Search results for: domestic wastewater treatment

Authors: Mohammed Saidu, Afiz Busari, Ali Yuzir, Mohd Razman Salim

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Degradation of agricultural residues from palm oil industry is increasing due to its expansion. Lignocelloulosic waste from these industry represent large amount of unutilized resources, this is due to their high lignin content. Since, white rot fungi are capable of degrading the lignin, its potential to degradation was accessed for upgrading it. The lignocellluloses content was measured before and after biodegradation and the rate of reduction was determined. From the results of biodegradation, it was observed that hemicellulose reduces by 22.62%, cellulose by 20.97% and lignin by 10.65% from the initials lignocelluloses contents. Thus, to improve the digestibility of palm oil mesocarp fibre, treatment by white rot-fungi is recommended.

Keywords: biological, fungi, lignocelluses, oil palm

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Authors: Mmamapudi Kubjane, Natacha Berkowitz, Rene Goliath, Naomi S. Levitt, Robert J. Wilkinson, Tolu Oni

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Background: South Africa remains a high tuberculosis (TB) burden country globally and the burden of diabetes – a TB risk factor is growing rapidly. As an infectious disease, TB also induces transient hyperglycaemia. Therefore, screening for diabetes in newly diagnosed tuberculosis patients may result in misclassification of transient hyperglycaemia as diabetes. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine and compare the prevalence of hyperglycaemia (diabetes and impaired glucose regulation (IGR)) in TB patients and to assess the cross-sectional association between TB and hyperglycaemia at enrolment and after three months of follow-up. Methods: Consecutive adult TB and non-TB participants presenting at a TB clinic in Cape Town were enrolled in this cross-sectional study and follow-up between July 2013 and August 2015. Diabetes was defined as self-reported diabetes, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) ≥ 7.0 mmol·L⁻¹ or glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) ≥ 6.5%. IGR was defined as FPG 5.5– < 7.0 mmol·L⁻¹ or HbA1c 5.7– < 6.5%. TB patients initiated treatment. After three months, all participants were followed up and screened for diabetes again. The association between TB and hyperglycaemia was assessed using logistic regression adjusting for potential confounders including sex, age, income, hypertension, waist circumference, previous prisoner, marital status, work status, HIV status. Results: Diabetes screening was performed in 852 participants (414 TB and 438 non-TB) at enrolment and in 639 (304 TB and 335 non-TB) at three-month follow-up. The prevalence of HIV-1 infection was 69.6% (95% confidence interval (CI), 64.9–73.8 %) among TB patients, and 58.2% (95% CI, 53.5–62.8 %) among the non-TB participants. Glycaemic levels were much higher in TB patients than in the non-TB participants but decreased over time. Among TB patients, the prevalence of IGR was 65.2% (95% CI 60.1 - 69.9) at enrollment and 21.5% (95% CI 17.2-26.5) at follow-up; and was 50% (45.1 - 54.94) and 32% (95% CI 27.9 - 38.0) respectively, among non-TB participants. The prevalence of diabetes in TB patients was 12.5% (95% CI 9.69 – 16.12%) at enrolment and 9.2% (95% CI, 6.43–13.03%) at follow-up; and was 10.04% (95% CI, 7.55–13.24%) and 8.06% (95% CI, 5.58–11.51) respectively, among non-TB participants. The association between TB and IGT was significant at enrolment (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 2.26 (95% CI, 1.55-3.31) but disappeared at follow-up 0.84 (0.53 - 1.36). However, the TB-diabetes association remained positive and significant both at enrolment (2.41 (95% CI, 1.3-4.34)) and follow-up (OR 3.31 (95% CI, 1.5 - 7.25)). Conclusion: Transient hyperglycaemia exists during tuberculosis. This has implications on diabetes screening in TB patients and suggests a need for diabetes confirmation tests during or after TB treatment. Nonetheless, the association between TB and diabetes noted at enrolment persists at 3 months highlighting the importance of diabetes control and prevention for TB control. Further research is required to investigate the impact of hyperglycaemia (transient or otherwise) on TB outcomes to ascertain the clinical significance of hyperglycemia at enrolment.

Keywords: diabetes, impaired glucose regulation, transient hyperglycaemia, tuberculosis

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Authors: Anita Conti, Riccardo Ossanna, Lindsey A. Quintero, Giamaica Conti, Andrea Sbarbati

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Ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury induces muscle fiber atrophy and skeletal muscle fiber death with subsequently functionality loss. The heterogeneous pool of cells, especially mesenchymal stem cells, contained in the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of adipose tissue could promote muscle fiber regeneration. To prevent SVF dispersion, it has been proposed the use of injectable biopolymers that work as cells carrier. A significant element of the extracellular matrix is hyaluronic acid (HA), which has been widely used in regenerative medicine as a cell scaffold given its biocompatibility, degradability, and the possibility of chemical functionalization. Connective tissue micro-fragments enriched with SVF obtained from mechanical disaggregation of adipose tissue were evaluated for IR muscle injury regeneration using low molecular weight HA as a scaffold. IR induction. Hindlimb ischemia was induced in 9 athymic nude mice through the clamping of the right quadriceps using a plastic band. Reperfusion was induced by cutting the plastic band after 3 hours of ischemic period. Contralateral (left) muscular tissue was used as healthy control. Treatment. Twenty-four hours after the IR induction, animals (n=3) were intramuscularly injected with 100 µl of SVF mixed with HA (SVF-HA). Animals treated with 100 µl of HA (n=3) and 100 µl saline solution (n=3) were used as control. Treatment monitoring. All animals were in vivo monitored by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 5, 7, 14 and 18 days post-injury (dpi). High-resolution morphological T2 weighed, quantitative T2 map and Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced (DCE) images were acquired in order to assess the regenerative potential of SVF-HA treatment. Ex vivo evaluation. After 18 days from IR induction, animals were sacrificed, and the muscles were harvested for histological examination. At 5 dpi T2 high-resolution MR images clearly reveal the presence of an extensive edematous area due to IR damage for all groups identifiable as an increase of signal intensity (SI) of muscular and surrounding tissue. At 7 dpi, animals of the SVF-HA group showed a reduction of SI, and the T2relaxation time of muscle tissue of the HA-SVF group was 29±0.5ms, comparable with the T2relaxation time of contralateral muscular tissue (30±0.7ms). These suggest a reduction of edematous overflow and swelling. The T2relaxation time at 7dpi of HA and saline groups were 84±2ms and 90±5ms, respectively, which remained elevated during the rest of the study. The evaluation of vascular regeneration showed similar results. Indeed, DCE-MRI analysis revealed a complete recovery of muscular tissue perfusion after 14 dpi for the SVF-HA group, while for the saline and HA group, controls remained in a damaged state. Finally, the histological examination of SVF-HA treated animals exhibited well-defined and organized fibers morphology with a lateralized nucleus, similar to contralateral healthy muscular tissue. On the contrary, HA and saline-treated animals presented inflammatory infiltrates, with HA slightly improving the diameter of the fibers and less degenerated tissue. Our findings show that connective tissue micro-fragments enriched with SVF induce higher muscle homeostasis and perfusion restoration in contrast to control groups.

