bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Family businesses and sustainable development goals
Authors: Santos Josiane Silva Costa dos , Kruly Laís Beatriz , Manoel de Sousa Allison , Alves Lira Thais , Krespi Musial Nayane Thais
Published: June 2023

We analyzed the effect of family businesses participating in the Corporate Sustainability Index on adopting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our sample consisted of 43 Brazilian companies listed in the Corporate Sustainability Index (CSI) that totaled 126 observations from 2019 to 2021. We submitted the data to exploratory factor analysis to estimate the different dimensions of the SDGs (social, economic, and environmental) that, therefore, were analyzed using panel data regression. We found that family-run companies reduce practices linked to the social dimension of the SDGs. However, the fact that the company is family-owned or has family control does not influence practices linked to the SDGs in the social, economic, and environmental dimensions. We found that family-run companies are unrelated to adopting SDG practices in the economic and environmental dimensions. Our results contribute to discussions about the environment, sustainability, investments that value socio-environmental responsibility, the activities of family businesses, and adherence to the SDGs. Especially when showing that the different characteristics of family businesses in Brazil that make up the CSI generally do not imply an increase in practices related to the SDGs. Therefore, our findings can help investors, creditors, and regulatory bodies decide on adopting socio-environmental practices.
Breaking free from medical aid rates: empowering dentists to provide high quality dental services in South Africa
Authors: Makhubele KC
Published: June 2023

Dental care is vital to overall health and wellness. There is a myriad of challenges that health practitioners face when dealing with medical schemes/third-party funders. To address some of these challenges, some South African dentists accept medical aid rates for their services, to make their lives, and those of their patients’ lives somewhat easier. In this piece, however, we argue that dentists in South Africa should set their own fees rather than rely on medical aid rates. Initially, the price of dental care varies widely based on the necessary treatment. While calculating their rates, dental practices must account for rent, salaries, equipment, supplies, and other administrative expenses. Accepting medical scheme rates may not correctly reflect the actual cost of providing dental services, resulting in dentists getting less compensation than is necessary to maintain a sustainable practice.
Neoplastic tissue transfiguration in vivo by recombinant human transforming growth factor-β3
Authors: Ripamonti Ugo , Swart P , Dickens C , Duarte R
Published: June 2023

Human oral squamous cell carcinomas (hSCCs) are the most common head and neck cancers now presenting with more aggressive biological and clinical features due to smoking and alcohol together with widespread viremia. Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) proteins are powerful morphogens that induce rapid and substantial induction of endochondral bone formation but in primates only.
The problem of interpretation, differentiation and classification of digital products
Authors: Shaidullin Ansel
Published: June 2023

Digital innovative products often become a significant factor in the revision of companies’ business strategies and influence consumer preferences. A key component in the process of formulating such strategies is understanding the implications underlying the attributes of digital products. This requires a good understanding of their nature and characteristics. To date, there is no solid basis for classifying various digital products according to their inherent characteristics. This paper presents a new interpretation of “digital products” based on the analysis of 2954 scientific articles from the Scopus database. It discusses the problems of differentiation of digital products from other types of products (such as “cyber-physical products,” “digitized products,” “smart products,” etc.). We also developed a new classification of digital products by the method of highlighting their key attributes. The purpose of the study is to develop an advanced classification of digital products based on their differentiation from other types of products. The classification we constructed based on the principles of differentiation will allow innovators and businessmen to create more profound and more advanced business models.
ABUNDANCE RATIOS OF ELEMENTS ON STARS: SPECTROSCOPIC MEASUREMENTS; AGE OF STAR AND CORRELATIONS WITH ITS COSMIC PAST
Authors: YÜCE Kutluay , R. COWLEY Charles
Published: June 2023

Purpose: The two main topics searched in this study are 1) the Galactic Chemical Evolution traced by nearby solar twin stars and 2) trends between chemical abundances and condensation temperatures. Method: The radiation emitted by stars is resolved spectroscopically to obtain the electromagnetic spectra. The position of lines within the stellar spectrum gives us the identity of the chemical elements in that spectrum. Photometric line intensities contain information about the abundances of the elements in the stellar atmosphere. When the spectrum obtained from the individual star is analyzed, the chemical abundances of the elements observed in the atmosphere of the star are compared with the abundances of the Sun. Findings: The results obtained from analytical stellar spectroscopy are drawn about the cosmic history of the star. The cosmic history of a star means the galactic chemical evolution of the composition of its material content experienced since the Big Bang. If a mass as big as a planet is missing from a star or a similar-mass object collide and gets engulfed, a change in the original composition occurs. Conclusion: In our study, the element chemical composition changes are predicted for a case where the star swallows a mass with chemical composition similar to that of the Earth. In our modeling process, the condensation temperatures of each element from gas to liquid or solid are taken into account
TURKEY’S IMPLEMENTATION OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY LOCATION OF ELECTRONIC WASTE
Authors: DEDE SAĞSÖZ Yeşim , TAŞDELEN EREN Eda
Published: June 2023

