A prospective study to evaluate the incidence of difficult endotracheal intubation in thyroid surgery

BACKGROUND: Thyroid swelling has been considered a risk factor for difficult direct laryngoscopy and intubation. Airway management in thyroid swelling patients poses Unique challenges and one should be thoroughly prepared for any anticipated or unpredicted difficult airway. Airway management in general population has been widely studied. But very few studies have been done on airway management in thyroid swelling patients. Thus it will be useful to find the incidence of difficult endotracheal intubation in thyroid surgeries . OBJECTIVES: A prospective study to evaluate the incidence of difficult endotracheal intubation in thyroid surgery. Selection criteria: Elective adult thyroid surgery patients requiring general endotracheal Anaesthesia. Males and Females.whose, ASA physical status 1-II, Age 18 years of age and older, Who have given valid informed consent. DATA ANALYSIS: It is a prospective study conducted in the department of anaesthesiology, Madras Medical college, Chennai..100 adult patients satisfying inclusion criteria were enrolled in this study. Body mass index, thyromental distance, interincisor distance , Retrognathia , neck mobility, tracheal deviation and compression were evaluated for all thyroid swelling patients who satisfy the inclusion criteria and the incidence of difficult endotracheal intubation was analysed using Intubation Difficulty Scale. Duration of intubation and trauma during intubation were also noted. RESULTS: It is concluded that the incidence of difficult endotracheal intubation in thyroid surgery is less. In this study population, no specific predictive factors were found to be associated with difficult endotracheal intubation in thyroid swelling. CONCLUSION: The incidence of difficult endotracheal intubation in thyroid surgery is less. This correlates with the results of previous studies done on difficult endotracheal intubation in thyroid surgeries

A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Structured Teaching Programme on Knowledge regarding care of preterm babies among parents at Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Government Hospital for Women and Children at Egmore, Chennai

Babies born before the gestational age of 37 weeks and weighing less than 2.5 grams are considered premature. Prematurity accounts for the largest number of admissions to NICUs and most common direct cause of newborn mortality. The goals of the preterm care are to promote normal growth and development and minimize morbidity and mortality. The care of preterm is a great challenge to parents. The baby cannot survive alone without a care taker. TITLE: “A study to assess the effectiveness of structured teaching programme on knowledge regarding care of preterm babies among parents at Neonatal Intensive care unit, Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Government Hospital for Women and Children at Egmore, Chennai -08.” OBJECTIVES: 1. To assess the knowledge on care of preterm babies among parents. 2. To evaluate the effectiveness of structured teaching programme on knowledge regarding care of preterm babies among parents. 3. To find out the association between the post-test knowledge of parents on preterm care with demographic var iables. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted with 60 samples (parents of preterm babies) in quantitative approach, Pre experimental one group pretest posttest design, convenient sampling technique. Pre -existing knowledge was assessed by using semi Structured questionnaires. After the pre-test, Structured teaching programme was given regarding care of preterm babies.After7 days post-test was conducted by using same tool. RESULTS: The findings of the study revealed that there is a statistical significance in knowledge on care of preterm babies which shows the effectiveness of structured teaching programme with calculated paired ‘t’ test value of t=23.05, P=0.001 level. CONCLUSION: The knowledge of the parents regarding care of preterm babies improved significantly after they had undergone the structured teaching programme. The structured teaching programme found to be effective in improving the knowledge on care of preterm among the parents of preterm babies

Environmental neurotoxin dieldrin induces apoptosis via caspase-3-dependent proteolytic activation of protein kinase C delta (PKCdelta): Implications for neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease

BackgroundIn previous work, we investigated dieldrin cytotoxicity and signaling cell death mechanisms in dopaminergic PC12 cells. Dieldrin has been reported to be one of the environmental factors correlated with Parkinson's disease and may selectively destroy dopaminergic neurons.MethodsHere we further investigated dieldrin toxicity in a dopaminergic neuronal cell model of Parkinson's disease, namely N27 cells, using biochemical, immunochemical, and flow cytometric analyses.ResultsIn this study, dieldrin-treated N27 cells underwent a rapid and significant increase in reactive oxygen species followed by cytochrome c release into cytosol. The cytosolic cytochrome c activated caspase-dependent apoptotic pathway and the increased caspase-3 activity was observed following a 3 hr dieldrin exposure in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, dieldrin caused the caspase-dependent proteolytic cleavage of protein kinase C delta (PKCδ) into 41 kDa catalytic and 38 kDa regulatory subunits in N27 cells as well as in brain slices. PKCδ plays a critical role in executing the apoptotic process in dieldrin-treated dopaminergic neuronal cells because pretreatment with the PKCδ inhibitor rottlerin, or transfection and over-expression of catalytically inactive PKCδ(K)³⁷⁶(R), significantly attenuates dieldrin-induced DNA fragmentation and chromatin condensation.ConclusionTogether, we conclude that caspase-3-dependent proteolytic activation of PKCδ is a critical event in dieldrin-induced apoptotic cell death in dopaminergic neuronal cells

