Arsenic detoxification by phytoremediation.

Heavy metals pollution is amongst the commonest form of environmental pollution. These metals have accumulated over time from the smelting and mining activities of man, from poor waste disposal practices and from modernization. Recently the impact of heavy metal pollution of the environment is stirring up serious concerns since the discovery that some edible plants accumulate these metals to a level, toxic to both themselves and to the animals that consumes them. Common features of heavily polluted soil include barrenness, desertification, erosion, and this usually result in developmental stagnation in areas with such pollution. More researches have recently been stepped up in the field of remediating soils polluted with heavy metals. Traditional method includes excavation of the top soil, capping of the soil, stabilization of the polluting heavy metals, soil washing. In recent time, emphases have been drawn to the use of plants that has high metal accumulating and tolerating capacity to remediate metal-contaminated soil. This mini-review highlights the different conventional and recent practices in the control of heavy metal pollution.

Comparison of forced expiratory volume in one second [FEV1]between smoker and non smoker doctors

Aim of this study was to compare the forcedexpiratory volume in one second [FEV1] in smokervs. non smoker doctors

Material and Methods:Individuals were divided into two equal andmatched groups of fifty each. Their ages rangedbetween 27 to 57 years with an average of 18.2 packyears of smoking. Individuals with history ofpulmonary, cardiac, musculoskeletal, neurologicalor any systemic disease which could decline lungfunctions were excluded. Moderate smoking wasdefined as cigarette smoking of 10 pack years.Desktop Spirometer [Geratherm respiratory GmbH]was used in the study and GOLD criteria of COPDwas applied to detect the abnormalities

Results:Mean Age of individuals was 37.65 +/- 7.16 yearsand mean [ +/- SD] height was 174.33 +/- 7.54centimeters. FEV1 was normal in 32 [32%]subjects out of 100 [n=100], out of which 06 weresmokers and 26 were non smokers. Signs of airwayobstruction [FEV1 < 80% predicted] were found in68 [68%] subjects, among whom 44 subjects weresmokers and 24 were non-smoker. Smokers had ahistory of 10 to 41 pack years of smoking with amean of 18.2 pack years. P-value was calculatedusing Chi-square test, which turned out to be 0.00

Conclusion: The prevalence of persistent air flowobstruction is high in asymptomatic smokers. A lowFEV1 in an asymptomatic smoker indicatesindividual with high risk of developing COPD

Prevalence of aggressive periodontitis among Yemeni students from schools in the city of Thamar

Introduction and objective: Aggressive periodontitis (AgP) is a type of periodontitis that causes rapid destruction of alveolar bone, especially in young ages. In Yemen, there is no previous study about aggressive periodontitis, so the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and related risk factors for aggressive periodontitis among school students in the city of Thamar. Material and methods: In this study, a two-stage sampling method was used. At first stage, a random sample of eight public schools was selected from the schools of the city of Thamar by simple random sampling. In the second stage, a sample of 807 students (458 female and 349 male) was drawn from the chosen schools by simple random sampling. People aged from 10 to 22, with mean age of 17. The classification considered in the current paper was based on the American Academy of Periodontology classification of 1999. A questionnaire was applied and included questions that would give information about the risk factors that might be considered causal factors for aggressive periodontitis. Results: The number of affected students with AgP was 29 among 807 students, that is, 3.6% of the sample. The percentages of localized aggressive periodontitis (LAgP) and generalized aggressive periodontitis (GAgP) were, respectively, 2.6% (21 students) and 1.0% (8 students). The following teeth were found to be affected: first molars, second molars, incisors, first premolars and second premolars. In GAgP, 20 first molars, 22 incisors, 6 first premolars, 3 second molars and 2 second premolars showed clinical attachment loss. But in LAgP, 18 first molars, 19 incisors, 6 first premolars, 3 second molars and 2 second premolars showed clinical attachment loss. With regards to the risk factors ? socioeconomic level, age, poor oral hygiene status, plaque index and gingival bleeding ?, the statistical results indicated that each of these factors showed highly significant relationships with AgP. Conclusion: The prevalence of AgP among Yemeni schools students was relatively high: 3.6%. This might be related to the low socioeconomic level and poor oral hygiene status of most of the Yemeni students.

