ABSTRACT
The conventional solar still, as a water treatment technique, has been reported to produce water at a low working temperature where various thermal resistance pathogens could survive in their distillate. In this work, the reviews of previous research on the quality of water produced by passive solar stills and their productivities in initial basin water temperatures were first presented and discussed. The next review discussed some recent studies on the performances of small-scale solar stills integrated with SDCs (with and without sun-tracking systems (STSs)) to observe the operating temperatures from early hours until the end of operations, daily water yield, and cost per liter. Based on these findings, it was revealed that SDCs with STSs indicated an instant increase in the absorber water temperature up to 70 °C at the starting point of the experiments in which this temperature range marked the unbearable survival of the pathogenic organisms and viruses, particularly the recent SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, disinfection was also observed when the absorbers’ water temperature reached beyond the boiling point until the end of operations. This indicates the effectiveness of SDCs with STS in reflecting a large amount of sun’s rays and heat to the small-scale absorbers and providing higher operating absorbers temperatures compared to immobile SDCs. Daily productivities and costs per liter of the SDCs with STSs were found to be higher and lower than those of the other previous passive and active solar stills. Therefore, it is recommended that small-scale absorbers integrated with SDCs and STS can be used as a cost-effective and reliable method to produce hygienic pathogen-free water for the communities in remote and rural areas which encounter water scarcity and abundant annual bright sunshine hours.
ABSTRACT
Background & Objectives: Race plays an important role in healthcare disparities often resulting in worse health outcomes. It is unclear if the interactions of other patient factors and race may influence mortality in patients with COVID-19. We aimed to evaluate how multiple determinants of all-cause in-hospital mortality from COVID-19 were linked to race. Methods: A retrospective observational study conducted at two hospitals in Detroit, Michigan. We identified patients age ≥ 18 who had tested positive for COVID-19 and were admitted between March 9 through May 16, 2020. A multivariable logistic regression was performed assessing predictors of all-cause in-hospital mortality in COVID-19. Results: We identified 1064 unique patients, 74% were African Americans (AA). The all-cause in-hospital mortality was 21.7% with majority of deaths seen in AA (65.4%, p=0.002) and patients 80 years or older (52%, p<0.0001). Based on race-gender interactions, AA women had a lower all-cause mortality compared to AA men, white women and white men. In multivariable logistic regression analysis older age (>80 year-old), dementia and CKD were associated with worse all-cause in-hospital mortality. Conclusion: Gender significantly modified the association of race and COVID-19 mortality. African American females had the lowest all-cause in-hospital mortality risk compared to other gender-race groups.Funding: None to declare. Declaration of Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.Ethics Approval Statement:This study was submitted to and approval by Ascension Providence Hospital Institutional Review Board.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , DementiaABSTRACT
BackgroundThe prevalence and significance of digestive manifestations in COVID-19 remain uncertain. MethodsConsecutive patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were identified across a geographically diverse alliance of medical centers in North America. Data pertaining to baseline characteristics, symptomatology, laboratory assessment, imaging, and endoscopic findings from the time of symptom onset until discharge or death were manually abstracted from electronic health records to characterize the prevalence, spectrum, and severity of digestive manifestations. Regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association between digestive manifestations and severe outcomes related to COVID-19. ResultsA total of 1992 patients across 36 centers met eligibility criteria and were included. Overall, 53% of patients experienced at least one gastrointestinal symptom at any time during their illness, most commonly diarrhea (34%), nausea (27%), vomiting (16%), and abdominal pain (11%). In 74% of cases, gastrointestinal symptoms were judged to be mild. In total, 35% of patients developed an abnormal alanine aminotransferase or total bilirubin level; these were elevated to less than 5 times the upper limit of normal in 77% of cases. After adjusting for potential confounders, the presence of gastrointestinal symptoms at any time (odds ratio 0.93, 95% confidence interval 0.76-1.15) or liver test abnormalities on admission (odds ratio 1.31, 95% confidence interval 0.80-2.12) were not independently associated with mechanical ventilation or death. ConclusionsAmong patients hospitalized with COVID-19, gastrointestinal symptoms and liver test abnormalities were common but the majority were mild and their presence was not associated with a more severe clinical course