Protein kinase D1 (PKD1) activation mediates a compensatory protective response during early stages of oxidative stress-induced neuronal degeneration

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Oxidative stress is a key pathophysiological mechanism contributing to degenerative processes in many neurodegenerative diseases and therefore, unraveling molecular mechanisms underlying various stages of oxidative neuronal damage is critical to better understanding the diseases and developing new treatment modalities. We previously showed that protein kinase C delta (PKCδ) proteolytic activation during the late stages of oxidative stress is a key proapoptotic signaling mechanism that contributes to oxidative damage in Parkinson's disease (PD) models. The time course studies revealed that PKCδ activation precedes apoptotic cell death and that cells resisted early insults of oxidative damage, suggesting that some intrinsic compensatory response protects neurons from early oxidative insult. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to characterize protective signaling pathways in dopaminergic neurons during early stages of oxidative stress.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Herein, we identify that protein kinase D1 (PKD1) functions as a key anti-apoptotic kinase to protect neuronal cells against early stages of oxidative stress. Exposure of dopaminergic neuronal cells to H₂O₂or 6-OHDA induced PKD1 activation loop (PKD1S744/748) phosphorylation long before induction of neuronal cell death. Blockade of PKCδ cleavage, PKCδ knockdown or overexpression of a cleavage-resistant PKCδ mutant effectively attenuated PKD1 activation, indicating that PKCδ proteolytic activation regulates PKD1 phosphorylation. Furthermore, the PKCδ catalytic fragment, but not the regulatory fragment, increased PKD1 activation, confirming PKCδ activity modulates PKD1 activation. We also identified that phosphorylation of S916 at the C-terminal is a preceding event required for PKD1 activation loop phosphorylation. Importantly, negative modulation of PKD1 by the RNAi knockdown or overexpression of PKD1^S916Aphospho-defective mutants augmented oxidative stress-induced apoptosis, while positive modulation of PKD1 by the overexpression of full length PKD1 or constitutively active PKD1 plasmids attenuated oxidative stress-induced apoptosis, suggesting an anti-apoptotic role for PKD1 during oxidative neuronal injury.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Collectively, our results demonstrate that PKCδ-dependent activation of PKD1 represents a novel intrinsic protective response in counteracting early stage oxidative damage in neuronal cells. Our results suggest that positive modulation of the PKD1-mediated compensatory protective mechanism against oxidative damage in dopaminergic neurons may provide novel neuroprotective strategies for treatment of PD.</p

Investigating the Effects of Tissue-Specific Extracellular Matrix on the Adipogenic and Osteogenic Differentiation of Human Adipose-Derived Stromal Cells Within Composite Hydrogel Scaffolds

© Copyright © 2019 Shridhar, Amsden, Gillies and Flynn. While it has been postulated that tissue-specific bioscaffolds derived from the extracellular matrix (ECM) can direct stem cell differentiation, systematic comparisons of multiple ECM sources are needed to more fully assess the benefits of incorporating tissue-specific ECM in stem cell culture and delivery platforms. To probe the effects of ECM sourced from decellularized adipose tissue (DAT) or decellularized trabecular bone (DTB) on the adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived stem/stromal cells (ASCs), a novel detergent-free decellularization protocol was developed for bovine trabecular bone that complemented our established detergent-free decellularization protocol for human adipose tissue and did not require specialized equipment or prolonged incubation times. Immunohistochemical and biochemical characterization revealed enhanced sulphated glycosaminoglycan content in the DTB, while the DAT contained higher levels of collagen IV, collagen VI and laminin. To generate platforms with similar structural and biomechanical properties to enable assessment of the compositional effects of the ECM on ASC differentiation, micronized DAT and DTB were encapsulated with human ASCs within methacrylated chondroitin sulfate (MCS) hydrogels through UV-initiated crosslinking. High ASC viability (\u3e90%) was observed over 14 days in culture. Adipogenic differentiation was enhanced in the MCS+DAT composites relative to the MCS+DTB composites and MCS controls after 14 days of culture in adipogenic medium. Osteogenic differentiation studies revealed a peak in alkaline phosphatase (ALP) enzyme activity at 7 days in the MCS+DTB group cultured in osteogenic medium, suggesting that the DTB had bioactive effects on osteogenic protein expression. Overall, the current study suggests that tissue-specific ECM sourced from DAT or DTB can act synergistically with soluble differentiation factors to enhance the lineage-specific differentiation of human ASCs within 3-D hydrogel systems

