Exploring the influence of invasive weed biochar on the sorption and dissipation dynamics of imazethapyr in sandy loam soil.

The management of invasive weeds on both arable and non-arable land is a vast challenge. Converting these invasive weeds into biochar and using them to control the fate of herbicides in soil could be an effective strategy within the concept of turning waste into a wealth product. In this study, the fate of imazethapyr (IMZ), a commonly used herbicide in various crops, was investigated by introducing such weeds as biochar, i.e., Parthenium hysterophorus (PB) and Lantana camara (LB) in sandy loam soil. In terms of kinetics, the pseudo-second order (PSO) model provided the best fit for both biochar-mixed soils. More IMZ was sorbed onto LB-mixed soil compared to PB-mixed soil. When compared to the control (no biochar), both PB and LB biochars (at concentrations of 0.2% and 0.5%) increased IMZ adsorption, although the extent of this effect varied depending on the dosage and type of biochar. The Freundlich adsorption isotherm provided a satisfactory explanation for IMZ adsorption in soil/soil mixed with biochar, with the adsorption process exhibiting high nonlinearity. The values of Gibb's free energy change (ΔG) were negative for both adsorption and desorption in soil/soil mixed with biochar, indicating that sorption was exothermic and spontaneous. Both types of biochar significantly affect IMZ dissipation, with higher degradation observed in LB-amended soil compared to PB-amended soil. Hence, the findings suggest that the preparation of biochar from invasive weeds and its utilization for managing the fate of herbicides can effectively reduce the residual toxicity of IMZ in treated agroecosystems in tropical and subtropical regions.

High-pressure stabilization of open-shell bromine fluorides.

Halogen fluorides are textbook examples of how fundamental chemical concepts, such as molecular orbital theory or the valence-shell electron-repulsion (VSEPR) model, can be used to understand the geometry and properties of compounds. However, it is still an open question whether these notions are applicable to matter subject to high pressure (>1 GPa). In an attempt to gain insight into this phenomenon, we present a computational study on the phase transitions and reactivity of bromine fluorides at pressures of up to 100 GPa (≈106 atm). We predict that at a moderately high pressure of 15 GPa, the bonding preference in the Br/F system should change considerably with BrF3 becoming thermodynamically unstable and two novel compounds emerging as stable species: BrF2 and BrF6. Calculations indicate that both these compounds contain radical molecules while being non-metallic. We propose a synthetic route for obtaining BrF2 which does not require the use of highly reactive elemental fluorine. Finally, we show how molecular orbital diagrams and the VSEPR model can be used to explain the properties of compressed bromine fluorides.

Effect of soil amendments on the sorption behavior of atrazine in sandy loam soil.

The sorption behavior of pesticides applied during cultivation of crops is affected by amendments such as farm yard manure (FYM) and vermicompost (VC) during land preparation. Among pesticides, atrazine, a widely used herbicide in many crops, was analyzed for its kinetics and sorption behavior through the addition of FYM and VC in sandy loam soil. The pseudo-second-order (PSO) model best fit the kinetics results in the recommended dose of FYM and VC mixed soil. More atrazine was sorbed onto VC mixed soil than FYM mixed soil. In comparison to control (no amendment), both FYM and VC (1, 1.5, and 2%) increased atrazine adsorption, but the effect varied with dosage and type of amendment. The Freundlich adsorption isotherm adequately explained atrazine adsorption in soil/soil + (FYM/VC) mixtures, and the adsorption was highly nonlinear. The values of Gibb's free energy change (ΔG) were negative for both adsorption and desorption in soil/soil + (FYM/VC) mixtures, suggesting sorption was exothermic and spontaneous in nature. The results revealed that the application of amendments used by farmers interferes the availability, mobility, and infiltration of atrazine in the soil. Therefore, the findings of this study suggest that amendments such as FYM and VC can be effectively used to minimize the residual toxicity of atrazine-treated ago-ecosystems in tropical and sub-tropical regions.

