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Objective: To compare the diagnostic performance of bone scintigraphy and 18F-NaF-PET/CT in detection of bone metastasis in newly diagnosed high-grade prostate cancer patients. Study Design: Comparative cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Nuclear Medical Centre, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and Armed Forces Institute of Radiology and Imaging, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Jul 2020 to Dec 2022. Methodology: Newly diagnosed high-grade prostate cancer patients with Gleason score ≥8 who underwent bone scintigraphy followed by 18F-NaF-PET/CT (Sodium Fluoride-Positron Emission Tomography/Computerized Tomography) for staging during study duration were included. We compared the diagnostic accuracy of both imaging modalities in detecting bone metastasis using two-point scale scoring system i.e., metastasis present or not present on per patient basis. Results: A total of 45 patients with mean age 69.66±9.38 years and mean Prostatic Surface Antigen level 36.21±65.07 ng/ml were included. 18F-NaF-PET/CT detected bone metastasis in all 25 patients with bone metastasis (100%) compared to 20(80%) by bone scan. 4 patients had false-positive bone scan while 2 had false-positive 18F-NaF-PET/CT scan. Overall 18F-NaF-PET/CT demonstrated a higher sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy compared to bone scan (100% vs 80%, 90% vs 80%, 92.59% vs 83.33%, 100% vs 76.19%, 95.56% vs 80% respectively). Conclusion: 18F-NaF-PET/CT has better diagnostic performance than bone scintigraphy for the detection of bone metastasis in newly diagnosed high-grade prostate cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice harvesting is generally done by hand or with a combine harvester. The major challenges include loss of yield and quality during the harvesting process. Rice yield and quality losses may be minimized with the use of a suitable harvesting method. This study aims to evaluate the different paddy harvesting methods in terms of grain losses and head rice yield. This research evaluated the three harvesting methods: a Head-feed harvester (model PRO-588I-G, Kubota, Japan), a Whole-stalk harvester (model 8060, NH, Italy), and manual harvesting. The experiments were carried out on an area of 12,060 m2 with a complete randomized design (CRD) and three replications during the year 2021. The yield-related crop parameters were measured before harvesting. All crop parameters were non-significant except for the productive tiller, filled and unfilled grain, and 1000-grain weight which were significant at p < 0.05. The grain moisture content during harvesting was 21% which was within the recommended range. The effect of harvesting methods on grain losses and head rice yield was highly significant at p < 0.01. Higher grain losses (10.73%) and lower head rice yield (15.40%) were found in the Whole-stalk harvester. Lower grain losses (4.78% and 2.96%) and greater head rice yields (31.73% and 29.73%) were obtained using Head-feed harvesters and manual harvesting, respectively. In conclusion, the Head-feed combine harvesters are found to be a more practical choice for paddy harvesting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In present research, photocatalytic degradation of textile wastewater was investigated through the combined effect of ozonation and photocatalysis processes. Catalytic acids in the nano-particle form under moderate reaction conditions were used for the successful disintegration of contaminants in textile wastewater which in turn increases the process efficiency. Moreover, the combined effect of the photocatalytic-ozonation process after secondary treatment of textile wastewater on discharge requirements of zero discharge hazardous chemicals (ZDHC) by Road to Zero was also studied. Different parameters were optimized like ozone flowrate, catalytic concentration, UV light intensity, and reaction time. Results revealed that overall process efficiency is influenced by ozone and reaction time. In contrast, an increased rate of degradation is attributed to the synthesized TiO2 (anatase) in nanoparticle form. The combined ozone-assisted photo-catalytic process showed the COD, BOD, and TSS removal efficiencies of 91.5%, 94%, and 86% at 25 °C temperature and pH 7-9. The results were attained at optimum conditions like reaction time (140 min), Ozone concentration (2 g/hr), TiO2 concentration (2g/L), and UV energy (88 W), respectively. The study demonstrated the efficiency of an integrated process for the degradation of real textile wastewater. Thus, combined photocatalytic and ozonation processes are known to exhibit better responses than individual processes for pollutants removal from textile wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess whether monitoring the peak systolic velocity (PSV) in the middle cerebral artery (MCA) was a useful, non-invasive method for predicting anaemia in fetuses. Study Design: Cross-sectional study Place and Duration of Study: Armed Forces Institute of Radiology, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Feb and Aug 2022. Methodology: Fifty pregnant women who did not have hydropic babies were included. The peak systolic velocity (PSV) was measured in the middle cerebral artery (MCA). A positive result was determined when the MCA-PSV value exceeded 1.5 multiples of the median (MoM). The blood samples obtained from neonates were forwarded to the hospital laboratory to estimate haemoglobin levels shortly after birth. The outcome of the method (MoM) was observed and subsequently compared with neonatal haemoglobin levels. Results: 60% of neonates were anaemic according to middle MCA-PSV while the haematology laboratory reported 74% of neonates as anaemic according to cut-off haemoglobin of less than 13.5gm/dl. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy of the MCA-PSV in detecting the anaemia were 93.75%, 61.1%, 81.08%, 84.62%, and 82%, respectively. Conclusion: MCA-PSV Doppler is deemed valuable as a diagnostic technique for fetal anaemia, albeit secondary to the primary approach of neonatal haemoglobin estimation upon birth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citrus slow decline caused by Tylenchulus semipenetrans deteriorates the quality and quantity of citrus fruit and make it prone for the invasion of other microbes. A survey was carried out for the assessment of nematode population distribution in all 7 Tehsils of district Sargodha (Pakistan) viz: Sargodha, Silanwali, Sahiwal, Shahpur, Bhalwal, Kot Momin and Bhera. Population densities of nematode were assessed in different genera of citrus crop i.e. kinnow, sweet orange, feutral's early, grape fruit and sweet lime, both in healthy and declining orchards. Whitehead and Hemming tray method was used for the isolation of T. semipenetrans which showed that the population was low in declining orchards as compared to the population densities found in healthy orchards. Kinnow was the most infested by nematode with mean population 1161 while sweet orange was the least infested with 595 nematodes, in all localities. Maximum nematode population density in healthy and declining orchards was recorded in Kot Momin that was 2600 and 946 nematodes per 50 ml of soil, respectively. The lowest mean population was recorded in Silanwali with 1200 in healthy and 300 in declining orchards. The assessment of spatial distribution of nematode population would pave foe effective disease management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]