Cardiovascular manifestations in hyperthyroidism

Background: It is well known that thyroid hormone directly affects the heart and peripheral vascular system. In hyperthyroidism, cardiovascular manifestations are frequent findings. Atrial arrhythmias, limitations in exercise tolerance, and congestive heart failure were reported to occur more common in older patients as a result of hyperthyroidism. Cardiovascular signs of hyperthyroidism include tachycardia, widened pulse pressure, marked increase in cardiac output with impaired cardiovascular and respiratory exercise capacity. Most of the cardiac abnormalities return to normal once a euthyroid state has been achieved in a majority of patients. There are very few studies which address the most important cardiovascular manifestations of hyperthyroidism particularly in Indian population. Hence this study is aimed at addressing this area. The aim was to study the prevalence of various cardiac manifestations in overt and subclinical hyperthyroidism.Methods: 50 patients of hyperthyroidism who visited general medicine department of Sri Ramachandra Medical College, Chennai, India was included in the study. Patients with other co-morbidities which could contribute to cardiovascular manifestations were excluded from the study. All the patients underwent clinical evaluation, basic laboratory tests like CBC, RFT, LFT, serum electrolytes, fasting lipid profile (which included serum triglycerides, LDL, HDL, total cholesterol), FT4, FT3 and TSH and radiological variables were studied in these patients.           ECG and 2D ECHO were performed in these patients to analyze the presence of any cardiac manifestations in these patients..Results: In this study females (60%) were more than males (40%), commonest cardio vascular symptoms were palpitation (78%), followed by dyspnoea (26%) and chest pain (4%). The commonest cardio vascular signs were found to be tachycardia (82%), widened pulse pressure (50%) and pedal edema (12%). The commonest ECG finding was found to be Sinus tachycardia (46%) followed by atrial fibrillation (28%), Non-Specific ST-T changes, left ventricular hypertrophy, RV hypertrophy and RBBB. Systolic dysfunction and chamber enlargement (18%) were the commonest echo findings.Conclusions: This study shows that cardiovascular manifestations are quite common and varied in hyperthyroidism which are to be looked for in the management.

Pattern formation in Passiflora incarnata: An activator-inhibitor model

Based on a careful examination of the onset of violet colored dots along the filaments in the developing floral bud stage and the formation of alternating bands of violet and white color in the matured flowers of Passiflora incarnata (Passion flower), it is concluded that the pattern arises from a competition between the production of violet colored anthocyanin and the colorless flavonols along the filaments. The activator-inhibitor model of Gierer and Meinhardt along with the reaction diffusion theory of Turing is used to explain the formation of concentric rings in the flower

Factors affecting the performance of triangular pyramid solar still

This work presents a few important factors that affect the performance of a triangular pyramid solar still. An experimental work has been conducted to find the effect of water depth on the performance of the triangular pyramid solar still. From the present study, it is concluded that the convective and evaporative heat transfer coefficients are important for designing solar distillation systems and the effect of temperature difference between the evaporative and condensing surfaces is also important to optimize the operating temperature range. The condensing area of the solar still is more than that of evaporating area. Thus the experimental results showed that the effect of depth of water in the solar still affects the fresh water production. Nevertheless, outdoor experimental tests were conducted to study the effect of wind speed variations to cool down the glass cover. It was found that increasing the wind speed from 1.5 to 3 m/s and to 4.5 m/s has the effect of increasing the still productivity by 8 and 15.5% respectively

Quantum chemical investigation of the reaction of O(<SUP>3</SUP>P<SUB>2</SUB>) with certain hydrocarbon radicals

The reaction of ground-state atomic oxygen [O(3P2)] with methyl, ethyl, n-propyl and isopropyl radicals has been studied using the density functional method and the complete basis set model. The energies of the reactants, products, reaction intermediates and various transition states as well as the reaction enthalpies have been computed. The possible product channels and the reaction pathways are identified in each case. In the case of methyl radical the minimum energy reaction pathway leads to the products CO + H2 + H. In the case of ethyl radical the most facile pathway leads to the products, methanal + CH3 radical. For propyl radical (n- and iso-), the minimum energy reaction pathways would lead to the channel containing ethanal + methyl radical

Enhancing the heat transfer of triangular pyramid solar still using phase change material as storage material

