The present study is designed to analyse the annual rainfall variability and trend in 30 meteorological stations of the Asir region for the period of 1970–2017 using the Mann-Kendall (MK) test, ...Modified Mann-Kendall (MMK) test, trend free pre-whitening Mann-Kendall (TFPW MK) test, and the innovative trend analysis (ITA). A comparative study among the trend detection techniques was performed using the correlation coefficient. The future rainfall trend based on the historical rainfall pattern was investigated by using detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). Results of the MK test showed that 20 stations in the study area observed a negative trend, and out of these, nine stations had significant negative trends at the significance level of 0.01. The findings of the MMK test showed that 23 stations recorded negative trends, and out of these, 18 stations had significant negative trends at the significance level of 0.01. Based on the findings of the TFPW-MK test, 21 stations observed a negative trend, and among these, 10 stations had significant negative trends at the significance of 0.01. ITA detected 25 stations observing a negative trend, and out of these, 18 stations had significant negative trends at the significance level of 0.01. Based on the findings of the tests and their performance, the MMK test appeared as the best performing technique among the MK test family, while ITA appeared as the best trend detection technique among the four techniques because it outperformed (
p
< 0.01) the others. Results of DFA showed that 23 stations (10 were significant) had recorded declining future rainfall trends based on past trends. The results of the present study would help the planners and policy makers to make accurate and easy decisions on irrigation, climatic, and water resource management in the Asir region of Saudi Arabia.
The reinforcing efficiency of plastic fibers obtained from shredded plastic waste was tested in plain concrete mixes and experimentally verified in this study. Plastic fibers up to 0.15% Vf were ...added to the design concrete mix to assess the fiber effectiveness in terms of improved load carrying capability of various plastic fiber incorporated concrete composites. The effects of plastic fibers distributed homogenously in the entire depth of concrete and confined in the tension zone were evaluated in flexural bending properties. Mechanical strength properties were evaluated for two different types of concrete containing (i) plastic fibers added homogenously throughout the entire depth of concrete and (ii) the plastic fibers confined in the tension zone only. Flexural bending parameters such as toughness, residual strength, crack width, post-peak drop load resistance, and fiber performance index of various plastic fiber substituted concrete mixes were tested in compressive and flexural bending to assess the fiber reinforcing efficiency. Test results indicated that the plastic fibers added in tension zone confinement exhibited higher flexural strength (5.26 N/mm2) improvements compared to homogeneously distributed concrete systems. Flexural bending characteristics in terms of absolute toughness and post peak strain softening were found to be appreciably higher (132%) in tension zone confined plastic fiber concretes compared to homogeneous fiber concrete systems.
Groundwater is a primary natural water source in the absence of surface water bodies. Groundwater in urban environments experiences unprecedented stress from urban growth, population increase, and ...industrial activities. This study assessed groundwater quality in terms of arsenic and heavy metal contamination in three industrial areas (Shahdara, Jhilmil, and Patparganj), Delhi, India. The water quality was assessed over a 3-year time interval (i.e., 2015 and 2018). The groundwater constituents investigated were As, Fe, Cr, Cd, Ni, Zn, Mn, Cu, and Pb. Metal index and heavy metal pollution indexes were estimated to assess groundwater pollution. The health risk was evaluated in terms of non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risk assessment. Patparganj industrial area saw increment in concentration for Cu 0.23 mg/L (2015)–0.85 mg/L (2018), Zn 0.51 mg/L (2015)–7.2 mg/L (2018), Fe 0.32 mg/L (2015)–0.9 mg/L (2018), Cr 0.21 mg/L (2015)–0.26 mg/L (2018), Mn 0.14 mg/L (2015)–0.25 mg/L (2018), Ni 0.04 mg/L (2015)–0.34 mg/L (2018), and As 0.01 mg/L (2015)–0.18 mg/L (2018). Cd and Pb concentrations were observed to decrease by 40–90 % and 85–99% for all the three industrial areas. Metal index and heavy metal index values were found to be >1 for all locations. The risk quotient value > 1 was observed for all locations in the year 2015 but was found to increase further to a range of RQ 10–62 in the year 2018, inferring increased non-carcinogenic risk to consumers. The carcinogenic risk was significant with respect to Fe (0.2–0.7), Zn (0.001–0.007), and As (0.002–0.003) for all locations in the year 2015. This study concludes that groundwater in the three industrial areas is highly polluted and is not fit for human consumption. Further studies are required to explore possible control measures and develop methods to mitigate groundwater pollution, sustainable management, and optimized use to conserve it for future generations.
