Laparoscopic Approach to Vesicovaginal Fistula: Our Experience

AbstractIntroduction: Most Vesicovaginal fistulas  in the industrialized world are iatrogenic, Though they may also result from congenital anomalies, malignant disease, inflammation and infection, radiation therapy, iatrogenic (surgical) or external tissue trauma, ischemia, parturition and a variety of other processes. Vesicovaginal fistulas (VVF) represent, by far, the most common type of acquired fistula of the urinary tract. The goal of treatment of these fistulas is the rapid cessation of urine leakage with return of normal and complete urinary and genital function.Materials and Methods: Female patients presenting with iatrogenic Vesicovaginal fistula formed the study group. A detailed history and physical examination was carried out. Imaging included intravenous urogram, cystogram, computerised tomography, MR imaging and retrograde ureterogram as felt necessary.  Surgical repair of Vesicovaginal fistula was carried out through a laparoscopic approach.Results: 24 women presented with VVF, of these 19 underwent laparoscopic transperitoneal repair, whereas 5 underwent laparoscopic transvesicoscopic repair. The intraoperative blood loss was minimal (< 100 ml) and no major perioperative complications were noted. Conclusions: Minimally invasive approaches to repair vesico-vaginal fistulas are feasible, safe and associated with minimal blood loss, hospital stay and morbidity.Keywords: Laparoscopy, Minimally invasive, Vesicovaginal fistul

Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel pyrazole derivatives as urease inhibitors

Studies on enzyme inhibition remain an important area of pharmaceutical research since these studies have led to the discoveries of drugs useful in a variety of physiological conditions. The enzyme inhibitors can interact with enzymes and block their activity towards natural substrates. Urease inhibitors have recently attracted much attention as potential new anti-ulcer drugs. A series of novel substituted pyrazoles 8(a-j) has been synthesized by diazotization of fluoro chloro aniline (1) and the reaction of the corresponding diazonium salt solution (2) with ethyl cyanoacetate (3) to give the intermediate, ethyl 2-((3-chloro-4-fluorophenyl) diazenyl-2- cyanoacetate (4). The intermediate is then cyclised with chloroacetonitrile (5) using triethyl amine as the base to give the final compound, ethyl 4-amino-1-(3-chloro-4-flurophenyl)-5- cyano-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxylate (6). Nucleophilic substitution group is removed from the final compound and 8(a-j) derivatives have been synthesized. All the synthesized compounds were characterized by physical data (M.P. & TLC) and spectral Data (IR & 1H NMR). The synthesized compounds were evaluated for urease-inhibition activity. Molecular docking studies were carried out for these compounds with the enzyme urease. From the observations it has been noticed that some of the compounds possesses remarkable urease-inhibitory effect

Assessment of seed quality in seed spices

The present study was carried out to assess seed quality of some important seed spices supplied in the local markets of Bengaluru. The results revealed that highest physical purity was recorded in fenugreek seed lots with an overall mean of 98.76% followed by fennel (97.99%) and coriander (97.68%). The moisture content of all the seed spices ranged from 6.89% to 7.15%. The highest seed germination (89.42%) was recorded in fenugreek followed by fennel (76.82%) and lowest (64.33%) in coriander. The seedling vigour index was highest in fenugreek (range 1116-1819; mean 1532) and lowest in cumin (range 621-832; mean 737). A 12.0% increase in germination and improvement in the vigour index (997-1226) were also noticed in treated seed samples compared to control (900). &nbsp

An event abstraction layer for the integration of geosensor data

Time series of observations reflect the status of environmental properties. Variations in these properties can be considered as events when they potentially affect the stability of the monitored environment. Organisations dedicated to analyse environmental change use institutionalised descriptions of events to define the observable conditions under which events happen. This also applies to the methods used to classify and model changes in environmental monitoring. The heterogeneity of representations often causes interoperability problems when such communities exchange geospatial information. To enhance interoperability among diverse communities, it is required to develop models that do not restrict the representation of events, but allow integrating different perspectives on changes in the environment. The goal of the Event Abstraction Layer is to facilitate the analysis and integration of geosensor data by inferring events from time series of observations. For the analysis of geosensor data, we use event processing to detect event patterns in time series of observations. Spatio-temporal properties of the event are inferred from the geosensor location and the observation timestamps. For the data integration, we represent event-related information extracted from multiples sources under a common event model. Additionally, domain knowledge is modelled in a multilevel ontology structure. © 2014 Taylor &amp; Francis

