Laparoscopic Enterolithotomy Is a Valid Option to Treat Gallstone Ileus

This report describes a case of gallstone ileus managed with a totally laparoscopic approach

Prevalence and Psychological Characterization of Smoking amongst University Students in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Purpose: To evaluate smoking, its causes, ill effects on the health and symptoms associated with smoking and smoking withdrawal among university students of Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.Methods: The questionnaire based study was conducted amongst university students in Abbottabad, Pakistan during November – December, 2012. Data were collected from university students using a self-administered questionnaire through simple random sampling.Results: Most subjects (43.6 %) started smoking during college life. Out of the total, 27.2 % of the subjects were of the opinion that smoking is a bad habit, but they still continued smoking. Among them, 17.6 % started smoking to ‘feel’ like adults, 20.8 % started just to feel the experience of doing so, 17.6 % were under the bad influence of friends and 8.4 % people wanted to escape from stressful life and seek comfort in smoking. Symptoms associated with smoking were shortness of breath (22.4 %), tiredness (17.2 %), chest pain (22.8 %), sleeping problem (16.8 %) and cough (43.2 %). Moreover, symptoms associated with withdrawal include mood disturbance (16.1 %), headache (9.9 %), tiredness (7.5 %), constipation (11.3 %), dry mouth (10.4 %), sleep disturbance (6.9 %), cough (5.4 %) and study problem (9.3 %).Conclusion: Smoking habit among the university students is common and in many cases results from experimentation and feeling of adulthood. Proper education on the dangers of smoking is vital.Keywords: Psychology, Smoking, Health, Withdrawal symptoms, Counselin

Numerical Modeling Baseline for high efficiency (Cu2FeSnS4) CFTS based Thin Film Kesterite Solar Cell

[EN] Cu2FeSnS4 (CFTS) is auspicious nontoxic and earth abundant semiconductor compound having kesterite symmetrical structure. It is an attractive and suitable material for the fabrication of low cost, high efficiency and sustainable thin film photovoltaic cell. ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿ based kesterite photovoltaic cell device modeling was performed in this work. The influence of device parameters such as the thickness, acceptor and donor carrier concentration densities of absorber and electron transport layer (ETL), effect of back contact metal work function and the temperature effect on the performance of ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿ based kesterite photovoltaic cell is analyzed by using one dimensional solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS) software. In this work, promising optimized results had been achieved with the conversion efficiency of 19.97%, fill factor (¿¿¿¿) 85.94 %, short-circuit current (¿¿¿¿¿¿ ) 23.37 ¿¿¿¿/¿¿¿ 2 and open circuit voltage (¿¿¿¿¿¿ ) 0.995V. The above results will give imperative baselines and feasible directions for the fabrication of higher efficiency ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿ based photovoltaic cellThis work was supported by Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (ENE2016-77798-C4-2-R) and Generalitat valenciana (Prometeus 2014/044).Khattak, YH.; Baig, F.; Ullah, S.; Marí, B.; Ullah, H. (2018). Numerical Modeling Baseline for high efficiency (Cu2FeSnS4) CFTS based Thin Film Kesterite Solar Cell. Optik - International Journal for Light and Electron Optics. 164:547-555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijleo.2018.03.055S54755516

Stochastic geometry based dynamic fractional frequency reuse for OFDMA systems

Fractional Frequency Reuse (FFR) has been acknowledged as an efficient Interference Management (IM) technique, which offers significant capacity enhancement and improves cell edge coverage with low complexity of implementation. The performance of cellular system greatly depends on the spatial configuration of base stations (BSs). In literature, FFR has been analyzed mostly with cellular networks described by Hexagon Grid Model (HGM). HGM is neither tractable nor scalable to the dense deployment of next generation wireless networks. Moreover, the perfect geometry based HGM tends to overestimate the system's performance and not able to reflect the reality. In this paper, we use the stochastic geometry approach; FFR is analyzed with cellular network modeled by homogeneous Poisson Point Process (PPP). PPP model provides complete randomness in terms of BS deployment, which captures the real network scenario. A dynamic FFR scheme is proposed in this article, which take into account the randomness of the cell coverage area described by Voronoi tessellation. It is shown that the proposed scheme outperforms the traditional fixed frequency allocation schemes in terms of capacity and capacity density