Keywords: ischemia/reperfusion injury, regenerative medicine, resonance imaging, stromal vascular fraction

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Authors: H. Jeries, N. Volkova, C. G. Iglesias, M. Najjar, M. Rosenblat, M. Aviram, T. Hayek

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Background: Synthetic forms of glucocorticoids (e.g., prednisone, prednisolone) are anti-inflammatory drugs which are widely used in clinical practice. The role of glucocorticoids (GCs) in cardiovascular diseases including atherosclerosis is highly controversial, and their impact on macrophage foam cell formation is still unknown. Our aim was to investigate the effects of prednisone or its active metabolite, prednisolone, on macrophage oxidative stress and lipid metabolism using in-vivo, ex-vivo and in-vitro systems. Methods: The in-vivo study included C57BL/6 mice which were intraperitoneally injected with prednisone or prednisolone (5mg/kg) for 4 weeks, followed by lipid metabolism analyses in the mice aorta, and in peritoneal macrophages (MPM). In the ex-vivo study, we analyzed the effect of serum samples obtained from 9 healthy volunteers before or after treatment with oral prednisone (20mg for 5 days), on J774A.1 macrophage atherogenicity. In-vitro studies were conducted using J774A.1 macrophages, human monocyte derived macrophages (HMDM) and fibroblasts. Cells were incubated with increasing concentrations (0-200 ng/ml) of prednisone or prednisolone, followed by determination of cellular oxidative status, triglyceride and cholesterol metabolism. Results: Prednisone or prednisolone treatment resulted in a significant reduction in triglycerides and mainly in cholesterol cellular accumulation in MPM or in J774A.1 macrophages incubated with human serum. Similar resulted were noted in HMDM or in J774A.1 macrophages which were directly incubated with the GCs. These effects were associated with GCs inhibitory effect on triglycerides and cholesterol biosynthesis rates, throughout downregulation of diacylglycerol acyltransferase1 (DGAT1) expression, and of the sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP2) and HMGCR expression, respectively. In parallel to prednisone or prednisolone induced reduction in macrophage triglyceride content, paraoxonase 2 (PON2) expression was significantly upregulated. GCs-induced reduction of cellular triglyceride and cholesterol mass was mediated by the GCs receptors on macrophages since the GCs receptor antagonist (RU 486) abolished these effects. In fibroblasts, unlike macrophages, prednisone or prednisolone showed no anti-atherogenic effects. Conclusions: Prednisone or prednisolone are anti-atherogenic since they protected macrophages from lipid accumulation and foam cell formation.

Keywords: atherosclerosis, cholesterol, foam cell, macrophage, prednisone, prednisolone, triglycerides

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Authors: Karlee J. Hall, Mark Laylor, Jessy Varghese, Paula Polastri, Karen Van Ooteghem, William McIlroy

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Balance training is a common part of physiotherapy treatment and often involves a set of proprioceptive exercises which the patient carries out in the clinic and as part of their exercise program. Understanding all contributing factors to altered balance is of utmost importance to the clinical success of treatment of balance dysfunctions. A critical role for the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in the control of balance reactions has been proposed previously, with evidence for potential involvement being inferred from the observation of phasic galvanic skin responses (GSR) evoked by external balance perturbations. The current study explored whether the coupling between ANS reactivity and balance reactions would be observed during spontaneously occurring instability while standing, including standard positions typical of physiotherapy balance assessments. It was hypothesized that time-varying changes in GSR (ANS reactivity) would be associated with time-varying changes in the mediolateral center of pressure (ML-COP) (somatomotor reactivity). Nine individuals (5 females, 4 males, aged 19-37 years) were recruited. To induce varying balance demands during standing, the study compared ML-COP and GSR data across different task conditions varying the availability of vision and width of the base of support. Subjects completed 3, 30-second trials for each of the following stance conditions: standard, narrow, and tandem eyes closed, tandem eyes open, tandem eyes open with dome to shield visual input, and restricted peripheral visual field. ANS activity was evaluated by measures of GSR recorded from Ag-AgCl electrodes on the middle phalanges of digits 2 and 4 on the left hand; balance measures include ML-COP excursion frequency and amplitude recorded from two force plates embedded in the floor underneath each foot. Subjects were instructed to stand as still as possible with arms crossed in front of their chest. When comparing mean task differences across subjects, there was an expected increase in postural sway from tasks with a wide stance and no sensory restrictions (least challenging) to those with a narrow stance and no vision (most challenging). The correlation analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between ML-COP variability and GSR variability when comparing across tasks (r=0.94, df=5, p < 0.05). In addition, correlations coincided within each subject and revealed a significant positive correlation in 7 participants (r= 0.47, 0.57, 0.62, 0.62, 0.81, 0.64, 0.69 respectively, df=19, p < 0.05) and no significant relationship in 2 participants (r=0.36, 0.29 respectively, df=19, p > 0.05). The current study revealed a significant relationship between ML-COP and GSR during balance tasks, revealing the ANS reactivity associated with naturally occurring instability when standing still, which is proportional to the degree of instability. Understanding the link between ANS activity and control of COP is an important step forward in the enhancement of assessment of contributing factors to poor balance and treatment of balance dysfunctions. The next steps will explore the temporal association between the time-varying changes in COP and GSR to establish if the ANS reactivity phase leads or lags the evoked motor reactions, as well as exploration of potential biomarkers for use in screening of ANS activity as a contributing factor to altered balance control clinically.

Keywords: autonomic nervous system, balance control, center of pressure, somatic nervous system

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Authors: Olivera Lupescu, Taina Elena Avramescu, Mihail Nagea, Alexandru Dimitriu

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Acetabular fractures represent a real challenge due to their impact upon the long term function of the hip joint, and due to the risk of intra- and peri-operative complications especially that they affect young, active people. That is why treating these fractures require certain skills which must be exercised, regarding the pre-operative planning, as well as the execution of surgery.The authors retrospectively analyse 38 cases with acetabular fractures operated using the posterior approach in our hospital between 01.01.2013- 01.01.2015 for which complete medical records ensure a follow-up of 24 months, in order to establish the main causes of potential errors and to underline the methods for preventing them. This target is included in the Erasmus + project ‘Collaborative learning for enhancing practical skills for patient-focused interventions in gait rehabilitation after orthopedic surgery COR-skills’. This paper analyses the pitfalls revealed by these cases, as well as the measures necessary to enhance the practical skills of the surgeons who perform acetabular surgery. Pre-op planning matched the intra and post-operative outcome in 88% of the analyzed points, from 72% at the beginning to 94% in the last case, meaning that experience is very important in treating this injury. The main problems detected for the posterior approach were: nervous complications - 3 cases, 1 of them a complete paralysis of the sciatic nerve, which recovered 6 months after surgery, and in other 2 cases intra-articular position of the screws was demonstrated by post-operative CT scans, so secondary screw removal was necessary in these cases. We analysed this incident, too, due to lack of information about the relationship between the screws and the joint secondary to this approach. Septic complications appeared in 3 cases, 2 superficial and 1 profound (requiring implant removal). The most important problems were the reduction of the fractures and the positioning of the screws so as not to interfere with the the articular space. In posterior acetabular fractures, pre-op complex planning is important in order to achieve maximum treatment efficacy with minimum of risk; an optimal training of the surgeons insisting on the main points of potential mistakes ensure the success of the procedure, as well as a favorable outcome for the patient.