Is Chemical Cauterization Safe on Septal Cartilage in Treatment of Recurrent Epistaxis?

Epistaxis is one of the most common emergencies. Topical agents such as silver nitrate, is known to be a strong oxidizing agent and have been widely used, especially in recurrent and refractory cases. The extent of depth of coagulative necrosis is dependent on time of exposure and concentration. 2 mm wide bar of nasal septum from 30 patients was taken and AgNO3 was applied for 10, 20, 40 s. H&E staining was then performed to see depth of penetration and intensity of stain deposits. It was observed that with increase time of application, depth of penetration and density of deposits were increased for both 75% and 100% concentration of solution. Distribution in depth of penetration was significant when 75% concentration was applied for more than 20 s. But when 100% concentration was used, similar findings were found even after 10 s in young age group. Our study shows that when silver nitrate is used for chemical cauterization in different concentrations and for different times, their penetration is different. Moreover, the depth of penetration depends more on the time of contact than concentration of silver nitrate. We would recommend using 75% solution for use with a contact time not more than 20 s in adults and 10 s in children.

Green fodder cultivation improves technical efficiency of dairy farmers in semi-arid tropics of central India: a micro-analysis.

This study assessed the impact of improved green fodder production activities on technical efficiency (TE) of dairy farmers in climate vulnerable landscapes of central India. We estimated stochastic production frontiers, considering potential self-selection bias stemming from both observable and unobservable factors in adoption of fodder interventions at farm level. The empirical results show that TE for treated group ranges from 0.55 to 0.59 and that for control ranges from 0.41 to 0.48, depending on how biases are controlled. Additionally, the efficiency levels of both adopters and non-adopters would be underestimated if the selectivity bias is not appropriately accounted. As the average TE is consistently higher for adopter farmers than the control group, promoting improved fodder cultivation would increase input use efficiency, especially in resource-deprived small holder dairy farmers in the semi-arid tropics.

Evolution of the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Analysis of the Brunt of the Second and Third Waves on Patients in Western Uttar Pradesh.

BACKGROUND: The recent second wave and the latest third wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in India caused havoc on health infrastructure. However, there is a scarcity of studies from India and abroad that compare the second and third waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to assess the factors like age, sex, and death comparison among diagnostically proven COVID-19 patients of the Meerut district in both waves. METHODOLOGY: A total of 297554 samples during the second wave (1st March 2021 to 30th June 2021) and 240655 during the third wave (1st January 2022 to 30th April 2022) were tested for reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in the Department of Microbiology, Lala Lajpat Rai Medical College, using The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) approved RT-PCR testing kits. The data like age, sex, place, follow-ups, etc. were recorded and data were analyzed statistically. RESULTS: The RT-PCR positivity of 8.24% for COVID-19 in the second wave while 5.66% of patients in the third wave have been reported. The proportion of positive cases in children ≤10 years in the second and third wave were quite similar i.e., 3.59% and 3.40% respectively, whereas the proportion of positive cases in adolescents (10-20 years) was significantly higher (12.96%) in the third wave in contrast to the second wave (10.15%), while age group (41-60 years) is significantly less (26.65%) in proportion during the third wave in comparison to the second wave (29.50%). The proportion of positivity in young males has significantly increased in the third wave as compared to the second wave. The mortality also decreased significantly by 1/3rd of the second wave. CONCLUSION: The third wave showed low overall positivity (5.66%) as compared to the second wave (8.24%), while the brunt on young children was comparable to the second wave which was assumed to be higher. The mortality and hospitalization also decreased significantly in the second wave. Regular surveillance and analysis should continue to combat this pandemic.

Antibiogram guided optimized medical treatment in chronic otitis media: A useful interventional strategy before surgery?

