The aim of this study is to explore the potential of CASCABELA thevetia (CT) bast fibers as reinforcement in polymer composites. For this purpose, the extracted fibers were chemically treated with ...various chemicals such as sodium hydroxide, potassium permanganate, sodium chlorite, and benzoyl chloride. After surface modifications, its physical and mechanical properties, chemical composition, and structure were studied. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results revealed an increase in crystallinity index of the fibers as compared to untreated fibers with benzoyl chloride treated fibers showing the optimum result which agrees with the results obtained in the mechanical tests. Composites were fabricated by taking various wt.% of benzoyl chloride treated CT fibers in an epoxy matrix (i.e. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 wt%) and their mechanical and wettability tests were carried out. It was observed that composites with 20 wt% of fiber loading show the highest mechanical properties (52.79 MPa tensile strength, 2.45 GPa Young's modulus, 71.72 MPa flexural strength). All the fabricated composites showed contact angle less than 90°, which is associated with composite hydrophilic surface properties. These composites can be utilized in lightweight structural material and in automobile industries owing to its better properties.
Abstract
Background
Thoracolumbar spine constitutes the most common site for spinal tuberculosis. Though the treatment of spinal tuberculosis is antitubercular drugs initially, the patient with ...neurologic weakness warrants definitive surgical procedure of decompression and stabilization. Even though many investigators have reported favorable results with anterior decompression and stabilization surgery, due to the increased morbidity and complications, the posterior-only approach with decompression and stabilization has evolved as the operation of choice in recent time.
Methods
All patients aged between 18 and 70 years with clinically and radiologically proven symptomatic thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis who failed with conservative treatment for 4 weeks or developed neurologic weakness between the treatments are included in this study. All patients were offered decompression and posterior stabilization with transpedicular screws and rods after explaining the above procedure. Clinical outcome was measured by modified Frankel grading; AIS (American Spinal Injury Association impairment score) grade impairment score; and pain assessment done with visual analog scale (VAS) pre- and postoperatively and at 3, 6, and 9 months of interval.
Results
The postoperative pain relief, neurologic improvement as per modified Frankel grade, AIS grade, and improvement in erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein were significant as compared with the preoperative status. The surgical interventions thus prove to have adequate relief to the patient and arresting the disease progression. The surgical outcome has very minimal intra- and postoperative complications.
Conclusion
Single-stage decompression and posterior stabilization in thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis is safe, effective, and results in good clinical outcome. The advantages of surgery include thorough debridement, decompression, and achievement of spinal stabilization.
Abstract
Chloroma is the deposits in leukemic cells outside the bone marrow and is not common. It is extremely rare to find a chloroma compressing the spinal cord causing paraplegia without any prior ...symptoms. Only few case reports have been found in the literature till date. We report an interesting case of a 7-year-old boy who presented with acute back pain and paraplegia with a dorsal extradural mass, and with a previous diagnosis of tuberculosis of the dorsal spine, treated with antitubercular drugs without any other signs of systemic illness. After surgical decompression and histopathologic examination of the tissue, it was found to be chloroma. There are only few reported cases of this disease initially presented as paraplegia without any systemic signs of malignancy in the literature, and chloroma presents as a diagnostic challenge to the surgeon. Chloromas are a rare cause of acute spinal cord compression but should be diagnosed and treated promptly to prevent neurologic dysfunction.
Abstract
Solitary craniocerebral plasmacytoma is the least common form of extramedullary solitary plasmacytoma (SP). Cerebral SP is very rare. The world literature counts only seven intracranial ...cases. The authors report a case of cerebral tumor of SP in a 52-year-old female who presented to a hospital with headache and difficulty in walking for 6 months. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) brain showed left occipital intracranial space occupying lesions (ICSOL) of size 26 mm × 14 mm adjacent to superior sagittal sinus with disproportionate perilesional edema and midline shift toward the right. She underwent gross total tumor excision with left fronto-temporo-parietal decompressive craniectomy. Microscopic sections showed highly cellular tumor infiltrating white matter and gray matter. Histopathology revealed plasmacytoma. These plasma cells were seen infiltrating the adjoining brain parenchyma. Immunohistochemistry study showed the following pattern of antigens: most of the cells were negative to CD138 antibody, and majority of cells were positive (++ to +++) to CD56 antibody, more groups of cells were positive to lambda antibody than KAPPA. Bone marrow biopsy showed only 1% polyclonal plasma cells. Whole body bone scan showed no evidence of any osteoblastic skeletal metastasis. The patient recovered well, and cranioplasty was done after 6 weeks.
Conclusion
Cerebral SP is rarely found in clinical practice and if diagnosed properly can save patients life. This case report would definitely address many unexplored facts about cerebral SP and set milestone in the field of clinical research.
Bacteriological analysis of 1,551 stool/rectal swabs from all age groups of diarrhea patients of different hospitals of Orissa from January 2004 to December 2006 was carried out using standard ...procedures. Among all enteropathogens isolated in 886 culture-positive samples, Escherichia coli constituted 75.5%, including 13.2% pathogenic E. coli; Vibrio cholerae O1 constituted 17.3%; V. cholerae O139, 1%; Shigella spp., 4.5% (Shigella flexneri type 6, 2.9%, S. dysenteriae type 1, 0.7%, S. sonnei, 0.6%, and S. boydii, 0.3%); Salmonella spp., 0.7%; and Aeromonas spp., only 2.0%. The isolation of bacterial enteropathogens was highest during July, 2005, followed by September, 2006. The prevalence of shigellosis in this region was relatively low. Cholera cases were more frequent during the rainy seasons. The dominance of V. cholerae O1 Inaba over Ogawa serotypes was observed in 2005, whereas this trend was reversed in 2006. The resistance profile of V. cholerae O1 was co-trimoxazole (Co), furazolidone (Fr), and nalidixic acid (Na); for Aeromonas spp., it was ampicillin (A), Fr, ciprofloxacin (Cf), Na, norfloxacin (Nx), and Co. Pathogenic E. coli strains were resistant to A, Fr, Co, streptomycin (S), Cf, Na, Nx, and neomycin (N); Shigella spp. were resistant to Fr, Na, Co, and S; and Salmonella spp. were resistant to A and Fr. Active surveillance should be continued among diarrhea patients to look for different enteropathogens and to define the shifting antibiogram patterns in this region.
The study is aimed to investigate the haemoprofile of common garden lizard in Odisha, India. Ten adult lizards of each sex in different seasons were collected from the coastal area of Rajnagar block ...of Kendrapara, 754 225, Odisha, located in 20° 20′ N to 20° 37’ N latitude and 86° 14′ E to 87° 01′ E longitude. One millilitre of blood was collected from the ventral tail vein and transferred into vials containing ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and then transported to the laboratory. The haematological parameters such as Hb, PCV, TEC and TLC were determined while erythrocyte indices such as MCV, MCH and MCHC were calculated. The differential leucocyte count (DLC) was also estimated using standard procedures. The haemoglobin concentration is found to be significant at
F
0.01
in both sexes, PCV at
F
0.001
among all males and at
F
0.05
among all females, the TEC at
F
0.001
in all males at
F
0.01
in all females, MCV at
F
0.001
in males and at
F
0.05
in all females and MCH at
F
0.05
in both sexes in three different seasons. The correlation with
R
2
values varies in male and female with respect to the parameters analysed. The data obtained could be useful in understanding the seasonal variations on haematological parameters between sexes of
Calotes versicolor
.
