Bacterial flora in the conjunctiva among the patients undergoing cataract surgery

Background: The present study was aimed in identifying the normal organisms found in the conjunctiva of healthy eyes among the individuals undergoing cataract surgery and also antibacterial susceptibility of the isolates. Cataract is the major cause of blindness in the developing countries, cataract surgery is one of the common surgical practices.Methods: Study was conducted in the department of Microbiology, GSL Medical College from May to July 2018. Surgically removed cataract lens was collected in sterile nutrient broth and transported to Microbiology laboratory for culture and sensitivity testing. The broths were incubated at 37ºC for 24 hours subcultured on Blood agar, MacConkey agar and Nutrient agar, incubated aerobically at 37ºC for 24 hours and then examined for bacteria growth according to standard protocol. After incubation growth was identified by colony morphology, gram staining and biochemical tests. Antibiotic sensitivity testing was done on Muller-Hinton agar by the disk diffusion method.Results: During the study period, 58 samples were collected; the male female ratio was 1.14. Maximum strains were isolated among female; the male female ration was 0.95. Increase in flora was observed with age. No significant drug resistance was observed.Conclusions: This is a hospital based study which is not true representation of the community. Hence a community based study with large sample by considering the comorbid conditions such as occupation, diabetes, immune status can give the authentic data on the conjunctival flora

Silent brain infarcts in chronic kidney disease patients with nonspecific neurological symptoms

Introduction: Silent brain infarcts (SBI) are parenchymal lesions of previous infarcts, classified as type III cerebrovascular disorder. A study was undertaken to find the relation between SBIs and nonspecific neurological complaints, an association of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) with silent brain infarcts. Methodology: It was a cross-sectional study conducted in the department of Nephrology, GSL Medical College, from January to December 2020. Individuals aged > 18 years with nonspecific neurological complaints were included. MRI brain, hsCRP and electrocardiogram were also carried as per the standard protocol. Fischer exact test was used to find the statistical significance; P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 51 members have included the male-female ratio was 1.04. SBI was presented in 27.4% (14). Age-wise, among the cortical SBI patients, maximum (75%) were in the> 61 years group. High density lipoprotein levels were > 40 mg/dL in 39.2%, normal triglycerides (TGL) were observed in 71% and raised hsCRP in 62.7% (32). Statistically, there was no significant difference in TGL levels. hsCRP levels were raised in 3 (75%) members with cortical SBI; statistically, there was no significant difference. Conclusion: The traditional risk factors associated with stroke were present in the patients with SBI. hsCRP was raised in chronic kidney disease patients having NSCL and having SBI

A study on dietary recall among the maintenance haemodialysis patients in East Godavari district.

Introduction: Individuals with end-stage renal diseases are usually at an increased risk of nutritional disorders. Protein-energy malnutrition is observed in a significant number of maintenance haemodialysis (MHD) patients. Hence a study was conducted to find whether dietary intake meets recommended dietary allowance (RDA) among MHD individuals. Materials and methods: This was cross-sectional research conducted in the department of Nephrology, GSL Medical College, for 18 months. Individuals are aged 18 years or more, metabolically stable and undergoing MHD were included. Software called Dietsoft was used to know the dietary calculations. Parameters including energy, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and essential amino acids (EAA) were evaluated. Mann Whitney U test was used to find the significant difference, and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Of the 31 patients, 18 were male, and 13 were female. The calorie intake was as recommended, but statistically, there was no significant difference. But the intake of the macronutrients and dietary fibre was higher than the recommended, which was statistically significant. In females, there was a considerable difference. The difference was statistically not significant in minerals intake. Conclusion: There was considerable malnutrition among the patients undergoing MHD. Hence regular dietary assessment is required

Demosaicing of Color Images by Accurate Estimation of Luminance

Digital cameras acquire color images using a single sensor with Color filter Arrays. A single color component per pixel is acquired using color filter arrays and the remaining two components are obtained using demosaicing techniques. The conventional demosaicing techniques existent induce artifacts in resultant images effecting reconstruction quality. To overcome this drawback a frequency based demosaicing technique is proposed. The luminance and chrominance components extracted from the frequency domain of the image are interpolated to produce intermediate demosaiced images. A novel Neural Network Based Image Reconstruction Algorithm is applied to the intermediate demosaiced image to obtain resultant demosaiced images. The results presented in the paper prove the proposed demosaicing technique exhibits the best performance and is applicable to a wide variety of images

