Etiological Spectrum of Pregnancy-Related Acute Renal Failure among Females at a Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: Acute renal failure in pregnancy can be induced by any of the disorders leading to renal failure in the general population, such as acute tubular necrosis due to infection, glomerulonephritis related to lupus, or drug toxicity. There are, however, pregnancy complications characteristic of each trimester that can result in renal failure. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of various causes of pregnancy-related acute renal failure among females presenting to a tertiary care hospital

Biological significance of Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) in human health – a review

The recognition of vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) is associated with history of an unrelenting search for the cause of the ancient hemorrhagic disease scurvy. Isolated in 1928, vitamin C is essential for the development and maintenance of connective tissues. It plays an important role in bone formation, wound healing and the maintenance of healthy gums. Vitamin C plays an important role in a number of metabolic functions including the activation of the B vitamin, folic acid, the conversion of cholesterol to bile acids and the conversion of the amino acid, tryptophan, to the neurotransmitter, serotonin. It is an antioxidant that protects body from free radicals’ damages. It is used as therapeutic agent in many diseases and disorders. Vitamin C protects the immune system, reduces the severity of allergic reactions and helps fight off infections

Results of autologous venous blood injections in plantar fasciitis: a prospective clinical study

Background: Plantar fasciitis is a degenerative disease of plantar fascia and is one of the most common causes of heel pain. The response to any treatment modality is unpredictable. The autologous blood might induce healing in the areas of degeneration by providing cellular and humoral components. The aim of this study was therefore to evaluate the results of autologous blood injection in plantar fasciitis.Methods: Thirty-two patients (average age of 42.4 years), 14 males (43.7%) and 18 females (56.2%) with history of chronic heel pain of more than 6 months duration were taken up for autologous blood injection. All the patients in this study were clinically evaluated and the visual analogous pain score was calculated from each patient pre-procedure and at 3 and 6 months after the procedure.Results: There was a significant improvement in VAS pain score in this study. Pre-procedure VAS pain score of 6.9 (average 4-10) was reduced to a mean score of 4.28 (average 0-9) at 3 months and a mean score of 3 (average 0-9) at 6 months.Conclusions: Autologous blood is an effective method of controlling pain in patients with plantar fasciitis

Pilonidal sinus: excision and primary closure over suction drain and its outcome

Background: Pilonidal sinus is a chronic inflammatory disease predominantly involving Sacrococcygeal region. Despite advances in medical sciences, management of pilonidal disease is still not well defined. Treatment varies from simple techniques to more sophisticated surgeries with their own pros and cons. Methods: This prospective observational study comprised of forty-two patients who underwent the surgery for pilonidal sinus as per the procedure described. This study was carried from 1 May 2019 till 30 November 2022. Median age of the patients was 24.5 years, ranging between 19-32 years. Sinus discharge was the predominant symptom of our study population with 34 patients (80.94%) complaining of same. Results: Mean operative time was 54 minutes with a range of 45-78 minutes. Average hospital stay was 1.8 days though it ranged from 1 to 3 days. Five patients (11.90%) developed seroma while four patients (9.52%) had superficial wound site infection. We had two recurrences (4.76%) over the follow-up period of 1 year. Conclusions: Excision and primary closure of the pilonidal disease is effective with comparable complication rates and shorter time off work. The surgery can be easily performed

Process Matching: Performance Trade-Off Between Summary and Full-Length Descriptions

Business process models are used by modeling experts to concisely depict the workflow of an organization that plays a pivotal role in the development of ERP systems. A growing number of organizations also maintain the textual process descriptions of these process models as the descriptions are understandable across the board. A recent study has revealed that these textual descriptions can also be used for an accurate process model search. However, the use of textual descriptions is a resource-intensive task due to the sheer size of the descriptions. To that end, in this paper, we have proposed an approach that relies on the use of summary textual descriptions, instead of full-length descriptions, to enhance the performance of process matching. To evaluate the proposed approach, we have used four diverse text summarization techniques, including a state-of-the-art deep learning based technique, for generating summary descriptions, and seven text-matching techniques for finding relevant process specifications. Our empirical study has established that the Vector Space Model is the most effective technique for process matching. Furthermore, the use of Lingo generated summaries, at a compression rate of 50 %, can achieve a higher efficiency as well as effectiveness than the full-length textual process descriptions

