Hypokalemic Quadriparesis Associated with Dengue: A Case Series

Dengue is an important viral cause of febrile illness in tropical and subtropical regions. Manifestations may range from an asymptomatic infection to life threatening hemorrhagic fever and shock syndrome. Neurological presentations of this disease are rare. Here, we are presenting a case series of three confirmedcases of dengue fever with hypokalemic paralysis presenting as acute pure motor reversible quadriparesis. A clinician should keep dengue virus associated hypokalemic paralysis in mind while dealing with a case of fever with quadriparesis

A comparative study between magnetic resonance imaging and transvaginal sonography for evaluation of uterine fibroid using histopathology as a gold standard

Background: Uterine fibroids constitute a substantial bulk of patients presenting to Gynaecology department. Many newer imaging modalities have evolved for their correct evaluation, but in a developing country like India, ultrasound is still being used as a screening as well as diagnostic modality. So, this study was done to compare ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging for evaluation of uterine fibroids in terms of their sensitivity, specificity Trans vaginal  and positive predictive value using Histopathology as a gold standard so as to improvise on current clinical practices in this country.Methods: An ethically approved prospective study was done upon 50 patients with suspected uterine masses at SMS Hospital Jaipur. All included patients underwent Trans vaginal Ultrasound (TVS) and Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and were accordingly treated surgically. Histopathology report was traced postoperatively. Data was collected and subjected to various statistical tests including Cohen’s kappa.Results: Most of the patients were <50 years and presented with complains of pain abdomen. Among total 50 cases, the sensitivity of TVS and MRI was 44% and 92%, specificity was 96% and 88%, PPV was 91.67% and 88.46%, NPV was 63.16% and 91.67% respectively, kappa was 0.40 and 0.80 i.e. agreement between TVS and MRI v/s HPE was 40% and 80% respectively. The diagonal agreement between transvaginal USG and MRI, was 63%.Conclusions: TVS is a good screening modality but MRI is definitely better for proper characterization and localization of fibroids enabling clinicians to select the most appropriate management in everyday clinical practice

Split-State Non-Malleable Codes and Secret Sharing Schemes for Quantum Messages

Non-malleable codes are fundamental objects at the intersection of cryptography and coding theory. These codes provide security guarantees even in settings where error correction and detection are impossible, and have found applications to several other cryptographic tasks. Roughly speaking, a non-malleable code for a family of tampering functions guarantees that no adversary can tamper (using functions from this family) the encoding of a given message into the encoding of a related distinct message. Non-malleable secret sharing schemes are a strengthening of non-malleable codes which satisfy additional privacy and reconstruction properties. We first focus on the $2$-split-state tampering model, one of the strongest and most well-studied adversarial tampering models. Here, a codeword is split into two parts which are stored in physically distant servers, and the adversary can then independently tamper with each part using arbitrary functions. This model can be naturally extended to the secret sharing setting with several parties by having the adversary independently tamper with each share. Previous works on non-malleable coding and secret sharing in the split-state tampering model only considered the encoding of \emph{classical} messages. Furthermore, until the recent work by Aggarwal, Boddu, and Jain (arXiv 2022), adversaries with quantum capabilities and \emph{shared entanglement} had not been considered, and it is a priori not clear whether previous schemes remain secure in this model. In this work, we introduce the notions of split-state non-malleable codes and secret sharing schemes for quantum messages secure against quantum adversaries with shared entanglement. We also present explicit constructions of such schemes that achieve low-error non-malleability

