Exploring the nexus between FDI inflows and economic growth: A sectoral level analysis.

This study investigates the relationship between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows and economic growth at sectoral levels in Bangladesh, employing a panel study framework. Utilizing sectoral-level panel data spanning six sectors from 2007-08 to 2018-19, the analysis is conducted using Panel Vector Error Correction Model (Panel VECM). Results from panel unit root tests confirm that all variables are integrated of order one I (1), indicating stationarity. The Pedroni panel co-integration test further supports the presence of co-integration among the variables. Notably, the Panel VECM reveals evidence of a unidirectional causal relationship from Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) to Real Foreign Direct Investment (RFDI) across all six sectors of Bangladesh. The findings underscore the significance of formulating pragmatic policies and implementing them effectively to attract FDI across sectors, thereby contributing to the overall economic growth of Bangladesh.

Exchange rate asymmetry and its impact on bilateral trade: Evidence from BCIM-EC countries using N-ARDL approach.

The novelty of this study is to examine the asymmetric effect of the exchange rate on bilateral export and import between Bangladesh and its three trading partners in the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor using nonlinear ARDL models from 1973 to 2022. After controlling income and structural breaks, the empirical findings confirm the asymmetric effects of exchange rates on the short-run and long-run export and import demand functions of Bangladesh. Furthermore, the impacts of the appreciation and depreciation of the Bangladeshi currency are heterogeneous for these three trading partners. For instance, the depreciation of the Bangladeshi currency increases exports to China and India while it decreases exports to Myanmar in the short run. However, the depreciation increases exports to India and Myanmar, and the appreciation also increases exports to China and India in the long-run. On the contrary, depreciation increases imports from China and Myanmar in the short-run, while it decreases imports from Myanmar in the long run. Only appreciation has significant negative effects on China and India. As a robustness measure, we exclude the COVID-19 period. However, it does not substantially change our main findings.

Nano and chelated iron fertilization influences marketable yield, phytochemical properties, and antioxidant capacity of tomatoes.

Iron (Fe) is one of the limiting micronutrients essential for crop productivity. The goal of our study was to evaluate the effects of different sources and rates of Fe fertilization on the marketable yield, physical and chemical properties, and phytochemical quality of fresh market tomatoes (Solanum Lycopersicum L., cv. Sunbrite). A factorial experiment under a drip-irrigated plasticulture system was conducted in a completely randomized design with two sources of Fe (nano vs. chelated) and four rates of application (0, 10, 20, and 40 mg/L) with four replications. Results indicated that relative chlorophyll concentration in the leaf (SPAD index) increased significantly (by 24 to 27%) with 10 and 20 mg/L of both nano- and chelated Fe fertilization compared to the control. Increasing Fe fertilization decreased the leaf SPAD readings. The total fruit yield of tomato was 1.6 to 1.8 times higher under the chelated- and nano Fe fertilization and the increase in yield was significantly higher under the chelated Fe fertilization, when compared to the control. In contrast, the tomato harvest index was highest under 10 and 20 mg/L of nano Fe than under other Fe treatments. While the chelated Fe fertilized tomatoes had significantly higher concentrations of vitamin C (34%), ß-carotene (6%), total carotene (25%), flavonoid (17%), and polyphenol (66%), the nano Fe, in contrast, increased ß-carotene, total carotene, and polyphenol concentrations by 25, 33, 51, and 7%, respectively, compared to the control. The 20 mg/L chelated Fe significantly increased the vitamin C, total carotene, flavonoid, polyphenol concentration, and antioxidant capacity more than any other Fe treatments. Based on the principal components analyses, vitamin C, lycopene, and anthocyanin were identified as the core indicators of the tomato nutrition quality index (NQIndex). The NQIndex ranged from 47 to 54, falling within the medium level of nutritional quality (40 to <70). In conclusion, the chelated Fe, when applied at 20 mg/L, was the most appropriate rate based on highly correlated connectivity for the phytochemicals syntheses associated with the improved tomato antioxidant capacity.

