An assessment of the market potential for small solar powered desalination plants

Development and techno-economic analysis of small modular nuclear reactor and desalination system across Middle East and North Africa region

Cancer is an increasing problem in the Middle Eastern (ME) countries. It is the fourth leading cause of death in this region. At present, resources for cancer control in the ME countries as a whole are not only inadequate but directed almost exclusively to treatment. In the majority of countries of this region, cancer is generally diagnosed when it is at a relatively advanced stage. Pain is prevalent among people who have cancer, and is one of the most feared and burdensome symptoms. Pain negatively affects the quality of life of patients with cancer. Inadequate and inappropriate pain management of patients who experienced cancer pain has been documented in several studies and this is possibly due to insufficient understanding of pain assessment and management. Middle Eastern countries include a wide range of economically diverse countries, from technically advanced countries with high level cancer care to countries with little or no cancer treatment capabilities. There are large differences in population size, wealth and health expenditure. Palliative care (PC) is an urgent humanitarian need worldwide for people with cancer and other chronic fatal diseases; relieving pain and suffering is an essential part of PC. The need for improved palliative care in ME countries is great. Of 58 million people who die every year, 45 million die in developing countries. An estimated 60% (27 million) of these people in developing countries would benefit from palliative care, and this number is growing as chronic diseases such as cancer rise rapidly. From the situation analysis of palliative care in the ME countries, suggesting that pain relief is insufficient, improvements in palliative care delivery are a high priority.We reviewed the situation of pain management and pain control in Lebanon and the ME countries, the barriers that are present, and we propose the priorities and a reform for an integrated approach to address the problem of under-treated pain at all levels:

The experience of food insecurity (FI) may be lived differently by men and women; little is known about gender differences in perceived life satisfaction (LS) at the same levels of FI. It is hypothesized that FI is a strong determinant of low LS and that at the same FI level, women will report lower perceived LS than men.
 Preliminary analysis used data from 12 Asian and 4 Middle Eastern (ME) countries collected by the Gallup World Poll in 2014, a nationally representative survey of adult individuals worldwide. Cross tab analyses and multiple logistic regression were used to investigate whether being food insecure and being female were risk factors for low LS, controlling for age and marital status. Two dichotomous indicators, LS and FI, were created: one using a single question adapted from The Cantril Self‐Anchoring Striving Scale; and another based on results of the Food Insecurity Experience Scale.
 FI was significantly associated with low LS in all 16 countries explored (OR: 2.06‐5.43). Contrary to the hypothesis, in 3 out of 4 ME countries women were significantly less likely than men to report low LS (OR: .478‐.602) at the same FI level. Similarly, in all but 2 Asian countries women were less likely than men to report low LS at the same FI level, with statistically significant ORs < 1.0 in 7 countries (OR:.64‐.79). Exploratory analysis shows women were more likely to be FI than men in all except 2 countries.
 Perceptions of life satisfaction differ within food insecure populations, notably between genders. This calls for continued research on why LS is viewed differently by men and women, what the consequences are then for FI populations, and what implications exist for policies aimed at promoting food security.

The application of seawater desalination technology using a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane has been expanding because it requires less energy compared with other distillation methods. Even in Middle Eastern countries where energy costs are lower such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait, almost all desalination plants where only water production is required have adopted the RO method. However, large plants in excess of half mega-ton size are required, and Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) operation lacks reliability due to heavy biofouling and large amounts of briny discharge contaminated with chemicals. For reliable desalination systems with lower environmental impact, membrane-processing technology, including biotechnology (such as marine bacteria), has been examined as national research in Japan in the “Mega-ton Water System” project. We examined the influence of chlorination on marine bacteria using the fluorescence microscopic observation method and found that the effect of chlorination is limited. Chlorination sterilization triggers biofouling and sodium bisulfate (SBS) addition as a de-chlorinating agent also triggers biofouling, so a process with no chlorine or SBS addition would reduce biofouling. As polyamide SWRO membranes have low chlorine resistivity, such a process would enable longer membrane life in real plants. We used a biofouling monitoring technology, the Membrane Biofilm Formation Rate (mBFR), to design a process that involves no chlorine or SBS addition and verified it in the Arabian Gulf Sea, of Saudi Arabia, which is one of the most difficult and challenging seawaters in which to control biofouling. Furthermore, by minimizing the addition of a sterilizer, the desalination system became more environmentally friendly.

