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Introduction Metacarpal and phalangeal fractures are common upper limb fractures due to direct blows, axial loading, and torsional loading injuries. The universal goal in treating all fractures for the patient to achieve normal motion, but the ideal technique for stabilization is still debated. For internal fixation, Kirschner wires (K-wires) or miniplates can be used, and each carries certain advantages. No previous study has compared K-wire use to miniplate use in treating metacarpal and phalangeal fractures. Therefore, we conducted this randomized control trial to evaluate the outcomes of K-wire and miniplate use in treating metacarpal and phalangeal fractures. Materials and methods This randomized controlled trial was conducted in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Bahawal Victoria Hospital, from February 2017 to February 2018. Seventy-five patients were included in this study and randomly assigned into two groups. One group was treated with Kwire fixation, and the other group was treated with miniplate fixation. We assessed total active motion (TAM), range of motion (ROM), duration of injury, and complication rate. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 23.0 (Armonk, NY: IBM Corp). P values ≤ 0.05 were considered significant. Results Mean surgical time, pain scale, and time of union of K-wire treated patients was 38.63±3.64 minutes, 4.17±1.11, and 12.95±3.38 weeks, respectively. The success of the union was noted in 38 K-wire patients (95%). Total active ROM was greater in miniplate fixation patients compared with K-wire treated patients, but this difference was statistically significant. Similarly, TAM was also greater in the miniplate fixation patients compared to the K-wire treated patients, but this difference was also not statistically significant. Conclusion Both K-wire fixation and miniplate fixation are equally effective in terms of TAM, ROM, and complications when used to treat metacarpal and phalangeal fractures.

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Finite fields are well-studied algebraic structures with enormous efficient properties which have applications in the fields of cryptology and coding theory. In this study, we proposed a lossless binary Galois field extension-based efficient algorithm for digital audio encryption. The proposed architecture hired a special type of curve in the diffusion module which depends on efficient elliptic curve arithmetic operations. So, it generates good quality pseudo-random numbers (PRN) and with slight computational efforts, it produces optimum diffusion in the encrypted audio files. For the confusion module, a novel construction mechanism of block cipher has been employed which includes prominent arithmetic operations of binary Galois field inversion and multiplication operations. The suggested scheme generates multiple substitution boxes (S-boxes) by using a higher-order Galois field. Thus, the replacement with multiple S-boxes generates effective perplexity in the data and provides additional security to the ciphered audio. The investigational outcomes through different analyses and time complexity demonstrated the ability of the technique to counter various attacks. Furthermore, as a consequence of a rapid and simple application of the binary finite field in hardware and software, the proposed scheme is more appropriate to be applied for data security.

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