Early results after transatrial repair of RVOT obstruction including teratology of fallot

Background: Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality after surgical correction of RVOT obstruction including tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). Transatrial repair avoids a ventriculotomy (in contrast to the transventricular approach) emphasizing maximal preservation of RV structure and function. We have adopted this technique as less traumatic for the right ventricle. This study evaluates the early surgical results of our approach.Methods: Between January 2005 to January 2014, 77 consecutive patients with RVOT obstruction were referred to our unit for surgical therapy. Of these, 14 were unsuitable for repair and underwent aortopulmonary shunting. In the remaining 63 patients (mean age of 2.67±0.38 years), complete transatrial/transpulmonary repair was performed. Previously placed shunts (four patients) were taken down. In all cases, subpulmonary resection and ventricular septal defect (VSD) closure were accomplished transatrially. In 51 patients, the main pulmonary artery was augmented with an autologous pericardial patch.Results: There were 7 (9%) deaths in this series. No patient required permanent pacemaker. Median ICU and hospital stay were 91 hours and 14 days, respectively. At median follow up of 54 (mean 51±12) months, all patients are asymptomatic, with no significant residual lesion.Conclusions: Transatrial/transpulmonary repair of TOF is associated with remarkably low morbidity and mortality in our early experience

Optimization of a Groundwater Monitoring Network for a Sustainable Development of the Maheshwaram Catchment, India

Groundwater is one of the most valuable resources for drinking water and irrigation in the Maheshwaram Catchment, Central India, where most of the local population depends on it for agricultural activities. An increasing demand for irrigation and the growing concern about potential water contamination makes imperative the implementation of a systematic groundwater-quality monitoring program in the region. Nonetheless, limited funding and resources emphasize the need to achieve a representative but cost-effective sampling strategy. In this context, field observations were combined with a geostatistical analysis to define an optimized monitoring network able to provide sufficient and non-redundant information on key hydrochemical parameters. A factor analysis was used to evaluate the interrelationship among variables, and permitted to reduce the original dataset into a new configuration of monitoring points still able to capture the spatial variability in the groundwater quality of the basin. The approach is useful to maximize data collection and contributes to better manage the allocation of resources under budget constrains

Optimization of a Groundwater Monitoring Network for a Sustainable Development of the Maheshwaram Catchment, India

Groundwater is one of the most valuable resources for drinking water and irrigation in the Maheshwaram Catchment, Central India, where most of the local population depends on it for agricultural activities. An increasing demand for irrigation and the growing concern about potential water contamination makes imperative the implementation of a systematic groundwater-quality monitoring program in the region. Nonetheless, limited funding and resources emphasize the need to achieve a representative but cost-effective sampling strategy. In this context, field observations were combined with a geostatistical analysis to define an optimized monitoring network able to provide sufficient and non-redundant information on key hydrochemical parameters. A factor analysis was used to evaluate the interrelationship among variables, and permitted to reduce the original dataset into a new configuration of monitoring points still able to capture the spatial variability in the groundwater quality of the basin. The approach is useful to maximize data collection and contributes to better manage the allocation of resources under budget constrains.groundwater; geostatistics; monitoring network; optimization; India

Demography and clinical outcome of pulmonary tuberculosis in Kashmir; 2 year prospective study

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, primarily affecting lungs. One-third of the world’s population is currently infected with the TB bacillus. Tuberculosis is one of the three primary diseases of poverty. The risk of developing tuberculosis is higher in immunocompromised persons and is a chronic debilitating disease. Aims and objectives: To study the demographic features and clinical outcome of pulmonary tuberculosis. Materials and methods: A prospective study involving 72 pulmonary tuberculosis patients above 18 years. Results: In our study 45 were below the age of 40 years with a mean age of 47 years ±12.39, with a male to female ratio of 1.4:1.61; patients were from rural areas and 18 were labourers. Two were HIV positive; fever was the main presenting complaint. Mean haemoglobin was 11.2 ± 2.48. Mean ESR was 45.2 ± 12.55. Bronchoscopy was done in 13 patients and 4 had bronchoalveolar lavage positive for AFB. All patients received a daily regimen of ATT. 4 were treated as Cat II, rest were treated as Cat I. 64 patients (88.8%) were cured, 8 (11.1%) are on follow up. No resistance was documented in any of the patients. Treatment related complications were seen in 43 (30.8%). Conclusion: Tuberculosis most commonly occurs in younger patients, especially from rural areas. Due to the low prevalence of HIV in Kashmir association with HIV was low. The Commonest presentation was fever. Most patients had a good response to daily regimen and the most common drug related side effect was hepatitis

Novel magnetically separable of Fe3O4/Ag3PO4@WO3 nanocomposites for enhanced photocatalytic and antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)

Abstract Background Iron oxide nanocomposites have received a great attention for their application in various fields like physics, medicine, biology, and material science etc., due to their unique properties, such as magnetism, electrical properties, small size, biocompatibility and low toxicity. Methods Fe3O4/Ag3PO4@WO3 nanocomposites with different weight percent of Ag3PO4 were successfully prepared through fabricated Ag3PO4/Fe3O4 with WO3 via in situ fabrication method, electrospinning involved precursor solution preparation and spinning to enhance photocatalyst performance under simulated sunlight for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) and antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Results The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) under simulated light irradiation indicated that the nanocomposite with 0.25 mg of Ag3PO4 has the best activity. An additional advantage of these photocatalysts is magnetic recoverability, using external magnetic field and photocatalytic stability of the nanocomposites was evaluated for three cycles. In addition, using different scavengers, holes (h+) and superoxide radical (O2·−) radicals and hydroxide radical (·OH) were identified the main oxidative species in the degradation reaction of methylene blue. Conclusions The results reveal that Fe3O4/[email protected] nanocomposites have photocatalytic and antibacterial activity against S. aureus. The photocatalyst and mechanism based on the enhancement of electron transfer processes between Ag3PO4 and WO3 nanoparticles

