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Abstract Background Breast cancer (BC) is one of the major causes of death worldwide. It is the most common cause of death before the age of 70 years. The incidence and mortality of BC are rapidly increasing, posing great challenges to the health system and economy of every nation. Methodology A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted at the Department of Pathology and Clinical Laboratory of the French Medical Institute for Mothers and Children (FMIC) to demonstrate the association of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her2/Neu) and estrogen receptor (ER)/ progesterone receptor (PR) with clinical as well as pathological parameters among women with BC. A consecutive nonprobability sampling method was used for this study over a span of one and a half years. Results One hundred twenty participants diagnosed with breast cancer were included in the study. The mean age at diagnosis was 44.58 ± 11.16 years. Out of the total patients, 68 (56.7%) were above 40 years old, 108 (90%) were married, 94 (78.3%) were multiparous, and 88 (73.3%) had a history of breastfeeding. 33.3% of cases were within the age range of menopause (40–50 years). The positive expression rates of ER, PR, and Her2/neu were found to be 48.8%, 44.6%, and 44.6%, respectively, and Her2/neu overexpression was found to be higher among ER/PR-negative cases. Conclusion In our study, we demonstrated that among Afghan women, grade II invasive ductal carcinoma, not otherwise specified, was the most common type of BC and frequently affected women above the age of 40. We also revealed that the percentage of negative ER (50.4%), negative PR (54.4%), and concordant ER/PR-negative cases were high compared to other possibilities. Additionally, the study revealed that expression of Her2/neu was in contrast with the expression of ER and PR receptors. The findings of our study still support the importance of performing immunohistochemical stains for hormonal receptor classification in terms of better clinical outcomes and prognosis.

Introduction: Bronchobiliary fistula (BBF) is an abnormal connection between the bronchial system and biliary tree. It is a rare condition that often manifests as bilioptysis. BBF has several causes; however infectious disease of the liver and lungs, mostly hydatid cysts, is the leading cause of BBF. For a conclusive diagnosis, imaging studies are useful and able to show the fistula tract, as we did by CT scan. The treatment of BBF is still a challenge for surgeons. In children, in the acute fulminating phase, an aggressive and rapid approach is essential to prevent respiratory tract damage. Case presentation: We present a case of a 17-year-old girl, who complained of bilioptysis, chest pain and loss of appetite for about nine months. Her past history revealed that she developed bilioptysis after laparotomy for excision of liver hydatid cyst 10 months ago. For which she underwent conservative and surgical treatment of bilioptysis, which all failed. After investigations, a bronchobiliary fistula was identified. A right thoracotomy was performed. After the release of adhesions and debridement of damaged tissues, the fistula tract was excised. The connection was sealed by a diaphragmatic muscle flap, which was successful in the outcome after 12 months of follow-up. Conclusion: BBF is a condition that requires strong presumptive evidence for diagnosis and a well-planned approach for management. Hence, each surgeon must carefully consider the optimal method for open surgery or conservative therapy after thoroughly evaluating the patient's profile and imaging. In children, a thoracic approach with a diaphragmatic flap is safe, easily available, and can easily divide the lung from the liver since that is its normal function.

Local perceptions and understanding of the causes of ill health and death can influence health-seeking behaviour and practices in pregnancy. We aimed to understand individual explanatory models for stillbirth in Afghanistan to inform future stillbirth prevention. This was an exploratory qualitative study of 42 semi-structured interviews with women and men whose child was stillborn, community elders, and healthcare providers in Kabul province, Afghanistan between October-November 2017. We used thematic data analysis framing the findings around Kleinman’s explanatory framework. Perceived causes of stillbirth were broadly classified into four categories–biomedical, spiritual and supernatural, extrinsic factors, and mental wellbeing. Most respondents attributed stillbirths to multiple categories, and many believed that stillbirths could be prevented. Prevention practices in pregnancy aligned with perceived causes and included engaging self-care, religious rituals, superstitious practices and imposing social restrictions. Symptoms preceding the stillbirth included both physical and non-physical symptoms or no symptoms at all. The impacts of stillbirth concerned psychological effects and grief, the physical effect on women’s health, and social implications for women and how their communities perceive them. Our findings show that local explanations for stillbirth vary and need to be taken into consideration when developing health education messages for stillbirth prevention. The overarching belief that stillbirth was preventable is encouraging and offers opportunities for health education. Such messages should emphasise the importance of care-seeking for problems and should be delivered at all levels in the community. Community engagement will be important to dispel misinformation around pregnancy loss and reduce social stigma.

