We report here a case of lead poisoning in a 20 month old girl who presented with acute encephalopathy and status epilepticus. The major clues leading to the diagnosis were the occupational family history and dense lead lines on X-ray of the long bones. She showed evidence of neurological dysfunction in the initial phase, but she improved steadily, regaining her motor power partially and her vision, although some cognitive and language deficits were already evident. She will need long-term neurological assessment and evaluation to ascertain the extent of permanent brain damage.
This study aims to formulate and fabricate the optimum condition of modified kenaf core (MKC) for the removal of targeted endocrine-disrupting compounds in a batch adsorption system. Kenaf core was chemically modified using phosphoric acid as an activating agent, which involved the pyrolysis step. Results indicated a significant difference (p T1KC > T3KC, whereas that in the binary mixture system leads to T2KC > T1KC > T3KC and T1KC > T2KC > T3KC for E2 and EE2 adsorption, respectively, through hydrogen bonding and the π-π interaction mechanism. Thus, the findings revealed T2KC at a moderate level of acid concentration (0.5 M H3PO4) to be a potential biochar, with an environmentally safe and sound profile for opposing emerging pollutant issues as well as for the attainment of sustainable development goals.
Agricultural waste, such as sago waste (SW), is one of the sources of pollution to streams and rivers in Sarawak, particularly those situated near sago processing plants. In addition, unbalanced and excessive use of chemical fertilizers can cause soil and water pollution. Humic substances can be used as organic fertilizers, which reduce pollution. The objectives of this study were to produce K- and ammonium-based organic fertilizer from composted SW and to determine the efficiency of the organic-based fertilizer produced. Humic substances were isolated using standard procedures. Liquid fertilizers were formulated except for T2 (NPK fertilizer), which was in solid form. There were six treatments with three replications. Organic fertilizers were applied to soil in pots on the 10th day after sowing (DAS), but on the 28th DAS, only plants of T2 were fertilized. The plant samples were harvested on the 57th DAS during the tassel stage. The dry matter of plant parts (leaves, stems, and roots) were determined and analyzed for N, P, and K using standard procedures. Soil of every treatment was also analyzed for exchangeable K, Ca, Mg, and Na, organic matter, organic carbon, available P, pH, total N, P, nitrate and ammonium contents using standard procedures. Treatments with humin (T5 and T6) showed remarkable results on dry matter production; N, P, and K contents; their uptake; as well as their use efficiency by maize. The inclusion of humin might have loosened the soil and increased the soil porosity, hence the better growth of the plants. Humin plus inorganic fertilizer provided additional nutrients for the plants. The addition of inorganic fertilizer into compost is a combination of quick and slow release sources, which supplies N throughout the crop growth period. Common fertilization by surface application of T2 without any additives (acidic and high CEC materials) causes N and K to be easily lost. High Ca in the soil may have reacted with phosphate from fertilizer to form Ca phosphate, an insoluble compound of phosphate that is generally not available to plants, especially roots. Mixing soil with humin produced from composted SW before application of fertilizers (T5 and T6) significantly increased maize dry matter production and nutrient use efficiency. Additionally, this practice does not only improve N, P, and K use efficiency, but it also helps to reduce the use of N-, P-, and K-based fertilizers by 50%.
Persistent endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) in bodies of water are a concern for human health and constitute an environmental issue, even if present in trace amounts. Conventional treatment systems do not entirely remove EDCs from discharge effluent. Due to the ultra-trace level of EDCs which affect human health and pose an environmental issue, developing new approaches and techniques to remove these micropollutants from the discharged effluent is vital. This review discusses the most common methods of eliminating EDCs through preliminary, primary, secondary and tertiary treatments. The adsorption process is favoured for EDC removal, as it is an economical and straightforward option. The NABC aspects, which are the need, approach, benefits and challenges, were analysed based on existing circumstances, highlighting biochar as a green and renewable adsorbent for the removal of organic contaminants. From the environmental point of view, the effectiveness of this method, which uses natural fibre from the kenaf plant as a porous and economical biochar material with a selected lignocellulosic biomass, provides insights into the advantages of biochar-derived adsorbents. Essentially, the improvement of the natural fibre as an adsorbent is a focus, using carbonisation, activation, and the physiochemical process to enhance the adsorption ability of the material for pollutants in bodies of water. This output will complement sustainable water management approaches presented in previous studies for combating the emerging pollutant crisis via novel green and environmentally safe options.
