CASE REPORT: Chorangiophagus Parasiticus: A Rare Case Report

Malformations are common in twin pregency compared to singleton pregnancy. One such rare anomaly is Chorangiophagus parasiticus also known as twin to twin transfusion which is an asymmetric abnormality of monozygotic twins, where asymmetric twin survive by parasitisizing normal twin. It’s a rare condition with an incidence of 1 in 35.000 deliveries. We report such a case with complete autopsy findings

Low use of statins and other coronary secondary prevention therapies in primary and secondary care in India.

ObjectiveTo determine the frequency of use of pharmacotherapy with aspirin, beta blocker, statin, and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor in patients with stable coronary heart disease (CHD) among physicians at different levels of health care in Rajasthan state, India.MethodsPhysicians practicing at tertiary hospitals and clinics at tertiary, secondary and primary levels were contacted. Prescriptions of CHD patients were audited and descriptive statistics reported.ResultsWe evaluated 2,993 prescriptions (tertiary hospital discharge 711, tertiary 688, secondary 1,306, and primary 288). Use of aspirin was in 2,713 (91%) of prescriptions, beta blockers 2,057 (69%), ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) 2,471 (82%), and statins 2,059 (69%). Any one of these drugs was prescribed in 2,991 (100%), any two in 2,880 (96%), any three in 1,740 (58%), and all four in 1,062 (35.5%) (P < 0.001). As compared to tertiary hospital, prescriptions at tertiary, secondary, and primary levels were lower: aspirin (96% vs 95%, 91%, 67%), beta blockers (80% vs 62%, 66%, 70%), statins (87% vs 82%, 62%, 21%): two drugs (98% vs 96%, 98%, 85%), three drugs (75% vs 58%, 55%, 28%), or four drugs (54% vs 44%, 28%, 7%) (P < 0.01). Use of ACE inhibitors/ARBs was similar while nitrates (43% vs 23%, 43%, 70%), dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers (12% vs 15%, 30%, 47%), and multivitamins (6% vs 26%, 37%, 47%) use was more in secondary and primary care.ConclusionsThere is suboptimal use of various evidence-based drugs (aspirin, beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, and statins) for secondary prevention of CHD in India

Enabling Personalized Composition and Adaptive Provisioning of Web Services

The proliferation of interconnected computing devices is fostering the emergence of environments where Web services made available to mobile users are a commodity. Unfortunately, inherent limitations of mobile devices still hinder the seamless access to Web services, and their use in supporting complex user activities. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of a distributed, adaptive, and context-aware framework for personalized service composition and provisioning adapted to mobile users. Users specify their preferences by annotating existing process templates, leading to personalized service-based processes. To cater for the possibility of low bandwidth communication channels and frequent disconnections, an execution model is proposed whereby the responsibility of orchestrating personalized processes is spread across the participating services and user agents. In addition, the execution model is adaptive in the sense that the runtime environment is able to detect exceptions and react to them according to a set of rules

Performance criteria for verbal autopsy-based systems to estimate national causes of death: development and application to the Indian Million Death Study.

BACKGROUND: Verbal autopsy (VA) has been proposed to determine the cause of death (COD) distributions in settings where most deaths occur without medical attention or certification. We develop performance criteria for VA-based COD systems and apply these to the Registrar General of India's ongoing, nationally-representative Indian Million Death Study (MDS). METHODS: Performance criteria include a low ill-defined proportion of deaths before old age; reproducibility, including consistency of COD distributions with independent resampling; differences in COD distribution of hospital, home, urban or rural deaths; age-, sex- and time-specific plausibility of specific diseases; stability and repeatability of dual physician coding; and the ability of the mortality classification system to capture a wide range of conditions. RESULTS: The introduction of the MDS in India reduced the proportion of ill-defined deaths before age 70 years from 13% to 4%. The cause-specific mortality fractions (CSMFs) at ages 5 to 69 years for independently resampled deaths and the MDS were very similar across 19 disease categories. By contrast, CSMFs at these ages differed between hospital and home deaths and between urban and rural deaths. Thus, reliance mostly on urban or hospital data can distort national estimates of CODs. Age-, sex- and time-specific patterns for various diseases were plausible. Initial physician agreement on COD occurred about two-thirds of the time. The MDS COD classification system was able to capture more eligible records than alternative classification systems. By these metrics, the Indian MDS performs well for deaths prior to age 70 years. The key implication for low- and middle-income countries where medical certification of death remains uncommon is to implement COD surveys that randomly sample all deaths, use simple but high-quality field work with built-in resampling, and use electronic rather than paper systems to expedite field work and coding. CONCLUSIONS: Simple criteria can evaluate the performance of VA-based COD systems. Despite the misclassification of VA, the MDS demonstrates that national surveys of CODs using VA are an order of magnitude better than the limited COD data previously available

