1,976 research outputs found
Current understanding on venous leg ulcer
Venous leg ulcer (VLU) or stasis ulcer is a relatively common, chronic and recurring problem. Besides being costly to the health-care system, it significantly impairs the quality of life of the patients. Nearly 1% of adults and 3.6% of older patients are reported to suffer from this chronic condition. Chronic venous insufficiency is considered to be the predominant cause of VLU. The most recent theories associate the pathogenesis of venous ulcer with microcirculatory abnormalities and generation of an inflammatory response. The pharmacological treatment for VLU is based on the pathogenesis and often includes diosmin, pentoxifylline, diuretics as well as antibiotics and the non-pharmacological treatment like compression and skin grafting. VLU has a high rate of recurrence and requires self-care to avoid relapse. Treatment of VLU should always focus for complete treatment, and improve quality of life for patients along with minimum relapse. In recent years novel therapeutic approaches for venous ulcers have offered valuable tools for the management of patients with this disorder
Muon spin rotation study of the topological superconductor SrxBi2Se3
We report transverse-field (TF) muon spin rotation experiments on single
crystals of the topological superconductor SrBiSe with nominal
concentrations and ( K). The TF spectra (
mT), measured after cooling to below in field, did not show any
additional damping of the muon precession signal due to the flux line lattice
within the experimental uncertainty. This puts a lower bound on the magnetic
penetration depth m. However, when we induce disorder in
the vortex lattice by changing the magnetic field below a sizeable
damping rate is obtained for . The data provide microscopic
evidence for a superconducting volume fraction of in the
crystal and thus bulk superconductivity.Comment: 6 pages, includes 4 figure
Quality of life assessment in women with stress urinary incontinence following Trans Obturator Tape (TOT) insertion: a prospective study
Background: Stress urinary incontinence is a symptom or sign indicating that the woman has involuntary loss of urine associated with exertion in the absence of detrusor contraction. It has a significant impact on quality of life. TOT insertion is a popular procedure being done now. Studies related to quality of life assessment following Trans obturator tape (TOT) insertion is sparingly reported. Objectives of present study were to evaluate the quality of life following TOT insertion in patients with stress urinary incontinence and to assess the post operative complications.Methods: This is a prospective study done in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Government Medical College, Thrissur from January 2015 to December 2016. 48 women with Stress urinary incontinence who underwent TOT insertion were included in the study, out of which 30 patients were followed up. The King’s Health Questionnaire was used for assessment. Data was analyzed using Epi Info 7 and Microsoft Excel. The statistical analysis was done using student t-test.Results: At 6 months follow up 86.66% (26) of patients had significant improvement in quality of life. 2 patients (6.66%) had postoperative voiding dysfunction, required recatheterisation, discharged after relief of symptoms. 2 patients (6.66%) had urge incontinence, advised medical management and was sent home, showed no improvement even after 6 months. 2 patients (6.66%) had continuous incontinence, fistula ruled out. Now they were lost to our follow up. Most common late post operative complication was groin pain. None had mesh erosion, bladder and bowel injuries.Conclusions: TOT is a safe and effective procedure for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) which significantly improves the quality of life
Toxicological Considerations in the Use of Consumer Products
Reviews different methods of screening carcinogens by using in vitro and in vivo carcinogenicity tests. Elaborates on naturally occuring carcinogens in food materials, in working environment and consumer products like dyes. The effects of various consumer products like oils,fats, protein foods and non-metallic and metallic substances used in consumer products have been reviewed. The long-term effects on skin such as dermatitis and irritation due to various chemicals used in consumer products have been elucidated. The effects of tetratogens and hazards due to packing materials have also been examined. Finally, the need for safety in raw materials has also emphasised as important for elimination of toxic effects
Examination of aerosol distributions and radiative effects over the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea region during ICARB using satellite data and a general circulation model