This paper presents the method of improvement of enhancing the performance of triangular pyramid solar still with and without latent heat energy storage. For comparing the productivity of solar still with and without LHTESS a solar still is designed, fabricated. Experiments are conducted in hot and humid climate of Chennai, India. Paraffin wax is used as LHTESS due to its feasible general and economic properties. The hourly productivity is slightly higher in case of solar still without LHTESS during sunny days. There is an increase of about 35% in production of fresh water with LHTESS than that of solar still without LHTESS. Also it was found that during the off shine period the fresh water produced from the still is higher. The solar still with and without LHTESS were found to be 4.5 L/m2day and 3.5 L/m2day

Rise of Mucormycosis during the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Challenges Faced

Mucormycosis (previously called zygomycosis) is a diverse group of increasingly recognized and frequently fatal mycotic diseases caused by members of the class zygomycetes. Mucormycosis is around 80 times more common in India, compared to other developed countries, with a frequency of 0.14 cases per 1,000 population. The most frequent causative agent of mucormycosis is the following genera from the Order Mucorales: Rhizopus, Mucor, Rhizomucor, Absidia, Apophysomyces, Cunninghamella, and Saksenaea. The major risk Mucormycosis (previously called zygomycosis) is a diverse group of increasingly recognized and frequently fatal mycotic diseases caused by members of the class zygomycetes. Mucormycosis is around 80 times more common in India, compared to other developed countries, with a frequency of 0.14 cases per 1,000 population. The most frequent causative agent of mucormycosis is the following genera from the Order Mucorales: Rhizopus, Mucor, Rhizomucor, Absidia, Apophysomyces, Cunninghamella, and Saksenaea. The major risk factors for the development of mucormycosis are diabetic ketoacidosis, deferoxamine treatment, cancer, solid organ or bone marrow transplantations, prolonged steroid use, extreme malnutrition, and neutropenia. The common clinical forms of mucormycosis are rhino-orbital-cerebral, pulmonary, cutaneous, and gastrointestinal. During the second wave of COVID-19, there was a rapid increase in mucormycosis with more severity than before. Amphotericin B is currently found to be an effective drug as it is found to have a broad spectrum activity and posaconazole is used as a salvage therapy. Newer triazole isavuconazole is also found effective against mucormycosis. This article aimed to review various studies on the laboratory diagnosis and treatment of mucormycosis

Preparation of YBCO Films on CeO 2 -Buffered (001) YSZ Substrates by a Non-Fluorine MOD Method

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66369/1/j.1551-2916.2004.01669.x.pd

H3K9me2/3 Binding of the MBT Domain Protein LIN-61 Is Essential for Caenorhabditis elegans Vulva Development

MBT domain proteins are involved in developmental processes and tumorigenesis. In vitro binding and mutagenesis studies have shown that individual MBT domains within clustered MBT repeat regions bind mono- and dimethylated histone lysine residues with little to no sequence specificity but discriminate against the tri- and unmethylated states. However, the exact function of promiscuous histone methyl-lysine binding in the biology of MBT domain proteins has not been elucidated. Here, we show that the Caenorhabditis elegans four MBT domain protein LIN-61, in contrast to other MBT repeat factors, specifically interacts with histone H3 when methylated on lysine 9, displaying a strong preference for di- and trimethylated states (H3K9me2/3). Although the fourth MBT repeat is implicated in this interaction, H3K9me2/3 binding minimally requires MBT repeats two to four. Further, mutagenesis of residues conserved with other methyl-lysine binding MBT regions in the fourth MBT repeat does not abolish interaction, implicating a distinct binding mode. In vivo, H3K9me2/3 interaction of LIN-61 is required for C. elegans vulva development within the synMuvB pathway. Mutant LIN-61 proteins deficient in H3K9me2/3 binding fail to rescue lin-61 synMuvB function. Also, previously identified point mutant synMuvB alleles are deficient in H3K9me2/3 interaction although these target residues that are outside of the fourth MBT repeat. Interestingly, lin-61 genetically interacts with two other synMuvB genes, hpl-2, an HP1 homologous H3K9me2/3 binding factor, and met-2, a SETDB1 homologous H3K9 methyl transferase (H3K9MT), in determining C. elegans vulva development and fertility. Besides identifying the first sequence specific and di-/trimethylation binding MBT domain protein, our studies imply complex multi-domain regulation of ligand interaction of MBT domains. Our results also introduce a mechanistic link between LIN-61 function and biology, and they establish interplay of the H3K9me2/3 binding proteins, LIN-61 and HPL-2, as well as the H3K9MT MET-2 in distinct developmental pathways