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A Critical Review on Metal-Organic Frameworks and Their Composites as Advanced Materials for Adsorption and Photocatalytic Degradation of Emerging Organic Pollutants from Wastewater
Water-borne emerging pollutants are among the greatest concern of our modern society. Many of these pollutants are categorized as endocrine disruptors due to their environmental toxicities. They are harmful to humans, aquatic animals, and plants, to the larger extent, destroying the ecosystem. Thus, effective environmental remediations of these pollutants became necessary. Among the various remediation techniques, adsorption and photocatalytic degradation have been single out as the most promising. This review is devoted to the compilations and analysis of the role of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and their composites as potential materials for such applications. Emerging organic pollutants, like dyes, herbicides, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, phenols, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and perfluorinated alkyl substances, have been extensively studied. Important parameters that affect these processes, such as surface area, bandgap, percentage removal, equilibrium time, adsorption capacity, and recyclability, are documented. Finally, we paint the current scenario and challenges that need to be addressed for MOFs and their composites to be exploited for commercial applications.
Journal Article
Factors Associated with the Perception of Risk and Knowledge of Contracting the SARS-Cov-2 among Adults in Bangladesh: Analysis of Online Surveys
This study investigated the perception and awareness of risk among adult participants in Bangladesh about Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). During the lockdown era in Bangladesh at two different time points, from 26−31 March 2020 (early lockdown) and 11−16 May 2020 (late lockdown), two self-administered online surveys were conducted on 1005 respondents (322 and 683 participants, respectively) via social media. To examine risk perception and knowledge-related factors towards COVID-19, univariate and multiple linear regression models were employed. Scores of mean knowledge (8.4 vs. 8.1, p = 0.022) and perception of risk (11.2 vs. 10.6, p < 0.001) differed significantly between early and late lockdown. There was a significant decrease in perceived risk scores for contracting SARS-Cov-2 [β = −0.85, 95%CI: −1.31, −0.39], while knowledge about SARS-Cov-2 decreased insignificantly [β = −0.22, 95%CI: −0.46, 0.03] in late lockdown compared with early lockdown period. Self-quarantine was a common factor linked to increased perceived risks and knowledge of SARS-Cov-2 during the lockdown period. Any effort to increase public awareness and comprehension of SARS-Cov-2 in Bangladesh will then offer preference to males, who did not practice self-quarantine and are less worried about the propagation of this kind of virus.
Journal Article
Social media addiction and emotions during the disaster recovery period—The moderating role of post-COVID timing
Social media addiction, a recently emerged term in medical science, has attracted the attention of researchers because of its significant physical and psychological effects on its users. The issue has attracted more attention during the COVID era because negative emotions (e.g., anxiety and fear) generated from the COVID pandemic may have increased social media addiction. Therefore, the present study investigates the role of negative emotions and social media addiction (SMA) on health problems during and after the COVID lockdown. A survey was conducted with 2926 participants aged between 25 and 45 years from all eight divisions of Bangladesh. The data collection period was between 2.sup.nd September- 13.sup.th October, 2020. Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was conducted for data analysis by controlling the respondents' working time, leisure time, gender, education, and age. Our study showed that social media addiction and time spent on social media impact health. Interestingly, while anxiety about COVID increased social media addition, fear about COIVD reduced social media addition. Among all considered factors, long working hours contributed most to people's health issues, and its impact on social media addiction and hours was much higher than negative emotions. Furthermore, females were less addicted to social media and faced less health challenges than males. The impacts of negative emotions generated by the COVID disaster on social media addiction and health issues should be reconsidered. Government and employers control people's working time, and stress should be a priority to solve people's social media addiction-related issues.
