Racemose neurocysticercosis.

BACKGROUND: Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is an invasive parasitic infection of the central nervous system caused by the larval stage of the tapeworm Taenia solium. The clinical manifestations of NCC depend on the parasitic load and location of infection, as well as the developmental stage of the cysticerci and host immune response, with symptoms ranging from subclinical headaches to seizures, cerebrovascular events, and life-threatening hydrocephalus. Racemose NCC represents a particularly severe variant of extraparenchymal NCC characterized by the presence of multiple confluent cysts within the subarachnoid space and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, as well as a decreased response to treatment. Albendazole is the preferred drug for the treatment of racemose NCC due to its superior cerebrospinal fluid penetration compared to praziquantel and the ability to be used concomitantly with steroids. CASE DESCRIPTION: In this report, we describe a 39-year-old man recently emigrated from Mexico with racemose NCC and hydrocephalus successfully treated with prolonged albendazole treatment, high-dose dexamethasone, and ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement for the relief of obstructive hydrocephalus. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of racemose NCC represents a significant clinical challenge requiring multimodal intervention to minimize infectious- and treatment-related morbidity. We review the clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic features relevant to the management of this aggressive form of NCC

Pramlintide, the synthetic analogue of amylin: physiology, pathophysiology, and effects on glycemic control, body weight, and selected biomarkers of vascular risk

Pramlintide is a synthetic version of the naturally occurring pancreatic peptide called amylin. Amylin and pramlintide have similar effects on lowering postprandial glucose, lowering postprandial glucagon and delaying gastric emptying. Pramlintide use in type 1 and insulin requiring type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with modest reductions in HbA1c often accompanied by weight loss. Limited data show a neutral effect on blood pressure. Small studies suggest small reductions in LDL-cholesterol in type 2 DM and modest reductions in triglycerides in type 1 DM. Markers of oxidation are also reduced in conjunction with reductions in postprandial glucose. Nausea is the most common side effect. These data indicate that pramlintide has a role in glycemic control of both type 1 and type 2 DM. Pramlintide use is associated with favorable effects on weight, lipids and other biomarkers for atherosclerotic disease

Scenario of Tourism Industry in India

Purpose– The present study makes an attempt to study the development of Tourism in India. The paper discusses Tourism attractions in India and initiatives taken by Government to promote Tourism. Design/methodology/approach-  The design of the study highlights future prospects and constrains in the development Tourism in India. The thrust area of paper is to analyse positive as well as negative impacts of Tourism Industry on the Economy, Society and Environment.   Findings– Tourism Industry in India is growing and it has vast potential for generating employment and earning large amount of foreign exchange besides giving a fillip to the country’s overall economic and social development. Research limitations/implications– Data were collected through the websites and various research articles. Practical implications– The study implies to the depth of social, economical and environmental effects of the tourism industry  Originality/value– Most of the works that are focused on tourism industry in India have been conducted at the conceptual level. Thus, with the aim of moving on this topic, this study analyses the impact on social, economical and environmental aspects through rise in tourism.Â

Tracing dark energy with quasars

The nature of dark energy, driving the accelerated expansion of the Universe, is one of the most important issues in modern astrophysics. In order to understand this phenomenon, we need precise astrophysical probes of the universal expansion spanning wide redshift ranges. Quasars have recently emerged as such a probe, thanks to their high intrinsic luminosities and, most importantly, our ability to measure their luminosity distances independently of redshifts. Here we report our ongoing work on observational reverberation mapping using the time delay of the Mg II line, performed with the South African Large Telescope (SALT).Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, submitted as PTA proceeding

Inflection, Canards and Folded Singularities in Excitable Systems: Application to a 3D FitzHugh–Nagumo Model

Specific kinds of physical and biological systems exhibit complex Mixed-Mode Oscillations mediated by folded-singularity canards in the context of slow-fast models. The present manuscript revisits these systems, specifically by analysing the dynamics near a folded singularity from the viewpoint of inflection sets of the flow. Originally, the inflection set method was developed for planar systems [Brøns and Bar-Eli in Proc R Soc A 445(1924):305–322, 1994; Okuda in Prog Theor Phys 68(6):1827–1840, 1982; Peng et al. in Philos Trans R Soc A 337(1646):275–289, 1991] and then extended to N-dimensional systems [Ginoux et al. in Int J Bifurc Chaos 18(11):3409–3430, 2008], although not tailored to specific dynamics (e.g. folded singularities). In our previous study, we identified components of the inflection sets that classify several canard-type behaviours in 2D systems [Desroches et al. in J Math Biol 67(4):989– 1017, 2013]. Herein, we first survey the planar approach and show how to adapt it for 3D systems with an isolated folded singularity by considering a suitable reduction of such 3D systems to planar non-autonomous slow-fast systems. This leads us to the computation of parametrized families of inflection sets of one component of that planar (non-autonomous) system, in the vicinity of a folded node or of a folded saddle. We then show that a novel component of the inflection set emerges, which approximates and follows the axis of rotation of canards associated to folded-node and folded-saddle singularities. Finally, we show that a similar inflection-set component occurs in the vicinity of a delayed Hopf bifurcation, a scenario that can arise at the transition between folded node and folded saddle. These results are obtained in the context of a canonical model for folded-singularity canards and subsequently we show it is also applicable to complex slow-fast models. Specifically, we focus the application towards the self-coupled 3D FitzHugh–Nagumo model, but the method is generically applicable to higher-dimensional models with isolated folded singularities, for instance in conductance-based models and other physical-chemical systems.Ikerbasque (The Basque Foundation for Science