Study of impact of acids and comparison of adsorption efficiency of Pb(II) from carbon and its modified nano-nickel coated version.

Acidic content in wastewaters poses greater difficulty in lead removal from most adsorbents as their removal efficiency significantly decreases in acidic media. Nano-nickel coated carbon (Ni/C), compared with uncoated carbon (C), has shown a much enhanced (almost 80% higher) tendency of Pb(II) removal from solutions having different acid concentrations. All of the characterization results show the creation of more active sites and functional groups on Ni/C. The pertinent kinetic models and thermodynamics of Pb(II) adsorption have demonstrated much improved efficiency by Ni/C. Various isotherms subjected to the sorption data revealed significant increase in the sorption capacities for Ni/C. The adsorption (evidently chemisorption) kinetics are best represented by a pseudo-second-order equation. The adsorption rates in acidic solutions were much higher for Ni/C. The temperature-dependent study enabled thermodynamic parameters to be worked out for C and Ni/C; for C the values are ΔH: 19.4 ± 0.5 kJ·mol-1, ΔS: 76.1 ± 2.1 J·mol-1·K-1, ΔG298: -0.37 ± 0.01 kJ·mol-1 while for Ni/C the values are ΔH: 30 ± 1 kJ·mol-1, ΔS: 114 ± 4 J·mol-1·K-1, ΔG298: -4.56 ± 0.02 kJ·mol-1. Both cases indicate endothermic, spontaneous and entropy-driven processes.

Access to comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care facilities in three rural districts of Sindh province, Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: Pakistan's maternal and child health indicators remain unacceptably high, with a maternal mortality ratio of 276 per 100,000 live births and a neonatal mortality rate of 55 per 1,000 live births. Provision of basic and comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care is mandated by the government; however, coverage, access, and utilisation levels remain unsatisfactory, with the situation in Sindh province being amongst the worst in the country. This study attempted to assess access to comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care (C-EmONC) facilities and barriers hampering access in Sindh. METHODS: One public sector hospital in each of three districts in Sindh province providing C-EmONC services were selected for a facility exit survey. A cross-sectional household survey and focus group discussions were conducted in the catchment population of these hospitals. RESULTS: Overall, 82% and 96% of those who utilised a public or private C-EmONC facility, respectively, incurred out-of-pocket expenditure. As expected, those living more than 5 km from the facility reported higher mean expenditure than those living within 5 km of the facility. More than half of the respondents (55%) among public sector users and the majority (71%) of private sector users could not afford travel costs. More than one third (35%) of public sector users and about two thirds (64%) of private sector users who could not afford travel costs took loans. The proportion of respondents who took loans was higher among those living more than 5 km of the health facility compared to those living within a 5 km distance. The majority of respondents (70%) in the community survey chose to go to a private sector C-EmONC facility. In addition to poverty, in terms of sociocultural access, religious and ethnic discrimination and the poor attitude of facility staff were amongst the most important barriers to accessing a C-EmONC facility. CONCLUSIONS: C-EmONC facilities in both the public and private sectors may simply not be accessible and affordable for the vast majority of poor and marginalised women in targeted districts.