Frequency of depression in patients with stroke

Stroke is a common neurological problem and the third leading cause of death in developed countries of the world. Among survivors, over 50% develop significant disabilities including neuro-psychiatric disabilities. Post stroke depression (PSD) is a common but less reported condition among survivors. Objectives: To determine the frequency of depression in patients with stroke. Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at Department of Neurology, Services Hospital, Lahore from January, 2014 to December, 2014 over a period of 1 year. A total of 100 cases having stroke minimum 1 month ago, were recruited in the study. For evidence of depression, Personal Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) with criteria for mild, moderate, moderately sever and severe depression was used. Results: Mean age of the patients was 54.8 ± 8.1 years. In our study 63% of the patients were female while 37% patients were male. Post stroke depression was found in 35% of cases; 15% had severe depression, 8% had moderately severe, 9 % had moderate and only 3% patients had mild depression. Among these 35 patients, 22 patients (62.8%)had involvement of dominant half of brain while 13 patients (37.2%) had non-dominant half involved. Conclusion: Post stroke depression is present in significant number of post stroke patients. So it is advised to do PSD evaluation of all stroke patients for early and proper management

H. Pylori Fecal Antigen Detection taking endoscopic biopsy as gold standard in Dyspeptic Patients

Introduction: There are several invasive and non-invasive techniques used to diagnose H. pylori infection, each having its own advantages and disadvantages. Invasive methods require biopsy samples from stomach and duodenum and can be tested by various methods such as histology, Rapid urease test (RUT), microbiological culture and Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) whereas non-invasive tests include stool antigen test, serology and Urea breath test Objectives: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of H. Pylori Fecal Antigen Detection taking endoscopic biopsy as gold standard in dyspeptic Patients (18-65 years). Materials & Methods: Descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducting during 30th April 2019 to 30th October 2019 in Gastroenterology Unit, Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi. A total of 85 patients irrespective of gender having age 18-65 years having symptoms of dyspepsia were included. Patients having gall stones, celiac disease, pancreatic disease, Diabetes Mellitus, thyroid disease and any other patients on PPI or H2 receptors. Patients with history of alcoholism, diagnosed cases of H. Pylori infection or treatment history of H Pylori. Patients diagnosed for pancreatitis, cholecystitis, Hepatitis B or C Virus positive cases of Chronic Liver Diseases, HIV, malignancy or Ischemic Heart Disease or being pregnant were excluded. H. Pylori on Fecal Antigen Detection and endoscopic biopsy were noted. Results: Fecal Antigen Detection found that 42 were True Positive and 04 were False Positive. Among 39, Fecal Antigen negative patients, 04 (False Negative) had H. Pylori on endoscopic biopsy whereas 35 (True Negative) had no H. Pylori involvement on endoscopic biopsy (p=0.0001). Overall sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy of H. Pylori Fecal Antigen Detection taking endoscopic biopsy as gold standard in dyspeptic Patients was 91.30%, 89.74%, 91.30%, 89.74% and 90.59% respectively. Conclusion: This study concluded that diagnostic accuracy of H. Pylori Fecal Antigen Detection in dyspeptic Patients is quite high. Keywords: helicobacter pylori, Fecal Antigen Detection, endoscopic biopsy.   &nbsp

H. Pylori Fecal Antigen Detection taking endoscopic biopsy as gold standard in Dyspeptic Patients

Introduction: There are several invasive and non-invasive techniques used to diagnose H. pylori infection, each having its own advantages and disadvantages. Invasive methods require biopsy samples from stomach and duodenum and can be tested by various methods such as histology, Rapid urease test (RUT), microbiological culture and Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) whereas non-invasive tests include stool antigen test, serology and Urea breath test Objectives: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of H. Pylori Fecal Antigen Detection taking endoscopic biopsy as gold standard in dyspeptic Patients (18-65 years). Materials & Methods: Descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducting during 30th April 2019 to 30th October 2019 in Gastroenterology Unit, Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi. A total of 85 patients irrespective of gender having age 18-65 years having symptoms of dyspepsia were included. Patients having gall stones, celiac disease, pancreatic disease, Diabetes Mellitus, thyroid disease and any other patients on PPI or H2 receptors. Patients with history of alcoholism, diagnosed cases of H. Pylori infection or treatment history of H Pylori. Patients diagnosed for pancreatitis, cholecystitis, Hepatitis B or C Virus positive cases of Chronic Liver Diseases, HIV, malignancy or Ischemic Heart Disease or being pregnant were excluded. H. Pylori on Fecal Antigen Detection and endoscopic biopsy were noted. Results: Fecal Antigen Detection found that 42 were True Positive and 04 were False Positive. Among 39, Fecal Antigen negative patients, 04 (False Negative) had H. Pylori on endoscopic biopsy whereas 35 (True Negative) had no H. Pylori involvement on endoscopic biopsy (p=0.0001). Overall sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy of H. Pylori Fecal Antigen Detection taking endoscopic biopsy as gold standard in dyspeptic Patients was 91.30%, 89.74%, 91.30%, 89.74% and 90.59% respectively. Conclusion: This study concluded that diagnostic accuracy of H. Pylori Fecal Antigen Detection in dyspeptic Patients is quite high. Keywords: helicobacter pylori, Fecal Antigen Detection, endoscopic biopsy.   &nbsp

