Monitoring of Groundwater Quality in Arsenic and Salinity Prone Areas of Jashore, Bangladesh

The groundwater contamination by arsenic is a large-scale pollution in drinking water history. Safe water supply is a big challenge due to critical hydrogeological situation and water quality problems in this area. The analytical results show that a range of pH, TDS, chloride, total alkalinity, total hardness, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron and arsenic were found between 7.50-7.23, 504.00-201.00 mg/L, 90.30-31.43 mg/L, 410.81-174.31mg/L, 616.47-202.97 mg/L, 52.59-13.28 mg/L, 17.13-2.87 mg/L, 108.57-44.53 mg/L, 83.87-22.29 mg/L, 1.78-0.01 mg/L, 11.78-1.45 mg/L, 0.42-0.02 mg/L, respectively. This study will help making a future plan for groundwater quality monitoring and its hydrogeological application for safe water source identificatio

Hydrogen energy–Potential in developing countries

Energy is essential for human life, societal civilization, and economic growth. Hydrogen energy has emerged as an important component of global energy policies and frameworks, especially in developed countries. This chapter discusses the potential for hydrogen energy in relation to hydrogen production in developing countries. The subsequent sections elaborate on the different sources of hydrogen production, technologies for processing paths, including thermal, electrolytic, photolytic, and fermentation processes. This chapter also focuses on the current and future challenges of hydrogen conversion to electricity. The extraction of hydrogen from renewable and nonrenewable sources presents an appealing potential to realize the maximum environmental value of hydrogen as an electricity carrier. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to provide the hydrogen production technologies followed by its present adoption status and future prospect in the developing economies

Frequency Of Depressive And Anxiety Symptoms Among Patients On Interferon And Pegylated Interferon

Background: Chronic Hepatitis C (CHC) is highly prevalent in Pakistan. Current standard treatment is Interferon alpha/ Peginterferon with oral ribavirin. Interferon therapy is associated with development & worsening of depressive symptoms in CHC patients and to determine the frequency of depressive and anxiety symptoms among patients on treatment with interferon/ Pegasus. Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted at OPD of Liaquat University Hospital Hyderabad during a period of 4 months (from July2013 to October2013). A sample of 120 patients aged 18-60 years, either currently receiving interferon/ Pegasus treatment or had received that treatment during last 12 months was taken. Known cases of anxiety, depression and those suffering from other debilitating co morbid conditions like carcinoma & non-consenting were excluded. Ethical approval was taken from LUH ethical review committee. A Proforma was used to gather the data. The data collected were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Mean (±SD) were computed for quantitative variables. Categorical variables (such as gender and outcome variables i.e. anxiety and depressive symptoms) were measured in frequencies and percentages. Stratification was done with regard to age group & gender to see the impact of these on the outcome followed by application of chi-square test with P-value <0.05 taken significant. Results: Total 120 patients were included in the study & 119 completed the questionnaire. Male patients were 55.5%. Mean age of patients was 32.59 ± 8.56 years (Range: 16-56 years). Primary outcome i-e; frequency of depression & anxiety in patients on interferon were 77.3% & 70.6% respectively. (n=92) had depression. Frequency of depression of almost similar in both genders (77.3% in males & 77.4% in females; p value= 0.584), while anxiety was more in females than males (75% vs 68.2%; p value= 0.273). Both psychiatric symptoms increased with increasing age from 16-26 years to 47-56 years of age (p values = 0.432 & 0.736 respectively). Vast majority (86.6%) were treated with interferon while only 13.4% received the PEGylated interferon therapy. Patients treated with PEGylated interferon had less frequency of depression than those treated with interferon (62.5% vs 79.6%; p value= 0.131). Conclusion: Depression and anxiety were found to be common in CHC patients who had been or are being treated with antiviral treatment leading to increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Screening for risk of depression, proper education and timely treatment through anti-depressant followed by close monitoring is mandatory to achieve success in antiviral treatment. Key Words: Hepatitis C, Depressive symptoms, Anxiety, Interferon alpha

Hydrochemical investigations of coastal aquifers and saltwater intrusion in severely affected areas of Satkhira and Bagerhat districts, Bangladesh Bangladesh

In this study, saltwater intrusion and hydrochemical process in the coastal aquifer system of Satkhira and Bagerhat districts, Bangladesh, have been investigated. The studied two aquifer systems are mostly affected by saltwater. Overall processes have been applied on 120 samples (per study area 60) to specify the mixing condition of saltwater types in both study areas. This research was run based on the seawater mixing index (SMI), GIS technique of spatial distribution modeling, statistical process (principal component analysis, correlation matrix analysis), geochemical bivariate plot, and ionic proportions. According to the analytical results, the Bagerhat district has greater levels of Cl, Na, total dissolved solids (TDS), and electrical conductivity (EC) than the Satkhira district. Hydrochemical analysis has shown that most samples discovered in the Satkhira district have Na–Cl facies, although this percentage is lower than Bagerhat. The spatial distribution of SMI on the Satkhira district shows 29%, 31%, 23%, and 17%, whereas in the Bagerhat district, it shows 16%, 23%, 26%, and 35% of freshwater, brackish water, moderately saltwater, and high saltwater or mixing of saltwater, respectively. Therefore, the overall intrusion process has been affected by long-term hydrochemical processes, such as water–rock exchange, sediment reduction, anthropogenesis, and ion interaction

Grey, blue, and green hydrogen: A comprehensive review of production methods and prospects for zero-emission energy

Energy is the linchpin for economic development despite its generation deficit worldwide. Hydrogen can be used as an alternative energy source to meet the requirement that it emits zero to near-zero impurities and is safe for the environment and humans. Because of growing greenhouse gas emissions and the fast-expanding usage of renewable energy sources in power production in recent years, interest in hydrogen is resurging. Hydrogen may be utilized as a renewable energy storage, stabilizing the entire power system and assisting in the decarbonization of the power system, particularly in the industrial and transportation sectors. The main goal of this study is to describe several methods of producing hydrogen based on the principal energy sources utilized. Moreover, the financial and ecological outcomes of three key hydrogen colors (gray, blue, and green) are discussed. Hydrogen’s future prosperity is heavily reliant on technology advancement and cost reductions, along with future objectives and related legislation. This research might be improved by developing new hydrogen production methods, novel hydrogen storage systems, infrastructure, and carbon-free hydrogen generation

Advances in sustainable approaches to recover metals from e-waste-A review

For the rapid growth of population electrical and electronics equipment waste are generated 20 to 50 million tones in world-wide. Half a tonne of e-waste creates by the resident of advanced country in every year. E-waste contains different toxic substances including metals, plastics and refractory oxides which are hazardous or risky for our environment and human wellbeing, thus e-waste management is an essential. Hence, this review outlined the global status of e-waste and its current progress on management worldwide. An exhaustive survey of literature was made on the latest technological approaches in noble and base metals recovery from waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) of electrical and electronic equipment. An emphasis was given to review the most important features of existing industrial routes associated with the metal recovery systems from PCBs. The discussions of green technologies as alternatives of conventional approaches to obtain precious metals from e-waste were overviewed. The application of microbial bioleaching approaches in the extraction metals from e-waste was highlighted. Finally, the concern for the challenges and barriers associated with the e-waste management process in Bangladesh was outlined

Comparison of non-attenuation corrected and attenuation corrected myocardial perfusion SPE