Clinical response to chemotherapy in non-small cell lung carcinoma patients

Background: Lung carcinoma is the most common. With this, a study was conducted to assess the clinical profile of Non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) and also to evaluate the response to chemotherapy in various stages of NSCLC.Methods: It was a prospective study. All the clinically confirmed cases with NSCLC were taken into consideration. Clinical staging was done, diagnosis was confirmed by histopathological findings. Treatment was given depending on the stage of carcinoma. Patients were evaluated before each cycle of chemotherapy for any progression of disease. Pathological response was evaluated after completion of 6 cycles of chemotherapy. Chi square test was used to find the statistical significance; p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Total 153 patients admitted to oncology wing were taken to the study, with mean age 59.07±10.618 years, 2.6 male female ratio. In this 73% were in stage III and the remaining in stage IV NSCLC. Majority (56.10%) of the study subjects in stage III NSCLC showed partial response, Majority (68%) of the subjects in stage IV NSCLC showed partial response; the difference was Statistically significant (p<0.05).Conclusions: NSCLS is common in older people with male dominance due to habits

Dynamic hip screw technique in the management of trochanteric fracture

Background: Study was conducted to find the results of dynamic hip screw in the management of trochanteric fracture by analyzing the factors which influence post-operative mobility.Methods: Study was conducted in the department of orthopedics, GSL Medical College. Individuals &gt;18 years, both genders who were diagnosed having trochanteric type I and II Boyd and Griffin stable fractures were included in the study. All surgeries were performed under spinal anesthesia, internal fixation with dynamic hip screw and 135o angled blade plate. Injectable third generation cephalosporins were used 24 hours preoperatively, intra- operatively and 5 days post-operatively, and oral antibiotics till suture removal. Patients allowed to sit on bed on 2nd and 3rd day and static quadriceps exercises were started from 2nd day onwards, hip and knee flexion exercises from 6 or 7th day and weight bearing walking form 10th day.Results: The average age was of the participants was 61.53 years, ranged between 41 to 80 years; 65% were female participants and 35% were male patients. In the study, 20 (50%) patients had right side fracture and left sided affection of trochanteric fracture to the remaining 50%. Most of the patients (67.5%) in this study were classified as type II Boyd and Griffin criteria, and 32.5% were type I. The clinical and functional outcome was calculated using the Kyle's criteria; 25% (10) showed excellent response, followed by good (50%), fair (15%) and poor (10%) results.Conclusions: Dynamic hip screw is the operative treatment of choice for stable trochanteric fractures. However, studies on large sample for long time are recommended

Functional outcome in displaced proximal humeral fractures in adults treated by proximal humeral locking plates

Background: The management of proximal humerus fractures (PHF) is a challenging task to any surgeon. Study was conducted to evaluate the clinical and functional outcome of the proximal humeral internal locking system in fixation of displaced proximal humeral fractures.Methods: Study was conducted in the Department of Orthopedics, GSL Medical College. Informed written consent was taken from the study participants. All skeletally mature patients aged &gt;18 years, presenting with displaced PHF according to Neer two, three and four part fracture were included in the study. Either deltopectoral or deltoid splitting approach was used for surgery, post-operative rehabilitation was started on day one.Results: Twenty-five patients with PHF were enrolled in the study; five-holed proximal humerus locking plate (PHLP) was used for 18 patients, eight-holed PHLP for 05 and three-holed, ten-holed PHLP for 01 for one each. The Constant-Murley score was significantly improved (p=0.000) over each successive follow-up period with the average improvement of around 19 scores between 1st and 2nd follow-up and around 15 score improvement between 2nd and 3rd follow-up.Conclusions: The proximal humeral locking plate is an adequate device for the fixation of displaced two-part, three-part and four-part PHF. Patient can regain good shoulder function, resume normal activities much earlier

