Removal of Chromium(III) and Other Physical Parameters from Chrome Tan Wastewater and Recovery of Chromium from the Precipitating Sludge

This study was adopted to investigate the removal of Cr(III) and other physicochemical parameters of chrome tan wastewater. For this purpose, three precipitating agents, CaCO3, NaHCO3, and MgO, were used to treat chrome tan wastewater. After treatment, it was found, in three different dose trials, that each agent removed almost 97-99.5 % of chromium. At the same time, it was observed that with the increase of doses, removal percentage of TDS, conductivity, and turbidity of effluent were reduced. In the case of NaHCO3 and CaCO3, Cr(III) removal percentage at optimum pH was found to be 99.97% and 99.95% respectively, whereas the maximum removal percentage for MgO was found to be 99.98%. The NaHCO3 and CaCO3 were found to be comparable to MgO for Cr(III) removal from chrome tan wastewater. The recovered chromium concentration in the sludge for NaHCO3 and CaCO3 were also similar to that of MgO. This research suggests that these two precipitating agents can be used in the same way as MgO, for Cr removal and recovery treatments. Moreover, this recovered chromium can be reused, thus reducing the environmental pollution

Evaluating Suitability of Glutaraldehyde Tanning in Conformity with Physical Properties of Conventional Chrome-Tanned Leather

Leather manufacturing involves a number of unit processes, out of which tanning is the most important in so far as it converts the putrescible hides/skins into non-putrescible leather. In this study, glutaraldehyde has been exploited as a means to reduce the use of basic chromium sulfate for the production of quality shoe upper crust leather. The paper consists in studying the physical properties of aldehyde-tanned leather and chrometanned leather. The aim is to find out the possibility of replacing the wet-blue leather, containing Cr(III) salts, with the glutaraldehyde-tanned wet-white leather. The physical properties of the aldehyde-tanned leather were evaluated, analyzed and compared with the conventional chrome-tanned shoe upper crust leather. Statistical analysis illustrated that the tensile strength, the percentage of elongation, stitch tear strength, Baumann tear strength and grain crack strength of the leather was 211±1 kg/cm2, 38±0.5 %, 89±0.11 kg/cm, 63±0.4 kg/cm and 23±0.4 kg respectively. It was observed that the property of the experimental leather was quite comparable with the conventional chrome-tanned leather and able to meet the requirements of the shoe upper crust leather after re-tanning. The shrinkage temperature of the experimental tanned leather was found to be 87 °C, lower than that of corresponding control, which indicates lesser tanning power of aldehyde. However, the morphology of the aldehyde-tanned leather was quite akin with the conventional leather. This study suggests that using glutaraldehyde in the tanning process in order to minimize the chromium load in the tanning and the re-tanning process during the production of shoe upper crust leather reduces the generation of toxic waste and its impact on the environment

Effect of soluble probiotic on production performance of Akar Putra chicken

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of soluble probiotic on the production parameters of local Malaysian chicken (Akar Putra). A total of seventy two 1-day-old Akar Putra chicks were randomly assigned to three treatment groups, each having 3 replicates of 8 chicks. The treatments were as follows: (T1) control, (T2) probiotic supplemented at 1 g/liter tap water, (T3) probiotic supplemented at 2 g/liter tap water. The results revealed that supplementation of soluble probiotic at both the rates resulted in an improved performance of male and female Akar putra chicken. Birds who received 2 g of prepared probiotic per liter of water (T3) exhibited highly improved (p<0.05) body weight, weight gain and feed conversion ratio than other groups. It can be concluded that supplementation of prepared soluble probiotic would be economically beneficial in improving the production performance and health status of Akar Putra chicken

Impact of daily supplement of probiotic on the production performance of Akar Putra chickens

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of prepared probiotic (PP) on the live body weight, weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio in Malaysian chicken (Akar Putra). A total of 72 day-old Akar Putra chicks were reared for 12 weeks and randomly assigned to three dietary treatments (24 chicken/treatment), with 3 replications for each (8 chicken/replicate). The treatments consisted of a control group (T1), and the supplemented diet with probiotic in the second treatment was prepared at the rate 1:1 (1 kg of commercial broiler feed + 1 g PP). While the rate was 1:2 (1 kg of commercial broiler feed + 2 g PP) in the third treatment. Supplementing probiotic in both rates revealed significant improvement in terms of males' and females' growth rates, final live body weight, weight gain and feed conversion ratio. Based on the research findings, the best results were obtained when chickens received 1 g PP in males and 2 g in females

