Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Pollution in Non-Ferrous Metal industry : Indian Perspective

This paper highlights the need for improving energy and materials efficiencies in the non-ferrous metal industry. The process changes taking place in the production of copper, zinc, aluminium and lead are discussed. The conventional techniques of metal extraction from ores, are being replaced by environmentally f riendly bio-hydrometallurgy/bio-reactor technology.Considerable work in this direction on laboratory scale is being done in the national laboratories and academic institutions in India. In order to achieve its full potential further research and development as well as commercialisation of bioreactor processes developed are needed

Building Bridges between Science and Diplomacy to Address Global Challenges in South Asia

9-12The South Asian region is amongst the emerging areas of the world. It is an area of the extended heritage in prosperity, having solid cultural routes

Diagnostic utility of cytospin, cell block and immunocytochemistry in pleural effusion cytology

Background: With the introduction of cytospin, the sensitivity of diagnosing malignancies has increased mainly due to the increase in cellular yield. Cell block also gives the advantage of ancillary testing and allows for retrospective studies. Immunocytochemical markers are used to differentiate and subtype various malignancies in body effusions.Aim of the study was to compare the morphological features of both technique and to assess the diagnostic utility of cell block methods in the cytodiagnosis of pleural effusions.Methods: This was a Prospective observational comparative study of two cytopreparatory techniques. All samples were examined and processed by cytospin and cell block techniques. Continuous data were expressed as Mean±SD (standard deviation) while categorical data were expressed in number, percentage and compared by chi-square (χ2) test.Results: The final diagnosis of both cytospin (147 cases) and cell block (150 cases) techniques was divided into four broad categories: Inadequate, Benign, Suspicious and Malignant. The significant diagnostic cytospin (AUC=0.857, p<0.001) in discriminating positive and negative malignant cases with 75.00% sensitivity (95% CI=53.3-90.2) and 100.00% specificity (95% CI=86.7-100.0) and with 100.0% positive predictive value and 81.2% negative predictive value. In contrast, cell block also showed significant diagnostic but with higher accuracy (AUC=1.000, p<0.001) and sensitivity 100.00% (95% CI=86.7-100.0) and specificity 100.00% (95% CI=86.7-100.0) and 100.0% positive predictive value and 100.0% negative predictive value than cytospin technique.Conclusions: Cell block as a technique should be used in routine practice as it not only increases the diagnostic yield but ancillary test can also be done

Clinicopathological and immunohistochemical analysis of Sarcomatoid carcinoma of head and neck mucosal region: a retrospective analysis

Background: Sarcomatoid carcinoma is a biphasic tumour comprising both of malignant epithelial and mesenchymal elements derived monoclonally from same stem cells. These are unusual variants of squamous cell carcinoma and constitute less than 1% of the head and neck mucosal tumors. Only few studies have been published and needs more understanding to establish treatment guidelines. The aim of this study was to review the cases of carcinosarcoma arising from mucosal sites of head and neck and study their clinical, histological and Immunohistochemical features.Methods: Retrospective data and slides of histologically proven sarcomatoid carcinoma over a period of thirty -four months between January 2016 - October 2018 were retrieved and evaluated for various clinical and histopathological parameters.Results: Total of 22 cases were included in the study and the mean age of presentation was 58years with male: female ration 2:1. Most of the patients (81.8%) presented with a mass lesion of less than 6 months duration. The most common site was oral cavity (68.1%) followed by larynx (22.7%). Clinical stage was known in eleven cases. One case presented with pulmonary metastasis. Histopathologically, epithelial differentiation was identified in nine cases (41%) on morphology and in thirteen cases could be highlighted by cytokeratin positivity. The Mesenchymal component was arranged in sheets (63.7%) and fascicles (31.8%). Marked anaplasia and brisk mitosis wereseen in 54.5% and 19.3% respectively.  On immunohistochemistry all 22 cases were positive for Vimentin, twenty cases were positive for cytokeratin/EMA and aberrant mesenchymal markers were expressed in 10% of cases.  Follow up was available in eighteen cases out of which fourteen cases died within one year of diagnosis.Conclusions: Diagnosis of sarcomatoid carcinoma is challenging especially on small biopsy because of overlapping features with other spindle cell tumors. Understanding the clinicopathological features facilitates their diagnosis and effective clinical management

Solar rooftop in India: Policies, challenges and outlook

Solar photovoltaic rooftop has emerged as a potential green technology to address climate change issues by reducing reliance on conventional fossil fuel based energy. With a strong commitment to increase the renewable sources based energy capacity to 175 GW by 2022, India has a target to install 100 GW of solar energy capacity. Of this 40 GW would be the share of grid connected solar PV rooftop. This paper examines global growth in solar energy, world's major rooftop installed capacity countries' policies and solar rooftop policy instruments in India. The current Indian goals, issues & challenges in achieving them and trends in further development are discussed. Keywords: Solar energy, India, Rooftop PV, Policies, Outloo

Reducing the Carbon Burden

30-32Among the various options suggested for climate control carbon sequestration emerges as the most significant for large-scale application

Invasive intestinal myiasis in a young male presenting as fungating rectal mass: An unusual presentation

Intestinal myiasis is usually an accidental phenomenon which is transient and asymptomatic. It occurs due to intake of contaminated food or water containing fly larvae or eggs. We report a case of invasive intestinal myiasis presenting with complaint of pain, blood-mixed mucous discharge per rectum along with passage of maggots in stool. On proctoscopy an irregular fungating rectal growth with maggots was detected in rectum and anal canal. Excision of growth with diversion colostomy was done. On histopathology numerous variable-sized larvae in different stages of development were detected throughout the inflamed and necrosed bowel wall. No tumor was seen. With maintenance of proper hygiene, vermicide anti inflammatory and purgatives were given. Patient became alright after colostomy closure. The symptomatic presentation as a mass lesion and necessity for surgical intervention prompted us to report this rare case

Liquid-based cytology versus conventional cytology in fine-needle aspirates of salivary gland neoplasms

Background: Liquid-based cytology (LBC) is a method of retrieving and processing of cytological material for the assessment of both gynecological and nongynecological cases introduced in 1996. Mostly conventional smears (CS) are prepared in Indian scenario; however, due to increasing popularity of LBC in nongynecology specimens, LBC is also used in few centers for diagnosing salivary gland neoplasm. Aim: The aim of this study is to compare CS and LBC in fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of the salivary gland neoplasms in terms of cytomorphological details, adequacy, ease of interpretation, pitfalls, and diagnostic efficiency. Materials and Methods: We conducted a prospective, observational, comparative study which included 64 salivary gland neoplasms. Both CS and LBC (SurePath) were prepared as per standard protocols and examined. Results and Conclusion: In our study, specificity and positive predictive value of both the techniques (conventional and LBC) were found to be 100%. Sensitivity of both the techniques was found to be similar (66.7%). Negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy of conventional technique were found to be almost similar to that of LBC technique (97.6% vs. 97.2% and 97.7% vs. 97.4%). In terms of adequacy and cellularity, CSs were better than LBC. Ease of interpretation was better with CSs due to abundant chondromyxoid stroma, an important clue in the diagnosis of pleomorphic adenoma. Nuclear details and background were better in LBC as compared to CS. Hence, we conclude that in salivary gland FNAC, both CS and LBC have similar diagnostic efficiency. however, interpretation of conventional smears is easier than Liquid Based Cytology especially in cases of pleomorphic adenoma. However, some advantages of LBC in respect to conventional cytology, with better-preserved morphology obtained from LBC becomes furthermore obligatory