596 research outputs found

    The Growth of Women in Sangam Internal Songs ooth Spoken and Unspoken

    Get PDF
    Women’s lifestyle was best described very subtly in Sangam Aga Ilakkiyam. Sangam literature has survived many centuries after carrying the proofs of history, and the seed to architect the grammar for the previous generations. The comments registered about women’s different stages of life such as teenage, love, and family life were to be researched. There are not many kinds of literature which talk about women’s thoughts about love. Later, various kinds of literature such as kaapiyam, bhakthi and sitrilakkiyam spoke in detail about the different stages of women. Sangam literature does not speak about the different stages of women transparently, however, the growth of women according to age and its function were described clearly by poets. This research article studies the significant impact of the change in the lifestyle before and after puberty is researched through Sangam literature

    360-deg profilometry: new techniques for display and acquisition

    Get PDF
    Two optical methods are proposed for shape measurement and defect detection of curved surfaces in the form of a complete 360- deg profile of the object. The first one is the standard structured light approach. Display of the resulting data is the emphasis of this section. The second approach uses modulated structured light with a scanning digital camera for faster and simpler data acquisition. Quantitative processing is done off-line while real-time moire produces enhanced display of the defects for qualitative analysis.published_or_final_versio

    Mind the message: Referral letter quality at a South African medical outpatient department

    Get PDF
    Background. Some patients need referral within the health system to achieve optimal care, and referral letters are an important part of this process. Healthcare practitioners often complain that referral letters lack information, are inaccurate, or direct patients to the wrong place. Poor communication affects patient experience and outcomes, has budgetary and service planning implications, and impacts on staff relationships and morale.Objectives. To investigate the quality and appropriateness of referral letters received by the medical outpatient department of a regional hospital in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.Methods. Letters were collected by departmental staff as patients arrived at the clinic. Each letter was independently analysed by two healthcare workers for content and appropriateness, using defined criteria.Results. Of 100 letters collected between March and May 2017, 85 were suitable for analysis. Patient and clinician identifiers were present in >85%, but key clinical information was missing in 87%, and 48% did not state a reason for referral. It was possible to make triage decisions based on the letter in only 35% of cases. Nineteen percent of referrals were classified as inappropriate.Conclusions. Most letters lacked important clinical information, probably because of a combination of factors: gaps in clinical knowledge of referring clinicians who service a population with a high burden of disease and complex pathology; under-resourced peripheral healthcare clinics; inadequate staff-to-patient ratios; and time constraints. A suggested focus for improvement is education at undergraduate and postgraduate level, which should emphasise preparation for community service, specifically highlighting techniques for preparing good-quality referrals

    Breastfeeding may have a long-term effect on oral microbiota : results from the Fin-HIT cohort

    Get PDF
    Background Breastfeeding contributes to gastrointestinal microbiota colonization in early life, but its long-term impact is inconclusive. We aimed to evaluate whether the type of feeding during the first six months of life was associated with oral microbiota in adolescence. Methods This is a cross-sectional sub-study using baseline information of 423 adolescents from the Finnish Health in Teens (Fin-HIT) cohort. Type of feeding was recalled by parents and dichotomized as (i) No infant formula; (ii) Infant formula (breastmilk + formula or only formula). Saliva microbiota was analysed using 16S rRNA (V3-V4) sequencing. Alpha diversity and beta diversity were compared between feeding type groups using ANCOVA and PERMANOVA, respectively. Differential bacteria abundance was tested using appropriate general linear models. Results Mean age and body mass index were 11.7 years and 18.0 kg/m(2), respectively. The No formula group contained 41% of the participants. Firmicutes (51.0%), Bacteroidetes (19.1%), and Proteobacteria (16.3%) were the most abundant phyla among all participants. Alpha and beta diversity indices did not differ between the two feeding groups. Three Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) belonging to Eubacteria and Veillonella genera (phylum Firmicutes) were more abundant in the No formula than in the Infant formula group (log2fold changes/ p - values - 0.920/ <0.001, - 0.328/ 0.001, - 0.577/ 0.004). Conclusion Differences exist in abundances of some OTUs in adolescence according to feeding type during the first six months of life, but our findings do not support diversity and overall oral microbiota composition in adolescents being affected by early feeding type.Peer reviewe

    A Rare Case of HIV-Induced Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy.