Partial ablation of uropygial gland effects on growth hormone concentration and digestive system histometrical aspect of Akar Putra chicken

Partial ablation of the uropygial gland is being used in the poultry industry as a new way to enhance body performance of chickens. However, limited data are available estimating the efficacy of partial uropygialectomy (PU) to improve body organ activity. The present study evaluated the effect of partial ablation of the uropygial gland on the serum growth hormone concentration level and digestive system histology of 120 Akar Putra chickens in 5 trials with 3 replicates per trial. The experimental treatments consisted of a control treatment T1; partial ablation of the uropygial gland was applied in the T2, T3, T4, and T5 treatments at 3, 4, 5, and 6 wk of age, respectively. Feed and water were provided ad libitum. All treatment groups were provided the same diet. Venous blood samples were collected on wk 7, 10, and 12 to assay the levels of growth hormone concentration. On the last d of the experiment, 4 birds per replicate were randomly isolated and euthanized to perform the necropsy. Digestive system organs' cross sections were measured by a computerized image analyzer after being stained with haematoxylin and eosin. In comparison with the control group, surgical removal of the uropygial gland, especially at wk 3, had a greater (P < 0.01) effect on the total duodenum, jejunum, and ilium wall thickness. In addition, effects (P < 0.05) were observed on the wall thickness of males’ cecum and colon. Moreover, the wall layers of the esophagus, proventriculus, gizzard, and rectum were not affected by the treatment. However, removing the uropygial gland showed significant impact (P < 0.05) in males’ growth hormone concentration level at wk 7 and (P < 0.01) effects at wk 12 in both sexes. This study provides a novel and economic alternative to enhance the body performance of poultry in general and Akar Putra chickens particularly

Effect of dry probiotic supplemented fermented feed on production performance of Akar Putra chicken

During the recent years, solid state fermented feed (SSFF) has been introduced with great success in poultry nutrition. Thus, the present experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of dry fermented feed with prepared probiotic (PP) on the live body weight, weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio of a local Malaysian chicken (Akar Putra). The experiment comprised of 3 treatments (24 chicken/treatment), with 3 replicates of each (8 chicken/replicate). The treatments consisted of a control group (T1), the mixture of SSFF and PP at the rate 1:1:1 (1 kg of commercial broiler feed+1 liter tap water+1 g PP) in T2 and 1:1:2 (1 kg of commercial broiler feed+1 liter tap water+2 g PP) in T3. The results revealed remarkably significant (p<0.01) improvement in both male and female chicken in terms of final body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio in treatment groups (T2 and T3) when compared to the control group. The variation ratio of production performance parameters was calculated and best results were indicated in T2 group wherein, 1 g prepared probiotic was used

Partial ablation of uropygial gland effect on carcass characteristics of Akar Putra chicken

This study evaluated the effect of partial uropygialectomy (PU) on carcass traits of male and female Akar Putra chickens. Sixty chicks of each sex were evenly distributed into 5 treatment groups with 3 replicates per group containing 4 males and 4 females each, and reared for 12 wk. Homogeneity of the groups was satisfied with regard to the parity. Experimental treatments consisted of a control treatment (T1), and partial ablation of the uropygial gland was applied on the second, third, fourth, and fifth treatments at 3, 4, 5, and 6 wk of age, respectively. The chickens were fed ad libitum the same diets (1 to 13 d: starter; 14 d to slaughter: finisher). On the last d of the experiment, 12 birds were randomly selected from each treatment group (2 males and 2 females per replicate) and slaughtered to determine carcass characteristics, which included carcass weight, dressing percentage with or without eating giblets, and the relative weights of heart, liver, gizzard, thighs, wings, breast, back, and neck. From the results of the study, it was shown that the partial ablation of the uropygial gland at all ages had certain dependent effects concerning some carcass parameters, as shown by higher breast and back relative weights in males and breast relative weight in females. As a consequence, a positive effect also was noticed regarding the carcass morphology in terms of the increase in dressing percentage with or without eating giblets thus leading to an increase in the body weight and carcass weight. Furthermore, the best result was obtained in the second treatment when PU was applied at 3 wk of age compared with other experimental groups. Moreover, the current study provides a novel and economic alternative to enhance the body performance of poultry in general and Akar Putra chicken particularly