Aim: Increasing industrialization has increased the demand for raw materials and the uncontrolled consumption of natural resources. Therefore, sustainability activities are at risk. Waste management is one of the basic parameters for the continuation of sustainability. In this study, circular economy and the importance of electronic waste in this economy are emphasized. The benefits of adding electronic waste to Turkey’s circular economy have been discussed and it has been aimed to raise awareness on this issue. Method: The information obtained by examining the published reports, studies, and current data on this subject has been evaluated and interpreted. Findings: The basis of the circular economy is the conversion of end-of-life wastes into an economic value through recycling or recovery using appropriate processes. The participation of electronic waste in circular economy practices will ensure that the harmful effects that may occur because of the storage and disposal of these wastes will be eliminated. Conclusion: Turkey should provide due importance to the circular economy process. It is essential to include electronic waste in this process. It is thought that the sustainability of this situation will contribute to both the Turkish economy and the protection of the environment and public health.
VIBRO-ACOUSTIC ASSESSMENT OF GRAIN GRINDING MACHINE FOR HEALTH RISK FACTORS ANALYSIS
Authors: AMİNE Joel Daniel , AZODO Adinife , OWHOR Sampson Chisa
Published: June 2023

Grinding machines is one of the outcomes of the agricultural sector work process mechanization aimed at reducing tedium and drudgery on the workers and improving overall productivity and production. However, the machinery drive component and mechanical energy are associated with noise and vibration, thereby inducing safety and health concerns for the operators. This study assessed and compared the vibro-acoustic characteristics caused by three different types of grinding machines; electric motor (3HP220V2800HD), diesel (R175A) and petrol (GX160) power drive engines used in grinding shops located in Wadata, Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State in association with the risk factors to the work environment. The instrumentation design for the grinding machine operations vibro-acoustic characterization was a sound level meter (S844+), a vibrometer (VM-6360), a digital stopwatch (PC-396) and retractable measuring tape (B300-AG). The noise measurements were made at an average seating height of 1.5 m in the operator’s work position and the vibrations on the seat surface of the operator. The data obtained were analysed for noise and vibration occupational risk exposure following the ISO 9612 for acoustics guidelines and ISO 2372 for mechanical vibration and shock. The average mean values for the noise level and vibrations were statistically highest when the diesel power drive engine, followed by the petrol engine, while the electric motor had the least vibro-acoustic effect. In addition, the analysis of the variance test showed that the result obtained for the vibration and noise levels for the three categories of power source drive had p-values less than 0.05, indicating that they are significantly different from zero at a confidence level of 95%. The findings of this study mandated that all operators of the machinery under investigation wear personal protective equipment (PPE).
Terminology of modern media linguistics in interdisciplinary contacts
Authors:   Taras Shevchenko national University of Kyiv, Syzonov Dmytro
Published: June 2023

The article substantiates the thesis about the interdisciplinary nature of media linguistics as an innovative field of modern knowledge. Therefore, media linguistics is an interdisciplinary humanitarian discipline that studies the functional potential of language means in mass communication. The research potential of neoscience is described and systematized in an "Media Linguistics: Dictionary of Terms and Concepts" (Kyiv, 2013) innovative lexicographic edition, which gave an impetus to analyze the terminology of the modern neo-direction through the prism of ten years. Among the perspective tasks, the authors note the interpretation of language as a instrumentality for modeling information and influencing public opinion, taking into account the challenges of the information age, studying unexpected angles of analysis of linguistic and stylistic resources in the media, etc. A separate task is the formation and analysis of the media-linguistic terminology in the context of the diffuseness of modern humanitarian knowledge. As for every innovative science, the development and description of a terminological system, which must correspond to logic, integrity, monosemacy, clarity, motivation, and relevance, remains problematic for media linguistics. The complexity of this process, as stated in the article, is revealed due to the syncretic relationships of the analyzed terminology system with other, tangential to it, fields – psychology, sociology, cultural studies, law, cybernetics, social communications, etc. On the material of media dictionaries not only of Ukrainian, but also of Polish, German and English languages, the author analyzed the terms and concepts in the specified interdisciplinary contacts, which allows to prove the integral nature of media linguistics and determine its place in the system of modern sciences of the socio-humanitarian block.
DeepQ Residue Representation of Moving Object Images using YOLO in Video Surveillance Environment
Authors: Pandarinathan V , R Vijayalakshmi , Nalinipriya G. , K Suresh , Kannan K. Gokul , Mohanaprakash T. A. , Pandian A. Anbarasa
Published: June 2023

The IAEA photo evaluation software does have functions for scene-alternate recognition, black photo detection, and deficient scene analysis, even though its capabilities are not at their highest. The current workflows for detecting safeguards-relevant activities heavily rely on inspectors' laborious visual examination of surveillance videos, which is a time-consuming and error-prone process. The paper proposes using item-based totally movement detection and deep gadget learning to identify fun items in video streams in order to improve method accuracy and reduce inspector workload. An attitude transformation model is used to estimate historical movements, and a deep learning classifier trained on manually categorized datasets is used to identify shifting applicants within the history subtracted image. Through optical glide matching, we identify spatio-temporal tendencies for each and every shifting item applicant and then prune them solely based on their movement patterns in comparison to the past. In order to improve the temporal consistency of the various candidate detections, a Kalman clear out is performed on pruned shifting items. A UAV-derived video dataset was used to demonstrate the rules. The results demonstrate that our set of rules can effectively target small UAVs with limited computing power.
Internal Control Automatic Physical Distance Detection System for Patient Care against a Possible COVID-19 Infection within a Health Center
Authors: Uribe-Hernandez Yrene , Polo-Nicacio Marilu , Cardenas-Solis Astrid , Pacheco-Pumaleque Alex
Published: June 2023

