This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation carried out to evaluate the compressive strength of concrete. An exploratory study on the suitability of the tannery shredded waste as partial replacement for normal fine aggregate in concrete works has been carried out. Physical and mechanical properties of tannery shredded waste and locally available normal aggregates have been determined and compared. A large number of concrete cubes of size 150X150X150 mm were cast with different percentage replacements of fine aggregates by tannery shredded waste in the order 100:0, 5:5, 10:10, and 15:15, were cast and compressive strength test values were determined.

Higher education falls outside the ambit of merit category since the personal benefit from higher education exceeds the social benefit. In this milieu, the heavy spending on higher education by the government led to some structural changes withdrawing the huge subsidy elements and allowing the entry of private providers in higher education. However there are fairly large amount of subsidy on higher education even at present. The rationality of subsidy as well as fee can be found out only in terms of the cost incurred for providing the education and comparing it with fee collected from the student. The paper is an attempt to find out the unit cost of providing medical education particularly the MBBS course in Kerala and the rationality of the fee charged by the government and self financing institutions. The study found that there is a mark-up profit for the self financing institutions and at the same time government has a heavy spending burden.

This paper proposes a new model for design of standalone two axis sun-tracker (SATAST) and some considerations regarding design, modeling and control solutions. Proposed overall system model and sub-models are developed to allow designer to have maximum numerical visual and graphical data to select, test and analyze a given SATAST system for desired output performance and characteristics, under given input operating conditions, to meet desired outputs for specific application requirements.

Introduction: Local anaesthetic like bupivacaine is commonly used in spinal anaesthesia, but the duration of spinal anaesthesia may be short and limited, and higher doses of rescue analgesics may be required in the postoperative period. This can be avoided by using higher doses of bupivacaine which again can produce cardiac toxicity. Studies have shown that duration of analgesia due to bupivacaine in spinal anaesthesia can be prolonged by using adjuvants such as midazolam, opioids, neostigmine, dexmedetomidine, and clonidine. Almost all opioids have been used as adjuvants intrathecally. Material and methods: This randomized controlled study was carried out over a period of 6 months, after obtaining approval from the Hospital Ethics Committee and written informed consent from the patients. Ninety-nine patients of Anaesthesiologists Classes I or II of either sex and of age 25-60 years, posted for lower abdominal surgery were randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 33) using computer-generated program. Assigned random group was enclosed in a sealed envelope to ensure concealment of allocation sequence. The anaesthesiologist, who was not involved in the study, opened the envelope in operation theatre and prepared the drug accordingly. The observation was done by the anaesthesiologist who was blinded to the drug. Patients having severe systemic disorders such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, heart disease, allergy to bupivacaine, spine deformity, increased intracranial pressure, neurological disorders, haemorrhagic diathesis, and infection at the puncture site were excluded from the study. Result: A total of 106 patients initially enrolled in this study, 7 patients had to be excluded because of logistical reasons or other violations of the study protocol. Ninety patients were included and randomly assigned to their treatment groups. Conclusion: Intrathecal clonidine (75 μg) when added to bupivacaine in spinal anaesthesia provides prolonged duration of postoperative analgesia than 25 μg of fentanyl but with higher degree of sedation. Fentanyl (25 μg) may be recommended as a better option when sedation is not desirable. We concluded that intrathecal clonidine 75 𝜇g with bupivacaine prolonged intraoperative anaesthesia and the time to first analgesic request compared to fentanyl, however, the total analgesic consumption in the first 24 h postoperative was similar in fentanyl and clonidine groups following elective lower abdominal surgeries.

Sunflower is an important oil seed crop in India. The crop is susceptible to various diseases among which leaf blight caused by Alternaria helianthi is more destructive. The present study aimed at determining antifungal potential of Moringa stenopetala (Baker f.) Cufod (Moringaceae) an indigenous plant to Ethiopia against A. helianthi isolated from sunflower leaves. Antifungal activity was determined by Poisoned food technique. The extract was effective and a dose dependent inhibition of mycelial growth of fungus was observed. At extract concentration 1.5mg/ml and higher, an inhibition of >70% was observed. The plant appears promising and the presence of bioactive principles in the extract might have accounted for the antifungal activity. The plant can be used in the management of leaf blight of sunflower.

