Introduction: The ideal antiseptic agent for skin preparation before elective cesarean section (CS) is not yet determined. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of skin preparation by chlorhexidine-alcohol compared with povidone-iodine before elective CS on the rate of surgical site infection (SSI).Materials and methods: This prospective observational study included a total of 1424 pregnant women at term who were candidates for the elective CS and were divided into two equal groups of 712 patients in each, group 1 (chlorhexidine-alcohol group) and group 2 (povidone-iodine group). Patients were followed up at 1 week and 1 month postoperative to determine the rate of SSI.Results: The rate of SSI was 3.7% (26 patients) in the chlorhexidine-alcohol group compared with 4.6% (33 patients) in the povidone-iodine group (odds ratio: 0.7798, 95% CI: 0.46-1.3, p = .35), nine patients in the chlorhexidine-alcohol group, and 10 patients in the povidone-iodine group required resuturing (odds ratio: 0.9, 95% CI: 0.36-2.2, p = .82). Four patients (0.56%) in the chlorhexidine-alcohol group and five patients (0.7%) in the povidone-iodine group developed endometritis (p = .74). The rate or readmission because of SSI was 2.7% (19 patients) in the chlorhexidine-alcohol group and 2.9% (21 patients) in the povidone-iodine group (p = .75).Conclusions: Skin preparation with either chlorhexidine-alcohol or povidone-iodine resulted in comparable rates of SSIs. Accordingly, both are suitable antiseptic agents for skin preparation before elective CS.
Penetrating chest wounds is less common but more deadly then blunt trauma. Majority of penetrating chest trauma can be managed conservatively with observation and simple thoracotomy. This case report highlights a bizarre occupational hazard causing a penetrating chest injury and the option of non-invasive management with the aid of computed tomography with 3D reconstruction.
This research was conducted in order to investigate rumen degradability of some factors includes; Dray Matter (DM), Organic Matter (OM), Crude Protein (CP), Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF) in three different plant protein supplements includes; soybean, canola and cottonseed meal. The experiment was carried out using in three castrated and fistulated male Zel sheep. Each feedstuff was weighed into duplicate nylon bags and incubated in each of the three rumen fistulated sheep for 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24 and 48 h. Results revealed that effective degradability of DM of soybean, canola and cottonseed meal were 55.8, 73.8 and 48.5%, respectively. Effective degradabilities of the CP in feedstuffs were 55.8, 62 and 48.3% for the respective feedstuffs. Effective degradabilities of the OM were 55.7, 56.4 and 47.4%, respectively. Results also showed that effective degradabilities of the ADF were 55, 56.4 and 37.6, respectively. According to the results the researchers concluded that canola and soybean were more degradable in the rumen of the sheep while cottonseed meal were less degradable and, hence resulted in higher rumen undegradable protein.
Maxillofacial trauma are common, secondary to road traffic accident, sports injury, falls and require sophisticated radiological imaging to precisely diagnose. A direct surgical reconstruction is complex and require clinical expertise. Bio-modelling helps in reconstructing surface model from 2D contours. In this manuscript we have constructed the 3D surface using 2D Computerized Tomography (CT) scan contours. The fracture part of the cranial vault are reconstructed using GC1 rational cubic Ball curve with three free parameters, later the 2D contours are flipped into 3D with equidistant z component. The constructed surface is represented by contours blending interpolant. At the end of this manuscript a case report of parietal bone fracture is also illustrated by employing this method with a Graphical User Interface (GUI) illustration.
Benign parotid neoplasm and inflammatory processes of the parotid resulting in facial paralysis are extremely rare. We report a 72-year-old Malay female with poorly-controlled diabetes mellitus who presented with a painful right parotid swelling associated with right facial nerve palsy. The paralysis (Grade VI, House and Brackmann classification) remained after six months.
In this paper, we report the results of our investigation on the possibility of producing foam concrete by using a geopolymer system. Class C fly ash was mixed with an alkaline activator solution (a mixture of sodium silicate and NaOH), and foam was added to the geopolymeric mixture to produce lightweight concrete. The NaOH solution was prepared by dilute NaOH pellets with distilled water. The reactives were mixed to produce a homogeneous mixture, which was placed into a 50 mm mold and cured at two different curing temperatures (60 °C and room temperature), for 24 hours. After the curing process, the strengths of the samples were tested on days 1, 7, and 28. The water absorption, porosity, chemical composition, microstructure, XRD and FTIR analyses were studied. The results showed that the sample which was cured at 60 °C (LW2) produced the maximum compressive strength for all tests, (11.03 MPa, 17.59 MPa, and 18.19 MPa) for days 1, 7, and 28, respectively. Also, the water absorption and porosity of LW2 were reduced by 6.78% and 1.22% after 28 days, respectively. The SEM showed that the LW2 sample had a denser matrix than LW1. This was because LW2 was heat cured, which caused the geopolymerization rate to increase, producing a denser matrix. However for LW1, microcracks were present on the surface, which reduced the compressive strength and increased water absorption and porosity.
