Comparative study of retinal nerve fibre layer thickness in normal and glaucomatous human eyes as measured by optical coherence tomography

Background: Glaucoma is a disease primarily associated with damage to the Retinal Ganglion Cell (RGC) bodies and axons, which causes characteristic patterns of Visual Field (VF) and changes in the appearance of the Optic Nerve Head (ONH). This Study Compares Nerve Fibre layer thickness in normal and Glaucomatous Human Eye.Methods: It is a case control observational study carried out in 100 patients in a tertiary eye care hospital in the department of ophthalmology in the period from 1st January 2019 to 30th June 2019.Results: The diagnostic ability for distinguishing between normal and glaucoma patients were same when authors consider average RNFL thickness and average GCC thickness. Diagnostic accuracy increases when authors consider both RNFL and GCC thickness. There was a significant difference in both RNFL and GCC thickness between normal and glaucoma patient (p<0.001). The mean deviation shows a significant correlation with all the parameters in eyes with glaucoma (<0.001).Conclusions: RNFL thickness as measured by OCT showed statistically significant correlation with glaucoma. RNFL seems to have higher sensitivity and specificity for the detection of early glaucoma. Diagnostic accuracy increases when we include other parameters like RNFL and visual fields

Security And Privacy Optimization And Service Provider Selection For Cloud Computing For Small And Medium Educational Institutions

In the recent past, cloud computing technology plays major role in storage of information and big data to ensure privacy and security. The small and medium educational institutions should store their large information with high confidence and effective storage environment. The big data analysis and could computing are used to store information of small and medium educational institutions to store data dynamically and utilizing virtualized resources as a service through the Internet of Things (IoT) by selecting proper service providers (SP). In the proposed system, the selection of SP and the datacenters for small and medium educational institutions are proposed to provide privacy and security of large amount of data. The SP should provide online social network of data, information, 2D images and video of educational institutions for guarantee security of big data. The SP may have laminations in cloud space and giving space to the institutions to keep store higher size of data. The efficient and accurate data, image and video compression algorithm is proposed to minimize the data size to keep store in the cloud to occupy memory space less. The data to be stored through data centers are connected with other SP to minimize the payment cost of educational institutions. This criterion is achieved by applying Modified Genetic Algorithm (MGA) to optimize SP selection among various SP’s by achieving bandwidth allocation, maximum throughput, less error and high storage size. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is highly efficient and accurate for selection of SP among other providers

A Case of “Pill-takers”: Understanding Perceptions and Stigmas surrounding Medication Usage

BACKGROUND: Over half of all Americans take prescription medications regularly, and commentators have noted that modern society has become overly reliant on “pill-taking.” OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of this study was to better understand how healthy individuals’ perceive the identity of a “pill-taker,” using Phase I trial participants as a proxy for healthy individuals.METHODS: This was a mixed methods study that utilized qualitative and quantitative analysis. The data source was semi-structured interview transcripts and demographic data (n = 131) from the HealthyVOICES project, a 5-year study in the UNC Department of Social Medicine and Center for Bioethics. Two sets of interviews were investigated for each participant (n = 261), and participants were evaluated as “pill-takers,” “not-pill-takers,” or “ambivalent” based on their responses to questions about medications. Secondary coding was conducted on interview transcripts to reveal broader themes. Chi-square analyses were conducted to test the relationships between sociodemographic factors (age, race, socioeconomic status, and gender) and “pill-taking” status. RESULTS: Chi-square analysis revealed no statistically significant relationship between sociodemographic factors and “pill-taking” status. Qualitative analysis revealed four broad themes, particularly for not pill-takers and those who were ambivalent: (1) natural/herbal remedies are preferable alternatives to pill-taking; (2) pills are dangerous chemicals and harmful to the body; (3) healthy individuals can be ambivalent about medications; and (4) pill-taking is related to the flawed medication culture in the U.S. CONCLUSION: It is possible that pill-taking culture affects demographic groups equally, and that there are no significant relationships between sociodemographic characteristics and pill-taking status. The qualitative findings indicate that there are strong negative views of pill-taking among some healthy volunteers, which could have important implications for adherence to medication regimens. When studying healthy individuals in the future, it will be important to consider that these individuals may not have fully formed opinions on medications because they have infrequent need to take them. Further research should be done in order to assess the relationship between pill-taking status and sociodemographic variables. Additionally, a more randomized sample of general Americans should be studied to further understand healthy individuals’ perceptions of medications.Bachelor of Science in Public Healt

Prevalence of various dermatoses in pregnancy at a tertiary care centre in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India: an observational study

Background: This was a prospective study which was done to observe various skin lesions in pregnancy and to determine the most likely causes and their incidence in antenatal patients, it was noticed that many women in our institute were having pregnancy related cutaneous complaints thus this observational study was carried out so that better preventive measures and treatment options could be provided to these patients.Methods: Study was conducted in out-patient department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, TMU, Moradabad. All ANC cases between October 2017 to September 2018 having any type of dermatoses were included in the study irrespective of gestational age. 6348 patients appeared in OPD in the given time period out of which 1256 were included. In case of pruritus, liver function tests were done with USG whole abdomen and patients were reviewed by physician if required. Screening with VDRL, HCV, HbSAg and ELISA for HIV was done in all. Results were tabulated and analyzed.Results: 50.8% primi gravidas ,49.2% multi gravidas. age range 18-38 years. 29.3% presented in third trimester ,25.6% presented in second trimester. Physiological changes seen in all cases, 8.68% specific dermatoses of pregnancy. 40.4 % no complaints, 5.65% melasma, 90.8% hyperpigmentation, 94.6% linea nigra. Secondary areola 89.3%,striae 80.3% out of which 38.9%- primi gravidas and 41.40% -multi gravidas. 92.9% no change in hair density. Montgomery’s tubercles 30-50% of cases. spiders nevi 67%. No cases of palmar erythema. Pruritus gravidarum 38.53%. PUPPP 28.4%. Pemphigoid Gestationis 9.17%. Prurigo of pregnancy 18.34%. Pruritic folliculitis 1.8%. Eczema in pregnancy : pre-existing in 3.7% , out of which exacerbation 1, 3 unaffected. 3 chicken pox.1 filariasis.24 herpetic lesions (herpes simplex).1 scleroderma.17.27% pre-existing taenia infection . Scabies 20.46%.11 0.87% dual infection (scabies-taenia).Conclusions: This study highlights high prevalence of community acquired infections in our region like taenia, scabies giving rise to skin lesions in Antenatal women. Moreover, it highlights a probable association between the prevalence of skin lesions with factors like poor personal hygiene, overcrowding, low socioeconomic status, anaemia and poor nutritional status

