Removal of Pb2+ Ions from Consuming Water Using a Fabricated Water Filter for Home Use

Lead contamination in water is one of the worldwide concerned environmental problems. For example, lead leaking from pipe corrosion and solder has been found contaminated in consuming water in many U.S. areas. The uncontrolled release of effluents containing lead from various industries has also caused lead-contaminated water in Thailand. Exposing to lead-contaminated water can lead to serious symptoms (e.g. fatigue, headaches, abdominal pain, irritability, depression, and seizures) or even death. Therefore, the elimination of lead ions (Pb2+) from consuming water or from effluents before releasing into the environment is necessary. The selection of adsorbents and the fabrication of a water filter used in households for Pb2+ removal from water were performed in this work. The efficiencies of Pb2+ removal from water using different particle sizes of grounded chicken eggshells (25 - 272 µm) and synthesized CaCO3 (0.5 – 3.5 µm) employed as adsorbents were studied. By passing 100 ppm Pb2+ solution at pH 4.4 through small scale columns packed with these adsorbents, it was found that more than 90% of Pb2+ ions were removed from water with no significant difference among using any particle sizes of eggshells or synthesized CaCO3 in this study. Grounded eggshells, cheap natural source of CaCO3, were then chosen as adsorbents packed in a fabricated water filter that could be directly attached to a water tap. The Pb2+ removal efficiency and the adsorption capacity using this design of water filter were investigated. To this end, this fabricated water filter could provide a homemade and replaceable adsorbent for Pb2+ removal from consuming water

Retrospective Analysis of Inpatient Dermatologic Consultations in a Residency Training Program

Objective: This study assessed the prevalence and clinical characteristics of inpatient dermatologic diseases, examined trends over 3 academic years in a tertiary care hospital in Thailand, and evaluated their relevance to the current dermatology residency curriculum. Materials and Methods: A retrospective review was performed at the Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. Consultation records from July 2018 to June 2021 were assessed. Data extracted included patient age, sex, referring departments, and diagnoses. Results: Of the 1964 consultations, 2002 diagnoses were identified. Consistent with previous findings, the predominant diagnostic categories were drug eruptions (28.02%; 561), eczema (16.18%; 324), and viral infections (9.29%; 186). Internal medicine made the most requests, followed by surgery and orthopedics. While the prevalence of consulted diseases remained constant over the 3 academic years, the total number of consultations increased. Most of the consulted conditions were already covered in the “must-know” section of the dermatology residency curriculum, with a few exceptions. The consultation cases satisfied the inpatient evaluation requirements of Entrustable Professional Activity. Conclusion: The prevalence of inpatient dermatologic diseases was highest for drug eruptions, followed by eczema and viral infections. The consistent trend in the prevalence of these consulted diseases underscores the significance of inpatient dermatology. Incorporating these insights into revisions of the dermatology residency curriculum may enhance the training of dermatologists

Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are common disorders in clinical practice and are associated with significant cardiovascular morbidity. The simultaneous occurrence of OSA and COPD happens frequently and is referred to as an overlap syndrome. These patients often have very poor quality sleep and more nocturnal hypoxemia. This combination may increase the severity of metabolic complications and cardiovascular disease, and these patients have increased mortality when compared to patients with either COPD or OSA alone. The treatment of overlap syndrome should focus on both coexisting diseases and includes continuous positive airway pressure, oxygen supplementation, and medications for chronic lung disease

Complements and Substitutes between Chatbots and Humans: Corporate Perspectives

The aim of this study is to determine the perceptions of business on the abilities of human labor and robots or Artificial Intelligence, where different types of labors, human and AI, suit different types of job duties. Chatbot is selected as a case because it has passed the introduction stage of its life cycle. It is now widely accepted and has become one of the major trends in business and corporate utilization among advanced countries such as Japan, China and USA. The study focuses on service sector in the position of customer service, call center, and lecturer. The results show that corporates perceive Chatbot as potential opportunity to work as receptionist, operator, call center, customer service staff and lecturer. The results imply that with only the factors of efficiency, productivity, cost of time, wage, and cost of production there are going to be difficulties for human labors to work in these duties. Government, therefore, should revamp the system and scheme of education in Thailand which is support in both worker skills and working skills with more complex, creative, critical, and service orientation in order to differentiate and maintain balances between the uses of advanced technologies and human jobs

Noninvasive ventilation in patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Abstract The clinical benefits of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) for patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF) is still inconclusive. We aimed to evaluate the effect of NIV compared with conventional oxygen therapy (COT)/high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) in this patient population. We searched for relevant studies from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrials.gov, CINHAL, Web of Science up to August 2019 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared NIV with COT/HFNC in AHRF. The primary outcome was the tracheal intubation rate. Secondary outcomes were intensive care unit (ICU) mortality, and hospital mortality. We applied the GRADE approach to grade the strength of the evidence. Seventeen RCTs that recruited 1738 patients were included in our meta-analysis. When comparing NIV versus COT/HFNC, the pooled risk ratio (RR) for the tracheal intubation rate was 0.68, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.52–0.89, p = 0.005, I 2 = 72.4%, low certainty of evidence. There were no significant differences in ICU mortality (pooled RR = 0.87, 95% CI 0.60–1.26), p = 0.45, I 2 = 64.6%) and hospital mortality (pooled RR = 0.71, 95% CI 0.51–1.00, p = 0.05, I 2 = 27.4%). Subgroup analysis revealed that NIV application with helmet was significantly associated with a lower intubation rate than NIV with face mask. NIV did not show a significant reduction in intubation rate compared to HFNC. In conclusion, NIV application in patients with medical illness and AHRF was associated with a lower risk of tracheal intubation compared to COT. NIV with helmet and HFNC are promising strategies to avoid tracheal intubation in this patient population and warrant further studies. NIV application had no effect on mortality. The study protocol was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO; CRD42018087342)