Recent Advances in Hydrothermal Carbonization of Sewage Sludge

The transition from the use of fossil fuels to renewable and green energy is a worldwide challenge that must be seriously considered in order to ensure sustainable development and the preservation of the environment. The conversion of wet biomasses (i.e., sewage sludge) into energy through thermochemical processes in general and hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) in particular has been pointed out as an interesting and attractive approach for the energetic and agricultural valorization of the produced solid residues, named hydrochars. The success of such valorization options is highly dependent on these hydrochars’ physico-chemical and energetic properties that are influenced not only by the type of the sludge (urban or industrial) and its nature (primary, secondary, or digested) but also by the HTC parameters, especially temperature, pressure, and residence time. This editorial provides a summary of the latest studies regarding the impact of the cited above parameters on the properties of the produced hydrochars. The economic and environmental feasibility of this process for sewage sludge management is also presented

A multinational cross-sectional study on the awareness and concerns of healthcare providers toward monkeypox and the promotion of the monkeypox vaccination

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to explore potential healthcare workers' (HCWs) concerns about the monkeypox virus in order to create practical solutions to manage this disease.MethodsOnline cross-sectional research was conducted in 11 Arabic countries (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, and Sudan) from 2 August 2022 to 28 December 2022.ResultsApproximately 82% of respondents felt the need to acquire further information. The acceptability of the vaccine against monkeypox has been indicated by more than half of the participants (54.5%). Furthermore, we state that 45% of the participants are knowledgeable about the monkeypox virus, and 53.1% of the participants have never been affected with COVID-19 before are more worried about COVID-19 than about monkeypox. Participants diagnosed with COVID-19 were 0.63 times less likely to worry about monkeypox than those who were not diagnosed with COVID-19. A greater willingness to get the monkeypox vaccination was seen among the age group 21–30 years (42.4%) compared to the other age groups.ConclusionMost healthcare professionals have a moderate knowledge of the monkeypox virus. Furthermore, they demonstrated a low willingness to get the vaccination against the monkeypox virus