Use of tocilizumab, remdesivir, and high-dose methylprednisolone prevents intubation in an ESRD patient with COVID-19 pneumonia

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected over 200 million patients worldwide. COVID-19 is transmitted through respiratory droplets from patient to patient or by touching a surface that has been contaminated by an infected patient. Many COVID-19 patients have other comorbidities, such as end-stage renal disease. Currently, management of COVID-19 in patients with end-stage renal disease is unclear. Some studies have shown improvement in this population with the use of tocilizumab, a humanized interleukin-6 monoclonal antibody, in addition to the standard therapy as per guidelines published by the National Institutes of Health. In this case report, we present a patient case where the use of remdesivir, tocilizumab, and pulse-dose methylprednisolone significantly improved symptoms and inflammatory biomarkers associated with COVID-19 in a patient with end-stage renal disease

Empirical Evidence of Co-Movement between the Canadian CDS, Stock Market And TSX 60 Volatility Index: A Wavelet Approach

Purpose- The prime objective of this study was to find the co-movement between the Canadian credit default swaps market, the Stock market and volatility index (TSX 60 Index) Design/ Methodology- To achieve this purpose, daily data containing 2870 observations starting from the 1st of January 2009 to the 30th of December 2019 were analyzed. This study employed the wavelet approach to present results in short-term, medium-term, long-term, and very long time. Findings- The findings of this study showed a negative correlation between the CDS market, stock market, and the TSX 60 index in the short-term as well as in the long-term term, while in medium-term and very long-term period correlation is strongly positive. The wavelet co-movement results in the short-term and long-term were negative, while this relationship in the medium-term and very long-term period was strongly positive. Practical Implications- This research provides simultaneous valuable information for investment decisions in the short, medium, and long term time horizons, as well as for the policymakers in the Canadian credit default swaps market, stock market, and the volatility index (TSX 60 Index)

Rare Complication of Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy: Nephrostomy Tube in Renal Vein and Inferior Vena Cava

Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is considered as the gold standard treatment for renal stones > 2cm. We encountered a patient who underwent PCNL and inadvertently placement ofpercutaneous nephrostomy tube in the inferior vena cava through the left renal vein from the left Kidney.There was profuse bleeding during the procedure (PCNL), and the procedure was abandoned by placing a nephrostomy tube. PNT was removed after 04 days in two steps without any bleeding

Introduction of channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque) in Pakistan and its performance during acclimatization and pond culture.

Abstract.-Two thousand fingerlings of channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus were imported from Thailand in a bid to introduce this fish in Pakistan. Five percent mortality occurred during transportation. Experiments were designed to observe catfish acclimatization in tanks or raceways for which five hundred fingerlings (average weight 10.86±1.20g) were placed in five tanks of 2000-liter water capacity and another 500 fingerlings (average weight, 10.56±0.68g) were kept in five raceways of 5000-liter water capacity each. The fish were fed on imported diet for a period of 75 days. Mean weight gain of 27.22±1.75 g and 31.5±1.04 g and surv~7.5% and 95.9% were recorded in tanks and raceways, respectively. For studying growth of fish two stocking densities (3,000 and 3,500/ha) were maintained in ponds (0.04 ha) from December 2003 -November 2004. The weight gain was significantly higher in low stocking density (1,263.3 ± 60.9 g) compared with high stocking density (1,184.9±57.1 g). Fish production and survival between two stocking densities was not different (P>0.05)

An Intelligent Data Analysis for Recommendation Systems Using Machine Learning

In recent times, selection of a suitable hotel location and reservation of accommodation have become a critical issue for the travelers. The online hotel search has been increased at a very fast pace and became very time-consuming due to the presence of huge amount of online information. Recommender systems (RSs) are getting importance due to their significance in making decisions and providing detailed information about the required product or a service. To acquire the hotel recommendations while dealing with textual hotel reviews, numerical ranks, votes, ratings, and number of video views have become difficult. To generate true recommendations, we have proposed an intelligent approach which also deals with large-sized heterogeneous data to fulfill the needs of the potential customers. The collaborative filtering (CF) approach is one of the most popular techniques of the RS to generate recommendations. We have proposed a novel CF recommendation approach in which opinion-based sentiment analysis is used to achieve hotel feature matrix by polarity identification. Our approach combines lexical analysis, syntax analysis, and semantic analysis to understand sentiment towards hotel features and the profiling of guest type (solo, family, couple etc). The proposed system recommends hotels based on the hotel features and guest type for personalized recommendation. The developed system not only has the ability to handle heterogeneous data using big data Hadoop platform but it also recommends hotel class based on guest type using fuzzy rules. Different experiments are performed over the real-world datasets obtained from two hotel websites. Moreover, the values of precision and recall and F-measure have been calculated, and the results are discussed in terms of improved accuracy and response time, significantly better than the traditional approaches

