Ossicular Erosion in CSOM, Reconstructive Procedures and Outcome

BACKGROUND: CSOM cases are quite common in India. Daily we encounter numerous cases of CSOM in our outpatient department. During the surgical management of CSOM cases, we commonly come across different types of tympanic membrane perforation, ossicular defects as peroperative findings, different ossiculoplasty methods and postop audiological outcome. So I have selected this as my dissertation topic AIMS & OBJECTIVES: 1. To find the incidence of ossicular erosion in csom (mucosal and squamous). 2. To find the incidence of ossicular erosion with respect to each type of perforation of tympanic membrane. 3. To find the incidence of various type of perforation in cases of tubotympanic type of csom. 4. To study ossicular reconstructive procedures and its audiological outcome. 5. To use MERI score & OOPS index in csom cases and analyze the surgical outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective study, conducted in department of otorhinolaryngology, Tirunelveli medical college hospital, Tirunelveli, carried out during March 2013 to September 2014. Patients prepared for surgical management for chronic uppurative otitis media in the department of otorhinolaryngology, Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital, Tirunelveli during this study period 164 such patients are included in my study. The ears were examined by otoscopy initially and otoendoscope to establish a preoperative diagnosis of safe or unsafe disease. Per operatively, tympanic membrane findings and middle ear findings like granulations, ossicle status, ossicular mobility, middle ear mucosa, Eustachian tube, etc were noted. ossiculoplasty methods were noted and documented. Follow up otoscopic and audiological evaluation and documentation was done RESULT: Of 164 patients, 40.9% were males and 59.1% were females. 39% had right ear affected where as 40.9% had left ear affected. 20.1% presented with B/L CSOM. 90.85% cases were csom mucosal type and 6.09% were csom Squamous type. Among mucosal type, subtotal presentation was the most common presentation (43.2%). Incus (24.4%) was the most common ossicle found to be eroded. Erosion of ossicles were more common in squamous type. Cortical mastoidectomy with type 1 tympanoplasty was found to be the most common surgical management done in this study. It showed a mean improvement of hearing of 11.30db. In follow up, 86% cases had graft uptake and thus a successful surgery CONCLUSION: Incus is the most common ossicle to erode in csom cases. Csom squamous type causes more chances of ossicular erosion. Prevalence of csom mucosal type is more than squamous type. Subtotal perforation is the most common presentation in csom mucosal. ossicle erosion is more probable in cases with high MERI and OOPSI score

The use of tools of data mining to decision making in engineering education—A systematic mapping study

In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of theoretical and applied research that has focused on educational data mining. The learning analytics is a discipline that uses techniques, methods, and algorithms that allow the user to discover and extract patterns in stored educational data, with the purpose of improving the teaching‐learning process. However, there are many requirements related to the use of new technologies in teaching‐learning processes that are practically unaddressed from the learning analytics. In an analysis of the literature, the existence of a systematic revision of the application of learning analytics in the field of engineering education is not evident. The study described in this article provides researchers with an overview of the progress made to date and identifies areas in which research is missing. To this end, a systematic mapping study has been carried out, oriented toward the classification of publications that focus on the type of research and the type of contribution. The results show a trend toward case study research that is mainly directed at software and computer science engineering. Furthermore, trends in the application of learning analytics are highlighted in the topics, such as student retention or dropout prediction, analysis of academic student data, student learning assessment and student behavior analysis. Although this systematic mapping study has focused on the application of learning analytics in engineering education, some of the results can also be applied to other educational areas

An Antagomir to MicroRNA Let7f Promotes Neuroprotection in an Ischemic Stroke Model

We previously showed that middle-aged female rats sustain a larger infarct following experimental stroke as compared to younger female rats, and paradoxically, estrogen treatment to the older group is neurotoxic. Plasma and brain insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels decrease with age. However, IGF-1 infusion following stroke, prevents estrogen neurotoxicity in middle-aged female rats. IGF1 is neuroprotective and well tolerated, but also has potentially undesirable side effects. We hypothesized that microRNAs (miRNAs) that target the IGF-1 signaling family for translation repression could be alternatively suppressed to promote IGF-1-like neuroprotection. Here, we report that two conserved IGF pathway regulatory microRNAs, Let7f and miR1, can be inhibited to mimic and even extend the neuroprotection afforded by IGF-1. Anti-mir1 treatment, as late as 4 hours following ischemia, significantly reduced cortical infarct volume in adult female rats, while anti-Let7 robustly reduced both cortical and striatal infarcts, and preserved sensorimotor function and interhemispheric neural integration. No neuroprotection was observed in animals treated with a brain specific miRNA unrelated to IGF-1 (anti-miR124). Remarkably, anti-Let7f was only effective in intact females but not males or ovariectomized females indicating that the gonadal steroid environment critically modifies miRNA action. Let7f is preferentially expressed in microglia in the ischemic hemisphere and confirmed in ex vivo cultures of microglia obtained from the cortex. While IGF-1 was undetectable in microglia harvested from the non-ischemic hemisphere, IGF-1 was expressed by microglia obtained from the ischemic cortex and was further elevated by anti-Let7f treatment. Collectively these data support a novel miRNA-based therapeutic strategy for neuroprotection following stroke

ICAR: endoscopic skull‐base surgery

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River and basin morphometric indexes to detect tectonic activity: a case study of selected river basins in the South Indian Granulite Terrain (SIGT)

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. The effects and influence of tectonic processes on the Anjarakandy, Thalassery, Mahe, and Kuttiyadi watersheds and rivers of the South Indian Granulite Terrain in Kerala were examined to determine their spatial heterogeneity. Drainage basin asymmetry (Af), transverse topographic symmetry factor (T), hypsometric integral and curve (HI), longitudinal profile, stream length gradient index (SL), and stream concavity index (SCI) suggest heterogeneity in tectonic influence. Clusters of geomorphic anomalies in similar lithology rule out lithologic control on drainage development. However, the orientations of the drainage networks and predominant fractures/lineaments compare closely and reveal strong tectonic influence. Though the watersheds are considered to be in an advanced stage of erosion by the low HI ( < 30) and high values of SCI, variations in the shape of the hypsometric curves and differences in the SCI values indicate the different influence of tectonic process from watersheds in the north to the south. Among the watersheds, the Mahe and Kuttiyadi are more sensitive to tectonic processes than the Anjarakandy and Thalassery and indicate spatial heterogeneity in the influence of tectonic activity, confirming the grouping of watersheds based on structural and drainage patterns