Most Viewed Articles

To facilitate understanding some issues of cochlear implantation for new beginners we wrote 1- “The Instruction for audiologists and cochlear implanted patients” and created 2-Demo-program MIMIC. Here are opinions of readers of “The Instruction” and participants of MIMIC. All the ratings are from positive to enthusiastic.

Subglottic hemangioma is the most common vascular tumor of the larynx of pediatrics; in contrast, it is relatively uncommon, accounting for an estimated 1.5% of congenital laryngeal anomalies [1].

Kinematic analysis and surface electromyography are tools being used as important methods to evaluate the human gait and to analyze different types of footwear aiming modifications and adaptations to the human locomotor system, especially of the feet. The aim of the present study was to analyze through electromyography (EMG) the muscles tibialis anterior (TA) and gastrocnemius lateralis (GL) and gastrocnemius medialis (GM) and to capture digital images of the human gait in four different footware situations, barefoot with tennis, platform shoes and high heels. Twenty healthy women with a mean age of 22.6 years took part in this experiment, which was performed on a treadmill at a speed of 3.8 m/s. The results showed that shoes that do not allow a normal movement of the tarsal bones caused changes in the trajectory of the gait, which promotes a greater muscular movement. This study concluded that shoes closer to a normal position and allow greater mobility of the feet, decrease muscular demands, which in everyday situations cause less localized muscular fatigue. 

The novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV has become a bane to mankind and spread worldwide and infected many people. Thus, there is an urgent need of a cure for the severe pneumonia disease caused by this virus. In this study, In silico comparative analysis has been done for HIV protease inhibitors on coronavirus 3CLpro protein which has shown the major interactions and common amino acid residues involved in interactions. The amino acid interaction analysis has revealed two amino acids ARG4, LYS5 to be the major amino acids targets among selected ligands. The binding energy analysis has also revealed Cobicistat as one of these best suited ligand for 3CLpro.

Introduction: The HRMT (Human Resting Myofasial Tone) factor plays an important role to initiate the trigger the inflammation at the disease site in Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) as in all spondyloarthropathies. The incidence of fibromyalgia is higher in AS and a limiting factor to undergo the exercise program. Aim of the study: To know the effectiveness of soft tissue mobilisation in patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis when it used as an adjuncts to the conventional exercises. Methodology: 40 subjects were randomly assigned in to experimental and conventional group. Experimental group (n=20) received conventional exercises along with soft tissue mobilisation and the conventional group (n=20) received only conventional exercises (flexibility exercises, aerobic exercise and breathing exercise) for a period of 4 weeks, 5days/week. Results: The result of the study showed that both the conventional and experimental groups improved significantly in stiffness, pain and physical function aspects after treatment. However the experimental group had a greater change as compared to conventional group. Conclusion: The study demonstrates that soft tissue mobilisation has an effect when it used before the conventional exercise in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

A preliminary laboratory study was conducted using upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor to investigate the potential of methane generation from brewery wastewater. Brewery wastewater from a local brewery company was collected and used in the experiments. The experiments were run for 15 days. The rate of methane production was about 5.32 L per kg of chemical oxygen demand (COD) removed per day. The pH reduction in the experimental reactor limited the ability of gas production and is likely the result of the temperature at which the experiments were conducted.

The study aimed to investigate the threats to the biodiversity of ethnomedicinal plants and to find consensus information on conservation and management practices of ethnomedicinal plants to contribute sustainable utilization of ethnomedicinal plants in Kore district, Southeastern Ethiopia. The result of the survey revealed that sixty-one medicinal plants were reported by the informants from the study area. These plants are distributed in 59 genera and 37 families. Family Lamiaceae and Asteraceae were represented by 5 (8.2%) species for each family and this is the highest number of species and followed by 4 (6.5%) species of Solanaceae and Fabaceae for each family. Preference ranking analysis shows that Eucalyptus globulus scored 47, indicating that it is the most used plant for firewood in the community, followed by Olea europaea (45) and the least used plant for firewood is Juniperus procera scored 36. Paired comparison analysis showed that Olea Europeae ranked first followed by Podocarpus falcatus for the use of charcoal production in the study area. The major purposes of plant species in the study area were construction, Charcoal, Firewood, Furniture, and Fences as well as for medicinal uses. Based on direct matrix ranking analysis Juniperus procera, Eucalyptus globulus, Podocarpus falactus, Olea europaea, Hagenia abyssinica, Croton macrostachyus, and Cordia africana were the most preferred medicinal plants by local people in the study area. The analysis's findings indicated that anthropogenic influences are endangering medicinal plants. In this study area, only about 13% of medicinal plants are collected from home gardens. This shows that the effort made by the community to conserve medicinal plants is not satisfactory. Therefore, encouraging NGOs and Government offices to participate in the conservation of medicinal plants to encourage the local people to plant indigenous trees for domestic use is necessary.