Keywords: acetabular fractures, articular congruency, surgical skills, vocational training

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Authors: Tracey Lion-Cachet

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Eating disorders typically manifest in adolescence and are notoriously difficult to treat. There are two notable reasons for this. Firstly, research consistently demonstrates that early intervention is a critical mediator of prognosis, with early intervention leading to a better prognosis. However, because eating disorders do not originate as full-syndrome diagnoses but rather as prodromal cases, they often go undetected; by the time symptoms meet diagnostic criteria, they have become recalcitrant. Another interrelated issue is motivation to change. Research demonstrates that in the early stages of an eating disorder, adolescents are highly resistant to change, and motivation increases only once symptoms have shifted from egosyntonic to egodystonic in nature. The purpose of this project was to design a prevention model based on the social psychology paradigm of Entertainment-Education, which embeds messages within the genre of film as a means of affecting change. The resulting project was a narrative screenplay targeting teenagers/young adults from diverse backgrounds. The goals of the project were to create a film script that, if ultimately made into a film, could serve to: 1) interrupt symptom progression and improve prognosis through early intervention; 2) incorporate techniques from third-wave cognitive behavioral treatment models, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and rational recovery (RR), with a focus on the effects of mindfulness as a means of informing recovery; 3) target issues to do with motivation to change by shifting the perception of eating disorders from culturally specific psychiatric illnesses to habit-based brain wiring issues. Nine licensed clinicians were asked to evaluate two excerpts taken from the final script. They subsequently provided feedback on a Likert-scale, which assessed whether the script had achieved its goals. Overall, evaluators agreed that the project’s etiological and intervention models have the potential to inspire change and serve as an effective means of prevention and treatment of eating disorders. However, one-third of the evaluators did not find the content developmentally appropriate. This is a notable limitation to the study and will need to be addressed in the larger script before the final project can potentially be targeted to a teenage and young adult audience.

Keywords: adolescents, eating disorders, pediatrics, entertainment-education, mindfulness-based intervention, prevention

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Authors: Ayşegül Bilge, Hacer Demirkol, Merve Uğuryol

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Therapeutic touch is one of the most important methods of complementary and alternative treatments. Therapeutic touch requires the sharing of universal energy. Therapeutic touch (TT) provides the interaction between the patient and the nurse. In addition, nurses can be aware of physical and mental symptoms of patients through therapeutic touch. Therapeutic touch (TT) is short-term provides the advantage for the nurse. For this reason, nurses have to be aware of the importance of therapeutic touch and they can use it from the primary care to tertiary care in nursing practices at in health field.

Keywords: health care services, complementary treatment, nursing, therapeutic touch

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Authors: Zeinab Jafari A., Ali Sharifnezhad B., Mohammad Razi C., Mohammad Haghpanahi D., Arash Maghsoudi

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Background and Objective: Sports-related rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and following injuries have been associated with various disorders, such as long-lasting changes in muscle activation patterns in athletes, which might last after ACL reconstruction (ACLR). The rupture of the ACL might result in abnormal patterns of movement execution, extending the treatment period and delaying athletes’ return to sports (RTS). As ACL injury is especially prevalent among athletes, the lengthy treatment process and athletes’ absence from sports are of great concern to athletes and coaches. Thus, estimating safe time of RTS is of crucial importance. Therefore, using a deep neural network (DNN) to classify the health levels of ACL in injured athletes, this study aimed to estimate the safe time for athletes to return to competitions. Methods: Ten athletes with ACLR and fourteen healthy controls participated in this study. Three health levels of ACL were defined: healthy, six-month post-ACLR surgery and nine-month post-ACLR surgery. Athletes with ACLR were tested six and nine months after the ACLR surgery. During the course of this study, surface electromyography (sEMG) signals were recorded from five knee muscles, namely Rectus Femoris (RF), Vastus Lateralis (VL), Vastus Medialis (VM), Biceps Femoris (BF), Semitendinosus (ST), during single-leg drop landing (SLDL) and forward hopping (SLFH) tasks. The Pseudo-Wigner-Ville distribution (PWVD) was used to produce three-dimensional (3-D) images of the energy distribution patterns of sEMG signals. Then, these 3-D images were converted to two-dimensional (2-D) images implementing the heat mapping technique, which were then fed to a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN). Results: In this study, we estimated the safe time of RTS by designing a DCNN classifier with an accuracy of 90 %, which could classify ACL into three health levels. Discussion: The findings of this study demonstrate the potential of the DCNN classification technique using sEMG signals in estimating RTS time, which will assist in evaluating the recovery process of ACLR in athletes.

Keywords: anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, return to sports, surface electromyography, deep convolutional neural network

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Authors: T. Hennedige

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Imaging plays a crucial role in the evaluation of the extent of peritoneal disease, which in turn determines prognosis and treatment choice. Despite advances in imaging technology, assessment of the peritoneum remains relatively challenging secondary to its large surface area, complex anatomy, and variety of imaging modalities available. This poster will review the mechanisms of spread, namely intraperitoneal dissemination, directly along peritoneal pathways, haematogeneous dissemination, and lymphatic spread. This will be followed by a side-by-side pictorial comparison of the detection of peritoneal deposits using CT, MRI, and PET/CT, depicting the advantages and shortcomings of each modality. An imaging selection framework will then be presented, which may aid the clinician in selecting the appropriate imaging modality for the malignancy in question.

Keywords: imaging, CT, malignancy, MRI, peritoneum, PET

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Authors: Gurfateh Singh, Mu Khan, Razia Khanam, Govind Mohan

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Objective: The present study has been designed to investigate the beneficial role of Fenofibrate & Clofibrate in attenuated the cardioprotective effect of ischemic preconditioning (IPC) in hyperlipidemic rat hearts. Materials & Methods: Experimental hyperlipidemia was produced by feeding high fat diet to rats for a period of 28 days. Isolated langendorff’s perfused normal and hyperlipidemic rat hearts were subjected to global ischemia for 30 min followed by reperfusion for 120 min. The myocardial infarct size was assessed macroscopically using triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining. Coronary effluent was analyzed for lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatine kinase-MB release to assess the extent of cardiac injury. Moreover, the oxidative stress in heart was assessed by measuring thiobarbituric acid reactive substance, superoxide anion generation and reduced form of glutathione. Results: The ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) has been noted to induce oxidative stress by increasing TBARS, superoxide anion generation and decreasing reduced form of glutathione in normal and hyperlipidemic rat hearts. Moreover, I/R produced myocardial injury, which was assessed in terms of increase in myocardial infarct size, LDH and CK-MB release in coronary effluent and decrease in coronary flow rate in normal and hyperlipidemic rat hearts. In addition, the hyperlipidemic rat hearts showed enhanced I/R-induced myocardial injury with high degree of oxidative stress as compared with normal rat hearts subjected to I/R. Four episodes of IPC (5 min each) afforded cardioprotection against I/R-induced myocardial injury in normal rat hearts as assessed in terms of improvement in coronary flow rate and reduction in myocardial infarct size, LDH, CK-MB and oxidative stress. On the other hand, IPC mediated myocardial protection against I/R-injury was abolished in hyperlipidemic rat hearts. However, Treatment with Fenofibrate (100 mg/kg/day, i.p.), Clofibrate (300mg/kg/day, i.p.) as a agonists of PPAR-α have not affected the cardioprotective effect of IPC in normal rat hearts, but its treatment markedly restored the cardioprotective potentials of IPC in hyperlipidemic rat hearts. Conclusion: It is noted that the high degree of oxidative stress produced in hyperlipidemic rat heart during reperfusion and consequent down regulation of PPAR-α may be responsible to abolish the cardioprotective potentials of IPC.

