Polymer nanocomposite membranes and their application for flow catalysis and photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants

The modern world essentially needs a chemical industry that can operate with reduced production costs, and produce high-quality products with low environmental impact. The polymer nanocomposite-based flow catalytic membrane reactor where the reaction and separation can be amalgamated in one unit is considered as one of the new alternative solutions to solve these problems. In this review, we have discussed state-of-the-art flow-through catalytic reactors based on polymer nanocomposite membranes. The unique advantages of flow catalysis include uninterrupted operation, good recyclability, and reaction product without contamination that leads to simple purification. Various catalytic model reactions such as coupling, hydrogenation, esterification in the flow system are presented. We have also presented an overview of methods adopted for preparing such nanocomposite membranes. In the last section, a discussion has been made on the recent advances on polymer-based nanocomposite membranes for the degradation and separation of organic pollutants.Post-print / Final draf

Plastic foreign body appearing as radiopaque in a child: An interesting case

Accidental and unnoticed ingestion of foreign bodies (FBs) is not very uncommon. Most of such FBs pass through the gastrointestinal tract uneventfully and only on rare instances cause obstruction or perforation. We present here a case of unnoticed ingested plastic FB in an 11-month-old male child. The baby was presented to us with the complaint of acute intestinal obstruction. The plastic FB appeared as a radiopaque ring in the plain erect abdominal X-ray. The patient was managed by only sodium phosphate enema, which expelled the FB out through the anus

Effect of Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) protocol on maternal outcomes following emergency caesarean delivery: A randomized controlled trial

Background: With ever increasing rates of emergency caesarean deliveries (CD),incorporating the ERAS protocol might provide a perfect window of opportunity to increase maternal comfort during the postsurgical period, but also improve outcomes and facilitate optimal return of physiological function. Objective: To determine whether an ERAS pathway at emergency caesarean birth would permit a reduction in postoperative length of stay and improve postoperative patient satisfaction. Material &amp; methods: Patients undergoing emergent caesarean delivery at ≥ 34 weeks of gestation were randomized to ERAS or conventional care. The primary outcome was to compare postoperative length of hospital stay. Secondary outcome variables included first oral intake, passage of flatus/defecation, first ambulation, first urination after catheter removal and postoperative pain scores in both groups. Results: We randomized 142 women (71 each in ERAS versus Conventional arm) undergoing emergency cesarean delivery. Incorporation of ERAS protocol resulted in shorter length of hospital stay (73.92 ± 8.96 in conventional arm vs 53.87 ± 15.02 in ERAS arm; p value <.0001). Significant difference was seen in visual analogue scoring during initial ambulation and rest on day 0 and day 1 between ERAS and conventional arms with mean scores being lower in ERAS arm compared to Conventional arm (p value <.05). In terms of quality of life, ERAS arm had better quality of life compared to conventional arm Conclusion: Incorporation of ERAS protocol in emergency caesarean definitely improves patient outcome in terms of early resumption of activities with better quality of life

Fixed Point Approximation of Generalized Nonexpansive Mappings in Hyperbolic Spaces

We prove strong and Δ-convergence theorems for generalized nonexpansive mappings in uniformly convex hyperbolic spaces using S-iteration process due to Agarwal et al. As uniformly convex hyperbolic spaces contain Banach spaces as well as CAT(0) spaces, our results can be viewed as extension and generalization of several well-known results in Banach spaces as well as CAT(0) spaces

Urinary MMP-7: A Predictive, Noninvasive Early Marker for Chronic Kidney Disease Development in Patients with Hypertension

Abstract Objective Upregulation of matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) is associated with hypertension and kidney fibrosis, which can progress to chronic kidney disease (CKD). Currently, kidney fibrosis is only detectable by an invasive procedure. Therefore, we set out to determine whether MMP-7 can act as a noninvasive biomarker in patients with hypertension to enable early detection of kidney fibrosis. Materials and Methods Diagnosed patients with hypertension and control patients were sampled. We diagnosed CKD using clinical and laboratory parameters. Serum urea, creatinine, urinary microalbumin, the albumin-to-creatinine ratio, and urinary MMP-7 were analyzed. Results The 195 patients with hypertension had significantly elevated MMP-7. Of these patients, 166 had MMP-7 &amp;gt;25.8 μg/L, whereas only 29 had MMP-7 &amp;lt;25.8 μg/L. Thirty-two patients with hypertension showed features of CKD, all of whom had urinary MMP-7 &amp;gt;25.8 μg/L. However, the urinary MMP-7 level did not differ with the severity of CKD or with the duration of hypertension. Conclusion Elevated urinary MMP-7 can be a potential noninvasive, early indicator in patients with hypertension progressing to CKD, thus enabling early therapeutic intervention. </jats:sec