Clinicoepidemiological study of hypopigmented lesions in paediatric age group attending a teritiary care center

Background: Hypopigmented lesions in children is a very common occurrence. The aim of my study is to evaluate the various causes of hypopigmentation in children There are no sufficient studies in India about evaluation of hypopigmented lesions in pediatric age group. Objectives: To know the clinical characteristics of hypopigmented lesions in pediatric age group and to evaluate the most common causes of hypopigmented lesions in pediatric age group. Methods: Source of data consisted of three hundred consecutive cases presenting with hypopigmented lesions in pediatric age group. A detailed history of the patient was recorded like name, age, sex, onset, nature and duration of illness, predisposing factors like any skin diseases, prolonged illness, family history etc. After this, samples were taken for relevant investigations like complete hemogram, biopsy, KOH mount, slit skin smear and assessed for the causes of hypopigmented lesions. Results: In our study, the most common disorder was pityriasis alba seen in 39%, followed by pityriasis versicolor in 19.6%,vitiligo in 15.7%, post inflammatory hypopigmentation in 12.7%, primary disorders of hypopigmentation in 7.3%, Hansen’s disease in 3.7% and miscellaneous conditions in 2% of the cases. Conclusions: The most common conditions are benign and self-limiting, which requires proper counseling of the parents. Vitiligo or Hansen’s disease has to be ruled out to alleviate parents anxiety

Next generation polymeric flocculants for thickening and dewatering

The management of tailings streams has taken an increasingly important role in the minerals industry in recent years. The global issue of water scarcity and tightening of regulations governing the disposal of waste waters has significantly contributed to a focus on the development of thickener technologies that is not only widely accepted but also economically advantageous. The operational desire for high density paste thickeners involves dewatering (water re-use), underflow density (pipeline transport), and stacking (deposition processes), all of which are governed by rheology. Although thickener technology has proved to be effective, in many cases, it is not efficient by itself. The addition of chemical agents known as rheology modifiers or flocculants has shown to be instrumental in improving the overall performance efficiency of the thickening process. These flocculants are generally high molecular weight water soluble polymers that adsorb onto particle surfaces and bridge them together to form large aggregates, thus facilitating flocculation. Most of the commercially available flocculants are generically designed to perform across a broad range of mineral solids (mineralogy), but are not capable of targeting multiple performance criteria. However, a range of next-generation flocculants has been developed; these excel at multiple performance criteria for a particular mineralogy. This paper discusses the dewatering performance, stacking capability, and changes in the underflow rheology of processed gold tailings when treated with various flocculants (traditional versus next-generation)