Antibiotic usage in pediatric respiratory tract infection

Respiratory tract infections are the worldwide main cause of death in children aging less than 5 years. In developed countries; respiratory tract infections are the leading cause of morbidity, accounted for 20% of medical consultation, 30% of work absenteeism and 75 % of all antibiotic prescription. Upper respiratory tract infections in children, which often associated with viral infection, and in average about 40 – 60 % of children with upper respiratory tract infections were prescribed with antibiotics. The type of antibiotics also varies from hospital to another.The objectives of this study are to describe the pattern, outcome, and cost of antibiotic usage in pediatric respiratory tract infections. A prospective study of pediatrics admitted to Pediatric Ward, Penang Hospital for respiratory tract infections was carried out. Appropriate descriptive analysiswas used. The results showed that penicillin, erythromycin; amoxicillinclavulanate were the most commonly prescribed antibiotics for respiratory tract infections. The average duration of antibiotic therapy 3.0 ± 3.2 days, fever clearance time 2.2 ± 2.4 days, improvement of sign and symptoms 3.7 ± 2.5 days and mean length of stay in the ward was 4.9 ± 2.8 days. The average cost of antibiotics was RM 14.83 ± 83.13, and total cost of respiratory tract infections treatment was RM 98.88 ± 65.87.Key words: antibiotic, respiratory tract infection, pediatric, hospita

Recovery of Lithium from Industrial Li-Containing Wastewater Using Fluidized-Bed Homogeneous Granulation Technology

In this study, a novel fluidized-bed homogeneous granulation (FBHo-G) process was developed to recover lithium (Li) from industrial Li-impacted wastewater. Five important operational variables (i.e., temperatures, pH, [P]0/[Li]0 molar ratios, surface loadings, and up-flow velocities (Umf)) were selected to optimize the Li recovery (TR%) and granulation ratio (GR%) efficiencies of the process. The optimal operational conditions were determined as the following: a temperature of 75 °C, pH of 11.5, [P]0/[Li]0 of 0.5, surface loading of 2.5 kg/m2·h, and Umf of 35.7 m/h). The TR% and GR% at optimal condition could be as much as 90%. The material characterization of the recovery pellet products showed that they were highly crystallized Li3PO4 (purity ~88.2%). The pellets had a round shape and smooth surface with an average size of 0.65 mm, so could easily be stored and transported. The high purity enables them to be further directly reused as raw materials for a wide range of industrial applications (e.g., in the synthesis of cathode materials). Our calculation shows that the FBHo-G process could recover up to 0.1845 kg of lithium per cubic meter of Li-containing wastewater, at a recovery rate of ~90%. A brief technoeconomic analysis shows that FBHG process had economic viability, with an estimate production cost of USD 26/kg Li removed, while the potential gained profit for selling lithium phosphate pellets could be up to USD 48 per the same volume of wastewater and the net profit up to USD 22/m3 Li treated. In all, fluidized-bed homogeneous granulation, a seedless one-step recovery process, opens a promising pathway toward a green and sustainable recycling industry for the recovery and application of the resource-limited lithium element from nonconventional water sources

Phytochemical analysis of Elateriospermum tapos and its inhibitory effects on alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidase and pancreatic lipase

Elateriospermum tapos contains high unsaturated fat and phytochemicals with many health benefits. This paper focuses on activities and inhibitory effects of E. tapos on digestive enzymes. Cold water, hot water and 70% ethanol extracts of the seed and shell of the fruit of E. tapos were used in this study. The extracts were screened for antioxidant activity, total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, and inhibitory effects on α-amylase, α-glucosidase and pancreatic lipase. Hot water extraction of shell of the E. tapos fruit had the highest total phenolic content (1298.60 ± 4. 24 µg GAE 100 g-1), total flavonoid content (16685.58 ± 487.77 µg CE 100 g-1) and antioxidant activity by 2, 2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and β-carotene methods (84.16 and 122.17% respectively). The seed cold extract showed maximum α-amylase inhibition with IC50 (half maximal inhibitory concentration) of 0.03 mg mL-1. The lowest IC50 (0.02 mg mL-1) for α-glucosidase inhibition was from seed ethanol extracts while shell cold extract had the lowest IC50 for pancreatic lipase inhibition (37.80 mg mL-1). Results confirmed E. tapos as potential antioxidant and inhibitor of digestive enzymes for lipid (pancreatic lipase) and carbohydrate (α-amylase and α-glucosidase) which are beneficial to combat obesity and diabetes