Currently, COVID-19 is still present in our environment, affecting various people regardless of age. From its appearance in the city of Wuhan (China), it caused a crisis in the health system due to its rapid transmission of contagion and the lack of medicines to combat this virus, therefore, it was declared a pandemic, due to the high mortality rate that occurred around the world. To combat this viral disease, various biosecurity measures were established such as the mandatory use of a face mask and physical distancing at least 1 meter, with physical distancing being the biosecurity measure that is not respected, worse in closed places such as medical centers where a focus of contagion could originate for various patients. By respecting physical distancing, it would avoid causing a crowd that would cause disorder in the health center, therefore, it is important to maintain distancing to avoid the spread of COVID-19. In view of this problem, in this article an automatic physical distance detection system was carried out for patient care in the face of a possible COVID-19 infection within a health center, enforcing this important biosecurity measure and preventing the spread of COVID-19. Through the development of the proposed system, 98.79% efficiency was obtained in calculating the physical distancing of patients who are inside the health center, taking only 40 seconds to analyze the images of the patients.
Data-driven based Optimal Feature Selection Algorithm using Ensemble Techniques for Classification
Authors: Ghorpade Jayshree , Sonkamble Balwant
Published: June 2023

The shift in paradigm with advanced Machine Learning algorithms will help to face the challenges such as computational power, training time, and algorithmic stability. The individual feature selection techniques, hardly give the appropriate feature subsets, that might be vulnerable to the variations induced at the input data and thus led to wrong conclusions. An expedient technique should be designed for approximating the feature relevance to improve the performance for the data. Unlike the prevailing techniques, the novelty of the proposed Data-driven based Optimal Feature Selection (DOFS) algorithm is the optimal k-value ‘kf’ determined by the data for effective feature selection that minimizes the computational complexity and expands the prediction power using the gradient descent method. The experimental analysis of proposed algorithm is demonstarted with ensemble techniques for the non-communicable disease such as diabetes mellitus dataset produces an accuracy of 80.80%, whereas comparative performance analysis for benchmark dataset depicts the improved accuracy of 86.03%.
A Frequency Assessment of Prevalent Prevention Strategies in order to Manage Banks’ NPAs in MSME Loans
Authors: Katoch Rupinder , Rani Pooja
Published: June 2023

The vast amount of non-performing assets (NPAs) is a recurrent problem and a huge barrier to developing a successful banking sector. The MSME sector of the Indian economy is experiencing a worsening problem with delinquent assets. There has hardly been any systematic evaluation of tackling the problem in the context of loans sanctioned to MSMEs. Recent years have seen an increase in bad loans to micro, small, and medium businesses. Curative and preventive measures are both available to control non-performing assets (Meher et al., 2020). The study makes an effort to concentrate on the identification of numerous preventive methods for NPA management in the MSME sector in future. The primary data is related to the actual usage of preventive measures. The data was empirically evaluated using frequency analysis based on a survey of 316 bankers from 10 banks (5 from public and 5 from private sector). Therefore, the current study aims to shed light on the methods utilised to prevent NPAs in MMSEs while taking into account the viewpoint of the bankers who have had direct involvement in lending choices. The findings highlight the key methods for preventing NPAs which the banks must consider while making the necessary structural modifications to their mitigation measures.
Data Mining Oriented Automatic Scientific Documents Summarization
Authors: Kalyani BJD , Wankhede Jaishri , Shahanaz Shaik
Published: June 2023

The scientific research process usually begins with an examination of the advanced, which may include voluminous publications. Summarizing scientific articles can assist researchers in their research by speeding up the research process. The summary of scientific articles differs from the abstract text in general due to its specific structure and the inclusion of cited sentences. Most of the important information in scientific articles is presented in tables, statistics, and algorithm pseudocode. These features, however, rarely appear in the standard text. Therefore, a number of methods that consider the value of the structure of a scientific article have been suggested that improve the standard of the produced summary. This paper makes use of clustering algorithms to handle CL- SciSumm 2020 and longsumm 2020 tasks for summarization of scientific documents. There are three well-known clustering algorithms that are employed to tackle CL- SciSumm 2020 and LongSumm 2020 tasks, and several sentences recording functions, with textual deduction, are used to retrieved phrases from each cluster to generate summary.
Alzheimer’s Disease Diagnosis Using CNN Based Pre-trained Models
Authors: Davuluri Ragavamsi , Mallapragada Vyshnavi , Mamillapalli Uma Maheswara Rao , M Manikanta , Peeka Sireesha
Published: June 2023

