Catalytic degradation of carbamazepine by surface modified zerovalent copper via activation of peroxymonosulfate: Mechanism, degradation pathways and ecotoxicity.

ABSTRACTIn this research work, surface modified nano zerovalent copper (nZVC) was prepared using simple borohydride reduction method. The spectroscopic and crystallographic results revealed the successful synthesis of surface modified nano zerovalent copper (nZVC) using solvents i.e., ethanol (ETOH), ethylene glycol (EG) and tween80 (T80). The as-synthesized material was fully characterized for morphological surface and crystal structural properties. The results indicated that EG provides excellent synthesis environment to nZVC compared to ETOH and T80 in terms of good dispersion, high surface area and excellent catalytic properties. The catalytic efficiency of nZVC/EG was investigated alone as well as with the addition of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) in the absence of light. The degradation results demonstrated that the involvement of PMS synergistically boosted the catalytic efficiency of synthesized nZVC/EG material. Furthermore, the degradation products (DPs) of CBZ were determined by GC-MS and subsequently the degradation pathways were proposed. The ecotoxicity analysis of the DPs was also explored. The proposed (nZVC/EG/PMS) system is economical and efficient and thus could be applied for the degradation of CBZ from aquatic system after altering the degradation pathways in such a way that results in harmless products formation

Development of zerovalent iron and titania (Fe0/TiO2) composite for oxidative degradation of dichlorophene in aqueous solution: synergistic role of peroxymonosulfate (HSO5−)

Abstract Binary composite of zerovalent iron and titanium dioxide (Fe0/TiO2) was synthesized for the catalytic removal of dichlorophene (DCP) in the presence of peroxymonosulfate (PMS). The as-prepared composite (Fe0/TiO2) exhibits synergistic effect and enhanced properties like improved catalytic activity of catalyst and greater magnetic property for facile recycling of catalyst. The results showed that without addition of PMS at reaction time of 50 min, the percent degradation of DCP by TiO2, Fe0, and Fe0/TiO2 was just 5%, 11%, and 12%, respectively. However, with the addition of 0.8 mM PMS, at 10 min of reaction time, the catalytic degradation performance of Fe0, TiO2, and Fe0/TiO2 was significantly improved to 82%, 18%, and 88%, respectively. The as-prepared catalyst was fully characterized to evaluate its structure, chemical states, and morphology. Scanning electron microscopy results showed that in composite TiO2 causes dispersion of agglomerated iron particles which enhances porosity and surface area of the composites and X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) results revealed successful incorporation of Fe0, and oxides of Fe and TiO2 in the composite. The adsorption–desorption analysis verifies that the surface area of Fe0/TiO2 is significantly larger than bare Fe0 and TiO2. Moreover, the surface area, particle size, and crystal size of Fe0/TiO2 was surface area = 85 m2 g−1, particle size = 0.35 μm, and crystal size = 0.16 nm as compared to TiO2 alone (surface area = 22 m2 g−1, particle size = 4.25 μm, and crystal size = 25.4 nm) and Fe0 alone (surface area = 65 m2 g−1, particle size = 0.9 μm, and crystal size = 7.87 nm). The as-synthesized material showed excellent degradation performance in synthesized wastewater as well. The degradation products and their toxicities were evaluated and the resulted degradation mechanism was proposed accordingly. The toxicity values decreased in order of DP1 \u3e DP5 \u3e DP2 \u3e DP3 \u3e DP4 and the LC50 values toward fish for 96-h duration decreased from 0.531 to 67.2. This suggests that the proposed technology is an excellent option for the treatment of antibiotic containing wastewater.Graphical abstrac

