Re-use of agricultural wastes for the removal and recovery of Zr(IV) from aqueous solutions

This study assesses the feasibility of Zr(IV) removal and recovery from aqueous solutions by novel biosorbents prepared from selected agricultural wastes. Sugarcane bagasse was selected for further investigation after showing increased biosorption capacity during the initial screening experiment. The biosorption efficiency of native (untreated), SDS-treated and immobilised bagasse for Zr(IV) removal was studied and optimization of the experimental conditions carried out including pH, biosorbent weight, contact time, initial metal ion concentration and temperature to maximise adsorption. Sorbent–sorbate reaction behaviour was estimated by fitting equilibrium data by non-linear and transformed linear forms of the Langmuir, Freundlich and Redlich–Peterson isotherms as well as pseudo-first and second-order kinetic models. The best fitting isothermal or kinetic model was optimized by comparing linear and non-linear R2 value and non-linear regression error functions. H2SO4 proved to be the most effective desorbing agent in recovery of the sorbed Zr(IV) ions from all forms of bagasse. Biosorbent characterisation and effectiveness of the process was confirmed by Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). The data illustrate that native (untreated), SDS-treated and immobilised bagasse have great potential to remove and recover Zr from wastewater

A green approach for the removal of Sr(II) from aqueous media: kinetics, isotherms and thermodynamic studies

Adsorption efficiency of native, NaOH-treated and immobilized peanut husk and sugarcane bagasse for Sr(II) removal was studied in batch mode. In view of promising adsorption efficiency of peanut husk versus sugarcane bagasse, the biosorption behaviour of the Sr(II) ions onto peanut husk (native and modified) was studied as a function of pH, biosorbent dose, contact time, initial metal ion concentration and temperature for the maximum removal of Sr(II) ions. Linear and non-linear pseudo-first and second-order kinetic models were applied and value of R2 and six non-linear regression error functions, namely hybrid fractional error function (HYBRID), Marquardt's percent standard deviation (MPSD), average relative error (ARE), the sum of the errors squared (ERRSQ/SSE), the sum of the absolute errors (EABS) and Chi-square test (χ2) were used to predict the most optimum kinetic model. Sorbent-sorbate reaction nature was estimated by fitting equilibrium data by non-linear and transformed linear forms of the Langmuir, Freundlich and Redlich-Peterson isotherms and most optimum isothermal model was optimized by comparing linear and non-linear R2 value and non-linear regression error functions. HCl proved most successful eluating agents for sorbed Sr(II) ions. Biosorption characteristics and effectiveness of the process was also confirmed by Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). In view of promising efficiency of peanut husk as an adsorbent, it could possibly be used for the removal of Sr(II) ions from aqueous medium and is also extendable to other radionuclide

ADVERSE DRUG REACTION REPORTS IN MALAYSIA: COMPARISON OF CAUSALITY ASSESSMENTS

Causality assessment of reported adverse drug reactions (ADR) is an important component o

Equilibrium, kinetic and thermodynamic studies on the removal of U(VI) by low cost agricultural waste

In this research, biosorption efficiency of different agro-wastes were evaluated with rice husk showing maximum biosorption capacity among the selected biosorbents. Optimization of native, SDS-treated and immobilized rice husk adsorption parameters including pH, biosorbent amount, contact time, initial U(VI) concentration and temperature for maximum U(VI) removal was investigated. Maximum biosorption capacity for native (29.56 mg g-1) and immobilized biomass (17.59 mg g-1) was observed at pH 4 while SDS-treated biomass showed maximum removal (28.08 mg g-1) at pH 5. The Langmuir sorption isotherm model correlated best with the U(IV) biosorption equilibrium data for the 10-100 mg L-1 concentration range. The kinetics of the reaction followed pseudo-second order kinetic model. Thermodynamic parameters like free energy (ΔG°) and enthalpy (ΔH°) confirmed the spontaneous and exothermic nature of the process. Experiments to determine the regeneration capacity of the selected biosorbents and the effect of competing metal ions on biosorption capacity were also conducted. The biomass was characterised using scanning electron microscopy, surface area analysis, Fourier transformed infra-red spectroscopy and thermal gravimetric analysis. The study proved that rice husk has potential to treat uranium in wastewater