The presence and distribution of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the mariculture fish from Pulau Kukup, Johor of Malaysia have been studied along with the impact on human health. Six different species of mariculture fish were collected, due to their high consumption in the Asian region-especially Malaysia, to assess their levels of EDCs. The highest concentration of EDCs detected in the muscle was dexamethasone (2.37-15.84 ng/g) and (0.77-13.41 ng/g), in the liver was dexamethasone (<2.54-43.56 ng/g) and progesterone (2.23-9.78 ng/g), and in the reproductive organ are dexamethasone (<2.54-37.23 ng/g) and caffeine (0.21-18.92 ng/g). The human health risk assessment in the current study suggested that there is no potential risk to the consumer because the hazard index was below 1 (HI
Naturally active compounds are usually contained inside plants and materials thereof. Thus, the extraction of the active compounds from plants needs appropriate extraction methods. The commonly employed extraction methods are mostly based on solid-liquid extraction. Frequently used conventional extraction methods such as maceration, heat-assisted extraction, Soxhlet extraction, and hydrodistillation are often criticized for large solvent consumption and long extraction times. Therefore, many advanced extraction methods incorporating various technologies such as ultrasound, microwaves, high pressure, high voltage, enzyme hydrolysis, innovative solvent systems, adsorption, and mechanical forces have been studied. These advanced extraction methods are often better than conventional methods in terms of higher yields, higher selectivity, lower solvent consumption, shorter processing time, better energy efficiency, and potential to avoid organic solvents. They are usually designed to be greener, more sustainable, and environment friendly. In this review, we have critically described recently developed extraction methods pertaining to obtaining active compounds from plants and materials thereof. Main factors that affect the extraction performances are tuned, and extraction methods are chosen in line with the properties of targeted active compounds or the objectives of extraction. The review also highlights the advancements in extraction procedures by using combinations of extraction methods to obtain high overall yields or high purity extracts.
Reverse micelles extraction of erythromycin and amoxicillin were carried out using the novel Sophorolipids biosurfactant. By replacing commonly used chemical surfactants with biosurfactant, reverse micelle extraction can be further improved in terms of environmental friendliness and sustainability. A central composite experimental design was used to investigate the effects of solution pH, KCl concentration, and sophorolipids concentration on the reverse micelle extraction of antibiotics. The most significant factor identified during the reverse micelle extraction of both antibiotics is the pH of aqueous solutions. Best forward extraction performance for erythromycin was found at feed phase pH of approximately 8.0 with low KCl and sophorolipids concentrations. Optimum recovery of erythromycin was obtained at stripping phase pH around 10.0 and with low KCl concentration. On the other hand, best forward extraction performance for amoxicillin was found at feed phase pH around 3.5 with low KCl concentration and high sophorolipids concentration. Optimum recovery of erythromycin was obtained at stripping phase pH around 6.0 with low KCl concentration. Both erythromycin and amoxicillin were found to be very sensitive toaqueous phase pH and can be easily degraded outside of their stable pH ranges.
Deep neural networks have made tremendous strides in the categorization of facial photos in the last several years. Due to the complexity of features, the enormous size of the picture/frame, and the severe inhomogeneity of image data, efficient face image classification using deep convolutional neural networks remains a challenge. Therefore, as data volumes continue to grow, the effective categorization of face photos in a mobile context utilizing advanced deep learning techniques is becoming increasingly important. In the recent past, some Deep Learning (DL) approaches for learning to identify face images have been designed; many of them use convolutional neural networks (CNNs). To address the problem of face mask recognition in facial images, we propose to use a Depthwise Separable Convolution Neural Network based on MobileNet (DWS-based MobileNet). The proposed network utilizes depth-wise separable convolution layers instead of 2D convolution layers. With limited datasets, the DWS-based MobileNet performs exceptionally well. DWS-based MobileNet decreases the number of trainable parameters while enhancing learning performance by adopting a lightweight network. Our technique outperformed the existing state of the art when tested on benchmark datasets. When compared to Full Convolution MobileNet and baseline methods, the results of this study reveal that adopting Depthwise Separable Convolution-based MobileNet significantly improves performance (Acc. = 93.14, Pre. = 92, recall = 92, F-score = 92).
Eucalyptus globulus is an aromatic medicinal plant which known for its 1,8-cineole main pharmacological constituent exhibits as natural analgesic agent. Eucalyptus globulus-loaded micellar nanoparticle was developed via spontaneous emulsification technique and further evaluation for its analgesic efficacy study, in vivo analgesic activity assay in rats. The nanoemulsion system containing Eucalyptus-micelles was optimized at different surfactant types (Tween 40, 60 and 80) and concentrations (3.0, 6.0, 9.0, 12.0, 15.0, and 18.0 wt. %). These formulations were characterized by thermodynamically stability, viscosity, micelles particle size, pH, and morphology structure. The spontaneous emulsification technique offered a greener micelles formation in nanoemulsion system by slowly titrated of organic phase, containing Eucalyptus globulus (active compound), grape seed oil (carrier oil) and hydrophilic surfactant into aqueous phase, and continuously stirred for 30 min to form a homogeneity solution. The characterizations evaluation revealed an optimized formulation with Tween 40 surfactant type at 9.0 wt. % of surfactant concentration promoted the most thermodynamic stability, smaller micelles particle size (d = 17.13 ± 0.035 nm) formed with spherical shape morphological structure, and suitable in viscosity (≈2.3 cP) and pH value (6.57) for transdermal purpose. The in vivo analgesic activity assay of optimized emulsion showed that the transdermal administration of micellar nanoparticle of Eucalyptus globulus on fore and hind limb of rats, possessed the central and peripheral analgesic effects by prolonged the rats pain responses towards the heat stimulus after being put on top of hot plate (55 °C), with longest time responses, 40.75 s at 60 min after treatment administration. Thus, this study demonstrated that micellar nanoparticle of Eucalyptus globulus formed in nanoemulsion system could be promising as an efficient transdermal nanocarrier for the analgesic therapy alternative.