IR Materials and Detectors for Thermal Imaging

Guest Editoria

Spatial Noise Reduction by Optical Filters in Mercury Cadmium Telluride Hybrid Focal Plane Arrays

This paper discusses the role of optical filters in the reduction of spatial noise in Hgl-xCdxTe hybrid focal plane arrays (FPAs). It is shown that optical filters of appropriate cut-off wavelength can cause considerable reduction in the spatial noise of both mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR) and long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) arrays. These filters can result in considerable improvement in the NETD performance of a MWIR HgCdTe FPA, whereas in LWJR FPAs, these can also be used to trade-off the requirement of composition uniformity of the HgCdTe substrate, depending upon the relative magnitude of temporal and spatial noise component

A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY ON THE PREVALANCE AND RISK FACTORS OF LYMPHOEDEMA IN CARCINOMA BREAST

Objectives: Lymphedema of the arm is a devastating complication of breast carcinoma treatment. There is a lack of research on the risk factors and methods of preventing upper limb lymphedema after breast carcinoma treatment. The aims of the study are to identify the prevalence and risk factors for upper limb lymphedema in patients attending a tertiary cancer care center in India. Methods: 199 patients who attended the outpatient department of radiotherapy of IPGMER and SSKM, after undergoing surgical treatment for breast cancer between November 2014 to May 2016 were examined for the presence of lymphedema and its risk factors were analyzed. Lymphedema was defined as being present when there is an increase of >5% sum difference in the arm circumferences measured at different levels of both the upper limbs. Results: Of the 199 patients analyzed, 85 (42.7%) patients were found to have lymphedema. The prevalence of lymphedema was 25% in those who underwent surgery alone and 54% in those who underwent chest wall radiotherapy also. Locally advanced stage of the disease, body mass index >25 kg/m2, number of lymph nodes removed during surgery, and adjuvant radiotherapy were found to be significant risk factors for the development of lymphedema. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, we recommend weight reduction and more judicious axillary lymph node dissection and use of postoperative radiotherapy as methods to prevent breast cancer-associated lymphedema in the tertiary cancer care centers in India

Reimagining education

Gramin Shiksha Kendra works in villages on the periphery of the Ranthambhore National Park in Sawai Madhopur and the Khandar blocks of the Sawai Madhopur district. The total population of the district is around 14.5 lakhs, having a sex ratio of 897* females per 1000 males. Around 80 percent of the district’s population lives in rural areas. The female and male literacy rates (7+ years) in rural Sawai Madhopur are 42.40 percent and 79.40 percent, respectively. In 2006, the district was declared backward by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. Sawai Madhopur is largely an agriculture-based economy. The Gurjars (traditionally pastoralists) and the Meenas (a Scheduled Tribe but now mainly involved in agriculture) are the two majority communities here. There is a small but significant population of other caste groups - Malis, Bairwas, Harijans, Bhopas, Jaggas, and some de-notified tribal groups - Gadiya Lauhars, Moghiyas, Bawariyas, Kanjars, to name a few. Tourism is another sector in which the rural population is engaged in, as cleaners, cooks, or tourist guides. Some of them are also running their own dhabas (roadside food-stalls)

Association of ABO blood groups with Chikungunya virus

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) an emerging arboviral infection of public health concern belongs to the genus Alphavirus, family Togaviridae. Blood group antigens are generally known to act as receptors for various etiological agents. The studies defining the relationship between blood groups and CHIKV is limited and hence it is necessary to study these parameters in detail. In the present study 1500 subjects were enrolled and demographic data (Age, Gender, Blood group, CHIKV infection status, and CHIKV infection confirmation mode) was collected from them. The risk of acquiring CHIKV disease and its association with factors such as blood group, age and gender was analyzed statistically. The data of this study showed a possible association between blood group, age and gender of the study population with CHIKV infection. It is observed that CHIKV infections were higher in individuals with Rh positive blood group when compared to their Rh negative counterparts.CHIKV infections were found to be higher in Rh positive individuals of AB and A blood groups than that of Rh negative counterparts. Results also indicated that infections were higher in adults belonging to the age group > 30 years and also higher in males as compared to females enrolled in this study. These data present further evidence for the association of the blood groups, age and gender to susceptibility to CHIKV infection. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings. This is the second study showing the possible association of blood groups with chikungunya

