Sorption of Cd(II) and Pb(II) ions by nanolimestone from underground water samples from Tehama region of Saudi Arabia

333-340Powdered nano limestone (NLS) has been investigated as an in-expensive adsorbent for removal of heavy toxic metals such as cadmium and lead from aqueous solutions. Batch experiments has been carried out, the favorable pH for maximum metals adsorption is found to be 6.8 for both. The surface area has increased in case of NLS up to 6.2 m2/g. The adsorption capacity calculated by Langmuir equation is found to be 75.1 mg/g for Cd (II) and 68.4 for Pb (II) ions at pH 6.8. The adsorption capacity has increased with temperature and the kinetics followed a First-order rate equation for both. The enthalpy change (ΔH0) is 25.4 J mol−1 for Cd (II) and 20.8 J mol−1 for Pb (II), while entropy change (ΔS0) is 41.6 J K−1 mol−1 for Cd (II) and 38.7 J K−1 mol−1 Pb (II), which indicate that adsorption process is endothermic and spontaneous in nature. About 25 collected samples of groundwater has been tested and found to be contaminated with cadmium and lead elements with different rates, with using NLS as adsorbent able to remove both metals from the samples. All of the results suggested that the NLS is excellent nano-adsorbents for cadmium and lead contaminated water samples

Stability of compressible boundary layers over a smooth backward-facing step

An investigation is conducted into the determination of the credibility of interacting boundary layers in predicting compressible subsonic flows over smooth surface imperfections. The case of smooth backward-facing steps is considered. The predicted mean flows are compared with those obtained using a Navier-Stokes solver. Moreover, the linear 2-D compressible stability characteristics of both mean flows are compared. The results show that the interacting boundary-layer formulation produces accurate mean flows that yield accurate linear stability characteristics, such as growth rates and amplification factors

Nurse-led implementation of ETAT plus is associated with reduced mortality in a children's hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone

BACKGROUND: In the wake of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic in Sierra Leone, secondary care facilities faced an increase in admissions with few members of medical staff available to assess and treat patients. This led to long waiting times in hospital outpatient departments. The study was undertaken in the outpatient department of Ola During Children’s Hospital (the tertiary paediatric hospital for Sierra Leone) in the period immediately following the EVD epidemic of 2014–2015. AIMS: This retrospective analysis of operational programme data aimed to assess whether a quality-improvement approach and task-sharing between medical and nursing staff improved the quality of triage and the timeliness of care. METHODS: All staff working in the outpatient department were offered a 4-week training course, followed by on-the-job supervision and support for 6 months. Nurses who successfully completed the course were given responsibility for the initial assessment of sick patients and for prescribing and giving initial treatment. Data were collected at three points: before intervention and at 3 and 6 months after initiation of the intervention. All children presenting to the hospital for medical attention between 0800 and 1400 Monday to Friday were included. Triage assessment by the outpatient nurse was compared to that made by a clinically experienced observer, and the time taken for each child to be triaged, assessed and given initial treatment was recorded. RESULTS:Between months 0 and 6 of the intervention, detection of emergency signs by the triage nurse improved from 30% to 100%, and detection of priority signs improved from 34% to 100%. For children presenting with emergency signs, the median time between triage and full assessment improved from 57 minutes before intervention to 17 minutes at 3 months and 5 minutes at 6 months (p < 0.0005). For the same group, median time between triage and first antibiotic or antimalarial treatment improved from 220 minutes before intervention to 40 minutes at 3 months and 18 minutes at 6 months (p = 0.006). CONCLUSION: The results indicate that, with appropriate training and support, extending the emergency assessment and treatment of sick children to nursing staff in West African hospitals may improve the accuracy of triage and the time to assessment and treatment of children presenting with signs of serious illness

Effect of wall cooling on the stability of compressible subsonic flows over smooth humps and backward-facing steps

The effect of wall cooling on the two-dimensional linear stability of subsonic flows over two-dimensional surface imperfections is investigated. Results are presented for flows over smooth humps and backward-facing steps with Mach numbers up to 0.8. The results show that, whereas cooling decreases the viscous instability, it increases the shear-layer instability and hence it increases the growth rates in the separation region. The coexistence of more than one instability mechanism makes a certain degree of wall cooling most effective. For the Mach numbers 0.5 and 0.8, the optimum wall temperatures are about 80 pct and 60 pct of the adiabatic wall temperature, respectively. Increasing the Mach number decreases the effectiveness of cooling slightly and reduces the optimum wall temperature

Glucose metabolism abnormalities among pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivors: Assessment and relation to body mass index and waist to hip ratio

