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Development of dispersive inclusion complex microextraction for the analysis of nitrosamines in medicinal products

Tay KSJ, Breadmore MC, Soh ES, See HH

J Chromatogr A, 2022 Dec 06;1685:463605.
PMID: 36375217 DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2022.463605

A new dispersive inclusion complex microextraction (DICM) approach coupled with ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) for the determination of n-nitrosamine impurities in different medicinal products is demonstrated for the first time. The proposed DICM procedures consist of a dispersive liquid phase microextraction steps employing cyclodextrin as an inclusion complex agent to extract n-nitrosamines namely N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA), N-nitrosodiisopropylamine (NDIPA), N-ethyl-N-nitrosoisopropylamine (NEIPA) and N-nitroso-di-n-butylamine (NDBA) present in the medicinal products. The sample solutions were prepared by mixing 5% (m/v) NaCl solution with 1.5 mM β-cyclodextrin and 20 mM sodium dodecyl sulphate to form a stable inclusion complex and subsequently extracted into dichloromethane as an extraction solvent. The enriched solution was reconstituted into aqueous solution prior to UPLC-MS/MS analysis. The method showed good linearity in the range of 0.036-1 ng/mL with a correlation coefficient of at least 0.995, acceptable reproducibility (RSD 0.5-5.8%, n=5), low limits of detection (0.011-0.018 ng/mL), and satisfactory relative recoveries (96-105%). The results obtained were found to be at least 10-fold more sensitive comparable to those obtained using validated direct sample dissolutions coupled with UPLC-MS/MS approach.

Matched MeSH terms: Tandem Mass Spectrometry/methods
Microplastics biodegradation by biofloc-producing bacteria: An inventive biofloc technology approach

Hossain S, Manan H, Shukri ZNA, Othman R, Kamaruzzan AS, Rahim AIA, et al.

Microbiol Res, 2023 Jan;266:127239.
PMID: 36327659 DOI: 10.1016/j.micres.2022.127239

Microplastics pollution has become a threat to aquaculture practices, as nearly all farming systems are saturated with microplastics (MPs) particles. Current research on MPs is limited considering their effects on aquatic organisms and human health. However, limited research has been conducted on potential cures and treatments. In today's world, bioremediation of needful parameters in different culture systems is being successfully practiced by introducing floc-forming bacteria. Researchers had found that some bacteria are efficacious in degrading microplastics particles including polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), and polypropylene (PP). In addition, some bacteria that can form floc, are being used in fish and shellfish culture systems to treat toxic pollutants as the heterotrophic bacteria use organic compounds to grow and are effective in degrading microplastics and minimizing toxic nitrogen loads in aquaculture systems. In this review, the ability of biofloc bacteria to degrade microplastics has been summarized by collating the results of previous studies. The concept of this review may represent the efficacy of biofloc technology as an implicit tool in the fish culture system restricting the MPs contamination in water resources to safeguard ecological as well as human health.

Matched MeSH terms: Aquaculture/methods
Transfusion practice blind spot in para-Bombay: A case report

Abdullah MR, Faizli AA, Noordin SS, Lee CJ, Ahmad NH

Transfus Apher Sci, 2021 Jun;60(3):103076.
PMID: 33574008 DOI: 10.1016/j.transci.2021.103076

H-deficient phenotype individuals with absent or weak anti-H activity may remain undetected on standard routine blood grouping. We report a case of a 59-year-old-man presented with symptomatic anaemia secondary to upper gastrointestinal bleed with haemoglobin level of 68 g/L who required two units of packed red blood cells. He was previously grouped as O Rh D positive and had a history of uneventful multiple blood transfusions. His latest pre-transfusion investigations showed ABO discrepancy between forward and reverse blood grouping, pan-agglutination in both antibody screening and identification with negative direct Coombs test and autocontrol. Further testing including anti-H lectin test and saliva secretor study confirmed that the patient blood group was para-Bombay B RhD positive. This case highlights that the para-Bombay phenotype can be mistakenly labelled as "O" if further investigations are not performed.

