Effect of Insecticides (Pyrethroids) on Eosinophil Count in School Children

Background: Study was conducted in school children to reveal the toxic effects of pyrethroids which causes allergic reactions with in the body especially altered lung function tests and eosinophil count. Objective: In the present study, the effects of pyrethroids on eosinophil count of school children were analyzed.Methodology: The present study is a cross-sectional analytical study. The study was conducted at Government Girls Primary School, Sita Nagar, Karachi including 50 children with ages between 6 – 10 years. They were divided equally into two groups: group A (exposed to insecticidal spray) and group B (exposed to mosquito coil). The correlations between the insecticides (Pyrethroids), and eosinophil by linear regression analysis confirmed that insecticides (Pyrethroids) had a strong correlation with the eosinophil count under study exemplified by the significant increase in Eosinophil count was observed after exposure to mosquito coil whereas there was no association between insecticidal spray and Eosinophil count. Results: There was significant increase in Eosinophil count after exposure to mosquito coil whereas no association was observed between insecticidal spray and Eosinophil count.Conclusions: The use of spray over the coil is less hazardous to the health

Study of importance of medial cortex in distal femur comminuted fracture

Background: Distal femur fractures require high energy trauma by means of road traffic accidents. There are various modalities of fixation, involving plating, external fixator and intramedullary nailing. cause of nonunion like smoking, osteoporosis, early weight bearing, improper construction of fixation, improper reduction.Methods: The study was conducted on 20 patients having distal femur fractures operated previously by using a different modality of implant goes in failure like bending of implant, broken of implant, peri implant fracture after second episode of trauma. Patient was preoperatively assessing for rule out occult low grade infection by blood investigation like ESR and CRP. Previous X-ray review to find cause of nonunion.Results: All patients showed a complete union at the fracture site with an average duration of 4-6 months. There was no complaint of infection, joint stiffness or difficulty in weight bearing after treatment with revision fixation and bone grafting. Patients were able to walk without affecting their daily activity of living.  Conclusions: Comminuted medial cortex left unfixed or maligned will go into varus collapse and leads to failure of fixation

Mucinous neoplasia of appendix: imaging and its relevance to management

Appendiceal mucocele is a rare pathology of the appendix that can present with non-specific symptoms. Therefore, imaging evaluation is essential for accurate diagnosis and proper management. To document importance of pre-operative imaging, we reviewed the scans, reports, and clinical data of nine patients with appendiceal mucocele who were treated at our institute. We also studied the literature on CT findings, histopathology, surgical management, prognosis, and recent guidelines for appendiceal mucocele. We suggest that pre-operative imaging can aid surgeons in selecting the most appropriate treatment plan for each patient, resulting in better outcomes. Certain critical imaging features, such as mural nodularity, irregular wall thickening, lymphadenopathy, cecal involvement, presence of free mucus, or pseudomyxoma peritonei, can alert surgeons to prepare for frozen section and an appropriate surgical approach. In conclusion, we recommend pre-operative imaging as a crucial tool for the diagnosis and management of appendiceal mucocele. Its use in identifying critical imaging features can help surgeons decide on the best surgical approach for each patient and ultimately lead to better outcomes

Effect of periodontal therapy on maxillary sinus mucous membrane thickening in chronic periodontitis: A split-mouth study

Background. This study evaluated the effect of periodontal therapy on mucous membrane thickening in maxillary sinus in chronic periodontitis patients using radiovisiography (RVG) and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Methods. The study population included 30 patients diagnosed with chronic periodontitis, exhibiting bilateral mucosal thickening of maxillary sinus. The selected sites were randomly assigned to group I (control group - not receiving periodontal therapy) and group II (test group - receiving periodontal therapy). The clinical parameters and mucosal thickening of the maxillary sinus were evaluated at baseline and after 9 months. Results. There was a significant decrease in the PPD, CAL as well as mucosal thickening in group II while, group I showed an increase in these parameters. In group II at the end of 9 months the mean mucosal thickening reduction as assessed by CBCT was 0.76±0.18, 0.73±0.24, 0.88±0.42 and 1.13±0.43 mm at the most anterior point (AP), the most posterior point (PP), the mid-point (MP), point of maximum thickness (MT) as well as in the length of the thickened mucosal lining, respectively. Conclusion. The results of our study indicated a reduction in the mucosal thickening of the maxillary sinus after surgical periodontal therapy. The trial was registered with the Clinical Trial Registry of India (Trial REF/ 2016/02/010805)

Recent advances in hydrothermal carbonisation:from tailored carbon materials and biochemicals to applications and bioenergy