Analyzing models of patient-centered care in Canada through a scoping review and environmental scan.

Aim: The objective of this study was to identify and synthesize models of patient-centered care in Canada and compare them with the normative models described in the literature. Subject and methods: Patient-centered care has gained momentum in the twenty-first century as a component of quality care. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the crisis often shifts the focus to the disease rather than the patient. The multiplicity of Canadian systems, including the federal, provincial, and territorial contexts, made a good case to search for a variety of models. This study was conducted using a scoping review method supported by an environmental scan to identify patient-centered care models in Canada. Results: The study identified 19 patient-centered interventions across Canada. The interventions included bedside interventions, patient-engagement projects at the organizational level, and citizen advisory panels at the system level. The organizational model was the most common. The goals of interventions ranged from enhancing the patient's experience of care to identifying ways to cut costs. In most organizational-level projects, there was a marked tendency to engage patients as members of quality improvement committees. Respecting patient dignity and autonomy in one-on-one clinical interactions was minimally addressed in the models. Conclusion: Health systems are not only technical, biomedical organizations but also socio-political institutions with goals of financial protection, the fair distribution of services and resources, and the meaningful inclusion of the citizens in the system, and thus patients need to be respected as individuals and as collectives within the healthcare system.

An opinion on Wastewater-Based Epidemiological Monitoring (WBEM) with Clinical Diagnostic Test (CDT) for detecting high-prevalence areas of community COVID-19 Infections.

Wastewater-Based Epidemiological Monitoring (WBEM) is an efficient surveillance tool during the COVID-19 pandemic as it meets all requirements of a complete monitoring system including early warning, tracking the current trend, prevalence of the disease, detection of genetic diversity as well asthe up-surging SARS-CoV-2 new variants with mutations from the wastewater samples. Subsequently, Clinical Diagnostic Test is widely acknowledged as the global gold standard method for disease monitoring, despite several drawbacks such as high diagnosis cost, reporting bias, and the difficulty of tracking asymptomatic patients (silent spreaders of the COVID-19 infection who manifest nosymptoms of the disease). In this current reviewand opinion-based study, we first propose a combined approach) for detecting COVID-19 infection in communities using wastewater and clinical sample testing, which may be feasible and effective as an emerging public health tool for the long-term nationwide surveillance system. The viral concentrations in wastewater samples can be used as indicatorsto monitor ongoing SARS-CoV-2 trends, predict asymptomatic carriers, and detect COVID-19 hotspot areas, while clinical sampleshelp in detecting mostlysymptomaticindividuals for isolating positive cases in communities and validate WBEM protocol for mass vaccination including booster doses for COVID-19.

Kinematic Properties of a Twisted Double Planetary Chaotic Mixer: A Three-Dimensional Numerical Investigation.

In this study, a numerical investigation based on the CFD method is carried out to study the unsteady laminar flow of Newtonian fluid with a high viscosity in a three-dimensional simulation of a twisted double planetary mixer, which is composed of two agitating rods inside a moving tank. The considered stirring protocol is a "Continuous sine squared motion" by using the dynamic mesh model and user-defined functions (UDFs)to define the velocity profiles. The chaotic advection is obtained in our active mixers by the temporal modulation of rotational velocities of the moving walls in order to enhance the mixing of the fluid for a low Reynolds number and a high Peclet number. For this goal, we applied the Poincaré section and Lyapunov exponent as reliable mathematic tools for checking mixing quality by tracking a number of massless particles inside the fluid domain. Additionally, we investigated the development of fluid kinematics proprieties, such as vorticity, helicity, strain rate and elongation rate, at various time periods in order to view the impact of temporal modulation on the flow properties. The results of the mentioned simulation showed that it is possible to obtain a chaotic advection after a relatively short time, which can deeply enhance mixing fluid efficiency.

Heavy metal pollution through hand loom-dyeing effluents and its effect on the community health.

Kumarkhali upazila in Kushtia district of western Bangladesh has become especially vulnerable to dye-effluent pollution over the last two decades. Twenty dyeing effluent samples were obtained at random from various dyeing units and used to determine the heavy metal concentration. The effluent pH, electrical conductivity and total dissolved solids ranged from 3.69 to 13.68, 627 to 7160 mS cm-1 and 4140 to 19800 mg L-1, respectively. In dyeing effluents, the average concentrations of Zn, Cu, Pb, Mn, Fe and Cr ions were 5.50, 82.75, 6.80, 14.27, 66.03 and 65.28 µg mL-1, respectively, while the amount of Cd was barely detectable. Total annual discharges of Cu, Zn, Pb, Mn, Fe and Cr were found to be 21.52, 1.43, 1.77, 3.71, 17.12 and 16.98 kg year-1, respectively, which were high enough to pollute the local environment. According to the survey report, only a minority were aware of public safety measures and proper disposal procedures, though many respondents were conscious of the dangers associated with dyes and chemical substances. Most interviewees (58.33%) used synthetic dyes and other dangerous chemicals throughout the dyeing process, despite the fact that 43.33% did not use hand gloves. A remarkable 80% of respondents were improperly disposing of unused dyes and chemicals. Overall, there was a lack of awareness, right attitude and appropriate behavioural patterns about using dyeing chemicals. To prevent the negative effects of dyeing effluents on the community in the research area, environmental conservation rules should be appropriately implemented.

Analyzing sentiments and themes on cannabis in Canada using 2018 to 2020 Twitter data.

INTRODUCTION: The Canadian Cannabis Act came into effect on October 17, 2018, which allowed Canadian adults to consume cannabis for non-medical purposes (Government of Canada, Cannabis regulations (SOR/2018-144). Cannabis Act, (2018a); Parliament of Canada, C-45: an Act respecting cannabis and to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Criminal Code and other Acts, 2018). With this major policy change, it is unknown how the attitude of the public changed and how information on cannabis changed. Social media platforms, including Twitter, are significant venues for studying emerging patterns in social issues such as cannabis legalization. This study aimed to examine sentiments, themes and contents of cannabis-related tweets by suppliers (both licensed and unlicensed) and general tweets in Canada. To our knowledge, this is the first analysis that mixes sentiment analysis and thematic analysis of Canadians' cannabis-related Twitter data. METHOD: A sample of Canadian cannabis-related tweets was collected from January 2018 to August 2020 through the Twitter Application Programming Interface (API). Using a standard access token and the Twitter Standard Search API, tweets were extracted based on Twitter handles to capture the content of both licensed and unlicensed cannabis retailers in Canada, as well as relevant cannabis-related keywords to capture public content. We conducted sentiment and positive polarity analyses, and content analysis to identify attitudes and themes around cannabis use in Canada. RESULTS: This study gathered and analyzed a total of 44,970 tweets in the sentiment analysis and a total of 1035 tweets in the thematic analysis. Descriptive analysis showed that monthly tweets peaked prior to legalization in October 2018 and again during the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in February and March 2020. The data showed an overall positive sentiment polarity with a high of + 0.24 in April 2019 and a low of + 0.14 in March 2020. Thematic analysis revealed the themes: (i) education/information, (ii) uses of cannabis, (iii) cannabis products including packing, quality, price, types, and sources, (iv) cannabis policies including regulations and public safety, (v) access, (vi) social issues include gender and stigma, and (vii) COVID-19 impact. CONCLUSION: This study combined the power of big data collection and analysis with manual coding and analysis methods to extract rich content from large data using social media communications on issues related to cannabis in Canada. The findings of this study may inform policies on advertising cannabis products and highlighted some patterns related to education, access, and safety that deserve further investigation.

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection: Analyses of risk factors and literature review of knowledge, attitude and practices.

The study aimed to explore the risk factors for MERS-CoV infection and systematic review of knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) with regard to MERS-CoV among the health care workers (HCWs) and the general population. The World Health Organization's MERS-CoV line list (January 2013-January 2020) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) was analysed. A Poisson regression model was used to calculate the univariate relative risk of outcomes to each potential risk factor, p-values and 95% confidence intervals. An electronic literature search was conducted to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices of the HCWs and general population of the KSA, with regards to transmission of the infection, risk factors and preventative measures. The line list analysis shows that age, gender, comorbidity, exposure to camels and camel milk consumption were associated with an increased risk of fatality; however, year-wise analysis did not show any decline. Over the years, the mean durations between the symptom onset and hospitalization; the hospitalization and laboratory confirmation have reduced. The review of literature shows that the health care workers and the general population had inadequate knowledge about MERS-CoV, lacked motivation and were disconnected from the health authorities. The WHO line list provides information on risk factors for MERS-CoV, KAP analysis helps to know the potential underlying factors. The literature review shows that continuous education for HCWs and increasing public awareness can help effectively manage future MERS-CoV.

Synthesis, characterization and in vitro, in vivo, in silico biological evaluations of substituted benzimidazole derivatives.

A series of substituted benzimidazole derivatives were synthesized by reacting O-phenylenediamine with various aromatic aldehydes or glycolic acid using various inexpensive reagents in aqueous media. Synthesized compounds were characterized and elucidated by IR, 1H NMR, ESI-MS spectra. Resultant compounds were screened for in vitro antimicrobial, cytotoxic, antioxidant, lipid peroxidation and cholinesterase inhibitory activities, in vivo analgesic and anti-inflammatory, and in silico anti-acetylcholinesterase and anti-butyrylcholinesterase activities. Among the synthesized compounds, compound 3b showed most promising central analgesic effect (46.15%) compared to morphine (48.08%), whereas compounds 6, 3c and 3a showed significant peripheral analgesic activity at two different dose levels (25 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg). Compounds 3b and 3a at the dose of 100 mg/kg showed significant anti-inflammatory effects from the first hour and onward, whereas compounds 6 and 3b showed moderate cytotoxic activities. In addition, compound 3a showed significant antioxidant activity having IC50 value of 16.73 µg/ml compared to 14.44 µg/ml for the standard BHT. Compound 6, 3a and 3b exhibited mild to moderate cholinesterase inhibitory activity. In silico studies revealed that compound 3a and 3b might be suitable for cholinesterase inhibitory activity. A comprehensive computational and experimental data suggested compounds 3b and 3a as the best possible candidates for pharmacological activity. All the experimental data were statistically significant (p < 0.01 level).

Occupational noise exposure and health impacts among fish harvesters: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Occupational noise exposure has been identified as a significant risk factor for fish harvesters. Chronic noise exposure causes hearing and other health problems and undermines the quality of life and well-being. This review paper aims to highlight noise-related auditory and non-auditory health effects among fish harvesters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A systematic literature search approach was adopted using the following databases: PubMed, Embase, SCOPUS, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and by exploring grey literature. The literature search was conducted in 2020 (between October 15 and November 30). Relevant articles were explored by reviewing title, keywords, and abstract based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The full-text critical review of selected papers was made and finalized the most relevant studies. RESULTS: Initial 1,281 records were identified, exploring various databases and additional sources using relevant keywords. Duplicate articles were removed and retrieved 746 articles. After that, a screening of 746 research papers was done based on the selection criteria and finalised 28 articles for full-text review. Finally, articles were filtered based on the study's aim and extracted 17 papers for the final review. CONCLUSIONS: Noise-induced hearing loss was considered a significant health risk to fish harvesters across the studies, affecting physical and emotional well-being. The prevalence of hearing loss was observed from 6% to 80%. Other health problems, such as headache, dizziness, annoyance, stress, fatigue, elevated blood pressure, sleep disturbances, and impaired cognitive performance, were also reported. Further research is needed to validate the non-auditory health effects among fish harvesters.

Cholinesterase inhibitory activity of tinosporide and 8-hydroxytinosporide isolated from Tinospora cordifolia: In vitro and in silico studies targeting management of Alzheimer's disease.

