Routes to enhanced performance of electrolytic hydrogen evolution reaction over the carbon-encapsulated transition metal alloys

A substantial and steady decrease in the energy cost produced from renewable sources has revived interest in hydrogen production through water electrolysis. Deployment of electrolysis for H2 production is now closer to reality than ever before. Yet, several challenges associated with production cost, infrastructure, safety, storage, and so forth remain to be addressed. One of the overriding challenges is the production cost caused by a platinum electrode. To overcome such limitations, developing low-cost and stable electro­catalysts very close to the same electrode activity as platinum (Pt) metal is crucial to solving the efficiency issue in the process. Therefore, this review is in the direction of designing binary and ternary alloys of transition metal-based electrocatalysts anchored on carbon and focuses more on routes to enhance the performance of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The strategic routes to reduce overpotential and enhance electrocatalysts perfor­mance are discussed thoroughly in the light of HER mechanism and its derived descriptor

Open Source Software Low Cost Alternatives for Healthcare

Healthcare is the worlds second largest and also the fastest growing service sector. A well-managed and low cost healthcare system is of great importance to a country where large population with diverse social, educational and economical background is to be served. With health care being a government sector service, most of the hospitals are providing services with limited resources thus lacking the best services at time. ICT can play an important role in improving the services by managing the resources optimally and efficiently as ICT based tools can be used for resource management, patient record keeping, sharing the information, faster processing of data, managing the people at hospital etc. The development of an exhaustive healthcare system involves complex issues like finance, performance, security, scalability, and adherence to standards. Further, open source software solutions can help the hospitals to achieve the required services at lower cost. The paper presents the justifications to use open source solutions for hospitals and at the end will discus a case study about customization of the existing open source Hospital information system CARE2X, to fit into the workflow requirements of an Indian hospital with the advice of doctors. Customized CARE2X is implemented in Pathology department of client hospital

Audit of lymph node biopsies in suspected cases of Lymphoproliferative Malignancies: Implications on tissue diagnosis and patient management

Aims: To carry out an audit ascertaining the importance of condition of lymph node specimen, submission of clinical history including site of biopsy and imrnunohistochemcial studies on conclusiveness of diagnosis made. Methodology: Computer records of the Aga Khan University Hospital, Histopathology Laboratory were used to analyze all cases of lymphoproliferative malignancies presented at the hospital from 1992 to 1998. Results: Out of a total of 466 cases studied, in 283 (61%) the lymph nodes were fragmented. The site of biopsy was mentioned in 361 (77.5%) cases with the cervical region forming the most common site (56.5%). A clinical history was submitted in 395 (85%) and a conclusive diagnosis was reached in 378 (81%) cases. Conclusion: This audit indicates a strong co-relation between the condition of lymph node biopsies received, clinical history of the patient submitted including site of biopsy, acvillary studies like IHC performed on the eventual outcome in the form of precise diagnosis and categorization of lymphoproliferative malignancie

Discussing the Role of Classification Algorithms in Clinical Predictions with help of Case Studies

This paper discuss about the important role of classification algorithms in clinical predictions , two case studies one for breast cancer and other for heart disease prediction with help of classification data mining techniques is presented in this paper. Online freely accessible data is used for the said case studies. Used data is publicly available data on internet consisting of 909 records for heart disease and 699 for breast cancer. C4.5 and the C5.0 Two well-known decision tree algorithms used to get the rules for predictions, and these rules used for improving the quality of an open source Pathology Management System based on Care2x.Performances of these algorithms are also compared. This Paper will further discuss about the importance of open source software in healthcare as well as how a pathology management system can adopt Evidence Based Medicine (EBM). EBM is a new and important approach which can greatly improve decision making in health care. EBM's task is to prevent, diagnose and medicate diseases using medical evidence [5].Clinical decisions must be based on scientific evidence that demonstrates effectiveness. This paper is basically extension of our previous work ‘A Prototype of Cancer/Heart Disease Prediction Model Using Data Mining’

Insight into the dynamics of electro-magneto-hydrodynamic fluid flow past a sheet using the Galerkin finite element method: Effects of variable magnetic and electric fields

publishedVersio

Emergency airway management of a patient with tracheal stenosis

We are presenting a case of a 26 year old healthy male, who came with gradual worsening of dyspnoea following prolonged intubation and ventilation, after a road traffic accident five months back. On arrival in ER, he was hypoxaemic with severe respiratory distress. He was transferred to the operation room (OR) for emergency tracheostomy. During the transfer, he was placed in an upright position with oxygen at 15 L/M. In the OR, anaesthesia was induced with sevoflurane gradually. Direct laryngoscopy was done which revealed normal vocal cords. A size 4.00 mm ID endotracheal tube was impossible to pass more than 1-2 cm distal to vocal cords. Due to a large leak, size 8 tube was passed below the cords and cuff was inflated slightly to reduce air leak. Oxygen saturation dropped to 95-96% and surgeon was asked to start tracheostomy. Findings included an almost complete subglottic stenosis, 2 cm below the vocal cords. A tracheostomy tube was inserted below the stenotic lesion which was followed by direct laryngoscopy

