Ultrasound Guidance with nerve stimulation compared with Ultrasound Guidance alone for performing Infraclavicular Brachial Plexus Block: A Randomised Controlled study

Peripheral nerve blocks are almost always performed as blind procedures. The US-guided technique offers advantages, avoidance of intraneuronal / intravascular injection, faster onset times, improved block quality, decreased pain from muscular contractions, prolonged postoperative analgesia, and decreased need for rescue analgesics. The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy of infraclavicular brachial plexus block using ultrasound-guidance with the nerve stimulator-guided method compared with ultrasound guidance alone. And the measured outcomes are the time taken for the procedure, onset time for sensory and motor blockade, duration of blockade,overall effectiveness of the block, success rate, complications From our study, we conclude that, there is no significant difference between combined USG with NS technique and USG alone technique on onset of sensory and motor blockade, duration of blockade, success of blockade and also in analgesic requirement during intra- and postoperative period. But USG alone technique required less time to perform the block than the combined USG and NS technique. In this study, using ultrasound guidance alone for brachial plexus infraclavicular block provided rapid performance and yielded a high success rate without the aid of a nerve stimulator

PRADclass: Multi-pronged Gleason grade-informed computational strategy identifies consensus biomarker features of prostate adenocarcinoma that predict aggressive cancer

Supplementary material to:  Balraj AS, Muthamilselvan S, Raja R, & Palaniappan A. PRADclass: Multi-pronged Gleason grade-informed computational strategy identifies consensus biomarker features of prostate adenocarcinoma that signify aggressive cancer (2023)  Department of Bioinformatics,  School of Chemical and Biotechnology,  SASTRA Deemed to be University,  Thanjavur, 613401, India. </p

Preparation and characterization of highly blue emitting fluorescent carbon nano-dots using Pongammia pinnata fresh leaves

Abstract In this study, a simple environmental benign approach have been adopted for the preparation of highly luminescent (blue emitting) water soluble carbon nano-dots using Pongammia pinnata (Pp) leaves via hydrothermal technique. The prepared Pp-carbon nano- dots were characterized using UV-vis spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements. The Pp-carbon nano-dots are spherical in shape with an average size of 32 nm.</jats:p

Evaluation of soil erosion and sediment yield in tropical river basin of the Western Ghats, South India

The Manimala River Basin (MRB), located in the ecologically fragile Western Ghats of Kerala, faces critical soil erosion impacting land, soil, and water quality. This study provides a high-resolution, spatially explicit erosion assessment by integrating GIS-based Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) and Sediment Delivery Ratio (SDR) models. This study provides a high-resolution, pixel-level assessment of soil erosion using remote sensing and climatic datasets, enabling detailed mapping of erosion-prone areas and improving upon traditional RUSLE-based approaches. Rainfall erosivity ranges from 1520 to 1837 MJ mm/ha/h/yr, soil erodibility from 0.10 to 0.68 t ha hr/ha MJ mm, and the topographic factor from 0 to 353.3. Cover management and support practice values range between 0.74–1.07 and 0.1–0.9. Soil erosion rates in the river basin range from 0 to 50 t/ha/year, with an average rate of 2.42 t/ha/year. Low erosion (<1 t/ha/year) is predominant in alluvial plains and forested regions, while higher rates occur in uplands. Spatial analysis shows that 23.81 km2 experiences tolerant erosion, 10.65 km2 low erosion, and 0.49 km2 moderate erosion. Soil erosion hotspots with rates of 15–20 t/ha/year and 20–50 t/ha/year cover 0.1089 km2 and 0.1125 km2, respectively. The mean sediment yield is estimated at 1.635 t/ha/year, contributing to sedimentation in riverbeds and lowland areas. The RUSLE-SY model provides a high-resolution, spatially explicit assessment of soil loss and sediment yield. This study offers new insights into erosion dynamics within the ecologically sensitive tropical watershed of the Western Ghats, supporting regional conservation planning and sustainable land management strategies

End-to-end computational approach to the design of RNA biosensors for miRNA biomarkers of cervical cancer

AbstractCervical cancer is a global public health subject as it affects women in the reproductive ages, and accounts for the second largest burden among cancer patients worldwide with an unforgiving 50% mortality rate. Poor awareness and access to effective diagnosis have led to this enormous disease burden, calling for point-of-care, minimally invasive diagnosis methods. Here, an end-to-end quantitative approach for a new kind of diagnosis has been developed, comprising identification of optimal biomarkers, design of the sensor, and simulation of the diagnostic circuit. Using miRNA expression data in the public domain, we identified circulating miRNA biomarkers specific to cervical cancer using multi-tier screening. Synthetic riboregulators called toehold switches specific for the biomarker panel were then designed. To predict the dynamic range of toehold switches for use in genetic circuits as biosensors, we developed a generic grammar of these switches, and built a multivariate linear regression model using thermodynamic features derived from RNA secondary structure and interaction. The model yielded predictions of toehold efficacy with an adjusted R2 = 0.59. Reaction kinetics modelling was performed to predict the sensitivity of the second-generation toehold switches to the miRNA biomarkers. Simulations showed a linear response between 10nM and 100nM before saturation. Our study demonstrates an end-to-end workflow for the efficient design of genetic circuits geared towards the effective detection of unique genomic signatures that would be increasingly important in today’s world. The approach has the potential to direct experimental efforts and minimise costs. All resources including the machine learning toolkit, reaction kinetics simulation, designed toehold sequences, genetic circuits, data and sbml files for replicating and utilizing our study are provided open-source with the iGEM Foundation (https://github.com/igem2019) under GNU GPLv3 licence.</jats:p