Symptomatic giant left atrial aneurysm in a child : a rare entity

Isolated left atrial aneurysms are rare entities in clinical practice. Usually the condition is diagnosed in the second to fourth decades of life. The presence of such lesions in the pediatric age group is scantily described. We present a 2 year boy who presented with complaints of excessive irritability, respiratory distress and swelling of the feet. On examination, child was tachypnoeic with irregularly irregular rhythm. Echo showed a huge aneurysmal LA appendage with severe left ventricle dysfunction. The child underwent surgical resection for same. Findings were confirmed intraoperatively but he continued to have low cardiac output state after the surgery, with frequent arrhythmias and expired on day 7 of surgery. The case is reviewed and compared with the available English literature.peer-reviewe

ECOLOGICAL STATUS AND IMPACT OF DISTURBANCE IN AN ALPINE PASTURE OF GARHWAL HIMALAYA, INDIA

The alpine area in Garhwal Himalaya is highly fragile and is known for its beautiful flora and fauna. The study area was located just below the Gangotri glacier which is the origin of Bhagirathi, a holy river of India. Pilgrimage, tourism, adventure activities and mules are the factors responsible for causing disturbance in this area. There is a remarkable variation in the values of diversity, species richness, dominance, density IVI and biomass production at Bhojbasa Protected (BP) and Bhojbasa Disturbed (BD) sites. The value of liveshoot biomass was highest in August (444 g m-2 on BP and 80 g m-2 on BD sites). Belowground biomass was also recorded highest for BP site and lowest for BD site. The ANP value at BP site was 363 g m-2 y-1 and 26 g m-2 y-1 at BD site.This area has shown decrease in diversity and productivity, and heavy soil erosion that indicate the consequence of increasing human activities due to pilgrimage, tourism and camping and frequent movement of mules carrying goods. Therefore, this area requires strict measures for biodiversity conservation and disaster mitigation

Advancing glioma diagnosis: Integrating custom U-Net and VGG-16 for improved grading in MR imaging

In the realm of medical imaging, the precise segmentation and classification of gliomas represent fundamental challenges with profound clinical implications. Leveraging the BraTS 2018 dataset as a standard benchmark, this study delves into the potential of advanced deep learning models for addressing these challenges. We propose a novel approach that integrates a customized U-Net for segmentation and VGG-16 for classification. The U-Net, with its tailored encoder-decoder pathways, accurately identifies glioma regions, thus improving tumor localization. The fine-tuned VGG-16, featuring a customized output layer, precisely differentiates between low-grade and high-grade gliomas. To ensure consistency in data pre-processing, a standardized methodology involving gamma correction, data augmentation, and normalization is introduced. This novel integration surpasses existing methods, offering significantly improved glioma diagnosis, validated by high segmentation dice scores (WT: 0.96, TC: 0.92, ET: 0.89), and a remarkable overall classification accuracy of 97.89%. The experimental findings underscore the potential of integrating deep learning-based methodologies for tumor segmentation and classification in enhancing glioma diagnosis and formulating subsequent treatment strategies

Big DNA Datasets Analysis under Push down Automata

Consensus is a significant part that supports the identification of unknown information about animals, plants and insects around the globe. It represents a small part of Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) known as the DNA segment that carries all the information for investigation and verification. However, excessive datasets are the major challenges to mine the accurate meaning of the experiments. The datasets are increasing exponentially in ever seconds. In the present article, a memory saving consensus finding approach is organized. The principal component analysis (PCA) and independent component (ICA) are used to pre-process the training datasets. A comparison is carried out between these approaches with the Apriori algorithm. Furthermore, the push down automat (PDA) is applied for superior memory utilization. It iteratively frees the memory for storing targeted consensus by removing all the datasets that are not matched with the consensus. Afterward, the Apriori algorithm selects the desired consensus from limited values that are stored by the PDA. Finally, the Gauss-Seidel method is used to verify the consensus mathematically

Metabolic Syndrome: a challenging health Issue in highly urbanized Union Territory of north India

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objectives</p> <p>1. To determine the prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome in adults aged 18 years and above in Chandigarh, India. 2. To determine the socio-demographic factors associated with MS. 3. To determine the agreement between IDF (International Diabetes federation definition) and ATP-III (National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults criteria).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a community based cross-sectional study, total 605 subjects aged 18 yrs and above were studied using multistage random sampling.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome was estimated by using IDF and ATP-III criteria. By IDF, Metabolic Syndrome was found in 287 (47.4%) subjects and it was more prevalent among females 171 (59.6%) as compared to males 116 (40.4%). By applying ATP-III overall prevalence was less i.e. 233 (38.5%) but again its prevalence was more among females 141 (44.8%) than males 116 (39.5%). Higher socioeconomic status, sedentary occupation and high body mass index were significantly associated with Metabolic Syndrome.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Metabolic Syndrome is a major health problem in the region and proper emphasis should be given on its prevention and control.</p

