Predictors of Advance Care Planning Engagement Among Muslim Americans

Advance care planning (ACP) enables people to discuss their physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs before nearing death. Most literature examining the determinants of ACP engagement is limited and does not include minority faith communities in the United States, including Muslim communities. The purpose of this cross-sectional correlational study was to examine ACP engagement determinants among Muslims in the United States. Using the Social Ecological Model, we conceptualized the determinants of ACP engagement into intrapersonal, interpersonal, and community factors. The study self-administered questionnaires were distributed using convenience and snowball techniques. Multiple linear regression was used to predict ACP engagement. The total sample was 148 Muslim adults. The age range was 18 to 79 years. Among all tested factors, being Asian American, knowing a deceased person who had received aggressive or minimal medical treatments near death, being born in the United States, having knowledge and awareness about ACP, and being accepting of the American culture were the determinants of ACP engagement. Engagement in ACP is a multifactorial behavior. Several intrapersonal and interpersonal factors, but none of the community factors, were associated with ACP engagement among Muslim adults. Future ACP interventions targeted toward Muslim Americans should be planned with an understanding of the multifactorial nature of ACP engagement.

Studies on phytochemical, mineral content, in vitro anti-urolithiatic and anti-diabetic activities of horse gram flour extracts and its biosynthesized Ag nanoparticles

The current study aims to examine the use of horse gram flour and its extracts as a low-cost source of mineral content with anti-urolithiatic, anti-diabetic properties and to compare the biological activities with its biosynthesized AgNPs. The secondary metabolites and the macro and micronutrients present in the selected herbal product, reinforces the utility of the horse gram as a promising herbal. Present investigation reveals that the biomass chosen for the study as a cheap natural source with valuable mineral content of calcium (43.06 mg/L), followed by potassium (13.78 mg/L) and sodium (6.94 mg/L). The grain's water extracts found to contain carbohydrate as dominating component with the value of (65.10 ± 0.95 mg g^-1 equivalent). Whereas both water and ethanol extract contain TPC (phenol) viz; 60.13 ± 2.45 mg g^-1, 68.24 ± 1.33 mg g^-1, TTC (terpenoids)53.21 ± 1.4 mg g^-1,51.27 ± 2.65 mg g^-1, followed by TSC (sterol)as 45.58 ± 1.7 mg g^-1, 57.27 ± 1.65 mg g^-1 in moderate amounts respectively. The aqueous extract of Horse gram was used for the synthesis the AgNPs through a straightforward green approach and characterized by FESEM, TEM, zeta potential, X-ray diffraction, UV spectroscopy and particle size measurement. These studies demonstrate the production of AgNPs with an average particle size of 30 nm-60 nm. Investigation on anti-urolithiatic property with aqueous extract, (HGW), ethanol extract (HGE) and its biosynthesized Ag nanoparticles (HG-Ag) reveal that, among the three samples chosen, the biosynthesized Ag nanoparticles possess the best inhibiting activity. The disintegration of crystals in gel medium further validated the extracts and Ag nanoparticles crystal growth inhibitory activity, at concentrations of 2% for extracts and 200 μg/ml for AgNPs. Further, it is also found that the HG-Ag nanoparticle exhibit good anti-diabetic activity (75.36%) than the other two extracts (HGW Extract-67.18% & HGE Extract-44.29%). Thus, the seed flour extracts and its AgNps demonstrated to be a promising natural herbal product with potential mineral content, antidiabetic and anti-urolithiatic activities which could be a used as a value-added product in the dietary formulations.

Visible light photocatalytic and magnetic properties of V doped α-Fe2O3 (VFO) nanoparticles synthesized by polyol assisted hydrothermal method

Vanadium-doped α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles (VFO nanoparticles) were prepared by polyol-assisted hydrothermal method. The impact on the structure, optical, magnetic and photocatalytic properties of α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles were studied by varying the vanadium concentration from 1 to 5%. XRD analysis confirms the presence of hematite phase with hexagonal structure and estimates the nanocrystals size as ∼26-38 nm. FESEM and TEM reveal the formation of 3D flower-like morphology bundled with 2D nanoflakes. The estimated band gap energy was in the range 2.01 eV-2.12 eV. XPS study shows the presence of vanadium in V⁴⁺ oxidation state in VFO nanoparticles. VSM study shows a non-saturated hysteresis loop with weak ferromagnetic behavior for all the VFO nanoparticles. 5% V doped α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles (5%VFO nanoparticles) exhibited superior visible light driven photocatalytic activity compared to other samples.

