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In Eastern nations, interventions like acupuncture and herbal medicine are often first-line for patients presenting with facial paralysis. Despite the rising popularity of Eastern medicine in Western nations, the literature assessing whether Eastern medicine interventions should be recommended for patients with facial paralysis is lacking. This meta-analysis aims to define what Eastern medicine interventions exist for the management of facial paralysis and assess whether current research supports these approaches as safe and effective. The PubMed and Cochrane databases were reviewed in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Inclusion criteria consisted of peer-reviewed studies published between 2000 and 2023 that reported on Eastern medicine, also described as, "complementary" or "alternative" interventions for facial paralysis. Effective and cured rates were the primary outcomes extracted from the literature. Interventions within these studies were categorized into six groups: (1) standard acupuncture, (2) special needle therapies, (3) needle therapy + other alternative treatments, (4) herbal medicine, (5) alternative treatments + Western medicine, and (6) Western medicine alone. A multiple-treatment meta-analysis was performed to assess differences in effective and cured rates. Fifteen studies involving Eastern medicine for the treatment of facial paralysis met the inclusion criteria. No significant differences were found in effective and cured rates across groups. Multiple quality concerns were noted, such as the lack of control groups, blinding, and randomization noted in several studies. Many studies failed to report complications, preventing conclusions from being drawn on the safety of these Eastern medicine interventions. This meta-analysis was unable to support the recommendation of Eastern medicine approaches for patients with facial paralysis. No Eastern medicine treatments, combination of Eastern medicine treatments, or Eastern medicine treatments given with Western medicine were seen to be more effective than Western medicine alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marble is an ornamental stone, extremely popular for use as architectural and sculptural purposes. Non-renewable marble resources in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan are mostly mined by conventional mining methods (producing irregular shaped blocks) instead of using mechanized mining producing regular shaped blocks. Conventional mining methods are more economical but are less environment friendly due to more quantity of waste produced. While, mechanized marble mining has a better recovery, reduces mining cost (processing and transportation) and is less environmentally hazardous. In this study a situation and sustainability analysis of marble mining operations at Buner, the most productive marble mining cluster in KP, Pakistan, is carried out. Buner has about 1.4 billion tons of marble resources and contributes around 51 percent of total country’s marble production. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used on the basis of key sustainability factors (economic, technical, social, environmental and safety) for selection of most sustainable mining methods. The analysis revealed that conventional mining is least sustainable and produces maximum waste, cracks, irregular shaped blocks, high working faces, back break, rock falls and accidents. It was concluded and recommended that these conventional mining methods should be replaced with the more sustainable mining methods i.e. semi-mechanized (controlled blasting / expansion material) at sunny grey and get black marble deposits and mechanized mining (rope cutting) at Bampokha No.1 and Chagharzai white marble deposits.

Facial disfigurement can significantly affect personal identity and access to social roles. Although conventional reconstruction can have positive effects with respect to identity, these procedures are often inadequate for more severe facial defects. In these cases, facial transplantation (FT) offers patients a viable reconstructive option. However, FT's effect on personal identity has been less well examined, and ethical questions remain regarding the psychosocial ramifications of the procedure. This article reviews the literature on the different roles of the face as well as psychological and social effects of facial disfigurement. The effects of facial reconstruction on personal identity are also reviewed with an emphasis on orthognathic, cleft, and head and neck surgery. Finally, FT is considered in this context, and future directions for research are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]