Land use/land cover changes in Addalaichenai DS Division from 1991 to 2011

Land use / land cover information is the basic pre-requisite for managing land, water and vegetation resources. The information on land use / land cover available today in the form of thematic maps and published statistical figures in records. Publications are inadequate, inconsistent, and do not provide updated information on the changing land use patterns, process and their spatial distribution. A comprehensive household sample survey, enterprise sample survey, institutional survey and formal interviews were carried out as primary data source. In order to supplement the data gathered in the field, secondary data were gathered such as relevant research reports and articles written on the town and its functions, land issues and official publications and reports issued by the UDA, Land Commissioners Department, Title Settlement Department and the Department of Census and Statistics, publications by relevant authorities. The samples were processed and analyzed using advanced spatial information techniques. Geographic Information System (GIS) has been utilized to generate maps and diagrams and to find suitable areas for the stipulated criteria. The current research focused the main characteristics of the Addalaichenai Divisional Secretariat area and its immediate periphery. However, the area covering the coastal belt will be considered as the potential development areas. Further the rapid development such as high ways, Oluvil port project, urbanization, re-greening projects, etc., after the disaster (war & tsunami) are the prime elements in the process of Land use / land cover changes in Addalaichenai DS Division. It has grown up to be urban town in the south east region with it slim of its municipality

Percutaneous elastic intramedullary nailing of metacarpal fractures: Surgical technique and clinical results study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We reviewed our results and complications of using a pre-bent 1.6 mm Kirschner wire (K-wire) for extra-articular metacarpal fractures. The surgical procedure was indicated for angulation at the fracture site in a true lateral radiograph of at least 30 degrees and/or in the presence of a rotatory deformity.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A single K-wire is pre-bent in a lazy-S fashion with a sharp bend at approximately 5 millimeters and a longer smooth curve bent in the opposite direction. An initial entry point is made at the base of the metacarpal using a 2.5 mm drill by hand. The K-wire is inserted blunt end first in an antegrade manner and the fracture reduced as the wire is passed across the fracture site. With the wire acting as three-point fixation, early mobilisation is commenced at the metacarpo-phalangeal joint in a Futuro hand splint.</p> <p>The wire is usually removed with pliers post-operatively at four weeks in the fracture clinic.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We studied internal fixation of 18 little finger and 2 ring finger metacarpal fractures from November 2007 to August 2009. The average age of the cohort was 25 years with 3 women and 17 men. The predominant mechanism was a punch injury with 5 diaphyseal and 15 metacarpal neck fractures. The time to surgical intervention was a mean 13 days (range 4 to 28 days). All fractures proceeded to bony union. The wire was extracted at an average of 4.4 weeks (range three to six weeks). At an average follow up of 8 weeks, one fracture had to be revised for failed fixation and three superficial wound infections needed antibiotic treatment.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>With this simple and minimally invasive technique performed as day-case surgery, all patients were able to start mobilisation immediately. The general outcome was good hand function with few complications.</p

Augmentation of alveolar bone height in partially and completely edentulous jaw with distraction osteogenesis

INTRODUCTION AND AIM OF THE STUDY: Alveolar distraction is a relatively novel procedure which utilizes the body´s own growth mechanisms by which both the alveolar bone and underlying mucosa are regenerated simultaneously. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of the Distraction Osteogenesis in the vertical augmentation of the resorbed alveolar ridges in the anterior mandibular region of the partially and completely edentulous patients and to measure the formed bone regenerate in increasing the vertical alveolar bone height, obtained through the Alveolar Distraction Osteogenesis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Five patients (3 men and 2 women) between 30 and 50 of age (mean 40 years) four completely edentulous and one partially edentulous presented with vertical alveolar ridge deficiency due to atropy (n=4) and sequelae of oncological surgery (n=1) with atrophied partial / completey edentulous alveolar ridges referred to the Department of Oral & Maxillofacial surgery, Tamilnadu Government Dental College & Hospital, Chennai, were included in this prospective study. DISTRACTION DEVICE (TRACK): The vertical distraction was performed using Intra oral extra osseous distraction device. This device provides distraction length of 0.5 mm per 3600 revolution (pitch 0.5 mm). The distractors were made up of stainless steel, with a distracting capacity of 10 mm. Two miniplates with six holes (three on either side) of 1.5mm diameter were welded on to the sliding mechanism of distraction device. Alveolar Distraction Device consisted of 4 components namely ,threaded rod,transport plate,base plate and guide rod. Fully informed consent was obtained from all patients prior to surgical treatment. Under local anesthesia a horizontal vestibular incision / crestal incision were used to expose the bone at the level of the planned horizontal osteotomy. Mucoperiosteal flap was elevated exposing the lateral cortex, preserving the lingual periosteum intact. Devices were fixed by drilling the bone using 701 fissure bur and 1.5 mm x 12 mm screws along the extreme ends of the plates for stabilising the device. Horizontal osteotomy was completed with 6 mm width osteotome and great efforts were taken to preserve the lingual mucoperiosteum. Vertical osteotomy cut was completed in a slightly diverged fashion towards the alveolar crest and in converging direction buccolingually to avoid lingual tilting of the transport segment. Distraction devices were inserted and fixed with 1.5mm x 12 mm screws (12). Button hole was made exactly on the mucoperiosteum of the crestal attached gingival for the central rod of the activation arm to exit. RESULTS: Distraction protocol was followed. The device was removed and the bone gain was compared and measured with OPG and CBCT. The mean bone height gain was 8.8 mm. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, Distraction Osteogenesis is a versatile, valuable and safe method for the vertical augmentation of the alveolar ridges in the anterior mandibular region. However to ascertain and consolidate the efficacy of the surgical procedure a larger sample with a long term follow up is essential

