Field evaluation of a rapid immunochromatographic dipstick test for the diagnosis of cholera in a high-risk population

BACKGROUND: Early detection of cholera outbreaks is crucial for the implementation of the most appropriate control strategies. METHODS: The performance of an immunochromatographic dipstick test (Institute Pasteur, Paris, France) specific for Vibrio cholerae O1 was evaluated in a prospective study in Beira, Mozambique, during the 2004 cholera season (January-May). Fecal specimens were collected from 391 patients with acute watery nonbloody diarrhea and tested by dipstick and conventional culture. RESULTS: The overall sensitivity and specificity of the rapid test compared to culture were 95% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 91%–99%) and 89% (95% CI: 86%–93%), respectively. After stratification by type of sample (rectal swab/bulk stool) and severity of diarrhea, the sensitivity ranged between 85% and 98% and specificity between 77% and 97%. CONCLUSION: This one-step dipstick test performed well in the diagnosis of V. cholerae O1 in a setting with seasonal outbreaks where rapid tests are most urgently needed

Complications and pitfalls of lumbar interlaminar and transforaminal epidural injections

Lumbar interlaminar and transforaminal epidural injections are used in the treatment of lumbar radicular pain and other lumbar spinal pain syndromes. Complications from these procedures arise from needle placement and the administration of medication. Potential risks include infection, hematoma, intravascular injection of medication, direct nerve trauma, subdural injection of medication, air embolism, disc entry, urinary retention, radiation exposure, and hypersensitivity reactions. The objective of this article is to review the complications of lumbar interlaminar and transforaminal epidural injections and discuss the potential pitfalls related to these procedures. We performed a comprehensive literature review through a Medline search for relevant case reports, clinical trials, and review articles. Complications from lumbar epidural injections are extremely rare. Most if not all complications can be avoided by careful technique with accurate needle placement, sterile precautions, and a thorough understanding of the relevant anatomy and contrast patterns on fluoroscopic imaging

Focused Examination of the Intestinal lamina Propria Yields Greater Molecular Insight into Mechanisms Underlying SIV Induced Immune Dysfunction

Background: The Gastrointestinal (GI) tract is critical to AIDS pathogenesis as it is the primary site for viral transmission and a major site of viral replication and CD4 + T cell destruction. Consequently GI disease, a major complication of HIV/SIV infection can facilitate translocation of lumenal bacterial products causing localized/systemic immune activation leading to AIDS progression. Methodology/Principal Findings: To better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying GI disease we analyzed global gene expression profiles sequentially in the intestine of the same animals prior to and at 21 and 90d post SIV infection (PI). More importantly we maximized information gathering by examining distinct mucosal components (intraepithelial lymphocytes, lamina propria leukocytes [LPL], epithelium and fibrovascular stroma) separately. The use of sequential intestinal resections combined with focused examination of distinct mucosal compartments represents novel approaches not previously attempted. Here we report data pertaining to the LPL. A significant increase (61.7-fold) in immune defense/inflammation, cell adhesion/migration, cell signaling, transcription and cell division/differentiation genes were observed at 21 and 90d PI. Genes associated with the JAK-STAT pathway (IL21, IL12R, STAT5A, IL10, SOCS1) and T-cell activation (NFATc1, CDK6, Gelsolin, Moesin) were notably upregulated at 21d PI. Markedly downregulated genes at 21d PI included IL17D/IL27 and IL28B/IFNc3 (anti-HIV/viral), activation induced cytidine deaminase (B-cell function) an

Ontology-based semantic data interestingness using BERT models

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated massive data in the healthcare sector in recent years, encouraging researchers and scientists to uncover the underlying facts. Mining interesting patterns in the large COVID-19 corpora is very important and useful for the decision makers. This paper presents a novel approach for uncovering interesting insights in large datasets using ontologies and BERT models. The research proposes a framework for extracting semantically rich facts from data by incorporating domain knowledge into the data mining process through the use of ontologies. An improved Apriori algorithm is employed for mining semantic association rules, while the interestingness of the rules is evaluated using BERT models for semantic richness. The results of the proposed framework are compared with state-of-the-art methods and evaluated using a combination of domain expert evaluation and statistical significance testing. The study offers a promising solution for finding meaningful relationships and facts in large datasets, particularly in the healthcare sector

Annual Report 2017-18

Not AvailableComparing with spectral signature and preexisting indices, maximum R values was observed in RWC and pigment analysis than other biochemical parameters. According to the spectral signature, the Sugarcane variety MS-10001 showed maximum drought stress tolerance compared to Co-86032. In citrus plants, fully irrigated treatments clearly differentiated with deficit water treatments. • Haematoxylin-eosin staining of white muscle morphology exhibited hypertrophic growth at higher diurnal temperature. Enhanced thermal tolerance was observed at higher diurnal temperature regime, CTMax of 43.26°C and CTMin of 11.3°C in comparison to lower diurnal temperature regime, CTMax of 42.62°C and CTMin of 10.2°C. • It was observed that fish Oreochromis mossambicus exposed to higher diurnal temperatures grew 11.2% more than fish exposed to lower diurnal temperatures. Increase in metabolic rates with increase in diurnal fluctuating temperatures is also observed. This study suggests that the diurnal fluctuating temperatures increase the ability of O. mossambicus to adapt to increasing temperature regime.Not Availabl