Maternal genital tract colonisation by Group-B Streptococcus: A hospital based study

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of Group B Streptococcus genital tract infection in pregnant women and to determine the risk factors for its colonisation.Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi and Sobhraj Hospital, Karachi, from May to August 2007. Pregnant women at 35-37 weeks gestation attending antenatal clinic at these hospitals constituted the study population. Based on stratified sampling, 405 patients were recruited. High vaginal swabs of these patients were taken in order to calculate the prevalence of infection at each hospital. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the risk factor association. SPSS 11.5 was used for statistical analysis.Results: The overall prevalence of colonisation was 17% (n=69) (95% CI: 13.4-20.7). Of the 155(38.27%) women at the Aga Khan Hospital, 35(22.6%) were positive, while among the 250 (61.72%) women at Sobhraj Hospital, the prevalence was 13.6% (n=34). The colonisation was found to be significantly associated inversely with the body mass index of the patient (OR 0.91; 95% CI: 0.08-1.0).Conclusion: Group B Streptococcus screening should be an integral part of antenatal care and should be offered to all pregnant women

Co-existing spinal intradural ependymal cyst and sacral tarlov cyst in adult-onset tethered cord syndrome with syringomyelia: Case report and literature review

Background: Synchronous spinal intradural ependymal cysts and sacral Tarlov cysts in adult onset tethered cord syndrome are extremely rare.Case description: A 23-year-old male presented with back pain radiating into both lower extremities, accompanied by acute onset of gait difficulty and sphincter dysfunction. Magnetic resonance imaging identified a low lying conus medullaris, syringomyelia with septations extending from T12 to S1, a tethered cord, and a thickened filum terminale with a sacral Tarlov cyst. The patient underwent a L3-4 laminectomy for decompression of syringomyelia and excision/biopsy of a space occupying lesion along with S1-2 laminectomy for cord untethering and Tarlov cyst fenestration. Postoperative histopathology confirmed that the lesion was an ependymal cyst. Clinically, patient showed marked improvement in the neurological status.Conclusion: Simultaneous decompressive laminectomy of L3-4 and S1-2 effectively decompressed the syringomyelia while allowing for excision/biopsy of a space occupying lesion at the former and untethering and Tarlov cyst fenestration at the latter levels

Wavefield characteristics and spatial incoherency - a comparative study from Argostoli rock- and soil-site dense seismic arrays

International audienceThe current article presents the results from the analysis of the seismic events recorded from a dense array located on a rock site at Argostoli, Cephalonia Island, Greece. The objective of the study is to explore to what extent the non-direct, diffracted surface waves influence the seismic wavefield at a rock site, to investigate the loss of coherency of ground motions and to compare the results with those from a previously studied similar array located at an adjacent small, shallow sedimentary valley. The array consists of 21 velocimeters encompassing a central station in four concentric circles with diameters 20, 60, 180 and 360 m. The analyzed seismic dataset includes 40 events with magnitudes ranging from 2 to 5 and epicentral distance up to 200 km. MUSIQUE algorithm has been used to analyze the seismic wavefield by extracting the backazimuth and slowness of the dominant incoming waves and identifying the Love and Rayleigh waves. Lagged coherency has been estimated for all the available station pairs in the array and the results from the entire dataset have been averaged at four separation distance intervals, 10-20, 20-30, 30-40, 80-90 m. The results were also compared with those from a similar array located on an adjacent small, shallow sedimentary valley. The analysis suggests that about 20percent energy of the wavefield could be characterized as diffracted Love and Rayleigh waves, primarily arriving from the north-east and north-south directions, respectively. The spatial coherency estimations at the rock site are, generally, observed to be larger than those from the sedimentary array, especially at frequencies below 5 Hz. The directionality of coherency estimates observed from the soil array is absent in case of the rock array data. Comparison with the widely-quoted parametric models reveals that there is little correlation between the decay of coherency observed at the rock site and the models. The significant difference observed between the results of the rock and soil array indicate that the spatial incoherency is largely site dependent and could be potentially associated with the formation of locally generated wavefiel

Squamous Cell Carcinoma in a Heel Ulcer in a Patient With Diabetes

A technique for measuring B-H curves of grain-oriented silicon steel along arbitrary directions has been developed. As the control of waveform is not necessary in this technique, it is possible to measure B-H curves up to high flux densities which are required for calculating flux distribution using the finite element method</p

