Recent Advances in Lossy Mode Resonance-Based Fiber Optic Sensors: A Review

Fiber optic sensors (FOSs) based on the lossy mode resonance (LMR) technique have gained substantial attention from the scientific community. The LMR technique displays several important features over the conventional surface plasmon resonance (SPR) phenomenon, for planning extremely sensitive FOSs. Unlike SPR, which mainly utilizes the thin film of metals, a wide range of materials such as conducting metal oxides and polymers support LMR. The past several years have witnessed a remarkable development in the field of LMR-based fiber optic sensors; through this review, we have tried to summarize the overall development of LMR-based fiber optic sensors. This review article not only provides the fundamental understanding and detailed explanation of LMR generation but also sheds light on the setup/configuration required to excite the lossy modes. Several geometries explored in the literature so far have also been addressed. In addition, this review includes a survey of the different materials capable of supporting lossy modes and explores new possible LMR supporting materials and their potential applications in sensing

Epidemiology of spinal injury patients admitted to the department of orthopaedics, King George Medical University

Background: Socioeconomic structure, policies and cultural traditions play important roles in the determining the epidemiological characteristics of spinal injury patients. An understanding of epidemiology of spinal injuries is essential for planning and implementation of preventive measures as well as clinical services. The objective of this study is to describe the epidemiology of spinal injury patients admitted to the Department of Orthopaedics, King George Medical University (KGMU).Methods: Age, sex, time since injury to admission, site of injury, mechanism of injury, stability of injury, vertebral level, collision type, visibility, type of road, associated injuries, complications and outcome at the end of hospital stay was recorded.Results: Mean age of the 149 enrolled patients was 33.62±13.47 years. Male to female ratio was 2.63. More than fifty percent (52.3%) patients were admitted more than 48 hrs after injury. Most of the patients sustained injury in the house (59.1%). Falls were the most common mechanism of injury (79.2%). 54.23% of the falls were less than body height. Stable injuries (51%) were more common than unstable injuries. 21.48% patients had multiple levels of injury. 1st lumbar vertebra was the most common vertebra injured (20.88%). Ninty six (64.42%) patients had associated injuries. Most common complication were pulmonary (16.10%).Conclusions: Traumatic spinal injuries predominantly involve young males. Household falls are the most common cause of traumatic spinal injuries. There is a need to determine the modifiable factors that contribute to household falls. There is a significant association between falls and complete injuries.

A NOVEL APPROACH FOR VERIFIABLE SECRET SHARING IN PROACTIVE NETWORK USING RSA

We consider perfect verifiable secret sharing (VSS) in a synchronous network of n processors (players) where a designated player called the dealer wishes to distribute a secret s among the players in a way that none of them obtain any information, but any t + 1 players obtain full information about the secret. The round complexity of a VSS protocol is defined as the number of rounds performed in the sharing phase. Gennaro, Ishai, Kushilevitz and Rabin showed that three rounds are necessary and sufficient when n > 3t. Sufficiency, however, was only demonstrated by means of an inefficient (i.e., exponential-time) protocol and the construction of inefficient three-round protocol were left as an open problem. In this paper, we present an efficient three-round protocol for VSS. The solution is based on a three-round solution of so-called weak verifiable secret sharing (WSS), for which we also prove that three rounds are a lower bound. Furthermore, we also demonstrate that one round is sufficient for WSS when n > 4t, and that VSS can be achieved in 1 + " amortized rounds (for any " > 0) when n > 3t

Inter-hospital transfer of referred trauma patients admitted to the trauma centre of King George Medical University