Evaluation of Selenium Nanoparticles in Inducing Disease Resistance against Spot Blotch Disease and Promoting Growth in Wheat under Biotic Stress

In the present study, SeNPs were synthesized using Melia azedarach leaf extracts and investigated for growth promotion in wheat under the biotic stress of spot blotch disease. The phytosynthesized SeNPs were characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), and Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The in vitro efficacy of different concentrations of phytosynthesized SeNPs (i.e., 100 μ g/mL, 150 μ g/mL, 200 μ g/mL, 250 μ g/mL, and 300 μ g/mL) was evaluated using the well diffusion method, which reported that 300 μ g/mL showed maximum fungus growth inhibition. For in vivo study, different concentrations (10, 20, 30, and 40 mg/L) of SeNPs were applied exogenously to evaluate the morphological, physiological, and biochemical parameters under control conditions and determine when infection was induced. Among all treatments, 30 mg/L of SeNPs performed well and increased the plant height by 2.34% compared to the control and 30.7% more than fungus-inoculated wheat. Similarly, fresh plant weight and dry weight increased by 17.35% and 13.43% over the control and 20.34% and 52.48% over the fungus-treated wheat, respectively. In leaf surface area and root length, our findings were 50.11% and 10.37% higher than the control and 40% and 71% higher than diseased wheat, respectively. Plant physiological parameters i.e., chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total chlorophyll content, were increased 14, 133, and 16.1 times over the control and 157, 253, and 42 times over the pathogen-inoculated wheat, respectively. Our findings regarding carotenoid content, relative water content, and the membrane stability index were 29-, 49-, and 81-fold higher than the control and 187-, 63-, and 48-fold higher than the negative control, respectively. In the case of plant biochemical parameters, proline, sugar, flavonoids, and phenolic contents were recorded at 6, 287, 11, and 34 times higher than the control and 32, 107, 33, and 4 times more than fungus-inoculated wheat, respectively. This study is considered the first biocompatible approach to evaluate the potential of green-synthesized SeNPs as growth-promoting substances in wheat under the spot blotch stress and effective management strategy to inhibit fungal growth

Effect of Phytosynthesized Selenium and Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles on Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) against Stripe Rust Disease

In this study, selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) and cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeONPs) were synthesized by using the extract of Melia azedarach leaves, and Acorus calamusas rhizomes, respectively, and investigated for the biological and sustainable control of yellow, or stripe rust, disease in wheat. The green synthesized NPs were characterized by UV-Visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The SeNPs and CeONPs, with different concentrations (i.e., 10, 20, 30, and 40 mg/L), were exogenously applied to wheat infected with Puccinia striformis. SeNPs and CeONPs, at a concentration of 30 mg/L, were found to be the most suitable concentrations, which reduced the disease severity and enhanced the morphological (plant height, root length, shoot length, leaf length, and ear length), physiological (chlorophyll and membrane stability index), biochemical (proline, phenolics and flavonoids) and antioxidant (SOD and POD) parameters. The antioxidant activity of SeNPs and CeONPs was also measured. For this purpose, different concentrations (50, 100, 150, 200 and 400 ppm) of both SeNPs and CeONPs were used. The concentration of 400 ppm most promoted the DPPH, ABTS and reducing power activity of both SeNPs and CeONPs. This study is considered the first biocompatible approach to evaluate the potential of green synthesized SeNPs and CeONPs to improve the health of yellow, or stripe rust, infected wheat plants and to provide an effective management strategy to inhibit the growth of Puccinia striformis.This research was funded by projects APOGEO (Cooperation Program INTERREG-MAC 2014–2020, with European Funds for Regional Development-FEDER). “Agencia Canaria de Investigación, Innovación y Sociedad de la Información (ACIISI) del Gobierno de Canarias” (Project ProID2020010134), and Fundación CajaCanarias (Project 2019SP43).Peer reviewe