Polyol-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of Mn-doped α - Fe2O3(MFO) nanostructures: Spin disorder-induced magnetism and photocatalytic properties

Hierarchical nanostructures play an important role in environmental clean-up and sustainability applications. The magnetic and photocatalytic characteristics of flower-like Mn-doped α-Fe₂O₃ nanostructures were prepared by using a polyol-assisted hydrothermal method. Crystallite sizes are in the range of 35-42 nm, and the existence of 3D hierarchical nanostructures was observed in FESEM pictures. The optical band gap energy varies between 2.08 and 2.16 eV, while XPS examination exposes the ions' charge states and validates Mn³⁺ inclusion in the Fe³⁺ lattice. At room temperature, the addition of Mn to α-Fe₂O₃ results in a spin disorder ferromagnetism and coercivity of about 600 Oe was achieved. Methylene blue (MB) dye solution degraded by 92% when 2.5% Mn doped with α-Fe₂O₃ under visible conditions for 120 min irradiation time.

Too little, too late?: Can an integrated empathy-building intervention shift gero-attitudes for undergraduates in an online course?

By 2050, 22.1% of the United States population will be 65 years or older, increasing the demand for well-trained, enthusiastic professionals to serve them. At the same time, later life is frequently pathologized, and there continues to be a preference for youth by those who are yet to be old as well as older adults themselves. The growing divide between this expanding cohort and gero-focused professionals is exacerbated by the under-emphasis on gerontology in undergraduate higher education and the substantial shift toward online instruction and larger class sizes in the U.S. In this quasi-experimental study, researchers examined whether a gerontology-focused empathy-building intervention (EBI) in 2 semesters of an online undergraduate course on aging changed students' attitudes toward older adults, aging anxiety, and interest in gero-focused careers, compared with 2 control semesters taught without the EBI. Statistical results showed that neither the EBI nor course completion without the EBI significantly shifted students' gero-attitudes and interest, suggesting the necessity of earlier and varied interventions to combat negative stereotypes about aging. Qualitative results provided some indication of the possible impact of the EBI. We describe study design, implementation, challenges, and areas for future intervention and study.

Targeting Streptomyces-Derived Streptenol Derivatives against Gynecological Cancer Target PIK3CA: An In Silico Approach

Streptomyces is amongst the most amenable genera for biotechnological applications, and it is extensively used as a scaffold for drug development. One of the most effective therapeutic applications in the treatment of cancer is targeted therapy. Small molecule therapy is one of them, and it has gotten a lot of attention recently. Streptomyces derived compounds namely streptenols A, C, and F-I and streptazolin were subjected for ADMET property assessment. Our computational studies based on molecular docking effectively displayed the synergistic effect of streptomyces-derived compounds on the gynecological cancer target PIK3CA. These compounds were observed with the highest docking scores as well as promising intermolecular interaction stability throughout the molecular dynamic simulation. Molecular docking and molecular dynamic modeling techniques were utilized to investigate the binding mode stability of drugs using a pharmacophore scaffold, as well as physicochemical and pharmacokinetic aspects linked to alpelisib. With a root mean square fluctuation of the protein backbone of less than 0.7 nm, they demonstrated a steady binding mode in the target binding pocket. They have also prompted hydrogen bonding throughout the simulations, implying that the chemicals have firmly occupied the active site. A comprehensive study showed that streptenol D, streptenol E, streptenol C, streptenol G, streptenol F, and streptenol B can be considered as lead compounds for PIK3CA-based inhibitor design. To warrant the treatment efficacy against cancer, comprehensive computational research based on proposed chemicals must be assessed through in vitro studies.

Whole-genome sequence analysis of Staphylococcus aureus from retail fish acknowledged the incidence of highly virulent ST672-MRSA-IVa/t1309, an emerging Indian clone, in Assam, India

The epidemiology and toxigenicity of MRSA in the fishery environment are poorly understood. In this study, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (n = 1) and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) (n = 2) from retail fish were subjected to comprehensive genome analysis. Here, we report the occurrence of ST672-MRSA-IV/t1309 and ST5-MSSA/t105 for the first time from India in the fishery environment. The resistome of the isolates was in concordance with their phenotypic resistance pattern. Phenotypically, the resistance profile of MSSA isolates (n = 2) was AMP-CLI-ERY-NOR-PEN. For MRSA (n = 1), it was AMP-CFZ-CLI-ERY-NOR-OXA-PEN. The antibiotic efflux genes and mutations in the antibiotic target accounted for fluoroquinolone resistance whereas methicillin resistance was conferred through possession of a mecA gene. Similarly, all three isolates carried a similar array of virulence factors. The conjugative plasmid inc18 and rep family 10 plasmids were found in two of the three isolates. This study documents the MRSA carrying SCCmec IVa elements which are the markers of community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA). Through the possession of SCCmec IV elements, which are smaller than other types of SCCmec, MRSA can contribute to the rapid dissemination of antimicrobial resistance and virulence factors. In short, our findings highlighted that the presence of ST672-MRSA in fishery environments may pose a risk to human health.