Comparative evaluation of efficacy and safety of primaquine sustained-release tablets v/s primaquine conventional tablets in Treatment and prevention of relapse of plasmodium vivax malaria

Background: Malaria is one of the most important parasitic disease of human. In India 60-65% of infections are due to P.vivax and 35-40% are due to P.falciparum Malaria is an acute, recurrent and sometimes chronic vector borne protozoan disease which has worldwide distribution in tropical and subtropical regions The role of Primaquine is well established in the prevention of relapse of P.vivax malaria. Primaquine has a narrow therapeutic range and short half-life that requires daily administration upto 2 weeks, resulting in poor complianceMethods: Randomized control trial, which involved 100 patients of P.vivax Malaria Patient in medical ward of mahatma Gandhi hospital attached to S N medical college ’Jodhpur. All patient in this study received chloroquine for 3 days (10mg of base per kg followed by 5mg /kg 6-8 hours later and 5 mg/kg on each of the two days, total 25mg/kg over 3days and divided in three groups viz.Group 1 taken Primaquine 15 mg tab for 14 days (n=34), Group 2 taken Primaquine 15 mg SR tab for 14 days (n=33),Group 3 taken Primaquine 30 mg SR tab for 7 days and placebo for next 7 days.Results: In this study, Efficacy and compliance of Primaquine 30 mg SR for 7 days was found greater than the conventional Primaquine tab. and Primaquine 15 mg SR tab for 14 day. Adverse effect of primaquine 30 mg SR tab for 7 days was found lesser than conventional Primaquine tab 15 mg as well as Primaquine 15 mg SR tab.Conclusions: As Malaria is very prevalent in India which causes significant mortality and morbidity in Indian population. Use of Primaquine 30 mg SR tab has good compliance, efficacy as well as lesser adverse effect

Antibiotic sensitivity and resistance in nosocomial infection in medical and surgical intensive care units of a tertiary care hospital in north India

Background: Antibiotic resistance threatens the health of many throughout the world. It is a common problem in the ICU patients who acquire nosocomial infections. Critically ill ICU patients are most vulnerable for developing multidrug resistant nosocomial infections.Methods: Hospital based, cross sectional, descriptive type of observational study involving 311 patients admitted in ICU who were studied for development of nosocomial infections.Results: In this study, the nosocomial infection rate among ICU patients was 32.79%. The commonest organism isolated from all samples were E. coli., Acinetobacter spp., Pseudomonas sp., CONS and Staph. aureus. In these samples, it was found that E. coli was most commonly resistant to Imipenem (93.8%) and Meropenem (93.8%). Majority of CONS was resistant to Nitrofurantoin (81.0%). Klebsiella sp. was most commonly resistant to Ceftriaxone (94.4%). Pseudomonas was commonly resistant to Imipenem (94.1%) and Meropenem (94.1%). Acinetobacter sp. was resistant commonly to Amikacin (90%) and Gentamicin (90%). Staph. Aureus was mostly resistant to Amikacin (90%), Gentamicin (90%) and Cotrimoxazole (90%).Conclusions: Nosocomial infections affect about 1/3rd of the patients in ICUs. Development of antibiotic resistance to commonly used drugs becomes a major deterrent to patient outcome, increasing duration of patient stay as well as expense. Strict infection control measures like universal precautions and stringent adherence to hand washing practices; formulation of antibiotic policy; Surveillance activities, appointment of infection control practitioners; might be required for the same for which further research is advocated

Nurses' perceptions of aids and obstacles to the provision of optimal end of life care in ICU

Contains fulltext : 172380.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Co-scholastic Activities for Reinforcing Learning | Uday Schools, Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan

Gramin Shiksha Kendrai (GSK) has been working with children through Uday Community Schools since 2005. We have realised through our work that if children are to learn well, classroom processes, while extremely important, need to be reinforced with other strategies. Teachers need to go beyond textbooks to create opportunities that can help children develop their understanding and explore their world. When children are encouraged to convert an idea into action, they have an opportunity to bring together what they have learnt in different subjects and create linkages between them. Through this process, they are able to internalise and integrate their classroom learning, which may not have been possible through only subject-specific classroom learning