Outcome of adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia receiving the MRC UKALL XII protocol: a tertiary care centre experience

Introduction:Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is a heterogeneous group of lymphoid neoplasm resulting from the proliferation of malignant lymphoid cells. We aimed to study the outcome of adult Patients with ALL receiving the Medical Research Council UKALL XII protocol. Methods: This was a retrospective study conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital from January 2001 to December 2008. The medical records of all adult Patients were reviewed and analysed for clinical, morphological and immunological features at presentation and impact on treatment outcomes. Multivariate analysis and survival studies were performed using Kaplan-Meier statistics. Results: The total number of Patients was 54, with a male to female ratio of 3.4:1 and a median age of 28 years. Common presenting symptoms were fever (n is 49) and bleeding (n is 14). 38 Patients had haemoglobin less than 10 gms/dl, 21 had white blood cell (WBC) count of 50 x 10E9/L or more, and 35 had lactate dehyrogenase more than 1,000 IU. Morphologically, FAB-L2 was the commonest subtype, with 38 Patients with B-ALL and eight with T-ALL. Multivariate analysis showed that age above 30 years, male gender, WBC count above 50 x 10E9/L and T-ALL subtype were independent risk factors for poor survival. 46 (85 percent) Patients achieved complete remission. The median survival was 12.3 months. At the end of five years, 16 Patients were alive, two were alive with disease and 14 were in complete remission. Conclusion: Overall survival and relapse rates in our study were comparable to those reported internationally

MULTISPECIES REVENUE FUNCTION ESTIMATION FOR NORTH PACIFIC GROUNDFISH FISHERIES

Multiproduct, multispecies revenue functions are estimated for the midwater and bottom-trawl pollock fisheries off Alaska. There are strong year and seasonal effects on coefficient estimates, and the technology is joint in outputs for each major operation type. The model is a step toward prediction of fishery regulatory effects.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Dynamic power dissipation formulation for application in dynamic programming buffer insertion algorithm

Buffer insertion is a very effective technique to reduce propagation delay in nano-metre VLSI interconnects. There are two techniques for buffer insertion which are: (1) closed-form solution and (2) dynamic programming. Buffer insertion algorithm using dynamic programming is more useful than the closed-form solution as it allows the use of multiple buffer types and it can be used in tree structured interconnects. As design dimension shrinks, more buffers are needed to improve timing performance. However, the buffer itself consumes power and it has been shown that power dissipation of buffers is significant. Although there are many buffer insertion algorithms that were able to optimize propagation delay with power constraint, most of them used the closed-form solution. Hence, in this paper, we present a formulation to compute dynamic power dissipation of buffers for application in dynamic programming buffer insertion algorithm. The proposed formulation allows dynamic power dissipation of buffers to be computed incrementally. The technique is validated by comparing the formulation with the standard closed-form dynamic power equation. The advantage of the proposed formulation is demonstrated through a series of experiments where it is applied in van Ginneken’s algorithm. The results show that the output of the proposed formulation is consistent with the standard closed-form formulation. Furthermore, it also suggests that the proposed formulation is able to compute dynamic power dissipation for buffer insertion algorithm with multiple buffer types

Where’s Waldo? practical searches for stability in iBGP

Copyright © 2008 IEEEWhat does a child’s search of a large, complex cartoon for the eponymous character (Waldo) have to do with Internet routing? Network operators also search complex datasets, but Waldo is the least of their worries. Routing oscillation is a much greater concern. Networks can be designed to avoid routing oscillation, but the approaches so far proposed unnecessarily reduce the configuration flexibility. More importantly, apparently minor changes to a configuration can lead to instability. Verification of network stability is therefore an important task, but unlike the child’s search, this problem is NP hard. Until now, no practical method was available for large networks. In this paper, we present an efficient algorithm for proving stability of iBGP, or finding the potential oscillatory modes, and demonstrate its efficacy by applying it to the iBGP configuration of a large Tier-2AS.Ashley Flavel, Matthew Roughan, Nigel Bean and Aman Shaik

Reconfigurable Logic Embedded Architecture of Support Vector Machine Linear Kernel

Support Vector  Machine  (SVM) is a linear  binary classifier  that  requires a  kernel  function  to  handle  non-linear problems.  Most  previous  SVM  implementations for  embedded systems  in literature were  built  targeting a certain  application; where analyses were done through comparison  with software im- plementations only. The impact  of different  application datasets towards  SVM hardware performance were not analyzed.  In this work,  we propose  a parameterizable linear  kernel  architecture that  is fully pipelined.  It  is prototyped and  analyzed  on Altera Cyclone  IV  platform   and  results  are  verified  with  equivalent software  model.  Further analysis  is  done  on  determining the effect  of  the  number of  features   and  support   vectors  on  the performance of the  hardware architecture. From  our  proposed linear  kernel  implementation, the number of features  determine the maximum  operating frequency  and amount  of logic resource utilization,  whereas  the  number of support   vectors  determines the  amount  of on-chip  memory  usage  and  also the  throughput of the system

