An uncommon twist to a common event – Isolated enteric splenic infarcts and abscesses

Isolated splenic abscess associated with enteric fever is uncommon with very few reported cases in the literature. Till recently, the condition was more frequently diagnosed at necropsy. Splenic abscess is mostly encountered solitarily rather than being multiple and can be fatal if untreated. Various conditions interfere with the prognosis of splenic abscess such as underlying diseases, abscess number and size, organism spectra, and general conditions. This unusual and potentially life-threatening disease is a diagnostic challenge due to its non-specific clinical picture. High index of suspicion and liberal use of imaging studies are essential for timely diagnosis. We report a case of enteric splenic abscess in an immunocompetent patient without any comorbidities, which was diagnosed by blood tests, ultrasonography, and computed tomography scan and successfully managed conservatively with antibiotics

Physics Potential of the ICAL detector at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO)

The upcoming 50 kt magnetized iron calorimeter (ICAL) detector at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is designed to study the atmospheric neutrinos and antineutrinos separately over a wide range of energies and path lengths. The primary focus of this experiment is to explore the Earth matter effects by observing the energy and zenith angle dependence of the atmospheric neutrinos in the multi-GeV range. This study will be crucial to address some of the outstanding issues in neutrino oscillation physics, including the fundamental issue of neutrino mass hierarchy. In this document, we present the physics potential of the detector as obtained from realistic detector simulations. We describe the simulation framework, the neutrino interactions in the detector, and the expected response of the detector to particles traversing it. The ICAL detector can determine the energy and direction of the muons to a high precision, and in addition, its sensitivity to multi-GeV hadrons increases its physics reach substantially. Its charge identification capability, and hence its ability to distinguish neutrinos from antineutrinos, makes it an efficient detector for determining the neutrino mass hierarchy. In this report, we outline the analyses carried out for the determination of neutrino mass hierarchy and precision measurements of atmospheric neutrino mixing parameters at ICAL, and give the expected physics reach of the detector with 10 years of runtime. We also explore the potential of ICAL for probing new physics scenarios like CPT violation and the presence of magnetic monopoles.Comment: 139 pages, Physics White Paper of the ICAL (INO) Collaboration, Contents identical with the version published in Pramana - J. Physic

Dual pathogen valvular endocarditis in a case of severe aortic aneurysm

Infective endocarditis (IE) is the heart valve or endocardium infection. We report a rare case of polymicrobial endocarditis, namely invasive Aspergillus spp and Acinetobacter baumannii, in a 36-year-old male with a medical history of degenerative disease of the aorta with abdominal aortic and ascending aortic aneurysms with a fulminant clinical course and fatal outcome. The treatment was challenging due to multiple comorbidities. The autopsy revealed dual pathogen endocarditis due to Acinetobacter baumannii sepsis and invasive Aspergillus spp mycosis. This report emphasizes that polymicrobial endocarditis (PE) is an infrequent finding with a poor prognosis requiring high clinical suspicion

Non-breeding Ethology of Spot-billed Pelican ( Pelecanus philippensis ) at Adyar Eco-Park, Chennai, India

Spot-billed Pelican is a Near Threatened species according to UCN red list. There are very limited studies regarding the non-breeding behavior of the Spot-billed Pelican, where behavioural study is very important to understand the species and ecosystem to which they belong. Studying ethology is an important stepping stone for the conservation of the species and its ecosystem. With this aspect an ethological study was carried out at Adyar Eco-park Chennai during the non-breeding season of Spot-billed Pelican for a period of thirteen days continuously. An Ad libitum study was adapted to document their behaviour. The observation was conducted over a period of 7 different time schedules. From the observation 14 individual behaviours and 4 conspecific and group behaviours were recorded. The four most time consuming activities are Alert (193.13 min, 31.15%), Preening (92.36 min, 14.89%), Resting (81.13 min, 13.09%) and Looking around (71 min, 11.45%). The mean population density in the study area showed a declining trend from dawn to noon (2.04-0.55 individuals per 100 sq. m.) and increasing from noon to evening (0.55-3.81 individuals per 100 sq. m.). During the observation it was found that this area is a non-breeding roosting site for the bird and they show some typical pattern as the day progresses. The present study can be helpful to build a comprehensive conservation programme for the Spot-billed Pelican and management plan for Adyar Eco-park can be developed if carried out for a longer period of time