Burden of disease scenarios for 204 countries and territories, 2022–2050: a forecasting analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Future trends in disease burden and drivers of health are of great interest to policy makers and the public at large. This information can be used for policy and long-term health investment, planning, and prioritisation. We have expanded and improved upon previous forecasts produced as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) and provide a reference forecast (the most likely future), and alternative scenarios assessing disease burden trajectories if selected sets of risk factors were eliminated from current levels by 2050. Methods: Using forecasts of major drivers of health such as the Socio-demographic Index (SDI; a composite measure of lag-distributed income per capita, mean years of education, and total fertility under 25 years of age) and the full set of risk factor exposures captured by GBD, we provide cause-specific forecasts of mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) by age and sex from 2022 to 2050 for 204 countries and territories, 21 GBD regions, seven super-regions, and the world. All analyses were done at the cause-specific level so that only risk factors deemed causal by the GBD comparative risk assessment influenced future trajectories of mortality for each disease. Cause-specific mortality was modelled using mixed-effects models with SDI and time as the main covariates, and the combined impact of causal risk factors as an offset in the model. At the all-cause mortality level, we captured unexplained variation by modelling residuals with an autoregressive integrated moving average model with drift attenuation. These all-cause forecasts constrained the cause-specific forecasts at successively deeper levels of the GBD cause hierarchy using cascading mortality models, thus ensuring a robust estimate of cause-specific mortality. For non-fatal measures (eg, low back pain), incidence and prevalence were forecasted from mixed-effects models with SDI as the main covariate, and YLDs were computed from the resulting prevalence forecasts and average disability weights from GBD. Alternative future scenarios were constructed by replacing appropriate reference trajectories for risk factors with hypothetical trajectories of gradual elimination of risk factor exposure from current levels to 2050. The scenarios were constructed from various sets of risk factors: environmental risks (Safer Environment scenario), risks associated with communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases (CMNNs; Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination scenario), risks associated with major non-communicable diseases (NCDs; Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario), and the combined effects of these three scenarios. Using the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways climate scenarios SSP2-4.5 as reference and SSP1-1.9 as an optimistic alternative in the Safer Environment scenario, we accounted for climate change impact on health by using the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change temperature forecasts and published trajectories of ambient air pollution for the same two scenarios. Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy were computed using standard methods. The forecasting framework includes computing the age-sex-specific future population for each location and separately for each scenario. 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) for each individual future estimate were derived from the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles of distributions generated from propagating 500 draws through the multistage computational pipeline. Findings: In the reference scenario forecast, global and super-regional life expectancy increased from 2022 to 2050, but improvement was at a slower pace than in the three decades preceding the COVID-19 pandemic (beginning in 2020). Gains in future life expectancy were forecasted to be greatest in super-regions with comparatively low life expectancies (such as sub-Saharan Africa) compared with super-regions with higher life expectancies (such as the high-income super-region), leading to a trend towards convergence in life expectancy across locations between now and 2050. At the super-region level, forecasted healthy life expectancy patterns were similar to those of life expectancies. Forecasts for the reference scenario found that health will improve in the coming decades, with all-cause age-standardised DALY rates decreasing in every GBD super-region. The total DALY burden measured in counts, however, will increase in every super-region, largely a function of population ageing and growth. We also forecasted that both DALY counts and age-standardised DALY rates will continue to shift from CMNNs to NCDs, with the most pronounced shifts occurring in sub-Saharan Africa (60·1% [95% UI 56·8–63·1] of DALYs were from CMNNs in 2022 compared with 35·8% [31·0–45·0] in 2050) and south Asia (31·7% [29·2–34·1] to 15·5% [13·7–17·5]). This shift is reflected in the leading global causes of DALYs, with the top four causes in 2050 being ischaemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, compared with 2022, with ischaemic heart disease, neonatal disorders, stroke, and lower respiratory infections at the top. The global proportion of DALYs due to YLDs likewise increased from 33·8% (27·4–40·3) to 41·1% (33·9–48·1) from 2022 to 2050, demonstrating an important shift in overall disease burden towards morbidity and away from premature death. The largest shift of this kind was forecasted for sub-Saharan Africa, from 20·1% (15·6–25·3) of DALYs due to YLDs in 2022 to 35·6% (26·5–43·0) in 2050. In the assessment of alternative future scenarios, the combined effects of the scenarios (Safer Environment, Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination, and Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenarios) demonstrated an important decrease in the global burden of DALYs in 2050 of 15·4% (13·5–17·5) compared with the reference scenario, with decreases across super-regions ranging from 10·4% (9·7–11·3) in the high-income super-region to 23·9% (20·7–27·3) in north Africa and the Middle East. The Safer Environment scenario had its largest decrease in sub-Saharan Africa (5·2% [3·5–6·8]), the Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario in north Africa and the Middle East (23·2% [20·2–26·5]), and the Improved Nutrition and Vaccination scenario in sub-Saharan Africa (2·0% [–0·6 to 3·6]). Interpretation: Globally, life expectancy and age-standardised disease burden were forecasted to improve between 2022 and 2050, with the majority of the burden continuing to shift from CMNNs to NCDs. That said, continued progress on reducing the CMNN disease burden will be dependent on maintaining investment in and policy emphasis on CMNN disease prevention and treatment. Mostly due to growth and ageing of populations, the number of deaths and DALYs due to all causes combined will generally increase. By constructing alternative future scenarios wherein certain risk exposures are eliminated by 2050, we have shown that opportunities exist to substantially improve health outcomes in the future through concerted efforts to prevent exposure to well established risk factors and to expand access to key health interventions

