Post stroke seizures: descriptive study from a tertiary care centre in Pakistan

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency, mode of onset and outcome of post stroke seizures in a local setting. METHODS: The retrospective (Aug 1999 to July 2001) and prospective (August 2001 to July 2002) data of patients aged 14 years and above, with post stroke seizures was collected from a tertiary care centre in a metropolitan city. The demographic, clinical, radiological, laboratory, neurophysiologic and outcome data was recorded and analyzed. RESULTS: During the three year period 1548 patients with stroke were admitted to the hospital. Four hundred thirty one (28%) had intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) and 1117 (72%) had ischaemic stroke. One hundred seventeen (8%) of the 1548 had seizures. Their mean age was 63 +/- 12 (range; 15-70) years. Fifty-nine (50%) were men and 58 (50%) were women. Twenty of 431(5%) patients with ICH and 97/1117 (9%) with ischaemic stroke, developed seizures. Nine of 117 (8%) developed a seizure within 14 days of stroke and 108/117 (92%) developed seizures after 14 days of stroke. Twenty-six (22%) had partial and 91 (78%) had generalized seizures. Two patients expired early in the course. Twenty four (21%) of these continued to have seizures at one year follow up. Fifteen of 37 (40%) patients who had systemic infections early in the course continued to have seizures at one year as compared to 9/80 (11%) who did not (p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Frequency of post stroke seizures is the same as reported in western literature. Post stroke seizures are more common in patients with ischaemic stroke. Generalized seizures are more common than partial seizures. Systemic infections early in the course are associated with recurrence of seizures at one year

Conquering Mount Fuji: Resolution of Tension Pneumocephalus with a Foley Urinary Catheter

Tension pneumocephalus is the presence of air or gas in the cranium that is under pressure. It occurs due to disruption of the skull, including trauma to the head or face, after neurosurgical procedures and occasionally, spontaneously (Schirmer et al., 2010). Patients typically present with headache but can also have neurological deficits such as decreased mental status, numbness, and weakness (Schirmer et al., 2010). It is diagnosed by computerized tomography (CT) scan (Michel, 2010). The characteristic finding is that the two frontal poles of the brain are separated by air. After diagnosis, treatment is imperative for both symptomatic relief and preventing further compression. We present a case of a patient who presented with tension pneumocephalus and unconventional treatment that resulted in clinical improvement of his symptoms and radiographic resolution of his condition

Studies on feasibility of sustainable quality seed potato production technology and development of supply chain for the benefit of small and marginal potato growers of Karnataka

Management of aphid vectors in potato is important for the production of quality seed potato. Aphids are the major vectors of many potato viruses which transmit viral diseases limiting the seed potato production. To explore the area with aphid free/low population a weekly aphid observation was made in major potato growing areas of Chikkaballapur and Chickmagalur districts during rabiand kharif seasons to assess the build-up trends on the standing crop using aphid-leaf count and catches of yellow water pan and yellow sticky traps. Aphid population was below threshold level in the areas surveyed, however in Chickmagalur aphid build-up was erratic due to heavy rain fall followed by dry spells. Harvested potato in Chikkaballapur was treated and stored in cold storage for three months. During June, 50 per cent of the seed stock was transported to Chickmagalur area for planting in kharif season and remaining seed was used for planting in Chikkaballapur area during rabi season. In Chickmagalur, the harvested and treated seed was stored in low cost country potato store for three months and 50 per cent seed from warehouse was transported to Chikkaballapur for rabi planting and remaining seed was planted in Chickmagalur area during November thereby saving nearly 40 per cent of seed cost. Thus, the feasibility supply chain has been established making the local potato growers self-sustainable in quality seed potato production resulting in 30-40 percent seed requirement met locally produced quality seed and non-traditional areas will be brought under potato cultivation. The breeder seed was multiplied under low cost insect proof net houses during rabi season in Chikkaballapur area, harvested seed was stored in cold storage thereafter distributed among the local potato growers for planting during kharif season in Chickmagalur area

Surface acoustic waves induced micropatterning of cells in gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) hydrogels

Acoustic force patterning is an emerging technology that provides a platform to control the spatial location of cells in a rapid, accurate, yet contactless manner. However, very few studies have been reported on the usage of acoustic force patterning for the rapid arrangement of biological objects, such as cells, in a three-dimensional (3D) environment. In this study, we report on a bio-acoustic force patterning technique, which uses surface acoustic waves (SAWs) for the rapid arrangement of cells within an extracellular matrix-based hydrogel such as gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA). A proof-of-principle was achieved through both simulations and experiments based on the in-house fabricated piezoelectric SAW transducers, which enabled us to explore the effects of various parameters on the performance of the built construct. The SAWs were applied in a fashion that generated standing SAWs (SSAWs) on the substrate, the energy of which subsequently was transferred into the gel, creating a rapid, and contactless alignment of the cells (<10 s, based on the experimental conditions). Following ultraviolet radiation induced photo-crosslinking of the cell encapsulated GelMA pre-polymer solution, the patterned cardiac cells readily spread after alignment in the GelMA hydrogel and demonstrated beating activity in 5–7 days. The described acoustic force assembly method can be utilized not only to control the spatial distribution of the cells inside a 3D construct, but can also preserve the viability and functionality of the patterned cells (e.g. beating rates of cardiac cells). This platform can be potentially employed in a diverse range of applications, whether it is for tissue engineering, in vitro cell studies, or creating 3D biomimetic tissue structures