Prognostic value of troponins in acute coronary syndrome depends upon patient age

Peer reviewedPostprin

The Rise of Mono-Ethnic Religious Nationalism in Myanmar and Its Impacts on the Security Situation of the South Asian Region

In spite of the technological advancement and progress of liberalism, religion has remained an essential aspect of individual and national life in many countries. In many societies, religion has manifested elements of extremism, which ultimately perpetuates violence and destruction. This radical religious phenomenon is much predominant in the Southeast and South Asian region, including the country known as Myanmar. Myanmar has become a classic example of the religious fusion of politics and social life. The hybrid form of emerging democratic tenets, albeit under military sponsorship in Myanmar, provides a breeding ground for religious nationalism, with dire consequences for religious minorities. Buddhist nationalism in Myanmar has adopted a virulent anti-Muslim narrative in particular and intolerance and hate towards the Muslim minority Rohingyas living in Rakhine state in particular. From August 2017, communal violence to date approximately 600,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar and became refugees in neighboring Bangladesh. The catastrophic humanitarian disaster that emanates through the Rohingya crisis poses a threat to regional security and therefore requires the immediate attention of the global community to stop further loss of lives and destruction. The impacts of the Rohingya conflict are not confined within the boundaries of Myanmar, but the conflict also impacts its neighboring Southeast Asian countries. This thesis emphasizes on the dangers of religious xenophobia as well as the use and explanation of faith for political and nationalistic causes. The paper also evaluates the role of Myanmar military in the socio-political and economic context to determine their involvement in setting the platform for the rise of Buddhist nationalism. The thesis argues that the culture of minority oppression and systemic discrimination against religious minority groups such as the Rohingya not only jeopardizes the county\u27s democratic credentials and vision but also carries grave implications for Southeast Asia, one of the most volatile regions in the world

MODLEACH: A Variant of LEACH for WSNs

Wireless sensor networks are appearing as an emerging need for mankind. Though, Such networks are still in research phase however, they have high potential to be applied in almost every field of life. Lots of research is done and a lot more is awaiting to be standardized. In this work, cluster based routing in wireless sensor networks is studied precisely. Further, we modify one of the most prominent wireless sensor network's routing protocol "LEACH" as modified LEACH (MODLEACH) by introducing \emph{efficient cluster head replacement scheme} and \emph{dual transmitting power levels}. Our modified LEACH, in comparison with LEACH out performs it using metrics of cluster head formation, through put and network life. Afterwards, hard and soft thresholds are implemented on modified LEACH (MODLEACH) that boast the performance even more. Finally a brief performance analysis of LEACH, Modified LEACH (MODLEACH), MODLEACH with hard threshold (MODLEACHHT) and MODLEACH with soft threshold (MODLEACHST) is undertaken considering metrics of throughput, network life and cluster head replacements.Comment: IEEE 8th International Conference on Broadband and Wireless Computing, Communication and Applications (BWCCA'13), Compiegne, Franc

The Vanishing Adrenal Glands: A transient regression of adrenal lymphoma after a single dose of 1 mg dexamethasone

Objective: Dexamethasone is a known treatment for lymphoma, but it’s potency and rapidity of its effect has not been recognised. Our objective is to present a case of bilateral adrenal lymphoma, which significantly reduced in size after a single dose of dexamethasone. Methods: Clinical course and investigations including Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), cortisol, short synacthen test, computed tomography (CT) and adrenal biopsy are presented. Results: A 52-year-old man had a fall and was incidentally found to have bilateral adrenal masses (6 cm on left and 5 cm on right) on CT. His adrenal function tests included plasma metanephrines (normetanephrine 830 pmol/L (0-1180); metanephrine <100 pmol/L (0-510); 3-methoxytyramine <100 pmol/L (0-180), aldosterone 270 pmol/L( 90-700) and random cortisol 230 nmol/L (160-550). Overnight dexamethasone suppression test (ONDST), with 1 mg of dexamethasone, showed cortisol of <28 nmol/L (0-50).. A repeat CT, eight days following ONDST, showed adrenal masses of 4.5 cm and 3.5 cm on left and right respectively. He had a follow-up CT three months later, which showed adrenal lesions measuring 8 cm (left) and 9 cm (right). He subsequently presented with fatigue and dizziness. Morning cortisol of 201 nmol/L (160-550) with ACTH of 216 ng/L (10-30) indicated primary adrenal insufficiency. Mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid replacement was commenced. Adrenal biopsy showed abnormal enlarged B-cells consistent with a diagnosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Conclusion: A diagnosis of lymphoma should be considered when adrenal lesions shrink, following even a single low dose of dexamethasone administered as a part of a diagnostic test

Characterizing Nanoparticle Size by Dynamic Light Scattering

The Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) Technique was used to determine the size, shape and diffusion coefficient of rod-like nanoparticles. The intensity auto-correlation functions of light scattered by particles in a solution were measured and analyzed to obtain the relaxation rates for decay of intensity correlations. These decay rates are related to the diffusion coefficients pertaining to the motion of the particle. In the case of nanorods, there are two types of motion - translational and rotational. By disentangling the relaxation rates, corresponding to these two types of motion, the shape and size of nanoparticles were characterized. These experiments, though limited in scope, demonstrate the promise of dynamical light scattering as an inexpensive and convenient technique for characterizing regular shaped nanoparticles in a fluid medium as well as the capability of DLS to distinguish nanoparticle shapes with smaller aspect ratios