Why physicians and lay people smoke and how can it be reduced?

Objective: The objective of this study was to find out the level of knowledge the physicians and lay people have pertaining to the effect of cigarettes, why certain physicians smoke and what measures could be applied to reduce the rate of smoking. Methods: A questionnaire was administered to the one hundred physicians who smoke, one hundred non-smoking physicians and one hundred lay people who smoke to determine their attitude towards this addition. Subjects were chosen using convenience sampling. The physicians were picked from six hospitals of Karachi. Results: When the smoking physicians were asked what could motivate them to stop smoking, majority of them said that an occurrence of a smoking related illness would. Majority of the physicians who do not smoke felt that individual will was the greatest force keeping them from smoking. When asked how smoking can be reduced in Pakistan, majority of the physicians, both smoking and non-smoking, favoured mass health education. Lay smokers expressed marked ignorance about deleterious effects of cigarette smoke. Like smoking physicians, majority of them said that occurrence of an illness related to smoking would effectively motivate them to stop smoking. CONCLUSION: Based on this survey we conclude that mass health education and enforcement of the ban on smoking in public places will effectively reduce the number of smokers. There is a need to educate physicians and the general public about the cardiac and carcinogenic effects of smoking

Emergency Intraperitoneal Onlay Mesh Repair of Incarcerated Spigelian Hernia

This report suggests that Spigelian hernia in an emergency setting may be easily and quickly repaired with an intraperitoneal onlay method using composite mesh

Radiation-induced tongue myokymia with hypoglossal nerve damage, mimicker of motor neuron disease

This teaching case of tongue myokymia offers clear electromyographic findings of myokymic discharges on two different sweeps. Radiation-induced tongue myokymia should be considered in the differential diagnosis for motor neuron disease (MND)

Impact of Long-Term Loading on Reinforced Concrete Beams Made with Partial Replacement of Coarse Aggregates with Recycled Aggregates from Old Concrete

This research work presents an experimental evaluation of the effect of sustained loading on reinforced concrete beams made with 50% replacement of natural coarse aggregates with aggregates from old concrete. A total of 9 RC beams were cast, 6 with natural coarse aggregates and 3 with recycled concrete aggregates. All beams were cured for 28 days in standard fashion. Among the first batch, 3 beams were used to test under short term loading till failure. An application of 50% of short-term loading followed on all beams assembled on purpose made frames. All beams were monitored for deflection, strain, and cracking. Both deflection and strain remained within limits. Crack monitoring revealed maximum crack width 0.5 mm. After six months of sustained load, beams were removed from the frames and tested in universal load testing machine with central point load till failure. The load-deflection pattern of all beams was observed to be almost similar and 22.12% higher in recycled concrete beams than all-natural aggregate beams. The results show promising use of recycled concrete aggregates in new concrete subjected to sustained loading

Effects of lipoproteins on cyclo-oxygenase and lipoxygenase pathways in human platelets

The products of arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism in platelets play an important role in platelet shape change, adhesion and aggregation which may participate in the pathogenesis of ischemic heart disease and thrombosis. Since lipoproteins are also involved in the pathogenesis of thrombo-embolic disorders, the effect of human lipoproteins (HDL, LDL, VLDL) on AA metabolism in human platelets was investigated. Lipoproteins were separated by density gradient zonal ultracentrifugation. The effects of lipoproteins on production of AA metabolites in human platelets i.e., thromboxane A2 (TXA2) and hydroxy-eicosatetraenoic acids (HETEs) were examined using radiometric thin layer chromatography coupled with automated data integrator system. In human platelets, HDL inhibited 12-HETE and TXA2 formation in a concentration-dependent manner. LDL had a strong inhibitory effect on TXA2 production and a weak inhibitory effect on 12-HETE production. VLDL had no effect on platelet AA metabolism. These findings point to a new facet of lipoproteins action and suggest that lipoproteins may have a physiological role in the regulation of AA metabolism in platelets

Effect of Water-Cement Ratio on Flexural Strength of RC Beams Made with Partial Replacement of Coarse Aggregates with Coarse Aggregates from Old Concrete

This research paper presents an experimental evaluation of the effect of water-cement ratio on the flexural strength of reinforced concrete beams made with 50% replacement of coarse aggregates with recycled concrete aggregates (RCA). 72 reinforced concrete beams were cast using 0.54, 0.6, 0.65 and 0.70 water-cement ratio. In each ratio, 12 beams were cast using RCA and 3 beams were cast using all-natural coarse aggregates (NCA). Beams were cured for 7 and 28 days. After curing, all beams were tested with central point load in a universal load testing machine. From the obtained results, it is observed that the maximum reduction in flexural strength of RCA beams is about 28% when compared to the 0.54 w/c ratio beams of the same group and 31.75% in comparison to NCA beams cast with same w/c ratio. The maximum deflection and average strain in beams remained within limits. The observed cracking pattern shows shear failure of all beams

Flexural Stress-Strain Behavior of RC Beams Made with Partial Replacement of Coarse Aggregates with Coarse Aggregates from Old Concrete: Part-1: 1:2:4 Ratio

Occupancy, particularly in urban areas, requires more space than ever. Space constraints need erection of high rise buildings in place of short height buildings. This need demolishing of old structures which creates huge quantities of demolished concrete. One of its best disposals is its use in new concrete. Therefore, this research work uses 50% replacement of natural coarse aggregates with coarse aggregates from old concrete to study the flexural stress-strain behavior of reinforced concrete beams. Total of 12 reinforced concrete beams (900x150x150 mm) were cast with 2#4 bars in tension and 2#4 bars in compression zones. Ordinary Portland cement with hill sand and crush aggregate was used in 1:2:4 proportions. Water cement ratio used is 0.54. The beams were cast in two batches, one with 100% natural aggregates and another with 50% natural coarse aggregates replaced with coarse aggregates from old concrete. In each batch 3 beams were cured for 7 and 28 days respectively. After curing all beams were tested with central point load. The beams were monitored at regular intervals for load, displacement, strain and load until first crack. The beams under study were compared with the controlled specimen. The results were in good agreement with the normal concrete specimen. Maximum reduction in flexural stress is recorded as 8.8% for 7-day cured beams and 5.52% for 28-day cured specimen. Thus, the use of coarse aggregates from demolished concrete in new concrete is proved to be promising partial replacement of coarse aggregate in terms of flexural stress-strain relationship