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Byline: Qazi. Ali, N. Nisanth, Syed. Amir, Asma. Rahat Background and Aims: Videolaryngoscopes with varying characteristics with regard to angulation of blades and video configurations are now available. However, the [...]

Background: Preemptive analgesia is a method of administration of drugs prior to surgery involving blocking noxious stimuli across the perioperative period. It involves blocking the pain pathway preemptively before injury-induced hypersensitivity manifests. Objective: To compare the analgesic efficacy of duloxetine with pregabalin as preemptive analgesic in lumbar spine surgeries. Design: Randomised, double-blinded, prospective study. Methods: Fifty patients of both sexes between 18-55yrs undergoing elective lumbar spine surgery were randomly allocated into two groups, group P and group D of twenty-five patients each. Group P received 75 mg pregabalin once daily for three days, followed by 150 mg pregabalin daily for the next four days till the day of surgery. Group D received 20 mg duloxetine once daily for three days, followed by 40 mg duloxetine twice daily for the next four days till the day of surgery. Outcome Measure: Both the groups were primarily evaluated in terms of time for request of 1st rescue analgesic and total intraoperative analgesic requirement in terms of fentanyl boluses required; among other parameters. Results: The time for request of 1st rescue analgesic postoperatively was significantly longer in the pregabalin group (396 ± 267.77 min) than in the duloxetine group (218.4 ± 96.9 min), P = 0.003. Pregabalin recipients required considerably less rescue analgesics in terms of dosage, P = 0.006. Also, pregabalin exhibited better postoperative pain control than duloxetine as reflected by NRS comparative scores. No statistical difference was appreciated in terms of intraoperative fentanyl requirement, intraoperative hemodynamic control; nausea and sleepiness. Conclusion: Pregabalin is more efficacious as a preemptive analgesic than duloxetine in lumbar spine surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: N. Nisanth, Qazi. Ali, Syed. Amir Background and Aims: Studies on simulated difficult airway provide an opportunity to evaluate the performance of intubation devices for use in limited neck [...]

Experiments are reported, which allow us to quantify the near-surface cation diffusion in (001) oriented Fe_{3}O_{4} single crystals at temperatures between 470 and 770 K. Thin homoepitaxial films of magnetite, grown using isotopically labeled ^{57}Fe, were investigated by neutron reflectivity and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. By heating the thin films in high vacuum to different temperatures for a well-defined time and determining the ^{57}Fe distribution along the surface normal, the diffusion lengths are obtained. For the investigated temperature range, diffusion constants of the order of 10^{−20} m^{2}/s are deduced. These results are important in view of near-surface mass transport induced by oxygen chemical potential differences occurring when magnetite is exposed to different gas atmospheres or by adsorbates.

Background: Adhesive capsulitis is a condition that presents with pain and progressive limitation of both active and passive shoulder movements. It can be primary or secondary, the latter includes causes such as rotator cuff tear, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes mellitus. The American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons defines that adhesive capsulitis is a condition of uncertain ethology characterized by a significant restriction of both active and passive shoulder motions that occur in the absence of known intrinsic shoulder disorder. Commonly described as: Stage 1 – Freezing stage, with pain and stiffness lasting around 9 months. Stage 2 – Frozen stage, with persistent stiffness lasting 4–12 months. Stage 3 – Thawing stage, with spontaneous recovery lasting 12–42 months. Ultrasonography (USG)-guided hydrodissection is used for adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder due to its cost-effectiveness and acceptance among patients. As adhesive capsulitis is postulated as an i nflammatory and fibrotic disease, easy treatment with intra-articular corticosteroids (CSs) injection may reduce synovitis, limit the development of capsular fibrosis, and alter the natural history of disease. CS injections are effective for shorter duration, but newer agents such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) are more effective with no serious side effects. Materials and Methods: In this study, 40 patients were taken of adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder and were divided randomly into two groups. One group received injection PRP and the other group received injection CS. The outcome was recorded. Results: There was a statistically significant reduction in numeric rating scale pain scores in both the groups over a time period of 6 weeks, but the PRP injection was observed to be better in reducing the pain scores when compared to the CS injection after the 6th week (P = 0.037). Initially, the CS injection performed better in the 1st week due to anti-inflammatory action. By the 3rd week, both the injections showed a similar effect. However, at the end of the study period (6 weeks), there was a better reduction in the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) pain scores (P = 0.0057) and SPADI disability scores (P = 0.029) of the group PRP. Conclusion: We concluded that USG-guided hydrodissection with PRP is more effective therapy than CS in terms of reduction of pain and improvement in shoulder function in the treatment of adhesive capsulitis of shoulder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present the performance of a recently developed in-situ spin-exchange optically pumped3 He-neutron spin filter system at the China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS). The system achieved a 3He polarization of over 74% at the beamline BL-20. Analysis of neutron transmission experiment results reveals a neutron polarization of > 90% and an average transmission of 27% for 2.2 Å neutrons, which were maintained for a duration of 120 h of beam time. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first in-situ hyperpolarized 3He system incorporated on a neutron beamline in China. This technology is expected to provide stable, wide-angle, and highly polarized neutrons at the CSNS for materials research and fundamental neutron physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]