Solar-thermal powered desalination: Its significant challenges and potential

At present scarcity of potable and drinking water is a pressing issue in certain parts of the Middle East region. Important advances have been made in desalination technologies but relatively high capital and running costs restrict their wide application even in cases when solar energy is used. Flat-plate solar collectors mainly have been employed in the past to distill water in compact desalination systems. Currently, it is possible to replace the above collectors by more advanced evacuated tube ones, which are available on the market at a similar price. This paper describes results of experimental and theoretical investigations of the operation of a solar still desalination system coupled with a heat pipe evacuated tube collector with the aperture area of about 1.7 m2. A multi-stage solar still water desalination system was designed to recover latent heat from evaporation and condensation processes in four stages. The variation in the solar radiation (insolation) during a typical mid-summer day in the Middle East region was simulated using an array of 110 halogen flood lights covering the area of the solar collector. The synthetic brackish lab water solution was used for experiments and its total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity and pH were measured prior to and after the distillation process. The system’s operation was numerically simulated using a mathematical model based on the system of ordinary differential equations describing mass and energy conservation in each stage of the system. The experimental and theoretical values for the total daily distillate output were found to be in good agreement. The results of tests demonstrate that the system produces about 6.5 kg of clean water per day and have the distillation efficiency equal to 76%. However, the overall efficiency of the laboratory test rig at this stage of investigations was found to be low at the level of 26% and this is due to excessive heat losses in the system. The analysis of the distilled water shows that its quality is within the World Health Organization guidelines. Further research is being performed to improve the performance of the installation.

Water is one of the earth's most abundant resources, covering about three-quarters of the planet's surface. Yet, there is an acute shortage of potable water in many countries, especially in Africa and the Middle East region. The reason for this apparent contradiction is, of course, that ∼97.5% of the earth's water is salt water in the oceans and only 2.5% is fresh water in ground water, lakes and rivers and this supplies most human and animal needs. Tackling the water scarcity problem must involve better and more economic ways of desalinating seawater. This article presents a comprehensive review of water desalination systems, whether operated by conventional energy or renewable energy, to convert saline water into fresh water. These systems comprise the thermal phase change and membrane processes, in addition to some alternative processes. Thermal processes include the multistage flash, multiple effects boiling and vapour compression, cogeneration and solar distillation, while the membrane processes include reverse osmosis, electrodialysis and membrane distillation. It also covers the integration into desalination systems of potential renewable energy resources, including solar energy, wind and geothermal energy. Such systems are increasingly attractive in the Middle East and Africa, areas suffering from shortages of fresh water but where solar energy is plentiful and where operational and maintenance costs are low. The advantages and disadvantages, including the economic and environmental aspects, of these desalination systems are presented.

The vast majority of commercial desalination systems utilise one of four desalination processes: reverse osmosis (RO), multi-stage flash (MSF), multiple-effect distillation (MED) and mechanical vapour compression (MVC). A small fraction of desalination systems utilise electrodialysis (ED) technology to treat low salinity brackish water. Worldwide, RO desalination systems account for close to 50% of overall capacity. However, in the arid countries of the Middle East, the majority of desalination systems utilise evaporation processes: MSF, MED and MVC. Although, the energy requirement of evaporation processes is higher than that for membrane processes, distillation desalination systems will continue to dominate Middle East markets for some time to come, due to the large base of thermal desalination units, with proven high operational reliability and the convenience of their integration with power plants (dual purpose systems). With the growing trend to privatise the desalination market in the Middle East, the proportion of desalination capacity supplied by RO will increase, due to the better economics of the RO process. In this chapter, an up-to-date review of industrial units has been performed in order to present the most common features of industrial operating units. This review includes typical design parameters, operating conditions and process performances. Moreover the developments that have taken place over the years are presented, along with examples of recent installations and their production capacities, performance parameters and locations.KeywordsReverse OsmosisDuplex Stainless SteelFeed WaterUnit Product CostReverse Osmosis MembraneThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Design and behaviour estimate of a novel concentrated solar-driven power and desalination system using S–CO2 Brayton cycle and MSF technology

