Vitamin D status in medical students and risk factor analysis: Vitamin D status in medical students

Vitamin D is finding increasing health implications beyond calcium homeostasis. Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent globally including India. Many asymptomatic individuals have hypovitaminosis implicating the need for intervention. The present study aimed at evaluating vitamin D levels among healthy medical students from southern India and its association with well-known risk factors. Hundred apparently healthy medical students between the age group of 18-25 years were recruited based on defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. A questionnaire form with details of sun exposure, tanning, milk intake, general health and drug history were obtained. Vitamin D levels were assessed by chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA). Vitamin D values were considered normal for 30-60 ng/ml, deficient for <20 ng/ml and insufficient for levels between 21-29 ng/ml. Majority of the students (89%) had deficient 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels while 8% of the student had insufficient and 3% of the students had sufficient 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels. The mean 25-hydroxyvitamin D level was 14.01±6.20 ng/ml, median level was 12.95 ng/ml and ranged between 5.15 to 43.01 ng/ml. No statistically significant association was noted with sex, BMI, sun exposure, dietary intake or serum calcium levels. To conclude, vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in asymptomatic medical students and showed lack of relationship with the well-defined risk factors in literature prompting to look for newer risk factors in this country

Cluster Head Selection in a Homogeneous Wireless Sensor Network Ensuring Full Connectivity with Minimum Isolated Nodes

The research work proposes a cluster head selection algorithm for a wireless sensor network. A node can be a cluster head if it is connected to at least one unique neighbor node where the unique neighbor is the one that is not connected to any other node. If there is no connected unique node then the CH is selected on the basis of residual energy and the number of neighbor nodes. With the increase in number of clusters, the processing energy of the network increases; hence, this algorithm proposes minimum number of clusters which further leads to increased network lifetime. The major novel contribution of the proposed work is an algorithm that ensures a completely connected network with minimum number of isolated nodes. An isolated node will remain only if it is not within the transmission range of any other node. With the maximum connectivity, the coverage of the network is automatically maximized. The superiority of the proposed design is verified by simulation results done in MATLAB, where it clearly depicts that the total numbers of rounds before the network dies out are maximum compared to other existing protocols

Detection of Rheumatic Arthritis Disease Based on Genomic Analysis by Applying Wavelet transform

In Recent years there is greater advance and innovations in bioinformatics. Bioinformatics is concerned with applying statistical and computational methods and also genomic signal processing techniques for analysis of data determined from sequenced DNA or RNA or Protein. To use genomic signal processing principle for analyze of DNA sequence first the DNA sequences of alphabetic string as to be converted into string of numeric sequence. This paper present the applications of wavelet transform based on the energy levels of approximation and detailed coefficients for sequence analysis with Chargaff’s rule, internucleotide distance to compare two sequence similarities and determine the impact score so that to diagnose the Rheumatic Arthritis(RA)

Mating In the Indian Squid Uroteuthis duvaucelii (cephalopoda: Loliginidae) From the Tropical Arabian Sea

The Indian squid Uroteuthis duvaucelii (D'Orbigny, 1835) is the most important commercial species of squid caught from the Indian Seas. Sperm transfer is a complex process in cephalopods, with males transferring intricate spermatophores to females during mating. However, nothing is known about the mating and sperm transfer behaviour of U. duvaucelii from the tropical Indian waters. Spermatangia implantations were tracked over the buccal membrane of 14 females and one male Indian squid Uroteuthis duvaucelii from the Arabian Sea during February and March 2021. The size of mated female individuals ranged from 110 to 160 mm dorsal mantle length (DML). The numbers of spermatangia in the buccal region range from 64 to 385 (mean=178). The length of the spermatangia ranged from 0.66 to 1.35 mm (average=0.89 mm) and the maximum width ranged from 0.14 to 0.23 mm (average=0.19 mm). Based on the statolith based age estimation, the age of the mated squid ranged from 98 to 148 days. Normally spermatophores are transferred to the buccal region of females by males during copulation, but strangely, a male buccal membrane was observed with spermatangium (n=254), which is evidence of same-sex (homosexual) mating behaviour in the Indian squid. Back-calculated hatching dates for the squids were from September 28th 2020 to 28th November 2020. The present observations give evidence for pre-monsoon mating for the species in the tropical Arabian Sea. Furthermore, we recommend a detailed study on reproductive biology for a complete understanding of the mating behaviour of loliginids in the Arabian Sea

