Used engine oil as alternate binder for buildings – a comparative study

At present, global warming and climate change are the major challenges of foremost significance that substantially influence the earth's environment. The construction sector, especially buildings, is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Conventional building materials such as clay bricks and cement are considered as environmentally unfriendly due to enormous emissions during their production. This paper investigates the utilisation of used engine oil (UEO) as an alternative to the usual cementitious binders. Prototypes were produced from UEO to optimise the compositions and conditions of the process and tested for compressive and flexural strength, permeability and water absorption, respectively, following the ASTM standards. Furthermore, environmental and weathering aspects were also demonstrated to ensure the feasibility of the product. Samples constituting 5% by weight UEO have shown significant results for flexural stress, compressive strength and water absorption and also passed the permeability test. Moreover, 5% of UEO samples have negligible effect in strength for accelerated weathering conditions as demonstrated by the ultraviolet test. Conclusively, UEO can be used as a replacement to conventional binding materials such as a clay bricks and cement. Sustainable development and waste management are the hallmarks of this research. </jats:p

Role of Flavonoids as Wound Healing Agent

Flavonoids are found as the most abundant bioactive compounds all around the world. It is found in a number of medicinal plants that are used as wound healing agents in traditional medicinal uses such as Buddleja globosa, Moringa oleifera, Lam, Butea monosperma, Parapiptadenia rigida and Ononis spinosa. Flavonoids nowadays are being used in different formulation and wound healing dressings. Inflammation, proliferation and reepithelialization are involved in wound healing. Most of the wound healing medicinal plants possess multiple flavonoids that act as synergistic effect or combined effect. This chapter briefly reviews the role of flavonoids as wound healing agent in traditional and modern medicine

Endovascular coiling versus neurosurgical clipping for aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage is a frequently devastating condition with a reported incidence of between 10 and 15 people per 100,000 in the United States. Currently, according to the best of our knowledge, there are not enough meta-analyses available in the medical literature of the last five years which compare the risks and benefits of endovascular coiling with neurosurgical clipping.Methods: Twenty-two studies were selected out of the short-listed studies. The studies were selected on the basis of relevance to the topic, sample size, sampling technique, and randomization. Data were analyzed on Revman software.Results: Mortality was found to be significantly higher in the endovascular coiling group (odds ratio (OR): 1.17; confidence interval (CI): 95%, 1.04, 1.32). Re-bleeding was significantly higher in endovascular coiling (OR: 2.87; CI: 95%, 1.67, 4.93). Post-procedure complications were significantly higher in neurosurgical clipping compared to endovascular coiling (OR: 0.36; CI: 95%, 0.24, 0.56). Neurosurgical clipping was a 3.82 times better surgical technique in terms of re-bleeding (Z = 3.82, p = 0.0001). Neurosurgical clipping is a better technique requiring fewer re-treatments compared to endovascular coiling (OR: 4.64; CI: 95%, 2.31, 9.29). Endovascular coiling was found to be a better technique as it requires less rehabilitation compared to neurosurgical clipping (OR: 0.75; CI: 95%, 0.64,0.87).Conclusion: Neurosurgical clipping provides better results in terms of mortality, re-bleeding, and re-treatments. Endovascular coiling is a better surgical technique in terms of post-operative complications, favorable outcomes, and rehabilitation

Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods: GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings: Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990–2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0–9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10–24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10–24 years were also in the top ten in the 25–49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50–74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation: As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and developm nt investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens

Convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised controlled, open-label, platform trial

SummaryBackground Azithromycin has been proposed as a treatment for COVID-19 on the basis of its immunomodulatoryactions. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19.Methods In this randomised, controlled, open-label, adaptive platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19Therapy [RECOVERY]), several possible treatments were compared with usual care in patients admitted to hospitalwith COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 176 hospitals in the UK. Eligible and consenting patients wererandomly allocated to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus azithromycin 500 mg once perday by mouth or intravenously for 10 days or until discharge (or allocation to one of the other RECOVERY treatmentgroups). Patients were assigned via web-based simple (unstratified) randomisation with allocation concealment andwere twice as likely to be randomly assigned to usual care than to any of the active treatment groups. Participants andlocal study staff were not masked to the allocated treatment, but all others involved in the trial were masked to theoutcome data during the trial. The primary outcome was 28-day all-cause mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treatpopulation. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936.Findings Between April 7 and Nov 27, 2020, of 16 442 patients enrolled in the RECOVERY trial, 9433 (57%) wereeligible and 7763 were included in the assessment of azithromycin. The mean age of these study participants was65·3 years (SD 15·7) and approximately a third were women (2944 [38%] of 7763). 2582 patients were randomlyallocated to receive azithromycin and 5181 patients were randomly allocated to usual care alone. Overall,561 (22%) patients allocated to azithromycin and 1162 (22%) patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days(rate ratio 0·97, 95% CI 0·87–1·07; p=0·50). No significant difference was seen in duration of hospital stay (median10 days [IQR 5 to >28] vs 11 days [5 to >28]) or the proportion of patients discharged from hospital alive within 28 days(rate ratio 1·04, 95% CI 0·98–1·10; p=0·19). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, nosignificant difference was seen in the proportion meeting the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilationor death (risk ratio 0·95, 95% CI 0·87–1·03; p=0·24).Interpretation In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, azithromycin did not improve survival or otherprespecified clinical outcomes. Azithromycin use in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be restrictedto patients in whom there is a clear antimicrobial indication

Migratory dental implant in the maxillary antrum: A case report

Dental implants offer a predictable solution for the replacement of missing dentition. This report describes the case of a patient who underwent dental implant surgery several years ago but due to negligence on the part of previous dentist, her implant pushed into the maxillary sinus. The patient presented with vague pain and swelling in the right maxillary region. Orthopantomogram (OPG) showed that the implant was lying in the right maxillary sinus which the patient had no clue of. It was decided to retrieve the implant and later restore the missing teeth for definitive function and aesthetics. However, at the time of surgery, the implant in question was missing from the anticipated position as it had migrated to the most posterior-superior compartment of the antrum making its retrieval difficult in the first attempt. Later, a maxillofacial surgeon carried out the retrieval. Fortunately, the implant moved back to a more favourable position at the time of second surgery

Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Vege Roofing Tiles: An Innovative Bio-Composite

This paper presents a research study conducted on the usage of vegetable oil for the production of eco-friendly Vege roofing tiles. Conventional roofing tiles which constitute of concrete and clay are considered as environmentally unfriendly because of the significant amount of greenhouse gas emission during their production. An entirely novel methodology of utilizing catalyzed vegetable oil is proposed which can totally replace the use of traditional binders like cement and clay. Limited trails conducted on prototypes samples revealed that when catalyzed vegetable oil mixed with aggregates, properly compacted and heat cured at 190oC for 24 hours, have shown flexural strength up to 9.5 MPa. The superior strength gain of these prototype samples was considered due to the use of the catalyst with vegetable oil, which resulted in the initiation of catalytic oxy-polymerization set of reactions during heat curing, converting vegetable oil to solid, hard polymer which is considered responsible for strength achievement factor for these novel Vege roofing tiles. All prototypes samples were tested for performance indicators like water absorption, permeability, and flexural strength according to ASTM standards. Moreover, the susceptibility of oil leachate from the tiles oil, when tested using electrical conductivity method showed a negligible amount of the electrical conductivity. Moreover, the estimated embodied energy requirements for these tiles were found quite less when compared to conventional tiles.</jats:p

The rise of diarrheal illnesses in the children of Pakistan amidst COVID‐19: A narrative review

Abstract Background In Pakistan, 74 children out of 1000 lose their lives annually due to diarrheal illness. This commentary addresses the contributing factors aggravating this growing dilemma and the effect of a simultaneous rise in COVID‐19 cases in a healthcare system ready to collapse, along with providing recommendations to alleviate the problems causing this spike in diarrheal cases. Methods This narrative review has emphasized the causes of the spike in pediatric diarrheal illnesses in Pakistan as well as recommendations offered to lessen the burden by incorporating recent literature (n = 68). Tactics to tackle COVID‐19 alongside diarrheal illnesses were also included. Pakistan was chosen to be assessed due to its high burden of child and infant mortality due to preventable causes. Results The provision of safe drinking water, the proper use of Integrated Management of Newborn and Childhood Illnesses (IMNCI), adequate awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding, the use of correct rehydration techniques such as Oral Rehydration Therapy, and the crucial implementation of the EPI vaccination schedule can curb this increase in diarrheal cases. Conclusion The increased prevalence of diarrheal diseases amongst the pediatric population of Pakistan can be attributed largely due to unsanitary drinking water. Emphasis must be put in the provision of safe drinking water. During the first years of life, children can be kept safe from deadly pathogens just by adequate breastfeeding. IMNCI and EPI must also be properly implemented