Clinical, epidemiological, and operational characteristics of gastroenteritis in Saudi children: An experience of a single tertiary pediatric center

Background: Acute gastroenteritis (AGE) is considered to have second greatest burden of all the infectious diseases. Knowledge of the etiology of diarrhea and its correlation to the length of hospitalization is not only important for the implementation of appropriate public health measures to control these disease but also, in many cases, for correct treatment. We aimed to investigate the epidemiology, clinical, and operational characteristics of AGE in hospitalized children in a tertiary pediatric center in Riyadh. Methods: Patients aged less than 14 years who were diagnosed with AGE and admitted to the Department of Pediatrics of King Abdullah Specialist children&amp;apos;s Hospital between January 2017 and December 2019 were enrolled. This study reviewed 902 patients with acute gastroenteritis. Results: The age group with the highest risk of hospitalization with AGE was children under the age of 2 years. Three hundred thirty-nine (87.1%) of pathogen positive stool samples were due to undetermined pathogens, while 50 (12.9%) were due to known pathogens. The study found that gender and age at diagnosis were statistically insignificant for the length of hospitalization. More with greater, the length of hospitalization was more among patients with the undetermined pathogens. Conclusion: This study found that the Salmonella species and a rotavirus were the most common known pathogens of AGE in hospitalized children. The gender and age of children with AGE had no association with the length of hospitalization. Moreover, the length of hospitalization was higher in children with AGE caused by undetermined pathogens than known pathogens.</jats:p

The novel approach of catalytic interesterification, hydrolysis and transesterification of Pongamia pinnata oil

The properties of biodiesel are completely dependent on the fatty acid profile of feedstock oils. Several feedstocks are not in use for biodiesel production because of the presence of unsuitable fatty acids in their oils. The present study was conducted to overcome this problem by the utilization of interesterification and hydrolysis processes. The present study reports biodiesel with much better cold flow properties than previous studies. Fatty acids present in Pongamia pinnata oil were optimized via interesterification and hydrolysis treatment of feedstock prior to alkali-catalyzed transesterification. The physiochemical properties of fuel were evaluated by standard test methods and the results were compared with EN 14214 and ASTM D6751 standards. Biodiesel composition was analyzed by a gas chromatographic analysis. The density, saponification and iodine values of the biodiesel derived from treated and non-treated oil were found to be within the range recommended by the international fuel standards. The acid values of biodiesel produced from non-treated and treated fractions were high (0.7–0.8 mg of KOH/g of oil), as compared to the biodiesel produced from non-treated and treated pure oil. The cloud points and pour points of biodiesel produced from hydrolyzed and interesterified oil were in the range of (8.1 to −9.6 °C) and (2.03 to −12.5 °C), respectively, while those of non-treated oil were in the range of (13.37 to −1.53 °C). These results indicate that treatments of oil specifically improved the low-temperature properties of biodiesel

Enhancing functionalities in nanocomposites for effective dye removal from wastewater: isothermal, kinetic and thermodynamic aspects

The adsorption process combined with electrocoagulation is a highly effective technique for dye removal. Calcinized and non-calcinized composites based on bentonite and sodium zeolite were prepared for adsorptive removal of Foron EBL blue, Terasil brown 2RFL, Torque blue PG, and Orange P3R dyes. Factors affecting the adsorption process, such as contact time, initial dye concentration, and temperature, were also explored in this study. Equilibrium data of natural clay composites was explained by Freundlich, Langmuir, Dubinin Radushkevich isotherm, Harkin Jura, and Temkin isothermal models. Harkin Jura isotherm model best fitted on the adsorption mechanism compared to Langmuir and Temkin isotherm model. Morphology of clay-based adsorbents and functional group arrangement were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The calcinized nano-composite material exhibited better adsorption capacity than non-calcinized nano-composite and could be employed as a low-cost alternative for dye removal

Advanced treatment of direct dye wastewater using novel composites produced from hoshanar and sunny grey waste

The present project is designed to investigate the potential of hoshanar and sunny grey marble wastes to remove direct violet 51 dye from wastewater using adsorption process. The effect of different parameters such as pH, adsorbent dose, initial dye concentration, and contact time were studied to optimize the results of adsorption process. Different isothermic models (Temkin, Langmuir isotherm, Freundlich isotherm, Harkin Jura, and Dubinin-Radushkevich models) and kinetic models (pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order) were employed to adsorption data to find out the best fit model, i.e., Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second order model. Marble waste composites were also characterized by using different techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for surface morphology and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to determine chemical arrangements, structure, and functional groups of adsorbents. Hoshanar treated with a mixture of potassium ferricyanide, and sodium meta silicate showed maximum adsorption capacity of 105.31 mg/g as compared to untreated hoshanar (67.19.45 mg/g). So, the conversion of HM into HMPS makes it an affordable, efficient, and available adsorbent for wastewater treatment

Enhancing Functionalities in Nanocomposites for Effective Dye Removal from Wastewater: Isothermal, Kinetic and Thermodynamic Aspects

