settle ability significant decreased.