Matched MeSH terms: Blood Transfusion/methods*
Fulltext Maternal and foetal outcomes following natural vaginal versus caesarean section (c-section) delivery in women with bleeding disorders and carriers

Karanth L, Kanagasabai S, Abas AB

Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2017 08 04;8:CD011059.
PMID: 28776324 DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD011059.pub3

BACKGROUND: Bleeding disorders are uncommon but may pose significant bleeding complications during pregnancy, labour and following delivery for both the woman and the foetus. While many bleeding disorders in women tend to improve in pregnancy, thus decreasing the haemorrhagic risk to the mother at the time of delivery, some do not correct or return quite quickly to their pre-pregnancy levels in the postpartum period. Therefore, specific measures to prevent maternal bleeding and foetal complications during childbirth, are required. The safest method of delivery to reduce morbidity and mortality in these women is controversial. This is an update of a previously published review.
OBJECTIVES: To assess the optimal mode of delivery in women with, or carriers of, bleeding disorders.
SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Cystic Fibrosis and Genetic Disorders Coagulopathies Trials Register, compiled from electronic database searches and handsearching of journals and conference abstract books. We also searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register as well as trials registries and the reference lists of relevant articles and reviews.Date of last search of the Group's Trials Registers: 16 February 2017.
SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials and all types of controlled clinical trials investigating the optimal mode of delivery in women with, or carriers of, any type of bleeding disorder during pregnancy were eligible for the review.
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: No trials matching the selection criteria were eligible for inclusion MAIN RESULTS: No results from randomised controlled trials were found.
AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The review did not identify any randomised controlled trials investigating the safest mode of delivery and associated maternal and foetal complications during delivery in women with, or carriers of, a bleeding disorder. In the absence of high quality evidence, clinicians need to use their clinical judgement and lower level evidence (e.g. from observational trials, case studies) to decide upon the optimal mode of delivery to ensure the safety of both mother and foetus.Given the ethical considerations, the rarity of the disorders and the low incidence of both maternal and foetal complications, future randomised controlled trials to find the optimal mode of delivery in this population are unlikely to be carried out. Other high quality controlled studies (such as risk allocation designs, sequential design, and parallel cohort design) are needed to investigate the risks and benefits of natural vaginal and caesarean section in this population or extrapolation from other clinical conditions that incur a haemorrhagic risk to the baby, such as platelet alloimmunisation.

Matched MeSH terms: Delivery, Obstetric/methods*
Performance of selected SARS-CoV-2 antibodies immunoassays

Mohd Zain R, Shaiful Bahrin NI, Ellan K, Thayan R

Malays J Pathol, 2021 Dec;43(3):463-464.
PMID: 34958069

No abstract available.

Matched MeSH terms: Immunoassay/methods*
From basic mechanisms to clinical applications in heart protection, new players in cardiovascular diseases and cardiac theranostics: meeting report from the third international symposium on "New frontiers in cardiovascular research"

Cabrera-Fuentes HA, Aragones J, Bernhagen J, Boening A, Boisvert WA, Bøtker HE, et al.

Basic Res Cardiol, 2016 11;111(6):69.
PMID: 27743118

In this meeting report, particularly addressing the topic of protection of the cardiovascular system from ischemia/reperfusion injury, highlights are presented that relate to conditioning strategies of the heart with respect to molecular mechanisms and outcome in patients' cohorts, the influence of co-morbidities and medications, as well as the contribution of innate immune reactions in cardioprotection. Moreover, developmental or systems biology approaches bear great potential in systematically uncovering unexpected components involved in ischemia-reperfusion injury or heart regeneration. Based on the characterization of particular platelet integrins, mitochondrial redox-linked proteins, or lipid-diol compounds in cardiovascular diseases, their targeting by newly developed theranostics and technologies opens new avenues for diagnosis and therapy of myocardial infarction to improve the patients' outcome.

