Dysgermgerminoma in a 14 year old girl: a case report

An accurate diagnosis of ovarian dysgerminoma is crucial as, as its management differs from other ovarian tumours. We report a case of ovarian dyegerminoma in a 14 year old girl who presented with abdominal distention.  Examination revealed a huge intra-abdominal mass causing displacement of bowel loops laterally. On ultrasound, a solid heterogeneously hyperechoic lesion of size 18 x 9.4 cm with few cystic and necrotic areas within most likely, left adnexa reaching upto the umbilicus and shows vascularity within both ovaries not seen separately from the lesion. On CT (A+P), a heterogenous hypodense polycystic mass of size 8.5x1.4x16.7 with multiple irregular hypodensities seen in the lower abdomen and pelvis. The mass was removed after laparotomy under general anaesthesia. Finally, the diagnosis of ovarian germ cell tumor (Dysgerminoma was made. Present case presented with marked abdominal distention, without any loss of weight, appetite or any menstrual problem. Such a presentation may be unusual for such a large malignant ovarian mass

Long term Ultra-Violet Variability of Seyfert galaxies

Flux variability is one of the defining characteristics of Seyfert galaxies, a class of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Though these variations are observed over a wide range of wavelengths, results on their flux variability characteristics in the ultra-violet (UV) band are very limited. We present here the long term UV flux variability characteristics of a sample of fourteen Seyfert galaxies using data from the International Ultraviolet Explorer acquired between 1978 and 1995. We found that all the sources showed flux variations with no statistically significant difference in the amplitude of UV flux variation between shorter and longer wavelengths. Also, the flux variations between different near-UV (NUV, 1850 - 3300 A) and far-UV (FUV, 1150 - 2000 A) passbands in the rest frames of the objects are correlated with no time lag. The data show indications of (i) a mild negative correlation of UV variability with bolometric luminosity and (ii) weak positive correlation between UV variability and black hole mass. At FUV, about 50% of the sources show a strong correlation between spectral indices and flux variations with a hardening when brightening behaviour, while for the remaining sources the correlation is moderate. In NUV, the sources do show a harder when brighter trend, however, the correlation is either weak or moderate.Comment: Accepted by Journal of Astrophysics and Astronom

A Study on Post Caesarean Wound Infection

BACKGROUND: Surgical site infection is one of the most common complications following caesarean section. Incidence of wound infection ranges from 0.5% to 15%. Post caesarean wound infection is a major cause of prolonged hospital stay, increases maternal morbidity and increased medical costs which poses a significant burden to health care system. Caesarean section is a clean contaminated type of surgery where procedure related chance of infection is less. Hence proper assessment of risk factors that predisposes to SSI is critical for developing preventive strategies. AIM AND OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to determine the incidence of post caesarean surgical site infection, to identify the risk factors, common bacterial pathogens causing infection and to analyze antibiotic sensitivity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study Centre: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Government Raja Mirasudhar Hospital, Thanjavur Medical College. After obtaining approval by the ethical’s committee and getting written informed consent from all patients, a prospective cohort study conducted over a period of 12 months from January 2018 to December 2018. All women undergoing caesarean sections in Raja Mirasudhar Hospital will be evaluated in the study to identify the patients who are developing any form of wound infection within 30 days from the date of caesarean section. RESULTS: Out of 6211 patients who underwent patients, 92 had developed wound infection. The incidence of wound infection in the present study was 1.48%.The rate of wound infection in emergency LSCS was 1.2%, whereas elective was only 0.2%. The various risk factors associated with the wound infection in my study were Anemia (71.7%), HTN (35.9%), Diabetes (7.6%), and PROM (16.3%) Handled outside (7.6%) Anemia and Diabetes increases the risk of wound infection by 2.5 times ant 2 times respectively. Lower socioeconomic status BMI > 26 is found to be the significant risk factor. Number of PV examinations more than 4 was found to be significant risk factor for wound infection. P The most common organism isolated in my study was S.Aureus followed by E-Coli and S.aureus is most sensitive to linezolid. Only 42% of patients went for secondary wound resuturing and other patients were treated using local wound care and higher antibiotics.Wound infection leads to significant extension of hospital stay in 87% of patients. CONCLUSION: The incidence of wound infection in my study was 1.48%. We conclude that Anemia, Diabetes, PROM, Handled outside, multiple per vaginal examinations, prolonged induction are predominant risk factors leading to wound infection. We also found that wound infection leads to significant extension of hospital stay. Strategies for prevention of this morbidity must aim to correct anemia, to avoid prolonged hospital stay prior to delivery ,to correct maternal comorbidities prior to surgery and Strict adoption of asepsis. SSI surveillance must be done as a part of HAI audit which aims at improving Quality control measures and infection control practices