BACKGROUND: Chronic otitis media is a middle ear cleft disease presenting with tympanic membrane perforation and discharge. Wet ear after tympanoplasty and discharging mastoid cavity are problematic in clinical practice. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 1050 patients of age 10 to 50 years presenting with active ear discharge and clinically diagnosed with unilateral chronic suppurative otitis media were included in the study. The patients were equally divided into two equal groups, Group ET, and AT. All patients were prescribed topical ciprofloxacin, oral levocetirizine 5 mg and n-acetyl cysteine 600 mg BD for one week. Swabs of ear discharge were collected in ET groups for antibiogram. Both groups were evaluated on next visit and treatment changed in AT groups and result observed in next visit. Surgical outcome was evaluated at end of 2 yrs. RESULT: A total of 1158 organisms were isolated in culture out of which, 69.94 % were aerobes, 13.47 % anaerobes and 16.58 % were fungi. On the second visit in group AT, treatment of 85.14 % patients was changed in accordance with culture sensitivity report. In patients with mucosal disease, only 46.87 % patients of group ET had a favorable outcome in comparison to 90.28 % patients of group AT while in patients with squamosal disease, 17.56 % patients of group ET and 28.99 % patients in group AT had a dry ear. Surgeries in AT group were found to have statistically significant higher success rate as compared to ET group.

IL-23/Th17 Axis: A Potential Therapeutic Target of Psoriasis.

Psoriasis is an immune-mediated skin disease that leads to the initiation of abnormal production of inflammatory mediators and keratinocytes hyper-proliferation. Th-1 cell expressing cytokines such as IL-1ß and TNF-α have been the important hallmarks in the management of psoriasis. However, investigations carried out in the previous few years underline the involvement of another subset of T helper cells, i.e. Th-17 in psoriasis exacerbation, and hence have become the point of focus now. The immunopathogenesis of Th-17 is the result of the IL-23/Th-17 axis. It involves the release of IL-17 and IL-22 in response to the activated NF-kß dependent activation of IL-23. The function of human Th-17 cells, as well as the crucial role of IL-23/Th-17 axis in the exacerbation of psoriasis and treatment, have been well explored. Therefore, considering IL-23/Th17 axis as a pertinent therapeutic target in immune driven disorders, extensive investigations are now highlighting the utility of biopharmaceuticals and/or biological agents acting on these targets. Here, we review the IL-23/Th-17 axis based therapeutic targets, different types of active moieties based on their source of availability and most useful USFDA approved Mabs targeting the IL-23/Th17 axis in psoriasis for a better understanding of the future possibilities in this area.

Evaluation of Clinical Profile and Various Treatment Modalities in Oral Sub Mucous Fibrosis in North India: Our Experience.

Oral submucous fibrosis is a chronic disease affecting oral cavity and sometimes the pharynx. Etiology seems to be local irritants such as capsaicin, tobacco, areca nut and spicy foods. The main concern in this is the management of trismus and burning sensation of the oral mucosa. The aim of this study was to compare various medical treatment protocol of OSMF. 210 patients were divided randomly in 3 groups. In Group A, patients were given biweekly intralesional Hyaluronidase/Dexamethasone for 6 weeks. Group B patients were given tablet Pentoxifylline 400 mg TDS.Group C patients were given Eprisone hydrochloride. All three groups were given Lycopene 10,000 mcg for period of 6 weeks. All patients were given topical Triamcelone for local application. The examinations for mouth opening were repeated at weekly intervals for a period of 6 weeks.The most common complaint was burning sensation in 75.98% cases, difficulty in mouth opening in77.45% and difficulty in swallowing food in 61.76% cases. Group A showed improvement in 41.17% cases presenting with burning sensation followed by decreased mouth opening 39.70%. Group B showed improvement in 45.58% burning sensation, 17.64% with decreased mouth opening. Group C showed improvement in 48.52% patients having pain with spicy food, 32.35% with decreased mouth opening and 17.64% with difficulty in swallowing. We conclude that patients which received intralesional dexamethasone and hyaluronidase along with oral Lycopene showed better clinical and symptomatic improvement, and at present appears to be best non-surgical treatment.

