Vitiligo at Injection Site of PEG-IFN-α 2a in Two Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C: Case Report and Literature Review

A 72-year-old female and a 57-year-old male with chronic hepatitis C were treated with a combination therapy of pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN)-α 2a (180 μg s.c. once a week) and ribavirin (1,000 mg orally daily). This resulted in the destruction of melanocytes at the injection site in both patients. In the male patient, the depigmentation progressed to the surrounding skin area. The dermatologist concurred with vitiligo as the diagnosis in both patients. Injection and surrounding site vitiligo associated with PEG-IFN-α 2b treatment for hepatitis C was noticed in previous case studies. For the first time, the case reports below highlight the same immunological adverse event secondary to PEG IFN-α 2a/ribavirin combination therapy and explain, in part, the complex interaction between host immune response and viral genotype. In addition, we systematically review drug-induced vitiligo and autoimmune diseases associated with the depigmentation disorder

Quick Test for Quality Deterioration in Processed Foods

A quick test for quality deterioration of milk powder, refined oil and atta, based on the indicator test solution was studied. The indicator test solution comprising NaOH and bromotIlytnol blue indicator remains stable for 6 mont1ls itl glass bottles. Depending on the acidity of the Sample, the colour changed from blue to light blue to green to yellow. The concentration of the indicator test solution is optimised for each product, viz., 4 ml for milk powder and refined oil and 2 ml for atta, to which 1 ml aqueous sample or oil is added which gives the colour change. The appearance of green colour is considered tIle cutoff point for inferior quality alld is based on the limits specified by the Bureau of Indian Standards for these products. The test has proved its efficacy in quality checking during storage of milk powder and deep fat frying of products in refined oils

Land-site suitability evaluation for tea, cardamom and rubber using Geo-spatial technology in Wayanad district, Kerala

Kerala is one of the important states contributing to the production of plantation crops and spices in the country. Soil and Land evaluation in various land utilization types has been carried out to assess the land suitability for tea, cardamom and rubber in Wayanad district of Kerala. Different soil physico-chemical parameters like, pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon and physical attributes database of soil mapping units developed in inventorying of soil resources at 1:50K scale using LISS-III satellite data on soil series and its association used to evaluate soil site suitability for tea, cardamom and rubber. The results indicated that for tea around 55.79% area is suitable for cultivation of which 14.62 %, 25.51 % and 15.66 % found highly suitable (S1), moderately suitable (S2) and marginally suitable (S3), respectively. About 26.92 % and 12.10 % found moderately suitable (S2) and marginally suitable (S3) for cardamom and about 32.48 % area marginally suitable (S3) for rubber. The area unsuitable for cultivation (N) of tea, cardamom and rubber were found to be 11.69 %, 28.46 % and 34.99 %, respectively, due to constraints like relief, topography, soil physico-chemical attributes such as base saturation, pH and soil moisture regime etc. The study proposed an integrated methodology for mapping and assessing suitability of land using remote sensing and GIS techniques

Land-site suitability evaluation for tea, cardamom and rubber using Geo-spatial technology in Wayanad district, Kerala

Kerala is one of the important states contributing to the production of plantation crops and spices in the country. Soil and Land evaluation in various land utilization types has been carried out to assess the land suitability for tea, cardamom and rubber in Wayanad district of Kerala. Different soil physico-chemical parameters like, pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon and physical attributes database of soil mapping units developed in inventorying of soil resources at 1:50K scale using LISS-III satellite data on soil series and its association used to evaluate soil site suitability for tea, cardamom and rubber. The results indicated that for tea around 55.79% area is suitable for cultivation of which 14.62 %, 25.51 % and 15.66 % found highly suitable (S1), moderately suitable (S2) and marginally suitable (S3), respectively. About 26.92 % and 12.10 % found moderately suitable (S2) and marginally suitable (S3) for cardamom and about 32.48 % area marginally suitable (S3) for rubber. The area unsuitable for cultivation (N) of tea, cardamom and rubber were found to be 11.69 %, 28.46 % and 34.99 %, respectively, due to constraints like relief, topography, soil physico-chemical attributes such as base saturation, pH and soil moisture regime etc. The study proposed an integrated methodology for mapping and assessing suitability of land using remote sensing and GIS techniques

New Approximability Results for the Robust k-Median Problem

We consider a robust variant of the classical $k$-median problem, introduced by Anthony et al. \cite{AnthonyGGN10}. In the \emph{Robust $k$-Median problem}, we are given an $n$-vertex metric space $(V,d)$ and $m$ client sets $\set{S_i \subseteq V}_{i=1}^m$. The objective is to open a set $F \subseteq V$ of $k$ facilities such that the worst case connection cost over all client sets is minimized; in other words, minimize $\max_{i} \sum_{v \in S_i} d(F,v)$. Anthony et al.\ showed an $O(\log m)$ approximation algorithm for any metric and APX-hardness even in the case of uniform metric. In this paper, we show that their algorithm is nearly tight by providing $\Omega(\log m/ \log \log m)$ approximation hardness, unless ${\sf NP} \subseteq \bigcap_{\delta >0} {\sf DTIME}(2^{n^{\delta}})$. This hardness result holds even for uniform and line metrics. To our knowledge, this is one of the rare cases in which a problem on a line metric is hard to approximate to within logarithmic factor. We complement the hardness result by an experimental evaluation of different heuristics that shows that very simple heuristics achieve good approximations for realistic classes of instances.Comment: 19 page