Keywords: Hyperlipidemia, ischemia-reperfusion injury, ischemic preconditioning, PPAR-α

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Authors: Javed Kamal

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A proposed field study of wheat-based cropping systems was conducted at Faisalabad (Post-Graduate Research Station). We used 7 treatments and Jantar as a green manuring crop to increase the fertility status of soil; after the vegetative phases of wheat, rice, sorghum, and mungbean, the agronomic parameters of these crops were recorded. Hopefully, all increased with jantar treatment when compared with controls. The benefit: cost ratio and physicochemical characteristics of the soil before and after the crop harvest were also calculated.

Keywords: benifit cost ratio, jantar, sunflower, rice, wheat

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Authors: Hana Barak, Alex Sivan, Ariel Kushmaro

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Microorganisms are the most diverse and abundant life forms on Earth and account for a large portion of the Earth’s biomass and biodiversity. To date though, our knowledge regarding microbial life is lacking, as it is based mainly on information from cultivated organisms. Indeed, microbiologists have borrowed from astrophysics and termed the ‘uncultured microbial majority’ as ‘microbial dark matter’. The realization of how diverse and unexplored microorganisms are, actually stems from recent advances in molecular biology, and in particular from novel methods for sequencing microbial small subunit ribosomal RNA genes directly from environmental samples termed next-generation sequencing (NGS). This has led us to use NGS that generates several gigabases of sequencing data in a single experimental run, to identify and classify environmental samples of microorganisms. In metagenomics sequencing analysis (both 16S and shotgun), sequences are compared to reference databases that contain only small part of the existing microorganisms and therefore their taxonomy assignment may reveal groups of unknown microorganisms or origins. These unknowns, or the ‘microbial sequences dark matter’, are usually ignored in spite of their great importance. The goal of this work was to develop an improved bioinformatics method that enables more complete analyses of the microbial communities in numerous environments. Therefore, NGS was used to identify previously unknown microorganisms from three different environments (industrials wastewater, Negev Desert’s rocks and water wells at the Arava valley). 16S rRNA gene metagenome analysis of the microorganisms from those three environments produce about ~4 million reads for 75 samples. Between 0.1-12% of the sequences in each sample were tagged as ‘Unassigned’. Employing relatively simple methodology for resequencing of original gDNA samples through Sanger or MiSeq Illumina with specific primers, this study demonstrates that the mysterious ‘Unassigned’ group apparently contains sequences of candidate phyla. Those unknown sequences can be located on a phylogenetic tree and thus provide a better understanding of the ‘sequences dark matter’ and its role in the research of microbial communities and diversity. Studying this ‘dark matter’ will extend the existing databases and could reveal the hidden potential of the ‘microbial dark matter’.

Keywords: bacteria, bioinformatics, dark matter, Next Generation Sequencing, unknown

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Authors: Samriti Wadhwa, Beena Kumari

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Background and Significance: Residue levels of ready mix (chlorpyriphos 50% and cypermethrin 5%), cypermethrin and chlorpyriphos individually in sandy loam soil under okra fruits (Variety, Varsha Uphar) were determined; a field experiment was conducted at Research Farm of Department of Entomology of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar, Haryana, India. Persistence behavior of cypermethrin and chlorpyriphos was studied following application of a pre-mix formulation of insecticides viz. Action-505EC, chlorpyriphos (Radar 20 EC) and cypermethrin (Cyperkill 10 EC) at the recommended dose and double the recommended dose along with control at fruiting stage. Pesticide application also leads to decline in soil acarine fauna which is instrumental in the breakdown of the litter because of which minerals are released into the soil. So, by this study, one can evaluate the safety of pesticides for the soil health. Methodology: Action-505EC (chlorpyriphos 50% and cypermethrin 5%) at 275 g a .i. ha⁻¹ (single dose) and 550 g a. i. ha⁻¹ (double dose), chlorpyriphos (Radar 20 EC) at 200 g a. i. ha⁻¹ (single dose) and 400 g a. i. ha⁻¹ (double dose) and cypermethrin (Cyperkill 10 EC) at 50 g a. i. ha⁻¹ (single dose) and 100 g a. i. ha⁻¹ (double dose) were applied at the fruiting stage on okra crop. Samples of soils from okra field were collected periodically at 0 (1h after spray), 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15 days and at harvest after application as well of control soil sample. After air drying, adsorbing through Florisil and activated charcoal and eluting with hexane: acetone (9:1) then residues in soils were estimated by a gas chromatograph equipped with a capillary column and electron capture detector. Results: No persistence of cypermethrin in ready-mix in soil under okra fruits at single and double dose was observed. In case of chlorpyriphos in ready-mix, average initial deposits on 0 (1 h after treatment) day was 0.015 mg kg⁻¹ and 0.036 mg kg⁻¹ which persisted up to 5 days and up to 7 days for single and double dose, respectively. After that residues reached below a detectable level of 0.010 mg kg⁻¹. Experimental studies on cypermethrin individually revealed that average initial deposits on 0 (1 h after treatment) were 0.008 mg kg⁻¹ and 0.012 mg kg⁻¹ which persisted up to 3 days and 5 days for single and double dose, respectively after that residues reached to below detectable level. The initial deposits of chlorpyriphos individually in soil were found to be 0.055 mg kg⁻¹ and 0.113 mg kg⁻¹ which persisted up to 7 days and 10 days at a lower dose and higher dose, respectively after that residues reached to below determination level. Conclusion: In soil under okra crop, only individual cypermethrin in both the doses persisted whereas no persistence of cypermethrin in ready-mix was observed. Persistence of chlorpyriphos individually is more as compared to chlorpyriphos in ready-mix in both the doses. Overall, the persistence of chlorpyriphos in soil under okra crop is more than cypermethrin.