Comparative Evaluation of Hearing in Cartilage Umbrella, Boomerang and Torp in Chronic Otitis Media Cases with Absent Stapes Suprastructure: Our Experience.

Ossicular discontinuity is one of the most common causes of conductive hearing loss. Ossicular chain reconstruction improves conductive hearing loss. With no additional cost, cartilage ossiculoplasty is easy to perform, and also the cartilage is well tolerated being an autograft. In this study we compared the audiological outcome in ossiculoplasty done by cartilage umbrella, cartilage boomerang and alloplastic TORP. 75 patients of age group 10-50 years clinically diagnosed with chronic otitis media with conductive hearing loss and an air bone gap (ABG) of at least 20 dB posted for surgery were included. Ossiculoplasty was done in three groups with autologous cartilage boomerang, cartilage umbrella and alloplastic TORP. In mucosal disease hearing gain was better in umbrella technique (17.66 ± 1.1) dB than Boomerang (16.9 ± 0.8) dB and TORP (10.68 ± 0.9) dB. ABG closure was higher in Boomerang and TORP. Hearing improvement in patients with squamosal disease managed by canal wall up surgery was 25.01 ± 1.1 dB, 27.73 ± 3.1 dB and 20.12 ± 1.8 dB in Boomerang, Umbrella and TORP group respectively showing that umbrella method gave maximum improvement. ABG closure was better in TORP group. In canal wall down surgery patient's maximum improvement was seen in Boomerang (29.51 ± 0.9) dB followed by Umbrella (26.67 ± 1.2) dB and TORP (25.27 ± 0.8) dB group. ABG closure was higher in Boomerang group. Cartilage ossiculoplasty is a reliable and effective method of ossicular chain reconstruction for both mucosal and squamosal disease. Cartilage ossiculoplasty has the added advantage of reduced chances of prosthesis extrusion as compared to TORP.

Site-selective unidirectional benzylic sp3 C-H oxidation of dodecahydrotriphenylene with RuCl3-NaIO4: formation of benzylic ketones.

Dodecahydrotriphenylene, a higher homologue of trindane chemoselectively undergoes unidirectional benzylic sp3 C-H oxidation and the central benzene ring remains intact unlike that in trindane under similar reaction conditions. RuO4 which generally attacks sp2 C-H to form oxidative products is found to give benzylic ketones via sp3 C-H oxidation. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations have also been performed to analyse the potential energy, energy barrier and HOMO-LUMO energy gap of the products.

Intraoperative tragal and conchal cartilage thickness: Comparative study for cartilage tympanoplasty.

INTRODUCTION: In conditions like recurrent perforations, atelectatic tympanic membrane and poor eustachian tube function, temporalis fascia graft fails to give the desired result. In such cases cartilage is used for tympanoplasty. It was demonstrated that if the thickness of cartilage is reduced to around 0.5 mm, the sound conduction is comparable to that of normal tympanic membrane with excellent mechanical stability. AIM: To intra-operatively measure the mean thickness of tragal and conchal cartilage and compare it for age and sex variations. MATERIAL & METHODS: A total of 114 tragal and conchal cartilage samples of 86 patients were included in the study. Thickness of cartilages was measured intra-operatively after removing the perichondrium from both sides. RESULTS: Out of 58 tragal cartilages, 32 were from males and 26 from females. Mean thickness was 1.18 ± 0.11 mm among males and 1.12 ± 0.14 mm among females. Out of 56 conchal cartilage taken, 29 were from males and 27 females. Mean thickness among males were 1.38 ± 0.13 mm and 1.35 ± 0.08 mm in females. In 28 patients both tragal and conchal cartilage was taken. Mean thickness of both tragal (1.22 mm) and conchal cartilage (1.36 mm) increased with increase in age. Among 16 males in whom both cartilages were taken, mean thickness of tragal cartilage was 1.25 ± 0.11 mm and conchal cartilage was 1.41 ± 0.12 mm. Similarly among 12 females where both cartilages were taken, mean thickness of tragal cartilage was 1.20 ± 0.13 mm and conchal cartilage was 1.35 ± 0.07 mm. CONCLUSION: Sliced cartilage tympanoplasty is a relatively better technique. When using cartilage splitter to get sliced cartilage, ideally thickness of every graft should be known. As it is difficult to measure the exact thickness in every case, so knowing the mean for age and sex for cartilage thickness is important to have an idea of which plates to use for a successful outcome of slicing. We concluded that thickness of tragal cartilage is significantly less than the thickness of conchal cartilage. Also there is significant age related difference between mean thickness of cartilages, both for tragal and conchal cartilage. Surprisingly the difference between thickness in male and female is not statistically different.