Surface analysis using polarisation

Unpolarised light incident on a surface acquires partial polarisation due to the orientation of the dipoles in the scatterer. This thesis focuses on the use of polarised light for diffuse reflectance for surface analysis. Since, the state of polarisation is acquired on interaction with the surface, the polarised light contains information about the surface properties (of the scatterer). A great amount of research has been carried out in computer vision for surface analysis using image analysis techniques. Recently, the trend has been to combine optical techniques with computer vision in order to arrive at better analysis techniques by methods that analyse the intrinsic qualities of the surfaces under study. An overview of the recent work that has been carried out in the field is given in Chapter 2 in context to this thesis. The contributions of this thesis are: 1. the robust computation of polarisation image using M-estimators, the smoothing of phase of polarisation by using directional statistics and using the calculated parameters for effective surface recovery, 2. estimation of the refractive index of a diverse set of surfaces of known and unknown refractive indices and using the estimates for segmentation, 3. estimating the complex refractive index which incorporates the phenomenon of absorption by two methods existing in literature, using a. ellipsometry and b. multiple polarisation measurements while building up on the case of surface analysis being related to its optical properties and 4. carrying out a preliminary study by modifying the geometric factor of the polarimetric bidirectional reflectance distribution function. Experimental evidence has been presented in the thesis for the methods that have been used for a variety of objects with varying geometrical and surface properties. The approach in this thesis has been to adopt simple and adaptable techniques that can be easily employed without the use of sophisticated equipment.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Liquid crystal based optical platform for the detection of Pb2+ ions using NiFe2O4 nanoparticles

A simple, sensitive, selective and real time detection protocol was developed for Pb2+ ions in water using liquid crystals (LCs). In this method, NiFe2O4 nanoparticles were synthesized using chemical co-precipitation method. Crystallite size, morphological, functional groups and magnetization studies were confirmed using X-ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy techniques, respectively. The nanoparticles were mono dispersed with average particle size of 20 ± 2 nm. The surfactant stabilized magnetic nanoparticles were incubated in liquid crystal based sensor system for the detection of Pb+2 ions. The bright to dark transition of LC was observed through optical microscope. When this system was further immersed with a solution containing Pb2+ ions, it caused homeotropic to planar orientation of LC. This interaction is attributed to the presence of abundant hydroxyl groups in such as M-OH, Fe-OH on the surface of spinel ferrites nanoparticles. These groups interact with metal ions at aqueous interface, causing disruption in LCs orientation giving bright texture. This sensor showed higher selectivity towards Pb2+ ions. The detection limit was estimated to be 100 ppb. The cheap and effective protocol reported here should make promising development of LC based sensor for lead ion detection. Keywords: Chemical co-precipitation method, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Liquid crystals, Nanoparticles, Sensor, X-ray diffractio

Maternal near miss, mortality and their correlates at tertiary care hospital

OBJECTIVE:  To determine the frequency and causes of maternal near miss and mortality among pregnant women. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted Jan 2016 - Dec 2018. All near miss cases, admitted in Gynecology department of Services Hospital Lahore during the study period, were prospectively recruited. WHO criteria was used to identify maternal near miss cases. Primary outcome measures were frequency and causes of near miss and maternal mortality to near miss ratio. Secondary outcome measures were delays, need for massive blood transfusion, ICU admission, obstetric hysterectomy and hospital stay> 7 days. RESULTS: During the study period, there were 10,739 live births, 305 near miss cases and 29 maternal deaths. Frequency of near miss was 28.4/ 1000 live births and maternal mortality to near miss ratio was 1:10.5. There were 215(70.4%) unbooked patients and 23(79.3%) of them died (p<0.001). Hemorrhage accounted for 150 (49.18%), hypertensive disorders 102 (33.44%),cardiac disease 25 (8.28%) and infection for 12 (3.97%) near miss cases respectively. Maternal mortality was significantly low for hemorrhage, hypertension, sepsis and cardiac disease; 6 vs 150, 8 vs102, 3vs 12 and 10 vs 25 respectively (p<0.001). Massive blood transfusion was given to 20.98%patients, 15.74% underwent hysterectomy, 32.13% required ICU admission. First and second delay was seen in 78.6% of patients with 86.2% deaths (p<0.001) CONCLUSION: Hemorrhage and hypertension are major reasons for near miss but timely intervention can prevent mortality. Strengthening care at primary and secondary level can reduce the burden of maternal morbidity.  Continuous...

