Minimally invasive transcatheter embolization is a common nonsurgical procedure in interventional radiology. It is used for the deliberate occlusion of blood vessels for the treatment of disease or ...injured vasculature, including vascular malformation and malignant/benign tumors. Here, we introduce a gel embolic agent comprising chitosan nanofibers and nanoclay with excellent catheter injectability and tunable mechanical properties for embolization. The properties of the gel were optimized by varying the ratio between each individual component and also adjusting the total solid content. The rheological studies confirm the shear thinning property and gel nature of the developed gel as well as their recoverability. Injection force was measured to record the force required to pass the embolic gel through a clinically relevant catheter, evaluating for practicality of hand‐injection. Theoretical predicted injection force was calculated to reduce the development time and to enhance the physician's experience. The stability of occlusion was also tested in vitro by monitoring the pressure required to displace the gel. The engineered gels exhibited sterility, hemocompatibility and cell biocompatibility, highlighting their potential for transcatheter embolization.
A shear thinning hydrogel embolic material comprising laponite nanoclay and chitosan nanofibers was developed, characterized, and studied for transcatheter based minimally invasive surgery. The developed gels exhibited tunable rheological properties which is beneficial for a wide range of embolization conditions and the injection force of the gel through a catheter was measured as well as predicted using rheological parameters for improving the physician's experience. The engineered embolic gels demonstrated exceptional in vitro stability to withstand physiological blood pressure, along with excellent sterility, hemo‐ and bio‐compatibility, highlighting the potential application for catheter‐directed arterial embolization.
As competition between organizations are evolving into competition between supply chains, to survive and indeed grow, it is necessary to deliver added value to customers. Traceability has emerged as ...one of the key measures of operational efficiencies within supply chains and ultimately, customer service. Over the years, organizations have deployed number of methods in delivering food traceability. This paper examines major methods of food traceability currently in existence and proposes a restaurant prototype for implementing more reliable food traceability using Blockchain and product identifiers. The prototype captures data from various stakeholders across the food supply chain, segregates it and finally, applies the Food Quality Index (FQI) algorithm to generate an FQI value. The FQI value helps in identifying whether the food is good for consumption on specified parameters. FQI value is generated based on extant standard storage and handling regulations specified by food safety authorities, and checks whether value so derived, is within the permissible range. The prototype helps in grading food quality for human consumption besides strengthening food (product) traceability. This prototype can be customized to address future requirements of traceability triggered through new information emanating from any stakeholder or the node in the supply chain.
•Food Traceability approach for a sample restaurant prototype using Blockchain infrastructure. Data collection is suggested using the designed blockchain infrastructure.•Mathematical prototype which works on boundary values of parameters that can be applied for major quality parameters of any type of food. Weightages are applied on these boundary values by dividing them into different segments.•The research focusses on implementation of blockchain model considering storage time as the major impact variable in the proof of concept discussed for fresh pork meat.•Sample proof of concept in terms of various types of “pork” meat.•Proposed model may be attempted to implement with all types of restaurant for managing its traceability in farm to fork supply chain model.
Background Scrub typhus, a vector-borne zoonotic infection caused by the bacteria Orientia tsutsugamushi, is one of the most common and clinically important rickettsial infections worldwide. An ...estimated one million cases occur annually with a high case fatality rate. Although scrub typhus is a major public health threat in India, the burden and distribution remains unclear. We aimed to estimate the burden of scrub typhus in India. Methodology We performed a systematic review of published literature on scrub typhus from India to extract information on epidemiology, morbidity, and mortality. Important databases were searched using keywords and appropriate combinations. We identified observational, interventional, and population-based studies and extracted the data to evaluate the number of cases diagnosed using serology or PCR and the number of deaths due to scrub typhus. We conducted a systematic narrative synthesis to summarize included studies. Principal findings In the last decade, there were 18,781 confirmed scrub typhus cases reported in 138 hospital-based studies and two community-based studies. IgM ELISA was used in 122 studies to confirm the cases in majority (89%). The proportion of scrub typhus among acute undifferentiated febrile illness (AUFI) studies was 25.3%, and community seroprevalence was 34.2%. Ninety studies had data published on multiple organ involvement out of which 17.4% of cases had multiple organ dysfunction syndromes, 20.4% patients required ICU admission, and 19.1% needed ventilation. The overall case-fatality rate was 6.3%, and the mortality among those with multi-organ dysfunction syndrome was as high as 38.9%. Conclusion/significance Scrub typhus, a common acute febrile illness in India causing severe morbidity, accounts for a large number of deaths. The burden of the disease has been underappreciated. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment can significantly reduce complications and mortality. Establishing good surveillance and instituting appropriate control measures are urgently needed.
