An unusual case of rudimentary parotid gland with distended Stensen duct

Congenital absence or rudiment major salivary glands, especially of the parotid glands, are a rare entity. Aplasia of parotid glands has been described alone or in association with abnormalities of other salivary glands, first branchial arch developmental disturbances and other congenital anomalies such as lacrimoauriculodentodigital syndrome, mandibulofacial dysostosis and ectodermal dysplasia. Absence is most commonly unilateral, and may be associated with accessory or rudimentary glandular tissue. There are several reported cases of isolated patulous Stensen’s duct causing air insufflations in the glands and recurrent parotid gland enlargement. However, in the literature there is no reported case of association of rudimentary parotid gland with a patulous Stensen’s duct. This paper aims at reporting an interesting and unusual presentation of unilateral imperfectly developed parotid gland with a distended Stensen’s duct in a five year old mentally challenged girl who presented with an unintentional habit of blowing out cheeks several times in a day resulting in air insufflations and recurrent parotid swellin

Ameoblastic carcinoma of mandible: a rare case report with review of literature

Ameloblastic carcinoma is a rare malignant lesion with characteristic histologic features and behavior that dictates more aggressive surgical approach than that of a simple ameloblastoma. However, reliable evidence of its biologic activity is currently unavailable due to the scarcity of well-documented cases. It occurs primarily in the mandible in a wide range of age groups; no sex or race predilection has been noted. It may present as a cystic lesion with benign clinical features or as a large tissue mass with ulceration, significant bone resorption and tooth mobility. Because the lesion is usually found unexpectedly after an incisional biopsy or the removal of a cyst, a guide to differential diagnosis is not usually useful. The identifying features of ameloblastic carcinoma must be known and recognized by dental practitioners. The tumour cells resemble the cells seen in ameloblastoma, but they show cytologic atypia. Moreover, they lack the characteristic arrangement seen in ameloblastoma. Direct extensions of the tumour, lymph node involvement and metastasis to various sites (frequently the lung) have been reported. We present a case of ameloblastic carcinoma of the mandible with a clinical course of typical aggressiveness and extensive local des- truction in a 27 year old male patient

Laparoscopic appraisal of infertility and pelvic pain in Pakistani women: a 5 years audit

Five hundred and nine Laparoscopic examinations performed between 1987-91, (147 procedures for evaluation of gynaecologic pelvic pain and 313 for infertility) revealed ectopic pregnancy (27%), twisted ovarian cyst (18%) and acute pelvic inflammatory disease (14%) in cases of acute gynaecologic pain, and endometriosis (17%) and chronic pelvic inflammatory disease (16%) in chronic pelvic pain. Adhesions (20%), tubal block (15%), endometriosis (9%) and polycystic ovary (7%) were common findings in cases of infertility. These data support the usefulness of this minimally invasive procedure in accurate diagnosis of gynaecological disorders and provides insight into the spectra of diseases seen in Pakistani women with pelvic pain and infertility

Bayesian Evidence and Model Selection

In this paper we review the concepts of Bayesian evidence and Bayes factors, also known as log odds ratios, and their application to model selection. The theory is presented along with a discussion of analytic, approximate and numerical techniques. Specific attention is paid to the Laplace approximation, variational Bayes, importance sampling, thermodynamic integration, and nested sampling and its recent variants. Analogies to statistical physics, from which many of these techniques originate, are discussed in order to provide readers with deeper insights that may lead to new techniques. The utility of Bayesian model testing in the domain sciences is demonstrated by presenting four specific practical examples considered within the context of signal processing in the areas of signal detection, sensor characterization, scientific model selection and molecular force characterization.Comment: Arxiv version consists of 58 pages and 9 figures. Features theory, numerical methods and four application

Does the Performance of Banking Sector Promote Economic Growth? A Time Series Analysis

Purpose: In terms of stimulating the economy, banks play an essential role. These banks directly or indirectly influence the economic growth (GDP) of a country. This study analyses the association between banks' performance and GDP growth.   Theoretical Framework: The banking sector acts as an effective mechanism that funds various projects all over the country.  The majority of such studies focus on developed nations. Although there is a great deal of literature on this issue concerning developed markets, there is a lack of literature related to emerging and developing economies (Sensarma & Bhattacharyya, 2016). This study has been undertaken to analyse the influence of banks on India's economy, which is a developing economy   Design/Methodology: The data of the study includes the independent variables that indicate banking performance. The proxies used for the bank's performance are: bank nonperforming loans to total gross loans (%) (NPL), domestic credit provided by the financial sector (% of GDP) (DC), Return on Equity (ROE), bank capital to assets ratio (%) (CAP), and regulatory capital to risk-weighted assets (CAR). At the same time, the substitute for economic growth is growth in domestic product (GDP). All organised banks operating in India form the sample of the study. The period of study is from 1990 to 2029. To test the hypotheses, simple regression, multicollinearity tests, and ordinary least square (POLS) are performed.   Findings: The findings indicate that a few of the variables such as domestic credit, return on equity, and capital adequacy ratio, which are linked to the bank's operational and financial efficiency, are correlated with India's GDP growth. The study's empirical results recommend that this country's (India's) policymakers should assist the banking sector by laying down new growth and developmental policies that will strengthen the banking sector, which will in turn strengthen the economy.   Research, Practical & Social Implications:  This study shows that Indian banks have a major impact on Indian economic growth. It also identifies the primary banking attributes that influence GDP. Such a study will help policymakers and researchers understand the significant contributors to economic growth.   Originality and Value: There are many studies that have studied the determinants of GDP. But this is the first study that has tried to establish the impact/relationship of banking variables on GDP growth