Leukemia classification using the deep learning method of CNN

BACKGROUND

Processing Low-Intensity Medical Images (LI-MI) is difficult as outcomes are varied when it comes to manual examination, which is also a time-consuming process.

OBJECTIVE

To improve the quality of low-intensity images and identify the leukemia classification by utilizing CNN-based Deep Learning (DCNN) strategy.

METHODS

The strategies employed for the recognition of leukemia classifications in the advised strategy are DCNN (ResNet-34 & DenseNet-121). The histogram equalization-based adaptive gamma correction followed by guided filtering applies to study the improvement in intensity and preserve the essential details of the image. The DCNN is used as a feature extractor to help classify leukemia types. Two datasets of ASH with 520 images and ALL-IDB with 559 images are used in this study. In 1,079 images, 779 are positive cases depicting leukemia and 300 images are negative (normal) cases. Thus, to validate performance of this DCNN strategy, ASH and ALL-IDB datasets are promoted in the investigation process to classify between positive and negative images.

RESULTS

The DCNN classifier yieldes the overall classification accuracy of 99.2% and 98.4%, respectively. In addition, the achieved classification specificity, sensitivity, and precision are 99.3%, 98.7%, 98.4%, and 98.9%, 98.4%,98.6% applying to two datasets, respectively, which are higher than the performance using other machine learning classifiers including support vector machine, decision tree, naive bayes, random forest and VGG-16.

CONCLUSION

Ths study demonstrates that the proposed DCNN enables to improve low-intensity images and accuracry of leukemia classification, which is superior to many of other machine leaning classifiers used in this research field.

Execution Analysis of Clarity Locale Segmentation for Condition Recognition Utilizing Genetic Algorithm Method

The collection of fluid at the back of the fetal neck, known as nuchal translucency (NT), is linked to chromosomal abnormalities and early heart failure in the first trimester of pregnancy. Using the Co-Active Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (CANFIS) classification algorithm, this research presents an effective way for recognising and localising the NT region in fetus images in which noise removed. Then, pattern features are extracted Initially, the noises in fetus images are detected and eliminated using directional filtering technique and then Gabor transform from the magnitude of Gabor transformed fetus image and then they are optimized using Genetic Algorithm (GA) approach. The extracted GLCM, ELBP and LTP features are integrated into feature vector for further classifications. The size of constructed feature vector is high and leads to high computation time for the classification process. These optimized feature set is classified using CANFIS. Finally, the graph cut segmentation method is used for segmenting the NT region. This proposed method is practically used in many health care centers in rural areas.

Investigations on coronary artery plaque detection and subclassification using machine learning classifier

Coronary artery diseases are one of the high-risk diseases, which occur due to the insufficient blood supply to the heart. The different types of plaques formed inside the artery leads to the blockage of the blood stream. Understanding the type of plaques along with the detection and classification of plaques supports in reducing the mortality of patients. The objective of this study is to present a novel clustering method of plaque segmentation followed by wavelet transform based feature extraction. The extracted features of all different kinds of calcified and sub calcified plaques are applied to first train and test three machine learning classifiers including support vector machine, random forest and decision tree classifiers. The bootstrap ensemble classifier then decides the best classification result through a voting method of three classifiers. A training dataset including 64 normal CTA images and 73 abnormal CTA images is used, while a testing dataset consists of 111 normal CTA images and 103 abnormal CTA images. The evaluation metrics shows better classification rate and accuracy of 97.7%. The Sensitivity and Specificity rates are 97.8% and 97.5%, respectively. As a result, our study results demonstrate the feasibility and advantages of developing and applying this new image processing and machine learning scheme to assist coronary artery plaque detection and classification.