Our study investigated the effects of extracts from tobacco (Nicotiana rustica L.) and stemona (Stemona tuberosa Lour.) on parasitic ticks infested on dogs, in order to give a pharmacological explanation for their traditional uses in ectoparasite diseases. The comparison of extracts from different solvents with different extracting times revealed that NaOH 5% with water was the best extracting solvent, while 24 h was the best extracting time for the extraction of these plants’ acaricidal effects. After applying these optimal solvent and extracting time to yield those extracts of the highest effects, we examined their effects on ticks at different concentrations, and the results showed that they exerted their best effects when being applied at 20%. These effects were later confirmed by clinical trials, which demonstrated that the extracts also had high treatment effects on those dogs that had been heavily affected with tick diseases. These results partly provide scientific explanations for the therapeutic uses of tobacco and stemona in ectoparasite diseases. In addition, the promissory treatment observed in clinical trials is a step forwards to widen the uses of these medicinal plants in tick diseases, and thus suggesting that follow-up researches are worth to exploit their potentials

Lactococcus garvieae is a Gram-positive coccus [GPC] that has morphological and biochemical similarities to enterococci. L.garvieae strains are rare human pathogens, with only a few cases reported in the literature, mainly as a cause of infective endocarditis but a well-known pathogen in aquaculture. It is well known as a fish pathogen, and in some of the reported cases, the patients had history of contact with raw fish. We report a case of L. garvieae urosepsis in a patient with no history of contact with raw fish.

Spinal anesthesia (SA) is a safe anesthetic technique used for both elective and emergency operations. Shivering is known to be a frequent complication in patients undergoing surgery under neuraxial anesthesia with incidence of 40–70%. SA inhibits tonic vasoconstriction and causes redistribution of core heat from the trunk (below the block level) to the peripheral tissues predisposing patients to hypothermia and shivering. Post spinal anaesthesia shivering (PSAS) is an involuntary, repetitive activity of skeletal muscles as a physiological response to core hypothermia to raise the metabolic heat production. PSAS increases O2 consumption, CO2 production, plasma catecholamines and cardiac output. Shivering may interfere with the monitoring of ECG, blood pressure and oxygen saturation. Te mainstay of prophylaxis and treatment of PSAS remain pharmacological due to inadequate control of central hypothermia by techniques based on physical principles (e.g., intravenous infusion (IVI) of warm fluids and forced air warmers). It appears logical to prevent PSAS rather than to treat it once it develops.

Background: Neonatal hypoglycemia is a common metabolic complication in infants born to diabetic mothers. The risk is influenced by the type of maternal diabetes, glycemic control during pregnancy, and neonatal birth weight. This study aimed to evaluate the incidence and associated factors of neonatal hypoglycemia in relation to maternal diabetes in a Bangladeshi population. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 120 mother-neonate pairs at BSMMU, Dhaka, and Sibchar Health Complex, Madaripur, from June 2015 to May 2016. Data on maternal age, gravida, residence, type of diabetes (gestational or pre-gestational), glycemic control, and neonatal birth weight were collected. Neonatal blood glucose was monitored within the first 24 hours of birth to detect hypoglycemia. Associations were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests. Results: Among the neonates, 40.0% developed hypoglycemia. The incidence was significantly higher in infants born to mothers with pre-gestational diabetes (60.0%) compared to gestational diabetes (25.7%). Poor maternal glycemic control was associated with a higher rate of neonatal hypoglycemia (72.0%) than good control (17.1%). The highest rate of hypoglycemia was observed in macrosomic infants (>4.0 kg) at 85.7%, followed by normal-weight (40.6%) and low birth weight infants (20.8%). Conclusion: Pre-gestational diabetes, inadequate glycemic control during pregnancy, and macrosomia are strongly associated with neonatal hypoglycemia. Early diagnosis and tight glycemic control are essential to reduce the risk of neonatal complications in diabetic pregnancies.