Global age-sex-specific mortality, life expectancy, and population estimates in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1950–2021, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Estimates of demographic metrics are crucial to assess levels and trends of population health outcomes. The profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on populations worldwide has underscored the need for timely estimates to understand this unprecedented event within the context of long-term population health trends. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 provides new demographic estimates for 204 countries and territories and 811 additional subnational locations from 1950 to 2021, with a particular emphasis on changes in mortality and life expectancy that occurred during the 2020–21 COVID-19 pandemic period. Methods: 22 223 data sources from vital registration, sample registration, surveys, censuses, and other sources were used to estimate mortality, with a subset of these sources used exclusively to estimate excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2026 data sources were used for population estimation. Additional sources were used to estimate migration; the effects of the HIV epidemic; and demographic discontinuities due to conflicts, famines, natural disasters, and pandemics, which are used as inputs for estimating mortality and population. Spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression (ST-GPR) was used to generate under-5 mortality rates, which synthesised 30 763 location-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 1365 surveys and censuses, and 80 other sources. ST-GPR was also used to estimate adult mortality (between ages 15 and 59 years) based on information from 31 642 location-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 355 surveys and censuses, and 24 other sources. Estimates of child and adult mortality rates were then used to generate life tables with a relational model life table system. For countries with large HIV epidemics, life tables were adjusted using independent estimates of HIV-specific mortality generated via an epidemiological analysis of HIV prevalence surveys, antenatal clinic serosurveillance, and other data sources. Excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 was determined by subtracting observed all-cause mortality (adjusted for late registration and mortality anomalies) from the mortality expected in the absence of the pandemic. Expected mortality was calculated based on historical trends using an ensemble of models. In location-years where all-cause mortality data were unavailable, we estimated excess mortality rates using a regression model with covariates pertaining to the pandemic. Population size was computed using a Bayesian hierarchical cohort component model. Life expectancy was calculated using age-specific mortality rates and standard demographic methods. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were calculated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered values from a 1000-draw posterior distribution. Findings: Global all-cause mortality followed two distinct patterns over the study period: age-standardised mortality rates declined between 1950 and 2019 (a 62·8% [95% UI 60·5–65·1] decline), and increased during the COVID-19 pandemic period (2020–21; 5·1% [0·9–9·6] increase). In contrast with the overall reverse in mortality trends during the pandemic period, child mortality continued to decline, with 4·66 million (3·98–5·50) global deaths in children younger than 5 years in 2021 compared with 5·21 million (4·50–6·01) in 2019. An estimated 131 million (126–137) people died globally from all causes in 2020 and 2021 combined, of which 15·9 million (14·7–17·2) were due to the COVID-19 pandemic (measured by excess mortality, which includes deaths directly due to SARS-CoV-2 infection and those indirectly due to other social, economic, or behavioural changes associated with the pandemic). Excess mortality rates exceeded 150 deaths per 100 000 population during at least one year of the pandemic in 80 countries and territories, whereas 20 nations had a negative excess mortality rate in 2020 or 2021, indicating that all-cause mortality in these countries was lower during the pandemic than expected based on historical trends. Between 1950 and 2021, global life expectancy at birth increased by 22·7 years (20·8–24·8), from 49·0 years (46·7–51·3) to 71·7 years (70·9–72·5). Global life expectancy at birth declined by 1·6 years (1·0–2·2) between 2019 and 2021, reversing historical trends. An increase in life expectancy was only observed in 32 (15·7%) of 204 countries and territories between 2019 and 2021. The global population reached 7·89 billion (7·67–8·13) people in 2021, by which time 56 of 204 countries and territories had peaked and subsequently populations have declined. The largest proportion of population growth between 2020 and 2021 was in sub-Saharan Africa (39·5% [28·4–52·7]) and south Asia (26·3% [9·0–44·7]). From 2000 to 2021, the ratio of the population aged 65 years and older to the population aged younger than 15 years increased in 188 (92·2%) of 204 nations. Interpretation: Global adult mortality rates markedly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, reversing past decreasing trends, while child mortality rates continued to decline, albeit more slowly than in earlier years. Although COVID-19 had a substantial impact on many demographic indicators during the first 2 years of the pandemic, overall global health progress over the 72 years evaluated has been profound, with considerable improvements in mortality and life expectancy. Additionally, we observed a deceleration of global population growth since 2017, despite steady or increasing growth in lower-income countries, combined with a continued global shift of population age structures towards older ages. These demographic changes will likely present future challenges to health systems, economies, and societies. The comprehensive demographic estimates reported here will enable researchers, policy makers, health practitioners, and other key stakeholders to better understand and address the profound changes that have occurred in the global health landscape following the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, and longer-term trends beyond the pandemic