Journal Article
An Overview and Evaluation of Highly Porous Adsorbent Materials for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Phenols Removal from Wastewater
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and phenolic compounds had been widely recognized as priority organic pollutants in wastewater with toxic effects on both plants and animals. Thus, the remediation of these pollutants has been an active area of research in the field of environmental science and engineering. This review highlighted the advantage of adsorption technology in the removal of PAHs and phenols in wastewater. The literature presented on the applications of various porous carbon materials such as biochar, activated carbon (AC), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and graphene as potential adsorbents for these pollutants has been critically reviewed and analyzed. Under similar conditions, the use of porous polymers such as Chitosan and molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have been well presented. The high adsorption capacities of advanced porous materials such as mesoporous silica and metal-organic frameworks have been considered and evaluated. The preference of these materials, higher adsorption efficiencies, mechanism of adsorptions, and possible challenges have been discussed. Recommendations have been proposed for commercialization, pilot, and industrial-scale applications of the studied adsorbents towards persistent organic pollutants (POPs) removal from wastewater.
Journal Article
Biomechanical Effects of a Passive Back-Support Exosuit During Simulated Military Lifting Tasks—An EMG Study
Military operators performing vehicle maintenance work are at times subject to onerous tasks such as lifting and transporting heavy loads, potentially in confined spaces. As this presents a risk for developing musculoskeletal injury, it is of interest to evaluate if a passive back-support exosuit could help reduce back muscle load. This study used wireless electromyographic (EMG) sensors to evaluate the biomechanical effects of exosuits during lifting tasks. Ten male participants performed military-relevant lifting tasks with and without wearing the exosuit in randomised orders. The lifting tasks included (1) vertical lifts of different weights (15 and 25 kg) onto different platform heights (0.5 m and 1.2 m) and (2) a lateral walk task across 4 m in a confined space while carrying a 39 kg weight. EMG activities of three back muscle groups (longissimus, iliocostalis, and multifidus) were measured and normalised to maximal isometric back extension tasks. The results showed no significant differences in muscle activation between conditions in most lifting tasks, except for a reduction in longissimus muscle activity when using the exosuit during lateral walking. Individual responses varied substantially, with some participants showing reduced muscle activity, while others did not. These findings highlight the challenges in implementing exosuits in reducing back muscle load during military lifting tasks. While passive back-support exosuits may provide benefits to some users, their effectiveness varies among individuals and may be task-dependent.
Journal Article
Cost of in-patient management of COVID-19 patients in a general hospital in Kuwait
Background
Among the GCC countries affected by COVID-19 infections, Kuwait has been significantly impacted, with 658,520 cases and 2,563 deaths reported by the WHO on September 30, 2022. However, the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on Kuwait’s economy, especially in the healthcare sector, remains unknown. Objective: This study aims to determine the total cost of managing COVID-19 in-patients in Kuwait.
Method
A cross-sectional design was employed for this study. A total of 485 COVID-19 patients admitted to a general hospital responsible for COVID-19 cases management were randomly selected for this study from May 1st to September 31st, 2021. Data on sociodemographic information, length of stay (LOS), discharge status, and comorbidities were obtained from the patients’ medical records. The data on costs in this study cover administration, utility, pharmacy, radiology, laboratory, nursing, and ICU costs. The unit cost per admission was calculated using a step-down costing method with three levels of cost centers. The unit cost was then multiplied by the individual patient’s length of stay to determine the cost of care per patient per admission.
Findings
The mean cost of COVID-19 in-patient care per admission was KD 2,216 (SD = 2,018), which is equivalent to USD 7,344 (SD = 6,688), with an average length of stay of 9.4 (SD = 8.5) days per admission. The total treatment costs for COVID-19 in-patients (n = 485) were estimated to be KD 1,074,644 (USD 3,561,585), with physician and nursing care costs constituting the largest share at 42.1%, amounting to KD 452,154 (USD 1,498,529). The second and third-largest costs were intensive care (20.6%) at KD 221,439 (USD 733,893) and laboratory costs (10.2%) at KD 109,264 (USD 362,123). The average cost for severe COVID-19 patients was KD 4,626 (USD 15,332), which is almost three times higher than non-severe patients of KD 1,544 (USD 5,117).