Correlation of Tympanic Membrane Perforation with Hearing Loss and Its Parameters in Chronic Otitis Media: An Analytical Study.

Chronic otitis media is one of the commonest illnesses in otorhinolaryngological practice which requires medical attention. Intact tympanic membrane acts as a shield for round window niche to create a phase difference in sound wave conduction. 700 patients of age 10-70 years with inactive mucosal chronic otitis media were included in the study. Condition of tympanic membrane and site of tympanic membrane perforation was noted and audiometric analysis was performed. 338 (48.28%) were males and 362 (51.71%) were females. In 1400 membranes examined, 769 (54.85%) presented with perforation. 631 (82.03%) had unilateral perforation and 69 (17.97%) had bilateral perforations. In unilateral cases, 289 (37.50%) had right ear perforation and 342 (44.53%) left ear perforation. Single quadrant perforations were present in 168 (21.74%) membranes and 419 (54.55%) involved two quadrants. Three quadrant perforations were seen in 62 (8.09%) and 120 (15.63%) perforations involved all four quadrants. In 171 (22.26%) ears, perforation was present anterior to handle of malleus and in 243 (31.53%) it was present only posterior to handle. In 355 (46.21%) perforations, handle of malleus was involved. Perforations involving posterior half of tympanic membranes showed greater loss than those involving anterior or inferior half of membrane statistically. Maximum loss (51.56 ± 5.1 dB) was seen in perforation involving all four quadrants. In 631 unilateral cases, conductive loss was seen in 424 (67.10%), 101 (16.10%) showed sensorineural and 74 (11.80%) showed mixed loss. Out of 769 perforated ears having hearing loss, 251 (37.69%) had complaints for 5-10 years with mean loss of 51.15 ± 7.8 dB, 172 (25.68%) had COM for 1-5 years with loss of 39.26 ± 5.1 dB. A mean hearing loss of 52.18 ± 4.2 dB was seen in 110 (16.52%) patients suffering from COM for more than 10 years. 134 (20.12%) patients having disease less than 1 year reported hearing loss of 36.46 ± 8.2 dB. The effects of perforation of tympanic membranes on transmission of sound and its dynamics are not easy to correlate because of additional pathological changes in middle ear.

Chronic Otitis Media and its Correlation with Unilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss in a Tertiary Care Centre of North India.

Relation between chronic otitis media and sensorineural hearing loss is controversial. Otitis media can cause threshold shift in high frequency range. Also this correlation with patient's age, disease duration and normal ear is of importance for early prevention of hearing loss. The aim of this study was to evaluate relationship between sensorineural hearing loss and chronic otitis media. We also studied association of bone conduction between diseased ear and contralateral normal ear. In this study, 840 patients of unilateral COM were included. Audiometry was done and data analyzed. Majority of patients showing SNHL had COM for over a period of 5 years. Squamosal disease showed early progression to SNHL than mucosal disease. Higher frequencies were found to be more affected and maximum bone gap was seen at 4000 Hz. There was significant difference in mean bone conduction threshold between diseased ear and normal ear at all frequencies (p value < 0.001). Contradicting studies have emerged about association of SNHL with COM. Studies suggest that SNHL does not change with age but with duration. Bone conduction threshold tends to increase with increasing frequency. Few authors also pointed that this may be due to Carhart's effect and not due to disease damaging inner ear.