Background: Inter-hospital transfer is a common in trauma victims due to paucity of super-specialty care, lack of specialty beds, and lack of funding. The government of Uttar Pradesh introduced Emergency Medical Response system (EMRS). There is a need to audit and evaluate the transfer process since the introduction of the service. The objectives of this study were to identify critical gaps in the transfer of trauma patients and secondary over triage to the trauma centre of KGMU.Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted on trauma victims referred to the trauma centre. Patients were evaluated for clinical status, Injury Severity Score, protective patient devices present, type of intravenous fluid infusion, mode of transport, and level of referring hospital. Transfer records, transport vehicles and accompanying personal were evaluated.Results: Of the 342 patients enrolled in the study, 91 had a GCS score <8 and 112(32.74%) had a diastolic BP <60 mm Hg at arrival. Twenty patients (5.8%) were referred from tertiary care centers, 74(21.6%) were referred from district hospitals, 136(39.76%) were referred from primary care centers and 112(32.74%) were referred from private hospitals. Date and time of injury was not recorded in any of the patients. Referral time was recorded in 48(14.03%) patients. One hundred seventy-six patients (51.14%) were transferred in EMRS ambulances, 102(29.82%) patients met the criteria for secondary over triage.Conclusions: There is a need to adopt and strictly implement guidelines for transfer of trauma victims to plug the critical gaps in the transfer process

Tubercular myositis of infraspinatus: a rare clinical entity

Tuberculosis of the musculoskeletal system is generally confined to bones and joints. The surrounding soft tissue is secondarily infected. Tuberculous bursitis, tenosynovitis and primary pyomyositis are rarer manifestations of the disease. Of these, primary tuberculouspyomyositis is probably the rarest entity. We report a case of tubercular myositis of infraspinatus in an 8 year-old female who presented with pain, low grade fever, weight loss, anorexia, progressively increasing pain in the scapular region and restriction of movements. There was no history of trauma, diabetes, immunosuppression, corticosteroid usage, or renal failure. History of contact was present. Tenderness was present along the medial border of scapula and movements of upper extremity requiring movement of the scapula were painful and grossly restricted. MRI of the scapulothoracic region and shoulder revealed small amount of fluid along medial border of scapula with T2 hyperintensity of infraspinatus. Histopathology showed caseous necrosis, inflammatory cells and granulomatous cells suggestive of tuberculosis. Polymerase Chain Reaction for Mycobacterium tuberculosis was found to be positive. Patient was started on four-drug antitubercular treatment and regular dressings. The patient’s general condition improved and at 4 weeks post starting ATT, there was no pain and the patient was able to perform complete range of movement. This is probably the first reported case of tubercular myositis of infraspinatus in an immunocompetent patient without any identifiable focus elsewhere in the body. Rarity of the condition, presence of characteristic findings on MRI and histopathology make the case illustrative for young Orthopaedics surgeons.

Disruption of Skin Stem Cell Homeostasis following Transplacental Arsenicosis; Alleviation by Combined Intake of Selenium and Curcumin

Of late, a consirable interest has grown in literature on early development of arsenicosis and untimely death in humans after exposure to iAs in drinking water in utero or during the childhood. The mechanism of this kind of intrauterine arsenic poisoning is not known; however it is often suggested to involve stem cells. We looked into this possibility by investigating in mice the influence of chronic in utero exposure to arsenical drinking water preliminarily on multipotent adult stem cell and progenitor cell counts at the beginning of neonatal age. We found that repeated intake of 42.5 or 85ppm iAs in drinking water by pregnant BALB/c mice substantially changed the counts of EpASCs, the progenitor cells, and the differentiated cells in epidermis of their zero day old neonates. EpASCs counts decreased considerably and the differentiated / apoptosed cell counts increased extensively whereas the counts of progenitor cell displayed a biphasic effect. The observed trend of response was dose-dependent and statistically significant. These observations signified a disruption in stem cell homeostasis. The disorder was in parallel with changes in expression of biomarkers of stem cell and progenitor (TA) cell besides changes in expression of pro-inflammatory and antioxidant molecules namely Nrf2, NFkB, TNF-α, and GSH. The biological monitoring of exposure to iAs and the ensuing transplacental toxicity was verifiable correspondingly by the increase in iAs burden in hair, kidney, skin, liver of nulliparous female mice and the onset of chromosomal aberrations in neonate bone marrow cells. The combined intake of selenite and curcumin in utero was found to prevent the disruption of homeostasis and associated biochemical changes to a great extent. The mechanism of prevention seemed possibly to involve (a) curcumin and Keap-1 interaction, (b) consequent escalated de novo GSH biosynthesis, and (c) the resultant toxicant disposition. These observations are important with respect to the development of vulnerability to arsenicosis and other morbidities later in life after repeated in utero or postnatal exposure to iAs in drinking water that may occur speculatively through impairment of adult stem cell dependent innate tissue repair mechanism

