A study to assess the clinical and functional outcome of sub-vastus approach for total knee arthroplasty

Background: Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis affects all patients of age more than 50 years, requiring total knee replacement. There are two major approaches to total knee replacement- sub-vastus approach and medial parapatellar approach. There is no common consensus on superiority of sub-vastus approach. So, we undertook the present study to evaluate the functional and clinical outcome of total knee replacement via sub-vastus approach in terms of knee society clinical and functional scores and visual analog scale along with monitoring of range of motion in the post-operative knee in the follow up period.Methods: The present prospective and observational study was conducted in the Department of Orthopaedics, Unique Super Speciality Hospital, Indore, Madhya Pradesh for a period of 12 from June 2019-May 2020 with sample size of 30 patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty. All the patients had undergone total knee replacement via sub-vastus approach. The functional and clinical results of our study were compared with available literature.Results: The mean KFS and KCS scores showed a statistically significant improvement over a period of 12 months (p<0.05), while the mean ROM showed an improvement till 6 months (p<0.05) and then it remained stable till 12 months in comparison to 6 months (p>0.05).Conclusions: On comparing the results of sub-vastus approach with the available literature we found a significant improvement in functional and clinical outcome with a stable improvement in range of motion with very few complications

A physical mechanism for North Atlantic SST influence on the Indian summer monsoon

A link between the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) and multidecadal variability of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall is unraveled and a long sought physical mechanism linking Atlantic climate and monsoon has been identified. The AMO produces persistent weakening (strengthening) of the meridional gradient of tropospheric temperature (TT) by setting up negative (positive) TT anomaly over Eurasia during northern late summer/autumn resulting in early (late) withdrawal of the south west monsoon and persistent decrease (increase) of seasonal monsoon rainfall. On inter-annual time scales, strong North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) or North Annular mode (NAM) influences the monsoon by producing similar TT anomaly over Eurasia. The AMO achieves the interdecadal modulation of the monsoon by modulating the frequency of occurrence of strong NAO/NAM events. This mechanism also provides a basis for explaining the observed teleconnection between North Atlantic temperature and the Asian monsoon in paleoclimatic proxies

PROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY ON MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION IN RELATIONSHIP WITH VARIOUS RISK FACTORS

ABSTRACTObjective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of risk factors which influence the increased rate of myocardial infarction in atertiary care hospital.Methods: Data for this 6 months prospective observational study were collected from 227 patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital with acutemyocardial infarction, through patient interviews and case reports and were analyzed.Results: A total of 227 cases were taken for this study. Out of 227 patients, 168 (74.19%) were males and 59 (25.81%) were females. This studyreveals some major risk factors which contribute the increased rate of myocardial infarction and were smoking, chronic alcoholism, obesity, sedentarylifestyle, male sex, physical inactivity, comorbid diseases, sleep disorders as well as age group between 41 and 60 years. No association between oilconsumption coffee intake and a positive association between tea intake was observed. Out of 105 patients diagnosed with ST elevated MI, 55 (52.23%)were treated with fibrinolytic therapy and 50 (47.77%) were excluded from this therapy mainly due to delayed admission. All the patients were foundto be benefited by beta-blocker therapy.Conclusion: Results suggested that awareness regarding moderate physical activity, cessation of cigarette smoking, increased daily consumption offruits and vegetables may reduce the increased myocardial infarction risk.Keywords: Myocardial infarction, Risk factors, Fibrinolytic therapy, Beta blockers

The Dynamics of the Southwest Monsoon Current in 2016 from High-Resolution In Situ Observations and Models

The strong stratification of the Bay of Bengal (BoB) causes rapid variations in sea surface temperature (SST) that influence the development of monsoon rainfall systems. This stratification is driven by the salinity difference between the fresh surface waters of the northern bay and the supply of warm, salty water by the Southwest Monsoon Current (SMC). Despite the influence of the SMC on monsoon dynamics, observations of this current during the monsoon are sparse. Using data from high-resolution in situ measurements along an east–west section at 8°N in the southern BoB, we calculate that the northward transport during July 2016 was between 16.7 and 24.5 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1), although up to ⅔ of this transport is associated with persistent recirculating eddies, including the Sri Lanka Dome. Comparison with climatology suggests the SMC in early July was close to the average annual maximum strength. The NEMO 1/12° ocean model with data assimilation is found to faithfully represent the variability of the SMC and associated water masses. We show how the variability in SMC strength and position is driven by the complex interplay between local forcing (wind stress curl over the Sri Lanka Dome) and remote forcing (Kelvin and Rossby wave propagation). Thus, various modes of climatic variability will influence SMC strength and location on time scales from weeks to years. Idealized one-dimensional ocean model experiments show that subsurface water masses advected by the SMC significantly alter the evolution of SST and salinity, potentially impacting Indian monsoon rainfall

"The Bottle Is My Wife": Exploring Reasons Why Men Drink Alcohol in Ugandan Fishing Communities.

Fishing communities in Uganda have high rates of excessive alcohol consumption and negative health outcomes related to alcohol consumption, such as HIV acquisition and transmission and intimate partner violence victimization and perpetration. Research lacks understanding of alcohol use in Ugandan fishing communities, underlying reasons for excessive drinking among fishermen or how their community perceives negative health outcomes linked to excessive alcohol consumption. This qualitative study was conducted among Ugandan fisherfolk to determine why excessive alcohol consumption has overtaken their communities. Through analyzing in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, reasons for drinking and community perceptions of drinking were explored using the Socio Ecological Model and the Time Perspective Theory. Interviews were coded into two content themes: social influences on drinking and using alcohol to cope with stress. Participants acknowledged links between excessive alcohol consumption and negative health outcomes within their families and communities. These findings highlight the need for alcohol-related reduction interventions that are sensitive to contextual factors and self-identified contributors to problematic alcohol use within individuals and their communities. Such interventions must consider the social, ecological and economic conditions within fishing sites, focusing not only on individual-level behavioral change but also challenging the underlying structures that foster excessive alcohol consumption

Towards Robots that Influence Humans over Long-Term Interaction

When humans interact with robots influence is inevitable. Consider an autonomous car driving near a human: the speed and steering of the autonomous car will affect how the human drives. Prior works have developed frameworks that enable robots to influence humans towards desired behaviors. But while these approaches are effective in the short-term (i.e., the first few human-robot interactions), here we explore long-term influence (i.e., repeated interactions between the same human and robot). Our central insight is that humans are dynamic: people adapt to robots, and behaviors which are influential now may fall short once the human learns to anticipate the robot's actions. With this insight, we experimentally demonstrate that a prevalent game-theoretic formalism for generating influential robot behaviors becomes less effective over repeated interactions. Next, we propose three modifications to Stackelberg games that make the robot's policy both influential and unpredictable. We finally test these modifications across simulations and user studies: our results suggest that robots which purposely make their actions harder to anticipate are better able to maintain influence over long-term interaction. See videos here: https://youtu.be/ydO83cgjZ2

Innovative Procurement Practices Increase Productivity

The farmer is an important part of the dairy industry, regardless of country. India is the largest milk-producing nation in the world, with 18% involvement of the dairy industry in the economy. Most of the world’s population depends on dairy industries for their livelihood, with about one-quarter involved in the production or purchase of milk and related products. It is essential for the Indian dairy industry to be able to fulfill growing customer demand with a satisfactory supply of milk. The procurement of milk and related products is very important in meeting this demand. Procurement is the act of gaining or obtaining goods and services. The process includes the preparation and processing of demand, along with final receipt and approval of payment. Procurement mainly depends on technology and innovations. The chapter mainly focuses on innovative practices for the procurement of milk in the Indian dairy industry. The four practices and recommendations given are very helpful in increasing the productivity of the dairy industry in India

The railroad switch effect of seasonally reversing currents on the Bay of Bengal high salinity core

The Southwest Monsoon Current (SMC) flows eastward from the Arabian Sea into the Bay of Bengal (BoB) during summer, advecting a core of high salinity water. This high salinity core has been linked with Arabian Sea High Salinity Water that is presumed to enter the BoB directly from the Arabian Sea via the SMC. Here we show that the high salinity core originates primarily from the western equatorial Indian Ocean, reaching the BoB via the Somali Current, the Equatorial Undercurrent and the SMC. Years with anomalously saline high salinity cores are linked with the East Africa Coastal Current and the Somali Current winter convergence, and an anomalously strong Equatorial Undercurrent. Seasonal reversals that occur at the Somali Current and SMC junctions act as 'railroad switches' diverting water masses to different basins in the northern Indian Ocean. Interannual fluctuations of the Equatorial Undercurrent are linked to wind stress and El Nino