Studies on the biochemical composition of the short neck clam, Paphia malabarica from Ashtamudi estuary, Southwest Coast of India

Considering the importance of bivalves as a source of protein rich food for man, there has been considerable work on the biochemical composition of commercially important species from all over the worl

A Study on 114 cases of Congenital Diaphragmatic Eventration.

INTRODUCTION : Diaphragmatic eventration is an abnormal elevation of the intact diaphragm. .It may be congenital or acquired. It accounts for 5% of all diaphragmatic anomalies. Congenital diaphragmatic eventration(CDE) by definition present at birth. As with Bochhdalek’s congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), congenital diaphragmatic eventration is thought to result from a congenital anomaly of pleuroperitoneal membrane but occurring at a slightly later stage. The condition remains important from the time it was recognized because of its close clinical similarity with CDH which has been a subject of great interest to pediatric surgeons throughout the world. CDH has seen over the years tremendous improvement in its survival and constant addition of diagnostic and therapeutic armamentarium in its management has made this possible though the cases with severe pulmonary hypoplasia and persistent pulmonary hypertension have very poor survival rates even in this modern era. 15- 20% of all CDH cases have a sac covering the herniated contents and this makes the differentiation between a complete eventration and CDH very difficult. And many authors say such a differentiation is not essential especially in massive herniation because the prognosis in these cases is similar because of associated pulmonary hypoplasia and such a differentiation is only arbitrary. The current study concentrates on clinical features, diagnosis, management and prognosis of this relatively rare clinical entity called congenital diaphragmatic eventration and comparison of prognosis of newborn cases of CDH and CDE in Indian scenario, in an institute like ours where we deal with a large volume of cases from all over South India which we thought could be of immense help for anyone who wants to know the clinical behavior of these cases and its management. There are only limited available studies in the literature worldwide with a large series as with this study which includes 114 cases of CDE. This study also aims at reviewing the complication rates of the two commonly performed surgical procedures for CDE individually which is all the more very difficult find in the literature. AIM : 1. To review the various clinical presentations of cases of diaphragmatic eventration and to know the common modes of presentation in various age groups. 2. To study the surgeries performed for diaphragmatic eventration and their results and to have a literature review in the subject. 3. To evaluate the prognosis following surgery and to study the prognosis of congenital diaphragmatic eventration in comparison with congenital diaphragmatic hernia in the newborn period. MATERIALS AND METHODS : All cases of diaphragmatic eventration diagnosed and treated at our hospital during the period from March 2001 to March 2006 (6 year period) were studied by reviewing the case records retrospectively. There were totally 114 cases. Age of presentation, sex, chief complaints and clinical features were noted. Chest X ray findings based on which the preoperative diagnosis was made were recorded. Note was made on other investigations done. Operative procedures done and the intra operative findings were noted. Complications and follow up of the cases were also recorded. CONCLUSIONS : 35% of all CDE cases present in newborn period and 79% present before 3 years of life. Left to right ratio is 3:1 and male to female ratio is 1.5:1. Bilateral cases are very rare. Segmental eventration was found in 23.7% cases and it usually affects right hemidiaphragm. Diaphragmatic elevation secondary to a primary lesion or due to birth injury is very rare. Cardiac anomalies are the commonest association – 11.5% in this series. CXR is the most important investigation required for diagnosis and is sufficient in most of the cases. A confident diagnosis of CDE was made in 74.4% of the cases according to this series with a combination of CXR and clinical features. Simple plication of diaphragm(71.5%) was the commonest surgery for CDE followed by excisional repair (28.5%) in our hospital. Major complications rate is 21.5 %. Wound complications are the commonest. Adhesive intestinal obstruction is commoner in excisional repair cases and recurrence of eventration appears to be common with placation. It needs further evaluation before calling it as a significant association. Mortality rate according to this series is 10.5% and the rate is almost double in the newborn period. Prognosis of newborn CDE cases as compared to CDH cases is much better probably due to less commoner association of lung hypoplasia with CDE cases