IoT Enabled Real Time Appearance System using AI Camera and Deep Learning for Student Tracking

Internet of Things based Automatic Attendance Management systems that use Artificial Intelligent cameras and deep learning algorithms can suggestively advance the accuracy and proficiency of class presence following in schools, colleges as well as universities. This technology involves the use of cameras that are placed in classrooms or other areas where attendance needs to be monitored.The cameras are equipped with advanced deep learning algorithms that can detect and recognize students based on their unique facial features. These algorithms use machine learning techniques to analyse images and identify individual faces, even in varying lighting conditions and different angles.The data collected by the cameras is then transmitted to an Intenet of Things based platform, which stores and approach the attendance data in real time. This platform can also be used to generate reports and analytics on attendance, helping teachers and administrators make data driven decisions to improve student performance

New challenge of asymptomatic infections from COVID-19: current scenario

Since the outbreak of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) disease in China, late December 2019, it took a substantial detriment and challenges for more than 200 countries worldwide. Recently with the upcoming insights about etiology of the virus, there is increasing evidence that many patients with COVID-19 are asymptomatic or they have only mild symptoms, but they act as carrier and are able to transmit the virus to others. There are technical difficulties in screening for these asymptomatic infections, which makes it even more challenging for any nation to control this epidemic. This article reviews entry & replication of the virus, pathogenesis, asymptomatic infections, dissemination, prevention, control & treatment in asymptomatic infections with COVID-19, expecting it would be helpful for early prevention and containment of this severe public health threat worldwide

Role of proximal tibial osteotomy in knee osteoarthritis

Background: Osteoarthritis is an inevitable consequence of aging and second only to cardiovascular diseases in producing severe chronic disability. Osteoarthritis is characterized by degenerative changes in articular cartilage of diarthrodial joints and subsequent new bone formation at the articular margin. It is the result of excessive aging that primarily produces an alteration in the ratio of total glycosaminoglycans to that of fiber content in the matrix. The aim was to evaluate the results of proximal tibial osteotomy in medial compartment osteoarthritis (OA) of knee in terms of relief of pain, range of movement, correction of deformity and functional outcomeMethods: This prospective observational study was conducted on 24 patients in the age range 54 to 70 years at the department of orthopedics, Era’s Lucknow Medical College from July 2014 to May 2016. The femorotibial angle was assessed radiologically. A written informed consent was obtained. A closed wedge osteotomy was done followed by rehabilitation programme.Results: It was concluded that proximal tibial osteotomy is a satisfactory alternative to joint replacement surgery in osteoarthritis limited to medial compartment of the knee in developing countries like India.Conclusions: The study concluded that proximal tibial osteotomy is a satisfactory alternative to joint replacement surgery when the disease is restricted to medial compartment of the knee.

Smart Drug-Delivery Systems in the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis: Current, Future Perspectives

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a progressive autoimmune inflammatory disorder characterized by cellular infiltration in synovium causing joint destruction and bone erosion. The heterogeneous nature of the disease manifests in different clinical forms, hence treatment of RA still remains obscure. Treatments are limited owing to systemic toxicity by dose-escalation and lack of selectivity. To overcome these limitations, Smart drug delivery systems (SDDS) are under investigation to exploit the arthritic microenvironment either by passive targeting or active targeting to the inflamed joints via folate receptor, CD44, angiogenesis, integrins. This review comprehensively deliberates upon understanding the pathophysiology of RA and role of SDDSs, highlighting the emerging trends for RA nanotherapeutics