Agricultural Potential of Biosolids Generated from Dewatering of Faecal Sludge on Unplanted Filter Beds.

The study was conducted to determine the agricultural potential of biosolids produced from the dewatering of faecal sludge on drying beds in Ghana. It was conducted using bench scale filter beds at KNUST in Kumasi, Ghana. Different filter media were used to dewater FS while different loading rates of FS were dewatered on selected filter medium. Different percentages of sawdust mixed with FS were also dewatered and biolsolids produced were dried and analysed for nutrients and heavy metals. The results showed that the average percentage carbon in all the biosolid ranged between 27 and 42.7%, nitrogen was 1.82 – 3.54% and carbon – nitrogen ratio ranged between 8.7 - 23.9%. The level of phosphorus and potassium ranged between 1.73 – 3.69%and 0.81- 3.78% respectively. The average concentration of heavy metals analysed in the dried biosolids were very low where the range of Cu was 0.081- 0.157mg/kg, Fe 1.530- 4.562mg/kg, Pb 0.009- 0.032mg/kg. Cd, Mn, and Zn showed ranges of 0.036 – 0.092, 0.076-0.652 and 0.026-0254 mg/kg respectively. Key words: Biosolid, dewatering, faecal sludge, heavy metals, nutrients

Removal of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni and Zn from polluted water using an iron based sorbent

This research is aimed at investigating the effect of different particle sizes of sand for the dewatering of faecal sludge with respect to the dewatering time, contaminant load in the percolate, rate of clogging and quantity of biosolids produced. Three filter media FM1, FM2 and FM3 were used to dewater the faecal sludge. The experiment was conducted on bench scale consisting of miniature drying beds. Six cycles of dewatering were run where FM1, FM2, and FM3 showed average dewatering times of 10, 10 and 9 days respectively without significant differences (p > 0.05). However the percolate quality showed significant differences between them in the removal of TS, TVS, SS, COD, DCOD and NH3-N with FM1 having the highest removal for each parameter. Accumulation of organic matter in the top 10 cm of the filter bed indicated that FM1 was least likely to clog and it also generated the highest quantity of biosolids

Critical care usage after major gastrointestinal and liver surgery: a prospective, multicentre observational study

Background Patient selection for critical care admission must balance patient safety with optimal resource allocation. This study aimed to determine the relationship between critical care admission, and postoperative mortality after abdominal surgery. Methods This prespecified secondary analysis of a multicentre, prospective, observational study included consecutive patients enrolled in the DISCOVER study from UK and Republic of Ireland undergoing major gastrointestinal and liver surgery between October and December 2014. The primary outcome was 30-day mortality. Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore associations between critical care admission (planned and unplanned) and mortality, and inter-centre variation in critical care admission after emergency laparotomy. Results Of 4529 patients included, 37.8% (n=1713) underwent planned critical care admissions from theatre. Some 3.1% (n=86/2816) admitted to ward-level care subsequently underwent unplanned critical care admission. Overall 30-day mortality was 2.9% (n=133/4519), and the risk-adjusted association between 30-day mortality and critical care admission was higher in unplanned [odds ratio (OR): 8.65, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.51–19.97) than planned admissions (OR: 2.32, 95% CI: 1.43–3.85). Some 26.7% of patients (n=1210/4529) underwent emergency laparotomies. After adjustment, 49.3% (95% CI: 46.8–51.9%, P<0.001) were predicted to have planned critical care admissions, with 7% (n=10/145) of centres outside the 95% CI. Conclusions After risk adjustment, no 30-day survival benefit was identified for either planned or unplanned postoperative admissions to critical care within this cohort. This likely represents appropriate admission of the highest-risk patients. Planned admissions in selected, intermediate-risk patients may present a strategy to mitigate the risk of unplanned admission. Substantial inter-centre variation exists in planned critical care admissions after emergency laparotomies

Body mass index and complications following major gastrointestinal surgery: A prospective, international cohort study and meta-analysis

Aim Previous studies reported conflicting evidence on the effects of obesity on outcomes after gastrointestinal surgery. The aims of this study were to explore the relationship of obesity with major postoperative complications in an international cohort and to present a metaanalysis of all available prospective data. Methods This prospective, multicentre study included adults undergoing both elective and emergency gastrointestinal resection, reversal of stoma or formation of stoma. The primary end-point was 30-day major complications (Clavien–Dindo Grades III–V). A systematic search was undertaken for studies assessing the relationship between obesity and major complications after gastrointestinal surgery. Individual patient meta-analysis was used to analyse pooled results. Results This study included 2519 patients across 127 centres, of whom 560 (22.2%) were obese. Unadjusted major complication rates were lower in obese vs normal weight patients (13.0% vs 16.2%, respectively), but this did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.863) on multivariate analysis for patients having surgery for either malignant or benign conditions. Individual patient meta-analysis demonstrated that obese patients undergoing surgery formalignancy were at increased risk of major complications (OR 2.10, 95% CI 1.49–2.96, P < 0.001), whereas obese patients undergoing surgery for benign indications were at decreased risk (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.46–0.75, P < 0.001) compared to normal weight patients. Conclusions In our international data, obesity was not found to be associated with major complications following gastrointestinal surgery. Meta-analysis of available prospective data made a novel finding of obesity being associated with different outcomes depending on whether patients were undergoing surgery for benign or malignant disease