Abstract: This study is aimed to determine the variations in perihilar branching pattern and extra renal arteries in 25 cadavers at SRM medical college hospital and research center, Chennai, India. Among the 50 kidneys studied, perihilar branching pattern (32%), accessory renal artery (26%), polar renal artery (16%), accessory renal artery & perihilar branching pattern (12%), accessory renal artery & polar artery (10%) and polar renal artery & perihilar branching pattern (4%) were observed in 16, 13, 8, 6, 5 and 2 cases, respectively. The knowledge of these probable variations of renal arteries will be useful for surgical management during renal transplantation, angiographic interventions, urological procedures and repair of abdominal aorta aneurysm.

Modern enterprises face mounting pressure to demonstrate compliance with multiple regulatory and industry standards simultaneously, creating fragmented control environments that obscure executive risk oversight. This paper presents a comprehensive framework for mapping multi-standard compliance controls into unified enterprise risk dashboards that enable integrated governance and strategic decision-making. Building upon the unified control architecture proposed by Chinenye (2013), this research synthesizes control rationalization methodologies, cross-framework mapping strategies, and dashboard design principles to address the challenge of transforming disparate compliance requirements into coherent executive visualizations. The framework integrates controls from ISO 27001, COBIT 5, NIST SP 800-53, and ITIL through systematic harmonization processes that reduce redundancy while preserving regulatory integrity. Three dashboard abstraction layers, strategic, tactical, and operational, are proposed to serve distinct organizational audiences with appropriate metrics and update frequencies. The research demonstrates that control rationalization can reduce duplicative requirements by 40-75% while improving executive visibility into enterprise risk posture. Implementation guidance addresses technical architecture, data integration challenges, and organizational change management considerations essential for successful dashboard deployment. This work contributes to the governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) literature by providing actionable methodologies for enterprises seeking to transition from fragmented compliance activities to integrated risk oversight through unified dashboard implementations.

We present an ambispective analysis of the Management of Deep Sternal Wound Infections: Open Dressing versus Vacuum Assisted Closure Device Therapy at our Institute. Aim: The aim of our study is to compare and analyse our experience of Management of Deep Sternal Wound Infections with Open Dressing and Vacuum Assisted Closure Device Therapy and outcome. Methods: We analysed and compared our data (Group I) from 01 May 2009 to 31 May 2012 when the modality of management of DSWI was open dressings and irrigation (ie; Pre-VAC era at our institute) with data (Group II) from 01 May 2013 to 31 Apr 2016 when the modality of management of DSWI was changed to Vacuum Assisted Closure Device Therapy. 2228 patients underwent sternotomies from 01 May 2009 to 31 May 2012 and 2168 patients underwent sternotomies from 01 May 2013 to 31 Apr 2016. In Group I postoperative DSWI was diagnosed in 22 patients there were 14 (63.63 %) Males aged 45 to 81 years and 08 (36.37 %) Females aged 43 to 71 years, and in Group II postoperative DSWI was diagnosed in 20 patients. There were 11 (55 %) Males, aged 39 to 74 years and 09 (45 %) Females aged 44 to 66 years. The outcomes were investigated with Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank test, Student’s test and Fisher’s exact test. Results: In Group I - 17 (77.27 %) patients underwent secondary suturing with tension bands and 01 (4.5 %) patient required flap cover to cover the defect. The mortality was 04 (18.18 %) (03 Male and 01 Female), whereas in Group II- 16 (80%) patients underwent Secondary suturing with tension bands and 02 (10 %) patient required flap cover to cover the defect. The mortality was 02 (10%) (01 Male and 01 Female). Conclusion: As compared to open dressings and irrigation, VAC therapy is safe and reliable option in Deep sternal wound infection after cardiac surgery, with excellent survival and low failure rate. VAC reduces mortality, increases sternal stability, patient comfort and can be used in any Hospital. Pre-operative Diabetes Mellitus, Renal Failure and Obesity are risk factors for mortality in patients treated with both modalities

