Pregnancy in a rare case of Takayasu’s arteritis: a case report

In Takayasu’s arteritis is a rare, chronic idiopathic vasculitis affecting aorta and its major branches, commonly seen in young women of Asian origin. Incidence is 2.6 cases/million/year. Female of reproductive age group are commonly affected. A 32-year female G3A2 with known case of Takayasu arteritis wanted to continue this pregnancy under tremandous social pressure and came for antenatal care at tertiary care hospital. As the pregnancy advanced, she developed uncontrolled hypertension and severe IUGR. At 30 weeks of gestation, elective LSCS had to be done in view of reduced fetal blood flow and severe growth restriction. She delivered male baby of 1 kg which was shifted to NICU. Patient required cardiac intensive care unit for first 48 hrs and later shifted to ward. Postoperative period was uneventful, and patient could be discharged on 8th day. Baby received intensive NICU care and discharged after 1 month with 2 kg weight. Pregnancy with takayasu arteritis requires a multipronged management from gynaecologist, cardiologist, cardiac anaesthetist and neonatologist for favourable maternal and fetal outcome

MEMS 411: Giant Pouched Rat Trap

Our goal is to design a giant pouched rat trap that meets the customer needs from professor Stan Braude. The giant pouched rats are to be breed and trained to find land mines. Therefore, the rats must be captured in good condition. However, giant pouched rats are not passive once caught and tries to escape every way possible. In the past, with traditional trap wires, they tend to get caught in the wire and hurt themselves. Our solution offers a completely smooth inner wall of the trap to prevent damage to the rats, while improving on the functionality of the trap in the field

Enhancing the dissolution rate of poorly soluble drug Febuxostat using spray dried amorphous solid dispersion technique

Introducción: El febuxostat pertenece a los fármacos clase II del Sistema de Clasificación Biofarmacéutica, los cuales presentan baja solubilidad y alta permeabilidad. La dispersión sólida amorfa es una de las técnicas que pueden ser útiles para mejorar la solubilidad y las características del polvo. Objetivo: optimizar la concentración de polímeros hidrofílicos e hidrofóbicos para mejorar la velocidad de disolución y la solubilidad de las tabletas de febuxostat. Métodos: La dispersión sólida amorfa de febuxostat se preparó mediante el método de secado por aspersión utilizando Kolliphor P237 (1:2). Esta dispersión sólida amorfa se utilizó además para comprimir el comprimido. Para mejorar la solubilidad y la tasa de disolución, se aplicó un diseño factorial completo para optimizar la concentración crítica de KollidonSR e hidroxi propil metil celulosa (HPMC K4M). Los comprimidos preparados se caracterizaron por parámetros de precompresión y poscompresión. Resultados: La velocidad de liberación del fármaco se mantuvo mediante la formulación de una técnica de dispersión sólida amorfa. Se encontró que el lote optimizado (FSRT-OB) era apto para la liberación promedio del 93,30 % del fármaco en forma de liberación sostenida hasta 12 horas. Los datos de la cinética de liberación sugieren que la liberación del fármaco estuvo controlada por una combinación de mecanismo de relajación de cadena y difusión. Se encontró que la concentración optimizada para Kollidon SR y HPMC K4M era 38,50 % y 7,72 % respectivamente. Conclusión: La técnica de dispersión sólida amorfa es útil para mejorar la solubilidad, la velocidad de disolución y la biodisponibilidad de la tableta de Febuxostat.Introduction: Febuxostat belongs to Biopharmaceutical classification system (BCS) class II drugs, which have low solubility and high permeability. Amorphous solid dispersion is one of the techniques which can be useful to improve solubility and powder characteristics. Objective: To optimize the concentration of hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymers to improve the dissolution rate and solubility of febuxostat tablets. Methods: The amorphous solid dispersion of febuxostat was prepared by spray drying method using Kolliphor P237 (1:2). This amorphous solid dispersion was further used to compress the tablet. To improve solubility and dissolution rate, a full factorial design was applied to optimize the critical concentration of Kollidon SR and hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC K4M). The prepared tablets were characterized by pre-compression and post-compression parameters. Result: The rate of drug release was sustained by formulating an amorphous solid dispersion technique. The optimized batch (FSRT-OB) was found to be fit for release average 93.30 % of the drug in sustain release manner up to 12hrs. The release kinetic data suggests that the drug release was controlled by combination of diffusion and chain relaxation mechanism. The optimized concentration for Kollidon SR and HPMC K4Mwas found to be 38.50 % and 7.72 % respectively. Conclusion: Amorphous solid dispersion technique is useful to enhance solubility, dissolution rate, and bioavailability of the Febuxostat tablet

Gossypiboma: a surgical menace

Gossypiboma is a rare yet devastating complication. It may be a sequela to any kind of surgical procedure, however intra-abdominal surgeries are commonly implicated as the cause for this entity. In chronic cases, it may even lead to severe morbidity. We report a case of gossypiboma post vaginal hysterectomy, diagnosed and treated successfully by laparoscopy

Validation of Stereovision Camera System for 3D Strain Tracking

Throughout this spring semester, I worked in Dr. Spencer Lake’s Musculoskeletal Soft Tissue Laboratory to validate a Matlab-based script intended to determine three dimensional distances between points of interest using a stereovision camera written last semester. The importance of this 3D measurement system is to be able to quantify 3D strain in musculoskeletal soft tissues, like the ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow, which undergo multi-planar deformations in vivo. I worked closely with my mentor Leanne Iannucci to establish an efficient workflow in order to validate this Matlab script at different zoom settings on the stereovision camera. My objective was to create graphs correlating the location of the object being measured in the field of view with the error in measurement in order to see where the stereovision camera works and fails. In this workflow, the stereovision system was calibrated using the Matlab stereo camera calibrator application, stereo camera parameters were exported to the workspace, and the calibrated volume was visualized. A physical structure was then set up containing the calibrated volume as specified from the output of the Matlab script. With the calibration volume set up, several images of validation objects were taken both within and outside the boundaries of the box. Plots of distance from the center of the calibration volume versus error were created for each discrete camera zoom setting. At the end of this semester, graphs were established for the first zoom setting; due to COVID-19 data was not able to be gathered to generate any additional graphs. In the future, measurements will be taken on more zoom settings to gain an even clearer picture of the success of the stereovision camera

Osseous metaplasia of endometrium: a rare cause of secondary infertility

Osseous metaplasia of the endometrium is a rare condition with formation of bony tissue inside the uterus, particularly the endometrium. The etiology of this disorder is not completely understood, with various hypotheses being put forward to explain its occurrence. It is an important cause of secondary infertility, although it may present with various other gynecological symptoms. It can be suspected on ultrasonography due to its peculiar appearance and can be completely cured following hysteroscopic resection. Here we present a case of a 30 years old female presenting with hypomenorrhoea and secondary infertility following a first trimester abortion. Ultrasonography showed presence of dense linear echogenic band in the uterus suggestive of calcification. Hysteroscopy revealed multiple bony fragments of varying shapes and sizes (0.2-2cm) in the uterine cavity which were removed using a hysteroscopic grasper and the cavity was restored to normal. There were no procedure related complications. Presence of bony tissue was confirmed on histopathology. Patient had a spontaneous conception 3 months after the procedure and delivered a healthy male child at term. Thus, in our case, hysteroscopy was a safe and effective modality for diagnosis as well as treatment of this rare condition. Successful hysteroscopic treatment was followed by a spontaneous conception and a good pregnancy outcome