AbstractBackgroundAs survival rates of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) improve, attention is turning to side and late effects of therapy including glucose metabolism abnormalities.ObjectiveTo asses the presence of abnormal glucose metabolism in pediatric ALL survivors and its possible relation to body mass index (BMI), waist to hip ratio and treatment related factors.Subjects and methodsRetrospective study with a prospective follow-up of 12 ALL survivors who had been off chemotherapy for >9months was done. Fifteen healthy sex and age matched children were involved as controls. Body mass index (BMI) waist to hip ratio (WHR), and Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) were performed with assessment of glycated hemoglobin (Hb A1C) and insulin sensitivity indices.ResultsAt study time the mean BMI, WHR, all components of the OGTT (except the 2h post load glucose), all indices of insulin sensitivity and the mean Hb A1C% were significantly higher compared to those of the controls. Two survivors (16.6%) developed transient hyperglycemia during therapy, one (8.3%) had pre-diabetes, seven (58.3%) had a risk level of Hb A1C but no one had diabetes mellitus (DM) or insulin resistance (IR). At study time the two survivors with transient hyperglycemia during therapy had a significantly high WHR compared to the remainders. WHR of the survivors at study time correlated significantly with fasting plasma glucose and area of insulin under the curve (AUC). The 2h post-prandial plasma glucose correlated with the duration after therapy completion.ConclusionsWHR may play a better role than BMI in the prediction of insulin resistance in those patients. Hb A1C may increase earlier than other indices of glucose tolerance

An approach for simulating regional migration patterns

In this paper, GERTS III is presented as a possible approach for simulating regional migration patterns. Fourteen years of aggregate Canadian census data were compiled and a mathematical model was constructed to describe the patterns of inter-regional migration viewed as a discrete time Markov process. A GERTS III network was developed to analyze and describe this process. Measures of population mobility, degree of mobility and retention were derived. The implications for policy makers are highlighted.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24487/1/0000763.pd

Calidad del color del pimentón: Efecto de tratamientos de secado al natural y al aire.

Color, browning compounds formation and total carotenoids as indicator of paprika quality were investigated under air and natural drying processes. The data resulted from air drying experiments showed an inversely relationship between the progress in temperature (40, 60 and 80° C) and the paprika quality. In natural dried samples, three different treatments were carried out (sun, dark drying and blanching + sun drying). The data revealed an irregular pattern characterized by two stages: 1 st one is biosynthetic and the second is degradative with more profound effect in light more than darkness. Multilinear regression data analysis was also employed to simulate the results especially the changes in total carotenoids as a function of time. Sensory evaluation for color of the samples indicated a large variation in responses of panelists. Low temperature treatment was recommended to favour the quality of paprika if the rate of forming browning compounds is reduced.Bajo procesos de secado al natural y al aire se han investigado el color, la formación de compuestos de pardeamiento y los carotenoides totales como indicadores de la calidad del pimentón. Los datos obtenidos a partir de experimentos de secado al aire mostraron una relación inversa entre el aumento de la temperatura (40, 60 y 80° C) y la calidad del pimentón. En muestras secadas al natural, se llevaron a cabo tres tratamientos diferentes (sol, secado en la oscuridad y decolorado + secado al sol). Los datos revelaron un comportamiento irregular caracterizado por dos estados: el primero es biosintético y el segundo es degradativo con un efecto más profundo en la luz que en la oscuridad. El análisis de los datos por regresión multilinear fue también empleado para simular los resultados, especialmente los cambios en carotenoides totales como una función del tiempo. La evaluación sensorial para el color de las muestras indicó una larga variación en respuestas de los panelistas. Se recomendaron tratamientos a baja temperatura para favorecer la calidad del pimentón si es reducida la velocidad de formación de compuestos de pardeamiento

Wheat Fertilization with Special Reference to Soil Properties and Groundwater Composition in Heavy Clay Soil from Egypt

Egypt is considered to be a heavy user of chemical fertilizers, especially NPK fertilizers. Thus, sustainable NPK-fertilizer management should be considered to minimize nutrient losses to the environment via volatilization or leaching. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to investigate the effect of different levels of NPK fertilization on some soil chemical properties, the chemical composition of groundwater and the yield and yield components of wheat plant under different treatments of NPK. Field experiments were carried out to study the effect of NPK application on soil properties and groundwater quality as well as wheat yield. Groundwater and soil samples were collected after the first, the third irrigation as well as after harvesting from each treatment for chemical analysis. The highest value of soil salinity was 1.64 dS m-1 after wheat harvesting compared to it before planting (1.13 dS m-1). Values of pH after wheat harvesting ranged from 7.39 to 8.01 (7.67 before planting). Concentration of soluble cations in the ground water after harvesting was higher than it before planting. Concerning soluble salts, Na+ and Cl- was the dominate ions in the soil solution and cation concentration had the descending order: Na+ > Ca++ > Mg++ > K+ and anions had the following order: Cl- > SO4-- > HCO3-. The mean values of available N after wheat harvesting ranged from 8 to 19 mg N kg-1 (38 – 42 mg N kg-1 before planting). The highest value of available phosphorus after wheat harvesting was 11 mg P kg-1 (19.4 mg P kg-1 before planting). Available K ranged from 97 to 204 mg K kg-1 compared to it before planting (160 – 210 mg K kg-1). The balance fertilization of NPK (N80P22K50) gave the highest yield of wheat, improving soil fertility and decrease nutrient leaching to ground water. The grain yield of wheat was highly significant increased with increasing N levels up to 120 kg N acre-1. The highest mean value of grain yield over the two seasons was 3.5 Mg acre-1