Study of thermal degradation behavior and kinetics of ABS/PC blend

This work investigated kinetics and thermal degradation of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and polycarbonate (ABS/PC) blend using thermogravimetric analysis in the range of 25 to 520°C. For thermal degradation of blend, activation energy (Ea) and pre-exponential factor (A) were calculated under various heating rates as 5, 10, 15 and 20°C/min using iso-conversional model-free methods (Kissinger, Flynn-Wall- Ozawa and Friedman). Mass loss of the blend as a function of temperature was plotted as thermogravimetric curve (TG) while derivative values of mass loss were drawn as derivative thermogravimetric (DTG) curve. Using Kissinger method, Ea was 51.4 kJ/mol, while values calculated from FWO and Friedman method were 86–161 and 30–251 kJ/mol respectively. Results showed increasing trend of Ea with higher conversion values indicating different degradation mechanisms at the initial and final stages of the experiment. Thermodynamic parameters such as enthalpy change (ΔH), Gibbs free energy (ΔG) and entropy change (ΔS) were also calculated

Study of thermal degradation behavior and kinetics of ABS/PC blend

This work investigated kinetics and thermal degradation of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and polycarbonate (ABS/PC) blend using thermogravimetric analysis in the range of 25 to 520°C. For thermal degradation of blend, activation energy (Ea) and pre-exponential factor (A) were calculated under various heating rates as 5, 10, 15 and 20°C/min using iso-conversional model-free methods (Kissinger, Flynn-Wall- Ozawa and Friedman). Mass loss of the blend as a function of temperature was plotted as thermogravimetric curve (TG) while derivative values of mass loss were drawn as derivative thermogravimetric (DTG) curve. Using Kissinger method, Ea was 51.4 kJ/mol, while values calculated from FWO and Friedman method were 86–161 and 30–251 kJ/mol respectively. Results showed increasing trend of Ea with higher conversion values indicating different degradation mechanisms at the initial and final stages of the experiment. Thermodynamic parameters such as enthalpy change (ΔH), Gibbs free energy (ΔG) and entropy change (ΔS) were also calculated

Analyzing hematological indices and clinical associations of FLT3 mutation in acute leukemia

Objective: The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between FLT3 mutation and hematological indices and clinical correlates in patients with severe myelogenous leukemia & acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Study Design: Descriptive Study. Place and Duration: Diagnostic and research Laboratory Liaquat university of Medical and health sciences jamshoro Hyderabad. January 2021 to December 2021. Methods: Total 79 cases of acute leukemia were included in this study. Patients provided written consent for detailed demographics and for self-structure questionnaire. All the data was obtained from laboratory records. The patients' clinico-hematologic and immunophenotypic characteristics were recorded, and the FLT3 mutation was analyzed molecularly. SPSS 24.0 was used to analyze all data. Results: Majority of the patients 44 (55.7%) were males and 35 (44.3%) cases were females. The included patients had mean age 37.21±14.59 years and had mean BMI 23.6±4.18 kg/m2. We found that 48 (60.8%) cases had acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and 31 (39.2%) cases had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Frequency of FLT 3 mutations in AML patients was 6 (12.5%) and in ALL patients was 1 (3.2%) after polymerase chain reaction. WBC was the most statistically significant hematological and clinical result connected with FLT3 mutation.&nbsp

Acute renal failure as a manifestation of multiple myeloma frequency and clinical implications

Objective: Aim was to determine the association and clinical implications of renal failure among patients of multiple myeloma. Study Design: Prospective/observational study. Place and Duration: Diagnostic and research Laboratory Liaquat university of Medical and health sciences jamshoro Hyderabad. June 2021 to may 2022. Methods: Total 192 patients of multiple myeloma were presented in this study. Patients were enrolled after obtaining written consent detailing age, sex, and the presence or absence of any and all comorbidities. A serum creatinine level of 177 mol/L or above (>2 mg/dL) was considered indicative of renal failure. All the patients received chemotherapy for recovery. Response rate to chemo and survival among all patients were determined. SPSS 23.0 was used to analyze all data. Results: There were 106 (55.2%) males and 86 (44.8%) cases were females. Patients mean age was 51.6 ±13.46 years. Chronic renal disease, diabetes, hypercalcemia, dehydration, and the use of nephrotoxic medicines were all risk factors. We found renal failure in 43 (22.4%) cases. Patients without renal failure had higher response rate 90 (60.4%) to chemotherapy as compared to patients of renal failure 16 (37.2%). 13 (30.2%) cases were recovered from renal failure and mean time of survival was 3.3±3.18 years.&nbsp