Case-Based Reasoning Approach For Thalassaemia Diagnosis

This thesis proposes a Case-based Reasoning model for medical diagnosis, particularly for Thalassaemia diagnosis. The model is designed and a prototype is developed to test the diagnosis accuracy of the model. Two local similarity combined with two global similarity is evaluated to identify the suitable similarity function for the model. The appropriate K value for Nearest Neighbour also identified for this model. Finally, the testing done using leave one out method on Thalassaemia cases from Alor Star General Hospital and the testing demonstrates 88% of diagnosis accuracy. The results show that case-based reasoning model has a great potential to be implemented in diagnosing thalassaemia cases

A rare case of paraneoplastic Guillain-Barré syndrome in a patient with endometrial cancer

Introduction: Guillain-Barré syndrome is an acute, inflammatory polyradiculoneuropathy of autoimmune aetiology. It is a rare disease seen in 1 in 100,000 person-years. Up to 20% of those affected develop severe disability; mortality in Guillain-Barré syndrome is 5%. Guillain-Barré, associated with many malignancies as a paraneoplastic phenomenon, has been reported – especially in haematological malignancies such as lymphoma and leukaemia. Solid tumours associated with paraneoplastic Guillain-Barré syndrome are breast and lung cancers. The association between paraneoplastic Guillain-Barré syndrome and gynaecological malignancies are rare, and only a handful of cases have been previously reported in gynaecological cancers. Case description: We discuss a 65-year-old Sri Lankan female patient diagnosed with metastatic endometrial carcinoma who presented with paraneoplastic Guillain-Barré syndrome. The patient was treated appropriately and eventually recovered from her condition. Conclusion: Paraneoplastic Guillain-Barré syndrome is a rare phenomenon that clinicians can easily miss, and it has rarely been described in gynaecological cancers. Our patient was diagnosed with this rare phenomenon. The timely recognition and prompt treatment of this potentially life-threatening condition with multiple complications is essential in managing patients with malignancies and neuropathy. Further studies on paraneoplastic Guillain-Barré syndrome are needed as cases may be underreported

High Surface Area Activated Carbon from Rice Husk as a High Performance Supercapacitor Electrode

In this study, we report on the application of high surface area activated carbon (AC) derived from rice husks as a supercapacitor electrode. The prepared AC was free from Brønsted or Lewis acid sites, thus making the electrical double layer capacitance as the main charge storage mechanism. Three samples of AC with different surface areas were prepared at different activation temperatures and studied electrochemically using cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. All AC samples exhibited good electrochemical performance as supercapacitor electrode. The maximum specific capacitance (147 F g−1) was obtained by the AC sample (surface area of 2696 m2 g−1) which was prepared at an activation temperature of 850 °C. Detailed impedance studies revealed the low resistivity (0.23 Ω) of AC sample and the fast frequency response (0.11 s) of the supercapacitor electrode

Loss of mitochondrial pyruvate carrier 1 supports proline-dependent proliferation and collagen biosynthesis in ovarian cancer

The pyruvate transporter MPC1 (mitochondrial pyruvate carrier 1) acts as a tumour-suppressor, loss of which correlates with a pro-tumorigenic phenotype and poor survival in several tumour types. In high-grade serous ovarian cancers (HGSOC), patients display copy number loss of MPC1 in around 78% of cases and reduced MPC1 mRNA expression. To explore the metabolic effect of reduced expression, we demonstrate that depleting MPC1 in HGSOC cell lines drives expression of key proline biosynthetic genes; PYCR1, PYCR2 and PYCR3, and biosynthesis of proline. We show that altered proline metabolism underpins cancer cell proliferation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and type I and type VI collagen formation in ovarian cancer cells. Furthermore, exploring The Cancer Genome Atlas, we discovered the PYCR3 isozyme to be highly expressed in a third of HGSOC patients, which was associated with more aggressive disease and diagnosis at a younger age. Taken together, our study highlights that targeting proline metabolism is a potential therapeutic avenue for the treatment of HGSOC