    Get PDF
    Background:Acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP) is an uncommon form of neuropathy in HIV-infected patients that can cause pain, sensory disturbance, and motor weakness. Case presentation:A 23-year-old African American male with past medical history of Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), Lyme disease, and sexually transmitted infections including syphilis and chlamydia presented with acute back pain radiating to bilateral lower extremities with worsening right foot weakness for four days. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) studies including meningoencephalitis panel were negative as well as blood tests for Lyme disease and HIV antibody testing. Patient was initially treated with penicillin for positive treponemal serology but without improvement in lower extremity weakness. Electromyogram showed evidence of early demyelinating motor polyneuropathy. Four days after presentation, repeat HIV antibody testing returned positive. Recurrent AIDP in this case was suspected to be secondary to acute HIV infection, and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) was administered along with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). Muscle strength improved with therapy and patient was expected to have continued improvement with intensive rehabilitation after discharge. Conclusion:Acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP) tends to present early in course of HIV infection. Therefore, HIV testing should be obtained in individuals presenting with new neurological deficits. Our patient received HAART therapy, in addition to the traditional modalities to manage AIDP, which led to a substantial recovery of his sensorimotor function

    Complex foot deformity and Illizarov technique: a record-based study

    Get PDF
    Background: Complex foot deformities may occur as a result of trauma, poliomyelitis, osteomyelitis, burn contractures, neuromuscular diseases or may present as a resistant congenital contracture such as clubfoot. The Ilizarov fixator is new and more efficient method in the treatment of orthopedic foot problems. The aim of the study was to assess the outcome of Illizarov technique.Methods: This is a hospital record-based study conducted in 32 patients of foot deformity at orthopedic ward of Navodaya Medical college and Hospital, Raichur.  The record- based data was collected in January to July 2019. Data analysis done with SPSS 24.0 version IBM USA.Results: Majority of the subjects were from 0 to 5 years age group i.e. 14 (43.8%). Mean age was 26.2±4.9 years. Majority in our study were males i.e. 71.9%. In majority of the cases, the cause of foot deformity was neglected and relapsed club foot i.e. 12 (37.5%). Treatment period was 22±7 weeks.   Conclusions: The Ilizarov method can successfully correct complex foot deformities. Success rate was 90.6%

    Antimicrobial drug use in the first decade of life influences saliva microbiota diversity and composition

    Get PDF
    Background: The human microbiota contributes to health and well-being. Antimicrobials (AM) have an immediate effect on microbial diversity and composition in the gut, but next to nothing is known about their long-term contribution to saliva microbiota. Our objectives were to investigate the long-term impact of AM use on saliva microbiota diversity and composition in preadolescents. We compared the lifetime effects by gender and AMs. We used data from 808 randomly selected children in the Finnish Health In Teens (Fin-HIT) cohort with register-based data on AM purchases from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. Saliva microbiota was assessed with 16S rRNA (V3-V4) sequencing. The sequences were aligned to the SILVA ribosomal RNA database and classified and counted using the mothur pipeline. Associations between AM use and alpha-diversity (Shannon index) were identified with linear regression, while associations between beta-diversity (Bray-Curtis dissimilarity) and low, medium or high AM use were identified with PERMANOVA. Results: Of the children, 53.6% were girls and their mean age was 11.7 (0.4) years. On average, the children had 7.4 (ranging from 0 to 41) AM prescriptions during their lifespan. The four most commonly used AMs were amoxicillin (n= 2622, 43.7%), azithromycin (n= 1495, 24.9%), amoxicillin-clavulanate (n= 1123, 18.7%) and phenoxymethylpenicillin (n= 408, 6.8%). A linear inverse association was observed between the use of azithromycin and Shannon index (b- 0.015,pvalue = 0.002) in all children, the effect was driven by girls (b- 0.032,pvalue = 0.001), while not present in boys. Dissimilarities were marked between high, medium and low users of all AMs combined, in azithromycin users specifically, and in boys with amoxicillin use. Amoxicillin and amoxicillin-clavulanate use was associated with the largest decrease in abundance ofRikenellaceae. AM use in general and phenoxymethylpenicillin specifically were associated with a decrease ofPaludibacterand pathways related to amino acid degradations differed in proportion between high and low AM users. Conclusions: A systematic approach utilising reliable registry data on lifetime use of AMs demonstrated long-term effects on saliva microbiota diversity and composition. These effects are gender- and AM-dependent. We found that frequent lifelong use of AMs shifts bacterial profiles years later, which might have unforeseen health impacts in the future. Our findings emphasise a concern for high azithromycin use, which substantially decreases bacterial diversity and affects composition as well. Further studies are needed to determine the clinical implications of our findings.Peer reviewe

