The role of microvascular endothelial dysfunction and genetics on severity and progression of primary open angle glaucoma in Malays

There is lack of knowledge of clinical presentation and risk factor for primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) in Malays. Identification of the risk factors for severity and progression of POAG in Malays is important to strategies prevention of blindness and effective management. This study was conducted to determine the severity and progression of POAG in Malay patients and to determine the role of microvascular endothelial function and genetics in progression and severity of POAG. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 215 Malay (114 POAG patients and 101 controls) subjects. Progression was determined based on Humphrey visual field analysis (HVF) of 114 POAG patients using combination criteria of Advanced Glaucoma Intervention Study (AGIS) scoring and Hodapp, Parish and Anderson classification. Severity of POAG was based on modified AGIS scoring of HVF. Microvascular endothelial function was assessed using Laser Doppler Fluximetry (LDF) with the process of acetylcholine (ACh) and sodium nitroprusside iontophoresis. Venesection was also conducted. High purity genomic DNA was extracted. Microarray Human Omni Express-12 platform was used to identify genetic markers. rs1392912 and rs1660029 from KALRN gene, and rs1210977of COL9A1 gene were identified as potential markers for progression and microvascularendothelial function. These single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were then subjected to DNA sequencing. After the mean 4.1(3.0) years of follow up, 35 patients showed evidence of visual field progression. Based on HVF at recruitment, 55 patients were mild, 29 moderate and 30 severe POAG. There was significant reduction of microvascular endothelial function in POAG patients compared to control (p<0.001)). ACh and sodium nitroprusside response was significantly reduced in severe POAG (p<0.001). There was significant reduction of microvascular endothelial function in patients who showed visual field progression (p<0.001). The risk of progression is 4.8 folds (95% CI 1.52, 14.86) in patients with rs1392912GA and 5.8folds (95% CI 1.85, 18.61) in patients with rs1660029AG. However, there was no association betweenrs1210977 of COL9A1 and microvascular endothelial function of Malay patients with POAG The progression rate of POAG in Malay patients was 8.5 patients/year. Microvascular endothelial function play a role in progression and severity of POAG in Malays. rs1392912GA and rs1660029AG of KALRN gene are potential genetic markers for progression of glaucoma. Perhaps, improvement in microvascular endothelial function and early detection of patients with genetic variations of KALRN gene may retard the progression of POAG in Malays

Enforcing Data Geolocation Policies in Public Cloud using Trusted Computing

With the advancement in technology, Cloud computing always amazes the world with revolutionizing solutions that automate and simplify complex computational tasks. The advantages like no maintenance cost, accessibility, data backup, pay-per-use models, unlimited storage, and processing power encourage individuals and businesses to migrate their workload to the cloud. Despite the numerous advantages of cloud computing, the geolocation of data in the cloud environment is a massive concern, which relates to the performance and government legislation that will be applied to data. The unclarity of data geolocation can cause compliance concerns. In this work, we have presented a technique that will allow users to restrict the geolocation of their data in the cloud environment. We have used trusted computing mechanisms to attest the host and its geolocation remotely. With this model, the user will upload the data whose decryption key will be shared with a third-party attestation server only. The decryption key will be sealed to the TPM of the host after successful attestation guaranteeing the authorized geolocation and platform state

Bandstop Filter Design for GSM Shielding Using Frequency Selective Surfaces

In this paper, the performance of bandstop Frequency Selective Surface (FSS) is presented which can be used to provide wireless security on airports and other sensitive places, where a mobile phone can be used to set-off an explosive device. It can also be used to block the mobile signals at the places of worship, hospitals and cinemas where the annoying voice of a mobile phone may irritate the masses. The FSS unit cell consists of two metallic square-loop elements printed on FR-4 substrate with different periodicities. The outer and inner square-loop elements are tuned to 900 MHz and 1800 MHz, respectively. It has a stable frequency response at oblique incidences for both perpendicular (TE) and parallel (TM) polarizations. Simulation results are presented to give an overview for the performance of proposed FSS design.DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v2i6.182

