HSRA: Hindi stopword removal algorithm

In the last few years, electronic documents have been the main source of data in many research areas like Web Mining, Information Retrieval, Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing etc. Text Processing plays a vital role for processing structured or unstructured data from the web. Preprocessing is the main step in any text processing systems. One significant preprocessing technique is the elimination of functional words, also known as stopwords, which affects the performance of text processing tasks. An efficient stopword removal technique is required in all text processing tasks. In this paper, we are proposing a stopword removal algorithm for Hindi Language which is using the concept of a Deterministic Finite Automata (DFA). A large number of available works on stopword removal techniques are based on dictionary containing stopword lists. Then pattern matching technique is applied and the matched patterns, which is a stopword, is removed from the document. It is a time consuming task as searching process takes a long time. This makes the method inefficient and very expensive. In comparison of that, our algorithm has been tested on 200 documents and achieved 99% accuracy and also time efficient

Stevens-Johnson Syndrome while on lamotrigine and NSAID:A case report

Stevens-Johnson syndrome is a severe immune-mediated cutaneous reaction occurring due to exposure to certain drugs. Lamotrigine is an FDA approved drug used in the treatment of bipolar depression. When it is given concomitantly with sodium valproate, the risk of developing Stevens-Johnson syndrome increases. Here we present the report of a patient with bipolar depression who developed serious skin rashes while on lamotrigine and NSAID prescribed by a local doctor, who recovered after timely management. This case highlights the importance of following proper dosing, drug escalation regimen and managing drug interactions during lamotrigine therapy

Fungal nail disease (Onychomycosis); Challenges and solutions

Onychomycosis (fungal nail infection) is caused by three groups of fungal pathogens namely dermatophyte molds (DM), non-DM (NDM) and yeasts. It is primarily a cosmetic problem but may induce impact on quality of life. Clinically it is characterized by five morphologically distinctive types; distal lateral subungual onychomycosis (DLSO), superficial white onychomycosis (SWO), proximal subungual onychomycosis (PSO), and endothrix onychomycosis. It is difficult to detect the fungal agent responsible for a particular type of onychomycosis by clinical features alone. Mycological methods like direct demonstration of fungal agents by potassium hydroxide mount or nail plate histopathology with Periodic acid Schiff (PAS) staining are sensitive methods for the detection of pathogens. Fungal culture alone is commonly used as a standard for the detection of etiological agent. Molecular biological techniques are currently used only in research laboratories or epidemiological purposes. Therapy is generally not satisfactory. Both topical and systemic agents are used in the therapy. Topical Ciclopirix and Amorolfine are found to be effective but only in early and limited disease. Terbinafine and Itraconazole seems to be the best drugs for the systemic therapy. Clinical cure rates are generally lower than the mycological cure rates

Nail evaluation in internal diseases: An indispensable exercise

Nails are the structures without any vital functions, but their diagnostic significance cannot be undermined. Nail unit constitutes the nail plate, nail bed, and nail folds which exhibit signs of the nail unit and internal disorders. Most nail changes are nonspecific, but some of them have high diagnostic significance. Many such changes have been described since the historic times, and many have been discussed in the recent literature. Diseases of the nail units such as infections may also indicate the presence of immunosuppression or diabetes. Interpretation of the nail changes requires an amount of expertise which any physician can obtain by careful observation. This article emphasizes the important nail signs in internal disorders

The untold story of atopic dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis (AD) has an impact on all aspects of patients' life. It affects the quality of life and emotional well-being of a person. A great number of comorbidities occur in patients with AD, apart from the cutaneous features. This review is about the varied comorbidities of AD and its burden on the patient. There are three types of review: Scoping review; literature review; and nonsystematic review. There are various interrelated comorbidities in AD. Chronic pruritus and inflammation lead to psychosocial stress, anxiety, and depression. AD is associated with asthma, hay fever, food allergy, eosinophilic esophagitis, and allergic contact dermatitis. Other associations are cutaneous and extracutaneous infections of bacterial, viral, and fungal origin. AD is also associated with various autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases. AD is associated with several comorbidities which directly and indirectly affects the patient and their immediate family in terms of physical, mental, and emotional well-being. There is a need for such a review regarding the associations between AD and nonallergic conditions as the early detection and management improves the patient's overall wellbeing

‘A night with venus, a lifetime with mercury’: Insight into the annals of syphilis

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochaete Treponema pallidum. Being a disease whose existence spans several centuries, it has a rich and interesting historical background. The article attempts to explain the milestones in origin, spread, and treatment aspects related to syphilis