Matched MeSH terms: Cardiology/methods
Electrotransformation of thermophilic bacterium Caldimonas manganoxidans

Arai T, Aikawa S, Sudesh K, Kondo T, Kosugi A

J Microbiol Methods, 2022 01;192:106375.
PMID: 34793853 DOI: 10.1016/j.mimet.2021.106375

Caldimonas manganoxidans is a Gram-negative, thermophilic, bioplastic-producing bacterium that is a promising strain to overcome the drawbacks of existing bioplastic manufacturing methods. However, genetic manipulation of this species has not previously been studied. Here, we developed an optimized electrotransformation protocol for C. manganoxidans by screening conditions, including the bacterial growth phase, electroporation buffer, pulse strength, and recovery time. The optimized transformation protocol obtained (3.1 ± 0.78) × 108 colony-forming units/μg DNA of plasmid pBBR1MCS-2. High transformation efficiency was observed when using plasmid DNA isolated from C. manganoxidans. The DNA methylases of Escherichia coli did not affect the transformation efficiency of C. manganoxidans. The electrotransformation technique proposed here will be beneficial for the genetic manipulation of thermophilic Caldimonas species.

Matched MeSH terms: Electroporation/methods*
Early visual analysis tool using magnetoencephalography for treatment and recovery of neuronal dysfunction

Rasheed W, Neoh YY, Bin Hamid NH, Reza F, Idris Z, Tang TB

Comput Biol Med, 2017 10 01;89:573-583.
PMID: 28551109 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2017.05.005

Functional neuroimaging modalities play an important role in deciding the diagnosis and course of treatment of neuronal dysfunction and degeneration. This article presents an analytical tool with visualization by exploiting the strengths of the MEG (magnetoencephalographic) neuroimaging technique. The tool automates MEG data import (in tSSS format), channel information extraction, time/frequency decomposition, and circular graph visualization (connectogram) for simple result inspection. For advanced users, the tool also provides magnitude squared coherence (MSC) values allowing personalized threshold levels, and the computation of default model from MEG data of control population. Default model obtained from healthy population data serves as a useful benchmark to diagnose and monitor neuronal recovery during treatment. The proposed tool further provides optional labels with international 10-10 system nomenclature in order to facilitate comparison studies with EEG (electroencephalography) sensor space. Potential applications in epilepsy and traumatic brain injury studies are also discussed.

Matched MeSH terms: Automatic Data Processing/methods*
Advances in postharvest technologies to extend the storage life of minimally processed fruits and vegetables

Ali A, Yeoh WK, Forney C, Siddiqui MW

Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr, 2018;58(15):2632-2649.
PMID: 29072844 DOI: 10.1080/10408398.2017.1339180

Minimally processed fresh produce is one of the fastest growing segments of the food industry due to consumer demand for fresh, healthy, and convenient foods. However, mechanical operations of cutting and peeling induce the liberation of cellular contents at the site of wounding that can promote the growth of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms. In addition, rates of tissue senescence can be enhanced resulting in reduced storage life of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables. Chlorine has been widely adopted in the disinfection and washing procedures of fresh-cut produce due to its low cost and efficacy against a broad spectrum of microorganisms. Continuous replenishment of chlorine in high organic wash water can promote the formation of carcinogenic compounds such as trihalomethanes, which threaten human and environmental health. Alternative green and innovative chemical and physical postharvest treatments such as ozone, electrolyzed water, hydrogen peroxide, ultraviolet radiation, high pressure processing, and ultrasound can achieve similar reduction of microorganisms as chlorine without the production of harmful compounds or compromising the quality of fresh-cut produce.

Matched MeSH terms: Food Storage/methods*
Monitoring tigers with confidence

Linkie M, Guillera-Arroita G, Smith J, Rayan DM

Integr Zool, 2010 Dec;5(4):342-350.
PMID: 21392352 DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-4877.2010.00215.x

With only 5% of the world's wild tigers (Panthera tigris Linnaeus, 1758) remaining since the last century, conservationists urgently need to know whether or not the management strategies currently being employed are effectively protecting these tigers. This knowledge is contingent on the ability to reliably monitor tiger populations, or subsets, over space and time. In the this paper, we focus on the 2 seminal methodologies (camera trap and occupancy surveys) that have enabled the monitoring of tiger populations with greater confidence. Specifically, we: (i) describe their statistical theory and application in the field; (ii) discuss issues associated with their survey designs and state variable modeling; and, (iii) discuss their future directions. These methods have had an unprecedented influence on increasing statistical rigor within tiger surveys and, also, surveys of other carnivore species. Nevertheless, only 2 published camera trap studies have gone beyond single baseline assessments and actually monitored population trends. For low density tiger populations (e.g. <1 adult tiger/100 km(2)) obtaining sufficient precision for state variable estimates from camera trapping remains a challenge because of insufficient detection probabilities and/or sample sizes. Occupancy surveys have overcome this problem by redefining the sampling unit (e.g. grid cells and not individual tigers). Current research is focusing on developing spatially explicit capture-mark-recapture models and estimating abundance indices from landscape-scale occupancy surveys, as well as the use of genetic information for identifying and monitoring tigers. The widespread application of these monitoring methods in the field now enables complementary studies on the impact of the different threats to tiger populations and their response to varying management intervention.

Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources/methods*
Fulltext Electroencephalogram-based decoding cognitive states using convolutional neural network and likelihood ratio based score fusion

Zafar R, Dass SC, Malik AS

PLoS One, 2017;12(5):e0178410.
PMID: 28558002 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0178410

Electroencephalogram (EEG)-based decoding human brain activity is challenging, owing to the low spatial resolution of EEG. However, EEG is an important technique, especially for brain-computer interface applications. In this study, a novel algorithm is proposed to decode brain activity associated with different types of images. In this hybrid algorithm, convolutional neural network is modified for the extraction of features, a t-test is used for the selection of significant features and likelihood ratio-based score fusion is used for the prediction of brain activity. The proposed algorithm takes input data from multichannel EEG time-series, which is also known as multivariate pattern analysis. Comprehensive analysis was conducted using data from 30 participants. The results from the proposed method are compared with current recognized feature extraction and classification/prediction techniques. The wavelet transform-support vector machine method is the most popular currently used feature extraction and prediction method. This method showed an accuracy of 65.7%. However, the proposed method predicts the novel data with improved accuracy of 79.9%. In conclusion, the proposed algorithm outperformed the current feature extraction and prediction method.

Matched MeSH terms: Electroencephalography/methods*
Interaction Between Metarhizium anisopliae (Met.) and the Insecticides Used for Controlling House Fly (Diptera: Muscidae) in Poultry Farm of Malaysia

Ong SQ, Ahmad H, Ab Majid AH, Jaal Z

J Med Entomol, 2017 11 07;54(6):1626-1632.
PMID: 28981905 DOI: 10.1093/jme/tjx128

The potential of integrating the mycoinsecticide, Metarhizium anisopliae (Met.), into house fly control programs is tremendous. However, the interaction between the fungus and insecticide, when applied at poultry farms, remains poorly understood. This study investigated the interaction between M. anisopliae and two selected insecticides, cyromazine and ChCy (a mixture of chlorpyrifos and cypemethrin), with three objectives: to assess the compatibility of M. anisopliae and the insecticides by measuring fungal vegetative growth and conidia production in the presence of insecticides; to evaluate the effect of M. anisopliae on these insecticides by analyzing insecticidal residue using ultra performance liquid chromatography; and to study the synergistic effects of M. anisopliae and the insecticides by applying sublethal concentrations of insecticides with M. anisopliae to house fly larvae. Metarhizium anisopliae was more tolerant to ChCy than to cyromazine, as M. anisopliae showed significantly more growth when grown with this insecticide. The M. anisopliae + ChCy combination resulted in significantly less chlorpyrifos residues compared to the ChCy plate, and 62-72% house fly larva mortality occurred when M. anisopliae and sublethal concentrations of ChCy were combined, implicating synergistic effects of the fungus with low concentrations of ChCy. Integrating M. anisopliae with compatible chemical at right concentration is crucial for poultry farm house fly control programs.

Matched MeSH terms: Insect Control/methods*
Fulltext Implementation of Clinical Quality Management for Rehabilitation in Malaysia

Engkasan JP, Stucki G, Ali S, Yusof YM, Hussain H, Latif LA

J Rehabil Med, 2018 Apr 18;50(4):346-357.
PMID: 29159419 DOI: 10.2340/16501977-2283

In February 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched its historic "Rehabilitation 2030: A Call for Action". Scaling up rehabilitation in health systems requires concerted action across all 6 components of WHO's Health Systems Framework. For rehabilitation, information about functioning is essential, as it is required for effective rehabilitation at all levels of the health system. What is missing is a countrywide demonstration project involving the implementation of a clinical quality management system for the continuous improvement of rehabilitation, both at the level of clinical care for individual patients and at the level of rehabilitation service provision. Consequently, the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Malaya and University Malaya Medical Centre, together with the Cheras Rehabilitation Hospital of the Ministry of Health, and the Social Security Organisation (SOCSO) Rehabilitation Centre in Malacca, Malaysia, initiated a project to develop a Malaysian-wide clinical quality management system for rehabilitation (CQM-R Malaysia). The objective of this paper is to describe CQM-R Malaysia. First, a conceptual description of a CQM-R based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is set out. The methods, results and conclusions of a situation analysis conducted in January 2017 are then reported. Finally, the building blocks and implementation action plan developed for CQM-R Malaysia are presented.

Matched MeSH terms: Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine/methods*
Automated retinal health diagnosis using pyramid histogram of visual words and Fisher vector techniques

Koh JEW, Ng EYK, Bhandary SV, Hagiwara Y, Laude A, Acharya UR

Comput Biol Med, 2018 01 01;92:204-209.
PMID: 29227822 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2017.11.019

Untreated age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy (DR), and glaucoma may lead to irreversible vision loss. Hence, it is essential to have regular eye screening to detect these eye diseases at an early stage and to offer treatment where appropriate. One of the simplest, non-invasive and cost-effective techniques to screen the eyes is by using fundus photo imaging. But, the manual evaluation of fundus images is tedious and challenging. Further, the diagnosis made by ophthalmologists may be subjective. Therefore, an objective and novel algorithm using the pyramid histogram of visual words (PHOW) and Fisher vectors is proposed for the classification of fundus images into their respective eye conditions (normal, AMD, DR, and glaucoma). The proposed algorithm extracts features which are represented as words. These features are built and encoded into a Fisher vector for classification using random forest classifier. This proposed algorithm is validated with both blindfold and ten-fold cross-validation techniques. An accuracy of 90.06% is achieved with the blindfold method, and highest accuracy of 96.79% is obtained with ten-fold cross-validation. The highest classification performance of our system shows the potential of deploying it in polyclinics to assist healthcare professionals in their initial diagnosis of the eye. Our developed system can reduce the workload of ophthalmologists significantly.

Matched MeSH terms: Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted/methods*
A biological inspired fuzzy adaptive window median filter (FAWMF) for enhancing DNA signal processing

Ahmad M, Jung LT, Bhuiyan AA

Comput Methods Programs Biomed, 2017 Oct;149:11-17.
PMID: 28802326 DOI: 10.1016/j.cmpb.2017.06.021

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Digital signal processing techniques commonly employ fixed length window filters to process the signal contents. DNA signals differ in characteristics from common digital signals since they carry nucleotides as contents. The nucleotides own genetic code context and fuzzy behaviors due to their special structure and order in DNA strand. Employing conventional fixed length window filters for DNA signal processing produce spectral leakage and hence results in signal noise. A biological context aware adaptive window filter is required to process the DNA signals.
METHODS: This paper introduces a biological inspired fuzzy adaptive window median filter (FAWMF) which computes the fuzzy membership strength of nucleotides in each slide of window and filters nucleotides based on median filtering with a combination of s-shaped and z-shaped filters. Since coding regions cause 3-base periodicity by an unbalanced nucleotides' distribution producing a relatively high bias for nucleotides' usage, such fundamental characteristic of nucleotides has been exploited in FAWMF to suppress the signal noise.
RESULTS: Along with adaptive response of FAWMF, a strong correlation between median nucleotides and the Π shaped filter was observed which produced enhanced discrimination between coding and non-coding regions contrary to fixed length conventional window filters. The proposed FAWMF attains a significant enhancement in coding regions identification i.e. 40% to 125% as compared to other conventional window filters tested over more than 250 benchmarked and randomly taken DNA datasets of different organisms.
CONCLUSION: This study proves that conventional fixed length window filters applied to DNA signals do not achieve significant results since the nucleotides carry genetic code context. The proposed FAWMF algorithm is adaptive and outperforms significantly to process DNA signal contents. The algorithm applied to variety of DNA datasets produced noteworthy discrimination between coding and non-coding regions contrary to fixed window length conventional filters.

Matched MeSH terms: Computational Biology/methods*
Electrocoagulation treatment of raw landfill leachate using iron-based electrodes: Effects of process parameters and optimization

Huda N, Raman AAA, Bello MM, Ramesh S

J Environ Manage, 2017 Dec 15;204(Pt 1):75-81.
PMID: 28865309 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.08.028

The main problem of landfill leachate is its diverse composition comprising many persistent organic pollutants which must be removed before being discharge into the environment. This study investigated the treatment of raw landfill leachate using electrocoagulation process. An electrocoagulation system was designed with iron as both the anode and cathode. The effects of inter-electrode distance, initial pH and electrolyte concentration on colour and COD removals were investigated. All these factors were found to have significant effects on the colour removal. On the other hand, electrolyte concentration was the most significant parameter affecting the COD removal. Numerical optimization was also conducted to obtain the optimum process performance. Under optimum conditions (initial pH: 7.73, inter-electrode distance: 1.16 cm, and electrolyte concentration (NaCl): 2.00 g/L), the process could remove up to 82.7% colour and 45.1% COD. The process can be applied as a pre-treatment for raw leachates before applying other appropriate treatment technologies.

Matched MeSH terms: Electrocoagulation/methods*
Monitoring and assessment of urban growth patterns using spatio-temporal built-up area analysis

Aburas MM, Ho YM, Ramli MF, Ash'aari ZH

Environ Monit Assess, 2018 Feb 20;190(3):156.
PMID: 29464400 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-018-6522-9

The identification of spatio-temporal patterns of the urban growth phenomenon has become one of the most significant challenges in monitoring and assessing current and future trends of the urban growth issue. Therefore, spatio-temporal and quantitative techniques should be used hand in hand for a deeper understanding of various aspects of urban growth. The main purpose of this study is to monitor and assess the significant patterns of urban growth in Seremban using a spatio-temporal built-up area analysis. The concentric circles approach was used to measure the compactness and dispersion of built-up area by employing Shannon's Entropy method. The spatial directions approach was also utilised to measure the sustainability and speed of development, while the gradient approach was used to measure urban dynamics by employing landscape matrices. The overall results confirm that urban growth in Seremban is dispersed, unbalanced and unsustainable with a rapid speed of regional development. The main contribution of using existing methods with other methods is to provide several spatial and statistical dimensions that can help researchers, decision makers and local authorities understand the trend of growth and its patterns in order to take the appropriate decisions for future urban planning. For example, Shannon's Entropy findings indicate a high value of dispersion between the years 1990 and 2000 and from 2010 to 2016 with a growth rate of approximately 94 and 14%, respectively. Therefore, these results can help and support decision makers to implement alternative urban forms such as the compactness form to achieve an urban form that is more suitable and sustainable. The results of this study confirm the importance of using spatio-temporal built-up area and quantitative analysis to protect the sustainability of land use, as well as to improve the urban planning system via the effective monitoring and assessment of urban growth trends and patterns.

Matched MeSH terms: Environmental Monitoring/methods
The effectiveness of outcome based education on the competencies of nursing students: A systematic review

Tan K, Chong MC, Subramaniam P, Wong LP

Nurse Educ Today, 2018 May;64:180-189.
PMID: 29500999 DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2017.12.030

BACKGROUND: Outcome Based Education (OBE) is a student-centered approach of curriculum design and teaching that emphasize on what learners should know, understand, demonstrate and how to adapt to life beyond formal education. However, no systematic review has been seen to explore the effectiveness of OBE in improving the competencies of nursing students.
OBJECTIVE: To appraise and synthesize the best available evidence that examines the effectiveness of OBE approaches towards the competencies of nursing students.
DESIGN: A systematic review of interventional experimental studies.
DATA SOURCES: Eight online databases namely CINAHL, EBSCO, Science Direct, ProQuest, Web of Science, PubMed, EMBASE and SCOPUS were searched.
REVIEW METHODS: Relevant studies were identified using combined approaches of electronic database search without geographical or language filters but were limited to articles published from 2006 to 2016, handsearching journals and visually scanning references from retrieved studies. Two reviewers independently conducted the quality appraisal of selected studies and data were extracted.
RESULTS: Six interventional studies met the inclusion criteria. Two of the studies were rated as high methodological quality and four were rated as moderate. Studies were published between 2009 and 2016 and were mostly from Asian and Middle Eastern countries. Results showed that OBE approaches improves competency in knowledge acquisition in terms of higher final course grades and cognitive skills, improve clinical skills and nursing core competencies and higher behavioural skills score while performing clinical skills. Learners' satisfaction was also encouraging as reported in one of the studies. Only one study reported on the negative effect.
CONCLUSIONS: Although OBE approaches does show encouraging effects towards improving competencies of nursing students, more robust experimental study design with larger sample sizes, evaluating other outcome measures such as other areas of competencies, students' satisfaction, and patient outcomes are needed.

Matched MeSH terms: Educational Measurement/methods*
Household greywater treatment methods using natural materials and their hybrid system

Wurochekke AA, Mohamed RM, Al-Gheethi AA, Atiku H, Amir HM, Matias-Peralta HM

J Water Health, 2016 Dec;14(6):914-928.
PMID: 27959870

Discharge of household greywater into water bodies can lead to an increase in contamination levels in terms of the reduction in dissolved oxygen resources and rapid bacterial growth. Therefore, the quality of greywater has to be improved before the disposal process. The present review aimed to present a hybrid treatment system for the greywater generated from households. The hybrid system comprised a primary stage (a natural filtration unit) with a bioreactor system as the secondary treatment combined with microalgae for greywater treatment, as well as the natural flocculation process. The review discussed the efficiency of each stage in the removal of elements and nutrients. The hybrid system reviewed here represented an effective solution for the remediation of household greywater.

Matched MeSH terms: Waste Disposal, Fluid/methods*
Fulltext Energy-saving method for technogenic waste processing

Dikhanbaev B, Gomes C, Dikhanbaev AB

PLoS One, 2017;12(12):e0187790.
PMID: 29281646 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187790

Dumps of a mining-metallurgical complex of post-Soviet Republics have accumulated a huge amount of technogenic waste products. Out of them, Kazakhstan alone has preserved about 20 billion tons. In the field of technogenic waste treatment, there is still no technical solution that leads it to be a profitable process. Recent global trends prompted scientists to focus on developing energy-saving and a highly efficient melting unit that can significantly reduce specific fuel consumption. This paper reports, the development of a new technological method-smelt layer of inversion phase. The introducing method is characterized by a combination of ideal stirring and ideal displacement regimes. Using the method of affine modelling, recalculation of pilot plant's test results on industrial sample has been obtained. Experiments show that in comparison with bubbling and boiling layers of smelt, the degree of zinc recovery increases in the layer of inversion phase. That indicates the reduction of the possibility of new formation of zinc silicates and ferrites from recombined molecules of ZnO, SiO2, and Fe2O3. Calculations show that in industrial samples of the pilot plant, the consumption of natural gas has reduced approximately by two times in comparison with fuming-furnace. The specific fuel consumption has reduced by approximately four times in comparison with Waelz-kiln.

Matched MeSH terms: Waste Management/methods*

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