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Background: Metabolic syndrome has increased globally due to sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy diets and obesity, which is posing a substantial burden on healthcare systems. Understanding the determinants of metabolic syndrome like lifestyle factors, socioeconomic status and the environment are vital for devising effective prevention and management. Research into these determinants helps to identify high-risk populations and develop interventions to reduce its occurrence. Objectives: i. To estimate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among the adult population. ii. To determine the factors associated with metabolic syndrome among the adult population. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 410 adults (≥18 years). A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data and National Cholesterol Education Program’s Adult Treatment Panel III criteria was used to diagnose metabolic syndrome. Continuous and categorical data were represented as mean and proportion, respectively. The strength of the association was determined using the prevalence ratio and adjusted prevalence ratio. Results: The mean age of the participants was 44.97 ± 14.7, about 58.3% of them were females. Metabolic syndrome prevalence was 39.8%. Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that being over 40 years old, marital status, higher socioeconomic status, skilled workers, physical inactivity and obesity were independently linked to metabolic syndrome. Conclusions: The burden can be reduced by identifying the risk factors at the early stage through screening and by adopting a healthy lifestyle.

Background: Preemptive analgesia involves the introduction of an analgesic regimen before the onset of surgical stimuli. Paracetamol and ketorolac are effective in blunting postoperative pain scores and opioid consumption, but their comparison, when used preemptively, has been less studied. The study aim to compare the clinical efficacy of intravenous (IV) paracetamol and IV ketorolac given preemptively, to blunt the postoperative pain among patients undergoing laparoscopic surgeries. Materials and Methods: This was a double-blinded randomized control study conducted on 48 patients undergoing laparoscopic surgeries, and they were allotted into groups of 24 each. Patients in Group 1 received an IV paracetamol infusion of 1 g over 10–15 min, 1 h before surgery. Group 2 received IV ketorolac 30 mg in 100 mL NS over 10–15 min, 1 h before surgery. The primary aim of the study was to monitor postoperative pain using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). The secondary aim was to monitor the rescue analgesia with the opioid. Hemodynamics and sedation score were monitored every 2 h till 12 h postsurgery. Results: The mean time to the first rescue drug among the paracetamol group was lower and statistically significant (P < 0.05) compared to the ketorolac group. The pulse rate, VAS, mean systolic blood pressure (SBP), Mean arterial pressure (MAP), and sedation score among the paracetamol group were insignificant compared to the ketorolac group at different time intervals. Conclusion: Postoperatively, sedation was not significantly different between the groups. The pain score was significantly lower and the time to first rescue was significantly higher among the ketorolac group compared to the paracetamol group. The preemptive use of IV ketorolac provided better postoperative analgesia compared with IV paracetamol in patients undergoing elective laparoscopic surgeries.

Background: Ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN) in a broader terminology recently introduced in the field of ophthalmology that includes conjunctival malignancies which ranges from mild epithelial dysplasia to invasive squamous cell carcinoma. The routinely used topical chemotherapy for OSSN is mitomycin C (MMC), 5-fluorouracil, interferon-alpha, and cidofovir, and among these, MMC is usually preferred by most of the ophthalmologists because of its cost-effectiveness and lesser side effects. Aim: The aim of study was to evaluate the role of MMC as an adjuvant therapy intraoperatively and postoperatively in the management of OSSN. Methodology: Patients in the age group of 40 years and above with a diagnosis of OSSN were included as our study subjects. The diagnosis of OSSN was made based on the clinical presentation and the cytological picture. A total of 22 patients with OSSN were taken as our study subjects. The tumor was surgically removed in toto along with 3–4 mm of uninvolved conjunctiva. Further, 0.4 mg/ml of MMC was applied over the excised site. Postoperatively, two cycles of 0.04% MMC eye drops were given for 2 weeks with a dosage of 4 times/day. It is given in two cycles, each cycle lasting for a week with an interval of 1 week in between. Results: Postoperatively, only one patient (4.5%) had recurrence which had developed after 6 months. Patients aged more than 60 years and who had the initial size of the lesion as > 8 mm were more prone to recurrence. Other postoperative complications that had occurred were one patient had allergic conjunctivitis and the other patient had punctate erosion. Conclusion: The use of MMC eye drop in the concentration of 0.04% has shown good clinical results without any serious side effects and with a very less recurrence rate during the follow-up period of 1 year when used as alternate 7-day courses.

Introduction: In India, the prevalence of gallstones is considered as a major public health problem and among diabetic patients the prevalence is still more increasing. Presence of Diabetic Autonomic Neuropathy (DAN) is a triggering factor for gallbladder diseases among diabetic patients. Aim: To compare the gallbladder volume and contraction index between diabetic patients and non diabetic healthy controls. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital at Chennai for a period of six months from June 2019 to December 2019. The total 90 subjects were divided into two groups of 45 each, group A consist of 45 known Type I or Type II diabetes mellitus (DM)and group B with 45 non diabetic healthy controls. The gallbladder volume was assessed initially in the fasting state, then the patient was asked to have fatty meal and again the gallbladder volume was measured after two hours for all the patients and the gallbladder contraction index was calculated using these values. Autonomic neuropathy grading was done after performing neuropathy assessment tests and the association between the gallbladder contraction index and grading of autonomic neuropathy was analysed. Results: The mean fasting and postprandial gallbladder volume were much higher among diabetic patients compared to non diabetic controls and similarly the gallbladder contraction index was lesser among diabetic patients compared to the controls (16.6±5.9 cm3 , 4.03±1.8 cm3 ) and (32.08±11.7 cm3 , 17.4±10.6 cm3 ) the difference was found to be statistically significant (p-value