ADVERSE DRUG REACTION REPORTS IN MALAYSIA: COMPARISON OF CAUSALITY ASSESSMENTS

Causality assessment of reported adverse drug reactions (ADR) is an important component of pharmacovigilance as they contribute to better evaluation of the risk-benefit profile of drugs. The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the agreement of causality assessments of ADR between the spontaneous ADR reporters, the expert panel and the Naranjo algorithm. We retrospectively reviewed ADR reports received by the Malaysian Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee (MADRAC) between January to June 2003. Causality assessments were categorized as Certain, Probable, Possible, Unlikely and Unclassifiable. A total of 384 reports were included. Spontaneous reporters assessed 30.4% as Certain, 46.1% as Probable, 21.9% as Possible and 1.6% as Unlikely. MADRAC panel assessed 21.9%, 13.0%, 64.6% and 0.5% as Certain, Probable, Possible and Unlikely, respectively. Using the algorithm, 16.4%, 83.1% and 0.5% were categorized as Probable, Possible and Unlikely, respectively. No reports achieved the Certain/Definite category using the algorithm. The total percentage of agreement between spontaneous reporters, MADRAC and Naranjo’s algorithm in causality assessment was 15.1%. Among the three groups, no agreement was found in the Certain and Unlikely categories. Spontaneous reporters attributed a higher level of causality compared to MADRAC and Naranjo’s algorithm. The difference in aims and methods in causality assessment among the three methods of assessment could be the main reason of disagreement

Impacts of Rural Women’s Traditional Economic Activities on Household Economy: Changing Economic Contributions through Empowered Women in Rural Pakistan

In Pakistan, as in other developing countries, rural women make ample contributions to the economy through vital productive and reproductive roles. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of women’s traditional economic activities that supplement their household economy directly through earning income and indirectly through savings expenditure and to assess the factors that influence their productivity performance. For this purpose, six rural areas from Khyber, which is located in the Pukhtoonkhwah province, were chosen to represent the south, north, and the central plain regions. About 480 women responded out of 600, which were selected using a snowball sampling technique from the entire three regions. The data was collected by conducting face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs). About 68.33% respondents were illiterate, 47.71% were 31 to 40 years old, and 47.92% lived in a joint family system. Due to the strict Purdah (veil) culture, about 71.88% of the women’s economic activities were confined indoors, such as stitching; embroidery; basket and candle making; preparing pickles, jams, and squash; dairy products; apiculture; sericulture; livestock; poultry; nursery raising; and some agriculture-related off-farm activities. It was reported that the major decisions in the household are made by the male members due to the strong patriarchal norms and values. Development projects by the NGOs and the government have played a significant role to provide credit, training, and awareness that has arisen specifically in the north and the south regions. All of the women were aware of the positive effects of economic independence, but some of them also revealed the negative effects on their physical and psychological health as well as the social ties within the households and communities due to the extensive workload and time issues. The study concluded that many demographic social, cultural, religious, and economic factors negatively influence the women’s productive potential