Introduction: Early diagnosis of osteoarticular tuberculosis (OATB) is essential to prevent significant functional disability. There is no single test for diagnosis. Despite an array of investigations available, definitive diagnosis at early stage before starting antitubercular drugs is still a challenge. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out between February 2016 and October 2017. All children less than 18 years of age with suspected osteoarticular tuberculosis were included. The cases were subjected to simple needle aspiration from whichever site was accessible. Multiple sample aspirations were done at site of involvement. Smears were prepared from the aspirated material. Results: Ziehl-Neelsen staining for Acid Fast Bacilli (AFB) showed deep pink red rods under light microscopy. Features suggestive of tuberculosis can be seen by May-Grünwald-Giemsa (MGG) staining. Auramine-O staining method of detecting AFB under fluorescent microscope shows the bacilli as greenish yellow slender curved rods in dark background. Fluorescent microscopy has higher sensitivity and comparable specificity. In our study, microbiological confirmation of OATB could be done in 100% cases where the lesion could be accessed for aspiration. The molecular techniques are relatively more expensive and not available everywhere. Conclusion: Meticulous search for AFB in a well stained smear using three different staining methods provides a direct evidence of infection over costly imaging especially in poor patients seen in resource limited settings.
Nowadays, textile industries have severely polluted the ecosystem and water sources via disposal of highly thermo- and photo-stable dyes within the ecology that require practical strategies to remove them from nature. In studies, the photocatalytic disinfection technique has been shown to have widespread applications in indoor air, environmental health, detection, biological, biomedical, laboratory hospital, pharmaceutical food industry, plant safety, waste water, effluents disposal, and drinking water disinfection. Herein, the sodium polytungstate (SPT) polyoxometalate (POM) was synthesized through a multi-step production procedure and hence modified via employing a green protocol by using tartaric acid, glutamic acid, and kombucha solvent toward efficient and total complete removal of the highly toxic, stable, and carcinogenic auramine-O (AO) dye from aqueous media. In this regard, developed materials were well-characterized, and their photocatalysis performance for photodegradation of AO dye was examined. Achieved results showed that the optimum absorption conditions were achieved at pH of 5.0, 15 mg/L of AO concentration, 0.04 g of photocatalyst dosage, and 110 min irradiation time, where SPT and modified SPT via green protocol showed full desirability (desirability function (DF) index of 1) along with 71.75 and 100% removal percentage, respectively. Obtained results justified the superior photocatalytic role of the SPT POM and its derived nanocluster that can be used for the complete removal of highly stable dyes from aqueous media till reaching the drinking water standard.