Assessing secondary attack rates among household contacts at the beginning of the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic in Ontario, Canada, April-June 2009: A prospective, observational study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Understanding transmission dynamics of the pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus in various exposure settings and determining whether transmissibility differed from seasonal influenza viruses was a priority for decision making on mitigation strategies at the beginning of the pandemic. The objective of this study was to estimate household secondary attack rates for pandemic influenza in a susceptible population where control measures had yet to be implemented.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>All Ontario local health units were invited to participate; seven health units volunteered. For all laboratory-confirmed cases reported between April 24 and June 18, 2009, participating health units performed contact tracing to detect secondary cases among household contacts. In total, 87 cases and 266 household contacts were included in this study. Secondary cases were defined as any household member with new onset of acute respiratory illness (fever or two or more respiratory symptoms) or influenza-like illness (fever plus one additional respiratory symptom). Attack rates were estimated using both case definitions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Secondary attack rates were estimated at 10.3% (95% CI 6.8-14.7) for secondary cases with influenza-like illness and 20.2% (95% CI 15.4-25.6) for secondary cases with acute respiratory illness. For both case definitions, attack rates were significantly higher in children under 16 years than adults (25.4% and 42.4% compared to 7.6% and 17.2%). The median time between symptom onset in the primary case and the secondary case was estimated at 3.0 days.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Secondary attack rates for pandemic influenza A (H1N1) were comparable to seasonal influenza estimates suggesting similarities in transmission. High secondary attack rates in children provide additional support for increased susceptibility to infection.</p

Variation in sediment quality and hydrology – Is it a reason for short-neck clam biomass depletion in Ashtamudi Lake

The internationally renowned short neck clam Paphia malabarica is India’s first MSC certified resource. Its fishery is well established in Ashtamudi Lake (Lat.8°45’-9°28’N and Long.76°28’- 77°17E) one of the Ramsar site in India and the second largest wetland in Kerala. As a locally marketed clam till 1981, its demand increased as export market began in 1981. The clam was overexploited and the stock was depleted in the year 1990, but the resource was revived through the implementation of self imposed ban suggested by CMFRI. In the present scenario, this resource is showing a declining trend in the fishery. The decadal trend in the landings, 2014 showed a peak 10810.98 and 3056 t (2020) followed by 706t in 2021.This decline is aggravated by the flood in 2018. The studies conducted by CMFRI, the textural analysis of sediment in Ashtamudi Lake showed distinct changes in the sediment quality. The preferred bottom texture for the short neck clam is sandy clay. The consecutive surveys (biomass, sediment and hydrography)and monthly sampling results revealed the prominent changes in sediment texture. High values for silt was observed after the flood in 2018. In the year 2010 the average silt percentage was 3 to 5% and 10 to 22% in 2020. Hydrographic parameters analysed for the survey samples also showed drastic changes in temperature (28.6 to 31° C),nitrite (0.002 to 0.009 mg-L), dissolved oxygen (5 to 3.49 mg-L), and chlorophyll (4.2 to 1.8 mg-L-day) values.The possible role of various environmental parameters determining the water and sediment quality on the decline of short neck clam biomass in Ashtamudi Lake is analysed in detail in this paper

Pitfalls in machine learning‐based assessment of tumor‐infiltrating lymphocytes in breast cancer: a report of the international immuno‐oncology biomarker working group

The clinical significance of the tumor-immune interaction in breast cancer (BC) has been well established, and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have emerged as a predictive and prognostic biomarker for patients with triple-negative (estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and HER2 negative) breast cancer (TNBC) and HER2-positive breast cancer. How computational assessment of TILs can complement manual TIL-assessment in trial- and daily practices is currently debated and still unclear. Recent efforts to use machine learning (ML) for the automated evaluation of TILs show promising results. We review state-of-the-art approaches and identify pitfalls and challenges by studying the root cause of ML discordances in comparison to manual TILs quantification. We categorize our findings into four main topics; (i) technical slide issues, (ii) ML and image analysis aspects, (iii) data challenges, and (iv) validation issues. The main reason for discordant assessments is the inclusion of false-positive areas or cells identified by performance on certain tissue patterns, or design choices in the computational implementation. To aid the adoption of ML in TILs assessment, we provide an in-depth discussion of ML and image analysis including validation issues that need to be considered before reliable computational reporting of TILs can be incorporated into the trial- and routine clinical management of patients with TNBC