Development of an algorithm for the diagnosis of otitis media

Background: The relative importance of signs and symptoms in the diagnosis of otitis media has not been adequately evaluated. This has led to a large degree of variation in the criteria used to diagnose otitis media, which has resulted in inconsistencies in clinical care and discrepant research findings. Methods: A group of experienced otoscopists examined children presenting for primary care. We investigated the signs and symptoms that these otoscopists used to distinguish acute otitis media (AOM), otitis media with effusion (OME), and no effusion. We used recursive partitioning to develop a diagnostic algorithm. To assess the algorithm, we validated it in an independent dataset. Results: Bulging of the tympanic membrane (TM) was the main finding that otoscopists used to discriminate AOM from OME; information regarding the presence or absence of other signs and symptoms added little to the diagnostic process. Overall, 92% of children with AOM had a bulging TM compared with 0% of children with OME. Opacification and/or an air-fluid level was the main finding that the otoscopists used to discriminate OME from no effusion; 97% of children diagnosed with OME had an opaque TM compared with 5% of children diagnosed with no effusion. An algorithm that used bulging and opacification of the TM correctly classified 99% of ears in an independent dataset. Conclusions: Bulging of the TM was the finding that best discriminated AOM from OME. The algorithm developed here may prove to be useful in clinical care, research, and education concerning otitis media. Copyright © 2012 by Academic Pediatric Association

Association of iron deficiency states and febrile seizures in children-a case control study

Background: Iron deficiency being a potentially modifiable and treatable cause of febrile seizures.  Objectives of Study was to identify Iron Deficient States or Anemia in children with febrile seizures as evidenced by low hemoglobin, altered RBC indices and altered Iron profile, and to determine the association of Iron deficiency states or anemia with febrile seizures.Methods: This was a Case control study done between July 2013 to June 2014, on 50 indoor cases of febrile seizures in the age group of 6-60 months and 50 age and sex matched controls (fever without seizure) in department of Paediatrics, Hindu Hriday Samrat Balasaheb Thackrey Medical College (HBTMC) and Dr R.N. Cooper Hospital, Mumbai. Detailed clinical history and examination findings were noted.  Cases and control were investigated with complete blood count, RBC indices, peripheral smear, S. Ferritin, S. Iron and TIBC. SPSS software package was used for statistical analysis. P<0.05 was considered as significant.Results: 74% of cases and 66% of controls had low hemoglobin. MCV was low in 54% of cases and 34% of controls. RDW was raised in 46% of cases and 26% of controls. Iron deficiency anemia was prevalent among both cases and controls. Latent iron deficiency state suggested by low S. Iron and high TIBC in cases and control group was not significant in our study. However statistically significant lower Median S. Ferritin was noted in the febrile seizure group versus the controls (Cases-153.5, Control-173.0, p=0.0195) suggesting significant prevalence of prelatent iron deficiency state among cases.Conclusions: Prelatent iron deficient state in children are more prone for febrile seizures

DESIGN EXPERT SUPPORTED FORMULATION DEVELOPMENT, MATHEMATICAL OPTIMIZATION AND PREDICTABILITY STUDY OF FLOATING TABLETS OF BISOPROLOL FUMARATE

Objective: Focus of the study was to formulate Design expert Software assisted floating tablet of Bisoprolol Fumarate. Bisoprolol Fumarate is a Beta adrenergic blocking agent, used to treat cardiac diseases favorable characters to be formulated as sustained release Gastro retentive floating tablets. Methods: Floating Tablets of Bisoprolol Fumarate were prepared by using polymers such as Polyox N 12 K and Carbapol 940 P. Formulations were prepared by using direct compression method and evaluated for various parameters like Hradness, thickness, weight variations, Floating lag time Total floating time,% drug release and Stability Study etc. Results: FTIR spectroscopic study indicates no drug-excipients interaction in the prepared formulations. Hardness or crushing strength of the tablets of all the formulation was found between 5.8 and 6.5 kg/cm2. Floating lag time of all batches is in range of 1.18±2.0 to 2.43±1.6 (minutes). All other parameters of all batches are within an acceptable range. The polymer Carbopol 940 P had the significant negative effect of on the floating lag times. The In vitro dissolution profiles of optimized A3 Floating formulation of Bisoprolol Fumarate were found to sustain drug release 99.25 % up to 12 h with floating lag time of 1.45 min; Designed formulation was stable after Stability study. Optimization study was carried out by using 32&nbsp;factorial designs to fabricate formulations. Conclusion: It can be conclude that reproducible results of various parameters in this developed formulation can easily scale up. Furthermore designed formulation will be very effective for controlling blood pressure