A New Control Chart for Monitoring Reliability Using Sudden Death Testing Under Weibull Distribution

In this paper, a new control chart using sudden death testing is designed by assuming that the lifetime/failure time of the product follows the Weibull distribution. The structure of the proposed chart is presented. The control chart coefficient is determined using some specified average run length for the in control process and the shifted process. Simulation study is given for the illustration purpose.11Ysciescopu

An Attribute Control Chart Based on the Birnbaum-Saunders Distribution Using Repetitive Sampling

In this paper, an attribute control chart using repetitive sampling is proposed when the lifetime of a product follows the Birnbaum Saunders distribution. The number of failures is to be monitored by designing two pairs of upper and lower control limits. The necessary measurements are derived to assess the average run length (ARL). The various tables for ARLs are presented when the scale parameter and/or the shape parameter are shifted. The efficiency of the proposed control chart is compared with an existing chart. The proposed chart is shown to be more efficient than an existing control chart in terms of ARL. A real example is given for illustration purpose.112Ysciescopu

Water and Thermal Management of PEM Fuel Cells

Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells have a great potential to replace conventional fossil fuel dependent power conversion technologies in a wide range of portable, automotive and stationary applications and this is due to their high efficiency, quick start-up and sizing flexibility. However, there are still some technical challenges that hinder the widespread deployment of this clean technology into the marketplace. Two of the key challenges are the water management and thermal management of the fuel cell; any mismanagement of water and/or heat could lead to water flooding or membrane dry-out which are both detrimental to the fuel cell performance and durability. In order to have insights on how to manage water and heat within the fuel cells, a transparent and commercially available PEM fuel cell has been directly visualised using high-resolution digital and thermal cameras at both sides of the fuel cell. With this technique, real-time videos that show how liquid water and heat evolve have been recorded. There has been a particular emphasis on how liquid water forms, accumulates and moves along the flow channels. Further, the sensitivity of the distribution of liquid water and temperature within the fuel cell to the operating conditions has been investigated. For this investigation, a new parameter, termed as the wetted bend area ratio, has been introduced to give an indication on how flooded the flow channels are and subsequently explain the variations in the performance of the PEM fuel cell as the operating conditions change. The main findings are the temperature distribution across the MEA becomes less uniform as the wetted ratio number decreases. Further, the temperature distribution along the MEA at the cathode side becomes less uniform as the air flow rate increases. In addition, there exist optimum values for the operating conditions to increase the fuel cell performance. Since the operation of the PEM fuel cell at high temperatures (i.e.>100°C) is an increasingly adopted way to resolve water flooding problems, the reliability of the currently used components remain questionable. To partly answer this question, the gas permeability of the diffusion media used in PEM fuel cells has been investigated under higher temperatures for the first time. The results show that the gas permeability increases as the operating temperature increases and this may enhance the reactant transport within the PEM fuel cell

Analysis of morphological traits in different host plants associated with resistance to Phenacoccus solenopsis- an invasive pest in Pakistan

Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Pseudococcidae: Hemiptera) is a sucking insect pest and is polyphagous in nature. Twenty five (25) different host plants were screened against P. solenopsis and their  physicomorphic traits were determined to correlate their role against pest population. Among the tested plant species, most favorable host plants of mealy bug on the basis of population were Gossypium hirsutum (69.74±10.5), Solamum melongena (62.41±10.0), Helianthus annuus (61.83±10.0), Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (61.1±10.0) and Lantana camara (55.83±9.75), but the least preferred plants were tandla Digera arvensis (1.57±1.00) and Conyza bonariensis (3.83±1.75). Significant variations were observed in all the morphological plant characters recorded from different plant species. The maximum leaf thickness per plant was 2.04±0.23 ìm in plant species S. melongena while minimum thickness of leaf was recorded from lehli (0.25±0.02 ìm). Maximum trichome density per plant was 444±72.4 in sunflower followed by 411.6±19.6, 399±52, 391.6±22.0, in C. bonariensis, Abelmoschus esculentus and Withania somnifera respectively but minimum were 2.33±1.45 in Chinopodium morale, followed by 2.66±1.4, and 3±2.08 in Portulaca oleracea and Trianthema portulacastrum respectively. The maximum hair length per plant (2.62±0.07 mm) was of sunflower followed by 2.55±0.03 mm in okra, 2.53±0.06 mm in both S. melongena and G. hirsutum. It was concluded that plant characters including trichome density and hair length favor mealy bug population showing r-values of 0.357* and 0.190 respectively but leaf size and leaf width (leaf area and leaf thickness) exerted negative effect on pest population showing r-values of -0.172 and -0.285 respectively.Key words: Phenacoccus solenopsis, invasive species, physicomorphic traits, resistance