Tibial Shaft Fractures: A Biomechanical and Clinical Approach

Among the problems associated with the use of tibial functional bracing for the management of tibial shaft fractures, are post-fracture ankle stiffness and the duration of immobilisation. This study was undertaken to investigate in detail these two problems. It involved the design and assessment of a new type of brace called the 2 in 1 functional brace. The study was designed in 3 parts. Part 1 deals with the problem of clarifying the biomechanical function of the brace. It led to the development of a method for estimating the three dimensional forces and moments carried by the limb-brace complex at the level of the fracture. For this five volunteer patients, treated with a 2 in 1 brace for tibial shaft fractures, were each tested on 3 separate occasions. This study led to the conclusion that the brace is neither an off-loading, nor an anti-buckling device, but functions with a combination of these two mechanisms. The data also highlighted the importance of the removable "foot-piece" in the design of the brace for optimum healing of tibial fractures. The information obtained allowed rationalisation of the new design. Part 2 of the study concentrated on the problem of determining the optimum duration of immobilisation in the brace. A non-invasive method of assessing healing by measurement of fracture stiffness was developed. This method gave encouraging results and it was decided to computerise the system. The efficacy of the system was assessed clinically in a trial on 10 patients. The results were encouraging and it is recommended that the system be tested in a larger controlled trial, before its routine use. Part 3 of the study tested the new design of brace in a clinical trial on 80 patients. The trial was conducted to test the efficacy of the design in a clinical environment and to assess its effect on the stiffness of the ankle and sub-talar joints following fracture healing. The brace gave good clinical results with a mean healing time of 97.5 days in the series. The ranges of lower limb joint motion were found to be near normal at a mean follow-up of 16 months, indicating the success of the design in decreasing the incidence of post-fracture ankle and sub-talar joint stiffness. The conclusions from the study suggest that a controlled trial is justified to compare the efficacy of the "2 in 1 brace" against other methods of managing tibial shaft fractures. The data from this series showed that the nature (simple or open) of the fracture, axial stability of the fracture, fracture fragment apposition, treatment modality and time of brace application did affect the outcome of fracture healing

Reclamation of Degraded Land through Agroforestry Introduction in Bangladesh

The challenge is now daunting how feed more than six billion people (nearly 16 billion by 2020) even as key resources become scarcer. Almost 25% of the world’s land area is degrading and about two billion people directly depend on degraded areas. In china more than 400 million are affected by land degradation. Particular references show that land degradation is a vital problem in Bangladesh and as a great threat of agricultural productivity. A land use system called Agroforestry is being popular in many countries around the world to protect the land from various level of land degradation. Studies from different dimensions show that agroforestry can check soil erosion to some extent, reduce salinity, alkalinity, acidity, desertification’s and increase soil fertility level. I also improve soil healths which keep land suitable for agricultural production. This passage mainly focuses on the land degradation situation in Bangladesh and potentialities of agroforestry on the basis of various reviews. Keywords: Agroforestry System, Land Degradation, Deforestatio

PENGARUH EKSTRAK DAUN TANAMAN BIDARA (Ziziphus mauritiana) TERHADAP HISTOPATOLOGY HATI MENCIT (Mus musculus) YANG DIBERI ALKOHOL