Introduction: Bronchoscopy could lead to local spread of pre-existing infection, spread of infection from one patient to another if the bronchoscope is disinfected inadequately, or, isolation of microorganisms from bronchoscopic specimens in a patient who is clinically not infected, i.e., pseudo-infection. This study is one such investigation of an outbreak of bronchoscopic pseudo-infections in a tertiary care hospital.Materials and methods: Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples were inoculated onto MacConkey Agar and 5% Sheep Blood Agar and incubated at 37 °C overnight. The growths obtained on culture media were processed for identification and antimicrobial susceptibility on Vitek 2 Compact as per manufacturer’s instructions. To investigate the outbreak, 5 mL - 10 mL of sterile water was flushed through the channels of disinfected bronchoscope and collected in a sterile container. The samples were centrifuged and inoculated onto MacConkey Agar and 5% Sheep Blood Agar. The growths obtained were further processed similarly as the BAL samples were processed. Environmental swabs collected from the bronchoscopy unit were also processed as the procedure mentioned above.Results: Bronchoalveolar lavage of 3 patients in a period of 1 week were contaminated with multidrug resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. Two out of five bronchoscope fluid samples were also contaminated with Klebsiella pneumoniae. Among the swabs collected from bronchoscope unit, Klebsiella pneumoniae was isolated from the detergent box of the endowasher. Conclusion: The risk of propagation of infection via a bronchoscope can be evaded by proper reprocessing and improving the sterilization practices. 

Geosynthetics used in landfills provides a technical and economic advantages over traditional clay liners. It may create stability issue and even lead to landfill failure due to its low interface or internal shear strength if improperly designed and/or constructed. The most common failure mechanism in geosynthetic-lined landfills is transitional failure involving waste and bottom liner (deep-seated failure) or only final cover system (shallow failure). Shear strengths of geosynthetic-geosynthetic and geosynthetic-soil have a wide range of variations. Shear strengths of interface from literature may be used in preliminary design. For final design, site-specific interface shear strengths shall be used. Internal shear strengths of unreinforced geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) are less than those of reinforced GCLs. Unreinforced GCLs are not recommended for slopes steeper than 1:10 (1 Vertical and 10 Horizontal). Peak shear strength of interface and internal GCLs can be used in bottom liner; residual shear strength of interface and internal GCLs shall be used for geosynthetic placed along the slopes. Site-specific shear strengths of waste are recommended to be used in the design. Landfill failure could be triggered by static loadings including excessive leachate, pore pressure above the bottom liners, gas pressure, and excessive wetness of the geomembrane-GCL, and earthquake loading. The factor of safety of 1.5 is recommended for static loading and 1.0 for earthquake loading. A higher factor of safety is recommended if a failure could have a catastrophic effect on human health or the environment, and if large uncertainty exists in input parameters to calculate the factors of safety. The main objective of this review article is to provide a comprehensive knowledge of slope failure mechanisms, causes, and probable remedies in one place.

Post-COVID pulmonary fibrosis has emerged as a significant long-term complication among survivors of severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. This review highlights the underlying pathophysiology, diagnostic modalities, and recent advances in the diagnosis and management of post-COVID pulmonary fibrosis. As global cases of COVID-19 continue to evolve, understanding and addressing this emerging chronic respiratory condition is critical for long-term patient care.