Medical symptoms associated with tobacco smoking with and without marijuana abuse among crack cocaine-dependent patients.

Despite the widespread use of tobacco and marijuana by cocaine abusers, it remains unclear whether combined tobacco and marijuana smoking is more harmful than tobacco smoking alone in cocaine abusers. We investigated the differences in medical symptoms reported among 34 crack cocaine abusers who did not smoke tobacco or marijuana (C), 86 crack cocaine abusers who also smoked tobacco (C + T), and 48 crack abusers who smoked both tobacco and marijuana (C + T + M). Medical symptoms were recorded using a 134-item self-report instrument (MILCOM), and drug use was assessed using the Addiction Severity Index (ASI). After controlling for clinical and demographic differences, the C + T + M group reported significantly more total symptoms on the MILCOM as well as on the respiratory, digestive, general, and nose/throat subscales than the C + T or C groups. The C + T group reported higher total and respiratory and nose/throat symptoms than the C group. HOwever, the C group had the highest number of mood symptoms among the three groups. The C + T and C + T + M groups were comparable in number of cigarettes smoked and ASI scores. Although tobacco smoking is associated with higher reports of medical problems in crack abusers, smoking both marijuana and tobacco seems to be associated with greater medical problems than smoking tobacco alone. Tobacco smoking was not related to changes in cocaine use. Also, marijuana smoking does not appear to be associated with a reduction in tobacco or cocaine use

A case report on incidental finding of thymoma as anterior mediastinal mass

Thymomas are rare tumors in the anterior mediastinum, representing 50% of anterior mediastinal masses and about 20-30% of all mediastinal tumors. They are of unknown etiology; about 50% of patients with thymomas are diagnosed incidentally with chest radiography. Thymoma is classified into different stages, which determine the prognosis and type of management, the standard primary treatment for these tumors is Thymectomy. We present a case of 55-year female presented with shortness of breath, cough with expectoration and fever for past ten days. Chest x-ray revealed mediastinal widening. CECT chest showed a well-circumscribed heterogeneous solid enhancing mass lesion. FNAC was planned that showed features in favour of thymoma. Biopsy was done that confirmed lymphocyte rich type B thymoma

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Cloning of partial putative gonadotropin hormone receptor sequence from fish

A search for the presence of mariner-like elements in the Labeo rohita genome by polymerase chain reaction led to the amplification of a partial DNA sequence coding for a putative transmembrane domain of gonadotropin hormone receptor. The amplified DNA sequence shows a high degree of homology to the available turkey and human luteinizing and follicle stimulating hormone receptor coding sequences. This is the first report on cloning such sequences of piscine origin

Rosko: Row Skipping Outer Products for Sparse Matrix Multiplication Kernels

We propose Rosko -- row skipping outer products -- for deriving sparse matrix multiplication (SpMM) kernels in reducing computation and memory access requirements of deep neural networks (DNNs). Rosko allows skipping of entire row computations during program execution with low sparsity-management overheads. We analytically derive sparse CPU kernels that adapt to given hardware characteristics to effectively utilize processor cores and minimize data movement without the need for auto-tuning or search space exploration. Rosko can be integrated with other outer product scheduling methods, allowing them to leverage row skipping by using Rosko's packing format to skip unnecessary computation. Rosko kernels outperform existing auto-tuning and search-based solutions as well as state-of-the-art vendor-optimized libraries on real hardware across a variety of neural network workloads. For matrices with sparsities ranging from 65% to 99.8% typically found in machine learning, Rosko kernels achieve up to a 6.5x runtime reduction on Intel and ARM CPUs.Comment: Rosko's CPU implementation can be found at https://github.com/vnatesh/Rosk

Alterations in vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) phosphorylation: associations with asthmatic phenotype, airway inflammation and β\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e-agonist use

Background Vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) mediates focal adhesion, actin filament binding and polymerization in a variety of cells, thereby inhibiting cell movement. Phosphorylation of VASP via cAMP and cGMP dependent protein kinases releases this brake on cell motility. Thus, phosphorylation of VASP may be necessary for epithelial cell repair of damage from allergen-induced inflammation. Two hypotheses were examined: (1) injury from segmental allergen challenge increases VASP phosphorylation in airway epithelium in asthmatic but not nonasthmatic normal subjects, (2) regular in vivo β2-agonist use increases VASP phosphorylation in asthmatic epithelium, altering cell adhesion. Methods Bronchial epithelium was obtained from asthmatic and non-asthmatic normal subjects before and after segmental allergen challenge, and after regularly inhaled albuterol, in three separate protocols. VASP phosphorylation was examined in Western blots of epithelial samples. DNA was obtained for β2-adrenergic receptor haplotype determination. Results Although VASP phosphorylation increased, it was not significantly greater after allergen challenge in asthmatics or normals. However, VASP phosphorylation in epithelium of nonasthmatic normal subjects was double that observed in asthmatic subjects, both at baseline and after challenge. Regularly inhaled albuterol significantly increased VASP phosphorylation in asthmatic subjects in both unchallenged and antigen challenged lung segment epithelium. There was also a significant increase in epithelial cells in the bronchoalveolar lavage of the unchallenged lung segment after regular inhalation of albuterol but not of placebo. The haplotypes of the β2-adrenergic receptor did not appear to associate with increased or decreased phosphorylation of VASP. Conclusion Decreased VASP phosphorylation was observed in epithelial cells of asthmatics compared to nonasthmatic normals, despite response to β-agonist. The decreased phosphorylation does not appear to be associated with a particular β2-adrenergic receptor haplotype. The observed decrease in VASP phosphorylation suggests greater inhibition of actin reorganization which is necessary for altering attachment and migration required during epithelial repair

