A Giant Lipoma In The Hand - Report Of A Rare Case

A 38 years old male patient presented with a large painless swelling in the right palm with ultrasound examination suggestive of fatty nature of the swelling MRI showing a well-circumscribed soft tissue swelling in the deep palmar space. The giant tumor of 6.5 X 4 cm was excised and the patient was symptom free two years following the surgery

Fabrication of high efficiency and radiation resistant GaAs solar cells

Systematic improvements in fabrication yield were obtained by appropriate control of the liquid phase epitaxial growth process, contact fabrication and surface preparation. To improve radiation hardness, the junction depth was decreased while overcoming the penalty in decreased solar cell efficiency which tends to go hand-in-hand with the reduction of junction depth in (AlGa) As-GaAs solar cells. Cells were made with an AMO efficiency of 18% and a junction depth of 0.5 micrometers, as compared to junction depths on the order of 1.0 micrometers. With respect to the damage caused by proton irradiation, the nature of the observed damage was correlated to the energy and penetration depth of the damaging protons

Recreation Reform: Leveling the Playing Field in Post-Katrina New Orleans

Between 2000 and 2005, I was in charge of every aspect of the New Orleans Saints’ non-football operations, from ticket sales to corporate sponsorships to lease negotiations for the Superdome. By spring 2007, though, by some combination of fate, determination, and maybe a little naiveté, I found myself in charge of legislatively repairing the City of New Orleans’ entire system of recreation. I quickly discovered that this was no small task

Imaging the dust sublimation front of a circumbinary disk

We present the first near-IR milli-arcsecond-scale image of a post-AGB binary that is surrounded by hot circumbinary dust. A very rich interferometric data set in six spectral channels was acquired of IRAS08544-4431 with the new RAPID camera on the PIONIER beam combiner at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). A broadband image in the \textit{H} band was reconstructed by combining the data of all spectral channels using the SPARCO method. We spatially separate all the building blocks of the IRAS08544-4431 system in our milliarcsecond-resolution image. Our dissection reveals a dust sublimation front that is strikingly similar to that expected in early-stage protoplanetary disks, as well as an unexpected flux signal of $\sim$4\% from the secondary star. The energy output from this companion indicates the presence of a compact circum-companion accretion disk, which is likely the origin of the fast outflow detected in H$\alpha$. Our image provides the most detailed view into the heart of a dusty circumstellar disk to date. Our results demonstrate that binary evolution processes and circumstellar disk evolution can be studied in detail in space and over time.Comment: PR @ http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1608

LIFESTYLE FACTORS AND OBESITY AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN RURAL SOUTH INDIA

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of obesity among adolescents of thestudy area and to study the association of physical activity, dietary habitswith obesity.Methods: This was a school based cross sectional study conducted among 2963 adolescents in Udupi. They were interviewed using pre-testedquestionnaire, followed by body mass index measurement and classification using World Health Organization criteria. Statistical analysis was doneusing Mann–Whitney U-test, Kruskal–Wallis test, and Chi-square tests.Results: The prevalence of overweight was 2.4% and obesity 1.4% and they were higher among the adolescents belonging to higher socio-economicstatus, among those using motorized transport. Furthermore, 93.2% of the subjects consumed readymade food items apart from homemade ones,28.8% of them had the habit of eating in between the regular meals, and 59.6% of the subjects had the habit of consuming carbonated beveragesregularly.Conclusions: Current levels of obesity and lifestyle factors among the adolescents in the study area can significantly predispose them to the risk ofnon-communicable diseases, which needs to be considered while making policies for non-communicable diseases.Keywords: Adolescents, Obesity, Overweight, Lifestyle, Diet, World Health Organization

A study of superficial surgical site infections in a tertiary care hospital at Bangalore

Background: All postoperative surgical infections occurring in an operative site are termed surgical site infections (SSI). Superficial incisional surgical site infection occurs within 30 days after the operation and infection involves only skin or subcutaneous tissue of the incision and represents a substantial burden of disease for patients and health services. The study was conducted to know the incidence of surgical site infection in our hospital, risk factors associated with it and the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of the pathogens.Methods:This prospective study was carried out in the Department of Microbiology at Dr B R AMC for a period of 1 year from Jan 2013to Jan 2014. Samples of SSI received in the Microbiology laboratory were processed and Data collected.Results:The overall surgical site infection rate in our hospital during the study period is 4.3%. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) was the most common isolate obtained followed by Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Coagulase negative Staphylococcus (CONS). Other organisms isolated were Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus mirabilis. Among them, 88.8% of S. aureus and 50% of CONS isolates were methicillin-resistant strains. 80% of E. coli and 100% of Klebsiella species were ESBL producers. 50% of Enterococci were Vancomycin resistant. Risk factors like diabetes mellitus and duration plays a significant role in causing surgical site infection.Conclusion:Implementation of an effective infection control programme and judicious use of antibiotic prophylaxis reduces the incidence of SSI in the hospital.

A study of biofilm production in clinical isolates of Staphylococci at a tertiary care hospital, Bangalore

Background: The Biofilms are densely packed communities of microorganisms consisting of layers of cell clusters embedded in a matrix of extracellular polysaccharide called polysaccharide intercellular adhesin. This layer impedes the delivery of antibiotics to the biofilm forming microbial cells leading to emergence of drug resistance. Staphylococci are commensal bacteria on the human skin and mucous membranes. So it may be easily introduced as a contaminant during the surgical intervention. So, this study was conducted to identify the Biofilm producing strains from clinical isolates of Staphylococci.Methods: A total of 182 non-repetitive clinical strains of Staphylococci isolated from various clinical samples from Feb 2014 to Oct 2014 were included in the study. All the isolates were identified using standard microbiological procedures. All the samples were tested for biofilm production by modified Congo-red agar method and tube method.Results: Out of 182 samples that were included in the study, a total of 90 (49.45%) samples showed biofilm formation of which 58 (75.32%) were methicillin resistant and 32 (30.47%) were methicillin sensitive. Also these strains were resistant to other antibiotics.  Conclusion: Our study showed biofilm production by methicillin resistant strains which were also multidrug resistant. Treatment of methicillin resistant strains of Staphylococci is one of the most challenging task for the clinicians and the microbiologists. So they should be routinely screened for biofilm formation in order to prevent emergence and spread of multidrug resistant strains.