Investigating Elder Abuse and Neglect in Diverse Refugee Communities in Greensboro, NC

Elder abuse and neglect (EAN) comprises multiple dimensions, is experienced by about 10% of older adults in the U.S in diverse communities, and is severely detrimental to older adults’ (OA) health and wellbeing. However, documentation of EAN among refugee OA is greatly lacking as are services for these communities. Refugee OA are overall underserved members of marginalized communities. This paper reports on a community-engaged study to collect information and raise awareness of EAN among OA in 2 North Carolina refugee communities - Nepali-speaking Bhutanese and Congolese. Research partners included University researchers and community refugee-serving organizations. Surveys and focus group interviews were conducted. 17 Nepali-speaking Bhutanese and 13 Congolese filled out survey questions, including the Elder Abuse Suspicion Index. They participated in focus group discussions (FGDs), separately for men and women of each community. Survey results indicated EAN more among Congolese than Nepali-speaking Bhutanese. FGD results showed both communities prefer to depend on family members, and experience difficulties with language, transportation, and economic insecurity. No EAN was reported in the FGDs. In line with principles of community-engaged approaches, a capacity-building event to increase awareness of EAN was held, attended by 25 persons from the two communities. This study adds documentation on an under-researched area and marginalized communities. Action recommendations include disseminating culturally appropriate EAN information, strengthening English language and job skills and transportation options, encouraging cooperation across state, nonprofit, educational, and service organizations to address needs of older refugee adults.

Virulence and intermediate resistance to high-end antibiotic (teicoplanin) among coagulase-negative staphylococci sourced from retail market fish

This study reports the distribution of enterotoxigenic determinants among staphylococci and the susceptibility of staphylococci to various classes of antibiotics. We observed all the isolates as resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics and a few as resistant to non-beta-lactam antibiotics such as clindamycin (47.4%), erythromycin (44.7%), gentamicin (23.7%), norfloxacin (34.2%), tetracycline (26.3%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (15.8%) etc. The resistance of S. sciuri (n = 1) and S. haemolyticus (n = 1) to rifampicin and intermediate resistance of S. gallinarum (n = 2) to teicoplanin, a high-end antibiotic, are also observed in this study. The multidrug-resistance (≥ 3 classes of antibiotics) was recorded in 23 (60.5%) isolates. The virulomes such as sea, seb, seg and sei were identified predominantly in S. haemolyticus. Surprisingly, certain isolates which were phenotypically confirmed as biofilm-producers by Congo red agar (CRA) test did not harbor biofilm-associated loci. This implies the protein-mediated mechanism of biofilm formation as an alternative to polysaccharide intercellular adhesin (PIA) in staphylococci. However, icaAD locus which encodes PIA was identified in 10 (26.3%) isolates and the eno locus, encoding elastin-binding protein which can accelerate the biofilm production, is identified in all the isolates. The possession of type V SCCmec elements by the S. haemolyticus (15.8%) raised the concern about the rapid dissemination of mecA gene to other species of staphylococci including the virulent S. aureus. In short, this study acknowledges the toxigenicity of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS). Through this study, surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and transference of virulomes in staphylococci is warranted.

Pathways to diagnosis of pediatric TB patients: A mixed methods study from India

BACKGROUND

A significant proportion of pediatric tuberculosis (TB) patients go unnotified due to the challenges in diagnosis of TB among children. The experiences of this vulnerable group while going through the TB care cascade remain largely undocumented. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of pediatric TB patients and families along the pathway to TB diagnosis and appropriate treatment in four cities of India.

METHODS

The study used a mixed methods, single phased, embedded design. The primary qualitative and secondary quantitative data were collected simultaneously by interviewing families of 100 randomly selected Xpert MTB/RIF positive pediatric TB patients, under the pediatric TB project, in 4 Indian cities using a semi-structured questionnaire. The qualitative component was analyzed to deduce patterns and themes on the patient and family experiences. Descriptive statistics were used to quantify various events along the TB care pathway including various delays (patient, diagnosis and total) and number of providers visited by patients during the diagnostic process.

RESULTS

The median patient, diagnostic and total delays were 3 (IQR: 2,5), 39 (IQR: 23, 91) and 43 days (IQR: 28.5, 98.5), respectively. Patients visited a median of 3 (IQR: 2,4) providers before accessing Xpert MTB/RIF testing. On an average, 68.4% of physicians ordered any test most of them being irrelevant for TB diagnosis. Qualitative data showed considerable suffering for children and their families before and after TB diagnosis including serious concerns of stigma, disruption in education and social life and recurrence of the disease.

CONCLUSION

Our study highlights the significant physical and social distress that the children with TB and their families undergo along the TB care pathway. It also shows diagnostic delay in excess of a month during which multiple providers were met and the patients underwent several diagnostic tests, most of them being inappropriate. Efforts to make Xpert MTB/RIF testing more accessible and part of physicians' toolkit will be of considerable value to ease the complexity of TB diagnosis in children. In addition, communication strategy needs to be developed and implemented to generate awareness among general population around pediatric TB and its management.

