Neglected obstetric haemorrhage leading to acute kidney injury

Pregnancy related acute kidney injury takes substantial share of acute kidney injury (AKI) in India, with obstetrical haemorrhage having high morbidity and mortality. A young female had neglected obstetric haemorrhage (unrecognized intrauterine and massive intraperitoneal bleeding post caesarean, due to uterine trauma and atony) and dangerous intra-abdominal hypertension with exsanguination eventually leading to shock, multifactorial AKI, metabolic acidosis, and hyperkalemia. Intensive and aggressive management with subtotal hysterectomy, inotropes, fluid management, mechanical ventilation, tracheostomy, and hemodialysis changed the outcome. Despite odds against, neglected obstetric haemorrhage with complicated AKI, was managed successfully by emergency hysterectomy, aggressive intervention for AKI with intensive fluid, ventilatory management and daily hemodialysis. Timely identification and aggressive management of this condition and complications is pivotal in preventing complications, morbidity, and maternal mortality.

An Overview of extraction schemes for the recovery of Erbium

It covers the various available hydrometallurgical processes for extraction and separation of erbium and also highlights the approaches for its purification

Extraction of lanthanum and cerium from Indian red mud

Laboratory-scale experiments were conducted to recover lanthanum and cerium from Indian red mud in sulphuric acid medium. The method includes acid leaching of red mud pulp and subsequent liquid –liquid extraction of the leached metals with different organic extractants, in order to establish the technical feasibility of extraction and separation simultaneously. Maximum Recovery of lanthanum (99.9%) was recorded with 3 M H2SO4 at ambient (35°C) temperature, S/L ratio of 10 g/L and agitation rate of 200 rpm in 1 h time. Whilst 99.9% cerium recovery was achieved at 75 °C and solid/liquid ratio of 10 g/L in 3 M H2SO4. Significant specificity for complete extraction of lanthanum, cerium and scandium by Cyanex 301 was noted as compared to the solvents such as DEHPA and Cyanex 272

Metallurgical processes for the recovery and recycling of lanthanum from various resources—A review

Various processes for the recovery of lanthanum from metallurgical and non-metallurgical resources are reviewed. Lanthanum is present as a major constituent of monazite, fluorocarbonate ores, bauxite and associated residues, tailings and waste liquors of rare earths, aluminium, etc. Phosphate rock, optical glasses and Ni-MH batteries serve as the most recent and high concentration secondary resources of lanthanum. This review discusses the various methods of hydro-/pyro-metallurgical origin, leaching, solvent extraction, precipitation and other pre-treatment options for lanthanum recovery. A separate section on recovery of lanthanum by selective biosorption from various model and actual solutions is also included. The need to develop new extraction systems with high lanthanum selectivity in the areas of leaching and solvent extraction are probable improvement trend for the future

Aqueous process intensification through enhanced oxygen mass transfer using oxygen vector: An application to cleaner leaching

Intensification of chemical processes has surfaced many challenging but promising areas. Enhancement of Oxygen Mass Transfer (OMT) is one such area in aqueous chemical processes. Several attempts made to alleviate OMT limitation, however, remains futile in lowering energy and material requirement. In this regard, the use of n-Dodecane, an Oxygen Vector, could be a radically promising route for enhancing OMT. The present work explores the use of n-Dodecane (Oxygen Vector) for the enhancement of OMT, corroborated with the Classical Molecular Dynamic (MD) simulations. The results showed that 2.5% (v/v) n-Dodecane addition in aqueous systems (‘Na2SO3 solution – n-Dodecane’ and ‘H2O – n-Dodecane’) would lead to enhancement up to 750%. MD simulation results confirm the transfer of oxygen from n-Dodecane-to-aqueous medium with diffusivity of 10−8 m2/s, thus becomes the dominating route for the enhancement in OMT. In addition, it has been found that n-Dodecane fraction, temperature and the rate of oxygen consumption reaction are the dictating parameters for enhancement. The concept of Oxygen Vector for enhancing OMT has been successfully exploited for cleaner leaching of metals (>95 % Cu, Ni and Co) from refractory complex sulfides at moderate temperature-pressure conditions (T∼ 95 °C and pO2∼3 Bar), which would have otherwise been possible at T > 200 °C and pO2 > 10 Bar. In addition, recyclability of n-Dodecane, Oxygen Vector, in leaching system is an added advantage. Thus, this study offers a promising route in enhancing kinetics of oxidative aqueous processes and provides suggestive insights for lowering the material and energy requirements

Assessment of impact of orthognathic surgery on quality of life in patients with dentofacial defects

Background: Dentofacial deformities have a major negative social impact because of its association with esthetic and functional limitations. The present study was conducted to assess the impact of orthognathic surgery on quality of life in patients with dentofacial defects. Materials & Methods: 52 patients undergoing dental surgery to correct dentofacial deformities of both genders were included. Group I comprised of cases and group II control subjects.  Deformities were grouped for analysis into DEF. 0, DEF. 1, DEF. 2, DEF. 3 and DEF. 4 (Other Deformities). OHIP-14 was completed in three stages: 1 week before surgery (T0), 1 month following surgery (T1), and 3 months following surgery (T2). The response recorded was never (0), rarely (1), sometimes (2), often (3), and always (4). Results: Out of 52 patients, males were 32 and females were 20. OHIP- 14 score 19 at T0, 22 at T1, 7 at T2, 3 at T1-T0, -12 at T2-T0 and -15 at T2-T1. The difference was significant (P< 0.05).&nbsp

Assessment of efficiency of arm force only versus arm force plus wrist movement during closed method extractions

