A RARE CASE REPORT ON MYXOEDEMA COMA

Myxoedema coma is a sporadic life-threatening complication of severe hypothyroidism with high mortality. Altered mental status and hypothermia are the main symptoms of myxoedema coma. Apart from that, hypoxia, bradycardia, hypotension, anemia, and hyponatremia would be present. Few patients present comatose with severe myxoedema. Presenting coma may mislead the diagnosis of this condition. A female patient presented with fever, breathlessness, and disorientation was admitted. First diagnosed to have electrolyte imbalance and treatment was started accordingly. The patient did not show much of an improvement, and it took a day to identify the presence of severe hypothyroidism. Treating hypothyroidism resulted in an advance in the patient condition. Patients’ previous history of hypothyroidism was not informed during admission. It is always tough to diagnose myxoedema coma when the patients’ previous history of hypothyroidism is unknown. Hence, it is still essential to have hypothyroidism in mind while treating patients with comatose. This case has been reported to alert physicians in diagnosing myxoedema coma patients and to proceed with the treatment at the earliest

Brain Tumor Boundary Segmentation of MR Imaging using Spatial Domain Image Processing

Extracting information for medical purposes from magnetic resonance imaging is critically important for diagnostic and treatment plans. In this paper, a simple algorithm for tumor segmentation of Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is introduced. The novelty incorporates, preserving fine details of the input image while detecting the boundary accurately. Tumor segmentation is carried out by set of pre processing steps followed by morphological operations. Rough contour of the tumor is localized to reduce the search space for the boundary. Line drawing algorithm in cooperated with pixel selection criteria is used to detect the accurate boundary. The algorithm is evaluated in terms of the performance and accuracy with radiologist labelled ground truth MRI scans. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm provides better identification with above 95% of accuracy, for clearly distinguishable tumors in relation to conventional contour detection methods

Beta Bremsstrahlung dose in concrete shielding

In a nuclear reactor, beta nuclides are released during nuclear reactions. These betas interact with shielding concrete and produces external Bremsstrahlung (EB) radiation. To estimate Bremsstrahlung dose and shield efficiency in concrete, it is essential to know Bremsstrahlung distribution or spectra. The present work formulated a new method to evaluate the EB spectrum and hence Bremsstrahlung dose of beta nuclides ( 32P, 89Sr, 90Sr 90Y, 90Y, 91Y, 208Tl, 210Bi, 234Pa and 40K) in concrete. The Bremsstrahlung yield of these beta nuclides in concrete is also estimated. The Bremsstrahlung yield in concrete due to 90Sr 90Y is higher than those of other given nuclides. This estimated spectrum is accurate because it is based on more accurate modified atomic number (Z mod) and Seltzers data, where an electronelectron interaction is also included. Presented data in concrete provide a quick and convenient reference for radiation protection. The present methodology can be used to calculate the Bremsstrahlung dose in nuclear shielding materials. It can be quickly employed to give a first pass dose estimate prior to a more detailed experimental study. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Ecotypic Variations in Indian Populations of Eryngium Foetidum L.

Aim: The ecotypic variations with respect to total phenolics, flavonoid, tannin and Vitamin-C content in three different populations of E. foetidum collected from Andaman, Darjeeling (West Bengal) and Hassan (Karnataka) have been studied. Methodology: The total phenolic and total tannin content was estimated by FC method against standard pyrogallol and gallic acid respectively. Vitamin C was extracted with 4% oxalic acid solution and estimated using 2, 4- dinitrophenyl hydrazine reagent alongside standard ascorbic acid. The total flavonoid content was determined by Aluminum chloride colorimetric method with standard Quercitin (1mg/ml). The values were expressed as mg/g equivalents of respective standards. Results: A significant difference (p= 0.05%) in the concentration of secondary metabolites among all the studied populations was observed. The total phenolic content was highest in the Darjeeling population, flavonoid and tannin content was maximum in Andaman population and Vitamin C content was predominantly high in the Karnataka population. Conclusion: The variations in phytochemical constituents could be attributed to the possible interaction of the plant populations with their geographical location and their subsequent adaptations to the same

Clinical characteristics and laboratory profile of childhood systemic lupus erythematosus in a tertiary care center