Molecular assessment of antimicrobial resistance and virulence in multi drug resistant ESBL-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae from food fishes, Assam, India

The present study investigated the prevalence of Extended-Spectrum Beta Lactamase (ESBL) -producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae from the food fishes in retail markets in Assam, India. A total of 54 ESBL-producing E. coli and 12 K. pneumoniae isolates were recovered from 79 fish samples and were analyzed for antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) and virulence genes. E. coli isolates were categorized as multi drug resistant with resistance up to 12 different antibiotics with multiple antibiotic resistances (MAR) index ranging from 0.26 to 0.63. In E. coli, 100% resistance to cefotaxime along with 6% resistance to ceftazidime (third-generation cephalosporins) was observed. Moreover, 85% of the E. coli isolates were resistant to cefepime, a fourth-generation cephalosporin. K. pneumoniae showed resistance to 11 different antibiotics with MAR index value ranging from 0.21 to 0.57. All K. pneumoniae isolates showed 100% resistance to cefotaxime, 67% resistance to ceftazidime and 75% resistance to cefepime. Molecular characterization of ARGs revealed the presence of CTX-M group 1(CTX-M-15) in almost all E. coli isolates (98%, n = 53) and 100% in K. pneumoniae. A combination of uniplex and multiplex PCRs revealed fewer ARGs in E. coli isolates, with each isolate carrying 3 to 5 genes (tetA, dfrA1, sul1, sul2, qnrB, qnrS, aac(6')-Ib-cr). Majority of the E. coli were assigned to low-virulence phylogroup B1 and A while 8% of them belonged to pathogenic phylogroup D. 31 unique genetic profiles were identified for E. coli isolates by Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) typing. K. pneumoniae isolates were highly diverse with 11 unique genetic profiles and a substantial ARG profile (bla_TEM, bla_SHV, bla_OXA-1-like, tetA, strA, strB, dfrA1, sul1, sul2, qnrB, qnrS, aac(6')-Ib-cr, oqxA, oqxB). The frequency of ARGs ranged between 4 and 11. All K. pneumoniae isolates belonged to capsular serotype with wzi gene. Virulence gene iutA was prominent in all isolates while ybtS and kfu were confirmed in two isolates. Our findings raise concerns that fishes bought for consumption may serve as potential reservoirs of AMR genes and pose serious threat to public health. The study emphasizes the need for extensive surveillance of resistant strains in aquaculture and related settings, their in-depth analysis of population structure and transmission dynamics.

Delineation of Blood Vessels in Coronary Artery Region for Classification of Different Types of Plaques

Cardiac arrest in human arises owing to blood vessel diseases or heart defects. Blood vessel diseases result due to the blockage of blood in the heart vessels, which leads to pain in the heart. Heart defects occur because of damage in the cardiac muscles indicated by abnormal heart rhythms. Cardiovascular diseases cause mortality which could be avoided through the earlier detection of cardiovascular diseases. The major cause for cardiovascular diseases is cholesterol deposition inside the artery walls which later forms plaques that block the blood flow. Until now, plaques have been detected through medical imaging only after the heart attack. The plaques are blasted through angioplasty or reduced with medicine. Classification of the plaques before treatment, leads to effective medication based on the type of plaque. The sub classification of the plaque types such as rupture-prone plaque, ruptured plaque with sub occlusive thrombus, erosion-prone plaque, calcified nodule and non-plaque has been segmented and identified. In this paper, we propose a novel Spatial Fuzzy Propensity Score Matching (SFPSM) method to classify the plaques. The SFPSM method consists of clustering, ranking the cluster and region-based pixel wise analysis. Pixel analysis inspects specific regions of sub pixel points and calibrates the plaque. From the experimental results, the classification of plaque based on the 50-image data set has exhibited accuracy of 85% after validation. The plaque accuracy of classification provides the standard digital number values for the sub classification of plaques.

