Study of incidence of allergic conjunctivitis in patients with allergic rhinitis

Background: Allergic conjunctivitis (AC) accounts for 15% of eye related consultations in primary care centers. AC is commonly manifesting as itchy or watering or red eye, comprising the symptoms of the total ocular symptom scores (TOSS). Recognition of AC is unreported even in patients with recognized AR (allergic rhinitis). Therefore, the objective of the present study was to identify the incidence of AC in patients with AR.Methods: This randomized observational study was conducted on 110 patients for a 6 month period from February to July 2019, having diagnosed AR and attending the outpatient clinic in CHC Chenani, district Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir. The patients were directly questioned if they had AC, clarified by using standard screening questions of red, itchy and watery eyes and quantified by TOSS and were asked about indirect symptoms that may be attributable to AC.Results: Among the 110 patients, 50.9% of patients identified AC on direct questioning; additional symptoms were squint at 47.3% and blinking at 51.2%. Olopatadine, significantly reduced TOSS scores within 5 minutes of treatment and 80.9% showed improvement, which identified 39% silent sufferers of AC. A total of 90% AC subjects were identified through TOSS symptoms and totally 95.5%, detecting additional symptoms. The other co-morbidity that was associated with allergic conjunctivitis was allergic dermatitis.Conclusions: The screening questions could identify only about 56% of the patients with AC. Additional specific questioning and a therapeutic challenge in suspected patients can help identify patients who may benefit from treatment of AC.

Incidence and management of Bell’s palsy in peripheral facial paralysis cases

Background: The underlying pathophysiology observed in cases of Bell’s palsy is vascular distension, inflammation and oedema with ischaemia of the facial nerve. Various causes have been proposed including viral, inflammatory, autoimmune and vascular. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence and clinical presentation of Bell’s palsy among North Indian patients.Methods: A randomized prospective observational study was carried out in the department of otorhinolaryngology and head neck surgery, CHC, Chenani, Udhampur, on 60 patients, who presented with facial nerve palsy over a period of one year from August 2019 to July 2020. Patients were evaluated using the House-Brackman scale (HBS) and studied in relation to incidence, associated symptoms, percentage of recovery and effect of treatment on the rate of recurrence.Results: Of the 60 patients of facial nerve palsy, 44 patients were diagnosed of Bell’s palsy. 16 (37.5%) patients were grade II, 9 (14.6%) were grade III, 11 (31.3%) were grade IV, 7 (14.6%) were grade V and 1 (2.0%) patient was grade VI at onset. 21 (47.73%) patients had postauricular pain and 7 (15.90%) had hearing changes (phonophobia) during the attack. 35 (79.54%) patients recovered normal, while 9 (20.46%) patients did not return to normal life till the end of the follow up period. Out of the total 84.09% patients recovered, recurrence was also very low at 4.54%.Conclusions: A significant number of patients recovered fully from the condition; however, eye protection remains crucial in preventing long-term eye complications

Optimal Energy Management Policies for Energy Harvesting Sensor Nodes

We study a sensor node with an energy harvesting source. The generated energy can be stored in a buffer. The sensor node periodically senses a random field and generates a packet. These packets are stored in a queue and transmitted using the energy available at that time. We obtain energy management policies that are throughput optimal, i.e., the data queue stays stable for the largest possible data rate. Next we obtain energy management policies which minimize the mean delay in the queue.We also compare performance of several easily implementable sub-optimal energy management policies. A greedy policy is identified which, in low SNR regime, is throughput optimal and also minimizes mean delay.Comment: Submitted to the IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications; 22 pages with 10 figure

Design and Testing of High Speed Multipliers by using Reversible Liner Feedback Shift Register

In recent designs of IC’s (Integrated Circuits) BIST (Built-In Self-Test) is becoming vital for memory where memory is essential part of SoC (System on Chip). BIST design technique allows circuit for self testing. A technique may provide the short test-time as compared to test which applied externally and it allows a use of the low cost test instruments throughout the all production stages. Because of LFSRs randomness properties, it requires less hardware overhead. In particular dissertation, optimization and structure design of BIST design is based on the Reversible LFSRs, which are described. As well Reversible LFSR and Proposed LT LFSR are used to design and test Architecture of different Multipliers such as Array Multipliers and Booth Multiplier

Micro-climatic changes in Thar Desert in India: Development and challenges

It is time to learn from the recent incidents and reframe our planning approach and also, increase our efforts on a priority basis. When it is being planned to extend the Indira Gandhi Canal to the Thar Desert districts, it is essential to construct outlets so that during any emergency outflow of excess water is assured. There are evidences of the existence of some ancient channels along with some extinct rivers like the Leek and the Sheepasaria linking the area with the seasonal river Luni. There is an urgent need to study the terrain and topography of the area to develop its drainage system and for it rehabilitation

Challenges for Assessing Toxicity of Nanomaterials

On the development of nano-world, nanotechnology provides enormous opportunities in daily routine products and further future sustainable innovations. The nanotechnology extends its benefits to various fields such as engineering, medical, biological, environmental, and communication. However, the exponential growth of nanomaterials production would lead to severe complications related to their hazardous effects to the human health and environment. Moreover, negative impact of nanomaterials toxicity on human health is one of the significant issues on exhausting nano-products. The most vulnerable situation is associated with the use of nanomaterials in the biomedical application. The several efforts have been ongoing to study the nanotoxicity and its interaction with the biomolecules. Nevertheless, it is hard to assess and validate the nanotoxicity in a biological system. This chapter aims to study the challenges in determining the toxicity of nanomaterials. The toxicity assessment and hurdles in determining the impact on biological systems are epoch making. In-vitro, in-vivo, and in-silico studies are summarized in this chapter in assessing the toxicity of engineered nanomaterials. The different approaches of toxicity assessment have their difficulties faced by researchers while characterizing nanomaterials in powder form, solution-based, and interacting with biological systems. The assessment tools and characterization techniques play a vital role in overcoming the challenges, while the cytotoxic assays involve nanoparticle shape, morphology, and size consideration

Significant perceived stressors in irritable bowel syndrome: a stress interventional module analysed

Background: Psychological stress is an important factor for the development of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). More and more clinical and experimental evidences are showing that IBS is a combination of irritable bowel and irritable brain. As IBS is a stress sensitive disorder, its treatment should focus on managing stress and stress-induced responses.Methods: This is a hospital based longitudinal study. 72 patients fulfilling the Rome IV criteria for irritable bowel syndrome were enrolled into the study. Perceived stress was assessed using student stress dimension questionnaire (SSDQ) while IBS severity was assessed using IBS severity scoring system (IBS-SSS). The stress interventional module (SIM) consist of specific domain targeted psychological interventions given to the patients weekly based on the stress domain mapping. The effectiveness of these interventions on reducing stress as well as IBS severity was assessed at baseline, and weeks 2, 4 and 6 follow-ups.Results: Of the studied IBS patients, most had SPS in multiple life domains while familial and interpersonal domains were affected in 78%. Also, total stress load in form of mean cumulative stress load at baseline was 451.1 which decreased significantly to 274.4 over 6 weeks. This SIM brought about a reduction in mean irritable bowel syndrome severity score from 27.5 to 20.6 in 6 weeks. This reduction in IBS severity score overtime was significant (p=0.001).Conclusions: Patients of irritable bowel syndrome show significant stress in multiple domains of life, which require proper assessment and management. Authors propose that individual-specific interventions aimed at reducing stress in all psychosocial life domains are efficacious and should be an integral part of managing IBS