Mining Integrated Sequential Patterns From Multiple Databases

Existing work on multiple databases (MDBs) sequential pattern mining cannot mine frequent sequences to answer exact and historical queries from MDBs having different table structures. This article proposes the transaction id frequent sequence pattern (TidFSeq) algorithm to handle the difficult problem of mining frequent sequences from diverse MDBs. The TidFSeq algorithm transforms candidate 1-sequences to get transaction subsequences where candidate 1-sequences occurred as (1-sequence, itssubsequenceidlist) tuple or (1-sequence, position id list). Subsequent frequent i-sequences are computed using the counts of the sequence ids in each candidate i-sequence position id list tuples. An extended version of the general sequential pattern (GSP)-like candidate generates and a frequency count approach is used for computing supports of itemset (I-step) and separate (S-step) sequences without repeated database scans but with transaction ids. Generated patterns answer complex queries from MDBs. The TidFSeq algorithm has a faster processing time than existing algorithms

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance guided electrophysiology studies

Catheter ablation is a first line treatment for many cardiac arrhythmias and is generally performed under x-ray fluoroscopy guidance. However, current techniques for ablating complex arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia are associated with suboptimal success rates and prolonged radiation exposure. Pre-procedure 3D CMR has improved understanding of the anatomic basis of complex arrhythmias and is being used for planning and guidance of ablation procedures. A particular strength of CMR compared to other imaging modalities is the ability to visualize ablation lesions. Post-procedure CMR is now being applied to assess ablation lesion location and permanence with the goal of indentifying factors leading to procedure success and failure. In the future, intra-procedure real-time CMR, together with the ability to image complex 3-D arrhythmogenic anatomy and target additional ablation to regions of incomplete lesion formation, may allow for more successful treatment of even complex arrhythmias without exposure to ionizing radiation. Development of clinical grade CMR compatible electrophysiology devices is required to transition intra-procedure CMR from pre-clinical studies to more routine use in patients

Pore resistivity variation by Resistivity imaging technique in sedimentary part of main Gadilam river basin, Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu, India

Electrical resistivity is the only property of physics which give information of subsurface moisture content in the formation, Hence geophysical electrical resistivity survey was carried out to investigate the nature of shallow subsurface formations and geological contact in the main Gadilam river basin of Cuddalore District in Tamil Nadu. Twenty-seven vertical electrical soundings (VES) were conducted by Schlumberger configuration in the basin. Data is interpreted by curve matching techniques using IPI2 WIN software, layer parameters like apparent resistivity (?a) and thickness (h) interpretation were exported to Geographic Information System (GIS). Interpretation distinguishes three major geoelectric layers like topsoil, sandy clay layer, clayey sand layer along the contact zone in the basin. Interpreted VES sounding curves are mostly four-layer cases of QH, H, HA and KH type. Investigation demarcates lithology of subsurface and hydrogeological set up by employing maximum possible electrode sounding to infer saline water and freshwater occurrence based on resistivity signals. Zone of groundwater potential map was prepared with the combination of resistivity (?= ?1+ ?2+ ?3+ ?4) and corresponding thickness (T= T1+T2+T3+T4). High resistivity value of >200 ? m and low resistivity value of <10 ? m show the occurrence of alkaline and saline water within the formation aquifers as a result of possible rock water interaction and saline water dissolution. Four-layer resistivity cases from the matched curve (namely KH, AH, QA, and KA type) show the resistivity distribution/variation. It separates the freshwater depth wish from 1 to 140 ? m in fluvial sediments. Flood basin, sandstone and clay layer with low resistivity value of 3.16 - 7.5 ? m indicates contact with saline and freshwater aquifer. The Iso – resistivity map delineates saline water and freshwater zones with in the fourth layer cases in the same locations to indicate the irrational way of abstracting groundwater, resulting in saltwater ingress

(3E,5E)-1-Benzyl-3,5-dibenzyl­idenepiperidin-4-one

In the title compound, C26H23NO, C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds generate a ribbon structure along the a axis. These ribbons further assemble into a one-dimensional sheet parallel to the ac plane via C—H⋯π inter­actions. The piperidin-4-one ring adopts a sofa conformation with the 1-benzyl group in the equatorial position, and the 3- and 5-phenyl substituents stretched out on either side. The benzyl­idene units adopt E configurations and the 1-benzyl group is disposed towards the 3- substituent of the piperidin-4-one ring