Background: Atraumatic dental extraction preserves bone and maintains gingival architecture, thereby ensuring the option of replacement with implant supported prosthesis. The present study was conducted to compare the efficiency of arm force only versus arm force plus wrist movement during closed method extractions. Materials & Methods: 84 patients undergoing mandibular molar extraction of both genders were selected. Patients were divided into 2 groups. Each group comprised of 42 patients. In group I, interns used arm force only while in group II, interns used both arm force and wrist movement in extraction of mandibular molar. Parameters such as time taken for extraction, root fracture, bone plate facture, and adherence of buccal plate to the root were assessed. Results: Group I had 22 males and 20 females and group II had 18 males and 24 females. The mean time taken for extraction was 10.2 minutes in group I and 5.4 minutes in group II. The difference was significant (P< 0.05).&nbsp

Valorisation of waste galvanizing dross: Emphasis on recovery of zinc with zero effluent strategy

Galvanizing dross-a waste product from steel industries but it can be a potential secondary resource for zinc through urban mining and recycling. In this concern, a novel and scalable recycling route with zero effluent strategy is developed for the recovery of zinc from galvanizing dross as high grade zinc salts along with value-added products through hydrometallurgical processing. In particular, as-such dross block was leached in 9% (v/v) sulphuric acid medium, wherein strong hydrogen gas effervescence results in alleviating the pulverization and stirring requirements; which are material and energy intensive. Leached zinc is purified and recovered as high purity ZnSO4.(H2O/7H2O) and Zn3(PO4)2.4H2O through controlled crystallization and phosphate precipitation respectively; which find application in fertilizers and anti-corrosive paints. Temperature difference method was opted for the crystallization of zinc sulfate salts, wherein 70 °C and 30 °C were found to be stability range of crystallization of ZnSO4.H2O and ZnSO4.7H2O respectively. ZnSO4-H2O phase diagram is developed using Factsage calculations to corroborate crystallization study. Moreover, exhaustive thermodynamic analysis of Zn2+-PO43--H2O system at 303 K on precipitation of zinc phosphate using di-ammonium hydrogen phosphate (80-240 g/L) is conducted and the results reveal that with increasing pH (3-6), intermediate hydrogen phosphate species (H3PO4, H2PO4- and H2PO42-) decompose to produce stable PO43- ions leading to zinc phosphate precipitation. Impurity like Iron and supernatant solution left after crystallization are recovered as hydrated iron-calcium sulfate mixture and ammonium sulfate salt respectively. This explored route is economical and easily adaptable with zero effluents, therefore, transcends serious challenges in terms of energy requirement, scale-up and effluent generation

RedMud: A Secondary Resource for Rare Earth Elements

Red mud is a solid waste of the Bayer process and is considered to be a harmful waste when it is stock piled in huge amounts. By the year of 2015, the alumina industry is estimated to produce 4 billion tons red mud worldwide at its current production rate. In India, alumina plants have 1.692 million tons of annual capacity with aluminum metal production of 0.6 million ton per annum and generate about 2 million tons of red mud every year. Disposal of red mud brings an environmental risk taking into consideration of the huge quantity. On the other hand, scattered efforts have been put worldwide for extraction of signicant amounts of REEs such as La, Ce, Y, Sc. It is difficult to directly recover REEs from red mud due to its low levels and presence of major minerals of Fe, Al, Ti. This article elicits a comprehensive review on the presence of REEs in red mud, their mineralogical characterization and its association. Also would be presented the recent first of its kind results on extraction of these rare earth elements from red mud

Modulation of key metabolic enzyme of Labeo rohita (Hamilton) juvenile: effect of dietary starch type, protein level and exogenous alpha-amylase in the diet

A 60-day feeding trial was conducted to delineate the effect of both gelatinized (G) and non-gelatinized (NG) corn with or without supplementation of exogenous alpha-amylase, either at optimum (35%) or sub-optimum (27%) protein levels, on blood glucose, and the key metabolic enzymes of glycolysis (hexokinase, HK), gluconeogenesis (glucose-6 phosphatase, G6Pase and fructose-1,6 bisphosphatase, FBPase), lipogenesis (glucose-6 phaosphate dehydrogenase, G6PD) and amino acid metabolism (alanine amino transfersae, ALT and aspartate amino transferase, AST) in Labeo rohita. Three hundred and sixty juveniles (average weight 10 +/- A 0.15 g) were randomly distributed into 12 treatment groups with each of two replicates. Twelve semi-purified diets containing either 35 or 27% crude protein were prepared by including G or NG corn as carbohydrate source with different levels of microbial alpha-amylase (0, 50, 100 and 150 mg kg(-1)). The G corn fed groups showed significantly higher (P 0.05) on liver HK activity, but the optimum crude protein (35%) fed group showed higher HK activity than their low protein counterparts. The sub-optimum crude protein (27%) fed group showed significantly higher (P < 0.05) G6PD activity than the optimum protein fed group, whereas the reverse trend was observed for HK, G6Pase, FBPase, ALT and AST activity. Addition of 50 mg alpha-amylase kg(-1) feed showed increased blood glucose and G6PD activity of the NG corn fed group, whereas the reverse trend was found for G6Pase, FBPase, ALT and AST activity in liver, which was similar to that of the G or NG corn supplemented with 100/150 mg alpha-amylase kg(-1) feed. Data on enzyme activities suggest that NG corn in the diet significantly induced more gluconeogenic and amino acid metabolic enzyme activity, whereas G corn induced increased lipogenic enzyme activity. Increased amino acid catabolic enzyme (ALT and AST) activity was observed either at optimum protein (35%) irrespective of corn type or NG corn without supplementation of alpha-amylase irrespective of protein level in the diet