Split-State Non-Malleable Codes and Secret Sharing Schemes for Quantum Messages

Non-malleable codes are fundamental objects at the intersection of cryptography and coding theory. These codes provide security guarantees even in settings where error correction and detection are impossible, and have found applications to several other cryptographic tasks. One of the strongest and most well-studied adversarial tampering models is $2$-split-state tampering. Here, a codeword is split into two parts which are stored in physically distant servers, and the adversary can then independently tamper with each part using arbitrary functions. This model can be naturally extended to the secret sharing setting with several parties by having the adversary independently tamper with each share. Previous works on non-malleable coding and secret sharing in the split-state tampering model only considered the encoding of classical messages. Furthermore, until recent work by Aggarwal, Boddu, and Jain (IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 2024 & arXiv 2022), adversaries with quantum capabilities and shared entanglement had not been considered, and it is a priori not clear whether previous schemes remain secure in this model. In this work, we introduce the notions of split-state non-malleable codes and secret sharing schemes for quantum messages secure against quantum adversaries with shared entanglement. Then, we present explicit constructions of such schemes that achieve low-error non-malleability. More precisely, we construct efficiently encodable and decodable split-state non-malleable codes and secret sharing schemes for quantum messages preserving entanglement with external systems and achieving security against quantum adversaries having shared entanglement with codeword length $n$, any message length at most $n^{\Omega(1)}$, and error $\varepsilon=2^{-{n^{\Omega(1)}}}$. In the easier setting of average-case non-malleability, we achieve efficient non-malleable coding with rate close to $1/11$

Phylogenetic analysis of Newcastle disease viruses isolated from waterfowl in the Upper Midwest Region of the United States

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This study was conducted to characterize Newcastle disease virus (NDV) isolates obtained from waterfowl from the Upper Midwest region of the United States. A total of 43 NDVs were isolated by inoculation of cloacal samples in embryonated chicken eggs. These isolates were obtained from 24 mallards, seven American green-winged teals, six northern pintails, four blue-winged teals, and two wood ducks. Partial sequences of fusion gene were analyzed to determine the pathotypes and genotypes involved.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Deduced amino acid sequence of the cleavage site of fusion (F) protein revealed that all isolates had avirulent motifs. Of the 43 isolates, 23 exhibited sequence motif of ¹¹¹GGKQGRL¹¹⁷at the cleavage site, 19 exhibited ¹¹¹GEKQGRL¹¹⁷while one isolate showed ¹¹¹GERQGRL¹¹⁷. Phylogenetic analysis based on comparison with different classes of NDVs revealed that all 43 isolates clustered with class II NDVs and none with class I NDVs. Within class II, five isolates were phylogenetically close to genotype I NDVs while the remaining 38 were close to genotype II.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We conclude that more than one genotype of NDV circulates in waterfowl in the Upper Midwest region of the US. Continuous surveillance may help better understand the epidemiology of NDVs maintained in wild bird populations and their relationship to NDVs in domestic poultry, if any.</p

Antibiotic use, knowledge, and practices of milk vendors in India's informal dairy value chain

BackgroundMilk vendors play an important role in India's dairy value chain; however, their food safety practices are poorly understood. From a milk safety perspective, vendor behavior is significant because it has the potential to affect both consumer and producer behavior. This study describes the types of milk vendors in two Indian states, in an attempt to investigate vendors' hygienic knowledge and practices toward safety and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in the states of Assam and Haryana, India. In selected villages, all the milk vendors identified at the time of visit were interviewed. A questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge and practices on antibiotics, milk safety and hygiene. The milk samples were tested for presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria using antibiotic susceptibility testing. ResultsIn total, 244 milk vendors were interviewed during the survey. Out of these, 146 (59.8%) of the vendors traded raw milk, while 40.2% traded pasteurized milk. Vendors were categorized depending on whom they supplied milk to. Five categories were identified: (a) those who sold at grocery shops; (b) those who sold on roadside (roadside vendors); (c) those who sold from door to door; (d) those who sold to sweet makers/tea stalls, and (e) those who sold from own home/other entity. The level of training among vendors on milk hygiene was non-existent and the knowledge related to antibiotics was low. Most of them [210/244 (86.07%)] agreed that boiled milk is always safer than raw milk but almost half [119 (48.77%)] of them admitted that sometimes they drink milk without boiling it. Most vendors believed that they could identify whether milk is safe or not for consumption just by its appearance and smell. Out of 124 milk samples collected from surveyed milk vendors and tested for the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, 80 (64.52%) were tested positive. ConclusionThis study highlights the low levels of knowledge regarding food safety among milk vendors. It shows the predominance of informal milk vendors in the surveyed states and prevalence of AMR bacteria in milk traded by them. Training may be a beneficial strategy for addressing the issue

Antibiotic use, knowledge, and practices of milk vendors in India's informal dairy value chain