SURVEY BASE STUDY ON CURRENT TREND OF TREATMENT OF COMMUNITY-ACQUIRED PNEUMONIA IN KARACHI

Objective: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a potentially serious infection that results in various general physicians (GP) visits and hospital admission every year. The prime objective of this research was to find the current trend of treatment of community-acquired pneumonia in Karachi.Methods: It was a prospective survey conducted in all districts of Karachi. A Questionnaire was filled by distinctive specialities of doctors in an outpatient setting in Karachi. A preliminary test questionnaire was used to collect the data directly from distinctive specialities of doctors in outpatient setting in Karachi. Total 500 doctors were selected from distinct districts of Karachi with convenient random sampling.Results: Majority (33.8%) of the respondents recommended complete blood count and chest x-ray for diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia in an outpatient setting. Most (76%) of the respondents recommended nebulization for the management of community-acquired pneumonia in an outpatient setting. 31% and 25.4% of the physicians recommended clarithromycin as 1st line antibiotic therapy in adults and children for the management of a community-acquired pneumonia patients in outpatient setting.55.6% of the physicians recommended two-week duration of antibiotic therapy for the management of CAP in outpatient setting.Conclusion: This is clearly indicated by this study that deviation from the standard guideline is observed in the management of community-acquired pneumonia in Karachi. These deviations from the highly recommended guideline can results excess cost and inappropriateness of the management of the disease of community-acquired pneumonia. There is a need that the physician should take a decision of therapy according to the standard guidelines for the treatment of CAP in an outpatient setting.Â

Pregnancy induced hypertension: lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status

Background: Pregnancy is a stressful condition accompanied by a high energy demand and increased oxygen requirement. Oxidative stress has been recognized as a significant factor linked to hypertension. Elucidation of anti-oxidant cascade in patients with pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH). can give insights about the oxidative stress and lead to better management of the condition. It was a prospective case control study to elucidate the parameters of oxidative stress in patients with PIH.Methods: Levels of Malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were eludidated using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in hypertensive mothers and their age matched pregnant and non-pregnant controls to determine the lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress.Results: A total of four hundred and twenty study subjects were enrolled in the study. Malondialdehyde levels from mothers with hypertension were significantly higher than their age matched pregnant controls. The results indicate that oxidative stress induced by pregnancy induced hypertension manifests as increased lipid peroxidation. Conclusion: There is a decrement in anti-oxidant status reflecting the ineffective scavenging of reactive oxygen species resulting in oxidative damage and tissue injury

Genetic Alterations of RET: Possible Implications and Clinical Correlations in Thyroid Carcinogenesis

Thyroid cancers are malignant tumors in the thyroid gland. DNA polymorphisms are playing a decisive role in unscrambling the genomic basis of tumor formation and development in cancer. Thyroid cancer is influenced in a polygenic and low-penetrance manner by RET gene polymorphisms and this part of the world (North India) has not recorded any study regarding RET alterations in this very cancer. We assessed RET G691S (rs1799939), L769L (rs1800861) and S904S (rs1800863) polymorphisms by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) in order to explain their potential role in the diagnosis and prognosis of Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) and follicular thyroid cancer (FTC). In RET G691S polymorphism, the total dissemination of variant alleles (GA + AA) was 62.9% in cases as related to 44.5% in controls (P < 0.05). RET L769L variant alleles (TG + GG) was 70% in cases versus 88% in controls (P < 0.05). In RET S904S, occurrence of variant alleles (CG + GG) was 56% in cases versus 44% in controls (P < 0.05). G691S and L769L polymorphism advocate a “Dominant mode of inheritance”. The S904S polymorphism approves an “Additive mode of inheritance”. In conclusion, there was an over-representation of RET G691S/S904S polymorphisms and under-representation of L769L polymorphism in PTC and FTC patients. Additionally, our data suggest that some haplotypes (A T G, G T G and A T C) of RET may act as low penetrance alleles for predisposition of thyroid cancer