Universiti Sains Malaysia

About: Universiti Sains Malaysia is a education organization based out in George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Ring (chemistry). The organization has 23231 authors who have published 39356 publications receiving 655434 citations. The organization is also known as: USM & University of Science, Malaysia.

Nanoporous activated carbon prepared from karanj (Pongamia pinnata) fruit hulls for methylene blue adsorption

Abstract: In this study, karanj ( Pongamia pinnata ) fruit hulls were used as a precursor to prepare low-cost activated carbon with a large surface area through KOH activation. The prepared activated carbon (KFHAC) was characterized through pore structural analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. KFHAC presents a BET surface area of 828.30 m 2 /g, a micropore volume of 0.36 cm 3 /g, and an average pore size of 19.92 A The adsorption performance of KFHAC was evaluated using methylene blue (MB) as the model adsorbate. Adsorption experiments indicated that the pseudo-second-order kinetic and Langmuir adsorption isotherm models can accurately describe the adsorption process. The maximum adsorption capacities ( q m ) of MB were 154.8, 203.4, and 239.4 mg/g at 30 °C, 40 °C, and 50 °C, respectively. This study indicates that karanj fruit hull is a promising precursor for the production of low-cost and efficient activated carbon with a large surface area.

A cross sectional assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice towards Hepatitis B among healthy population of Quetta, Pakistan.

Abstract: Hepatitis B (HB) is a serious global public health problem. This study aims to evaluate Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) towards Hepatitis B (HB) among healthy population of Quetta city, Pakistan. A cross sectional, descriptive study was undertaken. One thousand healthy individuals (aged 18 years and above) were approached for the study. KAP towards HB was assessed by using a pre validated questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used for elaborating patients’ demographic characteristics. Inferential statistics (Mann–Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis test) were used for comparison while Spearman’s rho correlation was used to identify association between the study variables. All analyses were performed using SPSS 16.0. Out of 1000 distributed questionnaires, 780 were returned with a response rate of 78.0%. Four hundred and twenty (53.8%) respondents were male with mean age of 32.76 ± 9.40 year. Two hundred and eight (26.7%) had intermediate level of education and 354 (45.4%) were unemployed. Mean scores for knowledge, attitude and practice were 8.74 ± 2.7, 3.72 ± 1.2 and 2.76 ± 1.1 respectively. Significant and positive linear correlations between knowledge-attitude (r = 0.296, p < 0.01) knowledge-practice (r = 0.324, p < 0.01) and attitude-practice (r = 0.331, p < 0.01) were observed. Area of residence (locality) was the only variables significantly associated with mean KAP of the study respondents. Results from the current study heighted poor KAP of healthy population towards HB. The positive linear correlations reaffirms that better knowledge can lead to positive attitude and subsequently in good practices. This will further help in prevention and management of HB. Therefore, extensive health educational campaign should be provided to general population and especially to the residents of rural areas.