The present study is focused on the synthesis of zero-valent iron/cellulose acetate (Fe0-x/CA) membranes by phase inversion route for the activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS). The generated •OH and SO4•− effectively degraded methylene blue (MB) dye in water to give comparatively non-toxic byproducts. The SEM investigations revealed that Fe0 nanoparticles are evenly dispersed into the CA membrane resulting in decline of agglomeration and enhancing the roughness of the composite surface. Moreover, the catalytic degradation of MB demonstrated that M5-alone showed 85% and was further boosted to 97% when coupled with PMS (M5/HSO5−). The catalytic degradation of degradation of MB by M5/HSO5− membrane system in acidic, neutral, and basic media indicated that the degradation was 99.5%, 98.0%, 97.0%, 86.0% and 70.0% when the pH of the medium was 3, 5, 7, and 11, respectively. Furthermore, the degradation performance of M5/HSO5− membrane system was evaluated in de-ionized water (DIW), tape water (TPW) and industrial wastewater (IWW) and the results indicated that MB catalytic degradation was in the order of DIW (97%) > TPW (84%) > IWW (68%). Besides, various parameters like water flux permeability, contact angle, porosity, and fouling performance were also investigated. In addition, the degradation products were evaluated, and the degradation pathways were proposed accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research work, surface-modified nano zerovalent copper (nZVC) was prepared using a simple borohydride reduction method. The spectroscopic and crystallographic results revealed the successful synthesis of surface-modified nano zerovalent copper (nZVC) using solvents such as ethanol (ETOH), ethylene glycol (EG) and tween80 (T80). The as-synthesized material was fully characterized for morphological surface and crystal structural properties. The results indicated that EG provides an excellent synthesis environment to nZVC compared to ETOH and T80 in terms of good dispersion, high surface area and excellent catalytic properties. The catalytic efficiency of nZVC/EG was investigated alone and with peroxymonosulphate (PMS) in the absence of light. The degradation results demonstrated that the involvement of PMS synergistically boosted the catalytic efficiency of synthesized nZVC/EG material. Furthermore, the degradation products (DPs) of CBZ were determined by GC−MS and subsequently, the degradation pathways were proposed. The ecotoxicity analysis of the DPs was also explored. The proposed (nZVC/EG/PMS) system is economical and efficient and thus could be applied for the degradation of CBZ from an aquatic system after altering the degradation pathways in such a way that results in harmless products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industries generate hazardous dye wastewater, posing significant threats to public health and the environment. Removing dyes before discharge is crucial. The ongoing study primarily focused on synthesizing, applying, and understanding the mechanism of green nano-biochar composites. These composites, including zinc oxide/biochar, copper oxide/biochar, magnesium oxide/biochar, and manganese oxide/biochar, are designed to effectively remove Actas Pink-2B (Direct Red-31) in conjunction with constructed wetlands. Constructed wetland maintained pH 6.0–7.9. At the 10th week, the copper oxide/biochar treatment demonstrated the highest removal efficiency of total suspended solids (72%), dissolved oxygen (7.2 mg/L), and total dissolved solids (79.90%), followed by other biochar composites. The maximum removal efficiency for chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color was observed at a retention time of 60 days. The electrical conductivity also followed the same order, with a decrease observed up to the 8th week before becoming constant. A comprehensive statistical analysis was conducted, encompassing various techniques including variance analysis, regression analysis, correlation analysis, and principal component analysis. The rate of color and COD removal followed a second-order and first-order kinetics, respectively. A significant negative relationship was observed between dissolved oxygen and COD. The study indicates that employing biochar composites in constructed wetlands improves textile dye removal efficiency. The novelty of this study is the selection of Cymbopogon as a proper plant for phytoremediation of dye along with green metal oxide coated biochar. These were selected due to their good ability to remove organic pollutant. This study demonstrates the uptake and degradation processes of persistent dye in constructed wetland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid Layered Double Hydroxides (HLDH) are promising adsorption materials for water treatment due to their excellent anion exchange capacities, abundance of active sites, and eco-friendliness. HLDH was synthesized utilizing the co-precipitation technique in this work to demonstrate its applicability for the removal of direct sky-blue dye via an adsorption procedure. The effects of pH, dose, contact time, initial dye concentration, and temperature on the direct sky-blue dye adsorption efficiency were thoroughly investigated. The adsorbents were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET). Under the best conditions, the maximum adsorption capacity has been achieved for Mg–Cr–Cl (42.95 mg/g) > Zn–Al–CO3 (39.76 mg/g) > Mg–Fe–Cl (38.08 mg/g). The adsorption of dyes on Mg–Cr–Cl, Zn–Al–CO3, and Mg–Fe–Cl followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model and exhibited Langmuir-type monolayer adsorption. The influence of temperature was studied to determine the thermodynamic parameters. The estimated results showed spontaneous and exothermic adsorption processes. Electrolyte enhances the adsorption capacity to some extent, while surfactants block the sites, thus reducing the adsorption capacity. The