Greedy Selfish Network Creation

We introduce and analyze greedy equilibria (GE) for the well-known model of selfish network creation by Fabrikant et al.[PODC'03]. GE are interesting for two reasons: (1) they model outcomes found by agents which prefer smooth adaptations over radical strategy-changes, (2) GE are outcomes found by agents which do not have enough computational resources to play optimally. In the model of Fabrikant et al. agents correspond to Internet Service Providers which buy network links to improve their quality of network usage. It is known that computing a best response in this model is NP-hard. Hence, poly-time agents are likely not to play optimally. But how good are networks created by such agents? We answer this question for very simple agents. Quite surprisingly, naive greedy play suffices to create remarkably stable networks. Specifically, we show that in the SUM version, where agents attempt to minimize their average distance to all other agents, GE capture Nash equilibria (NE) on trees and that any GE is in 3-approximate NE on general networks. For the latter we also provide a lower bound of 3/2 on the approximation ratio. For the MAX version, where agents attempt to minimize their maximum distance, we show that any GE-star is in 2-approximate NE and any GE-tree having larger diameter is in 6/5-approximate NE. Both bounds are tight. We contrast these positive results by providing a linear lower bound on the approximation ratio for the MAX version on general networks in GE. This result implies a locality gap of $\Omega(n)$ for the metric min-max facility location problem, where n is the number of clients.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures. An extended abstract of this work was accepted at WINE'1

Groundwater Geochemistry of Neyveli Lignite Mine-Industrial Complex, Tamil Nadu, India and Its Suitability for Irrigation

This study was undertaken to assess the quality of groundwater for irrigation and level of trace metal concentration in the surface and groundwater bodies from Neyveli lignite mine-industrial complex which is located in Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu, India. The hydrogeology of the Neyveli groundwater basin is extremely complex, consisting of a series of productive, confined aquifers below the lignite seam in both Mine I and II areas, while a semi-confined aquifer lies above the seam and occurs only in the Mine II area. The suitability of groundwater quality for agricultural purposes in and around Neyveli lignite mine-industrial complex was assessed by measuring physicochemical parameters, including major cation and anion compositions, pH, total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, and trace metals. The results of the chemical analysis of the groundwater showed that concentrations of ions vary widely and the most prevalent water type is mixed CaNaHCO3, followed by other water types: mixed CaMgCl types and NaCl which is in relation with their interactions with the geological formations of the basin, dissolution of feldspars and chloride and bicarbonate minerals, and anthropogenic activities. The most dominant class is C1-S1, C2-S1 (85% PRM and 74% POM) in the study area, indicating that sodicity is very low and salinity is medium, and that these waters are suitable for irrigation in almost all soils.Based on sodium absorption ratio the groundwater of the study area is suitable for all types of crops and soil except for those crops sensitive to Na and based RSC values of the groundwater, considered safe. Based on the parameters such as TDS, EC, SO4, Cl and Wilcox diagram about 99% of samples are suitable for irrigation. The average concentration of trace metals (Fe, Mn, Cr, Zn, Pb, and Cu) in groundwater samples fall within the permissible limit, with the exception of Ni which is recorded higher than the permissible limit which may retard growth and metabolic activities while the groundwater used for irrigation

Capacitated Center Problems with Two-Sided Bounds and Outliers

In recent years, the capacitated center problems have attracted a lot of research interest. Given a set of vertices $V$, we want to find a subset of vertices $S$, called centers, such that the maximum cluster radius is minimized. Moreover, each center in $S$ should satisfy some capacity constraint, which could be an upper or lower bound on the number of vertices it can serve. Capacitated $k$-center problems with one-sided bounds (upper or lower) have been well studied in previous work, and a constant factor approximation was obtained. We are the first to study the capacitated center problem with both capacity lower and upper bounds (with or without outliers). We assume each vertex has a uniform lower bound and a non-uniform upper bound. For the case of opening exactly $k$ centers, we note that a generalization of a recent LP approach can achieve constant factor approximation algorithms for our problems. Our main contribution is a simple combinatorial algorithm for the case where there is no cardinality constraint on the number of open centers. Our combinatorial algorithm is simpler and achieves better constant approximation factor compared to the LP approach

Evaluation of conservative management in uncomplicated acute appendicitis

Background: Appendectomy has been the treatment for acute appendicitis for years based on the understanding that acute appendicitis always leads to perforation and peritonitis. However, there is growing evidence that a significant proportion of patients can be successfully managed with conservative treatment without developing gangrene or perforation. Conservative treatment avoids discomfort, surgery-related morbidities and minimizes treatment cost.Methods: 60 patients taken up for conservative management were evaluated and followed up for 6 months. Study patients received intravenous antibiotics for 2 days. Repeated clinical and TLC monitoring were done. In patients whose clinical condition did not improve, appendectomy was performed. Follow-up at 10 days, 30 days, 3 months and 6 months were carried out to assess recurrence in conservatively managed patients.Results: In this study, the mean age was 25.65 years with a standard deviation of ±8.96 years. The incidence of uncomplicated appendicitis was 63.3% in males and 36.7% in females. Mean Alvarado score was 7.75 with a standard deviation of ±1.20. Failure of conservative management (conversion to appendectomy) was observed in 11.7% of patients and 4 patients (6.6%) had recurrence within 6 months. The overall treatment efficacy was 81.7%.Conclusions: In many cases, first attack of uncomplicated acute appendicitis can be treated successfully by conservative management. Treatment failure on primary admission as well as short-term recurrence up to six months after conservative treatment is low and acceptable. Incidence of complications like perforation and abscess formation are also statistically low