Memory loss and impairment are signs of Alzheimer's disease (AD), which may also cause other issues. It has a significant impact on patients' lives and is incurable, but rapid recognition of Alzheimer's disease can be useful to initiate appropriate therapy to avoid further deterioration to the brain. Previously, Machine Learning methodswere used to detect Alzheimer's disease. In recent times, Deep Learning algorithms have become more popular for pattern recognition. This workconcentrates on the recognition of Alzheimer's disease at a preliminary phase using advanced convolutional neural network models. As the disease advances, they steadily forget everything. It is critical to detect the disease as quickly as possible. The proposed model usespre-trained models that uses magnetic resonance imaging of the brain to determine if a person has very mild, mild, moderate, or non-dementia. The models used for classification are VGG16, VGG19, and ResNet50 architectures and provide performance comparison.
Investigation of Post-weld Heat Treatment of Laser Welded Ti6Al4V Materials
Authors: AYDIN Kadir , KARAMOLLA Mustafa
Published: June 2023

In this study, the changes in the internal structure and mechanical properties of laser-welded Ti6Al4V material after heat treatment were experimentally investigated. The transformation temperatures of the α and β phase structures of the Ti6Al4V material influenced the heat treatment temperatures. Optical microscopes, XRD, and SEM experiments were performed to detect the microstructural change. Hardness and tensile tests were also carried out to determine the change in mechanical properties. The experimental study determined that the mechanical properties of laser-welded Ti6Al4V material improved after heat treatment. It was observed that ductility and strength increased significantly at heat treatment temperatures above the β phase temperature. It was determined that the Widmanstatten morphology visible in the weld area increased the hardness.
habilidades sociales en jóvenes en riesgo de exclusión social
Authors: Torrecilla de las Heras Eugenio , Melendro Estefanía Miguel
Published: June 2023

El objetivo de este estudio ha sido categorizar, analizar e integrar, en diferentes escenarios, los resultados de investigaciones sobre las habilidades sociales de las personas jóvenes en riesgo de exclusión social. Se realiza una revisión sistemática que incluye artículos seleccionados a partir de 8 bases de datos internacionales, con criterios de pertinencia y suficiencia, en el periodo comprendido entre enero de 2016 y marzo de 2021. Se trata de 19 investigaciones de 10 países, de tipo cuantitativo, cualitativo y mixto, cuya principal fuente de información son los propios jóvenes. Sobresale la asociación de las habilidades sociales con el desarrollo psicoemocional, la formación y empleabilidad y el establecimiento de redes de apoyo. Se encuentran resultados que indican cómo a través de entornos participativos, interactivos y digitales se potencia el desarrollo de habilidades sociales que favorecen el trabajo en equipo, la resolución de conflictos y el control emocional. Partiendo de la escasez de investigaciones realizadas desde este enfoque conceptual, destacan las aportaciones de este estudio en cuanto al conocimiento sobre las habilidades sociales vinculadas a la configuración de la personalidad, competencia social, formación, empleabilidad y la intervención socioeducativa con personas jóvenes en dificultad social.
Emotional connection and ease of learning the Spanish language among young adult Chavacano speakers
Authors: Nabo Carlo T. , Ebrole Rodney I.
Published: June 2023

Chavacano was the product of early Spanish colonization. It was able to adapt to the dynamic of the Philippine culture for centuries. Then, it later became a separate language spoken mostly in Cavite and Zamboanga Peninsula. This study was exploratory research that contextualize the ease of learning Spanish language based on linguistic, cultural, and emotional domains. Eight students who are native Chavacano speakers in Zamboanga City were interviewed for the study. The findings indicated that the close resemblance of lexical and phonological components of Chavacano to Spanish influenced the learning of the native speakers. Cognates played an essential role in cognition and interpreting basic words from Spanish to simpler ideas in Chavacano. Cognition guessing was determined to be a major contributor to language learning for orthographies. For native Chavacano speakers, cognition guessing was a mechanism for language learning in Spanish where learners happened to deduce the meaning of a word by comparing it to a language they know. Additionally, social-cultural relatedness between Chavacano and Spanish mediated the learning in certain manner. Learners were able to emotionally relate themselves to the culture of their target language which in turn influenced language transfer. Such mechanism was firstly observed in learning the second language but later also applied in bilingualism and foreign languages. This study established theoretical connection of ease of learning the Spanish language through phonology, lexical similarities, and its sociocultural resemblance to Chavacano.
Countering COVID-19, dengue and their mutants, using evolved homeopathy
Authors: Biswas Abhijit , Ramasubramanian Krishnan
Published: June 2023

