Assessment of Sanitary Conditions in the Main Swimming Pools in Gaza Strip (2010 -2013): Palestine

Abstract. Approximately 1.7 million inhabitants of 378 km 2 areaofGazaStripdon'thaveenoughrecreationalareas,except Gaza beach which suffers from sewage pollution as well as some public and private swimming pools which considered as merely recreational places. The main objective of this study is to assess the microbiological quality of swimming pools water in Gaza Strip to assure its health safety for swimmers. Sampling and analysis were conducted by the Ministry of Health over a period of about four years (2010)(2011)(2012)(2013). Samples were collected from seven central swimming pools in Gaza Strip periodically and examined for Total Coliforms and Faecal Coliforms. In addition, Staphylococcus aureus, Faecal Streptococcus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were isolated from the swimming pools samples with different percentages. Percentages of microbial contamination, concentration of free chlorine and pH level were examined in the studied swimming pools and compared with the international standards and the annual trends were demonstrated. The results show that, about 75% of the recorded data regarding pH level are unacceptable, while 100% of the recorded data about the concentration of free chlorine within the swimming pools are unacceptable. About 57% of the collected samples were contaminated by Total Coliforms, 39% were contaminated by Faecal Coliforms, 46% were contaminated by Staphylococcus aureus, 21% were contaminated by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 18% were contaminated by Faecal streptococci. The annual trends show increase in percentage of contamination to be the worst during the year 2013. Therefore, proper intensive surveillance and water chlorination is needed periodically

Increased 30-Day Mortality in Very Old ICU Patients with COVID-19 Compared to Patients with Respiratory Failure without COVID-19

Purpose: The number of patients ≥ 80 years admitted into critical care is increasing. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) added another challenge for clinical decisions for both admission and limitation of life-sustaining treatments (LLST). We aimed to compare the characteristics and mortality of very old critically ill patients with or without COVID-19 with a focus on LLST. Methods: Patients 80 years or older with acute respiratory failure were recruited from the VIP2 and COVIP studies. Baseline patient characteristics, interventions in intensive care unit (ICU) and outcomes (30-day survival) were recorded. COVID patients were matched to non-COVID patients based on the following factors: age (± 2 years), Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score (± 2 points), clinical frailty scale (± 1 point), gender and region on a 1:2 ratio. Specific ICU procedures and LLST were compared between the cohorts by means of cumulative incidence curves taking into account the competing risk of discharge and death. Results: 693 COVID patients were compared to 1393 non-COVID patients. COVID patients were younger, less frail, less severely ill with lower SOFA score, but were treated more often with invasive mechanical ventilation (MV) and had a lower 30-day survival. 404 COVID patients could be matched to 666 non-COVID patients. For COVID patients, withholding and withdrawing of LST were more frequent than for non-COVID and the 30-day survival was almost half compared to non-COVID patients. Conclusion: Very old COVID patients have a different trajectory than non-COVID patients. Whether this finding is due to a decision policy with more active treatment limitation or to an inherent higher risk of death due to COVID-19 is unclear.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Is Gaza Sandy Shoreline Region Contaminated with Human Gastrointestinal Parasites?

The study was implemented to test if the sandy shoreline of Gaza city is contaminated with human gastrointestinal parasites or not and to determine the types of intestinal parasites and the extent of contamination. A total of 104 s and samples (52 dry sand and 52 wet sand) were analyzed during the summer season period. Samples were collected from the study area of about 12km along the seashore region of Gaza City. Dry samples and wet sand samples were analyzed using water-sedimentation technique and a light microscope. The results showed that the percentage of the parasitic contamination was 40.4% of the wet sand samples and 34.6% of the dry sand samples along the shoreline region of the Gaza City. The human gastrointestinal parasites detected were the following: Ascaris lumbricoides, S. stercoralis, E. vermicularis, E. histolytica/dispar, G. lamblia, E. coli and Taenia. spp. The findings showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the concentration of parasitic contamination between the dry and wet sand samples at confidence level of p-value < 0.05. It is recommended to conduct a periodical routine sampling of sand at the swash zone because the results of this study showed that the wet and the dry sand may pose a high level of health risk. Residents should be informed clearly by posting signs indicating polluted areas to keep them safe

Is Gaza Sandy Shoreline Region Contaminated with Human Gastrointestinal Parasites?