Keywords: chlorpyriphos, cypermethrin, okra, ready mix, soil

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Authors: Ana Ferraz, Martim Santos, M. Graça Pereira

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Distress among parents of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is common during treatment and can persist several years post-diagnosis, impacting the adjustment of children and parents themselves. Current evidence is needed to examine the scope and nature of parental distress in childhood ALL. This review focused on associated variables, predictors, and outcomes of parental distress following their ALL diagnosis of their child. PubMed, Web of Science, and PsycINFO databases were searched for English and Spanish papers published from 1983 to 2021. PRISMA statement was followed, and papers were evaluated through a standardized methodological quality assessment tool (NHLBI). Of the 28 papers included, 16 were evaluated as fair, eight as good, and four as poor. Regarding results, 11 papers reported subgroup differences, and 15 found potential predictors of parental distress, including sociodemographic, psychosocial, psychological, family, health, and ALL-specific variables. Significant correlations were found between parental distress, social support, illness cognitions, and resilience, as well as contradictory results regarding the impact of sociodemographic variables on parental distress. Family cohesion and caregiver burden were associated with distress, and the use of healthy coping strategies was associated with less anxiety. Caregiver strain contributed to distress, and the overall impact of illness positively predicted anxiety in mothers and somatization in fathers. Differences in parental distress were found regarding group risk, time since diagnosis, and treatment phases. Thirteen papers explored the outcomes of parental distress on psychological, family, health, and social/education outcomes. Parental distress was the most important predictor of family strain. Significant correlations were found between parental distress at diagnosis and further psychological adjustment of parents themselves and their children. Most papers reported correlations between parental distress on children’s adjustment and quality of life, although few studies reported no association. Correlations between maternal depression and child participation in education and social life were also found. Longitudinal studies are needed to better understand parental distress and its consequences on health outcomes, in particular. Future interventions should focus mainly on parents on distress reduction and psychological adjustment, both in parents and children over time.

Keywords: childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia, family, parental distress, psychological adjustment, quality of life

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Authors: Kebron Abich Asnake

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The outbreak of COVID-19 has had far-reaching socio-economic consequences globally, and Ethiopia is no exception. This abstract provides a summary of a research study on the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 in Ethiopia. The study analyzes the health impact, economic repercussions, social consequences, government response measures, and opportunities for post-crisis recovery. In terms of health impact, the research explores the spread and transmission of the virus, the capacity and response of the healthcare system, and the mortality rate, with a focus on vulnerable populations. The economic impact analysis entails investigating the contraction of the GDP, employment and income loss, disruption in key sectors such as agriculture, tourism, and manufacturing, and the specific implications for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), foreign direct investment, and remittances. The social impact section looks at the disruptions in education and the digital divide, food security and nutrition challenges, increased poverty and inequality, gender-based violence, and mental health issues. The research also examines the measures taken by the Ethiopian government, including health and safety regulations, economic stimulus packages, social protection programs, and support for vulnerable populations. Furthermore, the study outlines long-term recovery prospects, social cohesion, and community resilience challenges. It highlights the need to strengthen the healthcare system and finds a balance between health and economic priorities. The research concludes by presenting recommendations for policy-makers and stakeholders, emphasizing opportunities for post-crisis recovery such as diversification of the economy, enhanced healthcare infrastructure, investment in digital infrastructure and technology, and support for domestic tourism and local industries. This research provides valuable insights into the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 in Ethiopia, offering a comprehensive analysis of the challenges faced and potential pathways towards recovery.

Keywords: impact, covid, ethiopia, health

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Authors: Kingsley Agyapong

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Research conducted in recent years has delved into the concept of patient-perceived value within the context of co-creation, particularly in the realm of doctor-patient interactions within healthcare settings. However, existing scholarly discourse lacks exploration regarding the emergence of patient-derived value in the co-creation process, specifically within encounters involving patients and stakeholders such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals. This study aims to fill this gap by elucidating the perspectives of patients regarding the value they derive from their interactions with multiple stakeholders in the delivery of healthcare services. The fieldwork was conducted at a university clinic located in Ghana. Data collection procedures involved conducting 20 individual interviews with key informants on distinct value accrued from co-creation practices and interactions with stakeholders. The key informants consisted of patients receiving care at the university clinic during the Malaria Treatment Process. Three themes emerged from both the existing literature and the empirical data collected. The first theme, labeled as "patient value needs in co-creation," encapsulates elements such as communication effectiveness, interpersonal interaction quality, treatment efficacy, and enhancements to the overall quality of life experienced by patients during their interactions with healthcare professionals. The second theme, designated as "services that enhance patients' experience in value co-creation," pertains to patients' perceptions of services that contribute favourably to co-creation experiences, including initiatives related to health promotion and the provision of various in-house services that patients deem pertinent for augmenting their overall experiences. The third theme, titled "Challenges in the co-creation of patients' value," delineates obstacles encountered within the co-creation process, including health professionals' challenges in effectively following up with patients scheduled for review and prolonged waiting times for healthcare delivery. This study contributes to the patients' perceptions of value within the co-creation process during their interactions with service providers, particularly healthcare professionals. By gaining a deeper insight into this process, healthcare providers can enhance the delivery of patient-centered care, thereby leading to improved healthcare outcomes. The study further offers managerial implications derived from its findings, providing actionable insights for healthcare managers and policymakers aiming to optimize patient value creation in healthcare services. Furthermore, it suggests avenues for future research endeavors within healthcare settings.

Keywords: patient, healthcare, co-creation, malaria

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Authors: Rahul Ravindranathan, R. P. Gokul

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India, in its efforts towards economic and social development, is currently experiencing a heavy demand for energy. Due to the lack of sufficient domestic energy reserves, the country is highly dependent on energy imports which has increased rapidly at a rate of about 12 % per annum since 2005. Hence, India is currently focusing its efforts to manage this energy supply and demand gap and eventually achieve energy security. One of the most cost effective means to reduce this gap is by adopting Energy efficiency measures in the country. Initial assessments have shown that Energy efficiency measures have an energy conservation potential of about 23%. For an estimated investment potential of USD 8 Billion, the annual energy savings was estimated to be about 180 Billion Units per annum. In order to explore this huge energy conservation potential, many critical factors need to be considered to achieve practical energy savings. Financing options for these investments is one such major factor. Not only has India come out with various policy level as well as technology level drives to promote Energy efficiency but it has also developed various financing schemes to promote investment in Energy Efficiency projects. The Public sector has already come out with certain financing schemes such as the Partial Risk Guarantee Fund (PRGF), Venture Capital Fund (VCF), Partial Risk Sharing Fund (PRSF) etc., and various sectors are gradually utilizing these schemes to implement energy saving measures. However, additional financing options are required in order to explore the untouched energy conservation potential in the country. Hence, there is a need to develop some innovative financing options for India which would motivate the private sectors as well as financing institutions to invest in these energy saving measures. This paper shall review the existing financing schemes launched by the Government of India and highlight the key benefits as well as challenges with respect to these schemes. In addition to this, the paper would also review new and innovative financing schemes for India and how the same could be adopted in other parts of the globe especially in South and South East Asia. This review would provide an insight to the various Governments as well as Financial Institutions in coming out with new financing schemes for their country.

