An Efficient Vein Pattern-based Recognition System

This paper presents an efficient human recognition system based on vein pattern from the palma dorsa. A new absorption based technique has been proposed to collect good quality images with the help of a low cost camera and light source. The system automatically detects the region of interest from the image and does the necessary preprocessing to extract features. A Euclidean Distance based matching technique has been used for making the decision. It has been tested on a data set of 1750 image samples collected from 341 individuals. The accuracy of the verification system is found to be 99.26% with false rejection rate (FRR) of 0.03%.Comment: IEEE Publication format, International Journal of Computer Science and Information Security, IJCSIS, Vol. 8 No. 1, April 2010, USA. ISSN 1947 5500, http://sites.google.com/site/ijcsis

Changing the Trends in Surgery during the COVID-19 Times: An Experience from the Eastern Uttar Pradesh State, India

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has an immense effect not only on the social and economic lives of people but also on the surgical lives of surgeons, residents, nursing staff, and patients as well as ground level staff. Amidst this COVID pandemic, emergency surgeries were being done but at a decreased rate, whereas elective cases depended on the will of hospitals, surgeons, and patients. Study aims to promulgate a "Neo–Surgical Check Box" by amalgamating the WHO surgical checklist and the results obtained from the questionnaires. Subjects and Methods: After receiving ethical clearance from the Institute Ethical Committee, an online questionnaire with 50 questions divided into three sections was distributed to 235 surgeons in Uttar Pradesh. Results:Two hundred and eight surgeons had responded, out of which 154 were male and 54 were female. Only 41.4% (86) were actually conducting the surgery. The emergency surgery rate was 60.3%, whereas 18.6% of elective surgeries were done, 11.8% of surgeries were avoided, and the rate of minimal access surgery was 9.3%. Conclusion: The "Neo-Surgical Check Box" will not only increase the number of surgeries per day but also provide protection to the healthcare workers while handling not only COVID-positive patients but also any airborne communicable diseases

Multiple palmar epidermoid cysts: fourth reported case

Implantation of epidermal fragments into the dermis has been pointed out as the cause of common epidermal cysts. However, some palmoplantar epidermoid cysts have been reported to be caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection or to be derived from eccrine ducts. A 55 year old woman presented with multiple epidermoid cysts on the palm and volar aspect of her left hand. HPV infection CEA was not detected in situ hybridization and polymerase chain reaction

Y-type urethral duplication with posterior perineal fistula: A new variant

13 months old boy presented with constipation and straining during micturition with poor urinary stream and voiding of urine per rectum. Perineal examination revealed posterior perineal fistula. Voiding cysto-urethrogram showed bilateral vesicoureteral reflux with bladder diverticuli, normal dorsal urethra and dye going from urethra to rectum suggestive of Y type urethral duplication. Under stoma cover, he underwent excision of posterior perineal fistula with accessory ventral urethra and anorectoplasty was done. At present patient is passing urine in good stream without straining. The uniqueness of our case is the presence of Y type of urethral duplication with normal calibre dorsal urethra and presence of posterior perineal fistula. Therefore, we consider our case to be an unusual variant of Y type of urethral duplication that has not been described before.

Detubularized isolated ureterosigmoidostomy in a complicated common cloaca: A case report

Urinary incontinence in a child secondary to a severe congenital anatomical disorder or due to complication of a previous surgery can be difficult to manage. Decisions can be especially hard when a redo procedure is being considered. We present one such case where a 6 year old girl previously operated for cloaca was brought with incontinence and after much consideration of options available, underwent a modified ureterosigmoidostomy to aid in her continence. The modification used was detubularized isolated ureterosigmoidostomy, described by Atta et al in 1996

Individual and composite adverse pregnancy outcomes in a randomized trial on isoniazid preventative therapy among women living with human immunodeficiency virus