Experts anticipate that the world will be fighting COVID-19 virus for many years next. This implies that Teens, allergic and non-vaccinated people (those who are not getting adequate supply of Primary Vaccines/ Boosters) need to learn to “Live with COVID”, utilizing either of the two preventive methodologies presented here: one, principally based on vaccinations developed by Allopathy (conventional-medicine) and the other on Evolved-homeopathy. The preventive methodology of Evolved-homeopathy for Flu (which was developed about two decades before COVID-19 virus was born), and Allopathic vaccinations for COVID utilize the first fundamental-principle of cure (“Prevention is better than cure”). The second fundamental-principle of cure (“Nipping in the bud”) takes care, so that no organ-degeneration takes place. Those who take 100% effective Evolved-homeopathy preventive medicines for COVID, Dengue and their mutants, have been found to rarely require Evolved-homeopathy treatment medicines (except after missing the preventive medicine for several days), which is useful to prevent organ-degeneration and leads to health-promotion to near-zero disease-level as revealed from organ wise diagnostic-chart of GDV (Gas-Discharge-Visualization). It seems evident that COVID is dictating three conditions for “Living with COVID”, i.e., to employ (i) both first and second fundamental-principles of cure mentioned above; (ii) medicines that work like the best of Evolved-homeopathy treatment medicines, with a focus on health-promotion, for preventing organ-degeneration; (iii) the global vaccination-drive by making it foolproof utilizing the 100% effective Evolved-homeopathy medicines for preventing COVID from getting any breeding-ground among non-vaccinated people, to avoid developing formidable mutants that may defeat some vaccines/Boosters.
Questionnaire to assess the significance of history taking in assessment of otitis media with effusion in children
Authors: AlQaed Reem Mohamed , Salman Ayman , Aljawder Salman Mohamed , Riskalla Andrew Nabil
Published: June 2023

Background: There is a high prevalence of Otitis media with effusion (OME) with diagnoses of least 50% of children under the age of one, and 60% of children under the age of two. Complications have a significant impact on a child’s quality of life including hearing impairment, language acquisition delay, declining school performance, and behavioral problems. The objective of the study is to develop and test the reliability of a simple questionnaire based on common complaints given by caregivers of children with OME.
Methods: 100 patients were included from the ENT Clinic at King Hamad University Hospital and categorized into preschool age (1-4 years) and School age (5-15 years). A bilingual binary questionnaire was developed (Cronbach’s Alpha: 0.89).  
Results: There were 22 preschool age patients, and 78 school age patients. Six complaints were significant where the child does not respond to name calling (p=0.031), needs to raise the TV volume (p=0.000), occasionally talks loudly (p=0.003), uses verbal communication for their needs (p=0.000), has episodes of clumsiness and dizziness (p=0.000), and doesn’t pronounce words correctly according to their age (p=0.008).
Conclusions: Questionnaires based on complaints can aid the diagnosis of OME as caregiver’s assessment is often limited.
Travails of tracheostomy
Authors: Srinivas C. V. , Goel Tanubha
Published: June 2023

Background: Tracheostomy is a surgical procedure which consists of making an incision on the anterior aspect of the neck and opening a direct airway through an incision in the trachea.
Methods: This was a prospective study which included 50 patients who underwent tracheostomy between September 2020 to April 2022. Our study was aimed to report the most common indications, complications, outcomes in tracheostomised patients. For evaluation of patients undergoing tracheostomy, a database was created which included demographic profile of the patient such as age, gender, diagnosis as well as indication, complications which were divided into early, intermediate and late complications and day of decannulation.  
Results: Among 50 patients, 41 (82%) were males and 9(18%) patients were females. The age of the patients included in this study ranged from 20 to 80 years. Majority were in age group between 40 to 60 years (48%). Out of 50 patients, 39 (78%) patients underwent tracheostomy due to prolonged intubation (CVA, head injury, organophosphorus poisoning, respiratory failure), 11 (22%) for upper airway obstruction due to malignancy.
Conclusions: In this study 40 to 60 years was the most common age group for which tracheostomy was done. It was done more in males. Most common indication for tracheostomy was prolonged ventilation followed by malignancy. Incidence of complications was 76%. Most common early complication observed was haemorrhage, most common intermediate complication was tube blockage and most common late complication was tracheoesophageal fistula. Mortality occurred in 6 patients. To conclude even today tracheostomy remains the lifesaving procedure and complications of tracheostomy are largely preventable.
Efficacy of power assisted microdebrider in endoscopic adenoid resection
Authors: Bakshi Tanishka , Kelkar Prasad , Toshniwal Saket
Published: June 2023

Background: Nasal obstruction, snoring, mouth breathing, ear ache is some of the most common problems encountered in pediatric otorhinolaryngological practice. The most common cause for the above symptoms is adenoid hypertrophy.
Methods: Patients with age group of 4-16 years with symptoms of adenoid hypertrophy such as snoring, mouth breathing, ear ache and adenoid hypertrophy confirmed by Diagnostic Nasal Endoscopy and Radiological Investigations were included. Previous H/o surgery for adenoidectomy, bleeding disorders, cases with cleft palate or previous H/o cleft palate repair neuromuscular / craniofacial anomalies were excluded.  
Results: 3.10 mean grade was seen among study participants, with 39% of children having Grade 4 adenoids, 35% having Grade 3 adenoids, and 26% having Grade 2 adenoids. Snoring, nasal obstruction, and breathing scores all decreased statistically significantly.
Conclusions: A microdebrider-assisted adenoidectomy has shown to provide full clearance with only a minor increase in haemorrhage and process time.
Clinico-histopathological evaluation of tonsillectomy specimens at a tertiary care hospital
Authors: Modh Nikita , Khilnani Ajeet Kumar , Lanjewar Dhaneshwar
Published: June 2023

Background: Tonsillar diseases are common in paediatric and adult otolaryngological practice and often require tonsillectomy and specimens are subjected to histopathological evaluation. Chronic tonsillitis is disease with repeated attacks of acute tonsillitis/ a sub-clinical form of a resistant or poorly treated infection. Aim of study was to determine the most common histopathological findings in patients presenting with clinical features of chronic tonsillitis.
Methods: The present study is an observational study carried out at the Departments of Pathology and Otorhinolaryngology at Gujarat Adani Institute of Medical Sciences and GK General Hospital, Bhuj from January 2019 to April 2022.
Results: A total of 35 cases of bilateral tonsillectomy were studied in a span of 40 months. There were 17 (49%) males and 18 (51%) females. The age ranges of the patients varied from 7 to 37 years with maximum number of cases less than 20 years of age. A total of 70 specimens obtained from 35 patients were studied. The most common clinical presentation was throat pain in 29 (83%) patients. The histopathological evaluation confirmed chronic tonsillitis in 40 (57%) specimens, followed by chronic lymphoid hyperplasia/ hypertrophy in 30 (43%) specimens, 14 specimens with chronic tonsilitis showed associated actinomycetes.
Conclusions: Resected tonsillectomy specimens should be routinely evaluated by histopathological examination to know the cause of enlarged tonsils.
A comparative evaluation of graft uptake and audiological results of temporalis fascia graft vs reinforced sliced tragal cartilage in type 1 tympanoplasty
Authors: Swuro Voto , Aggarwal Ankita , Bhagat Sanjeev , Sahni Dimple , Sharma Dinesh , Yadav Vishav , Goel Khushboo
Published: June 2023

Background: Numerous grafting materials have been applied for repair of tympanic membrane (TM) in chronic otitis media patients. This study aimed to compare the anatomical and audiological results of temporalis fascia alone versus reinforced sliced cartilage in type 1 tympanoplasty.
Methods: A prospective study was conducted on 50 patients of age group 15-55 years. Patients were randomly divided into two groups, each group having 25 patients. In group I patients under went type I tympanoplasty with temporalis muscle fascia alone and group II patients with sliced tragal cartilage reinforced to temporalis fascia. Post operatively all patients were followed on 30th, 60th and 90th day. In the last follow up, assessment of graft uptake was done and pure-tone audiometry was performed to evaluate air-bone gap closure. The data so obtained were collected and analysed using appropriate statistical tests.
Results: Overall graft uptake rate in group I (TF alone) was 84%, whereas in group II (TF+ reinforced sliced cartilage) was 92% (p=0.5). The mean post op ABG improved to 16.17±6.26 dB and 16.56±5.25 dB respectively in group I and II. There was significant hearing improvement in each group but no statistical significant difference was observed in post-op ABG between the two groups.
Conclusions:  Reinforced sliced tragal cartilage technique is a good alternative to temporalis fascia alone in terms of graft uptake and prevention of disease recurrence, especially for large and subtotal perforations but additive effect of cartilage slicing in hearing gain still remains little controversial.
A study of incidence and propensity of locoregional lymph nodes in clinically N0 cases of carcinoma of tongue
Authors: Deshmukh Sunil D. , N. Sayyad Farhin
Published: June 2023

Background: Oral cavity cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide with a high prevalence in South Asia. Among the populations where tobacco chewing is not endemic, tongue is the most frequent subsite for intraoral cancer.
Methods: The prospective observational study was done at our tertiary care centre on 50 patients. CECT neck was done in all the clinically N0 (zero) cases to know the extent of tumour and neck metastasis. Wide local excision with elective neck dissection (END) was done for all clinically N0 cases with 1 year follow-up.
Results: Clinical examination had high false negatives, sensitivity of CT scan imaging=18/20×100=90%, positive predictive value of CT scan imaging=18/26×100=69.23% and diagnostic accuracy=40 (18+22)/50=80%. Significant association was found between neck lymph node metastasis and tumor thickness. No significant association was found between grade of tumor and metastasis.
Conclusions: CECT neck help to delineate the extent of END in carcinoma of tongue. In early-stage squamous cell carcinomas of the tongue (T1 and T2), a tumour thickness >5 mm should be taken as an indicator for prophylactic neck dissection as it is significantly associated with subclinical metastasis. Hemiglossectomy should be preferred over partial glossectomy to achieve better locoregional clearance and in turn to reduce rate of local recurrence. Hemiglossectomy with prophylactic END followed by appropriate chemoradiotherapy reduces locoregional recurrences and improved overall survival rate in early stage I and II of oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC).
A rare case of temporal bone chondrosarcoma
Authors: Das Amrutha V. , P. Joshi Chinmayee , Patel Brijal , Patel Kalpesh B.
Published: June 2023