Automated Diagnosis of Cardiovascular Disease Through Measurement of Intima Media Thickness Using Deep Neural Networks

Ultrasound images(US) of carotid artery aid in the detection and diagnosis of Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD). Traditional methods for analysis of US images employ hand crafted features to classify images, which need expert knowledge for careful design and lack robustness to variations, leading to low sensitivity in clinical applications. Intima Media Thickness (IMT) and elasticity are the predominant markers used for carotid artery (CA) atherosclerotic plaque detection. This paper proposes to address the problem by building Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) for segmentation of intima media complex (ie) Region of Interest (RoI). A dataset consisting of 450 subjects is used to train and validate the proposed CNN. Segmentation is done in the far wall region of the artery from the longitudinal B-mode images enabling atleast 24 RoIs and RoNIs (Region of Non Interest) for each image. The result of 10-fold cross validation shows accuracy of 99.54%. Mean deviation of IMT from manual tracings is found to be 0.06645mm.

Fostering Inclusion through an Interinstitutional, Community-Engaged, Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience

Creation of an inclusive environment requires a culture of equity, justice, value and respect for diverse backgrounds, and opportunities for students to engage with communities while addressing issues in science and society. These tasks are particularly challenging for institutions lacking a diverse population. Here, we demonstrate evidence of a successful model for creating an inclusive environment in an interinstitutional course between a large, public, historically black institution and a small, private, primarily white institution. Because many individuals from underrepresented minority groups tend to value communal goals of working together and helping their communities, we incorporated two high-impact practices of community-engaged learning and course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) focused on health disparities research in neighboring communities. Although the research projects varied each semester, they were linked by their impact on and engagement with the community. Students practiced cultural competency skills in both small group projects within the class and engagement activities in the community. We measured the efficacy of CURE components (novel authentic research, scientific process skills, iteration, collaboration, and broader impact) through a combination of direct and indirect assessments, quantitative and qualitative analysis. More than simply scientific skills, students from both institutions developed lasting interest in working with diverse populations as well as respecting and valuing different backgrounds. This inclusive environment, combined with increased interest in research, suggests that this course could potentially serve as a model for interinstitutional collaborations in creating inclusive environments that support the future success of diverse students, eventually changing the STEM research culture.

Proliferative fasciitis of the chin: A report of the rare case and review of literature

Proliferative fasciitis is a pseudo-sarcomatous myofibroblastic proliferation characterized by the presence of unusual giant cells resembling ganglion cells, which usually occurs in the adult population with a mean age of 54 years. It usually affects the upper extremities and is rare in head and neck region with only 11 cases described in the literature so far. Because of rapid growth and histological similarity to various malignant tumors such as rhabdomyosarcoma, recognition of this benign condition is a matter of utmost importance when a pathologist is concerned. In this study, we report a case of a 11-year-old boy presented with a lesion on the right side of chin, along with a literature review involving those cases reported in the head and neck region.

Phase-sensitive amplification of an optical field using microwaves

We report phase-sensitive amplification (PSA) of a near-infrared electromagnetic field using room-temperature ⁸⁵Rb atoms possessing ground-state coherence. Our novelty is in achieving significant optical PSA by manipulating the intensity and phase of a frequency-separated microwave field. PSA is obtained by inducing a three-wave mixing nonlinear process utilising a three-level cyclic scheme in the D1 manifold. We achieve a near-ideal PSA with a gain of 7 dB over a range of 500 kHz bandwidth with very low pump-field intensities and with low optical depths. Such a hybrid, ground-state-coherence-assisted PSA is the first such demonstration using atomic ensembles.

Web enabled paddy disease detection using Compressed Sensing

In agricultural industry, paddy diseases play a vital role to cause economic losses. Hence, the detection of diseases of paddy plants and give suggestions to the peasants is beneficial to increase the yield quantity of rice. In this paper, a novel web-based paddy disease detection using Compressed Sensing is proposed to detect and classify paddy diseases. First, the diseased leaf is pre-processed using contrast enhancement, and then LAB color space is applied. The segmentation is done using K-Means clustering. The storage complexity is reduced using the Compressed Sensing technique. The segmented leaf images are compressed and then uploaded to the cloud. In the transmitter section, the Compressed Sensing recovery algorithm is used to reconstruct the segmented image. Then Statistical Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) method is used to extract the features from the segmented image. Support Vector Machine classifier is used to classify the diseases. The performance of the proposed method is compared with other existing techniques. The proposed system is also experimentally tested with Arduino board. The proposed system achieves the disease recognition rate of 98.38%.

An unusual presentation of ghost cell odontogenic carcinoma: A case report with review of literature

Ghost cell odontogenic carcinoma (GCOC) is a malignant odontogenic epithelial tumor which is an exceedingly rare, highly aggressive, rapidly growing, and infiltrative tumor forming the malignant counterpart of long-standing benign cystic lesions coming in the spectrum of calcifying odontogenic cysts. To date, only a few cases have been reported in the medical literature. A case of unusual presentation of GCOC is presented and the clinical, histopathological, and immunohistochemical features are discussed along with a literature review. Our case report further emphasizes the bizarre biological behavior of this tumor and the need for strict long-term surveillance of the patients as metastasis to distant sites has been reported.

