The medical information explosion has left a thick layer of media fallout. At the bottom lie the original articles containing new information on which the remaining reports rest. Above these original articles lie laminated layers of publications ranging from summary articles through textbooks of varying thickness, and finally (more superficially), books summarizing the state of the art for clinicians who are too busy to dig deep. Yearbooks, books on current topics, and critical annual reviews are well known to the practicing surgeons. Current Surgical Therapyis one of 20 in a series published by BC Decker and CV Mosby Co, and has a unique flavor. Written by 165 practicing surgeons, its 135 chapters on general surgical problems are informal discussions devoted solely to therapy. There are few illustrations but there is ample numeric documentation by the surgically and scientifically sophisticated authors, who write four to five pages on their assigned

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/SURG/articlepdf/590985/archsurg_120_4_026.pdf

Current Surgical Therapy

Indoor air pollution caused by the indoor burning of solid biomass fuels has been associated with Acute Respiratory Infections such as pneumonia amongst children of less than five years of age Behavioural change interventions have been identified as a potential strategy to reduce child indoor air pollution exposure, yet very little is known about the impact of behavioural change interventions to reduce indoor air pollution Even less is known about how behaviour change theory has been incorporated into indoor air pollution behaviour change interventions A review of published studies spanning 1983-2013 suggests that behavioural change strategies have the potential to reduce indoor air pollution exposure by 20%-98% in laboratory settings and 31%-94% in field settings However, the evidence is: (1) based on studies that are methodologically weak; and (2) have little or no underlying theory The paper concludes with a call for more rigorous studies to evaluate the role of behavioural change strategies (with or without improved technologies) to reduce indoor air pollution exposure in developing countries as well as interventions that draw more strongly on existing behavioural change theory and practice

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/5/4607/pdf

Behavioural Change, Indoor Air Pollution and Child Respiratory Health in Developing Countries: A Review

Objective 
The aim of this study was to analyze the factors enabling/limiting the use of improved cookstoves among rural fuel wood users from one mestizo and two indigenous communities eight years after an intervention in the state of Michoacan, in Mexico.


Methods 
A qualitative study with an ethnographic perspective was conducted in 2013/2014 based on 62 interviews with women who had participated in an improved firewood cookstove program in 2005. Thematic qualitative content analysis was performed.


Results 
Very few women from the indigenous communities were using the improved cookstove at the time of the study; the majority had dismantled or had ceased using it; whereas most of those from the mestizo community were using it for all of their cooking activities. In the indigenous communities, characterized by extended families, uptake of new technology was limited by traditional routine practices, rearrangement of rooms in the house, attachment to the traditional stove, a low- or non-risk perception of woodsmoke; gender relations, insufficient training, non-compliance with program recommendations and design-related aspects. Conversely, in the mestizo community, the uptake of the improved cookstove was favored by routine cooking practices in a nuclear family, a previous use of a raised cookstove and social representations on the health-disease-death effects of woodsmoke vs. the health benefits of cooking with improved stoves. The sociocultural dimension of communities and the cookstove design are aspects that either favor or limit the use of improved cookstoves in indigenous and mestizo populations.


Conclusions 
Effective cookstove programs must take these elements into account from their early planning stages, and blend them into implementation and follow-up. Project communication, training and differentiated follow-up activities ensuring the operation and maintenance of the cookstove, should be designed according to the specific needs and traditions of each community; they should be based on the preferences and needs of the users.

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Factors that enable or limit the sustained use of improved firewood cookstoves: Qualitative findings eight years after an intervention in rural Mexico.

Background 
Exposure to biomass smoke is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Africa. Commercial food vendors in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa are commonly exposed to biomass smoke from open fire cooking both at work and home. Little is known about the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of food vendors about the health hazards of biomass smoke exposure in Nigeria. 

Methods 
We did a descriptive cross sectional survey of the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of commercial food vendors in the cities of Benin and Calabar in Nigeria. We recruited respondents using a multi-stage approach. Structured interviewer-administered questionnaires were used for data collection. 

Results 
We recruited 308 participants (164, 53.2% female). The majority 185(60.2%) were married and had post-primary education 206(67.4%). The average monthly income was <30,000 Naira (US$150). Most 198(64.4%) were not aware that biomass smoke exposure is harmful to human health. About three-quarters (221; 71.8%) were unconcerned as to the effect of exposure to fumes from biomass fuels on their health. Less than half of respondents (110, 41.6%) believed biomass smoke was harmful to health. Male gender, being single, having post-primary education and preferring electricity or gas fuels were associated with good knowledge of the adverse health effects of biomass smoke exposure whilst female gender and having good knowledge of the adverse health effects of biomass smoke were associated with positive attitudes towards preventing exposure. 

Conclusion 
Commercial food vendors in our study had limited knowledge about the adverse health effects of biomass smoke exposure and negative attitudes towards preventing these adverse health effects. We suggest an educational intervention is needed to improve this knowledge.

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Knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about the health hazards of biomass smoke exposure amongst commercial food vendors in Nigeria.

- Amphotericin B: A drug of choice for Visceral Leishmaniasis.

Background: The spleen is the largest single mass of lymphoid tissue in all vertebrates. It is presumed that the architectural design of spleen of domestic and wild animal is different from man. Exact knowledge of histological structure of human, cow and goat can be helpful to differentiate among different species in vertebrates. Methods: A descriptive type of study was carried out in the department of Anatomy, Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka, from January to December 2008. Thirty human spleens were collected from the unclaimed dead bodies that were under examination in the Department of Forensic Medicine of Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka. Spleens from cow and goat were collected from a slaughter house of Dhaka city. A total of 15 relatively fresh human samples, six from cows and six from goats were selected for histological study. Results: The mean thickness of the splenic capsule was 111.56±21.45 ?m in human, 196.88±11.91 ?m in cow and 251.44±12.56 ?m in goat. The difference in thickness of the splenic capsule was statistically significant among the human, cow and goat (p <0.001). However, no difference was found in diameter, number and percentage of the white pulp of the spleen among those species. Conclusion: There was statistically significant difference in the thickness of splenic capsule but no difference was found in the diameter, number and percentage of white pulp in the spleen of these species. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njms.v1i2.6601 Nepal Journal of Medical Sciences. 2012;1(2): 64-7

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Comparative Histological Study on the Spleen of Human (Homo sapiens), Cow (Bos indicus) and Goat (Capra hircus)

Context: A cross-sectional study was designed to find out the difference in weight of the thyroid gland of Bangladeshi people in relation to age and sex and to compare with previous local and foreign studies. Materials & Methods: The present study was performed on 60 post mortem human thyroid gland (39 of male and 21 of female) collected from unclaimed dead bodies which were in the morgue under examination in the Department of Forensic Medicine, Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka. The samples were divided into three age-groups including Group A (10-20 years), Group B (21-50 years) & Group C (>50 years) and the weight of the thyroid glands were measured and recorded. Results: The mean weight of the thyroid gland in male was 15.14 gm, 19.20 gm and 14.64 gm and in female was 16.02 gm, 19.03 gm and 14.67 gm in group A, B and C respectively. The mean weight of the thyroid gland was 15.48 gm in group A, 19.15 gm in group B and 14.65 gm in group C. There was no difference in mean weight of the thyroid gland between male and female. The difference in mean weight of the thyroid gland between group A & group B and group B & group C were found statistically significant. The weight of the gland was found to increase from early childhood and puberty up to 50 years of age and then decrease. Key words: Thyroid gland; Weight of thyroid gland. DOI: 10.3329/bjms.v9i1.5230 Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.09 No.1 Jan 2010 44-48

/pdf/weight-of-the-human-thyroid-gland-a-postmortem-study-4sap5ssvaf.pdf

Weight of the Human Thyroid Gland A Postmortem Study

Indoor air pollution from biomass smoke is now regarded as public health hazard in the developing world, where more than two billion people still rely on the use of solid biomass fuels such as, dung, wood, crop residue and coal for cooking daily meals and heating homes. A crosssectional    study was designed and conducted from March to June 2007, in Madla, a rural area,  and in Thanthania, an urban area, under Bogra District of Bangladesh, to see and compare the prevalence of respiratory disease among female biomass fuel users and gas/electricity fuel users.    A total of 103 females from the rural households meeting the defined enrollment criteria for biomass fuel group were selected purposively as cases, while 101 females from the urban households meeting the defined eligibility criteria for controls were included in gas/electricity fuel group. The participants were interviewed on a semi-structured questionnaire. Nearly 70% of the biomass fuel users used wood for the daily cooking and heating purposes, 64% leaves, 31.1% cow dung, crop residue 30.1% and 7.8% saw-dust. The biomass group exhibited a significantly higher frequency of respiratory problem (16.5%) compared to their gas/electricity counterpart (5%). The findings revealed that, 67.5% of the biomass group complained of eye problem followed by cold 36.1%, headache 33.8%, cough 13.9% and difficulty in breathing 11.1%. The respondents of gas/electricity group also complained about same health hazards but    they were less aware of the problems. Both the group had fairly comparable level of perception of prevention of hazards of biomass fuel (p>0.05), except that a significantly higher proportion of biomass group (12.2%) told that the problem could be avoided by using kerosene stove    compared to the gas/electricity group (1.2%). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/akmmcj.v4i1.13680 AKMMC J 2013; 4(1): 20-24

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Knowledge of Health Hazards and Perception of Prevention Amongst Females Exposed to Biomass Fuel and Gas/Electricity Fuel in A District of Bangladesh

Context: The parathyroid gland, the last major organ to be recognized in humans, is an essential endocrine gland. The hormone secreted by the parathyroid gland provides a powerful mechanism for controlling extracellular calcium and phosphate concentrations. Knowledge of location and number of parathyroid gland is essential to surgeon, endocrinologist, sonologist and pathologist for better diagnosis and management of parathyroid diseases. Study design: A descriptive type of study. Place and period of study: Department of Anatomy, Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka from January 2008 to December 2008. Materials: The present study was performed on post mortem parathyroid glands of 60 Bangladeshi people in different age groups. Total 207 parathyroid glands were taken from this 60 cadavers. The samples were collected from the unclaimed dead bodies within 24 hours after death that were under examination in the Department of Forensic Medicine of Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka. Methods: The samples were divided into three different age groups ranging from 15 to 75 years. The three groups are group A (10-30 years), group B (31-60 years) and group C (61-90 years). All samples were studied morphologically. Results: In the present study of 60 cadavers, 207 parathyroid glands were identified in relation to posterior border of thyroid lobe. And most of the superior parathyroid glands were found on the middle third of the posterior border of the thyroid lobe and most of the inferior parathyroid glands were found on the lower third of the posterior border of the thyroid lobe. In this study the highest number of parathyroid glands per person was four, found in about 63.333% of cases and lowest was one, found in 5% of cases, two parathyroid glands were found in 8.33% of cases and three parathyroid glands were found in 23.33% of cases. The average number of parathyroid glands per person was 3.45. Conclusion: The parathyroid glands vary in number and location. Key words: Location; number; parathyroid gland. DOI: 10.3329/bja.v7i2.6086 Bangladesh J. Anat. 2009; 7(2) : 73-79

/pdf/location-and-number-of-human-parathyroid-glands-a-postmortem-1pqhel96nt.pdf

Location and Number of Human Parathyroid Glands – A Postmortem Study

/pdf/leishmaniasis-amongst-tb-patients-from-kala-azar-endemic-3hc3sqmyqa.pdf

Abdul Alim

Papers

Comparative Histological Study on the Spleen of Human (Homo sapiens), Cow (Bos indicus) and Goat (Capra hircus)

Weight of the Human Thyroid Gland A Postmortem Study

Knowledge of Health Hazards and Perception of Prevention Amongst Females Exposed to Biomass Fuel and Gas/Electricity Fuel in A District of Bangladesh

Location and Number of Human Parathyroid Glands – A Postmortem Study

Leishmaniasis amongst TB patients from Kala-azar endemic areas admitted to Surya Kanto Hospital, Mymensingh