Study of lead adsorption on activated carbons

In this study, the removal of lead (II) from water using commercial  activated carbons from wood and coconut shell were investigated in acidic medium (pH = 4). Atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) was used to investigate initial (C0) and (equilibrium) (Ce) solution concentrations. Powder and granular activated carbons showed different adsorption capacity. The amount of Pb2+ adsorbed reached44.58, 38.96 and 39.06 mg/g for CPA, CGA 830 and CGA 1230 respectively at 25 °C. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models were used to represent the equilibrium data. Despite the high value of coefficient (R2) from Freundlich model, the best interpretation for the experimental data was given by the Langmuir model. The work showed that using powder activated carbon from wood exhibited relatively high adsorption capacity than activated carbon from coconut shell.Keywords: Lead, activated carbon, adsorption, Langmuir, isotherm

Study of adsorption of imidacloprid onto two different textures of soils

The main goal of this research is to evaluate the potential for imidacloprid to contaminate water and ground water. For this purpose, the adsorption of imidacloprid on two different soils is investigated. Physicochemical  properties such as texture, organic matter, pH of the two soils are investigated. Both soils have high organic matter and the same pH but different textures. The kinetic study of adsorption on these soils over 90 days yielded a mean half-life of 60 days. Furthermore, adsorption kinetics of imidacloprid was studied and the rate of sorption was found to conform to pseudo-second-order kinetics with 3.10 mg/g/h and 10.204 mg/g/h for soils of banana field and cocoa field respectively. Equilibrium isotherm data were analyzed according to Langmuir, Freundlich and Redlich–Peterson equations. The Redlich–Peterson isotherm gave the best correlation for the adsorption of imidacloprid adsorption on soils. The maximum adsorption capacities were determined to be 4.139 mg/g and 5.74 mg/g of soils from banana field and cocoa field respectively.The differences in adsorption capacities may be due to the effect of soils textures.Keywords: Imidacloprid, soils textures, adsorption, Redlich-Peterson model, Freundlich model, HPLC

Dynamic Analysis of Deep Mining Disaster Control in China and its Application in the Ivory Coast’s Mining Activities

With the increasing depth of mining, rock burst is on the rise. China’s deep mining industry faces such a threat. A major problem of deep mining is high ground stress, which is the major factor of rock burst. Due to the complexity of the rock burst mechanisms, complexity of induced factors as well as suddenness and randomness of rock burst occurrences, studies of rock burst prediction and control for safe mine exploitation is far from satisfying. The purpose of this paper is to examine of rock burst phenomenon in order to understand both stability in rock mechanics and the prediction of instability disasters in rock mechanics for application in the Ivory Coast mining sector with reference to the current Chinese mining industry

An overview of anti-diabetic plants used in Gabon: Pharmacology and Toxicology

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Ethnopharmacological relevance: The management of diabetes mellitus management in African communities, especially in Gabon, is not well established as more than 60% of population rely on traditional treatments as primary healthcare. The aim of this review was to collect and present the scientific evidence for the use of medicinal plants that are in currect by Gabonese traditional healers to manage diabetes or hyperglycaemia based here on the pharmacological and toxicological profiles of plants with anti-diabetic activity. There are presented in order to promote their therapeutic value, ensure a safer use by population and provide some bases for further study on high potential plants reviewed. Materials and methods: Ethnobotanical studies were sourced using databases such as Online Wiley library, Pubmed, Google Scholar, PROTA, books and unpublished data including Ph.D. and Master thesis, African and Asian journals. Keywords including ‘Diabetes’ ‘Gabon’ ‘Toxicity’ ‘Constituents’ ‘hyperglycaemia’ were used. Results: A total of 69 plants currently used in Gabon with potential anti-diabetic activity have been identified in the literature, all of which have been used in in vivo or in vitro studies. Most of the plants have been studied in human or animal models for their ability to reduce blood glucose, stimulate insulin secretion or inhibit carbohydrates enzymes. Active substances have been identified in 12 out of 69 plants outlined in this review, these include Allium cepa and Tabernanthe iboga. Only eight plants have their active substances tested for anti-diabetic activity and are suitables for further investigation. Toxicological data is scarce and is dose-related to the functional parameters of major organs such as kidney and liver. Conclusion: An in-depth understanding on the pharmacology and toxicology of Gabonese anti-diabetic plants is lacking yet there is a great scope for new treatments. With further research, the use of Gabonese anti-diabetic plants is important to ensure the safety of the diabetic patients in Gabon.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

12-month mortality and loss-to-program in antiretroviral-treated children: The IeDEA pediatric West African Database to evaluate AIDS (pWADA), 2000-2008

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The IeDEA West Africa Pediatric Working Group (pWADA) was established in January 2007 to study the care and treatment of HIV-infected children in this region. We describe here the characteristics at antiretroviral treatment (ART) initiation and study the 12-month mortality and loss-to-program of HIV-infected children followed in ART programs in West Africa.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Standardized data from HIV-infected children followed-up in ART programs were included. Nine clinical centers from six countries contributed to the dataset (Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Mali and Senegal). Inclusion criteria were the followings: age 0-15 years and initiated triple antiretroviral drug regimens. Baseline time was the date of ART initiation. WHO criteria was used to define severe immunosuppression based on CD4 count by age or CD4 percent < 15%. We estimated the 12-month Kaplan-Meier probabilities of mortality and loss-to-program (death or loss to follow-up > 6 months) after ART initiation and factors associated with these two outcomes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Between June 2000 and December 2007, 2170 children were included. Characteristics at ART initiation were the following: median age of 5 years (Interquartile range (IQR: 2-9) and median CD4 percentage of 13% (IQR: 7-19). The most frequent drug regimen consisted of two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors and one non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (62%). During the first 12 months, 169 (7.8%) children died and 461(21.2%) were lost-to-program. Overall, in HIV-infected children on ART, the 12-month probability of death was 8.3% (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 7.2-9.6%), and of loss-to-program was 23.1% (95% CI: 21.3-25.0%). Both mortality and loss-to program were associated with advanced clinical stage, CD4 percentage < 15% at ART initiation and year (> 2005) of ART initiation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Innovative and sustainable approaches are needed to better document causes of death and increase retention in HIV pediatric clinics in West Africa.</p

Combination Strategies for Targeted Delivery of Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy

Pharmaceuticals, and more recently biopharmaceuticals, have become the mainstay for antineoplastic treatments in combination with surgical interventions and radiation therapy. In recent years, advances have been made in the development of nano-technological interventions for the treatment of cancer alone or in combination with existing therapeutic modalities. Nanotechnology used for therapeutic drug delivery and sensitization of photodynamic, sonodynamic and radiotherapy are now being tested in preclinical and clinical trials for the treatment of cancer. This article will review the current state of the art for nanotechnology therapies with an emphasis on targeted drug delivery and the observed and likely benefits when used in combination with existing therapeutic approaches