45 research outputs found
Efficacy, Safety and Steroid-sparing Effect of Topical Cyclosporine A 0.05% for Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis in Indian Children
Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy, safety, and steroid-sparing effect of topical cyclosporine A (Cs A) 0.05% in patients with moderate to severe steroid dependent vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC).
Methods: A prospective, comparative, placebo controlled study was carried out on 68 VKC patients, with 34 patients treated with topical Cs A 0.05% and the remaining 34 with topical carboxymethyl cellulose 0.5% (placebo). Both groups also received topical loteprednol etabonate 0.5%. Symptom (itching, photophobia, tearing, and discharge) score, sign (tarsal and limbal papillae, corneal involvement, and conjunctival hyperemia) score, and drug score (steroid drop usage/day/eye) were recorded at baseline and each followup visit. The intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement and evaluation of any ocular side effects were carried out.
Results: Significant reduction in symptom score and sign score was seen in both groups. Cs A group significantly showed more reduction in symptom (P < 0.0001 in all follow-up visits) and sign (P < 0.0001 in all follow-up visits) scores compared to the placebo group. At day 7, mean steroid usage reduced from 4 to 3.44 ± 0.5 and 3.79 ± 0.4 in Cs A and placebo groups, respectively (P < 0.0001). Steroid drops completely stopped in 21 patients at day 60 in the Cs A group compared to none in the placebo group. No significant rise in IOP or any side effects were noted in either group.
Conclusion: Topical Cs A 0.05% is effective and safe in patients with moderate to severe VKC with good steroid-sparing effect
Anisotropic tomography of heavy quark dissociation by using general propagator structure at finite magnetic field
In this work we have explored the imaginary part of the Heavy Quark (HQ)
potential and subsequently the dissociation of heavy quarkonia, within the most
general scenario of magnetized hot medium. We have used the general structure
of the gauge boson propagator in a hot magnetized medium and derived the most
general result for the imaginary HQ potential and the decay width for the heavy
quarkonia. In the process we have investigated the rich anisotropic structure
of the complex HQ potential which explicitly depends on the longitudinal and
transverse distance. We have also compared our full structure rich result with
various approximated results available in the literature and explained the
differences between them.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figure
Heavy quark potential and LQCD based quark condensate at finite magnetic field
We have studied various properties of heavy quarkonia in hot and magnetized
quark gluon plasma. Inverse magnetic catalysis (IMC) effect is incorporated by
modifying the effective quark masses. Then we obtain the real and imaginary
part of the heavy quark potential. After evaluating binding energy and decay
width we obtain the dissociation temperature of heavy quarkonia in presence of
magnetic field.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure
A Unique Way to Generate Password at Random Basis and Sending it Using a New Steganography Technique
Data hiding is a technique for secure transmission of confidential data. Many data hiding techniques exist and steganography is the most important one. This paper presents a new steganography method in spatial domain. We use steganography to send confidential information from sender to receiver. Here, we generate password at random basis in a unique way based on system time and date. Then we send this confidential password using steganography by implementing a totally new embedding and extraction technique based on exact length of bits in binary representation of ASCII values. Here, confidential text information is embedded into cover image generating a stego image and sent to receiver maintaining top level secrecy
Quantum version of transport coefficients in Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model at finite temperature and strong magnetic field
We have estimated parallel and perpendicular components of electrical
conductivity and shear viscosity of quark matter at finite magnetic field and
temperature by using their one-loop Kubo expressions in the framework of
Nambu--Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model. At finite magnetic field, a non-trivial medium
dependence of those quantities can be found. Previously these NJL-profiles have
been addressed in relaxation time approximation, where cyclotron motion of
quarks with medium dependent mass plays the key role. With respect to the
earlier estimations, the present work provides further enriched profiles via
Kubo framework, where field theoretical descriptions of quark transport with
medium dependent mass and (Landau) quantized energy have been identified as the
key ingredients. Hence the present study can be considered as the complete
quantum field theoretical description of the transport coefficients in the
framework of NJL model at finite temperature and magnetic field.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure
Predicting risk of delirium from ambient noise and light information in the ICU
Existing Intensive Care Unit (ICU) delirium prediction models do not consider
environmental factors despite strong evidence of their influence on delirium.
