An etiological analysis of proptosis

Background: The main objective of the study was to analyse the various causes for proptosis.Methods: A prospective analysis of 54 cases of proptosis. Detailed ocular and systemic history, examination and relevant investigations were done in necessary cases. Also other related specialties opinion obtained whenever indicated for diagnosis and treatment.Results: Out of 54 cases, 26 were axial and 28 were eccentric, 38 were unilateral, 16 were bilateral. Etiology of proptosis due to inflammation 20 cases, infectious 14 cases, neoplastic 10 cases, vascular 4 cases, traumatic 4 cases, others 2 cases.Conclusions: Thyroid eye disease is the single most common cause of proptosis in this study. Among neoplastic cases primary tumours were more common than secondary tumours in the orbit in this study. Orbital X-ray, B scan, CT scan and MRI were helpful in the diagnosis, treatment and follow up

APPLICATION OF RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY IN MEDIUM COMPONENTS OPTIMIZATION TO ENHANCE SERRATIOPEPTIDASE PRODUCTION BY STREPTOMYCES HYDROGENANSMGS13

For enhanced production of Serratiopeptidase by an actinomycetestrain, Streoptomyces hydrogenans MGS13, optimization of fermentationmedium was initially carried out by conventional method of ‗one-factor-at-atime‘.Later it was optimized by applying response surface methodology.Interactions were studied with four variables viz. levels of dextrose, soyabean meal and inoculum & pH using Central Composite Design. This modelwas validated by conducting the experiments under the optimized conditions,which resulted in the improved Serratiopeptidase production of 254.56IU/mL (Predicted response 278.087 IU/mL), thus proving the validity of themodel. Streptomyces hydrogenans MGS13 strain isolated from mangrovesoil sediment was taken up for this study. This study demonstrates the abilityof the strain, Streptomyces hydrogenans MGS13 for the Serratiopeptidaseproduction and the application of response surface methodology withimproved Serratiopeptidase production. The statistical experimental design issimple and less time consuming & is adequate to economize thefermentation. This is the first report on the application of response surfacemethodology for Serratiopeptidase production by an actinomycete isolate

A Rare Case of Deep Vein Thrombosis Secondary to Protein S Deficiency and Antithrombin III Deficiency with MTHFR (C677T) Heterozygous Mutation, and Crohn’s Disease

Deep vein thrombosis is a condition wherein a thrombus develops in the deep veins of the body, most commonly in the legs, due to increasing tendency of the blood to coagulate. One such reason is the MTHFR gene mutation, wherein an increase in homocysteine levels causes irritation of the blood vessel endothelium, causing a disturbance in Virchow’s triad, hence triggering clot formation. [1] The MTHFR gene is responsible for instructing the body to produce an enzyme called methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase(MTHFR) [2]. MTHFR gene mutations can lead to a wide range of disorders, either as a result of the elevated levels of homocysteine in the blood, or due to folate deficiency. In about 25% of individuals globally, there is a mutation of MTHFR. The MTHFR 677C\u3eT mutation is predominantly seen in the Hispanic ethnicity, whereas the MTHFR 128A\u3eC is predominantly seen in the ethnicity groups belonging to south east Asia. In the Indian population, the MTHFR mutation prevails a low frequency of 2.9%. Diagnosis and treatment are required only in cases where secondary diseases occur as a result of MTHFR polymorphism, or if there is significant family history [4]. The treatment is along the same lines as that of another diagnosed individual without the mutation. In this case, the correlation between a genetic mutation of the MTHFR gene and Protein S and Antithrombin III deficiency, along with Crohn\u27s disease, which resulted in the development of DVT in a middle aged, male individual and its management is discussed

SATELLITE BASED DROUGHT ASSESSMENT OVER LATUR, INDIA USING SOIL MOISTURE DERIVED FROM SMOS

Climatological variables such as rainfall, temperature have been extensively used by researchers for drought monitoring at a larger spatial region. These variables have a direct influence on the soil moisture which in turn extends the application of soil moisture in drought assessment. With the advancement of technology, various satellites provide soil moisture data at different spatio-temporal resolutions. In this article, soil moisture obtained from Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) is used to analyze the drought condition over Latur district in Maharashtra, India. The monthly soil moisture derived by averaging the daily data for the years 2010 to 2015 is compared with two drought indices, i.e. Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) calculated for years 2010 to 2015 and Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) calculated for years 2010 to 2013. Even though the overall correlation among the indices with the soil moisture is not significant, the seasonal (summer) correlation is significant. From the results, it is identified that SMOS derived soil moisture can be used as a potential parameter in drought assessment

