Successful Management of a Patient with Florid Diabetic Retinopathy

Florid diabetic retinopathy is an unusual, aggressive type of diabetic retinopathy. It is seen in young patients with poor metabolic control. Despite advances in treatment the overall prognosis of this condition remains poor. A 21-year old female patient was seen by us and found to have florid diabetic retinopathy despite an adequate metabolic control by oral hypoglycemic agents. The patient underwent multiple laser and orbital floor triamcinolone acetonide injections. Later the left eye developed persistent vitreous hemorrhage for which a vitrectomy with silicone oil injection was done. During a 4 year follow-up she has shown a visually and anatomical stable response

BIOLOGI REPRODUKSI IKAN LAIS (Kryptopterus lais) DI PERAIRAN KAWASAN SEJEGI KABUPATEN MEMPAWAH

Perairan di Kawasan Sejegi memiliki kawasan hutan lindung yang mempengaruhi keberadaan jenis biota air. Perairan di kawasan Sejegi dimanfaatkan masyarakat sekitar sebagai sumber air, pertanian dan usaha keramba jaring apung. Kawasan ini juga menjadi habitat biota air salah satunya yaitu ikan lais (Kryptopterus lais). Penelitian ini dilakukan di Perairan Kawasan Sejegi Kabupaten Mempawah pada bulan Mei-Oktober 2022. Tujuan Penelitian ini untuk menentukan beberapa aspek biologi reproduksi ikan lais (Kryptopterus lais) yang terdiri dari rasio kelamin, TKG (Tingkat Kematangan Gonad), IKG (Indeks Kematangan Gonad) dan Fekunditas. Pengambilan sampel ikan terdiri dari 3 stasiun dengan menggunakan metode purposive sampling. Hasil penelitian rasio kelamin secara keseluruhan adalah ikan jantan : betina adalah 51 : 44 ekor atau 1,2 : 1. Berdasarkan hitungan chi square menunjukkan hasil X² hitung (5.39) < X² tabel (7.81) yang berarti nilai tabel lebih besar dari nilai hitung, sehingga proporsi ikan jantan dan betina seimbang. Hasil pengamatan ikan lais  jantan maupun betina hanya diperoleh TKG I-IV, sedangkan TKG V tidak ditemukan. Nilai rata-rata IKG tertinggi ikan jantan ditemukan pada stasiun 3 sebesar 0,65% dan nilai IKG ikan jantan terendah ditemukan pada stasiun 2 sebesar 0,47%. Nilai rata-rata IKG tertinggi ikan betina ditemukan pada stasiun 3 sebesar 5,36% dan nilai IKG ikan betina terendah ditemukan pada stasiun 1 sebesar 4,90%. Hasil pengamatan fekunditas ikan lais pada tingkat kematangan gonad III-IV sebanyak 40 ekor diperoleh fekunditas berkisar antara 6581-20071 butir telur dengan rata-rata 11955 butir telur

Bifidobacterial Dominance of the Gut in Early Life and Acquisition of Antimicrobial Resistance.

Bifidobacterium species are important commensals capable of dominating the infant gut microbiome, in part by producing acids that suppress growth of other taxa. Bifidobacterium species are less prone to possessing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes (ARGs) than other taxa that may colonize infants. Given that AMR is a growing public health crisis and ARGs are present in the gut microbiome of humans from early life, this study examines the correlation between a Bifidobacterium-dominated infant gut microbiome and AMR levels, measured by a culture-independent metagenomic approach both in early life and as infants become toddlers. In general, Bifidobacterium dominance is associated with a significant reduction in AMR in a Bangladeshi cohort, both in the number of acquired AMR genes present and in the abundance of AMR genes. However, by year 2, Bangladeshi infants had no significant differences in AMR related to their early-life Bifidobacterium levels. A generalized linear model including all infants in a previously published Swedish cohort found a significant negative association between log-transformed total AMR and Bifidobacterium levels, thus confirming the relationship between Bifidobacterium levels and AMR. In both cohorts, there was no change between early-life and later-life AMR abundance in high-Bifidobacterium infants but a significant reduction in AMR abundance in low-Bifidobacterium infants. These results support the hypothesis that early Bifidobacterium dominance of the infant gut microbiome may help reduce colonization by taxa containing ARGs.IMPORTANCE Infants are vulnerable to an array of infectious diseases, and as the gut microbiome may serve as a reservoir of AMR for pathogens, reducing the levels of AMR in infants is important to infant health. This study demonstrates that high levels of Bifidobacterium are associated with reduced levels of AMR in early life and suggests that probiotic interventions to increase infant Bifidobacterium levels have the potential to reduce AMR in infants. However, this effect is not sustained at year 2 of age in Bangladeshi infants, underscoring the need for more detailed studies of the biogeography and timing of infant AMR acquisition

Influence of Fatty Acid Methyl Esters on Fuel properties of Biodiesel Produced from the Seeds Oil of Curcubita pepo

Oil extracted from the seeds of Curcubita pepo was transesterified using potassium hydroxide in methanol. Fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) profile of the produced diesel was analyzed using Gas chromatograph coupled with mass spectrophotometer (GC-MS). The results indicate the presence of methyl (12E)-octadecenotate as the dominant ester with approximate percentage by composition of 82.90%. Other esters detected were methyl tetradecanoate (0.4%), methyl eicosonoate (2.48%), methyl docosanoate (0.97%) methyl teracosanoate (0.47%). Some critical fuel parameters like oxidation stability, cetane number, iodine value and viscosity were correlated with the methyl ester composition and structural configuration. It was found that the cetane number and oxidation stability of the produced biodiesel is a function of the degree of unsaturation and long chain saturated factor. The profile of methyl esters in the biodiesel produced indicates its likelihood to be a viable fuel source for internal combustion engines

Dynamic modelling and linear quadratic Gaussian control of a twin-rotor multi-output system

This paper presents an investigation into the modelling and control of a one-degree-of-freedom (1 DOF) twin-rotor multi-input multi-output (MIMO) system (TRMS). The behaviour of the TRMS in certain aspects resembles that of a helicopter. Hence, it is an interesting identification and control problem. A dynamic model characterizing the TRMS in hover is extracted using a black-box system identification technique. The extracted model is employed in the design of a feedback linear quadratic Gaussian compensator, namely the stability augmentation system (SAS). This has a good tracking capability but requires high control effort and has inadequate authority over residual vibration of the system. These problems are resolved by further augmenting the system with a command path prefilter, resulting in the command and stability augmentation system (CSAS). The combined feedforward and feedback compensator satisfies the performance objectives and obeys the actuator constraint. The control law is implemented in realtime on the TRMS platform

Microwave-to-terahertz dielectric resonators for liquid sensing in microfluidic systems

The microwave-to-terahertz frequency range offers unique opportunities for the sensing of liquids based on the degree of molecular orientational and electronic polarization, Debye relaxation due to intermolecular forces between (semi-)polar molecules and collective vibrational modes within complex molecules. Methods for the fast dielectric characterization of (sub-)nanolitre volumes of mostly aqueous liquids and biological cell suspensions are discussed, with emphasis on labon- chip approaches aimed towards single-cell detection and label-free flow cytometry at microwave-to-terahertz frequencies. Among the most promising approaches, photonic crystal defect cavities made from high-resistivity silicon are compared with metallic split-ring resonant systems and high quality factor (Q-factor) whispering gallery-type resonances in dielectric resonators. Applications range from accurate haemoglobin measurements on nanolitre samples to label-free detection of circulating tumor cells. © (2016) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only