Keywords: energy, efficiency, financing, India

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Authors: A. Tarantino, F. Lops, G. Lopriore, G. Disciglio

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Biostimulants are known as the organic fertilizers that can be applied in agriculture in order to increase nutrient uptake, growth and development of plants and improve quality, productivity and the environmental positive impacts. The aim of this study was to test the effects of some commercial biostimulants products (Bion® 50 WG, Hendophyt ® PS, Ergostim® XL and Radicon®) on vegeto-productive behavior and qualitative characteristics of fruits of two emerging apricot cultivars (Orange Rubis® and Farbaly®). The study was conducted during the spring-summer season 2015, in a commercial orchard located in the agricultural area of Cerignola (Foggia district, Apulian region, Southern Italy). Eight years old apricot trees, cv ‘Orange Rubis’ and ‘Farbaly®’, were used. The experimental data recorded during the experimental trial were: shoot length, total number of flower buds, flower buds drop and time of flowering and fruit set. Total yield of fruits per tree and quality parameters were determined. Experimental data showed some specific differences among the biostimulant treatments. Concerning the yield of ‘Orange Rubis’, except for the Bion treatment, the other three biostimulant treatments showed a tendentially lower values than the control. The yield of ‘Farbaly’ was lower for the Bion and Hendophyt treatments, higher for the Ergostim treatment, when compared with the yield of the control untreated. Concerning the soluble solids content, the juice of ‘Farbaly’ fruits had always higher content than that of ‘Orange Rubis’. Particularly, the Bion and the Hendophyt treatments showed in both harvest values tendentially higher than the control. Differently, the four biostimulant treatments did not affect significantly this parameter in ‘Orange Rubis’. With regard to the fruit firmness, some differences were observed between the two harvest dates and among the four biostimulant treatments. At the first harvest date, ‘Orange Rubis’ treated with Bion and Hendophyt biostimulants showed texture values tendentially lower than the control. Instead, ‘Farbaly’ for all the biostimulant treatments showed fruit firmness values significantly lower than the control. At the second harvest, almost all the biostimulants treatments in both ‘Orange Rubis’ and ‘Farbaly’ cultivar showed values lower than the control. Only ‘Farbaly’ treated with Radicon showed higher value in comparison to the control.

Keywords: apricot, fruit quality, growth, organic natural fertilizer

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Authors: Siti Ruhliah Lizarose Samion, Mohamed Sukri Mat Ali, Con Doolan

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The present work is an experimental investigation of adapting a passive treatment leading edge serrations over a rod-airfoil flow-induced noise generation. The leading edge serrations are bio-inspired from a barn-owl silent flight. The rod-airfoil configuration is a benchmark configuration taken to investigate airfoil-turbulence interaction noise (ATIN). Location of serrations placed and the wideness of serrations are the two parameters taken in this study. The ATIN is reduced up to 3.5 dB for a wide leading serrations case. A correlation is found between the wideness of serrations and the noise reduction mechanism of the airfoil.

Keywords: aerodynamic noise, leading edge serrations, rod-airfoil, experiment

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Authors: Rima Zakzouk, Yasushi Shimada, Yuan Zhou, Yasunori Sumi, Junji Tagami

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Background and Purpose: Swept source optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an interferometric imaging technique that has been recently used in cariology. In spite of progress made in adhesive dentistry, the composite restoration has been failing due to secondary caries which occur due to environmental factors in oral cavities. Therefore, a precise assessment to effective marginal sealing of restoration is highly required. The aim of this study was evaluating gap formation at composite/cavity walls interface with or without phosphoric acid etching using SS-OCT. Materials and Methods: Round tapered cavities (2×2 mm) were prepared in three locations, mid-coronal, cervical, and root of bovine incisors teeth in two groups (SE and PA Groups). While self-etching adhesive (Clearfil SE Bond) was applied for the both groups, Group PA had been already pretreated with phosphoric acid etching (K-Etchant gel). Subsequently, both groups were restored by Estelite Flow Quick Flowable Composite Resin. Following 5000 thermal cycles, three cross-sectionals were obtained from each cavity using OCT at 1310-nm wavelength at 0°, 60°, 120° degrees. Scanning was repeated after two months to monitor the gap progress. Then the average percentage of gap length was calculated using image analysis software, and the difference of mean between both groups was statistically analyzed by t-test. Subsequently, the results were confirmed by sectioning and observing representative specimens under Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope (CLSM). Results: The results showed that pretreatment with phosphoric acid etching, Group PA, led to significantly bigger gaps in mid-coronal and cervical compared to SE group, while in the root cavity no significant difference was observed between both groups. On the other hand, the gaps formed in root’s cavities were significantly bigger than those in mid-coronal and cervical within the same group. This study investigated the effect of phosphoric acid on gap length progress on the composite restorations. In conclusions, phosphoric acid etching treatment did not reduce the gap formation even in different regions of the tooth. Significance: The cervical region of tooth was more exposing to gap formation than mid-coronal region, especially when we added pre-etching treatment.

Keywords: image analysis, optical coherence tomography, phosphoric acid etching, self-etch adhesives

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Authors: Chiu-Wen Chang, I-Yun Chang, Wei-Ting Chen, Hui-Ping Ho, Chao-Ying Pan, Joh-Jong Huang

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Dengue is a ‘community disease’ or ‘environmental disease’, as long as the environment exist suitable container (including natural and artificial) for mosquito breeding, once the virus invade will lead to the dengue epidemic. Surveillance of vector density is critical to effective infectious disease control and play an important role in monitoring the dynamics of mosquitoes in community, such as mosquito species, density, distribution area. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship in vector density survey (Breteau index, Adult index, House index, Container index, and Larvae index) form 2014 to 2016 in Kaohsiung City and evaluate the effects of introducing the Breeding Elimination and Appraisal Team (hereinafter referred to as BEAT) as an intervention measure on eliminating dengue vector breeding site started from May 2016. BEAT were performed on people who were suspected of contracting dengue fever, a surrounding area measuring 50 meters by 50 meters was demarcated as the emergency prevention and treatment zone. BEAT would perform weekly vector mosquito inspections and vector mosquito inspections in regions with a high Gravitrap index and assign a risk assessment index to each region. These indices as well as the prevention and treatment results were immediately reported to epidemic prevention-related units every week. The results indicated that, vector indices from 2014 to 2016 showed no statistically significant differences in the Breteau index, adult index, and house index (p > 0.05) but statistically significant differences in the container index and larvae index (p <0.05). After executing the integrated elimination work, container index and larvae index are statistically significant different from 2014 to 2016 in the (p < 0.05). A post hoc test indicated that the container index of 2014 (M = 12.793) was significantly higher than that of 2016 (M = 7.631), and that the larvae index of 2015 (M = 34.065) was significantly lower than that of 2014 (M = 66.867). The results revealed that effective vector density surveillance could highlight the focus breeding site and then implement the immediate control action (BEAT), which successfully decreased the vector density and the risk of dengue epidemic.

Keywords: Breteau index, dengue control, monitoring method, vector density

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Authors: Roshni Raha, Kavya P., Gayathri M.

