Experience of 100 solid organ transplants over a five‐yr period from the first successful pediatric multi‐organ transplant program in India

To analyze the clinical profile and outcome of pediatric patients who had undergone a liver and/or RT at our center over a five yr period, case records of all the patients who had undergone a liver or RT were analyzed retrospectively. One hundred solid organ transplants were performed at our center between January 2007 and January 2012. These included 50 liver, 44 renal, one sequential liver and renal, and two CLKT. BA was the most common indication for an LT (38%). At a median follow‐up of two yr three months, the patient survival was 88%. The most common indication for an RT was chronic glomerulonephritis (54.5%). At a median follow‐up of three yr, the survival was 91%. The CLKT were performed for hyperoxaluria. Two yr post LT, a sequential RT was performed for ESRD resulting from transplant associated microangiopathy. All patients received a living related graft. The common post‐operative complications were infections, vascular complications, and graft dysfunction. Survival rates for liver and RT at our center are comparable to those in the established centers in the West.     

Rosacea and Diet: What is New in 2021?

ObjectiveRosacea is a common inflammatory cutaneous condition with a complex yet unknown etiopathogenesis. Diet and certain food items are known to trigger or worsen rosacea symptoms, but conflicting and often inconsistent advice is given to patients regarding this link. We provide an up-to-date literature review on the relationship between rosacea and diet.MethodsUsing the keywords “alcohol,” “diet,” “flushing,” “food,” “inflammation,” “rosacea,” “skin-gut axis” and “spice” we systemically searched the databases PubMed, MEDLINE and EMBASE for English-language articles in July 2020.ResultsThe most frequently reported triggers implicated in rosacea include alcohol, spicy food, cinnamaldehyde-containing foods (e.g., tomatoes, citrus fruits, chocolate), hot drinks, and histamine-rich foods (e.g., aged cheese, wine, processed meats). Some food items appear to play a protective role, such as omega-3, which appears to protect against ocular rosacea. The relationship between certain food items and the subtype of rosacea is varied, with inconsistent results shown in the few studies that examined this. As an example, alcohol worsens flushing and fatty food triggers both erythematotelangiectatatic and phymatous rosacea in susceptible individuals.ConclusionWhile several food types appear to be associated with exacerbation of rosacea, there are no recommendations that can be applied to all patients. Further studies are needed to examine the exact link between diet and rosacea subtypes.     

Simulation of Depth of Wear of Eco-Friendly Concrete Using Machine Learning Based Computational Approaches

To avoid time-consuming, costly, and laborious experimental tests that require skilled personnel, an effort has been made to formulate the depth of wear of fly-ash concrete using a comparative study of machine learning techniques, namely random forest regression (RFR) and gene expression programming (GEP). A widespread database comprising 216 experimental records was constructed from available research. The database includes depth of wear as a response parameter and nine different explanatory variables, i.e., cement content, fly ash, water content, fine and coarse aggregate, plasticizer, air-entraining agent, age of concrete, and time of testing. The performance of the models was judged via statistical metrics. The GEP model gives better performance with R² and ρ equals 0.9667 and 0.0501 respectively and meet with the external validation criterion suggested in the previous literature. The k-fold cross-validation also verifies the accurateness of the model by evaluating R², RSE, MAE, and RMSE. The sensitivity analysis of GEP equation indicated that the time of testing is the influential parameter. The results of this research can help the designers, practitioners, and researchers to quickly estimate the depth of wear of fly-ash concrete thus shortening its ecological susceptibilities that push to sustainable and faster construction from the viewpoint of environmentally friendly waste management.     

A review on non-edible oil as a potential feedstock for biodiesel: physicochemical properties and production technologies

There is increasing concern regarding alleviating world energy demand by determining an alternative to petroleum-derived fuels due to the rapid depletion of fossil fuels, rapid population growth, and urbanization. Biodiesel can be utilized as an alternative fuel to petroleum-derived diesel for the combustion engine. At present, edible crops are the primary source of biodiesel production. However, the excessive utilization of these edible crops for large-scale biodiesel production might cause food supply depletion and economic imbalance. Moreover, the utilization of edible oil as a biodiesel feedstock increases biodiesel production costs due to the high price of edible oils. A possible solution to overcome the existing limitations of biodiesel production is to utilize non-edible crops oil as a feedstock. The present study was conducted to determine the possibility and challenges of utilizing non-edible oil as a potential feedstock for biodiesel production. Several aspects related to non-edible oil as a biodiesel feedstock such as overview of biodiesel feedstocks, non-edible oil resources, non-edible oil extraction technology, its physicochemical and fatty acid properties, biodiesel production technologies, advantages and limitation of using non-edible oil as a feedstock for biodiesel production have been reviewed in various recent publications. The finding of the present study reveals that there is a huge opportunity to utilize non-edible oil as a feedstock for biodiesel production.