A prospective study to assess the efficacy of tranexamic acid in reducing blood loss during total hip arthroplasty

Background: Tranexamic acid has been reported to reduce bleeding, risk of thromboembolic events and the need for allogenic blood transfusion in total hip replacement patients. The present study was conducted to assess the efficacy of tranexamic acid in reducing blood loss during total hip replacement surgery.Methods: Total hip arthroplasty patients (n=60) were divided into control and test groups with 30 patients each. Test group was administered with tranexamic acid (15 mg/kg) for 15 min before and after the surgery. Patients were administered cefuroxime (1.5 g), 30 min prior to the surgery and deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis; enoxaparin (40 mg), 48 hours after surgery. Demographic details along with levels of hemoglobin and blood loss before, during and after the surgery were recorded.Results: Tranexamic acid reduced the early post-surgical blood loss (292±132.38 vs. 155.8±86.56 ml; p<0.0001), total blood loss (989.6±340.98 vs. 580.4±131.88 ml; p<0.0001), and the blood loss during surgery (723.5±277.73 vs. 434.3±131.83 ml; p<0.05). Test group required fewer transfusions (6.7%) than control group (26%) and had no increased incidence of deep-vein thrombosis. Postsurgical hemoglobin in the control group had significantly reduced as compared to test group.Conclusions: Administration of intravenous tranexamic acid before and after the surgery was effective in reducing the blood loss and transfusion requirements and its related complications

Microstructural Characteristics of Accumulative Roll Bonded Ni-Al Based Metal Intermetallic Laminate Composite

The present investigation is an attempt to develop metal-intermetallic laminate composites based on Ni-Al system. In this study, Ni and Al foils (460 and 90 μm respectively) have been used for the development of Ni-Al laminate using accumulative roll bonding technique at 773 K. The laminate composites were then subjected to controlled annealing at 773 K, 823 K and 873 K for 1, 2 and 4 h to affect reaction at the Ni/Al interface leading to intermetallic compound formation. The accumulative roll bonded laminates showed good bonding of layers. Annealing treatment at 773 K led to slow formation of reaction product but maintained the interface integrity. Annealing at 873 K led to de-lamination of individual layers prior to the completion of reaction. A qualitative compositional analysis at the interfaces reflected the formation of Al-Ni copmpounds, and also a gradual compositional gradient across the interface. This process seems to be of promise so far as the continuous production of large scale metal-intermetallic laminate composites are concerned. A further study is underway to circumvent the delamination problems and property evaluation

Assessment of functional outcome of mini-open rotator cuff repair: a hospital based prospective study

Background: The mini-open repair is considered to be the gold standard for rotator cuff repair. This study was aimed to assess functional outcome of mini-open rotator cuff repair of shoulder joint in adult patients.Methods: This was a one year hospital based prospective study conducted from January 2016 to December 2016. A total of 20 patients diagnosed to have rotator cuff tear of shoulder joint undergoing rotator cuff repair in the department of Orthopaedics, KLES Dr. Prabhakar Kore Hospital and Medical Research Centre, and KLES Dr. Prabhakar Kore Charitable Hospital, Belagavi were studied.Results: Majority of the patients (85%) of the patients was male and male to female ratio was 5.6:1. Most of the patients were aged between 31 to 40 years (30%). The mean age was 41.90±13.98 years. Most of patients had degenerative rotator cuff tear (45%) and (70%) presented with features of swelling. At enrollment all the patients (100%) had poor constant score (>30) and fair/poor UCLA score (<27) suggestive of severe pain functional restriction. There were gradual but steady increase in scores from enrollment to each follow up till six month follow up with respect to mean flexion (6.25±5.35 to 163.50±7.63),abduction (5.50±5.10 to 112.0±5.94),external rotation (3.00±4.7 to 82.50±2.56 ),internal rotation (2.50±4.44 to 67.25±3.43 ) and UCLA score (5.35±1.63 to 29.60±0.82 ) (p<0.001) also there was gradual but steady decrease in mean VAS score from enrolment (7.70±0.47 ) to six months follow up (0.00±0.00) and constant score ( from 85.70±1.98 to 7.85±1.46 respectively) (p<0.001). The constant score and UCLA score at six month follow up revealed excellent functional outcome. Conclusions: The mini-open rotator cuff repair of shoulder joint results in excellent functional outcome among adult patients with rotator cuff tear of shoulder joint especially after six month with no complications and complete pain relief