Prevalence and risk factors associated with multi-drug resistant organisms (MDRO) carriage among pediatric patients at the time of admission in a tertiary care hospital of a developing country. A cross-sectional study

Background: The rise of Multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) poses a considerable burden on the healthcare systems, particularly in low-middle income countries like Pakistan. There is a scarcity of data on the carriage of MDRO particularly in the pediatrics population therefore, we aimed to determine MDRO carriage in pediatric patients at the time of admission to a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, and to identify the risk factors associated with it.Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted at the pediatric department of Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) from May to September 2019 on 347 children aged 1-18 years. For identification of MDRO (i.e., Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamase (ESBL) producers, Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE), Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Multidrug-resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter species and MDR Pseudomonas aeruginosa), nasal swabs and rectal swabs or stool samples were cultured on specific media within 72 h of hospitalization. Data was collected on a predesigned structured questionnaire on demographics, prior use of antibiotics for \u3e 48 h in the last 6 months, history of vaccination in last 6 months, exposure to health care facility regardless of the time of exposure, ICU stay for \u3e 72 h, and about the prior use of medical devices (urinary catheter, central venous lines etc.) in last 1 year. Statistical analysis was performed by Standard statistical software.Results: Out of 347 participants, 237 (68.3%) were found to be MDRO carriers. Forty nine nasal swabs from 346 children (14.2%) showed growth of MRSA. The majority of the stool/rectal swabs (n = 222 of 322; 69%) collected were positive for MDRO. The most isolated species were ESBL Escherichia coli 174/222 (78.3%) followed by ESBL Enterobacter species 37/222 (16.7%) and ESBL Klebsiella pneumoniae 35/222 (15.8%). On univariate analysis, none of the risk factors showed statistically significant association with MDRO carriage.Conclusion: Overall, a high prevalence of MDRO carriage was identified among admitted pediatric patients. Implementation of systematic screening may help to identify true burden of MDROs carriage in the health care settings

Carum carvi Modulates Acetaminophen-Induced Hepatotoxicity: Effects on TNF-α, NF-κB, and Caspases

Carum carvi is a well-known herb traditionally used as a spice in Asian countries. Acetaminophen is a known marketed drug mainly used as an analgesic. It has been scientifically proven that consumption of acetaminophen (paracetamol) is associated with liver toxicity if taken in high doses without medical supervision. The present study evaluated the in vivo antioxidant and hepatoprotective efficacy of Carum carvi against acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar rats. Our results demonstrate that Carum carvi, at doses (mg/kg) of 100 (D1) and 200 (D2), showed inhibitory properties for DNA-sugar damage, lipid peroxidation, DPPH scavenging, and increased reducing potential in a concentration-dependent manner. Our results also confirm that liver toxicity associated with paracetamol, such as depletion of reduced glutathione and antioxidant enzyme levels, as well as induction of cytochrome P450, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inflammatory cytokines, was efficiently restored by Carum carvi treatment in rats. Moreover, the expression of redox-sensitive transcription factors, namely, NF-κB and TNF-α levels, was also modulated by Carum carvi in the rats. In summary, our study confirms that Carum carvi inhibits inflammation and oxidative stress, thereby protecting liver cells from paracetamol prompted hepatotoxicity

Development of a Prototype for Critical Disease Predictions using Data Mining

The goal of this paper is to present breast cancer prototype model along with the prediction of heart diseases by employing data mining techniques. The data used in the study had been retrieved from Public-Use Data, which is available online. The data comprised of 699 and 909 records for breast cancer and heart disease respectively. For data prediction and mining, C4.5 and C5.0, which are decision tree algorithms, were used on the data, used in the study. The results of both data sets using both algorithms were also compared. The paper also outlines the significance of evidence based medicine, which is the novel and innovative approach in healthcare decision making process [5]. It is essential that the clinical decisions are supported and based on scientific evidence, which ensures that they are sound and effective decisions. This paper also will depict the importance of data mining in modern healthcare

Vulnerable road users are at greater risk during ramadan -- results from road traffic surveillance data.

Abstract OBJECTIVE: To assess how the frequency, nature and outcome of road traffic crashes differ during the fasting month of Ramadan. METHODS: The retrospective study was conducted in Karachi and comprised data from the Road Traffic Injury Surveillance Project which entailed information on all road traffic injury victims presenting to Emergency Departments in the city between September 2006 and September 2011. Data was analysed to find the frequency of road traffic crashes according to time of incident, road user group and survival. Ramadan and Non-Ramadan groups were compared with respect to time and frequency of incidents, road user group and mortality. SPSS 16 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: There were 163,022 subjects from whom 13,640(8.36%) came during Ramadan and 149,382 (91.6%) during the non-Ramadan months. Frequency of road traffic crashes did not change significantly during Ramadan, but was clustered around the breaking of Fast and the Taravih prayers. The most commonly affected road user group was motorbike riders followed by pedestrians. Overall survival of the RTI victims was 96.1% with a mortality rate of 4.1% which was higher than the figure of 3.5% in the non-Ramadan period. CONCLUSIONS: Vulnerable road users were more frequently involved in road traffic injuries during Ramadan. Moreover, the frequency of crashes increased around evening which requires more careful planning of traffic controls, especially for the vulnerable road users