Primary renal leiomyosarcoma: a rare entity

Background: Primary leiomyosarcoma of the kidney is an exceptionally rare tumor with an aggressive behavior. However, reported literature is very limited. Since the prognosis for a renal sarcoma is extremely poor, differentiation from sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is necessary. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry are the only modes of diagnosing these sarcomas as they have no specific diagnostic features clinically and radiologically. Objectives was to evaluate the clinicopathological pattern of leiomyosarcomas arising from kidney.Methods: This study was conducted in the Department of Pathology, Government Medical College, Srinagar. It was a retrospective study done over a period of 3 years, July 2014 to June 2017. A total of 4 patients, who underwent surgery and were diagnosed with primary LMS of the kidney, were included in the present study.Results: The study was done to evaluate the clinicopathological pattern of 4 cases of primary renal LMS diagnosed at a tertiary care hospital. Age of the patients ranged from 35-64 years with a mean age of 53.5 years. Sex ratio of 1:1 was observed. Major presenting symptom was flank pain (75%) followed by mass abdomen (50%). Also, one of the patients presented with spontaneous rupture of kidney. Radical nephrectomy was done in all patients. On gross examination tumor had originated from renal pelvis (50%) in 2 patients, renal vein (25%) in one patient whereas, renal capsule (25%) appeared to be the site of origin in other patient. Histopathological examination and immunohistochemistry proved the lesion as primary leiomyosarcoma of kidney.Conclusions: Being a rare tumour, renal leiomyosarcoma needs to be considered in the differential diagnosis of renal masses even in patients younger than 40 years

The epidemiology of stroke In a developing country (Pakistan)

Ischemic stroke is a major cause of neurological morbidity and mortality. The objective of this review article is to summarize facts pertaining to acute ischemic stroke and its various aspects in a developing country like Pakistan, where resources are limited and the healthcare system is underdeveloped. No large-scale epidemiological studies are available to determine the true incidence of stroke in Pakistan. We conducted a study to determine the prevalence of several important stroke risk factors among Pakistani stroke patients, and to determine whether these risk factors differ among urban versus rural populations. We also used existing data from literature to compare overall stroke incidence in Pakistan to that in developed countries. In this study we found that for stroke besides hypertension, prolonged contraceptive use and pregnancy are additional risk factors in Pakistan. Which is more prevalent in urban populations than rural population? Developed countries except Germany have much lower stroke incidences than Pakistan

WEB BASED ENGINEERING EDUCATION

The use of Internet for distance education has received increasing attention over the past few years. But the real challenge of adapting this technology for engineering education is to facilitate the laboratory experiments via Internet. This paper discusses the software and hardware requirements of virtual courses/laboratories to provide interactive environment for designing and conducting classes/experiments. The examples provided demonstrate a virtual laboratory for Electrical Engineering courses and shows how similar laboratories can be implemented for other courses like Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and System Engineering etc. In a traditional university environment, virtual labs can also improve the Engineering curricula in a cost effective way by establishing a timely connection between theory and practice. The obstacles in introducing engineering education via digital media are also discussed

2D MXene Ti3C2Tx Enhanced Plasmonic Absorption in Metasurface for Terahertz Shielding

With the advancement of technology, shielding for terahertz (THz) electronic and communication equipment is increasingly important. The metamaterial absorption technique is mostly used to shield electromagnetic interference (EMI) in THz sensing technologies. The most widely used THz metamaterial absorbers suffer from their narrowband properties and the involvement of complex fabrication techniques. Materials with multifunctional properties, such as adjustable conductivity, broad bandwidth, high flexibility, and robustness, are driving future development to meet THz shielding applications. In this article, a theoretical simulation approach based on finite difference time domain (FDTD) is utilized to study the absorption and shielding characteristics of a two-dimensional (2D) MXene Ti3C2Tx metasurface absorber in the THz band. The proposed metamaterial structure is made up of a square-shaped array of MXene that is 50 nm thick and is placed on top of a silicon substrate. The bottom surface of the silicon is metalized with gold to reduce the transmission and ultimately enhance the absorption at 1–3 THz. The symmetric adjacent space between the MXene array results in a widening of bandwidth. The proposed metasurface achieves 96% absorption under normal illumination of the incident source and acquires an average of 25 dB shielding at 1 THz bandwidth, with the peak shielding reaching 65 dB. The results show that 2D MXene-based stacked metasurfaces can be proven in the realization of low-cost devices for THz shielding and sensing applications