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India, with a humongous population, remains the world's poorest developing nation in terms of nutritional status, with iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) affecting the population. Despite efforts over the past decades, India's anaemia prevalence has not been reduced. Researchers are interested in developing therapies that will minimize the typical side effects of oral iron and optimize iron salts-based treatment through delivery methods based on the physiology of hepcidin regulation. However, they need to come up with iron therapies that will prevent making the infection worse. This article explores using bio-nanotechnology as the alternative, promising substitution of providing iron supplements for the treatment of diarrhoea and gut inflammation in kids and pregnant women. This article is an exploratory study using a literature survey and secondary research from review papers. In the realm of biotechnology, nanoparticles have become extremely famous due to unexpected variations in surface characteristics caused by particle size. Particle size distribution and shape exhibit unusual, enhanced characteristics when reduced to nanoscale. The article attempts to develop a model for a nanotechnology based solution in iron fortification to combat the problems of diarrhoea and gut inflammation. Certain dimensions that have been considered in the model include the size, shape, source, and biosynthesis of the iron nanoparticles. Another area of investigation addressed in the article is the cost-effective biocompatible production of these iron nanoparticles. Studies have demonstrated that a substantial reduction of metal ions to form nanoparticles from the bulk metal occurs in plants because of the presence of a wide diversity of biomolecules. Using this concept, the paper investigates the effectiveness and impact of how similar sources can be used for the biological synthesis of iron nanoparticles. Results showed that iron particles, when prepared in nano-metre size, offer potential advantages. When the particle size of the iron compound decreases and attains nano configuration, its surface area increases, which further improves its solubility in the gastric acid, leading to higher absorption, higher bioavailability, and producing the least organoleptic changes in food. It has no negative effects and possesses a safe, effective profile to reduce IDA. Considering all the parameters, it has been concluded that iron particles in nano configuration serve as alternative iron supplements for the complete treatment of IDA. Nanoparticles of ferric phosphate, ferric pyrophosphate, and iron oxide are the choices of iron supplements. From a sourcing perspective, the paper concludes green sources are the primary sources for the biological synthesis of iron nanoparticles. It will also be a cost-effective strategy since our goal is to treat the target population in rural India. Bio-nanotechnology serves as an alternative and promising substitution for iron supplements due to its low cost, excellent bioavailability, and strong organoleptic properties. One area of future research can be to explore the type of size and shape of iron nanoparticles that would be suitable for the different age groups of pregnant women and children and whether it would be influenced based on the topography in certain areas.

Keywords: anemia, bio-nanotechnology, iron-fortification, nanoparticle

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Authors: J. M. Alzate, J. Baena

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This work presents the final results of the ‘Diagnosis of the hydrological and hydrogeological potential in the Mancomojan basin for estimations of offer and demand’ with the purpose of obtaining solutions of domestic supply for the communities of the zone of study. There was realized the projection of population of the paths by three different scenes. The highest water total demand appears with the considerations of the scene 3, with a total demand for the year 2050 of 59.275 m3/year (1,88 l/s), being the path San Francisco the one that exercises a major pressure on the resource with a demand for the same year of the order of 31.189 m3/year (0,99 l/s). As for the hydrogeological potential of the zone and as alternative of supply of the studied communities, the stratigraphic columns obtained of the geophysical polls do not show strata saturated with water that could be considered to be a potential source of supply for the communities. The water registered in the geophysics tests presents very low resistances what indicates that he presents ions, this water meets in the rock interstices very thin granulometries which indicates that it is a water of constitution, and the flow of this one towards more permeable granulometries is void or limited. The underground resource that is registered so much in electrical vertical polls (SEV) as in tomography and that is saturating rocks of thin granulometry (clays and slimes), was demonstrated by content of ions, which is consistent with the abundant presence of plaster and the genesis marinades with transition to continental of the geological units in the zone. Predominant rocks are sedimentary, sandy rocks of grain I die principally, in minor proportion were observed also sandstones of thick grain to conglomerate with clastic rock of quartz, chert and siltstone of the Formation Mess and sandstones (of thin, average and thick grain) alternating with caps conglomerate whose thickness is, in general, between 5 and 15 cm, the nodules of sandstones are frequent with the same composition of the sandstones that contain them, in some cases with calcareous and crossed stratification of the formation Sincelejo Miembro Morroa.

Keywords: hydrological, hydrogeological potential, geotomography, vertical electrical sounding (VES)

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Authors: Jonathon Bailey, Neil Bressloff, Nick Curzen

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Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) devices are stent-like frames with prosthetic leaflets on the inside, which are percutaneously implanted. The device in a crimped state is fed through the arteries to the aortic root, where the device frame is opened through either self-expansion or balloon expansion, which reveals the prosthetic valve within. The frequency at which TAVI is being used to treat aortic stenosis is rapidly increasing. In time, TAVI is likely to become the favoured treatment over Surgical Valve Replacement (SVR). Mortality after TAVI has been associated with severe Paravalvular Aortic Regurgitation (PAR). PAR occurs when the frame of the TAVI device does not make an effective seal against the internal surface of the aortic root, allowing blood to flow backwards about the valve. PAR is common in patients and has been reported to some degree in as much as 76% of cases. Severe PAR (grade 3 or 4) has been reported in approximately 17% of TAVI patients resulting in post-procedural mortality increases from 6.7% to 16.5%. TAVI devices, like SVR devices, are circular in cross-section as the aortic root is often considered to be approximately circular in shape. In reality, however, the aortic root is often non-circular. The ascending aorta, aortic sino tubular junction, aortic annulus and left ventricular outflow tract have an average ellipticity ratio of 1.07, 1.09, 1.29, and 1.49 respectively. An elliptical aortic root does not severely affect SVR, as the leaflets are completely removed during the surgical procedure. However, an elliptical aortic root can inhibit the ability of the circular Balloon-Expandable (BE) TAVI devices to conform to the interior of the aortic root wall, which increases the risk of PAR. Self-Expanding (SE) TAVI devices are considered better at conforming to elliptical aortic roots, however the valve leaflets were not designed for elliptical function, furthermore the incidence of PAR is greater in SE devices than BE devices (19.8% vs. 12.2% respectively). If a patient’s aortic root is too severely elliptical, they will not be suitable for TAVI, narrowing the treatment options to SVR. It therefore follows that in order to increase the population who can undergo TAVI, and reduce the risk associated with TAVI, non-circular devices should be developed. Computational simulations were employed to further advance our understanding of non-circular TAVI devices. Radial stiffness of the TAVI devices in multiple directions, frame bending stiffness and resistance to balloon induced expansion are all computationally simulated. Finally, a simulation has been developed that demonstrates the expansion of TAVI devices into a non-circular patient specific aortic root model in order to assess the alterations in deployment dynamics, PAR and the stresses induced in the aortic root.