Prevalence of Muscle Dysmorphia and Associated Health Activities in Male Medical Students in Karachi, Pakistan

Background: Muscle Dysmorphia (MD) is a subtype of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and is currently classified under anxiety disorders (subheading: Obsessive-compulsive disorder) in DSM 5. MD is hypothesized to affect the self-esteem and social outlook of the younger generation. MD shows a higher rate in males and may influence their self-confidence rendering them more prone towards using steroids, supplementary proteins and other drugs to alter their physical outlooks as shown in previous studies. This problem has been on the rise lately due to revolutionary advancement in the media and film industry and the abrupt changes about the standards of physical good looks and body shapes. With the lack of studies done in our population, our study will be helpful to consider the prevalence of the disease in our setting and increase awareness in the general public and clinicians. We hope to help clinicians/ therapists find better options in managing the disease. Materials: We performed a cross-sectional study with a sample size of 246 medical school students in Karachi to collect data through self-administered questionnaires. We used the DSM 5 criteria for the diagnosis of BDD and additional questions on the presence of MD. Nutritional habits, exercise routines, use of supplements and drugs were also obtained for exploratory analysis. Results: Our study predicted the prevalence of MD to be 25%. Other main findings included statistical significant associations between MD and the thoughts and practice of steroid use for muscularity. Conclusion: MD is an underdiagnosed and often unrecognized disease that we believe has significant consequences for the young male population. Further work is needed on this in our part of the world. Our research, we believe, can be a stepping stone for further studies that would incorporate wider populations

A meshless method for numerical solutions of linear and nonlinear time-fractional Black-Scholes models

The numerical solution of the time-fractional Black-Scholes model for European and American options is presented using a local meshless collocation approach based on hybrid Gaussian-cubic radial basis functions with polynomials is presented. The approach is then expanded to a nonlinear time-fractional model for an option with transaction costs in a market with low liquidity. The spatial derivatives of the models are discretized using the proposed meshless technique. Numerical experiments are carried out for the American option, European option, and nonlinear transaction cost option models. In order to evaluate the effectiveness and precision of the suggested meshless approach, $L_{\infty}$ and $L_{rel}$ error norms are utilized. Both call and put option volatility is explored. A non-uniform grid customized around the strike price region is also used to determine the prices of European call and American put options. The methods described in literature are compared with the numerical results

Reconciling social norms with personal interests: indigenous styles of identity formation among Pakistani youth

Research on identity formation has been conducted mostly in Western contexts. We extend and complement such research by exploring qualitatively the strategies and styles of identity formation employed by emerging adults in Pakistan. Whereas Western theories of identity formation often provide a negative view of normative orientation as “blind obedience” without exploring alternatives, our thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 12 Pakistani emerging adults suggests a much more complex interplay between personal interests and normative influences on identity formation. Participants described various ways of reconciling normative expectations (parental, religious, and cultural) with their personal interests, preferences, and explorations, when deciding about their careers, relationships, and values. In Pakistani culture, normative influences seem to play a more positive and flexible role in identity formation than is suggested by previous Western research

Vanadium

International audienceVanadium (chemical symbol, V) is a d-block transition metal,silver in color, appearing in the first long period of the peri-odic table between titanium and chromium. Vanadium hastwo stable isotopes: 50V and 51V, with atomic abundance of0.25 % and 99.75 %, respectively. Vanadium has several oxidation forms (between 2+ and 5+). In the lithosphere, Voccurs as reducing V(III) form, whereas in oxidizing con- ditions V prevails under V(IV) form. Vanadium(II) is partic- ularly unstable in the environment. Vanadium(III) is more stable than V(II), but it is also gradually oxidized by the air or dissolved oxygen. Vanadium(V) is expected to be the prevailing form in waters exposed to atmospheric oxygen, whereas V(IV) may be present in reducing environments. Depending upon geometry and environment, V ionic radii vary between 36 pm and 79 pm. Vanadium has a high melting point of 1910 42 C and is a mildly incompatible, refractory,lithophile (siderophile in the iron core and chondrites) ele- ment. Vanadium has an electronegativity of 1.63 on the Pau- ling scale and displays a first ionization potential of 6.74 eV. More details can be found in Richards (2006) and Haynes (2015)