Introduced in the literature in 1913 by Bergius, who at the time was studying biomass coalification, hydrothermal carbonisation, as many other technologies based on renewables, was forgotten during the "industrial revolution". It was rediscovered back in 2005, on the one hand, to follow the trend set by Bergius of biomass to coal conversion for decentralised energy generation, and on the other hand as a novel green method to prepare advanced carbon materials and chemicals from biomass in water, at mild temperature, for energy storage and conversion and environmental protection. In this review, we will present an overview on the latest trends in hydrothermal carbonisation including biomass to bioenergy conversion, upgrading of hydrothermal carbons to fuels over heterogeneous catalysts, advanced carbon materials and their applications in batteries, electrocatalysis and heterogeneous catalysis and finally an analysis of the chemicals in the liquid phase as well as a new family of fluorescent nanomaterials formed at the interface between the liquid and solid phases, known as hydrothermal carbon nanodots

On-farm maize storage systems and rodent postharvest losses in six maize growing agro-ecological zones of Kenya

Rodents are one of the major postharvest pests that affect food security by impacting on both food availability and safety. However, knowledge of the impact of rodents in on-farm maize storage systems in Kenya is limited. A survey was conducted in 2014 to assess magnitudes of postharvest losses in on-farm maize storage systems in Kenya, and the contribution of rodents to the losses. A total of 630 farmers spread across six maize growing agro-ecological zones (AEZs) were interviewed. Insects, rodents and moulds were the main storage problems reported by farmers. Storage losses were highest in the moist transitional and moist mid-altitude zones, and lowest in the dry-transitional zone. Overall, rodents represented the second most important cause of storage losses after insects, and were ranked as the main storage problem in the lowland tropical zone, while insects were the main storage problem in the other AEZs. Where maize was stored on cobs, total farmer perceived (farmer estimation) storage weight losses were 11.1 ± 0.7 %, with rodents causing up to 43 % of these losses. Contrastingly, where maize was stored as shelled grain, the losses were 15.5 ± 0.6 % with rodents accounting for up to 30 %. Regression analysis showed that rodents contributed significantly to total storage losses (p < 0.0001), and identified rodent trapping as the main storage practice that significantly (p = 0.001) lowered the losses. Together with insecticides, rodent traps were found to significantly decrease total losses. Improved awareness and application of these practices could mitigate losses in on farm-stored maize

Magnetite Nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄) for Radio-Frequency and Microwave Applications

The size and shape dependent tunable electromagnetic (EM) properties of magnetite – Fe3O4 nanoparticles makes them an attractive material for various future electronics and biomedical device applications such as tunable attenuators, miniaturized isolators and circulators, RF antennas, EM shielding, and biomedical implants etc. The strategic design of RF devices requires specific dielectric and magnetic properties according to the applications, which in turn depends on the size and shape of the particles. At nanoscale, iron oxide’s magnetic and dielectric properties are very different from its bulk properties and can be tuned and enhanced by utilizing different synthesis approaches. In this chapter, we summarize electromagnetic properties of magnetite (Fe3O4) nanomaterials such as, complex permeability, complex permittivity, magnetic and dielectric loss tangents, saturation magnetization, temperature dependence, and ferromagnetic resonance; and how these properties can be optimized by varying different synthesis parameters. Finally, Fe3O4 nanocomposites will be explored by using different synthesis approaches for implementation of RF and microwave applications and we will conclude the chapter with future recommendations

Near-Field Communications (NFC) for Wireless Power Transfer (WPT): An Overview

Recent advancements in the semiconductor integrated circuits and functional materials technologies have accelerated the demand of electronic and biomedical devices such as internet of things (IoT) and wearable sensors, which have low power consumption, miniature size and high data transfer efficiency. Wireless power transfer (WPT) has become the alternative solution to current electronic devices that rely on bulky batteries to supply the power and energy. Near Field Communication (NFC) technology is extensively used for wireless power transfer, where devices communicate through inductive coupling via induced magnetic fields between transmit and receive coils (loop antennas). Thin NFC sheets made of soft magnetic materials are inserted between antennas and metal case of wireless gadgets, such as mobile phones or tablets, to reduce the degradation of antenna gain and radiation efficiency due to generation of eddy currents. To enhance the efficiency of wireless power transfer, magnetic materials with superb properties such as high permeability, low magnetic loss and high resistivity are highly desirable. In this chapter, we will provide an overview of the current state of the art, recent progress and future directions in NFC based wireless power transfer, with the special focus on near field communications operating at 13.56 MHz