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Byline: Souvik. Sardar, Somenath. Sarkar, Indrashis. Podder, Gautam. Banerjee Background: Primary scarring alopecias (PSAs) are a rare group of dermatological disorders with overlapping clinical features. They result in permanent hair [...]

Byline: Somenath. Sarkar, Tanusree. Sarkar, Aparesh. Patra, Arghyaprasun. Ghosh, Hirak. Gorai, Soumyadeep. Mondal Background: Leprosy is a chronic granulomatous disease mainly affecting the peripheral nerves and skin. Any communities including [...]

Background: Palmoplantar keratoderma (PPK) is a heterogeneous group of hereditary or acquired disorders characterised by excessive epidermal thickening of the palms and soles. Proper knowledge about the aetiology of the disease and clinico-demographic profile helps in planning management and predicting outcomes. Aims and Objective: To determine the prevalence of different dermatoses and describe their clinico-histological correlation in acquired palmoplantar keratoderma. Materials and Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study conducted after obtaining Ethics-Committee permission and consent from participants. Patients of any age or gender presenting with acquired PPK were recruited. The calculated sample size was 67 by using the prevalence rate (p) of 22.2%, allowable error (L) of 10%, the confidence level of 95% (z = 1.96), and an infinite population size of 20,000. Patients were evaluated by taking demographic and clinical data in a pre-designed case record form, necessary laboratory investigations and histopathological examination that wereevaluated by three blinded experts. The pooled data were analysed with statistical software. Results: Among the 67 participants, Psoriasis was diagnosed clinically in 39 (58.2%) and histologically in 7 (10.4%), Lichen planus (LP) clinically in 16 (23.9%) and histologically in 9 (13.4%), Pityriasis rubra pilaris (PRP) in 8 (11.9%) patients clinically and 7 (10.4%) histologically and Hyperkeratotic eczema (HKE) in 4 (6%) clinically and 43 (64.2%) histopathologically. There was very poor inter-rater agreement (Kappa = 0.148, SE 0.0047, 95% CI 0.057 to 0.24). The clinico-pathological correlation was found to be agreeable in 17.9% Psoriasis, 56.2% LP and 87.5% PRP. HKE was commonly misdiagnosed as Psoriasis in 65.1% of patients. Conclusion: Hyperkeratotic lesions of the palm and sole often present with overlapping clinical features and a skin biopsy has to be done to aid in diagnosis. Limitation: Stratification of the clinical expertise of clinicians was done during the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Subhadeep. Mallick, Tanusree. Sarkar, Tirthankar. Gayen, Biswanath. Naskar, Adrija. Datta, Somenath. Sarkar Background: Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is an underestimated public health problem involving the lower limbs. It exerts [...]

Byline: Tanusree. Sarkar, Somenath. Sarkar, Dwijendra. Gangopadhyay Gene therapy is an experimental technique to treat genetic diseases. It is based on the introduction of nucleic acid with the help of [...]

Byline: Supratim. Saha, Aparesh. Patra, Srinivas. Gowda, Nasiruddin. Mondal, Sufiur. Rahaman, S.. Ahmed, Sujit. Debbarma, Khune. Vitthal, Somenath. Sarkar, Amrita. Sil, Nilay. Das Background: Trophic ulcers secondary to leprosy pose [...]

Byline: Souvik. Datta, Manab. Ghosh, Somenath. Sarkar, Bibhuti. Saha, Sumi. Mukhopadhyay Background: Elimination of kala azar from India is challenging as there are potential reservoirs of Leishmania donovani in patients [...]

Byline: Revanta. Saha, Somenath. Sarkar, Monalisa. Majumder, Gautam. Banerjee Introduction: Trophic ulcer is a dreaded complication of leprosy. Secondary infection compounds the damage to the already neglected ulcer. Aims: To [...]

Byline: Nilotpal. Banerjee, Sanchaita. Gayen, Dolanchampa. Modak, Somenath. Sarkar, Bibhuti. Saha, Sumi. Mukhopadhyay Background: Vitiligo is one of the common depigmenting disorders causing disfigurement and affecting the quality of life. [...]