In this paper we analyse aerosol loading and its direct radiative effects over the Bay of Bengal (BoB) and Arabian Sea (AS) regions for the Integrated Campaign on Aerosols, gases and Radiation Budget (ICARB) undertaken during 2006, using satellite data from the MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board the Terra and Aqua satellites, the Aerosol Index from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on board the Aura satellite, and the European-Community Hamburg (ECHAM5.5) general circulation model extended by Hamburg Aerosol Module (HAM). By statistically comparing with large-scale satellite data sets, we firstly show that the aerosol properties measured during the ship-based ICARB campaign and simulated by the model are representative for the BoB and AS regions and the pre-monsoon season. In a second step, the modelled aerosol distributions were evaluated by a comparison with the measurements from the ship-based sunphotometer, and the satellite retrievals during ICARB. It is found that the model broadly reproduces the observed spatial and temporal variability in aerosol optical depth (AOD) over BoB and AS regions. However, AOD was systematically underestimated during high-pollution episodes, especially in the BoB leg. We show that this underprediction of AOD is mostly because of the deficiencies in the coarse mode, where the model shows that dust is the dominant component. The analysis of dust AOD along with the OMI Aerosol Index indicate that missing dust transport that results from too low dust emission fluxes over the Thar Desert region in the model caused this deficiency. Thirdly, we analysed the spatio-temporal variability of AOD comparing the ship-based observations to the large-scale satellite observations and simulations. It was found that most of the variability along the track was from geographical patterns, with a minor influence by single events. Aerosol fields were homogeneous enough to yield a good statistical agreement between satellite data at a 1&deg; spatial, but only twice-daily temporal resolution, and the ship-based sunphotometer data at a much finer spatial, but daily-average temporal resolution. Examination of the satellite data further showed that the year 2006 is representative for the five-year period for which satellite data were available. Finally, we estimated the clear-sky solar direct aerosol radiative forcing (DARF). We found that the cruise represents well the regional-seasonal mean forcings. Constraining simulated forcings using the observed AOD distributions yields a robust estimate of regional-seasonal mean DARF of &minus;8.6, &minus;21.4 and +12.9 W m<sup>&minus;2</sup> at the top of the atmosphere (TOA), at the surface (SUR) and in the atmosphere (ATM), respectively, for the BoB region, and over the AS, of, &minus;6.8, &minus;12.8, and +6 W m<sup>&minus;2</sup> at TOA, SUR, and ATM, respectively
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Climate responses to anthropogenic emissions of short-lived climate pollutants
Policies to control air quality focus on mitigating emissions of aerosols and their precursors, and other short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs). On a local scale, these policies will have beneficial impacts on health and crop yields, by reducing particulate matter (PM) and surface ozone concentrations; however, the climate impacts of reducing emissions of SLCPs are less straightforward to predict. In this paper we consider a set of idealised, extreme mitigation strategies, in which the total anthropogenic emissions of individual SLCP emissions species are removed. This provides an upper bound on the potential climate impacts of such air quality strategies.
We focus on evaluating the climate responses to changes in anthropogenic emissions of aerosol precursor species: black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OC) and sulphur dioxide (SO2). We perform climate integrations with four fully coupled atmosphere-ocean global climate models (AOGCMs), and examine the effects on global and regional climate of removing the total land-based anthropogenic emissions of each of the three aerosol precursor species.
We find that the SO2 emissions reductions lead to the strongest response, with all three models showing an increase in surface temperature focussed in the northern hemisphere high latitudes, and a corresponding increase in global mean precipitation and run-off. Changes in precipitation and run-off patterns are driven mostly by a northward shift in the ITCZ, consistent with the hemispherically asymmetric warming pattern driven by the emissions changes. The BC and OC emissions reductions give a much weaker forcing signal, and there is some disagreement between models in the sign of the climate responses to these perturbations. These differences between models are due largely to natural variability in sea-ice extent, circulation patterns and cloud changes. This large natural variability component to the signal when the ocean circulation and sea-ice are free-running means that the BC and OC mitigation measures do not necessarily lead to a discernible climate response
The effect of distance on observed mortality, childhood pneumonia and vaccine efficacy in rural Gambia.
We investigated whether straight-line distance from residential compounds to healthcare facilities influenced mortality, the incidence of pneumonia and vaccine efficacy against pneumonia in rural Gambia. Clinical surveillance for pneumonia was conducted on 6938 children living in the catchment areas of the two largest healthcare facilities. Deaths were monitored by three-monthly home visits. Children living >5 km from the two largest healthcare facilities had a 2·78 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1·74-4·43] times higher risk of all-cause mortality compared to children living within 2 km of these facilities. The observed rate of clinical and radiological pneumonia was lower in children living >5 km from these facilities compared to those living within 2 km [rate ratios 0·65 (95% CI 0·57-0·73) and 0·74 (95% CI 0·55-0·98), respectively]. There was no association between distance and estimated pneumococcal vaccine efficacy. Geographical access to healthcare services is an important determinant of survival and pneumonia in children in rural Gambia
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