Tinosporide and 8-hydroxytinosporide isolated from Tinospora cordifolia were evaluated for acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butylcholinesterase (BuChE) inhibitory activities. The structure of the compound was confirmed by spectroscopic analysis, whereas cholinesterase inhibition was investigated by Ellman method using donepezil as standard drug and the data were presented as IC50 (µg/ml ± SEM). Furthermore, donepezil, tinosporide and 8-hydroxytinosporide were executed for docking analysis. The results from the isolated compounds TC-16R confirmed as tinosporide promisingly inhibited AChE with IC50 value of 13.45 ± 0.144, whereas TC-19R confirmed as 8-hydroxytinosporide moderately inhibited AChE with IC50 value of 46.71 ± 0.511. In case of BuChE inhibition, the IC50 values were found to be 408.50 ± 17.197 and 317.26 ± 6.918 for tinosporide and 8-hydroxytinosporide, respectively. The in silico studies revealed that the ligand tinosporide fit with the binding sites and inhibited AChE. Overall, the study findings suggested that tinosporide would be a complementary noble molecule of donepezil which is correlated with its pharmacological activity through in vitro studies, while 8-hydroxytinosporide modestly inhibited BuChE and the results are very close to the standard donepezil.

Digital solutions for continued operation of WRRFs during pandemics and other interruptions.

This paper includes survey results from 17 full-scale water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) to explore their technical, operational, maintenance, and management-related challenges during COVID-19. Based on the survey results, limited monitoring and maintenance of instrumentation and sensors are among the critical factors during the pandemic which resulted in poor data quality in several WRRFs. Due to lockdown of cities and countries, most of the facilities observed interruptions of chemical supply frequency which impacted the treatment process involving chemical additions. Some plants observed influent flow reduction and illicit discharges from industrial wastewater which eventually affected the biological treatment processes. Delays in equipment maintenance also increased the operational and maintenance cost. Most of the plants reported that new set of personnel management rules during pandemic created difficulties in scheduling operator's shifts which directly hampered the plant operations. All the plant operators mentioned that automation, instrumentation, and sensor applications could help plant operations more efficiently while working remotely during pandemic. To handle emergency circumstances including pandemic, this paper also highlights resources and critical factors for emergency responses, preparedness, resiliency, and mitigation that can be adopted by WRRFs.

Kinematic Measurements of Novel Chaotic Micromixers to Enhance Mixing Performances at Low Reynolds Numbers: Comparative Study.

In this work, a comparative investigation of chaotic flow behavior inside multi-layer crossing channels was numerically carried out to select suitable micromixers. New micromixers were proposed and compared with an efficient passive mixer called a Two-Layer Crossing Channel Micromixer (TLCCM), which was investigated recently. The computational evaluation was a concern to the mixing enhancement and kinematic measurements, such as vorticity, deformation, stretching, and folding rates for various low Reynolds number regimes. The 3D continuity, momentum, and species transport equations were solved by a Fluent ANSYS CFD code. For various cases of fluid regimes (0.1 to 25 values of Reynolds number), the new configuration displayed a mixing enhancement of 40%-60% relative to that obtained in the older TLCCM in terms of kinematic measurement, which was studied recently. The results revealed that all proposed micromixers have a strong secondary flow, which significantly enhances the fluid kinematic performances at low Reynolds numbers. The visualization of mass fraction and path-lines presents that the TLCCM configuration is inefficient at low Reynolds numbers, while the new designs exhibit rapid mixing with lower pressure losses. Thus, it can be used to enhance the homogenization in several microfluidic systems.

Social determinants of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis: A scoping review and research gaps.

Tuberculosis is a prime example of a social disease that requires social, economic and environmental interventions. However, research on social determinants of Multidrug-Resistant (MDR-TB) is limited. The five-stage scoping review showed the most common association of MDR-TB with multidimensional poverty (income, nutrition, education and social support) both as a contributing factor and a consequence of it. The review also found that physical environment (inadequate housing, overcrowding, poor physical environment, and smoking), health care needs, cultural determinants (race, ethnicity and gender), comorbidities had a strong influence on the development and transmission of MDR-TB. Since, epidemiology and care for MDR-TB are greatly influenced by socioeconomic factors, social, environmental and economic actions are needed in addition to the implementation of novel diagnostic techniques and treatments.

