77 research outputs found
Determination of Toxic Elements in Cannabinoid and Opioid Drugs and Their Impact on Addicts’ Health: A Comparative Study
No full textDrug addiction is associated with significant health risks, including cardiovascular complications, cancer, and mental disorders. Illicit drugs, such as cannabinoids and opioids, including prescription medications, are widely consumed and have profound health consequences. Understanding the health effects of the toxic elements in these substances is critical for overdose prevention and effective recovery strategies. This study aimed to determine toxic elements, including arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and nickel (Ni), in cannabinoid and opioid drugs and in biological samples (whole blood, scalp hair, and serum) from 311 male drug abuse patients aged 15–60 years with a history of drug abuse. The participants were categorized into three age groups. The comparative analysis involved 113 reference subjects of the same age groups. The sample preparation employed microwave-assisted acid digestion, and the toxic elements were quantified using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Accuracy was ensured using certified reference materials for hair, whole blood, and serum samples. Drug-addicted subjects had significantly higher concentrations of toxic elements (arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and nickel) in biological samples than referent subjects (p > 0.001). Elevated levels of these toxic elements may increase susceptibility to infections, possibly due to malnutrition, drug-related effects, and additional contaminants. These findings necessitate further studies to explore the long-term health outcomes, potential treatment options, and broader socioeconomic impacts of substance abuse. This study serves as a baseline for future research in this critical public health field
اکیسویں صدی کے اردوافسانے میں اسلوب اور تکنیک کاتنوع
No full textThe tradition of writing and narrating stories has been present for centuries. There are several techniques present for writing these stories. The way of narration has remained very simple in past, with the passage of time story writing has brought and developed several subject. matters and as well its craft and techniques. 21 century has revolutionized urdu fiction. It has been observed widly that it has widen its canvas horizon. It will not be wrong to declare that the way of narration has so far been completely changed altogather. In this regard the developments in urdu story telling techniques and crafts can not be neglected, which has progressively promoted story telling in urdu fiction
The Role of Magnetic Resonance Venography in Headache Due to Suspected Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis in the Presence of Normal T1 and T2 Dural Sinus Signal
No full textOBJECTIVES
Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is an important but uncommon aetiology of stroke. The presentation of CVST is extremely variable clinically, moreover its onset can be either acute or subacute, and less frequently, chronic. Headache is the most common symptom of CVST. The headache is typically diffuse and progressing in severity over days to weeks. MRI and MRV have very high sensitivity and specificity and have become the modality of choice to confirm the diagnosis of CVST. The aim of this study was to weigh the benefits of added MRV in patients with headache, after a negative MRI for CVST.
METHODOLOGY
The total number of patients included was 207, with chief complaints of headache and suspicion of CVST. The MRV sequence used was dynamic coronal by using the time-of-flight technique. The diagnosis of CVST was made by the loss of normal signal void both on T1WI and T2WI as well as on non-visualization on MRV.RESULTSOut of these 207 patients, CVST was present in 52 patients. Superior sagittal sinus was involved in 8 cases, right transverse sinus in 2 cases, left transverse sinus in 7 cases, left sigmoid sinus in 3 cases, and multiple sinuses in 32 cases. 34 cases out of 52 had infarction which was mostly haemorrhagic i.e. 27. A total of 97 cases (46%) had aplastic/hypoplastic transverse segments which were mostly the left one (87, 42%) and 10 cases (4.8 %) on the right side. In none of the patients, CVST was picked by MRV alone after a negative T1 and T2 MRI.
CONCLUSION
In patients presenting with headache and suspected CVST additional MRV is only required if the routine MR sequences are not able to pick up the thrombus and the suspicion of CVST is very high
Degraded image enhancement by image dehazing and Directional Filter Banks using Depth Image based Rendering for future free-view 3D-TV.
