Search

The safety of SCUBA divers remains at high risk in deep-sea owing to multiple factors such as dangerous surrounding, rely upon technical equipment necessary for life support, decreased underwater navigation, and communication infrastructure. Gradual decrease and increase in water temperature and pressure corresponding to depth are among the most common problems that cause most of the fatalities in deep-sea diving. Therefore, different gadgets for accurate measurement of vital parameters, reliable navigation, and seamless communication are of prime importance. In this paper, we propose an all-optical technique for local and remote monitoring of underwater temperature and pressure for deep-sea SCUBA divers based on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors and underwater optical communication-single mode fiber (UWOCSMF) integrated transmission system. The proposed technique is implemented using two FBG temperature and pressure sensors fixed over diver's suit and UWOC-SMF integrated transmission system for simultaneous local and remote monitoring of underwater temperature and pressure. Remote monitoring of underwater temperature and pressure is achieved at ship station through a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) and UWOC-SMF integrated transmission system by means of shifts in the original Bragg wavelengths of sensors due to temperature and pressure variations. The performance of the sensors is analyzed for pressure and temperature in the range of 0 to 6.4 MPa (≈0 to 655mH2O) and 40 to -2°C, respectively corresponding to different depths. The results show that the proposed technique can work well in the deep ocean over a range of pressures and temperatures of 0-7 MPa and 40 to -2°C while achieving a temperature sensitivity of 4.3 p.m./°C and a pressure sensitivity of 30.5 p.m./MPa. Clear spectra of reflected signals from FBG sensors at ship station are achieved after signal transmission over UWOC-SMF hybrid link. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat is a primary dietary source for the majority of Pakistan's population and is also cultivated on a global scale. Salinity is one of the primary abiotic stresses that significantly reduce cereal yield and growth. However, this problem can be resolved by incorporating salinity tolerance into the wheat crop. The objective of this experiment was to examine the bio-stimulant potential of foliar application of sugar beetroot extracts (SBE) to alleviate the adverse effects of salinity on wheat. In hydroponic conditions, wheat varieties Anaaj-17 and Gandum-1 were exposed to variable concentrations of SBE (0%, 10%, 20%, and 30%). The wheat varieties were cultivated in two distinct environments: non-saline S0, which contained 2 mM NaCl, and saline S1, which contained 100 mM NaCl. The evaluation was conducted using a variety of morphological characteristics (shoot, root length, shoot, root fresh weight, shoot, root dry weight, root shoot ratio) and biochemical parameters (Na+, K+ in root and leaf, chlorophyll, and relative water contents in leaves) and wheat plants were harvested 30 days after transplanting. Utilizing a completely randomized design (CRD), the experiment was conducted in a factorial arrangement with three replications. The foliar application of SBE improved the salinity tolerance of wheat. The SBE-30% dosage application exhibited superior results when contrasted with other concentrations. The foliar applications of SBE significantly enhanced the chlorophyll contents in the leaf and facilitated the growth of the shoots and roots. The SBE was determined to be advantageous in that it decreased the sodium content and increased the potassium content of foliage and roots. It was determined that SBE is effective in promoting wheat growth in both saline and non-saline hydroponic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chrysanthemum morifolium L. cultivators in Pakistan have frequently detected that poor root cuttings of chrysanthemum caused poor anchorage of roots that results in shipping losses of these pot plants. Optimum concentration of appropriate auxins is used to promote effective rooting. Completely randomized design (CRD) is adopted and it consisted of five treatments including control and different concentration of both auxins viz. 1-Naphthalene acetic acid (50 mg/L,100 mg/L) and Indole-3-acetic acid (100 mg/L, 200 mg/L) on tip cuttings of chrysanthemum. In this experiment, 15 pots of 9-inch diameter were used which were filled with silt, leaf mould and well rotten farmyard manure (1:1:1). Three cuttings in each pot and a total of 45 cuttings were planted. Cuttings of each treatment were dipped for 3 minutes in respective solution before planting. Uprooting was done after 60 days of plantation the