bNAber: database of broadly neutralizing HIV antibodies.

The discovery of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) has provided an enormous impetus to the HIV vaccine research and to entire immunology. The bNAber database at http://bNAber.org provides open, user-friendly access to detailed data on the rapidly growing list of HIV bNAbs, including neutralization profiles, sequences and three-dimensional structures (when available). It also provides an extensive list of visualization and analysis tools, such as heatmaps to analyse neutralization data as well as structure and sequence viewers to correlate bNAbs properties with structural and sequence features of individual antibodies. The goal of the bNAber database is to enable researchers in this field to easily compare and analyse available information on bNAbs thereby supporting efforts to design an effective vaccine for HIV/AIDS. The bNAber database not only provides easy access to data that currently is scattered in the Supplementary Materials sections of individual papers, but also contributes to the development of general standards of data that have to be presented with the discovery of new bNAbs and a universal mechanism of how such data can be shared

Gall bladder stones: surgical treatment

Background: There is higher incidence of gall stones in Karnataka and more commonly seen in women aged between 25 to 55 years. In this study men are also encountered with gall stone. As all the gall stones cannot be removed by laparoscopic procedure, the complicated and adherent gall bladder with stones and where laparoscopic procedure is not available are removed by conventional open method of cholecystectomy and in this study open cholecystectomy procedure is dealt in detail.Methods: Open cholecystectomy through Right Kocher’s incision.Results: In this study of 10 cases with complications of gall stones dealt surgically by doing open cholecystectomy gave satisfactory postoperative results without much postoperative complications.Conclusions: Among 10 cases of open cholecystectomy 6 cases were done through duct first method and 4 cases were done through fundus 1st method, which gave good results and less postoperative complications

The Prevalence and Severity of Acquired Blepharoptosis in US Eye Care Clinic Patients and Their Receptivity to Treatment [Letter]

Tanu Rajput,1 Jyoti Mahawar,2 Mahendra Singh3 1Department of Paramedical, Starex University, Gurugram, Haryana, India; 2Department of Paramedical, NIMS University, Jaipur, India; 3Department of Optometry and Vision Science, CL Gupta Eye Institute, Moradabad, UP 244001, IndiaCorrespondence: Mahendra Singh, Email [email protected]

Direct comparison of current-induced spin polarization in topological insulator Bi2Se3 and InAs Rashba states

Three-dimensional topological insulators (TIs) exhibit time-reversal symmetry protected, linearly dispersing Dirac surface states. Band bending at the TI surface may also lead to coexisting trivial two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) states with parabolic energy dispersion that exist as spin-split pairs due to Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC). A bias current is expected to generate spin polarization in both systems arising from their helical spin-momentum locking. However, their induced spin polarization is expected to be different in both magnitude and sign. Here, we compare spin potentiometric measurements of bias current-generated spin polarization in Bi2Se3(111) films where Dirac surface states coexist with trivial 2DEG states, with identical measurements on InAs(001) samples where only trivial 2DEG states are present. We observe spin polarization arising from spin-momentum locking in both cases, with opposite signs of the spin voltage. We present a model based on spin dependent electrochemical potentials to directly derive the signs expected for the TI surface states, and unambiguously show that the dominant contribution to the current-generated spin polarization measured in the TI is from the Dirac surface states. This direct electrical access of the helical spin texture of Dirac and Rashba 2DEG states is an enabling step towards the electrical manipulation of spins in next generation TI and SOC based quantum devices

Perspectivas del perfil de ácidos grasos y la composición de lípidos bioactivos de semillas en la discriminación de variedades de manzana mediante quimiometría

The extracted oils from four apple seed varieties (Royal Gala, Red Delicious, Pyrus Malus and Golden Delicious) from Pakistan were investigated for their fatty acid profiles and lipid biactives by GC-MS. The oil contents in the seeds of the apple varieties ranged from 26.8-28.7%. The results revealed that linoleic acid (40.5-49.6%) was the main fatty acid in the Royal Gala, Red Delicious and Pyrus Malus seeds, and oleic acid (38.7-45.5%) was the main fatty acid in the Golden Delicious seeds. Palmitic acid (6.1-7.4%) and stearic acid (2.0-3.1%) were the dominant saturated fatty acids, besides the small amount of palmitoleic, heptadecanoic, linolenic, archidic, eicosanoic, and behenicacids. Sterols, tocopherols, hydrocarbons and some other minor components were also identified from the unsaponifiable lipid fraction. The variation among the results of both fatty acids and lipid bioactives for the four different varieties was assessed by principal component analysis, discriminant analysis and cluster analyses. The results conclude that both oil fractions could be applied as a useful tool to discriminate among the apple seed varieties.Se ha estudiado el perfil de ácidos grasos y lípidos biactivos mediante GC-MS del aceite extraído de semillas de cuatro variedades de manzanas de Pakistán (Royal Gala, Red Delicious, Pyrus Malus y Golden Delicious). El contenido de aceite en las semillas de las variedades de manzanas estudiadas oscilaron desde 26,8 hasta 28,7%. Los resultados mostraron que el ácido linoleico (40.5-49.6%) fue el principal ácido graso de las semillas de las variedades Royal Gala, Red Delicious y Pyrus Malus, y el ácido oleico (38,7-45,5%) fue el principal ácido graso de Golden Delicious. Los ácidos palmítico (6.1-7.4%) y esteárico (2,0-3,1%) fueron los ácidos grasos saturados predominantes, las semillas contenían también pequeñas cantidades de palmitoleico, heptadecanoico, linolénico, araquídico, eicosanoico, y behénico. Esteroles, tocoferoles, hidrocarburos, y otros componentes menores también fueron identificados a partir de la fracción insaponificable. La variación de los resultados de ambos, ácidos grasos y lípidos bioactivos, de cuatro variedades diferentes se evaluó mediante análisis de componentes principales, análisis discriminante y análisis de cluster. Los resultados concluyen que las dos fracciones lipídicas de semillas de manzanas podrían aplicarse como una herramienta útil para distinguir variedades

Analysis of Dimensionality Reduction Techniques on Big Data

Due to digitization, a huge volume of data is being generated across several sectors such as healthcare, production, sales, IoT devices, Web, organizations. Machine learning algorithms are used to uncover patterns among the attributes of this data. Hence, they can be used to make predictions that can be used by medical practitioners and people at managerial level to make executive decisions. Not all the attributes in the datasets generated are important for training the machine learning algorithms. Some attributes might be irrelevant and some might not affect the outcome of the prediction. Ignoring or removing these irrelevant or less important attributes reduces the burden on machine learning algorithms. In this work two of the prominent dimensionality reduction techniques, Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) are investigated on four popular Machine Learning (ML) algorithms, Decision Tree Induction, Support Vector Machine (SVM), Naive Bayes Classifier and Random Forest Classifier using publicly available Cardiotocography (CTG) dataset from University of California and Irvine Machine Learning Repository. The experimentation results prove that PCA outperforms LDA in all the measures. Also, the performance of the classifiers, Decision Tree, Random Forest examined is not affected much by using PCA and LDA.To further analyze the performance of PCA and LDA the eperimentation is carried out on Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) and Intrusion Detection System (IDS) datasets. Experimentation results prove that ML algorithms with PCA produce better results when dimensionality of the datasets is high. When dimensionality of datasets is low it is observed that the ML algorithms without dimensionality reduction yields better results

Perceptions of 24/7 In‐house Attending Coverage on Fellow Education and Autonomy in a Pediatric Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit

BackgroundThe 24/7 in‐house attending coverage is emerging as the standard of care in intensive care units. Implementation costs, workforce feasibility, and patient outcomes resulting from changes in physician staffing are widely debated topics. Understanding the impact of staffing models on the learning environment for medical trainees and faculty is equally warranted, particularly with respect to trainee education and autonomy.ObjectiveThis study aims to elicit the perceptions of pediatric cardiology fellows and attendings toward 24/7 in‐house attending coverage and its effect on fellow education and autonomy.MethodsWe surveyed pediatric cardiology fellows and attendings practicing in the pediatric cardiothoracic intensive care unit (PCTU) of a large, university‐affiliated medical center, using structured Likert response items and open‐ended questions, prior to and following the transition to 24/7 in‐house attending coverage.ResultsAll (100%) trainees and faculty completed all surveys. Both prior to and following transition to 24/7 in‐house attending coverage, all fellows, and the majority of attendings agreed that the overnight call experience benefited fellow education. At baseline, trainees identified limited circumstances in which on‐site attending coverage would be critical. Preimplementation concerns that 24/7 in‐house attending coverage would negatively affect the education of fellows were not reflected following actual implementation of the new staffing policy. However, based upon open‐ended questions, fellow autonomy was affected by the new paradigm, with fellows and attendings reporting decreased “appropriateness” of autonomy after implementation.ConclusionsOur prospective study, showing initial concerns about limiting the learning environment in transitioning to 24/7 in‐house attending coverage did not result in diminished perceptions of the educational experience for our fellows but revealed an expected decrease in fellow autonomy. The study indirectly facilitated open discussions about methods to preserve fellow education and warranted autonomy in our PCTU; however, continued efforts are needed to achieve the optimal balance between supervised training and the transition to autonomous practice.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111990/1/chd12261.pd