The adsorption process combined with electrocoagulation is a highly effective technique for dye removal. Calcinized and non-calcinized composites based on bentonite and sodium zeolite were prepared for adsorptive removal of Foron EBL blue, Terasil brown 2RFL, Torque blue PG, and Orange P3R dyes. Factors affecting the adsorption process, such as contact time, initial dye concentration, and temperature, were also explored in this study. Equilibrium data of natural clay composites was explained by Freundlich, Langmuir, Dubinin Radushkevich isotherm, Harkin Jura, and Temkin isothermal models. Harkin Jura isotherm model best fitted on the adsorption mechanism compared to Langmuir and Temkin isotherm model. Morphology of clay-based adsorbents and functional group arrangement were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The calcinized nano-composite material exhibited better adsorption capacity than non-calcinized nano-composite and could be employed as a low-cost alternative for dye removal

Optimization and kinetic study of treatment of dye contaminated wastewater using bio-composite synthesized from natural waste

The main objective of the present research project was to investigate the possibility of using low cost, eco-friendly, and easily available adsorbents such as mint biomass and marble stone waste for the removal of dyes - DRIM blue HS-RL and DRIM black ep-B from wastewater by an efficient procedure - Adsorption. Nine different combinations of these adsorbents were prepared with and without modification using sodium metasilicate and potassium ferricyanide. Spectroscopic analysis was car-ried out to investigate λmax of the dyes. Adsorbent nanocomposites were characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and zeta () potential. Adsorption equilibrium studies were investigated by determining the adsorption at following con-ditions; initial dye concentrations (5-50ppm), adsorbent doses (0.005-0.5g), contact time (15-240 minutes), temperatures (300C -700C) and pH (5-10). However, of all the nine adsorbents, MTPF showed maximum adsorption capacity at 50ppm initial dye concentration, 0.005 g dosage of adsorbent and 240 minutes’ contact time for both dyes. DRIM Blue HS-RL was adsorbed efficiently at 6 pH and temper-ature 600C and that of DRIM black ep-B at pH 5 and temperature 500C by MTPF (Mint-Tawera com-posite treated with Potassium Ferricyanide). Among various adsorption isotherms (Langmuir, Du-binin Radushkevich, Freundlich, Herkin Jura, and Temkin isotherms), some adsorbent followed Freundlich isotherm while the others followed Langmuir isotherm. The best fit model was decided based on their high R2 value and agreement between qe calculated from isotherms and that obtained experimentally. At equilibrium concentration application of kinetic models (pseudo first order, and pseudo second order), revealed that the best fit model was pseudo 2nd order kinetic model for both dyes, as their R2>0.9, and qe calculated was close to qe experimental

The Novel Approach of Catalytic Interesterification, Hydrolysis and Transesterification of Pongamia pinnata Oil

The properties of biodiesel are completely dependent on the fatty acid profile of feedstock oils. Several feedstocks are not in use for biodiesel production because of the presence of unsuitable fatty acids in their oils. The present study was conducted to overcome this problem by the utilization of interesterification and hydrolysis processes. The present study reports biodiesel with much better cold flow properties than previous studies. Fatty acids present in Pongamia pinnata oil were optimized via interesterification and hydrolysis treatment of feedstock prior to alkali-catalyzed transesterification. The physiochemical properties of fuel were evaluated by standard test methods and the results were compared with EN 14214 and ASTM D6751 standards. Biodiesel composition was analyzed by a gas chromatographic analysis. The density, saponification and iodine values of the biodiesel derived from treated and non-treated oil were found to be within the range recommended by the international fuel standards. The acid values of biodiesel produced from non-treated and treated fractions were high (0.7&ndash;0.8 mg of KOH/g of oil), as compared to the biodiesel produced from non-treated and treated pure oil. The cloud points and pour points of biodiesel produced from hydrolyzed and interesterified oil were in the range of (8.1 to &minus;9.6 &deg;C) and (2.03 to &minus;12.5 &deg;C), respectively, while those of non-treated oil were in the range of (13.37 to &minus;1.53 &deg;C). These results indicate that treatments of oil specifically improved the low-temperature properties of biodiesel

Effective Removal of Reactive and Direct Dyes from Colored Wastewater Using Low-Cost Novel Bentonite Nanocomposites

The present study was aimed to remove direct violet-51, reactive green-5, reactive red, and acid red dyes by novel bentonite clay nanocomposites prepared using sodium metasilicate and potassium ferricyanide. The effect of temperature, pH, adsorbent amount, contact time, and initial concentration were studied to optimize the removal process. Various adsorption isotherms (Temkin, Freundlich isotherm, Langmuir isotherm, Harkin Jura, and Dubinin Radushkevich models) and kinetic models (pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order) were applied to adsorption data to find out the best fit model, i.e., Freundlich isotherm and pseudo-second order model. The prepared samples of bentonite nanocomposites were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Bentonite treated with sodium metasilicate and potassium ferricyanide removed 96.6% of direct violet-51 dye, bentonite treated with sodium metasilicate removed 95%, bentonite treated with potassium ferricyanide removed 94%, and pure bentonite removed 80% of the dye from the solution