Removal of fluoride using quaternized palm kernel shell as adsorbents: Equilibrium isotherms and kinetics studies

Palm kernel shell (PKS) core fibers, an agricultural waste, were chemically modified using N-(3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl) trimethylammonium chloride (CHMAC) as a quaternizing agent. The potential of quaternized palm kernel shell (QPKS) as an adsorbent for fluoride in an aqueous solution was then studied. The quaternized palm kernel shell (QPKS) core fibers were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The effect of various factors on the fluoride sequestration was also investigated. The results showed that with an increase in the adsorbent amount and contact time, the efficiency of fluoride removal was improved. The maximum fluoride uptake was obtained at pH 3 and a contact time of 4 h. The adsorption behavior was further investigated using equilibrium isotherms and kinetics studies. The results from these studies fit well into Freundlich, Redlich-Peterson, and Sips isotherm's with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.9716. The maximum fluoride removal was 63%. For kinetics studies, the pseudo-second order was the best fit for fluoride, with an R2 of 0.999. These results suggest that QPKS has the potential to serve as a low-cost adsorbent for fluoride removal from aqueous solutions

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Socializing One Health: an innovative strategy to investigate social and behavioral risks of emerging viral threats

In an effort to strengthen global capacity to prevent, detect, and control infectious diseases in animals and people, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) PREDICT project funded development of regional, national, and local One Health capacities for early disease detection, rapid response, disease control, and risk reduction. From the outset, the EPT approach was inclusive of social science research methods designed to understand the contexts and behaviors of communities living and working at human-animal-environment interfaces considered high-risk for virus emergence. Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, PREDICT behavioral research aimed to identify and assess a range of socio-cultural behaviors that could be influential in zoonotic disease emergence, amplification, and transmission. This broad approach to behavioral risk characterization enabled us to identify and characterize human activities that could be linked to the transmission dynamics of new and emerging viruses. This paper provides a discussion of implementation of a social science approach within a zoonotic surveillance framework. We conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews and focus groups to better understand the individual- and community-level knowledge, attitudes, and practices that potentially put participants at risk for zoonotic disease transmission from the animals they live and work with, across 6 interface domains. When we asked highly-exposed individuals (ie. bushmeat hunters, wildlife or guano farmers) about the risk they perceived in their occupational activities, most did not perceive it to be risky, whether because it was normalized by years (or generations) of doing such an activity, or due to lack of information about potential risks. Integrating the social sciences allows investigations of the specific human activities that are hypothesized to drive disease emergence, amplification, and transmission, in order to better substantiate behavioral disease drivers, along with the social dimensions of infection and transmission dynamics. Understanding these dynamics is critical to achieving health security--the protection from threats to health-- which requires investments in both collective and individual health security. Involving behavioral sciences into zoonotic disease surveillance allowed us to push toward fuller community integration and engagement and toward dialogue and implementation of recommendations for disease prevention and improved health security

Perceived knowledge and awareness of periodontal health amongst ante-natal mothers

Physiological changes in the oral cavity and dental-related complications may occur during pregnancy. These intraoral changes that occur during pregnancy combined with lack of routine dental check-ups and delays in treatment for oral disease, place pregnant women at higher risk for dental infections. The objectives of this study was to assess the knowledge and awareness of pregnant women on periodontal disease and its effect on pregnancy, to investigate the relationship of their knowledge and awareness with level of education and the barriers of oral healthcare utilization among pregnant women. Methodology : A self-administered questionnaire with an introductory letter and consent form were given to pregnant women who came for their routine maternity check-up at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic, Kuala Lumpur Hospital. Data entry and analysis was done using Statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 12. Result : Ninety-two pregnant women responded to the questionnaire. Only 23.9% answered correctly to the question on what is plaque. However, 45.7% knew that plaque can cause gum disease and a majority of the respondents 72.8% also knew that bleeding gum is an indication to inflamed gums. The result shows that, although 59.8% of the respondents were aware that it is necessary to brush their teeth frequently during pregnancy, only less than half of the respondents (44.6%) were aware that dental plaque and poor plaque control may cause periodontal disease among pregnant women. The majority (33.7%) feels that the long waiting time in the clinic would be their main barrier in seeking dental treatment. Conclusion : A majority of pregnant women have limited knowledge and poor awareness on periodontal disease and its effect on pregnancy

Effects of mycorrhizal inoculation on growth and quality of roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) grown in soilless culture system

The effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AM) and organic plant waste on the growth and calyx quality of roselle cultivated in a soilless system was investigated. Three treatments were compared in the study, viz. (i) control, (ii) AM, comprising a mixture of Glomus sp., Gigaspora sp. and Scutellospora sp. and (iii) AM supplemented with organic plant waste. Inoculation of soilless grown roselle resulted in the proliferation of fungal spores in the culture medium (varying from 55 to 61 spores per 10 gram substrate), while successful root infection ranged from 59% to 64%. The most significant observation in this study was the doubling of root volume and dry weight in the inoculated plants as compared with the control plants. Thus, AM inoculated plants showed significantly increased vegetative growth mainly below the ground level. In addition, total anthocyanin concentration in the calyces was also significantly improved. However, roselle yield and other quality attributes such as soluble solids concentration (SSC), titratable acidity (TA) and ascorbic acid were unchanged with the introduction of AM. It is concluded that while the AM treatments did not affect the growth and yield of soilless-grown roselle, AM infection of roselle roots increased their growth substantially. AM increased significantly the anthocyanin content of the calyces in cultures supplemented with organic plant waste

