Prospective Study to Evaluate the Role of Multidetector Computed Tomography in Evaluation of Paranasal Sinus Pathologies.

BACKGROUND: The use of computed tomography (CT) combined with functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) has empowered the modern sinus surgeon to treat patients more effectively, facilitating reduced morbidity and complications. This study aimed to evaluate the role of multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) in the evaluation of paranasal sinus pathologies. MATERIALS & METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among the adult subjects attending the department of radiology at a tertiary care center in Lucknow for CT scan of paranasal sinuses for suspected paranasal sinus pathology from August 2018 to January 2020. The study included subjects above 12 years of age visiting the facility for CT of paranasal sinuses with a suspected paranasal sinus pathology and were also undergoing FESS. RESULTS: A total of 74 patients falling in the sampling frame were enrolled in the study. Majority of cases were aged <40 years (n=41; 55.4%). Age group of 21-30 years was most affected (24.3%). Mean age of patients was 38.39±14.48 years. Inflammatory pathologies diagnosed on MDCT-included sinusitis (n=25), sinonasal polyps (n=17), sinusitis with polyps (n=15), and mucocele (n=2), respectively. FESS/histopathological diagnosis was done in 73 cases and revealed inflammatory pathology in 59/73 (80.8%) and neoplastic pathology in 14 (19.2%) cases. FESS/histopathological break up of inflammatory pathologies included 22 cases of sinusitis, 20 cases of sinonasal polyps, 14 cases of sinusitis with polyps, and three cases of mucocele. Agreement between MDCT and final diagnosis was seen in 67/74 (90.5%) cases assessed. CONCLUSION: The findings of the present study showed that MDCT is a useful modality for preoperative assessment of paranasal sinuses. With its high precision in diagnosis, it can help in further treatment planning and management in patients with paranasal sinus pathologies.

A new microchannel capillary flow assay (MCFA) platform with lyophilized chemiluminescence reagents for a smartphone-based POCT detecting malaria.

There has been a considerable development in microfluidic based immunodiagnostics over the past few years which has greatly favored the growth of novel point-of-care-testing (POCT). However, the realization of an inexpensive, low-power POCT needs cheap and disposable microfluidic devices that can perform autonomously with minimum user intervention. This work, for the first time, reports the development of a new microchannel capillary flow assay (MCFA) platform that can perform chemiluminescence based ELISA with lyophilized chemiluminescent reagents. This new MCFA platform exploits the ultra-high sensitivity of chemiluminescent detection while eliminating the shortcomings associated with liquid reagent handling, control of assay sequence and user intervention. The functionally designed microchannels along with adequate hydrophilicity produce a sequential flow of assay reagents and autonomously performs the ultra-high sensitive chemiluminescence based ELISA for the detection of malaria biomarker such as PfHRP2. The MCFA platform with no external flow control and simple chemiluminescence detection can easily communicate with smartphone via USB-OTG port using a custom-designed optical detector. The use of the smartphone for display, data transfer, storage and analysis, as well as the source of power allows the development of a smartphone based POCT analyzer for disease diagnostics. This paper reports a limit of detection (LOD) of 8 ng/mL by the smartphone analyzer which is sensitive enough to detect active malarial infection. The MCFA platform developed with the smartphone analyzer can be easily customized for different biomarkers, so a hand-held POCT for various infectious diseases can be envisaged with full networking capability at low cost.

Catalyst-coated cement beads for the degradation and mineralization of fungicide carbendazim using laboratory and pilot-scale reactor: catalyst stability analysis.

The fixed-bed photocatalytic degradation of fungicide carbendazim using catalyst-coated spherical cement beads has been investigated. Thirty beads with optimum size 13 mm along with 0.3 gL-1 H2O2 with an initial concentration of carbendazim of 10 mgL-1 were the optimized conditions for better degradation. The reduction in COD and total organic carbon along with the generation of nitrite and nitrate ions under the optimized conditions confirms the complete mineralization of compound. The suggested degradation pathway for carbendazim has also been proposed as intermediates formed during photodegradation were analyzed through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The coated cement beads were found to be durable even after 30 cycles as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy analysis. Scale-up trails have also been carried out in a solar-baffled fixed-bed reactor for the degradation of pollutant to seek the commercial viability of the technique.