Adsorption of Gold from Thiosulfate Leaching Solutions using Polyethylenimine Functionalised Magnetic Nanoparticles

In this research polyethylenimine coated iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (PEI-MNPs), as a novel adsorbent, was evaluated for the adsorption of gold from thiosulfate leaching solutions that contain gold, copper and calcium thiosulfate. This novel adsorbent can simply be separated from the solution using an external magnetic field, followed by gold adsorption. Gold elution from the adsorbent was simple and rapid

COVID-19: Impact on undergraduate nursing education in Sri Lanka

“Novel Corona Virus” (COVID-19) is a new infectious disease spreading all around the world that has a globally significant morbidity and mortality at present. Nurses as frontline care providers in hospitals and community are exposed to a major risk. This brief report aims at providing an overview of COVID-19 impacts on Sri Lanka and to highlight educational implications from the perspective of nursing degree programs. The major impacts of COVID-19 on nursing education were unequal access to online distance learning, disruption of academic calendars, cancellation of clinical placements, teaching and learning gap, lack of facilities for online learning, disruption towards professional development, and inability to conduct proper clinical assessments and standard operationalization procedures. It suggests that higher education institutions should take actions to provide material support for students from low-income households to close the gap between teaching and learning and training academics on different online teaching and learning strategies and assessments

Hydrodynamics of unsaturated particle beds pertaining to heap leaching

Heap leaching is a method for extracting metals from ores and is particularly applicable to low grade deposits due to its low operating and capital costs. The main drawback of heap leaching is the lower recoveries than more traditional techniques, such as flotation followed by smelting. The major contributing factors are inefficiencies in the liquid addition and mass transport. This thesis describes a combined experimental and theoretical modelling approach for better understanding the behaviour of these complex multiphase systems. The first major finding was that these systems exhibit hysteresis in the liquid holdup as the flow rate is varied. This means that the commonly used approach of directly correlating the flow rate and holdup is not entirely appropriate. A novel experimental and analysis procedure was used to demonstrate that the main reason for the hysteresis was an increase in the number of flow paths as the liquid flow was increased, but no subsequent decrease in the flow paths as the flow is decreased. This work developed a theoretical liquid holdup model to describe the flow behaviour in between the particles by performing liquid flow experiments in a non-porous model glass bead system and slightly porous ore system in a way that it accounts for liquid content hysteresis in both systems. The experimental results showed the effect of inter- and intra-particle porosity on heap flow behaviour. If the inter-particle liquid content is separated from the liquid held within the ore particles, it was shown that both systems follow a similar square relationship between the two model parameters and the only difference is the pre-factor in the flow model. This demonstrated the importance of separating these two contributions to the liquid holdup when trying to make accurate predictions. The transient flow behaviour of the packed bed systems was described both experimentally and using simulations in order to both validate the flow models and to study the behaviour during start-up and shutdown. The salt tracer tests and Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT) are independent techniques to measure the dispersion behaviour in packed beds and column leaching. It was shown that the results from these two methods are very similar, but that the PEPT results also provide more details as to the mechanisms involved

Knowledge, Perception and Practices Regarding COVID-19 among frontline Nurses at Selected hospitals in Sri Lanka during COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction: The World Health Organization confirmed the COVID-19 epidemic situation as a public health emergency and is an emerging public health problem that has threatened millions of lives worldwide. Since COVID-19 has significantly affected the healthcare system globally, it is essential to update healthcare workers especially frontline nurses on the best practices for the proper management of the disease. The study aimed to assess Knowledge, Perceptions, and Practices regarding COVID-19 among frontline nurses at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, National Hospital of Sri Lanka, and Base Hospital Mawanella in Sri Lanka. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 257 frontline nurses from main three hospitals in Sri Lanka from June 2020 to December 2021. A validated, pre-tested self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Kruskal Wallis test and Chi-square test were applied to find significant factors associated with good knowledge, using SPSS version 25. Results: The average age of the 257 participants was (31.8 ± 6.6) years and most (95%) of them were female. Of them, 79.4% had good knowledge, and the knowledge level of the nurses was significantly associated with their marital status (p=0.04) and their participation in the COVID-19 management workshop or lecture (p ≤0.001). There was a statistically significant median score difference between participants’ knowledge, and three hospitals (p<0.05). Conclusion: The findings demonstrated that the nurses had overall good knowledge, positive perception, and good practice on COVID-19. This study highlighted the factors influencing knowledge about COVID-19 that must be addressed in future education, awareness, and preparing the programs

