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Objectives: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of cardiac Computed Tomography (CT) and echocardiography for the diagnosis of congenital heart diseases (CHD) at Rehman Medical Institute (RMI), Peshawar. Methodology: We conducted a cross sectional study at Rehman Medical Institute between January 2020 to July 2022. Patients of different ages referred for suspicion of congenital heart diseases were enrolled. The data was collected prospectively which included demographics, Echocardiography findings, CT scan results and procedure notes. Data was analyzed on SPSS the results of descriptive variables expressed as median and percentile. A p-value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: We included 129 patients, with 73 male and 56 females having age from few days to 18 years. The malformations were divided into intra and extra cardiac groups. 665 malformations were confirmed and analyzed keeping surgical and conventional angiography findings as gold standard. Among these 283 were intra and 99 extra cardiac findings. The echo and CT scan missed 2 and 4 intracardiac anomalies respectively. In case of extracardiac anomalies echo missed 14 anomalies however CT correctly diagnosed all. Both intra and extracardiac results are significant with a p value <0.05. Conclusion: We conclude that Echocardiography is preferred modality for intracardiac anomalies evident by 99.3% diagnostic accuracy while CTA provides better demonstration of extra cardiac abnormalities having diagnostic accuracy of 99.9%. Echocardiography and CTA are both complementary for assessment and evaluation of congenital heart diseases acting as guide to surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to estimate the proportion of radiology reports that were changed during double reading and to assess the potential clinical impact of these changes. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Rates of double reading in radiology department were explored in survey issued to consultant radiologists, covering practice of double reading, department guidelines and quality improvement work. The responses of consultant radiologists, grouped according to workplace, were used to validate management responses about working hours consumed by double reading. The clinical importance of changes to radiology reports was estimated retrospectively. We collected pairs of preliminary and final reports from 1500 double read examinations (CT, MRI, X ray, ultrasound). Exploratory analysis of associations between clinically important changes and characteristics of patients, examinations, and readers was performed with multivariate logistic regression. We also constructed two random effects models to test for clustering of clinically important report changes in separate examinations read by the same radiologist. RESULTS: We found double reading rate of 21% for CT and MRI, 17% for X ray images, 15% for ultrasound and 5% for mammograms. All exams read by consultants, consuming an estimated 20-25% of consultant working hours. By modality double reading rates were highest for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) (47%) and CT (33%), intermediate for X-ray (24%) and fluoroscopy (23%), and lowest for ultrasonography (16%) and intervention (16%). Chest radiologists and sonologists made more clinically important changes than other second readers. The severity of the radiological findings was increased in 30% of the clinically important changes. Double reading caused upto 25% increase in time consumed for reporting. CONCLUSION: Double reading has a major impact on workflow and output directly by consuming working hours. The rates of clinically important changes to radiology reports following double reading indicate that some quality assurance of radiological interpretation is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PURPOSE: To assess the radiology reports in department by focusing on three major parameters: 1. Answer to the clinical question/s asked by the referrer. 2. Tentative diagnosis and/or differential diagnosis. 3. Suggestion for the next appropriate step. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study was conducted at Radiology department of Tertiary Care Hospital in Peshawar and data of 100 patients was randomly collected from hospital s Health Management Information Systems (HMIS), spanning from May to September 2020. Out of 100, 24 were Ultrasound reports, 44 were CT scan reports and 32 were MRI reports. Reports were checked whether the concluding remarks had answered the clinical question, listed any diagnosis or differential diagnosis and suggested some future advice or not. Confidentiality of the patients was made sure. RESULTS: Data of 100 radiology reports was obtained. Clinical question asked by the referrer clinician was answered in 100% of the reports. 56% of the reports contained a tentative/differential diagnosis (modality wise: U/S (37.5%), CT (45.4%), MRI (81.2%)) and 48% reports had advice about the next appropriate step. 100% of ultrasound reports contained an answer to the question asked by the clinician, 25% with a differential diagnosis and 50% of the reports had some advice about the next best step. CONCLUSION: We concluded from our results that the radiology reports are being focused mainly on answering the question asked by the clinicians, which is internationally accepted Radiology Report Standard, however the remaining parts of a standard actionable report was found to be ignored in a huge number of cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was conducted to assess the magnitude and health impacts of As in drinking water. Drinking water samples (n = 60) were collected from twenty different sites of Shiekhupura District (Pakistan). Health risk assessment