Effects of an Adenotonsillectomy on the Cognitive and Behavioural Function of Children Who Snore: A naturalistic observational study

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate cognitive and behavioural changes among 9–14-year-old Omani children with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) after an adenotonsillectomy (AT). Methods: This naturalistic observational study was conducted at the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman, between January 2012 and December 2014. Omani children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy (ATH) underwent overnight polysomnography and those with confirmed OSA were scheduled for an AT. Cognitive and behavioural evaluations were performed using standardised instruments at baseline prior to the procedure and three months afterwards. Results: A total of 37 children were included in the study, of which 24 (65%) were male and 13 (35%) were female. The mean age of the males was 11.4 ± 1.9 years, while that of the females was 11.1 ± 1.5 years. Following the AT, there was a significant reduction of 56% in mean apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) score (2.36 ± 4.88 versus 5.37 ± 7.17; P <0.01). There was also a significant positive reduction in OSA indices, including oxygen desaturation index (78%), number of desaturations (68%) and number of obstructive apnoea incidents (74%; P <0.01 each). Significant improvements were noted in neurocognitive function, including attention/concentration (42%), verbal fluency (92%), learning/recall (38%), executive function (52%) and general intellectual ability (33%; P <0.01 each). There was a significant decrease of 21% in both mean inattention and hyperactivity scores (P <0.01 each). Conclusion: These results demonstrate the effectiveness of an AT in improving cognitive function and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder-like symptoms among children with ATH-caused OSA. Such changes can be observed as early as three months after the procedure. Keywords: Adenoidectomy; Obstructive Sleep Apnea; Cognitive Function; Behavior; Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders; Children; Oman

Enhanced anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and solid poultry slaughterhouse waste using fixed bed digester : Performance and energy recovery

This study investigated the effects of organic loading rate (OLR) for anaerobic co-digestion (AcoD) of food waste (FW) and solid poultry slaughterhouse waste (SPSW) was performed in a fixed bed digester (FBD) at controlled pH to improve the methane production not fully discovered. Anaerobic co-digestion FW and SPSW were started up for the first time by gradually increasing OLR. At steady state, the FBD-AcoD reactor at OLR of 23.5 g COD/L/d the methane production was 7.8 L/L/d. Which achieved the highest OLR of 23.5 g COD/L, on the other hand when at OLR of 25.5 to 27.5 g COD/L the digester appeared inhibited and showed low performance in methane yields due to the accumulation of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and long chain fatty acids (LCFAs). Methanosaeta and Methanosarcina were dominant over the acidogenic in the digester boosting the FBD-AcoD system to counter the acid effect. The removals of TS and VS around 79% and 76% on a continuous basis with a waste mixing of SPSW 18.5% and OLR of up to 23.5 g COD/L could biogas production 81 g COD/L/d. The FBD-AcoD system produces bioenergy of 875.3 Kj/g COD and the total investment energy utilized in the system was 8.51 Kj/g COD respectively

Isolation, characterization and standardization of demineralization process for chitin polymer and minerals from the crabs waste of Portunidae segnis

The most abundant polymeric compound in nature after cellulose is chitin. Mostly, it is used as raw material for food additives, agriculture, biomedicine, water treatment, cosmetics and textile industry. Exoskeletons of crustaceans such as lobster, crabs and shrimps, mollusks, insects and the cell walls of certain fungi are the main sources of chitin. The best raw material for the production of chitin is marine exoskeletons. The current objective of this study is to standardize the demineralization process for removal of minerals from the waste of Portunidae segnis (P. segnis) by using chemical treatment. A fix concentration of HCl acid at various reaction conditions are used in the demineralization process for the first step of chitin isolation. The percentage of calcium and phosphorous removed after demineralization process was determined by using sensitive Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES). The P. segnis was purchased from a local market, it was collected from the coastal area of Oman. The samples were dried and ground into coarse powder. The coarse powdered samples were treated with 2 M concentration of hydrochloric acid at different incubation time, temperature and weight/volume ratio. All treated samples were analyzed by using sensitive ICP-OES. The results from the ICP-OES showed that treatment of P. segnis waste samples with 2 M of HCl at room temperature for 70 min with ratio of 1:20 (w/v) is the best process for demineralization of chitin. FT-IR, SEM/EDX and ICP-OES analysis of this sample confirmed successful isolation of minerals from Omani P. segnis. In conclusion, the best standardized demineralization process could be used for the isolation of good quality of chitin. This chitin could be used as the main raw material in food industry, agriculture, biomedicine, cosmetics and textile industry