Efficient and sustainable extraction of uranium from aquatic solution using biowaste-derived active carbon

Efficient and cost-effective biosorbents derived from biowaste are highly demanding to handle various environmental challenges, and demonstrate the remarkable synergy between sustainability and innovation. In this study, the extraction of uranium U(VI) was investigated on biowaste activated carbon (BAC) obtained by chemical activation (phosphoric acid) using Albizia Lebbeck pods as biowaste. The biowaste powder (BP), biowaste charcoal (BC) and BAC were evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) with nitrogen adsorption for thermal properties, chemical structures, porosity and surface area, respectively. The pHPZC for acidic or basic nature of the surface and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis were performed for BAC. The morphological and elemental analysis were performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). The extraction of uranium U(VI) ions from aqueous solutions using BAC as sorbent was investigated by using different variables such as pH, contact time, initial uranium U(VI) concentration and BAC dose. The highest adsorption (90.60% was achieved at 0.5 g BAC dose, 2 h contact time, pH 6, 10 ppm initial U(VI) concentration and with 200 rpm shaking speeds. The production of this efficient adsorbent from biowaste could be a potential step forward in adsorption of uranium to meet the high demand of uranium for nuclear energy applications

Midline Depressed Fractures of the Skull

Objective: To evaluate the results of management of middle depressed fracture skull.Depressed skull fracture is a common neuro-traumatic emergency. The commonest causes in our society are fall from height and road traffic accident. The frequency of depressed fractures is that it occurs in 75% in fronto-parietal region, 10%1 in temporal region, while in occipital is 5% and in others is 10%. In time surgical manage-ment gives excellent results and leads to minimize the sequel of this condition. Most of the causes can be pre-vented just by adopting preventive measures. The condition can be treated in periphery hospital as well, if trained personals are available. Midline depress fracture are rare. Depressed fracture over venous sinuses requires special handling. Surgical elevation involves massive blood loss. Most of them are treated conservatively.Material and Methods: We conducted a 4 years study in the department of Neurosurgery, Lahore General Hospital from 2009 to 2013.Results: We included 30 patients of mid line depressed fractures in which 20 were treated by surgical elevation and 10 by conservative management. Follow of 3 months to 1 year. In a total of 3750 patients who presented in the emergency department, 540 (14.4%) patients were operated for depressed skull fractures in which midline depressed fractures were 20 (4%). There were 20 patients in whom the anterior 1/3rd of superior sagittal sinus was involved, in 6 patients the middle 1/3rd of superior sagittal sinus was involved while in only 4 patients the posterior 1/3rd of superior sagittal sinus was involved. We paid special attention to these midline fractures involv-ing the venous sinuses. In 4 of our patient we encountered severe blood loss as the depressed fragment was being plugged in sinus tear. In 12 patients we carefully elevated the depressed fractures and gained control over the venous sinus as soon as possible with the help of spongiston and packing technique. In 8 patients the fracture site was not contaminated with foreign material, there was no cosmetic issue and no focal deficit found, they were managed by scalp debridement along thorough irrigation and primary closure. Out of operated 20 patients only two patients presented with mild wound infection but it settled down with proper antibiotic therapy. In the con-servative group out of 10 patients 2 patients developed epileptic seizure after 3 months and 7 months of trauma and they were managed by giving antiepileptic drugs.Conclusion: In our study we concluded that elevation of depressed fracture over SSS can be attempted whenever patients clinical condition warrant. Elevation of the bone along with debridement of the wound resulted in rapid and dramatic resolution of signs and symptoms of raised ICP and venous hypertension. The study also showed an improvement in the cosmesis and reduction in the overall wound infection rate

Green Synthesis of Nickel Oxide Nanoparticles using Populus ciliata Leaves Extract and their Potential Antibacterial Applications

Green synthesis of nanoparticles has received a lot of attention from scientists globally because it is eco-friendly, relatively rapid, and a cost-effective  method. This work presents a method for the green synthesis of nickel oxide nanoparticles (NiO-NPs) using leaf extracts of Populus ciliata as a reducing  and stabilising agent. The synthesised NiO-NPs were characterised by ultravioletvisible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, powder  X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the synthesised NiO-NPs shapes varied, were  highly crystalline, and had a face-centred cubic geometry. The calculated crystallite size of the synthesised nanoparticles was 44 nm. Moreover, the  antibacterial activity of the synthesised NiO-NPs was also conducted against Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis) and Gram-  negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae). Bacillus subtillus showed a maximum inhibition zone of 28.1±1.6 mm, whereas Klebsiella  pneumonia showed a minimum inhibition zone of 9.2±0.5 mm. It was also found that the antibacterial activity increased with an increase in the  concentration of NiO-NPs

Comparison of solvent evaporation and ultrasonicassisted production methods in the development of nimesulide nanosponges and their characterization

Purpose: To compare solvent evaporation and ultrasonic assisted synthesis in preparation of nimesulide nanosponges using polyvinyl-alcohol and Eudragit L100 as a polymer/copolymer and dichloromethane as a cross linker.Methods: Twelve formulations of nimesulide were prepared, six with each method by varying the ratios of both polymer and co-polymer. The resulting nanosponges were evaluated characterized by preformulation studies, production yield (%), differential scanning calorimeter, x-ray diffraction, Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, entrapment efficiency (%), actual drug content (%) and in-vitro dissolution studies.Results: The results revealed that the formulation with high amounts of co-polymer in both methods showed crystalline structures with enhanced dissolution rates in basic media. Drug entrapment was higher for products prepared by solvent evaporation method (74 %) than that prepared by ultrasonic assisted method (61 %). This correlates with the enhanced dissolution rates for products by solvent evaporation method and increased solubility due to drug-polymer complex formation.Conclusion: Formulations made by solvent evaporation method demonstrate higher production yield and drug entrapment. However, both methods exhibit enhanced dissolution rates in basic medium generally as well as other characteristics that are comparable to nanosponges reported in the literature with regard to their comb like structure

COMPARISON AND EVALUATION OF ONE-STEP REVERSE TRANSCRIPTASE-POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (RT-PCR) AND REVERSE TRANSCRIPTASE LOOP-MEDIATED ISOTHERMAL AMPLIFICATION ASSAY(RT-LAMP) FOR RAPID DETECTION OF FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE VIRUS (FMDV)

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is endemic in Pakistan and cause severe economic losses. Serotype O, A and Asia 1 is prevalent and their rapid detection for Pakistaniisolates is needed to determine the serotype prevalence in different areas of the country. One step reversetranscriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and reverse transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT- LAMP) was compared for the rapid and sensitive detection of FMDV genome. FMDV genome was confirmed in 19/25clinically affected animals by sequencing. These positive samples (n=19) were also confirmed in both RT-PCR and RT-LAMP consensus assay.In theserotyping assay, RT-PCR detection rate was16.67%, 80%, and 50% and RT-LAMP detection rate was 50%, 60% and 50%for serotype Asia 1, O and type A respectively. In general detection of FMDV, RT-PCR assay and the RT-LAMP assay showed high concordance (k = 1.0). However, in serotype detection, RT-LAMP was found more sensitive as compared to RT-PCR for the detection of the FMDV serotype Asia1 and Vice Versa in the detection of serotype O. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is thefirst document on thecomparison of RT-LAMP and one-step RT- PCR for FMDV using ESE-Quant Tube Scanner in Pakistan.The RT-LAMP assay has the potential for early and rapid clinical diagnosis, surveillance and serotyping of FMDV infection in endemic countries