Radionuclide gastroesophageal reflux scan; an effective screening tool for infants/children with repeated chest infections

Objective: unexplained recurrent chest infections are a cause of failure to thrive in infants and young children. Repeated hospital admissions with respiratory symptoms are an extra economic burden on the health budget along with the morbidity. The aim of this study was to analyze the utility of Nuclear Medicine to screen children with clinically significant gastroesophageal reflux

Design and Place of Study: this study was descriptive case series and was conducted at Punjab Institute of Nuclear Medicine in collaboration with the department of pediatrics Allied Hospital Faisalabad

Patients and Methods: seventy clinically symptomatic patients underwent Gastroesophageal Reflux [GER] Scan with effective fasting of one to three hours. Four to thirty seven MBq of [99m]Tc labeled Colloid was diluted in milk for oral intake. Thirty minutes dynamic study with frame rate of 3 second per frame was acquired in either anterior or posterior projection. Both qualitative and quantitative analysis was done using cine review, time active curves [TAC] and percentage reflux index [%RI]. Patients with high grades of reflux were also reviewed after 08 weeks of conventional antireflux treatment

Results: sixty three percent of the patients [44/70] were declared as reflux positive of varying grades on GER scan. Most of the refluxing subjects [26/44] were in grade I/II category while [13/44] of the patient showed moderate degree reflux and only [2/44] of the patients fell into severe reflux category. Chest infection was the chief clinical presentation in each grade of reflux [57%]. Of all the refluxing individuals, [9/44] were having no refluxing spikes on TACs while when reflux index [%RI] were calculated [4/44] of the patients showed value below 4%. Eighty percent of selected patients [8/10] showed improvement with conventional antireflux treatment but complete improvement was evident only in [3/10] patients

Conclusion: GER scan is a non-invasive and effective way of screening clinically symptomatic babies for reflux of the gastric contents interfering with the respiratory tract. Quantitative assessment of improvement after conventional antireflux treatment offer cost-effective follows up of GERD

Pattern of distribution of metastatic lesions within skeleton in patients with breast carcinoma of Faisalabad and its vicinity

Evaluation of pattern of distribution of skeletal metastases in patients with breast carcinoma. by using [99m]Tc MDP Skeletal Scintigraphy. Retrospective Analysis. Study was conducted at Punjab Institute of Nuclear Medicine [PINUM], Faisalabad Pakistan from January 2006 to June 2009. A retrospective study was performed on 465 consecutive patients having CA Breast irrespective of preoperative/postoperative status, presenting for bone scan at Punjab Institute of Nuclear Medicine. Whole body bone scan was performed, along with additional spot views, where needed. The images were interpreted for metastatic deposits by three independent observers. Where needed, plain X-ray was performed to correlate in favor of benign pathology. Out of 465 patients [453 female and 12 Male], 286 [62%] patients were having either normal bone scan or some benign pathology as correlated with plain x-ray of the suspected area. 179 [38%] patients were positive for metastases within skeleton. Among these, 61.4% patients were having multiple, 14% with two, while 24.6% were diagnosed as having solitary lesions within the skeleton. In patients having multiple skeletal lesions, highest number was noted in spine [84.5%- most common in thoracolumbar], followed by ribs [55.5%], pelvis [37.3%---most frequent in iliac bone], skull [32%], scapula [27.3%], sternum [26.4%], femur [19.1%], humerus [14.5%], clavicle [3.6%] and tibia [0.9%]. In humerus and femur, most lesions were located in their upper ends, followed by shafts. Right side of skeleton was more frequently involved than the left. In patients having lesions in ribs and pelvis, most of the lesions were bilateral. Patients with two lesions showed maximum number of lesions in rib cage [44%], followed by spine [32%-all being in thoracolumbar region], scapula [24%], pelvis and scapula [24% in each], sternum [16%], skull [8%], humerous and femur [4% in each]. In patients having solitary focal lesion, highest number was noted in spine [45.5%-most common in thoracolumbar spine], followed by ribs [22.7%], sternum and pelvis [13.6% each], and skull [6.8%]. No lesion was noted in appendicular skeleton. Multiple skeletal metastases are much more common than solitary or two lesions in cases of known breast carcinoma. Axial skeleton including skull is most commonly involved. Spine [especially thoracolumbar] is the most frequent site of involvement followed by rib cage, pelvis and then skull. In peripheral bones, most frequent site is the upper end of femur followed by humerus