Pseudomyxoma peritonei: an unusual complication of ovarian tumor

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Does the clinical profile of Gujarati patients with Takayasu’s aortoarteritis differ from other Indians?

Takayasu’s aortoarteritis is a well-known yet rare form of large vesselvasculitis. It is a chronic inflammatory diseas, which has remained an enigma since it was first described a century ago. The present study was done to document the demographic profile, clinical course, complications and survival of 30 consecutive patients with aortoarteritis in the Gujarati population of western India. The study used non-invasive (color doppler, CT and MR angiography) and invasive techniques (conventional angiography) to document the vessels involved. The study showed almost equal incidence of disease in males and females in the Gujarati population unlike in other studied populations. Incidence of type-III aortoarteritis was the most common and left renal involvement was found to be significantly more common than right renal involvement in the present study. There was no mortality during the study period.KEY WORDS: Vasculitis; Takayasu’s aortoarteritis; Clinical profile; Gujaratipopulatio

Tsutsugamushi Disease (Scrub Typhus) Meningoencephalitis in North Eastern India: A Prospective Study

Background: Scrub typhus is rampant in northern, eastern, and southern India. Central nervous system involvement in the form of meningitis or meningoencephalitis is common in scrub typhus. As specific laboratory methods remain inadequate or inaccessible in developing countries, prompt diagnosis is often difficult. Aim: The aim of this study was to characterize neurological complications in scrub typhus from northeastern region of India. Subjects and Methods: We did a prospective study of scrub meningoencephalitis at North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Medical Sciences among patients admitted to hospital between October 2009 and November 2011. The diagnosis was made based on the clinical pictures, presence of an eschar, and a positive Weil.Felix test (WFT) with a titer of >1:160 and if required a positive scrub IgM enzyme.linked immunosorbent assay. Lumbar puncture was performed in patients with headache, nuchal rigidity, altered sensorium or cranial nerve deficits, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain performed if needed.Results: Twenty.three patients of scrub typhus meningitis that were serologically confirmed were included in the study. There were 13 males and 10 females. Fever .1 week was the most common manifestation (39.1%).Interestingly, none had an eschar. Median cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cell count, lymphocyte percentage, CSF protein, CSF glucose/blood glucose, CSF ADA were 17 cells/µL, 90%, 86 mg/dL, 0.6605 and 3.6 U/mL, respectively. All patients were treated with doxycycline. There was no mortality in our study. Conclusions: Absence of Eschar does not rule out scrub typhus. Clinical features and CSF findings can mimic tuberculous meningitis so misdiagnosis may lead to unwarranted prolonged empirical antituberculous therapy in cases of lymphocytic meningoencephalitis. Delay in treatment can be potentially fatal. WFT still serves as a useful and affordable diagnostic tool for this disease in resource.poor countries.Key words: Eschar, Meningoencephalitis, Orientia tsutsugamushi, Scrub Typhus, Weil.Felix Tes

Observed trends and changes in daily temperature and precipitation extremes over the Koshi river basin

The Koshi river basin is a sub-basin of the Ganges shared among China, Nepal, and India. The river system has a high potential for investment in hydropower development and for irrigation in downstream areas. The upper part of the basin contains a substantial reserve of freshwater in the form of snow and glaciers. Climate variability, climate change, and climate extremes might impact on these reserves, and in turn impact on systems that support livelihoods, such as agriculture, biodiversity and related ecosystem services. Climatological variability and trends over the Koshi river basin were studied using RClimDex. Daily temperature data (20 stations) and precipitation data (50 stations) from 1975 to 2010 were used in the analysis. The results show that the frequency and intensity of weather extremes are increasing. The daily maximum temperature (TXx) increased by 0.1 °C decade−1 on average between 1975 and 2010 and the minimum (TNn) by 0.3 °C decade−1. The number of warm nights increased at all stations. Most of the extreme temperature indices showed a consistently different pattern in the mountains than in the Indo-Gangetic plains, although not all results were statistically significant. The warm days (TX90p), warm nights (TN90p), warm spell duration (WSDI), and diurnal temperature range (DTR) increased at most of the mountain stations; whereas monthly maximum and minimum values of daily maximum temperature, TX90p, cool nights (TN10p), WSDI, cold spell duration indicator (CSDI), DTR decreased at the stations in the Indo-Gangetic plains, while the number of cold days increased. There was an increase in total annual rainfall and rainfall intensity, although no clear long-term linear trend, whereas the number of consecutive dry days increased at almost all stations. The results indicate that the risk of extreme climate events over the basin is increasing, which will increase people's vulnerability and has strong policy implications

