Simulation of effects of various parameters in solid waste gasification in a fixed bed reactor

With the enormous amount of solid waste being produced on a daily basis in different municipal corporations, its usage as another form of valuable raw material for the production of combustible fuel is of great interest to the scientific community. The solid waste can be treated appropriately for the generation of clean fuel, as well as it reduces the burden to dispose of the material in a environment friendly manner. Thus the extraction of all the valuable gases from the solid waste which can help in meeting the ever rising energy demands. Our model is based on the fixed bed type of reactor, the simulation of which is done using the very dynamic and useful software- Aspen plus. The fixed bed used here is an updraft type one with the following section: Drying, Pyrolysis, Gasification and Combustion. The performance of the reactor is to be investigated for carbon conversion at different gasification temperature, pressure, air equivalence ratio, and heat conversion efficiencies

Long term results of Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy using Side viewing Conical working tube

Object: Endoscopic discectomy is a common procure performed worldwide with various devices being used and studies have reported their long term results. In this study we present the long term results of the unique device with separate side viewing channel. Methods: 66 patients of lumbar disc herniation treated between March 2009 to April 2012 using the unique conical working tube with separate side viewing endoscopic channel. Their preoperative and postoperative Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Macnab scores were used to evaluate the outcome after a minimum follow of 5 years with mean follow up of 76.18 months. Results: There were 46 males and 20 females with age ranging from19-72 (mean-38.4 years). The follow up ranged from 61 months to 95 months with mean of 76.18 months. The mean preoperative ODI score was 74.7 which decreased to a mean of 7.8 and the outcome evaluated by Macnab criteria was 69.69% excellent, 17 % good, 10% fair, 3.03% poor. 2 patients underwent second surgery. None of the patient had to change their occupation due to their lumbar disc disease. Complications occurred were dural tear in 2 patients, transient foot paresis in 1 patient and 1 discitis in 1 patient which improved on medical management. Conclusion: Endoscopic discectomy using thins Conical working tube is a safe and effective technique for lumbar disc prolapse. It has the advantage for early mobilization, short hospital stay and low cost. The long term results are comparable to the conventional techniques

Nosocomial Buffalopoxvirus Infection, Karachi, Pakistan

During 5 months in 2004–2005, buffalopoxvirus infection, confirmed by virus isolation and limited nucleic acid sequencing, spread between 5 burns units in Karachi, Pakistan. The outbreak was related to movement of patients between units. Control measures reduced transmission, but sporadic cases continued due to the admission of new patients with community-acquired infections

Endoscopic diagnosis of a pineal papillary glioneuronal tumor with extensive ventricular involvement: Case report with review of literature

Papillary glioneuronal tumor (PGNT) is a newly described mixed glioneuronal tumor, recently included in the World Health Organization classification of central nervous system tumors. We report morphologic and immunohistochemical characteristics PGNT of the pineal region extending into the third and lateral ventricles in a four-year-old male child and reviewed all the cases reported in the international literature till date. In this child the diagnosis of PGNT was established by endoscopic biopsy and squash smear examination