Type-2 diabetes (T2D) is a complex metabolic syndrome that is characterized by persistent hyperglycemia due to either lack of insulin secretion and/or insulin resistance. The prevalence of T2D along ...with its major risk factor, obesity, has been increasing with an epidemic proportion in recent years. To date, there is no drug of cure for diabetes and the existing therapeutic approaches have serious drawbacks including side effects and loss of efficacy during prolonged use. Dietary polyphenols are one group of natural products that have shown promise as potential antidiabetic agents. In this review, their molecular mechanisms of action including, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, receptor agonist/antagonist effect and modulation of key signal transduction cascades, glucose transport, enzyme activity, receptor agonistic/antagonist effect, etc. in major insulin-sensitive cells are discussed.
Annual monitoring was carried out in the shoreline sediments of the Calicut beach, from 2016 to 2019 to understand the distribution and abundance of microplastics and its environmental implications. ...Further, the impact of the severe fluvial floods of Kerala during the August months of 2018 and 2019, on the microplastic pollution of the Calicut beach was also determined. Microplastic concentrations ranged between 80.56 items/kg of dry sand to 467.13 items/kg of dry sand during the sampling period. Polyethylene type was consistently higher in all the samples. There was a surge in microplastics concentration during both the floods with a higher proportion of low-retention-period microplastics. Among the different oceanographic parameters, it was found that significant wave height and surface wind speed are positively correlated to the number of the microplastics in Calicut beach.
Display omitted
•Continuous sampling of microplastics carried out in beach sediments•Polyethylene was consistently the dominant polymer type in all samples.•Lump (irregular 3-dimensional) was the most dominant shape identified for the sampled microplastics.•The number of microplastics in beach sediments is positively correlated to surface wave height and surface wind speed.•Fluvial floods, oceanographic parameters, and beach activities contributed to microplastic abundance.
The exponential rise in the number of cases being witnessed daily has compelled the World Health Organization (WHO) to title this outbreak a pandemic4. The rapid spread of infection is augmented by ...the potential for transmission by asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic patients7. ...our national strategy in tackling the COVID-19 has been predominantly one of containment, an approach typically utilized when a pathogen has slow transmission capacity or is brought in from external sources. Personal protection measures Individual protection measures, an integral part of infection control, reflect a level of personal commitment and action above and beyond governmental policies towards containment and mitigation of the disease. Widening the testing and treatment capacity Initially, testing facilities for COVID-19 by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) laid with government facilities alone, with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recommending the testing of only those symptomatic patients with a history of international travel to affected countries or a history of close contact with a laboratory-confirmed positive case20.
In this article, extropy properties of the ranked set sample (RSS) when ranking is not perfect are considered. By deriving the expression for extropy of concomitant order statistic, the expression ...for extropy of RSS of the study variable Y in which an auxiliary variable X is used to rank the units in each set, under the assumption that
(
X
,
Y
)
follows Morgenstern family of distributions is obtained. The upper and lower bounds of extropy of RSS are obtained. The cumulative residual extropy of concomitant of order statistic and RSS arising from Morgenstern family of distributions are also obtained. The discrimination informations between the distribution of rth RSS statistic and the parent distribution are also obtained.
Rickettsial diseases are a group of vector-borne bacterial infections that cause acute febrile illness with potentially severe or fatal complications. These vector-borne diseases are prevalent in ...tropical and subtropical regions worldwide and disproportionately affect poorer communities but are scientifically underrecognized. Despite this, they are not included in the World Health Organization's list of neglected tropical diseases nor were they mentioned in Peter Hotez's recent reflections on "What constitutes a neglected tropical disease?" in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 1. Here we present the case that rickettsial infections, as an overlooked cause of morbidity, mortality, and economic losses in marginalized populations, should be recognized as neglected tropical diseases. We describe how this oversight is the result of a number of factors and how it negatively impacts patient outcomes. We then propose measures to address the neglect of rickettsial infections in both scientific research and public health interventions.
Clinical management of COVID-19 Varghese, George; John, Rebecca; Manesh, Abi ...
Indian journal of medical research (New Delhi, India : 1994),
05/2020, Letnik:
151, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with its early origin from Wuhan city in China has evolved into a global pandemic. Maximal precautionary measures and resources have been put forward by ...most nations in war footing to mitigate transmission and decrease fatality rates. This article was aimed to review the evidence on clinical management and to deal with the identification of high-risk groups, warning signs, appropriate investigations, proper sample collection for confirmation, general and specific treatment measures, strategies as well as infection control in the healthcare settings. Advanced age, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension and cancer have been found to be the risk factors for severe disease. Fever lasting for >five days with tachypnoea, tachycardia or hypotension are indications for urgent attention and hospitalization in a patient with suspected COVID-19. At present, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from the upper respiratory tract samples is the diagnostic test of choice. While many drugs have shown in vitro activity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), there are insufficient clinical data to promote or dissuade their usage. Among the currently available drugs, hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir may be considered for patients with severe COVID-19 infection, awaiting further clinical trials. Stringent droplet and contact precautions will protect healthcare workers against most clinical exposures to COVID-19.
PDF