Synergistic ecoclimate teleconnections from forest loss in different regions structure global ecological responses

ABSTRACT: Forest loss in hotspots around the world impacts not only local climate where loss occurs, but also influences climate and vegetation in remote parts of the globe through ecoclimate teleconnections. The magnitude and mechanism of remote impacts likely depends on the location and distribution of forest loss hotspots, but the nature of these dependencies has not been investigated. We use global climate model simulations to estimate the distribution of ecologically-relevant climate changes resulting from forest loss in two hotspot regions: western North America (wNA), which is experiencing accelerated dieoff, and the Amazon basin, which is subject to high rates of deforestation. The remote climatic and ecological net effects of simultaneous forest loss in both regions differed from the combined effects of loss from the two regions simulated separately, as evident in three impacted areas. Eastern South American Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) increased due to changes in seasonal rainfall associated with Amazon forest loss and changes in temperature related to wNA forest loss. Eurasia’s GPP declined with wNA forest loss due to cooling temperatures increasing soil ice volume. Southeastern North American productivity increased with simultaneous forest loss, but declined with only wNA forest loss due to changes in VPD. Our results illustrate the need for a new generation of local-to-global scale analyses to identify potential ecoclimate teleconnections, their underlying mechanisms, and most importantly, their synergistic interactions, to predict the responses to increasing forest loss under future land use change and climate change

Li2SnO3 as a Cathode Material for Lithium-ion Batteries:Defects, Lithium Ion Diffusion and Dopants

Tin-based oxide Li2SnO3 has attracted considerable interest as a promising cathode material for potential use in rechargeable lithium batteries due to its high- capacity. Static atomistic scale simulations are employed to provide insights into the defect chemistry, doping behaviour and lithium diffusion paths in Li2SnO3. The most favourable intrinsic defect type is Li Frenkel (0.75 eV/defect). The formation of anti-site defect, in which Li and Sn ions exchange their positions is 0.78 eV/defect, very close to the Li Frenkel. The present calculations confirm the cation intermixing found experimentally in Li2SnO3. Long range lithium diffusion paths via vacancy mechanisms were examined and it is confirmed that the lowest activation energy migration path is along the c-axis plane with the overall activation energy of 0.61 eV. Subvalent doping by Al on the Sn site is energetically favourable and is proposed to be an efficient way to increase the Li content in Li2SnO3. The electronic structure calculations show that the introduction of Al will not introduce levels in the band gap

Dentinogenesis imperfecta in Osteogenesis imperfecta type XI in South Africa: a genotype–phenotype correlation

BACKGROUND: The maxillofacial and dental manifestations of Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) have significant implications in terms of management. Although the occurrence of abnormal dentine in some forms of OI is well documented, there is scant information on the association of abnormal dentine in the Black African persons with phenotypic OI III and genotypic OI XI in South Africa. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional analytic study. A series of 64 Black South African individuals with a confirmed phenotypic diagnosis of OI III, ages ranging from 3 months to 29 years, were assessed clinically, radiographically, and at a molecular level. RESULTS: A total number of 64 saliva samples were analyzed and 3 DNA variations were identified in exon 5 of the FKBP10 gene. The homozygous mutation, c.[831dupC]; [831dupC], was identified in 23 affected persons who had no clinically obvious features of DI in their primary and secondary teeth. Radiologically, mild features of DI were evident in 10 persons in whom radiographic images were obtained and were given a Clinical–radiological score of 2. A compound heterozygous mutation, c. [831delC]; [831dupC], was identified in three siblings. An intraoral examination of these affected persons revealed no clinically apparent features of DI in their primary and secondary teeth. Due to the lack of radiological facilities, the presence or absence of DI could not be confirmed or negated. A second compound heterozygous mutation, c.[831dupC]; [1400-4C>G], was identified in a female of 29 years belonging to the Xhosa linguistic group. Her teeth appeared clinically normal but it was not possible to obtain radiographs. In 37 affected individuals, no disease-causing mutations were identified. CONCLUSION: Black African individuals in SA with the homozygous mutation in the FKBP10 gene have clinically unaffected teeth yet exhibited radiographic features of DI to varying degrees. This characterization is suggestive of a relationship between the genetic abnormality and the clinical manifestations of DI. The authors suggest that this diagnosis must include teeth that are clinically and/or radiologically aberrant, and should not exclude the presence of other, milder, dentinal aberrations associated with OI. There was no correlation between severity of OI and DI in this cohort of individuals