Alliance between risk factors and grievousness of mucormycosis in patients suffering from COVID-19

Background: Mucormycosis is a black fungal mold showing a sudden surge in covid era and left as a trail of COVID-19. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that both mucormycosis and COVID-19 prey on the immunocompromised by colonizing the nose-sinuses-orbit-eye-brain.Methods: 30 patients of suspected ROCM were included which presented a gamut of red flags ranging from numbness and pain over the cheek to diminution of vision (DOV) and diplopia. Mucormycosis was confirmed by KOH mount and gadolinium-enhanced MRI. Ophthalmic assessment included visual acuity, IOP measurement, colour vision, extraocular movements, anterior and posterior segment evaluation using slit lamp and fundoscopy.Results: Risk factors being diabetes mellitus (73.3%), history of oxygen supply during hospital stay (53.3%) and hypertension (53.3%). 16/30 (53.3%) had good vision: <6/6 but >6/12. 11/30 (36.7%) had impaired vision: <6/12 but >6/60. 3/30 (10%) had poor vision: <6/60. Finding being DOV: 14 (46.7%) >chemosis: 10(33.3%) >restricted EOM: 5 (16.7%) >periorbital cellulitis: 4 (13.3%) >congestion: 4 (13.3%) >proptosis: 4 (13.3%).Conclusions: Thus, as there is a myriad of ocular manifestations, we have tried to portray the whole spectrum here. Patients with the above-mentioned risk factors must be eyed with suspicion since delay in diagnosis and appropriate management can have calamitous implications on patient survival. However, the intervention time varies depending on the various factors like availability of the resources, awareness of the patient and expertise available for diagnosis and treatment. As this disease requires a multidisciplinary approach, ophthalmic intervention should be followed by debridement of sinuses as and when required

Churn Prediction using MapReduce and HBase.

The mobile telecommunication market is rapidly increasing with numerous service providers stepping in the market. This makes the customer think to leave the service provided by one service provider and move to another service provider for some better offers. This project is an attempt to design and implement an application that can take Customer Records as input and give Customer churn prediction details as output. It will enable service provider to know in advance about the valuable customer who are about to churn. By merely giving customer data records as input, user can get the desired customer behaviour pattern, which is the churn output. The output obtained will basically distinguish the churners and the non-churners. The system is built using Apache Hadoop, Apache HBase and a Data Mining Algorithm under MapReduce code. The use of Hadoop framework makes it easy to process the large datasets containing the information of customers. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.150317

Microwave induced synthesis of some fused thiazoloquinazoline derivatives under solvent free conditions using LiBr as a catalyst

Two rapid and efficient methods for the preparation off used thiazoloquinazoline derivatives by the reaction of chalcones with hydroxylamine, urea and hydrazine hydrate under solvent free condition and microwave exposure are reported. The aim of present work is to substitute toxic, dangerous, highly reactive chemicals with less reactive, less harmful but more selective building blocks which activate selective chemical reactions by proper catalysis and to replace substituted old technologies to new one characterized by the reduction of by-products and easy separation of products

The value of adding sub-valvular procedures for chronic ischemic mitral regurgitation surgery: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The most performed repair technique for the treatment of chronic ischemic mitral regurgitation in patients referred for bypass grafting remains restricted annuloplasty. However, it is associated with a high rate of failure, especially if severe tenting exists. OBJECTIVES: To understand if adjunctive sub-valvular mitral procedures may provide better repair performance. METHODS: A systematic literature review identified six studies of which five fulfilled the criteria for meta-analysis. Outcomes for a total of 404 patients (214 had adjunctive sub-valvular procedures and 190 restricted annuloplasty) were meta-analyzed using random effects modeling. Heterogeneity and subgroup sensitivity analysis were assessed. Primary endpoints were: late recurrence of moderate mitral regurgitation, left ventricle remodeling and coaptation depth at follow-up. Secondary endpoints were: early mortality, mid-term survival and operative outcomes. RESULTS: Sub-valvular procedure technique was associated with a significantly lower late recurrence of mitral regurgitation (Odds ratio (OR) 0.34, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) [0.18, 0.65], p=0.0009), smaller left ventricle end-systolic diameter (Weighted Mean Difference (WMD) -4.06, 95% CI [-6.10, -2.03], p=0.0001) and reduced coaptation depth (WMD -2.36, 95% CI [-5.01, -0.71], p=0.009). These findings were consistent, even in studies that included patients at high risk for repair failure (coaptation depth >10 mm and tenting area >2.5 cm2). A low degree of heterogeneity was observed. There was no difference in terms of early mortality and mid-term survival; sub-valvular technique was associated with prolonged cardiopulmonary and cross-clamp time. CONCLUSIONS: Adding sub-valvular procedures when repairing ischemic chronic mitral valve regurgitation may be associated with better durability, even in the case of the presence of predictors for late failure. PERSPECTIVE: Surgical sub-valvular adjunctive procedures have to be considered in the case of the presence of echocardiographic predictors for late failure

20 Years of Progress in Intestinal Parasitic Diseases Research

Since 1968 investigators from U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 2 Detachment (NAMRU-2) and the National Institute of Health Research and Development (NIHRD) have conducted parasitological/biomedical surveys in every major island in the Indonesian archipelago. Even smaller islands such as Nasi and Beras off of Sumatra and Beeuw off of Irian Jaya are represented in these studies. These activities were aimed to update and provide new information on the prevalence and distribution of intestinal parasites as well as other infectious agents. These surveys were done in collaboration with the Directorate General of Communicable Disease Control and Environmental Health (CDC&EH), universities and other health institutions such as the Indonesian Armed Forces Health Services, Provincial Health Services, and others. Stool specimens, blood smears, and venous blood examined in these studies showed that most of the population surveyed were infected with one to 7 different species of parasites. Between 50% to 95% of the population had multiple infections

A Comparison of Polarization Observables in Electron Scattering from the Proton and Deuteron

Recoil proton polarization observables were measured for both the p($\vec {\rm e}$,e$^\prime\vec{\rm p}\,$) and d($\vec {\rm e}$,e$^\prime\vec{\rm p}\,)$n reactions at two values of Q$^2$ using a newly commissioned proton Focal Plane Polarimeter at the M.I.T.-Bates Linear Accelerator Center. The hydrogen and deuterium spin-dependent observables $D_{\ell\ell}$ and $D_{{\ell}t}$, the induced polarization $P_n$ and the form factor ratio $G^p_E/G^p_M$ were measured under identical kinematics. The deuterium and hydrogen results are in good agreement with each other and with the plane-wave impulse approximation (PWIA).Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure; accepted by Phys. Rev. Let

Predictors of outcome after CABG in the South-Asian community: a propensity matched analysis

Background: Ethnicity is not incorporated into standardized pre-operative risk-stratification tools for cardiac surgery. This study compared short-term outcomes following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery in South Asian and non-Asian patients. Methods: Consecutive patients undergoing isolated CABG surgery via sternotomy between the years 2011 and 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Initially, 1957 patients were identified (799 South-Asian, 40.8%). The patient groups were then propensity matched according to 10 relevant pre-operative covariates (age, body mass index, pulmonary disease, renal failure, smoking, diabetes, ventricular function, renal failure): 675 non-Asian patients were matched against 675 Asian patients. Results: Operative mortality was 1.77% and similar between the two groups (p = 0.447). Multivariate regression analysis found predictors of operative mortality to be pre-operative serum creatinine, age, left ventricular (LV) impairment, and extent of coronary disease. The effect of creatinine on mortality was selective for South-Asian patients (p = 0.015). LV impairment was a predictor of mortality in non-Asian patients, however this effect did not exist in South-Asian patients. Predictors of short-term complications (composite of death, stroke, reoperation, hemofiltration, and pneumonia) were age and creatinine (coefficient 0.002, 95% CI 0.0004–0.004, p = 0.019) in the overall cohort. Subgroup analysis found age to remain a selective negative predictor of complications in South-Asian patients. Cox regression analysis found creatinine, age, and LVEF to influence 10-year survival, whilst ethnicity was not a predictor. Conclusion: This study highlights the cumulative risk associated with ethnicity and renal disease in predicting short-term outcomes following CABG. This warrants further investigations in larger populations, thus guiding pre-operative risk-stratification

The p(d,p)d and p(d,p)pn reactions as a tool for the study of the short range internal structure of the deuteron

In recent time the deuteron structure at short distances is often treated from the point of view nonnucleonic degrees of freedom. In this paper the measurements of T-odd polarization observables using tensor polarized deuteron beam and polarized proton target or proton polarimeter are proposed to search the quark configurations inside the deuteron.Comment: 12 pages, 8 Postscript figures, submitted in Phys.Atom.Nuc

Aged-senescent cells contribute to impaired heart regeneration

Aging leads to increased cellular senescence and is associated with decreased potency of tissue-specific stem/progenitor cells. Here, we have done an extensive analysis of cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) isolated from human subjects with cardiovascular disease, aged 32-86 years. In aged subjects (>70 years old), over half of CPCs are senescent (p16INK4A , SA-β-gal, DNA damage γH2AX, telomere length, senescence-associated secretory phenotype [SASP]), unable to replicate, differentiate, regenerate or restore cardiac function following transplantation into the infarcted heart. SASP factors secreted by senescent CPCs renders otherwise healthy CPCs to senescence. Elimination of senescent CPCs using senolytics abrogates the SASP and its debilitative effect in vitro. Global elimination of senescent cells in aged mice (INK-ATTAC or wild-type mice treated with D + Q senolytics) in vivo activates resident CPCs and increased the number of small Ki67-, EdU-positive cardiomyocytes. Therapeutic approaches that eliminate senescent cells may alleviate cardiac deterioration with aging and restore the regenerative capacity of the heart