Techniques to Enhance the Quality of Service of Multi Hop Relay Networks

AbstractBroadband internet access through the user equipment has become the hot research topic. The shadowing and multipath issues restrict the high performance nature of 4G cells. In Multi hop Relay (MHR) networks, Relay Stations (RS) are introduced to improve coverage and capacity of the system. There exist some issues like path selection and RSs deployment, which severely affects the Quality of Service (QoS) of the system. In this paper, to improve the QoS of MHR networks, Load Aware Routing Metric (LARM) based path selection and a low complex Burst Profile (BP) based RS deployment schemes are discussed

Synthesis and Characterization of ZnO-MMT Nanocomposite for Antibacterial Activity Studies

ZnO oxide Nanoparticle and ZnO oxide with Montmorillonite nanocomposite were prepared by an environmentally friendly, efficient, and&nbsp; inexpensive method that was synthesized using the chemical method. ZnO nanoparticles as an effective antibacterial material were immobilized on the surface of montmorillonite (MMT). The objectives of this paper are to summarize our research activities in (a) developing processes to dispersenanomaterials (undoped and doped zinc oxide powders) in the polymers matrix, (b) using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) techniques to characterize polymer matrix structures, (c) studying structure-property relationship of these types of new materials, and (d) evaluating the antibacterial performance of these materials for different applications. The results showed that the ZnO nanocomposite was uniformly dispersed in the polymer matrix and the particles remained their average size (20 - 150 nm) before incorporation into the polymer matrix. Keywords: Zinc Oxide nanoparticle, Montmorillonite, FTIR, Antibacterial activit

The Need for Effective Early Behavioral Family Interventions for Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

There is a pressing need for the development of effective early family intervention programs for children showing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) behaviours with Conduct Disorder (CD) or Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) behaviours. Previous research has indicated that children with ADHD are at risk of developing comorbid CD or ODD behaviours. In addition, it has been shown that ODD or CD behaviours in childhood tend to persist and to have adverse effects on later social adjustment. However, ODD or CD behaviours are not necessary concomitants of ADHD, and it has been demonstrated that behavioural intervention can have both short- and long term beneficial effects for children showing early signs of ODD or CD behaviours. In short term, behavioural family interventions may be able to reduce oppositional behaviour, particularly in the preschool years. In the long term, early intervention has shown to reduce the incidence of later antisocial behaviour in children at risk for this developmental trajectory. In this paper, it will be argued that behavioural family interventions have not been effectively utilised or promulgated in the community for children with ADHD despite the demonstrated efficacy of these types of interventions. A model of a multilevel system of intervention that can be tailored to the individual family’s needs is presented

Synthesis and Characterization of ZnO-MMT Nanocomposite for Antibacterial Activity Studies

ZnO oxide Nanoparticle and ZnO oxide with Montmorillonite nanocomposite were prepared by an environmentally friendly, efficient, and inexpensive method that was synthesized using the chemical method. ZnO nanoparticles as an effective antibacterial material were immobilized on the surface of montmorillonite (MMT). The objectives of this paper are to summarize our research activities in (a) developing processes to disperse nanomaterials (undoped and doped zinc oxide powders) in the polymers matrix, (b) using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) techniques to characterize polymer matrix structures, (c) studying structure-property relationship of these types of new materials, and (d) evaluating the antibacterial performance of these materials for different applications. The results showed that the ZnO nanocomposite was uniformly dispersed in the polymer matrix and the particles remained their average size (20 - 150 nm) before incorporation into the polymer matrix

Life Guardian: Enhancing Health Awareness through Sensor Fusion

This ground-breaking technology provides a health monitoring system that smoothly incorporates temperature, infrared (IR), heart rate, and SpO2 sensors. By combining these sensors, the initiative offers real-time, non-invasive tracking of critical physiological indicators, enabling proactive health management and early detection of possible concerns. With data representing body temperature, blood pressure, cardiovascular activity, and oxygen saturation levels, sensor fusion technology users can comprehensively understand their health. This user-friendly technology gives people the power to decide for themselves what is best for their health. It has the potential to revolutionize telemedicine, remote patient monitoring, and early warning systems in the healthcare industry. This study not only demonstrates the potential of sensor fusion for health monitoring, but it also can revolutionize personal healthcare and promote a society that is more concerned with its overall health. Our application is being developed to be operated by an authority that will have access to all of the data about every individual user's reading. In case of an abnormality, the application will offer an indication in addition to an image of the affected person. To capture visuals of the user in unusual circumstances, we are deploying a pie camera