Purpose: To assess the significance of attenuation correction on sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of myocardial perfusion SPECT. Methods: 102 patients referred for myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) were divided into two groups: 42 patients (mean age: 54.6 ± 12.6) were enrolled in the group A, who had undergone coronary artery angiography, within six months of the scan. 60 patients (mean age: 49.79 ± 11.3) were placed in the group B who had a <15% pretest likelihood of CAD. Both non-corrected (NC) and attenuation corrected (AC) images were visually analyzed according to 17-segment model of the left ventricular cavity. Visual assessment derived sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic accuracy and normalcy rate of NC and AC sets of images were compared using McNemar test. Results: Sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy for detection of coronary artery disease were found to be 100%, 11% and 79% respectively for NC images and 66%, 78% and 68% for AC images. The p value was found to be significant in only the RCA territory. Normalcy rates in the group B population were 19% for NC image set and 74% for the AC image set. No significant difference on basis of BMI was observed in attenuation corrected scans. The technique appears to be more valuable in men. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that CT based attenuation corrected Tc-99mm sestamibi SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging significantly improved the specificity of the RCA territory compared with non-attenuation corrected Tc-99mm sestamibi SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging in both genders irrespective of BMI

Translation, Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the English Lequesne Algofunctional Index into Bengali

Background: This study was focused on translation and cultural adaptation of the English Lequesne Algofunctional index (LAI) into Bengali for patients with primary knee osteoarthritis (OA) and testing reliability and validity of the Bengali version of the LAI. Methods: This study was carried out in the Department of Rheumatology, BSM Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Using the forward–backward method the English LAI was translated into Bengali including cultural adaptation. For pretesting, A sample of 40 patients with primary knee osteoarthritis were screened using the Bengali version of LAI. Following the pretest, 130 consecutive patients with symptomatic knee OA completed the interviewer administered Bengali LAI, the validated Bengali version of SF-36, Visual Analogue Scale for Pain, Distance Walked and Activities of Daily Living. For the retest 60 randomly selected patients from the cohort were administered the Bengali LAI 7 days later. An item by item analysis was performed. Internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach’s alpha, test–retest reliability by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Kappa coefficient, construct validity was measured using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient. Results: It took 3.25 ± 0.71 min to complete the Bengali LAI and the mean score was 9.23 ± 4.58. For the Bengali LAI Cronbach’s alpha score was 0.88, test–retest reliability assessed by ICC was 0.97. For construct validity, excellent convergent validity was achieved (ρ = 0.93) but the divergent validity was moderate (ρ = 0.43). Conclusions: The Bengali LAI showed excellent convergent validity, internal consistency and test–retest reliability, only the divergent validity was moderate. So, the Bengali LAI can be applied as a HRQoL assessment tool for primary knee OA patients

Optimization of fuel properties in two different peat reserve areas using surface response methodology and square regression analysis

This study aims to optimize the calorific value with different fuel properties derived from two peat reserved areas. A total of 60 peat samples were evaluated using proximate analysis (moisture content, volatile matter, fixed carbon, and ash content) of two separate studied areas. A quadratic polynomial of response surface methodology was applied to the entire set of subsequently studied results. Several analytical equations were used in linear and nonlinear terms to estimate the higher calorific value. Peat samples at Terokhada Upazila show a higher calorific value of 7.050 kcal kg−1, whereas the calorific value of peat sample at Bil Baghia in Madaripur found 5.800 kcal kg−1. The optimal calorific value of peat in both studied areas is 7.05–11.05 kcal kg−1 in Terokhada Upazila and 3.156–7.187 kcal kg−1 in Bil Baghia, Madaripur, respectively. Terokhada Upazila and Bil Baghia, Madaripur, exhibit analytical values of squares regression of (0.0068–0.1245) and (0.003–0.091), respectively. In addition, the standard deviations are found to be between 1.049 and 4.505 kcal kg−1 for Terokhada Upazila peat and between 0.1741 and 2.741 kcal kg1 for Bil Baghia, Madaripur peat, respectively. The RSM quadratic polynomial represents the optimization, and the coded equations are built for two research areas to precisely estimate the highest calorific value. These peats could be helpful to fuel sources if gasified or co-burned with other fuel resources to generate energy. Peat with a higher calorific value can be used as an energy source in the Bangladesh energy sector and globally