Kindler′s syndrome is a very rare genodermatosis characterized by acral blistering starting in infancy, photosensitivity, progressive poikiloderma, cutaneous atrophy, and various forms of mucosal involvement. A large number of other cutaneous and extracutaneous features have also been described. We report here three cases of Kindler′s syndrome from eastern India for the rarity of the syndrome and to emphasize the importance of considering this condition in the differential diagnosis of disorders that can cause blistering, cutaneous atrophy, and/or poikilodermatous skin changes.

Background: Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is an autosomal dominant neurocutaneous disease resulting in a wide array of clinical manifestations, primarily affecting the skin and central nervous system. Mucocutaneous features play a very important role in the recognition of this syndrome. Aims: To review the prevalence and patterns of cutaneous manifestations in tuberous sclerosis, in a group of patients from eastern India. Methods: Observational clinical study on twenty-seven consecutive patients of tuberous sclerosis collected during a period of four years. Results: Most were between 10-20 years of age; the male to female ratio was 2:1. Family history was found in two-thirds. The classical triad of tuberous sclerosis was present in only nine (33.3%) patients. Adenoma sebaceum was the most common cutaneous feature (100%), followed by hypomelanotic macules (92.6%), connective tissue nevi (66.6%), and Koenen′s tumors (33.3%). Oral mucosal fibromas were seen in six (22.22%) patients. Fibromatous plaque over forehead and scalp was seen in three patients. Limitation of the study was small size of study sample. Conclusion: Prominent mucocutaneous changes are extremely common manifestation of TSC, which may provide crucial diagnostic clues for primary care physicians.

A rigorous, much simplified, and accurate analysis of the modal field characteristics such as propagation constants, mode power confinement, delay and dispersion characteristics of a single-mode graded-index elliptical core fiber is presented applying a variational method and super-Gaussian approximation of the fundamental modal field. Normalized propagation constants, a fundamental parameter to evaluate other modal characteristics, obtained through this method showed a greater accuracy over the entire range of practical interest in comparison with other reported methods. The effects of various aspect ratios on these characteristics are analyzed. In addition, the effect of Kerr nonlinearity on these characteristics is investigated using the reported method, and a comparison is made with the linear results. OCIS codes: 060.2310, 060.2270, 060.2400.

We present in detail a simple analysis of the coupling efficiency and possible transverse and angular misalignment losses of a laser diode to single-mode, step-index fiber excitation with an upside-down tapered lens (UDTL) end, drawn by molding the end of a step-index fiber. The analysis employs our recently formulated ABACD matrix for an UDTL and has the advantage of simplicity compared with complicated methods involving cumbersome numerical integrations. Both the analysis and the results should be useful in designing coupling optics that use such lenses in the context of probable misalignments.

We introduce and analyze the upside-down taper lens end drawn from step-index fibers. Also, we model the refractive-index distribution and present the ABCD transformation matrix of this fiber end under paraxial approximation. The analysis can be useful for designing micro-optic image systems and laser diodes to single-mode fiber coupling optics.

We report the formulation of an ABCD matrix for reflection and refraction of Gaussian light beams at the surfaces of the hyperboloid of revolution that separate media of different refractive indices. The analysis includes an arbitrary angle of incidence and is based on matching the optical phase at the interface. Finally, we deduce expressions for spot sizes and wave-front radii and use them to obtain the ABCD matrix. based on the formulated ABCD matrix for refraction under paraxial approximation, we also report a simple theoretical investigation of the coupling efficiency of a laser diode to a single-mode fiber with a hyperbolic lens formed on its tip.

Byline: Somenath. Sarkar, Kapildev. Das, Soumyajit. Roychoudhury, Arpit. Shrimal Pseudotumor cerebri (PTC) is a rare neurological disorder characterized by increased intracranial pressure in absence of any intra-cranial space-occupying lesion. It [...]