Background: Milk vendors play an important role in India's dairy value chain; however, their food safety practices are poorly understood. From a milk safety perspective, vendor behavior is significant because it has the potential to affect both consumer and producer behavior. This study describes the types of milk vendors in two Indian states, in an attempt to investigate vendors' hygienic knowledge and practices toward safety and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the states of Assam and Haryana, India. In selected villages, all the milk vendors identified at the time of visit were interviewed. A questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge and practices on antibiotics, milk safety and hygiene. The milk samples were tested for presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria using antibiotic susceptibility testing. Results: In total, 244 milk vendors were interviewed during the survey. Out of these, 146 (59.8%) of the vendors traded raw milk, while 40.2% traded pasteurized milk. Vendors were categorized depending on whom they supplied milk to. Five categories were identified: (a) those who sold at grocery shops; (b) those who sold on roadside (roadside vendors); (c) those who sold from door to door; (d) those who sold to sweet makers/tea stalls, and (e) those who sold from own home/other entity. The level of training among vendors on milk hygiene was non-existent and the knowledge related to antibiotics was low. Most of them [210/244 (86.07%)] agreed that boiled milk is always safer than raw milk but almost half [119 (48.77%)] of them admitted that sometimes they drink milk without boiling it. Most vendors believed that they could identify whether milk is safe or not for consumption just by its appearance and smell. Out of 124 milk samples collected from surveyed milk vendors and tested for the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, 80 (64.52%) were tested positive. Conclusion: This study highlights the low levels of knowledge regarding food safety among milk vendors. It shows the predominance of informal milk vendors in the surveyed states and prevalence of AMR bacteria in milk traded by them. Training may be a beneficial strategy for addressing the issue

Molecular Characterization of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococci from the Dairy Value Chain in Two Indian States

Bovine milk and milk products may contain pathogens, antimicrobial resistant bacteria, and antibiotic residues that could harm consumers. We analyzed 282 gram-positive isolates from milk samples from dairy farmers and vendors in Haryana and Assam, India, to assess the prevalence of methicillin-resistant staphylococci using microbiological tests, antibiotic susceptibility testing, and genotyping by PCR. The prevalence of genotypic methicillin resistance in isolates from raw milk samples was 5% [95% confidence interval, CI (3–8)], with 7% [CI (3–10)] in Haryana, in contrast to 2% [CI (0.2–6)] in Assam. The prevalence was the same in isolates from milk samples collected from farmers [5% (n = 6), CI (2–11)] and vendors [5% (n = 7), CI (2–10)]. Methicillin resistance was also observed in 15% of the isolates from pasteurized milk [(n = 3), CI (3–38)]. Two staphylococci harboring a novel mecC gene were identified for the first time in Indian dairy products. The only SCCmec type identified was Type V. The staphylococci with the mecA (n = 11) gene in raw milk were commonly resistant to oxacillin [92%, CI (59–100)] and cefoxitin [74%, CI (39–94)], while the isolates with mecC (n = 2) were resistant to oxacillin (100%) only. All the staphylococci with the mecA (n = 3) gene in pasteurized milk were resistant to both oxacillin and cefoxitin. Our results provided evidence that methicillin-resistant staphylococci occur in dairy products in India with potential public health implications. The state with more intensive dairy systems (Haryana) had higher levels of methicillin-resistant bacteria in milk

Nanoscale fissure formation in AlxGa1–xN/GaN heterostructures and their influence on Ohmic contact formation

Nanoscale surface fissures on AlxGa1-xN/GaN (15nm/1 mu m) heterostructures grown by metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy (MOVPE) were imaged using tapping-mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) and electron channelling contrast imaging (ECCI). Fissure formation was linked to threading dislocations, and was only observed in samples cooled under H-2 and NH3, developing with increasing barrier layer Al content. No strain relaxation was detected regardless of fissure formation up to barrier layer Al composition fractions of x=0.37. A reduction of measured channel carrier density was found in fissured samples at low temperature. This instability is attributed to shallow trap formation associated with fissure boundaries. For Ti/Al/Ni/Au Ohmic contact formation to high Al content barrier layers, fissures were found to offer conduction routes to the 2DEG that allow for low resistance contacts, with fissure-free samples requiring additional optimisation of the metal stack and anneal conditions to achieve contact resistivity of order those measured in fissured samples. In addition, the effects of fissures were found to be detrimental to thermal stability of sheet and contact resistance, suggesting that fissure formation compromises the integrity of the 2DEG