Borderline ovarian tumours-patterns of recurrence and fertility outcome

Background: The aim of the study was to evaluate the factors affecting recurrence and prognosis in patients with borderline ovarian tumours and to assess the fertility outcome in women treated with conservative surgery.Methods: Fifty-six patients diagnosed with borderline ovarian tumours during the period between January 2005 and December 2009 in Regional Cancer Centre (RCC), Thiruvananthapuram were included. Patients were followed till December 2012.Results: Median follow up period was 52.5 months. The mean age at diagnosis was 33.5 yrs. Histopathology was serous in 41.1%, mucinous in 57.1%, and endometrioid in 1.8%. 48 patients (85.7%) had stage I disease, 2 patients (3.6%) had Stage II disease and 6 patients (10.7%) had stage III disease at diagnosis. 11 patients (19.6%) had bilateral tumours of which 7(63.6%) were serous and 4 were mucinous. 27 patients (48.2%) underwent fertility sparing surgery of which 13 patients underwent cystectomy and 14 underwent ovariotomy. 29 patients (51.78 %) underwent complete surgery including hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo oopherectomy and omentectomy. 14.3% of patients had microinvasive disease and 14.3 % had micro papillary disease on histopathology. 9 patients (16.1 %) had peritoneal implants of which 1 was invasive and 8 were non-invasive. Recurrence rate in the entire study group was 30.4%, 14.28% among patients undergoing complete surgery, 28.57% among patients undergoing adnexectomy and 69.2% among patients undergoing cystectomy.Conclusions: Univariate analysis showed a significant association between micropapillary histology, peritoneal implants and recurrence. On multivariate analysis, only peritoneal implants were found to be independently associated with recurrence

Rituximab and COVID-19 infection in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases – A real-world study from India

Introduction: Safety of rituximab (RTX) in autoimmune rheumatic diseases (AIRDs) has been a concern during this ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Delayed worsening of COVID symptoms, increased hospital stays, and mortality has been reported among those infected post-RTX. This study describes the occurrence and course of COVID-19 infection among AIRD Indian patients who received RTX during this pandemic. Patients and Methods: Adult patients (≥18 years) with any AIRD, who received RTX between October 2019 and May 2021, were enrolled in this study. Patients satisfying the inclusion criteria were telephonically enquired about contracting confirmed COVID-19, its course, treatment, and outcome. Baseline parameters, immunoglobulin G level, vaccination, and comorbidity status before RTX were compared between the COVID-19 infected and noninfected patients to determine factors affecting the outcome. Results: Out of 1081 patients admitted during the study period, 218 patients received RTX. The mean age of these patients was 40.1 ± 14.2 years and comprised mostly of women (81.7%). Rheumatoid arthritis followed by lupus and anti-neutrophilic cytoplasmic antibodies-associated vasculitis was the predominant AIRD. Among the patients contacted (207/218 [94.9%]), 11 (5.3%) patients reported confirmed COVID-19 infections. Out of these, three (27.3%) had severe COVID-19 and one patient succumbed to it. Others became symptom-free after a mean duration of 14.4 ± 4.7 days of onset of symptoms. No significant difference among the baseline parameters observed predicted COVID-19 susceptibility. Conclusion: Among our AIRD patients treated with RTX, occurrence, and mortality of COVID-19 infection was low. Younger age of our patient cohort and female predominance might have contributed in reducing the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection

Balancing trade-offs between biotic and abiotic stress responses through leaf age-dependent variation in stress hormone cross-talk

In nature, plants must respond to multiple stresses simultaneously, which likely demands cross-talk between stress-response pathways to minimize fitness costs. Here we provide genetic evidence that biotic and abiotic stress responses are differentially prioritized in Arabidopsis thaliana leaves of different ages to maintain growth and reproduction under combined biotic and abiotic stresses. Abiotic stresses, such as high salinity and drought, blunted immune responses in older rosette leaves through the phytohormone abscisic acid signaling, whereas this antagonistic effect was blocked in younger rosette leaves by PBS3, a signaling component of the defense phytohormone salicylic acid. Plants lacking PBS3 exhibited enhanced abiotic stress tolerance at the cost of decreased fitness under combined biotic and abiotic stresses. Together with this role, PBS3 is also indispensable for the establishment of salt stress- and leaf age-dependent phyllosphere bacterial communities. Collectively, our work reveals a mechanism that balances trade-offs upon conflicting stresses at the organism level and identifies a genetic intersection among plant immunity, leaf microbiota, and abiotic stress tolerance.status: publishe

Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Modeling and Simulation in Civil Engineering

This conference proceedings contains articles on the various research ideas of the academic community and technical researchers presented at the 6th International Conference on Modeling and Simulation in Civil Engineering (ICMSC 2022). ICMSC 2022 was organized by the Department of Civil Engineering, TKM College of Engineering, Kollam, Kerala, India on December 1-3, 2022. The main aim of this conference is to bring together leading academicians, researchers, technocrats, practitioners, and students to exchange and share their experiences and research outputs on all aspects of Civil Engineering, especially related to the modeling and simulation in Civil Engineering.  Conference Title: 6th International Conference on Modeling and Simulation in Civil EngineeringConference Acronym:  ICMSC 2022Conference Date: 1-3 December 2022Conference Location: IndiaConference Organizer: Department of Civil Engineering, TKM College of Engineering, Kollam, Kerala, Indi