Prospective cross sectional study on anatomical variation with special emphasis on critical anatomical landmark in patients undergoing multi detector computed tomography of paranasal sinuse

Introduction: Paranasal sinuses are best evaluated by multi-detector computed tomography. Evaluation of sphenoid sinus pneumatization, lamina papyracea, onodi cell, cribriform plate, types of optic canal and supraorbital pneumatisation are useful for evaluation of the surgical anatomy of paranasal sinuses for the radiologist which guides the surgeon to take a correct approach for surgery without major complications of crucial structures. CT is recently used as a investigation of choice in the assessment of the paranasal sinuses and surrounding structures. Aims and Objective: To study the types of anatomical variation of paranasal sinuses and osteomeatal complex and clinical importance of these various of paranasal sinus on pre-operative computed tomography. Materials and Methods: Over a period of 18 months, 104 patients referred for CT scan of PNS region G.K.General hospital were evaluated for the presence of normal variants of the paranasal region. Unenhanced CT of the PNS was performed for these patients in the coronal plane, complemented by axial views in selected cases. Results: Out of 109 patients who fulfilled inclusion criteria were studied from that most common is type II cribriform plate found in 80.7% of patients, Presence of haller cells was noted in 11.01% of individuals. Most of the uncinate process was attached to lamina papyracea in 88.9% individuals. Onodi cell was identified among 41% patients. Depending on the pneumatization of the sphenoid sinus, type I course of optic nerve was most common. Sellar variety of sphenoid sinus was more common observed in 82.5% patients. Presence of supraorbital pneumatization was identified in 72.4% patients among total subjects. Conclusion: The presence of anatomical variants does not indicate a predisposition to sinus pathology but these variations may predispose patients to increased risk of intraoperative complication

Hybrid Multitask Learning Reveals Sequence Features Driving Specificity in the CRISPR/Cas9 System

CRISPR/Cas9 technology is capable of precisely editing genomes and is at the heart of various scientific and medical advances in recent times. The advances in biomedical research are hindered because of the inadvertent burden on the genome when genome editors are employed—the off-target effects. Although experimental screens to detect off-targets have allowed understanding the activity of Cas9, that knowledge remains incomplete as the rules do not extrapolate well to new target sequences. Off-target prediction tools developed recently have increasingly relied on machine learning and deep learning techniques to reliably understand the complete threat of likely off-targets because the rules that drive Cas9 activity are not fully understood. In this study, we present a count-based as well as deep-learning-based approach to derive sequence features that are important in deciding on Cas9 activity at a sequence. There are two major challenges in off-target determination—the identification of a likely site of Cas9 activity and the prediction of the extent of Cas9 activity at that site. The hybrid multitask CNN–biLSTM model developed, named CRISP–RCNN, simultaneously predicts off-targets and the extent of activity on off-targets. Employing methods of integrated gradients and weighting kernels for feature importance approximation, analysis of nucleotide and position preference, and mismatch tolerance have been performed

Aleukemic granulocytic sarcoma and leukemia cutis: A report of two rare cases and review of literature

Granulocytic sarcoma (GS), also called myeloid sarcoma is an extramedullary tumor of the immature granulocytic cells. It is a rare entity and mostly accompanied by acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Very rarely, it is detected before clinical signs of leukemia or other diseases. When the bone marrow biopsy reveals no other hematologic malignancies, the GS is described as aleukemic, primary or isolated. Here, we report two rare cases, one of which presented as aleukemic GS of lymph nodes with aleukemic leukemia cutis, and the other with aleukemic GS of lung. Both cases posed diagnostic dilemma in view of their atypical presentations and site of involvement. Final diagnosis was made by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Both patients were treated with standard induction chemotherapy for AML. One patient had relapsed on treatment and was further treated with only 6-thioguanine leading to complete remission. Our cases emphasize the importance of early suspicion and use of IHC in diagnosis of aleukemic GS and also potential role of oral thioguanine alone in relapsed cases not eligible for hematopoietic stem cell transplant

Nipah virus: epidemiology, pathology, immunobiology and advances in diagnosis, vaccine designing and control strategies – a comprehensive review

Nipah (Nee-pa) viral disease is a zoonotic infection caused by Nipah virus (NiV), a paramyxovirus belonging to the genus Henipavirus of the family Paramyxoviridae. It is a biosafety level-4 pathogen, which is transmitted by specific types of fruit bats, mainly Pteropus spp. which are natural reservoir host. The disease was reported for the first time from the Kampung Sungai Nipah village of Malaysia in 1998. Human-to-human transmission also occurs. Outbreaks have been reported also from other countries in South and Southeast Asia. Phylogenetic analysis affirmed the circulation of two major clades of NiV as based on currently available complete N and G gene sequences. NiV isolates from Malaysia and Cambodia clustered together in NiV-MY clade, whereas isolates from Bangladesh and India clusterered within NiV-BD clade. NiV isolates from Thailand harboured mixed population of sequences. In humans, the virus is responsible for causing rapidly progressing severe illness which might be characterized by severe respiratory illness and/or deadly encephalitis. In pigs below six months of age, respiratory illness along with nervous symptoms may develop. Different types of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays along with molecular methods based on polymerase chain reaction have been developed for diagnostic purposes. Due to the expensive nature of the antibody drugs, identification of broad-spectrum antivirals is essential along with focusing on small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). High pathogenicity of NiV in humans, and lack of vaccines or therapeutics to counter this disease have attracted attention of researchers worldwide for developing effective NiV vaccine and treatment regimens

Cardiovascular Efficacy and Safety of Bococizumab in High-Risk Patients

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