The current state and future directions of percolation leaching in the Chinese mining industry : challenges and opportunities

China is one of the most rapidly growing economies in the world and this growth is underpinned by growing demand for natural resources to meet base and precious metals and energy requirements. Even though China is currently the largest producer of several mined commodities, such as gold and the rare earth elements, meeting the future demands for metal consumption will require China to either develop new mining projects or increase material imports. In terms of nuclear energy requirements the country still depends on uranium imports. To meet this growth in Chinese demand, there has been a strong interest in technologies suited for mining and processing of low grade ore bodies. Percolation leaching methods have been very effective in extracting metals from low grade ores, which could not otherwise be economically extracted. Percolation leaching techniques, such as heap leaching, dump leaching, bio-leaching and in-situ leaching have been extensively employed in the Chinese mining industry in recent decades, primarily to extract gold, copper, rare earth elements and uranium. This paper discusses the application of various percolation leaching techniques in the Chinese mining industry and offers a scientific and extensive literature overview on technological developments in commercial percolation leaching operations in China. It also presents the current challenges of percolation leaching and recent technological and research developments and regulatory frameworks pertaining to the application of percolation leaching in China. The future directions of percolation leaching in the Chinese mining industry will also be presented to extract the low grade natural resources both economically and in an environmentally sustainable manner

Perceived stress, resilience and associated factors among nursing undergraduates during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic

Nursing undergraduates experience stress due to personal, academic and clinical factors. This study aimed to assess stress, resilience and associated factors among nursing undergraduates. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among nursing undergraduates at one university in Sri Lanka. A self-administered questionnaire including demographics, Perceived Stress Scale and Resilience Scale for Adults was used. Data were analyzed using independent sample t-test, ONE WAY ANOVA and binary logistic regression model. Thirty-eight per cent of undergraduates had a high level of stress and the majority had a moderate level of resilience (76.7%). The mean total resilience score (RS) was 102.4 (± 5.53). “Not getting expected marks” (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) 5.56, 95 % CI = 1.37-22.6) and “not satisfied with the academic program” (AOR 4.87, 95 % CI = 1.27-8.76) were found to be the factors for having a high-stress score. Statistically significant median RS differences were observed: “Perception of Self” with Grade Point Average (p=0.02) and recreational activities (p=0.04), and “Perception of future” with gender (p=0.04), the physical well-being (p=0.03) and recreational activities (p=0.04) and “Structural style” with the academic year (p= 0.03). Influencing factors on stress and resilience need to be taken into account for organising academic programs for nursing undergraduates

Women's understanding and cultural practices related to vaginal discharge: A qualitative study

Background: Vaginal discharge is a common gynecological complaint among women in the reproductive age group. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore cultural practices and health-seeking behaviors related to vaginal discharge among women living in a socially marginalized community in Colombo district, Sri Lanka. Methods: A descriptive qualitative design was used in this study. Three focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted in an urban slum community among women who had a previous history with vaginal discharge. A total of 23 women of different ethnicities and religions were included. FGDs were audio recorded and field notes were taken. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed on the basis of qualitative content analysis. Results: Six themes emerged from the data, namely, confusion in differentiating normal from abnormal vaginal discharge, effects on day-to-day life, confusion toward the causative factors, difficulties in disclosing, neglecting behaviors, and socio-cultural influences toward health-seeking behaviors. Majority of women expressed that they use home remedies before consulting a doctor for abnormal vaginal discharge. Conclusions: Women are unable to differentiate normal from abnormal vaginal discharge. Thus, it is important for nurses and primary healthcare workers to plan health education activities for women to empower them with adequate knowledge and improve their health-seeking behaviors