Audible Charging Sounds to Indicate Device Battery Level

Users of battery-powered electronic devices rely on visual battery level indicators to discern the charge status of the battery and correspondingly, available device usable time before the device needs to be plugged in. However, users with vision impairments or those not looking at the device screen may not be able to distinguish the battery level from displayed indicators. Such users may plug in the charging cable more often than necessary, out of precaution. This disclosure describes the use of a variety of audible sounds when a device is attached to a charging cable that is plugged into a power source to indicate that the device is being charged and also to indicate the current amount of charge remaining on the battery. The device operating system or other software can detect the plugged-in state as well as the battery level and play the corresponding sounds at appropriate times

A UNIQUE CASE OF BILATERAL VOCAL FOLD PARALYSIS FOLLOWING SPINAL ANAESTHESIA

Cranial nerve palsies are potential but rare complications of spinal anaesthesia. Most of the literatures support upper cranial nerve palsies like VI, IV and III cranial nerve palsies. Intrathecal hypotension resulting in tractional injury of the cranial nerves is the likely mechanism of injury. As on date, some cases of unilateral vocal fold paralysis and very little bilateral vocal fold paralysis have been described in case reports. We have described a patient who developed hoarseness and dysphagia 7 days after receiving spinal anaesthesia for fixation of inter-trochanteric fracture femur. The patient was diagnosed with bilateral vocal fold paralysis. He was managed conservatively and exhibited complete spontaneous recovery as has been described in the previously reported cases. Any patient presenting with idiopathic vocal fold paralysis should be enquired about the history of spinal or epidural anaesthesia. If the history is affirmative, then it points towards transient intrathecal hypotension as a potential etiology of the cranial nerve palsy

Smart-Phone Based Magnetic Levitation for Measuring Densities

Magnetic levitation, which uses a magnetic field to suspend objects in a fluid, is a powerful and versatile technology. We develop a compact magnetic levitation platform compatible with a smart-phone to separate micro-objects and estimate the density of the sample based on its levitation height. A 3D printed attachment is mechanically installed over the existing camera unit of a smart-phone. Micro-objects, which may be either spherical or irregular in shape, are suspended in a paramagnetic medium and loaded in a microcapillary tube which is then inserted between two permanent magnets. The micro-objects are levitated and confined in the microcapillary at an equilibrium height dependent on their volumetric mass densities (causing a buoyancy force toward the edge of the microcapillary) and magnetic susceptibilities (causing a magnetic force toward the center of the microcapillary) relative to the suspending medium. The smart-phone camera captures magnified images of the levitating micro-objects through an additional lens positioned between the sample and the camera lens cover. A custom-developed Android application then analyzes these images to determine the levitation height and estimate the density. Using this platform, we were able to separate microspheres with varying densities and calibrate their levitation heights to known densities to develop a technique for precise and accurate density estimation. We have also characterized the magnetic field, the optical imaging capabilities, and the thermal state over time of this platform

Evaluating diaphragmatic dysfunction and predicting non-invasive ventilation failure in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in India

Background Baseline diaphragmatic dysfunction (DD) at the initiation of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) correlates positively with subsequent intubation. We investigated the utility of DD detected 2 hours after NIV initiation in estimating NIV failure in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) patients. Methods In a prospective-cohort design, we enrolled 60 consecutive patients with AECOPD initiated on NIV at intensive care unit admission, and NIV failure events were noted. The DD was assessed at baseline (T1 timepoint) and 2 hours after initiating NIV (T2 timepoint). We defined DD as ultrasound-assessed change in diaphragmatic thickness (ΔTDI) <20% (predefined criteria [PC]) or its cut-off that predicts NIV failure (calculated criteria [CC]) at both timepoints. A predictive-regression analysis was reported. Results In total, 32 patients developed NIV failure, nine within 2 hours of NIV and remaining in the next 6 days. The ∆TDI cut-off that predicted NIV failure (DD-CC) at T1 was ≤19.04% (area under the curve [AUC], 0.73; sensitivity, 50%; specificity, 85.71%; accuracy; 66.67%), while that at T2 was ≤35.3% (AUC, 0.75; sensitivity, 95.65%; specificity, 57.14%; accuracy, 74.51%, hazard ratio, 19.55). The NIV failure rate was 35.1% in those with normal diaphragmatic function by PC (T2) versus 5.9% by CC (T2). The odds ratio for NIV failure with DD criteria ≤35.3 and <20 at T2 was 29.33 and 4.61, while that for ≤19.04 and <20 at T1 was 6, respectively. Conclusions The DD criterion of ≤35.3 (T2) had a better diagnostic profile compared to baseline and PC in prediction of NIV failure