Knowledge, attitude and perception of pregnant women towards hepatitis E vaccination

Background: Hepatitis E is an acute viral hepatitis which can significant complications and even death during pregnancy if left unreated. Objective: Assessment of the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions (KAP) of Pregnant Women towards Hepatitis E vaccination. Materials and Methods: The study was cross sectional in design was done at Maqsood Medical Complex General Hospital from September 2022 till Feb 2023. The sampling technique was non probability convenient sampling. The inclusion criteria were pregnant females in all the trimesters and exclusion criteria were non pregnant women and those with history of molar pregnancies. &nbsp;Results: Regarding knowledge , 87% of the study population had heard of hepatitis E as a potential disease that can cause harm during the pregnancy and 50% heard of protective vaccine for it whole 20% didn’t heard about and 30% didn’t have any idea about it at all. While assessing the perceptions of the patients about screening for hepatitis E infecton.47% were screened for hepatitis E and 53% didn’t have any screening test for the virus.80% considered it to be important to vaccinated against hepatitis E

Effects of diabetes definition on global surveillance of diabetes prevalence and diagnosis: A pooled analysis of 96 population-based studies with 331 288 participants

Background Diabetes has been defined on the basis of different biomarkers, including fasting plasma glucose (FPG), 2-h plasma glucose in an oral glucose tolerance test (2hOGTT), and HbA(1c). We assessed the effect of different diagnostic definitions on both the population prevalence of diabetes and the classification of previously undiagnosed individuals as having diabetes versus not having diabetes in a pooled analysis of data from population-based health examination surveys in different regions. Methods We used data from 96 population-based health examination surveys that had measured at least two of the biomarkers used for defining diabetes. Diabetes was defined using HbA(1c) (HbA(1c) &gt;= 6 . 5% or history of diabetes diagnosis or using insulin or oral hypoglycaemic drugs) compared with either FPG only or FPG-or-2hOGTT definitions (FPG &gt;= 7 . 0 mmol/L or 2hOGTT &gt;= 11 . 1 mmol/L or history of diabetes or using insulin or oral hypoglycaemic drugs). We calculated diabetes prevalence, taking into account complex survey design and survey sample weights. We compared the prevalences of diabetes using different definitions graphically and by regression analyses. We calculated sensitivity and specificity of diabetes diagnosis based on HbA1c compared with diagnosis based on glucose among previously undiagnosed individuals (ie, excluding those with history of diabetes or using insulin or oral hypoglycaemic drugs). We calculated sensitivity and specificity in each survey, and then pooled results using a random-effects model. We assessed the sources of heterogeneity of sensitivity by meta-regressions for study characteristics selected a priori. Findings Population prevalence of diabetes based on FPG- or-2hOGTT was correlated with prevalence based on FPG alone (r= 0 . 98), but was higher by 2-6 percentage points at different prevalence levels. Prevalence based on HbA(1c) was lower than prevalence based on FPG in 42 . 8% of age-sex-survey groups and higher in another 41 . 6%; in the other 15 . 6%, the two definitions provided similar prevalence estimates. The variation across studies in the relation between glucose-based and HbA(1c)-based prevalences was partly related to participants' age, followed by natural logarithm of per person gross domestic product, the year of survey, mean BMI, and whether the survey population was national, subnational, or from specific communities. Diabetes defined as HbA(1c) 6 . 5% or more had a pooled sensitivity of 52 . 8% (95% CI 51 . 3-54 . 3%) and a pooled specificity of 99 . 74% (99 . 71-99 . 78%) compared with FPG 7 . 0 mmol/L or more for diagnosing previously undiagnosed participants; sensitivity compared with diabetes defined based on FPG-or-2hOGTT was 30 . 5% (28 . 7-32 . 3%). None of the preselected study-level characteristics explained the heterogeneity in the sensitivity of HbA(1c) versus FPG. Interpretation Different biomarkers and definitions for diabetes can provide different estimates of population prevalence of diabetes, and differentially identify people without previous diagnosis as having diabetes. Using an HbA(1c)-based definition alone in health surveys will not identify a substantial proportion of previously undiagnosed people who would be considered as having diabetes using a glucose-based test