    Primary transcriptomes of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis reveal proprietary pathways in tissue and macrophages

    Get PDF
    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Mycobacterium avium </it>subsp. <it>paratuberculosis </it>(MAP) persistently infects intestines and mesenteric lymph nodes leading to a prolonged subclinical disease. The <it>MAP </it>genome sequence was published in 2005, yet its transcriptional organization in natural infection is unknown. While prior research analyzed regulated gene sets utilizing defined, in vitro stress related or advanced surgical methods with various animal species, we investigated the intracellular lifestyle of MAP in the intestines and lymph nodes to understand the MAP pathways that function to govern this persistence.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our transcriptional analysis shows that 21%, 8% and 3% of the entire MAP genome was represented either inside tissues, macrophages or both, respectively. Transcripts belonging to latency and cell envelope biogenesis were upregulated in the intestinal tissues whereas those belonging to intracellular trafficking and secretion were upregulated inside the macrophages. Transcriptomes of natural infection and in vitro macrophage infection shared genes involved in transcription and inorganic ion transport and metabolism. MAP specific genes within large sequence polymorphisms of ancestral <it>M. avium </it>complex were downregulated exclusively in natural infection.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We have unveiled common and unique MAP pathways associated with persistence, cell wall biogenesis and virulence in naturally infected cow intestines, lymph nodes and in vitro infected macrophages. This dichotomy also suggests that in vitro macrophage models may be insufficient in providing accurate information on the events that transpire during natural infection. This is the first report to examine the primary transcriptome of MAP at the local infection site (i.e. intestinal tissue). Regulatory pathways that govern the lifecycle of MAP appear to be specified by tissue and cell type. While tissues show a "shut-down" of major MAP metabolic genes, infected macrophages upregulate several MAP specific genes along with a putative pathogenicity island responsible for iron acquisition. Many of these regulatory pathways rely on the advanced interplay of host and pathogen and in order to decipher their message, an interactome must be established using a systems biology approach. Identified MAP pathways place current research into direct alignment in meeting the future challenge of creating a MAP-host interactome.</p

    Controlling Cherenkov angles with resonance transition radiation

    Full text link
    Cherenkov radiation provides a valuable way to identify high energy particles in a wide momentum range, through the relation between the particle velocity and the Cherenkov angle. However, since the Cherenkov angle depends only on material's permittivity, the material unavoidably sets a fundamental limit to the momentum coverage and sensitivity of Cherenkov detectors. For example, Ring Imaging Cherenkov detectors must employ materials transparent to the frequency of interest as well as possessing permittivities close to unity to identify particles in the multi GeV range, and thus are often limited to large gas chambers. It would be extremely important albeit challenging to lift this fundamental limit and control Cherenkov angles as preferred. Here we propose a new mechanism that uses constructive interference of resonance transition radiation from photonic crystals to generate both forward and backward Cherenkov radiation. This mechanism can control Cherenkov angles in a flexible way with high sensitivity to any desired range of velocities. Photonic crystals thus overcome the severe material limit for Cherenkov detectors, enabling the use of transparent materials with arbitrary values of permittivity, and provide a promising option suited for identification of particles at high energy with enhanced sensitivity.Comment: There are 16 pages and 4 figures for the manuscript. Supplementary information with 18 pages and 5 figures, appended at the end of the file with the manuscript. Source files in Word format converted to PDF. Submitted to Nature Physic
    corecore