The association between arterial stiffness, initial stroke severity, and 3 week outcomes in ischaemic stroke patients

Objectives: Vascular compliance is emerging as a useful cardiovascular risk factor. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between arterial stiffness and stroke severity at presentation and at three weeks. Methods: From an initial sample of 73 patients, 42 were included (55% male, mean age 71 years) with acute ischaemic stroke, over a 15 month period. Stroke subtypes were classified into LACI, PACI and POCI. Arterial stiffness was measured by QKD using 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure and ECG monitoring. The measured QKD values were then corrected for a heart rate of 60bpm and a systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 100 mmHg (QKD100-60). Stroke severity was assessed on admission and after 3 weeks, using the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). Results: There was a non-significant weak correlation between initial stroke severity and QKD100-60 (r= -0.3, p = 0.08). This correlation was weaker at 3 weeks (r= ¬0.125, p=0.47). There was no difference in NIHSS at week 0 and 3, or QKD100-60, between the different stroke types (LACI, PACI and POCI) or dipper versus non-dippers and reverse dippers. Conclusions: This study highlights the need for further research into the association between QKD and initial stroke severity

Thumb reconstruction by grafting skeletonized amputated phalanges and soft tissue cover – A new technique: A case series

This study reports five cases of crush-avulsion injury to the thumb at different levels presented at our plastic and hand surgery unit between 2005 and 2007. All of the patients were male labors with machine injuries to the thumb with non-replantable amputations. Distal phalanx or proximal phalanx, or both, were used as a free cortical bone graft. The amputated part was skeletonized keeping the periosteum attached to the cortical bone of the phalanx fixing it to the stump and covering it by either local flap like dorsal metacarpal flap or regional flaps like the distally based pedicled radial forearm flap and neurovascular island sensate flap or groin flap. The results were functionally and cosmetically good and follow up X rays showed no osteoporotic resorption after one year

How Urbanization Affects CO2 Emissions in Malaysia? The Application of STIRPAT Model

We investigate the impact of urbanisation on CO2 emissions by applying the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology (STIRPAT) in the case of Malaysia over the period of 1970Q1-2011Q4. Empirically, after testing the integrating properties of the variables using unit root test, we applied the Bayer-Hanck combined cointegration approach to examine the cointegration relationship between the variables. Further, we tested the robustness of long-run relationship in the presence of structural breaks using ARDL bounds testing approach. The causal relationship between the variables is investigated by applying the VECM Granger causality test. Our results validate the existence of cointegration in the presence of structural breaks. The empirical results exposed that economic growth is a major contributor to CO2 emissions. Besides, energy consumption raises emissions intensity and capital stock boosts energy consumption. Trade openness leads affluence and hence increases CO2 emissions. More importantly, we find that the relationship between urbanisation and CO2 emissions is U-shaped i.e. urbanisation initially reduces CO2 emissions, but after a threshold level, it increases CO2 emissions. The causality analysis suggests that the urbanization Granger causes CO2 emissions

How Urbanization Affects CO2 Emissions in Malaysia? The Application of STIRPAT Model

We investigate the impact of urbanisation on CO2 emissions by applying the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology (STIRPAT) in the case of Malaysia over the period of 1970Q1-2011Q4. Empirically, after testing the integrating properties of the variables using unit root test, we applied the Bayer-Hanck combined cointegration approach to examine the cointegration relationship between the variables. Further, we tested the robustness of long-run relationship in the presence of structural breaks using ARDL bounds testing approach. The causal relationship between the variables is investigated by applying the VECM Granger causality test. Our results validate the existence of cointegration in the presence of structural breaks. The empirical results exposed that economic growth is a major contributor to CO2 emissions. Besides, energy consumption raises emissions intensity and capital stock boosts energy consumption. Trade openness leads affluence and hence increases CO2 emissions. More importantly, we find that the relationship between urbanisation and CO2 emissions is U-shaped i.e. urbanisation initially reduces CO2 emissions, but after a threshold level, it increases CO2 emissions. The causality analysis suggests that the urbanization Granger causes CO2 emissions