There is increasing concern regarding alleviating world energy demand by determining an alternative to petroleum-derived fuels due to the rapid depletion of fossil fuels, rapid population growth, and urbanization.     

Removal of toluene as a toxic VOC from methane gas using a non-thermal plasma dielectric barrier discharge reactor

Methane is the main component of biogas, which could be used as a renewable energy source for electricity, source of heat, and biofuel production after upgrading from biogas. It also contains toxic compounds which cause environmental and human health problems. Therefore, in this work, the removal of a toxic compound (toluene) from methane gas was studied using a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor. It was observed that the removal of the toxic compound could be achieved from methane carrier gas using a dielectric barrier discharge reactor, and it depends on plasma input power. The maximum removal of the toxic compound was 85.9% at 40 W and 2.86 s. The major gaseous products were H₂ and lower hydrocarbons (LHC) and the yield of these products also increases with input power. In the current study, the yield of gaseous products depends on the decomposition of toxic compounds and methane, because the decomposition of methane also produces H₂ and lower hydrocarbons. The percentage yield of H₂ increases from 0.43–4.74%. Similarly, the yield of LHC increases from 0.56–7.54% under the same reaction conditions. Hence, input power promoted the decomposition of the toxic compound and enhanced the yield of gaseous products.

The removal of toluene as a toxic volatile organic compound from methane gas, which is the major component of biogas, is carried out using a non-thermal plasma dielectric barrier discharge reactor.     

Chitosan hydrogel for topical delivery of ebastine loaded solid lipid nanoparticles for alleviation of allergic contact dermatitis

Ebastine, is an antihistamine drug that exerts its effect upon oral administration in humans for the treatment of allergic contact dermatitis (ACD), it also has some systemic side effects like gastric distress, headache, drowsiness, and epistaxis. Moreover, topical corticosteroids are used for treatment of ACD, which causes the human skin to lose its thickness and elasticity. Hence, ebastine-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (E-SLNs) were prepared and their topical efficacy against allergic contact dermatitis was determined. Compritol 888 ATO and tween 80 were used to prepare E-SLNs by cold dilution of the hot micro-emulsion. E-SLNs were optimized statistically by employing a central composite design using Design-Expert® version 11.0. Optimized E-SLNs showed spherical surface morphology, zeta potential of −15.6 ± 2.4 mV, PDI of 0.256 ± 0.03, and particle sizes of 155.2 ± 1.5 nm and th eentrapment efficiency of ebastine was more than 78%. Nanoparticles were characterized using FT-IR, XRD, and TEM. An E-SLNs loaded hydrogel was prepared using chitosan as a gelling agent and glutaraldehyde as a crosslinker. In vitro drug release studies performed for 24 hours on the E-SLNs dispersion and E-SLNs loaded hydrogel showed a sustained release of maximum 82.9% and 73.7% respectively. In vivo studies were conducted on BALB/c mice to evaluate the topical efficacy of the E-SLNs loaded hydrogel for allergic contact dermatitis. ACD was induced on the ear using picryl chloride solution. After induction, ears were treated daily with the E-SLNs loaded hydrogel for 15 days. Swelling behavior, mast cell count, and histopathological studies of the ear confirmed that the hydrogel alleviated the symptoms of allergic contact dermatitis.

Ebastine exerts its effect upon oral administration in humans for the treatment of allergic contact dermatitis (ACD), but it has some systemic side effects. Hence, ebastine-SLNs loaded hydrogel was prepared to increase topical efficacy of ebastine.     

Rosacea and the cardiovascular system

Rosacea and the cardiometabolic syndrome are both associated with chronic inflammation and a pro‐inflammatory phenotype. Emerging clinical evidence supports the relationship between rosacea and cardiometabolic syndrome hypertension and obesity. This article reviews our current findings and understanding in the skin and cardiovascular relationship in rosacea. Rosacea appears to be associated with hypertension, dyslipidemia, and obesity. The role of smoking in rosacea is currently less clear. It remains uncertain whether treatment of these risk factors will aid improvement of rosacea. Greater understanding of rosacea and its association with the cardiovascular system and underlying risk factors could allow for a greater understanding of the body's inflammatory response as well as the formulation of new guidelines for attending clinicians. Dermatologists treating rosacea patients might need to consider enquiring and evaluate their patients' underlying cardiovascular risk factors.