Prevalence of coronary artery diseases in type 2 diabetic women

Background: There was increasing evidence that gender differences are important in epidemiology, treatment and outcomes of many diseases, relevant for non-communicable diseases.Methods: Study was conducted in Department of General Medicine, GSL Medical College. Patients who were admitted with type 2 diabetes were recruited in the study. Each patient was interviewed to obtain detailed history and examined thoroughly as per predetermined protocol, national diabetes data group and WHO diagnostic criteria was used. Myocardial infarction was diagnosed by convex ST segment elevation in corresponding leads (early) or QS complexes or abnormal Q waves i.e. Q waves of 0.04 seconds or more in width (or) 25% or more of the voltage of the R wave in the same lead or both in the corresponding leads (late) or T wave inversion in the corresponding leads (late). Statistical analyses were done by using SPSS software version 21.0. Chi-square test was used to assess the association between different categorical variables; p&lt;0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Out of 250 participants, 97 were diagnosed as coronary artery disease (CAD), maximum between 51-60 years age group; the difference was statistically significant (p&lt;0.05). The association between dyslipidemia and CAD was statistically significant (p&lt;0.05). Out of 188 post-menopausal cases, CAD was diagnosed in 86 cases; out of the 62 non post-menopausal cases, CAD was diagnosed in 11 cases; The difference was statistically significant (p&lt;0.05).Conclusions: In premenopausal women, the prevalence of CHDs are significantly higher when compared to postmenopausal women

Incidence of early-onset neonatal sepsis in relation to prolonged rupture of membranes

Background: Prolonged rupture of membrane (PROM) is an important risk factor for early-onset neonatal sepsis (EONS)&nbsp;and preterm births. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of EONS in relation to PROM of&nbsp;more than 18 h. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in a medical college in South India. All the neonates born to&nbsp;mothers with a history of PROM for &gt;18 h were included in this study. Sepsis was diagnosed by clinical signs and symptoms and&nbsp;positive blood culture. Results: A total of 200 neonates were included in the study. Among these, confirmed sepsis was diagnosed&nbsp;in 18% (29); statistically, there was no significant difference (p&gt;0.05). A high incidence of sepsis was found in neonates born by&nbsp;normal vaginal (68.5%) delivery. There was no significant difference between incidence of sepsis and duration of PROM; the range&nbsp;was 18–72 h. Conclusion: Sepsis was diagnosed to be less in neonates born to mothers who had prenatal antibiotics

Spatial, temporal, and demographic patterns in prevalence of smoking tobacco use and attributable disease burden in 204 countries and territories, 1990-2019 : a systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Ending the global tobacco epidemic is a defining challenge in global health. Timely and comprehensive estimates of the prevalence of smoking tobacco use and attributable disease burden are needed to guide tobacco control efforts nationally and globally. Methods We estimated the prevalence of smoking tobacco use and attributable disease burden for 204 countries and territories, by age and sex, from 1990 to 2019 as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study. We modelled multiple smoking-related indicators from 3625 nationally representative surveys. We completed systematic reviews and did Bayesian meta-regressions for 36 causally linked health outcomes to estimate non-linear dose-response risk curves for current and former smokers. We used a direct estimation approach to estimate attributable burden, providing more comprehensive estimates of the health effects of smoking than previously available. Findings Globally in 2019, 1.14 billion (95% uncertainty interval 1.13-1.16) individuals were current smokers, who consumed 7.41 trillion (7.11-7.74) cigarette-equivalents of tobacco in 2019. Although prevalence of smoking had decreased significantly since 1990 among both males (27.5% [26. 5-28.5] reduction) and females (37.7% [35.4-39.9] reduction) aged 15 years and older, population growth has led to a significant increase in the total number of smokers from 0.99 billion (0.98-1.00) in 1990. Globally in 2019, smoking tobacco use accounted for 7.69 million (7.16-8.20) deaths and 200 million (185-214) disability-adjusted life-years, and was the leading risk factor for death among males (20.2% [19.3-21.1] of male deaths). 6.68 million [86.9%] of 7.69 million deaths attributable to smoking tobacco use were among current smokers. Interpretation In the absence of intervention, the annual toll of 7.69 million deaths and 200 million disability-adjusted life-years attributable to smoking will increase over the coming decades. Substantial progress in reducing the prevalence of smoking tobacco use has been observed in countries from all regions and at all stages of development, but a large implementation gap remains for tobacco control. Countries have a dear and urgent opportunity to pass strong, evidence-based policies to accelerate reductions in the prevalence of smoking and reap massive health benefits for their citizens. Copyright (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe