Computed tomographic evaluation of bone tunnel enlargement following single bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with hamstring autograft

The purpose of this study is to evaluate tibial and femoral tunnel diameter following single bundle anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction and correlation between tunnel enlargement and clinical outcome. Twelve patients who underwent primary arthroscopic single bundle ACL reconstruction with hamstring graft were included in prospective case series. Preoperative clinical evaluation was performed using international knee documentation committee (IKDC) subjective score and grade, Tegner knee score and Lysholm knee score. Computed tomography (CT) evaluation of the femoral and tibial tunnels were done on post-operative day (POD) 1 and at a mean follow up of 9 months (range 7-12 months) and were compared with functional scores. Our study shows significant tibial and femoral tunnel enlargement on CT scan at 9 months (range 7-12 months) postoperatively. All the clinical evaluation scales showed improvement postoperatively. The mean average femoral tunnel diameter increased significantly (p<0.001) from 8.17±0.57 to 9.08±0.660 (10%) and tibial tunnel diameter increased significantly (p<0.001) from 8.08±0.669 to 9.07±0.601 (11%) postoperatively at a mean follow up of 9 months (range 7-12 months). No statistically significant difference between tunnel enlargement and clinical values were found. In our current prospective CT based study, we conclude use of extracortical fixation of femoral tunnel with stronger fixation of the tibial tunnel, tunnel orientation and anatomic fixation close to the joint line along with less aggressive rehabilitation protocol with use of extension knee brace may result in minimization of tunnel widening with quadrupled hamstring autograft

Open Access Initiatives: A Boon to Academic Libraries

Abstract: The article gives the meaning and definition of open access. It throws light on emergence and development of open access initiatives and various declarations in the world. The types of open access and their characters are given. The gradual increase of journals in DOAJ is shown. The impacts of OA are various facts of the academic community and the challenges for OA are dealt. The OA initiatives in India are listed

Open Access Initiatives: A Boon to Academic Libraries

Abstract: The article gives the meaning and definition of open access. It throws light on emergence and development of open access initiatives and various declarations in the world. The types of open access and their characters are given. The gradual increase of journals in DOAJ is shown. The impacts of OA are various facts of the academic community and the challenges for OA are dealt. The OA initiatives in India are listed

A Study on Big Data Privacy Protection Models using Data Masking Methods

In today’s predictive analytics world, data engineering play a vital role, data acquisition is carried out from various source systems and process as per the business applications and domain. Big Data integrates, governs, and secures big data with repeatable, reliable, and maintainable processes. Through volume, speed, and assortment of information characteristics try to reveal business esteem from enormous information. However, with information that is frequently deficient, conflicting, ungoverned, and unprotected, which is hazardous and enormous information being a risk instead of an advantage. What's more, with conventional methodologies that are manual and unpredictable, huge information ventures take too long to acknowledge business esteem. Reasonably and over and again conveying business esteem from enormous information requires another technique. In this connection, raw data has to be moved between onsite and offshore environment during this course of action, data privacy is a major concern and challenge. A Big Data Privacy platform can make it easier to detect, investigate, assess, and remediate threats from intruders. We tried to do complete study of Big Data Privacy using data masking methods on various data loads and different types. This work will help data quality analyst and big data developers while building the big data applications

Diamond machining of additively manufactured Ti6Al4V ELI: Newer mode of material removal challenging the current simulation tools

Single Point diamond machining (SPDM) produces smooth machined surfaces that other production methods cannot match. While the mechanics of machining of cast alloys with SPDM is well-explored, the realm of SPDM for additively manufactured parts remains largely uncharted. This work reveals new insights into the surface generation process of an additively manufactured titanium alloy, specifically, a Ti6Al4V Extra Low Interstitials (ELI) alloy workpiece. Our examination of the chip morphology unveiled a distinct mode of chip removal, previously unrecorded in existing literature. During SPDM of additively made Ti6Al4V ELI workpiece, identification of numerous pores and discontinuities in the chips flowing on the tool rake face, indicating periodic intermittent cracking during the material's plastic flow was seen. To examine this phenomenon, a finite element analysis (FEA) model was developed. While the FEA model can well explain the machining mechanics and chip morphology of SPDM of cast Ti6Al4V ELI reported in the literature, it failed to describe the chip morphology that are obtained during machining of additively made workpiece in this work. This disparity underscores the need for innovative simulation approaches tailored for additively manufactured components. The experimental observations in this study highlight a unique form of chip formation in contrast to conventional Ti6Al4V alloy machining processes. At lower feeds, there was a presence of short, discontinuous chip formation with tearing at the outer periphery. Conversely, at higher feeds, a long, continuous ribbon-like chip formation was observed. In addition, some typical additive manufacturing defects appear on the machined surface and chips. Through optimisation of the SPDT parameters, a surface roughness (Ra) value of about 11.8 nm was achieved on additively manufactured Ti6Al4V ELI workpiece. This work provides a fresh perspective on the mechanics of SPDM for additively manufactured components, offering a stepping stone for subsequent studies

Are red-listed species threatened? A comparative analysis of red-listed and non-red-listed plant species in the Western Ghats, India

Red lists of taxa are important documents guiding the prioritization of conservation efforts. However the actual process of arriving at red lists has been contentious, because of the paucity of hard ecological data. In this article, we examine the red listing of plant species at two geographical scales: regional and local in the Western Ghats, India. At the regional level, we compared the rarity (or abundance) of the red listed and the co-occurring non-red-listed species in fifteen sites across Western Ghats. For the local level analysis, we compared the distribution and demographic profile of red-listed medicinal plants with co-occurring non-redlisted species at two field sites in the Western Ghats. At both the regional and the local scales, our analyses showed that the red-listed species, as a group are not any more disadvantaged than the non-red-listed species. Our results lay caution on the process of inclusion of species in red-lists and urge the necessity of strong field data to make the red-listing process more robust

Comparative study between open versus laparoscopic inguinal hernioplasty

Background: Inguinal hernia repair is one of the commonly performed procedure and has undergone a paradigm shift from open to laparoscopic approach in the era of minimally invasive surgery but the superiority is still debatable. The aim was to compare open (Lichtenstein) versus laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal approach (TAPP) hernia repair techniques. Methods: A total of 60 patients were enrolled in the study and divided into two equal groups (open versus laparoscopic) were compared. Results: It was observed that laparoscopic repair (TAPP) has statistically significant superiority than open inguinal hernioplasty in terms of lesser post-operative pain (VAS score of 4.8±0.66, 3.67±0.66, 2.53±0.82 versus 6.7±0.92, 5.03±0.72, 3.83±0.65 at 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours post operatively, p value <0.001), shorter duration of hospital stay (3.1±0.71 days versus 5.83±0.75 days, p value <0.001) and early resumption to regular activities (10.57±2.28 days versus 12.2±1.52 days, p value 0.002). It also showed that incidence intra operative and post-operative complications was lesser in laparoscopic group but not statistically significant. Whereas duration of surgery was prolonged in laparoscopic group (104±27.49 min versus 61.5±17.08 min, p value <0.001). Conclusions: Laparoscopic inguinal hernioplasty (TAPP) is superior to open inguinal hernioplasty in terms of lesser intra operative and post-operative complications, lesser post-operative pain, shorter duration of hospital stay with early resumption to regular activities having better subjective and objective cosmetic results in short term follow-up. However, duration of surgery was prolonged on comparison with Lichtenstein open inguinal hernioplasty

Biological relationship of Bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) infecting cowpea with leguminous plant species

Bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) associated with cowpea mechanically inoculated to different legumi-nous plants. Out of nineteen including cowpea Var.C-152, the virus was easily transferred to ten different legumi-nous hosts. All other hosts assessed for the presence of BCMV were found to be uninfected. The number of days taken for symptom expression and symptoms were varied within plant species. Pole bean expressed mosaic symp-tom after long incubation period (15-18 days) whereas, shorter incubation period was observed in common bean and rice bean (7- 10 days). BCMV produced chlorosis, mosaic, leaf distortion, puckering, vein banding, vein clearing and vein netting on cowpea(C-152). A typical virus symptom, mosaic was observed in green gram, common bean, lime bean, rice bean and yard long bean, whereas, leaf rolling and leaf distortion was observed in black gram, pole bean and snap bean. The virus-host relationship was confirmed by back inoculation test to C. amaranticolor. Further symptomatic plants were subjected for Reverse Transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for molecular confirmation using BCMV coat protein (CP) specific primer pair. A PCR fragment size of 439bp was amplified for the symptomatic plants. The results generated indicated the ability of a plant to support virus expression and host speci-ficity of BMCV within the leguminous plant species

CLINICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL PROFILE OF STEROID-INDUCED DIABETES

ABSTRACTObjective: To study the clinical and biochemical profile of patients who develop steroid-induced diabetes (SID) and its predisposing factors.Methods: Non-diabetic patients aged ≥18 years started on steroids were considered eligible for the study. In every case after detailed examination,fasting plasma glucose (FPG), post-prandial plasma glucose (PPG), glycated hemoglobin, fasting insulin were measured prior to starting steroids andwas repeated in 1 week (day 3/4) after starting steroid according to standard guidelines. FPG and PPG were repeated periodically during follow-upof the patients. The utility of Indian diabetic risk score (IDRS) score in predicting the risk for SID was also assessed.stResult: Steroid-induced diabetes was found to be more in females than in males. IDRS is not useful in predicting the risk factors of SID. 97% of patientshad an elevation of post-prandial sugars with or without fasting hyperglycemia, but only 3% of patients had isolated elevation of fasting blood sugar.84% of patients developed SID during the 1 week of therapy. 33% of the cases SID persisted even after 1 month of stopping steroids and on a minimaldosage of steroids.stConclusion: Unlike type 2 diabetes, there were no significant risk factors such as age, family history of diabetes to develop SID and IDRS may not be asensitive tool for predicting risk factors of SID. Monitoring of post-prandial sugars as compared to fasting sugars is essential for the screening of SID.Cumulative dose of steroid may not be important to precipitate steroid diabetes.Keywords: Glucocorticoids, Diabetes, Post-prandial glucose, Indian Diabetic Risk Score