The global, regional, and national burden of adult lip, oral, and pharyngeal cancer in 204 countries and territories:A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Importance Lip, oral, and pharyngeal cancers are important contributors to cancer burden worldwide, and a comprehensive evaluation of their burden globally, regionally, and nationally is crucial for effective policy planning.Objective To analyze the total and risk-attributable burden of lip and oral cavity cancer (LOC) and other pharyngeal cancer (OPC) for 204 countries and territories and by Socio-demographic Index (SDI) using 2019 Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors (GBD) Study estimates.Evidence Review The incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to LOC and OPC from 1990 to 2019 were estimated using GBD 2019 methods. The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate the proportion of deaths and DALYs for LOC and OPC attributable to smoking, tobacco, and alcohol consumption in 2019.Findings In 2019, 370 000 (95% uncertainty interval [UI], 338 000-401 000) cases and 199 000 (95% UI, 181 000-217 000) deaths for LOC and 167 000 (95% UI, 153 000-180 000) cases and 114 000 (95% UI, 103 000-126 000) deaths for OPC were estimated to occur globally, contributing 5.5 million (95% UI, 5.0-6.0 million) and 3.2 million (95% UI, 2.9-3.6 million) DALYs, respectively. From 1990 to 2019, low-middle and low SDI regions consistently showed the highest age-standardized mortality rates due to LOC and OPC, while the high SDI strata exhibited age-standardized incidence rates decreasing for LOC and increasing for OPC. Globally in 2019, smoking had the greatest contribution to risk-attributable OPC deaths for both sexes (55.8% [95% UI, 49.2%-62.0%] of all OPC deaths in male individuals and 17.4% [95% UI, 13.8%-21.2%] of all OPC deaths in female individuals). Smoking and alcohol both contributed to substantial LOC deaths globally among male individuals (42.3% [95% UI, 35.2%-48.6%] and 40.2% [95% UI, 33.3%-46.8%] of all risk-attributable cancer deaths, respectively), while chewing tobacco contributed to the greatest attributable LOC deaths among female individuals (27.6% [95% UI, 21.5%-33.8%]), driven by high risk-attributable burden in South and Southeast Asia.Conclusions and Relevance In this systematic analysis, disparities in LOC and OPC burden existed across the SDI spectrum, and a considerable percentage of burden was attributable to tobacco and alcohol use. These estimates can contribute to an understanding of the distribution and disparities in LOC and OPC burden globally and support cancer control planning efforts

The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010-19 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. Methods The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate cancer burden attributable to behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risk factors. A total of 82 risk-outcome pairs were included on the basis of the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Estimated cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019 and change in these measures between 2010 and 2019 are presented. Findings Globally, in 2019, the risk factors included in this analysis accounted for 4.45 million (95% uncertainty interval 4.01-4.94) deaths and 105 million (95.0-116) DALYs for both sexes combined, representing 44.4% (41.3-48.4) of all cancer deaths and 42.0% (39.1-45.6) of all DALYs. There were 2.88 million (2.60-3.18) risk-attributable cancer deaths in males (50.6% [47.8-54.1] of all male cancer deaths) and 1.58 million (1.36-1.84) risk-attributable cancer deaths in females (36.3% [32.5-41.3] of all female cancer deaths). The leading risk factors at the most detailed level globally for risk-attributable cancer deaths and DALYs in 2019 for both sexes combined were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI. Risk-attributable cancer burden varied by world region and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), with smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol use being the three leading risk factors for risk-attributable cancer DALYs in low SDI locations in 2019, whereas DALYs in high SDI locations mirrored the top three global risk factor rankings. From 2010 to 2019, global risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 20.4% (12.6-28.4) and DALYs by 16.8% (8.8-25.0), with the greatest percentage increase in metabolic risks (34.7% [27.9-42.8] and 33.3% [25.8-42.0]). Interpretation The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden. Copyright (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.Peer reviewe