A Comparitive study between Apache II and Ranson Scoring Systems in predicting the Severity of Acute Pancreatitis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A comparitve study between APACHE II and RANSON scoring system in predicting the severity of acute pancreatitis, is a prospective study of 33 cases of acute pancreatitis with the objective to compare the efficacy of APACHE II scoring system with RANSON scoring system in predicting the severity of acute pancreatitis. METHODS: 33 cases of acute pancreatitis admitted in Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital,were considered in the study .All patients diagnosed with acute pancreatitis based on clinical suspicion and raised serum amylase levels were assessed with multiple variables of APACHE II and RANSON scoring system, the scores of which would indicate the severity of the disease and the scores were compared with raised serum amylase levels to know the efficacy of both the scoring systems. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (ppv) and negative predictive value (npv) of both scoring system in the present study was compared with the standard literature. RESULTS; The APACHE II scoring system had a sensitivity of 100%, specificity 80%, positive predictive value (ppv) 62% and negative predictive value (npv) 100%. The RANSON scoring system had sensitivity of 66.7%, specificity 86.7%, positive predictive value (ppv) 33% and negative predictive value (npv) 96%. Area under curve (AUC) in APACHE II was 0.717 and in RANSON was 0.667. Of the 33 cases, 8 cases were considered severe pancreatitis of which all 8 were severe according to APACHE II but only 3 of the 8 were considered severe by RANSON score. There was no mortality in the study. Local and systemic complications were seen in patients considered severe by APACHE II score only. CONCLUSION: The APACHE II system takes into account all the major risk factors that influence outcome from disease, including the acute physiological derangements as well as patient ability to recover which may be diminished by advancing age or chronic disease. The range of APACHE II score is wide providing better spread between mild and severe attacks, because varying weights are assigned to increasingly abnormal values, rather than all or none judgements than RANSON scoring system. By the results obtained it can be concluded that APACHE II score is better than RANSON score in predicting the severity of acute pancreatitis

Convergence Rates in L^2 for Elliptic Homogenization Problems

We study rates of convergence of solutions in L^2 and H^{1/2} for a family of elliptic systems {L_\epsilon} with rapidly oscillating oscillating coefficients in Lipschitz domains with Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions. As a consequence, we obtain convergence rates for Dirichlet, Neumann, and Steklov eigenvalues of {L_\epsilon}. Most of our results, which rely on the recently established uniform estimates for the L^2 Dirichlet and Neumann problems in \cite{12,13}, are new even for smooth domains.Comment: 25 page

Maximizing Neumann fundamental tones of triangles

We prove sharp isoperimetric inequalities for Neumann eigenvalues of the Laplacian on triangular domains. The first nonzero Neumann eigenvalue is shown to be maximal for the equilateral triangle among all triangles of given perimeter, and hence among all triangles of given area. Similar results are proved for the harmonic and arithmetic means of the first two nonzero eigenvalues

Complexities of X chromosome inactivation status in female human induced pluripotent stem cells—a brief review and scientific update for autism research

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) allow researchers to make customized patient-derived cell lines by reprogramming noninvasively retrieved somatic cells. These cell lines have the potential to faithfully represent an individual’s genetic background; therefore, in the absence of available human brain tissue from a living patient, these models have a significant advantage relative to other models of neurodevelopmental disease. When using human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) to model X-linked developmental disorders or inherited conditions that undergo sex-specific modulation of penetrance (e.g., autism spectrum disorders), there are significant complexities in the course and status of X chromosome inactivation (XCI) that are crucial to consider in establishing the validity of cellular models. There are major gaps and inconsistencies in the existing literature regarding XCI status during the derivation and maintenance of hiPSCs and their differentiation into neurons. Here, we briefly describe the importance of the problem, review the findings and inconsistencies of the existing literature, delineate options for specifying XCI status in clonal populations, and develop recommendations for future studies

Dent-O-Myths Amid Young Community: A Cross-Sectional Study

INTRODUCTION: The word ‘Myth’ is derived from the Greek word “Mythos”, meaning the stories passed by a group of certain population having a strong impact on seeking general and dental treatment even during illness. AIM: The aim of this study was to access the prevalence of dental myths among the young population and to interpret their level of knowledge, awareness and perception. MATERIALS AND METHOD: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted amongst 500 young population of age between 18-28 years between May to August 2020, COVID-19 pandemic period. A pretested validated questionnaire was formatted on Google forms and circulated in various social media platforms. The collected data was subjected to statistical analysis. RESULTS: The mean age of the study population was 22.66±2.38 years, and 59% were females and 41% were males. About 65% (325) and 56% (280) of the study subjects believed correctly that mouthwash alone will not maintain oral health and chewing gum will not clean their teeth, respectively. When asked about their responses in case of pain in oral cavity, most people 46% (230) reported they would visit a dentist and major segment of study subjects 56% (281) believed that there can be more methods for treating oral pain other than the extraction of the tooth itself.CONCLUSION: The result of this study revealed that the younger population are more aware and didn’t believe much regarding various dental myths

Effect of variation in mesh size on trawl efficiency

Result of comparative fishing trials with a bulged belly design with three different mesh ranges in the body and wing to study the effect of mesh size difference on the performance of gear is discussed. While there is no significant difference in catch rate, predictably the 40 mm mesh size trawl fared wen when small sized fish like anchovies formed the major catch. The trawls with 60 and 80 mm mesh size gave better horizontal spread at a lower resistance showing savings in fuel

Length weight relationship in the threadfin-bream, Nemipterus japonicus along the Kerala coast

The length-weight relationship in N. japonicus of the Kerala coast shows no change in the form of the relationship when classified according to maturity and sex. The t-test shows that the cubic law does not hold good for this species. Instances of more than one value of weight for a given value of length are found more frequently in females than in males. A comparison of the relationships for the Andhra-Orissa coasts with those of the Kerala coast gives some differences which probably signify that separate stocks may exist in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea