Adequacy of sigmoidoscopy as compared to colonoscopy for assessment of disease activity in patients of ulcerative colitis: a prospective study

Background/Aims Patients of ulcerative colitis (UC) on follow-up are routinely evaluated by sigmoidoscopy. There is no prospective literature to support this practice. We assessed agreement between sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy prospectively in patients with disease extent beyond the sigmoid colon. Methods We conducted a prospective observational study at a tertiary care institute for agreement between sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy. We assessed endoscopic activity using the Mayo Endoscopic Score (MES) and Ulcerative Colitis Endoscopic Index of Severity (UCEIS) and histological activity using the Nancy Index (NI), Robarts Histopathology Index (RHI), and Simplified Geboes Score (SGS). Results Sigmoidoscopy showed a strong agreement with colonoscopy for MES and UCEIS with a kappa (κ) of 0.96 and 0.94 respectively. The misclassification rate for MES and UCEIS was 3% and 5% respectively. Sigmoidoscopy showed perfect agreement (κ = 1.00) with colonoscopy for assessment of the presence of endoscopic activity in the colon using MES ≥ 1 as activity criteria and strong agreement (κ = 0.93) using MES > 1 as activity criteria. Sigmoidoscopy showed strong agreement with colonoscopy for assessment of the presence of endoscopic activity using UCEIS (κ = 0.92). Strong agreement was observed between sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy using NI (κ = 0.86), RHI (κ = 1.00), and SGS (κ = 0.92) for the detection of histological activity. The misclassification rate for the detection of histological activity was 2%, 0%, and 1% for NI, RHI, and SGS respectively. Conclusions Sigmoidoscopy showed strong agreement with colonoscopy for endoscopic and histologic disease activity. Sigmoidoscopy is adequate for assessment of disease activity in patients with UC during follow-up evaluation

Soil Restoration Strategies for Sustaining Soil Productivity: A Review

Soil degradation, characterised by a deterioration in quality and a drop in ecosystem products and services, is a key impediment to obtaining the necessary increase in agricultural productivity. Soil is a living and dynamic organism that degrades when standard agricultural practices are used. Healthy soil is a crucial pillar of sustainability because it provides various ecosystem services in addition to controlling microbial activity, nutrient recovery, and decomposition. In human time spans, soil is a non-renewable resource that is vulnerable to deterioration due to complex interactions between processes, variables, and causes occurring at a variety of geographical and temporal dimensions. Accelerated erosion, depletion of the soil organic carbon (SOC) pool and biodiversity loss, loss of soil fertility and elemental imbalance, acidification and salinization are among the key soil degradation processes. The strategy aims to minimize soil erosion, boost SOC and N budgets, boost soil biota activity and species diversity (macro, meso, and micro), and improve structural stability and pore geometry. Improving soil quality (i.e., expanding the SOC pool, improving soil structure, and boosting soil fertility) can lower the hazards of soil degradation (physical, chemical, biological, and ecological) while also benefiting the environment

Development of standard manufacturing process of Tryushanadya Lauha – An organo-metalic preparation

Tryushanadya Lauha (TL) is one of the herbo-mineral formulations in many Ayurvedic texts. Tryushanadya Lauha consists Loha Bhasma and Tryushana, which includes Pippali (Piper longum Linn), Maricha (Piper nigrum Linn), and Shunti (Zingiber officinale Roscoe), Cavya (Piper chaba Hunter), Citraka (Plumbago zeylanica Linn),  Bakuchi (Psoralea Corylifolia Linn), and  Lavana (salt), which includes Saindhava (Sodium chloride), Aubhida (sodium carbonate), Vida (Ammonium chloride), and Sauvarchala (Sodium sulphate). This study is an effort to develop the standard operating process for manufacturing of Loha Bhasma and Tryushanadya Lauha. As per the reference of Rasatarangini, Loha Bhasma (incinerated ash of iron) was prepared in three batches. The processing of Loha Bhasma (ash of iron) was performed by adopting, Shodhana (purification), a special heating process and Marana (incineration). For the process of Levigation decoction of Triphala was used. Puta (heating process) was given in Electric Muffle Furnace at a temperature of 500 0C. The percentage of loss was 49.9% after purification. During Loha Bhasma (incinerated ash of iron) preparation 14.7%loss and 85.3% gain were observed. This Loha Bhasma was used for the preparation of TL. During TL preparation, 0.6% loss was observed & 99.3% was obtained. This study will give the direction for the standard manufacturing process of Loha Bhasma (incinerated ash of iron) and Tryushanadya Lauha

Health benefits to vulnerable populations by meeting particle-level guidelines inside schools with different ventilation conditions

We conducted simultaneous real-time measurements for particles on the premises of four schools, two of which were naturally ventilated (NV) and two mechanically ventilated (MV) in Kanpur, India. Health to school children from reduced particle levels inside classrooms simulated to the lowest acceptable levels (ISHRAE Class C: PM10 ≤ 100 µg/m3 & PM2.5 ≤ 25 µg/m3) using air filters were examined. Lung deposition of particles was used as a proxy for health impacts and calculated using the MPPD model. The particle levels in all classrooms were above the baseline, with NV classrooms having higher particle masses than MV classrooms: 72.16% for PM1, 74.66% for PM2.5, and 85.17% for PM10. Our calculation reveals a whooping reduction in particles deposited in the lungs (1512% for PM10 and 1485% for PM2.5) in the case of the NV classrooms. Results highlight unhealthy air inside classrooms and suggest urgent interventions, such as simple filtration techniques, to achieve acceptable levels of particles inside schools.</p

An edge AI-enabled IoT healthcare monitoring system for smart cities

Funding Information: This work was supported by the Researchers Supporting Project number (RSP-2021/32), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier LtdHealthcare systems have significantly benefited from Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). The vital signs of patients can be continuously monitored using the technologies mentioned above, and timely treatment can be provided. To this end, this paper proposes a scalable, responsive, and reliable AI-enabled IoT and edge computing-based healthcare solution with low latency when serving patients. The system comprises the collection of health-related data, data processing and analysis at edge nodes, and permanent storage and sharing at edge data centers. The edge nodes and edge controller schedule patients and provide resources in real time. Simulations were conducted to test system performance. The results for end-to-end time, computing, optimization, and transmission latency prove to be very promising. To determine system performance in a real-world scenario, a neural network was used to model transmission latency. The system is extremely useful for those who are disabled or elderly, aswell as in pandemic situations.Peer reviewe

Reconciliation of energy use disparities in brick production in India

Abstract Energy conservation in brick production is crucial to achieving net-zero carbon emissions from the building sector, especially in countries with major expansions in the built environment. However, widely disparate energy consumption estimates impede benchmarking its importance relative to the steel and cement industries. Here we modelled Indian brick production and its regional energy consumption by combining a nationwide questionnaire survey on feedstock, process variables and practices with remote sensing data on kiln enumeration. We found a large underreporting in current official estimates of energy consumption, with actual energy consumption comparable to that in the steel and cement industries in the country. With a total estimated production of 233 ± 15 billion bricks per year, the brick industry consumes 990 ± 125 PJ yr −1 of energy, 35 ± 6 Mt yr −1 coal and 25 ± 6 Mt yr −1 biomass. The main drivers of energy consumption for brick production are the kiln technology, the production capacity and the fuel mix used. The results suggest that improving operating practices would be a first step in making brick production more energy efficient