This study reports the first deep-learning based delirium prediction model for
ICU patients using only ambient noise and light information. Ambient light and
noise intensities were measured from ICU rooms of 102 patients from May 2021 to
September 2022 using Thunderboard, ActiGraph sensors and an iPod with
AudioTools application. These measurements were divided into daytime (0700 to
1859) and nighttime (1900 to 0659). Deep learning models were trained using
this data to predict the incidence of delirium during ICU stay or within 4 days
of discharge. Finally, outcome scores were analyzed to evaluate the importance
and directionality of every feature. Daytime noise levels were significantly
higher than nighttime noise levels. When using only noise features or a
combination of noise and light features 1-D convolutional neural networks (CNN)
achieved the strongest performance: AUC=0.77, 0.74; Sensitivity=0.60, 0.56;
Specificity=0.74, 0.74; Precision=0.46, 0.40 respectively. Using only light
features, Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks performed best: AUC=0.80,
Sensitivity=0.60, Specificity=0.77, Precision=0.37. Maximum nighttime and
minimum daytime noise levels were the strongest positive and negative
predictors of delirium respectively. Nighttime light level was a stronger
predictor of delirium than daytime light level. Total influence of light
features outweighed that of noise features on the second and fourth day of ICU
stay. This study shows that ambient light and noise intensities are strong
predictors of long-term delirium incidence in the ICU. It reveals that daytime
and nighttime environmental factors might influence delirium differently and
that the importance of light and noise levels vary over the course of an ICU
stay.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, 2 supplementary figure
Cronkhite-Canada Syndrome: A Rare Cause of Chronic Diarrhoea in a Young Man
A young Indian man presented with nine-month history of chronic diarrhea, occasionally mixed with blood and intermittent colicky abdominal pain. He also complained of generalized body swelling for the last three months. On examination, he had diffuse hyperpigmentation of the skin and dystrophic nail changes. Upper and lower gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed multiple sessile polyps in the stomach, small bowel, and colon and rectum. Biopsy of polyps showed adenomatous changes with stromal edema and dilated glands. Cronkhite-Canada syndrome (CCS) was diagnosed and treated with glucocorticoids and enteral nutritional supplementation. There was an associated small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and stool was positive for clostridium difficile toxin. After 12 weeks of treatment, the patient achieved remission. Close correlation with clinical findings, including pertinent ectodermal abnormalities, endoscopic studies, and careful examination of biopsies will ensure a timely and correct diagnosis of CCS
"The fruits of independence": Satyajit Ray, Indian nationhood and the spectre of empire
Challenging the longstanding consensus that Satyajit Ray's work is largely free of ideological concerns and notable only for its humanistic richness, this article shows with reference to representations of British colonialism and Indian nationhood that Ray's films and stories are marked deeply and consistently by a distinctively Bengali variety of liberalism. Drawn from an ongoing biographical project, it commences with an overview of the nationalist milieu in which Ray grew up and emphasizes the preoccupation with colonialism and nationalism that marked his earliest unfilmed scripts. It then shows with case studies of Kanchanjangha (1962), Charulata (1964), First Class Kamra (First-Class Compartment, 1981), Pratidwandi (The Adversary, 1970), Shatranj ke Khilari (The Chess Players, 1977), Agantuk (The Stranger, 1991) and Robertsoner Ruby (Robertson's Ruby, 1992) how Ray's mature work continued to combine a strongly anti-colonial viewpoint with a shifting perspective on Indian nationhood and an unequivocal commitment to cultural cosmopolitanism. Analysing how Ray articulated his ideological positions through the quintessentially liberal device of complexly staged debates that were apparently free, but in fact closed by the scenarist/director on ideologically specific notes, this article concludes that Ray's reputation as an all-forgiving, ‘everybody-has-his-reasons’ humanist is based on simplistic or even tendentious readings of his work