The study was implemented to test if the sandy shoreline of Gaza city is contaminated with human gastrointestinal parasites or not and to determine the types of intestinal parasites and the extent of contamination. A total of 104 s and samples ( 52 dry sand and 52 wet sand were analyzed during the summer season period. Samples were collected from the study area of about 12km along the seashore region of Gaza City. Dry samples and wet sand samples were analyzed using water-sedimentation technique and a light microscope. The results showed that the percentage of the parasitic contamination was 40.4% of the wet sand samples and 34.6% of the dry sand samples along the shoreline region of the Gaza City. The human gastrointestinal parasites detected were the following: Ascaris lumbricoides, S. stercoralis, E. vermicularis, E. histolytica/dispar, G. lamblia, E. coli and Taenia. spp. The findings showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the concentration of parasitic contamination between the dry and wet sand samples at confidence level of p-value < 0.05. It is recommended to conduct a periodical routine sampling of sand at the swash zone because the results of this study showed that the wet and the dry sand may pose a high level of health risk. Residents should be informed clearly by posting signs indicating polluted areas to keep them safe

The effect of persulfate oxidation on the biodegradability of concentrated anaerobic stabilized leachate

Anaerobic stabilized landfill leachate was treated by persulfate (S2O82−) oxidation. The effect of three factors namely; persulfate dosage, pH and reaction time on COD and NH3-N removals; was studied. The results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the selected factors significantly affected the percentage of COD and NH3-N removals. Furthermore, the maximum removal was achieved at 60 min of persulfate oxidation, a COD/S2O82− ratio (1 g/4.2 g), and pH7, the percentage of removals for COD and NH3-N were 45% and 55%, respectively. The effect of persulfate oxidation on the biodegradability of leachate was also investigated. The results showed that the BOD5/COD ratio improved from 0.09 to 0.1. The oxidation enhanced the biodegradable (CODbi) from 36% to 57%. Hence, persulfate is suitable to pre-treat highly-concentrated stabilized leachate. This process should follow the organic degradation and ammonia removal followed by biological treatment processes

Equilibrum and surface rheology of monolayers of insoluble polycations with side chains

We have studied monolayers of poly(n-tetradecyl 4-vinylpyridinium-co-4- vinylpyridine) bromide with different degrees of quaternization at the air-water interface. The isotherms (surface pressure vs area) present several phase transitions: at low monolayer coverage, there is a phase transition over a characteristic area that increases on increasing the quaternization degree. This behavior can be rationalized in terms of a mean-field theory of 2D semiflexible polymeric chains and could be an indication of a disorder-order transition from a 2D isotropic liquid (IL) at low surface concentration to a 2D nematic phase (N) at higher concentrations. Low-frequency oscillatory strain experiments show that at low surface coverage the monolayers exhibit highly nonlinear behavior, even for low strain amplitude, whereas at higher surface coverage the response is linear for strains higher than 20%. In addition, stress relaxation experiments show a minimum in the characteristic times that coincide with the transition area. These unexpected results at low surface coverage might be characteristic of the system or related to the fact that the oscillatory experiments do not strictly correspond to constant surface-coverage conditions. However, they are in agreement with high-frequency viscoelasticity, obtained by surface quasielastic light scattering, that shows that the dilational viscosity is higher at low surface concentration than for concentrations beyond the surface phase transition. At higher coverage, there is a second phase transition, after which the isotherms present hysteresis, which is not observed below. Ellipsometry indicates that, after this transition, the monolayer thicken, which may be related to 3D growth into a multilayer. © 2009 American Chemical Society.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe