No abstract

With the rapid growth of the worldwide photovoltaic (PV) installation, the number of fire incidents involving PV systems also shows an increasing trend. Several studies revealed that installing PV systems on the rooftop has introduced an additional fire risk to the building. Therefore, risk assessment is required to identify the possible cause of fire initiation involving PV systems and subsequently provide the solar industry with fire risk information regarding PV faults. A BowTie analysis of rooftop grid‐connected PV systems was conducted, where initiation of ignition was determined as the hazard and PV fires as the loss event. Four threats in the BowTie analysis were identified using fault tree analysis, that is, arc fault, ground fault, hotspot effect at PV modules, and overheating. Arc fault contributes the most to PV fire incidents, while poor installation of PV systems was found to be the primary underlying cause of all PV fault scenarios. The main factor is due to lack of fire safety knowledge and negligence behavior of the installers. The consequences of PV fires in the BowTie diagram were investigated from the event tree analysis. Twelve possible outcomes were identified and regrouped to five consequences, that is, respiratory poisons, electrical shock, fall from heights, asset damage, and fire propagation. The evaluation of the consequences of PV fire shows that electrical shock poses a very high risk to the surrounding people, including firefighters. Additional measures are proposed to reduce the impact of electric shock.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD), being a psychiatric condition, is defined as mood swing that alternates between mania, hypomania, and depression. Studies have been conducted globally to assess lipid profile for bipolar disorder with varying results. No such studies have been conducted in Pakistan. Therefore, present study was designed to assess total cholesterol and triglycerides in clinically diagnosed bipolar disorder. Materials and methods: One hundred and twelve blood samples were collected of diagnosed bipolar patients visiting Sheikh Zayd Hospital (SZH) and Punjab Institute of Mental Health (PIMH) Lahore. Total Cholesterol (TC) and Triglycerides (TG), were estimated using standard biochemical methods Results: Results obtained were statistically analyzed using SPSS. A total of 112 bipolar patients, 48 (58.5%) were manic, 26 (31.7%) were depressive, 8 (9.8%) were euthymic. The mean Cholesterol level (191.01±40.67 mg/dl),in bipolar group ( manic, depressive and euthymic) were statistically significant as compared to control group with p-value 0.026. The mean TG level (163.01±89.08 mg/dl), in bipolar and control groups were statistically insignificant with p-value 0.609. Conclusions: The present study suggests that TC level is raised in depressive patients. TG levels were same in bipolar and control groups. Keywords: Bipolar Disorder, Lipid Profile, Total Cholesterol, Triglyceride.

Background: Squamous cell carcinoma involving the oral cavity (OSCC) is a malignant lesion prone to local dissemination and distant metastasis. It causes severe morbidity in the afflicted patients and has low 5-year survival rate. The current study explored the serum levels of extracellular matrix degrading enzymes, the MMPs 1,2 and 3 in OSCC patients and normal healthy controls. Materials and methods: Blood samples from thirty eight patients suffering from OSCC and thirty eight normal healthy controls were included in the study. The MMP 1 - 3 were estimated by multiplex ELISA. Results: Out of three MMPs analyzed between cases (n=38) and controls (n=38), significant differences were observed in serum MMP levels in MMP 1 and 2. In MMP 1, cases were recorded to have higher values, as evidenced by mean and median levels. ROC curve analysis, used to assess the prognostic and diagnostic worth of the two statistically significant markers (MMP 1, 2) indicated that both markers had area under the curve (AUC) significantly better than 0.5. For MMP 2, control group had higher serum levels than cases. Conclusions: MMP 1 expression was found significantly elevated in cases with 71.0% sensitivity and 56.3 specificity so it can be further evaluated as a drug target as well as diagnostic and prognostic tumor marker. Keywords: Oral squamous cell carcinoma, Matrix metalloproteinase.

Aim To study the comparative effect of acetaminophen with aqueous Neem leaf extract (Azadirachta Indica) and vitamin E mediated liver toxicity on the basis of liver enzymes. Methods: A total of sixty (60) Wistar rats of either sex were divided equally into four groups. Each groupwas made up of 15 animals. Group A was the control group. Animals in Group B were treated with a single oral dose of 2 mg / kg b / w Paracetamol. Group C animals with 500 mg / kg b / w oral Neem extract for 15 days with oral administration of 2 mg / kg b / w oral Paracetamol. In Group D, animals received the same dose of Paracetamol and 100 mg / kg b / w intra-peritoneal vitamin E for 15 days, respectively. The liver enzymes ALT,AST, and ALP were then evaluated. Data was analyzed using SPSS Version 20.0 with level of significance being kept at p-value ≤0.05 Results: In the 4 groups, The ALT values were 22.8 (Group A), 100 (Group B), 29.11 (Group C), and 31.16 U/L (Group D). The AST values were 25 (Group A), 40 (Group B), 20 (Group C), and 15 (Group D) U/L. The ALP values were 220 (Group A), 445 (Group B), 242 (Group C), and 244 (Group D) U/L. There was significant increase in liver enzymes were found in Group B after induction of Paracetamol toxicity, however, hepatoprotective effects could be seen in the intervention Group C and D Conclusion: Azadirachta Indica and Vitamin E showed hepatoprotective effects on the Wistar rats that were subjected to Paracetamol Key words: Azadirachta Indicaleaf extract, Vitamin E, Paracetamol, Wistar rats