Trends in tobacco use in Nepal

This article does not have an abstract

Promoting Life Skills and Preventing Tobacco Use among Low-Income Mumbai Youth: Effects of Salaam Bombay Foundation Intervention

Background: In response to India’s growing tobacco epidemic, strategies are needed to decrease tobacco use among Indian youth, particularly among those who are economically disadvantaged. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a school-based life-skills tobacco control program for youth of low socio-economic status in Mumbai and the surrounding state of Maharashtra. We hypothesized that compared to youth in control schools, youth exposed to the program would have greater knowledge of effects of tobacco use; be more likely to take action to prevent others from using tobacco; demonstrate more positive life skills and attitudes; and be less likely to report tobacco use. Methods/Findings: Using a quasi-experimental design, we assessed program effectiveness by comparing 8 th and 9 th grade students in intervention schools to 8 th grade students in comparable schools that did not receive the program. Across all schools, 1851 students completed a survey that assessed core program components in early 2010. The program consisted of activities focused on building awareness about the hazards of tobacco, developing life skills, and advocacy development. The primary outcome measure was self-reported tobacco use in the last 30 days. Findings indicate that 4.1 % of 8 th grade intervention students (OR = 0.51) and 3.6 % of 9 th grade intervention students (OR = 0.33) reported using tobacco at least once in the last 30 days, compared to 8.7 % of students in the control schools. Intervention group students were also significantly more knowledgeable about tobacco and related legislation, reported more efforts to prevent tobacco us

MRI findings in ruptured ovarian ectopic pregnancy: an unexplored avenue

Ovarian ectopic pregnancy (OEP) is a rare form of ectopic pregnancy (EP) and constitutes approximately 0.5-3% of all ectopic cases. Its presentation mimics the symptoms of tubal ectopic pregnancy, hemorrhagic ovarian cyst/follicle, tubo-ovarian abscess, urinary tract calculi, appendicitis or ovarian torsion. Occasionally determining the anatomic location of an extra-tubal ectopic pregnancy based on ultrasound imaging and presentation alone can be challenging, particularly when it is adherent to the fallopian tube. Although transvaginal ultrasound (TVS) is the primary modality used in the diagnosis, various forms of OEP and its complications may be incidentally detected and further evaluated on computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) when an alternative diagnosis is suspected. We reported a case of a second gravid para zero, 25 years old lady, who came with pain in the left lower abdomen. Her urine pregnancy test was positive. TVS showed empty uterine cavity, an extremely tender, heterogenous hyperechoic right adnexal mass, but no obvious gestation sac (GS). A large hematoma was detected adjacent to it in the pouch of Douglas (POD). Keeping a high suspicion of ectopic pregnancy, MRI was performed to evaluate the lesion better which revealed a natural, non-assisted, ruptured right ovarian ectopic pregnancy and was subsequently confirmed at laparotomy and proven on histopathology. Patient underwent left oophorectomy and discharged on 4th day with uneventful follow up.

Bio-nanotechnology application in wastewater treatment

The nanoparticles have received high interest in the field of medicine and water purification, however, the nanomaterials produced by chemical and physical methods are considered hazardous, expensive, and leave behind harmful substances to the environment. This chapter aimed to focus on green-synthesized nanoparticles and their medical applications. Moreover, the chapter highlighted the applicability of the metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) in the inactivation of microbial cells due to their high surface and small particle size. Modifying nanomaterials produced by green-methods is safe, inexpensive, and easy. Therefore, the control and modification of nanoparticles and their properties were also discussed