cuttings. NAA with 100 mg/L proved best treatments that produced maximum root length, number of roots, dry and fresh weights of roots, number of sprouted buds, number of leaves, leaves fresh weight and dry leaves weight as compared to other treatments and control. This data suggested that NAA can be successfully used to increase root and shoot parameters in chrysanthemum propagated by means of tip cuttings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power sector plays a crucial role in the development of a country. Rise in population and industrial expansion in developing countries are reason to burdenize the central grid. Pakistan is a country in its developing stages. About 58% of its total energy generation is contributed by fossil fuel based conventional plants for which the fuel costs plenteous amount. In these circumstances it is indispensable to exploit naturally available renewable resources for electricity generation. This study proposes a hybrid hydro-kinetic/Photovoltaic/Biomass system integrated with grid to serve electricity in a residential area of district Kotli in AJK Pakistan. By evaluating available resources and total load demand data of residential consumers, a system design is modelled in HOMER to get techno-economic and optimal design analysis of the purposed system. Using several configurations and combinations of available energy generation systems and then by comparing their results, the most optimum system design is achieved in terms of initial cost, operating cost, cost per unit and net present cost of the system. To further refine the results, the effect of variations of different parameters like load demand, water flow speed and solar irradiance on system is investigated by performing sensitivity analysis on the system. Final results demonstrate that the purposed system is cost-effective and efficient to meet the load demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the spectrum and outcome of intra-abdominal tumors in children less than five years admitted in the critical care unit of a tertiary care center of Pakistan. Methodology: This retrospective study included children less than five years with malignant abdominal mass admitted in the pediatric critical care unit of the tertiary care center of Pakistan from July 2015 to June 2019. Undiagnosed patients or with relapsed or benign abdominal tumors managed in an outpatient or admitted in the critical care for post-operative care only were excluded from the study. Data was entered and analyzed by using SPSS version 21.0. Result: Total 55 patients were included with 69% boys and median age three years (IQR - 2 years). Abdominal distention was the commonest complain (100%). Only 42% children survived (n=23/55). High grade mature Bcell Non Hodgkin Lymphoma was the most common (45%) diagnosis. Advance Stage III/IV was seen in 94%. Combined multiple site metastasis was most common (45.4%). Sepsis (OR-5.30, 95% CI-1.24-22.65, p-0.024), inotropic use (OR-9.00, 95% CI-1.33-60.92, p-0.024) and malnutrition (OR-4.85, 95% CI-1.08-21.63, p-0.039) were identified as the most significant prognostic factors related to high mortality. Conclusion: B-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma was the most common histopathological diagnosis, while sepsis was the commonest reason for admission in critical care unit. Majority presented with advanced stages (stage III/IV) with poor outcome(58% mortality). Sepsis, malnutrition and need of inotropes were found to be the independent risk factors contributing to this high mortality. We recommend for early recognition of abdominal distention as an important sign of cancer with prompt referral to pediatric oncology unit which would definitely decrease the upfront critical care requirement and improve survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Introduction Medulloblastoma is one of the most common pediatric brain malignancies. The usual presenting clinical features are related to posterior fossa syndrome or/and hydrocephalus. Cauda equina syndrome is a very rare presentation for this disease. Case presentation We describe the case of a three-year-old boy with cauda equina syndrome as the initial presenting clinical feature for medulloblastoma. He was initially diagnosed as having a spinal tumor by magnetic resonance imaging scan. Subsequently, a cranial magnetic resonance imaging scan revealed a posterior fossa tumor with features of dissemination. He had substantial improvement after treatment. This case report is complemented by a literature review related to this unusual presentation. Conclusions Medulloblastoma primarily presenting with cauda equina syndrome is very rare. However, spinal drop metastasis should be considered in the pediatric age group to avoid suboptimal management.

