Status of water use and potential of rainwater harvesting for replacing centralized supply system in remote mountainous areas: a case study.

The failure of the centralized water supply system forced XY community to become more dependent on uncertain and unstable water sources. The results of surveying 50 households showed that 89.18% of total households depended on water collected from rivers, which contributed 58.3% of the total water volume used for the domestic demands. The average water volume consumed was 19.5 liters/person/day (l/p/d), and 86.5% of households used more than one source; 13.5% of households collected water only from rivers, and 45.94% of families had rainwater harvesting (RWH) for their activities (domestic water demand); however, RWH only provided 9.9% of total water consumption. In this study, basic methods were applied to calculate the storage tanks necessary to balance the water deficit created by drought months. Three levels of water demand (14, 20, and 30 l/p/d) can be the best choices for RWH; for a higher demand (40 and 60 l/p/d), small roof area (30-40 m2), and many people (six to seven) per family, RWH might be impractical because of unsuitable rainfall or excessively large storage tanks

Repair of bone defect using bioglass-chitosan as a pharmaceutical drug: An experimental study in an ovariectomised rat model

International audienceBone loss associated with skeletal trauma or metabolic diseases often require bone grafting. The present study aimed to evaluate the performance of bioactive glass-chitosan composite (BG-CH) produced by a freeze-drying process. BG containing 17% wt% CH was implanted in the femoral condyl of an ovariectomised rat. The resected bone was prepared for analysis using several physico-chemical techniques such as fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX). After 2 weeks, the implanted sample gave a spectrum in which two pronounced absorption bands with the maxima at 932 and 1036 cm(-1) arising from (Si-O-Si) groups disappeared 15 days after surgery. These bands were replaced 30 days after implantation by 601 and 564 cm(-1) (P- O) arisen form bone apatite bands. After 4 weeks, peaks at 31.6 and 25.8 degrees (2 theta) were registered thus inducing a degradation of BG-CH which occurred simultaneously with the implant replacement by the bone cells. Our data showed that the incorporation of 17% wt% CH with BG matrix promoted a highly significant bioactivity and generated an osteoinductive property. These effects might make BG-CH an effective biomaterials choice for the biomedical field

Bioactive/Natural Polymeric Scaffolds Loaded with Ciprofloxacin for Treatment of Osteomyelitis

Local delivery of antibiotic into injured bone is a demand. In this work, different scaffolds of chitosan (C) with or without bioactive glass (G) were prepared using the freezedrying technique in 2:1, 1:1, and 1:2 weight ratios. Chitosan scaffolds and selected formulas of chitosan to bioglass were loaded with ciprofloxacin in 5%, 10%, and 20% w/w. Scaffold morphology showed an interconnected porous structure, where the glass particles were homogeneously dispersed in the chitosan matrix. The kinetic study confirmed that the scaffold containing 1:2 weight ratio of chitosan to glass (CG12) showed optimal bioactivity with good compromise between Ca and P uptake capacities and Si release rate. Chitosan/ bioactive glass scaffolds showed larger t50 values indicating less burst drug release followed by a sustained drug release profile compared to that of chitosan scaffolds. The cell growth, migration, adhesion, and invasion were enhanced onto CG12 scaffold surfaces. Samples of CG12 scaffolds with or without 5% drug induced vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), while those containing 10% drug diminished VEGF level. Only CG12 induced the cell differentiation (alkaline phosphatase activity). In conclusion, CG12 containing 5% drug can be considered a biocompatible carrier which would help in the localized osteomyelitis treatment