Search

Lithium, a naturally occurring element, occupies the third position on the periodic table with the chemical symbol, Li. The name lithium comes from the Greek word lithos, meaning stone. It [...]

Objective: To compare the effects of left tilt of operating table on maternal hemodynamics and vasopressor requirement in contrast to supine position during caesarean section. Study Design: Comparative Analytical Study. Setting: District Head Quarter Hospital, Rawalpindi. Period: December 2021 to February 2022. Material & Methods: A total of 38 participants were included by the lottery method of randomization into the two groups according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria: supine group and left tilt group. For Supine Group, spinal anesthesia was administered in the sitting position, and then supine position was maintained. For Left tilt group, spinal anesthesia was administered in the sitting position and was then maintained in the supine position until the full anesthetic effect was achieved, and the table was tilted 15 °to the left. The Systolic and the diastolic blood pressures were noted at regular intervals. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Results: The results showed that systolic blood pressure decreased significantly in the supine group (F= 16.65, p< 0.000) compared to the left-tilted group (F= 2.1, p= 0.12). Intraoperative phenylephrine was required by four out of 20 participants in the supine group after 10 and 15 minutes, of out 2/20 participants after 20 minutes and out of 6/18 participants after 30 minutes. None of the participants in the left-tilt group required intraoperative phenylephrine. Conclusion: The left tilted position of the operating table is better than the supine position in terms of maternal hemodynamics and vasopressor requirement during Caesarean section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of non-thermal plasma technology in producing green fuels is a much-appreciated environmentally friendly approach. In this study, an Al2O3-supported CrxZnS semiconductor catalyst was tested for hydrogen evolution from hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas by using a single-layered dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) system. The Al2O3-supported CrxZnS catalyst (x = 0.20, 0.25, and 0.30) was produced by using a co-impregnation method and characterized for its structural and photocatalytic characteristics. The discharge column of the DBD system was filled with this catalyst and fed with hydrogen sulfide and argon gas. The DBD plasma was sustained with a fixed AC source of 10 kV where plasma produced species and UV radiations activated the catalyst to break H2S molecules under ambient conditions. The catalyst (hexagonal-cubic-sphalerite structure) showed an inverse relationship between the band gap and the dopant concentration. The hydrogen evolution decreased with an increase in dopant concentration in the nanocomposite. The Cr0.20ZnS catalyst showed excellent photocatalytic activity under the DBD exposure by delivering 100% conversion efficiency of H2S into hydrogen. The conversion decreased to 96% and 90% in case of Cr0.25ZnS and Cr0.30ZnS, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In pursuit of efficient, cost-effective, and durable catalysts for the optical and electrochemical oxidation of methanol, platinum (Pt) nanoparticles deposited on a WO3–C support have an improved bandgap and electrochemical behavior as compared to Pt/C and Pt/WO3 electrocatalysts. Vulcan carbon was first purified and then functionalized, and the presence of oxygen-containing functional groups on the carbon was established from the FTIR spectrum. Platinum nanoparticles were deposited on the support by the reduction of a Pt-precursor under controlled conditions using sodium borohydride (NaBH4). The composition of the components in the catalyst (Pt/WO3–C) was set at Pt 10%, WO310%, and C 80% by weight. XRD describes the cell shape, volume, material density, and average crystallite size. TGA and BET studies describe the thermal stability and surface area of the synthesized electrocatalyst supports. TEM and FESEM were employed to visualize the uniform distribution of Pt nanoparticles on the different supports and the surface topography of Pt/WO3–C, Pt/WO3, and Pt/C. UV studies demonstrated the optical band gap from the Tauc plot of all three samples. The activities and durability of the catalysts for methanol oxidation were determined by using cyclic voltammetry. A comparison revealed that all of the relevant quantities, like specific surface area, durability, peak, and exchange currents, were appreciably higher for Pt/WO3–C. The heterogeneous constant for methanol oxidation by Pt/WO3–C in an acidic medium was 10 and 3 times higher than that of Pt/C and Pt/WO3, respectively. In electrochemical impedance studies, the charge transfer resistance values were elucidated from Nyquist and Bode plots. The higher increment in optical properties, as well as methanol electrooxidation performance, of the Pt/WO3–C catalyst is attributed to the abrupt removal of CO, facilitating methanol adsorption on fresh and regenerated Pt sites in the presence of WO3. This study has proved that WO3 inclusion into the support improves the optical features, proficiency, and durability of Pt/C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background : To compare the clinical efficacy of intravenous (I/V) Ceftriaxone with oral Azithromycin in 2-12 year old children diagnosed with enteric fever. Methods: In this comparative study children with the history of fever for >4 days and at least two out of these findings, i.e., toxic physical appearance, abdominal pain, coated tongue, hepatomegaly, splenomegaly were divided into two equal groups. Patients in Group A were given Azithromycin 20 mg / kg/ day as a single oral dose whereas patients in Group B were given Ceftriaxone 100 mg/kg/day as a single I/V injection for 07 days. Before initiation of therapy samples for Typhidot and Widal test were collected and only those testing positive were included. Results: There were 42 (93.3%) and 40 (88.9%) patients in both the groups respectively who were clinically cured. No significant difference was found between these two groups (p-value 0.459). Conclusion: There was no difference in the clinical efficacy between Ceftriaxone and Azithromycin for the treatment of typhoid fever in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To determine frequency of febrile neutropenia episodes (FN) in patients of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) on chemotherapy and to study different type of organisms isolated in them along with their sensitivity to different antibiotics. Methods: In this descriptive study children of either gender diagnosis of ALL and on any one of the initial four phase of chemotherapy including induction, consolidation, interim maintenance and delayed intensification were followed prospectively from start till end of that particular phase. The chemotherapy protocol used in the centre is BFM protocol. Patients who developed fever (= 38°C) during this time and turned out to be neutropenic (ANC = 500/mm3) underwent blood culture(on Bectec). Antimicrobial susceptibility profile was done by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method on Muller Hinton agar, according to CLSI 2006 guidelines. Results: Mean age of children was 5.5(±3.0) years. Of 94 ALL patients enrolled in the current study, 46% were younger than 5 years and 73% were males. Out of 94 37 (39%) developed fever and neutropenia. The mean (SD) temperature of all the children was 38.9 (±0.3)0C. The mean (SD) absolute neutrophil count (ANC) was 264.0 (±149.2)/mm3. Out of 37 children who developed febrile neutropenia, 25% had positive blood cultures. The most common isolate was Klebsiella (44.4%), followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (33.3%) and Staphylococcus aureas (22.2%). Klebsiella was sensitive to most of the antibiotics tested except cephalosporins. Sensitivity of pseudomonas was 100% to ceftazidime and cefotaxime while Staph. aureas was 100% sensitive to ceftazidime, imipenem and ciprofloxacin. Conclusion: Nearly two-fifths of the children with ALL developed febrile neutropenia. A quarter of them showed positive blood cultures. The most common pathogen found in our study was Klebsiella, followed by Pseudomonas and Staphylococcus aureus. Most of the antibiotics tested for the Klebsiella were shown to be effective except cephalosporins. For Pseudomonas, Cefrazidine and Cefotaxime were 100% sensitive, while for Staphylococcus Cefrazidine, Imipenem and Ciprofloxacine showed 100% sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the synthesis of a highly active TiO 2 -chitosan nanocomposite, pH plays a crucial role towards controlling its morphology, size, crystallinity, thermal stability, and surface adsorption properties. The presence of chitosan (CS) biopolymer facilitates greater sustainability to the photoexcited electrons and holes on the catalysts' surface. The variation of synthesis pH from 2 to 5 resulted in different physico-chemical and photocatalytic properties, whereby a pH of 3 resulted in TiO 2 -chitosan nanocomposite with the highest photocatalytic degradation (above 99 %) of methylene orange (MO) dye. This was attributed to the efficient surface absorption properties, high crystallinity, and the presence of reactive surfaces of -NH 2 and -OH groups, which enhances the adsorption-photodegradation effect. The larger surface oxygen vacancies coupled with reduced electron-hole recombination further enhanced the photocatalytic activity. It is undeniable that the pH during synthesis is critical towards the development of the properties of the TiO 2 -chitosan nanocomposite for the enhancement of photocatalytic activity.