Objectives: To study the clinical characteristics and laboratory profile of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in children in a tertiarycare center. Methods: Children presenting to our tertiary care center with suspected SLE, fulfilling at least 4 out of 11 American Collegeof Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for the diagnosis of SLE were reviewed retrospectively. The study period was from June 2012 to May2015. The clinical presentation and laboratory parameters were analyzed. Results: A total of 14 patients fulfilled the ACR criteria; therewere 12 girls and 2 boys with a sex ratio of 1:6 favoring girls. The mean age on presentation was 9.8 years with a range of 3-15 years.At presentation, 70% of the children had features not suggestive of SLE. The most common symptom was fever seen in 100% of thepatients, followed by hematological abnormalities in 78%, and renal involvement in 57% patients. Arthritis, skin lesions, and pulmonaryinvolvement were seen in 42% of the patients. The gastrointestinal presentation was seen in 21% of the patients. Conclusion: SLE has avaried clinical presentation depending on the predominant organ involved. A high index of suspicion is required for the early diagnosisof SLE in children

A Location Based Value Prediction for Quality of Web Service

The number of web services with functionality increases, the service users usually depends on web recommendation systems. Now a days the service users pay more importance on non functional properties which are also known as Quality of Service (QoS) while finding and selecting appropriate web services. Collaborative filtering approach predicts the QoS values of the web services effectively. Existing recommendation systems rarely consider the personalized influence of the users and services in determining the similarity between users and services. The proposed system is a ranking oriented hybrid approach which integrates user-based and item-based QoS predictions. Many of the non-functional properties depends on the user and the service location. The system thus employs the location information of users and services in selecting similar neighbors for the target user and service and thereby making personalized service recommendation for service users

Nonrandom distribution of Alu elements in genes of various functional categories: insight from analysis of human chromosomes 21 and 22

The first draft of the human genome has revealed enormous variability in the global distribution of Alu repeat elements. There are regions such as the four homeobox gene clusters, which are nearly devoid of these repeats that contrast with repeat dense regions in other transcriptionally active regions of the genome. Our analysis of the completely sequenced chromosomes 21 and 22 revealed a striking bias in Alu distribution. These elements are more clustered in genes which are involved in metabolism, transport, and signaling processes. In contrast, they are significantly fewer in genes coding for information pathway components as well as structural proteins. This bias in Alu distribution is independent of the effect of Alu density of the flanking genomic region and is also not affected by the GC content of the gene and its upstream and downstream regions. The relative proportions of Alu subfamilies (Alu J, Alu S, and Alu Y) are not significantly different in genes with high Alu density belonging to the functional categories of transport, metabolism, and signaling. However, in the structural proteins and information genes, these proportions are lower than the other three categories. We suggest that Alu elements might be involved in regulatory mechanisms and are therefore differentially selected in primate genomes

Study of sleep problems and their association with scholastic performance in school going children

Background: Sleep is an integral part of any healthy individual and sleep problems can affect the intellectual abilities including theperformance at school. Objectives: We studied the sleep problems among school going children in the age group of 6-16 years and theassociation of the sleep problems with scholastic performance in them. Materials and Methods: The study was a cross-sectional studycarried out in students attending a private school. The children were given a questionnaire based on the “BEARS” screening tool forsleep problems in children to be filled by children and parents. Accordingly, the age and academic grades of students were recorded.The prevalence of sleep problems and their relation to school grades were studied. Results: Out of 229 students, 25.33% (58) studentswere found to have sleep problems after applying the “BEARS” criteria. Of these 58 children, 31 scored A grade, 25 scored B grade, and2 scored C grade. 23% (31 out of 135) of A graders were found to have sleeping problems, 28% (25 out of 89) of B graders, and 40%(2 out of 5) of C graders had sleeping problems. Conclusion: Sleep problems were common in school going children. It was observedthat as scholastic grades decreased, the prevalence of sleeping problems increased. Sleep problems might be one of the contributors forpoor scholastic achievements in children

Yield and Quality of Dual Purpose Sorghum-Fodder Cowpea Cropping System as Influenced by Integrated Nutrient Management

Integrated nutrient management in cropping system ensures higher fertilizer use efficiency through balanced combination of organic manures and chemical fertilizers. INM is required to stimulate sustainability in production of crops in cropping sequence. Sorghum is commonly grown for grain and fodder in different agro-climatic regions of Andhra Pradesh. The crop can be grown both in kharif and rabi season. In our country, sorghum provides a cheap source of dietary carbohydrate and energy. Sorghum is a C4 plant species however grain and fodder yields are low mainly because of low inputs. Since it is not precisely known that what would be the most advantageous combination of organic manure and inorganic nitrogen fertilizer to get maximum yield from sorghum crop, this experiment was formulated. Fodder cowpea is also included as rabi crop to quantify residual effect of nutrients in the system