No full textDIBR-3D technology has evolved over the past few years with the demands of consumers increasing in recent times for future free-view 3D videos on their home televisions. The main issue in 3D technology is the lack of 3D content available to watch using the traditional TV systems. Although, some sophisticated devices like stereoscopic cameras have been used to fill the gap between the 3D content demand and 3D content supply. But the content generated through these sophisticated devices can not be displayed on the traditional TV systems, so there needs to be some mechanism which is inline with the traditional TV. Furthermore, the huge collection of existing 2D content should be converted to 3D using depth image-based rendering techniques. This conversion technique can highly contribute in overcoming the shortage problem of the 3D content. This paper presents a novel approach for converting 2D degraded image for DIBR 3D-TV view. This degraded or noisy/blur image is enhanced through image dehazing and Directional Filter Bank (DFB). This enhancement is necessary because of the occlusion effect or hole filling problem that occurs due to imperfect depth map. The enhanced image is then segmented into the foreground image and the background image. After the segmentation, the depth map is generated using image profiles. Moreover, Stereoscopic images are finally produced using the DIBR procedure which is based on the 2D input image and the corresponding depth map. We have verified the results of the proposed approach by comparing the results with the existing state-of-the-art techniques
Formation of stress relief discontinuities due to removal of normal load from foundation rocks, Tarbela Dam, Pakistan
No full textThe current paper presents a case study of the Tarbela Dam (Pakistan) based on highly deformed Precambrian schistose rocks. These rocks are exposed after removing the normal load from the foundation rocks. Stress relief discontinuities are induced by removing the normal load, which significantly influences the hydraulic conductivity of underlying rock mass. The ingression of water seepages through these discontinuities decreases the shear strength of foundation rock mass to a considerable extent. It subsequently enhances the potentialities of rock mass failure along planes of weak discontinuities. Water pressure tests were conducted during pre-and post-excavation stages to acquire the hydraulic conductivity at the same elevation of the foundation area. The hydraulic conductivity measured at the pre-excavation stage is less than its value at the post-excavation stage. It is indicating that stresses are released after removal of normal load from foundation rock mass with marked impact on dilation and enhanced amount of hydraulic conductivity (at post-excavation stage)
Formation of stress relief discontinuities due to removal of normal load from foundation rocks, Tarbela Dam, Pakistan
No full textThe current paper presents a case study of the Tarbela Dam (Pakistan) based on highly deformed Precambrian schistose rocks. These rocks are exposed after removing the normal load from the foundation rocks. Stress relief discontinuities are induced by removing the normal load, which significantly influences the hydraulic conductivity of underlying rock mass. The ingression of water seepages through these discontinuities decreases the shear strength of foundation rock mass to a considerable extent. It subsequently enhances the potentialities of rock mass failure along planes of weak discontinuities. Water pressure tests were conducted during pre-and post-excavation stages to acquire the hydraulic conductivity at the same elevation of the foundation area. The hydraulic conductivity measured at the pre-excavation stage is less than its value at the post-excavation stage. It is indicating that stresses are released after removal of normal load from foundation rock mass with marked impact on dilation and enhanced amount of hydraulic conductivity (at post-excavation stage)
Isolation of Bacillus cereus from botanical soil and subsequent biodegradation of waste engine oil
No full textWaste engine oil causes a vital environmental pollution when it spill during change and transportation and products of waste engine oil causes lethal effects to the living systems. Thus, abiotic and biotic approaches are being extensively used for removal of waste engine oil pollution. Therefore in present study, waste engine oil degradation was accomplished by a new bacterial culture, isolated from the soil by an enrichment technique. Morphological, biochemical and gene sequence analysis revealed that isolate was Bacillus cereus. Subsequently, biodegradation potential of B. cereus for waste engine oil was studied. Experimental variables, such as pH, substrate concentration, inoculum size, temperature and time on the biodegradation, were checked in mineral salt medium. The biodegradation efficiency of B. cereus was determined by gravimetry, UV–visible spectrophotometry and gas chromatography. In addition, waste engine oil was also characterized by GC–MS and FTIR for its major constituents, which showed total 38 components in waste engine oil, including hopanes, benzopyrene, long-chain aliphatic hydrocarbons, dibenzothiophenes, biphenyl and their derivatives. Results of successive biodegradation indicated that B. cereus was capable to degrade 1% of waste engine oil with 98.6% degradation potential at pH 7 within 20 days. Hence, B. cereus presents an innovative tool for removing the engine oil from the contaminated area
Depth map results of dataset [37].
No full text(a) Input Images (b) Depthmap produced by Zhuo.et al. [12] (c) Depthmap produced by Yang.et.al. [26] and (d) Depth-map generated by DFB-DIBR.</p
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