through average daily dose (ADD), hazard indices (HI), hazard quotient (HQ), carcinogenic risk (CR), and cancer indices (CI) for dermal and oral exposure were determined. Results revealed that As concentration ranged from 2 to 900 µg L−1 in water samples, which was significantly greater than the safe limit of As (10 µg L−1) in water. Health risk assessment of As showed that ADD (1.07E−02–9.85E−04), HQ (1.06E+01–9.85E+00), and CR (1.60E−02–9.85E−04) for oral exposure and ADD (1.03E−05–9.69E−06), HQ (1.19E−02–7.96E−03), and CR (1.11E−05–8.98E−05) for dermal exposure which were exceeded the toxic risk index value. Comparison of the two exposure pathways indicated that the oral exposure is much higher risk than the dermal contact. Both values of HI and CI were greater than WHO limit. It is concluded that residents of study area are at higher risk of As induced diseases and carcinogenicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrical conductivity and surface tension measurement of sodium surfactants, such as sodium caprylate, sodium laurate, sodium palmitate and sodium stearate, in formamide has been determined at different temperatures. The methods show that micelles are formed in formamide solution. Critical micelle concentration (CMC) has been determined for each of the sodium surfactants. The result show that these surfactants behave as a weak electrolyte in dilute solution of formamide below the critical micellar concentration, and the conductance result can be explained on the basis of Ostwald's formula and Debye-Huckle's theory of weak electrolytes. The dissociation constant and thermodynamic parameters for dissociation and micellization processes of these surfactants are also evaluated. The micellization process has been found to be predominant over the dissociation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrical conductivity and surface tension measurements of various surfactants, such as sodium caprylate, sodium laurate, sodium palmitate and sodium stearate micellar solution, containing 1-butanol (1-BuOH), 2-butanol (2-BuOH) and tertiary butanol (t-BuOH) in n,n-dimethyl acetamide have been determined at various temperatures. Both methods show that micelles are formed in n,n-dimethyl acetamide (DMA) solution in the presence of butanol isomers. Critical micelle concentration (cmc) has been determined for each of the surfactants. Critical micelle concentrations have also been measured as a function of temperatures and concentration of butanol isomers added. It is suggested that the addition of alcohol leads to an increase in n,n-dimethyl acetamide penetration into the micellar interface that depends on the alkyl chain configuration for three isomeric alcohols. Thermodynamic parameters of micellization, enthalpy (ΔHo m), entropy (ΔSo m ), and free energy (ΔGo Electrical conductivity and surface tension measurements of various surfactants, such as sodium caprylate, sodium laurate, sodium palmitate and sodium stearate micellar solution, containing 1-butanol (1-BuOH), 2-butanol (2-BuOH) and tertiary butanol (t-BuOH) in n,n-dimethyl acetamide have been determined at various temperatures. Both methods show that micelles are formed in n,n-dimethyl acetamide (DMA) solution in the presence of butanol isomers. Critical micelle concentration (cmc) has been determined for each of the surfactants. Critical micelle concentrations have also been measured as a function of temperatures and concentration of butanol isomers added. It is suggested that the addition of alcohol leads to an increase in n,n-dimethyl acetamide penetration into the micellar interface that depends on the alkyl chain configuration for three isomeric alcohols. Thermodynamic parameters of micellization, enthalpy (ΔHom), entropy (ΔSo m), and free energy (ΔGom ) were determined from temperature dependence of CMC. The solvent composition dependence of these thermodynamic parameters is determined in terms of the effect of additives on micellization of ionic surfactants. It is observed that both ΔHomand ΔSom bear out not only the observed order of decrease in cmc but also account reasonably the effects produced by differences in alkyl chain configuration for these isomeric alcohols. In all cases ΔGo m < 0, and remained practically constant over the entire solvent composition range studied. It is suggested that due to different structural consequences of intermolecular interactions, both enthalpy and entropy must differ in a mutually compensating manner so that ΔGo m is not significantly affected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Barium cerate and its zinc doped series, BaCe1-xZnxO3 with 0.02 ≤ x ≤ 0.16, were synthesized using ammonia as a co-precipitant. The influence of zinc on phase and morphology was characterized using XRD and SEM, respectively. XRD revealed orthorhombic crystallinity for x= 0 to 14 mol% but distorted hexagonal phase for x = 16 mol%. SEM images revealed homogeneity of synthesized powders. The synthesized materials were then tested for their function as electrocatalyst for model analyte, methanol. Methanol electro-oxidation in acidic media was studied by modifying platinum electrode with BaCeO3 materials using cyclic voltammetry. Kinetic (ks,h, Do) and thermodynamic parameters (Ea, ΔG, ΔH, ΔS) were estimated for methanol electroxidation. The deduced value of diffusion coefficient of order of 10-10 cm2s-1 indicated faster kinetics of methanol oxidation using BaCeO3 than zinc doped sample in H2SO4 medium. The increasing temperature and methanol concentration enhanced the peak currents which pointed to the suitability of these materials as electrocatalysts. The stability and catalytic activity of these materials at various temperatures also aided to their potentiality in PEMFC application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]