A rare case of lateral skullbase lesion, in a 24-year female, presented with moderately severe conductive type hearing loss, and facial paralysis. Audiological and radiological investigations were done which could not provide a reasonably certain diagnosis. So the patient was taken up for surgery. A subtotal pertrosectomy with blind sac closure was done. The histopathological analysis showed the lesion to be moderately differentiated chondrosracoma, an osseocartilagenous malignancy of the temporal bone. Due to rare nature, difficult location near vital structures, local invasiveness and potential for complications, diagnosis and treatment is difficult.
The association of cytosine-adenine-guanine repeat polymorphism in the androgen receptor gene with nodulocystic acne in Egyptian patients
Authors: Zuelfakkar Nehal M. , Ragab Nader F. , Shehab Abeer , Nagy Momena
Published: June 2023

Background: The role of androgens in acne pathophysiology has been supported by long-standing clinical and experimental observations.
Methods: Genotyping for the androgen receptor gene was performed by PCR-based fragment length analysis, aiming to investigate cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) repeat polymorphism in Egyptian nodulocystic acne patients to clarify its relevance to the pathogenesis. Detailed frequency of CAG repeats number in patients and control groups, in 25 males and 25 females and Comparison of CAG repeat number regarding demographic and clinical characteristics was performed.
Results: It was found that females had a higher frequency of longer CAG repeats compared to males, while in control group there was an even distribution of CAG number repeats in both females and males. Male and female acne patients had significantly lower number of CAG repeats compared to controls with statistically significant difference (p≤0.05). Comparison of CAG repeat number regarding demographic and clinical characteristics revealed no significant correlation or association with patients’ age, duration of acne, onset or course of the disease.
Conclusions: These findings support the hypothesis that CAG repeats number affects AR activity, therefore, acne development and severity. Moreover, analysis of CAG repeats number in acne patients can be of considerable importance in the treatment strategy, indicating the role of antiandrogen therapy in acne patients.
A comparative study of narrowband-ultraviolet B plus intralesional normal saline versus narrowband-ultraviolet B with platelet rich plasma in treatment of vitiligo
Authors: Pandey Amit K. , Mohan Aayushi , Satyaraj Prannav
Published: June 2023

Background: Treatment of vitiligo remains a challenge and there is no universal consensus about optimal treatment. Platelet rich plasma contains several growth factors and is being used as an effective treatment of several dermatological disorders. Now it is clear that along with melanocytes, keratinocytes and fibroblasts are also involved in pathogenesis of vitiligo. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of narrowband-ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) with platelet rich plasma versus NB-UVB and intralesional normal saline in treatment of vitiligo.
Methods: A prospective observational study was done between March 2016 to August 2017 on patients of vitiligo attending BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur. A total of 80 patients were enrolled with symmetrical lesions. For each patient one side was treated with NB-UVB along with intralesional platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and other side with NB- UVB plus intralesional normal saline was given. Intralesional PRP and intralesional normal saline was given on an interval of every 2 weeks for 4 months and patients were receiving NB-UVB therapy thrice weekly on alternate day.
Results: We found that combination of PRP with NB UVB had statistically significant improvement as compared to NB UVB alone with pigmentation detected in 60% patient in combined site versus 20% in NB UVB plus intralesional normal saline.
Conclusions: Intradermal PRP injections along with NB-UVB are efficacious, safe, cheap and easy technique in treatment of vitiligo it is more efficacious when compared to NB-UVB therapy. It also shortens the duration of NB-UVB therapy.
Cutaneous changes in obese patients before and after bariatric surgery
Authors: Bundela Manjari , Bhatia Kailash , Bhandari Mohit , Namdeo Chaitanya , Gupta Swati
Published: June 2023

Background: Obesity being a multi-organ disease also affects the skin. Bariatric surgery results in the improvement or remission of many obesity-related comorbid conditions, as well as sustained weight loss and improvement in quality of life. After bariatric surgery, both positive and negative impacts on the skin are seen. Studies have reported improvement in many skin conditions. The present study was conducted with the aim to find cutaneous changes in obese patients before and after bariatric surgery were assessed.
Methods: This prospective, observational study included 61 obese subjects who had undergone bariatric surgery. clinical findings of skin, nails, and hair before and after bariatric surgery at 3 months, 6 months, and 9 months follow-up were also recorded.
Results: Mean age of the subjects was 44.4±13.284 years. Bariatric surgery resulted in a significant decrease in BMI [40.3 (38.25-42.70) vs 32.0 (30-35) kg/m2]. The median of % effective BMI change was 20.46% (17.12%-24.66%) kg/m2. Amongst obese subjects, the most frequently seen skin condition was acanthosis nigricans [17 (27.9%)] followed by acrochordon [15 (24.6%)] and intertrigo [10 (16.4%)]. Our study showed no significant difference in the prevalence of various skin conditions/diseases before and after the bariatric surgery except for intertrigo, tinea corporis, and striae rubra.
Conclusions: various skin/hair/nail conditions and/or diseases develop amongst obese individuals, acanthosis nigricans, acrochordon, intertrigo, seborrheic dermatitis, chronic telogen effluvium, onychomycosis, and longitudinal ridges are common. Weight loss after bariatric surgery provided improvement in skin conditions/diseases.
Clinico-epidemiological profile and onychoscopic pattern of nail disorders in geriatric population
Authors: Muzalda Gajendra , Bhatia Kailash , Namdeo Chaitanya
Published: June 2023

Background: Adequate knowledge about nail changes in the geriatric population can help in the early identification and timely treatment of underlying disease adding to the quality of life of the elderly population with nail concerns. The present study is aimed to study the clinico-epidemiological profile and onychoscopic pattern of nail disorders in geriatric populations.
Methods: This observational study included 100 subjects aged 60 years or more. Clinical examination and onychoscopic examination by Dermlite DL4 dermoscope with 10x magnification of the nail bed, nail plate, nail fold, and hyponychium in all the 20 nails were done. Even single positive findings in a single nail are considered in the study. If clinically suspected of onychomycosis, 20% potassium hydroxide mount was performed to identify fungal elements.
Results: Mean age of the subjects was 66.27±5.546 years. Male: female ratio was 2.1:1. Mean duration of complaints pertaining to nail changes was 4.7±3.864 years. The damaged cuticles were the universal finding in all the subjects (100%) in nail fold examination, nail dystrophy and longitudinal ridges were seen in all [100.0%)] subjects of nail plate examination. The most frequently observed change in nail bed has been splinter haemorrhage [26% versus. 32%] and in hyponychium was subungual hyperkeratosis [36% versus 37.0%] clinically and dermoscopically respectively. Onychomycosis was diagnosed in 25% of total subjects.
Conclusions: Onychoscopy is an important, non-invasive modality to identify and diagnose the nail changes earlier which helps in managing the disease earlier.
Assessment of prognostic markers of alopecia areata in pediatric patients
Authors: Nayak Jhini , Bhatia Kailash , Namdeo Chaitanya
Published: June 2023

Alopecia areata (AA) is associated with impairment of psychological health being more pronounced in pediatric population. Hence, it becomes imperative to study the AA in pediatric population so that early diagnosis and adequate treatment can be initiated at early stage to prevent further morbidity associated with the condition. This observational study was conducted in the department of dermatology venereology and leprosy, SAIMS and PG institute, Indore, India after obtaining approval from the IEC. The study included 14 children with AA who visited the hospital over the period of 1 year. Results showed that Mean age of the patients was 8.8±3.423 years with M:F ratio of 3:4. AA subtotalis was found to be most frequent (57.1%). The mean duration of alopecia was reported to be 9.3±7.965 months. The most common finding was the presence of a single patch (35.7%) and 50% of subjects have had a single episode of the disease. 64.3% of children had involvement of multiple sites with scalp being the most common (85.7%). There is high prevalence of markers of disease severity and activity amongst pediatric patients with AA. High prevalence of nail changes, mark hair (64.3%), coudability hair (50.0%), yellow dots (42.8.0%), black dots (78.6%), S. vellus hair (28.6%) shows that children have high chance of AA progressing to severe forms. There is high prevalence of markers of disease severity and activity amongst pediatric patients with AA with AA subtotalis more common among children as compared to the patchy type.
Lichen planus like keratosis: little known and misleading etiology of pigmented skin lesion
Authors: Asermouh Marwa , Khabba Chaimae Ait , Mehsas Zoubida , Derqaoui Sabrine , Znati Kaoutar , Meziane Mariame
Published: June 2023

Benign lichenoid keratosis is a rarely described entity in the literature. It is believed to correspond to a process of clearance of a solar lentigo or a seborrheic keratosis that must be confirmed on histology. The clinical and dermoscopic presentations are very variable from one subject to another and according to the stage of progression. In our case, its localization on the umbilicus with a grayish-black clinical aspect and a doubtful dermoscopy is not only original, but led us to wrongly think of a malignant tumor and to perform an anatomopathological examination that helped to re-establish the diagnosis.
Elephantiasis nostras verrucosa: case report
Authors: Pereira de Godoy Jose Maria , Pereira de Godoy Livia Maria
Published: June 2023

Lymphedema is a clinical condition in which an accumulation of macromolecules occurs in the interstitial space and an atypical evolution known as elephantiasis nostras verrucosa may occur. The objective of this study is to report on the clinical evolution and analysis of the progression of a 56-year-old patient with a diagnosis of primary bilateral stage II lymphoedema. With an atypical presentation of it, identified as elephantiasis nostra verrucosa. The patient had suffered from lymphoestatic edema since he was 10 years old, having previously received ineffective treatments until he arrived at the Clinica Godoy in Sao Jose de Rio Preto Brazil, where he underwent an intensive therapy procedure treatment model proposed by Godoy and Godoy; in which favorable results were obtained in a short period of time. Lymphedema is a chronic disease that is manageable but not curable. It is also difficult to be treated, especially if it has progressed to a late stage such as elephantiasis nostras verrucosa associated the continuous and repetitive infectious and inflammatory processes over time must have contributed to the evolution of the fibrotic pattern. Intensive treatment based on the Godoy method® is possible reduce in short period of time the volume and improve fibrosis and quality of life this patient.