CITATION: Theron, G. et al. 2021. Individual and Composite Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes in a Randomized Trial on Isoniazid Preventative Therapy Among Women Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Clinical infectious diseases, 72(11):e784–e790. doi:10.1093/cid/ciaa1482The original publication is available at https://academic.oup.com/cid/Background: International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials (IMPAACT) P1078, a randomized noninferiority study designed to compare the safety of starting isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) in women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) either during pregnancy or after delivery, showed that IPT during pregnancy increased the risk of composite adverse pregnancy outcomes, but not individual outcomes. Many known factors are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes: these factors' associations and effect modifications with IPT and pregnancy outcomes were examined. Methods: Pregnant women living with HIV from 8 countries with tuberculosis incidences >60/100 000 were randomly assigned to initiate 28 weeks of IPT either during pregnancy or at 12 weeks after delivery. Using univariable and multivariable logistic regression and adjusting for factors associated with pregnancy outcomes, composite and individual adverse pregnancy outcome measures were analyzed. Results: This secondary analysis included 925 mother-infant pairs. All mothers were receiving antiretrovirals. The adjusted odds of fetal demise, preterm delivery (PTD), low birth weight (LBW), or a congenital anomaly (composite outcome 1) were 1.63 times higher among women on immediate compared to deferred IPT (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15-2.31). The odds of fetal demise, PTD, LBW, or neonatal death within 28 days (composite outcome 2) were 1.62 times higher among women on immediate IPT (95% CI, 1.14-2.30). The odds of early neonatal death within 7 days, fetal demise, PTD, or LBW (composite outcome 3) were 1.74 times higher among women on immediate IPT (95% CI, 1.22-2.49). Conclusions: We confirmed higher risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes associated with the initiation of IPT during pregnancy, after adjusting for known risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes.https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/72/11/e784/5913421?login=truePublishers versio

Nevirapine Resistance and Breast-Milk HIV Transmission: Effects of Single and Extended-Dose Nevirapine Prophylaxis in Subtype C HIV-Infected Infants

Daily nevirapine (NVP) prophylaxis to HIV-exposed infants significantly reduces breast-milk HIV transmission. We assessed NVP-resistance in Indian infants enrolled in the "six-week extended-dose nevirapine" (SWEN) trial who received single-dose NVP (SD-NVP) or SWEN for prevention of breast-milk HIV transmission but who also acquired subtype C HIV infection during the first year of life.Standard population sequencing and cloning for viral subpopulations present at > or =5% frequency were used to determine HIV genotypes from 94% of the 79 infected Indian infants studied. Timing of infection was defined based on when an infant's blood sample first tested positive for HIV DNA. SWEN-exposed infants diagnosed with HIV by six weeks of age had a significantly higher prevalence of NVP-resistance than those who received SD-NVP, by both standard population sequencing (92% of 12 vs. 38% of 29; p = 0.002) and low frequency clonal analysis (92% of 12 vs. 59% of 29; p = 0.06). Likelihood of infection with NVP-resistant HIV through breast-milk among infants infected after age six weeks was substantial, but prevalence of NVP-resistance did not differ among SWEN or SD-NVP exposed infants by standard population sequencing (15% of 13 vs. 15% of 20; p = 1.00) and clonal analysis (31% of 13 vs. 40% of 20; p = 0.72). Types of NVP-resistance mutations and patterns of persistence at one year of age were similar between the two groups. NVP-resistance mutations did differ by timing of HIV infection; the Y181C variant was predominant among infants diagnosed in the first six weeks of life, compared to Y188C/H during late breast-milk transmission.Use of SWEN to prevent breast-milk HIV transmission carries a high likelihood of resistance if infection occurs in the first six weeks of life. Moreover, there was a continued risk of transmission of NVP-resistant HIV through breastfeeding during the first year of life, but did not differ between SD-NVP and SWEN groups. As with SD-NVP, the value of preventing HIV infection in a large number of infants should be considered alongside the high risk of resistance associated with extended NVP prophylaxis.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00061321

Generalized evaluations for improved high-resolution region-of-interest x-ray imaging systems