Changes in precipitation as a result of climate change are becoming a widespread issue all around the world. A lack of rainfall causes a meteorological drought. The short-term Standardized ...Precipitation Index (SPI-6) index was used to estimate meteorological drought conditions in Saudi Arabia's Asir region from 1970 to 2017. Innovative trend analysis (ITA), the Modified Mann–Kendall test (MMK), the Sequential Mann–Kendall test, and Morlet wavelet transformation were used to detect trend and periodicity in meteorological drought conditions in the Asir region. In addition, the meteorological drought conditions were forecasted by integrating Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) ensemble machine learning algorithm and an artificial neural network (ANN). Droughts of varying severity have become more frequent in Asir, according to the findings. In most stations, ITA and MMK tests have revealed a significant increase in drought. In all stations, the SQMK test revealed a big sudden year-over-year drought trend. With the exception of one station, all stations experienced extreme drought frequency discovered using Morlet Wavelet Transformation over a long period of time (10 years or more) (station 34). The PSO-ANN hybrid learning algorithm predicted SPI-6 values that had a strong correlation with actual SPI-6 values and also had lower error values, indicating that this model performed well. The PSO-ANN model predicts that the Asir region of Saudi Arabia will experience major moderate to extreme drought events in the coming years (2018–2025). The findings of this analysis will assist planners and policymakers in planning for the acquisition of sustainable agriculture in the study area.
In Saudi Arabia, identifying homogenous zones based on rainfall patterns is critical for ensuring a predictable and stable water resource and agriculture management strategy. As a result, the present ...research aims to identify Saudi Arabia’s homogeneous rainfall zones and examine rainfall patterns in these areas. By proposing a novel trend analysis technique with a particular graphical representation, this study utilises and compares the traditional Mann–Kendall (MK) test, modified MK test, and basic Sen-innovative trend analysis (ITA) method. Another approach is to use the Pettit change point test to objectively identify subcategories as “low” or “high.” The applications are based on 40-year rainfall records from 22 Saudi Arabian meteorological sites. K-means clustering and hierarchical clustering on principle component analysis (HCPC) were used to find homogeneous areas. The results of the homogeneous region identification revealed that the research area is divided into three clusters, each with three distinct climatic characteristics. Cluster 1 contains eight stations, whereas clusters 2 and 3 each have seven. The results of trend identification utilising the MK, MMK, and ITA tests revealed that cluster 1 had a falling rainfall trend, whereas cluster 2 had a very minor decreasing and increasing rainfall trend. Cluster 2 can be thought of as a transition zone. Cluster 3 observed an upward trend in rainfall. While the proposed new form of ITA produced similar results with more detailed analysis such as change point-based high and low value identification, and magnitude of decreasing and increasing trend, the proposed new form of ITA produced similar results with more detailed analysis such as change point-based high and low value identification. This study will serve as a foundation for future work by scientists and planners on the identification of climatic zones, the development of trend detection techniques, and the formulation of water resource management strategies.
Infectious diseases have long posed a significant threat to global health and require constant innovation in treatment approaches. However, recent groundbreaking research has shed light on a ...previously overlooked player in the pathogenesis of disease-the human microbiome. This review article addresses the intricate relationship between the microbiome and infectious diseases and unravels its role as a crucial mediator of host-pathogen interactions. We explore the remarkable potential of harnessing this dynamic ecosystem to develop innovative treatment strategies that could revolutionize the management of infectious diseases. By exploring the latest advances and emerging trends, this review aims to provide a new perspective on combating infectious diseases by targeting the microbiome.
Groundwater is a valuable resource because it is widely used for drinking, and for domestic, agricultural, and industrial purposes. Globally, Saudi Arabia is known to be one of the driest regions ...with scarce water resources. The shallow groundwater near the major cities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is becoming polluted because of industrial effluent discharge, use of fertilizers in agriculture and domestic sewerage in the region. This review tries to focus on groundwater quality problems due to anthropogenic or geogenic sources in the region of Saudi Arabia. In this paper, we focus on different water-quality variables, for groundwater quality evaluation and aquifer vulnerability assessment due to pollutants/contaminants present in groundwater. The current study gives a holistic understanding of different groundwater quality problems and therefore identifies the gaps of the previous studies and identifies the viewpoints of the future research dimensions. We describe the different groundwater quality problems related to toxicities of the fluoride, nitrate, and heavy metals and radionuclides in Saudi Arabia. A majority of the groundwater pollutants are of natural origin, but there is significant wastewater effluent discharge in the region that is also responsible for contamination of aquifers with heavy metals.
Investigating the spatiotemporal variation of meteorological parameters in the context of changing climate, particularly in countries where rainfall is sparse and agriculture is predominant ...contributor to economy, is vital to assess climate-induced changes and plan necessary adaptation strategies. To gain insight, trend analysis has been employed to inspect and quantify the change of precipitation in the highland of Aseer region of Saudi Arabia. Forty-eight-year long historical rainfall data series (1970–2017) from 30 rain gauges scattered across the study region was used for the analysis. Considering high spatial and temporal variability of rainfall data, the temporal scale chosen for the study was annual, rainy season (Mar–Jun), and bi-monthly. The trend was investigated using Mann–Kendall (MK) test. For serially correlated rainfall data series, modified Mann–Kendall (MMK) was applied for trend detection. Two variants of modified Mann-Kendall test were used in this study, namely, modified Mann–Kendall test using variance correction approach (mk1ylag) and bootstrapped Mann–Kendall Trend (pbmk) test. For quantification of trend magnitude, Theil–Sen approach (TSA) was used for calculation of Sen’s slope. Further, the abrupt change year detection in the trend was carried out using sequential Mann–Kendall (SQMK). All tests were performed using R-script. The application of abovementioned statistical test has shown statistically significant decreasing trend across majority of the stations at all temporal scale. It is observed that 10 stations located along the north-west to south-west boundary in mountainous region do not exhibit any significant trend. However, seven stations numbered as 14, 15, 38, 46, 514, 31 and 538 showed decreasing trends during most of the temporal scale. On analysing the trend magnitude of these seven stations, top three highest decreasing trend was found at station 31, 538, and 514 with trend magnitude as −9.325, −9.059, −7.516 mm/year, respectively. These three stations are located on north-west upper part of the study region. To understand the decade during which most of the stations experienced abrupt change, the period of 1970–2017 was broken down into four decades, 1980–1990; 1990–2000; 2000–2010; 2010–2017. Using SQMK, it was inferred that the decade of 2000–2010 witnessed drastic shift. Particularly for rainy season time series data, it is observed that the shift had occurred during the initial part of the decade 2000–2010 which can be attributed to increasing population and accelerated urbanisation. This result of declining and erratic trend of rainfall should be considered to design future strategies for agricultural sector, food security policy of the country and future water resource planning and management.
Wastewater consisting of different pharmaceuticals and drug residues is quite challenging to treat and dispose of. This situation poses a significant impact on the health aspect of humans and other ...biotic organisms in the environment. The main concern of hospital wastewater (HWW) is the resistivity towards treatment using the different conventional methods. For the treatment of HWW, this study was performed using an electro bioreactor using hospital wastewater. The electro reduction overcomes the effect of toxic elements in hospital wastewater, and biodegradation removes organic matter and nutrients from wastewater. This study investigated electro bioreactor performance for treating hospital wastewater connected with tubesettler. The parameters of chemical oxygen demand, nitrate, and phosphate concentration were analyzed to evaluate an influent and effluent from electro bioreactor and tubesettler. Also, Kinetic modelling for chemical oxygen demand, nitrate, and phosphate removal was done. The chemical oxygen demand was reduced by 76% in electro bioreactor, and 31% in tubesettler, 84%. The nitrate and phosphate were reduced within permissible discharge limits with a final effluent concentration of 1.4 mg L
and 3 mg L
. Further studies are required to assess the impact of pharmaceutical compounds in hospital wastewater on the system's performance.
Constructed wetland employs vegetation as a natural medium to remove pollutants from wastewater for this treatment. It is eco-friendly, sustainable, economical, low maintenance, low running cost, and ...easy to use. This has prompted several studies to investigate its performance in treating pollutants from the conventional to emerging contaminants category, including pharmaceutical compounds. However, there is still a lack of work on the impact of monsoons on the removal efficiency of pharmaceutically active compounds from wastewater. This study evaluated constructed wetland performance during the premonsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon seasons. A pilot-scale constructed wetland setup was established to conduct this study. The target compound included paracetamol, ibuprofen, carbamazepine, lorazepam, ciprofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole, and Fluvastatin. In the constructed wetland, for paracetamol and ibuprofen, NSAIDs concentration was observed to be 1503–6307 ngL−1 and 564–808 ngL−1. The concentrations of antibiotics, sulfamethoxazole, and ciprofloxacin were 16532–21635 ngL−1 and 734–1178 ngL−1, respectively. The carbamazepine, lorazepam, and Lutvastatin concentration range was 616–906 ngL−1, 2742–3775 ngL−1, and 694–2068 ngL−1, respectively. The hazard quotient approach was adopted to evaluate potential environmental risk from target compounds. The increase of paracetamol 33 %, ibuprofen 94 %, ciprofloxacin 242 %, Sulfamethoxazole 64 %, and carbamazepine 77 % validated the study hypothesis. However, a decrease of 15 % lorazepam and 43 % Fluvastatin inferred that dilution was inversely proportional to the removal of these compounds. The seasonal removal efficiency was in order pre-monsoon < post-monsoon < monsoon. Hospital wastewater had HQ values of 90, 100, and 130 for premonsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon, respectively. After treatment from the constructed wetland, the wastewater effluent had reduced HQ value to 53, 35, and 70 for premonsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon periods respectively. The HQ values were further reduced in tubesettler to 22, 11, and 28. Ciprofloxacin posed no significant risk. However, sulfamethoxazole posed a high risk during premonsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon season. Further works are required to analyze the removal mechanism through plant uptake, sediment bed, and biodegradation for a different season or climatic condition to present the real-time performance of constructed wetlands for treating wastewater loaded with pharmaceutical compounds.
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