Keywords: tavi, tavr, fea, par, fem

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Authors: C. C. Alamanjo, A. O. Adepoju, H. Martin, R. N. Baines

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Peri-urban agriculture in Jos Nigeria serves as a major means of livelihood for both urban and peri-urban poor, and constitutes huge commercial inclination with a target market that has spanned beyond Plateau State. Yet, the sustainability of this sector is threatened by intensive application of urban refuse ash contaminated with heavy metals, as a result of the highly heterogeneous materials used in ash production. Hence, this research aimed to understand the current fertilizer employed by farmers, their perception and acceptability in utilization of household sewage sludge for agricultural purposes and their capacity in mitigating risks associated with such practice. Mixed methods approach was adopted, and data collection tools used include survey questionnaire, focus group discussion with farmers, participants and field observation. The study identified that farmers maintain a complex mixture of organic and chemical fertilizers, with mixture composition that is dependent on fertilizer availability and affordability. Also, farmers have decreased the rate of utilization of urban refuse ash due to labor and increased logistic cost and are keen to utilize household sewage sludge for soil fertility improvement but are mainly constrained by accessibility of this waste product. Nevertheless, farmers near to sewage disposal points have commenced utilization of household sewage sludge for improving soil fertility. Farmers were knowledgeable on composting but find their strategic method of dewatering and sun drying more convenient. Irrigation farmers were not enthusiastic for treatment, as they desired both water and sludge. Secondly, household sewage sludge observed in the field is heterogeneous due to nearness between its disposal point and that of urban refuse, which raises concern for possible cross-contamination of pollutants and also portrays lack of extension guidance as regards to treatment and management of household sewage sludge for agricultural purposes. Hence, farmers concerns need to be addressed, particularly in providing extension advice and establishment of decentralized household sewage sludge collection centers, for continuous availability of liquid and concentrated sludge. Urgent need is also required for the Federal Government of Nigeria to increase commitment towards empowering her subsidiaries for efficient discharge of corporate responsibilities.

Keywords: ash, farmers, household, peri-urban, refuse, sewage, sludge, urban

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Authors: Sambit Supriya Dash, Rahul Ravi R, Vikram Ramanan, Vinayak Malhotra

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Combustion in itself is a complex phenomenon that involves the interaction and interplay of multiple phenomena, the combined effect of which gives rise to the common flame that we see and use in our daily life applications from cooking to propelling our vehicles to space. The most important thing that goes unnoticed about these flames is the effect of the various phenomena from its surrounding environment that affects its behavior and properties. These phenomena cause a variety of energy interactions that lead to various types of energy transformations which in turn affect the flame behavior. This paper focuses on experimentally investigating the effect of one such phenomenon, which is the acoustics or sound energy on diffusion flames. The subject in itself is extensively studied upon as thermo-acoustics globally, whereas the current work focuses on studying its effect on soot formation on diffusion flames. The said effect is studied in this research work by the use of a butane as fuel, fitted with a nozzle that houses 3 arrays consisting of 4 holes each that are placed equidistant to each other and the resulting flame impinged with sound from two independent and similar sound sources that are placed equidistant from the centre of the flame. The entire process is systematically video graphed using a 60 fps regular CCD and analysed for variation in flame heights and flickering frequencies where the fuel mass flow rate is maintained constant and the configuration of entrainment holes and frequency of sound are varied, whilst maintaining constant ambient atmospheric conditions. The current work establishes significant outcomes on the effect of acoustics on soot formation; it is noteworthy that soot formation is the main cause of pollution and a major cause of inefficiency of current propulsion systems. This work is one of its kinds, and its outcomes are widely applicable to commercial and domestic appliances that utilize combustion for energy generation or propulsion and help us understand them better, so that we can increase their efficiency and decrease pollution.

Keywords: thermoacoustics, entrainment, propulsion system, efficiency, pollution

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Authors: Liu Li, Kim Seng Lee, Li Lu

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The high-energy-density Li-rich layered materials are promising cathode materials for the next-generation high-performance lithium-ion batteries. The relatively low rate capability is one of the major problems that limit their practical application. In this work, Li-rich layered Li1.2Mn0.54Ni0.13Co0.13O2 cathode material synthesized by coprecipitation method is further modified by F doping or surface treatment to enhance its cycling stability as well as rate capability.

Keywords: Li-ion battery, Li-rich layered cathode material, phase transformation, cycling stability, rate capacility

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Authors: Emmanuel Carlo Belara, Albert John Dela Merced, Mark Anthony Dominguez, Diomari Erasga, Jerome Ferrer, Bernard Ombrog

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Social distancing errors are a common prevalence between vaccinated and unvaccinated in the Filipino community. This study aims to identify and relate the factors on how they affect our daily lives. Observed factors include memory, attention, anxiety, decision-making, and stress. Upon applying the ergonomic tools and statistical treatment such as t-test and multiple linear regression, stress and attention turned out to have the most impact to the errors of social distancing.

Keywords: vaccinated, unvaccinated, socoal distancing, filipinos

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Authors: Aussara Panya, Nunghathai Sawasdee, Mutita Junking, Chatchawan Srisawat, Kiattawee Choowongkomon, Pa-Thai Yenchitsomanus

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Dengue virus (DENV) infection is a global public health problem with approximately 100 million infected cases a year. Presently, there is no approved vaccine or effective drug available; therefore, the development of anti-DENV drug is urgently needed. The clinical reports revealing the positive association between the disease severity and viral titer has been reported previously suggesting that the anti-DENV drug therapy can possibly ameliorate the disease severity. Although several anti-DENV agents showed inhibitory activities against DENV infection, to date none of them accomplishes clinical use in the patients. The surface envelope (E) protein of DENV is critical for the viral entry step, which includes attachment and membrane fusion; thus, the blocking of envelope protein is an attractive strategy for anti-DENV drug development. To search the safe anti-DENV agent, this study aimed to search for novel peptide inhibitors to counter DENV infection through the targeting of E protein using a structure-based in silico design. Two selected strategies has been used including to identify the peptide inhibitor which interfere the membrane fusion process whereby the hydrophobic pocket on the E protein was the target, the destabilization of virion structure organization through the disruption of the interaction between the envelope and membrane proteins, respectively. The molecular docking technique has been used in the first strategy to search for the peptide inhibitors that specifically bind to the hydrophobic pocket. The second strategy, the peptide inhibitor has been designed to mimic the ectodomain portion of membrane protein to disrupt the protein-protein interaction. The designed peptides were tested for the effects on cell viability to measure the toxic to peptide to the cells and their inhibitory assay to inhibit the DENV infection in Vero cells. Furthermore, their antiviral effects on viral replication, intracellular protein level and viral production have been observed by using the qPCR, cell-based flavivirus immunodetection and immunofluorescence assay. None of tested peptides showed the significant effect on cell viability. The small peptide inhibitors achieved from molecular docking, Glu-Phe (EF), effectively inhibited DENV infection in cell culture system. Its most potential effect was observed for DENV2 with a half maximal inhibition concentration (IC50) of 96 μM, but it partially inhibited other serotypes. Treatment of EF at 200 µM on infected cells also significantly reduced the viral genome and protein to 83.47% and 84.15%, respectively, corresponding to the reduction of infected cell numbers. An additional approach was carried out by using peptide mimicking membrane (M) protein, namely MLH40. Treatment of MLH40 caused the reduction of foci formation in four individual DENV serotype (DENV1-4) with IC50 of 24-31 μM. Further characterization suggested that the MLH40 specifically blocked viral attachment to host membrane, and treatment with 100 μM could diminish 80% of viral attachment. In summary, targeting the hydrophobic pocket and M-binding site on the E protein by using the peptide inhibitors could inhibit DENV infection. The results provide proof of-concept for the development of antiviral therapeutic peptide inhibitors to counter DENV infection through the use of a structure-based design targeting conserved viral protein.

Keywords: dengue virus, dengue virus infection, drug design, peptide inhibitor

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