Prevalence of Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

BACKGROUND : Diabetes mellitus is a global epidemic. Prevalence of diabetic cardiac autonomic neuropathy is high and it carries a high mortality rate. Early diagnosis of cardiac autonomic neuropathy helps to identify individuals at risk and prioritize the management. AIMS OF THE STUDY : To study the prevalence of cardiac autonomic neuropathy in Type 2 diabetic patients by assessing the individuals by (a) Standard autonomic testing & (b) Ansiscope. METHODS : Patients with Type 2 diabetes from FEB 2013 to DEC 2014 were included in the study. Patients were subjected to symptom analysis, clinical examination and laboratory investigations. Eligible cohorts were subjected to standard autonomic testing and testing with Ansiscope. Standard autonomic testing includes (a) Assessing heart rate variability with deep breathing, valsalva, supine to standing position.(b) Assessing blood pressure variability with supine to standing position. Patients were categorised based on Ewing’s criteria for CAN. RESULTS : 19% (n=16)of the study group individuals were newly detected T2DM. Among them 11 individuals 68.8% were CAN positive by ansiscope and 81.2% (13 subjects) by conventional method. 50 individuals were diabetic for a duration 1-5 years. Among them 82% (41 individuals) and 88%(44 subjects) tested positive for autonomic dysfunction by ansiscope and conventional method respectively. 18 subjects who were diabetic for more than 5 years tested 100% positive for autonomic dysfunction by both the methods. CONCLUSION : The prevalence of cardiac autonomic neuropathy is extremely high among diabetics. Poor blood sugar control is significantly associated with CAN. Also individuals who are unaware of the complications of diabetes have shown a significant association with autonomic dysreflexia. Early screening, early diagnosis, proper education of patients and strict glycemic control help in the arrest of progression of Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy in Type 2 diabetic population

The role of diagnostic hysteroscopy in abnormal uterine bleeding and its histopathological correlation following blind dilatation and curettage

Background: Abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) is a common gynecological disorder in women. To render appropriate treatment it is vital to establish the correct diagnosis, in this backdrop we have studied the utility of hysteroscopy as a diagnostic procedure against a blind dilatation and curettage. The objectives of the study were hysteroscopic evaluation of abnormal uterine bleeding in reproductive and post-menopausal women. Hysteroscopic findings were compared with the histopathological reports following blind dilatation and curettage.Methods: It is a prospective study on women with symptoms of AUB for a period of one year from Oct 2014 to Nov 2015. Detailed history and clinical examination with an ultrasound (USG) of pelvis to see for endometrial thickness and any structural abnormality was done. 50 cases were included for hysteroscopy. Endometrial biopsy was taken by blind dilation and curettage (D & C) and sent for histopathological examination (HPE). The hysteroscopic and histopathological findings were analyzed.Results: Both hysteroscopy and (D & C) were accurate when an abnormality was diagnosed, giving a specificity of 96.4% and 96.4% respectively and positive predictive value of (95.2% versus 94.4%). The ability to diagnose a lesion was more with hysteroscopy i.e. sensitivity in comparison to curettage, (90.9% versus 77.4%), while a negative diagnosis was less wrongly made with hysteroscopy in comparison to curettage (false negative rate: 9.1% versus 22.7%). In intracavitary lesions like polyp, hysteroscopy gave 100% accuracy.Conclusions: Hysteroscopy is a sensitive diagnostic procedure that provides useful information in all intracavitary lesions and has a higher sensitivity and specificity. A blind D & C for AUB may miss focal lesions including endometrial carcinoma, hence hysteroscopy is advisable

Long-Term Optical Flux and Colour Variability in Quasars

We have used optical V and R band observations from the Massive Compact Halo Object (MACHO) project on a sample of 59 quasars behind the Magellanic clouds to study their long term optical flux and colour variations. These quasars, lying in the redshift range of 0.2 < z < 2.8 and having apparent V band magnitudes between 16.6 and 20.1 mag, have observations ranging from 49 to 1353 epochs spanning over 7.5 yr with frequency of sampling between 2 to 10 days. All the quasars show variability during the observing period. The normalised excess variance (Fvar) in V and R bands are in the range 0.2% < FVvar < 1.6% and 0.1% < FRvar < 1.5% respectively. In a large fraction of the sources, Fvar is larger in the V band compared to the R band. From the z-transformed discrete cross-correlation function analysis, we find that there is no lag between the V and R band variations. Adopting the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach, and properly taking into account the correlation between the errors in colours and magnitudes, it is found that the majority of sources show a bluer when brighter trend, while a minor fraction of quasars show the opposite behaviour. This is similar to the results obtained from another two independent algorithms, namely the weighted linear least squares fit (FITEXY) and the bivariate correlated errors and intrinsic scatter regression (BCES). However, the ordinary least squares (OLS) fit, normally used in the colour variability studies of quasars, indicates that all the quasars studied here show a bluer when brighter trend. It is therefore very clear that the OLS algorithm cannot be used for the study of colour variability in quasars

