CO2 laser tonsillectomy: a comparison with conventional technique

Objective: To define the advantages and disadvantages of CO2 laser tonsillectomy compared with conventional method. Study design: Retrospective review. Setting: Department of Otolaryngology & Head and Neck Surgery, Apollo Hospitals Dhaka. Materials and Methods: This study included fifty two patients with tonsillectomies from October 2007 to May 2008. The patients were diagnosed with history and clinical examination. Preoperative investigations have been done for general anaesthesia. Patients were intubated with laser reinforced endotracheal tube and fire precautions were taken. Laser tonsillectomy has been avoided below 10 years in our centre. 52 patients aged 10-35 years underwent tonsillectomy in a period of 10 months. Out of them 12 patients underwent laser tonsillectomies. The data of each patient included intra-operative blood loss, operation time, postoperative pain and postoperative healing. Results: All Patients were admitted for 24 hours. Intra operative blood loss was dramatically less with the use of CO2 laser than that of conventional method (5ml vs. 18ml). Profuse bleeding did not prolong this time especially in laser technique. The incidence of postoperative reactionary hemorrhage were not significantly different between two techniques. 2 patients suffered with secondary haemorrhage in conventional technique and in laser technique one patient had secondary haemorrhage. There was statistically significant difference in duration of operating time (15 vs. 40 min). Both methods of surgery had non-identical effect on post operative pain. Postoperative pain was less in laser technique than that of conventional technique in 7 days postoperative follow up. Leukocytic membrane formation and separation and final healing were earlier in laser technique than in conventional technique. Conclusion: CO2 laser is a safe and acceptable method for tonsillectomy. CO2 laser tonsillectomy reduces operation time and intraoperative blood loss. Postoperative pain is less than conventional technique and healing is also earlier in laser technique

SEED PRIMING AND EXOGENOUS APPLICATION OF SALICYLIC ACID ENHANCE GROWTH AND PRODUCTIVITY OF OKRA (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) BY REGULATING PHOTOSYNTHETIC ATTRIBUTES

Low and uneven germination is a serious problem for the successful production of okra seedlings. Priming of seeds as well as supplementation of different plant growth regulators exhibited better response in successful seedling production which eventually results in higher yield. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of seed priming and exogenous application of salicylic acid (SA) on okra seed germination and plant development. The okra seeds were primed by 1 mM and 2 mM of SA for 60 minutes whereas the seeds were washed several times with distilled water for the control treatment. Similar doses of SA have been exogenously sprayed to the 12 days okra seedlings for 4 days. The results of the study revealed that seed priming with SA enhanced germination percentage (GP), increased coleoptile length and weight, shoot and root length, and seed vigor index (SVI). Similarly, exogenous application of 1 mM SA increased relative water content (RWC), contents of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll while a higher dose of SA (2 mM) degraded the leaf pigments. Supplementation of SA altered photosynthetic attributes, net photosynthetic (Pn) and transpiration rate (Tr), stomatal conductance (Gs), and water use efficiency (WUE). Moreover, SA treatment reduced the time duration of flower bud initiation and days to first flowering and enhanced the yield per plant. The results of this study indicated that seed priming and exogenous application of SA enhanced germination and okra productivity by regulating RWC and photosynthetic attributes where 1 mM SA is more effective compared to 2 mM SA

Enhancement of Solar PV Hosting Capacity in a Remote Industrial Microgrid: A Methodical Techno-Economic Approach

To meet the zero-carbon electricity generation target as part of the sustainable development goals (SDG7), remote industrial microgrids worldwide are considering the uptake of more and more renewable energy resources, especially solar PV systems. Estimating the grid PV hosting capacity plays an essential role in designing and planning such microgrids. PV hosting capacity assessment determines the maximum PV capacity suitable for the grid and the appropriate electrical location for PV placement. This research reveals that conventional static criteria to assess the PV hosting capacity fail to ensure the grid’s operational robustness. It hence demands a reduction in the theoretical hosting capacity estimation to ensure grid compatible post-fault voltage and frequency recovery. Energy storage technologies, particularly fast-responsive batteries, can potentially prevent such undesirable scenarios; nevertheless, careful integration is required to ensure an affordable cost of energy. This study proposes a novel methodical techno-economic approach for an off-grid remote industrial microgrid to enhance the PV hosting capacity by integrating battery energy storage considering grid disturbance and recovery scenarios. The method has been validated in an industrial microgrid with a 2.6 MW peak demand in a ready-made garment (RMG) factory having a distinctive demand pattern and unique constraints in remote Bangladesh. According to the analysis, integrating 2.5 MW of PV capacity and a 1.2 MVA battery bank to offset existing diesel and grid consumption would result in an energy cost of BDT 14.60 per kWh (USD 0.1719 per kWh). For high PV penetration scenarios, the application of this method offers higher system robustness, and the financial analysis indicates that the industries would not only benefit from positive environmental impact but also make an economic profit

Effect of Foliar Sprays of Phenylalanine, Nano-potash and Potassium Sulphate on Fruit Quality Attributes of Apple (Malus x domestica Borkh) cv. Ambri

The present investigation was carried out at Experimental field of Ambri Apple Research Centre (AARC), Shopian, SKUAST-Kashmir, during the year 2022-2023. Eight treatments, viz; control (water spray), potassium sulphate (5 g per litre of water), phenylalanine (@ 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3%), nano-potash (@ 1, 2 and 3ml/l of water) were selected for colour improvement. The treatments were applied 30 days prior to harvest. The experiment was laid in complete randomised block design with 3 replications having 3 trees per replication. The results showed that all the treatments outperformed control in terms of chemical characteristics. The treatment T4 (Phenylalanine @ 0.3%) significantly excelled in all the treatments applied. Significantly higher anthocyanin content (14.41 mg/100g), antioxidants (75.71 %), total sugars (12.98 %), TSS (16.23 %), fruit chlorophyll (0.59 mg/g fw) and fruit ascorbic acid (23.93 %) was recorded in T4 (Phenylalanine @ 0.3%) as compared to other treatments. According to the current study, apple cultivar Ambri responded favourably to the application of foliar phenylalanine in improving chemical traits, which otherwise lacks in this cultivar. The application of Phe @ 0.3% , 30 days prior to harvest proved superior in enhancing the quality attributes, notably the anthocyanin content of apple cv. Ambri