ABSTRACTBackgroundEnd‐of‐life care (EoLC) in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in Middle Eastern (ME) countries is influenced by cultural and legal constraints, creating unique ethical dilemmas and challenges for clinicians. Ethical debates surround the acceptability of withholding and withdrawing treatments that sustain patients' lives.AimTo collate and synthesise existing evidence on the EoLC experiences, attitudes and perspectives of ICU clinicians in Middle Eastern countries.Study DesignA systematic integrative review was conducted. Searches were completed in AMED, CINAHL, EMBASE, Medline, PubMed and Google Scholar for studies published between 2012 and 2024. Quantitative results were translated into textual data and, along with the qualitative findings, were analysed using the thematic synthesis approach.ResultsTwenty‐seven studies met the inclusion criteria: 16 quantitative, 10 qualitative and one mixed methods. Five themes were developed: (1) Challenges in EoLC decision‐making in ICUs; (2) Cultural and ethical issues impacting the delivery of EoLC; (3) The need for comprehensive EoLC guidelines; (4) EoLC education and training for ICU clinicians; and (5) holistic support systems for ICU clinicians.ConclusionsChallenges in providing EoLC in Middle Eastern ICUs concern communication, problematic interactions with families and decision‐making. Cultural and ethical issues are also found to affect EoLC delivery, pointing to the importance of comprehensive and clear guidelines. Future research could explore EoLC from the perspective of a wider range of stakeholders in Middle Eastern countries and determine how international best practices can be adjusted to Middle Eastern ICUs to enhance EoLC provision.Relevance to Clinical PracticeTo enhance EoLC in Middle Eastern ICUs, clinicians need to undergo training on communication skills, cultural sensitivity and family involvement strategies. Organisational support is required to better guide communication with families and palliative care decisions.

Context: Infections caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) pose a major challenge to the public health and also results in high mortality and morbidity rates in different parts of the world, especially in children. This study performed a systematic review and a meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies conducted during the years 2000-16 to clarify the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in children and adolescents younger than 16 years of age in EMRO and Middle Eastern (E and M) countries. Evidence Acquisition: Scientific databases including PubMed, Ovid, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Persian databases were searched for relevant articles published from January 1, 2000 to October 31, 2016. Based on the results of homogeneity tests (a significant homogeneity test and a large I2 value) a random effects model was used to aggregate the collected data and calculate the pooled prevalence estimates. Results: We included 20 articles in our meta-analysis. The pooled HBsAg prevalence in children of E and M countries was 2.73% (95% CI: %1.73% - 3.72%). The prevalence rates in the EMRO and Middle Eastern countries were 1.85% (95% CI: 1.27% - 2.43%) and 2.66% (95% CI: 1.31% - 4.01%), respectively. The prevalence rates amongst children in nations considered in more than one study were 0.81% (95% CI: 0% - 1.74%) in Iran, 2.64% (95% CI: 1.63% - 3.64%) in Pakistan, and 5.83% (95% CI: 2.99% - 8.67%) in Turkey. Conclusions: Based on the world health organization classification of HBV prevalence, intermediate HBsAg prevalence rates were detected in children of E and M countries during 2000 - 2016. Nevertheless, the prevalence rates were low in several included countries in mentioned regions.