In recent years, globalization has highlighted the importance of having machines that can truly provide customized communication for different languages. Majority of the research in the field focus on developing technologies for widely used languages such as English. In this study, we apply HMM-based speech synthesis (HTS) technology for Indonesian language. The proposed hybrid HTS-based framework, PFHTS-IDSS, uses phoneme and full-context lab to synthesize Indonesian with higher accuracy. First, we identify a list of Indonesian phonemes according to the initial-final structure of Chinese language. Based on this, we add zero-initials that match the Indonesian acoustic performance and HTS, which can make the synthesized speech natural and smooth. Second, we consider Indonesian phonemes as synthetic units to synthesize speech through the triphone and full-context lab. In addition, we design context properties of the full-context lab and the corresponding question set to train the acoustic model, which can eliminate machine sounds. Experimental results suggest that the accuracy of phoneme segmentation (PSA) and the naturalness of speech synthesis (SSN) are significantly improved via PFHTS-IDSS. Especially, the PSA of selecting phonemes as synthetic units reaches 88.3% and the corresponding SSN based on full-context lab is 4.1. The results demonstrated by PFHTS-IDSS presented in this paper may be used in multilingual free interactive system to promote better communication in terms of voice navigation, intelligent speaker and question-answering system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a primary cause of chronic liver disease along with various complications like liver cirrhosis and malignancy which leads to death. It has infected more than 185 million people worldwide. There is no congruence established for the treatment of various genotypes of HCV infection owing to diversity in prevalence globally. Assessment of affected individuals with HCV by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), viral load of HCV and liver enzyme levels (i.e., ALT and AST) are the foundation to evaluate the safety and efficacy of HCV therapies. The antiviral efficacy has been greatly improved and sustained viral response (SVR) rates increased from 6% with interferon monotherapy to 50-80% with PEG-interferon/ribavirin combination therapy to >95% after the approval of all interferon free oral direct acting antiviral agents. The main objective of this review article is to compile data from reference sources regarding the old and current therapeutic strategies used to manage HCV infection. It is accepted that chronic HCV infection increases patient's thrombocytopenia and neutropenia risk and complications increased in co-morbid disorders like in tuberculosis, HIV, diabetes etc. In past treatment associated side effects were the major consequences and many patients have to stop the treatment. But after the approval of direct acting antiviral drugs create a revolution in the treatment of HCV infection. So, it could be concluded that current combination therapies are a promising hope to eradicate and to control HCV but some safety concerns required more considerations Therefore, this review focus on the available latest combination therapies and their effectiveness to eradicate HCV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the usefulness of residual cholesteatoma wall as a lining of mastoid cavity in achieving a dry mastoid cavity after a canal wall down (CWD) mastoidectomy. Study Design: Experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital Lahore, from May 2015 to Oct 2016. Methodology: Both adults and children (58 cases) undergoing canal wall down mastoidectomies were included in the study. While removing the cholesteatoma, medial wall of fundus was left intact and wide opening was ensured to leave it saucer shaped. Post operatively all patients were observed to see that when their mastoid cavities become dry and asymptomatic. Results: Out of total 58 patients operated 11 were children and 47 adults. Age range was 11 to 67 years. Thirty patients were males and 28 were females. Following Canal Wall Down mastoidectomies all the mastoid cavities were managed regularly and at the end of four months 27 (47%) cavities became dry. At six months 49 (84%) became dry and one was still wet after one year of surgery. Conclusion: At 12 month follow up, 98% percent of mastoid cavities were dry and asymptomatic with our technique of leaving part of cholesteatoma wall. However longer follow-up and larger sample is required for better outcome assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Paraphenylene-diamine (PPD) poisoning is an emerging problem of developing African and South Asian countries. This study was done with the objective to determine the clinical lab diagnostic accuracy of serum creatinine phosphokinase in cases initially reporting facial oedema followed by renal failure and rhabdomyolysis due to paraphenylene-diamine (PPD) poisoning. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study in which data was retrospectively collected at District Head Quarter (DHQ) Hospitals. Data was collected over a period of one year from Jan- Dec 2018. Data was collected from the patient file records. Data was analysed on SPSS version 20. Results: In the present study, 658 cases of Kala Pathar poisoning presented and treated. M: F ratio was 5:20. There were 518 (78.8%) females. Majority of the female patients were married 488 (94%). Most common clinical manifestations included marked facial oedema; dysphagia and stridor. Post complications include rhabdomyolysis and acute renal failure which developed after two to five days. Initial lab investigations within 6-8 hours after ingestion showed marked increase in TLC count, ALT and Na+ ions. There was marked elevation of serum CPK (1400±200 U/L) levels after 24 hours. Conclusion: PPD poisoning is more common in females of younger age group belonging to rural areas. Early diagnosis and prompt supportive treatment within 2-12 hours of ingestion can save many lives. There is no specific antidote available for this poison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Technisches Messen is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)