Green finance and environmental sustainability: a systematic review and future research avenues.

This study critically examines the dynamic interplay between green finance and environmental sustainability using a systematic review and bibliometric analysis. The analysis is centered on 507 scholarly articles published between 2013 and 2023 in the Scopus database and leverages Microsoft Excel, Harzing Publish or Perish, and VOSviewer to identify publication trends, key contributors, research impact, and emergent themes in this rapidly evolving field. The findings reveal that research on green finance and environmental sustainability has increased exponentially over the past decade, with China and institutions in Asia emerging as prominent contributors compared to other regions. This study also identified the Environmental Science and Pollution Research journal as the most active source title, demonstrating its commitment to publishing current findings on the topic. Through keyword analysis, several research avenues have been proposed to guide future research on enhancing the strategic role of green finance in promoting environmental sustainability. These avenues include broadening the geographical scope of research, exploring the synergies between green finance and emerging fintech innovations, developing robust metrics to quantify the socioeconomic impacts of green finance, establishing a risk and resilience framework to protect green finance against uncertainties, and creating a Green Finance Performance Index to evaluate the dual returns of environmental and financial performance.

Platelet-rich fibrin along with a modified minimally invasive surgical technique for the treatment of intrabony defects: a randomized clinical trial.

PURPOSE: The modified minimally invasive surgical technique (M-MIST) has been successfully employed to achieve periodontal regeneration. Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) is known to enhance wound healing through the release of growth factors. This study aimed to observe the outcomes of periodontal surgery when M-MIST was used with or without PRF for the treatment of isolated intrabony defects. METHODS: This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 36 systemically healthy patients, who had chronic periodontitis associated with a single-site buccal probing pocket depth (PPD) and clinical attachment level of ≥5 mm. Patients were randomly divided into 2 groups: the test group treated with M-MIST and PRF, and the control group treated with M-MIST alone. The primary periodontal parameters analyzed were PPD, relative attachment level (RAL), and relative gingival margin level. The radiographic parameters analyzed were change in alveolar crest position (C-ACP), linear bone growth (LBG), and percentage bone fill (%BF). Patients were followed up to 6 months post-surgery. RESULTS: Intragroup comparisons at 3 and 6 months showed consistently significant improvements in PPD and RAL in both the groups. In intergroup comparisons, the improvement in PPD reduction, gain in RAL, and the level of the gingival margin was similar in both groups at 3 and 6 months of follow-up. Furthermore, an intergroup comparison of radiographic parameters also demonstrated similar improvements in C-ACP, LBG, and %BF at 6 months of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: M-MIST with or without PRF yielded comparable periodontal tissue healing in terms of improvements in periodontal and radiographic parameters. Further investigation is required to confirm the beneficial effects of PRF with M-MIST. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03169920.

Vacuum Assisted Closure (VAC) at Home: Developing a New Concept.

BACKGROUND: The vacuum assisted closure (VAC) therapy has revolutionized the modern wound care. We developed a new concept of 'VAC at home' in order to decrease the hospital cost. METHODS: The study was conducted in a private hospital from January 2009 to December 2010. Only those patients were included among whom the wounds were not complicated by concomitant injury and the patients were otherwise fit to be discharged from the hospital. The VAC was applied in the hospital. The VAC changes were done after 48-72 hours depending on the general wound conditions. The cost of the VAC changes during the therapy at home was compared with the expected cost of hospital stay. RESULTS: Thirteen patients were enrolled with a female to male ratio of 1.6:1. The mean age of male patients was 22.4 years as compared to 29.6 years in females. Road traffic accident was the most common cause. Leg (16.2%) was the commonly affected area. The average number of VACs was 15.8. The average cost of the suction machine was 100.1 USD. The average cost of the expected hospital stay during the whole therapy was 68 USD per day. The mean duration of therapy was 35.8 days. The average total cost to be paid to the hospital was 2434.4 USD. Each patient had definitely saved a net of 2739.7 USD. CONCLUSION: With the increasing experiences of VAC, it can safely be instituted as an 'outpatient' procedure to decrease the hospital cost at home.

Views of college students on plastic surgery.

BACKGROUND: Various studies have been conducted in many countries to determine the perception/awareness about plastic surgery. The present study assessed the views of college students about plastic surgery. METHODS: A questionnaire consisted of nine questions regarding the basic knowledge about plastic surgery was randomly distributed among college students. The students were given 20 minutes to fill out the forms. RESULTS: A total of 250 male and 250 female college students were randomly included in the study. The mean age of the male students was 21.1 years as compared to 20.7 years of female students. The top five conditions named were related to hair (89.8%) followed by face scars (88%). The most common procedure named by the students was liposuction (88.2%) followed by hair transplantation. 80.2% of the students opted not to be a plastic surgeon if given an opportunity to select the profession. 33.8% of the students had seen some kinds of plastic surgery operation. Only 5.6% of the students (3.4% male and 2.2% female) had seen some kinds of plastic surgery procedure. 68% of male students and 48% of female students wished to have a plastic surgery procedure sometime in their lives. Majority of the students (88%) got the information from the internet. The second most common source was magazines (85.2%). Majority of the students (53.4%) had an idea of an invisible scar as a result of having a plastic surgery procedure. Only 22% thought to have no scar. Late Michael Jackson was at the top of the list of celebrities having a plastic surgery procedure (97.8%) followed by Nawaz Shariff (92.4%). CONCLUSION: Despite the rapid growth of plastic surgery in the last two decades, a large portion of population remains unaware of the spatiality. It is essential to institute programs to educate healthcare consumers and providers about the plastic surgery.