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Abstract Chromium (Cr) is a toxic metal in soil–plant system, hence causing possible health risks prominently in the areas with forgoing industrial activities. Copper nanoparticles (Cu NPs) have been reported as an excellent adsorbent for pollutants. Therefore, this study investigates how copper nanoparticles enhance onion growth while decreasing chromium uptake in onion plants. Additionally, it examines the potential health risks of consuming onion plants with elevated chromium levels. The results demonstrated that the addition of CuNPs at 15 mg kg−1 significantly improved the plant height (48%), leaf length (37%), fresh weight of root (61%), root dry weight (70%), fresh weight of bulb (52%), bulb dry weight (59%), leaves fresh weight (52%) and dry weight of leaves (59%), leaf area (72%), number of onion leaves per plant (60%), Chl. a (42%), chl. b (36%), carotenoids (40%), total chlorophyll (40%), chlorophyll contents SPAD value (56%), relative water contents (35%), membrane stability index (16%), total sugars (25%), crude protein (21%), ascorbic acid (19%) and ash contents (64%) at 10 mg kg−1 Cr. Whereas, maximum decline of Cr by 46% in roots, 68% in leaves and 92% in bulb was found with application of 15 mg kg−1 of Cu NPs in onion plants under 10 mg kg−1 Cr toxicity. The health risk assessment parameters of onion plants showed minimum values 0.0028 for average daily intake (ADI), 0.001911 for Non-cancer risk (NCR), and 0.001433 for cancer risk (CR) in plants treated with Cu NPs at 15 mg kg−1 concentration grown in soil spiked with 10 mg kg−1 chromium. It is concluded that Cu NPs at 15 mg kg−1 concentration improved growth of plants in control as well as Cr contaminated soil. Therefore, use of Cu NPs at 15 mg kg−1 concentration is recommended for improving growth of plants under normal and metal contaminated soils.

Abstract Background Bangladesh has a shortfall of health professionals. The World Health Organization states that improving education will increase recruitment and retention of health workers. Traditional learning approaches, in medical education particularly, focus on didactic teaching, teaching of subjects and knowledge testing. These approaches have been superseded in some programmes, with a greater focus on active learning, integrated teaching and learning of knowledge, application, skills and attitudes or values and associated testing of competencies as educational outcomes. In addition, some regions do not have continuous professional development or clinical placements for health worker students, contributing to difficulties in retention of health workers. This study aims to explore the experiences of health professional education in Bangladesh, focusing on what is through observation of health professional education sessions and experiences of educators. Methods This mixed method study included 22 observations of teaching sessions in clinical and educational settings, detailed analysis of 8 national curricula documents mapped to Global Competency and Outcomes Framework for Universal Health Coverage and 15 interviews of professionals responsible for health education. An observational checklist was created based on previous literature which assessed training of within dimensions of basic clinical skills; diagnosis and management; professionalism; professional development; and effective communication. Interviews explored current practices within health education in Bangladesh, as well as barriers and facilitators to incorporating different approaches to learning. Results Observations revealed a variety of approaches and frameworks followed across institutions. Only one observation included all sub-competencies of the checklist. National curricula documents varied in their coverage of the Global Competency and Outcomes Framework domains. Three key themes were generated from a thematic analysis of interview transcripts: (1) education across the career span; (2) challenges for health professional education; (3) contextual factors and health professional education. Opportunities for progression and development post qualification are limited and certain professions are favoured over others. Conclusion Traditional approaches seem to predominate but there is some enthusiasm for a more clinical focus to education and for more competency based approaches to teaching, learning and assessment.

With the increase in municipal-solid-waste (MSW) production, energy usage, and the curb of the landfill, it has developed the need of our society to use local MSW under the vision of waste-to-energy (WTE). WTE conversion is an environment-friendly way for disposing of MSW around the globe, in this study examining the usage of plastic, wood, and cloth for the refused derived fuels (RDFs) production. RDF is solitary of MSW energy yields, whose reliability and superiority are analysed in the current work. Three different RDFs had been assumed from diverse waste streams accessible at the plant site to propose the best RDF based on energy-efficiency. Plastics, wood, and cloth are the principal constituents in the method of occupied RDFs like RDF-I, RDF-II and RDF-III, respectively. The results demonstrated that the RDF-I holds a high amount of carbon as-well-as hydrogen content and adequate calorific value, which leads to a better fuel-quality and have better activation energy. Thermogravimetric analysis had shown, with the increase in the volatile matter fraction of RDFs, the retention time under the combustion atmosphere has remained increased accordingly and kinetic analysis showed the great activation energy value as compared to the other samples. Regarding all results, RDF-I was recommended to be a good option for energy applications and can be used as a fuel for numerous combustion reactions.

Background: Antimicrobial resistance is a global problem driven by the overuse of antibiotics. Dentists are responsible for about 10% of antibiotics usage across healthcare worldwide. Factors influencing dental antibiotic prescribing are numerous, with some differences in low- and middle-income countries compared with high-income countries. This study aimed to explore the antibiotic prescribing behaviour and knowledge of teams treating dental patients in two Ghanaian hospitals. Methods: Qualitative interviews were undertaken with dentists, pharmacists, and other healthcare team members at two hospitals in urban and rural locations. Thematic and behaviour analyses using the Actor, Action, Context, Target, Time framework were undertaken. Results: Knowledge about ‘antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic stewardship’ and ‘people and places’ were identified themes. Influences on dental prescribing decisions related to the organisational context (such as the hierarchical influence of colleagues and availability of specific antibiotics in the hospital setting), clinical issues (such as therapeutic versus prophylactic indications and availability of sterile dental instruments), and patient issues such as hygiene in the home environment, delays in seeking professional help, ability to access antibiotics in the community without a prescription and patient’s ability to pay for the complete prescription. Conclusions: This work provides new evidence on behavioural factors influencing dental antibiotic prescribing, including resource constraints which affect the availability of certain antibiotics and diagnostic tests. Further research is required to fully understand their influence and inform the development of new approaches to optimising antibiotic use by dentists in Ghana and potentially other low- and middle-income countries.

Phenolics are a large class of compounds with wide ranging molecular mass and physiological effects for plants. By virtue of their antioxidative action, they may improve salt tolerance in rice. In this research, the effect of medium supplementation (0.25 mM) of each of salicylic acid (SA; a low molecular mass) and tannic acid (TA; a high molecular mass) phenolics was studied under control and 150 mM NaCl salt level on growth, leaf photosynthetic pigments, leaf gas exchange and nutrients contents of KS-282 (coarse) and Basmati-515 (fine) rice (Oryza sativa L.). Salt stress reduced the leaf photosynthetic pigments, gas exchange and tissue concentration of nutrients in shoot and root. Medium supplementation of TA and SA alleviated the salinity effects and effectively recuperated the rice growth by increasing the synthesis of metabolites (free proline, anthocyanins, soluble sugars and soluble phenolics) and accumulation of essential nutrients NO3--N, PO43--P, Ca2+ and K+ and reduction in tissue Na+ contents more in the root than leaf and affirmed greater role of the TA than SA in bringing about positive changes in the leaf and root tissues. Coarse rice (KS-282) responded better than fine rice (B-515) towards medium supplemented phenolics than fine rice under salinity stress. A greater effectiveness of TA than SA under salt stress could be attributed to the difference in their molecular arrangement (TA a polyphenol and SA a monophenol).