Complete Heart Block in Association With Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever

Dengue virus infection affects the heart structurally and functionally. Clinical manifestations of cardiac complications secondary to dengue virus infection vary from self-limiting arrhythmias to severe myocardial infarction, leading to hypotension, pulmonary edema, and cardiogenic shock. However, we report a case of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) complicated by a complete heart block. A female with DHF due to dengue virus serotype 2, presented to the emergency department with fever, headache, rash, and fatigue followed by an episode of syncope. She was found to have a third-degree atrioventricular block, with pulseless polymorphic ventricular tachycardia. Patient was resuscitated and a temporary trans-venous pacemaker was placed. She reverted back to normal sinus rhythm after 4 days of syncope and was subsequently discharged from the hospital after complete resolution of symptoms, without the need for a permanent pacemaker. Physicians are warranted to have high index of suspicion for dengue virus infection as an etiology in patients with acute cardiovascular compromise, especially in tropical areas

Polymer optical fiber compound parabolic concentrator tip for enhanced coupling efficiency for fluorescence based glucose sensors

We demonstrate that the light excitation and capturing efficiency of fluorescence based fiber-optical sensors can be significantly increased by using a CPC (Compound Parabolic Concentrator) tip instead of the standard plane-cut tip. We use Zemax modelling to find the optimum CPC tip profile and fiber length of a polymer optical fiber diabetes sensor for continuous monitoring of glucose levels. We experimentally verify the improved performance of the CPC tipped sensor and the predicted production tolerances. Due to physical size requirements when the sensor has to be inserted into the body a non-optimal fiber length of 35 mm is chosen. For this length an average improvement in efficiency of a factor of 1.7 is experimentally demonstrated and critically compared to the predicted ideal factor of 3 in terms of parameters that should be improved through production optimization

Polymer Optical Fiber Tip Mass Production Etch Mechanism to Achieve CPC Shape for Improved Biosensor Performance

We report on a simple chemical etching method that enables nonlinear tapering of Polymer Optical Fiber (POF) tips to manufacture Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CPC) fiber tips. We show that, counter-intuitively, nonlinear tapering can be achieved by first etching the core and not the cladding. The etching mechanism is modelled and etched tips are characterized both geometrically and optically in a fluorescence glucose sensor chemistry. A Zemax model of the CPC tipped sensor predicts an optimal improvement in light capturing efficiency of a factor of 3.96 compared to the conventional sensor with a plane-cut fiber tip. A batch of eight CPC fiber tips has been manufactured by the chemical etching method. The batch average showed an increase of a factor of 3.16, which is only 20% less than the predicted value. The method is reproducible and can be up-scaled for mass production

Variations in Serum Ferritin in Different Professionals of Mirpurkhas.

Introduction: Serum ferritin has been shown to be a good biomarker of body iron stores. Iron is essential mineral that functions to bind oxygen as a part of Heme in Hemoglobin and Myoglobin1. Ferritin, a major protein regulating iron homeostasis, is used as a biomarker for iron status and low grade inflammation, which results in free radical damage to cells and tissues18-19. Accordingly, recent studies demonstrated that serum ferritin concentrations are correlated with diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, ischemic heart disease, cardiovascular disease, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in healthy men and obese patients. Objective: The study was aimed to evaluate possible variations in serum ferritin levels in different professional of Mirpurkhas. Methodology: 250 subjects were randomly selected from the local community of Mirpurkhas from OPDs of Civil Hospital Mirpurkhas and Muhammad Medical College Mirpurkhas. Their Serum ferritin was determined by ELISA. And the data was analyzed by SPSS 15. Results: This was a cross-sectional study. Out of 250 subjects 170 (68%) were male and 80 (32%) were female. The mean age was 55.20 ± 11.046 year the mean height of subjects was 1.6732 ±.09637 meters while the mean weight was estimated as 65.50 ±11.589 kgs. The mean BMI was calculated as 24.2772 ±3.34493 kgs/m2. Serum ferritin was ranged between 46-450 ng/ml of blood with mean serum ferritin 226.32 ± 99.027 ng/ml of blood. Serum Ferritin in male was found 233.59 ±98.366 ng/ml of blood and in female was found to be 210.88 ± 99.268 ng/ml of blood. It was found that the mean serum ferritin in teachers was 181.00 ± 42.312 ng/ml, in doctors 286.67 ±67.788 ng/ml, in farmers 267.91 ±78.188 ng/ml, in laborers 174.40 ±108.939 ng/ml, in house wives 201.14 ±112.797 ng/ml, in Clerks office superintendents 205.50 ±16.338 ng/ml, in peon/ masi/ attendants 233.00 ± 135.262 ng/ml, in unemployed 120.00 ± .000 ng/ml, in retired 304.20 ± 89.084 ng/ml and in Businessmen 193.17 ±89.084 ng/ml. A comparison was made between serum ferritin values of different professionals by applying ANOVA test and found that there is a significant difference between serum ferritin values of different professional with highly significant p=.000 value. Conclusion: It was found that serum ferritin level was not similar in all profession and different type of work do affect its level inside the body

Biopesticide activity of sugarcane associated rhizobacteria: Ochrobactrum intermedium strain NH-5 and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain NH-300 against red rot under field conditions

Colletotrichum falcatum is the major fungal pathogen causing sugarcane red rot. Four antagonistic bacterial strains exhibiting biocontrol activity against this pathogen in greenhouse conditions were characterized for production of different antifungal metabolites and biocontrol determinants to elucidate the mechanism of action involved in their antagonistic activity. The strains were also evaluated under field conditions to assess their biocontrol potential. All the strains produced hydrogen cyanide (HCN), and volatile and diffusible antibiotics. In addition, the Ochrobactrum intermedium strain NH-5 produced siderophores and the broad spectrum antibiotic 2, 4-diacetylphloroglucinol (2,4-DAPG); Pseudomonas sp. NH-203 produced siderophores, and Pseudomonas sp. NH-276 produced protease. Two strains, Ochrobactrum intermedium NH-5 and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia NH-300, exhibited good biocontrol activity, suppressing red rot by 44–52% on two sugarcane varieties, SPF-234 and Co-1148, in field experiments. The strains gave consistent results in three consecutive years and showed potential to be used as biopesticides

Asymptomatic Cardiovascular Risk Assessment: The Road Less Traveled

Llobet, FredericPrimer pla de l'obra Braser amb Victòries, pertanyent a la Font de la plaça Espanya. És de nit i la trobem il·luminada. L'autor del disseny fou Frederic Llobet. L'element s'instal·là el 1929

Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection: A Case Series of 9 Patients With Literature Review.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection is an increasingly recognized nonatherosclerotic cause of acute coronary syndrome. Reports regarding the prognosis and natural history of this disease are limited. In addition to the diagnostic difficulty, this condition poses a significant therapeutic challenge due to the lack of specific management guidelines. We present here a case series of 9 patients with spontaneous coronary artery dissection. Additionally, this article reviews the incidence, clinical characteristics, risk factors, diagnostic modalities, therapeutic approaches, and patterns of recurrence in patients with spontaneous coronary artery dissection