The professions of nursing and midwifery currently face many challenges, such as an increasing number of patients with communicable and non-communicable diseases, which strains resources and requires nurses and midwives to develop their knowledge and skills to a higher level. This is also true in the Middle East, including the Mediterranean East and North African regions, which means it is vitally important that nurses and midwives have access to and use current research to inform their practice, with research targeting the most relevant issues, including complex humanitarian emergency situations that increase health issues and challenge health infrastructure. For this to be achieved, a scoping review of the indexed clinical nursing and midwifery literature in the Middle East was performed to identify gaps in clinical nursing and midwifery research and areas requiring focus. A search of PubMed, CINAHL/EBSCO, EMBASE, the Jordanian Database for Nursing Research resulted in 210/1398 articles which met the inclusion criteria: (1) original research, (2) conducted in Middle Eastern countries as defined by the World Health Organization, (3) had at least one nurse or midwife author (but not limited to nurses in Middle Eastern countries), (4) published in an indexed, peer-reviewed journal between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2015, (5) included patient outcomes in the results, (6) written in English or Arabic and (7) included an abstract. Studies were found from 10 of the 22 countries; the majority (n = 199; 94.76%) was conducted in three countries: Jordan, Iran and Lebanon. Most studies (n = 158, 75.24%) used quantitative designs, primarily cross-sectional, descriptive studies (n = 106) and the most frequently researched topics were related to maternal child health and women's health (n = 95, 48.5%). Strategies are needed to encourage collaboration between nursing and midwifery faculty members including clinicians to assure that clinical research is disseminated and used to improve patient care.

ContextThe world health organization (WHO) recommends that all blood donations should be screened for evidence of infections, such as hepatitis B. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in blood donors at the eastern Mediterranean region office (EMRO) of the WHO and middle eastern countries.Evidence AcquisitionA meta-analysis was carried out based on the results of an electronic literature search of PubMed, Ovid, Scopus, and Google Scholar for articles published from January 1, 2000, to August 31, 2015. In accordance with a significant homogeneity test and a large value of I2, the random effects model was used to aggregate data from the studies and produce the pooled estimates using the “Metan” command.ResultsWe included 66 eligible studies. The pooled prevalence of HBsAg in blood donors of both EMRO and middle eastern (E and M) countries was 2.03% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.79 – 2.26). In addition, the prevalence rates in the EMRO countries was 1.99% (95% CI: 1.84 – 2.14) and 1.62% in the Middle Eastern countries (95% CI: 1.36 – 1.88). The prevalence among blood donors with more than one study was 1.58% in Egypt, 0.58% in Iran, 0.67% in Iraq, 2.84% in Pakistan, 3.02% in Saudi Arabia, 1.68% in Turkey, and 5.05% in Yemen.ConclusionsBased on the WHO classification of hepatitis B virus (HBV) prevalence, the prevalence of HBsAg in blood donors from E and M countries reached an intermediate level. However, there were low prevalence levels in some E and M countries.

Oasys opens Dubai office to help it support projects in the Middle East

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgent need for innovative healthcare solutions to address rapid population growth and healthcare service disparities, especially in resource-constrained settings. Telemedicine, which enables remote patient-provider communication and care, offers great potential to improve accessibility, efficiency, and quality of healthcare delivery. However, its development in Middle Eastern (ME) countries has been relatively slow and insufficiently monitored. This scoping review summarizes recent telemedicine implementations and their associated challenges in ME countries while offering recommendations for policymakers. Methods: A search of Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science for articles published between January 2019 and August 2023 yielded 437 publications, of which 34 were included for data analysis. Study data were categorized using country of origin, study design, data collection methods, study subjects, telemedicine interventions, and major findings. Results: The key insights highlight the need for integrating innovative technologies into healthcare systems, increasing public awareness and education on telemedicine, diversifying research to address regional priorities, and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration to accelerate telemedicine adoption. Conclusion: In conclusion, while telemedicine has made significant progress in ME countries, ongoing challenges must be addressed to ensure equitable and effective healthcare delivery for all.