Waste nutrient solutions from full-scale open hydroponic cultivation: Dynamics of effluent quality and removal of nitrogen and phosphorus using a pilot-scale sequencing batch reactor.

Hydroponic cultivation is revolutionizing agricultural crop production techniques all over the world owing to its minimal environmental footprint, enhanced pest control, and high crop yield. However, waste nutrient solutions (WNS) generated from hydroponic systems contain high concentrations of N and P; moreover, they are discharged into surface and subsurface environments, leading to eutrophication and subsequent ecosystem degradation. In this study, the nutrient concentrations in WNS from 10 hydroponic indoor tomato, capsicum, and strawberry farms (greenhouses) were monitored for up to six months. The concentrations of N and P in WNS discharged from these farms were 48.0-494.0 mg L-1 and 12.7-96.9 mg L-1, respectively, which exceeded the Korean water quality guidelines (40.0 mg L-1 N and 4.0 mg L-1 P) for effluents. These concentrations were varied and dependent on the supplied nutrient concentrations, crop types, and growth stages. In general, the concentrations of N and P were in the following order: tomato > capsicum > strawberry. High N as NO3- and P as PO43- but low organic C in WNS warrant subsequent treatment before discharge. Therefore, this study tested a pilot-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system as a potential technology for WNS treatment. The SBR system had BOD, COD, nitrate, and phosphate removal efficiency of 100, 100, 89.5, and 99.8%, respectively. In addition, the SBR system removed other cations such as Ca2+, dissolved Fe, K+, Mg2+, and Na+ and the removal efficiencies of those ions were 48, 67, 18, 14 and 15%, respectively. Lower methanol addition (0.63 mg L-1) and extended aeration (~30 min) improved SBR performance efficiency of C, N, and P removal. Thus, SBR showed significant promise as a treatment alternative to WNS pollutants originating from hydroponic systems.

Potential human health risks due to environmental exposure to nano- and microplastics and knowledge gaps: A scoping review.

Microplastics are an emerging global environmental contaminant that are affecting multiple spheres. Despite their ubiquity in all spheres of life and ecology, little is known about the health effects of microplastics exposure to humans. This scoping review explores the existing evidence on the potential human health effects of microplastics and subsequent knowledge gaps. An electronic search of published articles in PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, Cochrane databases, and Google Scholar was conducted using a combination of subject headings and keywords relating to microplastics and human health effects. The initial search resulted in 17,043 published articles and grey literature documents. After a full review of published articles and their references, 129 publications were identified for further detailed review. These articles indicate that human exposure to microplastics can occur through ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact due to their presence in food, water, air, and consumer products. Microplastics exposure can cause toxicity through oxidative stress, inflammatory lesions, and increased uptake or translocation. Several studies have demonstrated the potentiality of metabolic disturbances, neurotoxicity, and increased cancer risk in humans. Moreover, microplastics have been found to release their constituent compounds as well as those that are adsorbed onto their surface. Further research is needed to quantify the effects of microplastics on human health and their pathogenesis.

The effects of recreational cannabis use on glycemic outcomes and self-management behaviours in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes: a rapid review.

BACKGROUND: Recent surveys of Canadian cannabis users reflect increasing consumption rates, some of whom may have diabetes. However, healthcare providers have limited information resources on the effects of recreational cannabis in people with diabetes. This rapid review was commissioned by Diabetes Canada to synthesize available evidence to guide recommendations for care of people 13 years of age and older who live with diabetes. METHODS: PubMed, Embase and PsycINFO databases were searched from January 2008 to January 2019. Study selection, data abstraction and quality appraisal were completed by pairs of reviewers working independently and discrepancies were resolved by a third reviewer with pilot tests completed before each stage to ensure consistency. Data collected from included studies were tabulated and summarized descriptively. RESULTS: The search resulted in 1848 citations of which 59 publications were selected for screening, resulting in six observational studies (2 full-text articles and 4 conference abstracts) that met the pre-defined criteria for inclusion. Five studies reported higher glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) who consumed recreational cannabis. In one study, students aged 17 to 25 years living with T1D self-reported poorer glycemic control and higher HbA1c when smoking cannabis. In one study of adults with T1D, cannabis use within the previous 12 months was associated with almost double the risk of diabetic ketoacidosis compared with no cannabis use (odds ratio [OR] 1.98; confidence interval [CI] [95% CI] 1.01-3.91). Risks for peripheral arterial occlusion and myocardial infarction were found to be higher in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) who consumed recreational cannabis, and worse renal parameters were also reported in two separate studies of T1D and T2D. CONCLUSIONS: Recreational cannabis use may negatively impact diabetes metabolic factors and self-management behaviours in people with T1D. In people with T2D, recreational cannabis may increase risks for peripheral arterial occlusion, myocardial infarction and renal disease. However, the evidence base of this rapid review was limited to six observational studies of poor to fair methodological quality, and thus, further robust, higher quality research is required to confirm the potential impact of cannabis on diabetes. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42019122829.

Increasing oxygen transfer efficiency through sorption enhancing strategies.

The link between aeration efficiency and biosorption capacity in water resource recovery facilities was extensively investigated, with special emphasis on wastewater characteristics and the development of strategies to maximize adsorption. Biosorption of oxygen transfer inhibitors (i.e., surfactants, colloidal, and soluble fractions) was examined by a series of pilot batch-scale experiments and full-scale studies. The impact of a sorption-enhancing strategy (i.e., bioaugmentation) deployed at full-scale over a five-year period was evaluated. Bench-scale experiments determined the inhibition coefficient (Ki) to measure the impact of surfactants and COD fractions as inhibitors of oxygen transfer efficiencies (αSOTE) in wastewater systems. The inhibition constant for surfactants Ki was found at 2.4 ± 0.4 mg L-1 SDS while for colloidal material was at 14 ± 1 mg L-1 (no inhibition for soluble fraction was found). Two enhancing biosorption configurations (i.e., contact stabilization and anaerobic selector) resulted in significant improvements in both aeration efficiency indicators (αSOTE) and surfactants removals. αSOTE improvements of 46% and 54% in comparison to conventional high rate activated sludge process (HRAS) were reported. Similarly, the removal of surfactants was increased by 27% and 56% using optimized enhancing-sorption strategies. Further analyses helped elucidate the underlying mechanisms of surfactants removal. Findings are expected to help full-scale applications increase their sorption potential as well as the concurrent aeration efficiency, which helps WRRFs to advance toward energy-positive wastewater treatments.

Surface and groundwater quality assessment and identification of hydrochemical characteristics of a south-western coastal area of Bangladesh.

In coastal areas of Bangladesh, the problem of getting fresh drinking water is acute since the surface and groundwater of this area are affected by both seawater intrusion and anthropogenic activities. This study aims at assessing the hydrochemistry and quality of surface and groundwater of a south-western coastal area Rupsha Upazila of Bangladesh using geographical information system (GIS) technique. The hydrochemical facies revealed that the surface waters are mainly characterized by Na-Ca-HCO3-Cl and the groundwaters are characterized by Na-Cl-HCO3, indicating mixing composition of the natural water, while the Gibbs diagram indicates mixing processes of both the rock-water and evaporation-crystallization interactions of the surface and groundwater. The comparisons of the water quality parameters with World Health Organization (WHO) and Bangladesh (BD) standards show that surface water quality is better than groundwater in terms of total dissolved solids, chloride, iron, and arsenic concentrations. In surface water, arsenic concentration is within the WHO and BD standard but 40% of the groundwater samples exceeded the standard. Results also showed that 100% of the surface water samples exceeded the Escherichia coli and 62.85% of the groundwater samples exceeded the standard limit. Thus, the surface water of the study area can be a potential source to meet the future challenges for drinking water shortage problems as compared to aquifer water of the area.