Noisy orchestra - Renal transplant and urinary tract infections

Introduction: Kidneys are the most frequently transplanted organs; renal transplantation is the preferred method for treating patients with chronic kidney disease; and posttransplantation urinary tract infection (UTI) is still a source of morbidity and graft failure. Materials and Methods: This prospective study was conducted during the period of August 2016 to February 2018. A total of 35 renal transplant recipients were included in the study. Results: The most common symptom associated with the infection was dysuria (71%). Only 66% of the cases were febrile. Almost 17% of the cases presented with shock. Urine culture was positive in 23 (65%) cases, with bacteria in 22 (96%) and fungus in 1 (4%). Predominant bacteria grown from cultures were Klebsiella pneumoniae 32%, Pseudomonas aeruginosa 18%, Escherichia coli 14%, Enterococcus faecalis 13%, Acinetobacter 10%, Staphylococcus aureus 9%, and Enterobacter 4%. Antibiotic resistance profiles showed a high resistance patterns to ceftriaxone 60%, levofloxacin 53%, nitrofurantoin 53%, ciprofloxacin 40%, cotrimoxazole 40%, piperacillin–tazobactam 26%, amikacin 26%, gentamicin 26%, meropenem 26%, and imipenem 13%. Patients were followed up over a period of 4 weeks. At the 2nd week of follow-up, 2 (5%) cases were still culture positive, and the symptoms of UTI persisted in 6 (17%) cases. Of 35 cases, 25 were followed up till the 4th week. Culture positive was noted in 6 (24%) cases, and the symptoms persisted in 10 (40%) cases. In recurrent infections, relapses were noted in 3 (50%) cases and reinfections in 3 (50%). Conclusion: In these high-risk patients, antibiotic selection, duration, and stewardship need to be readdressed. Microbial profile and sensitivity patterns in such patients are different from the usual UTIs

An empirical study of performance of block cipher algorithms in cloud computing environment

The security of private and sensitive data stored in the public domain is a major problem. It is critical for the user that data be safe both in transit and even after it has been stored on the server. The data owner must be guaranteed that the data held on the service provider site is safeguarded against data theft from outsiders, and the data must be protected even from the service providers. The secret key generation is one of the most important factors for the security of any cryptographic system because the length of the key directly affects the performance and prevents various cryptographic attacks such as brute force attacks. At the application level, our developed system efficiently secures sensitive, private, and personally identifiable information by ensuring privacy and confidentiality of data at rest in the public domain. This study also compares the performance of block cipher algorithms DES, 3DES, Blowfish, and AES. It was deduced from the result that AES consumes less time when compared to other symmetric algorithms with small consistent behavior for various cryptographic operations with small, medium and big datasets.

Zinc Levels in community acquired pneumonia in hospitalized patients; a case control study

Introduction: Pneumonia usually connotes the infection of pulmonary parenchyma. Pneumonia is best classified according to the setting in which it occurs i.e community acquired pneumonia (CAP) hospital acquired or immunodeficiency associated. Dietary zinc deficiency is widespread in developing countries. Zinc deficiency is related to the morbidity and mortality in CAP. Aims and objectives: To compare serum zinc values of community acquired pneumonia patients with healthy controls and to see the effect of zinc levels with severity of pneumonia. Methods and materials: A case control study involved 100 patients of community acquired pneumonia with age and sex matched healthy controls, after getting informed consent from all subjects. The serum zinc level was measured, analyzed and interpreted with regard to age, CURB-65, comorbidity and hospital stay. Results and observation: The mean age of patients was 59.74 years. 53 patients were males and 47 were females. Smoking history was present in 55 patients. The mean serum zinc level in patients was 89.9 μg/dl whereas in controls it was 105.65 μg/dl, which was statistically significant. The zinc levels were low in elderly patients and controls as compared to young ones. Mean zinc level was lower in patients of high CURB-65 score and vice versa. Summary: Our study revealed a definite relation of low serum levels of zinc with community acquired pneumonia and there is definite decrease in serum zinc levels as the age increases. Considering the morbidity, mortality, hospital stay and financial burden and to reduce the use of antibiotics for pneumonia, especially in developing countries like ours, serum zinc levels should be routinely measured and thereby supplemented

An insight into anticancer perspectives of chickpea bioactive compounds

Cancers of the lung, colon, liver, stomach, and breast are common worldwide and have significant fatality rates. Cachexia caused by cancer is the major cause of death in cancer patients, and malnutrition and metabolic illnesses have become more widespread in recent years. To combat these health conditions, proper nutrition is essential. Chickpeas include a variety of bioactive components, including antioxidants, phytochemicals, and bioactive peptides, all of which have preventative and protective health effects. This review summarizes the evidence-based studies on chickpeas’ ability to serve as a valuable source of bioactive chemicals that can help protect against many types of cancer. Chickpeas include secondary metabolites including quercetin and myricetin, as well as phenolic acids and vitamins A, B, and E, which may protect the body from free radicals. Chickpeas have the highest total phenolic content and essential amino acid concentration of any germinated seed. Chickpea storage proteins, such as globulins, glutelins, albumins, and prolamins, are high in protein and can help with cachexia. These proteins contain angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitory and anti-proliferative capabilities, making them useful in the treatment of a wide range of cancers. As a result, this article provides advice to consumers on improving their eating habits to protect against and fight cancer and may serve as a foundation for future clinical studies