maximum desorption of dye was influenced by the sodium hydroxide solution. The research described here might be utilized to create novel adsorbents with improved adsorption capacities for preserving the aquatic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is focused on synthesis of highly efficient Titania/reduced Graphene Oxide (TiO2/rGO) nanocomposites by means of simple hydrothermal technique. The TiO2/rGO were synthesized in different ratios of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 3% by varying the concentration of rGO while the concentration of TiO2 was kept constant and the obtained samples were designated as TrG0.5, TrG1, TrG2, and TrG3 respectively. Different characterization techniques (SEM, TEM, HRTEM, XRD, EDX, TGA, UV-DRS, PL, EIS, and BET) showed high crystallinity, small crystallite size (18.4 nm), high thermal stability, high purity, low band gap energy (Eg = 3.12 eV), and high surface area (65.989 m2/g) for the as-synthesized TiO2/rGO nanocomposite. The efficiencies of TiO2/rGO were determined in terms of brilliant green (BG) dye degradation in aqueous media under UV light. The results revealed that 2% TiO2/rGO (TrG2) showed high efficiency for BG degradation with the kapp of 0.023 min−1 compared to TiO2 alone (kapp of 0.006 min−1). The rate of BG degradation was further synergised by the addition of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to the system. The degradation of BG was improved to 99.4% by the incorporation of PMS in aqueous media compared to TrG2 alone. Furthermore, the degradation of BG was also examined in various media (neutral, acidic, and basic). The results revealed that by increasing pH of the medium from 3.85 to 8.2 the degradation of BG was enhanced from 99.4 to 99.9% with the corresponding kapp of 0.0602 min−1. Moreover, the photocatalytic degradation of BG followed the pseudo-first-order kinetics. Radical scavenging experiments showed that ●OH and SO4●– were the main species responsible for the degradation of BG under UV light. Besides, for determining the efficiency of as-synthesized TrG2/PMS system, the degradation of BG was also performed in various water types (distilled water, tape water, synthetic wastewater, and industrial wastewater). The degradation products (DPs) of BG and their corresponding pathways were proposed, accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Binary composite of zerovalent iron and titanium dioxide (Fe0/TiO2) was synthesized for the catalytic removal of dichlorophene (DCP) in the presence of peroxymonosulfate (PMS). The as-prepared composite (Fe0/TiO2) exhibits synergistic effect and enhanced properties like improved catalytic activity of catalyst and greater magnetic property for facile recycling of catalyst. The results showed that without addition of PMS at reaction time of 50 min, the percent degradation of DCP by TiO2, Fe0, and Fe0/TiO2 was just 5%, 11%, and 12%, respectively. However, with the addition of 0.8 mM PMS, at 10 min of reaction time, the catalytic degradation performance of Fe0, TiO2, and Fe0/TiO2 was significantly improved to 82%, 18%, and 88%, respectively. The as-prepared catalyst was fully characterized to evaluate its structure, chemical states, and morphology. Scanning electron microscopy results showed that in composite TiO2 causes dispersion of agglomerated iron particles which enhances porosity and surface area of the composites and X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) results revealed successful incorporation of Fe0, and oxides of Fe and TiO2 in the composite. The adsorption–desorption analysis verifies that the surface area of Fe0/TiO2 is significantly larger than bare Fe0 and TiO2. Moreover, the surface area, particle size, and crystal size of Fe0/TiO2 was surface area = 85 m2 g−1, particle size = 0.35 μm, and crystal size = 0.16 nm as compared to TiO2 alone (surface area = 22 m2 g−1, particle size = 4.25 μm, and crystal size = 25.4 nm) and Fe0 alone (surface area = 65 m2 g−1, particle size = 0.9 μm, and crystal size = 7.87 nm). The as-synthesized material showed excellent degradation performance in synthesized wastewater as well. The degradation products and their toxicities were evaluated and the resulted degradation mechanism was proposed accordingly. The toxicity values decreased in order of DP1 > DP5 > DP2 > DP3 > DP4 and the LC50 values toward fish for 96-h duration decreased from 0.531 to 67.2. This suggests that the proposed technology is an excellent option for the treatment of antibiotic containing wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports the comparative removal of an emerging contaminant diclofenac sodium (DCF) by UV-254 nm-based advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), i.e. UV/S2O82−/Fe2+, UV/HSO5−/Fe2+ and UV/H2O2/Fe2+ processes. The results demonstrated that by applying [DCF]0 = 0.30 mM and [H2O2]0 = [S2O82−]0 = [HSO5−]0 = 3 mM, kapp values were 0.082, 0.166, 0.221, 0.485 and 2.014 min−1 for UV-only, UV/Fe2+, UV/H2O2/Fe2+, UV/S2O82−/Fe2+ and UV/HSO5−/Fe2+ processes, respectively. At different [DCF]0 from 0.30 to 0.90 mM, the degradation rate was increased from 0.01 mM min−1 to 0.12 mM min−1, while the corresponding kapp values were decreased from 2.01 min−1 to 1.04 min−1. The removal performance of the applied AOP was significantly influenced by the presence of natural water contaminants (NO3−, Cl−, HCO3−, SO42− and humic acid (HA)) and [pH]0. The inhibition of these natural water contaminants on the removal of DCF by UV/HSO5−/Fe2+ process was in the order of HA > NO2− > SO42− > HCO3− ≈ Cl− > NO3−. Furthermore, seven (07) degradation products (DPs) of DCF were explored by UPLC-MS/MS and accordingly degradation pathways of DCF were suggested. The practical applications of the proposed AOPs towards the removal of DCF were further strengthened by calculating total organic carbon removal and toxicity assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]