Sharif Digital Repository

A novel catalyst of sulfidated iron-nickel supported on biochar (S-FeNi@BC) was synthesized to activate persulfate (PS) for the removal of trichloroethylene (TCE). A number of techniques including XRD, SEM, TEM, FTIR, BET and EDS were employed to characterize S-FeNi@BC. The influence of sulfur to iron ratio (S/F) on TCE removal was investigated by batch experiments and a higher TCE removal (98.4%) was achieved at 0.22/1 ratio of S/F in the PS/S-FeNi@BC oxidation system. A dominant role in iron species conversion was noticed by the addition of sulfur in FeNi@BC system. Significant enhancement in recycling of the dissolved and surface Fe(II) was confirmed which contributed to the generation of... 

In Fenton-like oxidation processes, the use of biochar (BC) as support material for the nanoscale zero valent iron-nickel (nZVI-Ni) bimetallic particles attained much attention to activate persulfate (PS) for TCE degradation in aqueous medium. In present work, nZVI-Ni@BC particles with nZVI-Ni to BC mass ratio of 1:5 exhibited excellent results (> 99 % ± 0.24) for TCE degradation. The physico-chemical characteristics, surface morphologies, and elemental mapping of the synthesized nZVI-Ni@BC particles investigated through SEM, EDX, TEM, XPS, XRD, BET and FTIR spectroscopy. For the nZVI-Ni@BC-persulfate system, the effects of PS concentration, initial pH, inorganic ions and natural organic... 

The present study was aimed to manifest the antibacterial and antifungal activity of methanolic extracts of Salix alba L. against seven Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial pathogens e.g. Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus (1), S. aureus (2), Shigella sonnei, Escherichia coli (1), E. coli (2) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae and three fungal isolates from the air such as Aspergillus terreus, A. ornatus, and Rhizopus stolonifer. Two different serotypes of S. aureus and E. coli were used. The agar well-diffusion method results showed the dose-dependent response of plant extracts against bacterial and fungal strains while some organisms were found resistant e.g. E. coli (1), S. sonnei,... 

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) are increasingly used in medical applications, such as targeting delivery and imaging. In the future, patients are more likely to be exposed to pharmaceutical products containing such particles. The study of toxicity of SPIONs has become of great importance in recent years, although the published data in this arena is limited. The aim of the present work is to investigate the cytotoxicity of SPIONs and the effect of the particles on the cell medium components. For this purpose, uncoated and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) coated SPIONs with narrow size distribution were synthesized via a well-known coprecipitation method. The mouse fibroblast cell... 

This study describes some epidemiological and patho-physiological aspects of Trypanosoma evansi (causative agent of “surra”) infection in camels (n=255) and Nili Ravi buffaloes (n=233). Clinical ailments like fever, shivering, edema of pads and urticarial swelling were observed in infected animals. Overall prevalence of T. evansi infection in buffaloes was 9.01 and 15.12% based on blood smear examination and PCR, respectively, while in camels, the prevalence was 10.58 and 15.29% based on smear examination and PCR, respectively. Results on epidemiological data did not indicate significant association of different factors of hosts with prevalence of T. evansi. Hematological parameters... 

Background: Accurate and up-to-date assessment of demographic metrics is crucial for understanding a wide range of social, economic, and public health issues that affect populations worldwide. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 produced updated and comprehensive demographic assessments of the key indicators of fertility, mortality, migration, and population for 204 countries and territories and selected subnational locations from 1950 to 2019. Methods: 8078 country-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 938 surveys, 349 censuses, and 238 other sources were identified and used to estimate age-specific fertility. Spatiotemporal... 

Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods: GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and... 

Background: Measuring routine childhood vaccination is crucial to inform global vaccine policies and programme implementation, and to track progress towards targets set by the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) and Immunization Agenda 2030. Robust estimates of routine vaccine coverage are needed to identify past successes and persistent vulnerabilities. Drawing from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2020, Release 1, we did a systematic analysis of global, regional, and national vaccine coverage trends using a statistical framework, by vaccine and over time. Methods: For this analysis we collated 55 326 country-specific, cohort-specific, year-specific,... 

The safe, highly effective measles vaccine has been recommended globally since 1974, yet in 2017 there were more than 17 million cases of measles and 83,400 deaths in children under 5 years old, and more than 99% of both occurred in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)1–4. Globally comparable, annual, local estimates of routine first-dose measles-containing vaccine (MCV1) coverage are critical for understanding geographically precise immunity patterns, progress towards the targets of the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), and high-risk areas amid disruptions to vaccination programmes caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)5–8. Here we generated annual estimates of routine childhood... 

The safe, highly effective measles vaccine has been recommended globally since 1974, yet in 2017 there were more than 17 million cases of measles and 83,400 deaths in children under 5 years old, and more than 99% of both occurred in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)1–4. Globally comparable, annual, local estimates of routine first-dose measles-containing vaccine (MCV1) coverage are critical for understanding geographically precise immunity patterns, progress towards the targets of the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), and high-risk areas amid disruptions to vaccination programmes caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)5–8. Here we generated annual estimates of routine childhood... 

Background: Rigorous analysis of levels and trends in exposure to leading risk factors and quantification of their effect on human health are important to identify where public health is making progress and in which cases current efforts are inadequate. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 provides a standardised and comprehensive assessment of the magnitude of risk factor exposure, relative risk, and attributable burden of disease. Methods: GBD 2019 estimated attributable mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years of life lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for 87 risk factors and combinations of risk factors, at... 

The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 provides a rules-based synthesis of the available evidence on levels and trends in health outcomes, a diverse set of risk factors, and health system responses. GBD 2019 covered 204 countries and territories, as well as first administrative level disaggregations for 22 countries, from 1990 to 2019. Because GBD is highly standardised and comprehensive, spanning both fatal and non-fatal outcomes, and uses a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of hierarchical disease and injury causes, the study provides a powerful basis for detailed and broad insights on global health trends and emerging challenges. GBD...