This paper presents the mechanical function and characterization of an artificial lightweight geopolymer aggregate (ALGA) using LUSI (Sidoarjo mud) and alkaline activator as source materials. LUSI stands for LU-Lumpur and SI-Sidoarjo, meaning mud from Sidoarjo which erupted near the Banjarpanji-1 exploration well in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia on 27 May 2006. The effect of NaOH molarity, LUSI mud/Alkaline activator (LM/AA) ratio, and Na2SiO3/NaOH ratio to the ALGA are investigated at a sintering temperature of 950 °C. The results show that the optimum NaOH molarity found in this study is 12 M due to the highest strength (lowest AIV value) of 15.79% with lower water absorption and specific gravity. The optimum LUSI mud/Alkaline activator (LM/AA) ratio of 1.7 and the Na2SiO3/NaOH ratio of 0.4 gives the highest strength with AIV value of 15.42% with specific gravity of 1.10 g/cm3 and water absorption of 4.7%. The major synthesized crystalline phases were identified as sodalite, quartz and albite. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) image showed more complete geopolymer matrix which contributes to highest strength of ALGA produced.
Aggregates can be categorized into natural and artificial aggregates. Preserving natural resources is crucial to ensuring the constant supply of natural aggregates. In order to preserve these natural resources, the production of artificial aggregates is beginning to gain the attention of researchers worldwide. One of the methods involves using geopolymer technology. On this basis, this current research focuses on the inter-particle effect on the properties of fly ash geopolymer aggregates with different molarities of sodium hydroxide (NaOH). The effects of synthesis parameters (6, 8, 10, 12, and 14 M) on the mechanical and microstructural properties of the fly ash geopolymer aggregate were studied. The fly ash geopolymer aggregate was palletized manually by using a hand to form a sphere-shaped aggregate where the ratio of NaOH/Na2SiO3 used was constant at 2.5. The results indicated that the NaOH molarity has a significant effect on the impact strength of a fly ash geopolymer aggregate. The highest aggregate impact value (AIV) was obtained for samples with 6 M NaOH molarity (26.95%), indicating the lowest strength among other molarities studied and the lowest density of 2150 kg/m3. The low concentration of sodium hydroxide in the alkali activator solution resulted in the dissolution of fly ash being limited; thus, the inter-particle volume cannot be fully filled by the precipitated gels.
Underwater concrete is a cohesive self-consolidated concrete used for concreting underwater structures such as bridge piers. Conventional concrete used anti-washout admixture (AWA) to form a high-viscosity underwater concrete to minimise the dispersion of concrete material into the surrounding water. The reduction of quality for conventional concrete is mainly due to the washing out of cement and fine particles upon casting in the water. This research focused on the detailed investigations into the setting time, washout effect, compressive strength, and chemical composition analysis of alkali-activated fly ash (AAFA) paste through underwater placement in seawater and freshwater. Class C fly ash as source materials, sodium silicate, and sodium hydroxide solution as alkaline activator were used for this study. Specimens produced through underwater placement in seawater showed impressive performance with strength 71.10 MPa on 28 days. According to the Standard of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE), the strength of specimens for underwater placement must not be lower than 80% of the specimen's strength prepared in dry conditions. As result, the AAFA specimens only showed 12.11% reduction in strength compared to the specimen prepared in dry conditions, thus proving that AAFA paste has high potential to be applied in seawater and freshwater applications.
Foamed concrete is considered a green building material, which is porous in nature. As a result, it poses benefits such as being light in self-weight, and also has excellent thermal insulation properties, environmental safeguards, good fire resistance performance, and low cost. Nevertheless, foamed concrete has several disadvantages such as low strength, a large amount of entrained air, poor toughness, and being a brittle material, all of which has restricted its usage in engineering and building construction. Hence, this study intends to assess the potential utilization of polypropylene fibrillated fiber (PFF) in foamed concrete to enhance its engineering properties. A total of 10 mixes of 600 and 1200 kg/m3 densities were produced by the insertion of four varying percentages of PFF (1%, 2%, 3%, and 4%). The properties assessed were splitting tensile, compressive and flexural strengths, workability, porosity, water absorption, and density. Furthermore, the correlations between the properties considered were also evaluated. The outcomes reveal that the foamed concrete mix with 4% PFF attained the highest porosity, with approximately 13.9% and 15.9% for 600 and 1200 kg/m3 densities in comparison to the control specimen. Besides, the mechanical properties (splitting tensile, compressive and flexural strengths) increased steadily with the increase in the PFF percentages up to the optimum level of 3%. Beyond 3%, the strengths reduced significantly due to poor PFF dispersal in the matrix, leading to a balling effect which causes a degraded impact of scattering the stress from the foamed concrete vicinity to another area of the PFF surface. This exploratory investigation will result in a greater comprehension of the possible applications of PFF in LFC. It is crucial to promote the sustainable development and implementation of LFC materials and infrastructures.
This paper elucidates the mechanical performance, microstructure, and porosity evolution of fly ash geopolymer after 10 years of curing age. Given their wide range of applications, understanding the microstructure of geopolymers is critical for their long-term use. The outcome of fly ash geopolymer on mechanical performance and microstructural characteristics was compared between 28 days of curing (FA28D) and after 10 years of curing age (FA10Y) at similar mixing designs. The results of this work reveal that the FA10Y has a beneficial effect on strength development and denser microstructure compared to FA28D. The total porosity of FA10Y was also lower than FA28D due to the anorthite formation resulting in the compacted matrix. After 10 years of curing age, the 3D pore distribution showed a considerable decrease in the range of 5-30 µm with the formation of isolated and intergranular holes.