Alkohol merupakan senyawa organik yang mengandung gugus fungsi hidroksil dan sering dikonsumsi dalam bentuk minuman oleh sebagian orang. Minuman beralkohol menimbulkan banyak masalah kesehatan, salah satunya adalah kerusakan hati. Tanaman bidara merupakan salah satu tanaman herbal yang dapat menyembuhkan berbagai penyakit karena mengandung senyawa salah satunya adalah fenolat. Permasalahan yang muncul sekarang adalah bagaimana pengaruh Ekstrak Daun Bidara (Ziziphus mauritinia) terhadap Histopatologi Hati Mencit (Mus musculus) yang diberi alkohol? Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengaruh Ekstrak Daun Bidara (Ziziphus mauritnia) terhadap Histopatologi Hati Mencit (Mus musculus) yang diberi alkohol. Metode penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah eksperimen post-test only group design research dengan Rancangan Acak Lengkap (RAL) dengan teknik pengumpulan data berupa observasi dan dokumentasi serta teknik analisis data yaitu uji normalitas lanjutan dan uji homogenitas dilanjutkan dengan Satu tes. Cara ANOVA. Penelitian ini menggunakan alkohol 70% dosis 1 ml/hari dan Ekstrak Daun Bidara 100 mg/kg BB, 150 mg/kg BB dan 200 mg/kg BB dengan dosis 0,5 ml/hari/ekor selama 14 hari. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian yang telah dilakukan, terdapat pengaruh Ekstrak Daun Bidara (Ziziphus maurinitia) terhadap Histopatologi Hati Mencit (Mus musculus) yang diberi alkohol. Hal ini terlihat dari kerusakan akibat alkohol yaitu inflamasi, nekrosis dan kongesti yang membaik saat diberikan Ekstrak Daun Bidara (Ziziphus mauritnia). Artinya penelitian yang telah dilakukan dapat menjawab semua rumusan masalah yang telah ditentuka

Etiological Spectrum of Pregnancy-Related Acute Renal Failure among Females at a Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: Acute renal failure in pregnancy can be induced by any of the disorders leading to renal failure in the general population, such as acute tubular necrosis due to infection, glomerulonephritis related to lupus, or drug toxicity. There are, however, pregnancy complications characteristic of each trimester that can result in renal failure. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of various causes of pregnancy-related acute renal failure among females presenting to a tertiary care hospital

The Development of Employees’ Knowledge Sharing Behavior through Team Innovation Climate and Organization Culture

The purpose of this research is to provide empirical evidence concerning the impact of team innovation climate on knowledge sharing behavior and individuals’ altruistic intentions in software sector. A survey base study was conducted. Survey based-data was collected from 319 employees at software center in Pakistan. The results of this study revealed that all the constructs of team innovation climate had positive impact on altruistic intention and knowledge sharing behavior. Moreover, altruistic intention and organization culture had positive impact on knowledge sharing behavior. However, it was found that one construct of team innovation climate (Participative safety) did not have impact on organization culture. The present research contributes to the literature pertaining to the psychosocial sides of knowledge sharing behaviors. Keywords: Team innovation climate, altruistic intention, organization culture, knowledge sharing behavior

Chemical, Colour and Strength Changes of Eco-friendly Hot Oil Treatment on 15 Year-old Cultivated Acacia Hybrid

The chemical, colour and strength properties of thermally modified cultivated 15-year-old Acacia hybrid were investigated. Logs of A. hybrid were harvested and cut at the bottom, middle and top sections. The wood later underwent hot oilthermal modification using palm oil at temperatures 180°C, 200°C and 220°C for 30, 60 and 90 min. Untreated wood was used as control. The hot oil thermal modification process caused some features changed in the chemical composition, colour appearances and strength properties of A. hybrid wood. Parameters such as temperatures and treatment time were closely monitored as they influence the chemical, colour and strength changes in the treated wood. Temperatures of 180°C, 200°C and 220°C, and treatment time of 1 hr, 2 hrs. and 3 hrs. were used in the study. The degradation in holocellulose, cellulose, and hemicellulose contents was recognized when acacia woods were exposed to oil thermally modified process. Holocellulose and celulose degraded with the increasing of treatment temperature and duration of heating exposure, while lignin showed the increment in content through this treatment. The colour changes in the sapwood and heartwood were measured using the Minolta Chroma-meter CR-310 and the results are presented according to the CIE L*a*b* colour co-ordinates system. The results show that temperature at certain treatment time enhanced and darkened the treated wood. The colour of the treated sapwood can be enhanced to match the colour of the natural A. hybrid heartwood. The strength properties of the oil heat treated A. hybrid wood decreases in values of both MOR and MOE throughout thetreatment process. The decreases in values were influenced by temperature and duration of the treatment