Background: Hypertension is a leading cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality worldwide. Obesity, smoking, and prolonged disease duration are recognized risk factors for adverse cardiovascular outcomes; however, their combined impact on hypertension severity has not been adequately investigated in Bangladesh. Objective: To assess the impact of obesity, smoking, and duration of disease on hypertension severity among adult patients with primary hypertension. Methods: A total of 350 adults with primary hypertension were enrolled using consecutive sampling. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, body mass index (BMI), smoking status, and duration of hypertension were collected using a structured questionnaire and medical records. Hypertension severity was classified according to the JNC 7 criteria. Associations were assessed using the Chi-square test, and multivariable binary logistic regression identified independent predictors of severe hypertension (Stage 2 hypertension and hypertensive crisis). Results: The mean age of participants was 55.9±11.8 years, and 58.0% were male. Overall, 37.1% were obese, 32.0% were current smokers, and 27.2% had hypertension for more than 10 years. Hypertension severity was significantly associated with BMI (p<0.001), smoking status (p=0.001), and duration of hypertension (p<0.001). After adjustment for age and sex, obesity (AOR=2.84, 95% CI: 1.68–4.80), current smoking (AOR=2.17, 95% CI: 1.29–3.64), hypertension duration >10 years (AOR=4.26, 95% CI: 2.28–7.97), and increasing age (AOR=1.02, 95% CI: 1.00–1.04) were independent predictors of severe hypertension. Conclusion: Obesity, current smoking, longer disease duration, and increasing age were independently associated with greater hypertension severity. Lifestyle modification, smoking cessation, and long-term blood pressure control are essential to reduce disease progression and cardiovascular complications.

Objectives: To assess the data on smoking's role as an irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) risk factor. Methods: Electronic databases including PubMed, Science Direct, Cochrane Library, and Scopus were thoroughly searched. Qualifying papers were assessed and data was extracted by two impartial reviewers. Results: Our data consists of eight studies with 1458 children, 864 (59.3%) of whom were female. All of the included studies used ROME criteria for IBS diagnosis. The prevalence of smoking among IBS patients ranged from 3.8% to 37%, with a total prevalence of 405 (27.8%). Five studies have demonstrated that the incidence of IBS was not significantly correlated with cigarette smoking. Two studies reported that smoking was a significant risk factor for IBS incidence and one found that IBS-M was the only variant related to smoking. Conclusion: There is still no obvious connection between smoking and irritable bowel syndrome because the analyzed research produced inconsistent results. While some studies indicate that smoking may worsen the symptoms of IBS or raise the likelihood of getting the condition, other research rejects this link. Clinicians should keep encouraging smoking cessation due to its many health benefits until more conclusive data is available, but they should also be open to the potential that it could improve the outcomes of IBS patients. To reconcile these contradictory results and get a deeper comprehension of the possible contribution of smoking to the etiology of IBS, more investigation is required.

Background: ICP is crucial for the occlusal stability and masticatory efficiency. Partial edentulism affects ICP, predisposing to occlusal imbalances, reduced masticatory performance, and increased prevalence of TMJ diseases. Prosthetic rehabilitation includes restoration of functional occlusion, improving patient satisfaction, and improving quality of life. The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in the intercuspal position by partially edentulous patients after prosthodontic rehabilitation. Methods: This retrospective observational study conducted at Department of Prosthodontics, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and beau-dent, Dhaka, Bangladesh from June 2015 to July 2016. Total 100 patients diagnosed with partial edentulism who underwent prosthodontic rehabilitation with complete records documenting pre and post treatment occlusal measurements. The effectiveness of interventions was assessed through statistical analyses such as paired t tests and chi square tests, and the relationship to clinical variables was explored. Results: The ICP mean decreased significantly from 2.0 ± 0.25 to 1.30 ± 0.24 mm (p < 0.001), and the occlusal contact area increased from 19.5 ± 2.6 to 28.3 ± 2.8 mm² (p < 0.001). Removable prostheses were outperformed by fixed prostheses, which improved ICP and occlusal contact. Patients with less missing teeth and shorter duration of edentulism had better outcomes. High satisfaction rates were reported for chewing comfort (75%), improved speech (79%) and prosthesis aesthetics (79%). Conclusion: In partially edentulous patients, prosthetic rehabilitation can substantially improve ICP, occlusal contact area, and patient satisfaction. The findings also support individualized treatment and early intervention to maximize outcome.