Automated Home Appliances Control using Embedded Web Server

In modern construction in industrialized nations, most homes have been wired for TV, lights and fans etc...  Many household tasks were automated by the development of specialized automated appliances. In this project we are going to create the embedded web server so that we can control the electrical devices through online by using either computer or by using smart phone. The purpose of this project is to design a control system that able to control a system device remotely from distance and monitoring condition of the system in real-time as well. This project shows how to set up an Arduino with Ethernet shield as a web server. The web servers in this Project are used to serve up web pages that can be accessed from a web browser and allows our hardware to be controlled from web browser. Starting from basic, our example for this project is simple. We want to access our device by switching ON-OFF LED and monitor analog input data acquisition from web server, which are the computer and Arduino connected to the same network

Automated Home Appliances Control Using Embedded Web Server

In modern construction in industrialized nations, most homes have been wired for TV, lights and fans etc... Many household tasks were automated by the development of specialized automated appliances. In this project we are going to create the embedded web server so that we can control the electrical devices through online by using either computer or by using smart phone. The purpose of this project is to design a control system that able to control a system device remotely from distance and monitoring condition of the system in real-time as well. This project shows how to set up an Arduino with Ethernet shield as a web server. The web servers in this Project are used to serve up web pages that can be accessed from a web browser and allows our hardware to be controlled from web browser. Starting from basic, our example for this project is simple. We want to access our device by switching ON-OFF LED and monitor analog input data acquisition from web server, which are the computer and Arduino connected to the same network

NMR characterization of the Type III Secretion System Tip Chaperone Protein PcrG of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Lung infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the leading cause of death among cystic fibrosis patients. To initiate infection, P. aeruginosa assembles a protein nanomachine, the type III secretion system (T3SS) to inject bacterial proteins directly into target host cells. An important regulator of the P. aeruginosa T3SS is the chaperone protein PcrG, which forms a complex with the tip protein, PcrV. In addition to its role as a chaperone to the tip protein, PcrG also regulates protein secretion. PcrG homologs are also important in the T3SS of other pathogens such as Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of bubonic plague. The atomic structure of PcrG or any member of the family of tip protein chaperones is currently unknown. Here, we show by CD and NMR spectroscopy that PcrG lacks a tertiary structure. However, it is not completely disordered but contains secondary structures dominated by two long α-helices from residues 16–41 and 55–76. NMR backbone dynamics data show that the helices in PcrG have semi-rigid flexibility and they tumble as a single entity with similar backbone dynamics. NMR titrations show that the entire length of PcrG residues from 9–76 is involved in binding to PcrV. Thus the PcrG family of T3SS chaperone proteins is essentially partially folded

Structure and Biophysics of Type III Secretion in Bacteria

Many plant and animal bacterial pathogens assemble a needle-like nanomachine, the type III secretion system (T3SS), to inject virulence proteins directly into eukaryotic cells to initiate infection. The ability of bacteria to inject effectors into host cells is essential for infection, survival, and pathogenesis for many Gram-negative bacteria, including Salmonella, Escherichia, Shigella, Yersinia, Pseudomonas, and Chlamydia spp. These pathogens are responsible for a wide variety of diseases, such as typhoid fever, large-scale food-borne illnesses, dysentery, bubonic plague, secondary hospital infections, and sexually transmitted diseases. The T3SS consists of structural and nonstructural proteins. The structural proteins assemble the needle apparatus, which consists of a membrane-embedded basal structure, an external needle that protrudes from the bacterial surface, and a tip complex that caps the needle. Upon host cell contact, a translocon is assembled between the needle tip complex and the host cell, serving as a gateway for translocation of effector proteins by creating a pore in the host cell membrane. Following delivery into the host cytoplasm, effectors initiate and maintain infection by manipulating host cell biology, such as cell signaling, secretory trafficking, cytoskeletal dynamics, and the inflammatory response. Finally, chaperones serve as regulators of secretion by sequestering effectors and some structural proteins within the bacterial cytoplasm. This review will focus on the latest developments and future challenges concerning the structure and biophysics of the needle apparatus