Conclusion
Managing COVID-19 cases comes with substantial costs. This cost information can assist hospital managers and policymakers in designing more efficient interventions, especially for managing high-risk groups.
Journal Article
Human rights violations and associated factors of the Hijras in Bangladesh—A cross-sectional study
Hijras in Bangladesh face considerable discrimination, stigma, and violence despite the 2013 legislation that recognized Hijras as a third gender. There is a dearth of published literature describing the extent of human rights violations among this population and their associated factors. A questionnaire was administered to 346 study participants aged 15 years and older, living in five urban cities of Bangladesh who self-identified as Hijra, in 2019. The six human rights violation indicators (Economic, Employment, Health, Education, Social and Civic and Political Right) assessed were categorized as binary. Associations between sociodemographic characteristics and the six human rights violations were tested using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Human right violations including economic, educational, political, employment, health and social/civil right violations were reported in 73.3%, 59.3%, 58.5%, 46.4%, 42.7%, and 34.4% of the participants, respectively. Economic rights violations were associated with bisexuality (Adjusted odds ratios [AOR] 3.60, 95%CI: 1.57, 8.26) and not living with family (AOR 2.71, 95%CI: 1.21, 6.09), while Hijras who earned more than 10,000 Bangladesh Taka experienced higher odds of educational (AOR 2.77, 95%CI: 1.06, 7.19) and political rights violations (AOR 4.30, 95%CI: 1.06, 7.44). Living in Dhaka city was associated with a reduced odds for economic and political rights violation while experiencing violations of one human right could lead to violation of another in the Hijra community. Human rights violations were common in Bangladesh Hijras, particularly the Bisexual Hijras. Media and educational awareness campaigns are needed to address the underlying roots of a violation. Programs focused on the families, young people and high-income earners of this community are needed in Bangladesh.
Journal Article
Factors associated with multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) mortality: an analysis from the national surveillance of multidrug-resistant organism, 2018-2022
Introduction
Antimicrobial resistance is a global issue, with the World Health Organization identifying it as one of the greatest threats to public health, with an estimated 4.95 million deaths linked to bacterial AMR in 2019. Our study aimed to determine the prevalence of mortality among multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO)-infected patients in state hospitals and major specialist hospitals and to identify risk factors that could be associated with mortality outcomes.
Methods
This is a cross-sectional study performed at 28 hospitals under the Ministry of Health, Malaysia, involved in the National Surveillance of Multidrug-Resistant Organism, which surveys 6 MDROs (
Acinetobacter baumanii
, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing
Escherichia coli
, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)
-
producing
Klebsiella pneumoniae
, carbapenem-resistant
Entrobacterales (CRE)
, methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
and vancomycin-resistant
Enterococcus (VRE)
).
Results
In terms of mortality, 9.6% (
n
= 951) of the patients died overall, whereas 90.4% (
n
= 8931) of the patients survived. Healthcare-acquired infection (HCAI) poses a high risk of mortality, with an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 2.91 (95% CI: 2.15–3.94). The presence of sterile specimens was significantly associated with increased mortality risk (aOR: 2.33, 95% CI: 2.02–2.68). Gram-negative bacteria had a greater mortality risk (aOR 1.63 95% CI: 1.37–1.93), whereas
Acinetobacter baumanii
had the highest prevalence of 30.7% (3033) among the 6 MDRO organisms isolated. Patients in medical-based departments had a greater mortality risk (aOR: 1.47, 95% CI: 1.22–1.75).
Conclusion
HCAIs, Gram-negative bacteria, sterile specimens, medical-based departments and state hospitals have been shown to be associated with increased mortality risk in patients with MDRO infections. Improved surveillance and reporting mechanisms are necessary to better understand the burden of MDRO infections and guide research funding allocation.
Journal Article