Studies on wound healing potential of red pigment isolated from marine Bacterium Vibrio sp

Wounds are common clinical entities of life which may be subacute or acute. Wound healing is a complex biochemical process where the cell structures are restored to normalcy, which depend on cell proliferation and migration, basically fibroblast cell. The present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the healing efficacy of red pigment isolated from marine isolate Vibrio sps on experimental wounds in albino rats. The red pigment was applied topically, twice daily for 14 days. Treatment with framycetin ointment was used as reference control. The red pigment treated group showed faster reduction in wound area in comparison with control and framycetin ointment treated groups. In conclusion, red pigment possesses significant healing potential in wounds and has a positive influence on the different phases of wound repair.

Correlation of lip patterns, gender, and blood group in North Kerala population: A study of over 800 individuals

Context:

With the ever-changing field of criminal justice, the constant revision of criteria for acceptable evidence by the judiciary poses new challenges in forensic investigation. The applicability of cheiloscopy in individual identification is an area of extensive research in recent years.

Objectives:

The aim of the present study was to determine the distribution of different lip print patterns in North Kerala population, to assess any sexual dimorphism in lip patterns, and to correlate lip print patterns with ABO and Rh blood groups.

Materials and Methods:

A total of 858 students, 471 males and 387 females, from different colleges in the district of Kozhikode in North Kerala were included in the study. Lip prints were obtained using lipstick and cello tape and transferred onto white papers. Blood group of the participants was noted.

Results:

The most predominant pattern observed was Type I (48.3%), followed by Type II, Type III, Type IV, Type I', and Type V. We also observed that the lower lip exhibited an overwhelming predominance of Type I pattern in the North Kerala population while the upper lip showed a more even distribution. Gender-wise difference was observed with Type II being the most common in males and Type IV being the predominant pattern in females. No correlation was obtained between the blood groups and lip patterns.

Conclusion:

The potential usefulness of cheiloscopy in forensic medicine still remains largely untapped and under-recognized. Similar studies in different populations with large sample sizes will allow a more definite picture of lip print patterns to emerge.

Expression of survivin and p53 in oral lichen planus, lichenoid reaction and lichenoid dysplasia: An immunohistochemical study

Context:

The malignant transformation potential of oral lichen planus (OLP) and related lesions is a subject of great controversy.

Aim:

The aim of this study was to compare the expression of proteins related to apoptosis and tumour suppressor gene processes in OLP, oral lichenoid reaction (OLR) and oral lichenoid dysplasia (OLD).

Materials and Methods

The immunohistochemical study was carried out to investigate the expressions of survivin and p53 in a total of 30 lesional biopsy specimens - 10 cases each of OLP, OLR and OLD. The expression rates were further compared with 10 control specimens of normal oral mucosa (NORM).

Results:

Immunoreactivity for p53 was seen in 7 cases (70%) of OLD, 4 cases (40%) of OLP and 2 cases (20%) of OLR and none of NORM. We obtained a significant difference (P = 0.01) in mean p53 expression between the different entities. The positive staining rate of survivin was found to be significantly different between OLD (50%), OLP (10%), OLR (0%), and normal mucosa (0%) (P = 0.004). There was a positive correlation between p53 and survivin expression in OLP and OLD using Pearson's correlation coefficient.

Conclusion:

Lichenoid dysplasia has shown p53 and survivin expression in the range of not OLP, but leukoplakia. On the other hand, OLR seems to be an innocuous lesion. The study results with OLP are inconclusive but points toward a small but important malignant potential in OLP. This kind of comparative study highlights the importance of biopsying OLP and related lesions for proper diagnosis and appropriate management.