Applications of Bacterial Cellulose in Food, Cosmetics and Drug Delivery

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a versatile biopolymer with better material properties, such as purity, high degree of porosity, relative high permeability to liquid and gases, high water-uptake capacity, tensile strength and ultrafine network. This review explores the applications of BC and its hydrogels in the fields of food, cosmetics and drug delivery. Applications of BC in foods are ranging from traditional dessert, low cholesterol diet, vegetarian meat, and as food additive and dietary aid to novel applications, such as immobilization of enzymes and cells. Applications in cosmetics include facial mask, facial scrub, personal cleansing formulations and contact lenses. BC for controlled drug delivery, transdermal drug delivery, dental drug delivery, protein delivery, tissue engineering drug delivery, macromolecular prodrug delivery and molecularly imprinted polymer based enantioselective drug delivery are also discussed in this review. The applications of BC in food and cosmetics provide the basis for BC-based functional foods, nutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals and medicated cosmetics. On the basis of current studies, the BC-based drug delivery could be further fine-tuned to get more sophisticated control on stimuli-responsive drug release. Along with the currently available literature, further experiments are required to obtain a blueprint of drug in vivo performance, bioavailability and in vitro–in vivo correlation.Peer reviewe

HYPOTHYROIDISM IN WOMEN HAVING MENSTRUAL PROBLEMS AT A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Background; Menstrual disorders frequently affect the quality of life of adolescents and young adult women, especially those who suffer dysmenorrhoea and heavy menstruation. Different studies have associated thyroid dysfunction with menstrual problems. This study was conducted to document the frequency of hypothyroidism in women with menstrual problems. Objective; To determine frequency of hypothyroidism in women having menstrual problems at a tertiary care hospital.  Material and methods; All the study cases (227) who meet inclusion and exclusion criteria of my study were taken from OPD of the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Nishtar Hospital Multan.  Once registered, 5 ml venous blood sample was taken and sent to the central laboratory of the Nishtar Hospital Multan for serum TSH and T4 levels by a pathologist having minimum 5 years experience after post-graduation.   Hypothyroidism was determined on laboratory report after serum analysis for TSH and T4. Data was analyzed by using SPSS Version 20. Results; Mean age of our study cases was noted to be 24.08± 4.65 years. Of these 227 study cases, 134 (59 %) were married while 93 (41%) were unmarried. Mean body mass index (BMI) of our study cases was 22.31 ± 2.70 kg/m2 , 160 (70.5%) were normal weight, 51 (22.5%) were overweight and 16 (7%) were obese. Secondary amenorrhea was noted in 25 (11%), oligomenorrhea in 42 (18.5%),  polymenorrhea in 16 (7%), heavy menstrual bleeding in 59 (26%) and irregular menstrual bleeding in 85 (37.5%). Mean serum TSH level of our study cases was 4.85 ± 0.91 mIU/L while mean T4 level was noted to be 86.90 ± 38.81 nmol/L and hypothyroidism was noted in 176 (77.5%) of our study cases. Overt hypothyroidism was noted in 75 (33 %) and subclinical hypothyroidism in 101 (44.5%) of our study cases. Conclusion; Very high frequency of hypothyroidism was noted in women having menstrual problems in our study. Hypothyroidism was significantly associated with residential status, obesity, poor socioeconomic status, level of education and type of menstrual problem. Subclinical hypothyroidism was more prevalent as compared with over hypothyroidism. Our study results suggest that women presenting with menstrual problems must be screened for thyroid hormones for proper management of these patients. Keywords; Hypothyroidism, Menstrual problems, subclinical hypothyroidism, overt hypothyroidism

Synthesis of in-gap band CuGaS2:Cr absorbers and numerical assessment of their performance in solar cells

[EN] CuGaS2 thin films were obtained by sulfurization of CuGaSe2. CuGaSe2 thin films were first electrodeposited from aqueous solutions containing CuCl2, GaCl3, and H2SeO3 and subsequently annealed at 400 °C for 10 min in forming gas atmosphere and in the presence of molecular sulfur. This sulfurization process resulted in the complete conversion of CuGaSe2 into CuGaS2. The formation of CuGaS2 was proven by X-Ray diffraction and optical spectroscopy. Diffraction peaks of CuGaS2 shifted to higher angles than those observed for CuGaSe2 films, and the optical band gap shifted to blue rising from 1.66 eV for CuGaSe2 to 2.2 eV for CuGaS2. When Cr ions were added to the initial electrolyte, the final CuGaS2 films exhibited a broad in-gap absorption band centred at 1.63 eV that can be ascribed to Cr atoms in Ga sites. The performance of solar cells based on CuGaS2:Cr absorbers containing an in-gap absorption band was then estimated by numerical simulation using Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator Software. Both quantum efficiency and short circuit current of simulated Mo/CuGaS2:Cr/CdS/ZnO solar cells rose up proportionally to the amount of Cr present in CuGaS2:Cr absorbers. As a result, the photo conversion efficiency of the simulated devices changed from 14.7% for CuGaS2 to 34% for CuGaS2:Cr absorbers. Nevertheless, when neutral defects related to Cr-doping were introduced in the absorber layer, the positive effect of the enhancement of photon harvesting due to IGB was compensated by a decline in the carrier collection and the overall efficiency of the device fell considerably.This work was supported by Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (ENE2016-77798-C4-2-R) and Generalitat Valenciana (Prometeus 2014/044).Ullah, S.; Ullah, H.; Bouhjar, F.; Mollar García, MA.; Marí, B. (2018). Synthesis of in-gap band CuGaS2:Cr absorbers and numerical assessment of their performance in solar cells. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. 180:322-327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2017.06.062S32232718

Risk Factors of Diarrhoea in Malnourished Children Under Age of 5 Years

Background: Acute infectious enteritis remains one of the commonest causes of death among infants and children in developing countries. Acute enteritis is defined as a loss of stool consistency with pasty or liquid stools, and/or an increase in stool frequency to more than three stools in 24 hours with or without fever or vomiting. Human survival depends on the secretion and reabsorption of fluid and electrolytes in the intestinal tract. The objective of the study is to evaluate the risk factors of diarrhoea in children under age of 5 years. Methodology: It was an observational study. Study was completed in about six months. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used. In this study, 270 samples were taken from Diarrheal ward of The Children Hospital Lahore, Pakistan. Results: In this study, out of 270 patients, 58.52% were males and 41.48% were females. 90.37% patients were vaccinated. 54.81% had weaning history. 91.85% patients had feeding history. 29.26% had blood in stool. 96.67% patients were dehydrated. 95.56% patients had loose watery diarrhoea. 62.96% patients used boiled water. 58.52% patients consumed less than half litre of water, 30.00% patients consumed 1 litre of water and 11.48% patients consumed > 1 litre of water. 49.18% patients had proper hygiene. 38.15% mothers of patients were well educated. 40.37% patients had model household condition. 57.41% patients lived in rural area and 42.59% patients lived in urban area. Conclusion: The variation in the level of diarrheal morbidity was well explained by maternal education, income, personal hygiene, refuse disposal system and the effect of health extension programme

Frequency of HIV in Obstructive Lung Disease Patients

Abstract Background: Obstructive lung disease (OLD) is one of the main causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Obstructive lung disease is the narrowing of bronchioles mainly due to excessive smooth muscle contraction. The objective of this study is to evaluate the Frequency of HIV in obstructive lung disease patients. Methodology: Samples were collected randomly, and study was completed in almost six months. 100 samples were taken with an informed consent taken from all the patients. EDTA and Clotted blood was collected for HIV ELISA and HIV screening. Results: In this study, 69% Males and 31%Females, 34% Smokers, 26% patients were Hypertensive, 10% patients were diabetic, 3% patients were diagnosed HIV positive by screening and ELISA. Conclusion: The frequency of HIV in obstructive lung disease patients in this research is not very high as compared to the previous researches, showing high frequency and relationship between HIV and obstructive lung disease patients. The reason behind low frequency is due to low sample size so by increasing the sample size we can get better understanding of frequency of HIV in obstructive lung disease patients. Another reason of insignificant results is low prevalence of HIV in Pakistan as compared to the previous researches in certain countries

Frequency of Clinical Symptoms of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in Asthmatic Patients

Background: Gastroesophageal reflex is known as an acid reflex, is long term condition where stomach contents back into the oesophagus resulting in either symptoms or complications. GERD disease is caused by weakness or failure of the lower oesophageal sphincter. Symptoms include the acidic taste behind the mouth, heart burn, chest pain, difficult breathing and vomiting. Complication includes esophagitis, oesophageal strictures and barrettes oesophagus. Objective: The aim of this research was to introduce the symptoms of GERD disease in asthmatic patients and how these symptoms worsen the symptoms of asthma disease and what clinical pictures present with the asthmatic disease. Methodology: A designed performa was used to collect the data and after filling the performa, results were drawn and conclusion through the facts and the information given by patients. Results: In the present study among all 164 asthmatic patients, 70 (42.7%) patients showed dyspepsia, 58 (35.4%) were with chest burning, 23 (14%) were asking about chest pain, with acidic mouth taste were 39 (23.8%), 22 (13.4%) were feeling sore throat and 44 (26.8%) showed regurgitation reflex. Among these 164 patients 16 (9.8%) were smokers and 148 (90.2 %) were non-smokers. 47 (28.7%) were males and 117 (71.3%) were females. Conclusion: It is concluded that gastroesophageal reflux disease in asthmatic patients present symptoms of acidic mouth taste, chest burning, chest pain, dyspepsia, regurgitation reflex and sore throat