Modelling of Whiplash Trauma Parametric study of rear-end impacts using FEM and CFD

This work is a combination of Finite Element (FE) modelling and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to investigate the effect of acceleration pulses, head restraint and seating posture on facet joint loads and pressure transient magnitudes on the neck injury outcome during whiplash motion. A parametric study is carried out with the FE human body model THUMS (Total HUman Model for Safety) for a variety of crash pulses and crash conditions that have a known relative risk of long term neck injuries in rear-end impacts. The injury criterion NIC (Neck Injury Criteria) is addressed for the studies made. The THUMS model is used to generate the motion data of the spinal canal, which is used as an input to simulate the behaviour of the spinal canal to analyse the pressure transients in the network of blood vessels during the whiplash motion performing CFD simulations using the OpenFOAM CFD toolbox. Using the output of FE simulations, a moving mesh technique is used to achieve the motion of the mesh points in the CFD simulations. The results give an insight into proposed injury mechanisms and injury risk assessment criteria concerning long term neck injuries. The effect of head restraint and its position with respect to the driver’s head in mitigating the above injuries is discussed for different crash scenarios

<span style="font-size:15.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt" lang="EN-US">Characterization and reactivity of TiO₂ supported nano ruthenium catalysts for vapour phase hydrogenolysis of glycerol </span>

516-523<span style="font-size:9.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt" lang="EN-US">A series of catalysts with varying Ru content supported on anatase titania have been prepared by deposition–precipitation method. These catalysts have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, H2-temperature programmed reduction, TEM, BET-surface area, and H2-chemisorption measurements. The catalytic properties of nano Ru/TiO2 catalysts have been evaluated during vapour phase selective hydrogenolysis of glycerol at moderate temperature and atmospheric pressure. The glycerol conversion and the selectivity of various products depend on the catalyst preparation method and also on the Ru loading. The higher activity of Ru/TiO2 catalysts is attributed to the presence of well-dispersed nanosized Ru particles on titania. </span

Identifying F. oxysporum Strains Causing Wilt in Southern Indian Chickpeas

Fusarium oxysporum (Schletend: Fr) f. sp. ciceri (Padwick), referred to as Foc, is a soil-borne fungus that poses a constant threat to chickpeas (Cicer arietinum L.) by causing wilt disease. Typical wilt symptoms were observed in chickpea plants collected from 24 different locations across three southern Indian states. The process involved isolating Fusarium species from the roots of these wilted plants, resulting in the identification of various strains exhibiting diverse cultural and morphological characteristics on potato dextrose agar medium. All twenty four isolates were subjected to Koch's postulates using the standard method, which yielded varied responses in terms of disease incidence. After analyzing cultural, morphological, molecular traits, and conducting pathogenicity tests, the fungus was definitively identified as F. oxysporum Schlechtend. Fr. f. sp. ciceri (Padwick) Matuo and K. Sato. Among the 24 isolates tested on the chickpea wilt susceptible cultivar JG-62, one was non-pathogenic with zero percent disease incidence (PDI), while one isolate was highly pathogenic showed 100 percent PDI. Highly pathogenic four isolate was further used for molecular identification with secreted in xylem primers (SIX). Comparative studies of cultural traits and conidial morphology among different isolates revealed variations in growth patterns, pigmentation, sporulation, and the size and structure of macro and micro conidia, as well as chlamydospores

Characterization and reactivity of Pd supported on ZnAl₂O₄catalysts for direct coupling of ethylbenzene dehydrogenation with nitrobenzene hydrogenation

459-466The ZnAl2O4 supported palladium catalysts have been described for the first time in the direct coupling of dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene with hydrogenation of nitrobenzene, in a fixed bed catalytic reactor at atmospheric pressure in the temperature range of 673−823 K. The former reaction is reversible, endothermic, thermodynamically limited and also supplies hydrogen to produce styrene. However, the latter is irreversible, exothermic and consumes in situ hydrogen to produce aniline, thereby making the coupling reaction slightly exothermic and additionally overcoming thermodynamic constraints. A series of palladium (0.25−4.0 wt%) catalysts supported on crystalline ZnAl2O4 have been prepared and their catalytic activities studied in the coupling reaction. The catalyst samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction, H2-temperature programmed reduction, CO chemisorption and BET surface area data. The metal dispersion and particle size are obtained by CO chemisorption method. The reaction profile shows that 0.5 wt% palladium is an optimum loading to obtain maximum conversions of ethylbenzene (52.3%) and nitrobenzene (43.9%) to give 88.3% and 100% selectivity of styrene and aniline products respectively. </span