Characterization of phytotoxin producing Alternaria species isolatedfrom sesame leavesand their toxicity

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.), is an important oilseed crop in the tropics and subtropics, referred as “Queen of Oilseeds” owing to its high cooking quality and medicinal value. Sesame production, particularly in India, has been declining since last decade and ‘Leaf blight’ caused by Alternaria spp. is reported to cause yield loss up to 30-40%. Here, we investigated the fungal toxin produced by Alternaria and its pathogenicity. A total of 164 Alternaria strainswere isolated on potato dextrose agar media from the infected sesame leaves showing circular concentric rings with dark brown spots symptoms. All the isolates were screened for cultural and morphological characters. Colour of the fungus was grey to dark brown, formed smooth, raised, fluffy, and regular to irregular margins. Among 164 isolates, 43 isolates were moderately growing and 121 were fast in growth. The DNA of the isolate was amplified with ITS primers and sequence of BLAST results confirmed seven different species of Alternaria of NCBI database. Further, toxigenic potentiality of the isolates was tested with dilutions of culture filtrate (1:1 to 1:5) on sesame leaves. Among 164 isolates, 23 showed toxigenicity, varied from highly toxigenic to least toxigenic. Pathogenicity of the isolates showed that they were highly virulent to less virulent when tested by the detached leaf method. Based on the toxigenicity, the toxin was partially purified and brown coloured paste was recovered. Chemistry of the toxin was confirmed based on the IR, UV, NMR and mass spectra analyses, and it resembled the structure of alternariol mono methyl ether and altenuene which are mycotoxins in nature. Further, bioassay of toxin was carried out at different concentrations (50 to 2000 ppm) on seeds and seedlings of sesame. Maximum inhibition of seed germination of 81.1% was observed at 2000 ppm and the least was 6.67% at 50 ppm. With the increase in the concentration of toxin, the manifestation of the symptom was conspicuous and quick such as marginal, veinal necrosis, drooping and yellowing with lesion formation. From the present study, it is found that the species of Alternaria are responsible for the cause of blight disease symptoms and the toxicity of toxin produced by the pathogen was very high. The Alternaria toxin could inhibit the growth of the plant as well as seed germination rate.

Analysis of lip print and fingerprint patterns in patients with type II diabetes mellitus

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Globally, the prevalence of diabetes is soaring high in the recent times. There is an ardent search in the scientific community for a reliable and cheap early predictor which can serve the purpose of mass screening of a genetically vulnerable population. Hence, the present study was conducted to assess the predictive role of cheiloscopy on type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Several studies have established the association of dermatoglyphics with diabetes. However, results are still far from satisfaction. Thus, we also evaluated fingerprint analysis along with cheiloscopy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study was conducted on 100 uncontrolled T2DM patients and 50 healthy controls. Lip prints were obtained using lipstick and cellophane paper analyzed and classified using Suzuki and Tsuchihashi's classification. Fingerprints were obtained using kajal stick, analyzed and classified using Henry's system of classification.

RESULTS

Type IV pattern of lip prints was found significantly more in the diabetic patients. Howbeit, fingerprint analysis did not reveal any significant association with diabetes.

CONCLUSION

The present study showed a ray of hope for application of cheiloscopy as a potential biomarker in the early diagnosis of T2DM which can be used in mass screening. Further studies are warranted to confirm the findings.

Beneficioso y Una Prioridad: Latina Women's Perceptions about HIV Testing

OBJECTIVES

Studies indicate a higher rate of HIV infection among Latinos in the United States, and a pattern of later testing associated with poorer disease management, greater risk of spreading infection, and higher death rates. Thus, it is imperative to generate culturally holistic strategies to improve HIV testing among Latina women.

METHODS

We surveyed 182 Latina women in the southeastern US. We cross-tabulated demographic, social, and experiential factors of women who have taken a previous HIV test with women who have not yet been tested. We examined key comparisons between these women in terms of socio-demographic characteristics, sources of information about HIV testing, and responses to questions that identify factors enabling women to take an HIV test.

RESULTS

Our results indicate that Latina women perceive HIV testing as worthwhile, beneficial, and a priority for them. They demonstrate the importance of family networks, trusted and bilingual service providers, and known test locations associated with higher percentages of women taking the HIV test.

CONCLUSIONS

The results provide input to community health advocates to identify women who need additional support to take an HIV test.

Childbearing History and Self-Reported Well-Being in Later Life

The authors examined how numbers of live births and pregnancy losses affected the self-rated health and depressive symptoms of women aged 50 years and older, contrasting African Americans and Whites. The authors used data from Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities, a large, prospective study with substantial minority representation. They tested hypotheses that childbearing-history variables would influence self-rated well-being among older women and that perceived social support would mediate the associations. The authors also tested whether these associations would be stronger among older African American versus White women. The results suggest that the impact of child-bearing history is greater among older African American than White women. Pregnancy loss worsened depressive symptoms and self-rated health among African American women; the effect was reduced by social-support variables. High parity was associated with worse self-rated health among African American women, mediated by social support. Having no live births was not associated with diminished well-being among older women of any race.