The requirements of higher image quality and resolution place stringent constraints upon high-resolution region-of-interest (ROI) systems utilized in minimally invasive Endovascular Image guided Intervention procedures (EIGIs), especially at higher frequencies to see the very small (about 100 microns or less) and low contrast objects for accurate and successful treatment of neurovascular diseases. Among all the factors, geometric unsharpness due to the finite size of focal spot, and different types and thicknesses of CsI(Tl) imaging phosphor plays a vital role in determining the image quality and resolution for a ROI imaging system at higher frequencies. Moreover, ROI imaging requires the use of a small focal spot with sufficient output to maintain spatial and contrast resolution. Furthermore, the imaging system needs to be evaluated using the generalized linear system metrics which provides the total system performance including the intrinsic detector performance and the effects of focal spot, scatter, and geometric magnification for a simulated clinical environment. The effect of the Line-Focus-Principle on the focal spot frequency distribution for different positions at the detector plane was evaluated, and consequently, the effect of these on the total system performances of the MAF without scatter was evaluated. The standard pin-hole method using a 10 micron pin-hole was used to for the focal spot Point Spread Function (PSF) measurement. Moreover, the effect of different types (HR and HL) and thicknesses (300 and 500 microns) of CsI(Tl) phosphor on the performance of the MAF was evaluated. Furthermore, we investigated three methods to increase the x-ray output while maintaining the focal-spot size for a small field-of-view (FOV) as needed for EIGIs: 1) increase in tube output made possible by reducing the anode angle and lengthening the filament for the small focal spot to maintain a constant effective focal-spot size, 2) increase of the image quality and resolution for a medium focal spot using asymmetric collimation to shift the beam to the anode side so that we can utilize the Line-Focus-Principle, 3) increase of the image quality for the existing small focal spot using recursive filtering and increased frame rate acquisition. Finally, we evaluate the total system performance for the high-resolution ROI detector SSXII. Three object magnifications (1.08, 1.13, and 1.20), two scatter fractions (0.28 and 0.33) characteristic of a standard head phantom, and three focal spots (small, medium, and large of 0.3 mm, 0.5 mm, and 0.8 mm nominal size, respectively) were used for generalized evaluations comparison. The radially averaged focal spot MTFs (average of MTFs in all directions) are found to be improved as we move from the cathode to the anode side at the detector plane for each focal spot in the tube axis direction. The improvement is higher for the small focal spot. The performances (GMTF and GDQE) of the MAF also improved as we move from the cathode side to the anode side; however, they degrade for large focal spot size and higher object magnification. The 300 HR MAF performs significantly better than the 300 HL and 500 HR MAFs at higher frequency in terms of the MTF and DQE. The 500 HR MAF performs similarly in terms of MTF and little better in terms of DQE than the 300 HL MAF. The GDQE and GMTF for all the MAFs and SSXII are degraded compared to the DQEs and MTFs, especially at low frequency because of the scatter blur due to the scatter radiation from the uniform head phantom, and at high frequency due to the focal spot blur due to the finite focal spot size. The degradation at higher frequencies is substantial for larger focal spot and/or higher magnification. Despite the above degradations, the MAFs and SSXII perform significantly better than the commercial Flat Panel Detector (FPD) at higher frequencies. Considering both increased anode-target area and increased inherent anode filtration, a net output increase of 4.0 (5.0 what's this?) times could be achieved with a 2-degree anode angle without the added filtration of 1.8 mm Al (0.2 mm Cu) with head phantom in the beam compared to the standard 8-degree target with an increase of 4 times in filament length. Moreover, the GNEQ, hence the image quality, can be increased for the MAF in the case of the medium focal spot using a view at the anode side resulting in higher output. Furthermore, the GNEQ, hence the image quality, can also be increased by 5 times in the case of the existing small focal spot using increased acquisition frame rates of 15 f/s with either a running average of 5 consecutive frames or with recursive temporal filtering with filtering weight of 3. Taking the advantage of the Line-Focus-Principle, higher resolution and dose efficiency, performances can be achieved using the MAF at the anode side of the x-ray tube. Despite significant degradation due to scatter and focal spot blurring, all the MAFs and SSXII provide superior performance over the FPD at higher spatial frequencies. Both substantially higher resolution and improved GDQE can be achieved for the MAF using the 300 μm HR phosphor instead of the 300 μm HL and using the 500 μm HR phosphor. The tube output, hence the image quality in terms of the GNEQ while maintaining the spatial resolution could be achieved in the region of interventional interest without the limitations of the small focal spot with these methods. As a result of the increased image quality and resolution, a patient could be diagnosed and treated in one session, which ultimately may save an additional procedure as well as provide decreased recovery time. Moreover, the higher image quality can help endovascular device deployment and verification after deployment which in turn could increase the success probability of procedures including complex ones

A new species of the genus Foenatopus Smith (Hymenoptera: Stephanoidea Stephanidae) from India

Gupta, Ankita, Gawas, Sandesh M. (2020): A new species of the genus Foenatopus Smith (Hymenoptera: Stephanoidea Stephanidae) from India. Zootaxa 4801 (2): 389-394, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4801.2.1