Modification of porous polyetherimide hollow fiber membrane by dip-coating of Zonyl® BA for membrane distillation of dyeing wastewater.

Wetting and fouling have significantly affected the application of membrane distillation (MD). In this work, a dip-coating method was used for improving surface hydrophobicity of the polyetherimide (PEI) hollow fiber membrane. An air gap membrane distillation (AGMD) process was applied for treatment of the methylene blue (MB) solution. The porous PEI membrane was fabricated by a dry-wet spinning process and the hydrophobic 2-(Perfluoroalkyl) ethanol (Zonyl® BA) was used as the coating material. From FESEM, the modified PEI-Zonyl membrane showed an open structure with large finger-like cavities. The modified membrane displayed a narrow pore size distribution with mean pore size of 0.028 µm. The outer surface contact angle of the PEI-Zonyl membrane increased from 81.3° to 100.4° due to the formation of an ultra-thin coated layer. The pure water flux of the PEI-Zonyl membrane was slightly reduced compared to the pristine PEI membrane. A permeate flux of 6.5 kg/m2 h and MB rejection of 98% were found for the PEI-Zonyl membrane during 76 h of the AGMD operation. Adsorption of MB on the membrane surface was confirmed based on the Langmuir isotherm evaluation, AFM and FESEM analysis. The modified PEI-Zonyl membrane can be a favorable alternative for AGMD of dyeing wastewaters.

A Systematic Review of Nutrition Recommendation Systems: With Focus on Technical Aspects.

BACKGROUND: Nutrition informatics has become a novel approach for registered dietitians to practice in this field and make a profit for health care. Recommendation systems considered as an effective technology into aid users to adjust their eating behavior and achieve the goal of healthier food and diet. The purpose of this study is to review nutrition recommendation systems (NRS) and their characteristics for the first time. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The systematic review was conducted using a comprehensive selection of scientific databases as reference sources, allowing access to diverse publications in the field. The process of articles selection was based on the PRISMA strategy. We identified keywords from our initial research, MeSH database and expert's opinion. Databases of PubMed, Web of Sciences, Scopus, Embase, and IEEE were searched. After evaluating, they obtained records from databases by two independent reviewers and inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to each retrieved work to select those of interest. Finally, 25 studies were included. RESULTS: Hybrid recommender systems and knowledge-based recommender systems with 40% and 32%, respectively, were the mostly recommender types used in NRS. In NRS, rule-based and ontology techniques were used frequently. The frequented platform that applied in NRS was a mobile application with 28%. CONCLUSION: If NRS was properly designed, implemented and finally evaluated, it could be used as an effective tool to improve nutrition and promote a healthy lifestyle. This study can help to inform specialists in the nutrition informatics domain, which was necessary to design and develop NRS.

Brucellosis as a neglected disease in a neglected population: a seroepidemiological study of migratory nomads in the Fars province of Iran.

This study assessed the seroprevalence of brucellosis and its risk factors in migratory nomads in the Fars province of Iran. Active brucellosis was defined as the combination of clinical symptoms, including fever, chills, night sweats, headache, low back pain, arthralgia, or myalgia, and positive laboratory testing, including either a serum agglutination test (SAT) ⩾1:80 with a 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME) test ⩾1:40, or a SAT <1:80 combined with a positive Coombs Wright test (CWT) at a titre of at least threefold higher than SAT titre results. For the 536 participants, the female (316, 59%) to male (220, 41%) ratio was 1·4 and the participants' mean age was 32·4 ± 18·9 (range 1-96) years. Of all participants, 325 (60·6%) showed clinical symptoms; in symptomatic participants, the Rose Bengal plate test was positive in 33 (6·1%) cases, the SAT was positive in 18 (3·3%) cases, and the 2-ME test was positive in 30 (5·5%) cases. Positive SAT and 2-ME results were seen in 18 (3·3%) cases, but a negative SAT and a positive CWT were found in 36 (6·7%) cases. As a result, active brucellosis was detected in 54 cases, indicating a prevalence of 10% (95% confidence interval 8-12). In conclusion, we determined that brucellosis is a prevalent yet neglected disease in this nomadic population. Brucellosis control is not possible as long as these high-risk populations remain neglected.

Pulmonary tuberculosis in migratory nomadic populations: the missing link in Iran's National Tuberculosis Programme.

OBJECTIVE: To detect pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in migratory nomadic populations in Fars Province, southern Iran. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. RESULTS: In this study, 5506 (82.8%) of a total nomad population of 6650 from 1337 tents were screened for PTB. The mean age was 27.4 ± 18.2 years (range 1-109). Based on clinical symptoms, 141/5506 (2.6%) were identified as TB suspects. One male and three female adult new smear-positive PTB cases were detected, giving an incidence rate of 0.7/1000 population compared to 0.08/1000 in the general population of the region, and 28.4/1000 TB suspects. The median time to onset of symptoms in detected cases was 82.5 days. Tribal stigma against female TB patients was one of the main barriers to appropriate health-seeking behaviour. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of smear-positive PTB among migratory nomads is approximately nine-fold higher than in the general population. Active screening of TB in migratory nomads should be integrated into Iran's national TB control programme. The issue of destigmatisation, particularly among female TB patients, should also be addressed.

Paclitaxel loaded niosome nanoparticle formulation prepared via reverse phase evaporation method: an in vitro evaluation.

Niosoms are nanoparticles used in drug delivery systems. Niosomes are prepared by various methods. In this research niosoms were prepared by reverse phase evaporation and the factors affecting the niosomes formation were studied. Percent of paclitaxel pegylated and non-pegylated prepared with Span 60 were 95 and 92, respectively while for those of pegylated and non-pegylated niosomes with Span 20, 94 and 90, respectively. In addition, the average diameters of pegylated and no-pegylated prepared with Span 60 and 20 were determined to be 191, 214, 244 and 284 nm, respectively. The amount of released drug (48 h) from pegylated and non pegylated formulations in the presence of Spans 60 and 20 were 8, 10, 6, 7%, respectively. Cytotoxicities ofpaclitaxel niosom polyethyleneglycol, paclitaxel niosome and free paclitaxel on MCF-7 cell line after 48 hours were studied by MTT assay. The results showed the formulation prepared with Span 60 is more effective than that of Span 20 and the IC50 of the former was decreased twice while IC50 of the later decreased 1.5 times.

Knowledge, practice and attitude towards standard isolation precautions in Iranian medical students.

Medical students are at high risk of being exposed to blood-borne pathogens. The aim of this study was to identify the levels of knowledge, attitude and practice of medical students regarding standard isolation precautions in Iran. A questionnaire was filled out by 468 medical students in their fifth to seventh year of study. Their mean knowledge, attitude and practice levels of standard isolation precautions were 6.1+/-1.5 (maximum possible score 9), 32.3+/-3.5 (out of 45), and 2.3+/-1.6 (out of 9), respectively. Statistically significant positive correlations were observed between knowledge and attitude, knowledge and practice, and practice and attitude. Ninety percent of medical students in Shiraz had received no education of standard isolation precautions, and 75% of respondents wanted more education on standard isolation precautions. Education on infection control issues should not only be focused on healthcare workers, but should also include medical students.