Cysticercosis is a parasitic disease caused by Taenia solium. It is a major public health problem in developing countries. Infection is acquired through ingestion of undercooked meat containing the cysticercus. Man is the definitive host and pig is the intermediate host. Cysticerci can be found anywhere in the body but are most common detected in brain, eye, skeletal muscle and subcutaneous tissue. One of the uncommon manifestations and a rare complication is its disseminated form. Neurocysticercosis is the most common parasitic disease of the central nervous system. Widespread dissemination of the cysticerci can result in the involvement of almost any organ in the body. We report a case of a 65-year-old person with disseminated cysticercosis (DCC) who had presented to our hospital with pain and swelling in smaller joints of hands and multiple palpable nodules in thighs. Computed tomography brain, whole body magnetic resonance imaging, X-rays and biopsy of the muscle had confirmed the diagnosis of DCC involving the brain, subcutaneous tissue, and skeletal muscles. The patient was treated with the albendazole 400 mg bid, for 30 days along with steroids. There was no history of convulsions in our case even though there was neurocysticercosis. The patients are currently under follow-up without any major complications.

Background: Tamil Nadu is one of the 18 states affected by fluorosis in India. The maximum tolerance limit of fluoride in drinking water specified by the World Health Organization (WHO, 1984) is 1.5 mg/l while it is proved to be above in many areas of Salem. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the following study is to identify the prevalence of dental fluorosis among children in the district of Salem. To compare the prevalence of dental fluorosis between different sexes and age groups. Materials and Methods: A pilot study was conducted in a private school where oral examination was done using mouth mirror and probe under sunlight in 965 students, for the presence or absence of dental fluorosis. As it was a pilot study, the fluorosis indexes were not taken into consideration. Results: In our study, 965 students were examined for dental fluorosis out of which, 624 were boys and 341 were girls. Dental fluorosis was present in 31.1% of boys, and 30.3% of girls 297 students out of 965 (30.8%) showed the presence of dental fluorosis. Conclusion: The present study showed that Salem is one of the districts affected by dental fluorosis in Tamil Nadu. An extensive study including the grades of fluorosis and estimation of water fluoride levels in different areas is required for better evaluation of the situation. Government should take actions to prevent fluorosis. Awareness should be given to the population to drink only the water supplied by the government.

A young man had an open fracture of the tibia with bone and soft tissue loss in the distal part of the left leg following a crush injury. The circumferential skin defect was successfully treated with controlled lengthening of the distal skin by the Ilizarov technique using nylon wires and skin staples to apply traction. This was combined with limb reconstruction done simultaneously using orthofix external fixator. This case report highlights the use of an orthopaedic technique to provide skin cover in distal leg.

Background: Erector spinae plane block (ESPB) improves postoperative analgesia and significantly enhances the quality of recovery (QoR) after thoracic and breast surgeries. However, it is not known whether this block is beneficial in chest reassignment surgery in transgender patients. Regarding sexual reassignment surgeries, there is no data on appropriate and safe postoperative analgesia, especially in chest surgeries. ESPB may be an important part of postoperative analgesia application in such surgeries. Objectives: The objective is to determine whether ESPB could provide effective postoperative pain control in chest reassignment surgeries. The primary objective is to check for effective pain control in the postoperative period using pain scores. The secondary objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of ultrasound-guided ESPB on postoperative QoR using recovery and sedation scores. Methods: A randomized prospective double-blinded study was conducted at a tertiary university hospital. Eighty-two patients scheduled for elective chest reassignment surgeries were included in the study. Patients were randomized into the ESP group or the control group. The quality of recovery after surgery was measured using the 40-item quality of recovery (QoR-40). Numerical rating scale (NRS) scores at rest and then at coughing, analgesic requirements, and occurrences of nausea and vomiting were recorded. Results: Intraoperative and postoperative opioid consumption, rescue analgesia requirement, and resting and dynamic NRS scores were significantly lower in the ESP group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of the presence of dynamic pain after the first postoperative hour. While all patients in the control group had nausea and vomiting, 24% of the patients in the ESP group did not have nausea and vomiting. Conclusion: This study showed that ESPB can be used as a sole analgesic agent, with the benefit of reducing opioid consumption and postoperative nausea and vomiting in sexual reassignment surgery in the chest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the role of financial management and resource allocation in academic libraries, focusing on bridging the gap between library science and finance. The research explores how financial management practices, collaboration between librarians and financial managers, and institutional challenges impact resource allocation in academic libraries. A mixed-methods approach was employed, utilizing surveys, interviews, and document analysis to gather quantitative and qualitative data from librarians and financial managers across various academic institutions. The findings reveal that larger libraries demonstrate better financial management due to greater access to resources, while smaller libraries face significant challenges. The study also highlights the importance of improved collaboration between librarians and finance professionals, as well as the need for financial literacy training for library staff. Based on these findings, the study recommends adopting scalable financial management practices, enhancing collaboration, and leveraging technology to streamline resource allocation processes. Looking forward, advancements in digital financial systems and AIdriven forecasting tools are expected to revolutionize how libraries manage their finances. This research contributes to the existing literature by offering actionable insights to improve the financial sustainability of academic libraries in an increasingly digital and resource-intensive environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]