Forest carbon stocks and fluxes in physiographic zones of India

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Reducing carbon Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) is of central importance to combat climate change. Foremost among the challenges is quantifying nation's carbon emissions from deforestation and degradation, which requires information on forest carbon storage. Here we estimated carbon storage in India's forest biomass for the years 2003, 2005 and 2007 and the net flux caused by deforestation and degradation, between two assessment periods i.e., Assessment Period first (ASP I), 2003-2005 and Assessment Period second (ASP II), 2005-2007.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The total estimated carbon stock in India's forest biomass varied from 3325 to 3161 Mt during the years 2003 to 2007 respectively. There was a net flux of 372 Mt of CO₂in ASP I and 288 Mt of CO₂in ASP II, with an annual emission of 186 and 114 Mt of CO₂respectively. The carbon stock in India's forest biomass decreased continuously from 2003 onwards, despite slight increase in forest cover. The rate of carbon loss from the forest biomass in ASP II has dropped by 38.27% compared to ASP I.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>With the Copenhagen Accord, India along with other BASIC countries China, Brazil and South Africa is voluntarily going to cut emissions. India will voluntary reduce the emission intensity of its GDP by 20-25% by 2020 in comparison to 2005 level, activities like REDD+ can provide a relatively cost-effective way of offsetting emissions, either by increasing the removals of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere by afforestation programmes, managing forests, or by reducing emissions through deforestation and degradation.</p

Altitudinal variation in soil organic carbon stock in coniferous subtropical and broadleaf temperate forests in Garhwal Himalaya

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Himalayan zones, with dense forest vegetation, cover a fifth part of India and store a third part of the country reserves of soil organic carbon (SOC). However, the details of altitudinal distribution of these carbon stocks, which are vulnerable to forest management and climate change impacts, are not well known.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This article reports the results of measuring the stocks of SOC along altitudinal gradients. The study was carried out in the coniferous subtropical and broadleaf temperate forests of Garhwal Himalaya. The stocks of SOC were found to be decreasing with altitude: from 185.6 to 160.8 t C ha^-1and from 141.6 to 124.8 t C ha^-1in temperature (<it>Quercus leucotrichophora</it>) and subtropical (<it>Pinus roxburghii</it>) forests, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results of this study lead to conclusion that the ability of soil to stabilize soil organic matter depends negatively on altitude and call for comprehensive theoretical explanation</p

Unconventional uses of septal occluder devices: Our experience reviewed

Device closure is now an accepted modality of treatment for cardiac septal defects such as fossa ovalis Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) and Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) and have well-accepted indication and long term results. Devices used for these defects have been specifically designed for use in closing these defects. In this manuscript, we are reporting the efficacy of closure of nonseptal defects with devices conventionally used for septal cardiac defects although they have not been prototyped for use in such conditions. Aim: To study use of occluder devices in nonseptal defects/malformation. Material & methods: 39 patients, in the age group 2–67 yrs, were treated percutaneously with occluder devices for various conditions. These included: coronary arteriovenous (CAV) fistula (n = 6), pulmonary AV fistula (n = 4), systemic AV fistula (vascular plug; n = 1), closure of AP window (duct occluder; n = 3), closure of ascending aorta perforation (septal occluder; n = 2), ruptured sinus of Valsalva (RSOV) (duct occluder; n = 13), Fontan fenestration closure (ASD septal occluder, patent foramen ovale device, vascular plug n = 3,1 each), splenic artery (duct occluder; n = 1), Balock Taussig shunt (duct occlude; n = 1)and closure of mitral paravalvular leak (n = 3; duct occlude devices = 2, VSD device: n = 1) and aortic paravalvular leak n = 2 (duct occluder; n = 2 additional vascular plug = 2). Results: Procedural success: Successful closure as signified by no residual shunt was achieved in all coronary AV fistula (immediately n = 2, at 3 months in all), ruptured sinus of Valsalva (immediate in all), fenestrated Fontan (immediately in all), and ascending aorta perforations (immediate), mitral paravalvular leak (immediate in none, and late in 2/3). The aortic paravalvular leak closed at 3 months follow-up in one and small residual persisted after 1 month in another. Complications: Local site Hematoma was observed in 4 patients. 2 of them required post procedure transfusion for the same. Hematuria was observed in 2 of the 4 patients of mitral paravalvular leak and 2 patients of RSOV device closure. Hematuria subsided with conservative management before discharge from hospital in all the 4 cases. One patient with residual mitral regurgitation required surgical management for continuing hematuria, anemia and hyperbilirubenemia. There was one mortality observed on table during the attempted closure of a very large RSOV who presented to us in severe congestive heart failure and shock. On follow up ranging from 2 months to 6 years, all the patients are asymptomatic. There was no late complication related to device in any patient. Conclusion: It is feasible in selected nonseptal defects, which traditionally have been subjected to surgical interventions, to treat successfully, non surgically with the use of non prototype occluder devices without significant complications. Conventionally these devices have not been recommended for closure of nonseptal defects but show good early outcome. Adequate sample size with good follow up data is necessary before concluding that it can be safe alternative to surgery on long term