A study protocol for an mHealth, multi-centre randomized control trial to promote use of postpartum contraception amongst rural women in Punjab, Pakistan

Background: Provision of family planning services during the immediate post-partum phase is considered effective and cost-efficient for promoting healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies. This research aims to test the effectiveness of mobile phone-based interventions in promoting use of postpartum contraception. Moreover, it will also test the non-inferiority of text and voice messages compared to interactive phone-based counselling.Methods: A three-arm, 10-month, multicentre, randomized controlled trial will be conducted at 15 social franchise (SF) health facilities in Punjab province of Pakistan. Pregnant women aged 15-44 years who are in their first or second trimester and have a mobile phone for their own use will be eligible to participate in this study. The participants will be randomly allocated to one of three study arms: a) voice and text messages; b) interactive telephone-based counselling; or c) control arm (no additional phone-based support). The intervention counselling module will be developed based on the Integrated Behaviour Model which was recently adapted, and tested for the family planning context in Pakistan. It will broadly cover birth-preparedness, importance of birth spacing, and postnatal care. The phone-based intervention aims to improve women\u27s ability to use contraception by providing them with information about a range of methods, access to family planning methods through outlets such as Suraj SF providers, connecting them with MSS field health educators to help them reach the centres, motivation by re-enforcing the benefits of contraceptive use on women\u27s quality of life, and dispelling myths and misconceptions about modern contraceptive methods. Risk differences will be used as the measure of effect of the intervention on the outcomes.Discussion: The study findings will highlight effectiveness of mobile phone in raising awareness of maternal health and contraception, which in turn, is expected to be translated into increased proportion of: at least four antenatal visits, skilled birth or institutional delivery, postpartum contraceptive use, postnatal check-up, child immunization, and breastfeeding. Moreover, if the text and voice messages approach is proven to be non-inferior to interactive calls, it will provide evidence to making promotion of healthcare less resource intensive, and thereby contribute in improving the efficiency of the healthcare system.Trial registration: This trial was prospectively registered with the Clinical Trials registry ( NCT03612518 ) on August 2nd, 2018

Clinicopathological study of testicular tumors: an experience in a tertiary care hospital in Kashmir valley, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Background: Testicular and paratesticular neoplasia are rare type of tumors affecting adolescents and young adults in India, as observed by paucity of published data. This study was undertaken to analyze the patterns of testicular tumors at a tertiary level hospital in Kashmir valley, Jammu and Kashmir, India highlighting the patient’s demography, clinical presentation, diagnostic evaluation and pathological finding.Methods: This 5-year (retrospective and prospective) study was performed in the Department of Pathology, Government Medical College Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India from January 2012 to December 2016. For the retrospective study, all cases of testicular tumors, their histopathological reports and required clinical details were searched from records maintained in the Department of Pathology, GMC Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. For the prospective study, the orchiedectomy specimens received in our department were subjected to routine histopathological processing followed by a detailed gross and microscopic examination. Tumour typing and subtyping was done according to WHO classification (2004).Results: A total of 37 cases of testicular and paratesticular neoplasia were included in present study with a mean age of 35.1 years. Out of these 37 cases, 31 (83.78%) were malignant and 6 cases (16.22%) were benign. Right testis was affected in 70.3% of cases. The most common clinical presentation was scrotal swelling. Germ cell tumor was the most common type accounting for 89.2% of tumors followed by lymphomas (8.1%).Conclusions:It is concluded that despite new techniques in imaging and tumor marker assay, the diagnosis of testicular tumors is dependent upon histopathological examination. The present study fairly provides an insight into the clinical presentations, prevalence and patterns of testicular tumors.

Development of Dynamic Modeling and Fuzzy Logic System by Classical and Modern Strategies for the Control of Quadcopter

Quadcopters or Drones have multiple applications for different purpose such as investigation, assessment, exploration, rescue and decreasing the human strength in an adverse situation. Unmanned air vehicles (UAV) is designed with four propellers to resolve the issue of constancy however it will make the drone further more complex for the dynamic modelling and for the control system. In this research, smart controller is intended to regulate the attitude of drone. Simulation ideal model and fuzzy logic control approach is formulated to implement for four elementary motions i.e. roll, pitch, yaw, and height of our drone for the application of earth-quake. The key objective of this research paper is to develop the anticipated output as compare to the desired input