The study is carried out to investigate the haemogram of yellow-bellied house gecko in Odisha, India. Fifteen adult lizards of each sex were collected from the coastal area of Rajnagar block of ...Kendrapara, 754 225, Odisha, located in 20° 20′ N to 20° 37′ N latitude and 86° 14′ E to 87° 01′ E longitude. One millilitre of blood was collected from the ventral tail vein and transferred into vials containing ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and then transported in icebox to laboratory. The morphology of blood cells along with haematological parameters like haemoglobin (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV), total erythrocyte count (TEC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), total leucocyte count (TLC), total platelet count (TPC), and differential leucocyte count (DLC) was calculated using standard procedures. Statistical analyses like correlation and
t
test were done. The study revealed that the TLC shows significant difference (
t
0.01
) while the percentage of eosinophils is found to be significant at
t
0.05
between both sexes of lizard. The mean values of all other parameters are also showing difference between males and females of
Hemidactylus flaviviridis
Ruppell, 1835. The correlation with
R
2
values varies in males and females with respect to the parameters analysed. Some parameters are positively correlated with each other, and others are found to be negatively correlated. The data obtained could be useful in knowing the difference of haematological parameters between sexes of
Hemidactylus flaviviridis
.
Rice-based integrated farming system improves the productivity and profitability by recycling resources efficiently. In the sub-humid tropics, rice production without sufficient nutrient ...replenishment often leads to soil health and fertility degradation. There has been very limited research on soil health and fertility after adopting a multi-enterprising rice-based integrated farming system (IFS), notably in the rice-fish-livestock and agroforestry system, when compared to a conventional farming system (CS). Therefore, the present study analyzed the dynamics of soil properties, soil bacterial community structure and their possible interaction mechanisms, as well as their effect on regulating soil quality and production in IFS, IFSw (water stagnant area of IFS) and CS. The results indicated that soil nutrient dynamics, bacterial diversity indices (Shannon index, Simpson index, Chao 1, ACE and Fisher index) and system productivity were higher in IFSw and IFS compared to CS. Moreover, relative operational taxonomic units of dominant bacterial genera (
Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria, Verrucomicrobia, Planctomycetes, Cyanobacteria, Crenarchaeota
and
Gemmatimonadetes
) were also higher in IFSw and IFS compared to CS. Mean soil quality index (SQI) was highest in IFSw (0.780 ± 0.201) followed by IFS (0.770 ± 0.080) and CS (0.595 ± 0.244). Moreover, rice equivalent yields (REY) and rice yields were well correlated with the higher levels of soil biological indices (SQI
Biol
) in IFS. Overall, our results revealed that rice-based IFS improved the soil health and fertility and ensuing crop productivity through positive interaction with soil bacterial communities and nutrient stoichiometry leading to agroecosystem sustainability.
Objective: Proximal femoral morphometries such as hip axis length (HAL), femoral neck (FN) axis length (FNAL), and FN shaft angle (FNSA) are important parameters for prediction of fracture risk. ...These parameters are affected by factors such as body habitus, age, sex, race, bone mineral density (BMD), and body mass index. Hence, the present study was designed to evaluate the relationship between proximal femoral morphometry and BMD.Methods: We conducted an observational cross-sectional study in 168 patients. The measurements of radiological parameters such as HAL, FNAL, and FNSA were taken using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan. FN-BMD was measured using LUNAR XR scanner and expressed as gm/cm². The correlation between proximal femoral morphometry and FN-BMD has been studied using Karl Pearson correlation coefficient (r).Results: The mean age, height, weight, HAL, FNAL, FNSA, and FN-BMD of the study population were found to be 58.72 years, 160.15 cm, 64.38 kg, 104.14 mm, 103.51 mm, 128.51°, and 0.761 g/cm², respectively. FN-BMD had a negative correlation with HAL (r=−0.791), FNAL (r=−0.734), and FNSA (r=−0.713) where p=0.000.Conclusion: There is a significant correlation between FN-BMD and proximal femoral morphometry. This observation will be helpful in exploration of its clinical significance in proximal femoral fracture.
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