IOT Enabled Smart Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles

As we are aware about the mass adoption of EVs on the horizon, the smart electric vehicle charging will become essential for both the charging point network operators, and the National electricity grid. EVs are becoming popular across the globe. As the number of EVs increases, EV charging infrastructure will also be a basic need. This work is to make a smart application to know the different tariff rates of the grid by connecting to the grid. The tariff rates will include both, the power intake rate and also the outgoing power rate. When the user comes to the grid, the application will also display the battery SOC. The main agenda is to optimize low carbon technologies through one connected platform using rule based algorithms, helping to decarbonize both the production and consumption of energy

Geographic and socio-economic variation in markers of indoor air pollution in Nepal: Evidence from nationally-representative data

© 2019 The Author(s). Background: In low-income countries such as Nepal, indoor air pollution (IAP), generated by the indoor burning of biomass fuels, is the top-fourth risk factor driving overall morbidity and mortality. We present the first assessment of geographic and socio-economic determinants of the markers of IAP (specifically fuel types, cooking practices, and indoor smoking) in a nationally-representative sample of Nepalese households. Methods: Household level data on 11,040 households, obtained from the 2016 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, were analyzed. Binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the use of fuel types, indoor cooking practices, indoor smoking and IAP with respect to socio-economic indicators and geographic location of the household. Results: More than 80% of the households had at least one marker of IAP: 66% of the household used unclean fuel, 45% did not have a separate kitchen to cook in, and 43% had indoor smoking. In adjusted binary logistic regression, female and educational attainment of household's head favored cleaner indoor environment, i.e., using clean fuel, cooking in a separate kitchen, not smoking indoors, and subsequently no indoor pollution. In contrast, households belonging to lower wealth quintile and rural areas did not favor a cleaner indoor environment. Households in Province 2, compared to Province 1, were particularly prone to indoor pollution due to unclean fuel use, no separate kitchen to cook in, and smoking indoors. Most of the districts had a high burden of IAP and its markers. Conclusions: Fuel choice and clean indoor practices are dependent on household socio-economic status. The geographical disparity in the distribution of markers of IAP calls for public health interventions targeting households that are poor and located in rural areas

Pd/C catalysts based on synthetic carbons with bi- and tri-modal pore-size distribution: Applications in flow chemistry

Synthetic carbons with hierarchical mesopores are promising for developing new catalysts for intensified continuous-flow catalysis in structured reactors.Financial support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Engineering Functional Materials, EP/C519736/1), the Overseas Research Students Awards Scheme and the University of Bath Research Studentship is gratefully acknowledged. The assistance of Dr Martin Jennings Dr. Chris Muryn (School of Chemistry, The University of Manchester) on ICP-OES and XPS analyses is acknowledged. KW acknowledges the Royal Society for the award of an Industry Fellowship.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from RSC via http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C5CY01401

Pd/C catalysts based on synthetic carbons with bi- and tri-modal pore-size distribution: applications in flow chemistry

Two new types of phenolic resin-derived synthetic carbons with bi-modal and tri-modal pore-size distributions were used as supports for Pd catalysts. The catalysts were tested in chemoselective hydrogenation and hydrodehalogenation reactions in a compact multichannel flow reactor. Bi-modal and tri-modal micro-mesoporous structures of the synthetic carbons were characterised by N2 adsorption. HR-TEM, PXRD and XPS analyses were performed for characterising the synthesised catalysts. N2 adsorption revealed that tri-modal synthetic carbon possesses a well-developed hierarchical mesoporous structure (with 6.5 nm and 42 nm pores), contributing to a larger mesopore volume than the bi-modal carbon (1.57 cm3 g–1 versus 1.23 cm3 g–1). It was found that the tri-modal carbon promotes a better size distribution of Pd nanoparticles than the bi-modal carbon due to presence of hierarchical mesopore limitting the growth of Pd nanoparticles. For all the model reactions investigated, the Pd catalyst based on tri-modal synthetic carbon (Pd/triC) show high activity as well as high stability and reproducibility. The trend in reactivities of different functional groups over the Pd/triC catalyst follows a general order alkyne >> nitro > bromo >> aldehyde.Financial support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Engineering Functional Materials, EP/C519736/1), the Overseas Research Students Awards Scheme and the University of Bath Research Studentship is gratefully acknowledged. The assistance of Dr Martin Jennings Dr. Chris Muryn (School of Chemistry, The University of Manchester) on ICP-OES and XPS analyses is acknowledged. KW acknowledges the Royal Society for the award of an Industry Fellowship.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from RSC via http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C5CY01401

Remnants of Greenstone sequence from the Archaean rocks of Rajasthan

An interesting association of granitoid-amphibolite-metasediments occurs around Jagat, southeast of Udaipur in Rajasthan. Lying a little south of the area from where 3.3-billion-year-old gneisses have been reported, these rocks compare well with the known greenstone associations of Archaean age. The mafic and granitoid rocks show chemical affinity with the modern volcanic arc rocks