Application of Encapsulated Anthocyanin Pigments From Purple Sweet Potato (Ipomoea Batatas L.) in Jelly Drink

Since the beginning of the 21th century, demand for natural food additives especially food colorant has increased sharply. The natural one were considered safer, while the synthetic ones are less safe. One source of natural food colorant is anthocyanin pigments from purple sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.). Anthocyanins have good stability at acidic pH especially pH 2-4 so that it can be applied for food products such as beverages with low pH like jelly drink. Nevertheless, anthocyanins are very sensitive to the temperature and light. It is thus important to store food containing anthocyanins in proper condition. The purpose of this study was to determine the proper storage conditions and to predict shelf life of jelly drinks containing encapsulated anthocyanin pigments from purple sweet potato. This research used experimental methods by regression analysis of four treatments and four replications. The treatments were storage of jelly drink in (1) Room temperature with light exposure (25oC±2oC), (2) Room temperature without light exposure (25oC±2oC), (3) Refrigerator temperature with light exposure (5oC±2oC) and (4 ) Refrigerator temperature without light exposure (5oC±2oC). Parameters analysed were: (a) intensity of red color; (b) total anthocyanins; (c) pH value. Observations were made on days 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30. The results showed that the temperature and light affected the decrease in colour intensity, and total anthocyanins of jelly drink. The best treatment was stored at refrigerator temperatures without light exposure, has the smallest decreasing of total anthocyanins (46,03% ) and decreasing of red intensity (3,19 %) during 30 days storage in which the shelf life spanned to around 200 days based on the color intensity

Contributing factors toward social problems among adolescents in governmental rehabilitation center in Kuala Lumpur

Background: Adolescents are often associated with a variety of behavioural and social problems as a result of prominent high-risk behaviour among this age group. The aim of this study is to determine the contributing factors toward social problems among adolescents admitted to the governmental rehabilitation centres in Kuala Lumpur. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 146 adolescents, randomly selected from 3 governmental rehabilitation centres in Kuala Lumpur under the supervision of the Department of Social Welfare namely, Asrama Sentosa, Asrama Bahagia and Sekolah Tunas Bakti Sg Besi. A pre-tested guided self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection, involving the socio-demographic information, social problems and perceived social support from family members, peer’s influence and environmental factors. The Cronbach’s alpha values obtained for the different sections of the questionnaire was ranging between 0.6 and 0.7. Results: The results showed majority of the adolescents involved had a mean age of 16 years old (IQR 2), male (78%), Malay (89.7%) and received secondary education level (84.9%). Most of their parents were still married (66.4%), received at least secondary education (47.3%) and total household income of between RM760 and RM1500 (38.4%). Most common social problems reported were violence (23.3%), illicit drug taking (18.5%) and thievery (15.1%), with teenage pregnancy the least common (1.4%). Environmental factors was found to be the only significant factor associated with the social problems committed by the adolescents (X2 = 4.463, p<0.05). Conclusion: This findings suggest the importance of developing a more conducive and healthy environment for the adolescents in order to tackle the increasing social problems among the adolescents

Fluoride removal by Palm Kernel Shell Activated Carbon (PKSAC): batch and isotherms approach

Fluoride, which is classified as one of the contaminant of water for human consumption by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been recognised as one of the serious problem worldwide by contaminating the groundwater. According to WHO, the standard prescribed for fluo1ide ion concentration in drinking water is 1.0 mg/l. Higher concentration of fluoride causes dental fluorosis (1.5-2.0mg/l) and skeletal fluorosis (>3.0mg/l). In this study. adsorption was chosen as fluoride removal method. A good adsorption system required an efficient adsorbent at an optimum condition. An agricultural waste, palm kernel shell (PKS) which is locally available as abundant material. in the form of activated carbon was used as the adsorbent for adsorbing fluoride from waste water. Characteristic of PKSAC was analysed using BET and SEM analysis. BET results showed pore type of PKSAC which consist of mesopores and SEM analysis showed the image of the pores. Effect of various factors on the fluoride removal was investigated such as pH. initial concentration, adsorbent dosage and contact time. Adsorption capacity increased with the increased of adsorbent dosage and contact time probably clue to the increase in the mass transfer driving force, resulting in a higher loading capacity for PKSAC. as its active sit.es were occupied by a larger amount of fluoride ions. Optimum parameters which resulted in maximum adsorption capacity of l.3mg/ g and fluoride removal of 38% was achieved at pH 4 with initial concentration of 20 mg/L. an adsorbent dosage of 4 g/ L with contact time of 4 h. The adsorption behavior was further investigated using equilibrium isotherms. Isotherms such as Langmuir, Freundlich, Redlich-Peterson and Temkin were studied which shown Redlich-Peterson fit well with a coefficient correlation (R2) of 0.99. These results suggest that palm kernel shell activated carbon (PKSAC) has the potential to serve as a good adsorbent for fluoride removal from aqueous solutions